#if you couldn’t tell I’m not having a great time here. hopefully at least one person on the autism website can relate to my autism struggles

[iwillstabyou]

Ahhhh well if it isn’t my old friend, the crushing feeling of never truly being understood despite your endless attempts to articulate yourself, paying me another visit

[cobrakaisb]

come one, come all

summary: percy jackson has finally arrived at camp half-blood, so why is he so shocked to see that people have genuine relationships here? aka, the four times percy thought you were dating luke, and the one time he actually asked. 

word count: 3.2k

featuring: percy pov!!, 4+1, vaping (again), sassy man apocalypse in the form of luke castellan, reader straight up not giving a fuck, percabeth crumbs (but you gotta squint)

author's note: i am so sorry for the delay with this one!! i was studying for finals, but now that i'm home from college for the summer, hopefully the updates will be more frequent 🤞

series masterlist ||| previous ||| next

hermes cabin, day one, early afternoon

“this is the hermes cabin, home to both his children and the unclaimed,” chiron explains, walking up to the very loud and very rambunctious building. 

percy peers inside, and he’s immediately filled with dread. there’s barely enough room in the cabin for the people that actually live there, let alone him. why couldn’t his father claim him already? if anything, percy thought losing his mother would have been enough; clearly it wasn’t. his dread only intensifies, however, when chiron starts clapping his hands, calling the attention of all the campers. 

“woah wait a minute,” percy mumbles, but it’s too late. 

“this is percy jackson, i trust you will see to whatever he needs,” chiron announces. 

it takes the campers approximately two seconds to go back to whatever they were doing beforehand. some campers’ eyes linger a little bit longer on him, but for the most part, they’re all indifferent to his presence. finding a spot proves to be difficult, as every nook and cranny is inhabited.

“you can sleep over there,” a girl says, annoyed.

“thanks,” percy mumbles, but it falls on deaf ears. 

the spot isn’t half bad, but it isn’t great either. he’s stuck in between two sets of bunk beds, on a sleeping bag. a sleeping bag. one would think the gods could splurge a little for an air mattress, but percy guesses they must be selfish, at least based on the signs of this cabin: overrun, overfilled, and underdeveloped. he’s unpacking his backpack, the last remnants of his life before his mom explained his paternal lineage, when the whispers start. 

“that’s the kid. i think he’s the one that killed the minotaur,” someone whispers, or at least they try to, but percy hears the whole thing. 

he turns around, and comes face to face with a group of older campers, all boys. they’ve clearly been here a while (in the hermes cabin, or at camp, percy isn’t sure) based solely on the fact that they’re so comfortable in this environment. a tall, curly black-haired boy steps forward, so percy stands up. he tries to size up the older boy, but if it comes to a fight, he doesn’t think he’ll win. 

“look, if you guys want to start something, can you just…do it tomorrow?” he asks. 

the older boy doesn’t say anything. instead, he just takes a moment to look at percy, up and down. percy’s breath catches in his throat when he catches sight of the long scar running from the corner of his right eye to his jaw. he’s intimidating, to say the least. 

“i’m..” the boy starts to say, but he’s cut off by the sound of loud laughter. 

percy turns to face the door, following the older boy’s lead, and sees two girls walk into the cabin. they’re both in workout gear, clearly just coming from a training session, but only one of them moves to drop her stuff on a bed — a bottom bunk in the left hand corner — and the other walks right up to the guy in front of him.

percy wants to warn her, tell her that she shouldn’t mess with this kid. but the grumpy guy smiles at her, completely forgetting about percy.

“busy day?” she asks, crossing her arms over her chest. 

“something like that,” the boy mumbles, throwing a sideways glance in percy’s direction. 

“oh i see,” she answers slowly, and now both of their eyes are on him. 

“luke treating you okay?” she asks. 

percy gulps, unsure how to answer her. girls don’t really talk to him, but there’s a first time for everything, he understands that especially well now.  

“he literally just got here,” luke says, shoving your shoulder. 

you smile at the older boy, and there’s something more behind that stare, but percy can’t really figure out what. 

“if he steps out of line, you let me know,” she instructs, jabbing her thumb in luke’s direction. 

percy nods, “yeah sure.” 

she smiles at him, before walking towards the exit of the cabin. as she’s at the threshold between the inside and the outdoors, she turns around with a mischievous look in her eyes. 

“meet me later?” she asks. 

“i’ll be there,” luke answers. 

she nods, satisfied, and leaves. percy watches luke, who continues to watch her. his eyebrows furrow. maybe he just doesn’t understand teenagers?

hermes cabin, day two, morning

percy’s startled awake. the deep, guttural voice from his dream still haunting him. the darkness from the nightmare is looming over him like a dark cloud. his gasps and heavy breathing draw the attention of luke and his friends, the former leaving his bottom bunk to walk over to percy’s sleeping bag.  

“you okay?” luke asks. 

percy wonders if he’s genuinely concerned. “super,” he replies. 

“we all get them, y’know. deep, intense nightmares. comes with being a demigod,” luke explains, watching percy struggle to get up from his bed.

“so does adhd and dyslexia. they’re your battle instincts talking. everything that’s made you different, an outcast, is normal here,” luke continues to explain, now standing toe to toe with percy. 

there’s silence between the two. percy wants to ask him about his godly parent. it’s been weighing on him since he spoke with luke briefly yesterday. for some reason, however, he feels like the question is out of line, too personal for someone he just met. 

yet, he can’t help himself: “so are you also…do you not know…are you…”

“am i unclaimed? no, hermes is my father, but that doesn’t matter. we’re all family here,” luke replies, giving percy’s shoulder a reassuring squeeze. 

“and the girl from last night…is she…?” percy asks. 

luke chuckles at his uncertainty, clearly finding humor in his embarrassing situation. “no. she knows who her mother is. you should ask her about it.” 

percy nods, swallowing the lump in his throat. he feels angry all of a sudden looking around the hermes cabin. it’s filled to the brim with campers, some who know who their parents are, and others who don’t. he doesn’t think anyone should have to live like this; it’s not fair. 

“how can the gods just bring us here and ignore us? how is that fair?” percy asks. 

luke shakes his head, “spend all your time trying to figure out why the gods do what they do and you’ll go crazy. besides, you haven’t even experienced the best thing that camp has to offer.” 

“what’s that?” percy asks. 

“glory.”

percy’s eyebrows furrow in confusion. he vaguely remembers hearing mr. bruner, or chiron, talk about glory in class, but he can’t pinpoint the exact memory. the way luke talks about it, however, makes percy think that it must be important. there has to be some reason why everyone is fighting for glory, why they deal with all the dangers of being a demigod. 

“demigods used to fight for glory. they called it kleos. it attaches meaning to your name, making you bigger, scarier, and more important,” luke explains, leading percy outside of the hermes cabin, along with a handful of his friends. 

“it puts respect on your name,” luke’s friend, chris barges in. 

percy’s smiles at that. he likes the sound of glory, especially when some girl shoulders past him, pushing his body right into luke’s. percy stumbles, turning to face the back of the girl. he wasn’t going to deal with this bullying crap at summer camp of all places. 

“hey,” he shouts, getting her attention. 

she turns around, immediately shoving him into the ground. percy gasps, staring up at her in shock, but before she can get a word in, the girl from last night is standing in front of him. 

“knock it off clarisse. it’s like his first day,” luke mumbles. 

the girl from last night helps him up, and he smiles at her in thanks. she nods, giving him a once over, ensuring that he’s okay before she turns back to clarisse. it’s like a switch flipped inside her. those same eyes, the ones showing kindness towards him just a mere second ago, are now filled with cold, hard, anger. 

clarisse says something to taunt him, but the girl just shakes her head, crossing her arms against her chest. 

“jealous that it wasn’t you?” she taunts, stepping into clarisse’s personal space. 

“no,” clarisse snaps, facing the other girl head on. 

“really? cause it sounds like you wish you were standing in his shoes right now. maybe then daddy would give you a little bit of attention, huh?” she replies. 

luke whispers her name in a seething tone, hand pulling on her shoulder to move her away from clarisse. however, she jerks out of his grip, continuing to stare head on at the curly haired girl with a satisfied smirk playing at her lips. 

“you better watch your back,” clarisse snaps, looking at percy once again before storming off. 

“and you better watch yours,” the girl, who’s still standing in front of percy protectively answers. 

clarisse doesn’t respond, and so luke takes the time to reprimand you. his voice is soft, and percy can barely hear, let alone register, the words coming out of his mouth. you roll your eyes at whatever he’s saying, barely paying attention. instead, percy notices that your eyes aren’t leaving luke’s lips, and he’s again left wondering what’s going on between the two of you. 

“but if i wasn’t here, who was gonna play hero?” you ask, a soft pout on your lips.

percy can tell you’re teasing luke, trying to get a rise out of him, but the older boy just shakes his head in response. percy watches as your finger reaches under his bright orange shirt, looping through one of the belt loops of his cargoes. luke leans down slightly, and percy thinks he might kiss you, but you step away from him in a fit of giggles. 

“i’ll see you later, counselor luke,” you tease, walking backwards so everyone can see the teasing smile on your face. 

percy makes a mental note not to get on your bad side. 

dining pavilion, day two, evening

“is there a greek god of disappointment, maybe someone should ask if he’s missing a kid,” percy grumbles, taking a seat at the table across from luke and chris. 

after a long day of training, with little to no rewards, percy felt utterly defeated. there was some good that came out of the day’s events, however, as he realized his lack of coordination did not make him a strong candidate for the apollo cabin. similarly, setting fire to the already burning forges had luke and chris ruling out hephaestus. regardless, he just wanted his dad to recognize him. after a life of torment and the loss of his mom, the one person who loved him, he could use the validation.

luke opens his mouth, ready to answer his previous question, but chris beats him to it.

“oizys…but she’s a goddess and her whole thing isn’t really disappointment, it’s failure,” chris mumbles, pushing around the salad on his plate. 

“oh my gods chris, don’t scare the kid,” you shout, shoving his shoulder as you take a seat next to percy. 

another girl follows behind you, taking the seat on the other side of percy. he feels himself going rigid, why are these two older girls sitting by his side? he feels nervous all of a sudden, and wonders if this is normal. he looks nervously to luke, who seems to be the only one capable of providing actual guidance in these types of situations. 

luke doesn’t say anything, instead he’s too busy looking at you. 

“having daddy issues?” the girl on his right, who’s not you, asks. 

“um i guess,” percy answers, but he’s not confident in his words at all. 

the girl chuckles at him, a hand coming up to ruffle his blonde hair, and percy watches as her eyes twinkle with something akin to childish mischief. 

“maybe you’re her step-brother,” she says, gesturing towards you with a tip of her chin. 

“are you a child of aphrodite?” percy asks, because maybe this nice girl is referring to ares as his father. 

you stop chewing your dinner, shock crossing your features. the other three teens all burst into laughter, and percy doesn’t understand what’s wrong with his question. you’re pretty enough, and you seem to possess a tiny bit of mean girl energy (cause only regina george would have demolished clarisse like that). therefore, the logical conclusion is that you’re related to aphrodite. besides, aren’t ares and aphrodite secretly dating? so he’d be your step-brother? 

“what?” he asks, looking around. 

“aphrodite is not my mother,” you answer, white-knuckling the fork. 

“oh,” he says, “so who is?” 

percy watches as your jaw clenches, and you flash a dangerous look in luke’s direction. luke lifts his hands up in a state of defense, as if to say that he didn’t put percy up to this. you, however, don’t seem to believe him as you take one of the green grapes on your plate and chuck it at him. luke catches the grape in his mouth, chewing slowly with a smirk on his face. 

“almost sweetheart,” he taunts. 

you scoff before getting up from the table, with your plate, and walking towards the firepit in the middle of the pavilion. on your way over, you stick your fingers through luke’s curls, and shove his face down towards his mashed potatoes. 

“did i do something wrong?” he asks, looking at the remaining girl to his right. 

“nah, she’s always like that,” she answers.

“yeah,” chris mumbles, “if anyone knows it’s katrina.” 

they jump into their own conversation and percy watches as you drop your entire dinner into the fire pit. the flames turn a deep purple and you nod in satisfaction before walking off towards the cabins. 

he can’t figure out who likes the color purple, but wonders if it had anything to do with luke. however, he knows not to ask.

hermes cabin, day two, night

percy was supposed to be asleep twenty minutes ago, at least that’s when luke called for lights out and everyone crawled into bed. but, he really needs to use the bathroom. poor planning on his part, not going before bed time, but he knows he’ll never make it until morning. so, he gets up as quietly as possible, slips on his blue hoodie, and tip-toes towards the door of the hermes cabin. 

he hesitates for a moment, hearing two people talking quietly outside the door. he waits patiently, hoping that they’ll leave, but their conversation only keeps going. 

“and annabeth’s sure about this?” someone asks, and percy realizes that it’s you.

the other person scoffs, “you doubting my sister?”, and percy pinpoints the voice as luke’s.

“never. i’m doubting him,” you answer.

“c’mon, you know clarisse picks on everybody,” luke mumbles.

there’s a pause in the conversation, and percy thinks maybe you’ve left or moved on, but then your voice rings out into the quiet of the night: 

“i have this feeling that he’s important, but i can’t figure out why.” 

another pause. 

“we’ll see when he gets claimed,” luke answers. 

“if he gets claimed,” you reply. 

“he will, even if it’s hera style,” luke says, and percy can’t help himself from opening the door. 

“your mom’s hera? i thought she didn’t have kids!” percy shouts, shocking both you and luke. 

you jump, and percy watches as you move to hide the bright orange vape in your hand. you wave away some of the smoke, and luke steps slightly in front of you, blocking your body from percy’s view. he notices the protective edge in luke’s posture, and how there was already very little space between you two. 

“what are you doing out past curfew?” luke asks, staring percy down. 

“i could ask you the same thing, but for the record, i’m going to the bathroom,” percy explains, standing his guard. 

“just be quick, and watch out for the harpies,” you advise, tugging on the back of luke’s camp counselor shirt. 

percy nods before walking by the two of you to head down the stairs. once he’s a little ways away, he risks a glance back at the hermes cabin porch. you’re still standing there with luke, his palms resting on your waist as he rubs circles with his thumb on your exposed skin. you two are whispering about something, but he can’t figure out what. he sees you slip luke your vape, but looks away when the older boy takes a hit. 

that seemed oddly intimate. 

lakeshore, day three, post-capture the flag

he’s in for it now, at least that’s what he assumes when he sees half of clarisse’s spear in his fist. she screams loudly, and percy hopes that you’ll hear and come to his rescue. thankfully, his saving grace comes in the form of the head counselor of the hermes cabin. 

luke comes rushing down the side lines, holding the red flag high above his head. several people are following him, the entire blue team in fact, but percy can easily pinpoint you in the crowd. you don’t have a helmet on, which isn’t surprising to him; it fits your character. he notices how the baby hairs stick to your sweaty forehead, yet your eyes are bright and happy. this has to be the happiest he’s seen you. 

your eyes never leave luke, even as he accepts hugs, handshakes, and overall congratulations from the other members of the team. finally, after the novelty of winning wears off, and his siblings finally give luke some space, you walk over to him. you shoulder check him, causing him to stumble a little on his feet, but the happiness doesn’t leave either of your eyes. 

percy’s eyebrows furrow in confusion. you’re mean to luke, but you’re also not mean to luke. 

“where’s my hug at?” luke asks, opening his arms wide for you. 

you snort at him, shoving him backwards with a firm hand on his chestplate. luke doesn’t seem to mind, however, as his smile widens and he pulls off his helmet. he shakes his head back and forth, letting his curls loose after being confined for so long. percy watches you watch him, bottom lip between your teeth. luke opens his mouth, ready to say something, but you prevent him from even doing so. instead, you grab onto the brown leather straps of his armor, and pull his lips down to yours.

all the campers ring out in cheers. some of them even clap at the display of affection from the two of you. 

“so they’re dating?” he asks no one in particular. 

“yes,” annabeth answers from beside him. 

he turns to look at her, understanding washing over him. you and luke are perfect for each other, balancing each other out. percy hopes he’ll find something like that with someone. he looks around camp, and his eyes land on annabeth, who magically appeared next to him. 

“hey wait…were you here the whole time?” percy asks her, feeling a little angry that she basically watched him get his ass kicked by clarisse. 

“percy,” she starts, “i’m really sorry about this,” and she pushes him into the water.

taglist: @percabethlvr @iwantahockeyhimbo @hottiewifeyyyy @loveryoushouldcomeoverr @maraschinocherry3 @used2beeeeee @harrysnovia @cami-is-reading @mxtokko @cxcilla @obxstiles

[stevieschrodinger]

Part One Eleven

Steve watches as Eddie positions himself at the breakfast bar. He easily swings up the end of his tail, the final couple of feet laid out on the chopping board.

He slices a thick piece, turning it and cutting it into neat chunks. It looks like raw steak inside. He cuts a thicker slice, making more chunks, then he does it again.

Next to him, Robin picks up the chunks and slides them onto metal skewers, “thanks Eddie, these will go great on the grill.”

“Yeah, well, we need to get rid of it at some point, might as well use it up now-”

Steve wakes up choking. He doesn’t make a noise, or at least, he doesn’t think he has. He just lies there, heart beating frantically, eyes wet, telling himself again and again, just a dream, just a dream, just a dream.

Steve lies there, waiting for his heart to calm and his breathing to even out, the sweaty flush on his skin slowly cools. He really needs to go back to sleep, but he knows already that he probably won’t be able to settle.

He wants to talk to Eddie. Wants to see him. Doesn’t think he’ll be able to go back to sleep without reassuring himself that Eddie actually is okay which – okay, that’s a bit ridiculous, but he just...needs to. For his own sanity.

Steve blinks gritty eyes at the clock, nearly half three in the morning. His parents are down the hall in their room, and Eddie is at Hopper’s cabin, hopefully asleep on the couch, and there’s not much Steve can do about that.

He lies there, staring at the ceiling in the dark, willing himself to relax. The more he tries, the less likely it becomes, until it hits him; the walkie.

He rolls out of bed, and feeling a little bad for waking Eddie up, makes sure it’s on their channel and the volume is down low before holding down the trigger to speak, “Eddie?”

Nothing. Silence. God Steve is an absolute shit for doing this, and he hopes it’s not so loud that he wakes Hopper or El. He resolves to try one more, if this doesn’t work he will just have to make himself leave it alone and go back to bed, “Eddie?”

There’s a few seconds of silence this time, before a quiet crackle of static, “Stee?”

“Sorry to wake you up buddy, are you okay?”

“Eddidie fine. Pear and grape for din-ner. El Eddidie dance. Mus-ic. Movie on TV. Clean teeth. Couch sleep. Blanket. Stee good?”

“That’s...really good Buddy. Yeah, I’m fine, just had a bad dream,” Steve wants to ask about the dancing and the music and what the movie was and everything else Eddie has been up to today, but it’s the middle of the night, and it would be selfish to keep Eddie talking, “you should sleep.”

“Stee bad dream tell Eddidie? Dark TV tell?”

Steve thinks for a second, “I dreamed you got hurt. Eddie ow. Many ow, really bad. I was...scared.”

There’s a few seconds silence before Eddie replies, “Eddidie no ow.”

“No, I know buddy, but thank you for telling me, we should get some sleep. Night.”

“Stee perfect.”

“Yeah, love you too.”

Steve’s been lying in bed for a full minute before he realizes what he’s just said. It doesn’t really matter; Eddie doesn’t know what it means.

Stupid brunch. Stupid brunch that stopped Steve visiting Eddie before work. Stupid parents. Stupid Keith and his stupid duty rosta so stupid Robin is at stupid work and she couldn’t come to stupid brunch. His parents are so much nicer when she’s there; something to do with keeping up appearances in front of strangers or whatever, Steve knows why they do it. It’s not because they actually like Robin or anything. Steve's pretty sure his parents don;t actually like anyone, not even each other.

Steve sits in his car and sighs. Watches as the door cracks open and the light spills out. Eddie sitting there in his blue sweater. As Steve watches, he lifts his hand and gives a little wave. Steve shouldn’t be visiting this late really, but he couldn’t miss a day. It’s not fair on Eddie, for one thing, being left here like this, when he doesn’t really understand why.

