#i only stopped cuz my down key got stuck for some reason

[ashtonisvibing]

39min tetris game wowowow!!!

[closetedotaku01]

thank u for taking my request!!! it is: so where i work (a front desk job) guys come in who are rlly flirty n shit, usually its harmless, like last week some guy just walked by & gave me a note w his number & i havent stopped thinking abt how akaashi would react to that happening to his gf o_o but sometimes it gets...rlly creepy...i jus wanna read abt akaashi w a gf who gets hit on a lot & how he’d react/comfort her 😔 cuz i wish i had him to make me feel better when men are creepy to me 😔

I’m just happy you trust me to write your request, Em. I’m more than happy to take it on <3. I hope it lives up to what you expect. And I’m very sorry you have to deal with what you’re dealing with it’s... disgusting. But I admire your strength for powering through it every day. And Akaashi would too. He’d be so mad at the situation, but so proud of you.

~~~~~~

Fem!Reader x Akaashi

-When it’s harmless flirting, Akaashi usually brushes it off.

-He’s not fond of the situation, but he understands that beautiful girls often get flirted with, and that you can’t really help being so gorgeous, and having such a beautiful smile. Even when the smile is feigned solely for the purpose of doing your job.

-But he trusts you completely. Akaashi wouldn’t even be in a relationship with someone he didn’t fully trust, so it’s never too much of an issue.

-At most he’ll feign a little jealousy so he can tease you and you can tease him back. He loves the cute little batner when you try to reassure him.

-You came home one night, and while you were taking off your shoes Akaashi came up behind you and gave you a hug. He had really needed you that day. Needed to be near you more than anything. And as he whispered a greeting in your ear, his hands slipped into the pockets of your hoodie as he held you. They went in with the intention of holding your hands which were tucked in the pockets to shield them from the cold, but instead he found a note. With some guy’s phone number. He smiled deviously, before having his face fall back to its usual expression.

-He started walking away and reading the guy’s name out slowly, “Really?”

-You laugh, “Oh. That was just some guy at work, Keiji. He was really sweet.”

-“Sweet?”

-“Yeah, he just slid it over on the desk when he was checking out,” you say, following him as he goes to sit on the couch, still examining the paper like it’s an important document that needs to be reread.

-When you’re in front of him he takes your wrist, and tugs gently, pulling you onto the sofa next to him. “Sweeter than me?” Akaashi teases, kissing your hand gently before lifting it over and around his head so your arm is slung around his neck. You lean against his body looking at the creased piece of paper, an uneven heart next to the nine digits written on it.

-You purse your lips to the side, eyes going to the corner of the ceiling, “Well…”

-His arm is suddenly thrown around your waist, and pulls you close to his chest so you’re almost lying on top of him, “Come on, kitten, you can’t just say that!” His voice is slightly whiny before he leans in and kisses the crown of your head, hand cupping your cheek gently and then slipping below your chin and guiding your face to look up at his.

-“Okay fine, Keiji. You win. You’re sweeter,” you huff, annoyed at the effect he has on you. The way his eyes are so peaceful and full of love just for you that you can never resist him.

-He kisses your nose lightly. “Good,” his voice is deep and intense. You lift your head and kiss his lips, before tucking your face into his neck.

-Akaashi loves knowing that he’s the one who gets your kisses and your eyerolls. Your soft touches and your playful hits. Your love and your teasing. You are his, and he will never understand how he got so lucky.

-However when things go too far… his reaction changes.

~~~~

You come home late. Later than normal. Later than the nights when your shitty boss makes you take on extra shifts. Later than ever before. No texts. No calls. No warning. And the second Akaashi hears the keys, he’s at the door. He’s been pacing the length of the apartment the whole night, waiting for you to get home. Needing you to come home and be with him so he could be certain you were okay.

He just wants to pull you in close and hold you, hold on tight to you, and fall asleep easily.

But when he sees you, he hesitates. Your hair is a mess, your makeup completely gone, your eyes rimmed red, your body closed off to him, your lips swollen.

“Kitten?” he asks softly, approaching you slowly and cautiously like approaching a wounded animal, “Is everything okay?”

You shake your head. You can feel all of it still. The disgust and grime all over you. There’s nothing clean. Nothing safe.

Akaashi knows you too well, “Want me to run a bath for you?” You nod and he gets straight to it, setting up candles and a bath bomb quickly and warming the water to your perfect comfort level. He lets you be alone while you bathe, letting the warm water melt away the day. Melt away the touch of that man’s hand on yours when he took the key to his room. Letting the steam and scented candles fog your mind, separating you from your thoughts, hazing the memory of his sleazy grin and crude remarks. You let your eyes flutter closed, and let it all disappear.

It doesn’t.

You get out of the tub, and squeeze your hair out, just enough so it’s not dripping. Akaashi sitting on the sofa in the living room. His head is leaned back over the back rest, eyes closed in thought. He’s playing with his fingers the way he always does, bending them back slightly and rubbing them up and down before moving to the next one.

You know it’s killing him. He needs to fix it. Wishes he could know what’s wrong and solve it the way he always does, clear the problem and move on. But you’re not ready to talk about it. And there’s no way to really fix it anyway. You spent hours of your shift, and beyond your shift talking to HR. It was the whole reason you were out so late. And they’d only reminded you of precautions you were meant to take. Because there was nothing they could do. Nothing anyone could do. Especially not to undo the damage that had already been done.

You walk around the sofa and he sits up straight, eyes flashing up to you. You know he needs it, and the world always feels a bit safer with Akaashi, so you take one of his hands in yours. You let your eyes meet his and you can see him analyzing you.

It used to bother you. Used to get on your nerves that he didn’t just talk to you. But in moments like this, in the moments when the words seemed impossible, you were grateful he knew you this well. He scoots over slightly, giving you an easy way in, and you take it. You curl up next to him. Your head rests on his shoulder, your hand cupped gently in his as he plays with your fingers now. He sees the way you relax at his gentle touch, and it brings him some peace knowing he’s at least being helpful.

The increasingly late hour makes everything feel oddly calm. Like the events that happened…. didn’t. Like your mind falsified the event, like in a few hours you’d be able to chalk it all up to a dream or being wasted. Of course, every time you think about it, it hits you, all of what he said, what he did, and the terrible realization of what he must have been thinking.

You speak with calculated words, like the story isn’t yours, “It was bad today, Keiji.”

There was no prompting, but Akaashi acts like your words didn’t just come out of nowhere, “Do you want to tell me about it?”

“I don’t know what I want.”

He nods, lightly bobbing his head, “That’s okay. We can just stay like this. Or I can put on music, or a movie to distract you. But if you want to talk… I want to hear it.”

“Okay,” you say, finally turning your head to face him. He puts on a slight faked smile for you. You know he’s waiting. And you know it’s better to talk about it, to vent, then to let it keep consuming you. Get it out of your head, and then it’ll stop taking up every corner of your mind.

“There was … a really creepy guy at my work today. He …,” with being so mentally distant from the situation, and having already told the woman at work your situation, you thought it’d be easy to say. There was something about telling Akaashi that makes the whole thing real. It makes you realize how sickening it was. Forces you to take in the fact that that man had made a decision. A conscious decision proving that, to him, you and your comfort and boundaries, were not worth respecting. That you were something he believed he had a right to have access to. And the thought makes your mind open, finally accepting what happened, and you can’t go on. Your voice is caught under the lump in your throat, you can feel your eyes welling up.

Your lips press into a line, an attempt to hold in the whimpers threatening to fall out.

Akaashi’s eyes are patient and concerned, but once he realizes there won’t be more he doesn’t know what to do. You take the first motion, needing him closer as you cry into him, and Akaashi scoops you up into him, pulling you as close as the world will allow two people to be. “I’m so sorry.” He lets his large hands care for you, one rubbing up and down your back, pressing your slightly farther into him, the other scratching the back of your head gently.

You nod as you let the tears fall, gripping tight onto his shirt, letting yourself take him in. The smooth, gentle, welcomed feel of his skin as his body surrounds you. The clean, calming smell of him. The faint memory of cologne stuck to his shirt. His body wash, cologne, and detergent, filling your mind with pleasant memories. The warmth radiating off his body into yours. He feels warmer than the bath. You can feel the steadying control he has over his body.

“I’ve got you, Kitten. I’m right here,” he pushes you back only slightly so he can take your hands and loosens your grip on his shirt, instead letting his fingers intertwine with yours, “I’m not going anywhere.” He releases your hands, and his to your back, pressing you into him gently.

You bring your hands up, looping them around his neck and playing with the soft hair at the nape of his neck. You let yourself fall apart, let yourself tumble down and crack and weep, let fractured sentences slip out between sobs, unconcerned that you always leave them unfinished, because you know, no matter how far you break, Akaashi is there holding you together.

He never wavers. His breathing, his heartbeat, the calming strokes of his hands, all of it is steady. And he stays like this until your tears stop flowing, and your hiccups and sobs cease.

“Do you want to tell me the rest or do you want a distraction?”

“Distraction,” you barely manage to get out.

“A movie? A song? Do you want to hear about my day? Or have me tell you a story? Or---?”

“Just wanna hear your voice, Keiji.”

His heart doesn’t know what to do. You hear the way it thrums in his chest. Caught between melting apart at the sweet way you love him, at the knowledge that he can ease you, and breaking apart at how broken you sound.

“Alright, kitten. Let’s see… once upon a time, in a far off kingdom, there was….”

Akaashi continues to tell this little story. It’s mostly nonsense, but you love how his mind works. How he can spin beautiful stories for you whenever you need them.

When you hear him lose his thought, you chime in with a quick detail, your voice soft and raspy. It’s nothing like the stories he writes. These stories are far more special. He usually tells them to you when you’re having trouble sleeping, and you love the calm way he speaks, and the slight voices he does. You’re especially fond of the gentle way he pauses, waiting for you to name every character, or to say which creature the protagonists run into on their quest.

Tonight’s story was about a beautiful princess who, as always, shared your name or some variation of it. The story isn’t one you pay too much attention to, instead focusing on his heartbeat and the way his voice sounds deeper and garbled as it reverberates through his chest. Focusing on the way his body is wrapped around yours, and how safe it feels.

And after a little while, after a few twists and turns in the story, Akaashi manages to lull you to a peaceful sleep in his arms.

[trashcanwrites]

📺┊ Watching Kids Shows with the Haikyuu Boys!

► Oikawa Tooru, Tsukishima Kei, Hinata Shouyo, Bokuto Koutaro, Tendou Satori ft. Hinata Natsu (GN! Reader)

𝗪𝗮𝗿𝗻𝗶𝗻𝗴𝘀: I left one or two swear words? Other wise there is none ❤️

『♚ Will's Message』 ▸ Heya!! Here's some headcanons I thought about when me and my sisters were listening to Sofia the First and Barney soundtrack 👁️👄👁️ Hope you guys enjoy! ( ꈍᴗꈍ)

This boi just barged into your house saying he wanted to watch Sofia the First with you—

Well I mean you couldn't complain cuz Sofia the First is amazing 🤩

The both of you were just chilling on the floor cuz the couch is for the weak 😤

Once the intro starts playing the both of you guys just start screaming the lyrics

The both of you sound like hyenas dying from being strangled I swear 👁️👄👁️

Like the your neighbors are lowkey higkey concerned

Whenever a character would start singing y'all would start singing too

But the thing is when one of you forgets the lyrics one of you starts singing gibberish

Then the other one starts to get confused cuz like wtf you singing??

The both of you would also start dancing too

Like he's the prince and you're some exaggerated elegant af royal ⁄(⁄ ⁄•⁄-⁄•⁄ ⁄)⁄

He would definitely kiss you hand—

But that's about the only part he's good at cuz the two of you would just step on each others feet and stumble

Oh to be a good dancer 😭

Oikawa's favorite character is probably Amber you can't change my mind

The two of you would argue who's best girl I swear

It's like a war zone when you argue about it you guys will make up eventually

After the marathon the two of you would just eventually fall asleep on the floor after talking about your favorite episode ❤️

You were bored out of your mind so, you went to Tsukki's house to hang

You were feeling nostalgic so...

You forced him to watch Barney with you.

You know how Tsukki likes dinosaurs???

Well he doesn't like this one

Cuz he says Barney's just some 'discount dinosaur'

Probably that one show his parents made him watch as a kid but he didn't wanna cuz he thinks Barney's 'fake' I mean he technically is

I never really thought Barney was a dinosaur as a kid either, I only found out when I was 8

While Tsukki was watching it he looked so... Disgusted

And the fact that you were playing along with the show makes him cringe even harder— 💀💀

Tsukki be like: Why am I with a five year old??

He didn't even know why he let you watch BARNEY FRIGGIN BARNEY at his house when he could have easily said no 🤡🤡

He just wanted the torture to be over

Just when the show was about to end and he could rest easy, the song started to play

And you just started to sing along with it, you even came up to Tsukki to hug him I— 😭✋🏼

🎶 I loVe yOU, YoU LovE mE 🎶 ⊂(・▽・⊂)

He stood up and shoved your face away before you could do it cuz he's had enough of your shit today 🙃

After that you felt bad for him putting up with your idiocracy so you promised to do whatever he wanted

You best bet it was some sort of mental torture equal to the one you put him through—

Natsu said she wanted to watch a show with y'all 🥺🥺🥺

So you did

She picked Winnie the Pooh

I swear it's probably her favorite cartoon—

Bby Natsu wanted to sit next to you while you hugged her 💕

While big bro Shoyou sat in next to you!!

Lmao Hinata would probably get so bored, he doesn't like Winnie the Pooh apparently 😔

But he tries his best for his sister

His favorite episode was the one where Pooh got stuck in Rabbit's 'door' so they had to pull him out

But then when they did pull him out he got stuck in a hole in a tree filled with bees 👁️👄👁️

It made Hinata laugh his ass of

He said it reminds him of Kageyama??

And Natsu was laughing too cuz if her big bro is happy she is too and you just sitting there giggling holding Natsu

Bruh I swear the Hinata siblings are next level wholesome

Natsu would definitely have a crush on Christopher Robin 😤

Like whenever he shows up on screen she would blush and just look at her dream guy 💘

Hinata probably doesn't notice or know cuz he's dense LOL

But you do 👀

Once the marathon is over you told Natsu about what you found out—

LMAO SHE FREAKED OUT AND MADE YOU PROMISE NOT TO TELL

You just smiled at her...

THEN YOU STARTED RUNNING TO HINATA

Natsu was chasing after you telling you not to do it

But then Hinata heard and he was like: w h a t ?

Natsu tried to ignore you for the rest of the day while Hinata went up to you to complain about it 😌

Bo was hyper today you asked him to watch Scooby Doo with you to calm him down ❤️

He is so determined to solve the mystery

You guys bet on who's the culprit

Lmao Bokuto would defend his choice so much

Like he would give a lot of random reasons as to why he chose them 👁️👄👁️

And you would just be like no

Then he would just argue even more

When you guess right he just pouts at you and looks away

If he's right he does a little victory HEY HEY HEY like he's all happy and jumpy

The loser has to put hot sauce onto whatever they were eating, they eat the food at the end of the marathon

You were the one who picked the consequences for the bet—

While y'all were watching the both of you were just screaming like wtf

The screams aren't even cuz your scared it's just cuz whenever there's a new clue both of your big brains theorize who's the culprit

And then the two of you just shout what you guys thinks gonna happen and there would be some sort of debate 🙃

Bo's favorite character is Shaggy 🥰 I dunno why I just get the feeling

In the end the two of you had to eat the food you guys filled with hot sauce

It looks red af btw

Bokuto just straight up ate it all like it was so fast

And you were looking at him like ಠ_ಠ

You ate yours and your mouth was on fire—

You had to drink gallons of water cuz there wasn't any milk 😔

Someone reserve the bathroom because one of you two would probably blow any minute now—

Bo rushed in first

But then you had to go in too so you did the little pee pee dance outside while you were waiting

Overall 100/10 would do again 😌

You and Tendou planned to hang and watch a show

It was your turn to pick a so you chose Teletubbies—

Tendou went 😊 to ☹️

Like he was just so happy when you came and the you tell him your watching TELETUBBIES with HIM

He just wanted you to watch it alone at this point

But y'all promise to hang so he let you watch it 😤😤

The whole time you two were watching he was just complaining about how obvious their questions were

He's just there arguing at a tv know it won't respond to him at all

You just stare at him like 👁️👄👁️

He was so annoyed lmao

Then you would tell him it's a kids show

But then he's like: then why are we watching this?

It's for nostalgia purposes I swear

It's not like you purposely picked it to mess with him or anything

The mans kept pestering you to watch something else cuz he just can't take this torture 😭

He really doesn't like the Sun

He says it looks weird, why would you put an actual baby's face as the sun??

It laughs and everything

At one point he just had enough and grabbed two pillows and shoved it in between his head

He didn't wanna hear any of it anymore HAHAHAHHAHA

He even went as far as to constantly poke your face and tell you to 'make it stop'

In the end you two didn't finish it cuz he was complaining a lot and you two ended up watching Don't Breathe 😔

I lowkey was scared of Teletubbies as a kid

[palbabor-writes]

Moniker

Hawks Week 2020 - Prompt: Rebirth

Character: Keigo Takami - Hawks

Warnings: Angst, some adult language, the drama of growing up

Word Count: 5433

“They need you to pick a name, Keigo. You’re old enough now and the data has shown that you’re learning how to control your quirk. The advancements we’ve seen in the last few months have been outstanding. The HPSC wants you to start making a name for yourself, publicly. We’re hoping, in six or so years, you’ll be operating on a professional level. 

So, look over those names and pick one. Once you do, you’ll no longer go by Keigo Takami. No, that name will be expunged from the records.”

Why? He’d wanted to ask. Why can’t he keep his name? Does it really matter? What were they going to do with him? Why was he even in this program? 

There were so many questions racing through his mind. But, he just nodded and looked out the window. What good did it do to ask? They weren’t going to tell him anything. This was all just another manipulation. They always tried, so, so hard to let him feel like he had a say in his name, in his life, in anything. 

In reality, he was just their little puppet, floating along on a tight string.

Notes: Part of Hawks Week 2020, Day 7 - Prompt: Rebirth.

This fic, like my Shigaraki exploration, Phantasma is part of a smaller series I’m calling Hopscotch. There’s a ton of kids in the BNHA universe that just need a freaking hug, man. But, all this trauma does give me some nice topics to write about...Not beta edited, so all mistakes are mine, and mine alone.

Moniker mon·i·ker /ˈmänəkər/ noun a name.

Keigo Takami is a ward of the Hero Public Safety Commission. 

He’s been a ward for most of his life. He’s used to the routine: the daily drills, the daily training, the daily lessons, the daily lectures, the daily monotony of it all. 

He’s never alone. 

There’s always a few of them hovering. They, being the agents who are assigned to his daily care and maintenance. They’re like black spots, bleeding out against the clean, crisp linoleum floors. He’s shuttled around like a chess piece. As if he needs a shadow to guide him. He knows this building inside and out. He knows just where to perch if he wants to avoid the cameras and he knows the secrets of at least five or six of his handlers. 

They blurt stuff out around him. People never think kids are listening. Too bad for them, cuz, he’s got enough dirt to take them straight to the top if he wanted to. Not that he wants to. Some of the handlers are nice, but Keigo has learned that sometimes nice is another way to say: manipulative.

So, he imagines that he can flex a little control over them, too. He’s got the information, he’s just not sure who to take it to. He’s never seen the head of the HPSC. They remain an enigma. The leader of this whole thing is the one piece he hasn’t slipped onto the puzzle. No, whoever they are, they’re mysterious. He only knows they exist because he’s seen their hen scratch of a signature on his progress reports and monthly, “how are you doing Keigo,” emails. 

Despite the mystery, the head of the HPSC is the one constant in his life. He can’t say the same of his handlers. Most of the people who surround him shift and change. They’re like a tide.

When he was younger, his father used to take him down to the beach. Keigo was always fascinated by the pull, the drag, of that dark blue water.

Yeah, these handlers of his moved in and out like a tide. Every month it was someone else. One or two might be familiar faces, but they never told him their names. Well, not their real names at least. No, no one ever revealed those. Keigo was accustomed to the secrecy of it all. It was kinda boring. 

But, most days were. 

It was just him and the various adults who were tasked with his lessons or training schedules. It was a never ending circle, a rotation of sameness that made his teeth ache. There were no other kids at the base. No, lucky him, he was the only one selected to receive this special training.

When he was smaller he’d been a little more excited. He’d wander behind the dark suits, clutching his Endeavor figure to his chest, his eyes scanning every room, every person, every crevice. 

You can never be too careful Kei, his father had told him, his golden eyes winking down at him. Always keep your eyes and ears open. 

“It’s a special program, Keigo. Starting today, you need to say goodbye to your name. You’re going to become a very special hero, okay?” 

It was a younger man who had talked with him that afternoon. He can remember looking down at his toy, the plastic heavy, sticking to his clenched arms. Keigo can recall his small voice asking the man two questions: “Can I be like him? Can I be a hero who beats the bad guys?”

At the time, they had felt so, well, important to him. They were all encompassing, vital queries that needed to know the answer to back then. He disliked them now. They were stupid questions. Besides, what self respecting adult takes the word of a six year old seriously? 

He’s eleven now. He’s way past those childish dreams. And, they still hadn’t taken his name from him. Oh, they hinted at it. He’d even caught sight of one of the lists. 

The lists were the long rows and rows of potential hero names for Keigo. Not that he was asked much about any of this. His opinion didn’t matter in the grand scheme of things. He’d only managed to see one of the lists a few years ago. His handler hadn’t been expecting him back so fast. 

He wasn’t supposed to use his wings unless he was in the training facility. Little did they know, he’d been practicing. How could he not? He could feel each and every tiny thing with his feathers. It drove him insane. If he was drifting off to sleep he would feel the electricity humming through the walls. When he focused hard enough he could hear the distant conversations happening on the floors above him. 

It was an endless march of noise, emotion, and sensations. He felt like he was overstimulated all the time, his skin too heavy for his bones. He wanted to scream some days: get these off me, I can’t, I-I can’t take it. But, he had to learn how to grapple with his quirk. It was part of him. 

Still, sometimes he wished he was someone, anyone else. 

‘Turn it off’, they said, ‘dampen the urge to reach out with your feathers’. 

Yeah, right. Let them slip into his quirk, see how much they liked the all consuming sensation of it all. It was too much, too intense. Some days it’s a fight to make himself get out of his bed. Everything is just...too close, sometimes. 

He’s just a kid, he wanted to tell them. Like that would grant him a reprieve. No, he already knew what answer they would give him. The HPSC had selected you for a purpose, a reason, Keigo. 

They fed him such vague, well, bullshit. Yeah, he knows he shouldn’t say words like that, whatever. They shouldn’t be doing this, er, whatever it was that they were hoping to achieve with him. But, it’s not like the confirmed acknowledgement of their preposterousness would stop them. No, he’d learned to keep his mouth shut and his eyes open. It was the best way to survive the endless march of days and weeks. He would nod, practice, and then practice a little more in secret. 

It’s his quirk after all. If he could perfect it, maybe they would loosen his leash.  

His wings were still a little stunted. They could grow to longer points, but it took a lot of time and a lot of concentration. It was like his body knew exactly what he could, or could not, in this case, handle. More feathers meant more sensations. More sensations meant less sleep, less control, and, worst of all, less autonomy. There would be more tests, more training, more, more, more. 

Still, he worked at it. It was a double edged sword. He both hated, and loved, the improvements he saw within himself. 

Despite his impeded wing growth, Keigo could flap himself along now. He could even hover in the air for a little while, but his back would protest the strain after forty minutes or so. It hurt to hold himself up. His shoulders just weren't broad enough to maintain his weight. He’d been hoping that eating a little more would help. You know, beef him up a little. 

He’d brought the subject up with one of his handlers, one of the ones he actually knew. The man had nodded, his curly blonde hair bobbing around his ears. And, with that, his food rations were extended. He was also given some other choices too. Some steak, veal, higher protein foods. He’d stubbornly stuck with chicken. He liked the taste. Never one to pass up an opportunity, Keigo took advantage of the larger portions and he gorged himself on the succulent meat. 

Four weeks later, he hadn’t grown much. Maybe what, half a pound? Nah, most of that energy must have been consumed by his quirk. But, the more he ate, the easier it was to focus on it. Meh, still a win, win. At least from the HPSC’s viewpoint. 

He mentioned that there are never any kids around the HPSC training facility, right? 

Adults? You couldn’t swing a dead cat and not hit at least 4 or 5 of them, at any given moment. Keigo didn’t mind. He was used to adults. By nature he was quiet, observant. It was his habit to position himself in the corners of rooms. It let him see anyone and everyone who entered or left. He likes watching. But, he’s done that his whole life. Even before the HPSC picked him up he’d learned how to hone that skill. 

Now, the trainers and handlers were trying to break him of that tic. 

‘You need to curb that Keigo’, they’d say. ‘If you’re going to become a successful hero you can’t just sit in the shadows. We already have plenty of agents who are trained for that. No, you need to be more gregarious. Speak up, talk with people. You’ve been drilled in this skill, now show us what you’ve learned. We want you to be a hero’.

So, he myna birds what they ask. They’ll leave him alone that way. Sure, sure, he’s rewarded with gifts, with praise, with extra free time. But, it’s all so calculated. He can smell their intentions a mile away. He’s seen the books some of them read. They were books with titles like: The Psychology of the Child, The Developing Mind, Playing and Reality. 

If that wasn’t obvious enough, he’d heard some of the conversations they passed as they handed off their shifts, the words lilting back and forth, like secret notes. 

“Ignore his minor tactics. It’s just him responding to the attention. Only praise him when he’s behaving.” Or, “Give Keigo labeled praise. You know, build his self esteem. He’s so quiet, it’s hard to tell what he’s thinking. Pack a snack for him. That way when he opens up to you, boom! Treat in hand.”

Do they not realize how much he can hear? God, adults are dumb. Smile and give them what they want, or, say what they most need to hear and they’re eating out of your hand. Meanwhile, as they’re congratulating themselves on a job well done, they had no idea what thoughts were racing behind his golden irises. 

No, Keigo is motivated by other things. One motivation trumps all the others: he wants to get outta this place. Just for a day, heck, he’d take an hour. Keigo is tired of the same walkway, the same lunch hall, the same dreary views of the city. 

