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thegongoozlerreacts · 6 months ago

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Welcome Home: Homewarming Update

ok so. yes i KNOW its been like several weeks already since this has been first updated and im very much late to the party (thankfully not late enough to have missed everything) but i was soooo freaking busy since the update dropped, and now i finally have the time to check it out!!!! lets GOOO!!!

spoilers under the cut

so number one thing i noticed: new link and in fact, new site domain (is that what its called?? well my point is that it's no longer being hosted by wix which yeah, that makes sense)

another thing i noticed is there are no more bug videos and doodle audio (aww)

i havent checked if the askew letter links still work but i will check now

ok just checked and nope! does not work, which means most of the secret links prior to this website change are no longer working (unsure if they'll be added back later on, but i hope they will) it's not too bothersome that they're gone, since im sure they've all been uploaded somewhere on YouTube, but it's more fun going to the actual links myself hehe

anyways! moving on to the actual update

Christmas!! or, as they call it, Homewarming

the little doodles are cute, however I am a bit suspicious of the star with its red eye (but the ham is most suspicious, what's it doing there in a tree?!?!?)

interesting placement for this tree, since it is boxing in a letter

i wonder if that means there's some new secret links? i'll take note of it

now, let's head over to the News page

he is presenting jello to me

so the post regarding the actual update is dated as December 25 2023, followed by a correction where the person says they're unsure how they made that mistake

lolol nice we got Christmas in spring

anyways, it says that there are toys, more cookbook pages, AND more vinyl records!! excited to check these out!!

let's head on over to the Merchandise page

??? CIGARETTES????

bro 😭😭 who thought it was a good idea to sell child-friendly tobacco pipes,,, thats crazy,,, also another brand mention: Hooplah cigarettes

ok so among the website changes, there's also some changes to old stuff, such as the telephone (the layout for the audio is different, and it seems Wally's audio is no longer there (not even hidden, like before)

new cookbook pages!

the first ten pages are of various hotdogs with one-sentence puns about them,, incredible

this one is my favorite LMFAOOO

DD: OH NO !!!

the crispy sweets pancakes look like they'll give me diabetes

the single pea in gelatin recipe is singlehandedly the funniest recipe i've ever seen because like,,, you made a whole gelatin, and you put just a single pea in the center of it,, just one.. LMFAOOOO

Julie's gelatin just. makes you put in a whole MUG in the gelatin?!??!?!? a mug full of hot cocoa??!? at least Frank's gelatin is edible all throughout?!?!?!

bye i saw 'Poppy Partridge' and the picture of a turkey and i was like '?? yOU COOKED HER???' but then i read the full title and it says it's a bird-free birdseed turkey LMFAO

perfect. the best recipe in this whole cookbook, im sure

there's a cigarette here?? even tho this isnt the smoking merch?? its a book??

so the book is a catalogue for toys and merch they were selling during the holidays, very cool

hELP THEY LOOK SO SILLY

what did they do to my boys 😭😭 his forehead is MASSIVE

lowkey tho i want that Julie Build-Your-Own-Game Kit cuz like wow, that is a bunch of toys in that one kit n its really cheap????

oh my god i just realized. the Marlo logo looks like a swirly eye inside a house what the hell

anywyas now its time for the radio advertisement ft. Santa himself

hmm interesting how the ad ends in glitchy noises upon saying Eddie's name, the only one who was not mentioned with a specific set unlike the others (tho that may not be that important of a detail)

next up is another storybook record! featuring Wally singing a song??!? awesoem

sorry im laughing at the absolute difference in tone and energy between the Narrator and Wally

Narrator's got a boisterous loud voice and then cut to Wally in his little low-energy voice LMFAO

Barnaby and Wally are so cute together <333

FRANK: How I would say what? JULIE: What who would the huh?

LMFAO the way Julie said her line was way too funny

FRANK: (Frank greets Wally Warmly, but is cold with Barnaby.) Hello, Wally. Barnaby. BARNABY: (Said in a similar tone mockingly.) Hiya Jewels! Frank.

Frank and Barnaby fighting is honestly one of the funniest dynamics in the whole Neighborhood to me

Julie goes into hibernation?? legit ??? nice

HELP ME WALLY JUST DEADPAN SAYING 'Shush.' TO BARNABY'S LOUD ASS VOICE LMFAOOAOA

i dont think the 'Caninus Coccinellidae' is a real bug that exists, since i tried searching it up and only got coccinellidae in general i wonder what exactly this insect is, since the word 'caninus' means it relates to canines or dogs a dog ladybug sounds like a very interesting creature

help did Howdy somehow sneak an advertisement for his store in the narrator's script 😭😭 incredible

i really like Howdy's voice, its really fitting for him

SALLY IS CLIMBING THE TREE?????

she's climbing it to stay the biggest star in town LMFAO

is she just gonna be there the whole season or something??? at least her outfit slays???

i love how dramatic Sally is but like girlie dont fall off the tree??!??!?!

oh Santa Claus mention

this talk about food is making me hungry LOL

wait did the narrator just say that all the neighborhood's been accounted for?? but what about Eddie??? he hasnt shown up??

what the hell?? what's that weird noise in the back of Wally saying 'How can that be?' is it a voice? it kinda sounds like its saying something

well this was a very cute story (still wondering where Eddie is)

after this is audio of Wally singing!! more Wally singing!! very cool

and now we've got an album of (almost) everyone else singing too!

interestingly, there's a drawing of an envelope on the audio tab thing i wonder if thats important

Sally's really good at singing actually all their singing voices are really good

SALLY: Juliette, I fell from the sky, you fell from a house... LMFAO they're so silly

next up is a track featuring Howdy's family? oooh

i cant believe his mom and dad are named 'Hiya' and 'Biya' respectively,,, amazing,, is the rest of the family gonna be named with words used for greetings and farewells??

his brother is named Latter tho oh,, Latter like 'later' like 'see ya later' because his sister and brother are named Seeya and Latter and wow,,,, amazing

also Howdy's clear favorites LMFAO

ok i kinda feel bad for Latter that Howdy likes his brother-in-law more than his own brother 😭

also?? Seeya and Beeya's kids being named Howdo and Youdo??? amazing lmao

also its interesting how on the album cover you can see how Howdy's parents and his sister have wings but theyre still caterpillars???

i think its really funny that there's just some random person there named 'Sue' who isnt even part of the family LMFAOO

also the grandma being named Sally Tations is really clever i think

Barnaby showing up at the end only adds fuel to the fire of my Barnaby x Howdy ship

and now its the tobacco pipe merch that absolutely baffles me

the ad audio features Barnaby and Howdy advertising it to Howdy's nephews,,,,, at least theyre not letting them smoke for real?????

now we got a Frank solo album where he sings a song about hibernation, cute

Even if I might not be able to see you, I know it’s for the best, I can’t keep you,

OUCH? this song is kinda sad what the fuck 😭😭 aww Frank :(((

more merchandise after this is some greeting cards for homewarming that are very cute, but not much to see other than a hibernating Julie and Barnaby and Wally being besties

after that is a crispy sweets frosted cereal, that apparently has a holiday-themed decoder ring?? with Eddie?? hmmm interesting

OH MY GOD. THE LITTLE DRAWINGS ALL OVER THE SITE ARE FOR THIS DECODER RING???

but whats the key?? is it just this as it is on the box? is there another clue on the site?

ok i think first i will finish checking all the pages before going around and looking for the symbols

checking the guestbook, and while you still cant submit anything new, it seems there also is just... no more guestbook?? thats too bad

theres new Homewarming stickers!! i love them theyre so cute!! everyone in a snowglobe doing things that we've heard them doing in the storybook audios! nice nice

nothing new in media, the 'whats welcome home' page, and the about us page (besides the Homewarming symbols)

oh actually something notable about the About Us page is that there is no longer any of the glitchy overlayed text, which makes sense since they mention in the News page that the website is free of bugs and glitches

aww everyone's homes in The Neighborhood page are all Homewarming-themed now! hmm except for Home and Eddie's post office

well, you can see a decorated Home when you enter the page but the Post Office being the only not decorated even a bit is interesting,,, Eddie also wasnt in the Homewarming Storybook Record,,, hmmmm

i dont know if it means anything but it is interesting

the staff only version of The Playfellow Exhibition is no longer on the site (or if it is i cant find it)

well it seems like i've gone through every new thing besides the secret code, which i think might be a link, since on the guestbook page there were 3 symbols that looked like a genie's lamp, which translates to 'w' so its probably a link

actually, now that im looking at it closer its probably like. a cup like the one that pours out gravy in the dinner scene in Coraline

ok im pretty sure i've got all the symbols scattered over the site, but i have NO idea what order they should be in

i, o, m, a, a, r, e, t, y, g, y, e, r, f, s, n, e, w, n, w, w, w, y

maybe instead of a link its a scrambled message?

ok i honestly have no idea where to go from here so,,, searching the internet it is !!

OK!!! since i am so incredibly late to the party, i've found the secret code on the internet kakakka

it is this https://www.awayfrompryingeyes.net

oh that makes sense,,, its a phrase that was similar to one used in the news update about Homewarming "Don’t you feel at peace exploring these pages? Free from worry? From prying eyes?"

very very interesting! lets check it out

very very interesting indeed,, ok so basically this site is gonna be an archive for the secrets from before, and all entries are signed 'W' which is very interesting too

the person writing these seem to be the creator of the site? or at least someone who manages the site

lets check out the evidence thats been archived here so far

ok so i think these evidences are actually NEW things which is cool! presumably past secrets (such as the bug videos, doodle audios, askew letters and others) will be added onto here at some point in time

now lets listen to this phone call that 'W' has gotten from Wally himself

so Wally is singing Toyland again

i wonder if there will ever come a time where we can be able to respond or communicate with Wally

he mentions that Barnaby will be here soon hmm tbh when the site first launched i had read some theories that maybe Wally was literally physically isolated from the rest of the neighborhood (something to do with the so below stuff i think?) but if Wally is being a reliable narrator (as in, he's telling the truth that Barnaby really is gonna visit him soon), then that disproves that

he seems to be left alone most of the time tho i think?? well at least now during Homewarming season since he said everyone's busy

he might not be physically isolated from the rest of the neighborhood, but he probably still feels pretty lonely :((

anyways, the next evidence is under 'commercials' i wonder what this will be

omg??? animated stuff??? thats so cool :000 an animated commercial for crispy sweets, incredible

oh! a commercial for the cookbook why is there just. a ham?? under the tree ?? i think the one single pea on a plate is the funniest gag ever

Wally's ball and cup,,,, what does it say about me that even tho its not real i still want it??? its said to be made by the 'you-wont-believe-it' company, which is interesting since im pretty sure so far the only companies noted to be involved with Welcome Home is Playfellow, Marlo, and the crispy sweet cereal so now we've got another affiliation (oh and the cigarette brand, Hooplah)

commercial for the "Homewarming Harmonies for Hearth and Home" Album, featuring a duet with Frank and Poppy!! Poppy's voice sounds really good also the Homewarming tree is made of food???

A COMMERCIAL FEATURING EDDIE ?? Eddie who has been suspiciously absent from the Homewarming festivities??

ah i see... Eddie's been working during Homewarming huh? maybe thats why the Post Office isnt decorated and he wasnt in the storybook record? cuz he was working??? no but thats weird,, Wally and Barnaby were walking around so surely they wouldve at least bumped into him delivering stuff?? maybe he was in his post office then?

an ad-break card with Frank and Sally, cute cute i remember there was a similar holiday-themed 'we'll be right back' card with Frank and Julie decorating a cake, i wonder if that will appear here?

OH?? a commercial featuring Barnaby's mom?? aww ok their dynamic is cute (even if its just a commercial for eggnog)

OMG ANOTHER ANIMATED COMMERCIAL WITH HOWDY AND BARNABY its for the cigarettes LOL

EDDIE AGAIN oH NO I FEEL SO BAD FOR HIM IS HE ALONE ON THE HOLIDAYS??? SO HE'S JUST BEEN IN THE POST OFFICE THIS WHOLE TIME BY HIMSELF???? PLEASE,,,, EDDIE GO OUTSIDE or someone like. go inside or call this man i cant take the idea of Eddie being alone wtf?!??!?!?

and now an ad-break card with Poppy and Julie

and now what i think is a continuation of the commercial for the Homewarming album

NOOOOOOOO EDDIE....... GO OUTSIDE JUST DONT WORK...... PLEASE..... someone give this man something to deliver GAH he's mad ?!??! Eddie Dear please go outside (SOMEONE TALK TO THIS MAN) he's played several games of tic-tac-toe by himself,,,, my guy,,,, go on that walk thank you

the fact that Eddie isnt in ANY of these commercials,, oh my god,,,,,,,

another continuation for the Homewarming album

Sally, Julie, and Poppy singing together,,, thats so cute,,

i cant. everyone hanging out together in these commercials with no Eddie in sight i feel so bad

FRANK AND SALLY FIGHTING?!??!

is this a commercial for sleeping pills????? im ??? this show is so so crazy like ?? the in-universe show i mean,, cuz what?? they got so many merchandise and records and a bunch of brand deals and its all just been wiped?!??!?! like ?? what happened???

oh no time to dwell on that we got Sally and Eddie lets go he's getting some social interaction

lets go he has a happy ending he's at the party !!!

ok i read ahead in the transcript and oh no im afraid now ?? Eddie?? hello?? Eddie are you ok?? i dont think this man is ok he needs help oh my god what is this

im scared LOL this was not a good idea to do at 3 am im really unnerved right now but mostly i think this guy needs help someone please help him

something about reality is shattering for him i think??? maybe ?? its the way the video is going back and forth between live-action scenes and a drawing of Eddie's face (and Home's eyes)

jesus that was a jumpscare with Frank's voice coming in out of the silence

ah its still all glitchy and distorted i dont know what's the correct term for what Eddie is experiencing but he is NOT having a good time

FRANK SWITCHING FROM CALLING HIM 'MR. DEAR' TO 'EDDIE' HAS ME ILL being in Eddie's perspective with static in the ears while he's looking down is so. i dont know how to explain it but its uncomfortable and unnerving (which is probably what he's feeling)

the fact that he only looks up after Frank probably shook his shoulders or something to get his attention ughdjskdhfkjdssjkjkew (cuz his arms are outstretched when the camera pans up to look at his face/when Eddie looks up at Frank)

bro that was a jumpscare with the narrator after like,, that whole segment i guess

so rewatching that last bit when Eddie seems to be like. present enough to respond/say something or be aware of whats going on i guess, the screen gets less glitchy and distorted and thats like a nice detail

so thats why Eddie’s been kinda just,, missing from the Homewarming on the actual site

i hope Eddie turns out ok :(((( PLEASE THIS STORY NEEDS TO HAVE A HAPPY ENDING OR I WILL CRY SO HARD THAT I WILL TRANSFORM INTO AN OYSTER

interestingly W’s note after the compiled commercials says that “the show never appeared beyond clips of Eddie Dear”

so all those segments with Eddie were, i guess, the ‘holiday special’ that the commercials were interrupting and all

thats so so crazy,, im so late to the party but i honestly dont even know where to begin with all of that but like. im rooting for you Eddie !!!!!

well thats it for now, until the next update! make sure to wave up high, neighbors

#welcome home

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barbiewritesstuff · 2 years ago

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Church Encounters: Chapter 18

-- We're back!! Oh my Gosh I missed this fic so badly!!

This fic is written in collaboration with @lgg5989 who will be posting this on her tumblr and her AO3. She also made the lovely moodboard below!

Please comment and reblog! We take requests for in universe requests!!

Previous Part

Taglist: @acarboni21 @unsurebuttrying @dempy @peaches-1998 @bbooks-and-teas @roosterscock @positivelyholland --

"What colour should we pick for the nursery?" Jake asked, reviewing dulux samples on his phone while you waited in the truck for your appointment time.

"I don't know… We could keep it white and maybe have colourful accents in the rug and stuff, or we go all out and have a really fun wallpaper…" you replied, swirling your starbucks drink with a grimace. The iced peach iced tea tasted nice but you were missing coffee more than ever now as the pregnancy was making you tired and sleepy round the clock. Working off of the assumption that tea still contained a little caffeine, you had ordered that but either it hadn’t kicked in yet or it simply wasn’t working.

"Actually, I have an idea… Do you mind if I take care of this? As a surprise?"

"By all means, I like picking the decor better anyway," you grinned mischievously

“Don’t go too ham, the room isn’t that big,” he laughed, “And I don’t think we’ll have Baby in there for a while,” he added, quickly glancing at the back seat of his truck where a large cardboard box was buckled in. It contained the Moses basket that you had bought a week ago and had been unable to pick up til now.

“Oh! you’ll have to tell me which colour you pick for the walls so I can coordinate,” you said, your mind already mentally going through every single furniture catalogue you had studied since finding out you were pregnant and that you now knew by heart.

Jake hummed and absentmindedly checked his watch, “Time to go, honey,” Jake said suddenly, pressing both the release buttons on your seatbelts and stepping out of the truck. He walked around and opened your door while you picked up your handbag.

“Need a hand?” He asked. You nodded and he grabbed your hand to help you down, not letting go until you were inside the building. While you weren’t showing much yet, you had been anticipating this moment since telling Jake and the excitement you felt was making you a little dizzy. Or maybe it was the fact that since you were entirely unable to keep anything down in the morning, you hadn't bothered with breakfast.

You sat down in the uncomfortable plastic chairs of the clinic, patiently waiting while Jake notified reception of your arrival. You could see he was nervous too. Jake was usually very relaxed in your presence, but since your pregnancy he had been trying his best to hide his stress, and failing miserably. As he stood by the front desk, he rhythmically tapped his fingers against the glass countertop and when the nurse gave him a pen to write something and he asked a question, Jake played with the release of the ball point tip until the woman had to gently tell him not to break the pen.

A few minutes later a doctor walked out of one of the consultation rooms and called your names. You followed right behind him, Jake grasping your hand in his more for his own reassurance than yours.

“Mrs. Seresin, how are you? How’s pregnancy treating you? Are you liking it so far?” the doctor bombarded you with questions, leaving you absolutely no time to respond to any of them, “Miss Jones,” he said, showing you a young woman sitting in the corner of the room, “is my trainee. She usually shadows, but I thought she might lead the scan today. Now, if you don’t mind, please lay down on the table,” he added, not really giving you a choice in the matter. Still, you took the change in stride and did as you were told. The clinic came recommended through some friends and boasted some great reviews online, and while Dr Van der Platz wasn’t the doctor you had originally wanted his reviews hadn’t been bad either, surely he knew what he was doing.

You lifted your shirt, exposing your tummy. Miss Jones started the abdominal scan, projecting what she picked up with the machine onto the screen.

“Oh, it looks like there’s two babies,” she said, pointing at something on the screen.

“No! Don’t panic! There’s just the one. Anna, look, there’s only one set of arms and leg buds, and one little head,” The doctor said, pointing them all out on screen. While Anna still seemed sceptical, you had to admit that on the screen, only one little bean showed. Jake released a heavy breath behind you, clearly relieved you wouldn’t immediately be thrown into the deep end of parenthood on your first go.

“I thought I saw a second head,” she said, a little defeated and disappointed.

“The machine can be wrong… Did you avoid the bathroom before coming?” he asked you.

You looked at him with guilt written all over your face, “I really tried, I promise… But I drank plenty!” you replied and he laughed a little.

“No worries, Mrs Seresin, having a full bladder pushes the baby forward and gives us better visibility is all,” he said with a reassuring smile, “The machine probably had difficulties picking the baby up, that’s why Miss Jones saw a second one. No need to panic, I assure you,” he finished.

The scan finished soon after. Before letting you walk out, Miss Jones handed you a printout of the scan with an apologetic smile. As you got out, Jake tore one of the pictures off,

“I got my girl in my plane, now I have my baby,” he said with a goofy smile, “We’re having a baby,” he added, jumping around as you walked through the parking lot, “Can you believe it? We’re having a baby!” he said, bringing the ultrasound to his lips and kissing it.

“I’m so excited!” you replied, “Sorry about the heart attack I made you have back there,” you added with a grimace.

Jake shrugged, “Honestly, it was terrifying but I would have been over the moon either way,” he said, throwing an arm over your shoulders and squeezing you tightly, “You know I love you right? I am so proud to call you my wife and I am so happy that I get to go into this new season of life with you. I wouldn’t want to do it with anyone else,” he said, pressing a kiss to the side of your head.

“I love you too, and I thank the Lord everyday that I get to be your wife. And I cannot wait to tackle parenthood by your side, you’ll be an amazing dad,” you replied, looking up at him. He gazed lovingly into your eyes for a moment before leaning down and kissing you, stopping right in front of the truck. He broke the kiss to turn around slightly, placing one of his large palms against your belly, then he bent down and whispered, “Love you too, Beanie.”

“Beanie, is that what we’re calling them?” you laughed as he let go of you to open the passenger door. You followed behind him, climbing in.

“I think it’s cute,” he defended himself as soon as he was seated.

“You’re right, I think it’s adorable,” you replied, watching him balance the picture on the dash, right next to a candid picture he had taken of you in Italy as you ate your ice cream, looking gorgeous if slightly windswept as you looked out to the ocean with a small speck of orange on the side of your mouth.

“You know what we should do?” you asked, “We should have a journal we both write in during the pregnancy so Beanie has something to look back on.”

Jake hummed, “That would be nice,” he agreed, leaning in to give you one last kiss before starting the car and driving you home.

----

Beau was late. For the first time in his thirty-something years of active service, Beau had slept through his alarm and was running late. He practically flew down the stairs to press the on button on the coffee machine, which, thank the Lord, Elisabeth had prepped for him the evening before like she always did and pulled his homemade lunch out of the fridge before quickly running around the house to kiss the children.

Then, twenty minutes later as he was about to step out of the house to finally leave for work, he noticed something on the kitchen counter. A new mug and a present with a small card saying ‘Dad, I love you,’ and signed with your name. He left the house with the same warm feeling he always got when it came to you, or your sisters, or any of his children really and arrived on base after being held up for yet another twenty minutes. Officers of all ranks looked at him questioningly as he walked in looking slightly worse for wear, an hour and a half late.

“You’re late,” Warlock said as soon as he stepped into his office.

Beau regarded him quietly for a second before asking, “How long have you been waiting? Don’t you have work to do?”

“You’re late,” he repeated, “You’re never late. Everything okay at home?”

“Everything is fine, I just overslept,” Beau answered, placing his briefcase on the desk before setting himself down in his chair.

Warlock hummed, “I’ll make you a coffee,” he said before getting up and turning to leave the room.

“No, it’s okay I have a c--” Beau cut himself off. He looked left, then right, then stupidly patted his pockets as though the to go mug of coffee he had made would be found on his person and not left to cool on top of the kitchen island, “That would be wonderful, thank you,” he replied.

Warlock left the office and Beau set about getting his desk ready. He made his way towards the big metal filing cabinet next to the door and unlocked it, pulling out the paperwork he had to finish, or start, for the day. Placing the stack neatly on the desk, next to some sharpened pencils and his favourite pen, all laid out parallel to each other in a way that calmed him down.

Rear Admiral Bates reappeared ten minutes later with a full pot of coffee which Cyclone gratefully poured into his brand new mug.

“Is it your birthday or something?” Warlock asked, nodding towards the wrapped present.

“Oh no. I don’t know what it is, just found it this morning. It’s from my daughter though,” Beau answered, a little distracted by the large stack of work awaiting him.

“I don’t know how you did it,” Warlock said, “Getting them to like you I mean. I’ve been trying to get Michelle’s kids to like me for five years now and the youngest one still leaves the room when he sees I’m there. The middle one cried at the wedding.”

