#like when you pick up a kid from daycare and they’re fine until they see you

[celestial-robots]

Finding Equinox

A Sun & Moon X Reader Story

Chapter Six: Activity Check

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Word Count: 6092

Summary: It's the start of your second week and the Pizzaplex is busy with crowds wanting to see the newly-repaired Glamrocks. While going about your day, you let it slip that Sun and Moon are still active, and the head technician insists on checking things out. Should be fine, right?

Author’s Note: I meant to finish this about two weeks ago, but unfortunately life got in the way. You know how it is. Anyway, I won't waste any more time, you guys have already waited long enough XD Hope you like the chapter!

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The weekend passed without much of note. You finally had that doctor’s appointment Monday morning to talk about your back injury. Sure, that resulted in scheduling another appointment on Wednesday for an X-ray (because apparently that couldn’t be done on the same day), but at least you got a doctor’s note saying you shouldn’t be doing any hard manual labor. Now management would have to be careful about what tasks they’re assigning to you. You made a quick stop at the library after the appointment to scan the note into a PDF, emailed that to management, and then drove out to the Pizzaplex.

There was a line out the front doors when you arrived, so you went in through a staff entrance in the loading dock. Then as soon as you left the staff-only tunnels, you found yourself in a crowd of customers. “Holy shit,” you whispered under your breath. The public areas of the Pizzaplex were absolutely crowded!

Well, that made sense, didn’t it? The Glamrocks were finally back. Sure, only half of them, but people loved the band. No wonder everyone was coming here to see Roxanne and Chica’s return.

You were curious about them, too. But not as curious as you might have been before. You’d already spent the whole week with an animatronic, the novelty of how the robotic band members worked had worn off.

Speaking of the animatronic you’d spent all last week with, time to go to Daycare! Better hurry before they started slamming you with tasks.

It took a few extra minutes because of the crowds, but as soon as you entered the Daycare area everyone abruptly cleared out. It was silent except for the bouncy music playing over the intercoms. You walked right up to the wooden doors and pushed your way inside.

“Heeeeello!” Sun popped up from behind one of the play structure’s tubes. He waved and skipped on over. “Welcome back, friend! It’s been so long!”

You laughed. “Hey, Sun. I missed you.”

“You did? I missed you too!” Sun’s rays wiggle. “I’ve been so busy! Look at everything, it’s all cleaned up!”

“Uh... yeah, I’m surprised.” The play area was brighter, all the colors more vivid. The cart of cleaning supplies was sitting by the wall with bottles knocked over and splashes of dirty water around the wheels. “Uh... you remember I said you didn’t have to clean the whole time, right?”

“I do, but...” Sun tapped his fingers together. “O-once I started going I couldn’t stop! Couldn’t stop until alllll the supplies were used up!”

“Hmm...” You frowned. “Well, I guess you probably have like... programming or something. But, uh... still. You could’ve taken breaks or something.”

“I couldn’t, I really couldn’t! Clean up, clean up.” Despite the cheerful little chant, you could have sworn there was a nervous edge to Sun’s voice. But before you could think about it that much, Sun moves on. “Oh! But I didn’t forget about what you said. You wanted to see some drawings, right? Here, over here!” He hurried over to the desk and picked up a few pieces of paper, holding them out to you.

“Oh cool! Did you have fun?” You followed him and took the offered papers, flipping through them. They looked more like kids’ drawings than anything else, with shaky lines and scribbled colors. Most of them featured the Glamrocks and other Fazbear-related things, but one of them was different. “Hang on, is this me?”

“I hope you don’t mind!” Sun said hurriedly. “But you drew such a nice picture of me that I wanted to return the favor. I know it’s not as good as yours, but here it is!”

“Awww.” You smiled. “It’s fantastic, Sunny boy. I like how you drew my hair. And all of these have such great colors!”

“Really? I-I snapped a few crayons so I thought I was pressing too hard.”

“Oof. Yeah, be careful with that. You’re a whole-as—you’re all mechanical and stuff, you’d be a lot stronger than us fleshy guys. But there’s nothing wrong with pressing hard to get those bright colors. I used to do that, too.”

Sun clapped his hands. “I’m so glad you’re happy, friend! I suppose it was a bit fun. Here, you can keep them if you want!”

You shook your head. “No, I couldn’t do that.”

“Oh really, I don’t mind!”

“...Alright. How about I keep the one of me and you can have the rest of them?” You separated that from the stack and put the remaining ones on the desk.

“Hmmm, okay! That’s fair!” Sun fidgeted with the stack on the desk, making sure the edges of the papers were all lined up.

“Great.” You carefully slid Sun’s drawing into your backpack. “Hey, I noticed you drew the Glamrocks. Did you know Chica and Roxanne are back?”

Sun’s face rotated, confused. “Back?”

“Oh! Right, you wouldn’t know! Something happened to the Glamrocks, like... a while ago. The Pizzaplex was closed for about a month. No one really knows what happened, but uh, at least Chica and Roxanne are back again.”

“Are they okay?” Sun asked.

“I don’t know, I haven’t seen them yet,” you admitted. “Did you... know the Glamrocks?”

“Well, not too well, but we used to sometimes take the kids out for trips into the rest of the Pizzaplex!” Sun said. “They would visit the band sometimes! So sometimes we would see them. I-I don’t think think they would remember me, though.”

“Hmm. So you guys are just, like, coworkers and not friends. That makes se—”

Ping! “New task added!”

“God da—!” You cut yourself off with a scowl and looked at your FazWatch. Two new tasks had been added. Cleaning up a mess in Chica’s Cupcake Factory, and rescrewing some vent covers that had fallen off. You sighed. “I’m so sorry, Sun.”

“It’s not a problem! You have to do your job.” Sun nodded understandingly.

“Yeah. But I’ll see you again today, I promise.” You smiled.

“Okay! I’ll look forward to it! Can you take the cleaning cart out with you? It’s been taking up space ever since I used everything up.”

“No problem, man.”

After quickly dropping off the cart of used supplies at the nearest janitorial closet—probably not where you should put it, but you were in a rush—you headed off to take care of the tasks.

The new crowds in the Pizzaplex meant you were forced to take the utility tunnels most of the time, which resulted in you getting turned around more than once. Stupid winding underground hallways. The more time you spent getting lost, the more tasks appeared on the FazWatch. At least you were getting used to the stuff they had you do here. A lot of cleaning, some maintenance, moving things around. Not too difficult. The most difficult task proved to be putting on the vent covers again, since some of them were in high, difficult-to-reach places.

It was a bit strange, actually. There was no sign of wear or anything on the vents or the screws holding them in place. Why did they fall off? They looked fine to you. But then again, you didn’t know anything about vents. Were they usually this big? A person could easily crawl inside.

Finally, everything was done. You headed back to the surface and were just about to leave the staff-only areas when—

Ping! “New task added!”

“Oh for fuck’s sake!” you shouted.

Something clattered behind you. You spun around and saw a familiar face. It was that blonde kid from last week. Jeremy. Apparently he knocked over a trash bin, sending it crashing into three other identical trash bins lined up next to it. “Oh sorry!” he said. “You just—I was coming to say hi. Did I bother you?”

“No, no, don’t worry.” You walked over and helped him right the fallen bins. They were all colored to look like Roxanne Wolf. “Jeremy, right?”

“Yeah. And you are, uh...” He paused. “Sorry, I’m not good with names.”

“It’s fine.” You told him your name again. “And don’t worry about me shouting, I’m just frustrated with this thing.” You checked the FazWatch. “All these constant tasks.”

“Yeah, they never stop, huh?” Jeremy laughed nervously. “I, uh... this is my first job, is this normal?”

“Depends on where you work. But yeah. It’s just annoying when you have something you want to do.” You sighed.

“Oh! Did you want to go see the show?” Jeremy asked.

“The huh?”

“The show’s starting soon!” Jeremy’s eyes lit up. “I haven’t gotten to catch one yet! It won’t be the whole band but I bet it’ll be awesome anyway!”

“Oh. Showtime.” You paused, reading the new task. Cleaning up some tools in Parts and Service. That could wait, right? You were a bit curious. “Y’know what? Let’s check it out together.”

“Awesome!” Jeremy jumped at the chance. “Come on, I know how to get to the stage from here.”

Showtime happened five times a day on the stage in the atrium. You wondered if every time slot was this popular, because the massive atrium floor was absolutely packed with people. Most of them families, and most of those families with little girls; clearly, little boys weren’t as interested in a show with only Chica and Roxanne.

“Who’s your favorite?” Jeremy asked you as the two of you stood at the very back of the room. “When I was little I loved Foxy, but they don’t have him here anymore, so I guess Monty’s my new favorite. He’s cool.”

“Really? Uh... I never really thought about it,” you said. “I guess... Freddy or Bonnie, maybe?” Honestly, you were never really drawn to one animatronic in particular. Until you stumbled into the Daycare, that is. Did Sun and Moon count?

“Oh that makes sense.” Jeremy nodded.

You raised an eyebrow. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

“I dunno, they’re just... the classics. Older people tend to like the older characters.”

“I’m only like, eight or nine years older than you.”

“Yeah? That’s a whole decade.”

You laughed.

The atrium lights dimmed. The distant stage was lit up with pink, purple, and white spotlights. The crowd cheered in excitement. You saw a little girl in pigtails climb on a bench to try to see over the adults in front of her, showing enthusiasm that clearly wasn’t matched by the brown-haired boy next to her. Then, rising up from the ground, you saw the silhouettes of two tall figures. TV screens on either side of the stage showed a close-up for the people in the back: Chica and Roxanne, waving at the crowd. Everyone cheered.

“God, I wish we could get closer,” Jeremy said. “We should be able to, cause we work here and everything.”

“Well, I mean, I’m technically a technician, so maybe I can see them really up close some time,” you said.

“Really?! Cool!” Jeremy smiled. “Hey, if you ever get the chance, could you—this is gonna sound stupid, but, introduce me? Sometime?”

You smiled back. “Sure, I can try and do that.”

“Awesome.”

The show was short. Chica and Roxanne only preformed a couple songs, possibly limited by just the two of them. But it was fun. Like a mini concert. You didn’t know Chica could sing; Freddy had always been advertised as the lead. And the two of them moved so fluidly, like they weren’t robots at all but actually alive. Or maybe any mistakes were hidden by the fog and flashing lights.

The show ended with Chica grabbing the microphone and announcing, “Thank you all for coming! Roxy and I will be in Rockstar Row until our next performance!”

“Stop on by to say hi,” Roxanne added. “We might even hand out autographs!”

And then the stage they were standing on lowered, taking them out of sight. The Pizzaplex announcer said, “Thank you for attending the Fazbear and Friends Glamrock Show. Come back at 9:00 for our next one!”

“That was so cool, right?!” Jeremy said, looking at you and grinning.

“Yeah, really cool. Wonder what it’d be like with all of them.” You checked your FazWatch. “Ah, shit, I still have to do that one task before I can take my break. How do I get to Parts and Service from here, again?"

"I hear the stage elevator leads down there, so if you're brave enough you could jump on up there,” Jeremy said jokingly.

“Ha ha. I’ll figure it out. Hey, thanks for suggesting this. See you around?”

“Uh, yeah, sure!”

“Great.” You smiled at him. “See you later.” And you broke into a run.

Luckily you found your way down there quickly. But Parts and Service wasn’t as empty as you expected. The moment you walked in, you noticed activity in the big glass cylinder in the middle of the room. “What the...?” you whispered. You slowly walked forward and peered through the glass. Inside was a woman you recognized as Pamela, the head technician. She was bending over an exoskeleton laid out on the table/chair thing in the middle of the cylinder. There was no plating on the exoskeleton, but there was a bright red mohawk and a row of sharp teeth. “Jeez,” you muttered. Montgomery Gator had looked better. “Alligators. Can they kill your children? ... Yes.”

A few seconds passed while you tried to figure out what Pamela was doing. Then she straightened up and immediately saw you standing there. You started a bit, feeling strangely guilty, then gave her a wave and a nervous smile.

Pamela nodded once. It was hard to read her expression. Hopefully she wasn’t freaked out by you watching.

The door to the glass cylinder slid upwards and Pamela walked out. You immediately started talking. “Sorry, uh—I came down here to sort some stuff and I saw you and I wondered what you were doing—is that Monty? He looks weird without the, uh, shell thing—”

“Yeah, I’ve been finishing up his repairs,” Pamela said. “You’re new. Have you heard what happened to the Glamrocks?”

“Uh... no.”

“You’re on the same page as everyone else, then.” Pamela walked over to the computer by the cylinder and clicked something on the screen. “The day shift left one evening, then came back and found them all wrecked and the security footage gone.”

“Oh. That’s... that’s weird.” Really weird. “Wrecked like... smashed up?”

“Yep. No one knows what happened.”

“Maybe... someone broke in to destroy them?” You speculated. There were enough people out there who hated Fazbear Entertainment. Surely one of them would be crazy enough to do that.

Pamela shrugged. “No idea. What are you sorting?”

“Huh? Oh, right.” Your task. “Apparently there were a lot of tools in disarray...” You glanced around. There was no obvious mess in sight.

“Oh those.” Pamela nodded. “I took care of those before I started on Monty for the day.”

“Really?” When had she had time to do that? Well... you had delayed for a bit watching the show. You felt a bit bad for putting it off now. “Uh, sorry for leaving that for you. I-I’m still getting used to the layout of this place—”

“You probably wouldn’t have known where to put them anyway,” Pamela dismissed.

Your shoulders tensed defensively. She was right. But she didn’t have to say it like that.

“Want to see where it’s all kept?” Pamela asked.

“Oh, uh... no thanks, I wouldn’t take up any more of your time.”

“It’s fine. I’m almost done with this guy, anyway.” Pamela gestured back at Monty in the cylinder.

“Well, I, uh...” You checked your FazWatch. There were no new tasks after the sorting one. “I, uh, actually have more stuff to do.”

“Where?”

“Uh—in the daycare.” You were so surprised by Pamela’s unexpected ask that you said the first spot that came into your mind. And honestly, it wasn’t wrong. You did have stuff to do in the daycare. They just weren’t Faz-tasks.

Pamela raised her eyebrow. “In the daycare? That place has been closed for months. No one even uses the theatre or party rooms anymore.”

Shit. “Yeah, well, uh—doesn’t mean there aren’t problems!” You laugh nervously. “Like, uh, that animatronic in there. There’s probably a ton of problems with him, being all stuck in there.” Stop talking stop talking stop talking—

“Wait, you mean the Daycare Attendant?” For once, Pamela’s neutral expression broke into surprise. “They’re still up and running?”

“Uh... y-yeah.” You were also surprised. “They’ve... been active this whole time. Shouldn’t you know that? As the head animatronic technician?”

“I’m fairly new to the job, to be honest,” Pamela said. She ran a hand through her dark, curly hair. “I was working here while the Daycare was open, but I assumed that they’d shut down the Attendant when it closed. Maybe even scrapped them. Shit. You’re right, they probably have a lot of problems if they’ve been active this whole time. Hang on. I can help. Give me a moment.” She walked over to one of the rooms along the edge of the main Parts and Service hub.

“Oh. Well...” You wanted to say ‘that’s probably not a good idea, Sun has anxiety issues that probably wouldn’t be helped by the head technician appearing, and Moon is still a wildcard who might attack you.’ But what you actually said was “Yeah. Sure, come on.”

“Great.” Pamela ducked inside the room, then reappeared with a red duffel bag slung over her shoulder. She shoved a weird two-pronged tool into the bag and zipped it up. “You lead the way.”

The walk to the Daycare was awkward. You couldn’t really think of anything to say so you didn’t say anything. Pamela didn’t start a conversation, either. But you couldn’t help but feel you should be talking. If not to make small talk with your boss—she’s your boss, right?—then to explain what’s been going on with Sun and Moon. At least let her know about your quest to reopen the Daycare. But how the hell are you supposed to say that?! ‘Hey I know that kids were hurt and went missing in the daycare but I want to make it so they can go in again because I’m emotionally attached to the Daycare Attendant’? That sounded insane.

Eventually, you arrived. “Hey, um...” you said, finally finding your voice. “Do you mind if I head in first and tell S—the Daycare Attendant that you’re coming?”

“Sure.” Pamela nodded. “Going to slide in?” She pointed at the ‘Slide Into Fun!’ sign.

“Wha—no, of course not!” Though you still wanted to try that sometime. “We’ll just... walk down to the doors.”

You quickly walked down the stairs, Pamela behind you, and up to the big wooden doors. Pamela hung back as you pushed open one of them and ducked into the play area.

“Welcome back, friend!” Sun was straightening the barrels again, but he jumped up as soon as he saw you. “They really keep you busy, don’t they?”

“They really do.” You sighed. “Uh, Sun. So. I ran into someone, and I-I might have mentioned I was going to the daycare, and... well, someone else is coming. Is that okay?”

“Oh! Yes, of course, I’d love to meet another new friend!” Sun visibly perked up. He practically ran over to the door and skidded to a halt, bouncing with excitement. “Who is it? Are they going to help us?”

“Um... maybe. I-it’s the head technician.”

Sun instantly froze. “It is?”

“Y-yeah, I... mentioned you and how you’ve been, uh... active this whole time, and how that might mean, uh... problems. With...” You gestured vaguely at him. “...with your body. Like, joints and stuff. So—”

You were interrupted by the sound of the wooden doors opening. Spinning around, you saw Pamela shoving her way inside. “Heavy, huh?” she grunted. “Don’t think a kid could open these. Seems a bit stupid for a daycare.”

“Pamela! Hi!” You gave her a little wave. “Uh, so—this is Sun. I mean, you said you knew about him, but this is him. Sun, this is Pamela.”

“Hey.” Pamela walked over to the desk, letting the door close on its own.

You glanced at Sun. He wasn’t saying anything, staring at Pamela. Then he started. “Oh! You’re new!” he said. “Hello, friend! Welcome to the Superstar Daycare!” He gave a big, sweeping wave over his head.

“Hey. Thanks.” Pamela nodded. She cleared a spot on the desk, pushing aside the random stuff on top, and set her duffel bag down on top of it. “I saw you around before. But you looked different.”

“O-oh, really?” Sun dropped his hand. “Well, I’m not the only Daycare Attendant! There’s also... Moon.”

“Yeah, them. Or... him?” Pamela looked at you as she unzipped her bag. “You used ‘him’, right?”

“Uh, yeah, they’re both ‘him’s,” you said, a bit surprised at Pamela asking. You weren’t expecting her to clarify Sun and Moon’s pronouns. “They, uh... they share the same body, but when it’s light, it’s Sun, and when it’s dark, it’s Moon.”

“Really?” Pamela tilted her head, curious. “Two AIs in one body. With a light trigger. That has to be hard to code.” She glanced at Sun, giving him a quick once-over, then looked down and took something out of her bag. You recognized it as a laptop case. “Impressive.”

“Oh.Th-thank you?” Sun sounded a bit uncertain. He probably wasn’t sure how to reply. You reach over and grab his hand supportively. His head turned to look at you, and then he gently clasped your hand as well.

"You mind if I ask you some questions, Sun?" Pamela said. She unzipped her laptop case and took out the computer inside. It was unusually colored: pink and white with a big bow decal on the back.

“Yes of course! I mean, no! I-! mean, I don’t mind at all! Ask away.” Sun gave a little laugh. He was once again swaying slightly on his feet.

“Great.” Pamela looked down at her computer screen, typing and clicking. “You’ve been here in the daycare the whole time?”

“Yep! But... Moon’s able to go out and about. The roaming protocols were restricted for me, but not for him.”

“How have you not run out of charge?”

Sun paused. “W-well, there’s a charging cable in our room that I use. I always use it! Always. Always. Just in case someone shows up!” There was a manic hint in Sun’s voice that worried you. You squeezed his hand, wondering if he would even feel that. He did, and he gave a slight—very slight—squeeze back.

“Hmm.” Pamela nodded. “Have you been especially active while you’re in here?”

“Sometimes! More now that my new friend’s been checking in on me!”

Oh shit that was you. You stiffened a bit as Pamela turned her attention to you. “I mean—I-I’ve been coming in... occasionally...” you said. “To... see how things are going.” You noticed Sun’s face rotate, as if confused. But he didn’t say anything.

“Hmm. That explains why you knew the Attendant was still active.” Pamela looked back at the computer screen. “Sun, have you had any trouble? Stiff movement, broken parts? Software errors?”

Sun hesitated. He looked at you, as if silently asking permission. You thought about it, then shrugged, unsure if Pamela should know about Moon’s possible glitch. Sun looked back at Pamela. “Nope! I’ve been having no issues! None at all! Perfectly functional!” That might have been a bit of an overcorrection. “N-no need to check anything!” That was definitely an overcorrection.

"Calm down, Sun," you whispered.

"Right, right, sorry!" he whisper-shouted back.

"Don’t apologize, nothing was wrong, it’s just—”

“I can hear you, you know,” Pamela interrupted.

Both you and Sun stiffened. “Uh, sorry!” you said. “We weren’t ignoring you or anything—”

“It’s fine, I’m checking some information, anyway,” Pamela said. “Old stuff. Schematics. Shit, this file is dense.”

“No swearing in the daycare, new friend!” Sun said automatically.

You were more concerned with something else. “Wait, you’re looking at Sun’s blueprints?”

“Well I’m not exactly familiar with his design,” Pamela said. “It’s pretty different from the Glamrocks I’m used to. There’s some coding data here, too, but it’s way too much for me to look at right now. Not to mention everything else in this file. Really big ‘Incidents’ section.”

You looked at Sun, trying to gauge his reaction. It’s hard to read with his never-changing expression. But he was holding your hand pretty tight. Not tight enough to hurt, but it’s definitely noticeable. “Uh, let’s focus on one thing at a time,” you said.

“Right.” Pamela nodded. “I’ll trust what you say, Sun.”

“You will?!” Sun sounded surprised. He hurried to cover it up. “Well thank you, new friend! It’s always good to trust each other!”

“Not always,” Pamela muttered darkly. You almost couldn’t hear her. But she, too, quickly moved on to cover it up. “There’s just one thing I want to check. I want to see what happens when you switch into night mode. Then ask Moon some questions, since he has different features that might need maintenance.”

Silence. “You... want to see Moon?” Sun asked. His posture was stiff, worried.

“Yeah.”

“Um...��� You raised a hand to get attention. “Moon is... Moon’s kind of... unpredictable. He, uh—”

“Yeah, I know the basics,” Pamela said. “Don’t worry. There’s a note here that the Daycare Attendant can’t roam behind the security desk in the daycare. I don’t think that’s changed.”

You look at Sun. “Is that true?”

“That’s very true, friend!” Sun agreed. He relaxed. “I-it will probably be fine if you and Ms. Brooks stay behind there. Besides, that’s where the lights are.”

“Oh. Okay. So... are you good with going lights-off right now, then?” you asked. “It’s okay if you’re not. Pamela can come back some other time.”

“No no, it will be fine.” Sun put his hands on his shoulders and turned you so you were facing the light controls. “Go ahead! J-just remember to turn the lights on again soon! The lights are supposed to be on during daytime.”

“I remember, Sun.” You turned back and gave him a smile and a thumbs-up. “I’ll turn them on really quick. It’ll be alright. Don’t worry.”

“I-I won’t.”

You walked towards the light controls, leaving Sun standing there, fidgeting again. “On three,” you said to him and Pamela. “One... two... three!” And you hit the button.

The darkness was instant. You hurried over to the desk, where Pamela’s laptop screen was now the only source of light in the daycare. With its glow and the light coming in through the glass around the play area, you could see the transformation starting. It wasn’t as... intense as the last one you saw. Probably because Sun wasn’t screaming. But the mechanical noises and jittering animatronic limbs was still upsetting to see. Sun fell over right as you reached Pamela’s side. And didn’t stand up again.

“Hello?” you called.

A blue-and-white hand grabbed the edge of the desk. Then another. And then Moon’s face slowly rose over the edge. “Naughty naughty,” he said. “Not naptime yet.”

“You don’t sound too upset at that,” you said casually.

Moon chuckled. In one smooth motion he jumped onto the edge of the desk, crouching on its surface. His red eyes landed on you, but then he quickly noticed Pamela and turned to stare at her. Was it just your imagination, or did you notice Moon tense up?

“So you’re Moon.” Pamela was shockingly calm given that a giant animatronic with freaky red eyes was only a foot away from her face. “I’m Pamela. I’m the head technician here. Your friend—” Her head jerked towards you “—told me that you and Sun were still active, which I didn’t know.”

Moon’s face swiveled over to you. “You told?”