It’s springtime in Japan and Keigo can make his feathers molt. It’s a newer skill, one he’s withholding from his handlers for the time being. Maybe if he feigns a cough, he can pretend to be sick? He’s gotten pretty good at acting now. That was another one of his classes. It was like a, how to deceive someone 101. Actually, it was prolly called something like ‘Espionage for Tots’. 

It was fun. He liked the smiles and serious faces he was asked to make. They should have slapped a big: “please, Keigo, don’t use these skills to deceive us” disclaimer on the door. He liked the guy that taught it, too. He was a short, unassuming man, but he would genuinely grin at Keigo each time he walked through the door for his session. Oh, wait. Was that just an act? He’d have to ask him. Boy, he’s good if it was. He needs to shore up his own skills…

He could always pretend that an imaginary sick day was part of the lesson. Look! My poor feathers, they’re molting, how sad. Also, cough, cough, I feel ill. No, ill is a bad choice of words. Ahem, I mean, I don’t feel so good. Can I lay down? Maybe prop open my window, for the fresh air. Oh no! I accidentally swooped out. Cough, cough.  

Keigo isn’t even sure what he’d do with himself if he could manage to sneak out. It’s not like he’s not noticeable. He’s sporting at least 7 feet of ruby red plumage now. Well, if he’s gonna plan an escape, he might as well do it-

“Keigo,” it’s a sharp voice, and it startles him out of his musings. It belongs to one of the head handlers. Kaori? Yeah, that’s her name. Eh, the one she’d given him at least. She’s nice enough, a little rough around the edges at times, but she’s fair. Maybe, oh, maybe he can ask her about-

“Are you listening, Keigo? We need to go. The provost was expecting us over an hour ago. Where have you been? Mai couldn’t find you so she asked me to look for you.”

“I was up there.” Keigo points, his chin lifting to follow his movement, wings fluttering against his back. Despite her tone, Kaori doesn’t seem too upset. Her heartbeat is normal. But, that didn’t mean much around here.

“Up there?” Kaori’s tone is faint and a little awed. She turns her violet gaze to his, pursing her lips into a thin line. “Since when?”

“It’s been, ah, three months and sixteen days since I first made it to that perch. They didn’t like that I went so far. Eiichi said he was going to document it though. I mean, it ain’t too far. Guess I can go for a lower spot next time. I just like that I can see more up there, it makes it-”

“No, no. It’s fine Keigo. Don’t say “ain’t,” it’s slang. I suppose it has been awhile since I’ve seen you. How old are you now? Ten?”

“Eleven,” Keigo replies, his back straightening, wings arching beside his head.

“Mmm, eleven. Gosh, you’re growing up fast,” Kaori’s reply is sharp, practiced. Keigo rolls his eyes. She wanted to spark a reaction out of him. See if he’ll puff up with joy or grow sullen with her mistake of thinking he’s younger than he is. It’s easier to assign him extra training than really deal with him. At least, that’s what some of his handlers seemed to think. 

“Have you seen the news?” Kaori asks, violet eyes resting on his amber ones. “There’s a mission coming up. Endeavor’s agency is taking it on.”

Keigo feels his wings lifting again, but he quickly suppresses the motion, his shoulders hunching forward. He never, ever, wanted to seem too eager. Not when they’d primed him for such an obvious tell. It’s not like they didn’t know what heroes he admired. 

Yeah, Keigo had seen the news. He was permitted two hours of television each day. Most blocks were taken up with watching the latest developments. Sometimes he would shift the channel to a cartoon, but the television time would be lessened if he watched nonsense for too long. No, the tv was for educational purposes only, not for leisure or fun. He’d heard that line enough to have it memorized. 

“What about it?” Keigo asks, falling into step with Kaori. She’s taking the long way back to his next lesson. Clearly, she’s wanting to glean something from him. 

“Well, I was thinking it might be beneficial for you to observe the mission.”

“What, like on CCTV or something?”

“No. In person. We would need to fit into the crowd, but this mission has been widely publicized, it’s a miracle the villain’s haven’t heard about it.”

“That, or they want the fight.”

Kaori laughs. “Very good, excellent observation. You’ve improved Keigo. Consider this a set date. I will personally escort you to the mission viewing point. At the end of the exercise, I would like to hear your opinion on the matter.”

Keigo bites his tongue. 

It’s too slick again, too obvious. The mission Kaori mentioned fits the profile of a raid, not the everyday, run of the mill, villain sting. Endeavor’s agency had been squaring up with the lower level fighting rings for months now. This was just another day for him. The number two hero promised to clean up crime and he was following through with that assertion. 

So, why take him to see it now? Why did it matter if Keigo saw it in person? The data and video would be uploaded the next day to the HPSC database, he could just watch it and take notes then. 

Why is she doing this?

Keigo chances a glance at her face. She’s pale, stern and stoic above him. Her heels click on the tiles and her back is ramrod straight. A few feathers bristle, feeling, listening, nah, her pulse is steady too. It’s hopeless. Maybe this is the challenge? Something to test him, to try and see if he can get a read on the unreadable?

“What’s the point of me going? What good does it do? My data sheets haven’t slipped enough to call for anything like this.”

“Don’t be so critical of everything Keigo,” Kaori scolds him, her purple eyes lingering on his spreading plumage. “It’s not a test, it’s not a drill. I just...I can remember what it was like to be a teenager and be trapped doing something I didn’t want to do.”

Again, Keigo is silent after her declaration. He’s not really sure how to answer. Pragmatic, logical, even angry responses, he’s used to those. This? What is this? Some kinda misplaced empathy? He never would have placed an empathetic bone in Kaori’s body before today. 

They pause at the provost’s doorway and Kaori places an arm on his shoulder, demanding his attention with her strong grip. 

“Let me know by tomorrow.” 

And, with that, she’s gone, pacing down the long hallway, her heels tapping a sharp tattoo against the flooring. Keigo narrows his eyes, avian pupils dilating, focusing. Sure, maybe it was just an opportunity, a chance for him to get out of the headquarters for a while, but there’s always a catch. 

******

The email comes a few hours later. 

Keigo is sprawled across his bed, his wings tucked safely along his shoulders as he flips through his textbook. He lifts his head from his pillow and sighs heavily at the familiar chime from his computer. It’s either more geometry problems or it’ll have something to do with what Kaori was discussing: The Endeavor mission.

His wings shift and rustle as he stands. He’s agitated, on edge. He dislikes being maneuvered into a corner. No matter what the email is over, he’ll feel obligated to say yes. Even if it’s by default. 

Keigo steps up to his computer, his long fingers racing over the keypad, typing in his encrypted password. As he waits for the screen to load, his eyes fall to the battered figurine beside his monitor. 

It’s the Endeavor toy. He’s kept it all these years, safe and sound, in each bedroom he’s moved to. The flames are dull and his bright blue uniform is more mottled than cobalt, but it’s still a tiny piece of his other life. 

His father had given it to him. It was years ago. He hadn’t thought he was going to get anything for his birthday, but then, his father had flown in, his own plumage glimmering against the dying sunlight and presented four year old Keigo with the toy. He had clutched it to him, his eyes shining and bright. 

“Dad! Ah, how did you know?” 

His father had beamed at him, his eyes softening at the sight of his son’s genuine smile. Keigo didn’t smile a lot back then. Their life was too tumultuous, too chaotic. There was too much at stake. His father had gathered him up and pressed the button that activated the toy’s internal voice box. Keigo had squealed with delight and wrapped his arms around his father’s neck. 

Now, Keigo traces a single finger along the top of the Endeavor’s head, running along the dimmed flames. He’s seen a decent amount of coverage on the number two hero lately. He’d even gone as far as studying his moves. Not that it mattered. His quirk would never be a match for the flame heroes skills. But, he had to admire the guy. 

He was constantly overshadowed, outranked and outclassed by All Might. Still, Endeavor pushed forward. He’s the only one who really tried to overtake the number one hero. It was both impressive and, well, kinda pathetic, desperate even. All the same, Keigo kept hunting for news of the number two. Once you have a favorite, Keigo reasoned, you tend to stick with them. 

Tearing his eyes away from the little figurine, Keigo clicks on the new email. He blinks a few times, even rubs his eyes. No, no way. He spreads his fingers along the computer’s trackpad, enhancing the words. Yeah, no, it’s really there. 

It’s the list. 

Remember? The one with all the HPSC’s approved names for him? 

It’s, well, it’s even more anticlimactic than he was expecting. Damn, it’s over three pages of the most asinine, inane bullshit. Two bad words, oh no, and in one sentence. In his defense, this crap deserved a whole string of curse words.  

There are names like: REDWING, Darkbird, Vulture, WINGMAN, Canary, Condor, RED Condor, Northwind, Zauriel, Red jay, WING. God, it’s just page after page of trash. Whomever they paid to create this, well, they needed a new day job. Might as well just call him: BIRDBOY or something. Sighing, Keigo clicks out of the email, his plumage lifting and lowering, feathers rustling again, perturbed. Yeah, he’s got wings. So what? That’s not all he is.  

Keigo is about to pace back to his bed when another email chimes in. Groaning, he doesn’t even look at the sender before opening it. Oh.

It’s from Kaori and the head of the HPSC. They were wanting to confirm the viewing of the Endeavor mission. Both felt that it was a good use of Keigo’s time and the HPSC’s resources. They just need his answer.

Funny, Keigo thinks, tapping a quick reply, they always like to pretend that he has a say in things. 

******

He’s never been a tall kid. He’s not sure if it’s his quirk or something genealogical. Quirk makes the most sense. It’s hard enough to lug his own tiny body around, he can’t even imagine trying to pull someone like Endeavor into the air. 

Keigo’s seen the number two plenty of times. God, hundreds and hundreds of times, really. But, he’s not prepared for the hulk of a man that is standing before him. Enji Todoroki, that’s his real name. Most heroes don’t hide their civilian names. No, they’re all listed in the databases of the HPSC and open for public scrutiny. Keigo shifts on the balls of his feet, his toes tapping against the pavement. Apparently, that’s not going to be an option for him.

Kaori had sat, prim and proper, next to him in the long black car as they drove to the mission site. Her violet eyes were dull flints of purple as she relayed the news: 

“They need you to pick a name, Keigo. You’re old enough now and the data has shown that you’re learning how to control your quirk. The advancements we’ve seen in the last few months have been outstanding. The HPSC wants you to start making a name for yourself, publicly. We’re hoping, in six or so years, you’ll be operating on a professional level. 

So, look over those names and pick one. Once you do, you’ll no longer go by Keigo Takami. No, that name will be expunged from the records.”

Why? He’d wanted to ask. Why can’t he keep his name? Does it really matter? What were they going to do with him? Why was he even in this program? There were so many questions racing through his mind. But, he just nodded and looked out the window. 

What good did it do to ask? They weren’t going to tell him anything. This was all just another manipulation. They always tried, so, so hard to let him feel like he had a say in his name, in his life, in anything. In reality, he was just their little puppet, floating along on a tight string. 

Keigo looked over the police tape to Endeavor again. Even the number two hero got to keep his name. What makes Keigo so different?

“They’ll be rushing the entrance soon,” Kaori says, her arms crossed, her pressed suit dark against the bright sunlight. “You might be able to see it a little better if you move to the other end of the street.” 

Keigo looks up at her, his eyes impassive. Kaori, sensing his gaze, blinks down at him. “Don’t go far. Consider this a small reward for good behavior. I know what I told you in the car can’t have been easy to hear. Don’t make me regret giving you a little more freedom.” 

For a long moment, Keigo is still. 

He wants to dash off. He’s never done that. It would be nice to place a little distance between him and his handler. Plus, he’s outside. It’s a beautiful day, just puffy clouds and the fresh, clean smell of springtime. Well, and the hustle and bustle of the raid that is unfolding across the street. He looks up at Kaori and her violet eyes lift away from him. She shakes her head and a small smile creeps across her lips. 

“Go on, you better hurry. Endeavor’s about to enter the building.”

It’s all the prodding he needs. Like a shot, Keigo is dashing through the crowd. A few people clamor around him, their voices distant, complaints and admonishments ringing over his golden head. He rounds the street corner and his wings lift, testing the air, trying to tug him into the skies. 

Amber eyes flash as he looks for the perfect spot. Ah-ha! There’s a low, tiled roof across the street. If he can get up to the second story he should be able to see into the back of the compound Endeavor is conducting the raid on.

His back aches, muscles tired and straining, but he ignores the sting. His wings lap against the warm air and, just like that, he’s landing on the roof, his sneakers bright against the dark tile. Keigo turns back to the compound. Yes! Perfect! He can see everything. His wings settle along his shoulders, still lifted as he crouches down, the plumage vibrating, listening.

Keigo can hear some of the transmission between the heroes. Their radios are switched up and the static sound makes his nose wrinkle. It feels fuzzy, almost like he’s stepped on a live wire. Apparently, Endeavor is about to move into the exposed courtyard and Keigo sits up straighter, his wings spreading, cupping under the low wind. He’s so focused on catching sight of the number two that he doesn’t hear the warning cry.

No, he only notices the danger when it’s too late.

His feathers bristle, arching, quivering, reacting as a set of talons rips into his delicate plumage. His wings throb. It stings and he feels the anger, the rage that is coursing through the culprit that’s attacking him. Their screams make his ears ache and he rolls away, his hands instinctively covering his head, protecting himself from the sudden onslaught. His golden eyes are narrowed and searching. What the hell-

The pieces fit into place when he sees her. 

It’s a hawk. She’s already taken to the skies, her dark wings wheeling her back to the roof. She lifts upward, the strong winds carrying her high, against the clouds. Then, she’s diving, her feathers bracing along her sides, propelling her at a terrifying speed. 

She’s headed straight for him. 

Keigo, unthinkingly, rolls out of the way, his own wings flaring open and flapping him a good ten feet or so, hopefully placing him out of range. The hawk pulls up, another scream echoing across the sky. She wheels around, her sharp beak and eyes trained on him. Keigo’s foot slips against the uneven surface of the roof and he bites his lip, his ankle twisting painfully. 

“Hey! Keigo! Oh, there you are. Come on! The raid is wrapping up, we need to get back.”

Kaori’s voice shudders up his spine, his oversensitive wings making her sound like a foghorn. Wait. The raid is over? He whirls back to the compound, his eyes scanning, flashing in his agitation. 

No. No, no, no. 

She’s right. Endeavor and his sidekicks are already back at the front of the building, he can’t even see them clearly from here. He’s missed his chance. Damn it. 

It’s not fair, he thinks, a misting of tears clouding his sight. He’d been so close. And now? Now, he’s gotta go back to that stupid building. Now, they’re going to take away his name and force him to do even more training. Who knows when he’ll get out again. It’s just, it’s not freaking fair.

Keigo wipes his arm against his eyes, pulling the moisture across his sleeve. He can’t let Kaori see him cry. He hasn’t cried in years. He’s not going to give them the satisfaction of knowing that he still...wait...what’s that?

Across the rooftop, close to where his original perch was, is a nest. It looks clumsy, like it might fall off into open space at any moment. It’s held together with a spattering of twigs and sticks, but there’s movement. Keigo lowers his arm, his wings lifting again, feeling. There’s one...no...there’s two chicks inside. They feel soft. Their heartbeats are fluttering, like a butterfly’s wing.  

He looks down at Kaori. She’s standing on the street corner, shielding her eyes from the sun as she peers up at him. Keigo lifts his hand so she can see, one finger raised, silently asking her for a little more time. Kaori groans, he can hear her exhale from here, and nods, lowering her gaze, one hand propped on her jutted hip.

“Be quick about it, Keigo.” 

He lets his wings bevel over his shoulders and he hops, carefully, slowly, across the tiles. As he gets closer, two pairs of yellow eyes peer at him, half hidden in the tangle of twigs. He grins and leans up, wanting to look a little…

The hawk, quick as lightning clatters in front of the nest, shielding her chicks from his curious observation. Her wings flare at his proximity, her beak open, sharp. She clicks a warning, her feathers spreading. Keigo mimics her display, his own wings fanning out and the hawk tilts her head, surprised. Her eyes blink, the dark orange shifting from agitated to quizzical. Slowly, her wings lower, draping along her back. Talons shift against the tiles and she chirps at him. It’s a different sound, less challenging. It's almost like a question.

Keigo lifts one of his hands, his fingers balled into a fist and gingerly extends his arm, his shoes sliding closer. She lifts her wings and glides a little nearer, her head still tilted in that exaggerated way. She chirps at him again and lowers her head. If he reaches out a little further he could stroke a finger down her feathers. Just a bit…

“Keigo!” 

The sound of his name startles him and the hawk. She yanks from his touch and launches herself back into the skies. Keigo watches her, fascinated by the ease, the grace that she moves with. As he’s admiring her fluidity, a single feather flutters to his feet. He almost misses it. The wind starts to catch it, pulling it away, but he snatches it up, his fingers careful to not crush the barbs. 

“Keigo, I’m not going to ask again...”

He uses his wings to help him down the side of the building. The verdant plumage is swelling, arching behind him. It feels different. Keigo lowers them against his back, mirroring the way the hawk had draped them, the feathers close to his skin. It helps. They don’t feel like something that he’s untethered from when he holds them like that. He’s still basking in his discovery when Kaori steps toward him, one brow arched.

“You know better than that, Keigo. Didn’t I ask you to not make me regret giving you a little more freedom? Come on, we’re overdue. What’s that in your hand?”

“Nothing,” Keigo replies, tucking the hawk’s feather into his jean pocket. She was so pretty, fierce and quick.

“You put any thought into any of the names on the lists? We were thinking your hero name should be-”

“Hawks,” Keigo replies, his wings stretching behind him, shimmering in the bright sunlight. “I wanna be called Hawks.”

Notes: bb Keigo is too cute, I couldn’t resist.

Tags: @hawksweek2020​, @spicy-skull, 

[evasjacks]

ajshdjad okay spill abt the flight attendant headcanons

wow u forced my hand there was no stopping this ig

flight attendant nikolai <3

this was,,,a joint effort so like @tricewithaz​ and annie get tagged but anYwaY

zoya getting on a plane and she's a lawyer cuz i said so, probably meeting some client, probably hasn't slept in three weeks and this. fucking. flight attendant is running around with the biggest smile, talking to all the little kids, entertaining the adults and making jokes into the mic every once in a whil

nikolai ofc wants to impress ✨everyone✨

so he keeps stopping by to tell a joke or offer her a drink but she jus rolls her eyes and grunts when he tries to talk to her

so nikolais like. wow. this is my calling. my whole life has been leading up to this moment. I need to get this pretty lady to talk to me.

here’s the thing tho,,, zoya. zoya when she sleeps. you cannot wake her. now zoya when shes been surviving off nothing but coffee for WEEKS. dont even try.

the plane reaches its destination

zoya is completely passed out, right? head buried in her arms and just curled up in what looks like a very uncomfortable travel position but,,, somehow it works.

anyway nikolai, dutiful flight attendant comes to wake her up. he tries talking to her, shaking her shoulder (she shoves him away without waking up) “we’re herre!! cmon wake up miss...” he frowns, sees a laptop bag tucked under her chai, checks it. grins. “zoooyaa !! ✨miss zoya✨ zoOOOOyyaAA”

unsurprisingly, none of this works.

the plane lands. everyone is quick to get up, nikolai helps a few with their bags, high fives some children and then its empty. and zoya. is still. asleep.

and for a second nikolai just looks at this beautiful stranger who clearly hasn’t slept in ages and is impossible to wake up. and he just smiles a bit. he can wait a little while, right? so he goes back to the cabin and gets a blanket, drapes it around her shoulders, then finds a comfy place to sit and reads. 

when zoya wakes up, the plane is strangely silent- where’d the mother with those two screaming twins go? did she finally get them to be quiet?- she looks to her right and frowns. its empty. she bolts upright- the only reasons a plane would be empty are al very, very bad. did they crash? did they land? had she been kidnapped? was this all a dream?

nikolai strolls in and looks almost amused at her reaction

“mornin sleeping beauty”

she cuts him a sharp glare- blanket still around her shoulder, hair messy from sleep, slightly unsteady on her feet. still, her glare is murderous.

nikolai just grins, crosses his arms and very seriously asked, “miss zoya when was the last time you slept?”

somehow that glare increases tenfold “i sleep just fine” 

very obviously a lie miss im-zoya-nazyalensky-i-dont-need-internal-organs-and-i-sure-as-hell-dont-need-sleep

now shes very annoyed with the flight attendant, decides she’s got too much to do to worry about this, shrugs off the blanket- how did that even get there?- and starts struggling to get her bags down. she’s very short and one of the suitcases seems to be stuck, but then she stops dead and whips around to look at him “wait, how do you know my name?”

nikolai just raises a brow and goes “its written on your bags”

zoya shuts her eyes, feeling quite dumb, and goes for another quetsion, still struggling to get the bag down “why didn’t you wake me? I have things to do, you know”

nikolai, ever the hero, just smiles to himself, comes up behind her and gets them down for her. shes not blushing, okay? shes not. 

"you seemed to need the sleep" he hands her the bags. he winks "besides you looked cute"

she looks at him, she’s a bit tired and he’s super handsome and nice and his hair is ridiculously perfect and-

she snaps out of it, glancing around “are we even allowed to be here?”

“technically? I dont think so”

".... can we get out of here?" "oh yea i have the keys" he teases, winking. he tries to help with her other bag but she insists on dragging them all with her, so he shrugs and starts leading the way to the door.

he tries it

locked.

frowns, pushes against it with his shoulder.

not locked, stuck.

zoya panics- the claustrophobia is kicking in and all she can hear is the word trapped repeating in her head- her aunt died in a plane crash, and she never really got over the fear of them since. so she starts slamming her fists against the door, shouting. her hearts beating wildly, shes not focusing. nikolai catches on, tries to calm her down, then picks up his phone and calls the airport, explains the situation.

they laugh at him. “again, lantsov?” but promise to send someone.

he shoves his phone in his pocket and tells zoya but she still seems panicked- like seriously panicked, eyes wide, fidgeting with her fingers, pacing two steps back and forth in the small space so he starts talking, trying to keep her focus on him, to calm her down, he even blocks her path so she cant pace.

but she literally looks terrified and it tugs at his heart, so he suddenly pulls her into a hug. and at first she’s confused- i mean zoya nazyalensky does not do hugs. not normally. but he’s warm, and nice and she leans into the embrace, clinging to him. 

and hes talking softly to her now, straightening her hair and for some reason its comforting. she can’t name why- maybe she really does need more sleep- but it just is.

“i’ll get us out, i promise- either that or I’ll sue the airport” she bites back a smile, “i’m a lawyer, and you literally can’t”

and for a few moments they stay like that, and her breathing calms, her heartrate slows and she feels better. still, she doesn’t let go. neither does he.

then the door they’re standing beside clicks and screeches as it’s forced open. zoya jumps back as two workers help them out and shes just muttering thanks and grabbing her stuff to leave as quickly as possible.

nikolai catches up to her, running up the ramp as she practically stomps away lugging her bags behind.

“well miss zoya, after our little adventure, I’m sure you need to recharge- let me invite you to dinner”

she glances back, frowns. “don’t you have another flight?”

he does. “nope.”

and for some reason

she agrees.

this is so long but if someone were to request part two which is definitely alr planned I would be forced to write it as well oops <3

[meldy-writes]

Luckiest Girl in the World (Daryl Dixon X Wife! Reader)

Context:So I have an alt AO3 because for some reason I didn’t think a walking dead fic fit with the fanfictions I had under my Pen Name’s account, but at this point, I don’t think it really matters. Anyway, there’s this Daryl X Reader fic I’m writing on this alt account and I’m at the point where I’m writing two ways the story could branch, and there’s this little scene from the path I didn’t take that could work as a drabble. If you like this, or if you want to read the fic for context, it’s here. Be warned, it’s pretty long.

Summary: The Reader has been with the group since the CDC, and along the way, she fell in love and married Daryl Dixon. Now they’re in Alexandria and Aiden, one of Deanna’s sons has begun to harbor a crush. He doesn’t seem to realize that she’s taken. (Daryl’s not really mentioned until the last couple of paragraphs, but I thought those paragraphs were cute enough to warrant this being tagged as an x reader fic.)

Aiden sat at the top of the fence with her, casually leaning back in his seat. The front legs of the plastic chair were off the ground, his feet planted as he rocked back and forth.

“You’re gonna to fall backwards, you know.” (y/n) stated.

“You worried I’m going to get hurt?” he teased, leaning even farther back.

“No. In fact, I think it’d be funny. I just don’t want your mommy to yell at me.”

He let out a snort and put his arms behind his head as he began to rock back and forth. She rolled her eyes, amusement dancing on her features as she eyed the back legs of the chair in anticipation. As she predicted, they eventually snapped, and Aiden promptly fell backwards just as she’d cautioned.

She let out a barking laugh, and a few people passing by stopped to look up at her as the flushing boy tried to shake off the embarrassment.

“All right, all right, it’s not that funny.”

“Oh, I beg to differ, that was the most entertainin’ thing I’ve seen all week,” she argued, wiping a tear from her eye.

“Then your life must be very boring.” He countered bitterly, his pride hurt just a tad from how demeaning her tone was and how promptly she’d always shut him down.

“Oh, no. it’s not borin’, it’s just not fun, either.”

He finally recovered from his little mishap, tossing the broken chair down into the grass below to be fixed later, and choosing instead to sit against the wall. (y/n) kept to her perch, eyeing the expanse of pavement in front of the fence gate.

“You know, if you can’t find fun, you can always make it. There’s a game a lot of us play when we’re on watch to pass the time, want to play?”

She rolled her eyes. “I gotta keep my eyes on the gate”

“It’s a talking game. You can still keep watch. It’s called The Worst. We each share the worst experience we’ve ever had with something, and the one that’s the most terrible wins the round.” He continued, eyeing her with a charming smirk that, despite his best efforts, she hadn’t registered as flirty, yet.

He was an attractive guy, and after she’d saved his life on that run, and yelled at him, they’d bonded. He’d even swallowed his pride and let her train him. They’d gotten close, and they were both attractive, sarcastic, and confident people, so he couldn’t understand how they weren’t together yet. No matter what he did, she always shut down any plans he tried to make to hang out alone outside of the occasional look-out duty, and she always spoke to him like she was talking to a child. A very stupid child.

He didn’t let it deter him, though. No matter how much it hurt his pride. She’d eventually come around.

