#leos actually lying he took it just fine

[str8upjorkinit]

mc was so shocked she grew eyes

[atearyamallari]

I made fanfiction for the rottmnt 40th anniversary comic! You can read the full first chapter by clicking here, but I will be posting a little preview below, so SPOILERS AHEAD!

Time Forever Lost

Chapter 1 - Family Movie Day

Leo placed some breakfast on a wooden tray – toast with strawberry jam and a warm cup of tea – and walked it out of the kitchen and down the hall. When he finally made it to the dilapidated subway car that was Splinter’s bedroom, he stopped short of the door. Taking a deep breath, he put on a brave face and tapped the door with his toes.

“Hey, Dad, I’m coming in. You better be halfway decent in there,” Leo called. He gently kicked open the door and let the light from the hallway illuminate a path to Splinter’s bedside. The sickeningly sweet smell of flowers bombarded his nostrils, and he had to tread carefully to avoid knocking over the vases that lined the floor. At some point, he would have to water some of those roses and discard the wilting bouquets, he reminded himself. And at the rate that his family was receiving flowers from friends, he was going to have to find some more vases, too.

The bed was a mess of pillows and blankets – but no Splinter. Leo nearly dropped the tray. No matter how many times he and his brothers had told their dad not to get up and wander around the lair without their supervision, he did so anyway. It was as if he didn’t care that it gave them a heart attack. Or maybe it just was payback for all the times they snuck out of the lair and got into trouble when they were kids. Leo set the tray down on the bedside nightstand and rushed out of the room, sending a flurry of petals flying in his wake.

Thankfully, Splinter was right where Leo thought he would be: curled up in his favorite armchair in front of the TV. “Blue! There you are,” he said. His voice was raspy, and it was obviously painful for him to talk, but he spoke with enthusiasm nonetheless. “I think we should watch Enter the Tiger today, hm? How ‘bout it?”

Leo planted his hands on his hips. “I think you should stop with the vanishing act and just stay in bed until I get you.”

Splinter crossed his arms. “But it’s stuffy in there. It’s like living inside the perfume kiosks in the mall. I mean, the flowers were nice at first, but now it’s kind of overkill.”

“We can move them out if you want, but – hey, where are your socks?!” Leo asked, suddenly noticing his dad’s bare feet.

“The grippy socks? Eh, they were making my feet sweaty.”

“Dad!” Leo cried.

“What?”

As much as Leo wanted to be mad, he couldn’t blame him. If he were bedridden for months on end, he would probably go stir-crazy, too. But man, he’d be lying if he said his dad wasn’t driving him insane already. “Nothing. I’ll get your breakfast, and then we can watch that movie, ‘kay?”

He returned to Splinter’s bedroom and retrieved his breakfast tray. On his way back, he found Raph stumbling towards the bathroom, bleary-eyed and yawning. “Mornin’, Leo,” he said. “You taking care of Pop’s breakfast today?”

“Nope!” Leo said. “I’m taking care of Pops though.”

The scowl that crossed his brother’s face was almost as funny as his own joke. “Wow,” Raph said. “That was horrible, even for you.”

“Really? I thought it was pretty good.”

“Well, it wasn’t. Raph gives you a C minus for that one.” His tone grew somber. “Seriously though, do you need any help?”

“I got it covered,” Leo said. “Wait, actually, could you do me a favor and try to find Dad’s grippy socks for me? They should be around here somewhere.”

“He took them off again?”

“Apparently.”

Raph groaned. “Fine, I’ll look for them.”

By the time Leo returned to the TV room, the familiar sounds and images of Enter the Tiger was playing on the screen. Splinter was snuggled in his armchair and fiddling with the volume controls on the remote, as if he hadn’t obviously gotten up to put the movie into the VHS player in the first place. But Leo didn’t feel like reprimanding his dad for the umpteenth time, so he pretended not to notice. “One carb-heavy breakfast, on the house!” Leo said as he rested the tray on his dad’s lap.

“Yay, my favorite: flavorless toast,” Splinter said, rolling his eyes. He took a slice from the plate and nibbled one of the corners.

Over a year ago, when Splinter first cracked a joke about his food tasting funny, Leo had chalked it up to Draxum’s cooking. Although he wasn’t as bad of a chef as Donnie or Raph were, there was no telling what he put in their lasagna that night. In Leo’s opinion, it hadn’t tasted any stranger than it normally did, and his brothers all thought the same; Splinter was the only one who insisted that it tasted different. Everyone assumed that he was taking a jab at Draxum, but it should have been the first clue that something was wrong.

For the next couple of weeks, he complained that everything tasted bland, from his favorite froyo to Mikey’s homemade pizza. It wasn’t until he mentioned that he also felt pain in his throat and ears that Leo and his brothers realized that things were more serious than they seemed. It took days to figure out what was making him so sick; meanwhile, Splinter’s health worsened. His pain became unbearable, he lost his appetite, and he became even more lethargic than normal. Eventually, Donnie narrowed down the diagnosis: oropharyngeal carcinoma. Tonsil cancer.

None of the turtles slept much in the following weeks. Donnie often pulled all-nighters trying to develop a chemotherapy drug that would get rid of the cancer without being too aggressive on Splinter’s already frail body. Mikey started having nightmares, ones that usually made him wake up screaming. Raph and Leo threw themselves into vigilantism. If he were honest, Leo only went on nightly patrols to make sure Raph was okay. But if he had to guess, Raph went on patrols looking for an excuse to take out all his anger and frustration on whatever hapless crook crossed their path.

Then, slowly but surely, things started looking up. Donnie completed the chemotherapy drug and started treating Splinter with Leo’s help. The drug took its toll on his body, and his fur fell out, but when it grew back months later, it was a hopeful sign that he was improving. Mikey started getting more sleep and having less nightmares. Leo and his brothers started going on regularly scheduled missions again. Of course, Splinter’s health was still much worse than it was before, and they weren’t out of the tunnel yet, but at last they could see the light at the end.

To be continued...

[erosjournal]

☆ h-o-t-t-o-g-o , you can take me hot to go !

~ leo valdez x jason grace , percy jackson x annabeth chase , piper mclean x reyna avila ramirez arellano if you look hard enough

~ synopsis : the cheer squad is missing a person ... so piper begs leo to help during their routine.

~ tw(s): cursing , the tiniest ever so suggestive

"Fuck no, Pipes." Leo yelped, glancing at the uniform she was holding. Piper let out a whine, pouting. She sighed.

"Please Leo! Today's the final game between New Rome High and Olympus High! And our flyer's gone!" She pleaded. "You and I have done all of the stunts at my house, you know how to do all of the flyer's moves." Piper argued, holding out the uniform. "You're flexible and light, you can do it!"

"It's not my fault Kelli's out sick! I'm not wearing that shit!" He argued. Piper sighed. She had one final argument to pull out.

"Jason told me he was really excited to watch the cheer squad, since he's playing today," Piper nonchalantly dropped. Leo hesitated, raising his eyebrows.

"...Jason... said that...?" Piper nodded. Well, technically she wasn't lying. Jason had transferred from New Rome High to Olympus High, and he had actually said he was excited to see their Olympus' cheer squad do a better routine than New Rome.

Leo seemed to ponder this, thinking it over in his head. Then he finally let out a defeated sound.

"Fine. Where should I go change?"

Jason was visibly upset. Their team was down by many points, losing extremely. The team sat in the bleachers, unsure how to feel. They usually won.

"Jase, what do we do?" Percy asked, sitting next to Jason. He shrugged, taking off his helmet. His hair was all wet, something Leo would probably tease him about.

"There's nothing we can do. Just gotta... suck it up." He sighed. Percy was unhappy with that answer, but didn't ask farther.

The next part of the day was one Jason was looking forward to, the cheer squad's routine. His best friend Piper was the captain, and she was amazingly talented. Percy's girlfriend was on the team too, so he knew they were both excited to see their friends cheering.

First was New Rome High, Jason's old high school. He missed it dearly, but tried to ignore the pang in his heart when he saw his past friends high fiving and chatting with one another. Percy placed a hand on Jason's shoulder.

Hazel was the cheer captain for their school, a routine that was great. Yet it had minor slip ups. Piper had drilled perfect routines into his head, so he could spot these when he watched them perform. Little things, like a beat off, or someone got in the wrong spot. It was still good overall, just not perfect. One of the people on the backsquad was one of his old friends, Reyna. She was someone Piper had always admired... maybe even liked. Her form was amazing, memorized down to the split seconds. Jason could tell she was upset after the act, muttering things under her breath about their mistakes.

Then it was Olympus High. Chappell Roan's "Hot To Go" came on, music blaring around the stadium. Jason felt his face melt into a smile and Percy started jumping up, screaming his girlfriends name. What Jason saw next, he definitely did not expect.

"Is that--"

"Leo?" Percy choked back a laugh as Jason's jaw dropped, his face flushing a bright red. He took off his glasses, tried to clean them, and put them back on.

Leo was next to Piper, his face tinted red. He obviously was embarrassed, but he also looked excited. Nervous. He was wearing their cheer uniform, a red and orange leotard, optionally with a skirt, which Leo was wearing. His messy curls were pulled back with an orange ribbon. Piper looked very happy with herself. She scanned the crowd, extremely confident. Her eyes landed on Jason and she waved. Leo looked and locked eyes with him for a second, before he broke away, face redder than his uniform.

"I bet your mood just got a lot better," Percy teased, watching this whole interaction go down. Jason elbowed his side, but he couldn't deny it. Leo was making him feel a lot better. Percy squealed as he saw Annabeth, waving happily like a madman. She grinned, and waved back. Who are the lovebirds now? Jason thought.

He drew his attention back to Leo, snapping back to his consciousness. Why was he there in the first place? Is he subbing? He looked around to see if there were any missing cheer leaders, and noticed Kelli wasn't there. That was good. Annabeth and Percy really didn't like her. He never found it appropriate to ask why.

Soon into the routine, Leo got very comfortable into the flow of the routine. Maybe too comfortable. Every once in a while, he'd tease Jason by lifting his skirt a little, or winking, which would cause Jason to have to look away and take a deep breath. He even pointed at Jason during the chorus, causing Percy to indefinitely make fun of him.

After the routine, Jason immediately ran down the bleachers, Percy in hot pursuit, to find Piper and Leo (Percy wanted to see Annabeth in her leotard). He found them almost immediately, laughing and giggling with the other cheer leaders. Once Leo caught Jason's gaze, he quickly excused himself. He ran over to Jason, grinning.

"Hey--" Jason pulled him into a kiss, grinning back into it. Leo broke it, gasping as he stood back, shocked and flushed. "Whoa, calm down, Wolf Boy." He teased. Jason giggled into his neck, squeezing him in a hug.

"You look amazing, and you did really well." Leo ruffled his hair, smirking.

"Make you feel better after your football loss?" He muttered, Jason nodding.

"Mhm." He sighed contently. "Exactly what I needed."

~ an : omg listening to chappell roan thinking abt my lesbian crush made me think of this idea , so i hope u guys liked it ! i just thought it'd be really silly if leo had to cheer and jason was just like o///o like it reminds me of that one scene from descendants , with ben and mal . anyways , hope u liked it !

[riordanness]

he was sunshine - [w.solace]

wordcount: 1.1K

warnings: death mentions (sort of)

requested: no

My senses weren’t working properly. My eyes were open, but I couldn’t see anything but darkness.

My touch senses were working fine, though. I could tell that I was lying on a bed, a blanket draped over me. The blanket felt kind of rough, but warm.

It was quiet. I couldn’t make out any distinct sounds. Either I was losing my ears, or I was all alone… wherever I was.

I blinked, and I could see again. Thank the gods. I glanced around, realising I was in the infirmary. Oh…

I hit my head. That was the last thing I could remember before my vision went dark. But, what was happening? Did Gaia actually rise? Was she defeated? Were my friends alive?

I had to find out. Ignoring the pain, I pushed myself up onto my elbows, sat upright, and threw the covers off. I was dressed in jean shorts and my camp T-shirt, what I always wore.

My sneakers were lying on the floor beside the bed, so I pulled them on. Spotting my weapons on the bedside cabinet, I grabbed them and slung them over my shoulders. Being a daughter of Demeter, I wasn’t usually picked out of a crowd to be a fighter, but I was wicked good with the bow. Good as some of the Apollo kids, even.

I ran a hand through my short, dark curls, trying to fix my bed hair. I got bad bed hair most nights, but other than that, my hair was pretty manageable. I didn’t usually have tie it back, given that it was only cut to just below my ears.

I left the cabin, and saw… no one. Usually, there would be tons of kids all around the cabins, playing basketball and chasing each other, heading to activities and playing pranks on other cabins. I couldn’t hear a thing. It was like the whole camp had vanished.

I searched the cabins, the Big House, the armoury, the dining pavilion, the strawberry fields, and the forges. The only place I could think of left was the amphitheater. Even before I reached it, though, I noticed a trial of smoke rising up from the middle of the amphitheater. That worried me. I hurried faster.

Just as I’d feared, it was a fire. The camp was burning somebody’s shroud. Or multiple somebody’s. As I entered the amphitheater, a couple of my cabin mates and friends waved at me. Anita, my half-sister, rushed over.

“You’re okay!” she whispered. “Oh, I’m so glad. You hit your head really hard. Will said you might not be up for a few days. Do you feel okay?”

Come to think of it, I felt awful, but I brushed it off as hunger or fatigue or something. I was totally fine!

I tried to smile. “Oh, yeah. I’m okay. Thanks. What happened? Was Gaia defeated?”

Anita’s face fell. “Uh, well… yes. But we lost some good friends.”

I bit my lip. “Who?”

“Samuel, Tracey, Olive, Nate, and… Leo Valdez.”

“Leo?” I gasped. “Oh no…”

Anita quickly told me the story: Leo Valdez, son of Hephaestus, had bravely sacrificed his life to kill Gaia. He had died in a fiery explosion in the sky above camp.

I couldn’t speak. I’d gotten to know Leo pretty well over the months he’d spent working on the Argo II. He’d spent so many long hours and days busy working in Bunker 9, I’d made it my personal job to bring him food and water every day, and make sure he ate. During these little visits, we talked a lot. We’d become pretty good friends.

And now?

He was gone. I felt tears coming, but I tried to fight them down. “They were all too young,” I whispered. “This is all so unfair. I hate this dying business! Why can’t the gods just stop it and stop having poor kids who are targets for monsters?”

Anita looked at me sympathetically. “I know. It’s okay.” She took my hand. “Come on. You should sit down. Will Solace said you needed your rest.”

It was probably true. Will was the best medic I’d ever met. He knew what he was talking about. Besides, my head was starting to throb again, and I was feeling dizzy.

“Uh, yeah. Good idea,” I managed.

I sat with the rest of the Demeter cabin for the remainder of the funerals. The shrouds were burned, the proper things were said, but I was in a bit of a daze. I barely heard anything that was said.

