#it is. kind of awkward but again sparrow is happy to be there :)

[th3houseofleaves]

thinking abt dove baek and how they've done a variety of illegal things to survive and they justify all of it bc it was for their survival right and as an adult they're avoiding breaking the law as much as possible bc they have to be a good influence for sparrow bc they don't want him to pick up any of their bad behaviors right but at the same time they're super nonchalant and open abt some of the stuff they did (there's some things that are going to stay buried forever thank you very much) so sparrow absolutely picks up on that energy and the first (and only) time dove has to come pick their son up after he's caught stealing they're incredibly upset – at him but mostly themself – and they fear for their LIFE bc it's totally going to be blamed on them and while karina isn't gonna hold it against them forever she won't be happy abt it and her parents will be even more upset.

meanwhile sparrow thinks he's done some cool shit and doesn't understand why everyone's not being chill about it

[aquadestinyswriting]

Titan Modern AU- Chapter One

Summary: Meredith gets to meet with one of the people in charge of her new post. A quick conversation about Fangthane culture is had before the discussion turns to other matters- namely where Constable Gruksdottir is going to be staying.

Words: 1,161

Tags: @druidx, @sparrow-orion-writes @warriorbookworm, @thesorcerersapprentice, @blind-the-winds, @philosophika, @the-down-upside-finch, @hippiewrites

Warnings: Some talk about fictional religions but otherwise only avoid if the idea of women with beards grosses you out.

Notes: I fully admit, I just wanted a justification for Merri to keep her beard because I literally cannot see her without one. It allowed me to do some worldbuilding though, which is always fun.

Meredith stood at firm attention with her arms behind her back. The only indication of what she was feeling being a slight quirk of an eyebrow when she caught the surprised stare of the Diplomatic Envoy she was being introduced to out of the corner of her eye. 

Lieutenant Starhammer coughed politely, sitting down behind his desk and waving at his new constable,

“At ease, Gruksdottir. This is meant to be an informal chat. A chance fer us all to get to know each other.” he said. He beamed at the tall, slim woman, who was now settling down into the couch next to the fireplace, “Lady Frigidwake here is the Diplomatic Envoy to the Kingdom of Fangthane. She’s not quite the one in charge, but she does do a lot of work to keep things ticking along as smoothly as possible.” he explained. The Envoy laughed and smiled at both Fangthanians as Meredith relaxed her stance,

“Well, I try to.” she quipped. She gestured to the magpie sitting quietly on her shoulder, “This is Chrackle, he’s a companion of mine. I must ask that you try not to pay him too much attention as he’s supposed to be a working animal.” Meredith nodded, noting with amusement the slightly offended-sounding croak the bird made,

“I’ll bear that in mind, Ma’am.” she said. “I realise that you are, of course, versed in a great deal of Fangthanian culture, but I couldn’t help but notice your surprise as you walked in, Ma’am.” she noted. The other woman flushed a little in embarrassment,

“Ah, yes. I do apologise, that was insensitive. I’m afraid to say that I haven’t had much experience with the Throffite community. Very few Fangthanian women grow their beards out these days, so when I was informed that Lieutenant Starhammer was expecting a female constable, I made an assumption. Again, I apologise.” she said. Meredith shook her head, finally,

“No offence has been taken, Ma’am.” she stated, “You are quite correct, the majority of Fangthanian women shave, and I am very much an exception. Believe me, I am quite used to awkward stares and questions.” Lady Frigidwake pursed her lips and toyed with the end of a strand of greying auburn hair,

“That still does not excuse my conduct.” she retorted, “However, lessons have been learned and I shall not dwell on it any further.” she added, tickling her magpie under his beak as he nibbled at her ear. 

Starhammer chuckled and leaned back in his seat, which creaked loudly, 

“Well, now that we’re all acquainted, I think we can finally turn to business.” he said. He looked to Meredith first,

“I understand ye didn’t get a chance to work out someplace to stay while you’re here, given how quickly ye were kicked out the capital. I’d offer to put you up myself, but my youngest has had to move back home and has brought the weans, so there’s no room, I’m afraid.” 

Meredith shook her head,

“You don’t need to go to that kind of trouble, sir.” she protested, “I’ll be happy enough to keep staying at the Crabbit Sow until I can find somewhere more permanent.” 

Starhammer snorted,

“I’m no’ having ye waste all yer savings like that, lass.” he retorted. The Lieutenant turned to Lady Frigidwake,”D’ye ken of anyplace that’ll be willing to put her up?” he asked. The envoy tapped a finger on her chin thoughtfully,

“I’d need to make a couple of calls, but yes, I think I might know some people.” she replied. She pushed her glasses back up her nose as she smiled at Meredith, “I’ll have somewhere for you to stay by the end of the day.” she chirped. This time it was Meredith’s turn to flush,

“Ye really don’t need to go to so much trouble –” Starhammer scoffed,

“Lassie! It’s no trouble. Ye’re a constable of the Stronghold Guardian Corps! Since we dinna have a barracks on site, that means ye’re entitled to have a place to live nearby.” he reminded her. “Moradin’s beard, ye’re an uptight one, aren’t ye? Auld Vanskleig’s right when he says that working here for a bit’ll be good for ye.” he added.

Meredith opened and closed her mouth a few times, trying to find some way to protest, but couldn’t find the words to refute what her new commanding officer had just said. After a moment, she huffed a sigh,

“Aye, sir.” she grumbled. Lady Frigidwake shook her head,

“I’ll go make those calls now, then. Lieutenant Starhammer, was there anything else we needed to discuss in the meantime?” she asked. Smoothing down her skirt as she stood. Starhammer thought for a moment, then shook his head,

“Nothing that can’t wait until next week, lass.” The old soldier stood, with a bit of effort, and bowed slightly to the envoy, “In the meantime, please give my regards to Father Shiverstaff, and remind him that he still owes me drinks.” he added with a smile. Lady Frigidwake laughed and inclined her head slightly

“I’ll pass the message on.” she said. She turned to Meredith, who had by now also stood and was standing at attention again, “It was a pleasure to meet you Constable Gruksdottir, I look forward to working with you.” she said. Meredith snapped off a salute,

“Aye, Ma’am.” she stated. Lady Frigidwake smiled, sent Lieutenant Starhammer a knowing look, then swept out of the office. Starhammer sighed as he turned to Meredith,

“I’ve got my work cut out, haven’t I?” he muttered. He picked up the top sheet from a stack of papers, “Well, seeing as ye’ve been sent back down to start from scratch, I might as well have ye on guard duty at the front door until I get word of what Command wants done with ye, or we figure out where yer strengths lie.” he said. Meredith nodded brusquely and saluted again,

“Aye, sir.” she stated. She sent him a quizzical look, “May I ask what time I can leave my post, sir?” she asked. The Lieutenant sighed,

“Well, the office closes for the day at five-thirty. Seeing as I’m pretty much the only other person here for now, you might as well clock off then.” he replied. Meredith nodded,

“Of course, sir. Thank you, sir.” she said. There were a few moments’ silence until Starhammer heaved a sigh,

“Ye’re free to leave and get to yer post, Constable.” he said wearily. “If there does happen to be any trouble out there, ye do have permission to get involved.” he added just as Meredith began marching out the door.

“Understood, sir.” Meredith called as she finally exited the room, leaving Starhammer to wonder just what he’d gotten himself into. He opened the folder he’d been sent from Sergeant Major Ragnarsson, reading through the various evaluation forms and report summaries. He stroked his moustache thoughtfully,

“Well now, I think I owe the Field Marshal quite the favour for this.” he murmured.

[zalisok]

TUA Season 4 Episode 1

Watching ep1 of Season 4 and here are my live thoughts: (spoilers ahead!)

JEAN AND GENE! fascinating characters

Why is the umbrella sign upside down now?

"Viktor's blown through every woman in town"--WHAT (side note: Viktor's voice is so deep now!)

LUTHER WHAT (he's not a very good stripper.)

oh my god Diego

hi LILA she has kids now--and are those her parents?

Was Ben in jail???

Allison --and that twist in the introduction!

KLAUS AND CLAIRE!!(Klaus seems...different?)

Why does that circle of people know about the previous timelines??

oh HI FIVEjerome why does he have that moustache on it looks fake as hell

oh. that answers my question. makes sense that he's in the CIA he'd do well there

So this is Sparrow Ben. And why does Luther seem so upbeat/happy?

Klaus trying to stay sober!!! and drawing words on his hands because his tattoos are gone. Why is the whole hosue bubblewrapped?

Aww Claire.

Ben does CRYPTO???I'M WHEEZING and he's an elon musk stan??? I don't think anybody would have guessed that.

"Maybe it's better that way" Luther :(

"Nobody wants me in there." I hope she gets to make amends later in this season. What her character did was unforgivable in season 3 (towards Luther especially), but I do hope she learns and grows into a better person.

Is Klaus scared of dying? He's taking a lot of precautions in what I've seen so far.

Diego wants to work for the CIA?

"He's a germaphobe and extremely sober" oh no :( Klaus :(

Diego and Lila--are they going through a rough patch?

Allison and Lila vaping together--they are so high hdsajkdagj

This gathering is, as Allison said, incredibly awkward.

I love a Luther and Diego bonding moment. Is Luther's happiness a coping mechanism for losing Sloane?

"I need you to get in the van." I don't think that's how you kidnap someone, my guy.

luther going ham on that pinata haha

oh Luther...

LILA??? oh that's where she's been

Oh are they in the wrong timeline? Are they not supposed to be there?

omg hi Reggie

THE CLEANSE sounds very ominous to me. I do love when Five and Lila are paired together as partners in crime. A lot of fun banter.

oh NO Diego it's not like that???

Luther back in the Umbrella Academy--it's actually kind of sad?

Oh the gang's back together. Nice.

Why would Reginald want to kidnap the brellies? Viktor immediately knowing that the kidnapper was sent by his dad, Luther immediately jumping to the conclusion that it was Reginald--he's done something like this before.

Why do I actually feel kind of bad for the kidnapper...

JENNIFER??? omg they have a mission now

marigold~~~~hmmmm~~~~

Klaus not wanting his power back--it tracks. I hope he's able to find a balance between things, I don't think he's doing so good :(

Ben. NO. Don't.

Oh no. oH NO. nononononnoo.

Overall: The vibes are very different this season, and the dialogue also seems a bit different. The pacing is also a bit off, but the ending has me intrigued. I have many, many questions. Nice to see all the umbrellas again (+Sparrow Ben, and I treat Lila as an umbrella as well), and on to the second episode!

[spotsupstuff]

man. imagine how awkward it would be for fish, euros & sparrows/tinkerer once they meet up in the void

like, not only does fish find out that their slugcat pet was actually the reincarnation of caper's spouse, caper finds out that they effectively had their spouse destroy their own grave because the memory of it was tearing them apart

actually, how would the post-reincarnation ascension work anyway? form-wise? would they be sparrows or tinkerer in the void? both? could they swap between? or are they split apart into their different lives? would they have the memories/personality of their latest life? or would they be combined?

JGKLSDCLKMKLVSDK I MEAN,,, it Would be kinda fucky but also they do live in a world where reincarnation is a Solid Fact that is never doubted by anyone so it wouldn't really be all that awkward, but u'd def get Fish throwing his hands up in their air n going "OF ALL FECKING PEOPLE. OF ALL **FECKING** PEOPLE IT HAD TO BE THE- URGH! whatever. hi. happy to see ye again."

and eh, if Euros tells Sparrows the whole Memory Crypt story she's only going to be happy about it and so So proud of him for finally suckin it up and inflicting Some kind of damage upon the world. "YES, HUSBAND. KILL!!!!!!!!! KILLLLLLLLL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

but! i actually imagine that they wouldn't be able to meet this cleanly and in a group- something something dimensional fuckage

as we see in vanilla ascension endings, the ascended person sees what their heart aches after the most. the subject of permanence and perception would be rather warped, so Euros would get to see Sparrows while Fish gets to see Tinkerer. you Could say the two exist separately from each other, but that isn't completely right. Sparrows is the Tinkerer and the Tinkerer is Sparrows, but they are different people. it's all fucky and hard to explain, but yeah

[rosetheex-editor]

[Audio transcript begin.]

[A knocking is heard at the door, and someone answers it, sighing as if unable to see anyone through the peephole. The door is opened, with audible hesitation. A moment of silence is broken by an artificially generated voice.]

?: Rose Henderson, I am sorry for your loss. I understand that now may be a bad time, but it would be appreciated if you provided your undivided attention. This may be of interest to you.”

[Voice unidentified: Please try again.]

[Another long pause.]

W: I was the Watcher assigned to Edgar.

[Someone interrupts their voice sounding more forced out, rougher and quieter than the other person.]

?: f- fuck off.

[Voice identified: Rose.]

[Rose slams the door in watchers face. Through the door, W continues to speak.]

W: I am not here on business. I have something to give you, if you care to listen

[There is no response.]

W: Since his passing, I, the individual, have done some thinking. Perhaps moreso than I ought to have.

[The metal sound of crutches are heard, as if Rose is looking for something.]

W: Earlier… I had stated my interest in you as a person. At the time, I had believed that this was due to your potential to be a Watcher. But this was not the case.

[The sound of crutches stop.]

W: In truth, I believe my gaze fell upon you due to a kind of empathy I had developed. I saw a part of me within you.

[Rose interrupts again, this time swinging the door open. The sound of it hitting the wall is followed up by the sound of an object swinging through the air.]

R: w- what is it? do you want me to c- cry for you? i'm all c- cried out."

W: No. I… want to help. I believe that you feel similarly trapped. You never had a chance to grow up, you never had a chance to be happy. We are similarly unfortunate to be part of powers beyond our control.

[After a small pause the voice continues.]

W: So I’ve decided to ask you something that nobody has ever asked… me.

[Another small pause.]

W: What do you want?

[Rose drops the object, seemingly a baseball bat on the ground with a thud as she falls with a slightly louder thud.]

R: i… i want to be happy. b- but i realize… to do t- hat. i want to k- keep my promise to r- ruby. even if she was d- dead when i made it… i want s- sparrow to b- be safe.

W: Sparrow. I see. You will likely find what you seek in this, then.

[Noises of Rose struggling to stand up, using Ness' barbed wire bat as a crutch, is followed by the sound of Rose grabbing something.]

R: t- thank you… s- sorry for… almost hitting you with a b- bat. I don't u- understand why you're doing this all of a sudden. but it’s a- appreciated.

[After a few moments of awkward silence, the voice can be heard leaving as Rose shuts the door.]

[End transcript.]

[cassynite]

6, 9, 16, 19 for Sparrow! <3

Thank you for the questions 🥺❤️ I love granular kinds of questionnaires like these, they always make me pause and think a lil bit about my characters a little more.

OC Character Development Questions

6. Does your character have recurring themes in their dreams?

Yea absolutely! Themes of her childhood before she was kidnapped appear constantly in her dreams--bright, sunny days, bright colors, large blooming flowers, the cliffs splashing into the sea with the wind blowing with enough force that it feels like she could jump off and it would be able to carry her. Climbing trees, great big reaching branches propelling her into the sky until she's on top of the world. Her brother, or pieces of him--his smile, his laugh, the way he talked so fast when he was excited she couldn't understand him, the way his hands always skillfully worked on the tiniest details of whatever he was creating--also show up frequently in her dreams. Freedom, flight, warmth, and family, that's what her mind draws for her in sleep.

