#inside out is the first ever movie i pirated. well my dad did. but his friend did it first

[niadotcom]

going to see inside out 2 with friends tomorrow im so excitedd

[bluehairedtracii]

Hooks and Coins|| Harry Hook x Reader Soulmate AU!

Requested: by @lemonypink

Warnings: Harry being cute 

Pairings: Harry Hook x Swann-Turner! Reader

Author's note: Oh my gosh this took so long! I’m literally so sorry! My motivation for writing has been a little iffy lately. Buuutt I’ve also been binging Criminal Minds soo it kinda gave me a creative push to start writing again. (Spencer Reid fics comin in the future) Anyway, I hope you guys enjoy this fic as I get back into writing again. 

P.S. Melody is Melody from the second little mermaid movie, and I know she's kinda not mentioned again in the fic but just know that this is y/n’s best friend and that’s who she is lmao.  I also thought the Coin would fit well in here because of the movies just sshhhh. Enjoy!!!!

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"it's soon! I swear!" The night of your 16th birthday, the day your life would change.

The day you get your soulmate tattoo.

"Are you sure??" Melody whines. "I'm positive! Look, it's not even 12:00 on the dot yet- ONE MORE MINUTE!" You look back from the phone on your lap to your right wrist.

"It's twellveeee." Melody cooed.

"Please please please..." You muttered still hopeful.

Then it hit, well stung. "Ow, ow, I feel it!"

"Let me see!" Melody basically climbed on top of you and saw it before you could. She gasped "oh my gosh y/n..." "What? What is it?" You tried to pull back your wrist to see, but Melody kept it steady.

"Y/n, as your best friend, I have to warn you as to what you're about to see...."

"C'mon Mells, it can be that bad." You sighed and tried to pull away from her. 

"You have to PROMISE Me that you won't freak out?"

Annoyed, you sighed and smiled "I promise." "Okay.." she released your hand. You rubbed your wrist and looked at the small tattoo, "A Hook?" "Not just any hook... Penny told me about this." "This is the same hook as the famous Captain Hook himself! It must be his son!"

"Captain? So my soulmate is a Pirate? Like Dad and Mom?" Melody nods almost worried.

"Awesome."

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

"It's late Harry, your sister is gonna kill us if we get caught and wake your dad." Gill rubbed his eyes as he walked towards the galley of the ship.

"I know, but this is where the best lighting is...in a few minutes, I'll get me soulmate...well uh, tattoo I mean." He whispered and unlocked the door, cursing at the squeaky floors.

Harry turned on the lamp nestled on his father's desk. The room lit up illuminating the maps that his father and oldest sister had drawn up while sailing the open seas. He dreamed of nothing more than doing that, sailing and hailing a crew of his own, but for now, he follows Uma’s orders. 

“One more minute Harry.” Gill whispered looking at the tickless clock on the desk.

“Aye, ow! fff-!” Harry cupped his hand and flipped it to see his wrist, he bit back the pain as he saw the black ink form on his wrist. He’d been confused and tried to make it out as it formed. “Bloody hell, this sure is detailed in’it?” Gill loomed over Harry's shoulder, wondering what it was himself, Gill was sure he wasn't ready for his soulmate yet if he had to endure this much pain. 

Harry closed his eyes and exhaled as the pain stopped.

He opened his eyes to see the grim Aztec Coin staring back at him.

“Holy shi-” “Gil do you know what this means?!” “She’s spooky?” “No GIl, you git, She’s a pirate! and she’s a Turner...” He says in awe as he smiles down at his wrist.

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A few months later both of you seemed to forget. The events of your daily lives getting in the way. You’re training to go off on a sailing trip with your dad for a few months, and Harry is… currently Helping Uma get revenge on Mal by kidnapping Ben. 

But.. you were unaware of this. Obviously. 

Lonnie and you were fencing/sword fighting in the school’s courtyard (for fun) when you saw the boys rushing into the limo. You both caught up to them and questioned them immediately. 

“What’s going on here Jay?” Lonnie snickered full well knowing what’s happening because she overheard it earlier passing their room. “We.. uh..” “we’re going with you..” Lonnie cut the pair off. And this is how you went to the Isle of the Lost for the first time. 

They had told you the plan but left out the part about who they were going to have to deal with if the plan went south. You were nowhere near nervous. All those times you’d trained with Lonnie and your parents at the shop basically were all for this moment. Your pirate self was ready. 

Mal handed over the wand and you cringed a bit. “She’s gonna know it's fake…” you turned to Lonnie and whispered. “Shh I know, get ready..”  you prepped your sword and placed one hand on your lapel while the other was free to toss the swords. 

That’s when everything went south. You and Lonnie sprung into action and helped the others. The sounds of metal clashing mixed with the creaking of the ship and the salty sea air made you happy, it filled you with adrenaline. It felt like you were at home.

2 people fighting you at once, then three, then none, one by one you tossed them overboard.

You were caught in the crossfire between Carlos and some other goons so you ducked under them and sprung onto your feet right into someone else's back. 

You both turned to each other, swords ready, you saw him and you felt that burning in your body. The one that your friends always said happened when you met your soulmate… “Ow!” “Oi!!” Harry lurched back and held his hand. And so did you. 

“You…” he pointed at you “are you…?” you held up your hand and showed your tattoo. He gasped and smiled “I knew I’d see you one day..”  you said in awe. You heard Uma yell for Harry and his smile faltered into a smirk.

“Sorry lass, no ‘ard feelings right?” “Obviously.” You struck your sword first and your swords clashed with each other. “I knew you were good Turner, but not this good.” he laughed as you both turned a corner of the ship. “Thanks! Maybe I can teach you sometime Hook, You seem a bit rusty!” “Oi! My ‘eart Lass.. that one hurt!” 

You snickered and he had caught you by a wood post “awe, our first dance is over now?” your eyes sparkled. He smirked ”Aye if this were different, i’d very much like to get to know you lassy…”  he got closer almost closing the gap in between you two. And his lips brushed yours before you heard Mal and Lonnie yell that it’s time to go. You smiled “sorry Luv, it’s time for me to go!” you kiss his cheek and push him away into a hole that’s in the ship. “Oi! That’s not fair!”

You were the last one to leave and thought of an idea, you caught up with them and helped Mal to kick off the ramp back to the car. “Find me!” You blew a kiss to Harry and smiled, and so did he. on the inside, of course, he had to be “mad” for Uma’s sake. But right now he was anything but. He just met his Soulmate and she was everything he dreamed of.

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Almost a year had passed when you had first met Harry. And you constantly think about him every day and so does he. 

He sat at the bow of the ship looking out to the ocean thinking about you. It’s all that he’s been thinking about actually. He’s waiting for the day you can be with each other and in each other's arms. You literally took his breath away, because you kicked him, but he was entranced by your skills and beauty. He dreams about learning with you, meeting your folks, owning a ship, and most importantly.. Sailing away with you to see the world. He was stuck here. 

Though he didn't know that you had convinced Ben (it took a lot of convincing) to let Harry over onto the isle for a while. Your boating trip with your dad had gone so well that you also convinced your dad to let you go alone this time. Your parents knew how a forbidden love felt more than anyone else. The love between the two of them, a humble blacksmith that was the son of a pirate and the daughter of a wealthy governor who found that boy so long ago. They were never supposed to be together in society's standards, but their love was the strongest bond. They granted their blessing to you, they knew you'd be safe. You’re a strong pirate and they want to see you the happiest you can be.

You smiled and looked out the window of the limo as it crossed the bridge. Mal and Evie both came with you so they could help you find him and tell him the news. You guys slip onto the docks while Mal and Evie keep guard on the limo and watch you just in case you need back up. “Ursulas…” you smile and cross through the swinging doors, you found him and you felt the burning feeling in your body again. So did he. “OI!” he dropped the basket of chips he was holding and growled at the mess he made. He was fuming until he locked eyes with you. “My princess has come back to me?” he smiled and walked towards you completely forgetting about the fries as he kicked them to the side. “Hey Hook.” you smiled and felt his hand on your face but he backed away. “Woah Turner you ain't gonna kick me ‘gain right?” “no.” you laughed and you both hugged each other. 

He took the two of you outside “what are ye doin here luv? I mean, you don’ ‘ave to make any excuses to see me, but you came all the way from the other side.” he laughed and pushed back a strand of stray hair behind your ear. You blushed and held one of his hands, but unknowingly played with one of the rings on said hand. He bit his lip smiling at your nervousness. “U-Uhm.” you were surprised by the nerves in your voice, you were never this nervous before. This boy is going to wreck you. “It took major convincing, but I finally convinced my family and Ben to let you come to Auradon with me for a three-month sailing trip…” you smiled and looked at him. His eyes lit up and he lifted you off the ground and spun you around. “Are ye serious?! Of course I'd go with you!”  “Great! We leave…” you check your watch on your left arm. “ In 30 minutes!” “Aye! I need to pack!”  you laughed.

 he backed you into the wall. You smirked, “oi, I've been trying to do this ever since the first time we met.” He closed the gap between you two and the feeling of his soft pillowy lips on yours brought you comfort and warmness. You kissed back and ran your fingers through his dark locks as he tightened his grip around your waist. You never wanted this to end. “25 minutes!” You heard the girls yell and you pulled away and laughed. “I've finally found my Turner..” “And I’ve finally found my Hook..”

[soccerbites]

WHAT IT WAS | RAFE CAMERON

Masterlist on pinned!

A.N: Heeyy, if you find this familiar it could be because you read it on my wattpad account or on here before I deactivated! English is not my first language so please be kind!

WORDS COUNT: 4k

WARNINGS: a lot of them, swearing, blood, drugs, etc.

You hadn't thought about it in months when you finally were getting over it, suddenly came back, all the memories, good and bad, all the euphoria, when everything was angelic, when it was cruel, when suddenly it was radiant, then turned violent, and ended up being painful. When you gave up on it because you could not take it anymore.

-

Your family was the typical kook one, you grew up in a life full of luxury, you got everything you wanted due to your mum's richness.

Sarah and you were best friends since you were born and his brother was your boyfriend practically since both of you learned that word. The Cameron's and your family had everything arranged between you two, Rafe and you were supposed to be together for the rest of your lives, he was going to take care of his dad's company, the next step would be getting married, travel around the world, having lots of beautiful kids and live happily ever after.

2008

It was your 5th birthday party, all your friends were there and you felt extremely happy with the big amount of presents you had received from them all. You were not the typical little girl your parents desired you to be, you had begged for them to let "Pirates of the Caribbean" be the theme, you hadn't really seen the movies but you loved pirates! Rafe and you would always pretend you were them in his dad's yacht because Sarah did not like them at all, you couldn't understand how it was so fun! Your friend would lend you one of his plastic swords and play the whole afternoon. The best part was that you always won, but now, many years after, looking back at it Rafe was probably letting you win. However, your mum forced you to make your party about Cinderella, you hate princess but especially Cinderella, there wasn't a reason for it, you just did.

Weeks before you had told the little boy your birthday was going to be about pirates and he was so excited about it, you babble about it for days, so when Rafe arrived at your house with his family and saw all the princess decorations and the angry but yet sad face you had on, he instantly understood what was going on, you both were little but very smart for your age, plus he had sympathy for you due to his similar family conditions.

Everyone but you and him enjoyed the celebration, the young man and you stayed together in a corner of your backyard playing alone. Rafe picked up two small branches and played as you were pirates like you would usually do, he knew that was what you really wanted at that moment.

When it was time to blow the candles you looked at your sky blue and pink cake, wishing it had Jack Sparrow's face on it, Rafe smiled at you and you smiled back at him. Everyone sang the typical song, you blew the candles and buried three of your little fingers into the cake, thinking of three wishes.

being a pirate

playing as pirates with Rafe

Sarah wanting to play as pirates with you two

-

2010

It was almost summer and you were really excited about all the little adventures Rafe and you were going to have in the next months.

You felt so much older, your first year of primary school was over and it had been great! Even though Sarah was not hanging out with you as much as she was before; you had the hope of playing with her more now that you had nothing else to do.

Those weeks were great, you almost didn't see your girl best friend, but her brother and you were getting closer and closer as days went by. Rafe always protected you from everything and made you laugh a lot, he was funny.

Summer '10 was lovely, one of your favorites memories of you and the boy happened during that time, your first kiss. You didn't really count it as the very first kiss, but you had to admit that, at that time, for you was even more than what it actually was.

It was an extremely warm day and you invited Rafe over to play in the fort you both had made in your backyard, right where years before you were pretending to be pirates while your birthday party was going on inside the house. He was 'building' a table as you made mud cakes.

"Look at the cake i made for us!" you abruptly shouted, thing that scared Rafe, but he didn't let you notice because the last thing he wanted was for you to make fun of him.

"It looks delicious y/n, we should eat it!" he said, excitement on his face while sitting beside you.

"ARE YOU CRAZY RAFE?" you were shocked, the drama queen in you was starting to jump out, "IT'S MADE OF DIRT THAT'S DISGUSTING!" you looked at him, terrorized by what the little boy was saying.

"i- i- i wasn't serious, i- i just thought you'd like me to say that" he was so embarrassed.

"oh, i'm sorry" you apologized to him.

There was silence for a few seconds, it wasn't uncomfortable so you didn't mind about it.

"wanna know what Sarah made me do?"

"mmmm, maybe"

"she made me watch 'The Princess And The Frog', TWO TIMES" he sounded so mad, "and then she told me that Topper kissed her" he looked at you, you were not understanding why he was telling you this, but before you could talk; he continued, "and i was thinking that may- maybe we can d- do it too" you opened your eyes wide open, kissing him? like in the mouth?

"i- in- the mouth?"

"yeah, i mean, that's what she told me" you stared into his eyes, trying to figure out if he was just messing with you or was actually serious about it.

"uhm, i guess so?"

"you do?" he had a frown formed in his face.

"if that's what you want to" he nodded with a smirk on his lips.

You both turned and were now facing each other, without an idea of what to do you followed him, he started to lean forward and you did too, he closed his eyes and you did as well, and after what felt like an eternity but was actually almost four seconds, your lips touched his; ending up in a little pecked kiss.

After that day neither you nor Rafe talked about it again, it was like it never happened, which, at your really short age, was normal.

This year your family and you decided not to celebrate your birthday due to your grandma passing away two weeks before, it didn't feel right for them. At seven years old it was hard to fully understand what death was, you had heard about it but never experienced it before. Rafe felt really bad about it and on the day you finally turned seven he went to your house and spent it with you, so that way, you would not feel as lonely.

-

2012

Rafe was starting to change, he did not want to play with you anymore and that made you sad and upset. Your mom told you it was normal for boys to not hang out with girls once they grew up, but that wasn't him, it didn't felt like him. You never thought that the boy who was your best friend, the only kid you really enjoyed being around, especially after Sarah hang with more friends that were not you, would leave you alone.

You started to search for fun on other stuff and found that you loved to read stories about wonderful adventures, and when you finished every single book in your house about the topic, you started to flip through the pages of some old books regarding birds and insects, you were amazed by the stunning draws and colors of them and wanted to make your own.

For your ninth birthday you decided to do an exchange, it was difficult to convince your parents but they finally gave in, instead of a party you wanted them to give you a pretty journal with some color pencils. That way you would have your own investigation diary about those interesting creatures you were obsessed about.

Summer had ended and school season started, you and your little notebook were inseparable, you took it with you to class and spent all the recess doing little notes about birds you had seen during the day so when you arrived home you could search and learn about them.

One cold winter night, your dad told you that the Cameron's were coming home to have dinner, you couldn't wait for them to arrive, maybe that was the moment you had the opportunity to befriend Sarah again and show Rafe all the information you had collected during the months you didn't hang out. But they never appeared, their parents had gone but not them, Sarah was not feeling well and Rafe was sleeping over at a friend's house.

-

2014

Sarah was talking to you! you were friends again and there was no way you would not see each other every single day.

Spending every minute of the day over at her house was completely normal at that point. You two hanging out again made your families closer.

It was like your parents didn't care at all you were just a pair of ten years old, almost eleven, kids.

Rafe would always try to be with his sister and you whenever you were around at their house, but Sarah would just scream at him 'LEAVE US ALONE!' which ended in him giving up and walking away. It was sad, you missed spending time with the boy.

2014 was the year you turned eleven, and also had your first period. Everyone was so excited about that and you just hated it, with your whole heart, it made you want to cry every single time. Due to that, your body started to change, and boys started to notice it, including Rafe.

-

2016

The year it all started.

It was your thirteenth birthday and you did not felt like doing a big party, that night the Cameron's and your family went to a restaurant. Sarah, Rafe, and you were talking about what you were going to do the next week while Wheezie just listened. Finally, the boy and you were good friends again. When the food arrived you all shut up and started eating while paying attention to what your parents were talking about.

"oh yeah, of course, they are definitely getting married at some point," Ward said to what your father nodded.

"it's the best for them" this time your mom spoke.

"of course it is!" Rose laughed, "he will be taking care of the family business, they are going to have a splendid life together"

"Who are you talking about?" Rafe got into the conversation.

"we are talking about you silly!" you looked at your mom, not understanding what was going on.

"wha- what?" Rafe was just as surprised as Sarah and you were.

"yeah kid, we are talking about yours and y/n's future together" Ward stated as taking a piece of meat to his mouth.

"what exactly do you mean?" you stepped in this time.

"what you heard kid, your future life, your marriage, and all" your dad said as if it was the most normal thing to say to a thirteen-year-old.

"their marriage?!" Sarah was furious, you could notice it in her voice tone, Rafe and you stared at each other.

"you just are too young to realize yet" Rose brushed it off. None of you talked for the rest of the night.

Just a few months after that, your dad and Ward had already made a reservation for you two at the exact same restaurant. When you arrived you saw Rafe already there in a table positioned in a corner. Now looking back at it, everything was so fucked up, you were just kids. You approached him and sat, he smiled at you while you did.

"hi", he said, shyly, of course. It was really weird, you both had been alone before but never this way, this was completely different, your families were hoping that you turned this into something romantic. "Are we on a date right now?".

"i think so?" you laughed a little bit, "please, don't make this awkward, i don't get why they do this".

"i do" he said, you looked at him with a confused face, was he agreeing with all of this? "i mean, i can see why they want us to be together" after that he took a sip of his soda and started serving you some.

"Rafe, you should be allowed to 'date' whoever you wanted"

"And what happens if who i wanna date is you?" you were shocked at your friend's words.

"Rafe what are you talking about? i just turned thirteen and you are about to turn fourteen, you like it or not we are kids" you were a little bit mad due to what he was saying.

"well, Juliet was thirteen and Romeo was around that age"

"Rafe you did- you did not just compare us to Romeo and Juliet, have you read the book?"

"no, i did not"

"THEY DIE, THEY DIE AT THE END" you knew you were making this a lot bigger than it actually was but didn't care about it, "of course you didn't read the book" you whispered but he heard.

"WHAT DO YOU MEAN?" now that you're remembering everything you can't believe that a pair of thirteen years old could be so dramatic.

"I MEAN WHAT I SAID," you said while leaning over the table.

"you know what, why don't we shut up and finish with this as fast as we can, i don't want to be here" Rafe proposed.

"sounds perfect to me, i do not want to be here too"

Either of you spoke again until you had had dinner and Ward picked you two up.

-

2018 / 2019

In the past two years, Rafe and you had finally got together. Your parents were over the moon about it and you were also really happy. You both were discovering and experiencing together what being in a relationship was.

The first months were a little bit strange, you both knew that it was not a real relationship, for everyone else you were together, but in reality, you hadn't had that many kisses as you thought you were supposed to have and outside school didn't see each other that much.

Summer '18 the Cameron's took you with them on their holidays to the Bahamas, it was amazing, not just because Rafe and you spent a lot of time together but also because you got to hang more with Sarah who you were not seeing a lot since it all started, and the reason was that whenever you went to their house you were with her brother, and they definitely didn't get along that much.

Unfortunately, the 'real' part began in 2019, you and Rafe turned sixteen and started going to parties and being more around of what people called 'pogues'. During the school year, it was like a daydream, he picked you up and went together, you had lots of dates and spent beautiful moments together, those were the times when your relationship was at it's highest, where you realized that, after all, maybe your parents were right and your destiny was, indeed, be together.

Your favorite moment from that time in your life was with him. You both were laying in the grass of your house's backyard, it was really cold outside, and decided to take some blankets with you to be warm. You were laying in his chest while he hugged you, appreciating the stars. He pressed a kiss to your head and you smiled to yourself.

"wanna know something?" you looked up to him.

"pretty boy is thinking! someone please record this!" you said, just to annoy him.

"shut up" he laughed, knowing you were messing with him, "you want to know or no baby?" he asked, a more serious tone on his voice.

"of course i want to know" you took his hand into yours, the warmness made you shiver, to what he hugged you harder.

"i read on the internet that you can buy stars online, maybe one day i'll buy you one and name it Rafe so whenever you wanna get rid of me you would not be able to" the boy started swinging you side to side in a slow speed, you'd never felt that peaceful in your life before.

Once again you looked at him "that's a little bit wicked of you" he giggled, "however, i think that would be the most divine present someone could ever give to me" he backed down his head and kissed your cheek, "and also, i'm never getting rid of you" you could feel him smiling while pressing his chin against the side of your head.

That was the last happy time you genuinely can remember at perfection.

You still don't know what happened when summer '19 arrived, it was the breaking point of your relationship. Parties at the beach were being held by pogues most of the time, and you never went because partying was not your thing, all of them ended up in disaster, pure and authentic disaster. You are grateful the only one you went to was the first one. Rafe was extremely drunk and you were trying to take care of him but it was being hard, especially when Topper got into a really intense fight with JJ and John b, two of the few pogues you knew, it was tragic and it got worse when the blonde one pulled a gun at Sarah's boyfriend head, while all that happened you lost Rafe and found him after like five minutes beating up someone that was on the ground, barely moving. You ran towards him and with all your straighten you push him.

"YOU'RE KILLING HIM RAFE!" you yelled at your boyfriend, when you finally got to see him he was covered in blood, you took him by his hand and got out of there, arriving at your house where you helped him clean up himself.

"i think i'm in love with you" he tried to say but was too drunk to pronounce the words properly.

"don't start with that now when you almost killed a random guy tonight, for what? explain" you were furious.

"'cause he is a pogue, he deserves it y/n" you both walked to your bed and laid down to sleep.

"no he doesn't Rafe, that's not an excuse for what you did, they are people just like us" you scolded him.

"whatever" he ignored you.

Some time after that Sarah started to see John B behind Topper's back and she asked you to keep her secret safe, which you did.

At midsummers Rafe escorted you, it was a fantastic night, you two were together the whole time and drank lots of expensive champagne while you danced. The pride on your dad's face was priceless, in that moment you forgot about what had happened a few nights before and just enjoyed the moment, smiling at your boyfriend, always.

"you wanna know something?" Rafe whispered in your ear while you danced to a slow song, his hands on your waist and yours behind his neck.

"mmm, this brings back good memories" you smiled to the handsome man in front of you.

"i love you"

"i love you too Rafe"

"let me finish pretty girl" you laughed a little bit, "please stop smiling like that, i'm not sure what will happen if you keep doing that" this time your laugh was stronger, getting some looks from people around you.

"i'm just really happy right now, wouldn't want to be anywhere else" you hugged him without stop moving.

"i know, me too"

A few minutes after he disappeared, and you did not have an excuse to stay so you went home. The next day you found out he was trying to beat up the blonde pogue, JJ.

You don't really know why but for some reason it went away and everything was perfect again, but it only lasted a few days.

You were really bored at your house and after contemplating whether you should or shouldn't go to the Cameron's house, you got into your car and drove around the few blocks that separated your house from Rafe's. You knew his parents were out of town that day and Sarah was probably hanging out with John B and his friends so you didn't bother on knocking and just got in. You heard your boyfriend's voice from the downstairs bathroom. Once you got into it you saw his clothes on the floor and he was applying toothpaste to his arm.

"Rafe?" he looked at you scared.

"y/n- i- i" he was crying, you directed your eyes to his arm, a huge new burnt was there.

"Rafe what happened?" you got closer to him, "is that blood?" you pointed at the clothes on the floor.

"no", he denied it but it obviously was blood.

"Rafe, what's going on?"

"i- i got into a fight" ha answered.

"with who? baby who did this?" you helped him with his injury.

"Barry" but as soon as you heard that name you pulled away.

"Barry? as the drug dealer Barry?" he didn't even look at you, "Rafe are you doing drugs?" completely ignored you, and when he did that you figured out the answer, "how much do you owe him?" you asked, one hand on you waist and the other one on the bathroom door.

"some thousands" your jaw almost touched the floor, and your face was full of disappointment and anger. "don't look at me like that" he begged, and tried to grabbed you and pulled you closer to him but you just pulled him away.

"DON'T LOOK AT ME LIKE THAT? THAT'S ALL YOU HAVE TO SAY?" he didn't reply "FUCK RAFE, THOUSANDS? YOU OWED THOUSANDS OF DOLLARS TO A DRUG DEALER AND YOU EXPECT ME TO STAY CALM?"

"i can explain."

"NO YOU CAN'T, WHAT? TOPPER AND YOU GOT BORED OF THE STUPID WEED AND WANTED TO TRY SOMETHING STRONGER? WHAT DID YOU BUY? COKE? NOW YOUR HOBBY IS BUY THOUSANDS OF DOLLARS ON COKE? THAT'S WHAT YOU WANT TO EXPLAIN TO M-"

"GET OUT" he screamed to your face as he got closer to your body, while pointing to the door, "GET THE FUCK OUT OF MY DAMN HOUSE" you looked at him and turned away, walking towards the door and he didn't follow you.

"HOPE YOU HAVE AN AMAZING LIFE RAFE" you screamed without closing the door.

After that you didn't see him in a long time, you didn't go out of your house anymore.

You heard that Sarah and John B were missing, you missed her. You had no one to talk to, just your own thoughts.

A few weeks later, everything came out to the light, Ward went to jail for killing John B's dad and being kinda responsible for another poor man's death.