It was so strange. It’d been the middle of the battle, Gaia had just risen up out of the earth and was trying to kill us all, Camp Half-Blood was surrounded by Romans and monsters, and everything had suddenly gone black on me.

I don’t know how I’d survived. I asked Anita, and she confirmed that Will Solace had found me unconscious and carried me off to the infirmary. For some reason, that made me blush.

I hadn’t thought much about the son of Apollo in my years at Camp. He’d always been around, even before I’d gotten here. He was always sunny and happy, always helping everyone, and always healing all of us silly demigods who got ourselves hurt.

My mind drifted. Back to my first year. My first time playing Capture-The-Flag. I’d been brutally beaten up by the Hunters of Artemis. My arm was cut up, my ankle was broken, and I’d gotten a concussion.

Will had refused to leave my side the entire time, even though he was only ten at the time, same age as me. He’d insisted on staying in the infirmary with me until I was well. I think I was the first person he’d ever healed properly, and on his own.

I was brought back to one particular occasion… I’d woken from a deep sleep, my ankle healing (which was slow even with the help of nectar and ambrosia), and found Will sleeping beside me. He was sitting on a chair, slumped forward with his head on his arms, his arms on the edge of my bed.

It took a bit of shuffling and fiddling, and a bit of pain, and a lot of grunts and hard work, but I finally managed to pull him up onto the bed with me. It was a pretty big one, a double bed size. I slid over to one side, spread half the blanket over Will, and snuggled down beside him.

I fell back asleep instantly, not even thinking about how weird this position would look in the morning when someone else came in to check on us. (Other campers, Chiron, and me and Will’s siblings checked on us regularly). I was just trying to do something nice for a friend, someone who was doing something nice for me.

I drifted off to sleep with Will’s breath on my hair.

[brightlotusmoon]

Scene from a WIP:

Leo's nightmare began as a memory. He was with Mikey on that mountain, helping him train for his grudge match at the Nexus. Mikey had asked if they could forfeit. Right after Leo had scolded them both - had Mikey known? That Leo had been berating himself? He must have sensed it.

The dream shifted. The cliff crumbled under Mikey's feet and he fell back and down. Leo grabbed his hands, straining as more of the mountain began to fall apart.

“It's okay, Leo,” Mikey said. “You can let go. I'll be fine.”

“No!” Leo snarled. “I just told you, we only have each other!”

Mikey smiled. “Well, yeah, obviously. So you can let go.”

“I can't! You know I can't!”

“Leo. Listen to me.” A loud wind started up, and Mikey's voice rose above it. “You're hurting so much you can't even feel it anymore. You keep holding on to things that don't matter anymore. They'll just sink in deeper.”

“No,” Leo snapped. “Are you kidding? I spent three months with the Ancient One and - “

“It helped but it didn't go all the way down,” Mikey told him, squeezing his hands. “You had to come home early. And then everything kept happening.” Leo growled and shook his head. He was slipping.

“Let go, Leo,” Mikey pleaded, and suddenly his hands were empty, his brother was gone. Leo screamed at the top of his lungs.

Leo's eyes snapped open and he sucked in a lungful of breath. He was lying in the nest with Raph and Don, on his back. Raph was snoring lightly, on his side facing Leo. Donnie was next to Raph, curled up like a cat, facing Mikey’s bed.

Leo shivered, squeezing his eyes shut. Seconds later, a warm hand pressed on his shoulder. He blinked and looked into Raph's face.

“Bad dream?” Raph asked, voice groggy.

“Yeah,” Leo said. He wouldn't have admitted that in the past. Raph seemed to realize it too, because he smiled, his eyes bright.

“Wanna talk about it?” Raph asked.

Leo blinked. “Are you actually awake?”

“Yup.”

“You don't usually want to talk about things like that.”

Raph shrugged. “Things changed.”

“Because of Mikey's journal?” Leo said softly.

Raph seemed to deflate, settling back down. “He's been hiding a lot.”

In the dark, they gazed at each other with their night vision. Leo took a very deep breath and tried not to show the worry in his eyes. “He always seemed to know things that the rest of us couldn't figure out.”

Raph hummed, followed by a light chuckle. “I still think about that time you was training her ass off blindfolded and Mikey told us how damn hard you work to be responsible for all of us just so we could be free to be ourselves. Not thinking. Dreaming. Taking it easy. And then there's you, giving that up for us.”

Swallowing, Leo definitely blinked away tears. “It's not even a thought, it's just something I do."

[chil-aglia]

Can we get a fanfic how Leo first fell in love with Adri or do you have that planned already in Collide fanfic?

First and only love

Sure! I probably wasn’t going to go into detail about how Leo first fell in love with Adriaen in the Collide fic, but it might’ve been mentioned here and there. But I’m more than happy to make a story on here that gives you all a better view of Leo’s feelings at the time and whatnot!

I also don’t have a picture of these two for this lil fic, but please feel free to draw one and I’ll share and add it to this!

So enjoy! 

——————————————————————————————————

“You ever just want to go outside and look around and do whatever you want without consequences?”

Adriaen blinks at the sudden comment, lifting his head up from the book he was reading that Donnie had given to him a few days ago. He tilts his head at Leo who stared distantly at the projector playing in front of them.

It was a movie, Aladdin from what Adriaen remembered. Leo sighs and leans against his palm, shaking his head at his own sentence. “Never mind, dad will never let that happen.” He huffs softly, focusing his gaze on the animated movie. Adriaen softly narrows his eyes in question. 

Leo and the others had gone topside before, but never alone. They always went in a group, it was a rule that Splinter plowed into their minds, while Splinter was still adjusting to the single parent life and he knew he wasn’t the best at it, he still wanted the children to be safe. So that meant no going outside unless it was in a group.

Leo being the adventurous turtle he is, had so badly wanted to see what New York was like if it was just him in the big apple. 

“We’re safer in numbers.” Adriaen responds, turning back to read his book. Thanks to Donnie, Adriaen was able to read, but he sometimes got words mixed up and so he had to brush up on his skills.

It felt embarrassing. He was 8 years old and he still had difficulty with reading and understanding the English language that he was taught by another 8 year old. But nothing he could do about it now.

Leo softly chuckled and rolls to lay on his carapace, no longer interested in the movie. He already knew the story off by heart, so it’s not like he was missing anything of importance.

“You know…maybe I could sneak out.”

Adriaen was quick to glare scoldingly at the slider, “You're not doing that. I’ll tell on you.”

“Boo, no one likes a tattletale.”

Adriaen rolls his eyes and closes his book; he was getting distracted with Leo’s ramblings. Sure, he was use to it, but he could never focus on his own work if Leo was constantly speaking and spurting out nonsense such as sneaking out their home just to be alone outside in New York of all places.

“I’m only kidding.” Leo assured, but Adriaen held his hand out to stop Leo from trying to explain himself. “I know, I know…I just don’t like the idea of you going out alone.”

Leo remained quiet; he saw the far-off look on Adriaen. No doubt thinking about his own times when he was alone. While he didn’t actually remember his days alone before being brought into the family, he still felt the familiar feeling of the loneliness. He didn’t like it.

Leo shifted over to sit next to Adriaen, he leans his body against the latter with a grin. “Want to watch a different movie? Your pick this time.”

“….Lilo and Stitch?”

Leo hums in agreement and puts the movie on for them. 

Dark. No, night. It was night and everyone was asleep. Well, almost everyone. Leo had snuck out his room, tiptoeing away to head to the exit. He felt immense guilt for lying to Adriaen. Sure, at the time he was joking, but the more was left alone with his thoughts, Leo convinced himself that a few minutes outside was fine. He even made sure to go out at midnight, surely no one was still up.

He climbs up the ladder, it was a bit of a struggle given his small limbs, but he managed. Lifting the manhole cover was also a little difficult due to his size but pushing himself he managed to move it the side.

Leo took a hesitant peek outside, there was still light from the streetlamps and buildings. Cars were also driving by with their high beams on, but they were going fast that no one would notice Leo walking around.

Gaining confidence, Leo pulls himself up and took a moment to look around. There wasn’t anything new in this alleyway that he has been already before, but something about him being alone was new and exciting for him. 

He scurries over to the edge of the alleyway, peeking out from the wall to double check for humans. None so far. Leo could work with this.

Leo walks out, letting his young legs take him to wherever they desire. He looks around, his eyes scanning any and all things that looked different.

They fixed the graffiti issue on that building.

Leo didn’t realise he had stepped into the middle of the road, until the bright light of a car came at him in quick speed. He squinted his eyes before he realised what it was that was coming towards him. 

Uh oh…I’m going to get hit.

“Leo!”

A familiar voice shouts for him, and before he knew it, he felt someone collide with his body and was pushed out the way. Their bodies rolled on the pavement, but seemingly none were hurt. 

“What..?”

Leo blinks, looking at his saviour. 

Adriaen pants, catching his breath from the panic they surfaced when he saw Leo in the middle of the road. He acted on pure instinct and adrenaline, all fuelled by fear that Leo would be taken out by a moving vehicle that wasn’t showing signs of slowing down.

He didn’t want to experience that again. Not at this age.

“Adri…?”

Leo owlishly stares, he didn’t recall seeing the latter following him. Was Leo just that heavily distracted?

“Are you an absolute idiot?!” Adriaen yells, snapping his harsh look towards the slider who briefly flinched. “You are so lucky that I saw you sneak away. You could’ve been roadkill! Is that what you want to be?!”

Adriaen was shouting in anger and fear at Leo. But to Leo, it was all white noise, instead he just felt…warm inside. His stomach felt like there was butterflies swarming around in him.

Adriaen himself also seemed different. New.

Leo noticed every detail on Adriaen in this moment. The way his eyes were furrowed. The way his lips were moving, how he threw his hands about to exaggerate his sentences.

Did he always look…cute? 

Leo shakes his head at the strange emotions and thought, he stands up, dusting off any dirt on him as Adriaen does the same to his own small body. With a grumble, Adriaen grabbed Leo’s arm and pulled him away so they couldn’t be spotted by any potential humans.

Leo felt electric when Adriaen took his arm. Why? It wasn’t like they haven’t touched before. Why did this feel different?

Adriaen eventually let's go once they were safe and out of the open as he exhales softly to calm down. He looks back to Leo, fear lingering in him, but he wasn’t on a verge of a panic attack anymore.

“You’re a liar.”

“I’m sorry…I was just curious.”

“You told me you were kidding…”

Adriaen’s voice grew soft, clearly feeling some sort of betrayal. And it broke the 8-year-old slider who rubs his arm awkwardly. “Adri…I’m sorry. I know that’s not much…but I really am.”

Adriaen didn’t say anything and sniffles, he was holding back tears. 

Adriaen instead shyly held his hand out for Leo to hold, the slider blinking but gently placed his palm into the one that was inviting him in. Adriaen squeezed their hands together. 

“Don’t do it alone at least…take me with you.”

Leo’s heart fluttered. 

Huh. Another weird feeling. What was going on with him?

“Okay…let’s go together.”

With held hands, the two turtle tots explore New York. Keeping an eye on each other while they wandered around the park, buildings and alleyways. 

They kept to the shadows most of the time in case of being spotted. And the more time they hung out together, the more Leo began to realise something that he only thought existed in movies and comics.

He stared ahead as he watched Adriaen climbing around on a playground, smiling as he got to the monkey bars.

Oh…is this…am I in love?

He clenched his fist together as he watched warmly when Adriaen pulls himself up to sit on top of the monkey bars, swinging his legs out as he turns around and looks down Leo.

He gave a toothy smile, the moonlight reflecting Adriaen in a breathtaking light. Leo blushed as he couldn’t help but match the smile that Adriaen had.

Yeah…I’m in love.

——————————————————————————————————

Hope you enjoyed this lil story! They are so cute even at this age.

[bellysoupset]

So I was wondering 👉👈 with Wendy adjusting to Vince being Gone maybe she gets really sick and just misses him but doesn’t want to call but like maybe Jonah comes to check on her and she’s very emotional and he finally calls Vince to talk to her while she is sick or something ? sorry I’m a sucker for their love 🏳️

Hiiii, I LOVED this ask and it was overdue Leo as a caretaker to Wendy, so I did a little switcharoo, I hope you don't mind!

Also this was 🦦's request and someone else's as well!!

This is part 3 of the strep throat fic. Read part 1 here and part 2 here.

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

"Are you sure you don't wanna tag along?" Jonah asked with a pout, for the 5th time.

Leo rolled his eyes, stealing another peck and shoving Jon towards the front door of their apartment, "no, it's your sister. She wants to hang out with you-"

"You were invited-"

"Jonah, it's fine. I'm not gonna die one night alone at home," Leo grinned, kissing him again, "I have a lot of reading to catch up on. And don't even worry about dinner, I'm goin to order something in."

Jonah let out a huff, looking conflicted, "Okay... We're going to be back around ten," he grimaced and Leo chuckled, stealing another kiss and shoving him out.

"Get out of here. Have fun with Angie," he rested on the threshold, "love you."

"Love you too," Jonah sighed, fixing his trench coat and walking to the elevator, while Leo crouched down to stop JD from darting out of the front door.

Leo let out a happy sigh as soon as he shut the door, looking forward to his lazy night in. He loved Jonah, but it was good to have some time apart from each other and Leo had many plans to do ten different shades of nothing.

He sprawled on the couch and JD jumped on top of him, butting her head against his chin, "you're so cute," he cooed, scratching the kitten and smooching the top of her head, "the cutest cat ever."

She let out an indignant meow at being squeezed, but didn't pull back at all and Leo happily continued to pester the animal, kissing her all over.

He hadn't been lying, there was a lot of reading to be done and at least two different actions movies he wanted to watch. By the time he finished going through his copy of Copyright Wars, JD was purring like a little engine against his belly, curled up in a way that her fluffy tail was nearly tickling her nose.

Leo lowered the book, opening a smile at the kitten and smoothing a hand down her spine. JD didn't even stir.

He gave up on the double movie idea, since it was already almost 9 o'clock, and instead ordered food, yawning already. Leo sighed, he was getting old, sleepy at 9 PM.

It was 10 already when Leo finished scrapping the bottom of his food container and he stretched on the couch, glancing at his phone briefly. Not a text from Jon, which was good, meant he was actually enjoying himself with Angie.

Deciding he should watch the movie in bed, since he was going to most likely fall asleep through it, Leo got up to go fix the guest room for Angie's stay.

He fully expected it to be Jonah when he heard a phone ringing, so Leo took a second to realize that his own phone was in the pocket of his sweatpants, not ringing.

JD was already inspecting the source of the noise, Jon's phone fallen under the couch, and Leo picked it up without thinking, just wanting to make the noise stop.

"Hi?"

"Jon, can you- Leo?" Wendy interrupted herself and Leo let out a small chuckle, squishing the phone between his shoulder and cheek and getting back to the task of fixing the guest room.