9. Is your character’s current socioeconomic status different than it was when they were growing up?

Yes, Sparrow's status has changed a lot throughout her childhood! As a child, she was the younger sister of a very respected but very young engineer in a country where material needs were met as a matter of course. Crow's work and prestige meant that he and Sparrow were able to live quite well despite their young ages, though it was relatively humble. Away from the direct city, in a little house on a high cliff where others weren't as bothered by experiments on protoypes, Sparrow always had what she needed but wasn't living lavishly or anything. When she becomes a slave for House Arvanxi she ends up in a very awkward place in the household. She is property in Cheliax, the lowest of the low, but being a body double means that she also has to be seen and treated as Evaethi when needed. Because of this she's given fine clothes, a noble's education, and is separate from the servants and slaves--but if she makes a mistake, angers Gregoriath, or is otherwise defiant or doesn't live up to expectations, the punishments are as harsh as they would be for anyone else with a collar. Sparrow has gone without food, been beaten and whipped, and threatened all the while--because what she has here is still good, isn't it? Better than anything anyone else would give her as a slave. If she continues to fail to live up to the expectations of her position, Gregoriath can always sell her again. Pretending to be Evaethi puts her in a similar position--a noble, but not really, and terribly conscious of the fact--and Sparrow at the beginning of the game is prepared to strike out in the world with little more than the clothes on her back. Of course, when she finally closes the Worldwound and marries Daeran, she becomes a noble in truth--one who will never have to worry about any kind of material need again, and who can travel the world whenever she pleases. She's recognizable, a respected leader of the community, and far above any kind of status she'd have even dreamed of as a child.

16. Which does your character idealize most: happiness or success?

Happiness, full stop. Success in Sparrow's eyes is to be happy, to have found peace in herself and her surroundings and finally become allowed to live in a way that lets her be free. Material wealth, prestige, accolades--they're all pointless to her, secondary to gaining the emotional fulfillment that she craves.

19. What is your character’s biggest relationship flaw? Has this flaw destroyed relationships for them before?

Sparrow's biggest relationship flaw is her insecurity in its strength. She is always waiting for the other person to leave--for them to realize that she's not worth sticking around for, that her idiosyncrasies and her nerves are too much to handle and for them give up. It leads to her catastrophizing arguments, planning for the worst possible reactions and outcomes, and hiding concerns, criticisms, and complaints from her partner for fear that expressing them might make her too much trouble. It makes arguments--even over small things--monumental tasks to get through, and it's hurtful to the other person, because what does it say about Sparrow's view of them that she thinks they'll abandon her at the drop of a hat? This hasn't destroyed previous relationships because Sparrow never had previous relationships to destroy--every connection she made prior to the Crusades did leave. It does, however, create a few rocky points in Sparrow and Daeran's relationship after the Crusades end and they marry. They do eventually work through them, and Sparrow does learn to talk herself down from her first instinct to jump to the worst conclusion.

[cryptidsurveys]

Wednesday, November 6th, 2024.

Do you know what the most common bird is in your area? Sparrows, pigeons, hawks, bluejays, grackles, robins… I don't know what the most common bird would be, but those are a few I see regularly.

What would make you feel happiest right now? Knowing that I would never get another migraine again.

How many teeth have you had extracted? Seven. Three baby teeth and all four of my adult canine teeth.

Do you ever read magazines? I will occasionally flip through them while in the waiting room at my therapist's office.

What is something you’ve been reflecting on? The beginnings of strife breaking out in our cattery group. I guess I somewhat naively believed it would be smooth sailing after Alex left, but Kristen is reacting to the return of Liv as though it's some kind of power struggle. Kristen has also felt negatively singled out by management for a while now, and perhaps there's some truth to that, but they've also recognized her hard work and have hinted at giving her more responsibilities - basically, a pathway to possibly becoming lead in the future. My outsider interpretation is that she might be taking things too personally and can't see the forest for the trees. She's pushing herself too hard and putting too much pressure on herself, and it's like she's starting to perceive any assertion or contradiction from Liv to be a threat.

Monday was kind of awkward. I was only there for a half-day so I was gone before things got too weird, but I guess something (relatively insignificant) happened and she spent the rest of the day being unnecessarily rude and snappy toward Liv. I'm just like…oh no, not this again. It's starting to feel like another flavor of the Alex situation. I'm mostly reflecting on how I can stay out of it instead of getting drawn in. I know I can be straight up with Liv and she'll understand, but I'm not sure how Kristen will respond. It's also weirdly frustrating because watching Kristen is like watching Past Me spiral and self-sabotage. If she would just chill out, then things would be fine…but I've seen this type of "car crash" before and I'm just praying for a different outcome - for all of our sakes.

What’s something you like and dislike about the town you live in?

What’s a Halloween movie that you enjoy? The Houses October Built.

Would you say you’re more confident now than you were 5 years ago? I am much more confident now, and I'm not even that confident. It makes me realize just how critically low my self-esteem used to be.

Have you ever or would you try carrot bacon? I've never tried it before, but sure, I would be willing.

What’s the last thing you purchased that was frozen? Mixed veggies, mango chunks, and cool whip. The cool whip is for a pie recipe. I will make it tomorrow and - if all goes well - take it to the animal shelter on Friday.

Would you ever walk a runway if given the opportunity? I can't fathom why I would ever be given such an opportunity, but I guess I would be up for it.

When did you last do something that scared you? I'm always a little scared, at least on some level. This might sound incredibly corny and cliche, but choosing to live after previously dedicating myself to self-destruction has to be one of the bravest things I've ever done.

What is something that you’re curious about? How ancient megalithic structures were built (the pyramids, etc). I'm not someone who thinks aliens did it, but they were such monumental undertakings that it just boggles the mind.

What time do you usually eat breakfast? Around 6:00am.

What is something you did as a child that you would never do now? The last person said participate in team sports, and seriously, same.

What’s been your favourite memory of 2022? Working at the pet shop. If I had been able to chill out (like I wish Kristen would!), then I would probably still be there. I'm very happy to be back at the shelter, though. I don't consider it a regret as much as a lesson learned - one I'm desperate not to repeat.

When were you last inside a tall building? Idk.

Is it currently quiet in the room you’re in? I can hear the bathroom water running downstairs, Karenna purring, and the wind blowing outside, but otherwise it's pretty quiet.

Is there someone you can honestly say you hate or have hated? Hate is a strong word, but…eh. I could probably generally apply it to two people.

What’s currently on your mind? Mostly what I mentioned in that paragraph above. Unfortunately, I'm not the best at sticking to my values when doing so might upset someone (forever the people pleaser), but…ugh. This feels like a test, and it's one I would really like to pass.

Would you consider yourself to be a messy person? A little bit.

What makes you most anxious? When my loved ones or pets are sick, sticking up for myself/setting boundaries (especially, like I said above, when it could make someone angry/cause them to dislike me), driving…

When did it last rain where you live? Today. It's been mostly snow, though.

Do you prefer multi colored lights or white lights? Both are pretty. I don't think I have a preference.

What’s something you’d change about the world if given the chance? I don't knowww.

Would those closest to you say you talk too much or not much at all? Too much. It's probably for the best that I can't muster up that much social confidence around people I don't know as well.

Do you consider yourself to be more basic or complex? In what ways are you like that?

Where is somewhere you’ve been wanting to go but haven’t had the chance? Japan.

Do you have a song you cannot listen to anymore due to a bad memory? Yeah.

Have you ever had a candlelit dinner? I have.

What was the last shot you’ve taken? Like alcohol? Probably rum.

Do you need to apologise for something or are you waiting on an apology? Hmmm.

What’s something you strongly believe in? Gravity.

Do you have a dream that is close to being accomplished? Working at the animal shelter. I mean, I basically already do. All that's left to do is make it official.

Would you say you’re in a good place mentally? Yeah.

What type of jokes are most funny to you? Irreverent, morbid, gallows humor.

Would you or have you ever had a pet rat or mouse? No.

Are you currently trying to make a decision on something? Yeah.

When did you first start feeling more grown up? I'm not sure.

How many pillows do you prefer to sleep with? One body pillow.

What is something you’ve kept bottled up for a long time that you now have released? The Alex and Diane stuff.

Have you ever broken a cell phone charger? I fried one just the other day - perhaps due to static electricity? I'm just glad it didn't fry my phone too.

What’s a popular candy that you do not like? Idk.

Have you been having odd dreams recently? My dreams are always odd.

Do you frequently forget appointments? No.

What is currently sitting on top of your refrigerator? A few cannisters of oatmeal, plus some empty ones refilled with rice and beans.

How many orange objects can you see from where you’re at? My salt lamps are kind of an orangey-pink hue when they're on. I can see an orange shirt as well.

Would you rather have extremely long hair or a very short hair cut? Very short.

When did you last use lotion? Earlier this morning.

Do you currently have any prescription medications you need to pick up? I'm not on any prescription medications.

What’s your favorite kind of chips/crisps? Jalapeno Kettle chips, salt and vinegar, bbq, hot/regular Cheetos, cheesy Ruffles…

How do you like your coffee or tea? With a bit of milk and creamer. But if it's my breakfast coffee, then I just take it black.

[xxgoblin-dumplingxx]

May I request a batmom!reader x Bruce wayne where they're about to get it on in the batcave and the kids walk in, but they continue with their shenanigans once the kids leave

Thud.

You landed on your back, Bruce's weight on top of you and he smirked. He knew what he'd been doing the second he pinned you that way- there was no escape. And as he watched your pupils dilate- breathless from more than the fall he knew he had you where you wanted you. And that you were where you wanted to be.

"Ow," you complain, wiggling to get some of his weight off your hip.

"Sorry," he chuckled, shifting obligingly as he bent his head to steal a kiss.

"Is that what you are?" you laugh, quirking an eyebrow when you feel his erection throb against your thigh.

He half shrugged and kissed you again, letting your wrists loose, just slightly, "After trying to get you to myself all day? No."

When you make a soft needy noise, he adjusts, getting off of you and putting you on your stomach, ignoring your protests. You'd been stiff- a little slow. A product of all the stress this week. And a baseball bat shattering over your thigh at one point. But when he kneaded into your back, seeking out all the tension and the aches, there are no more protests.

You relax into a puddle of something close to bliss. And he smiles a little, happy to seduce you. "My poor little Sparrow," he rumbled, bending to kiss the back of your neck.

"Bruce I want-"

The sound of sneakers on the floor makes you stop, and Bruce's hands on your ass still and slide up to a more respectable place on your lower back.

"Hey B, can Jason and I go to the park?"

"Yes," he said promptly, straining to keep the irritation out of his voice. You'd been relaxing. Perfectly willing to let him have his way with you and now you were all tensed back up.

"Is mom okay?" Jason asked.

"I'm fine," you answer, "Just sore." The truth, but not the whole truth. And not for the first time, you're thankful Dick is oblivious to awkward situations and Jason isn't older when they accept that at face value; happy to not have to train. Or do schoolwork.

"Where were we?" Bruce rumbled, sliding his hands back down to your ass, smirking when you bite back a whine. "Bout right there, I think."

"Maybe a little further," you allow, swallowing hard.

Bruce tutted and swatted your backside, maybe a little harder than necessary but gratified when you make the prettiest little noise for him, "Patience," he scolded. "Seduction is an art form."

"Is that what you're doing?" you tease.

"Wasn't it obvious?" he asked archly, "What kind of husband would I be if I didn't ruin you now and again."

"Can you be ruined more than once?"

"You tell me, Beautiful," he chuckled, "Just wait til I get through with you. You think you're sore now?"

[timextoxhajima]

ATEEZ as things and feelings

@haechanhues​ don’t mind me just doing it again cause i liked it uwu maybe i should just change to doing headcanons LMAOOOO

as i wrote this, i realised the members of ateez have really cultivated a specific image for themselves (eg. hongjoong as a fashionista, hwa as the mom, yunho has a big bear etc) and so i really hope that these are at least some part of their real identities and it’s not just kq forcing it down their throats ;(

HONGJOONG - BOUTIQUES AND EXPENSIVE CAFES 

there’s just something very sophisticated about joong, though he’s absolutely refined and clean-cut (despite that whole jack sparrow get up in their rhythm ta stage)

because he loves fashion and dressing himself up, he can’t tolerate how much you don’t care about the clothes you’re wearing! he knows EXACTLY what would make you look even better and what would totally boost your confidence and so he wouldn’t hesitate to drag you out to a boutique, whether it’s for thrifting or it’s one of those expensive ones like Dior

he’ll spoil you because he can, and because he wants to

he also has a knack for pretty settings, so that expensive cafe down the street that sells mediocre coffee but with a STUNNING exterior? he’ll bring you there just so you can be his photographer and he can be yours

you know when the coffee sucks but he still manages to contain his facial expressions and not hurl? yeah that’s joong being classy

the sophistication needed in everything simple and possibly disastrous

“i know the coffee sucks but look at our instagram now”

SEONGHWA - ROAD TRIPS AND HOME COOKED FOOD

honestly are you an atiny if you don’t agree with this

it’s been about a year since i started stanning ateez and my first impression of hwa is that he’s actually very timid and shy and awkward when it comes to firsts

on stage is a completely different story

so i’d assume he’s probably the same in private, ie he’s aggressive and dedicated when it comes to things he loves to do, but probably a little more timid and worrisome when it comes to people/things he’s not familiar with, but that doesn’t stop him from trying out new things and setting off on an adventure!

you’d be the one to surprise him with an impromptu trip, thinking that he’d be happy to escape but no he worries about clothes, packing, the weather, the itinerary-

it takes you a good amount of energy and convincing to tell him to calm down and that you’ve got every thing down, so he can just busk in the joy of being with you in a completely foreign land

he would also be the kind to try grocery shopping overseas then figure out how to make do with the ingredients

he’s home even when you’re not back in your house

“i made chicken soup with a mix of... whatever that was because the lady said it’s a local delight and that it should go well with chicken-”

YUNHO - OVERSIZED PULLOVERS AND CUDDLES

PLEASE this is self-explanatory no??????????????

a big, giant, fluffy, adorable bear! 

it’s literal - as big as his clothes are on you, he acts like them as well - making sure you’re comfortable and warm and you have your own space

i feel like yunho would be the kind that shows care and concern and sometimes he doesn’t really know when to stop, and so he figures out your boundaries just so that you would be comfortable around him

whenever you’re sad or depressed or you just had a shit day, he’ll always be there for you to hug or even vent your anger

sometimes you’d get frustrated with him because he’s too nice at work too and get trampled over and then all your feelings build up and there you have it, he’ll cradle you like a baby and tell you not to waste your feelings on things that don’t really matter

he’ll tell you he’s okay, as long as you’re okay

“please don’t cry, it’ll bloat your face tomorrow morning :(”

YEOSANG - PLAYING AROUND WITH TECH STUFF AND VIDEO GAMES

he’s not the most talkative person, no, but that’s exactly what draws people. he’s always listening, always watching, but never really saying anything, and lucky for you, he says everything when he’s engaged in something he likes

he’s known for his stellar concentration, so it’s no surprise when he’s able to figure out that new tech thing he got and figure it out within the first 10 minutes, thereafter, you take the chance to get him to talk about anything and everything you want him to

he takes awhile to warm up to people, sometimes very mechanical like the things he likes to play with, but when he does, his care is silent

he buys the Bluetooth keyboard you need cause your laptop keyboard is wonky

he buys the cute marvel themed mouse pad cause your current one is peeling

then when you got him that xbox, his competitiveness hopped out like doomsday and he’d trash you on a good day with a lack thereof of mercy when it comes to verbally trashing you

but on some shitty days when he can read your tiredness and frustration, he lets you win

“give me that mouse pad, it’s almost as messed up as you.”