“Yes, I remember that,” Cyclone mumbled. He’d spent a good part of the wedding reception talking to the kid and comforting him, trying to counter every insult and mean comment thrown Warlock’s way with good, positive things about the man. It had been a hard task in itself as they weren’t friends and Beau knew just as much about Rear Admiral Bates as he knew about his next door neighbours, which meant just enough to keep a civil conversation while clearly conveying the fact that he wasn’t looking to be anything other than an acquaintance at most.

Since then their relationship had improved somewhat and moved from professional indifference to professional acknowledgement. That entailed knowing how the other man liked his coffee and how their children were doing. Cyclone didn’t see the relationship improving any more, largely because he disliked the idea of his professional and home life mixing. Announcing to the dagger squad that you and Bob were ‘his’ kids had been the only notable exception but that was only because he would gladly move heaven and earth for his kids, biological or not, and the love he felt for them far outweighed the deep sense of uncomfortability he had felt in the moment. The smile on both your faces had been more than enough to turn the urge to run and flee into the urge to embarass you both, as any good father should.

“Aren’t you going to open the present?” Warlock asked, curiosity making his eyes glimmer.

The two things he knew aside from a summary of his children’s life and his preferred order at the coffee shop down the road was that Solomon Bates had wanted to be a detective as a child and had never outgrown the curiosity and that he was an incorrigible gossip, therefore opening the package here and now was probably a terrible idea but curiosity was killing him too and there were only so many things you could gift him ‘just because’ and none of them were really gossip worthy. It was probably a set of pictures you found of the two of you when you were young, or the printed wedding pictures, or maybe just some cookies in which case you would be cross at him if he didn’t share.

Beau undid the pretty white ribbon you had tied it all together with and lifted the top of the box. He wasn’t sure what he was staring at, and even reading the note you had left didn’t make the penny drop. It did for Warlock, though, as he slapped him forcefully against the shoulder and smiled.

“Congratulations, Sir!” he said.

Beau looked back at the note and read the words a few times over (“Choose wisely”), before glancing down at the name tags underneath it, all prefilled for him. He picked one up and stared at your handwriting underneath the “Hello, my name is”, they all contained different versions of the same word. He glanced at the one saying ‘Papa’, then the one saying ‘Grandpa’, and then ‘Pops’, he looked at one more before his brain finally caught back up.

“Holy shit,” he whispered, “She’s pregnant.”

Beau rushed to get his phone out of his pocket. He scrolled down in his contact list, right past your name, until he landed on Elisabeth’s. He clicked on the call button and she picked up after three rings, sounding sleepy.

“You knew!” he whisper-shouted into the phone, just loud enough for her and Warlock to hear it.

Rear Admiral Bates, as much as Beau knew it killed him, left the office with a nod of his head. Cyclone heard him walk down the corridor and looked around right outside his door to check no one was around before putting the phone on speaker and finishing setting up.

“Beau it’s six am,” Elisabeth replied.

“You knew she was pregnant!” Cyclone continued, pulling out a couple of files and a large leatherbound code of conduct he needed to scour to verify several complaints.

“She asked me not to tell!” his wife defended herself. Lizzie shuffled at the other end of the line and he could almost imagine her nuzzling deeper into the pillow, pulling up the covers right above her head like she always did when he woke her up before her preferred time.

“Do not blame this on her, I didn’t marry her, I married you. What happened to telling each other everything?” Beau asked, his voice stern but a smile on his face.

“Beau, if you want to take that up with anyone, you take it up with your daughter,” she replied, sounding muffled.

He scoffed, “Absolutely not, it’s six am. I wouldn’t want to wake her up.”

“Oh, so you’re okay with waking me up but not her?” Elisabeth asked, sounding outraged and offended.

“Yes! She’s pregnant, Honey, she needs the sleep,” he replied, purposefully annoying her now as a small payback for not telling him.

“You never know I might be pregnant,” his wife said.

“Haha. Very funny,” he said. Elisabeth was quiet on the other side of the line for a beat too long, “You are joking, right?”

“Yes of course I’m joking,” She eventually replied.

“You almost gave me a heart attack!” he exclaimed.

“Serves you right for waking me up,” She mumbled.

She hung up the call without saying goodbye or sending him off with her usual ‘I love you’ which stung slightly but was quickly explained when she sent him a garbled string of letters she had managed to somehow send via text and speech, followed by an embarrassingly long voice note of her gently snoring. Beau screenshotted the text and downloaded the note, saving both to his phone to hold against her the next time she told him he snored.

Beau downed a quick sip of his coffee before a knock rang through the office, a few moments later both Maverick and Rooster walked in.

“Sir,” they greeted him.

“We’re here to drop off leave authorization paperwork, Sir,” Rooster said, placing an envelope on his desk.

Cyclone hummed, taking another sip of his coffee, then, seeing as the mug was almost empty, he down the last of it, lifting the bottom right up to ensure he drank every last drop. When he lowered it back down, he came face to face with Maverick and Rooster’s surprised faces, both of them intensely staring at his mug. He looked at it to find that the regular black mug he had picked up from his counter this morning was in fact one of those fancy heat changing mugs. When Warlock had poured the hot coffee, it had started changing to display a photo of your ultrasound, with, in large legible print “Baby Seresin coming soon”.

“Congratulations, sir,” Maverick said.

“Shit!” he swore, “If you breathe a word of this -- If you tell either of them that you know, I will ground you both for the rest of your lives, is that clear?” he said through gritted teeth.

Although he didn’t know for sure, he was almost certain you would want to announce your pregnancy to your friends by doing something fun. You had wanted to be a mum for most of your life, there was no way you wouldn’t want to do something special for it, and Beau would be damned if he ruined that for you, especially since you had clearly meant to surprise him in private, and would have, if he hadn’t been running late.

Beau took their paperwork and dismissed them before sinking down on his chair and picking up the mug. He turned it around so the ultrasound faced him and with the hand that wasn’t holding the mug, he gently ran a finger over the tiny blip that would be his future grandchild.

“Hey there little one,” he said, his voice low and gentle, much like the one he had used when he had first spoken to you as a baby, and identical to the voice he had used to speak to his biological children as he held them in his arms in the delivery room after Elisabeth had gone to sleep and it was just him and his little bundle of joy, “You can call me Grandpa,” he added.

“You’re only little for now, all warm in your mama’s tummy. I know your parents will take good care of you but you gotta promise to be easy on them, yeah? They’re young, they’ll make mistakes but I promise you that you are already so loved,” he said, still speaking to the picture, “I know the world might seem scary, but we’ll all be there to help you and keep you safe, but to help you and your mama as you grow, I’m going to call on someone special, okay?” he asked.

Beau put the mug down and bent down to root through the bag he brought to work every day. After seemingly searching through all the pockets he found what he was looking for and pulled out his rosary. It was old and worn out, the black paint of the metal beads long scraped off by more than a century of daily use, but his great grandfather’s combat rosary still held string despite having been issued in 1916 and then passed down until it hit his father, who promptly left it to rot in the heat and humidity of his childhood home’s dusty and disgusting attic.

If his father had had what he wanted, Beau would never even have gotten it, but his father had been roused from his laziness by something or other on a random Thursday evening and cleared out the attic to organise a yard sale. He had seen the rosary, recognising it as the same thing Craig always kept in his pocket and took it from the box it had been shoved in. Beau had hidden it until bedtime and spent most of the night untangling the already browned beads before stashing it away underneath in floorboards.

There had been a few close calls and it had almost been discovered a few times so after a while, Beau took to carrying it wherever he went, a habit he had passed on to all his children.

He ran the sacred necklace through his hands a few times, taking his time to really feel the coolness of the beads before starting, “Hail Mary, Full of Grace, Blessed art Thou amongst Women and Blessed be the fruit of thy womb Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners, now and at the hour of our death, Amen,” he said.

Beau went around the necklace and as he finished the prayer, he added, “Hail Mary, Mother of God, please watch over Y/n and guide her as she moves into this new season of life. Help her be kind to herself as her body changes and quieten her mind when it worries, and help her enjoy every moment of the next nine months. Please keep her baby safe and healthy as it grows and tell them that whoever they are and whoever they become, they will always be loved, safe and cared for. And although I know it isn’t entirely your domain, please ensure that Jake enjoys these next few months, and the rest of parenthood, as much as she will. Amen.”

He looked at the cup again, “All done,” he said brightly with a smile, “Mama will teach you how to do that when you grow up,” he added.

“I’m talking to a fucking mug,” he realised, then forgetting himself again, he promptly apologised to the cup for swearing.

Where Sysiphus had his boulder, Cyclone had his paperwork. Every day he would sit down and work through the pile, and every day it reappeared sometimes bigger and heavier than ever, ready for him. He didn’t mind the paperwork so much, he had liked flying but as life went on and he got married and had children, it slowly lost its appeal. The adrenaline didn’t seem worth the danger and the risk of leaving his wife and children without a husband or a father. And with less flying came less moving, less packing your entire life into cardboard boxes and shipping them around the country sometimes only for a month. Neverending paperwork was safe, and stable. He just wished he could see his children a little more.

He hadn’t picked up the kids from school in almost a year, and he hadn’t done bathtime with the girls since his paternity leave. Between work and desperately trying to balance the rest, he realised he hadn’t had the time to enjoy his family in far too long. He frowned, and in a spur-of-the-moment decision, he printed out a copy of the leave authorisation form and filled it in, immediately approving himself for a two week leave starting at the end of the week.

Beau checked the time, you were due to arrive on base in less than twenty minutes. He took his coat and put it on, even though it was already May, the air was overcast and the wind had picked up giving the air a slight chill. He made his way to the parking lot, patiently waiting another ten minutes before he saw you and Jake enter and park the truck.

---

You and Jake shared a secret smile when you saw Beau standing in the parking lot, apparently waiting for your arrival, the closest thing to a goofy grin you had ever seen on his face.

“I think he knows,” Jake said, a hint of laughter in his voice.

You shook your head, unbuckling your seat belt as he put the truck in park, “I think so too.”

Jake pressed a kiss to your hand, the one he had been holding the whole drive over, before climbing out. He shot you a look through the open door, “Don’t you dare!” he called as he watched your hand creep towards the door handle.

You let out a laugh, your hand now resting on the handle as he slammed his own door shut and hurriedly pulled the strap to his duffle bag over his head as he made his way around the front of the truck. Jake opened your door, giving you a slightly exasperated huff, “You’re doing all the work baby, I have to do something to help.”

“I am capable of getting out of the truck Jake,” you said, fixing him with a look that said his interference wasn’t exactly needed.

He sighed, his hand held out to help you down, “I know that, but I need to make sure you are okay, for my own peace of mind,” he said quietly, when you didn’t relent, he added, “Please?”

“Alright, but it's only because I love you so much,” you said, taking his hand, allowing him to help you down from the truck. You turned to get your duffle bag from the back seat, when his hand shot out to rest on your shoulder, “I can get it for you darlin’,” he said, already moving to grab it with his large hand. You laughed a little when he carefully placed the strap over your head, slinging the bag diagonally across your body. Before he stepped back from you, he pressed a kiss to your forehead, “I love you,” he said quietly.

“I love you too,” you replied in kind, a smile coming over your face. Leaning up on your tip-toes, you still spotted Beau, now making his way towards the truck, “I suppose we should see what he wants to be called now shouldn’t we?” you asked.

Jake let out a laugh, “Who knows, you might have surprised him into shock.”

You stepped away from the truck, and towards Cyclone’s approaching figure. As soon as he reached you, he enveloped you in a hug, and shot Jake a slightly dirty look, “What are you doing out here without a coat?” he asked, starting to shrug his own off before wrapping it around your shoulders.

You laughed, accepting the coat, “Dad, it’s not that cold, but if it makes you feel better,” you made a show of threading your arms through the too long sleeves and pulling the zipper up, your duffle bag hanging awkwardly beneath the surface.

“So it’s true then? This isn’t some prank?” he asked, his eyes holding excitement that you hadn’t seen since, you couldn’t remember when.

“Yes! You are going to be a grandpa, or pops, or whatever you want them to call you,” you answered, your face almost hurting from the wide smile that had taken over.

“I’ll be grandpa,” he said, pulling the ‘Hello, my name is: Grandpa’ tag out of his pocket. You let out an excited squeal before pulling him into a hug.

Jake let out a quiet laugh and started ushering the three of you towards the building, “Alright, let’s get the pregnant lady out of the cold,” he said, wrapping a protective arm around you as you stepped out of Beau’s embrace.

You shushed your husband, looking around carefully, “Don’t ruin it! We have to tell everyone else together,” you said to him quietly, your hand slapping gently against his chest.

He laughed silently, you could feel his chest shaking slightly against your shoulder, “I know honey, I won’t ruin it.”

The excitement from earlier started to die down, and by the time you made it to the doors, the only thing you wanted was to talk to Beau alone. Jake had been loving and supportive, but ever since your scan, you had been worried. Your anxiety, which had been mostly silent since your wedding, was rearing its ugly head. What if you turned out to be just like your mom? You didn’t have a great parental role model besides Beau growing up, what if you were a shit parent?

As you got to the doors, Jake shared a look with you, reading something in your eyes. He held the door for you, and as you neared Beau’s office, he pressed a kiss to your cheek, “I’m just going to change, see you in a few?” he asked.

You gave him a tight smile and a nod, grateful that he understood you just needed a moment alone with the only man you’d ever known as a father.

“What’s up,” Beau asked you once Jake had made it down the hall, and out of sight, his face was concerned.

You let out a sigh, pushing the door to his office open and walking inside before answering him, “I just, what if I’m a shit mom?” you asked him, tears springing to your eyes.

He looked at you, his mouth agape following you inside before shutting the door behind him. Before he could answer your question, you continued, letting your thoughts out, “The only good parent I have ever known was you, and Elizabeth, but mainly you. Don’t get me wrong, you have been very good to me, Annie, and Audrey, but what if it’s genetic? What if I don’t love them, or push them away? What if Jake leaves because I’m a bad parent? What if he takes them with him? I just got this little life,” you said, looking up at him, tears running down your face, your hands cupped over your still flat stomach, “I can’t mess this up.”

“Honey,” he cooed, taking you in his arms for a hug, “Sweetheart, it’ll be okay. You’ll be okay,” he said, bringing one hand to gently pet your hair as he held you tight. You let out a loud sob, shaking in his arms as the weight of the possible reality of your near future.

“Baby, look at me,” he asked and you looked up. Beau swiped a stream of your tears off of your cheeks with his thumb. He leaned forward and pressed a sweet kiss onto your forehead, “You are not your mom. Her being bad does not mean you will be. Genetics have nothing to do with the ability to be a good person,” he whispered, cupping your face in his hands.

“Look, I admit I was lucky, because by the time I realised I was a dad I had already been acting like one for long enough that I had experience to help me out, but when you called me dad for the first time -- do you remember?” he asked you.

You thought for a minute before replying, “At your wedding?”

“No, there was one time before that. It was in December the year before, you had been ill for days, but that day was the worst. You were so weak we couldn’t keep you awake for very long, and getting you to eat was so difficult. I kept begging your mom to let me call a doctor, or take you to the hospital and she just kept refusing, saying there was no need, even though your fever had climbed up to 103°F in the space of an hour,” Beau explained with a far off look in his eyes. He remembered that night all too well, the memory of it was burned into his brain so distinctly that he remembered exactly what to do when the same happened to Peter nearly a decade later.

“I went up to your room to try to get you to drink some warm milk one last time before bed. You were laying on your tummy, and I remember I put my hand on your shoulder to turn you around. It was so obvious something was wrong,” Beau breathed in deeply, still lost in thought. He could see it happen in front of his eyes now.

The dark night sky visible through your undrawn curtains, the moon and a small bedside lamp drowning the room in a macabre yellow light. He pulled up a chunky pastel yellow plastic chair next to the bed as the wind outside battered the windows as if trying to get in to help your fever break. He reached over and gently laid his hand over your chubby, snoopy-pyjama clad arm and flinched at the temperature. You stirred a little. This was the most responsive you had been all day. Emboldened by your apparent improvement, Beau turned you over. Like a ragdoll, you flopped onto your back and looked at him with large glazed-over eyes. Your clammy skin had turned slightly blue, or seemed to in the dim light of the room.

“Daddy help,” you whispered before your eyes rolled back into your sockets.

For a second, during which the world seemed to have forgotten to spin, nothing happened, and then your limbs started twitching and shaking. A moment later, foam started forming at the corners of your mouth. Your arm shot to the side, knocking down the lamp and shattering the lightbulb as it hit the floor.

Beau stood in horror, unable to figure out what to do until he heard footsteps coming up the stairs, he moved towards the door, to stop whichever one of your sisters was coming from seeing you like this. Annie appeared around the corner.

“Is everything okay?” she asked, he tried to keep his face still so as to not betray the situation but he knew he couldn’t keep the charade up for long.

“I need you to call the hospital,” is all he had time to say before Annie turned around on her heels and sprinted towards the home phone.

Beau returned to the room, vaguely aware he needed to be noting down the length of the seizure, luckily, he had looked at his watch seconds before it had started. A minute had passed already and you were showing no sign of improvement. He knelt down by the bed, not feeling the stab of pain when his knees landed on the shards of broken glass and leaned towards you as much as he could. Beau brought a hand up to your head and petted your hair, saying the only thing he could think of.

“Hail Mary, full of grace, blessed art thou amongst women, and blessed be the fruit of thy womb Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners, now and at the hour of our death, Amen,” he whispered, saying it like a chant over the seven additional minutes your seizure lasted.

Once you had stopped shaking and Beau could concentrate on anything other than his prayer, he could hear voices coming from downstairs and soon heavy footsteps running up the staircase towards him. What felt like a second later paramedics were pushing him to the side to take a look at you.

You were still lethargic, barely whimpering whenever someone touched you, your large eyes blinking up at him.

"Are you the father?" one of the paramedics asked.

"Yes," someone replied. He looked over to the doorway to see Annie, holding a crying Audrey's hand, "He's our daddy."

Beau shook himself out of his reverie to find you staring up at him.

"What happened?" You asked.

"They took you to hospital in an ambulance and I followed right behind with your sisters. We sat in the waiting room for two hours while doctors looked you over, and while I was sitting in that stupidly uncomfortable chair, the only thing I could think of was you calling me 'daddy'," he said, "I was sitting there, with my head in my hands, bent over my knees, trying to take deep breaths to stay calm when the only thing I wanted to do was cry, puke and run away. I was so scared. Scared that you weren't okay, scared that you loved me, scared that I would turn into my dad at a moment's notice," he paused for a second, seeming to contemplate his next words.

When he finally continued, he said, "For a few weeks I was nervous and on edge. Every time something went wrong, I had to bite back the urge to snap and scream and then, after a week, I realised something. Being a good person isn't something you are, it's a choice. Every day I woke up scared out of my mind and every day I chose to not let you know. I chose to be kind, to be patient, to be loving, even if all I wanted to do was the complete opposite. And when I realised that love was a choice, I realised that even if I messed up, I could choose to fix things. I could apologise, I could help. And I know you will do just the same."

“You’re scared that you will turn into your mother, but you have to remember that you are half of your father too, and he was one of the best people I’ve ever known. He loved you girls more than he loved flying, more than he loved anything really,” Beau finished, giving you a warm smile, “You’re going to do fine, and you have Jake to help you. When things are hard, he is your rock and he won’t abandon you.”

You nodded, pressing your head into his chest, “Okay,” you said quietly, trying to let the reassurances wash over you. After a minute more of the hug, you stepped back from his embrace, slowly pulling off his jacket to return it to him, “Thanks, dad. You’re right, we can do this.”

“Of course sweetheart,” he said, taking the coat before opening the door for you, “Take it easy okay? I don’t want to hear of you doing any flying until this one is born,” he added, nodding to your abdomen.

“I won't, Poppy,” you said, your voice teasing.

Beau rolled his eyes at your name calling, “Love you, kiddo,” he said with a smile.

“Love you too dad,” you called back to him, making your way to the locker room.

—

You had tried to call Audrey all day but you had received no response. Today should have been her day off but you knew your sister, as much as she complained of the schedule and the demands of the job, she really did like working with the mothers and the newborns and usually picked up any shift she was asked. So, you assumed when you hung up after trying to reach her yet again, she must have gone in to work.

“Ready to go sweetheart?” Jake asked, leaning on the sliding door to the sunroom where you had been calling, basking in the lovely warmth of the glass room, a large mug of tea forgotten on the glass coffee table.

You nodded, unfolding your legs from underneath you and you got off the wicker couch to find your shoes. Once ready to brave the outside world, armed with your handbag and a pink leather jacket, you unlocked the mini and climbed into the driver’s seat. Jake climbed in beside you, wasting no time to hook up his phone to the car and playing Sun To Me by Zach Bryan as you drove to the bar.

The Hard Deck parking lot was, as usual, crammed full of cars but you managed to squeeze your car in between two delivery vans. The Hard Deck was much the same. You managed to find Bob at the bar, quickly saying hi before joining the rest of the team at the pool tables and immediately joining Phoenix in an impassioned conversation with Fanboy over their favourite film series. It might have seemed like a losing battle for Phoenix as she listened to Mickey waffle on about Star Wars but you knew that as soon as he would draw breath Nat would launch into a monologue on her unparalleled love of the Jason Bourne Series. You kept your opinions to yourself, not wanting to out yourself as a hardcore Twiglight fan and giving them all an aneurism.

In your defence, you knew Twilight was bad, but that’s what made it so good to you. It felt like watching a trainwreck, you couldn’t stop looking, no matter how horrible it was. It also made for a very easy comfort watch whenever you wanted to watch something and not think too much. There was, however, one thing you liked more than watching Twilight, and that was asking Jake to watch Twilight with you. He would, bless his heart. He would sit beside you during the entire series and watch the films, trying his best to seem interested and like he absolutely was not going to fall asleep. Perhaps it was cruel of you, but that did not make it any less enjoyable.

Suddenly, your phone rang in your pocket. Seeing Audrey’s picture pop up on the screen, you stepped outside to take the call.

“Hiya, how are you?” you asked.

Audrey groaned, “That’s another pair of scrubs I can throw out,” she replied.

“You work in the maternity ward, A. How does it happen so often?” you asked.

“You don’t want to know. How come I have like eight missed calls from you, everything okay?”

“Yeah, look, we’re doing a barbecue on Saturday. How about you come down and see everyone again,” Audrey groaned again.

"Oh come on!" You said, "Come down for the weekend, there's someone I'd like you to meet,"

"Y/n, I am not coming down so you can set me up," Audrey replied, sounding exasperated and exhausted after no doubt another shift that couldn’t seem to end soon enough.

"I'm not setting you up. They're important to me and I'd like you to get to know them," you explained.

"Is Annie going?" she asked.

You hummed in agreement.

"Fine!" She sighed, "But we're going shopping while we're there. I need new clothes,"

“Me too,” you mumbled, looking down at your growing stomach, as she hung up, probably headed back into the ward to help deliver another bundle of joy.

---

“You totally told Maria we were expecting, right?” Jake asked Bob as they made their way through the mess hall line.

Bob audibly gulped before answering, shakily, “I -- I wouldn’t --”

“Cut the shit, Bobby,” Jake said, cutting him off and fixing him with a stare.

“I may have accidentally -- I didn’t mean to i -- it just slipped out, I’m so sorry,” Bob said, his stuttering coming to a stop when Jake interrupted him.

“Nah,’s alright, I’m not mad,” Jake said, “I do need a favour, though,” he continued as they made their way to a table.

Bob nodded, telling him to keep going.

