#i wanna start like a project. i miss the experience of disappearing for a week and coming back with some intricate creation

[em-b-sides]

Cooking chicken drumsticks at 10 pm. Thriving. In my lane. This is what life is all about.

[allykatsart]

I missed monster AU. I am so excited. Are there any fun facts or tidbits you want to share :D

Many actually! And I am absolutely gonna take this ask and run with it as far as I fucking can. I've been w a i t i n g and you may regret asking. Thank you! ❤️

Henrik and Marvin

Something I haven't touched on a lot in my art is how Marvin and Henrik met. Marvin was thrown out of his coven for his practice of summoning demons, and was wandering for awhile, before he found and befriended Henrik.

They met at a supernatural friendly bar. And um. Well. They both had a bit of a 'Mad Scientist' complex when it came to magic. Not so much in that they want to do anything harmful with it, but they'll do stuff just to see if they can.

Henrik has been to school and likes the non magical sciences, knows a lot about them. Marvin is self taught and has experimented in areas he probably shouldn't have. They wanted to know what would happen if you mixed the two.

Henrik has a project in mind, and they began working on it at Henrik's mansion, growing into good friends as they did so. Eventually, Marvin just ended up living at the house.

And that's how Robbie came into being and got his two dads! (Make of that what you will lol)

(side tangent, Covens in this world are just a group of witches within a certain area or each other that generally band together or have similar goals. Kinda like a friend group. Each is different and has different rules, and there are witches who belong to multiple Covens)

Marvin did not have multiple covens, he had one that he was really into. But his friends grew distant over time and eventually tried to talk him out of summing demons, which was morally objectionable to them. Marvin didn't listen to them and didn't respect their boundaries, so got kicked out.

(more under the cut)

Henrik needs human blood, but he doesn't like taking directly from the source. It reminds him that he's not immune to impulse, that he could lose control of himself if he's not careful.

Marvin also isn't comfortable with being a bloodbag for his vampiric friend, so they both agree that Henrik never feeds off of Marvin.

(on top of that the magic in Marvin's blood makes it taste spicy so Henrik doesn't like it)

Marvin and Henrik share something else in common, a flaw. They both crave control. For Henrik, it's control of himself. For Marvin, it's control of his life. Marvin wants freedom, Henrik wants self discipline. Both can delve into unhealthy behaviors to achieve these things. But they understand what the other wants.

Kinda alluded to before but they may have a relationship? When asked, both reply vaguely and refuse to elaborate. They both find it incredibly funny.

Marvin has lived in the mansion long enough he knows all the secret passageways and hidden nooks. He can disappear into the house and not be found for weeks if he wants to be.

Jack and IRIS

Since I only recently started incorporating it into my AU, I wanna get my thoughts out about it.

IRIS here is kinda a bad thing. It's a group of humans who have decided that the supernatural is bad/has bad effects on people, so have dedicated themselves to hunting down any overtly supernatural creatures and either killing them or containing them. They alone have caused most of the monsters to go into hiding.

They have 'Hunters' who go around trying to find supernatural entities to either capture or kill. Hunters are usually human, tho occasionally they might have some supernatural enhancement, if IRIS approves of it.

Jack used to be a part of these hunters until he became a monster himself. From there he had to do a lot of self discovery... And it eventually lead him down the path to meet Anti, the demon of fear and nightmares.

During this time, IRIS lost contact with Jack and didn't know what happened to him. They were/are also unaware of Jack being a werewolf.

Jack was able to escape Anti, and kept on the down low, hiding from IRIS for some time. It was only when he saved Chase from Anti that IRIS found him again.

IRIS won't force him back into their ranks, but they are very suspicious of him reappearing after years of no contact. They suspect he's hiding something, or has had a change of heart.... Which Jack has had.

(Also, to clarify, Jack is not Sean, it's the character of Jack.)

Jack is unaware that IRIS had found him until Chase was taken in for questioning. Once Chase came back, Jack suspected it was IRIS, and began worrying about them. This pushed him into a spiral and he began having nightmares again... Which pushed him into Anti's domain again and caused the demon to try and find him again

Basically bad things happen to Jack and it's all IRIS's fault!

[letstrywritingmaybe]

On the agenda for today: send out love letters cause I owe comments, irl stuff (I really need to do laundry…), read my library book, listen to the new twenty one pilots album cause I’ve been slacking, watch hockey (fuck the rangers all my homies hate the rangers. But also why is Krieder not the captain??? That man bleeds Rangers blue!), I’ve already replied to comments and wrote the next chapter of the fake dating fic so I guess any other writing will be considered a bonus to me… oh wait, I should work on CoAi week. Damn it. Okay yeah I’m not getting everything I want done today. My main priority should be CoAi week but realistically I need more fluff in my life

Update: love letters sent <3 hockey watched *sigh fuck the rangers but Wennberg is a cutie. Started my book and laundry! Now onto baseball and finishing irl things and maybe some writing. Idk I’m not really feeling any pull but we’ll see. I’m reading Rebecca, I think Tay read it? I think I saw a tumblr post about how she did or maybe it was in the long pond doc? Idk but yeah already I’m like girlie this is not it. You deserve a nice romance, you’re so young, I don’t mind age gaps but she hasn’t seen the world and gotten to experience so many things and to just settle down like this? And yeah he didn’t even say he loves you! What are you doing!! Omm I’m reading and filling myself with dread over this poor girl. I’ve only just begun and already I’m like you deserve better. I think I’m projecting my feelings for my queen onto her even though I don’t think Shiho is anything like her. Idk I’m feeling like I need to write now, but what idk, I just need to escape and I suppose that’s fitting given the book I’m reading

Update 2: Not to be annoying, (I always am) but I had some banger ideas with my year of the otp prompts. Like I would read most of these as actual fics. Which I mean I’m self indulgent so duh but damn. Since idk what to write I was hoping by I could expand on one of those verse but it’s not what I want to write. I’m feeling sorta royal verse vibes but more so in the arranged marriage scene? But not for shinshi like they’re betrothed to others but they meet and a whirlwind romance ensues and fuck it lets get married and deal with the fallout later. Yeah that’s what I’m feeling right now. Like two rebellious kids who are sick of being responsible, who cares about consequences and scandals? They know what they feel now and they’re going to go after it even though every one tells them it’s a mistake and when reality hits it does feel like it’s a mistake but then… they’re alone and all the doubts disappear

Update 3: I’ve gotten zero writing done but I went back through the year of the otp prompts and my American football AU still gets me!!! That is the absolute most self indulgent thing I’ve ever written and I love it! Literally I know no one else gives one single fuck but I love that verse! It is so me coded, rereading it I was like Omm yes football!! Dude I kinda miss when I had month projects like that cause they were so soft but also some were super challenging cause I don’t vibe with certain ideas. Like the shift shaper one? But that one was so freaking soft and they were so hopeless for each other. The bond between the moms and shinshi too like I can’t. More fics that mention familial relationships too please! But for real how did I manage to do that? I sometimes wonder how I can turn any situation into fluff? And maybe that’s why I made things super difficult with the fake dating verse. But also I didn’t do my usual here’s a massive dump of fluff to make up for the angst…. Maybe I should write an extra? I mean I thought about writing their rated moments as an extra already but I think we need to see their soft moments too. Idk. I hate when I feel like I kinda wanna write but then I also don’t? It’s very annoying

[finelinevogue]

could you do some angsty smut please??

oh hell yeah we can. this is going to be 70srockstar!harry with roadie!y/n eekkkk! okay have fun;

Being the girlfriend of the most famous, golden boy rockstar was the craziest rollercoaster you’d ever ride.

For the past 6 months you’ve been touring with the one and only Harry Styles, living your life between helping on tour, drinking endless amounts of wine and smoking a hell of a lot of weed. The job had come past you at the perfect moment. Your dad happened to be best friends with the tour manager, Jeff Azoff, who’d spoken of their being a job opening for a roadie. You were employed to help set up the musical equipment and test out the instruments before the act went on at night, falling in love for the man you roadied for was just an add on. A beautiful bonus.

It was a lot more pressure being Harry’s girlfriend than people thought though. There was so much pressure to act a certain way and present yourself another way. Harry was so idolised and craved by millions and it put pressure on you to be a certain person for him. You loved him so much and you were so scared that he might one day realise that there was so much better than you - at least in your eyes. Someone extroverted. Someone musically talented. Someone who wasn’t a virgin.

Harry had never pressured you into anything sexual unless you were ready. Of course he was notorious for being an above star rating, when it came fo sex - thanks to all the articles published by the many men and women, sometimes both together, he had slept with. The sex reputation went hand-in-hand with his rock-n-roll aesthetic, so that part of him would never change. You’d only been with Harry for 4 of those 6 months, managing to fall for him very quickly, so you wondered just how he was coping without having had sex for that long. He usually had a different person each night to take backstage after his concert to play with how he wanted, hence how he built his reputation, but since you there had been no one.

Sex was such a big thing for Harry though, so you couldn’t help but feel like you were letting him down.

Currently, you were sat on his bed on the tour bus reading an article that had been published about your boyfriend last week. Your heart strings tugged as you read one section of the interview.

Interviewer: The new album, tell me about it.

Harry: It’s coming on slowly yeah. Just want this one to be perfect so, taking my time.

Interviewer: What would you say your biggest inspiration is for writing?

Harry: Changed on every project, to be honest man. Sometimes it’s about past relationships. Sometimes it’s about issues i’m going through. A lot of the time it’s about sex!

Interviewer: Yeah, dude, I have noticed that like every other song is about sex. Is that something you’re quite open about?

Harry: I think sex can be either something so beautiful or so passionate. Don’t believe in sad sex! But, um, yeah i’m always really honest lyrically when it comes to the songs about sex and I hope others see it as that too.

Interviewer: No it definitely does! Thanks Harry for your time and, um, keep on having sex so that third album breaks even more records!

Harry: Will do man!

It was easy to understand why you were upset. Harry’s biggest inspiration wasn’t possible for this album, because you were too nervous to let him have you. All of you. You felt a burden, as if you were holding him back from living his life and creating something so amazing. His past two albums had been such hits for songs such as ‘She’ and ‘Only Angel’, which were inspired by the intimate times with past lovers. There would only be sad songs if he wrote an album without any spice.

That’s why as soon as Harry came back on the bus, dressed in shorts and a shirt that was unbuttoned to see his toned chest, you jumped him and kissed him like your life depended on him. He was taken back by surprise, but welcomed your lips nevertheless.

Pulling back he mumbled some words against your lips, “Well this is a nice welcome back gift.” He chuckled at the eagerness of your lips and let his hands roam over your body - from your neck to your waist and over your ass. This man knew what he was doing.

“Harry?” You whispered, stopping your kiss and looking at his beautiful swollen red lips. He was a sight for sore eyes.

“Yeah baby?” He kept himself close to you and you could feel the stiffie that he’d developed pressing against your front.

“Can we… I’m.. If you…”

“What baby? Can tell me anything, y’know that.”

“Wanna have sex with you.” You told him the most simple virgin way ever, your face heating up when you saw him smirking down at you. You’d screwed yourself over here and were getting all shy and embarrassed about it.

“Hey, no. Don’t hide from me,” He drew your face back to his and kept his eyes on yours to provide you some familiar comfort, “you sure?”

“Mhm, yes.” You nodded affirmatively.

“It might hurt a little, okay? First time means that your cute little pussy is going to be really tight. Don’t even know whether you’ll be able to take me.” He taunted you, cupping his hands to your cheeks and brushing his thumbs carefully over your skin to ease your tension.

“I w-will.” You moused out, wanting to be this person for him.

“‘Course you can. You’re my best girl and I know you’ll fit perfectly for me, yeah?” He rhetorically asked pushing you back to the bed and letting you flop there. You watched him as he discarded his clothes, following his lead, until you were both naked in front of each other. You’d been this far before, but this time it felt different. It felt more lustful and exposed and nerve-wracking.

Harry bent down and started to kiss you from your belly upwards, leaving kisses everywhere until he reached your jaw where he bit more than he kisses. He loved seeing his marks being left behind on your skin, proving to everyone that you were his and his alone. His hands found comfort ins kneading and squeezing your breasts like dough, loving the way they were so soft and yet so hard beneath his warm hands. As he found your lips and divulged in your sweet tastes, you slunk your hand down and grabbed ahold of his cock, pumping him a few times to get him primed. You felt the trickles of pre-cum drip from his tip and it only excited you even more.

Taking your lead, Harry pushed one of his hands in between your bodies and started playing with your wet cunt, paying extra attention to your needy clit. He knew you loved it when his fingers got rough, so that’s exactly how he played. His tongue was battling against yours, whilst you both stimulated pleasure to one another. The wet and beautiful sounds filled the room, heightening your arousal - Harry could feel it too, his fingers becoming wetter with every circle and pump of his fingers.

“You ready, baby?” He asked carefully, plucking his lips away from yours with a wet sounding smack. You already looked fucked out and he had barely done anything to you yet.

“Y-yes.” You stumbled, so excited yet so nervous. You were finally going to give Harry what he had been missing for so long and you were also going to let yourself go, and divulge in something new and potentially life-changing.

He leant back and rubbed his own cock for a few strokes, before lining the tip of it with your opening. He teased your entrance, making you bite your lip in anticipation. He smiled down at you and mouthed the words ‘I love you’ without any sounds leaving his lips, before you did the same. The head of his cock started to push in, but you didn’t expect it to hurt as much as it did.

“Shit fuck, y’so tight baby. Need you to relax for me, okay?” He asked, pulling away so he could watch your body relax. You closed your eyes and took a deep breathe, reminding yourself that the best way to relax is not to think about the problem itself but oh how you’d feel when the problem’s fixed. You smiled and once Harry could see your shoulders un-tense, he, once again, pushed his cock into your opening. He hissed at the contact, obviously finding it so pleasurable even if it was only minimal contact, but you, you felt so much pain and soreness from absolutely nothing.

You couldn’t do this.

“It should just…” Harry tried a different angle, but your smile had disappeared and your whole range of emotions had resumed to flat and disappointed in yourself. “Maybe if I just..” Harry tried to hold your legs a little wider and guide his cock more firmly into your opening, but each time he couldn’t push past a certain point without your body rejecting him or your facial expressions telling him he should stop.

“St-stop Harry please.” You cried, bringing your hands up to cover your face as you let the tears flow freely. “Please stop.”

“O-okay. Just gonna…” And he slid out as much as he’d managed to get in, which was probably less than an inch. It hurt when he pulled away and your cunt felt like it was on fire. It stung and it didn’t feel right. You felt like a failure and an embarrassment.

You cried into your arms, letting harsh sobs take over your body. You chest felt tight and your eyes stung worse than your cunt did. God, you couldn’t even do one thing for him. You were the reason why he was having a hard time writing at the moment. You were the reason people would be disappointed to hear no sex inspired songs on the album. He might even have to use past experiences as inspiration, which made your heart curl with jealousy. You didn’t feel like you were enough for him, like you would ever be enough for him.

“I’m so sorry Harry,” You sat up from the bed, not wanting to look at him and his disappointed expression as he stay knelt on the bed - cock looking painfully hard still. You scrambled for your t-shirt and your joggers and then walked out of the room, across the bus’ narrow corridor, and into the bathroom.

You looked at yourself in then mirror and were disappointed at what, or who, you saw. Looking back at you was the person who couldn’t even have sex. You couldn’t give Harry what he deserved. You were a failure and it was stamped all over your body. You cried as you looked at yourself, until you couldn’t and you just slid down the wall and onto the floor. You wished for the Earth to just swallow you whole. You couldn’t stand being here when you were clearly broken and useless.

Harry would surely leave you for this. Why would he want to stay with someone who couldn’t even get their boyfriends dick in their pussy? Couldn’t give each other that pleasure? Harry had so many people in the past and surely with you gone he’d have so many people in the future. It would be selfish of you to stay. Harry had needs you completely appreciated that, but it would be just so difficult to let him go when he means so much to you.

