#it’s because I’m a former gifted kid

[thattheater-kid]

I am an aroace aplatonic agender autistic ADHD person with anxiety, which means I’m winning. I collected the most A’s. I got the high score.

[anonymolly]

.

[pixlmonkeys]

academics are important blah blah blah but these tests are Not made for me and my autism brain

[mugglebornmarvelite]

Christmas Chaos

Paring: Avenger! Bucky Barnes x Avenger! Fem! Reader (Grumpy x Sunshine)

Summary: Your first Christmas with the team is one for the books. The excitement of unwrapping gifts turns into delightful chaos. 

Word Count: Roughly 1.1k 

Warnings: Fluff, Mild Violence (threats and roughhousing), Christmas themes, Bucky's red henley (totally deserves it's own warning)

Author’s Note: According to TikTik, tons of people didn't get what they wanted for Christmas; so here’s a little something I whipped up because I’ve been awake since 5 this morning and I have had three cups of coffee. I typed this on my phone, so if there are errors, I apologize. If you like this, you’re welcome and if you don’t, it wasn’t me :)

Navigation

Divider by: @strangergraphics 

You wake up to muffled noises from downstairs. You bury your face in your pillow, before looking at your phone for the time. It is too early to be up on any regular day, but today was different. It's Christmas day! Christmas day with your favorite people. You slipped on your fluffy slippers and quietly padded downstairs, rubbing your eyes and yawning softly. 

“Merry Christmas!” you chirped to the team.  

Natasha smiled and raised her mug of coffee. 

Wanda smiled and handed you a cup of hot chocolate. 

Tony was busy arguing with Bruce over an instruction manual, and Steve and Sam argued over who had better gift-wrapping critiques. But as you scanned the room, you noticed. Bucky wasn’t there.  

“Where’s Bucky?” you asked with a small frown.  

“He’s upstairs,” Sam said casually. “Brooding, probably.”  

“I can go get him…” You offered, only to be cut off.

“Nah, it’s fine,” Steve gave you a small grin, ruffling your hair. “Trust us.”  

Wanda passed you your stocking, filled with goodies. The works of small trinkets, candy and chocolate coins.

You grinned as you and Peter dove into the chocolates.

Tony already started complaining about the sugar rush you both would get.

Then, Steve pointed to a large, festively wrapped box.  

“This one’s for you, kid.”  

Your eyes widened. The box was massive, and you crouched down to peel the wrapping paper off. 

“What in the world?” you murmured, pulling off layer after layer. With a puzzled look, you pried it open.  

“Bucky?!”  

The former Winter Soldier was sitting cross-legged in the box, arms tied with rope, a gag around his mouth, and a pretty red bow on his head. He wore a snug red henley and gray sweatpants, looking both murderous and utterly done with life.  

He looked divine, even tied up. Delicious. Marvelous. He could make greek gods envious.

“Merry Christmas, sunshine,” Steve and Sam chorused, howling with laughter.  

Your jaw dropped, and then a giggle bubbled out of you as you knelt by the box. “Oh my gosh, you two didn’t! Poor Bucky!”  

Bucky’s piercing glare snapped to Steve and Sam. He growled something unintelligible through the gag, making them laugh harder. Your cheeks flushed as you gently began untying the bow and ropes.  

“I’m so sorry they did this to you,” you said, smiling softly as you helped him out of the box.  

Bucky’s expression was a storm cloud, but when his sharp blue eyes landed on your sweet, genuine smile, his hardened features instantly softened. 

“Merry Christmas, sunshine,” he murmured, pulling you into a surprisingly gentle hug. The heat of his body and the smell of fresh pine and something distinctly him filled your senses.  

You melted into the embrace, pressing your face into his chest as your arms circled his waist and whispered, “Merry Christmas, Bucky.”  

The tender moment lasted five seconds. Maybe eight, but who’s counting?

Then, he pulled back and turned to Steve and Sam.  

“You two are dead,” he growled, rolling his shoulders.  

Steve and Sam’s laughter ceased as they quickly stood. “Now, Buck, let’s talk about this—”  

But Bucky was already moving towards them, cracking his knuckles menacingly.  

“We’re going to run,” Sam muttered, and the two bolted out of the room, Bucky hot on their heels, shouting threats about payback.  

Watching the chase unfold, you couldn’t stop the laugh that escaped your lips. Natasha caught your eyes as she sipped her coffee.  

“Guess you’re his sunshine, huh?” she teased.  

You bit your lip, cheeks warm as you whispered, “Maybe.” 

Natasha smirked knowingly but didn’t push further. Instead, she was content to watch the chaos unfold as Bucky cornered Sam near the Christmas tree.  

“You think tying me up is funny?” Bucky growled, advancing with a predatory stride.  

“It wasn’t just me!” Sam yelped, using the tree as a barrier. “Steve came up with the idea!”  

Steve, who was inching toward the kitchen in a futile attempt to escape unnoticed, froze under Bucky’s glare.  

“Traitor,” he muttered under his breath, cursing Sam’s lack of discretion.  

“Traitor?” Bucky repeated, catching the word. “You both tied me up like a damn Christmas present and you’re calling him the traitor?”  

You stifled a laugh behind your hand, stepping closer. “Okay, okay, Bucky. Maybe don’t kill them? It is Christmas.”  

“Besides, we did it for her,” Sam pointed at you to soften the blow. “Right, sugarplum?”

“Do not call her sugarplum. Ever.” Bucky warned Sam.

“Bucky,” You called softly, looking up at him.

Bucky paused, looking back at you. 

His sharp glare softened into something almost dopey when he saw your pleading eyes and soft smile. 

With a sigh, he rolled his eyes and muttered, “Fine. They live. For now.”  

Sam exhaled audibly, his shoulders slumping in relief. “Thank you, sunshine!” he called to you, grinning.  

But Bucky turned sharply, pointing a finger at him. “Don��t push it.”  

Sam immediately zipped his mouth,

Steve, ever the brave one, chuckled and clapped Bucky on the shoulder as he passed. “Merry Christmas, old pal.”  

Bucky’s only response was a low grumble of curse before sitting on the couch. 

You disappeared into the kitchen and came back a few moments later, offering him a warm mug of hot cocoa in your hands.

“Here,” you said softly, “Hot cocoa. Consider it a peace offering on behalf of Steve and Sam.”  

Bucky eyed the mug for a moment, then you. He took it without a word, his fingers brushing yours briefly, sending a little jolt through you.  

“Thanks,” he muttered, taking a sip.  

You sat beside him, your own cocoa in hand, legs tucked beneath you as you leaned against the armrest. The room buzzed with holiday chatter and laughter, but your attention stayed on the super soldier beside you.  

“I hope they didn’t ruin your day,” you said after a moment, voice tinged with genuine concern.  

Bucky glanced at you, his lips quirking up in a faint smile. “Nah. Nothing can ruin my day when you are smiling at me like that, sunshine.”  

Your cheeks burned and you looked away.

Natasha, who had been observing the exchange from across the room, smirked and leaned over to Clint. “He’s whipped,” she whispered.  

Clint raised an eyebrow, glancing at you and Bucky before nodding. “Completely.”  

Bucky leaned back on the couch, sipping his cocoa and sneaking glances at you. Every now and then, his lips would tug into a soft smile. 

Without a word, he shifted, inching toward you on the couch. He casually draped his arm across the back of the couch, as if it was the most natural thing in the world.

You eagerly took the opportunity to tuck yourself into Bucky’s side.

This time, leaving his cheeks burning.

Thank you so much for reading! I hope you enjoyed! Happy Holidays! Stay warm/cool wherever you're at.

Tell your loved ones that you love them.

And if nobody told you today, I love you <3

If you'd like to be added to my taglist

Much love x

- Maeve

[societyfolklore]

Society Folklore Masterlist

Most works are 18+/or aimed at that audience. Please take note of warnings within individual stories. (Do not copy, translate, x-post onto other platforms) AO3 Is here 

(Updated May 1st)

Bucky Barnes:

One shots:

Security Clearance(Congressman!Bucky Barnes x Former SHEILD!Female Reader)

We Couldn’t Stop(Bucky Barnes x Female Reader x Steve Rogers, AA kinky)

It’s What I’m Here For (Alpha!Bucky Barnes x Omega!Female Reader, AAKinky Bingo)

Stranger No More (Bucky Barnes x Female Reader- Req)

Closed Door Meetings (Future-Congressman!Bucky Barnes x Media Relations!Female Reader)

Sharp Enough To Ruin You (Bucky Barnes x Female Reader, AKinky Bingo)

Kuritsa(Winter Soldier!Bucky Barnes x Enhanced!Female Reader)

Freed (Wakanda!Bucky Barnes x Female Reader- Req)

Yours To Keep (Avenger!Bucky Barnes x SHIELD Analyst!Female Reader- Req) 

Trapped Together(Bucky Barnes x Female Reader, BBarnes 108th Bday Bingo)

Not So Surprising After All (Bucky Barnes x Female Reader, BBarnes 108th Bday Bingo)

This Is The Last Time / Part 2(Bucky Barnes x Female Reader- Req) 

No Competition(Avenger!Bucky Barnes  x SHEILD agent/trainer! Female Reader- Req)

Under the Brookly Star(Young!Bucky Barnes x Female Reader, BBarnes 108th Bday Bingo)

You Said Just The Tip (Bucky Barnes x Female Reader, Just the Tip)

Mine. Always(Alpha!Bucky x Omega!Female Reader)

Sweet As Sin(Bucky Barnes x Female Reader)

Vet Visit (Bucky Barnes x Female Reader)

When All Is Said and Done (PostEndgame!Bucky Barnes x Avenger!Female Reader)  

Midnight Stranger(Dark!Buck x Female reader, December Daze Challenge)

Under His Skin(Agent!Bucky Barnes x Agent!Female Reader, December Daze Challenge)

Merry Christmas, I Miss You(Bucky Barnes X Female Reader)

Mess is Best(Dad!Bucky Barnes x Kids x Female Reader, December Daze Challenge)

Ask Santa Nicely(Dark!Dom Bucky x Female Reader, December Daze Challenge)

White Wine In The Sun(Bucky Barnes x Female Reader, December Daze Challenge)

Stay Still(Bucky Barnes x Female Reader, December Daze Challenge)

Through the Cold(Avenger Bucky Barnes x Agent!Female Reader, December Daze Challenge)

Series: Dangerous Note AU – Updated Every other Thursday (Mob!Bucky Barnes X Club singer!Female Reader) Part One / Part Two / Part Three / Part Four / Part Five / Part Six / Part Seven / Part Eight / Part Nine/ Part Ten / Part 11 / Part 12 /

Stolen Devotion  - In progress  (Stalker!Bucky X Female reader) Part One / Part Two / Part Three  (Coming May)

Favour – Completed (ClubOwner!Bucky Barnes X Female Reader, BBarnes 108th Bday Bingo) Part One / Part Two / Part Three

Drabbles:

Birthday Drabbles (Dad!Bucky x Female Reader – Established Relationship feature kids!)

Morning Drabbles (Bucky x Female Reader – Established Relationship) 

Loki:

One shots:

Earn It(Loki x Female Reader, AA Kinky Bingo)

Loki’s Eggcellent Equinox Endeavour(Silliness Follow up too Gift-Giving Guide)

Kneel For Me (Loki x Female Reader, AA Kinky Bingo)

Because You Said It(Loki x Female Reader)

Polite Punishment(Loki x Asgardian!Female Reader

Lessons in Restraint  (Loki x Female Reader, Just the Tip)

Hellcat (Loki x Barbarian!Female Reader)  

Melting (Loki x Asgardian!Female reader – Thor and Loki Bingo)

Icebreaker(Loki x Asgardian!Female Reader, December Daze Challenge)

The Golden Yule Hunt(Loki x Asgardian!Female Reader Winter Warmers)

Yulefire and Shadows(Loki x Asgardian!Female Reader, Winter Warmers)

Quite Escape(Loki x Female Reader, December Daze Challenge, 1st Fic)

Loki’s Gift-Giving Guide to Mortal Relations  (Funny..ish)

Series: Wandering Soul - In progress  (Loki x Asgardian!Female Reader) Part 1 / Part 2/ Part 3 / Part 4 (Coming May)

Plus One Series - Complete(Loki x SHEILD Agent!Female Reader) -Plus One  (December Daze Challenge) -Plus One: Aftermath -Plus One: Consequence  

Thor:

One Shots:

Until I’m Full, You Stay(Thor x Asgardian!Female Reader, AAKinky Bingo)

Just a Little More (Thor x Virgin!Female Reader, Just the Tip)

Sweet Treat (Thor x Female Reader, Avengers Assembled Bingo -Valintine Challenge)

Thunderstruck(Dark!Thor x  Female reader, December Daze Challenge)

Steve Rogers:

One Shots:

We Couldn’t Stop(Bucky Barnes x Female Reader x Steve Rogers, AA kinky)

Not Ready Yet (Steve Rogers x Female Reader, AAKinky Bingo)

Not Until You Ask Right (Steve Rogers x Female Reader, AAKinky Bingo)

Tease Me, Take Me (Steve Rogers x Female Reader, Just the Tip)

Midsummer (Steve Rogers x Female Reader)

Series: ApplePie - In progress    (Dark!Steve Rogers x Female Reader)   Part 1 / Part 2 / Part 3  (Coming May) 

MCU Others:

Open Up Baby (Tony Stark x Female Reader, AAKinky Bingo)

Synthetic Obedience(Dark!Tony Stark x Lab assistant! Female Reader - Avengers Assembled Bingo)   

The Reluctant Therapist (Bruce Banner- Avengers Assembled Bingo)

Others:

Just Fixing Things (Retired Cop!Walter Marshall x Female Reader)

[hummingbird24220]

May I request aged down! strawhats with overwhelmed reader. The strawhats were hit with a devil fruit leading them to be 7-10 ish (keeping the same age gaps they already have so franky, robin and brook are still older) Reader finds them all adorable but there’s a lot of children now running around. Just fun shenanigans all around

Love this!!! Theyre all so cute as kids :')

Hope you enjoy!

