#it instantly started to chirp a lot and soon more birds chirped from the edge of the forest - from the feeding area

[nei-ning]

I'm trying to get back to it that I would do something small every day. Like cook food for a week in one day, do dishes in second day, water plants one day, vacuum in other day etc.

Today I decided to water my plants and then clean front yard and put some Halloween stuff out there (pretty much just 4 regular lanterns and 2 big pumpkin lanterns).

As I cleaned the yard, that lovely old grandpa neighbor came home with his bike. He stopped to chat with me and we had long nice chat! It's always such a delight to see him and chat with him! Not to mention he feels the same! :D He said to me: "It's always so nice to talk with you."

I mean he does chat with all neighbors (if they are willing to chat back) but perhaps I'm his favorite? :'D I mean that's my conclusion from his own words. But it makes me happy if he enjoys our chats! I know I do, ahah :D

[helliontherapscallion]

Scientia Potentia Est (Adrenaline Junkie Part 10)

Part 1     Part 2     Part 3     Part 4     Part 5     Part 6     Part 7     Part 8     Part 9     Part 11     Part 12     Part 13     Part 14     Part 15     Part 16     Part 17

Spotify Playlist (collaborative)

Warnings: slight PTSD, mentions of death/dying, some description of injury/scars, slight panic attack

Word count: 2,734

(A/N): how are yall liking the story so far? 

You were woken up by the obnoxious chirping of various songbirds right outside your window. Cracking open your heavy eyes, you glanced at the clock on your wall. 7 AM. You only got about an hour of sleep. Great. 

Groaning, you reluctantly left the beckoning warmth of your comfortable blanket cocoon and stretched out your limbs. You stood up and trudged towards your luggage that laid haphazardly in the corner of your childhood room. Awkwardly twisting your body around to take off the sensors attached to your back and sliding off the prosthetic, you put it on your bed. Pulling out a random shirt and pants without giving them any real thought, you shambled off to the bathroom to shower and preen your wing. 

You stood under the warm running water for a while just doing nothing but trying to wake yourself up. The steam drifted idly throughout the room as you stepped out of the shower and finished your morning routine. You still felt dead inside even after your refreshing shower. Is this what Philza felt like in the mornings? Is this what death feels like? Oh wait. You already knew what dying felt like, you’ve died twice already and you had the scars to prove it. 

The scar on the right side of your back remained prominent and very noticable, but it faded slightly around the edges. The other scar that stretched across your cheek and stretched down to your stomach was new. They were red and raised. You remembered how you got them like it was yesterday. You, your brothers, your nephew, and Tubbo were following Eret still celebrating your win. You all completely trusted him, he was your teammate after all. Trusting him was a mistake. It was foolish. That power hungry bastard blew up everything you and your brothers built and worked for. He was a traitor to L’manberg. Everyone present lost a life in the explosion.

You shuddered, remembering the explosion. You remembered the feeling of extreme heat on your skin and the deafening boom that left a ringing in your ears. You remembered laying on the ground several feet away from your brothers’ corpses. You were the last to die that day. Everything hurt as you laid there slowly bleeding out from the deep gash running from under your eye to your midsection. The plumes of smoke floated up towards the sunny sky as everything burned around you. You hoped you would suffocate from smoke inhalation before you would bleed out again. The flames licked at your skin, almost taunting you with your oncoming death. Why couldn’t you have died instantly like everyone else? Why did you always have to die painfully?

A soft knock snapped you out of your thoughts. Looking down, you realized that you were clutching the side of the sink so hard that your knuckles were turning white. 

“(Y/n), are you in there?” It was Arthur. What was he doing up so early?

You wiped at the tears that had gathered in your eyes and cleared your throat. “Y-yeah buddy. I’ll be out in a second.”

You turned on the water faucet and splashed some cold water in your face. It somewhat worked for the blotchiness and redness, but your eyes were still puffy. You were just going to have to get out of the bathroom and pray that Arthur and Philza won’t notice. You took a deep breath and opened the door. There Arthur stood looking at you happily.

“What’re ya doing up so early bud?”

“My brother said that I’m a morning person.”

Brother?

Despite your confusion, you did your best to grin at him. “Well, early bird, do you wanna help me make breakfast?”

His eyes lit up with excitement and he jumped up and down slightly. “Yes please! I love cooking, Mama and Papa would always let me help!”

Oh, you absolutely hated not knowing something. You needed to have that chat with him as soon as you could. 

You smirked. “C’mon then, lets go get started!”

He sprinted down the hallway and towards the stairs. You felt a slight panic flare up inside of you. “Arthur, please don’t run down the stairs!”

To your great relief, he listened and slowed down to a brisk walking speed. You speedwalked over to him. For someone so little, he was surprisingly fast. By the time you reached the bottom of the stairs, he was already in the kitchen. 

In the kitchen, Philza was sitting at the table with a steaming cup of coffee in his hands. As per usual, he looked like he’d rather go back to sleep. You walked over to the coffee maker and poured yourself a cup, you were going to need it. Philza’s tired eyes followed you as you poured the steaming liquid into your mug.

“Tired?” His voice was raspier and deeper than usual.

“Yeah, didn’t get much sleep last night.” You sipped at the bitter drink before wrinkling your nose and stirring in an ungodly amount of sugar. Sipping it again, you sighed in content. That was much better. 

You walked to the chest and pulled out some bacon strips, eggs, and bread. Setting them on the counter, you turned to Arthur. He was standing on his tiptoes trying to clearly see over the counter. You chuckled, pulling a chair out from the table and dragging it over to him so he could stand on it. 

“Don’t get too excited kid, we have to wash our hands first. Then we can get to the fun part.”

Arthur scrambled over to the sink, pulling his chair along with him. Though he was extremely excited, he actually took the time to properly wash his hands. Once you both were clean, you both got to cooking. You let him scramble the eggs and butter the toast while you did the rest of the work. You didn’t want him to get burned, especially by the bacon grease. 

Cooking was quickly done with Arthur’s help and before you knew it, breakfast was already halfway done. Over the course of eating, Philza was slowly waking up and adding his own input into the conversation. You were hardly paying attention when Arthur asked you a question.

“Hey, (y/n), where’s your wing?” 

“Hm?”

“The fake one.”

Your eyes widened. Shit, you forgot to put it back on after your shower. You suddenly felt every single little touch on your amputated wing. The chair, a light breeze from the open window, the brush of feathers from your complete wing, everything. You felt vulnerable and naked without it on. You felt powerless. 

“Oh, I- must’ve forgot to put it back on again. Excuse me.”

You stood up from your chair, a screech resounding from the legs scratching against the floor. Taking care of your half-eaten breakfast, you tried to hurry up to your room as fast as you could scolding yourself the entire way for being so forgetful. So stupid. 

You locked the door behind you and saw your silver wing laying on your bed staring at you, as if taunting you for leaving it behind. You rushed to put it back on. Though you felt your muscles tense up because of the sudden cool, it felt incredibly relieving to have your wing back on. You felt whole. 

You awkwardly twisted around to fasten the leather belts around the base of your amputated wing and attach the sensors back onto specific spots on your back where your flight muscles were. You put one on your deltoid, one on your trapezius, one on both teres muscles, one on your infraspinatus, and lastly two on your latissimus dorsi muscle. It usually took you at least thirty minutes of testing the prosthetic’s movements and moving the sensors around slightly to get the placement of the sensors exactly correct, so you assumed that breakfast was over and done with ten minutes ago. 

Your wing was finally connected and fully functional, so you left your room in search for Arthur. You eventually found him in the basement in your old workshop looking through your filing cabinet of blueprints. He mustn't have heard you come down the stairs because he didn’t react. He just kept looking through your old papers, pulling a few out and putting them on a nearby crafting table. 

“Arthur?”

He jumped, the paper he was in the middle of pulling out slipped back into its place inside the filing cabinet. He didn’t turn around to face you at first, so you thought that he was just trying to catch his breath from your little scare. Feeling bad, you walked closer and put a tentative hand on his shoulder. 

“I’m sorry for scaring you. What’re ya doin?”

“I-I’m looking at your old inventions, Philza let me come down here to look at them while he tried to find me more clothes I could wear that fit.”

“Buddy, you should’ve waited until I put my wing back on, I could’ve shown you my prized inventions.”

He looked down to his feet. “I’m sorry (y/n), I just really wanted to see them and you were taking so long. I couldn’t wait.”

You frowned, putting a finger under his chin and making him look at you. You saw guilt darkening his eyes. “Arthur, never say sorry for wanting knowledge. Knowledge is perhaps our greatest weapon against the unknown in the universe. I want you to remember the phrase ‘scientia potentia est’.”

He sniffled. “Scientia… potentia est?”

“Yes, it means ‘knowledge is power’. Knowledge and power are two very… wide subjects, which is why I like the phrase. In a way, it means that you could pull off anything with knowledge. A lot of inventors live by that motto. Personally, it’s a motto that I swear by. Having knowledge gets me out of a lot of sticky situations,” you kindly smiled at him. “Now, do you want me to show you how my prosthetic works? I could even show you the first prototype if you’d like.”

To your delight, the smile that you often saw him wearing quickly returned and he nodded vigorously. You could get used to people wanting to know how your inventions work and why they worked the way that they did. You spent the next two hours explaining and answering questions about your prosthetic. You let him hold and examine your old leather wing. You showed him how the sensors were placed and warned him that if they were even very very slightly off, the wing wouldn’t work right. You even let him craft a sensor with you. 

“So, do you have any interest in being an inventor when you grow up?”

“Yes, I wanna be just like you! You’re like, the bestest inventor ever!”

You took a deep breath, kneeling in front of him and placing your hands on his shoulders. “Arthur, would you like to become my protégé?”

He scrunched up his face and squinted his eyes in confusion. “Your what?”

You lightly laughed. “Do you know what an apprentice is?” He shook his head. “Well, I want to take you under my wing. Teach you everything I know.”

His eyes comically stretched and his mouth gaped open and closed like a fish out of water. If it were possible, you’d imagine stars shining in his eyes. “You’d do that?”

“Naturally. You’re perhaps the most ambitious person I’ve ever met in terms of your goals, and at such a young age too. I’ve never met anybody besides fellow innovators that actually wants to know how my inventions are made. It’s refreshing in a sense. Would you accept me being your mentor?”

“I- yes! Yes, yes! A million, no, a billion times yes! Oh, thank you, thank you, thank you!” He cheered, squealing with delight and jumping up and down. 

You laughed. “Woah there bud, cool your jets. We have work to do, but first…” you sighed. You really didn’t want to ruin his moment, but you needed to talk to him about this if he were to become your apprentice.

He cocked his head to the side, eyes still wide with excitement. “First what?” “First… we need to talk. About your story, I mean.”

“What do you mean? We are talking.”

“No, not like that. We need to talk about your family. And how you want me to help you with The Warden.”

He visibly deflated, you didn’t think it was possible for someone to change moods so quickly. It was almost unnatural how fast he switched emotions. “Oh… Do we have to?”

“Yes, Arthur. We have to trust each other if we’re gonna work together.”

He shifted on the balls of his feet and fiddled with his thumbs. He looked very anxious to talk about his family.

“If you want, I can show you where I go to relax and think. Would you like that?”

He nodded and wiped at his eyes. You grabbed his hand and led him up the stairs. Since Philza was out, you wrote him a little note and put it on the table where he should see it right away if he came back before you two. You grabbed your satchel and filled it with two glass vials of water, a few snacks, and a blanket. Arthur just stared at you confusedly. 

You led him outside and hesitated. Should you ask him if he wanted to fly? It would be a lot faster to get there. “Arthur, would you like to fly there? I know it’s scary, but once you get used to it it’s so much fun!”

He reluctantly nodded, so you bent over and wrapped your arms around him to pick him up. You felt him tense up as you prepped for take off. “Hold on tight, I promise I won’t drop you.”

You pushed yourself off from the ground with a powerful flap of your wings causing Arthur to shriek in surprise. You and Arthur shot into the sky at a moderate speed. When you steadied yourself high above the treeline, you looked down at the boy in your arms. He had his eyes tightly closed and he was shaking slightly. “Arthur, you can open your eyes now.”

You watched as he peeked one of his eyes open and looked at you, you smiled encouragingly at him. “Go ahead, look around.” He observed his surroundings with caution before he opened his other eye. He was looking around in amazement, taking in every single detail from a bird’s eye view. You snorted before redirecting your attention back to flying. You needed to pay attention, especially when you had a passenger that would carry on your legacy after you die. 

The flight went by with Arthur giggling at various mobs below and sometimes pointing out something he thought was interesting to you. Your destination was now several meters ahead of you. Landing, you set Arthur down steadying him when he stumbled a little.

You took out the blanket and spread it across the grassy ground, smoothing it out. You beckoned Arthur to sit down next to you on it and you two overlooked the boundless expanse of the grassy plains. 

“This is where I came up with most of my inventions. It’s where I first tested my prosthetic. There’s where I jumped off.”

“How’d you know it worked?”

“I didn’t before I tested it. Looking back, it was stupid of me to do. Never, ever, do what I did.”

“What if-”

“No what if’s. Consult me before you test out anything dangerous in the future. I mean it, Arthur.”

“But I want to be like you.”

“Trust me kid, you don’t wanna be exactly like me. Besides, you’re you. You’re not (y/n) Minecraft. You’re Arthur Fox. You’re your own person and it’s important for you to understand that. Never let anyone take that away from you.”

He fell silent as he contemplated your words. You assumed that nobody’s ever told him that before, both due to his young age and potential lack of adult figures in his life. 

“Artie, you can tell me about your life when you’re ready. Take as much time as you need, we still have half the day left before we have to start heading back.”

He wordlessly nodded, turning his gaze to stare blankly past the cliff. In the meantime, you would wait patiently until he felt comfortable telling you.

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[angloie]

Beach trips and I'm Falling in Love • 2.5/2

When Annabeth meets a strange boy on vacation, she doesn't expect for their relationship to grow much. He's... terribly sarcastic. Cocky. A not-so great match for her witty self. But after learning he visits the same beach every year she does, their strange friendship blooms into something more.

Their realtionship isn't the only thing that blooms over the yearsー that meaning a certain raven-haired boy.

genre ; childhood friends to lovers, fluff, strangers(?) to lovers, exchanging letters au, percabeth mortal au.

warnings ; swearing, suggestive(?) themes.

prev.

That night, Annabeth can't fall asleep.

(Percy can't either, because he can't stop thinking about Annabeth and how he thinks he saw her back there.)

What is Rachel to him?

Annabeth thinks. Her mind is something like a broken recordー stuck playing the question on repeat. 

Not that she could judge, however, if Percy enjoyed her company more than hers, then that would be... Fine. Just fine. Rachel was probably more close to him after all these years unlike the blonde; who has been away for six years.

When Annabeth turns on her side to look at the shell seated stop her bedside table, she grimaces.

"You better make sure to return it!"

"I'll be waiting!"

Why does that make her frown?

The morning comes slow, slower than Annabeth would like, when the birds start chirping and evening comes to dawn after her sleep-deprived thoughts. 

She knows that Percy's curled up inside his bed, (though certainly not the cabin he used to occupyー there's no one next door) snoring like he always does. She knows that Percy doesn't know that she's here, and Annabeth also knows that he'll be asleep until promptly one in the afternoon.

Annabeth thinks she'll meet him around sooner or later.

The lull of waves crashing across the shore gives her chills. Mornings, she now realizes, are the best part of the day.

The rose gold sun comes down in tiny slivers along the sand.

Percy is loyal. He's a great friend, much more than Annabeth deserves, witty and sarcastic.

Percy is not hers. He never was in the first place, really; him with his cocky smile and his big heart. That heart of his can only hold so much, can't it?

She starts to wonder if she's in there.

The shell in her pocket suddenly feels heavy when Annabeth reaches for it, the chipped and cracked coat somehow still intact. She'll give it to him when the time comes of course. Just not now. Annabeth couldn't even muster up the courage if she wanted to. 

So, sandaled feet dug into the sand, she scans her surroundings.

At first glance the beach is beach is deserted, aside from a few lingering beach-goers that occupy the waves on their surfboards and the sand with their umbrellas.

It's quite tranquil on her ownー  under the morning sun and all. She's been to beaches near her house back home,e but nothing can really beat this view.

Her eyes dart towards the ocean, where the surfers ride on the waves, laughing and cackling whenever one of their friends falls face-first into the cold waters. She laughs a bit, too, the scene reminds her of how she always used to fall when she was learning to surf.

Speaking of the surfers... They all look like they're having a blast. You know, Annabeth might start to think that the raven-haired guy looks like Percy, that he has the same smirk as him, but that's just illogical.

Right?

It's only until that they lock eyes is when Annabeth freezes.

Same sea green. Same sparkle.

Same Percy.

And it's only until he freezes, eyes widening and stopping to stare, is when she thinks Oh shit.

Then he's starting to come over, and her legs start moving on their own. 

Away from him.

This can't be happening. It can't be. Not when she's not ready, when she's too nervous to even muster a word, not when Annabeth can't even look at him without her heart racing like never before. 

She starts to walk faster. Not so fast that it looks suspicious, but fast as to escape his gaze and go back to her cabin.

Annabeth can hear him saying he needs to ‘do something' to his friends. Annabeth can also hear his surboard digging into the sand, as well as his footsteps getting closer and closer. So close, that she thinks it'll only be a few steps longer until he reaches her.

Fuck, fuck, fuck, Her thoughts get even more rapid, Can't the universe just wait for a second?

Annabeth completely shuts down when someone grabs her wrist.

"Annabeth?"

It takes so much to not year away, to not run, to not speak. It takes so much to turn her head and look at him, more, though, when his tone is the most heart melting thing she's heard in a long time. (good timing, really, and just when she's been trying to get all the feelings she holds for him.)

"Percy." She breathes out, eyes widening when she finally gets a good look of him.

He's... Grown. 

His shoulders are broader. His hair, once unruly and messy, is exactly like in the previous pictures he's sent: Perfectly perfect and endearing. Annabeth notices that he towers over her figure quite a bitー what happened to the scrawny little Percy? Back then, she could easily look over him; but now? It's quite the opposite.

There’s an air around him, too, one that makes Annabeth gulp and her thoughts race.

Holy fuck.

Before she can let out a single word, she's engulfed into a bone crushing hug.

Thats pretty much when it all hits her.

Sure, he's wet and damp and smelling like saltwater and sweat, but she can't really pay any mind to that. Percy's warm. His touch is soft, gentle, just as Annabeth remembers. 

Why was she avoiding him in the first place?

Just when she thinks that it's fineー that she will not tear up over something like thisー her body betrays her and she starts to sink further, further into the hug.

Is she tearing up right now?

"I missed you," Percy mumbles against her head in a way that makes her heart pound dangerously against her rib cage. “So much.”

So just like that, Annabeth nearly falls for him all over again.

"You dumbass!" She pushes him off, hands fumbling through her pockets. "I m-missed you more." Hands come to wipe at her fresh tears. 

“H-here!” Annabeth sniffs as she hands him the one thing her mind has been lingering on non-stop: the shell.

He, blurry eyed and open mouthed, looks taken aback. For a second she thinks that he might be angry. That is, until he smiles.

“You kept it?” Percy asks. It's almost like he can't really believe it, like he didn't really expect her to keep it. 

"Of course I did, seaweed brain,” She gives a lopsided toothy smile. It doesn't really match her flushed face, but who's paying attention to that? 

When he looks at it fondly in his hands, Percy smiles to himself. “Its been too long, wisegirl." He looks her up and down. “You’ve changed."

She raises a eyebrow. "Like in a bad way?"

“N-no!” He's quick to correct himself. His looks the other way, trying to discreetly hide his blush. "No. Like i-in a... uhm- fuck." Percy covers his face.

"You've changed too.” Annabeth grins. “In a good way."

They smile each other for a second before someone from the shore line calls out Percy's name. He whips around, scowl growing on his face.

"I'll be back soon!" Percy rolls his eyes. He then turns to her.

"We should catch up," he says frantically, thoughts running on overdrive, "Have you been downtown yet? I'm staying at a new cabin a while away from hereー I'll take you there soon. Oh! And have you been to our spot? We can visit there later if you want.”

Annabeth cringes when the words fall from his lips. Our spot. She chews on her bottom lip. She can't really blame him for taking someone up there. Not even if she wanted to.

The rest of the day, and the next day after that, is bittersweet.

"I-Id be happy to.”

The sweetness is seeing Sally again. It's eating her famous blue cookies with Percy wearing bright smiles and her sporting the new sweater Sally crocheted. It's surfing for hours on end, it's playing with their dogs and meeting Mrs. O'Leary.

The sweetness is being with Percy once again; even if she does cringe when they go to their spot again.

The bitter, on the other hand, is meeting her.

Rachel.

Don't get her wrong. Annabeth was never much of a possessive or jealous person; and she still is not. She's level-headed, logical, and observative. Rachel is... Fine. She's crafty, Annabeth can tell by her paint-stained clothing and wry smile. She's pretty cool too. Rachel doesn't seem to have much of a problem getting along with her, so why does she feel so off about her?

"I'm Rachel," Annabeth remembers her smile quite clearly: It didn't quite reach her eyes. Or maybe Annabeth was just over-analyzing things? "It's nice to meet you, Annabeth!"

"Likewise." Annabeth gave a small smile. “Percy’s told me a lot about you."

“Oh, has he?” She giggled, "Well, I hope it's all good things." Rachel gave a teasing look towards Percy. 

Now thinking about it, Annabeth might have been a teeny-bit judgy. 

Percy, munching on a blue cookie, looks at her from his spot in his room. He narrows his eyes at her.

"I couldn't help but notice," He starts, as if reading her mind. "That you were a little on edge about Rachel.”

"Was I now?” She lazily questions, head hanging off his bed. 

“I think so." Percy hums.

"I was not," Annabeth scoffs. “I was just... Cautious."

"What's there to be cautious about?” He asks, spinning three times on the chair near his desk. He pauses to let the dizziness swirl his vision before coming back to look at her. the dog beside him, Mrs. O'Leary wags her tail lazily.

She sighs. "Nothing, I guess? It's just... Y'know what? Nevermind.”

"Spit it out.”

"No!”

"Yes!”

“No!”

“I’ll make you a container of blue cookies for the next three days?"

"...Fine!" Annabeth breathes after a beat.

She stretchesh her arms high above above her head. “What... W-what is she to you?”

Percy freezes, and she instantly goes into a panicky state. “Actually- Ignore that. Thats a stupid question so you don't need to answer, I just really-”

“Aww, is my little Annie jealous?" He unironicaly coos, “Don’t worry about it. Rachel's great."

Annabeth notices that Percy says her name in a intimate way. She notices how heat instantly flushes her face. She also notices that how he never answers her question in a way she'll understand.

Now that she's left hanging, Annabeth really can't stop more questions from flowing in her mind. 

Annabeth thinks that she's really been underreacting about Percy and his air of coolness. or maybe likeability?

Her arms flop down, and Mrs. O'Leary woofs.

Popularity?

Whatever it is, anyone can tell that Percy's much more than the dorky lame kid that used to be.

The group of girls that giggle and twirl their hair as they stare at him from their spot under an umbrella can surely see that, too.

It's not even those girls (who for the fact are pretty, much prettier than Annabeth) that can see that. Her neighbours talk about the 'handsome and nice young man that helped me carry my groceries'. (Guilty as chargedー the one and only Percy) or the 'Attractive boy who surfs early in the morning'.

The grannies at downtown's farmers market even gossip behind his back and treat him like some sort of Greek god with a perfectly structured jawline with a fit build and coy smile.

Oh, and did she mention he's as hot as the fucking sun?

(Which he, Annabeth thinks, owns up to.)

(She's really whipped for him.)

But he's respected her boundaries so far, so she'll keep her M rated thoughts to herself. But it's so fucking hard to not stare when he, clad in nothing but loose swimming shorts, shows up to her room at the crack of dawn.

"Looks like you're the talk of the town," Annabeth says teasingly as they settle into the sand. The umbrella provides the cool shade desperately need, to which Annabeth relishes in. “Is seaweed brain..." She feigns a fake gasp. “Actually likeable now?”

Percy threatens to shove a handful of sand down her throat, and she shuts up.

"Whatever," He mutters under his breath, eyes looking away from hers. For some reason he's avoiding looking at her. Annabeth thinks he's just embarrassed, but the way Percy steals glances at her when she's not looking, says otherwise.

"So where's Rachel?” She absent-mindedly asks. Not that she genuinely cares, or whatever, but theres really nothing else that occupies her mind. 

“Around,” He replies. "She told me she's going shopping in the next town for some swimsuits. Or something.”

"Ah."

A seagull screeches from above.

“Wanna see who gets in the water first?"

Annabeth already jolts upwards into a sprint towards the shoreline. "Hey! No fair!”

So the next while is spent with nothing but firendly smiles and secretive glances from Percy, surfing and swimming and having the most fun they've had together in a while. Annabeth grabs his ankle from under the waves, and she thinks that that might be the loudest scream she's ever heard.

Percy, mind stuck with thoughts on revenge, tried to come up with a scare of his own, until his lame scare comes out as throwing a peice of seaweed on her forehead.

 “Lameass!" She laughs, popping her head above the water.

“Smartass!” He yells back, eye twitching and tone sarcastic.

It isn't until the sun sets and the crabs crawl back into their caves is when they both flop back into the sand. Tired. Exhausted. Muscles sore and skin sunburnt.

For a solid thirty minutes it's just comftorable silence as the waves set the soundtrack. Along with the occasisonal him of the ocean, or even the cries of the cicadas back where the beach grass is.

For a solid thirty minutes, Annabeth thinks that she couldn't be more happier.

For a solid thirty minutes, all is calm, all is well, and nothing could be more perfect.

She closes her eyes for a minute thinking that she can spare one nap. Thinking that Percy will just wake me up, so it's fine if I snooze off, right? 

Annabeth dozes off with thoughts of him.

When she wakes up, Pery isn't beside her.

Nor is he on the beach.

For a hot minute Annabeth freaks out, squinting through the darkness to search for his figure. The lantern her doesn't really provide much light, let alone three feet away from her.

But then she sees that his surfboard isn't wedged into the ground, and his things are still there.

So where is he?

Oh. Annabeth thinks lamely to herself when she spots the figure swaying with the waves atop his surfboard. There he is.

It's illogical, really, for her to go after him.

If you don't go, that Rachel girl's got him forever, her head prods, you'll lose him forever.

It's even more illogical when Annabeth grabs her surfboard with a determined look; sandy hair and all.

The waves are calm tonight. No huge crashing of the chilled water, no raging seas or bitterly cold air. The clouds enclose the pale moon, only tiny beams managing to escape. She thinks it casts a blue hue to everything.

Using her arm to paddle her way over, Annabeth catches a glimpse at the stars.

Gods, the stars.

They're brightー brighter than the city that isー and bigger, too. They shine in a way that leaves Annabeth breathless.

Percy hums when she closes in next to him. His limbs dangle off of the surfboard and into the cool waters, occasionally shifting to keep steady. She hums back in reply.

A small wave laps across the shore.

 “That's Perseus.” Annabeth says lazily. She lays down, too, hair splayed across the board. "The constellation, I mean.”

“Perseus, huh?" Percy follows where she points: diagonal from the pair. “Like my name?"

"Like the Greek hero Perseus.” She murmurs quietly.

“You've told me about him." He recalls, "He slayed Medusa and saved Andromeda, right?"

"Mhm," Annabeth nods. "He also had a happy ending. That is, for most Greek heroes.”

She smiles to herself, and Percy can't really think of anything more beautiful than her.

Believe it or not, Percy is good at hiding things. 

Like when he hides the secret stash of snacks under his bed from his mom, (for three years straight and running) or when he hid Mrs. O'Leary when she was just a pup in his closet.

He likes to think that he's good at hiding his feelings too.

Feelings about Annabeth, of course.

Not that he really has anything for herー it's just that whenever he sees her he gets a fluttery feeling in his stomach, his voice gets all awkward, his mind instantly goes to how fucking gorgeous she looks, and how she practically radiates coolness and calm.

Okay. So what if he's head over heels for her?

Percy thinks it started a while ago.