Rafe confessed that it had been him the one who shot the detective, but they found out about his drug addiction and blamed it on that, so he ended up going to rehabilitation and not directly to jail.

-

2021

It was your eighteenth birthday, Sarah was coming to your house to keep you company until your parents got out of work.

As you were walking towards the kitchen the doorbell rang.

"hi" you said as opening the door.

"hello, is this y/n?" the man in front of you asked while reading your name from a box.

"that would be me" you said, and after signing some papers he gave you the package.

You placed it on the table and started opening it. It seemed like a picture frame, when you paid attention to it, tears fell from your eyes, there was a little letter on it.

i did not name it after me, i realized that you were, are, and always will be the big star that keeps me going. I hope you know how much i miss you and regret everything i did, maybe one day you'll forgive me and love me again. I took that for granted and i'm so sorry of that. happy eighteen birthday y/n, i expect you still think this is the most divine present someone could ever give you.

- Rafe

It was a star, he had bought a star and named it after you, Rafe kept his promise, and even though you had said to yourself, just the night before, you will move on and forget about him, you couldn't help but smile; wishing you could re-do everything and go back to what it was that night from a few years before.

[time-to-cause-chaos]

catch me to infinity

5 times Wanda catches Peter, and 1 time she doesn't know if she can. (Reblogs appreciated <3) (st*rk*r shippers, pls DNI) (also this is PLATONIC, not slash so yeah, pls don’t read this as slash)

AO3 link    WC: 5,738

1. Accidentally, off a couch

“Wanda”  Peter says, laying across his chair, feet dangling idly in the air.  

“Wandaaa”, Peter whines again.  His half-finished hot cocoa sits abandoned on the coffee table while Wanda sips hers quietly.

Wanda pauses the tv, raising an eyebrow and looking over to Peter with an unimpressed look.  

The guy on the screen is leaning against a wall, mouth half-open, caught in the middle of a joke.

“We’ve watched this episode like a million times.  I can probably tell you every single line and scene by heart at this point.”

Wanda sighs, “Which one should we watch then?”

A quick glance at the window says they’re still stuck inside, if the storming winds and downpour mean anything.  They didn’t have a problem with some light rain, in fact, if Tony and Steve hadn’t expressly told them they couldn’t go outside, they would already be soaked and muddy.  The last day they’d gone outside in the cold though, the next day was full of fevers and snotty napkins so it was decided they’d actually listen this time.  That rainy day had still been awesome though and there were absolutely no regrets, even when Peter was delirious and giggling everywhere in a haze.

The sitcom playing in front of them was one of Wanda’s favorites - probably why Peter had put up with watching it for the millionth time - but at this point, she was barely making it through the episode without wanting to rip her hair out.

She was bored.

Peter came around her and sat on the back of the couch, his feet planted on the cushions.  Flipping through the shows was a waste, they’d also gone through nearly every episode they could and starting a new show right now sounded exhausting.

Wanda slumped and Peter got up, standing on the sofa, “There are so many things we could do, we’re in the Avengers Compound, there can’t be nothing to do.”

“We could go swimming?” Peter asks.

Wanda groans, “Then you’ll be the one explaining why we got sick again”

“Wanda, it’s indoors”

“N-o” she spells out, “No swimming”

“Well what about-”, Wanda doesn’t figure out what Peter was going to say because his balancing act comes toppling down, maybe balancing on his heels and pacing on the headrest of the couch hadn’t been one of his best ideas.

Peter yelps and his arms come over his head as he crashes to the floor.

...Except the crash never comes.

Instead when Peter opens his eyes, his nose is one inch from touching the floorboards and his limbs are covered in bright red ripples of light.

“Whoa”, he breathes, uncurling himself and spreading his arms out, as if he was floating.

Wanda scoffs and with a flick of her fingers, let’s go of her hold on the mist and helps him close the gap between himself and the floor, dropping him harmlessly on the floor.

He picks himself up and looks at her, mouth agape, “Wands, you have powers!” he shouts in glee.

She rolls her eyes and snorts, “Really, Peter?  That is news to me.”

“No, no I mean imagine all the fun things we could do with this”, Peter’s hands flail wildly to emphasize his point, “we could prank the others, for one”

She smirks up at him, “That’s actually not a bad idea”

“When have I ever had a bad idea”

Wanda’s eyebrows pinch together in exasperation, “The swimming idea?”

“Okay, fine moment of weakness but anyways,” he grins, “We need supplies, I’m going to get supplies” 

He snaps his fingers and is out the door before he can hear Wanda yell, “If Tony grounds you, it’s not my fault!”

2.  Mysteriously, for the suspense and drama

Peter laughed into the comms as he kicked one of the bad guys down, “Was that a dad joke, Mr.Stark?”

“It was a pun, there’s a difference Spidey” Tony grunts, blasting up into the air and firing another guy down a stairwell.

Clint pops on the comm link, crackling into their ears, “I’m pretty sure that was a dad joke Tony”

Peter shoots a web onto the ceiling and swings around, webbing up the last few people in the room, “Mr.Stark, just make sure to give us a warning before you go full dad-mode and start playing golf and bringing us our lunches”

“I actually think I did bring your lunch to your school that one time”, Peter doesn’t have to see Mr.Stark’s face to know he’s smirking.

“Nope, nuh-uh, no I definitely don’t remember that”

“Oh yes you do,” Tony laughs, “Your face was red the entire time”

Peter grimaces,”No idea what you’re talking about”.  Oh he definitely did, it had been embarrassing, god and Ned’s jaw was practically on the floor while MJ watched unimpressed as the entire class’s eyes bulged.

“I think I saw some dudes slip up to the roof, I’m going to go grab them” Peter says, changing the subject and looking for Tony for confirmation.

“Go ahead, Underoos.  I’ll be right behind, just going to make sure law enforcement have a hold of these guys, first.”

Peter nods and slips out of the room, already running up the fire escape.  

He bursts out onto the roof and immediately has a gun trained on him.

“Make one move, Spiderman, I dare you”

“Well, I do love a good dare”

Peter ducks behind a potted plant just as the guy fires a bullet.  Spinning out from his hiding place he yells, “I’m going to call you Boots!”

The man was wearing heavy black combat boots with large wedges, a short person’s true love, Peter thinks.

He had thick wedges too on most of his sneakers, but he assured himself Tony he only wore them because they were fun to wear.

Speaking of, he was pretty sure Mr.Stark made his shoes with wedges in them too-

Peter yelps and ducks as the gun fires again, missing him by a foot this time.

Anyways, he was average height, thank you very much.  Anyone who said otherwise could eat his webs and dirt.

Peter notices a slight hesitation in his opponent’s movement and immediately shoots a web out, yanking his gun arm down.  

He flips behind him and punches him down right before the man flips back up, nailing Peter on his nose and forcing him back.

Peter yelps and realizes their fight is nearing the edge of the roof, which had a good 8-story drop behind it.

He tries to push his punches in another direction, trying to redirect them both before one of them goes over but the man stays strong pushing them closer and closer to the edge.

Wanda’s voice comes in through the comms, “Peter, where are you?”

“Roof” Peter barely gets out through his grunts.

“I’m under you” she says.

Ironman comes out through the roof access door and watches as Peter stumbles, barely inches from tipping over the side.

He raises a metal hand, ready to shoot but Peter stops him, “Just trust me”

He would’ve let Tony handle it, but the blast could knock him off too, not just the other guy, and if he was going to plummet off a building today, he wanted to do it on his own terms.

Balancing on the small wall, the only thing keeping him from falling off, Peter jumps sideways just as the man raises a leg to kick him down.  

Peter smirks, using two fingers to salute, “Sayonara, sucker” he laughs as he pushes off and starts free-falling backwards, wind and gravity pushing on him.

That was so cool, he thinks.  It was a perfect reenactment of those scenes in movies where a character will dramatically fall off a roof narrowly escaping their nemesis and then gets caught by like, a dragon or a flying pirate ship.

It’s called a fashionable exit, to all the uncultured misfortunes who think it’s stupid.

Mr.Stark was probably pretty confused about what just happened though.

He plunges through the air for a full three seconds before he’s caught by Wanda’s magic, floating mid-air.

He catches a glimpse of her pursed lips and smiles, “You’re so dramatic” she tells him, concealing her amused eyes.

Wanda takes them both up to the roof where Mr.Stark already has the man Peter was fighting, tied down.

Tony groans in exasperation when he sees them both, already having figured out their little magic act.

They just laugh.

3. To annoy, off the counter

It’s a Friday and the essay sitting on the table next to Wanda has already been long abandoned.  He was not going to waste another minute trying to figure out what personal connection he could make the short story they’d been assigned to read during class.

He related to it because he’d been in a similar situation maybe?  

But anyways, he wasn’t going to waste time trying to find a way to spread that over 8 detailed sentences and supporting textual evidence.

He’s sitting on the counter and watching Wanda and Vision read books next to each other on the chairs.  Wanda’s legs are resting on Vision’s lap and as fun as it was watching them both, he was still exhausted and not in the mood to face the dangers of his other homework for tonight.  

Didn’t Mr.Stark say not to risk his life unnecessarily?  This should definitely count because just looking as the textbook took away two hours of his energy, at this rate he’d be on his death-bed by nightfall.

Munching on a protein bar, he looks up at the ceiling.  

The only one in the building right now, besides Vision and Wanda, was Steve - well technically Mr.Stark too, but he was in a board meeting that Pepper begged him not to bail on so he was off-limits.  

He glares at Wanda, trying to get her to notice him bored out of his mind, but she stubbornly stays focused on the page.

She’s actually reading Harry Potter, the result of Peter’s pestering, and she loved it.  The plan to get Wanda to do something with him was interfering with the joy he would usually feel though.

Like yay, my pseudo big sister is finally catching up on all the books and movies she’s missed while working with evil people but also please please please notice me before i throw my stupid homework into the sink disposal-

His alarming train of thought still didn’t catch her attention so he slumps before getting up and deciding to walk all over the counters and ceiling.  You know if that mark on the wall from when someone - ahem Clint ahem - had thrown a pen on the ceiling, acted like a mark he could pretend he was doing an obstacle course.

Yes, he could see it now, he’d do a cartwheel over the pen mark on the ceiling, then run on the wall, then he’d jump over the couch, and jump back onto the counter, the living room was plenty big enough.

Wow, this is a sorry excuse for fun.

He did the course three times and was skittering across the ceiling when Steve walked in and immediately shook his head at him.

Peter freezes in surprise and looks guiltily at Steve.

“I’m guessing the homework didn’t get done”, Steve says.

Peter sits criss-cross on the ceiling, if he gets down, he’s probably going to be guilt-tripped into doing his homework and no thank you.

Steve sighs and looks at him, “At least get down, you’re going to fall and get hurt.”

“No I won’t.  I’m part-spider, this is like my natural territory”, Peter says.

“You have the traits of a spider”

Why did he always have to pull out the school detention PSA voice?

“But look!  I can do a cartwheel on here, I’ve been doing them and I’m fine”

He’ll get down, as soon as he does just one, little cartwheel to annoy Steve.

Of course, that’s when his body decides to betray him and he slips, losing his grip on the ceiling.

He wasn’t worried about falling and smashing his nose at all, he knew Wanda would catch him every single time, in fact he’s already crossing his arms over his chest and scowling as he hovers on his back 3 feet above the ground.

Steve walks by him, still suspended in the air, and ruffles his hair, “Homework now”, then probably feeling bad for Peter, he adds, “Tony said you can use the lab later if you finish early”

Peter groans, “Fine”

Wanda puts him on the couch and he walks over to her and drops in the chair next to her on the table.  She hasn’t looked up once this entire time, not even when she’d caught him in the air, only unlatching her fingers from Vision’s and stopping his fall with her powers.  

Now she looks up and smiles at him, poking his forehead and pushing his computer towards him.

He groans again.

4.  To spite and win, off the balcony

Peter licks his lips, running through the plan again.

There’s someone coming down this hall, he can hear their soft footsteps padding on the floor.  Peter’s going to jump out and get the offending person out of the game, it’ll be easy as long as he times it right.

He jumps out from where he’s hiding behind the door frame and pulls up the gun aiming it at the unsuspecting form.

His paintball gun chooses right then to stall and dang it, that means that he has no defense or attack.

He looks up to find Clint grinning at him coyly, gun already trained on him and finger poised on the trigger.

He yelps and jumps out of the way just in time, the purple paintball splattering against the counter.

Peter runs back through the hallway, getting away from Clint and his treacherous smile (it was the smile of a deranged man who would do anything it takes to win paintball) and finds a cleaning closet to hide in while he fixes his gun.

Did the plastic pieces just have to jam right then? Talk about shitty luck.

He picks at the inside of the barrel with a toothpick and grins as a faint click ensures that the machine is functioning again.  The paintball that had gotten stuck shoots out and Peter ducks out of the way as pink splatters against the dark wall.

He knows Clint’s prowling the halls for him right now and he prays the man didn’t just hear the shotgun go off.

Slowly creaking the door open and making sure there’s no one there, he tip-toes out and runs to the balcony, it’s the perfect place to hide out and wait for his next victim.  The second anyone enters the living room, he has the perfect view on them and nobody looks at the balcony until it’s too late, which means more wins for him.

He underestimated Clint though.

The older man jumps out (umm where did he come from??) and kicks Peter’s gun away from him with a triumphant laugh.  Peter backs up against the cool metal railing and looks at him imploringly, “Can we talk this out?” he offers weakly.

He really regretted voting for the no superpowers rule now.

“Any last words, Parker”

Peter turns his head around, looking for a way out.  It was too high to jump from without his webs and it won’t be possible to run around Clint without getting hit by a paintball.  

Right before he decides to accept his inevitable defeat he sees a flash of bright red hair hiding in the branches of one of the thick, green trees below them.

“You know what, you got me Clint” he smirks, letting Clint bask in his moment of victory for a second, “Just kidding” and he flips himself back off over the railing.

He really wishes he could’ve seen Clint’s face at that moment, sadly success came with a price.

Right on schedule, the sharp red crackles of electricity catch him a couple of feet from the ground and he plants his feet on the ground, turning around to face Wanda.

“Thanks Wands”

“Oh I didn’t do it for you”

It takes him a second too long to figure out what she means but by the time he does it’s already too late, a dark red paintball slams into his protective vest.

“You’re a traitor, Wanda” Peter sulked, wow and here he thought he could actually win - or at least come second to Nat.

“All is fair in love and paintball”

5. Unwillingly, off a stage

Wanda had decided to pick Peter up from his Decathlon practice, it was always Happy who did it but he was sick and plus, they could grab some ice cream and talk before they had to head back.

She tapped her fingers idly on the steering wheel, rapping out a misplaced tune and glances again at the school gates.  

She fixes the rearview mirror and frowns, Peter should have come skipping out 15 minutes ago.

Wanda steps out of the car and smooths her wrinkled hoodie, running her fingers through hair once in the window before walking towards the school.

Her sneakers squeak, echoing loudly through the empty hallways and she has to wrinkle her nose at the spitballs stuck to the walls and lockers.  Someone’s book report flits around in the air and suddenly, she’s incredibly grateful she never had to go to a real high school.

There’s a piece of paper with a handwritten “Academic Decathlon” scribbled on it taped loosely on heavy, wooden doors and she pushes them open, shivering at the rush of cold air that bursts out.

Peering in, Wanda sees Peter on the stage but he’s not alone.  There’s another high-schooler gripping hard at his shoulders and sneering at him, speaking words Wanda’s not close enough to hear.  It doesn’t take any amount of genius to know the two boys weren’t friends/

She doesn’t even have time to intervene because Peter’s pushed off the stage, it’s barely a 2 foot fall but Wanda doesn’t care, she’s angry.

Peter looks at her in surprise with dark red cheeks once she puts him, gently, on the floor.  He practically curls in on himself and she honestly wouldn’t be surprised if her skin was a similar shade as his, just not for the same reason.

She stomps up to the other boy who’s looking at her in alarm and pokes a harsh finger at his chest, “You. bastard.” she accentuates each word by pushing her finger even harder against his t-shirt, “What’s wrong with you?!”

She may not have gone to high school but she definitely knows what a bully is.  She’s had plenty of her own in the past, even if she hadn’t realized it at first.

It wasn’t fair Peter had to go through the same thing, school wasn’t supposed to be like this.  It was where you were supposed to goof off with your friends and learn, not get pushed around by kids because they think they’re better than you.

A hand tugs at her wrist and she’s so wound up nearly forgets to soften her face when Peter tugs again, silently asking her to just drop it.

She looks back at the bully who’s gone pale and pushes him, sending him stumbling back a few feet.

“Don’t touch my little brother again, asshole” she snarls before whipping around and dragging Peter out the doors by his backpack.

By the time they get to the car, Peter still hasn’t said a word and instead opts to look out the window, not even sparing Wanda a small glance.

Her face is still aflame and her hands are still clenched around the wheel as she pulls to the side of the road and parks, looking over at Peter.  His eyes are tinged red.

“I’m sorry” he whispers, the second they’re parked.

“Don’t say sorry, it wasn’t your fault, but why didn’t you fight back?  Just one shove”.  It doesn’t make sense, Peter is strong enough to take on super-soldiers, he practically is one himself with all his advancements, so why doesn’t he just push back?  He doesn’t have to get hurt like this, he doesn’t deserve to.

“I’m just Peter Parker.  I’m not Spiderman at school so it wouldn’t make sense, I can’t just do that”, his fingers dig into his thighs and he kicks lightly at his backpack.

“Then you could’ve said something to us,” she’s looking up at him, eyes almost crazed.  It’s not okay, it’s not even close alright, it’s awful that this happens to him.

And she knows it’s not just a one-time thing.

Not when bullying at Midtown has been discussed far too many times for comfort, not when he’s come back with bruises and marks even when he hasn’t patrolled in days, and definitely not when Peter just tried to subtly wipe a tear from his cheek.

She feels tired all of a sudden, as her raging wave of anger reaches a crescendo and plummets to the ground, scattering, dropping her intentions to take care of anyone who even comes close to hurting Peter with some well-placed punches and kicks.

Wanda sighs and squeezes her eyes shut, blindly, she grabs Peter’s hand and asks, “Was that the Flash guy?”

“No, Flash never gets physical, he’s not too bad.  This is someone else”

“So you’ve been getting bullied by multiple people?”, it’s not a question, she already knows.  “Peter, you’re Spiderman, you know this isn’t right so please, please the next time this happens just” she exhales, “Just please, promise you’ll tell someone, anyone and they’ll take care of it”

“Promise” Peter breathes from next to her.

“Okay” she pulls back into the traffic, “I’m getting cookie dough ice cream, which one do you want?”

+1.  This one was definitely not supposed to happen, shit, shitshit

It’s getting really hard to breathe.

Which should probably not be happening, but in Peter’s defense, he hadn’t even wanted to skip class.  MJ had told him to, quote, “Get out of here before your dumbass throws up on someone’s shoes” and for once he’d actually listened, deciding going home and sleeping his fever off was better than being stuck in a stuffy old classroom, doing schoolwork.  

The heater of the apartment sounded like heaven and sunshine right about then.

He was just going to take the subway when one of the tv’s turned on, flashing a news report about the Avengers fighting the group of people near the tower.

According to the news channel, they had a whole lot of advanced technology, from ray guns to shapeless contraptions you couldn’t tell heads or tails of.

And there were a lot of them.

So of course, Peter had immediately donned his warm hoodie and jeans and switched into his suit, already swinging towards to get there, it made his stomach queasy and his head spin, but it was fine, he was already almost there.

“Peter, you’re not doing this right now, stop it and go home”, Tony’s voice is playing through Karen the second he’s in range.

“Technically, I’m supposed to be in school right now, Mr.Stark”, Peter swings onto a roof and crashes against someone, knocking them down before looking at the metal cube object they had abandoned.

It was glowing a light purple, which should probably not be happening.

He walked cautiously around it and his eyes widened as the glow got brighter and spread more, covering the entire cube now.

“Shit!”

Peter manages to scramble back before it explodes, leaving a black scorch mark on the floor and the smell of smoke in the air.

“Peter!?”

Oops, he’d forgotten Mr.Stark was there.

“Yeah I’m fine, just where did these people get all this stuff?”

“No idea, but Pete, I swear to god get out of here, or else I’m calling your aunt”, there’s a strangled grunt and the comms go silent.

“Mr.Stark??”, there’s no answer, “Karen, take me to Mr.Stark”

He swings two buildings away and lands on the 9th floor balcony, entering and running towards the signal.  When he enters the room, Tony’s being held up against the wall by someone who’s wearing heavy metal body armor, it could pass for an Iron Man cosplay if you squint really hard.

He jumps over, kicking them down and ducking a punch.  Grabbing the wrist of the armor, Peter twists their arm and slams them on their back before immediately looking back at Tony and helping him up.

“You okay?”, Peter questions.

“Yup, something she used fried the comm link though, I can’t get to to anyone else”

Peter nods and they both run through the halls, racing to get to the top of the building. 

“What do they want?”

“I don’t know, but right now I think they’re just trying to blow stuff up”

Bursting onto the roof, there’s only one person there with some weird silver spear, which honestly looks pretty harmless compared to everything else.

The man there, sees them and immediately backs off, dropping everything and stumbling away with a forced smile.

Tony still closes in on him and Peter webs his wrists and legs to the floor, just in case.

They’re both looking down onto the other rooftops for trouble when the headache Peter has been ignoring grows, and he stumbles back feeling his fever spike.

Tony approaches him and kneels down next to him where he’s sprawled on the floor waiting for the dizzy spell to pass.

“Kid, you have a fever”, Tony says after asking Karen for his vitals.

Peter swallows and fights the urge to keel over and vomit, “I’m fine”

“If I had a penny for every time I heard that” he jokes, voice unbearably soft, “Listen, you stay here and I’ll come and get you when this is over, ‘kay?”

Peter’s about to nod when someone flies onto the roof, they’re wearing goggles and using mechanical wings to help them fly.

Peter’s too dizzy to do anything so he watches as Tony raises a gauntlet and fires it up with a low whine that resonates in Peter’s keyed-up ears.

“Back off”, Tony says as a warning.

The girl smiles and takes off the goggles, slipping them up on her head with a puckish smirk, folding her wings in.

“Pleasure to meet you Iron Man, as well as you Spider”, she has a lilting accent that Peter can’t place.

The gauntlet doesn’t falter, even as Tony shifts so Peter is stuck in his shadow, “What do you want?”

“I want one of your inventions.  I may not be in charge of all these idiots, but my best friend is our leader and if you get me what I want, this can all be called off.”

“Best I can do are scraps from the intern labs, sorry.” he says, before firing a repulsor as she ducks out of the way.

“I wasn’t going to this the hard way but I suppose I’ll have to”, her curly, brown hair whips in her face as she puts it up into a ponytail, still dodging Tony’s blasts.

Peter’s spidey sense flares just as her wings do and she’s coming at him at full speed, lifting him up and flying up, past the buildings.  Oh he really has to hurl now.

Tony swears and tries to blast up, only to realize the girl had stuck a small square chip on him and his suit’s shutting down, his breathing clips and he looks up to where Peter’s being flown up.

He gets out of the suit and runs to the edge of the roof, “Wilson!” he calls, signaling Sam over from where he’s hauling debris out of the street for a car to get through.

Sam flies up to him and without a word, grabs him and flies him over to where Clint, Natasha, and Wanda are a few buildings away.  The whole 30 seconds he hasn’t taken his eyes off the Peter-shaped speck in the sky that’s getting harder and harder to see.

He stumbles over to Clint who’s looking at Wanda in concern, arms braced behind her to catch her if she falls. 

Tony briefly wonders what’s going on, before looking up at the collapsing building in front of them, the scarlet circling her wrists, and the sheen of sweat covering her forehead.

Clint looks over to him, swallowing, “Steve’s in there trying to get the rest of the people out, we can’t get in though, it’s too unstable.  The second Wanda lets go, the entire place is coming crashing down”

Tony can’t hide his panic anymore and he points up the sky, “Clint, it’s Peter”

Clint follows his finger and he jerks, seeing the red and blue suit in the distance, “Oh god”

The comms finally crackle back online and Tony swears his heart skips a beat when he realizes the bird lady just dropped Peter, oh my god.

They’re well over 4,000 feet up and his heart is in his throat as Peter’s screaming floods through the comms.  

Wanda hears it too and her hold on the building falters as she falls to her knees, eyes squeezed shut.  Clint moves to hold her but hovers around her instead, glancing back up at Peter when Wanda has a semi-stable grip again.

Natasha kneels on the ground next to Wanda, “You’re going to have to catch him”

Wanda’s voice teeters on a cry, “I’m trying”

Tony holds back his own cry and desperately tries to speak into the comms, if Peter realizes Tony’s trying to get through to him he doesn’t acknowledge it.

The comms are filled with wheezing and rushing wind and Tony’s gripping his arm so tight because that’s his kid dammit, and he can’t do anything.

Wanda’s attempts at catching him are proving futile, she can’t handle anything else without dropping the building which she can’t do, not when Steve and a whole lot of people are depending on her not to let it go.

“Sam, can’t you take your wings up and get him?”.  He doesn't care how panicked his voice sounds right now.

“One of the guys stuck a chip on it, the thing’s dead-weight now” Sam says, voice filled with sorrow.

Tony gulps in a breath and falls on his knees next to Wanda, “You have to catch him, Wanda” there’s a grim undertone in his voice hiding the waver and pure terror flooding through his veins.

Wanda grunts, tears are shining in her eyes, if it’s because of the strain or Peter, he has no idea.

“GUYS! Guys, guys, I’m falling!” Peter screams into their earpieces, voice cutting out, hot tears squeeze at his eyes.

Wanda looks up with a new sense of determination and her eyes flash, Tony suddenly knows that anyone going toe-to-toe with her would probably run first chance instead of fight.

“You can do it Wanda, come on” Tony pleads.

Peter’s form is getting bigger every second, little by little.

At around 500 feet, a faint glimmer of red runs over his body but it’s not enough, it slows Peter’s fall the tiniest bit before he’s hurtling through the air again.