"Jonah forgot his phone home," he entered the guest bathroom to make sure they had extra towels and then jumped at a loud noise, taking a second to realize the rattling cough was coming from the phone, not inside his apartment, "are you alright? That didn't sound good..." He paused against the bathroom door and heard as Wendy wheezed and gasped for air.

"I'm fine," she scoffed, her voice completely shot, "I'm fine, I just-" Wendy didn't sound fine, not even remotely. Not only she sounded terribly sick, and it was probably his fault by being all germy in her apartment, but she sounded sad.

"Is anyone with you?" Leo asked, biting his bottom lip and nervously looking around.

"I don't need a babysitter, I'm fine," Wendy groaned, causing him to sigh.

"Taking that as a no," he ran his fingers nervously through his hair, "alright, you need anything from the pharmacy?"

A small hesitation and he realized this had probably been the reason she called in the first place.

"Wendy?"

"Uhm- More tissues and cough syrup? I'm out," because she had fed him half the bottle.

"On it," Leo turned around and left the bathroom, heading to the kitchen where they kept a notepad to list down groceries and scribbling a note for Jon, "I'm gonna be there in twenty, don't die."

He hung up before she could complain.

-----

"You look great," Leo said sarcastically, the minute Wendy opened the door of her apartment. She had a blanket wrapped around her as if it was a cape and her face was waxy white, nose all red and raw.

He expected a response, their usual back and forth, but all Leo got was Wendy staring at him drowsily, swaying on the spot. There was a feverish haze to her eyes and she seemed really unsteady on her feet.

"Oookay," Leo cringed, planting his hands on her shoulder, "let's sit down before you collapse."

"Uhm..." Wendy allowed him to guide her back inside and Leo steered her to the living room couch, where she clearly had already set camp. There was a waste basket next to the couch, filled almost to the top with little tissue balls, an empty box of tissues, one of those tacky inspirational water bottles that showed someone's liquid intake for the day, currently stuck on "halfway there!"

Wendy collapsed on the couch and promptly fell back against the cushions, pressing her eyes closed, "what are you doing here...?"

Her voice wasn't above a whisper.

"Can't let you die, I'll never hear the end of it," Leo shrugged, dumping the contents of his paper bag on her coffee table, "when was the last time you took medicine?"

"How'd you get in?" Wendy frowned, confused, and the man paused, raising his eyebrows.

"You just let me in..." he trailed off and planted his hand to Wen's forehead, hissing at the heat, "isn't that just great. Give me your blanket."

"Uhm?" Wendy shivered violently, "no."

"Yes," Leo sighed, "c'mon, you're boiling up," he manhandled the blanket away from her and Wendy let out a pitiful whine, sounding and looking dangerously close to tears.

"I'm cold..." She groaned, frustrated and trying to grab her blanket back, "Leoo..."

"Sorry," he threw the blanket on the armchair, "when did you last take medicine, Wen?"

"I don't know," she sniffled, rubbing at her eyes angrily, "my head is killing me."

"Because you have a raging fever," Leo crouched in front of her, grabbing the brand new thermomether he had purchased and removing it from the plastic case, "under your tongue, c'mon."

Wendy opened her mouth to complain, only to immediately be hit by a terrible, painful coughing fit and Leo jumped to hold her by the shoulders as she folded in half with the coughing.

He could hear her lungs rattling and Leo cringed in sympathy and guilt, sitting next to her and rubbing her back in firm circles. Wendy let out a whimper and reached for the waste basket, as her coughs turned into gags, tears streaming down her face. She gagged fruitlessly over the basket, before finally stopping, panting as if she had ran a marathon. Leo could feel her heart hammering just by touching her.

Deciding he really didn't care if she had taken medicine already or not, Leo reached for the antibiotics that Jonah had fed him when sick. It was in syrup, which he had appreciated immensely because his throat hurt too much to swallow, and Wendy clearly shared this opinion, because she obediently took the dosage off the measuring cup.

"Alright, now-" Leo pushed her to the side, until she was lying against the pillows, and folded her legs as if Wendy was a doll, "lie down and get some rest."

Wendy let out a sigh and curled up, shivering, "Leo, I'm freezing."

"I'm sorry," he pouted, "but you're really, really warm, I don't think you should have a blanket..."

She didn't answer him, only let out a little teary whine and hugged herself, continuing to shiver. It broke his heart, so Leo started rubbing her arm up and down as if to generate warmth.

He assumed the worst was over, as nearly one hour passed without Wendy so much as stirring, so Leo got up to fix up her place. He picked up the tissues that had missed the waste basket, as well as her water bottle and went to dispose of the trash and make her some tea.

Leo was lying against the fridge, waiting for the kettle to whistle, when his phone started to buzz. He glanced at the picture of Jonah, him watching the sunset in Italy, and picked it up, "hey..."

"Hi, I'm going over," Jon sounded worried, "switch places with me."

"No, you're not," Leo sighed, rolling his eyes, "Angie is here, you're gonna stay with your sister and preferably not infect her with this bug. I can handle Wendy..."

There was a second of silence as Jonah clearly tried to argue, but found no fault in his logic. Instead he let out a groan, "how is she?"

"She's got a really high fever, but I fed her some medicine and now she's asleep," Leo shrugged, before he remembered his boyfriend couldn't see him, "it's just strep, she'll live, babe."

"Uhm," Jon didn't sound convinced, "that's a bummer, we were supposed to have lunch with her tomorrow. Angie and I."

Leo felt a flash of jealousy that he wasn't included in those plans, but he quickly pushed it away. It was good that they weren't tied by the hip, he reminded himself.

"Yeah, you'll have to reschedule, there's no way she's going anywhere tomorrow," Leo removed the kettle from the stove, "do you know what her favorite tea is?"

"Lemon and ginger," Jonah answered and Leo could vaguely hear Angelina's voice in the background, cooing over JD.

"How's Angie?"

"She's fine, planning to steal our cat," Jon teased and Leo heard Angie let out an offended gasp at his words, causing him to smile fondly at the interaction.

His smile promptly slipped away as he heard Wendy cough and choke in the living room.

"Gotta go, bye. Love you," Leo said quickly, not waiting for an answer and rushing out of the kitchen. He was a second too late, because just as he was about to circle the couch he heard Wendy's cough turn into gags and then pink liquid covered the front of her hoodie.

She groaned, hiccupping and sobbing, "I'm sorry, I- I don't feel good, I'msorry-"

"Hey," Leo frowned, crouching in front of her and pushing Wendy's short hair away from her mouth. She was still really warm, like the medicine had done nothing at all, "hey, Wen, it's fine. Nothing laundry can't fix, it's okay..."

"Itsssgross," she groaned, her pale face all red, scrunched up as she cried. Big fat tears running down her cheeks, "I'm sorry-"

"It's fine," Leo rolled his eyes, tucking her hair behind the ear, "look at me," he forced their eyes to meet, "you're alright."

She sniffled, "I feel disgusting."

"Shut up," Leo scoffed, grabbing a tissue and wiping her lips and her chin. Wendy didn't say or do anything, looking every bit a kid as he fussed over her, "arms up."

It was more than a little unnerving to not have her sass him. Leo fully expected at least one comment about him removing her hoodie and leaving her just in her bra, but instead Wendy only shivered violently, curling up and coughing again.

"I'm gonna get you a new hoodie," he grabbed the ditched blanket from the armchair and wrapped it around her shoulders, "be right back."

Once she was changed into a new outfit, Wendy curled back up on the couch, sniffling and continuing to cough every five minutes or so. Leo was tired, but he couldn't imagine just how exhausted she was.

"I made you tea, do you wanna try it? Might help your throat," he walked back to the cough with the mug and Wendy shook her head.

"Gonna come back up," she rasped, breaking into a new coughing fit and whimpering, touching her throat, "I want Vin..."

Leo's heart all but broke in a million little pieces. He couldn't help but put himself in her shoes, "how about we facetime him, what do you think?" he suggested despite his better judgment and the fact it was nearly midnight on a school night.

Wendy immediately perked up, before she frowned and shook her head, "gonna bother him," she curled up more, "then he'll break up with me."

He frowned at that, "...What? No, he won't, what the fuck?" Leo rolled his eyes, pushing Wendy's feet on the couch so he could sit next to her and then grabbing his phone, "you're not a bother, you're his girlfriend."

Wendy let out a little scoff at that, sniffling once more and Leo glared at his phone, suddenly feeling a lot more protective than he would've liked.

The phone rang and rang and then suddenly Vince's face appeared. Tired and alarmed, with a glittery star glued to one side of his face and red marks that indicated he had fallen asleep on top of a notebook.

"Leo? Kid, is really late, is everything okay?"

"No," Leo shook his head, "Wen's sick, can you just chat-"

Vince's frown deepened, as he interrupted, "sick? How sick? I can go over-"

"No!" Wendy exclaimed at that, before whimpering when that caused her throat to hurt and starting to cough all over again. Leo rolled his eyes, thumping her back.

"She's got my strep bug," he explained, "you don't have to come over, just talk with her a little, will ya?"

"Yeah, of course," Vince eagerly nodded, rubbing a hand over his face in order to look more awake. Leo passed Wendy the phone and then heard Vin's voice twice as soft as he said, "hey honey, not feeling well?"

"I'm fine," Wendy lied, causing Vince to laugh given her tone wasn't above a raspy whisper, and Leo to snort. He patted Wendy's calf, getting up from the couch.

"I'm gonna get you some more medicine," he whispered, messing Wendy's sweaty bangs and moving away when she tried to slap his hand.

He put away another dosage of the syrup, before heading to Wendy's bedroom and fixing up her pillows, pulling on the blankets as well. Once he returned to the living room, Wen was half asleep lying on her side, giggling as Vince explained why he was covered in glitter.

Leo saw as the man panned the camera, revealing his baby sister passed out on his bad, surrounded by crayons and glitter glue, "I didn't have the heart to wake her up. She was helping me grade the kid's papers."

"Cute," Wendy sniffled, "get a picture for me."

"Of course," Vince yawned, "here's what I'm gonna do. I'm gonna check with Daniels if he can get my seniors last period tomorrow and I'll go over to be with you, alright?"

"You don't have to do that," Wendy mumbled, rubbing at her forehead, "I'm an adult and Leo is here and-"

"She'd love it," Leo interrupted, "sounds like a great idea."

Because he knew she was lying through her teeth. Wendy's shoulders dropped with visible relief as Vince shrugged in agreement.

"It's not a big deal, honey, Daniels already keeps my seniors half my class anyway, he might as well keep them for the remaining forty minutes too."

"Who's Daniels?" Wendy yawned, smiling and Vince let out a loud huff.

"Some asshole," then his voice softened up, "get some sleep, I'll see you tomorrow, okay? I love you."

"I love you too..." Wendy's eyes were already closed and it came out more like a wheeze. Leo took the phone from her, wordlessly waving to Vince and hanging up.

"Hey," he touched Wendy's arm, "let's move you to bed, c'mon."

"Uhmm?"

"C'mon," Leo pulled her up on her feet and Wendy slumped against him, pressing her feverish forehead to his chest. Once they entered the bedroom, he handed her the medicine, "big gulp."

"It's gonna make me sick," Wendy groaned, barely seeming to be conscious.

"It won't," Leo pushed it in her hand, "and the waste basket is right here and I'll be in the couch, okay? It's gonna be fine."

"You're staying?" Wendy asked, before gulping the medicine down and shuddering at the taste. She curled up under the thin blanket Leo had left on the bed and hugged her pillow.

"Duh," Leo smoothed her hair, "of course."

"Uhm," Wendy hummed, smiling and didn't say anything else until he walked to the door and hit the lights, keeping the hallway light on, "hey Leo?"

"Yeah?"

"You're an ass," she whispered and even in the half dark he could clearly see the smile on her face. Leo smiled back.

"Yeah, well, game recognizes game, Wen. Get some rest," he grinned, leaving her door open and walking to the living room.

[plothooksinc]

This is delayed, but I wanted to give others a chance to bite first; now seems good enough a time as any, though. /hops in your inbox like a goblin So NRFTW prompts. Give me a Casey and Leo scene, because hoo boy I feel like they have a lot to talk about. Setting-wise, I'd lean after NRFTW ends (because Casey has to be wondering where he goes from here), but if you have ideas for earlier that works too, I will eat any delicious food you give me. /chinhands

Not after NRFTW but one of the holes I was contemplating trying to fill because gosh Casey and Leo needed to have a conversation in here somewhere--

The moment Casey slid the door shut, all conversation from outside was muted to an indistinct mumble.  He leaned his head against the cool metal, eyes squeezed shut and misery in his chest.  The look on Raph’s face had spoken volumes, and Casey hated—hated­—treating him like a potential threat.  But he’d been burnt too many times before.  They all had.

Well.

Just him now. 

As if that helped.  He snorted and turned to face the room, wiping a hand across his face.  The lights were still off inside, rendering the bed and its occupant an undefined shape in the gloom.  Casey slid down to sit on the ground, head tilted back, and prepared to settle in for the night.

The sleepy voice took him entirely by surprise. 

“Csssey?   ‘zat you?”

Shit.  Had he just woken?  Or did he wake with the yelling earlier?  Or the literal assassination attempt--?  But Casey would swear Leo was still out for that one, because he was pretty sure nobody in their right mind would pretend to sleep through their brother trying to choke them to death.  But now that he actually heard Leo, there was no roughness to his voice; no damage, nothing but the slur of painkillers and recent sleep and some mild confusion, maybe—

He breathed out, suddenly relieved.  Raph hadn’t hurt him.  For Raph’s sake, as well as Leo’s, that was… good.

“…huh.”  Leo sounded doubtful, and shifted a little on the bed before he stilled with a faint hiss.  “N’mind.  Guess my sleep demons are carryin’ hockey sticks now.”

“—U-um!”  Casey shot to his feet.  “No, sorry.  Sorry, it’s me.  I just—wasn’t expecting you to be awake.”

“Oh good, ’m not going mad.  Hoorayyy.”  He heard the sound of a hand patting at the bed.  “s’a place to sit up here, you know.  More comfy.”

Casey obligingly shuffled across the room, finding the stool in the dim lighting cast by the monitors, and sat hunched by the gurney. “How are you feeling?”

Leo hummed thoughtfully, and said nothing for so long Casey wondered if he’d just dozed off again.  But eventually… “Still syrupy.  Prob’ly better that way.”  He took a deep breath and let it out, and Casey counted the seconds that he held it; four.  Nothing had changed.  (Or—well, how did one measure change when this Leonardo was younger than his Leonardo?)  

He was still stuck on the weirdness of time travel when Leo spoke again, sighing out the words.  “Raph okay?”

Casey tensed.  “…why wouldn’t he be?”

“Yelling,” Leo muttered, which didn’t help his stress levels.  Casey hunched closer to the bed, wondering how to tackle this.