He thinks it started when Rachel first called him seaweed brain.

“-Seaweed brain,” it falls from her lips on a warm spring day, when they're sitting in his room while it rains. 

Percy freezes to look at her. "What?"

“I said It raining cats and dogs out there,” Rachel repeats, “Seaweed brain."

When she catches the slightly shocked look on his face, she frowns. “Something wrong?”

"No,” He murmurs, looking down. "Actually- kinda. that nickname just threw me off a bit, I guess.” Percy give a lopsided smile.

Annabeth only calls me that, he thinks. It feels weird when you say it.

“Oh." She deadpans. “Should I not call you that then? I saw that Annabeth girl call you that, like, a ton of times in one of her letters.” Her eyebrows raise, and Percy reels.

“You were reading my letters?" He frowns. “...Whatever. The nickname- its kind of a personal thing. You know, between me and, uh... her. It'd be cool if you didn't say it.”

“Oh. Okay.” Rachel huffs.

Somehow, Percy never labeled it as love.

Percy didn't label it as love when Annabeth became the ‘nothing!' that came out of his mouth when Sally asked why he was smiling so much. Not when he couldn't stop staring at her in her swecause fuck, she looks so good. Not when Percy was confused on why his love for her became something more.

But that night, that one single night, when Annabeth came to join him under the stars, is when he thought otherwise.

With sunkissed sunburnt skin, 

lips cracked and dry,

moonlight against her face,

The last day of Annabeth's vacation comes on a sunny humid day with the clouds nowhere to be seen. 

He did label it love.

There isn't an air of despair, however, Annabeth'll be back next year for a solid week in winter. College would be a pain, so she'll have one last vacation with her family before she starts her career.

For some reason Percy isn't sad when the news comes to him on her college. New Rome, a prestigious school in the middle of both their cities. All he gives is a coy grin; she can't wrap her mind around hit quite yet.

 "You got plans tonight?” Percy asks suddenly, his voice echoing through Annabeth's room. 

“No.” She tilts her head. “Why? Got something planned?"

“Yeah, actually.” He grins. “We're going to a party of a friend of mine.”

“What?" Annabeth nearly falls off her bed, eyes widened and mouth agape. A party? Tonight? 

“Yup! You better get ready, 'cuz we're leaving in...” Percy checks the clock on her bed side table. "Two hours. See ya!" Is all he says before he hopes out of her window. 

Annabeth nearly screams, but remembers that he's been climbing and jumping out of her window for years now. she lets out a ragged sigh of relief.

"Fuck you!” She yells out to his figure, already dashing away. He turns around, sly smirk on his face.

“Only if you watch!" 

And then he's gone, leaving Annabeth with a red hot face and a flustered mess.

Fuck.

.

.

The next two hours is- um, well...

Chaotic.

Just plain chaotic.

Her who closet is thrown into her bed in a contemplation what to wear. Light or dark? Whats the occasion? How much people are attending? What's the setting?

You're overthinking things again, Annabeth's mind jolts. Just throw something on!

Along with chaotic, she would also describe the scene as a fever dream. 

She opts to wear a black bodycon dress with stringy ties and a loose and light jacket. Annabeth can't really deceive the rest of her look- her mind is all gushy and mushy.

So here she is, standing in front of the booming house, (Percy didn't even bother to drive here there, the jerk) hands fidgeting like she can't stop.

(She can't.)

Annabeth takes a deep breath. She won't be here for a while, so whats she so afraid about? Sure, there's somone puking in a bush that she wants no part in, and there might be concerning sounds coming from inside the huge building, but who's paying attention to that?

Before she can back out, a voice calls out her name.

"Wisegirl!" Percy beams, “Hey!”

“Seaweed brain.” Annabeth crosses her arms as a her bottom lip juts out. "We're were you?"

“Lets not focus on that." He nervously laughs. “But c'mon inside. I want you to meet a few people.”

"Hm?”

The house is just as bad as she thought.

Red Solo cups everywhere, the smell of alcohol and cigarettes especially strong near the kitchen and couches. Bodies bump into her here and there like some sort of mosh pit. They don't even apologize, instead murmuring something with a tipsy tone.

"Grover!" Percy calls a guy over. "Don't you remember Annabeth?”

"Annabeth?" Grover, what she can assume is his friend, looks over to them. His eyes light up when he meets her gaze.

"It's been a while!" Annabeth smiles. Grover! It's been a minute since she's seen him, back when they were all kids. She fondly remembers beach trips with him back then, eating popsicles on her cabin stairs and all.

“It certainly has,” He sighs happily.

Percy then introduces her to many others: Hazel, a bright girl with a even brighter smile, Frank, a towering guy with a friendly touch, Jasonー a blonde guy with a oddly stapler shaped scar on his lip, Piper, a bubbly girl with a flirtatious smile. 

She'd go on about more of them, but at that point Annabeth would be rambling.

"Have you seen Percy around?" Annabeth asks to Grover when she loses him in the bustling crowd.

He nods his head no, and someone tugs on her arm.

“C'monnnn," A girl she met earlier drunkenly tugs harder, “We’re playing truth or dare downstairs!"

She wants do pull away, say no, but then Annabeth spots him in the crowd with people slung around him.

By the looks of it, they're flirting with him, words forming and lips ruling into flirtatious smiles. They touch him in ways that make her cringe. 

Annabeth hates herself for frowning and continuing to stare. The worst part, thinks, is that he's not trying to pull away. Nor is he denying their actions. In fact, he's indulging in it. 

Shit. She shouldn't be thinking this way. Percy's popular and nice. He's bound to attract a few people, and he's not hers.

Annabeth was never the jealous type, but for now she can let the horriblefeeling in her stomach slide just this once. 

She accepts the girl's prodding with a feignged smile.

[barnesandco]

Eat the Rich: Chapter 2

Eat the Rich Masterlist

The Avengers are tasked with tracking down an elusive thief, and retrieving the grand amounts of money she has stolen. Even after capture, she turns out to be impossible to break, save for a mystifying interest in Bucky.

Written for @mermaidxatxheart​ ‘s #jamiesmadwritingbash, under the Robin Hood AU prompt.

Pairing: Bucky Barnes x Reader

Warnings: mentions of Bucky’s Hydra days, and a short mention of dissociation. Disaster Avengers having breakfast.

A/N: I really really really love that people are saying they like the reader bc that’s the character people envision themselves as when they insert themselves into this kind of fanfic. I hope you enjoy what more we get to see of the reader here. So enjoy, and please continue to reblog and comment -- it makes this so much fun!

I’m not doing taglists, but you can follow and turn on notifications for @ayeshaupdates​​ to be notified when I post.

Divider by the fantastically talented @whimsicalrogers​​!

The dispute that had ensued after Bucky had voiced his wish to Steve had turned to resigned acceptance by the time the first slivers of dawn had started to creep across pristine floors, and Bucky found himself victorious. It's a grim glory that accompanies him down the hall and into the cell you had been moved into for the night. There's no mode of observation for this room, save for the presently closed viewing panel in the door. It's really early, and even though he doubts that you're asleep, given the stressful circumstances, his hand pauses where it's about to knock on the door.

With Steve having left for his run with Sam, and the others asleep or inactive in some way, shape or form, he's alone in the silver hallways of this portion of the Compound. Hand still in the air, tight fist, white knuckles and lip bitten red, and then he composes himself. Stepping away, he sits down on the floor, back against the wall and knees pulled up. 

While he waits, he listens, even if all he can hear is his own heartbeat and the faint, collective chorus of the birds chirping. The sturdy walls and doors between your bed and his floor prevent any speculation on your activities, since the only monitoring permitted is that of vital signs so an alert can be raised if there is danger. He could open the panel, but that might wake you and he doesn't want that. Whether this disruption, and how it is sure to initiate the crucial dialogue he’s here for, is undesired for his sake or yours is unclear. 

His head meets the metal behind him, and the cold stings at his scalp, but Bucky stays that way. Likes the cold bite of it, on occasions such as these, when he needs the ice-crystal clarity of mind, and he knows it'll warm up soon, under his touch. Likes knowing that Hydra doesn't control him all the time, that he can feel the prickle of freezing skin without having a debilitating flashback to cryostasis is indicative of how far he's come. He's no longer the man Steve flew to New Zealand for a month after he had a hellish dissociative episode courtesy of New York's first snowfall.

The metal thaws behind him, sunlight through the thin sliver of window at the top of the wall slides higher on the door. Opalescent solar glare on silver steel, half a rainbow in his exhausted eyes, and the weight of evaporating dew in the air is what precedes a conversation that has his stomach in knots and crosses.

The digital, holographic clock strikes nine above the cell door. 

Rising to his feet, Bucky can feel every single one of his 103 years in his back, the avoirdupois of a century's lamentable events on his weary shoulders. So he does a breathing exercise before he tries the door again.

Allowing his lungs to expand to their full capacity, and then holding that breath there until his alveoli scream, before exhaling in a rush of sweet-cereal scented breath, makes him feel less stone-like. More muscle than metal, soft and pliable and open. Steve would argue that that's perilous, here, in front of a woman who's so touch-and-go, all breakneck smiles, but he's not an Avenger when he enters that room -- he's Bucky Barnes, looking for more pieces of himself, pieces that he'll never find if his eyes are shut tight against the impact.

You answer upon the second knock. "Come in." Your voice lilts to a light taunt, but it’s effect is minimized by the drowsy scratch of your voice. Opening the door after letting it recognize his irises, Bucky thinks that the same can be said about the Christmas-just-came-early spark in your eyes, when they're underlined by dark bags. You're still wearing the green hoodie.

" 'Morning," he says softly, pausing in the doorway. The cell contains a metal chair of the same style as those in the interrogation rooms, and the cot you're sitting up in, back against the wall behind you. There's a small door in one corner that he knows leads to a toilet cubicle.

"To what do I owe this extraordinary pleasure, Mr. Barnes?"

"Bucky," he blurts unthinkingly, and your eyes widen in surprise and amusement. His guard is down, and he needs to be cautious. "And you can thank yourself for being so goddamn persistent and getting on everybody’s nerves."

The smirk brought to your face is aimed at your hands, bound loosely in front of you. A more tender expression than most seen before. The long, fretful night seems to be taking its toll on you. Perhaps you’re slipping. Or perhaps you’re pretending to, his instincts warn. He sighs, clenches his hands into fists, lets his nails dig into his palm. Metal whirs, purrs, and he releases when you move both bound hands towards the chair in front of you. 

Bucky sits down, rubs his palms back and forth over his thighs, lets the grainy feel of the denim under scratch at his hands. "You know me,” he begins.

"Not nearly as well as I'd like,” you say with a grin, looking up from your hands. He glowers. 

"I'm serious."

Your smile widens. "So am I. Come a little closer. I don't bite,” you tease, and he decides to take you up on it. Gets up and sits on the cot a couple of feet away from you, folding one leg up so his foot is under his thigh and keeping the other on the floor. You’re unfazed at having your bluff called. "...Unless you want me to,” you finish, and he ignores it. 

"You kept asking for me while you were being questioned.”

“You were watching? Did you like what you see?”

The temptation to roll his eyes is strong, but he manages to hold it in check, and fixes a strong focus on you. This is important. It’s about his life. “You wanted to talk to me, so here I am. Now let’s talk.”

“Where would you like to start?”

“How about your name?”

“Oh, you’ll have to get to know me a little better if you want me to give up that secret. Try again," you urge, and he huffs. Like drawing blood from a rock. 

Every question he could ask, every query he needs an answer to is being whirled around in the chaotic storm in his head, and it's so difficult to pick out just one. “Have we met?” He decides upon, momentarily forgoing the alternatives: Who are you? Why do I feel like I know you? Why do I feel like you're important? What part of me do you hold in those bound hands of yours?

Head tilted upwards, you consider the ceiling while searching for an answer. “Briefly.” And then you pause. Bite your lip, look down, make a so-so motion with your head. “Well, I wouldn’t say met, exactly. I wreaked some havoc and you watched.” That tells me jack-shit, sweetheart.

“When?”

“February of 2013," you respond instantaneously. Good memory. That's useful. 

“So I was with Hydra," he assumes, instantly going down all the roads he might know you by. A mission, a murder, more violence, another apology. Were you partners in crime, or his target? Or were you just in the way?

“I don’t agree with that phrasing, but yes, I suppose so."

“Did we work together?” He dares to question. 

There's a change: a tangible shift in the atmosphere, like the scent of ozone in the air before a thunderstorm. The stiffening of your posture, how you sit up straighter but hunch your shoulders against some invisible attack tells him he's touching a nerve, nearing cyclone waters. It takes a moment for the mask to fall back into place over your face, before you're able to answer, with venom, repulsed. “God, no. I would never work for them.” It's the most sincere emotion he's heard from you, this disgust. It eases him to know how strongly you feel about Hydra, but he’s wary of your raw response to it.

So, he treads more kindly. Softly. On eggshells sharp and off-white, feeling his way around the balance of your temper. “Then how did we meet?”

“I was on a heist,” you say, matter-of-factly. In your tone of voice, now even and professional, it sounds like the most natural thing in the world. As though stealing from megalomaniac neo-Nazis is just another day at work.

“What kind of heist? Who sent you?” Bucky observes the way you're pulling the edges of your sleeves over your hands as much as you can with your restraints. At this question, your smile returns, and he relaxes. Can now feel his leg falling asleep under him now that he's not so tense.

“Nobody sent me. I’m a free agent. I work for myself,” you announce, chin up. 

“What were you going to steal from Hydra?” He asks, and your head turns slowly towards him, firework sparkle meeting level, cool, sky-blue, a hurricane simmering behind his irises.

“You.”

“We did not sign up for this,” Barton grumbles from his second cup of coffee -- addicts, the lot of them -- adjusting his hearing aid with a frown on his face at the turn of events. 

Sam clears his throat, setting down a half-empty glass of orange juice next to Natasha’s espresso on the table and speaks next, “That’s messed up, man, that’s really, really messed up.” This is said with a shake of his head, and Bucky, having no response to either Barton or Sam, addresses Steve.

“There’s something she’s not telling me, Rogers.” He uses the last name to revert to the days of talking shop in green tents with the gravity of impending shelling in the air. Life or death, and though the circumstances aren’t quite so acute right now, this is a grave matter, too. Steve's standing hunched over the kitchen island, arms outstretched and hands flat on the granite surface, studying the pattern like it holds all the answers. 

Bucky watches him think, but Stark, in Spider-Man PJs and the bed-head of the century, strolls into the kitchen at a leisurely pace and interrupts. “There are a lot of things she’s not telling you. Who she is, where the money is, wh--”

“She’s not telling me why," Bucky interrupts a tirade that he knows could continue forever, given the chance. “People don’t go around stealing super soldier assassins for the hell of it.”

“Maybe she’s working for someone who wanted you to work for them instead of Hydra," Peter suggests over a ridiculously large bowl of ridiculously colorful cereal at the breakfast nook.

“She doesn’t work for anyone. Says she’s a free agent."

“And you believe her?” Sam wonders. It's a genuine question, curious but not dismissive or doubtful. 

“Barnes has quite the built-in lie detector," Nat tells Sam from next to him, her yoga-pant clad legs splayed across another chair. Yeah, he’s good at telling when people are being dishonest, but there’s also the fact this woman is way too fearless, fucking crazy to be made to do anyone's bidding. No chance in Hell does she takes orders. 

Tony slumps in an orange loveseat. “Must be a Russian thing," he quips, and then breaks out into a yawn.

Bucky puts his hands on his hips and glares at all of them, by turn, sharply. "Would you let me finish?" He demands. "She couldn't tell me why she was going to steal me from Hydra, but she said she'd show me." One could hear a pin drop in this room, now, the bustle of Avengers replaced by the obviously preposterous proposition Bucky's relaying. "Just me," he adds.

"Me?" He asks, voice rising in pitch and volume, and he fights to control both, rising to his feet. "Why would you steal me?"

"Have you seen you?" You ask back, eyes scintillating, glowing with mirth. "Gorgeous hair, those eyes, and hands that I'm sure know how to treat a girl right.”

Bucky looks daggers at you, and you look back. "I'm serious."

"I thought you were Bucky,” you say innocently, and he thinks he could scream in frustration, but he drops down, kneels just beside where you sit, and holds onto the edge of the cot like it’s the end of the world he’s falling off of.

"I don't think you understand how important this is to me. You know something about me you won't say. I've been trying to put together my past so I can understand myself better and you have a piece of my history. I need to know,” he enunciates each word as if it’s his last. Needs to convey the severity of the situation, how he has been trying to rebuild himself into a new life from the scraps of the old ones. He’s aware that he’s complete as he is but he also makes choices for himself now, and he chooses to know.

You look down, and although it’s your hands that are bound, you offer a golden prayer. "Let me show you." A lifeline, something he doesn’t want to believe and doesn’t know if he can trust. Hence, the question:

"What?"

A sad shrug of your shoulders is the first answer, and it all starts to unravel from there. "I can't tell you, I really can't. It's complicated and a really long story--"

Bucky elevates himself on his knees, his fingers dig in a little tighter, and the metal of the bed begins to creak ever so slightly. "The way I see it, we have all the time in the world, darlin'," he says in a thick voice, emotion simmering at the corners of his lips.

"Darlin'?" You can’t help but ask, without any flirt this time, any teasing, just a question in a tone as surprised as he is at the slip of tongue.

Bucky decides to ignore the interruption. "So let's start at the beginning.”

Fervently, you shake your head. "I can't." At his wide-eyed disbelief, "I mean it, I can't."

"No, you can, you just won't,” he insists.

"We could have a grammar lesson if you want, or I could show you why I was going to steal the Winter Soldier."

"What do you mean show me?" Bucky asks, moving to sit on the chair again. Leaning forward, he places his hands on his thighs, looks into your eyes to pull forth the words you won’t give him.

You blink, unbudgingly. "I have to take you somewhere. It's the only way to explain."

A sharp bark of a laugh escapes him, and he shakes his head as it recedes into chuckles. Your face is now blank and expressionless, gauging how to handle this, and he gives you the first response that comes to mind. "You're full of shit."

"What happened to darlin' ?"

Meeting your eyes, he says, “You want me to let you out so you can escape. A five-year-old could see through that.” Then, Bucky leans back in his chair, crosses one ankle over the other as well his arms. His hooded gaze is at a stalemate with yours, and it’s a hopeless tug of war. So this is how it ends. A night spent sleepless in vain, a few battle bruises and the tug of disappointment in his belly.

A dismal, and last-ditch sigh ripples through the air, from lips dark and worried bloody. Your eyes look overcast and you open and close your mouth repeatedly to say something, but do not voice your thoughts. Giving you the time to formulate whatever perfect sentence you’re trying to utter is torturous, but he waits. Until you stop, speechless, and he gets to his feet. Turns to the door, and then you speak from behind him, while his hand hovers over the handle.

"Let me take you, and only you, to the place you need to see, and I'll cooperate. I'll give you what I have left of the money, and I'll plead guilty in court and serve my time.” Bucky freezes. "Just come with me,” and you’re the one making requests, making pleas now. It’s inexplicable, he knows he should be looking this particular gift horse in the mouth, and he convinces himself that he will, in time, but right now, he accepts.

"Was that an innuendo?" He asks, still facing away, the question indicating a truce.

"If you want it to be," you say, and he turns around to look at you. "What do you say, Barnes, are we going on a road trip?

Hope swells somewhere in him he thought had been long abandoned for darker days and arduous nights. The same intuition that taught him to ask for this piece of himself tells him something is coming. Something that’s going to make a difference.

"Bucky. It's Bucky. And yeah, I guess we are.”

[barnesbabee]

Jolly sailor bold || K.H

Summary: What if the unbelievable beauty of a man caught an ettention of a mythical species?

Pairing: Kim Hongjoong x Siren 

Words: I’ll let you know ( 2958 )

Genre: Miscellaneous, Fluff

⚠  mythical creature!au ⚠

A/N: This is something different, I hope you enjoy 💖

ᴄʀ: ʙᴀʀɴᴇꜱʙᴀʙᴇᴇ

 'my jolly sailor bold’

  Hongjoong’s heard perked up as he looked around for the exquisite song. He stopped for a second and became more attentive to all the sounds surrounding him, trying to listen once more to the beautiful voice, but all he could discern was the sound of the leaves hitting against each other.

   “Hongjoong what are you doing?”

   The aforementioned male snapped back to reality and his gaze locked on his friend, who stared at him with a confused expression. 

   “You didn’t hear that?”

   Seonghwa cocked his head to the side, as if asking ‘hear what?’. Hongjoong sighed and looked down at the ground, as he resumed his walk.

   “Nevermind, let’s just head back…”

   Seonghwa gave him a judging look but walked alongside him anyway. 

    The younger male couldn’t take the melody off of his head as they headed back to camp. It was so… perfect. It was a lullaby-like song that anyone would be enticed and hypnotized by. There was no reason for the man to feel like this, he had heard beautiful voices countless times during his career, so why did he want to hear that particular one, over, and over and over again?

    As the night went on and the sky became painted with stars, he slowly became more addicted to the song.

    “Hongjoong what the fuck are you singing? You’ve been singing that one line for hours now.” Yeosang asked as he threw more fire in the wood.

    The short male was brought back to reality, and he pouted as he realized his marshmallow was way past burnt. He sighed and threw the soft snack into the fire.

    “I don’t know, I heard someone sing it…” He explained, as he placed another marshmallow on his stick and approached it to the firepit.

    The rest of the members didn’t quite appreciate the ominosity of Hongjoong’s statement.

    “You heard someone sing it? Like, here? In the middle of the woods? Should we be scared?” Wooyoung asked, moving his hands in circles, gesturing to all of the area surrounding them.

     Yunho reassuringly placed his palm on Wooyoung’s thigh, and squeezed it.

    “Don’t worry, we’re fine. This lake is famous for being big, a lot of people come by.”

   Wooyoung looked at the older male and pursed his lips together, as he nodded slowly. His eyes focused back on the fire.

    “I guess you’re right.”

    There were a couple of seconds of silence, before Seonghwa spoke up, remembering the scene from before.

     “Was it that what you heard when we were coming back here from the van?”

     “Yeah, it’s weird but it sounded like it came from the lake…” Hongjoong replied, recollecting all of the details from the afternoon.

     Jongho furrowed his eyebrows.

    “The lake? It’s October, who would go for a dip in the middle of Autumn?”

    “You know as much as me, but it was a girl’s voice and-”

    “Oh, that’s what this is about, a girl.” San joked, poking his older friend’s side. 

    Surely enough, San earned a slap to the back of the head for mocking him like that. Hongjoong, on the other hand, sighed and stood up.

    “I think I’m going to sleep, I’m tired of having this song in my head playing on repeat, good night.” He said, finally, as he popped one last marshmallow in his mouth, then licking all of the remainings off of his fingers.

    He went into the tent he shared with Seonghwa and Mingi (he had lost rock, paper, scissors and to his dismay, that would mean they would have to sleep alongside the messy, fidgety giant) and laid on the not-so-comfortable thin mattress they had brought for the sake of Mingi’s back. 

    Hongjoong groaned as he laid on his side and pulled the sleeping bag over his body. 

    “Ok now, sleep.” The male mumbled to himself.

    And after a long day of cooking, setting up camp, and carrying things back and forward from the van, the tiredness got the best of him and he fell asleep in no time. The deep slumber lasted no longer than three hours, however. 

     He woke up suddenly and sat up straight in the mattress. It was completely dark. The light from the fire outside was no more and he was met with two sleeping bodies beside him. Hongjoong was wide awake, and the voice that had relentlessly haunted his thoughts now called for him with the continuation of the beautiful song he yearned to hear again. There was no explaining what got over him, but Hongjoong just… followed the voice. And, as if it was controlling him, the male quietly exited the tent and walked through the thick wooded area. 

    All that could be heard were the gusts of wind whistling in the air, some night-birds chirping, and the sound of Hongjoong’s heavy footsteps stepping on dry leaves and sticks. He unknowingly headed to the shore of the lake, and just then, the song got louder and louder, as if it was approaching him. 

   Hongjoong stared at the sparkling moonlit water, and he could swear he saw an enormous fish dive into it, the moonlight reflecting off of its tail. He closed his eyes and breathed in the cold air that hit his face. 

    “My heart is pierced by Cupid, I disdain all glittering gold there is nothing can console me, but my jolly sailor bold…”

   This… sound. It wasn’t a song anymore, it was and addicting sound that pulled Hongjoong closer and closer. He stepped forward slowly until he fell. 

   His foot slipped on the muddy edge of the land and he fell into the icy water, and just then, it was as if he had woken up from a trance. Hongjoong’s previous calm demeanor was long gone and he was now choking on the sweet water, flailing his arms around in stress and despair. He had difficulty to breathe and it was as if he had forgotten how to swim. Soon enough, he lost all strength in his body, and his vision became blurry. His body started sinking, and he saw less and less. Before everything went dark, however, he felt himself being pulled farther down, but there was nothing he could do.

  “There he is!” 

   Hongjoong woke up, shivering and in pain, covered in dirt and leaves. He rolled his body so he’d be facing up, but he couldn’t move. Three boys circled around him, and Hongjoong weakly opened his eyes, just to close them again after the extreme sunlight hit his puffy, red eyes.

    “Hongjoong are you okay!? What happened!?” Seonghwa asked, carefully observing his body, afraid that if he touched him, he’d be hurting his leader.

    The older male only got a couple of coughs in response, as Hongjoong couldn’t bring himself to reply. Seonghwa and Jongho exchanged worried glances, before the latter delicately picked up the older, bridal style, and walked back to camp slowly. Once they arrived all eyes turned to them, relieved that they had found Hongjoong, but concerned about his state. 

    Yeosang looked at Yunho, who had also gone with the duo, with a questioning look. The taller shrugged, as none of them knew what had happened. 

    Jongho laid his leader back onto his mattress, and he immediately clung onto the warm sleeping bag.

    They were all worried sick for Hongjoong, but they didn’t want to bother him then. They left the boy and went to sit around the extinguished fire pit. All seven of them were silent. No one could guess what happened. Why did he leave in the middle of the night, why was he by the river, why were his clothes damp, and why couldn’t he move?

    A couple of hours passed until Hongjoong gave another sign of life. 

    The boys were chatting when they were cut off by a loud groan, and some shuffling inside the tent. Seonghwa immediately stood up and walked towards Hongjoong, but when he got near the tent the younger male walked out, limping slightly. 

    “Hey, hey, calm down, I’ll help you out…” 

    Seonghwa put Hongjoong’s arm around his own shoulders and his arm around the smaller’s waist, as he helped him walk to the nearest chair.

    “Hongjoong what happened!?” Mingi questioned as soon as Hongjoong was comfortable.

    The latter threw his head back and sighed. 

    “I… I don’t know. I remember waking up in the middle of the night and walking towards the lake for some reason, I slipped and fell… After that, it’s all blank.” Hongjoong told them, as he recalled the previous night’s events.

    “Why would you go to the lake at night?” Wooyoung asked. 

    “I said I don’t fucking know!” He replied bluntly, becoming frustrated at himself, for not knowing what had happened after desperately trying to remeber the details of his near death experience. 

    It was silent for a while. None of them felt like talking and the small camping trip had kind of been ruined. 

    Hongjoong moved his legs and immediately winced in pain, as his ankles started aching. He found this weird… He could have sprained an ankle, but both?

   He bent over and pulled his joggers up until his calves. His eyes widened, as he noticed a continuous purple mark on his legs, almost as if something had been tightly wrapped around them. The male instantly became afraid, what the fuck had happened!? 

   Hongjoong hid it as quickly as he unraveled it. He really didn’t feel like getting bombarded with questions he didn’t know the answer to.

    His leg wouldn’t stay still. Even though it hurt, he kept bouncing it up and down, biting his lip and staring at the floor, desperately searching for an explanation.

    A fish.

    It could have been a fish. 

    No, it couldn’t… Whatever fish was big enough to do that to his legs, certainly wouldn’t leave him alive. And how would a fish drag him to the shore?

    A person? 

   A person around the sea would explain the singing he had heard!