“No!” You raised your hands defensively. “I just—mentioned I was going to the Daycare and—and things just sort of spiraled from there.” You glanced at Pamela. “Not that I was going to keep them a secret from you or anything—"

“It’s fine,” Pamela said, doing stuff with her laptop. You glanced at the screen and saw dense text paired up with a drawing of the Daycare Attendant’s inner workings. “I’m just here to check that everything’s still functioning with you. Is it?”

Moon didn’t answer. But he did return to looking at Pamela instead of you, which was relieving. He leaned forward, inching his face closer to hers. Pamela, to her credit, didn’t flinch.

“You know, I don’t think... Moon talks a lot,” you said haltingly.

“That’s fine. I work with the DJ sometimes, he doesn’t talk at all. I can work with this.” Pamela clicked to a different page on her laptop. “Sun said that he didn’t notice any problems. So it’s probably okay. But it says here that the two of them have different features and protocols, so there’s always a chance something’s gone wrong with their individual systems. I’d like to know if that’s the case, Moon.”

Moon’s head twitched. “All fine.”

Bullshit.

“Alright, then.” Pamela nodded. “It’s always good to run a check-up anyway, so if you two ever want to come down to Parts and Service—"

Moon leaned even closer to her. “All. Fine.” His voice was a low growl.

Pamela finally reacted, but only to lean backwards. “If you say so. In that case, there’s nothing more for me to do right now.” She shut her laptop and looked at you. “I don’t want to get in the way of whatever you were doing here. You can handle it, right?”

“Uhhh yeah.” You glanced at Moon. “I can take care of myself.”

“Great.” She put her laptop back into the case, and put that back in her duffel bag. “I’ll leave you here.” And she promptly walked away. Pamela wasn’t much for small talk, was she?

With Pamela now leaving, Moon turned his attention to you. He leaned closer. Unlike Pamela, you weren’t confident enough to stay in place while that happened, and took a couple steps backwards. “You told,” Moon said.

“I didn’t mean to,” you insisted. “She just started asking questions and I-I panicked. And I can’t tell her to not do something, she’s, like, technically in charge of me, so when she invited herself along—Why do you care, anyway?” You folded your arms. “Is it because you don’t want anyone knowing what the hell your deal is?”

“No swearing in the daycare,” Moon said.

“You do that, too? Well, I guess it must be in your programming or whatever.” You sighed. “Look. I’m not gonna tell Pamela anything you don’t want her to know. But she is the head technician. It might be good to have her on our side. Why are you so—so—weird about what’s happening?”

Moon’s face rotated. You could have sworn he looked thoughtful. “Naughty kids must be punished.”

“Okay. What does that mean in this context?”

Before Moon could say anything else, the lights in the Daycare all turned on again. “No!” He jerked backwards, falling off his perch on the desk. “No more lights! No more naps!” Mechanical clacking sounds filled the air. Moon slammed his head against the side of the desk, dislodging everything as he growled and struggled. And then everything stopped.

“Moon? Sun?” You leaned over the desk and saw Sun lying on the floor on his back. “Are you okay?”

Sun was quiet for a moment. Then he gave you a thumbs-up. “I’m in tip-top shape, friend!” he said in an overly-cheerful tone.

“Hah. Right.” You turned back around to look at the light switch. Pamela was standing there with her hand on the button. “Uh—Pamela, I—maybe you should warn us next time?”

“Sorry.” Her hand dropped to her side. “I didn’t think it would be that... difficult.”

Sun popped up. “Oh, it’s quite alright! All good here!”

“Right.” Pamela nodded slowly. “Hey, actually. You.” She looked at you. “Can I talk to you for a second? Out here?”

“Uhhh... ssssure.” You gave Sun an apologetic glance and made your way over. “This’ll only take a second.”

“Oh. Okay! Of course. Be back soon!”

“Definitely.” You waved, and then followed Pamela out through the big wooden doors. They closed solidly behind you.

Pamela paused for a moment, staring at the doors. Then nodded and looked at you. “So something’s definitely wrong with them.”

Your stomach dropped. “What? What do you mean?” you asked, trying to sound casual about it.

“Well first of all, no animatronics should be making those clacking and rattling sounds when they move,” Pamela said. “They’re designed to be quiet. But that’s probably just due to a lack of cleaning and proper maintenance. The light trigger is what really worries me. It shouldn’t be that... that...” She paused. “It should be a lot smoother.”

“W-well, uh, they’ve been transforming like that the, uh... the whole time I’ve seen them,” you said slowly.

“Hmm.” Pamela pressed her lips together. “I’m just saying. I don’t know if they’re aware of it, since they both said everything was fine, but something’s probably gone wrong with the software or the actual physical mechanisms. I could issue a Service Ticket for them. But I don’t like to do that unless everyone’s on the same page.” She jerked her head back to the doors. “I don’t really care what you do in there with them. But if you could, at any point, convince them to come down for some simple maintenance, that would be great.”

“Uh...” You weren’t sure how to respond to this. “Yeah. I can... I’ll try.”

“Great.” Pamela nodded. “I’ll see you around.” She spun around and left.

“Uh—see you!” you shouted after her. You watched her walk up the staircase and disappear, then you turned around to look back at the play area entrance. A moment passed. Then you sighed and headed back in.

“Is everything okay, friend?” Sun was waiting right outside the doors. “Are you in trouble? Are we in trouble?!”

“Everything’s fine, don’t worry,” you reassured him.

“Oh good!” Sun’s shoulders slumped in relief. “What was that all about, then?”

“Uh... I’ll tell you later,” you said slowly. “For now,” you tapped your FazWatch, “I’m finally on break, so this can’t drag me away. Is there anything you want to do?”

“Oh there’s so much!” Sun gasped. “We can keep fixing things up around here, but no, you probably don’t want to work on your break, do you, friend? We can play a game! I need to practice for playtime again! Oh, no, wait! You should eat something! You’ve been working so hard, you should have something nice while you have a chance.”

“Right, right.” You nodded. “I did pack a lunch. Almost forgot about it.”

“Never forget to eat, friend! Food is the fuel to keep you going!”

You laughed. “Is that a line you used on the kids?”

“Sometimes, but it’s true!”

“It really is.” You set your backpack on the desk, opening it up and rummaging around inside—being careful not to fold Sun’s drawing from earlier. “I’ll eat and we can talk, then once my break is over we’ll see if I have any new tasks.”

“Sounds good to me!” Sun said.

Unfortunately, the tasks did draw you away again after your break, but at least you had fifteen minutes of peace. Sun seemed eager to forget about what just happened with Pamela so he encouraged you to talk about whatever was on your mind. Which was mostly video games. Afterwards, you headed back into the Pizzaplex, where you stayed busy until it was time to go home.

You didn’t forget about what Pamela said about maintenance. She was right; Sun and Moon needed to have someone look at them. They’d been left alone for so long that they probably had a ton of problems, even if they functioned fine. But neither of them wanted it. Moon didn’t like talking about his problems in the first place, and Sun... well, he might go along with your suggestion, but he was clearly anxious about the whole thing. Was he afraid? Were they both afraid? Of what? Maybe... of what the check-up would find?

It was hard to figure out. But you would tell them about Pamela’s suggestion soon. Maybe some maintenance would help them both.

[talkfastromance4]

Homecoming--Luke&Lily oneshot

a/n: we are officially caught up! again, I apologize for it taking me so long to update.

warnings: mentions of blood/passing out (very near the end), allusion to smut

word count: 2.2k

masterlist

Luke & Lily Masterlist

Enjoy!

PSA: if you’re using mobile and are on dark mode, change to true blue. The words aren’t showing up in white for me on mobile and idk how to fix it☹️ I’m sorry.

****

Luke had originally said he wouldn’t be home until July 26th because they always had a big celebration with the crew for end of tour. He and the guys took everyone out for a special dinner as a thank you for all of their hard work and support

It was a rough morning for mama getting the kids out of bed, to eat breakfast, and to get dressed. But, it’s the first day of Lily’s day camp for the Summer so you know she’s nervous and you try to tell her how much fun she’s going to have; meanwhile Posy is crying about how she wanted to wear her butterfly shirt not her ladybug one. Once at the drop-off for the day camp, all three kids are hanging onto you. You see Ronan and his moms, he shows Lily a sticker book he got that they can do on the bus. If you would have known he was going, you would have mentioned him earlier to ease Lily because she gets on the bus no problem with him. Posy pouts that she can’t go with Lily to camp, you assure her she’s going to have fun at her own summer class. She’s reluctant to go but you promise Lily will tell her all about her day 

Oliver doesn’t get fussy until you arrive at daycare. “It’s been quite the morning,” you sigh to his teacher, Miss Honey. “His sisters were upset and now he’s being extra clingy…” 

“It’s okay, sometimes we have those days, right Oliver?” Oliver is trying to climb up your legs from his spot on the floor as you put his lunch in the fridge. You pick him up and he snuggles into your neck. 

“Mama has to go now, you’re going to have such a fun day.” You kiss his cheeks repeatedly and rub his tears from under his glasses. He’s wailing for you and even though you know he’ll be fine and his smiley self in a few minutes, it still shatters your heart to hear him crying like that. 

Once in the car, you close your eyes and take deep breaths trying not to let the rough morning get to you. Then, you touch your stomach, “Please don’t make me even more emotional, baby.” This pregnancy has really been making you exhausted and your emotions are an incessant rollercoaster. 

When you’re at work, you get through your to do list and emails pretty quickly so by midmorning you were getting a cup of tea from the breakroom when the other women in the office start chattering loudly. When you step out, the chattering stops but they’re all grinning at you, even your boss.

 “What?” You ask. 

“There’s a delivery in your office,” Pamela smirks. When you enter your office there’s a large bouquet of flowers in a crystal vase. Knowing it’s from Luke, you smile and set your mug down next to the flowers when your chair spins around and Luke is sitting there, beaming up at you.

“Hello, Mrs. Hemmings, I have a very important delivery for you.”

“Luke!” You fall onto his lap, your chair knocking into the wall but Luke braces his feet on the floor. You breathe him in feeling tears spike in your eyes.

“Hi lovie,” he murmurs wrapping his arms tightly around you. He kisses your shoulder.

“I thought you weren’t coming home until tomorrow night?”

“We finished things early with the crew. They surprised us actually with a late night buffet. Said they knew me and Michael have families to get running home to.”

“I’m so glad you’re home,” you sniff. He pulls your head back, his hands holding your face gently.

“What’s wrong, lovie?”

“It was a rough morning that’s all,” you give him a teary smile. “And I’m happy you’re here and I’m…emotional. And pregnant.” 

“Tell me about it on the way home,” he kisses your nose then drops a hand to your stomach. “This little one has a lot of emotions, hm?”

“Yeah,” you place your hand over his, and the way your hands are atop of each other it places your wedding rings next to each other. “What do you mean home?”

“Cheri said I can kidnap you,” he smiles.

The flowers are on the floor between your feet as Luke drives your car home, he had Ashton drop him off at your work. You tell him about the morning with the kids, mention how this pregnancy really is bringing out your emotions.

“How else are you feeling? Any morning sickness?”

“No, not yet,” you sigh. “Which is strange. I had morning sickness already when I was pregnant with Lily, Posy and Oliver.”

“Maybe your body’s gotten into the swing of things by now,” he chuckles and you lean over to pinch his cheek. “I’m sorry you had a rough morning, but I promise to make it better for you.”

“It’s already better because you’re home.”

When you arrive home he hugs and kisses Petunia then leads you to your bedroom where he turns the blinds a little so you’re in a comfortable shade. 

“Are we going back to sleep?” you smile kicking off your heels.

“We can after.”

“After what?”

He smiles deviously then starts to unbutton your red silk top. “Do you need another hint?” He quirked an eyebrow before pressing his lips to yours then onto your neck. 

You remove each other’s clothes slowly, Luke’s fingers are always on you and you’re always touching as well. You fall together on your bed, joining together and it’s always like the first time and the last time with every time in between and future ones to come. Your moans alternate and you orgasm (rather quickly, again thanks to being pregnant) he’s not too far behind because you clench around him so tightly. 

He’s panting as he holds himself above you, his curls falling over his eyes. “I forgot your sex drive is heightened when you’re pregnant.”

“And you’re way better than the vibrator.”

He barks out a laugh and falls to his back. “Thank goodness I’m better than the vibe.”

You roll over and trace the perimeter of his chest hair, feeling the rise and fall of his chest as he catches his breath. “Wanna go get it while you recoup?” 

Luke lets out a long exhale staring at you. “Seriously?”

“Yeah, let’s see if you can get me off quicker than I can with it.” 

“Fuck,” he groans giving you a hard kiss and rolls you over. “I love you so damned much. Where is it?”

“Bathroom, top shelf,” you giggle as he kisses you again then leaps off the bed. 

You do end up falling asleep after a rigorous romp in the sheets but then you’re awoken by your stomach growling. Luke isn’t in bed next to you. You wash up quickly in the bathroom then slip on one of his new tour shirts then find him in the kitchen making a late lunch. Your phone is on the counter, with his back still turned you take a photo then call out, ‘hey handsome.’ When he turns around with a smile, you capture it perfectly. 

You spend the rest of the afternoon cuddling while listening to him tell you more about tour, how much he missed being onstage with the boys but also how he missed you. He mentions he wants you and the kids to go to Australia with them on the third leg of tour.

“I’ll be very pregnant by then, Luke,” you answer sadly.

“Just an idea,” he responds lightheartedly but you can tell he’s faking it. 

“We can discuss it with my doctor, but it’ll be the end of my second trimester.”

“Like I said, just an idea,” he kisses your forehead. “Your health and the baby’s is more important.”

You bite your lip because you know he’s putting up a front, you can’t help but feel like you’re constantly disappointing him. 

You take a quick shower together before you pick Oliver up from daycare. He’s so excited to see you both that he’s crawling as fast as he can towards you, excited grunts and squeals coming from him. Somehow in his excitement, he pushes up on his feet and walks to you and Luke. You’re cheering him on but when he stumbles, Luke catches him quickly.

This is the first time he’s walked, you’re crying again because those were his first steps and you and Luke were both present to see it. As you’re gathering his things, Miss Honey approaches you congratulating you on Oliver’s walking but then she mentions she’s noticed how nonverbal he is. She questions if he says simple words like ‘mama’ or ‘dada’ or even ‘dog’ and you frown because he hasn’t said anything like that.

When he’s excited he sort of hums which sounds like ‘mama’. 

“He was premature, right?”

“Yes, and he was in the NICU for twelve weeks. Is that common for premature babies not to speak?”

“Every child is different, maybe it’s going to take him a little bit longer,” Miss Honey says kindly.

“Well, we’ll be seeing his doctor soon so I’ll ask her. Thank you for telling me, I’ll make sure to keep an eye on it.”

When you tell Luke he gets angry at first defending that nothing is wrong with him then frowns at Oliver in his carseat through the rearview mirror. He’s playing with his toy keys, humming around them and gazing out the window. 

“We talk to him all the time, so do the girls…”

“It really could be because he was born so early, it could take him longer than most to reach his milestones.”

“But he walked today! That’s a big milestone and he’s 15 months old now.” 

“Luke, it’s okay. We’ll ask his doctor and see what she says,” you rub at the back of his neck.

Posy is equally thrilled to see Luke and starts chatting away about her day explaining how she wanted her butterfly shirt but Luke thinks her ladybug shirt is just as good. She beams at him.

The four of you are standing on the curb at school waiting for Lily’s bus to arrive. When it does and parks, Lily is talking with Roman and another little boy, when she sees Luke, her face brightens and she runs with her arms wide open screaming, “Daddy!”

Luke lifts her up effortlessly, his hand rubbing at her back and hair affectionately. 

“Hi my sweet,” he smiles kissing the side of her head. “How was camp?”

She tells him and you all about it while you walk to the car. Luke sets Lily down to help Posy get buckled in her booster seat.

“How about we go swimming when we get home and we have…McDonald’s for dinner?” Luke asks excitedly. Lily and Posy cheer, then you inform them that Oliver walked today. 

“Good job, Olly!” Lily tells him patting his hand.

Posy asks if Chloe and Maddox will be coming over too, she loves the twins.

“No, bug, they gotta stay home with Uncle Michael and Auntie Crystal. Maybe we can all get together this weekend.”

You all have fun playing in the pool, Luke tosses the ball for Petunia in the grass then she lays at the edge of the pool when she’s tired. Posy and Lily take turns swimming by her and kissing her nose while she pants. For the rest of the week, Luke and you take the kids to their desired places and you watch Oliver more carefully. He makes noises but no coherent words have formed yet. 

You spend the Saturday at Michael and Crystal’s where you ask about the babies. Luke’s eyes meet yours, he smiles and lets his gaze shift to your belly. You still haven’t told anyone else yet.

In August, you agree to tell everyone about the new baby but when you’re out with Crystal you feel a little off. Michael and Luke are with the kids so you and Crystal had a pamper day of mani pedis then went to lunch. You went to the bathroom and Crystal sat waiting. She texted Michael asking how Chloe and Maddox were doing, she scrolled through some stories on Instagram and noticed how long you’ve been gone.

Crystal makes her way towards the bathroom to check on you and knocks on the door.

“y/n?” 

“Can…can you call Luke?” you ask, your voice shaky.

“Why? What’s wrong?”

“I’m…” you look down at your fingers holding the wad of tissue as you try to stop it but all you see is red. “I’m bleeding. Call an ambulance…please.” 

Crystal panics and calls 911 right away while also ordering a worker to open the door. She tries to open it herself by shoving on it with all her might but it’s locked. She tries to call for you to unlock it but you’re not responding and Crystal panics more. 

The dispatcher says someone will be there in three minutes. Crystal is still demanding the manager to open the door, he’s fumbling for the correct key as she calls Luke simultaneously smacking the door calling out to you. He doesn’t pick up the first time so she calls again.

Back at Michael’s house, Luke finds his phone wedged between the couch and sees Crystal calling him. 

“Hey, Crys, what’s–” he answers but she’s talking so fast he can’t keep up. 

The only thing he hears is, “get to the hospital now. y/n’s bleeding. Hurry!”

Wails of sirens are heard in the background. Luke freezes. Crystal is crying. Lily’s eyes meet Luke’s. The bathroom door finally breaks open from a paramedic who kicked it down.

taglist: @calpalirwin @calumance @in-superbloom @karajaynetoday @wiiildflowerrr @sunshineeluke @littledrummeraussie @suchalonelysunflower @hoodhoran @fobodob @thew0rldneedsmcreycghurt @sunshineeashton @ashtonsunflower @mymindwide @itjustkindahappenedreally @seanna313 @mulletcal @pandaxnienke @hellasblessed @gwynethhberdara @in-a-world-of-fandoms @prentisswrites @princesslrh

[emissaryofconspiracy]

“You, human subject are in for it now, just wait until the boss sees you!”

“Who- who are you people and what do you want with me? I’m just an average person, I have no connections to the underworld! I barley have connections in the human realm!”

.......

You don’t remember exactly how or why they found you but you remember every other detail after that. It was an average Friday evening after you had gotten off from your low-paying, tedious daycare job. You wanted nothing more than to sit down with a glass of wine and watch your mindless TV. When suddenly a woman appeared on the screen shouting about how America has some problem and it has something to do with the literacy rates. As an educator, you agreed, you watched it unfold in your first grade classroom for the last past 2 years. Kids coming in post-pandemic without a clue how to write their own name let alone how to read and write other things on grade level. You can’t count how many times you had heard the sentence; “Teacher, I don’t know how to spell my name” or “Teacher can you help me spell-“ and the word is their last name or a simple word that’s on level for a preschooler like ‘cat’ or ‘man’. People liked to blame it on the environment, you worked in an inner city school in an extremely poverty stricken neighborhood, which was part of the problem but you blamed it on the parents. They didn’t read with the children anymore. They’re so quick to hand them a tablet to keep the quiet. Some of them don’t even know how to play basic games like ‘rock-paper-scissors or tag’. The parents don’t even want to interact or read to the children. They just diagnose them with disorders when all they suffer from is lack of love. You had to say this advertising company really knew their stuff, the facts were accurate and the woman they had speaking was extremely attractive. But then the commercial was suddenly interrupted. The TV flashed with the scratch that reminded you of a corrupted old tape. Then a dark figure appeared on the screen with glowing red eyes. “Mindless human! Your days in this retched world have come to an end,” the figure spoke in a grim register. “Wha- what do you mean? Who the hell are you,” you stammered. You loved joking about your suicidal ideations and your job has left you not wanting to live anymore on more than one occasion. But none of that meant you wanted to be killed especially by this fool. But before you could pick up the remote to turn the TV off, you heard your front window swing wildly open. In rushed a barrage of dark figures similar to the first one who had now by the way made it out of the television and was now standing on your living room carpet. “ALRIGHT YOU FREAKS, YOU WANNA MESS UP MY EVENING AND TRY TO KILL ME, YOU’RE IN FOR THE FIGHT OF YOUR LIVES!” You threw everything you could see; chairs, tables, food, drinks you even threw a couple appliances, or were they thrown at you? You cant remember. Soon you had been pinned to the ground, and were looking at the figure from earlier. “Wow mortal, I didn’t expect your kind to have such fight. Anyway, we’ve got a schedule to keep boys, let’s take her to the other side.” The other side? Were you dead already? Where the hell were you going? Before you could question this you passed out

…..

“Boss we’ve returned with the mortal”

“Well my, my, my, what a fine specimen.”

“You, human subject are in for it now, just wait until the boss sees you!” You opened your eyes to see several more dark figures surrounding you.

“Who- who are you people and what do you want with me? I’m just an average person, I have no connections to the underworld! I barley have connections in the human realm!”

“On the contrary my dear mortal, you have connections that run deep in the underworld, biig connections.” Just before you can question the demon in front of you another demon appears, this one is a lot larger and has large pitch black wings. Their presence causes every one else to bow a knee indicating he is a king or deity of some sort. Just then the deity speaks up.

“Hey, its been forever, how you been?” The voice sounded familiar, like Kev, an old friend, no an ex-lover of yours.

“Kev?”

“You know it, what’s up girly?” You missed Kev so much, you remember attending his funeral and being angered to near tears about how people he called his friends talked so bad about him. Kev was such a great guy, he was your high school sweetheart, typical puppy love.You guys did everything together. He was such a loveable, talented and creative guy, he was also funny to boot, you could see why he had such a respectful and well-organized army under him. He was also the class clown so your parents didn’t think a book smart gal like you was good for him.

“Why would you of all people want me dead, did I do something wrong?”

“Nah, its not you, you’re golden. I just wanted to see you and get you away from all that damn misery. I couldn’t stand to see you like that.” Your currently life could make even the most stoic of people miserable. No one respected you, not even your own family. Not even your own students listened to you

“So why not call, or text or come back?”

“’Cuz y’know the line of communication between the human and demon world ain’t exactly wide open,” You expected that much.

“So what you gonna do now if you ain’t gonna kill me?”

“Nun much really, just wanted to chill down here for a while.” You could go for that.

And go for it you did, you stayed down there with Kev, you talked, you laughed and you became a integral figure in his underworld community.

You’re about to be sacrificed by a cult, but when the demon appears before you, it speaks with the voice of your high school friend and says “Hey man, haven’t seen you in forever!”

[frodo-with-glasses]

More Reading Thoughts: The Road to Isengard

“‘You have passed my score by one,’ answered Legolas. ‘But I do not grudge you the game, so glad I am to see you on your legs!’” My favorite inter-species BROTP, everybody.

Is Erkenbrand gonna get any speaking lines? (Edit: No, no he isn’t. Shame.)

HAMA NOOOOOOOOO

FAREWELL SHORT KING. YOUR SASS AT THE DOORS OF MEDUSELD WILL BE LONG REMEMBERED.

Legolas and Gandalf over here wondering what became of the orcs as they ride through the woods. Aren’t you paying attention? They became a tasty tasty snack.

Legolas and Gimli continue to discuss whether caves or forests are the best. When I was little, I would have sided with Legolas. Now that I am older, I realize that the correct answer is BOTH

ROCKS ARE AWESOME

HOLES IN ROCKS ARE EVEN BETTER

AND TREES ARE FANTASTIC

Not-So-Hot Take: Legolas and Gimli are both right, thank you for coming to my TED Talk.

Hahaha the ents just popping out to jumpscare the Men of Rohan and then leaving like “welp, gotta go, got places to be, things to do, trees to herd—”

Theoden says, “Aw, man, the wolves are eating my fallen warriors D-:” and Gandalf is like “lol nah bro they’re just eating the orcs” and doesn’t explain until they actually ride up to the burial mounds so he can see them. Like bro. You could have mentioned that earlier. Always gotta be the dramatic reveal. X’-D

Steam coming from Isengard, ohohoho >:-D

And then the Ents arrive to move their trees out of the dell like a mom picking up her kids from daycare.