Daycare Dawn

One Piece x Reader — Aged Down!Straw Hats

You blinked slowly.

Then again.

Then again, just in case the sun was playing tricks on your eyes.

“...Okay. Deep breaths,” you murmured, crouching down in front of the small crowd of miniature pirates now staring up at you with the exact same expressions as the fully grown Straw Hats you knew and loved. Just...shorter. Rounder. With missing baby teeth and too-large clothes.

In front of you stood your crew. The strongest, weirdest, loudest found family you’d ever had.

Only now?

They were all children.

“(Y/N),” tiny Robin said calmly, her oversized cowboy hat slipping to one side of her head. “You appear to be panicking.”

“I’m not panicking,” you lied, kneeling down and pressing your hands to your cheeks as your eyes swept across them again.

There was 7-year-old Chopper sniffling, wrapped in a t-shirt that now draped over him like a cape. He looked like a plush toy you could find in a gift shop.

There was 9-year-old Usopp who already had stick-on stars and bandaids plastered all over his cheeks, doing ninja moves behind you because he thought you weren’t watching.

Zoro and Sanji—11, both of them—were glaring at each other with identical disgust, the former already trying to sneak a training weight under his shirt and the latter attempting to pull a cigarette out of his pocket only to find a lollipop instead.

“Oh no,” you muttered, looking to Luffy next.

The 9-year-old boy was in the middle of climbing the mast like it was a jungle gym. “(Y/N)! (Y/N)! Look what I can do!” he called, hanging upside down from the crow’s nest, grinning like a maniac. “I’m gonna jump!”

“You’re gonna what—” You sprinted to catch him, only for his rubber body to bounce harmlessly off the deck like a living beach ball. He cackled as he rolled in a circle.

Nami, age 10 and furious about it, stomped over to you with her arms crossed. “Do you know how long it took me to grow out of this hair phase?! I look like a dandelion!”

You opened your mouth to respond but froze as a clunk clunk echoed from the stairs.

Franky had arrived.

Sixteen-year-old Franky—barely out of braces and with an unfortunate blue fauxhawk haircut you would later learn was a "daring phase"—grinned at you from ear to ear.

“YO! This is SUPER!!” he shouted, attempting to flex his scrawny arms. “Check out these noodle guns!”

Your soul quietly left your body.

Robin, the most composed of the group at ten years old, patted your shoulder gently. “You appear to be experiencing emotional collapse. That’s understandable.”

“Thanks, sweetheart,” you replied, weakly.

And then—skeletal violin screech.

Brook poked his head out from the kitchen doorway, still a skeleton (as ever), but somehow… younger? If a skeleton could be “youthful,” Brook was pulling it off. He even seemed to be standing a little straighter.

“I’d offer to babysit,” he said, bowing dramatically, “but as you can see, I’m bone-tired! Yohohohoho!”

You tossed a dishcloth at him. “You’re not helping!”

“Oh, I’m not helping,” he said with a wink you could feel in your bones.

You dragged both hands down your face.

So, to recap: Some weird Devil Fruit user hit your crew with an ability that aged them down. Not mentally—not entirely. They still acted like themselves. But there was definitely a whole lot more chaos, tantrums, and bursts of uncontainable child energy going on than usual.

And you were the only one unaffected.

Which meant—

“(Y/N)!” Chopper cried, tugging your pants leg. “I accidentally turned into my heavy point and crushed Sanji!”

“I’m fine,” came a muffled voice from under the couch. “But I think my nose is broken. Again.”

You sighed. “Okay. Right. New rule: No transforming without warning me first.”

“(Y/N)!” Usopp yelled from the upper deck. “Can I ride the cannon?”

“No.”

“Too late!”

A BOOM shook the ship as a puff of smoke exploded from one of the Sunny’s cannons—followed by giggling.

Robin sat on a crate, already reading a book. “I took the gunpowder out,” she explained. “Figured that might be necessary.”

You dropped to your knees and clutched your head. “This is fine. Everything’s fine. I’ve definitely babysat this many children before. This is just like that time I watched Chopper, Nami, and Usopp for ten minutes and no one lost a limb. Same vibe.”

“Technically,” Robin mused, “Usopp did sprain his ankle.”

“Robin.”

“Just saying.”

Franky ran by in platform shoes he made out of tin cans.

Sanji was making tiny, child-sized bentos.

Zoro was napping on top of the fridge.

Brook was serenading himself in a mirror.

Luffy was trying to fit an entire watermelon in his mouth.

And you… you were going to need a nap. And snacks. Lots of snacks.

But despite the chaos, the wild energy, and the feeling of being totally overwhelmed by this whirlwind of tiny terrors—

You couldn’t stop smiling.

Because damn it… they were adorable.

--

You stood in the kitchen, sleeves rolled up, hair tied back, and a growing mountain of sandwich triangles before you.

It had taken you ten minutes to realize that child-sized Straw Hats had the same appetites as their adult counterparts—which was to say, limitless.

“Okay,” you muttered, lining up the last few plates on the counter like you were preparing for war. “Peanut butter and jelly. Tuna. Egg salad. Ham and cheese. And… a few veggie ones. For balance. I am a god.”

You turned just in time to see Luffy’s wide eyes peering over the counter like a cartoon character, hands gripping the edge.

“Are those… sandwiches?” he asked, voice trembling like he’d just seen the One Piece itself.

“They’re not even fancy ones,” you said, lifting a plate.

“I don’t care.” Luffy looked on the verge of tears. “They’re beautiful.”

And just like that, the feeding frenzy began.

Within seconds, your kitchen was overrun.

Zoro was casually grabbing ham-and-cheese sandwiches two at a time, his mouth too full to speak but still managing to grunt his approval like a tiny caveman.

Sanji, despite his age regression, had a pinky up while eating a cucumber sandwich, face flushed as he muttered, “You cut the crusts off… (Y/N), you care so much it hurts—”

Nami had claimed an entire plate of egg salad sandwiches and was sitting cross-legged on the counter like a tiny queen. “You’re getting a tip after this. I'm budgeting it in.”

Robin, who you swore had never smiled wider than this, calmly took a bite of a veggie sandwich. “You have excellent knife skills,” she praised. “These are perfectly symmetrical. I feel respected.”

Chopper made a noise somewhere between a squeal and a gasp, eyes sparkling. “There’s peanut butter in my mouth and in my heart,” he whispered reverently.

You were dangerously close to melting into a puddle of goo.

Usopp had stuffed his cheeks so full he looked like a chipmunk, dramatically flopping to the floor. “I’ve been reborn,” he declared. “This is my new origin story.”

Brook, despite being a skeleton and physically unable to eat, took a plate and sat politely at the table anyway. “I can’t eat it,” he said, holding the sandwich tenderly. “But it’s the thought that nourishes my soul. Yohohoho!”

Franky took one bite, froze, then immediately built a cardboard shrine in your honor out of old cola boxes. “This is the most SUPER sandwich I’ve ever had!” he shouted, fist raised. “I will protect this kitchen with my life!”

“I only used white bread and sliced meat—” you started.

“DIVINE BREAD,” Luffy insisted, eyes wide with awe.

“You toasted the edges?” Sanji whispered. “(Y/N). Marry me.”

“I’m too old for you right now,” you shot back, flicking his forehead.

“I’ll wait.” He clutched his sandwich like a declaration of love.

Zoro looked up, crumbs clinging to his cheek. “What’s a ‘marry’?”

You opened your mouth to explain, but Luffy had already shoved another sandwich in his mouth and mumbled, “It’s when you get extra snacks forever.”

“Oh. I wanna marry a sandwich.”

“You are a sandwich,” Usopp muttered, still collapsed on the floor.

You stood in the middle of the chaos, watching them eat and laugh and yell over one another, with little jelly fingerprints smudging the counter and sticky mouths smiling up at you like you were some kind of hero.

And, yeah.

Okay.

Maybe this was a nightmare for some people.

But watching these tiny versions of your crew—your family—tear into simple sandwiches like they were sacred relics?

Yeah. You could handle this.

Even if you were now officially the Mom, Dad, Cook, Babysitter, Emotional Counselor, and Occasional Jungle Gym of the Straw Hat Pirates.

You didn’t mind.

You were smitten.

--

“GUYS,” you yelled from the deck, holding a dish towel and looking absolutely unhinged, “I NEED FIVE MINUTES. JUST FIVE. MINUTES.”

So far, your afternoon had included:

28 sandwiches distributed.

14 sandwiches dropped.

2 sandwiches stuffed into your pockets “for later,” according to Usopp.

And 1 tiny Brook playing the violin dramatically in the background the whole time like your life was a telenovela.

You were beginning to think the Devil Fruit that did this to them hadn’t just reversed their age—it had amplified their chaos.

“(Y/N)!” Luffy’s voice rang out like a gunshot. “WATCH THIS—!”

You turned.

Too late.

He had launched himself off the side of the Sunny using one of the cannons as a springboard, aiming for… something? A fish? A cloud? The concept of fun?

Either way, he was headed straight for the sea.

“LUFFY—!”

Your heart dropped.

You sprinted to the edge of the ship and dove after him without thinking. The ocean rushed up to meet you, your arms cutting through the water as you spotted a flash of red and rubber beneath the surface.

One firm grip on the back of his vest later, and you hauled a very soggy, still-laughing Luffy back onto the deck.

He spat out a mouthful of seawater and beamed at you.

“That was AWESOME—!”

You flicked his forehead so fast, even he blinked.

“No. More. Launching. Yourself. Into. The. Ocean.”

He rubbed his head, then gave you a sheepish, child-sized grin.

“Okay,” he mumbled, then immediately whispered to Usopp, “...Next time, aim better.”

You gave him the look.

Inside, another disaster was brewing.

“NAMI,” you barked, storming into the common room just in time to see her holding out a tiny ledger.

“What is this?” you asked, even though you already knew the answer.

Nami smiled sweetly. Too sweetly. Suspiciously sweetly.

“A perfectly reasonable breathing fee,” she said. “Usopp’s been taking extra breaths today.”

Usopp, clutching a handful of shiny buttons he’d already offered as payment, nodded. “It’s fair. I was really huffin’ earlier.”

You pinched the bridge of your nose.

“No one is being charged for breathing,” you said firmly. “You can charge him when he starts asking for air delivery.”

“But—”

“Nope.”

Usopp looked a little disappointed. “So I get to keep my buttons?”

“Yes.”

He threw them in the air and started dancing under them like it was a parade.

You turned the corner.

Only to spot Chopper sitting cross-legged on the couch surrounded by medical supplies. He had at least four syringes sticking out of his little hooves and was carefully inspecting a scalpel.

“CHOPPER.”

He froze.

“…Hi?” he squeaked.

You crouched down beside him. “Hey, buddy. Whatcha doin’?”

“I was just… doing pretend surgery. On this banana.” He held up a very unfortunate banana with a bandaid over its middle.

“Aw, that’s cute,” you said gently. “But maybe let’s not use actual needles right now, yeah?”

He nodded rapidly. “Right! Right. Sorry. I forgot I’m seven.”

You took the scalpel away and replaced it with a plushie shaped like a liver. “Operate on this instead.”

His eyes lit up. “I love you.”

“I love you too, you tiny menace.”

A loud CRASH interrupted your moment of peace.

You whipped around just in time to see Zoro and Sanji rolling across the deck in a tangle of flailing limbs and shouted insults.

“You’re cooking smells like feet!”

“Your sword stance looks like you learned it from a goldfish!”