    But how would they see him? He remembers going down in the lake, how could someone spot him, in the dead of the night, with no light but the moon’s to help them drag Hongjoong out of the lake?

   The situation was slowly driving Hongjoong insane…

   He stood up and started limping towards the infamouslake, however, he was stopped by Yeosang who wouldn’t let him walk another step.

    “Woah woah, where are you going?” 

    Hongjoong sighed and hung his head low.

    “I need to be alone…”

    The boy noticed how Yeosang looked towards the rest of the members, as if asking for permission to let him pass.

    “Come on I’m not a kid… What happened was an accident, I can take care of myself!”

    Much against their will, the boys let him go for his walk. 

    Hongjoong walked for a couple of minutes until he reached his destination. He looked at the shiny water, that had a mix of green and blue colours. 

   He clenched his fists beside his body.

   “Who are you!? What did you do to me!? What the fuck is happening!? Why can no one hear you, why did I come out here, what even are you!?” He yelled out, in pure despair. 

   He was left there, with tears in his eyes and breathing heavily..

   As if on cue, a fishtail popped out of the water. A beautiful, pearly white tail with hues of blue. Hongjoong’s eyes widened.

   It was huge. 

   The water started moving, and there was a trail rapidly heading towards him. Hongjoong stepped back quickly. He tripped on his feet, as he wasn’t in the best of conditions, and winced as he fell on his butt, but it didn’t stop him from backing up against a nearby tree. 

   From the water, a woman-like creature shyly emerged.

   Hongjoong’s eyes were fixated on her. 

   She was of an unbelievable beauty. Big, shiny eyes, completely white, sandy blonde, wavy hair that fell down to her elbows, small lips that always seemed to be puckering, and a sharp chin and jawline. There were small pearls and algae in her entangled hair, and Hongjoong noticed shiny scales coming up her neck.

    She tilted her head slightly, as if waiting for Hongjoong to do something, but he didn’t budge.

    “My jolly sailor boat…” 

    Although she didn’t sing it, she simply said those words, he perfectly recognized them, as they had been playing over and over on his head.

    “Is it… It is! It’s you! B-but what are you!?” 

    There was no correct way to react. He was panicking, he was nervous, yet he was mesmerized and fascinated. 

    She smiled, flaunting her sharp teeth, and showed her enormous tail.

    “A mermaid…” Hongjoong concluded.

    The woman laughed, and somehow even her laugh sounded melodic.

    “A Siren.” She corrected.

    Hongjoong wondered what the difference was, but he didn’t dare ask. He really didn’t want to see what the sharp teeth were for.

    He pulled up his pants once more.

    “D-did you do this?” He asked.

    She nodded, although she looked apologetic.

    “I don’t get it. Were you… going to eat me? Were you going to kill me? Why did you do this?”

    The Siren was silent. She obviously wasn’t of many words… Hongjoong didn’t push it, but he also didn’t say anything else.

    “I was going to…” The gills on her neck flexed as she swallowed.

    “Well, why didn’t you?”

    The questioned amused her. The woman figured that he would run the second he found out about her past intentions, but he remained where he was…

    “Your face.”

    Hongjoong cocked an eyebrow, not quite understand what she meant. He brought his fingers up to his own face, caressing it confusedly.

    “You’re… beautiful. Out of all the men I’ve lured, out of all the men I’ve tricked, I’ve never seen one quite like you. Your features resemble ones of a siren, if I’m being honest. Puckered lips, perfectly shaped nope, sharp jawline… I fell in love with your face, I couldn’t kill you as I was afraid I wouldn’t be able to see you ever again.”

    He was clearly taken aback by the whole situation, but very, very flattered. 

   The two exchanged fiery glances, not sure of what to do next. 

    “My heart is pierced by Cupid…” She began, making Hongjoong close his eyes and lean in, as if that would make him hear better “... I disdain all glittering gold, there is nothing can console me but my jolly sailor bold.”

    Yes, that was it, that was definitely it. That was the hypnotizing melody he yearned to listen to once more. When he opened his eyes, the Siren was holding herself up, with her torso fully out of the water. Hongjoong could see the membranes between her fingers, the long, threatening fingernails, and the white and blue-ish fins perking out of her arms, moving up and down. 

     “Does my body interest you?” She asked. 

    Hongjoong smirked and carefully approached the Siren.

    “It amazes me…”

    He was a little hesitant as he came closer, but the Siren reassured him.

    “I won’t hurt you, if I wanted to I would have done so.”

    She was right. Hongjoong crawled in her direction, until they were close enough so he could smell the sea in her hair. He knelt in front of the creature, admiring her delicate features up close. Her body and features were all lengthy and scary, but her face, the important element to lure in her prey, that was unbearably alluring. 

     “What’s your name, sailor?” The Siren asked as she inched closer.

     Hongjoong mimicked her actions, and he could soon feel her breathing hitting against his skin.

     “I’m Hongjoong.”

     The Siren ran her fingers up Hongjoong’s half-exposed arm. He expected for it to feel… wet and fishy. But it felt just like another human.

     “I have never kissed a human before…”

     “Well, I’ve never kissed a Siren before…”

    The woman smiled slightly at the joke. When their lips brushed past each other, they pulled away slightly. It was as if there was a spark as they touched… They approached once more, this time fully connecting their lips in what could only be described as the ghastliest, most beautiful kiss. 

     It was as if they belonged like that, astray from their own species, in each other’s embrace. But they knew it wasn’t true. 

    Somehow Hongjoong wasn’t scared when he pulled away and stared into those white eyes. He actually found an odd beauty in them.

    The romantic escapade was cut off by a yelling voice in the distance.

    “Hongjoong!” 

    The male looked behind him. His friend couldn’t be seen, but the sound of leaves and sticks cracking and breaking became louder by the second. 

     “Don’t go!” Hongjoong begged.

     “I mustn’t be seen… Please don’t speak of me!” 

     Hongjoong didn’t want to let her go… He had just found her!

     “Will… Will we see each other again?”

     The woman smiled fondly and she backed away in the water.

     “Come visit me, and call for Aglaope once you reach the lake.”

    Hongjoong only nodded as he watched her sink in the clear blue water.

    “I’ll be thinking of you, my sailor…”

    She completely disappeared, just as Yunho got to his friend.

    “We started getting worried Joong… Let’s head back, this place doesn’t bring great memories.”

    Yunho helped Hongjoong up, who just let himself be maneuvered by the older man, as he was too fixated in the lake.

    They both started walking away, with a casual chatter. 

     Before they left, however, Hongjoong glanced over his shoulder, and he saw the beautiful coloured tail, illuminated by the rays of the sun, wave in the distance. Not a goodbye, but a ‘until some day’.

     And Hongjoong smiled, restlessly awaiting the day when he could come back.

ᴛᴀɢʟɪꜱᴛ: @succulentpk​

[willowistic22]

Soon You’ll Get Better (Redfinch)

It was four months ago when his world burned into flaming embers. But after some time, he’s starting to heal from all the pain. And so, his mind starts screaming the same question in a million different ways which all hurt him like knife cuts from different angles : How could he? 

Words : 3682

Part : - 

Warnings : Death, grief, hospitals 

A/N : Abt damn time I post a fanfic huh?? hehe i set a 2 fanfic a month goal for myself to keep the momentum going, so that would kinda explain it. Anyways here a fanfic. Inspired by a post I made a while ago the post is long gone idk where tf it is anymore now and there are elements of Taylor Swift’s ‘Soon You’ll Get Better’ but it’s not a songfic bcs in the fic the song is used as a song Albert wrote. Just read the fic and you’ll get it! Enjoy!!!

@fifty-for-the-racer since you were really passionate abt this idea, this one’s for you <3 

Walking through the hallway of his college dorm, backpack on his shoulder while clutching a few books he brought to class close to his chest. It’s full of other college students minding their own business. But they’re loud and fast, while Albert is slow and quiet. His mind is the one going at a fast pace. 

The weight and hollow feeling he has grown used to since four months ago doesn’t feel the same way as before. It doesn’t hurt as much. And somehow it felt wrong that he is moving on. He couldn’t move on. How could he?

His brain gets louder and louder with all these new thoughts that he’s been developing lately. As if the loud noises of fast paced college students isn’t enough to make him suffer. Albert lets out a deep sigh as the sight of his own dorm slowly comes to view. He can get some peace of mind for the time being since his roommate still has a class at this hour.

Albert slowly opens the wooden door but stops in the middle of his tracks upon his new discovery.

“I didn’t— I wasn’t— Race let me in before he left for class!” A boy, that obviously doesn’t belong here, sits on Albert’s bed with a few of his messy clothes on his lap. The boy stands up to approach him while frantically moving the clothes away from him, “I didn’t mean to snoop around your stuff, I swear! Your clothes were just- they were a mess and I thought I could fold it—“

“Woah, calm down there, Finch” Albert cut him off, closing the door behind him before he takes a few steps closer to the worried looking blond boy, “You know I trust you with my stuff”

He lets out a deep breath upon hearing those words, “I know, but… I never asked for permission”

Finch’s eyes meet Albert’s, blue and hazel orbs locked in a soft gaze. He sighs out, “I’m sorry”

Albert simply chuckles through his small smile, dropping his bag onto his desk along with the black snapback he’s been wearing all day which reveals his bright red hair in a messy floof, “No need to be sorry. Besides, I really need to start cleaning up”

Finch chuckles at that, dropping his guarded shoulders down. Wordlessly, Albert starts picking up his clothes. Separating them to two big piles on the bed, one dirty pile and another clean one for him to fold and put back to his closet. Finch hesitated on approaching to help. But after the redhead flashes him a warm smile over his shoulder, Finch gladly skips next to him to help.

For the most part, they don’t talk. Finch isn’t sure if he should, not that he’d know what to talk about anyways. But he doesn’t mind it. They could still hear other college students through the walls as it isn’t that thick. And the birds chirping outside makes its way through the single window next to Al’s bed, along with the rays of light coming from the afternoon sun.

“I’d hear an earful from mom if she ever finds out that my dorm is messy” Albert finally broke the silence upon feeling the little tension from the other boy next to him.

Finch steals a small glance to his side, a little surprise with the topic he chose to speak up about. But he doesn’t complain. If this is how Albert mourns, then he’s willing to help.

“Yeah?” Finch asked softly, stacking a clean pair of pants he just folded to a clean pile of other pants.

“Yeah” Albert replied, eyes still glued to his task of separating his clothes. He can feel a little smile makes its way on his face, “She’d tell me to put them back in my closet as soon as it's clean so I won’t forget”

By now, all the out of placed clothes are picked up since Finch had already started beforehand. The wooden floor and the rest of the furniture in his dorm are free from Albert’s clothes. He reaches for the drawer under his bed to grab the laundry bag.

“But… I always end up either forgetting or procrastinating” Albert smiled to himself with a chuckle as he rose up to put the dirty clothes in the laundry bag.

Finch laughs along with him, glad to see him smile while he talks about his mother. It’s been some time since he last saw it. He’s glad there’s progress being made.

It didn’t take long to put the dirty clothes in the laundry bag. He carelessly tosses the bag to a forgotten corner of his dorm, turning to face the neatly folded clothes on his bed so he can organize it in his closet. His focus however, caught on to a strange sound that came from the corner where he threw the laundry bag. A loud thud between a hard solid object with a mixture of unorganized notes originating from strings.

The two boys flip their heads towards said corner, on the remaining space between the wall and the edge of Albert’s bed. There, lay a dusty guitar leaning against the corner created by the wall. The light brown of the wood reflects the minimal rays of sunshine that reached that forgotten corner, making it more majestic than it actually is.

“You didn’t tell me you brought your guitar here!” Finch exclaimed upon taking note of the guitar’s presence. An exciting energy buzzing through his veins all of a sudden. Everyone could instantly tell from the way his blue eyes lit up and his lips splitting into a smile.

“Didn’t thought it’d matter” Albert replied with a little chuckle. He watches as Finch gets his hands on the instrument, all while putting his clothes back in his closet.

The moment Finch gets his hands on the guitar, he puts it on his lap and sits down on the now spacious mattress. The spring bounces up and down with the weight of the blond boy and his new discovery. He starts to lightly pluck the strings, creating a lovely tune while waiting for Albert to finish up cleaning.

As the last item is placed back to its rightful place in Al’s closet, he closes the doors and turns to Finch. He’s still busy getting entertained by the guitar to notice the warm smile creeping its way to Al’s face.

Though, he doesn’t linger in the gaze. Seeing that he’s been wearing the same outfit for the whole day, he decides to slip into some warm sweatpants and a clean t-shirt.

“When did you brought it here?” Finch asked, eyes gleaming at the sight of a freshly dressed Albert walking towards him on the bed. His finger still mindlessly strumming the guitar, the same soft melody still echoes around the dorm.

“After like, what, two and a half months maybe? Dad decided to do some cleaning” Albert explained, ruffling his bright red locks with a hand, “I found this guitar after forgetting about it for a while and decided to keep it. It kept me busy for the most part”

The pair moves to lay down on the bed together. It’s technically too small to fit two people but neither boys mind cuddling towards each other.

Albert takes charge of the guitar while Finch gets comfortable lying next to him. Arms slightly wrapping his shoulders with his head tucked warmly in the crook of Al’s neck. Finch’s small blond curls slightly brush against the coarse skin of the other boy, almost as softly as Albert’s own fingers strumming his guitar.

“Turns out mom had always kept it” Albert suddenly spoke up, soft yet still deep. Finch looks up as best as he can to meet his eyes, though the boy doesn’t seem to be making any efforts on trying to do the same. His eyes turned blue, looking down at the strings he’s strumming, “At first I thought she threw it away since I wouldn’t be needing it for college. But I found it in her closet one time when I had to pick something up for her”

Albert plucks one last string of his guitar before stopping the tune, he let’s the last note resonate around the room. A long drawn out sigh leaves his nose, the aura of this dorm drooping along with his sadness.

Finch looks up to study his face. Hazel eyes clouded with a secret rainstorm behind it. Lips still smiling, but it was cracked by the thunderous thoughts that are now occupying his head.

“Hey, you okay?” Finch dared to whisper. It might be a bad idea, but it’s the only thing he could do right now.

Albert doesn’t answer. He seems to still be lost in whatever is running around in his head.

To which, Finch continues, “It’s okay to be sad, Al. I know you miss her”

“Yeah. I miss her a lot” Albert finally replied. He shifts his head down towards where Finch is already looking up at him, “But I don’t know. Lately it… it doesn’t hurt as much as it first did”

The other boy could only tilt his head to the side with a question mark drawing the lines of his face. Albert just smiles down at the face and chuckles at the cuteness before continuing, “I still miss her but… It’s getting easier to move on. And I know it’s supposed to be a good thing but… I feel kinda guilty ‘bout it”

Finch softens his face at the explanation, offering a comforting smile. He cuddles closer to Albert, which was received with open arms. Al slightly pushes away his guitar to let Finch cozy up next to him a little further. Once they find a comfortable position, they take in the smell of each other and then let it out with one huge sigh.

“It does make you feel guilty if you start feeling like moving on from someone’s death” Finch acknowledged Albert's previous words, gentle and slow, “But nothing in this world would ever make you forget about your mother. I can promise you that”

The redhead snorts out a little laughter, “You sound like my therapist”

Finch, not knowing how to respond to that, laughs along with him. Which only makes Albert tighten his hug around the boy.

“You’ll get through this. I know you will” Finch said, after pondering about his next words for a minute. It was only replied by a squeeze to one of Finch’s hands but he knew it was a way to appreciate his words without verbally saying it.

“Y’know…” Albert suddenly began after a few moments of silence, gently pushing Finch away from the hug so he could sit up on the bed properly. He sits slightly on the end of the bed, opposing Finch so they’re now face to face without needing to turn their heads. He props his guitar on his lap again and looks down to the other boy, “... I uhh… I wrote a song while she was in the hospital. Hoping she’d get better”

Sensing a little private performance coming up, Finch excitedly sits up along with him. Legs tucked in close to his chest, letting his hands rest on his knees. A hopeful smile rests on his face, shining as bright as day.

It makes Albert giggle a little while his fingers start to softly strum the guitar again. It’s a different tune from before, but this one doesn’t sound like something he made up in the moment. It has a pattern to it, soft and comforting.

“I wrote it in the summer after our high school graduation. It’s called… ‘Soon You’ll get better’” Albert explained, looking down to the vibrating strings, “Mom really liked it when she first heard it. She always asked me to sing it any time I visit her in the hospital” 

“And… you’re gonna sing it to me now?” Finch asked hopefully, getting impatient from the absence of his boyfriend’s vocals.

Albert chuckles at it, but nods along to answer his question. To which, Finch settles in his seat and waits for Albert to start singing.

“The buttons of my coat were, tangled in my hair

In doctor's-office-lighting, I didn't tell you I was scared”

He keeps his eyes glued down to the strings. Finch isn’t sure if he’s doing this on purpose, but he won’t question it. It’s a song that stuck pretty close to Albert’s heart it seems, and for a good reason too.

“That was the first time we were there

Holy orange bottles, each night I pray to you

Desperate people find faith, so now I pray to Jesus too”

His voice is nasally but still strong and sweet as honey. Finch was captivated by the deep baritenor vocals, slipping out of reality with every gentle note echoing around the dorm. Unknowingly, a smile spread across his face as the song progressed.

“And I say to you

Ooh-ah, soon you'll get better

Ooh-ah, soon you'll get better

Ooh-ah, you'll get better soon”

Briefly, Albert drags his eyes up to Finch. A sad kind of happiness paints his face and Finch could only reply with the same look on his face.

“'Cause you have to”

Every word he wrote in the song made him sound so vulnerable, something not many people get to witness. Every sad lyric he wrote sounds like a rain parade sent from hell. The same feeling he felt when his father called him to get to the hospital as quickly as possible to say one goodbye to his mother.

Finch remembers that day too. The couple were with some of their other friends on a night out. When the phone rang, Albert had a bad feeling because the last time he went to the hospital his mother looked worse than before. Nonetheless, he still picked it up and it sucked the joy right out of him. Albert had to ask Finch to come with him. No one wanted to know what he would’ve done if the poor boy walked there on his own.

Mr. DaSilva, his two older brothers along with their wives and Albert’s only niece from his oldest brother had said their misty goodbyes. It left their eyes so watery, they couldn’t recognize Albert running in the room. A woman laid helplessly on the hospital bed, skin too pale for her own good and the same red locks she and her three sons share fully shaved off her head. Their other relatives aren’t here which Albert had assumed was because they’re still on their way. But that didn’t matter. What mattered was saying goodbye to his beloved mother.

She still had the energy to smile at Albert and Finch when they first stepped in the room. Albert had knelt down next to her, taking his mother’s hand and soaking up any warmth left in the palms which was next to zero. They had exchanged words in whispers, and by the time Albert got up to hug her the water starts staining her clothes.

“And I hate to make this all about me

But who am I supposed to talk to?

What am I supposed to do

If there's no you?”

The song was meant to be a get-well-soon prayer for his mother. Albert had his doubts that this time she’d make it out alive since it’s the third time her cancer came back. And for a while, he believed that she would. She had always been a fighter and she did fight like hell at the start of it, saying that she wanted to see Albert graduate college.

Of course, the universe had its own plans. She was too weak to fight any harder and thought that it was enough. As much as Albert hated it, he still had to let her go when the heart monitor stopped beating. The long ringing noise was so deafening, it pierced like dagger right through his eardrums.

As the doctors and nurses took over to do their jobs, the family mourned her death. The pain from every teardrop felt like a stab to the heart. It kept on feeling like that for some time after her funeral as they mourn in their own different ways.

“This won't go back to normal, if it ever was

It's been years of hoping, and I keep saying it because

'Cause I have to”

Albert was lucky he had all his friends to be there by his side as support. Giving him the necessary space any time he needs it, a shoulder to cry on when he needs it, giving him their therapists’ contact number when he asked, or welcoming him back to the group when he feels like going out with them. Overall, they’re the most amazing friends Albert could’ve asked for.

At first it was hard to keep up with how fast the world is spinning. But Albert soon relearned the pace and slowly healed from the pain. And that’s his new problem. The term ‘healing’ in this kind of situation felt so wrong, to use and to do. Albert feels guilty for trying to feel normal after his mother’s death, because it’s obvious nothing is normal. 

Take the rest of his family for example : they used to have family dinners every month in the DaSilva household. Albert, his brothers, sister in-laws, his only niece, and both parents. Four months after the funeral they haven’t had their monthly family dinners. Maybe it was for the best. His father didn’t even seem okay when he was cleaning out his wife's stuff.

“Ooh-ah, soon you'll get better

Ooh-ah, soon you'll get better

Ooh-ah, you'll get better soon

'Cause you have to”

Strumming the last few notes of the song, Albert could feel the water forming in his eyes again. He ignores it till he strums the last chord. Bringing his gaze back up to meet Finch’s, he can tell the other boy noticing the little drops of water threatening to trickle down his cheeks.

They stayed silent for a few seconds, Albert waiting for the little wave of sadness to properly sit while he puts down his guitar on the floor and Finch waiting for a cue to do something.

“She always liked it when I sing it to her” Albert exclaimed, trying to play it cool while he wipes his tears away, “I don’t think you’ve heard it before”

“No, I haven't,” Finch replied. He shifts closer to Albert to help him wipe his tears away with the sleeves of the hoodie he’s currently wearing. After it dried, Finch’s hands cupped his cheeks gently and he whispers, “But it was very lovely. I love it”

To that, Albert smiles. It made Finch smile along as well. But he knows better not to mistake that smile for happiness.

“Thanks for stopping by, Finch” Albert finally said, “I really needed it”

Finch smiles, letting out a little sigh, “Glad I could help”

He leans his head closer to Albert. Sensing a kiss coming up, Albert does the same and their lips meet halfway. Softly brushing against each other while their eyes closed to focus on the warm feeling. Albert gently holds one of Finch’s hands on his cheek with his own as the kiss deepened, still gentle and loving.

A jingling noise followed by loud chattering and laughter coming from the other side of the door got them to pull apart quickly. In storms, the door opens and a tall messy looking figure enters the room still packed with energy and excitement.

“Oh! Uhh… I didn’t know there was a date scheduled here!” Race exclaimed, freezing like a deer caught by headlights in the middle of the room when he noticed his roommate already had his own company.

The two boys looked past him and saw a bunch of their other friends standing in the doorway, waiting for a cue to enter the dorm. They wave at each other politely, all while Finch slowly backs away from his boyfriend. It made the group chuckle, and the couple a bit embarrassed. 

“Yeah, uhh…” Race awkwardly said, scratching the back of his head, “...We were about to have a game of poker here—but it’s cool! We can go somewhere else—“

“Nah, it’s okay, Racer!” Albert exclaimed, swinging his legs down the bed. He approaches the door where his friends are still waiting around, greeting them with a big smile, “You guys comin’ in or what?”

To which they all laughed, happily piling in the dorm. They simply put their stuff on an empty space in the floor before they make their way to where Race was already sitting on the floor.

“You playin’, Al?” One friend called out, Romeo.

“Yeah, deal me in” Albert replied, closing the door after waiting for all of his friends to pile in. He trails behind the last friend, Crutchie, towards the little circle his friends had made.

“Last time I was here the floor was covered with your clothes, Al” Crutchie observed the dorm while he slowly lowered himself to the floor in between Finch and Romeo, “Did you finally pick them up?”

Albert sits himself down next to Finch, exchanging a laugh with the other boy before answering, “Yeah, Finch came by to help”

“Took you long enough!” Race joked, still busy prepping the game for the others. Everyone laughed at it, all while Al reached his hands out to playfully smack his knee.

“Alright, alright, that’s enough” Jack stopped the two, growing impatient with the inevitable poker game, “Let’s get this game going!”

So now he’s playing a game with his friends like normal. Of course, the conversation he just had with Finch still lingered in his mind. Of how much he misses his mother and how guilty he feels for trying to move on. But the promises Finch made gave him a little glimmer of light. It’s not something he can technically promise, but it’s definitely something to hope for. With a glance shot towards his boyfriend next to him, which was replied with a soft gaze from Finch himself, he knows that everything will turn out alright eventually. 

[let-me-write-shit]

Somebody To You: 23

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Word Count: 2,662

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CHAPTER TWENTY THREE

Having to stand by and watch as the person Harry cared the most about was going through even more suffering, knowing there was most likely nothing he could do to remedy the problem, was pure hell. He could tell she was trying her best to put on a brave face and hold her head up, but that facade didn’t change the fact that he had to physically hold her up so she wouldn’t collapse while she was on the phone with her ex.

Normally, Harry was the jealous type. It wasn’t something he was proud of, and he was working on it, but he’d be lying if he said he didn’t care that the person he cared about was flying home to see her ex-boyfriend of several years. Who wouldn’t care? This was different, though. It was hard to put any kind of scrutiny on that when Zoey was so clearly on the verge of a breakdown. He didn’t have time to be jealous, he was too worried about making sure Zoey would be okay.

So, once Katie and Nancy were out of view, he listened. Without interruption he listened to Zoey’s conviction weaken and crumble as she explained Michael’s dad, Paul, and his battle with cancer. He listened as she described her relationship with her ex-boyfriend’s family, especially the man she referred to as ‘Pops’, and how close they had gotten during her time with Michael. He listened as she confessed feeling guilty for her lack of communication with them after her relationship with Michael had ended and how little time she had left with him, especially with her living in LA. 

Harry’s heart shattered, his mind bringing him back to when his own step-father lost his battle with cancer. He’s been there before. He knows how she feels. And having to go through that so soon after losing her best friend, he couldn’t even imagine how she must be feeling right now. And Michael. It was hard to hate him right now, too. Not only did he also lose a friend last year, but he’s also just been given the news that his father had three months to live. He couldn’t fault Michael for wanting Zoey’s company at a time like this given her history with his family. Even with her obvious torment, she still managed to avoid crying. Tears lined her eyes, but shockingly, never fell. She was strong as hell. No one could say otherwise.

“I’m sorry,” Zoey chuckled, sniffling and wiping the tears that threatened to spill, “I think I’m still in shock.”

“It’s okay,” Harry pulled her close to his chest, glancing around to make sure no one was in sight before placing a kiss on the top of her head, “You’ll take it one day at a time. I’m here for you. All of your friends are here for you,” he pulled away looking into her eyes, “We’ve got your back.”

Zoey nodded with a sheepish grin and took a deep breath, “I know. I guess I need to let my parents know that they can expect me.”

“I’ll call the airline and get your flight situated,” Harry offered, “but first, let's go eat our pizza.”

When the two finally joined their friends at the main house, Katie had clearly filled everyone in on what had transpired. The energy in the room was more standoffish, no one quite knowing how to act around Zoey. This was part of the reason why she never liked to open up to anyone about any tribulations because she hated the pity. Harry was one of the few that never treated her like fragile glass or a charity case.

He couldn’t fault her friends for this, though. At least they cared. So, to ease the tension, Zoey was the first to start poking fun at the turnout of their pizza’s. Nancy had somehow managed to make her pizza in the shape of an octopus, which looked quite tragic. The mood lightened and laughter ensued, Zoey, doing her best to push the doom and gloom aside to enjoy her last night in Italy. She could worry about the inevitable grief tomorrow. 

It wasn’t long before everyone was back to their goofy, crazy selves. Zoey, Andy, Rory, and Nancy had gotten tipsy off of the wine and kept feeding more alcohol to Katie, who was a very giggly drunk. Harry had gotten a little buzz going, but wouldn’t have too much to drink as he was their ride home, mostly chatting with the owner of the vineyard.

“I can’t believe I’m going home tomorrow, I don’t want to leave,” Katie settled from her laughing fit, “I wish I could see Gio one more time.”

“Why don’t you invite him over, then?” Andy suggested.

Nancy piped up, “We could all go swimming back at the house.”

Katie’s eyes lit up and she instantly took her phone out, tapping away on the screen. Zoey laughed, shaking her head, the room slowly spinning and a warmth engulfing her body. She wasn’t buzzed anymore, she was drunk. And she knew this was a tell-tale sign for her to stop drinking.