“Okay, honey, playtime’s over, time to put your toys away *chucks the orcs into a pile of rocks*”

The Isen is flowing again!

BREAK THE DAM. RELEASEEE…THE RIVAAARRRR.

Saruman just has. A Hand. On top of a tower. Pointing north. Like to tell his orcs “go that way”. I’m. Why is this so funny to me. Why wasn’t this in the movies. It’s so dumb. I love it. X-D

“…and suddenly they were aware of two small figures…” 8-O 8-O 8-O

*DEEP BREATH*

MERRY AND PIPPINNNNNNNN

“Hi Treebeard left us here to welcome you when you came back :-D I don’t know how to talk to kings, but I did my best!”

GIMLI GOING OFF ON THE HOBBITS IS SO FREAKING FUNNY

“Where did you come by the weed, you villains?” AHAHAAHAHA

“Though I would sooner learn how they came by the wine :-D” ASDFGHJKL LEGOLAS STOP

MERRY IS READY TO RECOUNT THE WHOLE HISTORY OF PIPEWEED RIGHT THERE, RIGHT NOW, WHILE THE WHOLE COMPANY FROM HELM’S DEEP IS STILL SITTING ON THEIR HORSES OUTSIDE OF ISENGARD, FORGET THE WIZARD, FORGET THE BATTLE, FORGET THE WAR THAT'S GOING ON AND HOW YOU PEOPLE RODE ALL NIGHT TO GET HERE, Y'ALL GOTTA LISTEN TO HOW MY FOREFATHERS FIGURED OUT HOW TO 420 BLAZE IT SMOKE WEED EVERYDAY, I ’ M F R E A K I N G D Y I N G —

I'm sorry to yell so much but the end of this chapter is the funniest thing I've come across in this entire book and IT'S STILL GOING

The ents over there still tearing down things and going hoom-hom in victory like "YEAAAAAHHHH, ROCKS FALL AND GO BOOM"

"'So that is the King of Rohan!' said Pippin in an undertone. 'A fine old fellow. Very polite.'"

Y'ALL

Y'ALL TOLD ME HOW FUNNY THIS WOULD BE

BUT YOU DID NOT PREPARE ME FOR IT

MERRY AND PIPPIN ARE NATIONAL TREASURES AND I LOVE THESE IDIOTS SO MUCH

[luci-in-trenchcoats]

If I Fell For You (Part 3) - A Moment

Summary: Jensen is away from home for a few days but isn’t having the easiest time being away from the kids for the first time since the accident. When he returns home, he has a gala to attend on Saturday night but a kiss on the cheek and slip of the tongue will snowball into the reader and Jensen sharing a moment...

Masterlist

Pairing: Jensen x nanny!reader

Word Count: 6,100ish

Warnings: language, death of a spouse, death of a parent, anxiety, self-worth problems, referenced past harassment

A/N: I love this part so much for so many reasons. Please enjoy!

________

“Hi Jensen,” you asked Monday night when your phone rang. “How was your flight earlier?”

“Same old same old. I just got out of work,” he said with a yawn. “Gonna grab a bite out with a friend. Kids eat dinner okay?”

“We had honey sriracha glazed salmon with brussel sprouts and roasted red potatoes.”

“Really?”

“They had kraft mac and cheese and I had Taco Bell.”

“See this is why I like you,” he chuckled.

“I’ll try the salmon again tomorrow. I was gonna make it but they didn’t have any at the store,” you said, opening the fridge and taking out a pint of ice cream. “Hey can I have what’s left of this mint ice cream?”

“Sure. Pick some more up for me sometime before friday please,” he said. “Also, Taco Bell? You do realize we live in freaking Austin right. There are literally hundreds of places you can go that have better mexican food.”

“Yeah but fake cheese tastes good,” you said. He laughed and your stomach rumbled. “I so should have gotten more than two tacos.”

“You in the kitchen?” he asked. You hummed and you heard him let out an oof in the background.

“Yeah. You alright?”

“This bed in my hotel room is comfy,” he said. “But I was starting to say, go in the drawer at the end of the counter by the table. There’s only five hundred gajillion take out menus in there. Order a treat for yourself. It’s on me.”

“Jensen. I can get my own dinner.”

“True but you’re on call 24/7 until I get back.”

“Well in that case I bet you got a menu for a fancy steakhouse in here somewhere,” you teased as you picked up one for a tex mex looking restaurant. “Does this place really have quesadillas this big?”

“You must be looking at the menu on top. I almost ordered from there last week actually. The food’s great. They do delivery too. Just buzz the guy into the gate when they get there.”

“Any recommendations?” you asked, taking out the menu and flipping it over.

“Quesadillas are good. Loaded nachos are amazing. I’ve literally never had a bad thing from there,” he said. “To be honest I’d rather be getting that than where I’m going tonight.”

“Why’s that?” you asked, reading through your options, surprised to find such good prices.

“I have to wear a suit,” he said with a sigh. “After being poked and prodded all day I literally would rather just eat crap and watch food network.”

“How long have you known this friend of yours?” you asked.

“Twenty years, why?”

“Then you guys knew each other when you were young. It’s not too late out there. Call him, see if he’d rather get some crap food, a six pack and just catch up on his couch or in your room. I’m pretty sure he’s more looking forward to seeing an old friend again than the food,” you said.

“You make very good points. I should pay you more,” he said.

“You pay me plenty and barely let me spend a dime of my money on myself,” you said. “I don’t need more.”

“You got that fancy computer though.”

“You literally have the exact same mac in your office.”

“You moved in like three boxes and two computers,” he said.

“An ipad is not a computer,” you said.

“Debatable.”

“Well I like to draw sometimes and it’s easier on an ipad when you’re laying in bed,” you said. 

“Are you any good?” he asked.

“No.”

“I bet they’re really good,” he said as you rolled your eyes. “I see you draw with the kids sometimes and those are good.”

“It’s a hobby is all,” you said, leaning back against the counter, your stomach grumbling again. “Anything else you want me to grab at the store? I’m going to hit it tomorrow while everyone’s at school.”

“Nah. Get the usual stuff,” he said. “The kiddos in bed?”

“Yeah, got the last one down about fifteen minutes ago,” you said. He hummed and you heard the sigh in it. “I got a video of them playing earlier I’ll send you.”

“Thanks. It’s my first night away from them in a long time. Normally I’m able to come back same day. I was kinda hoping they’d still be awake to say goodnight.”

“They’re safe and sound dad. We’ll call again after school tomorrow to talk like today,” you said.

“Yeah,” he breathed out. He was quiet and you pulled the phone away, taking a deep breath. 

“You okay?” 

“I haven’t been alone like this in a really long time.”

“I know. You check out your backpack yet?”

“No. Why?”

“You didn’t bring a jacket with you so I put that yellow hoodie that’s always on the hook in there in case you got cold.”

“That was Dee’s hoodie.”

“I was pretty sure it was,” you said. You heard him shuffle around briefly before he hummed, much happier that time. “I thought you might like to have a piece of...something-”

“I really don’t pay you enough,” he said quietly. “Thanks for putting this in there. I need something from home more than I realized.”

“Well put it on, call up your buddy and have some fun tonight, Ackles. Nanny’s orders.” He laughed and you felt that twinge in your stomach again, your eyes quickly closing.

“I will. Hey you mind if I call again tomorrow night? I don’t have any plans and sitting in a hotel room by myself isn’t very fun.” You smiled and felt heat in your cheeks, quickly thinking it away. He wanted company for a few minutes was all and you were friends. It was completely normal to talk with friends on the phone everyday.

“Of course. As long as you get a dinner in at some point that’s more than fine with me,” you said. “We can talk about The Bachelor!”

“Oh God no,” he groaned, chuckling after a few seconds. “I’ll settle for Grey’s Anatomy.”

“This Is Us?” you asked.

“Supernatural?”

“I haven’t watched that yet. I’m working up to it,” you said. 

“Work faster woman. I only know legit everything about that one,” he chuckled. “But probably not a good idea to watch that one until I get back and you're not alone. First episode is kinda scary.”

“Oh well thanks for that,” you said, watching the clock tick by, knowing it had to be almost seven out there. “I’ll let you go. Have fun tonight Jensen.”

“I will Y/N. Promise.”

Friday Night

“Arrow,” you said after she’d flung her pasta bowl all over herself, covering her hair and face. She sniffled and you forced a smile. “Okay. How about a bath after dinner?”

Fifteen minutes later JJ and Zeppelin were in the movie room watching a cartoon while you had Arrow in the kids bathroom, scooping up some water over her head in the tub.

“Well hello ladies,” you heard behind you. You jumped and spun around, glaring for a moment before you recognized Jensen.

“Just me,” he said, backpack still on his shoulders. 

“Daddy I got ziti all over my head,” she said.

“You did?” he asked, dropping his bag and taking off his jacket, kneeling down next to you. You got the last bit of sauce off and squirted some shampoo in her hair, Jensen watching you with a smile. “How was your day?”

She told him all about breakfast and daycare, playing with a few toy boats with him while you rinsed out the soap. You did a bit of conditioner before getting it out as well and putting the spray nozzle back.

“I got the rest if you wanna get the dryer ready?” he asked you, reaching for the soap. You swapped spots with him, Jensen washing her up while she kept talking about her day. By the time he was all done you had the dryer out and plugged in, Jensen picking her up and wrapping her up in a big bundle of towels before he set her on the counter. You went to work drying her hair, Jensen draining the tub and finding some pajamas for her.

“Do you want your hair up or down, sweetie?” you asked. She tried gathering it up and you grabbed her soft scrunchie perfectly fine for sleeping in from the counter. You put her hair up in a soft little bun, Jensen making an adorable sound when he returned.

“Aw, you look so cute, baby. I’ll be right there alright?” he said. She hopped off the counter and got dressed, rushing off downstairs when she was all done. “Survive the day?”

“Somehow we always do,” you said, gathering up the towels. “Kids are in the movie room.”

“Thanks. I’m gonna shower but we’re all good for the night,” he said. “Thanks for watching them this week.”

“You gotta go do your job,” you said. “You working on a movie or something? You never said.”

“Uh gonna be in a show called The Boys,” he said. “I’m gonna be one of the superheroes so I gotta go out and get my suit made all special for me every so often.”

“You’re gonna be a supe! That’s so fucking cool!” you said. He grinned and you blushed, shaking your head. “I’m so sorry. That was so not appropriate.”

“I don’t see any little ears around,” he chuckled. “You like the show then?”

“Yeah. It’s great. Like no other show consistently makes me go what the fuck did I just see. That’s so cool you get to be a supe though. Are you a one off or like a main character?”

“I’ll be very present in the next season. Gonna deal with the seven, all that,” he said. “I’m gonna be Solider Boy.”

“I can see that. You have that all American boy thing about you.”

“It’s my adorable face,” he teased. 

“Well remember to not stay up too late. You have the gala tomorrow night remember?”

“Yes mom,” he said as you walked out. “Get the kids some takeout for dinner tomorrow and yourself.”

“Sounds good boss,” you said. “Night Jensen.”

“Goodnight, Y/N.”

The Next Night

You froze from where you were mixing up some brownie batter with JJ at the kitchen counter as Jensen popped downstairs. He was in a gorgeous black suit, a maroon pocket square and no tie going on, his hair scruffier looking than normal.

He started to laugh and you realized you were staring, your cheeks feeling hot as you went back to stirring.

“Mmm, you guys save me a brownie or two for when I get home?” he asked, leaning over and dipping his finger in the bowl of cream cheese frosting.

“We’ll spare one for dad,” you said, Jensen going back for seconds. “Ah, ah. No.”

He dipped his finger in and got another fingerful, kissing the top of JJ’s head and the twins at the counter.

“Be good for Y/N guys!” he called as he rushed out.

You whistled and he jogged back, catching you holding up his phone from the counter.

“Thank you,” he said, taking it and pecking a kiss on your cheek. You looked up at him and he froze. “I am so sorry. I…”

“It’s okay. Go have fun and be all charitable,” you said. He shoved his phone in his pocket and ran out, JJ scratching her head.

“Dad’s kinda weird sometimes,” she said.

“Yeah, he is. But so is everybody,” you said. “Let’s get this in the oven so you guys can pick out colors for your frosting, hm?”

“I really shouldn’t. But I really should,” you said to yourself, plopping your second brownie of the night in a bowl and sticking a scoop of ice cream on top. You carried it over to the couch and lay back, watching TV on the big screen as you heard the door open. Jensen came into view a minute later, taking his jacket off and groaning as he washed up at the sink. He went to the tray of brownies on the counter and picked one up with a big sigh. “Fun night?”

He jumped and whacked his head against the cabinet above, hissing before he spun around.

“You okay?” you asked. He nodded and left the brownie behind, pushing his sleeves up before taking a seat on the other end of the lounger.

“Y/N I’m really sorry about the kiss on the cheek. That was so inappropriate. You’ve kinda implied that there was some stuff that’s happened to you at other jobs you found over the line and I’m really truly sorry if I made you uncomfortable. I wasn’t...I forgot you’re my employee for a moment. I really am sorry.”

“Jensen if I had a problem with it or you or your behavior I would quit on the spot. I don’t let myself get pushed around anymore. You were happy and busy and you pecked a kiss on my cheek, not reach a hand down my pants. It’s really okay. You’re way too hard on yourself.”

“Are you sure?” he asked.

“Positive. It’s barely ten which means you left as soon as you could. You’re supposed to be out having fun,” you said.

“I was kinda freaking out that you hated me,” he said.

“Dude you gotta relax,” you said. “Have a brownie and some ice cream.”

He got up and after a minute took a seat at the other end with a bowl of his own, smiling as he got a taste.

“This is fucking awesome,” he said.

“I know,” you said, Jensen smirking. “Do you feel better now silly boy? I promise that if you ever do anything I find inappropriate I will promptly kick you in the balls.”

“I can agree to that,” he said. He ate for a moment, watching the TV and laying back. “Do you ever like, want to go do things with your friends on a Saturday night? If you do that’s totally cool. These aren’t normal hours anyways.”

“Being a nanny eats up a lot of your social life,” you said. “Kinda got kicked out of my friend group after I broke up with my ex anyways.”

“Well they sound like they suck,” he said.

“Yes, they do,” you said. “I don’t mind so much. I meet plenty of new people through work. Only person you can depend on is yourself and I don’t tend to let myself down.”

“That’s a very lonely way to go through life,” he said.

“It’s not easy to make friends in your thirties,” you said. “Maybe for someone like you who travels and meets new people a lot and stuff but you have like, real friendships. You know?”

“Well we have a real friendship, don’t we? You’re friends with Jared and Rob and Ruthie and Rich,” he said. “I don’t trust just anybody with my kids. That’s real.”

“Yeah,” you said, taking a bite. “So when’s your friend free?”

“Hm?”

“Blind date guy. Maybe he could be a friend if things work out,” you said.

“Oh yeah. He uh, he actually got a gig up in Canada so you might need to wait like a month or so. But he’s excited to meet you,” said Jensen.

“Can I have his number?” you asked. “Or do you think that’d be weird?”

“No, not weird. I think he just kinda wants to do it old school if that’s okay. Meet you first and go from there.”

“This friend of yours better be like super hot,” you said.

“If it’s a problem-“

“I can respect him wanting to do things like that. But I’m gonna want a firm date soon,” you said.

“I’ll make sure to get you one,” he said. “I’ll get it down tomorrow, promise.”

“He better not mind me eating like this either. I ain’t a salad on the first date kinda girl. He’s gonna need to keep up with my eating while were at it,” you said. He snorted in his seat beside you and ran his hand over his face.

“I will keep that in mind. I have occasionally had dessert first truth be told,” he said.

“This is why I like you Ackles. You get my sweet tooth,” you laughed.

“It’s a good thing your dinners are healthy cause I swear I haven’t consumed this many baked goods in months,” he said. “The kids love it and my stomach loves it though.”

“I’m gonna need to start working out though if I keep this up. Oh hey is it okay if I do laps in the pool in the mornings? I’ll be super quiet and stuff.”

“You don’t gotta ask,” he smiled. “Like I said when you started, you got free reign to use the pool, the gym, whatever, aside from my room. You a swimmer?”

“Not really but I hate running and supposedly it’s a good workout or something,” you shrugged, eating another bite of brownie.

“Anything in the gym you’re free to use. I know you must get a little bored sometimes when I’m gone and the kids are,” he said.

“Not bored per say. Ordinarily I would do more chores but you have like a cleaner and a landscaper and you just...give me more time in the day than I’m used to is all. It’s actually great though. It gives me plenty of time to come up with ideas for the kids and stuff.”

“Well as long as you’re taking breaks and your lunch do as you please,” he said, his spoon scraping the bottom of his bowl.

“Now that’s just sad.”

“I really should get another one of these,” he said, sucking the spoon.

“It’s really the only choice you have,” you said. He laughed as he hopped up, skirting back into the kitchen and fixing up another brownie and ice cream combo.

“Hey you want more, Dee?” he asked. You popped your head up and he spun around. “I’m-“

“Don't apologize, Jensen,” you said. He tapped his fingers against the counter and took a deep breath, putting his back to you.

“That’s the second time tonight I’ve done that,” he said. 

“Jensen. There’s nothing wrong with missing your wife.”

“I’m still sorry.”

“You don’t...talk about her much.”

“It was...she wasn’t…” he trailed off. He sat down on a barstool and you got up, walking over and hopping up on the counter beside him. You set your feet in the stool next to his and paused before you put a hand on top of his head and ran your fingers through the short strands. “This shouldn’t have happened to her.”

“Death is the price for living. Pain’s the price for caring. Doesn’t mean it’s not worth it,” you said. You started to move your hand away when he turned his head. 

“Don’t…” he said, easing when you played with it gently again. “That’s always calmed me down since I was a little kid.”

“Someone should take care of you every once in a while you know. Your parents, siblings, friends. Everyone needs a break.”

“I had a lot of help at the beginning. I don’t need a whole day. Just a moment here and there,” he said quietly.

“It’ll be okay, Jensen,” you said. He nodded and you played with his hair a few moments, watching his shoulders ease. This time when you pulled away he smiled up at you. “Better?”

“Yeah. Thank you. That’s not in your job description to do that sort of thing.”

“Well I think your wife would want somebody to watch your back, even for only a minute or two,” you said.

“You don’t have any brain aneurysms I should know about, do you?” he chuckled. 

“No. That what happened?” you asked, a single nod coming from him.

“She was sleeping. Not a bad way to go I was told, you’d never even know,” he said. “Not a fun thing to wake up to in the morning though.”

“My dad had a mass at the back of his head. It was that same kind of thing where one second it’s fine and the next everything’s different deal. It was inoperable. Then he goes and dies from a car accident of all things before it got bad. My mom had a hard time with that.”

“You said she had a boyfriend later on right?” he asked.

“Yeah. I know you’ll be okay, Jensen,” you said. You ruffled his hair and he smiled, a soft look on his face. “Pro tip too from someone who’s been there, kids with a single parent turn out just fine.”

“Do they ever wish they had another parent?” he asked.

“They wish the parent they still have around is happy again someday. They won’t understand until they’re older that it’s a different kind of love between parents. But they’ll know it’s a little different and they’ll hope dad feels better too. Your kids are tough. They’ll be okay too.”

“Thanks, Y/N,” he said. You hopped off the counter and washed up your dish, sticking it in the dishwasher before you went to leave for your room. “So I gotta ask. Who takes care of you?”

“Me?” you asked, pointing to yourself. He shrugged and smiled, your gaze going past him. “I’m all good. I don’t need somebody to take care of me.”

“Liar,” he said softly. “You know my friend tells me everybody needs to be taken care of sometimes.”

“That’s the difference between us Jensen. You’re not like me.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?” he scoffed, his face scrunching up suddenly.

“It means you’re not on your own and even if you feel like it, it’s only been a little while. You’ll be okay. I’ve been taking care of myself since I was a kid. I don’t need anyone to take care of me.”

“That’s bullshit and you know it.”

“You haven’t lived my life and I haven’t lived yours. Don’t try to tell me that I’m not capable of-”

“It’s not about what you’re capable of. You said pain is part of life, it’s the price for living. You’ve had more than your fair share-”

“Lots of people have it a lot worse.”

“Don’t compare your pain to someone else's. They haven’t lived your life,” he said. You rolled your eyes and started to walk away, Jensen out of his seat and catching up with you in the hall. “You can be taken care of too you know.”

“By who? My non-existent circle of friends? My crappy ex? My mom’s ex boyfriend who’s got his own wife and kids? I am perfectly fine managing all of this by myself. I’ve been doing it for years.”

“You’re so frustratingly annoying,” he said, running his hand over his face. “Me. I’m talking about me. You just...you took care of me tonight. The least I can do is show you the same compassion.”

“No,” you said.

“No? Why not?”

“Because taking care of me turns into you walking into my shower without my permission and you being a dick and this going away and I don’t want you to be those things so no. We’re getting too friendly. Please leave me alone tomorrow.”

You left him in the hall and went down to your area of the house, shutting the door after you. There was quickly a knock and you growled, ripping it open.

“What?” you snapped at him.

“I am not going to hurt you or be a dick to you or whatever else you think. You need to realize in the real world, not everyone is an asshole.”

“You’re the one not living in the real world then, Jensen. Everybody’s an asshole.”

“Fine. I’m an asshole. But I’m not leaving until you say I can take care of you tomorrow. Two minutes is all I’m asking for.”

“This is my part of the house.”

“And technically I am outside your door,” he said. “Why are you so resistant to somebody doing something nice for you?”

“Because I don’t wanna get used to it,” you said. He stared and you shook your head. “You’re attractive and an actor and kind and funny and it’s not a matter of if you date again but when and when that day comes, we ain’t gonna be sitting on the couch eating ice cream anymore. Please do not invite me to anymore outings as a friend. I’ll attend if required as a nanny but this between us is done.”

“For the record, the only one around here that thinks of you as just the hired help is you. My children are completely like their old selves. I feel more like my old self. You seem happier than when I met you but for some reason, that’s a big problem to you. I do not understand that.”

“Leave or I resign and move out first thing,” you said. He crossed his arms and lifted his chin. “This is my formal resignation then. The company will-”

He moved quickly and you weren’t sure what he was doing at first but soon you realized he was hugging you, your hands resting against his chest. You swallowed and he didn’t move, your forehead resting against him.

“What are you doing?” you breathed out.

“When’s the last time you got a fucking hug?” he asked.

“The kids-”

“Not the kids.”

“I don’t remember,” you said quietly. 

“Then you are overdue,” he said. You let yourself reach your arms around him and return the hug, breathing deeply, a small bubble in you rising up. You tried to push it down but it came back harder and you were fighting back tears before you knew it. 

He could feel when you lost that battle, hand rubbing up and down your back. There was a soft shushing in the air and after a few minutes you felt better. You lifted your head but didn’t look at him, Jensen squeezing you in his hug again before it eased.

“You know you’re not allowed to quit on me...like ever,” he chuckled. You let out a small laugh, Jensen smiling at you when you forced your head up. He wiped off your cheeks and you let out one last sniffle. “You’re not alone. I promise you’re not. It’s not the quantity of people you have in your life but the quality and I’m sorry but we are friends and there’s nothing you can do about that so I’d just accept it now.”

“I’m sorry I was such a bitch.”

“You were scared, not a bitch,” he said. “I wish I could make you happier is all.”

“I wish I could bring back your wife for you,” you said.

“One of those is a lot more possible than the other,” he said. A small smile crossed his lips before he ducked his head down, shoulders heaving back before his head raised. “Y/N, can I confess something to you? I hope...I hope it doesn’t bother you but if it does, you don’t have to continue working for me. I’d still like to be friends regardless.”

“What’s wrong?” you asked, Jensen looking past you.

“My single friend I was going to set you up with? He doesn’t exist.”

“Oh.”

“Cause he’s kinda me.”

“Oh,” you said, staring at him, a lot of his previous behavior starting to click into place. “That’s…”

“I know,” he said, stepping away and rubbing the back of his neck. “It’s weird and douchey and I’m sorry. I like you and I was trying to see if you would ever go for a 42 year old actor. I left out the widow and kids part but...I’m sorry.”

“When did you like me?” you asked quietly.

“The whole time?” he said, laughing nervously to himself. “It’s kinda snowballed since we met. I never in my life thought I’d like someone again. I didn’t want to like you. I hired you because you were the best candidate and I knew the kids would be in good hands but everyday it’s there, even more, and I know this is so inappropriate on so many levels and I’m really starting to ramble here but you make me think maybe your mom had a point and people are allowed to have...more than one…and sometimes the way you talk to me and treat me and look at me...” 