Steve gets out of the car and jogs over to the house, Eddie letting him in. El’s not there, Steve figures she’s already in bed. Hopper’s putting dishes in the kitchen when Steve comes in, “sorry I’m so late Hop.”

Hopper shrugs, “doesn’t matter. I’m going to bed anyway, Eddie, get the lights and lock up before sleep, okay?”

Eddie nods, “make dark. Key lock make safe.”

“You got it. Night kids.”

“Night Hop.”

“Night Hopper.”

Steve throws himself down on the couch; today has just sucked all the way through, Eddie climbs up next to Steve, muttering, “Eddidie not kid,” under his breath.

Steve snorts a laugh, Eddie clearly does not want to be lumped into the same category as the, ‘mongrels,’ “if you’re not a kid, what are you?”

Eddie thinks for a second, the points past Steve, “book please,” Steve hands it over, leaning close to watch Eddie as he thumbs his way with fair accuracy to the page he wants; Steve really should get him some more books. He’s also got to thank El for working on Eddie’s manners.

It’s the frog page again.

Eddie points to the ‘froglet’, “Eddidie.”

“So...like a teenager?” Steve hazards vaguely. Steve figured Eddie is the same age as him, more or less, just because the human parts look the same and are roughly the same size; it’s not really anything to go on though. Steve points, “when do you grow into a frog?”

“Later.”

“What?”

Eddie nods, “later.”

“Eddie...are you going to get legs?” Steve has to be sure. Has to understand what Eddie is saying.

“Legs?”

Steve lifts his feet off the floor, waving his legs up and down a little, trying not to get too excited before he's sure, pointing, “legs.”

“Yes. Eddidie legs later.”

All of the worry Steve's been harboring about what to do with Eddie just...lifts. He knows Eddie couldn't live with him, hidden away, forever...but the thought of releasing Eddie somewhere. Leaving him alone, worrying about what would happen if people found him. Never seeing him again, all of it was tearing at Steve inside, a burden he didn't know how to answer, “Eddie! Why didn’t you tell me! This is awesome-”

“Legs bad.”

“What…why?”

Eddie closes the book, looking sad again, he takes Steve’s hand, “called?”

“That’s my hand buddy...and those parts are fingers,” Steve lets Eddie link their fingers together, the webbing preventing them locking together fully, “Eddie, why are legs bad?”

Eddie shuffles closer, turning his body into Steve’s, “called?” Eddie uses his free hand to point to Steve’s eyes.

“Eyes, buddy,” Eddie’s finger makes contact as he shifts in the seat to lean ever closer, tail pressed tight to Steve’s thigh, he traces Steve’s brow, “eye brows.” Eddie’s finger, his black, rounded claw traces along Steve’s nose, “nose.” Steve can’t move, doesn’t feel like he can breathe really as he waits for what comes next. Eddie’s fingertip traces Steve’s bottom lip, ever so gently he touches, leaving a tingling on Steve's skin, “lips. Lips and...mouth.”

Eddie nods, satisfied, taking his hand away, and Steve can finally take another breath, even with the distraction of Eddie's touch, he can’t avoid the sense of mounting horror, “Eddie, why are legs bad?”

Eddie has to drop Steve’s hand to bring both up to his face, he gets as far as pressing his palms to his cheeks before Steve grabs his wrists, dragging his hands away from his face, “no,” Steve says, horrified, “no, that’s not what happens. You’re wrong, that can’t be what happens.”

Eddie nods, sad but sure.

“No. Eddie no, that’s not- I won’t let you,” and Steve knows as he says it he has no fucking control over this whatsoever.

Eddie takes Steve hand again, pushes it against the back of his head. Steve’s fingers worm their way in, feeling that familiar starburst of ridges. They’re familiar as the rest of Eddie now, Steve’s been washing Eddie’s hair pretty much every other day for weeks and weeks now. Steve fingers find the place where they meet in the middle, right at the back of Eddie’s head, “mouth.”

Steve fights the instinct to pull his hand away in horror. He forces himself to keep it there; it won’t hurt him, Steve can feel the ridges of Eddie’s fucking skull, hard and unforgiving under his skin and hair. That can’t be right, it just doesn’t make any sense but...Steve can imagine it, the petals of a Demogorgon’s mouth unfolding.

“Stee?”

Steve’s voice breaks when he speaks, and he can feel the first tear break free, rolling down his cheek, “yeah buddy?”

“El tell Eddidie...Stee tell Eddidie I love you. El tell Eddidie love...Eddidie love Stee too. Stee perfect.”

“Oh buddy," Steve's voice cracks, "...yeah. Yeah, I love you too,” Eddie wipes away Steve’s tears with his knuckle, licking the water off his finger. Eddie half climbs and Steve half pulls Eddie into his lap. They hold each other tight, Eddie gently nuzzling his face back and forth against Steve's cheek, against his neck, breathing in Steve's hair and skin.

Steve does the same to Eddie, hands tight on Eddie's tail, on his back, in his hair, wherever he can reach to touch, committing Eddie to memory.

Steve doesn’t go home, he can’t. He just sleeps, fully clothed, on the couch, pulling Eddie down on top of him, and holding him close.

Steve and El sit on the stoop, all bundled up. Steve’s got a coffee and El’s got a hot chocolate. They watch as Eddie moves along the tree line; he’s collecting pine cones and burying them. Planting seeds. He uses his hard, blunt claws to dig; the earth is maybe a little harder because of the cold, but it doesn’t seem to bother or hinder Eddie at all.

It feels precious now, watching Eddie. It feels like the time he has with him is suddenly short; that he needs to make the most of every single second. Steve tries to absorb all of it, the way Eddie moves. The look on his face as he examines his finds, his fingers, the dark nails. The way the light is absorbed by the dark matte black of his tail. The way his hair gets blown around in the fresh breeze, shining a little in the light, thanks to Steve’s hair care regimen.

How he smiles at Steve when he catches him watching.

Steve tries not to think about last night; it’s too much to absorb. Too strange; surely Eddie cannot be right. But then Steve reminds himself of where Eddie came from, and the fact that the girl he’s sitting next too can move shit with her mind, and figures he has to adjust his expectations around what could be normal.

“He does this a lot,” El says.

“Huh, maybe he does this back home too; always wondered what he gets up to when I’m not there.”

“He does,” El says with certainty.

“Oh have you...have you looked. Inside his head?”

“Only a little. Just to check if he’s alright and...when he’s struggling to find the words.”

“Oh. Yeah. Is it...is it very different?”

“Yes.” El seems to think for a moment, “he thinks in...pictures. People think in words a lot. And he pretty much only thinks about now. People think about a lot of things at once, the past, the future. Eddie doesn’t do that, there’s mostly only now.”

“Huh...I guess that...makes sense.”

Eddie comes back to the foot of the steps, brushing loose things from the woods off the sweater of the day, “Hopper now,” he informs them.

“Oh yeah Buddy? Can you hear his car?” Steve touches his ear.

“Hopper car yes, Eddidie hear. Hopper inied work.”

Steve can’t help but smile, even though it feels like he wants so cry at the same time, “what is Hopper’s job, do you know?”

Eddie nods, “Hopper Hawkins Indiana safe.”

“Yeah buddy, that’s exactly right.”

Part Thirteen

[minawritesfanfic]

You are who you eat

Dexter Morgan x Reader

Word count: 2k

Summary: After finding out about Dexter’s after hour hobby you start to investigate him while teasing him from afar that you know what he is.

Part 2

Previous | Next

☆ ★ ✮ ★ ☆

Finding a reason to go up to homicide was easy I had an email come in from the sergeant but I also couldn’t be bothered to deliver the brand new computers to homicide yesterday like I was supposed to. I carried the box out of the tiny office, normally I would’ve struggled to carry something this heavy but hauling around dead bodies was unsurprising a great work out. I used my elbow to press the button for the elevator and waited for it to come down, I heard someone come up behind me and turned to see my mystery man. Boy does he have great timing, I glanced down at his ID and under his photo was his name, Dexter Morgan. Got you, I gave him a polite smile turning around as I heard the familiar ding of the elevator and stepped inside. He stepped inside as well tucking his hands into his pockets, it felt odd being so close to someone and knowing except who they are without them knowing a thing.

His expression was calm but I could tell from the slight fidgeting he wasn’t as calm as he let on. Like freak out by last nights encounter, I mean I would be too. If someone caught me just as I was killing someone and there was a high chance they saw my face, I would be shitting my pants and looking over my shoulder for days. Though I have no plans of exposing his secret because that would mean bringing into the question why I was at the car dealership, why I hadn’t reported it then, or of I didn’t mention that part what was I doing at Ann Cohen’s house that late at night anyways. No excuse I could come up would lose their suspicion so it just seemed far better to not involve myself in it at all, if anything it would be easier to just deal with this Dexter person on my own.

The elevator dinged again as we arrived on the next floor, and we both stepped out with our left foot as if we were synchronized together. Our eyes met again and we awkwardly walked out one after another, I let him step ahead of me and watched as he disappeared into the tiny room in the back of the department whilst I began distributing the laptops to each officer and collecting their old ones. I hadn’t been asked to do that but I figured if I didn’t do it now I would likely be sent to do it anyway, and I didn’t have a reason to come up here twice in a day so it’s not like I needed it as an excuse. Doing it now simply saved me from unnecessary work later on, as I got to the last laptop I found myself at Sergeant Doakes desk. My final task in the homicide department for today, hopefully at least.

“Good morning Sergeant, I got your email what can I do for you?” I said as I handed him the new laptop.

“Morning, I heard you were the person to ask about getting into some encrypted files?”

“I am indeed, you can just give me the device and I’ll get tight to it. Is there a deadline or can I do this at my own pace?”

“No deadline as I’m not sure if they will be anything helpful on there, but please make it a priority.” He pulled a silver Dell mini 9, I set it on top of the others in the box making a mental note to look at it later.

“Alright I’ll get it back to you as soon as I can then, if that’s all I should probably go deal with these.” I said raising the box slightly bringing attention to it.

“Thank you, please get back to me as soon as you can.”

With all my task completed I adjust grip on the box and took one last look around the department before turning to leave, my eyes drifted Dexter’s little hiding spot. I was surprised to see him already looking at me, his eye remained trained on me even as I turned away and walked out the department. A odd chill went down my spine as I recalled the look in his eyes it was empty and unreadable, I had definitely crossed a line today. There was no need to make him suspicious of me just yet, I still had plenty left to learn about him. I stepped inside the elevator and rode it back down to my floor and walked back to my office, and quickly started on my next task.

I decided to ignored the laptop for now and followed through with other requests in the building first, I felt it was better to run around now instead of constantly going back and forth. That way I could work on the things I needed to in the office uninterrupted, so I set off to step up a new computer for the deputy chief, helped track down a suspect using their phone for narcotics, and updating the missing persons website to showcase the recent disappearances. I spent the first half of my day running around and was happy to sit and work in my office until 4pm came around, I sat back in my chair and just took a few moments to breathe. I hadn’t made any significant progress with the laptop and honestly it was starting to frustrate me, I didn’t expect this to be easy but whoever encrypted these files sure as hell knew what they were doing. So instead of frustrating myself further I I decided to find out just who Dexter Morgan was, looking him up in the system I saw he had no priors in the system and seemed to be a relatively stand up citizen, too good of one to be honest. I knew it was a facade, considering I heard him say so, you can’t be a serial killer and not have a facade. I found that you had a sister Debra Morgan, I recognized her name from the news about the ice truck killer, but most importantly I found your house.

At first I considered talking to his sister and befriending her but I needed to stay out of sight for now, it I raise your attention any more than I already have it would be long before I might end up on your table as well. Of course that doesn’t mean I wasn’t going to bother him from a distance, I needed some sort of distraction while I went through his place so I had a friend of mine give him a little surprise. I stepped through the open door of your apartment, I glanced around looking at the layout and simple decor.

“Dexter, you left the door open again honey. I thought we talked about that.” I said as I stepping further inside and found a repair man tiding his tools on the floor. “Oh hello, have you seen Dexter?”

“No, manager let me in. Someone reported a leak.” He said not even bothering to look up at me.

“Oh yeah, I told him to get things checked out I’m glad he followed through. Was everything okay?”

“Yeah, everything’s in order. You can rest assured there’s no leaks in your boyfriend’s apartment.” He finished packing and began to leave.

“That’s great to hear, you have a wonderful day sir.” He gave me an awkward smile and shook his head as he left.

I shit the door behind him and looked around, so this was Dexter’s apartment. I immediately put on gloves, after my research I realized he was In forensics so leaving behind my finger prints wasn’t ideal. I started by checking the books making sure there was nothing inside or under them, then I checked his desk. I rummaged through the drawers and found nothing but the usual clutter, I decided to check his computer since I was more likely to find something there. I debugged my way through the login screen and got into his computer, on the surface there was again nothing but I kept digging until found it. His search history which stupidly he never clears, I found that he had used a lot of police resources from the comfort of his home. Don’t you know that’s illegal Dexter? Thankfully some of the searches showed the names he looked up, I borrowed one of his pens and a sticky note then began writing down as many of the names I could and the days he searched them. If my theory was right these were likely murderers as well who will all turn up missing shortly after dexter searched them. Once I was done there I ventured into the rest of the house and found it all to be normal, minus the obnoxious chest in his closet which I thought was odd but I didn’t have my lock pick to get into it. There wasn’t much left for me to do so I figured I should probably leave incase Dexter also decides to visit home on his lunch break.

★ ✮ ★

Dexter had been on edge all morning, looking over his shoulder just waiting for the coworkers to swoop in and arrest him. As illogical as the thought was, there was no evidence for whoever saw him to back up their claims. Even if they searched his apartment they would find nothing, but an accusation like that doesn’t go away even if it’s proven false. People would still be suspicious and Dexter certainly didn’t need any more prying eyes when he already had Doakes tailing him everywhere he went. He barely managed to get him off his back last night by popping one of his tires, though hope Doakes truly bought his ‘addiction’ and would leave him alone thinking he was in recovery. Still even though no one came knocking at his door during the night to arrest him, which truthfully only made him more anxious but he tried to rationalize it and soothe his anxiety. Maybe they didn’t see his face, they definitely didn’t know his name, maybe they hadn’t seen much of anything, maybe this maybe that. Nothing was certain and Dexter did not like that, he had been careful to live by Harry’s code and the number one rule was to not get caught yet here he was. With a heavy heart Dexter stepped into his tiny slice of the homicide department and was greeted by Masuka.

“Oh hey Dex, there’s something on your desk waiting for you. It looks like someone has a secret admirer.” He said with his signature laugh.

Dexter quirked a brow and saw it, a brightly colored cupcake with a pin stuck in it that said ‘eat me’. He furrowed his brows and ripped the cupcake in half with his thumbs and found a note inside, ‘Roger was a scumbag, wasn’t he? Your secret admirer’. Dexter felt his blood run cold as he fell back into his seat, whoever it was that saw him knew it was him. He didn’t like this not one bit, he needed to find out who sent this.

“Hey Masuka, any idea who sent me this?”

“I can’t tell you that, the point of a secret admirer is that its a secret.” Dexter frowned but didn’t push it, there were other ways to find out.

Dexter was wrong, terribly wrong, whoever this ‘secret admirer’ was had connections with people all throughout the building. He had been asking all around the station all day but everyone he asked was adamant on not exposing their identity, it was like some sick game and he was losing it. His nerves were eased because at least it seems like they aren’t going to expose him for his dark secret for now, but Dexter didn’t like the uncertainty of not knowing if they ever would. This isn’t what he should be worried about right now, he needed to get ahead of this bay harbor butcher thing before they tied it back to him. It was only a matter of time until Lundy would catch on, but he also needed to work things out with Rita and convince her he was committed to his ‘recovery’. There was a lot more on his plate than he was comfortable with, Dexter felt as if he was starting to drown, if things continued the way they were he was certain he would go insane.

☆ ★ ✮ ★ ☆

[gudfornuthin]

All I’ve Ever Wanted pt2

Season 4!Five Hargreeves x fem!reader

Summary: after saving the world (again), the Hargreeves decide to have a proper celebration. Five should be happy, but there’s only one person on his mind, and he’s unsure if he’ll ever see her again. After being questioned by his loud mouth brother, there’s a chance he won’t have to wonder much longer.

Word count: 4k

A/N: the amount of support I received for part one of this was insane, and truly overwhelming. Thank you all for sharing the love and as requested I now have the idea for part two. Just like the last part, I’ve changed the story so no one ceases to exist and they all live happily ever after. This is also heavy on the Klaus and Lila content but I absolutely loved writing them and characterising them as I wish we had had more interaction between the pair. Hope you all enjoy, feedback is greatly appreciated :)

Read part one here!

“To saving the world. Again and again.”

“Hear! Hear!”

Glasses clink together as the Hargreeves family stand in a circle, celebrating their hero status. What had once felt like a long, gruelling journey, now at last was finished. The siblings weren’t sure if the world would need saving again someday, but at least for the time being, they could relax.

Diego and Luther were already wasted, Klaus and Alison were fussing over Claire, Victor and Ben were surprisingly having a heart to heart, Lila was hugging her children for what seemed like the 30th time that evening, and Five was sat in the corner moping. He wanted nothing more than to celebrate, to be in the moment with the people he loved the most. The only issue being, something was missing. Someone was missing.

When Five returned to his timeline, nobody held back their questioning. The only thing he could tell them was that it had been a long six years, and he was glad to see their faces. He couldn’t bring himself to mention her name. It would’ve just been too complicated. And he hated the thought of appearing soft and sweet. But that’s what she had done to him. And he knows he’ll never get that back.

“There’s my favourite sibling!” Klaus’ voice grates against Five’s ears, not in the mood to hold a conversation.

Five looks at him with a raised eyebrow. “Favourite?”

“Yeah,” Klaus nods. “Right after Alison, Viktor and Ben.”

Five rolls his eyes, taking a sip of his lukewarm drink and sinking deeper into his seat. Unfortunately, his brother like always doesn’t read the room, and decides to sit down, slinging an arm around his shoulder. Five quickly shrugs it off.

“What’s got you so glum, chum?”

“Nothing, I’m fine.”

If Five was going to open up to anyone, Klaus would have to be the last person on earth before he even considered telling him anything. He’d turn it into one big innuendo and completely ruin his already shitty mood. No, he’s planning on keeping his mouth shut.

Klaus props his elbow on the table, his chin in his hand and looking at Five with big puppy eyes. Five glares back.

“I’ve been told I’m great at giving advice. I help Claire bear all the time!”

“I don’t think I need the same advice as a teenage girl,” Five says, crossing his arms. “And hasn’t she been suspended from school?”

Klaus raises his hands in defence. “The advice doesn’t always go according to plan.”

Five shakes his head, any ounce of energy left in him draining away. He stands up, much to his brothers dismay.

“Great chatting to you as always Klaus, but I um, I think I’m gonna take a walk and clear my head.” He starts to slowly walk away. “Hopefully get hit by a car,” He mumbles under his breath.

Klaus watches him leave the room, pouting slightly. He knows his not the first person any of his siblings come to for help, and usually the last one to know anything that’s going on. Most of the time he can be gone for days and no one seems to notice. Even so, it doesn’t mean he doesn’t care. Seeing his brother this down pains him, and if he’s able to help in any way, he will. He also knows he can’t do this alone.

He glances around, the party still going strong and most of his siblings smashed out of their minds. One person who still appears spritely and aware of her surroundings, is Lila. She’s always down for a challenge, Klaus thinks to himself, stumbling out of his chair and making his way over to her. She spots him coming closer, shooing her kids away in case he’s too drunk to control his inappropriate thoughts.

“There’s my favourite sister in law!”

Lila looks at Klaus, squinting her eyes and choosing not to bite back a snide remark. “Having fun?”

He nods a little too enthusiastically. “Oh the best, just swell. Us Hargreeves sure know how to throw a shindig.”

Lila finally decides she’s had enough of the pleasantries. “Alright, what’s going on?”

Klaus takes her by the arm, pulling her further away from the rest of the family out of earshot. He also chooses to take it slow, giving himself more time to figure out what he’s going to say to Lila and how he’ll convince her to agree to whatever he comes up with.

“Has Five seemed,” Klaus pauses for a breath, “moody to you?”

Lila raises an eyebrow. “As apposed to his regular sunny disposition and positive attitude?”

“Okay, I know he’s not the most happy, go lucky guy.”