Nancy sat up front with Harry on the way back to the house, controlling the music while Zoey and Katie leaned on each other for support in the back, the glow from Katie’s phone illuminating the car as she texted Giovanni. By the time they had gotten back, Zoey was back to her slight buzz, feeling light and carefree. Everyone had changed into their bathing suits and met outback. She looked over at Harry who was sitting on a lounge chair beside Andy, the two of them talking with a lot of hand gestures. She concentrated on Harry’s fingers, remembering the feeling of them inside of her the night before while her friends were out here talking. She grinned to herself, walking over to the rest of the group who were all in the pool already, floating around.

Zoey sat at the edge of the pool, letting her legs dangle in the water, “Thanks for all of this, guys,” she said to them, smiling, “This had been the best week of my life.”

Nancy swam up, holding onto Zoey’s legs, “You deserve it. You’re a good friend. And roommate. We love you. Besides, you clean up after yourself and aren’t an absolute psychopath, so we appreciate it.”

The girl's laughter caught Harry’s attention and he turned just in time to see Zoey slipping into the pool. He watched, a grin forming, as the girls giggled, splashed, and aggressively hugged each other. Something about the sound of women laughing with genuine cheeriness brought him the greatest joy. It was up there along with a great piano tune, the sound of giggling babies, and the soft chirps of birds in the early morning hours. And to see Zoey immersing herself in the moment instead of wallowing in the house brought forth a pride in her that he hadn’t quite expected. 

Andy cleared his throat, snapping Harry’s attention back to him only to see Andy’s eyes bounce from him to the girls, and back to him with a smirk, “They’re pretty cute, huh? Zoey seems to be having a lot of fun.”

It was just a question, but it sounded more accusatory than anything. Harry’s eyebrows furrowed, searching Andy’s face. Did he know? He couldn’t have, right? Zoey wouldn’t have said anything. And he thought they were doing a good job at keeping it discreet. He shook it off and nodded, “Yeah, good. I’m glad.”

“He’s here!” Katie’s shriek echoed as she pulled herself out of the pool, wrapping a towel around herself as she darted towards the door.

  Everyone laughed, amused by her eagerness to see the young Italian boy. His attention lingered on Zoey’s as the caught eyes, hers sparkling from the reflection of the moonlight against the water. She smiled at him, her expression softening and he could swear he felt his body melting into a puddle on the ground. 

Deeper voices were heard behind him and he turned his attention to see Katie prancing back out, accompanied by not only Giovanni but his older brother, Marco. His eyes widened and his stomach twisted in knots at the sight of him, his mind instantly flashing back to the night he and Zoey had gone on a date together, imagining how they ended their night, his lip on hers. He felt the heat rise in him, frustrated and jealous. His attention darted back to Zoey. From the looks of it, she was just as surprised to see Marco as Harry was, which comforted him a bit, but not enough. 

Everyone else seemed to be pleasantly surprised to see him, shouting his name and beckoning the two to join them in the pool. It didn’t take much convincing. Within seconds the brothers had stripped out of their clothes and dove into the pool, splashing around with the girls. Andy, following after. 

Harry was the only one not swimming, and Zoey noticed. She swam to the edge, arms resting on the side as she stared at him. There it was, again. The spark that allowed him to read her mind. He knew what that look meant. She was telling him to stop being a baby and get in the water. 

“Come on,” she mouthed, quietly waving him over. 

He smiled, rolling his eyes before giving in. With a running start, he bound towards the pool, jumping over her head and bringing his legs to his chest, colliding with the water in a cannonball that earned screams and cheers from the group. Harry swam towards Zoey before she got the chance to rejoin everyone, wiping the water from his eyes and shaking his hair. He could barely reach the floor of the pool on his tippy toes, though she had to paddle to keep afloat. 

“I better not see any flirting,” he warned, seductively. His tone was lighthearted, but she could sense the seriousness behind it.

She smirked, raising an eyebrow, “With you, or with Marco?”

Zoey winked, turning to start swimming away, but he grabbed her waist, pulling her back to him and whispering in her ear, “Careful. There’s a minimal amount of fabric between you and that beautiful cunt of yours. Don’t forget, I know where your sweet spot is and how to be discreet.”

He made sure that no one was looking before quickly sucking the nape of her neck with a hard kiss and lightly pushing her forward towards the rest of their friends. Her heart raced, tingling at the pit of her stomach, so turned on that she became flustered when Nancy tried to include him in their conversation. Harry shot her a quick wink at the sight. 

She did her best to make her intentions obvious with Marco, having a friendly conversation, but keeping a certain amount of distance between them so that there was no misunderstanding, and partially because she wanted to show Harry that her feelings lay with him, and no one else. She hoped he understood. But she worried that he didn’t.

She noticed that he would tense up and become nervous whenever she touched him in a way that could be misconstrued. Even though it was something they did before the got entangled in this web of sex and attraction, he would worry that his friends could see right through them and he wasn’t sure if he was ready to have that discussion with his friends right now. He was still coming to terms with the fact that he might lose his best friend if this all ended badly, along with grappling at the fact that the girl he cared for would be going back home tomorrow to spend time with her ex-boyfriend whom she still professed love for. 

He had to admit, though, he appreciated the way she handled the boundaries with Marco, never making Harry feel uncomfortable or uncertain. The night carried on for a while, everyone having dried off and gone inside for a movie which mostly everyone fell asleep during. Including himself. It was unexpected, and a part of him was angry that he didn’t spend the last night at least cuddling with Zoey in the privacy of one of their bedrooms. Instead, Zoey fell asleep, curled into a ball in between Rory and Andy who all shared a blanket. 

The Italian boys had apparently left at some point in the night, and when the phone alarms sounded, the sun wasn’t even up yet. They had barely gotten four hours of sleep, but their flight was super early in the morning and they needed to take showers and do one more once-over of the house to make sure they had everything packed and ready to go.

Even though his flight wasn’t for a few hours after theirs, he still decided to take them to the airport. Zoey had printed off her new boarding passes and, with the help of Harry, they bustled through baggage check-in and security. However, both gates were at different ends of the airport. With the guise that he promised the sisters’ parents that he would make sure they were okay after boarding the plane, he said goodbye to Nancy, Rory, and Andy and led Katie and Zoey towards their gate, waving at fans as he passed them and taking them to the closest VIP lounge to get more privacy. 

There were a few others in the lounge area, including two girls and a boy about his age that he noticed kept occasionally looking over, so Harry made sure to keep a reasonable amount of distance between him and Zoey, listening to the girls talk about how much fun they had this week and their dreams for future vacations, Harry inputting his two cents on the conversation. But the conversation was doing little to distract him as he overheard the broadcast announcing their call for boarding shortly. 

He frowned, seeing the two sisters gather their carry-on items, unable to hide his displeasure. Saying goodbye to Zoey got harder and harder each time they separated. And the not knowing when he would see her again made it even worse. Sure, he had a lot to do, but he wanted nothing more than to spend a few more days with her, afraid that once she got on that plane all of this would be over. Would she want anything to do with him when she got home? And a part of him, a small part, was scared that she’d see her ex and realize she was still in love with him. Trauma tended to bring people closer together, and as selfish as it sounded, he worried.

“Thanks, Harry! You’re the best!” Katie grinned, leaping into his arms and hugging him.

He laughed, squeezing her tighter and rustling her hair. He had really grown to like Katie and thought of her as a little sister, “Glad you could come. Tell your parents I said thank you for trusting me.”

“Will do,” she pulled away.

His attention turned to Zoey and they looked at each other, glumness embedded in their gaze before they both wrapped their arms around each other. He pulled her in close, taking a deep breath of her sweet and warm scent, feeling the warmth of her body on his. He felt an emptiness form in his chest, sadness beginning to take over. He didn’t want to let her go. He had half a mind to go with her, but he knew he couldn’t. He didn’t care who was looking at that point, he kissed her cheek, lingering for longer than what was typical. It could easily have been reasoned as a friendly kiss goodbye. But they both knew it was more. 

“Good luck,” he whispered as he finally pulled away, “Let me know when you land and give my condolences to Michael and Paul.”

She nodded, tears welling in her eyes, “I will.”

KEEP READING

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Taglist for Somebody To You:

@thurhomish , @stilljosiegrossie​ , @odetostep , @apples2019 , @stylesmioamore , @inyourhaven​

[same-snake-different-skin]

this is not my idea btw xD how would the bois react to us being a mythical creature headcannons?(Illy is gonna go feral i can tell omg)

I hope you've realised that you've released the beast.

And it wasn't your idea? That is a first ansnsnknh, also each boi will just have a specific one bc I'm lazy and incoherent and ill so yeet

Dark

At first he's just like "what the actual fuck?" but as he figures it out he's like "oh, so you're a mythical creature? Well, you're not so mythical now."

You met when he decided to go out on a walk once, and he saw a light and went towards it.

You were there, obviously, perched in the branch of a tree, and you both freeze upon seeing each other.

Next thing Dark knows, there's a talon around his torso and he's up in the air.

He takes a moment to figure out what you are, but when he does, he freaks out slightly, because oh fuck, he's midair, and probably about to fall to his death.

Not that it hasn't happened before.

When you realise that he's not even struggling, you stop, midair, and just hover there, staring at him in confusion.

He's not even scared?

You decide to fly down and just put him back down, and when you do, he's immediately circling you, curious.

"You're absolutely stunning."

And then you reveal to him that you're human, too.

He's taken aback, but not too much.

Consider him hooked.

For now, let just assume that you're a Phoenix, reborn from the ashes of those once lost.

He would understand that.

Dark would know what it's like to die and then come back again, right? Of course he would.

He finds comfort in knowing that he's not the only one who had to suffer something like that.

So. Much. Respect.

Seriously this boy has so much respect for you, and not just because you could incinerate him within seconds.

His body is kinda cold all the time, for reasons, and you're literally a loving heater so he probably cuddles you more often than not. Don't tell the others that, though.

He. Loves. Your. Wings.

If it weren't for the fact that they were too hot to touch, he'd run his hands through the feathers.

On the occasion that you do just decide to go full Phoenix, he's in awe.

Literally, you're a giant flaming bird, you're immortal, and you could set fire to anything at any given moment, if you wanted too.

He's even a little bit scared, though he knows you wouldn't hurt him.

He hopes.

Yancy

He'd always wondered why there was a giant block of the prison that nobody but Murderslaughter was allowed in.

So, one night he snuck in, only to be met by a torrent of water.

He dives behind a pillar, and then pokes his head out, to see two glowing eyes, burning blue, peering out at him from the dark.

And then he panics, because WHAT THE FUCK IS THAT?

Help him.

When he calms down, he looks out again, and slowly steps from behind the pillar, and forwards, into...water?

The following growl would scare the living daylights out of him, because he can't see a thing but the eyes, which are following his every movement.

He fumbles around for a light switch and finally finds one and turns it one.

The space illuminates, and yep, there you are. An absolutely furious Sea Serpent of some type, absolutely furious. Not to mention you're chained up.

Yancy freezes, and then you realise that oh shit he's not gonna hurt me

And so you calm down, and instead of growling, make a noise that sounds like soft clicking.

He sees the chains, and frowns, obviously confused, and sets to work on picking the locks that hold them in place.

You calmly watch him while he works, admittedly admiring him.

He's very cute

When the chains are finally loose, you shake them off, and curl around Yancy, looking into his eyes. He looks a bit scared, but then you're suddenly human, with your arms around him.

He's shook.

Help him.

He helps sneak you out of the prison, and then you come back every third Sunday for visitation.

He's in love. Help him.

The poor baby is absolutely smitten with you.

Please just kiss him.

And so you do.

You're both instantly deemed cutest couple by all the inmates.

You may or may not have decided to get arrested just so you could be with him all the time oops

He's honoured that such an amazing being like you would want to stay with him.

Sometimes you'll both sneak out of prison and you'll take him down to the nearest body of water, which is a very large and secluded lake.

He loves to just admire you while you play about in the water, chirping happily.

Let. Him. Stroke. Your. Scales.

It'll make him happy.

Illinois

He's on an adventure, the usual, but this time he'd ventured into a mountain range and he'd found a 'temple' type place.

Illy, being the idiot he is, went in, taking now notice of the scorch marks on the walls and floor.

Then he sees the diamond on a pedestal. He can't help but dive forwards to get it, and then a cage drops down on him, and a h u g e shadow covers the ground.

He can hear wing beats, but he's a little too scared to look.

Then there's a thump, as something hits the ground. Then the cage is being lifted. And then there's a hot gust of air around him, and he finally peeks, finding himself eye to eye with a dragon.

Well, fuck.

He kinda just stares, and you stare back.

Staring contest to assert dominance? Yup.

You win, obviously, and he hold the diamond out, admittedly too scared to try and keep it.

However, you're much more mesmerized by the guy in front of you.

Illy can't help but notice that your hide is littered with scars, and he assumes that other people have found you before, and obviously knew about you.

He scowls slightly at that, and risks moving closer. You jerk backwards, roaring, and he's on the ground, having stumbled backwards.

He's not one to give up though, and your eyes are way too human for you to just be a dragon. He tries again, this time mumbling that he won't hurt you, and you let him, watching his every move, barbed tail at the ready, and a blast of fire gathered, which is given away by the smoke leaking from the your bared teeth.

He keeps his word, though, and just looks at the scars, amazed.

Then he notices the skeleton in the corner of the room

No comment

He decides to hang about for a while and when you finally trust him enough, you let it be shown that, hey, he was right, you are too human just to be a dragon.

He's shocked, but instantly amazed.

"You are much more interesting than that diamond, Love."

Ah, he's flirting already.

It may be working.

Anyways, time skip.

You two are feral.

He's also pretty feral for you but that's for another time.

You've got sharp teeth and he loves that but shhh

He treats you like royalty, and you treat him like the most precious thing you've ever seen.

Which he is.

That may be the Dragon Instincts™ talking, though.

You. Go. On. Adventures. Together.

You can also fucking demolish anyone who tries to hurt you two on adventures too, so there's that.

In conclusion? Power duo.

Actor Mark

He kinda just...finds you on the manor grounds one day.

He knows a lot about mythology so he instantly figures out what you are.

What, exactly, are you?

A griffin.

The second you see him, you've got him pinned against the ground, sharp beak ready to tear him to shreds if need be.

The idiot isn't afraid, though, and he just reaches up and gently pets your feathers

You instantly just melt, and start cawing softly, which he finds adorable.

The caretaker comes across you two, and is a little bewildered to find that the resident Griffin is actually just a giant cat that craves attention.

Welp

You can bet that when h realises that you're strong enough to carry his weight, he'll want a ride.

Not. Like. That.

He just wants to see the world from above.

Seriously why would anyone say no?

He's absolutely ecstatic when he finds that you're human as well.

Cue him giving you all sorts of gifts.

You name it, he'll get it.

He knows that Griffins have a thing for hoarding things and he's all to happy to cater to that.

Even though you tell him not too.

He does it anyway.

Expect a lot of pampering.

He. Loves. You.

Love him, please.

First kiss? Probably after he gave you something a little too valuable.

At first you were a little annoyed but eventually you just gave in and kissed him senseless.

Gosh, I would do the same, if I could.

Wilford

I am running out of creatures ok.

He's just casually hopping dimensions, cause he can, and then he finds you.

At first he's like "is that a fucking fish??"

No, it's you! And you're a Siren, not a fish.

Well, half fish, half human, who can blame him.

You're sleeping and he's very lucky because if you aren't he might be dead by now.

And then the dumbass wakes you up.

Good going, Wil.

Your tail is quickly no longer a tail, and you've got him underwater before he can realise what's actually going on.

Cue Wilford pulling out his gun.

You shriek, and swim down before he can fire it.

Wil. You scared them.

You come back up soon enough, having decided that he's not worth the risk.

He's sat at the edge of the lake, and he sees you come up a few metres away

He waves, and you wave back to entertain him.

T i m e S k i p ?

You're now inseparable. Wilford literally forced the other egos to help him install a giant pool, as lake-like as possible, for you.

Obviously you're glad.

The others are a bit confused as to why Wil decided to just...date a Siren.

Singing him to sleep? Yes. Please.

Oh, the possibilities.

Damien

At this point I've run out of creatures so kaboom you're a Peryton, a Deer with the wings of a Bird

He's just walking out in the woods one night when he sees a deer, with two blobs on it's back.

He decides to go closer to check the deer out, and upon seeing you properly, he gasps.

This causes you to look at him, and freeze like a deer in headlights (ha!)

He edges closer, slowly, making soft clicking noises as he goes.

You continue to watch, sensing that he's got no malice about him, and let him come close enough.

He's got no idea what you are, but he's amazed anyways.

He reaches out and gently begins to pet your wings.

It's very nice.

Eventually he has to leave, but you don't want him too so bam, human time.

He's. Shook.

He doesn't know how to respond.

Congrats, you've broken him.

He decides to let you stay the night at his, though.

It takes him a while to get used to you but when he does, he becomes a bean.

Absolutely adorable, Damien is.

If he ever cooks food for you both, remind him that you physically cannot eat meat.

Please, he's trying his best.

God he's so soft.

[nessiansimp]

Merry Christmas, Feyre Darling

Ok so I’m new to tumblr and I’ve never posted here before so take it easy on me please 😅

Feysand Fic

Fluffy Highschool AU

*Listen, I know it's not Christmas yet, but I got so excited writing this and I couldn't wait until December to post it*

Three knocks sounded against her window.

At first, she assumed it was the wind or a random pigeon. It was nearly midnight on Christmas eve, and everyone she knew was out of town for the holidays. Her father was away on some business meeting and her sister, Nesta, had chosen to spend her vacation with her college friends instead. Everyone was out, except Elain who was staying with her, but she hadn't really been in the festive mood. Something about a boy named Grayson who broke her heart.

But the knocks sounded again, more urgent this time. She threw her textbook on the bed and made for the window. The cool night air greeted her as she thrust it open to find a dark silhouette leaning against a tree, his hands full of pebbles.

The moonlight glinted off his midnight hair and his eyes sparkled. He was wearing his signature leather jacket with his usual sneakers and jeans. He let the pebbles fall to the ground, then brushed the dust off his fingers and slid his hands into his pockets.

Rhys smiled wickedly. "Hello, Feyre darling."

She cocked her head. "Were you throwing rocks at my window?"

"Maybe." He smoothed the lapels of his jacket. "How else was I supposed to get your attention?"

She gave him a wolfish grin. "What are you doing here?"

"I want to show you something."

She raised a brow. "Right now?"

He walked closer to the window and braced his hands on the windowsill. "Of course, now. There's no time like the present."

She crossed her arms, debating whether or not it was a good idea. Nesta wasn't home, so she wouldn't be there to lecture her about running off in the middle of the night with some strange boy. But she had a big project coming up for art club and she really wanted to get ahead on it.

She sighed. "I have a lot of work to do."

He pouted. "What work could you possibly be doing on Christmas Eve?"

"Well, there's this art project that I have to do, and then I have this painting I need to finish, and then-"

He held up his hands. "Alright, alright, I get it." He offered her a small smile but she didn't miss the disappointment his eyes.

Rhys shrugged. "Maybe next time."

Feyre watched him sulk back down the road, dragging his feet and kicking up dust along the way.

She bit her lip. She felt really guilty. All he'd wanted to do was spend some time with her and she'd turned him down, when he was one of the only people who'd stood by her and taken care of her after she'd broken up with her abusive ex Tamlin. And it wasn't like she had anyone else to spend Christmas with, since Elain was asleep upstairs.   She picked up her textbook again and stared at the colorful pages.

"Screw this," she muttered. She thrust her book aside and tied her hair back, then slipped on her boots. She tiptoed down the hall to the back door, mindful to keep her steps quiet and not to wake Elain. She went outside and ran after him, past the house she had spent all afternoon decorating, stringing Christmas lights and wrapping presents. Her boots crunched on the leaves on the ground and the cold made her shiver slightly. At least there wasn't any snow. She hated the snow, and anything cold. It rarely snowed in Velaris, but when it did, it was several feet deep and impossible to get through.

She finally reached him, and she bent over with her hands on her knees, wheezing and out of breath.

"Wait," she gasped. He turned around, his brows drawn in confusion.

She paused to catch her breath, then said "I'll come."

He frowned. "Are you sure...?"

"A few minutes couldn't hurt."

He seemed to debate the idea in his head, but after a while he relented. His stance became casual again and he grinned at her. "Follow me."

Rhys turned around and started walking towards the forest, not giving her a moment to reconsider what she'd just agreed to. He walked in long strides, and she almost had to jog to keep up with him.

She huffed, still out of breath. "Where are we going?"

His eyes sparkled with mischief. "It's a surprise."

"I don't like surprises."

His mouth quirked to the side. "You'll like this one."

She grunted, but followed him anyway.

The moon followed them as they made their way to the forest and away from civilization. The only sounds were the crunch of leaves beneath their feet and the howls of the wind.

Soon, they'd left the warm lights of her house far behind and they stood at the edge of the forest in front of a wrought iron gate. But instead of opening it and walking in, Rhys leaped over the gate and landed on the other side with unnerving grace. He undid the latch and swung open the gate for her, then bowed dramatically.

Feyre snorted. "Show off."

He smirked, unbothered, and they continued down the gravel path.

Crickets chirped and birds cawed. Branches cracked beneath their feet as they ventured through the underbrush. They were so far away from the real world that she couldn't hear the familiar sounds of cars and city life anymore. She heard the rustling of wings as a dark shadow flicked past them, and she ducked to avoid the bird swooping for her head. Towering oaks loomed over them, hiding the moon and making the trail darker with each step, until at one point she could barely see two feet in front of her.

Rhys's hand slipped into hers, lacing their fingers together. He brought his mouth to her ear and whispered "Just so I don't lose you."  

She swallowed. "Okay."

He grinned and squeezed her hand, leading them deeper into the forest.

It wasn't a difficult hike. She'd endured far worse on her family's occasional hiking trips. But it was steep enough that she found herself holding Rhys' hand tighter to keep herself balanced as she trekked in her worn out sneakers.

This was definitely a bad idea. Leaving her house alone at night without telling anyone where she was was dangerous and reckless and stupid. She was none of those things. But being around Rhys made her want to do dangerous and reckless and stupid things.

She realized suddenly that despite all they'd been through, she barely knew anything about him. Didn't know where he'd come from, who his parents were. It surprised her more that she wanted to know so badly.

"You know," she said, breaking the silence that had settled over them, "I really don't think I should be following a mysterious boy into the woods in the middle of the night."

He pushed a branch away from his face with his free hand. "Why not?" he asked.

"Well, to start with, you could be taking me to whatever this mysterious place is for any number of reasons: to kidnap me, hold me for ransom..."

She went on listing all the different methods of torture she could think of as a laugh escaped him.

"How morbid." He snickered. "If I wanted to subject you to torture, I'd simply drop you off at Cassian's place and make you watch him argue with your sister."

Feyre snorted. "No thanks. Torture sounds nicer."

He smirked. "What is it with you and torture? There are other ways I could make you scream, Feyre darling."

She punched him in the arm. Hard.

He scowled, but the amusement in his eyes betrayed him. "Ow."

She snatched her hand from his grasp and walked ahead of him, refusing to think too long on what he'd said. She was very grateful for the darkness because she was blushing profusely. He jogged after her, laughing like a drunk.

She ignored him and walked faster, but then yelped as she tripped over what she assumed was a tree root. She threw her hands in front of her, ready for the collision, but strong hands grabbed her waist. Rhys spun her around and she slammed into his chest. She nearly stumbled again as her legs gave out under her, but he hauled her closer to him and gripped her harder.

He stroked his thumb over her cheek, sparking a trail of fire every place his finger touched her skin. "You okay?"

Her heart beat faster at his warmth. She didn't know when she had started being affected by his touch so much.

Her breath clouded the air in front of her. "I'm fine," she whispered.

His eyes shone with concern. "Can you walk?"

She pushed away from him, rolling her eyes. She instantly regretted it, feeling suddenly cold without his warmth. "I'm fine."

His brows furrowed, but he nodded. He took her hand in his, and she almost snatched it away again, but the look in his eyes made her want to hold onto him longer.

They walked in silence for a while. Minutes passed by, and her feet were starting to ache.

"How much longer?" she asked.

He squeezed her hand. "Not long."

Finally, she could see the moon overhead again, as the forest became less dense. She sniffed the air. It felt cooler and crisper than the air in the city. They must have gone very high up to have gotten away from all the pollution that clouded the city.  

Rhys smiled as he pushed back a few more branches. "We're here."

She gasped.

They stood on a large hillside overlooking a view of the city. Thousands of lights twinkled from buildings and houses below, their roofs decorated with colorful Christmas lights. A faint sound of music came from somewhere in the city, a joyful melody accompanied by laughter and singing. A sea of stars looked down from above, the crescent moon glowing brightly in the night sky.

She'd never realized how beautiful Velaris was before.

She glanced at Rhys. It'd been too dark for her to see much of him when they were in the woods, but she could see him clearly now. The lights below bathed his skin in a warm glow, making his face look almost look golden. The breeze ruffled his dark, tousled hair, and she noticed a swirl of black ink peeking out above his collar, the start of a tattoo. His hard features had softened and his eyes were warm and thoughtful. He was impossibly handsome.

The thought startled her. She'd never thought about him in that way before. Never allowed herself to after what had happened between her and Tamlin. Rhys had been a jerk to her when they'd first met, embarrassing her in front of her friends and constantly trying to annoy her at any given opportunity. But over the last couple of weeks, she'd started seeing a different side of him. A side she doubted he often showed to many people.

But it was stupid of her to think of him like that. She doubted he felt anything for her. It was a wonder he didn't have a girlfriend yet. With those looks, he could get anyone at school if he wanted to. And if he stopped being a horrible jerk to everyone that wasn't Cass, Az, Mor, or Amren.

Rhys glanced at her out of the corner of his eye. She realized she'd been staring at him.

"What?" he asked.

She looked away quickly, feeling the heat rise to her cheeks. "Nothing."

He grinned. "Enjoying the view?"

"Are you talking about your face or Velaris?"

He laughed, the sound like silk on water. "Whichever you want."

Rhys lay down on the ground and crossed his arms behind his head. She lay down next to him, running her hands through the soft grass.

After a while, she said "I've never seen this place before."

"Most people don't know about it," he mused.

"How is that possible?"

He shrugged, somehow making the casual movement look impossibly elegant. "Most people don't bother to look. Everyone's trapped in their phones these days."

Feyre nodded in agreement, although she felt like a hypocrite for doing so. If anyone was addicted to their phone, it was her.

She shivered and rubbed her hands. It felt like the temperature had suddenly dropped by 50 degrees.

Rhys's eyes flicked over her, then he took his jacket off and held it out to her. "Here."

She shook her head. "I'm fine."

He stood up and came behind her, pushing her hair back to drape the jacket over her shoulders. "You'll catch a cold like this."

She looked him over, him wearing nothing more than a thin T-shirt and jeans, with his cheeks slightly rosy from the cold.

He smiled, noticing her gaze. "I'll be fine."

She pursed her lips, uncertain, but eventually she relented.

"Hold on," he said. "I'll be right back. I'll just go get some wood to start a fire."

She nodded, although the idea of being alone there didn't sound very tempting. As beautiful as the view was, she wasn't about to dismiss the fact that they were practically in the middle of nowhere surrounded by who knows what.

He disappeared into the trees and she sat alone in the quiet for a couple of minutes. She swore she could feel something watching her, but she didn't see anything out of the ordinary as she peered into the dark forest beyond. She was probably just imagining it. It could easily be just another deer or an owl.

After a while, her patience had started to wear thin, and she was just about to get up and go after Rhys when she heard something behind her. At first she thought she'd imagined it, but then it sounded again.

Creak.

She kept her back to whatever it was behind her, not daring to breath too loudly. She stifled the urge to turn around and sprint for the woods and hope she found Rhys somewhere along the way.

Creak.

Again she heard the sound, closer this time. She was starting to panic. Her palms had begun sweating and her heart was hammering in her ribcage.

Suddenly, something grabbed her from behind and she screamed. She turned around, flailing and clawing at the thing.

Rhys burst into laughter, clutching his stomach to keep himself from falling over.

"What the hell?" she yelled at him.

Rhys tried to speak, but he was wheezing and giggling uncontrollably.