SAN - ABANDONED PLACES AND LIGHTHOUSES

scary on first sight/impression, yet nothing but a place full of memories that was once full of life - that’s san for you

i think he’s very intimidating on stage, which is exactly how many abandoned places are marketed on the media - haunted, ghosts, murderers, weird plants and insects etc, but what about the history of those places before they went to shit?

there’s so much more to it than what you see

adventure, wander and thrill-seeking overwhelms you when he’s around. there’s absolutely nothing to be afraid of. 

lighthouses - where you find your way, and that you’ll never get lost

people tend to lose sight of what they love and want in life and san would probably be able to inspire you to get back on track, by the sheer force of his own passion and vision for himself

“run with me and we’ll see the light together!”

MINGI - MISMATCHED OUTINGS AND PLAYFUL TACKLING

ok when i say mismatched outings i mean it in the way that he’d dress up and ask you to dress up BUT you’d find yourself at a cheaper/more coffee-shop like eatery instead of a restaurant

he has fun admiring how pretty you are on the way there, but when he pulls you up to a coffee shop you’re like what? then why did i dress up so nicely for?

mingi knows that you depend on your appearance alot for confidence, so he really wants to see that pride when you’re out with him

lazy pajamas and messy hair are reserved for sleepovers and for days when you don’t really feel like doing much - and of course he’ll be there to comfort you when you need it

i think he’ll find absolute joy in pulling you close and wrapping his longass coat around you on the colder autumn/winter days, and then he’ll ruffle through your hair and you cant run because of his coat and arm wrapped around you

will definitely get judged by passerbys 

but like the mismatched outfits x location, he really doesn’t care. it’s the company he cares about. it’s the condition of his company he cares about. it’s the food he cares about. not the reputation, not the pure material of someone’s clothes

“i know i told you to dress pretty but must you outdo me all the time” /insert pouty face/

WOOYOUNG - EXPERIMENTAL COOKING AND PRANK CALLING

omg the noise pollution

‘let’s call yeosang’

‘what for?’

‘just ‘cause’

and you’ll do it on your phone because wooyoung knows yeosang won’t pick it up if it’s from his phone, and so when he does pick up and he hears you say ‘hello’ with the most amount of guilt in your voice, he tells wooyoung to fuck off and hangs up

seonghwa would be your next victim but hwa would stay on the line just so he wouldn’t have to worry about coming back to a burnt down kitchen - not because he thinks wooyoung can’t cook, but because wooyoung gets absolutely distracted with you around and would want to impress you with his culinary skills, which more often than not, backfires

pranks aside, all wooyoung wants to do is to make you laugh or smile and make the time spent with him the most fun and worthwhile

even if it meant getting into trouble with his members, he decides it’s worth the risk if it means he gets to see you happy and full from eating the food he prepares

like his experimental dishes, every joke and bs pun he says is new and never fails to amuse you - even if you don’t actually laugh

you see a new side to him with every passing day and he can be sensitive if he wants to, or completely clown himself if he wanted to as well

“don’t complain about the food! i bothered to cook for you and you complain about it?!”

JONGHO - APPLE PICKING AND PLAYFUL ARM WRESTLING

the one time you let him snap your apple into half cause your teeth hurt and now he snaps all your apples in half and it’s becoming more of a joke over anything else

finally decided to go to an apple orchard for the lols and amuse the people there with his apple breaking skills

you’re extra amused everytime he manages to do it (because how?????) and he adores seeing that on you - you’re honestly not easy to entertain so he’s a simp for when he’s the reason why you are

it came to a point where you got curious how strong he was because he hasn’t revealed one bit of skin ever since you’ve met him

it started out as you actually challenging him, but when you lost with two hands against his one hand, he started teaching you techniques on how to win instead

of course, he’s never let you beat him because he knows it’ll hurt your pride if he does

very, very quiet and subtle care - makes apple juice from the leftover apples he has at home and brings it to school for you

sometimes asks wooyoung to make dried apple chips for you but tells you he bought it cause he doesn’t want you to know he troubled someone

“are the apple chips too sweet? i can buy you another brand”

[justafairytailofinnocence]

Hello! Please could I have a POTC matchup? I'm a 5'7" bisexual (she/they). I love being outdoors (I'm studying geography at uni) and I love to read. I can come across as sociopathic, and I'm also quite touch-starved. Thank you :D

Hello dear 💖, thanks for your request.

For potc I ship you with:

Henry turner 🐶

And

Jack sparrow🍺

So It took me a while to try and figure out who but these two popped into my mind.

Jack would have an attraction to you while henry would be an innocent crush.

Henry has things for people who love adventure and are very kind.

Jack pretty much the same with adventures except I feel like he would relate to you on a deeper level.

Henry would be warmer towards you and he would be extremely happy to see you.

You compare henry to a puppy since that's his personality.

Jack is a seductive expert, the man would literally know how to tug at your heart strings.

Be weary as Jack would probably try to trick you and leave you.

He wouldn't do it because he hates you but rather these feelings are developing for you and it's the first time he's ever fallen in love.

Jack would find it weird and ask Gibbs for advice.

Henry would be awkward and interested in anything you say.

Carina may not be happy as she does have some feelings for the boy.

Barbossa would be like your uncle and Gibbs like a father figure.

Jack would be quite close and when he does come to terms with his feelings he will admit it in a goofy and yet sweet way.

Henry would definitely be awkward around you, the boy is interested and nieve.

Carina would help you but she would feel somewhat jealous of your relationship with Henry.

If you marry Henry, Jack would accept it and vow to never develop feelings for a person again. Henry would introduce you to his parents and you would have a child with your eyes and his hair.

If you end up marrying Jack, Henry would never let his feelings stand in the way and allow you to do the same and end up with Carina. You would be Jack's first lover and end up possibly having a kid with his hair and eyes.

Anyways that's all I have for now:

Ta Ta ✨️

[hopelesshawks]

Official Accounts Part 30 (Bakugo Route)- The Past

Summary: (y/n) was perfectly happy remaining anonymous, even if her best friends were all pro heroes and she worked under THE Hawks. Handling the technical aspects of hero work from the background suited her just fine, thank you very much. That goes out the window when suddenly her twitter blows up thanks Denki and the famed no. 2 hero is asking her to run his own official twitter as a result

If you don’t want to see Official Accounts content blacklist #hopelessoa

Masterlist

You knock on Katsuki’s door and it opens almost immediately. “Sorry about this,” you tell him by way of greeting. “I already told you idiot,” Katsuki replies in the soft voice he’s always reserved just for you, “you’re always welcome at mine.” He closes the door behind you and then pulls you into a hug. “Do you wanna talk about it?” he asks. You think for a long moment. Do you? How do you even go about explaining what just happened between you and Hawks without revealing secrets that aren’t yours to share? But you deserve to talk this out too. “I do I just need a second to organize my thoughts,” you finally say. “Ok how about you take a seat on the couch, I can heat up ramen for you, then when I come back you can tell me all about it,” he offers. “Homemade ramen?” you ask. “Obviously, dumbass,” Katsuki says with a roll of his eyes as he gently removes himself from your arms and then pushes you towards the couch. “Now go sit down,” he insists. You nod and give him a small thanks before heading to his living room.

By the time Bakugo returns with the promised ramen you’ve wrapped a blanket around your shoulders and made yourself comfortable on the couch. You open your arms wide in a silent request for Bakugo to join you. Although he rolls his eyes as if put upon, it secretly makes his heart melt a little that you find comfort in his touch. He sits down careful not to spill the bowl he holds in one hand before passing it to you. He then pulls you closer until you’re almost in his lap and re-situates the blanket around you both. He’s missed this. You’ve always been very cuddly with all of your friends, but for awhile after you two broke up it felt like he’d lost his privileges. Even after you opened back up to him it was never quite the same. Sure when you were upset you knew you could rely on him, but the casual intimacy you shared with Denki and the rest of your friend group had been lost to Bakugo. It was only fair. That casual platonic intimacy was a little too close to the romantic intimacy the two of you had shared when dating. You’d thought it best not to indulge lest you fall back into old habits.

He still remembers the break up like it was yesterday even though it was almost 5 years ago now. It was only a year after graduating from UA. The transition from high school to working life had been hard on your relationship. Bakugo had grown accustomed to seeing you every day during lunch and you’d frequently come to the class a dorm after classes. To go from that to barely seeing each other because of your differing work schedules was hard enough on its own but it also threw his jealousy into overdrive. Suddenly seeing you and Denki curled up on your couch for a movie was enough to have him raging even though he logically knew there was no intent behind it. He was more irritable than usual, his already short temper getting even shorter. It felt like the few times you did get to see each other there was always an argument. Eventually you’d called him after work one day and simply sighed “We need to talk after your shift is over.” It hadn’t even occurred to him that you’d want to break up and yet when he arrived at your place you promptly told him that you feared the relationship was already sinking. Continuing it, you had argued, could do nothing but drag your friendship down with it. He wanted to say you were wrong so badly but he knew you weren’t. So the two of you had ended things, slogged through a few months of it being awkward, and eventually returned to a sense of normalcy in your friendship.

All of that said, Bakugo has never quite gotten over you.

It comes and goes in waves. Most days it’s just an ignorable, dull ache, only painful if prodded. Other days though? Other days the regret is almost overwhelming. Those are the days he calls Deku. The first time he did it was a week after the break up. He probably never would have if not for the fact he was damn near blackout drunk and sad and so very alone in an apartment filled with things that reminded him of you. He had barely talked to Midoriya since graduation, so Deku was understandably confused when he got the call. “I miss her so much,” Bakugo had slurred miserably down the line. It didn’t take a genius to know who he meant and Midoriya had quickly put two and two together that you and him had broken up. “I’m sorry,” was all Midoriya had time to say before Bakugo hung up the phone. That was supposed to be the only time. In fact Bakugo stubbornly refused to call him in the days following that initial call, despite being tempted to several times. Eventually though he caved. He needed to talk to someone about all this. Keeping it pent up was eating away at him but he couldn’t exactly talk to his usual friends about it when all of them were just as close with you. So Deku was his only option. Not only that but Deku was a good option. It didn’t matter how angry or upset Bakugo was, Midoriya was always patient and sympathetic. Sometimes they’d be on the phone for over an hour. Sometimes the call would be as brief as that fateful first one had been. Regardless, it helped. Soon enough the frequency of the calls started to dwindle until they stopped altogether.

Then Hawks asked you to run his Twitter.

At first it was fine. For all Mina’s jabbering on you seemed insistent you didn’t see Hawks that way. But then everyone else was getting in on the action as well and it all just spiraled from there. The night you went on your date with Hawks was Bakugo’s first time calling Midoriya in nearly a year. He texted the group chat confirming that Hawks getting shifts covered for you was indeed a big deal and then immediately afterwards was scrolling for Deku’s contact. You hadn’t dated anyone since Bakugo and while he knew it would happen eventually the reality hurt way more than all the hypotheticals he’d come up with over the years ever did. By now Midoriya knew the drill so he didn’t say anything when he answered the phone, just waited to see where Bakugo would take the conversation. He was not expecting an invitation to grab drinks.

It was odd seeing each other for personal reasons again after so many years. Their only interactions outside of the phone calls had been through work, a stark contrast to the crowded bar they now found themselves in. They started with awkward small talk, as one does with old friends they’ve barely seen, but eventually they started to really talk and Bakugo realized that all of those times he’d talked to Midoriya on the phone not once had he stopped to hear about his life. So he tried to make up for it then, even if it was a little too late. It was kind of nice. Maybe in another life where Bakugo had been a different kid, one who would’ve taken Midoriya’s hand when he fell, one who was a little less cruel, they could’ve been best friends. “So what happened with (y/n) this time?” Midoriya finally asked and it’s a question Bakugo had both wanted and dreaded to answer. “She’s going on a date with Hawks tonight,” Bakugo sighed. “Good for her,” Midoriya had noted and immediately Bakugo’s grip tightened around his drink. “You know it is good for her right?” Midoriya asked. “I know it is. That’s why it hurts so bad,” Bakugo admitted. It occurs to Bakugo now that perhaps that is why he’s been pushing Hawks to do better by you.

He knows intimately the pain of loving you and then losing you.

He wouldn’t wish it on anyone else.

So he listens to you recount your fight with Hawks. He listens with full attention until you run out of steam. When he gives you advice he gives it as a friend, not as an ex or as the man still in love with you. He gives you advice the way he thinks Deku would. He gives you the kind of advice you’d offer him if the situation were reversed. And it hurts and hurts and hurts to know his advice might push you back into Hawks’ arms, but when you pull yourself closer to him, sigh “Thanks Katsuki,” and then promptly fall asleep on his chest, he knows it’s worth it.

Because he loves you.

God, how he loves you.

Author’s Note: I BROKE MY OWN HEART WITH THIS ONE SO NOW YALL CAN BE HEARTBROKEN WITH ME. Anyway I adore the headcanon that Bakugo is a really good cook and I wanted there to be a slight parallel to how (y/n) and Hawks would have tea together but upon googling ramen recipes I realized it would be incredibly unrealistic for Bakugo to make homemade ramen in the time it takes (y/n) to get from her place to Bakugo’s. So instead he reheats what’s leftover from cooking dinner for himself, which I also googled to confirm was possible (it is you just need to make sure you store all the components separately). ALSO writing in Midoriya was a lot of fun. As much love as I think Midoriya and Bakugo have for each other I could very easily see them as being distant after graduation but still knowing they could reach out to each other if need be.

