#little penguin walk <3 just too great

[tiredseverin]

S08xE03: Stuck in a mammal groove.

for those, like me, who were surprised and delighted when alex mocked john (for forgetting a queen album and going "no, no, no, no, no!") - he's been making fun of contestants for a long time!

(to be fair, ian sterling was extremely mockable /pos)

[wosoamazing]

Amada Part 3

Freyja Estrella Engen-León

Summary: You get sick

Warnings: Sickness, Vomiting, Mentions of Hospitals

Notes: I was going to post this tomorrow or later but seeming that I reached 1k followers this morning I thought it was only right to post something. Based off this request. (Also idk if this is very good but yeah) 1.4k words

You wake up in the middle of the night and your head feels funny, everything is muffled but not the nice muffled when you have your ear defenders on. It's a weird muffled and you don’t like it. You know you’re not meant to get out of bed at this time because the little clock on your side table is red however you don’t like this feeling and decide to venture out to your Mum’s room anyway.

-

You walk up to your Mumma’s side and tap her lightly, she wakes up instantly and is confused. She doesn’t normally wake up during the night, especially because Mapi is a deep sleeper and you’re very good at sleeping in your own bed, however she wonders if Mapi has woken up because of her leg, but the soft snore that immediately follows that though proves to her that Mapi is well and truly asleep. However when you shift next to the bed she notices you and it finally makes sense.

“Freyja, what’s wrong?” Ingrid asks you and you just shrug your shoulders, knowing she probably isn’t going to get an explanation out of you currently so she just decides to pick you up and place you in their bed, where you immediately snuggle into her chest. It’s something Ingrid is grateful for, they had been told by many people, that autistic children wouldn’t like touch, however it was something you often sought out, and not just for sensory reasons, more for comfort, your OT thinks that you have safe people, who you know and they know you, you trust that they won’t overstep your boundaries and so you enjoy their comfort, knowing you’re safe, your Mumma and Mami are very good examples of that but also Frido and Alexia.

When you wake up you feel even more funny, your very warm, and your head feels all stuffy, Ingrid notices and gives you some kids medicine before taking you to training, knowing that if you were actually sick she couldn’t leave you with Mapi, who still needed to use her crutches to get around.

“Is she okay?” Alexia asks as Ingrid walks onto the pitch having just set you up on the sidelines, with all your usual items plus the addition of some of those cardboard bowls the players get to take home when they get ouchies on their heads.

“We think she might be sick. I couldn’t leave her home with Mapi, she still needs to use her crutches. It would be unfair on both of them. Maps also panics too much. But we aren’t completely sure if she is sick,” Ingrid informs Alexia

“Are you okay? You-” “I’m fine, don’t worry. Where’s Aitana?” “She is sick,” 

Ingrid could tell that the gym was getting to much for you, but she was also worried about how pale your usually tan complexion was and how you had a slightly green tinge to you, she is pretty sure she saw your body roll slightly before your eyes went wide and you press a hand to your stomach.

“Ale, I’m just going to take Freyja to the bathroom, she doesn’t look the best,” Ingrid tells her captain who nods at her and gives her a sympathetic smile.

-

You sit down on the floor of one of the showers with your Mumma and she just talks to you, asking you questions about penguins, trying to calm you down and distract you from the weird feeling inside of you.

Your body rolls as you gag and you looked up at her eyes wide open with panic, “It’s okay Freyja, your body isn’t feeling well and it’s just trying to get rid of the ickiness, just let it happen, it might feel icky and be gross but it will make you feel better.”

You dry heave this time and just shake your head aggressively before tears start spilling from your eyes, “I know, it’s not nice, but you’re doing such a great job.”

You retch again and this time something comes up, Ingrid manages to place the bowl under your chin to catch everything. By the end of it your body is shaking and you’re silently sobbing, letting out a choked out cry every now and then. Ingrid doesn’t know what to do, you’ve never actually been sick before and she knows you are probably already overstimulated so touching you without your ‘permission’ wouldn’t be the best idea.

“Freyja, would you like a hug or do you not want touch,”

“Hug,” you weakly say and it’s all Ingrid needs to pull you in for a hug, which is when she suddenly realised how unwell she is feeling herself, however she needs to get you home, before she can let the sickness overtake her. Ingrid manages to get you changed out of your clothes and into a nappy before she has to sit down, feeling like she was going to pass out, she was ever thankful when both Alexia and Frido walked through the door, as much as she hated admitting she needed help she knew she did, and she knew you were good with both these people and in all honesty if she had to throw up in front of someone at least it would be one of her close friends.

“Can someone take her I-” your Mum had to stop and breathe deeply trying to fight off the nausea, and Alexia immediately scooped you out of her arms and Frido helped your Mum up before guiding her into the bathroom and then into one of the toilet stalls, locking the door behind them.

______

You were lying on Alexia’s chest miserably when Kiera and Lucy entered the locker room. The English women’s faces soften at the sight of you, you're just in a nappy and your skin looks clammy, and your ear defenders sit over your ears.

“We just came to check on you all, it’s been a while,” Kiera said softly.

“Oh, um, Ingrid is sick too, Frido is with her,”

“Do you need any help? We could pack your bags, go get the medics for you,” Lucy offers.

“Ehm, potser, els metges haurien de tenir medicaments per a nens, si només els poguessis aconseguir i tornar-los, seria genial, però només sabor de maduixa, (Um, maybe, the medics should have kids medicine, if you could just get it and bring it back that would be great, only strawberry flavour though)” Alexia told them and Kiera nodded before leaving the room and Lucy decided to help pack up your bag, Frido’s bag, Ingrid’s bag and even Alexia’s bag.

Kiera returns with the medicine bottle and some of it already in the syringe and Alexia quickly nods before taking the syringe off Kiera, she manages to get you to take it, mostly because you felt too bad to fight against the action. Your head felt funny along with your tummy and even with your ear defenders on everything was still weirdly muffled. Your skin felt yucky and you’re thankful you’re only in a nappy, the cool air feels nice against your burning skin and Alexia’s finger ran up and down your back soothing you softly.

It's been four hours since you arrived home, and almost 2 hours since Alexia and Frido took your Mumma to the hospital. You now laid on your Mami’s chest, fast asleep, like you had been for the past four hours. Mapi really wanted to go to the hospital with Ingrid, wanted to help her partner feel better, but you were important too and she needed to be there for you, and if your sickness was anything like Ingrids you weren’t well at all. Ingrid had collapsed in front of the toilet the second she walked through the door and she hadn’t been able to leave since, so Alexia and Frido decided they needed to take her to the hospital to get help and Mapi agreed, wanting nothing more than for you both to be okay.

Eventually after many hours Ingrid returned home, looking better, the medicine and fluids at the hospital had helped however she was now exhausted. She climbed into the bed, immediately curling into Mapi’s side, who still had you sleeping on her chest, before you all fell asleep, sleeping off whatever bug had invaded your family.

[shoyoist]

any thoughts on which blue lock men would absolutely be one of the best fathers out there? <33

ﾟ+* ꔫ — 𝐁𝐋𝐔𝐄 𝐋𝐎𝐂𝐊 𝐌𝐄𝐍 + 𝐁𝐄𝐒𝐓 𝐃𝐀𝐃𝐒

content: fluff. f!reader. marriage. mentions of pregnancy, child birth. an: sobbing they are all such sweet dads nonnie it was so hard to choose </3 gave us four best dads in no particular order because i could not rank them if i tried.

featuring: kunigami rensuke, mikage reo, isagi yoichi, oliver aiku.

° 𐐒𐐚 . kunigami rensuke!

he's a caring father. a little over protective, and a little confused — but he works hard to be a good husband and a good father to your kids, and that makes him perfect<3

he's the perfect man to have as your husband & as the father of your kids. chivalrous, a total sweetheart, doesn't get swayed easily, somewhat stubborn and oh, so loving. he's patient and caring and always available during your pregnancy, and he remains steadfast with those traits when the kids do get here.

he's way more into planning the baby's rooms than you are, honestly. stresses so much over the little details — wallpapers, curtains, sheets and number of pillows, exact furniture placements, everything.

he drives your baby girl and boy to school every single day, steals your duty of fixing their bentos for them, loves braiding your little girl's hair, and cries ("rensuke, are you crying?" "n—no, i'm just feeling a little emotional, a'right?") about how one day they'll be all grown up and people of their own.

none of the blue lock men EVER miss a sports meet, that's for sure — but kunigami? he helped the school arrange it. none of those boring lemon-on-a-spoon games. he pushes the school to replace the regular games with football related ones. a dribble race. the baton in the baton relay is replaced by a football.

one teacher makes the mistake of telling him "but sir, these are football games. what about the girls?" he gave them a whole lecture on how little girls can play and be interested in football just as much as little boys.

his enthusiasm is masked by his gruff exterior, and often it's just you that's left to placate him when your baby girl and boy get tired of listening to their dad explaining football rules and positions to them over and over again.

"rensuke," you hum, walking over to share the seat with him when he flops onto the sofa in defeat. "don't look so down, honey. they're only five and six years old. they just don't have the attention span."

"just wish i knew more ways to spend time with them." he confesses, running a hand through the spikes of his orange hair. "football's all i cared for when i was a kid, y'know? so i'm not sure what else to do."

he's so sweet :( and he feels better right away too, when you kiss his forehead and tell him he could take them to the aquarium next weekend. "they've been dying to go see the penguins."

"really?" he mutters, that contemplative frown that you've gotten so used to seeing and fallen in love with creasing his brows. "hmm, i'll see if i can take the day off."

° 𐐒𐐚 . mikage reo!

he's the fun dad. the life of the party even in the family. he starts off a little rocky, but after that he's so very supportive, lifting his son up into the light and paving the way for his future with everything he's got.

reo didn't have exactly the best relationship with his parents. it was great when he was a kid, but as he grew up and became a man of his own, his dreams and the dreams his parents set for him became obviously separated from eachother — which ended with him getting estranged from them himself.

which might lead one to believe that he would avoid doing that with his own child at all costs — but for reo, it was a shock at first when he realized his son had no interest in football.

"he's into art." you stroke his hair, letting him lay in your lap and mourn the loss of his personal father/son dreams. "he wants to paint, baby. look at him. only five years old and he's already so good at it."

"maybe he'll get bored of it in a few years." reo muses, rolling over in your lap to press his face into your stomach. "maybe he'll get into football later."

"reo." you say his name sternly. "don't push your own dreams onto your son." it's a simple reprimand, but it hits reo hard. he fixes his mindset instantly after that.

he's ready to bribe Tokyo's best art schools to let his son enroll in — but with the amount of top quality supplies, world class teachers and expensive classes reo has made available for his little artist son, he gets in without a hitch.

he takes so much pride and joy in knowing that his son is an art prodigy — showers him with gifts and praise, takes front row seats at every award ceremony, takes him out on celebratory dinners, and he pays for everything.

he'd also find it incredibly funny to buy his son art-related gag gifts, pretending he's innocent and doesn't realize what he's doing. "mom, can you tell dad to quit buying me the cheesy aprons." your son complains to you, showing you the OOPS! DRANK FROM MY PAINT CUP AGAIN! apron that reo had bought him online.

you don't tell reo to quit, though. you're just glad your husband has a happy, healthy relationship with his son.

° 𐐒𐐚 . isagi yoichi!

he serves as the closest and wisest mentor for his kids. he's a little nervous about his duties sometimes, but any time his children need someone to lean on, he's there. and he's there for you, too.

isagi knows what it's like to be average. he knows what it's like to dream. and he also knows what it's like to work hard, hone himself and make those dreams come true.

when the doctor tells you both that you're going to have a child — and when the doctor confirms that it's a boy — the first thing isagi does, is teach himself that your child is going to be a separate person from him, that will have separate interests and dreams of his own.

he's fully prepared to love and support his son in every way, no matter how alike or different he turns out to be from isagi himself. takes a lot of time off for you, especially during the later months of your pregnancy. he's so antsy too, always half-awake and jerking up every time you cough or mutter in your sleep.

checks on you so many times throughout the night that it gets in the way of your sleep and irritates the fuck out of you. he's just doing his best :(

and when the baby gets here, he's so on board with making sure you get enough rest and continue to get enough to eat.

scoops your baby boy up from your arms as soon as he's done feeding and takes him to the living room, telling you to make yourself comfortable in bed and take a nap. hours later, you wake up and head downstairs to see him sitting on the sofa, dozing off with the baby swaddled in his arms.

gets super nervous at parent meets but he attends each one. listens carefully to the teachers' feedback and scolds his son as due — but so gently, in such a reassuring tone that it's impossible to throw a tantrum or get upset with him. he's a real nice dad <3

and he's so lucky both his sons (because you get another little boy two years after the first) are into football. he coaches the school teams sometimes, coming over to give pep talks and offer tips before important games.

tells his boys to stay humble no matter what the outcome, but secretly takes so much pride with each goal they score<3

° 𐐒𐐚 . oliver aiku!

he's his daughter's daddy. his happiness comes in tow with yours and your daughter's happiness. you're both the lights of his life. people say oliver was tamed when he met you — and softened when you both had your little girl. and in a way, it's true.

(dilf dilf dilf dilf) loved showing you off when you were pregnant, and he loves showing of his baby girl to literally the whole world. buys you and your daughter the prettiest matching dresses, and brings you along to every event he attends.

"meet my girls," he says, shaking the host's hand firmly, giving the man a proud smirk as he puts an arm around your waist and brings you closer. "this is my wife, and our daughter."

"everyone knows, oliver." you roll your eyes, picking your daughter up and pressing her to your chest. she clutches the neck of your dress and buries her little head into your neck, tired already of the crowd, the noise and the flashing lights. "what do they know?" he grins, pinching your cheek in response to your eye-roll.

"that i'm your wife and she's our kid." you answer, letting him lead you to the seats reserved for the aikus. "i'm sure you've introduced us at least five times already. they'd know — if the news about our wedding and our baby weren't enough."

"hey, but isn't it fun?" he leans in and kisses your cheek — you just know people are snapping up pictures. tomorrow morning, your friends will send you the latest headlines: mr. oliver aiku is such a romantic!

"hmph," you huff, because it's true, he is a romantic. a show off, but a romantic one nonetheless.

spoils your daughter thoroughly — buying her dolls, pretty clothes, the trendiest school bags, cute shoes, whatever she asks for. and he always pulls up at the school gates in his most expensive car when it's time to pick your daughter up from school.

"you're gonna give her a big head if you keep spoiling her like that, oliver." you sigh, when he comes home with yet another dollhouse set for her. "she's my little princess." he shrugs, smiling nonchalantly as you cross your arms over your chest. "and a little ego never hurt anyone — mhm?"

walking over to you, he wraps his arms around your waist and pulls you in for a kiss, whispering in your ear, "and it's not like i spoil you any less, is it?"

[joeys-babe]

Joey B Blurbs: Lights

————————————————————————-

Summary: You and Joe take your boys for a little stroll downtown to look at the Christmas lights.

Warnings: None, fluff

Pairing: Joe Burrow x reader

Imagine universe: Into The Mystic

————————————————————————-

*December 23, 2023 - 20 weeks pregnant*

“Look at the reindeer guys!” - you

Currently, Joe and I were walking with the twins around our gated neighborhood, showing them the Christmas lights.

We had done this last year, but they were only a year old. This year, they will be able to walk around better and actually remember it.

Tyson was acting more curious than Miles was, which was normal for the two.

Joe was holding Tyson up on his shoulders as he excitedly pointed at different animals to show to his father.

Now Miles, on the other hand, was holding my hand and begrudgingly trotting down the sidewalk.

He was a homebody and would much rather be at home watching a movie. That's how he's like Joe.

But right now, Joe seemed to be in a good mood, even away from our home.

“Ooo!” - Tyson pointed at a display of two penguins

“Those are cool, buddy.” - Joe smiled

My heart warmed when I looked back at 2/3 of my boys. If Joe wasn't walking directly beside me, he was walking behind me so he could ‘always have eyes on me’.

“Mama.” - Miles whined

“I know, love… but look how happy your bubby is. Can you hang on for just a little longer?” - you

Miles was a smart boy for his age, like very smart. I could talk to him like that and somehow his two-year-old brain could register it perfectly.

He looked up at his twin brother sitting on his father's shoulders, and I swear I could see him match the twinkle in Tyson’s eyes.

“Mhm.” - Miles nodded

I grinned down at my sweet momma’s boy and shifted my gaze to the path in front of us.

“Ow!” - Joe

Quickly I turned around to see what the problem was, and I found myself laughing at the sight of Tyson grabbing fistfuls of Joe’s hair.

“No, Ty!” - you laughed

When Tyson was aware that I was watching, he really tried to put on a show. His giggles got louder as he started kicking his legs dramatically.

“Tyson Lee! Quit it!” - Joe

I gently let go of Miles’s hand and walked toward my husband who was getting slightly attacked by our son.

Lifting my arms, Tyson reached forward and fell into my embrace.

After setting him down he found his default spot, next to Miles of course.

“Is my hair like jacked the hell up?” - Joe mumbled for only you to hear

I had to bite my lip to hold in my laughter. His hair kind of resembled what it looks like after I'm through with him on a real good night.

“It's not too bad, baby.” - you

“Fix it, please.” - Joe sighed

After quickly repositioning his curls and combing them with my fingers, they were back to their normal places.

“There.” - you smiled

“Thank you.” - Joe

Joe opened his arms, and I immediately walked into them. His big arms brought so much warmth as they wrapped around my waist.

“Cwuties.” - Tyson giggled

Joe and I both looked in the direction of our boys with smiles on our faces. My head fell to his chest, and Joe’s hand reached up to hold the back of my head.

Out of nowhere, Miles ran up to us and grabbed my phone out of my pocket.

I tried to get out of Joe’s arms to retrieve my phone, not wanting it in the hands of a toddler, but he stopped me.

“Just… wait a second.” - Joe

And I was glad I did.

“Smile!” - Miles

Joe and I obliged and soon the camera flash would be lighting up our surroundings.

Miles toddled back over to us and handed me the phone, the picture already pulled up.

“Joe…” - you smiled

Tears filled my eyes from the sweet moment plus maybe some pregnancy hormones too.

“We look great.” - Joe

“Is it okay if I post this later? You can't see my bump. We just look so happy.” - you

“And so in love.” - Joe grinned

“Yeah.” - you laid your head on his chest

Moments later, I was just crying into his chest.

“Are you okay, baby?” - Joe rubbed your back

“Never been better.” - you wiped your eyes and kissed him

When we pulled away from the kiss, my eyes locked with Joe’s, and I felt myself practically melt. I wanted to say something, but the moment was taken before I could.

“You like picture?” - Miles

“Yes, baby, we love it.” - you

“Yay!” - Miles

Soon, Tyson would be back in Joe’s arms, and Miles would be holding my hand. We continued walking down the path.

Joe and I were simply talking about what would be for dinner tonight when Tyson had a loud outburst.

“Ooo!” - Tyson pointed

He was lightly patting Joe’s chest to get his attention as he pointed in the direction of a light setup.

“Us!” - Tyson

It was a Christmas light display of four bears; a mom, a dad, and two cubs. The mom and dad were standing a few feet away from their own as one of the cubs was posed taking pictures of the parents with a camera.

Joe looked over at me with such a wide grin on his face that I knew his cheeks were hurting.

“Is that us Ty?” - Joe

“Mhm! Mama, Dada, me, Mi!” - Tyson

“What about baby sissy?” - you

Joe and I watched the gears turn in Tyson’s head.

“Uhm…” - Tyson sighed

I lightly shoved Joe and we both laughed at the fact Tyson just repeated a common mannerism of his.

“He’s just like you.” - you whispered with a giggle

Joe nodded his head before turning back to look at his son who was by now mumbling an answer.

We continued walking, but this time, we were headed back to our house. Joe and I paid attention to Tyson’s speech as it continued the entire way back home.

I was silently giggling at Joe’s serious face as he nodded his head since I knew he could only understand a few words that Ty was saying.

“Thank you, now I understand, bub.” - Joe

Joe was unlocking the front door when he politely shut Tyson’s babbling down.

“Welcome.” - Tyson patted Joe on the shoulder

——

Later that evening when the boys were asleep, Joe and I found ourselves in the living room with the fireplace roaring.

I had gotten him to do something completely out of his comfort zone because Joe said he ‘can't say no’ to his pregnant wife.

What that thing was? Slowly dancing to Christmas music in front of the tree.

Joe would usually turn down dancing in nanoseconds, but tonight he happily obliged.

My hands on his shoulders and his on my waist, we leisurely moved to the music playing lowly on the tv.

As time went on, I found myself closer to him. Soon enough, I was completely lying on his chest as he swayed us from side to side.

“I love you, Joe.” - you whispered

“I love you more, Mama.” - Joe

Joe gently moved one of his hands from my waist down to my bump.

“I love you too, Princess.” - Joe

Almost as if she could already recognize her father’s voice, for the first time, she kicked.

————————————————————————-

Authors note: The ending was TERRIBLE. But anywho… Merry Christmas Eve to those who celebrate! Hopefully another Christmas blurb or imagine will be coming out later!