‘Tony, Tony, Tony” Peter says his name like a prayer in the comms and Tony clenches his fist again, switching between looking at Wanda and Peter so fast, he wouldn’t be surprised if he ended up with whiplash.

The strain on Wanda’s forehead grows and her eyes squeeze shut as she tears at her limits.  

Tony stands beside where she’s kneeled on the ground, trying to see if he’d be able to catch Peter if this didn’t work.  He really hoped it didn’t come to that though, he didn’t have his suit and with the speed Peter was falling at, he didn’t know what would happen.

Eyes focused on Peter, Tony realizes a thin, flickering layer of red is very slowly growing over his body.  Relief bubbles in his throat and Wanda is able to slow Peter enough so that he and Sam can grab onto him, they all fall to the ground in a pile of limbs.

Tony grabs Peter under his shoulders and holds him upright as he gags and chokes on nothing, taking off his mask and brushing his curls off of his sweaty face.

Tony’s ears ring with the lingering screams of Wanda and Peter, his throat feels raw and he realizes that in his panic, he had been screaming too.  And it wasn’t just his ears that were buzzing, it seemed like everything was still ringing, the air vibrating with panic.

Peter was held close to Tony’s chest as he shook with heaving gasps and suppressed sobs, dried tear tracks streak the sides of his face and Tony tries to comb his fingers through the knots in Peter’s hair.

Looking around, Tony took everything in, everyone’s faces were pale and Wanda was barely holding herself up on her elbows, her heavy pants were forced through clenched teeth.

She’d let go of her hold on the building as Steve had come running out, waiting till he was out of the damage zone before sending it all crashing down.  All of that had happened just seconds after she had managed to gradually slow Peter down and get him to the ground in one piece.

A sigh of exhaustion huffs through Tony’s nose and the team sits in silence for a few minutes, trying to process all the chaos that had just happened.

Clint was helping Wanda, shakily, sit up and Peter crawled out of Tony’s arms to her before wrapping his trembling arms around her shoulders and whispering something to her.

Tony doesn’t know what was said but Peter was safe, everyone was safe.  They were all alright and his breaths started to come easier.  

Natasha sat next to him giving him a small, reassuring smile.  He leaned back and shut his eyes, making a mental note to add a parachute to Peter’s suit, among many other things.  Also to thank Wanda, because if she hadn’t been here...Tony didn’t want to think about it.

That was done now though.  Tony’s chest feels much lighter when Peter smiles at him over Wanda’s shoulder, the type of smile that conveys a million emotions, with nothing else.

He gives a shaky grin back.

[iflostreturntosteverogers]

I Promise

Characters: Reader, Dean, Sam, John, Azazel, Bobby (Mentioned), Callum (OMC Mentioned), Grace (OFC Mentioned)

Warnings: Weechesters, John’s an ass, Fluff, Angst, Character Death

A/N: Sam is about 3-4 years old and Dean around 7-8 years old in this. This is the longest fic I’ve ever written with 2,454 words. 

Header by: @sorenmarie87​

Beta’d by: @cloverhighfive and @mariekoukie6661

      No one raised your blood pressure like John Winchester. He was always such an arrogant prick when he dropped his boys off at your house. You kept Dean and Sam as a favor to Bobby, so he could keep John from doing something stupid and because you loved them. They needed some normalcy and love in their chaotic lives.

You had been mentally preparing yourself to deal with him after Bobby had called to tell you the boys were coming your way and just be ready because John was already in a mood. “A mood,” You snorted. “When isn’t he in a mood?” You made one last pass through the house, double-checking you had removed anything the boys could get in. You’d have to go to the store for food, but you didn’t mind taking them with you. They were good kids. 

John’s Impala rumbled down your street, making you groan. Here we go. You give him a moment to park before you open the door in and lean on the frame. “Hi, boys!” You smile and wave at Sam and Dean, climbing out of the car. Sam grins, and all but tackles your legs. “Hi, Ms. Y/N.” Dean smiles as he walks up with his bag over his shoulder. He grabs Sam’s hand and goes inside. You watch them race up the stairs to your bedroom. Probably to jump on your bed. You think to yourself. The trunk of the impala slams, startling you. 

“Princess.” John nods at you, a smirk on his lips. 

“Winchester.” 

“What? I don’t get a smile and peppy hello like my boys do?” He tosses Sam’s bag at you, chuckling as you almost miss it. 

“I like your children, you not so much,” you quip, pulling the strap over your shoulder. 

“I’m hurt, princess,” he says, placing his hand over his heart. “And here I thought you loved me. You’re always so warm and friendly.” You roll your eyes and flip him off. 

“Not your princess, Winchester.” 

“You sure do act like one.” John crosses his arms and leans against the impala, a smug look on his face.

“Excuse me?! What is that supposed to mean?” 

“It means you sit here in your cushy little house, living off your dead husband’s money and letting Bobby do all the dirty work in finding who killed him and your kid.” You push off the doorframe and stomp down the porch stairs to be face to face with the man. Without thinking, you slap him as hard as you can, the sound echoing. 

“First off, get your fucking facts straight! I never asked Bobby to do that. Second, I work my ass off to pay for my shit. I don’t need to forge credit cards or have aliases. Third, don’t you ever mention Callum and Grace. Ever. At least I learned to cope and live a normal life instead of dragging two young boys into the hunting business on a revenge mission. Get the hell off my property.” You don’t look at him as you turn and walk back into your house. Closing the door, you sink to the floor.

      “Having fun?” You grin as Sam and Dean freeze, pillows poised to hit each other. 

“We’re playing pirates,” Dean tells you, climbing down from your bed. “These are our swords!” His eyes are bright as he explains their game. The boys giggle when you tell them you’ll be the beautiful princess they’re fighting over. 

“You need a cwown, Pwincess Y/N,” Sam tells you. 

“You’re absolutely right, Captain Smelly Feet, and I think I have just the thing!” You walk over to your dresser, opening the locked jewelry box on top and revealing a sparkling tiara. You place it on your head and turn towards the boys. “What do you think?” Dean’s mouth drops open in shock. 

“Where did you get that?” 

“I got to be a princess for a day a long time ago, and they let me keep my crown.” 

“Cool!” Dean jumps back up on the bed. “The princess is mine, Smelly Feet! You can’t have her!” Sam screwed his face up into something that was probably supposed to be mean and scary but just looked adorable to you.

“Noooo! I’ll save you from Captain Gween Toes, Pwincess!” Sam wails Dean with a pillow. Dean pretends to fall on the mattress, holding his side.

“You’ve won this time, Smelly Feet. Remember me, Princess. Bleh.” You giggle at his fake death sound and turn to the 4-year-old standing proudly above his brother.

“You did it, Captain Smelly Feet. You defeated Green Toes and saved me. However, will I repay you?” Sam grins as you pick him up and swing him around. “Oh, I know! How about a kiss?” He squeals when you blow a raspberry against his cheek.

“‘Top! ‘Top!” Sam pushes your face away from his, giggling. 

“Well, I hate to stop all the fun, but we have to go to the store or we’re gonna starve to death.” You gently put Sam down and fall to the floor with your hand on your forehead. “So hungry, not gonna make it.” Dean laughs at your dramatics and whispers something to Sam. Sam nods with a mischievous grin on his face. 

“I’ll save you!” Sam yells, before jumping on top of you. 

      Sam tugs at your sleeve from the seat in the shopping cart, pulling you down to his level. “Bean likes bacon and eggs and waffles for bweakfast, but Dad never makes them for us. He just buys ceweal because it doesn’t have to be cooked.” You fight the urge to roll your eyes and say something nasty about their father. 

“You know what? I think eggs, bacon, and waffles are great for breakfast.” You right yourself and smile at the small boy. “What do we want for dinner? Dean, what’s something you want?” Dean looks a little startled at your question. Of course, John never asks what the boys want. It’s always a matter of convenience. 

“Can we do burgers?” His eyes light up when you nod your head, and he hugs your waist. “You’re the best.” 

       Sam sits on the counter, watching you teach Dean how to make burgers. “The first rule of cooking, wash your hands. Did you wash your hands?” 

“Yep, smell.” Dean smiles and holds his hands up to you. You lean in and sniff, the smell of Irish Spring prevalent on his hands. 

“Good job. Sammy, what about you?” Sam smiles and nods his head.

“I helped him,” Dean says proudly. 

“Okay, we’re going to make the sauce before we cook the burgers. I laid everything out for you while you washed your hands. The little cup is mayo and the measuring spoons have sriracha, honey, lemon juice, and garlic in them. Dump all that in and stir it up.” Stepping back, you watch as Dean dumps everything into the glass bowl you had set out before handing Sam the spoon to stir it up. 

“All done!” Sam shouts, tipping the bowl forward for you to inspect their work.

“That’s perfect! You can set that to the side until we finish the rest of it.” You bend down and pull a cast-iron skillet out of the cold oven. “This is your new best friend for cooking, boys. A cast-iron skillet. They’re heavy, and you have to take good care of them, but they will last a long time and give your food good flavor.” 

“And you can hit monsters with it and hurt them!” Dean pipes up, a proud smile on his face. 

“That’s right,” you return his smile, but the fact that he has to know that breaks your heart. Dean hops up onto the counter on your right, and Sam scoots closer on your left to watch. You turn the stove eye on medium-low heat and pour a small amount of oil into the pan. “We have to let the pan and oil heat up before we can start cooking.”  

      Dean’s eyes are huge as he watches you plate burgers. “They’re beautiful,” he mumbles. 

The boys hop off the counter and help you carry the plates to the table. Sam takes small, careful steps, his little tongue poking out as he concentrates. 

“As much as you love food, Dean, you should be a chef when you grow up.” Dean looks up at you curiously, like the thought had never crossed his mind. It probably hadn’t, all the kid knew was hunting. Damn John. 

“Do you really think I could be a chef?” 

“Of course, I do! You can be anything you want. You’re a smart little boy.” Dean blushes and takes a bite of his burger.

“This is so good! You were right; the fried egg and bacon make it even better than regular burgers!” 

“After we eat, do you guys wanna watch a movie? I have Scooby-Doo.” 

“YES!” The boys both yell excitement, making you laugh.

      You walk through the house, checking that everything is turned off and locked up. Sam had fallen asleep during their movie, and Dean hadn’t been far behind. You hadn’t wanted to disturb them when they looked so peaceful, so you let them stay in your bed for the night. 

As you make your way back upstairs, you hear glass shattering. “Shit,” you whisper, hurrying to the boys. They’re both still sound asleep. You shake Dean awake and pick Sam up from the bed. “Dean, listen to me, baby. You gotta come with me and be quiet, okay?” He nods, still rubbing at his eyes and trying to wake up. You can hear loud voices and footsteps coming from downstairs. You have to hurry. 

Leading Dean into the spare bedroom you pull a panel away from the wall of the closet. “Dean, go in there.” He follows your orders and you lay Sam down next to him, stroking his hair before you lean over and kiss Dean on the forehead. “You’ll be safe, I promise.”

“Don’t go, Y/N. Hide with us.” Dean’s eyes shine, his little voice trembling. It breaks your heart. 

“Baby, I can’t, that space is too small. Everything’s going to be okay. I love you, Dean and I love Sammy, too. I’m not going to let anything happen to you.”

Dean watches as you close the panel, leaving him and Sam in darkness. He can hear the voices coming from downstairs and each banging footstep sends a shiver through him. “Please be safe. Please be safe.” He whispers to himself over and over, a silent prayer for you. You hadn’t told him to watch out for Sammy, hadn’t ordered him to be brave. You told him how much you loved him and that everything would be okay. A tear slips down Dean’s cheek as he lays down next to Sam and closes his eyes tightly. 

      “Wanna tell me why you’re in my house?” You swing your arm around the first man you see, holding a knife to his throat. He freezes, calculating his next move. 

He slams all of his weight backward into a wall, knocking the breath out of you but you hang onto the knife. “Stupid bitch,” he spits at you and reaches up to wipe at a trickle of blood on his face. You must have cut him when you hit the wall. You take advantage of him being distracted and launch yourself into him. He stumbles back and falls on his ass, his head bouncing off the floor. You move past him only to be met with a gun to your face. 

“I don’t think so,” a familiar voice says, coming from around the corner. Your stomach drops when yellow eyes meet yours.

“Azazel.” 

“The one and only. It’s been a while, Y/N.” His smile is arrogant, taunting. “Look, I’m sorry about your old man and kid. More so about the kid. I needed her.” You ball your fists at your side, anger rippling through you. “I’m here because a little demon told me you had the Winchester brats.” 

“You’re too late actually. I put them on a bus to Sioux Falls a few hours ago.” You willed yourself to stay calm, to look him in the eyes, and give no indication of a lie. He growls and wraps his hand around your throat. 

“What a pity.” You scream as pain erupts through your body. Blood trickles down the side of your mouth. You defiantly spit in Azazel’s face. 

“Fuck you.”

       Dean hears your scream and slams his hands against his ears. “No, please no.” Sam rouses and mumbles your name. Dean pulls him into his lap. “Shh, we have to be quiet. Okay, Sammy? It’s going to be okay.” Sam whimpers but nods his head. 

They stay that way for a while, waiting for you to come back for them. Dean silently rocks Sam in his lap, occasionally humming a song to him in the dark crawl space. “You stay here. I’m going to look around.”

“No, Bean, don’t go!” Sam grabs onto Dean’s sleeve. 

“Sammy, stay here. I’ll be back. I swear.” Dean moves the heavy panel and crawls out, the light coming from the window making him squint. He listens at the top of the steps for the voice and footsteps from earlier, but all he hears is silence. The silence scares him more. 

He tiptoes down the stairs, peeking around the corner into the kitchen. You’re there on the floor, not moving. “Y/N?!” Dean shouts and races to you. His hands hover over you, unsure of what to do. “Y/N, please. You promised,” he chokes on the last word, a sob bubbling up. 

“Dean?” You rasp out his name and reach a weak hand up to his face. “It’s okay, baby.” 

“It’s not okay!” He shouts. You guide his head down to lay on your stomach and run your fingers through his hair. 

“You’re gonna grow up and do amazing things, Dean. You are so smart and so good. I love you so much.”  You wince as you try to breathe. Dean can hear how faint your pulse is becoming, how shallow your breaths are. 

“Please, don’t leave me, Y/N. Please,” Dean cries.

“Shh, baby, listen to me. Go in the library, the number for your dad’s motel is there. Call him and then take Sammy to my room and watch Scooby-Doo until he comes. I love you both, Dean so very much. Now go.” He crawls up and kisses your cheek. 

“We love you, too.” He does as he’s told, trying his best to get himself together. 

He dials the number you had written down in a notebook on your desk.

“Hello?”

“Dad? Something’s happened.”

Tags: @fictionalabyss, @leave-me-2-rot-among-the-flowers, @hobby27

[marvelslut16]

The Pirate’s Princess

Pairing: Harry Hook x reader part 2 

Soulmate Au

Synopsis: The people of Auradon all have Soulmates. (Y/N) met her’s months ago on the Isle of the lost while trying to save Ben and bring Mal back. (Y/N) was forced to leave Harry on the Isle. Months have passed and (Y/N)’s soulmate makes a surprise return to her life. 

Word count: 4067 (I genuinely thought it was longer)

Warnings: DO NOT READ IF YOU HAVEN’T SEEN DESCENDANTS 3, I spoil the entire plot of the movie. More swear words than part one. 

Author’s note: It’s like 4 in the morning, so there’s a good chance I have spelling errors. Also I love Ben and Mal, but this story definitely makes it seem like I don’t, whoops. 

Part 1

Ben proposed to Mal. Right in the middle of the school grounds, in front of everyone, he sang a remix of did I mention. The song he created when Mal spelled him almost a year ago. The worst part was that he didn’t tell me, his own sister, that he was doing this. Not to be rude or anything, but she just ran away to the Isle in fear of her future. Now all of a sudden she wants to marry my brother? 

“Congrats sis,” I put on a fake smile as she walks up to me. 

“Thanks!” she pulls me into a tight hug before turning to Evie. “Did you know about this?”

“Of course!” the blue haired girl smiles. Wow, thanks Ben. It seems like everyone knew but his own twin sister, I thought we were close.  

I sigh as I look down at my sad little compass, having no contact with Harry is killing me. What if he got tired of waiting for me and moved on to some Isle girl? What if he really is evil and was just playing with my heart when I met him? Ben’s the king, he could bring Harry over, but he won’t. One of the VK’s could have chosen him to come over, but with their past they definitely would have never picked them. They all know how much I’m hurting, they all know he’s meant for me, and yet none of them seem to care. 

I look over at mom and dad, who are hugging each other and smiling at the golden boy. Their sweet baby with the giant heart that is so easily forgiven. They never once asked me about my soulmate, but they always asked Ben about his when his compass appeared. He was destined to be the king, and I was destined to live in the shadows. At least as much of the shadows as you can when your a princess. Taking a deep breath, I walk away from the group and to the privacy of the ocean. No one bothers me when I sit on the shore, something I’ve been doing every day since we got back, as I stare out at the horrid Isle that holds my soulmate captive.  

Normally wherever Ben goes, I follow, some sort of diplomatic thing. Shows great honor, plus I was always the sibling to remember statistics and contributions made by the Princes and Princesses we were meeting with. Ben was always the charmer. But picking up the new kids from the Isle is where Ben drew the line apparently. I’m not allowed to go with, apparently I’m dangerous now. Ben and I used to be so close, inseparable, now he’s keeping secrets and keeping me away from my soulmate. There’s an ache in my chest, brought on by the separation from Harry, but worsened by my brother’s actions. 

-

Jane isn’t one of my best friends, but we’re still pretty close and have been our whole lives. So of course I was invited to her birthday party, Carlos and I are on cake duty. He and I had agreed to meet at Evie’s cottage/filler castle and head to the party together. I dropped the cake off there last night. 

“Okay, who ate Jane’s cake?” I hear Carlos shout as I enter the cottage.

“What happened?” I ask as I walk into the kitchen. Before he can respond, there’s a green flash and a wicked flash that came from the back patio. “Audrey?” I ask in confusion, I can recognize her laugh anywhere. 

I walk out the door behind Jay, who stops abruptly and I run right into his back. I look over his shoulder and see Mal old and bent over. I gasp and my eyes widen, Audrey did this? How?

“Audrey has my mother’s scepter,” Mal says. “We need to get Hades’s ember, it’s the only thing strong enough to overpower the scepters powers.”

“I’m going with you guys,” I step out from behind Jay. 

“No you aren’t” Mal slowly turns to look at me.

“And who’s going to stop me? You?” I laugh. “I’d love to see you try. I’m just trying to help you guys. Mal, you and Ben are already leaving me out of things ever since we found out Harry is my soulmate. I’m sick of it! It’s frustrating and belittling. I’m going with you, whether you like it or not.”

“There’s strength in numbers,” Evie agrees. 

“You and Ben have been hurting her,” Carlos frowns. 

“It’s kind of obvious,” Jay adds. 

“Whatever,” Mal rolls her eyes. 

“You can ride with me,” Jay smiles before walking back inside. 

-

“This is so cool,” I breathe, as we walk into Dr. Facilier's Voodoo Arcade. Celia gives me a confused look. “We don’t really have arcade’s in Auradon, it’s more about courtly duty.”

As Celia asks her father for the key to Hades’s cave, I wander over to the tv with Carlos. He puts a coin into the top and the news from Auradon starts to play. The reporter is talking about how the sleeping curse is spreading, and that even though it’s rumored to be Audrey, it must be a villain doing it. I frown at his generalization that everyone from the Isle has to be bad. A magic barrier doesn’t magically make people evil or good depending on which side they’re on. We get the key and quickly dash out of the arcade and back to the bikes. Sitting atop the bikes are pirates, Harry’s sitting on Jay’s. I bite my bottom lip as I smile at my pirate. 

“Get off my bike Hook,” Jay frowns. 

“You shouldn’t have had my girl clinging onto you then,” Harry winks at me. My breath catches in my throat as I study is face. His hair is parted slightly different, and the eyeliner is thicker. To top it all off he’s in a new outfit; he has the same ripped white shirt, but he has a new red vest that’s so dark it almost looks black, and he has no pirate hat in sight. He’s even more handsome than I remember. With one last smirk to me, he’s driving off with his buddies. 

Jay and the rest go to follow him to get the bikes back, but Mal stops Celia and me. “You two are coming with me.” I roll my eyes, but obediently follow my future Queen. 

-

“I was a God!” Hades bellows. “I don’t belong here!”  

“If it makes you feel any better, I never thought you should have been imprisoned on the Isle,” I speak up for the first time. “You’re stronger and have more power than and King or Queen could have.”

“I like this one,” Hades smiles at Mal, before turning to me. “I like you.”

“Dad,” Mal huffs. “Enough. We need the ember.” 

I sigh, causing everyone to look at me with raised eyebrows. “The daughter of Maleficent and Hades, two of the most feared individuals, was allowed to come over to Auradon. I just want to brink over Captain Hook’s son, but no.” 

“Now is not the time for that (Y/N),” Mal furrows her brows. 

“Then when is it time?” I laugh humorlessly. “Because you and Ben have been avoiding this discussion at all costs.” 

Mal frowns, but ultimately ignores me, grabbing the ember before heading to leave. I smile at Hades before following her out. 

We meet up with the other’s, and walk out of the barrier. Just as it’s closing two bodies jump through. Two bodies that belong to Harry and Gil. 

“Princess,” Harry smiles at me before picking me up and spinning me around. 

“I missed you,” I whisper, running my pointer finger over his jawline. Gil high fives me after I reluctantly pull away from Harry. 

“Did you miss me?” Uma asks from the water.

“Uma!” Harry, Gil and I cry out at once. Uma caught the Ember that Harry had almost knocked into the water when I was greeting Gil. 

Uma and Mal argue about the Ember, and how it can’t get wet. Uma explains that she’s been trying to find a way for the kids to get off the Isle. Uma eventually turns back into a person and hugs Harry and Gil, before pulling me into a side hug as well. As Mal and Uma continue to argue, I stand between Harry and Uma, lacing the fingers on my left hand with Harry’s right. 

-

We head to my castle to hopefully find Ben, but the only thing we find claw scratches on the wall. As we walk further into the castle, Harry subtly guides me behind him. I smile at his protectiveness, so he didn’t move on with some Isle girl. 

We walk through the castle before eventually going into the hall of knights. Metal knight outfits line the walls. As Uma and Mal bicker for the hundredth time today, Harry and I notice one of the knights moving. This time there’s no subtlety in his actions, he fully pushes me behind him. 

“Guys,” Harry tries to get their attention, which doesn’t work.

“Shut up!” I raise my voice at them for the first time, they all turn to look at me confused. 

“Look at the knight,” Harry points out. Everyone looks at it and Audrey’s voice comes through commanding the armor to fight us. Everyone quickly grabs swords as the knights surround us, I stick with the pirates while the VK’s stick together, in a way it’s showing the separation in the groups, and which one I’m ultimately loyal to.  

“I’ve got a strategy, you take the left,” Mal says to Uma, before whispering to the VK’s. “The rest of you can follow me.”

“Uh-uh,” Uma glares at her. 

“This is my crew,” Mal argues.

“Well this is my squad,” Uma counters. 

“This is my turf,” Mal argues further. 

“Oh my gosh,” Evie complains. “Look guys, we have bigger fish to fry, put your differences aside. Because right now we’re on the same side.”

“You can go back to arguing later, this isn’t a joke,” I complain from Harry’s side. 

The fight rages on and Uma and Mal work together to beat the knights. After they used their combined powers to stun them, Mal uses a spell to get them to copy our moves. Everyone starts dancing around to distract them, while I just stare with a raised eyebrow. The safety of Auradon and its people is in the hands of a group of dancing teenagers?

When the dancing somehow defeats the knights, everyone starts to celebrate, I of course am being hugged by Harry, but Uma and Mal almost high five. That is until they realize what they’re doing, and walk away from each other and stand on opposite sides of the room. 

“We were a team, we worked together.” Evie tries to get the two sides to get along. “Uma? Mal? (Y/N), c’mon.”

“Yeah no,” I grunt along with Uma and Mal. 

“Let’s try a little ice breaker,” Evie gets all excited. I give her props for staying optimistic through all of this. “I’ll start with Harry.”

“Ye really don’t have to,” he wraps his arm around my waist and pulls me in tight.  

“I like your accent,” Evie continues anyway. “And you and (Y/N) are really cute together.” Harry just stares at her, as I send her a little smile. 

-

I get sick of their bickering on where to search next, and head out alone to the place I know she would go to. Fairy cottage. After a long walk I finally end up there, and I can hear her throwing things and Chad whimpering. Will she just give into the soulmate bound already? I know she isn’t happy it’s him, but he’s devoted to her, and she could honestly do worse. 

“Audrey?” I shout through the door. “Let me in.”

The door opens to Audrey’s grinning face. “ How cute, you decided to come here and plead for your safety.”

“Hi (Y/N),” Chad dopily smiles at me. 

“Shut it Chad,” Audrey snaps. 

“Actually, I came here to talk,” I frown. “Why are you doing this?”

“Why am I doing this?” she laughs humorlessly as she rolls her eyes. “Because I lost everything! I lost Ben! I lost my spot as Queen! And I lost you! But Mal got everything I lost. If everyone wants a villain, I’ll give them one.”

“Audrey, you never lost me,” my frown deepens. “You have always been, and will always be my best friend.”

“You stayed my friend when they first came here, but you changed after the cotillion,” she deadpans.

“A lot happened on the Isle that you don’t know about,” I defend. “Audrey, I’m mad at Ben and Mal too, but I’m not attacking everyone because of it.”

“And what could possibly have you so mad at your perfect little Ben?” she asks. 

“I met my soulmate on the Isle,” I sigh. “He’s friends with Uma, and he was actually the one to kidnap Ben when we were there. Ben refuses to let Harry come over and blows me off whenever I want to talk about it.”

“Is he here now?” Audrey asks, sounding like her real self for the first time. 

“Yeah, he’s the one in the red vest with the eyeliner,” I grin at her. “It’s a little frustrating, ya know. Mal tried to steal the wand for her mom, but she gets stay. Harry just wanted off the Isle and he gets treated like he’s some big criminal.”