Taglist [open]: @maltese-sparrow @someweirdshitman @oliviasslut @captaincyberqueen @ladyzayismultifandom @pixelwisp @cathy8taffy @itskindofafairything @larkspyrr

[yomiurinikei]

ayame for the ask meme? :0

hello again sparrow and also my followers!!!!!!

under the cut for length + in "unpopular opinion" fatphobia (i think is the best way of phrasing it?) + second song listed in song association has mentions of alc0h0l (check lyrics if that's potentially triggering)

favorite thing abt them: she's so so kind and caring and when she cares for someone she'll do so so much (as we saw with akane) and that paired with her feeling socially awkward and being vv anxious/self conscious is so good. not only is it a lovely personality and characterization that it makes me feel happy to see, it also says so much about her and makes me feel very positively abt her

least favorite thing about them: died too early. i honest to god think chapters 4 and 2 should have switched in order.

favorite line: in fact i do not have one god bless </33

brotp: sports pic gang!! also i just generally like her with her more athletic classmates (bc sprinting is so important to her, i think her reasons for loving it would extend to other forms of exercise and she'd be able to bond with those students from that) aaaand kinji. socially awkward implied gay ass gang

otp: ayakane aaaand tho i prefer it in. beta where it originated for me- hatanami!

notp: ???? idk tbh!

random headcanon: likes to cook/bake but she gets oddly clumsy/shaky and tends to cut or burn herself. it's prolly a self fulfilling prophecy at this point, like she's so convinced she can't do things, her hands shake too much and the knife slips, or she can't grab the baking tray right etc etc

unpopular opinion: uhm. hi. hello. *taps mic* this is more a general thing which also does extend to sdra2 definitely but uh. linuj shouldn't be praised for body diversity/representation when all he's done is make girls who. for the best canon description we have. "look skinny except for their chest/thighs" that's not,,, body diversity or "wow there's so many ways to be fat!!" it's creating stick thin characters, and making one girl per cast slim thick, aka. skinny except for parts that are conventionally attractive to be bigger. maybe hmu when ayame, with clothes so skin tight they cling to her individual tits in some art, has smthn beyond a flat stomach.

song i associate with them: uhhh first one that comes to mind is "puppy princess" tbh? orrr maybe "can i have a ride home? i'm at a party and don't know anyone" but if it were wlw instead of mlm

favorite picture of them:

sports. pwetty

[samwritesforyou]

Booked

Diego x reader (the whole family is present at the beginning but as time goes on becomes more Diego-centric)

Summary: You have a summer house that is far away from any big cities, you’ve inherited it from your great-great-parents and you want to prove to your friends that you cannot possibly make an income out of it. So you submit the house at booking dot com for the lowest price possible. Your plan was working for years and you’ve been happy and content just by growing your own food and participating in the village’s community, completely forgetting about the offer you presented on booking. Until one day, seven siblings arrive at your place, saying they reserved themselves the whole house for the eternity of summer.

Warnings: gender-neutral reader, swear words (? but just a couple, mainly from Five)

Wordcount: 3.7k

A/N: settling is post s2, so everyone looks accordingly. umbrella academy gets back into the timeline where no umbrella nor the sparrow academy exists, yet the world is still ending. mostly written out of nostalgia for my own summer house that my family sold years ago and i will never come back there, so i want it to live on at least somewhere

Summers were always hot in this little village that you lived in, especially with the climate change looming over humanity’s ignorant heads.

So you were actually relieved that you finally persuaded a local technician to help you fix the fridge that stopped freezing its insides for good two weeks already.

You just handed her the cash and waved her goodbye, also giving the lady a basket with apples and peaches that grew in your garden. You don’t have enough people eating your fruits and most of it goes into jams anyways.

You waited a little until her car disappeared into the horizon of the bumpy road near your house, seeing as it even got blurry in the end, as the air was literally melting the reality in front of your eyes.

With a swift movement you adjusted a cap on your head, went out of the creaky gate - which green color was peeling off into the original black metal that it was made with - and closed it behind yourself with a happy hum.

It was a twenty minutes walk to the nearest convenience store and it gave you just enough time to ponder about the recent weird thing that happened to you.

About three days ago you just got a random payment come to your bank account.

15 Euros. That was it.

No note, no name.

You decided to let it be, even though it did stir your mind in various ways.

Normally, when something like this happens, the bank realises the mistake in the recipient and takes the money back within 24 hours.

Either the person who sent it didn’t care that it went to the wrong place or bank decided to be generous with you.

Whatever the reason was, those 15 Euros could be used now to buy yourself a little more sweets than you usually do.

You never had to complain about how little money you actually have from living here and being more or less self-sufficient, but some random extra cash will make anyone smile in this capitalistic hell that you tried so hard to escape from.

.

.

After you came home you started sorting out groceries that you’ve bought, putting them into the right places.

Upon finishing you just plopped yourself on the bench near the big abandoned table in the room, looking around.

This house used to be alive. With a lot of your family members running around, making noise, sometimes fighting, but always generally just enjoying the good time at this place.

At the end of the extended room was a window, showing you the rest of the garden that you lovingly cared for every single day.

Under the window was a spacious kitchen counter, with a fridge and shelves for ingredients next to it. Then there was the entrance to one of the unused bedrooms with one bed pushed against the wall, which in turn was covered by a red hanging carpet. On a wall, yes.

You stopped tracing the room around with your eyes as you heard some rummaging coming from the outside.

After easily springing to your feet you saw black dots in front of you and your head was spinning. Damn you, iron deficiency!

A few seconds passed and you were collected again, rushing out towards the gates to the property.

You stopped in your tracks as you saw five people literally barging through your piece of land with suitcases and bags, bickering with each other.

Oh, nope. They were six, actually. A very tiny figure closed the gate after all of them made it in and started clumsily going forward on a tiny tartan road that lead all the way to the summer house.

“Klaus, stop fucking pushing around and help me with the bags, maybe?” said a man with longer curly hair and a goatee, clearly agitated at another person, who wasn’t holding anything except some bottle in their hand.

“Oh cut it, you two! We’re almost in the house, come on,” said a woman with straight black hair in the flowery dress and then she noticed that someone blocks their way.

Her eyes landed on you.

“Um... hello?” she said with an awkward smile, attempting a wave in your direction and continued, “are you the owner? We booked your house until the rest of the summer like.. a few days ago.”

Your eyes widened and your mouth hung open in the “o” shape, trying to grasp the reality.

So.... someone really booked your summer house after several years of no traction from booking and you had no clue.

That’s what the payment was for!

But..

“Oh,” you said, not knowing how to proceed about the situation, “well, you see.. um... I have nowhere to stay? This is my only home,” you started timidly, rubbing your hands together.

“Oh,” the woman seemed surprised and confused but quickly collected herself, “well, if you have enough beds to keep us all in then it’s no problem, I guess?”

“Yeah? Alright, great!” You smiled at the whole “squad” and looked at them all.

“Uhm.. my name is y/n! Welcome to my summer house, I guess,” you put your hands into the back pockets and shook your head a little into the direction of the house.

“Allison, nice to meet you,” the woman you talked to said, smiling invitingly.

“Diego,” almost spat the guy with the goatee.

“Klaus, darling,” said the person with the bottle in their hand, widening his arms in an invisible hug.

“Luther,” mumbled a big man in the back of them all.. he looked like he’s been through something.

Actually, they all do.

“Vanya,” chirped a girl behind the big- Luther, the corners of her lips lifting ever so lightly.

“Five,” said a child in the front, looking unusually angry, suddenly shortening the distance between the two of you, “as long as you’re out of our business you’re good to stay,” he literally sneered at you, pushing past you and going inside.

That left you kinda shook, but then Allison just apologised for “their brother”, so you decided to ask another question:

“So you’re all a family?”

“Yes, we’re all siblings. Adopted,” she said, actually following you inside, not as the little guy before who let himself in without even knowing the place.

“I think my place is not the best for so many people to sleep at though..” you said quietly, biting your lip.

“That’s why it was so cheap..” Luther wondered, looking around.

You had to calm yourself so you didn’t snap at your guest. You didn’t even know anyone would ever book your house, damn! What were you supposed to do?

In the end you spent some time showing them the rooms, starting with the first one that contained an old-fashioned sink and the water tank near it, which you needed to manually fill up with water, and the drain led to the bucket under it.

Very simple.

In the back of the room there was a dining table, on one side surrounded by the bench and the other with some mismatching chairs.

From this space you proceeded into the extended “hallway” that you stared at before your peace and quiet was ruined.

There was also an ancient literal furnace, on top of which you could actually lay on, you know, as in all the fairytales.

After that, there was another room entrance that contained two beds on each side (one of them pushed under the window), similar to the other room and a coffee table in the middle of the area.

When you all went back to the first place, there was a wooden staircase that led to the second floor.

There were two rooms. One had a king sized bed in the middle of the space, with a closet and various tables around the whole area.

The other one had a working table and a bed in the corner.

“And that is the end of the tour!” you proclaimed, as everyone got seated by the big table in the extended room, while you were making everyone tea and preparing some snacks.

“Great, I sleep on the furnace!” Klaus exclaimed, putting his hands in the air animatedly.

“I guess we can fit all of us in here, actually,” Allison was clearly thinking aloud, counting the members of the family and available sleeping places.

“You’re gonna take one of the beds, right?” she said, pointing at you.

“Uh.. yes! Upstairs, I think. The one with the small bed and a table,” you smiled at her and she nodded.

“Then I’ll be sleeping with Vanya in the king-sized bed and you guys can fight for who’s going to end up sharing the room,” Allison concluded, clearly enjoying herself.

“Funny of you to think I’ll have enough time to sleep, in our situation,” said Five, suddenly coming out from the doorframe into the room.

You didn’t even mention that he wasn’t there when you were explaining the plan of the house.

“What situation? There should always be time to sleep,” you chipped in, carefully smiling at the boy.

“Stay the fuck out of our business, I said,” he gritted through his teeth at you, which left you blinking in surprise as he went away again, out of sight.

“How... old is he again?” you asked with the confusion that a kid would be so rude to a stranger like this.

All of them kind of nervously laughed or mumbled something that you couldn’t understand.

“It’s complicated,” said Vanya, smiling at you reassuringly.

How the fuck an age of your own brother is complicated?..

You heard the fancy-looking woman - Allison - sigh heavily and turn to you, shrugging.

“It’s just.. when our parents adopted him, he freshly got into the orphanage so he didn’t even have any documents about his birthday, blood type or anything. Apparently, he was really abused by his biological parents. Or whoever else, we don’t even know.”

“Oh.. I’m sorry,” you apologised quickly, biting your lip. Didn’t expect to poke into any painful subjects.

“It’s okay, really, we’ve learned how to take proper care of him,” Allison said, putting her hand on your back with a smile.

When you excused yourself to continue with gardening and went outside, Allison just shook her head.

“Who says ‘it’s complicated’ when someone asks you about their sibling’s age, Vanya?” said Allison in disbelief.

“I’m sorry, I thought it would settle the matter..” she muttered, playing with her fingers anxiously.

“It’s okay..” she smiled at her sister and then looked around the whole table, “look we’re here for the whole summer, so I think it would be better if we somehow told the owner at least partially about our powers so we’re not hiding all the time. We came here to have a safe space where we could train after all, am I right?” she looked expectantly at Luther who immediately started nodding along, agreeing.

“Or maybe,” started saying Klaus, already getting up from his seat and trying to crawl onto the furnace, skinny legs already dangling in the air, “we can just tell them we’re the umbrella academy, don’t you think?” he concluded, facing a wall with his face.

“But we checked that the umbrella academy doesn’t exist in this universe.. nor any other replacement of us,” reminded her siblings Vanya, fingers still intertwined on the table, firmly put together.

“I’m sure we’ll tell them one way or another,” said Diego, getting up just like his brother, making his way a bit further though, his objective clearly being the fridge.

He opened it and smirked at the beer present there, taking one can with him. His eyes then wondered to the window at the end of the room and he stepped closer, inspecting what is outside.

Apparently it was still their new home’s property, as he saw y/n working in the garden, repotting some plants under the tree.

His gaze stayed on them as he thought about various topics in his head, but then he decided to go out of the house, jumping down the wooden stairs leading to the tartan road, framing the whole garden.

You heard steps behind you, turning your head away from the the plants, only to meet a tall man in front of you, with a can in his hand.

“Hey, uhm..” he nervously put his hand on his neck, scratching it, “I just wanted to ask if it’s cool if I take some beer from the fridge?” he lifted the other hand with the mentioned item, giving it a little shake.

“It’s cool,” you replied, smiling softly at him, and then getting back to work, grabbing the plant by the root, moving it to another hole in the ground.

“Okay..” he retorted, biting his lower lip and scanned the area with his dark eyes.

There was an abandoned greenhouse with broken walls, greenery growing all around it, just next to the fence of the property. To its left was a wooden toilet booth with a typical round-shaped hole in the higher part of the door.

“I’m really sorry, by the way,” you started talking again, now finally done with your objective of the day, now plopping yourself next to Diego on the bench that he was chilling at, the surface creaking from the added weight, “I really thought nobody would *ever* rent this place,” you shrugged with a smile, now looking in front of yourself, closing your eyes and letting sunshine illuminate your face.

“Well.. uh.. then why did you put up on that website anyways?” he asked, clear confusion in his voice.

You sighed, shifting your body a little, getting into more comfortable sitting position, “It was a bet I made with my friends back in the day. A few years ago they told me I could actually rent this place and get income from it, not having to work a day in my life! Yet i told them that it’s not possible, and I wanted to prove that I was right by putting the advertisement,” you finished, finally opening your eyes, tilting your head at your new acquaintance.

You caught him staring at you, so he quickly turned away, now getting quite a violent sip out of the beer can.

“You should’ve put some timing on that bet then.. Let’s say, if it doesn’t get traction after two years you’ll finally delete the posting,” he said, after gulping some liquid.

That made you laugh and you couldn’t look away from him. His features were so.. delicate.

“Yeah, you’re actually right!” you admitted, slapping your thighs in excitement.

“Diego, my precious brother!” you two suddenly heard from the entrance to the house.

You lifted your eyes and saw a slender confide getting closer to you both, the man walking barefoot.

“Five said we’re all needed for a ‘family meeting’,” the guy literally put an air quotes with his free hand that wasn’t holding a glass, saying it in the mockingly serious tone, “so you better come with me and stop bothering this lovely person, alright?” he then proceeded sweetly, extending a hand towards Diego with a wide smile.

“God.. alright,” he answered and to your surprise took his hand, now brothers going away into the house, Diego briefly looking back at you, “Let’s talk later.”

You just nodded, finding yourself still smiling long before they were gone.

What is this funny feeling in the pit of your stomach?..

And why is one of their family members called by a number instead of a name?!

.

.

It was only the second day of your coexistence with the Hargreeves but it was already a wild ride.

Normally your morning looked like this;

You would wake up at a reasonable hour, maybe like.. 9am. You would go down the stairs from your room and make yourself some breakfast. While eating you’d either read a book or just listen to some music from your phone.

Then you’d do daily tasks, so taking care of the garden or some house maintenance, or both.

Then you’d do everything special that needs to be done only once in a while: a meeting with a friend, grocery shopping, attending a meeting with your neighbours where you decide on further upgrades of the village.

Then you’d draw some commissions, if there were any and after all of this you’d have late lunch that normally turned into dinner, concluding your day with doing your hobbies or rarely taking out your laptop and browsing the internet.

“Rise and shiiine!” you heard somewhere from downstairs, for some reason that person was also ringing a bell, making you immediately sit up in your bed.

You turned your head towards the mirror that hung across your sleeping space on the wall and you could see your hair standing up in different directions, cowlick upon cowlick.

You also felt tired, kind of not used to that feeling and shifted your half-closed eyes to the alarm clock near you.

It was... a bit past 7am. Who are those people to wake up that early?!

You lazily got up from the bed, yawning and stretching your arms up, feeling a few cracks here and there.

“Good morning!” first half of the sentence was muffled by the closed door to your room, but that quickly changed as it burst open, Klaus marching right in, his voice now uncomfortably loud for your sleepy ears, “I thought it would be nice to have breakfast all together and make you feel a part of the family, wouldn’t it?” he said with a genuine smile, looking at you.