Request that inspired this fic;

Hope you enjoyed! 💕

[ilwonuu]

hey can i request one where Taeyong and the reader are doing a project o smt and they spend so much time together and he develop feelings for her

thanks

yes of course. i wanted to do this idea but i didn’t know who for lmk what u think!! thank you for your request<3

steal my time

↬ lee taeyong

꧁ pairing- classmates to lovers, sweetheart!taeyong x reader

꧁ summary- pairing up with taeyong was a little bit nerve wracking at first but you quickly felt that feeling drift away. instead of focusing on the aquarium questions you’re supposed to complete. or to sum it up, you forget all about your marine biology project because you just want to listen to your partner talk.

꧁ warnings- kissing, fluffy fluff!!, flirting, awkwardness, cute little crushes, mentioning of death like once, lmk what else

꧁ a/n- i loved this. its so cute i love writing fluff for taeyong<3 lmk what u think !!’

you and taeyong are acquaintances? not really. you partnered up with him a few times. the two of you bonding over your love over sharks.(weird i know) you always blushing at the fact the he would wave you over every time a partner project or assignment is presented.

he loved being your partner. but him asking you to be his partner for the day project is what caught you off guard. you two had to go to the aquarium and write down facts about 6 different creatures you see there and new things you found out about them.

your professor stating that you had the weekend to turn it in. you were relieved at that but your thoughts quickly shifting to the sweet boy’s question.

he looked nervous. very cute as always. his glasses and his beanie making him look softer than ever. his hoodie hugging against him. “yea! i would love to be your partner.” you still feeling kinda anxious. his cheeks heat up suddenly.

his cute expression making you smile at him. can help but take a second glance at his lips. he’s pretty up close and far away to be clear.

did he think you would say no? of course not. “great..uh did you want to go today? i’m just not busy other than this but if you are-“ he his rambling cutely looking away from you. you suggest to him. he nods at your words.

“no i’m free..do you want to take the train?” he nods at your words. “that would be fun!” he smiles starting to gather his things into his bag. causing you to do the same as him. “ready?” he asks looking behind him at you. you nod and he just smiles at your face starting to walk towards the train stop with you.

when you two finally get outside he takes a deep breath. “wow- it’s perfect weather. i love fall time.” he smiles looking around as he walks in front of you.

“i agree i love fall too.” you agree looking around at the sky. smiling at your environment. especially at the soft boy who’s keeping you company.

“really? that’s great we have something in common!” he says excitedly smiling at you as he continues to walk to the train with you. you blush at his words looking away from him shortly after hoping he doesn’t see.

“we’re almost here. im so thankful it’s close to campus. i felt like i might die.” he breathes out looking back at you. you laugh quietly.

“we started walking like 5 minutes ago not even-“ he shakes his head. “5 minutes is too long.” he replies giving you a playful look as you two get to the train stop. “you’re a little dramatic.” you say as you laugh again.

taeyong loves the sound of your laugh more than he should. you two getting on the train making your way to the aquarium. as soon as you two get there, you immediately making your say the

penguins. you both more excited than you thought. sitting next to the glass to watch the penguins. the two of you feeling very comfortable with each others company. this how it was with every sea creatures you saw. you two sitting next to each other.

watching them and then getting lost in conversation with taeyong. he was really easy to talk to. making you laugh at any moment he can. this is how you two forgot to do the assignment by the time you two have left. but it was okay, you were okay with him stealing your time. you want him to have it after today.

him stopping you before you two head home. “would you want to do this again maybe tomorrow?” he asks holding his phone out so you can put your number in it. you nod.

“yea im free.” you put your number in. you smile waving him goodbye as you walk to your train as you see him wave as well walking the other way. you blush at today’s interaction hoping he feels the same.

this is how it began. you two constantly seeing each other at least five times a week. always going out to dinner or trying new coffee places. you two loved being together. you loved how he made you feel but it also made you nervous. so nervous because taeyong had invited you to watch the sunset on the beach.

him bringing extra blankets for you. which you ended up needing of course. sitting next to him laugh at something he said. “winter is coming. you excited?” he teases. “not really i like being outside! i hate being cold tho.” he nods. “i see- fall and summer girl?”

you nod at his words. “of courseee.” he just laughs at your tone of voice. “what?” you question rolling your eyes slightly.

“nothing- you’re just cute.” he says shamelessly. looking at you for your reaction.

“t-thank you. you are cute too.” his heart softens at your response. loving the sound of your voice as always. “y/n? can i-can i kiss you?” he asks as he takes in your wrapped up appearance. cute again he thinks.

“uh- yes.” you blush seeing him wasting no time to lean in to pull you into a kiss. you kiss him back softly. feeling his hand rest against your face gently. he keeps kissing you for a couple minutes before pulling away.

“i wanted to kiss you for so long.” he says as he rests his head against yours. “me too.” you say before he pulls you closer so you can wrap up in the blanket together to lay back and watch the sunset.

[beesmygod]

What are some of your favorite pieces of art/ art that has made you think a lot?

this is such a cheesy cop-out answer, but there's a lot of things that im going to struggle remembering because of 1. how situational the experience was (as in, the context in which i experienced the piece) 2. how wide the word "art piece" is. 3. the great fortune to have been born to parents with strong artistic sensibilities and a love of travel/education. so these are like. really weird and specific but maybe thats the way it should be:

let's start with the most overly dramatic: st. paul's cathedral in london has guided tours where they take you into rooms and let you mill around before moving to the next one. my family took a trip overseas as a really, really big special vacation to celebrate my sister and i graduating from high school (we're not twins, we just combo'd it after she graduated) that i was too brain-broken and teenage to fully appreciate. its a beautiful cathedral but i was in my edgy internet atheist stage and refused to be impressed by it until i stood over a grate in the floor. through the grates you can see the crypt that you visit next. but standing over the grate, someone below started to sing something hymnal and very catholic. and i realized i was the only one who could hear it because of the crowd chatter. and it made me feel, in the moment, so special and so lonely in a way that i still think about, a lot. it was for me only. divine providence.

a date with adam to a place i had no idea existed but he had been to before: the bad art museum, which is split over like 3 different buildings in a bizarre way. we only went to the one where you have to buy a ticket to a movie as entry and it was some truly lovely bad art and made me sad how inaccessible it was but resolute about my love of the nuances of uncelebrated anti-art masterpieces. then we watched "assassination nation" and it was fucking terrible. great date.

reading the theory regarding the "venus of willendorf" being a self portrait as a 20-something year old and running into the bathroom to take my clothes off and look down at myself and having my mind blown. not just by how much i instantly understood it, but because of the tugging feeling on my heart when i feel that strand of history connecting women artists driven by that unknown compulsion to create for creations sake!

similarly, seeing artemisia gentileschi's work next to her fathers and realizing how much she outclassed him in every single way and feeling the tugging feeling again, but this time with a dark woe of realization of how history minimizes achievement and talent when it eases a narrative

reading jane erye's descriptions of herself and her approaches to her plights and for the first time feeling like someone had walked a path that i currently found myself lost on.

reading 1984 as a middle schooler and becoming so angry at the ending i threw the book across the room (something i had never done before and never did again in my life) and stormed out of my room to complain to my mom lol. IT REALLY UPSET ME!!!

reading les miserables for the first time and weeping piteously for days after the ending and having it impact my brain so hard it re-wired how i think about the concept of "legacy" and what it means to matter in the world and how love is nothing without the courage to stand up for it. and that mercy should, and will, always supersede unwavering justice (hard lesson to remember, maybe im due for a re-read)

sneaking into my parents room to read the books i wasnt supposed to yet as a really little kid lol. my mom used to get "dykes to watch out for" in a newsletter she was subscribed to! but i didnt read those bc they were dumb relationship comics for grown-ups. i wanted to read about opus the penguin and lee iacocca, as if i knew who that was. my mother's comic collection was the single most influential constant in my life. knowing that i was exposed to bill watterson's commentary about his own work via the big collections my mom owned probably explains a lot about what's wrong with me. but she also had a lot of berke breathed before he fully wussed out

the general experience of playing a video game that you arent supposed to/when you arent supposed to is probably one of the most freeing means of meaningless rebellion as a kid that everyone should experience. i used to be up playing pokemon past my bedtime under my covers with a huge heavy rubber flashlight i stole from the kitchen and had to replace every morning without getting caught once i was done with it. god, the days before backlit screens we had to get really fucking wild with it. in high school i would wake up at 5:00am, sneak into the computer room where the ps2 was and play an hour of FFX bc its the longest fucking non-persona game in the world, stop playing before my mom woke up at 6:00am and sneak back into bed. if i hit a part where i couldnt save i would just turn the screen off and come back to it tomorrow lol. secrets......

reading the "pictures for sad children" arc about paul, who is a ghost, finally losing it and going on a rant about how it has never mattered how thin a computer screen is. they were right and reading it helped me articulate and understand a growing feeling of restless frustration at the world around me that i felt singular and alone in. im glad that last i heard that artist is doing ok. i hope they recognize the incredible value in their work as imperfect as they perceived it to be. i do not think they would be happy to know that their old work was impactful, but i hope they realize that what people are able to tease out of their work is meaningful, at least to me it is. ill transcribe the comic rather than repost it i think: paul [while smashing electronics]: "have i told you about [bam] how nerds destroy the world take conspicuous consumption as a lifestyle choice and combine it with early hardware adoption and you have great swaths of gadgetry out of stock because they're incrementally better than the last model and there are landfills full of functioning electronics wasted time, resources, money, etc. the best part is that these things were never necessary it has never mattered how thing a computer is." [smash]

this is too long. i like art.

[licorice-tea]

Everything In Between

Pairing: Penguin x reader

Content: Strawhat!reader, mentions of alcohol, fluff, pining, secret crushes teehee, kissing🤭

Word Count: 1.7k

A/N: ah yes, my favorite barely mentioned or seen side character🩷 also i know he’s not a main character or anything but like pls give this fic a chance anyway🤞🏽idk guys he’s just so fine to me, something about characters with hidden faces or masks… anyway halfway through writing i realized this reminds me a lot of the song “In Between” by Gracie Abrams (which is unreleased i think?) and so that’s where the title is from😇 enjoy! <3

Edited 2/11/24

As a Straw Hat Pirate, you’re happy to enjoy the many blessings that come with having a lax and fun-loving captain. You and your crew often have parties often for no reason in particular, and when there is one; the celebrations are even grander. It definitely wasn’t part of your original “10 year plan”, but you couldn’t be happier that you wound up on the crew.

Beyond frequent opportunities for food, music, and dancing; getting to meet people from all around the world is a close second in terms of your favorite part of being a pirate. You’ve been to more islands than you could count at this point, and flirted with met people from all walks of life. Royalty, civilians, government officials, other pirates… God, did you love the pirates.

The Heart Pirates were probably your favorite of all- outside of your own crew. Even before Luffy created an alliance with them, and you met them in passing on Saobody, you thought they were just great. So organized in their matching jumpsuits and everything- how neat! And the captain, Law, is a good looking guy, but he’s not the one who made you so giddy over simple glances that you would giggle and kick your feet in your room after being with him. No, that only happened when you were formally introduced to one of his subordinates- Penguin. You didn’t even really know the guy, but you were bored at a party one night and looking to have some fun. You ended the night with more feeling than you’d bargained for though; all because he came up and asked if you knew the difference between a Straw Hat and a Heart as a joke.

You cross your arms and tilt your head, intrigued, “No, what?”

“One’s a hat, and the other is a vital organ.” he says with a grin, red solo cup in hand. You can’t even see his eyes as he leans in, waiting for your reaction.

After a brief silence (which comes from you thinking, “this guy is seriously corny. And hot,”) you give him one in full; laughing like it’s the funniest thing you’ve ever heard.

“Oh! You… You liked it!” he chuckles, rubbing the back of his neck with one hand.

Your laugh is bright and clear to him despite the loud party atmosphere which you’re standing just a few paces away from. He’s mesmerized; and it could just be the party-high talking, but Penguin thinks he’d do just about anything to make you laugh like that again. Because, little do you know, he’s always sort of admired you from afar.

As you come down from your fit of laughter, you ask if he has anymore jokes like that one. He shakes his head “no” with a bashful smile.

“Aww, that’s too bad.” You touch his arm as you continue, “What’s your name, funny guy?”

The simple touch causes his confidence to skyrocket, and he takes a small step toward you. “I’m Penguin,” he grins, “ and you’re y/n, right?”

You nod, “It’s nice to meet you, Penguin.”

“Soooo, you think I’m funny?”

“Mhm, your partner doesn’t tell you that?”

“Nope, no partners here. None at all, not with me.”

Another giggle slips past your lips, “Good, I’d hate to get you in trouble.”

His voice drops to a conspiratorial whisper, “Why would we get in trouble?”

“Well, we’re flirting, aren’t we? Or I’m trying to flirt with you, at least.”

Penguin feels faint. How lucky was he; not only to have a pretty person like you so blatantly flirting with him, but to have you flirting with him. The object of a long distance, mostly delusion fueled affection he’d harbored for… Well, however long it’s been since he first saw you in Sabaody. He doesn’t even want to finish off his drink- and it’s only his first of the night! But if he does, he might not remember this moment.

He’s so caught up in the thought of you that’s he’s simply nodding at your words, “Something something… dance… music…” Your lips are so pretty, and your voice might be the most melodic thing to ever grace his ears- besides your laugh, of course. And your hands are so damn soft- which is unexpected for a pirate, but most fitting for someone of your beauty.

Wait, since when had you taken his hand? And led him away from the railing? …What had he agreed to go again?

Well, who knows, and who cares! He’d gladly let you lead him to your cabin right now, if that’s what’s happening, and once the door was closed he’d be more than willing to-

“Penguin? You ok?”

His cheeks flush when you look back at him “Yeah! I’m good, great even-“

You turn fully so you’re walking backwards, and take his other hand so both are interlocked. “Not having second thoughts, are you?”

Penguin realizes you’re standing closer to the source of the music (the skeleton man… what was his name?) and at the center of the deck. “No, no of course not…”

“Mkay,” you smile, putting one of his hands onto your waist and resting your now free hand on his shoulder.

“Ohhh, right: dancing.”

Penguin tries his best, really, but you find that he’s a mediocre dance partner. He steps on your feet multiple times over the course of just 2 songs, probably because his eyes stay trained on you rather than observing and following your movements. You call it quits on the 3rd song and tell him you’re going to get a drink.

“So much for having fun with a cute guy tonight.” you mutter to yourself under your breath before taking a sip of your drink. He was so zoned out, it’s like he wasn’t even interested all of a sudden. Major turn off… Scratch that, a major disappointment, considering you were still very much on.

That’s when Penguin finds you at the drink table, and pours himself some sort of liquor before he steps closer to talk to you. “So much for not drinking tonight, but I’m gonna need it.” he thinks to himself. He steps closer and waves at you.

“Hey y/n, so I uh…. I kind of lied. I don’t really know how to dance- not like you do, at least.”

You smile and wave off his concerns, “It’s fine, I had fun anyway.”

“Ok, good, good…”

He’s biting his lip, and even though you can’t see his eyebrows, you imagine them pinched together nervously. “What’s wrong?”

Penguin sighs dramatically and sets down his cup, “I’m not a liar, usually, I swear. I just wanted to impress you, you know?” This makes you laugh, though you try to reel it in for his sake. But damnit, it’s more than enough to ease his nerves and loosen his tongue. “I have a crush on you! And I think you’re-“

“Penguin.”

“…Yes?”

“You don’t have to comfort me, it’s really fine. We just talked for a little bit, I’m not hurt or anything…” you laugh.

“No I-“ he exhales, “y/n, I’ve liked you since I met you.”

“…We’ve met before?”

“Yeah, on Sabaody Archipelago.”

“…”

He waves his hands in front of his face, as if to reassure you that you’re not forgetting some vital piece of information. “We didn’t introduce ourselves or anything, but… I saw you. Every time after that, I tried to talk to you, but it never worked out. I guess tonight I got lucky though, right?

“Uh huh…” You don’t even really know what to say to that. So he’d admired you al this time… and you didn’t even know.

“Sorry, was that too much? I don’t want to weird you o-“

And since you don’t have the words, you settle on actions instead. With swift movements, you grab the collar of his shirt and pull him in for a quick, but gentle kiss. You feel his hat being tipped back from the angle, so you hold the back of his head to prevent it from falling. This leads Penguin to deepen the kiss, his tongue darting out to lick at your bottom lip. With a gasp, your lips part, and it’s all he needs keep exploring your mouth and savoring the way it fits with his. You hum, at first because you’re enjoying it, then because you feel like you actually shouldn’t be doing this. Either way it creates a pleasant vibration against his lips, and he groans. Having only meant for it to be a small peck, and with the resurgence of the feeling that you’re doing something scandalous, you push him away.

Still breathing heavily, you apologize profusely. “I don’t even know why I did that, I’m sorry.”

Penguin is also panting after the heated kiss you share, but he stops you. “No, no don’t apologize!” He holds your face in both hands and kisses you again, though much more forcefully than you had.

When he pulls away to gauge your reaction, your expression turns from momentarily stunned to genuinely happy. You laugh. God, why do you have to always laugh and look so perfect around him? It’s killing him inside.

“Was that good orrr…?” This only makes your giggles louder, and you try to look away so you can quiet yourself, but he keeps your face turned towards his.

“M-mhm, I’m sorry, I’m not laughing at you-“

“Stop saying sorry!” Penguin sighs into your mouth as he kisses you once more, albeit softer this time and long enough for you to put your arms around his neck.

When you pull away, he grins while still mere inches away from your face. “So you liked it then?”

You shake your head with an equally bright smile. “I like you.”

[bunni-v1]

(Twenty) Nine Lives for Love

Chapter 3: Meet the Team Prev Chapter\\Next Chapter m.list

Tw: Yamamoto (/j)

Info: Kenma x Reader ; Kuroo and Reader; Kuroo is a wingman; Your cat is so fucking fat (this is so important); Nekoma team introduction (yay!!!)

Word Count: 7.5k 🍓I know I said I was gonna get Curee out, but... I wanted to write this one so sorry lol. Anyway, I am again asking you to pretend Animal Crossing came out earlier in 2012. We get to meet the team, and I know I didn't highlight all the characters, but I just wanted to highlight the ones that are generally the most important in the Nekoma game. Anyway, enjoy lovelies!

Tag List: @angel-academia @bi-bi-papillon

You stretched your arms up above your head, groaning at the satisfying pops of your spine. The sun wasn’t even up yet, though you could see it just barely peaking over the horizon through your curtains. Maki let out a disgruntled sound as you shifted to grab your phone. 6:00 AM, 20 degrees Celsius, partly cloudy. 4 messages from ‘shithead’ (Noya) and 3 from ‘baldy’ (Tanaka). You shut the screen off, setting it back down, you’ll deal with the boneheads later. (Why Tanaka was up this early was beyond you). It was way too early to see your Dad off to work. He was never up before 6:30, and he left at 7:30 on the dot every day.

Lazily, you slumped out of bed, ignoring your cat growling at the loss of your warmth. You drag your feet over to your closet, pulling out your uniform and tossing it on haphazardly. You would fix it later once you were more awake. You took care of your hair just as fast and checked your phone again. 6:10 AM, great. You sigh, quickly responding to Noya and Tanaka’s messages (something about ‘annoying teachers’ from Noya and ‘rowdy freshmen’ from Tanaka). While you were at it, you decided to double-check the group chat Kuroo made last night for meeting times.

‘Meet up around 8:30’ and make your way to school with ‘enough time to grab snacks before class.’ You smile a little at the messages, Kenma complaining that was too early and Kuroo scolding him as usual. He also insisted on Kenma introducing you to Yamamoto and a Fukunaga, which you were 100% certain would not be happening if Kenma had the choice. You turn the screen off and sigh. With nothing to do for at least an hour (or until your old man decided to bother you), you decided to pass the time the only way you knew how: playing video games. 

With the stealth of a practiced ninja, you crept down the stairs and set up your N64. It was your Dad’s, which he bought so he could play with you when you were old enough. It had seen a lot of love since then, covered in stickers and markers from when you and Noya were too young to know better. You slid open the small drawer holding all your games, mulling over what you should play. Finally, you settled on the classic Super Mario 64. You’d beaten and 100% the game a million times by now, but you never got tired of it – besides it was only to pass the time for a bit. You would probably only play the slide level, or throw that little penguin off the side of Cool Cool Mountain. 

You blew into the cartridge, just in case, and pressed it into the slot. Not too long after, Mario’s impressive (for its time), but horrific 3D face greeted you with ‘It’s-a me, Mario’. You took a few minutes to stretch it around, deforming him until you were satisfied, then finally loaded up the game to mess around a bit. You decidedly chose not to play either aforementioned level, and hopped into Bob-om Battlefield instead, mostly because you liked the theme so much. After a long while (or exactly 45 minutes according to your phone), you heard the soft steps of slipper-clad feet make their way down the stairs, and pause right outside the entryway to the living room.

“You’re up early,” called the soft voice of your father.

“Couldn’t get back to sleep,” you answer.

He walks further in, leaning over the back of the couch to get a better look at what you’re up to. He laughs a little when he gets a full view of you running around aimlessly, setting the little bombs off on purpose. His hands come down to ask for the controller, which you hand him, and he proceeds to do the same thing you were doing. When he is satisfied, he hands the controller back to you and presses a kiss to your temple.

“Wanna eat breakfast together, since you’re up?.” He offers.