He swallowed as you stepped in front of him, taking a quick breath. 

“I will keep working for you and I’ll be your friend...and you can make me dinner tomorrow,” you said with a smile. “We’ll see where it goes from there?”

“You’re not...weirded out?” he asked.

“By your age, you’re my boss or the cheeky lying about a fake friend?” you said.

“All of the above.”

“Age doesn’t bother me. You have no idea how to be a boss, no offense, and the friend...I don’t blame you for wanting to test the waters first,” you said. “But I expect honesty from here on out.”

“Absolutely,” he said.

“Good,” you said.

“You do like me right?” he asked. “Like you don’t feel obligated or-”

“I like you Jensen. Why do you think I was trying to push you away before you got too close? I didn’t want to be hurt.”

“Give me a chance to not,” he said. “We can have dinner and see how it goes from there.”

“Normally the best course of action,” you said.

“But maybe with a few more hugs from now on,” he said. “For the both of us.”

“That’d be okay with me,” you said. He smiled and you returned it. “I guess I’ll see you in the morning then.”

“I guess you will,” he said. He turned to go when he spun back on his heels. “Or we could go back out there, eat way too much dessert and hang out?”

“Yeah,” you said with a smile. “Give me a minute to wash up my face.”

“Take all the time you want. I’m gonna change into something more comfortable anyways.”

He left and you washed off your face in the bathroom, drying it off and taking a deep breath.

You did like him. There was something calming about him to you and you enjoyed his company, even if it was just the two of you having a quiet cup of coffee in the morning.

But he was an actor. And kinda famous. And a widow. And had three kids. 

“But your face is cute,” you said aloud, looking the mirror. “Gah, of course you have to be like...into me. Nutjob. He must be a nutjob. That’s it.”

“Y/N?” you heard him saying and you smacked yourself in the face. “Are you talking to yourself?”

“Uh, yeah,” you said, stepping out and seeing him in the hall sporting a pair of pajama pants and a t shirt. “That was fast.”

“Well I didn’t go through an eight step skin routine too,” he chuckled.

“For your information, my routine is only three steps,” you said, walking past him and waggling your fingers.

“I didn’t realize I was living with such a savage,” he said. You laughed and went back to the kitchen, making up another dish of brownie for him while he went over to where he kept his liquor. “You a bourbon kind of girl?”

“Is there any other kind?” you said.

“Touche.” He poured out two glasses and slid one over while you passed his bowl to him. “So what’s this three step routine? Do I need to up my game or what?”

“I think I need your routine, not the other way around,” you said.

“Nah. I like looking at your face more than mine. Trust me.”

“Oh. How long you been holding back those kinds of comments?” you teased.

“Longer than you’d think,” he said, sharing the bowl with you. “Feel okay now?”

“Yeah. I can’t remember the last time I cried,” you said. “Especially in front of someone.”

“A good cry session has never hurt in my experience. I’ll do it for work and stuff but normally I’m not much of one. Aside from the past six months I mean.”

“Are you ready to try this?” you asked.

“Yeah. I know I am,” he said. “I’m positive of it.”

“How can you know that?”

“Because you make me happy. You make me...want to do stuff again, believe in all the romantic...if I wasn’t ready, I’d feel guilty. But I don’t. I just know that maybe some people get more than one chance and maybe I’m one of them.”

“I know you are, whoever it ends up being,” you said.

“Are you ready to try this?”

You took a drink and bite of ice cream, pushing the bowl back.

“I miss my family,” you said. “I miss being happy. I’d like to...have someone that could take care of me for a moment every once in a while. I might mess that up sometimes but I’m willing to try.”

“Me too,” he said. “I’d expect some screw ups on this end too. I’ve been out of the dating game for a long time.”

“I’m sure it hasn’t changed all that much,” you said.

“Well I’ve never dated with kids and as a widow,” he said.

“I’m just in this for them to be honest,” you laughed. 

“I see how it is,” he said with a smirk. 

“I don’t think it’ll be as hard as you think,” you said.

“I hope not,” he said. 

“Do they know? You want to date?”

“JJ does,” he said. “She’s little but she understands that it doesn’t mean I’ll never love her mother any less. She’s been strangely okay through this whole thing aside from the first few weeks. She helps her brother and sister out more now.”

“As someone who was that kid, minus the siblings, I know they’ll be okay. She’s a great kid. I’ve met plenty of spoiled brats. Yours are not.”

“Well that might just be the second best thing I’ve heard tonight,” he said.

“Whatever was the first?” you teased, eating a spoon of ice cream.

“Oh I think you know,” he said, stealing the spoon back. You smiled and heard some feet run around upstairs before the stairs creeped and a little head ducked down into view. “Arrow. It’s bedtime sweetie.”

“I had a accident,” she said. “Sorry.”

“Nothing to be sorry for, honey,” he said. “I’ll be right back.”

“Want help?” you asked.

“Sure,” he said. He scooped up Arrow on the way up the stairs, setting her down in the kids bathroom. He got some clean pajamas and you found a pair of pull ups, Arrow pouting at you. 

“I don’t need ‘em,” she said.

“Your brother wears them. I wore them and your mommy and daddy wore them. Everybody wears pull ups when they’re your age,” you said.

“Just tonight,” she said, stepping into them. Jensen walked past with the mattress liner and she was dressed by the time you heard the washer going off in the distance. You walked her back to bed, Jensen slipping in past you and tucking her in. “Night daddy.”

“Night sweetie,” he said, kissing her temple. 

“Night Y/N,” she said.

“Night night kiddo,” you said, giving her a tiny wave before you left, Jensen flipping off her light and pulling the door shut. 

“Come here a second,” he said, nodding and you saw him head towards his room. The double doors were open and you stepped inside, Jensen going past the bed and over to a set of french doors. He pushed one open and waved for you to follow, showing you out to a rooftop balcony.

“Wow,” you said, a set of chairs, a table and a lounger out there along with a whole lot soft string lights. “I didn’t realize you had this up here.”

“Kinda a place to go unwind, relax,” he said. “I disappear out here sometimes. Been out here a lot at night lately.”

“Thinking about what?” you asked.

“You,” he said. “I talk to Dee about you sometimes as crazy as that sounds.”

“Doesn’t sound crazy at all,” you said.

“I just wanted to say...this area isn’t off limits anymore. Nothing is,” he said. 

“She asked you out, didn’t she,” you said with a smile. He rubbed the back of his neck and blushed. “You’re cute.”

You leaned up and kissed his cheek, heading back towards inside.

“Come on, Jensen. Before the ice cream melts on us.”

_______

A/N: Read Part 4 here!

[wildxwired]

prompt time!

outsiders perspective? honestly any outsiders perspective but here are some ideas:

- new hire for the security business

- uncle mickey picks franny up from school (or Fred up from daycare?)

- a neighbor??

loved your engagement fic!

I’m a sucker for Franny with her favourite Uncles 😍 Hope this is what you had in mind!

Smile

It’s Friday. It’s finally Friday and Franny couldn’t be more excited. With her mama away on a ‘grownups only’ vacation, and Uncle Lip busy setting up his new house, Franny gets to spend the whole weekend at Uncle Ian and Uncle Mickey’s place.

They moved out approximately two lifetimes ago, and Franny has missed them both deeply. She likes her mama and her uncles just fine, they’re always fun, but nobody is as fun as Uncle Mickey.

Uncle Mickey might just be Franny’s favourite person ever. For a short while it was Grandpa Frank, but then he went away to the same place her daddy went, and since there’s no visitors allowed she guesses that makes Uncle Mickey her favourite person now.

After school she leaps down the school steps, wanting to get to the bench she usually sits on to wait for her mama before everyone else. Before she can get there, a short blast of a siren startles her.

She gasps. It’s Uncle Ian and Uncle Mickey’s special work truck!

The speaker crackles. “Doctor Franny, paging awesome ninja princess Doctor Franny!” Uncle Ian is grinning from the driver’s side, and right next to him Uncle Mickey is laughing.

“I’m here! I’m here!” Franny yells, jumping up and down with a hand in the air like she’s desperate to say the right answer.

Uncle Mickey hops down from the truck, and Franny runs towards him faster than she’s ever run in her life.

“Hey, little red,” Uncle Mickey greets, scooping her into his arms and taking her book bag for her. “You ready for a super fun weekend?”

“Yeah!”

“Are we gonna eat candy and play Give Me All Your Money?”

“Yeah!”

“Are you gonna stay in your bed and never enter Uncle Mickey and Uncle Ian’s bedroom without knocking?”

She laughs. Uncle Mickey is so weird, but that’s okay. Franny likes weird. She’s on board with whatever.

“Yeah!”

“That’s my girl,” Uncle Mickey cheers, lifting her into the truck and sliding her next to Uncle Ian.

“Hey, little lady!” Uncle Ian wraps an arm around her and plants a kiss on the top of her head. “Thanks for coming to visit us.”

Franny grins up at her Uncle, legs swinging from the bench as she laughs. Her tummy tickles, she’s so excited. Her Uncles always make her feel like they’re having as much fun as she is - like she might be the fun one after all.

Uncle Mickey clips her seatbelt for her, shooting her a wink as the truck rumbles to life.

“Can we listen to music?” She asks. She never really likes the music Mama plays but she enjoys listening to her sing along.

“Sure, Kid.” Uncle Mickey flips on the radio and then points to the buttons. “Give those a smash until you land on something good.”

Franny giggles and immediately begins pressing all the buttons, listening to jumbled bits of music until a heavy guitar riff blasts through.

“I want this one!”

Uncle Mickey nods his head along to the beat. “Good call, Red. This rocks.”

“Rocks?” She asks, and Uncle Mickey laughs and sticks up his pointy and pinky finger, making his hand look like horns.

“Rocks!”

Franny does the same with both hands, shoving them into the air as she yells, “This rocks!”

Uncle Mickey laughs again and copies her. “Fuck yeah!”

“Mick,” Uncle Ian says sternly, but he doesn’t sound mad. Not really. He’s still smiling at Uncle Mickey when he apologises, the way Franny sees him do all the time. She likes how much Uncle Ian smiles. Mama says it’s important to make people you love smile.

Uncle Ian and Uncle Mickey must love each other a whole lot to smile at each other as much as they do. It makes Franny smile, because she loves them too.

“Who wants pizza for dinner?” Uncle Ian asks, grabbing his phone from the dash and handing it to Uncle Mickey.

“I do! I do!” Franny insists.

“I’ll order us some pepperoni pizzas, extra cheese,” Mickey says, nodding at Franny who beams back up at her Uncle. “They’ll be waiting for us when we get home.”

Home. Franny likes the sound of that.

It makes her smile.

Other prompt fills

Support the creator

[babyspacebatclone]

Definitely a productive addition!

First: ASL is awesome if you stim and/or move your hands a lot while you talk!! I love being able to do “Please” “Sorry” and “Thank You” while speaking, although obviously it’s easy to mix up the first two. 😜

And to the bulk of your post…

(typical BabyBat wall of text, a readmore for sanity! 😊)

Something I try to do when I’m encouraging behaviors in the children I work with at my own (pre kindergarten, general population) daycare is deliberately go through the questions “Why am I doing this? What will the child receive from it, short term and long term?”

For example, we have an 8 month old who sits well, but has 0 interest in crawling. Actively cries for “tummy time” (i.e. placing them on the floor tummy down to encourage neck control and/or crawling behaviors).

And while it’s subtle, can shift themselves enough while sitting to reach desired objects - specifically, rug edges, which they love to pick up.

Most of the other staff are beside themselves that we “have” to teach them to crawl.

That’s normal!

First of all, no. All babies develop their own style of movement before they master walking (if they have that capability); we see tons of weird movements at the center, so the insistence is doubly baffling to me.

But why do they want the baby to crawl?

For very good intentions: To increase independence, and to build up skills towards more mobility.

You need to stop sometimes and ask, “Is this behavior actually preventing things??”

Caregivers of all kinds, trainings, and experience inevitably fall on a wide range of being cognizant of this question.

Some consciously believe “They need to achieve typical milestones!” then act on that.

Others think they believe in the “normal” myth, but their everyday experience means they unconsciously work with a child on their own level.

Then you have people who give mouth service about “Every child has their own developmental path!” - and then berate an 8 month old for not performing behaviors “correctly.” 🙄

Obviously, my personal philosophy is “What does the child need, how can we get that?” and then try to stop myself when the child is upset at my intervention and ask if I’m being consistent with that.

I’d rather have people like a your internship who have learned through experience - even if it’s just in self defense - that when a kid is upset there is a reason for this, and trying to push through with a “treatment” without addressing that is pointless at best and damaging in the long term.

For example…

The 8 month old in question is huge - heavier than some of our over 1 year olds. There’s a lot of muscle, but they’re also super stocky, with limb length proportional to their age and not weight.

I seriously suspect that they’re not strong enough to move all that body mass, or sometimes even move their arms and legs out from under their core, unless they are sitting.

Yes, this is going to mean they’re not building up muscle strength right now.

But they’re doing a lot of observing and fine motor skill development.

When their body develops more, I’m very confident they’re move on to supported standing to supplement their inherent curiosity, even if they never develop major lateral movement until they walk and do that a few months later.

What does this baby need right now?

To feel independent, to consume stimulation they enjoy, and to get social stimulation from others.

Sitting and minor butt scooting achieve those.

Let the kid be.

Unaware of the hurdles speech can pose, parents are often thrilled when ABA teaches their child to speak — after all, who wouldn’t want to hear, “I love you”? They rarely realize that other approaches could facilitate more interaction while taxing their child less.

Source

I was reading this article about how ABA just - doesn’t work. And the above paragraph really got to me.

I’m a daycare teacher, and kind of a “pitch hitter” in my center - I fill in whatever role is currently needed, based on the 5.5 years of experience I have working all our age groups.

Currently, I have minimal interaction with the Toddler room (1.3 years to 2.5 years), mostly going in for 20 minutes once a week to do 2 morning breaks on the day I make sure our usual break person isn’t working 45 hours a week.

Anyway…….

The room of 14 kids actually has 2 nonverbal Autistic children, which is exceptionally bizarre luck but there you have it. Fortunately, the two staff in the room are amazing with both. One of the kids stays until the center closes half the week, and I end up being one of the two staff that hangs out with them alone for 15 minutes after everyone else is gone.

I’ve had much less interaction with “David,” the other, although he’s the one that started one-on-one intervention earlier. Apparently he’s doing fantastic with sign language; I’ve yet to work enough to recognize the signs he knows, which exceed my own vocabulary.

But he’ll come up to me and circle his arms, like for Wheels on the Bus.

I only learned this Friday it’s actually for a song his mother sings, “Roly Poly,” and was relieved to learn why he was ignoring my attempts to sing Wheels on the Bus.

Because he’s been coming up to climb into my lap with the arm circles, then grab mine and circle them.

It was so good to understand his exasperation with me, not understanding him, but that he also recognized my good intentions to engage with him.

I spend so little time with David, so the fact he has decided I’m worth seeking out for mutual play is amazing.

To me, a child feeling safe enough to come up to me circling their arms intently is a lion’s roar of “You’re trustworthy!!”

You don’t need words to communicate with a child.

More therapists for Autistic children need to spend time working with infants below 8 months old.

Learn how to read a dozen babies needs, interests, and capabilities.

Then start working on the 2 year old nonverbals.

[ahatintimepieces]

Fabric Hearts

Remember the first part of that build-a-bear au I wrote for @smieska-draws? It’s back! But now the au name makes sense! Imagine!

Luka, known as the Snatcher to most of the mall locals, runs the Kraft-a-Kid while his daughter, Hattie, runs around with her friends. There’s definitely nothing suspicious about Luka. The rumors that he snatches the souls of children and stuffs them into the dolls are completely unfounded. Probably. Most likely. Don’t worry about it, I’m sure it’s fine.

This is, of course, another au that Smieska and I both developed and like to swap ideas for SO send her your love and adulation because I couldn’t have written this without her ;o; <333 Here’s the link to the piece she did for first part if you haven’t seen it yet (which u should because it’s fabulous and incredible). Without further ado, here it is!

Words: 4,131

The door squeaked open as Luka recorded the number of tiny, elastic collars with bright bells in the back.

“Dimitri can’t make it today,” he warned without looking up from his clipboard. His golden gaze flickered up towards the boxes filled with cotton stuffing and he quickly counted them as footsteps approached. “If you get a sudden influx of customers, come grab me.”

“It’s me, Dad,” Hattie’s voice came from right beside him.

“Did I stutter?” He glanced down without missing a beat. She gave him a deadpan stare as he grinned. His sharp canines glinted in the unnaturally bright florescent lights. “Come on, kiddo. How about you help me with my business endeavors instead of frittering away your summer romping around the mall?”

She readjusted the brim of the top hat she made from her millinery lessons at the fabric store. Why his child fixated on hat-making out of everything she could have taken an interest in was beyond him but even he had to admit her royal purple top hat was well crafted.

“I’m going with Belle and the others to get lunch at the food court,” she said, ignoring his jesting. “Can I have money?”

“You know if you had a job you wouldn’t need to be asking me,” he lamented dramatically before wedging the clipboard between his arm and side. He reached for his wallet in the back pocket of his slacks.

“I’m not even twelve.” She blinked up at him with large blue eyes. “There are child labor laws.”

“Excellent.” He nodded, opening his wallet. “Don’t let anyone in the mall convince you otherwise. But,” he slipped out a bill and gave her a pointed look, “if you accept this, you have to do me a favor.”

“I already cleaned the bathrooms last weekend,” she whined.

His grin widened.

“Tough luck, kiddo.” He twisted the bill in the air, watching her nose scrunch as she seriously weighed her options. After a second of letting her think that she was going to have to do her least favorite chore, he extended the bill towards her. “Just bring me back a coffee and I’ll consider us even.”

Relief instantly flooded her features as she took the bill.

“I can do that! Your usual?” She headed towards the door.

“That’ll work,” he said, tucking away his wallet and grabbing the clipboard again.

“Thanks, Dad!” she chirped before moving to open the door.

Just as she reached for it, the door swung open, and she stumbled back. Luka immediately dropped the clipboard and slipped behind her with the speed of shadows dodging the light. She smacked into his legs, and he placed a steadying hand on her shoulder as Alex walked in with wide eyes.

“I’m so sorry, kid! I didn’t see you there.” Alex winced, looking from Hattie to Luka’s hard glare.

“I’m fine!” Hattie promised, giving a bright smile until she placed her hand over Luka’s fingers. She jolted and twisted around. “Dad, are you okay? You’re really warm.”

“It is hot in here.” Alex tugged at their collar, wincing.

“The thermostat dial was probably nudged,” Luka dismissed, pulling away and stooping to grab the clipboard. “I’ll take a look.”

“Should I get you water?” Hattie asked.

“I have water. Now go have fun.” He shooed her towards the door. “The sooner you leave the sooner you can run my errand.”

Hattie hesitated but when he returned to his task of recording inventory, he heard her retreating footsteps.

“Sorry,” Alex muttered as they crossed over to the table for the employees. They dropped their backpack before grabbing the light purple apron with their nametag.

“Let’s just be careful with how forcefully we open doors, hm? I don’t want to deal with any workplace liability cases. They’re a pain.” Luka shot the teen a toothy grin. Glancing back down to the clipboard, he added in a more monotone cadence, “Anyway, Dimitri can’t come today, so once Ember leaves, it’ll just be you and me for the rest of the day. If it gets too crowded on the floor and I’m not around, come find me.”

“Right.” They nodded firmly. While wiping back their bangs and smearing the beads of sweat on their brow, they hurried out. Once the door closed behind them and Luka was alone, he let out a sigh.

The flame that had flared when Hattie nearly got hit crackled noisily in his otherwise empty chest. Luka placed one of his pale hands over the flame and counted out the seconds between metered inhales and exhales. The snap and pop of embers faded and when he glanced towards the thermostat, the temperature in the room lowered back to a comfortable range.

Not that he was bothered by the heat, but he didn’t need his employees passing out.

Ember’s shift ended as he got to counting the unstuffed plush shells. As she hung her apron over the hook, she informed him that two separate groups had just entered the store. Luka nodded, finishing his current count before getting ready to help Alex on the floor.

He brushed back his long, spiky hair into a ponytail. Stray strands the color of soot fluttered against his cheek, and he tucked them behind his ear.

They reflected a warm violet when they caught the light.

With his hair as contained as he could manage, he grabbed his own amethyst apron with the Kraft-a-Kid’s signature logo; a stylized baby goat and parent goat waving a friendly greeting. After draping it over his black suit and making sure it didn’t displace his dark purple tie, he tied the apron with nimble fingers, clawed at the tips. He double-checked that the pocket had extra thread and a compact sewing kit before he clipped on his name tag and headed out into the workshop.

Alex snapped their head up from one of the stuffing stations, looking relieved when they spotted Luka rounding the counter. Alex returned their full attention to the small girl and her mother while Luka smiled at the two teens with a younger child hovering by the bins of unstuffed shells by the entrance.

While he didn’t know them personally, he recognized Brooke and her younger sister Hali, who worked (or in Hali’s case just hovered around in the back when not at daycare) at their uncle’s travel agency, and then Makoto, who worked at the jewelry store. Judging from their uniforms, the teens were probably using their breaks to accompany Hali. Since he often heard good things about their work ethic and Hali’s sweet nature from Mari, he assumed he had an easy session ahead. He waved them over.

Brooke and Makoto shared a nervous look while Hali bounded over with a bright smile.

“Why, hello there!” Luka pasted on his most vibrant customer service smile as he lowered onto the seat by the stuffing station. Cotton and soft fibers filled the glass tank decorated to look like hearty trees and branches climbed around the edges. The machine itself matched the lilac walls and brown and bronze gears that decorated them. The bins and shelves that held the merchandise throughout the store were all structured to look like spools of golden thread.

Holding an unstuffed goat with dark brown fuzz and silver horns, Hali shyly smiled up at Luka as Brooke and Makoto slowly joined.

“I see you’ve picked your new friend!” Luka held out his hands and Hali gingerly lowered the flat goat into his palms. “Before we bring them to life, how stuffed do you want them to be?”

“Um?” Hali tilted her head with a blank expression.

“Do you want them to be firm or squishy?” Luka clarified, fitting the goat around the nozzle and getting his foot ready over the pedal.

“Fiwm, pwease!” Hali declared in a cutesy voice.

“Excellent choice!” Luka set to work, pumping the pedal as he filled out the head of the goat plush. The machine roared to life, blowing air and fluff with the force of a vacuum. Though, his ears perked when he caught Brooke and Makoto in an intense discussion as they remained a couple steps back. What he couldn’t hear over the machine, he pieced together easily enough.

He knew the rumors and could guess what was on their mind when they mentioned the Snatcher and stolen souls.

Luka smirked as he pulled his foot from the pedal and the machine hushed.

“Now it’s time for my favorite part.” He beamed, pulling off the firmly stuffed goat and then reaching for a bucket full of small felt hearts. “The soul ceremony! Go ahead and pick the heart that most resonates with you.”

“If it’s just a heart, why is it called a soul ceremony?” Brooke asked, her voice quivering as she pressed closer to Makoto.

Hali, meanwhile, was completely enraptured with picking out the right fabric heart.

“Hearts, souls, same thing, really,” Luka soothed with a toothy grin, giving the teens a considering look.

Makoto’s gaze flickered down to his fangs. She lifted her chin, trying to project an air of confidence. But her furrowed brows wavered.

“Souws awe heawts?” Hali gasped, looking up with awe.

“Absolutely!” Luka kept his voice cheerful, gesturing to the bucket. “It’s what gives your new friend life! I imagine without one, they would feel pretty empty and hollow.” Keeping his chin tilted down, he lifted his eyes towards the teens and lowered his voice just a touch. “Wouldn’t you feel pretty soulless without a heart?”

The two stiffened.

“Pwobabwy!” Hali chirped, completely unaware of their increasing unease. She dug around the hearts and pursed her lips. “How do woo know which heawt is the best?”

“That’s up to you!” Luka bounced effortlessly back into an upbeat cadence. He pinched a heart with a checkerboard pattern in red and white. “The nice thing about these hearts is that they’re blank slates. They’ll be filled with whatever you put into them. But don’t put in too much!” he added with a chuckle. “Wouldn’t want your new friend to be more you than you!”

Brooke squeaked in fright and his grin stretched.

“I wiwl take this one, then!” Hali held up a solid red heart.

“Great! Hold on to it, now.” Luka placed the tub back down. “First, why don’t you rub the heart on your hair so your little buddy will always have soft fur!”

