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queen-of-writing-bad-things · 7 months

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Henry Danger Reader Insert | Captain Man x Reader: SEASON 5

Episode 6: Part 1: A New Evil

Call this the best week of (y/n)'s life.

Lately, things hadn't been particularly eventful for her, her doofus or their little chaotic family. Well, apart from the few rescues and arrests they did every night as part of their secret superhero lives, nothing noteworthy had happened, not since that debacle at Cactus Con.

Yeah, no one had yet worked out what that was about. Seriously, as much as (y/n)'s inner worrier was itching to work out who cracked their system and stole the world's most poisonous cactus, try as she and Schwoz might, every lead they got turned out to be a dead end. No clues, no hints, no traces. So, like most problems in life, the further their case grew cold, the further it was pushed onto the back burner and out of their minds. One month later and it was still a mystery but one left for a rainy day when they didn't have so much on their plates.

Dogs. That's what they had on their plates. Not in a weird, disturbing way; rather, there had been some weird charity thing that no one understood but since it was for charity, no one questioned it anyway. And this charity thing happened to involve dogs, much to (y/n)'s delight since she'd had to trade her chance at having one in the Man Cave with a rabbit, jigsaw puzzles and Piper's number one enemy, Jana Tetrazzini. A week-long awareness campaign for dogs. At least it sounded nice, even if the girl was stomping up Anger Avenue every time she heard that name.

Honestly, it was a bit strange since the money raised for doing the world's biggest puzzle was meant to help the dogs or something, which was weird but Miss Danger and Captain Man weren't complaining as they posed for pictures with the generous winner and her stupidly rich boyfriend. It wasn't exactly the kind of afternoon that they liked as there was way too much boot licking and pandering to that snotty-nosed brat for the heroes' liking but they got to cuddle puppies, so who could argue with that? Certainly not Ray as he watched his sweet girl fawn over an especially darling little Shih Tzu doggie, who he had to admit had stolen his heart too.

That was what they wanted to focus on, even though more pressing matters were at hand. It was all well and good to stick their heads in the sand and while away the day attending red carpet occasions and pretending like there was nothing to worry about, but there was. Rather alarmingly, there had been a recent video doing rounds on the internet, and it wasn't the kind that got clicks for the right reasons. It wasn't a cat video or a clip of a guy falling off his skateboard like a dweeb. No, it was a touch more serious than that.

Rick Twitler had been kidnapped. Shocker. Seriously, the guy was a billionaire, genius, inventor, tech-mogul CEO man, you'd think it'd be hard to take him and not have anyone on his security team realise but that was what had happened. He went missing and then a few hours later, a video of him looking dishevelled and panicked in his maroon suit appeared on the net, the kind where the celeb grovels for help and mercy from their captors. It was exactly the kind of thing that Captain Man, Miss Danger and Kid Danger should be worried about because when a guy has a hand slapped over his mouth before he can speak with a yellow glove with a strangely familiar logo on it, it's clear that things are serious. However...

"You hear that loud, buzzing sound in the background? I isolated it and ran through the Man Cave computers and— " Charlotte asked before being cut off as she analysed the clip in the Man Cave, intent on making some progress as to the whereabouts of Rick Twitler so she could send the resident heroes off on a rescue mission.

And it would be nice to have some help from her fellow smart people, y'know mainly Schwoz and (y/n), the ones who knew how to do things right and presented helpful ideas to the small details that were assuredly on the screen. If only she had a few sets of extra eyes to help her see them.

"Aw, you are the cutest doggo I ever did see, you know that, sweetheart? Did you? Aw, you are my baby!" The girl was cut off by an annoyingly high-pitched squeal that came from none other than (y/n) as she cradled one of the dogs from the puzzle-Tetrazzini-dog thing—the only one that had caught her and Ray's hearts enough to bring her back to the Man Cave.

It was honestly love at first sight for them and since she'd entered their lives, they'd barely put her down, preferring to love her as all couples do to their first dog before having kids. That's how they'd ended up like this; the pup on (y/n)'s knee as she cooed and squealed, her in Ray's lap as he cooed and squealed over her cuteness as well as the dog's, and then Jasper and Schwoz crowded around them to stroke her too. Honestly, it made Charlotte sick.

"She loves to have her ears scratched, sweet girl..." the hero grinned into his fiancée's ear as his fingertips rubbed into the soft fur of his new sort of pet, much to the creature's pleasure. She was so well-behaved and gentle that he wondered why he'd never brought one home before, especially when he saw how happy it made his sweet girl.

Sure, they had Colin and of course, they loved him very much but she'd always had a soft spot for dogs. He couldn't miss the look of adoration on her face when he said they could keep it around for a few days, just another thing for them to bond over. He had a woman who was nearly his wife and a dog in his lap - his dream life was halfway there.

"So does my mom," and obviously, Jasper just had to make it weird. Oh, his mother, possibly the oddest woman that the couple had thankfully never had the joy of meeting but from the stories they'd heard, they didn't want to, so this was just another reason to add to the pile of avoiding her like the Bubonic Plague.

"Don't make it weird, you guys," (y/n) muttered as she cradled the pooch, whom she'd called Kaitlyn, in her arms. Come on, she had her dream going on here; an adorable fur baby to adore and her hot fiancé to adore too as his frankly huge arms kept her close to his chest. She could've sat like that for hours, content to just relax into his back, feel his lips brush her cheek every few seconds and forget that they had responsibilities to attend to, but life was never that kind.

"Hey! I thought you were supposed to give that puppy to...Prince Fuh' Ard," Charlotte grabbed their attention whilst frowning at the annoyingly cute animal nestled into her friend's embrace so snuggly that she couldn't focus on anything else unless it was topping up her need for Ray's kisses. She could swear that it was the Shih Tzu for the millionaire boyfriend of Jana since she'd done something brilliant for charity or whatever, so it didn't make sense for them to have it. Maybe, possibly, perhaps, Ray had accidentally taken the puppy for his family because she was certain to get more love from them.

"Uh-oh, I guess I must've forgot! Yes? You like that joke? Yes, you like that joke!" The man joked, causing the lads around him to laugh at how he just didn't give a shit about technically stealing the dog that he couldn't keep even if he wanted to. It was true, everyone, even Charlotte deep down, had fallen in love with Kaitlyn and her gentle nature but they couldn't offer her a life in the Man Cave. They didn't have a garden for her to run in or the time to watch her properly when they were out being epic. Colin was quiet enough by himself since he was more of a solitary animal but a dog needed constant attention. Was it cruel to lie to themselves and say that this was the new normal? Maybe.

"As I was saying," Charlotte swiftly moved on before Ray's cutesy voice made her puke, "I used the Man Cave computer to isolate the buzzing and—"

"Man Cave computer? I thought that got hacked, like, a month ago." Ray frowned at the mention of that sore spot. Whilst he didn't have the brains to get to the root of the problem, he was still curious to know what had happened on that fateful day at Cactus Con because goddamn it, this was his home, his livelihood, his job, his family, he had a right to know who was poking their nose in and where. No one had updated him, however, probably because there was very little to tell, save that they must've been a genius to out-hack Schwoz.

"It did, but we never found out who did it doofus," (y/n) told him as her head gently thumped back against his breastbone to look at her lover from a funny angle. As cute as she looked to Ray with her face and neck stretched to their limits just so she could look at him, he couldn't help but feel a pinprick of panic at the revelation. Of course, he never paid attention to things, and clearly, he'd forgotten all about that disturbing event, but now that he thought back a few weeks, he realised that the whole thing had gone quiet.

"Schwoz, I feel like you should know who hacked the Man Cave computer by now."

"Yeah, I feel like you should know how to shut up and focus on your girlfriend, sorry, finacée, who should've worked it out by now--" Schwoz bit back instantly. He knew what Ray was getting at, as the resident genius, it was his job to know who was hacking them and why but it was quite a low blow. (y/n) was as savvy with the computer as he was and she couldn't work it out either, but nooo, Captain Man would never bite the head off of his sweet girl. Chastising her would be absolute madness - talk about double standards and blind love.

"Hey! Don't you talk about my sweet girl like that, you fuzzy, little coconut-head!"

"Excuse me!" As entertaining as it was to see the equally abrasive men bicker, Charlotte couldn't stop herself from shouting out. She'd been trying to get their attention for ages, having put up with the dog and now a brief chat, but an argument was the last straw. She didn't care if one was offended nor if the other was protective, she just wanted to speak her mind.

"Now, as I was saying, I isolated the buzzing sound in the background and you'll never guess what it is!" Silence at last. With the chatty boys and (y/n) quiet, the teen took her chance to fully explain to them that she wasn't too shabby with tech either, skilled enough to work on something that would crack the stagnant mystery wide-open.

"Bees?"

"Oh, I definitely heard bees."

"Sounded like bees."

"Yes, bees..." the four replied quickly without much effort, preferring to focus more on Kaitlyn and her floppy ears, or in Ray's case, (y/n) and the soft curve of her neck. Even half distracted and low on brain cells, they were able to come up with the correct answer because let's be honest, how many things make a buzz?

"Or, you'll be able to guess it straight away..." Charlotte sighed and tightly pressed her lips together, feeling a little deflated that her brainy moment had been shot down before it had even been given a chance to shine. Still, at least she could say that her genius fed Ray's and inspired him to spur his processing unit into action for once.

"Oh! It's probably The Beekeeper!" He realised, lifting his head from his sweet girl's skin with wide eyes since his brain hadn't worked that hard in a long time. There was only one villain in Swellview who was known to use bees in a dastardly way and that was The Beekeeper, another nutjob that the city seemed to pump out by the dozen. That guy was forever dressed in a protective bee suit and with some magic or probably a mere trick, he commanded a swarm of bees to attack and do his bidding. In short, he was a pain in the ass for Captain Man and co.

"Oh, yeah, nice one, doofus! He's usually up at the Swellview Honey Factory, right?" (y/n) smiled at her lover as her hands stilled from petting the pooch on her lap. It wasn't very often that he got a brainwave but when he did, it was hot. And even when he didn't, he was hot. Perhaps the heroine was a little biased on that basis but when he returned her smile with a smirk, she couldn't bring herself to care.

"Yeah, we should go check it out, babe," Ray told her and without any arguing, although maybe a small pout, the woman rose from his knee with Kaitlyn to still cradled in her arms. Cue their second of heaven over, work was now calling and it wasn't like a pet was suited to a fight. As nice as it was to sit back, relax and snuggle for a minute or an hour, going to that factory was unavoidable, their moral duty and she'd die before letting him go there on his own.

"Are you sure you guys don't wanna wait for Henry before you go over there?" Charlotte asked as (y/n) said her goodbyes to Kaitlyn in the form of a final few licks on her chin as Ray waited for her and pondered the words.

Being one sidekick down would be a problem, and he had made a promise to his sweet girl to be more cautious, but he also wasn't the most patient guy in the world. Did he dare wait when there was crime to be fought? Or should he stick around and go all gooey as Henry hauled his ass to the Man Cave, leaving him a good twenty minutes more to ogle his fiancée? Or should he take one more look at the dog who was a piece of his perfect future and panic at the thought of leaving her behind for bandits, brutes or buffoons to take?

"You're right...someone should watch Kaitlyn while we're gone!" The latter, of course. Screw Henry, the dog was more important.

"Oh my god, you named her Kaitlyn? Aw, I love that name!" Schwoz squealed as (y/n) carefully handed her over, ensuring that all four paws were safely in the small man's lap before she let her newfound baby go. It was an adorable name, not one that Ray would've gone for but as always, when his darling girl suggested it, he didn't have the heart to say no. He didn't have the heart to deny her anything.

"She is such a Kaitlyn!"

"Yeah, (y/n) came up with the name. It's perfect..." just like her, Ray wanted to add but he held his tongue in the interest of not being branded a soft lump by his friends. They already knew he was, of course, it was clear in the way he melted into her as she took a step back from the dog and returned to his side, arm immediately snaking around her waist like always. They already knew, but there was no need to add more fuel to the fire.

"Kaitlyn, look over here, sweetie! You get to see mommy and daddy get extra cool!" (y/n) grinned and spoke in a soft voice as if she was addressing a child, something she swore she'd never do with a dog that would never be able to understand but she couldn't help it, not with the creature that turned her six-foot, giant, hulking, god of a man into putty.

Ray might have been reluctant to appear as a simp but she had no qualms, kinda like how Ray had no issue with dramatically following her lead and kneeling so the dog could get the best view of their transformation. He had problems showing others how whipped he was, he had no problem showing her. Kaitlyn just saw two humans become humans with shiny...stuff on them, but it was nice to think that she recognised how her enamoured guardians became Captain Man and Miss Danger.

The yap from her was a nice touch. Perhaps she knew what was going off after all.

"Don't worry, it's still mommy and daddy," the hero stroked her ears briefly with his lips twinged upwards in a growing smile. Here he was, the guy who thought he'd be a playboy bachelor forever, comforting his baby of a dog that he shared with his soon-to-be wife, who he was calling its mommy in a weird yet cute way. His family was nearly complete and he couldn't help but show the sheer joy it gave him on his face, so his friends were all thinking the same thing. Simp.

"Daddy, we have to go. Char, can you triple-beep Henry and tell him to meet us at the Swellview Honey Factory?" (y/n) struggled to keep her face straight as she teased her lover with the nickname that was seemingly so innocent given the context and yet it drove him up the wall. To the others, the man's shudder was invisible, the way his eyes fluttered shut probably just a reflex and his subtle gulp barely worth noticing but to her, it was so very telling. What was nothing to them told her everything she needed to know about what was going through her hero's mind. Filth.

"Okay."

"W-we should go, sweet girl," as Charlotte scampered off to go and call Kid Danger, Captain Man decided that it was time for him and Miss Danger to leave, preferably before anyone bar her noticed how affected he was. They'd be calling him more than just a simp if they did. So, he straightened his back swiftly, took his sidekick by the hand and lead her up to the tubes where they squeezed into one cylinder despite two being available. Why break a habit when it was so much better to hold her tight to his chest and feel her cheek rest on his shoulder?

"I love you," Ray couldn't help but whisper in her ear as the tube fell around them, sealing the sound from anyone else's hearing since it was too delicate and intimate for a third party. (y/n)'s lips curled upwards at the confession, having heard it hundreds of times by now, a sign that her doofus was making up for lost opportunities, but it could never get old. Not when he said it so genuinely and with so much emotion, leaving no doubt in her mind that he meant it.

"Up the tube!" Her tone was strong and commanding but the kiss planted on the skin peeking above his collar was soft and gentle - the perfect substitute for words. She could've said it back, lord knows that she normally would but that would lead to kisses and kisses lead to delays and hero work didn't like delays. But as they whooshed off, it didn't matter. The tickle Ray felt against his skin was all he needed to know that she meant it too. Sometimes, actions speak louder than words.

~Outside The Swellview Honey Factory~

Oh, yeah, actions speak louder than words. Frozen yoghurt does the same thing.

Okay, maybe hero work wouldn't mind a small delay in this instance, especially since the fro-yo joint was en route to the scene of the possible crime and no couple liked to have two spoons for one cup more than (y/n) and Ray. The chilly dessert was everything they needed to show their love as it gave them ample opportunity to feed each other spoonfuls over sugar-induced giggles. Heor wouldn't mind that at all, so they stopped off to grab one serving for themselves and because they were generous, one serving for Henry too.

And things were going great; they sat in the Man Van for a bit, drove the rest of the way, laughed, talked, chilled for a bit since the kid hadn't shown his face yet and that was fine whilst the frozen yoghurt was still that, frozen. However, theirs soon disappeared from their amorous waiting and the minutes ticked by into half an hour and soon, the couple were getting antsy. Come on, they'd been skulking around the alley next to the factory for ages, what was taking Henry so long?

"You're gonna have to call Charlotte, my fingers are gonna get frostbite if I have to hold this fro-yo any longer! Or, y'know...I'm gonna eat it!" (y/n) whined to her lover as they hovered around the back door for what seemed like forever. What had been a perfect scoop of strawberry goodness was slowly melting into a strawberry mush that would be more like a milkshake if Henry took any longer. It's not like they were impatient, well, Ray maybe, but they had their limits and if it wasn't claimed soon then they'd have no choice but to save what mush they could.

"Don't worry, sweet girl. I'm way ahead of ya," Ray gave her a soft smile as his thumb punched Charlotte's contact in his phone to start the dialling tone. If she was starting to get bored then lord knows how he was feeling, so each dull buzz of the phone in his ear was like torture, which was only tolerable thanks to the beauty smiling up at him with a calming expression. The kid would be here soon, there was no problem.

"Hey, what's up?"

"We're standing outside the honey factory, where's Henry?" Ray didn't beat about the bush as Charlotte answered the phone in a voice that was all too calm to say that one team member was MIA. Sure, the hero could go in with just one sidekick, but he preferred two, and going in without the kid seemed a bit mean given how much he liked to sink his teeth into the action.

"We don't know," Charlotte replied with more worry in her voice now, causing (y/n) to look at Ray with concerned eyes. Henry would never be on surveillance or lockdown but it was strange for him not to answer for work or even to his best friends. Maybe it was just her nervous personality coming through but the woman couldn't help but feel a sense of dread come over her as if storm clouds were on the horizon.

"What do you mean you don't know?"

"I mean, he never answered his Whiz Watch or his phone," the girl's answer didn't help ease her fluttering tummy. Phones could be misplaced or forgotten but the watch was something else; Henry only took it off for bed and even then it was right next to him in case there was a late-night call, so it was odd that he'd missed the beeping, a little too odd for her liking.

"Well, we got him a frozen yoghurt and now, we're standing here like idiots while it melts!" Ray exclaimed into the phone as his free arm came to wrap around his sweet girl's shoulder in an attempt to comfort her, although he was still mindful of the cup of runny yoghurt in her hands. At least that earned him a smile, watery but grateful, and he followed it up with a peck to the forehead as he heard someone mumble in the background.

"Is Henry with Ray and (y/n)?" Jasper. That was Jasper, just his luck for him to ask dumb questions.

"No. And his frozen yoghurt's melting" Charlotte's reply was snappy enough to still be loud through the speaker despite her pulling away from her phone and the panic buzzing through the room wasn't helping matters. So, to sum up, no one, not even Jasper, the kid who kept tabs on his best friend at all times, didn't know where Henry was and it was highly unusual that he couldn't be located. (y/n)'s nerves were having a whale of a time.

"That's it! I'm going to Henry's house!" Jasper's shout could be heard as he ran off, presumably to the Harts' residence and for once, Ray had to hand it to him. Finally, a bit of action and he did not doubt that the boy would find his missing sidekick safe and sound, ready to fight crime. It was just a matter of dragging his ass to the honey factory. That problem was solved, but as always for the Man Cave team, there was another.

"Hey, listen. I've been looking at the hostage footage and there's this...symbol. And I really think something weird is going on with this kidnapping," Charlotte piped up as she zoomed in on a strangely familiar mark that was printed on the glove of whoever had been dumb enough to kidnap Rick Twitler. It was weird because she could swear she'd seen it before, the red and black design spoke to her memory but she couldn't for the life of her remember where it had been before, and without a definitive link to something important, Ray didn't pay it any heed.

"For sure, for sure...uh, what's Kaitlyn doing?"

"Ra--Captain Man!" (y/n) snapped and whacked his shoulder lightly as he lost his focus so easily when Charlotte was trying to be serious and in favour of the dog of all things. However, she couldn't say that she wasn't curious to know too, that little girl was too cute for her own good and so was Ray as he went all smiley and soft for the creature he swore would never be allowed in his Man Cave.

"Uh, she's listening to Schwoz sing her a love song. Y'know, kinda like how you do for (y/n), but it's not a joke..." the teen told him, much to Ray's instant anger and (y/n)'s chuckles. When Ray decided to be corny and make her blush, it was all too easy to find the cheesiest love song on the internet and sing an out-of-tune racket to get his girl to laugh but with Schwoz, the tone-deaf music wasn't fooling around. That poor dog, whatever he was singing, Ray didn't want his fur baby to suffer it.

"What?! Kaitlyn's our dog! I stole her from that Fuh'ard kid fuh'air and fuh'square and gave her to (y/n)! When I come back and Kaitlyn smells like--"

"Uh, sorry, Char, Ray has left this planet, so just find Henry and I'll deal with...whatever this is on this end!" (y/n) seized the phone from her doofus' hand the moment he started going on about what their dog smelled like. So what if Schwoz was dogsitting in a...peculiar way? At least they had someone to take care of her whilst they were gone and more importantly, did he not think that storming the factory to take down The Beekeeper before he hurt Rick Twitler was more important?

"Kay-kay, see you later!"

"Sweet girl! You didn't let me chew out Schwoz for singing to Kaitlyn!" The hero pouted as he watched his fiancé end the call and hand the phone back to him with a knowing, stern look on her face. There would be no pouting allowed right now because he didn't have a basis for his argument to stand on and given the urgency of their mission, his puppy-dog eyes wouldn't work today.

"You can save the chewing-out for later! And don't look at me like that! Let's just get in there, kick The Beekeeper's butt and go home, okay?" Ray couldn't argue with her instructions, not when she introduced the idea of getting to go home at the end of all this.

It was no secret that he'd rather be himself in a safe environment with her with no responsibilities, no matter how much glory Captain Man gave him and home now came with the bonus of sitting on the couch, with her cuddled up in his embrace and Kaitlyn on her knee. Home was the place to be and the sooner they got this job over with, the sooner they could return to heaven. Oh, how he hated and loved when she was right.

"Okay, sweetheart...but can we finish the frozen yoghurt first?" And how she loved and hated his compromises. It made her smile, the small break in the tension that always came from a challenging mission ahead and they found themselves giggling at his adorable question. Giggling in a dirty back alley with their enemies only a stone's throw away, that's what love did to them.

"Well, I'm sure Henry won't miss it, so why the hell not?" It seemed like such a waste to throw it away and besides, she was sure that the bad guys wouldn't mind waiting for a few more minutes.

Bam! That was the door kicked in.

With the tummies full of frozen yoghurt and the taste of strawberries still laying fresh on their tongues, Captain Man and Miss Danger stormed the factory, working their way through narrow passageways and corridors lined with pipes and valves that they assumed carried honey from one refinery to another.

The place was a veritable maze with strangely no one about it. No minions, no workers, not even a secretary's desk for them to ask for directions at but no matter. With a small amount of luck, a smouldering glare from Ray, sheer determination and (y/n) grabbing his hand to go in what felt like a logical direction, they eventually made it to a crappy wooden door that just felt like the right one. Come on, it was practically screaming for his boot to smash the lower panels.

So, with one final check to make sure they were as ready as they'd ever been, the hero kicked the flimsy wood open with one powerful kick, allowing them to stomp in with menacing glares and clenched fists for whoever was in the room filled with honey-related technology.

There were no soft touches now, no more sweet words of encouragement, that had been left for the last second before going in when Ray gave his sweet girl one last kiss before he lead her into the fight, something which played against his better instincts but she wouldn't go home now if he asked her too. No, it was time to kick ass, namely The Beekeeper's as they immediately locked onto him and his captive, Rick Twitler.

"Honey, we're hoooo---ohhhh, man, I just ate a lot of frozen yoghurt, give me a second," So much for a sick entrance line. What would've been a great way to start the fight proved to be quite embarrassing as Ray's poor stomach twinged at the sudden exertion of storming into the room.

Exercise and a tummy full of dessert equalled a stitch. The famed hero was crippled by the intense cramping below his ribs and instantly, Miss Danger was by his side, ignoring their enemy in favour of tittering over her doofus, who'd decided to finish the majority of the fro-yo cup when she said she was full.

"Doofus! I told you to not eat too much!" (y/n) scolded him in a concerned tone, gladly taking some of his weight by letting his arms slide around her waist and his head drop to her shoulder. As much as she wanted to tell him off for eating too much before a fight, something that wasn't a problem at home but not so much on a mission, the barely audible whines that reached her ears made her frustrations dry up on the spot. What she wouldn't give to be able to lie him down on the couch and stroke his poor tummy until it was better.

"Captain Man! Miss Danger! I can't bee-lieve you found my hiving spot!" The Beekeeper quipped with a crazy look in his eyes at the sudden appearance of his enemies. He was another criminal weirdo who loved to throw in the odd, irritating pun whenever the opportunity cropped up and usually, they were stupidly clever. He'd taken a leaf out of the Time Jerker's book given by his manic appearance but honestly, (y/n) couldn't give a shit about his dumb puns, not when she had her doofus currently in agony.

"Yeah, look, creepy, he's not gonna be able to do all the clever back-and-forth stuff right now and I'm not particularly interested in any banter either," she replied dryly, not even sparing the villain a glance as Ray tried to stand up straight without pulling any more muscles.

"Dairy tends to back up on me a little..." Ray agreed and took a step back, though his hands stayed on her just because they could. It hadn't been a smart idea to eat so much before the fight, especially with food that his body didn't like at the best of times, not in large amounts anyway. Oh well, even with Captain Man slightly inebriated, the couple could handle whatever was thrown at them because truthfully, this guy wasn't the best villain in the city.

"Well, allow me to give you a swarm welcome!" The Beekeeper growled and thrust forward a can containing a swarm of bees, no surprises there. It was his thing, commanding bees and sending them to attack his enemies but the heroes couldn't say they were scared. Bees aren't that scary, wasps, yes, bees, not so much.

"Swarm! That's actually really good."

"Oh, wow, bees. Who would've guessed?" They grinned and rolled their eyes as the insects flew towards them, enveloping them immediately in a way that was slightly alarming but they didn't let it show, something to do with animals smelling fear or something. The stings came quickly for Ray, who was a bigger target for the bees but being indestructible, their stingers couldn't do much and (y/n) was just as fine. If she left them alone, they'd leave her alone too.

Perhaps it would be best for The Beekeeper to rethink his gimmick.

~Back in the Man Cave~

"SCHWOZ!" Charlotte screamed as she reached a breakthrough, having been working peacefully at the computer as Schwoz indulged in the time he had alone with Kaitlyn. Without Ray or (y/n) hogging her, he'd gotten the chance to bond with her over the past hour or so, but that was all about to change as Charlotte spotted something both brilliant and alarming.

"Ahhhh!" He yelped, causing the dog on his back to take a small tumble onto the floor when he jolted. They'd been having such a nice session of doga--dog-yoga--what was her deal with all the yelling? It couldn't have been that important, surely...

"What's on your problems?"

"Remember when Captain Man, Miss Danger and Kid Danger giant guy who talked to a towel?" Charlotte asked, not that it was easy to forget a guy like that. The Flabber Gas guy, the one who'd given Jasper the chance to be a hero and caused a mini earthquake in the Man Cave by setting off a minor argument between its resident lovebirds. Oh, and he remembered how (y/n) screamed bloody murder when he used her beloved Colin as a towel; fond, fond memories.

"How could I forget? But I did forget, what about him?"

"He had the symbol from the hostage video tattooed on his neck. And it was on the bottom of his can of Flabber Gas," The girl replied, pointing to the monitor when she had two images of that weird design again, the one that kept popping up now that she was digging deeper. Talk about a conspiracy.

"Okay..."

"And the scientists from Evil Science Corp had the symbol on their uniforms."

"What the hecks?" Schwoz was suddenly starting to understand this now as he held Kaitlyn to his chest like she was his (y/n) to his Ray. He didn't understand what it all meant but he was getting the sense of danger now, the kind that Charlotte was eluding to as she found more and more evidence of the symbol being more than just a symbol. Time and time again it had appeared during Captain Man, Miss Danger and Kid Danger's adventures; once was nothing, twice a coincidence, but three times, now it was just getting worrying.

"And when someone stole the world's most poisonous cactus, they left a card with that logo on it." Things were starting to pull together, pieces were falling into place and the puzzle was starting to unravel. Whoever was behind this had been planning something for a long time and was only now starting to show their hand, creeping out of the shadows to play their game properly.

"Oh my god! It was so on every screen in the Man Cave when the computer got hacked!"

"It was?!" Charlotte's eyes baulked out at the news. Well, that would've been nice to know a little earlier. Something told her that whilst Schwoz had laid the problem to rest and brushed off its seriousness when the trail went cold, things were actually related and went much deeper than any of them realised. All this time, the same symbol month after month, staying with them, plotting...

"Yes. It's like they've been fighting some secret team of bad guys without knowing it!"

"I know!" The revelation didn't bring them any ease, it only made them worry more as they feared what danger Ray and (y/n) could be in. If that many bad guys wore that symbol then who knows what they were up against and being the brainy little genius he was, Schwoz wanted to know the extent of the situation.

"Quick, do a search of that logo on all the public images available while I make baby-face with Kaitlyn," The man instructed the girl, who rolled her eyes as he fawned over the dog despite the gravity of the task. Now was no time to worry about the damn dog but she did as he said anyway, uploading the photo to the web and comparing it against hundreds of thousands of similar images in a matter of milliseconds. And the results were...unexpected.

"Oh my god..."

"Oh my god...oh my god..." They breathed out as they saw the matching result, although Charlotte threw Schwoz another judgemental look over her shoulder when he spoke for Kaitlyn, albeit in a higher-pitched voice that was dumb and inappropriate for the breakthrough they'd just made. "...is what Kaitlyn would say if she could talk."

Screw the dog. It was time to find out where the hell Henry was and tell him to save Captain Man and Miss Danger before it was too late.

~The Honey Factory~

Nothing had changed over the past fifteen minutes or so. The bees were still swarming, The Beekeeper was still annoying and the superhero couple were still doing okay. No matter how much he annoyed them, they weren't gonna let him get to them because he still had Rick Twitler gagged and bound as his hostage.

Poor guy, they had no idea what he'd done to deserve a kidnapping but they were gonna save him if it was the last thing they did because that was what they did best. Everyone liked Rick Twitler; he'd not only created the most popular site on the web but he was also charming, suave, intelligent and handsome.