On cue, your stomach grumbles. Both of you share a look, then laugh before heading for the kitchen. Your dad makes two eggs, sunny side up, and toast. Simple, but more than enough to fill both of you up for the day. You pour yourself some apple juice, never having been a fan of bitter orange juice with your savory breakfast. When all is settled on the table, and you’ve already begun to eat your breakfast, your Dad decides he wants to catch up.

“How was your first day at school? I meant to ask last night, but that movie had us both snoring before we could talk.”

You laugh and nod, “Yeah, what a snoozefest. I thought it was ‘the scariest movie of all time.’ What a joke.”

“Scary movies aren’t scary anymore.” Your Dad scoffs, and you adamantly nod along with him.

“Seriously! But, anyway, school was good!” You exclaim.

“Oh yeah? Anything interesting happen, sweetpea?” he wonders.

You think it over, not quite sure where to start, “I was lost, but one of my upperclassmen – his name is Kuroo – helped me out. It turns out his best friend – Kenma – was in my class, and I was able to sit next to him, so I wasn’t lonely like I thought I’d be.”

He takes a big bite of his toast, and grins at you as he swallows, “That’s good! I’m glad you’re making friends. I told you it wouldn’t be that bad.”

You nod, “Oh, yeah, they actually live just down the street from us. We’re walking together this morning.”

“That’s… really convenient! You won’t have such a lonely walk now either.”

Again, you nod, “Oh, and get this, they asked me if I wanted to help manage the volleyball team. I’m going to their practice today, so I’ll get back around the same time as you today.”

He pauses, swallowing up the rest of his eggs – while you have only eaten half of what was on your plate – and gives you a nervous look. “That’s… a lot of conveniences. Anyway, isn’t it a bit odd that he’s asking someone he hardly knows to manage his volleyball team?”

You eye him suspiciously, “...That’s what I said, but… I dunno I guess he’s desperate. The volleyball team isn’t all that popular or good from what I’ve seen, so they haven’t had a manager since he was a freshman at least. Besides, if I feel uncomfortable or anything I just won’t say yes.”

He seems to accept the answer, “Alright, just be safe. Text me if you need me to come pick you up, okay, pumpkin?”

“I will, don’t worry too much,” you assure, and he reaches over to ruffle your hair.

“Finish your eggs up, then come see me off for work.” He states, getting up to clean off his plate and heading back upstairs to finish getting ready.

Obediently, you eat your food until the plate is clean and down the last of your drink. You rinse the plate off in the sink, set it in the dishwasher, and then move to straighten out your uniform in the first-floor bathroom. At some point, Maki lazes her way downstairs to find you, settling herself on the edge of the sink to stare at you complacently in the mirror. You give her a good scratch behind her ear, then leave to meet your old man at the entrance. He holds your school bag out in one hand, his briefcase in the other, and a big smile on his face.

You sling the strap over your head, adjusting it across your body, and then all three members of your household make your way outside. Maki, however, is not allowed outside of the gate, despite her wailing to say goodbye as well. You hush her as your father climbs into the old family van.

“She’s only so co-dependent cause you baby her all the time,” your Dad teases.

“She is my baby,” you insist, “I practically birthed that cat.”

He snorts, shaking his head at you, “Alright, alright. Be safe, love you pumpkin.”

You lean into the window, pressing a kiss to his cheek, “I will. Love you too, Dad. Have a good day at work.”

You wave him off – behind the gate, to appease Maki so she doesn’t disturb the neighbors. When he is out of your line of sight, you sigh, bending down to poke at Maki as punishment for her dramatics. She falls onto her side, thinking it’s playtime, and begins to bat at your hands. You huff out your nose, shaking your head. 

“Maybe I do baby you too much, you fatass.” 

She meows curiously up at you, and you can’t help but laugh at the display, rubbing at her stomach more affectionately this time. You spend a long time playing with Maki on the pavement of your entryway, enjoying the way she reacts to your poking and prodding fingers dancing across her little tummy. You only stop when you hear feet shuffling up to your gate, looking up to find Kenma. You blink in surprise, checking your phone, 8:00 AM – he was very early, and he was alone. You look around, maybe Kuroo is hiding, but there is no sign of him.

“Morning Kenma,” You finally say, standing to your feet.

“Morning,” he replies, but you can tell his focus is elsewhere. Specifically, on Maki.

Without another word, you bend down and scoop her up, then open the gate to let him in. He hesitates, looking at you nervously, but steps in when you widen your smile. Only after you close the gate do you set Maki down – knowing she would bolt if given the chance to. Kenma immediately squats down to pet her but pauses and looks at you.

“Is she friendly?” he asks.

“Yes, but she won’t be for much longer if you keep depriving her of pets,” you joke playfully.

Kenma smiles, then finally gives Maki her well-deserved butt scratches. You bend down to sit next to him, watching him in amusement. He got this glazed over, delighted look in his eyes, like he was in heaven. It was kind of cute to see. His eyes slipped over to you, and you continued to smile softly at him. There was a careful kind of consideration that crossed his face. Something… gentle and familiar about the look that you could not quite place. Then, he spoke.

“You didn’t mention you had a cat,” he mumbled, turning his gaze back to Maki.

You do the same, “It just didn’t come up, but she’s my pride and joy.”

His fingers find their way up to her collar, thumb rubbing the imprinted hiragana, “Maki. Why’d you name her that.”

You smile fondly at the memory, “I found her on the street when I was like eight or something. She was next to one of those souvenir shops that sell stuff to tourists. The shop had a big Maneki Neko sign, so I named her after that.”

He hums, scratching behind her ears, “So you rescued her?”

“Yeah, she was nothing but skin and bones when I found her. I fattened her up real good though, don’t you think?” As you say that, you give her stomach a playful smack.

“She sure is fat,” he laughs, then he thinks over his next words carefully before speaking, “Do you like rescuing animals?”

You nod excitedly, “Oh yeah. I scored a part-time job at the animal rescue downtown. I work the weekends, and I love it.”

“Paws and claws?”

“That’s the one! You know it?”

He hums his confirmation, “Yep. I’ve thought about trying to volunteer there, but I figured I wouldn’t get the approval.”

You frown at him, adamantly shaking your head, “We could use the help, and I can put in good word for you now. Besides, it would be a good way to get to know each other better.”

He seems to mull over your words carefully, jaw shifting as he thinks. You find him handsome like this, and you have to squash the squealing of the teenage girl in your head, reminding yourself you had met him yesterday. 

“I’ll… think about it,” he answers finally, “if I have the time.”

You huff a laugh out of your nose, “Oh! Uhm, I visited your village last night, it’s so cool. I love that all your villagers are cats, and you’ve got a cute, like, yarn theme going. It’s really, what's the word? Charming?”

He smiles, wide this time, “Thanks. I think I spent over a hundred hours making it perfect… I liked yours too. The way you set it all up was nice and cohesive, it felt like I was walking through a real city.”

“I based it off of my neighborhood back in Miyagi,” you admit, “I wanted it to feel as… homely as possible.”

“Well, you did a good job at that,” he compliments, “My favorite part was how you put your house right next to Bob’s.”

“He’s my favorite villager!” You defend, “He was one of my starters, and I kinda just fell in love with his personality. Y’know, he’s kinda like you!”

“He and Tangy are my favorites,” Kenma replies, still petting Maki, “…Tangy reminds me of you. A little.”

You try to shove down how happy that makes you, though your cheeks still heat up at the thought of it. The universe was out to get you, giving you this new boy who you just couldn’t seem to feel normal about. If Yuu or Tanaka were here they’d never let you hear the end of it. In your attempt to keep composure, a nice silence falls between the two of you. Kenma is still, somehow, dutifully petting your spoiled cat and you scrolling through your phone out of boredom. A few of your friends from Karasuno had posted about their first day back, and you tried not to feel too sour about it. It wasn’t your fault you weren’t there, and it wasn’t theirs for enjoying their time without you. Still, it stung just a little. Only a little, though.

“Have you thought about practice?” Kenma asks, so quiet you almost didn’t catch it.

“Huh? Oh! Yeah,” you respond awkwardly, “Yeah I have. I said I was gonna give it a try, so I won’t go back on my word. When does it go ‘till, though? I have to let my dad know what I’m up to or else he gets nervous.”

“Mine is the same way. My mom couldn’t care less, but he worries too much,” he responds coolly, “practice goes until 5, then we usually grab something to eat from the konbini down the street. So.. 5:30, I guess. We probably won’t today, though.”

“Okay, thanks,” you nod, quickly texting the information to your father. Kenma peers over your shoulder, cat-like eyes watching your fingers dash across the keyboard rapidly. He doesn’t have a touchscreen like you do – most kids your age don’t because they’re so new and expensive – so you don’t pay his prying eyes any mind, assuming it was only curiosity at the phone.

“Who’s shithead?” He asks suddenly.

You’re a bit confused until you look at your screen again and remember you never responded to Noya’s text. ‘Shithead: Remember not to be too intense or you’ll scare him off’ shows on your recent messages. Your face heats up, hoping Kenma didn’t read the message, “Oh! He’s just a friend from back home– Not just friend, sorry. He’d kill me if I said we were just normal friends. He’s my–”

“Your boyfriend?” a much deeper voice from behind asks.

You turn to Kuroo, face hot and flustered as can be. You try to ignore how Kenma’s face falls a little at what Kuroo said, not wanting to unpack that right now. Not this early in the morning, at least, maybe alone in your room tonight.

“Definitely not! Ew!” you exclaim, shaking your head, “I think I’d rather die. He’s my best friend. We’re practically family.”

Again, you try not to acknowledge that Kenma relaxes when you say that. Kuroo shrugs, pointing an accusatory finger at Kenma. 

“You coulda told me you were meeting her here early,” he scolds, “I stood outside your house like an idiot. Mrs. Shimada had to shoo me away, do you know how dumb I looked.”

Kenma rolls his eyes, “I wish I was there to see it.”

“You never leave the house early – actually, you’re almost always still sleeping when I come to get you! Who are you?” Kuroo argues.

An eye roll, “I just felt like it okay? It’s not a big deal or anything.”

A couple of expletives leave Kuroos mouth, and you snicker at him. They were just as amusing in the morning, that's good, yesterday wasn’t a fluke. Hoping to be the keeper of peace, you scoop Maki up from the ground and walk up to Kuroo.

“No arguing, okay, just pet my cat,” you smile, offering her up to him

He sighs, looks at her for a long moment, then begins scratching the top of her head. She purrs in your arms, little paws reaching out to grab at Kuroos arm. That seems to lighten him up, a wonderstruck smile growing across his cheeks as he goes in for more scratches.

“You didn’t mention you had such a cute kitty,” he coos.

“It didn’t come up,” Kenma says, now standing next to you, very close. He reaches up to pet Maki too, and you rationalize that he has to stand close to reach her. (He does not, you know he does not, but you were not going to complain).

“We should probably head out soon if we wanna make it in time,” Kuroo says, though he doesn’t stop his affections for a second.

You let him and Kenma give Maki all the love in the world for about five more seconds, then you pull her away. All three of them are disappointed. Spoiled rotten kitties. You open your front door and shoo Maki inside, laughing at the indignant face she gives you as you close the door. 

“She’s not an outdoor cat?” Kuroo says, a bit disappointed.

“You saw how fat she was!” you laugh, “but seriously, if I leave her outdoors she’ll follow me to class, and I don’t want her getting hit by a car or something.”

The two of them hum and nod in understanding, and then you’re off on your usual route to school. Again you talk about nothing and everything, and time passes incredibly quickly. These two were simple and easy to talk to, for whatever reason. It was a little annoying that you couldn’t place why, but you would count your blessings lest you lose them.

“Hey, are you still planning on coming to practice this afternoon?” Kuroo asks you as you arrive at the vending machines just outside the gym.

You nod enthusiastically, “Yeah! I’m really looking forward to it! You talked a pretty big game, I gotta see if it’s true, right?”

Kuroo laughs while Kenma slides some money in the slot, selecting some kind of juice, “We’re pretty average, but I think we’re fun to watch, maybe.” He comments, sliding another bill into the slot, “What do you want?”

“Oh– I can pay for myself,” you worry.

“I already put the money in, just pay me back later,” He says flatly.

“Aren’t you sweet,” Kuroo teases, much to Kenmas chagrin.

“Just milk, please,” you say finally, and he presses the button.

“I told the coach about you last night, he’s excited to have you,” Kuroo comments as he gets himself something too.

“I hope I live up to the standards then,” you joke.

“We don’t have any standards…” Kenma mumbles.

Your eyes glance over Kuroos hair, and you hum in understanding. He looks offended, and you sip on your milk so you don’t burst out laughing. For what it's worth, though, it gets a smile out of Kenma – which is all you wanted in the first place. Kuroo chooses something peachy, which does not seem to fit his whole persona, and then you are off to your homeroom together. You expect it to be like yesterday, light, playful conversation and quick, but it is not. 

As you are rounding the first of your right turns, a loud, somewhat familiar voice shouts behind you. Kenma flinches and Kuroo rolls his eyes. You have a total of about three seconds to react before there is a blonde boy tackling Kenma forward.

Ah. You think. It’s Yamamoto.

“How rude are you, you didn’t come by to see me yesterday – I gave you my classroom number and everything!” He says, scolding like a parent.

You think, just for a moment, that the sight is very funny. In the kindest way possible, this guy looks like a punk, and he’s scolding Kenma. You cover your giggles with another sip of your nearly empty milk carton. Kuroo sighs, which seems to be a habit of his, and marches forward to separate the two. You smile a little at Kenma, who shies away from your gaze, but still returns to your side like a lost kitten. (You let the teenage girl in you kick her feet over this one because it is cute.)

“Don’t make a scene, Yamamoto,” Kuroo scolds, and all balances itself out.

“‘M not making a scene, dude! I just–” He pauses when he sees you, doing a double take. The best way to describe his face would be: stupid. Like how Tanaka looks when he sees Kiyoko. You sure hope this guy doesn’t think you’re his soulmate – no offense to him. He points at you, “Who’s that?”

You introduce yourself and decide not to mention that you literally introduced yourself to the whole of his class yesterday. Kuroo decides to add, though you wish he hadn’t, “She’s trying out the manager position, so be nice and presentable, alright?”

Instead of being nice or presentable, Yamamoto falls to his knees and begins… praying? You think you see tears come to his eyes, and you realize the world has sent you a new Tanaka to replace the old one. 

“God, Buddha, whoever's out there, thank you for answering my prayers,” you hear him mutter.

Kuroo gives him a kick to his side, and you decide to leave him to deal with that, turning to Kenma. He looks nothing less than exhausted, and you feel a little bad. He was not much of a social creature. Still, he looks at you and sighs.

“I told you to avoid him.”

“Is he always like this?” You ask.

“He’s always whining about how we don’t have a female manager – it’s not fair because Fukurodani has two, we deserve one too.” He recalls, like having flashbacks.

“Kinda creepy…” you mumble, “but, one of my friends from home was kinda like that. Only, he’s convinced that he’s soulmates with his manager.”

Kenma huffs a laugh from his nose, “He still believes in that soulmate stuff?”

You feel a prick of… annoyance in your chest. Not only at the insult to Tanaka but because you believed in ‘that soulmate stuff.’ It also… kinda hurts, for some reason, that he doesn’t believe. Embarrassment and disappointment burn in your stomach at the thought, and you know you shouldn’t feel as bad as you do, but you do. Kenma seems to notice this because his face falls and he bites at his index fingernail. 

“I’m sorry–” he begins, but you cut him off.

“No, no, it’s fine.” The kind, non-confrontational part of yourself wins your mental battle, you didn’t want to debate soulmates with someone you didn’t know well,  “I know most people think it's silly.”

“It’s not–” He tries again.

“You don’t have to defend yourself. I get it.” You assure, smiling warmly at him.

He has this look like he wants to say more. Wide-eyed, eyebrows raised, and lip between his teeth. You hope he doesn’t, because you’re already embarrassed and hurting, and you don’t want to hear him justify why soulmates don’t exist. Why they can’t. You hear it enough from your dad.

The ten-minute bell is your saving grace, alleviating the tension in your shoulders and drawing Kuroo and Yamamoto back to the group. Kuroo splits off early because the nearest flight of stairs is closer back than it is forward, and you are left alone with Kenma – who does not seem to want to talk – and Yamamoto who is already mentally building a statue in your honor in his head. Thanks, Kuroo.

“Are you seriously considering managing for us?” Yamamoto asks, too excitedly, too close.

For some reason, Kenma finds it in himself to squeeze between the two of you, giving you the breathing room you need. Yamamoto grumbles about it, and you briefly see gears turning in his head as he considers the action, but you don’t give him too much time to think.

“I am, yeah,” you respond, “I wanna meet your coach and your team first before it’s set in stone, but… I like volleyball and there’s not much else for me club-wise here, so I’m pretty sure I’ll take the position if I’m wanted.”

“You will be!” He says too quickly, “I-I mean. I think everyone would be more than happy to have a cute girl helping us out every day too.”

You feel your face heat up at the compliment. The straightforwardness was refreshing, just like Noya, but if he flirted with you. Ew.

“We’d be happy with the help anyway,” Kenma jumps in, “we have to do it all ourselves, and it’s tiring after practicing for hours.”

“But it’s extra nice from a pretty girl~” Yamamoto purrs.

“Her gender doesn’t matter, so long as she’s helpful,” Kenma groans.

“Are you even into girls man?”

“Oh look!” You interrupt before things escalate, “This is our stop! It was nice to meet you, Yamamoto. I’ll see you in fifth period!”

You leave him in his bewilderment, ushering Kenma and yourself into the classroom and to your desks. He practically deflates as he sits down, all the tension gone as soon as his butt hits the seat. You chuckle at the look on his face, and he smiles a little, though you’re not quite sure why.

“Thank you,” he says finally.

“I’m used to his kind,” you joke, “If you ever need help, call on me and I’ll be your hero.”

He snorts as you flex your arms playfully in the air. You’re delighted that everything seems to be back to normal, though there is still a nagging thought in the back of your head. The disappointment that he does not believe in soulmates. You don’t know why it’s so disappointing – or, at least, you don’t want to acknowledge why it is.

.·:*˚¨¨ ≈★≈ ¨¨˚*:·.

The bell signaling your last class rings, and you are suddenly hit with nerves unlike any other you’ve experienced. Maybe it’s because you know you’re about to meet a lot of new people all at once, or maybe it’s because you feel the need to be more than you are to impress them, but your stomach is in knots by the time you and Kenma descend the second flight of stairs. You fiddle with your fingers, not sure what else to do with all this nervous energy. God, maybe this wasn’t a good idea. You felt like throwing up. Was it hot, or are you sweating a lot? Ugh, ew, why were you sweating?

“Are you nervous?” Kenma asks, startling you out of your head.

“Oh, uhm, hah… yeah. I guess I am,” you laugh at yourself, “I didn’t think it would be so bad, but now that we’re going…”

He considers you for a moment, before awkwardly patting you on the head. If you weren’t nervous your stomach would be doing backflips for a whole other reason now. “You’ll be fine. I promise everyone else is better than Yamamoto.”

You think – no you know that you look stupid, with your mouth in an open smile and eyes wide. If you think too hard about it, though, you might actually throw up, so you just nod. It’s enough to appease Kenma, and he gestures for you to follow him. Luckily, you do not bump into Yamamoto on the way, so he can’t pester you anymore in his excitement. (He did that plenty once he realized you were in his class. Though, you found it more endearing than annoying. You just couldn’t handle more than what you had right now).

He leads you to the entrance of the field house, where Kuroo and two other guys stand. One is short – like really short – with sandy hair. The other is more average height with tanned skin, and buzzed black hair. They’re both incredibly cool-looking, and you feel your nerves return in full when Kuroo points at you from a distance. It takes everything in you not to stop and turn around, but you manage to approach the three of them.

“Oh? Is this our little manager?” The short one coos, a wide smile on his face, “She’s a cutie!~”

“Don’t be a creep.” Kuroo scowls.

“I’m not being creepy, I’m pointing out a fact.” He snaps back.

“Yeah, like a creepy old man!” Kuroo presses further, and the two of them start bickering.

The normal-looking one sighs, smiles at you, and offers his hand over the bickering of his fellow seniors (you think the short one is a senior, because you can’t imagine a junior being so comfortable arguing with their senpai like that.) “I’m Nobuyuki Kai, don’t pay them any mind.”

You smile weakly, “Hi…” Your voice is small and squeaky, but you manage to introduce yourself. You think Nobuyuki must have the patience of a saint, to put up with his friends and your floundering all at once.

“The short guy is Morisuke Yaku, but don’t call him the short guy, okay?” he winks, and you feel a little better, “Everyone else is already getting changed or warming up. You can talk to the coach inside once you feel up for it.”

Your nerves return in a wave, “Are we late?”

“Kenma’s just slow,” Kuroo finally returns to the conversation, “he’s always the last one here. Normally I’m with him but… I figured I could leave him in your care.”

A knowing smirk grows on Kuroo’s face, and you see Kenma glare at him. Odd… but, whatever. You were just glad that you weren’t late or anything, especially not on the first day.

Morisuke holds his hand out to you, “Morisuke Yaku! Excited to work with you!”

“I already introduced you,” Nobuyuki corrects, causing Morisuke’s smile to drop.

Quickly, you take his hand and introduce yourself, and you swear you see stars in his eyes as the smile returns to his face, “You’re gonna fit in great.” He says enthusiastically. You realize then that your nerves are eased a lot. Is this the power of reliable senpai? 