She turned her nose up at his suggestion, looking at him like he just told her the sky was green, and she was about to gently tell him he was a dumbass.

“That sounds like a game you don’t wanna play with me.”

He asked her why she felt like that.

“Because you’d always lose.” She stated simply, turning back to the scene past the gate.

“Okay, you don’t always have to play the jaded soldier. This world is shit, it’s fucked us all over one time or another, quit acting like you’re the saddest sack in the world.” He scoffed, smacking her shin with the back of his hand playfully.

She sighed, shrugging her shoulders.

“Alright, then. But if this ends up bummin’ you out, you can’t say I didn’t warn you.”

Internally, he celebrated. This was the first time he’d ever gotten her to agree to something she initially said ‘no’ to. Slowly but surely, he was winning her over, he was sure.

“Alright, easy. Worst night of your life. Mine was that time I left that supply run group behind. Usually, we’d go into detail, explaining what happened, but, you already know about that night ‘cuz I told you about it.” He stated sadly. She’d talked a big game, so he was pulling out the big guns. “What about you?”

Let’s see you top that, Debbie Downer.

She smirked, sensing the challenge in his voice.

“A long time before we all came here, we were stayin’ on Maggie’s dad’s farm. One night, it got overrun by a horde, an’ everyone got separated. I was with Carol, an’ a walker fell on top of me, tryin’ to bite into my shoulder. She thought I was bit, so she left me behind, but I was wearin’ a real thick jacket. I was fine, but I had to cut it open and drench myself in its blood so the herd wouldn’t sniff me out and tear me to shreds. I had to slice my way through a sea of those suckers, an’ then stumble through the woods covered in gunk for a whole day and a half ‘fore I found my people again. That was the first walker I ever killed on my own. Damn terrifyin’.”

He was quiet after that, face white as a sheet as he shuttered and coughed awkwardly.

“Y-your turn to come up with a topic.” He finally uttered.

“Worst walker encounter you ever had. Mine was this time at a mechanic shop out in… It had to be North Carolina. A guy tried to--well, it’s not important what his intentions were, the point was that he had me handcuffed to one of those automatic levers they use in autobody shops to lift cars, an’ I was hoisted off the ground. He had the keys in his front pocket, an’ I’d managed to get his head ‘tween my thighs to snap his neck. I was tryin’ to reach for the keys with my feet when he re-animated. I was strugglin’, I couldn’t go anywhere, I couldn’t use my arms, the only reason I got out of it was ‘cuz he accidentally bumped up against the control for the lift, and his head ended up crushed under the mechanism. I’ve had a lot of close calls, but I think that was the only time I ever truly felt like I was gonna die.”

Aiden let out a low whistle, letting her words settle. Maybe she’d been right after all. Still, depending on how she saw things, his might still be worse.

“Mine was right at the beginning. My girlfriend was with us while we were traveling for Mom’s campaign. I left for twenty minutes to grab some lunch, and when I got back to our hotel room, she was a walker. I don’t know if she was bitten, or if she had an accident, or if someone… I don’t know. All I know is that I had to kill her with my bare hands just to stay alive. I... dropped the hotel room tv on her head.”

He shuttered at the memory, and to his surprise, he felt (y/n) place her hand on his shoulder and squeeze comfortingly. He grabbed for it, but she pulled away before he could.

“Let’s uh, choose a more up-beat topic,” he continued weakly, “Worst date you ever went on. Mine was this girl Cierra Mauldry in sixth grade. I kissed her goodnight on her porch, and our braces stuck together.”

She laughed at first, but a long-suppressed memory resurfaced at the mention of dates, and instantly she was somber again.

“A guy I worked with at the CDC,” she started softly.

“He’d had a crush on me for a while, an’ I’d just learned that my dad died, so I was in kind of a vulnerable spot. I said yes to grabbin’ dinner together, an’ takin a walk ‘round the facility. When we got back to his room, he wanted to sleep with me, but I didn’t. I didn’t really like him that way, an’ I didn’t think it was fair to him to string him along, so I told him ‘no’, an’ that we should just remain professional from now on. Next day, he didn’t show up in the lab, an’ my boss sent me to go get ‘im. I found him as a walker hangin’ from his closet.” She took a hiccupping breath, reliving the memory in her mind, and scrunching her eyes shut. “Worst part is I cannot, for the life of me, remember his name.”

They were both quiet after that, and soon, they heard Spencer calling up to relieve (y/n) from her shift. She grinned sympathetically down and Aiden, and gave him the goodbye of:

“Told you it was a bad game to play with me.”

Still, when she got up, he scrambled to his feet as well grabbing her arm to stop her before she made her way down the ladder.

“Well, hey, I still had fun. I got to know you a bit better. I’d like to continue doing that, maybe you could come over for dinner and eat with my family tonight.”

She smiled the smile she usually did; like she was talking to a slow, and simple child.

“I’m sorry, Aiden, but tonight’s not great. Daryl’s gotten kind of close with his recruitn’ buddy, and his husband wants us to come to dinner tonight so he can finally properly meet me.”

Aiden scrunched up his eyes in confusion.

“What? What does Daryl getting close with them have to do with you? If they wanted to get to know you, couldn’t they just approach you without having to go through him?”

She smiled wider like he’d said something adorably stupid, as she clarified:

“I didn’t explain it very well, It’s more like a couple’s dinner party sort-of thing.”

Aiden blinked. What? What the fuck? Was she insinuating that she and Daryl were… she couldn’t be, right?

“You and Daryl are together?”

She nodded as if his statement was beyond obvious, “we’re married,” she corrected.

He squeezed his eyes closed, trying to picture the violent, mean, constantly dirty guy with the long, long hair together with the clever, beautiful, and secretly caring woman he’d been trying to flirt with for the past week and a half, but he just couldn’t picture it.

“How?” he blurted out.

“How do people get married?” she teased flatly.

“No, how did you two end up together? You’re so different!”

She smiled softly, looking down at her fingers as she began to twiddle them. This smile was different than any of the ones he’d reluctantly wrangled out of her. This one was genuine, and bashful, and affectionate, and dazzling. Aiden knew it wasn’t for him, and it almost felt like he was intruding on something he shouldn’t be just by looking at her.

“He an’ I are a lot more alike than people realize. We’re more alike than even he realizes, I think. That doesn’t matter though. These days, it’s not about whether you’re similar, or if you’ve known each other for a long time, it’s all about who you can trust and depend on. It’s about who you’d die for, and who’d die for you. We might not have ended up together in the old world, but in this one, we’ve got somethin’ strong. Somethin’ special.”

She grinned brightly, practically knocking the breath out of her companion as she looked him in the eyes and said, “I’m the luckiest girl in the world.”

With that, his grip on her arm retracted, and she finally made her way down the ladder. He watched her walk down the street and run into the man they’d just been discussing. He watched as she strode over to him, and gripped his leather vest, trying to pull him down for a kiss.

He noticed how Daryl grinned fondly and put his hands on her waist, placing a quick peck on the tip of her nose. He noticed how she leaned into him with her whole body. He noticed how the sun reflected off the ring on her finger, the ring he had not gathered was supposed to be a wedding ring until that moment. He noticed how soft Daryl was for her when no one else was around.

Or maybe, he was always like this around her, and Aiden had just been too absorbed in himself to realize.

[calypsoff2]

Seven.

Answering the call from Jen “hey, I am going to the hospital now. I said I could pop into the office if you need me too? I am in New York anyways” Jen started laughing, looking over at Imani singing her heart out like really singing her heart out, even Rich had to look at her and then laugh “what happened to you not letting them girls listen to you” rolling my eyes “how could I ever keep the music away from them, Imani has a new favourite and all she keeps singing is Only Girl, as you can hear. Auntie Jen loves it baby” Imani waved at me, all she keeps doing is saying only girl for everything “she waved but yeah, I am going to get Chris. I just have Imani with me, I can pop in and see but you need to go home after that. Fenty has closed for the holidays” she is crazy “I know but when I heard what happened to Chris I had to come and just close a few things, just pop in and sign off these so we can be ready for the New Year, how is Chris anyways? Is he well” Jen asked “again!” Imani spat, Rich looked at Imani “one more, please” she is going to drive him crazy “your cuteness gets me, fine” my daughter is crazy “he is well thank you, just happy he is out. His lung inflated; they kept him in last night. Just to see if he can be well without oxygen and all that but he was ok so yeah, he is discharged now. I am glad, now we can go home and celebrate Christmas, the mothers have gone to California, you know what I mean by the mothers?” I am sure she does “Joyce and Monica?” I knew she knew “yeah, they want to do the home up for the grandkids so yeah. But come on the jet with us, we can take you home. No more work, Fenty will be fine” I chuckled “sorry, I am so invested in this. I should go back to being your assistant really” she is right, she had an easier job with being just that.

Disconnecting the call looking over at Imani, she really loves Only Girl, I blame her sisters. There was a point where I kind of stopped them listening to my music because I don’t regret some songs but there aren’t the ones I want them to listen too. I will never forget Rylee’ face when she saw Pour it Up, I couldn’t turn that off fast enough, but she saw, and she looked at me different. I am mommy to them, and all that shit is not what they see, she just turned to me and said that you. But it’s hard, I want my daughters to see me as their mother not just the slut shamed image the public see and like to call me, a slut. I didn’t stay with Chris last night, even though he called me and remained on the phone for most of the night. I just didn’t want to sit with him because he will just see me being sad, what was said between me and TJ will probably just stay like that, I do not want to tell Chris about it. I rather he didn’t know just because it will ruin that friendship, Chris will dislike that. He kept pushing for me to tell him, kept saying what happened. What is wrong, why were you upset. He knows I was upset; he knew something was off, but I got to sleep in a bed with my daughters. I left the older two with Rajad, I didn’t want him to be stuck with three. They will both listen to him; with Imani it just takes one second to not pay attention to her. I didn’t want him to have that stress, it’s unfair so I bought her with me.

Stepping off of the elevator with Rich “daddy!” Imani yelped out, she didn’t waste a second at all. Chris has been waiting for us to come and me to come with clothes, he hates those hospital gowns “awww little mama, be careful now” they cute now, Chris picked her up. I like to see him out and walking around but I wonder why he is just out of bed “miss me baby, oh wow. Lots of hugs eh” Imani has a grip around his neck “I love you so much” Chris wrapped his arms around her close “I been waiting for you, just walking around” Chris opened his arm, placing my arm around his back. His gave me a little squeeze “I love my girls so much” Imani moved back from Chris and looked at me “you going to show daddy your singing?” Chris groaned out “I don’t need to be hearing two out of key people now” I scoffed moving away from him “you are so annoying, come on then. Get changed, Rajad picked these. I couldn’t be bothered to leave and get you some stuff” realising the nurses are staring with heart eyes, some with phones but I just didn’t say anything. Chris turned around to walk off, Rich is telling them anyways.

Smiling lightly at Imani as she watched YouTube on her dad’ phone, this is the only reason she is quiet, or she will be running riot but Chris is getting changed so we are just waiting “what is happening there Imani? Doggy looks sad” I wonder if she understands it at all “look mommy, it sad” she held the phone up to me, I chuckled “but why is it sad? What happened” Imani looked up at me “that doggy gone so it’s sad” letting out an oh “I see, are you sad about it?” I questioned “a little bit mommy but it’s ok” my poor baby, she is being sensitive “tell my brother in law he got style, thank you” looking up from the phone, seeing Chris coming out of the bathroom “awww my handsome husband, you look so well. How is it? Is there a little scaring there?” I haven’t even seen it, Chris came over to me “just a little one, they said it will disappear anyways” he lifted the top up, looking at his chest “yeah I can see it now I am staring at it, you will be fine” he let the top fall “so you want to talk about it then?” furrowing my eyebrows “huh?” I am confused on what he is speaking about “why were you upset? It’s been on my mind, you came back from being out there with TJ and then came back in sad, why? Please tell me” letting out an oh, shaking my head “I am fine, just was missing you. Everything gotten on top of me, that is it” I don’t want to tell Chris about what happened, or even about his friend because my husband doesn’t have many friends, Chris stared at me. He is not happy at all; he knows I am lying “hello?” Chris looked away from me “nigga” hearing Herb say “Herbert! My man” Chris went over to him.

Herb is nice, he is such a good man and I like that he is always calling Chris constantly and always making sure he is well. This is Chris’ first artist under this little label he did which is linked to my record label, Chris wanted to do this, and I let it happen. But Chris is good, he does a lot for him “when I heard cuz, I was in the studio and then I heard Chris Brown hurt, I was like what bro? I called you and then no answer, then I found where you were at. I came here but damn, have they found the dude?” Herb asked “yeah, the police did. The driver died on impact, so he is getting time. The driver was drunk, he was driving so fast straight at us too. I was so scared, the thing is. All I could think about is my wife and my girls, they need me. The police were getting me out, they thought the cars were going to explode so they are getting me out, I was like I need to get out. I can’t leave my kids alone. Scared me so much” Chris explained, he is remembering more and more, and I like that “broke my heart seeing your wife like that, it was heart breaking. She just looked so lost, and honestly I would be there for them girls. I would protect them like they my own on god, I got you” that is sweet of him “and I believe you on that, thank you for coming. You messaged me, you said you was, but I didn’t think you would have come but you did. I appreciate it, it’s love” Chris got up from the bed and went over to him “same Herb, it was nice that you came out. I am excited for the future with you” Imani ran over to Chris and grabbed on his leg “you a rascal” Herb pointed laughing; she doesn’t want to share Chris.

Getting out of the SUV just laughing my ass off, Chris has had enough of Imani singing Only Girl, she adores that song too much “man, I can’t deal anymore. I am done with you” I cackled, Chris side eyed on me “hey, get her out of the car please. Don’t’ forget my baby” laughing at his displeasure at Imani, she put the song on two more times “Rihanna, how are you?” seeing paparazzi, I didn’t even realise he was here “good, I am happy” I can hear Imani signing still “get out of this car” Chris placed Imani down on the ground, she started walking over to me “Chris, my man. Welcome back, you good?” walking off as Chris held Imani’ hand “good, I am blessed to be here thank you” the security held the door open for us, I miss being here. I truly enjoy being in this work building but of course I haven’t been here, also the building is empty because everyone is home for the holidays “so good to see my family!” Jen spat, I cooed out “oh my wife, I missed you” hugging Jen close “missed you so much too” Jen is always there for me, I don’t even need to ask. I didn’t ask her to come here but she did, she knows that business needed to be done.

Seeing my girls ever so happy to see their dad back, they are all over him and I love that “awww man, you girls are showing me so much love. Let’s go and sit down come” Chris said, they are all wanting a hug from him, so he walked off to sit down with them. Jen has come back with us because we are going back to Cali and she might as well come back with us, Mel has gone back to Barbados to spend Christmas over there, I wished her well and she said we will talk when she is back so whatever, I guess we will talk then “the girls are so happy, look at them” Jen said behind me, turning to her “I am so glad he is ok, I was so worried that he was worse then what it was but all is well. My girls relay on him, as you can see” Jen nodded her head “I do, it’s sad because it’s always Chris” I groaned out “don’t, you know what. I am sick of people taking him for a ride, like he is a good guy. He is being so kind, but people take it too far, it just pisses me off you know?” Jen’ eyes widened “you seem pissed?” she said, I sniggered “I am pissed off at some things and people, I feel like a certain person knew you know. But I am going to move on, I am going to enjoy Christmas with my loved ones and look to the future. Chris will have a bodyguard too” Jen raised an eyebrow “what happened?” she questioned “just that he didn’t have the right help and people, if Chris had a bodyguard he would have been home with me” I am trying to not name the people because that is my argument, that is on me to deal with “Robyn” I jumped, I didn’t expect Chris here behind me “I really want to know what upset you?” he ain’t forgetting “there were tears of joy” he isn’t letting it go clearly “but-” he got cut off “I think Rylee wants you” he is busy, he needs to spend time with these girls now.

I breathed out in annoyance, not something I wanted to see right now, and he is here right in my face for what “why?” I said to Chris, looking at him “oh he is going home to Cali too so why not” this is my jet, he is travelling home on my fucking jet after he fucking spoke on my eggs and what I produce, you have got to be kidding me “calm down Robyn” I said to myself, I have to calm down and just get on with it. He is in my private hanger and going on my jet, like who is this fucking man. Let me not do this, I can do it. Rich opened the door for me, getting out of the SUV in a huff. TJ looked at me and I just glared at him, he can go and fuck himself “girls, be careful now. Rich can you just walk with them, Chris please take care of Imani” these kids like to just run off when they need to be careful, there is planes around. Walking to the second SUV that came, Jen was in this one and our bags “Robyn” I walked faster, I want him to not bother me “Robyn” TJ said again, I stopped walking “what?” I said, he shouldn’t even speak to me, but I am not going to make a scene “I am sorry” turning to him and I had to laugh “for what?” I questioned “I shouldn’t have spoken to you like that, but you were doing the most with me. Like the shit you were saying was upsetting to me” I sniggered “truth hurts TJ, you know I haven’t said anything to him about this or you wouldn’t be here” TJ gets so uptight very quick “that’s on you, I said what needed to be said to you. Likewise to you, you cried because you know what you need to do, I am taking up for Chris like you are too right? You are here for Chris, so am I. My brother wants, if you can’t then so be it. Camron will be there” looking over at Chris holding Imani in his arm and walking with Camron “he’s there because I let it happen” which is true “you mean Chris does, I tried with you Robyn. You’re just as stubborn as you were then, I guess shit don’t change” he walked off, he seems so smug and that alone is annoying when I am trying to be civil for Chris.

[nuoyipeach]

Back To Normal (haerene)

So this is a really reaLLY REALLY long one, and 75% based on a dream I had that was too good not to write. (other 25% are parts made up cuz as usual my dreams don't make sense)

Dec.10 2019

•••

Joohyun couldn't do anything. She sat on the ground, weeping into the bed, holding the towel around her body. She kept looking at her phone and back, not knowing who or what to call. All she did know was that she got herself into this messed up life, and only she can get herself out if it.

Joohyun was a woman of her own. Her father died when she was three, and since then her mother did her best to raise her to be strong. And she was definitely proud of her outcome.

But she didn't think giving Joohyun a strong personality would cause her to make such stupid decisions. A day came that neither expected. The landlord of their house came in, claiming if her mother didn't marry him, he'd have them evicted. Though they could afford to live there, it was the only place they could afford at all. Joohyun thought about a way to save her mother, and gave herself in.

Of course her mother was beyond mad. She claimed Joohyun had no right to such a thing, she was still young and had her whole life ahead of her. But Joohyun still did it, and her mother's last words stuck in her head until today.

If you marry him, you are no longer my child. I raised you to be strong minded, not over confident...

Sadly, Joohyun found out the hard way why the landlord was as such. He had a mental disorder, hence he was sometimes the nicest person alive, but then became the most monstrous one in a split second.

This was known by everyone, but Joohyun had no way of escaping. She now cried as the man had taken all her clothes, even undergarments, and took them away with him to prevent her from leaving the house. All she wanted to do was watch a movie with her friends, but he was as always suspicious.

Her hands bruised, knees scraped, she couldn't take it anymore. She wanted to get out but knew she had no way of such. Her mother cut ties the moment she did this, and she didn't want her friends to get involved since she was never close with them to that extent.

One person appeared in her mind, and no matter how long it's been since they talked she knew he was her only hope. She pulled herself together, and swiped her phone for his name. Once it appeared, her thumb hovered above it.

Donghae

Taking a deep breath, she pressed it, shakily holding the phone against her ear as she remembered what role this man had in her life for the longest of time.

In elementary...

"Haha! Pigtails!"

"Hey stop pulling her hair you idiots!"

Joohyun looked up and saw him, pulling the boys away from her.

Middle school...

"Joohyun, help me with this please..."

"Again? You really need to study harder."

"Why would I when I'll always have you by my side?"

His usual flirting antics. She was so used to it, but it also never failed to fluster her.

High school...

"Where are you going after exams?"

"I don't know Donghae... I'm scared if I can't get a scholarship..."

"Hey, you're the smartest girl in class, of course you'd get it."

"And what if I don't?"

"Then I'll pay for your fees."

"What!?!"

"Well, it's not like I'll need to go for a good college. I'll be continuing the family business."

"Donghae no. You know I can't pay back."

"Who said anything about paying back?"

"Dong-"

"Joohyun, you're my most favourite and special girl. I don't care how much I'll spend on you, especially for your future when you want to just study."

"Hello..." Joohyun flinched when she heard his voice.

After almost a year.

"Jac... Donghae..."

"Hey..." he sounded disheartened, not like how he normally did. And who could blame him. Joohyun's one decision lead to her losing all of her loved ones.

"Donghae..." saying the name now, after all this name, made her weep. "Donghae... I need you..."

"Joohyun what happened?" he sounded concerned.

"I don't know what to do... He took all my clothes... so I can't leave the house... I'm stuck in the bedroom... I don't like this anymore... I can't take it..."

Joohyun continued to ramble on crying, clutching the towel around her tighter and tighter. She felt he wouldn't think to help her, but maybe at least call the police for her, or something.

But instead, his words wasn't at all what she expected.

"Send me your location. Now." the call cut, and Joohyun was left shocked. But she quickly did as he said, sending her current location. She stared at her phone waiting for some sort of notification or signal.

Getting nothing, she put her phone down, and looked at herself in the mirror. She wished to her injuries, but she had nothing to do so. That's when she realised something else. If Donghae came, she had no clothes, just a towel around her.

She heard the door open outside the bedroom, and held the towel around her tighter, quickly leaning against the door.

"Joohyun." she heard a long lost voice, and her heart clenched, when they knocked on the door. "Joohyun, you in there?"

"Donghae..." she called softly.

"Open the door."

"I can't... I'm in a towel..." she replied a little embarrassed, her hand grasping the door knob tight.

"Open it. I brought something for you. Wear it then come out." hearing this, Joohyun nearly teared up. She opened the door slightly, and a bag slipped in through the opening. She grabbed it and closed the door quickly. "Change and come out. I'll wait for you here."

Joohyun placed the bag down and opened to see inside. It was just a white button shirt and some black shorts. Lifting up the shirt, she could tell it was one of his, but when looking inside the bag again, there was a fresh new lingerie set, and made her blush hard.

She wore it, then the shorts, and finally the shirt. She sighed looking at herself, finding some sort of comfort in his clothes. She went back to the door and peeked out, seeing him sitting on the couch, looking down at his feet. He looked, as people say, expensive. Then again, he obviously would. Son and heir of a line of business men, his taste was always expensive but classy and neat, and he was never a show off.

Slowly Joohyun stepped out, and he looked up at her. For some reason she couldn't make eye contact with him, ashamed of her life. The once smartest girl was now stuck in a abusive relationship, and by choice. She could feel him staring down at her legs, wishing she could have covered them too. All the red and purple scratches. She then saw his shadow coming closer, and clasped her hands together, tensing up.

"You're not the same Joohyun as the one I called special... Why? Why did you do all this?" his hand reached up and pushed strands of hair behind her ear. Tears collected in her eyes, and she couldn't help it when they trickled down her cheek. A thumb swiped across, wiping away each and every tear she let out. He suddenly took her hand. "Come with me."

Donghae dragged him with her all the way downstairs, and she saw a limousine parked with two suited men. He motioned one to open the back door, and pushed her in before getting inside himself. Once they were both seated, he put up the partition, and Joohyun heard the the men get in and start driving. Not once did she look up the whole time, until she felt her hand being grasped on her leg. She peeked to the side a little and saw Donghae looking out the window. It was as if he was assuring her of something.

The car stopped, and he pulled her out with him. She could tell from the interior of the building that it was his apartment building, the one his whole family bought and now lived in. The elevator ride was quiet, his hand still grasping Joohyun's. They arrived on the twentieth floor, and the doors opened up to another door. The whole floor was his own living space. Donghae keyed in the pass code and pulled her inside. He finally let her go to take off his shoes, as she did at one corner. He went in, and she silently followed behind stopping when she just entered the living room not knowing what to do.

Donghae sat himself on the couch, and saw her standing still. "Joohyun, sit." he said in a ordering manner. Joohyun followed and sat a little distanced from him, but he shifted moving closer to her. He stared at her knees, at the scrapes of blood, finally allowing himself to trace them. She flinched slightly, but didn't move seeing him rub his thumb over the ragged lines.

"Why did you put yourself through this?" he suddenly spoke after a long silence. "You were already such a strong person, you didn't have to prove anything Joohyun. I know what happened, and I'm upset you never came to me for help. I told you, for you and your mother, I'll do anything. You were my special person, and you both were like family to me."

Joohyun's gaze remained at his hand on her knee, and she sniffled holding in her cry.

"Well, I'm glad one of you made the right decision though."

Joohyun finally looked up to him, wondering what he meant by that. But he had looked away so she couldn't ask. She stared at him for a while, until he looked back at her, their eyes locking.

Donghae felt entranced by her eyes, unable to look away. He saw the glint gone, the small spark of light, gone. It was as if she had nothing to live for, no soul at all in her.

Cupping her cheek, he couldn't help move closer, and Joohyun too couldn't stop as her whole body was frozen. It wasn't until their noses touched that she realised what could happen. Donghae didn't hold back, and kissed her lips, savouring the feeling since he was scared she might make another stupid decision and leave him again.

Pulling away, their noses remained touching and Joohyun's gaze remained down when she opened her eyes. Donghae cupped both her cheeks, pulling her to kiss again. He couldn't hold back, it was too scary for him that she would leave again. Maybe this way he could get her to stay.

Suddenly he felt something wet on his cheek, and pulled away to see Joohyun crying again. Was it because of him? "I'm sorry Joohyun. Don't cry." he wiped away her tear, when she suddenly leaped forward, throwing her arms around his neck, and joined their lips again. Donghae held her around her waist as she was practically on him, and slowly moved to sit her on his lap.

Joohyun was still crying, but she continued to kiss him non stop, much to Donghae's surprise. At one point, he pulled her out grabbing her hair. "What are you doing?" he asked a little sternly. Joohyun looked down, letting out another cry.

"I don't know anymore! I don't care! I just want to live a peaceful life!" she cried, her head falling into his shoulder. Donghae felt terrible for her, and hugged her with one arm, the other hand combing her hair. "I wanted to be strong, and help mum, and fix things... But I didn't... I lost everyone and everything..."