“You heard that, huh?”

“Mhm.  Soundproofed medbay.”  He waved his hand aimlessly.  “Still doesn’t cut out that volume.”

The yelling had been a while ago.  If Leo had heard the specifics, Casey doubted he’d still be lying here so complacently, and he was silent, thinking through an answer.  Technically, Leo needed to be told that Raph was compromised.  But…

…now?  In the middle of the night while they were still trying to work out how to address things?  He knew very well how Leo would react if Casey told him the truth—or at least he thought he did. 

“I think he’s fine,” he said with just a sliver of confusion.  Because when everything was said and done, Sensei had also taught him how to lie, and he’d apologise for it later.  “Not unless, uh… TV rights?... are really upsetting?  They were fighting over the remote thingy.”

It was the right tack to take, and Casey relaxed as Leo gave a small huff of amusement.  “Sounds about right.  Who won?”

“…Mikey.”

“Mhm.”  Leo’s eyes drifted closed, but Casey could just make out a hint of a smile.  “Little brothers’re terrifying.  Gotta remember that.”

“I’ll do my best.”

And then Leo was out again—at least as far as Casey could tell—relaxing into the blankets and his hand dropping back down, and he figured he’d done the right thing.  No point in getting Leo stressed now when he was trying to heal, and he didn’t want to possibly damn Raph like that, not now.  Raph might be fine—he hadn’t really touched Leo.  And they were trying to find a solution, a conversation that Casey…

…wasn’t a part of.

Because they weren’t his turtles.  He didn’t have a right to tell them what to do, or what protocol in the future would have been.  Everything was different here, anyway; there was no actual invasion, this was just a—a loose end, a last spiteful trap, they could work it out, they could—

If Raph turned, would they have to kill him?  Would they be able to?  Would Casey have to be the one to take that weight?  Because he was the only one who truly knew how horrible things could become? 

(Would he even want to force one of them to kill their own brother?) 

And the guilt of even considering this, given they managed to get Raph back in the first place--

They got him back.  They broke the influence, it’ll be fine, it’ll be fine, it’ll be—

A finger poked into the back of his hand and Casey flinched away instinctively, hand yanked to his chest before he registered Leo’s heavy sigh in the dark.  “Can’t sleep if you’re thinking that loud.”

Oh.  He lowered his hand sheepishly, twisting it into the weave of his cloak instead.  “Sorry…?”

“Mnn.  Mutter.”

“…did you just say mutter?”

“S’not as if Donnie has a patient.”

Casey’s brow furrowed.  That made no sense, and he gestured to—well, all of Leo.  “He kinda does, actually.  What does that have to do with—���

Surprisingly, Leo laughed; a small, surprised sound that tapered off quickly with a wince, but he was still grinning in the gloom, eyes open a sliver.  “Man.  I guess that’s wasted on someone like you, huh?  No patents in the future.”

“But you said—“

“I know.  I actually do know that one.  I was…hmm.  Was future me better with words?”

Oh.  Oh.  Casey smiled back, suddenly on more familiar ground.  “Mostly?   You did a lot of, uh, rousing speeches?  I think you had to be.  But you’d mess up with Master Donatello sometimes.”

“Course I did,” Leo said comfortably.

 Casey narrowed his eyes. “He said you did it on purpose.”

“In the future, prolly.”  He was slurring again, and Casey neatened his blankets both for something to do and to kind of hint that maybe he ought to go back to sleep.  “Now, I’m not so good with, hmm, book words?  But I’m learning.”

“You did it on purpose just now, didn’t you?” Casey said mildly. 

“Didn’t say I didn’t do it now.  Just… sometimes I know, sometimes I don’t.  It’s a fun way to get under Donnie’s skin.”

Donnie gets too far inside his own head, Sensei had said once over a mug that said Pretend It’s Coffee on the side.  But he can’t help himself.  You gotta know how to get his attention.  Wanna know what really irritates him? 

They weren’t so different, maybe.  This Leo was younger and—well, more of a dumbass.  More of a kid, and that was allowed.  Still had the same tactics.  The same humour.

Still made the same sacrifices.

It was a mix of conflicting emotion that sliced through him in a way he didn’t know how to process—grief for his family left behind, guilt for the role he played on both sides of—of both portals—relief that, here and now, the Hamato family had survived, were still here—and yet they weren’t, not in the way that Casey remembered.  They would grow up to have entirely different lives now, and that was a wonderful thing. 

They wouldn’t grow up to be his. 

He recognised them all the same.  There was joy in that.  And grief of an entirely different kind.  (And terror, because Raph--)

“Thinking too loud again,” Leo whispered, and Casey shuddered, slumping down on the stool until he could rest his head on the blankets, one arm over his head and worrying at his hair for a brief, vicious moment before he felt thick fingers latch onto his wrist and tug that hand away.  “It’s okay, you know?”

“It’s not,” he whispered back, trying not to cry.  “You don’t even know what the problem is.  How can you say it’s okay?”

“Hmm…” Leo was quiet a moment, and Casey peered at him through his bangs, watching him blink, slow and heavy lidded.  “Lemme… try and rephrase that without sounding all mushy.  Invasion averted, right?”

“Right.”

“You did what you came here to do?”

“…yes?”

“So you’re done.  Good job.  But now you gotta deal with, um…  stuff.”

Casey frowned  “Stuff…?”

“Y’know.”  Leo yawned.  “All the stuff you weren’t thinking about while you saved the world.  Like a hero?”

“I’m not a—“

“You are,” he said, more firmly than he’d said anything else.  “But that’s not the point I’m… hmm.  When’s the last time you slept?”

…change of subject time, apparently.  The question was one he’d heard before; from the same person in a more worn timbre, and Casey half expected Sensei’s prosthetic arm to pick him up by the cloak and admonish him face to face, and when it didn’t happen he ached.  But his response sounded just as sheepish as the last time he’d been asked, maybe a week ago.  (Two decades in the future--)

“I napped a little.  With you here, um… not that long ago?”

“Uh huh.”

“…yesterday.”

“Uh huh.”

“I’ll sleep soon, I promise.  I’m not—“  He broke off, vividly remembering Donnie’s betrayed and exhausted face as Splinter shot him, sliding into oblivion.  “Not Donnie.”

Leo was quiet, long enough that Casey peered at him hopefully to see if he’d fallen asleep.  But instead, he was just regarding Casey with a thoughtful look on his face. 

“Donnie obviously loved you,” he said finally, and Casey blinked.  “He trademarked you and everything.”

And that made him laugh a little, quiet in the darkness.  “He trademarked his gear.”

“Yeah, but you wear it.  That’s…” He waved a hand.  “You know.  Good luck charm.  Keep you safe.  Or are you saying he didn’t?”

He shook his head vigorously.  “Of course not.”

“Mm.  I bet our Donnie will grow fond of you super quick, you’re smart like he is.”  Leo blinked again and this time his eyes stayed shut much longer before he forced them open to stare at Casey.  “I got distracted.  Good stuff too good.”  Casey gave a snort, and Leo grinned.  “The point is—you’re carrying a lot of memories and a lotta… exhaustion.  And now you have to put it down and sort through it, and… that’s hard.  And… it’s really hard to look at us and know we’re not—not yours, right?”

Casey had no idea what to say to that—his silence probably spoke for itself, and he didn’t want to fall apart here.  The med bay was not the place.  Leo hummed as if he’d received an answer, and his hand shifted to rest briefly on Casey’s shoulder before he let it fall on the bed. 

“I guess I’m saying it’s… okay to be a mess.  Pizza supreme, I would be.  Probably am.  Hmm… uh, anyway.”  He continued on, blissfully ignorant of Casey’s alarmed look.  “You don’t have to have it together, Casey.  Both me and future me asked way too much.  I’m sorry.”

“I’m not,” Casey said sharply, but his voice cracked.  “Not about that.  You did what had to be done both times.”

“At your expense.”

“And yours!”

“Shh, shh, okay--” 

Being shushed like a child grated, but his voice had started to climb, and last thing he needed was anyone outside coming in to check on them, so Casey quieted, glaring furiously down at the blankets.  He wiped a hand across his eyes, and when he spoke again his voice was thankfully controlled, if tight. 

“I made my own choice about your portal.  You don’t get to apologise for something he did.  You’re—“

He broke off, shocked at himself.

“Not the same person?” Leo suggested gently.

And Casey burst into tears.

----------

Leo let him cry it out, and it was somehow less embarrassing than it had been with Donnie—here in the dark with a witness that wasn’t panicking about it, but just let him be.  Or maybe Leo was too drugged to panic and had just fallen asleep again somewhere during Casey’s muffled tears in the crook of his arms.  The idea was both a little hilarious and devastatingly lonely to contemplate, and he looked up once to find Leo still watching him, still taking those long, slow blinks that said he was trying so hard to stay awake.  It made him feel a little guilty.  It made him feel seen.

“Don’t stop on my account,” he said mildly, and Casey hiccupped a laugh, cried some more, and took him up on his implied offer.

By the time he was done, his head ached and his face was hot and tight and his nose was all kinds of annoying, and Leo tapped him on the arm and pointed toward the bedside table; there were tissues on the corner and he pulled the box down to his level, trying to clean himself up at least a little, and so, so thankful that nobody had come in to bother them.

“Feel any better?”

“No,” Casey muttered.  Although he did, kind of—lighter, less pressure crushing down on his lungs.  He still felt flayed down to the nerve.  Like he could cry for another hour if Leo happened to say the wrong thing.  And it was Leo, so—

“Sooo… we’ll do this again sometime.”

That stopped him cold.  “What.”

“’m serious,” Leo murmured, swallowing as he closed his eyes.  “Have you… have you told anyone else what you told me?  Back in that tunnel?”

Which part?  Casey winced to remember what he’d said.  All we’ve got is this guy.  But—

He knew what Leo was referring to.

“No,” he said quietly.  “I thought… there’s no point now, you know?  I don’t think there ever was.  They don’t need to know how they—“

Died.  He stopped, glancing at the door as if it might sprout ears.  Donnie did know, now; in more detail than even Leo knew.  He didn’t want to share that again, not so soon.  (It occurred to him that his Donnie recorded everything.  He wondered if this Donnie did the same.)

“Mmm.  So don’t.  It’s a lot of weight to carry,” Leo said, voice soft.  “s’gotta hurt.  You can get snot on me any time, ‘kay?  I won’t hold it against you.”

Casey gave him a skeptical look, which was far better than bursting into tears all over again at the offer.  “You’re still healing.”

“So’re you,” Leo said simply.  “Besides, what else am I gonna do?  If you grew up with me, you gotta know I like being useful.”

His smile was a wan, thin thing in the dark.  “…yeah.  I do know that.”

“So indulge me.  Have a breakdown or three!”

“Sensei—“

“Ah--!” Leo’s smile lit his whole face up. “I’m still Sensei, awright, go me.”

And Casey couldn’t help it; he snickered into his palm before just letting his head hit the covers wholesale, muttering into the blankets.  He was so tired.  “You’re terrible.”

“I know.”  Leo yawned.  “You’ll get there, ‘kay?  I know we’re not yours, not in the way you want.  But you’re already kind of ours, so.  We’ll work it out.  It duzzennn…have to be today.”

Casey smiled a little, not bothering to open his eyes.  “You need rest.”

“So do you.”  Leo paused.  Casey heard another yawn, wide and jaw cracking, and then:  “Bet I can fall asleep first.”

He wouldn’t think that was a contest, with the amount of meds in Leo’s system.  But the side of the gurney was far more comfortable than other places he’d slept in the past, and Casey shifted his head a little to the side on his folded arms, already halfway there.  Crying himself to exhaustion.  He hadn’t done that since he was a kid.

…Leo had been there for that, too.  Worn but kind, and full of terrible jokes.

Casey missed him.

And Leo lost his bet, because he heard Leo’s last slurred words on Casey’s slide into oblivion, a soft mutter, good-natured:

“Maybe tomorrow, you’ll tell me what the yelling was really about.”

Casey hummed in response, too far gone to feel any more than sheepish.

[thelittleghoul]

Hi there. It's always nice to see more people in the agere tag. I wanted to ask if you would be able to write a story with 2007 tmnt Raph and Mikey. Raph comes back from patrol and is very injured so Mikey tries to patch him up and Raph ends up regressing. Please and thank you

Hi!! So I don’t know how to write for 2007 I haven’t watched the movie BUT!!! I can make it non specific to a certain tmnt show/movie!! Love the idea btw 🩷🩷

Mikey helping an age regressed Raph

Notes: non specific tmnt version, age regression, oneshot, Mikey and Raph only, no x reader, fluff, tiny bit of angst at the start

CW: Injury, medical supplies, slight cussing

Rain was crashing down in New York City, the sun had already fallen and danger was sure to arise in the late hours. Mikey had chosen to stay in the layer for the night since there was no alerts of any serious danger (yet) and the other three brothers were confident in there abilities to take on this nights patrol without him. Mikey was sat reading comic books in the main living area when Donnie’s sensor went off that someone was entering the layer, Mikey sat up thinking he’d see his brothers walking back in soaking wet from the cold rain but to his surprise and dismay, he saw a a limping and cut up Raphael.

“Woah dude what happened to you out there?!” Mikey said rushing to get Raph off his feet on onto the couch. “Ambushed by the foot clan. We were stopping a robbery and they came out of nowhere, guess we were too loud beating up those morons huh?.” Raph said slightly chuckling at his joke but quickly wincing in pain instead. “Yea I bet you guys were bad ass.”

Mikey was Donnie’s second in command for medical in the family although he can be dense, he has a big heart for his brothers which is a important factor for taking care of people even if it’s just physically and Donnie knows that. With wanting to care for his brothers (and having Donnie’s printed manual) he was actually a pretty good nurse in the family. While Raph sunk into the couch for comfort, Mikey brought over the first aid kit pulling up a chair to start his work.

“Leo and Donnie are-“ “There fine. I was tying up one of the robbers outside while Leo and Donnie were in the building, the foot clan came out from one of the alleyways and jumped me.” Mikey took out the rubbing alcohol and cotton balls his thoughts clumped up with worry and melancholy. “Don’t panic dude I can work miracles, call me doctor do it right.” Raph rolled his eyes “How about I call you doctor dumbass?” “Not cool man.”

“Good news you’re not gonna die.” Mikey said in a chirpy voice. A short time passed of cleaning and patching wounds which helped Mikey’s distressing thoughts settle down. He locked up the first aid kit getting ready to put it back into its rightful place untill he heard Raph softly say.