You were sitting on your bed in pyjamas, hair all over the place, most unamused expression on the face, eyes half opened.

“Not a morning person?” he mused, tilting his head at you, “well, feel free to join or sleep more, I wouldn’t judge,” he continued and you saw in literal slow motion as he lifted his hand with a bell in hand, shaking it hard as he marched out of your room just in the same manner as he came in just seconds ago.

“BREAKFAST!!” he yelled with at least two octaves lower at his siblings, still ringing the bell that now was resonating in your brain in a highest pitch possible, making your head hurt.

Great morning.

But despite the general morning grumpiness you did find it endearing that Klaus decided to include you in their activities, making you feel less alone and - quite funnily - welcomed in your own house.

You slowly went down the stairs, hearing the lower floor full of different voices and it made your heart clench. You immediately thought of your family that made it feel alive like this in the past and a warm smile appeared on your face, as the Hargreeves huddled up around the smaller table in the room you descended from the stairs into, all making your appearance feel natural.

“Good morning,” you passed Luther that nodded in your direction alongside the phrase, as you went into the bigger room, seeing Allison cooking by the stove, window open.

“Oh hey, you’re up,” she said with a smile, “can you pass me some milk?” she asked, extending her hand into the air, already expecting said item.

“Sure!!” you hurriedly opened the fridge, giving her the thing she requested and she continued cooking.

You slowly looked around, seeing a blanket and some different things like cigarette boxes and teddy bears on top of the furnace, which made you realise that someone from the family has clearly claimed it to be their place for sleeping and you found it adorable.

“You can go sit with the others, I’ll bring it all in when it’s ready, Allison said, adjusting her black hair so it didn’t get in the way of preparing food.

“Oh.. okay!” you chirped, with a smile going back to the first room, and finding an empty seat between Diego and Klaus.

You almost sat already when Klaus sprang to his feet and took you by the shoulders, making you freeze on the spot, eyes wide.

“Klaus?” you asked, confused, “is that seat taken?”

“By Allison,” Diego quickly responded before his brother had any chance to and then the skinny man sat back on his chair, nodding with an awkward smile on his face.

“Yes, exactly. Sorry y/n,” he sighed and shrugged, clearly playing along Diego’s words, but you just let it go.

Instead you sat next to Luther, whom already opened his mouth but Vanya looked at him with a forced smile, raising a brow. At that, the big guy closed his mouth again, without making a sound.

Something.. is weird here. You shifted a bit in your seat, biting your lower lip.

The kid wasn’t here at all, you just noticed.

Then finally Allison came with the food and your anxiety lessened, as everyone started cheering for wonderful pancakes that she made.

She already wanted to sit on the seat that the guys told you was reserved for her, when suddenly Klaus did the same to her as he did to you.

“Klaus,” Diego hissed in a low voice.

Allison just looked at her brother, expression just as confused as yours was.

“What?” Allison deadpanned, putting a hand to her hip.

There was a brief second of silence until Klaus just burst into an emotional speech.

“Look, I know we’re all pretending that we’re normal in front of y/n but you all know that Ben always sits next to me and he’s sitting here right now, yet you all wanna make it seem like he doesn’t exist? I’m sorry that he’s a ghost, I’m sure he didn’t want to die either!” then after a moment he added, “Right, brother dear?” looking at an empty space near him.

Your brain clearly wasn’t catching up to what was just being said.

Pretending to be normal?..

“Great. Just fucking great, Klaus. I bet Ben would move, understanding the situation!” Allison waved her hands at him and the chair next to him with an annoyed voice.

“We just blew our cover, guys,” said Diego with pursed lips, looking absentmindedly at the table filled with food.

Soon enough they all started arguing and only when there was a sudden blue light in the room, and the kid appeared literally out of the thin air in front of your eyes, everyone fell silent, looking at him.

“Guys, I just did a search around the neighbourhood and—“ his blue eyes met with yours, full of shock and denial of what you just saw, “shit.”

He clicked his tongue and frowned and that was positively the last thing you remember before losing consciousness, everything around you turning black.

Too much of supernatural for one morning, that’s for sure.

Precious taglist:  @radcloudenthusiast​,  @spacenerdpascal​

NEXT PART→

[your-daily-dose-of-fandoms]

When Their S/O Has A Nightmare (Kamaboko Squad + Few Pillars)

Tanjiro

🎴One night, you'd wake up screaming and crying. You had had a nightmare about your family dying once again, right before your eyes. You'd feel so helpless and your whole body is shaking and you're feeling so lonely an-

🎴 Before you know it, your boyfriend Tanjiro has already wrapped his arms around you

🎴 You'd feel so embarassed, and you'd try to stop your cries, but no avail

🎴 Tanjiro understands your situation better than anyone, as he himself as well has nightmares often

🎴 He'd keep whispering sweet nothings into your ears, as he'd hold you tightly against his chest, so you could match your breathing with his. A method he has learnt from you. His words make you feel less embarassed as you'd start to calm down

🎴 As you'd have calmed down, only silent sobs escaping from your mouth anymore, he'd start to sing

🎴 His voice, oh god, if he lived in the modern days, he would have already become famous for it. It's soft like velvet, or like the warm colors of sunrise

🎴 He tends to sing the same lullaby as his mother used to sing to him and his siblings

🎴 By the end of the song you'd have already fallen back asleep in his arms

Zenitsu

⚡ When you'd wake up screaming and crying one night -oh boy

⚡ This boy would have a heart attack

⚡ He'd be panicking. At first he'd be scared that a demon had attacked, but when he does not see or hear any dangers around, he'd turn his attention towards you

⚡ This boy is the type of person who would start crying when he sees one of his loved ones crying, so when he'd try to calm you down, he'd start crying too

⚡ When he's managed to cool his head, which'll take some time, he'd ask you if you would want to talk about it

⚡ If you'd want to talk about it, he'd listen you out (and would probably start crying again in the process if the nightmare was about two of you)

⚡ If you don't want to talk about it, he'd probably go make you some tea and snitch some cookies from butterfly estate's kitchen and bring them to you

⚡ Won't probably want to leave you alone, so he'd do that only after when you'd be calm enough to stay alone for a moment. Would leave his sparrow to watch over you and keep you some company

⚡ When he'd come back, he would give you the tea and cookies, and dive under the blankets with you

⚡ Would make sure to have some kind of psychical contact with you for the whole time to make you know that he is not leaving you

⚡ You two would probably fall asleep, cuddling under the blankets

Inosuke

🐗 When Inosuke woke up one night to your sobbing, he was be confused

🐗 He thought you were hurt or something, and when you weren't responding to his questions, neither he was spotting any injuries, and you just continued crying, he would grow frustrated

🐗 "Dang it woman, why are you crying?!"

🐗 He does not mean to be mean, he's worried of you, but just doesn't know how to show it

🐗 "I.. had a nightmare", You would have to whisper through your sobs, as you would cover your face in shame

🐗 He'd blink, as a frown would make its way on his beautiful face, as he would wonder what would Tanjiro do

🐗 Eventually he'd get an idea

🐗 He's not good with words, so he'd pick you up from your bed, as you would curl against his bare chest from the sudden lost of warmth

🐗 "Inosuke..?" You would question, as he'd carry you outside, search a comfortable spot, and place you sit on his lap

🐗 He'd tell you to look at the stars, as looking at them would always calm him down during the spent nights in the forest, as he had had a nightmare or a strange dream of his past

🐗 You would look up to the stars, as the sky above you would be like a dark blanket with sparkling diamonds all over it. The stars lingering in the dark like resembling hope

🐗 A strange calm feeling would take over you, as your breathing would slowly start to match Inosuke's, and before you'd know it, you'd be asleep

🐗 Proud of himself, Inosuke would carry you back to the bed and tug you in under the blankets, diving under them next to you

Giyuu

🌊 Has a habit of sleeping lightly, so would jolt awake when he'd hear your sobs

🌊 Would know exactly what's going on, when he'd see your terrified face

🌊 It hurts him to see you like that, as it reminds him of all the things you had had to go through

🌊 Would instinctively wrap his arms around you and pull you closer to his chest

🌊 He wouldn't say anything, letting you to cry it all out. It would make him feel a little awkward, but would not let it show as he knows you need him now

🌊 He'd draw small patterns on the surface of your back as he'd take deep inhales, so you would be able to match your breathing with his easier

🌊 After you have calmed down, he would listen to you if you were willing to talk about it. He wouldn't press on the subject though, and let it be if you want so

🌊 After you have calmed down, you would probably ask him to read to you. He doesn't get why, but you love his voice, and after a little bit of convincing, he would agree on reading your favorite book to you

🌊 You would fall asleep to his voice, head laying on his chest, feeling happy that you have such a caring lover

Muichiro

🌫 When he'd wake up to your crying, he would be scared that something had happened to you

🌫 However, when he notices your small form, now curled up and shaking against him, his eyes soften as he'd turn to you

🌫 He'd be sleepy, and almost fall asleep countless of times when he'd comfort you, but would force himself to stay awake for you

🌫 He loves when you massage his scalp and play with his hair, so he'd decide to do the same for you to calm you down

🌫 He'd twirl your hair around his fingers, and massage your scalp, causing shivers go down your spine

🌫 Before you'd notice, you would have all your attention focused on him, as your crying would slowly calm down

🌫 If you wouldn't calm down from the massage, he'd bring you to the garden, and place you on his lap next to the small pond, so you could watch some koi fish swimming

🌫 It is a psychological fact that following fish swimming, or paintbrush on canvas with your eyes without moving your head has a calming effect, so he'd use that to calm you down

🌫 All whilst he'd still either massage your scalp and shoulders, or hold your hand and draw small circles on it with his thumb

🌫 As well as with Giyuu, there isn't much words needed with him. Just his presence is calming enough for you

🌫 Both of you would probably fall asleep in the garden, you in his embrace, as you two would wake up in the morning to the first rays of sun kissing your faces

🌫 Luckily it was a summer night

Shinobu

🦋 She would still probably be awake, reading a book or so, as you would suddenly start to cry next to her

🦋 She'd gently shake you awake, and frown at the tears on your face, that just kept coming and coming

🦋 She would cup your face, not caring if you were a messy crier, as she'd kiss your tears away, and stroke your cheeks

🦋 After the you'd be calm, only occasional sobs leaving your throat, she would call Aoi to make you some chamomile tea

🦋 If you'd ask, she'd probably read you the book she was reading before outloud, as you'd sip your tea, starting to feel better by every sip you'd take

🦋 She would smile at you, like she always does, but this time it would be genuine, as she'd see that you're feeling much better

🦋 Would from that night on, give you a medicine she has made for a better sleep, so you wouldn't have nightmares anymore

🦋 Actually did it for you right when she had a chance after that night, but won't admit it

Rengoku

🔥 As you would wake up crying, he would waste no time and pull you to his chest

🔥 He would talk to you, trying to make you calm down with his voice. Would call you 'darling' , 'love' , and 'sweetheart'

🔥 "Hey, hey, hey, love, there's nothing to cry about, I'm here"

🔥 His voice would be lower and softer as usual, not to scare you

🔥 He would smile, as he'd sit up, still hold you in his embrace, as he would swing you from side to side, his other arm underneath your knees and the other one going from underneath your armpits

🔥 If you wouldn't calm down, he'd carry you in front of the fireplace, and lit up a fire. The sounds of the fire, making him always feel calmer, and he thought it would have the same effect on you

🔥 He'd tell you to listen to the fire and focus on breathing, as he'd hold you to his chest

🔥 Would probably bring you some tea and wrap you in a blanket like a burrito

🔥 Will smile happily as you'd slowly calm down and fall asleep in his arms, as he'd bring you back to the bed and wrap his strong arms around you

[darlingsdevil]

Of The Valley (Joel x Reader)

Chapter 5: The Flesh Failures

Summary: Life in Jackson is never easy. Consoling angsty teenagers, wading through the mysterious waters of Joel’s romance language and with a child of your own on the way? Life is about to get a lot harder.

Of The Valley Masterlist

RDR2 Masterlist

Tag list (please comment to be added or removed): @sidepuff @joelsheartache @fangirl-inthe-us @cowboyfrazer @scarletpines @mikah-writes @writersblockincoming @sleepylunarwolf

A/N: Thank you guys so so much for all this support, it’s genuinely astounding! Your guys comments really make my day!

•••

There was no way you were pregnant. Absolutely no way. It was a stupid thought. You couldn’t be pregnant, there was no possibility of that.

You were probably just sick from dinner last night. It was common. Especially since Tommy couldn’t manage to find any fresh ingredients. It was definitely the stew, you assured yourself. Not a chance you could be carrying a baby.

When was the last time you had your period? Two months? Even before that? It was probably just the stress that caused you to miss it, or forget about it entirely. That was most likely it. You were okay. There was no baby.

“You alright in there?” Joel’s gruff voice asked from the other side of the door.

His question didn’t even register for a few seconds.

“Yeah, I’m fine,” You said, trying to keep the pain out of your voice, regardless it still came out weak and painful.

“Why do you sound like you’re on the floor?”

You got up quickly and opened the door for him. “I’m fine.”

Joel stared at you in confusion and glanced over your shoulder. The nausea was making it hard to stand up straight, but you managed, as wobbly as you looked.

“Are you sure? You don’t look too well,” Joel interrogated you.

“I’m good. Just feeling a little sick.” The nausea was slowly increasing, causing your stomach and head to feel much worse. Your body began feeling warmer.

“We can head back right now to Jackson if you aren’t feeling well,” Joel suggested, his eyes filled with worry.

As much as you wanted to go home, you still owed Maria. You couldn’t give her a half assed job, even though Tommy could have finished it easily.

“Whatever Tommy thinks is best,” You dismissed as you leaned against the counter, feeling the sickness wash over you.

“I don’t think Tommy would want you getting sick on the job.”

“Well, let’s just run it by him first,” You managed to get out as you felt your stomach churn. It was too damn bright in here and the sound of Joel’s voice was almost too loud.

“Okay. I’ll go get him.” Joel left the bathroom in search of Tommy while you tried to balance yourself on the counter.

This was not the first time you were sick in the morning. It was common enough that you didn’t bat an eye at it. It was surely that.

There was no way you were pregnant.

Tommy and Joel came back a few moments later.

“How you feeling?” Tommy asked you, stepping into the bathroom with you.

“Not that good. Did any of you guys get sick last night from the food?” You wondered. Joel and Tommy shook their heads, eyeing you cautiously.

“No. I don’t think Ellie did either. Maybe you got sick from the bar,” Tommy suggested.

“That’s probably it. I heard the daycare got hit pretty badly with the stomach flu, maybe Denise or Charlie came to the bar and spread it,” You replied, making up excuses you hoped to be true. Denise and Charlie were the owners of the daycare.

“Last I heard they didn’t get it. Not many of the parents did either. Could be something else though, who knows,” Tommy answered. Your stomach was feeling worse and worse, going out and finishing off the rest of the infected seemed nearly impossible now.

You were quiet, trying to quell your intrusive thoughts and your stomach pain.