There was a quiet knock at the door, which broke you from your cries and self-deprecating. “Y/N? Baby honey? Can I come in, please?”

“S-sorry. Yes of c-course.” You stood up quickly, thinking that he was wanting to be let in to go to the toilet or to have a cold shower go get rid of the hard-on that you’d put there. Too bad you couldn’t have taken it away.

You unlocked the door and shuffled past him, only for him to stop you. He shut the bathroom door behind him, leaving you both infinitely pressed together in the pathway on the bus. He had you pressed you up against the side of the wall and kept his arms at either side of you.

“Sweets—”

“Harry, please don’t say anything. I-I know what you’re thinking and—”

“Yeah? And what am I thinking?” He asked, not moving away from you. You held your cries the best you could and took a deep breathe to continue.

“I’m a disappointment. I-I i’m not good enough. I’m broken.” You choked out, knocking your head back against the wall from frustration.

“Stop it.” Harry ordered firmly, gripping your cheeks in his hands and forcing you to look at him. The look in his eyes was so hard to read, but he looked desperate and worried and hurt. You hated to think that you were the cause of any of those emotions. “Just stop.” Harry’s own eyes were starting to fill with tears too and you brought your own hand up to catch a few of them before they could fall.

“Don’t cry, please.” You begged, keeping your hand pressed to his cheek which he absolutely adored. He loved the feeling of your skin against his. He never wanted to not have it.

“Then don’t say things that hurt me, okay? Hearing you say those things about yourself absolutely breaks m’heart flower. Just because you were a bit too tight to take me today does not mean that you’re a disappointment or you’re a failure or that you’re not good enough. It hurts to think that you’d ever think I would think that, because - fuck -,” Harry pressed his forehead tight against yours and fanned his lips lips over yours. His closeness was everything. “I love you so much it scares me. My feelings for you are so strong and so real. I want your forever and something as trivial as sex is never going to make me want otherwise. Do you get that?”

“B-but the album?” You asked.

“What about the album?”

“I-in the recent magazine interview you said that sex is your biggest i-inspiration. I can’t be that for you.”

“Is that what this is all about? Because you think that my album isn’t coming together because i’m not having sex? Did you miss the part where I said I wanted this one to be perfect and I was taking m’time with it?”

“No.”

“Well I did say that, because it’s for you baby. The whole thing is going to be for you. Every melody. Every lyric. Every song. Just and all for you.” Both of you were silently crying now, absorbed in each others love and adoration for one another.

“I-I didn’t know.”

“Now you do. This album isn’t really for the charts or the awards. It’s for you, m’heart. I love you for a lot more than your body and its’ pleasures.”

“I’m sorry.” You whispered, taking all his words in and realising how irrationally you’d acted out afterwards.

“For what, sweetheart?”

“For even thinking that you’d be so shallow and cold-hearted.”

“You didn’t think that though, baby. I know you and so I know you didn’t. Your thoughts were based around your own insecurities, not to do with your small-thinking over me.” He explained to you, making you nod and kick your lips.

“I don’t deserve you.”

“Well then we don’t deserve each other.”

“But i’ll keep you forever if you’d let me.”

“Looks like we’re together forever then, baby honey.”

[ms-starflower]

Spook-tober Day 1 — Decorating

@maribat-october-rarepairs

So, technically, it’s October 2nd for almost two hour here, but it’s probably still the 1rst somewhere, right? Well, I don’t care anyway.

It’s my first time writing for an event (Maribat or otherwise) and I wanted to write both prompts for Spook-tober - Maribat Month and the Maribat Rare Pairs Month, but didn’t have time to start writing before 11pm.

This one's for Spook-tober, though it could also qualify as rarepair since it's a Stephinette (is that the correct shop name???), because Steph is my Queen (Cass too, but I wanted Steph today). Though they don't interact (yet) but I think I’ll write a follow up for other days' prompt, maybe (day 9 and 21, I’m looking at you,).

Anyway, let’s start.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“You sure you got the right address, miss?” The cab driver asked her with a skeptic expression. It would have been alright if the man hadn’t asked the same thing in at least twenty different ways during the ride.

“Yes, thank you Monsieur. I’m exactly where I wanted to be,” Marinette answered with a tight smile, like the twenty previous times. Giving him the money she owed him, she got out of the car to stand in front of the gigantic gate of Wayne’s Manor. The place was kind of intimidating.

Still hearing the car behind her when she reached the intercom, she turned toward it. The driver was shamelessly looking at her, probably waiting for her to get refused access.

“Are you waiting for something, sir?” She asked, tilting her head slightly.

“You’re gonna need a ride back, don’t ya? I’m already here, might as well,” he smiled at her with condescending amusement. Marinette was tempted to tell him that she would prefer to go back to the city on foot than to get into his car again. But her parents raised her better than that, so she only smiled politely.

“There is no need, sir, I really don’t know how long I’m going to stay here.”

“Yeah, right,” the man huffed, still staring at her.

Deciding to just ignore him, Marinette turned to push on the intercom’s only button. It took a minute before an elegant and accented voice responded.

“Hello, how may I help you?”

“Ah, hello sir. I’m Marinette, Jason asked me to come?”

“Indeed, Master Jason warned me to expect you.”

When the gate opened, Marinette made a point to turn around to smile and wave goodbye at the cab driver. She would cherish his dumbstruck expression for a long time.

Her victory was short lived, though, when she saw how long the march from the gate to the house was going to be. Jason better be on the brink of death. Or the world, she wasn’t picky.

When she finally got there, an old gentleman she thought might be Alfred was waiting for her.

“Miss Dupain-Cheng, I’m Alfred, the family’s butler, it’s a pleasure to meet you,” Alfred said with a kind smile and a nod.

“The pleasure is all mine, sir. And just Marinette is fine,” she told him kindly, walking into the house. “Jason is okay, right? He didn’t say why he wanted me here, and I have to admit that he got me worried.”

Jason had been determined to keep her as far away from his family as he could manage before, and the sudden change was really odd.

“I see,” Alfred said slowly, closing his eyes for a second. “Master Jason is alright, Miss Marinette, do not worry. He just… Well, why not let Master Jason explain the situation to you himself. If you would follow me.”

Marinette followed him for a couple minutes through a couple of corridors, before he opened the doors to… a battlefield.

She thought that, maybe, it was supposed to be a living room, but it was hard to say, under all those decorations. They were literally everywhere. Throwing on the couches, a couple of boxes were overturned in a corner, a couple of garlands of little cartoon ghosts hanging hazradly from the chandelier. It was a mess, but she could see that someone probably tried to… decorate? Maybe? It was a really bad job, though.

Jason and a man she assumed to be his brother were battling with a plastic pumpkin and a skeleton respectively, while two more men and a woman—probably also Jason’s siblings, she heard Bruce Wayne was kind of a serial adopter— were cheering on the sidelines and a brooding teenager was glaring at them. Everyone froze as soon as they realized that they weren’t alone anymore. Alfred only sighed, nodded at her before going back to where they came from.

“Hey! Pixie! Great, you’re here,” Jason exclaimed excitedly, letting go of the pumpkin he was shoving into his brother’s face and stauttered toward her.

“Jason, in the name of everything that’s holy, what the hell?” Marinette asked with a voice deceptively calm. She could see the woman and one of the men behind Jason wince at her tone. Good.

“Well, see, we wanna decorate the house for Halloween, now that it’s time—”

“Jason,” she interrupted incredulously. “We are in September!”

“Well, technically, it’s already October in Russia,” the man that had been fighting with Jason piped up.

“Yeah, what Timbers said,” Jason said with a serious nod while Marinette could only look at him in astonishment. “Anyway, Bruce said we can decorate all the room in the Manor like we wish if we can make this one presentable, without the help of Alfred. And I really want to make a cat theme for his bedroom, so I thought; hey, you know a designer…”

“I’m a fashion designer, Jason, not an interior designer!”

“Same difference, Pixie. You’re my only hope, all of them are hopeless in terms of good taste.”

Marinette pinched the bridge of her nose, ignoring the various protests from Jason’s sibling, before taking out her phone.

“So you proceeded to send me ‘Hey Pix,” she said, reading the message he sent her earlier with a bad imitation of his voice. “‘Need you at the manor asap, urgence lvl 3’ before ignoring me, making me think that the world was probably ending—”

“World ending is at least a lvl 5, Pix, come on,” Jason interrupted with an offended expression. She ignored him.

“—Forcing me to take a cab with a absolute jerk driver—”

“Why did you take a cab? You have a car!”

“Adrien took the car, he is visiting Chloé in New York. But that’s not the point. The point, Jason, is that all of that was because you needed me to help you decorate for a day that is literally in a month?”

“Hey, Halloween is a very important celebration,” Jason’s brother, the one that had been cheering the loudest, told her with a solemn expression.

“I’m French, I don’t care about Halloween,” she deadpanned.

“I’m sorry, what?” The one Jason had called Timbers, probably Tim Drake, looked pained at the very idea that someone could not be obsessed by Halloween.

“I mean, we used to make speciales and sales at the bakery, and I’ve been to a couple of costume parties, but we don’t really pay attention to Halloween until around the 25 of October.”

“That’s sacrilegious,” Jason said, and almost all the others agreed in a way or another.

“Maybe for you, Americans,” she told him with amusement. “But it doesn't change the fact that I’m not going to help you.”

What? Why?!” He exclaimed, his eyes widening.

“Because, one, I don’t have anything to gain from it,” she said, showing him one of her fingers before adding a second. “And two, do you know how long the walk between the cab and the door had been? And all of it just for decorations?”

“Aw, come on, Pix! Bruce is going to make Alfred judge, and I have projects for the cat theme!”

“There is nothing you can say that is going to make me change my—”

“Hey guys!” A cheerful voice suddenly interrupted her, the owner barging into the room like a whirlwind. The woman was slightly taller than her, with long blonde hair and blue eyes. She had a beautiful smile that brightened the room and Marinette could feel the hearts that were making their way in her eyes. The girl was cute. Uh oh. “You are decorating already?! Cool! Be right back, let me just grab my stuff!”

Then she was gone, and Marinette could only blink slowly, before turning back toward Jason.

“Alright, I’m in.”

“What? Why— Oh, no, no, no! You’re not going to crush on Steph—”

“Oh, her name is Steph? What a lovely name,” she mumbled, looking back in the direction she disappeared. “But if you don’t want my help, I can just ask for her number and let you fend for yourself with the decorations, you know.”