You stepped in between them, arms outstretched, a flip-flop in one hand for intimidation.

“BOYS. NO FIGHTING ON THE SHIP.”

Zoro froze mid-punch. “He called my eyebrows weird again.”

“They are!”

“That’s racist!”

You held up the flip-flop higher.

They both instantly sat cross-legged and folded their arms like little monks.

“Thank you,” you said, deeply exhausted.

Behind you, Luffy had started drawing faces on the deck with mustard.

Usopp had convinced Chopper to wear a sock on his head as a “doctor crown.”

Franky was trying to upgrade Brook’s violin to shoot fireworks.

And Robin had quietly installed a “help” sign in the kitchen window.

You put your hands on your hips, looked up at the sky, and exhaled deeply.

“Okay,” you whispered to yourself. “Just… eleven more hours ‘til bedtime.”

--

Bedtime had started as a hope.

Then it became a goal.

And by the end?

It was a full-blown campaign that would go down in the history books as the “Battle of the Bunkroom.”

But somehow—somehow—you made it through.

You’d started with the easy ones.

Robin, ever graceful even at ten, had calmly brushed her teeth, climbed into her blanket nest, and said, “Goodnight, (Y/N). You’re doing a wonderful job.”

You almost cried on the spot.

Franky, now a lanky teen with too-long limbs, high-fived you, announced he was “recharging his SUPER batteries,” and collapsed onto a futon with mechanical snoring sounds. You covered him with a blanket. He muttered “gear maintenance…” in his sleep.

Nami grumbled, “Only because I have important dreams,” and curled up on her own pile of pillows with her ledger tucked under one arm like a stuffed animal. She was out in minutes.

Chopper and Usopp? Already asleep. Cuddled up in a sleepy little pile on the couch like a deer and a raccoon, legs tangled, Usopp drooling slightly onto Chopper’s ear. You didn’t dare move them.

Brook was sitting upright in a chair with a cup of tea and a lullaby on his violin. “I do not sleep,” he said politely, “but I shall vibe respectfully.”

“…Thanks?”

“My pleasure. Yohohoho~”

The final boss of bedtime?

Monkey D. Luffy.

He’d declared he didn’t need sleep, wouldn’t sleep, had never heard of sleep—and then passed out mid-sentence while arguing with a broom. You caught him before his head hit the floor, bundled him up like a burrito, and gently tucked him into bed.

“Goodnight, captain,” you whispered.

He let out one sleepy “meat…” and began snoring.

You were so close.

Only two remained.

Zoro and Sanji were seated at the table across from each other, eyes narrowed in concentration, arms crossed, faces set in serious little scowls.

“Whatcha doing?” you asked.

“Staying up longer than him,” Sanji muttered.

“Tch. As if you could,” Zoro scoffed.

You blinked. “This is… a competition now?”

They nodded. In perfect sync.

You sighed and collapsed into the chair between them, resting your head on the table. “You know I could just say ‘lights out’ and win, right?”

“We’re already past lights out,” Sanji said smugly.

Zoro grunted. “She’s got wine waiting. Bet she wants us to go to sleep.”

You gave them both a deadpan look. “That’s disturbingly accurate.”

They stayed quiet for a moment, and you just… sat there with them. The ship had fallen quiet, a soft ocean breeze drifting through the windows, the distant creak of the Sunny rocking gently on the waves.

“…You’re a good babysitter,” Sanji said suddenly, not looking at you.

You blinked.

“I mean,” he added quickly, face going pink, “for someone who doesn’t normally babysit, and, y’know, isn’t qualified.”

Zoro grunted. “She didn’t even kill anyone. That’s impressive.”

You huffed a laugh. “Thanks, guys. I think.”

They both leaned on the table, heads wobbling.

“I’m gonna stay up forever,” Sanji mumbled.

“Same,” Zoro said, eyes already closed.

“…You’re asleep.”

“No I’m not,” Zoro muttered, face-first on the table.

Right into a forgotten jam sandwich.

“…You have got to be kidding me.”

Sanji snored softly beside him, forehead resting on your arm.

You sighed—again—and stood up, gently lifting Zoro over one shoulder (carefully avoiding the jam) and tucking him into the closest futon. His cheek was sticky, and you wiped it clean with a warm cloth.

His face twitched slightly. “…Mm. Thanks…”

You smiled.

Then you picked up Sanji, who mumbled something about soufflé in his sleep, and placed him beside Zoro, both of them looking more peaceful than you’d seen them all day.

And finally, finally, it was over.

You stepped back into the now-silent kitchen, grabbed a wine bottle from the fridge, poured yourself a very big glass, and sank into the couch.

One sip. Two. Deep breath.

You looked around at the peaceful chaos.

Blankets everywhere. Tiny socks. Luffy's hat abandoned on the floor. Chopper's plushie liver left on the table like a casualty.

“Yeah,” you whispered to yourself, taking another sip.

“…I definitely need therapy after this.”

But damn if you didn’t love them more than anything.

--

You woke up early.

Groggy. Fuzzy-brained. Slightly hungover, but only in spirit.

Your back ached from carrying two pint-sized swordsmen and a certain rubber boy who slept like a boulder, and there was a peanut butter smear in your hair you didn’t want to talk about.

Still, you dragged yourself out of bed and into the galley.

It was a disaster zone.

Crusts. Crumbs. Stickers on the walls (thanks, Usopp). Someone had drawn a mustache on the fridge with ketchup. You didn’t know how Luffy had managed to get a spoon in the ceiling, but it was there.

You got to work quietly. No complaints. No grumbling.

Just you, the sunrise, and the soft hum of a broom scraping jelly off the floor.

And then—

“...(Y/N)?”

You turned, almost afraid.

There, standing in the doorway, was Sanji. Grown-up Sanji. In all his tall, flirty, freshly-shaven, cigarette-holding glory.

You dropped the sponge in your hand like it was molten lava.

“You’re big again.”

He blinked. Then looked down at himself. “...Oh. Oh.”

From the hallway, more voices joined in.

“Is this a dream?”

“My arms aren’t stubby anymore!”

“My facial hair! It’s returned!”

One by one, the rest of the Straw Hats filed in, stretching, yawning, rubbing the backs of their necks and blinking at the suddenly too-small furniture.

Luffy bounced in, now fully adult, his hat flopping over one eye.

“WHOA! I’m tall again!” he grinned, poking his own face. “I missed my stubble!”

“You didn’t have stubble, idiot,” Zoro muttered, already raiding the fridge. He paused, hand hovering over the jam jar. “...Why is there a bite mark in the jar?”

“Don’t ask,” you croaked, still in shock. “You were eleven. You had a jam sandwich battle with your face. It’s fine.”

Chopper ran in on two legs. “(Y/N)!” he wailed. “Did I do surgery on a banana???”

You gave him a thumbs up. “It survived.”

Robin was serene as ever, smiling gently. “It appears the effect wore off overnight.”

Franky cracked his knuckles. “I remember everything. I had teen angst, didn’t I?”

“You tried to start a band called ‘Supernova Sadboys,’” you confirmed.

He fist-pumped. “...Nice.”

Usopp staggered in, looking like he hadn’t slept in a year. “I had dreams, man. So many dreams. You were in them. You were yelling.”

“Probably real,” you muttered, picking jelly out of your hair.

Luffy plopped into a chair and grinned. “(Y/N), you looked after all of us the whole time, huh?”

You nodded slowly.

“And didn’t die,” Sanji added.

“Almost,” you said, deadpan. “Almost.”

Zoro snorted and passed you a clean mug of coffee. “You earned this.”

Robin took a seat beside you and tilted her head. “We do owe you.”

Brook handed you a single flower from his violin case. “You are our skeletal savior. Or, perhaps, our mama mia. Yohohoho!”

The room erupted in laughter.

“No, seriously,” Nami added with a smirk, brushing her hair out of her eyes. “You were like a whole mom yesterday. Cooking, chasing, yelling, wiping noses—”

“I didn’t wipe any noses!” you argued.

Chopper raised a hoof. “You wiped my nose.”

“Oh my god—”

Luffy leaned back and beamed. “Well, Mom, you did a great job!”

“Stop calling me Mom—!”

Zoro took a long sip of his coffee. “Too late. It’s canon now.”

Usopp leaned dramatically against the counter. “Captain Mom.”

“Mom of the Pirates.”

“(Y/N) the All-Mother.”

You groaned, dropping your head onto the table. “I survived literal child pirates just for this?”

But the truth was… you were smiling.

Because chaos or not, mess or not, wine and jelly and all, they were back. And safe.

And still absolutely the best disaster family in the world.

You took a long sip of your coffee, sighed, and muttered with a grin:

“Never. Again.”

Luffy raised his mug. “Until next time!”

[pearlescentparade]

Hi I’m wondering if you can do 007n7 x reader x 1x1x1x1 Fluff, Maybe even headcannons of all of them taking care of coolkid.. 😼😼

"ah yes. me. my partner. and the personified derivation of shedletsky's hatred" -007n7

🍔007n7 x reader x 1x1x1x1❎ fluff headcannons 💝💞 ft. 🍭 c00lkidd

007n7 and 1x1x1x1 do not get along. the former may try to be friendly and act the bigger person, if only for your sake, but the latter likes to be difficult and exasperating for 007n7 to deal with. the only thing that they can mutually agree on is you

007n7 is gentle and sweet with you, he's essentially your husband and he likes to think of you as c00lkidd's other parent since he raised him alone. he's very openly affectionate! with them, you have a dynamic similar to a nuclear family

1x1x1x1 is teasing and sardonic, but they listen (though begrudgingly) to you when you scold them for it. while his tone is harsh, his actions and attitude to you in comparison to others reveal he likes you more than he lets on. hatred, like love, is a feeling of passion after all. though 1x1x1x1 won't ever say they feel 'love', you can be certain they don't completely despise you, and that's saying something.

007n7 calls you honey, my love, dear, and a bunch of other sappy nicknames typical of a couple. it's not corny, it's cute!

1x1x1x1 either calls you by your name, little one, or "theirs" if 007n7 isn't around. sometimes he'll refer to you by a god-awful terrible pet name to be an ass

you all frequent the park and bring c00lkidd along. he terrorizes the other children and out of you three, you're the only one who tells him to stop because 007n7 is an absolute enabler parent who makes excuses for him and 1x1x1x1 is a d1 instigator. this is another one of the few things they agree on

"he just wants to have fun with the other kids, honey! sure he's a liiittlle too excited, but there's nothing wrong with that!"

"l3t th3m run f0r th31r l1v3s."

"HE'S MAKING THE OTHER CHILDREN CRY."

because of your partners, c00lkidd is very used to having his violent ways. but you know he's a good kid with good intentions, so you need to play the role of the responsible parent and tell him he's doing something wrong. and that fellow children do not, in fact, like to be hit. or choked. or pushed during tag. you're very likely the only reason that he acts semi-normal

007n7 always cooks, with occasional help from you and c00lkidd! 1x1x1x1 is banned from the kitchen ever since he tried to cut vegetables with the daemonshank. don't blame him, shedletsky never taught him how to cook. blame john!

c00lkidd likes to boast to his classmates that he has 3 parents and they could all totally beat up everyone else's parents

he's gotten into a few disputes with the other kids because of this, and once you all had been called to his school to discuss his behavior. though, the moment the faculty saw 1x1x1x1, they immediately dropped it and assured that c00lkidd behaves well. you weren't convinced, and lectured him anyway when you got home

c00lkidd's favorite game to play with his parents is hide and seek. he counts to 10, immediately finds 1x1x1x1 who isn't even attempting to hide, then they tell c00lkidd where you and 007n7 are hiding. he always wins!

1x1x1x1 is definitely c00lkidd's 'fun' parent, they share the most interests and behaviors. thus, he's usually in charge of babysitting him

007n7 loves quality time and physical touch because he think it's the best way to bond. 1x1x1x1 likes gift giving because the gifts speak for his affection when he can't. though his gifts are usually more cryptic rather than sweet and cute trinkets... hope you like twitching and terrified mice

1x1x1x1 is your scary dog privilege. you like to go on late night walks with him because he acts like a repellent for creeps.. and people in general

they're a surprisingly good listener, and especially like it when you have something to complain about. he revels in your hatred and likes to join in the hating

their life's mission revolves entirely around the destruction of their creator. even so, you always assure them that they are more than his shadow. he thinks it's naïve and cute that you think you can derail him from his purpose using puny words, they act like they're listening so that you continue comforting wasting your time

secretly, he does enjoy it when he can hog all of your undivided attention. as if it's only you two and nobody else. they're greedy like that

you have movie nights together, and you sit in the middle of the couch between the two. 007n7 likes action, romcoms, sci-fi, and comedy. 1x1x1x1 finds thriller/slasher and drama appealing. c00lkidd likes action and comedy, similar to his dad. it's always up to you to choose, because the other three alone wouldn't be able to come to an agreement

sometimes 1x1x1x1 sends c00lkidd to beg you for something like getting takeout for dinner or a puppy because 1. they probably want it but you're more willing to listen to c00lkidd and 2. they like to be a headache

whenever you kiss 007n7, c00lkidd loudly screams "EWWW!" and covers his eyes. 1x1x1x1 does the same, then cackles at your unamusement

whenever you kiss 1x1x1x1, 007n7 jumps to cover c00lkidd's eyes because 1x1x1x1 turns an innocent peck into a full-blown makeout sesh

parade postscript: i' never realized how starved 007n7 fans are until i posted the drunk 007n7 fic to ao3 and a commentor got very excited ARE YALL GOOD?