No one could deny that he cut an impressive figure in his trademark maroon suit, complete with his perfect hair and crisply folded, pocket-handkerchief, and (y/n) would dare say that if she was utterly in love with someone else she might have a teensy-weensy crush on him. Most women in the city did, maybe even she did once upon a time.

"You're through Captain Man! Sorry to bee such a buzz-kill but your bee-ancé is going to feel the sting too!" The Beekeeper cackled maniacally as Ray and (y/n) rolled their eyes, totally unbothered by the bees that had landed on their bodies. The hero was sporting a beard made of the insects, whilst the girl found herself with practically a new dress and they crawled along her skin, stinging only occasionally and even then, it was no trouble for her super-regeneration or his indestructibility.

"You done?" Ray asked in a bored tone, having no energy to bite his head off for threatening his sweet girl. Normally, he'd go into ultra-protective, alpha hero mode where he'd take down any man who dared to harm a single hair on her pretty little head but with this guy, there was no threat to care about. (y/n) was fine and could take care of herself and honestly, the stupid puns kinda killed any malice that the villain was trying to muster.

"Seriously, you're both not in any pain? There's like a thousand bees on you and your precious little sidekick--girlfriend...whatever," The Beekeeper asked dejectedly, having felt sure that his winged minions would've subdued his enemies by now given how much a bee sting hurt, but this was Captain Man and Miss Danger, they ate pain for breakfast--amongst other things.

"I'm indestructible. Bees can't sting me, so if anything, it just kinda tickles," Ray replied with a shrug. This was common knowledge by now, everyone knew that Captain Man couldn't be harmed even with a super-duper blaster weapon device, what was he thinking when he chose bees with their itty-bitty stings? They just brush against his skin in a weird, prickling sensation that wasn't all that bad and even if his sweet girl could be stung, he'd be the first to know if it bothered her.

"Yeah, and if you just stay still and calm, bees don't sting you, so I'm good. Plus, even if they did sting me, I'm Miss Danger so I'd only feel it for a second before the pain goes away, dumb-dumb," (y/n) joined in, pointing out that whilst she might not be on Captain Man's level when it came to power and ability, she still held some authority when it came to being injured. The bees didn't care about the being they'd landed on, they were merely content to wander around.

"Okaaaaaay, what about wasps?" The villain proposed, not seeing how he was still an idiot. Wasps are just the evil form of bees, and he called himself the expert, so when he pulled out his little insect dispenser again, Ray had no issue in zapping him with his laser control before he could release more bugs. That was enough of that.

"Moron." (y/n) stated dryly as the bees began to fly away, probably back to their master now that he was on the floor snoozing and for a moment, things were okay again. The rescue was going smoothly and the couple shared a relieved smile at how things how turned out.

Honestly, they thought that this whole mission was gonna be a disaster.

~Back in the Man Cave~

Of course, it was a disaster, they just didn't know it yet.

In the last five minutes, Charlotte and Schwoz had been frantically trying to call Henry or Ray and (y/n) in an attempt to tell them about what they had found, where the couple was, what was happening and what they needed to do.

So much to say, so little time and it didn't help that the kid they needed was still unavailable, no matter how many times they rang his cell. And to make matter worse, the heroes had their phones on silent or something because they were missing too. Why were they never around when they needed to tell them about a matter of life or death?

"Get out of the honey factory right now! As soon as you get this message, it's a trap, Ray! You and (y/n) are walking into a trap!"

"Henry, do not go to the honey factory! When you get this message, you are in great danger!" They bellowed into their phones, hoping that by some technological marvel or miracle, they'd hear them but it was no use. All they could do was warn them, they couldn't get there in time to tell them to stay away from that damn factory and him.

Who would've guessed that the man they were trying to save was the man they'd been fighting all along? Who would've guessed that he could fool them so brilliantly? Who would've guessed that the mastermind hiding behind that symbol was Rick Twitler?

~The Honey Factory~

As ever, the true villain hid his malice behind an innocent face of desperation and an eagerness to be freed from the gag and the ropes tying his hands together. Too busy to see the missed calls and texts blowing up their phones, Ray and (y/n) rushed to his side as the last of the bees cleared off and quickly freed him, (y/n) carefully peeling the duct tape away from his mouth as Ray lasered the ropes.

"You saved my life. Thank you so much!" Twitler grovelled with his voice thick with falsified fear, pretending that he'd been at the mercy of The Beekeeper all along. He even gave Miss Danger a thankful smile as she and Captain Man helped him to his feet and secretly, on the inside, he was loving how they had no idea what they were walking into.

"You're welcome. And hey, look, I know that you're a billionaire and all, but we don't need any reward money. Wink..." Ray told the CEO cheekily as he slapped him on the back and implied that yes, he'd actually love a small tip on the side for the effort he'd gone to save him. Typically, he wouldn't be so forward but he had a wedding to think about and those weren't cheap, not when he was planning on giving his sweet girl everything she'd ever wanted and more so a few thousand dollars wouldn't go unwanted.

"Well, where's Kid Danger?" Rick asked, pretending that he was still stunned when he really wanted to know where the youngest of the trio was for a much more sinister reason. He was key to his dastardly plan and the fact that he hadn't turned up wasn't part of his plan. No matter, he could work around it.

"I dunno. Somewhere not eating frozen yoghurt."

"His loss, doofus," (y/n) gently told her lover as he massaged his stomach again, the mention of the lactose-laden dessert causing a repeat of the earlier cramps. They'd just have to pick up another batch for the kid when they left, that is, if Twitler was okay. He suddenly seemed very distant and thoughtful as if his mind was turning and mulling something over.

"Oh...okay..." Rick shrugged, deciding that even if Kid Danger wasn't available, his colleagues would work just as well. The cat was nearly out of the bag anyway so he had no trouble pulling a fancy-looking machine from his pocket and firing it up, which instantly caught the attention of the couple quietly celebrating their victory.

"Whatcha got there, fella?" Ray asked goodheartedly, not thinking for even a moment as he held his sweet girl's hand and warmly looked over at the billionaire that he was about to spring a trap. Twitler was still being coy, releasing his true personality slowly so as not to alert them to his intentions too quickly but pandering to them was starting to get exhausting. A little mysterious wickedness wouldn't hurt.

"A remote."

"Wow...y'know, we have loads of those in the Man Cave. What does yours do?" (y/n) chuckled lightly as she made light of the situation, thinking that they were just bantering with the man, y'know, just playing stupid over who knew more about remotes. So, what happened next came as a complete shock.

"Springs a trap," Rick replied dryly and her smile dropped by a fraction. A what now does what? He had to be joking, right? Yeah, he was joking, this was Rick Twitler they were talking to, that line was probably just his sense of humour, his very strange sense of humour. Maybe he was playing into the whole hero thing? That made sense to Ray, who completely ignored the comment and any possibility that it was intended for them, causing the secret villain to pity Miss Danger and her fooled heart.

"Oh, yeah? On who?" Seriously, what did she see in this guy? Having breached the Man Cave's security and computers, Twitler had found out everything he needed to know about the heroes; who they were, what they did, what they liked, what they were like as individuals and it was plain for him to see that the girl behind the mask deserved more than whatever Captain Man could offer because let's face it, strip away the guns, the pomp and the prestige, he was just another moron who'd gotten lucky with his looks and superpower. Captain Man wasn't special or brilliant in any way, the same, however, could not be said for his...enchanting lover.

"You two." He smirked and pressed the first button on the remote, watching with a sense of satisfied joy as the heroes fell before they could even react. In the blink of an eye, two machines shot up from the floor, each encasing a hero as two circular panels blocked them off from one another.

They tensed at the sudden appearance of the tech but before they could bolt for safety, the panels realised some kind of weird energy that paralysed their muscles, which was okay for (y/n) since she froze in an upright position with her arm stretched out in an instinctive attempt to reach out to her doofus. Speaking of her doofus, he didn't have it so well; he'd made the mistake of crouching into a protective curl, so not the easiest position to hold. What the fuck was this?

"Game on, Captain Man and Miss Danger." The billionaire cackled as he watched the heroes struggle against the gaseous energy, finding it hilarious how their oh-so-strong bodies strained against the forces keeping them still, only to succumb to its energy-sapping pull. He had them trapped and it felt so sweet, well, it did until a bee flew into his mouth and down his throat, causing him to choke.

"Man, I hate these bees!" He growled as Captain Man fought to get free, feeling like an absolute idiot for trusting him in the first place. He could just about look to his left and see (y/n) struggling too and his heart lurched at the panic on her face as she tried to lower her arm or move her legs or something.

He couldn't even help himself, so how was he supposed to protect her?

The incessant laughing didn't help his fury either and neither did the way Twitler prowled around their paralysis machines with a smouldering glint in his eye, his finger trailing over the smooth metal of his girl's trap. If he dared to lay one finger on her, he would break his nose the moment he was free, if only that moment would come quicker. He didn't enjoy his gloating nor his sidekick's growls of frustration or the man's leering stares, and what he wouldn't give to punch him in his stupid face.

"All right. Okay, Rick, you've been laughing for, like, a really long time now, that's enough!" The hero snapped as the laughter rode his last nerve. They got it, they were dumb, they walked right into it, they should've been a little less smug and a lot more careful, he didn't need to rub it in so much.

"I'm sorry...you just look so ridiculous!" The CEO giggled and brushed a rogue tear away from the corner of his eye as he stared at the famed hero squatting like he was at a yoga session for middle-aged women. It was demeaning, cruel and humiliating for the guy, so ideal for Twitler and agony for (y/n) to watch as her doofus toughened out the embarrassment. When she got her hands on that good-for-nothing asshole, he'd regret the day he planned this trap.

"Well, I'm sure he wasn't expecting to be frozen by a man we had just saved," (y/n) retorted, glaring at her new enemy with all of the iciness she could muster but it still wasn't enough to make Rick shiver. He was driven, cold, calculating and totally without empathy--the perfect CEO...or psychopath.

"Yeah, that's the plasma gas."

"Huh?" Ray frowned at the man's sciencey words because as always, he didn't understand. He wasn't Schwoz or his fiancée, both of whom would instantly understand, he had never studied math or chemistry or biology, so he felt dumb, something Rick Twitler revelled in. Seriously, what did Miss Danger see in this guy? She was so different to him, so much smarter--the perfect sidekick lover to stand by his side.

"Plasma. Gas. It's made from a chemical in a very poisonous cactus I stole from the Swellview Cactus convention," He revealed, causing Ray and (y/n) to look at him with shock merging with their glares. Oh, so he'd been a pain in their asses for that long, huh?

"That was you?"

"Uh-huh..." Wow, he stole a cactus and used it to trap two of Swellview's greatest crimefighters, big deal. He didn't need to look so smug.

"Well, good for you. Can we just skip to the part where we punch you and drag you to jail?" Ray asked, feeling done with the whole thing because he remembered that feeling of hope he had when thinking back to that promise of going home. Home sounded nice right about now, no traps, no assholes and all he had to do to get there was punch this dick in his perfect teeth. If only he'd stop the flow of gas--fat chance.

"That's not gonna happen," Rick replied and it was eerily impressive how calm and sure of himself he was. Not to boost his ego or anything but if (y/n) was evil and without a doofus, she'd find herself smitten, but that was a big if. She could barely turn her head to look but she strained until she could scowl at him for mocking them so cruelly and she just hoped that he had a good doctor for when she and Captain man worked out a way of getting free.

"Yeah, it is, Rick. You're talking to Captain Man." She sneered, causing Ray to glance up at the villain with a proud smirk on his face, one that irritated Twitler more than he cared to admit. He may have been an idiot but he had her love, as unfair and unbelievable as that seemed. Well, two could play at that game.

"I've fought a lot of bad guys, pal. And I always win."

"I'm not your average bad guy, Ray Manchester," Rick replied smugly as he looked between each pod, playing his ace and watching the steeled face of Captain Man fall as he heard his real name fall from his lips. He caught himself instantly, no doubt wanting to play dumb and pretend that he wasn't a normal guy underneath the suit but judging by Miss Danger's, or should he say (y/n)'s, soft gasp, he'd hit the nail on the head--Captain Man's second-biggest weakness. What? He wasn't gonna hack their computers and not find out every last juicy detail.

"W-who's that?" Ray stammered, trying to remain calm as his heart sank to his stomach, then exploded, then imploded and then surged into his throat, ready for him to puke. No, no, no, he couldn't know who he was, that was the most dangerous thing that could happen and he could practically feel the terror radiating from his sweet girl. How could he possibly know? He didn't know, but all they could do was deny, deny, deny as if that would be enough to stop him.

"I hacked into the Man Cave computer while you two were off having your little date at Catus Con. I know everything about you," right, so that's how he knew. As they had done for Charlotte and Schwoz, things were starting to come together for the heroes as they realised how he'd looked into their personal files and discovered who they were and not just their hero selves, who they were. Shit.

"No, you don't," Ray could say no all he wanted but there was no getting away from the fact of how pale he was looking, possibly the most scared (y/n) had ever seen him and she knew that she didn't look much better. Her lover's true identity was her most valued secret and she never failed to stress how vital it was for them to stay hidden, so to think that this dick knew about them, the Man Cave and their very vulnerable friends there was...sickening.

"Your name is Ray Manchester. You own a fake store above the Man Cave called Junk-N-Stuff. You tell people you're thirty-six when really you're..."

"No!"

"Thirty-seven! You can't take being older than your precious sweet girl, can you? Can't take how she'd fit better with a younger, more intelligent, safer man," Rick knew how to twist the knife in a man's back, watching how the once valiant, strong hero hung his head in shame at having his deepest insecurities out in the open. He didn't need to be a shrink to see he fought a constant battle of accepting and cherishing her love to debating whether he was doing the right thing by her. Oh, they had a complicated history and he knew what to say to exploit his biggest weakness, the one thing Captain Man couldn't bear to lose, even if it was for the best.

"Shut up! Just shut up!" (y/n) snapped, her temper flaring at how this...this...bastard had come crashing into their lives and was now trying to tear them apart. He wouldn't do it, no way would she let him ruin what they had just for the sake of scoring a few cheap shots; he might have done his homework but not everything that they felt for each other was on record. What did he know about what kind of man would suit her? She decided on that agenda.

"Ah, yes, the loyal sidekick and fiancée, Miss Danger. Or should I say, (y/n) (y/l/n)?" Her distraught eyes met him as her breaths grew unsteady in panic but she tried to keep calm. No matter how wounded he felt, Ray tugged at his invisible restraints to try and shield her from whatever comments and dirt he'd managed to dig up on her but she'd have to take it alone.

Scraping up every ounce of bravery she could, (y/n) held Twitler's gaze and ignored how hard her heart was thumping against her ribcage, preferring to act as if the utterance of her name whilst she was in uniform didn't bother her at all.

"You don't know me..." she stated with a strong edge to her tone, trying to show that whilst he'd struck a nerve with her soulmate, he couldn't get to her so easily. She could be strong for both of them, right? Ray always liked to be the protector but for once, the roles had reversed and the heroine found herself with a new job; showing her doofus that despite everything and every other man out there, she wanted him, no one else.

"Oh, but I do. Your name is (y/n) (y/l/n), you moved to the city for college and graduated from Swellview Tech University with a degree in mechanical engineering. You then met Captain Man after you got held at gunpoint in a cafe and you spent the next ten years working for him... Tell me, did it hurt to see him date so many women when you were already so in love with him?" Rick asked her smugly as his mind flickered through every scrap of juicy history he'd read from the Man Cave computer, every little secret about the couple that had proved to be better than a soap opera.

"I'm not telling you anything," (y/n) spat, wishing she could lunge forward to spit in his face or jerk her outstretched arm to hit him in the stomach, possibly a little lower. Yeah, it hurt, anyone would be hurt to see the man of their dreams ignore them in favour of hundreds of meaningless flings, but that had been cleared up as a misunderstanding. She'd long said that she'd wait another decade if it meant having eternal happiness with him, not that she needed to as their love was now firmly established. Throwing salt at healed wounds does nothing.

"What a shame. I know how smart you are, I know how your potential has been held back all these years and I know that you've done it all for him. Silly, little (y/n), how many hot moms will it take for you to see that you're marrying a man who will never return the loyalty you give him?"

Maybe he was right. Maybe (y/n) had given up a career as a brilliant engineer or a life with a man who could be deemed easier to love. Maybe she'd hurt a lot more than she had loved and maybe she'd never be able to know if his penchant for women with kids would break her one day. But she wouldn't allow herself to think like that for one very good reason. If she left him now, she would regret it forever. If she spent too much time worrying about what might happen, she'd miss everything going on right now, including how her doofus was looking at her with teary eyes and a heartbroken stare.

"I don't know. One? Five? Ten? A hundred? A million? I don't care how many moms he has flirted or will flirt with, I've made my choice and there's nothing you can do or say that will make me stop loving him," the heroine replied firmly, feeling tears spring in her eyes too. It wasn't her necessarily resigning herself to fate but more like standing up to a bully who thought that what he said had meaning. He could read ancient history if he wanted to, she preferred sibylline daydreaming anyways.

"And I will never stop loving her, Twitler. Always have, always will," Ray added in a hoarse voice, his throat closing up from the emotion of his wife affirming everything she felt for him, which wasn't too far off how he felt for her. She was his wife, she just had to be, no one else came close to taking her place and the only thing stopping him from calling her that was a signature on a piece of paper.

For all his insecurities, a doofus fell in love with a sweet girl, the CEO didn't have a patch on that.

~In the Man Cave~

"Why would the guy who founded Twitflash want to destroy Captain Man, Miss Danger and Kid Danger?" Charlotte asked as she and Schwoz sat in the Man Cave, still pondering over their grave problem and petting Kaitlyn.

They had no idea about the emotional turmoil their friends were suffering through, they'd given up trying to call but even so, the least they could do is try to work out why Rick Twitler would want to take down three superheroes. What had they ever done to him? Wasn't he meant to be the hot yet attractively stern businessman that the women on the subway gossiped about?

"Maybe he doesn't want to destroy the--" Schwoz theorised out loud before gasping as he came to a frightening conclusion, "--he wants to steal Ray, (y/n) and Henry's powers!"

"Well, how's he gonna do that?" Charlotte asked, turning in the computer's chair so she could look at the genius trying to juggle the dog in his arms. This was some serious science they were talking about and it took every synapse in Schwoz's brain just to fit everything together. How was he supposed to explain it to a girl who was admittedly quite smart but nowhere near brainy enough to get all of the complex details?

"Oh, boy, this is complicated, so I'm going to explain it to you in my American accent," Boy, this had to be big, Schwoz was dropping his foreign lilt because apparently, American is easier to understand. He never changed how he spoke, doing so made him ill and even though his accent was pretty impressive, he liked his natural one more. This must have been serious.

"Okay."

"But I can only do it for so long before I pass out..." a minor drawback but a big one that rendered him useless. And they really didn't need him being useless.

"Then hurry!" Charlotte exclaimed and took Kaitlyn from him so that when he did collapse, she wouldn't be hurt by Schwoz falling on top of her. The genius took his seat like a professor about to begin a lecture and he took a deep breath before pointing at the screen. It was time for Schwoz to think about cheese, burgers and freakishly large soda cups.

"Ray, (y/n) and Henry all got sprayed with Flabber Gas. Now, you can counteract its effects but Flabber Gas never actually leaves your body. And on Halloween, when Ray, (y/n) and Henry went through the portal at the Evil Science Corp, they were covered with interdimensional bio-residue. That takes years to wash off your skin. And Whistlin' Susie...the old atomic bomb that was delivered to the Man Cave, it dosed Ray, (y/n) and Henry with gamma radiation. And finally, the diez leches cake. The tenth and final leche is what brings it all together. That's A.M.O.R.E."

"Love?" Jeez, Charlotte, way to ruin a guy's big impressive speech on crazy science in a strangely unnerving voice. Hearing Schwoz speaking like...a normal person was rather unsettling for the girl but she ignored it, focusing purely on some weird chemical compound that had formed on the monitor in front of her, something to do with the various elements and goo that their friends had been exposed too, all of which had been seemingly engineered by Twitler to be thrown at them at some point or another.

"No...Anti-Macro OxyRibonucleic Enzymes!" When he put it like that, it sure did sound pretty smart.

" A-M-O-R-E. That is A.M.O.R.E!" Charlotte grinned as she understood the acronym, seeing how the words formed a singular term that was much easier for her to understand and now that she could comprehend, it was time for Professor Schwoz to check out.

"It sure is, Charlotte. It sure is---" True to his word, Schwoz collapsed as the strain of using his American accent grew too much for her and to the girl's horror, he faceplanted the floor. What was she gonna do now?

"Wait, Schwoz!" She needed help with the nuclear macaroni enzymes things and Kaitlyn. Who was gonna watch Kaitlyn as she panicked? Who was gonna help her help Ray and (y/n)?

"...the A.M.O.R.E molecule binds itself to that makes you indestructible and gives you your super-regeneration. This device locates A.M.O.R.E and pulls it from your bodies along with your powers." Rick Twitler described the wicked process that he was gonna force upon Captain Man and Miss Danger, who of course, were forced to listen to every stupid word. Y'know, some of them had been to college, some of them already knew this shit.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah, Anti-Macro OxyRibonucleic Enzymes, big chemical compounds, we get it. Move on, moron, we already know that your stupid plan is gonna be evil and painful," (y/n) rolled her eyes at the villain and how he'd dumbed it down for their benefit, well, Ray's benefit mainly. He knew that she was already knowledgable but he wanted her idiotic finacé to understand how his plan was coming together nicely and what was in store for him.

"It's incredibly painful, smart girl."

"Hey! Only I get to call her that! And anyway, luckily, I'm indestructible," Ray snapped and then smirked at Rick, his temper flaring as he dared to open flirt with his girl in that monotone voice. He was her perfect opposite, the doofus to match her intelligence and only he got to marvel at how clever she was, no one else and certainly not some jumped-up little CEO shit who thought he was the greatest thing since sliced bread. He wouldn't have that smirk on his face when his superpower saved him from the science that attacked his superpower. Wait, what?

"Oh, sweetheart..."

"I just said I'm going to take your indestructibility," Twitler frowned, finding his dimwittedness confusing since he wasn't used to being with someone whose brains were equal to a goldfish's. Now he knew why Miss Danger's shining brilliance was so dimmed, he clouded her potential with what could only be described as negative brain cells and a failure to see even the most obvious of things.

"I'd like to hear how," the hero quipped, thinking he was being so very smart when really, he was being so very dumb. At least (y/n) found him cute, no matter how slow he was, that everlasting confidence that coated every sentence he uttered endeared him to her so much--something Rick would never fully understand.

"I've been telling you how! Have you not been listening to any of this? How can you love a guy like this? He's...so stupid!" Rick exclaimed, his head snapping to Miss Danger who stood there with a bored expression on her face. What? Did he want her to love a guy like him? A guy whose wardrobe only understood one colour? Yeah, right.

"He may be stupid, but he's adorable. And anyway, he heard you, he may not have understood it, but he was listening! Right, doofus?" the heroine snapped back, drifting her eyes across to Ray, who was giving the bad guy a hard stare. Right, he didn't get all of the science terms but he was listening. Sort of.

"Yeah, I heard him, sweet girl. Blah-blah-blah, mmmm, chemistry! Mmmm, molecules, pbbbt!" Ray ridiculed Rick, causing a soft giggle to fall from her lips at how his voice was all squeaky and annoying--the perfect mockery of the evil guy. His jaw clenched at how the hated superhero won her favour so easily with no skill or intelligence, just a cheap trick that should have barely been worth her ears hearing. What did that guy have that women enjoyed, apart from the obvious things like muscles and the face? He was just an oaf.

"Look, Kid Danger's gonna show up any second now and punch a million holes in your face," Ray's tone turned serious as he switched focus to his absent sidekick. He and (y/n) did not doubt that Henry had been found safe and ready to fight and he was making his way to them as they spoke. He'd never abandon them and he'd never allow this setup to go unpunished, no matter how powerful or influential to tech giant was. It was just a matter of moments before that smirk was wiped off Rick Twitler's face.

"Oh, really? I highly doubt tha--"

"Ahhhhhh!" Speak of the devil and he will appear. As if he'd been summoned by Rick's gloating and stupid, bemused expression, Henry released a battle cry and fell from the ceiling, landing directly on top of his new enemy. What a day he'd have, puzzles sure do take a long time to complete and who'd have thought that disappearing at all hours of the day would make your family suspicious?

Anyway, Ray and (y/n) grinned and gasped in delight as they saw that familiar uniform divebomb onto the man holding them captive and it truly was a glorious sight, even if it also looked a little painful.

"Kid! I literally just said you were about to show up!"

"Oh yeah?" Henry grinned as he fixed his eyes on his boss and friend for the first time that day, glossing over the fact that they were both in awkward positions. He'd been told something about a factory and Ray and (y/n) needing help so he'd left his house as soon as possible and sheesh, Schwoz, Jasper and Charlotte were not lying about the help thing. They were in quite a pickle.

"Yeah, he was like, oh, Kid Danger is gonna punch you in the face any second now!" (y/n) imitated her doofus in her deepest voice, causing him to look in her direction fondly. If only the stupid machine wasn't in the way, he could get a proper view of her beauty then.

"Like just now?"

"Yeah, were you listening?" Ray asked, swearing that it was too big of a coincidence for the kid to drop at the perfect moment like that. It was like he'd been waiting for his cue or something when in reality, it truly was just dumb luck.

"No, no, dude. I just rolled up, saw the roof, found a shaft and just dropped in!" Henry, or Ethan Hunt as they might call him now, smiled and retold his epic tale of how he'd wormed his way into the building incognito just in case there were henchmen or guards in the hallways. That, and diving in from the roof was just cool and made for a better entrance - a perfect entrance if you landed on your enemy and take them out too.

"Noice!" And Ray loved a good, old-fashioned perfect entrance.

"So, uh, who'd I land on? Good guy? Bad guy? What are we talking here?" Henry moved on, having not even realised that he'd just bruised the spleen and dirtied the suit of one of the richest men and one of the biggest assholes on Earth. He'd missed the texts and calls about who was behind all of their misery in the past few months, so he had no idea about the treachery that was taking place with two of his closest friends as the victims.

"Bad guy! Really bad guy! Rick Twitler, he tried to take our powers," (y/n) answered, spitting the words out like venom as their opponent slowly rose from the floor, rubbing at his sore neck from the boy that had dropped on it. He had no idea what had happened but there was no doubt that Kid Danger would sort him out, then they'd fry him with the memory wiper and send him off to jail.

"Not cool, Rick Twitler!" Henry frowned at the guy who he'd previously deemed to be a decent guy but judging by how angry his friends were, he was quite the jerk. That earned him a swift laser to the knee because no one hurts his friends and no one was above the law. He hated guys like him and looking at how harshly Ray was glaring with a strangely satisfied smirk, he deserved it, not that he knew why.

"Wait, wait, wait, I thought he was the hostage," the kid mentioned, feeling a bit bad for zapping a guy who'd been reported in the news as a victim. Two conflicting stories, the one the world knew and the one (y/n) was telling him, and he was inclined to believe the latter.

"Fake!" Ray snapped, wanting to make it clear that the only thing that guy would be receiving was his foot in his face. And he better be grateful that that was the only place it would be. There was nothing to feel sorry about, he was the bad guy here, as unbelievable as it seemed.

"What happened to The Beekeeper?" This is why you don't spend the afternoon doing jigsaw puzzles. You miss out on all of the interesting stuff.

"Lasered."

"Why are you squatting like that? And what are you pointing at?" With that question answered, Henry soon moved on to others, having so much to learn in the room that had kept Captain Man and Miss Danger hostage for the last two hours. Now, he could finally ask about their weird positions because surely, bending your knees or holding your arm out like that for a long period was painful and achy, so he was more than confused.

"Trapped."

"Can't move."

"Zoinks," well, that wrapped that up nicely. He was so very nearly up to speed with everything, but one thing was still a mystery to the kid. Why would Rick Twitler, the guy who could afford anything and do whatever he wanted with whoever he fancied, want to go to so much trouble and risk being captured? "wait, so why would this dude kidnap himself and then try to steal your superpowers?"

"I don't know. I stopped listening after he started flirting with my fiancée," Ray shrugged, having no respect for the guy or anything he said earlier because he was a dick, straight and simple. Everyone knew that he didn't like to pay attention to smart people's things unless (y/n) was explaining them and even then it went in one ear and out the other, him preferring to just stare at her pretty face and watch how cute she was when excitedly explaining mole-things and compoonds or whatever.

"I was going to take your superpowers and put them in this!" Rick Twitler hissed as he dragged himself up from the floor and tugged away a sheet covering his precious, superpower-reliant machine, which honestly wasn't a patch on anything Schwoz or (y/n) could invent. It wasn't shiny or flashy enough for starters.

"A lava lamp?" Henry asked flatly, feeling rather unimpressed with the machine since it just looked like something that his parents would've had a few decades ago along with naff hair and a waterbed. Was that the best he could come up with?

"No," the nefarious man replied sharply, causing the boy to make a small, disappointed sound before he carried on, "it's a computer virus. A living, organic computer virus. Nasty stuff. It's going to infect every computer, every laptop and every phone on Earth. I'm gonna destroy the Internet. Forever." Jeez, someone had been bullied at school.

"Not cool, Rick Twitler!"

"Yeah, something tells me that no matter how much you think we'd be a good match, we would not get along. Hit him again, kid," (y/n) told Henry as she screwed her nose up at the notion of him wiping out the invention that improved the lives of so many people. Sure, the internet was a bit annoying at times, especially when it came to kids and their phones but he couldn't just get rid of it. Since when did one man get the deciding vote for everyone else?

Heeding her words, Henry zapped the psycho with another laser, causing him to fall to the floor again with a groan of pain as his leg burned, not that they cared. He could groan all they wanted, they were just getting started.

"I have a question," Ray announced, making Henry immediately drop back so he could ask it because he was respectful like that. He may not have been good when it came to philosophical or scientific breakthroughs but he was by no means stupid, a superhero couldn't be. He had some smarts about him.