“Pixie!” Jason complained, making his sibling laugh or snicker at him.

~~~~~~~~~~

Fun fact: when Marinette says that France doesn't care about Halloween until around October 25th, I’m talking from personal experience. I don’t know if it’s the same in all of France, but I grew up in Paris’ region (It’s not Paris Paris, but it’s like, the places all around and we call it régions parisienne) and they don’t care about it. Where I live, the shops don’t start selling Halloween themed candy before, like a week (maybe two?? when they start early) before Halloween and the children rarely go trick or treating. (I lived in this house for ~five/six years, and I’ve never got a child knocking for candy on Halloween.)

Again, I’m not saying it was like that for everyone in France, maybe it was only my city, but I thought it funny to have this opposition between Marinette and the Batkids.

[cyberneticlagomorph]

REDSTRING.BOARD.NET, a shady conspiracy theorist forum akin to somethingawful, reddit and 4chan

A hotbed for mundane humans to explore and discuss their experiences with the supernatural (real or imagined), it's become the canary in the coal mine for many secretive organizations looking for breaches in the collective charade.

It's harder than you think to find what you're looking for, the forum's a barely moderated mess oozing with crazy people who think they're sane and sane people who think they're crazy.

In the end you stumble across a thread that piques your interest. 

-----

Thread started by USER: comradewaffulz (CW) 

DATE: AUG 5th 2121 06:54

"URSUMBA/URSUMBRA ONLINE REAL?"

CW: [a video of a black rabbit shaped creature with glowing eyes looming over a child's crib, taken from the doorway to the child's bedroom]

CW: ok but, i'm not crazy right? this looks like one of the enemies from that ursumbra game everybody played back in high school?

CW: like??? there's been a spike in missing children's cases lately and when the cops go to check out the crime scenes theres always black goo around and the parents mention at least one of their kids toys is missing, thats *too* close to the main storyline to be a coincidence right

UrsumbraUnderlord (UU): [user was banned for this post, reason: unrelated]

[DELETED USER] (AG): oh my god how is a bot on here

[DELETED USER] (PR): lol get fucked

PR: but you're right CW, it is stupidly similar. if it wasn't for the fact that kids are actually disappearing i'd say it was a PR stunt.

AG: are you a PR stunt lmao

PR: shut the fuck up

AG: you'd think they'd test the goo tho

PR: maybe they have.

AG: good point…

CW: id say its weird that none of this has hit the news yet but lbr if anything on this board was in the news iit would be for the wrong reasons

PR: it'd be fucked up if the devs tried to claim this shit.

CW: but like... is this happening BECAUSE of the game or did the devs know about these creatures and make the game based on them

PR: if there's anything remotely like the game they're probably absolutely exhausted of this shit

KintsugiKitsune (KK): LOL COULD U IMAGINE?? BEING A WHOLE ASS NIGHTMARE AND SOMEONE MAKES A STUPOD GAME ABOUT U GRTTING YOUR ASS BEAT BY  A FUZZY BUNNY

KK: ID GO APESHIT TOO LOL

PR: people are going missing KK

KK: SUCKS TO BD THEM LOL

[CW has kicked/banned KK]

CW: God you suck

CW: anyway 

CW: I wonder if anything fucky has happened in game since this shit started 

PR: I mean I doubt it, that would be too on the nose right? Some true creepy pasta bullshit

CW: ok but, has anybody checked?

AG: game's basically dead, the dev team abandoned it shortly after launch cuz it wasn't making the money they hoped it would. 

AG: wasted big bucks on pop culture tie-ins for merch and item skins too

AG: if anybody still plays they've probably been around since day one

PR: I heard they quit cuz they couldn't get Server Moon to host for them

AG: por que no los dos?

AG: the original game was pretty ok for an rpgmaker project, dunno why the studio that bought it thought something that intensely personal would translate into an MMORPG though 

AG: anyway, if you wanna see if the game is borked you'd have to do it yourself CW

CW: fine, I will

-----

The last message is dated a week after the thread started and merely asks if anyone has seen comradewaffulz. 

There are no further replies or answers, no other threads on this topic.

The gap in your knowledge stares back at you like an empty eye socket and chills you to the bone.

This isn't an isolated incident, this has been going on for at least a year.

Maybe even longer.

And nobody's noticed.

You thumb the little foil packet in your hand, feeling the chip inside floating delicately in its bath of stasis gel.

You wonder if this is really worth it.

If you couldn't just… back out now and find a halfway decent lawyer to cover your ass when the Tower comes knocking. 

…but now you're curious. 

[troop-scoop]

Youth II

Chapter Two -  Common Interest

Word count: 2.9k

Series Summary: On a family trip to your dad’s home town of Hawkins, Indiana, you make a series of decisions that result in you ending up in the year 1983 with more questions than there are answers presently available.

Pairing: Steve Harrington x Female Reader ( slow burn )

Chapter Summary: With the disappearance of Will Byers, you lend a helping hand to try an find the missing 12 year old boy. 

A/n: forgive me for posting a second chapter on the same day as the first. I just need to get this one out before I lose my mind. 

⟛⟛

You’d spent plenty of time staring off into space with your thoughts racing, you’d done it plenty at school, but this wasn’t right, it didn’t feel right and you hated it. Sure, you had plenty of odd experiences growing up, things you used to think were normal for other people, but apparently, they weren’t. And when you’d realized that, you kept them to yourself. But this wasn’t just something you were seeing, this was real, and you knew it, and everything else paled in comparison to this level of oddness.

Why was it always small towns? When you hear about missing people or cold cases that seem to throw police and detectives for a loop it always took place in small towns, quiet ones that people described as great to raise your kids in, places people settled down in to get away from the big cities.

When you’d been getting things together to leave for the day, you’d briefly heard about a missing kid, but hadn’t heard the name before you were slamming the motel door behind you to get to school, hopping down the walkway to the stairs trying to get your shoes on.

It wasn’t right, you would have known about this. Wouldn’t you? Sure, your dad never really talked much about his home town unless it was fond memories with his childhood friends, your uncles, but this was huge, something that should have at least been mentioned.

You had zoned out of the conversation happening next to you, ignoring every detail about the party Steve was throwing that night. You’d already declined on going to, much to both Steve and Carol’s disappointment. Carol mentioned how she was desperate to have another girl in their friend group, while Steve didn’t have much to say, just saying to come with him to find Nancy Wheeler.

“Oh, God, that’s depressing.”

Steve’s tone wasn’t what you would consider empathetic, it was rather that of someone who didn’t want to see what was happening.

Tommy, Barbara, Nancy, Steve, and Carol all looked to the subject of your staring, their eyes all landing on Jonathan Byers using a thumbtack to put a missing person flyer on the bulletin board near the front office.

“Should we say something?” Nancy questioned.

“I don’t think he speaks.”

“How much you want to bet he killed him?” At that, you turned your head and glared at Tommy, as Steve hit his chest a friendly yet serious “Shut up.” being said before you turned back to look at Jonathan.

Nancy walked towards him, leaving the rest of you to stand and wait. The only real thing you could think about was how when you were 11, you had been with your parents, uncle, aunt and cousins, helping your uncle and aunt pack things to move to a new house, and when you’d been left alone, you’d found a box full of old things and you’d dug through it, curiosity getting the best of you. You’d gotten to an old yearbook, labeled ‘1984-1985.’ and before you could ever flip through half of it, your uncle had snatched it away from you, and without saying a word, he’d grabbed the box and left the room.

“You alright?” Barabara asked you, reaching out to hold your shoulder, it brought the other three’s attention to you as well. You didn’t really know Barbara, but you knew she had good grades, and sometimes tutored students in the library after school.

“Yeah, peachy.” was your response, turning your attention back to the conversation Nancy was having with Jonathan, everything being said completely unknown to all of you with the distance.

The bell rang, and students began to frantically move, like cockroaches when you turned a light on. Scattering as quick as they could, but Barabara kept a hand on your shoulder, and in your peripheral vision you could make out her concerned look. Watching as Nancy came back over to the group of students Barbara took her hand off of your shoulder, everyone turning to walk down the hall once Nancy was there. But you were stalling, taking slow uneasy steps, barely keeping your eyes off of Jonathan, but when you knew that the group of students wouldn’t notice you weren’t with them, you turned back around, to see Jonathan heading for the doors.

“Jonathan!” You called out, jogging after him, seeing him stop just as he reached the metal and glass door. Catching up you placed your hands on your hips, trying to think of what to say. “Where we going?”

“What?” Jonathan questioned, brows furrowed as he looked at you, both his hands on the push bar of the door.

“Where we going? Wanna hear it French? Ou Allons nous?”

“We are not going anywhere. You have to go to. . .” Jonathan looked at the small notebook you held between two fingers, reading the angry red scribble on the front that said ‘Math’ “Mr. Swann’s?”

You breathed out through your nose, dropping your notebook. “Not anymore. Where are we going? This is about your brother, right? I wanna help.”

Jonathan sighed a bit, looking down at the linoleum floor before back up at you. “Why?”

“Common interest.” You told him.

“Our English project doesn’t have anything to do with-”

“This isn’t about Romeo and Juliet, moron. This is about your brother. Listen I just. . . everything about this, makes my stomach churn, I need to see him come back home alive. See? Common interest.”

Jonathan gave an absent-minded nod, the look on his face telling you he knew that feeling. “Indianapolis.” He told you, opening the door and barely stepping out, with you hot on his heels. But he stopped suddenly, turning back to you, holding a finger up. “But you stay out of it, Lonnie isn’t too friendly, and I've seen him angry. If I tell you to go back to the car, you go, understand?”

“You’re not my dad, if I see things start going south, I’m getting both of us out of there.” You told him. “Teamwork makes the dream work, now go before I stomp on your shoes, and there’s no guarantee that I won’t give you a flat tire on the way to the car.”

⟛⟛

Sitting in the passenger seat, you looked to the radio, eyes on the station number as the familiar intro to a song began on the radio. The first time you remembered hearing the song, you were four and had woken up from a nap to the smell of macaroni and cheese, and the sound of your newborn baby brother sneezing in his sleep in the crib on the other side of the room. The music was being played from the living room stereo, loudly. But one thing about being raised by your dads was that you had to adapt to loud music being played. Even Daniel had adapted to it at a few weeks old. You’d gotten out of bed and gotten to the living room, where the stereo was on, and your dad in the kitchen, putting some of the macaroni in one of your bowls and one of his own.

The last time you remembered listening to that song was when your cousins had convinced you to go with them into town, Torrey being the one with the idea, and with her speaker, playing a random playlist. You remembered that she skipped the song halfway through.

Torrey never had a good track record, that was for sure, she was always in trouble, much to your uncle Mike’s dismay. But you and James were always the more reasonable ones out of all of you. But Torrey was the oldest, and as a result, like the older sister, and everyone wanted to be like their cool older sister. So whatever she suggested the lot of you do, you did it.

That always resulted in trouble. The only one who could ever reason with all of you was Uncle Dustin, of course, it had to be the uncle who didn’t have kids. It annoyed Mike, Lucas, and your dad to no end that when with Torrey, they couldn’t get through to any of you.

But, Torrey wasn’t technically your oldest cousin. No, that was Rob. Your uncle’s oldest son. But he was a bit over a decade older than you, so you didn’t really know him all too well. Torrey was almost a decade older, just short two years.

“This the place?” you asked, looking past Jonathan trying to see through the foggy window, rain pouring down onto the pavement outside, and tapping gently on the windows and roof of the car. The fogged-up window told you it was cold out there, and warmer inside.

“Yeah. . .”

“Lonnie’s. . . Who is Lonnie, exactly?” You questioned, unbuckling the seatbelt as Jonathan did the same.

“Our dad,” Jonathan answered, opening his car door and getting out. You reached into the backseat, grabbing your coat as a sudden and startling cool gust of wind hit you, sending goosebumps up your neck and arms. Jumping a bit you looked to the door, seeing that Jonathan had gotten it for you. “Come on.” he rushed you.

You didn’t know if you wanted to go up to the house that the teenage boy was eyeing, you knew that if you’d never heard about Lonnie before, it was for a reason. Likely a good one.

Stepping out of the car, you pulled your jacket on just as Jonathan closed the passenger door for you, heading to the run-down home across the street. You followed shortly after, feeling your ankles begin to get wet as drops of rain-soaked through the canvas material of your shoes.

Standing under the overhang of the front porch you watched as Jonathan looked through the glass of the front door, music from either a television or stereo being hear from outside, over the rain. Jonathan knocked on the door. “Hello?” He shouted.

“Maybe he’s not home?”

Jonathan gave a bitter scoff as he continued to bang on the door insistently before you heard a woman’s voice yell out something indistinct. And before you could process it, the front door was opened.

“Can I help you?” She demanded.

“Yeah, is Lonnie around?” Jonathan asked, his body language giving off just as much attitude as her but his voice remaining calm.

“Yeah, he’s out back. What do you want?”

“To look around.” and with that, Jonathan stepped past her into the house, with you following right behind.

The living area had warm lighting from the lamps, with the absence of an overhead light. And the tv that was small by your standards had M.TV on. It was a mess, with things seemingly tossed around, it felt like the beginning of a hoarder’s home before it got worse and it was filmed for a stupid television show.

“Hey, what do you think you’re doing? Hey!” The woman yelled after the two of you. You were hot on Jonathan’s heels, keeping in mind what he said about his father. You’d rather stick close.

“We’ll be fast, promise!” you told her.

“Hey, Will?” Jonathan questioned, going down the hallway, looking into doorways, calling out his younger brother’s name in a more urgent tone while you gave a longer look into each room.

Jonathan turned around from the last room, shaking his head and looking at you, going to walk back out of the hall. But just as he came to the end, a man slammed Jonathan against the wall, holding the collar of his sherpa jean jacket. You jumped back, just before Jonathan shoved who you were now assuming was Lonnie. “Get off!”

“Damn, you’ve gotten stronger.” The older man gave a shove to Jonathan’s shoulder, looking past the two males you saw the woman from the front door.

“Will someone please explain what the hell is going on?”

Lonnie looked at her, then back at Jonathan and then to you, before doing the opposite. “Jonathan, Cynthia. Cynthia this is Jonathan. My oldest. I don’t know who this little lady is.”

Lonnie shoved Jonathan’s shoulder again before pulling him into a hug. “Get off me, man.” Jonathan pushed him off.

The look on Lonnie’s face was that of pure cluelessness as if he didn’t understand why Jonathan would shove him away like that. But with how Jonathan had briefly spoken about him and how he had just acted, you knew the relationship wasn’t what you’d expect of a father and son.

Lonnie turned his gaze to you, “Who’s she?” He asked, looking to Jonathan again.

“A friend,” you responded. Sure, you and Jonathan weren’t all that close, but in this situation, you were sure he needed one, and even if you weren’t technically ‘friends’ he would know he had someone in his corner. “We’re looking for Will.”

“I already talked to the cops. He’s not here and he never has been.”

“Right, well, I think everyone gets a little nervous when they see and talk to cops, if Will’s here I doubt he would have come out when police were here.”

Lonnie looked as though he was trying to process what you had said. “If it makes you two feel better you can look around.”

“Hm, gladly,” you responded.

Jonathan and you spent a few moments in the rundown house, and once the rain had let up, Jonathan went outside, with you and Lonnie both trailing behind.

“Take a look at this beaut. Should’ve seen it when I got it. Took me a year, but it’s almost done.” Lonnie spoke about the car Jonathan was headed toward, opening the trunk once he reached the back. “Really? Do you want to check up my ass, too? I told you the same thing I told those cops, he’s not here and he never has been.”

“Then why didn’t you call Mom back?”

“I don’t know, I just. . . I assumed she forgot where he was. You know, he was lost or something. That boy was never very good at taking care of himself.”

“This isn’t some joke, all right? There are search parties, reporters. . .”

The way Lonnie was treating the situation made you uncomfortable. He didn’t care. It was clear he didn’t with the new information that Jonathan’s mother had called him, and he never answered or called back, how he lived a two-hour drive away and seemed to be talking about anything else but Will.

“Hopper’s not still chief, is he? Tell your mother she’s gotta get you out of that hellhole. Come out here to the city. People are more real here, you know? And then I could see you more.”

“If you wanted to see them more you wouldn’t have made the choice to live so far away.” You interrupted. You knew full well that had your parents ever split in an ugly way like it seemed Lonnie and Joyce had, neither of your fathers would move so far away that it felt like two different worlds. They’d stay close together so both you and your brother still had both of them. “Sounds like shitty parenting on your part, not her’s.”

Lonnie looked at you and tilted his head. “What? You think I don’t want to see my boys?”

“It’s kinda obvious that you don’t.” You responded, crossing your arms over your chest.