Audrey’s eyes snap to me, studying my face. “You’re tricking me!” she exclaims. “What has gotten into you?” I frown. 

“Where are they?” she screams running from window to window. “You’re just trying to distract me until they can get here and stop me! Well that’s not gonna happen!” 

Audrey uses the scepter and slams both Chad and me into a closet, before locking it behind us. “Audrey, I’m not tricking you,” I yell through the door.

“Of course you were! You wouldn’t dare speak ill of your king or Queen,” and with that, the door to the cottage slammed shut behind her, Leaving me locked in a closet with a whimpering Chad.

-

I don’t know how much time has passed, but I think I’m going crazy. It sounds like there are voices coming from outside the cottage. Chad finally just shut up, but thinking Audrey returned, sent him into another whimpering fest. Soon the door to the closet is opened to reveal Ben, who suddenly has facial hair and pointy teeth. Chad whimpers again, and curls tightly into my side, fearing that he’ll get more glass bowls thrown at him.

“Chad get off me,” I groan. 

“Yeah mate,” Harry’s voice is low and threatening. “Get off my girl.” 

As soon as Chad comes to his senses and gets off of me, Harry is pulling me up and holding me tightly to his side. He glares at Chad as he spins his hook around, almost daring him to look my way again. I lean into his side and place my right hand on his chest, almost instantly he starts to relax. Everything about being in his arms feels like safety and home, and I can’t keep the large grin off my face as he calls me his girl.

Chad runs from the house screaming that he’s free, and the rest of us set off to find Audrey.

“I want to know how you convinced them to help you,” Ben says to Mal.

“She promised that all of the kids that wanted to get off the Isle could,” Uma smiles.

“Mal?” Ben frowns.

“What’s going on?” I match my brother’s frown.

“I lied to you,” Mal stops walking and looks at all of us. “The kids won’t be coming off the Isle.”

“What do you mean?” Jay asks. 

“The programs been shut down. And the barrier will be closed for good,” I strangled gasp escapes my lips. 

Everyone starts talking at once, until Mal cuts in. “I did it for us,” she defends to the VK’s. “For the life we have here.”  

As Mal and Evie argue, Harry turns to Ben. “You’re probably gonna throw us all back inside of it,” I laugh and shake my head when Ben doesn't deny it. 

“This is bullshit,” I laugh, grabbing everyone’s attention.

“Don’t do this,” Harry frowns at me. “He’s still you’re brother, and you’ll regret this.” 

“No, he needs to hear this,” I look Ben directly in the eye. “It’s bullshit. You have no idea how happy I was, how proud I was of you, when you took my idea from when we were kids and made it a reality. You bringing these eight kids over is quite possibly the only good decision you’ve made recently. You’ve kicked me out of important meetings, left me out of the loop on all decisions you’ve made. It’s bullshit Ben, these kids have done nothing! And yet you’re leaving them on a miserable island to rot, when they’ve done nothing wrong. Uma, Harry, and Gil are risking their lives to save Auradon, and yet when everything’s magically fixed, they’ll be sent back. Audrey is my best friend, but we both know she’ll just get a slap on the wrist and everything will be forgiven. She won’t face punishment, and yet innocent kids do. It’s bullshit Ben, you knew before we were even off the Isle that Harry was my soulmate, and you’ve done nothing,” by now tears, both angry and hurt, are pricking the corners of my eyes. “You were content to sit on a big fancy throne with Mal at your side, and watch me be alone. You lost your soulmate for a day and you still complain about how painful that was. I haven’t seen mine in months, because you won’t bring him over, none of you will. It hurts Ben. You hurt Audrey, proposing to Mal in front of her. You may not be her soulmate, but she loved you. You both planned that she would be your Queen. And you don’t know, or care, about how painful that proposal was for me Ben. You told Evie that you were going to propose, but you didn’t even tell your own sister. But on top of that, I bet it didn’t even cross your mind how much it would hurt me to see you get your happy ending with Mal. You proposed to her right in front of me, knowing damn well that I would probably never get that moment, or any, with Harry. You never planned on bringing any of the pirates over after Uma refused to help. But I can’t tell if it was because of your encounter with them, or because of Mal’s past with them. Either way, it’s bullshit. We used to be so close Ben, but now I’m honestly embarrassed to be your sister.”

Harry pulls me into his chest, as he runs his hand through my hair. Before Ben can react, Celia grabs the ember from Mal, and throws it into a birdbath. 

“No!” Mal screams. 

“Bummer,” Uma deadpans. Harry and I follow her as she walks away. 

“(Y/N) wait!” Ben calls after us.

“No Ben, I’m done with your lies. When this is over and you send the three of them back, I’ll be going with them. I won’t respect or listen to a king who has so little respect for his own people. Like it or not, the people on the Isle are your people too. And just like Dad, you don’t care about them.”

-

Everything’s over now. Audrey was taken down by Mal, and brought back from the brink of death by Hades. The pirates went back over to the Isle, Harry wouldn’t let me go with. Said I deserved better than the life he could give me on the Isle. What he doesn’t realize is that any life with him would be perfect. And just like I predicted, Audrey got away with no punishment, everyone’s acting like it never happened. Now here I am, standing up on a balcony with Ben, Mal, and my parents for their engagement party. None of us have really talked since I got mad at them, but they needed to hear it.

“I can’t do it,” Mal says after she’s called the future Queen. Everyone gasps, but I just roll my eyes. She goes on about how the people on the Isle are our people as well and they need to take care of them, hmmm sounds familiar. She even managed to fit it in that Hades is her dad, earning more gasps from the people.  

Ben takes over the speech, “Mal’s right. We have been neglecting them, something (Y/N) has been trying to tell me since we were kids. Not only have I been a bad king to those on the Isle, but a bad brother to (Y/N). I’ve been keeping the truth from her, and knowingly hurting her. She was right when she told me that I didn’t seem to care about how she felt. I do care, but I’ve been purposely keeping her and her soulmate apart,” the crowd gasps. “As we brought in a new group of kids from the Isle, I made sure her soulmate stayed on the other side of the barrier. I didn’t care if he was different around her, better even, I let my own feelings for him cloud my judgement. I didn’t stop to think about how much she must be hurting. And I’m sorry (Y/N), for everything. I just want to be someone that your proud to call your brother.”

“Ben,” I give him a small smile. “It takes a lot of guts to say that in front of everyone, but I’m still hurt. And there are still so many kids on the isle that don’t deserve to be.”

“That’s why we need to bring the barrier down, unite Auradon and the Isle,” Mal grins. That’s definitely not something I would advocate, yes I want the kids off, and yes I don’t think Hades should be there since he’s a God. But some really bad people are on the Isle, and that could cause more chaos and trouble for Auradon.

Ultimately, Ben uses the well I’m king card to shut our parents up and let them do what they want. Fairy Godmother, shockingly, agrees wholeheartedly that the barrier should be brought down. So Mal uses the wand and a bridge connects the Isle to Auradon. We all rush down to greet the kids walking across the bridge. I smile as I see Harry and Uma leading the group. 

I run and jump into Harry’s arms, wrapping my legs around his waist with little care that I’m currently in a dress. Harry laughs as he holds on tightly. “I’m never leaving ye again,” he promises. 

Instead of verbally responding, I grab his face and pull him in for a kiss. It was slow and sweet, but conveyed all of our emotions. He sets me down so he can weave his hand through my hair while his hooked hand rests dangerously close to my butt. For the first time since we met, I don’t have to fear Harry being ripped away from me. I’m finally home. 

“You look ravishing,” Harry lightly tugs the bottom of my red dress to bring me closer. 

“I wish I could say the same about you,” I giggle softly as I play with his collar. “What’s up with the ruffles?”

“Isn’t this what ye royals wear?” he grins. “I was just practin’ for our future.”

“I like the sound of that,” I slide my arms behind his neck and bite my lower lip.

“Well get used to it, cause I’m not goin’ anywhere,” he leans in gives me a slow passionate kiss. 

Behind us Jay and Gil are making plans to travel Auradon and see some of it’s spectacular sights. “They make really cute friends,” I smile over at the pair.

“It’s more than that love,” my brows furrow in confusion. “Their soulmates, Jay always denied it and because of that no one believed Gil. Thought he was just bein’ stupid.”

“Well I think they’re cute together. Now that Jay got over himself.”

“But not as cute as us,” Harry protests. 

“Never,” I giggle.  

Taglist- 

@nightshade7117 @princessleah129 @travelnottogoanywherebuttogo @stormi-ames @bourbonandblow 

[lowkeyaesthvtic]

Evil Karma - Chapter 14

Chapter 1 - Chapter 13

Word Count: 4,007

Summary: Now that the group has everything they need for the magic elixir, how will they react to giving the Isle of the Lost a little taste of magic?

Pairings: Harry x OC, Uma x OC, Harry x Uma x OC, platonic!Gil x OC, a little bit of platonic!Gil x Harry, past!OC x OC in a flashback scene

Rating: T

Warnings: Mild profanity, descriptive threats of murder, a flashback scene that kind of shines a light on how much of a dick Sofi’s dad was and how much she deserved better, also a little bit of sexual tension at the beginning but honestly not much

Tags: I honestly feel like people have stopped paying attention to this fic so I’m gonna stop with the tags for now but I’ll start them again if enough people ask.

Author’s Note: I am really sorry about the long pause, it’s been kind of hard writing for this fandom when the content for it has started to dwindle. I’m going to try my best to keep the Descendants fandom alive since I really love it but considering it’s been almost a year since the last movie came out, it’s going to be hard.

“How do we know the Doctor’s not going to flake out on us? He’s done it before.” Harry asked as he shifted into the sofa. The four of us, now permanently deciding to include Gil on our plan, had gone back to the room where the plan first became set in stone. I had sent out a sort of distress call to the Doctor himself telling him that the hairs were ready to be mixed into the elixir, which was incredibly hard without any magic, but somewhat possible nonetheless. I looked over to Harry and leaned my head on his shoulder as a small, bored yawn escaped my lips. 

“He won’t flake on me. Dr Facilier has worked with my family before. He’s well aware of how powerful my father was; and, if I am anything like my father, he’ll know I’m not a force to mess with either. Unfortunately, my father and I have more in common than I’d like to admit.” I ran a thin finger through his black, matted locks as the four of us sat and waited not so patiently for the doctor to arrive. Noticing my physical affection towards Harry, Uma moved closer next to me and leaned in to whisper to me.

“You know, you’ve been latching onto Harry a lot today, you two didn’t play without me, did you?” Due to our vicinity, both Harry and I heard her words. A small shiver ran up my spine as her voice sent warm air across my skin. 

“Of course not, Captain. If a game is what you want, though, I’m sure the two of us would be happy to oblige.” Harry smirked, interjecting the tension between Uma and I. The two looked as if their lips were about to lock when they were both blocked by a lock of blonde hair. 

“Not to interrupt, guys, but I hear footsteps.” He was definitely interrupting. But, it was for good reason. Harry, Uma and I moved slightly farther apart as Harry quickly grabbed his hook and I readied my hand on my dagger, prepared in case it was some unwanted visitor walking through the door. 

“Will you put your hook down, pirate boy? It’s just me. Sorry if I’m late, but I had a bit of a run in with one of Cruella’s goons.” My eyes quickly widened as I stood and ran towards him like a wild, hungry tiger.

“What the fuck, Doc! What did you tell them? You didn’t see Cruella, did you?” Before I could get close enough for the Doctor to feel the steam from my ears, Uma and Harry interjected the space between. Harry put an arm out to block Facilier from defending himself as Uma moved closer to me in an attempt to calm my anger.

“Relax, babygirl,” Uma calmly spoke, using the pet name that seemed to work on me like a magic spell every time. Yet it only worked when it slipped from her lips. “Cruella’s been indisposed since she saw Maleficent get turned into a lizard at Ben’s coronation. Jafar’s been hiding from the embarrassment of his son becoming a good kid and the Evil Queen...Well I don’t know what’s happened with her. Rumor has it she changed her name to Regina and drank a potion transporting her to some different dimension where Auradon doesn’t even exist. Wherever she is, she’s not here. None of them care about themselves anymore to worry about some little trinkets getting stolen.” With a deep inhale, I took a step back and watched as Uma turned toward the Doctor. She somehow seemed so confident, so professional, no matter the circumstances. I very rarely let somebody else dominate me both in and out of sensual situations. But with Uma, it was like disobeying her meant taking away every ounce of oxygen in my body. I needed her like a fish needs water. “I’m sure they were taken care of? Tell me, Doc, how’d you do it? Choke them until their faces turned blue? Slashed them across their necks and watched as their blood spewed like a fountain? Then again, I guess that would’ve messed up your clothes.”

“I left them unharmed.” Facilier replied after a slight hesitation. This must have been his first time meeting Uma. Otherwise he would’ve been prepared for her high-handed attitude and body language. “Getting my hands dirty would have perked some ears around the Isle. I assume you want this plan to remain secret until the time is right?” Uma nodded her head and turned around, leading the two of us back to the sofa we sat on before. She fixed her eyes on the black, still cauldron in front of us. 

“You’d assume correctly. Now, do you have the ingredients or not?” Facilier stood still, looking through his large, black satchel for what we were hoping were the ingredients. Uma, however, was not going to accept silence as an answer. “Now, Doctor. We mustn't lurk in doorways...it’s rude.” She chuckled as she watched Facilier hesitantly walk into the room and towards the cauldron. Then, like a child tentatively unwrapping a present, he started to take the ingredients out of his satchel and placed them on a nearby rickety desk. 

“I know you said enough for two gulps. But, I figured it’d be best to take everything instead of leaving some behind and risk getting caught. Should be enough for five elixirs. One for each of you kids...and an extra in case things go sideways.” It was laid out like a buffet. Eight dog bones, a large bowl of dust from Jafar’s stolen lamp,  and five apples with exactly one bite taken out of each. “How many hairs did you get?”

“Ten. The recipe called for five but...I may have gotten carried away. There’s something succulent about hearing his pain, especially since he deserves every single bit of it.” I stated, keeping my voice and face as blank as possible. Despite the Doctor knowing what Ben had done to the boys on Neverland, I refused to let him see me emotional or otherwise affected by it. 

“Showing any kind of emotion, especially towards men, is weakness. The second a boy or man sees a tear fall down that wretched face of yours, they’ll know what I’ve known since the day you were born. You could never be a leader.” I heard my own father’s voice echo in my head. I couldn’t help but feel my surroundings grow fuzzy and mute as I only heard his voice. “If you can’t stand up to a measly wolf cub, how could you ever lead these boys in the case of battle?” His one remark to me when I came to him with bite marks and gruesome scratches. He’d sent me into the jungle to hunt for dinner. While walking back to camp with some fox meat, a couple of baby wolves had attacked me and stolen the meat. I came to my father looking for comfort, or at least some kind of potion that would heal the wounds. The only thing I was given was ridicule and mockery. In a way, he was right. The entire island was ransacked, murdered, ruthlessly slaughtered. I couldn’t save them. I can’t bring them back either. Maybe this wasn’t Ben’s fault, or even Mal’s. Maybe it was mine.

“Hey, kid. You still with us?” A dark hand waving in front of my face brought me back to reality. Uma, Harry and Gil had all sat on the sofa while I still stood, my eyes locked on the table of ingredients. “You having second thoughts?” I looked back up at him and quickly shook my head. Was I lying? A little. If I couldn’t help my boys back then, how am I going to help them now? They’re already gone, and there’s no magic in this entire realm that could bring them back. But, this far into the plan, I’m starting to realize that this plan isn’t just for me anymore. It may have started that way. I may have befriended Uma and Harry for the sake of numbers and people that share a common enemy. But, I know now that these people can have some serious potential if they had enough power. This elixir and the succession of this plan could give them that potential. “Alright then, let’s get this started! This elixir ain’t gonna make itself!”

One by one the ingredients slipped into the cauldron. The boiling water shifted colors as each bone was dunked, as each fingerful of dust was sprinkled in, as each apple slice was slowly dropped in. By the time nearly all the ingredients were mixed together, the bubbling water had changed from clear to a murky, dirty dark brown. Harry looked up in confusion, nearly disgusted by the color despite being surrounded by it. “Isn’t the elixir supposed to be gold? Or green? Or...something not so disgusting?” 

“It’s because we haven’t put in the key ingredient.” Uma replied, everybody’s eyes shifting towards me. I took the vial out of my pocket and watched as the hairs glimmered gold.

“Wow, and people say Rapunzel has magic hair.” Gil chuckled, amazed by the sparkling shimmer inside the glass vial. As I go to open the vial, Gil interjects with his voice once more. “Wait, um...Doctor F?”

“Facilier, it’s Doctor Facilier.”

“You said there’d be enough of this potion thing for the four of us to drink it but..Harry and I don’t have magic. What’s going to happen to us?” Everyone paused where they stood. For once, Gil had actually made a good point. This was only my third time making this elixir, the past two times making them for some sick fairies who needed the extra push to fly again. I had never tested them on people not Neverland native, much less a person not born with or capable of magic. 

“Well, if you really think about it...magic is basically taking your strongest traits and making them unstoppable. Even without my abilities, I’ve always had a good read on people, making it easy to manipulate their opinions and emotions. Uma’s never been able to use her mother’s magic, but she still feels better when she’s close to water. Don’t you, Captain?” Uma shrugged and nodded her head. “So, maybe you’ll be strong enough to lift the whole ship with just one arm. Imagine how cool that’d be.” Gil gasped and smiled, surely encaptured in that concept. I looked to the cork on the vial, then back at everyone else. “So, shall we?” Everyone nodded eagerly and I could hear a small cackle of excitement from Harry as I opened the cork and dropped the royal hairs in one by one. By the time all ten hairs were mixed in, the potion had turned a glimmery, sparkling gold just as we thought it would. Uma grabbed a ladle she had snatched from the Chip Shoppe’s kitchen and scooped enough to fill the glass vial to the top. 

“So, who’s drinking first?” There was a small silence in the room. Whether it was from fear or from not wanting to sound too selfish, nobody vocally volunteered themselves to take the first sip of the elixir.

“You should, Uma. You are the Captain, after all.” Harry mumbled, a hint of his sincere admiration and affection peeking through a small smile. Uma looked to me, as if wanting my consent to be the first to indulge in this magic elixir.

“Go on, Captain. Don’t worry, if it tastes anything like the Neverland elixir, it should be easy to swallow.” I slowly took the empty ladle from her hand and placed it on the empty desk that once held the elixir’s ingredients. I held onto her empty hand with both of mine and let my fingers caress over her skin. After a deep inhalation, Uma chugged down the sparkling potion and swallowed it whole. A few seconds of silence and slight fear went by before Uma took in a quick gasp, gripping tighter onto my hand to keep herself balanced. I could see her eyes flash a bright, ocean blue for just a moment before returning to their near charcoal shade. Harry and Gil immediately stood up from the sofa and rushed to her side, ready to lift her up if she were to feel faint.

“Uma? Are you okay? What happened?” Harry asked, leaning in to make sure the look on her face wasn’t too pale or otherwise sickly. A second of silence scared everyone else in the room, but after she started to let out her infamously wicked and alluring snicker, we knew she was okay.

“I’ve never felt more exhilarated in my entire life! Nothing was happening at first and then, it felt like my entire body was this massive tidal wave crashing onto shore. And now, I feel like there’s something different going through me. Not blood or thoughts but, something more.” I smiled and helped Uma stand up fully, taking both her hands in mine.

“That’s how magic is supposed to feel. Here, I’ll pour the next one. Go ahead and sit down, you may feel a bit woozy if you stand too long.” As Gil led her down to the sofa, I took the ladle and scooped yet another vial full of the delectable potion. “Does anyone want the next one?” Again, there was silence. As I was about to take the second swig myself, I felt a strong hand take the vial out of mine. I looked up to see Gil holding the potion in his hand, eyeing it in a longing sort of way. “Go ahead, Gil. I promise we won’t let anything bad happen to you.” Gil took a quick nod, certain of our promise, and downed the potion in a single gulp. 

This time, Harry and I waited more in excitement then in fear. Gil’s reaction wasn’t as huge as Uma’s but there definitely was one. One second, Gil was standing with the empty vial in his hand. The next he jumped high and shook away a bunch of energy coursing through his body, as if he had just taken his first shot in a long night of drinking. “Holy shit, that was awesome! You really think I could lift the ship, Sofi?”

“Easy there, Gil. Save the strength for tomorrow, okay?” I laughed as he started to roughhouse a bit with Harry. The two had a relatively short round of horseplay before Gil suddenly had Harry over his shoulder. Considering the two boys’ relatively similar weight and muscle mass, we never thought that was possible. Then, we had realized that my theory had turned out to be correct. Gil’s new spout of magic had brought a whole new meaning to him being ‘the muscle’ of the group. 

“Okay, okay, okay, now I want some of this action. Pour it up, duckling!” Harry near shouted like an excited child on Christmas morning. I grabbed the ladle and poured a third portion of the elixir into the glass vial. With no hesitation, Harry took the vial and lifted it high as he poured the potion down his throat, letting the last drop linger on his tongue. He felt a rush immediately, but from what I could see, there was little to no physical change showing that he now had magic. He was potentially on a rush of adrenaline, meaning whether the elixir had given him magic or not, he definitely felt a physical rush of change. There was only one way to know for sure if the potion had worked on him.

“I guess it’s my turn.” I quietly huffed as I poured another portion of the elixir into the empty vial. A part of me was fearful of the outcome. I knew the potion would work correctly, but I had no idea the effect it would have on me. These past three months were the first time I had ever gone without using my magic. Three months of no magic after who knows how many years of near constant magic was wild enough. But taking all that magic back in at once? I was diving into the ocean without knowing whether or not I’d drown. But, if it would help my Uma take Mal down and claim the leadership she deserves, that’s a risk I’d be willing to take. I slowly tilted my head back and let the elixir slide down my tongue. The taste was oddly familiar. Tangy like a fresh orange with a hint of something herby and earthy. It tasted like home. As the elixir was wholly consumed, I laid the vial and ladle aside as I put my hands on the nearby desk for support in case of any sudden dizziness. 

What I felt next was both euphoric and catastrophic. The thoughts of others didn’t slowly slip in through my ears. They rushed inside my brain, nearly knocking me out with their speed and intensity. I could feel my eyes burning with an emerald flame, something only the kids on Neverland had seen. By the time it was all over, I was electrified with the magic I had once called my home. 

“Is she okay? She looks a little faint. Maybe I should check on her? Should I ask Uma to check on her?”

“Wow, that looked like a lot. I wonder if she felt everything I felt when I drank it. Or maybe she felt more since she’s used her magic before? Maybe Harry and I should check on her.”

“These damn crazy kids. I wouldn’t be doing all of this if those Auradon bastards didn’t kill my boy. But nobody messes with my kids. If they even lay a finger on Celia I’ll have all their heads.”

“Can you really curl your hair with your finger? I see Uma and Sofi do it all the time...maybe it’s just a girl thing.”

Their thoughts began to slow down enough for me to thoroughly listen to them. “You guys don’t need to check on me, I’m fine. I’m more than fine.” I stood up straight and wiped some dust off my shoulders before sitting next to Gil and Uma on the sofa. “Also, Gil, Uma and I don’t curl our hair with our fingers. Our hair is just naturally curly. If you wanna curl your hair so badly, I can give you a ride to Lady Tremaine’s.” Gil’s perked up, confused brow caused a small rise of laughs throughout the room. The thoughts in the room began to quiet down as I slowly gained control over my magic again, putting the minds of others in the background of my brain. As we all grew adjusted to the elixir and its effects, Facilier poured the final scoop of the elixir into the vial and corked it shut as he handed it to Uma. 

“Keep this close with you. The elixir ain’t permanent. You may need this if those Auradon bastards come at you with something strong.” As he saw Uma slip it into her jacket pocket, he walked over to me and glared at me sincerely. “I don’t know what kind of second thoughts you may be having, but you’re going through with this. If not for me, then for Mateo. He would’ve wanted you to keep going.” 

I thought back to the moment that I knew Mateo was going to be a really close friend. It was the same day I had gotten attacked by the wolf cub. I sat alone in my tent, attempting to dress my wounds with palm leaves and hold back the pained sobs when those attempts had failed. Suddenly, I heard the flap of my tent wave open. “I heard someone’s got some new battle scars..can I see them?” I kept my mouth shut and attempted to close him off, knowing that the second I said a word, tears would rush down my face. “I brought something from the med tent that may take the edge off. Do you want it?” I turned and nodded my head, still keeping quiet to keep too much ‘weakness’ from peeking through.

As Mateo dressed the wounds correctly and sprinkled on some healing pixie dust, the pain from the wounds began to subside excluding a small sting from the pixie dust. But the emotional pain, the ping in my chest from my own father telling me I could never be a leader, that’s what was hurting me the most. “Mateo...do you think I made a mistake?”

“Made a mistake? Doing what?”

“Choosing to age, to grow up. I thought it would help me become stronger, faster, smarter. But I don’t think it’s doing any of that. I couldn’t keep a wolf cub off of me!” A shred of my anger began to shine through as everything my father had said came rushing back.

“Well, to be fair, your hands were a little full with all of that fox meat. Pan probably should’ve sent someone out with you.” Mateo chuckled, attempting to lighten the mood as he always did.

“It’s not funny! I couldn’t fight off a wolf cub, my swordfighting is total shit, this new magic I’ve been developing lately is completely out of control...I can’t do anything! What if my dad is right? What if I’m just not fit to be a leader?” As Mateo dressed the last bite mark, he shifted closer to me and wrapped his arm around me, pulling me in for comfort.

“Okay, your swordfighting isn’t the best. And yeah, you’ve got some new powers that you don’t really know how to control yet. But, who threw a dagger so far and so well that it pushed an apple off of Reggie’s head and into a tree?”

“...I did.”

“And who taught Felix how to use the tidal waves to tell if a storm was coming?”

“...I did.”