"Captain Man."

"You invented Twitflash."

"That is not a question but continue," saying that though, he did have his limits. Poor guy, he was just getting started, he had to give the old brain cells a chance to warm up first.

"Why would you want to destroy the internet?" he asked, causing (y/n) to smile softly. Who was dumb now? She, the smart one, had been thinking that too because it was a valid point. The guy had made his name in the internet business, all of his money and investments were tied up in cyberspace, and no internet meant no life for him. Strange, indeed.

"Nice one, doofus!"

"Because the internet ruined everything! And it's partially my fault. Everyone just stares at their phones all day now, scrolling through Twitflash. It's terrible!" Twitler answered dramatically. In some ways, they understood where he was coming from; the internet was an obsession for most people, nomophobia was beginning to be a real issue and his website and apps were some of the biggest spreaders. However, did that mean that the only solution was to get rid of it? No, the web has its benefits too like hilarious web shows or super cool online books that could be read at any moment.

"But dude, memes..."

"Memes are hilarious!"

"Oh my god, remember the ones with the rats and they're all in a circle and they're like, aw, Mondays! And it's like, feelin' old yet?" (y/n) giggled with her companions as they shared their love of all funny jokes that accompanied funny images. Who didn't love memes? They were so lighthearted and fun. Memes never hurt anybody.

"I don't care about memes!" And Rick Twitler just bumped himself up to hated status on their lists. What a loser, he really needed to get out more, frown less and find himself a girlfriend, although, not Miss Danger, she was off-limits. "That's why I was going to create an indestructible, self-regenerating computer virus with super-fast reflexes, unleash it on the world and destroy the internet forever!"

"Mmmm, not cool, Rick Twitler!"

"Oh, come on!" The villain groaned as Henry zapped him once more, still not liking the sound of his little plot and a green bolt to the chest just seemed fitting. Plus, it was fun to watch him fall to the floor and it gave them the chance to get free of his weird gas contraptions.

"All right, kid. Come on, get us outta these things. My glutes are barkin'!" Ray instructed his young sidekick as (y/n) smiled to herself, imagining how much his ass hurt after squatting like that for so long. Her poor baby, she'd have to give him extra cuddles after this, or rather, whenever she got the feeling back in her right arm, the one that had been horizontal for lord knows how long.

"All right, all right, uhhhh..." the boy complied and walked between both machines, looking at their individual control panels on the side and frowning when he saw how complicated they were. Okay, that was a lot of buttons and he didn't know what any of them did, meaning he was clueless on how to free them, which wasn't gonna sit well with Ray and his sore butt. "I don't see an off button, dude..."

"Well, just laser it! Y'know, when in doubt, melt things!" (y/n) told him, feeling too tired and frustrated to think of something better. Brute force always came in handy and there was no reason to suspect that something would go wrong, not when she and Ray just wanted to feel their extremities again.

"All right..."

"I wouldn't do that." Came the groggy protest of Rick Twitler as Henry pulled out his controller again. Right, yeah, he was gonna listen to a bad guy; this was clearly another one of his tricks or evil schemes and he wasn't gonna pull the wool of the kid's eyes that easily.

"Well, now I'm definitely gonna do it!" He grinned and without a second thought, he zapped one shot at Ray's machine and another at (y/n)'s, causing the circuits to fizz, pop and overload as everything superheated and melted. With a loud bang, the contraptions fell apart, ceasing the flow of gas and freeing a stunned Ray and (y/n), both of who fell to the floor in a tired pile...with the metal plates falling on top of them too. Well, perhaps sometimes listening to the bad guy isn't such a bad idea.

"Oh god, that was not a good idea."

"Kid, you made it worse!" The couple groaned at the weight pinning them to the floor, which would have surely squished some vital organs had they not been superheroes. On one hand, there was the positive that they were now able to move freely and were close enough to rub shoulders and grasp at each other's hands as if to say that everything was okay, but it wasn't.

On the other hand, the metal was heavy, really fucking heavy, so heavy in fact that not even Captain Man and his brutal strength could beat it, leaving them trapped under the wreckage with no hopes of pulling themselves free. Oh, goodie.

"I told you not to do that," Rick smirked as he stood up from the ground, his gaze lingering on Miss Danger like he was taunting her. He did so love to rile her up since it was apparent that she was getting no mental stimulation around these buffoons and also, he loved a small brag or a big one. Any brag in front of the heroes.

"Oh, shut up, you smug ass!" (y/n) snapped as her fingers clawed the ground for some kind of surface to grab onto so she could pull herself free to help Henry or her doofus but it was just smooth concrete pulling her skin apart only for it to stitch itself back together. She felt so useless, especially when Ray tried to lift the panel on top of her to no avail; he was trying to get her free before himself and it was impossible. And in Henry's hour of need of all things as the boy stormed towards Twitler, intent on wiping that stupid expression off his face.

"W-w-w-wait! Let me explain something to you!" The coward snivelled as he stepped away from the furious sidekick edging towards him with his fists clenched. They really should've formulated a plan before going in for an attack because they should've learnt by now that Rick Twitler leaves nothing to chance, not when it came to his grand plan.

"What?" Henry demanded to know.

"I planned to steal all of your superpowers," Twitler revealed softly, fully aware that Captain Man and Miss Danger had their eyes trained on him and their friend, even though they were powerless to stop him. Perhaps he couldn't get to them but he could get to the kid instead, the boy who he knew meant so much to them and that freaky little family of theirs.

"Yeah?"

"So I built three traps..."

"Kid!" The couple's clawing for escape was in vain as the same happened to Henry that had happened to them. Out of nowhere, a plasma gas trap sprung from the ground and encased the boy, trapping him in a running motion before even his super-fast reflexes could save him. The gas acted fast and the psycho couldn't believe that he'd pulled the same trick twice.

"Not cool, Rick Twitler," Henry groaned as he tried to jerk against his invisible restraints as (y/n) and Ray had done but like them, he couldn't free. They were in the same situation, although it felt worse, knowing that they could easily get free if they worked and pulled and squirmed a little harder but they had no energy left to get free from the stupid, broken machine.

Unlike before, Rick didn't waste a second with any gloating, even if he did spare them a vicious grin and swiftly, he grabbed a long, blue pipe that connected to his super-virus storage machine, hooking it to Kid Danger's trap as he ignored the sweet, sweet sounds of silly Ray Manchester and his confused lover groaning for nothing. Victory had never been so easy, not when they sagged in exhaustion and stared with broken expressions at their panicking friend.

"Say goodbye to your superpower, Kid Danger."

"No!" It was cute, really, his last act of defiance despite how scared he looked and if he was a little more human, Rick might have felt a twinge of admiration. But the way he saw it was simple; there was a fine line between bravery and stupidity and Kid Danger had blurred that line the moment he accepted the job offer of a lifetime. Valiance wasn't gonna save him in the end.

"Okay!"

"What? No, wait, wait--ah!" Henry gasped at the fire that seemed to spread through his veins as his power drained away. His head tilted back and the essence that gave him the power to move faster than any human on Earth flowed from his mouth like water down a river, only not as gentle or calming.

This was forced and cruel, painful like nothing he'd ever experienced and he couldn't move to protect himself or bear the pain, nor could Ray reach to help the poor kid he said would be safe with him. All he could do was squeeze (y/n)'s hand tightly and try not to crumble from the sight of her tears.

The power zipped through the tube at lightning speed, no one paying attention to the fly that was there one minute and gone the next as the virus was pumped full of super juice. If it was fast before, it was like lightning now as the lava lamp goo turned green, leaving Henry to fall to the floor like a hollowed-out shell.

"See you in the Dark Ages," Rick Twitler bid his enemies a fond farewell as he collected the small vessel of his super virus from the transfer unit. His bidding with the heroes was now done and whilst it would've been nice to add indestructibility or super-regeneration to the mix, he was content enough to leave Henry on the ground, weak and delirious. Perhaps (y/n) (y/l/n) would see sense one day, she see that she needed his brain to match hers and when that day came, he'd be waiting for her.

"Just gotta pull...harder..." (y/n) gritted her teeth and tried to wiggle forward, aided only by Ray's arm pushing her forward as Twitler made a swift getaway. To her surprise, the metal did move slightly, not by much but just enough to relieve the pressure on her hips and for a moment, they rested as they looked at Henry. They'd get themselves free, they always did but what about him? He looked so...drained.

"Hey, kid. Are your super-fast reflexes gone?" Ray asked tiredly as his arm rested on his girl's back, feeling shattered from the effort of trying to get her free. He could take being trapped if it meant she could help herself and the kid, he'd take anything if it gave them a shot at fixing this mess.

"I don't know..." Henry replied. He still felt the same, extremely tired and hollow but still fine, so he had no way of knowing if that dick's stupid experiment and machine worked. He trusted Twitler as far as he could throw him, so he could be all right or he could be not all right, how could they find out?

"Here! Catch!" Ray whispered and threw a piece of debris at the teen's face just as he and Jasper always did when they wanted to mess with his powers. To Henry's annoyance and disappointment, however, he didn't catch it in the blink of an eye like he normally did, it merely ricocheted off of his nose and rolled away leaving him with a hurt face and a wounded heart.

"Ow!"

"Yeah. Yeah, they're definitely gone...what do we do now?" (y/n) asked dejectedly as they looked at each other with clueless faces and defeated eyes. They were trapped, Henry had no superpowers anymore, Rick Twitler had gotten away, his virus was now a mega virus, he was set to destroy the internet with it, and they had no way of stopping him. What could they do?

The internet was dead. Long live society.

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woodsfae · 7 months

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Working with equine vets is so fraught, because they think they're experienced and/or trained in universal horse behaviorism, but they're actually familiar with a near-universal cultural background that creates certain consistent behavioral responses.

For example: you're supposed to handle and train horses from a young age so they are exposed to lots of important stimuli throughout their development. You want your 1,000-2,000 pound animal to be calm when faced with blowing bags, kids on bikes, loud cars engines, and a thousand other things, because otherwise you have a panicked 1,000-2,000 pounds of horse trying to escape with zero rational thought besides "fleeeeeeeeeeeee and kick it to shit along the way so it doesn't get you."

In the USA, most young horses get training that would be considered abusive in pets like cats/dogs. One of those things is hard-tying. That's when you take a foal, put a halter on it, and tie them to a post on a very short lead. Then you let them get bored/upset/scared and try to move away. They are young and not very strong yet, so they can't no matter how much they struggle. And then they learn helplessness when tied up and don't pull even as adults. To be clear, this is abusive and there are much better ways of training a horse to stand calmly while tied, just like there are ways to train dogs to be calm while tied up for a bit. This is just common and isn't illegal in the USA. Both healthy and abusive training methods aim for roughly the same goals: a predictable and calm horse that tolerates medical examinations, new stimuli, leads/ties well and doesn't pull, to name a few. This is for safety purposes. Horses are large, and dangerous even under the best of circumstances just because they're flipping huge. A dog steps on your foot, maybe an ouch? A horse steps on your foot, maybe an ouch in best case scenario, maybe a broken foot.

However, Partner's rescue horse didn't get any training of any kind as a foal, good or bad. He was born right when a breeding ranch was starting to go under and he was entirely neglected. He was just loose in a pasture, feral. He wasn't handled as a foal. He wasn't haltered. He wasn't trained. He wasn't habituated to anything scary or unusual. Then when he was about ten, they decided to rectify that mistake and then a did a really really great job of traumatizing him in short bursts, then letting him back out in the pasture, now even more afraid of humans and new things after the "training" didn't work, leave him alone a few months, repeat.

Eventually my partner (a positive reinforcement trainer) met him right around the time he had been sold and a new person was carrying out their own inept attempt to cow an adult, traumatized horse into submission they way they would a untraumatized foal, and it went so badly that that person decided to have him put down. So my partner convinced them to sell the horse to him, and ten years later Canner-the-horse has come so so so so far and is trained to do many impressive and cool things, but he will never have the same reactions as a normal horse born and trained in the usa. And he is always going to have that trauma background and his "flight" reaction to stress turned way the fuck up.

All this to say, it was really fucking annoying when the who vet insisted she knew horse behaviorism stayed right on him continuing to examine him as he started to back away, because her experiences says "he'll stop when he hits the fence because that's what horses that have been this calm do," when Canner's actual instinct says "bolt the second I feel trapped because that's what's kept me safe before."

Thankfully we did prevent that (him having his horsey ptsd triggered and bolting) from happening.

Annoyingly I'm going to have to do the blood draw myself because he was too nervous after that examination to risk having her pull the blood.

And she's one of the best, most flexible horse vets I've ever met and I feel lucky she was so chill about following our instructions for the most part and will accept a blood sample drop-off that I take. sigh.

#ethology #horse ethology #operant conditioning #positive reinforcement #force free training #woodsfae

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jerrienelock · 3 years

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Without You - Sadie Sink

Takes place after the filming of Stranger Things Season 3

Exhausted.

Sadie is exhausted from all her sleepless nights. The sleep she longs for, no longer around, not since you left. She misses your presence, your hugs, your delicate words, your gentle touches. She just wants to be in your arms relishing in your radiant warmth, feeling your loving kisses to the back of her head.

She just wishes you had told her how you were feeling before that fateful day happened.

Splashes of water coat her face, trying to wake herself up, and cleanse her mind of you so she is prepared for her first interview since you left. Sadie shuts the water off, her hands now firmly on the sink. Her gaze locks with her reflection. Her once smooth skin, disturbed with protruding deep purple bags under her broken teal eyes. Her lips automatically dropping into a deep miserable frown, she finds no need for her mouth to break away from that position for it was practically engraved into her skin.

But soon she will have to tear it out and upturn the frown in a mask of joy and perfection. She doesn't want to do that, she just wants to go home and cry into one of your hoodies and not come out for days on end or until filming starts up again.

She should be strong, but without you there it feels like her whole world is slowly falling apart, and just a gentle push can send it tumbling down. You were her rock, her saviour, her superhero that fends off all the bad guys for her.

But now that you're gone, she has to do that all alone.

An interview without you at her side feels so daunting, she won't be able to clutch onto your hands when she feels a slight bit of nerves. She won't be able to rely on you to get through the merciless questions that will only be worse, now that you're gone.

"Sades?" A soft voice calls from behind the bathroom door. Sadie quickly stands up straight and regains her composure just as the door opens to reveal Millie. "Oh Sades," The Fifteen-year-old says sympathetically opening her arms for the redhead.

Sadie instantly buries herself into the younger girl. "I miss her." She mutters into Millie's shoulder.

"I miss her too."

Millie tightens the hug and she stands there holding Sadie with all her might, afraid that if she were to let go the older girl will break down and shatter right in front of her. But she could feel Sadie begin to sob and heave in her arms. "It's okay," Millie hushes the girl, her one hand rubbing Sadie's back delicately.

After a few more minutes Sadie tears away brushing away her running tears, "I got given the camera she would do her diary entries on. Could we maybe watch it later, at my house with the boys?"

Millie nods, "We would love to do that. Now come Sades, we have to go, it's going to start soon."

The interview was the longest two hours of Sadie's life, she wanted to hide away from all the questions and sympathetic looks she had been given throughout. Noah had noticed her discomfort and had his hand placed on hers comforting the hurting redhead all throughout. The rest of the cast had helped with the questions she had found quite hard to answer, the one's involving you, and how she was feeling since your passing.

But now she sits in her living room cuddled into Millie, with your stuffed dog, watching as the boys try to hook up your old camera, all arguing as they figure out what cable goes where. This earns a small smile from Sadie.

Soon the boys get the camera working and instantly your bright cheery face pops up on the TV. Sadie sits up a little straighter at the sight of you, her heart both racing and aching at the same time. Millie pulls the girl closer to her, in a way of further comforting her but also to make room for Caleb who wanted to sit next to the pair while the others sat on the ground in front of the couch.

"Hello!" Your voice exclaims through the speakers. "Welcome to Diary Entry One! I am as you can see on the set of Stranger Things Season Two!" The camera flicks around showing the bustling set before flicking back around.

The cast knew exactly when this first took place, the first day of filming just after they had all met Sadie.

"We got a new girl here as well, her name is Sadie Sink." You gush into the camera, a pink hue evident on your cheeks. "She's really nice... and pretty." You murmur the last part looking off to the side. "Anyways! Let's go see her!" You quickly rush off to where you had been looking at, camera in tow and stop at a then fifteen-year-old Sadie, "Hello bloody tampon, say hi to the camera!"

Everyone laughs, including Sadie who remembers that exact moment.

"What did you just call me?" Sadie questions in disbelief and You laugh, "You heard me." Before Sadie could say anything else, you quickly leave and shut the camera off.

"Hello!" You shout with Finn alongside you, "This is, drum roll please Wolf boy," Finn drums his hands on his lap, "Diary Entry Two!" You and Finn cheer loudly capturing the attention of some of the crew members behind you. They immediately hush you both as they film a scene involving Sadie and Caleb. You and Finn quietly apologise before making your way over to Dacre who speaks with Natalia and Joe.

"Dacre!" Finn calls out causing the man to stop and turn to them, a bright smile on his face.

"Hello Lacey, Mike. What can I do for you?"

"Can you answer some-" Finn begins but you cut him off abruptly

"Is Sadie single?"

Finn turns to you and the camera wide-eyed. Dacre raises a brow, throwing a quick glance over to Natalia and Joe. "I don't know? Why, are you interested?"

Your voice sounds panicked from behind the camera, "No! I mean, Finn is."

"Y/n!" Finn shouts, "I don't!" He quickly grabs the camera from your grip and turns it to face a laughing you before cutting the feed.

"Oh, so that's how that rumour sprouted. You look so scared," Sadie giggles and Finn sends her a mocking glare.

"I didn't know she was going to say that okay?" He chuckles.

The next video rolls on and it shows both Sadie and you.

You set the camera down in front of Sadie who was busy getting her hair done. She eyes the camera cautiously as the stylist ducks out the way slightly. "This is Diary Entry number three... I think," You sit down on a chair next to her, your stylist moving in to prep your hair. "We are almost finished filming!" You smile and look over to Sadie who does a quick glance at you. "Anyways, it's time."

"Time for what?" Sadie quiers

"Time for the questions silly," You laugh tilting your head back as your stylist combs your hair. "First question, how has your time on set been?"

"It's been great! Everyone is amazing!"

"Everyone? You sure you don't mean just me?"

Sadie giggles, "Sure."

A few more questions were asked, them mainly being about how she has felt about her time acting and being forced in a room with you and the others. She had opened up slightly about how she felt kind of isolated in the beginning due to everyone already knowing each other until You and Millie kindly took her under your wing.

"Okay last question, do you have eyes for anyone?" You smirk and Sadie goes silent.

"No comment," You gasp.

"What! Sadelyn Sinkhole does have eyes on someone," You lean forward much to your stylests dismay as she pulls you back. "Who is it?"

Once again Sadie replies, "No comment." and you huff.

"I will get it out of you. It may not be today, but it will happen someday."

Sadie's cheeks turn pink and she can't help but hide her smile in your stuffed teddy, reminiscing about how she had ended up spilling her feelings to you not even a day later. To her surprise back then you had reciprocated her feelings and even managed to steal her first kiss, she doing the same to you.

The next video rolls on with you beaming once again in the camera.

"Hello!" You exclaim once again, in the background was the cast in their season two attire watching you with smiles. "This is Diary Entry number four, we have now finished the infamous season two!" The group breaks out into cheers and a round of applause, and you place the camera down on a stand so that everyone was in the frame and move back to go sit next to Sadie, pushing Finn out of the way in the process.

"I can't believe you couldn't tell she liked you!" Finn exclaims gesturing to the action you had pulled. "Your girlfriend literally pushed me out of my seat," He laughs making Sadie snigger.

"So Caleb Mclaughlin." You start, capturing the young boy's attention, "How was it like to kiss the gorgeous Max Mayfield, the infamous MadMax," You tease and the boy bows his head in embarrassment, Everyone laughs and so do you but it was cut short as you began to cough. "You okay Y/n?" Sadie questions and you nod while Sadie not so sneakily brings her hand into yours.

"Wait!" Millie jumps in disbelief her eyes trained at the holding hands, "Were you two a couple then?" She flickers her gaze over to Sadie who turns as red as her hair, "Oh my God! We thought you two got together just before Season Three." Millie smiles slapping Sadie's leg jokingly, "You dirty dogs!"

The entry's continue, this time mostly showing you and Sadie alone. Most of the time, your hands were wrapped around her waist while she holds the camera up at you two in various locations.

"First date!" Sadie exclaims looking lovingly over at you.

"Can you see me?" You question trying to look over into the camera to see if you were in the frame- you in fact were not.

* "Sades!" You call out for her from her living room. "I got you something!" The camera flicks down to a necklace with a small pendant in your hand.

While that video shows, Sadie herself glances down at the necklace you had given her and fiddles with it, her heart fluttering in her chest.

"Do you think they'll freak out when we tell them?" Sadie questions fiddling with your hand as the camera shows you both walking back onto the set for a reading. You nod, "Oh, most definitely." The camera cuts and then turns back onto an unknowing Millie waiting for you both at the entrance to the reading.

"Y/n! Sadie!- Woah." Millie's eyes go wide as she spots your hands, "Are you two?" She gestures between the both of you. Sadie confirms with a kiss of your cheek causing her to squeal and run in to tell everyone.

* "Hello! And we're back! Season Three of Stranger Things, it's your favourite character Aunt Helga speaking." You laugh at your own words, "I'm joking, it's the best character out of the show, Dustins' sister Lacey. Today we are as usual on our first day back at filming." You cheer, "This is Diary Entry number five."

"Y/n! Where are you?" Dacre calls out in the background, "You have to go get pepper-sprayed in the face!" You widen your eyes slightly, and Dacre appears behind you, "It's just water don't worry."

The camera cuts but then is turned back on to show a smiling Dacre, he flips the camera around and it shows you being dunked in the Henderson's kitchen sink by Caleb and Sadie. "I'm drowning!" You yell out gasping for breaths. "I'd rather you drown than go blind, Lacey," Sadie comments in Max's character. Caleb goes to turn off the tap but instead accidentally turns it on full speed, the water hitting you right in the mouth making you choke and develop a coughing fit. "I didn't mean to literally drown her!" Sadie yells and Caleb throws his hand up defensively, "My hands slipped."

That scene was a blooper itself but yet it was still kept in the actual show.

Many more diary entries ended up being full of bloopers, you hanging with Sadie and sometimes the rest of the crew until it started to change.

There you stand in front of the camera, your hands clutching your chest tightly, "My chest hurts." You croak out, tears swelling in your eyes from the pain.

The cast visibly sit a little straighter at the sight of you.

You stand there for a few more seconds just holding onto your chest before finally you drop your hands down and stand straighter. You furrow your brows, "It's gone. I don't know what it is but it's been happening a lot lately." You announce but quickly shrug it off as you hear your name being called. You grab onto the camera and run out where Sadie is standing waiting for you with a bright white smile. You grab onto your girlfriend's hand and you walk off to your next scene.

Another video rolls on this time showing you setting the camera down in a position so that it showed the set you were on. You are then seen dashing back onto set and getting onto your starting position with Gaten at your side. The video goes on as normal with the familiar star court scene and then all the way to the end, with Dacre having moved it for you to get the right angles where you stand near a casted officer, signalling the end of the filming process.

"Cut," The director yells and cheers are heard all around. You jump up and hug the nearest person to you, this being Sadie and enrapturing her into a joyful kiss before moving on to everyone else.

The mood is noticeably ecstatic and everyone is busy cleaning up, with you having a quick word with Sadie before going to head for your still recording camera, shouting a 'Shut up' to Caleb who had mocked what you said to your girlfriend. Your smile is bright and inviting until it drops to a stone cold expression.

And then you were seen clutching onto your chest, feet staggering and skin paling before dropping to the floor.

"Y/n!" Gaten screams hurtling over to you, just in time to catch you. You weren't moving and the camera shows it, it shows everything happening at that exact moment. It shows Gatens terrified face as he shakes you, trying to wake you up. It shows crew members flying over to you in a hurry. It shows your girlfriend and the others staring at you horrified and worried.

"Someone call an ambulance!" The director yells shoving past all crew members who were just crowded around you. Immediately chest compressions were started.

"Oh God," Caleb murmurs his teary eyes entranced on the TV. He wants to look away but he can't.

Sadie sniffles, her heart aching tremendously at the screen.

Millie and Finn hold a sobbing Sadie in the far corner of the screen, while Noah is seen dashing for the camera and turning it off.

They thought it was the end but another clip rolls and a bloodshot eyed Sadie Sink appears in one of your hoodies, holding your stuffed dog close to her chest. She was in your dressing room, it was known by the pictures you had placed on the walls of your family and the cast behind Sadie.

"Hi Y/n," Sadie croaks out, voice breaking instantly. She can't speak, her throat hurts and her tears just flow out coating your stuffed animal with her tears. "I miss you. It's only been a few hours since you left us, but I miss you so much." She brings your hoodie to wipe away a few of her tears, "I just want to say I love you."

Sadie can't look at the video anymore, her heart aching in great amounts in her chest, her bottom lip quivering noticeably. She turns and shoves her head directly into a saddened Millie who immediately takes her into her arms. Sadie wishes it was you instead.

She can still hear her own shattering voice in the video, each word breaking and every sentence ending with a cry. A cry of mourning. A cry for you. A cry for you to just come back and tell her you're not going anywhere. A cry for her broken heart.

Sobs wrack Sadie's body and a loud cry exits her making the crying cast members cast looks of sorrow, heartbreak and pain at her.

The video proceeds and Sadie is now still sat in your chair, this time not saying anything. Your stuff dog is latched to her chest, her chin sitting on top of the toy while she runs little patterns on her knee- something you would do to her when you felt nervous in interviews or big events. And then the door quietly opens and Sadie is seen turning back abruptly, her head shaking furiously.

"No, no, no, no," She sobs as your dad steps foot into the trailer there to retrieve your stuff. "Please can I keep the camera, please!" Your dad shakes his head sadly, tears in his own eyes as he reaches down to grab hold of the device.

"Please!" Sadie begs, "I can't live without her. I can't live without seeing her!"

The camera cuts off.

***

Masterlist; celebrities

#sadie sink #sadie sink x reader #sadie sink x fem reader #fem! reader

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english8muffin · 4 years

Text

Vogue morning routine

Y/N Y/N/L’s guide to effortless natural makeup

Summary: you are asked to do the Vogue Beauty Secrets video and your two boys decide to join the party

Word count: around 2000

Warning: none, just pure floof!

I apologize in advance if there are any spelling and/or grammar mistakes, English is not my first language (+ this is my very first fic)

HEADLINE Henry Cavill’s new girlfriend, designer Y/N Y/L/N reveals her everyday morning routine in recent Vogue video: Y/N Y/L/N shows off her secrets to the perfect fusion of European and Asian beauty.

You stood in the spacious bathroom of the hotel room, only wearing a big, fluffy, white robe, that was actually Henry’s. But since the man was in the gym, you took the opportunity to lend it and bathe yourself in his musky smell, that calmed your nerves. Last night you started panicking, thinking you would probably look stupid for the entire world to see, luckily Henry and Kal tried to calm you down with cuddles and kisses.

This was the first ‘interview’ you would do, being such a young, successful entrepreneur really caught the attention of the media. When you first started your small online shop, you never would have thought you would end up here. Five years later, with a steady income, the job you always wished for and the man you had a crush on since the first time you laid eyes on him. Being a creative, it really made your heart soar with happiness, seeing all your products, your babies, in new homes where they would make others happy.

You were really proud of yourself. Henry was as well, and he made sure you and everybody around you knew. You were apprehensive at first, being with such a well known actor, who was also much older than you, it made you nervous of what people would say, what the media would say. You didn’t want to tarnish Henry’s image. You knew there were people with a much bigger age gap, but still, people were ruthless. So you both decided to take it slow, being careful with going out in public and social media posts.

You stand in front of the large mirror, which had a camera attached to it and open up your makeup bag. Right before you went into the bathroom, you made yourself a nice cup of tea, trying to stay calm. “Hi! I’m Y/N and today I am going to show you my everyday makeup routine,” you say with a smile, “I am not a dermatologist so please don’t take what I say too seriously.”

You grab a small white washcloth and hold it up, so it was in the frame, “First, I am going to wash my face and put on a few drops of serum,” You dampen the cloth and wipe it over your face and neck. You put a few drops in the palm of your hand and pat them into your skin. “Now I going to use my jade roller to massage the serum into my skin. It’s quite funny seeing so many people use these nowadays. In ancient China they were mostly used by the elite to keep there skin ageless. They would call jade the Stone of Heaven. It’s really helpful for the people who wake up with a puffy face like me,” you chuckle.

Somethimes you’d wake up with puffy cheeks, which led to Henry calling you his chubby bunny in the morning.

“Just a quick tip, and this is for everybody, make sure you always use SPF. I personally use SPF 30 and this one is shine control, since I tend to get an oily skin, but you can also use a regular one or a foundation with SPF in it. Believe me when I say your skin will be thankful.”

You grab the small tube of sun cream and show the amount you’ll use. You even convinced Henry to wear SPF everyday. At first he said he didn’t think it would make such a big difference, but when he realised you were going to be the one to put it on him, he was convinced about its benefits and adamant to wear it everyday. After working the thick cream into your skin, you put on some lipbalm and rummage through the pouch in front of you. When you find the product you’re looking for, you hold it up. “Now, I am going to put on a bit of concealer, this one is from Maybelline. After this, I will use a lighter shade under my eyes and on my acne scars that I have here,” you point and circle around the small cluster of scars on the sides of your cheeks.