Donghae nuzzled into her hair, taking in her scent as a comfort. He held her as she continued crying into his shoulder for the longest of time. After almost half an hour, she seemed to have stopped, so he pushed her out a little and saw her eyes red. He pushed her hair off her face, cupping her cheeks again, and made her face him directly. "Come back to me. I'll do anything to get you out. Just promise me one thing, you won't make such decisions again. You can be strong, but not over confident."

"I'm always yours." Joohyun replied all of a sudden. "I never let him to me. You're the only one I could think about."

Donghae couldn't believe what she meant by what she said. It only proved that she did have hopes of coming back to her own life. He stared at her for a while, before pulling her into another kiss, but this time more passionate and full of love. Joohyun herself held around his neck tighter, and they pulled each other closer as if it was anymore possible.

"I love you." Donghae said in between kisses. "I always love you." he squeezed her hips.

"Donghae..." Joohyun moaned into the kiss. He stood up, her legs hooking themselves around his waist, and walked to his bedroom without breaking kisses. He sat on the bed, Joohyun now straddling him and pushing his office coat off his shoulders. Donghae moved his hands up under her (technically his) shirt, simply roaming around her back. He flipped them and broke the kiss, laying his forehead against hers, grasping her hands against the mattress.

"Joohyun, tell me that you'll stay after this, and I'll give you everything. If not, we should stop here, no more."

Joohyun looked right into his eyes, but he could tell she was still hesitant. He gave her a soft kiss on her nose, then on either cheeks. "I'll stay." she suddenly mumbled. "I'll stay Donghae... I won't be stupid again. I want to go back to being me. I want things to go back to normal."

Donghae got up on his knees and started to unbutton his shirt, pulling it off completely. Joohyun gasped when he suddenly carried her and turned, sitting her on his lap again. He kissed her, which she returned, with one hand unbuttoning the shirt she wore. Once it reached her torso however, Joohyun suddenly pressed into her chest, stopping the shirt from uncovering her.

"What is it Joohyun?" Donghae asked. She looked down, and he combed through her hair, trying to soothe her. "You're beautiful, remember that. No matter what you're always beautiful. Don't hide it from me, when there's nothing to hide." he slowly grasped her hand and moved it gently, and her eyes quivered when he pushed the shirt off slightly and gasped.

Donghae didn't know what he felt. All he knew was Joohyun needed more than saving, she needed someone to love her whole, hopefully getting rid of this memory she had. The red and purple bite mark on her upper chest was evident enough of what she had to go through, and Donghae had to stop himself from getting too angry at a moment like this. He rubbed his thumb over it, and laid kisses starting from there to all over her chest, tracing with his nose as well.

"No one will touch you. Only me. I'll treat you with the respect you deserve. I'll make you my queen. You can forget all about that life, you didn't need it at all. You're only mine, and I'm greedy, you know that. You're only mine forever, no one else can touch you while you're mine."

Joohyun could only bite her lip as he spoke so subtly while kissing her chest. It felt too good, and she didn't know what to do but grasp his hair, head thrown back and eyes closed. She felt him push the rest of her shirt off, diving his face into her bosom, still speaking.

"You're so special, a work of art, a gift from God that people don't deserve. You're too pure and innocent for society to see you're true beauty. I'll never let them though. I'll be your shield against them. My queen. My angel."

(ok... I'm not continuing that. I'm not writing a whole smut, gotta keep my soul clean, so that's the best you're going to get)

Something kept ringing and it annoyed Donghae. He opened his eyes slightly to look at the clock, it was already eight in the morning. He closed his eyes again, and held Joohyun tighter to himself. They were tangled up under his white duvet, Joohyun wearing one of his tank tops, while he only slept in boxers. Donghae hugged her from behind, whilst she held onto his hand around her chest.

The ringing sound kept him awake, but Joohyun was in deep sleep. Donghae sighed and looked over her, and, after the longest of time, he finally smiled sincerely. He kissed her shoulder, moving the tank top strap down a little, and peppered her with kisses up to her cheek. Joohyun only shifted around, making him chuckle before he decided to get up and see what was ringing. He made sure to cover her with the duvet, and looked around the room for the source of the sound.

He came to his coat that she had thrown off him on the ground, and took out a phone. Not his, but hers that he put in his pocket when they were in the car. He took it out, and saw who called.

Jang Dongwoon

Donghae didn't know who it was, but he also knew who it could be. Regardless he answered it ready to hear whatever bad things the man could say in replace of Joohyun. But before anything, he pressed the record option, then answered.

"B*TCH! WHERE DO YOU THINK YOU WENT! SUCH A SL*T YOU ARE, WALKING AROUND NAKED AREN'T YOU! GET YOUR ASS BACK HERE BEFORE I KILL THAT WH*RE OF A MOTHER OF YOURS!"

Donghae cut the call without saying anything, smirking at the phone. He went back to bed and sat taking out his phone. He took down the number in his, and sent it to his secretary with a message.

Track this number and have him arrested for abuse

I'll send whatever evidence you need. Do it now

Yes sir

Right on it

Donghae turned off Joohyun's phone completely and put it in his drawer. He looked back at Joohyun asleep, smiling at her again. He got in under the covers and held her tight from behind, nuzzling into her neck inhaling her scent.

Joohyun squirmed and whined softly. "Good morning beautiful." Donghae cooed softly into her ear. She turned to her back and saw his goofy smile, one of the many things she left behind, and it made her feel complete. She smiled back and slowly turned to face him.

"Good morning handsome." she whispered back, cupping his cheeks. Donghae hovered above her, arms on either side of her head, both smiling like crazy at each other, before she pulled him in slowly for a soft kiss.

"Do I have to morning kiss you everyday?" he joked.

"Until you get sick of it."

"I'll never get sick of you're very existence." he kissed her forehead, going down her nose bridge, then on her cheeks, until they connected their lips again. He pulled away and kissed down her neck, when she held his hair.

"Not again Donghae, I'm tired..." she whined only to make him chuckle.

"I just want to savour you. I should've had you a year ago, but I couldn't. So I want to take everything I missed out." he continued kissing down her neck, and lifted the top off her, putting it aside. "Just relax, I only want to kiss you. I won't go too far, I promise."

Joohyun smiled and stared up at the ceiling, feeling his lips everywhere on her body. Suddenly she remembered something, and sat up in a hassle grabbing the duvet to cover her.

"I need to go. Jang is probably looking for me."

Donghae got up from her knees where he was kissing her scratches, and looked directly at her. "You said you'd stay after last night. What makes you think you can go back now?"

"No, I mean... He's going to look for me, and I'll get in trouble if he finds me... And mum-"

"She won't be hurt." he cut her off, and crawled next to her. "Trust me. And even if he does find you, he won't be able to lay a single finger on you." he grabbed her and pulled her over him to straddle him. Joohyun went quiet and held the duvet from behind her feeling slightly cold.

"What do you mean?"

"Jang blackmailed you. After you left, I heard about it, and I took your mum away from that place. She works for the kitchen downstairs instead now, so Jang has no way of getting to her. And he knew it. He knew your mum wasn't there anymore, but he kept quiet because he also knew you made the stupid decision of not contacting any of us at all. Why else do you think he hurt you so much? It was so you wouldn't call us scared."

Joohyun went completely silent for a long time, trying to comprehend how she managed to waste her life like that. Donghae moved them to the other side of the bed and took something out from the drawer. While she still looked down and thought about her life, he took her left hand, and slid a ring onto her surprisingly empty ring finger. Joohyun saw and her eyes widened, looking first at the ring, then at him. He took her hand again and kissed it where the ring was.

"We'll go today to the marriage office, and you'll be able to divorce him... That is, if you're even legally married to that man. Then we'll sign our own papers. And by next month the wedding should be ready."

"Donghae..." Joohyun called softly with tears brimming in her eyes. Donghae gave her a cheeky grin, and softly pecking her lips, when his smile suddenly turned nervous.

"Also, I'll get you a pregnancy test."

"W- Why..."

"Ehe..." he chuckled nervously. "You might be pregnant, since I didn't do either of, uhm.... we should just make sure you know."

Joohyun's eyes widened, and of course later that night, Donghae was right.

"LEE DONGHAE!" she yelled at him annoyed, smaking him from behind as he ducked and covered himself with a pillow in bed. Donghae could only laugh, before pulling her down with him and laying next to each other.

"Well I'm happy, so whatever. We'll have the most beautiful and smartest child."

Joohyun smiled, the thought of their own child making her ecstatic. She hugged him back, pecking his lips. "Yes we will."

•••

[shxllxfx]

The cousin trap prt. 1 // Juice Ortiz

Jax x Cousin!Reader ; Juice x Reader

Summary: Jax Cousin comes back and meets Juice for the first time, showing him what he's getting into. Part 2 coming soon.

Warnings: maybe a bit of violence but its SoA so yeah

A/N: Just a little Imagine. Kinda bad. Kinda boring. Ugh.

Masterlist

Stepping off your bike you took your helmet off and made your way to the door of the clubhouse but before you reached it it opened, a blonde man stepping out, followed by a group of others. They stopped and talked to each other while you stopped in your tracks, waiting for them to notice you. After a while you sighed and dropped the bag you've been carrying on the floor. "So you're not going to welcome me home?" You said, crossing your arms before your chest. Everybody's eyes went to you as Jaxs jaw dropped. "Y/N!" He yelled and ran to you, arms opened wide to hugged you. You chuckled as he wrapped them around you, pulling you close. "God I missed you Cuz!" You whispered and pushed him away again, just to look at the other men, spotting Tig, Chibs, Opie and Piney, plus some Guys you didn't know. "What you're not going to hug me?" They didnt let you ask twice, all coming up to you to shower you with hugs and cheek kisses. Opie almost crushing you with his arms. "Okay okay Ope, I missed you too but I think you broke my ribs!" You laughed and patted his back while he let go of you just to let the next pair of arms wrap around your torso, this time it was Chibs. "Ah, for chrissake lass, didnt think I'd see ya again." He muttered in your (y/h/c) hair, kissing your temple. After they'd all given you hugs you put your hands on your hips. "Where's Gem? And your boy, hm?" You asked, looking at Jax with raised eyebrows. He chuckled a bit, putting a hand on your shoulder. "Both at home, but how about I introduce you to the other boys first? After that I can ask Mum to come here with him." Jax said as he took your bag and shoved you in the direction of four men that still stood in front of the clubhouse. "That's Kozik, Juice and Half Sack. Think you already know Happy, right? That's my little cousin (Y/N)." You nodded and smiled at them. "Not that little anymore, Jackie. I'm not 16 anymore. Think I met him couple years ago. You still doing that smiley thing?" You asked and held your hand out for him to take, he nodded as he shook it. Jax excused himself quickly to call Gemma and left you alone with the boys. "You still a nurse?" Happy asked in return as you took Juices hand to shake. "Well yeah. Was the only reason I left, just finished the school." Next you shook Half sacks hand. "So, half sack? There's a story behind that name?" You asked but everyone immediately shook their heads and started laughing. "Believe me, shorty, you dont wanna know." Kozik said looking at your tattooed arm as he shook your small hand.

You were sitting in the clubhouse, a beer in your hand as you waited for Clay and Gemma to arrive with Abel. Jax had his arm over your shoulder and grinned at you. "What's the matter, Jackie? Missed me?" You asked and looked up at him. The both of you always had a special connection since you grew up with him as a brother and Gemma as a mum. "Just can't believe you're back now but how long you staying?" You smiled at his question and jiggled his arm off you, reaching for your bag to pull out a little card. "Picked that up earlier. I'm starting at St.Thomas tomorrow." Jax hugged you, his grin getting even wider. The door opened and Gemma walked in, a baby carseat in her right hand. "So what was so important that we had to come? Some one got shot?" She asked, not taking her eyes of the baby. You started to laugh and got up. Taking a few steps in her direction. "Well Jax thought that you would be happy to see me again, Ma." Her eyes shot up and she started jogging over to you, throwing her arm around you. She kissed your cheek and another pair of arms wrapped around you. "Oh my little (Y/N)! You are back!!" She pulled you closer. You chuckled as you wiggled yourself out of their arms, feeling a lot of relieve. "God, I've missed you, Ma. It's been a while." She nodded, sitting the car seat on a chair and taking Abel out. You gasped when you looked at him for the first time. He looked just like Jax. Gemma put him in your arm and you started rocking him gently as he cooed and grabbed your finger with his hand. "God Jax your cousins hot." You heard Kozik whisper in to Jax as you walked up and down, not taking your eyes off Abel. You raised your head staring at him for a second and then turning your head to Clay, who held your hand in his, looking at the little bruises on them that just started showing. "There was this creep at the gas station who wouldn't leave me alone, so he got a little punch." You muttered, looking at Clay. He was always kind of a father figure to you, even though he could be a douche. He laughed and let your hand drop. "Right hook, hm?" He asked leaning against the counter. "Learned from the best." The boys started to laugh and you handed Abel to Gemma. "As if." One of them said and you heard Jax take a deep breath, he knew what was about to come. You never said no to a little sparring session. "What?" You asked, raising an eyebrow. "You dont think I could kick your ass?" You took a few steps in Juices direction, crossing your arms before your chest as you walked up on him, stopping right before him. "You are so small. I dont know how you are supposed to kick anyone's ass." He shrugged and Chibs started to laugh loudly. "Boy you sure as hell haven't met her." Licking your bottom lip you exhaled, not taking your eyes off him, but turning to Clay slightly. "You still have ring right? I think I need to teach Juicey Boy some." He held his breath for a second, swallowing but standing tall. Clay let out a quick 'sure' before you walked over to it.

----------

"Please stop me the next time before I underestimate someone because of their height." Juice muttered to Jax, who stood beside you, pressing an ice bag to his lip. He wanted one of your right hooks, he got it. "Only good thing that came out of that is that she's patching me up now." You laughed. You both were simply sparring, till all of the sudden you got him with an unexpectedly hard hook, hitting his jaw and lip. Now you were in the chapel so you could clean the little cut on his lip and eyebrow. "Come on, Juicey it's just a little cut." You laughed as you took a step back. "Yeah you are lucky. Should have seen the one guy in sophomore year that hit on her and wouldn't leave her alone. That guy had a broken nose and needed stitches." Jax laughed and patted his shoulder, kissing your cheek as a good bye. "Key, I'm outta here now. Gotta get home to my son." He said and went to the door. "And Tara, hm? You know I always knew she'd come back for you." You chuckled while you looked at Juices face. "Yeah, well...you can take your old dorm to sleep in and please dont hit another one of my boys." He said while leaving. You felt Juices eyes on you as you packed everything back in the little medical back you always carried around, throwing away the dirty tissues. "Anything else you need or why you looking at me like that?" You asked turning your head in his direction. He was still sitting on the chair, his head tilted to the right slightly. "Didnt bother your boyfriend that you came here all alone?" He asked, taking his eyes off you just to look around. You laughed and looked at his adorable face. He looked kinda nervous, his eyes now glued to his hands. "No boyfriend. Smooth way of asking tho." You went to the door, followed by him. Leaving the chapel you made your way to the bar, Tig already giving you a beer he held in his hand. "Think I'm going to bed now. Had a long day." You said and smiled at the boys. "Sorry for messing up you pretty little face." You kissed Juices cheek, leaving him with an open mouth and big eyes. "God, I think I'm in love." He whispered to him self, making Tig laugh. "Yeah, dont get stuck in the cousin trap, brother. Remember she's like Jaxs sister."

[onegayastronaut]

Worry (Carol Danvers x Kara Danvers x Reader)

Requested by @chonisbestmistake : Okay, but what about Carol Danvers x fam!reader x Kara Danvers? Y/N constantly worrying her ass out because of them being in danger and thinking she's not enough cuz she's just a human. She never tells anything but she cant have this feelings locked up inside her anymore and so she blows up. The girls are shook but make sure she feels loved and safe again. I know its different universes but i so wanna date them both💞💞💞

Words:1302

Getting out of bed for the last few months have been a struggle, but you would be the last person to complain. Every morning had a similar routine: wriggling out of bed as inconspicuously as possible and making coffee before one of your girlfriends speeds down the stairs and picks you up to get back into bed again. Most of the time it’s Kara doing the picking up because Carol is usually too grumpy to get out of bed in the morning. However, you know exactly how Carol likes her coffee so you’re the only person who can bug Carol to get out of bed without facing any consequences.

Most of your mornings were spent with finding Kara sleeping in her super-suit with an arm over you. However, that wasn’t always the case. Carol was often gone with the Avengers whereas Kara barely got any sleep juggling her job at Catco and her work as Supergirl. You loved the fact that both of your girlfriends were superheroes, but you couldn’t lie: it was frustrating being the only human in the relationship. Both of your girlfriends can be seen flying around the world, if not other galaxies, saving lives and you were stuck at home worrying about their safety. The worst part was that you couldn’t do anything about it except turn on the news and hope for the best.

Kara has been gone for the past week on what seemed to be the yearly crisis, and Carol was at the Avengers base about to head out to another mission in some faraway galaxy. Loneliness was a part of life whenever they were both gone, but the bigger issue was the knot of worry in your stomach whenever you returned home from work and turned on the TV. People always said that “no news was good news”, but that was the part that infuriated you the most. You wanted to know if Kara and Carol were okay, but you didn’t have clearance from either SHIELD or the DEO to see if they were even alive or not. All you could do was send them a text and hope that Netflix could distract you from your worries.

-----

It had been three weeks since your girlfriends had each gone on their respective missions, but to you, it seemed like they’ve been gone forever. You had just gotten into bed when you saw a bright light from outside your window. Knowing that the light could only be from Carol, you went to open the window. What you did not expect to see was both Kara and Carol floating outside your window with your favorite food in their hands.

“Hey, (Y/N)! Look what we got you!” The smiles on their faces would usually be enough to send a shot of warmth throughout your body, but for some reason, tonight you felt different. Instead of feeling happy, you were angry at both of them.

“Hey, guys. Come in before someone sees you.”

“What’s wrong?” Kara’s face was creased in a frown as she noticed the change in your tone. You were usually happy to see them come home, but tonight you barely even looked at either of them as they came in through the window. Carol set the bags of food quietly behind you and waited for you to talk.

“I don’t want to talk about it. And I’m tired. Can we go to sleep?”

“Babe, what’s wrong?” Kara used her superspeed to pick you up and put you on her lap on the couch. Her frown deepened when you moved irritably off her lap.

“Where were you? And where were you?” You now turned to Carol. “I don’t hear anything for weeks and now the two of you are suddenly back, acting as if nothing happened. Does either of you know how worried I’ve been since you’ve been gone? I’m only a human, so it’s not like I can help either of you if something happened. All I get to do is sit here and wait! I’m sick and tired of not hearing from either of you for weeks just for one or both of you to waltz in like you’ve never been gone. ” You were surprised as to how loud you’ve gotten as you talked, and stopped before you got any further.

“I was at the Avengers base coordinating a joint mission with Peter and Thor. I was on Asgard most of the time, and I wasn’t in any danger with the team having my back.” Carol came up and hugged you from behind. “I’m sorry I didn’t call and made you worried. I’ll see if Tony can give me something to communicate with you when I’m in another galaxy.”

“And I was on the new planet my mom is helping build. It was nice seeing my mom, but not so nice considering there was a rival planet sending their military to surround the planet. I’m also sorry for making you worry about me.” Kara ended the sentence with a mumble, and you immediately felt bad for your outburst.

“You’re not any less powerful just because you’re human, you know.” Carol picked you up and sat beside Kara.

“Yeah. I’m still sort of scared of Alex, and she’s human just like you.” Kara put her head on your lap and closed her eyes. “Just because you’re human doesn’t mean you can’t intimidate superheroes.”

“I think the secret is to not worry so much about us.” Carol put a finger on your mouth before you could protest. “I know it’s hard, and I think it’s adorable that you’re worried about me and Kara. You’re the main reason why I keep going. All I want you to know is that not only am I the most powerful Avenger, but I’ll also always find my way back to you, no matter how far away I am.

“Same for me here.” Kara lifted her head from your lap and kissed you on the cheek. “I promise to never leave you hanging for so long again.”

“Okay.” It was your turn to mumble. You felt bad for exploding at your girlfriends earlier on in the night, but that feeling went away as soon as you heard Kara’s stomach growling. 

“You hungry?” Kara nodded as she looked at the stack of food that she and Carol had brought in.

“I’m hungry too.” Carol stood up to get the food, but Kara beat her to it. “Don’t even think about it, Danvers!”

“Danvers yourself, hand me those potstickers!”

“I ordered three boxes so that me and Carol could have some too!”

“Not if I have anything to say about that.”

“Ew, Carol! Chew with your mouth closed, you’re spraying food everywhere!” You managed to catch a sushi roll thrown by Carol in your mouth and threw a potsticker back in her direction. Kara, never wanting to be left out of a food fight, threw two potstickers at both of you and made away with the box before either of you could stop her.

Alex had wanted to come over to your apartment and spend the night watching 80’s movies until you fell asleep. You had given her a key to your place in case something happened, and over the months the two of you developed such a close friendship she had permission to stop by whenever she wanted. She had headphones on so she didn’t hear the squeals of laughter come from your room and opened the door before knocking. A piece of sushi nearly hit Alex on her way in, and she quickly closed the door and turned to walk out. She was glad that her sister was back, but nothing was worth getting into a food fight with that one. Movie night was going to have to wait until later.

[theartofbeinganeldar]

The Art of Being an Eldar: Legolas x Reader Chapter 5

Summary: After discovering that you were stuck in Middle-Earth, Thranduil summoned a council of powerful Elves and wizards to see what should be done with you, expressing his wishes of wanting you out of his kingdom. The council decides to send you with Legolas on an orc-hunting mission, and if the Elves of the company that he deems trustworthy-- one of them being his own wife-- say that you've proven yourself worthy of staying among the Mirkwood Elves, then you can stay. The problem is actually managing to succeed...

Chapter No.: Chapter 5

Key: [Y/N]=Your Name [F/N]= Friend's Name [B/N]= Bro's Name [S/N]= Sis's Name [M/N]= Mom's Name [e/c]= eye color [h/c]= hair color [s/c]= skin color [lad/lass/y-o]= lad/laddie, lass/lassie, young one

Notes:  I know I've been trying to keep this story gender-nuetral, but dwarves have a habit of referring to people (Even Gimli to Legolas, though he's a lot younger than our golden boy) as "lad/laddie" "lass/lassie." Or even "young one," I've heard Balin call Bilbo. So for this story, I'll just put [lad/lass/y-o] in parenthesese, and you can just hear whichever one you choose. :)

Warnings: Fluff, angst, graphic depictions of gore and violence (Cuz of orc battles y'know?), more angst, slow burn, some light depression in the first few chapters, some amnesia about Middle-Earth because the Valar say you're not supposed to have foresight, hard-core language, feels, lots and lots of feels, mentions of NSFW content, maybe some eventual NSFW content, LGTBQ+ characters, Thranduil being a jackass at first because he's fabulous, Legolas being a hot edgy prince that nobody can handle, Kili being an innocent bean, Hobbits being smol innocent beans, except for Bilbo 'cause he's been through some tough shit, Bard being dad of the year, Thorin being one dumbass boi, awesome dragons, awesome Nazgul, awesome scenery, awesome stuff in general, Elrond isn't listened to by anybody, confused Aragorn is confused,  Denethor's a bitch as always, brace yourself for creepy as fuck Cream of Wormtongue Grima Wormtongue, Boromir LIVES, Gandalf. (yes these are all legit warnings don't judge me.)

Pairings/Ships: Legolas x Reader, Legolas x you, Aragorn x Arwen, Faramir x Eowyn, Thranduil x Elvenqueen, Galadriel x Celery Celeborn, Boromir x OC, Thorin x OC maybe Bilbo you won't know for awhile, Fili x OC, etc. general LoTR standard shippings plus some of my own cuz I can't stand my boys being lonely

Word Count: I try to keep my chapters short, under 2000 words.

Rating: Teen (14+) for now

The Elves stopped just outside the northern border of the Mirkwood, to the west, to wait for the dwarves. But apparently the little guys just didn't give a shit.

The whole group camped for three days, then three more days, and by the end of it, you were even growing impatient. It was mainly the younger Elves that shared your impatience, but Elves like Elvenqueen and Erestor and Haldir seemed to think that they had all the time in the world, la la fucking la...

Legolas seemed in-between, irritated at the dwarves for being so late but not really caring in the long run. You tried several times to approach him and apologize, but he always seemed to disappear at the most inconvenient times imaginable.

Finally, after what felt like an eternity-- you were getting sick and tired of frolicking-- the sign of a camp on a distant ridge, a couple of days away, gave the Elves hope that the dwarves finally got their heads out of their asses and decided to show up. A couple of Elves seemed to puff some horses out of thin air, and galloped off to meet them.

"We get horses?!" You'd screeched, and wheeled on your friends-- Tauriel hadn't come, so Lindir, Elros, and pissy Blue-Eyes were the only actual friends here you had, even though all the other Elves were very nice to you. "Why the fuck didn't anybody tell me we got horses?!" You could've been riding to pass this time. Not that you knew how to ride a horse, but that wasn't the point.

Elros blinked at you in disbelief. "Those Elves awaited us on the border with horses enough for all. You have not seen them before?"

"No, dammit, or I would've been riding to pass the time!" You hadn't noticed them, because a certain Rivendell Elf had forced you to learn Elvish... You rounded on him. "Lindir! If you hadn't made me sit here and learn Elvish, I could've been riding!"

Lindir stared at you, then slowly raised an eyebrow challengingly. "You do not know how to ride, do you?"

You frowned. "That's not the point!"

Both Elros and Lindir chuckled amongst themselves. You huffed theatrically. "Fine, jackasses. I'm off to pet one of those sweet animals. You can teach me Elvish later."

Before either of them could stop you, you all but ran off, hoping not to slam into anybody or trip or cause something to fall that'd cause a huge mess. You were prone to all of them. And there were horses, enough for everybody there, and three very fat ponies that you almost started squealing over. Those, you guessed, were for the dwarves.

But one horse, out of all of them, caught your eye.

A sleek, gorgeous black, with a bright white star on his forehead. He was built for speed, like a racehorse, but he was sturdy, too. You looked for something to mark him as belonging to a certain Elf-- because you knew Elves loved horses, and that like all horse people, even look at their horse wrong and you make it on their kill list-- but they all seemed randomly selected out of somebody's stables, dressed in the same dark leather tack and saddlebags.