“…tank you”

Mikey looked back at Raph questioning his word choice to see the man in red playing with the ends of his bandana. “Finally I get a little apprecia- OHHHHH.” Mikey quickly stored the first aid kit and grabbed a blanket for Raphs bed. He also snatched one of his fidget toys from his bedroom drawer. He headed to the tiny Raph laying the blanket ontop of him and placing the soft toy into his hands. His eyes lit up as he brushed his fingers on the soothing texture and babbled in glee. Mikey moved the chair closer to him grabbing one of his comic books that was lying on the ground. “Want a bed time story little dude?” “…mhmm.” Raph muffled tucking himself into the covers. “One Spider Man comic coming right up tiny bro!” Mikey started flipping to the first page but before he could start reading Raph stook his hand out to stop him.

“You a good bwother.”

“You too little guy,” he smiled and began to read the first page.

[infiniteorangethethird]

okay so since like at least two people seemed interested, here's a snippet from the very beginning of my paracosm I wrote instead of going to sleep like a normal person (if any part of it sounds weird. it's because I should be sleeping instead of writing)

-

“So, I didn’t catch your name.”

Lucy glanced over her shoulder at her new friend. Well, maybe “friend” was a bit of an overstatement, considering they have only known each other for about fifteen minutes thus far.

She kept staring, unblinking, and her new companion shrugged. “Alright. Fine. You don’t trust me, that’s to be expected, I guess. Though I thought if we are stuck together anyway, we might- nevermind.” She shook her head, and thrust herself into the nearest bush, disappearing from Lucy’s sight.

She was right. Lucy did not trust her. She knew literally nothing about her, and her appearance said little about her character. The only thing Lucy could deduce was that she probably liked purple, her pastel clothes contrasting nicely with her golden-brown skin and dark ponytail. She was a thicker build, her catlike movements clearly implying a history of heavy training or years of workout at the very least.

She also had two black-feathered wings. And a tufted tail. And magic too, probably, if those last fifteen minutes were anything to go by.

All in all, a fair amount of information, but nothing to determine her attitude.

“You could at least wait for me,” Lucy muttered, before jumping into the bush herself. It only took her multiple broken branches, several bleeding cuts, and a vast array of curses to arrive on the other side, where her new companion was watching her antics with amusement.

“I’m Lucy,” she said, trying to hide her embarrassment. “And I didn’t catch your name either.”

“Rowena. And you really could’ve just gone around, it’s not like we’re in a hurry anywhere.”

Oh shut up, you prick. “Where is ‘here’, anyway?” Lucy gestured vaguely at the forest around them, the canopy just light enough to let the sunshine all the way to the ground.

Rowena shrugged, and continued her wandering. “I have no idea. I thought your boyfriend might’ve told you before I encountered the two of you.”

“Well, first of all, Leo is not my boyfriend,” Lucy corrected, annoyed. “And second of all, it’s you who’s supposed to tell me how we managed to end up in a summer forest when just a moment ago we were deep in a cave in the middle of winter, considering you’re the witch, not me.”

Rowena stopped so suddenly Lucy barely avoided crashing into her.

“I’m not a witch.” She spat the last word like it was the worst insult in the world. “A witch is a human who plays around with plants and pretends it’s magic. I’m a willar. I’m not human, and I do actual magic.”

“Sure. Whatever.” Lucy forced herself not to stare at Rowena’s wings. “That still doesn’t answer the question of where the hell we are.”

“Like I said, I don’t know. And unless you’re lying for whatever reason, I think we can safely conclude we’re pretty much lost.”

“What about your boyfriend, then?”

Rowena’s deer-in-the-headlights stare confirmed for Lucy that she was on the right track.

“You know, the guy you claimed to have followed into the cave where you found us?” she continued nonchalantly, ignoring Rowena’s clear discomfort. “What was his name? Miguel?”

“Uh, Michael,” Rowena replied, as if she herself wasn’t sure of it either. “And he’s not my boyfriend.”

Lucy nodded. “Obviously. That’s why you followed him into a dark cave with no idea what was going to happen. Are you perhaps a stalker, then?”

“Look, it’s nothing like that, okay?” Rowena folded her arms defensively. “We have some uh, unfinished business we needed to talk about, but he disappeared a while ago and this was my only chance at catching up to him. We know each other, but we’re not, like, dating or anything.”

Lucy raised an eyebrow. She didn’t know what to find more amusing, Rowena’s clear inability to lie, or the fact that not even she seemed to be convinced by her own words.

“But sticking to the point.” Rowena shook her head lightly. “Even if he did know something, he didn’t tell me. So, we’re pretty much left guessing where your not-boyfriend sent us, and how.”

“Okay, now you’re being annoying on purpose.” Lucy had to hurry if she wanted to keep up with Rowena’s quick strides. “How about this: we refer to both of them by their name, and nobody gets butthurt over weird assumptions. Seems fair?”

“Why does this bother you so much, anyway? What, you’re afraid I’m gonna overhear you talk about Leo in your sleep? ‘Oh Leo, you’re such a handsome guy, I would sell my soul and left kidney just to kiss you once!’ Smooch smooch!” She mimicked kissing the air.

“Oh fuck you,” Lucy growled.

“Fuck me yourself, coward.”

Lucy opened her mouth for a retort but nothing came out. Rowena flashed a nauseatingly sweet smile, then once again disappeared among the leaves of an overgrown bush.

This was going to be a fun adventure.

(next part)

[mushtoons]

short drabble actually~ a mushtoons exclusive

Leo had a headache. He had headaches a lot more recently, after the whole... Kraang scenario.

He sat up in bed. He gave himself a moment to remember where he was.

He wasn’t in New York. He was in Wilamina and Henry’s spare bedroom, surrounded by his sleeping—and safe—brothers. It was still dark out, but it looked to be about 3 AM, so Lord knows Henry was already up.

He winced as the migraine shot pain behind his left eye and slowly stood and crawled out of bed, careful to not disturb Mikey, who was lying across his legs, half-tucked into his shell.

He tiptoed through the house as quiet as possible, not only for the sake of the others, but to keep his headache to a bare minimum.

Sure enough, out the kitchen window he could see Henry, illuminated by his dim lantern, working the flowerbeds and weeding the vegetable garden.

Leo pulled on the crocheted jacket that Wilamina had gifted him (it had belonged to her son Seàn when he was a teen) and exited the house, latching the door behind him.

“Good morrow, Leo!” Henry called, not caring how early it was. “Come on out to help me weed, have ya?”

Leo smiled and nodded faintly, instantly regretting doing so and the migraine sent another flow of pain though his skull.

Henry noticed something was going on with his honourary grandson, but didn’t pry just yet. Instead he pulled off his gloves and placed his hand on Leo’s back, leading him over to a smaller patch of garden.

“Take the ones with bristled tops out by the roots,” Henry said, his voice considerably quieter. “I’ll be done in a minute or two and when yer done we’ll go have breakfast, sound alright?”

Leo squeezed Henry’s hand to respond and sat in the cool, damp earth, pulling weeds and reminding himself that he was safe. His brothers were safe.

After twenty or so minutes of Leo ripping weeds from the ground, Henry helped him stand and let him lean his tired, frail form against him as they entered the house. Leo was sat at the table and Henry switched on the light. Leo winced at the sudden brightness but didn’t complain.

At around 3:30, Wilamina was awake and found herself greeted by a tired grandson and a very... well, half-done breakfast, made by her husband.

“Oh, you,” she scolded as she took over the skillet. “I’ve told ya a hundred times t’ let me handle the food.”

Henry chuckled and kissed her, before returning to the table. He made eye contact with Leo and gave him a warm smile.

“What’s happenin’, bud?”

Leo felt himself breaking down and tried his best to hold himself back. He couldn’t cry in front of them. It was just a headache, just a stupid headache, he was fine...

Henry knew that face and signaled his wife over with a single glance.

Wilamina not two seconds later was cupping Leo’s face in her hands, gently demanding that he didn’t hold himself to a standard she wouldn’t hold him to.

“If me own grandson needs to cry, he best do it now, before it hurts too badly to heal,” she said, and moments later the boy in her hands melted. She and Henry embraced him as he let himself go. This wasn’t about his headache anymore, was it?

“M-m...” he tried. “Meemaw, I’m scared I’m going to lose them.”

“I won’t let you lose them, darlin’,” Wilamina comforted. “Nor will I stand here an’ let ye hide from yerself. You can protect them, yes, but ye don’t need to anymore. That’s what I’m here for, I swear it on me... well, I swear it.”

Leo found himself laughing amongst his sobs and squeezed them both tighter.

All was good, wasn’t it? His brothers were safe, HE was safe... all was fine.

Just fine.

-sorry i dunno where that came from but I HOPE YOU LIKED IT!

THIS IS SO FUCKING ADORABLE AHHHHH

[veritas-dolos]

How to Cope by Leo and Mikey Ch. 8

Something was… off.

Raph had come to wake him up for breakfast, not Mikey, who usually did. He said Mikey sent him. Kinda weird, but it’s happened before. 

Breakfast was unusually tense. When he got there, everyone had their plates full of food. It looked like french toast, which he liked. He saw Mikey eating his breakfast, and noticed a blue bandage on the tip of his finger. That couldn’t have been a relapse, though, it was too obvious of a place. 

The weirdest part of breakfast was how silent it was. All that could be heard was the scrapes of silverware on their plates and the compliments of the food to Mikey. Leo said his thanks, but Mikey only glared at him. 

Fantastic, Mikey must be pissed at him again, for some godforsaken reason. Great job, Leo, all you do is hurt your family! He thought. You should be so proud of yourself! Well, you know what they say, do what you’re good at. 

He didn’t want to be good at that. 

It was fine. Everything was fine. He was good. Leo finished his toast and went to rinse his plate off, and then put it in the dishwasher. “Thanks for breakfast, Mikey,” Leo said as he started to walk toward his room. Mikey only hummed a single note. 

As he made his way back to his room, he realized his depression must be getting really bad again, because he wanted to relapse. He felt the pull in his gut and the ache in his heart, wishing he had never started in the first place. 

Leo closed the door once inside his room. He leaned his shell against the door and slid to the ground, not caring about the sound his shell made against the hard material. He put his head in his hands, not able to believe how bad he was getting. 

He was severely suicidal. If he was being honest, if the other turtles weren’t in the lair right now… no. He wasn’t going to think about that. 

His self harm was out of control. He felt like a hurricane. It was all he could ever think about. He would never stop thinking about it. How could he? His scars were there, and they were going to be there forever. 

And all Leo did was hurt the people he cared about. Donnie. Watching him tear up was permanently burned into the back of his mind. And he’s made Mikey pissed twice in like three days. 

So… Leo was not doing well. But that wasn’t exactly breaking news, now was it?

He was tired of his own melodramatic bullshit. Might as well get it over with and kill himself.

There’s an award-winning thought, He thought to himself. Leo should probably get drafting his note. 

Ignoring his self-harm urges, he stood to go and sit at his desk to start writing the note. His final words to everyone who knew him. 

He was two paces in when he heard a knock at his door. Can a guy never get some alone time?

He was tired of this. Whatever. Leo put on a half-assed grin and unlocked his door, to find Mikey. He was smiling like that of a mentally deranged person, so he knew he was in trouble. 

“Leo! Wow, I didn’t expect to see you here. Why don’t I just let myself in.” Mikey said, pushing past a stunned Leo to sit on his bed, in his spot, thank you very much. 

Leo closed the door and locked it. He slowly turned around, several questions about to be asked. Mikey took the lead.

“So, Leo. It’s been a second! How’ve you been? Have you been doing well?” Mikey said, motioning Leo to sit at the opposite end of the bed. 

Leo felt like a little kid in trouble. He was mostly shocked, but he knew he could play it off if he tried hard enough. “I’m good. I’ve been really good lately, actually,” He lied easily. Lying always came easy to him. He wasn’t proud of it, but he’d be damned if he wasn’t going to use his rad skills. 

Mikey steepled his hands in front of his face and inhaled a deep breath. He slammed both hands down on either side of him and grinned manically at Leo. “We both know, brother dearest, that that is complete and utter bullshit!” 

Leo felt like a deer in headlights. He wasn’t going to show it, though. He had too much to lose. “Mikey, did you take a ride on the crazy train? You’re acting a little weird,” Leo said casually, brushing Mikey off. 

Mikey started to laugh, and Leo thought he saw Mikey’s sanity snap in two. 

“Leo, I saw you in the med bay. Go ahead and try to lie, but just know that I won’t believe a word of it.” Mikey said, crossing his arms and leaning back, suddenly serious. 

Damn. There goes lying his way out of the situation. Whatever, he could still try to salvage some of his dignity, however little was left of it. And he wasn’t above dirty tricks.

“Mhm. Mikey, I don’t know what you’ve been smoking, but I haven’t been in there for a long time. I don’t know what you’re talking about.” 

“Do not try to gaslight me. I saw you make a portal. You can’t ‘gaslight, gatekeep, girlboss’ out of this.”

Leo rolled his eyes, not quite remembering why he was trying so hard to fight him. “Can I ‘mansplain, manipulate, malewife’ out of it, then?”

Mikey looked at him, flabbergasted. “NO!” he yelled. Leo was not getting it. Mikey stood up on Leo’s bed, towering over his older brother. He pointed his finger down at him. “Just– just stop it. I saw the bloody paper towels. I know you relapsed. And I know you lied to me. We were supposed to be in this together. Why won’t you let me help you?” Mikey yelled, chest heaving. 

It was silent in the room. 

“Someone’s upset,” Leo said, unphased.

Mikey’s jaw dropped, and he turned his head to the side with a bitter smile. “This isn’t a game, Leo.” Mikey chuckled. 

“Never said it was.”

“No, but you sure act like it.” Mikey said, sitting back down. “You’re– you’re so addicted to this. You don’t even know what it’s doing to you.”

Oh, that was rich. “I’m pretty sure I do,” Leo rolled his eyes. Mikey was one to talk.

Mikey made a motion with his hands. “There you go again. Just– ignoring what I have to say. You don’t even seem to think I care about you. That we care about you,” Mikey gave a frustrated sigh. “Your family needs you, Leo. It’s like you don’t even care.” Mikey said, furious at him. 

Leo was silent for a moment, his carefully built walls crumbling. He thought about how he wanted to respond, the situation more fragile than glass. “I know that you guys… care about me,” he said as if reading from a script, “And I know that you need me.” Leo said, swallowing.

Mikey waited for him to continue.

“But you can’t help someone who’s past saving.”

It was so quiet, you could've heard a razor blade drop.    

“Leo… you can’t possibly think–” Mikey started, heart breaking. 

“It’s nothing. Like I said, I’m fine,” Leo said, grabbing his navy blue blanket and wrapping it around his shoulders. He pulled it so it was tight around his body, so it felt like someone was hugging him. He knew he didn’t deserve a hug. “Can I have a second? To myself?” Leo said, voice thick with emotion. He pulled his legs against his plastron and wrapped his arms around them. He set his forehead on his knees. 

“Leo, I can’t.” Mikey said, knowing he absolutely shouldn’t leave his brother alone. 

“Please.” Leo said, desperate. He didn’t want Mikey to see him like this. Not again.