She kicked him in the shin, which only caused him to laugh even more. He managed to control himself long enough to wipe a tear from his face. "You should've seen your face."

Her vision turned red and she pushed him onto the ground. He landed flat on his back and she climbed on top of him.

She snarled in his face. "I hate you."

He stopped laughing suddenly. He studied her with fierce intensity, eyes searching hers. His warm breath fanned over her face as he licked his lips. Her eyes followed the movement against her will and she found herself leaning closer and closer. He stared at her eyes, then at her mouth, then back at her eyes again, the hint of a smile curling his lips.

Before she could think it through, she leaned in and brushed her lips against his, barely more than a whisper of a touch. He reacted immediately, his hand coming up to cup her cheek. She breathed in the scent of him, the smell of rain and citrus, and pressed her lips harder against his. He reached behind her to undo her hair tie, running his hands through the loose hair that spilled over her shoulders. Her own fingers toyed with the soft curls at the nape of his neck.

She melted into him, his body warm and hard beneath her. He moaned softly as she bit his lower lip, but she pulled back to see him better.

He smirked. "You still hate me?"

She pressed a soft kiss to his jaw. "I'd be tempted to forgive you for another kiss."

He beamed. "I'd be more than happy to oblige."

Rhys nipped at her fingers playfully, and she grinned. He stood up and arranged the wood he'd gathered in a small camping hearth nearby, then he pulled out a match and lit a fire. The blazing fire and Rhys's soft jacket warmed her thoroughly, chasing away the cold winter weather. He blew on the fire until the flames began rising, then stepped back and sat back down next to her. The smell of smoke wafted over to her as she rolled over to rest her head on his chest and he began playing with her hair.

They stayed that way for a few minutes, staring at the stars and listening to each other's breathing, until Rhys nudged her head with his chin and pointed to a patch of stars. "You see those?" he asked. "The ones where it looks like a man holding an arrow."

She nodded.

"That's the Orion Constellation," he said. "They call it The Hunter."

She tilted her head to see it better. "Oh yeah, I can totally see why."

"It's from Greek Mythology. They say that Orion called himself the greatest hunter in the world, and Hera got mad and sent a scorpion to kill him."

"And I thought you were dramatic."

He snorted.

She pointed to another place in the sky. "What about that one?"

"Ursa Major."

"Looks like a bear."

He kissed her nose. "It is a bear."

She fingered his shirt, trying not to think about what he looked like underneath the soft fabric. "What's the story behind it?"

He buried his face in her shoulder and started kissing her neck, but she poked him in the side. "Tell me."

"Mmm," his teeth scraped the skin on her shoulder. "Maybe later," he whispered, sucking on a spot on her throat lightly.

She shoved his face away. "Tell me the story."

He licked his lips and grinned at her. "You taste delicious, Feyre darling."

She scowled, but he laughed and said "Fine, I'll tell you."

He tucked her into his side again and rested his chin on top of hers, then started. "There was this nymph called Callisto. She swore a vow of chastity to Artemis, the goddess of the hunt, but one day she met Zeus and they fell in love."

He sighed, as if he'd told the story a million times before, and she found herself wondering how many other girls he'd taken to a spot like this. The thought filled her with such jealousy that she pushed it away immediately and turned her attention back to the story.

He continued. "Together, they had a son, and Artemis banished Callisto because of her betrayal. Once Zeus's wife Hera found out about her husband and the nymph, she was filled with such envy that she turned Callisto into a bear."

She covered her mouth to suppress a yawn as Rhys glanced at her.

He smiled sadly. "I'm boring you, aren't I?"

She shook her head. "No, not at all. I'm just tired." She squeezed his hand encouragingly. "Go on."

"You're sure you wouldn't rather do something else? I don't want to bore you." He kissed her head and smirked. "How about that forgiveness we talked about earlier?"

She clamped her lips together to keep from smiling. "After you finish the story."

He grunted and went on with the story. "For the next few years of her life, Callisto wandered the woods in the form of a bear. Her son, Arcas, grew up to be a hunter, and one day he spotted her in the woods. So he drew his spear and aimed at her. Zeus watched the whole thing from Olympus, and when he saw what was about to happen, he sent them both to the heavens and they became constellations in the sky. Callisto became Ursa Major and Arcas became Ursa Minor."

"When Hera found out, she was even more enraged, and persuaded Oceanus and Tethys to never allow the bear to bathe in the northern waters. Which is why Ursa Major never goes below the northern horizon in mid-northern latitudes."

He yawned. "The end."

She snuggled closer to him. "Sounds like everything's always Hera's fault."

He kissed her cheek. "Mhm."  

She glanced up at him. "How do you know all this?"

"I have a thing for astronomy," he admitted, and kissed the corner of her mouth.

He rubbed his eyes and blew out a breath. "It's getting late, and you're probably tired. We should go back."

"It's fine. We can stay a little longer if you want. Unless you have to go back." She frowned. "Do your parents know you're here?"

He hesitated. "I'm sure they'd be fine with it."

"Really?"

He seemed to be struggling to find the right words. "They're not here right now."

She drew his jacket closer around herself as a chill went through her. "When are they coming back?"

He swallowed. "No, I mean they're dead."

Her mouth fell open. Oh.

He scratched his head. "My sister too, actually."

He said it so casually, with such nonchalance, that she thought she'd misheard him for a second.

"I'm so sorry," she whispered. "I didn't know."

His voice had become slightly colder as he said "I didn't expect you to."

"How did it happen?"

He moved to stoke the flames, completely unaffected by what she'd asked him. "Car crash. It happened a few years ago, but I've moved on."

She reached up and kissed him several times, as if she could convey how sorry she was in the gesture. She wanted to take all his pain and worries away, but she didn't think there was much she could do to help him. From her experience, those kinds of wounds never fully healed.

He started playing with her hair again as she said "My mom died of cancer when I was eight."

His eyes softened. "You never told me."

She shrugged. "It was a long time ago and I don't really remember her. From the memories I do have of her, she wasn't particularly nice. Never the kind, gentle mother I wanted. She was cold... and distant."

He smiled sadly in understanding and tucked an errant lock of hair behind her ear.

She pushed up from where they were lying down suddenly and pointed to the sky. "Look, a shooting star!"

Rhys sat up and grinned. "Make a wish."

She propped herself up on her elbows. "You first."  

"Okay. I wish-"

She interrupted him. "You're not supposed to say it out loud, smart ass."

He rolled his eyes. "Well, too bad."  

He took her hands in his and pulled her closer.

"I wish I could gather all the stars in the sky for you, Feyre," he breathed. "I wish I could take all the galaxies and constellations and comets and wrap them in a present and offer it to you."

He leaned in and pressed a soft kiss to her lips. He pulled back quickly, his eyes sparkling like twilight as they searched hers. "I wish I could collect a million falling stars and place them in your palm so all your wishes could come true."

She felt her face go bright red as she blushed.

He grinned, pleased with her reaction. "Your turn."

She closed her eyes and concentrated. I wish... I wish... I wish that...

She opened her eyes again a few moments later and he asked "What did you wish for?"

"If I tell you, it won't come true," she chided.

He tried prying it out of her, but after a while, he gave up on and they lay back down, fingers laced together, her head on his chest. Her eyes slid shut as she listened to the crackling of the fire and the rhythm of his chest rising and falling.

Rhys kissed the top of her head. "You're falling asleep. Let's go back."

"Just a few more minutes," she murmured.

He sighed. "I've already taken too much of your time anyway. You had a million things to do and I pulled you away from all of it."

She smiled to herself. "It was totally worth it."

He kissed her forehead, pulled the jacket tighter around her, then stood up and dragged her off the ground so she could stand up. She leaned against him lazily, her thoughts too cloudy to think properly. He put out the fire and wrapped an arm around her shoulder, nestling her into his side. She said goodbye to the stars and moon one last time, before they began the journey back through the forest.

After a long, arduous descent back down the mountain, where Rhys had offered multiple times to carry her and she had declined, they finally reached the iron gate. Her house came back into view after a while, and soon they were standing in her backyard again.

Feyre rubbed her eyes and yawned. "Thank you for tonight."

She shrugged his jacket off and tried to give it back to him, but he only kissed her hand, then told her to keep it.

"But you'll catch a cold on your way back," she said.

Rhys smiled. "It's only a few minutes away."

She hugged him goodbye and thanked him again, and was about to go back inside, when one of the Christmas decorations overhead fell on her head. She pulled back from him as the small object fell into her palm.

She grinned. "Well at least one part of your wish came true. I got a falling star in the palm of my hand."

He laughed, the sound so earnest and genuine, that she realized she could have wished for no better way to spend her Christmas.

"Merry Christmas, Feyre darling," he said.

"Merry Christmas, Rhys."

[srhlsx]

Rewritten & Reposted March 23, 2021

MASTER | Ch. 2 | CHAPTER 3 | Ch. 4

It was early.

Not too early that the birds weren’t chirping, but just early enough that the sun had yet to fully warm up the ground below you. A foggy mist was still lifting from the wet grass, evaporating and making the air deceitfully cooler than it actually was. 

The doors to the small side gym were rusty and took a good effort to open, both of your hands gripped the edges of the metal doors and you pulled with all of your weight. You let out a rough grunt when the doors finally opened fully, stumbling a little as they jammed into place with a sound that told you they were not moving again without a great deal of force.

“It’s not like we are some secondary team,” Rumi spoke up from behind you, annoyance in her tone as she tied her hair back. “We literally won Interhigh. We should get to be in our regular gym.”

“Yeah, well,” You shrugged without much thought, wiping your hands on your shorts. “It’s academy week, we’re lucky enough there’s a spare gym to use in the first place.”

Rumi squinted down at you, her hands resting on her hips. “Someone’s grumpy. You hardly had anything to drink last night so you definitely aren’t hungover.”

You stared up at her with your tongue pressing against your cheek, not sure how she even managed to catch onto your slightly sour mood in the first place. Her eyebrow flicked up in question and you knew this wasn’t something that you were just going to get by with ignoring. “My dad again,” You rolled your eyes. “It’s… whatever.”

“It’s not whatever but I’ll let you by this time.” Rumi stared at you for a moment longer before she slung her bag into the gym carelessly. “Run it off.”

You nodded and copied her actions and threw your own sports bag into the dark of the gym, a plume of dust puffing into the air as it landed. After slipping on your outdoor sneakers and tightening the laces, you bounced up onto the balls of your feet and nodded that you were ready to go.

The crisp morning air was refreshing. The pounding of both your feet on the earth was a welcome distraction from the growing burn in your lungs and the thoughts swirling in your head. The further you ran, the hotter it became, and soon you were wiping sweat from your hairline - a few wayward strands that had come loose from your top-knot slicked back into place with your perspiration. 

“By the way,” Rumi huffed out. “Did you get that guy’s number last night?”

“Ha!” You barked out, huffing a bit for air as you ran and talked at the same time. “He asked for mine.”

“And?” She pushed, clearly not amused.

“I said I’d see him around,” You shrugged. 

You glanced over to see Rumi shaking her head at you, “You are seriously the worst.”

As you rounded the corner on your last lap around the campus, leg muscles feeling like they were finally waking up with a burning sensation, you could hear the distant sounds of low voices yelling. It was coming from the area where the main gyms were, and you knew the yells were because of a punishing run up the infamous Shinzen hill. You did not envy those who had to run the hill. 

“What?” You nudged her with your shoulder as you continued. 

“He was cute, (y/n).”

“And?” You replied. “I do not have the time to add anything else to my life.”

“He was into you,” She continued to shake her head. “You’re seriously an idiot.”

If you squinted hard enough, you were sure you would be able to distinguish between the bodies that were loitering around the doors of the main gym where the boys volleyball camp was being held, but with the sun rising in that direction you couldn’t make out much. You had to tell yourself that, no, you were not looking for a specific person, you didn’t even know the guy - yet, when your attention was dragged away again by Rumi you couldn’t help the disappointment that crowded your heart at not seeing a specific head of gray and black hair.

“Race to the end?” She wheezed out, a glint in her eyes showing how truly competitive she was feeling. 

You smirked at the question, of course you were going to race her to the end, any chance at competition between the two of you was never passed up. Eating, holding your breath, sprints, volleys in a row - anything you can name was a competition between you and your long time friend and teammate.

You grabbed onto the waistband of her athletic shorts and yanked backwards, making her slow down and almost stumble as you sprinted forward - seeing as she was a solid ten centimeters taller than you, you needed all the advantage you could get - plus, your competitions were never clean fights to begin with. 

Rumi yelled after you, calling you all sorts of names and sprinting to catch up - pulling on the back of the shirt you were wearing, making you cough and choke slightly. You reached back and shoved your hand in her face, laughing as she grunted and fought back. 

The race to the gym doors continued this way, both of you actually fighting one another for the lead until finally you stumbled first through the open door and landed on the floor at the feet of your teammates. 

“One of these days,” A voice above you said, annoyed tone evident as they spoke. “You two are going to get hurt, then where will that leave us?”

“I’ve got to be honest, Ms. Goh,” You said, getting up from the floor and dusting yourself off, an air of pride coming off you as you knew you had won. “If it means beating the sh-”

“Please don’t finish that sentence.” The woman in front of you shook her head, pinching the bridge of her nose. “Change your shoes, you’re getting dirt on the court.”

“It’s hardly a court.” Rumi scoffed from behind you, her breathing starting to settle down. “Stupid boys with their stupid camp and their stupid-”

A deep voice cleared their throat from the doors of the gym, alerting everyone present to get their act together. Rumi stiffened considerably and looked over her shoulder to the looming figure requesting all attention. “Now, now,” The man said, walking into the gym with his hands behind his back and a subtle smile on his face. “Let’s turn all that pent up aggression into a meaningful practice, yes?”

*

Taking a break after the first set of the day, Bokuto stood at the top of the steps that lead to the main Shinzen fieldhouse. He watched as the team he just played ran up the steep, grass covered hill famous for serving as punishments. Bokuto wasn’t a slacker in any part of his training, but watching the way others struggled to get to the top made him grateful he wasn’t in their shoes.

Off in the distance, a pair of runners caught Bokuto’s attention. Raising his water bottle to take another swig, he could tell they were girls and he squinted his golden eyes to get a better look. Because, who wouldn’t?

Instantly he knew it was you and his heart squeezed just a little. That’s new.

Your legs were flexing with each step you took, a light sheen of sweat glimmering off your skin. Your hair was piled on top of your head, looking like some of it had come loose from running. With every breath you took, your chest heaved up and down, a loud laugh echoing down to where he stood when he saw you pull on your friend’s clothing and sprint ahead of her. 

The yelling also caught the attention of the person Bokuto was standing next to; his lazy gaze looking up to see the two girls literally fighting each other as they raced towards what looked like a rundown version of the building they were currently playing in.

“Are those the girls from the other night?” Kuroo asked, squeezing a stream of water into his mouth as he caught his breath after finishing his running punishment.

“Uh yeah,” Bokuto coughed a little, nervous he had been caught staring. “Looks like it.”

“You’re oddly quiet.” Kuroo mused, nudging his long-time friend with his elbow, his goading nature coming out. “Has something finally managed to shut you up? A certain girl, by chance?”

Bokuto shoved his friend away, pushing his hand into Kuroo’s face and walking back into the gym as the teams started gathering up again. No way was he going to admit that yes this girl, who he didn’t even know, who he’d talked to once in his life, was in fact taking up a lot of space in his mind. He wanted to turn back around and keep watching you, but wanting the relentless teasing that Kuroo was capable of to be cut short, he instead walked up to his teammates and began strategizing for their next match.

The afternoon hours passed by, Bokuto and his teammates continued to mercilessly challenge the other schools there and won far more times than they lost. 

Bokuto, Kuroo, and Akaashi had just finished up a little extra practice in a side gym and were walking to the cafeteria to rummage up a bit of dinner, hoping there was still some left over from the other teams. They were chatting idly about camp and their upcoming matches, Bokuto excitedly talking up everything while Akasshi managed to keep him from running into anything.

As they passed the more beat up gym on the Shinzen campus, Bokuto saw that the lights were still on. What Bokuto also noticed, and caused him to slow down his walking, was the yelling and sound of sneakers that came from the gym. Kuroo and Akasshi must’ve noticed as well as they too slowed to a stop - looking towards each other, then at the gym, then at one another again. They were certain they had been the last group practicing together so they had no idea who else could be there.

The double doors to the gym were open and it was easy to see inside without having to be in the actual doorway. The grunts and shouts of people within the gym were more distinct now that they could see what was going on. The sight before them was one they wouldn’t soon forget. 

A woman in her mid thirties stood near the edge of the court next to a basket of balls, every few seconds or so she was tossing them into the air across the court towards where a familiar face was standing. Rumi was crouched down, knees bent as her eyes never left the ball flying towards her, at the perfect moment she lifted herself from the ground, hands extended, and delicately lofted the ball into a perfect spiking position.

The loud sound of a pair of sneakers against the wood flooring signaled the approach of another member of the team. She swung her arms back and launched into the air, matching up with Rumi’s set perfectly as her arm swung forward and connected with a resounding smack. Simply watching their movements alone, the guys were surely expecting to hear the tell-tale sound of a ball impacting the floor.

But it never did.

A loud grunt, the sound of a body hitting the floor, and a ball flying up into the air. A small voice shouted, “Got it!” and the drill continued again and again.

Bokuto looked across the court to see you, throat constricting as his heart rate seemed to double at the sight. You were flying across the court, dive after dive as the spiking drill never let up. The steady interval of balls getting hit every few seconds was almost dizzying to watch, but not once did a ball come in contact with the ground when you were on the other side of the net.

“Ladies, it is one against ten here!” An older man jokingly yelled from where he watched on the far side of the court,clapping his hands in encouragement. “Surely someone can get past her.”

Bokuto continued to watch as you dove into impossible positions to keep any and all attacks from hitting the ground. You flung out an arm and caught one ball with your wrist and sent it flying back over the net. Not a moment later, you were sprawled in a near split as you connected the top of your foot with an attempt to catch you off guard. It continued for ages and Bokuto never tore his eyes away.

“Pick your jaw up, Bokuto-san.” Akaashi said as Kuroo reached over at the same time to help Bokuto with just that. “You’ll drool on the floor.”

“Akaashi! I am not drooling” Bokuto whined a little too loudly, catching the attention of the girl’s team in the gym.

“Peeping Toms!” One of your teammates yelled from across the gym.

The sound of his voice caught your attention and made you look up briefly, in a moment of distraction Rumi was sure she caught you off guard and switched up her setting in favor of a dump. Of course, you saw the gleam in her eye and jumped forward and managed to catch the ball with your fingertips at the last second. Rumi let out a strain of profanities that left your team advisor blushing furiously as you rolled over onto your back.

Exhausted, you laughed boisterously and sat up with your legs spread before you like a ragdoll. “Good to see you again, Top Five!”

*

[rissachen]

Casa - Zawavember day 25 : Home

————————–

Here’s my entry for day 25 of @zawavember​

Characters : Aizawa Shouta, Yagi Toshinori, Midoriya Izuku, Shinsou Hitoshi, Eri

This is set 9 years from the canon AU, Aizawa and All Might is retired, while Midoriya and Shinsou are pro heroes, Eri is in U.A

Edited and beta read by my wonderful friend @foxichus​

Enjoy! :)

————————–

Sunlight seeped in from the closed curtains, painting the once dark room splotches of orange.

A black haired figure stirred from underneath it, the sunlight apparently hitting his face.

He shifted to the other side, snuggling in to another figure with yellow hair, the yellow haired figure chuckled.

"Good morning Shouta, did you sleep well?" Toshinori asked, "Good morning Toshi, the damn sun disturbed my sleep" Shouta said as he snuggled in even deeper to Toshinori.

Toshinori only chuckled, "Well it is already morning, and it is about time we get up, sweetheart" He said back to Shouta, gently stroking his black untameable curls.

"5 more minutes, I was up late yesterday" Shouta said as he didn't try to even leave the bed, his hands above Toshinori's heart, the soft beating of it thrumming underneath his hand.

"Up late because you were watching cat videos again weren't you?" Toshinori asked, catching Shouta on the act, he jolted as if an electricity electrified him.

There was a long pause before Shouta answered, "No I wasn't" He lied, "Trust me, I've known you for more than 10 years now, I know when you're lying love" Toshinori said, his voice teasing with a hint of endearment.

Shouta sighed, giving up from ever lying from his lover, "Fine, yes I was up late watching cat videos again Toshi, they're just so cute I can't just turn off my phone and sleep" He admitted, tracing his finger in circles on top of Toshinori's chest.

Toshinori chuckled again, the sound soothing as it reverberated to Shouta's hand, "We should really wake up, we need to make breakfast for Izuku, Hitoshi and Eri, they have work and school today" Toshinori said back, his hand still tangled between the unruly black curls of Shouta's hair.

Toshinori tracked back to the days that seem close yet so far away, his retirement, Shouta's retirement, Izuku's and Hitoshi’s graduation and them obtaining pro hero licences, and Eri passing the entrance exam for the hero course at U.A.

It all seemed so close, like it happened just yesterday, yet here they were 9 years after, retired, with a little family of their own.

"Come on sweetheart, we need to get up, the kids need us to make breakfast, unless you want another fire in the kitchen?" Toshinori said, urging Shouta to wake up, reminding him of the one time incident the indigo and green haired boy tried to cook, back when the two of them got sick, and couldn't cook.

Shouta flinched at the memory, it took a lot of money to repair the burnt kitchen, and he would do anything to prevent that from ever happening again, reluctantly, he lift of his hand from the warmth of Toshinori's chest, he sighed and sat up, slightly rubbing his eyes.

Toshinori also sat up, knowing he needs to get to work, he stood up, and stretched, beside him Shouta also stood up, stretching his sore muscles.

They stretched in silence, the birds chirping, and the bustling noise of a waking city interrupting the once peaceful morning.

They soon finished their stretching and walked out of their room, to the bathroom, brushing their teeths, then, Toshinori went to the stove while Shouta went to the counter, presumably making coffee and tea.

Toshinori opened the fridge and took out the ingredients, washing them, he then went to the rice cooker and put in some rice, clicking the on button.

Shouta filled the coffee maker and tea maker with water, waiting for them to boil, he then put in the tea and coffee, after letting it steep in for a while, he then poured both coffee and tea to a matching mug.

He made his way to Toshinori who was waiting for the rice to cook, with an unplugged rice cooker, he sighed, he put down the mug, and plugged the rice cooker to it's outlet, restoring power to it.

"Toshi, you forgot to plug the rice cooker again" Shouta said as he passed Toshinori his tea, sipping his own coffee, "Ah, I forgot again, good thing you plugged it in" Toshinori said, his hand scratching the back of his head as pink spread across his cheeks, the tell tale sign of embarrassment.

They stayed silent while the rice cooked in the background enjoying the quite of the morning as they sipped their own preferred beverage

Toshinori placed down his empty mug of once warm tea, and made his way into the cupboard, he then glanced at Shouta, as if sensing Toshinori's glance Shouta said, "Left cupboard section 2 on the right one" He said, as he continue to sip his coffee, all the while gazing at Toshinori's movement.

Toshinori followed Shouta's direction and found a frying pan, he then placed it on top of the turned off stove, he then glanced back to Shouta who handed him a cooking oil.

He then turned on the stove and poured the cooking oil on it, making sure there was not too much and not too little on the pan.

Shouta then pass him 5 eggs, carefully cracking each of them open, making sure to not have an egg shell drop on the egg, he dumped the egg shells on the nearby trash can and turned the fire on a bit more, the eggs sizzling as the temperature of the fire rose

Faint chopping could be heard from the sink as Shouta chopped the vegetables and meat Toshinori once washed, they worked in silence, Shouta slowly chopping the vegetables and meat, while Toshinori cooked the eggs

Shouta took out 5 empty glasses and put it on top of the table along with an empty plate, and brought the empty plate along with his chopped vegetables and meat to Toshinori

Toshinori reached out his hand, as if expecting Shouta to gave him something, he indeed gave him the empty plate he brought over and started scooping up the cooked egg, he than placed the full plate of eggs on top of the table with empty glasses on it

He then took out 5 empty plates and placed them on top of the table, while Shouta pour in enough oil to cook the well minced meat, the rice cooker made a sound, indicating the rice in it was already cooked.

Toshinori went over to the rice cooker, opening the lid, steam emerged from the rice cooker and he scooped the rice from it, putting it in a bowl while Shouta pour in enough oil again to cook the vegetables, Shouta then extended his hand, as he waited for Toshinori

Toshinori than gave him the bowl of rice, pouring the rice in while mixing it along with the meat and vegetables, he then put in the spices as Shouta cooked

 After a good 5 minute of stirring the rice along with the vegetables and meat, a door from the right side of the house made a clicking sound, and from the room came out a long haired girl

"Morning Papa, Morning Dad" she said as she yawned and rubbed her eyes and made her way to the table, Toshinori poured milk to the empty glass as he slide the glass over to the sleepy girl that took a sit in the table, instantly drinking the milk passed to her by her Dad

"Morning Eri" Shouta said as he taste test it, checking if the taste is right, he then called over to Toshinori, asking him for his opinion on the taste as he spoonfed him the fried rice, Toshinori giving him a thumbs up

 Taking that as a go sign for the fried rice, Shouta turned off the stove and lifted the pan full of cooked rice mixed with vegetables and meat, making his way over to the table

 "Morning honey" Toshinori said as he gestured for Shouta to put the steaming hot pan onto a cushion, preventing the heat from touching the table directly

"Could you put in some food for, Ramen, Tamago, and Mochi? I'm still not done yet preparing the table" Shouta said as he asked for Toshinori to go feed their cats

"I'll go, you should finish up around here Papa, Dad" Eri said as she stood up and made her way to the cat food container, filling in food for Ramen, Tamago and Mochi

Shouta poured in the fried rice while Toshinori poured in tea or coffee to the empty glasses, filling each plate and glass full of food and tea or coffee, Shouta made his way to the sink to put away the used pan, as Toshinori placed the cooked eggs on top of the fried rice

The cooking and setting the table was done, and now the hard task came, both Shouta and Toshinori faced each other, grim expression on their faces as they raised up their hands, bringing down their balled fist, Toshinori popped out scissors while Shouta popped out paper

Toshinori cheering while Shouta sighed deeply, "Fine, I'll go wake Izuku up, you wake Hitoshi up" Shouta said as he made his way to Izuku's room, followed by Toshinori, "Of course honey" he said back, a cheeky grin on his lips, while Shouta only sighed and braced himself

Out of the their 3 little midgets, Izuku was surprisingly the hardest to wake up, he would keep whining like a little kid and ask for 5 more minutes until either Shouta gave up, or he called Toshinori in for help

Shouta opened Izuku's door and sucked in a breath, preparing himself for the worst, the room was dark, and it took him a minute for his eyes to adjust with the darkness

 He made his way over to Izuku's bed, sitting on the edge of it, gently shaking the boy awake, and as expected the boy didn't budge, he tried again, and Izuku still didn't budge

Meanwhile Toshinori was having it easy, coming up to the indigo haired boy's room, he opened it, eyes slowly adjusting to the darkness as he made his way to the bed, sitting on the edge of it

 Seeing a tuft of indigo hair popping out from the blanket, he gently shook awake the boy, Hitoshi stirred and opened his eyes, adjusting to the small brightness coming in from the slightly opened door

"Morning sunshine, it's already 7 am" Toshinori said as he stroke his son's indigo hair, "Morning Dad, do you want me to wake Izuku up?" he asked as he sat up, a yawn following, Toshinori chuckled at his son's cute yawn

"Your Papa may need help getting Izuku up, breakfast is ready and Eri is wating for you as well as me, so don't take to long" Toshinori said as he gave Hitoshi's a hair a soft ruffle and made his way out of the boy's room

Shouta tried a different strategy, slightly patting Izuku's shoulder, and the boy finally budged, "Morning problem child, it's already 7 am" Shouta said, as he finally woke Izuku up

 "5 more minutes Papa" Izuku said as he pulled up his covers, covering his entire face, only a tuft of green hair peeking out from it, ah, there it is, Izuku's famous '5 more minutes'

He tried shaking awake the boy again, getting yet the same result, he had no choice but to use his secret technique

"Izuku, Papa made some fried rice, if you don't wake up, it will get cold, so wake up yeah? Please? For Papa?" Shouta cringely said, as he tried to not choke while saying all those cringe worthy things, he was never one to beg, but sometimes the problem child woke up as soon as he heard Shouta beg

And it did work, Izuku threw away the covers, and sat up, "I'm awake Papa, I'll eat your fried rice right now" Izuku said as he stood up and made a bee line to his door

Shouta sighed, even at the ripe age at 25, and even being the new symbol of peace on top of that, Izuku can sometimes be childish, the way he would only wake up after being begged to, and his antics of '5 more minutes' were all not really fitting of the new symbol of peace, though what can he do? He was as much as any other parent, he was also doting, the same way how he was also doting for his other 2 midgets

Shouta stood up, getting ready to make his way out of the door, when he noticed Hitoshi standing near the door way, an amazed expression on his face

"I didn't knew you could coax Izuku to wake up that fast Papa, how did you do it?” Hitoshi asked, curious, Shouta only grinned, feeling smug, “I have my ways, now go join Izuku at the table, Eri and your Dad should already be there too”, he said, Hitoshi pouted, “No fair, but okay” Hitoshi said as he made his way to the table, sulking along the way

Shouta sighed, again, sometimes, being the side kick of the new symbol of peace at the ripe age of 25 doesn’t mean you could stop being childish, Hitoshi may seem more mature than Izuku, but he has his own childish antics, how he pouts or sulks when he didn’t get what he wanted

He than made his way to the table, where his 3 midgets are already sitting, along with his love, chattering away, chuckles and giggles here and there, he saw that Ramen, Tamago, and Mochi were also eating their own food

 He took a seat beside his love, joining their early chattering as they ate and talked about their plans for the day

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

“Do you have everything you need Izuku?” Shouta asked him again, knowing just how much of a careless kid he was, “I do, I have everything Papa” he said, reassuring his worrywart doting father

 "And what about you Hitoshi? Do you have everything that you need?” He asked, his attention diverting to the indigo haired boy, “I do to Papa, I have everything that I need, you don’t need to worry” Hitoshi said, his tone seemingly convincing

“Eri, honey, are you ready?” Toshinori asked as he made his way to the girls room, it was her first day at U.A, “I am Dad” she said, as she emerged from her room, uniform intact.