[holylulusworld]

Christmas Guard

Summary: Dean won’t let you down.

Pairing: Alpha!Dean Winchester x Omega!Reader

Warnings: fluff, Christmas fluff, sneaky kids

He's on guard. Dean cannot allow anyone to enter the room. It would mean the end of…simply everything, at least to him.

“No one shall pass,” he says, imitating Gandalf the Grey. He chuckles at the reference to one of Sam’s beloved movies. “Wait for it, you little shits.”

He lays out a mat and two blankets on top of it. “This year, you will not defeat the master. Not again. I’ll protect them at all costs.”

“Dean?” You sleepily rub your eyes as you walk toward the library. “What are you doing? It’s three am; come back to bed.”

“No!” He shakes his head. “They will try to get inside again! I cannot allow them to do it again. Not on my watch!”

You smile at Dean. He’s so eager to defend the library, that he forgets about sleep and even food. “I know you’re on guard duty, so I brought you something.”

Sitting next to him on the mat and blankets, you hand him a paper bag filled with goodies.

“Beer, beef jerky, and pie,” he hums while inspecting the emergency ration for tough alphas and former hunters. “Uh—and you got me a candy cane too!”

“All for my strong alpha defending the Christmas tree and gifts,” you kneel on the mat to kiss his cheek. “Do you want me to stay, Dean?”

“No, you'll get some sleep. You were on a hunt for the perfect gifts for weeks and wrapped all the packages. The least I can do is keep our little critters away from the gifts till Christmas morning!”

“Do not forget to eat the cookies and drink the milk,” you say and kiss his scruffy cheek again. “My hero. Past. Present. Future.”

“Alright, ma’am,” he chuckles. “I’m on guard duty now. Please do not distract me with your beauty and perfect scent.”

“If you change your mind, let me know,” you coo before ruffling his hair. “There’s a spot in my bed for you, sexy alpha.”

He purrs low in his throat but reminds himself he cannot let the little shits win. Last time, Dean Jr. distracted him to give Bobby Jr., Charlene, and his youngest Louise the chance to sneak into the library and rob most of the gifts. This won’t happen again.

Dean grabs the beef jerky, ripping it open with his teeth. “Wait for it, little critters. I’ll not let you get away with stealing the gifts again. This time, Daddy is prepared.”

“Not so fast, Dean Jr.!” Dean is fast to stop his eldest from sneaking toward the Christmas tree. “Go back to bed or Santa will be mad!”

“But Daddy,” Dean Jr. pouts. He tries once again to distract his father, but Dean knows better. “My stomach hurts.”

“Not. A. Chance.” Dean shakes his head. “Go. Back. To. Bed.”

“Fine.” Dean Jr. turns on his heels and hurriedly walks away.

Dean chuckles because his eldest looks so much like him when he walks away, his hands stuffed into his pockets.

“DADDY!” Half an hour later, it’s Charlene’s turn to distract her father. She fakes a sob and clumsily walks toward Dean. “Daddy, my tummy hurts.”

Dean nods thoughtfully. He opens his arms for a hug.

“Come here, baby girl,” he murmurs as she runs toward her father to jump at him. “You’re a good accomplice, Charlie, but Daddy knows your tummy doesn’t hurt. Tell your brother he failed. Again.”

“Damn it!” She curses before pecking Dean’s cheek. “You’re good…too good…”

Charlie giggles before running off to report back to the leader of their little conspiracy.

One hour later, the next try takes place. Bobby Jr. silently sneaks toward the Christmas tree, almost getting away with it as Dean is busy eating his pie.

“Where do you think you’re going?” He laughs and picks the four-year-old up. He plays airplane with his son before carrying him toward the gang waiting for their member. “Not good enough, Dean Jr.” Dean grins as his eldest and Charlene giggle.

“You haven’t faced our secret weapon yet!” Dean Jr. exclaims before taking Bobby out of his father’s arms. “You’ll fail, father.”

The gang rushes off, chatting loudly, as Dean decides to move his improvised bed closer to the tree and the gifts. He won’t let his sneaky son win this time.

“DADDA!” Two hours later, Dean Jr. uses his best weapon. His baby sister, Louise. She whines and makes a fuss while crawling toward her father. She almost reaches the tree and the gifts, but Dean is fast to pick her up.

“Nice try!” He laughs, slowly rocking his daughter in his arms. “Respect, ladies and gentlemen. Admit your defeat and try again next year.”

Dean can hear his sons and daughter mutter. They were so close to distracting their father. “Next year, we will win!” Dean Jr. says before guiding his siblings away from the library.

“That’s the spirit, son,” Dean proudly says. “You make a great leader.”

When you walk into the library, the gifts are still under the tree, along with your alpha and your baby girl.

She lies on top of her father’s chest, sleeping soundly, while he has his arms wrapped around her. Dean made a nest out of the blankets to keep her from getting hurt if she fell off his chest.

“So, your mission was a success?” You giggle when your alpha blinks his eyes open. “A job well done. Can I call the kids in now?”

“Give me a minute,” he yawns. “I think Louise needs a fresh diaper and her favorite drink.” Dean grins as his eyes land on your breasts.

“We will fix our little princess’s diaper and feed her first,” you coo while picking your daughter up. “Give me half an hour.”

“Santa was here,” Dean calls for your kids, telling them they can finally take a look at the tree and the gifts. “Let’s have a loo—” He yelps as his kids storm toward the tree, almost running him over. They squeal and laugh while looking at all the gifts.

“Dadda,” Louise holds out her chubby hands for her dad. “DADDA!”

“Aw, at least my princess wants to cuddle with Daddy instead of wrapped gifts,” he sighs and takes Louise out of your hands. He rocks her in his arms, looking at the tree.

“DADDY!” Your kids yell before hugging their father. “We love you and Mommy. Let’s look at the gifts Santa got for you and Mommy first…”

Tags in reblog.

[shanastoryteller]

Happy birthday!!!! More FMA!

He’s fucking tired.

In Xerxes, he’s Van Edris. In Xerxes, he’s the son of a former slave, having narrowly escaped being born into his father’s fate by virtue of him being awarded freedom by the time of his birth. In Xerxes, he’s an uncommon commodity, an alchemist with a skill that hasn’t been seen since his father fucked off to who knows where.

In Amestris, he’s Edward Elric. In Amestris, he’s the son of Trisha Elric who was born free and died free because while there are lots of different forms of freedom, in Amestris there’s one that everyone shares. In Amestris, he’s unknown and unremarkable and no one gives a fuck about what he does.

“You’ve got to be kidding me,” he says flatly.

This is what he gets for visiting his father’s country. It’s just fucking unfortunate that the really good alchemical texts are here.

He should have let Al (Van Altun, as they know him, even though the two of them having been using their Amestrian names almost their whole lives, regardless of what country they were in) do it. They’re not nearly as weird about him.

Pakor is alright, as far as kings go. He’s freed a lot of people, is poking at the laws of ownership that has governed his country for centuries to see if he can do anything about them without getting beheaded for it. He’s also known Ed since he was a barely able to walk, back when his father still made court appearances and brought the family along with him. Former slave against most talented alchemist in the country, and people tended to politely ignore the former. Hell, Ed’s been counting on the same thing since he was twelve.

Of course, now it’s coming back to bite him. People say he’s a genius, but if he was really smart he would have stayed far, far away from court. Like in Amestris, perhaps.

“You’re fluent in both languages,” Pakor says, coaxing.

“So are you,” he says accusingly. “We’re speaking Amestrian right now!”

Pakor sighs and switches to Xerxian. “You also speak Xingese and Drachman. You’re a difficult man to keep secrets from.”

“I’m also Amestrian!” he shouts. “And free, might I add! You can’t sell me off to slavery just to get some intel!”

“It’s not like we’ll brand you,” he says, affronted, and Ed is reminded that alright for a king is still pretty shitty. “We just need someone to do a little – double checking. To ensure the situation in Amestris is as it’s advertised.”

“You want to gift me to the Fuhrer to spy on him and you’re, what, just hoping he doesn’t notice that I understand everything and know everything and am, oh yeah, one of his citizens? I’ve been to Central before! With my luck, I’ll get recognized the first day here and then run out of Amestris! And, again, Amestris doesn’t have slaves! The leader of the country really can’t have one.”

Pakor sighs. “You’re very dramatic, Edris. It won’t be so bad. Here, I’ll say you’re my personal slave and that you’re on loan. It’ll be for cultural exchange purposes. He speaks Xingese, so you can communicate in that language without letting on you know Amestrian.”

Ed pinches the bridge of his nose. “This is a stupid fucking idea.”

“If you do this,” Pakor says, “I’ll give you the key to the royal library.”

Ed slowly lowers his hand, eyes narrowing. “I’ve been asking you to let me in there for years.”

“I figured I’d need to bargain it away eventually,” he says. “I was hoping you’d marry one of my daughters for it.” Having even light court obligations is bad enough, he’s in no way stupid enough to marry in. “You’re very difficult, you know. I’m your king. I shouldn’t have to bargain with you.”

“Tough shit,” Ed says, because Pakor may have known him for nearly twenty years, but that knowing goes both ways. Besides, he can’t piss him off because then he and Al will stop reparing all their shit bridges and infrastructure. “Fine. But if I lose my Amestrian citizenship over this, I’m going to be pissed.”

“Noted,” Pakor says brightly.

Uhg.

It doesn’t help that everything he’s heard about Fuhrer Mustang makes the man sound insufferable.

[solspina]

In Unlovable Hand

Mephiston ⋆˙⟡

wrote this in 20 minutes, not proofread and it’s 7am. need this man out of my head immediately, i have a dante fic marinating in my drafts please let me release it… mephiston is holding me hostage (kidding of course i love you husband)

Sanguinius’ former serf is called to take care of the Lord of Death’s horribly neglected wings for the who-knows-what-number time. The tension is higher this time than it was the last, and the two decide to hit it off into something absolutely miserable. oh

warnings: some sanguinius x reader mentions, toxic relationship dynamics, manipulation, blood, lil bit of biting

Mephiston lay completely still, wings uncomfortably outstretched, eyes baggy and half-lidded.

His chest felt painfully empty, it always did, but more so in the presence of the woman who preened at his psychic wings and dug stubborn feathers out of the creases he couldn't reach. A servant of Sanguinius, she used to be. He could feel her persecuting gaze burning at the back of his skull (at least he thought he could), and he could feel her fingers pulling at some of his oily black quills far too harshly. Still, he did not move, his face remained expressionless and stoic instead as he wondered whether or not she had a knife tucked securely somewhere in her clothing, and whether he would feel it's blade make a home between his shoulder blades at any given time.

His muscles involuntarily twitched at the pain in his wing as she pulled out a particular feather, and his face contorted into a wince.

“I apologize… just a blood feather… It wasn’t quite ready but you will not bleed.” She whispered from behind him, taking note of the way his back muscles had tensed after his small outburst of pain. “The quill was cracked.”

She seemed satisfied at the way he buried his face back into his pillow, still clearly in pain. She stroked at the area she pulled the massive feather from with one hand as she held it in the other, watching it disappear like floating ashes into thin air as it were severed from Mephiston’s psychic bond with his wings, no longer tethered down to reality.

She sat on her knees while she continued her work upon the lord of death’s wings as he fought sleep, sprawled out in front of her like a bird on a surgical table. At the very least, the silk sheets the two of them sat on top of were comfortable. She could feel them on the skin of her legs and did not blame him for his display of exhaustion, or his frustration from the inability to fall asleep.

“I don’t think i’ve ever seen wings as unkempt as yours.” She said. She teased him to keep him awake, hoping that he wouldn’t fall asleep and leave her to sneak out of the room so she didn’t wake him. “I say this even after i’ve seen some rather questionable mutants.”

“Mutants were human at one point too." He replied rather harshly. "They can be communal, the winged ones will have their parents teach them how to care for their wings.” His voice was cold, empty but somehow aggressive and sour alongside it. Whether his tone was toward her or toward Sanguinius for giving him - and him alone - such a gift without teaching him how to care for it, she did not know.