Mikey grimaced, and against his better judgment, he stood to leave. He walked toward the door and took one last look at his brother, who sat tucked into a ball, trembling with emotion. He stepped out and closed the door behind him. 

Leo looked up, a few stray tears falling from his face. He swiped a finger under each eye and wiped the tears away. 

Leo crawled out of bed and made his way to his desk, picking out an old notebook at random. He opened to the first blank page and grabbed a pen. He thought about what to say, the last thoughts he would ever convey to the world. After a moment, he decided how he would start. 

To whoever finds this, I’m sorry.

Ch. 1 Ch. 7 Ch. 9

[katatonicimpression]

Stars and Stripes

Inspired by this post by the lovely and talented @thatmexisaurusrex

“...the three dots are his belt. I know that part.”

“Yeah, and then there’s…” Sam waved his hand around, gesturing at the night sky above them. “The rest of him.”

“I don’t see it. How is that a man?”

“I dunno, Buck, it just is.”

“Right,” Bucky turned his head, stealing a glance at the man lying next to him. He took a second to appreciate Sam’s profile in the moonlight and turned back. “Those ones look like a rat. Is there a rat constellation?”

Sam laughed. “No, there isn’t and no they don’t.”

“What? Can’t you see it?” Bucky grabbed Sam’s wrist, guiding his hand in the shape of the stars. “That’s the tail, there’s its ear.”

“That makes no sense.” Sam didn’t pull away from Bucky’s grip. “If anything, it looks like an oriole.”

“Of course you’d say that. You think everything’s about birds.”

Sam laughed. The sound carried throughout the quiet night.

They were lying on a blanket in Delacroix, outside Sam’s family’s home. It was warm, despite how late it was. The sky was clear and unpolluted, full of stars and Sam had wanted to watch them for a bit. Unwind from the stress of everything and just watch the stars. Bucky had indulged him, obviously. He’d long since forgotten how to say no to Sam.

“... can’t remember what it’s called but there’s definitely an eagle one.” Sam explained. “And I always thought that those -” he pointed up again “- looked like a swift or a swallow or something.”

“You’ve really thought about this a lot, haven’t you?”

“Not really,” Sam said, defensively. He was clearly lying. “Just like stars, that’s all.”

“No shame in that,” Bucky replied, amused. “People these days seem really into this stuff.”

“Yeah, I guess. I don’t know, was that a 60s thing? People getting really into astrology? You’d have missed it...” Sam drifted off, distracted, half caught up in just gazing at the sky. 

Bucky was happy to sit there in silence for a while. But then Sam suddenly snapped his head towards him.

“Wait, what are you?”

“Excuse me?”

“What’s your sign?”

“Nothing you’re saying makes any sense.”

Sam giggled, actually giggled, like he couldn’t help it. 

“Ok, fine. When’s your birthday?”

“I can do that one,” Bucky replied. “March 10th.”

“Ok, so you’re a Pisces.” Sam said, seriously. “Makes sense.”

“Does it?”

“Yeah, you’ve got all the personality of a wet fish.”

Bucky laughed, sudden and a little too loud. The things Sam came up with.

“The hell?”

Sam was laughing too. “I don’t know, man.”

“Wouldn’t a wet fish be better than a dry fish anyway?”

“Oh whatever,” Sam dismissed him with a bright smile, still catching his breath. He shuffled around on the blanket, trying to get comfortable.

They’d moved around a bit with all the laughter. Bucky took the opportunity to lay his arm out over Sam’s side of the blanket. Maybe it was a bit bold of him, but it worked. Sam scooted upwards, resting his head on Bucky’s arm.

“So, what are you?” Bucky asked, after a moment or two.

“Huh?” Sam sounded like he’d been thinking about other things. “Oh, I’m a Leo.”

“Like a lion?”

“Yeah,” Sam replied. He lifted his hand and mimed a half-assed clawing gesture. “Rawr.”

Bucky snorted. He turned his head towards Sam, and was a little taken aback to find Sam already looking at him. He was struck with how close their faces were.

Sam was still smiling softly, beautifully, but there was something in his eyes - some doubt, or nervousness. Funny, really, how a man who would throw himself into anything, who was reckless and unafraid at times when he really should be, would be so nervous and uncertain here. But maybe Bucky was stupid and impulsive enough for the both of them right now.

He leaned in, closing the scant few inches between them, and kissed Sam.

[lovetorn]

secret santa — chains!au [dream]

Dream x Fem!Reader Chains!AU — original fic here

Chains!AU masterlist

Summary: Secret Santa with the OT4. 

Warnings: as always, a lot of swearing, & some steamy sections but nothing too hot. 

Word Count: 3.6k+

A/N: AHHH ITS FINALLY HERE!!! MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE!!! AND HAPPY HANUKKAH TO ANYONE WHO CELEBRATES IT!!! I HOPE YOU ENJOY AND LOVE THIS AS MUCH AS I DO!!!

The letter from Technoblade was extremely vague. He had ordered for a meeting as soon as possible and seeing as it was a week until Christmas, his employees dreaded the occasion. 

Y/n, George, Sapnap and Dream dragged their feet towards the entrance of Techno’s mansion. The vast white house took up most of one’s eye line, with the building’s tall white pillars signalling the importance of the man who lived there. Sapnap wore a permanent pout on the journey there and continued to do so until the group stood in the elegant ballroom in the middle bottom floor of the mansion. 

“If we get yelled at, I’m leaving.” George threw Sapnap a bored look, silently telling him to shut up as the last of their associates entered. Techno was nowhere to be seen, as usual, but the anticipation—dread—of knowing the situation, had Dream on edge. He was more snappy than normal and he wore a hard expression that not even Y/n could crack. 

“It’s Christmas, what the fuck could he possibly want?” Dream spat, crossing his arms over his chest. Y/n peered at him and placed her hand on his bicep. The touch made Dream snap his head towards her, his eyes slightly softening at the sight of her. “Sorry.”

Y/n shook her head, “It’s okay to be angry.” Dream dragged the side of his mouth between his teeth in annoyance. The sound of someone clearing their throat caused the room to fall silent. 

“You’re probably wondering why I called you here this close to Christmas.” Techno’s deep voice bounced off the walls. The statement made George, Sapnap and Dream nod exaggeratedly. 

“I suppose I’ll get on with it then; I’ve decided to host a Secret Santa for Techno Industries this year!” At the sound of nothing life-threatening, Dream’s eyes widened. His head on a swivel, he looked at Y/n and then the boys. His mouth had fallen open and the outline of a smile began forming on his cheeks. The rare sight of Dream grinning in Techno’s presence was satisfying; who would’ve guessed something as trivial as Secret Santa would break his streak of sternness during in these meetings. 

“I have already picked out your partners, so check your phones for the person you’ll be buying for,” It was exceptionally out of character for Techno to be so joyful, but perhaps the holiday season had brought his spirits up. “Have a great evening, everybody! Happy Christmas! And Happy Hanukkah for those who celebrate it!” 

The high-pitched dings of phone notifications prompted everybody to check them. Fishing her phone from her purse, Y/n looked at the screen, Sapnap. A smile broke out across her face as she looked around the group. 

She met George’s gaze, who also wore a grin. Looking at Dream and then Sapnap, she realised they were all beaming. She furrowed her eyebrows quickly when all four of them were eyeing each other, knowing something was up.

“Tell me, Y/n, did you happen to get someone in this group?” Sapnap asked, his smile growing even more when she nodded. “I did too,” Dream said, followed by George, “Yeah same.” 

“Guys! We got each other! Almost looks like it was rigged.” Sapnap‘s eyebrows raised whilst a smirk etched its way on his face. 

George eyeballed him, “Sapnap, how did you know this was even happening? Anyway, that defeats the entire purpose of secret Santa in the first place. How did you even manage to do this?” Sapnap scrunched his face up, “So many questions and no answers! A magician never reveals his secrets. Plus, nobody actually cares, Georgie; get a life.” 

A look of confusion and irritation crossed George’s face as he threw his hands up. Dream stifled a laugh with his fist and Y/n smiled softly, not wanting to annoy George further. 

“Anywho… who got me?”

y/n, i need your help.  idk what to buy dream.

Y/n rolled her eyes as she received the messages from Sapnap. She set down the bowl she held in the kitchen of the team’s penthouse apartment in San Diego and picked up her phone to respond. 

your problem. 

Reading her text, Sapnap groaned out loud and falsely cried; he knew if he was loud enough, somebody would come to his aid. He sat on his bed in his room, the clock ticking mockingly in the background. He spun around to scowl at it before he was startled by Dream—wrong person!

“What’s wrong now, Snapmap?” Dream asked. The younger boy stilled and turned back to see the older boy standing in the doorway. “N-Nothing!”

Dream furrowed his eyebrows, “Has this got to do with the present thing?” Sapnap nodded stiffly. The breeze from the open window drifted through the room and Sapnap begged for something outside to distract Dream. 

“Well, I can probably help you, who have you got?” Dream walked to the bed where Sapnap sat. “George?” His answer sounded more like a question as Dream’s face scrunched in confusion. Sapnap’s paranoid essence told Dream not to push any further, but he found the situation at hand funnier than it should've been. 

“I’ve got George.” Sapnap reddened and shot up from his spot. “I gotta go.” 

Dream watched his friend rush out of the room, a lopsided smile made its way onto his face. He glanced out of the window, the birds flying past distracting him for a moment before he snorted a laugh and made his way downstairs. 

—

“I fucked it, he knows I don’t have George, because he does!” Sapnap rambled to Y/n quietly in the kitchen. Y/n tried her best not to giggle at his panic and placed her hand on his shoulder. “Don’t worry about it, Sapnap. Clay’s not smart enough to figure it out himself.” 

“Hey!” Sapnap’s eyes widened at the sound of Dream’s voice and threw his hand up at Y/n before he exited. 

“What’s this about me not being smart?” Dream sounded hurt, but the grin on his face told otherwise. “I have no idea what you’re talking about.” 

“Really?” “Mhmm.”

Dream folded his lips between his teeth as he approached Y/n from his place in the doorway. “Something tells me, you’re lying.” 

Y/n shook her head as Dream’s hands ran over her hips. She bit down on her bottom lip as his face inched closer to hers. “You wouldn’t lie to me, Y/n? Would you?” The girl shook her head, tilting her head to meet his gaze. Dream’s tongue darted out to wet his lips as his eyes shifted from her eyes to her lips. 

“I need you to help me decide what to get George.” Y/n stepped back from Dream’s grip and groaned. “Seriously?” 

Dream lent over, his hands on his knees as he laughed. Y/n joined in with his cackles, swiftly moving around the kitchen to tend to the beeping oven. The tantalising aroma of fresh cookies filled the small space and Dream’s eyes lit up. “Cookies?” 

His jaw fell open at the sight of the sweets before he hurried towards the hot tray that sat on the counter. The chocolatey biscuits sat untouched, and Dream hovered over them, the steam heating his face. 

“They’re hot!” Y/n’s statement was ignored by him as he reached out to pluck a cookie off of the tray. Dream quickly retracted his hand as his fingertips brushed the hot metal. “Fuck!” 

He cradled his hand in his other as he turned towards Y/n, pouting. “You know for a man in your line of work, I'd expect you to be less of a pussy.”

Dream’s frown deepened as he held his fingers out to her, “Help me!” Y/n threw her head backwards in exasperation, fighting back a smile. “Fine.” 

Y/n had bought and finished Sapnap’s Secret Santa present. She held it out at arm’s length to admire her wrapping and moved to place it in her closet to hide it. She was just about to shove it behind her shoe rack when a voice made her jump.

“Hey,” Dream popped his head into Y/n’s room. She smiled at him and closed the closet doors without properly hiding Sapnap’s present. “Hi.” 

“I’ve got something for you,” He said, rounding his arm from behind his back. He held a small, red gift bag and the sight made Y/n gasp. 

“I didn’t know we were doing presents, Clay.” Her eyes filled with tears at the sentiment and for not thinking about buying Dream a present. “We weren’t, but I saw this and had to get it for you.” 

Dream guided Y/n to sit on her bed. He handed her the bag and waited for her to open it, jabbing his fingers in her sides in an attempt to hurry the process.

“Stop poking me, I’m opening it.” She laughed, pulling a black box from the bag. Y/n’s eyes widened as she glanced at Dream, who sat with his thumbnail in his mouth. He let out a nervous laugh before Y/n opened the box. 

A small gold pendant with faint engravings of an animal sat within the velvet, the chain hidden under the material. Y/n tilted her head as she brought it closer to her face, tears blurring her vision. “It’s a lion; it symbolises strength, and you are the strongest woman I know, Y/n. You mean the absolute world to me, you know that?” 

Y/n nodded, lolling her head the rest on Dream’s shoulder “—plus, I’m a Leo, so it’s fitting.” Y/n shoved his shoulder. “It’s gorgeous.” 

She carefully brought her hand to remove it from the box, her hands shaking. “Stop shaking,” Dream laughed, taking the necklace from her hands. “I’m sorry! I’m nervous.” 

“You don’t think I am too?” He uttered, unclasping the hook.

“Aw, you’re nervous?” Y/n whispered, a tearful grin on her face. Dream blushed whilst he nodded. “Now, turn around.”

Y/n did as she was told and lifted her hair up. The cold, thin chain rested against her skin, the small pendant falling on her collarbones. Before she released her hair, she felt Dream’s lips against the nape of her neck. Flushing, Y/n twisted her body so she was facing him again. 

She brought her arms up to wrap around his neck in a hug, Dream circling his around her torso. “Thank you,” She whispered. “I love it.” 

Dream sighed, nudging his nose against her ear, “I love you.” Y/n squeezed her eyes shut, her emotions in overdrive as she felt him peck her cheek. Y/n craned her head back so she could look into Dream’s. “I love you.” 

Dream softly smiled before he dipped his head to connect their lips in a kiss. Y/n hummed at the feeling, her fingers moving to toy with the hairs at the bottom of his neck. Dream pulled away quickly, only to press his mouth back against her’s, his hands lifting her shirt up. 

A deep groan came from the back of Dream’s throat as Y/n tugged on his hair, the sound making her smile into his mouth. Suddenly, a soft pinch pricked the skin of her waist as she yelped gently. “Stop laughing at me, baby.” 

This only made Y/n giggle harder as she pulled away from Dream, a pout upon his features. She tipped her head to the side, a mocking frown on her face. Dream huffed and attempted to untangle their limbs whilst fighting a smile. Y/n reached out to grasp his wrists, the action causing Dream to stop moving. 

He cocked an eyebrow at Y/n before she tugged at his wrists and brought his face back to hers. The closeness of their lips and the mingling of breath was euphoric as Y/n closed her eyes to kiss him again—before she was rudely interrupted. 

“Who’d you get for Secret Santa?” 

“Clay!” 