Before blending out the concealer, you smile at the lens and put in two bright yellow hairclips, to keep your dark locks from falling into your face. “I probably should have done this at the start,” you laugh. The nerves creeping up a little. It wasn’t that you where a shy person, but knowing thousands of people will watch this, did something to you. You were always a very easygoing person, who could talk with pretty much everybody. But knowing people were going to watch you do something so intimate in a way, and would probably comment on it, scared you a little. While you would be 100% yourself, doing something as mundane as getting ready. If they didn’t like you now, then they probably won’t like you later. And that was what made you so afraid.

The bathrobe falls a bit down your shoulder, but you ignore it, since your hair fell down your shoulders in big waves. “Okay, brows. I used to block them in really dark when I was younger, but now I try to keep a light hand. I’ll use this Got 2B Glued as a brow gel afterwards. The tails of my eyebrows tend to move if I don’t use a strong enough gel. If you’re Asian you will understand the struggle.”

You quickly finish your brows, put some bronzer on your face and eyelids and take out your liquid eyeliner. “Am I the only one that acts like I’m a beauty guru whenever I do my makeup? Like, I’m just acting as if I’m used to this, right now, but to be honest, I was really nervous to do this video for Vogue,” you admit, “they will probably regret asking me,” you chuckle. You finish your eyemakeup with curling your long lashes, thanks to your mother’s genes, and add a coat of mascara.

You take in a deep breath, excited to show everyone the product you had been waiting for. “The next thing I am really proud to show you guys, because I designed the packaging. This is the new limited edition blush and highlighter palette from Dior, which they created for Lunar New Year!” You beam with pride, holding up the elegant looking palette. It had a darker toned glossy finish and the borders were the traditional Chinese looking frames, which were 3D and were surrounded by a wild variety of peonies. In the middle of the lid was your Chinese calligraphy in big golden brush stokes that said ‘year of the Ox’, the clasp was designed so it resembled an antique Chinese coin and on the side hung a jade charm.

“You can pre-order this palette now, I think they will put a link-thingy in de description. I wish you all a happy and blessed Lunar New Year, 祝农历年新年快乐牛年大吉!”

Just as you’re about to add some blush to your cheeks, the bathroom door creaks open and a curly-headed, sweaty Henry pops his head in. Fresh from the gym, and were you thankful for his new intense workout, because he was truely a sight to behold. A cheeky smile graces his handsome face when he spots you in front of the mirror, only wearing his robe, which made his grin widen.

“what are you doing in here? Are you hiding from me? Playing hide and seek is it?” he teases and rakes his large hand through the tousled curls, but just as he’s done speaking, he sees the camera behind you, and blushes. “Oh, I didn’t know you were filming, I’m sorry darling,” he smiles and gives a small wave in the direction of the camera. You led out a giggle, cheeks turning red already, if he’d keep this up, you wouldn’t need to add blush. You couldn’t focus anymore, he looked so attractive, only wearing his black gym shorts and a tight dark blue tank top. Damn that camera, otherwise you would have jumped him. Henry, thought the exact same thing. Seeing you, only wearing his robe and your hair still a bit wild from this morning’s cardio, made him hold back a moan. Those two cute, yellow clips in your hair could have fooled him, because you were anything but innocent.

Before he’s about to close the door again, he blows you a kiss. But his actions are stopped when a big bear makes his appearance. Bolting past his dad’s legs, Kal comes into the bathroom. Henry tries to catch him but misses. The black and white akita excitedly sniffs his head around the sink, trying to see what you were up to with all the stuff lying on the marble counter.

“Kal!” Henry whisper-yelled, trying to stay hidden behind the door. But you could still see his massive body crouched down behind the wood. It was rather funny, seeing the large man so panicked about getting his dog to listen. It kind of reminded you of that one video from BBC were a professor was being interviewed and his baby and nanny showed up in the background. While Henry tried to get Kal’s attention, the dog just sat next to your legs, and smiled when you pet him behind his ear. He was your good boy.

You both knew there was no other option but to keep Kal here, once he saw you do your makeup, he wanted to watch and get his ‘makeup’ done as well.

Henry also saw the look in Kal’s eyes and let out a sigh. Might as well stay with his two loves. He stood up from his position and walked to you, wrapping his sweaty but oh so save body around your figure, and placed a prolonged kiss on the exposed skin just by your shoulder. So far for taking it slow… He pressed himself thighter against your back, hiding his face in the crook of your neck and intertwined your hands, slowly rocking you two back en forth. “You look beautiful, my love,” he whispered, so only you could hear it, at least you hoped the camera wouldn’t pick that up. You let out a little giggle, like the inner schoolgirl you were whenever he was around you.

“Kal loves when Y/N does his makeup as well, don’t you boy,” Henry explains with a smile and looks down at the bear by your bare feet. Kal gives a small ruff and sweeps his tail eagerly. “Did you show them what you made,” he asked you with a wide smile, and looked straight in to the camera, “she worked really hard on that design, so I hope you all like it,” he declared proudly.

You ended up doing your makeup routine with your two boys in the background. Henry left for a few minutes to shower in the second bathroom your hotelroom had, and came back clad in a pair of light jogging trousers and a sweater. Even though you were inside, it was still a bit too chilly to walk around in short sleeves, being mid-winter and all. He just sat on the small wooden bench by the door, still in frame for everybody to enjoy and behold. His hair now damp. He was reading in a book and patiently waiting for you to get ready, occasionally looking up and laughing when you would wet your hands or Kal’s special makeup brush in the sink and pretend to do his makeup. The dog would bark excitedly and give you kisses. “Wow Kal, you look so pretty,” Henry told the big floof with the chuckle.

“Okay, this was my -somewhat- everyday makeup routine! Thank you guys for watching this chaotic mess, hope you laughed a bit, bye-bye, 再见!” How do those vlogger end their videos? Smash like and subscribe?

Behind you Henry looked up from the pages of his fantasy book and arched his brow, “Hey! No shout-out for your special guests? See you all next time!”

WOOHOO!! This is my very first fanfic, I really hope you enjoyed it. Liking, reposting and commenting would mean a lot to me! If you do repost this, please do not edit or copy my work. I worked really hard on this.

Much love, Nahmi xxx

Masterlist can be found HERE!

Want to be notified whenever I post something?

HERE IS MY TAG LIST!

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rainydayhogwartsimagines · 4 years

Text

Fred with a Socially Anxious Reader (Fred x reader)

Warnings: FLUFF AS FUCK, slightly nsfw, swearing, anxiety

Note: I needed fluff man. That last one made me sad as hell. This is set in a world with no voldemort. Happy times. No sad

You were this anxious little thing you

You'd keep to yourself with the exception of your friend May who was hellbent on getting you out and talking to people more.

Finally one day May just dragged you over to the Gryffindors and walked up to this red haired boy.

"Fred. Can you please get my friend out of her shell? She literally won't talk to anyone!" She begged

You retreated back, almost hiding behind your book

For some reason that was adorable to Fred.

"Social Anxiety can't just be cured. But I can help her with the talking bit." Fred said making you look up.

Your eyes immediately captivated the boy and he swallowed hard, feeling like you just left him breathless.

"Great! Talk! By all means!" May said walking away.

"S-sorry about May... She means well I swear." You muttered.

He chuckled and motioned for you to sit.

You sat down, picking at the spine of the book anxiously.

"So I take it you know my name and May said your name was Y/n right?" Fred asked.

"Yeah..." You nodded.

"My little sister was pretty anxious her first year so this isn't exactly new to me." Fred admitted.

"I'm sorry... In advance. I really don't do people." You muttered.

Fred chuckled. "That's quite alright dear." He said.

Your heart seemed to pound at the sound of you being called "dear"

An identical boy sat down and you jumped.

"You're... A twin?" You asked.

"Yes he is! And you areee?" George asked.

You swallowed, words leaving your body at the question.

"Y/n." Fred answered for you.

You looked over and mouthed "Thank you"

You didn't expect Fred to actually want to be around you but to your surprise, there he was

Everyday outside of your classes

He'd walk you back in forth from them, you having two of them with him.

You began to sit with him more in those classes, reading intently.

You had this little habit of nibbling the edge of your finger while deep in thought

Fred watched you, your hair always in your face.

It almost seemed like a wall to purposefully block him from talking to you.

When he did talk to you, you seemed to shake, absolute fear in your eyes.

Whenever a teacher asked you a question you'd just lock up on the spot, sputtering like a dying engine.

You were a little different today though.

You shifted multiple times, trying to remove the hair from your eyes when Fred handed you a hairband.

"Ginny forces me to keep these on hand." He said softly to you.

You took it, pulling back your hair.

You went back to reading and he rose a brow.

"What are you reading?" Fred asked.

"Uh... It's Dracula... By Bram Stoker." You answered.

He nodded. That was the clearest you've ever spoken.

He decided to test the waters

"What's it about?" He asked.

You looked over at him.

"You're... Actually interested?" You asked.

"You seem to be enjoying it. So maybe I might find it enjoyable too." Fred shrugged.

"...Vampires... It's about... Vampires." You said.

"Now we're talking. Is it creepy?" He asked.

"it can be. Not as creepy as the shining though." You muttered.

"The shining?" Fred asked.

"... You've never read the shining?" You asked.

He shook his head and you reached into your bag handing Fred the book.

He took it and you smiled slightly, quickly turning away when Fred noticed.

He read the book too. Oh God it freaked him the fuck out.

But it was intriguing.

Someone who feared people didn't fear the stories about them. How odd.

But really intriguing.

He sat next to you one morning making you jump.

"I finished it." He said.

You blinked. "You finished it?" You asked.

"Yes! It was so creepy, how do you read this without getting freaked out?" Fred asked.

You smiled.

"Well... What kind of books do you read?" You asked.

"....Come again Love?" He asked.

Christ that nickname caught you off guard.

"W...What books do you read?" You asked.

"I'm... Actually not that big of a reader." Fred admitted.

You rose a brow.

"You read this in two days. And you seem curious, how are you not a reader?" You asked.

"I'm more of a prankster." He shrugged.

You cocked your head to the side almost like a confused dog.

"Why are you interested in being my friend?" You asked.

".... You're interesting. And you don't try too hard to fit in." Fred shrugged.

"I don't even try to fit in." You corrected.

"My point exactly. But you're interesting. And I like interesting." Fred said making your face flush

You spent more time with Fred, mostly just listening to him and smiling here and there at a couple of jokes.

George began to notice Fred coming back to the common room with a smile on his face.

There was one day that changed a few things though.

May dragged you to a Gryffindor party.

You didn't like this. At all.

Way too many people.

You were shaking a lot and Fred finally noticed you.

"Y/n?" He asked. You looked over, shaking intensely

He frowned and grabbed your arm, pulling you out into the hall.

"Y/n, are you alright?" He asked.

You seemed to be hyperventilating and he frowned.

"Y/n, breathe. Follow my breathing okay?" He instructed.

You nodded frantically and watched him breathe, following his instructions.

You finally recovered, it becoming quite clear you tired yourself out.

"Y/n... Do you need me to leave you alone for a bit--"

"stay." You whispered.

He did something you didn't expect.

He hugged you.

After a while of calming you down, he walked you back to your common room.

He went back to Gryffindor and sighed.

"May. We need to talk." He said.

"Hmm?" She asked.

"Don't force Y/n out of her comfort zone again." Fred said.

".... Okay." She nodded.

"Thank you." He said before walking to his room.

George rose a brow, following soon after.

"Hey. What's up with you?" George asked.

Fred as pacing, running a hand over his face.

"I think I like Y/n." Fred said.

"She seems nice" George shrugged.

"No George." He said stopping and looking at him. "I like Y/n." He said.

"....Oh...." George nodded.

"She's just... God she's beautiful George. And she's so smart! I've watched her work, she's so intelligent!" Fred said.

"So what's the problem?" George asked.

"What if she doesn't feel the same way?" He asked.

"....ah." George nodded in thought.

"Give it some time... When you're sure she might feel the same, then say something." George said.

"Smart. I knew I kept you around for a reason." Fred teased making George roll his eyes.

"Sod off." He chuckled.

Over time you began to open up more around Fred, him smiling as you would sometimes speak or tell him stories.

Then there was the trip to Hogsmeade

George began to hang out with you too, you slowly opening up as well around him.

He could see why Fred liked hanging out with you.

You said a couple of things that made the boys laugh.

You shivered at one point and Fred wrapped his scarf around your neck, looking into your eyes.

Your face was red and Fred rose a brow at this.

You quickly thanked him and turned away.

George exchanged a look of "Oh dude. She likes you." To Fred.

At one point George jokingly threw a snowball at you.

You took this as a challenge and threw one at George and he chuckled.

"Oh it is on now Y/n!" George said.

"Oh boy." Fred snorted.

You and George exchanged a look before launching snowballs at Fred.

You actually laughed, catching Fred off guard.

My God that was a beautiful sound

George took that moment of "Wow" to throw a snowball at Fred's face making you laugh harder before Fred picked you up and you squealed.

You two were a laughing mess and May smiled walking over to the group as Fred finally put you down.

"Having fun?" May asked.

"Totally." You snorted and Fred laughed.

You and Fred would spend a lot more time together, usually in the library.

You'd be reading and he'd be doing something else.

Occasionally Fred and George would get you in on a prank

You didn't do them often seeing as you'd get really anxious about being caught

But when you helped out it definitely ended up being fun.

You were falling for Fred and falling hard.

It didn't help when he invited you to spend the summer at his home

To which you just said "Okay."

Fred thought "This is such a good idea" until the day you were set to arrive.

He was pacing a lot, clearly panicked.

Molly thought it was cute that a girl could freak this boy out that much

You finally showed up though and Molly thought "Oh my God. She's adorable."

George was excited because you two did become close friends

Fred was nervous but wouldn't dare let that show.

You weren't aware of how large his family was until they all greeted you in the kitchen.

You were uneasy, worried you'd say the wrong thing to one of them.

Fred noticed you sort of retreating into yourself and as he was talking, slinked his arm around you

You hid the blush that was forming on your face and listened to the conversation.

You two would have these sweet moments together where you'd say something and then smile to yourself before noticing Fred smile and you two would literally just stare at each other until some background noise broke the tension.

Everyone is watching you two hoping one of you speaks up.

You bunk with Ginny and eventually you two become close friends.

She's always telling you about this crush on a boy named Harry who sometimes stays with them during the summer

You smile and listen.

You never say anything about Fred because you're worried he'll hear you.

But one day you and him went on a walk

Your hair was pulled back and you were watching the wheat in a field sway

The farmer had a wooden fence separating the road from the field and you were leaning on it

Fred was watching you because how could he not.

There was this one loose strand of hair that wiggled with the air.

Fred's hand seemed to have a life of it's own because he tucked that strand behind your ear and just...

He rested his fingers on your chin once you turned to him

Your face was naturally becoming warmer

Your lips parted-- had they always looked so soft?

But what made you die inside is that YOU were the one that kissed Fred

It surprised the fuck out of him

I mean he enjoyed it. Obviously. But it still surprised him

You immediately pulled away and blinked

Fred opened his mouth and you held out your hand

"Don't. Say. Anything."

So you two left it at that.

But Fred definitely had a lot more flirty moments now that he knew you liked him back.

But you were a lot more jumpier.

He'd do this thing where he'd lean in near your ear and just say "Hi"

You'd jump up and bolt across the room and he'd smirk.

Ginny is sitting there wondering what the hell happened between you two.

You guys go back to school and you of course still stick close with Fred

But you definitely still are very jumpy.

But there's this one moment that changed it all.

You were in the library reading and Fred was sleeping next to you, red hair dangling in his face.

You kept seeing that peaceful face and it was driving you insane.

But you just reached out and moved his hair from his face, making him grab your wrist.

He's a light sleeper.

When you share a room with a notorious prankster you have to SLEEP LIGHT.

Your face was really fucking red.

"Your nose kept twitching and I figured it was because of your hair I'm sorry." You said quickly.

He chuckled and shook his head as you rambled.

"I swear to God I just need to stay in my lane. I need to just ignore all of the outside factors and read, everything was so simple when I'd just read--"

Fred closed your book and you looked at him.

"Y/n, I like you." He said.

"....What?" You asked.

"I. like. You. Actually no. I love you. A lot. You're my entire damn world." Fred said.

You blinked a couple of times.

"S-so when I kissed you... I wasn't reading too much into things?" You asked.

"No! If you didn't kiss me I would've kissed you!" He laughed

"....Can I do it again?" You asked making him look at you.

"Well shit Princess, you don't have to ask." Fred snorted before you finally kissed him.

He put his hands on your waist and thanked his lucky stars you usually sat AWAY from everyone else because he full on made out with you.

You finally pulled away for air and both of you smiled.

You two were now officially inseparable.

Those days in the library were now even more adorable because: yes. You still would read. But you'd be playing with Fred's hair while he slept

There would be days when you'd sit in the Gryffindor common room and talk with the Wealsey's while Fred's arms were wrapped around you.

You two have been found numerous times passed out on the couch on each other

And not even Mcgonagall dares to separate you two.

When he finally meets your family they're like "Ooohhhhh we get it now"

Then George pops out (he insisted on coming)

And they're like "Oh... Oh no this is going to be hard"

Summers were even better now

Days where you two would just sit there and he'd have his head in your lap while you read. You'd look down and kiss him.

During exams you'd try to help him study

Oh that boy knew the information. So the study sessions more turned into make out sessions.

You'd get frustrated because you're there to study.

But damn it you were only human and he was way too attractive for you to focus when he'd bite his lip

Molly was grateful for you though, his grades actually did improve drastically

You guys loved the trips to hogsmeade because it was literally like a school funded DATE

May and George gagging after witnessing you two making out

You still having snowball fights with him and George

Having to go back to school and let your uniforms dry because uhm.. snow melts. And clothes get wet from snowball fights

You having to borrow a shirt from Fred

Sitting in the common room wearing a sweater that's his and him dying inside because you're fucking ADORABLE HOLY FUCK!

Sipping on hot cocoa with a book in Fred's arms

You being made headgirl because somehow you're the most responsible in your house

You finding out and Fred being like "I'm proud of you!" And you're like "I'm not! I have to get on to people!"

The hilarious argument of "I can't be headgirl, I'm not assertive enough for this shit"

Him trying to teach you to be assertive and maybe getting turned on in the process.

Getting distracted because uh...

I wasn't joking Fred found you to be ridiculously attractive when you had to be assertive

You walking out with your ties mixed up

George nearly pissing himself from laughter after it's pointed out

"Why is Fred wearing a Ravenclaw tie?"

And you sinking down in your seat, DYING INTERNALLY.

Fred and you having to switch them back before Mcgonagall notices.

Molly giving you sweaters for Christmas and you wearing them proudly

You still steal Fred's sometimes though

Sometimes you go home with Fred for Christmas and Molly LOVES it when you're there

Ginny loves it too (aside from you making out with his brother because ew)

George and you being best friends and you having to bail him out all the time with alibis

Fred always finding new ways to surprise you.

Fred loving you in general and always whispering sweet little compliments in your ear when he hugs you from behind

Fred always being there if you need help

His hugs. That's it. Just his hugs make you feel instantly better about life

You love this boy

And he definitely loves you.

#fred weasley x you #fred weasley x reader #fred weasley

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ssadumba55 · 3 years

Text

Sick Day (Delilah X Puppy! Reader)

Request: Hello! Can you do a Delilah (101 Dalmatian Street) x Puppy!Reader where Delilah takes care of a sick reader?

You didn’t know exactly when the sickness hit or even when you started showing symptoms. Life was so exciting, and you were constantly on the move with your siblings that details tended to fade into the background. However, there was no denying it now that you were shivering and could barely move.

You were sick.

The other pups had already gotten up and eaten, they were probably getting ready for their daily walk/exercise in the park right about now. You couldn’t bring yourself to move from the bed to join them.

“(Y/n)! (Y/n)! WE’RE MISSING (Y/N)!!!!” Dylan’s panicked screeching could be heard down the hall, and you shuddered, covering your ears with your paws. Sounds hurt. Everything hurt.

Dylan rushed into the room, beginning to tear through the beds looking for you. The sounds agitated you and you whined, burying your face deeper into your bed. The older dog, hearing your whines, turned, and nuzzled you gently.

“(Y/n)? Are you okay? You didn’t come down for breakfast, there’s still some left if you want- “He began to offer but the thought of not only getting up but eating made you want to hurl. You roughly shook your head, regretting it instantly as a wave of nausea hit you.

“I can’t leave you here alone for the walk and Dolly needs me out there…” He was clearly trying to work out how best to handle this situation without making you move. Suddenly, the sound of the door opening came from downstairs, and he perked up.

“Mom’s home! Of course. Wait here, I’ll be right back!” He trotted out of the room, and you sighed with relief. Even just his voice made you want to be sick right there in your dog bed.

You settled down, closing your eyes, and slipping into a slightly uneasy rest. This is how your mom, Delilah, found you moments later after talking to Dylan about your state. She pressed her nose gently to your forehead, feeling how hot you were. This was definitely a bad fever; it was a good thing the pups would be out for most of the day. She didn’t want them catching this as well.

She set to work making you as comfortable as possible. Dragging your bed in front of the air conditioner temporarily and pulling a blanket over you, this way you would keep cool but also be warm. She brought your water bowl to rest beside you in case you woke up thirsty. Finally, she settled down in one of your siblings’ beds. It was small for her, but it was easier than dragging her own in here. She needed to keep an eye on you as you slept.

Slowly, she drifted off into an equally uneasy sleep. Her uneasiness, however, wasn’t caused by sickness at all. It was because she was worried for you. They’ll be fine, if they need me, they’ll wake me up, she reasoned, settling her head on her paws. She watched you, listening to you breath with your stuffed up nose. Even though she was a nurse and knew this would pass, she was still worried. You were her pup, after all.

She closed her eyes. Might as well get in some rest while you were.

You awoke, feeling a comfortable temperature. Your headache from all the loud noises earlier was gone, which was a good sign. The nausea was still there but it didn’t feel as overwhelming as it had earlier. Slowly, you wiggled across your bed to weakly lap at your water with your tongue.

“Oh! (Y/n)! You’re awake!” Your mother leapt up from one of the beds nearby. She hurriedly approached, pressing her nose gently to your forehead. “Still kind of hot, but you look less awful than you did when I first came in…”

Somehow, knowing your mother was the one caring for you made you feel better. For once, it wasn’t Dylan or Dolly, although you loved your older siblings. You really did, they just weren’t entirely qualified for the job of raising a bunch of puppies. Your mother crawled over to join you, keeping a little space between the two of you so she wouldn’t make you too hot.

Gently, she licked the top of your head.

You still couldn’t bring yourself to speak or anything, but you smiled weakly and laid your head back down on your paws.

The fever stayed strong for most of the day, it only started to clear when Dylan and Dolly were just herding the rest of your siblings to the feeding room for dinner. Slowly, your mother helped you descend the stairs so you could join your siblings and get some actual food in you.

Dylan worriedly nudged you as you slowly chewed your food, and you smiled gently at him.

“I’m fine,” you told your older brother. The other puppies let out relieved sighs. Everyone had really been holding their breath that you would feel better soon.

Even though you were starting to feel better, and your fever was breaking, your mother still stayed home from her nighttime shift, choosing instead to have you rest with her and your father in their bed.

“I love you, (Y/n).” Delilah murmured, it wasn’t often she got super protective or worried for her pups. She was normally carefree, certain the pups could mostly take care of themselves (with Dylan and Dolly’s help). It was at times like this she remembered how truly frail they were. You yawned, resting your head on your paws between your parents.

“I love you too, mom. Good night,” you closed your eyes and stretched out between her and Doug. He had already fallen asleep, after a long hard day of work.

Delilah lay awake a little longer, worriedly watching her pup sleep before joining her husband and puppy in dreamland. Everything would be fine tomorrow, she was certain.

#disney imagine #disney x reader #delilah x reader #101 dalmatian street imagine #101 dalmatian street

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winryofresembool · 3 years

Text

Things We Lost in the Fire, ch 37

aka Caleo uni au

Fic summary: Calypso starts studying at a new university, but to her annoyance her new flatmate is a loud mouthed mechanic who also likes to sneak his dog in whenever. But as she learns to know him better, she realizes they might have more in common than what she first thought. Eventually, even the darkest secrets come out…

Chapter summary: New Year’s Eve, pt 2

A/N: A new chapter! We'll finally find out what happened after that annoying cliffhanger in the previous one. Anyway, I would like to note that this chapter deals with some mental health related issues and there is also a mention of a shooting (note: mention) so if you'd rather avoid that kind of stuff, then it may be better to skip this chapter.

That said, I hope you'll still enjoy this chapter! And don't forget that I'm always really happy to hear from you guys!

Words: 3500+

Genre: romance & hurt/comfort

Warnings: panic attack, mentions of shooting

previous chapter / AO3

...

“Calypso, I think you should come. Something’s not right with Leo.”

It took Calypso a moment to register what Nico had said. She just kept staring at him, a frown creeping on her face as she was trying to figure out if she had heard him correctly.

“Something’s… not right with Leo? Wha-what do you mean?” She finally managed to ask.

“We were just talking… I don’t know, not about anything special… and suddenly some fireworks went off nearby. Like, too close for it to be legal. He got really restless - even more than usual - and he wanted to go and look for you but given his state I told him it was probably better if he sat down while I would find you.”

“When you say restless, what exactly do you mean?” Calypso asked.

“He was shaking and his breathing was labored and he got this panicked look on his face… as if he was seeing something I couldn’t see. And when I tried to talk to him, he didn’t respond. He started tapping with his fingers, like he was trying to message me something that way. I don’t know. But I think he’s having a panic attack.”

Calypso’s heart sank. She wasn’t entirely unfamiliar with panic attacks either so she knew how horrifying it could feel. Based on her own experiences, when you were having one, it was really, really hard to convince your brain that it was going to be OK. It just wouldn’t listen. And that could go on for a long while. The worst part was that it could get triggered totally unexpectedly, like now in the middle of the party.

“Oh gods… where is he now? I don’t think he should be alone.” In that moment Calypso didn’t care what the others thought about her worrying; her instinct to be with him was much stronger.

“He’s still in the kitchenette…” Nico responded and Calypso didn’t waste any time, marching out of the balcony as fast as she could.

“So, you think the fireworks triggered the panic attack?” she asked Nico over her shoulder while she was walking.

It took him some effort to keep up with her. “Probably. Before it happened, he was just explaining to me that his family always needed to put Festus into the most light and sound proof room of his home during New Year and 4th of July because he really hated the fireworks. Apparently Festus’ fear is one of the reasons why he himself doesn’t like them.”

“That would certainly make sense,” Calypso agreed. She didn’t have time to ask more when they already reached Leo’s resting spot. Even though she had seen him angry and scared before, this felt different compared to those times. He had wrapped his arms around his shaky legs and when he heard the others approaching, he looked up, his eyes bewildered. Calypso even noticed that there was also wetness on his cheeks and she needed to brace herself so that she didn’t start tearing up as well. She sat down next to him and started speaking in as soothing a voice as she was capable of in that situation.

“Leo… It’s gonna be OK. I’m right here.” She started stroking his back with light, gentle motions.

“Cal?” He muttered with a broken voice. “Thank goodness… I was afraid that…”

“Afraid of what?” Calypso frowned, still trying to sound as calm as possible. “That I was going to go somewhere?”

“Not… here…” he murmured, referring to the fact that they had several pairs of ears listening to them.

“Oh. Right,” she replied understandingly. “Hey… I’m going to ask Frank if he’d allow you to rest in his bedroom for a moment. You know… just until this passes.”

“Fine,” Leo nodded slightly. Luckily Calypso didn’t have to go searching because Frank entered the room as if on cue.

“Frank, I think Leo needs some quiet space for a moment,” Calypso told him when he was observing the situation. “Can we borrow your bedroom?”

“Sure, of course,” Frank agreed instantly.

“Thanks a lot. Don’t worry, you’ll get your room back once he recovers,” Calypso addressed Frank before turning back to Leo. “OK, let’s go then.”

She took his hand and pulled him up, directing him towards the bedroom. When she turned to give the hosts a reassuring nod, she noticed they were watching her and Leo worriedly.

“Uh, do you need any company there?” Hazel asked.

“What do you say, Leo?” Calypso didn’t want to make any decisions for him.

“Just Cal is fine,” he muttered.

“Thanks, though,” Calypso addressed Hazel. “I will let you know if I need any help. I, um, have some experience with this kind of stuff so I think I can handle it.”

“Alright. We’ll make sure no one interrupts him,” Hazel referred to the other guests who were still partying on the other side of the wall. Calypso didn’t understand how anyone could still feel festive but then again, they didn’t know her boyfriend like she did.

Closing the door behind her, Calypso helped Leo on Frank’s bed and turned on a light on the bedside table. Then she sat down next to him and swept his hair from his eyes, pressing a soft kiss on his forehead. When she pulled away, she sighed:

“I’ve also had panic attacks in the past. I’m no expert by any means, but for me, it usually helps a bit if I lie down and just try to focus on my breathing. Maybe you could try that.”

“Alright,” Leo complied. He laid down on the bed, using her legs as a pillow for his head, and rested his hands over his chest. Calypso ran her fingers through his hair and kept talking to him soothingly.

“So what I do is that I breathe in slowly – I try to count to four when I do that – then I hold it for a moment, and then breathe out just as slowly. And repeat.”

Leo blinked to let her know he understood and followed her advice. Calypso knew that she should try to reduce the distractions in that situation so she didn’t say anything for a while; she just kept combing his hair with her fingers and humming the first song that came to her mind; New Year’s Day.

“Do you feel any better?” she asked once Leo’s hyperventilating seemed to have calmed down somewhat. She herself felt lighter as well seeing that he was starting to recover.

“A bit,” Leo answered hoarsely.

“It’s OK. Sometimes it takes a moment to pass but you’ll get there,” she said encouragingly. “Just keep your eyes closed and try to focus on something that keeps you grounded to this moment. Like something you feel or hear or smell or anything…”

“I like it when you play with my hair. It feels nice,” Leo stated bluntly.

“OK. I’ll keep doing that, then.”