"Oooooh," You approached him quietly, and he nickered softly at you, his dark eyes scanning you and the Elves and the other horses warily. He seemed only recently tamed. "You, fine sir, are gorgeous."

"I beg your pardon?"

You promptly fell backward. Shit! Talking horses, too?! "What the fuck?!"

Legolas, with a smug smirk plastered onto his absurdly perfect face, sailed into existence from around a dapple gray mare. "Valar tell me you were talking to the horse."

"No, I can tell you I was talking to the horse," You sighed in relief, shaking your head as you stood. "But don't worry your platinum head, Goldie, all Elves are equally beautiful creatures."

Legolas rolled his eyes. "Whatever you say, mellon."

You stroked the black's face gently. "No seriously though, he's beautiful. Does he have a name?"

Blue-Eyes didn't look up from brushing his mare's mane. "Most of the horses came from Rivendell and Rohan, which they bought on the journey. The rest came from the Woodland stables. I doubt you will find his name, if he has one."

You felt a little disappointed that you couldn't ask if you could have the horse. You'd always wanted one, but for... Personal reasons that had to do with your biological father, you never got one. "Well... I'll just refer to him as The Black, then."

Blue-Eyes turned around, and started inspecting his tack. "Hm... He seems to have come from our own stables." He stroked behind the stallion's ears, and the horse snuffed appreciatively.

"Legolas," You said quickly, realizing you should catch him when you have the chance. "I'm sorry for not telling you about me leaving if this didn't go well. It wasn't my choice; Thranduil wanted me to go with Elrond that day, but I asked if I could stay. He sent me on this mission to see if I was worthy enough to stay in his Palace of Fabulous. I'm sorry I didn't tell you, but... I didn't think anyone would care if I left."

Blue-Eyes got a confused look. "Why... Why would you think that?"

You gave him a sad, lopsided smile. "No one has before."

Recognition, then regret, flashed across Blue-Eyes's face. "Oh, Sairen... I am truly sorry, mellon nin, I should not have been angry with you. I didn't realize... I should have, and I should not have been upset with you. I just... I do care if you leave, and, if I'm honest, I do not want you to go."

You patted his shoulder. "Just so long as you forgive me."

Blue-Eyes smiled at you. "Of course, mellon, if you can forgive me."

You grinned. "Forgiven." You nudged him with your shoulder. "I'm just glad we're friends again. I've never had so many people be nice to me, but only a handful of you I consider my friends."

"And who among us hold that honor?" He asked teasingly.

Oh shit... You'd seen movies where somebody's asked this question, and if the askee shows even the slightest bit of hesitation or interest in any of the friends, asker became pissed and/or jealous. Wait... Why do I care about that? You turned to him with a huge smile. "Well you and Tauriel, DUH, and then there's Lindir and Elros now. Just wait, I'll be friends with Haldir and Erestor too, and then your mom-- by the time I'm finished I'll even make your dad like me!"

Legolas chuckled. "I hope so, mellon."

"By the way," You said, and reached down to grab a handful of grass to give to the Black. "Lindir and Elros are trying-- and failing-- to teach me Elvish. I'm a horrible student, namely because I'm Elvish-challenged. Still, I'm learning, and I want you to teach me something very specific."

He looked confused. "What?"

You smiled. "Teach me the history of Middle-Earth! Everything you can! I can't read Elvish, but you can, and you know the stories pretty well, I'm guessing. So start with how the world began and continue on from there."

Legolas smiled. "Very well, Sairen." In one quick movement, he mounted his mare, then reached down for your hand. "Come. We will ride, and I will tell you all that I know."

You took his hand, feeling a spark from static you'd built up from petting the horse. He hefted you effortlessly up behind him, then urged his horse into a canter as you rode away from camp.

***

Needless to say, you fell off twice.

Once, you let go of Legolas for just a second as his mare jumped a small log, and whoops, there you go. After, still not learning your lesson, you let go of him while trotting beside a river and the horse's gait made you slide right off before you even realized what was happening.

Then you learned not to let go of Blue-Eyes, mostly because he laughed his Elvish ass off every time you fell, after making sure you were okay.

As for world history, it was all very confusing. There were like six different versions of somebody and a hundred different other guys shared the same name and places and descendants and confusing time periods and just ugh. That was one thing you remembered from Earth: Tolkien's works had always been confusing.

Long story short, though, there was a guy called Eru, or Illuvatar, and he created a bunch of friends through thought. These friends of his became the Valar, and Illuvatar created the whole universe-- Ea-- through more thought. Then he had all his friends-- fourteen of them-- sing, and they created the vision of Valinor, then Arda, and the mischief-maker was Melkor, brother of god-king Manwe.

Now, after a long bout of building and making and stuff they created Valinor and Tirion and Mandos and all that, and they created birds and beasts, but Melkor got jealous and tried to ruin it at every fucking turn. Seriously, the guy didn't give them a break.

Then, Aule, another Valar, who made a lot of shit, wanted to have a bunch of kids so created the little guys known as dwarves, and made them to be especially tough and hardy and stuff because they were supposed to be around during the time of Melkor. But, Illuvatar appeared in his living room one night and said "I think the fuck not my kids come first" which made Aule reeeaaaaaallly upset, so he tried to kill the dwarves (Supreme parenting 2.0!), but then Illuvatar said "wait idiot they can still live" so Aule put them in stasis-mode for like several million years, until somebody "accidentally" unleashed some new Elves into Middle-Earth-- which had no moon or sun.

So duh Orome shows up, says "hi" and everybody runs for their lives except for a few brave souls, who round everybody back up. So three particular Elves, Finwe, Lenwe, and Ingwe, who you're pretty sure were brothers, went to Valinor with Orome to see if it was suitable for Elves-- and it was pretty much Elven paradise, or Vegas or something.

THUS CAME THE FIRST SUNDERING OF THE ELVES, or, that's how dramatically Leggy told it; the Teleri came to rest on the shores of Aman instead of going still further (Who earlier had split further and some became the Sindar, who had stayed in Beleriand, and the Silvan Elves, who'd stayed in the forests of Beleriand or something, of which Blue-Eyes was the first.), the Nandor who got scared of mountains and refused to go further, and the Noldor, who came all the way to Valinor.

Once actually in Aman, the Elves loved it there. They were in paradise. Water. Books. Flowers. Sparkles. Everything an Elf dreamed of. They built a city on a huge hill called Tirion upon Tuna (No you refrained from laughing.), made of silver and gold and more sparkles, and there was lots of peace, until Melkor was finally caught and chained.

Peace, lots of peace, boring shit, more peace, then BAM, the idiot Valar let the bastard go, like dumbasses. Melkor hadn't changed of course, no one does. He started rumors like some crazy gossiper and started up a whole bunch of shit. At that time, this guy called Feanor was around. He was like, the Elf of Elves, but he had some breathtaking anger management issues because after his mom died, his dad waited like a couple thousand years then got married again, and he definitely did not like his stepmom.

Or his two half-brothers.

They were pretty cool guys, Fingolfin and Finarfin, and each brother had like a dozen kids each, one of Finarfin's, get this, was Galadriel. One of Thingol's kin? Celeborn. Elrond? Yeah, he's the grandson of Beren and Luthien, the son of Earendil, raised by Maglor, related to Turin, and his grandparents were Tuor and Idril, the latter of which was the daughter of Turgon, who was the son of Fingolfin, who was the brother of Feanor, so yeah.

Holy fucking shit. Their god stories were kinda hard not to believe when people still existed who could vouch for them.

So this Feanor guy created a trio of sparklies beyond all sparklies, called, the Silmarils. He got a mild case of dragonsickness, boasting and hoarding and showing off and gloating, but Melkor made him think his brothers were trying to steal his sparkles, which, fuck no, how dare they, and he made his brothers think that Feanor was trying to usurp their father Finwe's throne.

Damn that guy knew how to stir up some shit.

One of Melkor's chief servants? Sauron, the Dark Lord, previously known as Sauron the Sparkly Maiar Who Wouldn't Hurt A Butterfly. Balrogs? Yup, Melkor made them, too.

Basically, Feanor started a revolution against the Valar and Melkor, who he called Morgoth, because Melkor was just too pretty of a name for such a bad guy, who stole every single light with the help of a hideously large spider called Ungoliant, killed Finwe, then took the Silmarils.

Feanor was piiiiiiissed.

So the Noldor left Tirion, killed some guys that tried to reason with them that turned out to be Elves, the Teleri, got cursed by Mandos, then Feanor, his sons, and a couple hundred who he knew didn't question him set off on stolen boats and burned them when they reached shore, leaving everybody else-- Galadriel included-- to walk the fucking Helcaraxe, a snowy strait wasteland, to get to Beleriand, which was filled with sparkling twinkle-toes Elves and much-less-serious dwarves-- who were friends.

There was also a good portion of the story dedicated to Turin, Beren and Luthien, and the couple known as Maedhros and Fingon, who you instantly adored: Maedhros, chained to a jagged cliffside for who-knows-how-long, and Fingon, who wanted so badly to save him, and eventually carried up to the cliffside by an eagle; he had to cut off Maedhros's hand, but the story was so heartfelt you were still internally squealing about it.

Yeah so that happened, and then a bunch of war and slaying and something about a Fall of Gondolin and the Children of Hurin and Beren and Luthien leading up to a whole lot of human-caused shit with Numenor, and then Illuvatar blew everything up and restarted, essentially. Toward the end of the second age, Sauron (The fucker had somehow lived through all that evil-cleansing shit.), in the form of a fancy-prancy Elf named Annatar, suggested the making of the Rings of Power. Three, a smart guy who hadn't fallen for any of Annatar's shit, Celebrimbor, hid for the Elves, while Sauron/Annator helped forge the rest in order to control them, making one ring, above all.

Three Rings for the Elven-kings under the sky,

Seven for the dwarf  lords in their halls of stone,

Nine for mortal men doomed to die,

And one for the Dark Lord on his Dark Throne,

In the land of Mordor where the shadows lie,

One Ring to find them,

One Ring to bring them all and in the darkness bind them,

In the land of Mordor where the shadows lie.

That was totally cool and stuff, and a handful of well-known Elves-- Gil-Galad, Glorfindel (Who'd uh, previously died due to a balrog trying to touch his hair.), Elrond-- and you're betting Galadriel, Celeborn, and Thranduil-- plus a bunch of well-known humans, lead by Isildur's dad, Elendil, and probably some dwarves, all came together with their armies and formed the Last Alliance of Elves and Men, totally discounting every dwarf that was there.

The nine kings who'd been given rings? Yeah, those were cursed, and because Men are greedy, they became shadows of their former selves, black-clad servants of Sauron, known as the Ringwraiths-- or, even cooler, Nazgul.

So there was a huge battle. Gil-Galad fell. Isildur's dad fell. Isildur cut off the One Ring from Sauron's hand, Sauron faded away, and Elrond took Isildur into Mount Doom to destroy the Ring. But he was weak, and was seduced by its power, and Elrond just stood there screaming his name apparently.

So there'd been roughly a couple thousand years of peace, and nobody knew where the Ring was. You doubted it was anywhere safe or secure, and much less that Sauron was actually dead.

Also, the Elves were fading. That scared you.

"What?! Great, I got sucked into a world where I'm just gonna die!"

Legolas laughed. "No, mellon nin, we are fading. Not dying. We just long for home, and our kind is slowly leaving Middle-Earth. This world becomes gray to us after so long of living here. We go across the sea, to the Undying Lands of Aman and Valinor."

"Okay," You leaned around him to see his face. "What is it with you Elves and the sea?! What's so important about it, if even you've never seen it yourself?! I certainly haven't seen any kind of ocean or sea."

Blue-Eyes smiled at you. "The first sound ever heard by the Elves was flowing water. It calls us home, in a way. It is said by my people that in water there yet lives the echo of the Music of the Ainur that first created this world."

"Huh," You said, tilting your head. "Guess that does make it really interesting..."

The sound of another pair of hoofbeats, coming up from behind, nearly made you fall off of the horse again. "Orcs?!"

Blue-Eyes grinned smugly. "Orcs do not ride horses, Sairen."

"Duh. I knew that. Fuck you."

"I'd rather you not without my consent."

"That's not always what it means!" You hid your blush by moving so your head was behind his back. Damn Elves...

It was Erestor, riding a gorgeous flaxen stallion. "Legolas, Elvenqueen calls upon the company of [Y/N]."

Nervously, you peered around Blue-Eyes's side. "Is that bad?"

Legolas spurred his own mare into a canter as he followed after Erestor. "Not in the least, mellon."

When you returned to camp, Erestor and Legolas took care of the horses, while they sent you on ahead-- by yourself, to a scary yet badass Elvenqueen you might glare you out of existence if you breathed wrong, like the wonderful friends they were-- to the Elvenqueen.

She sat by one of the center campfires, surrounded by a drove of Elves eagerly listening to whatever she was saying. Even in the firelight, she looked really young, but really regal and noble and even though she didn't have a wrinkle on her body you could tell she'd been around for eons.

All went silent when you approached. Nervously, you bowed. "Y-you wished to see me, your majesty?"

"Yes," She said, and waved to a place on a log across from her. "Sit."

You weren't terrified or anything. Just 'cause she decided not to skin you alive a couple days ago didn't mean she couldn't change her mind. You caught a glimpse of Elros in the crowd, and he gave you a reassuring nod: Don't worry, you won't die yet.

Comforting.

"Tell something of your world," She said.

You balked. Hadn't Thranduil told her everything you'd said? They seemed like the type of couple to do just that. Hadn't Legolas at least given her some information? They seemed close. You swallowed hard, readjusting yourself on the log. "What uh... What do you want to know?"

She thought for a second. "A tale."

You shifted. Sure, that was specific. You'd read billions of books (Well, maybe not quite that much...), but you couldn't remember any that Elves would want to hear aside from series’, like Temeraire, or The Gospel of Loki, or Eon the Last Dragoneye. Maybe you could use a movie, but Marvel and Transformers were too long and in-depth. You thought for a minute. You didn't even know how to give a much-shortened version of Eragon.

But out of everything, it was your best bet to tell a story and be safe from explaining your world's past, or things of your world, or cultures, mythology, or the concept of giant robots from another planet that hide by transforming into cars. Eragon was the closest thing you had to Lord of the Rings that you could remember right off the top of your head that was most similar; it had some of the same beasts, like dragons and werewolves, it was set in the same genre and had dwarves and Elves and Men, even if urgals were a new one... Then again, you weren't sure how they'd take dragons being good instead of hoarding assholes.

So, you got started.

As a hobby, you wrote a lot of fanfiction, which had mainly been for Lord of the Rings; you couldn't remember any of it now, of course, but you'd also started your own fantasy stories that had never been published. You were good with storytelling.

There were points where you had to pause and remember what happened next, or try to find words that explained the guilt or sadness or general feels of the story, but you did pretty good. By the time you were finished, the sun had came up and it was already noon, and the Elves that'd gone off to see if that camp was for dwarves were coming back, with a couple of pony-sized rams with shaggy coats carrying three tiny buff hairy guys.

Elvenqueen regally stood. "My thanks, [Y/N]. That was a wonderful story." She sailed through the ranks of the Elves, which parted before her like reeds to a boat.

"Is that a true story?" Lindir asked you, eyes wide.

You scoffed. "If it were true, I'd've had a dragon named Saphira or Shruikan. I have no dragon." You clapped your hands together. "So! When do I get to meet the dwarves?"

Blue-Eyes-- who'd joined later in the story, and another Elf caught him up on what was going on while he half-listened to what else was going on-- mockingly rolled his eyes. "Patience, mellon. I cannot think of any Eldar whom would willingly want to make the acquaintance of a dwarf."

You gave him a pointed look. "What about Thingol's people?"

Silence. Finally, Elros busted out laughing, and clapped the now-stunned Legolas on the back. "They have a point, mellon!"

But Blue-Eyes was right. It was only a couple hours before you were sought out by a Lothlorien Elf, who told you Thorin wanted to meet "the one who hailed from far." Apparently, nobody here felt like saying "the person that came from another planet." Not as mysterious, apparently.

So you followed the Elf to a tent, much smaller than those of the Elves, and a lot less colorful and, dare you say it, fashionable. Literally, it just looked like a bunch of old dark-colored blankets had been stitched together haphazardly. But, if you looked at the tools and tack of the rams, they were just doing it in spite of the Elves, because they had really good craftsmanship.

You weren't sure what to do. "Uhhh... Knock knock?"

You belatedly remembered one of the dwarves was royalty. "Sirs?"

The flap of the tent opened, and you got your first look at a dwarf.

He was an older dwarf, with a long graying beard and frizzy hair, and huge round ears. He looked you up and down in a brief but kind inspection, and, came to the very educated conclusion of, yup, not your normal Elf.

The dwarf smiled. "Ah, you must be [Y/N]." He sounded more Scottish than anything, and you were instantly relaxed. "The one from a far place. Not a normal Elf, then?"

You shook your head. "No sir. Just got here about a month and a half ago, actually."

He raised a hand. "Now now, we are all a part of this expedition, and I don't like being referred to as 'sir.' I am Balin to you."

You couldn't help but smile. He was a lovable little guy, a very sweet old dwarf. "Okay then. But, uh... Should I call Thorin or Dwalin 'sir'?"

Balin thought about that. "Ehhh... Thorin, yes. Dwalin? No."

You nodded, and Balin lead you inside the tent. It was pretty cozy, with three logs covered in roughish furs for makeshift beds. A small cooking fire was set up in the middle, and two other dwarves sat by it, halting their dwarvish conversation when they seen you and Balin. "This is they," Said Balin, in an introductory way. "[Y/N], child of [M/N], from far places."

The dwarf who you assumed was Dwalin-- buff, sleeveless, and with viscious muttonchops that made him look like Wolverine-- scoffed. "Tell me," Holy shit, he sounds like Leonidas from 300! "[Y/N], do you perhaps come from the Iron Hills?"

"Iron... What?" You were confused. Hadn't any of the Elves talked about you being from Earth? "N...No. I come from a place called Earth."

"Dwalin," Said the other guy, who radiated kingship, authority, and regal dwarfish-ness. He didn't take his eyes off you, like you were a predator ready to strike that he was wary of. He had a beard, but braided neatly down, and long dark hair. He wore dark navy blue and brown fur armor, and his voice was like, super deep. "They are not of the Iron Hills."

"Uh... Thank you?"

Thorin stood, and you bowed. "I'd uh, use some really respectful greeting, but I don't know any in dwarvish yet, so, it's an honor to meet you, Thorin, son of Thrain."

Thorin nodded. "I would say the same, if I knew you deserved any honor," He replied. Ouch.

You didn't know what to say. He obviously had no love for Elves. "What uh... What made you think I was from the Iron Hills, wherever that is?"

"To the east of Erebor, [lad/lass/y-o]," Balin informed you, and Dwalin whacked him so hard upside the head you could've swore they broke something.

"Oh. What made you think--"

Thorin looked at you with a look that said stfu so you did. "The dwarves of Erebor think little of Elven magic, or wizards. We did not believe a portal strong enough to pull someone from another world could exist. And as I have discovered, it does not."

You were confused. "What do you mean? You mean the ears? Those were latex, I swear, but suddenly they weren't. You can ask Thranduil, I'm not from these parts."

Thorin glared at you. "I would rather not converse with the Elvenking. He does not hear the word of others. As for you... It is clear you are merely an Elf of strange upbringing, who lost themselves in the wrong woods."

"Okay," You were starting to get irritated. You loved Middle-Earth, but you weren't from Middle-Earth. You didn't belong, like always, and you were ready to defend your position. In Game of Thrones--you'd never gotten far in that series, and had only started the books-- Tyrion Lannister told Jon Snow to armor himself in what people thought his weakness was, so that it would no longer be his weakness. That's exactly what you'd done over the course of your life, and you weren't about to lose that now. "Listen, I can show you the damn portal. It wasn't made by Elves, or wizards, or any of that other shit. The inscription on the portal came from the time of Gondolin, if that means anything to you. Do I talk like an Elf, to you? Do I act like one? The Elves were ready to kill me, just because I breathed wrong near their damn trees after being chased by orcs on oversized dogs. If I weren't from another world, do you honestly think I'd have such elaborate stories?"

Behind Thorin, Balin patted his hands down, giving you the silent signal to shut up. Glacing at Thorin's pissed off face made you listen. "How am I to believe you?"

You made a face. "Don't you dwarves have any kind of lie-detecting abilites?"

Balin sighed. "None that we can think of, [lad/lass/y-o]."

You huffed in defeat. "Okay, okay, you know what? You dwarves are beyond stubborn, so I'll just tell you once: I come from another world. If you don't believe me, fine, but I'd actually like to make friends with dwarves, thank you very much."

"Oh!" Dwalin chuckled deeply. "Then they must not be an Elf, Thorin! None in their right mind would go cavorting with a dwarf!"

Thorin frowned. "Perhaps a spy... But wait... You are not of the Woodland Elves. I see that now."

You looked down at yourself. "Gee, what gave it away?"

"You carry yourself differently," He began to circle you, and you felt like you were being circled by a vulture. An angry vulture... "Most unlike them, or any Elf I have heard tale of. Whom were you raised by?"

"Uh, my mother," You quipped with a cocked eyebrow. "Her name is [M/N]."

"And where do your kin reside? With the Rangers of Dúnadain?"

"With the what? Is that some kind of club?"

"Club?" Thorin repeated. "You believe that to be a weapon?" He gave you a disbelieving look, and you sighed.

"No, no. Where I come from, a club is a group of people that gather together and talk about stuff they like, or try to run the schools or shit like that," You were trying to explain with excessive hand movements, but you only seemed to be freaking him out.

He narrowed his eyes. In a rough and rusty language that sounded like it could be dwarvish, he said something; you didn't even catch any of the words.

You stared at him blankly for a second. "Mae g'ovannen...?" You tried, wincing at your hopeless pronunciation of the words.

Thorin regarded you with a newfound look of awe. Behind him, Dwalin chuckled. "That, was his attempt at Elvish. And you did not understand what he said?"

You stared. "...No? Was I supposed to? Did you just say something important? Or insult me? Hey, I'm only just starting to learn Sindarin!"

Thorin's look of awe shifted to a scowl and a bitter smirk. "It was not Sindarin, I can assure you. It was Quendi, that of the Noldor, the only Elvish my people know."

"Quen-- Oh, I get it now. Different Elves, different languages, it's all coming together..." You swung your arms casually. "Ok, so, what'd you say?"

"I told you that you are an imposter, and no better than Orc-filth" Said Thorin absentmindedly, "Which would send any Elf into a fit of well-groomed rage."

You couldn't help yourself. You burst into a fit of giggles, making all three dwarves look at you weirdly. "I-I'm sorry," You wheezed, "'Well-groomed rage'; yeah, that's pretty much what they do!"

"What of this quest, then?" Challenged Thorin as he took a seat. He gestured for you to do the same. "If you are not of the Wood Elves, yet you are indeed Elven, why are you on this journey? What purpose do you have here?" He poured you a drink; you'd never really tasted ale or mead of any kind, and recoiled from the smell.

"In order for you to understand, I'd have to tell you the story," You told him, and he gestured for you to continue. So you did. "I fell from the highest branches of an oak tree playing a game with my family. It was a standard day. Standard, pointless life. A life in a dying world that was way too fucking overpopulated, in the wrong damn places. It was a twisted kind of home. I didn't like it, and did what I wanted, so people hated me. I was dressed as an Elf--hence the ears.

"I wake up in the middle of the night, still in the forest, and am suddenly being chased by orcs on the backs of oversized dogs with six-packs on their faces."

Thorin grew confused. "Six-pack? What is that?"

You patted your stomach. "Those rows of six square tight muscles you get on you stomach if you work out. Now lemme finish!

"I get caught up in a river, shot by an arrow, and am half-dead by the time the Elves arrive lead by Blue-Eyes-- uh, Legolas-- and they're ready to kill me, but because I'm pretty much dead and in their forest, I'm some kind of threat. Because they're real nice like that. Thranduil-- who I kindly refer to as, Lord Fabulous-- wanted Leggy to kill me on the spot. Blade to my neck and everything. Until I pointed out that I could go home if we found the portal and would never return by pain of death. Ouch, but whatever.

"So we look, find it, and surprise! Can't get through. Can never see my family again. Can never go home. Suddenly I'm a real Elf. I go into a kind of depression before I realize that this place was a fictional world from where I'm from, which I'd loved, but for some reason can't remember shit now." You pointed to him. "Your name is important. Very. I know that much. You do something really cool, probably.

"But the Council of Wisdomy Guys was summoned, and they decided that it would be best if I proved my worthiness to stay among the Wood Elves on this mission. No pressure!" You grinned maniacally. "What brings you here? I hear a certain gray-robed wizard?"

"Ah, yes," He sighed. "Gandalf. My father met with him whilst I was in the depths of Erebor, so I heard no word of it and could make no protest against it until my father told me that I was to travel with two of my choice to assist the Elves. I only tolerate this for my father's sake, and he claims this will be a good lesson for kingship one day. But when I heard word of someone from foreign lands, I feared it was the dwarves of the Iron Hills attempting some form of scheme. Never have they liked us, and they never shall."

You scoffed. "Yeah, well... Most of the Elves may not like you either, but some of them aren't so bad."

Dwalin choked on his bread. Balin gave you a sad look. "But they tried to kill you!"

You shrugged. "I'm used to getting awful treatment. And besides, now that they know me, I've made some friends. Tauríel, the Captain of the Guard; Lindir of Rivendell, and Elros son of Elrond... And then there's Blue-- Legolas."

"Why d'ya refer to him that way?" Dwalin demanded with a disgusted look.

You shrugged. "A nickname. Where I come from, it's a gesture of friendship. I call Lindir 'Lindy' and he hates it, I can tell."

Thorin snorted. "Well, [Y/N] of Earth... Should the Wood Elves refuse your company, Dale might make a nice, temporary placement until you find elsewhere."

You smirked, nodding slowly. "I heard that emphasis on temporary. Don't worry; I thank you for your hospitality, but Lord Elrond is staying at the palace until I return. If I fail, he'll take me back to Rivendell with him."

"Good. One less Elf on our borders to deal with."

"Oh screw off."

Thorin grinned bitterly, but waved a hand. "Begone, I am done with questioning you."

You scoffed, and Dwalin took your drink and guzzled it. to your shock and amazement. Out of the three of them, only Balin wished you a goodnight.