Sapnap, George, Y/n and Dream had taken refuge next to the food table, choosing to stand away from the cluster of other associates in the middle of the room. Sapnap had complained beforehand about interacting with them, and as a group, they had decided it was best for all of them not to mingle. Although, Y/n had left to greet her friend, Niki at the beginning of the night and was soon dragged back to the group by Sapnap. 

They had been waiting on Technoblade to start the exchange of gifts for an hour now. Growing bored, Sapnap elbowed George in the ribs sharply, a giggle escaping his lips at the sound of his friend in pain, “Fuck off, Sapnap.” 

Dream’s arm was thrown over Y/n’s shoulders, her body turned to fit into his side. She looked up at him, expecting to be met with the usual hard expression Dream wore during meetings with Techno, but instead, she admired the faint upturn of the corners of his mouth. 

Finally, Technoblade waltzed into the room, his red velvet suit glittering in the light of the vast chandeliers above. His blossom hair was pulled back into a plait at the back of his head, and his two unusually sharp bottom teeth were visible from where the group stood as they watched him smirk. Sapnap rolled his eyes exaggeratedly, earning a jab in the ribs from George. “Dickhead,” he uttered through closed teeth. 

Technoblade scanned his eyes over the small gathering of employees in front of him. Golden bells and feathery tinsel hung from the walls and the soft rhythm of festive music played at the back of the ballroom. Despite the joyous atmosphere, his face remained stoic as he cleared his throat. 

“Good evening, everyone.” 

—

The exchange of gifts soon began, everybody moving to the back corner of the ballroom to pick out their present. 

Y/n, Sapnap, George and Dream decided to go get their presents last. Once they had all picked out the present with their name on it, George pushed Y/n’s shoulder lightly.

“Ladies first.” Y/n rolled her eyes and reached into the green bag. Her fingers wrapped around a brick-shaped item, the form oddly familiar as she lifted it out. The wrapped walkie talkie sat delicately in her grip. Y/n’s face lit up as she peeled the red paper away. 

“Oh my god…” 

“Dream told me you needed a new one since Schlatt destroyed your last one, so ta-da~!” George wore a silly grin as he watched Y/n admire the shiny, new walkie talkie. “I love it, thank you, Georgie.”

She brought him into a hug, her tight embrace showing George how grateful she actually was—he knew her time with Schlatt was traumatic, so he wanted to assure her that they were always there, more so when she was alone; even if that was in the form of a walkie talkie. 

“It’s my turn!” Sapnap laughed. He snatched the small wrapped box from the floor next to him. His face lit up as his fingers quickly moved to tear away at the wrapping paper. George furrowed his eyebrows at the oddly shaped gift and glanced at Dream who shook his head. They both turned to look at Y/n who gazed at Sapnap, meeting eyes again when they came to the realisation that it was she who bought the present. 

Sapnap pulled out a stack of red and white cards tied together with a green bow. He laughed in disbelief at the sight of the colours of his favourite fast-food restaurant. 

“Chick-Fil-A gift cards?” He beamed, his gaze scanning over his friends before Y/n raised her hand. “Y/n! I love you! Thank you!”

He stepped forward to wrap his arm around her shoulder in a half-hug. Y/n did the same, whispering a quick, ‘no problem’ to him. 

Dream narrowed his eyes at Sapnap, who’s smile only grew bigger. “Calm down, green boy, why do you hate me?”

“Ok, I’m next.” Dream announced, ignoring the question. He moved his growing hair out of his eyes as he brought the wrapped box in front of him. 

“You should’ve gotten him some hair clippers for that mop,” Y/n laughed, shoving Dream while he fake laughed and grimaced. Sapnap barked out a laugh and encouraged Dream to open the present. “Chill out.” 

Sapnap rolled his eyes and watched as Dream ripped the paper off, a smirk playing at his lips. “Oh look! Hair clippers!” 

The group burst into hysterics at the sight of the box that did, in fact, contain hair clippers. “I hate you guys.” 

“Be grateful, Dreamy! I paid good money for those.” Sapnap exclaimed, his laughs making it difficult to understand him. “While you're at it, shave that disgusting beard shit you’ve got going on, it’s gross.” 

“It’s hardly a beard. You’re just jealous because you can’t grow one as good as me,” Dream teased, earning a scoff from Sapnap, “That’s bullshit.” 

Dream gave Sapnap a bemused look and stepped forward to wrap his arm around his neck in a headlock. “You’re such a fuckin’ idiot.” 

Sapnap’s giggles attracted the attention of surrounding members, their laughter joining in with the group of four when they saw what was going on. 

“Well, unlike Sapnap, I actually got you a good present, George.” Dream said, releasing the youngest from the headlock. George peered down at the large red and green gift bag he held. 

“Ok…” He reached into the bag but stopped when his face scrunched up. Dream snorted out a laugh, his wheeze making it hard for everyone to keep a straight face. “Dream, what the fuck is this?” 

Dream’s laughs only intensified when George pulled a singular piece of wet spaghetti. Y/n laughed out loud with a puzzled expression, and Sapnap slapped his knee with tears in his eyes. 

“Oh no! Did I put the wrong present in the bag?” Dream struggled to breathe through his cackles. George genuinely seemed hurt as he pouted, his head dropping towards the floor. 

“NO! No, George, I’m kidding—here,” Dream moved to pull something from his back pocket. George lifted his head and his frown was immediately replaced with a look of shock when Dream dropped a gold compass in his palm. George was unable to form a coherent sentence as he gazed at Dream, his eyes becoming watery. “How?”

“I contacted your dad, actually, and he was more than happy to send it over.” Dream said, happily accepting George's hug when he wrapped his arms around his shoulders. Sapnap glanced at Y/n, confused until George noticed.  

“It was my Grandad’s compass. He took this everywhere he went during the war. I thought it was gone forever when he died.” Sapanp’s eyebrows raised and his jaw fell, “Woah.” 

“Y/n helped me.” Dream admitted, motioning his hand to her as she waved. 

“Y/n.” George moved to hug the girl next, his tears falling onto her shoulder. She exhaled a laugh and brought her hand to the back of his head, “It was no problem, honestly. I know how much it means to you.” 

George pulled back, wiping at his cheeks, suddenly very embarrassed at making a scene. “Sorry guys.” 

“Don’t be sorry, Georgie, it’s a sentimental gift, we understand,” Sapnap said, patting his friend’s back. “But why wasn’t I a part of this?”

Tugging on Dream’s sleeve, Y/n pulled him back inside his bedroom. “I’ve got a present for you.” 

“Uh—we gotta be downstairs in like 5 minutes,” Dream laughed, the tips of his ears reddening as he jutted his thumb over his shoulder. “No! Not that type of present, get your head out of the gutter.” 

Dream continued to giggle, even when Y/n sat him down on his bed. “Close your eyes.” 

Y/n rushed to his wardrobe to reach up and grab the long, flat box that laid on the middle shelf. She placed it in his lap and then resumed to sit next to him. At the feeling of something on his thighs, Dream opened his eyes. He gave her a pointed look and continued to open the box.

His brought his hand to tuck his hair behind his ear as he reached inside the side of the box. His movement froze when he felt the object and turned to face Y/n. She only laughed as he continued to drag it out of the cardboard. Dream gapped at the feeling of smooth ceramic under his fingers. “Baby..” 

“I told you I was going to get you a new one, so I did,” Y/n spoke softly, her voice like honey to him. Dream furrowed his brows and Y/n brought her thumb to smooth out the creases, “Don’t do that, you’ll get wrinkles.” 

That elicited a giggle out of Dream. He placed it on his duvet on the other side of him and turned back towards Y/n. “You didn’t need to do this.” 

Y/n rolled her eyes, slapping him lightly on the bicep, “Shut up, yes I did. I promised.” Dream shook his head, returning his gaze to the mask. 

“I love you, so much. You have no idea.” Y/n squinted one eye and she tilted her head, “I’m pretty sure I have an idea.” 

“Oh yeah?” Dream questioned, placing the mask and the box on the floor before he pushed Y/n backwards on the bed. She nodded, moving her hands to his shoulders as he hovered over her. 

“I know because I love you so much more,” Dream pulled his head back, looking at her in bewilderment. “No chance.” And when he leaned down to press a kiss to her lips, a scream interrupted them.

“Close your fucking door! Gross!” 

“Fuck off, Sapnap!” 

[fleetingpieces]

My One in a Million Chapter 8

Hiiiii! I'm back from the dead and finally got back to writing again <3

Sorry it took ages—and sorry it's not a great chapter— but thank you so much everyone for the patience and support, it means so much!

Thank you @inloveoknutzy @donttouchmycarrots and @knittingdreams for beating, love y'all! <3

Tag list: @whataboutmyfries @justdyingontheinside @heyoitslysso @sunflowerfox87 @hereforwolfstarr @potterlocked24-7 @ttylfedora @domesticatedbeetlenamedjorge @lovemeleo @im-lana

CW: Mentions of food

Ao3

Masterlist

Chapter 8 - The morning after

Remus woke up the next morning with a splitting headache. He blinked a few times to get the tiredness out of his eyes—which seemed to want to stay glued shut—and stared at the ceiling for long moments.

His first thought was that, for a second, he thought he could hear Padfoot’s laugh. Vague images of a dream he’d had came flooding back to him; long corridors, empty beds and his gaming console. The sound must have been a remnant of that.

The second thought was that the ceiling of his room was weird. He couldn’t quite pinpoint where the bugging sensation came from, but something was off and he was way too tired to figure out what it was. Maybe he should just go back to sleep. Groaning, he turned around to do just that, and that’s when he got a good look at the rest of the room.

He sat up with a start, regretting it instantly when nausea hit him like a wave. Closing his eyes, he stayed still until the feeling ebbed away, then opened them again slowly.

This wasn’t his room. There was no sign of any of his stuff; instead, he saw a big mirror, a dark wood chest of drawers, and a trail of scattered things that either belonged to different people or to someone with diverse tastes: a blue hair tie, a black snapback, t-shirts that at a glance he could tell were of different sizes, with stamps that varied from Disney to Strand.

One by one, memories from the night before popped up as the fogginess from sleep left him completely. That’s right, Sirius had offered his home to him after he’d found Remus outside of his flat; he’d come in to take a shower and had sat on the couch as they watched a movie and drank. Things were a bit hazy from that point on.

Had he really pouted and asked Sirius to stay with him like a little kid? Fuck, please let that be a part of the drunk hallucinations. He turned around slowly, glancing to the other side of the bed with his heart beating fast in his throat, but the spot next to him was empty.

Breathing a sigh of relief, Remus threw the blankets to the side and planted his feet on the floor to get some resemblance of stability, but frowned when he stepped on something. Looking down, he noticed a pillow and a blanket lying rumpled on the floor, next to his side of the bed.

A pang of guilt made its way to his chest when he realised Sirius must have slept on the floor while Remus was on the bed, covered from head to toe and warm. Sirius had been so careful with him. Every touch had been gentle, not invasive but rather trying not to overstep, trying to comfort. So, so very careful.

Remus felt slightly ashamed for thinking Sirius would take advantage of him. Not to mention for the way he'd bawled his eyes out in front of the man. He’d made a fool of himself yet again, something that kept happening a lot as of late and to which he wasn’t used to.

“Oh, God.” He remembered how he’d felt his mother’s hand brushing his hair before he fell asleep and he desperately hoped he hadn’t called out for her in his dream. Bringing a hand to his forehead, he could almost feel that phantom touch, tracing fingertips over his hairline.

He rubbed his face in embarrassment. He wasn’t sure if he was ready to face Sirius after all that, but there was no way he could fall asleep again and a quick glance at the clock on the opposite wall told him it was barely eight in the morning. It was still too early to call Leo or go back to the clinic, plus he didn’t know how everything had panned out.

Remus glanced at the bedside table where his phone was lying face down and stretched over to grab it. He flipped it from hand to hand, back and forth, the small thing weighing him down every time it fell on his palm with a soft thud.

He could call.

He should call.

But what if something had gone wrong? What if Cocoa had had a complication during the night? Would they have notified him already if that was the case? Did he want to find out like this, far away from him and helpless to do anything? He didn’t want to show any more weaknesses in front of Sirius, he’d already shown more of his vulnerable side than he’d ever intended to.

Nodding to himself, Remus got up and threw the phone on the bed. He took two steps towards the door. The doctor had told him to go in the afternoon; he could wait a couple of hours before going back to the clinic and then he would know and—

A huff escaped him as Remus hurried back and dialed the number, plopping down on the mattress.

“Thank you for calling Mercy Animal Clinic. This is Jennifer, how can I help you?”

“Yes, hi, my name is Remus? I brought my dog in last night for chocolate poisoning and I—I was just calling to check on him?”

“Of course, Sir. What is the patient's name?”

“Cocoa,” said Remus, gripping his phone a bit tighter. Jennifer hummed and asked for a few more details to confirm his identity, to which Remus replied on autopilot, his mind going blank in a subconscious attempt to protect himself.

“Just a second, please.”

Remus busied himself counting the floorboards while he waited, trying to calm his nerves, but it had the opposite effect as he became very aware of how long Jennifer was taking to find what he wanted to know. He’d started tapping his foot when the receptionist finally came back on the other end of the line.

“Yes, everything was ok during the night and Cocoa will be ready to go home after lunch,” they said cheerfully.

Remus’ breath stopped completely and then he exhaled loudly. He could have sworn he felt his heart unclench, invisible fingers letting go of their painful grip and allowing blood to stream freely again. His shoulders dropped, releasing all the pent up tension that had been building there since he’d stepped into his apartment the night before, and he laid down, covering his eyes with his free arm.

“Sir?” Jennifer said hesitantly.

“Yes. Ok. Ok. Thanks, I’ll be there.” He hung up and let the phone fall at his side.

The silence of the room was an echo of his own head as Remus tried to let the words sink in. He peeked at the ceiling from under his arm. Cocoa was fine. The phrase repeated itself a few times until Remus took a deep breath and swung himself up.

The hall was quiet outside of the room, but he could hear some noises coming from ahead. Remus bunched the sleeves of the jumper he was wearing, not too willing to admit how comfy and warm he was in Sirius’ clothes. Especially not when he was assaulted by memories of Sirius helping him walk through this same corridor the night before and Remus almost gave in to the embarrassment. Sirius probably thought he was pathetic.

Groaning, he steeled himself as he padded the rest of the way, but his step faltered before going into the kitchen, a hand rising to settle on the wall. Something smelled amazing in there. Like melted butter and Saturday mornings back home, with his mom humming as she stood by the stove and the sun streamed in through the open windows. The sound of the sizzling pan was accompanied by a rock song playing in the background, a cool guitar distortion filling the room, followed by a gravelly voice singing a capella.

And there was Sirius in the middle of it all, moving around the kitchen gracefully, head bopping and singing into a ladle. He slid across the floor like Tom Cruise in that old movie as he moved to the fridge and a chuckle bubbled out of Remus’ chest, taking with it most of the heaviness still clinging to him.