Kenma tugs at your skirt a little, and you look at him, “I’ll take you to the coach so you can talk to him.”

“Oh,” you almost forgot all about that, “yeah, thanks Kenma.”

The five of you walk in, and then split off from each other. Yamamoto and two excited boys wave at you as you pass. You wonder why you were so worried in the first place. Kenma points out the coach, who is standing off to the side of the court discussing with the Assistant Coach about something. When he spots you (at least, you think he does, since his eyes remain closed) he waves you over with a welcoming smile. You bid Kenma farewell, and quickly close the distance between yourself and the coach.

“You’re the new manager girl?” He asks before you can say anything, and you nod, pulling a hearty chuckle from him, “Welcome to the team!”

The other man clears his throat, “Sir, she’s just trialing today.”

“Don’t be so negative about it Naoi, you’ll scare her off!” The old man scolds. They seem to do a lot of scolding on this team.

“I-It’s no big deal Sir– I’m pretty sure I’ll accept the position, I just wanted to be sure I clicked.” You try and smooth things over, and the old man chuckles at you again.

“Coach Nekomata,” He introduces, “and this is Assistant Coach Naoi. We’re happy to have you.”

You grin, “Thank you! I really hope I stick, so to speak.”

He gestures for you to follow him, so you do, and he leads you over to a set of seats. Coach Naoi does not follow you, instead going over to check up on the boys. He pats the empty one next to him, and you take a seat.

“Tell me about yourself, where you’re from, and your interests.” He says, leaning in intently.

You’re taken aback but recover quickly. Describing your love for animal care, where you came from, and how you got into volleyball. He perks up when you mention coming from Karasuno, and asks a couple of questions about the team. You do your best to reiterate what Tanaka had told you, but you’re not much help since you’re so removed from it now. You do feel a little sad at the loss, but try to remind yourself that your friends haven’t suddenly forgotten about you due to distance. Sugawara’s constant texts asking about Tokyo and Diachi’s reminders to take care of yourself are proof enough of that.

“Our boys are rowdy, but they’re good-hearted. I think you’ll come to love working with them if you give it the time, I know I have.” He says with an air of finality, “Coach Naoi will show you the ropes today, I do hope you decide to stay.”

You give him a shy smile, “Thank you, Sir. I think I’d like to give it a try.”

Another hearty laugh pushes its way out of him, and then he claps his hands together and stands from his seat. Only then do you realize the whole team is changed and ready to begin practice. He waves you over to his side, and you follow him over to Coach Naoi’s side, the boys standing in a half circle around the three of you. Coach Nekomata begins some kind of speech to welcome back the team and get them excited for the coming year, and you take the time to observe the new faces that you’ve yet to see.

First, and most obviously, was a ginormous foreign-looking guy. He had to be at least three heads taller than the other members of the team, and his silver-grey hair and green eyes made him stick out like a sore thumb. Next to him was a kind of cute guy with spiky brown hair and a big smile passively resting on his face. He was one of the boys who waved at you when you passed Yamamoto, which led you to the other kid. He had a black bowl cut and was also awfully smiley, though you’d describe him as more thoughtful-looking than the brown-haired boy. And finally was a boy you recognize passing in the hall once or twice. You’d seen Yamamoto talking with him between classes yesterday, a permanent cat-like look on his face like he was up to no good. There were a couple of others, but they didn’t strike you as interesting – not to be mean. The four of them mixed in with the others you’d met piqued your interest. What kind of players were they? How did they play as a team? Would you be able to fit in with them?

“This young lady here is thinking about being our manager,” Coach Naoi’s voice pulls you out of your thoughts as all eyes fall on you, “do your best to impress her today, and she might just stay.”

Your face heats up, and to hide your embarrassment, you bow and introduce yourself just a little too loud. Luckily, no one comments on it, and they all excitedly bow and welcome you with an eagerness that only teenage boys can have. It reminds you a lot of Karasuno, and your chest warms up at the kindness these boys have afforded you already. You've never managed a team before, and you doubt you’d be any good to start, but you feel the need more than ever to give it your all – if only to make sure their kindness doesn’t go to waste.

Coach Nekomata barks out a few commands for warm-up, and Coach Naoi pulls you to the side to give you a rundown on your responsibilities. Fill water bottles, hand out towels, take notes on the athletes, clean up the balls, and help come up with strategies. Simple things you’d already sort of done before just by proximity to Nishinoya and his love for the sport. Coach Naoi shows you where things are, how best to fill up and transfer multiple water bottles at once, and of course, gives you some reminders of the basics of the game. By the time practice is wrapping up, you can hardly remember why you were so nervous to start. Everything comes so naturally to you, and you mentally make a note to text Kiyoko your thanks for conditioning you later tonight.

You’re so busy learning from Coach Naoi, that you don’t get the chance to talk to any of the team members outside of handing them their towels and water. Kuroo does take the chance to shoot you a thumbs up every chance he gets, which is reassuring. Kenma even smiles at you when you pass him. Every time you pass him actually, without fail. You do your best not to overthink it.

It’s not until you’re picking up balls that you get a chance to talk to some of the other members of the team. Fukunaga – the cat-faced guy – and Inuoka – the spiky-haired cutie – offer their help to you while everyone else cleans up in other places. Inuoka is a first year, and is just as friendly and excitable as you expected, asking all about your interests and happily sharing his when you ask. He’s kind of like a dog amongst cats, which makes him all the more likable in your opinion. Fukunaga the second year on the other hand is more of the quiet observant type, you expect him to be a stone wall, but he is not. He’s actually – pardon your language – fucking hilarious. He has you bursting out laughing with nearly every quip that leaves his mouth. Unfortunately, you don’t get a chance to talk to the others you don’t know, but you learn that the super tall guy is Lev Haiba, who is Russian, though he’s ‘Not cool enough to know the language’ according to Fukunaga. He also was totally brand new to the sport which made sense since he seemed to be way out of his depth. The other was Yuki Shibayama, who Inuoka described as just ‘Nice’ from their interactions at the camp before the semester starting. ‘Nice,’ might’ve been the most vague descriptor possible, but you weren’t gonna give him too hard of a time about it. (Fukunaga did that for you with another jab that had you snickering behind your hand.)

Kenma approached the three of you just as you finished tossing the last of the balls in the basket. You gave him a smile, positioning yourself to face him better.

“Hey Kozume-Senpai,” Inuoka says cheerfully, which makes you feel bad when Kenma’s face doesn’t even shift a little. Jeeze, he was heartless.

“Kuroo wanted me to grab you, you’re on sweeping duty tonight,” he states flatly.

Inuoka groans but obediently jogs over to the broom closet. Only when he’s out of earshot does Fukunaga’s lips twitch up into an almost smile, leaning in to whisper to you, “We don’t assign broom duty.” Then, before you can respond, he walks off casually leaving you and Kenma alone.

“He’s strange,” you comment, still watching him wander away, “but, nice!”

“You don’t have to be so positive about everything,” Kenma responds.

“But I mean it,” you retort, “everyone is so nice. I feel welcomed.”

You begin to put the cart toward the storeroom, and Kenma follows side by side with you. “Everyone is so… cheery. It’s exhausting sometimes.”

“I’m cheery,” you pout, “do I exhaust you?”

The question takes him off guard, his eyebrows lifting in surprise, and then he looks to the floor like he’s considering the question. Again, you do think he’s cute while he’s thinking. His face doesn’t change too much, but there's a subtle furrow in his eyebrows and scrunch of the lips. It’s… charming.

“You’re cheery,” he finally manages, “but… you know when it’s too much. It’s a good thing from you.”

You ignore the nagging part of your brain that wants to ask what that means, and simply smile, “Thanks. And, for the record, your pessimism is kind of a nice thing to have around too.”

His lips quirk at the corners and your heart thrums with pride at the sight. It is quickly interrupted by a throat clearing, and Kuroo is standing behind you already back in his school uniform. He looks more disheveled than usual, and you actually laugh at him this time. He prickles like a pissed-off cat, and you swear you see his hair stand up.

“If you two are done flirting in here, Kenma needs to get changed so we can head out,” He says, annoyed, but somehow still playful about it.

It’s then that you realize you haven’t texted your Dad since practice started. You curse and pull your phone out, pulling up the messages with a frown.

Dad: Let me know when practice is out.

That's all he said, which is significantly worse than a long paragraph about how upset he was. He was angry, but he was also hurt. You groan. The lecture you would get upon returning home was bound to be legendary.

“That looks bad,” Kenma states factually.

You nod, “He’s going to make me feel like shit when I get back.”

“Then let's not waste any more time,” Kuroo announces with two claps, “Go get changed so we can get her home.”

Kenma rolls his eyes but doesn’t do anything else to protest as he moves out of the store room. When he’s gone, Kuroo gives you a weary look, “You all good?”

“Yeah, I’m fine,” you sigh, “just… frustrating. I’ll be good though.”

He hums, “Did you at least enjoy practice?”

You think back over everything, and you realize… you never ever miss out on texting your dad. The only time you do is when you’re having too much fun with Noya. The comprehension of this draws a little chortle out of you, “Yeah. I had a lot of fun. Who knew menial work like this could be enjoyable?”

“See! I knew you’d be a perfect fit!” He proclaims, “You were all nervous for no reason.”

You scoff, following him as he leads you outside the field house, “You couldn’t have known that I would’ve worked out. I’m practically a stranger.”

Despite your words being a little harsh, he shrugs them off like nothing, “It just… felt right? Like, you know how sometimes you meet someone and you just know you’re gonna be friends. That’s what it felt like with you, especially after seeing how well Kenma took to you.”

You try not to think about Kenma liking you, and consider his words. They echo how you’ve been feeling this whole time, and it feels good to have that reciprocated. “I’ve been thinking the same thing, y’know. I normally don’t… connect well with other people on my own, but for some reason, everything felt natural. Like it was fate.”

“Exactly!” He confirms, “Weird isn’t it?”

“Suuuper weird,” you laugh, “but, it’s nice!”

“You two sound like crazy people,” Kenma says, stepping out of the gym.

“Don’t be rude!” Kuroo defends.

“It is true though, right? Don’t tell me you don’t feel it too,” you insist as the three of you start your walk home.

Kenma gnaws on the thought for a second before responding, “I dunno if I can believe it’s fate or anything like that… but I do like that you were able to fall into place as you have.”

You cannot stop your heart from singing songs at the shy smile on his face. You also cannot decide if this is the universe being cruel or kind to you, but you think you could get used to the giddy feeling in your stomach.

[thelittleliars]

Love Forever? | Pt. 2

Natasha Romanoff x fem!Reader Yelena Belova x fem!Reader (Platonic)

Warnings: cursing, yelling

Words: 2.1K

AN: This one has more interactions with Yelena than Natasha but it's all a huge part for the full story! Also the 3rd part is going to take at least 1-2 weeks since I'll be traveling to Budapest in the next couple of days! Gonna visit all the Black Widow filming locations there 🔥

Part 1 , Part 3

"Cyka" Yelena cursed in russian before she cursed you in english again. "You bitch! Why would you travel to Russia without me?" She shook her head in disappointment, you saw a grin on her lips tho when she turned her head to the side to see who walked in. You didn't see who it was since you were on FaceTime with her and only she was in the frame. "Who is in Russia?" You heard her voice in the background asking Yelena.

"Your ex-wife." Ex-wife, it was still something that pained you but the separation did you good. Your anxiety with all the worrying whenever Natasha went on a mission was gone now. You felt more at peace thanks to the break up. "Anyways, have you visit mama and papa yet? Last time I heard they were going insane to see you again. Apparently they can't wait to spoil you rotten with russian culture and stories of us as kids ugh."

"Don't forget about the baby pictures they're gonna show her." Nat reminded Yelena who's expression looked a mix of embarrassment and panic. "Yours gonna be there too Natalia. Can't wait for Y/N to see your awful blue hair phase."

You saw a shadow coming closer to the blonde widow, then a hand came into view hitting the back of her head. "You little bitch! Next time I'm there I'll burn all of them."

"Let's just burn the whole place down yeah?" A gasp escaped your mouth, even though you knew she was kidding it was something she'd really do. "Yel NO! Also Nat please don't burn any of them." You said sadly. "I wish I had at least a single photo of myself as a child. Hell I don't even know where I'm from, apart from being held by hydra for half my life."

"Guess we're all in the same boat. None of us knows where exactly we come from. Oh oh we can be the lost daughters buddies." The younger sister screamed out in pain after her older sister slapped the back of her head once again. "Try sheering her up instead of ruining the mood with some sad shit from our past."

Suddenly your screen went black, you were about yo look at your wifi to see if the connection was lost but before that could even happen you heard a chair screeching. "What gave you the right to give me that fucking advice huh? How about you stay out of my business with her since you were the one who destroyed your relationship." Yelena was mad, no she was furious with her sister, that's why you weren't surprised that she hung up on you. This was a great time to start driving towards your (ex) parents in law.

You took your bags, threw them into the car you rented, then jumping into the drivers seat and made your way towards Melina's and Alexei's little farm outside of Saint Petersburg. Not long after, you arrived your destination, Melina and Alexei both stood outside already as if they were expecting you. You did not call or text them since it was supposed to be a surprise.

"Ahh finally, my daughter is home again." Alexei walked to you and immediately his arms around your body, squeezing you to death. "I need to breath big guy." He let you go but still smiled at you happily. "Come on inside. I'll show you your room. We decorated a bit, hope you'll like it."

The decoration he was talking about were only new curtains and a stuffed penguin animal. You appreciated their effort.

Later that day when you were outside feeding the pigs, you heard and saw a Quinjet coming. Of course Yelena had the nerve taking a jet and flying to russia. But she wasn't alone. Natasha also tagged along. You gulped at the sight of her standing there in casual clothes. It was actually your first time seeing her in six months. The last time was after the divorce all those months ago. Alexei of course was the happiest, now that all his daughters were home. Melina was happy to see them too but she was more worried about you. At times she was more protective over you than Yelena and even though it was heartwarming, it pained you too. She was like a mother figure that you never had. The longing and grieving of a life you could have had nearly destroyed you whenever you think deeply about it.

"Natasha I need a little help in the kitchen." Was all she said before going inside and the red head trailing after her like a good god. Yelena and dad catched up on stuff while you sat down on a bench near the front door that had a great view on the animals. You had no clue how much time had gone by until your friend and sister sat down next to you. "What is on your mind Y/N Y/L/N?" She tried to get you talking by saying your whole name as teasing but you were starting to feel numb so nothing would bother you anyways.

"As you'd say my ex wife." Seeing her after all this time stirred up a lot of thoughts in you. "What about her precisely?"

You sighed quietly. "I don't know. I guess it's just us in general and how we ended up here." It wasn't a lie but also not the whole truth either. You didn't want to talk in details since you knew it would get you in a vulnerable state. "She was a bitch for demanding that divorce.."

Out of reflex you started to defend your ex. "She got trigged Yel-" "No. Don't. Don't you dare make excuses for her." Yelena cut you off fast. She hated you for defending Natasha in this situation when you deserved so much better.

"It's just the truth. Plus I'm not as innocent in this situation as you think I am." You could have fought more for your wife but instead you signed the divorce papers quick. Probably because of the things that happened before the accident. "Natasha and I had a pretty nasty fight right before she got called on a mission and got her head injury." You paused for a minute. "If I'm being honest.. our marriage was falling apart anyways."

Yelena gaped at you. "I don't understand Natasha always talked so highly of you." You wished that was true, you wished all the good she found in you was actually good.

"I told you this was going to happen!" You yell at her, feeling angry and betrayed that she didn't listen to you. "And yet you ignored me and continue doing it anyways." Natasha hates herself for not listening to you but she'd never admit that out loud. Instead she blames you for everything, she knows it is wrong but it's difficult for her being truthful and vulnerable right now. "This wouldn't have happened if you were more open to the idea of being more affectioned in public. Maybe then he'd have known that I'm not single!"

"He kissed you. Because you kept flirting with him to get what you want.. you're an avenger for gods sake! You can get anything you want just by asking Tony or any of us." You stop yourself from getting even more louder. A deep breath and a few seconds is all you need to be more calm. "You know what? Maybe they all were right when they said you are a monster. Because right now, that's all I see."

The fight didn't leave your mind, it stayed and harassed you daily on repeat. You knew you guys covered up a lot of your problems. A marriage is a piece of work and you guessed you both weren't just ready for that huge marriage step. "Would you ever take her back?" She asked you softly. You were looking so hard for the right words to say but you fell flat. "I'm not in love with her anymore so I don't know." Though you didn't know for sure you constantly told yourself you'rw not in love anymore. If that was the truth then why did you panic when a knock came from the door frame? Why did your heart beat faster when you saw it was Natasha who knocked?

"Dinner is ready." Her voice was quiet but still so damn soft. While you stood up and walked towards the front foor, Yelena's gaze lingered on you for a while before she rushed after you into the house. At dinner you all fell into a comfortable conversation. It felt very awkward at first especially since you were convinced that your ex-lover overheard what you told Yelena. You were also anxious but it got better once Alexei started talking about his new tattoo shop. He had opened it two months ago and was fully booked out already. You were happy for him, tattoos were something what he was extremly good at so the demand was so deserved. After dinner was over you all three went to the bedrooms which you all had to share.

The next morning you wondered why 'dad' was still here. He explained that there was a new girl who worked at his tattoo shop, helping him out for all the appointments. Then he joked about how he'd set any of you three up with her. The blonde daughter just snorted, not wanting anything to do with romance, but he was too excited for an introduction to notice Yelena's obvious disinterest. Maybe he did notice since he showed a photo of her only to Natasha and you. And that was when something struck in you, you didn’t know how or why but you had to see the girl personally. You asked him where his shop was located and after giving you directions you stood up, turned to Yelena asking her to drive you there. Natasha felt irritated at how fast you wanted to see that new girl.

As soon as your eyes met hers, everything around you stopped, you felt a pull to her, a magical pull that you couldn't control. Your arms came around each other and somehow nothing on the world made more sense than this moment.

"Voi herranjumala." (Oh my god.) She said something in a language you thought you knew yet you didn't understood a thing. You pulled away, still standing close to her, she then put your face in between her hands. "Kaipaan sinua, kaksos Y/N." (I missed you, twin Y/N)

"Please don't tell me this is some long lost love reunion." Yelena groaned in misery. You looked at her cluelessly, hoping she'd also pick up your silent plead to help you out in this situation. "Don't look at me! You were the one who rushed me here and hugged her like no there's no tomorrow."

The girl next to you cleared her throat before speaking up, this time finally in a language you all could understand. "Ohh right.. I'm sorry I forgot you don't understand Finnish anymore." Anymore?? What the hell did that mean? "We don't have much time, I'll explain everything later. Twin Y/N do tell me, have you found your one and only?"

You blinked at her. "My what?" She cursed in Finnish, huffing and what seemed beating herself up about something. "Your, what humans would call here, Soulmate." You didn't question her 'what humans' and just shook your head. "I thought I did but no."

"Tell me, what happened?" Her gaze turned extremly intense, you started to feel uncomfortable. "Well we started to fight at one point and then she got a head injury and et voila we were divorced."

Yelena had enough of this conversation, the pulled you backwards and stood in front of you, giving the other girl a death stare. "Whatever you're doing to Y/N has to stop right now or otherwise I'll beat you up." You knew she was dead serious about it, your sister in law was super protective over you. "I'm not doing anything, it's all her doing. We do have to stop talking so slowly, we need to hurry."

"Why hurry? I don't understand?" She visibly got more restless which stresses you out. "You're out of time soon. We have to find your soulmate now." You shock your head at the lady and her crazy words. "I'm sorry this has to be done." And with one finger snap, both of you were gone.

Tags: @iamthescarlettwitch , @dark-hunter16 , @marvel-fan-2021 , @myfturn , @natsxwife , @wandanats-goodgirl , @supaheroine , @00alycia , @xxsekhmet , @franfrolix , @lonewalker17 , @newawakening9 , @marvelwomen-simp , @automaticwizardnerd , @wifeofnatasharomanoff

[sirfrogsworth]

Just got back from the movie. The theater was in the middle of this hipster village type deal. Trendy shops and a wine bar.

I walked into the Alamo Drafthouse and the people at the front just kinda looked at me as I walked by. I had my ticket ready on my phone, but no one scanned it or looked at it. I don't know if it is always like that, but maybe next time I should try not buying a ticket and see what happens.

The large format fancy theater was as far away from the entrance as possible. I should have brought my cane. But I made it okay. It was indeed large and fancy. The seats were very comfortable and had electric reclining. There was also a button to summon a waiter which felt very high tech. And he would duck down super low as he walked in front of everyone. He looked like a penguin scurrying along. I ordered a pizza and it showed up just in time for the movie. It was pretty tasty.

The video quality was fine. I honestly didn't see a huge difference with the 4K laser projector, but the large screen was nice. I might be spoiled by my fancy HDR, 2000 nit TV. Projection just can't do that.

The front audio was much better than the last theater. Very clear voices. But the bass was a little boomy. Unfortunately I think they calibrate the audio for when there are more people there. 100+ humans in a space add a lot of absorption and diffusion. But there were maybe 8 people total and there wasn't anything to suck up the bass.

The Atmos was not even noticeable except in one or two scenes. That was disappointing. Atmos was one of the main reasons I chose that theater. I don't know if they skipped getting a Dolby calibrator or something. The side speakers were audible, but the ceiling speakers never made themselves known. Not even in the thunderstorm scene.