Hali beamed at that and rubbed the fabric heart on her hair. When she pulled it back down, some of the blond strands followed the heart while the strands too far away stuck up from the lingering static.

“Well done! Now, rub it against your funny bone so your friend has a sense of humor.” Luka tapped his elbow when Hali crinkled her nose for a moment. Her eyes lit up in understanding and once the heart was granted good humor, Luka added, “and why don’t you strike a superhero pose, so that your pal will hold courage.”

Hali giggled as she placed her hands on her hips and preened.

“Fantastic. Lastly, I want you to rub the heart between your palms!” Luka motioned for her to mimic him as he demonstrated. “Now, when it’s nice and warm, give it a clap to start its heartbeat!”

The clap resounded through the workshop and the teens jolted behind her.

“That should do it,” Luka praised, holding out his palm. Hali handed the heart over, and he slipped it into the goat, tucking it snuggly away in the cotton and fluff.

He then set to filling out the rest of the plush. Once it was stiff and sturdy, he handed it to her, asking if she was content with it. When he received an enthusiastic nod, he took it back and sealed the hole. He snipped the extra thread with the scissors in his apron and then passed the goat back to Hali.

“Here’s your new friend! Be sure to visit our shop in the back! We have plenty of accessories and outfits for the newest member of your family,” Luka recited the same sales pitch as always. “Once you’re ready, head over to an open kiosk so you can fill out the adoption papers. If you need any help, Alex or I will be overjoyed to assist.”

“Thank woo!” Hali hurried over to the accessories, hugging the goat to her chest.

Luka clasped his hands and turned to the teens. When his gaze flickered to the floppy hooded doll in Makoto’s arms, her embrace tightened.

“Ready?” He motioned for her to hand it over so that he could stuff it.

She looked to Brooke, who shrugged with uncertainty. Makoto stepped forward.  

Keeping his tone light, he went through the same script as always. He asked if she wanted the doll to be firm or squishy and, in an effort to loosen her up a bit, offered to add any fun sound boxes or scents to the plush. She remained on edge until he asked about the nametag on her uniform as the machine roared to life again. She explained how her boss liked to give everyone themed nicknames and she was saddled with “Makoneko.” When he asked if she appreciated the nickname, she pointedly rolled her eyes as he removed his foot from the machine pedal again. Her shoulders relaxed when he chuckled.

“Your turn to pick a heart,” Luka twittered in an overly cheerful voice as he held out the bucket.

“Do I have to do the ceremony?” Makoto hesitated, plucking the first heart she saw. Rather than scared, her bored expression mirrored that of many teens who wanted to skip the step.

Perfect.

“I wouldn’t recommend it.” He shrugged casually. “What is a heart without a heartbeat? A soul without a person behind the personality?”

“What?” She faltered, shoulders slowly stiffening again as Brooke’s eyes widened.

“I only mean it’ll be a sorry existence for this little friend.” Luka waved the stubby hands of the purple plush toy. “And you get out what you put in.” Her brows dipped in slight confusion, and he smirked. “You have to at least start its heartbeat. You don’t want to bring a ghost home, do you?”  

“Just do the ceremony!” Brooke hissed through clenched teeth.

“F-fine,” Makoto said, slowly lifting the heart to her long black locks. “So, hair for soft fur?”

“Does it look like this one has fur?” Luka gestured to the doll with the yellow spiral in its hood. He scoffed, turning up his nose. “Of course not! No. First, why don’t you rub the heart against your belly so that it’s full of laughter.”

“I thought that was the elbow.” Makoto crinkled her nose. Though she rubbed the heart against her stomach, eager to get it over with.

“There is a difference between telling good jokes and laughing at them, kiddo,” Luka offered with a smirk. “Now, how about you jump up and down a few times? I’m sure your friend would love to share some of your energy.”

“What does that mean?” She jolted.

“Just that exercise keeps the heart healthy,” Luka said placidly.

Her eyes narrowed but she eventually gave a sluggish skip.  

“Then, rub it against your ear, so it will always listen.” He smiled brightly, being sure to bare his teeth. Once she complied, he clasped his hands together. “I’m sure you know what to do now! Warm it between your palms and then clap to start the heartbeat!”

She let out the breath that she had been holding, relieved it was finally over. She gave a small clap before passing the heart back. He slipped it into the doll.

“Any names in mind for your friend?” Luka prompted as his foot tapped the pedal.

“I don’t know,” she mumbled curtly, purposefully trying to let the whirling air in the stuffing machine drown out her answer.

“How’s this feel?” he asked a few seconds later when the machine hushed again. He pulled the doll from the nozzle and passed it back to her.

“Good.” She returned it after assessing the squishiness.

“If you haven’t got any names, I always thought these particular dolls looked like minions,” he prattled, closing the seam. When she didn’t respond, he continued lightly, “so Minion might be a good name.” He glanced up to meet her gaze and lowered his tone. “You did make sure it’ll listen. It’ll be an obedient little kiddo.”

Her breath hitched.

“Obedient to who?” she challenged, maintaining a fragile glare.

“All done!” Luka snapped upright after snipping the excess thread, pretending he hadn’t heard her question. “Welcome your friend into the world!”

Makoto accepted the doll, her gaze flickering between it and Luka with uncertainty.

“Same as always,” he droned in his peppy, customer service voice. “Browse to your contentment. My daughter recommends the plush purple cherries. You want to keep your buddy happy and fed! Make sure to finalize the adoption and meet Alex or I by the counter.” He glanced over to find the other young girl with her mother already at the cash register. “Looks like it’ll be Alex!”

Makoto nodded numbly as Brooke stepped forward and looped her arm through hers, rescuing Makoto by tugging her away.

“One more thing,” Luka began, keeping his eyes on his clean-up routine. The teens’ footsteps paused as they hovered. Though his smile laced his voice, his enunciation was sharp. “I’m sure the Snatcher doesn’t have to tell you but be sure to treat your new friend as you would yourself. You put your soul into bringing them to life, after all.”

The teens gasped.

“Have a good day, kids.” Laughter laced his voice.

They rushed away as he chuckled.

While he finished cleaning up, Hattie returned with her friends. As soon as she spotted him behind the stuffing machine, she rushed across the tiles decorated to look vaguely like a forest path.

“Here’s your coffee,” she chirped, holding up the cup.

“Any plans for the rest of the day?” he asked, pushing to his feet and picking stray fluff from his apron. Once he was as clean as he was going to get, he accepted the drink. He held it towards his lips, pausing to quirk a brow at young Muriel and Timmy as they passed the stuffing machines to check out all the colorful outfits. Belle, meanwhile, joined Hattie with her azure bow bouncing in her dark coils.

“We’re going to head to the bookstore.” Hattie shrugged. “Tim’s friend is hosting a card game tournament.”

“Remember to be back by six,” he instructed. “Don’t go snacking after four or you’ll spoil your dinner.”

“I know, Dad,” she huffed dramatically.

“Also, Mom says hi, Mr. Kingsley,” Belle pipped in.

“Tell Mari I return the sentiment. Now get your friends to stop loitering.” He turned back towards Hattie and rose his voice so Timmy and Mu could hear. “They scare away customers.”

“Says the Snatcher,” Timmy whispered to Mu.

Luka covered his smirk with the coffee cup. His gaze shifted over Hattie and Belle and he watched as Makoto and Brooke fled the store at a brisk pace. Hali struggled to keep up, but she managed to meet his eyes and offered a cheerful wave.

“Fine,” Hattie sighed. “Come on, guys!”

“I need to stop by Mom’s before we head to the bookstore,” Belle mentioned as she and Hattie turned to leave. “I left my cards with my backpack.”

As the girls left, Luka turned to head back towards the counter, taking a sip of his coffee. He immediately winced.

“Ugh, tepid,” he grumbled as Timmy and Mu ran past, hurrying out to follow Hattie and Belle.

After making sure the kids all had their backs turned and Alex was busy with something on the counter, Luka summoned a gentle ember to his hand. While the flame harmlessly licked the cup, the coffee warmed inside until steam wafted from the hole in the lid. He took a tentative sip and swallowed the scalding liquid.

The flames in his chest crackled and popped, and the knots in his shoulders eased.

He snuffed out the ember in his hand as he lowered the cup. Mist trailed from the lid as the coffee maintained its heat.

“I think you scarred those two for life,” Alex muttered as Luka returned to the counter.

“Which two?” he asked, mind still on Hattie and her friends.

“Brooke and Makoto.” Alex glanced up, shaking their head with a scolding expression.

“I didn’t do anything out of the ordinary,” Luka said calmly. He leaned against the counter, sipping his coffee during his momentary break. “If those hooligans are letting their imaginations run wild, it’s not on my conscience.”

“Uh-huh.” Alex gave him an unimpressed look. “Also, I think we’re running low on the beach ball accessories.”

“I noticed,” Luka muttered, swirling his cup pensively. “Those aren’t particularly popular, and we are getting near the end of the season…”

While they discussed whether they needed to send out an order or if they would make it until the fall selection came out, Hattie rolled on the balls of her feet as she, Timmy, and Mu waited for Belle to return from her mom’s flower shop just across from Kraft-a-Kid. Hattie idly watched all the mallgoers, thoughts blank, but Timmy and Mu had their eyes locked on Kraft-a-Kid, thoughts whirling noisier than the stuffing machines.

“Okay, I’m ready!” Belle announced as she bounced out with her deck of cards.

“Hattie.” Timmy whirled around. “Your dad’s magic!”

“Timmy, he doesn’t steal souls, we’ve been over this,” Hattie whined, crossing her arms.

“If he doesn’t steal souls, then what’s with his coffee?” Mu snapped, nodding her head towards the display window where Luka could be seen leaning against the counter inside the workshop.

Hattie squinted, trying to figure out what was out of place with the steaming coffee cup. After a moment, she turned to Belle, who shrugged.

“It’s hot!” Mu gestured wildly, causing her blond mustache to bob with her movement. “Look at that steam!”

Hattie blinked in disbelief.

“Yeah,” Belle supplied dryly. “Because Hattie ordered it hot.”

“But he said it was tepid!” Timmy argued. “We heard him!”

“He probably thinks it is,” Hattie said, knitting her brows together. “He likes his coffee hot enough to burn his tastebuds.”

“You aren’t getting it!” Mu huffed. “It wasn’t steaming when he said it was cold!”

“Okay, but even if he somehow heated it up, that didn’t have anything to do with stealing souls,” Belle appeased.

“That’s what we mean!” Timmy urged. “If he can use one type of magic, he can use others!”

“I regret the day I told you about those rumors,” Hattie grumbled.

It didn’t matter as much when strangers said it, but instead of laughing with Hattie when she told them that people thought her dad was some kind of heartless, soul-snatching monster, Mu and Timmy had latched onto the conspiracy and ever since refused to let go. She couldn’t talk about new product plushies or designs around them anymore because they would just start a debate about which shell would best hold the souls of children.

“Look can we just get going?” She started walking in the direction of the bookstore and Belle matched her pace. Mu hurried to catch up as Timmy trailed behind, keeping a watchful eye on Kraft-a-Kid.

“Are you sure you haven’t seen anything weird?” Mu insisted. “Heard any screams of children he caught? Seen any dolls move in the corner of your eye?”

“You know he laughs like a cartoon villain?” Timmy added.

“The store is literally called Kraft-a-Kid!” Mu continued. “Open your eyes, Hattie!”

“Kid is just another word for baby goat!” Belle argued. “It’s cute!”

“We aren’t talking about this anymore!” Hattie snapped, tugging down on the brim of her hat. She turned away from them and focused on Belle. “So, what deck are you using? The one with fairy types? Or your cat themed one?”

“Both!” She grinned mischievously as she happily helped to redirect the conversation. “I combined them because I wanted to use all my favorites. How about you?”

“Going with the forest deck.” Hattie glanced up, where her deck was safely tucked away in the hidden compartment she stitched into the top hat.

Timmy and Mu huffed, letting their argument go as they pipped in with talking about their own decks. But it was only a matter of time before they started back on their theories about her dad’s supposed magic. Trying not to deflate too much, she kept her eyes forward. She swallowed her frustration and focused on the upcoming tournament.

Besides, even if her dad did have magic and only used it for heating up coffee, it hardly seemed something a heartless monster would do.

Right?

[tennessoui]

Hi miss Kit! So um, I'm not the anon who had the idea about the Pokemon obikin AU but I saw that you're still looking for a prompt so I did some brainstorming?

Obviously Anakin is aiming to be a Pokemon Master which is why he'll have to fight the elite four eventually. Which is not an easy task despite what the games might imply! So what if, despite breezing through the gyms before, beating Team Rocket and having a team that is powerful and adores him, he still fails his first attempt at the league.

I remember Prof Oak telling your rival after you beat him in gen 1 that he lost to you because he doesn't love his Pokemon enough which is bullsh*t!! But must surely be a cutting remark.

So ofc he goes to caretaker!Obi-Wan afterwards because he is a former Pokemon trainer so how has he dealt with loss before? Does Anakin really not love his team enough? Bonus points if Obi has challenged the league before (and won??)

I just realized that this is way too angsty for the Pokemon universe >.< everything is nice and soft here

alright!!!!!! finally!!! here is that pokémon au, a bastardization of this prompt and @sinhalbutnoangst 's prompt "24: Right before a passionate/first kiss & 16: “There’s nothing to be scared of, okay? I’m right here.” For a Pokémon AU !!!"

I hope y'all both enjoy or at least find parts to be happy about!!!

(fair warning i don't know a lot about pokémon so who knows how accurate this is at ALL)

(3.3k)

(i've linked each pokémon name with their pokedex picture just so everyone knows what they look like. no need to read the descriptions or anything)(god knows i didn't half the time)

Obi-Wan is in the water, tending to a shy gyarados a trainer had left behind as a Magikarp a few months ago, when on the shore his flareon raises its muzzle and barks loudly. That’s her signal that someone’s arrived at the Daycare center proper. Obi-Wan furrows his eyebrows, as he strokes his hand down the gyarados' side.

“I always tell them to call ahead,” he mutters as the pokemon nudges closer for more attention. “Why do they never call ahead?”

Gyarados knocks him hard in the arm. It’s clear she wants more pats, but business calls.

“Would you mind terribly taking me back to shore, dear?” Obi-Wan asks politely. It’d be faster than swimming all the way there, and it would strengthen the Pokémon's connection with humans.

On the shore, Flareon bounds around in a circle, tail flickering back and forth. It must be someone she recognizes the scent of. A regular then. That means Obi-Wan can take his time getting back to the counter to greet them, but he probably shouldn’t show up dripping wet in only a pair of swim trunks.

Luckily, Gyarados gives him a lift, bellowing mournfully to be left alone again when Obi-Wan alights onto the sand. When her trainer comes back to pick it up, Obi-Wan has half a mind to offer to buy her from them. No one who actually cares about their pokemon would leave a magikarp to become a gyarados under the care and instruction of someone else.

But becoming known as the Daycare Runner who gets attached to Pokémon and tries to keep them is perhaps a serious threat to his business as a whole. And he’s already done that too many times.

No, the best thing to do is to wait for the trainer to come back and sit them down to give them a serious talk about their Pokémon’s emotional needs. They’re probably young. Most trainers are these days. On some level you have to be in order to have the energy to travel as much as you do, to sleep on the ground more nights than not.

Yes, they’re probably young, and more focused on gym battles than their Pokémons’ growth and happiness. It happens sometimes with tunnel vision like that. Too many advertisements for the Pokémon League, the Elite Four, the Gym badges. Obi-Wan had been the same way when he was a kid.

He gathers his clothes from the shoreline and slips on his shoes. Flareon tries to help dry him out by wrapping herself repeatedly around his ankles and cooing out gusts of warm air, but all it does is create a new and unusual tripping hazard.

Especially when she suddenly perks up, about halfway to the building and jumps forward into a run. Obi-Wan stares after her, confused, clothes held in a slackened grip until he sees a very familiar growlithe running fult tilt from around the building. It hops the fence with practiced ease that makes Obi-Wan inwardly despair at the lesson it’s unwittingly teaching all of the other Pokémon.

But he can’t deny the way his heart thuds when he realizes what its presence means. His flareon, embarrassingly enough, seems to be thinking along the same lines, as she bounds up to the growlithe and starts winding between his legs instead, rubbing her head over every part of black and orange fur she can reach.

Obi-Wan sighs and shucks on his buttoned shirt, shaking out the water from his hair. He doesn’t even really bother with pants, seeing as his wet swim trunks go almost to his knees.

It’s Anakin. Anakin’s here. Anakin hasn’t been here for four months when he left in the midst of a shouting match. Obi-Wan has been trying--unsuccessfully--to put Anakin out of his mind. And now Anakin’s growlithe is prancing towards him like it’s a special present to see him at all.

“Yes, hello there,” Obi-Wan murmurs, pausing in buttoning up his shirt so he can pet at the growlithe’s--what does Anakin call him again?--muzzle. For a second, the Pokémon nuzzles back, scenting his face and neck as territorial Pokémon are wont to do, before it moves quickly forward and grabs Obi-Wan by the shirt, swinging him up onto its back.

Out of shock and a latent survival instinct, Obi-Wan drops the rest of his clothes and clings to the Pokémon’s back. “Shit!” is on the tip of his tongue the entire two minutes it takes to bound back to the fence, over it and through the welcome doors of his own Daycare.

Anakin is standing, back to the entrance, furiously tapping the bell on the desk, looking somehow both desperate and bored.

Growlithe barks once, twice, and shakes himself hard enough that Obi-Wan knows to let go before he gets rolled over upon.

It’s not the most graceful entrance he would have chosen after going months without seeing Anakin, to land on his back, partially dressed and smelling like the sea at the Pokémon trainer’s feet.

Anakin at least has the wherewithal to be both surprised and immediately worried. “Obi-Wan!” he yelps, turning around immediately upon his growlithe’s bark of victory.

“Yes, hello there,” Obi-Wan says dryly sitting up from his sprawl and combing a nervous hand through his hair.

“Where are your clothes?” Anakin asks shrilly, turning a very interesting shade of magenta and looking quickly away from Obi-Wan.

Obi-Wan couldn’t be more different, what with the way he looks at Anakin as if he’s starved for the sight of him. It’s been several long months since they last saw each other. The fight had been...awful, to say the least. Anakin had accused him of not really wanting him to succeed. Obi-Wan had accused him of the same tunnel vision he diagnoses most young adults to have.

Neither had been true. Obi-Wan hadn’t even meant it, but he’d been mad. He’d been mad that Anakin hadn’t even thought to listen to him more than a Gym Leader he’d just defeated.

Palpatine had urged him to go straight to the League. Obi-Wan had thought it prudent to return home to his mother, give his Pokémon a break, work his way to the island of the Pokémon League naturally as a means of bonding with and further testing his Pokémon. He has no idea who Anakin ended up listening to. It’s been something that has haunted him for weeks.

“Out in the back,” Obi-Wan grunts, standing and trying to pick up the shattered pieces of his dignity under the Pokémon trainer’s wide-eyed stare. Anakin’s grown older in the past few months, his face sharper. What is he now, newly twenty-three? Halfway to twenty-four? “Your Growlithe was quite enthusiastic to bring me here as soon as possible.”

Anakin flushes and looks down at his feet. He looks tired, Obi-Wan decides. Like he’s walked the entire continent just to show up at his door.

“Sorry,” Anakin says sheepishly. “I had--”

“Him out and walking with you, I know,” Obi-Wan finishes with a fond shake of his head. He buttons the last necessary button on his shirt and sweeps past Anakin to stand behind his desk. “You always liked having one of them out with you. How’s your Jolteon?”

“Twilight?” Anakin asks, sounding surprised Obi-Wan even remembered he had a jolteon. He tries not to feel offended. It’s an unfortunate truth that Obi-Wan remembers almost everything about Anakin, the trainer that used to hang around his daycare as though he couldn’t bear to step more than fifty paces from his front door. “He’s fine. A bit angry with me, I think.”

“Oh?” Obi-Wan asks, furrowing his brow as he looks up at his guest. “I’m not sure I understand.”

Anakin is quiet for a few seconds, and his hands clench down on the edge of the counter-top. When he speaks, his voice wavers. “Obi-Wan...do you think my Pokémon love me? Like, do you think I am a good trainer?”

Obi-Wan stares at him. This isn’t a conversation he should have without pants on, he decides. He slowly puts his pen down. “What happened, Anakin?” he asks gently, reaching out and laying a hand on the arm Anakin still has resting against the counter.

“I lost,” his favorite trainer whispers, looking down. Growlithe--Resolute, that’s what Anakin had named him--noses into the nape of his neck. Obi-Wan is not jealous. “I challenged the Elite Four, and I lost in the second round.”

Obi-Wan’s hand tightens completely involuntarily. He hates hearing that after their years-long friendship, the last few years where he’d thought perhaps they were on the verge of being something more, despite his reservations, Anakin had listened to Palpatine over him. Palpatine.

“Come around back here,” he instructs after a second’s thought. Somehow, still, after all these months, he thinks he knows what Anakin needs. “And release all of your Pokémon from their Pokéballs.”

“All of them?” Anakin asks, sounding so unsure Obi-Wan’s heart aches with the doubt of it all before he reigns that in. This isn’t about him.

This isn’t about him, but he can’t stop himself from asking, just once, “Yes. Do you trust me?”

Anakin’s fingers hesitate on the seal of his first Pokéball, and Obi-Wan’s heart jumps into his throat. “Yeah,” Anakin finally says gruffly, pressing the release. “Yeah, I do.”

His altaria pops out of her Pokéball with a trill and a flap of her cloud-shaped wings. He just catches a hint of the jolteon materialize into existence before he turns his back. “I’m going to put on proper clothes,” he tells Anakin over his shoulder. “Please, make yourself comfortable. I’m sure your Pokémon will remember half the ones here.”

And all of the ones Obi-Wan calls his own, he doesn’t add. Anakin should know. Anakin’s known them since he was fifteen years old and surly over the fact that his mother wouldn’t let him go out and hunt legendary Pokémon until he finished schooling.

He finds his abandoned clothes quickly, and shuffles into them. Flareon noses around him curiously, with more than a bit of excitement. She probably smells Anakin on him. The thought doesn’t warm his cheeks, but if it does, he’ll blame it on the sudden amount of heat she’s giving off.

He leaves his shirt as is and doesn’t even bother with the vest or tie. He’s not here to be Professor Kenobi. He’s here to be Obi-Wan, Anakin’s friend. That’s what Anakin needs from him right now. A friend.

He fixes his hair anyway in a mad bout of nerves, but no one, not even his mienshao or flareon, obsessed with appearances as they are, are paying enough attention to him in order to soothe his sudden insecurities.

More than anything, he wants to be back in the sea, surrounded by the gyarados’ coils. He doesn’t understand humans as much as he would like to, and he certainly doesn’t understand Anakin. Not anymore. Perhaps he never did.

His flareon bumps at his wrist with the crown of her head and he looks down with a sigh. “Someone’s excited, I see,” he murmurs wryly, smoothing down the stuck-up fur of her hair and chest mane. She purrs. “Not the most excited though,” he adds with a huff as he sees a blur of white and blue from the corner of his eyes as the female Meowstic who spends most of her time strolling the parameter of the Daycare abandons her position to dart towards the backdoors where a newly emerged navy male Meowstic stands waiting.

They collide and curl into each other, two halves of one whole brought back together.

Well, that’s as good as any sign to approach Anakin, who has decided to collapse on the soft grass of the enclosure. Other than the Meowstic, his freed Pokémon have curled around him. The jolteon, Artoo, rests by his head, while his charizard, Mustafar, brackets the length of his body with his own. The growlithe sits watchful at his feet, while a new, unfamiliar pancham curls up on his chest. Finally, his gallade sits cross-legged to his side.

“Yes,” Obi-Wan drawls before he can help himself, “It’s very obvious that your Pokémon don’t love you.”

Anakin bolts upright at the sound of his voice. The pancham growls at him, a baby noise that Obi-Wan didn’t necessarily think the species capable of.

The Pokémon trainer hushes it quickly with a stern, “Vader, no.”

Obi-Wan comes to sit cross-legged in front of the man. “You didn’t have a pancham last time,” he says easily. What he really wants to ask is much more complicated. He wants to know everything. He wants to know how Anakin changed. When. Why. He wants to know what’s still the same.

It’s always complicated when it comes to Anakin. It’s never been easy.

“He was injured when I found him,” Anakin admits, stroking the top of Vader’s head. “But a fighter. I think I was injured when I found him too.”