A heavy pause rung through the air, and she swore she could hear his hearts pounding slowly in his chest. “Why do you only ever sulk when i’m around, my lord?”

Truth be told, he had not been prepared for her to ask such a question, regardless of whether or not he had an answer. There were many that could be applied to what she was asking, many reasons for his brooding nature that she got to see much more often than his brothers. Perhaps it was because she knew the angel personally that he felt safe enough to sulk and express his exhaustion, or maybe it was the fact that he knew her opinion wouldn’t change no matter his mood, she would hate him for what he was regardless. He rejected his father’s gifts. He conquered them, and his own brothers hated him for it.

Astorath wanted him dead.

Dante almost approved.

Gabriel Seth spared not a single glance before he called him an abomination.

What was it she would do?

She knew what he was. The black angel, half of sanguinius’ soul, a vessel for the most horrible things about a man she loved ten thousand years ago. Even the care she provided him with, the preening of his wings and the frequent meetings with him, were simply an attempt at appeasing the angel’s soul. She gained time with a fragment of her long gone lover, and Mephiston got to pretend that someone cared for him beyond his use as a vessel and a monster.

As if feeling his thoughts, she removed her hands from his wings - modeled perfectly after his father’s - and placed her hands upon the cold skin of his back instead.

He let out a small groan as her knuckles buried themselves into his shoulders and ran down into the lower areas of his back. Her hands moved with greater precision than he thought possible up and down his spine, kneading their way through tense and aching muscles as his jaw fell slack from pure pleasure and his eyes failed to resist the need to roll back, or close, or something that wasn’t staring into oblivion.

“Relax, oh lord of death… am I hurting you?” She replied to his short series of quivering breaths and whimpers before he relaxed into her palms.

“No… just… feels good…” He managed to let out as years of aching pain were rubbed away by the hands of his father’s closest servant. She achieved with ease the effect upon him that the medicae strived for, but their hands always left his back sore and tight.

He hated this. He needed out. She was merely using him to get closer to something she missed and he saw that clearly.

“You’re just like the angel, when I did this to him for the first time.” She giggled, her voice full of warmth. His erratic breathing calmed at the sound of her amusement with his poorly repressed panic. “You’re finally seen, your flaws are on display, and it scares you. You want to run, to be perfect again, but you want just as badly to allow yourself to melt away… To not matter for even just a moment.” She leaned down toward where his head lay and flattened her hand between his shoulders, allowing her nails to scratch gently at his skin in comfort. “so melt, mephiston. I am here with you now.”

“Why are you doing this” He whispered, doing his best to keep his composure against the sensations she brought him. “Why are you pretending you’re not doing this for him.”

“Have I ever told you how beautiful I think you are?” Her voice was full of warmth, admiration, care, something he had heard from no one since the day Calistarius had died and the search parties had given up on searching for him. “And why do you lay here, pretending you don’t enjoy the company? I’m here because I lo-“

“Don’t you dare say that word to me.”

He turned to face her, propping up his tired body on his elbows and allowing deep brown eyes to stare accusingly into hers. He bared his fangs ever so slightly, attempting to intimidate her, but she simply smiled and removed her hand from his back, moving it instead to place her palm upon his cheek, ignoring his snarl and running her thumb along his ivory skin. Tears pricked at the corners of his eyes, but he held them in incredibly well.

If he truly wanted her silent, he could kill her effortlessly. It would take nothing more than a wave of his hand or a particularly accusing glance. He could boil her blood from the inside, rewrite her vital human functions with surgical precision using his mind alone. He could read her mind, find out exactly what she wanted from him, find out that she saw him as nothing more than a vessel for the angel, uncover her motives to use him.

“I will hurt you... do things angel never did... I am capable of things even he wasn't.” He whispered, his body eerily still save for his breathing. His hearts seemed to calm to a deadly pace, the hidden red within his eyes showing through as his face contorted into something far too empty for her comfort.

"I doubt-"

He grabbed the wrist that held his face and sunk his teeth into her palm. He fought the urge to smile through his own tears at the pained shock across her face. His fangs penetrated her skin like the nails that held a certain old terran messiah to his cross, leaving a wound deep enough that it would not ever heal, and perhaps would paralyze her hand if not treated in time.

The thirst had left him long ago, yet that didn’t stop him from basking in the warmth of the crimson that poured down his throat, some of it made its way down his chin and disappeared into the scarlet sheets beneath the two of them. He looked up at her and bit down harder before releasing his jaw, proud of himself for his reclaim of power over her after she had spent hours taunting him. If she did not hate him before, she had to now.

“Now tell me the truth, and i’ll heal that wound before it renders your hand useless.”

Her face remained blank through the tears pouring down her face as she sobbed and gasped in pain. Still, she placed her trembling, bleeding hand upon his cheek once more. “I love you.” she said as her vision began to fade to black through her pain. “Nothing you do… w-will… Meph…”

Her eyes closed, and her body fell limp against the mattress. He lay still again against the bed as he grabbed her hand and allowed his energy to flow through it, watching intently as her nerves, muscle, and then skin repaired themselves as if his teeth had never made their mark.

His wings manifested upon his back as he draped one over her, allowing its warmth to heat her body and radiate through her own aching limbs.

“Servant of Sanguinius…”

His whispers were near silent against her skin, his words more of a promise to himself than they were speech to her unconscious form.

“Servant of mine… Don’t make me regret this.”

[httpsdana]

you have no idea how happy I am that you're back! I got totally addicted to your stories and the way you write, i seriously love them. I literally fell in love with Jamal just because of how you write about him lol, now he's one of my crushes, and he wasn’t even before!

Could you write something where Jude had already seen the reader at one of his games? She showed up on the big screen because her dad was a former Real Madrid player, and he kind of noticed her, but nothing really happened. Then later, there’s a team event at a pediatric oncology hospital, and she’s one of the intern doctors. The kids start shipping them because they look about the same age (and it happens to be the week she wears a fairy costume for patient visits).

Please think about it! And sorry if this was a bit messy haha.

Doctor Fairy~Jude Bellingham 

・❥・prompt list

・❥・masterlist -> part 2

・❥・who I write for

・❥・a/n: I said I wouldn't write for Jude again but anon was so sweet and the request was adorable, so I had to write it 😭

Jude hadn’t meant to notice her that day, not on purpose. 

It was just another La Liga match at the Bernabéu, the kind of game where adrenaline drowned out everything else.

But during a brief pause, an injury check in the opponents’ team player, the camera panned to the VIP box.

The crowd cheered as the screen highlighted one of Real Madrid’s most iconic legends: Raúl González. But Jude’s eyes didn’t land on Raúl.

They landed on the girl beside him.

She wasn’t doing anything out of the ordinary. Just smiling softly, leaning slightly toward the legend next to her to say something as he nodded along.

But she had that kind of presence that made him look twice. Graceful, but not in the way that demanded attention, more in the way that made you curious.

Then her name flashed on the screen beneath.

"Raúl González and daughter y/n."

Oh she must be untouchable. 

Jude found himself watching just a little too long before the screen changed. He wasn’t sure why it stuck with him. Maybe it was her smile, or the way her eyes seemed to actually watch the match instead of just being there for show.

And then, like most things during a match, the moment passed.

But he didn’t forget her.

Two weeks later, Jude was part of a club-organized visit to a local pediatric oncology hospital. He always made time for these events, knowing how much it meant to the kids. It was supposed to be a simple visit. Photos, gifts, autographs, and some smiles.

What he wasn’t expecting was to walk into the hospital playroom and see her again. The same girl from the stands. Only this time, she wasn’t just a spectator. She was part of the hospital staff.

Not in jeans or a blazer like at the match, but in a lilac tutu, green glittery fairy wings, and a star-shaped wand tucked in her skirt.

He almost stopped in the doorway. She was kneeling beside a patient, letting them decorate her with stickers, a soft laugh escaping her lips. She looked up just as he stepped in.

“...You?” Jude said before he could stop himself, a smile tugging at his lips.

She blinked in surprise, then stood, brushing glitter off her scrubs. “Me.”

“I didn’t expect to see you here,” he said.

“Likewise,” she replied, amused.

“You work here?” he asked, stepping closer.

“Intern,” she explained when their eyes met and lingered a little too long. “And apparently also the designated fairy this week.”

He smiled, trying to play it cool. “You’re the girl from the match.”

She tilted her head. “You recognized me?”

“Well, the camera did zoom in on you for a good five seconds.”

She gave a half-smile. “Guess that’s what happens when your father is named Raúl.”

He nodded, then said quietly, “I noticed before the name popped up.”

She let out a quiet laugh, a little taken aback. “Well, I definitely didn’t expect Jude Bellingham to remember me, especially while I’m covered in glitter with wings on my back.”

“Honestly?” he said, looking her over with a grin. “It kind of suits you.”

“Careful,” she teased, “I might take that as a compliment.”

“Maybe it is.”

Before she could answer, a small child tugged on her skirt. “Is he your prince?”

She blinked. “What?”

“Him,” the little girl said, pointing up at Jude. “You’re a fairy. He looks like a prince.”

Jude gave a sheepish grin. “I’ll take that.”

“He should stay here with you,” another kid chimed in. “Fairy and Prince Jude.”

“Okay, that’s a bit dramatic,” she muttered, trying not to laugh, cheeks now tinted pink.

But the kids were relentless. They had Jude sit beside her for storytime, handed them heart-shaped drawings, and assigned them roles in imaginary fairy tales. One even gave Jude a pair of sparkly wings to wear.

“You’re handling this very well,” she said later, handing him a juice box during a break.

“Trust me, I’ve faced tougher crowds,” he said, gesturing to the group of kids still peeking at them from behind a coloring table. “These ones just happen to be cute.”

“You’ve also got glitter on your neck,” she pointed out.

“I think I’m pulling it off,” he said with a wink.

She smiled softly, eyes lingering on him. “You’re good with them.”

“So are you,” he replied, voice a bit gentler now. “They clearly adore you.”

“They adore anything that sparkles.”

“Still,” he added, watching her carefully, “I’m glad I saw you again.”

“While wearing wings and a tutu?”

“Especially then.”

She laughed under her breath. “You’re not what I expected.”

“And you’re not just Raúl’s daughter.”

She looked at him, a little more curious now. “What am I then?”

“Someone I’d really like to see again,” he said. “Maybe…without the wings next time.”

Her smile widened just a bit. “You’re bold.”

“Just honest. Can I take you out?”

She paused, then reached for a nearby notepad and scribbled something down. When she handed it to him, he glanced at the number written across the page.

“You better. I think the kids would be devastated if this was all just a fairy tale.” she said casually.

“Noted,” he grinned. “Oh by the way, I’m keeping these wings.”

By the time it was time to leave, one of the kids had made them matching paper crowns.

And somehow, Jude wore his all the way back to the car.

Because maybe he hadn’t just met a fairy today, maybe he’d stumbled into something a little more magical.

And it all started with a glance, two weeks ago, in a stadium full of strangers.

my taglist: @barcapix @paucubarsisimp @spidybaby @mxryxmfooty @n0vazsq @joaosnovia @ilovebarcaaaa @f1lover55 @jajajhaahaha @universefcb @mariejuli (lmk if you want to be added!!)

[stellar-haikyuu]

love language ☆ ennoshita chikara x reader

synopsis: the team gets together to celebrate captain ennoshita's birthday. initially, you worry about your gift, but quickly find that it's the best decision you've made. details: fluff | friends to lovers | getting together | gift-giving and words of affirmation | ~2.5k words | gn third-year manager!reader | captain!ennoshita | requested by @ennoshitas-princess as part of my karasuno writing event

The winter is relentless at this time of year, you think to yourself as you speed-walk to the Sakanoshita store, tucking your hands into your pockets. Christmas day has just passed, and today is Ennoshita’s birthday. 

The Karasuno members, including the former upperclassmen, have gathered to celebrate their captain’s birthday. What started as a birthday get-together has taken on an extra layer of excitement: Karasuno is on the road to Spring High Nationals once again.

The team’s beloved convenience store comes into view, and you can already hear the chaotic chatter from outside. Sakanoshita was like a third home to you now, the second being the school gym.

As you slide the door open, the warmth embraces you immediately—the warmth of the store and the members.

"Hey! You’re just in time!” Nishinoya yells excitedly at your arrival.

“In time for what?”

"Coach is about to serve the newly steamed pork buns.”

"Ooh! Will there be curry buns?" You lift your eyebrows.

"Of course,” a familiar voice joins in. You turn to see Ennoshita grinning at you gently. “I reminded Coach to add some because they’re your favorite.”

"And Kageyama's always looking for it," Coach Ukai suddenly appears to your right, holding a large plate of steaming buns.

“That’s true,” You respond, moving out of the way. In the process, you bump into someone behind you.