The ceilings were extremely high, so I'm wondering if the speakers were just too far away. Inverse square law would dictate they would need a lot of power and volume to cover that distance. This is probably why Dolby officially certifies theaters and this wasn't one of them.

This is what a front speaker in a theater looks like. There are usually at least 3 of them. Bigger spaces might do an array of 6--all behind the screen.

That is 7 feet tall, 200 pounds, and takes 3000 watts of power.

And you'll usually have 3 of these dual 18" subwoofers.

These beasts require 4000 watts of power and are also 200 pounds.

A typical theater Atmos speaker is like this.

About 30 inches tall and handles 350 watts.

All of those speakers have to cover about the same distance. Meaning the ceiling speakers were at a major size and power disadvantage.

So I think the theater was too big and too tall for Atmos to work effectively. You probably have to trade off a big screen or good sound. I'm going to try an official Dolby theater next time to see the difference.

The movie itself was okay. Maybe a 6 out of 10. A few good laughs, some fun action, but the humor was very hit and miss.

Now, I'm not just saying this because they are a creep, but Ezra is just... a lot. They do their funny jokey thing and it gets old very fast. It was okay when they were a side character, but when they are leading a movie, it fizzles. And then there is a second Ezra in the movie and they do the funny jokey thing turned up to 11.

Way too much Ezra.

But then Michael Keaton enters and he's just fantastic. I got such a rush of nostalgia from the 1989 Batman. That was probably my favorite movie for a good 3 years. 8 year old me was so happy to see my first Batman again. They even forced him to do some super cringe fanservice lines--and he nailed them.

He was like, "I'm going to take this bullshit line and make it awesome. Because I'm the goddamn Batman."

And Sasha Calle as Supergirl was also excellent. Though she was very underutilized. But if they can keep her, I think she could be a fan favorite.

The big complaint about The Flash has been the CGI. And I would say 75% of the CGI was great. There was a reveal of the Batwing that looked stunning. Supergirl flying was great. The vehicles were great. All of the invisible effects like backgrounds and set extensions were flawless. There was a big car chase that looked decent. There were plenty of top notch VFX in this movie. And I think the artists should be proud of those.

The stuff that didn't work was mostly just because the situations were unrealistic or the art direction was poorly done or they just didn't spend enough time polishing the effect.

When they animated Micheal Keaton doing jumpy flippy ninja moves, it didn't sell perfectly. And the speed and power of the Kryptonions was not nearly as well done as in Man of Steel.

But I know why people said the CGI was terrible. Though I don't actually think it was the CGI that was bad. I'm pretty sure they just made a poor aesthetic choice. Flash goes into the Speedforce and they cleary wanted to make it trippy and otherworldly. I don't think they were going for photorealism. I think they intentionally wanted everything to be in the uncanny valley. Unfortunately the style they chose looked more like a video game.

They were trying to do a Dr. Strange type effect and it just didn't work. It ended up being more... Lawnmower Man.

The only truly terrible effects were CG renders of people they couldn't get to do proper cameos because they were fired or were dead. Usually you need a 3D scan to do a CG double and it's hard to do that on dead people. The best was Admiral Tarkin in Rogue One, but they spent months and months on that.

CG Henry Cavill was probably the worst effect in the entire film and I'm guessing that really pissed people off.

The Flash running also looked bad, but that was 100% because Ezra Miller runs like a goof.

I have no idea why they run like that, but it looks so dumb and ruins the speed effect. Like, if you took them out and put someone running normally into the effect, it would have looked super neat.

And the only other VFX that didn't quite work was these slow motion falling babies. They looked photorealistic, but something about animating a falling baby in slow motion did not look right. Again, I don't think this was bad CGI. I think it was just a visual that was impossible to make realistic.

I know that sounds like a lot of bad effects, but that was every bad effect out of 2000+ total. Maybe 15 shots out of those 2000 were memorably bad. But the bad shots are always the most memorable and I guess that is why you don't hear folks talking about all of the flawless ones.

If you do see this movie and you haven't heard Kevin Smith's Superman story, you definitely should watch that first. Because the best gag in the movie will go over your head otherwise.

Sooooo, yeah... that was my night at the movies. On the drive there I got to see the Arch and downtown and it was beautiful. And on the drive home, Google decided to take me through every spooky ass neighborhood in St. Louis at midnight.

FUN!

[coffeepurpleu]

On a Sweet Night, Be My Lucky Star (01)

Pairing : VampireTaehyung x WitchReader x DemonJungkook

Genre: Supernatural, Smut, Angst, a little of violence,Fluff (I'll try go with all lmao)

Serie: (still don't know how many longer will be, like chapters, but I'm going to make you enjoy it),about updates (there's will be not a specific day to update, *wink).

This will be my first fanfic here, English It's not my first language, so, if you have any suggestion I'll try it🏃🏻‍♀️.

Teaser (if you want to see it) CH02

"Darling, here's a present for you" I saw my grandmother with a small purple bag in her wrinkled hands.

"What is this grandma?" I asked looking at her curiously

"It's a quartz, it will protect you from everything bad" she replied.

I looked at the orange quartz sticking out of my grandmother's fingers, before I received it, everything went dark.

"Grandma?" I whispered looking for her.

I saw a dark shadow pointing at me, water was surrounding me.

I wake up shaken from sleep, looking around, looking for my phone to see the time, 5:55 A.M.

"Well Sunhee, time to start the day" I yawn to look at my dog sleeping comfortably in her bed.

I head towards the bathroom to shower, already dressed, I decide to eat breakfast on the way, I head downstairs grabbing my stuff stuff stuffing it in my bag. I grab my keys, open the door to find Jin. He is my best friend, he has a popular restaurant in town, human, I would say immortal because at 26 years old, he doesn't look that age.

"Jinnie, it's too early for you to open the restaurant, what brings you here?" I ask with an innocent tone.

"You know why I'm here, since lately you go to work without breakfast, I make you breakfast, Yah what a brat you are" he furrows his eyebrows a little.

"So considerate, thank you but I don't need it" I chuckle.

"Sure you do, remind you of the last time you were in the hospital? Besides my food is the best" He strikes a funny pose, where they both end up laughing.

"I'll still have my morning coffee," I say.

"Sure, your caffeine routine I won't take it away, then you get mad at penguin" he laughs squeezing my cheeks.

"Just because you're taller, doesn't give you the right to make fun of me, ugly" I run to my car before he chases after me.

"Who do you think you're talking to? and you can't leave without me" he climbs into the passenger seat, holding my breakfast steady in his hands.

"You started it!" I yell

"Don't you recognize a good joke? you're too sensitive" he rolls his eyes.

" Well, here I leave you, good luck today, I will come at 8, today I want sushi" I mention opening the door and getting out of the car to say goodbye to him.

"Again?, don't stress today, are they going to interview someone new?" he gets out of the car, arranging his clothes.

"Well you pick the food, yes, we need someone at the planning station" I sigh hugging him.

"Everything will be fine, today will be a great day" He pats me on the head before turning and opening the doors to his restaurant, I turn around to go to the company.

I enter the company walking slowly, receiving the good morning greetings from everyone there.

"Excuse me, boss."

I turn to see where the voice is coming from, it's from my receptionist, Lisa, an elf very good at her job.

"Do you need anything?" I ask her

"My mother just died,would you give me 3 days off?" she murmurs.

"Sure, be careful" I hug her before heading to the elevator.

As the elevator doors open, my secretary, Soyeon is revealed with some folders in her hands.

"There's already the new guy for the interview" she mentions bowing giving a smirk.

"Is there something funny I should know about?" I arch an eyebrow.

"It's nothing, it's just, the kid's a nervous wreck" she mutters.

"Oh come on, we were all like that for our first interview, I remember I kept fidgeting in my chair, and I couldn't find something to look at" I chuckle with embarrassment.  

"That must have been cute to see, and funny" We both burst out laughing. "Well, I'll go set up the meetings, you should go to your office, I'll send the boy over" She smiles before turning away.

I walk to my office, take a seat in the swivel chair, taking the folder on the table, I swivel in the chair for a while until there is a knock on the door.

"Come in" I say in a loud voice.

"Good morning, my name is Hoshi, I come for the interview" He mumbles with blushing cheeks.

"Have a seat, so you know what the position is about right?" I look at him intently which makes him shrink a little.

"Yes ma'am, I have been a scholarship holder from the best university in seoul, I would like to put my acquired knowledge into this job" He smiles shyly.

"Good, I will give you a week trial, show your skills" I stretch my hand which is taken by his, he smiles brightly before standing up and bowing.

"Thank you very much, you won't regret it" He leaves the office, with instructions to ask Soyeon for an induction.

I'm in the boardroom, surrounded by partners, we're brainstorming new ideas. 4pm and my eyes are going, a migraine is coming on.

"Well gentlemen, any suggestions you can send them with my assistant Soyeon or to my mail" I smile to go straight to my office, I throw myself on the couch to close my eyes.

"girl, it's 7:30, aren't you going to look for Jin?" I hear Soyeon say

"later, I'm sleepy" I mumble

"I have no other choice" She pulls me from the sofa making me fall on the floor.

"Ouch!" my eyes pop open, I stand up with a frown, wave my hand as a sign that I'm saying goodbye and go to the car.

I turn on the radio to listen to some news, the same old news, fighting over clans, for context.

A long time ago there were fights between different types of species, each with their life partner or destiny, nowadays, even though we live comfortably, there are some types of "clans" that refuse to believe that life partners of different species are not equal to the same (type, an elf with a troll to say something). But clarifying that, being a witch, I have learned to live without a companion, I have my best friend Jin.

"Where's my omma?" I ask getting out of the car walking into the restaurant. "Yah! You know you shouldn't talk like that" Jin mentions, I managed to dodge the incoming punch.

"Come on now! It's funny anyway, it's almost eight o'clock, are you closing up? Remember that tomorrow you will accompany me to Paris" I wink at him.

I usually focus on work although lately I've been tired, I'm CEO of 5 companies, I took 2 weeks off, since Jin's birthday is coming up, and I thought I'd treat us to a trip.

"Yeah, just let me lock up" He mentions taking off his apron, looking for the keys. At that, we hear the door open and see a gray wolf. "Jin?" I say, "What...?" he replies.

Before we can say anything the wolf falls to the ground, we approach him, we see his ribs sticking out with a bruise on top of them. I carefully move him with telekinesis to one of the nearest tables.

"My tablecloth-" Jin reproaches.

"I'll give you a new one, it needs to be healed" I glare at him.

I start to heal it with magic, the bruise was slowly disappearing, sounds of rain were coming from outside, we exchanged glances.

"Let's go before the weather gets worse" I look at Jin "But you're carrying him" he says.

We get in the car, I put on soft music, almost getting home we hear a growl behind us.

"Y/n I think he's awake" Jin whispers.

I look through the mirror to see the wolf's eyes analyzing both of us, I decide to speak as I look back to the road.

"I heal you, you must be hungry, surely there is something you can eat, jin will prepare something for us right?" i look at him.

"Sure, I could make bibimbap" he smiles slightly.

The wolf decides to lie down as soon as we get to the house. We get out of the car, as we enter I get sunhee jumping into my arms, the wolf snorts.

"I'll be in my room, let me know when the food is ready?" i say before yawning, releasing sunhee on the floor.

"Sure, and take a bath you smell nasty" Jin laughs.

"liar!" i go upstairs to lie down on the bed. I close my eyes, falling asleep, when I feel water being poured on me.

"Food is served downstairs!" i see jin running, i go after him. As I sit up, I see the wolf still being cutelicious, he's finished his meal.

"Everything ok? if you have nowhere to stay, you can stay with us, well, in my house, there are many rooms" I smile, he looks at me with astonishment after going to lie down on the sofa.

"Hey are you calling me poor?" Jin frowns.

"Of course not, otherwise I wouldn't put up with your ugly jokes "I grimace.

"Oh come on, you have no sense of humor, sourpuss" he mentions.

"Yes I do, right I do sunhee? come on let's go to sleep" I hold sunhee in my arms, bowing. "Rest"

"Well I'll go to sleep buddy, see you tomorrow" Jin mumbles.

With the lights off, the wolf turns into a man, he goes through rooms to take a bath, he found a library with a big purple armchair, plants adorning the ceiling, even though he still didn't trust them, he could rest well, just like before.

The next morning, the wolf fell asleep in the library, he had found some old clothes, so he put them on and went downstairs to make himself a cup of coffee. What he didn't expect was that Jin was in the kitchen.

"Y/NNNNNNNNNNNNN!" Jin yells out.

"Hey man calm down, I'm the wolf, my name is Namjoon" he bowed.

I walk down the stairs with the sheet wrapped around me.

"Why are you guys making noise so early in the morning" I complains

"Because he appears just like that" Jin mentions pointing Namjoon up and down.

"It's normal, I'm a hybrid" Nam shrugs, turning around to make himself a coffee.

"Well, we have to get used to it, we have to buy him clothes too" I walk over to Nam. "Let me have some coffee please, and Jin, it smells burnt"

"Go ahead, it's your house anyway" Nam takes his cup of coffee to sit at the table.

"My pancakes! Can't you use magic and redo them?" Jin complains.

"Oh come on! It should be for life and death situations" I mentions

"This is life or death! It's our food!" he shakes me.

"Well well, next time we can make dumplings" I wiggled my fingers making the pancakes perfectly cooked. We hear the light laughter coming from Nam.

My phone vibrates, it's Soyeon.

"Hey girl, how's it going? You know they have a flight today right?"she mentions. "Shit, I knew something had to be done, wait" I hang up quickly to turn around to see the guys.

"Well Nam, I scheduled a trip for me and Jin since his Birthday is coming up, it's today, but I don't know if you would be ok here alone, and Jin, would you agree for him to come?" I look at them waiting for an answer.

"For me, no problem" Jin looks at Nam.

"I don't know, I don't want to cause any trouble, besides isn't it your gift for him?" he purses his lips a little bit

"Yes, but you can also see it as an opportunity to buy clothes and have fun, then" I pat sunhee who is beside me.

"That's okay, I guess it'll be fun" he murmurs.

I call Soyeon to tell him to tell the driver that someone else is coming, then chat with Elizabeth, an old friend.

Crazy witch🐙: Hey bitch, are you there?

The Coolest👾 :Taking care of Sunhee? Why not Flor¿😯

Crazy witch🐙:Because I love you and you love me😁

The Coolest👾 : Well, leave her to Shiro😪

Crazy witch🐙:Are you still in the fashion show?👀

The Coolest👾 :Yes, Flor mentions if we can make a camping trip soon.😶‍🌫️

Crazy witch🐙:Sure when I get back from Paris✈️

"Are you done yet?" Namjoon appears behind me.

"Man, take it easy, you scared me" I put one hand on my chest.

"I'm sorry, but Jin is already out with the bags, I've already bathed, I'm changed but you're missing" he smiles apologetically.

"Yes I'm coming, get in the driver's car when I arrive, I won't be late" I snort to go upstairs to take a cold bath, I decide to wear a jean skirt with a grey croptop with flowers on it and my boots. I walk over to the mirror I have, I hear a car beep.

"I'm coming!" I yell to grab my purse, I put on a knitted beret my grandmother made me, the quartz necklace, and my holographic earrings. I walk downstairs to see Mr. Lee greeting me.

"How are you Miss?" Between his light wrinkles I see a warm smile. "Ready for a break, how have you and your family been?" I ask tapping his shoulder.

"Very well, now come on upstairs it will be late" he opens the door for me.

"Girl, what took you so long?" Jin asked.

"Wait! Sunhee, god I almost forgot" I quickly get off to look for Sunhee and her things, I get back on next to her. "Mr. Lee, how much time do you pray you have? I have to leave sunhee with Elizabeth" I look at him.

He puts on a pair of dark glasses before saying "Hold on tight".

"Why leave her with that Elizabeth?" Nam asks.

"Because she is a friend we are like family, she is a demon, besides sunhee if I leave her alone at home she makes disasters, believe me, she has eaten the socket protectors, sometimes I feel like she is immortal" I sigh.

"She's mommy's baby" Jin speaks in a baby tone.

"Obvious" We all laugh

"Ready, here we are" Mr. Lee mentions.

"Thanks, I'll be right back" I get out of the car carrying sunhee.

Knock Knock

The door opens, a guy in pajamas gets out.

"Hey Y/N, long time no see" he greets

"Don't get excited Shiro, I talked to Elizabeth, she's going to do me the favor of watching Sunhee until I get back from paris" I hand him Sunhee's things, and her leash. "You know her schedule, good luck, and don't let her eat socks!" I turn around to run to the car, get in it.

"Ready, let's go" I smile. "I'm going to call my aunt Jessi to let her know, I haven't seen her in a while."

"You become an old lady when you talk to her" Jin laughs.

"Oh come on" Before I dial my aunt, an incoming call from my mom interrupts.

"Hi ma, how's your vacation going?" I ask her.

"Wonderful here in Jeju with Goonie" She says.

"Ugh, too much sugar ma, I'm going to Paris with Jin, and a new friend, I plan to stop by my aunt Jessi's house" She laughs a little bit

"New friend? Who is it?" she speaks in a mocking tone.

"Not like that! it's not my destiny, we've already talked about it" I mumble, watching Jin and Nam talk.

"I know, but I want to see you happy, and I want grandchildren" She speaks excitedly.

"Don't even think, I'm going to cut myself the-" she interrupts me.

"Watch your language, assface" We laugh.

"Here we are" I hear Mr. Lee

"See you later ma, kisses" I hang up to grab my stuff and look for the private jet, Nam's eyes widen like saucers. "I'm humble" We laugh lightly.

Getting on the plane, I almost fall to the ground. I hear the laughter behind me. "How rude not to help a lady" I pout, they look at each other and sit on the plane's couch, putting on seat belts.

"I brought cards" Jin says

"I don't remember the rules well. Namjoon scratches the back of his head.

"You ignore me? fine, I'll go to sleep, please wake me up when we arrive" I go to bed indignant.

"ONE!" shouts Jin

"Man, I'm bad at this" Namjoon sighs.

"It's lack of practice" Jin shrugs his shoulders.

"Fine, I'll show you how to play" I get up from the bed

"Weren't you sleeping?" Jin asks

"I couldn't, give me space". He gives me a space to sit between them. "Thank you."

After 4 rounds in a row, I won.

"NOOO, treacherous" Jin complains.

"I guess I'll win someday" Nam laughs.

"We have arrived at your destination" I hear the voice in the jet, as it slowly lands.

"Let's go!" I get up running excitedly.

"So fast" Nam asks.

I say goodbye to the jet driver to find the chauffeur who will drop us all off at my aunt's house.

"Bonjour, Madame" The chauffeur greets me.

"Bonjour! Take us to my aunt please" I smile, looking around the airport.

"With pleasure, Madame" Smiles the chauffeur.

After 15 minutes we arrive at the house. I knock on the door.

"Girl, long time no see" My aunt hugs me.

"Princess!" My uncle joins us in the hug.

The hug is undone, because my uncles go to greet Jin, Namjoon just looks, I signal him to come in, my uncles look at him.

" this is Namjoon, new friend" Nam bows with a shy smile.

"Welcome to the family, Namjoon" My uncle smiles.

"Thank you" Nam replies shyly

"Well, where is Haerin?" I ask.

"Well, she's coming soon, she said he has a surprise, I guess, do you want coffee?" my aunt asks.

"I do, you know I can't refuse coffee" I smiled.

"Could I make myself a tea?" Jin asked.

"Go ahead dear, I don't know why you don't want coffee" my aunt laughs.

"I do want some" Namjoon mentions.

"Let's settle them upstairs boy" . My uncle lifts my suitcase, Namjoon follows him with the other suitcases in his hands, they lose sight of each other on the stairs.

"So where are you coming from?" uncle asks.

"From the mountains, north side, it was just me and dad" Namjoon mumbles somewhat nostalgically.

"Oh boy, I'm sorry, but look here we always have room for more" tio slipped his arm behind Nam's neck to hug him. Let's go downstairs and then the fire gets cold.

The door opened revealing Haerin with her boyfriend Heechul, they were laughing, until Haerin saw me, she runs to hug me.

"You're choking me, help-" I move into his arms.

"Didn't you miss me? You don't call me" She says in a childish voice"

"Well you don't answer either" I frown.

"We're even" We laugh. "Mom!, Dad, I missed you" she comes over to hug them.

I see Jin with two cups in his hands, he walks over to me, then walks over to Nam to give it to us.

"You didn't pour anything in it, did you?" I ask holding back laughter.

"YAH! Aunt Choi say something to her!" Jin complains.

"You're all grown up kids, anyway, let Haerin tell the news" My aunt smiles, we all take a seat.

"Ready honey?" Haerin asks Heechul who nods. "We're getting married! and there's a surprise coming" this last she mumbles.

"What the-" My uncle turns pale.

"He's getting his blood pressure down" I say running into the living room.

"Congratulations daughter, you know how dramatic your father is" My aunt hugs them.

"Congratulations!" Jin says, elbowing Nam who is concentrating on drinking his coffee.

"Congratulations" Nam mentions

"Well, we should have a party before we go" My aunt mentions, handing a glass of water to my uncle.

"Leave?" asks Jin

"Yes, we are going on a trip" My aunt smiles.

"When?" I ask

"Tomorrow morning" manages to answer my uncle.