“She’s coming next week right?” Jake asked. Not waiting for Bob to confirm, he added, “Can you tell her to bring her brushes, I need her to paint something for me.”

“Okay,” Bob said, already texting Maria. A second later, his phone buzzed with a response.

“What did she say?” Jake asked, trying to peek at the text himself.

“She asks why you couldn’t ask her yourself,” Bob said, looking down at his phone.

Jake sighed, “Because she doesn’t answer my texts?” he answered.

Bob let out a laugh, “She says ‘touché’.”

----

You were standing in the backyard of Cyclone’s house looking at the group that was gathered there. They had no idea what was about to hit them when the cake was brought out. Everyone from the squadron and your sisters were gathered here under the assumption that it was your birthday barbeque, but little did they know it was your pregnancy reveal. When you ordered the cake, the baker had been confused, you weren’t doing a gender reveal because you wanted to be surprised, so you had her ice the cake in white, but the tiers were dyed blue and pink. The final touch, which you had yet to add to the top, was one of the photos from your ultrasound.

Beau and Lizzie had so graciously agreed to host the party, since your house was a little small for such a gathering, and you couldn’t have been happier with the turnout. As you made your way around the yard, talking to different people here and there, you spotted Annie and Bob bent over their phones at the corner patio set.

“You two are getting along well,” you said as you approached, hearing the last of their quiet laughter die down.

“What? Jealous I’m spending time with my little brother?” Annie replied.

“Haven’t you guys only met once?” you asked.

Annie shrugged, “Sure, and we’ve texted every day since.”

“She sends me memes,” Bob said, a proud smile on his face.

“Oh! Show her the one I sent you yesterday!” Annie added enthusiastically.

Bob fished his phone out of his pocket with a goofy grin. He unlocked it and slid it towards you showing you a picture Annie had sent on their whatsapp chat of the child Jesus tugging on the Virgin Mary’s dress saying “Mummy! Mummy! Mummy!” and a text underneath the picture saying “The first rosary”.

“I’m jealous,” you stated, “You met Bobby once and you sent him that and I’m lucky to get a weekly text.”

“We call every two days,” Annie protested. You stuck out your bottom lip in an exaggerated pout, “Fine! We’ll make it a group chat!” she relented, starting the chat on her phone.

“I love you,” you told your sister, a shit-eating grin plastered on your face.

“You better,” she grumbled.

“You know, I always wanted a little sister…” Bob said, “I regret that now,” he added, poking you in the side with a wide grin, “I’m joking, I love you. You’re very annoying, but I love you.”

“Hey! You be nice to my wife Bobby Boy or we’ll have to rethink making you Godfather,” Jake said, coming up to wrap an arm around your shoulders.

“You’re joking right?” he asked, tears beginning to well up in his eyes.

“Hey, hey! Keep the waterworks for later, we haven’t announced it yet!” Jake said, hurriedly looking around him to see if anyone was watching.

“What’s happening here?” Beau said, arriving so quietly it scared everyone.

“Bobby is bullying me,” you replied before Bob could.

“Lying is a sin, Y/n,” he told you with a crooked smile.

“I need to take a leaf out of your mother’s book Jake, next argument is twenty bucks towards the argument jar,” Cyclone warned.

“Lizzie!” Bob shouted, “Dad is bullying us!”

“That’ll be forty for your trouble young man,” you said, a smirk on your face.

“What’s this I’m hearing about bullying our children Beau?” Elisabeth asked, raising an eyebrow as she walked over to stand beside him.

“I’m not! I would never! I was warning Bob and Y/n about an argument jar,” He explained.

“What’s the price?” Jake asked.

“Twenty per infraction,” Cyclone said, a triumphant grin on his face.

“Thirty per bullying accusation for any of you,” She retorted, pointing at everyone, including her husband.

“Hey now --” Beau argued.

Elisabeth stuck out a hand and made a beckoning movement. Cyclone took out his wallet and gave his wife the note, fixing her with a glare that could have made any of his sailors flinch and run. Elisabeth merely smirked.

“Ooh I see where you get it from now,” Jake whispered in your ear as soon as Lizzie returned to her chat with Maverick and Phoenix.

Before you could respond, Beau set a hand on Jake’s shoulder, “I need some help carrying more beers out for the cooler, you young guns sure know how to put it away,” he said with a laugh, “Do you have a second?”

“Of course,” Jake said, giving you a peck on the cheek before following him to the garage.

You watched the door close behind your two favourite men and a smile came over your face, you were so glad they got along, you weren’t sure what you would do if they didn't.

—

Beau closed the door behind them and Jake turned to look at him confused.

“I need to talk to you about something,” he said, looking at Jake like he was steeling himself for something.

Jake’s heart dropped, what could be so important that Cyclone felt the need to pull him away from you and the party, “What’s up?” he asked, blood beginning to rush through his ears.

“I need you to pay attention to Y/n,” Beau started.

“Sir--” Jake said, his voice a bit offended but Beau interrupted him.

“You didn’t let me finish. I need you to pay attention to Y/n, more than you usually do. Pay attention to her behaviour, if she seems sad, if she’s changing in any way or another, like if she’s eating less or feeling less energetic. I know it’s probably just my own worries, but I’m scared she’ll get prenatal or postpartum depression…” he sighed, “Lizzie had it with Peter and honestly, I’ve been paranoid about it since,” he added.

“I’ll watch her,” Jake assured him, “I’m not sure what I’m watching out for though…” he admitted.

“General changes, mostly. See if she’s withdrawing from people, or if she’s suddenly no longer interested in her hobbies…,” Beau stopped to think for a moment, “Lizzie used to have memory problems and indecisiveness, she’d have trouble focussing on anything and it would give her horrible mood swings -- worse than can be blamed on hormones and pregnancy brain. Bad enough that she started to notice it herself. I also remember she used to have such a hard time sleeping and eating.. And obviously, she wasn’t feeling herself mood wise either, I mean, she seemed very hopeless. She’d cry for hours on end and nothing I could do would make her feel better…” he said, trailing off, his eyes a little misty.

“Okay,” Jake said, never seeing the Admiral look so worn down, “I’ll keep a close eye on her.”

“You’re good for her Seresin,” Beau said, “Just make sure our girl is okay?”

“Of course sir, I will,” he said, and with a nod from Cyclone, the two of them gathered up a case of beer each, making their way back into the backyard.

—

Once everyone had eaten, you found yourself in the kitchen with Maria, Audrey, and Lizzie, the four of you having easy conversation as you cleaned up dinner.

“I just don’t know, I don’t want it to be cliche,” Maria insisted, drying a plate before setting it on top of the clean stack.

You laughed a little at her defeated voice, “It’s not cliche, I think it’ll be wonderful,” you said, before turning to Audrey, “Don’t you think so A?”

“I love it honestly, getting married on the ranch, the men all dressed up with hats and boots? Boho dresses for you and your bridesmaids’? Sign me up!” she said enthusiastically, “Are you sure you don’t have any more brothers in need of a good wife?”

Maria let out a laugh, and you smiled at how much it sounded like Jake’s, “They are all snatched up I’m afraid,” she said.

Looking at Audrey, you chimed in, “I thought you said you were done taking random setups?” you asked her.

“Well they aren’t random if they are related to Jake and Maria,” she replied, “I don’t need a man I guess, it would just be nice to come home to someone other than mittens.”

“Who’s mittens?” Elisabeth asked, looking at Audrey confused.

“Oh I forgot to tell you, I got a cat!” she said excitedly, “He is the cutest little thing, a little trouble maker, but cute nonetheless.” She added, fishing her phone out of her pocket to show Lizzie a photo of her cat, a tiny little creature with fur as black as the night. It was flashing two yellow eyes, coming off as cute and innocent but if your second to last phone call, during which it had jumped up on one of the counters and stolen a sizeable chunk of cheese had been anything to go by, you knew Audrey was being more than kind by her description of the little lad.

“That’s wonderful!” Lizzie replied, “I’m glad you’ve got someone to come home to.”

“Yeah, me too,” she said quietly.

Lizzie set the cake out on the counter as Maria and Audrey finished the dishes. You had just put the last lid on the leftovers when Maria caught your eye. You shot a glance to Audrey and then back to Maria as you made your way to the cake.

“Audrey, you know there are quite a few single men that attend our church, maybe I can give them your number?” Maria asked her, “Let me get my phone and we can Facebook stalk them!” she added more excitedly, entwining her arm with Audrey’s, she pulled her out of the kitchen and back to the patio.

You quickly ran from the room and dug through your purse, pulling out the sonogram picture you had saved for the night. Jogging back into the kitchen, you almost ran straight into Lizzie in the doorway.

“Oops, sorry mom,” you said, a grin on your face as you gave her a quick hug before moving past to stick the photo on top of the cake, standing it up in the icing for all to see.

Lizzie came up behind you, admiring the cake, “Are you ready?” she asked.

“I think so, I’ll go tell them all to gather round, if you want to carry it out?” you asked her, turning to look at her from the corner of your eye.

“Sounds good to me, be right behind you,” she agreed.

You walked out, joining Jake by the table you had all been eating around. Jake lifted his arm up for you to cuddle into him. You found your spot right as Lizzie walked out, holding the three tiered beauty in front of her.

“Happy Birthday to you, Happy birthday to you,” Beau started, the rest of the guests soon starting to join in, “Happy Birthday dear Y/n, Happy birthday to you!” They finished in unison, right as Elisabeth placed the cake in the centre of the table and stepped back.

You looked for a knife, waiting for someone to notice the picture. Jake stood by you, keeping his conversation with Maverick going but trying to subtly nudge his attention towards the cake. Next to Maria, Bob was trying to do the same with Audrey but none of your efforts were working. You found your knife and picked up the paper towels, hoping that the colours might get them to pay more attention to what you were trying to tell them, but you didn’t need to. Although she had been staring at the photograph for the previous five minutes, trying to guess what it was actually showing, Phoenix’s penny hadn’t dropped yet. Once it had, however, she jumped up from her seat with a loud gasp, accidentally knocking it to the floor.

“OH MY GOD!” she exclaimed loudly enough that Beau jumped and dropped the burger he had been about to bite into on the floor. He grimaced as he picked it up, turning it around to see if it was salvageable and then angrily slamming it on his plate.

“OHMYGOD OHMYGOD OHMYGOD!” she screamed, “CONGRATULATIONS!” she added engulfing you in a bone breaking hug, making sure to stay well away from your tummy. Once she let go of you, she immediately jumped into Jake’s arms and squeezed him until the breath left his lungs.

“Holy sh--” Fanboy started.

“GARCIA, LANGUAGE,” Beau shouted, cutting the swear in half and covering Matthew’s ears with his hands. He had evidently been grabbed mid-game with Peter as while he wrestled himself out of his father’s clutches, his older brother happily ran towards the goal and kicked the soccer ball straight in between the two posts. Peter ran a victory lap around the garden, making sure to stop by a still struggling Matthew to stick out his tongue and rub in his failure.

“Goodness gracious,” Mickey tried again, this time sounding a little mocking, earning himself a sharp slap up the back of the head by Payback who was keen to avoid any extra push ups that week.

“Please excuse him, sir. His mother didn’t teach him right,” Reuben apologised.

“Don’t let it happen again. I don’t need you all corrupting my children,” Beau chided before turning back to the kitchen to prepare himself another burger.

As the rest of the group caught on to the exciting news reveal, you and Jake were crowded by everyone, most stopping to hug you before either pulling Jake into a hug or just shaking his hand and offering congratulations.

When you saw Javy having what appeared to be a more serious conversation with Jake, you turned to join before you were pulled away by Audrey. She pulled you into a tight hug and you felt tears soak the collar of your shirt. Annie looked rather smug as she approached you, Audrey��s shaky voice in your ear saying, “I can’t believe you’re going to have a baby, I’m so happy for you!”

Annie laughed at the sight the two of you made, “Do we have room for one more in this hug?”

Audrey looked between the two of you, and Annie’s calm demeanour before her tears dried up and she was pointing a finger between you, “She knew! How come she knew before I did?!”

“I just had a moment of doubt was all,” you said quietly, not wanting Jake to know about how anxious you were about parenthood.

Audrey regarded you a moment before pulling you into another hug, Annie joining on the other side, “Oh Y/n it’s going to be alright, you are going to be such a good mom,” she said into your ear.

A few tears leaked out of your eyes as you replied, “Thank you.”

All too soon, your sisters were pulling away from the hug and you were engulfed by Phoenix and Halo, both women excitedly asking several questions all at once, the only one you caught was from Phoenix, “How far along are you?”

“Oh, about six weeks,” you answered, placing your hand on your slightly puffy midsection.

“Geeze, Hangman,” Rooster called, having overheard your answer, “You got busy fast.”

“Bradshaw!” Phoenix chastised him, looking around at the kids present at the party. You could feel a blush of embarrassment spreading across your face.

His eyes got wide when he saw the Admiral rejoining the party, a new plate of food in hand, “Sorry, my bad.”

Suddenly Jake’s arm was around your back, his hand squeezing your side comfortingly, “Hey, don’t listen to him,” he said, his lips buried in the top of your hair.

“I know, I just didn’t expect someone to announce it to the whole room,” you said, relishing in the feel of his touch.

Lizzie cut the cake, revealing the pink and blue layers, “Alright, take which gender you think their little bean is going to be!” she called over the lawn as she started plating them up.

Before everyone took a bite, the whole group gathered together holding their plates out and up towards the camera, showing the colour of their chosen piece of cake.

Maverick approached you and Jake after the photo, an excited look on his face, “I’m so happy for you kids. I’ll be sad to lose you from the squadron for a while, but your safety comes first,” he said.

You and Jake shared a look before leaning into Mav some more, “Mav, about that,” you started.

He looked at the two of you confused before Jake took over, “Y/n’s contract is up this year, we don’t think she is going to reup.”

Mav’s eyes widened before he nodded, “I don’t blame you there kiddo, we will miss you, but you plan on staying close don’t you?”

“Yeah, this is our home. Besides, Jake will still be stationed here so you will be seeing plenty of us,” you answered.

“Good, good,” Mav said, nodding along, adding another, “Congratulations,” before taking a bite of his blue cake and walking away.

You and Jake sat, him with a pink piece and you with a blue piece, laughing together at the group around you. Phoenix, Halo, Maria, and your sisters were all scrolling through pinterest already planning little outfits to buy for your little bean. Rooster, Harvard, Yale, Coyote, and Payback were standing by the firepit talking about how they would have another pilot joining their ranks, the group laughing at all the different callsign options your future child could have.

You looked around the yard again, confused when you couldn’t find Fanboy. You finally spotted him sitting standing slightly behind Coyote at the fire, his plate still mostly full of cake, parts of both a pink and a blue piece still present.

You let out a laugh before pointing him out to Jake who laughed and called over to him, “Hey, Fanboy! How’s the cake?”

“Delicious! I just couldn’t decide what you were going to have, so I figured now either way I’ll be right,” he said with a smile.

The group laughed at his answer and the backyard got rowdy with small arguments about if you were going to have a boy or a girl. By the time everyone left, you were exhausted and by the time Jake slowed the truck to a stop in front of your house, you had fallen asleep, one hand entwined in Jake’s and the other resting on your stomach.

—

You woke up with a jolt, shaken by a loud noise coming from within the bedroom. For a brief, confused moment, you thought it might have been the fire alarm but when Jake stirred too and picked up his phone, the mystery was elucidated.

“Ciao, Mamma, come stai?” you heard him say into the receiver as he walked out of the bedroom, down the stairs and into the living room, rubbing his eyes. Instead of answering with how she was doing, Isabella bellowed into the receiver at a loud enough volume that you heard it through the walls.

“Piccola merda ingrata! Come osi! Come osi tenerlo lontano da noi! Quanto tempo avremmo dovuto aspettare che ce lo dicessi?” She screamed, “Non vuoi che siamo lì per te? Non ci ami? Ti abbiamo fatto qualcosa?” she continued, her screams turning into sobs as the phone call went on.

You swung your legs over the side and left the comfort of the bed to find where Jake had gone. You knew enough Italian by now to get most of what she was saying, but the muffled effect brought by distance and Isabella’s emotion made some of it hard to understand. You found Jake in the garage, sitting on one of his exercise benches, desperately trying to tell his mother that he hadn’t forgotten them, but that he had just been so busy --

“Troppo occupato per dire a tua madre che tua moglie è incinta?” she asked, her voice breaking on a few words.

“Mamma, mi dispiace tanto,” Jake apologised, sounding guiltier than you had ever heard him before.

"Mi stai spezzando il cuore” she sobbed, “You’re breaking my heart.”

“Mamma, ascoltami. non ho dimenticato. Volevo chiamare la domenica dopo la chiesa così saresti stato tutto insieme,” he told her, assuring her that he hadn’t forgotten and was just waiting to tell them all together

“Oh,” she said, “Oh mio caro, mi dispiace tanto, ho rovinato i tuoi piani!” she exclaimed, suddenly concerned that she may have ruined Jake’s plans

Jake looked confused and surprised, and very much like a man who had experienced whiplash from the way his mother’s tone had just changed. While she had been crying and screaming about how he didn’t love them a minute ago after he explained that he was planning to call Sunday her mood had done a one-eighty and you could now hear her watery smile through the phone.

“Va bene?” Jake asked incredulously, “It’s okay?”

“Non preoccuparti, sono a casa da solo. Nessun altro lo sa, puoi ancora fare quello che vuoi, lo terrò segreto,” she giggled, telling him she was alone and would keep his secret

Jake let out a relieved sigh, “Bene. Qualcosa arriverà attraverso il post, assicurati che nessuno lo apra prima di domenica,” he said, asking her to make sure no one opened the package he had sent via post, to be opened during the announcement

“Oh si! Terrò lontani i bambini,” she squealed, “Questo è così eccitante!”

Jake laughed, “E nonna. Tieni lontana anche la nonna.”

Isabella gasped, “Se la nonna lo sa, lo saprà il Texas,” she lamented, clearly already thinking of where she could hide whatever Jake was sending through the mail.

“Morning Isabella,” you said, gauging her mood and determining now was a good time to make your presence known without getting shouted at

“My darling! How do you feel? How far along are you? Is he treating you well?” she fired your way.

You laughed, “I’m fine, things are easy for now. Except for the coffee, I can’t stand coffee now,” you said and you heard her softly gasp in horror. Isabella, much like you functioned only on coffee, she even went to bed with one, claiming that without it she just couldn’t sleep right.

“And you keep forgetting things,” Jake said, laughing slightly.

“And I keep forgetting things!” you said, pointing at him, “I forgot the -- what did I forget again?”

“You forgot the cheese when you made mac and cheese last night,” Jake offered.

“Yes,” you said, “Not my proudest moment… But Jake was a dear about it.”

“Good. I did do a good job with him, then,” Isabella laughed, “I will leave you two to it then, Giovanni will be home soon,” she added, “Jake, you keep taking good care of her, and Y/n you make sure he doesn’t get into too much trouble.”

“I’m not that much of a trouble maker,” Jake protested.

“Uh huh,” his mother replied, totally unconvinced, “Ciao, you two!” she said before hanging up the call.

“I think my ears are ringing,” Jake said with a laugh as he brought a hand to his ear and massaged it, “That was loud… I tried to find a spot where the noise wouldn’t wake you…”

“The ringing woke me,” you replied, walking up to him. Jake leaned back against the wall as you sat down facing him with your legs at either side of him, “You okay?” he asked, rubbing circles into your back with one of his large hands.

“Sleepy,” you answered, nuzzling your face into his neck. Jake laughed as you did so, your movement tickling his skin.

“Let’s get you back to bed then,” he said, suddenly standing up, taking a hold of your legs and wrapping them around his waist, “Hold on tight baby, don’t wanna drop you two,” he added. He carried you back to your room, dropping you gently onto the bed and coming to lay down beside you, quickly pulling your back closer to him. You fell asleep with Jake’s hand resting on your growing belly, his thumb stroking your stretching skin.

—

“Are you ready for this?” Jake asked as he joined you on the couch.

You let out a little laugh, “What do you think it’s not going to go well?”

Jake shrugged while logging into his laptop, “I think it's going to go great, I do have a feeling they will be a bit overwhelming though, at least through the computer.”

“I’m sure they’re going to be fine,” you said, resting your head on Jake’s shoulder. The baby had gotten you up earlier than usual that morning and you were almost late to church because of your morning sickness. While you loved the little life growing inside of you, they could stand to let your stomach settle if only for a moment.

Jake clicked through the Skype menu, pulling up Isabella’s contact card. With one last glance at you, and your confirming nod, Jake pressed the call button. The computer let out a ringing noise for a moment before Isabella’s face popped up on the screen. You could see the excitement in her face, she looked like she wanted to jump through the screen to hug the both of you.

"Ciao miei cari, come state entrambi?” she asked, her eyes lingering on your side of the screen.

“We’re good mamma,” Jake said, “Up a little early this morning, but good,” he added, wrapping an arm around you and pulling you closer to him.

“Good, well we are all here!” she exclaimed, turning her computer to show the kitchen of the Seresin ranch, all of the family gathered around the island. A chorus of voices called out at the same time, “Hi Uncle Jake!”, “Jacob, Y/n”, “So good to see you!”, “Why are you calling?”.

Jake held up his free hand, “Whoa, one at a time! Hi Luca, how are you?”

“I’m good! I lost another tooth!” he exclaimed, trying to open his mouth from the other end of the island and show Jake his missing tooth.

“Wow, you’re getting so big buddy! When we come to visit next I bet you’re going to be taller than me,” Jake said, you knew he missed visiting his family, but you hoped to go back the following year for Christmas at the very least.

“Cos'è questa storia di Jacob?” Nonna asked, looking between the two of you sceptically, her eyes lingering on your side of the screen a moment longer than Jake’s.

Jake let out a laugh, “Don’t rush Nonna, you will know soon! Mamma, do you have the box we sent?”

“Yes, it’s just here,” she said, holding it up for you both to see.

“Alright,” you said, smiling brightly, “Why don’t you guys open it? There’s something in there for everyone!”

As the group gathered around the box, you and Jake tried to keep your wide smiles in, not missing the way that Giovanni was watching the two of you from the corner of the screen, a knowing smile on his face.

Jake leaned over to whisper in your ear, “I bet he knows, I’m not sure how he knows, but he does.”

You squinted your eyes at him, and Giovanni looked away quickly, trying to avoid any suspicion and failing miserably.

Suddenly, you heard an excited shriek and watches as Sofia held up a shirt excitedly, “Oh my goodness! She’s pregnant! They’re going to have a baby!”

As the shirts were pulled out of the box and distributed to the rest of the family, everyone began to shout their congratulations.

Alessandra was next, “I am so excited for you two! Let me know if you need anything? I would be happy to send some clothes that the boys don’t need anymore.”

“What are you having?” Tony asked, his eyes lit up with excitement.

“We are going to be surprised,” you said, “Just as long as they are healthy we don’t care.”

Everyone nodded along with that, “Oh how wonderful,” Nonna started, “I will have to make you a quilt!”

“One of the mare’s is due to have a baby roundabout your due date,” John said, “Maybe we can keep it for the little one!”

“That would be adorable,” Jake laughed.

“Do you have any names picked out?” Giovanni asked.

“We have a few we like but we’ll make a decision on the day. We want to meet them before we decide,” Jake replied, looking at you, “Want to make sure that it fits.”

“Okay, well, you’ll have to tell us if you do a baby shower so we can send you stuff!” Alessa said.

“I don’t think we will have one, to be honest. I think we’re enjoying shopping for baby by ourselves and the house will be full and loud enough soon, so I think we’re just going to spend these next few month by ourselves,” you replied.