“We don’t have to go out if you don’t want to. Maria will understand,” Tommy assured you. Maria would understand, that was given, but she had begged you to do the job outside of town, you didn’t want to let her down. But you were not going to do another job again out here, as easy as this one was, you had to put your foot down. You couldn’t risk having to go back outside of a Jackson again.

“I have to finish this job,” You grumbled. You really weren’t looking forward to throwing up in front of Joel and Tommy. They needed to leave.

“You’re looking awfully sick. I don’t think it’s best if we go out again,” Joel said this time, Tommy nodded in agreement.

“I’m not going back out here to finish the job if I go back,” You replied firmly.

“I can finish it off. Joel will take you back with Ellie,” Tommy said.

You nodded, someone would have to explain it to Maria when you got back, and then you would return to your normalcy, however that looked from now on.

“Just don’t take too long. Maria will get worried,” You told Tommy, wincing in pain.

“I would never. She would have my head on a spike.”

•••

Joel, you, and Ellie set out for Jackson once again. Levia was happy to see you, you hoped it wasn’t too cold for her and Caesar in the garage.

Ellie and Joel were mostly quiet for awhile. Everything was quiet, you hated it. There was only the clicking of hooves and the gentle noises from the horses.You passed through the abandoned buildings and streets with ease, there was no infected, but wildlife was abundant, although autumn was quickly killing off the land.

Yet you couldn’t take your mind off everything that happened. Would you even be able to return to normal with your friends? Was that even an option anymore? You shut them out for three months, they felt betrayed. You were worried about Ellie in particular, a lot seemingly happened with her and Joel. You couldn’t place your finger on the severity of it, you prayed you would be able to mediate it soon, if you could.

And then there was the possibility of you being pregnant. Was there a possibility of you being pregnant?

You looked down at your abdomen briefly. Was there life inside of there? Was there a baby and you had no idea for three months? There was a small bump.. when had that gotten there? It was just from the change in your occupation, patrol was a lot more physically demanding, you told yourself.

A shiver ran down your spine at the thought raising a child. Especially in a world as cruel as this one. You were barely able to manage yourself these days, let alone a baby.

Your mind was on high alert, though you didn’t let it show. Not even when every toss and turn made you feel sick. Your stomach was still feeling as awful as ever, you were sure it would last most of the day.

You wanted nothing more than to be in bed at your home. Despite the memories held there, you could care less.

Ellie and Joel were talking up ahead. Neither of the two seemed particularly pleased with each other. Their words were muffled, both speaking quietly as they trotted next to each other, nipped sentences and awkward silence. It was uncomfortable for even you to watch.

•••

You snuck quietly back into town, Joel and Ellie handed Levia back to the stables, taking your rifle with them, Joel offering to explain it to Maria while you got some rest while you went back to your house at the edge of town. It was a nicer house, small but homey. It was in one of the neighborhoods near the north district. Though your backyard wasn’t next to the wall, you were only a street away.

It was a craftsman style home. The flowers on your porch had long since died, your lawn was neglected too. Your neighbor was kind enough to cut it occasionally since your property wasn’t too big, but you felt embarrassed knowing that you hadn’t taken care of it, and that it was noticeable. Mark liked cutting the grass especially.

Two chairs out on the front porch, dusty from lack of use, you sighed, adding property care to your list of to-do’s. You opened the front door with your key, pulling off your shoes as you entered.

“I’m home,” You mumbled quietly, hoping perhaps someone would hear you. But no one did, and no one would. You lived alone these days.

Your house was painfully quiet. And you hated quiet. It was such a stark contrast to the life you lived three months ago. Dancing to music in your kitchen while you made dinner, the flickering candle in the corner creating a warm glow, children laughing outside, spraying each other with a hose. The buzzing sound of cicadas outside, the heat of early July on the blacktop, a man who loved you in the corner cutting watermelon. You missed it. You missed it dearly.

Now there was a cold, dark, house, devoid of any life. There was no music, there was no glow, there was no sound. Only the cold, dusty air, a bedroom empty yet filled with things, boxes of records you would never touch again.

You were tired, sickly feeling. There was no one to hold your hair back while you emptied your stomach, no one to hug you while you cried. There was no one here now, just an empty house and an even emptier woman, your secrets suffocating you.

•••

Ellie and Joel returned to their respective rooms for the day.

Ellie was planning on going out with Cat later in the day to watch a movie or two, maybe sneak out at night to go down to the lake with a few other friends, smoke some pot, eat some s’mores, steal a six pack. Normal teenage things. Ellie just wanted to take her mind off things again and not have to worry about her old man.

Joel had nothing on his agenda for today. He had things to do on his day off yesterday, but it was too late in the day to get started on them now. So instead, he decided to finish a carving he had begun, a sparrow. It was a nice enough hobby, it kept his mind off things and it was time consuming. He was using a book Ellie had gotten him for his birthday a few years back as a reference. He was thinking about giving the carving to Maria, he had enough carvings as is.

Later in the day, when the sun was beginning to set Maria knocked on Joel’s door. Ellie left with her friend Cat, he saw them through the window of his bedroom earlier, he wondered where they were going.

“Maria, Tommy,” Joel said as he opened the door, noticing Tommy was with her. He was glad his brother had made it home safely.

“May we come in?” Maria asked, glancing through his door behind him.

Joel opened the door further and let them in. It wasn’t unusual for Maria and Tommy to visit him, sometimes just wanting to socialize, other times coming to him for the odd job or two, or patrol reports.

Joel went into the living room and sat down in his chair, Tommy and Maria going for the couch. They exchanged a look before speaking. Joel immediately knew something was up.

“How was it yesterday?” Maria asked.

“Tommy didn’t fill you in?” Joel replied, raising a brow.

“He did. I want your take on it.”

Joel was perplexed until he remembered yesterday was supposed to be a test for you, he would just be grading it.

“On what exactly?” Joel pressed.

“Y/N. How she did,” Maria corrected.

“She panicked when she shot that first pack of infected. Was hard for her to do the second round too, but she managed,” Joel shrugged, there wasn’t much else to say.

Maria nodded her head. “And her shooting, still as sharp as everyone says?”

Joel nodded in response. You were always a good shot.

“What’s all this testing stuff even for? Why is everyone being so damn secretive?”

Maria and Tommy looked at one another, Tommy began to say something but Maria shook her head, stopping him.

“We want her back on patrol. She asked me not to say anything to you, but I think it would be best if I did. Something happened out there with her, it’s why she went off the grid,” Maria said, her words serious and careful.

Joel knew of this already. Tommy had told him yesterday too.

“What happened?” Joel questioned, trying to piece together the complex puzzle.

“As head of Jackson, it’s not my place to say. But because I’m her friend I think it’s best if you know.”

“Okay,” Joel trailed off, wondering what Maria was going to say.

“Mark died on patrol while they were together.” Maria confessed.

“Mark Lane? As in Y/N’s Mark?”

Tommy and Maria both nodded grimly.

Joel cursed under his breath before speaking to them. No wonder he hadn’t seen him around town, then again he hadn’t seen you much either. But Mark was dead? They hadn’t always seen eye to eye, but they were well enough acquaintanced. Mark was an amazing patrolman, a little under the radar, but his talent was well known.

“How’d he die?” Joel asked.

“Just died out on patrol,” Tommy replied, his eyes boring into Joel’s. Joel took the hint.

“Is that why she has been avoiding everyone?”

“I tried to get her to talk to you, I did. She wouldn’t budge,” Maria said to Joel.

“You should have told me.”

“I told Y/N it was her call and she asked me not to mention it, so I did. But it’s dragged on too long, we need her now,” Maria told him. Joel nodded understandingly.

“For what? We have enough people on patrol as is. Ellie’s moving up, she can take Y/N’s place.”

“I told her I wouldn’t put her on patrol anymore, but we have word of a large horde of infected heading directly our way as we speak. We’re dividing assigned patrollers and future volunteers into groups, we need Y/N as the leader of our sniping group,” She explained carefully.

“A horde?” Joel asked dumbfounded. He had never in his life been even caught in one. He knew New York City was one big horde now, as well as Los Angeles and Miami, he had ran from large groups of infected, sure, but he had never been close to a horde.

“We can take them. We already have our traders coming early to bring supplies. Best case scenario, the horde barely misses us for the winter, worst case scenario, we lose some people in the fight, but we can kill this many infected, we have the manpower to do it,” Tommy replied determinedly.

“We have groups of infected coming up here every damn winter, what makes this one any different?”

“The difference is that this is a large horde. Bigger than any one we’ve seen yet, our people down south said we need to prepared, we can’t risk this horde getting close to town,” Tommy explained to him.

“And where do I fit into this?” Joel asked. The sun was setting further now, it was beginning to get darker. The street lamps turned on outside. Halloween was in a few weeks, he had been meaning to decorate. It was Sarah’s favorite holiday, they always went all out. Perhaps he would light an autumn candle tonight and make some fall comfort food — hearty soup or pasta.

“You’ll be head of our field patrol with Tommy, along with a few others. Tommy and you will coordinate defenses, you’ll be out on the frontlines,” Maria was the one to explain this time.

Joel’s heart began beating faster, he couldn’t sit back and watch his friends fight a horde of infected, he was glad he would be fighting alongside them.

“And the sniper unit?”

“That’s where Y/N comes in. Where our frontliners can’t work, we’ll have our snipers lead,” Maria claimed. They would have a good chance, especially with the supplies and manpower Jackson had.

“When is this horde due to hit us?” Joel asked. All they would need is a couple days, lots of molotovs and explosives and ammo to pick off this pack

“Right now it’s looking like early December. We expect the horde to leave some stragglers behind through cities they pass so it won’t be quite as big as it is looking right now,” His brother explained.

Jackson being hit by a horde? Joel was more worried about the people of Jackson panicking, the frenzied fear of people was sometimes more dangerous than a group of infected.

“Have you told Y/N about this?” Joel asked Maria quietly.

She shook her head gently, “I don’t want to spring this all on her so quickly. We just need to ease her into this, I’m sure it’s all very overwhelming right now.”

Joel understood well enough. Losing someone you were close with is never easy, he was well acquainted in that department, he knew the pain that came with it. He would talk with you later about it, but first he would take you to the lake like he had promised.

•••

Maria came by at night, holding a box of cookies, waking you from your nap. At least your stomach had stopped hurting, yet you still felt beyond tired, your whole body ached.

“Hey,” You greeted her softly as you opened the door, your eyes still adjusting to the light.

“I heard you got sick earlier, how are you feeling?” She asked as you let her in. You could smell the leaves as you opened the door, the slight remnants of the crisp autumn air from last night still lingering in your mind.

“Better, not sure what came over me,” You sighed, shutting the door while you both stood by the door.

“Do you think you can go into work tomorrow?” Maria asked you, her eyes softening.

“Yeah, yeah, I think I’m good,” You said quickly with a shrug, playing it off.

“Are you sure you’re not getting sick? Flu is common around this time of year, working in a bar probably wouldn’t make it better.”

“I’m fine, Maria, seriously,” You reassured her.

“Have you gotten sick at all recently?” She continued.

“Yeah, I get sick usually in the morning, I’m sure it’s just because of my nerves and what not,” You confessed to her. Maria’s eyes widened briefly.

“You look a little flushed.. you’re one hundred percent sure you’re not getting sick? Or that this isn’t something else?” She emphasized on the last sentence.

Your mind wrestled with itself, should you tell Maria you think you may be pregnant? She would be supportive of you surely and would make sure to accommodate you.. but you didn’t want her to fret and you weren’t even totally convinced.

“I don’t feel sick now, it’s probably nothing,” You said, attempting to reassure not only her but yourself too.

“Okay well, how was yesterday then?”

“Joel’s angry with me. Ellie’s angry too,” You sighed, looking down at your shoes.

“They’ll come around eventually. But patrol went off without a hitch?” She redirected the question, dismissing your original statement.

“I guess, I’m glad it’s over though.” Patrol hadn’t gone off without a hitch, in fact, it was anything but smooth, but at least you had gotten some work done. You were sure Tommy or Joel had already told her all about it.

“Good. Well, it’s getting late, I still have to go stop by Ellie’s room when she gets back from wherever the hell she is, so goodnight. I hope you like the cookies,” Maria said, handing you the tin of cookies.

You looked out into the street, your neighbors had already put up some decorations for Halloween. Mark had a love-hate relationship with Halloween, sure he got candy and could indulge in as much as he wanted, but when he was little he had tripped and fell on Halloween and broke an arm and the year after that he had broken his other arm on the same night. His birthday was near Halloween too, hence why you teased him and called him Devil Boy. He hated the nickname, but it didn’t stop him from teasing you right back.

There wasn’t much Trick-or-Treating in Jackson, people carved pumpkins and made costumes and went to the Halloween party, but you always missed seeing little kids go door to door, their eyes bright as they shouted for candy. You were only a kid too when Trick-Or-Treating died out.. it was one of the things you missed the most.

You picked up your box of cookies and examined it, it seemed Maria had made chocolate chip, her specialty. You decided to eat a few now before you went to bed again, you got up from the couch and placed the box on the counter.

A movie sounded nice too, so you went to go retrieve a blanket from your bed. You grabbed the heavy blanket and folded it in your hands, looking over at your calendar by your bed. Luckily, someone in Jackson had kept up with the days and made yearly calendars, it saved you a lot of trouble.

You forgot to mark off some days, so you picked up the marker on your bedside table and began crossing off the days that had already passed, then you noticed something.

You had put the days on your calendar where your period would come, months in advance so you could plan around it.. you had missed your period by a week.

It was just a coincidence.. a few coincidences in a row. Then you looked back at your other months.. you didn’t remember having your period on any of those days…

“There’s no way I’m fucking pregnant,” You said quickly, panic rising in your voice.

“There’s no way, no way at all,” You muttered, your breathing unsteady. You flipped through all the way back to July, remembering the Fourth of July.

“Fuck. Fuck. FUCK!” You shouted, realization hitting you like a tidal wave, hot tears forming in your eyes. You were pregnant. There was no doubt in your mind now.

You sat down on your bed and tried wiping away your tears with a shaky head. A thousand thoughts raced through your head, how would you raise a child? You knew nothing about childcare. The last thing you wanted to do would be to bring a child into a world as cruel and unforgiving as this one.

You felt angry, confused, cheated, scared for your baby’s future. You couldn’t give the baby a conventional childhood, there was none of that now. Raising a child on your own was scary enough as it is, you weren’t fit to be a mother.

How could you be so careless and not see any of the warning signs? How could you even let this happen? You were three months pregnant and not once did you think of the possibility you could be before today. The morning sickness, increased fatigue, nausea to certain smells, heightened moods and appetite? The warning signs were right there in front of you, how had you missed every single one of them?

How would you even tell anyone about it? Would Maria truly understand? Would she look down at you for not being careful enough?

And Joel? How would he react? There was enough you were keeping from him already.. you could only keep this secret for a few more weeks anyways.

How would your life look with a child? Limited freedoms? Always having someone to look out for? Perhaps it was selfish to think that way.. there was supposed to be unconditional love between a mother and child

Yet there was a spark of hope in your heart. The thought of having a little one giggling as you held them, their bright eyes twinkling up at you, their tiny fingers so gentle, curling around your own.