“Has Jonathan let you be around his mother? Because you sound just like her. Speaking of her, does she even know you’re here?” Lonnie turned back to Jonathan. You didn’t even know the answer to that, but Jonathan’s silence was an answer. “Great. So one kid goes missing, the other one runs wild? Some real fine parenting right there. Look, all I’m saying is, maybe I’m not the asshole, all right?”

Though Lonie couldn’t see it, you were glaring at him, but Jonathan could, and he gave you a look before reaching into his shoulder bag, pulling out a poster. A copy of the one he’d put up at school. “In case you forgot what he looks like,” Jonathan grumbled, shoving the poster into Lonnie’s chest as he walked away. Gesturing for you to follow.

The two of you walked around the house instead of through it, with small water droplets coming down once again as you crossed the street to the car.

“He’s a prick.” You mumbled as you passed Jonathan to get to the passenger side. Jonathan stared at you for a second.

“Y/n.”

You had grabbed onto the handle of the car door when he said your name, catching your attention. “Yeah?”

“Why do you care? You’re new in Hawkins, you’ve only been there for a few months, and you care about this more than people who have known me and Will since were kids. You’ve never even seen Will.”

You looked down at the pavement beneath you. The smell of rain invading your nose, calming you down just a bit. “Common interest.” You repeated what you had said before.

He didn’t look convinced with how his face seemed to harden and become far more serious. “Look,” You started, letting go of the handle resting your hands on the roof of the car. “Will’s alive, he has to be. I know he is. If I told you how I know, you’d call me crazy. I care about you, your brother and your mom. Lonnie? Not so much. . . Just. . . trust me, okay?”

Jonathan didn’t say anything or even do anything else in response. He opened the driver’s door and got in his seat, tossing his bag into the back as you did the same, buckling yourself in and looking out the window.

⟛⟛

Add yourself to the taglist!

@stonersteve​ @ilovebucketbarnes​

[jamilelucato]

Seventeen [D. M.]

Pairing: Draco Malfoy x Slytherin!Reader

Summary: Based on the song Seventeen, from the musical Heathers; y/N and Draco have a conversation at the Malfoy Manor during the war that can change everything. But will it?

Hogwarts Masterlist || Musical Hogwarts Masterlist

A/N: So this is one of the fics from my personal project of making hp fanfics from musicals songs and this is the first one! It’s a bit angst, but I love the song and I think it fits perfectly with Draco and y/N. Hope you guys enjoy it and stay tuned for more fics like this!

Words: 1.743

“Fine!” you shouted, locking the door behind you, keeping both you and Draco inside. He wasn’t angry at you, but the amount of strength you used to close the door scared him a bit. You were the last person he expected to throw a fit.

It was the third week in a roll that you got locked up in the Malfoy Manor, and, although huge, the place was getting on your nerves. Draco was actually saving your life, but you were getting uptight.

Since you were a Slytherin and Draco’s girlfriend, he found it’d be easier to hide you at plain sight. At first, you were sceptical, but there was no other option. You came to the Manor and started pretending to be from a forgotten line of Purebloods.

The fact was you were a half-blood, daughter of a wizard and a muggle woman. There was a big chance Voldemort and the others wanted your head, but maybe they could spare you. There are, after all, a lot of mudbloods, completely mudbloods, yet to be hunted. Somehow, though, the idea didn’t make it easier.

“We’re damaged, really damaged,” you sighed, staring at Draco’s eyes. He was sitting on the bed that had been his and yours since the begging of your stay. He didn’t want you sleeping in a room where he would have no idea of what happened — you could receive “unwanted” visitors and get killed. “But that does not make us wise!”

For you to have a room for yourselves, two things had to happen, and they were both requested by Voldermort.

First: get engaged. That was more demanded from Lucius and Narcissa then Voldemort, but he agreed, so. That was also not trouble: that same night Draco gave you a ring. Apparently, he was going to do it — he just didn’t think he’d have to do it in the presence of almost fifty death-eaters.

Second: get the dark mark. That terrified your guts, so you hadn’t get it yet. Draco was stalling the death-eaters, especially Bellatrix, who at every opportunity asked if you were ready. He’d invented something about you being allergic to brands, but it wouldn’t do much more.

“We’re not special — we’re not ‘different’” Draco was surprisingly quiet. He was deep down just like you; he didn’t want to be doing those things as well. “We don’t choose who lives or dies!”

You sighed again. Your fight wasn’t against Draco.

“Let’s be normal; see bad movies, sneak a beer. Bake brownies or go bowling,” you avoided his pity eyes. “Don’t you want a life with me?”

You sat down next to him. “Can’t we be seventeen?” ha, that was rather funny. Be seventeen! You two should be at school, you two should be laughing around the corridors of Hogwarts, he should be playing Quidditch, and you should be having girls night at your dorm room. But now that was all gone, like a distant memory.

Draco was never your best friend, but he was someone nice to have around. He would never admit it, but he was a good student with perfect grades; because of that, more times than often, you requested his help to study. So, when on the sixth year he stopped helping you out, you noticed he was different. Darker.

It was on that year that you realize you had feelings for him. You two came to some sort of agreement around that: both were in love with each other.

It’d be beautiful if it wasn’t so tragic: Draco was already depressed because of his mark and his duty to Voldemort. You couldn’t fight against him, and you couldn’t betray him — the only choice was to stay hidden until you couldn’t anymore, and he had welcomed you into the Manor.

How nice was that? Teenage love and, now, an engagement where the involved haven’t kissed each other yet?

“If you could let me in, I could be good with you,” your voice was barely a whisper, but somehow he heard.

His hand reached for yours, and you looked down at the simple touch. “People hurt us,” you pointed out, taking a great look at his mark, forever on his arm.

“Or they vanish,” he added, reminding you of your mom and dad who had disappeared. It wasn’t their fault — you asked them to vanish — but you still missed them every day.

“And you’re right, that really blows. But we let go—”

“Take a deep breath,” his words seemed to reach every part of your brain and tranquillize you along the way. You hoped your voice had the same effect for him.

“We’ll go camping,” you suggested with a faded smile, trying to make the situation more fun. It didn’t need to happen right now, but maybe one day, yes.

“Play some Gobstones,” he sighed, starting to play your game.

“And we’ll eat some flavour beans,” you looked up in an attempt to meet his gaze. “Maybe prom night.”

“Maybe dancing,” he finally stared back at you.

“Don’t stop looking in my eyes,” you smiled, taking your hands out of his and holding his face, making him keep his gaze on you.

“Your eyes...” he repeated your words, a sign that he was lost in thoughts you could only imagine. Lucius didn’t trust you completely so many times he needed to ask things from Draco, he asked him alone. You had no idea what he and Voldemort were planning from Draco, but something was coming, especially after he failed at killing Dumbledore.

“Can’t we be seventeen? Is that so hard to do?” he tilted his head like he was melting at your touch. “If you could let me in, I could be good with you.”

“Let us be seventeen if we still got the right,” Draco said. His hand that was before laying on your lap lost without your hand traced a path around your body so it could meet your face just like you were doing.

“I wanna be with you,” you said, informing him as if for the first time. Those words expressed more than staying at the Malfoy Manor — they meant you wanted him, you wanted to be his for real.

“I wanna be with you,” he replied. Before the first tear fell from your eyes, his lips touched you for the very first time.

He had kissed your hand before and even your forehead on a cold night. Your heart had stopped both of those times, but nothing like now. It was a new experience; kissing Draco couldn’t be compared to anything you two had done before.

Your hands, once holding his chin, were now wandering his silver locks and finding pleasure with the texture. His hand that was on your face pulled you even closer and the other one once free was now wandering your body with the same eager as you.

“Yeah, we’re damaged,” you muttered when his lips reached for your neck — experience in a whole other level.

“Badly damaged,” he whispered back.

“But...” you tried to continue, but his lips met yours once again, shutting you up.

“Your love’s too good to lose,” he added, pushing you back a little just so you could see his eyes and know that he meant it.

Draco wanted you. He wanted all of you. Not just for the night, but for the next, and the other, and the next after that. He knew he loved you for a while, but with the war happening, things got a little foggy. His priorities were mixed.

His father had just some minutes ago told him that he knew you were a half-blood. Lucius told Draco that you wouldn’t be killed for that, but since it meant your father was married to a witch, they’d hunt down at least the two.

“They will be killed, son, don’t get me wrong,”  said Lucius in a warning tone. “The problem is they’ll probably want her to do it.”

So, yeah, Draco was mad when he got in the room he was sharing with you. He was enraged to the maximum. It was something having Voldemort forcing him to do things — it was a complete and unacceptable other thing him wanting you to do things.

You are perfect; you are his light. He wouldn’t bare seeing you going dark.

So, while he was snogging you — and don’t get me wrong, he was loving it, he was over the moon about that part —, he was planning a way to escape the Manor. It wouldn’t be easy, but it wasn’t impossible. He would need his mom, but he was sure she’d help.

You and Draco ended up in the bed, naked. You guessed all that angst and the war could not stop the teen hormones. Not that you were complaining — Draco was great at it. He was gentle but firm, a combination that surprised you.

You were not very sure of what to do, but Draco was patient.

“Tonight is not about me.”

“That will be a first,” you said, trying to defuse the tension.

He smirked at you in that way that only he knew how. It made you jealous, you really wished you could smile like that.

“I’ve got a plan,” he said when you were laying on his chest. His voice was barely a whisper. “Tonight, we’ll run away. I’ll ask mom, she’ll know how to help, and some house-elves can stock food in a bag...”

“Draco?”

“Yeah?” you looked up at him.

“You’re really going to run away with me? You know you don’t have to, right?” you didn’t know how to proceed. “I mean, you are safe here. ”

“If I am what you choose,” he said with a soft voice, “then I’ll do what’s needed to see you protected.”

You kissed him again, and again, unable to stop. It could have been a happy memory if it wasn’t for the background.

A knock on the door froze you two. Draco was faster, he got up and inside his pants. He was at the door when he turned back to face you, and you nodded for him to open.

Narcissa head popped in, but she was so anxious she didn’t even take a good look around.

“Draco, we need you downstairs. I think we’ve got him!”

“Who?”

You crawled the bed, leaning towards the door.

“I think we’ve got Potter.”

[sirowsky]

The Flowers Always Know

Description: When a mad scientist uses you as an experiment while you’re on holiday, the Heroics only just manage to save you. And in your recovery you become very close to the leader of the group. (Slow burn)

Rating: Mature

Warnings: Language, some mild smut.

Link to Masterlist

Comment: All I can say is: I’m sorry. My head is a strange place.

Chapter 29

  “Marcus!! Oh, get that sweet tush over here and hug me, and you better make it a good one after you’ve neglected to visit my cave for longer than these magic hands care to remember.”

  You already loved Velma.

  “Hey, Vel. I’m sorry, I’ve been preoccupied.”

  He did hug her, and properly too, as well as about 10s longer than what would be considered socially acceptable for mere friends, without either of them seeming to find it weird or awkward at all.   You still loved her.

  “Thank you, my darling. You’re forgiven. Now, tell me what you’ve brought me?”

  He beamed at you. He really did love any opportunity to show you off, but he seemed especially pleased about this introduction.

  “Velma, this is my fiancé. Hermosa, as you’ve undoubtedly gathered – this is the one and only Velma.”

  “Your fi… You’re getting… And you’re here. You brought her to me! Are you…?”

  “Yes. I am. On both counts.”

  “YES!! Thank the Greek fucking Gods!! A wedding-dress, and for you, my darling, of all people! Thank you.”

  “Well, technically it’s for her.”

  “Oh, no, sugar. The dress is for the groom. The shoes – are for the bride.”

  She finally set all of her glorious attention on you.

  Velma was a drag-queen, and the most awe-inspiring individual you’d ever seen. Everything about her was superior. She was taller than anyone else in the room, helped by fucking spectacular plateau shoes, she was broad-shouldered and muscular to boot. She carried herself like an empress, with a kind of stillness and real elegance, despite having so much flare and finesse to her. And even though she was covered in colours and sparkles, she somehow looked like she would belong absolutely anywhere.   And when she actually looked you in the eye, you could almost feel her read the pages of the book that was your life, and yet, there was nothing intimidating about it.

  “Well, now. There’s a lot of story here, isn’t there?”

  “A bit. Yeah.”

  “Mm. Alright then, come with me, darling. I demand to know every little detail about the woman my Marcus has chosen.”

  She turned dramatically, and headed for a side-door in the studio workshop where you were, and you looked at Marcus with a wide grin.

  “She’s coming to the wedding.”

  “Don’t worry – she’s on the list.”

  “I don’t care about any list. She’s coming. I need that amount of sparkle at my wedding. And I’m not just talking about the clothes.”

  He chuckled happily as he watched you literally skip over to the open door, and disappear inside.

-----

  Three weeks later, you finally got around to getting your house sold. It was a fairly quick sale since the neighbourhood was nice and the yard was bigger than most other properties on that street. And since you didn’t really need the extra money, you could give the young couple that fell in love with it, a kind price.   You weren’t really particularly sorry to see it go, but you were very happy to see it fall into the hands of people who would appreciate it. For a long time, that house had been your refuge, your safe harbour when life got hard, and you wished that it could be the same for someone else.   You put the bulk of the money in your savings-account, and ear-marked the rest for wedding-expenses.   There still wasn’t really any actual planning going on, as far as dates and times and venues were concerned. But you and Marcus were still getting through a lot of the stuff that goes on around the actual day.   You’d settled on what colours you wanted for the flowers, and what types they should be. You’d had an almost outrageously fun day last weekend, trying out the recipes for all the wedding-cakes you’d both found online. And after soiling literally every inch of the kitchen with flour, and tasting so many different cakes your taste-buds had eventually given up, you had managed to conclude that you wanted a lemon-flavoured one. Missy had tried to get you onto the chocolate-train, but you’d held your ground, with the promise that there would indeed be chocolate present, just not in the cake.   You’d completed the guest-list, and chosen the invitation cards, but they were safely stowed away in a drawer, still unwritten.   It wasn’t that you were stalling or didn’t feel ready. You were just genuinely enjoying the preparations, and not having that deadline made them feel like they were just fun things to do over a weekend, rather than things you had to do to be ready in time. Especially since Missy loved being a part of it too, it made the whole thing feel like a prolonged family event.

  By now, the only thing that was still on the prep-list was Marcus’ suit, but you’d both agreed not to make any decisions on that until you’d seen what Velma did with your dress.   You’d spent two whole days in her cave, getting your measurements taken and your skin-tone evaluated. There were about a hundred things about your body that she’d wanted to know, but you trusted her with your life already, so you’d happily complied.   Plus; any excuse to spend time with her was a good one.   Work was finally becoming manageable again, as you’d finally caught up on all the stuff that was trailing behind, and you were deliberately keeping any and all new projects firmly steered in other directions or delegating them onto other designers. You had enough on your plate with just getting through the already started ones, on top of the wedding-planning.   Today had been a good day, so far, and you’d decided to go and find Marcus and see if he had time to join you for lunch.   When you approached his office, his door was open and you could hear Tech talking. Not wanting to interrupt, you stopped outside and out of sight, while you waited for their conversation to finish. You picked up your phone to send an e-mail while you waited.

  “I can’t believe that building was still standing after that.”

  “Crushing lost control for three seconds. Let’s just be grateful it wasn’t longer.”

  “Oh, I remember that time back in the beginning when he was out of it for like 20 seconds.”

  “I think most of Colombia remembers that, too.”

  “Probably.”

  “Hey, um. Speaking of losing control…”

  “What?”

  “Well, there’s a certain office on the other side of the building that gets a fair bit of noise-complaints.”

  You snapped out of your e-mailing and instinctively turned your head to listen closer.

  “Stay out of it, Tech.”

  “Hey, I’m not the filing them, and I never will. I’m all for healthy appetites. Just wondering if you’re aware of the fact that a lot of people are talking about you guys?”

  “So? Let ‘em talk.”

  “Sure. But they’re not talking about it being a nuisance or inappropriate. They’re talking about how the hell you can keep it up for three hours straight sometimes. Is that true, though?”

  You weren’t sure if you wanted the ground to open up and swallow you, or if you wanted to go find these people and tell them to mind their own business.   There was a brief pause before Marcus answered, and his voice was a bit lower than before.

  “It is. I seriously can’t get enough of her. Ever. No matter how tired I get, I can always go another round.”

  “That’s kind of amazing. How do you ever get anything done?”

  “I have no idea.”

  “Any idea when the knot-tying might be happening?”

  “No. I’m dying to do it, to the point where I have to repeatedly tell myself not to just beg her to go to Vegas with me. But I also really wanna get it right, you know? Not necessarily perfect; just right. Right for us. And I want her to feel ready, so that she can just relax and enjoy that day, whenever it happens.”