“Speaking of full houses, is Maria there?” Isabella asked.

“She’s out with Bob, they’re looking at wedding venues today I think, and then they have a house viewing tonight,” Jake said.

“They’re coming for dinner later though, so we can always call you back tonight?” you offered

With that, the conversation happily switched from one happy event to another. Almost an hour later, as Jake’s computer warned of imminent battery death, you bid your in-laws goodbye. He pressed the ‘end call’ button and silence fell over the house, you closed your eyes, taking your time to enjoy it.

“I know I shouldn’t wish for time to go faster, but I just want them to get there,” Jake said, speaking the words you had just been thinking.

As much as you liked having the quiet and calm home life that you led now, with the next season of your life right around the corner, you couldn’t help but with time would just fly by.

#fanfic #top gun fanfiction #top gun maverick #top gun x reader #fanfiction #original fic #hangman x reader #jake hangman seresin #jake seresin #hangman top gun

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kjack89 · 3 years ago

Text

Determination of Death (pt. 1/2)

Extremely self-indulgent, and the kind of angst I haven’t written in a long while. Because I was having a bad week and figured, hey, why not make it worse :)

I split it in two because it was getting long; second part should be posted sometime later this week.

Former E/R, modern AU. CW: car accident, major injuries, discussion of end of life care, referenced major character death. Y’know. The good stuff.

Joly sighed, staring longingly up at the clock in the emergency room as if he could somehow force it to jump ahead four hours to the end of his shift. Not that he would ever voice the thought out loud, since doing so was the surest way to jinx it, but it had been a quiet night, and this was his last scheduled overnight shift in the E/R for at least a few weeks.

He tapped his pen against the counter, idly wondering if he could maybe sneak out a few minutes early and surprise Bossuet with breakfast in bed. Suddenly, another doctor ran past, donning a trauma gown, and Joly immediately straightened. “What do we got?” he asked urgently.

“MVC,” the other doctor called over her shoulder, using the acronym to indicate a car crash. “Multiple victims incoming.”

So much for a quiet night.

Joly grabbed a trauma gown and followed her out into the ambulance bay to meet the ambulance that screeched to a halt, its lights blaring. “Unrestrained driver,” one of the paramedics reported. “Lost control of the vehicle and crashed head first into oncoming traffic. Nonresponsive at the scene, and we’re gonna need a tox screen – we think she might have been drinking.”

“I got this one,” his colleague told him. “Go deal with the second ambulance.”

Joly nodded and jogged over to the second ambulance. “What do we—” he started as the paramedic shoved a clipboard at him, but his question died in his throat as he saw who was strapped down on the gurney.

It was Enjolras.

The paramedic was telling him something but it was as if Joly had gone temporarily deaf as he stared down at Enjolras, barely recognizable from the injuries he had sustained. Joly catalogued all the injuries he could see with a sort of vague detachment as if he was seeing them on someone other than one of his closest friends, the man he had vowed to walk through fire for.

Penetrating head trauma. Multiple facial lacerations. Chest and pelvis crush injuries. Open tibia fracture. Almost guaranteed massive internal injuries.

It was a miracle Enjolras was still alive, and Joly’s hands started shaking so badly that he dropped the clipboard the paramedic had handed him. “Dr. Joly?” someone was asking, and Joly just shook his head violently and turned away to empty his stomach on the pavement of the ambulance bay.

Christ, he hadn’t puked at the hospital since he was an intern.

He wiped his mouth with the back of his still-shaking hand and straightened to find his colleague gripping his arm and staring at him with clear concern in her eyes. “I’m sorry,” Joly whispered. “I just...he’s a friend.”

Understanding crossed her expression, and she nodded. “Ok,” she told him, her voice calm, soothing. It was the voice they used for hysterical family members, and Joly hated her a little bit for using it on him. “Get in touch with his emergency contact, get them to the hospital. You can brief them when they get here, ok?”

“I want to help—” Joly started, but she shook her head before he could even finish his sentence.

“You’re not a doctor right now. You’re a loved one.” She hesitated for just a moment before adding, with genuine sympathy, “I’m so sorry.”

He hated her even more for that.

Then she was gone, she and the paramedics whisking Enjolras inside to do what they could – if there was even anything that they would be able to do.

And Joly had nothing left to do but to call Combeferre and tell him the worst news he had ever had to deliver.

----------

It was now four hours past when Joly had been supposed to get off of work, and there was no indication that he would get to go home anytime soon. All of Les Amis had trickled in during the night and were now all camped out in the waiting room, eager for whatever news Joly could tell them.

But unfortunately, he had nothing that he could tell.

He pulled his scrub cap off as he slowly made his way over to where they were all waiting, trying to school his expression to something less grim, but judging by the way Courfeyrac’s smile slid off his face as soon as he saw him, he hadn’t succeeded. “How is he?” Combeferre asked, scrambling to his feet.

Joly swallowed. “He’s alive,” he said shortly. “That’s all that I can tell you right now.”

Combeferre and Courfeyrac exchanged glances. “What the hell are you talking about?” Courfeyrac asked, uncharacteristically blunt. “What do you mean, that’s all you can tell us?”

“I mean that I am required to tell Enjolras’s family first before I can share any details.”

Combeferre’s expression was ashen but Courfeyrac’s eyes flashed. “We are his family,” he started hotly, but Combeferre shook his head and squeezed Courfeyrac’s arm.

“Pontmercy,” he said, a little hoarsely. “We need to call Marius. He’s everyone’s power of attorney, remember? He can authorize them to share medical details with us.”

Courfeyrac quickly dug his cellphone out his jeans pocket, dialing Marius’s number from memory. “Come on, come on,” he muttered urgently as he waited for Marius to pick up. “Come on, damnit.”

A pile of coats that had been tossed onto a chair suddenly seemed to stand up of its own accord, and Marius emerged from under them, blinking owlishly as he clearly had just woken up. “Sorry, m’here,” he said between a yawn, and Courfeyrac looked like he was torn between wanting to hug him or throttle him.

Combeferre didn’t let him do either. “You’re Enjolras’s power of attorney, right?” he said in clipped tones.

Marius ran a hand over his face and blinked once more before nodding. “Yes,” he said.

“Then tell Joly that he can share medical details about Enjolras with all of us.”

Marius winced. “Ah,” he said. “Um, there’s a bit of a problem with that. I’m Enjolras’s power of attorney for certain things, mainly related to his estate and his trust fund, but I’m not designated as Enjolras’s medical proxy.”

Courfeyrac looked between Marius and Combeferre, his eyes wide. “What does mean?” he asked, a little faintly. “Who would make the decisions if Enjolras didn’t designate a medical proxy?”

“Well, generally speaking, the closest blood relative would—”

“His parents?” Courfeyrac interrupted, horrified. “He hates his parents!”

Marius shook his head. “No, I’m sorry,” he said quickly. “The problem isn’t that Enjolras didn’t designate a medical proxy, so we don’t have to worry about that.” He winced again. “The, uh, the problem is that he did. And the designation is still legally binding.”

“Who?” Combeferre asked, his brow furrowed.

Marius just gave him a look. “You know who.”

Realization crossed Combeferre’s face, followed by something like rage. “You’ve got to be fucking kidding me.”

----------

Grantaire had been, up until that moment at least, thoroughly enjoying his evening. He had been hit on not once but twice at the bar, and had decided to take the second one, a thin, blond man (because Grantaire had always had a type, damn it), home for the night. They were right in the middle of making out like teenages on Grantaire’s couch when his phone rang.

Grantaire groaned and pulled away to reach for his cell, but the blond – Shane? Brendan? something? – pushed him back against the couch. “Ignore it,” he whispered before sucking on Grantaire’s earlobe.

He was only too happy to comply, but unfortunately, his phone had other ideas, ringing repeatedly until the best makeout session in the world wouldn’t have been able to hold his attention. “Let me just get rid of whomever this is,” he said, holding the man on his lap in place with one arm while reaching for his phone with the other. “Someone better be dying,” he said in lieu of a greeting, followed by a very confused, “Pontmercy?”

His brow furrowed as he listened to Marius, and he abruptly pushed the man off his lap, standing up and looking wildly around his apartment. “Yeah, ok,” he said. “Yeah, I’ll be there as soon as I can.” He hung up and threw his phone down on his couch. “You need to go,” he told the guy he’d brought him, unusually brusque. “I have to get to the hospital.”

“Oh no, is everyone alright?” the guy asked, reaching out for him, but Grantaire brushed him aside, grabbing his shirt from where he had tossed it earlier.

“No,” he said shortly. “It’s my husband. He was in a car accident.”

“You’re married?” the guy asked, sounding almost offended by the thought.

Grantaire closed his eyes for a brief moment, wondering how he had got himself in the position of needing to explain this to a one-night stand. “No, I mean my ex-husband,” he said with a sigh.

“You’re divorced?” the guy asked, sounding even more disgusted by that.

“You know what, I don’t really have time to debate this with you, so while I’m sure you would have been a great lay—” Sudden pounding on Grantaire’s door cut him off and he groaned. “Great,” he sighed, hurrying over to open his door.

He was only a little surprised to see Combeferre standing there. “What are you doing here?”

“You weren’t answering Marius’s phonecall,” Combeferre said shortly.

Grantaire rolled his eyes. “Yeah, well, I did, and I’m getting ready to go to the hospital, so you can just—”

Before he could finish telling Combeferre exactly where he could go, the guy he’d brought home snuck past him, pausing to kiss his cheek and tell him breathlessly, “Call me when you’re back from dealing with your ex.”

Combeferre watched him leave, his expression stony. “Nice,” he told Grantaire, who rolled his eyes again.

“You have no right to judge me,” he snapped. “Enjolras and I have been divorced for longer than we were married, so I’m allowed to do whatever and whomever the fuck I want.”

“Yeah, well, about that,” Combeferre started, and Grantaire frowned.

“What?”

----------

“What?” Grantaire said, his voice cracking. “What the hell are you talking about?”

Marius quailed slightly under his glare. “Well, see, the thing about it is—”

“Enjolras and I got divorced!” Grantaire interrupted loudly. “I signed the damned paper!”

“You did,” Marius told him. “But Enjolras didn’t.” Grantaire’s mouth opened but no sound came out, and Marius continued, “He didn’t sign them, and he didn’t file them, so legally, you two are still married. And legally, you’re still his next of kin.”

Grantaire shook his head, but he still couldn’t seem to manage any words, and Marius reached out to grasp his shoulder. “We can talk through this more later but for now, Joly needs to talk to you.”

Without waiting for Grantaire to reply, Marius spun him around to face Joly, who looked exhausted. “C’mon,” Joly muttered, glancing at all their friends, who were staring expectantly at them. “Let’s talk over here.”

He jerked his head towards a meeting room off of the waiting room, and Grantaire numbly followed. Joly pulled the door open and stepped back to let Grantaire walk in first before following him in, closing the door after them. “So,” Joly started, but Grantaire shook his head.

“No, before you start, I just want to say…” He trailed off, then took a deep breath. “Despite the circumstances, it is really good to see you. I know Enjolras got you and Bossuet in the divorce, but—”

Joly let out what might have been a wordless sob, surging forward to wrap Grantaire in a fierce hug. Grantaire froze before slowly patting Joly on the back. Then, abruptly, his hand froze. “Wait,” he said, his chest tight. “This isn’t a good hug, is it.”

He didn’t say it like a question but Joly still shook his head as he pulled back, his eyes wet and red. “No,” he said hoarsely. “No, it’s not a good thing. It’s—” He broke off and shook his head, his tone turning professional. “It’s not good, R. Enjolras suffered severe internal injuries, but those—”

Again he broke off, but this time, he didn’t seem able to start again. Grantaire swallowed and nudged him gently. “But those?” he prompted softly.

Joly shook his head once as if to clear it. “The internal injuries were severe but probably not fatal,” he said tonelessly. “But he suffered massive head trauma. Part of his skull was broken in the crash and his brain swelled drastically, and likely irrevocably.”

Grantaire reached out wordlessly to grasp the back of a chair, his entire body shaking uncontrollably. “Oh,” he managed finally as he stared unseeingly at the wall in front of him.

Joly quickly wiped a tear off his cheek and cleared his throat. “I know that this isn’t what you expected to be dealing with, but as Enjolras’s next of kin, you have some decisions to make.”

“He’s an organ donor,” Grantaire said hollowly. “I don’t– I don’t know if, in his condition, any of his organs are—” His voice cracked. “—are viable, but if any of them are, he would want to donate that.”

“His heart, his lungs, maybe a kidney and part of his liver,” Joly said, giving Grantaire a watery smile. “He could probably donate those.”

Grantaire jerked a nod. “So then do it,” he said, more harshly than he intended.

Joly’s smile disappeared. “Unfortunately, it’s not that simple,” he said. “It’s...I mean, it’s complicated.”

Grantaire couldn’t stop the laugh that bubbled up from his chest. “No shit, Sherlock.”

“No, I don’t just mean because of you and him,” Joly said impatiently. “I mean, it’s complicated medically.”

Grantaire blinked. “How so?”

Joly wet his lips. “In order to donate organs, a patient must meet one of two conditions. The easiest one is brain death. But unfortunately, we don’t know if Enjolras is brain dead yet.”

“How do you not know that?” Grantaire demanded. “Aren’t there tests?”

“Yes, and we’ve run all of them, but the tests revealed limited functioning. It could just have been an artifact of previous brain activity, so we’ll run the test again in a few hours.” Joly took a deep breath. “But if the repeat tests should even just the slightest amount of functioning, we legally can’t declare him brain dead.”

Grantaire shook his head slowly. “Ok, so what does that mean?”

“It means that him signing up to be an organ donor won’t be enough.” Joly met his eyes. “It means we would need your consent to withdraw life-sustaining measures and allow cardiac death if you wanted to donate his organs.”

Grantaire’s eyelids fluttered closed, and a muscle worked in his jaw for a long moment before he finally managed, his voice sharp, “Fine, whatever, I consent.” He opened his eyes to stare fiercely at Joly as if daring him to say anything. “Do you need me to sign something, or—?”

Joly just shook his head. “Again, it’s unfortunately not that simple.”

“Why not?” Grantaire asked tiredly, feeling older than he ever had before.

“Because no matter how small a chance it is, if he isn’t brain dead, then there is still a chance—”

“That he could wake up,” Grantaire finished with sudden realization, and he hated himself for the way his heart leapt in his chest, hated that after all this time, the only person in the damn world who could still make him feel something like hope was Enjolras.

Joly nodded. “Yes,” he said. “He could live in a comatose state for...well, technically indefinitely. And there have been cases where someone has woken up after a month, or six months, or a year, or—”

“But what are the chances of that actually happening here?” Grantaire asked, harsher than he intended, trying desperately to quash the hope he could still feel rising in his chest, that there might still be time left with Enjolras, time to at least say goodbye and tell him he was sorry, time to tell him he still – that he never stopped—

“In my medical opinion…” Joly hesitated. “Not high. The trauma that his brain has suffered...and even if he woke up, I don’t think he would be Enjolras anymore.”

Joly’s words hit Grantaire like a punch to the gut, and he sagged, still gripping the chair with all his strength to keep himself upright. “So then that’s that,” he said, his voice trembling, just slightly.

Joly just nodded once. “Like I said,” he said quietly, “you have a choice to make. Not even just in regards to donating his organs, but in regards to if you think he would want to live like this.”

A laugh burst unbidden in Grantaire’s throat, an almost hysterical sound, because that had been one of the last things Enjolras had said to him before telling him he wanted a divorce – “I just can’t live like this anymore,” Enjolras had said, sounding tired, and sad, and more defeated than Grantaire could possibly bear. “And I don’t think you can either. Or maybe you can, but that doesn’t mean we should.”

So Grantaire had signed the papers to dissolve his marriage to the only man he had ever loved and moved out, leaving Enjolras, and Les Amis, and his entire life behind. He had thought that chapter was over, but now—

He realized a moment too late that Joly had asked him something and was waiting for his answer, and shook his head once to clear it. “Sorry, what?” he asked.

“Do you want to see him?” Joly repeated.

Again, the words were like a dagger in him. “Until about three hours ago, my answer to that question would have unequivocally been yes,” Grantaire said, his voice low. “But now, like this…” He shook his head again. “But I have to, though, don’t I?”

He meant it more rhetorically than anything, but Joly shook his head, sympathy clear in his expression. “You don’t have to,” he told Grantaire. “Not if you don’t want to.”

“I should though,” Grantaire said with a sigh, scrubbing a hand across his face. “I can’t make this decision without seeing him – without it being real.”

He couldn’t, because no matter how things ended between them, he would never be able to picture Enjolras as anything other than alive, and perfect, and the thought of making a decision about ending his life when that was how he envisioned Enjolras still was frankly laughable. Absurd. Like the world’s sickest joke.

So he needed to see him. No matter how much it would break what was left of him in the process.

“Ok,” Joly said softly. “Then I’ll take you back to him.”

#enjolras x grantaire #exr #enjoltaire #grantaire #enjolras #joly #combeferre #courfeyrac #marius pontmercy #fanfiction #part 1 of 2 #les miserables #former relationship #car accident cw #major injury cw #end of life care cw #major character death cw #angst #all the angst

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davidmann95 · 4 years ago

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*sighs* Modern times are weird. Thoughts on *that* Morrison announcement today?

Anonymous said: Thoughts on Superman and The Authority by Morrison, Janin and Bellaire? Its in the Penguin Random House catalogue as a hardcover coming in November this year

Anonymous said: Thoughts on the news about Morrison doing Superman and the Authority?

Anonymous said: So uhhh, Morrison is doing a surprise Superman & Authority book?

Anonymous said: how do you feel about the upcoming Grant Morrison-penned Superman and the Authority

Anonymous said: Morrison writing Superman & The Authority?!?!? MORRISON WRITING MANCHESTER BLACK?!?!?! Fuck yes, now you’ll have to admit Manchester Black is awesome.

Anonymous said: Superman and the Authority???

Anonymous said: Authority/Superman book being written by Morrison?

jcogginsa said: So Grant Morrison's not done with Superman it seems.

Anonymous said: So, Superman and the Authority? Thoughts on Morrison staying at DC?

Anonymous said: You’ve probably already been asked by thoughts on the Superman and The Authority announcement?

adudewholikescomicsandotherstuff said: So, there’s a new grant Morrison Superman comic. Thoughts?

oh look someone took a video of me this morning

...actually not really, because I was tipped off a couple weeks ago as to this being a rumor in certain non-public circles, so I was left to mull on the notion in private for awhile. I had in fact assumed that it wasn’t real, and that while Superman & The Authority was in fact happening it had probably only been offered to Morrison as a courtesy and really someone else would be doing it.

Lots of thoughts between what I had on my own and from talking with Ritesh Babu/seeing his own responses, let’s get to it. Obviously the main reason this is happening is because Jim Lee wants it to be happening - he can’t let his baby die on the vine with Ellis, and he needs a BIG name to wash the taste out of everyone’s mouth. The question then is why Morrison would go for it when The Green Lantern and Wonder Woman: Earth One were such pointed goodbyes to Big Two comics, Klaus remains as an outlet for any cape stories they want to tell, and they’re making TV money now. I’d say the answer is that while Wonder Woman is a tale about clearing away the old ways of things to make room for the new, and Green Lantern is about what’s cleared away getting one last bow...Clark Kent can’t gracefully exit stage left the way Hal Jordan can. Even if most of the rest of pop culture will be supplanted by the tide of time we’re not going to stop getting Superman stories anytime soon. But while in Batman and The Just the big question was “What son could ever live up to the eternal, glorious father who will never fade?”, now the question is “Oh shit, wait, Jon Kent is on the CW and probably taking over the Superman book proper, and that Coates/Abrams movie might not even be about Clark one way or another. What’s the *old* guy supposed to do if he’s gonna keep hanging around?” That’s why it has to be a ‘proper’ DC book - it asks whether the old things we won’t shake can ever truly be new again, or at least find a new role for themselves. And that role involves the team from the last moment mainstream superhero comics really felt like the future to Morrison, the team that represented the next step past their own breakout work in JLA and that their onetime protege’s career would later springboard off of, that was the template for 21st century superhero aesthetics in general. I want the first words of the first interview for this to be “I swear to god this time I’m really done afterwards”, but however crassly commercial the origins, I can see how Morrison would be convinced to do this as a trilogy-capper conclusion to their post-Multiversity DC work (especially with how Pax Americana and Wonder Woman were both in conversation with that whole Mills/Ellis/Ennis/Millar mode of superhero comics). What role can the old archetypes serve in a brave new world?

Additional thoughts:

* According to the Penguin listing this while filling out a 139 page trade will only be two issues, so it seems they’ll both be massively oversized (wonder if there’ll be backups?) and released as a whole pretty much immediately. In line with the Klaus format, and pretty close to the original plan for Superman Beyond.

* Guess Morrison was consulting on the Superman stuff in Future State as more than a gesture of goodwill. This does seem to potentially be set in that period given Clark’s graying at the temples, and since Superman & The Authority was a 5G rumor from way back (notably the same month as the Ellis allegations coming out) there’s an additional question of how long ago this was written. Not long enough ago or standalone enough that they put it in Future State itself, but even so.

* Really glad Janin’s here - not only is he a perfect choice and tied into Superman right now, he’s the guy who drew Midnighter in Grayson, out of which we got Orlando and ACO’s Midnighter, so he’s at the root of the Wildstorm resurgence. Also curious to see how far Morrison can push him.

* Ritesh pointed this out: Clark’s fully Tom Strong. The hair, the short sleeves, the gloves, the science hero vibe. And a thread of PKJ’s run is Superman’s power is beginning to fade, so he’ll probably be in that territory physically too and therefore needing to rely on help from other heavy-hitters.

* The roster mostly makes sense: Midnighter and Apollo are the givens, a new speedster (Lightray?), they like Steel so Natasha Irons being here isn’t surprising, and of course they’d include OMAC. But Manchester? And a Manchester who looks like Peter Capaldi? A Manchester who as you note I’ll be forced to like now? Wild. And...Enchantress? Okay?

* As far as cameos go I’m curious if we’ll see Jon, since he’s the guy who needs to have replaced Superman for the story to make thematic sense as I’m assuming it is, or the Superman Squad for similar reasons + then this can be an avenue for Morrison to tell that big Squad story they had in mind.

* It’s curious that the cover isn’t on a surface level aggressively provocative, because there’s so much about this that is. Not even the obvious fact of a Superman & The Authority book with Manchester Black on it (itself a hilarious fuck you to What’s So Funny), but that it’s the Superman shield from Kingdom Come - the iconography of that version of that guy hanging out with the 90s ass-kicker team in excelsis isn’t inconsequential. And while Action Comics and its socialist strongman was playing as nice as it could with its New 52 surroundings, this as a Grant Morrison future for Superman that isn’t All-Star is itself a pretty plain statement of intent that hey, THIS is what they think about what Superman's potential now, not what they did 15 years ago. Will that be a condemnation alongside Blackstars and the Hyperman story in TGL, or a testament to Superman’s ability to change with the times and continue serving as the man of tomorrow? If this is being collected in November, I imagine we’ll see this summer.

#Superman and The Authority #Grant Morrison #Mikel Janin #Jordie Bellaire #Superman #The Authority #Tom Strong #Opinion

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tamiettitami · 4 years ago

Text

for this month's recommendations, i decided to go with the theme KISSES GALORE in honour of valentine's day. all of the below works have been posted in the month of february 2021 and hand selected by me <3

Sowing Discord by @chronologicalimplosion

A group of hyper-religious, homophobic protesters on campus ruins David's post-lunch good mood and he sends a half-joking message to the LGBTQ+ Discord server about staging a counterprotest. Constant lurker Patrick comes running.