The man seems so lost in his own recollections that Obi-Wan hates to interrupt. Carefully, Anakin’s jolteon, Twilight, noses his hand. When he’s not pushed away, he jumps into Obi-Wan’s lap with a trill. Flareon lets out a hiss, but acquiesces when the jolteon licks at her snout, accepting her ownership of Obi-Wan.

“I had just lost,” Anakin says slowly. “I wanted to come back here, rent a Lapras and just ride until I saw the shoreline I knew was yours. But I didn’t know what you’d say to me. How mad you’d still be.”

Obi-Wan bites his lip. He wouldn’t have been mad. He’d been worried, from the second Anakin left his property. But how to tell the man that? Would the other even want to hear it? Would he think Obi-Wan was trying to infantilize him, to protect him?

“I didn’t want you to be right.” Anakin whispers, arms tightening around the Pokémon. “I didn’t want you to be right and say that I wasn’t ready. And then I was in the forest, walking home, and I found this guy. He’d been attacked by a bug pokémon who was probably a higher level. But he was so angry still. I...I wanted him on my team. I needed that fire back.”

Obi-Wan suddenly thinks that there’s much more distance between them than there should be. He wants to be hugging Anakin, to be kissing his temple. These were allowances they had given each other before the fight, things that Obi-Wan had squirreled away, close to his heart.

He wants them back.

“But I keep thinking about how the professor who gave me my first Pokémon told this guy I beat in my first battle that he lost because he didn’t love his Pokémon right, and I...I’m just worried that’s why I lost.” Anakin stares down at his pancham, who puts his paws on his cheeks and pats a few times.

“Oh, Anakin,” Obi-Wan sighs. He thinks it sounds too fond, too revealing, but Anakin looks up at him with wide, frightened eyes. “I’ve never known a trainer to love his Pokémon more, dear one.”

“Then why?” Anakin asks plaintively, scooting forward until their knees brush. “Why did I lose? The gym leader of Cinnabar Island told me I would win!”

Obi-Wan, quite maturely in his opinion, doesn’t mention the fact that the recently defeated Palpatine probably had ulterior motives for Anakin to challenge the league too quickly and then fail. “You weren’t ready, Anakin,” he says instead, placing his hand on the other’s knee and holding it even when the trainer jerks out of his grp. “Please, listen. It's about sheer time, training experience. It’s not about you or your relationship to your Pokémon. You have such an amazing, strong relationship with them! They love you. Anyone could tell. And you’re not lacking in skill either. I know your mind is sharp and ready for battle.”

Anakin looks at him teary-eyed. “I’ve been so worried that maybe they didn’t know I loved them,” he admits in a wavering voice.

Obi-Wan can’t resist moving impossibly closer to his trainer. “Oh, Anakin, of course they do. Pokémon don’t always express or interpret love the same way humans do, but they do have their own ways of showing it.”

“Like what?” Anakin sniffles, wiping at his wet eyes. If Obi-Wan had really been listening, he would have noticed the change in his tone. As it is, he continues immediately, too focused on trying to stop his trainer from crying to think of anything else.

“A fire-type Pokémon wil try to warm you if they think you’re cold, even if it means staying up all night to keep you in in its flame. And fighting-type Pokémon are capable of throwing a blanket over you if they think you need to rest. Psychic-types have been known to read their trainer’s emotions and either hug them or give them distance whenever they want. Ground- and bug-type have been known to bring berries to their trainers to get them something to eat, and electric--why are you looking at me like that?” Anakin’s nascent smirk grows bigger at this interruption and he cocks his head to the side as he studies Obi-Wan’s face. “And what does it say about a man who spends all of his time around Pokémon, that he would do those exact same things for me?”

Obi-Wan at least understands enough to scurry backwards a few paces, much to the jolteon in his lap’s distress, who jumps away with a huff.

“I’m not sure I understand,” he says quickly.

Anakin inches forward, setting the pancham, Vader, aside. He really has grown in the past few months. The loss of the League, the months apparently spent on the road, have aged him so that he’s both recognizable and something new and wild. “What if I knew of a man,” Anakin murmurs, falling to his palms as he closes the gap between them. “One who warmed me when I was cold, covered me when I was tired, hugged me when I was needy, and fed me when I was hungry? What would that mean, in terms of Pokémon?”

Obi-Wan swallows nervously. His entire body is bracketed by Anakin. Anakin, who seems to have discovered his most-guarded secret in their months apart. Anakin, who is hovering over him now with a dark look in his eyes. Finally something in Obi-Wan gives way. This is it. He will give Anakin everything he asks for. Everything he needs. He’s always tried to do this exact thing.

“I suppose that would mean he loved you,” he whispers, closing his eyes so he does not have to see Anakin’s recoil, Anakin’s disgust.

Anakin hums instead. “Obi-Wan,” he whispers, exhale hitting his lips. “Obi-Wan, open your eyes. There’s nothing to be scared of, beloved. I’m right here, I’m not going anywhere.”

At these words, Obi-Wan’s eyes jump open of their own accord. Anakin’s lips press down onto his in a movement just as sudden. He whimpers involuntarily and reaches up to clutch at the trainer’s hair, hold him to his mouth. Just as involuntarily, his lips part and Anakin’s tongue licks around the gap before darting inside. He moans. It’s shameful, the way he goes from scared to sucking on Anakin’s tongue as if he’ll die without the warm intrusion of it.

It hardly feels like the first time they’ve kissed. It feels like they’ve been kissing for years, like Anakin knows his mouth completely and utterly.

There are so many secrets left between them. Obi-Wan’s one unopened Pokéball, sitting on his belt. Anakin’s relationship with that last Gym leader. What he’s been doing these past few months. What Obi-Wan Kenobi made his fortune off of.

But none of it matters now. Not here at this moment. All that matters is showing Anakin that he’s been just as missed, just as wanted.

With that in mind, Obi-Wan rolls on top of his trainer and shoves his hands up inside Anakin’s shirt to trace along the muscles of his chest and back. This was his. His, his, his. He had come back to him. Everything else could wait.

[chickwiththepurpleguitar]

For a prompt, maybe Bobby having a job in high school where he teaches guitar to kids and Emily and Mitch mistakenly sign Luke up for lessons? (Bobby just doesn't sound like a teenager on the phone) Belated congratulations on the 500 milestone, btw ✨

Here you go, friend! I hope you like it! My first jatp AU fic lol :)

Read on ao3 here:

--

Here’s the thing: Luke already knows how to play the guitar.

Has he ever taken a lesson? Officially? No, of course not, because he’s not a nerd. But he’s been learning from YouTube tutorials for almost six years now, been writing his own stuff for four, been the lead singer and guitarist of an epic, legendary rock band for two. He’d say he’s pretty well covered in the “knowing how to play the guitar” department, without some crusty old guy showing him the chords to songs no one’s listened to since the 60s in the grimy basement of a church two hours a week.

And yet, here he stands, on the sidewalk outside said church, guitar case in hand and a truly menacing grimace on his face, staring up at the hand-painted sign on the door detailing “Guitar lessons for kids! Room B38” in big block letters.

“Well?” Alex, who drove Luke here because Luke is currently not on speaking terms with his mother and father out of pure unadulterated spite, claps a hand on his shoulder, already stifling giggles. “You ready for your lesson, kiddo?”

“I will kick you out of the band,” Luke threatens.

“Then you can walk home.” Alex jingles his keys teasingly, then tugs Luke into a quick hug. “Come on, man, I think it was a nice gesture. Try to make the most of it, at least your parents are trying.”

Right, because the whole reason Luke’s here is because his mom thought the lessons would be a good reward for Luke passing all his classes this semester. Because she heard him complaining that Sunset Curve needed a rhythm guitarist to fill out their sound and decided that meant he needed to learn how to do it himself, even though Luke tried to explain to her that he couldn’t play rhythm guitar and face-melting solos at the same time.

Of course, she didn’t listen, and then his dad found a flyer for this guy Robert giving lessons out of the local church, and before Luke could say no, the first month’s worth were already paid for and he didn’t have a choice.

And he supposes Alex is sort of right. At least his parents know what a guitar is. At least they’re trying to be somewhat, relatively supportive of his music, instead of pushing him to apply to college or get a job over the summer like they did constantly until he ran away for six months after Christmas and almost died (he’s fine now, but that near-death experience really changed his parents’ tune).

At least they actually acknowledge that he’s in a band at all, unlike Alex’s folks, whose friends think Alex volunteers at homeless shelters in his free time, or Reggie’s, who just don’t care.

Luke knows he’s got it good, compared to his friends, compared to himself a year ago. But that doesn’t mean he’s gotta be happy about it.

“All right, I’ll pick you up in an hour,” Alex says, giving Luke’s shoulder another friendly squeeze. “Try not to pout so much, it’s unbecoming.”

Luke gives him the finger, and Alex’s laughter echoes behind him as he heads back toward his car.

And then Luke sighs, grips his guitar a little tighter, and heads inside. He’s already here, he might as well get it over with.

Room B38 is a tiny classroom deep in the bowels of the church, reserved for Sunday School or daycare or some other such activity. The door’s closed, so Luke knocks, and a voice from inside calls, “Come in!”

A voice that does not sound like it belongs to the crusty old man Luke had been picturing.

He frowns, wondering if maybe he’s in the wrong place, but tugs the door open anyway and maneuvers himself and his guitar inside.

There’s no crusty old man waiting for him. There is, however, a handsome (Luke can’t help noticing and then feels stupid for noticing), young man, no more than a year or two older than Luke at most, sitting in a comically small plastic chair and tuning an acoustic guitar.

“Hey,” Luke greets him, raising an awkward hand. “You’re… Robert?”

“Please—Bobby,” the guy corrects, laying his guitar down on the carpeted floor next to him so he can stand and shake Luke’s hand. There’s a gleam of confusion in his eyes, and he glances over Luke’s shoulder like he’s looking for something as he says, “You must be Luke’s… older brother?”

Oh, Luke is going to kill his parents. “Uh, no,” he says, clears his throat awkwardly. “No, um… I’m Luke.”

Bobby lets out an undignified snort, and then claps his hand over his mouth. “Sorry, sorry,” he says, still sort of giggling. “I shouldn’t laugh, it’s just—most of my students are in the four to twelve age range? I thought you’d be, like, eight.”

Luke rolls his eyes. “Well, I thought you’d be, like, sixty, so I guess we’re both disappointed.”

“Not disappointed,” Bobby corrects, and his smile makes Luke’s stomach flip in a way he’d really rather not analyze too closely right now. Bobby nods down at the guitar case in Luke’s hand. “Should we get started?”

Luke’s tongue feels dumb and thick in his mouth, but he manages to stammer something vaguely affirmative, and Bobby grins at him.

They settle into the kiddy chairs across from each other, and Bobby picks his guitar back up while Luke pulls his own out of its case.

He briefly considers pretending to actually need guitar lessons so that Bobby will have a chance to show off, because Bobby’s cute and funny and clearly cares about music, and Luke doesn’t know how to flirt.

But Luke also doesn’t know how to play guitar badly. So they only get about twenty minutes into the lesson before Bobby stops and says, “You don’t need me, do you?”

“I really don’t,” Luke apologizes. “I play lead guitar in a band, I’ve been teaching myself since I was twelve, my parents are just—” he starts to say stupid, then remembers Alex’s words and amends—“a little clueless about this kind of thing.”

Bobby puts his guitar aside and leans forward in his chair. “What, have they never heard you play before?”

Luke resists the urge to roll his eyes. “No, they have, they just. We’re looking for someone—my band and me—to play rhythm guitar for us? My parents asked why I couldn’t do it, and when I explained it to them, they thought ‘I can’t play lead and rhythm at the same time’ meant I couldn’t play rhythm at all. I don’t know.” He shrugs a little, busies himself with putting his guitar back in its case.

“I could.”

Luke looks up, frowning. “You could what?”

Bobby raises his eyebrows pointedly, nods at the guitar lying at his feet. “Play with you guys. If you’re still looking for someone, I mean.”

Luke’s heart skips a beat, and a warm smile spreads across his face without his permission. “Seriously, man? That’d be amazing! Here, let me give you my number and you can come over sometime and meet the band.”

They exchange information, and Luke spends a little too long staring stupidly at the contact in his phone that Bobby has named “Guitar Teacher <3”.

“Plus,” Bobby says, and Luke looks back up to see him smirking as he returns his own phone to his pocket. “Now I get an excuse to see you again. Since you obviously don’t need the lessons.”

“Yeah,” Luke agrees. “Yeah, I’d really like that.”

“But, uh, maybe don’t tell your parents that. Cause I can’t give them a refund.”

--

Taglist: @whenweremarried @sunsethimb0s @pink-flame @penguin0613 @fighttoshine @sunsetcurvecuddles @apples-bees @reggiescrookedteeth @brightattheorpheum @queenmolina @jandthephantoms @lexilucacia @sapphossidechick @acnhaddict @shrimp-colours @sunset-bobby @lenacarstairspotterstewart @conversationaltreestump @burntchromas @shellydominique @julieandthequeers @joyandthephantoms @it-tastes-like-lizard

[sweeethinny]

Decisions

@raypotter asked me for a story where Harry got hurt and Ginny and the kids were relieved that he was alive.

It got very sentimental, a lot more than I expected, it has some descriptions of blood, so be warned

AO3 or bellow the cut :)

There was a lot of blood. On his hands, on his face, on his neck, near his ear.

Ginny took a deep breath when she saw it, as the healer ran to the closet looking for something she didn't know what it was, while another seemed to do something to keep Harry breathing.

She wanted to vomit.

It was a normal day like any other, the kids sent their letters, James was fine and had done well on the Transfiguration exam, Albus was recovering from a knee injury caused by some animal in Hagrid's class, and Lily was glad that she was going to start taking Divination classes. It was a normal day.

Teddy stopped by Ginny's office for them to talk, as they did almost every week, and he told her he was planning to travel to Spain to study about some rare animal that had appeared there, and Ginny made him leave only after her promotion party, because she wanted him there.

Harry had gone out on a field mission last night in order to pick up Jonas, who had been injured, and Ginny was having lunch with Luna at a muggle mall they liked.

It was a normal day, until Ginny received an owl with an urgent call to St. Mungo's.

First she thought of the children, Teddy could have been poisoned by some animal, or one of the children could have been seriously injured at Hogwarts and it had been preferable to send them to St. Mungo's. Then, she thought of her parents, Molly had been complaining of a pain in her hip, and Arthur didn't look so good on the last visit, did he? Or it could be her brothers.

Ginny didn't expect to see Harry there. It had been so long since he'd last needed to visit the hospital, maybe since James was born, which was when he'd been twice as careful, always afraid something bad would happen and he'd die. And after he had become Chief Auror, Harry had gone on to do far fewer field missions, so hospital visits were rare.

Her heart sped up, that dread that came whenever she saw someone in her family hurt, a gift the war had given her.

The healer opened the door for her when he saw her standing there, a gentle smile on her face. "He'll be fine, it's a deep bruise, but we've got everything under control."

Control? Ginny didn't think that could exist when there was that much blood coming out of a person.

"Is he breathing?" Ginny muttered, terrified.

'Yes, with a little difficulty, but it's just because of the pain, we'll stabilize him.' She smiled at her. “I'll ask you to wait outside until we've got everything settled.” The woman didn't wait for an answer, closing the door and running to do as some other healer asked.

What was she supposed to do? Should she call the kids? Should she call her mother? She couldn't stand there alone, because if something happened… No, nothing would, Ginny thought, Harry will be fine, he'll get out of this one, it's probably more dirt than actually hurt.

They will laugh about it later.

[...]

"Ginny!" Teddy called, startled, barely seeming to blink when he found her in the waiting room. He didn't look like that smiling boy from earlier now, his brown eyes glaring at her as if he expected to hear the worst news at any moment, his shoulders stiff. ‘Where is he? He is fine?'

'I'm waiting, the healers said they need another half an hour, apparently the spell was stronger than they thought, and-' Her eyes filled with tears, her hands trembling desperately again, the image of a bloodied Harry kept flashing in her mind, along with his being buried. 'The kids are coming, I know he'll be fine, but…'

"I know, I know, you did it right." Teddy hugged her, but as much as he looked like he wanted to keep her calm, he looked even more nervous. ‘Do you already know what hit him?

'They don't want to say until they're sure, but one of the Aurors who was with him said it's dark magic.' Ginny sniffled, running her hands through her hair as if to keep from starting to cry again, her heart pounding desperately in her chest. . 'I said he's starting to get too old to take that risk, Teddy, I said before he can save the world he needs to be a father, be a husband, but he doesn't listen!' .

'Nothing will happen to him, Gin, nothing, he'll be fine, you'll see, he hasn't even started to get into trouble with Albus yet!' Teddy pulled his own hair, pacing the empty room they had arranged for her to wait.

It was bad enough in that situation without a bunch of onlookers on top.

"I mean, he hasn't even seen me marry yet, he—" Teddy clapped a hand over his mouth, trembling as if just the thought of it destroyed him. It destroyed Ginny too. ‘Will the kids be long?‘

'Probably not, I spoke to McGonagall and informed her how serious the situation was and that I wanted the kids here with me, and she told me she would send them as soon as possible… Lily was doing some work with Hagrid, I don't know, but they shouldn't be long.” Ginny took a deep breath, trying to focus on the situation now and not the memories of war, the dead bodies, the destruction.

They weren't in a war anymore, everything would be fine.

‘Have you warned anyone else?

'No, I didn't want to make a big fuss, if not, we wouldn't have peace in the next few hours of so many journalists who would come here to find out what happened to Harry, and I'm not exposing him like that.'

"Not at all." Teddy nodded, looking out the window that faced a square, seeming to calm down after watching the people walking around below. It had soothed her, at least. "He told me he was thinking about retiring."

"He told me too." Ginny sat back in that uncomfortable chair, looking at the door and wanting someone to come over and say it was okay. 'He's getting tired, he's not 20 anymore, he's already 40… I mean, he's still in shape, Harry probably still lifts more weight than me, but the stress with the younger Aurors isn't paying off . They probably stress him out more than the kids themselves.'

"These days I went to lunch with him, and it was like he was running a daycare center." Teddy chuckled, taking a seat next to Ginny, and she was glad he was there with her. "And he gets along well with kids, but I don't think it can be easy to manage more than 20 of them."

‘And he’s having problems with some laws, and with all the bureaucracy, and I think that this is making him completely unhappy. A few days ago I thought he was going to have a heart attack after having to solve the same problem a third time.” She sighed.

Before Teddy could say anything, the fireplace glowed and three loud, fluttering voices filled the room, one Lily jumped out first, looking desperate, her glasses askew on her face and her jacket smeared with dust, running towards Ginny. 'Mum! What happened? Where is Daddy?'

Albus, who didn't look at all like that calm boy he always did, pushed James off the fireplace and jumped too, barely giving Ginny time to think. He had rosy cheeks, green eyes staring at her and Teddy, as if he was trying to read the expressions on their faces to hear the news. 'Is he going to die?'

"Don't be an idiot!" James interjected, stepping closer and keeping his eyes steady on Ginny, as if he wanted to make sure his dad would be okay. If she knew her son well, James was the one who was holding back the most to keep from showing that he was scared. 'He is fine?'

"He's fine, and he'll be fine," Ginny assured, hugging Lily sideways, because she didn't seem to want to leave her side. ‘I called you because…’ Because if he dies and you're not here I'll never forgive myself. Because Harry will enjoy seeing his kids one last time if he can't get the strength to survive. Because I need you here to keep me strong and not think about all those years of war, and not think about all those dead bodies. On Fred's dead body… 'Because it's the best thing to do, and your father will be very happy to see you when he wakes up. ‘

"Have you two been here long?" Albus asked, pulling out one of the chairs to sit next to Teddy, while James continued to stand by the window. Ginny didn't miss that Albus was shaking his leg nonstop, not even seeming to notice.

"No, I just arrived," Teddy assured him.

"I've been here for over an hour." Her lips trembled. "Jamie, sit down, there's no need to stand up."

"I don't want to." He tousled his hair. ‘How was he injured?

"I don't know, they didn't want to tell me." Ginny omitted, because she didn't think she should give that kind of detail to her kids. She continued to stare at him, watching as her son turned quickly to the window, as if he wanted to avoid being seen.

"Why don't you go buy us something to eat with me, Jamie?" Teddy stood up, looking like he noticed too. 'Are you hungry?'

"I've already eaten," Albus said, jumping into the chair beside his mother as the other stood up, letting Ginny hug him too.

"I want anything," she said, just because she knew the last meal had been breakfast, and she couldn't survive on just that in her stomach, especially if she wanted to support her kids. "Lils?" She looked at the girl still hugging her, sitting in the chair with her eyes downcast, her head resting on her mother.

"No thanks," Lily muttered, her voice lower than normal. Ginny had to swallow the cry that threatened to break her.

"Come on, mate?" Teddy pulled James close, his arm going over his shoulders like the big brother he was. "I hear there's a great cafeteria in here." The two of them left the room, James still looked sheepish and crestfallen, but Ginny blindly trusted Teddy to take care of him so she turned back to Lily.

"He'll be fine, it's just part of the job," she assured her, kissing her head.

"Have you seen him?" Albus asked, his voice shaking like his leg, which seemed to have accelerated now.

"I saw him when I arrived, the healers were cleaning him up and making sure everything was done as good as possible." Ginny chose the best words. She was grateful that Albus didn't ask her to detail how he was

But none of them asked, they kept quiet holding her, every time looking at the door when footsteps were heard, and she wondered how much longer they would wait to see Harry, to hear from him. When James arrived with Teddy, they brought chocolates, five salads, and some fried things that she assumed were fish and potatoes. They had taken longer than she thought it required, but James had red eyes and Teddy had wet spots on his dark blue shirt.

They started to eat, and even Albus, who had said he wasn't hungry, accepted the salad Teddy handed him, and some of James' fries. No one said anything else, the noise of the city outside and the birds being the only thing that rang in Ginny's ears, along with her heightened attention to any conversation and noise of people in the hallway.

She thought of the times she had told Harry that saving the world was no more important than being a father to his children, that surely those four would prefer him alive, than being a dead hero. Harry would never cease to be their hero, no matter what he did or didn't do, Ginny knew that.

They hadn't even been grandparents yet, Harry couldn't die.

And he wouldn't, Ginny scolded herself for thinking that. Harry would be fine, and they would grow old together, enjoying life, remembering what idiots they were as teenagers, watching their kids grow up and leave their house… Harry would be fine.

He had already gone through so much, so much tragedy, it would not be now that the trajectory would end.

"Do you guys remember when Harry said he could build that tree house all by himself?" Teddy recalled, a smile on his face, seeming to be carried away by the memory. 'He said he could do it and he didn't need help, but the hammer fell on his foot and he couldn't walk properly for almost a week.'

"Oh, and when did he say he was going to make pizza and the first one took almost an hour because he switched the time and temperature button?" Albus chuckled, shaking his head and filling his mouth with potato chips. "He looked so frustrated, and then the next one he burned because he set the temperature too high."

"Or when we convinced him to take Sir to the beach with us, and when we got there Sir threw up in the car seat," Teddy said.

"And he even pissed on the couch!" Lily said, looking more excited now that the memory of that vacation hit her. "He surfed with us that time."

"Wow, daddy surfing was the most shameful thing," James said, looking down at the salad in his lap and then shaking his head, a smirk on his face. "Will he want to surf with us again this year?" He looked at Ginny, as if he expected her to falter in her answer and admit that something bad could happen.

She smiled, an image of Harry trying to balance on the surfboard popping into her mind. ‘I'm sure he will. We can try to convince you to rappel with us, Al.'

'Oh yeah! I think he'll like the feeling of going down beside that waterfall.” Albus ran a hand through his hair, as if he too was trying to imagine his father tied to a rope as he descended a cliff. 'Can we go there on this vacation?'

"But Dad promised we were going to Egypt!" Lily cried, taking the chocolate from Teddy's hands and dividing it so everyone could get a piece.

"It's an amazing trip, we really should take it." Ginny remembered the one she'd taken years ago, not being able to not remember how happy Fred was with the trip, and how happy he'd been when they saw the pyramids. A ball of tears formed in her throat. ‘I'm sure there's some rappelling there, Al.’

"Dad told me he really wanted to visit Iceland one day and see an Aurora Borealis." James shrugged, stirring his salad uninterestedly. ‘They are rare and hard to find. He said that the times he was around, he never saw anything.’

"I think it would be a great experience too, but maybe Christmas is more attractive than summer there." Teddy ruffled James' hair, as if to cheer him up. ‘We should go to Amsterdam, because I've been asking for it for years now, and we never do. When Harry leaves here I will convince him that our next trip will be there.' He spoke, optimistic as ever, and suddenly the children seemed to remember where they were and why, and Ginny noticed when Albus' shoulders slumped a little, or when Lily cleared her throat and went back to looking at her chocolate.