  Your heart swelled to an almost painful size behind your ribs.

  “I am ready, honey.”

  You stepped over the threshold and watched as his expression turned from confusion to realisation as he saw you.

  “You wouldn’t have to beg. I’d go to Vegas with you right now if you asked. I’ve told you; I don’t really care how it happens. I’m enjoying the preparations and everything we’re doing together, but even if nothing ever got used, I wouldn’t feel like I missed out on anything. You’re the one that wanted the traditions, remember?”

  Tech excused himself at that point, and closed the door behind him after he left.

  “Do you still want all that, Marcus?”

  He looked so torn.

  “Damned it… Yes. I really do.”

  “Then let’s pick a date. Let’s find a place that feels right and let’s make it happen.”

  “Are you sure?”

  “Are you ready?”

  He shot up from his chair and was suddenly holding your waist, staring into your eyes.

  “Ah, mi novia, I’ve been ready for a long time.”

  His hands migrated down to your ass, and you let him squeeze you to him. You were wearing a simple blue summer-dress today, and he quickly found his way underneath it, letting his hands run up your thighs and relieve you of your panties.   Then he pulled you along to the sofas, sitting down and urging you to straddle him.   It was almost strange how calm it was. The two of you were always so heated, so passionate whenever you came together, to the point where it was almost always beyond your control, or at least, on the very edge of it.   But this time, there was no tearing at each other’s clothes. No hands desperately grasping, needing and demanding more. No burning heat that made you feel empty and aching until he entered you.   The heat did come, but gradually. With each caress, each tender kiss and each movement of your bodies together, it slowly built from an ember to a flame.   Your walls actually allowed him to move inside you this time, and as you rocked yourself over him, a completely different kind of pleasure to what you’d become used to with him, built inside your core and seemed to reach towards your heart, instead of your sex.   After a while, he turned you both to the side so he could lay you down and settle himself on top of you, and that feeling that was creeping towards your chest, drastically intensified. He drove into you in long, strong thrusts that buried him as deep as your bodies would allow, each time, and his throat made involuntary little sounds of pleasure every time he returned into your wet and welcoming warmth.   It took you nearly thirty minutes to build to a climax this time, and when it finally hit, it was strong in a completely different way than it ever had been before. Your bodies didn’t curl or clench in on themselves, there were no involuntary power-outbursts, no levitation. But it felt like you were underneath each other’s skin. Like your hearts actually melded into one through the intricate contact of your skin and nerves.   It was utterly overwhelming and there were tears streaming from your eyes throughout the whole climax. And they didn’t stop, even after you’d come back down.   There was no pain or sorrow anywhere inside you in that moment, so you concluded that these were tears of pure love and you made no effort to stop them. You just held him close and waited for the feeling to burn itself out.   He burrowed his face into your neck while you laid there, feeling the tears as they passed over onto his cheek on their way down, but making no comment about them. He knew what they were, and it made him love them too.

  You took a late lunch together, and since the pills were working perfectly and the lab had been able to produce several months-worth already, you could enjoy eating like a normal person these days.   Marcus really did miss your stomach-bear, though, and he would occasionally drop comments like ‘this is one of those moments when mama bear would have roared’, and you felt a little bit sorry for him. It was like he’d lost a puppy.   While you ate, you started discussing what places you thought might be nice for a venue.

  “Churches are nice, but a bit… I hesitate to say ‘stuffy’.”

  “Yeah. They feel so formal, like you’re not allowed to have fun, and I really want us and our guests to feel like we’re allowed to have fun.”

  “Definitely. So, what about restaurants?”

  “Not my thing, if I’m honest, hermosa.”

  “I figured. Pavilion?”

  “Now, we’re talking. A big one, with lots of decorations and a dance-floor!”

  “You and your dancing.”

  “Oh, no; you’re the dancer, remember?”

  “And your foxtrot is adequate, but your waltz needs some work.”

  “Thanks. So, do we know of any potentially available pavilions, or are we gonna have to build one?”

  “Don’t you worry about that, sugar-plum, if it’s a pavilion you’re looking for – I know the perfect one.”

  Velma approached your table, wearing an even more daring outfit than last time you’d seen her. As always, she made a show of eyeing Marcus up and down and making appreciative noises to showcase his hunky-ness. And, as always, Marcus just smiled and let her do her thing.

  “Where is it?”

  “Didn’t I just tell you not to worry? I’ll take you to see it later if you want, but for now – I need to borrow your little cherry, here. Time to dolly you up, hon.”

  “It’s finished?”

  “Literally seconds ago. I came to find you right away, I need to see it on you before I can definitively say that it’s done.”

  Marcus beamed at you both while Velma slipped her arm through yours and led you back to her cave.

  Somehow, you’d expected it to be difficult to get into, or at least require assistance, but it wasn’t. It wasn’t a big or flaunty thing, nor was it heavy or complicated in its design. And yet, there was something so special about it.   It was snow-white with a hint of gold to the shimmer in the fabric, to match the rings. It was an off the shoulder style dress, with long sleeves in the most beautiful lace you’d ever seen, that carried over into the body of the dress as well, though it was purely ornamental there, as the actual body was made from satin.   From the waist down, there was no lace, but tiny golden details had been sewn into the satin and it made the dress come alive somehow.   The skirt was cleverly designed, so that it billowed out just a little, but without getting puffy, and it was still just two layers, making it easy to handle and comfortable to move in. There was no train, but she had made you a vail in the same exquisite lace, in case you decided that you wanted one.

  “Oh, my. Honey… I thought it looked gorgeous on the mannequin, but damn! You make this dress.”

  “It’s perfect, Velma. It’s everything I didn’t know I wanted.”

  “Marcus is gonna swoooooon…”

  “He’s gonna love it.”

  “Well, just make sure to have someone strong standing next to him so they can catch him when he inevitably goes down.”

  You just smiled at her.

  “Oh, and thank you for the shoes. You’re right, I’m gonna love these a lot more than the dress before the night’s over.”

  “You got that right, Cherie.”

  You met up with Marcus as soon as you were done in the cave, and the smile that lit up his face when he saw you carrying the special box that housed the dress, shoes and vail, could have put the sparkles in Velma’s very short skirt to shame.

  “You actually have it? It’s finished?”

  “It’s right in here.”

  He looked positively squirmy with anticipation.

  “And it’s even more beautiful than anything you’ve imagined. Trust me.”

  He chuckled.

  “I do.”

  Velma took you out to see the pavilion she’d mentioned, and it really was perfect. It sat on several acres of green lawns and meadows, with a large pond not too far from the structure. You could have the ceremony out on the grass, overlooking the water, and put up a canopy over the tables and chairs for the dinner and cake. And then move over to the pavilion for the dancing and fun-times. There were huge old oak-trees framing the entire area, giving the whole place a bit of a fairy-tale feeling.

  “Marcus, we have to pick a date. We have to find out if this place is available for us.”

  “Oh, don’t you worry about that, honey-bun. It’ll be available whenever you want it.”

  Velma gave you this knowing look and you gawked at her.

  “You own this place?”

  “For a long time now. I only use it for very special occasions, and I don’t go blabbering about it to every Joe and Willy looking for a party-house. But for you, my turtle-doves, it’ll always be available.”

  By the time you went to bed that day, you’d not only picked a date, but completed and sent all of the invitations as well.   You were going to get married on the ten-month anniversary of when you first opened your eyes and saw him by your bedside, which gave you roughly a month to get everything ready. And since you had everything pretty much figured out already, that wasn’t going to be a hard deadline to keep.

  Or, so you thought.

  But the day before the wedding came at you like you’d somehow fallen asleep at the wheel going 200mph down the highway.   Suddenly it was all happening. And while you were totally ready emotionally, you were also just not ready over-all, and you woke up that morning feeling sick. Actually sick.   Marcus was too excited to get more than 4h of sleep per night in the week leading up to that day, but he didn’t want to disturb you, so he’d gotten up and left the bedroom some time earlier that morning.   You walked into the bathroom to splash some cold water on your face but it didn’t do much to alleviate the nausea, so you gave up and just got dressed instead.

  “Hey, alma, are you okay?”

  “Yeah, sweetie, just feeling a little overwhelmed I guess.”

  “You sure?��

  “I’ll be fine, don’t worry. The wedding is happening, come hell or high water.”

  “Good.”

  “Where’s Marcus?”

  “He got called in to work really early, some crisis with a blue-whale, I think.”

  “Okay, well, then I’ll drive you to school.”

  “Are you sure you shouldn’t just take a sick-day?”

  “I’m not gonna be helped by sitting here wringing my hands all day. Let’s go, Maid of Honour.”

  She smiled at that, but then frowned.

  “You’re not gonna have breakfast?”

  “Kid, I’ll be happy if I can keep the damned pill down this morning.”

  You dropped her off and went to work, intending to treat this like any other Friday. But when you stepped into your office, there was a weird smell that just set off all your senses, and you had to duck over the first available trashcan and vomit. Since your stomach was empty, all that came up was bile, and that somehow made you even more nauseas.

  What the fuck was that smell?

  You abandoned your office and headed for Marcus’ instead. It smelled fine, so you sat down at his computer and used your own login to access your files and get to work.   But after about an hour you’d had to visit his bathroom three times as your stomach continued to try and cough up shit that wasn’t even there, and you gave up, and headed down to medical.

  You had just intended to ask for some anti-nausea medication, but because of your medical history, they insisted on an exam to rule out any possible delayed complications.

  You left medical in a daze, not even realising where you were going before you found yourself back in Marcus’ office.   You sat down in one of the sofas and just waited. You didn’t dare to even try and feel anything without him there, because you were afraid that you might suddenly feel way too much, and you needed him to be there, to keep you calm if that happened.   Some time later, Crushing ducked his head in and had to almost shout to get your attention.

  “Huh… What?”

  “I said, Marcus went home straight from the mission, two hours ago, he had something he wanted to get done for tomorrow. So, there’s no need to wait for him here.”

  “Oh. What time is it?”

  “Almost five.”

  “Shit…”

  “Hey, you okay?”

  “I hope so. Yes. I mean, yes.”

  “Want me to take you home?”

  “No, I’ll be fine, thanks Crush.”

  You drove home being almost ridiculously cautious and you laughed a little at yourself when you parked the car, next to Marcus’.   You were surprised to find the front door locked. You never locked the door when you were home. They must have gone out on foot for some reason.   Fishing your keys out of your bag, you unlocked it and stepped inside, and you were just about to call out to see if anyone was home, when you heard a sound that made every hair on your body stand straight up.   It was a mechanical sound, a machine of some sort. You couldn’t identify it, but your body sure as hell remembered it.   Walking into the living room, a fear unlike anything you’d ever felt before, flooded every cell inside of you.   Your own blood rushing in your ears drowned out the sound of your keys and handbag falling to the floor, as you tried to take in what you were seeing.

  Tubes… wires… computers… machines… bags of liquids… chairs that weren’t chairs but fucking instruments of torture. Two of them. One for Marcus… and one for Missy.   And right in between them – Dr. Prince.

Authors’ Note: I love criticism, don’t be shy to let me know if there’s anything you like/don’t like/have questions about.

@blueeyesatnight​ @farfromjustordinary @allmyspideys @hrk-fic-recs @strawberryperegrine @lucrezia-thoughts @computeringturtle @sarahjkl82-blog

[gil-estel]

~✨gil-estel’s long-promised spn rec list✨~

the general criteria:

(all fic will fit at least one, many will fit most)

✓ long (10k+)

✓ published after 2017

✓ canon-verse

✓ plotty and/or casefic

✓ nuanced exploration of dean winchester’s bisexuality

the fics:

Bender by vipjuly (destiel, 13k, rated E)

In order to protect a sorority from a vampire, Dean allows Rowena to transform him into a girl so he can go undercover.

He's still Dean. Just in a female body.

This is surprisingly easy.

Build a Home by domesticadventures (destiel, 20k, rated T)

After they save the world, Dean expects Cas to come back to the bunker with them.

He doesn’t.

Everything Comes Back to You by VioletHaze (destiel, 33k, rated E)

Dean knew better. Of course he did. But Cas seemed so charmed by the antique-filled bed and breakfast that Dean went along with it when the proprietor mistook them for a couple. Telling himself it gave them a strategic advantage to be so close to the crime scene, he agreed to the weekend special she offered them. When the case ended up being a bust, they stuck around anyhow because hey, the second night was free…

it never gets dark by vaudelin (destiel, 30k, rated E)

Normally Dean wouldn't get out of bed for a run-of-the-mill kidnapping, even without the hangover, but when Sam can't even write out the missing kid's name, he has to admit something's up.

Helping Sam, Patience, and Claire figure out who (or what) erased all traces of the kid is as good a distraction as any to get over Cas bailing from an abortive love confession. But when finding answers comes at a terrible physical price, the team is left with no choice but to call in any help they can get.

Like it or not, Dean and Cas have some uncomfortable truths to confront, and when worst comes to worst they'll discover what truly matters in the end.

Kelp! I Need Somebody by andimeanittosting (destiel, 27k, rated E)

It’s been a week since Michael was defeated and Dean freed, but Castiel can’t seem to get back on the horse. Dean, on the other hand appears to have bounced back completely, with one small exception: he no longer dares touch the now-human Cas at all.

When they receive a call from Jesse and Cesar to come investigate a series of mysterious drownings near their New Mexico ranch, Dean jumps on the job, much to Cas and Sam’s dismay. But more challenging than the kelpie they encounter, Jesse and Cesar’s relationship holds up a mirror, showing Dean and Cas the future they wish they could have. When Rowena and Charlie get involved, a shake-up is inevitable.

let me lay here so slow (i need never get old) by vaudelin (gen & bg destiel, 10k, rated G)

The day of Dean's fortieth birthday, told from Lebanon's point of view.

like moses and batman and james dean by saltyfeathers (destiel, 31k, rated E)

dean used to turn tricks. over a decade later, he met cas.

One Cold Night by xylodemon (destiel, 16k, rated E)

"Dean, are you all right?"

"Yeah. I'm just —" Dean shivers again. His teeth clack together. "Jesus Christ, it's cold."

So Goes the Song by aeli_kindara (dean/lee webb, 21k, rated E)

The first time Lee meets Dean Winchester, it’s courtesy of a chokehold.

Someone Who’s Feeling For Me by ellispark (destiel, 46k, rated M)

Dean sees her for the first time in nearly six years in some no-name town in Idaho, and it's panic at first sight.

Lisa Braeden, the one woman Dean ever actually had a shot at a real life with, back from where he buried her in his mind. And her hand is on Cas's arm like it's no big deal, like it belongs there. Cas, Dean's dorky, sweet, badass, angelic best friend, and he's just standing there next to Lisa and not moving her hand away.

Dean feels the jealousy rising, and it's not directed where he expected it to be. Because it takes this exact moment for Dean to realize he's in love with his best friend. He's in love with his best friend, and Lisa is looking at Cas like he's the best thing since automatic rifles, and Dean is utterly fucked.

Suck It, Judy Garland by midrashic (destiel, 20k, rated M)

It had to be St. Louis. Or, the one where Sam and Cas get fake married for a case, and Dean loses his mind.

Superheroes by aeli_kindara (dean/omc, 4k, rated T)

"I fuckin' hate group projects."

Dylan gives Dean a wary glance. He gets it — he’s not the biggest fan of these things himself. But when you’re a group of two, “I fuckin’ hate group projects” is awful close to “I fuckin’ hate working with you.”

In which a teenage Dean Winchester makes a friend and leaves something behind, and Sammy doesn't know when to shut up.

Talkin’ Bear Mountain Picnic by MittenWraith (destiel, 41k, rated E)

Strange things were happening in a small town in Northern Maine that had gained a reputation as the most honest town in the world in only a matter of weeks. Residents were going out of their way to confess their sins-- everything from jaywalking to murder, infidelity to true love. Sam, Dean and Cas all have their own reasons for wanting to stay far away from an honesty curse, but with Jack and his natural bluntness serving as their last line of defense, they decide to investigate. The last thing they need is another Veritas situation on their hands. The honest little town might be enjoying their newfound liberty to speak their minds, but the cause of this particular curse might prove to be Dean and Cas’s undoing.

The Thirty Six Questions That Lead to Love by aeli_kindara (destiel, 13k, rated M)

“So I need you to be my gay dads,” says Claire.

Though The Course May Change by imogenbynight (destiel, 51k, rated E)

After a couple who went missing several years ago from an Oregon couples retreat are mysteriously returned on the same night that another disappears, Dean and Charlie plan to go undercover to find the cause--until Dean's foot meets his mouth, and he finds himself fake-engaged to Castiel instead.

The Tunnel of Love by xylodemon (destiel, 21k, rated E)

"We might," Cas starts slowly, pausing like he's choosing his words. "We might have to kiss."  

Dean just stares at him.

You Start to Grow Wings by FagurFiskur (dean/omc & destiel, 11k, rated T)

Dean feels his face warm up, suddenly all too aware that he’s sitting right next to his very male friend. He can’t make himself look over, too nervous that he’ll catch Eli’s eye and make this whole experience even more excruciatingly awkward. He wants to leave, but he also doesn’t wanna call attention to how uncomfortable he is.