 Immediately all 4 of them took out their phones and snapped a picture of Eri, Izuku and Hitoshi seemed too enthusiastic as the both of them switched to different angles as they took Eri’s photo

 “I am so gonna brag about you” Izuku said along with Hitoshi nodding along, “Please don’t” Eri said pointedly, Toshinori chuckled, at the scene unfolding before his eyes, how Izuku and Hitoshi was very doting of their little sister

 "Well, let us take you to school” Izuku said along with Hitoshi, “Please nii-chan, I could go there by myself” Eri said as she rolled her eyes

“How could you betray us Eri?! I thought we were family!” Izuku said, a hand over his chest while Hitoshi was down on his knees, playing along with their little drama, “You betrayed us Eri, I feel hurt” Hitoshi said from his position on the floor, while Eri only facepalmed at her brothers antics

“Okay fine, I’ll let you take me to school, only if you promise that you would stop at the bottom of the hill” Eri said, tired of the antics of her brothers, “Of course!” Came the reply from both of them.

 Both Toshinori and Shouta knew none of them are gonna stop at the bottom of the hill, but they kept their silence, a look full of love and endearment on their eyes seeing their 3 midgets.

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

“We’ll be off now, Dad, Papa” Hitoshi said, Izuku and Eri beside him, “We’ll probably be home at 6 pm if there’s no emergency” Izuku added, “And I’ll be home at 4 or 5 Dad, Papa” Eri said

 She was the only student allowed to live separately from the dorm, considering her siblings are the new symbol of peace and the famous side kick of the symbol of peace, along with their parents being the former symbol of peace, and the underground yet famous retired pro hero.

They went their ways, chattering ever so slightly, Shouta closed the door, collecting the dirty bowls of their cats, refilling them with water, while Toshinori silently washed their dirty dishes, Shouta drying them and placing them were they belong on their respective cabinets

They worked silently for sometime, the only sound made was the running water, the squeaking sound of sponge on plate, and the ever so silent clinking of plates, when suddenly Toshinori broke the silence

 "They grow up so fast don’t they?” He asked Shouta who hummed approvingly, “It seemed like it was just yesterday when the problem child was breaking bones here and there, but now look at him, the new symbol of peace” Shouta said, his hands not stopping, still drying the plates

“And it seemed like it was just yesterday that he was upset of not improving as fast as the others” Toshinori said

 "I still remembered the first time we rescued Eri, how she was trembling so much of fear from Chie Hassaikai" Shouta said, his grip on the plate he's drying tightened, grim expression om his face as the unpleasant memory resurfaced, Toshinori placed a hand on top of his, squeezing it slightly, calming down Shouta

 "But look at her now, she's no longer trembeling in fear, she's healthy, happy, safe, and just passed U.A entrance exam, training to be a hero herself, I still remember the many months before the U.A exam, how Izuku and Hitoshi was training her like mad, oh how those days felt so close yet so far away" Toshinori said, reminiscing

 "It indeed felt close yet far away, how Hitoshi grumbled about his incompetence in mastering the capture weapon, and now look at him” Shouta said

 “I know, it took him only 4 years to master it, I still remember when I saw him in gym gamma, training with the capture weapon, occasionally getting tied up, and Izuku was there, ready to help him” Toshinori said, reminiscing the training and younger days of their kids

 “And you would silently watch him from the top of the window!” Toshinori exclaimed, as if remembering something important, pink crept it’s way to Shouta’s cheeks

 “You noticed?” Shouta said, as he dried and put away the last piece of utensil they cleaned, Toshinori dried his calloused hand and stroke his love’s cheek

 “Of course I do, I am madly in love with you, back then and until now, so I would notice where ever you are” Toshinori said, endearment pouring out of his eyes for the man infront of him

Red made it’s way to Shouta’s cheeks, replacing the once pink hue of it, “S-So all this time you were watching me?" he asked, cheeks red

 "Yes I was love, I couldn't take my eyes off you" Toshinori said as his big hands stroke Shouta's cheeks, the touch so gentle, "W-Why didn't you help them train then?" He asked again, changing the topic

 "I didn't saw it was necessary, Hitoshi was learning, even though maybe he could improve more if I told him, but I wanted him to learn by himself" Toshinori said, calloused hands still gently stroking Shouta's cheeks

 "What about you yourself? Why didn't you help him?" Toshinori asked back, "I saw that Hitoshi wasn't struggling, so I thought I'll let him learn by himself" Shouta said back, his equally calloused hand grasping Toshinori's calloused ones

 "We're the same then" Toshinori said, they stared at each other in silence, basking in each other's presence, drowning themselves in each other's eyes on their own little world, an endearing smile tugged on their lips, until Shouta reluctantly broke the silence

 "I should go check on our cats" Shouta said, "I should go do the laundry" Toshinori replied, but none of them made a move for it, still lost in each other's eyes

 Until finally they broke their stare, Shouta went to check on their cats, and Toshinori went to the dirty basket full of their clothes

 Shouta cleaned the cat food container and noticed the container was already dry, he then cleaned it and put the containers back to their respective place and made his way to the counter filling the matching mugs coffee and tea as he made his way to Toshinori

 Toshinori picked up the dirty basket and made his way to the washing machine, he put the dirty clothes into the washing machine, pressed the buttons on it, and waited, Shouta soon joined him, mugs on hand, as he gave Toshinori the mug full of tea

 They stood there, the rumbling of the washing machine and the occasional chirping of the birds as well as the bustling noise of the busy city were the only sound, silently sipping their tea or coffee

 Toshinori took Shouta's hand and made his way to the tv, Shouta following behind him, he turned on the tv and the both of them sat on the couch as they flicked on to the news channel

 "Once again, new symbol of peace Deku and his sidekick, Mind Tamper, saved the hostages trapped in the Tokyo Dome, where villains hijacked and trapped the 55,000 civilian's along with the event's organizer, they arrived on the scene and saved the trapped civilian's along with arresting the villains, the following footage is a interview with the new symbol of peace and his sidekick" The news reporter said, as the news quickly switched to another scene, Izuku and Hitoshi on the screen

 "Deku how did you manage to save 55,000 civilians?" A reporter asked, "I was able to save them, because of my sidekick here, Mind Tamper, who brainwashed their minds, all I did was apprehended them" Izuku said as he shoved Hitoshi to the reporter

 Toshinori laughed at the scene, "Typical of Izuku, shoving the spotlight to Hitoshi" he said followed by Shouta who nodded along, agreeing with him

 "Mind Tamper, was it hard to control their minds? Did any of them tried to resist your brainwash?" the reporter asked again

 "There was one of them that tried to resist my brainwash, but Deku was there to apprehend them" Hitoshi said as he shoved Izuku back to the reporter

 Shouta chuckled, "Typical of Hitoshi, shoving the spotlight back to Izuku" he said, as Toshinori nodded back

 The scene switched back to the news caster, "And that is the end of the interview of the new symbol of peace and his sidekick, coming up is news of the upcoming hero Red Riot" The news caster said, as the scene switched to a commercial

 The washing machine made a sound as it stopped, Shouta stood up, making his way back to the washing machine, followed by Toshinori

 They walked to the washing machine, Shouta opened the washing machine while Toshinori passed him the clothes basket, putting the clean clothes on it, they then carried the basket to the veranda, and hanged the clothes to dry them off

 After most of the clothes have been hanged up, Toshinori took the watering can and watered the plants, while Shouta finished hanging the clothes

 They then finished their chores, and went inside, the news had ended and Shouta turned the tv off

 Toshinori then remembered he wanted to pick up where he left off from the book Izuku bought him, so he went to the bedroom, Shouta following close

 Toshinori laid on the bed with Shouta tangled in his arms, the both of them have been reading books together ever since watching tv began to bore them, so they silently read through the early morning

 ---------------

 The air felt warm and the sky dyed sunkissed orange as Shouta snuggled into Toshinori's arm the latter tightening his arms around Shouta's waist as they slept

 Somehow, along the lines of reading and flipping of pages, Shouta drifted asleep, soon after, Toshinori noticed he was asleep and decided to join the black haired man, slowly placing the book on the table side of their bed, careful to not wake Shouta up, and tightened his grip on the man's waist as he too drifted of to sleep

 Shouta blinked awake as he was met with the sleeping face of Toshinori's, he stared at him, he looked so peaceful, so soft under the sunkissed orange light, and the sight took Shouta's breath away

 He brought up a hand to gently tug a yellow strand behind Toshinori's ear, he stared at him again, until Toshinori slowly opened his eyes

 "Afternoon Toshi, sorry I slept first" Shouta said, greeting him, "Afternoon Shouta, it's okay, I was sleepy myself" He said back as his hands found it self tangled on Shouta's black locks

 "Did you sleep well?" Shouta asked, his hand tugged a stray hair that managed to fell on Toshinori's face, "I did, because I have you" Toshinori replied, stroking his love's hair

 "You really do like to spoil me rotten don't you, love?" Shouta said, teasingly, as his hand rested on top of Toshinori's cheek, pink crept it's way to Toshinori, "You caught me off guard sweetheart" he said, surprised Shouta called him love

 "Why exactly did I caught you off guard love?" Shouta grinned, knowing full well the blush that slowly turned from pink to red was because of him calling Toshinori love

 Toshinori chuckled, and chastely kiss Shouta, his love for him overflowing, "Nothing sweetheart, what do you want for dinner? Do you have an idea?" He asked

 "Do we have the ingredients for nabe?" Shouta asked, Toshinori thought for a while, and answered "I think we have ingredients for nabe", he said, "Nabe it is then" Shouta said

 "Why nabe though?" Toshinori asked, Shouta shrugged as if the answer was obvious, "Feeling lazy" he replied, Toshinori laughed as if he was expecting the answer, "Of course you are" he said

 Toshinori than made his way to the wardrobe to take a change of clothes as he then went to the bathroom, taking a bath, while Shouta waited and entered the bathroom with his own change of clothes as soon Toshinori emerged from it.

 Not long after, they heard a click from the door, and an "I'm home!" from Eri, as she came back from U.A, both Shouta and Toshinori got up from their bed and went to their living room

 "Welcome back sweetie" Toshinori said as he saw their daughter on the couch, with Ramen curled up in her lap while she was clearly exhausted, "Welcome back" Shouta said as he gave eri a cold water bottle and sat beside her, Toshinori on the other side

 Eri happily took the bottle and drank it, "Thankyou Papa" she said as the bottle was emptied out, "How's your first day at school?" Toshinori asked, worried his pumpkin would get bullied, being the sibling of famous heroes meant hushed whispers from everyone, gossips of her going to U.A from connection and so on, he won't stand still if his pumpkin got bullied

 "Nii-chan, didn't stop at the bottom of the hill! So everyone saw them!" She huffed, "I was afraid people would start talking about me, getting to U.A because of my connection but surprisingly they didn't!" She said, a smile on her face lit up as she talked about her day at school

 “My class was so nice! I thought they would gossip or ignore me because of Nii-chan but they didn’t! The girls actually asked me whether Izu-nii prefer boxers or briefs! They even asked what brand of shampoo Hitoshinii used! While the boys asked what training regiment they use! Oh and my friends! They—” Eri chattered on, her eyes shining with excitement as her voice was filled with enthusiasment, her parents listened to her passionate chatter, all the while an endearing smile tugged on their lips.

 -------------

 Eri was in the bathroom, while Toshinori cooked the rice, yet again forgetting to plug in the rice cooker, making Shouta check and sigh endearingly at his love, reminding him again that the rice cooker was not plugged in to it’s outlet, while Toshinori grinned sheepishly

 Shouta then boiled the broth for their nabe when another click from the door was heard and a tired, “We’re home…” was heard from Izuku and Hitoshi as they entered the house

 Izuku collapsed on half of the couch as Hitoshi collapsed on the other half, Ramen and Tamago jumped on top of them, as a means of greeting the tired heroes, Toshinori came to the couch holding 2 cold water bottle on his hands, he tapped it on both of his sons cheeks, “Here, have a drink, you must be tired” he said

 Izuku sat up, followed by Hitoshi as they happily took the bottle and drank the contents of it, Ramen and Tamago on their laps “Thankyou Dad” the both of them said in unison, “How’s work?” Shouta asked as he came to the living room, the broth simmering in a low heat behind him

 “Tough and tiring, lots of interviews and villains popped up today” Izuku replied, while scratching the back of Ramen's ear as she purred in delight “The reporters were being insistent so we can’t just say no” Hitoshi added, scratching Tamago's belly as he laid on his back

 “That’s what you got for not dropping me off at the bottom of the hill!” Eri said, emerging from the bathroom, hair dripping wet as her towel hanged on her shoulder

 “Yeah of course, would still totally drop you off infront of U.A again Eri, no doubt about it” Izuku said, “Oh, your hair’s still wet” Hitoshi said as he instantly pulled the towel that hanged on Eri’s shoulder to her hair, drying it gently, “I’ll go get the hair dryer" Izuku said as he ran to where the hair dryer was located

 Toshinori chuckled as he saw their 2 sons were instantly energetic again when it came to their sister, Shouta seemed to agree as a smile tugged on his lips

 They went back to work on their nabe, Toshinori taking out the ingredients while Shouta stirred the half boiling broth

 Toshinori washed the ingredients and chopped the vegetables to bite size, done with his chopping, he placed the bite sized vegetables along with the meatballs and meat to a big sized plate and placed it on the table beside the portable stove where Shouta was currently standing over, the rice cooker made a sound and Shouta went to check on the rice

 Steam emerged from the rice cooker, Shouta than reached out his hand to Toshinori, and he gave Shouta a rice ladle along with 5 bowls, he scooped the rice into the bowl, noting how exhausted his sons were, he gave them an extra bit more then their usual portion

 He then scooped his own portion of rice, taking note of how little Toshinori ate at the morning, he gave him an extra too, and noting how exhausted Eri also was, he gave an extra to her as well

 Shouta then made his way with the bowls of rice, taking 2 each time he went to the table, empty glasses were being filled by Toshinori as he placed the bowls on their respective places

 Shouta made his way to the place where they tuck away their cats container, taking it out and filling it with cat food, he then called out to their cats, they soon came and ate from the bowl

 “Dinner’s ready!” Toshinori shouted from his place as both the hotpot and rice was cooked, a faint 'okay!' was heard in the distant as chattering soon followed, Izuku, Hitoshi, and Eri made their way to the table, the both of them seemingly have changed from their hero costumes.

 “What are we— Oh, we’re having nabe!” Izuku said, excited, as he took a seat, followed by Hitoshi and Eri, “I love a good nabe after work” Hitoshi said, “You always love a good nabe Hitoshi” Izuku teased, “Well maybe I just love nabe in general” Hitoshi said back, as they start to eat from the hotpot

 Toshinori broke the silence after a while, “We saw the both of you on the news today” he said, taking a vegetable from the hotpot giving it to Eri, “You were shoving yourselves back and forth when the reporter interviewed you both” Shouta said as he took a meatball and passed it to Izuku

 “Well, I was never really good at handling reporters” Izuku said as he scratched the back of his head, “I was never really good at handling reporters too, so I shove the reporter back to Izuku” Hitoshi said as he passed on a meat to Toshinori

 “Watching you both is like watching a game of throw and catch” Shouta said as he took a vegetable and passed it to Toshinori, “By the way, Izu-nii, what do you prefer, boxers or briefs?” Eri said out of the blue

 “E-Eh w-what? W-Why did you a-ask?” Izuku said, clearly flustered as he stuttered, face flushed red, as his chopsticks were halfway to Shouta’s bowl, dropping off a piece of meat

 “My friends asked me today” She said, taking a meatball from the hotpot and passed it over to Shouta, “W-What? What kind of friends do you have at U.A?!” Izuku asked shocked

 “Oh, they also ask about which shampoo brand you use Hitoshi-nii” Eri asked, while Hitoshi only blinked once, twice, while his chopsticks were half way down at Izuku’s bowl, passing a piece of meat to him

 “W-What? Why would they want to know?” he asked back to his sister, while Eri only shrugged, “U.A is a strange place” Izuku said as he passed on a meatball to Hitoshi, “I never remembered U.A was strange though” Hitoshi said as he passed on a vegetable to Eri, “It isn’t!” Eri protested back

 “Then why would your friend ask what kind of u-underwear I use? Or what Hitoshi use as his shampoo” he asked, face still red, Eri only rolled her eyes, “Clearly they’re fans of you both” Eri said, as she ate

 "Oh, I didn’t knew” the both of them said in unison, as if that kind of possibility didn’t exist, “Oh, by the way, my other friends also wanted to know what kind of training regimen the both of you used!” Eri said after she swallowed, remembering what her friend asked earlier

 Both Izuku and Hitoshi exchanged looks, and soon a grin plastered on their faces, and they turned back to Eri, enthusiasment on their faces

 "Good question you got there Eri!” Izuku said as Hitoshi nodded, “So, our training regiment started with—” Izuku and Hitoshi talked about their long training regiment, earning a groan from Eri and a chuckle from both of their parents, they chattered again, chuckles and giggles heard through out their home.

 --------------------------------

 All of them helped to wash the dishes so it took them no longer than 5 minutes to tuck away the portable stove and washed dishes along with the utensils, Shouta took away the empty cat food container and filled them with water, giving it back to the thirsty cats

 Both Izuku and Hitoshi went to their respective bathrooms to take a bath while Eri plopped between Shouta and Toshinori on the couch, Mochi jumped on her lap, waiting to be petted, while they watched the tv, the couch fully occupied, Izuku and Hitoshi soon joined them on the floor, Ramen and Tamago accompanying them

 “On tonight news, we bring you Uravity that succeded on capturing the villain behind the recent bank robbings, she successfully captured the villain with the help of Ingenium” the news caster said as the scene flashed to Ochako and Tenya capturing said villain

 “Oh, Uraraka-san captured the villain!” Izuku said, hair still dripping wet, Toshinori noticed and took the towel slinged around Izuku’s neck and gently drying his son’s still wet hair

 “Next up on tonight news, we bring you the new symbol of peace, Deku and his side kick, Mind Tamper that successfully captured the villains regarding recent bombings on malls, they have apprehended the villains quickly and the police arrived just in time to take them in custody” the news caster said

 Shouta took notice of Hitoshi’s wet hair and did the same thing Toshinori did to their other son as he gently drying Hitoshi’s hair

 “Are we really just gonna watch news tonight?” Eri asked, bored, “Why don’t you change the channel then sweetie, we turned it off this morning right after watching the news without changing the channel” Toshinori explained while still drying Izuku’s hair

 “Okay then, I’m gonna change the channel” Eri said as Hitoshi passed her the remote, she then changed it to a different channel, “What’s up you guys?! Pop☆Step here! Did you miss me?” the idol Pop☆Step asked the audience, “Oh, it’s Pop☆Step!” Eri said enthusiastically

 “Pop who?” Toshinori asked again, not catching what the tv or what his daughter said, “It’s the famous idol Pop☆Step Dad” Eri replied, “Oh, so this is what’s famous these days” Toshinori said, sounding his old age, “Yeah it is Dad” Eri replied back as her attention turned back to the tv

 Shouta stared at the familiar face of the idol Pop☆Step, reminiscing his old days, when he was snapped back to reality when a weight fell on top of his right thigh

 He glanced over and saw Hitoshi had fallen asleep as soon as he finished drying his hair, probably too tired, Izuku noticed his brother had fallen asleep when Toshinori finished drying off his hair

 “I’ll go carry Hitoshi back to his room” Izuku said as he gently carried his brother and went to Hitoshi’s room, Shouta following behind him, when they arrived infront of Hitoshi’s room, Shouta opened the door for Izuku as he went inside and placed Hitoshi gently on the bed, tugging him in for the night

 They then went back to the living room to watch the tv again, after a while, Eri then yawned, and Izuku was nodding off, Toshinori took notice of the time, and decided to call it a night, turning the tv off

 As Izuku and Eri said their goodnights and went to their own rooms, Shouta then turned off the tv's  switch while Toshinori turned off the living room light

 Shouta cleaned the cat food container and tucked it away at their respective place, and later joined his love

 They went to their bed room and changed to pyjamas, they then went to the bathroom to brush their teeths, Shouta returned and flopped down to their bedroom, clearly feeling sleepy, while Toshinori only chuckled at his love

 He then turned off the light, leaving only a bit portion of light coming from the night lamp beside their bed, Toshinori than laid down on their bed as Shouta wormed his way to Toshinori, snuggling warmly at his hands, Toshinori laughed at his love’s antics, and tugged him closer, legs tangled

 Deep down in their hearts, a warm feeling blossomed in their chest, a familiar feeling they couldn’t recognize

it clearly felt welcoming

it felt warm

it felt endearing

it felt loved

it felt like home.

Thankyou for reading! :)

[redrebecca]

Swings

A story of a relationship that started in the old community park

Warning(s): Just fluff

A/N: This took me way too long to write and i’m tired and i want to sleep, Feedback is always appreciated, have a nice day!  

Words: 5k

*

June 14, 1999

The park was empty as your mum pushed your pushchair underneath the arch the two oak trees made at the entrance. She slumped on the park bench, relieved that you had finally stopped screaming and had turned back into the gurgling, bubbly baby you normally were. The soothing sounds of the birds chirping and the simple beauty of the nature that surrounded the local play park was enough to relax any sleep deprived mother.

However, your mum jumped, startled, as someone sat on the bench next to her.

“Oh my goodness I’m so sorry, I didn’t mean to scare you” came the worried voice from beside her. With a hand placed over her heart in attempt to calm her erratic breathing she replied

“Oh don’t worry about it, she’s kept me up all night so I’m a little out of it” she joked, gesturing to you in the pushchair, completely fascinated with a rattle that your mum had given you earlier.

“Well I’ve just had a struggle with Shawn trying to get him to eat his lunch, you should’ve seen the mess. Most of the food ended up on my top instead of going in his mouth!” The two mothers giggled, both having similar experiences with their kids.

During their conversation, Shawn had managed to shuffle close to the edge of his pushchair so he could see what you were playing with. When he noticed the bright red rattle in between your small hands, he squealed, gaining your focus. He made grabby hands towards the toy, thoroughly intrigued by the noises it made. You held the rattle out as far as your short arms would let you, finally managing to put it into the boys hands as your movements were uncoordinated and clumsy from your young age.

He let out a squeal at the noise the bright piece of plastic made when he shook it between his chubby hands. You giggled, clapping along, encouraging him to continue. Your parents watched in awe as you both ended up in fits of high pitched giggles and squeals, the occasional gurgle coming from your new friend.

When the clouds turned the sky grey and the wind grew bitter the two mothers decided to call it a day. They arranged to meet at the same time same place next week, weather dependant of course.

Little did they know what they had started.

 October 25, 2002

You had pleaded and begged your mum to let you go to the park that evening. Your mum had been reluctant since you had just got back from your first day at pre-school and had thought that it would be best for you to have an early night. But no, during the day, Shawn and you had made a plan to meet at the park next to the swings and you couldn’t not go

Sure enough as you dragged your mum by the hand through the gate and under the oaks, you saw Shawn also dragging Karen. As soon as you saw his figure you had dropped your mums hand and were running as fast as your little legs would carry you.

However, you were so focused on your friend that you completely ignored the change in surface, tripping over the slightly elevated concrete slab and falling.

Instantly, you felt pain in your knees and the heels of your palms. Hot tears gathered in your eyes, before they began streaming down your reddening cheeks.

Shawn was the first to reach you, sitting down next to you and rubbing your back, just like his mother had done with him many times.

“My-my knees” you spluttered, chocked sobs leaving your lips. Shawn looked at your grazed knees then your eyes and then back at your knees before he leant down and placed a kiss on each one.

“Better?” he asked, a flicker of hope shone through the clouds of concern in his hazel eyes. He hated seeing is friend hurt and really wanted to make you feel better.

“A little bit” you managed to say between the sobs. You held up your index finger and thumb to indicate how much he had helped and offered him a watery grin, which he returned.

He held onto your hand, taking extra care not to squeeze where you had grazed.

“What have I told you about running?” Your mum said, crouching down and assessing your injuries, upon realising they were nothing that a band-aid couldn’t fix, she worked on soothing your cries. She rubbed calming circles onto your back.

“Do we need to go home?” She offered when you eventually stopped blubbering.

“No I’m fine” you said, making your voice as confident as you could as you tried to stand up. You soon realised that bending your knees hurt, a lot. Shawn quickly noticed this and stood up, taking your other and in his and carefully pulling you up to your feet.

“Sweetie if you can’t walk we can do this tomorrow instead” Karen assured you

“No mummy we only just got here” Shawn pleaded. He wanted to spend time with you, not go home. He looked around the playground for something that you could do. “Can we go on the swings? Y/N won’t have to walk” Shawn looks at Karen, who looks at your mum. She shrugs, I don’t see why not.

Once both secured in the baby swings, your parents start to push the two of you, slow at first before starting to push with more force as you and Shawn practically beg. By the end the two of you are giggling messes.

“See you at school tomorrow” Shawn says, wrapping his small arms around you.

“Bye bye Shawn” you say returning the hug before your mum tells you that you have to go.

 March 2, 2012

School had been stressful today. Due dates and exam papers were piling up all of a sudden and everyone was stressed, not used to the pressure the education system was putting them under.

You somehow managed to walk to the park, wanting nothing more than to be in your bed. You opened the gate and passed under the familiar arch of the large trees, feeling more relaxed with every step you took. You didn’t know what it was but there was something about this park that made you calm, as if it removed all the weight off of your shoulders.

You saw him. He was sitting on the swing, gently pushing himself with his feet that were still planted on the ground. You walked past the baby swings (at your age there was no way you could fit in them) and perched on the swing next to Shawn.

“Hey” he smiled tiredly

“Hi” you replied, just as exhausted as him. You wrapped your arms around the chains of the swing, after all, you didn’t want to fall off.