Rated T for TEEN & UP AUDIENCES; 4,089 words; M/M; TAGGED for Patrick Brewer/David Rose, Original Characters, Alternative Universe, Alternative Universe - College/University, Homophobia, First Kiss, Epistolary, kind of

"This work features the inclusion of messages sent in Discord channels, a social media app I've never seen interrogated into a fanfiction piece before. The perfect balance of humour as well as tenderness makes this the ideal read to round out the month of love."

falling into place like dominos by @davidbrewer

Alexis spins the bottle and Stevie doesn’t know if she wants it to stop in front of her, or if she’s hoping it points literally anywhere else. She thinks she’ll figure it out when it stops moving, but… even with the neck of the bottle unmistakably pointing at her foot, she still can’t identify what the feeling is. Is that happiness or dread settling in the pit of her stomach? Since when do those completely different things feel exactly the same? If she’s being honest, though, it feels like a combination of things. It’s that feeling you get right before you do something you know you might regret later… like throwing back a jello shot (which she wishes she had done), calling an ex at 3am, or maybe jumping out of a plane.

David and Patrick hold a second housewarming party, this time at their newly-renovated cottage. For old times' sake, they decide to play spin the bottle. Meanwhile, Stevie has been wrestling with her feelings for Alexis since she left for New York... and it never occurred to her that those feelings could flow both ways.

Rated M for MATURE AUDIENCES; 4,897 words; F/F; TAGGED for Stevie Budd & Alexis Rose, Stevie Budd/Alexis Rose, Patrick Brewer/David Rose, Post-Canon, Lesbian Stevie Budd, First (Real) Kiss, Alcohol, Spin the Bottle, Queer Themes, Sexuality Crisis, (Although it's more of a frustrated confusing than a crisis tbh)

"The author's ability to voice every character (but specifically Alexis) will never fail to astound me; their inner voice for Stevie is the most notable in this work, however. Even the friendship/sibling dynamics between David and Alexis and as well as Stevie and Patrick are absolute perfection. One of the best 'Housewarming' codas I've ever endulged in and I can confidently says so."

Until I Lose My Breath by @the-kellephant

How could she have missed the fact that she was in love with Twyla?

Rated T for TEEN & UP AUDIENCES; 814 words; F/F; TAGGED for Stevie Budd/Twyla Sands, Friends to Lovers, First Kiss, Femslash February, Bisexual Stevie Budd, Lesbian Twyla Sands

"A lovely introspective piece about sapphic feelings and how they can often be blindsided by denial if not provided with the proper care or attention."

You can Stand Under my Umbrella by @agoodpersonrose

David thought the day couldn't possibly get any worse. But then it started to rain.

43. You both reach for the last umbrella in the store on a rainy day.

Rated T for TEEN & UP AUDIENCES; 2,721 words; M/M; TAGGED for Patrick Brewer/David Rose, Alternative Universe - Canon Divergence, Tumblr Prompt, Meet-Cute, First Kiss, First Meetings, Awkward Flirting, Kissing in the Rain, Umbrellas, Fluff and Humour, Tooth-Rotting Fluff, Prompt Fill, One Shot

"I have nothing to say besides this is hands down the most cute way this prompt could've been filled and I applaud Becca for her ability to write such tender moments in a way underlined with laughs."

Ten Tender Kisses by @cheesecurdsgravyandfries

Ten drabbles featuring ten tender kisses.

Rated G for GENERAL AUDIENCES; 1,110 words; M/M; TAGGED for Patrick Brewer/David Rose, Fluff, tender kisses, Canon Compliant

"Reading this was pure joy. The happiness I felt from the first drabble continued to grow the longer I scrolled which is truly a beautiful feeling. Their banter is so perfectly in character and the dynamic the author has created between David and Patrick is a skill I envy."

I Didn't Know it was a Crush, David by squigmistress

David and Patrick arrive home after The Premiere and David wants to talk more about some of the wild stuff Patrick said when he was high on pain meds. What he doesn't expect is Patrick's big, gay feelings. But damn, does he love him for it. OR Patrick needs emotional safety to process some feelings and, of course, David is more than happy to hold him through it.

Rated T for TEEN & UP AUDIENCES; 1,548 words; M/M; TAGGED for Patrick Brewer/David Rose, david rose - Relationship, Queer Themes, Coming Out, Episode: s06e05 The Premiere, Coda, Feelings, Feelings Realisation, Gay, Canon Gay Character, Family Issues, Intimacy, Non-Sexual Intimacy, Anger

"Now, I've always been a sucker for introspective works, but this took it to a brand new level. It's such a fine needle to thread; however, the author does an astounding job at cataloguing the growth/development of Patrick's emotions."

Be your remedy by @jessx2231

Patrick closes his eyes and brings to mind all the times David has put on music while Patrick is engrossed in a book or his phone or even the occasional weekend work task. Eventually, David will slink into his space, just enough to rest his head in Patrick’s lap. He doesn’t always do so with the intent to fall asleep, but it’s usually not long before Patrick’s fingers involuntarily find their way into David’s hair — much like they are now — and David’s breath will even out for a while.

He can definitely make an abridged version of that happen.

Or, David can't sleep and Patrick helps.

Rated G for GENERAL AUDIENCES; Creator Chose Not to Use Archive Warnings; 2,048 words; M/M; TAGGED for Patrick Brewer/David Rose, Fluff, Established Relationship, Canon Compliant, Post-Canon, Married Life, very mild descriptions of depressive symptoms, but really just some very soft sleepy boys

"A warm hug is the best way I can describe this. Also, I already knew I need a Patrick Brewer in my life, but this solidified that."

the paths that your eyes wander down by @anniemurphys apart of falling in love at a coffee shop by them, @thankstwy, and @landofsonlali

Written for the prompt: "Twyla and Alexis reunite in NYC."

Alexis finds Twyla at a tiny corner table.

Rated G for GENERAL AUDIENCES; 568 words; F/F; TAGGED for Alexis Rose/Twyla Sands, Post-Canon

"The absolute perfect romantic comedy moment paired with some of the most in-character Alexis dialogue I've seen in awhile, not to mention how beautifully the mutual pining is broken."

a sense of expectation hanging in the air by Anonymous (i'll add the author once reveals are out for the Season 7 collection !)

Stevie starts to realize she has feelings for Ruth. How long though, will it take for her to tell Ruth that?

Rated M for MATURE AUDIENCES; 6,548 words; F/F; TAGGED for Stevie Budd/Ruth Clancy, Stevie Budd & Alexis Rose & Twyla Sands, Stevie Budd & David Rose, Stevie Budd & Patrick Brewer, Alexis Rose/Twyla Sands, Post-Canon, Getting Together, Sharing a Bed, Cuddling & Snuggling, Making Out, Fluff, Texting, Female Friendship, Episode: s07e08 RMG, Workplace Relationship

"The support from Stevie's friends—Alexis, Twyla, David, and Patrick—is so incredibly lovely. Despite the secret crushes, Stevie and Ruth refuse to let anything get in the way of them getting together and it's such a wonderful thing to see them immediately all-in the relationship."

got a fistful of four leaf clovers by iphigenias

Two weeks before Christmas Alexis calls David.

“So I think I like someone,” she says.

Rated T for TEEN & UP AUDIENCES; 1,754 words; F/F; TAGGED for Post-Canon, Getting Together, Femslash February, home is a place AND a person!

"Alexis's slow burn of building feelings for Twyla melts my heart. That being said, the realistic depiction of the difficulties that come with change provides a certain depth to this story it needs."

#schitt's creek #schitts creek #david rose #patrick brewer #stevie budd #twyla sands #alexis rose #david x patrick #david & patrick #stevie x alexis #stevie & alexis #twyla x alexis #twyla & alexis #twylexis #fic recommendations #fanficiton #*lolrecs #schitt's creek fic #february roundup

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ashiversary · 4 years ago

Text

If We're Honest - Chapter 1

Read the full fic on ao3!

Blanche took a deep breath and straightened their jacket. Then they ran their hands over their hair to double check that it hadn’t gotten mussed when they were overseeing the introduction of a new shipment of Tentacool to one of Team Mystic’s training pools. It was the end of their first week on the job, and Professor Willow had summoned them to his office so that he could introduce them to the representatives from other teams.

Blanche had dreaded this meeting from the moment their assistant, Annie, had entered it in their schedule days ago. While they were capable of carrying out the duties required of their position, Blanche had an unfortunate but notable weakness with social interactions. Annie had worked under the previous Leader of Team Mystic prior to his retirement, and she stressed the importance of good relations between the teams to Blanche in preparation of this meeting. While there was a certain amount of rivalry encouraged between Teams Mystic, Instinct, and Valor, a lot of their research duties required cooperation. Team Instinct, for example, ran most of the hatcheries in the Opal Region, and had contacts with other hatcheries overseas where they could obtain rare pokemon. Therefore, Team Instinct’s cooperation was needed in order for Team Mystic to be supplied with new hatchlings for their research.

Annie had warned them of the type of backlog that could occur when relations were not good, as they had been until Leader Spark took the position with Instinct a handful of months ago.

As for Team Valor, their specialty was pokemon battling and combat. Some pokemon only evolved in battle, and while Mystic could do this themselves, Team Valor was the expert and results were often better when they assisted.

While Annie didn’t say so outright, she implied that Leader Candela of Valor was headstrong and hard to deal with.

It was time. Blanche knocked on the door. “Come in!” Professor Willow called from the other side.

Before Blanche could, the door was opened by a smiling blond man. “Hey! You must be Blanche. I’m Spark.” Blanche’s hand was seized and shaken. “Sorry for not dropping by Mystic HQ to say hi to you. I’m still new too, so there’s a lot to do.”

As he spoke, Spark pulled Blanche into the room by the hand he refused to let go of despite Blanche’s attempts to tug it free. “And here’s Candela!”

Spark gestured at the woman leaning against Professor Willow’s desk. Blanche took advantage of his distraction to yank their hand free.

“Hello! Don’t worry about Spark. He’s enthusiastic but harmless. Mostly, anyway.” Candela’s lips stretched in a grin like she knew something Blanche didn’t.

“I’m Blanche from Team Mystic. It’s a pleasure to finally meet you both,” Blanche said, slipping into formality to soothe their nerves.

Professor Willow smiled at Blanche. If they weren’t mistaken, he looked a bit harried - there were pens stuck behind both of his ears and his glasses were shoved to the top of his head. Blanche wondered if he knew.

“Blanche! Right on time. Thanks for coming,” he said with his warm smile. “Since everyone has been introduced, we can go over a few things…”

The meeting lasted for an hour. The three leaders exchanged contact information and discussed ongoing mutual projects that had been in the works since before Blanche was hired. Blanche took notes on their tablet, asked pointed questions, and was satisfied overall with how the meeting went. Of course they would rather be in the lab, but they understood that a leadership role required a certain amount of bureaucracy.

As the meeting wound to a close and Blanche gathered their things to leave, Spark’s hand clasped their shoulder. Blanche flinched - they had never been overfond of physical contact from anyone other than their twin. “What?”

“We should all have dinner together!” Spark said. His most characteristic expression, if this meeting was any indication, was a wide grin. It was on his face now. “Candy, you too. It’s good for team relations and stuff.”

Candela rolled her eyes at the nickname, but smiled. “Sure, Sparky,” she retorted.

If she intended to come across as rude, it didn’t seem Spark registered it that way. “Great! Whaddaya say, Blanche?”

Blanche brushed his hand from their shoulder. “Perhaps some other time.” Blanche knew that it was important to get along with the other team leaders, but they had used up all of their ‘socializing with new people energy’ to get through this meeting. “It’s still my first week, and I have a lot to get caught up on.”

“Aw, you’re not planning to work all weekend, are ya?” Spark frowned.

Candela laughed. “As if the both of us won’t be doing the same thing! I don’t think I’ve had a proper weekend in…” she counted on her fingers. “Four months?”

“Is that when Silas quit on ya?”

“Yeah. He left the catalogue system a disaster. Charles and I have been working on it whenever we have time, but there’s so much other work-”

While the other leaders were distracted, Blanche took the opportunity to duck out with a last nod to Professor Willow. The door clicked shut behind them, cutting Spark off mid-sentence.

Blanche held in their sigh of relief until they were alone in the elevator. Annie wanted Blanche to go home after the meeting. “Get a proper rest! We can’t have you burning out after your first week,” she’d said. But there was some work Blanche wanted to finish up. There was a clutch of Vaporeon that had evolved that morning, and Blanche planned to assess them in one of the training pools to calculate their stats. That counted as a break, right? They wouldn’t be at their desk.

But Annie, after knowing Blanche for a week, seemed able to predict them.

She was on the deck on the training pool tapping her foot when Blanche entered after changing into a rashguard and swim shorts. “I thought I sent you home,” Blanche said with a frown.

Annie’s hands were planted on her hips. “And I thought I told you not to come back after your meeting!”

Blanche grew up with a strong-willed twin and was not to be pushed around. “The Vaporeon need to be worked with while the evolution is still fresh, so that I can compare their performance now and track how it changes over the next few days and weeks.” As Blanche spoke, they marched past Annie and set the carry case that held the four pokeballs next to the pool. Annie turned to track their movements, but said nothing. “It is best done now. Besides, it relaxes me and I enjoy it.”

Blanche glanced back to see if Annie had further arguments, but she didn’t appear to have heard their arguments. Blanche paused in the act of removing a pokeball from the case. “Problem?”

Annie jolted and a strange look crossed her face. Blanche didn’t know what it meant, but before they could ask, it had been replaced with a sheepish smile. “Oh, no, not at all! I was just looking at your soulmark.” She bit her lip. “I didn’t realize you had one.”

“Oh.” Blanche released the first Vaporeon from its pokeball. It landed in the water with a splash and bobbed to the surface with a smug grin that reminded Blanche of their own Vaporeon, Sushi. Perhaps they could incorporate Sushi into the training later. “It’s not very interesting. Experts estimate that about 80% of the population has a soulmate.”

“I don’t. Have one, I mean.” Annie’s voice was quiet.

Blanche had been about to slip into the pool. At Annie’s words, they froze. They looked back. Her brown eyes were still locked on the complex star marked in blue on Blanche’s left calf. Ah. Their previous words had been inconsiderate. It hadn’t occurred to them that Annie might be among the 20% of people who did not have a soulmate. “I apologize. I didn’t mean-”

Annie was shaking her head. “It’s fine!” She smiled, but it was strained around the edges. “Can I see yours? If you don’t mind. I know some people are very private about them.”

“I don’t mind at all.”

Blanche extended their left leg a bit so that Annie could see better as she came over. She traced the swirls and geometric shapes inside the outline of the star with the tips of her fingers. Then, as though she just realized what she was doing, she snatched her hand away. “Sorry! I should have asked.”

“It’s fine. Are you done looking?” At Annie’s nod, Blanche withdrew their leg and swung into the pool. They tried to do it carefully, but some water still splashed up and soaked the edge of Annie’s coat. “Sorry.”

“No problem.” Annie said cross-legged at the edge of the pool without seeming to care about the water that lapped over the edge as Blanche clapped their hands to call the Vaporeon’s attention to them. It was frisking in the water and did not come when called.

“What’s your soulmate like?” Annie asked.

“I don’t know. I haven’t met them.” The water was hip deep, and the Vaporeon swam away as Blanche waded toward it. Such mischief could be endearing, but not when there was work to be done. “Annie, please throw me one of the poffins in the case.”

Annie leaned over and pulled out the resealable plastic bag of poffins. “Which flavour?”

“It would seem it has an impish or naughty nature. Let’s try spicy to start.” Blanche caught the poffin Annie tossed them and waggled it at the Vaporeon. The pokemon poked its head above the water, nostrils flaring as it scented the treat. It drifted closer and licked its lips.

“If you want a reward, you must do as I say,” Blanche said as the Vaporeon rolled over to its back to attempt to charm Blanche out of the poffin.

“There are sites where you can post photos of your soulmark. They’re supposed to scan the pictures and find if someone else has posted the matching mark,” Annie said, watching as Blanche cajoled the uncooperative Vaporeon through its paces.

Blanche grimaced at the Vaporeon splashed them in the face as it made a grab for the treat. Blanche held it well out of reach and was unmoved by the Vaporeon’s whining and pitiful expression. “No, you haven’t earned it yet,” they scolded. To Annie they said, “I know. I’m not interested.”

After that Annie let the subject drop. Blanche wondered if they had been unkind again, telling her that they had no interest in finding their soulmate while knowing that she did not have one. But such things were personal. And she had been the one to bring up the subject in the first place.

Annie let Blanche go through all of the Vaporeon, but then she insisted that they go home. Maybe Blanche could have pushed the issue, but it didn’t seem worth it. Besides, they wanted to stop by the library on their way home. One of the holds they’d placed at the beginning of the week had come in, and they needed to pick it up.

It was an unpleasant surprise to find their twin, Noire, lounging against their motorcycle when they went down to the parking garage. Blanche stopped under one of the lamps and grimaced. Noire hadn’t noticed Blanche yet, so they had a moment to decide what to do.

Blanche loved their twin. Noire was one of the few people Blanche could say with certainty that they *did* love. The pair of them were found, battered and bruised, in an alley in Orre some 20 years ago with no memory of how they’d gotten there. They’d been inseparable ever since.

Well, until Blanche had decided to pursue a Bachelor’s degree and then acted as an assistant to Professor Oak for a couple years. Noire acted like that had been a huge betrayal, Blanche leaving Noire, and made no secret of the fact that they disapproved of Blanche’s life choices.

Since Noire had chosen to join Team Rocket and lead a life of organized crime, this was extra insulting.

There was no helping it. Blanche’s pushy assistant was doubtless still lurking to make sure that Blanche left the building. Noire had gotten comfortable on Blanche’s means of transportation. Blanche would have to remove them.

The echo of Blanche’s heels caught Noire’s attention and they sat up to watch Blanche approach. “What are you doing here, Noire?” Blanche asked once they were within hailing distance.

Noire rolled their eyes. “I came to see how the new job was going. You said you’d call me, and you never did. What, I’m good enough to help you move into your condo, but not good enough to chat with?”

Blanche winced. “I’m sorry. I got caught up and forgot.” It was the truth. That, and Blanche had gotten out of the habit of calling Noire after years of the silent treatment. Noire hadn’t taken Blanche’s defection from their guardians at Team Rocket well.

“Yeah, okay.” Noire pushed off Blanche’s bike and tucked their hands in the pockets of their slacks. “I just wanted to make sure the science-types hadn’t melted you in a vat of acid or something.”

“No, everything’s fine.” Blanche cursed their own vagueness. “Well. It’s going well.”

“Good. Where we going?”

“You don’t have a helmet.”

Noire nudged a helmet into view with their foot, then kicked it up and caught it. Out of arguments, Blanche put their own helmet on and swung their leg over their bike. They waited for Noire to put their own helmet on and settle behind them. Blanche never liked riding double, but Noire was the only one they’d make an exception for.

When they stopped at the library and pulled their helmets off, Blanche caught sight of Noire’s disgusted face. “What?”

“The library? *Seriously?*” Noire jogged up the steps after Blanche. “What century are we in? All this stuff is digital these days.”

“I prefer physical books.” Blanche held the door open so that Noire could follow them in. They automatically lowered their voice as they moved further into the library. “I also believe that it’s important to support local libraries as they provide important resources and services. Part of that support is checking out books.”

Noire was rolling their eyes at Blanche again, but Blanche turned their back and refused to look. They went to the holds shelf and found the books held under their name. As they tucked the books under their arm, they caught Noire bending and squinting to make out the title.

“Oh, it’s that trashy sci-fi series you like,” Noire said, losing interest as they straightened.

Offended, Blanche retorted, “I don’t make fun of you about your cheesy housewife dramas.”

Noire leveled them with a look. “Yeah, you do.”

Well, maybe they did, but Blanche wasn’t about to admit it. Instead they let Noire haul them out to dinner like they hadn’t allowed the other Team Leaders, and made polite conversation with Noire’s partner, Amelie.

Unlike Blanche, Noire cared about soulmates. And Amelie was theirs. The two of them met in the ranks of Team Rocket and now wrought havoc as a criminal power couple.

Blanche supposed that was a soulmate thing.

It was late by the time Blanche managed to squirm away and go home. Even so, they stayed up an extra hour (or two…) in order to start their book. They did not wait a week for it to not read it right away.

Blanche’s head buzzed with exhaustion when they hauled their butt to work the next morning. While they were not required to work weekends, Mystic Laboratories never truly closed. There was someone working on a project or writing a report or analyzing data at all hours on all days. Therefore, Blanche had decided to make it a priority to be at the labs for at least part of every day in case there was anything that needed their personal and immediate attention.

It was a good thing they did. Just before lunch, which Blanche wasn’t intending to take anyway, one of the techs knocked on the door to Blanche’s office and burst in without waiting for a response. “Leader Blanche!” she blurted out before Blanche could tell her not to do that in the future. “We just heard that the shipment of Snom eggs from Instinct is being delivered now instead of Monday.”

“What?” Blanche’s hands froze on their keyboard. They checked their schedule. Damn it. That shipment wasn’t scheduled to arrive until Monday at 2 p.m. “Why now?”

“Leader Spark says that the eggs are about to hatch. As our project requires newly-hatched Snom, waiting two days to send them to us could skew our results. Leader Spark is delivering them personally and should be here in about ten minutes.” The woman fidgeted as she talked. Her anxiety was unnecessary. Blanche wasn’t going to scold her because something urgent cropped up. That was the nature of this profession, sometimes.

Blanche stood and grabbed their jacket off the back of their desk chair. “Understood. I’ll go meet him and get the Snom settled in.” There was no choice. Although there was always someone here, it was a skeleton crew on weekends. Even Team Mystic liked their weekends.

By the time Blanche arrived, Spark and another trainer in Team Instinct yellow were unloading incubators of eggs from the back of a panel van. Spark spotted Blanche and grinned. It was a sunny expression that suited his golden blond hair and sky blue eyes. Blanche couldn’t return it, though. Such expressions weren’t in their nature.

“Heya, Blanche! Sorry for the change in schedule. But the babies hatch when they’re gonna hatch, and there’s nothing humans can do about it.” Spark passed the last incubator to his assistant and jumped down.

The greeting was informal for Blanche’s tastes, but they let it go. Team relations were important, and Spark had held the position of Team Leader longer than Blanche had. It would be presumptuous to scold him after only a week at the post. “That’s fine. Thank you for bringing them so promptly,” Blanche said instead. They bent to inspect one of the eggs through the clear glass of the incubator. A visual exam revealed nothing, but Blanche was not the expert in pokemon breeding. They would have to take Spark’s word for it that they would hatch soon.

“When do you believe that they will hatch?” Blanche assumed that it must be today or he wouldn’t have brought them in such a hurry.

“Oh, within the next half hour, for sure.” Spark’s easy reply filled Blanche with horror. They weren’t set up for the hatchling Snom yet.

“Annie!” Blanche called. She was never far. Sure enough, her head popped around the corner.

“Yes, Chief?”

“We need the terrariums set up for twelve hatchling Snom. Time is of the essence.”

“Got it!” She gave a salute and vanished.

The tech fetched a cart and they loaded the incubators onto it. Spark hung around, and even though he told his assistant to head out, the young man in yellow stayed as well. When Blanche asked, Spark said that he wanted to make sure the eggs were settled in and hatched safely. Blanche didn’t like the sensation of being hovered over but could not fault him for wanting to see a task through to completion.

The cooing, however, baffled them.