It was quiet for a while again, aside from the sounds outside the room. Calypso was thankful that the firework sounds weren’t that loud at that moment because it could have set back Leo’s recovery process.

“Talk to me,” he said suddenly. “About anything.”

“Alright.” Calypso stopped to decide a topic for a moment. “This may sound weird, but when I’m having one of my bad moments, I try to picture my happy place. I think that was something my mum advised me to do already when I was a kid.”

“What is your happy place like then?” Leo asked quietly.

A tiny smile raised on Calypso’s lips when she started imagining it.

“It’s some place warm. Somewhere where I can see the sun shining and birds singing and smell the salty sea air and maybe some eucalyptus trees… Earlier… when I tried picturing it… I was usually alone there. Like, I wasn’t able to picture anyone else with me there for some reason.” She was glad that Leo couldn’t see her blushing because his eyes were closed. Normally, she would have a hard time admitting these kinds of things but seeing Leo’s vulnerable state, she felt her walls disappear. “But now? I think I’d want you to be there too. And why not Festus and maybe some other animals too if you liked that. Georgina doing her things somewhere in the background. And… Well, that was it.” Calypso did have another wish too, but it was way too personal and way too early into their relationship to even mention it, especially in the current situation.

“I think that sounds great,” Leo answered. A tiny, lopsided smile appeared on his face briefly and Calypso took that as a good sign. He wasn’t trembling anymore either.

“Yeah. Well, what about you? What’s your happy place?”

Leo thought about it for a while. “I… I feel most comfortable with my machines. So… I think I’d like to be in a giant garage. Where it smells like machine oil and where I get to listen to Rolling Stones or some other old school rock bands…”

Calypso remembered that Leo had once told her his mom had used to listen to those bands. “I get why you would want that, but wouldn’t it be lonely there?” she asked.

“No,” Leo shook his head. “I wouldn’t be alone there. I would like you to be there too. If you wanted to. And of course my family and Festus too.”

“But what would I do in your garage?” Calypso asked confusedly.

“You would have your own space there,” Leo answered slowly. “You know, for your own things. Sewing machine, fabrics, painting equipment, you name it. Maybe there would be a greenhouse outside the garage for your plants… or a garden… Whatever you prefer.”

“Oh.” Calypso’s mouth formed an ‘o’ when she tried to picture it. Leo had clearly thought about this topic more than she had expected. “That sounds amazing…”

She was already going to change the topic when Leo surprised her again by continuing: “You and I are both good with our hands, making new things, so we could try to create something together, combining our skills. Who knows, maybe we could even start a company or something together. Once we’ve graduated, of course.”

“Hold on.” Calypso furrowed her eyebrows. “You’ve put a lot of thought into this. Would you actually want to do that?”

“Yeah, why not?” Leo asked, finally opening his eyes and looking up at Calypso. In the darkness of the room they looked almost black but the lamp on the bedside table gave them a warm glow.

“You mean it?” Calypso had never had anyone who would have included her into their future plans in her life before and suddenly she felt a bit overwhelmed with emotion when she understood that someone actually cared about her that much.

“Yeah. Of course. You really think I start joking about that when I’m…” he gestured at himself, “in this state?”

“No, of course not,” Calypso tried to reassure him, removing one of her hands from his hair and squeezing his hand instead. “It’s a… really nice dream. Maybe… if everything goes well… it can become true,” Her voice started cracking because she had just realized how much she’d really want the dream to become true, for both of their sake, but she found it scary to think too far into the future. The quietness from her father’s end kept her on her toes even now and there were a lot of other question marks in the air as well.

“Maybe.”

“You’re not hyperventilating anymore,” Calypso decided to change the topic before she got too sentimental. “That’s good.”

“Your advice really helped,” Leo stated. However, his eyes were focused on something Calypso couldn’t see and that made her believe that something was still bothering him.

“Does this happen to you often?” Calypso wanted to know. “I mean, the panic attacks.”

“Not so often lately,” Leo replied. “Believe it or not, for the past year or so I’ve been pretty good.” He lowered his voice into a whisper when he added: “Even better when I got a new roommate. But before I moved in with my family and got some therapy, it was… it was pretty bad.”

“I hate that you had to go through that…” Calypso tightened her grip on his hand slightly.

“It is what it is,” Leo sighed. “At some point… you almost get used to it. But really, I have made some progress. Um, despite the slight setback at Christmas,” he added when he saw Calypso’s skeptical expression.

“But that was understandable. It can be a difficult time for anyone…” Calypso left the words ‘who has lost someone important to them’ unsaid because she doubted that Leo needed more reminders of that particular incident in that moment.

“Yeah… You might be right,” Leo muttered, and silence fell into the room again. Calypso kept absentmindedly running her thumb on the back of his hand while she listened to the chatting and laughing on the other side of the wall.

Eventually, she asked quietly: “Do you know what caused the attack? If you don’t want to talk about it, that’s fine, of course.”

“The fireworks… I remembered some things when I heard the bang…” Leo managed to say.

Calypso raised her eyebrows. “I’m sorry if I ask too much, but what things did you remember?”

“It was… I was living on the streets back in those days…”

Calypso allowed Leo to take his time, not pushing him to continue with his answer.

“It was late at night… I was still in Houston back then. I had this spot in the outskirts of the town where I thought I was safe from the cops and other people I didn’t want to run into so I used to hang out there a lot.”

“Safe from cops? What do you mean by that?”

“I knew that if they caught me, they would bring me right back to my old foster home… Or worse, a new one that was even worse than the previous. I’ve told you, I didn’t have good experiences in my foster homes.”

“Yeah… I remember,” Calypso nodded understandingly.

“Besides, I didn’t exactly have a lot of money so I may have had to shoplift once or twice to keep myself alive while I was on the streets. So, not exactly the cops’ best friend. But anyway, that wasn’t the point of this story. I was gonna tell you what happened on one specific day.”

“OK. No rush,” Calypso said. She noticed that Leo seemed to get stiffer again on her lap but as long as still wanted to keep talking, she didn’t want to interrupt.

“So, I was settling into my hiding spot for the night when I heard it. Gunshots nearby. At first I hoped that someone was just out there hunting in the forest, but it was pitch black outside so the timing didn’t make sense. Then I heard footsteps coming closer to where I was hiding and more gunshots. I decided I needed to leave my hiding spot until the people were gone but I made a lot of noise when I tried to withdraw farther from the road so the shooter probably heard me. I don’t really remember what exactly happened after that but I know there was another bang… and a bullet on the tree right behind me… only a few feet from my head.”

“Oh gods,” Calypso gasped. She wished she could say something comforting as a response but it was easier said than done. Leo saved her from the trouble, though, because he added bitterly:

“I got lucky that the shooter had the police after him because he didn’t have time to stop and make sure he had hit me. But… from what I later heard… not everyone was that lucky.” Leo sniffed loudly and rubbed his eyes, trying to hide the tears.

Calypso clenched her fists. “Sorry… I shouldn’t have made you tell me that. But what… What kind of person does that to other people? Especially to kids? I don’t… I don’t get it…”

“Yeah… me neither.”

“But that incident… The sound of the fireworks made you remember the shooting?” Calypso attempted to connect the dots.

“Yeah... When I heard that sound… I dunno. My mind started racing and I started wondering what if it actually was a shooter and not just some fireworks? I didn’t see where the sound came from because the curtains were closed, after all. And when my mind starts racing, it really starts racing. You weren’t there at that moment so I got afraid that something had happened to you. And the panic attack was ready.”

Calypso understood perfectly. When she was having one of her bad moments, she kept reliving her sister’s accident and worrying it would happen again with someone else. It had taken her a long while to convince herself that it was safe enough to drive a car or to be a passenger in one. Even though she was able to drive again these days, the small nagging noise still hadn’t entirely disappeared from her head and she doubted it ever would.

“Well, I’m here now. I’m alright. You’re alright.” She gave him a small, encouraging smile. “Come here.” She patted the spot next to her to tell him to get up from his lying position so she could hug him. Leo looked at him questioningly for a moment, though.

“But what if someone comes in and sees us?”

“I kinda don’t care right now,” Calypso stated seriously. “Besides… I think we are not that great of actors. They probably know anyway.”

“Alright,” Leo replied and sat up on his spot on the bed. He buried his face against her neck and wrapped his arms around her waist, stroking her back as if to get a verification that she was really there with him.

“Gods, I’m making you regret your decision to be my girlfriend, aren’t I?” he mumbled against her skin.

“No,” Calypso said firmly when she broke the hug. “If anything, I think I love you even more when I hear about these things. You’re a really strong person who has just been through too much, too young.”

“But… you shouldn’t have to be my therapist,” Leo noted.

“I don’t see it that way. I want to help you feel better because you’re important to me. Besides...” Calypso added, thinking that a little humor wouldn’t hurt in that situation, “I’m trusting you’ll do the same for me when I need it.”

“Okay, I’ll be prepared,” Leo promised.

Suddenly the two realized that the people outside the room had gathered together and were doing a countdown.

“Ten, nine, eight…”

“Woah, sounds like it’s midnight already. We must have been here for at least an hour…” Calypso said.

“Seven, six, five…”

“Yeah. Time flies fast when you’re having a panic attack,” Leo managed to ‘joke’.

“Four, three, two, one…”

“I don’t get how you can joke about it already, but OK.”

“Happy new year!” yelled a big group of people in sync outside Frank’s bedroom.

“Happy new year,” the flatmates said at the same time.

“Or at least a better year than the previous one,” Leo added. “Although, I will admit it did have some good mo… woah!”

Calypso surprised Leo by gently pulling him closer to her, her hands coming to rest on each side of his neck when her lips touched his. Even though they had already shared a few kisses since the moment when they had decided to cross the line between a friend and a lover, Calypso still felt the sparks flying down her spine like fireworks when she felt Leo responding to it. His lips felt so soft (had he been using lip balm, she wondered) and his body so warm against hers, and it wasn’t until then that she realized that she had been actually feeling rather cold in her dark sleeveless dress.

“Goodness, Cal, you’re freezing,” Leo noted when they broke apart, rubbing his hands up and down her arms. “This is where a gentleman would offer you a coat but as it happens, I don’t have one.”

Calypso smiled at him. “Don’t worry about it. I’ll be fine. Guess I was at the balcony just a bit too long.”

“Oh. Well, don’t do that again,” Leo said seriously.

“What if I will?” Calypso questioned.

“Then I’ll build a sauna into our flat and make sure you use it no matter what my fear says.”

“Wow. I doubt our landlord would love that. I mean, you building a sauna without permission.”

“Pfft, who cares about his opinion?” Leo asked before turning his attention to the sounds of celebration on the other side of the door. “Hey, should we go back to the others? I think I can handle it now.”

“Alright,” Calypso agreed. “And remember, we can leave any time you feel like it.”

“Okay,” Leo nodded and got up from the bed. They held hands for a moment longer before opening the door and having to act like nothing had happened again. Calypso didn’t mind the acting too much, though, when she saw that Leo was able to smile and joke again. Hopefully that year really would be a better one.

#caleo #leo valdez #calypso #heroes of olympus #percy jackson and the olympians #trials of apollo #my fics #caleo uni au

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justleaf · 3 years

Text

Summary

Geralt POV where he has to keep an eye out for Iorveth and Roche while they [banana].

Content Background

So. Yeah. Geralt never left the room in Chapter 14 because it would have been suspicious AF to see a witcher loitering outside a room. I'd written a few sentences from his POV but then decided to yeet it in the name of 💖 soft angst 💖. Enjoy Geralt's utter confusion.

Original Fic

It Took Years

Length

900 words

____________________

Iorveth sought him out of the blue and that was the beginning of Geralt’s incredibly confusing night. Save for the errant wraith or the knights of the order, there were few monsters and even fewer that required the hand of the witcher in Novigrad.

But the elf’s request wasn’t one that he had expected: Help me talk to Vernon Roche.

He had resisted - vehemently and firmly - even though Iorveth claimed to just want to talk. There was no way he was risking the life of a friend who had his back even when he’d left him back at Flotsam. The elf tried first to convince him and then switched to smooth-talking him, and when he finally played the favour card, Geralt found himself out of ways to turn him down. Iorveth had helped him find Triss in the tangled underworld of Novigrad and he resigned himself to the extremely convoluted plan.

“Why do we need to pretend to have dinner first,” Geralt asked, not entirely opposed to the idea but finding it quite odd.

“Shake off suspicion.”

“Suspicion? Who’s suspicious of Roche?”

“Many,” he glossed over like it was the most obvious thing in the world and Geralt was momentarily startled. Roche was hated, but it wasn’t like the Scoia’tael would lose their minds over Iorveth strolling up to him and having a conversation, right?

Right?

“Anyway,” he continued without missing a beat, “we’re going to have dinner and chat a bit. You’re going to pretend to need to get something from your room and I’m going to follow you. Then you’re going to stand guard at the door and make sure no one is listening in or sees us.”

“Mm.”

“Now let’s go.”

Geralt didn’t think the worst of it. The dinner itself was quite nice and Iorveth was more than happy to oblige his questions about Est Tayiar. Then came the kick under the table and he pretended quite loudly to need to show Iorveth a bunch of notes he’d found in the ruins. He let his nose guide them up to Roche’s room and kept his fists loose and his stance tense as they entered, fully expecting a bloodbath.

Except Roche was now trading the biggest favour he owed him and Geralt didn’t understand. The Blue Stripes commander had saved his life, and in exchange he wanted him to act as a guard dog for eight minutes? The deal hardly seemed even and he panicked when Roche grabbed Iorveth by the collar and pushed him up against the wall. Geralt took a step forward and reached out to pluck him off the elf, but stopped when the man leaned in and kissed his nemesis instead. He was holding him like his life depended on it, his cold facade ripped to shreds and his expression one of tender warmth that Geralt had never thought him capable of.

Even then, he was still having trouble comprehending what he was seeing.

“Fuck,” he muttered to himself and turned to face the door when the towel dropped to the floor, tuning his senses outwards as he tried to ignore the sighs of the lovers. His mind was a complete and utter mess - constantly torn between casting Axii on the occasional person that passed, trying to figure out what the fuck was going on, keeping track of the time, and attempting very hard not to get turned on. It was impossibly difficult, what with the obscene whispers that were incredibly loud to his senses and the sharp scent of arousal that drenched the still air of the room.

It felt like eternity and when they’d hit the minute mark, Iorveth was suddenly claiming Roche and Geralt felt his mind melt from the sheer overload of information. Vernon Roche. Iorveth. Together. In some kind of secret relationship where they couldn’t meet under normal circumstances even though they clearly wanted each other. And they were in so deep, Geralt didn’t know how the hell they were going to get out of it.

For the first time in years, he said a silent prayer to Melitele for his sanity. He needed answers, but he needed to get that idiot elf out first before they were compromised.

"Iorveth, we need to go. Now," he interrupted and crossed the room in a few steps to tap the elf on the shoulder. He glanced down at Roche - entirely on accident - and his heart ached at the sight of the commander. He looked torn, overwhelmed, wanting and very obviously in love. Geralt was briefly reminded that he was a fraction of his age, and very much a young man compared to himself and Iorveth.

He snuck a look at Iorveth too and held back a deep sigh. He mirrored every emotion and a thousand more, a maelstrom brewing in his eye and his frustration painted in the deep frowns of his face. The elf barely laced up his trousers when Geralt grabbed the hook of his arm, dragged him out of the room and straight out of the inn without any resistance from Iorveth. Their path took him by a human he hadn't noticed earlier and an elf on the other side of the street; informants, no doubt, and he wondered just how far gone these two were. He intended to find out as he dragged Iorveth onto the empty bridge where he couldn’t detect any life within earshot.

"Explain yourself," he demanded and Iorveth just stared at the ground like his entire life was about to come crumbling down.

#cut content #iorveth x roche #iorveth #vernon roche #witcher 2 #fanfiction #fanfic #ao3 #archive of our own #it took years

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themockingcrows · 3 years

Text

Doki Doki Grist Panic Ch. 4

Another chapter of my Magical Boy fic, sorry for such a long wait while I got my brain in order!

Ao3 link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27802735/chapters/79562023

This chapter is sfw!

Soft, repetitive beeps were the first things Dave heard when he woke. The whirring of machinery, of a barely there fan spinning in a metal case. He’d know the sounds of technology anywhere, used to the hum and breath of his own computer tower in his room. Nothing was overheating, the room was a comfortable temperature, just warm enough to feel cozy where his skin touched itself at the crooks of his elbows and the backs of his legs. He was aware he was lying on his side, but it was so hard to wake up. Opening his eyes felt far too difficult, let alone moving his limbs. Dave settled for a fingertip stroking at what felt like a blanket or sheet beneath his body and sighed a breath exhaustedly.

It wasn’t fully dark in the room. He must have left his lamp on at the desk and taken a nap, or the door was open somewhat to let in light from the hallway and living room. He didn’t hear anything from the front room, Bro must be napping as well or doing something with his headphones on at his computer. Maybe dinner was cooking, or he was waiting for something to be delivered, indulging in his free time doing this or that. It was a comfortable silence. Dave blinked a few slow times before taking in the strange blue tone to the room’s light, cooler than his usual warm home light. Bulb change? Slowly he rubbed at his face and slid to his back, wanting to stare at the ceiling so he could come back to himself more and wake up properly.

This wasn’t his ceiling.

Instead of the textured white ceiling he was used to seeing for so many years, the ceiling was metallic and matte in color. The walls were matte as well, though at least they were white as his own were. Fat load of good it did him, considering the walls didn’t look familiar in the slightest either. Where WAS this place? This wasn’t his room, it wasn’t the living room for sure. Was it a friend’s house? A hospital?

Dave sat upright and lifted his hands to his throat, his face, a sudden feeling of breathlessness hitting him as he panicked. Breathless… It all came flooding back to him in a rush, mind swimming. The attack, the lack of air, choking, suffocating. But it still didn’t answer the question of where he was, nor what was happening. When he went to rock to his knees, Dave paused, feeling a tug of fabric at his waist and chest. That… didn’t make sense, his uniform wouldn’t do that, nor would his casual clothes. Instead of wearing either outfits, he was draped in a soft white material that was tied at the waist with a woven red cord, though he couldn’t guess what type of fabric it was. It was too soft to be linen, too sturdy to be cotton, and didn’t match anything he’d ever felt. Were it not such a mystery he’d probably even go to say it was quite comfortable.

… Where were his boxers?

Who had undressed him? Even the lack of transformation would be something of importance, he’d go back to his civilian clothes, not… whatever this was. When he finally managed to stand, the room span and he sank back down to sit for a moment on the edge of the bed with a grimace, taking it all in as his mind raced in circles like a penned dog. Dave realized that it wasn’t just the garment that was covering him either, but what looked and felt like strings of pearls and golden beads. They were settled around his neck as if wrapped specifically to make a draping effect over his chest and shoulders here and there, and clasped together at the ends behind his neck with what felt like a filigree hook. Someone had taken great care to dress him like this, but why? Who?

Panic rising in his throat like bitter bile, Dave stood slower this time and headed for the cracked doorway, surprised to find the room unguarded. Cameras? Or was there some other way he was being watched? Paranoia ate at him, but when he poked his head out into the blue toned hallway, he heard nothing but the same soft hum of machinery, felt the cool air blowing from unseen vents. Barefooted, he padded along down this hallway to the left of his room, prepared for any threat. ...Or. Well, as prepared as one could be while unarmed. Dave knew how to defend himself while unarmed well enough, but the desire to have a sword was strong. Maybe he should change before exploring further, get his powerup back and-

“You’re awake. I was wondering how long you were going to be unconscious for. So long as your brain waves were healthy and strong I wasn’t worried, at least. It’s fascinating how fragile humans are once you remove their air.”

Dave froze in place. He knew that voice, but the things it was saying weren’t making sense to his brain. John wouldn’t talk like that, but that was the first person that came to mind upon hearing that specific tone and cadence, the way it handled words as if they were fluid on one's tongue instead of just a thought. Swallowing and taking a deeper breath, he rolled his shoulders back and strode to the full end of the hallway and the room it opened into.

The space was massive. The hums were definitely computers, projecting screens and physical and digital keyboards everywhere, holograms and different moving charts and images dancing in the air. Each wall seemed to have some kind of a space background, stars and a moon, a view of the Earth like a peaceful screensaver. In the center of it all stood a figure with glowing eyes and gray skin, unfamiliar clothing and decoration adorning him, a serene look on his face. He looked calm, in control, but there was no hostility to be seen.

“You can come closer. I’m not interested in fighting you,” he said.

Dave frowned and strode closer, observing the different screens as he went, unable to read any of the angular text he saw. When he was a more reasonable distance from him, he finally talked.

“So you’re the one that brought me here.” It was John. Closer, he could see the shape of his eyes, his mouth, the way his hair sat on his head, his broad shoulders. The appearance had changed, but the core was definitely the same. His stomach churned sickly. He’d kissed this person. He’d been held by this person. He’d contemplated doing more with this person, and it was all a lie.

“You seem surprised and yet not surprised enough,” he said with a hint of a smile. It looked a little forced, stiff at the edges of his mouth as if the gesture were foreign to him. “Might I ask who you were expecting?”

“...Nobody specific,” Dave admitted, trying to keep his cool. “Where is here though? I assume you can at least tell me that.”

John lifted his foot and stomped downwards, forcing the ground to shimmer for a moment before it turned pitched black and then seemed to dissolve. The space pattern from the walls blended to the rest of the floor, leaving them seemingly free floating in space despite walking on solid ground.

“I’d thought it would be fairly obvious, but I suppose even someone like you might have been confused at first. Does this clarify things, then?”

Space. Dave knew Bro had gone before, he’d talked about it in the past, but never did he think he’d get to see it himself. Much less in a situation like this one. His fingers curled into the sides of the new draping clothing he wore, steeling himself as he stared directly down towards nothingness. If Earth was on the wall’s side, then they must be at an angle without even being able to feel it. Whatever technology was doing this was astounding.

A gray hand was suddenly touching his cheek, cold and lifeless feeling, and Dave jerked his head up and took a step backwards to put some distance between them again. The look in his eyes could peel paint, aggressively defiant as he’d been during battle, though this time with the added benefit of betrayal as well. This person had lied to him, led him on, played with his emotions. Made a fool of him. He was a moron. Of course he couldn’t have nice things like romance, they weren’t possible for someone with his kind of career. This just hammered that idea home even harder than before in a way that made tears sting in his eyes and threaten to show themselves.

He kept them down out of sheer spite.

“You hate me so much already,” John mused. “Not even a moment's hesitation before pulling back.”

“You’re not John.”

“Yes, I am.”

“You’re not my John.”

“We are one in the same, Dave. Open your eyes to reality,” John said with a flourish of his arms, displaying himself in his entirety as if he hadn’t been seen properly before. “It doesn’t have to be so bad. Think of the possibilities you’re being afforded.”

“Possibilities? Don’t make me laugh,” he nearly spat. “My John might as well be dead now. I don’t care if you’re the same person, the John I gave a shit about wouldn’t be my enemy. I fell in love with a lie, but it was a wonderful lie, don’t even pretend to act like you’re remotely the same thing.”

John sighed a little and rolled his head on his neck to stretch it before rubbing a few strands of hair behind his ear. “You’re really in denial, aren’t you. I’m the same John. I have the same feelings for you, those weren’t a lie. The only lie is that I’m not human. I’ve no intention of hurting you.”

“You fucking suffocated me!” Dave reminded him with a hiss.

“It was the quickest way to end the battle and sequester you away,” John shrugged. “Would you rather I have beaten you senseless with my hammer? It could be arranged now, if you’d prefer. But I’d dislike crushing your pretty face.”

Dave scowled and clenched his fists tight enough that he felt his nails cutting into his palms. “What do you want with me. Hurry this up, I’ve got places to be.”

“You talk as if you’re getting out of here easily,” John mused. “But since you’re here, I’ll go ahead and extend my offer formally.”

“Offer?”

“Yes,” John said, taking a step closer in an attempt to close the gap, though it renewed itself almost immediately when Dave backstepped again to keep distance between them. Frustrating, but fine, he’d deal with it. “I’d like for you to come back with me to my planet.”

“...Why.”

“Why? Because I like you, Dave. I enjoy your company. You are… special to me. I would enjoy keeping you by my side.”

“Cute words, but you still kidnapped my ass and dressed me up like some toy. You’re not exactly still on the boyfriend pedestal,” Dave pointed out. “Why not just find someone on your planet?”

“There’s nobody left for me there,” he said simply, flatly. “It’s why when I’m done here, I’d prefer to keep you with me. I’ve got the technology to make sure you adjust to our atmosphere once it’s restored, an-”

“Restored?”

John reached a practiced hand out to tap at a keyboard, bringing up a specific hologram of a ruined looking planet. Smaller screens lit up around it showing devastation, pollution, destruction both natural and man made. There was a distinct lack of life. “Restored. All it’ll take is enough grist, and my world can be restored to its former beauty. It’s not the same as Earth, there’s a lot different about it. But it’s beautiful in its own way, when it’s healthy and alive.”

“Why is it your job to fix your planet? If you’re the only one left, why not just live here? We have problems, yeah, but there’s plenty of roo-” Dave started, only to be interrupted.

“Because I’m it’s guardian,” John said simply. “I have a chance to save and restore it, to restore everything to how it was but better. I can fix things. I have that power, and I intend to use it. I just need grist from Earth, and my home will come back.”

“How much grist do you need…?” he asked, already having a sense before getting confirmation.

“All of it, preferably. I could work with less, but if I’m here already why not just drain the damned place and be done with it.”

Dave finally took a step forward aggressively.

“So that’s the entire plan? Destroy Earth, gain grist, revive a dead planet?”

“And have you at my side for the duration. You’d love my world, Dave. You’d be loved there. You wouldn’t have to risk your neck all the time as a guardian nobody is grateful to, either,” John explained, grin widening in an almost manic way. “Once I’m the one to restore things, everyone will realize they have a guardian with that power. That I’ll exist to them as more than a vague concept of right and wrong, that I’m a real person, and that I gave them their life back. It will be beautiful.”

The aggressive stance slackened somewhat as Dave shifted his weight back towards his heel.

“You’re crazy.”

“Am I? Or are you just not looking at the big picture clearly,” John said, pulling out his hammer from thin air with a shimmer. He was a guardian. They were the same, and yet, so obviously different in every way. John tossed the weapon easily in one hand, unbothered by its weight in the slightest, then pointed it at Dave before gesturing to the rest of the room. “I’m offering you a place by my side, an entire world. This is an easy choice, Dave. We were getting so close…”

“If I knew this side of you, I’d never have even called you a friend,” Dave said, trying not to flinch when the hammer swung down sharp enough it made stinging air snap against his face. “I’m a guardian of Earth, John. You know I’d never accept this kind of offer. I can’t let you do as you please. I’m offering you a hand again to join Earth, but that’s as far as this goes.”

“Fuck the Earth!” John shouted, eyes blazing. “It's time as the crown jewel of the milky way is over, Dave, open your eyes! Look at the writing on the wall! War, famine, pollution, greed. Your planet is going down the same path my planet did at first. It’s on its way out now. It’s dimming. Yet, it still has a chance to be useful. It can restart my planet, it can become a utopia, like it always had the potential to! A second chance!”

“And why the fuck should I let you kill my planet to restart yours? What makes all our lives inferior?” demanded Dave, jaw tense. This guy was crazy. Absolutely fucking crazy.

“It’s nothing personal, Dave. It’s just business. We can always work together to find another planet to restart yours the same way, another world chock full of grist for the taking. We could work together, even. Keep both our planets safe. It’d be great, it-”

“Isn’t going to ever happen.”

“Dave.”

“I’m not going to let you lay your fucking hands on anything of mine ever again. The Earth is off limits to your grist mining.”

“Dave, listen to me.”

“The offer to remain as a friend of the planet is on the table still, but from the sound of things you’re expecting more. It’s not going to happen. I’m not going anywhere with you.”

“Dave,” John said again, sounding pained. The grip on his hammer tightened with every word, face desperate and tense.

“Not now, not ever. This planet is my responsibility.”

“Dave, listen!” John shouted.

“I DON’T HAVE TO LISTEN TO A FUCKING THING YOU SAY WHEN YOU’RE TALKING SO NONCHALANTLY ABOUT KILLING ALL MY FRIENDS AND FAMILY!” Dave shouted right back, raising his fists into a fighting stance defensively, prepared for what might be coming from their outbursts.

John lifted his hammer high, eyes flaring like electricity. A dark breeze rushed through the room, jerking Dave’s clothes left and right, whipping his hair wildly. He prepared for breathlessness, he prepared for the hammer. For what may come.

“WHY CAN’T YOU JUST DO AS I SAY?” John yelled, slamming the hammer Dave’s direction. It was a mistake. An accident, he’d try to tell himself. He would never hurt Dave, he’d promised himself he wouldn’t, yet him talking back like this, him refusing him, him refusing him the chance of fixing his world… it was just too much to handle, and he’d done the first thing that came to mind with the darkness.

The hammer struck true, but not on Dave, much to John’s anger and relief. Instead, it was struck and currently straining against a sword that he hadn’t seen before. It was white as marble, with a strange, almost conical looking crossguard. Solid as anything, with a hum of vibrant energy as Dave held John’s strike at bay. Gone were the white clothes, the beads, the pearls, in its place the familiar uniform and white hair John had seen so many times. The flashy red, the gears ticking in the air as he stared with piercing red eyes directly into John’s. No sign of yielding.

He hated that look.

He loved that look.

They strained against each other for a moment before Dave made a move, gears spinning wildly behind him as he slowed things down and surged forwards, sliding the hammer along the edge of the sword till he could flip the balance and send it away from him. Quickly, he angled his body and struck a blow across John’s middle, though it was far from a kill strike. Even now, Dave hesitated to kill some of his enemies, something that he knew would come back to bite him in the future in one way or another. He hoped that, possibly, there would be some way to save John from himself. To clear his heart, his mind. Somehow.