"Shall I order food?" asks Haerin

"I can get the drinks" I mention.

"I think there is a store near here" Heechul mentions.

"Well, anyone coming or?" Nam steps forward, we grab our coats to go.

»»————>»»————>»»————>»»————>

Word count: 3.1k

I was a bit sick 😭(I was anxious to upload it), but here it is at last, tell me what do you think, what changes or additions can I make?

my friend is helping me to organize ideas, because I have too many that I-

Thanks for the love you give to the serie, ch 2 on the way chu chu🚂.

I will soon make the masterlist to organize this🍵

All rights reserved to @coffepurpleu

[firewoodfigs]

Tagged by the resplendent @roseofbattles :)

TEN GOOD THINGS IN 2023

1. New York / poetry readings — sometime around September, I got to feed an old, ostensibly impractical dream that’s emerged and lurked around since two decades ago. I wrote a poem and got to read it aloud in a wonderful art studio around Chelsea, teeming with so much talent and heart, thanks to the incredible @mirabile---visu. Thank you, dear friend, for giving my poem a home. I will remember this forever and hold dear to heart all the honest conversations we had over pizza, art and wine <3 you are such an inspiration and I can’t wait to see you again! Thank you too to the insanely talented @go-haywire for putting my words into print and allowing them to rest in a well-bound sanctuary — I carried it with me in New York as a lucky charm, and will always be eternally grateful for your generosity and faith.

2. New Zealand — sometime in April, in between jobs, I got to visit the amazing @tsaritsa in NZ, and it was two weeks of peace and great novelty, including but not limited to riding on a horse, feeding penguins, and donning on a firefighter costume! We also walked a ton and talked a lot and gazed upon a blanket of stars. Thank you for all your hospitality and love which I will never forget (and see you in 2024?!)

3. Other travels — I travelled a lot around Asia this year, for work and for fun! I got to see the cherry blossoms for the first time in my life with Japan with my partner. We also got to celebrate his birthday there, and it was an all around lovely trip; I’m really happy he got to have this break because he’s been truly working so hard in 2023. I also ushered in the new year with a dear friend in South Korea; the fireworks were nothing short of spectacular! We got a strawberry shortcake after and returned to our cute little apartment to just wind down and pen down our hopes for 2023 :) I also got to visit Thailand, Vietnam and Malaysia for work, which were really exciting experiences!

4. Job switch — sometime in April, I was confronted with this HUGE dilemma of staying here in my hometown or moving to… a tax-free desert… the latter meant I’d at least be able to stay with my previous firm, but after a lot of coffees and deep consideration I decided it was better to move on to someplace else and stay put so I could spend more time with my partner. In hindsight it was probably the best decision I could’ve made; 2023 has been quite emotionally distressing for us and I would’ve hated to see him ensure all of that alone. I was mildly apprehensive at first about the switch, but I’ve been really blessed to have the most wonderful colleagues and bosses and am really excited to see what’s in store next :)

5. Meeting new friends, and in a similar vein, catching up and reuniting with old ones :) New York was a dream, in large part due to meeting some of the most luminous souls I’ve had the serendipitous pleasure of knowing during the pandemic—first over a screen, and then in person, over karaoke, and bagels, and coffee, and ice cream, and of course fried chicken LOL. @x-rainflame-x @roseofbattles @nightofnyx8 @beware-thegemini @thatisadamnfinecupofcoffee @annespelledwithane it was so so precious getting to meet you all in New York and I will cherish our time there together forever!

6. Learning a language—I try to learn at least one new word a day, and I’ve also been working on my Japanese since moving into a Japanese firm. It really helps as well to have colleagues that I can practice with—I took classes briefly in college but it sort of just drifted out of my memory after the pandemic because I didn’t speak it regularly, but now that I do it’s been super fun!

7. Getting into Spy x Family — and consequently, getting back into fic writing :) all of this is @nightofnyx8’s fault btw, now I have to pretend I like this stupid fake family a normal amount (when I’m just obsessed an unhealthy amount lmao)

8. Fraud/investigations work — this basically consumed the entirety of my Nov/Dec and there’s not much I can divulge about it (apart from the fact that it pretty much aged me by a decade) but… I felt like Loid Forger and it was fun being a spy for a month. the end

9. Dealing better with anxiety (?)—question mark because my progress is… questionable. On one hand I think I’ve gotten a lot better at regulating (or perhaps suppressing) a lot of associated feelings, but it still gets frightening on occasion when the dam breaks free without much prior warning. Regardless I think it’s a marked improvement from the countless menty bs back in college lmao. To be very frank, having a stable income of sorts has helped a great deal; in college I was constantly plagued with the fear of not having enough to purchase required materials or at times food, and it was just a lot to deal with. It felt like there was no room for failure because I only had myself to rely upon, and success was the only tenable avenue out of poverty, but being able to now obtain necessities and even additional wants has done wonders for my mental health. It’s true that money doesn’t happiness, and I spend a great deal of time daily mulling over capitalism and consumerism and the like, but I cannot deny the sense of security it affords.

10. And finally, falling deeper in love everyday :) it’s easy to think we know a great deal about someone, except we don’t. People may appear simple, but the truth is we’re all a work in progress, and by extension, a continuing story. I could read a million books and write a million poems, but beloved, believe me—you will always be my favourite.

Goodbye 2023, and hello 2024!

[honeyspiders10]

Hello, this is my second ask because I made an ask for someone else. I’m wondering if you can make peso from Octonauts cuddly us aka y/n But we’re trying to get some work done or we’re busy{You can take your time to make this. I’ll wait.☺️☺️}

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Hello, Traveler! Of course I can do this for you! I love this idea. This is one of my favorite prompts! I hope you enjoy!

Grab a snack, a drink, and prepare yourself for a journey!

Masterlist!

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Hard working Lover

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TW: overworking Reader, and a needy Peso if that counts a warning :p

Gender of Reader: not specified!

Pronouns used: this is written is 2nd person, so I used you/your/you're.

Fandom: Octonaunts!

Genre: fluff!

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You were sitting at your desk, typing on your laptop. You were very immersed in your work and completely forgot about your promise to Peso to cuddle him. You felt bad, but this work had to be done! You'll make it up to him later, you promised yourself.

"Y-Y/n?" Peso peeked his head around the corner of the doorframe, fiddling with his flippers/fingers. "Yes, Peso?" You said, not looking up from your laptop. The tone that came out of you sounded irritated, and it made Peso sink further into the hall. "I-i... was just wandering if you w-were ready to cuddle?" He said shyly, getting a little bit of courage to walk toward you. "I'm busy right now, my love. But... you can come sit on my lap?" You said, turning in your chair to face him. You smiled at the penguin and opened up your arms. Peso walked toward you and climbed into your lap, wrapping his arms around your neck and straddling your waist. "I'm sorry, my heart... I got carried away and completely forgot about our plan to cuddle." You kissed his temple and nuzzled his head, saying sorry for overworking and not paying attention to him. He blushed and said shakily, "it's alright, Y/n. I understand. But you don't need to work yourself this hard. You need breaks just like everyone else." You sighed, resting your head on his shoulder. "You're right... I'll try and take care of myself more. I do need to finish this, though." You said laughing a little. Peso also laughed and hugged you close. "I can help you? Maybe it'll go by faster so you can rest." He said, playing with your fur/hair. "That sounds like a great idea, my love. I love you." You said, smiling at him and kissing his beak. (Is it a beak?). Peso smiled and returned your affections. "I-i love you too, Y/n."

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I hope you enjoyed, traveler! I hope it's what you wanted! Have safe travels! <3

-Charlie

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[robynlilyblack]

One day at a time

Chapter 3: November 26th 1981

Remus Lupin x fem! marauder! reader (eventually)

Summary: Full moons aren’t so bad when you have your best friend

Warnings: swearing, mentions of sex, nudity, past relationships (Sirius x reader, slight wolfstar), pain, everything to do with lycanthropy and it’s associated pain, canon character deaths, angst, slight trauma, grief, bittersweet fluff, slow burn friends to lovers

A/n: 6.6k words, sorry for the delays, had deadlines then got a little unwell xx please enjoy! 

Navigation | Remus Lupin Masterlist | Chapter 2

You flicked through the channels, and by channels, there were only two with reasonable signal. You could’ve gotten up, fix the little antenna by moving it around and up and down in a little dance before untimely placing back in the original spot where it miraculously work but that was effort, and effort was something you had in little spades now. Most of your days were spent trying to get to the end, them which was by all definitions a rather miserable existence but given your situation, things could be a lot worse than miserable.

Suddenly you heard a bang behind you, causing a small gasp to escape your lips as the control jolted out of your hand and into the floor where the batteries tumbe out on impact due the tape used to keep them in having finally gave way. You then turned warily towards the sound and are greeted by the sight of Remus, still in his pyjamas, hair ruffled and wild, looking like a grumpy old man as he shuffled around the kitchen

Your eyebrows furrow but decide against scolding him for not resting, despite wincing in time with him as he is clearly in pain, bones already aching dreadfully from the full moon. He didn’t spare you a glance, he would have heard your gasp and dispel of batteries that had rolled from the carpet onto the hardwood floor but he was most likely too caught up in whatever it was he was doing to acknowledge you. 

Whatever it was, involved staring precariously into the cupboards before slamming it shut and proceeding to walk around the kitchen repeating that whilst making as much noise as possible. You don’t flinch at the sounds though, nor are surprised by his abuse of the kitchen cabinets. The dorm room wardrobes, great hall plates and class quills all suffered the same back at Hogwarts 

Each moon effected Remus differently you see. You weren’t entirely certain just how many kinds there were, but you were sure you had witnessed the fair majority of them. There was the moon where he suffered from severe fatigue and never left his bed until the transformation. The one where he was depressed, self-deprecate and would eat all the chocolate he could get his hands on. The one the boys never talked about but would often make you leave during, though you were sure had something to so with the pillow on his lap. 

And finally, there was this one which was often dubbed as the crabbit old man moon

This one caused him to whinge about everything and be incredibly irritable and snappy to anyone that got in his way…in fact with the rate he was going you were considering hiding the vase beside you in case it got a sore head 

Flipping off the blanket, your shiver a little at the cold air hitting your legs before shifting onto your knees to lean down and grab the control, then lean even further for the batteries. Sure you were too lazy to get up, and sure, this could be considered more effort but shush

“Where the fuck are all the pots!” Remus exclaims, shocking and causing you to, in a rather gracefully mannor, slide off of the couch and onto the floor with minimal damage

His question, you find as you lay there, feet still on the couch, is rhetorical. Hearing him groan as he kneels down to the bottom cupboards, and begin muttering about who’s grand idea it was to put them all the way down here in the very back. Meanwhile you pop your lips as you lay there, looking like some penguin that had fallen over and couldn’t be arsed getting back up. Eventually you do lug yourself up, feet falling off the couch as you sit up on your knees. Grabbing the batteries you rub your slightly carpet burned cheek with a pout, before finally making your way back up to the couch and slipping the batteries into the remote once more

“Did you get it?” you ask after catching your breath, nose scrunching pre-emptively as you know it’s a mistake to ask but still can’t stop yourself from doing so after one too many seconds of silence on his part

His head snaps towards you, eyes filled with such fury over a pot you could have laughed if you weren’t sure he may throw the packet of spaghetti he now had in his other hand at you…or even the pot itself

“Get it?” he holds it up and shakes it in your direction “Yeah I finally fucking got it” he grumbles, wincing as he stands back up and half throws it and the packet onto the counter “What? You put it way in the back just to annoy me?” he scolds but as soon as the anger comes out it fades and his face soon softens

You give him a small smile, letting him know it’s okay, it’s just his hormones going a little crazy with imminent transition. His face still fills with regret though, and he lets out a shaky breath as he says the most genuine and heart breaking ‘sorry’ before turning back to and heading over to the stove with the pot and packet

Biting your lip, you resist the urge to tell him it’s okay, you don’t have to be sorry, because it wouldn’t help, only make him feel worse. You quietly turn back to the tv, immersing yourself in that instead ,and finding the sight of some women being angry her ‘family heirloom’ was junk more than amusing, then giggling as quietly as you could as it

Your giggles aren’t quite as quiet to Remus though, and he turns back to see the little smile on your face. His shoulders relax at the sight, glad to know his outburst didn’t hurt you. Not that they ever did. He’d said and done worse in his school days when puberty plus lycanthropy was both a rage filled and embarrassing combo. Sighing, he places the pot on the stove but delays in lighting it and turns back to you for a moment. 

He was nervous, not for the moon, he was used to that by now but for you. The forthcoming moon wasn’t ever explicitly talked about, nor was your part in it. The only thing you had insisted upon was for the days leading up and after he take the bed and you the pull out, which after much grumbling he eventually agreed to. Deep down though he knew there was no way on this green earth that you were staying behind, not on your watch anyway. Maybe that’s why he spent the day in bed to avoid the conversation, the argument, and maybe that’s why he abused half the kitchen and snapped at you as his way of trying to protect you, deter you from wanting to help him in order to keep you safe

Remus takes one last look at you before turning to the window, eyeing the woods he would be entering in a few hours, already praying it would be a smooth transition, he didn’t need any more pain, nor did he deserve any more than the fates had already dealt him this month 

Taking a breath, he begins to fiddle with the packet to the spaghetti “For fucks sake” he mutters to himself as the blasted thing won’t open “Come on” he begs until eventually it comes way and practically explodes everywhere “Shit!” 

You jump at that, or more the pieces of spaghetti that somehow fly far enough to reach the couch “Is everything alright?” you wonder in a small state of shock before trying to mask your amusement as you see the kitchen and realise what happen

“Fecking grand” he chucks the packet which held one depressing single piece of pasta on the counter and throws his hands in the air before they settle on his hips, eyes surveying the damage

You get up then, sliding the pair of slippers that Remus had originally bought for his late mother on before you do “Moony” you call, cringing at the crunching pasta as you make your way over to him “Why are you making food it’s late?” you question softly, trying not to upset him, but you were sure you had already bought him dinner around an hour prior

 “What? A man can’t eat before every bone in his body break?” he says so off handily, almost casually, that you can’t help the giggle that escapes your lips “My pain funny huh?” he bites, irritation flooding his features 

Your face drops at the scold but you soon wear a sympathetic smile “You know that’s not true” your hand reaches out to gently rub his forearm

He relaxes at your touch, face morphing to regretful as he sighs “I’m being an arsehole, aren’t I?” he asks, pressing his lips together

You bob your head “Yeah” you let out a little laugh to ease his tension “But you’re allowed to be” your hands move to take his hands and lead him away from the spaghetti blast zone “I’ll clean in up later” you assure him as you clock his sadness over the fallen pasta

Eventually you get him to the couch, hands leaving his after you sit him down before you flick away some of the spaghetti and sit yourself down beside him. Nothing is said for a moment, so when your hand finds his lower thigh you just gently rub your thumb back and forth, massaging the sore muscle softly and his eyes flutter at it

“I’m…” you start so quietly Remus can’t make the syllable out “Can I come with you?” you ask and are not surprised at his own shock 

Remus remains quiet, processing and slightly cursing you for asking him instead of telling him, making it much harder for him to say no. Yet his heart knows if he really did tell you no, you would stay here, maybe you wouldn’t be happy about it but you would never force him, never. 

“Bugs” his hand cups yours, saying your name but with no idea how he was going to continue on

Soon he would need to leave, head deep into the woods, far enough that he couldn’t catch whiff of you back here. It was a risk if you stayed or gone with, but more so if you went though. Yet, in lack of his ‘better’ judgement, he wished for you there, merlin he longed for it, as he did with his two…three other friends. In fact, during one of his and yours many breakdowns over the last couple of weeks he had confessed how lonely the transitions had been without everyone, how he was sure they were hurting more without your presence

He had one issue now, even if he did allow it, he had no idea how long it had been since you last shifted. Merlin, in general you had always been a bit of a wild card with it, once you attended classes as James’ pet rabbit for a week when you couldn’t shift back, which was rather rough for said dear when he had to inform the younger kinds that fell in love with your fluffy self that you had mysteriously went missing, because let’s face it, there was no way he was telling a bunch of kids you died…especially after Peters fake funeral

“Joey” he says rather randomly after a few minutes of silence and then cringes, cheek tinting

“Joey?” you giggle at the absurdity before your mouth drops and your eyes widen “I’m not gonna pull another Joey, Moony!” you exclaim, shrugging off his hand and crossing your arms, pouting, you get stuck as a rabbit four times and suddenly no one trusts you to shift on queue anymore

He smiles a little at your attempt to be mad, not to mention the stunned look when you first realised “I’m…” he takes a breath “I’m not afraid of you pulling a Joey, that would be fine. You could just hop around the garden and all I’d have to worry about was you eating everything. Especially the bushes, the bushes took 3 years to grow it be a real shame…” his eyes look off towards the kitchen window 

“Moony focus” you draw his attention back, a supressed giggle escaping your lips as you still can’t quite get over how much of a green finger your friend has become

“Oh right” he chuckles nodding, cheeks becoming ever redder “What I’m saying is I don’t want you to pull an…anti Joey” his expression saddens and your amused one does the same

“Anti-Joey?” you repeat, earning a slow nod and quick quirk up of his cheeks in a downturned smile “Moony that wouldn’t happen” your hands reach back out, giving his arm a squeeze

As you do it turns around and his other moves up to grasp your wrists, before the grip softens and his larger hands slide up to cup yours “I’m not willing to risk it” he caresses the skin “Risk you” 

You shift closer, turning your hands around to lace your fingers “And I don’t want you to be on your own ever again” you tell him, tone equal in firmness and sincerity “I can’t sit here all night knowing you’re out there in pain…and…as selfish as this is I…I don’t think I can be alone either. I’m not ready to be left with just my own thoughts” 

Your confessions leave his heart floored, and he leans in to rest his forehead on yours, debating what to do but ultimately allows his heart to be victor just this once…not without some ground rules though

“One condition” he whispers

“Name it” you whisper back, conviction evident as you both know after so many years of friendship and love you both would do anything if it helped the other asked

He pulls back to look at you properly “Prove to me you can still shift without problems and with no wand” he asks simply, with a small yet warm smile

You just nod, detaching yourself and shuffling back a little on the couch, bringing your legs up to sit on your knees. Taking a deep breath you close your eyes, focusing on turning and after a second or two you feel yourself shrinking

“Godric, I forgot how adorable you are like that” 

With that your eyes flutter open, staring up at him with those cute and now gigantic eyes, and a laugh escapes him as he watches you huff at his comment

He shakes his head “Not that you aren’t adorable in general” he bows down on the couch, like a little magnet is pulling him towards you

As he reaches out, you’re already hopping over and climbing onto his lap, nestling yourself in between his legs with your arse by wiggling it about. Once your settled, he begins to scratch just behind your left ear, causing your back leg kick in-voluntarily and he chuckles, moving into a crossed leg position so you can curl up properly

Out of everyone’s forms, he had to admit yours was his favourite. Not only were you fluffy and cute but for some reason it always made moony calmer. Your presence in general always helped but bunny you on the day of the full moon was like a kind of medicine made especially for him, and he would always be forever grateful for it

“Bugs” he says noticing your body going limp to which you stare up at him with sad eyes that soon begin to flutter again

The thought of actually leaving you in a little blanket fort to sleep the entire night away did cross his mind, but come morning you would kill him…and definitely eat his entire garden out of spite, starting with the bushes. Though as he glances over at the time, he realises you both have around 2 hours before you absolutely have to leave so he lifts you gently into his arms and stands up, gaining your attention as you stare up at him looking confused

“I’ll let an egg timer so we can nap and not worry. We’ll need out energy for later” he tells you, to which you nod and are already half asleep by the time he gets to the bedroom, placing you down on the bed while he goes and gets the timer

Coming back into the room, he turns the chicken shaped timer and sets it on the bedside table before climbing in. The lights were already off and with winter closing in the nights grew dark fast, making falling asleep that bit easier, even quicker as he feels you hop over to his side, curling up in the space between his chest and arm, letting out a little noise of what can only be happiness as his hand gently cups your body

He then closes his eyes and the black nothingness soon drifts into a distant memory…

“Remus?” 

He turns to look at the door from his position on the bed, smiling as he watches his friend waltz in 

“You seen y/n about? I’ve been looking for her all afternoon” he asks, plopping himself down on the bed, making it bounce a little as he does “Actually on the subject, you seen James or Pete either?” he wonders

Remus doesn’t answer the question, just shushes him softly and curls his hand “Come look at this” he says, rolling off the bed quietly

The raven-haired boy looks confused but complies “What?” he whispers, voice low as he follows Remus across the room, towards the window that lied in the space between James and Peters beds 

“James is off getting…sorry” he shakes his head correcting himself “…nicking Marlene’s camera”

The boy sniggers at that but it soon fades out as he spots the sight of you and Peter snuggled up as a bunny and rat on the floor, settled on top of a small pillow and blanket fort

“Aww” he coos “That’s our pretty girl…and Pete” he says proudly though second part has a slight head bob to it causing Remus to chuckle

Remus shifts onto the floor, leaning his back against Peters bed while he does the same on James’ “Where have you been?” he inquires softly, not wishing for you to wake up before a good photo can be taken

“Hogsmeade” he replies but his eyes are fixed on you and the way your nose twitches in your sleep 

“On your own?” Remus wonders, head tilting

“Couldn’t find anyone to come with me so I went myself. Got you some chocolate though” he reaches into his jacket pocket, pulling out Remus’ favourite wizarding brand

“You shouldn’t have” he nags like he always does whenever anything nice is done for him, to which the chocolate is promptly shoved into his chest

“Shut and take it, you silly wolf” he holds it to his chest, eyeing him until he gives in and accepts it “Got our girl some stuff too but I already gave it to Red since I assumed she was off with James or something” his eyes flick back to Remus briefly then back to you, smiling at your sleeping figure “She’s gorgeous like that isn’t she?” 