"He said he's going to teach me how to cast a Patronus," Albus said, looking at Ginny. She smiled.

"I'm sure you can do it, Al." She ran a hand through his hair, thinking of all the promises Harry had made to the kids.

Traveling, skiing, horseback riding, learning spells, building things, going to shows… The list was huge, and it never stopped growing, as Harry was such a huge supporter of all the ideas the kids had.

Teddy wants to learn to play guitar? Harry will put him in a class, even if it takes their peace away. James wants to learn to ride a horse? Okay, he'd find a way to make that happen, no matter how much James fell in first class and twisted his fist. Albus wants a treehouse? Harry will build it, even if he doesn't know how. Lily wants to go to a muggle pop band concert but she can't go alone? Harry will take them and still arrange for them to stay very close to the stage, even if it means six hours in a queue, with several other hysterical teenagers in colorful shirts and posters declaring their love for one of the girls in the band.

Harry spoiled them sometimes, Ginny knew that, but it wasn't ruining them. They became creative people, they had a lot of skills to explore, as well as a lot of fun memories of those moments. They trusted them, in her and Harry's opinion, they talked to them about everything, or at least almost everything, and she knew this was much more than she, and obviously Harry, had.

‘Do you remember Teddy, when we went to Disney?' Ginny asked because she didn't want them to be sad, she wanted them to remember the good times and want them to live more of it, she wanted them to understand that the good times weren't over.

Harry would be fine. Then they would go to Amsterdam, ride horses, learn to ski, go looking for the Aurora, and even to Egypt. They still had many years to fill with activities.

‘It was fun, I remember! You let me eat at McDonald's.' He laughed. ‘We have to go there again. Do you remember Lils when we went with you? Gin-Gin can't go to some attractions because you were too scared and you were too small.”

"I think I'm tall enough now!" She smoothed her glasses back on her face, her chin lifting as if she challenged Teddy to deny it.

"Absolutely." He nodded, not thinking twice.

"But she's still a crybaby," Albus snapped, just to tease his sister, as usual. "She almost cried when-"

"I didn't cry!" Lily cut him off, her cheeks as red as her hair. ‘And I'm not scared. Mom!'

"Al, enough," Ginny warned, even though she was smiling. She was missing a bit of all this mess, their house was pretty quiet with just her and Harry there. "Should we-" She was interrupted by a healer who opened the door to the room, he had a gentle smile on his face but he looked tired. Ginny braced herself to hear the news, good or not.

‘He's fine, we took care of his injuries and he's already awake. He's asking to see his family, I informed him you were here.' The man had barely finished speaking when Albus jumped out of his chair and started to leave the room, as did James and Lily, looking eager to see Harry. ‘Sorry for the delay, it was a big injury.’

"It's okay," Ginny and Teddy stood, and she smiled at the man. 'Leaving my husband alive, you could take your time.' She walked out of the room, already seeing the children opening a door almost at the end of the hall, and the three voices saying 'Dad!' much higher than would be advisable in a hospital.

When she entered the room, the three of them were sitting on the bed with Harry, who looked tired but happy to see them there. His head was bandaged, as was a shoulder and ribs on his right side, his left eye was a little swollen, but she thought it was just because he had injured his head.

"I'm glad to see you here." His voice was low, husky, and Ginny thought he should be resting instead of straining like that, but she knew Harry wouldn't rest until he saw his family. "Daddy is fine, just the occasional wound."

"You scared the shit out of us!" Teddy walked over, sitting next to James, who was wide-eyed and looking a little scared. Lily nodded, sitting next to his knee.

"When Professor Johann called me, I thought I was in trouble," Albus said, moving his hands anxiously as he spoke. ‘I would prefer it to be that, I must say.

"Don't ever do that Mr Potter, my heart isn't so young anymore." Ginny sat down in the chair beside his bed, swallowing the sob of relief that wanted to break her chest when Harry looked at her and smiled. She ran a hand over his face, as if she just wanted to get reassurance that he was okay.

"I guess I'm not that young anymore either." He sighed. "Won't you talk to me, James?" Didn't you miss your old man?” Harry looked at the boy, sitting at the far end of the bed, who seemed to be making as much effort as Ginny not to cry.

'You scared me. I was the first one called, and… It was horrible, don't ever do that again.” James shook his head vehemently, as if he wanted to put some image out of his mind. 'If you died, I would never forgive you.' Ginny didn't think that was the kindest way to say he was afraid of losing his father, but it seemed to hit Harry in the right way, who smiled sadly and nodded slightly, before sighing.

[...]

"I think it's time to retire," he said, after the kids had left to sleep in the Burrow, Ginny stayed behind to spend the night with Harry.

"I think so too." She squeezed his hand, letting the tears finally flow. ‘What would these children do without their father? What was I going to do without you? I'm too young to be a widow.” Ginny tried to make a joke, but it only made her cry harder. ‘You already saved the world once, now enough.’

"Yeah, I realized that when I felt Noel carry me and start screaming for help." Harry looked sad too, wiping Ginny's tears away. ‘I still don't know what I'm going to do, where to go, but… I can't take it anymore Gin, I'm getting tired, they're stressing me out, it's not as cool as it was when I was 19 and I had nothing to lose. Now I do, and now I understand why Robards left too. Every time I go out into the field, I think about you guys, and when I'm at the office, I think about how tired I am… I don't know what to be but a savior, though.”

“You can start making pottery.” She laughed, making him laugh too. "You'll find something to do, I'm sure you have other skills besides being a hero," Ginny said, kissing him carefully, wanting him to understand that she was there with him, and that she was glad he was there. "We'll find something together, I promise."

[ratsoh-writes]

Oh man I got another one- say everyone is monster hunting (like Bigfoot or mothman- whatever you like) who’s the one who hears a sound and just books it? Anyone have a fight reaction and start swinging? AKSKJFJAJDH WHOS THE ONE TO TRY TO RUN AFTER IT WITH THE CAMERA ALL UP IN ITS BUISNESS AKSKJDJSJS

I don’t know how you want to format this- so if you just want to put them under categories- superb; longer version? Dealer’s choice

Here’s how everyone reacts/roles during monster hunting:

Sans: in a monster hunt, he’s the guy who stays in the van to “keep watch” on all the electronics. Instead sans falls asleep of course and misses all the action. His team could straight up see a ghost and he won’t believe them lol

Papyrus: he’s more likely to go Bigfoot hunting then ghost hunting. And for some reason papyrus brought a metal detector like that’ll help? It doesn’t but he also found two dollars in lost coins so he counts it as a win.

Star: he uses superglue to line a butterfly net with salt to catch the demons in. It doubles as a blunt weapon if they fight back.

Honey: he’ll break off from the group and wind up getting lost in the woods. He’s the guy who actually meets moth man and gets directions back to the campsite from him. It’s not till days later that honey realizes that moth man wasn’t actually another monster from the underground

Red: he also stays in the van, except red is watching those radios like a hawk. He’ll be extremely disappointed and relieved if nothing happens.

Edge: he calls everyone else an idiot for going monster hunting, but winds up leading the group instead because no one else is qualified enough for it. Every sound edge hears is just a raccoon. There’s no other explanation and you can’t convince him otherwise.

Mal: he decided to wear all silver jewelry today just in case! No vampire is taking a chunk out of mal! Plus this is his sharp set of rings so it doubles as a shank.

Cash: he’s the one who breaks from the group and then terrorizes them with mysterious noises and throwing pinecones. Until something grabs cash’s shoulder, and when he turns, there’s no one there. Now he’s sprinting home.

Oak: out of everyone he’s the most likely to get possessed. Oak will freeze, loose the red eye-light, and utter some creepy-a*s prophecy before coming to. Then he just keeps walking. He didn’t even notice lol

Willow: he’s not taking this seriously and will be enjoying his nature walk until his brother gets possessed. Now willow is taking it very seriously. And they’re leaving Right. Now. Heaven help the ghost if they try that crap again. Willow will exorcise them.

Charm: he really really really hopes they find a vampire. A vampire hickey would be the ultimate trophy!! But if the vampire is a jerk, charm can always throw the garlic salt he bought at Walmart at them.

Sugar: he genuinely does not want to be here, but someone’s gotta keep charm alive. Besides, call him racist, but sugar isn’t comfortable with a vampire getting cosy with his brother. A werewolf is fine though.

Lord: he genuinely does not want to be here, but once again wine and mal have dragged lord into the strangest kind of trouble. Sneaking into a government building is more expected by him than monster hunting. Oh well, at least he knows wine is the monster guru. If they ever find one he’ll know what to do.

Mutt: he came into the forest with friends to find Bigfoot, but left with four baby raccoons. Mutt is praying to the stars that lord will let him keep them.

Wine: HE IS READY. Wine was made for this day!!! He already has survival kits, flashlights, a bible and silver cross, extra batteries in case the flashlights go out, and like 30 disposable cameras. If anyone is going to find a cryptid it’ll be him!

Coffee: he was the one to scare cash. Cash was bugging the old lady squad, and coffee didn’t want his brother to get mad at his friend. Plus it’s always fun to get one on the other prankster.

Pop: he takes to the trees. But unlike in movies, the tree branches move a lot each time pop jumps on one. With all the racket he’s making, no wonder he never gets to meet mothman.

Rhythm: it only takes one loud noise for rhythm to run all the way back home. He’s too easily spooked. You might want to pick someone else for this.

Pluto: he doesn’t believe in the supernatural at all, but pluto does believe in science! He brings a pocket guide on local rocks and plants and will turn the monster hunt into a lovely treasure hunt. He finds a pretty quarts right add to his collection

Jupiter: he’ll take to the sky as his buddies walk. If there’s anyone Jupiter is the most likely to go monster hunting with, it’s Star. Both of them have almost endless energy which can be a problem. They end up exploring too far and will be exhausted by the time they circle back.

Peaches: he’s very superstitious and definitely believes in ghosts and such. And ghosts terrify peaches. He’ll be hanging off of ranchers arm all evening. If anything pops out of the bushes, peaches will shout and start running.

Rancher: he’s ready. Rancher is equipped with a metal rod, his shotgun, his most aggressive pig, and some salt and garlic to make peaches feel better. Rancher is gonna find that thieving coyote if it’s the last thing he does.

G: he likes to tell people that he’s met ghosts during his late night drives. In reality, they were the drunk college kids who party in the woods, but ghosts make a cooler story. G is unphasable and will have a grand time telling scary stories during the hunt to rile up his teammates.

Green: he’ll absolutely refuse to go cryptid hinting in the woods. Not because of ghosts or Bigfoot. No, green isn’t scared of those at all. You see, it’s the spiders. If he walks into a spider web he’ll literally die. Green is a total arachnophobe

Snipe: occasionally Don will kick snipe out to go on a manhunt so he can get some fresh air. He usually takes butch with him on these because ace is a jerk who likes playing mind games. He’ll always convince snipe that there’s a ghost about. Anyways snipe doesn’t like ghosts

Bruiser: he’s super down to go cryptid hunting until he hears it’s in the forest. You see, bruise knows the city like the back of his hand, but the forest is uncharted territory. Bruiser will be super clumsy and steadily more and more frustrated as the night goes on. If he actually meets a cryptid, he’s real likely to fist fight it right now

Ace: he loves ghost stories and the supernatural. I’f ace was invited on a ghost hunt, he wouldn’t be able to keep himself from scaring everyone else with his creepy stories lol.

Slim: as the only papyrus who can shortcut, slim loves to use and abuse that privilege. And use it he does. The second he hears a suspicious noice, slim is grabbing his favorite group member and blipping away. This is a good way to tell if you’re the favorite friend. If it was between his brothers, he would save boss

Butch: he ain’t afraid of no ghost!! Ghosts are just floating souls right? Then all he has to do is grab them with blue magic and yeet them right back into the afterlife. Butch is disappointed in everyone who hasn’t thought of this yet.

Boss: oh hell naw. Boss absolutely is terrified cannot stand all this talk about things that don’t exist! He’ll be staying right here until you guys start to come crawling back.

.........

Maybe on second thought he better come with. You guys might get mugged or something. As a leader he has to protect his friends of course!

Rust: and chance some creepy pedo ghost trying to haunt his daycare. No thank you!

Noir: rust never pulls the big brother card, but if noir started messing with the supernatural, you bet he would. Besides noir is more then happy to play the “my legs hurt” card that get out of it. Monster hunting isn’t really his thing.

Lilac: he so very wants to keep up with Star and Jupiter, but there are some things lilac can’t do with his prosthetic leg. It would be too dangerous. Instead he mans the campsite, keeping watch for any suspicious activity and the cops.

Basil: the supernatural is one thing that basil has zero fear of or belief in. He’ll come, and just to be annoying he brings backups of everything. Flashlight keeps going out? He’s got two more and extra packs of batteries. Strange animal noises? Let’s see them make that after his dog whistle. Getting colder? Basil is ready for extra scarves for everyone

[vagrantblvrd]

Din who picks up a stranded Luke and his droid on a random planet while bounty hunting. Heading back to Nevarro to pick Grogu up from Grogu daycare whilst Mando-Dad is doing something stupid even for him.

Luke...well. There were rumors of an Imperial base and it’s Luke and anyway, he’s going to need a new X-wing and a head start before anyone tells Leia. but yes.

(Artoo is still complaining about all the way things did not go to plan. Which, odd, seeing as there wasn’t much in the way of plans in the first place.)

The Razor Crest is looking kind of rough at the moment - there was a whole Thing with a bounty he was tracking and then an asteroid field and some mynocks he’d rather not get into if it’s all the same?

But yes.

Luke who just looks at Din’s ship and offers to lend him a hand in fixing it up in exchange for a ride off-planet.

Smiles all :DDDDDDDDDD at the suspicious head tilt that gets him, “I’m not picky, anywhere but here would be great, really.”

And Din who’s been working on the Crest for the better part of the day and isn’t even a quarter of the way through repairs is like.

Luke doesn’t look like much, just has the one blaster on him and that :DDDDDDDDDDDD smile and while Din knows appearances can be deceiving (Grogu and his powers are a great example) the sooner he get off this planet and back to his tiny gremlin kid the better.

(Artoo’s holding on to Luke’s lightsaber because ~undercover and so on, but Din doesn’t need to know that just yet.)

Anyway.

They fix the Crest and head off towrads Nevarro, but then bounty hunters and that oh, no moment from both Din and Luke because of course there is.

Mandalorian with the tiny green gremlin kid and Hero of the Rebellion/Jedi and weird that Din hasn’t said anything, but whatever.

Pew-pew shootout in space wherein they get away but have to stop for repairs before Nevarro or blow up.

Din’s preoccupied with getting the Crest fixed - again - and while Luke thinks Din’s interesting as all hell, it’s probably best if he didn’t bring more bounty hunters or any nearby Imperials on him and tells him he’ll be fine and thanks for the ride and good luck and disappears on him.

Anyway, Din gets his ship fixed and off to Nevarro and Grogu who gives him this look, and scolds him for something he doesn’t understand - leaving him behind, perhaps, who can say.

They go about their business again and it’s just oh so strange how Grogu laughs and laughs and laughs whenever Din brings the subject of taking Grogu to be with other Jedi.

Really.

Weird.

Chance encounters with Luke on other planets while Grogu’s not around - with friends and such - and it’s all very much the Scooby Doo chase through the doors thing just on a wider scale and such.

But then Gideon and all and Din’s rounding up people to help get his kid back and hey, wow, there’s Luke.

Cara and the others are all !!! because Luke Skywalker and Din’s trying to turn his offer of help down because he thinks Luke’s just an idiot who maybe knows his way around ship repairs and really, really, they shouldn’t be surprised he has no damn clue who he’s talking to.

And then Boba Fett shows up and there’s some Staring going on because Boba Fett and Luke and the last time they ran into one another things didn’t exactly go smoothly -

Boba starts laughing, and Luke is just ??? and a little !!! because what does that even mean?

Nothing personal, just a job. No hard feelings, eh, Jedi?

Sly edge to it, because Boba Fett, and seeing as how Din obviously trusts Boba to help him get his son back -

“Wait.”

Luke looks at Din.

“Wait.”

There’s an awkward little pause as Din looks at Luke.

“You’re a Jedi?”

Everyone looks at Din.

There would be an incredulous silence following that, but Boba’s laughing again, and so are Fennec and Cara and Din doesn’t dare look at any of them because he’s not that stupid.

“Uh, yes,” Luke says, alarmed by Boba and the laughing and all. “I am.”

Anyway, they go off to rescue Grogu where Luke deals with the Dark Troopers before Din can get that wonderful life experience of being punched in the head multiple times - something he appreciates because ow - and Din defeats Gideon and saves Grogu.

“Um...” Luke says, because goodness, that’s an unusual lightsaber Din has now -

Din glances at Luke and shakes his head, pushing Gideon ahead of him on his way to the bridge, and Luke follows, and anyway, anyway.

The whole accidental King of Mandalor bit while Luke takes Grogu to his secret Jedi summer camp training and so on?

And then a few months later Leia approaches Luke about a delicate matter. Negotiations with a world leader interested in joining the New Republic but there’s this tiny little...snag.

“Snag.”

Leia hums, watching Grogu scamper about chasing after some kind of insect, happy burbling and coos and so much determination.

Luke is so very suspicious, because Leia is laughing at him, he can feel it. (Also, she’s smirking, so...)

Anyway, part of the terms include marriage to a certain someone, part of some old...whatever...because reasons.

Luke is like oh, no, because he knows where this is headed.

Last Jedi or not, he’s also Leia’s brother and Hero of the Rebellion and just all kinds of most eligible bachelor around and anyway.

Luke could say no, knows Leia would never push him into it, but then she’s all, “I’ve heard Mandalor is lovely.”

Luke’s suspicion intensifies.

Leia gives him a little crash course in Mandalorian culture, how their leaders are chosen and such and an image of Mandalor’s current leader and Luke is just.

You know.

Because Leia has heard, okay, she has heard all about Grogu’s dad, or at least what Luke knows about him and their past encounters and she’s still laughing at Luke, isn’t she?

“It’s not that funny,” Luke grumbles, because it really isn’t.

Din probably doesn’t even want to marry him, but something, something, something Plot Reasons, and anyway.

Grogu’s been sad lately, and Luke knows Din misses his kid - the look on his face on Gideon’s cruiser, the fact Luke even saw his face - and anyway.

Imagine Din’s face when he arrives to meet his future husband and Luke and Grogu are with Leia’s entourage.

(Well, okay, maybe not his face but his reaction.)

“Uh,” Luke says, because surely Leia or Din’s own people told him who he’d be marrying?

(They kind of didn’t though. Told Din about this guy who destroyed the Death Star and defeated the Emperor and Darth Vader and was hoping to restore the Jedi and so on but were purposefully vague on other personal details and so on.)

Awkward courtship in which Din just stares at Luke because who the hell even is he?

Meanwhile Luke is trying to keep Grogu from cleaning out the frog pond with mixed results because Grogu is fast and sneaky and combined with his adorable little face few can stand up to him.

(Leia will get over it, they can restock the pond.)

Maybe an assassination attempt or two in which they save one another’s lives and both have the oh, no he’s hot moment of realization watching the other in action. (No time for it during Grogu’s rescue, but now that someone wants the other dead? Why not.)

The two of them in the aftermath of one such assassination attempt -

“I think they were after you this time,” Luke says, because he had the first two, and this is Din’s...what, third one? You really think they’d learn after the first time, but no.

Din is looking around at the destroyed room - wall hangings and tapestries and banners, some with blaster holes in them, one almost sliced in half with peculiar singe marks -

“Look, I as trying to keep that one guy from killing you, I’m really very sorry about the banner.”

And various bits of broken furniture and other decor.

Luke with his hair all ~askew, because fighting for their lives and this brightness to his eyes and flush to his skin because fighting for their lives and adrenaline and whatnot and instead of being oh, no he’s hot he’s like that’s I’m married to him like it’s a revelation.

Actually, legally married and he genuinely likes Luke and likes to think the same is true for Luke, and it’s only natural to go over to Luke who’s taking survey of the room as well. Slight frown on his face because this latest assassination attempt didn’t come close to succeeding, but they’re adding up and the repair costs alone, you know.

Luke doesn’t notice Din’s gotten so close until he looks up to ask him something and his voice trails off because wow, okay, wow.

The only time the two of them are this into each other’s personal space is when they’re sparring (dangerous for the heart, because Pining and such), or co-parenting a certain tiny green gremlin kid who gets up to all kinds of antic.

Also, though, sometimes after a long day and they share a set of rooms and all, and it’s no big deal if they settle on the couch together, maybe fall asleep on one another once or twice. (They like each other and there’s trust between them, and anyway, they’re married, so....)

Anyway, Din is right there and he’s looking down at Luke with this intensity Luke’s never seen in him, and he’s about to say something when Din leans down and presses his forehead to Luke’s and Luke just.

Freezes.

He remembers the crash course in Mandalorian culture Leia gave him before she married him off, but also living on Mandalore and learning from Din and the other Mandalorians and he knows what that is, okay.

“Um...” Luke says, sure it’s a mistake, result of adrenaline and stress - multiple assassination attempts and political maneuvering and the whatnot, and surely surely Din doesn’t mean to -

“You’re ruining the moment,” Din says, amusement threaded though his words, but it’s still a moment longer before he draws back to look at Luke.

Doesn’t laugh at the look on his face but it’s a close thing, that.

“What?”

Din reaches out, frames Lukes face between his hands.

Hair out of order and fading blush and this little cut above his eyebrow he must have gotten during the chaos of the fighting and he’s like I’m married to him, another revelation that settles beneath his breastbone because he loves Luke more than he realized - was willing to admit to himself for fear his feelings weren’t returned.

“...We need to talk,” Din says, because there are people in the room with them, cleaning up and removing bodies and the like and far from the privacy he’d like to talk to Luke about their relationship and just.

You know, smooches and happy laughter and so on and Leia being smug as anything the next time Luke calls her to update her.

“So I guess I can tell Han he won’t have to set a rescue plan in action?”

Because Han, and Luke, and Luke can hear Din talking to Grogu in the other room - a very important conversation about the fact some things are not, in fact, food

(Devastating for Grogu, he’s sure.)

“No,” Luke says, happier than he can remember being. “I don’t think I need it.”

[pixiedoodlein]

I’m so fucking mad that a year and a half into this pandemic I am back to 11th hour debating another year of homeschool. The first stretch of homeschool, in NYC, when the toddler was a baby, and husband was home on unemployment, was good, nice even, a quiet piece of something good when the world outside was falling apart. The next stretch, the Oklahoma stretch, with a particularly climby toddler, husband working 10 hour days, me doing remote contract work, somewhere we had no family around to help w/ childcare, was challenging. I was not always my best self. Some days were delightful, muffins and math games. Other days I was more Miss Trunchbull than Miss Honey, fractions were squeezed in between crying (usually mine) and netflix (way too much of hers), and I held on to any shred of sanity by telling myself “just a little longer, just until the vaccines.”

Well here we are. Husband & I have been vaccinated for months, but the kids aren’t yet. The upstate NY town we moved to is a very small town (pop: 838), was mostly untouched by previous waves. When we got here, I couldn’t understand why everyone was so lax about it- no masks, no panic. Our first day here, when I came home from the market and saw through the window a gaggle of unmasked kids in my living room (the neighbors coming to welcome us, they heard a kid moved in) I almost had a heart attack. In fact, I was so tired from the drive from OKC that for a moment I actually thought I was at the wrong house, that I was hallucinating, because how in the world could there be unmasked bodies in my living room.

Then I started talking to people here. And I realized that the way I thought they were insane for not being deathly afraid of covid, they thought I was insane for being petrified. Because the disease hadn’t hit here; their businesses were destroyed and their kids were out of school (in a rural area with barely functional internet, remote school = a lost year) and their lives were totally fucked up, for a disease that never arrived at their doorstep. I came to understand why they weren’t worried, why here life looked (almost) normal. I told them about what it was like to live somewhere covid tore through, the freezer trucks of bodies on the FDR Drive and my previously healthy 27yld brother so sick with it the first spring he thought he was about to die (but too scared to go to a hospital), my dad’s relative in the next NYC wave on a vent for months and lucky to be alive but may never walk again, the doctors in OKC pleading on the news to please wear a fucking mask because the hospitals were fucking full, and the neighbors stopped thinking I was psycho when I carried extra masks for their kids, and made them put them on, when I took them to town for ice cream. I never stopped masking. But we did indoor dine here (once, BBQ, it wasn’t delicious enough for how anxious I felt) and I did bring all the kids, including my toddler, to a fairly crowded children’s museum in the big (small) city an hour away, where the rest of us were masked but the one with his hands in his mouth, who was all up in other kids’ faces, the one who really should be masked, wasn’t because he won’t leave it on for more than a minute.