Maybe things would turn out okay for you and your child, Jackson was much better than raising a child in a QZ or outside of one, it was the closest thing you would get to a normal civilization. There were other children around in Jackson too, a daycare, a school, playgrounds, other families who would help you.

You rubbed your stomach gently, wiping away all your tears, thinking of the good and the bad that would come out of this situation. There was the sound of a child’s laughter or the sound of a gunshot, which one would resonate louder?

•••

[mymindwide]

It won’t be long we’ll meet again

Pairing: Ashton x Female reader

Word count: 6775

Warning: angst, feelings, smut

Author’s note: This is the chapter 2 (and closure) to ‘The end of heartache’. I hope you’ll love this too, and would just like to thank the support to those who were kind enough to write any kind of feedback on Chapter 1. :) I hope this won’t disappoint either. Take care and enjoy your read.

*****

You miss him. As plain as that sounds, sometimes the simplest words carry the heaviest burdens.

Six months ago you left your apartment with a sleeping Ashton in your bed, after he fucked you in that bed, and you convinced yourself that you don’t care about his motivation after all. You were glad it happened but eventually it just made things more difficult and painful for you.

Because although he’s never been yours, losing him broke your heart. That night you’ve spent together was… good. Obviously way more than just good. But why did he decide to come after you? He’s been in a seemingly happy relationship, then why? No doubt, he probably just felt pity for you after your confession. He always had a good and caring heart, you wouldn’t wonder if this was the case. Well, it really doesn’t matter now, does it? You took that risk; you knew what you were about to do, and as far as you remember your first thought was that you shouldn’t… yet you did nothing to stop him or rather you doing it. Now you were ready to pay the price for your decision, and you’re doing exactly this, painful or not.

Six months have passed since you left but you haven’t talked to any of them since. Well, not in live. Your communication went through emails, tweets and DMs on twitter, but those were very rare, you tried to keep it that way. After you had arrived and settled in your new living space you sent them an email with your address and the company’s name you were working at, at that time.

One day a delivery guy has left a small package for you at the reception of the building you were living in. The tiny velvet box hid a pretty white gold necklace with an angel wing medal; the gift card attached to it wished you all the best and let you know about a certain protection sentiment behind it, and was signed as C.A.L.M under that with the real signatures of Cal, Ash, Lu and Mike. An immediate smile crept on your face, because knowing the guys too well, this was either Cal’s or Ashton’s idea, and if you had to place a bet, your vote would be for Ash. No offense to Luke and Mikey, but they are not as thoughtful as the other two, and they are perfectly aware of this. This is again something that doesn’t make the disengagement easier for you, but you happily and proudly wear that beautiful necklace since the moment you have received it.

In the meantime you have changed a job, because two months ago you left that marketing position for a once in a lifetime opportunity – you were hired at iHeartRadio New York City in a program manager assistant position for one of its afternoon show. Everything was so new and fast and challenging, you had so many things to learn and do and still get used to, that you didn’t find the time and way to let the guys know about this new situation.

 * * *

 That day started pretty usual and normal, though at some point you should have started to suspect and prepare for the opposite. Just not long after you put your foot in the skyscraper building, there was a complete power outage; you had to call firefighters to help the trapped people escape from the elevators. You had to call the building maintenance guys to restore the electricity so the ca. 150 companies (including the city’s biggest radio station) can continue to work. You had to call some technicians to try to resettle your servers and computers. They managed to do that, however some of your fax machines have completely died due to the blackout, therefore you were asked to pass over a few important papers to one of your presenters shortly being on air, that he’d need to interview his guests that are already in the building. The entire 15th floor was your radio’s, so you picked up the folder and ran across the long hallway to reach the glass window studio on time. It was an impressive performance with 3 inches heels on your feet. After delivering the “goods” you joked to yourself that you should consider entering the next sprint competition that’s going to be held in the city. If you can do it on heels you’d have a good chance without them as well. You realized you needed to use the bathroom before returning back to your office, therefore you made a quick left turn on the corridor, but you didn’t get to the women’s restroom, because a familiar figure leaned against the wall next to the men’s restroom typing on his cellphone. You went closer, because you didn’t want to believe your eyes; your heart was pounding against your chest heavier than ever before.

 “Mi-Mikey?!” as you called his name he lowered his hands with the phone in them, turned around and as he realized who dared speak to him, his eyes widened and with that drive you wrapped your arms around his neck clinging to him like a startled sparrow.

“Y/N! What are you…, how?” he hugged you back tight.

“I’m working here” you responded as you let him go and took a step back so you can check him out.

“But we thought you’re at that marketing company.”

“I know and I was, this opportunity came 2 months ago” you started to gaze your feet as you felt your conscience remind you of all the missed chances to let your friends know about this new job. “I’m sorry I didn’t tell you earlier” you looked up at him with literal shame in your eyes.

“We kinda got used to it by now…” he smiled at you.

“I…I’m…”

“Just kidding, it’s so good to see you!” a grin appears on his face and that slightly reassures your nerves and remorse too.

“The others?”

“I guard the door while they are inside using whatever toilet they have to” he rolled his eyes. “I swear to you they’re still a bunch of babies, I told them to use the bathroom in the hotel, but nah, we’re good. You can see how good they are…” he points at the door of the men’s restroom making you laugh with his comment.

“What’s up Mike, now you’re talking to yourse…” – the door opened and as Luke came out first he couldn’t even finish the sentence coz after Mikey you appeared in his field of view and you got the same reaction as from Mikey.

“Y/N?!”

“Me” and you took a step towards him too to wrap your hands around his neck.

“What are you doing here?” he stroked your back quickly.

“I’ll tell you everything, just wait for the other two now so I don’t have to repeat myself four times”

“I’ll tell your girlfriends that you two beguile the lady assistants at every radio station we put our feet into…” came another familiar voice from the opening door, and this time you could surprise Calum.

“Man, I think they wouldn’t mind this one…” smiled Luke.

“Cal!!!!!!” you jumped into his neck and he held you tight to himself lifting you up a bit, your feet not touching the ground below you.

“Holy shit, girl, what are…” he started asking the obvious question as he put you down back on your feet.

“I know, what am I doing here, and I swear I’m going to answer just…”

 And this time you were the one who couldn’t finish your sentence coz the door has been opened for the third time and Ashton stepped outside looking confused for a second at the sight of the little group gathering until he found the incongruous member of his band. The others fell silent as if someone has stopped the time and cut you out of this scene. Actually, time has stopped for you too, because you weren’t exactly prepared for this spectacle either, seeing him obviously brought back memories, but even if those memories didn’t exist, he looked so handsome, so good-looking in his set that consisted of a black torn jeans and a black button-up shirt with the first few buttons being unbuttoned leaving a perfect view at his subtly muscular chest, that you felt a little bit lost at that moment.

 “Y/N?”

“Hi Ash…” you bit your bottom lip to feel some kind of pain that holds you back from collapsing inside and burst into tears in front of them. He couldn’t take his eyes off of you, so you took that first step to hug him too, though evidently not with the same vehemence as you did with the other three. Your hands rested on his back and only for a few seconds, his hands mirrored your movements on your back, a few gentle caresses and you let each other go pretty quickly. Quick enough to feel this hug awkward, but you guess that’s what you get when you fuck with someone you consider a friend even though you feel way more for him.

“Hi, sweetheart” he smiled at you and this gesture eased the tension in you enough to get your shit together.

You took a short glance at the other three behind you, and they stared at you two as if they were watching bombs that could explode at any minute. Is it possible that they know something about what has happened between us months ago? Ahh, anyway, I have no time for this now, now that these four stand in front of me, still a total miracle and a quite big shock at the same time. You took a big breath and started telling them very quickly about your job change.

“Who did you come to?” you asked from any of them.

“Greg? Is it Greg?” Lu asked back.

“Ah so it’s you guys who he’s waiting for. Actually I just brought his papers for him, so he can ask questions from you” you grinned.

“I thought it worked a bit more modern these days” Ash smirked.

“It does, smartass, we just had a… bit of a situation in the morning, and all electronics went to shit due to a power outage.”

“And if it wasn’t for that, we wouldn’t have you right here right now” Cal came and gave you a half hug.

“Guys, I missed you so much, you have no idea.”

“Boys, we have one minute left…” Mike warned you and you literally saw the panic in his eyes as he looked around your little branch.

“What is it Mikey?” you asked.

“It’s just… we have to go, and I assume you have to go back to work too, but we’re staying for the night and leave only tomorrow, so I thought we could meet for a dinner somewhere? I mean, only if you want it, too, of course!” he sputtered and was eyeing Cal and Luke, though Ashton got a glance from him too.

“I’d be more than happy to do that with you guys” you shrugged with a smile on your face.

“Since you live here, you can recommend a restaurant maybe?”

“What about Ceci? It’s Italian and it’s only three corners down this avenue.”

“Sounds awesome. When will you finish?”

“At 4.”

“Then 6? Is that good?”

“Then 6, it is.”

“See you at Ceci, baby” Cal hugged you first, and all the others joined him, resulting in you melting in a group hug.

“Good luck and see you soon” you waved them goodbye, and with a huge smile on your face and a long-awaited excitement in your heart you headed back to your office.

 * * *

“Target #1 in the building” Cal made a comment.

“We can see that as well, Captain Obvious” snapped Mikey.

“Dude, calm down, and let me remind you that this whole thing was your idea.”

“I know… thanks again, Captain Obvious.”

“If you won’t stop with the captain thing, I’ll hit you on the head.”

“Would you please shut up for a minute, both of you. I can’t see from the noise you two make” Luke intervenes.

“Anyway, what’s your problem? We’re good so far, aren’t we?” Cal continues.

“But what if Ash sensed something? Weren’t we too obvious with the ‘buying gifts for the girls’ thing?”

“Don’t think so man, last time I checked we do have girlfriends…” Luke tried to reassure Mike.

“But Cal doesn’t.”

“And? I focus on myself right now!” snapped back Cal resentfully.

“Dude, that’s not the point! Good for you. I just want this to work.”

“He’s gonna be here.”

“Young amigos, if we don’t go anywhere I have to ask you to get out of the car” says the driver of the taxi they sat in. “You know I have a big family, have to give them food.”

“Luke, give me 40 bucks.”

“Why me?”

“Coz your net worth is the highest, and I’m just a poor guitarist from Sydney” scoffs Mikey.

“If this is gonna work, Ash owes me…” mumbles Luke as he slaps the money in Mike’s hand at the passenger’s seat.

“Are you sure you don’t have Scottish or Jewish ancestors…?” Mike side eyed Luke. “If this is gonna work, I’ll personally give this back to you, you mean bastard.”

“Oh shut up, Clifford.”

“Does this cover an hour route?” Mike holds out the money to the driver.

“Si senor, it’ll do.”

“Guys! Guys, target #2 is approaching the building…” Cal’s voice warned the quarreling couple, and all four men in the taxi looked in the direction of the restaurant on the other side of the road.

 * * *

 You completely lost your sense of time after you went home from the studio. To your biggest luck you have found a flat incredibly close to your workplace, actually it’s halfway through  between the studio and the restaurant, so you had time to try out at least 20 clothing combinations for the dinner. Based on how the day had started you would not have dared dream that it would end like this. You came here with the thought you’ll never see them again, and here you are, you’ll have a date with four of your best friends, and that makes you beyond excited. The long and short of it is that you ended up 15 minutes earlier at the restaurant, wearing your favorite black torn jeans with a simple V-neck white t-shirt and matching black high heels.

You were checking your phone every minute preparing yourself for them to write you in the last possible second that they’re sorry but won’t be able to make it, but no message has arrived, so you started becoming very excited by every passing minute. You were about to put your phone on the table when you looked up from it and glimpsed Ashton walking towards the table you were sitting at, the table that was booked by Mr. Clifford for 5. You rose from your seat to greet him and grabbed the opportunity to check him out very quickly and hopefully not too strikingly.

“You look wonderful” he hugged you with one hand “…and I like the jeans” he added grinning at you as his eyes lowered to the knee part of your jeans where it’s been torn.

“Well, I have to admit, there’s a slight Irwin impact on my fashion sense regarding jeans.”

“I’ll have a greater legacy than Versace” he joked.

“Ahh as to Versace, have you watched the second…”

“I have and I had no one I could talk about it with” he said semi-sadly, semi-excitedly not even waiting for you to finish the sentence.

“I know, me neither. I missed our regular series talk shows” you smiled at him.

“Anyway, it was definitely shockingly brilliant.”

 He hardly finished the sentence; the receptionist came towards you and stopped next to your table. You looked up at her simultaneously.

 “Sorry for interrupting you, I would like to apologize for the inconvenience, but Mr. Clifford just phoned us and let us know, that the remaining 3 person won’t be joining you, therefore I’d like to escort you to a quieter, more private table for two, if you don’t mind” she has flashed her nicest smile at you two.

 Both Ashton and you looked at your phones at the same time looking for some explanation behind this situation but neither of you got any messages from any of the guys and looked up from your phones as confused as the other.

 “We haven’t ordered yet, so it’s fine for me…” he told the receptionist but he looked at you all the way waiting for an approval.

“Yeah, it’s okay, of course” you blinked still confused.

“Thank you very much. As a compensation for the inconvenience, tonight’s drinks are on the restaurant.”

 You stood up and followed the lady in front of you, while looking at each other conspiratorially, because you knew something that the management of the restaurant did not - namely neither Ash nor you drank any alcohol, so the worst that can happen is the mineral water stock will be less with a few bottles.

As soon as you put your bottoms down on your seats, a waitress came to take your order, and to your waters you ordered a Caesar salad and Ash stayed with a steak though he chose salad as garnish too.

“Never thought you were the salad type” Ash noted.

“Believe me, I am still not, but you should have seen the food I was poisoning myself with since being here. My body really can use a lighter meal now. I’m literally craving it.”

“Can’t blame you. I guess everyone’s first thing to do when arriving in New York is to try all the food we see on Man vs. Food.”

“Yeah, that’s how I got to know the city, basically” you laughed. “Uhm, as to those three bastards you call your bandmates and I called friends… I assume you didn’t know about this” you cocked an eyebrow at him.

“No, I didn’t. They told me they’re going gift shopping, and that they’ll join us in time.” “Obviously they won’t now” the right corner of your mouth pulled in a sarcastic smile.

“If you don’t feel like it, we don’t have to do this…”

“Ash, no, it’s not why I…” your hand has swung quicker than you thought and by the time you realized, it already rested on Ash’s forearm, trying to keep him from standing up from the table. As soon as you saw why he’s looking at his arm you jerked your hand back.

“Hey, I didn’t plan to go anywhere“ he smiled at you seeing you blushing as he really just adjusted his chair.

“Sorry…” you whispered feeling ashamed, not exactly knowing why though.

“No, it’s okay… Actually, I’d like to talk to you about something.”

 You swallowed as if you had known what’s coming.

 “Can we talk about us?”

“Us?”

“Yes, us and that particular night. Should I remind you of…”

“No. It’s not something that just disappears. Not after how we said goodbye” you tucked your lips between your teeth as an automatic reflex because you felt your pulse getting higher, and your anxiety creeping up.

“I wouldn’t exactly call it a goodbye…”

“But it was.”

“Why didn’t you wake me up when you left? We could have talked.”