“He’s a twat.”

This isn’t how Klaus wanted the conversation to go, but he pushes on through, ignoring Lila’s harsh words.

“The only thing he’s opened up about is that he traveled through a weird subway system and was gone for what, to him, felt like a long time.”

Lila shrugs her shoulders, having already lost most of her interest in the conversation. “Why are you telling me all this?”

Klaus leans somehow closer to her, lowing his voice. “With your brains and my,” he falters slightly, “can do attitude, we could find out what happened to him when he disappeared!”

“And how is this going to benefit me?” Lila asks, her interest yet to be piqued.

“You get to possibly find something embarrassing to use against Five,” Klaus responds, “and you can take a break away from babysitting those two.”

As Klaus says this, he points over to Diego and Luther, the former smashing champagne bottles against the latter’s bare chest.

“See,” Luther exclaims with a smile on his face. “Can’t feel a thing.”

Lila groans, turning away from the man children. “Fine, I guess I have no issue snooping into Five’s private life.”

“There she is!” Klaus jumps up and down. “Now step one: infiltrate the boys personal quarters.”

Lila grimaces. “Please, don’t say that ever again.”

- - -

The pair move away from the party and head towards Five’s room. After the apocalypse fiasco, the family all agreed to spend the next week or so staying at the Umbrella Academy mansion while they figure out more permanent arrangements. The siblings stuck to their childhood rooms, with Lila’s family bunking in Reginald’s quarters. Not like the old man needed it anymore.

“What are we looking for exactly?” Lila asks, walking into Five’s room and looking around.

Klaus walks in after her, immediately heading for one of the drawers and haphazardly pulling it open. “I don’t know! Clues, notes, maybe he bought something back from wherever he disappeared to.”

Lila huffs, scuffing her shoes against the ratty carpet. She chooses to go along with the scavenger hunt, moving to the bed and poking her head underneath. A box catches her eye as she reaches for it, dragging it into the light. She sits cross legged on the ground and begins rummaging through it.

“So,” Klaus starts. “You watched any good shows recently?”

“I’m not doing small talk with you.”

The continue searching, finding nothing of significance other than some random calculations for something Lila can’t figure out, and Klaus doesn’t even try to understand what any of it means.

Just before the two decide to give their searching a rest, Klaus finds a sealed envelope under a pile of paper. He scatters the parchment across the desk and holds the envelope close to his face. A name is written on the front.

“Jackpot.”

Lila notices Klaus holding something of interest and walks over to him. “Who’s Y/N?”

“Hell if I know,” he replies, beginning to tear open the top of the envelope.

Lila quickly stops him, wide eyes piercing into the side of Klaus’s face. “Is your name Y/N? You can’t just open something not addressed to you.”

Klaus scoffs. “Come on! This could help us figure out what’s wrong with Five.”

He rips it open and pulls out the contents, much to Lila’s dismay. Two pieces of paper. One with random scribbles etched across it in messy writing. The other a blueprint of sorts, almost like a mapped out plan of a subway system.

“So,” Klaus starts after a beat of silence. “Any of this making sense to you?”

Lila doesn’t respond immediately, her eyes glancing back and forth over the blueprint and the words she can decipher on the paper. It looks familiar. She’s certain she’s seen something similar before, not just any ordinary subway plan. Suddenly it hits her.

“I’ve been here.”

Klaus gives her a blank look, forcing her to continue. “When we went on our little ‘road trip’ and got ambushed in that town. I blinked, hoping to get away from the gunfire for a moment and all of a sudden I was in what looked like an abandoned subway station.”

She pokes urgently at the blueprint. “This is that subway. Or a certain part of it.”

Klaus finally catches on, nodding slowly. “Okay, this doesn’t explain why it was sealed in an envelope addressed to some person we’ve never heard of before.”

Lila looks down at the paper again, moving her finger along the drawn on lines. They go so far, then stop, then start again on a different part of the blueprint. She slowly starts to make sense of it all.

“These parts here,” she shows Klaus where the lines stop and start. “It looks like he blinks across multiple stations.” She sees a big dot and a circle furiously drawn around it. “And maybe this is where he stops permanently.”

“You think that permanent stop might have something there of interest to us?”

Lila shrugs. “It definitely seems like it had some interest to Five. We may as well try.”

- - -

It’s a cold, autumn’s day, and Y/N stands in her greenhouse, clearing out some of the plants that had wilted away due to the change of climate. She’s wrapped in a warm cardigan, sniffling slightly as a chill runs up her spine. She didn’t mind the weather, but always preferred the warmer temperatures. It was the best time to grow her favourite fruits and vegetables. Either way, she’s hoping to grow pumpkins soon.

Since the events of the mysterious stranger landing in her back garden, and the whirlwind of emotions he put her through, she hadn’t left the comfort of her home other than to buy groceries. She busied herself with a lot of baking, crocheting, and practicing more of her combat skills. She hadn’t had to use them yet, but still she likes to remind herself of the moves she’d been taught. She filled her time well, but there was always something missing.

Y/N shakes her head, rubbing her nose against the back of her hand. She grabs a plastic bag and heads outside into the cool air, scooping up handfuls of leaves and shoving them into it. Maybe she’ll make some artwork out of them, the reds, greens and oranges complimenting each other well.

A tickle runs up her nose and she sneezes into her palm.

“Bless you.”

“Thank you,” Y/N replies, then freezes, the hairs on the back of her neck standing up.

She turns to look in the direction the voice came from, coming face to face with a man with shaggy hair and a wide smile. Y/N yelps and, without much thought, punches him in the face. As he lets out a cry and stumbles back, she swipes his legs from under him, forcing him on the ground. She kneels on top of him, pulling his arms behind his back. ‘Guess the moves Five taught me came in handy’ she thought.

“I’m all for a bit of foreplay,” the stranger groans from under her. “But the punch felt unwarranted.”

“Who are you?” She interrogates.

“I must say,” a new voice sounds from behind the two on the wet grass. “If I knew you were this good at subduing Klaus, I would’ve come for you sooner.”

She whips around, spotting a woman standing not far away with her arms crossed and an amused expression donning her face.

Y/N looks back and forth between the two, confusion and adrenaline running through her body and mind. Was a quiet life too much to ask for these days?

Still on top of who she now assumes is “Klaus”, she glares at the woman. “Is it a trend now for people to show up in my back garden out of thin air?”

The woman smiles. “You must be Y/N.”

Hearing her name come from the stranger shocks her at first, but as the thought of Five runs through her mind, she has a strong feeling this has something to do with him.

“Sorry for scaring you,” the woman continues. “But I promise we’re only here with good intentions. Just here to help our brother.”

“I would also love to be apart of this conversation,” Klaus pipes up, still lying on the floor under Y/N’s weight.

She pauses for a second, then decides to trust the pair, standing up and holding a hand out to Klaus, the man happily accepting it.

“Alright,” she nods at them. “I’m listening.”

The three of them make their way into the home and sit in the kitchen. Lila takes the wheel, properly introducing herself and explaining the reasoning behind their unexpected visit. While the mention of Five doesn’t shock Y/N, her heart breaks hearing how miserable he’s been since leaving her and the life they’d built. She brews them all some coffee, listening intently to Lila’s explanation of their family and what’s gone on since Five returned. He’d obviously told Y/N about saving the world, but it was still hard to fully comprehend. She was used to a boring life, doing mundane tasks and basking in the quiet. His life sounded stressful and never ending. She begins to understand why he wanted to stay with her.

“And then we found an envelope in his room with your name on the front,” Lila finishes, taking a sip of her drink. “We thought finding you might be exactly what Five needs.”

Y/N eventually breaks her silence, trying to comprehend all the information thrown at her. “If he knew how to get back to me, why didn’t he?”

Klaus shrugs, grabbing for one of the home baked cookies on display in the centre of the table. “I don’t know, Five’s pride overshadows his emotions sometimes. Maybe he didn’t wanna seem desperate, or a burden. Maybe he was scared you’d moved on?”

She huffs at that. “No chance. The past few weeks my mind has been consumed by Five. I’ve tried my best to distract myself, but all I think about is him.”

Lila and Klaus look at each other, neither of them realising how much this woman must mean to Five. While this had initially been a way of teasing their brother and finding out something personal to use against him, it had now become much more serious. This woman was in love with him. And they don’t need to imagine that he’s in love with her too.

“Look,” Lila talks directly to Y/N. “We don’t expect you to give up your life here. I certainly wouldn’t with a home like this.”

Y/N smiles shyly, taking pride in her house and hearing the acknowledgment from someone else.

Lila continues. “But for the sake of helping two love sick puppies reunite with each other, we’d love to take you with us to see Five.”

At first, Y/N isn’t sure how to respond. The shock of meeting some of Five’s family, finding out how down he’s been since leaving her, and now getting the chance to see him again. She’s nervous as her stomach does flips. Even if it’s just one last time, she doesn’t want to spend a moment longer thinking it over.

“Okay,” she replies. “I’ll come with you.”

- - -

Five sits in the kitchen, a loaf of bread and a jar of peanut butter on the table in front of him. He’s looking straight ahead, grabbing a slice and slathering it with the nutty spread. He doesn’t care if he’s making a mess. He won’t be living here much longer anyways.

Footsteps sound from the hall, as an out of breath Klaus enters the room. He spots his brother and, straightening himself out, he casually walks over to the table. He nods at him even though Five has yet to acknowledge his presence.

Klaus sees the sprawled out food. “Hungry?”

“Not really,” Five responds, as he grabs a peanut butter covered slice of bread and throws it at the opposite wall. It sticks for a second then slides down.

Klaus watches as it slowly lands on the floor, then looks at his brother. “Well enough moping around, why don’t you come back up to the party?”

“I’m not in the mood to mingle.”

Klaus bounces slightly on the back of his heels. “You sure? I think there’s someone here who’d love to see you.”

“If the Handler’s somehow come back from the dead, tell her I’m not interested,” Five grabs a towel, wiping off the stickiness on his fingers. “She always gave me the creeps.”

“Oh I think it’s someone much better than the Handler,” Klaus replies before skipping away and out of the room.

Five waits for a few moments, letting out a giant huff and moving away from the table. He’s in no mood to socialise, but his brother’s weird behaviour has him curious. He leaves the kitchen, slowly making his way towards the sound of the ongoing celebrations.

“Come on just one more drink, I can beat you this time!” Luther’s voice is heard slurring from around the corner where Five walking.

“No way,” he can hear Diego pipe up. “She’s too good for someone who’s never played before.”

Five quickly catches on that they must be playing some dumb drinking game. Whoever they’ve challenged must be kicking their asses.

“I dunno, I’m just not as drunk as you guys.”

Five freezes, his heart picking up speed. That voice. The soft tone followed by a melodic laugh. It can’t be her. What the hell is she doing here? How the hell did she get here?

He absentmindedly runs a hand through his hair, hoping he doesn’t look as much of a mess as he feels. He turns the corner, the sight before him filling his insides with a warm, fuzzy feeling. Y/N is standing in between Luther and Diego, cups in front of them most likely full of alcohol. The three of them pick one up and chug as quickly as possible. They slam them down, Y/N much faster than both of them, and start flipping them. After only a few seconds, she flips her cup and lands it, earning a cheer from her and a groan from the two brothers.

Luther shakes his head incessantly. “Alright, again. Let’s go again.”

“Luther, you sound like you’re about to pass out,” Diego argues, his words slurring no less than his brothers.

Y/N laughs at the pair, admiring their competitive spirit. Her eyes glance away from them for a brief moment, and she spots Five. They both look at each other for what seems like an eternity, waiting for the other to make the first move.

“Hey Five!” Luther’s loud voice echoes throughout the room. “Your girlfriend’s awesome! Way cooler than you.”

Five shuts his eyes, groaning inwardly at his brother’s inability to sensor some of his thoughts. Y/N continues looking at him, a shy smile gracing her lips. She excuses herself from the drunk duo, trying not to appear too eager as she walks over to the love she thought she’d lost. Finally, she stands before him, trying to ignore the not so subtle looks from the partygoers.

“Hi.”

“What’re you-,” Five is breathless, spluttering over his words. “I mean, how? How’re you here, how’d you get here?”

“Uh,” from not too far away, Klaus pipes up. “I think you’ll find I am the one you can thank for that.”

Lila, standing next to him, smacks the back of his head, eliciting a small yelp from the man. “I was the one who figured the blueprint out you prick. She wouldn’t be here if it wasn’t for my ability to blink.”

They carry on bickering back and forth. All the while Five watches them, unsure if he should thank them or curse them out. Maybe both.

A soft touch takes hold of Five’s hand, pulling his attention away from his family and back to the woman in front of him. For the first time in a while, he smiles wide, matching her own.

“Do you wanna maybe go for a walk?” Y/N asks. “Your family seems lovely, but I’d really like some time just the two of us.”

Five breathes a sigh of relief. “Nothing would make me happier.”

- - -

The pair walk around the grounds of the mansion, holding hands and talking, as if nothing had changed. While Five knew he’d missed her company, he didn’t realise how her presence changed his mindset completely. He felt content, at peace. His thoughts weren’t consumed by the apocalypse and the world possibly ending again. How he’d spent the past several years moving from one place to the next, making sure his family was safe, and never having a second to stop. It was draining.

But with her? He can finally relax. He doesn’t feel the need to put on a facade and lie that he’s okay. She makes him feel seen, feel vulnerable in the best way possible. She’s not here to judge. She’s not here to ask for his help. She’s just here. And in that moment, that was the only thing Five cared about. It was the only thing he wanted.

They find a bench and decide to sit down for a bit, basking in the soft glow from the moon. Y/N rests her head on his shoulder and leans in close. Five can’t help but lay a small kiss on her hairline.

Y/N sighs. “I could stay like this forever.”

Five hums in agreement. “So could I.”

After saying those words, it dawns on Five what they truly mean. He could do this forever. Not just sitting on a wet bench in the moonlight, but spending the rest of his life with her. Living that quiet life they’d built together before he had to leave. He can’t bear to say goodbye again. So maybe this time, he doesn’t have to.

Five moves slightly, forcing Y/N to take her head off his shoulder and sit up properly. She looks at him confused.

“Why don’t we?” He asks.

“Why don’t we what?”

Five stands up. “Do this forever. You and I. Me and you. Live the life we both want. We both deserve.”

She stands up too, looking deeply into his eyes. “We talked about this last time. I can’t give up what I’ve made for myself. I can’t stay here.”

Five falters for a second, scared of what he’s about to propose. But there’s no point in living without taking a few risks.

“What if I come with you?”

Y/N is shaking her head before Five finishes the sentence. “I don’t want to be the reason you leave your family. I know now why they mean so much to you. I can’t live with that guilt.”

Five raises his hands to rest gently on the sides of her face. “And I can’t live without you.”

Tears threaten to spill from Y/N’s eyes, as he carries on talking. “I wouldn’t be saying goodbye to them forever. I know how to get back. Lila clearly knows how to get there too.”

Five rolls his eyes at that as Y/N laughs, her mind wandering to the shocking but wonderful introduction of his brother and sister-in-law.

“But if you still want me,” Five now speaks in a whispered tone. “I’m ready to finish building that life with you. However long it may take.”

Y/N nods, her heart beating fast. “I wouldn’t want anyone else.”

Y/N moves her arms up to wrap around his neck, pulling him close and kissing him deeply. They both sigh, Five tasting the alcohol she had been drinking earlier, as well as a hint of strawberries. Some things never change.

//

(Additional A/N: I’m not planning on doing any more parts following after this, HOWEVER, because I’ve loved writing Five and reader so much, I might do some one shots diving deeper into their time together before Five left. eg. Five teaching her fighting skills and reader teaching him how to bake. If you wanna see that please let me know and also if you have any suggestions for those kind of ideas I’d love to hear them.)

Taglist:

@indestructeible @reijixia13 @busy-buzzing @jshxng @krazyk99 @lxkeeeeee @inkspiredwriting @redbunny03 @philoslostfiles

(I tagged anyone who said they wanted pt2 but some tags didn’t work so apologies to anyone I couldn’t tag)

[inthehouseoffinwe]

AU where even after death our favourite Finwëions are being stubborn as ever so a new solution is found. Finarfin just wanted to help his grandson in law.

Fëanor and Fingolfin are being stubborn as ever

It’s been three ages, their wounds are healed, they’ve made up and understood most of their deeds

But they cannot for the life of them get along, and everyone, from Mandos to their children and people, know that if they’re released in their current state, things will go right back to how they were

Even if their people are kept in line by their kids, it’s a very explosive situation

And in all honesty, Námo feels like they’ve put poor Finarfin through enough without this addition

He can’t keep them here forever. The halls aren’t meant to be a permanent residence unless it’s by choice, and they’ve started causing chaos in here too

…but speaking of the sons of Finwë

Finarfin himself isn’t doing particularly well right now. He feels great guilt for his inaction over the last two Ages, especially as Tyelpë and Ereinion turned up with their own tales

Then of course little Celebrian

(Doesn’t matter how much everyone tells him they’d genuinely be lost without him and his actions. The Noldor especially would’ve been outcast and alone. They needed a stable ruler, not another revolutionary. And the work he’s done is more impactful than either of his brothers ever managed)

Not to mention he’s still furious at his brothers despite what he’s convinced himself of

…and misses them greatly.

Truth be told, the Valar owe him a lot.

So they offer him a choice.

Ereinion’s skilled with managing all kinds of people and people don’t have a problem with the kid, so for a time he’ll be the High King

Finarfin is overjoyed at the chance to help his granddaughter’s family. Elrond is dear to many across all factions, and his children too.

…He’s less overjoyed at the news his brothers will be joining him if he agrees.

Nevertheless desire to be of use for once wins out and he accepts.

He gets a week or so to say his goodbyes and prepare for the journey. Asking around, particularly asking the third age elves who’ve recently arrived and Celebrian most of all, gets him the clothes and supplies he needs to somewhat blend in.

They’re still his colours (though he has none) and his symbol is carefully hidden under the cloak.

And he heads to the Hall’s Opening.

“For what it’s worth, Arafinwë, I’m sorry for the additional baggage. We’ve asked much of you, but hopefully this at least will benefit us all.”

Námo is kind when he stands and opens the gates.

“I know you’ve missed them too.”

The soft whisper dissipates into the wind with the Vala and now two figures are walking out. Tall. Broad shouldered. Eyes shining with light.

Clad in their usual blue and red, weapons strapped to their backs and hips.

Fëanaro and Nolofinwë have returned at last.

Before he can say anything there’s a whirl of light and the three elves are swept away.

Aragorn did not sign up for this

A bright flash of light all but blinds him, leaving three figures in its wake.

Three very tall. Very Elven. Figures.

And if that’s not enough, they look strangely familiar. Like he should know them from somewhere.

“That damn Vala! He couldn’t have warned us!”

And now they’re speaking Quenya.

“He did. It’s not his fault you don’t listen to anyone but yourself,” the one clad in blue says viciously.

The third elf, the only one with blond hair, groaned and glared at the two others. Aragorn winced at the look, thankful he wasn’t under it, though neither of the others so much as flinched.

“You’ve been back how long?” He scoffed. “And here I thought I missed you.”

To his credit the one in blue showed some regret and bowed his head. Beside him, the red one huffed, but it was much less heated, and his hands clenched into the leaves around him.

“Forgive me, Arafinwë,” the blue one said.

Aragorn’s hand found his blade. It couldn’t be…

“Depends what you want forgiveness for, Nolo,” was the cold reply, tinged with hurt.

No way.

But it was there. The uncanny resemblance to the portraits he’d seen in his books as a young boy learning his history. This was no doubt Fingolfin, and beside him Finarfin. Which only left-

“My feud with Fëanaro has long tainted our relationship, little brother,” the blue elf- *Fingolfin* replied bitterly, glaring at the third elf. “I’d like to start again.”

“Well I’d like you two to shove your issues aside for once and try and get along!” Finarfin hissed back, and his older brother’s eyes widened. “How long will you keep fighting?! How long will you divide your people, your children! How long will you make them suffer for your egos?!”

Aragorn expected Fëanor to scowl, angrily proclaim his youngest half brother had no right to speak that way, but the elf only glared into the floor. Fingolfin stared into the trees and Finarfin turned away, eyes clouding with pain.

Only to stare right at Aragorn.

“Fëanaro, Nolo. Swords up.”