“And who saved a Lost Boy’s life by catching an arrow that was heading straight for them with her bare hand?” That Lost Boy was him. My dad was angry and drunk and thought killing him would be a good way to piss off Facilier and get a good bloodbath going. But something in my gut clicked fast enough to move Mateo out of the way and catch the arrow to prevent it from hitting anybody else. It could’ve killed me, but I didn’t care.

“I did.”

“So you have some things you need to improve on. That’s fine. But do you know what you’re best at, Sofi? Your strongest skill is helping the other boys. Whether you’re keeping them happy, keeping them safe, or helping them grow in the areas that they need improvement. You never back down on an opportunity to help the Lost Boys. If that’s not a sign of a good leader, I don’t know what is.” 

As my mind came back to the present day, I realized that I shouldn’t be having any sort of second thoughts about this plan. Succeeding in making Mal suffer and taking over Auradon would not only be giving the Lost Revenge crew the potential and inclusion they deserve, but it would be avenging the deaths of everyone I’ve ever cared about. It’d be another instance of me not backing down on an opportunity to help those I loved. This plan will prove that I am, in fact, a good leader. As I watched Facilier pack up his satchel and begin to leave the room, I stood and shouted towards him. “I’m going to make him proud, Doc. I promise.” At the sudden yell, Harry, Uma and Gil all stood to listen. “We were all brutally wronged by Auradon. Their system has been suppressing us, starving us, killing us for far too long! Tomorrow, we will take Auradon into our hands and give every single kid on this Isle the chance they deserve! If we have to spill some blood to do it...then let the blood spill. Rest up, everyone. Because tomorrow, we fight!”

[palmett-hoes]

since the first step in achieving your goals is to state them aloud, here's a list of aftg fics/ au s that i'd like to write some day

- pre-canon fic from aaron's perspective spanning the twins' first meeting till they're drafted by the foxes and graduate high school. i'm increasingly enamored with aaron as a character as well as with an outside perspective of andrew's actions and i think it would be very interesting to look at the foundation on which their fraught relationship is built and first developed

- even more pre-canon fic. andrew's early life in foster care. yes, we all know about the most... gruesome things that were done to him, but i believe that there is plenty more that has affected and shaped him, especially in relation to my interpretation of andrew as an autistic poc. this would not be a happy fic.

- anastasia au. neil as anya, andrew as dimitri. possibly a plot amalgamation from both the animated movie and the stage show, with changes as i see fit. (no, neil is not the prince of russia). what i find most compelling about this au is the story of neil and andrew as childhood friends and then the angst of having andrew, as an adult, teaching an amnesiac neil how to act like a noble while being convinced that neil is an imposter. good shit

- art school/dance club au. the foxes attend the palmetto school of art at prestigious edgar allen university. they're considered the school's charity cases, and they are NOT friends. andrew is a studio arts major with a concentration in sculpture who works in the campus coffee shop in the mornings and frequents night clubs that employ pretty boys in the evenings. neil is attending college completely on his father's dime, PROVIDED he study what his father wants, despite his desire to study dance and music. going crazy without an outlet, neil takes a secret job as a go-go dancer. look. this may slightly possibly be a result of me having planned to party hardy this summer, then having my plans ruined by the virus :c

- 1950s High School au. the 1950s aesthetics fucking rock even though the 1950s fucking sucked. kinda wanna tackle both. plus, andrew already has that james dean bad boy fast car appeal

- an exploration of mary and nathan's relationship and history. i get that neil's parents are both super taboo and both really really awful people, but i have questions and i want to answer them

- neil never returns from baltimore. in order to keep his deals, permanently, andrew kills riko and tetsugi, and gets over 20 years in prison. when he gets out, he just wants to be alone, but it seems there's a ghost haunting him. this was conceived for MAXIMUM angst, no getting around it. i got the idea from a badacts fic and it has haunted me ever since

- post-canon sexuality exploration fic. i have a real passion for quality sex education and healthy experimentation, and neil very clearly didn't get the chance for either. yet at the end of the books he finds himself in a very intense sexual relationship. i just really want to give him the opportunity to find out how desire works for him and what he likes, on his own terms. i read a lot of fics where neil's desires seem to be completely dependent on andrew's initiaton, and while i do believe that andrew is the only person neil is attracted to and will ever be attracted to, i also want to explore how his sexuality manifests on its own. the vibe i'm going for is, uh, HornySweet (tm), but also with a lot of genuine eductional material. i want this is to be something that offers real information to its readers that may have been inaccessible for a lot of people, on topics like like sexual hygiene, maturbation, and sex toys in a non-fetishy way. this will be very very E rated, but like,, in a very earnest and goofy way because sex and sexuality is neat and cool but it's also not all serious perfect fucking. it's just,, a topic that deserves to be DISCUSSED

- mobster au. andrew, having never met aaron, takes a job for the moriyamas to track down a runaway asset. Neil. upon completion, they make andrew the butcher's apprentice, and pull neil back into the fold as a commodity rather than a person. lots of violence, lots of shady underground dealings, lots of plotting, lots of secrets.

i'm gonna put some more under the cut, ones that i don't feel as strong a drive towards right now or that i haven't thought as much about. if you (yes, YOU) like any of these, or are interested in any of these, or wanna hear more about any of these, or are even inspired to write something yourself by any of these please, PLEASE, say something in the notes, or send me a message, or an ask or anything. ANYTHING. i am stuck inside, all the time, and i am so, so lonely. i answer from hoob-gooblin

- princess bride au. come ON. princess bride is one of the most romantic AND most snarky movies of all time, and andreil literally invented love and devotion sooooooo it's a perfect match. "yes or no" vs "as you wish" kings of consent and communication and unconventional love declarations. also,, he may not be how I imagine andrew, but a young cary elwes in dramatic black pirate getup is DEFINITELY a valid andrew

- hozier au. sometimes,, i listen to an album, and imagine a fic that encompases the whole thing. nothing speaks louder to me than hozier's discography. (also, yes, i am gay). maybe a little bit inside llewyn davis. neil wanders through a small town and takes up some small jobs, but sings his heart out through twisted metaphors once a week in a hole in the wall bar staffed by a very short, dead eyed veteran

- prince and the pauper au. on a stealth recon mission in enemy territory, andrew encounters a local lord who happens to have his face. in a moment of desperation to save himself from arrest, andrew knocks the lord out and assumes his identity. he returns to the castle just in time for prince moriyama to arrive with a shifty-eyed, red-headed handservant in tow. lord aaron of columbia, meanwhile, wakes up on a ship manned by crown traitor and fugitive kevin day, calling him by a name he's never heard before, and then he's in the hands of the guerilla rebel forces that have been attacking the kingdom. i watched barbie princess and the pauper as a child and that movie fucking slaps

- little mermaid/beauty and the beast/bride of the rose beast/ladyhawke au. in a last ditch attempt to escape his father, neil trades his voice and his tail for legs and washes ashore on a small kingdom with horrible secrets. because he cannot speak, read or write, prince aaron employs neil to serve the monster in the catacombs, the prince's twin brother. the twins are under a curse that turns them into terrifying monsters, andrew by day and aaron by night. aaron's affliction is a secret, as is andrew's humanity. this is such a hodgepodge idea lol. did neil also have to be a mermaid for this to work? no. is he? hell yeah

- new york private school/twin swap au. aaron wins a scholarship to a prestigious school that will guarantee him a future, but then he relapses. convinced he just needs a little more time to get clean, he makes a deal with his volatile new brother, andrew, to stand in for him at the school just until he can his shit together. neil and ichirou moriyama have been raised together their entire lives, always under the knowledge that ichirou will inherit the family empire with nathaniel as his right hand. they hate the idea, but they have no way to escape, and now neil is being harassed by ichirou's bitchass estranged brother at their stupid, fancy private school. LISTEN, we as a fandom do NOT take enough advantage of the twin swap possibilities presented to us. pathetic

- post-canon fic where ichirou, realizing that the life of a mob boss is a lonely one, decides that he needs... a friend. however, because of the nature of his work, he can't just make friends with anyone, so he decides to make friends with neil. without consulting neil first. cue a lot of very weird, very awkward coffee dates where neil is convinced he's about to be disposed of, and ichirou just wants to know about his cats. the thing i like about ichirou is he’s a complete blank slate. i can make him a good guy, a bad guy, an ally, the Big Bad

- Kill Bill au. mary survives a bullet to the head and wakes up from a coma over a year later. with nothing left to lose, she sets out to single-handedly dismantle the wesninski circle. good thing she used to be its top assassin

- single dad andrew au. except look, look, stay with me here, okay, aaron is his son, and he's adopted nicky and kevin. LISTEN. STAY WITH ME. JUST THINK ABOUT IT. tbh the idea comes from my interpretation of the andrew/neil/kevin dynamic as distincly parental, then extending that interpretation to andrew's protection over the rest of his family.

- fashion au. andrew is a fashion designer and photographer who frequently works with allison reynolds. one day she brings around a short, twitchy assistant who looks like she just plucked him out of an alley. somehow, he becomes andrew's muse. i watch a lot of fashion competition shows

- ghibli. either howl's moving castle (andrew as sophie, neil as howl) or spirited away (?). maybe both idk

- legally blonde au. legally blonde is so good guys

[therainroguefanfiction]

⁂ Beta (Kunimitsu Tezuka)

Genre: Friendship, Crack ☁

Word Count: 2,240 ☁

Pairing: None ☁

World: Prince of Tennis ☁

Author’s Note: I wrote this fic a long time ago as a present to myself for my 18th birthday. I actually did get that fish in real life and named him that!

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You were strong, brave, out-spoken, reckless, stubborn, impatient, easily annoyed, ru – Well, you get the picture. If you had to be compared to someone, it’d be Kaoru Kaidoh of Seigaku. You show nothing but this annoyed, loner facade, but on the inside, you’re actually pretty nice. It’s hard to get close to you and get past your impenetrable fortress, but for those who have succeeded, they are rewarded with a loyal and caring friend. But, that’s nearly an impossible thing to do. It’s rare for you to attach yourself to someone, but when you do, you never let go.

One thing you hated more than anything was shopping, and that wasn’t limited to just clothes shopping, either. Shoes, books, movies, groceries. It didn’t matter. 

You hated it all.

Which is why you couldn’t come up with a suitable excuse as to why you, Fuji, Momo, and Eiji were currently in Mal*Wart, looking through their pet section.

You could claim that you did it out of boredom. You could claim that you wanted to do something different for a change. You could claim that you secretly liked shopping.

Or hell, you could even claim that you just loved Mal*Wart, but those were all lies. The truth, however, was too damaging to both your pride and nerves. You would never, never, ever ever ever, admit that you had caved to Kikumaru’s Kiku-Cat Pout, which was about twenty times more powerful than the ever-popular puppy pout. No, you intended to take that fact to your grave.

You didn’t know why the three wanted you to come along, but you did know why they were at Mal*Wart. Momo had found a small kitten on the street the day before and after some serious begging, his mother agreed to let him keep the orange tabby. Being excited as he was, he had invited the whole of Seigaku to go pet shopping with him so he could get food and all the other supplies he would need.

Echizen was first, of course. He blatantly refused and hung up on his senpai. Eiji was next. He agreed before the words left Momo’s lips. Oishi was busy helping out his uncle at the clinic and apologized before getting off the line. Kaoru was completely skipped over. Kawamura was busy helping his dad out around the sushi restaurant. Apparently, they were pretty busy today. Inui was angry because Momo interrupted ‘important research’ on his new drink. He even threatened to make Momo his guinea pig. Momo abruptly hung up the phone. Fuji had nothing to do and agreed. Momo didn’t even get to finish his sentence before his buchou hung up the phone.

You acted a lot like Ryoma, hanging up the phone after giving him an abrupt and firm ‘no’, but that didn’t stop them from showing up at your door and, well, you know the rest.

Momo stood in front of the vast selection of cat food, stressing over which food would be the best for the small animal. It was still just a kitten and he knew he had to be careful about what he bought for it. “Which am I supposed to get? Eiji-senpai? Fuji-senpai? Y/N-senpai?”

Eiji hummed, placing his hand on his chin in thought, the other arm across his chest. His blue eyes scanned the shelves of food before reaching forward and grabbing the first bag that caught his interest. He held the medium-sized bag up and grinned.

Shusuke chuckled. You deadpanned.

Momo sweatdropped, rubbing the back of his head. “E-Eiji-senpai… that’s dog food…”

“Eh?” Eiji blinked, turning the bag around in his outstretched hands so he could read the front. DOG FOOD was written in bold white letters on the front. “Eh?! I thought this was the cat aisle!”

“Mal*Wart is a multi-purpose store. They have too many items to give cats and dogs their own isle,” Shusuke stated with a smile.

Eiji pouted at the bag, setting it back on the shelf half-heartedly.

Shusuke cocked his head to the side. “Saa, let’s see. This,” he picked up a colorful bag claiming to be for kittens and handed it to Momo. “That should be the correct food,”

“‘Should be’? Are you sure, Fuji-senpai?”

“Well,” his smile dropped and he held a hand to his chin. “That’s the only kitten food they have here…”

“Shouldn’t you go to Smartpets or Animalco for this?” you asked boredly, rubbing the back of your head. Mal*Wart was not the place to go when you just got a new pet.

“Maybe Y/N-chan is right,” Eiji rested his arm on your shoulder.

“But Smartpets is expensive!” Momo complained. “I’m on a budget here!”

“Animalco?”

“Animalco is even more expensive!”

While the three boys pondered their situation, you headed over to the aisle behind them where the fish tanks were. You were getting both bored and annoyed and decided to walk around looking at whatever crossed your path to calm your ever raging temper. It always did the trick for some reason.

You passed the tanks and was about to pass the sink when you froze. It was like some invisible force whispering in your ear, telling you to look over. Being someone who strongly believed in following your gut, you looked over. Above the sink was a small shelf, lined with several small round containers. Each container held a Beta fish, each varying in color, but were all about the same size.

You knew from experience that Betas had to be kept separate from other fish, including their own kind. They were loner fish and hated to be together with other fish. It was very rare to find one that got along with others. Other than the loner trait, they were truly beautiful. They came in ranges of colors, some were blues and reds with touches of purple, some were orange and gold. They shimmered like glitter, with tails and fins that looked like silk. They were probably the most beautiful type of fish out there.

When you were younger, you used to have many Betas and they were your favorite type of fish, easy to take care of. Best of all, they didn’t give you headaches or make messes or destroy anything like cats and dogs tended to do. They only bad thing about these fish was that they didn’t have long lives. Even if you take care of them properly, their life is just naturally short. ‘Fate dictates that they be taken away from us early,’ you thought, remember the quote from the anime Katekyo Hitman Reborn.

You walked over, fingers brushing the containers. It felt like someone had a hold on your wrist, guiding it towards one of the containers in the front. Inside was a male Beta, shimmering with blues, reds, and purples, a small white streak standing out among them. It may very well be the most beautiful Beta you’d ever seen.

You gently grabbed the container, so as not to scare the little one, and brought it up to examine him closer. You didn’t understand why, but something was telling you to get this fish and you knew if you didn’t listen to your gut, you’d end up regretting it later. You always did.

Setting the fish down in a safe place, you examined the fish tanks and ornaments that they had. You wanted a big one, but not a huge one meant for many fish. You also wanted it to have a light and a filter. Once you found the perfect one, you proceeded to grab a couple bags of blue and white stones, a sign that said BEWARE OF JAWS!!, and a pirate skull cave complete with a black electric eel swimming from the eye.

Most people would question how you managed to carry all of that stuff without dropping anything or jostling the skittish fish.

Once Momo returned with a buggy – which you had ordered him to go get -, you set the items down. Shusuke raised an eyebrow in question but didn’t voice it. What felt like two hours later, the group paid for the items and left the store.

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You stared at the multi-colored fish as he swam around in his new tank. It was obvious that he was in a state of shock. For one, Betas are never too happy with being moved around. Secondly, the bowl he had been in was small, confined, and safe. The tank he was currently in was much larger in size, with rocks and other small ornaments that he wasn’t used to having. You always found it annoying the way people bought teeny tiny little tanks for Betas to live in, without any decoration. What’s the point of having the damn thing?

You wanted to feed him but knew better; he was too shaken up at the moment, and probably wouldn’t touch the food. Since Betas vary, you bought both the pellets and the flakes. From your experience, every Beta you’ve ever had preferred the flakes, but the professionals always say they prefer the pellets. But, what do professionals really know? Or maybe you just always got the weird of the litter. Whatever, it didn’t really matter.

As you stared at the fish, you started to wonder what you should name him. You may not be able to take him out and pet him or perform tricks with him, but he was still a pet, even if you could only look at him and he deserved a name. But, with so many names floating around out there, you had no clue what to call him. It had to be something with meaning, but nothing stupid like ‘Spot’ or ‘Sam’. Seriously, what kind of name is Sam for a freakin’ fish?

“Ah!”

It was like a light bulb lit up over your head. You had thought of the perfect name!

Your lips curled up into a smirk and you gently set your finger on the side of the tank so that you didn’t scare him. You couldn’t wait to introduce the little guy to the team tomorrow.

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Since you didn’t want to move the fish around while he was adjusting, you invited the gang over to your house – something which both excited and scared them since you rarely ever did that. With a single hand, you beckoned them upstairs to your bedroom where the fish tank lay on your desk away from the window.

“Is that the fish you bought the other day?” Shusuke smiled, cocking his head to the side as he admired it.

“Yeah. It’s an early birthday present for myself,”

Shusuke nodded without looking at you, leaning down to inspect the tank. He seemed genuinely interested.

“Have you named it yet?” Shuichiro asked softly, leaning down beside Shusuke to get a better look. The shimmering scales and graceful dance brought a smile to his face, just as it had done with Shusuke.

“It’s male,” you paused. “And yeah. The name came to me last night.”

Everyone turned to look at you, thinking you were going to continue and mention the name, but you stayed silent, staring stoically at the tank. The silence and stares continued until, finally, Momo and Eiji exploded.

“Well?!”

“Well what?” you blinked, looking over at the pair. You looked as if you had just snapped out of a trance.

Shusuke bit back a chuckle at the suspense and impatience hanging over his two teammates. “What name did you decide to go with?”

“Oh!” you returned your attention to the fish, shrugging. “Tezubeta,”

“…” Silence.

Everyone stared at you, curiously, wondering if you were going to say that you were joking, but you had returned to your trance, face and eyes showing no hint of a joke or a lie. You had truly named your fish Tezubeta.

“Is that… named after Tezuka?” Oishi glanced at the captain before looking back to you.

“Yep,”

“Not questioning you or anything, senpai, but… why’d you name it after the buchou?” Momo asked, glancing at the stoic male, who had not changed his expression.

“I figure, if you’re gonna name something you care about, it should be after something or someone that means a lot to you. Tezuka would be that person. He’s always been like family to me. So, yeah.”

The team didn’t know how to react. After all, you had never actually confessed to caring about someone before, and here you were, showing your house and your bedroom to the team, all the while confessing that you viewed Kunimitsu Tezuka as family. They had to wonder if you were sick. Or drunk. Or maybe even high. Was it opposite day?

Tezuka pushed his glasses up and walked towards you, resting his hand on your shoulder. Still, his expression did not change.

At first, he didn’t say anything; he just looked at you. The team leaned closer, wondering what their buchou was going to say or do. They inched closer with every passing minute, the suspense and tension growing in the small room. Why the hell did he feel the need to put them through this? They were only kids, for god’s sake! They couldn’t handle this kind of suspense!

Finally, Tezuka spoke. “Don’t let your guard down,”

The whole room, minus Kunimitsu and yourself, fell to the ground, sweatdrops appearing on the back of their heads. Even Tezubeta fell.

Ah, if only his fins were long enough he probably would have facepalmed, as well.

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📜 Read more by checking out my masterlist 📜

[alleviat3]

Chica Fan Short-Story

Quick Introduction:

Hello every! This is my first post on Tumblr actually but that’s not really important! Today I’m going to share one my short stories that I wrote. I’m in no ways a professional writer though someday I would love that. This is merely just practice, but I’m putting it out there so hopefully some people can give me advice and criticism. I know there are probably many mistakes but this is just a quick practice piece.

This short-story is actually about Chica the Chicken from the Five Night’s at Freddy’s series. She’s one my favorite characters because of her backstory actually. This isn’t canon at all, I just wanted to put a piece together of her inner dialogue. But you’ll notice sometimes the grammar is wrong, or the words she uses are childish.

Other than that, please enjoy! If you have any advice or anything, please let me know <3

Edits: (foxy’s section has been edited to make him act more like a human child instead of a pirate)

Lonely

The lights shut off. Day is over now, the children are gone. The happiness is gone, and the life is gone. Now the dark hours begin with no lights. The lights mean good. No lights mean we’re alone.

     At least the pain is gone. No more sharp ouchies. I hope the others aren’t getting poked now too. I don’t like them being hurt. I watched them get hurt before and I don’t like it happening again, it makes me sad.

     I miss mom and dad and my puppy. I want to know if he actually got hit by a car, because the man said he didn’t and I’m confused. But I think my puppy is gone, he hasn’t come to see me. He always did, ever day after school. But I haven’t been to school in a long time, so maybe he’s confused. That’s okay, I’m confused too.

     I look at my friends. Freddy is quiet still. So is Bonnie.

     I’m used to calling Freddy by his animal name. Because that is really what he is, but I know his real name. It’s Gabriel. I like that name.

     I nudge Freddy gently. His head slowly turns to me.  I think his voice is tired, because he isn’t talking yet. His hand slowly moves up to his jaw and stays there.

     Oh, my jaw is loose.

     Slowly, I reach my heavy hand up to my jaw and shove it back into place. I hear the click and look at Freddy again. He had moved his hand away so I think I got it.

     I lean forwards slightly to look at Bonnie. He gives me a tiny wave. That makes me feel happy. Freddy and I aren’t as close as I am to Bonnie.  Bonnie was my friend Jeremy. Was.

     “Bonnie,” I say, my voice a groan. It wasn’t cute anymore like it used to be. It scared me sometimes… everyone used to love my voice. They’d say, “Susie, you’re so cute!” or “Susie, you have such an adorable laugh!”. But no one says that anymore… I wish people would just come over to me and say hi to me. I miss my mom and dad… I just don’t know why they haven’t come to visit me. But I have my friends.

     Bonnie stares at me for a second before his mouth opens slightly.

     “Chica. Oh… how sad. The children are gone already,” says Bonnie, his voice a similar ragged moan. He looks around again, hoping that there are still people around but his ears curl downwards in a sad manner.

     “I know, they’ve left. It’s just us now,” I say. “We should make sure everything is good for tomorrow for when our friends come back. I hope we have a birthday party. I’m hungry.”

     “You’re always hungry, Chica.”

     “Yes. I can’t eat pizza anymore, that’s why. But I will keep trying. Maybe one day it’ll work and I won’t be hungry anymore. Watching everyone eat makes me sad sometimes…”

     “I know,” says Bonnie, stepping off the stage. He walks over to a table slowly, his large feet dragging on the floor. “Let’s get ready for tomorrow. Maybe our parents will come,” he groans, picking up a chair that had been knocked over.

     I get off the stage too and join Bonnie in cleaning up. When the children come back, I want it to be nice and pretty so they’re happy. Maybe, like Bonnie said, our parents will come back. I don’t tell him this but I doubt it. We’ve been here for a long time… and I do like having parties for my friends and giving them pizza I don’t want to keep doing it. I’m tired and I hurt, I just want it to end. I have thought about it for a long time, as long as I’ve been here. But that man…

     THE MAN.

     HE DID THIS TO ME. TO US. WHY? Why… what did we do?

     “Chica… oh, you’ve knocked over a party hat with your cupcake. Whoops,” Bonnie said, staring at the fallen paper hat on the ground.

     “Oh,” I mutter, picking it back up and setting it on the table, distracted from thoughts about the man. “Much better?”

     “Much better,” the bunny confirms.

     Out of nowhere, Foxy pulls the curtain to his cove open and looks at me and Bonnie. Raising his hook, he looks at what we are doing.

     “I didn’t know the kids left yet,” he growled quietly. “I wanted to preform again.”

     “I’m sorry, Foxy. You can perform tomorrow,” I say to the sad fox. “I’m sure there will be party tomorrow. Bonnie can play his guitar, you can tell them stories, I can give them pizza and Freddy can sing. It’ll so fun and everyone will be happy.”

     “Yeah, Chica… you’re right. It’s always sad at night.”

     And with that, the red fox hooked the sparkly purple curtain and pulled it shut with a haggard sigh.

     Bonnie and I watched as Foxy shut the curtain. Foxy was… usually distant like this. If there isn’t anyone around he gets sad. I get sad too but Bonnie and Freddy and I share a stage and we have fun together. Foxy is usually alone. But we all do care for each other because we have to help each other. We’re stuck here and we stick together. We’re all very close. We’re a family now.

     I miss mom and dad but… at least I got my friends. But it’s very lonely too. Trapped in this suit. I stopped breathing and eating a while ago. I don’t know if I’m dead, I only heard about it in movies and stuff. But mom would cover my eyes during movies when someone died. I can’t be dead though because mom and dad always told me if I died I would go to Heaven. This isn’t Heaven so I must be alive. I wish I was with mom and dad though. And my puppy. I want to go back to school. But I know they won’t come back. I keep saying maybe they’ll come back. But I know they won’t.

     What did I do?

     WHAT DID I DO?

     WHAT DID I DO?!

     WHY DID YOU KILL ME. WHY DID YOU KILL THEM. I WATCHED YOU PUT THEM IN THE SUITS. I WAS POKED AND SHOVED. I WAS SCARED.

     WHY?

     WHY WHY WHY WHY WHY!

     “Stop,” I heard Freddy’s ragged voice say. “I hear something. Footsteps.”

      Bonnie and I listened to him. I was happy he got me to stop thinking but Freddy usually stayed quiet at night. He gets sad and waits for the children. But I could tell something was wrong.

     Freddy tilted his head slightly and looked down the hall. I know the map of this place. It is a part of me. Of Chica, not Susie. But I am Chica now. But… the hall light was flickering.