Maybe he could ask Bro, call a favor in from Dirk. Anything. There had to be a way.

As time sped back up, however, Dave knew he was out of time, metaphorically. Instead of attacking again, or preparing to intercept a second hammer strike, he instead clenched his hand over his heart and focused as hard as he could on home. He could picture it in his mind, the futon with Bro’s legs dangling over the end, the television, the wires crisscrossing the floor, food on the counter, smuppets and swords everywhere. The moon from the rooftop, the faint hint of stars in the light polluted sky, the heat of midday sun on the treated surface, waves in the air bouncing off the metallic surfaces of the industrial air conditioners. He could feel it so intensely he could have drawn it with his eyes closed.

Chest warm, Dave heard his heart ticking in his chest, the steady beat of the clock that he worked with. It ticked louder, louder, harder till it was all he could feel, all he could hear… and he was gone. John struck the empty space Dave had been standing in mere seconds after he flashed and disappeared from view. Growling in rage, dark wind wildly thrashing, he threw his head back and yelled wordlessly to the digital sea of stars above him.

This wasn’t over.

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

Dave’s roof was exactly how he’d been imagining it. Comforting, welcoming, and entirely his own. Though relieved at his sudden arrival back on Earth, he couldn’t help but stare up at the sky to try and figure out which bright spot was a star and which might be John’s ship just beyond the atmosphere. He gripped his hand tight against his chest again, before finally glancing down towards his sword. This definitely was new, but what happened? Did he get gifted an upgrade, or had he unlocked it somehow on his own in a fit of panic? He gave it a twist swing, slicing the air cleanly with a vwip noise a few times before the door to the roof clanged open.

“Jesus fuck, kid, you’re gonna give me a heart attack. Where’ve you been? It’s like you disappeared!” Bro said, hurrying forward as Dave slowed his strikes to a halt. “I came soon as I felt it, but seriously, what gives?”

“Felt it? Felt what?” he asked, confused.

“The ping,” Bro said. At Dave’s continued look of confusion, he set a hand over his heart with a smirk. “I might not be a guardian anymore, but I’m sure as shit still tapped into the system somewhat, and just from bein’ who I am to you I’d feel it I’m sure. Felt when you disappeared… felt when you came back. Dirk no doubt felt it too, even if only a bit. Everyone must’ve felt somethin’, no matter how small, that changed.”

“Somethin’ sure as shit did change, did you see this thing?” Dave asked, hefting the sword up one handed to display to Bro lengthwise, offering it to him to hold and examine in the moonlight, white and all but glowing in its deadly way. “I don’t know what happened, one minute I was goin’ for my sword, the next this cropped out instead.”

“Nice. Solid as shit, too,” Bro judged by the weight. “This is a hell of an upgrade kid. ...I hope it didn’t cost you too much. You know how they are about their workers supplies.”

There was always a price. Be it in time, or be it in blood.

“I hope so too. I’ve got no idea, though. I didn’t hear Hephaestus at all, or see him or anything, just. New sword,” he explained as he took the weapon back, changing out of his uniform and into-

“What’s with the getup?” Bro asked, cocking his head to the side.

“Fucking-! Ugh. God damn creep changed my clothes while I was out cold. H- … Wait. Motherfucker, my phone!” he shouted, looking up towards the sky angrily. His phone was gone, his clothes, his everything was gone and it wasn’t like he could just ask for it back.

“There’s worse ways to lose a phone, kid. We’ll get you a new one,” Bro said with a shrug. “Come inside, already, before you get sucked back to space or wherever the fuck you were at. I’ll make Hot Pockets or somethin’ to celebrate.”

Dave smirked. “I survive a near death experience and you offer me Hot Pockets. My first time off-planet, and it’s Hot Pockets.”

“These are the garlic bread kind, and I’m willin’ to share.”

“...You drive a hard bargain.”

Bro clapped a hand on Dave’s shoulder. “We’ll try puzzlin’ out your powerup and talk while you eat. You can even change out of your weird drapey dress if you want.”

Dave shot another look at the sky as if daring John to react while he stood there more vulnerable, while he was with his guardian, but nothing came. He’d need to finish this. Maybe the Hot Pocket talk could include more strategy than anything else, a second head with more experience fighting off-planet threats to help him think of different options.

“Yeah. I’d like that.”

As they started walking, Bro chuckled. “If you wanna call your boyfriend I’ll lend you my phone for a bit if you ask real nice.”

Dave’s stomach churned as they headed through the door, mouth suddenly full of bitter spit. “No thanks. That’s. ...I’ll tell you while I eat.”

#johndave #homestuck #john egbert #dave strider #my fic #my fic writing

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mangaandlivingdolls · 4 years

Text

Kinktober DAY 13: Stay boy!

Prompts: Pet Play + Sounding + Lactation

Character: Divus Crewel

Plot: A student gets a little too annoyed at Divus’s teaching methods and decides to punish him.

Notes: Gender neutral, mature with pron, noncon

Thank you @bashjackie for your wonderful writing and giving me this prompt!

Divus was annoying.

No. Not just annoying, infuriating. His constant condensing ‘good boy’ and ‘stay’ was disgusting. Not to mention when he felt the need to whip someone into shape.

In some ways, it seemed pathetic.

He couldn’t control his students without a force. He had to treat them like fucking dogs.

And that wasn’t the only infuriating thing about him. He just had to constantly go on about fashion, design or some other bullshit. What did that have to do with making potions, anyway? Divus is just a wannabe clothing designer. Sure, he’s sold a few lines, but the fact he spends the week teaching ‘puppies’ was enough proof of his failure.

Maybe that was why he actually favored Schoenheit, the intelligent, strict, hot model who seemed to always have a stick up his ass. In a lot of ways, they were similar; condescending nicknames, obsession with looking good, etc. The biggest difference, however, was that Schoenheit actually seemed to have more to show for it.

For fuck’s sake, what kind of teacher is cryptic for every lesson?

That’s what led to another rant of his about how terrible the class was. Did he really think everyone could just do such an advanced potion with no advice on quantities? Of course, the majority of the class would fail when all they could do was guess. What a waste of a teacher. Then again, it’s not like the others were better.

Grinding your teeth, you watched as Divus continued to insult everyone for being ‘bad breeds’ and completely untrainable mutts. Finally. the bell rang, freeing you all from his annoying rants, at least ‘til next class. Standing, you carefully slipped a vial out of your pocket and slipped the contents of it into his cup as he berated a ‘mutt’ for not tucking in their shirt.

Too easy.

Almost disappointingly easy, but then again, what would a purebred show dog have to worry about from a mutt? That’s why in nature, mutts are better off than purebreds.