“Ah, sorry- Oh my goodness, Suga-san!”

"Hi! Doing good?" He asks you, opening his arms for a hug that you quickly reciprocate.

"Yes!" You tell him excitedly. "I miss having you around. How's college treating you?"

"Hmm. Lots of general subjects for now, so it's like high school with lots more work." He pauses to think. "But, we'll go observe some elementary classes after break, so I'm looking forward to that."

"Aw, that's great! You'll be such a great teacher. You have experience wrangling the kids, anyway," you gesture to the gathered members.

Suga looks at them with a fond look on his face. Suddenly, he snickers, so you follow his gaze. Lo and behold, Kageyama is closely eyeing the curry buns, waiting for the others to start eating. But it seems that the others have noticed this too.

"Oi, Kageyama, we're here for Ennoshita-san's birthday. We're not just here to eat."

"Hinata! Dumbass! Of course I know that!"

Everyone laughs loudly at the exchange, minus Tsukishima, Kageyama, and the first-years who were failing to hold their giggles in. 

"Hah, just like old times." Suga catches his breath. "Ah, by the way…" he looks at you with a knowing smile before leaning in.

"Ennoshita really asked Coach to prepare extra pork curry buns for you. I’m pretty sure he made it clear that he’d kill anyone who takes them." He whispers in your ear.

You open your mouth to respond, but nothing comes out. You press your lips together in a thin line to think, but then Suga starts wiggling his eyebrows.

"What do you want me to do with that information, Suga-san?"

"Nothing!" He says with a playful lilt in his voice. "Just dig in, I think that'll make him happy."

"Mm." You hum in response before moving forward to reach for a pork curry bun. With a bunch of huge, ravenous boys surrounding the table, this simple task gets complicated.

After a few attempts of trying to find an opening and failing miserably, you chuckle at your predicament. Is this what Yachi feels like at training camp barbeques?

But there’s a light tap on your shoulder, and you turn back to face Suga- oh.

“Here,” Ennoshita holds out a steamed pork curry bun to you.

“Thanks.” The bun warms your hands a little, but you’re sure the rest of your body is heating up for other reasons.

"You're welcome.” Ennoshita’s calm voice fills your ears, but it does nothing to steady your heart. 

Moments later, there's a sound of the door opening. Kinoshita and Narita make their way in, and they huddle around Ennoshita.

You take that as your cue to return to your spot next to Suga. You can sense that he's dying to ask a question, perhaps the one that you’ve been asking yourself for the past two weeks.

"Spit it out before your eyebrows fall off," you tell him before taking a bite of your bun. This makes him giggle, but he quickly composes himself.

"So, what did you end up getting him?" He says in a hushed tone.

You open the zipper on your sling bag and pull the present out a little bit, making sure no one else sees it.

Suga tilts his head.

"It's- well…I followed your advice to be sincere," you explain. There are a few moments of silence before he responds.

"Well, I won't question it. I trust you had a good reason for your choice. You're one of those people who knows exactly what's in their heart and mind."

"I hope you're right." You inhale deeply, zipping your bag closed.

"I think I usually am." He winks and grins at her. "Now, go be social! I'll go interview the freshmen." He nudges you towards the other members.

"Yes, mother." You roll your eyes playfully.

"Hmmm, you're filling in that role nicely now," he teases, before making his way over to the group of first years.

"Speaking of birthday gifts, let's give them to our dear captain!" Nishinoya declares.

"Ah! Already?" Ennoshita widens his eyes. You look outside to see the sky painted a deep orange.

"Yeah, Asahi-san's gotta leave soon," Nishinoya pouts. "He has one last weekend class and a big project, right?"

Asahi sighs and nods, but Ennoshita reassures him. "It's alright. There will be more chances to see each other again."

"Let's sing Ennoshita-san happy birthday!" Tanaka declares.

The store is immediately filled with a chorus of mismatched tones, which causes Ennoshita to put his head in his hands.

"Geez, no wonder we're called crows." Coach Ukai shakes his head as he starts clearing dirty plates and cups.

Laughter erupts, and as the others start setting their gifts on the table, you can’t help but feel nervous about yours.

You spent all night second-guessing yourself. You even left your morning open for a last-minute trip to the store, just in case. But thanks to the cold weather, you overslept. Now, all you can do is hope Ennoshita likes what you got him.

You believe it’s a meaningful gift, but compared to the neatly wrapped packages and fancy boxes, yours sticks out like a sore thumb.

Luckily, no one seems to notice that you haven’t placed anything on the table yet-

"You okay? You kind of spaced out there." Ennoshita’s voice is gentle, his hand resting lightly on your shoulder. When did he get up from his seat?

"Huh? Oh, yeah, I’m good." You meet his concerned gaze.

"Glad to hear that." He glances at the growing pile of gifts. "Still can't believe there's this much." He starts counting, and your stomach twists in panic.

"I, uh... is it okay if I give you my gift later? I mean, you’ll need help carrying all of this home, right? I could give it to you then?"

His eyebrows lift at your sudden rambling. "Yeah, that's fine. Are you sure you're okay? You got kinda tongue-tied for a second there."

"Yes. Sorry, my thoughts just got a little disorganized."

He doesn’t press further, but as you say your goodbyes to the others, you can still feel his eyes on you—like he’s silently trying to figure you out.

One by one, the remaining members trickle out of the store.

"Okay, kids, go home before it gets too dark," Coach Ukai calls. 

He hands you and Ennoshita two spare boxes for the gifts. Tanaka, Nishinoya, Kinoshita, and Narita offer to help carry them until you reach the point where your paths diverge.

"See you guys soon!" you call out. Their goodbyes fade into the evening air, and soon enough, it's just you and Ennoshita.

"Good thing these aren’t too heavy," he comments. "You okay with yours?"

"Yup. Don't forget how many bags I carry as a manager," you joke.

"Ah. That’s fair." He chuckles, then hesitates. "Hey."

"Yeah?"

"Now that it's just us… I wanted to ask if something was bothering you earlier?"

"Oh, well..."

"Is it about my gift?" His voice is careful. "You seemed pretty nervous."

"Ah, I just... didn’t want the others to see what it was."

That definitely catches his interest.

"Oh?"

You hesitate before admitting, "I wasn’t able to wrap it."

He falls silent, and for a moment, all you hear is the crunch of snow beneath your boots.

"Well, whatever it is, I’ll appreciate it," he says at last.

"I figured you’d say that. You’re the kind of person who believes it’s the thought that counts." "You're not wrong," he chuckles.

At this point, you pass your house, meaning his is only a few blocks away.

"Hah. But even then, I really wanted to make it special somehow."

"Special?"

"Yeah. I couldn't decide what to get you. I wracked my brain over it."

"I see. Gosh, is my overthinking that contagious?"

You both break into a fit of giggles as you round the final corner to his house.

"But seriously," Ennoshita says, pushing open his front gate and making space for you to set your box down. "I’d appreciate anything from you."

As he puts his box down next to yours, you take his gift out of your sling bag and hide it behind your back.

His smile softens. "Is that what I think it is? C’mon, don’t hide it anymore."

He holds his hands out in front, and with a quick exhale, you hand it to him. 

His eyebrows furrow in confusion as he recognizes the Campus notebook design.

"Wait, isn't this your volleyball notebook?"

"Well, it was," you admit, laughing nervously. "Not anymore. You'll see what I mean."

You watch his reaction as he reads through the first few pages. It's mostly set numbers and score tallies, even some success percentages of the freak quick duo's new moves. 

There are some rotation notes too, but after that, the content changes entirely. You know when Ennoshita realizes it, because a small gasp escapes his mouth.

If there's one thing you know Ennoshita struggles with as captain, it's the constant doubt that makes him think he isn't enough.

You think back to Karasuno’s match against Wakutani Minami last year, when Ennoshita stepped in to replace Daichi. That was the first time you truly saw him—not just as a player, but as a leader.

After the match, you had asked Narita and Kinoshita where he was so you could congratulate him. That’s how you found yourself waiting outside the bathroom.

His red-rimmed eyes were immediately burned into your memory, and you didn’t think twice before engulfing him in an embrace. At the time, you didn’t understand why he trembled so much, but you didn’t pester him until he was ready to talk.

After accepting his position as the new captain, he seemed to be doing a little better, but you knew another breakdown was inevitable. “Not as good as Daichi” is what he told you after Karasuno lost to Date Tech in the Interhigh finals a few months ago.

Everyone has reminded him, again and again, that he isn’t meant to be a carbon copy of the former captain. Karasuno hasn’t even had a practice match with Date Tech in a long while; the Iron Wall has immensely improved their blocking capabilities in just a few months.

Still, Ennoshita carries the weight of those losses. He pushes forward, keeping the team’s motivation high, but you know that the dark thoughts linger in his mind, preying on him in moments of vulnerability.

So, you came up with an idea, a way to provide proof that Ennoshita is worthy and capable.

That’s exactly what you’ve given him today.

"You..." Ennoshita's voice shakes. "How- when did you-" 

He flips through the pages, back and forth, almost like he can't believe his eyes.

"Today, Ennoshita executed a great dig that helped his team win the set." He reads out loud. 

“Today, Ennoshita offered to help me even if he was clearly carrying more than I did. I’m thankful for his willingness to help others.

“Today, Ennoshita boosted team morale with a simple but sincere speech. His words mean more than he knows.

“Today, Ennoshita saved me from another stray volleyball. I cannot believe this keeps happening to me, but thank goodness he’s always there to protect me.

“Today, Ennoshita did his best to comfort the team after losing to Date Tech. He blames himself for the loss, but I hope he knows that the team truly doesn't believe it's his fault. I wish he could be kinder to himself.

“Today, the second-years told me that Ennoshita was a reliable captain. I agreed with them.”

“Today, Ennoshita…” He trails off, continuing to read the rest in silence. 

Gradually, you hear shaky breaths escape him as he gets closer to the end.

“Oh, what the-” You hear him getting a little choked up as he mutters softly. There are a few more seconds before he closes the notebook and stares at you in sheer disbelief. 

“What on Earth made you think I wouldn’t like this? You- no one's ever, I-" His hands fly to his face and his shoulders shake. “Sorry-”

“Don’t apologize.” You embrace him again; it feels almost natural how well you fit together. “I’m glad you liked it.”

“I like it,” he mumbles into your shoulder, voice thick with emotion. “I like you.”

It takes you a few moments before you register his confession.

You watch the small bits of snow falling around you before gathering the courage to tell him what’s on your mind.

“I like you too, Ennoshita.” You respond, lightly stroking his hair, tears starting to form in your eyes as well.

And for the first time in a long while, you feel like you can breathe. The words that have been caged inside your chest, restrained by fear and hesitation, have finally broken free.

You wonder why it took you this long in the first place. 

After that night, everything changes.

You no longer wait for birthdays to tell Ennoshita beautiful things. You tell him whenever you feel it—what you think, what you love about him, the little things that make you smile.

Sometimes, he scoffs, playfully embarrassed, but you notice the way his ears turn pink. Other times, he just shakes his head with a small, grateful smile.

And when you aren’t there to say it yourself, you find other ways. Sticky notes on his notebooks. Text messages sent before bed. Handwritten letters slipped into his bag, waiting to be found.

You never stop reminding him—because you know how easy it is for doubt to creep back in, how the weight of expectations can make even the strongest person feel small.

One way or another, you always find a way to get your heartfelt words across. That’s your love language, after all.

masterlist

[sargeantposting]

A Logan Sargeant Primer: Part I (2000 - 2015)

Logan grows up in a ritzy suburb of Fort Lauderdale called Lighthouse Point with his parents and his older brother, Dalton.

The Sargeants don't have a deep motorsport history. Dalton and Logan get their first go-karts for Christmas in 2006, a gift from their father after their mother refuses to let her children ride dirt bikes anymore. Logan tells the NYT that:

“No one in the family was really even that much into racing. We just picked it up as a hobby, something to do on the weekend.”

The two brothers get more serious as the years go by-- within a few years, they're racing competitively. They both do well. Logan finishes in third place in only his first year of racing, and wins two titles in his second. 

Unfortunately, they figure out fairly quickly that there isn’t much more room to advance in American karting:

My older brother, Dalton, and I had been racing for a few years, and it had gotten to the point where we were asking around about where the next best level of competition was, and everybody was saying the same thing…. It was always Europe, Europe, Europe, Europe. To the point where my parents really started to think about it. At first it was just this idea, like Maybe we’ll move to Europe, who knows. I was just a kid overhearing stuff, so I didn’t know how serious the conversation must have been until this day I’ll never forget.