     “Someone is here,” I say, my voice a groaning whisper. “Maybe someone is here to save us! Bonnie, we must go see who it is!”

     Bonnie nodded and walked towards the office, his heavy feet moving slowly. I followed quickly behind my bunny friend.

     He looked at me.

     “Chica,” he huffed. “Go down the right hall. We’ll go and say hi and maybe the new person will save us. This could be it! We could see mom and dad again.”

         I start down the hallway. If I could feel my heart I think it would have been pounding in my chest. I don’t know if my heart is there anymore but I hope so.

     I started to speed up when I saw the open door.

     To let my new friend I was there, I started to sing. But it was ugly, it sounded like choking. Maybe they thought it was pretty though.

     Excited now, I peeked through the window, my glass eyes looking at the man in the security suit. He looked like a cop, with a badge and a fun belt! I think being a cop could be fun, catching the bad guys.

     Catch the bad guys.

     Catch the bad guys.

     CATCH HIM.

     Finally, he looked at me!

     I tried to smile at him but it’s hard with this beak, it doesn’t smile well. I put my hand on the window too trying to wave even though my fingers curved on that hand because I’m supposed to hold my cupcake.

     But… when he looked at me he was scared. He shut the door on me! I wanted to cry but I can’t cry. Why won’t he let me in? I want to play! Maybe he knows mom and dad. Are you dad? Do you know where they are? My puppy? Was he actually hit by a car?

     Please open the door! I can’t do this anymore.

     OPEN THE DOOR! HELP ME!

     HELP ME!

     HEEEEELLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLPPPPPPPPPPPPP!

     I slammed my hands on the door as hard as I could. I’m not going to hurt anyone, I’m not scary… I’m Susie. Do you know me? Did I know you? Susie!

     Susie is my name! Hear my name! Help me!

     Help my friends! I watched him get them. I was in this suit. In this suit. Inside. He stuffed the others in here.

     He hurt us.

     HE HURT US.

     HURT WITH US. OPEN THE DOOR.

     OPEN

     THIS

     DOOR

     HELP

     help…

     i’m scared. i want to see my mom and dad. can you take me to them? please….

     He never opened the door. He shined the light in my eyes and covered his face with his tablet. He wasn’t here to save us. I knew that but… I wanted to believe it. Not even for me… for my friends. They deserve to go home and I’d give up anything for them. Why can’t we leave? I don’t know…

     This isn’t heaven.

     I won’t make it there. Cassidy and I are the only one who know of this place called…

     hell.

     But… I will not rest until my friends are safe. I will protect them. I will find him. And I will put him in a suit like he did to us. He will rot.

     HE.

     WILL.

     PAY

[bearpillowmonster]

Top 15 Movies

I made that Top 15 Games post so I decided to do movies as well, same rules apply here but you’re going to see mostly Marvel and Disney movies anyway so I made it one per franchise such as one Star Wars, One Avengers, One Guardians, with that Guardians Vol. 2, Pirates: Curse of the Black Pearl, Spider-Man: Homecoming were the runner ups. No particular order.

Incredibles: I went to the theaters to see this and I feel so happy that I did, I remember being so impressed with Dash running on the water then beating those goons. It really set the bar and holds up today considering I hold it higher than it’s sequel and it made me a fan of Brad Bird.

Spider-Man: Into the Spiderverse: Am I hopping on the bandwagon here?...Nope! I was making this list and I was going to put either the first Raimi film or Homecoming and I started thinking...why not Spiderverse? I really adore the other ones but there are a few glaring problems with them, this one...I can’t actually name any.

Ant-Man and the Wasp: I really enjoyed this when I saw it, it’s one of those where I can watch it again and again and not get tired of it. I’m not sure why but it was a lot more fun than I expected, it also had ONE of the best villains of the MCU (in my opinion) as well as the worst.

The Losers: I see this as a staircase to the Marvel universe, I mean we have Zoe Saldana and Chris Evans here, what’s not to love. I think we all know what my favorite part was...

The Three Musketeers: Mickey, Donald and Goofy: It did justice to the characters and made a classic story into something new and entertaining. It’s underrated. And who can forget this part:

Tron: Legacy: This or Tron, This or Tron? Both were very good but this one has a little better effects obviously as well as doing a lot of things that the original already does, add Daft Punk’s killer soundtrack in there and you got yourself a formula for an uprising. #TronLives #FlynnLives

Atlantis: The Lost Empire: Good voice acting, cool effects, a nice aesthetic with the glowing lights, crystals, and ancient technology (I guess you can say I like blue lights judging by my previous entry) But I remember first seeing it and immediately feeling the weight from that beginning with Kida’s mom. It’s a nice adventure and makes me wish that it’s sequel wasn’t so iconicly hated because it gives the title a bad name. I refuse to watch the sequel if it really is that bad.

The Lion King: Can you blame me? Do I even have to explain? Animation is gorgeous, designs are peak, music is top notch, and expressions that they get ‘Oh so right’ that no live action remake could ever recapture. This is considered a masterpiece. I can quote it on the daily, remember even the tiniest details and just the amount of times I’ve seen it makes me want to say it IS a part of who I am.

The Avengers: Infinity War was close but this was the cake. You can walk into a room with this playing at any given moment and be like “Oh yeah this is a good part.” They spend every minute doing something interesting.

Captain America: The First Avenger: A lot of people overlook this one because of the other 2 but this one will always be my favorite. I remember seeing it the first time, just came out on DVD and my mom went to her baby shower, me and my dad watched it and she came back AS SOON as it was done, as if this was just to pass that exact amount of time. Cap is a character you want to root for, his morals are worth fighting for. Iron Man may have started the MCU but I say Cap shaped it and made it better, this was the real start (as Avengers was next. Red Skull is just a villain I like, both movie and comic as well.

Baby Driver: I was superhyped to see Spider-Man: Homecoming so I traveled just to go see it as early as I could, I said if anything went wrong, I would go see this. I ended up being fine and waited until this was on DVD. Edgar Wright has some of the best editing in his movies, the way this movie uses music, the tone, the idea of it being in the perspective of the ‘Getaway driver’ it makes it exciting and gives it spunk, it makes you like the character, the music, and heck root for a criminal. I wasn’t a big fan of the big twist everyone likes with the villain but that’s ok.

Inside Out: I went to Disney World and when I learned they were still playing this in theaters there, I dropped everything and went to go see it. Little did I know how right I was because I really enjoyed it. It’s an emotional film, gets me crying probably more than any other film, it really nails what’s it’s talking about...feelings. Mix that with glowful animation, good voice acting and a lesson that makes you think and really ponder.

Guardians of the Galaxy: I thought this would try and be like Star Wars and just be a giant battle in space. Nope! This has charm, character, and maybe a little bit of rudeness but man! I mean escape from prison in zero gravity, freezing in dead space, singing in the middle of everything and once again the villain. Why do I like the underrated villains? I think it’s a good contrast with the goofy personality of the characters to have a serious, brooding, and gritty character. As well as a proper introduction to Thanos (yeah he’s still number 1 villain in my book)

Star Wars: Somewhere, somehow, this had to be on the list. One way or the other, Star Wars is a phenomenon that can’t simply be ignored, with all the controversy and misdirection within the community right now, for some reason I keep getting tossed and turned but I find myself coming back e-v-e-r-y-t-i-m-e! I’ll say A New Hope is my favorite but really, I could say just about all of them. Something about seeing Luke, Vder, Leia, and Han in the same place just tops it off. The witty duo of R2 and 3PO, the original Death Star, the quotable moments that make you wish you were on that planet yet also find yourself relating with the way Luke wanting to get away but at the same time missing his old ways.

Black Panther: I’ll be honest. I don’t really like Black Panther in the comics. I felt like he was a cool secret weapon in the cartoons but I never really gained my appreciation for him until Civil War came out, then I really liked him. I figured out why too, I just really didn’t like how bland his suit was in the comics, I ended up reading a few anyway after the movie. I think he’s worthy of the Infinity Gauntlet like in the comics. Well this movie came out and I saw it opening day to a big crowd, it had good music, good style, a fresh take and blend between ancient and modern styles (kind of like how Atlantis did) as well as giving it a sense of culture, and not shying away from that. It’s almost like the Lion King, I never felt the same way about a film but those two feel similar and for that alone is a feat.

[the-bridge-burners]

Trick or Treating

It was well into fall; the leaves were various shades of orange and red as they fell and the air was getting cooler and cooler by the day. It was a great time of year. And even better, Steven had nothing to do today, no gem business or anything else. And even better than that Connie had nothing to do today as well. Freeing them both up to just hang out and do whatever they wanted to, a seemingly increasingly rare occurrence these days. But they were going to take full advantage of it by wondering around Beach City and the beach for however long they felt like doing whatever they pleased.

Naturally with Halloween fast approaching, the town was getting ready for it. Halloween decorations were put up in many people’s yards and all the stores in hopes of pulling business in. One such store they passed by had costumes prominently displayed on mannequins in the store window. They were cool costumes too, a ninja, an astronaut, and a witch. Steven wanted one but…

“I’m uh… probably too old to go trick or treating this year, huh?” Steven said with a sigh as he stopped walking to look at them closer. For as far back as he could remember he’d gone trick or treating every year but not only was he sixteen now but with everything that had happened to him and all that’d he’d done of his own volition since this time last year he felt much older too.

“Nonsense,” Connie said, bumping him lightly with her elbow. “We’re still young, if we want to go trick or treating, we can. All that stuff that happened on Homeworld and with the gems and Diamonds doesn’t mean you can’t still have fun sometimes.”

“But…”

“No ‘buts’, let’s at least go inside and look around.” She linked her arm through his and pulled him into the store.

 -

Initially Steven hadn’t planned on getting a costume, he told himself he was only going to look at them. But then… he’d somehow ended up buying one anyway because Connie did and she suggested they should match so… it just kind of happened. But it was a cool pirate costume too so he couldn’t really complain.

“Now that we both have costumes we have to use them for something, right?” Connie said as they exited the store and continued on their walk.

“Yeah, I guess so.” Steven couldn’t say ‘no’ to that logic, could he?

“It’s settled then? We’re going trick or treating for at least one last time?”

“Uh… yeah! It’ll be fun.” They were still allowed to have fun even if they did need to occasionally save the world from one gem related disaster or another. Steven was almost mad at himself for almost letting himself forget that lesson. “We’ll make it a great year, best ever even.”

“Sounds like a plan.”

 -

“You guys look great,” Greg said as he lowered the camera. He took a picture of Steven in his Halloween costume every year, always the same spot at the bottom of the stairs in the living room too. “Very pirate-ty.”

“Thanks Mr. Universe,” Connie replied with a smile. She pulled off the pirate tricorn and jacket rather well. She’d talked about replacing the fake plastic sword with her real one but had decided against it, saying it wouldn’t match and that they probably wouldn’t need it anyway.

“Thanks Dad. We’re going to go now though.” Steven gestured towards the door as he and Connie started for it. “We’ll be back before midnight and we both have our phones so we’ll be fine,” he added mostly for Pearl’s benefit – she was sitting on the couch next to Garnet – since she had a tendency to be pretty neurotic about his safety sometimes.

“See you later,” Garnet called to them with a wave as they opened the front door.

“Have fun,” Greg added

Outside, the crisp, cool ocean air mixed with the smell of fall met them. The sun was starting to set but it wasn’t quite dark yet. They both had flashlights just in case they needed them but they probably wouldn’t; Beach City was pretty well-lit at night.

Lion sat on the porch, waiting for them and stood with a yawn and a stretch as they stepped out. Steven had tried hard to get him to put on a pirate hat to match him and Connie but he’d pawed it off every time and had eventually even started refusing Steven’s attempts to put it on. Steven had had no choice but to give up.

Connie pulled herself up onto Lion’s back first. Steven got up behind her, perhaps a bit closer than was really necessary. They wouldn’t be going fast, just a quick trot which should be fast enough to get them to every candy giving house before midnight.

“Yo Steven!” Amethyst jumped up seemingly out of nowhere before Lion could take more than two steps on the beach after jumping off the porch. “Ready to get some free candy?” She’d shapeshifted to look like a stereotypical movie alien – big head and yes, little body, and antennas, only purple instead of green – her version of a Halloween costume.

“Um… yeah,” Steven said, forcing a smile. She went with him most years but… he’d been hoping it’d be just him and Connie this year. He couldn’t turn her away though, could he?

“Sweet, let’s go. Lead the way.”

“Hello Amethyst,” Connie said. “You… don’t have to come with us to supervise. We’re perfectly capable of taking care of ourselves and we have Lion with us so there’s no danger of anything bad happening.” Oh, good, Connie seemed to want it to just be the two of them too. But Amethyst would pick up on the hint?

Unfortunately, it didn’t seem she was going to as she scoffed. “I know that silly. I’m going because I want free candy too.” Which meant they were stuck with her. And that was fine, Steven enjoyed her company but… but… it was fine.

“Hey Amethyst!”

Steven turned his head to see Garnet standing in the open doorway, silhouetted by the light inside. “We’re watching scary movies,” she continued, calling down to them. “You should join us. Let Steven and Connie go off and have fun on their own for a while. You can go out for candy later.”

There was a beat or two of silence before Amethyst responded, letting her ‘costume’ dissolve as she did so. “Oh, it’s like that.” She turned her head to look at Steven and Connie again. “Why didn’t you two say so? You guys were really about to let me ruin your night, huh? Go, shoo, have fun, I’ll get my own free candy later.” She made a large shooing gesture with her arms. Lion either took it as an invitation to go or had finally gotten bored of standing there as he leaped up to start heading for town.

“Well, I guess that’s taken of,” Connie said a few seconds later when they were out of ear shot.

“Yeah uh… I guess it is.” Steven would maybe need to talk about it with Amethyst later, make sure she wasn’t offended by them not being honest with her about not wanting her to accompany them. He could worry about that later though. For now, he’d focus on getting as much candy as possible and having fun.

[kseniainneverland]

DESCENDANTS 3 - REVIEW

WARNING! SPOILERS UNDER THE  CUT, DO NOT READ IF YOU HAVEN’T SEEN THE MOVIE!! from this point onwards, reading is on your responsibility. you have been warned.

Alright, Descendants 3, where to begin with this...

First off, thinking that this is Cameron Boyce’s last movie ever, it makes me feel very sentimental and sad and I hope that the movie would’ve done him justice more. But I’m afraid that  while it was a cute and aesthetically pleasing movie, that is about it.

After watching it a couple of times now, I have one word for D3: clusterfuck. I’m not going to lie. D1 was great, D2 was good but D3 wasn’t really the ending this saga deserved. NOW KEEP IN MIND that I haven’t read the books and I personally think that the movie still should take time to explain things. Plus the books came after the first movie anyway so...

In a nutshell, the plot is inconsistent, the movie is rushed and lot of the character development (save from Mal’s and Audrey’s) is pretty much murdered and just ditched away. 

Beginning with a song like (Good to Be Bad) like every Descendant movie, it gives the movie the energy that it lacks towards the end. The VK’s choose Smee’s sons, Celia and Dizzy to come to the Isle and return to Auradon, only to get them after giving them time to pack their things.

Next thing we see, Ben and Mal are getting ready to embark to the Isle with the VK’s. They stop in front of the Beast statue though and Ben sings (short acoustic verse “Did I Mention”) to Mal, then proposing to her. Audrey is not pleased but hey she’s back and damn she’s rocking that hair! 

Now this is where things go a bit off the rails. I understand Audrey still holding resentment to Mal even though at the end of D1 she seemed to be amicable with her so - what’s the dealio Audrey? Of course we can assume that her resentment grew back during D2 - the movie she wasn’t in. Her grandmother is there and basically gives Audrey shit cause she lost Ben to Mal (like wth is it with this hatred from grandma, chill out lady...).

Mal, Ben and VK’s go to the Isle and while they’re leaving back Hades tries to break out and use his ember but Mal fights him (as a dragon) and gets him back inside. In Auradon, Audrey sits in her room and embraces her darkness (”Queen of Mean”, one of the best songs in my opinion, holy shit), stealing the Queen’s crown and Maleficent’s staff turning to Dark!Audrey and suddenly possessing magic and knowing how to use it without any training? Okaaay, shady much? I mean it could be the staff also controlling her so I’ll give the benefit of a doubt here.

Alright so Hades tried to get out, Mal makes the hard decision to shut down the barrier forever with Ben after reasoning with him and feeling guilt for possibly endangering Auradon. Cut to Evie’s little cottage-manor, Audrey pays Mal a visit, cursing her to turn into a hag. That kind of didn’t really serve a purpose in anywhere else than maybe Audrey’s mind if she thought that Ben wouldn’t love her? Idk man. Anyway, Mal can’t reverse the spell because “there’s nothing that can reverse the staff’s spell”. Oh but waaait....

The VK’s decide to get Hades’ ember, going to the Isle and suddenly Mal turns back again because dark magic doesn’t work in the Isle. So... Mal/VK’s just forgot that? I doubt it because they did live there for such a long time. Oh well, moving on. Celia is with them cause she runs errands to Hades. Meanwhile in Auradon, Jane’s having her birthday party and Audrey crashed it, cursing everyone asleep. Except Jane cause she jumps into the Magic Lake - again something that can reverse the staff’s spell that is supposedly non-reversable? Did anyone actually fact-check the script, I wonder... And well - she takes Chad with her. Oh the loyal, dumb puppy.

Alright back to the Isle, Celia gets the key and we meet Dr. Facilier shortly, he’s actually a nice man (oh and btw so was Dizzy’s grandmother aka. Cinderella’s stepmother before too...) which I have kind of hard time imagining BUT nonetheless I kinda like it? They get out and find Harry + Gil and couple other pirates stealing their bikes (same kind Mal took to the Isle in D2) and run after them. Celia and Mal go to Hades’ lair. 

They find Hades napping, but then he wakes up, Celia trying to distract him so Mal can get the ember. But whoops, he grabs Mal’s hand. And then we learn something shocking! (not really) “Hi Dad.” Oh well look at that, Hades is Mal’s dad. Even though I recall that in the first movie it was said to be a human male? But then again, makes sense why Mal has such great magical powers. They argue and get a nice rock’n’roll duet together (”Do What You Gotta Do” and boy I’m fawning over Cheyenne Jackson’s voice!). Celia kinda does background “ooh”s which is... so weird really. Like why?

I’m not gonna lie, I kinda enjoyed the bickering chemistry between Hades and Mal as father and daughter. He clearly cares about her but tells her that her mother was not an easy person to be with and he never stayed in contact with Mal. Now this is about everything that we learn about their relationship. Mal has a certain resenment at him but Celia reveals that Hades being her father explains him asking about her. Mal tells her that Evie is the only one that knows.

Meanwhile in Auradon, Audrey visits Ben making him an offer to make her his queen again but he thinks she’s under a spell and Audrey realises he doesn’t care about her. She uses magic to turn Ben into a Beast and also turns Fairy Godmother running towards the Museum to get her wand into a statue (not shown how she made that happen really... but later on we see that she can apparently see ppl in the staff u know, like a CCTV kinda thing).

VK’s get back to the portal and when they cross over, Harry and Gil do too. They try to stop them and in the midst of it the ember drops to the water (spoiler: if it gets wet, it stops working). Uma catches it and then turns back into human. They strike a deal when Mal makes a promise to let any of the VK’s that want to get out of the Isle, get out. 

So Uma, Harry and Gil are now going to Auradon with the VK’s to help them. Kinda reluctantly. Gil gets all pumped up for fresh food and all which is kinda cute x’D And Harry ofc is trying to steal money from a sleeping student but Jay stops him. Dude is awake though and tells the VK’s what happened. They go to look for Ben and go to his castle, eventually finding the walls clawed and end up in a fight between some armors that Audrey controls (”Night Falls”). 

Eventually they beat Audrey together and almost celebrate. But not quite cause they are enemies. Evie is trying to play the middleman, suggesting an icebreaker game which doesn’t really take off. But props to her for trying. Also I should say that she suggested trying to be friends when they met Uma, Harry and Gil at the entrance to the Isle.

After the fight they split up - the boys go into the woods trying to find Ben while the girls go search Audrey’s room and Uma finds her diary where she mentions the fairie’s cottage. Then the girls go back to Evie’s where they found Smee’s twins and Dizzy sleeping as well as Doug. Evie tries too wake him up but can’t (duh, he’s under a spell). Uma’s all like “he’s under a spell. is she not a fast learner?” and Mal tells her that Evie’s emotionally involved. Which brings us to the ah so sweet - true love’s kiss (”One Kiss”). But Evie is unsure cause they haven’t used the L-word yet. When did Evie become so insecure though? She has been super confident throughout the series even though imho her storyline with Doug has NOT gotten the moment in spotlight it deserves. But wait, she kisses him after the song and he wakes up! Aww so it is true love. Bitches I wanted to see more of them before this bc they’ve been in the background (also can I mention that Doug has turned into like a young Nicholas Cage clone with his long hair and all and dam he’s cute!).

The boys find Ben, now in beast form and trying to kind attack them (and failing adorably) when Carlos calms him down and takes a splinter from his paw (i mean... he has paws now?). Kinda reminds me of Tinkerbell and the Neverbeast when Fawn took a splinter from the Neverbeast’s paw :’D Anyway, back to the story. Then Jane arrives with sort of a hose, getting Ben all wet with the water from the Enchanted Lake and he turns back too human - except he has a little beard/stubble and kind of fangs? Also Carlos and Jane meet again and are all cute together. Harry tries to make a move on Jane but Carlos literally blocks him, lol.

Back to Evie’s. Mal and Uma are talking when suddenly boards start covering the house. Audrey’s magic has gotten stronger cause Mal can’t reverse it alone but when Uma joins in with her shell, they manage to beat it, making Audrey angry. 

They build up a plan and Gil, Doug and Jane go look for the Fairy Godmother while the other’s go to the Fairie’s cottage, finding Chad locked in a closet. They walk out and then comes the moment of truth. Evie tells Ben that Uma + the pirates joined them cause Mal promised that the kids from Isle can come to Auradon. She reveals that she lied to everyone, making her friends mad. Celia takes the Ember, throwing it into a pool of water. Uma and Harry leave. Evie faces Mal, who obviously feels awful and her friends are mad at her. Then poof, they’re turned into stone. Mal sings what is - I assume - the song to build up her confidence/self-searching (”My Once Upon a Time”) and confronts Uma asking for her help to beat Audrey. But Uma turns her down even after she tells her that she saw the good in Uma - that she really cares.

Next we have Celia calling for help cause Audrey has her on top of one of the towers. Mal turns into a dragon, trying to battle Audrey but can’t do it on her own. Uma and Harry happen to come back and Uma’s suddenly like “she can’t do it on her own, i’m here girl, i’m here” forgetting that Mal totally lied to them and kinda screwed them over and helping her igniting the ember again. With the help from the ember, she beats Audrey. Everyone is awakened, except Audrey who’s fading away after being hit back with the magic. Mal can’t wake her up even with the crystal and tells Ben, Beast, Belle and everyone else in the room that Hades could. While they doubt it, Mal tells them that he’d do it - for her, he is her father after all. Ben is a bit shocked but sends guards to get him from the Isle.

He’s brought to the Castle in shackles and he works his magic, waking Audrey up. She apologises to Mal and then Mal apologises to her as well as Ben and then Audrey’s grandma apologises to Mal. It’s an apologyfest, and all is fine again. Yay? Hades is escorted back to the Isle and has a nice little moment with Mal, giving her the ember. Celia, Uma, Harry and Gil also go back to the Isle. Mal and Ben attend their engagement party and she surprisingly declares that she can’t be the Queen of Auradon - she can’t turn her back to the Isle. So in conclusion of a long speech, they open the barrier (even though the Beast is against it but Ben shushes him :D) and Mal becomes the Queen of Auradon and the Isle. (”Break This Down”) The people from the Isle (with Uma’s leading) notice this too and meet some of Auradon’s people halfway and have this big closing number with lost of  dance and singing.

And then people rejoice. Gil and Jay seem to have sparked a friendship. Harry brings comedy to the scene being like “so she’s deeeefinitely taken?” bout Mal, then trying to make a move on Evie and finally Uma who’s not having it. And then Harry ends up dancing with Audrey. Okay, seems legit. Then there’s Hades, being happy for Ben and Mal (and also giving Ben the “i’m watching you eyes”). They dance into  the palace yard (or somewhere) and the scene cuts to the core four, staring at the passageway to the Isle, apparently to go meet their parents (cause they didn’t come to Auradon?) and the end credits roll.

ALRIGHT.

Plotwise yes, it’s a clusterfuck. The whole movie is very rushed, it’s like they tried to include too much things. Like said, at the end of D1, it seemed that Audrey and Mal were somewhat civil, then Audrey was spending some time in the fairies cottage/seven acres woods/something like that in D2 and we didn’t see her at all. Suddenly she’s all hateful and resentful again and her grandmother is being a total jerk to her. Whole turning into evil happened almost right after the movie opened so there was no proper lead to it really. Nothing to explain WHY Audrey went back to resenting Mal and Ben and Auradon.

Then Mal’s father. Alright, pretty much everyone knew by now that Hades was gonna be Mal’s father even though I recall that in the first movie or somewhere else it was said that it was a human male. What happened in their past could’ve and more so SHOULD’VE been dug into a little more cause Mal is resentful at him for not being around - but why wasn’t he around? Why didn’t he call her? After all, he had been asking about her from Celia so obviously he does care for her.

The other VK’s were even more pushed to the side than before. I do get that Mal is kind of the lead here, but they did kind of sideline their character development. The other VK’s were in such minor roles I could easily say that they might as well be taken out altogether. Evie tried to be a peacemaker, she gets a few lines in couple of songs and one song to herself. Her character has also been very confident and craving for love, kind of seducing Doug in the first movie and making him accidentally jealous in D2 and suddenly she’s insecure? Yeah, love can be scary sometimes but of all the characters I just don’t see it characteristic to Evie to suddenly become uncertain of herself in the terms of love. Jay’s more like acting as a guide to good to Gil and Harry for the time being and Carlos is just being his adorable self. Still can’t believe there was no Jarlos kiss! (also he got Jane a pendant saying “Jarlos” as her birthday gift, how adorbs!)