But you weren't tired, which you realized as you found yourself heading back toward the horses. "[Y/N]," Said a familiar voice, and you turned to see Haldir striding toward you.

You bowed, suddenly recognizing him as somebody of high rank. "Mae l'ovannen, Haldir of Lothlorien. What's up?"

He blinked in confusion. "I..." He slowly looked up. "Believe the stars..."

You chuckled. "No, no; that's an expression, where I come from. It means how are you doing, what is it you need, nice to see you, etcetera etcetera."

He stared at you. "...'Et... Cetera...?'"

You slumped over. "Oi... It means a general list of similar meanings that're implied but nobody feels like saying."

Haldir smiled. "Oh, I see. Lindir wished for you to return, so that you could continue your lessons in Sindarin." He didn't miss your look of disappointment. He smirked. "Perhaps, when you are finished with Sindarin, and already know Common, Quenyan would be best for you to learn."

"Pfft," You waved a hand. "I'll live forever. Might as well. I'll toss some dwarvish in there while I'm at it."

Haldir made a face. "I suppose that is up to you, but every dwarf speaks Common, so it would not pose any form of language barrier for that to be avoided..."

*** You were woken up no later than the crack of fucking dawn, by an elaborate blowing of horns that probably alerted ninety-seven percent of the orcs of the northern borders to your presence, but oh what the hell.

What else you woke up to?

"Galu, mellon nin," Said Legolas with a shit-eating grin. "Ci maer?"

Slowly, your groggy eyes went from wide to thin, angry slits. "...I swear to the Valar, Blue-Eyes... I just fucking woke up. What are you saying? Speak in Common, or I'll tear you limb from limb because I am not a morning person."

He gave you a look, but couldn't wipe the smile off his face. "Le leich, Sairen. But if you are going to learn Elvish, then you must actually try to do so. Tell me, what did I say?"

You shrugged and slumped over onto a log. "Grapefruit, melons win, kid mobster."

Blue-Eyes chuckled, but internally, you busted out laughing after realizing what you said. "No, [Y/N], you have to do this. Concentrate. What did I say?"

With a sigh, you thought about Lindir's grueling lessons with you yesterday. "...You said, 'A blessing,' which is basically 'hi,' first; Galu. Then you said 'my friend,' and, 'are you well.'"

Blue-Eyes nodded, looking excited that you were getting the hang of Elvish. "Excellent. Now respond to me in Sindarin."

You resisted the urge to roll your eyes. In the most unenthusiastic tone you could muster, you said, "Galu, Legolas, ni maer. A gin?" Blessings, Legolas, I am well. And you?

"Ni maer," He replied, then began polishing his bow. "Worry not, Sairen, soon Sindarin will come to you thoughtlessly. You already swear to our gods, instead of your own."

You did roll your eyes this time. An idea hit you. "Hey..." You looked at him with a huge smirk. "What's fuck you in Elvish?"

Legolas paled, then blushed. "You will learn how to speak intimately to another later--"

You huffed. "NO! What's your most offensive insult?!"

Blue-Eyes thought for a minute. "...Ego, which is the equivalent to what you mean when you proclaim that Common phrase of yours... Hopefully, most of the time."

You bit back a laugh. "...Eggo? As in, L'eggo my eggo?"

Blue-Eyes gave you a concerned look. "I... I am not sure what you mean, and it is not pronounced as you say it."

Commotion started up, and you spun around in your seat wildly to try and see why everybody was suddenly moving and packing up. "What's goin' on?"

Legolas smiled. "Well, Sairen, we are off to track the orcs."

You looked at him in a panic, pointing futilely to an Elf packing up the cooking supplies. "B-but... What about breakfast?" That sentence reminded you of someone... Someone small and innocent and prone to causing disasters... But who? Blue-Eyes didn't give you time to figure it out.

"You will not starve, mellon nin," He told you gently, and stood. "You are an Eldar now; you'd best learn what your body can do now rather than later." He smiled down at you. "Dadwenithon."

As if you understood what that meant, he practically skipped away. "...Dad marathon?" You repeated in disbelief. You got up and went to find somebody you knew, preferably not the Elvenqueen, Erestor, Haldir, or Thorin, because they'd just find you childish, or annoying. Elros was quick to find, and you approached him and his palomino steed with a very confused expression.

"Hey Elros?"

Elros looked up from brushing his horse's mane and smiled. "Ai, len suilon, mellon nin. Ci maer?"

You rolled your eyes. Stupid Elves and their five hundred different ways to say 'hi...' "Galu, Elros. Ni maer, a gin?"

"Ni maer eithro. What brings you to my company?"

"What the hell does dad marathon mean?"

Elros froze and looked at you like you were crazy. "I beg your pardon?"

You gestured wildly over your shoulder. "Legolas got up, walked away, and said dad marathon! And I've got no idea what he said!"

Elros grinned knowingly. "Ai,Legolas said dadwenithon. It means, roughly, I will return." He gave you a disgusted look. "And that is not how it is pronounced at all."

"Oh. Dadwenithon?"

Elros smiled proudly. "Yes! Precisely! Well done! But if Legolas told you he would return to you, evidently he meant for you to stay where you were."

Your eyes bugged out of your head. "Oh. I'll be going, then. Novaer." You didn't realize you'd said an Elvish farewell until you'd reached where you'd originally been seated, but that jumped out of your head when you seen Legolas waiting with his dappled mare and the black stallion (Heh heh...) from yesterday.

"Ooh! What's this all about?"

"I decided you should have your own mount throughout the course of this journey," He replied with a smile. "He is yours for now. Name him as you will, and by the end of this journey, I shall see if you may keep him."

You stared at him like he'd just grown a second head. "Wh... What? Keep him?"

Legolas smiled. "Surely you would wish to ride at will throughout the northern parts of Mirkwood?"

A huge smile spread across your face, and you excitedly spread your hands. "Well, duh! Gin hannon, Legolas! I'll call him..." You took the reins and looked him in the eye. "Starlight. I've always wanted a black horse called Starlight."

Blue-Eyes patted your back. "Well done, mellon. Already, Elvish is beginning to seep into your speech."

You looked at him in surprise. "I did that on purpose you dumb blond."

Legolas's eyes widened slightly. "Man?" Which you understood as, What?

You stuck your tongue out at him and crossed your eyes. "Blehlehleh!"

He recoiled. "What are you doing?"

With a laugh, you stroked Starlight's muzzle. "Messing with you. So you get up from the left side, right?"

Blue-Eyes just looked at you like you were crazy, then shook his head. "Yes, I suppose."

You went around to the left flank of the steed, which snorted suspiciously at you, like it wanted to know what the fuck you were doing. You peered at Blue-Eyes over the stallion's back. "Gimme a leg up?"

Legolas flushed and stared at you blankly. "If that is one of your vulgar insults, I swear to Illuvatar..."

A laugh escaped your throat. "No! Hell no! It means help me up, you moron!"

A sweet smile crossed Blue-Eye's features. "Well, then, come here, mellon nin, and I will aid you." He interlaced his fingers together as he bent down, allowing you to grip both ends of the saddle, step into his hand, and haul yourself up. You nearly fell off the other side, but just managed to catch yourself before you made yourself look like a complete idiot in front of Blue-Eyes, who noticed your struggle but said nothing, to your sweet relief.

Elros trotted through camp on his palomino, saying "Und wendo'hein!"

Legolas mounted his dapple-gray, and looked you up and down. "You are not sitting correctly." He told you, and reached over to pull your shoulders back. "Your shoulders need to make a line to your ankles in the stirrups."

You rolled your eyes sarcastically. "Great, now you sound like my collection of Young Rider magazines."

"Your what?" Legolas looked almost offended.

"It's basically a book only about twenty pages long made of cheap paper and filled with random tidbits of information. This series I started collecting when I was eight or nine, then continued until I was about twelve, thirteen... I had a lot of them. I loved horses."

Blue-Eyes furrowed his brow. "Did you have one?"

You scoffed. "In my world, you either have to be rich like Saddle Club or own a farm like Racing Stripes. Or, by some miracle get saved by a badass black Arabian stallion on a desert island." You smiled cheekily at him. "Which, by the way, your facial structure really reminds me of an Arabian horse's. Dished, kinda. And perfect and majestic and all that shit."

Blue-Eyes just looked like he was suddenly being attacked by a pack of savage wargs and he wasn't quite sure what to do. You grinned, and did the first thing all of the books and movies you'd read as a kid had taught you: gently tap your heels into the horse's flanks, and carefully guide their head with the reins. Starlight tossed his head, eager to get moving at a faster pace, and nickered softly as he started off at a walk. Legolas beamed at you as he rode beside you. "Well well, Sairen, it seems you are a natural at riding a horse. Perhaps the blood of the Eldar is finally starting to take a hold of you."

"Not quite," Said a new voice, and Lindir rode up on a sleek bay with a mischievous smile. "Suilad, Legolas! [Y/N]! Your Elvish is improving, but you still need to learn more."

You slumped in the saddle. "Augh, man, do I have to?"

Legolas and Lindir grinned wickedly at each other. "Ai, Lindir, man í lú?"

"Ú, Legolas. Eithro, ci maer?"

"Ni maer, mellon nin, ni maer."

So for a whole five or six hours on the trip, you got bombarded on either side by Blue-Eyes and Lindir trying to teach you Sindarin. At the end of the day, the Elvenqueen asked you for another story, so you told her the first one that popped into your head that you could honestly remember most of: Alladin's Lamp. It had been your favorite fairytail as a child, and while it was meant for younger audiences, the Elves enjoyed it just as much.

Then, Thorin asked to see you again. He asked about your world, and what it was like, and you were happy to get to know them, even if you were an Elf now.

And that's how it went, for the next few weeks. Unfortunately, at some point you'd run out of memorized storybooks, so you focused on myths from various mythologies, and then, even movies. 300 seemed to be a favorite of Thorin's, who overheard, but the Elves were especially interested in Gods of Egypt and The Hunger Games, and the Jedi from Star Wars. When you ran out of that material (It was a long trip with long nights, because apparently Elves didn't really get the concept of sleep.), you even switched to games; Darksiders and The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim got their attention, as did The Legend of Zelda.

But of all the damned stories you told them, they seemed most interested in Shakespeare, of all things. You only barely remembered reading Midsummer Night's Dream out of curiosity, but Romeo and Juliet, thankfully, everybody knew the gist of. Thanks to a certain Tom Hiddleston, you knew Coriolanus by heart, so that one wasn't too hard of a story to tell, and neither was (Onc you finally got them off of Shakespeare.) Pirates of the Caribbean, a classic for you, which, one of the characters, now that you thought of it... Will Turner... You couldn't quite remember his face, or Balian's from Kingdom of Heaven, which they all really liked, especially Legolas.

Eventually, the queen dubbed you Taleweaver, which you thought sounded pretty cool, but also a little nerve-wracking, because what if you ran out of stories to tell? You forced yourself to be casual. No worries. You were a writer, after all, just... Now your audience consisted of fantasy people instead of Tumblr bloggers.

No pressure.

One day, Legolas approached you alone as you groomed Starlight. "Yo," You said, s'upping him. "S'up?"

Blue-Eyes looked like you'd just thrown something at him. "Man?" You rolled your eyes. "Galu, mellon, galu. What is it?"

Legolas scoffed. "My mother has declared only a small party of us, including the dwarves, shall scout ahead and see if we can find their trail. Of the party is myself, Elros, Erestor, Haldir, and... you."

You pointed to yourself. "M...Me? The queen specifically requested me to go with you?" You narrowed your eyes suspiciously. "Whhhhhhyyyyyyy???"

Blue-Eyes glared at you as he stroked Starlight's muzzle. "It is nothing out of the ordinary. You wish to prove yourself to my father, do you not? I would like for you to stay in the Mirkwood as well, Sairen, so do not disappoint me."

"Well," You looked up at Starlight's face. "No pressure, right?"

Legolas smiled cheekily. "Not at all." He patted your back. "We begin at dawn tomorrow. Meet me by Starlight once you've woken, and we shall begin." He walked away, but half-turned to call out, "Do not be late!"

You nodded in exasperation, but as soon as he was gone, sighed and placed your face on Starlight's neck. "Mission," You hissed under your breath, just really wishing Lord Fabulous didn't have to be such a jackass. "Impossible."

Tag List:

@hauntedsiriel @tesserphantom @liviaolivia @dumbladores @littlefrenchfryesblog @hibernatingmadhatter @reclusive-chicken-nugget @naryamirie @legolasdeserveslove @escapingthoughtsandsecrets @sagabriar @brushwood-souls @taurlel

If anyone else wants to be tagged, just let me know! And let me know if I missed anyone, too... O-O

Le leich= You’re sweet

[letterstothemidnightsociety]

It may be 2020 and the world is slowly crumbling around us but if global pandemics, a U.S. civil war election, and murder hornets and now rumors of Putin’s resignation(???) aren’t sensational enough, it’s time for Sweeps! And I’m still watching Supernatural to avoid all my problems because, well. That should be obvious. 

Cas is all of us.

OH! and there will be no discussion of the events of November 5 because guys, I’m still in season 1 right now, I’m not there yet. But yes, I KNOW. 

Ok, so before we talk about Sweeps, let’s take a moment to appreciate that at this point in my Supernatural journey, we’re in the back half of season one, and that’s a real miracle for any tv show to get this far. Or at least, it was at the time, when a show could be ordered for the first 13 episodes and then be on the hook for the rest, or Back 9. Supernatural was lucky in that it had been picked up for the full season after episode 4, so there was probably more time to prep that Back 9 than a Front 13/Back 9 show would have been. 

BUT that doesn’t mean the pressure isn’t on! Cuz we’ve hit the mid season, we’ve come back from Christmas break, and now it’s Sweeps!

Friendly reminder that TV’s here to make money folks, and Sweeps Week/Sweeps Month are (were??) vital to a season’s success or failure.

It’s Sweeps!

Alright, we’ll back track even further: TV networks and TV stations - the local centers that actually broadcast the shows in a given market - make money by selling ad time. They set the prices for that time by how many viewers are hypothetically watching at any given hour of the day. That’s where ratings come in, specifically Nielsen ratings. Nielsen Media Research, historically one of the most important media research firms out there, has been collecting audience data since the 30’s. They used to cold call households and to ask what each member of the household were listening to on the radio. When television came onto the scene, Nielsen started also collecting data on who was watching what. Ultimately, they dropped the cold calling in favor of diary keeping. Yes, they would actually send out diaries to a certain number of households in a given market, ask the residents to report every show they watched in a given week, and then four times a year, they’d “sweep” the country, collecting those diaries. These diaries would then impact the rate for ad time in each of those markets. Sweeps weeks happened four times a year - November, February, May, and July. And in fact, Sweeps Week is really more like Sweeps Month since it would take a month to deliver diaries to the households and then collect them again. Now, we can gather that data electronically (that is, faster), but Nielsen still tracks viewers for the whole month.

Actual Nielsen Diary which actually lists that someone actually watched a rerun of Seinfeld on TBS. Actually. 

So what does Sweeps mean to the people actually producing television? Basically, it means you have to have some real hot sh*t in November, February, May and July. You’ll know you’re in Sweeps when the news stories suddenly get...wild. You know the ones - Killer Hornets in Your Area! When Hugs Kill! Is Your Government Killing You?? Oh wait, that may just be 2020. 

For non-news outlets, Sweeps means saving your big episodes for strategic times of the year. You may notice, dear reader, that Sweeps lines up with some key tentpoles in a traditional television broadcast season. The end of November is usually midseason/winter finale time. Midseason finales are a big deal for many reasons, namely making sure you leave your viewers with a desperate desire to come back after the holiday break, but it’s also a good time for getting those big Sweeps numbers. You may also notice that sweeps # 3 is in May - that’s usually season finale time. February, Sweeps # 2, is right in between and July is just before the doldrums of summer. Honestly, July feels like a weird time to look at ratings, but that’s cuz I was raised on TV and it’s just an unwritten rule that there’s nothing good on in Summer.

Ok, I lied - I’m gonna talk about “Despair”, for just a second, I promise, minor spoilers ahead. This episode aired November 5 2020. That’s the final Sweeps period for 2020. And Sweeps may not mean anything to a show in its final season, specifically in this season, but it pulled out some big stops. Declarations of Love and Major Deaths? Yeah, those are two key staples for Sweeps, and I don’t think it’s a coincidence they weren’t pulling any punches in this episode. I know COVID delayed production, but even if they hadn’t restarted airing the season in October, this episode would have aired during May Sweeps. It’s also a series finale, so Sweeps isn’t the only consideration but it’s gotta be some consideration. 

So let’s look at episodes 13 - 16, our February Sweeps Month episodes for season 1. What do we have? 

Route 666 - Aired January 31, the beginning of February Sweeps

Here’s an episode that felt incredibly dated, but also incredibly relevant to today. The fact that Cassie has to fight with the mayor to prove that Black people are being specifically targeted felt a little Too Real Roy. They mayor even gets defensive that Cassie implies he might be racist because how can he be racist if he has Black friends? Does he say those words exactly? No. But that’s kind of the vibe you get off that conversation. I mean, I think I spent most of this episode making fun of a Racist Monster Truck that’s out there killing people, but honestly, slap a Confederate flag on that bitch and you’ve got any given rally or protest in America right now. I would almost consider this a Very Special Episode of Supernatural, where our brothers (and by extension us as the audience) learn about racism and the toll it takes on people of color, specifically Black Americans in the South. So there’s that.

But more importantly, for Sweeps week in 2006 anyway, was THE SEX. Not only does this episode comment on race in America, but Dean has a girlfriend and they totally bone. I mean, we’ve spent 12 episodes with just two dudes being dudes. Has there been flirting with random extras? Yes. Has there been any satisfying follow through? No. Because you save that for Sweeps. And it works. According to Wikipedia, “Route 666” had 5.82 million viewers the night it aired in America. The episode the week before, “Faith”, only had 3.86. That is almost 2 million more viewers who turned in to watch Jensen Ackles get tossed onto a bed with his shirt off.

Apparently this scene was a big deal because the network expressly told the producers not to have a lady on top and Supernatural just...did it anyway. Way to go, Supernatural, being progressive in all the right ways. Also, because I HAVE to say it, her name is CAS(sie).

Nightmare - Aired February 7

Next up is The One Where Sam’s ESP Comes Back! And boy was this rough. I mean, it’s nice and dark and also brings the show’s Mythology to the forefront, but it ends hella ambiguous. How Sweeps is it? Well, I imagine that the priests getup was included in the trailer as another Sweeps gimmick. 

And I can’t decide if including Beth Broderick, OG Aunt Zelda from Sabrina the Teenage Witch, is a big enough guest star to be a draw? 

I can’t not see Aunt Zelda

This episode feels like the show is really digging in to its Horror roots again. There’s some gorey special effects. There’s also a lot of small moments in this episode that I really liked, good acting moments and good character moments. It builds in some conflict between the brothers that never really gets resolved, just sort of deflected and kicked down the road for later. Is this Sweeps material? Maybe? The numbers on this are lower than on the previous episode - only 4.27 million viewers, but it’s also not as eye catching as Dean getting tossed on a bed with his shirt off. 

The Benders - Aired February 14

I actually really like this episode, even though I forget this is even in season one. This one’s got a nice reversal of the formula for the show - for the first time we see that the monsters killing people are just...people. Or, as I said in my notes for this one - “they’re hicks! They’re just hicks, guys!” They’re not Supernatural at all. And I LOVE the Cop Buddy that Dean picks up. Jessica Steen as Officer Kathleen is SO A+, I would definitely watch a spinoff show of her life.

Dean, what IS this? What is this conversation?

But there’s not a whole lot of gimmick here, not a whole lot of flash. This is just a solid episode, but not a lot of audience grab. The key to that, I think, is in the air date - February 14. It’s possible they stuck this here because they did not expect a lot of viewers, and in fact, they only had 3.96 million viewers tune in that week. Still a good episode though.

Shadow - Aired February 28

And here’s our final episode for February Sweeps. We’re finally getting back to the main story arc. Not only do we see the return of Meg, our most prominent antagonist so far, but we also get the first reunion with John Winchester! I’d say this is a Sweeps episode that’s geared more towards season-long-fans than first time viewers. There’s a lot that happens - 1) Meg returns and reveals her cards as a Big Bad (Medium Bad?). 

Oof. That’s...that’s SOME dialogue, guys.

2) John shows up and tells the boys that he knows what killed their mother (and also Jessica). 

Ugh. Can we talk about this scene and how John just like, tosses out a whole bunch of information in the douchiest expo dump I’ve seen in a while?

3) John shows up. 

These are moments that viewers who have been following along have been waiting for. There’s weight to the scene where Sam and John talk to each other for the first time in years - you feel the tension, you feel the fight that broke them apart, but you also feel the regret, the fact that both of them wish they could take back that fight even though they meant every word of it. It’s good pay off for the hours we’ve spent watching up til now. Of course, Dean deciding the team needs to split up again at the end feels like a real slap in the face. I’m pretty sure I felt it the first time, but definitely this time - John showing up feels more like a tease to keep us interested than any actual development to the show and it makes me feel like I’ve been tricked as an audience member. It feels like they only had Jeffrey Dean Morgan for, like, one day on set. I didn’t think his turn on Grey’s Anatomy was THAT big of a deal, but maybe it was? Maybe he was super busy? Or maybe the show just be like that. But the numbers are good - 4.22 million, a little up from the previous week. Not Dean Bones numbers, but not bad either. 

Here’s the thing about sweeps guys - 15 years later and they’re kind of...irrelevant. TV still makes money on ads, sure, and there are probably more lucrative times of the year than others - Summer is still kind of the doldrums of programming - but even broadcast networks don’t run the same way that they used to. As early as 2014, the networks were doing their best to compete with streaming services and on-demand viewing by offering new content all year round, not just during key months. Broadcast networks might still program around Sweeps but that’s not needed now. And Nielsen ratings have been under scrutiny for years, thanks to TiVo. TiVo, guys, not even online streaming. When an audience is not tied to specific time frames, how do you really measure the true number of viewers? Nielsen’s methods of counting viewers hasn’t exactly kept up with the way we binge and watch when we feel like it. As late as 2018, Nielsen was still relying on paper diaries, despite the fact that they’d been using more accurate and up to date electronic methods since 2005. And again, with year-round programming, it isn’t necessary to focus on a specific times of the year. 

In terms of business models, I think it’s also important to remember that when we’re not watching broadcast TV, we don’t mind paying directly for our new means of viewing. That’s how cable works, that’s how streaming works. I’ve been paying for Netflix through multiple price hikes and haven’t blinked an eye. I joined Disney+ early enough that I paid for a three year subscription. My parents are cable TV cord-cutters and they’re perfectly happy with a combination of Hulu+ and Roku. 

But a lot of TV still does rely on ad time to make a profit. And for those shows, it’s even more important to use measurement methods that encompass accurate viewership numbers. I don’t see a future where Networks use a cable station model (based on subscription fees) rather than on ad dollars. However, I can see a future where Networks do away with Sweeps.  Instead, they’ll just offer up that batsh*t sensational content all year round. 

[captainillogical]

Devil’s Ballroom Ch.7

A year after the events from the earth’s final attack, Little Homeworld is finally complete, and there’s a new jazz bar where gems and humans mingle and drink. - As you’re typing back a reply, someone pulls the stool out next to you and takes a seat. You see a sliver of pink out of the corner of your eye as you try not to actually Look. Oh god. It’s her. God can’t help us now.

Spinel/Reader

collab with my lovely wife @firstofficertightpants​

ya’ll im sorry lmao

You spend the rest of your evening doing exactly none of the errands that you needed to deal with today. Instead, you're laying on your couch and texting your friends.

         Y/N: I'm so tornnnn.

     Y/N: Do I say something about the cheek smooch?

     Y/N: Should I leave it be?

     Y/N: Because she's texting like nothing happened.

     Y/N: What if I'm reading too much into it??

     Y/N: What if that's just how she shows friendship affection???

     Y/N: I might make it so fucking awkward if I assume something!

     Y/N: This entire ordeal is mortifying!!!

     Y/N: I want nothing more than to dig a big hole and lie in it forever.

     Y/N: I might be low-key having a panic attack about this rn but what's new.

     Harper: Y/N. chill. you're way overreacting to this.

     Harper: even if it meant nothing, she still likes you as a friend right?

     Harper: i think it would take a lot for her to like.. not wanna stay friends lol.

     Alex: im just saying you could probably kiss her and she'd be ok with it

     Alex: cheek kisses are pretty forward

     Harper: don't listen to him. all of his relationships ended in failure.

     Alex: wow

     Alex: im seriously hurt

     Harper: am I wrong?

     Alex: no..

     Harper: my point exactly.

     Harper: i’m not saying you have nothing to lose or anything.

     Harper: because i myself had to tread very carefully with leah..

     Harper: but i think you should just see where it goes and not like

     Harper: put too much emphasis on this incase it was nothing.

     Y/N: Yeah see now you have me worried it WAS nothing!!

     Alex: oh my goooooooddddddddddddddd

     Alex: the both of you approach women so.. pathetically

     Alex: take a risk

     Alex: live a little

     Alex: what is seriously the worst that could happen

     Alex: she kills you??

     Alex: lmao

     Alex: its funny cuz of.. you know

     Harper: i can’t wait to be home and smothering him with a pillow instead of affection.

     Y/N: You and me both.

     Y/N: Try being the only one available to play games with him.

     Alex: both of you fucking love me okay

     Alex: alsooooooo i get to be home the day after tomorrow

     Alex: the alex is back, babieeeeee

     Y/N: Harper please come home I’m BEGGING you.

     Harper: sorry you gotta deal with him alone for another month lmao.

     Y/N: Fuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuck.

     Alex: can i get a fucking crumb of love here please

         You swipe over to the couple of messages Spinel has left you in the past couple of minutes while you were talking to your friends.

         Spinel: It’s another stupid ball, I just found out.

     Spinel: I told her that I’m sitting this one out this time.

     Spinel: She has so many others that would absolutely love to help her, and yet, still absolutely insists that I must be there.

     Spinel: I don’t want to go back to homeworld right now, and not for this.

     Y/N: And you put your foot down? Hell yeah, dude.

     Y/N: Planning a ball for a bunch of gems sounds like a chore anyway.

     Spinel: oh, it is, believe me.

     Spinel: And they need everything to be PERFECT.

     Spinel: Which isn’t realistic anymore now that they don’t expect any of the gems to stay in line with their gem class nowadays.