The conversation gets serious in 2012, when Logan’s dad, Daniel, asks the two if they want to move to Switzerland:

It was summer, and we were out to lunch. It was me, my dad, and Dalton. [...] So we’re at this restaurant, right? Chowing down on burgers (my favorite), and my dad gets to asking us about racing. Finally, he’s like, “What do you guys think? Do you really want to race in Europe? Are you 100% sure about this?” Me being 11 and naive, I was like, “Yeah sure.”  Looking back on it, I think I was lucky I was that young and that I didn’t really know what I was signing up for. All the different ways it could change my life, the level of sacrifice it would require from my whole family. Because if I had known, I don’t know if I would’ve made the same decision so easily. It all happened fast, like in the movies. One minute, it’s Christmas, I’m six, and me and Dalton are yelling at the top of our lungs, excited about the two karts sitting in the driveway, pointed diagonally at each other like in a magazine. Next minute, I’m 11 and Dalton’s 14. We’re sitting at the table eating lunch with my dad, and it’s decided — our family’s moving to Europe.

When Logan tells the same story in GQ in 2023, he says:

I was always just going with the flow. For me it was just: sure.

The Sergeant family leaves for Switzerland just as Logan finishes up fifth grade. While Logan always talks about the family move to Switzerland in the context of his parents making sacrifices for his career, it's a little more complicated than that.

 GQ’s profile steps around the subject, briefly mentioning that “in addition to the racing opportunities, [Logan’s] Dad had business there.” Unfortunately, business would be an understatement. 

At the time, Logan’s dad, Daniel, worked for the family business– an asphalt trading and shipping company named Sergeant Marine. One of the driving forces behind Sergeant Marine’s success would be Daniel’s older brother, Harry. 

When Logan’s detractors mention his family’s connections to Trump, they’re usually referencing Harry. The NYT describes his billionaire uncle as “a former [Top Gun] fighter pilot and onetime finance chair of Florida’s Republican Party who has been sued by the brother-in-law of King Abdullah II of Jordan and whose name turned up, tangentially, in the 2020 impeachment of former President Donald J. Trump. (Harry was not accused of any wrongdoing.)” 

Harry would leave the company around the time Daniel moved his family to Switzerland. According to The Florida Phoenix, “The entire family was embroiled in a long-running bitter series of lawsuits that ended with a 2015 bankruptcy settlement. Harry III walked away with a cool $56-million. In return he gave up any claim to ownership of Sargeant Marine and other family companies. There were 14 different lawsuits in several states in addition to the bankruptcy. The lawsuits produced salacious testimony that could only arise in a vicious dispute between millionaires. Harry III accused his brother Daniel of spending millions on his sons’ pursuits of race car driving and other ventures. Meanwhile, Daniel accused Sargeant III of being a spendthrift on things such as a $7.5-million mansion, private jets and exotic cars.”

Logan with his dad.

It would, somehow, get worse:

Oil and asphalt mogul Harry Sargeant III claims that industrial design plans along with recordings of "private consensual relations" were purloined from his private email account and traded off to a corporate intelligence agent as part of a years-long smear campaign against him spearheaded by his brother. Reigniting a long-running saga of brother-against-brother litigation, Harry Sargeant III claims that hundreds of pages of business records, personal discussions and "extremely sensitive videos and photographs" were illegally obtained from his email account. The material was used as currency for information-bartering between his brother Daniel Sargeant and a corporate intelligence chief at the nonparty legal service firm Burford, the lawsuit alleges. Harry is demanding damages for alleged invasion of privacy on the part of Daniel. The brothers had in years past worked together on managing the Sargeant family's global oil and asphalt empire, before intra-family disputes began to tear them apart. [...] The lawsuit claims the Burford investigator, a former corporate attorney, knows Harry well. According to the court documents, the investigator for years worked as an enforcement agent on a $28 million judgment secured against Harry by the king of Jordan's brother-in-law Mohammad Al-Saleh, who accused Harry of cutting him out of a deal to distribute oil to troops in the Iraq War. [...] Harry claims brother Daniel gave the corporate intelligence agent the treasure trove of Harry's emails  in exchange for inside information that would help the Sargeant family's asphalt company Latin American Investments in a separate multimillion-dollar legal dispute. Harry's underlying email account ran on a server of the family company Sargeant Marine. When he was ousted from the Sargeant empire, Harry had been told that the account was cut off at the root and all information in it had been destroyed, the lawsuit says. The lifted emails were instead provided to an "untold number of people" inside and outside of the family businesses in 2016, the lawsuit claims.

The information that Daniel traded his brother’s sex tape for would end up being useless. Daniel is currently out a $5 million bond and awaiting sentencing for the foreign bribery and money laundering charges he pled guilty to back in 2019. After bribing officials in three South American countries to secure asphalt contracts, the Department of Justice ended up making an example of the company– and Daniel– for violating the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act. 

While Logan cites his career as a big reason for the family move, it appears that Sargeant Marine had conveniently made shell companies in Switzerland to aid in their illegal business dealings that same year.

Logan, blissfully unaware of any drama, tries to make the most of the big move. They move to Lugano, Switzerland– Dalton and Logan go to the American School on weekdays and race on the weekends in the European junior circuit, bouncing them between Italy, Switzerland and Britain. In GQ, Logan says:

“I definitely felt like school was a lot more challenging than in Florida,” he recalled. “And we were missing a lot of school, for sure, but that’s part of it with racing. It is what it is.”

Logan loves Switzerland. In his Players’ Tribune article, he says:

We moved into a three-bedroom apartment. It was me, my parents, Dalton, and our dog Roxy, the world traveler. Big difference from Florida. We had a whole new life. I loved Switzerland. I had a lot of good friends at my school there. I can’t explain it, but I just felt more a part of things. Me and my friends were big Chelsea fans, and we’d be hanging out, playing soccer all the time. We played Call of Duty like every other kid in the world.

However… Logan is the only one. Daniel is out doing shady asphalt deals around the world and suing his brother. Dalton moves back to Florida after a year-and-a-half. Their mother follows soon after that. Logan ends up living alone at the school: 

Dalton was my older brother, so for as far back as I can remember, I was chasing him. Man, we fought all the time. Every race, we were up against all these other kids, but he was always the one I was really trying to beat. But the thing is, when you’re a kid you miss things. You just can’t see everything so clearly. Like, for instance, being a bit older than me, I think he felt the shift more strongly when we moved, but I didn’t know it. He stayed in Switzerland for a year and a half, did some European karting, and started testing Formula cars. Then one day he just decided he wanted to go home and race in America. I won’t lie, that was a shock at the time. But I get it more now. Making that big life change was hard on my mom, too. Just think, you’re living in this brand new place, don’t have many friends. Me and Dalton were at school all day. My dad was traveling all over the place with work, so he was hardly there. The reality is, she was on her own a lot. So she ended up going back to Florida, too. For about a year and a half after that, it was just me. I was living at the school during that time.

When talking about how his mom moved back to Florida while Logan was living alone in Europe as a teenager, he told the Players’ Tribune that:

Looking back on everything, I just see all the sacrifices they made, and it means so much. No matter what they were going through, my family always pushed me to keep going. I feel like that was probably the hardest for my mom, especially. She means the world to me. She’s a bit of a worrier too, and overthinks. I think I get that from her. She’s always been the person I could go to when I was doubting myself. So I can’t imagine how hard it must have been for her to encourage me to keep going, when I know she probably wanted our family to be together. I’m really grateful, not only that they believed in me that much, to move our entire family, but that they took my passion for driving seriously enough not to let me give it all up.

While Logan’s personal life may be troubled, his karting career is doing exceptionally well. In 2014, he wins the prestigious SuperNats18 in Vegas:

Infinity Sports Management, Facebook - SARGEANT DOMINATES IN LAS VEGAS. Logan Sargeant produced a stunning display last weekend in the TAG Junior category at the Supernationals race in Las Vegas. After finishing runner up in the race in 2013 Logan was eager to go one better this year and bring home the winners trophy. Although Logan got pipped in qualifying he still managed to win every heat ensuring he would start from pole position for the final on Sunday. From there he kept the lead and came home 5.6 seconds clear of the second driver. With this win in TAG Junior Logan become the first driver ever to win the TAG Cadet and TAG Junior categories at the Supernationals race.

2015 manages to be even more exceptional. Logan starts the season by being the first North American driver to win a WSK event by winning the WSK Champions Cup in La Conca, Italy.

Logan with his mother after winning the WSK Champions Cup.

The season reaches its peak with Logan becomes the first American to win an FIA Karting World Championship, the top junior series, since Lake Speed in 1978.

He gets to go to the FIA Awards:

Logan: And I couldn’t thank my mechanic enough. And also my parents, uh, they really helped me to be able to win the world championship and it’s just an amazing feeling. Interviewer: I mean, did you, did you, what did you do when you found out you won? Did you call your friends at home? Did you phone your grandpa? What did you get up to? Logan: Uh, no, I just gave my mom and dad a really big hug. Interviewer: Is it still sinking in now? Logan: Yeah, it’s, it’s a really emotional thing. [...] Interviewer: Tell me about when you were a little bit younger than you are now. You’re only 14 now. But why racing, why, why is this so important to you? Logan: Um, well, my dad bought me a, a racing kart when I was five years old and we started from there. We thought it would just be like a little hobby and, uh, it ended up becoming like a professional thing we did. So. Interviewer: So, so was there a moment when you, when you or your dad just thought ‘Wow, I’m quick. I can do this’? Logan: Um, well, not really. We just kept progressing and then, um, when we, when we decided to come to Europe to race, um, we moved to Switzerland and from then on we were just, uh, going to school, I started going to school in Switzerland. And, yeah, and then we just kept going and then ended up like this. Interviewer: Do you have any other hobbies? Can you fit anything else in? Logan: Um, well, other than school it’s really hard. But when I get my breaks and I go back to Florida for, um, I like to go fishing a lot and, yeah, that’s what I do. Mostly. 

When interviewed after his win, Logan tells kart360 that:

Moving away from home is a very hard thing in your own personal life. You lose all of your best friends. You don’t have your "home" and you have to adapt to a different culture. It is hard to move to a country that speaks a different language than what you know, but racing is so important to me that I stuck through it and kept on going.

Logan clearly struggles on a personal level. He discusses his feelings in his Players’ Tribune article, saying: 

Coming up racing as a kid isn’t easy. That’s the most honest way I can put it. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve said to myself, I’m done. I’m ready to come home. I’m glad I didn’t, but there were plenty of times when I wanted to. I remember one big time was the summer right after Dalton went back. We took this trip to the Bahamas with some of our extended family and friends. We were on the water, and everything was feeling like old times. And I think I just had this pit in the bottom of my stomach, like dreading going back. There was a night when I went to my mom, and I was like, “I’m just ready to come home.” I remember her asking me more questions about what I was feeling. I don’t even remember what I said, to be honest. I just remember that she didn’t tell me what to do. She left it completely up to me. My dad used to always say, “If you put in the work now, it’ll pay off eventually — it’ll be worth it.” And he kind of reminded me of that on that trip too. It’ll be worth it. Those four little words … that’s what kept me going. After that I sucked it up, went back to Switzerland, put my head down, and I went for it."

When Logan makes the jump to single seaters the next year, his parents rent him an apartment to live in by himself in London. The only time he’ll spend more than a few weeks in the US since he was a 12-year old would be during COVID.

But Logan’s time in single seaters will be for the next installment.

Logan through the years.

[ncis-yp]

Jethro x Reader (part 1)

Stakeout

Sexual tension between you and Gibbs was high since the first day you walked into NCIS. You were smart, athletic, cunning, and knew how to get under his skin. No matter how hard he tried to ignore it; you were so attractive to him, in every way. Something he knew he couldn’t have.

He had wanted to get you alone. He wanted you and your attention all to himself, and the opportunity of a stakeout was the best gift ever given.

You and the team has split in pair to watch a suspect’s movements. No one went home, you were either in the car or in the safe house location watching from afar. No in between. Of course, you and Jethro had paired off immediately, you wanted him all to yourself, you wanted him. In your eyes, Jethro was perfect. Sexy, and right up your alley.

You wanted him to tear you apart and leave your legs shaking.

“I can’t see outta this fucking telescope” you groan. Trying to adjust the lenses to zoom into a window that you swear you had previously seen movements in.

“Move (y/n)” Gibbs says calmly as he pushes you aside to fix it.

“A simple please in front of that woulda been great” you sass back. You earned nothing but a look from the stone faced man before shrugging and getting up.

“For a former marine, you’re awfully outta line” he says.

“For a former Marine, you don’t eat an awful lotta crayons for a stakeout” you responded.

“You know, I oughta smoke the dogshit outta you for disrespecting me.” You roll your eyes.

“Crazy coming from a guy that literally was a rank below me”

“A rank below doesn’t mean you’re better. I got money that says you sucked enough dick to earn a promotion”

“Oh yeah?” You challenge. “I don’t do that working for you, and I’m almost a better agent than Tony is” you open the fridge searching for your food.