To their credit the elves immediately stood and followed Finarfin’s gaze to Aragorn. The Ranger carefully stepped into the light as the three sons of Finwë stared him down.

“It is not polite to lurk, stranger.” Fingolfin said in the common tongue and Aragorn vaguely wondered if he’d been taught it in the halls. He put his hands up, free of weapons, and lowered his hood.

“Forgive me, my lord Fingolfin. But I had to identify if you were friend of foe. You appeared in a strange manner wearing faces of old, and the enemy is skilled in his deceit.”

“You dare accuse us of being Sauron’s creations?” Fëanor’s eyes lit with a fell fire and Aragorn would have shuddered was he not accustomed to seeing much worse from his own father. Elrond could be… rather terrifying when he decided he’d had enough of his son’s’ shenanigans.

“He was being cautious,” Finarfin retorted. “Something you could learn from considering how your life ended.”

“I didn’t know what Balrogs were!”

“The great Fëanaro admitting to not knowing something, have the end of days come at last?”

“Some would say his presence here is an indicator of that,” Fingolfin muttered as Fëanor scowled at the blond. The scowl turned to him and he met it squarely. “I said what I said.”

The situation was fast unravelling and Aragorn had Nazgul on his tail. For all his training in Elrond’s house, nothing had prepared him for dealing with three Princes - Kings??? - of the Noldor at each others throats. Sending a prayer that this wouldn’t get him skewered, he whistled sharply and the three elves spun his way. He raised his hands in apology.

“Orcs and other fell beasts roam these lands, my lords. I’d advise a quieter argument?” He grimaced at the two stunned faces, wondering when it would turn to explosive anger that ended the line of Elros once and for all.

But Finarfin tilted his head, a small smile playing about his lips.

“It takes great courage to step between the arguments of the House of Finwë. What’s your name, stranger.”

The Ranger bowed his head.

“The trees have ears, my lord, I’d take you to an Elven safehaven before telling you that. But for now, you can call me Strider.”

[hockeyboysimagines]

Love so sweet

Chapter 2

Warnings: Language, Angst, implied sex.

Chapter 2! Hopefully you guys like this as much as Chapter 1🤍

“Excuse me could you like get out of my way?”

Tabitha whipped around ready to tweak out on someone when she came face to face with Cole, and broke out in a smile instead. She let out a breath of relief, both because she was bursting with happier see him, and because it meant she wouldn’t have to cause a scene in public. Breakups put her in a foul mood and that usually meant some poor soul suffered because of it.

“Hi stranger.” She said accepting his hug. He gave her a squeeze and pulled back to look at her, hands still braced on her arms.

“How are you? I heard you guys broke up…again.” He said with a chuckle

She nodded, hands coming up to hold him by the elbows “What else is new right?”

“True.” He sighed and let go of her, and walking along side her as she continued to shop “You doing okay? We haven’t seen you in a bit.”

It was true. The last week or so had been especially tumultuous between she and Arber, and seeing them unfortunately hadn’t been in the cards. That was one of the worst parts of the constant fighting if she was being honest. She loved his teammates and his friends and most of all his family, but they were exactly that. His teammates, his friends, his family. Not hers. And if they really did ever break up for good she would have to expect to lose them as a part of her life.

But for now, she was fairly certain this was another temporary one.

At least she hoped. This breakup had been rough on both of them and she’d said a lot of things she didn’t mean, and thrown some accusations she couldn’t take back. She hoped Arber knew that she didn’t actually mean them, and it was something she said while in a heightened state, but it wasn’t an excuse. Her emotions felt out of control sometimes and she often said or did things she didn’t mean. At some point she had to pull herself together and start looking at things more level headed.

Maybe she needed therapy.

She nodded and tossed something in her cart “I’m okay I guess. Just been a rough week.”

“Tell me about it. He’s been a mess.”

She frowned “What’s that mean?”

“He just hasn’t been himself. Like more than normal. I hate when you guys fight.” He said frowning at her.

She sighed and nodded “That makes two of us.”

He picked something off a shelf and chucked it in her cart with a shrug “We may as well shop together. Let me tell you about your boyfriend.”

“He’s not my boyfriend anymore. Fuck this” she said air quoting, as Cole rolled his eyes and made a face “His words not mine.” She finished with a shrug.

“I know they are but you know that’s not for real right? I don’t get what you guys even fight about.”

“Everything basically anymore.” She said offhandedly “Something new to fight about everyday. This one was my fault though.”

“What happened anyways?”

“I-“ she said with a pause “Someone told me that Arber got some girls number when you guys went out the other night when I was working. I just kinda freaked out and here we are.”

“I see. He didn’t, just by the way. I’d tell you if he did.”

“I know that now. Unfortunately I didn’t ask before I yelled at him. Something I’ll have to remember for next time. Oops.” She felt a little embarrassed and glanced at Cole but he wasn’t judging her.

“I get it. But I can promise you he wouldn’t do that. You know that right? Arbers not like that.”

She nodded as they turned the aisle “I do but for some reason I keep doubting it. Maybe I’m crazy. Or maybe I’m just a bitch.” She said with a shrug.

“Nooooo your not.” Cole said with a small smile “I can see your hurting, and it’s any consolation he’s not doing any better. Seems sad.”

“It should make me feel better, but I don’t want him to be sad over me. I just want things to get better.”

Cole smiled a little and bumped her shoulder “And that’s why your so great. You gotta fix things though. Because he’s on the verge of committing a crime out on the ice.”

She laughed and rolled her eyes “He’s always on the verge of committing a crime on the ice. It’s adorable.” She said with a dreamy smile and then coughed to cover it up.

“See?” He said turning to her with a grin “That’s why you guys are perfect for eachother. Kirby asked him where you’ve been the other day and I thought he was going to punch him.”

“He would never punch Kirby.”

“Maybe not but he wanted to. You miss him?”

“Of course I miss him Cole. But if he wants to break up then it is what it is. I can’t make him change his mind. It’s not that simple.”

Cole was shaking his head “You could. All you have to do is call him.”

He was right. It didn’t take a lot to get Arber back and vice versa. Usually just a text or a phone call or even just showing up at his apartment did the job but she was always afraid to reach out just in case it was really over. She couldn’t take it if he told her it was the end, so she usually let him reach out unless she was feeling particularly brave.

As they made their way to checkout Cole updated her on the rest of the guys and how they were doing “They miss you. We went out the other day and they were hoping you’d come out with him. We didn’t know you guys were fighting though.”

“I heard. He was at my house.”

“I knew it!” He said pointing at her “ I knew he was there. He only cancels plans when he’s with you, and he hates going out. He said going out with you gives him anxiety.”

Tabitha chuckled “Yeah talk about him committing a crime.”

They chatted while they checked out and made their way out to the car.

He helped her load her stuff and turned to her, shutting her trunk.

“It was so good to see you.” Cole said as he hugged her, eyes closing and gave her an extra squeeze “Don’t be a stranger okay? Were your friends too.”

She felt her eyes start to water and blinked them away with a nod “I know. I will. Promise.”

He nodded and turned away but paused and glanced over his shoulder “I’ll tell him you said hello. Okay?”

She nodded, unable to speak and gave him a wave and slipped into her car just as tears rolled down her cheeks.

She hated this. She sniffled in the front seat and watched Cole back out and leave the lot as she collected herself. Her route back home took her directly past Arber’s apartment building, and she purposely looked straight ahead. She was always afraid during a breakup that she would drive by and see him with another girl, which was silly because she knew he was most likely with the guys or sulking in the living room.

She let out a breath she didn’t know she’d been holding in as she made it through the light and the building disappeared from her view.

***********

“I saw Tabitha at the grocery store.” Cole said off handedly in the dressing room.

Arber paused and half turned “Yeah? And how was that.”

“She said she was so relieved you guys broke up because she’s always wanted to date me.”

“Haaaaaa.” He said making a face “Very funny.”

“I thought so. She misses you.” He said quietly.

Arber nodded “I know. She okay?”

He nodded “She says she is. She told me to tell you hello.”

He sighed and ran a hand over his face and shook his head “Did she say anything else?”

“Like what? Like she wants you to go to her apartment after practice and get her back?”

He rolled his eyes as Cole continued “If I say yes will you do it?”

“It’s not that simple.”

Cole cracked a smile and let out a huff “Funny she said the same thing. You two are wild man. If you can sit there and tell me that you don’t miss her then I’ll shutup.”

Arber shrugged “Of course I miss her. I don’t like fighting with her.”

“Then get it together and go fix it you idiot.”

“Don’t call me an idiot-“

“Then don’t act like one.” Cole said with a shrug “You miss her, go get her back. You know how easy it is.”

“What’s easy?” Slaf said sitting down next to him.

“Arber and Tabitha broke up.” Cole said eyeing him with a small smirk “But he’s going to go get her back right?”

“Again?” Kirby asked pulling off his helmet off “Why now?”

“Maybe you guys should just break up for good.” Nick said.

Kirby, who was closest, slapped his helmet out of his hand “Take that back. He can’t break up with Tabitha. We like her too much.”

“I agree, but this fighting can’t be healthy.”

Arber didn’t say anything while he listened to the the guys talk about him like he wasn’t there.

He hadn’t expected his teammates to take to Tabitha the way they did, and almost instantly. In a very short time they were always bugging him about bringing her along when he went places with them. She was so good with them, and so easy to talk to. They were a good group, and always respectful, but they could be silly and joke with Tabitha and she gave it right back. She could be one of the guys, and in the next minute be the picture of femininity. They loved her, and she loved them and the constant fighting put a wedge between that each time. It made him feel bad.

He kept most of the fighting and breakups to himself when it came to his parents. They had thankfully always been on good terms when they came to visit or when she came to visit and they had fallen in love with her maybe faster than he had. They raved about her night and day to anyone who would stand still long enough, always requesting she be available when they FaceTimed him. She had fit so seamlessly into his life it felt strange when she wasn’t there.

He hated it.

He didn’t say much for the rest of practice and as he left. He heard the guys calling him but he just wanted to go home and pity himself so he waved them off and made his way home.

He thought back to the first time he ever saw her.

The bar was loud and packed and all he wanted to do was go home.

He was tired, his knuckles hurt from the fight he’d been in, and the headache was unlike any other he’d experienced, but he’d been roped into coming out with them to celebrate the win. He was thinking about the best way to plan his exit when he glanced up to find a girl staring at him from across the bar.

He was fairly sure someone was talking to him but heard nothing.

She was beautiful, the prettiest girl he’d ever seen without question, but there was something else about her. Whatever it was, it had him up and out of his chair and making his way across the bar. The closer he got, the more he wished he hadn’t taken a single step but it was too late to back out now. If there was one thing Arber was not, it was easily intimidated, and yet here he was with sweaty hands and something that could only be described as nerves settling in his stomach.

And then she smiled at him.

“Hi.” She said leaning forward on the bar, as he came to stop next to her.

“Hi.”

“I’m Tabitha.” She extended a hand and grasped his, fingers stroking against his in the most pleasurable way.

“I’m Arber.”

“Arber? That’s not a name you hear everyday.”

He chuckled and leaned against the bar top, feeling a little more at ease “Tell me about it. You should hear my last name.”

She smiled “Tell me.”

But he shook his head “No. I’m gonna write it down and I want you to say it.”

He wrote his last name down on a napkin and slid it over to her so she could see it.

“Xhekaj?” She asked glancing at him.

His mouth fell open “You can pronounce that?”

“Yeah? It’s Albanian right?”

“Arbs what-Oh hi?” Cole was standing behind him and smiled at her but then turned back to Arber “Why are you writing your last name?”

“He didn’t think I’d be able to pronounce it.”

Arber turned and looked at him “She said it right on the first try.”

Cole’s mouth fell open “No shit? Are you Albanian?”

“No.” She said with a small laugh and a headshake “I just happen to watch a lot of Habs games at work.”

“Work” ended up being a sports bar and restaurant downtown, and Tabitha tore up his world like wildfire from that point on. Before he knew it she had poured like water into every facet of his life. Her love was overwhelming and smothering sometimes and in the very early months of their relationship he was so infatuated with her he didn’t know his left from his right. He’d felt feelings for girls before but never like this. Tabitha had become everything to him in a very short amount of time, and when his feelings that normally died down a bit didn’t change for her after 3 months he knew she was the one.

And everyone else knew it too, except maybe Tabitha herself.

Even with the way things were, if he could go back to that night he would still get up and approach her every single time. She had made his life better even with the fighting.

As a last resort he called his mom. She was the best listener he knew. She was privy to some of the fighting but not all of it. She had always tried to help him see things from Tabitha’s perspective as well as his own, and that helped sometimes. He never realized how things were for her until someone else told him and that made him feel stupid. He’d just assumed she was as blissfully happy all the time as he was and never thought for a minute that she could be struggling with outside influences polluting her brain. He felt like an ass and had promptly driven to her apartment with flowers, apologized and never forgot what his mom had said after that. The conversation was much the same this time. His mom agreed, that she hadn’t raised a cheater because of she had he wouldn’t be alive, but that you start to believe things when you hear them enough times. It made sense to him, but she also reinforced that he didn’t do anything wrong this time, which he knew of course and Tabitha probably did too. Things had clearly gotten lost in translation and out of hand. But she said it could be fixed. They talked for a while until she hung up, encouraging him to go talk to her and make things right.

He huffed and checked the time, before heaving himself up and grabbing his keys.

Arber had a strict rule of never listening to any of his teammates and their dumb ideas, but hearing his mom say it was more convincing which is how he found himself a short while later following Cole’s suggestion as he made his way down Tabitha’s street. Her porch light was on and her car was parked out front. He hadn’t expected her to be anywhere else, and even though he felt a little bad but he was also relieved to find that she was home. Though he’d said last night he could go out and pick up some girl, which he could, it would be a lot easier for her to do it. And if that happened, then he’d have to have to hurt someone. It was a lose lose.

He knocked three times and leaned on the doorframe with a small sigh, but also some relief. This was usually when things got better rather than worse, and he was glad that it was heading in that direction, hopeful she was in a good mood on the other side of the door. He could hear her shuffling around, and she looked surprised when she appeared and found him standing there. But she smiled apprehensively “Hi.”

“Hey.”

“What are you doing here?”

He shrugged and smiled at her “Just thought maybe I wanted to see you is all.”

Her cheeks turned pink and she took a step back allowing him to walk past her inside. He sat on the sofa and looked at her expectantly as she hovered between the couch and the door.

“Come sit.” He said patting the spot next to him. When she did he reached forward and gripped her hand.

“Tabitha. Can we stop this please.”

She nodded and gave his hand a squeeze “I hate fighting with you Arber. It hurts more every time.”

“Then let’s just stop fighting. We fight over the dumbest stuff. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, I am not cheating on you. I have no intentions of cheating, it never even crossed my mind. I love you okay?”

She nodded as he continued “You've got to stop listening to other people and just ask me. Whoever is telling you that stuff is full of shit. Do you think if I was cheating on you my teammates would want me to be bringing you around all the time?”

She shrugged and looked at her lap “No.” she said quietly.

“And do you think that I would even be with you if I was out fucking around. I would just be out doing that while I was single. Come on. You know me better than that.”

She nodded “I know. I just feel so anxious all the time.”

“About?” He said leaning forward.

“That you might find someone better.”

“No.” He said with a smile and a shake of his head “I couldn’t even if I wanted to, which I don’t. I’ve told you this so many times and it hurts my feelings sometimes that you don’t believe me. I’m not trying to gaslight you, but I try so hard and I feel like it’s all pointless. I don’t know what else I can do for you Tabitha but if there’s something, tell me what it is and I’ll do it.”

Her lip trembled and she squeezed his hand “I love you.”

“I love you too. Come here.” He patted his knee and waited till she was situated before he rested a large hand on her knee “I’m not saying we’re never going to fight because we will. But in situations like this can you promise to at least talk to me before you rip my head off? If something bothering you just tell me what it is. Okay?”

She sniffled and nodded “Okay. I promise.” She leaned a head on his shoulder.

“Do you feel better? Not mad at me anymore?”

“I feel better.”

“Cuz if your still mad and you wanna take it out on me a little I’m game.”

She looked up and snorted out a laugh “I don’t wanna hurt you or anything.”

He held up a fist and smiled “You know I can take a punch.”

She rolled her eyes and wiped away the mascara from under them as he leaned forward and kissed her cheek “If I give you-“ he glanced at the clock “A half hour, think you can be ready to go out to dinner?”

She shrugged “Sure. I just have to fix my face a little.”

“Makeup.” He corrected “There’s nothing wrong with your face.”

“Okay I have to fix my makeup and change. Unless it’s acceptable to wear pajamas whenever it is we’re going.”

“It is not. You will also not be wearing those pajamas when we return home.”

************

Arber felt so much better in the following days, and it was reflected to everyone he knew. He was a little lighter, more talkative and smiled wider which is how the guys knew things were back to normal.

“So things are good again?” Slaf asked as they watched drills during practice.

“Yeah. Much better.”

“Good. Stop fighting. It’s dumb and you’re no fun when your fighting with her.”

“You definitely should fight with her when we play rivalry teams though. Just sayin.” Kirby said from his left.

“No I don’t think that I should. I’m not sure anyone’s ever been arrested for committing crimes on the ice and I don’t want to be the first. Imagine having to explain that to my mom.”

“Tabitha would bail your dumbass out.” Slaf said with a chuckle.

“No she wouldn’t. She’d commit another crime against whoever he committed one against. And then we’d have to alternate weekend visits. Like children of divorce.”

Arber chuckled “Well don’t worry. No divorce here. At least not today.”

*************

“So. Back with…him I see?” Jessica asked cooley, eyeing Tabitha over the table.

She rolled her eyes “Yes. I don’t want to hear it.”

“I wasn’t going to say-“

“You were. You always have something to say about me and Arber and I’ve heard it all before. So save your breath.”

“You know Tabitha. We’re just looking out for you.”

At first she’d really believed it. She really felt like her friends wanted her to be done with a ther because it was in her best interests. But now she felt like they nagged her about him all the time and it was getting real old real fast.

It was constant.

If they were complaining about them together, they were complaining about Arber himself and if they weren’t doing that they were fueling her paranoia about the rumors by adding to them. I heard Arber did this, I heard Arber did that blah blah blah. Tabitha was over it in a big way. She found herself hanging out with them less and less. They had noticed this of course and then claimed that he was “isolating” her because he was this big evil monster that had taken over her life and her happiness. But really it was just because they were awful. She could understand them not liking Arber at first. That first breakup followed a huge blowup of epic proportions that made Tabitha ugly cry for days. Understandable how they would be weary of him after that, and he agreed they had every right to feel that way. But it had been over a year now and they hadn’t even thought about giving him another chance. If they had, they would see that Tabitha was at fault for half of not more of their breakups and arguments. She’d tried her best to rehab his image, and he had at first too but finally he said he wasn’t going to try and make peace with people who didn’t want to make peace.

It just wouldn’t be worth it.

She’d even arranged “accidental” encounters put at the bar and still no such luck. They avoided Arber like the plague and he did the same to them. So Tabitha was left somewhere in the middle. It was funny though, that her friends couldn’t stop saying terrible things about Arber and he never brought them up unless she talked about them. Sometimes made her wonder who was really the terrible one in her life.

They didn’t say much else, and neither did Tabitha but she excused herself earlier than she needed to, so she could pick up Arber while her car was in The shop getting new tires.

She sat in the parking spot drinking her nails on the steering wheel, and ran her fingers over the cool leather with a small sigh.

She felt so much better now that things with Arber had settled and her stupid friends had ruined it. She always felt, no matter how things were with him, that the disappointment of her friends ruined every good patch. They made her feel so shitty about her relationship with him, even when things were fine. Their tone was always dripping in disappointment when they talked about him which was often.

It was mentally exhausting having to play middle man between them.

She did know however she felt much more mentally exhausted having to shield herself from their disappointment than it was to be with Arber.

She shook her head and looked at the clock. Arber would be home in 30 minutes.

That would make everything better.

[brittle-doughie]

Heya! Sorry for requesting if the request box is closed since I don't really know if it opens and it's my first time requesting! But, after seeing that rivalry between Ninja Cookie and Hero Cookie post, can I request something like that but with Ice Captain and Pirate Cookie (both are really underrated & I love them both!)? Like maybe the reader is just a average sailor who is stuck in a love triangle between the two?