“I don’t like school” You murmured, Shawn glanced at you, giving a nod of agreement before he looked back towards the empty field in front of him, watching the birds collect sticks for their nests.

“I hate Mrs Richardson” He replied, you stayed silent, waiting for him to explain. Surely enough a few seconds later “She gave me a detention and extra homework for forgetting my book”

“Yikes” you muttered. He let out a breathy chuckle

“Yikes? Really Y/N?” you rolled your eyes

“Sorry my head is just…” you trailed off, neither of you said anything, you had known each other long enough to know the end of that sentence, Shawn had always understood you.

You sat in comfortable silence. You both watched as a rabbit raced across from one grass verge to another. You both watched as a man walked across the field, his dog running backwards and forward in front of him. But you didn’t say anything, you didn’t need to really.

It was Shawn who cut through the silence

“Y/N?” He murmured

“Hmm” you replied, prompting him

“We’re gonna be best friends forever right?” You giggled at his request

“Didn’t you just make fun of me for saying ‘yikes’?” he laughed a little at that, nodding his head as if to say ‘fair enough’

“No but seriously, whatever happens, best friends?” He held his hand out you took it and sealed the deal with a handshake

“Best friends, no matter what”

 June 26, 2014

“Bye mum!” you shouted before racing out of the front door. You quickly walked the route which at this point you were 100% certain you could walk with your eyes closed (you and Shawn had tried to test this when you were 12 but it ended up with him spraining his ankle. He swore that curb wasn’t there before). You were so excited. Shawn had released his song ‘Life of the Party’ and you were going to meet him in the park. You had even taken a minute to pick some flowers from the side of the pavement, trying your best to arrange them in some artistic way.

However when you opened the gate you noticed that your swing was pre-occupied and so was Shawn.

You backed out of the park, a horrible feeling in your chest as you began to walk home. You remembered then that your friend Hannah had told you at lunch that she had seen Shawn and Lauren together in town at the weekend, but you didn’t believe her. Why would you? You were sure that Shawn would tell you if he went on a date. But as soon as you saw them kissing on the swings, on you and Shawns swings, you let the realisation wash over you. That Shawn didn’t tell you.

You chucked the flowers over someones hedge, not really caring whos garden they were now scattered across, you just wanted to get home.

“Sweetie?” Your mum called as you solemnly trudged up the stairs towards your room, but you didn’t respond. You felt drained, and hurt – mainly hurt.

Later that night your phone pinged on your desk as you finished your physics homework.

Shawn: Hey where were you tonight? You left me allll by myself

You could tell he was trying to joke, and fair enough usually you would’ve laughed. But the text only made your heart hurt more- he wasn’t by himself, so why would he lie about it?

Sorry, I just didn’t feel good. Congrats on your song tho!

You replied, placing the phone face down on your desk. You rested your head in your hands and convinced yourself that the pain in your chest was because he lied, not anything else.

 January 5, 2015

You were on the floor, back pressed against the cold metal pole of the frame of the swings. Your knees were pulled into your chest and you were sobbing your heart out. The reason? Jack, your boyfriend of 6 months had broken up with you, claiming he had feelings for someone else. You had been sat in the park kicking yourself for believing that a relationship at the age of 16 would work out. You just felt stupid, angry and distraught at the same time, and the fact that you were a hormonal teen was only adding fuel to the fire.

You were numb from head to toe. Unsure about whether it was the freezing winter wind or the overwhelming emotions that you were consumed with.

When you felt something land on your shoulders you flinched, so lost in your thoughts that you didn’t hear Shawn approach.

“Hey, it’s just me. You looked cold so I brought a blanket” He offered from behind you. After he had wrapped the soft material around you he sat down next to you.

“You’ll never guess wha-“ He cut himself off with a gasp

“Oh my god Y/N” he whispered when he noticed the tears cascading down your cheeks, finally piecing together your position you were sitting in and the way you had been unusually quiet. Without even thinking he wrapped his arms around you, engulfing you in a bear hug. His heart broke with yours as he felt your tears soak the thin material of the t-shirt he was wearing underneath his jacket. He nearly cried with you when he felt your hands clutch desperately at his top – he had never ever seen you so fragile in all of his life and he hated it with everything he was.

If it was anyone else, he would have cared about the makeup that was smeared across his shirt. But he didn’t, instead he kept rubbing soothing circles onto your back and whispering a stream of calming words into your ear. When your sobs turned into sniffles he pulled back slightly, just enough so he could look into your puffy, bloodshot eyes.

“What happened?” He whispered. You squeezed your eyes shut, willing yourself not to cry again, he wasn’t worth it you repeated over and over again. It had been at least a minute since Shawn had asked, but he knew not to push you, to give you time to gather your thoughts.

“He broke up with me, b-because he liked Ru-Ruby more” You said. Despite your best efforts, your voice came out hoarse and raw. A fresh wave of tears flowed from the corners of your eyes. You felt his padded thumbs wipe them off your cheeks. He pulled you in for yet another hug, letting you rest your head on his shoulder.

“He doesn’t deserve you. Hell, he never did, y/n you’re so funny, smart, gorgeous, charismatic and way to friendly and trusting for your own good!”  He felt himself blush slightly as he realised gorgeous had slipped from his lips, but didn’t go to correct himself, after all he meant it.

“Thanks Shawn” you murmured into his shoulder, slightly flustered as no one had ever said such nice things to you.

“You remember the last time when you were crying in this park?” He said, nudging you gently.

It took you a few moments to think back

“Oh yeh! When I grazed my knee and you kissed it better” You chuckled lightly at the thought of you and little Shawn. How the two of you were often labelled ‘partners in crime’ by your families.

“Need me to kiss anything better this time?” He joked. You thanked god that he couldn’t see the blush that was creeping up your neck and spreading across your neck – you were completely oblivious, however, to the redness of his face as even he was surprised at how forward his words were.

“Nothing for you to kiss better, I’m good. I promise” You also thanked the winter wind for letting you use the excuse of its bitterness for causing the red colour of your cheeks. You managed to wiggle yourself out of his firm hold and used the bar behind you to haul yourself up.

When he stretched out his hand, you grasped it with yours and tried to tug him up. Tried. He just sat there with a smug smile on your face as he watched you pull on his arm with all the force you could muster.

“Jesus Shawn what has Karen been feeding you?” You exclaimed. You stood with your hands on your hips, blanket from earlier draped over your shoulders and obviously out of breath.

He gasped jokingly and placed a hand over his heart.

“Are you calling me.. fat?” He feigned hurt, only making you roll your eyes. This caused him to break out in laughter. You spun around and started striding towards the gate. You weren’t mad, Shawn knew that too, but you knew he would follow you (and you were really cold). Sure enough only a few seconds later, before you had even made it to the trees, he had caught up with you. He announced his arrival by wrapping an arm around your blanket-covered shoulders.

He fell into step with you as you exited the park and tucked you further into his side as he felt you shiver.

When he had made sure you got home safely (he had actually taken you into your house, not leaving without saying hi to your mum of course) he turned back and walked back to his house, which he had already passed. During this time the thought of some boy dumping you and making you upset made him angry, he knew he could’ve prevented your heartbreak but yet he had let you go on that very first date with him. He should’ve told you that it wasn’t a good idea but instead when you asked for his opinion he was so shocked all he could say was “Go for it”.

Climbing the stairs to his room he couldn’t stop thinking that he knew he could treat you better. And with that wave of inspiration he rushed to his guitar which was abandoned in the middle of his floor, grabbed a pad of paper and a biro pen from his school pencil case and got to work.

 April 20, 2017

It was 1 week until Shawn was due to start his tour. 7 days was all you had left with him until you wouldn’t see him again for goodness knows how long.

No matter what way you said it, your heart physically hurt at the thought of not being able to see your best friend (who you may or may not have realized you had a crush on) for months.

He had denied his parents request of going to the shops in Pickering for a day out with his parents. He had instead insisted that he was going to spend the day with you at the park, at first Karen had found this request strange, but after Manny filled her in on how Shawn had confessed his major crush on his best friend, she actually drove him there.

So there the two of you were, in complete silence, admiring the view in front of you, blissfully content in each other’s presence.

“Wanna see who can go the highest?” You offered. He glanced at you and nodded, smiling as you started to push yourself backwards with your legs, ready to start your light-hearted competition. He took a second longer, his eyes raked your figure as you positioned yourself to get as much momentum as you possibly could to start with, he had to force himself to look away and get in position.

You waited until he seemed ready counting down before you both started to swing. You let out a laugh of pure joy, enjoying the feeling of momentary weightlessness as you soared forwards. Shawn quickly joined until you were both unable to contain your happiness.

“Jump on 3?” He shouted over the billowing sound the air made as it rushed past your ears, you hadn’t noticed but he had slowed his swing down so now you were perfectly synchronised.

“3” You replied, adjusting your grip on the metal chain

“2” he counted, shuffling forward on his seat

“1!” you shouted, timing your jump perfectly – just as your swing reached its peak height. In your peripheral, you saw Shawn’s lanky figure leap off his seat. You both landed at the same time, giggles and laughs still bursting from the two of you as you went to sit on the park bench behind the swing set.

Eventually the laughter quietened down and all that was heard was heavy breathing and the sounds of birds chirping from the oak trees. You stared ahead, never noticing until that point just how many flowers had grown in the overgrown flower beds. You admired their vibrant colours that stood out from the greens and browns of the park, usually the only colour was the chipped red paint on the swings and the faded yellow of the structure surrounding the slide.

But Shawn wasn’t admiring the flowers, he hadn’t even spared them a glance. Instead he had his gaze directed on you. He payed close attention to detail, noticing the way your eyes sparkled with happiness, seeing how radiant you looked when the clouds parted and the sun shone on your skin. He was in so deep and he knew it. It dawned on him that this was the perfect moment, he didn’t give himself time to talk himself out of it, but instead focussed on what he felt for you. He closed his eyes briefly and took a deep breath.

“Y/N?” You tore your gaze away from the flowers and turned towards him, not missing the way he visibly gulped.

“You alright?” You asked. He nodded, willing himself to stay calm. There was no way he was chickening out of this.

“Ok, so I know this is completely out of the blue and it’s probably a lot for you to take in but I need to get this off my chest because the next time I come to say it, I think it’ll be too late.” You nodded. You felt your heart rate begin to pick up. You mentally kicked yourself for watching too many rom-coms and getting your hopes up.

He inhaled again “So I’m going on tour and I won’t be able to see you and I can guarantee that if when I come back you will have a boyfriend because how could you not? So I need to ask you because if I don’t I’m certain I’ll never get this chance again ok?” You nodded again, urging him on, despite half of your body screaming at you and telling you that this isn’t what you think it is.

You noticed he was fidgeting with his hands, a nervous habit he had, so you reached forward and took his in yours, rubbing your thumbs over the back of his hands. This seemed to be the push he needed. “Will you be my girlfriend Y/N?” He asked, his eyes searching yours, desperate for any sign of agreement.

You wanted to say yes. You wanted to scream yes, but instead you were suddenly filled with insecurities and doubts. One boy had found better and left, what would stop Shawn from doing the same?

“Shawn I want to be, I really, really do. But what if you find a girl who you like more, what if you find someone who is better?” Your voice faded into a whisper. Shawn’s heart cracked as he realised that he had caused all your past insecurities to resurface.

“Stop” He said, his voice barely above a whisper

“You don’t see it do you Y/N?” you didn’t move, you couldn’t, you were frozen in place

“You’re perfect. So please,” he took a deep breath “please stop telling yourself that you aren’t” His face held a pained expression that you had never seen before.

“But Jack left, who’s to say you won’t leave too?” You wiped a stray tear before it ran down your cheek. You wanted to be stronger than this, you needed to be. And as frustrating as it as for Shawn, he could understand where you were coming from.

“I’m not an ass.” Shawn said, a poor attempt to try and lighten the mood. When your sleeve covered hand moved for a second time up to wipe a tear, he sighed.

“You know ‘Treat You Better’?” You hesitated for a second before nodding at his seemingly random question.

“I wrote that for you” He saw a flicker of something in your eyes. Hoping he had witnessed a break through, a small crack in your exterior, he pushed on.

“Every word I wrote in that song, I meant. Because I know I can treat you better, because I want to and because it’s what you deserve. And I think deep down, you know that to” He had never spoken such meaningful words in his life and he didn’t regret any of it.

This was all that you needed to hear. You desperately pulled him towards you and pressed your lips against his. He couldn’t hold back the moan that he let down when he tasted how sweet you tasted, like peach iced tea he got once from Starbucks in summer. His hands gripped your waist and yours ran through his hair.

When you finally pulled back for a breath of much needed air, you couldn’t stop the beaming smile that spread across your face - and by the looks of things - neither could Shawn.

“Yes” you replied. His eyebrows furrowed and confusion was apparent in his facial features.

“Yes I’ll be your girlfriend” and before you could react, he had placed his hands on your cheeks and his lips met yours in a passionate kiss.

 April 20, 2020

“Ok, now I want you to put something on for me” Shawn said whilst leaning to get something from the backseat.

For your 3 year anniversary, Shawn had a surprise planned for you. However there were pros and cons to this. Pros: Shawn had planned t so you didn’t have to do anything. Cons: surprise.

You never had been a fan of surprises, you would rather know what was happening in a situation. But did Shawn listen to your consistent begs and bribes (some which were extremely tempting).

No

So here you were in his car staring at the piece of material he brandished in his right hand.

“I’m not wearing that” you blurted before he even managed to explain. He held his index finger up in the air and confidently said “You will because I said so” You rolled your eyes. You turned around slightly so he would be able to cover your eyes, but gave him no verbal response, not wanting to give him the satisfaction that he had won. But of course Shawn knew what you were playing at and didn’t move a muscle.

“Just put it on Shawn” you grumbled, not happy that he had turned your tactic against you. He carefully wrapped the blindfold over your eyes, ensuring that there was no way you could see from underneath by carefully inspecting for any gaps. He knew damn well that you wouldn’t own up to being able to see out of it.

He continued the drive he knew well until he reached the parking spot. He quickly murmured a “Don’t you dare move” to you before opening his door and rushing round to the passenger side to open your door and help your sight-deprived self out of the car and safely onto the pavement.

Walking into the park he guided you carefully, making sure he notified you at even the slightest change in gradient.

Eventually he had you where he wanted you, and began to make the last minute arrangements to his plan.

“Not gonna lie Mendes but this is kinky” you announced, completely undeterred by your lack of vision in that moment. Shawn laughed at that, he shook his head at himself for even thinking that you could take this seriously.

He smoothed his clothes down and tried to calm his erratic heartbeat.

“You can take it off now” you heard. You reached behind you to untie the knot Shawn had carefully tied. When it came loose and dropped to the floor, the first thing you saw was the grassy field you had looked over for hours on end throughout your childhood, it still amazed you know as to how many memories flooded into your head from that one scene. You then noticed that Shawn wasn’t in front of you. You turned around, your lips parting in shock as you took in the freshly painted swing set,  hand painted vines covered in brightly coloured flowers, just like the ones that grew in the flower beds this time of year, decorated the once paint chipped poles.

Your hands went up to cover your mouth as your eyes dropped to where Shawn was on one knee.

“Y/N” He started, a smile already on his face because of your reaction. “We’ve been together for 3 ears exactly but I’ve had the pleasure of knowing you for the most of my lfe. We’ve stuck with each other through the nappy stages, the temper tantrums, the awful haircuts and unfortunate brace faces” He gave you a pointed look, causing you to giggle from underneath your hands “And most importantly you’ve stuck by my side and supported me through my career through the ups and downs, you’ve dealt with the crazy fans and looked after me even when come home all tired and moody from the studio. I’m so lucky to say that you’ve always been in my life and I would be honoured if you let me spend the rest of our lives together.”

“Oh my god Shawn yes” You pulled him to his feet and kissed him passionately, which he eagerly reciprocated.

When you pulled away for breath you pressed your foreheads together. “I’m so glad you said yes” He whispered

“Me too” you murmured

“No seriously, my knee was hurting from kneeling and I needed to stand up” He grinned cheekily, you separated your foreheads and pushed at his chest, a loud laugh coming from him.

“You idiot, we were having a moment!” You cried, and despite your best efforts a giggle escaped you.

“We’ll have plenty of time for more moments Mrs Mendes” You smiled

“Mrs Mendes,” you said testing your future title “I love it”

“Oh thank god!” Shawn dramatically placed his tattooed hand over his heart. He quickly grabbed your hands before they could, once again, come into contact with his chest.

“Would my fiancée like to go on the swings?” He asked, smiling at you

“She would love that”

[yourdeepestfathoms]

Caged Birds Don’t Fly -Chapter Three-

Chapter Three

Birds Of a Feather Flock Together

When Joan turned on the tap, Bee instantly became interested in the bathtub. She hangs from the side of the wall so she can bat at the water, which caused Joan to laugh. She jumped at the sudden sound, but goes back to what she’s doing once she confirms her human was okay.

“Okay, I’m going to try and get that smock off of you.”

Joan grabbed the scissors that she had brought in and waved Bee over. Reluctantly, she climbs down and sat in front of her like a dog.

“Good monster.”

The dual blades slip under one of the laces. For a moment, the leather held, making Joan think they were indestructible, but then the scissors chewed through the binds.

White and blue veins were crawling across Bee’s back, starting from the base of her wings. They clear as day despite her dark skin tone. They seemed to glow a little, pulsating slightly. Joan looks over this new sight before continuing her work, removing the straps and metallic clasps and plates. When everything was off, Bee stretched out her wings and shook herself out.

“There we go. Now, go on, get in the bath!”

The monster eyes her crossly, chuffing softly under her breath. Joan puts her hands on her hips.

“Don’t give me that look, missy. I know you hear me.” She nudges her tail with her foot, “Go on.”

Bee grumbled and then crawled into the bathtub. She loved it almost instantly, purring as she relaxed in the hot water. She leans down and feels a cluster of bubbles with her antenna. The beast sneezes.

Joan grabbed a washcloth and douses it with soap. She starts with the creature’s back, scrubbing off layers of grime and dirt. Bee was very patient, sitting still for her, even when she took the time to clean each of her claws thoroughly.

“Tail.” Joan says and she obeys.

The rag shines the hook-like barb on the tip. Apparently it was supposed to inject a paralyzing nerve toxin or even spray boiling acid.

Right then, Joan realizes what she’s doing. She’s been treating Bee like a friend or pet; a benevolent mute companion. She was the same species as the thing that hurt her- that ruined her life. And yet...

Bee makes a confused noise. She turns around and Joan shrinks away, white-knuckling a rag that was covered in monster grime. She senses that she was probably going to climb out of the tub and touch her. Comfort her. She didn’t want that.

“You scare me.”

For a long time, girl and monster just stare at each other.

It didn’t feel real. The feeling was similar to when you do just about anything at 3AM but without the lucid, otherworldly touch. No, this was sitting inside a thin salt circle at witching hour, shrouded by shadows where something deadly lurks.

What was this? A paradox? A cycle of madness that left her questioning her protector? A wormhole that constantly repeats her meltdowns? A liberation from madness, or an episode? Was this desperately breaking free of something that was going to lull her into mindlessness, or was this a foolish denial of her only possible anchor? Was this hell?

Fear ached in Joan’s stomach. Nameless fear. Unexplained fear. Overwhelming fear. She had to run. She had to get out of the room. She had to get out of the house, away from this, away from this monster, away from this insanity, she needed to breathe, she needed-

The bathroom didn’t feel right anymore. Bee started to snarl. It wasn’t her harmless little growl- this sound was rabid. She gripped the edge of the tub with her front talons, cracking the plaster slightly with frightening amounts of strength. Her tail arches over her back, barb gleaming menacingly. Spines started to grow out of the lacy veins, sharp and quivering, creating a horrible buzzing sound. Those were new; Joan stared in utter horror.

“Bee, stop!” She cried, “Stop it, please!”

Bee rears up with a deafening screech that sends Joan collapsing into a cringing ball of pain. She pressed against the cabinets and writhed, clutching at her ears. From above, the monster continues to frenzy.

“Stop!”

Joan forced herself up onto her knees, flaring out her one wing wide open.

“You know what? Fuck you! If you want to tear up this bathroom, too, then fine. But if you disappear, if you leave me alone like this, if you abandon me, I won’t forgive you!”

Silence.

Bee twitches and then chuffs softly. Her quills retract and she settled back down in the water, gurgling softly. When Joan crawls towards her, she moved away and pressed against the wall. The girl stops and then held out her hand.

“Here Bee,” She called out softly, “Here Bumblebee. Come here. It’s okay. You won’t hurt me.”

Slowly, the monster inches closer and presses her head against Joan’s hand. Her arm looped over her neck and she welcomed the touch.

“I’m keeping you.” The owl murmured, “Let me keep you. I feel braver when you’re here with me.”

The monster purred and rubbed against her in an affectionate way. She was agreeing. She wanted to stay.

“Good monster,” Joan cooed, stroking the base of her wings, “Whatever I did to set you off, warn me next time, okay?”

A gurgle.

Once the two of them parted, Joan continued to wash off the WingEater. They were both a lot more relaxed and Bee ended up playing in the water again.

The bath water became murky grey as more and more soot was removed. It seemed like dirt collectively clung to the leathery flesh over time, making it horribly dirty. It took around ten minutes to just get the top layer off and the water was already blackened. Joan ended up filling up a bowl so she could wash off her rag.

The fledgling uses her nails to get off the tougher layers of grime, something that even she’s a little surprised about doing. Black dirt and ash gets underneath her fingernails, but she doesn’t care. She’s completely focused on cleaning up the monster.

While Bee’s wings were beautiful, some feathers had to be cut off because they were just too stiff and dry. It’s almost like they were rotten. They floated lazily in the water with other clumps of burned fringes or fallen down.

Various kinds of soap and shampoo were rubbed against dark pelt, making the bathroom smell pleasant, despite the burnt scent that tried to combat it. Suds and bubbles filled the surface of the water, making Bee sneeze when they get in her nose. Joan laughs.

Soon, the water became way too dirty to properly clean Bee, so Joan decided to pull the plug. The WingEater gave her a confused look.

“Brace yourself.”

She was so glad she warned the monster, because she was almost positive she would have attacked the shower head if she hadn’t. Hot water sprayed out from the spigot, causing Bee to jump backwards and stick to the wall. She looked completely startled, but slowly lowered herself back into the tub. She began twisting and turning under the streaming rain, purring happily. Joan let her do a little dance under the stream before turning the shower off. When Bee reached for her smock on the floor, Joan scowled and kicked it away.

“You can’t put that back on! It’s filthy!”

Bee chuffed. It’s not like it mattered if she wore anything or not- WingEaters didn’t have visible genitals.

“Let me clean it first, okay?”

When the monster agreed, Joan bundled both the smock and her stained sheets into the washing machine. Bee didn’t expect a stew of bleach, though, so she began to mope. She followed Joan around the house, bleating miserably. Repeatedly. For over an hour.

Joan ended up giving her a plate of leftovers, but she just stared at it unhappily. She yowled and fretted and whined, padding into the laundry room to check on the progress of her weird WingEater clothes. After a moment, she would always return, disgusted by the bleach. Once she took a few trips and tugged helplessly on Joan’s shirtsleeve without changing her situation, she flopped to the floor, huffing and grumbling. Finally, she began to eat.

Joan was actually a little surprised that she would even consume human food, but she seemed to be enjoying the spaghetti. She sat down, watching the monster. Her monster.

———

Was sneaking into a barn to show your pet monster farm animals considered trespassing? Maybe. But Bee’s reaction was worth it.

For once, it hadn’t been a nightmare that woke Joan up. She had plans to sneak out with Bee and just wander around, bonding with the beast. Night seemed to be the only time she could take her out, so naturally she chose to go to a small farm nearby.

Joan steps into the large barn, shutting the door quietly behind her and Bee. The farm animals made startled noises at the sight of the owl and the strange creature. After a minute, they settled slightly, unaware of what Bee really was.

Bee happily pet on the cows and sheep and goats, chirping happily and tail wagging. Joan watched her, smiling.

While she was having her fun, she began to think. Bee was very strange. She was so different compared to what other WingEaters are like, not to mention she can weirdly disappear and reappear at will. It didn’t seem like the rest of her kind could do that.

Joan turned around and opened the door to make sure the farmer was still asleep. That was the plan, but she ran into a problem.

A twisted monster was standing in her path.

It was almost skeletal due to how thin it was, dark red skin pulled tight over its bones. There were chunks missing from the arms and blue WingEater blood was crusted around the mouth. Hunger blazes in its eyes.

“BEE!” Joan screamed.

The beast lunged forward, chipped claws catching on the girl’s coat and ripping the fabric. She spasms in fear, kicking it in the shin and making it stagger backwards. This would have been the perfect chance to run, if the door hadn’t slammed on her wing. Joan’s spine arched and she hissed between her teeth. The WingEater has regained its balance.

“Bee!!”

There’s a roar, similar to the battle cry of a tiger or panther. Bee is perched on the roof of the barn, suspending the rabid WingEater upside down in the air by one of its legs. She growled lowly, seized the tail with her other hand, and ripped it out in one clean motion. The spine comes out with it, along with a gushing fountain of blue blood. Joan feels her stomach turn.

The lights in the farmer’s house flick on. Bee throws the body into the crops, jumps down, grabs Joan’s hand, and runs into the forest. Nestled in the bushes, they watch as a man steps out of the house with a gun and looked around.

Joan is still shaking. Her wing stung from when she was yanked out of the doorway. A few feathers were missing, but that was the least of her worries.

“Bee,” She croaked, “Why was it...?”

Bee wrapped her in her arms first, then her wings. Her claws rubbed soothingly against her back. It was like she was saying, “It’s okay. It was just a fluke. It wasn’t here for you.”

Joan clung to the monster, waiting until her fear quelled. It was easier than before, thanks to her beast.

[quicksilver-foxheart]

Down By The Sea: Part 2

 Part 1

-

“Wind, are you sure about this?” Four asked uneasily as Wind untied the knot staying the raft.

“Oh, relax, Four-yes, I’m sure. Besides, we’re not stealing the raft, just. . .borrowing it, that’s all. We’ll return it by dawn, no harm done.” He stepped onto the raft with a boat oar, and when Four finally stepped on besides him, he thrust it into the water. The raft hardly budged, and when Wind tried yet again, he was met with the same result. 

“I thought you could sail,” Four accused.

“It’s not as easy as it looks,” Wind grunted, trying once more. “Besides, I sailed a proper boat, not some stupid raft.” He heard his companion sigh, and felt the raft dip as he stepped off. He was still trying vainly to move the raft when he felt Four step back on. 

“If you’d listened to Wild every now and then, you’d know that the best way to move these rafts is with a Korok leaf.”

Wind turned around to see Four holding the large leaf out to him. Rolling his eyes, he tossed the oar aside, where it drifted out towards the open ocean. Turning around once more, he took a deep breath and swung the leaf. 

The resulting gust of wind made the raft shoot forward, and Wind could hear Four let out a yelp as he lunged to grab the sail post. Laughing in delight, he continued to swing leaf, and as the raft practically flew over the water, Wind couldn’t help but be reminded of his days sailing the Great Sea with The King of Red Lions.

Much too soon later-in Wind’s eyes, anyway-the raft collided into the shore. “We’re here,” Wind sang, glancing back at Four, who stumbled off the raft on shaky legs. “You alright there? Ya’ look a little green in the face, y’know.”

“Just peachy, Wind. Never better,” Four stood up, finally catching his breath. “What is this place?” he asked, surveying the island they’d landed on. It seemed to mostly be covered by a thick tropical forest of sorts, but off to the right, there were two different tall, rocky, steeply-sloped hills.

Next to him, Wind shrugged. “Let’s climb up there, maybe we can scout the area,” he suggested, already running at the taller and farther of the two hills. He passed a particularly sandy, soft-earthed spot in the valley between the hills, and couldn’t help thinking that only a giant could’ve made that sort of imprint. 

He scrambled up the the side of the hill, hauling himself up. Below him, Four muttered under his breath, wiping dust out of his face for the umpteenth time after Wind kicked it down while climbing. 

“Whew!” Wind gasped as he pulled himself up over the lip of the cliff. Not much later, Four appeared as well. 