“There we go, baby, let’s get you all settled in,” Spark crooned to the eggs as he got the incubators settled in the room designated for them. “There, see, all nice and warm. What good babies.”

Blanche was embarrassed just listening to it, but they continued to organize the terrariums for the Snom when they hatched and coordinated contacting the Mystic scientists in charge of the Snom project and telling them they needed to come in. It was easier to pretend they couldn’t hear when they had so much to do.

But it was amazing to watch a baby pokemon come into the world. Two of the researchers arrived just in time to record the data, so Blanche set their tablet down and leaned back to witness the miracle now that they were not required to be the one to document it.

The shells cracked and Snom crawled out one by one. Without disturbing the newborn pokemon, Spark reached in to hit the release on the incubators. The glass slid open and it wasn’t long before the hatchlings crept out of their incubators to explore.

The terrarium was set up as a natural Snom habitat with non-intrusive dividers so that each pair of Snom was kept separate from the others for control purposes. But there were leaves for them to chew on and branches to climb.

Spark lifted out the incubators as the Snom vacated them and set them on the floor. “Go, can you go load these back up in the truck?” he asked his assistant. If not for Spark’s cheeky grin, Blanche may have missed the pun. But from the look of tired exasperation on Go’s face, this type of joke was not uncommon.

“Got it. You want me to wait for you?”

“Nah, I can find my own way back.”

Once Go and his cart of incubators had gone, Spark turned to Blanche with the grin that they were starting to become familiar with. “Have you had lunch yet?”

Blanche wasn’t expecting that question and answered honestly on reflex. “No.”

“Great! It looks like your people have things under control here.” Spark gestured at the techs bustling around the terrariums. “How about we go grab a bite to eat? My treat.”

Blanche wanted to refuse. They had so much to do! But Spark had done them a favour by personally arranging to bring the Snom to Team Mystic two days ahead of schedule. An hour or so of team bonding wasn’t such a bad trade off. “Did you have a place in mind?”

Spark’s grin broadened. “Yeah! You good with spicy food? There’s this Unovan place me and Candy go to all the time. It’s so good.”

“Spicy food is fine.”

There was just enough time for Blanche to shove their tablet into Annie’s arms and inform her that they were taking their lunch break before Spark slung his arm around Blanche’s neck and steered them out the door. When they were on the first floor crossing the reception area through the door, the whispers started.

“Look. It’s the Rocket brat.”

“What? How can a former Team Rocket member be allowed into the Go Program?”

“They need to up their background checks for this place. They’re letting all kinds of scum in.”

Blanche flinched. Their shoulders stiffened, and their hands formed fists at their sides. Ah, so it had gotten out already. Blanche forced themself to take a deep breath. Well, it didn’t matter. Let them talk. Blanche had dealt with stares and whispers often since leaving the care of Rocket Executive Sabrina.

Spark stopped dead in the middle of the reception area with his arm still looped around Blanche’s shoulders. In an instant his grin had vanished to be replaced with a stone-eyed stare. Blanche flinched again, intimidated despite themself.

“You wanna come over here and say that shit?” Spark said, voice low and dangerous.

The reception area went dead quiet. Nobody moved.

“Yeah, that’s what I thought. C’mon, Blanche.”

Despite their resolve that it didn’t matter, Blanche’s hands were shaking when they made it onto the sidewalk. “I must apologize,” they said, pulling away from Spark’s arm but sticking close to him on the sidewalk. He sent them a puzzled look, but Blanche continued staring straight ahead. “It’s true that I was raised by Team Rocket, but I left the organization when I was a teenager. I-”

“Blanche.” Spark stopped. Blanche continued for a few steps before they stopped and turned to look at him questioningly. Spark’s face was uncharacteristically serious. “They were talking about *me.*”

“What?”

Spark shrugged like it was no big deal. Maybe to him it wasn’t. “My parents died in a raid Team Rocket was involved in. There’ve been rumours since I was a kid that they were part of Team Rocket. I was raised by my Uncle Surge, who is a member of Team Rocket. People say all kinds of shit about it.”

“Oh.” He was an orphan, like them, who had been taken in by Team Rocket. In his case it had been an actual family member, but Blanche supposed it amounted to the same thing.

Spark was still standing in the middle of the sidewalk. “So…?”

“So?”

“We still gonna have lunch?”

“Yes? I am waiting for you,” Blanche said, confused. “I don’t know where the restaurant is.”

Spark looked startled for a moment. Then his grin reappeared, slowly and full of relief. “Okay. Follow me.”

The restaurant was a cozy family-owned affair. The staff greeted Spark by name and asked who his ‘new friend’ was as they led them to a table. Blanche let Spark handle the social pleasantries and browsed the menu. As Spark had warned, most of the available fare was spicy. But Blanche could handle spicy.

“What do you recommend?” Blanche asked once the server left them.

“Oh, the curry for sure. It’s amazing.” Spark leaned over to point to the appropriate section of the menu. “They’ve got a few options depending on what flavours you like and your tolerance for spice.”

“All right.” Blanche decided to try the green curry and set their menu aside. Spark was a regular at this restaurant and already knew what he wanted. While their orders were sent to the kitchen and the server brought them tea, Blanche and Spark made small talk.

“You’re not from Opal, right? Have you settled into your place?” Spark asked.

“Yes. I’m from- well.” Blanche stopped, sighed, and rephrased. “Originally I’m from Orre, but I don’t remember it very well. I grew up in Kanto. Opal seems quite different, but I like it so far.”

“Hey, I grew up in Kanto too!” Spark leaned forward in excitement. “Where abouts are you from?”

“Saffron City.”

“Ahhh. I’m from Vermilion City. Man, we grew up so close together. Small world, huh?”

“Indeed.” Blanche sipped their tea.

“Did your wife come with you?”

Blanche choked, slapping a hand over their mouth to keep from spewing tea everywhere. “My what?”

Spark looked confused. “Your wife? The short, busty redhead? I’m sure I’ve seen you two together before.”

Ohhhh. “That’s Amelie,” Blanche said, grabbing a napkin to clean up their mess. “She’s not my wife. She’s the soulmate of my twin, Noire.”

“Oh!” Spark’s eyes went wide. “There’s two of you?”

“No. There is one of me, and one of Noire.” Blanche didn’t quite keep the impatience out of their voice. They glared when Spark laughed. The server looked between them curiously when she set down their steaming plates of food, but she seemed to know better than to ask.

“Sorry. You get that a lot, huh?”

“Yes,” said Blanche with emphasis.

“Sorry.” There was a brief silence. Blanche wondered if they had offended Spark, but sampled their curry while they waited for him to speak. It was delicious.

“What about you?” Spark asked. Seeing from Blanche’s questioning look that they didn’t know what he meant, he elaborated. “Do you have a soulmate?”

This conversation again. Soulmates seemed to be all anyone ever wanted to talk about. “I have a mark. I have not met the person who bears the same one.” They hoped that would be enough to shut down the conversation, but it was not.

“I haven’t met mine either,” Spark said, and took a generous bite of his own curry. His face flushed from the heat, but he didn’t seem to mind the spice. Then his eyes lit and he leaned across the table again. “Hey! Can I see your mark?”

“No.” Blanche was startled into instant and complete refusal. It wasn’t even as though they viewed their mark as private like some did - after all, they hadn’t minded Annie seeing it. But people usually saw it by chance rather than asking boldly like this.

“Why?” Spark’s head tilted like a bird. “Is it somewhere private?”

“No.” Blanche didn’t want him assuming it was on their butt or something either. “It’s on my leg.”

“Really? Mine too!” Spark seemed pleased. “Which leg?”

“…My left.”

“Okay, now you’ve gotta show me,” Spark said.

Blanche almost asked why, but then realized. His mark must be on his left leg too. Oh no. This was awkward. But they were being ridiculous. There were only so many places for a mark to appear - with the billions of people in the world, there had to be thousands upon thousands whose soulmark was on their left leg. There was no need to jump to conclusions. “I-”

“Wait, scratch that. If you’re not comfortable, I can just show you mine. You can tell me if it matches, ‘kay?”

Blanche nodded. Their throat was too tight to speak.

Spark braced his left ankle on his right knee and began to roll up his pant leg. It took an agonizing amount of time because Spark liked his pants tight. In the meantime, Blanche waffled between wanting to know and wanting to get up and run. It couldn’t be Spark. It would be too much of a coincidence.

But the bottom of the design became visible on Spark’s calf as he continued to work his tight leather pant leg up, swearing under his breath. Blanche recognized the bottom point of the star, the same one that had appeared on their own leg when they were fifteen. They had gone off to college, early, because they’d been home schooled by tutors Sabrina hired, and it was their first night in the dorm. Their first night away from Noire.

The mark hadn’t been there when they left home, but it was there when they got out of the shower to get ready for bed that night. Blanche saw it and stared in disbelief before they collapsed on the floor sobbing. No. They couldn’t have a soulmate. They weren’t even sure if they were human. They didn’t remember enough to know if they weren’t.

It had shocked them to be so devastated by the mark. Noire’s soulmark had appeared on their bicep three years earlier and it hadn’t been horrible. True, Blanche had been a little jealous that someone else was going to be the closest person to Noire, but that was part of growing up.

The feelings had dulled over the years, but had never disappeared.

The mark on Spark’s calf was fully visible now. There was no mistake.

“It matches,” Blanche said when Spark looked at them. They hoped their anguish didn’t show in their face or voice.

Something must show, because rather than beaming or grabbing them, Spark laid a gentle hand over theirs. “Want a ride home? We don’t gotta talk about it now if you don’t want to.”

“Thank you.”

It was testament to Blanche’s state of mind that Spark managed to get away with paying the whole bill. Although it was an awkward ride home in Spark’s jeep, Blanche wasn’t sure they could control their motorcycle in their emotional state.

When they arrived, Spark offered to walk them up. Blanche declined. “Thank you, but I’ll be fine.” They hesitated before closing the Jeep door. Spark seemed like a good man. They didn’t want to leave him hurt, as he must be knowing that Blanche was not thrilled. “Thank you again, Spark. And I’m sorry. I’m not upset that it’s you, it’s just…”

Spark smiled at them. “Hey, it’s okay.” He couldn’t pat their hand while sitting in the driver’s seat with them standing on the sidewalk, but his fingers twitched like he wanted to. “These things are personal, so it’s emotionally-charged for a lot of people. Don’t worry about me, ‘kay? We’ll talk another time.”

“All right.” Blanche let the door fall closed. Spark didn’t drive away until Blanche had unlocked the front door to the condo building and closed it behind them. He was a good guy, Blanche thought again.

Blanche just wasn’t sure if they were a good enough person to deserve him.

#Pokemon Go #Ashiversary #chiiwifruit #submission #fanfiction #Blanche #Spark #Candela #Team Mystic #Team Instinct #Team Valor #If We're Honest

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creativeskullcreations · 4 years ago

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Chapter 10: A Real Guilty Feeling

Hey everybody, here's chapter 10! But, unfortunately, it'll be the last chapter you see for a while. I need to take a break from writing for a while, do something else and recharge a bit. Maybe also knock out some drawings too while I'm at it.

Current timeline is looking like this: Couple of weeks without writing, and then maybe build up a bit of a buffer of chapters for <i>Outside</i>. But first, I'll be working on episode 2 of <i>Happy Times at Handeemen HQ</i>. Y'all are starting to show an interest in that, and I wanna put something new out for it.

If you want to keep updated, or even just see what I'm drawing, you can follow my art Tumblr here. Also check out my YouTube, in case of livestreams or speedpaints!(Am I plugging my own stuff too much?)

Whenever I'm ready to start posting again, I'll make sure to leave an announcement on here.

I'll see y'all later.

When Will got home, he dumped Stacy's stuff and scout on the couch. He then pointed out his locked workroom, and told her that she was never to go in there no matter what. That done, he left her to her own devices, and went off to bed. He took off his shirt and jeans, then crawled under the sheets. The last thing he did before passing out was shoot off a message to the group chat about how DnD Night was canceled until further notice.

When he woke up, far too few hours later, it was to a light weight on his chest. He stared at Scout for a moment, then picked her up and dropped her on the floor, rolling onto his front. He grabbed his phone, squinting at the too bright screen. Several messages were in the chat, and he sighed as he opened it up and scrolled to the top.

Masonary: um, excuse me?! i asked for that day off u can't cancel!!! somebody better be dead! D:<

Blooming_Stitches: Mason, shut up. We don't know what could be going on.

drWEED420: ugh, stacy. I told you to call me.

Masonary: y would stacy need to call u sam?

Masonary: is it because she hacked ur account and changed ur name again?

drWEED420 has changed their name to DrSamIAm

DrSamIAm: no but it is something we'll going to talk abaout.

Will_and_a_Way: Stace is in the hospital for infected surgery stitches

Blooming_Stitches: I'M SORRY WHAT

Masonry: dude i was joking about som1 being dead

DrSamIAm: goddamit stacy

DrSamIAm has left the chat We're ALL Idiots Here

Masonry: ok first of all what happened to stacy

Masonry: second who changed the chat name again?

Blooming_Stitches: lol

Will sighed, the went into his phone and pulled up his drop box, where he'd sneaked the file into a while ago. He hesitated briefly, then sent it to the chat. Stacy could be mad at him later, but he was too tired to think up a cover story for her right now.

Will_and_a_Way posted a file in We're ALL Idiots Here

Masonry: ?

Blooming_Stitches: !

Will_and_a_Way: read that if you guys want to know what happned.

Will_and_a_Way: I'm going back to sleep now try not to kill each other

He clicked his phone off, dropping it to his mattress and letting his head fall on his pillow. Within seconds he was back asleep, completely oblivious to Scout Jumping back on his bed and climbing onto his back. She curled around the small Kirby toy, using it as a pillow as she settled back into sleep herself.

()()()

When Will woke up again, it was to a light weight in the center of his back, right below his shoulder blades. He huffed, glaring at the wall. He took a deep breath, then heaved himself up with all his strength. As predicted, Scout was catapulted off, and he quickly got out of bed, heading to the kitchen.

He made himself some toast, checking his phone on the way. The group chat was mostly just full of the various reactions from Lisa and Mason. Sammy had come back at some point, going on a rant about what Stacy hadn't told him.

He read over the various comments as he ate, able to tell where they were in the document. Unsurprisingly, Mason finished it first, and Lisa was intent on meeting Scout. Sammy had told her Scout was nothing special, which Will privately agreed with. He finished the back reading and, seeing as nobody was online at the moment, locked his phone again. He picked up his toast and moved into his work room for the time being, deciding to get something done.

It was easy, really, for Will to get lost in his work. Dissecting the "toys" he brought home, taking them apart and recording it in his notes. He was currently working on the body of the head he'd been looking at last night. The brown, fuzzy thing was strapped securely onto the table, the front having been sawed apart and spread open.

He shifted through the innards, making careful, detailed notes about what was in there. He would compare them to the stolen blueprints later, figure out what was supposed to be in there and what wasn't. For now, though, the intention was to make a catalogue of parts.

When his phone alarm finally went off, signalling it was lunch time, he straightened up with a sigh. He pulled off his rubber gloves and, making sure the straps on the table were tight, went out to the kitchen. He made himself a simple sandwich, eating it in the kitchen as he glanced through the group chat. Mason and Lisa were on and currently discussing things, but Sam hadn't been on again since his rant.

He lurked a bit longer after he finished his sandwich, then got up to go back to work. On the way through the living room, he paused when he saw Scout sitting on the couch. She was curled up in the corner, Kirby plush on her lap as she stared at it. Even as a Puppet, he recognized the look on her face as one Stacy had often worn in the first year after her mother had died.

'Why the hell do I feel so bad for that thing?' He sighed, rubbing at his face. Making a snap decision, he went over to his DVD shelf and pulled out The Iron Giant. He turned on the TV and player, then loaded in the movie, skipping the previews. When he reached the main menu, he selected play and dropped the remote near Scout. He then left, heading back towards the basement and his work.

Scout watched go, staring silently after him as he once again disappeared behind the locked door. She didn't even try to follow him, instead settling in to watch the show he'd turned on. With any luck, it would be violent and/or funny enough to take her mind off of things.

()()()

'That is the saddest shit I have ever seen...' She sniffed, rubbing at her frustratingly dry eyes. 'I can't believe he let himself get blown up like that. What the fuck.' She rubbed at her eyes some more, then tried to figure out how to choose a different show. When she couldn't figure it out, she threw the remote down in frustration. 'Fuck it! Where's Will?'

She Jumped from the couch, heading over to the locked door. She peered in the crack between the door and the floor, but couldn't see anything. She could hear, however, and what she heard were power tools. The sound sent a shock through her system, dredging up unwanted memories of Riley's lab. She drew back, then jumped onto a nearby table when the noise stopped. Thinking quickly, she opened the drawer that was there and tried to pretend that she had been going through it.

Will came out of the room a minute later, wiping his hands with a dirty towel. He glared when he saw what she was "doing". "What the hell are you doing? Get out of there!" It wasn't quite yelling, but his voice was definitely louder than it needed to be. Scout suppressed her fear and scoffed.

"Fine. There wasn't anything but batteries in there anyways." She slammed the drawer closed, feeling a small, petty joy in how the contents rattled around when she did. She watched him cross to his bedroom and, when he'd closed his door, opened the drawer back up in order to snoop for real.

Batteries, keys, some weird plastic clips, and other odds and ends she didn't have words for had been organized neatly in the drawer. Working quickly, she shuffled everything around even more, then shoved a handful of what was sitting on the table into the drawer. She then closed it again and sat back as innocently as she could, tilting the shade of the lamp next to her. When Will came back out, now dressed in different clothes, he sighed and fixed the shade.

She watched as he gathered up a couple of things, then came over and grabbed up a set of keys she hadn't dumped into the drawer. There was a pause, or maybe more of a hesitation, and then he scooped her up and left the house, ignoring her protests.

"Hey! Hey lemme go! H-mmph?!" He easily covered her mouth with one hand as he locked the door. He made his way to his car, not letting her go into he'd climbed in and dumped her in the passenger seat. "What was that for?!"

"Okay, here's the deal." He told her, ignoring the question. "We're going to go see Stacy. To do that, we have to go through a whole hospital full of people. And you will be quiet and good the whole time, or you will be going out the nearest window."

"We're going to go see Stacy..." That was the one thing she had really comprehended. Her Host was alive, Scout knew she had to be. If she wasn't, then the Puppet wouldn't have long to-

It didn't matter. She didn't matter, not after what almost happened. Not after what she almost did, accidentally or not.

She was jolted out of her thoughts as Will started the car, realizing belatedly that he'd continued talking to her. She hoped he hadn't noticed she wasn't paying attention. Whatever he'd been doing behind that door, she did not want to become his next patient.

In the silence of the car ride, Scout easily lost herself in the thoughts swirling through her head. The most prominent were thoughts of guilt, knowing she was to blame for this and wondering where she had gone wrong. Maybe she hadn't tried as hard as she should've to subjugate her Host back in the Studio? Or maybe she shouldn't have stayed with her after they escaped. Maybe she should have left after making sure Stacy was okay.

'Maybe I should leave anyways.'

She missed it when Will parked, only noticing when he picked her up. She let herself stay limp, though not so much out of compliance than a desire to try and keep working on the plan that had come to mind.

Vaguely, she was aware of the clean white halls Will was taking her through, as well as a nauseating smell that reminded her of Riley. A few other unclaimed Hosts like Will, though wearing clothing that, again, reminded Scout of Riley. She watched those ones carefully, just in case. She may not like Will, but Stacy did and she didn't want something to happen to him.

Will came up to a door, opening it and peeking inside. Scout tried to look, but could only see the very end of a weird looking bed. Whatever he saw he seemed to like, as he fully entered the room, kicking the door closed behind him and approaching the bed.

"Hey Stacy." He began quietly, and Scout felt her stuffing go cold at the sight of her Host in the bed. Her normally warm brown skin was several shades paler, and there were dark circles under her eyes. She was mostly upright, though leaning heavily against the pillows behind her. The scariest thing, though, were the several tubes connecting her to various machines by the bed.

Scout felt another cold rush of guilt when she saw how Stacy's eyes lit up when she spotted them. She waited for her to say something, anything, but the Host didn't speak, instead lifting her hands to use that weird hand language.

"She can't talk right now." Will translated. "She had to be intubated and her throat still hurts. But, for some reason, she's happy to see you." He sounded annoyed by that, and Scout couldn't help but be confused. Surely Stacy knew about what she did.

'Unless she doesn't.' The Puppet realized. 'She doesn't know shit about how it works. She had no idea what I almost did to her.' Somehow, that didn't make it any better.

Against her will, she was handed over to Stacy so Will could go set down the bags. Stacy hugged her tight, and Scout couldn't help but curl up in her hold, clutching at the weird shirt she was wearing.

She ignored the humans as they talked, or rather as Will talked and Stacy did one handed signing. Instead she stared at the tubing connected to Stacy's arm, watching the clear liquid slowly drip it's way into her body. She didn't know how long she stared for, but she must've dozed off at one point because she suddenly became aware of her hair being stroked.

It couldn't have been too long, as the room was still bright, though she couldn't hear Will anymore. Instead there was a quiet, steady beeping that matched up with Stacy's heartbeat. It was relaxing, and brought up memories of when Scout had first woken up, all those years ago. Before she'd been made to take part in Riley's "tests", or found that TV. Even before she'd met her siblings and learned who and what she really was. Those first few moments when it had just been her and Daisy, enjoying the gift of life.

She almost wished she could go back to that point. Things were so much better back then, when her world consisted of Daisy's sewing room and her siblings. When she didn't have a Host to worry about accidentally killing, or her own people coming after her.

But she wouldn't have to worry about that for long. If her plan ended up working, Stacy wouldn't be in danger ever again.

#outside #fanfiction #hello puppets #stacy stein #scout #will carson

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pokeswagmom · 4 years ago

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Swap Shop/Cataloging Event: CLOSED

Swap shop - If you want to take one, you gotta leave one! Ex. Take a rattan low table, leave a cute sofa. This is an orderable furniture swap only.

Touch Catalogue - You pick up the item and then drop it, it will be available on Nook Shopping for you to buy. Please don’t steal these items

Bit later tonight, just been putting off studying for biochem since its stressing me out. Same as last week, fenced off and touch catalogue items (garden gnomes, garden lanterns) by the entrance. Added some signs, so hopefully that helps. Swap shop all over the front of nooks (freebies in front of nooks are all up for grabs), DIYs to the right (all free please just take them! don’t leave any, just trying to get rid of them), and the flower field that I would love to have watered to the absolute right side of the island! Some freebies will be materials and random wands, please limit yourself to one material and one wand so everyone gets something! No need to give me bells/nmts, keep those for yourselves 😊

Rules:

Do NOT pick any flowers

No wetsuits, any signs of these will immediately end the session

The swap shop can be a take two and leave one if it is something of lesser value, i.e. taking a sturdy sewing box and a rug, leaving an antique console table. But feel free to grab one item if you really want it! Please try to leave items you know people would want and grab!

Do NOT leave craftable items, unless they are seasonal or rare objects! Had some wooden chairs and an ironwood chair, which is fine, I’ll keep those. Examples of good items to leave would be the mush series, cherry blossom, or stars DIYs. I imagine people would be willing to swap for those. I will be putting random nova lights and star clocks in the swap pile!

Do NOT leave clothing items! I had a headgear and some shoes left in place of stuff, I don’t think anyone is looking for them so don’t leave them here!

Please be kind to me, my island, and your fellow visitors, would love to continue these weekly events, but will completely stop if any mischief occurs.