     Spinel: The last ball they threw almost 4 months ago was utterly chaotic.

     Y/N: For thousands of years y'all as a race never pushed to deviate from the norm, and now that you guys are allowed to? I’d go batshit with it too.

     Y/N: Being stifled in everyday life, and finally you’re free?

     Y/N: Fuck, I’d go around fusing with anyone!

     Spinel: That is precisely what too many of them did.

     Y/N: Lmao. I wish I could’ve seen that.

         You tab back over to your group chat for a moment to see what they’re talking about.

         Harper: see? they’re everywhere.

     Harper: i wasn’t expecting the campsite to have so many.

     Alex: you could have built an army and instead you took pictures

     Alex: do you know how easy it is to lure chipmunks?

     Alex: oh that lil guy on the bottom right is so fucking chunky i love him

     Harper: that’s the one that got the closest when i fed them. :3

     Alex: oh i fuckin BET

     Alex: you dont get that chubby in the wild without takin a few risks

     Alex: if u know what i mean ;)

     Harper: i hate whatever you just implied.

     Y/N: It’s not a conversation with Alex unless you roll your eyes at least 3 times.

     Alex: hey i thought it was 4 times

     Alex: dont insult me

     Alex: anyway, y/n

     Alex: are you workin the day i come back

     Y/N: Yeah I’m actually scheduled a double.

     Alex: scheduled

     Y/N: Yes.

     Alex: a double

     Y/N: Yes.

     Alex: he can’t SCHEDULE you a DOUBLE

     Y/N: He can if he asks me ahead of time as a favor.

     Alex: that fuckin bastard

     Alex: always ruining my plans

     Harper: you’re still mad at him for firing you last summer, huh.

     Alex: OF COURSE I AM

     Y/N: Bro you stole like $300 of cotton candy sugar that summer.

     Y/N: It’s only fair.

     Y/N: Besides, I’m only doing this because he said he’d give me a long weekend for it.

     Alex: kay well

     Alex: i guess i’ll just go bug you at work and wait for you to get off that day :'(

     Y/N: Get me written up again, I swear to god.

         Your phone chimes several times, and you swipe down to see messages from both Spinel and Steven. You check Spinel's first.

         Spinel: Do me a favor and ignore any messages Steven has sent you.

     Y/N: What are you, my boss?

     Spinel: I MEAN IT

         You quickly switch over to Steven's texts.

         Steven: I was going to ask you if your date with Spinel went okay, but I'm assuming it went fine considering she hasn't really stopped talking about you.

         Ohhhh my god, this is wild. You reply to him.

         Y/N: It wasn't a date as far as I know.

     Y/N: I had fun.

     Y/N: She's telling me to not read your messages, lmao.

     Y/N: Also what do you mean she hasn't stopped talking about me??

     Steven: She’s been lying on my floor for the last hour basically gushing about you.

     Steven: But you didn’t hear that from me!

     Steven: :D

     Y/N: Haha thanks, kid.

         You switch back over to text Spinel, and get up off the couch to make yourself some tea. Pulling out your kettle, you turn the stove on and grab some raspberry flavored abomination tea bag that your dad loves more than any of the other good tea flavors.

         Y/N: Sooooo.

     Spinel: You talked to him, didn’t you.

     Y/N: Hahaha noooo. :)

     Spinel: The fuck did he say?

     Y/N: Absolutely nothing.

     Spinel: Seriously? I was sure he’d reveal something embarrassing.

     Y/N: Nope! You should probably get off his floor eventually, though.

         Your kettle goes off and you grab a clean mug, and pour the boiling water into it along with the tea packet. You look down at your phone, and grin.

         Spinel: goddammit.

         You let the bag steep for a little bit, and add in a small amount of sugar. Walking up to your bedroom you take a snap of Jellybean half lounging, half falling off the stairs and send it to Spinel. She replies with a couple heart emojis, and you wonder if Steven was the one to show her the proper use of them. You set your cup of tea down on your desk, and turn your computer on. It’s evening now, and it’s much too late to do anything left with the rest of your day productivity-wise, so you settle in on playing more minecraft. Your thoughts wander quite a bit, and you find yourself stuck on thinking about Spinel. Naturally. You wonder about a lot of things she’s learned while staying on earth, from things like - does she pay rent? Does she have a job? Does she know what taxes are? Does she know what a relationship with a human looks like? She said she watched a movie, but didn’t exactly elaborate. You don’t know what human-norms she’s been exposed to. You can’t even concentrate enough to mine any of this redstone for Alex, and you nearly die in-game when the thought of ‘does she know what sex is?’ pops into your mind. You grab your phone and shoot Spinel another message.

         Y/N: Quick question.

     Y/N: If you don’t mind me asking.

         It takes her a few minutes to reply.

         Spinel: Sure?

     Y/N: Do you know how humans are made?

     Spinel: w

     Spinel: Yes?

     Spinel: Steven told me about it a few weeks ago actually.

     Spinel: Why are you asking?

     Y/N: No reason! Just curious is all.

     Spinel: Hm.

         Yeah you’re not too confident that she actually knows, and you’re too chickenshit to elaborate right now. You’ll enlighten her later. You spend the rest of the night browsing memes on your phone, and texting your friends and Spinel on occasion. Before you know it, your eyes drift close with your phone in hand.

     You wake up when your alarm goes off for your morning shift, and curse at yourself for not charging it last night. It’s at a solid 32%, which isn’t really enough to go about your day, but you’ll have to make do. You get ready for a hopefully not shitty day, lock up the house, and head in to work.

     It’s a complete shitshow when you come in, and you turn your phone off to save battery and concentrate on dealing with more than an average amount of tourists. You find Mr. Smiley sleeping in the breakroom/office/supply closet, and have half a mind to lock him in there from the outside for the rest of your shift. It’s pretty busy, and messy, and it isn’t until you’re there for several exhausting hours that you finally have enough time for a break. You turn your phone on, and instantly you’re flooded with messages from several different people. Ugh.

           A couple from your dad - just checking in, really. Group chat too as usual, but none of it seems overly important. One from Spinel, and several from Steven. You open up Spinel’s message first.

         Spinel: Do you think we could talk about a couple of things later?

         Vague, and a little concerning. You text back an apology for getting back to her so late, and open the messages from Steven.

         Steven: Hey are you busy?

     Steven: I’m dealing with a bit of a situation right now, and could use your help.

     Steven: Spinel locked herself in my bathroom, and she won’t come out.

     Steven: She refuses to answer to anyone, and several of us have tried.

     Steven: I’m just really worried about her, and you guys seemed to bond, so I was hoping..

     Steven: That maybe you could come over?

     Steven: Thanks regardless.

         You check the timestamp, and that was over an hour ago. Jesus christ.

         Y/N: Steven I’m so sorry, my phone was off and I’m at work, give me a few and I’ll be right over, okay?

     Y/N: I’ll be quick.

         He replies almost immediately with a “please” and you pocket your phone. You try not to worry too hard about Spinel as you rush over to grab your things, and knock on Mr. Smiley’s office/broom closet door. He opens it groggily, clearly just waking up.

     “Yeah?” he slowly blinks at you.

     “I gotta leave early. Emergency.” You stare at him, trying to not be pissed at his lack of work ethic.

     “Are you for real? You’ve got another 3 hours left.” He says and crosses his arms, and you glare at him.

     “I’ve been working my ass off while you’ve been sleeping this whole time, AND I’m covering your ass tomorrow so you can go meet your old friend! So the LEAST you can do is let me go early when I have an emergency!!!” You almost yell out at him, and he holds his hands up in defense.

     “Okay, okay! Fine. Only because you’re a good worker.” He says, and has the gall to look at least a little ashamed of himself.

     “Damn right I am.” You spin around and head out of the building, practically running.

     You almost trip and bite it several times on the way over to Steven’s place, but you’re more worried about Spinel. You’ve only been to his place twice, but once you’re there you run up the stairs and open the door without knocking. You’re greeted by the only two people in the living room, Pearl, and Steven.

         “Oh, she’s here!” Pearl says and nudges Steven, who looks up from typing on his phone.

     “Y/N! Thank god you’re here.” He says with furrowed eyebrows.

     “What happened?” You say and shut the door, and cross the room over to him.

     “I’m not sure! We were just working on something together for Amethyst, and she got a call from Blue and Yellow. She’s been ignoring them lately, and they’ve been bothering me in turn because of that, so I asked her to take the call just see what they want.” He runs his hand through his brown curls, and just for a moment, you see that 12 year old him in again. The obvious stress masks just how young he really is, and you feel bad that he can’t live life like a normal kid. “She went outside to take the call, and was out there for quite a while. I wasn’t trying to eavesdrop, but I did hear some yelling. And just when I was going over to make sure they were alright, she comes back in tears, eyes spiraling like months ago, and nearly knocks Pearl over rushing into the bathroom.”

     “And nothing since?” You inquire, fidgeting with your hands.

     “No,” He says, frustratedly. “I’ve been trying to reach the diamonds to see what this is all about, but I’ve only been getting the pearls. I don’t know what to do. She hasn’t been like this in months. What were they talking about to make her this upset?”

     “Maybe I can find out. You said she’s in your bathroom?” You raise an eyebrow at him.

     “Yeah, the one right over here.” He says and points to it.

     “Is it locked?” You ask.

     “No,” Pearl glances towards the bathroom door and crosses her arms. “The lock has been broken on it for a while, since Peridot joined us actually. Both Garnet and I tried opening it, but I think once Spinel hears someone trying to come in she blocks the door.”

     Hm.

     “I’m gonna try something, but you guys are gonna wanna stay away.” You say to the two of them. “I don’t want to overwhelm her with more than one person.”

     “Let us know if we can do anything?” Steven makes to pass by you and gives your arm a light squeeze. “And thanks for coming to help.”

     “Anytime, dude.” You give him a half smile, and walk over to his bathroom. You turn to take a look back at the other two, and they’re already in the kitchen discussing something in soft tones. You move to knock at the door, make two light taps against the frame, and wait for an answer.

     A couple seconds pass, and nothing. Not even any movement. Nervously, you knock again, a little louder this time, and wait for a good ten seconds.

     Still nothing.

     You take a deep breath, reach out to grab the door handle, and very slowly and quietly open the bathroom door. You see nothing but absolute darkness, and step in. You feel around the wall to your right and flip a switch just as you close the door behind you with an audible click. The room instantly floods with the dark red light of the heat lamp, and before you can even think about finding another light source, you find yourself slammed up against the wall and let out a surprised yelp. You open your eyes to see Spinel’s face inches from yours, pupils wild, her hands splayed against your shoulders.

     “U-um,” Your voice cracks a little. “Hey.”

     You watch her eyes take a second to find yours, and almost instantly, she lets you go, arms trembling.

     “W.. what are YOU DOING HERE!?” She cries, large tears pouring down her face, eyebrows raised in confusion, mouth trembling. Her hair is in loose pigtails, strands untamed around her face, cheeks stained with tear tracks. She looks like a mess, and your heart breaks, just a little. “I-I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to hurt y-”

     “I’m fine.” You cut her off. “I should have said who it was outside the door, I’m sorry. And um.. Steven texted me while I was at work, and told me what was going on so I rushed over..” You trail off as you watch Spinel’s entire body shake, and she covers her face with both of her hands.

     “I can’t believe I just did that.” You hear her wavering voice, muffled behind her fists, and she lets out a choked sob. “Maybe they were right. M-maybe I’m not meant to-” She quickly moves her hands down to look at the floor with wide, vulnerable eyes, and struggles to form the rest of her words. You hear her breathing pick up pace, and you’re starting to realize she’s hyperventilating.

     “Spinel, look at me.” Her eyes shoot up to yours, lips trembling. “I need you to breathe.” You do what your friends have always done with you, and gently grab both of her hands and hold them with yours, thumbs stroking her palms in slow circles. She freezes up instantly, and you’re about to panic, because while a familiar touch helps ground you, you register that maybe it’ll make it worse for her. But before you can pull your hands away, her hands relax ever so slightly, and she lets out a shaky breath. “Good. Just like that.” You motion for her to follow your breathing inverals, and she copies you, hands still shaking in yours.

     It’s been a while since you’ve had to deal with something like this, but you’re thankful for having similar life experiences. After a solid minute or two of this her breathing is back to a normal pace, but she’s still crying, and now not meeting your eyes. Almost like she’s avoiding them.

     “Look, I.. I don’t know what happened with you and the diamonds, but you can talk to me about it if you’d like. No pressure, though.” You give her hands a small squeeze, and she whimpers, looking up to meet your gaze. Tears are still actively streaming down her face, and you have no idea how to make any of this better. It physically hurts you to see her like this.

     “C-can I not talk about it? I don’t think I’m ready..” She pulls a hand from yours, and wipes at her face. She just kind of smeared half of her face with wetness, and she looks miserable.

     “You don’t have to talk about anything, Spinel.” You look at her, making sure she sees it in your eyes. You slowly let go of her other hand, and hold your arms out in a silent question instead. Her mouth opens slightly, the red glow of the light around her making her look extremely vulnerable and soft, and she looks at your open arms with a blank face for a moment before understanding. Almost instantaneously, she throws herself against you and wraps her arms around your shoulders, shoving her face into the cradle of your neck. You envelop your arms around her tightly, giving her sides a squeeze, and you feel her start to shake again.

     She lets out an unsteady sigh, and hiccups out another small sob. You pull her to lean fully against you as you stand there, bracing your back against the bathroom door. She lets you maneuver her, and you rest the side of your face against her temple while she cries. You resign yourself to letting her cry on you until she’s done, if she needs to.

       You feel her sniffle against your neck, and try not to mind that she’s getting your shirt soaked. You give her back a few gentle rubs, feeling her body quiver against yours as she’s trying to control her choked breathing. You’re not really counting the minutes, as right now you’re currently having way too many rampant thoughts about what the fuck the diamonds could’ve said to her. You’re mad as hell, honestly, and if you could say shit to them, you would in a heartbeat. You don’t want to make anything worse for her though, as much as you want to steal her phone and video call them to curse them out. It takes a few more minutes, but eventually her crying dies down, and you feel her breathing even out. Slowly, she dislodges her arms from twisting around you two, and you feel a sigh, her breath hot against your neck. You do your best to school your facial expression as you’re realize just how close you are to her, and she pulls her face from its resting position to look at you. She looks awful.

       “U-um,” She lifts up her hand to attempt to wipe her face, failing to rub half the tears away. “I don’t really want to go out there yet..”

       “You don’t have to.” You say, quietly. “I can leave if you’d like some quiet to yourself.” Her face looks panicked for a second, and she grabs your wrist.

       “Please don’t leave me.” She says, voice wavering again. You try not to let your heart shatter at her tone.

     “I won’t if you want me here.” You say, and sigh softly. “Here, hold on a second.”

     She lets your wrist go as you move slightly over to the sink, turn the hot water on, and grab a clean hand towel from the counter. You soak it in water, and squeeze out all the excess. Towel in hand, you turn back to her, and she’s looking at you cautiously. You lift the towel slightly, motioning to her face.

     “May I?” You ask, and she nods slightly.

     Tenderly, you brush a couple strands of hair away from her face, grasp her chin with your left hand and pull her forward, gently pressing the towel to her cheek. She closes her eyes, and her shoulders sag a little as she lets you dab at her face, cleaning her of any tear stain marks. She sighs into your touch, and it strikes you that it would be so easy to just.. lean in and kiss her.

       Your brain almost short circuits and you snap your thoughts back to reality. There’s a time and place for everything. This is not the time, nor the place.

       Once you’re satisfied that she looks a lot better than before, you pull your hands away to toss the rag in the sink, and Spinel, for a brief moment, looks disappointed that you had stopped. Which.. kind of gives you an idea.

       “Can I try something? Harper used to do this thing with me when I.. had similar breakdowns.” You ask her. She raises her eyebrow in response, clearly exhausted from crying so much. “Here.” You say, and take her hand and lead her over to the rim of the bathtub. You sit down on the edge, and motion for her to sit in front of you on the floor. She takes a seat in front of you, still confused, but obeys nonetheless. “Can I touch you?” You ask her, watching her face to make sure she’s alright.

       She looks up at you, the red light in the room flooding the entirety of her face, making her hair darker, and the whites of her eyes a bit more dramatic.

     “Yeah.” She says in reply, voice tired.

     You reach out to her hair, and stop for a moment.

     “Can I have you face the other direction, actually? Come over here.” You move to open your knees, making enough room for Spinel to turn around and lean against the bathtub. She’s close to you again.

     “What are you..” She trails off as you start to take the hair ties out of her pigtails, one after the other. It takes a second, as it’s a bit tangled, but you manage to get both out, and let her hair fall down. You comb out her hair with your fingers, gently, and she sighs audibly while leaning into your touch. You run your short nails along her scalp, scratching and massaging as you smooth out her hair, attempting to pull all the tangles out.

     “Touch used to calm me down, and Harper was really good at it, honestly.” You say while pulling out a particularly difficult tangle without hurting her. Her hair is long like this, and you like it. You wish you could grow your hair this long, but it’s kind of a pain to deal with, and the longest you’ve ever had yours wasn’t even to your mid back, you think to yourself. “Sometimes she’d give me shoulder and neck massages, but I preferred that she’d just play with my hair. There’s just something different about another person touching your hair.”

     “I kind of get what you mean.” She says, tiredly.

     “Can I braid your hair?” You lean closer to look at her face.

     “Do what you want.” She says, looking fairly relaxed.

     “Cool. Anyway, while Harper was good at that, Alex, on the other hand, was just terrible at any kind of physical comfort. He’s genuine, and he tries, but he’s an idiot. He’s a lot better at distractions, for the most part.” You run your fingers through her hair one more time, before starting to separate her hair into three parts for a french braid. “He’s funny, and comes from a large family, so he always has stories and jokes. Whenever I’d have a panic attack, those two were always so good about being there for me. I don’t know what I’d do without them.”

     You notice that Spinel‘s shoulders have lost most of the tension in them, and you’re secretly relieved. You keep talking to fill the quietness around you two, because you’ve always hated the quiet during moments like these. Your friends aren’t here, so it’s up to you to make up for it.

     “It was kind of hard, at first though,” You say, and start looping the chunks of hair around your fingers, starting at the top of her head. “Because for a while there, back when I was 16 and dealing with the worst of my abandonment issues, I clung onto Harper like a baby koala. I had this super weird crush on her even though we had been friends since we were practically babies. I think I idolized her because she was just.. good to me.” You accidentally tug a little too hard on a strand of hair, wince and utter an apology while massaging the spot on her scalp. “I’m glad that didn’t ruin our friendship, but for a while there I really pushed my feelings onto her, which was kinda fucked up on my part.”

     “Hm..” Spinel mumbles. “I kind of had a thing for Pink, I think. Which ended up screwing with me even more after what she did.” You stare at the back of her head and pause your hands for a second. Huh. Yeah, you had a hunch.

     “If she were still alive, I’d punch her in the face for you, I hope you know.” You state, in full seriousness. This gets the first chuckle that you’ve heard from her today, and you’re secretly overjoyed.

     “I’d pay to watch that.” She says, and you laugh out loud. You see her smile, just barely.

     “So,” You continue, with both your hands and conversation. “A week or so after my 17th birthday, right after Harper talked to me about this guy at school that she liked, I confess to her. And not like a, ‘oh hey, you’re my best friend and I really like you’ kind of way, either. It was more like a, ‘have a mental breakdown over your best friend liking someone else and make them feel like shit about it on your walk home from school’ kind of confession.” Your hands reach the nape of her neck now, braid mostly done on her head, but you’ve got around another 20 inches of length before being finished.

     “Harper avoided me for nearly a week after that. I was absolutely pathetic, and inconsolable. Alex was fed up with my shit after a few days, and nearly slapped me over it. He would’ve been in the right, doing so, honestly. I was a selfish asshole who only thought about her own feelings, and not about her best friends.” Your eyes drift to Spinel’s face, and her eyes are closed, eyebrows unfurrowed.

     “Anyway,” You’re nearly done with the entire braid now. “She did end up forgiving me. Thankfully. I don’t know what I’d do if it were my fault that I’d split up our friend group.” You pick up the discarded hair tie from earlier, and tie it around the end of the braid.

     “I’m all done, by the way.” You say to her. She opens her eyes tentatively, and she looks sleepy. You stand up, and stretch your back. She also gets up on wobbly legs, and turns to look at you.

     “Um.” She’s avoiding your eyes. “Thank you. For this.” She’s twisting her hands together, nervously. You lean your face closer to get at eye-level with her.

     “Anytime.. and for the record, you look really cute in a braid.” You say and smile, giving her a cheeky wink. You watch her entire face from the neck up turn bright red, and think that you could probably do this forever, and never get tired. She gives you a noncommittal grunt, halfheartedly smacks your arm and you grin at her.

     You hear a quiet knock at the door, and look over to Spinel. She shrugs, so I guess it’s okay now.

     “You can come in!” You say to the door. It opens slowly, and you see Steven peek his head in.

     “Um.. are we okay?” He asks, clearly very worried about her.

     “I’ll be okay.” She says, and you think that maybe she should lay down and sleep. You verbalize this immediately.

     “Spinel. I think you should go take a nap.” You look at her, and she blinks at you. “I’m serious.”

     “She’s kind of right.” Steven says in agreement with you. Spinel gives the both of you a shrug, and even that seems like it’s taking a lot out of her.

     “Okay.” She says, and turns to walk out of the bathroom. Steven opens the door wider, and you can see Pearl in the kitchen leaning against the counter, trying to not seem like she’s intently watching all of you.

     Spinel makes her way over to the couch and takes a seat, sitting up rigidly. You walk over to her to make sure she’s okay before you leave for home.

     “You know you can text me, right? And if you need me, I’ll be available. I’ll leave my volume turned on.” She gives you a nod. “Oh, and.. take this,” You say, and pull off the pullover hoodie you’re wearing right now, and hand it over to her. “Alex used to let me wear his oversized sweaters, and they used to help me sleep, so..”

     She tentatively reaches out, and takes it from your hands.

     “Thanks.” She says, and gives you a small smile. With her hair pulled back like this she almost looks human, for a fleeting moment. You sometimes forget she’s a gem. You return the smile back at her, and turn around to leave.

     After grabbing your bag that you set down earlier from beside the couch, you head over to the front door and open it. Shouldering the bag, you start to shut the door and see Steven behind you. He closes the door behind him, his face searching yours for something you don’t quite know.

     “I don’t know what you did, but thank you.” He says, completely genuine.

     “You don’t have to thank me. I’d do it for you, too, you know.” You say to him, and he smiles.

     “That’s why I like you, Y/N. You’re sweet.”

     “Yeahhhh, don’t tell anyone, though. You’ll ruin my reputation.” You smirk, giving him the side-eye. He laughs and pats your back.

     “Ohhhhhh no! Whatever will you do!?” He rolls his eyes in jest. “Get home safe, okay?”

     “No promises.” You reply, and jump down his steps, two at a time.  

     It doesn’t take you long to get home, and you’re pretty tired yourself. You make yourself busy by preparing dinner, cleaning the kitchen a little, and calling your dad for another check-in. Before you know it, it’s nearly 11, and you need to sleep for your double shift tomorrow that you almost forgot about. You’re laying in bed browsing social media before drifting off, and you receive a text from Spinel. You swipe down and open the message.

         Spinel: Thanks again for today.

     Spinel: I baked some new cookies with Steven, and would like to give you some tomorrow if that’s okay?

         You smile to yourself. Ughhhhhhhh, you’re catching the feelings disease, and you swat the air around you like it somehow physically manifested around you.

         Y/N: I work literally all day, but feel free to stop by and give them to me.

     Y/N: Then I get to see a pretty familiar face to break up all the lame tourists.

     Y/N: Cuz that sounds super nice. ;)

     Spinel: I’ll see you tomorrow, then.

         She didn’t react to your obvious teasing, but you won’t let that discourage you. You fall asleep thinking of the many different ways you can poke fun at her, and this time, you charge your phone.

     You wake up the next morning feeling well-rested for once, and get ready for work. Alex has sent you a couple texts about when his flight will arrive, and when he’ll roughly come to meet you. Sometime around 4pm, apparently. You shoot Spinel a good morning text, and she replies almost instantly with the same, which makes you smile.

     You head to work, texting your group chat about what happened yesterday with Spinel, and give them basically all the details. Alex makes fun of you for a bit, so you curse him out and pocket your phone as you clock in. Today’s going to suck, but you’ve got a few things to look forward to.

     You make it a couple hours into your shift before you finally get a break, and Spinel texts you that she’ll drop by sometime in the afternoon once she’s done helping Bismuth with something. God you hope it’s not when Alex gets here, because you are so not fucking ready for that interaction. You eat your lunch and pray to any god out there that you could have one more day of peace.

     You’re outside the main building repairing a couple parts on the carousel, ignoring the bulk of the tourists to focus on work. You don’t realize that quite a while has passed by, because someone walks up to you as you’ve got your head in a small door, and kicks you slightly on your ass. You jolt and bump your head against the opening, and you hear Alex burst out into laughter as you groan in pain.

     God fucking dammit, this guy. You pull your head out to glare at him, screwdriver pointing at him threateningly.

     “Do you want this up your ass? Because I can do that.” You say to him, and he laughs even harder. You roll your eyes at him.

     “Don’t promise me with a good time, Y/N.” He says, and you stand up to smack him.

     “I don’t think the pointy end would be a good time, idiot.” You deadpan stare at him. He grins.

     “You don’t know what I’m into.” He shrugs, and flips his hair dramatically. You hate that he’s stupid and charming, and you love him so much.

     “I know I haven’t seen you in 2 months, but like, I feel like you’ve grown taller?” You stare at him, a little mournfully. You’re the shortest one out of your friends, and you’re of average height. He also seems.. handsomer. You think he definitely got a lot more tan. He’s definitely grown into his looks, his dark curly hair and recently shaved face making him look older than you’re used to.

     “I don’t think I did, but I think you’ve grown shorter.” He laughs obnoxiously, and you smack his arm again, which makes him laugh harder.

     “You’re so mean to me, like all the time. Why do I love you?” You cross your arms and pout, because you know it gets a rise out of him.

     “Youuuuuuu knowww, because I’m just so loveable and gorgeous and the smartest one in the group??” He flutters his eyelashes at you like he thinks he’s cute.