Remus’ eyes never leave his friends face though “Beautiful” he notes with a sad undertone before averting his eyes

“We should have names” 

Remus’ eyes snap back “Last time I checked we both had three” he jests with a chuckle

“Cheeky” the boy eyes him with a smirk, causing Remus’ confidence to die a little under it “I meant like nicknames because our animagus forms are too on the nose to just say like there’s only so many times I can say James is my dear friend” he says with a small laugh

“Come up with any good ones?” he asks interested

“Prongs…” he makes little antlers with his hands and Remus smiles, the full genuine smile mirrored by the raven-haired boy as well “…Wormtail…” he then gently flicks Peters tail “…and Padfoot” he waves his foot in Remus’ face

“Cute” Remus chuckles, pushing his friend’s foot away “What about me and y/n?” he tilts his head

“For you moony and…” he starts but earns a scoff

“What were you saying earlier about being too on the nose?” Remus gives him a look, grinning at how he made his cheeks tint just this once, and surprisingly the nickname doesn’t upset him just somehow resonates with a nice warmth of familiarity

“Fuck off I think it’s cute” he defends and now Remus’ cheeks are tinting “And technically it wasn’t my one”

“James?” Remus chuckles

“No actually…” he starts but then your ears twitch “Oh hello” your eyes open at the voice, peering curiously up at the two boys

“What was y/ns?” Remus wonders as his fingers gently ghost over your fur

“I was torn on hers” he says before both boys then take a moment to admire the way you make no move to leave your very comfy position whilst tilting your, actually they are sure you’ve you snuggled deeper in, big eyes peeking out as your nose nuzzles into the blanket “Cheeks?” he suggests but Remus shakes his head 

“She does have cute cheeks…” he notes earning a chuckle “…real mature mate” he shoves his friend, earning a little noise of what he is sure is approval from you

“Okay, okay…” he puts his hands up “Fluffy?” 

All of you cringe at that one “Something about that name seems off…” Remus states, looking in thought for a second as to why

As do you and him “Yeah” he nods “Weird. What about Thumper?”

You huff at that one and let out a displeased squeak “She doesn’t like that” Remus lets out a snigger at the now rather annoyed looking bunny

“She does not” he chuckles nervously “Sorry darlin” he apologises and you roll your eyes “Hopper?” they both side eye you but you seem pretty indifferent to it

“Doesn’t suit her” Remus shakes his head again, starting to think about a name himself, the others were based off of characteristics but his mind drifted to the day after your transformation when you walked into the common room eating a raw carrot “What about…bugs?” he suggests and your ears perk up “You like that one?” he asks and the boys chuckle at your nodding 

“Then it’s settled. Bugs, Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot and Prongs” the raven-haired boy declares

“Sleepy bugs?” Remus smiles warmly down at you as your head falls back onto the pillow, his hand moving to gently scratch your ear and while your leg lazily kicks at it it’s thankfully not enough to wake Peter

“Alright Bugs” he winks, to which your nose buries deeper into the blanket and they snigger at the bashful bunny before them

After a few minutes of scratches, they watch as you slowly drift off so Remus beginning to gently brush the backs of his hands over your fur instead, lulling you back to sleep

“James should be back soon…” Remus turns to him with a smile “That is if Marlene hasn’t caught him” he chuckles, expecting him to chuckle with him but when he doesn’t, he looks back towards him “What?” his eyebrows knit

“Remus” he says, tone dripping in sympathy and suddenly panic shoot through Remus “James isn’t coming back” 

The words stab him directly in the heart, knowing deep down they are true but still he refuses “He was just here” Remus tries to convince him, shaking his head quickly as he doesn’t want to go back to reality, he wants to stay in this memory forever

“Was he ever here?” he asks

Remus wants to say yes, that will James to come into the room any second being dragged in by Marlene whose pinching his ear and was 15 again. That the six years he lived was just some fever dream, that none of his friends were dead or evil or empty inside, that there was no war, no dark lord, no orphaned boys left behind, but as he goes to check Peter is still there, he finds him gone, yet the imprint of his body remains beside you 

“No” he breathes out, gathering your body softly into his arms and cradling it close, nose nudging into your fur “This one felt the realest” he whispers into you

“Our times almost up” Remus looks up at him then in the direction he nods “You can already hear it getting ready to ring” he says as Remus sees the little timer appear on the bedside table, and suddenly the ticking of the inner clock fills the room

“I don’t want to hurt again” 

“I know” he moves onto his knees, hand finding Remus’ knee while the other ghosts over you “But she’ll be there this time, and every time after that” he assures

“I don’t want her to hurt either…for me to hurt her” his eyes begin to water

“You won’t…”

“How do you…”

“Remus” his hand moves from his’ knee to his’ heart “Trust me. And trust yourself”

His last words echo and all Remus can do is nod as the world fades around him until it all goes white and then to black. The feel of the mattress below him returning, the covers draped around him, how one foot is colder than the other due to it poking out of the blanket, and finally, your body beside him. You’re no longer a bunny, yet your still curled in a little ball, back to him while one of his arms is wrapped around your waist, hand flat on your stomach, thumb sub-consciously moving back and forth

His eyes flutter open and the first thing he sees is your hair, his nose twitches at it being so close but he doesn’t mind it. Turning his head, he looks over at the timer, two minutes. He hugs you a little closer, nose dipping into your hair now before slipping his arm out and rolling over to sit on the edge of the bed. He groans a little, arm coming up to rub his other as he can feel aches slowly getting worse

He was about to turn off the timer and wake you when he hears a whine, followed by a series of whimpers that have him quickly turning around and crawling over the bed to check on you. You were shaking, a series of he thinks are ‘nos’ and ‘pleases’ coming from your lips before eventually you jolt awake, almost hitting him in the process and his hands find your wrists to stop you

“No please!” you cower away and he instantly drops them

“Bugs it’s me” he says quickly, gently cupping your cheeks, thumbs smoothing over them as his heart plumets beyond control, the sight of you wincing in his light grip kills him more than anything “Bugs it’s Moony” he says and that’s finally makes you open your eyes and really look at him, face softening before you launch into him

He lets out a yip at it but he honestly didn’t care for the pain, he was about to wrap his own arms around you when you detach yourself, looking upset “I’m sorry” you say thinking you really hurt him “I’m so sorry moony” you apologise, going to touch him but then recoiling so he gently takes your hands and brings them to his chest

“It’s okay” he assures you, bringing them to his lips to kiss “It didn’t hurt”

“You sure?” you ask and hopes he lies to you just this once

“I’m sure” he does, like he knows because he does, he knows you better than anyone just like you with him “Are you okay though?” he wonders, you scared him half to death but as he watches your expression, he quickly knows what the dream was or at least who it was, which explains your fear

“Nightmare” is all you can bring yourself to say but even if you had more it’s would be cut off as you let out a tiny shriek at the egg timer which abruptly goes off “Mother of Merlin!” you clutch your chest

He chuckles a little, leaning backwards to twist it off before returning to you “You sure you’re okay?” he checks, he wasn’t unfamiliar with bad dreams himself, though his were more of the delusional nature, he assumed yours must be much worse than his, this wasn’t the first time he had seen you wake up in a panic, in fact, you hardly ever woke up peacefully

“No” you let out a laugh, answering honestly and he can’t help but copy “But I’m fine enough to go”

“Course you are” he raises his eyebrows, earning the gentlest of taps from you as not to hurt him “Speaking of we need to get ready to go”

After packing up some bags and Remus explaining where you should and should lead him, you both headed out. It dark but not so bad you couldn’t see anything, though maybe that was due to your animal sides granting better vision. The grass crunched beneath your feet with the light layer of frost, and as you entered the forest, twigs broke and the occasional owl hooted. You had to admit, despite the pain your friend was about to endure it was a beautiful night, not quite overcast but it was calm, quiet, peaceful, nice a night as any to spend outside

“Is there a cinema near here?” you break the silence, walking just behind Remus as he leads the way

“There’s one in the next town, bus ride away” he informs you “Why?” he slows a little, letting you catch up and join his side

“There’s this action movie I saw the trailer of earlier today…” you tell him, stopping for a second as you step over a fallen tree “Maybe one day we could go see it at some point? It looks good” you tell him and he smiles to himself, just like you to try and keep his mind off things

“What’s it about?” he entertains you

“This guy, Jones…I think his name was, he’s an archaeologist” you explain, though if you were being honest all you were thinking while watching it was you recognised him but didn’t know where

“And it’s an action movie?” he looks at you sceptically 

“Yeah. Duh!” you exclaim like it was obvious, jogging a little in front before turning and walking backwards “There are other people after the treasure!” you throw your arms in the air as you continue on “It like a race to it and…” 

Remus chuckles fondly at your ramble, you really were helping him forget the pain with how invested you are, so much so he makes note of it in the back of his mind

“You know for someone that reads for a living and was our resident know it all you’d think you’d know treasure hunting was a cut throat business” you tell him, stopping and facing him with a false look of disappointment 

“Ha ha” he rolls his eyes gently nudging you with his shoulder as he passes “Who’s in it? Anyone I’d recognise?” he asks smiling as you have to jog a little in order to keep up and re-join his side but then have to stop again so you can think

“Fuck I can’t remember his name” you bounce on the balls of your feet while Remus stops and watches you, holding his laugh “He was…umm...oh!” you point at him “He was the guy from the space one. Han…Han Solo! He was Han Solo” you tell him though you more announce it to the whole forest as you point in the air and spin around, looking so proud of yourself that you finally figured it out

He chuckles at your mini celebration “Han Solo, huh?” his grin morphs into a smirk “Interesting”

“Very” you nod “Especially when he’s almost exclusively in an open white shirt…” Remus’ eyebrow raises “…a little cowboy hat and a oh!” you tap his arm “And he has a whip” you wiggle your eyebrows at him

His face goes through a few emotions ending with visibly tinting cheeks “Okay we can go see it…” he begins walking but stops and points “But it’s not because you mentioned the whip”

“Sure it isn’t Mr Moony” you tease knowingly

He huffs, starting to walk again but a little faster so he can enjoy you trying to keep up with him while giggling away “You know…” he can’t drop the subject just yet but knows he’ll live to regret not doing so “You walked in at the wrong time” he needlessly defends himself

Your eyebrows furrow before you start sniggering at the memory as you can’t believe after five years he was still embarrassed “I’m not saying anything” you hold up your hands when you finally catch up with him “Even if I was. It’s not that weird” you loop your arm through his, leaning into it as you walk “Everyone had their kinks and sometimes you need help getting out of…” 

Your cut off with Remus’ groaning, closing his eyes briefly and you can almost feel the heat from his face “Merlin bugs I wasn’t…ugh” he sighs “Can we please forget this conversation?” he pleads opening his eyes and looking down at you, having no idea how it went from a film about an archaeologist to you catching him all tied up

You gift him a sympathetic look but shake your head “Nope” making sure to pop the ‘p’ “I will tease you forever”

He decouples himself “Fuck you” he says with an empty laugh before he stops walking completely “This is the place by the way” he gestures to the area, cheeks all rosy

“Fuck you too” you say with a laugh back before looking around “It’s lovely, very…woody” you grin

“You’re insufferable” he deadpans, shaking his head

“You love me really”

“I don’t” he quips and after a second of silence, a series of chuckles is heard from you both

Once it dies down, Remus moves to tuck his bag safety into a small enclave beneath the roots of one of the larger trees. You follow wordlessly, handing him your bag when he turns and reaches out to you. Your eyes flick up and spot an ‘M’ engraved in the bark just above it, causing you to smile while he stands up and walks over to a small clearing in the forest nearby. You don’t follow him this time, instead kneel down, your fingers glazing the bark before you go into his bag and take out the small pocket knife he always kept in there just in case and use it to scratch a ‘B’ just beside it

“Everything alright?” Remus asks as you finally approach him, stopping a few metres away 

You hum in agreement, watching as his shoulders relax and he nods yet wears an uneasy expression “It’s gonna be okay” you say to assure him but he just tilts his head “Okay. It’s gonna hurt like a bitch and suck ass” you admit and he lets out a small laugh at that, almost like a ‘huh’ “But at least this time you aren’t alone” 

“Thanks Bugs” 

“Anything for you moony” you throw him a wink

He gives the best smile he can muster with the pain, until eventually it grows too much. Looking up you see the clouds parting, revealing the moon shining and as you look back you see Remus fall to his knees, clutching the forest floor as he wails in pain. You lower yourself to your knees as well, and as he looks up your eyes meet in a small moment of peace, one of which you give him a small nod and smile before he begins screaming in pain again

It’s then you shift, not wishing Moony to smell you as anything but an animal

You don’t move or doing at first, just sit and feel your heart break over and over as your friends’ bones crack and break themselves repeated while there was absolutely nothing you could do to help. It never got easier to watch, if anything, the second-hand pain you felt had grown stronger than it had ever been. More so knowing they should have been here, that James and Peter should have been here…he should have been here

Soon enough a full werewolf was looming in front of you, breathing heavy, nostrils flared. His form was taller yet thinner than it was back in school, but his eyes are still the same, even if they watch you closely before he growls lowly. Most would be scared but you just hopped forward, stopping just in front of your friend. He would never be scary to you. How could you ever be afraid of the chocolate loving, knitted jumper wearing, gardening granny that was your best friend? 

His head dips down to sniff you, checking you weren’t a danger, nose nudging your side a little and then in a place you would be so teasing him about later. Eventually he pulls back, no longer looking threatened but relaxed, just like he did back at Hogwarts. And just like then he follows along behind you as you begin to hop away.

Beginning to make your way around the little circuit Remus had shown you on the map, which pretty much was keep going until you see this distinctive shaped tree or rock and if you reach this you’ve gone too far. He said that everything was miles away from any forest path but if there were any paths through the grass that looked self-made to lead him away, just in case. He also made sure to assure you that if you did get lost that was okay, or if he was relaxed enough to sleep you were to join him where that may be, and he would be able to get you both back to the bags in the morning…though his cheeks did grow pink as he said you would be leading the way with his instruction since unlike you, he wouldn’t be shifting back with clothes

After a few circuits and having to sprint around him a couple of times in order stop him from scratching himself you were growing a little tired, yet continued on none the less, you had the next month to sleep. That was until you returned to clearing with the bags and Moony stepped in front of you, sitting back on his hindlegs, basically telling you to stop. Which you do but get ready to run around again in case he is going to scratch when then just lays down. 

If you could smile in your form you would have, thankful for being granted rest and sleep, more so as Moony seems to keep his head raised until you curl up next to him, to which you then feel his tonged lick your fur before his head rests on his front legs. You had no idea what time it was, but you did know you felt at peace as you feel asleep and you were sure for this brief moment Remus did too

Thank you for reading and let me know if you want tagged in the series ♡

@mrsgweasley @zmxchs @moony1-960 @violetsandroses8 @pega7sus @pussy-drunk @thecraziestcrayon @milivanili99 @katlovesall @that-bitch-bri @summer-noir @aces-tattooartist @panda-luminary

[havin-fun-imagining-twd]

The first Christmas “without,” Pt. 2

Happy Candlemas! Here’s Part 2, and remember, you can still technically say Merry Christmas until 11:59/23:59 tonight

When - Part 1 was 35ish minutes after A fu---n’ great Christmas, which takes place in between season 2 and 3. Part 2 is approximately 3 minutes after Part 1 ends. We’ve made a brief time skip from souls stripped bare.

What - the first major holiday without loved ones is hard. The first major holiday without loved ones because one of your loved ones was killed by another loved one is somewhat harder. (for those who are newer Slowpokes, Shane was your older brother)

**Note that some plot points haven’t actually been published yet, they are  merely discussed or alluded to because the series is non linear**  

Relationships - slow burn Daryl x Reader always, therefore you’re still snuggled in the mangy hick’s poncho and wishing your crush away, but this chapter was focused more on the found-family aspect of the series. Part 2 specifically deals with your familial relationship with Rick -- and how much hurt and anger you’re still working through after what happened with Shane.

Perspective - 2nd person You, 3rd Him (Daryl)

Pronouns? - they/them

TWs? - some foul language, memories about the farm getting overrun (without gore), anger over a family member being killed by another family member, discussion of grieving, and more of my dumb using-dreams-to-relay-past-events as found in That mangy hick!

Word count - longer than Part 1, but if you read both together, do set aside some downtime and get comfy and snuggly in something cozy. Dare I say, in a poncho, perhaps?

What stories to read or reread - “All of them!” the author cackles Part 1, of course, A fu--in’ great Christmas, The Chicken Swim, Too much thinking before bed, Part 2 and Ain’t nothing... are the ones most pertinent to this chapter.

Check out the  Masterlist, slowpoke, it’s got all the published chapters and reader requests :)

.........................

3 minutes later, after discussing a possible chicken swim/penguin plunge with Glenn before you left him to the music and walked back alone slowly

Okay, maybe remembering your chicken swim with Amy, when Shane so diligently stood watch from the shore with a canoe at the ready (and Daryl saw you swim in a t-shirt, shorts, and socks), maybe remembering that put you back at square one, because before you know it, the pendant is in your hands again.

You just feel so off.

T-Dog and Carol are sitting at the fire outside now. Aw, T-Dog took off his Santa hat. He’s still in the red Dawgs shirt Daryl gave him, though.

As you rub the ‘22’ between your fingers and over your lips, you greet the two of them with a (yawn and a) “Hey y’all, how’s the turkey going?”  

Carol waves her fingers and smiles.

Ooh yummy, what are they making? They seem to be mixing…you aren’t sure what in the bowl, but it’s mushy. Boiled and mashed tubers, maybe? If so, that’s good, Carol has been craving starch like it’s nobody’s business.

“Hershel’s almost done with his tea, then he’ll use that meter thingy,” she lets you know, right before T-Dog teases, “Glenn’s and your bickering about him again was a fun surprise.”

He gets a mildly British-sounding response out of you. “Yes, we had a lovely time.”

“Who won this round?” he chuckles. “I asked Glenn already, but wanna to compare your answers.”  

“Neither of us.” Well, come to think of it, “Mr. Greene.”

“Ha! See that, Carol? Same answer, I gotta tell Hersh about this, just a sec.”

While he pokes his head into the little building and announces his findings, you sigh at Carol. That’s when you notice that there’s…no turkey in sight. Which is a little concerning, where’d it go?  

Oh no, it wasn’t all wormy, right?

You stare into space as you rub, rub, rub the pendant. Well, the smaller cooler is kinda sitting on the ground in the middle of everything, so you use that as your chair.

“The meat’s brining in there, if you’re wondering,” Carol explains.  

Ah, got it. Phew.

She yawns as she goes into it a little more. “We don’t want a repeat of that wild turkey we had what, about a month ago at this point? Oh my—at Thanksgiving. Golly, I forgot about Thanksgiving,” she mumbles to herself.

“There was no fat on the poor, sad thing. Nasty,” T-Dog narrates, catching her yawn on his way back with a dishtowel, and covering the bowl of mushy stuff with it. “Though, we did a fair job on it, gotta say.”

You nod. You’d actually really enjoyed it, but maybe that’s because you were really hungry? Ah, and you’ve caught the yawn, now. Yawns really are contagious.

Carol and him keep chatting. “Mmhm, very little fat, and that was a month ago. Having one now, this late in the season—”

“—Could be even more nasty, we gotta be extra careful,” T-Dog finishes for her. “Y’all caught a big boy, though,” he says to you, “this guy was plump. I have a good feelin’ about him.”

Nodding away, Carol starts talking about how “My great aunts and my meemaw knew how to cook it well. When I was a girl, that’s what we ate at Thanksgiving and Easter.”

“Thank the Lord I was a city boy,” he announces, cracking up. “We had good stuff like glazed ham, mm, I didn’t have to eat none of that wild, gamey turkey.”

“They’d make four different types of gravy to go with our wild turkey.”

“Four? You’re gonna make my stomach growl even louder, now, Carol. Y/N, the woman is trying to torture me, I know it.” T-Dog is even more adorable when he’s crushing on someone, hot damn. He’s a tad too old for you personally, but everybody here knows you think he’s a catch. Probably even him, if you’re being frank. “My uncle, he had this recipe for cornmeal gravy—outta this world. You and I should have a gravy-off, get some heft back on our people’s bones.”  

She tilts her head in consideration but looks hesitant before asking, “Should I try and send the six of you out on a supply run for some grease and flour?”

You’d be down. “I’d be down.” If anything but to stop Carl, Beth, and Lori from losing any more weight. Oh Moses, wait up —“If we find cornmeal, is there a way to make hushpuppies?”

“Find more oil, I’ll try,” Carol is quick to offer, yawning again. “Are you gonna head to the cars for a nap? I know I’m going to once the cooki—um, what’s in the bowl, once these are done.”