The main problem is that there isn’t really a proper climax in the movie. It starts off god and then falls flat on it’s ass. May I also point out that not ONCE in these movies have Mal and Ben had a duet together - yes they’ve shared songs but also with other people in them - and they are the “true love” couple after all which is a bit disappointing. I mean Ben has been kind of put into thee background in the movies too - and in this last one even more so, whenever the core four have been side to side. But even in the last movie - since they’re engaged after all - I was surprised that when they opened the barrier, Jay was next to Mal (as well as Evie), squishing her hand and her leaning into him. In the end Ben is the king and Mal’s fiancee so in my opinion, he should’ve been next to Mal, not behind her (as much as I do love Mal). And I mean I was also waiting that the other VK’s would’ve met their parents too. But no. Disappointment. 

In a nutshell D3 is a movie about Audrey being a resentful brat and turning dark, introducing Mal’s dad pretty shallowly adding pretty much nothing into her story arc or character development. Except her forgiving her father pretty fast. Too much is trying to be fitted into 1hr45mins. Mal and Hades could’ve had their own movie working it out. Audrey could’ve had a thorough build up to what led her to the dark path.

Aesthetically it’s very pleasing and I enjoyed the music and I do love the cast. The end was kind of bittersweet and the whole movie was a bit unreal once you know that Cameron is no longer with us (rest in peace). So this is and end of and era. Despite this honest and well - unfiltered - review I thank the cast and crew of Descedants  from the bottom of my heart that they have brought these  movies to us.

Long live the VK’s!

[clownsgobeepbeep]

“I like your eye patch.”

Welp

Let’s go back to that stuff in the future

@grotesquegabby Since Davey makes an appearance

After the ‘fiasco’ that went on with Basil and Flora, Atlas really had to take a break. 

He sure as hell wasn’t feeling his very best due to that an another factor; that being that Ula and Schrader still hadn’t finished talking. He really wondered what is was was going on inside her bedroom. A part of him told him that he should...making take a small glimpse of either of their minds, just to at least let his suspicions down. But, Atlas shook away the thoughts, instead focusing on the television that he never realized was on.

____________

“I know I’ve already said it, but I want you to know that...I really am sorry.”

Ula gave a quiet sigh as she felt Schrader hold her hand, giving a sigh himself as he continued.

“I know there’s no way of me righting my wrong-”

“You can always tells me why.” Ula interrupted, Schrader looking up at her with clear hesitation. “Really Schrader, that’s really all I ask of you.”

“I know, I really do Ula but...I just, I need you to understand that I’m not ready to share out why just yet.” Schrader ran his thumb over her knuckles, looking down at her hand rather than her face. “In time, hopefully soon enough, I will give explain everything there is to know.”

Ula shut her eyes with a deep breath, then placing her other hand on top of Schrader’s with a soft nod.

“Okay.” 

“Okay.” Schrader nodded, holding his breath as he now held Ula’s hand in a different way, giving it a squeeze. “ And look, Ula, there’s something I’ve been needing to take out of my system ever since I came back.”

“What is it?”

“I...it’s pretty damn obvious to everybody, maybe even to you...” Schrader cleared his throat, his cheeks even turning pink as now he found it hard to say what he had to. “After everything...I...I, well, I still...”

“Take your time.” Ula softly giggled, forgetting just how funny Schrader looked when he was flustered.

“Ula, I still love you.” Schrader finally stated, not being able to look up at Ula who gave a quiet chuckle.

“I...I don’t know how to answer to that-”

“That’s alright, I wasn’t expecting an answer. I-I just needed to-”

“Come on, we all already knew.” came a new voice, making Ula and Schrader’s eyes go wide as the other person on her bed now shifted around, sitting up as he rubbed his eyes. “Hi Schrader...wait, Schrader!?”

The now awake Davey felt his eyes go wide as he noticed that Schrader was indeed right next to him and it wasn’t just some random stuff in his dreams. So, Davey shot up and gave Schrader a tight hug surprising him greatly.

“I’m so sorry Schrader, I really am. I swear it.” Davey told him as Schrader returned the hug, bewildered at what he was hearing.

“It’s...alright. Though we spok-”

“I know, but I just need to say again okay? Just so you know it’s real.”

“Okay, sounds good. I believe you, so don’t even worry about it.” Schrader chuckled to himself, Davey finally pulling his face away, though he still hugged Schrader while turning to Ula.

“Davey, do you think you could do me a quick favor?” she asked, ruffling his hair before he gave a nod. “Do you think you could call in Atlas? He’s most likely in the living room with Basil and Flora.”

“I wanna stay with Schrader though.”

“You can always come back, you know.”

“Good point.” Davey nodded, being helped down by Schrader before he opened the door and ran out of the room.

__________

Atlas sat on the living room couch, somewhat slumped on it while he watched Pirate of the Caribbean. However, his movie watching was somewhat interrupted by the sound of running footsteps. His eyes glanced over to the hallway, seeing as Davey ran into the living room.

“Hey Atlas.”

“Yeah?” Atlas turned to him, not very pleased to be seeing Davey. At least it wasn’t a healthy Basil. “Where are Basil and Flora?”

“They...had to go home.”

“Oh...Ula wants to see you.” Davey announced before running off, Atlas astonished at the fact that there were no glares, threats, or even spitballs involved. So, Atlas stood up, yet he made sure to maneuver himself through the living room and hallway as cautiously as possible, just in case Davey was planning some sort of prank.

“What are you doing?” came Davey’s voice as he now stood near Atlas in the hallway, giving him a weird look while holding onto a few things.

“Um...walking?” Atlas shrugged as Davey continued staring at him. “I like your eye patch.”

“Thanks.” Davey soon rushed back into Ula’s room before Atlas followed behind, also coming in as he soon start to feel a sense of awkwardness once his eyes landed on Schrader. Especially since he saw how he held onto Ula’s hand, now invoking a sense of jealousy.

“Oh, Atlas!” Ula smiled at him while he stared at Schrader, the latter now turning to him as he let go of Ula. “I first wanted to say thank you for giving us some privacy, it really means a lot. It also even shows that you trust me, and that makes me feel really nice.”

Shit.

“Oh, it’s no problem at all.” Atlas gave a small shrug as his cheeks now grew hot. “What...what’d you need me for?”

“Um, well first of, just because I want you in here of course. Second of all-” Ula gave Schrader a bit of nudge, Atlas turning to him as he realized that Davey was sitting on his lap while hugging him, most likely was presenting some pirate stuff to him.

“Yeah, right. I need to talk to you.”

Shit.

“Okay, cool. Do you wanna-”

“Right here is fine.”

Shit.

Atlas gave a nod as Schrader took a deep breath, probably swallowing his pride.

“I’m sorry for the way I acted the other day, and for not being much more accepting of you. I don’t have any right to act in such a way after everything that’s happened. We had quite the rough start, so if you’re alright and comfortable with it, I wish to have a fresh start and become friends.”

Atlas blinked quite a few times, his eyes darting over to Ula, then Davey, then Schrader, repeating the action quite the few times while everybody stared at him. Once he realized that this was real and not some illusion caused by a certain pair of siblings, Atlas let out a sigh of relief.

“That...that is so great to hear honestly.” Atlas gave a nervous laugh, running a hand through his hair as Ula smiled at each of them. “I, well, okay, fresh start then. Cool.”

Atlas, though a bit hesitant, approached Schrader while Davey’s eyes followed his hand, seeing that he lifted up to wards Schrader.

“Nice to meet you, my name is Atlas.” he gave a nervous smile at Schrader who slowly lifted a hand, clasping it onto Atlas’ own.

“Nice, to meet you. My name is Schrader.” he followed, realizing that Atlas had now given a squint at Schrader’s hand. For some reason, this felt awfully familiar. However, they each retrieved their hands before Atlas began again.

“I wish to have met you sooner, but I was off travelling with my grandfather doing certain work. I met this family through my cousin Vespers who, as I suppose you know, is Ula’s uncle.”Atlas shared out, not feeling as uncomfortable anymore, though it was still there. “Could you...tell me a bit about yourself?”

“I was formerly part of the band who I suppose you know of, Cin-O-Surre. I work at a diner and a car garage and my only relative is my older brother Walter who you may have met at...I met this family through my best friend Dante.”

Atlas gave a nod, as did Schrader, the room remaining quiet for some time thus ensuing in a new awkward atmosphere.

“Well, now that that’s been said.” Schrader cleared his throat as he stood up feeling as Davey still clung onto him like a koala would to a tree. “I...I think it’s time I go-”

“No!” Davey exclaimed. “You should stay.”

“I unfortunately can’t Davey, I’m sorry. I still have my shift going on at the diner.”

“But Schrader...I still have to make it up to you after...that...”

“Davey, it’s alright.” Schrader chuckled, ruffling Davey’s  hair as he made sure to hold onto him, walking over to Ula to lean down and give her some kind of a hug. “I hope you don’t mind me leaving.”

“It’s fine, we talked and you have to go. I would have enjoyed it if you stayed, but I understand.” Ula reassured him before they both turned to Atlas who  gave a weird stare, but it was just the awkwardness acting upon him yet again.

“Atlas.”

“Schrader.” Atlas replied, watching him leave the room with Davey still on him. Atlas turned to Ula who gave a shrug.

“I’m gonna go walk him out.”

“Okay.” Ula replied, watching as Atlas ran after Schrader and Davey.

_____________

“When can you come over?”

“Perhaps when I have a short shift. How does Sunday sound?”

“Hm, I guess.”

“Hey, Schrader!” Atlas called out as he saw Schrader turn around. “Um, I wanted to say that...I really do want to be friends, I don’t want there to be any kind of tension, ya know?”

“Yeah.”

“And well, I just...wanted to say that I...hopefully see you around some time...” Atlas coughed, glancing at the floor before doing so to Schrader who looked dumbfounded for a moment.

“Uh, yeah, sure.” he then gave a nod.

“Great.”

“Great.”

“Okay then.” Atlas nodded, Schrader then turning to open the front door before setting a reluctant Davey down.

“Sorry Davey, but I’ll be leaving now.”

“Okay...”

“You know you can always stop by the diner if you want and Sonny’ll make you whatever you your favorite treat.” Schrader pat Davey’s head. “You can bring the whole family if you want. And speaking of, tell your mom and dad I said hi.”

“Okay.” Davey nodded as Schrader stood straight again, giving a groan before cracking his back. Once done, he turned to Atlas, giving a small wave.

“I’ll see you around then, Book Worm.”

“Sure.” Atlas gave a small laugh, seeing as Davey gave one last wave to Schrader before closing the door. Once alone, they were quiet and soon stared at each other, Atlas soon breaking the silence.

“So...are you, not gonna treat me badly now because I’m dating your sister?”

“Nah, not really.” Davey shook his head, then giving an innocent smile. “Though you make it really easy to pull pranks on you, so expect that Deer Boy.”

Atlas watched as Davey then pranced away, most likely back into Ula’s room as he quietly sighed to himself.

[kellanved-ammanas]

Space Mercenaries AU: Meet the Crew

This is my 100th fic on Ao3 (I have no idea what number it is on tumblr though because I don’t remember exactly when I started uploading my fics to tumblr) and it’s my first official foray into writing my own AU, something I’ve wanted to do for a long while now. As I’m sure you can guess by the title, it’s basically a space pirate AU except they’re mercenaries instead of pirates. It’s really just a basic introduction to the setting.

The spaceship was huge, bigger than Scout had thought it’d be. The logo for the company that owned it, RED, was on the side big enough to be seen from a distance. According to Miss Pauling – the lovely lady who was now Scout’s immediate superior – the rumors floating around that it originated from Earth were true. Having lived his whole life on a colony far-far away from Earth meant Scout had never met anyone from there. Making this new job even more exciting then it had been already.

Pauling had told him to just hop on board, store his belongings in his new room and then introduce himself to everyone. Easy-peasy except for the fact that he didn’t know how to board it. All his experience with spaceships had been the small pilotable kind – he was the best pilot on this planet and everyone knew it, it’s why he’d been hired.

Hiding his nervousness with practiced ease, he strode right up to it, ignoring everyone else milling around the dock pretending not to look at the biggest spaceship to ever grace this out of the way planet. Luckily the entrance wasn’t hard to find, a ramp led right up to it so he only embarrassed himself a little bit when he started circling the ship before quickly finding it. He held his ID up to the scanner next to it as he’d been instructed to do. Hopefully he was doing this right. It beeped after a few seconds and the doors opened with a nice slick sound straight out of a science fiction movie.

“Cool,” he said under he breath as he slid his ID back in his pocket.

This was really happening though, he was officially a hired mercenary. He could finally leave home and be independent, sort of anyway, there’d still be his team and his employers but they weren’t his mom or his brothers. Maybe he’d even find his dad one day. … Not likely, the universe was far too big for that to have any more than a snowball’s chance in hell of happening, but a nice thought nonetheless. If Scout did find him though he didn’t know what he’d do, hug him or punch him for leaving – perhaps both – so it was probably for the best anyway.

He took a deep breath, adjusting the weight of the bag on his shoulder – filled with all his worldly belongings, there weren’t many of them – as he stepped in. Hopefully he didn’t look as much like a wide-eyed recruit as he felt. He needed to be cool and suave, like this wasn’t his first time being hired on as a proper mercenary.

Inside was cool and filled with the soft hum of machines that seemed to come from everywhere. He was in a hallway that led to an entrance hall? It was a spacy room with lots of passages leading off it.

“Hey fresh meat!” The shout was loud enough to echo, filling the room and making Scout flinch and jump back.

The shouter, who was a black man wearing an eyepatch apparently thought that was hilarious. He was laughing it up as he exited out of one the hallways, walking with a slight sway as if he were slightly intoxicated. The brown bottle in his hand supported that hypothesis. “Sorry mate,” didn’t mean to scare you,” he said, his chuckles dying off as he reached Scout. “You can call me ‘Demo’ or ‘Demoman’, I blow shit up.” He held out his hand, offering to shake.

Scout frowned at him, unsure if he should be offended about being laughed at. He was a bit jumpy sometimes, it wasn’t his fault and it certainly wasn’t funny. He wasn’t going to start off his new job with being upset with his teammates if he could help it though so he shook Demo’s hand.

“I’m Scout,” he said, puffing out his chest. He liked that he was allowed to use a nickname here, it separated this even further from his old life. And according to Miss Pauling everyone else was doing it too so it was only natural. “I fly ships and run really fast and kill people.” He’d never killed anyone before but that was what he was being hired to do, right? Part of it anyway. So he better pretend it was no big deal. “I’m the best at it.”

“You talk real tough small fry, I like it,” Demo said. Good, Scout had already impressed him. … The ‘small fry’ comment wasn’t great though, but he’d take what he could get right now. “Want me to show you around, introduce you to everyone?”

“Nah, I’m good. I’ve been aboard ships like this before, I can find my way around no problem.”

“Whatever you say mate, if you change your mind though I’ll be in the kitchen.” He took a chug from his bottle before starting to head for one of the hallways. “See you around.”

“Yep, see you around pal,” Scout returned with confidence.

So far, so good. His first meeting with one of his teammates had gone well, seven more to go. First, he had to find his room though to drop his stuff off. It couldn’t be that hard to navigate this place, could it?

 -

Scout was lost. He didn’t want to admit it but he was. Everything looked the same and the ship seemed to take full advantage of its massive size to cram as many corridors and rooms into itself as physically possible. There were a ton of locked rooms, presumably leading to important places he didn’t have the clearance to access yet, they cut off his options for places to go but the dead ends were frustrating.

There were signposts, pointing this way and that way but… none of them pointed towards the sleeping quarters. There were several that pointed to the kitchen but Scout couldn’t go there and ask Demo for that tour after all. That would be both admitting defeat and that he’d lied about being able to find his way around on his own, both were unacceptable.

He’d brute force his way through this. If he just kept going he’d find it eventually. … It’d be nice to have a map though, even if he wasn’t good at reading them it’d help a little probably.

He turned a corner and almost ran into somebody. A very odd somebody who wore a full body suit and mask, making it impossible to see his face. The empty gaze of his mask was… vaguely intimidating, making Scout take a step back before he could stop himself.

The fellow waved, wriggling his fingers. He then made gestures with his hands; sign language. Scout had seen it enough times to recognize it but he’d never learned it himself, it hadn’t ever occurred to him that he might need it one day.

“Uh… I don’t understand,” he said. Was the guy deaf? Could he understand Scout? Was it rude to ask? Would they have to communicate via writing? That would be fine but for the fact Scout’s dyslexia made it hard to read and write properly most of the time, he didn’t want to reveal that to people he’d just met and needed to impress, they’d think he was an idiot.

The guy seemed to sigh without actually sighing? His shoulders slumped as he hung his head, giving it a light shake. That meant he could understand Scout though, right? He was reacting to what had been said.

“I’m Scout, I’m the new guy.” Ugh, why’d he have to state the obvious? “Uh… do you think you could show me the way the sleeping quarters or whatever?” This guy didn’t know Scout had claimed he’d be fine on his own here so asking for help from him was fine, right? Then again, asking a mysterious masked figure for directions might not be a wise move. He was part of the crew though, right? So, it’d be fine… probably. If not, Scout had a gun and he knew how to use it, he could defend himself.

The fellow nodded, giving him a thumbs up. He then gestured for Scout to follow him and started skipping down the way he’d come. With no better options present, Scout followed.

Turns out they were two turns away from the sleeping quarters. See? Scout would’ve totally found it on his own, he hadn’t needed to ask this guy for directions and thus it didn’t count that he had.

Only one of the rooms was open at the end of the hall, the ninth one according to Scout’s count. The masked fellow led Scout right too it and tapped the wall by it. He then pointed out Scout and then gave him a thumbs up.

“Thanks,” Scout said. “But uh… there’s only eight other people?” He’d asked and been told that he was the final member of the team and thus he’d expected more people. Maybe there was another hallway?

But the masked guy nodded, giving Scout another thumbs up, indicating that that was correct. There were only nine people on this team. On the bright side that meant meeting them all wouldn’t take too long. First he had to settle into his new room though.

“Thanks uh… see you around buddy,” he told the masked dude – he’d have to get his name from one of the other crew members later – earning another thumbs up before stepping into the room. He pressed the button on the wall to close the door behind him.

It was a fairly small room but there was a bed, desk, and closet. There was more storage space under the bed too. It was his very own room, he didn’t have to share it with anyone. And his mom wouldn’t be around to yell at him about cleaning it every time even a tiny mess started to form. He was free and independent, life was great.

 -

Scout took his time arranging all his stuff. There wasn’t much so it didn’t take long. It was exciting though, having a room all to himself. He didn’t have worry about people walking in on him when he was changing or doing private things. Or about people messing with his stuff, he could lock the door when he wasn’t in here and no one else could get in.

He almost didn’t want to leave but… he needed – and wanted – to meet the rest of the crew. Solitude for too long would undoubtedly drive him crazy, already he was craving someone to talk to about how awesome this all was. So it wasn’t long before he was stepping out into the hallway again.

There was of course still the problem that he didn’t know where he was going and would probably get lost. But it was a spaceship meant for living and mercenary work, not a maze, so he could figure out its layout… eventually. For now, he could just walk until he ran into someone else, hopefully someone who could better communicate with him and had a face.

As if the thought had summoned him, someone came around the corner as Scout started heading towards it. He wore goggles and a hardhat. “Howdy partner,” he said with a friendly wave. “Pyro told me we had a new guy, so I figured I’d come say ‘hi’ since I’m having a coffee break anyway. You can call me ‘Engie’ or ‘Engineer’, whichever you prefer.”

“Uh… howdy partner?” Scout had never heard a greeting like that before. “I’m Scout. Who’s Pyro? The guy with the mask?”

“Yep, he likes fire so we call him ‘Pyro’. He either don’t like talking or can’t so he speaks in sign instead. Don’t worry though he can hear just fine so you can talk to him normal like.”

“Does he wear the mask and suit thing all the time?” Probably not, right? That would be silly.

“Far as I know yeah. I assume he takes it off to eat and bathe but that’s about it. You can ask him why but he won’t answer and might get upset if you do.”

“All right.” That was weird but… Scout didn’t sign on here expecting everything to be normal and predictable. He was here for excitement and adventure, weird team mates with bizarre habits wasn’t too far out of the realm of expectation. And it was something he could easily live with. “Can you uh… lead me to the kitchen please? Since you’re headed there for coffee anyway.” He could use a snack and if Demo was still there he might take him up on the tour offer after all because he’d undoubtedly get lost again if he didn’t. His excuse could be that he didn’t know where the rest of the team were supposed to be.

“Sure can,” Engie replied. “Follow me.”

Unable to keep quiet while in such a cool place, Scout chatted about it as they walked. In the back of his mind he kept track of where they turned so he could potentially find his way back or make this journey again on his own. His sense of direction was a bit thrown off by how similar the walls all were but now that he was actively trying to remember the way he should have a better time with it.

The kitchen turned out to be nearby, not even a five minute walk. It was big and high tech, Scout wasn’t sure what half the things in here were. It was empty though, Demo wasn’t here. But luckily the fridge was easy to identify and thus Scout didn’t have to embarrass himself by asking.

Inside was various stuff, mostly veggies and fruits, a lot of which he’d never seen before. There was what could only be beer at the bottom in bottles identical to the one Demo had been holding. Water bottles were on the shelf above. There was no soda though, bummer.

“You want coffee boy?” Engie asked. He was off to the side messing with the coffee pot, it was clearly fancy and high tech. Or… high tech compared to what Scout was used to it, it was possible his experience with such things was outdated and this was now the standard.

“No thanks.” Scout couldn’t stand coffee unless it was loaded up with sweeteners and cream, even then though he’d prefer not to drink it. Since he also didn’t want to drink beer – the last thing he wanted to do was get drunk on his first day and embarrass himself in front of his new coworkers – that left him no choice but to drink water. Lame but he probably needed to drink more water anyway.

So after some thought he decided on an apple and a bottle of water. He could experiment with the alien fruits later – not the veggies though, fuck vegetables – and search the cupboards for junk food. For now though he’d play it safe and simple.

“Come out to the dining room,” Engie said, holding his cup of coffee. “There’s bound to be more of the team there for you to meet.”

“Okay.” Scout followed him out of the kitchen through a different door than they’d entered through.

It led straight to the dining room. It was big with a large table in the middle which four people sat at playing cards. Two of them Scout had already met, Demo and Pyro. The other two were a big guy who looked like he could snap Scout in half with his bare hands and a skinny guy in a fancy suit and ski mask. All four looked up as Scout and Engie entered.

“Hey,” Demo greeted with a smile and a handwave. He was drinking still. Pyro waved too, wriggling his fingers.

“Hi again,” Scout said, unable to take his eyes off suit and mask guy. He didn’t want to be rude and stare but… the guy was staring at him, frozen. What his expression might be under the mask was hard to say but his gaze was intense enough to make Scout very uncomfortable. Was he planning on murder or something? “I’m Scout,” he said with a forced smile to the other two, not letting his discomfort show. “Nice to meet you.”

“Heavy,” the big guy said. “Is nice to meet you too.”

Suit and mask guy huffed as he seemed to break out of whatever had frozen him in place, finally pulling his intense stare off of Scout. “I have places to be,” he said, his tone very prim and proper as he placed his cards down on the table and stood up. He then turned around and left, no greeting or anything. Rude.

“That’s Spy,” Engie said. “He… ain’t normally like that.”

“Eh, who knows what’s up with him, he’s a weirdo,” Demo said with a shrug before taking a drink from his bottle. “Come join us, we was in the middle of a game.”

They sat at the table, Engie taking over Spy’s cards. What had Scout done to make Spy already dislike him? Had it been the way he’d said ‘hi’? Maybe the way he was dressed? Something else? Could he fix it? … Probably not, once people started disliking him, that feeling only ever grew.

“You play poker?” Heavy asked, clearly the dealer for this game.

“Uh… sometimes.” Scout wasn’t good at it but did know how to play.

“Good, you join next round. Is good way to get to know each other.”

“Okay.” It’s not like Scout had anything better to do.

“You got lost after all though, huh?” Demo said, chuckling and raising and eyebrow at Scout.

“No, of course not,” Scout lied with a scoff as if that were ridiculous.

Pyro tapped the table and signed something that made Demo laugh. Were they… making fun of Scout? It wasn’t a mocking kind of laugh though but like he was tipsy and giggling because of it.

“You don’t have to lie,” Engie said. “We all got lost when we were new too, you’ll be able to find your way around in no time.”

“Yeah and you’ll get fucking sick of it in no time too,” Demo added. “This ship actually ain’t so big once you been living in it for a while. It’ll drive you mad.”

“Is not so bad,” Heavy cut in. “And once we reach destination we’ll be let off sometimes.”

“What is our destination by the way?” That hadn’t been in any of the advertisements for the job and he’d been too excited about the whole thing to ask during interview or screening process.

“Some solar system somewhere that our boss what’s us to take control of,” Demo said. “Apparently his brother or something also wants it so we’re going to be fighting his hired mercenaries for it, it’s some weird family feud thing.”

“There’s more to it than that but that about sums it up,” Engie said. Scout didn’t care about the details anyway as long as he got paid and got to go on an adventure in the far off reaches of space.

 -

“Ah fuck it, I quit.” Demo threw down his cards in frustration after Engie won for the umpteenth time in a row. “Come on Scouty boy, I’ll show you around and introduce you to the others.” His words were slurred and he was unsteady on his feet as he stood.

“Uh… you sure you’re up for that?” Scout asked. The last thing he wanted was for Demo to pass out and Scout to have to carry him when he wasn’t sure where he was going.

“Yes, now you coming or not laddie?”

“Go with him,” Engie said, also standing. “He’ll be fine but don’t take anything mean he says to heart, he doesn’t mean it. I’d go with you but I need to get back to work, see y’all later.” He gave them a wave before leaving through a side door.

“Yes, I also have work to get back too,” Heavy said as he gathered up the cards, stacking them into a nice, neat pile.