He’s known gay people exist of course, but he’s never seen them outside of Very Special Episodes on sitcoms. Never seen something so explicitly, in-your-face gay.

At seventeen, Dean falls for another man for the first time. Twenty years later they happen to meet again and things are somehow much more complicated.

[not-so-mundane-after-all]

Fandom: DC Titans

Title: It’s Good To Be Home

Pairings/Relationships: Core Four, Dickkory, Dick Grayson & Rachel Roth

Summary: The Wayne Manor was truly breathtaking. Rachel heard a few stories about the place from Dick and from Donna, she even got to sneak a glance at it through their memories but actually seeing it with her own eyes was a whole different experience.

The car slowed down rounding the fountain and her heartbeat sped up in her chest. They were here.

Hugs | 13. Group hugs, Core Four - for Vanessa N Isaacs

Check out the prompt list | REQUESTS OPEN

____________________________________________

The Wayne Manor was truly breathtaking.

Rachel kept staring at it with her nose glued to the windshield of the black SUV that was taking her there. After a twelve-hour flight from Themyscira and landing in New York the Amazons really surprised her saying that they are going to escort her to Gotham and not San Francisco. Since then she was wondering what might be the reason the team relocated there (and she was hoping it was temporary) but she didn't mind as long as she'd be reunited with her family.

Right now though she wasn't thinking about that, because her mind was occupied with this enormous castle-like mansion with giant windows and high towers and open taraces and a fountain in the center of the driveway. Rachel heard a few stories about the place from Dick and from Donna, she even got to sneak a glance at it through their memories but actually seeing it with her own eyes was a whole different experience.

The car slowed down rounding the fountain and Rachel's heartbeat sped up in her chest.

They were here.

And then there was Dick - standing next to Kory with his hands in his pockets and head held high. He looked more nervous than excited and Rachel had to resist the urge to roll her eyes thinking about how frantic and worried he must have been this whole time. But when he noticed her and their eyes met, his face instantly lit up, lips turning up in a brightest smile and Rachel was getting out of the car even before the engine stopped working.

Standing in line in front of the main entrance were Dick, Kory and Gar. She had no idea they'd be notified of her arrival but apparently they knew she was coming and now there's a whole welcoming committee waiting for her. Gar was bouncing on his feet, his excitement threatening to explode like a bomb. Rachel couldn't decide what was brighter - his smile or his green hair.

Kory, gorgeous as always, was standing in the middle with her arms crossed over her chest and lips stretched in a wide happy grin. She was dressed from head to toe in various shades of her beloved purple, from high heel boots and leather pants to the shiny glittery shirt. Her long hair was darker than Rachel remembered but she smiled when she noticed that the iconic thick curls were back.

At first she just stood there, happy to stretch her legs after a long drive and looked at them, smiling so hard her cheeks hurt. They didn't move either, as if paralyzed by some invisible force, watching her from a distance.

She's not sure who took the first step.

Maybe it was her, too eager to finally reunite with them after so long. Or maybe it was them, heading towards her together as one because they couldn't stand being apart for even one second longer.

She's not sure who took the first step but Dick got to her first.

All Rachel knew was that she was running and suddenly she found herself engulfed in his strong embrace, the sensation pushing all air out from her lungs. She linked her arms around his neck when he picked her up and started twirling around in circles with her, laughing into her ear. Her feet were dangling in the air and Rachel started giggling and squealing in delight as well, feeling like a little kid. 

"Finally!" he sighed breathlessly when they stopped and he put her back on the ground. "Welcome back, sweetheart."

She stepped away from his hold to look at him but that's when she was captured again in two different sets of arms. She didn't even notice when Gar and Kory threw themselves at her, hugging her as tight as they could.

"It's been way too long." Kory told her, pressing a kiss to her temple. Rachel leaned her head to her and the two of them pressed their cheeks together, smiling.

"Don't leave us like that again!" Gar whined with his head on her other shoulder, squeezing her even tighter. Rachel started giggling again but this time it quickly turned into a choked up sob. She promised herself she wouldn't cry, but she couldn't hold it back now that she was with her family again.

Dick's expression softened, his eyes gazing at her affectionately.

"Oh, honey."

"I've missed you so much, guys." Rachel chuckled through tears, looking each one of them in the eyes. Dick walked up to the group and wrapped his arms around them all, pulling them into a group hug with Rachel in the middle.

"We've missed you, too, Rach." he murmured and kissed the top of her head.

"Mhmm." Kory nodded and cuddled closer.

"Like hell." Gar added and buried his face in her shoulder. 

The three of them held her so tight she was starting to run out of air.

"Guys-" she gasped, trying not to laugh too much. "I can't- breathe-"

Mumbling their apologies they loosened their hold a bit, but none of them were planning on completely letting go of her. They surrounded her, arms still linked together and looking at their smiling faces, Rachel couldn't be happier. It's good to be home, even if it wasn't the Tower. Dick, Kory and Gar were here and her home was with them. 

Dick's face caught her attention, his eyes to be specific and she raised an eyebrow at him, smirking.

"Are you- crying?"

"No!" he said instantly, but wiped at his cheek with the back of his hand.

"He totally is." Gar teased him, joining in on the fun. "He was one giant bubble of emotion since the moment we found out you're coming back."

"That's not true." the older man huffed.

"Oh please, that was nothing!" Kory's laugh rang in the air and Rachel turned to her with sparkling eyes. "You should have seen him in the first few weeks after you left. He was a mess!"

Gar burst out laughing, earning himself a deadly glare from Dick. Rachel couldn't stop grinning like an idiot at this entire exchange.

"Oh, yeah! He took moping around to a whole new level."

"I wasn't moping around."

"Sure, Jan."

Dick froze.

"Oh, God." Kory sighed, turning her eyes at the sky. "Here we go again." Rachel glanced between her and the boys with curiosity.

"Gar, what did I tell you about quoting memes?"

"Oh, c'mon man! It was a perfect opportunity!"

"Anyway!" Kory interrupted them with that I'm-gonna-beat-the-shit-out-of-you-if-you-don't-stop-right-now smile of hers, putting an end to their little bickering, then turned to Rachel and took her hands in hers. "After Dick finally stops denying he's overly emotional-"

"I'm not!"

"-like right now,"

"I'm not." Dick denied stubbornly, then smiled at Rachel. "I'm just happy you're back."

"-maybe you'll get to tell us how was it, hmm?" Kory finished her sentence and suddenly Rachel felt all eyes on her again. Their excitement was all over the place. She chuckled and squeezed the woman's hands back.

"Of course! I have so much to tell you!"

"Then you better start now." Gar pointed a finger at her face before walking up to her and taking her by the elbow to basically drag her in the direction of the house. "I wanna know everything! Especially if you have any new tricks up your sleeve."

Rachel shrugged innocently, but sent him a mischievous grin.

"Maybe one or two."

"Yesss!!! And wait until I'll show you around the house! This place is so dope!"

"Hey, shouldn't I be doing that?" Dick called out to them, picking up Rachel's bag from the ground where she left it.

"Exactly!" She turned to her green-haired friend. "Shouldn't he be doing that?"

"He's not gonna take you to the really cool places."

She raised an eyebrow at him, suspicious. "Such as?"

Gar glanced in both ways as if checking if no one else was listening in on their conversation, then leaned closer to Rachel and whispered. "The Batcave."

This time she couldn't hold it in anymore - she burst out laughing.

"No way!"

"Yes way!"

As Gar continued his excited rambling, Rachel looked over her shoulder at the two adults that were left behind. Dick's eyes were on her this whole time, he was smiling fondly and winked at her when their eyes met. Kory stood by his side with her hand resting on his shoulder and was sending her a look that said good luck with him now. Rachel smiled back and rolled her eyes, then followed Gar through the main entrance.

***

Dick watched his kids disappear behind the giant wooden door feeling light for the first time in months. Having Rachel back took a giant weight off his chest and he finally could breathe again. He didn't want to ask about Donna, not yet at least, he knew Rachel is gonna share the news with him sooner or later, no matter if they are good or bad. Right now all that mattered to him was that she was back with them and she was safe. 

"You were crying." Kory pointed out in a teasing tone, smirking at him.

"I wasn't."

"I know what I saw, Grayson."

They stared at each other for a long moment but eventually he gave up. And no, it had nothing to do with the fact that he was starting to get lost in her eyes. Or with her smile that made his heart racing.

"Okay," he sighed. "Maybe a little. I'm just glad she's back with us, you know?"

Kory smiled at him and rubbed his shoulder comfortingly.

"I know, me too. Our girl is finally back home."

[velarian-trash]

Here, have another, longer head canon.

HC: So, as we know, Kevin Day is an absolute history nerd. Aside from exy, the only thing he cares about is history. He loves reading historical fiction, especially historical romance, but he'd never let anyone know. BUT he also really loves researching historical hauntings, or at least that's how it began.

What started as historical hauntings quickly evolved into a general fascination with hauntings in general. He doesn't tell the foxes at first because he's terrified they'll just make fun of him for it, but one day he overhears Dan telling Matt that she's pretty sure her dorm is haunted.

Without even thinking, Kevin butts in and tells her to describe the paranormal activity and soon after he's got all the foxes sharing their stories with him.

He collects so many stories from them and then starts collecting stories from other exy players as well. He's got notebooks full of stories, detailing a variety of paranormal activity, from Aaron's shadows out of the corner of his eye, to Alison's experience with tarot cards, which she swears left one of her friends possessed and Nicky who swears on his mother's Bible that he saw a UFO with Erik when they were skinny dipping in a secluded lake in the middle of nowhere.

Eventually, he starts sharing little snippets from these stories on his Twitter and he's fans go nuts for it. He never says who the story belongs to but the fans love speculating.

It kind of blows up and Kevin plays around with the idea of doing a more in-depth approach to the storytelling. He's talking to Neil and Andrew about it, or rather, talking AT Neil and Andrew, when Andrew suggests starting a podcast. Neil gets really excited and starts talking about how he could do a different story every week. He's got so many the podcast could go on forever.

Kevin likes the idea of the podcast, but him telling the stories doesn't sit well with him. The stories aren't his to tell, which is where he comes up with the idea to have actual exy players on the show to tell the stories their own way. Kevin develops a sort of formula for the podcast, as well as a series of questions to help drive the storytelling.

His very first guest is Jeremy Knox. When Knox got wind of Kevin's plans, he called him up and offered to do the show. Kevin couldn't believe his luck. Not only had Jeremy wanted to do the show, but Kevin was going to get to spend a few hours talking with one of his secret crushes about exy and ghost stories!

Jeremy's story is a little sad. His grandmother had lived with his family all throughout his childhood, up until her death when he was 17. She cooked and cleaned and cared for him and his siblings and sometimes Jeremy would suffer from bouts of insomnia. On those nights, his grandma would stay up with him. They'd sit at the kitchen table and she'd make him warm milk with cinnamon and she'd ask him about his day. Most of the time their conversations were just silly. Her telling him stories about her childhood and what not, but as he got older, their conversations became more serious. He was the star player on his high school's exy team and was being scouted by colleges and he didn't know how to handle the pressure of the high expectations he was supposed to live up to. She always knew what to say to ease his mind. She gave the best advice.

She died unexpectedly a few days before the state championship game that Jeremy had lamented over to her for weeks. His mom woke him up early that morning telling him his grandma had passed sometime the night before. Probably before midnight because her tv was still on when they found her.

Jeremy was shocked and confused, but not because she had died. Obviously, that was unexpected, but Jeremy had gotten up in the middle of the night, brain wrecked from nerves. He sat at the kitchen table and drank a glass of water. Eventually, his grandma joined him at the table and he expressed his concern for the upcoming game and his worries about college and the future in general. She was unusually quiet, which Jeremy found odd, because she always had words to help him out. But on this night, she just took his hand and smiled at him, stood up, kissed his forehead and went to her room.

His mother rationalized it away by saying this obviously happened before she passed, but Jeremy wasn't convinced. It had been 3am when he got up. According to the coroner, she had been dead for hours by that point.

Jeremy's conviction that he had seen his grandma's ghost was only further solidified a few days later when his team won the state championship and he swore he saw her standing in the crowd, cheering for him.

Jeremy laughs after he finishes telling the story, "I know it's not as incredible as Boyd's ghost who likes to move his belongings around. Maybe I could just chalk it up to my younger self not knowing how to cope with that loss, but..." Jeremy is quiet for a few beats and then he laughs again "nah, you'll think I'm crazy."

Kevin's not having it. "My dude, you're on a podcast dedicated to strange experiences from hauntings to Bigfoot sightings, as told by some of the most famous exy players in the world... obviously, you're crazy." They both chuckle and Kevin presses him, "what is it?"

Jeremy takes a second and says "I've gone to therapy, I've learned how to handle loss on multiple levels, but I swear, I see her at almost all of my games. Win or lose. She's almost always there in the stands."

They're both quiet after than and the podcast comes to a natural end shortly after that.

"I just wanna thank Jeremy for being my first guest on this really strange project of mine. Join us next week where Jean Moreau will regale us with a tale of the house he lived in as a child, that was bigger on the inside than it was on the outside."

Jeremy huffs a laugh, "How is that even possible?"

"I don't even know, but it's pretty wild. Rooms that appear and disappear, hallways that go nowhere. Staircases that seemingly go on forever. You don't wanna miss it. Until next time, I'm Kevin Day and you've been listening to The eXy Files."

Thanks again to @iamthebonecarver for your encouragement.

[mistymark]

the one with the baby. [1]

nakamoto yuta x reader // 1.3k words // college!au // established relationship!au // requested

summary; in which you’re supposed to be minding Yuta’s cousin and it doesn’t go so well.

warnings: swearing, stress

“Y/n? Call me immediately. It’s urgent. I know you’re there. I swear to God, if you don’t pick up this damn-” The voicemail message is interrupted by ringing, your best friend calling you once again. Rolling your eyes, you march over to the phone in your apartment, and pick up the phone.

“Ten, what the fuck,” you swear, tugging a jumper on one-handed as you walk back to your room to finish getting ready. “What’s wrong?”

“Oh,” you can hear the sweet smile in his voice, “Nothing much. What about you?”

You stop, “You said it was urgent. What’s going-”

“Oh! That,” he laughs melodiously. “Yeah, I just wanted to know what your plans for this weekend were. Do you wanna do something?”

“This is why you harassed my answering machine?” You apply lipstick to your lips poorly, the colour bleeding into your foundation. “I thought you were going to die or something.”

“Nah, just hate waiting for you to call me back. Why have an answering machine if you never call anyone back, anyway?” 

You ignore his question, “Yuta’s in town this weekend. We’re meeting his family in the city and then spending Sunday with his cousin. She’s apparently really sweet.”

“What’s the deal with the cousin?” You can practically hear the smirk in his voice. 

Dabbing at your lips, you try and fix the lipstick you’d just applied moments before, “First of all, she’s, like, four. You’re disgusting. Second of all, I have work, like, ten minutes ago, so I need to go. Text me later, okay?”

“So, meeting the family, huh?” Ten bumps his shoulder against your own, falling into step with you as you walk to your last class of the week; the two hour lecture your last obstacle to finally seeing your boyfriend again. It was a warm sunny day, promising for the weekend ahead. You were planning a picnic for Yuta’s cousin at the park. “That’s a big step.”

You roll your eyes, “I’ve met them before. So have you. Remember? When Yuta’s sister got engaged?”

He thinks for a moment, before shrugging, “Nope. But, still, it’s a big deal.”

Grinning, you nod your head, “Now, please shut up so Mr Kim doesn’t go overtime today. Yuta’s meeting me after class.”

“No fun question time?” He pouts at you, gripping the strap of his laptop bag as he follows you inside, finding a seat near the back of the room. This lecture was never filled, only 30 people were supposed to attend, and only half ever showed up. It made for a really interactive learning experience, but Ten liked to misuse this advantage for a laugh. And he got laughs, but today you didn’t want to learn. You wanted to get in, get out, meet your boyfriend and spend the weekend with him.

“Every minute in this room is ‘fun question time’ for you,” you scoff, pulling out your laptop. “Please?”

He sighs dramatically, “Fine.”

The lecture goes by quickly and, as Ten promises, he doesn’t ask any questions he already knows the answer to, just to prolong the lecture. Instead, he sits almost silently beside you, typing notes. He asks questions he genuinely has, but you can tell the fact that he’s fairly silent is confusing the professor, who keeps pausing every time Ten makes any movement to stretch, remove his hoodie or lean over to grab something from his bag.

Though you’re normally against it, you can’t help checking your phone repeatedly throughout the session, texting Yuta and checking for his replies excitedly.