“Well, we climbed the hill, can we go back now? I don’t even see why we had to leave Lurelin in the first place,” Four grumbled, wiping sweat off his forehead.

“I guess. . .” Wind sighed. The pleasant surprise of nostalgia and the trip down memory lane had made him homesick, sure, but he was very much enjoying himself. “Seeing as it is dawn, anyway.” 

Peeking over the edge of the cliff, he slowly walked down it, and Four had no choice but to follow, lest he be left alone on the island, which was giving him the creeps. With Wind leading the way, they made their way back to the beach, Four taking extra care to step around the giant indentation.

“Hey Four. . .?”

Four decided he didn’t like Wind’s almost guilty tone and felt a sliver of dread creeping up his spine. “Yeah?” he asked, coming up behind the sailor to see what he was staring at. Or rather, what he wasn’t staring at.

“Wind, where’d the raft go?”

-

Warrior awoke with a start to hear Time and Twilight arguing outside of the inn they’d stayed at. Yawning, he made his way out of the hut. “What’s going on, guys?”

Both heroes looked up at Warrior. “Have you seen Wind or Four?” Time asked, an expression of concern matching the one on Twilight’s face.

“No, why?’ Warrior asked, letting out another yawn. 

“Wild woke me up, saying they weren’t around and the innkeeper hadn’t seen them at all, then ran off,” Time explained.

As if on cue, the Hero of the Wild came jogging up from the general direction of the lookout tower. 

“Any luck?” Warrior demanded on his approach.

Wild shook his head. “No, but I just got done talking with the village elder, and he said his raft went missing.”

“Well, I’m sure we can all guess who the raft thief-or rather, thieves- are,” Twilight said with a sigh, running his hand through his hair.

‘Wild, is there anywhere they might’ve gone?” Time asked him, glancing at Twilight briefly. Wild appeared lost in thought for a moment as he thought, and his eyes widened. 

“I think I know exactly where Four and Wind went.”

-

“Great, thanks a lot, Wind,” Four groaned, throwing another pebble into the water.

“How was I supposed to know the raft would disappear?”

“Well, maybe if you hadn’t insisted on sneaking off and dragging me with you to prove you’re not just some ‘kid,’ we wouldn’t be in this situation,’ Four kicked at a rock indignantly, wincing at the resulting pain.

Wind bit back a response, and turned around to survey the tropical forest behind them. His eyes landed on something glowing blue and seemingly familiar. “Hey, look! Isn’t that one of those shrine thingies?” 

Four turned his head and followed Wind’s gaze to see what was in fact, a shrine, sitting at the very top of the hill they’d just climbed. “I suppose we might as well just climb all the way back up,” he sighed.

-

The seven heroes stood in a group at a peninsula overlooking the far off Eventide Island, and as he stared it, Time couldn’t help but shudder at how innocent yet foreboding it seemed. “Are you sure this is the place?” He couldn’t understand what could possibly drive the missing two heroes to want to go there.

Wild nodded. “Positive,” he said, if a little unsurely. It was the only place he could think of, anyway. “I’ll just teleport over there, look around, and warp back here, quick as a Blupee.”

“What’s a Blupee?” Hyrule asked curiously, glancing at the blue-clad hero. 

“Just. . .a, ah, rabbit of sorts, I guess,” Wild muttered, fiddling with the Shiekah Slate. A glowing, circular shape appeared where Hyrule was standing, and he let out a squawk of surprise, scrambling back. 

“Hey, wait a sec, Pup, who said you were going to do this alone?” Twilight demanded, taking a step closer to his apprentice. Looking up at him, Wild grinned guiltily and promptly faded, vanishing into a swirl of blue light. 

“I swear to Hylia, he’s impossible to keep track of,” Twilight muttered, sinking down against a nearby palm tree. Nothing to do now but wait.

-

When Wild landed on the shrine portal, he could instantly tell something was wrong. The island was far too quite, the birds weren’t chirping, and he couldn’t even hear the cackling and howling of the various nearby monsters. The silence set him on edge, but he ignored it, spotting Wind and Four sitting in the spot the black feathered Rito had sat. Strange. But he supposed that not even the sky loving Rito could stay on this cursed place forever. Snapping out of his thoughts, Wild jogged down to the two. “Wind, Four, there you are.”

As if they were one, the two turned to face Wild. “Hey, Wild, you found us,” Wind grinned sheepishly, scratching the back of his head, a common habit the Links shared. 

Wild rolled his eyes. “Yeah, good luck with Warrior and Time. They’re more worried than a mother bear over her cubs. You two are probably gonna’ be in huge trouble with them,” he shrugged, not saying it to be smug or teasing, just stating the truth. He opened his mouth say something else, but was cut off with a terrifying roar. Three sets of blue eyes scanned the island below them, and Wild’s heart dropped when he recognized the hoofed monster with purple and silvery-white striping. Glowing purple eyes locked onto the cerulean of the tallest hero amongst the three.

“Wild, what’s that thing?” Four asked, eyes wide as he stared at the lynel below, which hadn’t attacked-yet. 

“Lynel,” Wild hissed, and before anything else could be said, a bow and shield appeared on his back as if by magic, and he leapt off the hill, whipping out the paraglider.

Four and Wind watched as, enraged, the lynel reared back up, pulling out the largest weapon and shield either of them had ever seen. Wild pulled out his bow mid-air, swiftly nocking and firing three arrows at once.

They exploded on contact with the beast, and Wild took that opportunity to drop down onto the monster’s back, rapidly slashing and hacking at its back while it madly bucked. Wild flew off, skidding on the ground as he and the lynel circled in the admittedly small space. The lynel shrieked, surrounding itself with a ball of fire that exploded outwards, which Wild barely managed to avoid. He shot the lynel once again, firing at it rapidly as he slowly inched in on the kneeling lynel.

The battle continued with Wild avoiding its attacks and firing at it with arrows then mounting it. While its strength was weakening, Wind could tell that Wild was as well, and that was when another of his brilliant ideas hit him. Four watched as Wind pulled out his bow and began raining arrows down upon the battle below.

“Wind, what are you doing? What if you hit Wild?”

“Then how else do you propose we help without completely getting in the way?

Four considered this. One one hand, it might get the battle over with a lot quicker if they both charged down their with Wild, but that could go either way. He pulled out his own bow, and the two of them managed to time their attacks so an arrow was always being fired.

Meanwhile, Wild, while he appreciated the help, didn’t appreciate how he now had to dodge arrows as well. He continued to zigzag around the beast, and, deciding he was at a safe enough distance, paused to catch his breath. Looking up to see the lynel swiftly approaching, he snapped his fingers, hoping that Urbosa would come through and that her power would be ready to use at that moment.

His luck held out as lightning struck the oncoming beast and it shrieked, twitching as its weapons dropped from its hands. It dropped to the ground, disappearing in a puff of smoke, and Wild picked through what it’d left behind.

He didn’t hear Four and Wind coming up behind him as he pondered what could’ve caused a lynel to spawn there of all places. He realized it must be the work of Dark Link, despite wanting to chalk it up to the curse of the island. 

“Wild?” Came a tentative voice behind Wild. Turning around, he faced Wind and Four. 

“Yeah?” he asked tiredly.

“Are you okay?” Wind asked.

Wild flapped a hand, gesturing the matter away. “Yeah, yeah, I’m fine. Just forgot how hard it is to fight those things.” He pulled out the Shiekah Slate, looking back up. “Thanks for the help, by the way.”

Wind smirked at Four, who rolled his eyes. 

“Here, hang onto me,” Wild instructed. Wind grabbed his left arm and Four his right, and next thing they knew, they appeared back at the peninsula. Four staggered to the ground, vomiting, while Wind trembled, looking pale as snow. 

Warrior immediately jumped up, hugging Wind tightly while Sky patted Four’s back.

“How do you do that?” Wind gasped, trying to ignore the sudden onslaught of nausea. Wild shrugged, slipping the Slate back on his hip.

“What took you guys so long?” Twilight, who would not stop pacing the duration of Wild’s departure, demanded, standing directly in front of the younger hero.

Wild shrugged. “Bit of trouble, nothing too serious,” he bit his lip, which Twilight had come to recognize as lying tick. 

“Nothing too serious?” He scoffed, placing a hand on his protege’s shoulder. “Wild, it’s nearly dark. It shouldn’t’ve taken the entire day.”

Wind, who seemed to have recovered, chose that moment to speak up. “There was this huge thing called a lynel, and Wild straight up flew down at it and took it out with lots of bomb arrows. He even got on its back and slashed at it with his sword and then Four and I shot arrows at it.”

Twilight arched his eyebrows, something Wild couldn’t do for the life of him. “Lynel, like the thing you talked about above Zora’s Domain?”

Wild gave a sheepish grin, scratching his neck, avoiding Twilight’s stern gaze. 

“Oh, Pup, what am I gonna’ do with you?”

-

“Wind, Four, don’t you dare try something like that every again, you hear?” Warrior demanded.

“Yes, dad, “ Wind snickered.

(gah i’m sorry i don’t know how to end stories i’m still getting used to writing, but at least i didn’t forget to press ‘save draft’ haha)

[i-writeandread-blog]

A Portrait of a Tortured You and I - Chapter 2

Authors Note: I don’t edit or proofread usually when trying to get content out quickly, so I am aware there may be issues with my use of past and present tense. Please know I will fix any and all errors!

I was snapped back to reality, when I heard the horn blow on the ferry.  It was pulling up to the dock.  I was equal parts excited and nervous.  This wasn't my first rodeo, I had been to over 50 concerts, traveling all over the world to see Mars, I was also a Camp Mars alum... but this was the first time I had left the comfort of my home since I had been brutalized. 

Life has a funny way of surprising you though.  Since the attack, my sisters and I have made up.  I don't think we would have, had the unfortunate not happened.

Since I received the anonymous letter and check, I started working on getting better.  I still wasn't out of the woods.  The occasional panic attack and nightmare still happened.  I didn't know if they would ever go away, but they were becoming less and less.  I did have a few issues getting on the plane, but I used the breathing and grounding techniques that my therapist was teaching me.  And here I am, ready to finally enjoy life again.  I was so anxious to get to the island and get settled in. 

Some of the Echelon that I was still friends with were meeting up with me and it was all about strength in numbers.  That gave me comfort knowing that they had my back in the unlikely event I began to panic.

I looked around seeing many unfamiliar faces and was slightly confused.  Having traveled a lot to the European shows, I expected to recognize people I knew, but alas I didn't.  We began to load onto the ferry, everyone in a rush.  I felt a bump and a push and at first just chucked it off as everyone being so eager and not looking where they were going.  I felt an attack coming on and steadied myself against the railing.  "Okay, you've got this. Breathe in, now breathe out." I did my breathing exercises and didn't care if people thought I was crazy.  It subsided and I went to give myself a figurative pat on the back when I turned around and saw an unwanted familiar face.

"No one is buying it, freak!" She was laughing and acting so smug.

"What is your problem, Natalie?" I asked.  I honestly wanted to clear the air with her.  I knew I'd be seeing her at a ton of events going forward, as I had been for the last fifteen years.  I'd like to be able to enjoy our precious time with the band without having to constantly worry about problems with her.

"You honestly don't know, do you?"  She grinned, all the while looking at me very curiously.

"No. I've never had problems with you.  In fact, when you were writing that Jared smut, I was your biggest fan, always complimenting you on your writing.  Last years camp we even enjoyed some time together. So Nat, what's the deal?"

"You don't get to call me Nat anymore.  Just do me a favor and fuck off."  With that she stormed off into a group of girls all high five-ing her and congratulating her on a job well done being the biggest bully.  The saddest part of this was that Natalie is a 44 year old woman acting like a 20 year old.  It wasn't cute.  Not by a long shot.

I was on edge the whole ferry ride which lasted approximately an hour and twenty minutes, but felt much more like an eternity. My eyes were constantly darting around and anytime the boat rocked, I felt absolute dread. I was repeating a sort of mantra over and over in my head, “you’re gonna be in the presence of Mars soon. It’s going to be the best time!” I just knew once I was there and settled, that I would finally be able to let my guard down. I would be able to relax and have the best time.

We pulled up to the island and from the boat, I could see the beautiful art installations and hear the sounds of laughter mixed with music being played on loud speakers. I was home, in my element. Memories of previous camps creeping in my head and replacing all the negative ones from the past year. I watched as Natalie and her groupies got off the boat before me. I was wishing and trusting that she’d forget that I was here, now that she was also on the island.

Check in was literally right at the dock and there were many faces I recognized there, I sighed a great deal of relief. Walking up, I presented my ID, passport, and my booking number. A cheery girl many years my junior, took my items and said, “Hi, Catherine, how was your trip here?” I smiled, “it has been uneventful up to now.” I didn’t need to tell her all of the details, she was just making small talk. “Okay, you are in.... hmm. I don’t see your booking, that’s strange. Hold on a second.” She turned and walked off. I was growing more nervous by the second. Was my email from Shayla fake? But if so, how did I end up with $3,000 dollars? I started putting pieces together. Maybe the email was fake and my parents gave me the cashiers check. This would be so awful, if true.

I was told to step aside while someone else took over that computer and was checking more guests in. I couldn’t breathe and I started crying and shaking. The place I was supposed to feel most at home in was now not feeling so homey.

The girl came back and asked to see any printouts I had from AiW. I fumbled around looking for the email from Shayla and any correspondence directly from Adventures, I grabbed the first thing which happened to be the original confirmation when I bought the package in January.

She took it from me and cross referenced something on an iPad. “Hmmm, I see this booking existed and then it was canceled. But, I also see your name is on the list of attendees. We don’t finalize the list until all payments are made. This is odd. Do you have proof of payment?” I didn’t have that, but I was able to show her the email from Shayla after digging around once more in my bag. “Oh, well I guess this actually makes sense now! Okay, so you had the moonlight tent package. Let me find you one that’s available since we don’t know which one you’re supposed to be in, anyway.” She found one that had a bed free and loaded up my bags onto a golf cart. I told her I didn’t mind walking, and set out to find my tent.

I hadn’t seen any of my friends yet as many people were still being ferried over and we all had different boat times. It was peaceful. The sun was shining, birds were chirping, the music was a great selection of garden variety pop and rock. I was actually feeling great, now that it appeared the email wasn’t fake at all.

As I was walking, I caught a glimpse of Jared and Shannon talking over by some trees. They were wearing swimming trunks and smiling as they talked. I thought to myself that they looked extra adorable and almost tripped from not looking where I was going. I heard a voice that I would know anywhere shout, “watch your step, the ground isn’t even!” Shannon chuckled as he spoke to me from a distance. Jared looked in my direction and waved. I kept going and finally found my tent. Number 4, one of my lucky numbers. I was at peace.

My bags were sitting on the only available bed and I made my way over to it, to start making my little space my own. I heard someone walk in, but they must have walked back out because I never did see anyone. Once, I had made myself comfortable, I decided to lay down and allow myself time to soften up. I needed to unwind in the worst way and the quiet was really tranquil.

I rested for what was likely to be about an hour, but I have no actual idea as I hadn’t looked at the time. I was awoken from reverie to a commotion outside the tent. And I drew my legs up and started rocking back and forth.

The problem with being out in the real world was that everything was so unpredictable. Loud noises were everywhere, no matter the cause... they were most always innocent. People fighting... that was a hard one for me, but I saw my share of it in the airport between husband and wives, or parents and children. Now, here on the island there is it’s own set of issues. I needed to know the cause for the arguing. I needed to know I was safe. So I cranked my neck forward to get a really good listen.

“Ughh, I’ve looked all over for someone who can help me and I can’t seem to find anyone that cares or knows what to do! I’m going to just start screaming. Maybe that will get someone’s attention!”

I instantly knew it was Natalie.

“Don’t worry. This is a great opportunity. We can fuck with her as much as we want.”

“Hahahaha, no! I don’t want to be anywhere near her. She’ll play the victim no matter what and then I’ll get kicked off the island. Nooooo thanks!”

“No one has to know.”

“That’s true! Oh wait, there’s Shayla. Let’s get her attention.”

“Shayla, we desperately need your help!”

“Not now ladies. I’m looking for someone. Can it wait?”

“No, it can’t. We are stuck in a tent with someone we don’t like.”

“That’s hardly a reason to throw a fit. Can’t you just ignore each other?”

“Me? Of course! I can avoid her, but it’s not me to worry about. Catherine, will be the problem. She’s gonna hurt me in my sleep or something. She’s really unstable.”

I couldn’t believe my ears. She was actually trying to make me sound like I was a monster. What’s worse is we were to share a tent for three nights. I became violently ill and threw up right there in the bed.

“Did you say Catherine? Where is she?”

“Hell if I know.”

Shayla stepped inside and took notice of me.

“Oh my goodness, are you okay, Catherine?”

I nodded. “Let’s get you cleaned up and out of here. There was a mistake at check out. This isn’t your room. I’ll have someone clean up in here, don’t worry.” I went to protest, but she waved her hands at me. She picked up a towel and wiped my face. I was so humiliated. I had known Shayla for a few years and she was always so kind, we were nothing but acquaintances so to have her help me when I’m at my lowest was really humbling and extremely embarrassing. She handed me clothes from my suitcase and I quickly changed into them. “You ready?” I sighed, then nodded.

Shayla had her arms around me and walked me out of the tent. She gave Natalie a stern look and said nothing. We took a few steps and I overheard a scream followed by, “that nasty cunt threw up in here, how fucking gross!” Shayla reassured me and told me to just ignore it. I tried, but I still couldn’t get over how things were unfolding. I was still so confused as to how it ended up the way it did with Natalie.

We arrived at some bungalows and Shayla motioned for me to follow her. At first, I thought this was where she was staying or maybe it was first aid. I was really perplexed, but I followed her in. She turned around and said, “I’ll have your things sent here. Is this room okay? I wanted you to have something peaceful to wake up to, this was the only room with a direct view of the sea.”

“Shayla, I’m completely baffled. This isn’t my room. Why am I here?” I had to ask because I knew there had to be a mistake. “I must have forgotten to tell you, the donor upgraded you to the VIP experience and this was meant to be your room from that moment on. Unfortunately, when I went into the system to change everything, there was a glitch so it erased your booking entirely. You shouldn’t have been in that tent and it’s my fault you had to experience that unpleasantness.” She looked truly sorry.

“Shayla, you couldn’t have known. But is there anyway you can refund back some of the money to whomever paid for me? I’d like to just be where I was if I had paid my own way?”

“Catherine, I’m under strict orders to make sure you have a smooth vacation and that you have a wonderful time. I can ask, but I don’t think there’s a chance that they will allow that to happen.”

“Shay, who was it? I won’t say anything, I just am a little freaked out that someone did this for me.” I pleaded with her to tell me. Honestly, I was more scared now then I had been traveling here alone. What if this person meant me harm?

“I can’t say. But they’re not a threat to you. I can assure you of that.”

“Okay, whomever it was is trustworthy? I have your word?”

“Yes. Now, I suggest you do whatever it is you need to, because your itinerary is completely full starting in about an hour.” She handed me a paper filled with activities and times. She was right, completely full, starting with front row seating to the soundcheck.

[naceisonthecase]

Perspective

Hey, @fyeah-marvel it’s your Secret Santa!! I loved working on your gift and I really hope you like it. Merry belated Christmas and Happy New Year!!

Prompt: Family fluff, post season 5 including Deke *it’s more heartwarming than fluffy tho*

Word Count: 1909 

It had been over an hour since it had started to snow and it didn’t look like it was going to let up anytime soon. Inside, the perfectly concealed cabin the heat from the crackling fire made the storm outside nearly obsolete. Jemma was busy in the kitchen finishing off preparing tea. She placed a third mug on the tray along with a saucer of milk, a small bowl of sugar and a teapot of freshly brewed tea before carrying it towards the lounge.

Pausing in the doorway, she watched Fitz. His feet were kicked up on the coffee table and his head was bent over his tablet. He looked deep in thought, his thumb and index finger resting on his lip and cheek as he read. This Fitz had missed quite a lot and his return had been a major adjustment on the both of them and for the rest of the team. Looking down she saw the ring encircled around her finger and sighed. They had needed this getaway she reminded herself— for longer than she cared to admit. Using the door frame to balance the tray, Jemma wiggled the ring off her finger and dropped it into the pocket of her jumper. She took a deep breath.

“Tea’s ready!” She beamed, entering the lounge.

Fitz powered off his tablet and straightening up tossed it gently beside him on the sofa. He began to reach for a mug but stopped, hand hovering over the handle for a moment. “Who's that there third mug for?” He questioned, pointing to the collection of mugs arranged on the tray in front of him.

As if on cue, the front door burst open and Deke stumbled into the cabin covered head to toe in winter gear.

“Looks like you found the place alright.”

“Would’ve been easier without all this cloaking business.”

“You know why it needed to be cloaked.” Jemma replied, moving to help Deke out of his jacket. “In any case,” She went on, hanging the jacket on a hook. “You’re just in time for tea.”

Deke walked across the room and settled down on the sofa next to Fitz, who had been giving him the stink eye the entire time. Waking up unexpectedly in the present day feeling as if the last six months had been a complete waste and finding out you had a grandson, who had come back from the future from a chapter of your life that you, the current you, had planned on helping to solve. It was very unsettling. And now this twenty-something year old grandson was sitting there beside him acting completely nonchalant as Jemma handed him a steaming mug.

“So, what have you two lovebirds been up to? Conceived my mom yet?”

Jemma and Fitz exchanged an uneasy look. “So, how is everyone back at base?” Jemma asked turning back to Deke, quite happy to change the subject.

Deke was scooping spoonfuls of sugar into his drink. “Uh, everyone’s — good. Coulson and May are still off on their little excursion. Haven’t heard too much from them. Elena, Daisy and Mack are putting up holiday decorations. Daisy’s now glad her powers are back in working,” he paused, looking over at Fitz who had tensed up beside him, “order.” He took a large gulp of his tea, coughing on the too hot beverage. “That there’s hot.” He said placing his mug back on the table, forcing his coughs into laughter.

Jemma placed a hand on Fitz’s leg and gave it a small squeeze hoping it would help calm him. They hadn’t outright told him what had happened, but Daisy had been keeping him at arms length and it wasn’t long until he knew something was up. He knew what had happened with Daisy wasn’t his doing but that didn’t stop him from feeling horrible for betraying his friends trust. It was another reason they needed this time away, taking the time to regroup before rejoining the team.

Fitz moved from her touch. “I think I need some fresh air.” He said, pushing himself up off the sofa and headed to wear his jacket hung on the hook next to Deke’s. He quickly shrugged into it and stuffed his feet into his boots. And he was out, the door quietly closing behind him, before Jemma or Deke could find any words to stop him.

Deke sat blinking after him for a moment, his mouth slightly agape, as he muddled over the short conversation. Then he stood from the sofa and paced around the lounge, muttering under his breath. “I shouldn’t‘ve come.” He said, loud enough for Jemma to hear. He hit his stockinged foot against the sideboard in frustration, his quiet mumbles turning into a not so quiet string of curses. Jemma turned her attention from the closed door to Deke who was now sitting on the arm of an armchair, rubbing at his sore foot. She rushed to his side, sitting next to him she placed a calming hand on his shoulder.

“Don’t take any of that too personally, Deke. It’s honestly none of your fault.”

“Sure felt like it was.” Deke said to his foot.

Jemma sighed. “He’s been — we’ve all been through a lot and he just needs a little time. I have an idea,” Jemma said before getting off the armchair and disappearing into the kitchen.

Deke heard the click of the fridge opening and shutting and Jemma returned with something wrapped in parchment paper.

“Made this just in case.” Jemma handed over the package to Deke, who gave it a curious whiff and folded a corner over to peek inside.

“A sandwich?”

“The way to your grandad’s heart is through his stomach. It also helps him open up about what’s going on up there.” Jemma said, tapping the side of her head to emphasize her point. “Talk to him.” Jemma urged.

Deke got back into his winter gear, with the sandwich tucked safely in his jacket pocket, and ventured back into the winter wonderland. Luckily, the storm had begun to blow over. Fitz was sitting on a snow covered bench not far from the cabin, his elbows resting on his knees as he looked into the distance beyond the cloaked cabin. He turned watching Deke approach.

“Uh, Jemma said this was for you.” Deke said, taking the sandwich out of his pocket to hand to Fitz and jammed his hand back into his pocket. Fitz unwrapped the sandwich it as soon as it was in his hands and took a bite, sighing happily as he chewed (“Prosciutto and buffalo mozzarella. Mmm, with just a hint of pesto aioli”).

“Well, I’ll just sit here while you eat then.” Deke said, sitting down on the empty part of the bench, his hands still deep in his pocket.

An uncomfortable silence fell between them, the sounds of Fitz chewing and the occasional chirp of a bird the only sounds that were heard.

“Never really knew my dad. He was a deadbeat so I wasn’t missing out on much.” Deke said after a while, taking a hand out of a pocket to casually itch at the side of his face before putting it right back in again. “Oh well, makes it kinda cool that I get to know you I guess.”

“My old man wasn’t the best either.” Fitz said, surprising Deke. “Left when I was ten. Honestly, it terrifies me that I’ll turn out like him.” He paused, playing with the edge of the sandwich parchment. “Even more so that I already have.”

“Are you kidding me?” Deke said. “You are nothing like your father. Not now, not ever. You should’ve heard the stories my mom told me about you. The way she spoke about you you’d think you were some kind of super parent.”

Fitz screwed his eyebrows together and looked at Deke, not knowing if he should truly believe someone he just met. He had never thought of himself as a parent, had promised to himself a long time ago to not have kids so there would be no fear in repeating that cycle. That was before Jemma. Before Deke had annoyingly proclaimed with his very existence that he hadn’t followed through with that promise.

“Here,” Deke reached back into his pocket and took out a folded piece of paper and handed it to Fitz. “Think of it as part one of your Christmas gift.” He stood from the bench. “Good talk.” He added with a small smile and started heading back towards the cabin.

Fitz unfolded the paper. It was a faded photograph of himself, a little greyer around the edges, holding a little girl no more than five years old a perfect mix of him and Jemma clutching a stuffed monkey to her chest. They were in some kind of lab and he was pointing at something out of the frame while beaming at the little girl who was staring in amazement at whatever he was showing her. Fitz turned the photo over and transcribed in writing he instantly knew was Jemma’s it read ‘Daddy showing Peggy May his latest project — her own TARDIS’. He turned the picture back around and stared at his face, he looked the happiest he’d ever been.

Deke had trudged halfway back to the cabin when something cold and hard hit the back of his neck. “Hey! What was that?” He asked, turning around.

Fitz had stood up from the bench and was grinning back at Deke. “Hey, laddie ever had a snowball fight?”

“A snow ball what?”

“Come, let me show you how to make the perfect snowball. I was loads better than Jemma back at the Academy, let her win. But don’t tell her that.”

Two hours later it was growing dark and they both ventured back into the cabin soaked and freezing but happy.

“You two had a good talk I see” Jemma said smiling as she gathered up blankets for the both of them.

“It was decent.” Fitz remarked, clapping Deke on the back heading to grab a shortbread cookie and a fresh mug of tea Jemma had laid out before collapsing onto the sofa with a sigh.

“Hey, Jemma!” Deke said, falling onto the couch beside Fitz. “Next snowball fight you should join us.”

Jemma sat on the other side of Fitz. “That sounds like a lot of fun.” She took her freshly poured mug of tea and took a sip.

“Fitz said he was letting you win at the Academy.” Jemma was choking on her tea from the statement, even though she’d had that inkling for years. Deke shoved a cookie into his mouth and grabbed for another. “He has some awesome tricks up his sleeves.” He glanced at Fitz, who had slumped into the sofa cushions, covering his face with a hand. “Or, sorry physics.”

Even after the photograph and the snowball fight Deke was still his same old annoying self. Fitz too knew it didn’t solve everything for himself — he still had to return to the team feeling as if he’d broken someone’s trust, the Framework had still happened and there was still so much from after his time in jail that he didn’t understand. But Deke did help him with one thing. Seeing that little girl in the photo proved that despite everything they had gone through he and Jemma would be alright. And for right now that was enough.