Pyro signed something to Demo who replied with “Yeah, you can come too.” Which got a clap from Pyro

With no other options readily available to him, Scout followed the two of them out. It was better than getting lost again. And well, so far he liked his new team mates, except for Spy because Spy didn’t like him. Hopefully whatever reason Spy had for disliking him wouldn’t get in the way of any teamwork that might be required of them in the future.

 -

“Soldier’s loud and shouty sometimes but he’s a super cool guy once you get to know him,” Demo spoke in a low tone to Scout after halting outside the door labeled ‘REC ROOM’. “And don’t be offended when he calls you ‘maggot’, he means it in the kindest way possible.”

“How can calling someone ‘maggot’ be meant in kind way?” Scout asked but was ignored as Demo turned away to open the door, letting three of them in.

It was an exercise room, full of exercise stuff. Scout was not interested unless there was a track he could run around on in another room or maybe a swimming pool. Off to the side was a guy, presumably Solider, doing one armed pushups. He was counting them out loud too.

“Fifty-three, fifty-four, fifty-five.” He swapped to using his other arm.

“Hey Solider,” Demo called. “The new guy finally came, come meet him.”

Solider paused before snapping up to his feet and coming over to investigate. He looked Scout up and down as if measuring his worth.

“Hey,” Scout said, trying not to shift uncomfortably under his gaze. “You can call me ‘Scout’, I’m…”

“I’ll call you whatever I like maggot,” Solider interrupted.

“Don’t listen to him,” Demo said before Scout could object to the insult. “Solly, this is Scout, he’s the new guy, be nice.”

“Fine,” Solider said as if he were granting a favor. “Nice to meet you maggot, I’m sure you’ll make and excellent addition to the team.” He shook Scout’s hand, almost crushing it in a way too tight grip.

“Nice to meet you too.” Scout bore it with a grin, not even flinching a little bit. The way Solider nodded upon letting go implied he approved of that. Good, the more people Scout could get on the good side of early, the better. He even managed to resist the urge to clutch his aching hand to his chest afterward.

“You know where Sniper is?” Demo asked. “I’m going around introducing him to everyone and showing him around and all that. Pyro’s helping.” He gestured to Pyro before taking a drink from his bottle. Pyro wriggled in his fingers in greeting towards Solider.

Soldier thought about it for a few seconds, Scout could practically see the gears turning in his head as if it were a difficult question. “No, I do not know where Sniper is,” he said finally, looking back up.

“All right, we’ll find him eventually.”

Solider saluted. Demo returned it half-assed while Pyro returned it fully. Not knowing what else to do Scout followed their lead, getting another nod of approval from Solider. Weird but whatever.

Unexpectedly, Solider joined their tour party when they moved on. He took up the rear. His rigid stance implied he was on the look out for possible trouble as if they were on traversing through a dangerous area instead of their own ship base. Odd but not worth questioning, it was clear Solider was an odd fellow anyway.

 -

Turns out there as a pool room but no track room. They were expected to get their running exercise on the treadmills, lame. Scout would rather jog around the ship’s halls even if that meant getting lost sometimes.

The next important place Demo led Scout – and company – to was the captain’s deck. It was where all the computers that ran the ship were located. They were far more complicated and high-tech than anything Scout had seen before. He wanted to touch them and mess around with them, see if he could figure out how to maneuver this thing but… alas, that would probably end with him getting fired. Maybe one day though… hopefully anyway.

After that Demo brought them to his work station where he made bombs and other things that exploded. And then Engie’s lab where Engie was currently working on something that Scout couldn’t even begin to guess the function of due to how its part were all laid out on the work table.

“Howdy,” he said, preoccupied and not even looking up from his work. “I’m a bit busy right now so I’m going to have to ask you leave.”

“Righty-ho, see you around,” Demo said before moving the party on.

They finally found this Sniper guy in the shooting range. He was kind of hot, tall and rugged looking with a cool hat. Would Scout get in trouble for flirting with a coworker? Maybe so it was best he didn’t, for now anyway.

“Hey Sniper, the final member of our team is here, come say ‘hi’,” Demo said.

Sniper lowered his gun and turned his head towards them. “Hi.”

“Hi,” Scout returned with a cocky grin. “I’m Scout, ace pilot and fastest runner in the galaxy.”

“I’m sure you are,” Sniper said dryly before turning back to his target practice.

“And that’s that,” Demo said with a chuckle, clapping his hands together. He leaned over to speak in Scout’s ear. “He’s one of them loner types, don’t like people much. But he’s cool… I think, haven’t really known him that long.”

“I can still hear you,” Sniper said, not looking away from his target practice.

“Whatever.” Demo shrugged. “Let’s go laddie, I think all that’s left to show you is the med-bay and introduce you to Medic.” He gestured for Scout follow him. A bit disappointed, Scout did so, hopefully he could talk to Sniper more later and hopefully get a chance to impress him.

“Be sure to make the target dummies pay dearly for their crimes,” Soldier said as he exited the room last behind Pyro. If Sniper responded in some way, it wasn’t loud enough for Scout to hear.

 -

Everything about the med-bay from the moment they stepped in screamed

‘hospital’ and thus Scout instantly disliked it. Hospitals and doctors were the worst. It even smelled like a hospital, that unique unplaceable smell that brought to mind nothing but needles and freezing stethoscopes.

What was even worse though was the crazed look in the doctor’s eyes when he came out to greet them. “Ooh, a new patient, wonderful,” he said, sounding as if he were talking about a new toy he was excited to play with.

“Hello,” Scout said, pretending to not be afraid. The last thing he wanted was everyone to make fun of him for being scared of something as dumb as doctors and hospitals. Glancing back, he saw that Solider had mysteriously vanished from the party, maybe he didn’t like hospitals either. “I’m Scout.”

“’Medic’ or ‘Doctor’ is fine. Now you two shoo.” He made a shooing gesture with his hand towards Demo and Pyro. “It’s time I give Scout his physical.”

“Good luck lad.” Demo clapped him on the shoulder. “Don’t die.” Pyro signed something at him before they both left, leaving Scout alone with Medic. He was tempted to protest that but it was too late and he didn’t want show fear. So instead, he followed Medic as he gestured him deeper in.

 -

The physical was fairly standard fair. Medic took his blood pressure, checked his breathing and heartrate, all that ‘fun’ stuff. When the needle came out though was when Scout’s nerves broke.

“Nope, not happening,” he said, sliding off the examination table. “We are done here.” He started for the door.

Medic grabbed his upper arm, yanking him back. “You can either cooperate or I’ll have to force you.” He sounded like he meant it.

Scout jerked against his hold but he was stronger than he looked; Scout wouldn’t be getting away from him anytime soon. “Fine, fine, I’ll cooperate.” He’d much rather do that than test to see if and how Medic would force him to. “Just make it fast please.”

“Good.” Medic pulled him back the examination table, not taking any chances unfortunately.

Thankfully it was over fast, though still far too long for Scout’s liking. He was careful not to look at it. “Can I go now please?” he asked once Medic was done putting a little bandage on his arm.

“Yes, you may go for now.” Medic made a dismissive hand gesture. “There are more things I’ll need to do with you later though.”

Scout did not like that sound of that. “Like what?”

“If I told you, you’d be very upset so I won’t. You’ll be fine though I promise… probably. Death is always a possibility, so is infection, but it’s unlikely, kind of. Run along for now though, I need some time to analyze your blood sample.”

Scout groaned and retreated. He was not looking forward to whatever Medic had planned for him later but at least he was done now and could leave the horrid med-bay.

He went to his back to his room and only got a little lost on the way there. See? His sense of direction in this place was improving already.

He gratefully collapsed onto his bed with a sigh. He’d met everyone and seen everything, he could rest for a bit. For the most part he was pleased, Medic was scary and so was Pyro in a different way but less so, and Spy didn’t like him for some reason. Everyone else seemed cool and nice though even if a lot of them were a bit strange. But that would only make this adventure more fun though, right?

They’d be going off to a far off distant solar system – it might not actually be distant, he didn’t know – to fight over it and hopefully take it over. It was going to be fun.

Next

[searchingwardrobes]

Christmas in Storybrooke: 6/11

I know the number of chapters keeps getting lower, but usually I have the opposite problem. So when I outlined this, I underestimated how much I could fit in each chapter, so they keep getting combined. But it's been working out since posting a chapter each day has been more difficult than anticipated.

I'm a little nervous about this chapter because it and the next one are the reason for the M rating. And, well, it's Henry. Just remember - he's an adult. Andrew J. West. Andrew J. West. Repeat that mantra. It isn't smut, but Henry is definitely acting like a grown man. Having said all that, I love this chapter so much and hope you enjoy it too!

The title of this chapter comes from the song by Kelly Clarkson. I've been listening to her Christmas album a lot as I write this and my CS Secret Santa fic, and this song is so perfect for Henry and Evie!

Summary: My Hallmark Christmas movie fic in which flights get cancelled and Henry’s “best friend’ gets snowed in with him in his quirky hometown for Christmas. Only with magic and fairy tale characters.

Rating: M for suggestive scenes and adult situations, not smut

Trigger warnings: Henry is an adult. Read that again: Henry is an adult. Look at the picset: that’s Andrew J. West. If Henry actually behaving like an adult makes you feel icky, the don’t read this.

Can also be read on Ao3

Tagging @snowbellewells @kmomof4 @jennjenn615  @kday426 @bethacaciakay @teamhook @whimsicallyenchantedrose @snidgetsafan @delirious-latenight-laughs @winterbaby89 @yohoyohoafandomlifeforme @distant-rose

 Chapter Six: Wrapped in Red

The day Henry met Evangeline Crawford, he knew they had at least one thing in common. He had been staring down at his phone, not looking where he was going, when he smacked right into her. She was struggling to carry a box of paperbacks as she moved into the apartment across the hall. When he knelt to help her collect them, he teasingly asked her what grade she was in.

“Is that some sort of sick pick up line?” she had snapped with clear disgust.

He had rubbed the back of his neck, distressed that she had misunderstood. He had waved the book in his hand around. “I can tell you’re a grown woman. It was a pitiful joke about your taste in literature.”

She had snatched the copy of Ella Enchanted out of his hand and stuffed it back into her box as pink stained her freckled cheeks. “Lots of people read YA lit these days. Ever heard of The Hunger Games? Divergent?”

But the box she clutched defensively to her chest wasn’t filled with dystopian novels. Instead, they were all written by Gail Carson Levine, Shannon Hale, Melanie Dickerson, and Marissa Meyer. They were all fairy tales.

Henry really hoped in this moment that Evie’s reading tastes meant she had the heart of a true believer because what he had to tell her was incredibly difficult to believe. Of course, she’d almost fallen through a portal, so there was that.

She clutched a mug of hot cocoa in her trembling hands. His mom sat across from them at the kitchen table. His siblings had been sent outside to “practice their magic” on clearing the walk of snow. Hopefully, there would be no Frosty impersonations along the way.

“So,” she said, setting her mug down slowly, “you said let’s go inside and sit down. Well, we’re sitting. Now care to explain to me how a hole opened up in your parent’s shed and almost swallowed me?”

Henry let out a long, slow breath. “Okay, I don’t really know how to ease into this, so I’ll just say it. Storybrooke wasn’t on the GPS because it’s not supposed to be here. It was created by a curse that my mom – Regina – cast the day my other mom was born.”

“Seriously?” Evie’s voice was halfway between incredulous and hysterical.

“My mom,” Henry continued, pointing at Emma, “is the daughter of Snow White and Prince Charming. I introduced them to you as my Uncle David and Aunt Mary Margaret, but they’re really my grandparents.”

Evie scowled at Henry. “You must really think I’m stupid. Those people are nowhere near old enough to be your grandparents.”

Henry swallowed nervously. “They are if time was frozen in Storybrooke for 28 years.”

“This is . . . this is . . . “

“Impossible?” Emma finished for her softly, putting a hand gently over hers. “I understand how you feel. I felt the exact same way when Henry first brought me here. But It's all true.” She tugged on Evie’s hand. “Come here, let me show you something.”

Evie seemed to be in a daze as she followed Emma to the front door. From the doorway, they could see Hope with her hands outstretched, sending bursts of magic to clear the snow from the front walk. By the side of the house, Leia and Charlie were supposed to be doing the same with the driveway. Instead, they were using magic to hurl snowballs at each other.

“Leia Snow and Charles David!” Emma shouted. “Is that what you’re supposed to be doing right now?”

“No mom,” they grumbled, turning reluctantly back to the driveway.

Evie swayed slightly on her feet. “Am I dreaming?”

Henry put his arm around her and guided her back inside. But instead of steering her to the kitchen table, he sat her down on the sofa. He took both of her hands in his; they were cold as ice.

“I know this is a lot to take in,” he said hesitantly.

Evie shook her head. “So, you’re saying that this town is magical?”

Henry nodded.

“And you’re the grandson of Snow White and Prince Charming?”

He nodded again.

“So, that makes your adoptive mom, who? The . . . Evil Queen?”

Henry squirmed a bit. “Um, yes, but she’s given up her evil ways.”

Evie nodded, staring down at the floor. “Are you telling me that fairy tales are -”

“True? Yes, that’s what I’m saying.”

Her brow wrinkled as she lifted her gaze to his. “Your book. That was all true?”

He chuckled. “I like to say it’s inspired by real life. I did get kidnapped and taken to Neverland like the character Elias in my book. And Peter Pan was an evil demon. But the rest? I made up.”

“So Tinkerbell and Tiger Lily aren’t co-captains of a an all-female crew of pirates?”

“Um, no. As a matter of fact, you met Tinkerbell yesterday. Tina?”

Evie dropped her head between her knees for a moment, then sat up and massaged her temple. “Who else have I met?”

“Well,” Henry began hesitantly with a glance at his mom, “my stepdad is Captain Hook.”

Evie rolled her eyes and let out a wry laugh. “Of course he is. He’s missing a hand. What? Did he hide is hook because I was coming?”

Emma shrugged apologetically. “We didn’t want to freak you out.”

Evie surged to her feet. “So instead you let me stumble around in the shed and . . . and . . . I don’t even know what happened in there!”

“It was a magic bean -’

“A magic bean?” Evie shouted, hysterical now. “What the hell?”

Henry stood, reaching his hands out tentatively to rest upon her shoulders. He was relieved when she didn’t shrug him off. “They open portals,” he explained slowly. “They used to be rare, but Tiny has cultivated fields of them on the outskirts of town. People use them to travel between the realms.”

“We keep a bag here and in the sheriff station in case of an emergency,” Emma spoke up. “I’m sorry we didn’t keep them in a safer place.”

“I’m . . . I’m . . . ,” Evie’s eyes looked panicked as she pressed her hands to her cheeks, “I need to go lie down.”

“Evie -” Henry started, but this time she did shrug him off when he went to hold her.

“Give her time, Henry,” Emma encouraged him, reaching out and squeezing his hand.

He looked up the stairs and hoped she wasn’t going up there to pack her bags.

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

Henry tried to give Evie space, but after almost an hour, he couldn’t take it anymore. He made his way upstairs, opening the door of his old room as slowly and quietly as he could. The room was dark, and Evie was curled up on the bed in the fetal position. He couldn’t see her face as he eased down on the bed, wondering if he should say something to her. He reached his hand out twice, but both times, he snatched it back, unsure if she wanted him to touch her.

“Who’s Tiny?”

He startled as she rolled towards him. “I’m sorry?”

“Tiny,” she repeated, sliding up to lean back against the headboard, “you said he grows the magic beans.”

“Oh, um, he’s a . . . giant.” He winced, knowing how crazy it sounded.

She arched a brow. “As in Jack and the Beanstalk?”

He nodded. “Yeah, but Tiny wasn’t the bad guy, Jack was. And . . . um . . . Jack was a woman.”

Evie blinked. “Okay.”

Henry slid up to lean back next to her, swinging his feet over the edge of the bed. “The true stories are a lot different than the ones you heard growing up.”

She nodded, and they were both quiet for a really long time. Finally, she shifted closer to him and nudged his shoulder.

“I just have one question.”

He took her hand. “Anything.”

“How did you manage to hide a giant from me all this time?”

He laughed in relief, relinquishing her hand to envelop her in a tight hug.

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

Evie looked nervous as he opened the passenger side door for her. She stood on the sidewalk, staring up at the mayor’s mansion, her eyes wide.

“You grew up here?”

Henry cleared his throat. “Yeah. It was quiet and boring, though, trust me.”

She reached for his elbow and clutched it as they made their way down the walk. “I’m even more nervous about having dinner with them now that I know who they really are.”

“They can come across as a little . . . intense,” Henry admitted, “but they aren’t the Evil Queen and the Wicked Witch of the West anymore.”

“And Robyn’s Dad was Robin Hood.”

“Yes, but my Aunt, she . . . kind of tricked him into thinking she was Maid Marian.”

Evie stopped abruptly, and he turned to see her shaking her head incredulously. “Don’t take this the wrong way Henry, but your family is really screwed up.”

He sighed and rolled his eyes. “You don’t have to tell me that. I lived it, remember?”

“And your other grandpa is Rumplestiltskin who married Belle, also making him the Beast, but he also is the one who took your stepdad’s hand, so he’s also the Crocodile?”

He gave her an admiring grin. “You catch on quickly.”

She shrugged, seeming pleased. “Well, they don’t exactly want idiots on the FBI.”

They had reached the door now, and before Henry could even ring the bell, his mother had opened the door and embraced him. She then turned tentatively to Evie.

“Henry called and said he told you everything?”

“Yes, ma’am,” Evie replied, “and though my head’s still spinning a little bit, it’s also kind of . . . an adventure.”

Something about Evie’s expression seemed to make Regina relax her stiff posture and release a breath. “I’m so glad you’re taking this all in stride. I was a little worried . . . “ she trailed off as she ushered them inside.

“Just as long as you don’t serve her any apples,” Zelena teased as she came out into the foyer to join them.

“That’s not funny,” Regina hissed.

Zelena rolled her eyes and winked at Evie. “I’ve always been the one with a better sense of humor.”

Evie laughed as Zelena threaded her arm through hers and escorted her into the dining room. As they passed the stairway, Henry noted that heavy plastic still hung from the ceiling.

“Was the upstairs heavily damaged?” Henry asked his mom.

Regina waved her hand in irritation. “No, it’s just that the work crew isn’t too keen on putting a lot of work into it with the holidays and all. The three of us are going to have to camp out in the den tonight. I apologize for the state of my home, Evie.”

“No need,” Evie assured, as they all took a seat, “I’m honored that you had me over under the circumstances.”

“Well, you need something besides burgers at Granny’s and Pop Tarts,” Regina snarked.

“Mom!”

“Well, it’s the truth,” his mother huffed.

Henry dropped it as Robyn bounced in with a basket of rolls. “Hey, Evie!” she said as she plopped down beside her mother.

“Hey isn’t the proper greeting,” Regina corrected her.

“And don’t slouch, dear,” Zelena added.

Robyn sat up straighter, though she let out a huff as she did so. “Be glad you don’t have two moms,” she told Evie.

“I second that,” Henry laughed, giving his cousin a fist bump.

“Okay, you two, enough of that,” Regina scolded mildly. Then she picked up a spatula and started cutting into the dish in front of her. “I hope you like lasagna, Evie.”

“I love all Italian food,” Evie replied, accepting a helping from Regina. “One of the things I love about New York are the restaurants – especially the Italian places.”

“Well, I hope you like my recipe. It’s famous here in Storybrooke, but this isn’t little Italy.”

Henry had never seen his mom so nervous about her lasagna. She was usually downright cocky about it. Now she was holding her breath and watching as Evie took her first bite.

“I can see why,” Evie told her with a genuine smile, “this is really, really good Ms. Mills.”

“Thank you, and please, call me Regina.” She rose from the table to get the wine, and as she walked past Henry she whispered, “I really like her.”

Henry wanted to clarify to his mom that he and Evie were just friends. He wanted to roll his eyes when Regina winked at him. But honestly? He was pretty sure his feelings were obvious to everyone in town. But were they obvious to Evie?

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

“So, how bad was it?” Henry asked as they got out of the car at Emma and Killian’s house.

“Not bad at all,” Evie told him. ”Your Aunt’s a little . . . “

“Insane?”

Evie chuckled. “I was going to say eccentric.”

“How polite of you. Or are you doing that thinly veiled insult thing you say southern women are so good at?” Henry nudged her. “Should I call you Scarlett?”

Evie backed away from him with her hands behind her back, her winter boots leaving tracks in the snow. “Please, if I were a southern literary character I would never in a million years be Scarlett O’Hara.”

“Oh?” Henry asked. “Who would you be then?”

“Scout Finch, of course.”

“Ah, the tomboy.”

“Mhm, and Scout is way more fun. Scarlett would never do . . . THIS!” She punctuated the final word by attempting to throw a snowball at Henry’s head. He doubled over laughing when the snowball burst into a small flurry before it made an impact. Evie’s disappointed pout made it even funnier.

“And like both Scout and Scarlett, you know nothing about making snowballs. Have you ever even been in a snowball fight?”

“Yes!” Evie grumbled, putting her hands on her hips, “We do get snow occasionally back home, for your information.”

Henry gathered up some snow in his mittened hands. “Okay, and how did those go for you?”

Evie glanced away from Henry. “Kind of . . . the same way that first snowball I threw. But I thought it was just because the snow was . . . mostly ice and mud.”

“That’s pitiful, Scout Finch,” he said as he continued to work the snow in his hands, “because the key to a good snowball is to pack it really well. See?”

He waited until Evie had drawn close to see his snowball, then he grabbed her and shoved the snowball down the back of her shirt. She drew in a sharp breath at the sudden cold, then screamed as she danced around to dislodge the snowball.

“You are going to so pay for that fairy tale boy!”

“That’s a horrible nickname,” Henry laughed nonchalantly as he worked at another snowball. Evie was gathering up snow, but he wasn’t worried. She still wasn’t packing it hard enough as she ran for him. But instead of throwing a fistful of loose snow like the last time, she leapt towards him and smashed it in his face. He sputtered to get the snow out of his mouth and blinked his eyes. Evie was already sprinting away from him as she laughed, and he took off after her. Soon they were slipping and sliding all over the snowy lawn as they threw snowballs and stuffed other ones down each other’s shirts. By the time they made it inside, they were breathless with both exertion and laughter.

They stomped as much snow off their boots in the mudroom as they could, then peeled off their snow encrusted coats, hats, scarves, and mittens. Henry found a drying rack in the laundry room, and they draped all their wet outer wear over it.

“My clothes are soaked too!” Evie said with a half moan/half laugh.

“Me too,” Henry said, rubbing at his wet hair. His nose and ears were numb too.

Evie shivered as she rubbed at her arms. “I want nothing more than my warm pajamas.”

“And a pile of blankets,” Henry added as they made their way towards the stairs. The house was quiet, and his parents had turned off the Christmas lights. It seemed everyone else was already in bed.

They made their way as quietly as they could to the attic, and then Evie grabbed her pajamas from the end of the bed and dashed into the bathroom. Henry peeled off his wet shirt, then struggled out of his soaked jeans. Even his boxers underneath were wet. He hurried into fresh ones as well as a pair of pajama pants and a t-shirt. Then he draped his wet clothes over the radiator. He had just finished up when Evie came out of the bathroom. He turned towards her, and what he saw caused the breath to rush out of his lungs.

It took his mind back to that summer. Evie had come across the hall in a tight little black dress, the back half undone. She was red-faced and irritated that she couldn’t reach the damn zipper. To say it was a little dress didn’t really convey how short it was. It was for work, some undercover thing, and her legs had been on gorgeous display.

Just like they were now. She was standing there, the light from the bathroom spilling around her, in nothing but her pajama top. It was the same button-up flannel thing she had been wearing all weekend with the little snowflakes all over it, and it hit the top of her thighs. Nothing overtly sexy, but a complete turn on all the same.

“I - uh – forgot to grab the bottoms,” she explained, tugging at the hem of the shirt. He moved towards her, unable to speak. “Henry?”

Her hair was down, the ends slightly damp and curling slightly. It was hanging over one shoulder, and the side of her neck that was exposed drew his attention. He reached up and tucked a stray hair behind her ear, then drew his finger down the skin just behind it. She drew in her breath a little, but didn’t speak or pull away.

“Do you remember that day you came over and asked me to zip up your dress?”

She nodded. His gaze shifted to her eyes, which were watching him intently.

“You turned away from me, gathering your hair up off your shoulders. I felt like I was some bumbling teenager as I worked the zipper. I noticed this freckle here,” he bent and kissed the one behind her ear, “and the one here,” he kissed another on her neck, then he pulled back, his nose brushing hers. “I saw freckles on your shoulder blade, right next to the strap of your bra. I even noticed a cluster on the back of your right knee. And I wondered just how many you had and what it would be like to count them all and kiss every single one.”

She still didn’t speak as he pressed a kiss to the freckles on her nose. “One,” then he kissed each cheek, “two, three,” he kissed her forehead, chin, and each eyebrow, “four, five, six -”

“Henry,” she breathed as his lips hovered over hers, “there are a lot more than six freckles on my face.”

“Oh, you’re right. I missed one here,” he brushed a kiss against a freckle just below her lower lip.

He grinned when her breath hitched. He wasn’t sure who moved first, but then their arms were around one another as their lips moved together. He cupped her face as he swiped his tongue across the seam of her lips, and she parted for him on a sigh. Evie slipped her hand up the back of his shirt, running her fingertips along his spine. He broke away from her lips and kissed the freckles at the hollow of her throat. She let out a moan as his lips drifted lower, his nose nudging aside the neckline of her shirt. Then he was undoing the buttons, and he glanced up to see her eyes closed, her head tilted back. He took his time kissing each and every freckle as he undid the first button, then the second. He felt her tremble slightly when he exposed her breasts.

“Henry,” she moaned, “maybe we should . . . “

Her words were contradicted by the way she dug her fingers into his hair. And maybe they should have paused and considered what this meant for their relationship, but by the time Evie’s shirt hit the floor, neither of them were considering anything other than the way their bodies reacted to each other’s touch.