The Greedy or the Honorable (Pirate Cookie vs. Captain Ice Cookie)

You really didn’t know what happened…

You were just sailing on the waters in your little boat, hoping to at least get a glimpse of the rumored Tower of Frozen Waves, you’ve been learning anything you could about this tower amidst the sea and today was the day you’re going to see it with your own eyes, you were even going to photograph it…when you felt a bump against your boat! A pirate ship!

“Avast ye! It be a little dingy next to my ship! Board it and see what ye can find, mateys!”

OH NO. OH NO. You hurry into your small cabin and grab your swashbuckler sword right before your cabin door bursts open to a group of ghost pirates. You pointed your weapon at them, to ur shaking as you did so.

You told them to stay back! You had a weapon and you knew how to use it! This wasn’t your first rodeo with thieves in the sea! Pirate Cookie stood at the front of the group, a grin on his face as he fiddled with his mustache.

“I admire yer courage, lad/lass. But yer still outnumbered, KHAHA!”

He was right…and that’s how you ended up on his ship, packed with his phantom crew mates. The only other passengers were this crab and a another cookie, he mentioned their name was…Sorbet Shark Cookie?

It took a lot of prying, but he got you to talk about your trip to the Tower of Frozen Waves. He’s seen the map when he boarded your ship, you two had the same goal in mind! You can take your photograph and he can take the treasure at the top!

He promises that he won’t hurt you as long as you help him out with what you knew about the tower as well. Don’t be a stranger now, have a glass of juice with him to calm the air!

Sorbet Shark Cookie seems to like you at least, even if you couldn’t understand a word they were saying. You got the message when they took a seat on your lap.

Now that he’s gotten a good look at you, you’re not a bad Cookie to look at all, compared to what he’s seen on these waters that’s for sure! You appreciated his compliments..you guess?

You…asked if he’ll let you go after he’s gotten the treasure.

“Ahh, I’m still thinkin’ about it. Ye could make a great addition to me crew!”

Oh dear.

Suddenly, the door to the cabin bursts open!

“HALT, PIRATE COOKIE!”

“GAH! Captain Ice Cookie! Make a run fer it, mateys!”

You’d probably be out the window if Sorbet Shark Cookie wasn’t clinging to your side the whole way!

Something compelled you to keep Sorbet safe, so you tried to roll with it by lifting them up onto your shoulders! You were just about to reach for the window-

“Stragglers? You two, stop!”

You didn’t know if the events that happened before were going to get worse from here as you and Sorbet are taken aboard this Captain Ice’s ship. It look like a tidier ship at least..you clutched Sorbet close to your side, who was bubbling about something.

They were worried, you were too.

Captain Ice didn’t know what to think of you, you didn’t look like one of Pirate Cookie’s goons, at least more then Sorbet Shark Cookie. Your sailor outfit looks more akin to her own sailors’ uniforms, were you..kidnapped by Pirate Cookie? She had to know.

“Do you know Pirate Cookie?”

Only for the few hours you’ve met him since he pulled you from your ship!

“So you were a hostage..tell me, did he hurt you in any way?”

No, surprisingly enough. He said he wouldn’t if you helped with the treasure at the top of the Tower of Frozen Waves.

“Of course…and what were you doing sailing towards here?”

You were just hoping to catch sight of the tower yourself and hopefully take a picture of it. It was going to look great in your scrapbook you can tell her that!

“If that really is what you’re planning, then you better stick with me. You’re much better off then with Pirate Cookie, he’d toss you aside fast if it meant treasure was in his hands.”

She said this as she planted a hand on your shoulder, a calm expression on her face. You shivered at the touch, were you really safer with Captain Ice?

You swear Captain Ice is watching you like a hawk. Step out onto the deck? She was quick to pull you close to her, advising that it was dangerous to lean over the port side.

She was insistent that you stuck by her at all times, you can’t let your guard down on the water, so count on her to have your back!

You managed to reunite with Sorbet and they’ve brought along someone new, Peppermint Cookie. Captain Ice can’t lie to herself, it was endearing seeing you tend to the two little ones, even if one of them was a pirate.

She’s decided that it was too risky to return you to your ship, so you’re sticking with her until her ship returns to port. Who knows what will happen when a cookie as..delightful as you were is left alone at sea.

And when the Captain Ice and Pirate meet at the tower…

“Y/N Cookie! There ye are! I be worried about-GAH! Captain Ice Cookie!”

Captain Ice gets in front of you, protectively so.

“You’re not getting to them! They told me all about how you kidnapped them from their ship!”

“Ah, ye have it all wrong! I were simply..erm..providing hospitality to a lonely sailor like they there! They and I got along nicely afterwards!”

“They told me you’d keep them hostage until you’ve reached the treasure! That’s what all this is about, then you’ll discard them like they’re nothing!”

“I..I be doin’ nothing of the sort! They help me get the treasure and they be part of me crew!”

“Absolutely not! Pirates like you can’t be trusted! They’re better off with me and my crew!”

Wha…what?! That wasn’t what she said earlier!

“Leave them be! They go with me crew!”

“Never! They’re staying with me!”

“It’s fer the best ye don’t get yer grubby mitts on them!”

“Like yours are any better!”

As they bickered, Sorbet silently nudged you and gave you your camera back. You took a quick snapshot of the tower before you before silently making your way to the stairs to the lower floors.

“YAR! Y/N COOKIE! WHERE YE BE GOING!”

“Y/N COOKIE! STOP!”

THAT WAS YOUR CUE!

You bolted down the tower after giving a brief goodbye to Peppermint and Sorbet, with the two cookies giving chase.

You spotted your boat still tied to Pirate’s. GREAT!

You hopped on, quickly turn around to take a quick snapshot of the tower in all of its glory before you undid the tie and started sailing!

“Y/N COOKIE!”

NOPE. YOU WERE OUT! You turned to the base of the tower as Pirate and Captain Ice watched you from there. You bid them adieu as you sailed off!

“YE THINK YE LOSE ME THAT EASILY?!”

“Y/N COOKIE! GET IN MY SHIP BEFORE HE KIDNAPS YOU AGAIN!”

They were sailing after you, they were GODDAMN SAILING AFTER YOU!

You just wanted a photo for Tree’s sake!

[biggerbearficrecs]

November 2024 Fic Recs

A list of what I've read/am reading this month. It's going to be a short one unfortunately because I haven't had much time but hopefully next month will be a little longer.

All recs underneath the cut:

Rough Around the Edges by @lila-lou (Jack Durfy x Reader)

Summary: Jack's day couldn’t have gotten any worse. Exhausted from a grueling shift under the scorching sun, he just wanted to crash at home with some wings and a football game. But his plans for a quiet night were shattered when the racket from his new neighbor echoed through the walls.

Teaser:

Jack groaned in annoyance, rubbing a hand across his face. Just great. As if the week hadn’t been exhausting enough, now he had to imagine his weekend being a noisy mess thanks to whoever was moving in. All he wanted was some peace and quiet. Instead, it seemed like his weekend would be filled with endless bangs and thuds coming from across the hall.

Another loud thud echoed through the hallway, followed by a soft “Ouchy” that made him roll his eyes. He could already picture some clueless person fumbling around with boxes, knocking stuff over, and generally making a racket. The kind of person who probably had no idea how to move without turning it into a circus.

Jack shifted the bucket of wings under his arm, debating whether or not to knock on the door. Part of him wanted to just ignore it, retreat into his apartment, and hope for the best. But the other part, the more frustrated part, was tempted to knock and tell them to keep it down. He’d had a long week, and he deserved a break, damn it.

Finally, he took a deep breath and approached the door, raising his fist to knock.

Just then, the door swung open unexpectedly, and there you were, looking frazzled and clearly unprepared for company. You were wearing nothing more than a pair of shorts and a tank top, your skin glistening slightly from the heat. Your hair, a messy bun on top of your head, looked like it had been thrown together in a hurry, and you had no makeup on, not that you needed it.

Jack blinked, momentarily caught off guard, staring at the younger woman standing in front of him.

You, on the other hand, were equally surprised to see the man standing in front of you. He had to be at least double your age, but damn, he was handsome—broad-shouldered, his shirt sticking to his body in places from what looked like a long day of work, and those tired, slightly irritated eyes that made him seem like someone who didn’t put up with much nonsense.

“Uh… hi”, you blurted, your voice a little breathless from all the moving. You glanced down at the two boxes sitting in front of your door, which you had come out to grab. “Sorry about the noise. I swear, I’m almost done”.

Jack let out a deep breath. “Yeah, I was kind of wondering if you were trying to tear the place down before you even moved in”.

You laughed, a soft, self-conscious sound, running a hand over your face. “Feels like it. I’m not exactly an expert at this moving thing. Been here all day, and I’m pretty sure I’ve destroyed more stuff than I’ve unpacked”.

Jack’s eyes flicked over you, taking in the sight of your casual shorts and tank top, the slight sheen of sweat on your skin. His gaze wasn’t lewd, but it was unmistakably assessing, like he was trying to figure you out.

Get Stuffed by @zepskies (Dean Winchester x Reader)

Summary: Dean enjoys the way you cook Christmas dinner with a Latin flair, even if Sam likes to tease him about his insatiable appetite. You remind Sam about the true reason behind one of Dean’s biggest quirks.

Teaser:

“Aw, hell yeah,” Dean mutters. He rubs his hands together and surveys the immovable feast that’s about to get shoveled into his mouth.

This Christmas marks roughly your first year living with the brothers Winchester in the bunker, and a few months after your first anniversary with Dean.

He’s made it very clear that he enjoys your cooking, especially of Cuban food. So you’ve gone all out for Christmas: white rice and your grandmother’s recipe for black beans, boiled yuca with plenty of garlic, bread drizzled with more garlic and olive oil, and Dean’s favorite…

“What’s this part of the pig called again?” he asks. And he uses a large fork to spear into the mountain of roasted meat that you’ve already cut and piled onto a platter.

You come in from the kitchen with the bread in hand, placing it on the dinner table. You sidle up behind him, where he’s seated.

“The shoulder,” you say, squeezing both of Dean’s. He hums in interest as you press a kiss to the side of his head. “It’s called pernil. Marinated with garlic, mojo, bunch of good stuff.”

He predictably steals a juicy piece of meat, plopping it into his mouth. He grins while he chews and makes a happy sound.

“Ohoho, yeah.”

You share an amused look with Sam, who sits beside his brother. By the time you’ve found your seat on Dean’s other side, he’s already serving you and Sam the same hefty portions he serves himself.

You know for a fact you’re only going to eat about half of your plate. Sam manages to polish his off. Dean does as well…and serves himself twice more before you break out the dessert.

“Please tell me that’s a flan,” Dean says, drumming his fingers on the table.

“How the hell are you still hungry?” Sam asks.

The look on his face says he’s half entertained, half disgusted. Dean is still sucking on the crispy skin on a piece of pork. He licks the juices off his fingers.

“Have I taught you nothing?” he says. “There’s always room for dessert.”

He tosses you a wink, followed closely by a suggestive smirk.

Spicy Things by @homicidal-slvt (Russell Shaw x Reader)

Summary: Russell likes your spicy attitude.

Teaser:

You're watching this man drizzle sriracha all over his fries like some sort of hot sauce goblin. Why in the hell did you agree to go out with him? You'll never know.... Somehow that goofy smile of his charmed you into it.

"Russ.... Do you always eat like this?"

"Possibly."

With an exaggerated eye roll you take another bite of your burger.

"What can I say... I like things a little spicy."

With a wink thrown your way - you nearly choke. That was cheesy. Awful. Stupid... God damn it, you've got it bad.

Under the Montana Skies by @spnbaby-67 (Beau Arlen x Reader)

Teaser:

The air was crisp and filled with the scent of pine as you stood outside Beau Arlen's trailer in the heart of Montana. You and Beau had been friends for years, but lately, something had shifted between you two. The tension in the air was palpable, and tonight, under the starry Montana sky, it was finally time to address it.

Beau, with his rugged charm and flannel shirt, looked at you with those piercing green eyes. "You know, darlin', I've been wantin' to do this for a long time," he said, his voice a low drawl that sent shivers down your spine.

No One Will Notice by @deanwanddamons (Demon!Dean x Reader)

Summary: Y/N hopes that she sees the mysterious Dean again.

Teaser:

He had returned. 

You smirked as your gaze met the emerald green eyes you would never forget. 

Dean sauntered across the room towards you, his confidence oozing out of him in waves as he expertly navigated the patrons and tables that were in his way. He avoided them with ease, even though his intense stare never left your face. 

When he reached the edge of the raised platform you were performing on, he dropped down onto a bar stool, still not averting his eyes from yours as you stepped forward until your stilettos were directly in line with his broad shoulders. His arrogance was obvious for all to see when, without taking any notice of the fact numerous other men were vying for your attention by waving dollars at you, he reached into his pocket and produced a wad of cash, throwing it down onto the surface in front of him. 

“Go ahead. Pick it up,” he mouthed, popping the P.

A wide grin pulled at your lips as you crouched down before him, balancing precariously on your high heels, your inner thighs, and clothed mound level with his freckled face as one large hand wrapped around your hip, jerking you towards him which almost toppled you over. This action forced you to sit and scoot forward, your ass hitting the edge of the stage. Pushing his chair back, he tugged you down onto his lap, totally oblivious to or seemingly not caring about the ‘no touching’ rule the bar had in place, his calloused palm roaming over your hot skin. 

“Hey, sweetheart. Remember me?” He questioned. 

“How could I forget?” You whispered, your noses touching, lips only an inch apart.

Rightfully Deceived by @jessjad (Dean Winchester x Reader)

Summary: When a marriage promise forces Y/N to step up for her younger sister, she gets something she always wanted. But when the truth comes out, her new husband Dean is not so happy about the mix-up. Will she loose it all? Or will she be surprised in the end?

Teaser:

The man she was about to marry was Dean Winchester, Earl of the Winchester Clan. Rich, a lot of money to his name. Famous for his stubborn and unyielding business acumen. And devilishly good looking. Tall, broad shoulders, a voice as deep as the ocean and eyes as green as a sea of jades.

Yeah, Y/N has been in love with him since the first time she had seen him. But unfortunatly to her, he only seemed to have eyes for her younger sister, Helena.

The first time Dean visited her fathers castle, Y/N had welcomed him in and offered food and drinks. With a warm smile that made her heart flutter he accepted it. Her father appeared only minutes later and the men started a friendly conversation, resulting in Dean offering her father that he could always ask for help if needed. Since Dean had bought the land next to theirs it was the right thing to do. Not knowing then that five years later, her father would take him up on that offer.

Just when Dean was about to leave again, Helena had come in from the outside. Some hay in her hair and on her dress, indicating that she came fresh from the staples. And that was the moment Y/N saw it. The change in Dean's face. His eyes had widened a little, his mouth a little slack. Helena had smiled at him and all of a sudden he was lost for words.

That's when Y/N's heart sank to the ground. From then on it seemed as if she became invisible.

Stay by @bullet-prooflove (Colter Shaw x Reader)

Summary: Colter can never ask for you to stay.

Teaser:

It’s been three months since Colter last had his hands on you, since he made love to you in the Airstream, the sound of rain pattering on the roof. He remembers falling asleep tangled up in you, his fingers combing lightly through your hair, his heart thundering against yours.

He also remembers waking up alone, his hand smoothing over the vacant space as he sighed because he’d always been the one that left and he hadn’t realised just how bad that felt until it happened to him.

It’s over coffee that morning that he sits, watching the droplets cascade down the windows and thinks about why it’s different with you.

That's all I've been able to get through so far! Please forgive my graphics btw. Not so great with those but I wanted to put a little visual with each one.

I haven't figured out yet if I'm going to post at the beginning of each month or mid-month. I'm still trying to figure that all out, but please definitely follow this blog and set notifications for those postings if you would like to see each list when they post. All review reblogs of these works will also be posted here moving forward.

Oh, and before I forget...

Thank you!!! 💕💕

all dividers by @saradika-graphics

[toska-writes]

This is from an anon which I loved! It was just a tad too long to add here!

“Dog Days”

Read here on Ao3 (✩)

Summary: for the first time in a long long time your feeling under the weather- it works out well though that you have 6 people that will make you feel much better

Pairing: The bad batch x GN padawan reader (Platonic with every member of the batch)

Warning: Needles only in one spot Mentions of being sick/ throw up- nothing that graphic really

Word count: 1627

Notes: This ask was so well written and honestly I couldn’t stop thinking about it! (Be ready for a bunch of Cody stories coming up- I have many asks for him)

“It would be wise if you both weren’t so close to them.” Tech walked into the room again scrolling through his data pad quickly. “It’s unprovable but you both could still become ill yourselves.”

You felt Crosshair shift under you for a moment and then put a hand carefully on your shoulder. “I’ll take my chances.”

“Me too!” Omega chimed in as snuggled closer into your side.

Tech sighed for a moment before walking over to the trio and placed a hand to your forehead.

“I’ve spent all morning trying to figure something out to contradict the illness, nothing so far.”

Crosshair glared at his older brother for a moment. “While your doing that why don’t you keep it down.” The words barely scraped pass his teeth. “I was hoping that they’d be falling asleep.”

“Don’t worry Cross I don’t think I could go to sleep at all.” Your groggy voice sounded muffled as you dug your throbbing face closer into Crosshair.

To be honest you haven’t been able to sleep all night to this morning. Stomach pains and throwing up have made sure of that.

Not braking eye contact with whatever he was reading Tech got up and started to walk to the cockpit before he looked over his shoulder.

“Omega Hunter is looking for you.”

“Awe.” Displeased she started to get up and out of the bunk you all were laying in. “But I want to stay and make sure they’re alright.”

“Believe me Omega I’m not going anywhere.” You spoke between coughs as you felt her get up and walk out the darkened room with Tech.

Crosshair returned the blanket over your shoulders and slid down the wall he was currently leaning back on.

Moments or hours could have passed, you couldn’t tell as your eyes tried to flutter shut but was interrupted by various things.

You didn’t hear when Echo entered the room or even when he crouched near the edge of the bunk.

“Hey Y/N.” Your eyes snapped to him for a second realizing he was with you too. “I brought you some soup that hopefully you’ll be able to keep down.”

You went to sit up for a moment and felt Echo help you up so you still leaned against Crosshair. Looking back at him you saw his head bob down and soft snores were coming from Crosshair’s mouth.

“Thanks Echo.” You whispered as you rubbed your eyes.

“Of course, you know this meal always use to make me feel better whenever I was under the weather.”

You smiled to yourself slightly as Echo came and sat next to you on the bunk; soup in his hand. “Fives sounds like a great guy.” Without knowing your head swayed slightly down and rested onto Echos cold shoulder.

“He is.” Was all he responded before bringing a spoon to your mouth. “Of course I’m no cook but you couldn’t possibly mess up this recipe.”

The soup danced happily on your tastebuds, the flavor was comforting enough where you didn’t have to worry about it staying in your stomach for a short period of time.

“Wow that is really good.” You whispered again, of course not being able to have real food in a matter of a few days made you a little biased but it was delicious nonetheless.

The bowl was emptied in a matter of minutes, you were unbelievably grateful for Fives’ amazing feel better soup.

“Here let me get Crosshair up so you could try and get some rest.” Echo spoke softly as he quietly got up from his spot.

“Let him sleep a little more at least.” Your hand shook as you reached out for Echo. The night before neither of you got a wink of sleep, Crosshair would doubt it if asked, but his eyes burned this morning from staying awake all night just in case anything happened. It eased you last night knowing he was there.

You could make out Echo nodding before exiting the room again, light barley flooded in as you saw a much bigger silhouette walk into the room.

“Aye there kid.” Wrecker wasn’t the best a whispering. Crosshair shifted slightly against you as you tried to lay you both down so Cross wouldn’t have to sleep sitting up.

Wrecker patted your head for a moment when you got situated then added. “You know I just thought Lula could help ya feel better.”

You could only smile to yourself despite how you felt as the soft material made its way into your arms. “It’s a bummer being sick but Lula was always there for me so I thought-“

“Thank you Wreck, I feel better already.” Brining Lula tightly in your arms and under your chin you could make out the smile of Wrecker.

“Sleep well with her.” Wrecked fixed your blanket as well and tried his best to walk quietly out of the room.