“You know, I thought about it a lot since then. Even felt certain guilt. But that day was emotional enough for me, besides my life here was already pretty much prepared. At that moment it felt right.”

“And now?”

“Ash… Why did you come to me that night in the first place?” you started losing your patience as you felt him calling you to account. You wanted to show him he’s not the only one with questions.

“What do you think?”

“For months I was convinced it was out of pity from your side.”

“Out of pity… But did that really feel like it though?”

“I don’t know, Ash. Again, that day was hard enough and you didn’t make the things easier either.”

“Did you know you left a mark on me? Nail scratches on both my shoulder blades” he smiled. “A few days later I became single.”

“I didn’t want to get you in trouble” you told him with honesty and worry in your voice. You really had no idea that they are no longer together.

“It has nothing to do with it; I just thought I’ll let you know, since it made me smile when I noticed it at home. And as far as I remember it was me who knocked on your door…”

“But I could have told you to leave…” you quickly closed your eyes as instant memory moments rushed through your mind about the exact scene you were talking about. How he kissed you and picked you up in his lap, and how much you didn’t exactly protest against it, but kissed him back and wrapped your legs around his waist instead… About how your body reacted to his in a millisecond.

“Did you regret what we’ve done back then?”

“No” you said after a few seconds of silence. “But it just made things more difficult for me.”

“As of?”

“Leaving behind what I wanted to leave behind. Forgetting you” you felt a sudden sadness as you uttered these words aloud.

 You didn’t even notice how easily you eased into your conversation and that the anxiety you felt at the beginning just disappeared most likely thanks to the calmness that flowed out of Ashton, the soothing tone of his voice, the way he spoke to you.

You loved how honestly and openly you could talk about this, when it could have turned out enormously awkward as well.

 “And you? Did you regret that you came to my apartment that night?” you rested your elbow on the table while supported your head with your palm.

“No. It made me realize a few things.”

“As of?” you smiled.

“You know I don’t believe in too many things, but what I believe in is that there are no coincidences. Us meeting here, totally accidentally, has to have a greater purpose. And I’d like to tell you something and I’d like you to listen to me. I want you to know that I liked you all along. From the beginning. I always thought we had a special connection and we understood each other quite well. But I was stupid and thought we’re friends, and it’s not gonna lead anywhere, you know, you don’t shit in your own backyard… And this is what I regretted. That simply out of fear I didn’t even try to give it a chance, and when you confessed six months ago it kinda slapped me in the face. The only thing I could tell you was that I was sorry. That’s what I felt sorry about. Not you. My own self and my missed opportunity. That I was satisfied with less when I could have something more valuable too. You helped me open my eyes and as it hit me, I wanted to see you. That’s why I visited you that night.”

 As he said all these things to you, your heart just wished to leave your body. Never in your wildest dreams could you imagine that he, in any way, could feel the same like you, and now here you are.

The whirlwind came and you looked down at the table, lips trembling and the first stream of tears rolled down your face. He reached for your hand, gently grabbed it with his and you squeezed it letting all the remaining tension and anxiety go, as his thumb brushed your skin.

 “So now you know. Pity never was on the table.”

 Wiping those few stray tear drops you smiled at him as you still hold hands.

 “This whole situation is because of me, coz I fucked that up, and for this I am sorry too.”

“Ash… it doesn’t matter now. I’m glad you’re here, I’m glad we’re here. And I’d just like to hug you now, so bad” a liberated shred of laughter escaped your lips.

“I can promise you we’ll get round to it” he flashed a smile at you squeezing your hand once more before he let it go, as your ordered meals had arrived.

 * * *

 While eating you could continue with much lighter topics; he let you into their plans and ongoing work with their new material and all the shenanigans you missed while being in the other side of the states, and you told him about the musical legends and celebs you had the pleasure to meet thanks to your last two months at the radio.  It was around 8pm when you left Ceci, and tried to find a secluded place on the sidewalk where you aren’t in the way of others and they aren’t in yours.

 “Can I collect my hug now?” you smiled at him and just hoped you don’t sound too desperate, though you were not sure whether he would care at all if you did.

 You certainly did not care. Your heart got lighter, your eyes shined brighter after your dinner, and just feeling him this close, like never before, filled you with such happiness you never thought you’ll feel again. He pulled you closer and you went upon your tiptoes to wrap your hands around his neck while his arms slithered around your waist wreathing you into a tight hug. Your senses were looking for the familiar feelings - his citrus scent filled up your nose, your arms rested safely on his wide shoulders providing you the sense of security that you felt only with him.

You very slowly let go of him and stood back on your feet, as your eyes kept holding onto each other’s.

His fingertips ghosted along your arms going down to reach their destination in your palms.

 “Can I kiss you?” his eyes hiding a slight insecurity were searching yours.

“Are you really asking for permission when…” you smiled.

“I am, because this is our first date” he wasn’t waiting for you to finish.

“Then please, kiss me” you whispered still smiling.

 His hands let go of yours and found their new place on your waist pulling you closer and on the side of your neck angling your face slightly upwards so he can attach his lips on yours while your hands slid up to rest on his chest.

This kiss was different from what you shared the last time, of course no wonder, since that night wasn’t exactly about the most extensive and deepest exploration of the other. You simply didn’t have time for that, and weren’t in that particular headspace.

This kiss was feathery, gentle and exploratory – the kind that makes you lose your mind.

You felt yourself in a dream and as the seconds went by, you sensibly became needier; his fingertips pressed harder on your waist while your hands grasped his shirt on his stomach. A sense rushed through your veins, a recognition, that made you feel almost ashamed and shy for wanting to be with him again.

 A loud honk reminded you that you’re in the middle of the street, so you slowly let each other go, and still feeling the ghost of his lips on yours you leaned your forehead against his collarbone slightly shaking your head as you let out a heavier sigh.

 “Damn…”

“What?” his tone gave away that he’s smiling.

“I feel like I should be ashamed of the thoughts that are filling my mind right now.”

“If they are anything similar to mine, then yeah, you should…”

 His remark made you chuckle into his chest. You lifted your eyes on him and you felt exactly the same way as you did six months ago that night when you stood in the hall of your apartment staring at each other, trying to read from the other’s eyes and face. And again, just like back then, there was no question to which the answers couldn’t have been found in your eyes.

 “Come…” you intertwined your fingers and took a few steps backwards never breaking the eye contact.

“Where are we…” he asked as you started heading down the road.

“My flat is two minutes away.”

 * * *

 “Wake up you two! They are out!” Cal shouted, and the other three gentlemen in the car hoisted in their seats. “Not you, Pedro, you can sleep back.”

“This is my car, I wanna watch!” the driver stared out his window sticking to the windowpane, and Cal just shrugged.

“Awww, they are hugging”

“Thanks for the live broadcast, mate, but I’d rather check it myself” Luke just tried to push Cal out of the way so he can see something with his own eyes too.

“Oh, that senorita is la belleza; I’d hug her too…” Pedro remarked and his passengers shared a quick glance that made obvious what they think about their plus one – they managed to get stuck with a perv.

“Woah woah woah, oh my god, come on Ash, you get it dude!” shouted Cal as they watched their two targets embrace in a kiss.

“Yesss” Luke cried out joining in the celebration.

“Could you please move over, that’s my friend, I have to see them” Mike tried to push the driver away.

“I wanna see, I wanna see” their ad hoc driver fought back, and as he did, his elbow pressed the honk on the steering wheel.

 All four of them pulled their heads down immediately, searching for cover behind the doors of the vehicle.

 “Man, you can ruin everything” Mikey yelled at the driver grumpily.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t want to cause trouble” their driver justified himself.

 Carefully and very slowly they all rose from their cover, and saw the targets still standing on the sidewalk, although not kissing.

 “Let’s just hope they’ll find a hotel, if I were them I’d do…” Cal made the comment.

“Dude, you need to get laid soon…” Luke shook his head in response to Cal cocking his eyebrow.

“Just like he will be…?!” Cal indicated out the window, pointing at the pair as they hold hands and the girl takes a few steps backward still facing their bandmate.

“Damn, I’m a genius…” grinned Mikey.

 * * *

 While waiting for the elevator in the building you hardly could let each other catch your breath, being able to kiss him without any heartbreak or shame felt beyond liberating.

 “Waiiiit, shit” he pulled away from you.

“What’s wrong?”

“This time I don’t have any condoms, I wasn’t expecting… the whole press tour or this evening to take such a turn” he whispered.

“This only means… you have to… pull out in time…” you kissed it on his lips. “Can you do that for me?”

“Do you trust me?” he cupped your face looking in your eyes with his very serious ones. After all you were about to play a dangerous game, that can have consequences, so you had to be sure, you take this risk. But you trusted him more than anyone.

“You know I do.”

 After getting back to your flat, between passionate kisses you helped each other get rid of your clothes and shortly you found yourselves naked on the couch, discarded clothes here and there on the floor around you.

Ash sat on the couch; you stood in front of him as he, kissing the skin on your stomach, pushed your last piece of cloth you had on -your panties- down your legs.

Straddling him you were holding onto his shoulders, and you slowly ran down your nails on his chest to his stomach very lightly. He most likely worked out more in the last six months; his abs became more defined than what you were remembering.

He reached up to pull you closer by the back of your neck merging you in a kiss that you were getting so many in the last 20 minutes from, and yet you couldn’t get enough.

You slid your hand lower to take his hardness and as you wrapped your fingers around it he moaned into your mouth just fueling your desire to give him as much pleasure as you can. You quickly started caressing him, smearing his pre-cum on his tip, before you lifted yourself on your knees enough to position his cock over your entrance.

 “Wait, are you rea…”

“Am I ready?” you smiled at him and lead his tip over your wetness a few times. “I couldn’t be readier” you leaned towards him to kiss him again rewarding him for his thoughtfulness, since last time he made sure you were ready for him, now your kisses and touches ensured it.

 You leaned your forehead against his as you lowered yourself on him, and a soft whimper escaped both of you at the same time.

 “Fuck, woman…”

“God, you’re magic…” you gasped.

“We are” he tilted his head back against the headrest of the couch, leaving his throat free for you to lick and kiss.

 After getting used to feeling his size inside you again, with the guidance of his hands on your hips you started to grind your hips, first just slowly, up and down, then slightly increasing the pace you were riding him harder letting him fully fill you up.

Your nails scratched down from his shoulders down to his chest leaving a light mark.

 “Old habits die hard?” he breathed out making you smile with it as you brushed your fingers over the marks and you leaned forward to lick into his mouth, your hips never stopping with bouncing up and down on him.

„Is this good?” you asked him as you reached behind you, running your fingers around his balls squeezing them a little. Although you already knew the answer seeing the look in his eyes and hearing the hitches in his breathing. His body gave obvious responses to your touch.

„You haven’t been this chatty last time…” he swallowed back a groan.

„Well, last time you haven’t been this single, either…”

You were like fire on fire, perfectly igniting each other’s arousal. It was like you never felt yourself this alive.

He cupped your breasts in his hands and as you slowed your hips he took his time to caress and massage them, kiss them and suck on your nipples, circling his tongue around them sending you into hyperspace with all this sensation. Now you had the chance to discover what you couldn’t six months earlier.

Your movements slowed down as your thighs started to tire, and Ash sensing this took control over the things from then. His hands found their way back on your hips and he started to pound into you in the same rhythm you moved on him. It’s been a new sensation and his name fell from your lips like a prayer as your pleasure started to build in your core.

 “Please don’t stop, I’m so close” you whispered in his ear whimpering before you took his earlobe with his earring into your mouth pulling on it a little.

 He kept your hips in place and this time it was really just him moving his hips a bit faster than before and you screamed as your walls spamsed around his cock in you. He threw his head back and as his grip loosened on your hips you started moving again riding out your own climax.

He looked back at you and you smiled at him in your delirium, kissing him deeply for the pleasure he gave you.

Reaching under your butt he stood up and took you into your bedroom, putting you down on the bed.

 “Where do you want me?” you asked as you really were ready to give him anything he wants or needs in any position.

“Just lie down. I’d like to see your pretty face as I take you.”

 With only this one sentence he sent a jolt through you again and you did as he told, lying on your back you were waiting for his promise to be fulfilled.

Leaning over you he entered you again and with a louder moan you welcomed back that now familiar and oh so good feeling of having him inside you.  This time he picked up a quicker pace that he slowed down on purpose from time to time, you saw him struggling more and more as he tried to lengthen our moments as long as he can, but six months was six months for him too…

 “Ash, don’t hold it back” you caressed his face. “You can come. I need you to. We’ll have plenty of time to do this…” you brushed his lower lip with your thumb before he leaned down to kiss you.

 After a few more thrusts, he pulled his cock out of you, rested it on your abdomen for a second, and looking down, seeing his length lying under your stomach you wished he could put it back to feel him finish off inside you.

He took his cock in his hand and started to pump it slowly until you reached down almost immediately to replace his hand with yours keeping your constant eye contact. Seeing the lust still shining in his eyes and hearing his groans through his gasping as your warm palm covers his soft skin lightly twirling and moving on it back and forth, paying special attention to the sensitive part right under his tip was the crown of this night for you. Without moving your head, only your eyes wandered down to capture the moment of his cum spilling out onto your stomach, your eyes immediately found back to his, your teeth grazing your bottom lip. Ash’s soft moans filled the room, the moans you could hear with your ears but feel with your soul. Not stopping with stroking him, you slowed down with your movements and he leaned down to kiss you while you still kept his length in your hand, your thumb wiping the last drops off of his tip.

 “I’ll bring a cloth” he whispered on your lips after taking a look down at your stomach covered with the drops of his cum.

“You’ll find some in the bathroom cabinet.”

 You heard him run the tap and soon he came back with a wet cloth helping you get clean, then wiped himself too. After taking it back to the bathroom, he came back and lied down next to you.

 “I like your necklace” he stroked your jewelry hanging around your neck.

“It’s so beautiful, and I love it so much, I didn’t take it off since I received it.”

“Could we give this a chance? Maybe the timing wasn’t right back then, but it can be now. I want this. I want us. I want you.”

“If you’re working on to see me cry again, you’re doing it right” you smiled at him.

“I’m dead serious” he reached out to you and stroked your face.

“I know. And I’d like this too.” you took his hand in yours kissing into his palm.

“Come home to us.”

“I want to. And I will. But I have to close my barely begun life here first” you laughed.

“I won’t let you out of my reach again.”

“You better not, Irwin.”

 He drew a cross over his heart with his pointer finger.

 “In the morning we can work everything out. And this time I’ll be around.”

“Promise?” he smirked.

“Promise” you drew a cross over your heart too and leaning over him you sealed your promise on his lips with a kiss before he playfully pulled you onto his body.

 Caressing and kissing each other you slowly quieted, and with tangled limbs you finally fell asleep in each other’s arms.

* * *

 I can’t recall the last time I was this happy in my life.

Imagining a life where I open my eyes in the morning and the first thing I catch a glimpse of is the beautiful and peaceful face of the man I love was only a dream for me for so many years.

But it’s funny how life can make up for its own mistakes.

I remember the girl from six months earlier. How bad she wanted to touch him, how bad she wanted to kiss him awake, how bad she wanted to put her hand over his heart just to feel its even beating.

And now I’ll just do exactly that.