The effects should start in one hour. He’ll notice sooner most likely, but with another class and a teachers’ meeting, there was no way he’d have time to fix it. Just enough time for you to eat lunch and gather the rest of your ‘tools’.

~~~

How could this have even happened? Crewel rushed into his office, locking the door behind him. He obviously wasn’t pregnant, and even more so, he wouldn’t brew a lactation potion for himself. Carelessly, he tossed his wand on his desk and began to quickly remove his coat and vest. Already, his vest had become damp from his now-lactating chest.

Damn the headmaster and his insistent prattling, Divus thought. If he hadn’t drowned on, then I could have brewed the antidote before my clothes were ruined.

Ruined may have been a bit harsh, but he’d definitely have to change into some spares if he wanted to leave campus with no questions asked.

Stuck in his own head, Crewel completely missed the student standing in the corner, unknowingly giving them a show. Of course, the student couldn’t really take the time to admire their panicking teacher.

Quickly, they used a stun spell, before rushing behind their teacher and throwing him to the floor. Crewel didn’t even have a moment to gasp before he found himself frozen and thrown to the floor. Just as quickly, the student shoved some bit of plastic between his open lips and quickly hooked it behind his head, forcing Crewel to bite down on the gag.

As much as they wanted to appreciate their teacher chewing on the bone gag, they grabbed their teacher's wrist and shoved it into the leather mitt and tied it tightly, repeating the motion as Crewel tied to figure out what was happening.

The next part was going to be difficult.

The stun spell had already begun to wear off, and even without his hands, Divus was still a capable adult. Shoveling down the teacher's body, they grabbed one of his ankles and began wrapping the leather cuff around it. Sensing that he was going to be further restrained, Crewel rolled to the side and used his unrestrained leg to kick his attacker. With a grunt, they refused to relent. They grabbed his other ankle and struggled to place the other cuff on. Even with Crewel realizing what was happening, with his hands and one ankle trapped, there wasn’t much he could do.

Finally, the student had their teacher trapped and could admire their hard work.

Divus laid prone on the ground trying unsuccessfully to break his restraints. His hands uselessly pawed at each other in the vain hope that he could somehow get the mitts off.

The best feature by far, however, was his face. His hair was completely ruined from the tussle on the floor, while his chin had been covered in drool from his grunts and attempts to yell.

Something was still missing, however.

Even with Divus struggling it didn’t feel quite like enough. That’s when their eyes landed on the teacher’s desk, where his pointer was thrown.

Perfect.

Calmly, they strolled towards the desk, slowly picked up the pointer, and messed with the pretty red collar attached to the end. Turning back to Divus, they couldn’t help but laugh at the position he had put himself in.

Somehow, he had managed to flip himself onto his stomach and was trying to push himself up with his knees and caged hands, sticking his ass straight up in the air. With a chuckle, they skipped towards Divus and smacked his ass with the pointer.

With a muffled yelp, the teacher completely collapsed, making it easier for his student to turn him over onto his back and straddle his waist. Divus tried to shimmy out from beneath them, but another sharp whack, this time aimed at his face, put an end to that.

“Divus, stay.” The words seem to not register for a minute as they stared at each other, before Divus tried to buck them off with renewed vigor. Sighing, they went to work unfastening the collar and wrap it around Divus's throat, perhaps more tightly than necessary.

“There. Now you really look like the bitch you are.” Before Crewel could even give an indignant snarl, they had already begun tearing his shirt and tie off. A red flush covered Crewel's face as his clothing was destroyed, revealing his dripping chest.

“Wow, Divus, when I called you a bitch, I didn’t expect you to drip like one, especially right in front of your own student!”

Stroking one of the leaking buds, they gave it a slight tug to watch more milk drip out and pool towards Divus’s taut stomach. Divus whimpered and tried to squirm away from his student’s touch. His struggle was rewarded with a much sharper pinch this time.

As much as watching Divus moan and squirm as his chest was toyed with was amusing, there were far more important matters to attend to. With one last rough tug to his chest, they got of Divus and went over to their backpack, which was blending in with the background. Divus tried to turn his head to see what his student was grabbing, but with a quick snap of their fingers and a “Stay Divus,” he stopped squirming and merely hoped they’d had their fun and were retrieving the keys.

A soft rattle of something metal was heard and Divus almost wept with relief that his humiliation was coming to an end, only for his student to come back into view.

“Aw, does puppy think he’s getting a treat?”, they chuckled. “Sadly you’ve been such a naughty thing that I’m afraid your punishment isn’t over, boy.”

Divus’s brows furrowed in confusion as his student held up a strange, thin metal object and lubricated it in front of his face.

He didn’t have any time to try and figure out what it was for before his student went back to destroying his clothes, this time his jeans. Divus whimpered and tried to shove them off, but with his hands still bound, it was futile. Finally, Divus’s hard cock was forced into the open air.

It seemed like time stopped as Divus stared at his leaking cock. His student let out a laugh before grasping his dick, making Divus moan.

“My, my. The puppy seems awfully excited at his punishment.” They smeared his precum around the head of his dick. “I may not even need the lube, huh?”

By now, almost all the fight was out of Divus. He merely squirmed in his bondage as they played with his dick and mocked him for being in heat.

After what felt like an eternity, they released his cock and began slicking up the metal instrument.

Then they began pushing one end into his slit.

Divus nearly choked on his own spit as his struggles renewed in vigor, so much so they had to use another stun spell on him. They forced Divus to only watch as his dick was violated. Surprisingly, Divus felt very little pain as it was slowly, slowly shifted further into his cock. The only feeling was pleasurable fullness. Nerves that had never been stimulated before were played with as the instrument was pushed down. Every couple of centimetres, they would stop to massage the outside of his dick to stimulate him further.

Finally, his dick was completely full and any further pushing only caused Divus to see stars as it hit something deep inside of his cock.

“Well puppy, how do you feel?” They mocked, going back to play with his chest. In a final act of weak defiance, Divus glared at them and tried to growl around his bone gag. In response, his student bopped his nose and stood up.

“I guess you still haven’t learned anything, puppy. I’m so disappointed.” Turning away from their captive, they retrieved their backpack and began heading towards the door, causing Divus to panic and whine once again. They couldn’t just leave him like this, could they?

“Maybe if you lie there in your mess for a few hours, you might learn.” Just as they unlocked the door, they shot an amused look back at Divus. “Good boy! Don’t forget what you’ve learned today!”

Just like that, he was left in his own office, completely trapped. Divus felt tears fill his eyes as he was left on his back, the milk from his nipples, drool, and precum mixing into his skin.

#twisted wonderland #divus crewel #ns/fw #my writing #kinktober

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alolowrites · 4 years

Text

Late Night Visitor

Summary: A mysterious stranger visits your balcony and accidentally leaves behind a priceless jewelry that they stole from a museum.

Author’s Note: I’m pleased to share the next story for @bnhabookclub Hero Camp Bingo event. The prompt I used was “Crime AU” It took a while getting this done because of work stress and having slight writer’s block (plus I kept changing the story’s direction). But really, it was because of how stressed/tired I’ve been the past few weeks. So, really sorry if it took forever posting another story.

It’s also my first time writing for Hawks, so hopefully I did him justice! He was the first character that popped up when working with this prompt. Please enjoy!!

Word Count: 2.3K+

“Ah! Hot, hot!”

Well, isn’t this just great? Nothing like accidentally burning your tongue during dinner to remind yourself how impatient you are—damn hunger. One hand flails to cool down your mouth. Steam dances above the hearty bowl of curry rice, the sweet smell of caramelized onions greeting your nose with a soft kiss. Bless the local 7-11 markets for selling quick and easy meals.

You sit criss-cross applesauce on the fluffy gray rug and scroll through social media for the millionth time. It’s been a slow weekend as yesterday’s news is recycled for today’s news. A random show plays on the television, but you don’t pay attention to the white noise. All your focus is on the phone, yet you still reach for another bite from your meal. How the rug stays clean during dinner nights at home is a complete mystery.

Sipping on your drink, you spare a glance at the balcony and do a double-take—a stranger is crouching outside. You choke, “Oh shit!”

Without thinking, you scurry behind the gray couch, not caring if the rug becomes messy. Your pounding heart is like a concert bass drum which echoes around the small apartment. The sound drowns out the show’s mindlessly chatter. Frightened eyes peek around the corner, and you whip back in full regret.

The person is still outside. Their back is facing toward the balcony door, and they are wearing a form-fitting black hoodie. Hands search for your phone, but they come up empty. Panic finally settles in when you realize it’s on the coffee table. Great, you moan as your head softly hits against the furniture—is the door even locked?

You’re faced with a dilemma: Do you stay out of sight until the stranger leaves or risk being seen while getting help? After much deliberation, you swallow a hard pill and growl at the ceiling, “If I’m doing this, I better not die!”

You’re like a soldier crawling through the mud with a drill sergeant yelling down your neck. You snatch the phone off the table, but make the mistake of looking up at the sliding door. Everything comes to a screeching halt as curious gold eyes stare into your timid ones. The mysterious visitor becomes more intimidating thanks to the balaclava mask—it covers the lower half of their face.

The intense staring contest last for an eternity. You nearly rip off the loose strands on your rug when the stranger approaches closer; they stop when you back away. Taking pity on you, they jump over the balcony and disappear into the quiet night.

A sense of relief washes over you.

Who knows what could have happened to you? Maybe your mom was right about learning some self-defense; the pepper spray is not enough. As you stand and dust off your pants, a shiny light catches your attention; it’s coming from outside. You go against your better judgment and tiptoe toward the balcony.

Your jaw immediately falls to the floor when you spot an exquisite ruby pendant. A sparkling round diamond sits above the bright red gemstone, a slight tint of purple hue lurking underneath. Even the platinum metal chain carries an air of luxury. It’s as if the gods carefully hand-crafted this entire jewelry themselves. In short, it is simple but elegant.

Sliding the door, you wonder if this is some kind of trap. After checking your surroundings, you swiftly pick up the accessory and snort, “Thank you for making me feel poor.”

Fingers glide along the gemstone’s perfect curves as you gaze at the sleeping neighborhood. Your mind goes wild: Who was the person with those haunting golden eyes? Why did they come to your balcony? And why in the world did they leave behind a beautiful masterpiece?

You have so many questions but very few answers.

༛༛ ༛ ༛༺༻༛ ༛ ༛༛

“So, you didn’t call the police?”

“Um…no…?”

“And why not?”

“It was a mixture of being both scared and stupid.”

“Oh my—” Fuyumi pinches the bridge of her nose. You twiddle your fingers like a guilty child and sink further into the booth. Fuyumi had her suspicions when you texted her to meet up at the usual coffee shop near your apartment. It’s your go-to place whenever you’ve done something questionable, which is ninety-nine percent of the time. Plus, the café whips up the perfect batch of castella—her favorite pastry.

Customers stroll in and out of the coffee shop as piano music plays softly in the background. Roasted coffee beans linger in the air, tempting your nose with its delicious aroma. Out of habit, you push the castella closer to Fuyumi as if that would help soften the blow. She exhales, “Next time, please call the police.”

“Yes, mother,” you mumble much to Fuyumi’s displeasure, but she lets it slide. With the worst over, you bounce straight up and tap the table with an air of excitement. “Oh! Here’s the best part though, besides surviving a break-in—”

“The person was outside your balcony.”

“—close enough, but not really the point, okay?” Fuyumi rolls her eyes, and you fish out your phone to show her a picture. She takes a closer look as you ramble off. “Anyway, my late-night visitor left behind this gorgeous pendant! Why they were carrying this around is beyond me, and so carelessly too. I’m no jeweler, but I’m pretty sure those stones are worth a fortune—still beautiful, though.”

“Yeah, and stolen!” The white-haired teacher hisses. You blink, wholly baffled at her extreme reaction. Fuyumi whips out her iPhone with two fingers flying above the screen. She shoves it toward you, your eyes skimming through the article. The news delivers a sharp slap across your face as the realization sinks in.

Oh no…

Fuyumi bites her lip, “It’s The Grand Droplet, a priceless heirloom rumored to offer infinite life and prosperity. Police are saying the notorious thief, Hawks, stole the pendant last night from the Yutaka Jewelry Museum.” A few seconds later, she adds, “You have the pendant—”

“Shhhhhh!” A hand attacks her arm, your panicked eyes wandering around the coffee shop as if your cover got blown. No one turns their heads, but you shoot an annoyed glare at Fuyumi. “Why don’t you say it louder? I don’t think the barista heard you!”

“I’m sorry! It’s just,” she grips the table’s edge and leans closer, “This is serious! You have to bring the pendant to the authorities. See, this is exactly why you should have called the police last night! The longer you wait, the more guilty you look. Maybe you’ll even become an accomplice to the crime.”

“You’re not helping!”

“Sorry…”

You dramatically groan into your hands, “Why did this happen to me?! When I said I wanted to live like Larry, I didn’t mean this!”

“I know,” Fuyumi pats your head and sneaks a bite of her delicious treat; her phone chimes beside you. She checks the message before flashing an apologetic stare. “Listen, I have to take care of something with my family, but I hate to leave you like this.”

“No, it’s okay. I can handle this myself,” you pathetically convince her. “I’m sure nothing bad will happen, knock on wood—”

“The table is metal.”

“I said what I said!” Your fist aggressively pounds the table, scaring off some customers. A mother hastily pushes her child away from the chaotic scene. You calm down and sigh, “I promise to call you if I’m in danger, okay?”

“Okay.”

You nod before whispering, “Sorry, table.”

༛༛ ༛ ༛༺༻༛ ༛ ༛༛

The walk back home is anything but relaxing. You are on high alert, throwing suspicious glances at anyone coming too close to you. They could be undercover cops waiting to ambush you and interrogate your poor soul for hours until the necklace reappears.

But I didn’t do anything! I’m a good noodle!

You sigh as the key unlocks the door, your shoes flying off by the entrance. Fortunately, you hid the pendant in a safe place. All you want to do is get rid of this jewelry; it brings nothing but trouble.

Marching down the hallway, you grumble under your breath, “Stupid Hawks, and his stupid stealing habits.”

Everyone knows about the infamous Hawks. He strikes when one least expects him to, and somehow successfully evades capture after every heist. But Hawks always leaves behind his signature red feather as a little present for authorities—it never fails to rile them up. Hopefully, the cops show some mercy when you explain what happened. Maybe you should work on your puppy dog look before heading downtown, which might help you score a few sympathy points.

You find the burgundy jewelry box sitting on the closet’s top shelf and breathe a sigh of relief—the pendant is still inside. Not wasting precious time, you close the lid and exit your room. A soft click makes you freeze.

Standing by the balcony door is Hawks, who wears a black jacket with a white shirt underneath. His ashy blonde hair is lazily slicked back, a few strands sticking here and there like no tomorrow. Surprisingly, he lowers the balaclava mask and flashes a boyish grin, “‘Bout time you came home! I was getting bored out there.”

“How did you—wait, never mind. You break into high-security places to steal things for a living,” you say, shifting the jewelry box onto your right grip. “Listen, as much as I would like to stay and chit-chat, my day is fully booked. Can’t really cancel on these people, ya know?” You slowly tiptoe backward, an awkward laugh ringing through the air. “Let’s do a rain check; I’m free next week. Okay? Okay! See ya—“

“Hold it!” You halt on his order, a curse slipping out your mouth. Hawks strides across the floor, and you clutch the box closer to your chest. You feel as though your feet are glued to the ground, the nerves growing stronger once Hawks stands only a few feet away. He crosses his arms and nods at the box, “Whatcha got there?”

“Oh, it’s nothing special, really.”

“Can I take a look?”

“No.”

“Why not?”

“Um, because I don’t want to, that’s why,” you childishly snap and send him a dismissive wave. “Now, shoo! You’re wasting my precious time.”

Hawks chuckles at your feisty attitude. He finds this whole ordeal extremely amusing. You know who he is, you know of his reputation just like everyone else in Japan. And yet, you keep on swinging like a boxer with your witty responses. Still, he has a job to finish. “I’m not leaving until you give me that pendant.”

“Well, I hope you’re paying for half the rent because there’s no way in hell I’m giving it to you, Mr. Thief.” Two seconds later, you add, “Besides, it’s not even yours!”

“It’s not yours either.”

“Oh!” You give him a fake laugh, pointing one finger at your chest. “So the thief is criticizing me for having something that’s not mine? How rich.”

“You’re lucky I find you cute, but,” Hawks dangerously invades your personal space without giving you a chance to stop him. From far away, he doesn’t appear tall. However, Hawks somehow towers over you, which makes you involuntarily squeak. A wicked glint shines through his golden eyes as he studies your unique facial features. You suddenly forget to breathe when his eyes glance at your lips—damn him.

Hawks plucks the box from your loose grip. The hypnotic spell comes crashing down, and you loudly snarl, “Hey! Give it back!”

“Sorry, Dove,” Hawks keeps you at arm’s length, his gloved hand giving your shoulder a soft squeeze as he smirks, “I got a buyer who’s willing to pay a hefty price for this beauty. Of course, you are way more stunning, but he doesn’t need to know that.”

“Quit charming me!” You’re a blushing mess now and throw a pillow at him; he easily dodges it much to your dismay. Hawks’ cackles bounce off the wall, which makes you scowl. His fingers slide the balcony door open, and he tastes sweet freedom.

“Farewell, Dove!”

You have a deja vu moment when Hawks jumps over the edge. Your legs rush outside, and eyes frantically search the streets, but it’s no use—the thief is long gone. One hand slaps your forehead as you stupidly let him get away with the jewel. Feeling like a deflated balloon, you whip out your phone and make a quick call.

“Fuyumi…yeah, the pendant got stolen again.”

Stupid thief.

༛༛ ༛ ༛༺༻༛ ༛ ༛༛

You collapse on the couch with as much grace as an inexperienced dancer who steps on people’s toes. Work left you exhausted, but you’re glad it’s almost the weekend. You’ll definitely sleep in and have a lazy day on Sunday. It’s what you deserve after meeting tight deadlines and also talking to the police about Hawks.

Fortunately, they do not blame you for anything, much to your relief. It’s been about a week since Hawks broke into your apartment to steal back the Grand Droplet. Police have no luck locating him; they believe the thief is lying low until it’s safe enough for him to strike again. Where exactly is anyone’s guess.

A knock disrupts your thoughts.

It comes from the balcony, and you jump to your feet. No one is outside, although a flash of red catches your eye. Lo and behold, it’s Hawks’ signature feather with a small note attached. Oh, how lovely, you think before snatching the gift off the floor. Your pet name is affectionately written across the paper. You hate yourself for finding Hawks’ calligraphy impressive, but proceed to read the note.

Sorry for cutting our convo short—had a deal to close. No hard feelings, though, right? If anything, I’ll make it up to you, Dove. Besides, you still owe me that rain check.

See ya soon!

-H

You don’t bother biting back your smile.

Guess you’ll be seeing Fuyumi at the coffee shop again.

Fourth prompt is crossed off. Which one will be next? Stay tune! Thank you for reading!

Previous prompt: Cuddles

Hero Camp Bingo Masterlist

#hawks x reader #keigo takami x reader #hawks imagine #bnha hawks #keigo takami #bnhabookclub #hero camp bingo #crime au

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kogo-dogo · 4 years

Note

i like your skyrim stuff and i wanna know more about the funky little dudes you posted in those “sentences” lol. instead of asking for more snips

You have made a mistake. Prepare for an essay.

But, joking aside, they’re Morrowind characters. I do like Skyrim, but Morrowind is my favorite game of all time and the entire reason I got into the TES fandom years ago. I don’t talk about it much on here because everyone is here for Half-Life and HRV, but... you know what? I’mma take this opportunity. To yell.

About The Guys(tm).

So, basically, in my Personal Canon, I don’t just have a Nerevarine (i.e. Protagonist) character. I have an entire crew of people who help him get through things because it just seems... more realistic for my Extremely Flawed and Terrible Nerevarine. Also, I just had a lot of characters conjured up as a teenager and it was fun to evolve it over time so they’re all friends.

They are, as follows:

- Jo’Karsa (a.k.a. “Karsaga”). Battlemage born under the Atronach. Afflicted with Wombburn. Also the Nerevarine. He’s an abnormally large Cathay-raht who has had an unusual upbringing. He was originally an orphan plucked off the streets in Corinthe and trafficked to Morrowind where he was sold as a slave. As fate would have it, a houseman under his owner took a shine to him and stole him away when they fled to Cyrodiil to avoid political assassination. Karsaga has been raised Telvanni in Imperial territory so, despite being a mighty brute of a Khajiit, he has an extreme affinity for magic and an equally extreme disconnect from his Khajiiti roots.

He speaks like a Dunmer, carries himself like a Dunmer, and has very Telvanni sensibilities. He also has an extensive criminal record from his time spent as a bandit outside of Cheydinhal, and that is eventually how he ends up on the prison boat that sends him to Morrowind. He has a bunch of aliases and an unhealthy penchant for drink and smoke. Not a fan of skooma, though. As gruff and sarcastic as he is, he has a very silver tongue and a way of winning people over and talking himself out of trouble.

Also, “youth born under a certain sign?” Nah, this bitch is 34. And smells like a wet dog.

- Dasrazel. Altmer Nightblade and Quarra vampire. He contracted his vampiric curse while trying to save his lover from the clutches of an undead menace during the Second Era, after a life working various quasilegal oddjobs that brought shame on his noble family. In life, he was a likeable but lowkey individual, and in undeath he’s still very lowkey... but perhaps not as likeable. He has to take a low dose of a calming potion to keep the inherent, violent bloodlust of his Quarra curse at bay, and it does a lot to deaden his emotions. Combine that with hundreds of years to learn how to not give a fuck, and you have a very blunt, stoic, matter-of-fact creature who only very occasionally makes quips and usually just wants to be left alone.

He is Karsaga’s closest ally, right hand man, and platonic soulmate. They met after Karsaga robbed him blind at a bar (thinking him to just be some weird, frail elf), and Dasrazel took pity on him after Karsaga ran him through with an iron saber and panicked when it... did nothing. Their bond is one of a mutual distaste for most people and Dasrazel’s desire to have companionship again.

They’re very much bros, even if Dasrazel spends most of his time not understanding why Karsaga is the way he is.

- Neira Brenur. Dunmer Witchhunter and low-ranking member of House Redoran. She’s the daughter of a Camonna Tong member and an Ashlander woman, though her mother is dead and she spends a lot of time trying to distance herself from her racist father. She joined Redoran in hopes of atoning for the crime of just being born into a bad family, but has a really difficult time fitting in. She’s very meek and empathetic and does better in controlled duels than actual combat. The idea of actually hurting an opponent makes her sick to her stomach.

She kind of just happened to Karsaga one day, courtesy of him running afoul of her not-so-popular friend, Vandrith (we’ll get to that trainwreck later). She mainly acts as a translator for Vandrith and tries to play mediator when Karsaga starts getting too aggressive with others. She’s in good with some odd folks in Redoran and a very aggressive supporter of the Tribunal Temple, which makes it hard for her to wrap her mind around Karsaga’s existence as the Nerevarine.

Also, the fact she’s an absolute pushover means she just accepts the less-than-savory people Karsaga pals around with. She’s got a big heart and feels actual pity for his blasphemous, undead, and criminal friends. They’re good people on the inside (probably).

- Vandrith Valen. Dunmer Ordinator and conglomeration of a lot of factors coming together in the worst way possible. He is naturally “blessed by Azura” and has some degree of prophetic power, though he’s choked it down after a life of being raised Indoril. He also came to the unfortunate realization after being stationed on Vvardenfell, that he is also a descendant of House Dagoth and is haunted by the Poison Song, a “song” sent out by Dagoth Ur that warps the minds of those who are of his blood and turns them into Sleepers and Dreamers.

These two traits do not mesh well and make Vandrith more than a little unstable.

Vandrith is... prone to erratic behavior and violent outbursts and is largely under the care of his paternal uncle, Tuls Valen, the head priest of the Ald’ruhn Temple. Vandrith is also a clever and tricky bastard who has been trying to figure out how to discern Dagoth Ur’s plans from the Poison Song in order to prevent bad things from happening. Usually, he can keep things under control, but extremely bad visions, close proximity to items/places corrupted by House Dagoth, and stress can cause him to be difficult.

Beyond this, though, he’s not what you’d expect from an Ordinator. He’s very witty with a somewhat bawdy sense of humor, a very devil-may-care attitude, and he’s a huge fan of causing mischief. He forced his way into Karsaga’s social circle due to his absolute certainty that Karsaga could bring down Dagoth Ur, and Neira is his closest (and for a long time only) friend, who has figured out what all of his weird ramblings mean.

- Bashinga. Sorceress and Aundae vampire. She is an old acquaintance of Dasrazel’s who has ties to Telvanni, the Mage’s Guild, and several circles of warlocks and witches. She’s very much a self-serving sort, more interested in the acquisition of power than the wellbeing of Morrowind, but she is fiercely protective of the people she deems worthy (and she has a soft spot for Neira she can’t really explain).

Once upon a time, she was a dancer and performer with a traveling circus, and her fall into undeath and wizardry was a happy accident after being taken as cattle by rogue Aundae. She’s got a good set of vocal cords and can move with grace and ease, but she speaks very bitterly a lot of the time and is difficult to get along with.

She’s one of those people who Karsaga immediately took a shine to because they both like to sit around and bitch about people. Dasrazel and Bashinga mostly get along by the time-honored tradition of “two very gay individuals being catty at each other as a sign of affection, though outsiders would think they hate one another.”

- Jai Swift-Fly. Cathay assassin and member of the Morag Tong. She was born and raised in Elsweyr in a more tribal environment, and is an old friend of Vandrith’s (odd, considering they met because she took a grey writ to knock him off and, instead, he knocked her out). She mostly comes into the fold because Karsaga needed somebody to break into the Ministry of Truth to free Mehra Milo, and she came highly recommended (by Vandrith; Vandrith recommended her).

She’s a married mother of two, is big and strong and very proud of being big and strong, and a crack shot with a bow. She’s also deaf as hell and communicates through a series of homebrew gestures. Her decision to stick around and help Karsaga after completing the job she was hired to do stems primarily from her extreme curiosity. She has no stake in the Nerevarine Prophecy or this group of losers, but by god does she want to see what it looks like when a god dies.

Fun fact: Jai is dead by the events of Skyrim, but two of her descendants remain. Shevah and J’Rakka. They’re a brother-and-sister duo. Shevah is as much of a curious, troublemaking adventurer as her so-many-greats grandmother. J’Rakka is a werewolf who mostly hunts bounties to make a living.

- Dravyn Telvayn (no picture of him, sorry D:). Dunmer assassin and member of the Morag Tong. Former highwayman and current Berne vampire. Husband of Jai and perpetually confused, mainly over the fact he has kids with Jai and... well, every book he’s read has indicated that that should be impossible for a variety of reasons. He lives in the sewers of the Arena canton in Vivec City and is allowed work in the Morag Tong due to his efficacy at eliminating very high risk targets, though he’s basically “on his own” if he ever gets caught. They’re sure as fuck not giving him writs of execution to present to guards when the Tong could end up fucked over if their relationship with a vampire gets out.

He’s mostly in the background and tags along due to his extreme dedication to Jai. He doesn’t get along with hardly anyone but her, though he is the one who coined the term “Council of Accidents” in relation to him, Dasrazel, and Bashinga. He feels a loose kinship with them in that they’re all members of different vampire clans, but all members whose sires want nothing to do with them, rendering them outcasts. Even after the events of Morrowind, he keeps in infrequent contact with the others.

After Jai’s death, he acts as a weird “ancestral guardian” to his own descendants. As of the time of Skyrim, he spends most of his time trying to keep Shevah from getting killed. He is very tired. She is a lot.

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charlieism · 5 years

Text

Only My Ashes Will See The Sea

Description:

Ethan, Lex and Hannah reunite in death.

Read on ao3!

Ethan was surrounded by darkness. Infinite, endless blackness; he’d say it stretched on as far as he could see, but as it was, it was so dark he didn’t even know if he was seeing, if his eyes were even truly open.

He couldn’t say how long he floated there for, searching for any glimpse of light. He didn’t know where he was, or where everyone else was, or what was happening. The last thing he remembered was Hannah, terrified and teary-eyed; he’d told her to run, his last coherent memory was just the panicked desperation with which he tried to get her to safety. He wondered if she was okay, if she’d gotten away from those psychos who—Jesus. Did they stab him? He remembered being punched in the face by the feral-looking man, and then a blinding pain in his stomach, sharper than anything he’d ever felt before. He told Hannah to run, then he was thrown to the floor and then it was a blur of pain and thuds and kicks, and then… then… then what?

It was hard to think about. It made his head hurt. He stopped thinking about the moments leading up to now, and focused instead on the chilling situation he was currently in.

The Blackness encompassed him, smothering him, drowning him, its emptiness beginning to drive any rational thoughts from his mind. There was just nothing here, this place felt like the total absence of everything. His mind began to fall into a spiral, panic and fear eating away at what felt like his very sanity. Ethan began to question if he was even alive, and the thought made him freak out even harder than before, despite a hidden part of him instinctively knowing the truth: he was dead. Ethan felt like he was hyperventilating, but there was no air in this empty space, and though he thrashed around he had no way of knowing if he was even actually moving. He couldn’t even see his hands. A scream built up in his chest, clawing its way up through his throat and swelling in his mouth. He could barely keep the shriek in; pure terror, anxiety and panic were working their way through his veins to make his voice louder, but a split second before he snapped and let it out a wisp of a voice floated through his mind.

Calm, it said.

The shock of it, of hearing sound after what felt like eons trapped in nothingness made Ethan swallow compulsively and blink hard. The darkness that came from squeezing his eyelids shut was indiscernible from the Black surrounding him.

“What?” he rasped, alert, ears practically pricked like a dog’s while he searched for another break in the maddening monotony of the void. There was no reply, no strange, other-worldly voice, but a memory pushed its way into the front of his mind. It was a happy memory, one of his happiest, really, and it was so recent it was a crystal clear picture in his mind.

Hannah, putting on his old cap, her big brown eyes full of trust and awe when he swore to her it’d protect her from anything. He’d been so elated and amazed when she’d listened to him. Then Lex, posing on the steps out the back of Toy Zone, belting her dreams of being an actor in California while he pretended to roll a camera on her. She’d looked so happy up there, so hopeful that it had infected Ethan, made him believe they’d really make it out. The way Lex had smiled into their kiss afterwards, bubbling over with the sheer joy he so rarely saw from her, had made his heart skip a beat. Then there was Hannah, acting like a doofus and copying his smoking dance afterwards; it’d made him laugh on the inside, though he didn’t dare show it in front of Lex. God, he loved them. He loved them more than anybody else in the world; Lex made his heart feel warm and full and whole like nobody else he’d ever met. Ethan was completely and utterly devoted to her. And he loved Hannah, too. He had the urge to protect her like he was her own brother, or her dad, or whatever the hell that kid needed him to be. He’d do anything for her. He just wanted to look after them, his girls, so that Lex wouldn’t have to cry so much anymore and Hannah wouldn’t have to be scared all the time. California was going to fix all of that. They were all so excited to get there. They’d all been so hopeful.

The happy memories felt tinged with bittersweetness now, but they were still effective. The lingering excitement, joy and love he’d felt no-so-long ago (was it hours? Or days? The amount of time he felt he’d been kept in the Black seemed to be shrinking now that his mind wasn’t running on animalistic terror), was beating back the overwhelming anxiety he’d been feeling a minute ago. He focused on the memory of Lex’s laugh, of Hannah’s shy smile, of the happy glimmer in both of their eyes, and his panic retreated, shoved back by the memory of their joy. He’d done that. He’d made them hopeful, made them happy, promised them that things would get better until they believed it. Ethan thought he could feel tears building in his eyes, his sinuses burning, but he wasn’t sure. He thought about the way Lex laughed at him when he did something dumb, exactly the reaction he was always trying to provoke from her, and let out a small, wet laugh himself.

Black and White, the voice whispered eerily, and Ethan startled. Were his eyes closed now? He realised they were, and he cracked them open slowly. At first he could barely tell the difference between his eyes being open and shut, the Black around him as absolute as it had a few hysteric minutes ago. But then, as his eyes flickered around the infinite darkness, it began to lighten.

The change was hardly noticeable at first, the pitch-black void only lightening by a few degrees to a deep, dark grey, but it was enough. He gasped, shakily, and tears filled his eyes again, this time with relief. He didn’t know what was happening, but he knew that the penetrating darkness was becoming lighter and that was good enough for him. He focused on the memory of how tightly Lex had clung to him, wrapping her legs around his waist and laughing into his neck when he told them how much money they were going to make, when she realised they were really going to make it California, and the dim grey lightened even further. He thought of Hannah on a good day, how she smiled when he called her Banana and talked back to him in her own stilted way, and the world got brighter. He let himself feel how much he loved his girls, his family, the sheer force of his emotion overwhelming him even as tinged with worry, concern and grief as it was, and soon the Black turned completely to White.

He was still floating, it was still infinite and all-encompassing and terrifying, but it was… safer, than the Black. It wasn’t driving him insane, it wasn’t smothering him, it wasn’t trapping him, it was just holding him in place. He was kind of... resting there, clinging to the thoughts of his family. At least here he could see, though the bright White of it all threatened to hurt his eyes with how it shone. His dark, worn leather jacket contrasted sharply with the colourless background, and he took comfort in its familiarity, hugging his arms around himself. Ethan simply stood and breathed for God-knows how long, readjusting to his setting. Well, standing didn’t seem entirely accurate (nothing felt solid here, not even the space beneath his feet), but nevertheless, it was an improvement to the Black.

It still wasn’t great, though

It was silent again, that strange, ethereal voice having disappeared. And he was still alone, lingering isolated in a boundless void. He tried to focus on the memories of Lex and Hannah again, and they came surprisingly easy in this place. Far easier than they had in the Black, at least. He was beginning to feel sane again, his mind less tortured.

And then, after an indeterminate amount of time, there was the faintest boom-crash noise that shook him from his stupor. He looked up, glancing around for the source of the noise, but the White remained as unfathomably blank as it had always been. And then, from behind him moments later, there was a voice. It was trembling and wavering, choked-up and terrified. It was heart-wrenchingly, achingly familiar.

“Ethan?” Lex’s voice warbled.

Ethan spun around so fast he was surprised he didn’t get whiplash, his plaid shirt twisting about his legs. Lex and Hannah stood a way away from him, holding each other, staring at him in shock. Their very presence made the White seem more solid, more like a real place, and the relief at seeing their figures there made him slump in on himself, a sharp exhale tearing its way out of him. Tears rose in his eyes, but this time he knew for sure he was almost crying because Lex and Hannah blurred and doubled in his vision.

“Lex! Hannah!” he yelled, and bolted towards them, feet hitting the White ground solidly and taking him swiftly towards his girls.

They stood in place, looking shocked until he got close enough to see the tears glimmering in their eyes. He stopped jarringly once he got that close, suddenly afraid they’d disappear like mist in the wind if he touched them.

“Are you guys really here?” he asked, voice shaking. The girls stared at him, Lex’s eyes roving up and down his body in panic while Hannah stared directly at his face, eyes wide and shiny. Then, all of a sudden Lex broke down, her face crumpling with gut-wrenching tears. Ethan inadvertently let out a wounded noise, reaching out for her.

“Ethan, you fucking died?” she sobbed.

“What?” he asked stupidly, then blinked and shook his head slightly, his worry about Lex overtaking his fear and current existential crisis. “I mean, yeah, I guess so, I think I got stabbed a while ago. But does that mean the two of you are dead?! Oh my God, are you two okay? How did you die?!” he asked rapid-fire, frantic. He finally got the guts to rest his hand on Lex’s arm and, to his staggering relief, she remained solid under his palm. Lex sobbed again, and released Hannah in order to wrap her arms tightly around Ethan’s waist and mash him into her, her face pressing into his chest and her tears soaking through his shirt.

“I don’t know, dude, I think we got fucking nuked? Or hit by a meteor? I don’t know,” she cried. Ethan didn’t really know how to process the idea of fucking Hatchetfield getting nuked, so he shoved it to the back of his mind and focused instead on comforting his girlfriend. Hannah took a step back from them when Ethan curled around Lex, but neither of them noticed. Ethan wrapped an arm around his girlfriend’s back and brushed one hand gently through her hair, making soft, helpless noises at her.

“Hey, hey, babe, it’s okay!” he soothed, pressing a kiss onto the top of her head. Her grip tightened around him. “Shh, you’re alright. I’m alright. We’re all alright, okay? We’re all here together now. It’s alright,” he rambled, ducking his face down next to hers until she blinked her eyes open and sniffled, bringing her arm up to wipe away her tears with her sleeve. Unfortunately, Ethan had experience dealing with a crying Lex, though every time it occurred he fervently wished he’d never have to see her cry again, that she’d never be so sad again.

“You okay?” he murmured, rubbing his palms soothingly up and down her back, and she nodded shakily, taking a tiny step back and clinging onto his hand.

“Yeah,” she croaked. “Good as I can be considering I’m dead, I ‘spose. What about you?”

“I’m, well… I’m a lot better now that you two are here,” he admitted, before turning to the other girl.

Ethan tried to summon up a brave smile for Hannah, not wanting to alarm her any more than what had already been done.

“What about you, then?” he inquired, grasping for some sense of familiarity. “What’s shakin’, Banana?” He stepped forward slightly and raised his arms for a hug.

Hannah took a step back.

Ethan froze.

“Hannah?” he asked quietly, surprised.

“Bad,” Hannah whispered after a beat, watching him warily, though she sounded confused. Ethan’s arms lowered, hurt. He exchanged a wide-eyed glance with Lex, who looked startled.

“What do you mean, Banana?” he asked, going for a cheerful tone, though it sounded shaky even to his own ears.

“Saw you, on the balcony. Wanted Wiggly. Bad double,” Hannah said, arms wrapping around herself. Ethan frowned.

“What? I haven’t seen you since, uh, the Cineplex, bud,” he replied, frowning slightly. “Are you sure it was me?” Hannah paused at that, assessing him, her eyes flickering up and down him and a crease furrowing her brow.

“...No?” she said stiltedly, sounding more confused than ever. Then she tilted her head as though she was listening to someone, and refocused on Ethan. “Not you, not Ethan... a double? You are... the real Ethan?” she asked. Ethan cocked his head, frowning in concern, but slowly nodded;

“Yeah, Banana,” he assured. “I’m the real Ethan, you know me.” He hesitantly made to step forward, but when Hannah leaned away he immediately stopped and retreated. Lex was staring at them both, but Ethan kept his gaze on Hannah. “It’s alright, Hannah. You’re safe,” he soothed.

He didn’t know what she’d seen after he died, but it had obviously scared her and it obviously had something to do with him. Maybe she’d seen his body or something? He didn’t know, maybe he’d ask later, but right now he just wanted to reassure her. He hated seeing that scared look in her eyes. He waited patiently for a minute, tense silence falling over the three of them. Then very, very slowly, Hannah reached out and snagged his leather jacket between his fingers. She rubbed the material for a moment then looked him directly in the eyes, something she rarely did. Her brown eyes searched his blue ones intently, looking for something like a lie or a hint of mania, but when she found nothing her expression crumpled, much like Lex’s had minutes before.

“Ethan,” she cried, and barreled into him with a fierce hug. He froze, stunned, but his shock barely lasted a moment and he wrapped his arms around her in return, squeezing her softly.

““Hey, Banana,” he smiled. “Good to see you.”

“Missed you,” she sniffed.

“Yeah, I’m sorry, kiddo. I missed you too,” he sighed. Lex made an aw sound next to them, then wormed her way into the embrace. Ethan lifted an arm to box her in and pressed a kiss to her damp cheek. They stayed like that for a while, swaying together in their little group, and even though he was still surrounded by the vast White Ethan almost felt alive again.

“I love you guys,” he said softly, and they all separated slightly. It was an easy thing to say, in the face of death itself. He did love them, why bother hiding it? They already knew he loved them, of course, but he wanted to reiterate it. Lex smiled at him and leaned in for a soft kiss.

“We love you too, babe,” she said. He wrapped her in a side-hug and entwined his fingers with hers, while Hannah clung to Lex’s other hand, and they all stood in sombre, companionable silence for a bit.

“What now?” Lex eventually asked. . “I don’t know,” Ethan admitted. “I don’t even know where we are. When I pictured death, I never really imagined this.”

“We’re in the White,” Hannah informed them. When Ethan focused on her he noticed she looked remarkably well-adjusted for a 10-year old girl who’d just died and found herself in some kind of alternate dimension.

“Yeah?” Lex encouraged, and Ethan realised she didn’t seem to be questioning it all that much either.

God, he was so fucking confused.

“I wish we were in California,” he sighed mournfully. Lex squeezed his hand, and when he looked at her she mustered a small, forlorn smile.

“It was a good dream,” she said. He nodded, but didn’t know how to reply.

“California has beaches,” Hannah said. Ethan raised an eyebrow at her.

“It sure does,” Lex agreed. Hannah frowned.

“Webby says…” she paused, frowning, and then looked up at them, big eyes bright. “California,” she said, and her eyelids fluttered shut. Lex and Ethan shared a bewildered look, but after a moment of silent conversation something else caught Ethan’s eye.

A way in front of them, the White was steadily turning blue. A picturesque, postcard perfect blue. And it was moving, swelling, gently rising and falling. And then the ground directly beneath them began to shift and crunch under their feet, turning golden and grainy. The space above them turned periwinkle blue and fluffy, cottony clouds appeared out of thin air to dot the sky, perfectly shaped as though they were born straight from a child’s imagination. Far, far above them the sun slipped out from behind one of those clouds, yellow and warm in the most delicious way.

Lex tilted her face upwards and closed her eyes, letting the light play upon her skin, a delighted smile lifting her the corners of her mouth. Ethan admired his girlfriend for a moment, taking in how peaceful she looked before following her lead and tilting his face to the sky, letting his eyes slide shut.

A cool, gentle wind began to ruffle its way through his dark curls, bringing with it the tang of salt and the joyous cry of seabirds. The crash of waves gently pounding against the sand had him open his eyes again, and he looked out at the paradise that had just been created. The ocean stretched for miles, as far as his eye could see, before disappearing into the horizon where its cool blue blended seamlessly with the sky. He’d never seen the ocean in real life before. He shifted, looking down, and watched soft golden sand spill over the toes of his black boots. He blinked against the sea breeze and watched the sunlight glitter off the crystalline water, and without truly intending to, he smiled.

Ethan looked down at Hannah, who was only just reopening her eyes, and watched the astonishment and delight fill her features as she took in the view.

“It’s heaven,” Lex breathed to his left.

“California,” Hannah agreed, and Ethan laughed, tipping his head back.

“No,” he said sincerely, “It’s something even better.” He squeezed their hands happily, and they squeezed back. The three of them stood in a line, holding hands on the paradisaical beach made just for them, and watched the ocean sparkle cheerily for the first time in their lives. And, Ethan realised, it finally felt like a happy ending.

I hope you enjoyed! Reblogs are very appreciated <3

#black friday spoilers #black friday #black friday musical #starkid #ethan green #lex foster #hannah foster #webby #lex/ethan #the black and white #robert manion #angela giarratana #kendall nicole yakshe #jay rambles #jay writes #fanfiction #fanfic #god its so late im gonna be so tired tomrrow. i wrote this in a night sorry for any errors #black friday starkid

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ollieofthebeholder · 4 years

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leaves too high to touch (roots too strong to fall): a TMA fanfic

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Chapter 19: Martin

It shouldn’t really startle Martin when he falls asleep mid-conversation. After all, it’s been a rather traumatic twenty-four hours, both physically and emotionally. He’s in a decent amount of pain, and he needs rest to heal. He knows all of that, logically. But he’s also never been good at sleeping if there’s anyone else awake in the room, so when he wakes up in a dark room and realizes that the last thing he recalls is Tim starting—but not finishing—one of his terrible jokes, he’s not sure what surprises him more, the fact that he fell asleep or the fact that he actually feels rested.

Sort of, anyway. He’s sore all over—the painkillers have obviously run their course—but he’s not too tired to think, and he’s obviously slept deeply. He stares at the blurry void currently standing in for the ceiling and tries to figure out how he feels about that. It should be a good thing, but it’s…well, there’s no other word for it, it’s weird.

In the grand scheme of things, it’s not that weird. Not as weird as the fact that he’s been talking to a future version of himself for eight days—somehow without knowing he’s blind—or the fact that his future self and Jon’s future self seem insanely close. Not as weird as being held hostage by a woman riddled with worms or attacked in his workplace by that same woman and her moderately-sized army of parasites. Not as weird as entities fueled by fear or an apocalypse being caused by a semi-immortal man currently disguised as an ordinary pencil-pusher. It is, in fact, the ordinary kind of weird, and really, Martin shouldn’t be getting hung up on it. Nevertheless, here he is, unable to understand when he came to trust the rest of the Archival team enough that he feels safe enough to fall asleep while they’re still awake to do things to him.

He really needs therapy, something he’s known for years, but several of the reasons he needs therapy tie into why he avoids therapy and it’s just a whole mess. The only reason he hasn’t done it that doesn’t tie into yet another trauma or blow to his psyche is the fact that he really can’t afford it. He’s barely scraping by as it is, and God only knows how he’s going to manage the need to move. He’s been in the same building for eleven years and rent’s gone up twice, and it’s still cheaper than most other places. Even if he does find someplace that doesn’t cost more, he’ll have to come up with the first month’s rent and the security deposit ahead of time, and then there’s the fact that he’s going to have to replace pretty much everything he owns that he didn’t manage to gather up for his temporary stay in the Archives; Jon and Sasha came back from getting their things and informed him regretfully that Mrs. Mattson had already thrown out what was left in his old flat and rented it out again. Add in the fact that he has to make up almost half of the fees at the home his mother insisted on moving into, and he’s not going to have the spare funds for, well, anything. Let alone therapy.

He sighs heavily and tries to sit up. It’s nice of Tim to let him sleep in the recliner, but when he first wakes up, it’s a bit of a struggle. And he honestly can’t figure out how he keeps lying back, since he’s pretty sure he falls asleep still sitting up. Maybe he’s doing it in his sleep, or maybe he’s just so tired he doesn’t remember settling back. Whatever it is, he discovered yesterday that it’s hard for him to use the appropriate strength to manipulate the recliner back into an upright position. Or at least to do it quietly. The others are still asleep—as far as he knows—and he doesn’t want to disturb them. He can tell himself all he wants that they need rest, that they deserve to have their sleep uninterrupted, that it’s been a rough couple of days for them too, but if he’s being honest it cycles back to his fear of the consequences of disturbing his mother while she was resting. Nine years and he still can’t make himself turn on a light before sunrise if the door isn’t firmly shut or listen to music without headphones after four in the afternoon. He wonders if he’ll ever be free.

The handle engages suddenly and the footrest goes down with a deceptively soft thwump that rocks Martin forward abruptly. He bites back a gasp of pain and waits for the world to stop swimming.

“Martin?”

The whispered call from not far away makes him flinch. Martin looks up, apologies ready on his lips, then realizes he’s not wearing his glasses and has no idea who was talking. He fumbles for them and puts them on just as Jon steps carefully around the end of the coffee table and perches on the end of the sofa next to him.

“I heard you starting to wake up,” Jon says softly. He holds something out—a mug. “I, ah, I was making tea anyway, so I thought…”

“O-oh.” Martin blinks in surprise and reaches out carefully to take the mug. “Ah, thank you?”

Their fingers brush, and it’s all Martin can do not to drop the mug or spill it on himself. He can feel the blush rising in his cheeks. God, it’s probably visible even with no lights.

“You’re welcome. I—you do so much for us. It seemed like high time someone did something for you for a change.” Jon pauses, then adds, “I hope I got it right. I—I know I haven’t exactly asked, but it—it seemed like what I remembered from after dinner?”

Martin takes a cautious sip of the tea and nearly chokes in surprise. “It’s perfect. Thank you.”

He can just make out Jon’s unfairly attractive smile before he brings his own mug to his lips. They sit in silence for a long moment, both of them seemingly lost in thought. Martin isn’t sure how much he’s actually thinking, though, beyond panicking slightly. It’s the first time he’s been alone with Jon, really, since he started living in the Archives. And after the last couple of days…he still has no idea where the two of them stand. If they’re on a friendlier footing, if they’ve found common ground, or if things are going to go back to normal once the initial shock wears off.

“What time is it?” he finally asks.

“About four in the morning. You’ve been asleep roughly nine hours.”

Martin exhales. “Christ, I had no idea I fell asleep that early.”

Jon tilts his head slightly. “Well, you’re healing. You’re likely going to do a fair amount of sleeping. We tried to keep it down.”

“I don’t mean to be an inconvenience like that,” Martin says, his stomach twisting. The idea that everyone has to be quiet because of him…

“Don’t be ridiculous, Martin, you’re not an inconvenience.” Jon sets his mug down on the table and turns to face Martin fully. “I—I know I’ve been overly critical of you over the last year. I really am sorry. I never meant to—I shouldn’t have treated you like that.”

“It’s—”

“Don’t say it’s all right. It isn’t. You’ve never been anything but diligent and conscientious, you’ve always gone above and beyond, and I—” Jon exhales. “The truth is, I-I was scared. I didn’t feel…adequate. Like I wasn’t up for the task. I didn’t—I never applied for this job either. Elias picked me, and I had no idea why. I don’t have a background in library science, o-or administration or anything like that. I couldn’t have told you why he offered me the job, but…well, I’m not sure I could have said no if I’d wanted to. A-and then you turned up in my office and said Elias had appointed you, and…I honestly thought he’d sent you to keep an eye on me. To, to report back to him if I stepped out of line or didn’t do the job properly. And then Rosie gave me a copy of your CV and I saw how long you’d been with the Institute, and all your credentials—”

“Most of which were fake.”

“Which I didn’t know at the time. I—I got intimidated.” Jon gives a small laugh. “I saw someone with more experience than all three of us put together and I thought, God, he wanted this job and didn’t get it and now he’s going to be reporting back to Elias every time I step out of line. I kept putting you down on the official recordings because—I don’t know, maybe part of me was hoping it would influence things in my favor if there was ever a dispute? And…I think I was projecting a lot of my own insecurities onto you. I am deeply sorry.”

Well, Jon won’t let him say it’s all right, but…Martin swallows hard and tries to smile. “I forgive you. And I’m sorry, too. I should have told you the truth sooner, but…I don’t know. I was afraid you’d fire me.”

“Considering the first interaction we ever had was me threatening you over that dog, I’d be afraid I’d fire me too.” Jon pauses. “I wonder what would have happened if I’d actually tried.”

Martin actually doesn’t want to think about it. He looks into the depths of the mug in his hands, then sets it on the end table where his glasses were previously. “I’m sorry if I woke you up.”

“You didn’t—oh, you mean the ‘I heard you starting to wake up’ thing? I was already awake.” Jon sighs. “I honestly don’t sleep very well these days. I-it’s not just the nightmares, it’s also…the worrying. About you. All three of you, really, but—you in particular.”

“Me?” Martin’s voice is louder than he means it to be. Tim grunts from somewhere else in the room and both Martin and Jon freeze, but after a moment he makes an odd sort of snorfling sound and seems to settle back into sleep. Martin rubs a hand over his mouth, trying to be careful of the bandages.

“Why me?” he asks, remembering to whisper this time.

Jon is silent for a moment. Martin is about to apologize for having asked when he says, “I could be glib and say it’s because you were the one being stalked by Jane Prentiss, and that is part of it, but…it’s also just that it’s you. It’s not that I don’t think you can take care of yourself just as well as Tim or Sasha can. I do. It’s…I really wasn’t sure before the last couple of days why that was. I’m still not completely sure, but I think I have a bit of a better idea.”

“We worry about you, too, you know.” Martin desperately wants to ask what Jon’s idea is, but he also doesn’t want to pry. “Ask, erm, Martin Prime. I asked him what I could do to help and he said not to let you get hurt and I kind of panicked a little.”

Jon chuckles. “I suppose that is a next-to-impossible task.”

“No, I mean I panicked at the idea that you would get hurt,” Martin says. He wonders how much he can say without betraying how he feels. The Primes are close friends, that much is obvious, but he and Jon aren’t anywhere near that point and he doesn’t want to ruin his chances of even that by blurting out that he’s fallen for his boss like a ton of bricks. This is also probably not the time to bring it up. They’re all a bit…emotionally compromised right now, and he’s still not sure what’s going to happen when the adrenaline of the last two days wears off. Even if Jon’s just said he worries about Martin. Fleetingly, he wonders if Martin Prime ever told Jon Prime how he felt and when, and he wishes it was a question he thought to ask while they had some time alone in the last week. “I-I mean, that was my biggest worry when I realized Jane Prentiss had followed me home, you know? I wasn’t just worried about what she’d do to me. I was worried she might…follow me to the Archives. Come after one of you, but especially you. A-and then when she texted you after I made my statement…” He sighs. “It’s stupid. I know it’s stupid. But there was a part of me thinking that if I needed to stay in the Archives, maybe the rest of you should have too, you know?”

“No, you’re—you’re not wrong. Truthfully, that was one of the things that I kept obsessing over last night,” Jon confesses in a low voice. “When I saw—when I realized—” He breaks off and looks away. “All I could think was that something had happened, that you could be hurt, and that you’d been alone and—God, I should have insisted we all stay. Or that you come stay with one of us from the outset. Although in retrospect…I’m not certain what would have happened if your counterpart had been alone in the Archives at the time. Not that I knew he was there, but…”

“Yeah,” Martin says quietly. He swallows against the sudden, unexpected lump in his throat. “I’m—I’m still glad you weren’t there, though. I-I was glad when it happened, and I was even more glad when I saw Jon Prime and…honestly, Jon, this sucks. I wouldn’t wish it on anyone. Least of all you. O-or Tim,” he adds hastily. “Or Sasha, but, I mean, she didn’t…not in their timeline, anyway.”

“No, but…that doesn’t mean we wanted you to have to get hurt, either,” Jon says. “It’s not exactly a fair trade.” He looks up at Martin. “A-are you in pain? Do you need your painkillers?”

The answer is yes, but Martin fights the urge to nod. “They, ah, they have to be taken with food. It’s—it’s not as bad as it was yesterday, at least.”

“Hold on. I think I can help with that.”

“Jon—” Martin begins, but it’s too late. Jon has already stood up from the sofa and headed in the direction of the kitchen.

Martin swears under his breath in Polish, then manages to get to his feet without hurting himself. He carefully picks up both mugs of tea and follows Jon, a bit more slowly. Partly it’s the pain, partly it’s force of habit. He doesn’t know where the joists or creaky floorboards might be, and it’s still early, he can’t risk waking people up because he’s walking too loudly. He’s already had one close call too many tonight.

He makes it to the kitchen. Jon is messing about with something, using the night-light mounted above the sink to see by. Martin can’t see what he’s doing. He sets the mugs down carefully on the table and asks, “What are you doing?”

Jon jumps and whirls around, brandishing a butter knife in one hand. He relaxes. “Martin—I didn’t hear you come in. I—I just thought—” He gestures at the counter. “It’s not much, but I thought I’d make you a sandwich at least. Get something in your stomach so you can take the pills.��

“You really don’t have to do that,” Martin protests, feeling his cheeks heat up. “I-I can wait until—”

“I’m sure you can, but there’s no reason you should,” Jon says briskly. “It’s been enough time that you’re certainly able to take your painkillers, and you need them, so why wait and make yourself feel worse?”

There’s a certain amount of logic in that, Martin has to admit. “I just…don’t want to be a bother.”

Jon places a sandwich in front of him firmly and lays a hand on his arm. “Martin,” he says sincerely, “the last thing you are is a bother. Sit down and eat. I’ll be right back.”

He heads out of the kitchen, leaving Martin incredibly confused and slightly embarrassed.

Lacking any better option, he sits down to eat the sandwich Jon has made for him. He doesn’t know what to expect, but it’s certainly not what he bites into. The first taste of it on his tongue almost makes him cry, and he closes his eyes, savoring it.

He hears footsteps and swallows hastily, opening his eyes as Jon comes back into the room. He sets the pill bottle next to Martin’s elbow, then sits down next to him and picks up his mug of tea. “Is it all right?”

“It’s perfect,” Martin says before he thinks it through and almost swallows his tongue. Oh, well, no taking it back now—best to press forward. “I didn’t know Tim ate cherry preserves.”

“I don’t think he does. He teased me a bit about being ‘elitist’ the first time he saw me eating them.”

Martin stops mid-chew and definitely swallows a too-solid bite. It takes him a second before he’s able to speak. “You like them, too?”

Jon’s eyes widen. “Too? I—I mean, obviously you like them, you’re eating the sandwich—God, I didn’t even think to ask, I just assumed…”

“No, it’s—I’ve always liked them,” Martin says. “My—my granddad had a couple cherry trees in his backyard. He used to make preserves every year, and…I dunno. They just remind me of visiting him.” He takes another bite of the sandwich.

Jon nods thoughtfully. “I’ve always been fond of cherry preserves. Well, cherry anything, actually. My grandmother used to bake cherry pies on my birthday in lieu of a cake.”

Martin smiles. “Granddad always did that for me, too.”

“I’ll remember that for next year.” Jon smiles, too.

For a few minutes, there’s silence as Martin finishes the sandwich. When the last bite is gone, Jon takes the plate and gets up to wash it while Martin struggles for a moment to get the cap off the pill vial and shake out a painkiller. The moment feels oddly…domestic. Calm. Cosy. Martin isn’t sure what to do with it, but he decides to try and let himself enjoy it. It’s never worked for him before, but he can give it a shot.

Finally, Jon sits back down next to him. “Feeling better?”

“Yeah. Thanks.” It’s not just the painkiller, which probably hasn’t actually started to work yet. It’s the tea, and the sandwich, and Jon being nice. He tries to figure out how to articulate it, then finally says, “It’s the first time in I don’t know how long that I don’t feel afraid.”

Jon exhales. “I know the feeling. I mean—I know I should be. The world is objectively terrifying, and learning what we learned today made that exponentially worse. But…this right here? I’m definitely calmer and more relaxed than I’ve been since I took the Archivist job.”

Something in Martin’s chest warms at the comment. It probably isn’t meant like that, but it’s nice to hear he’s not making Jon stressed by his mere presence, at least. And, hey, he can dream. All he says, though, is, “’S nice.”

“It is.” Jon takes a sip of his tea and stares into it for a moment, then snorts softly and shakes his head.

“What?”

“It’s just…something my counterpart said. While we were talking outside. I hadn’t thought about it before, but…he’s right.” Jon looks up. “He told me he hasn’t finished a cup of tea in years that—that his Martin hasn’t made for him. It just occurred to me that I’m the same way. Even when…those two weeks you weren’t in the office? When Jane Prentiss was—” He swallows hard. “I just realized that I would brew myself a cup of tea and it would just…sit on my desk and get cold. I never managed to drink more than half of it. I suppose it just tastes better when you make it.”

Martin doesn’t know quite how to respond to that. “You make tea just fine. This is perfect.”

Jon hums noncommittally. He seems to be debating with himself, then sighs. “You’re far more observant than I am at times…you know they’re together, right?”

Martin’s brain pulls up short. “Wait, what?”

“Our…counterparts. The Primes. They’re—they love each other. He told me that when I asked him, and…God, in retrospect, it’s so obvious. I-I suppose I just didn’t see it.” Jon looks suddenly nervous as he scans Martin’s face. “You’re more…in tune with that sort of thing than I. You did know, didn’t you?”

“N-no,” Martin manages to stammer out. Oh, God, he can feel his cheeks heating up. Jon’s right, though, in retrospect it’s obvious. He thinks about all the little interactions the Primes have had with one another, the way they both fuss over each other, the way they seem to know what the other is thinking. The lighthearted, affectionate banter, the near-constant physical contact. Jon Prime rubbing his thumb over Martin Prime’s knuckles to calm himself when he gets overwhelmed, Martin Prime reaching for Jon Prime instinctively when he needs a hand up.

Then, suddenly, he remembers the way Martin Prime spoke about the person who was coming back to meet him, when he assured Martin that if they’ve come through somewhere else, they’re looking for me. Logically, he knows now that person was Jon Prime, but he somehow didn’t make the connection between the two. It’s as if his brain saw Jon Prime walk in and instantly erased every conclusion that conversation made him come to. It didn’t occur to him, at the time, that Jon would even bother to bring him back in time with him, let alone be looking for him. Now he takes a mental step back, re-evaluates every moment between the Primes in light of that conversation, and wants to smack himself on the forehead for being an idiot.

“You’re right, though. I really should have figured that out sooner,” he murmurs. “God knows I had enough information to put it together. Guess I just assumed there couldn’t possibly be a universe where I—”

He snaps off the words as quickly as he can. Oh, God, he really almost said it out loud. Almost let Jon know how he feels. He’s not stupid, the Primes have a lot more history between them than he and Jon do, and he doesn’t doubt for a minute that they haven’t been together long, relatively speaking. Probably only since Jon Prime rescued Martin Prime from the Lonely. The circumstances that led them to this point are ones they’re trying to undo, and Martin seriously doubts he and Jon will ever get to that point. It’s best if he tries to let this thing die now and be happy for his counterpart getting this much.

Jon looks like he wants to ask him a question, but doesn’t. Instead, he says quietly, “They weren’t going to tell you. Us, I suppose, but…I asked him. How he felt about his Martin. Mostly because I was trying to figure out how I felt about you, and I thought knowing his thoughts would help untangle mine.”

Martin has to try twice before he can get the words out. “Did it?”

Jon gives a small, humorless laugh. “Not really. In truth, it just made things more confusing. I…” He rubs his thumb against the knuckle of his index finger, the same nervous tic Jon Prime uses when he doesn’t have Martin Prime’s hand to hold. “I-I got scared when I arrived at the Institute the other night. I was…there was all that chaos, all those lights and sirens and activity, and—and I realized you weren’t in the crowd. All I could think of was that there’d been a fire and you hadn’t woken in time, or that you’d been trapped and been…burned or breathed in too much of the CO2 or something. I tried to—they wouldn’t let me in after you. Obviously. That makes perfect sense, but…at the time, all I could think of was that you were in there a-and I needed to get to you, that I needed to know you were safe. I was staring at the idea of a world without you and I couldn’t face it. And then…Elias told me Tim and Sasha were down there, and then mentioned Jane Prentiss, and it all got worse and…I don’t know, Martin, I’m rambling. But Tim’s right. I was—I must’ve shouted down half a dozen officials trying to get one of them to tell me where you were, how you were, to—to let me see you. Everyone kept saying you were going to be all right, but I knew I wouldn’t believe it until I saw you.”

“I—I mean, if it had been Sasha or Tim—” Martin begins.

“I don’t know how I would have reacted if it had been them who was hurt. I was definitely worried about them, but…I don’t know.” Jon takes a deep breath. “I’ll be honest. I still don’t really know how I feel. I—I do care about you. I worry about you, I want you to be safe. Beyond that, I—I’m afraid I don’t know.” He manages a small, slightly roguish smile. “I don’t suppose you know how you feel.”

“Oh, Christ,” Martin practically whines. This is not how he wanted any of this to come out, and he doesn’t know if he should say it.

Then it occurs to him that Jon didn’t ask. Jon, who has just learned that he’s developing the ability to force people to answer his questions, and who is probably more likely to do it when he’s tired or stressed out, deliberately avoided actually asking a question. It’s a simple statement. He’s giving Martin permission to not say a word if he doesn’t want to.

Which…actually, weirdly, makes him want to.

He takes a deep breath. “O-okay. The truth is…I’ve kind of had a crush on you for a while. I wasn’t going to say anything, because it’s—I mean, I didn’t want to make things weird, a-and I know you—I was just trying for ‘he doesn’t think I’m a complete idiot’ for a while there. I also thought it was just a stupid workplace crush, and I was kind of hoping it would eventually go away on its own. It didn’t. Ever since I started living in the Archives, it’s just got worse. I guess that’s why I didn’t realize how the Primes felt about each other. I kind of thought I was projecting, o-or seeing what I wanted to see, maybe? I don’t know. But I do worry, and I do…I do care.”

“That’s not why you went back to Carlos Vittery’s apartment, is it?” Jon’s voice is so soft Martin almost doesn’t hear it, but his eyes are worried. “Because you thought I…?”

“No,” Martin assures him. “No, I—you know, I know I said I was trying to ‘make sure I’d done my due diligence’ and all that, but what was behind that was that I’d been…I felt pressured to go back. Like a nagging, persistent headache. I get it all the time, really, when I’m doing research. Remember when you sent me to track down that…that Angela woman? For the—”

“The man who was falling to pieces. I remember.”

“I know you got exasperated with me, but I literally couldn’t stop until I’d talked to every Angela I could find. I’d think ‘well, I’m not going to find her, I’m going back to the Institute now,’ but I’d get this blinding headache and it wouldn’t go away until I went ‘okay, just one more.’ It’s only got worse as time goes on. So no, I didn’t…get myself into this mess because I was trying to impress you or whatever.” Martin can’t help the small, nervous chuckle that escapes him. “’Course, if it did impress you, I wouldn’t complain.”

“What impressed me was that you kept your head well enough to survive and get back to your apartment, never mind the Institute,” Jon says warmly. “If it were me, I’d likely have done something stupid like go back for my phone when I realized I’d dropped it.” He sighs. “I—I don’t want to make things awkward. But I also don’t want to…promise anything.”

“I don’t expect anything, Jon.” Martin learned a long time ago not to expect anything. As far as he’s concerned, the phrase good things come to those who wait is inapplicable. In his case, it’s more like good things come to those who aren’t you. He has friends, in Tim and Sasha at least. That’s more than he probably deserves.

Jon studies him for a moment, then smiles slightly and holds out his hand. “How about I apologize for being such an ass to you, and we start with friends and see where it goes from there?”

This is the last thing Martin would have ever anticipated, but he’s certainly not going to object. He smiles in reply and takes Jon’s hand. “Deal.”

They shake on it—very gently, Jon is careful of the healing wounds on Martin’s hands—and then sit back. Jon studies Martin. “Did they tell you how long you’ll need to wear the bandages?”

“Until things stop bleeding when I take them off?” Martin shrugs. “Hopefully not too long. Some of them are…deeper than others. I’m supposed to make an appointment with my regular doctor for a follow-up in a couple of weeks.”

“We’ll make sure you get there safely,” Jon promises. He picks up his mug and salutes Martin with it. “After all, what are friends for?”

Martin grins, feeling more relaxed than he’s felt in a while, and salutes Jon back. “What indeed?”

#ollie writes fanfic #leaves too high to touch (roots too strong to fall)#tma #the magnus archives #jonmartin #mentions of emotional abuse #acts of service as a love language

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vannahfanfics · 4 years

Text

Good Morning, Sunshine

Category: Friendship Fluff, Crack Fluff

Fandom: My Hero Academia

Characters: Eijirou Kirishima, Katsuki Bakugo, Denki Kaminari, Hanta Sero, Mina Ashido

I’m not sure how this artwork by @deliathedork led to a story about Bakugo getting his wisdom teeth removed, but inspiration strikes in strange ways, I suppose LOL This is the most crack thing I have written, ever, but I enjoyed every word of it and I hope y’all do too!

Eijirou grinned wide as he pressed the “record” button on his phone, focusing the camera on Katsuki, who was stretched out on an oral surgeon’s chair. Eijirou waited with bated breath as Katsuki’s red eyes flickered open, bleary and unfocused. He was just rousing from surgery, having had all four of his wisdom teeth removed.

Oh, this was gonna be so good.

“Good morning, sunshine,” Eijirou trilled from behind the camera. Katsuki’s head bobbled on his neck like a baby’s as he struggled for a second to pinpoint Eijirou’s voice. When he focused on the red-haired boy, he squinted his eyes real tight.

“Shitty Hair?”

“Yeah, it’s me.” Eijirou responded, a hand over his mouth trying desperately to suppress his snickers. Katsuki looked around in confusion at the oral surgeon’s office room, trying to process all the equipment and the assistant who was cleaning off the bloody tools. “You just got your wisdom teeth out, Baku-bro.”

“My what?” His voice was heavy, both with the anesthesia and the thick gauze pads shoved into his cheeks, making him look like a sleepy chipmunk.

“Your wisdom teeth!” Mina repeated with a girly giggle. She came bounding into the camera frame, putting her hands on her knees as she leaned over the hazy boy. “You just had surgery! We’re here to take you home.”

Katsuki stared at her with fuzzy red eyes before he slowly lifted his hands to his cheeks to prod at them, as they were still numb.

“I can’t feel my face!” The camera shook in Eijirou’s hands as he snorted with laughter. Katsuki sounded more panicked than he ever had, his eyes going wide as he tried in vain to get the nerves in his face to work. “Is it gone?”

“Buddy. Buddy,” Hanta interjected, coming on to the other side of the screen with a goofy smile. “It’s just the anesthetic, bud. Your face is still there,” he reassured him and pulled up his phone so that Katsuki could see himself in the camera. “See?”

Katsuki brought his face super close to squint at the screen, making Hanta slap a hand to his face and quiver with barely-suppressed giggles.

“Hey, that’s me.”

Biting his bottom lip, Eijirou flipped his camera around for a second to focus on his reddening face before uttering, “It’s only been three minutes and I am losing my shit.”

He flipped it back around to follow Katsuki as he stumbled out of the oral surgeon’s office, supported between Hanta and Denki as he fumbled on wobbly knees. He kept cursing loudly, and then walked right into the floor-to-ceiling glass window next to the exit. He felt like he was going to wet himself when Katsuki angrily kicked the window with the toe of his shoe and told it to “get the fuck out of the way”; as he splayed out his palms and crackles started going off, Mina hurriedly jumped in and dragged him through the exit door, but Katsuki kept throwing glares back at the window.

Eijirou got real close to the window, close enough that his reflection was in clear view in the camera, and grinned, “Sorry about him, man, he’s just real out of it. No hard feelings, right?”

He was snickering as he scampered out of the exit door after the rest of his friends. He followed the unsteady Katsuki to Denki’s car, watching him fumble with the door for a second.

“The motherfucker won’t open!” he complained loudly, and as he scrunched up his face Eijirou thought for a hot second that he might actually burst into angry tears.

Eijirou hurriedly leaned in to open the car door for him.

“Relax, bud, it’s cool. It’s cool. Go on and get in there.”

Head swaying from side to side like he was drunk, Katsuki half-slid, half-fell into the car and began tugging insistently at his seatbelt. After a few seconds of fumbling, he actually did manage to snap it in place, and he squinted up at Eijirou as Denki propped his chin on his shoulder.

“Hey, Baku-bro, how you feelin’, man?” the blond asked teasingly. Eijirou flipped the camera around as they waited for the boy’s response, making a few funny faces into the camera before switching it back to focus on the half-asleep Katsuki.

“I feel funny.”

“I bet you do,” Hanta laughed from the other side of the car, getting into the front passenger seat. “Come on, Denki, let’s go; we gotta get Katsuki’s pain meds from the pharmacy before they close,” he called at the blond before ducking into the car. Denki quipped a quiet, “Yeah, yeah, I’m comin’” before hopping away from Eijirou and jumping into the driver’s seat.

Eijirou walked around to the other side to slide into the middle seat next to Katsuki, with Mina squished against his right. It was only a few seconds before Katsuki began tapping his index finger against the car window.

“Where’s the fish?”

“Fish?”

“Yeah, fish, Shitty Hair! What kind of shitty aquarium is this? There’s no fish!”

“Bud— oh Jesus— bud, there’s no fish. This is a car. We’re on our way to the pharmacy.” Katsuki’s head swiveled around so he could blink hazily at Eijirou. “You know, a pharmacy, where they sell medicine and stuff.”

Mina was bent over double in the seat next to him, snorting like a pig as she tried not to burst into hysterical laughter. Katsuki looked down at his lap like he was contemplating something before tipping his head to the side and looking back at the redhead.

“Can we get some vitamin gummies?”

“I’m going to piss myself!” Denki howled in the driver’s seat, and Eijirou put the camera on him as he fell into the steering wheel and accidentally honked at the person in front of him. Hanta hurriedly rolled down the window to stick his head out and shout an apology at the old woman, who had flipped Denki the bird.

“I want vitamin gummies,” Katsuki insisted loudly, grabbing the headrest of Denki’s seat. Eijirou reached out to pull his thick arms down.

“Bud. Bud, relax, we’re gonna get you some vitamin gummies. Just sit back.” Under the influence, Katsuki was surprisingly docile, allowing Eijirou to push on his chest to ease him back against the seat. Katsuki looked out the window again and then scowled deeply.

“Where the fuck are the fish?!”

“Ahahaha! Oh my— oh my God, I can’t!” Eijirou turned the camera on Mina, who was holding her belly with tears streaming down her pink cheeks as she giggled uncontrollably. “I feel like I’m gonna throw up! Help!”

“You should take some vitamin gummies, Mina,” Hanta quipped from the front seat.

“Vitamin gummies? Where?” Katsuki demanded, leaning over the central console to grab at the sleeve of Hanta’s tee shirt. Mina let out a pained cry and began laughing harder, her bubble-gum pink face a bright shade of crimson, while Eijirou coaxed Katsuki back into his seat. Once he finally got Katsuki settled back in, he flipped the camera back on himself, pointedly looking up out of the corners of his eyes as if he were addressing God.

“Please, this pharmacy better have vitamin gummies.”

“Where the fuck are the fish?!”

“Denki, drive, I’m gonna pee myself!”

“We’ve still got three minutes! There’s an empty bottle of lemon soda on the floor back there somewhere.”

Eijirou had his camera trained on his own face again, smirking as a resounding slap! echoed in the car, followed by Denki’s high-pitched yelp and Hanta’s snort of laughter.

“That’s gross! I’m not peeing in a bottle, especially in a car full of boys!”

“Would you do it in a car full of girls, though?” Hanta asked innocently. Eijirou mouthed “Oh my God” and grinned stupidly as Mina slapped him upside his head too. Hanta yelped and jumped forward into the dash, cradling his head.

“You’re being gross!” Mina whined.

“Well, now you don’t have to pee anymore, do you?” Hanta griped back.

“… Well, I didn’t until you said something! Drive!”

In the background, Katsuki kept screaming about fish and vitamin gummies. Eijirou had to inform him that no, fish could not ingest vitamin gummies, and Katsuki grunted back, “That’s fucked up. They’re missing out.”

They arrived at the pharmacy and Mina scrambled out to run to the bathroom, while Denki and Hanta went inside to purchase a bottle of extra-strength Ibuprofen. Katsuki sat patiently in the car seat, and Eijirou kept switching the camera view, making a different face each time.

Suddenly, Katsuki unbuckled his seat belt and opened the door to climb out.

“Hey, hey, where are you going?”

“Dog.”

“What?”

“There’s a dog!” Katsuki yelled as he landed unsteadily on the concrete lot. Eijirou hurriedly unbuckled his seatbelt and slid out after him just in time to capture Katsuki lumbering over to a very confused lady walking a Chihuahua puppy. Eijirou hurriedly ran over as she shrunk in on herself.

“Hey, hey, sorry, he just got his wisdom teeth out and is a little out of it,” he explained quickly as Katsuki crouched down to inspect the puppy, who was barking insistently at him. “I think he just wants to see the dog, is that okay?”

The dog owner relaxed and laughed, leaning down to pat the puppy’s head reassuringly and ask Katsuki if he wanted to hold it. The boy’s red eyes went huge and he nodded dumbly, mouth hanging open and a little blood dripping from the corner of his mouth onto the concrete.

“Aw, jeez, you’re bleeding everywhere, dude,” Eijirou laughed and grabbed the front of his shirt to hurriedly wipe at his mouth. Katsuki plunked down on his behind as the woman picked up the Chihuahua, which had calmed down and was wagging its tail furiously, and set it in Katsuki’s hands. It was such a small little thing that Katsuki could easily cup it in one big palm. “Hey, thank you, miss, I— Holy shit, Katsuki, are you crying?”

“It’s so small,” Katsuki whispered as he gently petted the baby Chihuahua’s head, tears streaming silently down his cheeks.

Eijirou was losing it at that point, trying to hold the camera steady as he wheezed behind it and ran his hand repeatedly through his spiky red hair.

“It’s so small,” Katsuki repeated like he was in awe. The Chihuahua leaned up to begin licking the tears dripping from his chin and he literally began ugly sobbing. Eijirou squatted down because he felt like his legs were about to give out, little giggles leaking out of his chest that felt swelled to the point of bursting.

“Bro- oh my God, this is too fucking funny— bro, bro, you good?”

“It’s so smalllllllll!” Katsuki tipped his head back and howled with another ugly sob. Eijirou was crying too at this point, and he flipped the camera around to showcase watery eyes and pink cheeks.

“I’m dying, this is it, guys. This is the last thing I am ever gonna do on this Earth and it is so fucking worth it— Bro, Katsuki. Hey.”

Katsuki angrily barked “What?!” at him, still cradling the Chihuahua as it began lapping up his tears again. Eijirou didn’t know what he was going to say because he was too busy wheezing and crying. Blearily, Katsuki looked down at the Chihuahua again and hugged it to his chest.

“So small…”

“Eiji? Hey, what are you doing over there?”

Eijirou flipped the camera as Mina approached rapidly from within the store.

“Look, look, Mina!”

“Oh my God! A puppy! Oh my God, is he crying?”

“He’s fucking bawling.”

“Why?”

“It’s so small!” Katsuki yelled at her, and Mina’s knees wobbled as she almost collapsed on the spot, laughing hysterically. She had to take a minute to compose herself, and at this point Hanta and Denki came out of the store with a bottle of Ibuprofen and a bottle of vitamin gummies.

It took a few minutes to get Katsuki to relinquish the Chihuahua back to its very giddy and entertained owner, but he finally did. The whole time she was walking away Katsuki kept cooing, “Bye-bye small puppy, bye-bye,” which left the four of them puddles in the parking lot. Somehow they managed to all get back in the car without pissing themselves laughing. Eijirou held the camera as Mina opened the bottle of vitamin gummies and handed two over to Katsuki.

“Look. Look, buddy, it’s your vitamin gummies.”

“Fuck yes,” Katsuki muttered and plucked them out of Mina’s hand. He tried to scoop them into his mouth and missed, and they bounced down into his lap. He didn’t seem to realize that and looked around for a second before screaming very shrilly and loudly, which scared everyone in the car shitless. Denki cursed loudly as he jerked the wheel, swerving for a second with screeching tires before righting the car; thankfully the road was empty. He looked back into the camera with a mixture between a scowl and a laugh.

“Give him his fucking vitamin gummies before he makes me crash!”

“Ahahahaha, holy shit, what the hell is happeniiiiiing?” Hanta was howling in the front seat.

Snickering, Eijirou hurriedly plucked up the vitamin gummies and put them back in Katsuki’s hands.

“Hey, hey, calm down, bud, here they are, right here.” Katsuki stared at them a minute before picking one up and nibbling on it, now the epitome of calmness. Mina was back in a fetal position wheezing and crying.

“Eijirou, you’d better send me this goddamn video.”

“Oh, it’s going on YouTube, definitely. We’re going viral, guys.”

“WHERE ARE THE FUCKING FISH?”

“Jesus Christ, I can’t, oh my God,” Eijirou wheezed as he doubled over, holding up the cell phone to record whatever Hanta and Denki were doing in the front seat. Dully, he could hear Mina say “Go left at the next light, Denki.” He took a minute to compose himself before flopping back upright, hitting the back of the seat. He flipped the camera around to look in amusement at it.

“This is the best day of my life.”

“Idiot! I said go left!” Mina screeched next to him, leaning over the center console to shake Denki’s shoulder.

“I did go left!”

“Your other left, dumbass!” Hanta shouted at him. “How did you ever get a drivers’ license?!”

“I’m a good driver!” Denki whined as he pulled a U-turn at a turnaround and glared at Hanta. “I just get nervous with so much going on!”

Eijirou was making faces in the camera again, just reacting to the hell that was breaking loose in the small camera. His eyebrows began to inch up as he caught ashy blond hair creeping into the side of the camera view, and then all of a sudden, Katsuki’s head thunked against his own.

“Hey, hey, guys, shut up, he’s asleep.”

“Seriously?” Mina whispered loudly. Denki and Hanta both glanced back and identical grins split their faces. Hanta grabbed his cell phone and snapped a photo, and then grabbed Denki’s and did the same.

“Oh, man, this is gold.”

“He’s so cute!” Denki laughed as he glanced up into the rearview mirror.

Eijirou grinned widely and bit his lip, side-eyeing the snoozing Katsuki. His mouth was hanging open, a bit of the drool-and blood-soaked gauze poking out. Eijirou reached up to pat the side of his head.

“Sleep tight, buddy. You had a hard day,” he smirked before finally stopping the video recording.