“Calm down, stalker,” Ten mumbles when you check your phone for the umpteenth time. 

“I’m just excited,” you’re practically bouncing in your seat as the clock tells you you only have fifteen minutes left.

“You could just leave know, you know,” Ten replies, leaning on the armrest that separates you two, his chin in his hand.

“And miss this lecture? No.”

“You’re not even paying attention,” he tries to contain his laughter.

“Neither are you,” you elbow his arm, forcing his arm to fall ungracefully into his lap. “Focus.”

As soon as the lecture ends, you grab your phone, texting your boyfriend to meet you in two minutes. He sends a smiley face back, and you grin down at your phone. Dork.

When you see him standing against a pillar outside the building, you practically run to him, throwing your arms around him, “Hi.”

“Hey,” he laughs, kissing the top of your head briefly, sliding your bag from your shoulder to carry it for you. “How was the lecture?”

“Like she knows,” Ten rolls his eyes. “She was texting you the whole time.”

“False. I took some good notes,” you laugh, lightly punching his arm.

“Oh, sure,” Ten pokes his tongue out at you in retaliation. “Well, I better get going. Enjoy your weekend, Y/n. Nice to see you again, dude.” 

“You, too,” Yuta juts his chin upwards, the left side of his mouth raising in a polite smile. His arm is now rested around your shoulders, and he laughs when Ten flips you off for punching him, rubbing his shoulder as he walks away. Yuta lowers his head to rest right beside your ear, “Ready?”

Laughing you swat his face away, “Yes, I’m ready. But it’s just us tonight, right?”

He laughs, using the arm around your shoulders to pull you closer so he can kiss the top of your ear, “Yeah, just us tonight. I needed to have you to myself at least once this weekend.”

Friday night and Saturday blur together in a flurry of smiles, sunshine, family meals and stupid games you find yourself enjoying. It’s Saturday night that you get your first piece of bad news; Yuta needs to go to work on Sunday. ‘For at least three hours’ to complete a massive project before a presentation on Monday.

“It’s okay,” you assure him, “Chae is gorgeous, I can handle her. Just go, I’ll be fine, I promise. I already have the day planned.”

“Are you sure?” Yuta holds your hands in his as he stands at the train station; the commute isn’t short, and it’s long enough for him to warrant living across the city to be closer to his job. “You can call my sister if you need.”

“I’ll be fine,” you repeat the phrase you’ve been saying all morning. “I’ll pick her up in an hour just like we planned. We’ll go to the zoo and the park and then I’ll drop her off in the afternoon.”

You had been looking forward to this day, yes, but you knew Yuta would be with you if he could. Instead, you had his little cousin, and you were just as excited to spend time with her. You’d been to a few family gatherings and events when you’d first started dated Yuta, but Chae had been the first of the Nakamoto family to love and accept you wholeheartedly. You owed it to her to show her a good time even if her favourite cousin - your boyfriend - couldn't be with you.

As if right on time, the train slowly pulls to a stop beside you, and Yuta gives you a swift kiss on the cheek, getting on the train and sitting in a seat by the window nearest to you, pulling funny and ugly faces at you until the doors close, and he points at his phone.

[07:23] From Utah: are you sure you’re going to be okay? [07:23] From Utah: I feel awful abandoning you

You smile, the train pulling away. You look up to find him already searching your face, nod and blow him a kiss. He scrunches up his face in mock disgust, looking down at his phone.

[07:24] From Utah: I love you

You manage to look up again just as he disappears from sight, and you grin, typing back.

[07:24] From You: I love you too [07:24] From You: dumbass

[alarawriting]

52 Project #11: Selkie

This is the closest I’ve come so far to this not happening at all. I’ve been insanely busy this week and I almost forgot about doing this, which is why it’s about 2 hours late, but better late than to miss the date.

----

Now I don’t know if any of this is true enough, and a lot of it sounds crazy, but this is what my best friend Stella told me, right before she and her mom disappeared. And I tried to tell the cops, but they didn’t listen, and I can’t blame them, because seriously, this story is totally cray-cray. It doesn’t help that her dad kept saying “They’re gone, they’ve gone and they’re never coming back.” I mean, officially he’s a “person of interest” but we all know the cops think he killed them and hid the bodies and they’re just waiting to have enough evidence that they can actually charge him. And maybe that is what happened. Maybe this was just a fantasy Stella came up with because she knew her dad was a crazy ax murderer and she was scared.

But I don’t think so. Stella wasn’t the kind of girl who stuck her fingers in her ears and went “LA LA LA I CAN’T HEAR YOU” when things were bad. She confronted bad stuff. She tried to solve problems. So I don’t think she would have told me some weird made up story and then by total coincidence her dad killed her the day after, and I don’t think she would have done it because she thought he was gonna kill her. If that was what she’d thought she’d have told me, and we’d have told the cops.

I think what she told me was the truth. And I’m not just saying that because I don’t want to believe my friend is dead. I’m a Christian; I believe in Heaven, and God. If my friend was dead, then someday I’d see her again in Heaven. That’s what I believe. But if her story is true, then I have no idea if she’s gonna go to the same Heaven, or if like God has different Heavens for different planets, so I have no idea if I’m ever going to see her again, and probably not. Like, people have come back from near-death experiences and none of them ever reported seeing aliens in Heaven, so I think God must have different ones for people like Stella and her mom. So in some ways it’d be better if she was dead, because then I’d see her again someday, and this way, I never will.

But I still believe it’s the truth. And I’m still glad for her, even though I miss her every day and I cry because I know I’ll never see her again. But I know she’s going somewhere where her mom, at least, will be happy. And maybe Stella can be happy too.

So here’s the story.

It starts with her dad, who once upon a time, was hot. Or so I’m told. I find this really hard to believe. My mom says I’m being a ridiculous teenager when I say that Stella’s dad looks like he was always ugly, because she says that if I was middle-aged I’d think he was rugged and manly, like Sean Connery, except Sean Connery has a nice accent and doesn’t look like he fell out of an ugly tree and hit his face on every ugly branch there was until he landed at the bottom and hit his head on the ugly root. But apparently, once upon a time, long, long ago in a galaxy far far away… wait, I can’t tell that joke anymore. It means something now. Dammit, this whole thing has even taken Star Wars jokes away from me.

Anyway, once upon a time, Stella’s dad was ruggedly handsome, when he was young. And maybe when he wasn’t too super old. I don’t know, because if he was so hot, how did he get to be 30, with a house, and land, without getting married or even having a serious girlfriend? But anyway, he was single, and he was walking around on his property when he met Stella’s mom, who was a total stranger at the time, and she was on his property collecting leaves and grass for some reason.

Now the thing about Stella’s mom. Her dad might be ugly, but her mom… well, I’m straight, but if I was an adult and I was going to go lez for anyone, I would totally go lez for Stella’s mom. When I was a kid I thought there was no one more beautiful in the world, even my own mom, and I wanted to grow up to look like her, but I knew I never would. No one gets to grow up looking like Stella’s mom, which is another reason why I think Stella’s story is true. She has, like, skin that’s like golden, like we say about Asian people except hers is even more golden than that, and fluffy curly red hair that falls down straight instead of making a bell around her head which is what Stella’s curly hair does, and I don’t even know how curly hair can fall straight but it does. Except when it practically floats like a cloud around her head because it’s so light. And she’s tall, and thin, and her fingers are super long and look like she ought to be a surgeon, or maybe an expert piano player, or something.

When I was a kid, she was really, really graceful. Like, she looked like she was gliding everywhere, anytime she walked. When she turned around, it was like, I don’t know, like a wheel turning instead of a person, like there was no jerk to it, it was just completely smooth. But then she started getting pain in her back and her joints, and it got worse, and she started to have to walk with a cane and spend all her time on the sofa, using a laptop or watching TV or knitting. And then there were the medical problems because apparently she wasn’t eating right or something and she was too thin, only she wouldn’t go to the hospital so Stella wouldn’t be able to go over my house because she had to take care of her mom. So I’d go over her house instead, and we’d try to get her mom to take her pills, or eat, but some days she’d just ignore us and stare out at the sky. Other times, she told us to tell her stories, or she’d tell them to us. The stories she told us were all like science fiction stuff, which was pretty awesome. I mean, my mom can’t make up stories off the top of her head and I’m pretty sure that if she did, they wouldn’t be about other planets and weird alien creatures and stuff.

According to Stella, there was a really good reason for that, that she just found out.

Anyway. So her dad, who was rugged, met her mom, who was beautiful, and it was love at first sight. He went everywhere with her. He took her to the movies, and museums, and out into the woods, and she loved everything. Especially going to the woods, or the beach, or the mountains… anywhere in nature, and she’d collect things, like leaves, and rocks, and when he asked, she’d say “Don’t you think this is a beautiful world we’re on?”

He asked her to get married, and she said no. She had a job, she said, and her job was going to take her out of the area and she’d probably never see him again, so she just wanted to enjoy the time together that they had. He didn’t like that answer, but she was pretty firm on it. He suggested getting a different job, where they could be together, and she laughed at him. But she never actually talked about her job. So one day, he spied on her.

She had a house she was renting, a small shack out by the ocean. One day he snuck into it, and poked around, and found what looked like a weird metal hula hoop in a room next to what looked like a ham radio. (My grandfather had a ham radio. When I was a kid every time it was mentioned I thought it was a ham that had one of those speaker grilles in it. I was really disappointed when I found out what it really was.) And then she came back to her house while he was there, so he hid in a closet and he watched.

He watched her take the hula hoop and make it light up. She put it over her head, and it floated there, and then it went down her body and up again and she looked completely different. She was blue, and even taller, and really spindly, and her skin shone kind of like it was the outside of a bug or something, like a shiny blue beetle, and she moved like she was in pain, like she was all bent over. Then she turned on the ham radio, and a hologram of another blue creature floated in the air above her desk, and she said things to the hologram that sounded all clicky and hissy, and the blue creature said things back. Then she did the hula hoop thing again, turned back into a human, and left.

So there are a lot of guys who, if they saw their girlfriend turn into an alien, would decide they never wanted to see her again, or maybe even try to kill her, and I guess I’ve gotta give Stella’s dad that, he wasn’t one of those guys. But he also wasn’t one of the kind of guys who’d go to her and say “I know you’re really an alien but I love you and I wanna go to space with you and can you turn me into a bug thing?” or even “I know you’re really an alien and I love you and I accept that you’re gonna have to go back to the mothership or wherever.”

No, he was the kind of guy who took the hula hoop, and unplugged the ham radio, and took them on his boat, and went out into the ocean and threw them in.

Of course she figured out it was him; no one else would have known where she lived. I mean maybe some random burglar, but why is a random burglar going to go out to a little shack in the middle of nowhere and take the alien technology but not the computer or the TV? She screamed at him, and raged, and said that now she could never go home again. She hit him, but she wasn’t really very strong, because it turns out, she comes from a planet where the gravity is lower than Earth and even when the hula hoop thing turned her into a human, she was still a pretty weak human who wasn’t used to our gravity. She said that when the ship couldn’t raise her again, her family would assume the worst, and they would wait for her at the rendezvous point but there was like this stellar cycle they needed to follow to get to the next planet they were studying and they couldn’t come back here for 18 years and she was stuck all alone on this planet until then. And he said that she had him, and he loved her, and eventually she started crying and he held her and she let him do it, because sometimes something is so bad that you need comfort even if it comes from the guy who did it to you in the first place.

A year later they got married. Three years after that, Stella was born.

As far as I know Stella was 100% human. She was very pretty, but not like almost inhumanly pretty like her mom, just like normal human pretty. Her mom kept up the collecting Earth specimens and Stella particularly liked the rocks; she and I used to go climbing up hills and cliff faces looking for nice rocks together. I never cared about the rocks, but Stella was always the one in charge of what we did, because whatever she came up with was gonna be fun, so I always let her do it. My ideas were like, stay at home and play video games or get on the computer or something, but Stella said, her mom used to take her around everywhere and now that she was getting sicker and weaker and she was stuck on a sofa all day with nothing to do but be on the computer, she complained all the time about how she didn’t get to do things with Stella anymore and would always ask Stella about what cool things did she find today, or what did she do, so Stella didn’t want to be on a computer all the time because what if she grew up and got to be like her mom?  So we would go on adventures together, exploring the woods, and sometimes we were fairy princesses in exile plotting to discover the magic gems that would give us the power to take our kingdom back, and sometimes we were filming super important documentaries that we were going to put on YouTube and get to be rich and internet-famous, which maybe would even have worked if we weren’t 8 and the things we were filming weren’t like rocks and geese. And sometimes we were space explorers.

Kind of ironic. But we didn’t know. Stella’s mom told us all those stories, but we thought she was making it all up.

Anyway. What Stella told me is that they came back. Her mom’s people. They weren’t sure she was dead, so they set out to find her. And she used to put stuff on the Internet with the alien writing on it. You remember I said she knits, right? So she’d knit things, and take pictures, and put them on Deviantart or Tumblr or whatever, and the stuff she knitted had alien symbols on it but everyone thought they were just weird designs. So the aliens, when they came back, they searched the Internet for any signs that Stella’s mom was still alive, and they found them.

Stella’s mom has been in crippling pain for years because she wasn’t ever meant to live in our gravity, and she doesn’t get the nutrients she needs because her human body can’t digest things that her alien body really needed, and she’s been getting sicker and sicker, and more and more depressed. But when her people came for her and they brought her a new hula hoop, it was like all that melted away, and Stella said, for the first time she can remember in years, her mother looked joyful. And her mom told her the story, and now Stella hates her dad, because if you love someone why would you ruin their life so that you could be with them? She says, the only reason her mom must’ve stayed with her dad was Stockholm Syndrome or something, but I read stuff, so I don’t think that’s the whole reason. I think maybe she wanted to stay with someone who knew who and what she really was, even if that was the person who took that identity away from her, because it was so important for her to have just one person who she could share the truth with.

Well, she shared the truth with Stella. And Stella made her decision. She wasn’t going to stay on Earth, with her dad, who is the kind of jerk who cripples people he loves so they’ll stay with him. She was going to the alien ship with her mom. They’ll hula hoop her and make her an alien, and maybe it’s going to hurt and maybe in 18 years she’ll have to come back to Earth because maybe her body can’t handle it, but she’s half alien, so maybe she can. Maybe she’ll never have to come back.

Neither of us are even 18 years old yet. 18 years feels like forever. If Stella ever comes back, I feel like I’ll be so old I’m a completely different person, and so will she, and I don’t know if we could get our friendship back if that happens, because when I was in kindergarten I was best friends with Monique Stiles, and then we moved away, and I saw Monique again when I was in 5th grade and it was like we were total strangers and it was so totally awkward, and I hope that never happens with me and Stella but honestly I don’t even think she’s coming back, because why would she? If you could be a real life space explorer why would you ever come back to Earth?

So now Stella’s gone, and her mom, and I kinda feel like maybe her dad should go to jail because he made Stella’s mom suffer and be lonely for 18 years, even if he was there to love her, because she didn’t have her family or her friends or her work or even her own body, and it must have really, really hurt. There were days she just stared out at the sky and ignored us, and now I know why. Now I know what she must have been missing. But I guess 18 years after it happened you can’t arrest a guy for throwing someone’s stuff in the ocean even if it was really important stuff, and she did marry him and have a kid and I’m not sure that anyone who didn’t know her would understand that that didn’t mean much. That she needed someone, so she had to pick the guy who’d hurt her because there wasn’t anyone else who’d understand why she was hurting.

Anyway, my point is, he didn’t kill them. They went home to Stella’s mom’s ship, with Stella’s mom’s family. And I don’t know if Stella is ever coming back, but I know for a fact, her mom never will.

[itsnina-bitch]

The podcast part 1

Summary: Bucky and Nat start a podcast on murder mysteries

Warnings: mentions of murder, I don’t even know if this is considered angst, fluff, the f word once or twice, this is my first fanfic so I hope you enjoy it!