Code: 9XP90

Connection error from my side! My wifi disconnected for like a minute

New code: L0P7Y

Closed my internet is getting spotty, thanks to those who visited!

Leave by airport to minimize connection issues and having all of us being kicked to the airport as well. Make sure to close any windows when someone is trying to leave or arrive.

Again, I am working on studying biochem so please dm me if you have any questions or have something for me to catalogue. If anyone has suggestions for touch catalogue sets or items they would love to find in a swap, please reply to this post or dm me! I would love to hear suggestions!

Here’s some stuff I’m looking to touch catalogue:

Desktop computer - white

Picnic basket - blue

Rattan bed - light brown

Rattan end table - light brown, gray

Rattan low table - black

Rattan stool - reddish brown, black

Rattan table lamp - light brown

Rattan vanity - reddish brown

Rattan wardrobe - black

Rattan waste bin - reddish brown

LCD (20 inch) TV - light blue, red, silver, black

Wall-mounted TV (20 inch) - yellow, blue, red, white

Wall-mounted TV (50 inch) - silver, white, blue

Claw foot tub - yellow, pink

#acnh #acnh dodo code #acnh trade #dodo code #acnh swap shop

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tenroseforeverandever · 4 years ago

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Optimal Distance

Characters: Tentoo; Rose Tyler; Tentoo x Rose

Tags: lemons; lemons on video chat; mutual self-applied lemons; basically loads of lemons!; and the usual fluff, hurt/comfort, humour stuff

Summary: Rose has been feeling sad, lonely, and a little bit envious, left to endure the dreary London winter, while the Doctor has been posted on assignment in Rio, setting up a new Torchwood branch. But a comment the Doctor makes about a strangely bare desk in his otherwise cluttered study inspires Rose to find a way to bring them closer together, even though they are half a world apart.

Notes: This fic is one of many that had been lingering, stagnating in my collection of unfinished fics, just waiting for inspiration to strike.

Many thanks as always to my wonderful betas, @rose--nebula and mrsbertucci. You are absolutely brilliant, and I have no idea what I would do without you. And thanks to @aintfraidanoghosts who is always a voice of inspiration and encouragement (especially if she hears lemons on the menu!) I love you all!

I made quite a few tweaks and edits since they saw it, so as always, any mistakes are mine.I hope you like it!

Also read on AO3 and Teaspoon

OPTIMAL DISTANCE

“Done! You should be getting it any second now!” Rose crowed into her mobile with a rather disproportionate sense of triumph. All she had accomplished was to send the Doctor an email, albeit one with a very important file attached; a file she’d had to navigate his shambolic cataloguing system to find, and that only after she’d excavated his laptop from beneath heaps of books, papers, and crumpled sticky notes on the floor beside his desk.

“Got it!” he cheered. “You are brilliant, you are! A real lifesaver, Rose Tyler! See? My lucky pants, near or far. It’s a good thing you couldn’t come with me, after all. Where would I be now, eh? Without you holding down the fort?”

“Yeah, right,” Rose muttered with a sulky huff, her victorious mood evaporating as she plopped down in the desk chair. She fought against the prickle of tears. She refused to cry about it anymore. It was her own fault she was restricted to paper-pushing for another six weeks. To be specific, she was tasked with reviewing and classifying field reports, a chore that only served to rub in the fact that she wasn’t out in the field, herself, defending the Earth from both alien and earth-born threats. Instead she had to read about it second-hand.

She knew she deserved every bit of punishment she’d received, from her brutal dressing-down from Pete and her subsequent demotion, to her month-long stint inventorying the Small Parts Department (literally the “nuts and bolts” of Torchwood, and ten times as dull as it sounded.) She had been careless and impulsive on a mission, showing off for the sake of a dare, and had nearly gotten herself killed.

The worst part had been the look on the Doctor’s face as he’d rushed into the Torchwood infirmary, not knowing what her condition was, thinking he might have lost her. The guilt she’d felt over worrying him would have been enough (a kazillion times over) to curb any future reckless, thoughtless acts. After everything they had been through, with only a single, human lifetime each, pledged to be spent together, she had nearly thrown it all away in one rash moment.

As it was, she had been lucky to have come away with only deep laser burns to her left shoulder.

She and the Doctor had clung to each other all that night, desperately making love until they were too exhausted to move.

That had been weeks ago now, and Rose was chafing at her restrictions, especially since Pete seemed to be intentionally sending the Doctor to conferences in the most wonderful, exotic locations around the world, places Rose was dying to explore with him. But Pete resolutely refused to allow her to join him.

On this current trip, the Doctor was helping establish a new Torchwood base in Rio de Janeiro, addressing the fledgling team on the importance of employing diplomacy and mediation in First Contact situations. Rio, for God’s sake! And here she was, stuck in the middle of the damp, chilly London winter. She huffed again over the phone.

“Would it help if I said I wasn’t having fun?” the Doctor asked over the upbeat sounds of Samba and boisterous voices in the background. She could just picture the scantily clad, feather-adorned (female) dancers.

“Yes…” Rose picked at the worn piping on the leather arm of the desk chair.

“Oh…”

“Sure doesn’t sound like anyone’s ready to listen to your First Contact presentation. Don’t know what the rush was…”

“Weeell, lunch is almost over, and we’ll be heading right back in. Then, I’ll be cracking the whip! But, blimey, the Brazilians know how to party! As you can probably hear, they’d arranged for some entertainment over lunch: live band, dancers, the lot! Didn’t want to seem churlish.”

She’d been right about the dancers, then… “Don’t worry, Doctor. I’m just feelin’ sorry for myself. I should be gettin’ to bed, yeah. Loads of field reports to review, tomorrow. You have fun.”

“Right… weeell…” Rose could picture him scrubbing the back of his head with his right hand. “Thanks again. And for the record, I do wish you were here, love. It’s just not the same without you.”

“It’s a bit lonely here too.” She looked around his study, filled with reminders of his presence: it was cluttered with books and papers; an assortment of swivel-chairs, beanbags, and exercise balls; and seemingly arbitrary writing surfaces at various heights and orientations. The traditional desk, where she was currently sat, was essentially an afterthought, a horizontal surface suitable for a computer or a place to deposit bits and bobs, books, and papers. Except it was completely clear of clutter and serving no purpose. It was a beautiful piece of furniture, but she couldn’t imagine the Doctor ever using a desk like that.

“We should redecorate your study when you get home, Doctor,” she mused.

“What? Why?”

“Well, for one, this desk is taking up a lot of valuable space. We really should get rid of it. It’s nice. I bet we could sell–”

“No!” he cut her off. “I love that desk!” There was an overtone of panic in his voice.

“But you don’t use it for… well… for anything.”

“I’d rather hoped to use it someday… erm…” His voice trailed off, but quickly returned with his classic exuberance. “It’s nice and sturdy, Rose, and just the right height.”

“What the hell for? The right height for what?” Honestly, she was afraid to ask, but it was just lovely to talk to him and listen to him prattle on about nonsensical things. She missed this when he was abroad.

“Weeeell…” he stage-whispered into the phone, enthusiastic, but clearly not wanting anyone else to hear, “the height is exactly the optimal distance to take advantage of the length of your legs…”

“Wha? My legs…?”

“Blimey, Rose! This is not a good time. I’m not able to control this stupid body the way I… erm… weeell…” His tone became clipped, irritable. “I need to be focussed for this presentation.”

“Oh, never mind.” Though Rose’s curiosity had been piqued by his cryptic comments and the urgency in his voice, she knew he was on a tight schedule. “You better go give that presentation. Go on, then. Love you. Talk to you tomorrow.”

“Love you, too.”

It was only once she was in her bed, half asleep, with her thoughts restless and drifting, that she realized exactly what the Doctor wanted that desk for… She was suddenly wide awake, the whispers of a plan forming in her mind.

--ooOoo--

Rose had spent the better part of the night ordering the things she needed to set her plan in motion. The online shop guaranteed next-day delivery and she hoped everything would be there when she arrived home from work. If she managed to slip away for the afternoon (without Pete finding out) as she’d planned, she would be able to message the Doctor just before his lunch… perfect!

She was relieved to have been able to escape the confines of her office with no one noticing, except Donna, the administrative assistant who, being every bit as brilliant as her Prime Universe counterpart, noticed everything. But she had just winked at Rose and signalled with a swipe of her thumb and pointer finger that her lips were sealed.

Rose’s excitement grew when she arrived home to find several large packages waiting for her in the hallway by the door of her flat, kindly left there by the landlady. Rose beamed, her heart pounding as she bustled into the flat, hurrying to get everything set in motion before she chickened out. She had never done anything quite as bold as this before – at least in terms of trying to seduce someone – and she rather hoped the Doctor would be… receptive. Considering he had seemingly procured the desk for a very specific (erotic) purpose, she figured he would be.

An hour later, she was turning up the heating against the chill of the wintery air. Her new outfit was not exactly intended to keep her warm. To be honest, she didn’t think she’d ever worn anything so barely-there (and glittery) before. She flushed, looking at herself in the mirror. It was a bit generous calling it an outfit at all. It was really just strategically placed jewelry.

It was a Samba ensemble, made of thin strips of pink, yellow, and clear crystals. The bra was a halter design, with clusters of gems dripping in simple floral patterns from her throat to just above her breasts. A single, large sparkling clear crystal shone between her breasts, supporting a band of smaller clear crystals that curved below them. Her nipples were (only just) covered with bright pink and yellow crystal flowers. She turned around to look at herself from the back. Her bum was essentially bare, the lower part of her outfit, a thong, impossibly skimpier than the bra and crafted of more of the glittery crystals. Matching wrist and shin cuffs adorned her limbs. Not for the first time that afternoon, she thanked the stars for her Torchwood training and active lifestyle for keeping her fit and trim.

After applying her most alluring make-up, she was ready for the final piece of the puzzle. With shaking hands, she positioned the headdress over her hair. It was heavy, heavier than she’d expected, encrusted with crystals over her forehead and in a band around her head. A pink and yellow fountain of ridiculous, great, feathery plumes erupted from the top.

Rose laughed at her image in the mirror. Ridiculous didn’t begin to cover it: it was completely daft. But the Doctor would love it… or so she hoped.

She made her way to his study where she had set up cameras to take photos of herself using a remote control. Her first pose had her facing the camera, one stilettoed foot hitched up on the desk, and her opposite hand touching her sex through the thin fabric of her bejewelled knickers. She made a point of allowing her tongue to poke out at the corner of her smile. That always drove the Doctor mental.

For her next pose she leaned over the desk, her bare bum inviting the Doctor to take her from behind, as she looked suggestively over her shoulder at the camera. She elected to forgo the third pose she had planned. She’d had to stop her headdress from toppling off several times during the second pose and was feeling rather hot and bothered… and not in a sexy way.

Regardless of the headdress mishaps, she was able to select an image she liked from both sets of photos and upload them to her mobile.

So, you like Samba, do ya? she texted the Doctor, along with the two photos. Meet me for lunch… video chat. I’ll show you my moves.

If she’d worked out the timing right, he should be receiving the messages about ten minutes before he usually stopped for lunch. She intended to make sure there would only ever be one Samba dancer in his future. Her.

She giggled nervously. She really hoped he would take the bait.

She didn’t have to wait long. Her phone vibrated on the desk. She laughed at the Doctor’s message: Blimey! Don’t move! I’ll be there in five minutes. Meeting adjourned!

He’d taken the bait all right – hook, line, and sinker!

Now for the really challenging part: video phone sex. She’d never done anything like that before. She hoped she could pull it off.

Rose scrambled to set up her mobile on the apparatus she’d purchased, just for this purpose, at the same time as she’d bought her Samba costume. She took a few quick test shots of herself, perched on the edge of the desk with her leg hitched up the way it had been for the first of the photos she had sent the Doctor a few minutes earlier. It took a few rushed and panicked adjustments, but she eventually got the angles just right to ensure the Doctor would get an eyeful!

She was just situating herself on the desk with her leg up again when her phone pinged with the Doctor’s incoming call on video chat. Her tummy was in knots with equal parts anticipation and mortification. Her fingers shaking, she depressed the button on the remote control she’d programmed to her phone and accepted his call.

The Doctor’s eager, bewildered face filled the entire screen, his eyebrows rising into his hairline at the image before him. “Fuuuuuuck…”

He was swearing, a sure sign she’d gotten his attention in the best possible way. There was only one time he ever swore (well, mostly) and that was during sex. Rose smirked as he reflexively licked his lips, boosting her confidence even more. Her voice still trembled, though. “Like what you see, Doctor?”

His hand ruffled his hair. (Rose was jealous of that hand.) “Weeell, I mean… yes! Of course, I do! Blimey! What’s not to love?” Two hands ran through his hair this time.

“B-better… better than the Samba dancers from lunchtime yesterday?” Rose pressed her lips together, and dropped her leg from it’s provocative pose, and she slid off the desk, suddenly uncertain again and feeling vulnerable, both craving and dreading his response.

The dazed shock on his face softened, full of sincerity and love. “The only person I’ll ever want to dance with, Rose Tyler, is you.”

“I feel so… stupid… doing this.”

“NO! No, no, no, no! This is perfect. Brilliant!”

“I don’t know what I’m doin’…”

For several anxious moments, they watched each other in silence. Then, suddenly, the Doctor spoke, his voice husky and low: “Oh, Rose, I wish I could touch you. I wish I could lean you over that desk, take you from behind, and fuck you senseless.”

Rose released a tense breath. He seemed to be taking the lead, putting that unstoppable gob of his to good use.

“But first, first I’d love to have you like this, facing me. I’d spread your legs and–”

“Like this?” Now that she was relaxing, Rose found herself quite eager to play her part. Holding her headdress in place, she hopped up on the edge of the desk again, leaning back on her hands, her legs splayed.

“Yes, just like that! Beautiful! You’re fucking gorgeous!”

Rose bit her lip, her breath hitching as a flood of warmth pooled low in her abdomen. Blimey, she loved when he talked dirty.

“I’d kneel down before you, goddess that you are, and pull aside those skimpy knickers and bury my face between your thighs.”

“Like this?” she repeated, drawing the soaking strip of fabric to one side, exposing her dripping core to the Doctor.

“Oh, you’re so wet, Rose. I just want to taste you.”

“Guuuuuuuhhh… yeah! Love your mouth on me.”

“Oh, yes! I’d dip my tongue inside you, savour the taste of you (you taste so good, Rose!), and lick you all the way up to your clit. Fuck, you’re perfect,” he blurted as Rose used her finger to simulate the actions he described.

She sighed at the sensation, closing her eyes, wishing it was his tongue lapping along her aching slit, twirling around her clit.

“Oh Rose, my Rose… I’d stroke that lovely clit of yours with my tongue, up and around, up and around…”

Rose groaned out her pleasure, her fingers dancing over her damp sex. “God, Doctor, I love it when you fuck me with your tongue. Please,” she begged, looking him in the eyes, “I want to see you. I want to touch you too. I want my hands on your gorgeous, thick cock.”

“Fuuuuck, Rose! Wait! Just give me a moment.” His face disappeared from the phone. “Keep going!” his voice called from the background. “I’m still here, licking you, sucking you.” There was a loud clattering noise, and the image on the screen spun around. And then Doctor appeared again, from further away wearing only an oxford. His cock, long and hard, bobbed up against the fabric, leaving a wet stain on the front of the shirt. “There. I’ve propped my mobile up. Can you see me, love?”

“Yeah. ‘S good. So good!”

“Are you still touching yourself?”

“Yeah.” Rose’s eyes rolled back as she pressed down on her clit.

“So I see,” he moaned. “Oh, love…”

“I want you inside me, Doctor. I want to feel you fill me.”

Rose watched with a hooded gaze as he wrapped his hand around his cock. “Oh, I want that too. I want to feel you so hot and tight around me. Nothing feels better than that.” His hand stroked down, then up, with a twist at the top. “You’re so soft and wet…” down again, “and so fucking…” up and twist, “tight!”

At the same time, Rose plunged two fingers inside herself, finding that oh-so sensitive sweet spot, as she continued to work her clit with her thumb. She moved her fingers in and out, matching the rhythm of his stroking hand, the jewels around her breasts chafing her nipples with delicious friction as she moved. She added a third finger, stretching herself wide. “Oh, you’re so thick and hard… I love how you fill me. You feel so good!”

“Fuck, Rose… so do you. You look so fucking sexy.” His hand began to stroke faster. Rose watched, mesmerized, as the dark, throbbing tip of his cock disappeared and reappeared from the circle of his fist. “Are you getting close?” His voice was tight, strained.

Rose continued to work herself, thighs trembling, slick, wet sounds accompanying her lusty groans. “So close…” she whimpered, feeling the familiar heat burning in her core, the pressure building. Her head lolled back… and suddenly she yelped as her headdress tumbled to the floor behind the desk. “Oh no! No!” Her hand stopped moving as despair welled up inside her.

“Rose! Don’t stop. Keep going.”

She wailed, “It’s no use.”

“You’re so beautiful, my precious girl. Oh, let me touch you more. Let me feel how warm and wet you are… I want to fuck you forever and never stop.”

Rose watched him on the small screen of her phone looking so wonderfully earnest, his cock in his hand, still hard, glistening with pre-come. He was bloody hot, and he was hers. The shock of losing her headdress was forgotten in a fresh rush of desire, and another flood of arousal, warm and slick, coated her fingers. “Touch me, Doctor,” she breathed, her thumb renewing its caresses over her clit.

“Oh, yes love… I want to run my fingers over your body; run my hands up your thighs and deep inside you. I love the sounds you make when I stroke you…”

“Please,” she whimpered, arching into the pressure of her thumb on her responsive skin.

“Let me fill you again…”

“Yes!” She watched, in awe, as his hand slowly resumed its motions – up, down, twist – over his long, hard member, and her fingers began their pumping motions again, curling and rubbing against her sweet spot rebuilding her sense of urgency with every stroke.

They were soon lost in their passion, both keening and groaning in a haze of lust and need. The fire within Rose burned hot again, deep in her sex, as she rolled her body over her fingers. The Doctor’s hand increased its speed once more. He was getting close, she could tell, he looked so wonderful and dishevelled, and his cock pulsed with every stroke of his hand. “Doctor!” she cried out. “I’m… I’m… gonna…”

“Hnnnngghhh…” he groaned. “Come for me. Let me see you come!”

Rose’s body vibrated with the need for release, her hand frantically pumping, her thumb pressing down, circling her clit, the heat and pressure building within her… and then, the Doctor shouted. Mesmerized, she watched as his seed spurted in ribbons from him, coating the front of his shirt, drizzling over his hand. The look of ecstasy on his face was enough to bring her over too. Her sex throbbed, grasping around her pumping fingers as she arched off the desk, the burning pressure in her core suddenly exploding outward, engulfing her.

--ooOoo--

“Well, I need to get out of this ridiculous get-up,” Rose chuckled, pushing herself up to a sitting position. She had made her way back to the bedroom and lain down on the bed, while the Doctor lay on the bed in his hotel room. They had stayed that way for many wonderful minutes, gazing into each other’s eyes and talking quietly as they came down from the high of their orgasms.

The Doctor pouted. “And I suppose I need to get back to my meeting. They’ll all have finished their lunches.”

“Oh my God! You didn’t get to eat! Sorry. I guess I should have timed this better…”

“What? NO! This was perfect! A brilliant surprise. I feel perfectly satisfied.” He winked and flashed her an impudent grin. “I just can’t wait to take you over that desk in person, and peel that ‘ridiculous get-up’ off you, myself!”

“How much longer do you think you’re going to be there?” Rose bit her lip, clutching her mobile and regarding the Doctor’s image with imploring eyes. Training new teams of Torchwood personnel and operatives could be a time-consuming business and was an open-ended job. She and the Doctor could potentially be separated for several more weeks or…

“Just a few more days.”

“Really? You’re not jus’ sayin’ that?”

“Rose, (mostly) Time Lord here! If there’s one thing I know about, it’s time. Have you ever known me to misjudge…?”

Rose gave him a pointed look.

“Nah, don’t answer that. But honestly, love, we’ve only just started getting this lot familiarized with all the tech, today, but they seem to be a quick study, and a few of their key people will be returning to London with us for a tour and more in-depth, hands-on experience. Then Pete’s going to be relocating some of our more capable people to Rio for a few months to get things up and running properly. So, at most, another week.”

“A week?”

“At most… I promise. Now, as much as I would prefer to spend the day here with you, I have to act the responsible adult (complete rubbish, that!) and get back to my meeting. I’ll see you later, love.”

“Not if I see you first.” She blew him a kiss and offered him a little wave of her fingers before disconnecting their call.

--ooOoo--

Five days later, she stood, poised sexily (she hoped) in the doorway of the Doctor’s study, wearing the Samba outfit, minus the ridiculous headdress (it would just get in the way), and watching as the Doctor pushed his way through the door of their flat. Her heart thrummed at the sight of him.

“Honey, I’m home,” he called out cheekily, making her laugh out loud.

“Right here… erm… Sugarbear,” she droned, her voice as sultry as she could make it through her giggles.

“Sugarbear? Really, Rose,” the Doctor closed the door behind him, “of all the names you could…” As he turned and took a step into the flat, his gaze locked onto her, eyes darkening as they roved over her bejewelled body. “Blimey… now this, this is a proper welcome home!” He dropped his bags and coat, leaving them behind, forgotten, as he strode toward her across the room, loosening his belt along the way.

Rose shuddered at the sight. Bloody hell, he was fucking gorgeous. And he was here. Home. With her. Her Doctor.

“You. Inside. Now,” he commanded, his hands settling over the bare skin of her waist, guiding her backwards into his study with firm pressure. Rose’s core ached in anticipation, a yearning heat coursing through her. His lips crashed against hers as they staggered further into the room, the kiss equal parts demanding and desperate, and Rose was sure she had never felt so desired, so loved.

When her bum hit the desk, she gasped, and suddenly, all the emotion she had been suppressing over the last few months surged to the surface: guilt and remorse, loneliness and jealousy, all whirling together in a maelstrom of unfettered passion, love, and vulnerability brought on by the Doctor’s assertive touch. The tears she had been holding back gushed over her cheeks.

“Rose? Love?” The Doctor broke the kiss, looking down at her with concerned eyes. “What’s wrong? Is this not all right? Was I too… weeell, enthusiastic?”

“No, oh my God, no,” she wept. “It’s… it’s perfect… Better than. I jus’… I jus’… I missed you… I didn’t realize jus’ how much…”.

In one swift movement, he swept his hands behind her legs and lifted her to perch on the edge of the desk. Then, spreading her thighs, he stepped between them and tipped her chin up for another marvelous snog, still passionate, but this time it was a sweet and tender, unhurried sort of passion. Rose melted into him, wrapping her arms around his neck, drawing him against her body and breathing in the comfort of his scent. They eventually drew away from the kiss with gentle pecks and nibbles.

They pressed their foreheads together, and panting softly, Rose spoke into the space between them, “Sorry, I’ve gone and ruined all this,” she gestured to the desk.

“Nah, don’t be silly.” He dabbed the tears from her cheeks with the pads of his thumbs. “Besides, I have a bit of news too. Might as well get it over with.” He sighed dramatically and pulled slightly away from her to fish in his jacket pocket. He pulled out an official-looking Torchwood envelope that he tossed down on the desk beside her.

“W’at’s this?”

“My new marching orders, I’m afraid. I leave in two days.”

“Two days,” she sobbed. “But you jus’ got home and–”.

Taking a deep steadying breath, she dragged a hand through her hair, pulling it back from her face. “God, I sound so needy and selfish… but I just missed you.”

“And I suppose, the fact that I was in Rio,” he smirked at her, his left eyebrow arched, “had nothing to do with it?”