Crosshair moved around once again and brought an arm over your torso. “He’s so unbelievably loud.” He murmured slightly, the words still laced with sleep.”

You rolled yours eyes slightly burying your head into the pillow bellow you. “Mmm.” You replied slightly as you were racked with coughs. However this time you could finally close your eyes to sleep.

Sweat soaked your body as you quickly sat up to the displeasure of the headache that pierced your skull. You didn’t know how long you were asleep or if your were in the same bunk as before.

“Woah woah kids it’s ok.” You looked around for a moment as your eyes landed on Hunter, his hands placed on your heaving shoulders. “I just came to check up on you, good timing I guess.”

Leaning forward slightly you crashed into the shoulder of the sergeant that was kneeled in front of you. “It’s gross in here, I don’t wanna get Cross sick.”

“I gotcha I gotcha.” One hand rubbed over your back beige scooping you into his arms. Before you felt the bed leave from under you you quickly grabbed hold of Lula and brought her close to you.

The lights of the marauder were quite bright compared to where you were laying all day, however the sun had already set behind the widow as you were brought into the cockpit.

Hunter left your side for a moment then returned seconds later as you felt a cool cloth pressed to your forehead.

As you adjusted your eyes met the worried ones of Hunter. The sweat from the fever poured down your face but the cloth helped enough to put you at ease.

“Sorry Hunter.” You could see the discomfort along the fine features of his face as he tried to mask them.

“What are you talking about kid? You got nothing to worry about.” You knew he was lying, his senses were probably flaring up with the sickness you had. It made sense why you didn’t see him for a portion of the morning.

Omega was at his side along with Tech holding some sort of medical equipment.

“Feeling better Y/N.” The curious girl asked parking herself at your side yet again. If you were at 100 percent you would be able to practically feel the worry pouring off of her, but your senses were dulled.

“Yeah Omega I am.” You answered before looking at Tech. He patted Hunter on the shoulder as Tech motions to the control panel.

“This should help you to feel better in no time.” Tech said matter-of-factly. “However it does come in the only form of a shot.”

At this point you’d do anything to get over this feeling. You slightly nodded your head as Omega grabbed onto your hand. She could understand and knew why you didn’t like needles and she made sure you were comforted as Tech quickly stuck it into you shoulder.

“I would suggest more rest for you now until tomorrow morning when we’ll have to give you another injection.” Tech helped you up slightly.

“Why don’t you stay in my room?” Omega perked up taking your other arm around her shoulder.

Both you and Tech nodded as you made your way to the little nook that was transformed into a room just for the girl.

Omega pilled blankets upon blankets onto your shivering form but also made sure to drape the cold cloth on your forehead.

“Is that alright?” She asked coming to lay down beside you.

“Perfect Omega you’ve done so much for me.” You stomach made you curl up on yourself and into the small girls frame.

Omega looked you over worried for a moment before pushing some hair away from your face.

“Hey how about a story to help pass the time hm?” She asked now burrowing into the blankets next to you.

The comforting voice of the girl you considered now a little sister spoke calmly retelling many exciting stories from her time on Kamino. A few made you laugh as your eyes got heavier and heavier as minutes passed by.

“And then you wouldn’t believe it he-“ Omega trailed off slightly looking down to the sleeping form curled up close to her. The rise and fall of your chest was even for now and she couldn’t help the smiled that leaked onto her face.

In the deep depths of sleep your brow eased slightly as the pain no longer bothered you when you weren’t conscious. One last time she tucked a piece of your hair back slightly before taking your lead and closing her eyes as well, knowing at least for now you were alright.

_____________________________________

Taglist:

@arctrooper69 @thereforepizza @padawancat97 @pb-jellybeans @floffytofu @verybadatwriting @solstraalaa @ray-rook

[midnightshard06]

STH Rarepair Week Day 3: Hurt / Comfort

You can check it out on ao3 here if you prefer.

Summary: Sonic stumbles across a heavily damaged Metal Sonic and does the only thing he can think to do, take him back to Tails to see if his brother can fix him. It ends up being a rough day for everyone involved, especially Sonic.

Pairing: Sonic/Metal Sonic

Warnings: Mild violence, nothing graphic

Word Count: ~3000 words

AN: Still feeling these two's dynamic out so apologies if anything seems weird lol.

"You can fix him… right?" Sonic glanced nervously at Tails. 

His brother twitched his tails nervously. "I'll do my best… Metal's in really rough shape."

Sonic couldn't help but pace as Tails got to work on Metal Sonic. What had even happened? Sonic had just found his robotic doppelganger abandoned and in more pieces than he cared to count. It had hit him hard, hard enough to almost panic at the sight of it. The only thing that held him together was his drive to collect the pieces so the robot could be fixed. 

That had been a whole process in itself. Between having to find every little piece and periodically needing to stop and shake loose unwanted images of an actual mangled corpse from his mind. It was a constant battle to remind himself that for how alive Metal acted he was still a robot. A robot who could actually come back from something like this. Hopefully.

At some point Tails shooed him outside, but honestly he barely noticed. His mind just continued to go over questions he didn’t have answers too. Normally he’d go on a run to clear his head but it felt like if he left something awful would happen.  No. He needed to stay here until Tails was done. He needed to see that Metal was going to be ok with his own eyes.

He glanced back at the closed door to Tails’s workshop in concern. Why hadn’t Eggman come to try and collect Metal? Why leave him out there… in that condition? Sonic shuddered and quickly banished the memory of how Metal had looked from his mind. Remembering that right now wasn’t going to help him. Maybe after he knew Metal was going to be ok he’d go find Eggman, see if he couldn’t figure out what had happened. Yeah. That felt like a decent course of action.

Hours passed, or at least it felt like it. Everything felt agonizingly slow as Sonic paced. He idly noted he’d worn a shallow groove into the ground, something he’d need to fix later. At some point during the agonizing wait, Amy showed up. Whatever she was saying didn’t register in his mind but she gently guided him down to the ground to sit. Not like he had the energy to resist right now anyway.

Having someone else there was probably good. At least he shouldn’t make the groove any worse than it already was now. As they sat there she talked. About what, he didn’t know. Her words washed over him as he was unable to make them out properly. It didn’t matter though, he was pretty sure they both knew that. Whatever she was talking about didn’t matter. What did matter was that she was there at all, helping ground him. He was glad he had such good friends.

By the time Tails came out to get him the sun was setting. Amy thankfully stayed by his side as the trio went inside. He felt a spark of hope pierce the haze that had settled over his mind as he saw Metal completely reassembled on one of Tails’ work tables. Wires coming from the back of his head were still connected to the Miles Electric, but besides that he looked good as new. “Is he..?” Sonic looked over at his brother.

Tails nervously wrung his hands. “I was able to put him back together fine. There were a lot of pieces but as far as I could tell you managed to get them all. Though due to the heavy damage he sustained I’m… not sure if any of his core programs were damaged. I tried to run a diagnostic but I couldn’t for some reason. It just… wasn’t working.”

“And that’s not a great sign I assume?” Amy asked, frowning.

“Unfortunately.” Tails nodded, looking away from Sonic. “It might not mean much but… I’m just worried.”

Sonic took a deep breath and did his best to push aside his own worry for now. “Boot him up.”

“Are you sure?” Tails looked up at him, worried.

“We won’t know what’s going on until he’s up and running right?” Sonic did his best to give his brother a reassuring smile, though he wasn’t sure if it was effective for either of them. “No use in dragging it out.”

“As long as you’re ok with it.” Amy put a hand on his shoulder. Sonic took a far shakier breath and nodded.

Tails nodded back and went over to where he’d left the Miles Electric on a table. “Turning him back online in three, two, one…”

Sonic held his breath as Metal’s red optics flared to life. The robot looked around sort of peacefully for a bit after sitting up. Although he looked at all three of them his gaze lingered the longest on Sonic. The eye contact was a little unnerving but he didn’t have much time to think about it before Metal was launching himself at Sonic. For an incredibly brief moment he thought that might have been a positive thing but that was quickly shattered as Metal kept going and caused the two to crash through a wall.

Sonic managed to separate from Metal once they were outside. He winced at the hole they made as he shook off debris that tried to stick to him. That would have to be fixed later. Right now he had a rogue robot to take down, even if it hurt to do so right after Tails had fixed him. “C’mon Metal. We don’t have to do this right now!” Sonic tried, but he was met with nothing but Metal charging at him again. 

He dropped into a spin dash to dodge out of the way, and as much as he didn’t want to he turned to crash into Metal’s back. He pulled out of the spin dash and kicked off the robot’s back, sending him crashing into the ground. The sound of metal scraping against the hard ground had Sonic pinning his ears to his head. Could he really do this right now? As Metal got up engine whirring, it was clear he wasn’t going to have a choice.

Before Metal could charge at him again Tails and Amy were there. “I think he might have gotten reset.” Tails sounded a mix between nervous and upset. “He might have just reverted to his base programming.”

That one stung. If Metal really had gone back to just his base programming that meant that all the time Sonic had spent slowly broadening his counterpart’s horizons was wasted, gone just like that. That also meant he wouldn’t remember the quiet times when the two had really gotten to know each other; the times the two talked about their respective siblings and whatever they’d gotten up to. The races which were only for the pure enjoyment of testing each other. Pushing each other. Metal and everything he had slowly been becoming, gone. 

Sonic clenched his fists and he could feel tears start to gather in his eyes. He didn’t let them fall though, he couldn’t. Regardless of his own feelings, Metal needed to be stopped before he hurt one of them. If either of his friends tried to stop him as he rushed forward he didn’t hear them. It was hard to hear much over his own racing thoughts. 

He threw himself into the fight with Metal not caring if he got hurt. As long as this could be over quicker it didn’t matter. He’d walk it off anyway. Plus the pain was a wonderful distraction from the hollow feeling that had settled in his chest. With each clash Sonic dared to feel the tiniest bit of hope that Metal would come to his senses, only to have it dashed each time. Metal was seemingly back to the same robot he’d met on Little Planet all that time ago. At some point he stopped hoping to see something different.

Eventually while catching his breath he found himself restrained from behind. He struggled of course but stopped as soon as he recognized it was Amy who was holding him back. His legs felt like they couldn’t support his weight any more once he saw Tails jump onto Metal and shut him down. With no more immediate distraction he let himself fall limp, confident that Amy could handle his weight. His eyes trailed to the ground and he suddenly felt oh so tired.

Amy and Tails were possibly talking about something but he couldn’t find it in himself to care to listen. Honestly he did his best to just let his mind go blank. That was much more preferable to confronting the reality of the situation, and just how much it hurt. At some point Amy was trying to lead him back to Tails’ workshop, he did at least cooperate. It would be pretty rude of him to force her to drag him around, no matter how terrible he felt.

Sonic was led into the living area Tails had attached to his lab. Amy got him to sit down on a couch, before walking off for a moment and returning with a blanket to wrap around his shoulders. He pulled the blanket tightly around himself and stared at the floor. It was hard not to think about what was happening but focusing on the pain from his still untreated injuries helped. A cushion next to him dipped. It was probably Amy sitting next to him.

“How are you holding up?” Amy asked, voice tentative. Sonic just folded his ears against his head. “Right, bad question. Sorry.” She took a breath. "We'll figure this out. For now will you let me take a look at your injuries?" Sonic nodded, not trusting his voice right now. Even though he didn't want to, he released his tight grip on the blanket. 

He finally lifted his gaze from the floor to watch Amy start to treat his injuries. They were worse than he typically got fighting Metal. That didn't make him feel any better. The whole time he couldn't bring himself to look at Amy, but he was silently grateful. He really did have good friends.

"Can I see him?" Sonic barely heard himself.

"... are you sure that's what you want?" Amy made what she thought very clear in her tone. It was a bad idea.

While he didn't really think it would help, he felt like it would be worse to sit here. "Yeah." Sonic nodded.

Amy hesitated before gently guiding him towards Tails’ workshop. Finally he looked up all the way, if only just to be able to see where he was going. His brother looked up from the Miles Electric as the two of them entered the workshop. He frowned, but didn’t say anything. It was clear the fox knew why they were there.

Sonic silently watched Tails work for… well he wasn’t sure how long. Honestly he didn’t even know what his brother was doing, but it felt like all he could do was watch. Amy made sure to periodically come in and make sure the two of them were taking care of themselves, though she paid extra attention to Sonic. Probably because he hadn’t made any moves to even attempt taking care of himself since finding a place to sit.

At some point Amy pulled Tails away from his work to send him to bed. It was probably well into the night at that point. When she tried to do the same for Sonic he waved her off. While she tried to be persistent she crumbled when Sonic finally turned to look at her. Based on her reaction he really didn’t want to know how he looked right now. She did at least bring out some pillows and extra blankets for him, so he had the option to make himself a bit more comfortable. Not that he remembered doing it but he did try to arrange them so things were a bit better.

For a while he just stared at the table Metal was once again laid out on. There were a few new dents and scratches but at least he was intact. Well physically anyway. Sonic pulled the blanket around his shoulders tighter, ignoring how it aggravated some of his injuries. “Well…” Sonic said quietly into the now dark workshop. Amy had shut off the lights when she’d left, probably trying to encourage Sonic to sleep. “I guess we’ll have to start over again huh? Cause I know I can’t resist trying. You mean too much.” He sighed and watched Metal’s unmoving body for a while. There wasn’t much point in saying anything else when no one would hear it.

His eyelids started to grow heavy, and he mentally prepared himself for a night of little to no sleep. He’d barely let his eyes slip closed when he heard a noise. It was hard, but he managed to crack his eyes back open only to see Metal now sitting up. The robot was experimentally opening and closing his hands. Sonic tensed, ready for another potential fight. Metal turned to him and the gaze felt much less unsettling than it did earlier. ‘Sonic?’ Metal signed, tilting his head.

Sonic sucked in a sharp breath. Well he was certainly awake now. “Mets? Are you… you?” He was on his feet, blanket falling from his shoulders.

‘I am back to typical running capacity after critical systems failure. The automatic reboot and restoration of my system was a success.’ Metal stood up and moved towards Sonic.

“So… that means you’re ok then.” Sonic felt hope bloom in his chest as he rushed to his feet.

‘I am fine now yes.’ Metal gave him a once over. ‘The same cannot be said for you. Your face is leaking.

Oh. He was crying huh? At least now it was for a good reason. With the ease of practice though he managed to cut off his tears. “Nah. I’m good now Mets. I’m… good now.”’

Metal watched him for a moment. ‘You were the one to find me.’ It didn’t look like a question, but Sonic nodded anyway. He wanted to ask what happened but he also didn’t want to force Metal to think about it so soon. ‘I apologize.’ He looked down briefly, fists clenching. ‘I should have been stronger I-’

Sonic closed the gap between them and wrapped Metal in a hug, effectively cutting him off. Of course Metal wasn’t the nicest to hug, and the rigidness of his body was digging into Sonic uncomfortably in several places, but right now he needed it. Apparently both of them did. After a moment Metal carefully returned the hug. It was familiar enough, even if the two didn’t do it often. “Doesn’t matter.” Sonic was quiet, but he knew Metal would have no problem hearing him. “You’re ok now, that’s what matters.”

Metal tapped his back and pulled away. ‘I suppose.’ His robotic counterpart seemed to be taking in Sonic’s injuries now. ‘What happened?’ He tilted his head before looking Sonic in the eyes.

“We… booted you up before you were done doing your own stuff.” Sonic attempted to shrug casually. It felt stiff. “We fought a bit cause you weren’t really there. Not a big deal.”

Sonic got the impression that Metal would be frowning if he could. ‘We fight all the time. You do not typically receive injuries like this.’

“I… might have been a bit reckless because I was upset.” Sonic chuckled nervously. “I’m fine though, honest.”

Metal didn’t seem like he was convinced. ‘Fine.’ He conceded. Sonic grinned before yawning. The brief shot of adrenaline from Metal waking up was starting to wear off already. ‘You need rest.’ Metal glanced down at the mess of blankets and pillows Sonic had set up for himself. ‘This is not a proper place to do it.’

“Eh, I’ve slept in worse.” Sonic shrugged. 

Metal shot him his best attempt at an unamused look before noticing the hole in the wall. Without any warning Metal scooped Sonic up and walked towards the hole and outside. Sonic was honestly so surprised he just let it happen. He barely even noticed Metal had snagged a blanket as well. They didn’t go far, just far enough to have grass under them. Once they stopped Metal carefully put Sonic down and spread the blanket on the ground. ‘You often say being outside calms you down. I thought this would be better than remaining inside.’

Sonic grinned before sprawling out on the blanket. It took Metal a moment, and Sonic patting the blanket in invitation, but he did join Sonic on the blanket. Well Metal was right about this one, he felt a lot calmer being outside having a wonderful view of the stars. Most calming though was Metal’s silent presence next to him. It almost felt silly how he felt earlier, but part of him couldn’t help but wonder if Metal would feel similarly if Sonic somehow forgot him.

Much to Sonic’s surprise, Metal reached for his hand. It wasn’t often Metal initiated anything physical. Since the robot got less out of physical affection than Sonic did, it was often up to him to initiate. After the day he’d had though it was very welcome.”I really am glad you’re ok Metal.” Sonic kept his gaze trained at the sky. Metal squeezed his hand since he couldn’t really communicate any other way right now. It was plenty for Sonic though.

It felt good to finally let the tension leave his body, but at the same time now that he didn’t have a distraction anymore he really could feel his injuries. Though thankfully he wouldn’t have to focus on that for long as Metal unthreaded their hands and started to gently work through Sonic’s quills. If it wasn’t clear before it certainly was now that Metal knew he’d been upset. The robot only did this to help calm Sonic down, even if Sonic assured him he didn’t mind Metal doing it whenever. He’d always get a retort along the lines of ‘if I do it too often you’ll become desensitized to it and it will become less effective’. He didn’t believe that in the slightest but he wasn’t about to fight Metal on it for now.

Right now he enjoyed the even strokes of clawed hands through messy quills. There under the stars, with his other half returned to him he finally allowed himself to sleep.

[chaosduckies]

Their First Date

Surprise! Here’s a little gift from me to you for getting me to 50 followers! I hope you guys like it :D

Word Count: 4.5k

CW: None!

———Nathan———

Things were great. Amazing even. A month out of school and nothing bad has happened. Yet. I was still afraid that something horrible might happen since my luck is just like that. When I have something good, it just gets stripped away from me. Hopefully not now though. I mean, I couldn’t ask for anything better really. Ryker asked if I wanted to live here now that we were… dating. He said he also didn’t want me to be lonely all of the time so how could I say no to that generous offer? 

My only problem was that I couldn’t help out much. Like at all. I mean I could cook for Lucky and Angela and all of that, but I couldn’t do anything to help Ryker, which was one of my main reasons for coming on top of helping take care of his siblings. So there goes that plan down the drain. It never stopped me from at least trying to though. When he was cooking I’d try to push some of this things he needed closer. Of course I could barely even do that and he just picks it up effortlessly whenever he did need it. I try to walk around on my own, but since there aren’t any human accommodations at the moment, I can’t even get around anywhere without him carrying me around. 

I felt bad, but I had no idea what to do. It just kind of feels like I was there just to be there. That makes sense, right? 

Today wasn’t any different. I made some breakfast for Lucky and Angela like usual, walked out into the living room to see that everyone else was already eating their own breakfast, and just waited for Ryker. Again, I couldn’t just climb up the couch, nor did I really want to ask anyone to just let me on. 

Ryker walked into the room, yawning before holding out his hand for me. I climbed on, being placed on the armrest as usual. I still didn’t really understand how this whole… “relationship” thing works. I mean I did sort of, but not really. Right now it just feels like we’re still acting like friends. Like, what else were we supposed to do? We’ve only ever kissed twice, the night after we had graduated, and I don’t know if that was only a one time thing. I don’t know! I should probably ask him or tell him that I don’t know how any of this works but I had no idea how he’d react. Lately we’ve just been around each other, he’s kept me a lot closer and I absolutely love it (Curse being touch starved beyond repair-), he lets me sleep with him if I want to and he’s just…agh. He knew more about this than I did that was for sure. 