(R/P)= random person

It started when Steve and Bucky started listening to a podcast on the 2000s and everything they missed

Not only did they listen to them EVERYWHERE it was about literally everything

Like EVERYTHING

Including murder mysteries

Which weren’t always correct

And that annoyed Bucky, mostly because he knew that HYDRA was the one to blame, not some brainwashed person

Sometimes Natasha would join them, mostly to point out the many mistakes

To quote Steve “Why don’t you two create your own podcast?”

He was mostly kidding

But they thought it was a pretty good idea

So the two most dangerous ex-assassins decided to correct them

That’s how “Murders explained” was born

They’re first episode was a bit awkward

Who am I kidding

It was extremely awkward

But after a few episodes and a few coffees together they started to understand each other better

Their past with the red room and HYDRA, stories of their past and script writing

Though Bucky didn’t remember his past with her, there was something really familiar about her

But Nat couldn’t say her memory of him is crystal clear either

It became blurry, and she was ok with him not remembering

She wasn’t sure if she even wanted him to

But “Murders explained” was still going strong

Nat wrote most the scripts with some advice from him and Bucky tried to find people who could give them the extra information

Once, they got Clint to help them

It didn’t go very well

He spent half the episode saying that he shipped them and the other half asking questions

Though once they got a HYDRA fugitive to give them and the audience information of how HYDRA goes unnoticed when they commit crimes

It was one of their most successful episodes

But the number one most viewed was a 12 second one

“So today we’ll talk about (R/P)’s murder. We think it was-“

“It was me”

And then the end music started playing after Bucky

The next episode was Bucky and Nat clearing up their past and how they were trained to be a living weapon and how HYDRA and the red room where involved

It was a pretty emotional episode, but their voices kept the same tone and you couldn’t tell they where traumatized by the experiences

After they finished recording, they just stared at each other without saying a word

It wasn’t an uncomfortable silence

They just stayed still grateful that somebody understood them

Eventually Tony called them to eat

Most of the avengers where talking about missions, ideas, projects and all of that kind of stuff

But they remained quiet

Until they just stared at each other

As if they were having a mental conversation

Clint was the first to notice something was happening; he made a mental note to ask what had happened

Steve eventually caught up, and tried to include them in the conversation, which didn’t really help

After what felt like hours the dinner was over

Clint immediately ask what was going on

He didn’t know of the past she and Bucky shared together

Clint thought it was just a one-time thing

She responded with “We where just thinking of ideas for the next episode”

“How, telepathy?”

He didn’t believe her for one second, but he didn’t push it

Steve also asked his best friend if he was ok

“Do I know her? She just looks so familiar...”

Bucky asked, but he didn’t have an answer

Later that night, Nat could sleep

It wasn’t too big of a deal, so she decided to go to the kitchen to eat something

When she got there, she was sure she was alone

“Tea?”

Said a voice behind her

Bucky and Clint where the only avengers that could sneak up on her without her noticing

“What are you doing here?”

“You didn’t answer my question”

She turned to him and nodded

He felt her stare on him as he prepared tea, but he didn’t mind

“So you’re just gonna keep starring at me?”

Natasha couldn’t deny he wasn’t hot and a complete sweetheart

“Shut up Barnes” she said turning to the frige

Both of them weren’t sleepy, so they decided on watching a movie in the living room while drinking their camomile tea

Through out the movie she realized he was staring at her

“So are you liking the movie?”

Without looking away from her, he asked “why does it feel like I’ve met you before?”

Natasha knew one day this would happen, especially now that they were really close friends

She stiffend up at the questions, but she tried to sound casual

“We’ve met in a mission before”

“No, something else. You look so familiar”

“James, are you sure?”

Now it was his turn to freeze

Nobody called him James, not even Steve; he was sure nobody knew his full name

Now a familiar looking girl who has a similar past to his called him his real name

Once she realized what she’d done, it was too late

“Natalia?” Bucky asked shocked

Nat got up immediately but he grabbed her arm, not allowing her to move

“My name is Natasha, now if you will excuse me I have to go”

And she left

The next morning they didn’t talk to each other

They continued their normal life

Since a new episode launched every Monday and Nat had a 3 day mission Bucky would have to record an episode alone

To make matters worse he also had to record it live, like they usually did

He talked as naturally, as if she was there, until he was rudely interrupted by Steve and Sam who didn’t know he was recording

“Hey buck, what happened with you and Nat? You two have drifted apart since last week”

He wanted to scream for the to shut up, but he was live

“Steve’s right. You two lovebirds aren’t together as much as before”

“Sam, me and Natasha weren’t in a relationship, and I am live.”

Sam and Steve left the room after the death glare Bucky shot at them

Meanwhile, Natasha was in a quinjet with Tony and Clint, who were listening to Bucky’s live podcast

She was still mad at him, but he was still curious to what he’d be talking about

Nat watched in horror as the comments started theorizing what had happened to them

And the grin on Clint’s face

“Soooooo, you and Barnes?”

“Shut up Stark”

When they arrived at their destination, she couldn’t focus.

It was an easy mission, but because of the many locations all over the globe it would take long

“What’s going on Nat? Did something actually happen between you and Barnes? Because I can kill him for you”

Clint knew something was going on, but this time he’d find out

3 days later, they still weren’t talking

Bucky wanted to talk to Nat and apologize, but every time he was around she’d disappear

Until one day he caught her in the kitchen at 2:00 am

Luckily, she didn’t run away, but when she realized he was there she asked what was he doing

“Nat, please tell me what’s going on”

She looked at him blankly

“Look, I’m sorry but I am starting to remember you. I don’t know why but I feel like I’ve known you for decades. I am sorry if this is to much to ask Natalia, but did we know each other?”

So she told him

How they went from teacher & student to lover & lover

How his punishment was to forget and hers was to remember

She only didn’t tell him about the night they spent together making love to each other in dead silence

He wasn’t surprised but he definitely had a growing admiration for her, of how she still remembered him but didn’t say anything because she didn’t want to ruin their friendship

As she was about to leave, they heard a sound from the vents

“Fuck you Barton”

Clint obviously heard that

“Gee, thanks Nat”

Even after the explanation, Bucky still couldn’t sleep

He kept remembering scenes from his past

Natalia

He knew that he had a relationship with a redheaded girl, identical to Natasha, but it didn’t hit him that they were the same person

Until now

Now even if he attempted to have a relationship she would think it is because of the relationship they had in the past

Not because of his actual feelings towards her

The next morning Nat was prepared to start writing the script for the next podcast

And murder Clint

Well both

Bucky wanted to help her write the script

“So... how do we clear up that we weren’t in a relationship?”

“Well, we kinda were”

“Yeah I know Nat, I remember a few parts of it”

“So why did you ask?”

“To make sure”

“What if you don’t” Clint rudely interrupted “keep the audience guessing”

“First thing James and I know what to do, and secondly just because you heard our conversation last night doesn’t mean you get an opinion on our relationship”

After that Clint left, but his idea was kind of good

A few hours and cups of coffee later they finally finished their script, not mentioning anything about their relationship

Friendly or romantic

It was their secret, not the internet’s

During dinner at the compound, they were more in a conversation mood than a week back

But Tony wouldn’t leave them alone about their most recent podcast

The one where Steve and Sam interrupted

Until Thor suddenly appeared with hundreds of people, a rip-off of the avengers called the “revengers”, no eye, no family (except for Loki) and short hair

Tony ended up buying a smal village and send the Asgardians there whilst Loki and this girl named Valkyrie stayed in the guest room

The avengers where hesitant towards letting Loki in

But Thor said he was good now

He and Bruce have their own rooms

Anyway, the next day they had to finish the podcast so Nat and Bucky left dinner early and went to bed

The following day they where going to edit and add the final touches to their script

Except that that wasn’t what they did all day

Normally Nat worked on a few S.H.I.E.L.D files, trained and sometimes she had missions

She had just finished a meeting and was on her way to spar with whoever was currently at the gym

Usually she did so with Clint because of their similar fighting style but she tried to train with everyone

Bucky was currently was doing cardio

He was alone there since most avengers where either on a mission or helping Thor out with his people

“Wanna train?

Hey guys (or person who’s gender is unknown what ever makes you comfortable)! I already mentioned this but again this is my first fic so please give me suggestions. And a few questions; is this writing format good? Is it too long or too short? Any idea for the next part? Btw this will be a 2-3 part mini-series, but I could always write another of these but longer

[johannstutt413]

(requested by anonymous)

Flamebringer walked into the Doctor’s office with an annoyed expression. “Doctor.”

“Ah, yes, Flamebringer.” She tapped her notes, a smile on her face. “As I’m sure you’re aware, you were reprimanded by your squad lead for gross misconduct in the field. You’re here for your sentencing.”

“I did nothing wrong, and you know it-”

The Doctor held up her hand. “This is not about your guilt, only your punishment. Which, in this case, is this: You will be spending the next two months out of the field minding Ifrit.”

“...Babysitting?” His left eye began twitching. “You want me to spend the next two months babysitting-”

“Be glad that’s all I’m doing, Flamebringer; last time something like this happened, the guilty party lost a week’s pay.”

He sighed. “This is bullshit.”

“Tell it to your team lead.” The Doctor checked her notes. “Ifrit should be in her room right now. Get to it.”

“I swear by my ever-thirsting blade, you’ll pay for this.” With that Flamebringer left to find his charge, cursing his luck. He’d heard about Ifrit from some of the other Operators, and while he’d never met her...He had his concerns.

He found her in her room as suggested, writing in a notebook. “Ifrit?”

“What do you want-” She looked up at him, blinking twice. “I don’t know you.”

“I’m not surprised. The Doctor said I’m looking after you for the next two months.”

Ifrit’s eyes lit up. “They sent another one? Yes! I love when they give me victims!”

“Victims?” Flamebringer scoffed. “What do you do to these caretakers of yours?”

“Put them through a trial by fire.” She snapped her fingers, and a small flame appeared on her fingertips.

He smiled. “So you like to make trouble, then?”

“I like doing what I want and having no one stop me!” Ifrit’s hand snuffed out as she turned back to her paper. “Which, right now, is coloring this picture for Silence.”

“Heh...Alright. Let me know when that changes.” With that, Flamebringer closed the door behind him and leaned against the wall.

She looked back at him. “You mean you’re not gonna try and tell me what to do?”

“Why should I stop you from coloring?” He shrugged. “Just don’t make things worse for me, and we won’t have any problems.”

“Huh. Guess they’re getting soft, aren’t they?”

Flamebringer sighed. “If this is soft, I’d rather they just flay me.”

“Hey, I’m not that bad-”

“Not about you,” he interrupted. “I have battles to fight and foes to slay, but instead I’m watching a devil-child play.”

Ifrit set her colored pencil down. “That’s rough, buddy. They’ve kept me cooped up in here since I burnt down the cafeteria that one time.”

“That was you? They had fish tacos that day, so I didn’t eat there, but it sounded like a roaring good fire.”

“They didn’t give me my second pudding,” she smirked. “You mess with the Ifrit, you get the inferno! Fwoosh!” As she made the sound, she threw her hands in front of her, and a gout of fire rushed towards the ceiling to no detrimental effect.

Flamebringer nodded. “Relatable...I’ll be here if you need me.”

“I won’t, but thanks!”

-

A few weeks later, Flamebringer took Ifrit with him to the Garden. “You promise you won’t set anything on fire?”

“Why would I? I like plants.” She had one hand in his, the other swinging back and forth merrily. “Besides, we’re going to see your girlfriend, right?”

“That we are,” he admitted.

“Hey, I get it. Don’t wanna spend all your time with me, so I get a field trip and you get a little alone time with your girl.” Ifrit smirked. “Not the first time my ‘sitter’s done that one.”

He laughed. “I thought you put them through ‘trials by fire?’”

“Well, yeah, but after awhile you gotta let them off the hook so the next time you get them, it stings more.”

“You’re a devilish girl, aren’t you?” Flamebringer ruffled her hair, earning a glare but no burns. “If you behave, we’ll get ice cream later.”

She saluted him. “I’ll be an absolute Sankta.”

“Good...Before you run off, though, let me introduce her to you.”

“Oh! Okay.” Ifrit squeezed his hand. “You know, I heard some people talking about you at lunch awhile ago. Said you were a hothead yourself. Is that why they put you in charge of me?”

He glared in the general direction of reality. “They framed me for destroying something that wasn’t my fault. I think they do it whenever Silence is going out of town.”

“Yeah, that sounds about right...I wouldn’t mind if you stuck around after she came back, though.”

“Oh yeah?” The glare disappeared, replaced with a smirk. “Because I don’t give a damn about your threats and treat you like a person?”

She winked. “Because you give me ice cream.”

“About the same, really. Lena, I’m here!” Flamebringer called out into the verdant paradise called the Garden.

“Flame?” She peered out from behind a nearby rhododendron. “Ah. I see you brought a guest?”

He nodded. “Lena, this is Ifrit, my ward for the next month or so; Ifrit, this is Lena, whom I love very much.”

“Hi!” Ifrit beamed at her.

Perfumer glanced between the two of them. “Flame, can I talk to you for a moment?”

“That’s why I’m here,” he agreed before turning to Ifrit. “Remember: no fire, ice cream afterward.”

“How could I forget?” With that, she wandered off into the greenery, and Flamebringer was left alone with his beloved.

Lena kissed his cheek before looking off in the direction the fire-breather had run off along. “Is it safe to let her freely roam the Garden like this? If I remember correctly, she doesn’t have the best control of her abilities.”

“Her control is fine. It’s her temper that bests her most often.” He smiled. “However, if this experience has taught me anything, it’s that I’m more than prepared for fatherhood when the time comes.”

“Fu-fu-fu. Is that a proposal I hear?”

Flamebringer’s face fell slightly. “Once I have a ring, it will be-”

“Hey, Flamebringer!” Footsteps dashed over to them, followed by an Ifrit. “Miss Lena, can I take a flower with me? I wanna give it to Silence when she gets back.”

“Hmm...Show us the one you want, and we’ll see what we can do.”

She walked them over to a sunflower fully in bloom. “I want this one!”

“That’s...difficult.” Lena looked to Flamebringer. “Are you willing to help her keep it alive that long?”

“It’ll be a good project for her. You willing to take care of it yourself?”

Ifrit nodded. “You make it sound fun.”

“Flame,” Lena gently scolded him, “you shouldn’t lie to children.”

“She’s not a child in that sense, and I didn’t lie.”

She sighed. “No, but I imagine you made it sound easier than it will be for her.”

“Hey, I can take care of things!” Ifrit took a crayon out of her pocket. “I’d had this for over a month and haven’t melted it yet.”

“...Heaven help you, Flame. We’ll set it up so you can take it home.”

Ifrit nodded. “Thanks! You can go back to your alone time, though. Find me when you’re done!”

-

Over a month later, and still, Flamebringer hadn’t had a single issue with Ifrit. She was temperamental, but so was he; she’d suffered some outright egregious things, but so had he; she loved burning Reunion goons to a crisp, and he relished the chance to cut them down. It was good conversation, good training for when he was ready to start his life with Perfumer, and most importantly, it wasn’t nearly as punishing as the Doctor had made it out to be.

Until, that is, on the last day of their allotted time together, when he walked into her room and found the sunflower they’d work so hard to care for the past month in ashes, and Ifrit crying on her bed. Flamebringer took a deep breath, channeled it into a deep sigh, and walked over to her. “I see the flower is dead. What happened?”

“She’s not going to be back for another month,” she sulked. “She promised to take me to the festival, and she’s not going to be back for another month.”

“And what did the flower do?”

Ifrit turned to glare at him. “The flower did...nothing.”

“That’s right.” He sighed. “We worked really hard on that, didn’t we?”

“We did...I’m s-sorry.” She pulled him towards her to bury her face in his jacket, crying.

Flamebringer, a little awkwardly at first, wrapped her into a proper hug. “It’s alright, Ifrit. I understand.”

“B-but today’s your last day with me, and that was all I had to remember it by!” She cried harder. “I didn’t mean to kill it, I promise!”

“I know, I know...Is that really all you had of our time together?”

Ifrit’s response was a chorus of sobs.

“Well, then.” He let her finish the worst of it before pulling away to look her in the eye, wiping stray tears with his hand. “We should fix that.”

“What do you mean? What can we do in one day?”

Flamebringer smiled. “We can go to this festival of yours.”

“B-but it’s off-base, and tomorrow, and-”

“So what?” He ran a hand through her hair. “You want to go, don’t you?”

She nodded.

“Then we’re going. I’ll be back tomorrow, alright?”

“Okay.” Ifrit by this point had calmed down. “I’m going to draw you a picture today, then.”

He smiled. “Alright. Can I have a pencil and a paper as well?”

“Yeah...so long as it’s not red.”

“Hmm...” Flamebringer sighed. “Black will be fine then.”

She grabbed a paper and a black pencil, but before she handed them to him, she gave him another hug. “You’re the best, bro.”

“Bro?”

“You’re way better than any of the other people who’ve come to take care of me,” she asserted, “and I’ve always wanted a brother, which won’t happen since Saria and Silence won’t stop fighting, so...You’re Bro now.”

He thought about it for a moment before smirking. “Whatever you say, Sis. Whatever you say.”