“Oh, that just made me miss you even more, but I admit, I was a bit… envious.” She chuckled, leaning back to look him in the eye. “But you know that stuff doesn’t really matter, yeah, all the travelling? Never did. Just that we’re together. That’s what’s important.”

“Oh, I know,” he reassured her with a kiss on the forehead. “And you know I feel the same... don’t you?”

She nodded, placing her palm over his single, human heart. “Yeah, ‘course I do.”

“And that’s why, Rose Tyler,” his deadpan expression transformed into a brilliant smile, “I’m happy to announce that your assignment is in that envelope too. This time, you’re coming with me.” He beamed at her, waggling his eyebrows and looking very pleased with himself.

She gawped. “But… wait. What?”

“That is, if you think you can be ready to go on such short notice.”

“You wanker!” She swatted his shoulder. “Of course, I’ll be ready!”

He giggled. “But, really, I mean… if it’s too much trouble, I could always just go back to Rio on my own, I suppose.”

There was a long silence as Rose processed what he had said. When she finally found her voice, the words tumbled from her mouth: “Shut up! No way! Rio? RIO?”

“Yu-p!” He grinned. “We’re the experts Pete’s going to send over for a couple of months to make sure everything’s up and running properly. He said he only wants to send the best, and weeeell… I mean look at us. The choice is obvious.”

“I don’t believe it. There must be a catch.”

“No-pe!” He popped his “p” again. “He wants to make sure the Brazilians get everything exactly right. And the best part is, we’ll be there for Carnival. It’s just a few weeks off.”

“What? Carnival? Really?”

“Yes-siree, Rose Tyler! You can even wear this outfit again, in an official capacity this time, of course, complete with headdress. And ooooh, we’ll bring the baby TARDIS along, too. She’ll love a change of scenery!”

“I still don’t believe Pete would just… Nah, you must ‘ave said somethin’ to ‘im, yeah? Not that I’m complainin��. It’s just he’s been so… lecture-y lately.” She rolled her eyes. “He’s been a right misery. And now this sudden change of heart…?”

“Weeell, I admit,” he pulled on his right ear, “I was all ready to go in today, guns-a-blazing, to try to convince him that enough was enough, but believe it or not, he had already made up his mind. He gave me the news during my debriefing this afternoon. By the way, you’re to meet with him tomorrow–”

“Urrrghh, that’ll be fun…”

“–to go over… erm some… stipulations, but essentially, it’s all set. Said he thought your diplomatic skills would be hugely beneficial over there. Personally,” he flashed her a cheeky grin, “I think he was just getting sick of your constant moaning.”

“Oi, Mister!” She feigned offence. “Is that so? Watch out! I’ll give you constant moaning!” She grabbed his tie and dragged him toward her for another impassioned kiss, then reached between them to fondle him through the fabric of his trousers. As she sucked and nibbled along his jawline, tracing her fingers up and down his growing length, a strangled sound tore from his throat.

She smirked. “Now, there’s the moaning…”

“Stop!” He grabbed her hand, his eyes blazing into hers, and she quivered in response, the hot rush of renewed arousal pooling between her legs. “No more teasing. Brilliant as the video-chat sex was, I’ve had enough of foreplay and imagining over the last few days to last me a lifetime. I am going to take you right here, right now, against this desk, and fuck you so hard you see stars.” He scrabbled at his trousers and boxers, pushing them down over his slim hips. Looking utterly debauched, with his suit jacket, oxford, and tie dishevelled but still in place, he took his thick, throbbing member in hand and gave it a few hard pumps. “You ready?”

“Am I ready? Fuck! I’ve been ready for days. Could hardly think of anything else.” She licked her lips as she took in the sight of his impressive length. “My fingers are no substitute for that.”

With an impatient growl, he grabbed her by the waist and pulled her off the desk. Then he spun her around and pressed in behind her, rutting against her bum. “This all right?”

“God, yes!” she sputtered, the ache of desire burgeoning inside her as he encouraged her to lean forward over the desk, applying a steady pressure to her back, until her breasts pressed against the surface, making the jewels of her outfit rasp over her taught nipples.

With a nudge from his foot, he prompted her to spread her legs, opening her to him. “Oh, yes,” he groaned, “the optimal distance, indeed!” Rose shuddered as his slender finger stroked over the sodden strip of fabric covering her sex and she arched into the contact with wanton abandon.

No further invitation required, he yanked the fabric aside and plunged into her welcoming depths.

She saw not only the stars he’d promised: entire constellations burst before her eyes.

#tentoo x rose #ficandchips #lemons #hurt/comfort #humour #fluff #tenroseforeverandever's fic

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thewayofthetrashcompactor · 5 years ago

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Rating: M Tags: Lingerie, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Alternate Universe - Retail, Corsetry Chapter: 1/4 Summary: Rey's part-time job at Holdo's lingerie botique is going surprisingly well. She may not be an expert, but Poe's there to sweet-talk the customers, and it helps pay her bills. But one particular tall, dark-haired customer catches her eye while he's looking at corsets, and she's about to learn a whole new meaning of customer service.

This chapter was initially inspired by @aionimica‘s gorgeous art of Kylo in a corset. It's a gem of the fandom, cannot recommend enough.

This was originally written for @lingeriewarsweek last year, finally getting it onto ao3!

read on ao3

Rey sighs as she leans over on the sale counter. Mondays are always slow at the boutique, today especially so. Just a handful of people have come in since she'd started her shift after finishing her morning classes, and most of those only stayed to browse the racks of expensive lingerie. Now, the mall is nearly closing. Only a couple customers still linger: a giggly pair of girls, who’ll probably end up with a skimpy set of panties and a bra for one of them, and a tall, broad man with dark hair who'd been at the back looking through corsets, likely for his girlfriend. Lucky girl. She'd heard Poe offer to help him earlier, but he'd declined quickly.

She glances at the clock. Fifteen more minutes. The mall's usual announcement echoes outside, and the girls come up with their purchase. A strappy black set, a little more daring and expensive than she'd expected, likely due to her coworker’s influence. She's yet to see a customer that Poe can't charm. The owner, Amilyn, with her quiet poise and knowing eyes, is the only one she's witnessed his efforts fall flat on; even Rey has found herself blushing at his flirting before. She checks the girls out with a cheery smile, then waits to see if the man will emerge. She checks the clock again. Ten minutes. Leaving the register for a bit, she heads back to check on him.

The back half of the store is surprisingly empty, even of Poe, who's likely off getting a head start on his closing tasks. She frowns and goes to check the fitting rooms. The room at the end is closed, and she walks over to knock at the door.

“Sir? The mall is closing in five minutes -- “

She's not sure if the door wasn't fastened or her knock was enough to jar the bar out of position, but the door swings open in front of her, and her jaw drops.

Working at a lingerie store, she's long ceased to be bothered by people's bodies. People of all sizes and shapes come through the store, and even if Amilyn, Paige, and Poe do most of the fitting help, she's still seen enough to make her used to the sight of strangers in next to nothing, especially with the more risque options they offer. She's been up close and personal with plenty of attractive men and women (even if that luck doesn't extend to her dating life). This man, however, takes her breath away.

He's tall, almost a head taller than her, which is no mean feat in her experience, and his outfit only emphasizes that, along with the sheer breadth of him. He'd been dressed in a fitted suit when he came in, clearly expensive and for the kind of job that could afford it. He still wears most of it now, shiny leather shoes, which she now realizes are boots, going up past his ankles and clinging to muscular calves. Dark, tight slacks, and a matching jacket hanging off wide shoulders, even though the shirt underneath has been removed. She can see clearly now that he hadn't been looking for something for a girlfriend or other partner, at least not directly. He has on a dark corset, leather stretched tight around his chest, the lines of the boning leading her eyes from where the garment hugs his hips and waist, the vee at the bottom accenting the seam of his pants, up the long stretch of his body, to where his brown, peaked nipples are just visible, teasing over the edge of the corset. His built pectorals are left bare. Rey swallows thickly. By the time her gaze reaches his face, framed by ridiculously lush black waves, bright red stains his cheeks, and she feels herself flushing in response.

“I-I’m sorry, I didn't mean…” She draws herself up and makes a valiant attempt at professionalism. “Do you need any help?” That suggestion immediately brings thoughts of her peeling him out of the corset, running her hands over his pale skin as its freed from the clinging material, and her blush grows in intensity. “I mean-”

“I'll be out in a moment?” he says in a slightly strangled tone.

She nods and looks down at her feet. “Great. Great! I'll be at the counter to check you out.”

Feeling the heat in her cheeks, she returns to her post. She spends the time waiting for him looking out into the mall, trying not to think too much about him taking the corset off, and willing her blush to go down.

He emerges from the fitting rooms a short while later, shirt regrettably back on, corset tucked under his arm. His cheeks are still pink, and when he leans over to put the corset on the counter, she sees the tips of his ears match where they peak from his beautiful hair.

“Will this be all?” she asks, sticking to the comfort of the script.

He raises an eyebrow at her. She flushes and scans the tag, then clears her throat. “I'm sorry about earlier; I didn't mean to barge in like that. You, um. This suits you really well. Good choice.” She knows she's turning red again, and he is too.

“Um. Thanks.”

“Your partner is very lucky,” she adds, cursing herself even as she says it.

“Oh, um, no. Just for me. Just to… enjoy it.”

She nods and tries to suppress the thrill in her chest at that information as she wraps the corset in tissue and puts in a bag. She gives him his total and he scans his card.

“I usually do this online,” he says, maybe trying to explain his discomfort. “But the fit…”

She nods understandingly. “That's always hard.” Then, with a sudden stroke of inspiration, “This looks like it fit… really well, we could order in other things in your size if you wanted to try them on here? You could get a better variety, and you can make sure they work for you before you commit.”

He looks at her in surprise and then nods slowly. “That would be -- nice. Thank you…?”

“Rey,” she says quickly. “Is there anything you'd like to order now, Mr. …?”

“Ben. Just Ben." He looks back at the store. “I didn't really think about that. Was kind of surprised you had anything to fit me, to be honest.” He considers for a moment. “Maybe something lighter?” He looks down at himself. “Most of my stuff is darker, could probably use some variety.” There's a hint of self depreciation in his voice. She nods, already pulling up the catalogue.

“Anything in particular you're looking for? Corsets, underwear, harnesses?”

He shifts on his feet, not quite meeting her eyes. “Um, any of those really. If you have anything you'd recommend?”

Her eyes grow wide. She can think of plenty of things she'd like to see him in. And he's letting her choose? “I can put together a small selection for you to see what you'd like?” she suggests.

“That'd be great,” he says, and she bites her lip, already imagining the possibilities.

“Okay, I'll put that together for you,” she says breathlessly. “It'll take a week or so for the order to get in, would you like to leave your number and I--we will call you when it's here?”

He pulls out a business card and hands it to her. “Cell, please.” She takes the card and adds the note, then adds his name when she notices the one on the card is “Kylo Ren".

“Thank you so much… Ben.”

He flashes a quick, odd sort of smile. “Thank you, Rey. I, er, look forward to hearing from you.” He finally takes the bag she's passed over to him and turns to leave, but not without a last backward glance. She knows she's smiling like an idiot, but she can't much care as Ben gives her that smiling press of his lips over his shoulder as he leaves. Even if this is probably not exactly how Amilyn would recommend getting new customers.

When he's out of sight, Rey turns back to the computer. She's got work to do.

#reylo #reylo fanfic #rffa writers #reylo fic #rey x kylo ren #kylo x rey #benrey #my fic #rated best

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earth-ambassador-jim · 5 years ago

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Changeling Loyalties: Chapter 6

A Small Problem

Toby is quite happy with his life, but then the Amulet of Daylight just had to choose his human friend. What’s a changeling to do? Good thing Toby never really liked Gunmar anyway.

I forgot to post this here...

AO3 - Fanfiction

~~~~

Toby was practically drooling as he stared at the strange and colorful crystals the vender was selling.

“Close your mouth, Tobes,” He heard Jim say with a snicker.

Okay. Maybe he actually was drooling, but could he really be blamed? They didn’t sell these kind of things on the surface.

“Sooo, how much are these?” He asked the shopkeeper, a stout, light grey troll about a head taller than Blinky. He leaned against the table and tried not to look too interested.

“What’ve ya got?” The shopkeeper asked in a gruff bored tone.

Toby blinked. Did the trolls here have a currency? They ate the metals humans prized for their own currency. He looked around him at the different stalls trying to see if he could spot a transaction, unfortunately most of the trolls were just talking.

In the Darklands, while it was generally every troll for themself, they did do some bartering. Toby himself had been rather skilled in finding and extracting valuable gems and minerals. It had not gotten him very far in a society based on violence, especially when the other changelings kept stealing from him. Eventually he had put a stop to that by crushing some stinger crystal and putting it in an offending troll’s food; the results were not pretty but it did the job…

“Toby we need to get going,” Jim said, tapping his shoulder.

“Right!” Toby shook himself back to the present. “Let me just try something first.”

He turned back toward the shopkeeper, who was now polishing what looked like a glowing amethyst on a stone wheel.

“Sir? Sir!” The troll pulled the crystal back and turned toward him with a grunt.

“What kind of things are you looking for?”

“What’ve ya got?” The troll repeated, making Toby feel a bit like he was talking to an NPC in a video game.

“Nothing at the moment…” The troll started turning away. “But! I happen to have unlimited access to the surface.” Toby’s gaze darted around quickly cataloguing the wares at the other stands. “Socks… blankets, tin cans… lightbulbs, you name it I can get it for you!”

Now he had the troll’s interest. The troll’s eyes, grey-brown and translucent (smoky quartz maybe?), sized Toby up. The changeling carefully kept his pose casual.

“Hmmm… Come later and A’ll give ya a list. Bring that stuff and w’ll talk.”

“You got it,” Toby said shooting him finger-guns and winking for good measure.

Jim let out a groan, before grabbing his arm and dragging him off.

~~~~

“Trollhunter!”

Toby jumped as a portly troll lady barged in on their history lesson.

He shot her a look of annoyance as Blinky turned toward her. He had actually been enjoying himself. Aaarrrgghh was quite comfortable to lean against, he had Jim beside him and out of danger, and Blinky was a very good reader. Also, while he knew the basics of what happened at Killahead, he had never really learned the details.

“What is it Bagdwella? Is it the heartstone?” Blinky asked closing the book with a concerned expression.

“Stalkling?” Aaarrrgghh rose to all fours.

“Is Bular in Trollmarket?” Jim asked nervously.

Toby doubted that was the case; there’d have been a lot more screaming.

“No. No. No!!!” Bagdwella yelled waving her arms around. “Rogue gnome!!!!”

~~~~

The glue traps were kind of creepy, Toby reflected with a shudder. He wasn’t familiar with gnomes, but their skeletons looked eerily human. Not to mention he’d always been of the opinion if one was going to kill something they should do it quickly. He figured it fell into the whole “treat others how you wanted to be treated” thing. Slowly dying from starvation and dehydration was not a nice way to go.

Bagdwella was explaining her problem to Jim who seemed to be just as baffled about why he was being called on to help with this as Toby was.

“See you need a gnome catcher,” He said with an awkward smile when she had finished. “And I’m, well, the Trollhunter. So…”

“Oh no, Master Jim,” Blinky interrupted. “The Trollhunter cannot refuse a call and what better a call for you to train with than a pint sized quarry.”

Toby supposed he could see Blinky’s reasoning there. Still…

If Toby had come to one of his superiors over something this trivial he would have gotten a harsh reprimand for wasting their time at a bare minimum. Did they really treat all the Trollhunters like this or was it because Jim was new and hadn’t earned their respect yet? Or, more likely, because he was human?

A sound that was something like a guitar drew their attention to a rack of socks. The gnome emerged strumming a makeshift instrument made out of a small rake and singing incomprehensible words. It was actually a pretty good musician. Toby found himself warming up to the creature… at least until it stole his belt and nugget nummies.

What ensued after that was something like a cross between slapstick and the world’s worst game of wack-a-mole. The gnome eluded them at every turn, slipping out of their hands and through crevices, stealing things all the while, until it ultimately got Jim’s amulet and escaped into its hole.

“Oh come on,” Jim muttered as he foolishly reached his arms into the hole.

“So what now?” He asked, finally giving up and turning to Blinky.

Blinky sighed.

“Well if you had lost or rejected the amulet would have returned to you, but unfortunately as it has been thieved it will not do so.”

Toby choked on his saliva.

“That… seems like a really bad system,” Jim said slowly echoing Toby’s thoughts.

Blinky shrugged.

“It talks about it in A Brief Recapitulation. Not much is known as Merlin was notoriously close-lipped. Fortunately that is not the problem at hand.” He folded his upper arms behind his back and started tapping the lower ones together. “No, our current problem is how to retrieve the Amulet.”

“Well what am I supposed to do?” Jim complained, “I can’t fit in that hole.”

A slight, but concerning, smile formed on Blinky’s face as he tapped his chin.

“Currently.”

Toby wasn’t sure what he was talking about but Aaarrrgghh apparently knew.

“Bad idea,” The Krubera rumbled shaking his head with an apprehensive look.

“No Trollhunter has ever lost his amulet,” Blinky said irritably. “We'll need time to procure the Furgolator.”

“Uh, the Furgolator?” Jim, understandably, sounded concerned.

“Don't you worry about anything, Master Jim! Tend to your studies. We'll watch over the hole.” Blinky said resting a hand on his shoulder. “Tomorrow, you'll return refreshed to deal with this, um… little problem.”

Toby, however, was not about to let it go that easily. Especially not when Aaarrrgghh seemed to dislike the idea.

“What, exactly, is a Fergolator?” He asked, narrowing his eyes slightly.

“It’s a machine we use to compress minerals,” Blinky said. “If the gnome won’t come out, the Trollhunter shall go in.”

“You’re going to shrink me?” Jim yelped.

“Precisely!”

Toby did not like the sound of that.

“Have you tested it on humans before? Or at least animals?” He asked. “Because from what I know, humans do not compress well.”

“Well…” Blinky had the nerve to give them a guilty smile. “No… but I’m not concerned…”

Toby crossed his arms.

Blinky frowned.

“It’s our best option,” He said throwing up his arms. “Do you have any other suggestions?”

Toby glared at him, something unpleasant simmering in his chest. His fingers twitched.

“Not yet, but anything’s better that squashing Jim in a machine that’s never been tested on humans.”

This was his best friend they were talking about.

Jim glanced from Toby to Blinky then quickly stepped between them.

“Woah there!” He held out his hands placatingly. “How about instead of arguing we take a break and do some brainstorming.”

“That sounds like a stellar idea,” Blinky relented with a smile.

Toby huffed and stepped back. He needed to get Blinky some books on human anatomy before the troll went and did irreversible damage to one of them.

~~~~

After quite a bit of discussion it was decided that Jim and Toby would acquire a high powered vacuum cleaner and see if they could suck the gnome and his stolen goods out of the hole. However, as it was going to be dark soon, they would be coming back to do it the next day.

“Well that was… something,” Jim said pulling off his werewolf mask.

For some reason Toby had insisted on them wearing their disguises until they got into the bushes.

“Yeah…”

Jim glanced over to see Toby frowning. His eyes darted around their surroundings as if he was looking for something.

“Toby?”

Toby blinked and refocused on Jim.

“Yeah it was! I can’t believe Blinky was just going try shrinking you like that!” He grinned. “Though if it worked I guess we could have had you go to school in my Sally-Go-Back clothes. You would have looked so cute.”

Jim groaned but felt a smile creeping across his face anyway.

“Maybe we could have shrunk you instead. I could have gotten you a chocolate fondue fountain to swim around in.”

“Tempting but no.” Toby said with a shudder. “I’m already way too short.”

“I like to think you’re fun-sized.”

He shot Jim a mock-glare.

“Hey! That’s my line. Anyway, I’ll hit my growth spurt soon.”

“Uh-huh…”

Toby attempted to punch his shoulder and almost tipped his bike over when he dodged. Jim smirked at his friend and sped up.

“Hey! Get back here!”

The race home left them both winded but Jim didn’t mind. It was nice to have a bit of normalcy for once. It was also nice messing around with Toby, he’d been a bit worried that…

“Oh look, Mom… I mean Dr. L’s home!”

She was. Her blue car had just pulled into the driveway ahead of them. Jim couldn’t help but to pedal a little faster.

“Hey Mom!”

She was just getting out of the car and turned at his call.

“Oh! Hi Jim!”

Jim coasted into the driveway and hopped off his bike to go give her a hug. With everything that had happened over the course of the week it felt like it had been forever since he’d last seen her.

“Good to see you kiddo,” She said returning it.

“Hey Dr.L!”

“Hi Toby,” She said with a smile as they pulled apart. “Are you boys going to be home for dinner tonight?”

“Oh course,” Jim said.

“You sure have been out late,” She continued, retrieving her bags from the car. “Do you have some big school project or something due?”

“Or something…” Toby muttered.

Jim winced, he felt a bit guilty about not telling his Mom about Trollhunting but she had enough on her plate right now. She’d be worried (Terrified if he was being honest with himself). It wasn’t like she could do anything about it.

He frowned, feeling the happiness leak out of him as his hand drifted to his empty pocket.

Blinky had said that if he refused or lost the amulet it would come back to him (unfortunately that didn’t work if he was trying to get it to come back on purpose. Seriously what was Merlin thinking?). It was… It was a little disconcerting to hear just how permanent the position he now held was. No take backs… and yet… he’d never had the chance to accept or refuse it in the first place.

“You okay, Jimbo?”

He glanced to his right to see Toby staring at him, eyes bright with concern. It looked like his Mom had already gone in the house.

“Yeah… I just… I guess I’m a little bothered by what Blinky said about the amulet returning if I reject it.”

Something in Toby’s expression shifted, his gaze becoming a little sharper.

“Do you want to reject it?” He asked tone completely serious.

Jim blinked, a little taken aback.

“I… I don’t know… I mean I don’t really care for the fact that I have a killer troll out to… well… kill me, but Trollmarket’s cool and I like Blinky and Aaarrrgghh… Draal not so much…”

Jim trailed off, frowning, then shrugged.

“Well it doesn’t really matter since I can’t get rid of it.”

He turned back toward the house.

“Come on, I’m going to get started on dinner. With any luck I’ll get it done before the hospital calls Mom again.”

There was a pause and then he heard Toby make a noise of agreement and follow.

~~~~

Toby was in good spirits when he retired to bed for the night

Dinner had been delicious: salmon, wild rice and a nice side salad, curtesy of Chief Jim. They’d called Nana over and the four of them had eaten together for the first time in about a month. Afterward they played a round of Rummikub before Toby and Nana retired to their house for the night.

He’d gotten his homework done and even gotten a round of video games in before going to bed. Unfortunately he should have known his lucky streak would not last long.

It was about three in the morning when Toby’s phone went off. He groaned and groped around in the dark until he found it. Toby hissed at the bright light before squinting at the screen. He groaned again. Maybe he could just pretend he’d slept through his phone going off…

He sighed and sat up dislodging Kracka from his chest. The goblin shot him an annoyed look.

“Sorry,” He said in English before switching to Goblin. *Gather pack. Called for clean-up.*

Kracka immediately perked up and darted off, rousing Bob who was sleeping at the foot of the bed on the way by.

Toby snorted, padding over to the closet to grab his hoody. At least one of them was happy about this.

#Trollhunters #tales of arcadia #trollhunters fanfiction #toby domzalski #Tobias Domzalski #changeling toby #changeling!toby #Jim lake jr #James lake Sr #blinky galadrigal #aaarrrgghh #My writing #My posts #Changeling Loyalties

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