“Did you eat?” Ryker whispered so quiet that only I had heard him. I turned to face him, nodding my head. Last night we stayed up pretty late. We weren’t even doing anything either. I was just listening to him like we used to do. I never realized how much I loved listening to his voice. Was that the reason I loved him? He had mentioned something about maybe applying to a college, but he didn’t really know if he could handle it.  I wanted to say, “Of course you can!” Or really anything, but I didn’t. And I should have. 

“Did you?” I mumbled. He gave a slow nod, closing his eyes while listening to whatever conversation was happening in front of us. I slightly frowned, worried. Was he more tired because of me? He never used to be like this, even while we were still in school. Maybe it was because he has been thinking hard about enrolling into a college? Then again I’ve noticed that he tries his hardest to make as much time for me as possible. I had no idea why, and I always feel bad that I’m keeping him up. So was it really me? 

  I winced at the thought, but didn’t dwell on it for so long. I can just ask him, right? Yeah. Just ask him and then you’ll get your answer. It’ll all be fine… 

After everyone had left, Jasmine grabbing a blanket and tossing it over Ryker, who looked about ready to just pass out from the lack of sleep. Should’t I be the one to do that? I played with my hands, heart beating faster. Jasmine came back from the kitchen with a mug filled with tea and ordered Ryker to go to sleep. He just smiled softly and thanked her as she headed off to Isabelle and Angela’s room. I can’t do any of that for him… 

I sighed, turning my body to grab the human-sized pillow and blanket to wrap myself up. I didn’t have anything to do today. Usually everyone goes off and does their own thing. If they had left they’d tell either Ryker or me and then go. I mean I’m glad that they don’t think I’m messing up everything around here, but still. Was I the only one here who thought that I was just being a nuisance? 

“Nathan, you okay?” Ryker had asked, sitting up with the same worried look in his eyes as always. I nodded, “I should be asking you the same question.” I stared down at the fabric I was sitting on. I felt so bad. I wish I could do so much more. I wish I could be the one to take care of him when he’s sick or tell him to rest when I knew he needed it. Instead I was just stuck and forced to watch others do my job. That is what I’m supposed to do, right? Take care of your partner? 

“Hm? I’m fine. Just a little tired.” He smiled, his hand opening palm-up to face me. I hesitantly climbed on, wondering if this was the right choice. Did he want me to take a nap with him? My face flushed a deep red at the realization. In front of everyone? If they come to the living room they’ll see us. I guess there wasn’t really a reason to feel so embarrassed aside form the constant teasing from Dylan and Lucky later. 

“Would you mind going out with me later? Just the two of us.” He had asked, still sitting up. I jumped, a little shocked at the question. Go out? Like-Like on a date? 

“W-with m-me?”I squeaked out, earning a little laugh from Ryker. 

“Who else would I go on a date with? Plus, I know we both don’t like crowded places, so it’s a small place I know.” He waited for my answer. How could I say no? I’ve never been on a date either. But wouldn’t that just make him more tired?He wouldn’t be embarrassed by me? It’s not entirely unheard of a human to be with a giant but isn’t it… weird for him? He’s also said he’s never kissed a human before, so this was new for Ryker too? 

“Sure!” I smiled, trying to cover up my worry. Won’t people look at us weird for being together? Being friends with a giant and dating one are two different things. I think at least. If other people catch on that we’re dating wouldn’t they say something about it? No one has yet, but still. I was always afraid of that. That maybe it’ll eventually get to Ryker and then he’d really leave me. 

Ryker slightly cupped his hand a bit more, a soft smile on his face, “Did you want to go somewhere else? I’ll just take a short nap.” He had offered before resting his head on the pillow lying next to him. I shook my head, climbing off his hand as soon as he was comfortable. 

“Get some rest.” I mumbled, my mind debating on getting closer or staying where I was at. Ryker didn’t reply, but closed his eyes and shoved the hand that was holding under the pillow. I stayed as quiet as I could be before deciding to lay down and close my own eyes. So it was decided. We were officially going on our first date. 

——————

When I woke up, there was no looming presence near me like when I had fallen asleep. I pushed myself up, rubbing my eyes and looking around while my vision came back to me. Ryker wasn’t lying next me anymore. I jumped, looking around the living room and finding Dylan sitting on the other side of the couch with Lucky on his shoulder while playing a game on the tv. 

I tried to stay quiet, hoping they wouldn’t notice me being awake while they were hyper focused on whatever game they were playing with no volume. Did they not want to wake me up? Dylan quietly groaned while glaring back to Lucky on his shoulder, who I was guessing was sticking his tongue out like some child. That actually fits him extremely well. 

Dylan turned his gaze to me, taking a second to realize that I was awake. 

“Oh! Sorry we didn’t wake you up, right?” Dylan asked, letting Lucky down next to me, who was wearing a huge smirk on his face. Here comes the teasing of course… It was actually pretty funny though. 

“N-no.” I shook my head. 

“You were sleeping with himmm.” Lucky laughed. My cheeks flushed red from embarrassment as I didn’t really know how to reply to that. What was I supposed to say? “Sorry for sleeping with your brother.”? Yeah, that was not happening. Imagine if he found out that we basically sleep with each other every night. He already tries to get me to kiss him, but I’m always hesitant about that. It’s not that I don’t want to. It’s more like if Ryker even wanted to in the first place. Plus, I doubt he can even feel it unless he really focused. Why was I thinking about this right now? 

“He’s just taking a shower right now. He told me to help you down if you woke up.” Dylan shrugged. That makes more sense. But shouldn’t Ryker still be sleeping? Why didn’t he just wake me up? Was it a bad idea to stay with him? Wait, just calm down. I took a short deep breath before standing up and trying my hardest to regain balance on the cushiony surface. 

“Th-thank you.” I spoke a little louder than a whisper so Dylan could hear. He let me climb onto his hand and slide me off onto the floor. I’ve been getting closer with everyone lately. Mostly because I’ve been staying here for the past month, but still, I always try to avoid asking for favors and to let them help me because I didn’t know if they’d eventually get annoyed. Stupid, right? It’s still a possibility. 

I walked over to the human-sized rooms, checking the time on the digital clock by the fridge reading that it was almost one in the afternoon. I had no idea if Angela was hungry or not, but Lucky didn’t mention anything. I guess I’ll wait until Angela comes and finds me. In the meantime… I should probably figure out what I want to wear later tonight. I didn’t want to look indecent, plus I had no idea where he was even taking me. He said somewhere not crowded so I guess it would be fine. 

In the end, I just chose a simple t-shirt with my blue jacket and some jeans. It’s not really that fancy but I doubt either of us were going to wear anything like we were going to a five star restaurant. It seemed fine to me. I laid them out on the couch and went back to the living room where Dylan and Lucky were still playing their game. I didn’t want to bother them, so I just walked around the place, enjoying the little peace I had. As much as I loved staying here, I had no idea how Ryker handles everything all at once. At least I’m helping. Even if it really wasn’t much. 

There was only one more month before everyone but Ryker and I had to go to school, but even then I’m pretty sure Ryker is going to apply for college if I can convince him to. I mean he does deserve it, but I also don’t want him to be overloaded with things. He can do online courses and take in person twice a week. That doesn’t sound too hard and I can try my hardest to take care of things over here. I doubt I could, but still. 

——————

It was around seven at night, I was dressed up in the clothes I had laid out, waiting for Ryker to finish changing. I couldn’t help but feel the teasing stares as Dylan and Lucky were both whispering about something I couldn’t exactly hear. Isabelle and Angela were busy playing in their room and Jasmine’s attention was glued to the tv, but I could tell how much she just wanted to slightly tease me too. I sucked in a shaky breath and just kept waiting. 

“Hey Nathan, going on a date?” Dylan had asked, switching seats to right next to me. My face flushed a deep red from embarrassment. He can probably make a really good guess from that. I let go of the breath I was holding, hesitantly nodding my head. Don’t get me wrong, I do really want to go with Ryker, but what if I do something wrong? Would that make things awkward? Would he kick me out? I technically do have a place to go but I don’t think I could really handle that. Mentally wise. 

“Just leave him alone, Dylan, you’re gonna make him self-conscious.” Jasmine chuckled as Dylan muttered an apology. 

“Hey I’m just trying to say good for him.” He shrugged, turning his own attention to the tv. My heart started beating faster the second I heard Ryker’s door open. My breath nearly caught in my throat seeing that he was wearing a sweater than looked a little baggy on him, but I think that was the look he was going for. People would look at him because he’s wearing a sweater in the middle of summer, but then again I’m wearing a jacket so I can’t say anything. Instead of his usual pants with the chains on the side he was wearing gray cargo pants. This was nothing like how he usually dresses up. Did he dress up for me? Now that makes me think I should’ve worn something better. 

“Ah, um, I-I know it’s not a suit or anything, but I don’t really feel comfortable wearing anything like that-“ 

“Ryker wearing something other than a hoodie? Nathan, he has it bad for you.” Dylan whispered that last sentence to me, my brain nearly frying. Wh-wha? Why did I think it was such a big deal that he was wearing a sweater instead of a hoodie? It didn’t mean anything. Why was everyone shocked as soon as he stepped into the living room? Why was my face turning into a very noticeable red? Oh wait I should probably hide that- 

Ryker was blushing nearly as much as I was. 

“So where are you two going?” Jasmine laughed as Ryker somehow managed to calm himself down before walking closer to me. 

“Somewhere. We’ll be back before midnight.” He answered as I quickly climbed onto his hand, trying to hide my blush from his eyes, though I’m sure he’s already seen it. This is so embarrassing… 

Ryker closed the door behind us, taking moment to look down at me. I’m guessing he just wanted to get out of there as fast as possible. I couldn’t thank him enough for that. I’m pretty sure if Dylan had said one more thing I would have passed out. But here I was, completely conscious and about to hopefully have the best night of my life. 

“S-sorry. Dylan can be a bit much,” He chuckled, taking a good look at me before smiling, “You look good.” 

I couldn’t get my voice to work for me, but I eventually forced it to. 

“You too.”

Was this what it felt like to be on a date? I had no idea. All I know is that I had butterflies in my stomach and I was absolutely not feeling good. Was that because I was nervous? Yup. Probably. 

“You ready to go?” He had asked softly as I nodded my head in response. No, no I wasn’t. It felt like everything that I had eaten today was about to come right back up. Not really, but that’s what it felt like. Hopefully I can get through this. 

—————-

The place Ryker was taking me was some sort of small little restaurant where only a few people were. Of course some of the people we passed by were staring, but I couldn’t tell if it was because we were both wearing some kind of jacket, or it was because we were here. Together. On a date. Should I be worried about those people? 

The waiter had taken us to our seats, gave Ryker a menu and told us that he would be back in just a few minutes. The place was quiet except for the music playing in the background. I looked around the place, seeing that almost everyone here was either on a date or just hanging out with friends. There was a human side to the place, but there were only four people there. Otherwise I was the only human on this side as far as I knew. It just made me a little bit more nervous. A lot, actually. 

Ryker was also looking around, almost immediately looking back when a group of people had looked at him, snickering. What was that all about? I couldn’t really hear, but I could take a really good guess. It was because of me. Like I had said before, after school, not many humans and giants stay friends. Another reason why I was so worried about Ryker leaving me before. They only stay friends throughout school just to have some sort of superiority over others. Now, no one really cares about that. 

There were of course human-sized tables which I had sat down on, but I wasn’t exactly given a menu. I wasn’t really all that hungry either. At least I think. 

“I’ll order for you if you want. I know you don’t feel comfortable talking with new people.” Ryker had smiled despite the whispered behind him. The group looked like they were all at least in their late twenties or early thirties. On a double date maybe? Again, I had no idea what I was even doing. 

“Oh! Thank you.” I mumbled, grateful that he had offered before I could have a panic attack in front of the waiter. I was so used to just hanging out at the cafe Ryker works at. Sometimes I’d make the long walk just to come visit him or just to hang out with some of his co workers. Like Nylah. It’s usually quiet there, and even when it’s not it’s because the workers were all busy talking with the regulars that go there. At the moment it seemed like it was crowded even though there wasn’t that many people. Maybe that was just my self-conscious speaking. 

“Water is fine.” I mumbled again, keeping my voice down in case somehow the table near us could hear me. Yup. It was my self-conscious. I couldn’t help but notice the way Ryker hand twitched slightly. Just like at the cafe after graduation. I took a few deep breaths before the waiter came back with notepad in hand. 

“What can I get you two to drink for today?” He smiled, more directed towards me, which made me feel just the slightest bit better. Maybe it was just the people that came to eat here that made this place feel uncomfortable. 

“Two waters please.” Ryker answered for the both of us. The waiter walked off, then came back a few minutes later with someone in his hand and the other with a glass of water. A woman came and gave me my glass, giggling and whispering something to the other waiter. I was so confused by this place, but I guess that didn’t matter. Ryker wouldn’t take me to a place unless he thought it was good. Everything else he picks out is good too. The only places I know are in the human part of the city and I doubt he could go there. 

I sighed, taking a sip of the cold water. Soon enough, the group sitting behind us sat up and leave. Words could not describe how grateful I was. They seemed rude and I haven’t even met them yet. Not that I wanted to, but still. 

“You want something to eat? It’s okay if you’re not hungry.” Ryker’s voice had a slight sad tone to it. Almost like he thought I wasn’t enjoying this. That was dumb. Of course I’m loving this. I just didn’t exactly know how to express that to him. I don’t know how dates are supposed to go, I don’t know what to do while on one, heck, I didn’t even know if I was doing this entire thing right! 

“Um, maybe something light? Like a salad? I-I don’t know.” I stuttered, nervously laughing a bit. Ryker placed down the menu for a second and laid his head on his arms, his eyes worriedly looking over me. The butterflies in my stomach only grew worse. Was I doing something wrong? 

“You didn’t have to say yes if you didn’t want to come y’know. I would’ve understood.” Ryker explained, his voice soft as usual. Oh. He thought I didn’t want to be here in general. 

“What? I did want to come. I just don’t really know how this whole… D-date thing works,” I tried explaining, “I love being with you. How could I say no? I just don’t know what I’m supposed to do or say.” I fidgeted with my hands, hoping that he would get it. 

“So you’ve never been on a date before?” Ryker slightly picked his head up. I shook my head as a reply. I have no idea how this was news to him, but it just was. 

“Well, I’m glad that I could be your first then.” Ryker laughed. The blush that I had worked so hard to make disappear came back. I was kind of happy that he was my first date too if I’m being honest. I don’t even think I would have been here if I hadn’t met him. 

The waiter came back to take our orders, he came back with two salads and told us to call him if we needed anything. I couldn’t help but see the little giggly smirk on his face. I didn’t exactly care though. Nothing could go wrong at this point. 

——————

Ryker and I had talked for a while. Mostly joking around with each other and talking about this new show that we had started together about this family who was rich but had all of their money taken away by their accountant or something like that. We both like it though. 

A song came on from the little jukebox in the corner of the room, but there was no one in here but us and one other person. Weird. We didn’t really pay attention all that much. We both had finished eating but neither of us wanted to go just yet. 

“I’m still surprised you wore a sweater.” I laughed, knowing that he doesn’t really wear anything other than hoodies and the occasional zip-up. 

“Ah well, I know you like them.” His face flushed a light shade of pink. I found it nice to know that he notices these things. I think it’s kind of sweet if I were being honest. 

It was quiet for a while, only the soft, deep voice of the music playing in the background was sitting between us. The anxiety rising up in my chest didn’t help at all whatsoever. What do we do now? Were we ready to go? It was only just about to turn nine. Maybe we should actually start heading back. If Ryker stays up any later I would feel bad. He’s already exhausted enough. 

As if on cue, he had yawned, covering up his mouth with on of his hands, blinking a couple times before drowsily groaning. I worriedly stood up, walking a bit closer, “We-we can go home if you’re tired. I don’t mind.” I smiled, earning one back. 

“If you’re ready sure.” 

I felt sorry. I wish I could be the one taking him back home. Not the other way around. That’s how it should be really. There has to be someway I could help. 

——————

We were home in about thirty minutes or so. You could faintly hear the sound of Dylan’s tv through the wall to the living room, Jasmine was passed out on the couch, and I’m guessing she put Isabelle and Angela to sleep. Ryker yawned, placing a blanket over Jasmine before sliding me off in front of the human-sized rooms. 

“I’ll be back in about five minutes. Just going to change.” He pointed a finger to the restroom down the hall. I nodded, guessing that he wanted me to change into something more comfortable too. Gladly. I quickly changed to a loose t-shirt and some sweatpants and waited outside for Ryker, who eventually did come out wearing almost the exact same thing as I was. 

His room was as cold as always, the lamp on that dimly lit up the place. His desk was an unusual mess of papers spewed all across the surface. Probably for college. He laid down on his bed, Pulling the sheets over him and almost immediately his eyes were already closing. I chuckled, walking closer to him from where he had left me. 

“Tired?” 

“Mhm,” He wore a sad expression, “Sorry tonight wasn’t what you expected.” 

“No it was great! I loved it!” I quietly cheered. Ryker smiled, “That’s good.” 

The silence stretched out between us again. Then I did something stupid. Again. Like I always did. I walked a closer to his face, and kissed him. Yup. I’m the one who went first this time. What’s more surprising was the fact that his face turned red when I had quickly stepped back. I had thought I stepped over a line, or maybe he wouldn’t have even felt it, but no. He did. And I couldn’t help but laugh at how red his face was. 

He was frozen in shock for a while before fixing his position and hugging me against his cheek. Now we were both laughing quietly together. 

“Love you.” He whispered, letting me back down. My heart started beating faster. I wasn’t expecting that- It would only be right to say it back. 

“Love you too.” 

I could at least do this for him. 

——————

Ahhh I love when the first date is awkward at first. Cringe isn’t real it cant hurt me hehehe-

I’ll definitely be making more little one shots like this with these two later on. I do want to continue the story until I do officially end it, but otherwise, this will be how it is for now. Thank you guys again!

Taglist: @da3dm

(if you don’t want to be tagged on these please let me know TwT)

[enjoythesilentworld]

Wille's Month - Voicemail (Free Day)

day 31 @youngroyals-events thank you for everything (more coming in a separate post bc i have a lot of thanks to give)

A collection of voicemails left by Wille.

read below or on ao3 (G, 800)

Simon’s phone. March 29th, 2027, 4:29pm.

“Hi baby! I’m on my way home, I’m just about to stop at the store. Did you say we needed more milk? I’ll grab some anyway, I think I have a coupon. Oh my gosh, you’ll never believe what I saw on my lunch break today. I took a walk around the park and there was this little mama duck, and she had a little trail of babies following after her. I nearly cried. I was late getting back to the shop because I stayed to watch them swim around in the pond. And I- Oh, I just remembered I sent you a video of that. Well, I’m telling you again because it bears repeating. One of these days when we move out of the city, we should get a bunch of animals or something. I think I’d make a good farmer. Or would that make us ranchers? Anyway, I’ll see you in a few. I love you!”

Felice’s phone. November 11th, 2029, 7:13am.

“Felice, we have an issue. I’ve been following this recipe you sent so closely but I’ve managed to screw it up. Why do my egg whites look like this? … I just remembered you can’t see them. I’ll text you a picture. They’re all grainy and weird, though. Are you busy right now? This would be so much easier if we could do this on FaceTime or something. I’d owe you big time. I guess call me when you wake up, if you can? Love you. Thanks in advance.”

Linda’s phone. October 20th, 2027, 5:32pm.

“Hi Linda! Simon and I are running a bit late. Someone had to spend an extra thirty minutes fixing his— Hey! I’m trying to explain to your mom why it’s not my fault we’re late! Sorry, Linda. We’ll be there soon, I promise. Simon is being very safe, though, and definitely not taking his hands off the wheel to try to steal my phone. I made some new cookies with a recipe Felice gave me, too. I’m excited for you to try them! You have to actually give me a sincere review this time. I appreciated all your kindness last time, but I want you to be brutally honest about these ones. Okay, we’re about five minutes out. See you soon!”

August’s phone. February 1st, 2034, 9:48pm.

“Hi, August. It’s Wille. I saw a short clip of the ceremony today. Sorry I couldn’t make it. Mamma seems confident in you, and I actually think you’ll do a good job. I’m not calling you ‘Your Royal Highness’, though… I wish you the best. Bye.”

Sara's phone. July 15th, 2025, 3:06pm.