Sirius jumped up, accidentally closing the fridge door with a bang, and turned to face Remus fully. It was only then that Remus realized what he was wearing: he had black ripped jeans and a black tee, his hair was pulled back in a loose ponytail; and on top of all that, he had one of those aprons that had a buff man printed on the front, that read “Kiss the chef”.

Remus stared for so long that Sirius followed his gaze and looked down, only to look back up quickly with a blush. “It was James’ idea of a joke.”

James, as Remus was quickly learning, took special pleasure in teasing his friends, although Lily claimed he always failed when it came to her. But Sirius clearly treasured anything that came from his best friend, no matter how silly or awkward.

Clearing his throat, Remus stepped into the kitchen and peered at the stove. “What are you making?”

“Pancakes!” Sirius exclaimed, seemingly glad for the rapid move of the subject. “I thought you could use some hangover breakfast,” he added with a shrug before turning back to the mixing bowl on the counter.

“Oh,” Remus said dumbly, taken by surprise. He scrambled for something to add. “Did you get the recipe from the same place as those cookies?”

Sirius spluttered and threw an offended look over his shoulder. “Mon Dieu, I’m never going to live that down, am I? I’ll have you know, these are my speciality. But I won’t give you anything if you keep that attitude up.”

Laughing quietly, Remus breathed a sigh of relief that Sirius wasn't looking at him with pity or mentioning his sorry state from the night before. So much had happened between them in just one day, he wasn’t sure how he was supposed to act anymore. He shuffled awkwardly to the island and, as he leaned on it, the name of the song Sirius had been dancing to dawned on him.

“I can’t believe you’re actually listening to Black Dog,” Remus said, covering his face, not sure if he wanted to laugh or cry.

“Hey,” Sirius turned to point at him with the batter-covered ladle, “Plant speaks to me on a spiritual level. I’m sending good vibes to Cocoa.”

Remus raised an eyebrow, making an effort to keep the corners of his mouth down. “You do know that the lyrics have nothing to do with dogs, right?”

“Yeah, but it’s the feeling that counts,” he waved his hand dismissively, sending a few vanilla-colored drops flying, “and the song title.” Smiling at that logic, Remus shook his head—as weird as it was, he found it reassuring. Sirius peered at him as he flipped the golden pancakes easily. “I’m glad you look better. How are you feeling?”

Remus tensed up, but it didn’t look like Sirius was making fun of him. Focusing on some point by his feet, he rubbed at his neck. "Yeah, um. Thank you for your help. And sorry about...everything. I guess it was one thing after the other and it was just too much.”

“We’ve been through this, you have nothing to be sorry for,” Sirius smiled tentatively. “Have they contacted you from the vets?”

“Actually, I called just now.” His heart rate picked up as excitement coursed through his body. Saying the words aloud made them even more real, allowed them to settle in and gave way to tiny pinpricks of impatience. “They said everything’s good. I can bring him home after lunch.”

Sirius turned to face him fully and his hand went to grip Remus’ forearm, his smile turning so bright it was almost blinding. “Remus, that’s great.”

Remus smiled too, staring straight at him. “Yeah,” he breathed. After a second too long, he coughed discreetly and moved back. “I just feel like I won’t be able to relax fully until I see him, you know? I wish I could go over now.”

“Yeah, I get that,” Sirius said as he leaned back too, fingers moving to play with the strings of his apron. “Just a few more hours, eh?” Remus hummed noncommittally and, sensing that he needed a bit of a distraction, Sirius turned his attention back to the food. “In the meantime, can you get the plates from over there?” He pointed at a cabinet as he got the pan out of the stove.

Remus did as he was asked and brought them over to the counter, where an array of toppings were waiting. His stomach grumbled as he watched Sirius cutting up some strawberries to place over the pancakes and then drizzling chocolate on top of everything, singing under his breath to the next song on his playlist. It was all oddly domestic. It was nice.

They sat in the living room to eat, though instead of sharing the couch like they had last night, Sirius—now without the ridiculous apron—sat across the coffee table on one of the armrests. Remus took a bite of the fluffy sponge and closed his eyes with a hum. “Ok, you were right. These are awesome.”

Sirius had just taken a mouthful himself, but he beamed before he swallowed and licked some of the chocolate off his finger. “Glad you like them, Re. I don’t think my reputation could have survived another fiasco.”

“Are you sure this wasn’t just a lucky mistake?” Remus joked, if only to ignore the way his stomach jumped at the nickname, prompting Sirius to throw a napkin at him.

For the next two hours or so, the conversation was light and easy while the music kept playing at a dim level. But, as time went on and the plates got piled up on the coffee table, Sirius started getting distracted.

He kept glancing at his phone like he was checking the time or waiting for a call. Remus would have thought that he was overstaying his welcome—Sirius had a life to get back to, after all—if it weren’t for the fact that the man kept the conversation going and going, asking questions and gesturing excitedly when he was telling a story about how he and his friends had once managed to get a flock of pigeons inside a train full of passengers. At this point, Remus was pretty sure that Sirius was not capable of lying.

A lazy breeze drifted in from the open window, bringing in the smell of morning dew and ruffling Sirius’ hair so that a few strands fell in front of his face. As he brushed them back, he raised his eyes and pinned Remus with a look that was slowly becoming very familiar. That look that said he wanted to say something but he was choosing his words carefully.

Remus was pretty sure he knew what that meant. So far, everything he’d blabbed about the night before had been skillfully avoided—mostly by Remus averting his eyes every time Sirius looked at him like that. He wasn’t looking away now though. Wasn’t sure he could, honestly; not with such intensity and thinly-veiled concern directed his way. Sirius opened his mouth, the words starting to form at the back of his throat when Remus’ phone pinged.

He jumped slightly and went to quickly fish it out of his pocket, holding on to the getaway it provided. Talking about his behaviour or the few hints he’d let slip about his past was not something he was ready to tackle. A quiet sigh dropped from Sirius’ lips as he got up to take the plates back to the kitchen, while Remus stared at the notification flashing on his home page. “Oh, Padfoot just uploaded a new video?”

The sound of ceramic banging in the sink startled Remus into looking up. “Um...you ok?”

“Yes! Too much soap,” Sirius’ voice came back, muffled slightly by the running water.

Remus snorted and got comfortable on one end of the couch, resting his back on the side and pulling his knees up. He wiggled his toes as he waited for the page to load, digging them into the plush sofa and then tapping his feet when the video finally started. It began like usual, with the starting screen of a game and Padfoot’s cheerful voice.

“Hello everyone and welcome! You’ve all been nagging at me to play with Prongs more often, so I hope you appreciate how much effort it took to get his ass out of bed.”

“That’s so not the introduction I was expecting,” another voice complained.

“Oh, I’m sorry, did you want to do it?”

“Why, yes, thank you. Hello y’all! By popular demand and because I know you like me more than this silly goose, I am here to play some games and have fun! Mostly at Padfoot’s expense.”

“You’re the only person in the world who could say ‘silly goose’ and not have everyone laughing at them.”

“I know, it’s a skill I honed for years.”

“What the hell,” Remus laughed, shaking his head fondly.

Sirius came back into the room, drying his hands absentmindedly on his pants as he took his seat back. He sat at the very edge of the cushion, leaning slightly forward with his hands clasped between his knees, eyes down.

Remus made a questioning sound, waving the phone in front of him. “Do you mind?”

“No,” Sirius croaked, gesturing with his hand for him to go on as he cleared his throat.

A small line of confusion pulled Remus’ brows together. Something was definitely going through Sirius’ mind. Deciding to give the man some time, Remus focused his attention back on the video and made a note to ask later if something was bothering him.

Padfoot was talking about the game they were going to play and Remus could feel his energy even through the screen. He always got like this when he was trying something new. Remus pictured him bouncing on his chair, waiting impatiently to start playing, tapping the buttons in anticipation. “He’s like a kid on sugar, isn’t he?” he said without thinking.

A cough came from Sirius’ spot. “Well, I… I think it’s...nice? He sounds happy.”

The corners of Remus’ lips tugged up in a small smile at that. “Yeah. That’s good.”

“Huh?”

“He didn’t seem his usual self in the past few streams. I’m just glad he’s ok, is all.”

Out of the corner of his eye, Remus saw how Sirius’ hands gripped his knees tightly, slipping through the holes in his jeans. Remus watched in silence but, just when he was about to ask what was going on, the video changed. A small square appeared on one of the corners, showing a man sitting in a chair, not much to see in the background, his face covered with the black dog that was his signature logo. Remus sat up straighter. It wasn’t often that Padfoot appeared in his videos and he couldn’t help the interest that sparked inside him whenever it happened. He scanned the small image until something caught his eye.

“Huh? ...Wait. That’s—” Remus froze for a second before promptly throwing his phone to the other end of the couch. “Oh my God.” He covered his mouth, feeling the pull of his mouth as a grin lit up his face, his wide eyes not leaving the small device lying innocently face up. “Oh my God, oh my God.”

“What happened?”

Remus turned to see Sirius looking at him with a confused little smile, probably wondering if he was still drunk or just bonkers.

“He...he’s wearing my merch. My merch.” And one of his favourite hoodies from the collection, at that. “How—How does he even know about me? I know he likes to keep in shape but…”

The faintest blush crossed Sirius’ cheeks. He rubbed his hands together, looking down at them and then back up at Remus’ still astounded face. He took a deep breath and exhaled in one go. “You know, I’m...” He trailed off, mouth opening and closing a few times.

Remus tried to bring his thoughts back to the room, to the man in front of him and not the one on the screen. He bent forward to grab the discarded phone, his mind still reeling as he paused the video. “Yeah?” he prompted Sirius to go on when he straightened back up, smile still in place—he wasn’t sure he could wipe it off even if he wanted to.

Sirius’ grey eyes roamed his face, then went to the phone in his hands before they finally settled on his bright expression and he sighed, smiling and shaking his head. “No, nevermind.”

Remus tilted his head, but Sirius simply shrugged. “Are you sure? You can say it, whatever it is.”

“I don’t think it’s the right time,” Sirius admitted, letting his head fall back as he worried his lip.

Curiosity flared up, dazzling and hot, and Remus tried to water it down, unwilling to trespass Sirius’ boundaries. Instead, he looked down and tried to organise his whirring mind, eyes going to the clock on his phone. “Fuck,” he muttered. He really wanted to finish watching and keep talking with Sirius, but it was getting late. “I should probably get going.”

“Oh,” Sirius blinked as he raised his head up. “You can stay if you want to.”

“No, I…” Remus stood up. “I should go get the key from Leo. I will probably see both his mom and mine, which means it won’t be a short visit and I’d like to be at the clinic as soon as possible.”

“Do you want me to come with you?”

Stopping midstep, Remus turned to look at Sirius, eyebrows raised. “Come with me?”

“Yeah, to the clinic? You are not too fond of them.”

It wasn’t a question, but Remus replied anyway, surprised that Sirius had caught on to that at all. “No, I’m not,” he said, dumbfounded. He shook his head. “But it’s ok, you did a lot for me already.”

Sirius rolled his eyes. “Remus, anyone in my place would have done the same.”

No, they wouldn’t.

“It’s fine, really. Leo will probably come with me,” he said. He wasn’t sure how Sirius could think that everyone was that selfless, that any person would have helped an almost stranger without thinking it was too much effort. Remus chose not to say anything about it, knowing fully well that was not the case.

[camliristarfallen]

Friday night, Maelyn and Dristan were off to see their dad, and Raena was on her way to Light’s Hope Chapel for a special class on the Light. It would be a quiet weekend; Sandoralin was also gone, back to Azeroth to visit his mother, and the rest of the staff were gone as well, except for her personal guards, which would be patrolling the grounds of Starfallen Estate on the edge of Shattrath city.

Cam had not felt so alone in such a long time. It seemed like forever since she’d heard from Ryland, he was off doing whatever it is that he does when he’s not out to sea, and Leo had also been quite distant and more reclusive than usual lately. Thaenicus was still completely incommunicado, so she tried to message a few friends, most of which either didn’t respond at all, or responded very shortly.

So she was left alone with her feelings and her thoughts, both of which were very dark and brooding. She poured herself a drink and thought about going out to the hot tub, but a storm was brewing, and she didn’t want to be caught out in it if there was lightning.

Storms on Outland were far different than storms on Azeroth; the skies turned a sickly green, the lightning was often vibrant pinks or purples, and the winds howled with rage. Thankfully, most of her flowers and plants would be spared the worst of it since they were in glass greenhouses. Her trees might not be so lucky, so she would have to walk the grounds tomorrow to see if there was any damage.

Having finished her first drink, she poured another, and decided to make it a double, before heading out to her sun room to watch the storm. She sometimes envied Shamans their ability to command the elements, especially at times like this when she would have liked to conjure a storm for herself. The dark, roiling clouds and forks of wicked lightning seemed to mirror the turmoil she was feeling inside.

She had brought the bottle of bourbon with her, so after she finished the second drink, she just started drinking from the bottle. Who cared if she got roaring drunk, all by her lonesome? She was an adult, she could do whatever she damn well pleased.

Her nerves were still a bit raw from the guild fair in Stormwind earlier. Kon had asked about her beaus, and she hadn’t really known how to answer since she hadn’t talked to either man since the tournament. Habit had her using her usual excuse; that they were busy with things, and she was sure they were fine. She hated lying to her friends and fellow performers, but she didn’t really want anyone to know just how raw and lonely she felt, so she deflected as best as she could.

The bourbon was starting to kick in, and she began to feel that familiar warmth spread throughout her veins, making her skin flushed and pink, as if Ryland were actually there, whispering naughty things in her ear. She pulled off her sweater and tossed it on the floor, then took another long drink from the bottle.

Outside, the storm was raging; the wind was indeed howling, whipping trees and bushes around as it screamed out its fury with lashing rain, licks of lightning, and peels of thunder loud enough to shake the house.

Drunk and undaunted by the storm, Cam stepped out into the night and the fury of nature, almost instantly soaked from the rain. Her top cling to her body, her red curls plastered to her face as her makeup smeared and ran. She watched quietly for a few moments, and then sank to her knees, still clutching the bottle of bourbon, and she screamed along with the wind and thunder, letting all the built up anger, loneliness, and pain flood out of her and into the night.

When her throat became raw from her screams, she simply dissolved into tears; deep, wracking sobs rocking her body. She used to ask the gods why she could never find someone that would stay for her, but she had given up asking long ago. She knew she was destined for a life of only brief happiness with someone else, and then it would be right back to being just her and the kids again.

Yet, each time she felt the familiar tugging on her heart, she hoped with everything inside of her that this would be the last time she also felt the sting of rejection and loneliness when they inevitably left.

But it hasn’t happened yet.

@rosecrownreserve @rylandfalkov @konietzko-sylvoran for mentions.