~~~~~~~~~~

Katsuki woke up just long enough to stumble in the UA dorms and totter to his bedroom, taking a dose of Ibuprofen before passing right out. It took less than five seconds for everyone to scramble down into the common room to watch Eijirou’s masterpiece, which he kept having to stop because everyone was cackling and howling too loud to hear the precious audio he had recorded. Mr. Aizawa soon came out to ask them what the hell they were laughing so hard about so Eijirou showed him the video too, and even he managed to crack a smile and snort.

The next morning Katsuki awoke groggy but fully functional, with no memory of anything he had said while under the effect of the drugs. He kept getting really mad when they would snicker behind his back, demanding to know what the hell was so funny, and they all lost their minds when Denki snatched up Mineta and screamed “It’s so small!” at the top of his lungs. Katsuki riddled out then that someone had an incriminating video of him, and he chased Eijirou all over the dorms threatening to blow him up unless he let him see it. Eijirou finally relented when he promised not to blow up his phone, and they all gathered in the living room again to see Katsuki’s reaction to his drug-induced self.

It was almost as golden as the event itself. He went pale, wide-eyed, hands over his mouth as he watched himself act utterly ridiculous. He jumped up and started shouting obscenities when he got to the part where he started sobbing over the Chihuahua and had to be restrained from destroying the phone by Hanta, Tenya, Fumikage, and Izuku. By the time they finished the video he was red-faced and sucking in heaving breaths, far beyond the point of mortified. Eijirou, between laughs, kept telling him that it was okay and it was all in good fun. He calmed down a bit, muttering something about not putting it on YouTube. Eijirou hadn’t after all, thinking it unmanly to do something like that without permission.

But Denki did, and it had ten thousand views already. Needless to say, the video went viral and became the official meme of UA, and it was easily Eijirou’s crowning achievement.

Payback sure was a bitch, though, because Katsuki had a devilish grin and phone in hand as Eijirou was going under for his own wisdom tooth surgery… But that’s a story for another time.

Enjoy this oneshot? Feel free to peruse my Table of Contents!

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