     “Wow, you are none of these things.” You reply, smirking at him. He puts his hand over his heart in mock offense.

     “Y/N, I’m offended. I’ve been here for like, five minutes, and I’ve received absolutely no affection from you. If I don’t get love, I will wilt and die. Do you want to be responsible for my death?” He opens his arms wide, and you roll your eyes dramatically, and stand there.

     “We’re not doing this in public.” You say, standing your ground.

     “Ohhh, YES we are, Y/N.” He wiggles his eyebrows. “Prepare yourself for the onslaught.”

     You take a couple steps back, prepared to run. He grabs your arms, wraps his around your torso, and picks you up, swinging you around.

     “Nooooooooooooooooo!!” You cry. “Put me down you oaf!”

     “No! I want love!” He all but shouts, and spins you around. He grabs your cheek with one hand and starts giving you big ‘ol smooches all over your face, and you’re giggling and trying to push him away, when you hear something drop and spill on the pavement a good twenty feet from you. You look up.

     It’s Spinel.

       Her face is twisted with heartbreak, and before you can even speak up, she bolts.

       You look down, and see the cookies she made you scattered on the ground.

[mistressarafax]

KaiJou Week - Day 3: Fantasy AU

“Jounouchi, you’re doing it wrong.”

Jounouchi scowled at Kaiba, feeling defeated. They’d been practicing the entire day, Kaiba insistent that he needed to control his flames better if he stood any chance of receiving the council's blessing to become a full-fledged mage. “You can’t serve His Majesty if there’s a chance your power will get out of control,” he’d reprimanded severely.

“I’m tryin’,” he griped back. “It ain’t easy tryin’ to just light the one candle.”

Kaiba crossed his arms over his chest, irritation on his face. “I will not stand for my pupil to be lacking. You will do this until you get it right.”

Jounouchi snapped his fingers, lighting a flame on the top of Kaiba’s head, his hair catching fire. Without even flinching, Kaiba extinguished it, drawing water from the air around him to douse the flame. “Use that precision on the candles, idiot.”

“Yeah, yeah. Easier to focus on you since you're pissin’ me off.”

Kaiba's eldest Blue-Eyed dragon snorted from behind them, seeming amused. Her white scales glistened, reflecting the blue of the sky as she sunbathed. “It’s not funny, Kisara,” Kaiba said without looking at her, but she didn’t seem to care, flapping her wings, before shaking herself out and settling down in the clearing once more. “I need you to concentrate, Jounouchi. There are other lessons to teach you that require precise control. You can’t just incinerate everything in your path.”

“Ain’t nothin’ wrong with that,” Jounouchi said cockily.

“Except when you need to target one enemy amongst your allies with precision.”

Jounouchi rolled his eyes. “I don’t know why I got partnered with you as an instructor. Our abilities aren’t even remotely the same.”

“I am not privy to all of the choices His Majesty makes."

"You're his cousin, and you're one of his advisors. Ya shoulda had a say since ya hate me just as much."

Kaiba huffed, crossing his arms over his chest. "Enough. Ignite the candle so we can end this ordeal as quickly as possible."

Grumbling, Jounouchi returned his focus to the candles in the distance, stretching his hands out and letting the fire wick in his belly. He closed his eyes, imagining the heat trickling from him to the middle candle, a tendril of fire he could only see behind his closed eyelids.

"Good," Kaiba said, breaking his concentration.

Jounouchi peaked open an eye, seeing the middle candle burning from across the clearing. "Yes!" he cried out in victory.

"It takes focus, Jounouchi, which you are able to do when you put your mind to it. You need to spend more time meditating."

Jounouchi frowned. "God, I hate meditatin'."

"If you want to maximize your abilities, you must. It's not as though I want you to fail."

"Coulda fooled me," Jounouchi said bitterly. "With how ya treated me during our formal trainin'."

"You're still a nobody," Kaiba said with a shrug. "But you're a nobody who also happens to be one of the strongest fire mages I've ever seen. His Majesty befriended you and wants me to help hone your skills."

Jounouchi scoffed. "I'm already skilled."

 "You can't rely on raw power alone. Which you do. Our enemies want you to burn yourself out. You would quickly cease to be any kind of threat and turn yourself into an easy target."

Jounouchi glared at Kaiba, but he didn't argue. It was exactly what his instructors had harped on. His energy, his magic wasn't infinite. The key wasn't to overpower his opponents but to out smart them. Play to his own strengths and capitalize on their weaknesses. He knew that. It was just hard to put it into practice. He knew that was the reason he was working with Kaiba, a strategic genius. Kaiba was powerful, as well, strong enough that he'd advanced from water mage to ice mage, which was impressive for someone only a year into adulthood.

They stood in silence for several seconds before Jounouchi sighed. "I guess you're right. What's the next exercise, masteri?"

Kaiba raised an eyebrow, devilish smirk on his face. “You’re either going to do this right, or you’re going home naked.”

Without further explanation, Kaiba had frozen Jounouchi in a block of ice. 

Ass, Jounouchi thought to himself. This is impossible.

"It's a challenge. It won't be easy, but it's certainly possible. You'll just have to keep your flames under control as you melt your way out.”

Jounouchi could barely hear him through the ice. He let the fire burn inside of him, feeling himself get more and more room in his icy cell as it melted. Feeling impatient and unable to breath, he fanned his flames hotter, redder, melting the ice rapidly. His clothing was soaking wet, and he felt disgusting. He hated being wet. It reminded him of a time before he’d discovered his magic, trying to stay out of the rain when his father wouldn’t allow him to come inside at night. Cold and soaking wet.

Angry at the unbidden memory, he clenched his fists, increasing the power he was pouring out.

“Careful, Jounouchi,” Kaiba warned.

It was too late though, fire erupted from Jounouchi, engulfing him in flames. His clothing incinerated instantly, and he stood in the clearing, burning the swath of grass around him. He was too angry to rein himself in, burning with rage, and even Kaiba’s half-hearted attempt to extinguish him with water didn’t work. He was burning so hot that the water evaporated in a puff of steam. A nearly impenetrable wall of fire.

“Control your emotions,” Kaiba barked at him.

Jounouchi launched a fireball at him, irritated. How dare the prick try to boss him around. “I don’t gotta do what you say,” he taunted in return. “I’m in charge of me.”

Kaiba sighed, holding out his hands, chanting to himself. Jounouchi realized that Kisara had moved, lurching closer to Kaiba and assuming a protective stance. What he wouldn’t give for a dragon of his own...

He didn’t have time to think about it. Water dumped on top of him, frigid and cold and dousing the flames. Steam poured from his skin, creating a fog where ice met fire. Realizing he was naked like Kaiba had threatened, Jounouchi covered himself, embarrassed.

"You're a fool, Jounouchi. Letting your emotions run unchecked like that."

"Better than bein' an ice cold prick like you," Jounouchi spat in return.

Kaiba sighed heavily, crossing his arms and allowing himself to get lost in thought for a moment. "What happened for you to lose control like that?"

A flush stained his cheeks, and he fidgeted in discomfort. "Nothin'."

Kaiba stepped closer, and Jounouchi felt ashamed for losing control. For standing in front of Kaiba naked. "It was clearly something, so stop lying. What happened?"

Hanging his head in defeat, he admitted, "When I was a boy, my pa regularly kicked me outta the house. So I got to wander around the streets in the cold and rain with nowhere to go. I got angry cuz bein' frozen in ice reminded me of all that shit."

With a single nod, Kaiba agreed, turning around and marching toward his dragon. He spoke to her softly, and she settled back into the clearing. He was gone for a few minutes before returning. He carried dry clothing in his hands. "My father often beat me. I was never going to be first in line to the throne, as His Majesty is older than me, but my father treated me as though I was. My lessons were rigorous, and the punishment for not doing then flawlessly was severe." He said nothing else, thrusting the clothes into Jounouchi's hands.

"I… wonder if that's why he put us together. Yuugi'd know about our similar pasts."

Kaiba grimaced. "You should call him by his title."

"What? 'King Yuugi'?"

"No. His Majesty."

Jounouchi shrugged. "We were friends before he got the title. I ain't changin' it up just 'cause he's king now." Jounouchi set to pulling on Kaiba's trousers. They were too long for him, but they'd do until he could retrieve his own replacements.

"You will be in his service soon. A loyal and faithful servant. You should use the correct title out of respect."

"Ehhh, if Yuugi don't mind, I ain't changin' it up." Jounouchi frowned as he pulled on Kaiba's shirt, which was also too long for him.

"The court will mind," Kaiba reminded. "I do, as well."

Fully dressed in Kaiba's dry clothes, he stuck his tongue out defiantly. "That's your problem then."

Kaiba's expression twisted sourly, and Jounouchi knew he was about to say something cruel. He'd call Jounouchi useless, idiotic, low-class, or a waste of oxygen, just like he'd said many times before. Kaiba's mouth opened, but he seemed to think better of it, snapping it closed immediately. He let out a hard breath, closing his eyes and pinching the bridge of his nose. "I suppose I'll need to teach you some decorum. Being a full-fledged mage comes with certain expectations, and so far, you've been lacking. Did you not pay attention to any of our etiquette training?"

"Nah. It was boring," Jounouchi returned with a shrug.

"Then I have a lot more to teach you," Kaiba said with a sigh.

Jounouchi rolled his eyes. "Oh good. Just what I wanted," he said sarcastically.

"I'm not pleased about it either. I'm stuck with you until you've reached your fullest potential. Now… get back to training," Kaiba instructed. "Light only the outside candles this time. When you can do that, we'll try something more advanced. And don't you dare burn my clothing."

Jounouchi grinned deviously, but he turned back to what he had been tasked. The sooner he got this over with, the sooner he would be done with his private lessons with Kaiba.

--

FYI, expect more of this universe from me in the future!

[somewhereawrite]

Happy Birthday

Original Fiction

Word Count: 2,268

Warnings: Mentioned Abuse, Brief Suicidal Ideation

TC: Happy birthday dude! 🎂 🎉

IC: thanks

TC: Are you working?

IC: No. I missed my shift

TC: That sucks. Everything ok?

IC: yeah i just got locked out

TC: Of your house?

IC: yeah. I think my dad changed the locks cuz my key doesn’t fit anymore

And he’s not home so

TC: You’re outside right now? Are you okay?

IC: yeah 

Just fucking cold

There’s snow everywhere

I went over to that one corner store but they kicked me out for loitering so

Ngl i kinda wanna die right now lol

TC: where are you?

IC: the park across from my house

TC: me and my mom are pretty close by. We’re going to come pick you up

IC: ok

~~~

Ian couldn’t feel his fingers anymore.

They’d skated past the miserably cold stage about an hour ago, and settled into the slightly numb and painful stage. Now he couldn’t feel them at all, and they were like clumsy icicles stuck to his hands than actual digits as he used them to scroll through his texts and see if Taylor had responded to him.

Nothing yet. Ian clicked the lock button and shoved his phone and his hand back into his coat pocket. The battery was at 12%. Probably a good idea not to waste it. 

At least the wind had stopped blowing. Ian had swept the snow off of the park bench he’d taken shelter on before sitting down on it, but he could still feel his jeans and the back of his coat getting soaked through. He’d pulled his legs up to his chest to conserve warmth, but at this point it was no longer doing any good.

Maybe his dad really did want him to freeze to death.

Today was Ian’s birthday, but that did not change in the slightest the fact that it was a bad fucking day.

It hadn’t even started out right. He’d woken up this morning (or rather, dragged himself out of bed, semi-conscious and uncertain if he’d gotten anything restful enough to be called “sleep”) feeling sick, but gotten ready for school anyways and jogged out the door barely on time. He hadn’t ridden his bike, because he could hear Dad talking to someone out in the garage from the hallway, and he really didn’t want to go in there and interrupt whatever was going on, so he grabbed his coat and his earbuds and resigned himself to being late.

One of his fucking ear buds broke on the walk there, so there was that. So much for carefully arranging the balance settings in stereo for the best amount of bass versus treble versus mids, because all he could fucking hear now was treble.

He walked in to find out he had enough tardies to equal an unexcused absence, and that admin would be sending his dad a letter and a request to schedule a parent-teacher meeting about attendance. Fan-fucking-tastic.

He missed a quiz first period, used fourth period to scribble down homework he’d completely forgotten, and spent lunch sleeping in the corner of the shop classroom. By the time he headed home to grab his bike for work, his head was throbbing and his sore throat and sniffles were definitely turning into a full-blown cold.

And then he was locked out. He called his dad twice, then texted him a few times after that, but no response. It wasn’t like he was expecting one anyways. He found his manager’s number on his phone and called out.

Then he wandered around for a bit, got kicked out of the corner store, and ended up on the park bench with his school backpack and a dying phone, freezing to death in slow motion. 

He felt like his organs were going to rattle apart with how violently he was shivering now. He should probably stand up a bit, move around, get his blood pumping and stomp his feet a little to ward the frostbite off his toes. He didn’t want to. Instead, he buried himself a little deeper into his coat, rested his forehead on his knees, and closed his eyes. 

He didn’t want to go home. He didn’t want to go to school tomorrow. He didn’t want to try to explain to his manager why he called out again, and he didn’t want to have to deal with his dad. He didn’t want to think anymore. He just wanted everything to stop.

Everything was bullshit and he was so, so tired.

His phone buzzed and he pulled it out to glance at the screen. 

TC: You still there? 

We’re right in front, by your house

Ian tapped back a quick “k” and uncurled himself, pushing to his feet and grabbing his bag. The movement and a gust of cold air made his stomach lurch and sent fresh stabs through his skull, but he closed his eyes for a second until it passed, then shouldered his bag and headed toward the front of the park.

Lauren Conroy drove a small silver SUV that was just old enough to look like a mom car. Ian saw the puff of exhaust from the tailpipe and the glow of the headlights cutting through the dimness the second he crested the hill, and something in him gave a little sigh, collapsing into tired relief.

He shuffled down toward them, shoes scuffing and sliding against the icy sidewalk, and then he was there, frigid fingers bumping clumsily against the handle of the back passenger side door, pulling it open, shoving his backpack and then himself inside. Lauren was in the driver’s seat and Taylor was in the back, pulling his backpack out of the way, stabbing the buttons that turned up the heat.

“Good god. Taylor, grab that blanket in the back and give it to him.”

Before he could react, Taylor was reaching past him and dragging the lengths of a soft, heavy comforter from behind the seats. Lauren twisted in her seat, dragging it around and over him as far as she could reach, and directing Taylor to do the same.

“How long have you been out there?” she asked, an edge in her voice.

Ian pulled the rest of the blanket over him so that it covered everything but his head. “Since four-ish.”

Lauren froze and stared back at him. “Since four?”

Ian nodded.

Lauren muttered something under her breath that he couldn’t hear. “Have you eaten?” she asked, louder.

“Not yet.” The words slurred a little, Ian’s lips and tongue stiff from the cold.

“Christ.” Lauren’s expression was lethal. She took the car out of park and pulled into the street, heading towards the edge of the neighborhood. “Taylor, my phone. Look up an Ihop or something. Someplace we can eat inside.”

“Got it.”

The car was so warm it almost hurt. The heater was blowing at full strength now, deafening, and the seat warmers were on full blast. Ian sank into the seat and pulled the blanket as tightly around him as he could, still shivering and sniffling so that his nose wouldn’t start running from the heat.

Lauren glanced back through the rearview mirror. “Are you sick?”

“Yeah. A little.”

“You look awful. Taylor, there’s some Tylenol in my purse, and there should be an extra water bottle back there still.”

“Yeah, got it.”

Taylor handed over the water and Tylenol, and Ian took two of them, then enveloped himself in the blanket again. Lauren glanced back at him once, then again.

Then finally, “I can not believe he left you out there.”

Ian half-shrugged. “It’s fine. It’s happened before.”

Wrong thing to say. Lauren looked furious. “This has happened before?”

Ian dropped his gaze, not in the mood to meet her angry stare. “Yeah, once. Wasn’t this cold though.”

“Of course not, because you would have--” she cut herself off and huffed out a breath, tugging on her ponytail.

Would have frozen to death. Ian knew. They all knew.

Lauren didn’t say it, though. When he looked up, there was a misty sheen in her eyes and the muted anger on her face was mixed with regret. “Sorry, kiddo. I’m just--” she broke off again. “Let’s just go get some food in you.”

The car fell silent, and for a moment, the only sound was the gps’s electronic monotone spitting out directions.

Ian didn’t speak up again until the feeling came back into his fingers with a rush of tingling and pain. “Thanks for picking me up,” he said.

“It’s the least I could do, kiddo. The very, very least.”

No one said anything else until they arrived at the restaurant. Lauren sent them both inside to find a booth, saying she had to make a call, so they went ahead without her.

“What even happened?” Taylor asked over his menu, once they’d gotten in and sat down. “Was there a fight or something?”

Ian shrugged. “No. Don’t think so. Guess he was just done.”

“That’s…” Taylor shook his head, struggling for words. “That’s so crazy.”

“Yeah.” Ian didn’t really want to think about it anymore. “Does your mom care what we get?”

“No, get whatever you want.” Taylor watched him over the menu. “You know you can stay at our house if you want to, right?”

Something inside him twisted. “We already talked about that. You guys live too far away from my school.”

“My mom says she might be able to make the drive before work. Me and Fletcher are almost finished saving for a car, so she wouldn’t have to bring us and Jackie to school.”

Ian hesitated, looking at him. He wanted it. He wanted it so badly. Living someplace where he knew he wouldn’t get screamed at for no reason or locked out without warning, where he liked people he lived with and they didn’t wish he was dead--living someplace normal. It sounded good. Too good to be something within his reach. “I… my dad--”

“Hey, boys! We order yet?” Lauren’s voice, bright and cheery, interrupted him as she swept into view. Taylor scooted to the side and she dropped into the booth next to him, picking up the third menu. Her eyes were rimmed in red, but her smile was genuine and almost defiant.

“Not yet,” Taylor said.

“Well? Come on! Ian, order whatever you want, I’m paying. Are we getting milkshakes? I’m getting a milkshake.”

Ian did get a milkshake. And a breakfast skillet. And hashbrowns. And crepes slathered with fruit and whipped cream. And Lauren didn’t so much as raise an eyebrow, just slapped on an order of birthday pancakes and handed back her menu.

Taylor ordered just as much as he did, and Lauren sat back with her milkshake and strawberry French Toast, watching them converse with a satisfied look on her face.

After they’d finished devouring the last of the dessert pancakes, Lauren glanced at her phone. “Sorry to break up the party, but we have to get going if we’re gonna pick you up a toothbrush before we head home. I told your dad you were staying over.”

Ian narrowed his eyes, wary. “What did he say?”

“He said it was fine, of course. You’re staying for the rest of the week, at least.”

The rest of the week? “Wait, really? He was fine with that?”

“Oh, he was more than fine,” Lauren said, glibly. 

Ian stared at her, disbelieving. “He was more than fine?”

“I’m guessing he wants me to go easy once the court proceedings are underway.”

Wait. What? “What court proceedings?”

Lauren looked at Taylor. “You didn’t tell him?”

Taylor shrugged. “Didn’t get the chance.”

Ian frowned. “The chance to tell me what?”

Lauren reached into her purse and pulled out a stack of neatly stapled papers, set them on the table, and slid them over. “The reason we were in town.”

Ian picked them up and read the lettering at the top. He suddenly couldn’t breathe. “Petition for... guardianship?” he read aloud, voice tight. “What are-- are you serious?”

Lauren nodded solemnly. “We’ve talked about it enough. You’ve said plenty of times that you wanted to go ahead.”

“Is that why you called me yesterday?”

Lauren’s face softened. “Yeah. And you told me that it was just your--”

“--my dad,” Ian finished. “He’d never agree. How did you…?”

Lauren grinned slightly. “I talked to him last week. I was very convincing. And he knows we have a case. Seems like he doesn’t want trouble.”

Ian stared down at the papers again, clenching his teeth against the lump growing in his throat. “So that’s it? He’s giving me up?”

“That’s what he’s saying right now. But if he changes his mind and we have to fight for it, we will. If you still want it.” 

It was all suddenly too much. Ian’s vision blurred and his breath shuddered, and he pressed the heels of his palms into his eyes to block the tears that had sprung from nowhere, but then he was gasping and he felt arms around him, holding him tight and warm.

“Do you still want it?” He heard Lauren ask him, voice quiet and full of emotion he couldn’t quantify.

He felt everything inside of him unravel as he nodded, letting her hug him and leaning into the embrace. “Yes,” he said. His voice sounded choked, but he didn’t care. “I want to.”

Her arms tightened around him, every so slightly. “I guess that’s it then. Happy birthday, Ian.”

Taylor’s hand squeezed his shoulder from wherever he was, still across the table. His voice sounded shaky when he spoke too. “Happy birthday, Ian. Welcome home.”

[humans-are-space-orcs]

How would an alien react to Chromesthesia? And on extension, humans who play musical instruments whilst blind/deaf.

(I don't know if this has been done yet, so sorry if you've seen something like this before. I've read a lot of 'Humans are weird' and 'Humans are space orcs' that I've had to contribute with this little thing. 

Please note that I don't have Chromesthesia and this is based purely from Wikipedia. Oh and this is gonna be long cuz I love to write this kinda stuff, so get comfy.

Sorry if it's bad ;-; )

It had been a long day onboard the human station known as 'Ulysses'. Qhar'in had always wondered why humans named their ships, but he'd always forget to ask whenever he would remember. 'Yet another thing that humans do.' He thought as he entered his room, chucking his helmet onto his bed. He serves as security, slogging through ranks faster than most, on the Scientific/Civilian station. Double checking his blasters safety toggle, he set it aside on his desk next to the small pile of papers that had accumulated over the few months that he was stationed there. 

His fins folded and stretched as he lifted his chest piece off, a sigh of relief excaped him as the humidifier kicked in, soaking his amphibian skin. A loud trilling sound suddenly rang behind him, a holographic button pad lighting into existence, his own language sprawled onto each button. Tapping the center most button, he answered the call.

"Greatings, how may I assist you?" Qhar'in asked, kicking off his boots, allowing his three webbed toes stretch and wiggle, doing the same with his gloves. 

"Hey Qhar! You still coming round?" 

"Ah! Human-Clare, of course! I'd never miss a chance to 'hang out' with my favourite human, dawg!"

"Your still shit at human linguo, but props for trying. Anyway, that's cool, can't wait for you to come over, I've been practising on the piano and I can't wait to show you!" The receiver clicked signalling the end of their communication.

"Wait, aren't you blind?" Qhar'in asked after a moment of silence, not relising that there conversation had ended.

The door slid upward with a swoosh, revealing the small brunette human standing at the other end, her shaded glasses reflecting the amphibian's image. His damp 'rock' and 'role' shirt stuck to his body like glue, it was uncomfortable but Qhar'in stuck with it since his friend gave it to him. Clare stood in the doorway with a questioning stare, her cane dragging across the floor in a slow arc. 

"Hello human Clare! It has been a while since we had time to meeeet!" Qhar'in could hardly keep himself stable as Clare launched herself at him, pulling him into a tight hug, her face lighting up from hearing his voice.

"Haha! How's it going Qhar!? Come, come I have to show you something!" Clare quickly got off, pulling along her friend, the door sliding shut behind him. She led him to the living room, where a wooden piano sat in the corner by a large window overlooking the endless expanse of space.

"Human, I was sure that I miss heard you, but now that I see it I do not understand. Why do you have a piano in your home? I thought you were blind, or do humans re-grow parts of their body's?" Qhar'in scratched his dorsal fin at the back of his head. 

"I am blind silly! And no, it human biology doesn't work like that. But that doesn't stop me from playing music! Besides, haven't you heard of Beethoven? He was deaf, but he could still play." Qhar'in roled his eyes as she sat down on the stool facing the keyboard. He wasn't going to lie, he was impressed by how humans could do the impossible despite whatever affliction that they may have. 

"Yes, but he could still see what he was doing " He deadpanned, much to the dismay of Clare. 

"Yeah, whatever! You'll also be amazed that I've found out that I've got chro, chrom, uhh, fuck what's it called again?" She snapped her fingers a few times before she seemed to remember. "Chromesthesia! That's it!"

"Chrom-what?"

"Later! Just sit down so I can show you how wrong you are!" True to her word, the moment he sat down on the nearby chouch, the room was filled with slow moving music. "It's Moonlight Sonata, by the way, first movement if you're interested." Qhar'in watched in a daze as her fingers danced along the keyboard faster that he'd geussed, utterly entranced by the music pouring out of the instrument. He had listened to piano music before and fell in love with the complex and haunting sounds it could produce. However listening to it in person was another thing all together. He could see tears the flowed out from her shade, dripping down her cheeks. Her breathing quickly grew unstable as her tears dripped onto the keys, unnoticed by Clare. Her body swayed left and right dramatically, losing herself in the music. 

Qhar'in held his knees with a vice grip, worried about his friend as he watched her cry. He understood that music, as well as other things, could move a human to release liquid from their eyes, but he had never seen it untill now. Slowly the music started to fade away, the spaces between the notes grew longer and longer until she hit six notes twice, dragging them on before releasing the keys for the final time.

Silence ruled over the two of them, only broken up by the soft, sobbing sounds that came from Clare. Timidly, Qhar'in rose from his seat and strolled over to her, placing his damp hands on her shoulders.

"That was beautiful, Clare. Are you okay?" Clare sniffled, taking her shades off to wipe her eyes clear, exposing her gray, dull eyes to the world. 

"Yeah, I'm fine, I just can't get over how beautiful the colours that flash are." She sniffled again, popping bher shades back on.

"Colours that flash? I don't understand. How can you see colours?" Qhar'in kneeled down beside her, lifting one of her hands to his face. It had always calmed her down for some reason. She told him it was one of the ways that she could actually 'see'. It never met sense to him.

"Right, that's the other thing I mentioned. You know how I said that I figured out that I had Chromesthesia? Well, when I hear music I can...see colours. It's hard to describe since I have no idea what they are but every time I play or listen to music. I figured that every blind person saw it so I didn't say anything." 

"You're really stupid, but that is so awesome!" Qhar'in's eyes sparkled with amazement.

"I know right?" She sniffed again, wiping the leftover tears. "With every new song I hear, I see more and more unique colours that I've never seen before. You wanna hear another?"

(Well, there it is. Again, sorry if it's shit. I may love to write but that doesn't mean I'm good ;-;)

Submitted by: @Nightblade64