Actually it’s a lie to say that I never stopped masking- I have dashed into little stores here, without one, because I’m vaxed! It’s safe here! Covid felt done. We had friends come here to visit this summer. Friends who are vaxed, but that doesn’t seem to really matter enough anymore. We had the neighbors over for meals, indoors (you see, more indoor dining! A minute ago I was just thinking restaurants, but why would plagues only spread in restaurants?). They had us for meals. The girls are a crew, new best friends, making my daughter’s life here so, so much happier, constant sleepovers (their kids were at our house this afternoon; my kid is at their house right now). The parents and grandparents are wonderful, making my life here, and husband’s life here, so much easier, so much better. We help them with stuff, they help us with stuff, there isn’t a day that goes by that we don’t see each other, unmasked. Some of the adults in their household are vaxed; some of the adults in their household are not. The kids are all too young to be vaxed. But it (living, doing shit again, seeing people again) really stopped feeling scary; it really felt like everything was fine, normal-ish, normal-er. The end of the pandemic felt in sight.

I signed my child up for school here. Real school, not mommy school, school with a school bus. She was a little anxious, I had to talk her into it, I sold it hard, I bought her whatever pair of new sneakers she wanted for her new school (she hasn’t had gym class in a year and a half; for a phase in Oklahoma she wore one boot and one sandal every day, why not). She wasn’t anxious about sneakers or covid; she was anxious that maybe she hadn’t learned enough in homeschool (I am not a teacher! I did not homeschool because I am good at it or love it or wanted to, I homeschooled because I was scared of her getting covid at school and dying), that she would be behind. She isn’t behind. I followed the real school curriculum as best I could (as in: sometimes totally and sometimes not at all), and somehow, when I gave her the standardized “real school” test “at the end of the year” (aka the day I couldn’t take it anymore, I had to focus on my work or I wasn’t going to have an income, the day I’d decided we’d done as much as we could and it was time to be done), she sailed through it, this kid is smart. Smart as in needs to be in actual real fucking school to stay smart and learn and reach her potential.

She got excited- one of the neighbor kids is in her grade. The other kid is older- but the school is small, she’d see her tons. She was excited; I was excited. I registered her for school. Her new teacher sent a nice note. We all were excited. She’s never taken the school bus before but the neighbors take it and she’d be fine on the bus with her besties, the bus would pick her up in front of their house since there’s nowhere to turn around up our hill (we are VERY rural), they’d all get on and off the bus together. She has been backpack shopping. We have been discussing what she’ll have for breakfast (honey nut Cheerios), what she wants me to pack for lunch (she says just Goldfish, I say turkey sandwich, we’re working on it).

But now, 18 days before school starts here, I am thisclose to pulling her out, to embarking on another lovely (not), gratifying (not) year of homeschool, because of covid, delta. When we got to our new home in our new tiny town in June, there was no covid here. Now, our county is listed by the CDC as a high transmission area (is there anywhere in the US that isn’t?). 80% of senior citizens here are vaxed; 50% of the total population is, well below the national average. 15 cases per 100,000, in a county of 100,000. I guess this is less rampant than our previous pandemic locales, NYC (currently 25/100K), OKC (49/100K). This is splitting hairs, everywhere is bad. This is what panic does to me: are we better or worse for every decision we’ve made in the past year and a half, every decision that got us here? There are fewer cases here but fewer people and fewer vaccinated people and fewer ICU beds. We aren’t safe even here, but at least we are happy (happy aside from fear of delta death).

I don’t know whether to send my kid to school in 18 days. There will be masks but masks aren’t enough (how many masks do I make her wear? two, ten, a thousand?). This choice feels crazy— in March 2020, when that covid was mostly sparing kids, I yanked her out of school. Now, this covid does hurt kids. How much longer, how many more years, can parents be in this position to make this nightmare choice? What will hurt her more: school or no school? There are vaccines, more than enough in America. We shouldn’t be having to make this choice.

As it is, because of toddler— not because of toddler, because of being a parent to children in a pandemic— my work life, and husband’s, will be severely impacted this year, again. I can’t send him to daycare because he’s too little to leave a mask on (he won’t even leave his pants on!) in a room full of other unmasked toddlers, whose families may or may not be vaxd, may or may not wear masks (there has been a noticeable increase in supermarket mask wearing since we got here, but still not enough, is any of it enough?), may or may not be going to parties and weddings and funerals, daycare providers who may or may not be doing all the same. This means I can only apply to remote jobs, so I can be home with him. Husband has some flexibility, more than he did in OKC, but god forbid he has to work while I have a work call or meeting or work due I didn’t manage to get done at 4am or 11pm when the house is quiet. He can’t bring toddler to work with him, his work is up on scaffold, stenciling ceilings. This will be another year of me muting myself on Zooms while toddler pulls his diaper off and hurls poop at the cat. Would it really be so much harder to also be trying to teach parts of speech to our daughter at the same time? Yes, it would, but I don’t know if I can send my kids back out into the world until they’re vaccinated. I am counting the days, holding my breath, until they can be.

I used to believe in personal choice. I don’t anymore. I want this shit to be mandated, I want the government to line us up and force mRNA into holdouts’ arms, I want it to be required, to be able to function in and interact with and benefit from society in any way, shape, or form. I have been very lucky in the pandemic. Privilege stacked on privilege on privilege, to be fussing over my Zooms in my hamlet. I had been pretty pandemic perky, baking my pies and playing with my pandemic pets and (thinking about) doing puzzles, but I’ve reached my breaking point. This shit could be done, but it’s not, and I’m scared it never will be.

[shoutaaizawas]

↳ aizawa shouta x reader → unimaginable 

summary: you decide to let shinsou go on a mission without you but when he gets hurt you blame yourself word count: 1,944 tags/warnings: aizawa family!au, light angst, family, fluff, idk  a/n: i don’t really know what this is but enjoy, i was watching hamilton and i thought of this.

Shinsou had been doing his work studies with you and you enjoyed being able to work along-side your adopted son. He had learned a lot from your husband Aizawa and was getting better and better every day.

You were very professional and did your best to remain unbiased but at the end of the day, you still cared for him as your son so it was hard to let him into situations that you considered too dangerous.

A mission had come up and Shinsou would be a perfect fit for it. You had intended to go with him until Aizawa pulled you aside.

“You should send him with one of your sidekicks, it’ll be good for him to work with others.” He said. You knew your husband well enough to know that that was his nice way of saying you’re smothering him. You couldn’t disagree with him but you worried too much. You liked knowing that if the situation was bad enough you could send Shinsou away to safety. You also knew that wasn’t going to help him become a stronger hero.

Reluctantly you let him go but you couldn’t shake the bad feeling.

“Okay, remember what Aizawa taught you.” You said readjusting the capture weapon that rested around his neck. “Be careful and follow their lead.”

“I know, I know.” Shinsou said with a hint of a smile. “I’ll be fine.”

“I know you will.” You smile at him, you brush his cheek with your thumb. “I’ll see you at home tonight, love you.”

“I love you too.” He said before leaving with the hero he’d be working with.

At your agency, you find yourself unable to focus on anything. You sit at your desk tapping your nails against the surface. It will be fine, you trust the heroes at your agency to take care of Shinsou. You know Shinsou is smart and strong. You wish that you didn’t worry so much.

Your door opens and your secretary walks in. The look on their face makes your stomach drop. Without a word you already know it’s bad news. You had seen it before.

“Not him.” You said before you could stop the words.

“Shinsou, he’s on his way to the hospital. The villain got out of hand, the structure started to crumble-”

Standing up you run out, you had heard enough. You just needed to see him, he had to be okay. You wouldn’t know what to do if-

Rushing to the hospital you called Aizawa. He picked up and you can barely get a word out you’re so frantic.

“What happened?” He asked you could hear the fear in his voice. He knows that not many things shake you.

“Shinsou, it’s Shinsou.” You finally gasped out. You were able to tell him which hospital it was and Aizawa is already on his way.

Rushing into the building you find the front desk, Aizawa is already there and you’re thankful you don’t have to try and ask for information. Aizawa turns and sees you, as you approach him he grabs your shoulders.

“He’s in surgery now, he’s unstable but they’re hopeful.” He told you in a calm voice.

You let out a breath, he’s alive but there’s still a chance he might not make it. Tears begin to stream down your face. You have always done your best to put on a persona in public, you were a highly ranked pro hero people didn’t need to see you shaken up but you can’t stop yourself.

Aizawa asks quietly if there’s somewhere private to wait and the receptionist gives him directions. Your husband guides you through the halls before entering a room and sitting down on a love seat with you.

“I told you I should have been with him.” You cried as Aizawa pulled you into a hug. He held you close, one hand at the back of your neck and the other in the middle of your back. He presses your head against his chest and rests his head against yours. “If I was there he would be okay.”

“I’m sorry.” He whispered against your ear. “He’s a strong kid, he’ll be okay.”

Time passes and you hold each other, tears streaming down both of your faces. Eventually, your breathing evens and you start to calm down. The thought of Shinsou on an operating table makes you sick but you feel more stable than before.

“Shouta, I’m sorry.” You say quietly, pulling back to look him in the eyes. “It’s not your fault. You were right that I need to give him more independence. This could have happened even with me there.”

Your agency had sent in the report of what had happened, his injuries were caused by falling debris. A part of you thinks you could have stopped it in time but you also know that anything could have happened.

“It’s okay.” He said taking your hand in his. “I’m not upset at you. I’d be lying if I said I didn’t regret telling you to let him go with someone else.”

You grip his hand in yours, pulling it to your lips to kiss the top of his hand. You stared into the dark eyes of the man you love, he looked just as worn out as you felt. The bags under his eyes and the redness worse than normal. You pulled him close, letting him rest on your shoulder.

“We’ll get through this.” You said. “Wait, Eri’s still at daycare!”

The realization that you had forgotten about your adopted daughter in all the chaos hit you, you tried to stand up but Aizawa keeps you from doing so.

“I already asked Yamada to watch her.” He reassured you.

“What would I do without you.” You sighed as you relaxed back into him.

More time passes before the doctors told you anything. Finally, you were told that he was out of surgery and in a room. The two of you didn’t hesitate to see him.

It broke your heart seeing him lying in the bed, bandages wrapped all over him. He had sustained quite a few injuries but the doctors said he would recover. You let out a breath of relief. Sitting down at his side you cradled his cheek, tears ran down your face.

You felt like a failure. When you took Shinsou in you promised to take care of him, keep him from harm, and here he was. You could feel Aizawa wrap his arms around your waist, as he tried to comfort you.

“He’ll be okay.” He said. You knew he would but it didn’t stop the overwhelming guilt. What kind of hero was you if you couldn’t protect your own son?

Every day at the beginning of visitor hours you went to sit at his bedside. After class Aizawa would join you for a while before you’d go home to spend time with Eri. Eri would ask about her big brother Shinsou but you would tell her that he was resting up so he could come home and be healthy. You knew the little girl had seen and heard worse but you never wanted to add onto that.

Finally, Shinsou woke up and when he did you were at his side, spilling apologies before he could even say anything. You held onto his hand as if you let go he would disappear.

“It’s not your fault, I should have been more careful. I’m sorry, you shouldn’t have to worry so much.” He said.

“Shinsou, I’m always going to worry about you. It doesn’t matter how old you are.” You told him. He gave you a small smile but you didn’t miss the way his eyes teared up.

“I’m okay now.” He said. You squeezed his hand with a smile.

Eri was more than ecstatic to have her big brother home but you told her before he came home to be careful with him because he was still healing. You smiled as she carefully hugged him acting as if the smallest movement would hurt him.

Aizawa and you laid in bed together, your head resting on his chest as you played with his hair. It felt good knowing that Shinsou was home and in his own bed.

Growing up you understood the danger of hero work. You knew that in a moment you could be dead, one wrong move that was it. You were okay with that, when you were young you hadn’t expected to live long. Then you met Aizawa and then the stakes felt bigger. If you died you would leave him behind. If he died he would leave you behind. It was hard to cope with that possibility.

You had thought that was the hardest thing then you adopted Eri and you realized that a villain could try to use her to hurt you or Aizawa. You constantly worried that Overhaul or his associates would try to come after her.

Then Shinsou came into your lives. He wanted to be a hero and of course, neither of you would stop him.

It was so much harder to fear for your child than to fear for yourself. It was so much easier to protect them than to watch them get hurt. But you had to learn. Shinsou wanted to be like you and Aizawa and it would be hypocritical to stop him from pursuing his dreams.

The most you could do was to teach him everything you could so he would be prepared to be the best hero he could be. You supposed that was a part of being a parent, learning to let your children make their own mistakes and learn. You just didn’t have much time to prepare for that considering you took Shinsou in at the age he was.

“Will it ever get any easier?” You ask your husband. He was a teacher and had been for a while. He was more prepared for this than you were.

“Hmm?” He questioned.

“Watching Shinsou get hurt. Watching him grow up and learn the hard way?” You said. Aizawa sighed, his hand moving to your back.

“Yes and no.” He answered. “It will always hurt to watch them get hurt but every time they come out of it you’ll know they’ll be more prepared for being a hero. Think about all of the times you got hurt when you were young.”

You remembered the fire in you. It didn’t matter if it was a sprain or if you had almost died you always came out of it with a fire in you to do better, to be stronger, to become a hero that couldn’t be felled. That could protect anyone.

“It’s so hard to watch someone else go through it.” You sighed.

“I know.” He said. “But we’ll always be here for him. He’ll have support through it all. Just think how much harder it would have been for him with his situation before this.”

Aizawa was right. He always was. Shinsou’s parents had been neglectful at best. It would always be hard being a hero but Shinsou would always have a loving family there for him and you could pride yourself on that.

“You always know what to say.” You smiled looking up at him. “Thank you.”

Aizawa smiled down at you, brushing his hand gently across your cheek. He leaned down pressing a kiss against your forehead. You knew that you could do this. You knew that you and Aizawa could provide Shinsou the sanctuary he needed to become a great hero. The sanctuary that Aizawa lacked when he was young. And no matter what happened you could have peace in that.

[utterlyinevitable]

After seeing ur explanation for that anon i really want to see a fic or a hc of ethan as a dad and becca as mom can u please do it??

omg okay ahhh my babys having babies. this is gonna be long and idk if it’ll make sense bc imma jot down everything i know about domestic e&b.  

[just finished and... this is long and broken down into 6 categories........... enjoy!]

Ethan & Becca as Parents

The Pregnancy 

They didn’t plan on having children, it just kind of happened. Becca and Ethan took a day for the news to settle before they jumped into excited, expecting parents mode.

The most exciting part was renovating the condo to make the most perfect nursery and shopping for decorations and mentally planning all the traditions and things they’d love to give to their little family. 

All of the happiness couldn’t mask the struggles of pregnancy. 

Becca hated being pregnant. She was sick and nauseous constantly, and her back and feet always ached. 

Throughout the whole thing Ethan doted on her; holding her hair back and learning how to tie it up in the way she likes, rubbing her back, running out to get whatever she was craving. 

He even made copious amounts of notes about her eating patterns. Enough to keep two of everything in the condo. 

If she was having a restless night, he would too; even if she was restless for non-human-growing reasons. 

They were in this together.

And even when she was huddled over a garbage pail, dribble running down her chin, she never looked more beautiful to him. 

There was just something about all this that made him feel all weird and fuzzy inside. 

When her symptoms barely settled throughout the second trimester she overhauled her entire birthing plan. There was no way she was making it to 42 weeks. She was absolutely miserable. So she made a c-section appointment for 40 weeks. 

She had an entire argument with Ethan one evening (she really was only yelling while he nodded his head). Her main points were:  “It’s my body and the baby will be fine. I was born 6 weeks early and I turned out fantastic!” and  “Once the baby’s out of me I’m still going to have to pee. Omg what if she rips me open!? How am I supposed to use the bathroom without worrying about my stitches?”  

All he kept reiterating was:  “I love you. I trust you and your instincts.” 

Becca felt better as he held her face in his large hands, his calming azure eyes boring into hers and letting her know everything will be alight. 

But deep down she spent the next few weeks since making the appointment wondering if she should have given vaginal birth a try. She didn’t want Ethan to resent her for chickening out of her body’s natural function. 

The Birth 

Becca made it to her c-section appointment. Happily rubbing her large belly and glowing:  “I can’t wait to not be pregnant anymore! Never do this to me again.” 

All Ethan did was chuckle. 

He was happy she was getting color back and that her symptoms finally settled enough for her to spend the last few weeks enjoying their daughters kicks. But oh my god was Ethan Ramsey terrified of being a father. 

He wouldn’t tell Becca though. She was emotional and worried enough as is. Any and all his concerns were saved for the short conversations he had with his father.  “Don’t overthink it, son. The moment you lay eyes on your daughter you’ll know what to do. It’s instinct. Biology. That was your best subject in school, wasn’t it?” Alan would joke.  

The surgery went off without a hitch. 

All of Becca’s hatred for the phenomenon of pregnancy vanished the second the nurse placed their daughter on her chest. 

Rebecca was in awe. She made that! This little person came out of her! This little pink person that looks like a plucked chicken with a tiny tuft of brown hair was here and she was beautiful. The perfect combination of her and Ethan. 

The embodiment of their love.   

Dakota Dolores Ramsey was completely unplanned. Unplanned but not unwanted.  

The first time Ethan Ramsey held his daughter time froze. The universe needed a minute to process the broad grin and full heart thumping rapidly from this stoic and reserved man. 

The earth was about to spin the wrong way but then Dakota opened her eyes.

Everything was the way divinity had planned it.  

At Home

Although Ethan and Becca lived a 10 minutes drive from Edenbrook, nearly a straight run, Becca forced him to drive as slow as possible. 

Dakota was asleep and she needed to keep it that way. 

Due to her stitches, Becca was forced to take things easy. No matter how many times she argued with Ethan that she was capable of menial tasks around the house. 

Ethan would not let her lift a finger. 

If Dakota needed a change he’d happily do it. if Becca was hungry he’d make her favorite. 

“You had her to yourself for nine months. Let me take the next few days.” Becca went to retort, all she wanted was to hold her baby for the rest of eternity. She’d never tire of looking at her scrunched up potato face and watching as her features changed every moment of every day. “I promise to share.” “You better,” she kissed him as he tucked her into bed for a much needed nap.

The only thing he was forced to share with his partner was feeding duty - Becca was adamant on breast feeding. A bottle would not touch their daughters lips for months to come. 

That in itself brought its own challenges. 

Most nights Ethan laid in bed with Becca curled up at his side in one arm and Dakota resting on his bare chest. 

Parenting was weird, but an exhilarating change. 

Ethan couldn’t diagnose what he could have possibly have done right in his life to be this wholly happy. 

The Second

Once Ethan and Becca had one child they were both itching for a second.

“You know what say: ‘if you have one you have to have two’.” “Is that so?”  “You don’t want Dakota to have a sibling?”  “I was an only child and look how I turned out.”  “Emotionally stunted and certified loner?” she teased. 

Truth be told, Ethan wanted another. He’s been thinking of giving his pride and joy a few siblings for weeks now. He just didn’t know how to tell Becca. 

Becca complained frequently about how happy she was to not be pregnant, and often about how her scar healed funnily. 

All of the signs pointed to her not wanting another. And Ethan was okay with that. He never expected to have one child. He’d cherish every moment of what’s been placed right in his fingertips. 

He’ll let his soon-to-be wife choose their path. She’s dictated everything else thus far. Ethan was elated she chose him to be along for the ride. 

After Dakota’s first birthday, when they made the decision to have another, they tried desperately to conceive.

“I really don’t want to have to deal with diapers for five years,” was Becca’s main reason for keeping the kids close in age.  “We can try surrogacy.” Ethan offered, knowing how much she hated pregnancy. He didn’t want to push her into anything.    “No. I have to do it. I’ll do it for our kids. But you owe me big time.”  

And 14 months later Caroline Marie Ramsey made her grand appearance. 

And Becca got her first push present. 

The Last 

It’s fitting that four years later Ethan and Becca were blessed with another surprise. 

Her pregnancy with James Jonah was the smoothest of them all. 

Of course that meant something had to go wrong. 

At 34 weeks Becca went into premature vaginal labor. 

Within six hours their baby boy arrived. 5lbs 2oz and looking like an alien. 

Ethan almost lost them both after the fact. 

Becca lost too much blood with the placenta and JJ was so tiny.  

But the Lao’s were fighters and they pulled through. Ethan cried at her bedside once the harrowing 24 hours were up. 

Becca stayed at the hospital for a week, Ethan and Alan bringing the girls to visit every single day. 

JJ had to stay a few days longer and Becca refused to leave until she could bring her son home. 

She went through her first experience with postpartum depression. Becca didn’t think anything could be worse than the mental toll her abortion had on her years earlier. But she was wrong.

She was so wrong. 

All their friends chipped in to help take care of the kids while Ethan devoted his time to helping his wife. The couple went to therapy, sometimes together, other times Ethan sat in the waiting room as Becca worked through her emotions. 

Months later, the parents were sitting at home. Ethan held their son and their daughters were curled on their laps: He muttered into his wife’s hair, “I’d like to have one more.”  “Not with me you’re not,” she scoffed. “We’re outnumbered as is.” 

JJ began to cry and the girls stirred. Dakota mumbling, “Tell the baby to shut up, I’m sleeping here.” 

They couldn’t help but laugh and pull apart to put their whole world to bed.  

Old and graying and spending more time at home with his kids, Ethan wanted just one more baby. Four was a strong, even number. He could have a whole daycare full of them - each one the best variations of him and Becca. 

Becca had spent a large portion of her 30s childrearing and she’s done. Done with diapers and formula, especially. She loves her children more than anything but they’re exhausting. She can’t wait for them to be in school full time and she can have some more alone time with her husband. It’s been so long since it’s been just them too.  

“Don’t hate me...”  “I could never hate you,” Ethan said as he brushed a few strands of hair from his wife’s face.  She swallowed and confidently said, “I want you to get a vasectomy.” 

He agreed without further consideration. She made a very compelling argument.  

Parenting 

Ethan is the doting helicopter dad and Becca is doctor drill sergeant. The kids get away with nothing under their mother’s watch. 

Ethan is very soft and adores his children. The grumpy attending could have a whole gaggle of them. He spoils his daughters rotten, picking up the newest doll and toy they’re obsessed with, and making them promise not to tell mommy. 

The women in Ethan’s life get away with everything and he wouldn’t have it any other way.

When the girls were born, Ethan stepped back at work letting the better Dr. Ramsey have her career defining moments.

He took half days to pick the girls up from preschool and would bring them to the park or museums. He’d even try to teach them to cook their favorite recipes on cold, rainy days. He’d tire them out so that he and mom could tuck them in after dinner.

Ethan’s afraid of his son. He’s afraid the tot is going to turn out exactly like him - he’s the spitting image, except that his hair curls like his mother’s. 

Instead of putting JJ in fulltime daycare, Ethan chose part time preschool. The girls were in primary school now and he’s taken a bigger step back from the hospital after the baby was born. 

He devotes all his free time to teaching his son about all he knows and learning all he doesn’t.  

Becca complains about the state of her vagina and stomach all the time. Never in front of the children but often enough Ethan knows the look on her face right before she says the same two lines.  

Her favorite activity is building forts and taking the kids to the beach. 

The holidays have never felt more alive with the full house. Ethan even became a Christmas and Valentines Day lover. 

Becca loved watching him change over the years. Every new first they celebrated with each child, every one of their kids passions, Ethan would adopt them all and make it his mission to be a connoisseur of every facet.

Dakota sat her parents down one day with a serious topic of conversation: “Mommy, Daddy. I’m going to be a fashion designer.” “Will you?”  “Yes. And I need to dress myself.” “As long as it’s weather appropriate, consider it done.”  “And we need to get supplies.” 

The conversation went on for 15 minutes with Ethan and Becca asking questions and Dakota making demands. Once they’ve settled on an agreement on how to make their daughter’s dream happen, Ethan retired to his office. He taught himself the basics of sewing.     

Even with all the struggles of raising three children in a suburb of Boston while balancing very demanding medical careers, Ethan and Becca wouldn’t have it any other way. The life they carved out of all their complications was worth it.  

All of this was inevitable. 

And they wouldn’t take a moment for granted.    

________________________________________

Um... this became bigger than intended... If you made it this far, thank you ♥

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