“Okay, I grabbed what you said. I think— Oh, sorry. Hi. It’s Wille. You know that. Listen, I am worried he’s getting suspicious. I’m bad at keeping secrets from him, you know this. I still think no one should’ve told me and this party could’ve been a surprise for both of us. Sorry, rambling. I think I managed to find everything on the list. They only had two packs of purple balloons left, so hopefully 50 is enough. Oh! The cake looks awesome, too. Felice did a great job. He’s going to love it. Okay, I gotta go, he’s coming. See you— Hi Simon! … No, just a scam call. How—”

Kristina’s phone. September 5th, 2032, 6:11pm.

“Hi Mamma. I’m sorry I missed your call earlier. Things have been really busy over here. The movers showed up on time, thankfully, and everything went smoothly. We managed to get a lot unpacked already. Simon and I just had our first official dinner at our new kitchen table! Let me know when you and Pappa want to come visit. I’d say give us a few weeks to at least get the majority of the boxes cleared out. You’re going to love the view of the lake. It’s so beautiful, Mamma… I’m really happy here. Okay. Call me when you can… I love you. Say hi to Pappa.”

Erik’s phone. June 1st, 2026, 1:52am.

“Hi Erik. It’s your brother. Wille. Um… I graduated today. I didn’t end up finishing at Hillerska. It got shut down. You may actually know a little bit about why. I don’t want to talk about that… The past few years have been really tough, Erik. There are a lot more good days than bad ones now, but it still hurts every day. I miss you a lot. I hope you’ve forgiven me for stepping down from the throne. I think you have. You knew I never wanted it. I’m starting at uni in the fall, and Simon and I are going to live together. I’m really excited, actually. Normal life, and all that. Maybe I’ll even get a job. Imagine that. Former Crown-Prince working as a barista. Um, okay. I should probably get back to sleep. I’ll call again soon. I love you, big brother… Bye.”

[asirensrage]

Saudade - Chapter 16

Rating: Explicit Pairing: Mikey x OC, Hanma x OC, Ran x OC, Mikey x OC x Draken Fandom: Tokyo Revengers Warnings: swearing, violence, threats of violence, murder, smoking, sex, consensual sex between teenagers, alcohol, recreational drug use, mention of trafficking, torture, family neglect, mentions of sexual violence. isekai OC. memory loss. unbeta’d **warnings are not exhaustive** Summary: No one seems to realize she doesn’t belong until she finally runs into her “new” brother, Hanagaki Takemichi. Now, hearing his story, Takara makes the choice to help him and hopefully find her way home, but faking it til you make it only lasts so long when you start losing the memories of the life you had before. As Takemichi becomes the only family she’s ever known, how far will she go to protect him?

notes: Thank you all for the comments and the likes on this one. I hope you continue to enjoy it. I have a busy weekend laid out so we're celebrating my bday with another fic update. Enjoy!

also on ao3

fic masterlist - prev chapter

The first time she goes back to school, properly with a new uniform, people avoid her. The few classmates she spoke to before, the friends she had sort of made through sports, ignore her. They look away and whisper. People move away when she sits down in the cafeteria until she takes the hint and doesn’t bother trying.

She knows it’s fear, that people don’t want to get involved with someone who has gangs showing up to attack her. They don’t want to get involved with a girl who’s willing to stand up for herself and attack back. 

It’s fine. She’s fine. 

“Hey…you’re Hanagaki Takara, right?”

Takara looks up. The girl standing in front of her isn’t dressed in the same uniform she is and the sight of it instantly sets her on guard. “Who’s asking?” Her light brown hair is down and loose which isn’t great for fighting, but Takara has known girls who played street hockey with their hair loose. It doesn’t really mean anything if they know how to manage it. 

“Shiba Yuzuha. You…you struck my brother and threatened him.” 

She stares at her for a moment, trying to figure out which one the girl means. If she counts Hanma, there are at least three.

“Oh!” the name finally clicks. “The giant with the crazy eyes,” she says, motioning to her own face. “Sorry,” she says quickly, not meaning to actually offend the girl. Not yet at least. 

The girl snorts, before trying to hide it. Takara grins. 

“You’re not wrong,” the girl says. “I’m his sister.” 

Takara eyes her warily, shifting in place in case she has to run. She’s not about to underestimate a girl, especially a sister out for revenge. “Oh?”

The girl stares down at her before suddenly moving…and sits next to Takara. “I had to meet you. I had…had to see for myself who was strong enough to fight him.”

“I didn’t fight him. I snuck up on him and cracked a bat over his head. Then I threatened him.” 

“Because of your brother,” Yuzuha says, nodding slightly as if she’s confirming something she clearly already knows. 

“Yeah. He hurt Takemichi.” 

“I’m sorry I couldn’t protect him,” Yuzuha says softly, looking away. Takara catches sight of a fading bruise on her cheek. 

“It’s not your job. I keep telling him he needs to learn how to duck.” The joke breaks the tension as Yuzuha laughs. She’s pretty, Takara realizes, even with the slightly haunted look in her eye. 

“I…I admire you,” Yuzuha says softly. “For what you did.”

“Why?” Takara shrugs before taking a bite out of her lunch. “I’m just looking out for my little brother.” 

The other girl sighs before leaning back on her hands. “Yeah…the things we do to save them.”

“If only it worked,” Takara mutters. She can feel the other girl’s eyes on her. “I take it you’re not here to fight me?”

“No. Why would I?” Yuzuha asks, looking confused. 

“I would,” Takara says in all sincerity. “If someone snuck up and tried to kill my brother, I’d hunt them down. I mean, kind of already did…”

“Yeah, maybe if it was Hakkai, but not…not him,” Yuzuha says softly and Takara isn’t sure she’s meant to hear it, but she changes the subject quickly. “I know you might not be interested considering who my family is...but I’d like to be friends.”

Takara smiles. It seems genuine. She hopes it is, but if not she’ll deal with it when it comes. “Yeah, I’d like that. Besides, there’s a few open spots.” She motions to the empty space around them.

“Did…don’t you have friends?”

“A gang tracked me down here a few days ago. I refused to go and fought back…it got…bloody. Everyone’s avoided me since.”

Yuzuha looks around before turning back to Takara. “That’s stupid.”

Takara grins. “It is, isn’t it?”

🛼 Despite the hesitation when they met, Takara likes Yuzuha. She’s smart, funny and surprisingly fierce. She also understands the desperation that gnaws at her to protect her younger brother. It’s the first time in a long time that Takara actually feels understood in a way she doesn’t expect. There’s a sharp relief that she thinks Yuzuha feels too. They’ve both been bruised and bloodied in their efforts and it has not made either of them hesitate. Not really. Not when it matters. 

The high of making a new friend who actually understands her is erased the moment she accidentally walks in on Kisaki and Hanma…talking to her brother and Chifuyu as if they’re friends. It makes her freeze in place, eyes narrowing suspiciously. Takemichi flinches and looks like he wants to explain but the quick glance at Kisaki stops him from saying anything. 

Hanma looks delighted to see her and it occurs to her that the asshole now officially knows where she lives. She had managed to keep him from that knowledge so far and the sanctuary of her home being unknown is now broken. 

“Ah, Hanagaki,” Kisaki greets her. He smiles but she can already see the way his eyes seem to glint as he takes in her reaction. She straightens and takes a deep breath, shoving the feelings back. “It’s been a while.” 

“Yeah,” she agrees, keeping her eyes on him and his right-hand man. “What are you doing in my house?”

There’s something in his expression that tells her he doesn’t appreciate the way she says it. He stops himself from retorting back the way he wants. She’s had enough experience dealing with boys and causing her brothers problems to recognize that. 

“Princess,” Hanma greets her, stepping forward and draping an arm over her shoulders. “We’re all friends. Can’t we hang?”

“You’re not my friends,” she says, looking between them. 

“No, we’re more, aren’t we?” he asks, leaning a little closer. 

Takara’s lip curls in disgust. “In your dreams.”

“Oh, you are in my dreams…” he says, looking her over. “But we’re doing a lot more than just…hanging out.”

“Ew.”

“Hey!” Takemichi finally intervenes, stepping forward. “That’s my sister! Don’t talk to her like that!”

“Leave her,” Kisaki orders after a moment.

Hanma sighs and rolls his eyes. “Relax. She likes it, don’t you, princess?”

“If you don’t let go of me, I’m going to do more than attempt to break your foot this time.” 

His grin sharpens. “Can’t wait.” 

“Masochist,” she mutters. His arm is still over her shoulders and Takemichi is looking at them like he’s seen a ghost. He knows something. Something he’s not telling her. 

“Nah, just crazy for you.”

“Ugh,” she shoves him off of her. “That’s somehow worse.” She looks to Kisaki. “Can you take him home? I’m going to catch fleas.” 

“I’m not his caretaker,” Kisaki fires back.

“You’re not? That’s surprising considering the way you have him leashed.” She probably shouldn’t have said that because his eyes flash like he’s suddenly far too aware of her. It just seems so obvious to her that she’s surprised no one else has mentioned it. Maybe they just haven’t done it to his face. 

“What?” he asks, tone suddenly flat. Hanma moves first, grabbing her hand and lacing their fingers together. He lifts it and kisses the back of her hand, grip tightening slightly in warning. He grins though like there’s nothing wrong. 

“Not really into that,” Hanma says teasingly. “You though…I’d kill to see you in a collar. Leash in my hand…” his tongue darts out to wet his lip before he leans forward to kiss her. She turns her head, the other hand coming up to shove him back, but he blocks her hit and presses his lips to her neck instead. 

“Hey!”

Hanma is pulled off of her, laughing. He lets go, hands raised as if in surrender, even as his eyes don’t leave hers. Takemichi and Chifuyu both shove him towards the door. 

“You gotta go,” her brother demands. 

Kisaki stares at her for a moment, before glancing at Hanma and nodding. “We’ll talk later, Hanagaki,” he says, looking towards her brother. “Don’t forget. Christmas Eve.” 

Takemichi nods.

“Let’s go, Hanma.” 

The taller boy shakes off the hold on him, grinning and winking at her before he shoves his hands in his pockets and follows Kisaki out of the house. 

“Like I said, fucking leashed,” she mutters. Takara turns to her brother. “What the fuck is going on?”

🛼

“This is a bad fucking idea.”

“What?”

She’s seated on her bed, looking down at Chifuyu and Takemichi who are sitting on the floor. She ignores the way Chifuyu is blushing slightly as he can’t help but look around. The other option for talking quietly was her brother’s room and there was no way in hell she was stepping in there. Her brother was disgusting and so were his friends. She remembers hearing her mother tell someone about one of his friends jacking off in Takemichi’s room alone. 

“It’s a bad idea,” she repeats. This isn’t like the conversation with Baji where she ran before they could actually talk. She has the time and energy to try to make them understand the complete lack of common fucking sense they seem to have. 

“It’ll work!” Takemichi says, leaning forward slightly. “It’s the only time he’s alone and we gotta stop Hakkai from–”

“It’ll work?” she snarls. “That’s what Baji said to me about his plan. How’d that fucking go?” 

Both of them flinch back like she’s struck them. 

“You…you talked to Baji?” Takemichi asks. 

“I do have a life, Take,” Takara says dryly. “Don’t change the subject. Your plan sucks.”

“Why?” Chifuyu asks, going with her away from the topic of Baji. 

“You’re relying on the trust that the man who has repeatedly tried to kill you in the future isn’t going to backstab you in the present. He’s going to present you like a lamb to the slaughter to get what he wants and be able to not take responsibility for it. And you’re letting him.”

“It’s not like we trust him, but we–”

“Takemichi,” Takara snaps. “You’re being stupid. You’re going into this with no backup, with no account for them turning on you and with no one the fucking wiser now except me!” 

“We have to!” he snaps back. 

 “Why?!”

“To stop Hakkai from killing his brother! To save Yuzuha! To save them both! To save everyone!”

“What about you?” she yells. Her eyes burn with unshed tears that she forces back. If she cries, they’re not going to take her seriously. She needs her brother to understand. “Why won’t you think about how much danger you put yourself in? You’re so determined to protect everyone except yourself!”

“You don’t get it!”

“You’re the one who doesn’t fucking get it! You matter, Takemichi! I get you’re afraid of the future, but I’m not going to stand here and watch you get yourself killed because you’re not fucking thinking!” 

He stares at her like he’s never seen her before and his eyes fill up with tears. Before she can stop him, he’s lunging to her, crying. She has her arms full with her brother and looks quickly to Chifuyu for help, but he’s watching them like it’s some drama on TV. 

She sighs and hugs her brother back. “You’re such a crybaby.”

He eventually sniffles and wipes his face, pulling away. She grabs a bunch of tissue from the box in arms reach and hands it over. “Taka…”

She pats his head, unsure of how to react. “I’m just worried about you, Take. You’re not protecting yourself.” 

“I..” he sniffles again. “Takara, I…no one’s ever said something like that before. Besides Hina.” 

“Well, I hope she does. She worries about you too! That’s why you have to stop being so stupid!” She smacks him on instinct, hitting the back of his head. 

“Taka!” He rubs the spot she hit, the crying finished now as he glares at her. 

“I’d like to think if you got hit hard enough, you’d get some sense knocked into you, but obviously that doesn’t work.” Takara glances between the both of them. “I’m serious. You two need to work on your strategy and game plan.” She waits as Takemichi moves back, still sitting on her bed, and she looks at him. “What’s your defence? Against Taiju and Kisaki.”

🛼

Her brother isn’t an idiot, but Takara thinks he’s too much of an optimist. He believes that things will turn out right, that he only needs one plan and he can wing it the rest of the way. Takara has played too many sports in her life to know that winging it doesn’t work, especially with a team haphazardly put together. You need to have the type of teamwork that comes from playing together for years to pass off that kind of success, and even then, it’s less winging it and more merging bits of current and familiar plays together to trip the other team up. They don’t have that.

She makes them come up with a plan, but it still remains a terrible one. Takemichi and Chifuyu both refuse to tell anyone else in Toman about what they're going to do. She tries over and over to convince them, but if there's one thing her brother is, it's stubborn. Unfortunately, so is she and they clash in their determination to prove each other right.

It ends with neither of them talking to each other.

tag list: @raith-way @zeleniafic @veetlegeuse @chickensarentcheap @residentdormouse

@themaradwrites @kingsmakers @thatmagickjuju @awkwardchick87 @hayatoseyepatch

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[sitp-recs]

Fandom creators self rec game! Choose five favourites from your own creations (and tell me why, if you like!), then pass on to at least five other people. I'd love to hear what you're proudest of.

Hello beloved! It’s always a privilege to see you in my inbox, thank you so much for this lovely ask and apologies for taking two centuries to reply lol this was a quite emotional trip down memory lane for me - I couldn’t decide whether to go with rec lists or single recs (oof I haven’t written one in so long 🥲) because they’re both so different and special in their own way. In the end I’m gonna do lists because I think they’re generally more helpful and popular! I’ve been going through a creative / fandom slump for a while now, so this was great encouragement as it made me look back at my own recs with joy and kindness. Thank you babes 💜

1. I actually still love the Drarry for Beginners series! Fun story, I wasn’t very confident about it at first - I was getting many requests for a classics rec list back then but I don’t really vibe with the “MUST read these or you’re not a valid fandom member” mentality so I tried to come up with a different format that felt more like an invitation than a lecture. I think I found a good balance of well known fics and hidden gems, so I’m very proud of that. Also, the banners looked really good! Especially the redemption arc and the Muggle!Draco AU ones if I do say so myself.

2. The Hidden Gems series is also one of my most precious babies - it took me a long time to plan it out, read all fics and prepare the small blurbs for each one and I really love how it came across, the authors I chose to highlight, and the fact that I was able to mix Drarry and rare pairs. I remember getting an ask back in the day that accused me of only reccing my friends (anon really overestimated my network size 🤣), they could have at least checked the hidden gem series before going for public embarrassment lol there’s so much to explore there, and I really wanna come back to it one day to finalize the second edition that I started posting in 2022. Hopefully this year!

3. 35 Romantic Shorts: my heart is so very soft for this one, not only because the ever generous @bluebutter-art has let me use her stunning art for the banner, but I’m also such a passionate champion of short form and I feel like this list really embraced the concept and delivered great recs. I’m not a fluff gal by any standards so this was a nice exercise finding the softest, most romantic and soothing reads that made my heart beat faster. It would be lovely to go back and maybe add a couple more lists with new shorts, or alternatively make new lists for medium-length and long fics. So many ideas, so little time!

4. It feels like a lifetime ago but I’m still very fond of my “smutty recs week” that I made to celebrate one of my first followers milestone. Ahh the nostalgia! All lists can be found here and include a wide variety of themes and kinks like voyeurism, dirty talk, gang bang and others. Those banners are some of my favourites too, they turned out very sassy and clever if I do say so myself. I had so much fun with them! I gotta find the time to sit down and update some of those lists with newer treats!

5. Now highlighting something more recent (from Feb 2023… LOL) I’m super proud of my Rare Pair Romance list for Valentine’s Day. It was a great chance to compile (most of) my favorite rare pair fics in one place and include different ships and tropes. I’m always looking for an excuse to rec het pairings which I know it’s not everyone’s cup of tea, so this was the perfect way to do it.

[thatfanficstuff]

Can we pls get a Peter x reader x Chris pls with this gif I love these stories like my favorite of all so if we could get a fix based off of this gif it would be great (when u have time and are comfortable)

One of my favorite trios. Sorry this took a bit. Took me a minute to figure out what I wanted to write. Also, typo of the day: She cared the shit out of me.

Apologize

Peter Hale x Reader x Chris Argent

Warnings: no?

You were curled up on Peter’s couch leaning against his side as a movie played on the TV. You couldn’t say you were watching it. Instead, you kept running through your argument with Chris and wiping away tears as they escaped to run down your cheeks. You’d already made it clear you didn’t want to talk about it any longer, nor did you want to be fussed over, so Peter kept his arm around you and ran his thumb along the bare skin of your arm in a comforting gesture. Occasionally it was joined by a kiss to your head.

You’d been there nearly three hours when someone pounded on the door making you jerk in surprise.

Peter sighed and kissed the top of your head again. “Stay here.”

You shifted positions so he could get up. You anxiously chewed on the end of your thumb as he opened the door. There were only a handful of people that knew where Peter lived so it almost had to be Chris. Hopefully, he wasn’t still angry with you.

“Can I help—” Peter cut off as Chris pushed his way into the apartment.

He looked upset. Good.

Okay, that was mean, but at least you weren’t suffering alone.

Chris had turned to look at Peter as he entered so he didn’t notice you. “I can’t find her anywhere.” He raked a hand through his hair while Peter scowled at him. “I fucked up. I didn’t mean to yell at her, but she scared the shit out of me. You have no idea how close she was to losing her head. Literally.”

That earned you a glare from the werewolf.

“So your solution was to tell her to quit trying to help before she got someone killed?” Peter asked, his attention back on the hunter.

Chris flinched. “Yeah, well, it sounds bad when you put it like that.”

You frowned. “And how else would you put it?”

He snapped around, his eyes going wide when he saw you. Immediately he was across the room and on his knees in front of you. He grasped your hand in his and kissed the back of it. “I am so, so sorry, baby. I just can’t lose you. I don’t think I’d survive it.” He glanced at your other boyfriend. “You didn’t think to tell me she was here?”

Peter smirked as he took his seat next to you. “Oh, I thought about it. Then I decided against it.”

Chris’s shoulders went tight with irritation. You tugged on the hand he was holding to get his attention. “He had to watch me cry. It didn’t hurt you any to run around town for a while.”

“Fair enough,” he agreed immediately with a nod of his head. He lifted your hand and kissed your wrist this time. “I am so sorry. I didn’t mean it. You are far more help than you probably realize. I just want you to be safe. I was mad at the situation and I took it out on you. I’m sorry.”

You studied him for a moment reassuring yourself that he meant the words. Finally, you pulled your hand from his and stood. His shoulders slumped as he believed you were rejecting him.

You placed your hand beneath his chin and tipped his head backward to press a kiss to his forehead. “Stay. Watch a movie. I’ll get the popcorn.”

He grinned and when you went to kiss his forehead again, he shifted so your lips met his. You lost your footing when he tugged you into his arms and you found yourself back in your seat on the sofa. After a moment, you pulled away with a soft smile.

Peter rolled his eyes as he stood with a smirk. “Just stay here. I’ll get the damn popcorn. I need a drink anyway.”