“That’s cause you’ve never sucked my dick.” Jethro looks back and stares at your ass. You in jeans was always his favorite part about stakeouts and he would never admit it.

“And Tony has?” You quirk an eyebrow.

“God no.” He fakes a gag. “I’d rather snipe myself through a mirror than allow that”

“Then I rest my case” you say and dive into your burrito that you were so desperate for earlier. He radioed in saying that Tony and McGee were up to the street for the next couple of hours, it was time for you and Gibbs’ break.

He plopped down across from you.

“Yes, Gibbs?” You say as you stuff your face.

“Nothin’. We’re on break now” he admits. He closed his eyes for a moment before opening them. His bright blue eyes adjusting to the light.

“You know, you have beautiful eyes.” You say aloud. The tension heavy as he eyes you. He wanted to test the waters just as much as you did.

“Our kids can have them” he speaks forwardly. A corny line from an 18 year old, but it still gave you butterflies.

“Oh yeah I’m sure” you roll your eyes ignoring the heat between your thighs.

“You don’t think I notice, d’ya?” He asks.

“Notice what?”

“The way you stare. Or how your eyes move when I stand up and walk in the room” your eyes widen, you were obvious, but you didn’t imagine you were that obvious.

“Well yeah, you’re good looking” you try to play it off coolly, shrugging your shoulders.

“Yeah but, (y/n), we both know it’s deeper than that?” He sits by you. You tighten your legs together as you notice his bulge jumping in the slightest. “I mean, come on, it’s almost like you wanna fuck me” he teases.

“Yeah.” You say, swallowing hard. You weren’t usually this easily worked up. But he was too close for comfort.

“Face the facts, (y/n). Because I know you see the way I look at you” he whispers in your ear. You shudder at the feelings.

“Please fuck me” you whisper.

“With pleasure”

[dragonflylady77]

Terminally Straight

Harringrove | 7k | Rating: M | best friend's brother, fluff

I wrote this fic almost 2 years ago now... All 10 chapters are now up on Ao3.

@passivenovember needed some fluff today so I decided it was time to post it.

Gift for @passivenovember, @heck-in-a-handbasket, @fizzigigsimmer @ihni and @shieldofiron

Summary:

Robin's mom married Steve's dad at the end of Robin's senior year and Robin is not happy about it. Thankfully her new stepbrother is off to university. Robin's best friend Billy wouldn't have minded getting to know the famed King of Hawkins High. Eight years later, they meet again and it goes better than Billy had anticipated.

read on Ao3

Hawkins, Indiana

July 2015

Billy’s crush had started at the end of senior year. He’d recently turned eighteen and landed himself a summer job with his bestest friend in the world before they started their graphic design studies.

Robin was throwing a pool party to celebrate the end of high school. Billy and Robin had clicked the moment they’d met, on Billy’s first day as a transfer from Cali, halfway through the previous school year. Their respective gaydars had pinged hard and they’d become instant best friends.

All the popular kids had decided to show up to the party because no one passed up on free booze at a pool party, even one thrown by the band geek, especially when it afforded them a look at the former residence of Hawkins High School legend, the famed Steve Harrington, Robin’s new stepbrother. To Robin’s neverending dismay, her mother had recently married Steve’s father and they were conveniently away on their Christmas honeymoon in Florida.

The sun was shining high that day in Hawkins, Indiana, and Billy was working on a decent buzz, red solo cup resting on the pool chair between his legs as he rolled a joint for him and Robin when someone angrily called out his friend’s name. 

Robin flinched on the end of the lounger and Billy looked up from his task to find the prettiest boy he’d ever seen stalking towards them. Thick brown hair, huge brown eyes that sparked with anger, gangly arms dotted with moles peeking out of a sage green polo shirt, long legs hidden by jeans and white trainers.

“Robin, what the hell is this?”

“Hello to you too, Steven. What does it look like? It’s a pool party. Surely you remember what a party is?”

“Yes, thank you, I know what a party is. I’m also willing to bet that a bunch of people here are under age.”

“What’s your point, pretty boy?” Billy couldn’t help himself, the words slipped out and he could have sworn Steve’s cheeks turned pink but it was hard to tell from behind his aviators. 

A second later, Steve bristled. “What do you mean, what’s my point? And don’t call me that.”

“Steve,” Robin interrupted, her hand landing on Billy’s forearm in warning, because she knew he wouldn’t leave it at that if given half a chance, “I know you went to parties all the time when you were in high school, so you can get off that fucking high horse of yours for a minute and let us enjoy the fact that we made it through senior year.”

“There’s still stories around school about the party the year you graduated, princess,” Billy added, just to see the pink on Steve’s cheeks again, and boy, was it a pretty sight. Totally worth Robin digging her nails into his arms.

Steve Harrington’s name was whispered at school like he was royalty; there wasn’t anything he hadn’t done or got away with. Billy had always taken the rumors he’d heard with a grain of salt but seeing Steve in person, he wanted them all to be true.

Steve glared at them, his lips pressed in a thin line, then he turned around and stalked off. They heard a door slam inside then the roar of an engine. Billy and Robin looked at each other, trying not to laugh, before Billy went back to finish rolling that joint. He lit it and took a long drag, leaning back in his sun lounger.

“So that’s your new brother, Rob?”

“Uh huh, aren’t I lucky?” Robin said, the sarcasm thick in her voice. “So glad he got into U of Illinois and moved to Chicago. He’s a ray of freaking sunshine.”

“He is hot as fuck is what he is,” Billy said, wondering how far down Steve’s blush went.

“He’s also terminally straight, so don’t waste your time, Billy.”

Billy let out a huge sigh. “Why does this keep happening to me? I’m telling you, Rob, I’m cursed!”

Robin cackled, taking the joint off him. “Poor, poor baby.”

[ghostofhyuck]

𝗨𝘀, 𝗮𝗴𝗮𝗶𝗻. ✧₊⁺

CEO! Mark x Former secretary! Reader

Summary: Years after you resigned as his secretary, Mark bumps into you once again, not knowing that something bloomed from your secret office love affair.

cw: mentions of pregnancy.

· · ─────── ·𖥸· ─────── · ·

It’s seldom for Mark to make time for himself.

Well to start, Mark excused himself that he’s in the mall to buy a gift, which is a surprising excuse for a CEO who’s such a workaholic. But in his defense, he wanted to buy a gift for his parent’s wedding anniversary and Mark wanted to make sure that he’ll be the one who’ll pick the gift personally.

That is why he’s in a well-known mall, wearing his casual clothes on a Saturday afternoon. The mall was pretty crowded given that it was a Saturday. Mark has been walking around thinking what to buy for his parents. It’s not like they’re hard to give presents, but Mark wanted to give them something special.

His feet dragged him to the mall’s department store, heading to the accessories section. Maybe his parents would like new sets of watches — that’s a bit common, Mark thinks. He had bought them watches many times. Mark ponders about it as he walks around the selections.

He didn’t notice that he’s in the jewellery section when a saleslady called his attention, offering him promos for a certain brand.

“You can be engraved in the ring! Are you going to buy it for someone special?” the saleslady asked.

As he stared at the display, Mark thought that it’ll be nice to buy his parents a new set of wedding rings, maybe they can even renew their vows. Thinking that it was a bright idea, Mark immediately asked for help from the saleslady who happily offered assistance for him.

Watching the jeweller engraved on his parent’s wedding anniversary date on the right, Mark couldn’t help but ponder at the thought of getting married. Seeing how happy his parents are and how their love created a strong and loving family, Mark wonders when it will be his turn.

But perhaps he’s passed his prime, all he can think about right now is the paperworks he left to his staff just because he decided to have a day-off.

“Thank you,” Mark mumbles as he grabs the paperbag from the saleslady. The paperbag felt light but Mark couldn’t help but feel lightened as he swayed the paperbag, excited for his parent’s reaction to his gift.

But just as he was about to walk away, a small figure bumped into him. It didn’t bother him a bit but the kid fell on the floor.

“Careful there!” he shouts. Helping the kid stand up. Mark then kneels down to check if the kid got any scratches but it seems like she wasn’t hurt at all.

“Sorry mister,” the kid apologises.

Mark looked at her and for a second, he felt something weird. The little girl looks eerily familiar that he can’t pinpoint it. For a minute, Mark thinks that he’s just seeing things so he gives her a smile, “it’s no worries, don’t run around okay? It’s dangerous.”

Looking left and right, it seems like the kid ran off from her parents. He stands up and offers his hand to the kid who immediately accepts it.

“What’s your name by the way? And where are your parents —”

“Minah!”

Mark wasn’t able to process everything when he heard a familiar voice and as he turned around, a familiar face welcomed him.

“It’s you,” Mark mumbled.

You stopped on your tracks, frozen to see your daughter with your former boss. You immediately bowed as an apology and snatched your daughter away from him.

“I’m really really sorry sir! I hope she didn’t disturb you,” you quickly said.

“Oh it’s nothing, and please, can we drop the sir? You’re no longer my secretary too,” he calmly said.

You only nod and as you felt that your daughter is now right beside you, you tried to walk away from the scene when Mark held your arms.

“It’s been a long time since I saw you,” Mark said quietly, as if he was trying to collect his words. “Can we talk?”

“What?” you asked.

His eyes landed on the child beside you, then as he looked at you, he gave you a meaningful smile. “I just wanna know how you have been.”

You thought that you could endure it. You thought that you could run away from everything — even from Minah’s father. From the very start, you always knew that it was forbidden. You were his secretary and he’s the head of the company. Everything was hidden, behind closed doors, and only hushed words that can be exchanged with you two alone together.

And damn it. It was Mark Lee. Mark Lee who’s loved by everyone, praised by his skills and nice personality. Mark Lee who Korea considers as one of their hottest bachelors. He was everything and then, there’s just you. His competent secretary who has to survive living in this world. Yet, you were willing to enter this kind of relationship. You were a fool to think that your romance with Mark will turn out right like the movies.

“So, how have you been?”

But it wasn’t. One day, you just woke up with an unexplained morning sickness and a trip to the hospital made you realise that your daydreams may not only ruin yours but also Mark’s future.

“I’m doing great, I found a better job with a better salary, I moved to a bigger apartment, and Kiwi’s still alive, still a grumpy cat you know?” you smiled, trying to brush off any topic that may land on the child next to you.

“I see,” Mark bitterly said. Grabbing the cup of coffee on his table. “So, who’s the little girl beside you?”

Your smile faded. You glanced at your daughter who innocently stared at you and your eyes wandered to the man in front of you.

“You know that there’s a possibility right?” Mark taunted, and you could only look at him with a guilty look. He still can read you after all.

“There’s no possibility Mark,” you told him. “She’s yours…I never entered a relationship after I gave birth.”

A beat of silence swallowed you too. You could only lower your head in shame.

“So why hide her from me? You think that I won’t take responsibility?” Mark’s tone turned full of anger and disappointment.

“No! It’s not like that, I just…I don’t want this to get into your way.”

You saw how Mark’s forehead creased, “what are you talking about?”

“Mark, we were young okay!? You have a long way to go as the head of the company, I don’t want a kid to get in your way.”

“And what, let you raise her without knowing her father?”

“You think it was an easy choice for me!?” you saw how surprised he was when you raised your tone. “You were my boss, you’re a CEO and I’m what!? I’m just your secretary Mark!”

“Don’t say that,” Mark calmly said, trying to reach out for you. “You know what we had was real.”

“Of course it was, but we’re just too different,” you mumbled.

Mark didn’t say a word. You could only lower your head out of guilt. It didn’t occur to you that Minah was trying to reach for your hand. Her small hands brushing to your arms making you look at her.

“Mama, are you crying?”

“What?” and before you could even touch your face, Mark already has wiped your tears away.

“You don’t know how much I was devastated when you left the company,” Mark confesses, gently wiping your tears away.

“It’s all my fault, I let our relationship be a secret, I shouldn’t have done that.”

“No Mark, it was okay for me.”

“I know, but it was better that I fought for you. Years of not seeing each other…I don’t even know what you’ve been through when you’re raising our child alone.”

You could only smile bitterly, “it’s okay Mark, I’m over it.”

“Maybe, you’ve always been brave and I’m…I’m just me. I’m sorry for everything and I just want to make it up for the years I wasn’t there,” he holds onto your hand even tighter. “Can we start all over again? I want to be there for both of you.”

His eyes were pleading, desperate to meet yours. Mark was begging to be part of your life again and although there were things that you two haven’t talked about, you couldn’t help but glance at your daughter who cluelessly watched the scene unfold.

Remembering her drawing in her daycare where she draws a complete family, maybe it was time for you to grant her wish.

And as you glance back at Mark, you could only give him a smile as you muttered, “yes.”