T-Dog just snickers. “Same, we all need more sleep after last night. So, Y/N,” he turns to you, “everytime we talk about food, it’s the hushpuppies, gummy sharks, that puffcorn stuff, or applesauce for you. Or Indian food. Or bananas. Oh right, or peanut butter tomato sandwiches.”

Carol groaned with you when he said the last one; you’re both fans of those and you’re both belly-aching for some food.

“I crave what I crave, Teddy.”

“Plus catfish nuggets, am I wrong?” he guffaws (yes, ‘guffaws’).

“…To go with the hushies.”

“And cheesy curls, can’t forget. Oh, and corn dogs—you got a corn thing, don’t you?”

Which is entirely true, but you’d also go for a plain, grilled hot dog, oh my gosh. “Been hungry, Breakfast King,” you snark back.

He cracks up and holds his hands open. “I earned that title. I made the best eggs y’all ever had that day, powdered or otherwise, admit it. The grits were creamy and lush, go on. Whoever stocked the CDC knew to get clarified butter down there, made all the difference.” He puffs out his chest slightly. “But I coulda swung it outta the park even without.”

You share a nod with Carol as your fingers grasp the pendant again. “It was best breakfast I’d ever eaten.” All true. Objectively, food-wise.

After about two months with no cheese or much food-food, given the supply chain issues due to the world effectively collapsing, the spread T-Dog made for breakfast at the CDC was heavenly. Would’ve been really good even during the before-times. How he got those powdered eggs to taste so fresh, you don’t know.

Those not so good memories, however, are really poking a stick in the gears, though. You can faintly hear the tink, tink, tink of your chain as you pull the pendant back and forth, back and forth. An uneasy, sick feeling twists in your belly when you remember it.

It was a barely two hours after breakfast when you’d all nearly died and Jacqui and Dr. Jenner committed suicide. Then about two months later, you’d finally learned why Shane had broken down wailing and Lori had looked shell shocked and scared the night before.  

Shane wasn’t really one to get drunk, yet he had that night. He was going a little crazy, you guess, and things had been, um…

Your brother wasn’t a bad person, he wasn’t. He just lost himself and thought he couldn’t come back.

But when Shane spilled to you that awful night at Hershel’s farm what he’d started blindly trying to do to Lori at the CDC, your first reaction came from deep within. You didn’t see a man you recognized, and you thought you hated the man you did see. You may have actually hated Shane for a short while. Almost as much as you hated Rick when you knew for certain that he’d killed him.

“Careful not to break the chain,” Carol gently murmurs, perking you out of it.

Shoot, you’d been doing the tuggy pully thing again. Sometimes, when you start thinking about what happened, you end up squeezing and rubbing Shane’s ‘22’ pendant too hard when you tug and pull it back and forth.

Okay yeah, you’re falling hard back into that intense anger about what happened, it’s not good. You cannot sink back down into that unhappy, unhealthy place.

And you really don’t want to break the chain, so: you ignore your growing frustration that you can’t just get over it already, then imagine a stupid tea kettle being taken off the stupid burner before thinking your stupid mantra again.

…I don’t hate Rick…I don’t hate Rick, I love him, I love my Rick, Rick is my brother…you love him, Y/N, you don’t hate him…you don’t hate Shane, either…now take the kettle off the burner…you don’t hate either of them…you don’t hate Rick…it’s okay if you want to cry, just remember that you don’t hate Rick, you love Rick…

“Hey guys,” Glenn calls over, further helping you snap back to reality. Maggie’s hand in his, he returns the music player and thanks you. “Gonna crash for a little while in the Chevy, I think.”  

With a slow exhale, you bring yourself back to whatever the heck was going on before this, something to do with food, right?

Right, yeah, breakfast at the CDC.  

It’s true, T-Dog had indeed made bananas-good food the morning at the CDC. And that was with a total lack of (actual bananas, and) potatoes, sausage (therefore gravy), fresh cheese, you could go on for a while.

“Man, the things I’d do for some eggs,” you hear him groan. You turn to see him quickly look away from you.

Ah, you’d though the delivery sounded a touch too emphatic; T-Dog was putting on extra in trying to revert your attention back to lighthearted stuff. Guess your internal mantra-break was noticeable. Also, that darn tuggy pully thing.

Whatever, he’s distracting you with all his food talk because he cares. “Scrambled eggs,” he details, “with sautéed onions and pimento cheese, and bacon or chorizo, obviously. Buttered marble rye, fluffy biscuits with some white gravy. Hashbrowns…”

You peek over at Carol. Her cravings are usually for potatoes, overcooked macaroni salad, or anything from Waffle House. The woman just wants some starch and to not have to cook, dude.

Last night, that 16oz can of potatoes she’d used with Christmas Eve dinner had been *heaven* for her. The sharing of it, however, that part was more like ‘purgatory,’ so she joked in the car late last night after you’d all escaped the herd.  

She looks wistful for a moment, then says to T-Dog, “Other than you and Rick, everyone here knows what leaves and stalks to look for. We’re bound to come across some potato plants in a backyard garden one of these days.”

“And I will make you hashbrowns to die for.”

Carol cringes in her shy, polite way. He’d chosen the wrong descriptive verb choice. “Maybe not that good, T-Dog.”

“Aw man, uh, hashbrowns to ‘cry over,’” he rephrases it. “Hold up — we could do a hashbrown bowl like at Waffle House!”

Now she’s got on her shy, dainty smile. “Perfect.”

T-Dog then turns his gaze over to you. “Now, Y/N, Rick’s coming back with Daryl.”  

Ugh, please not now, Teddy.  

You know what he’s gonna suggest, and you don’t want to. You did your mantra thing, that’s plenty.  

I don’t hate Rick, I don’t hate Rick, I don’t hate Rick, I love Rick…  

“Go over there and remind yourself you don’t hate him,” he directs.

Which you deflect with a lame, “Daryl don’t prefer hugs.”

Which in turn, earns you a look. “You know who I mean,” T-Dog tuts. “Hug your brother — and don’t go telling me he ain’t your real brother, I know full well you was raised not caring about that stuff and that it don’t matter these days anyhow. Now go on, go hug him, or something.” He sighs and gestures to you. It’s much less stern when he next says, “I think the holiday is starting to get to you. And you’ve got somethin’ particular going on.”

Yeah, yeah, the first holiday ‘without,’ you get it.  

But apparently you must have huffed out loud, because T-Dog next hums nuh-uh and cautions, “Don’t you go getting huffy at me, now, troublemaker.”

“We had Thanksgiving, that was a major holiday.”

“Wasn’t the same, you were completely focused on Hershel then.”

Okay, fair, but, “Okay fair, but we’re all having the first Christmas w-with-wi—” it takes you a few times with your fucking stress stutter, “—without a bunch of loved ones, I ain’t special.”  

Sure, Glenn got a little testy and had a good cry, but he’s still chill. Carol’s not acting like a baby about her first Christmas without her daughter, and T-Dog himself isn’t acting like a baby about having no one he knew before the outbreaks.

So why is he acting like you’ve got something ‘particular going on’ today? Are you that fragile? You were having a (fuckin’) great Christmas, Daryl even said it!

Yet, as vulnerable and therefore mad about it as you feel, you can’t stay upset.  

Not after the way Teddy so plainly but delicately points out, “Our situations are different.”

It stops you in your tracks and makes fact that he was once an intimidating defensive back and occasional running back for the Bulldogs seem unbelievable. You also begin to feel less…ashamed, that you’re still so fucking broken after what happened. The situation with Shane is different.

…I don’t hate Rick, I don’t hate Rick, I don’t hate Shane, I love them both, please help me remember that I’m just angry again right now, I don’t really hate Rick, I love him so much…

You’re back to fiddling with the ‘22’ pendant, but it’s cool, you aren’t tugging on the chain this time.

“Go on, or I’ll make you two wear a get-along shirt,” Carol prompts. “Oh, and don’t mention the cookie batter, T-Dog, Beth and I want to keep it a surprise.”

“The what, now?” ......................

Him

Y/N is walking over.

That they’re wearing the hat he gave them made him wanna stand taller, and that they’re still in his poncho made him feel warm. It was a warmth unrelated to the fact that they’d switched coats earlier today.

Weird thing is, Y/N seemed cozier in his poncho underneath their zip-up hoodie than they’d seemed in their own oversized, old, woolly, fluff-lined jacket. It didn’t make much sense to him, but his poncho was pretty sweet and it reached longer down Y/N’s body, which would keep their butt warm and all that.  

Y/N’s coat is nice. Old, but that made it better. Except, when Rick saw him wearing the coat, he’d frozen like he’d seen a ghost then got this glazed kinda look in his eyes.

Seeing the jacket on somebody who filled it out properly was prolly what done it. It, um, originally it had been Y/N and Shane’s dad’s jacket. After their dad died, maybe 16ish years ago, their ma would wear it around to remember him, then Shane started wearing it as his coat. So really, it was Shane’s for all those years.

Yeah, the coat has some baggage. Comfy though.

“It’s a good jacket,” was all Rick said before he blinked a few times and lead him on a short walk to discuss the food and security brief he had with T-Dog, Glenn, and Maggie earlier. He and Y/N missed the info when they were hunting that turkey.

Maybe it helped Rick zen out about food a little when Daryl ripped up some cattail tubers they passed. Carol really misses potatoes, and those roots are real starchy, so it’ll be close enough. It was one of the first things that crossed his mind when they got here last night and he saw the small lake.

“What roots are those?” Y/N calls to him, pointing.

Hey—what happened? Y/N looks like the wind got knocked out of them, they don’t look cheerful and happy at all. He’d only been with them around the fire like an hour ago, things were fine.

Is Hershel good? Did Y/N fight with Glenn agai—oh, never mind, got it; Shane’s chain is sticking out of their hoodie. They fidget with it more when they’re upset, usually when thinking about their dead brother and shit.

They’ve been doing pretty okay, so, dunno, maybe it’s just the holiday getting to them.

“Cattail,” he lets them know.

That nice feeling tickles his chest again when, with their mouth opens in recognition and a much happier look spreads on their face. They point at the tubers. “That’s the one we can use like a potato, then?”

He just smiles and nods; they’re on the same wavelength as him on this one, point proven when they look back at the fire for a sec before grinning and resting their hands on their hips. “Teddy said he’d make her hashbrowns, and we got enough oil and salt for those, some leftover flour if need be.” Their gaze switches to Rick. “Are there any other ingredients we’ll need for hashbrowns?”

Were they uncomfortable when they asked him that, or was that just his imagination?  

Also, why would they ask Rick? Everybody knows how to make a hashbrown, it’s a cut-up potato fried in a pan.

“Lore sometimes made them on Pancake Sundays,” Rick offered.

That’s gotta be an inside joke because next, them and Rick start to crack up.  

Scrunching their nose, Y/N giggles (and seems genuine about it). “Ain’t her fault her grandma had two terrible pancake recipes.”

“She didn’t have to follow the recipes every Sunday.”

“Especially buckwheat ones, oh, they were like dry little penances, Daryl,” Y/N fills him in, “he’s not full-wrong.” Turning back to Rick, they seem uncomfortable again when they say, “I’m gonna go crash for a bit before choring, but um, let’s listen to music together soon. It’ll be nice to do it at the lakeside.” An awkward kind of pause follows, then they go, “Hey, um, I never had hashbrowns at your place, were they, um, were they, w-were they good?”

“I mean, compared to the pancakes…” Rick trails off. He looks uncomfortable, too, but he’s trying to keep the joke going.

But Y/N must not like all the teasing about Lori’s cooking or whatever, because they stop looking as amused when they slowly repeat “Ricky, were they good?”

It looks like his head is getting heavy to hold up, the way it’s drooping some. He gives Y/N a sad kind of smile, the way people do when they’re apologizing. “Carl, Lore and I would eat the whole plate.”

.......................

You

Fine, maybe T-Dog is right. The day is getting to you maybe just possibly a pinch.

As you stomp over to the cars, you look back at T-Dog at the fireside and hold up a thumb with one hand and lift the other open-palmed to ask him if he was satisfied or not.

He makes no gesture back at first, then makes a shrug and holds his thumb up.  

Whatever. You throw open the door to the backseat of the Dodge, hop in, position the bright blue scarf into the door and yank it shut to show that you’re in there, then tuck yourself into the blanket and burrow into your pillow.

You love your stupid brother (yes, the one named Rick) so much, and-and things have been fine!  

Of course it would be on Christmas that you’d be acting like a little idiot bitch…but making fun of a spouse’s cooking isn’t your brand of humor, either, that was kind of a dick move from the dicktator.

Ricky-dicky doo, Ricky-pricky poo, Rickety-doo-dah…

Oh, right, um—when the bad things happened, you’d gone full postal, blindly wandered away, and got drunk for the first time. You’d started chanting something along those lines, then you’d made new lyrics to that ancient Disney song. Ridiculous and immature? Yes, but you were in a truly bad place.

Though, you are secretly proud of one insult you’d made after your world had gone blank: “Three cheers for Rick, putting the ‘dick’ in dictator!”

By God above, you’d thought that you’d hated him so much.

Well, really it’s only T-Dog who’s of the mind that you didn’t actually hate him; you know that you did.  

You have to adjust the pillow and flip to your back instead of your side. With the heel of your boot you then tap the lock shut for some ensured privacy, in case they don’t notice the bright blue warning scarf.

Hershel and Lori get it. Hershel simply reminds you about “mercy,” reminds you that you don’t hate Rick anymore, and will say a prayer. Lori encourages you to spend time together with him or more time with Carl.

You wish Dale were still here, and remember that you need to wind his watch and pray the “kad-ish” for him today. Dale would know what to say and do, could teach you how to get a grip. Heck, maybe the fact that he’d just died back when it all happened had been a catalyst for how deep you’d dived.

It had been so bad at first. Your hatred and all that dark stuff had been so thorough and you’d felt so completely empty and lost that you’d…

…you’d left the group.

You’d left your Carl. It was that fucking complete.

That bad, bad night, you’d attacked Rick, insulted him, threatened him. The others had to take your weapons away, they’d also had to restrain you, a lot. Something in you just fucking snapped when you knew what Rick did to your brother. To his own brother.  

And you’d been hoping he’d off you, too, but he didn’t. Didn’t pull his gun or his knife, even with your encouragements.

Then you accidentally broke him. That’s the term you think best describes what he looked like. It was like a short-circuit.

All it took was three words, “So was he.”

He’d been trying to tell you that he was still your brother, he still loved you. Each response you made to him was simple enough, but each somehow acted like a tranq dart.  

Maybe it’s because you’re so tired, but you can call to mind so vividly how words couldn’t seem to formulate in your head when you managed to utter “So was he.” Then the way your breathing had sped up and your voice started shaking and getting louder when you pushed back more against what he was saying with “So did he,” and how quickly it was followed by your stuttered, “Oh Ricky, s-so did I. I loved you so much...”  

And the final phrase, basic as it was, it wasn’t screamed or cursed, the “I hate you.” Those words stunned you when you thought them, they confounded you as you spoke them.  

Okay, pump the brakes a sec. Did you just think the word “confounded” to describe how you’d felt?  

Are you writing an English essay? Lol, take a breather, dude. You need to stop thinking about that night and get some rest, you’ll feel much better. “Confounded.” At least you’re smiling in embarrassment now.

Time to relax. You tighten all the muscles you can think of, then relax them. Tighten all your muscles, slowly, slowly, then relax. Tighten, relax.

You pray for strength and all that stuff while trying to picture happy things. Like when those two bunnies scurried past Daryl and you on a hunt and he didn’t notice them. When Carl woke up after his surgery. When Amy and you did the chicken swim. When Shane — no, no, this isn’t a happy memory, shit, no, this is when you saw who what was once Shane stand up — you can’t seem to shift away from the memory!

You didn’t know what was wrong at first. You’d seen Shane’s expression and assumed he’d gotten sacked in the jaw. Then you saw the color of his eyes. Even from the distance, it was plain as day that they weren’t his dark brown ones. They were those strange, terrible, light milky blue ones.

He’d turned.

To call out to Rick so that he could defend himself didn’t compute at the time; you’d forgotten about breathing never mind shouting. You simply stared as Shane your brother’s body reached and prowled toward Rick as you clung to Carl’s shirt so he wouldn’t leave your sight.

In your side vision, you noticed your nephew drawing his gun, and thankfully there was enough rattling around in your brain that you knew to unclasp your hand from the death grip you’d had on his shirt so you could guide and steady his aim. That way it would be less likely for Rick to accidentally get injured when Carl and you put down your brother’s body.  

The memory of the loud pop of the handgun and the slight recoil makes your hands twitch — oh, thank God! You’re staring at the car’s ceiling.

You’re awake, it was just a dream. Explains why it all got so vivid, ugh, thank God.

Okay, happy thoughts, happy thoughts, good memories…

Holding your newborn niece for the first time while your brother-in-law cradled your middle sister in his arms. Mama squeaking when the new chicks hatched because they were so small and sweet. That time Shane and you were given all of the leftover catfish and hushpuppies free of charge from your local spot at 11:08pm because you’d both had very bad days.  

Shane...

The scene changes. You’re not in his Jeep outside the catfish joint anymore, you’re looking at his corpse. Ugh, that revolting word. ‘Corpse.’

You’re staring at the stab wound. You didn’t recognize it as such back then, what would you know about differentiating that stuff? You figured it was a clean bite or whatever the fuck — you don’t know, you’d been numb. You’d been confused. The things that Shane had been saying earlier that night, they didn’t make sense. And you’d heard raised voices before you (and Carl) had found your brother’s corpse rising up and making for Rick.  

Little doubts and red flags and warnings had started to gather to whiz around your head like flies on roadkill as you stared at the wound and his body, it was a disgusting mess in your mind.

Then, the only word that really stuck out in it was the word ‘shovels.’

Shovels were what you needed. To bury the dead, that’s what was needed.

Carl, you, and that murderer your brother? Rick were trudging back to the farm. You’d needed to find the shovels to bury Shane and you’d needed to get Carl back to his mama.

Except, then the herd came shuffling across the fields and slowly mowed through the livestock fencing.  

You know you’re asleep, but you can’t really wake up right now. But, the walkers in the distance quickly disappear in your mind’s eye because you smell...smoke?

The barn is on fire. The barn, there’s smoke coming from the barn, the barn is on fire!

Rick.

Rick had lit the damned barn on fire with him and Carl still in there after you’d sprinted back to the house to get the RV. The plan was you, as in you personally, would risk it and run and get them down from the hayloft by driving the RV. You were faster, and Rick was the better shot, so he’d stay with Carl and keep him alive, you’d sprint to get the RV. There was nothing about a goddamn fire, but Rick had the bright (no, pun not fucking intended) idea to set one.

So, Jimmy ended up driving, you were the spotter — shit.

Jimmy. That poor boy, that poor, sweet boy got rushed so goddamned fast, th-they just came plowing through the door when it should’ve been you! And there was no saving him, they’d gotten his neck first before ripping into the rest of him.

All you’d been able to do for that selfless, brave kid was stop his pain with a bul — WHOA, what the fu — okay, okay, you’re awake again! 

You’re awake. Your heartbeat is trying to outrun itself, but you’re okay, you’re awake. You’d fallen asleep again, oh man...

Deep breaths, it was just a dream. Just another memory.

Your foot, it, um, it kicked the door when you jolted awake. The memory of pulling the trigger caused you to dream up a super loud pop in your ears and a realistic thud in your chest.  

Objectively, it’s kinda cool how the brain can do that, but it’s really unpleasant when you are trying to rest and not break down or boil over on a major holiday.

You know what? You shouldn’t have been sleeping on your back, silly Y/N, it’s easier to get nightmares and sleep paralysis and stuff on one’s back.  

New tactic: you’ll listen to songs that help you cry.

That’ll make you feel worse initially, but then much better! Glenn did it, he’s probably fine. You’ll let all the anger and hurt come up and flow out and away.

You shimmy the mp3 player from your pocket and queue up the remastered Mona Lisa, the song from The OC that played when Ryan’s mom left, then Dare You to Move and It's So Hard To Say Goodbye To Yesterday (yes, you’re an embarrassment), then that opera one that your mama first heard in the romantic Italian movie about the Holocaust, and some sad Johnny Cash music from his older years. You’re not brave enough yet to listen to Going to California to calm down and feel better. Haven’t been since Shane was killed. Your dad had loved the song way too much for some reason, so your family loved it. Shane listened to it way too often.

There you go about Shane again, jeez. But it’s cool, it’s cool — let it all come up and flow out.  

You turn to your side facing the seat and try falling asleep again, curled like a roll-up bug while the music softly plays.

It’s good that your stuff was shoved into the Dodge during the mad rush last night, because the Chevy was the truck you’d driven away in, that night escaping from the Greene’s farm. You wouldn’t want to be in that truck right now, it’s hard enough trying to not obsess over that night.

Maybe if you remember the good parts of that night? Rick had busted through that skylight thing in the RV the night the farm was overrun, after what you’d had to do for Jimmy.  

Rick had busted through it, hopped down and got you out of there. He saved you.

Once out of there, you’d glued yourself to Carl’s side, rescued Hershel, then all clambered into the red Chevy and floored it.  

Come morning, the survivors all found each other at the highway.

Felt like a miracle; you still had a family, still had people.

Hell, you still had all your stuff; it was packed in the Hyundai that Glenn and Maggie got away in because you and Shane were supposed to...

...you were supposed to leave for a while, let things blow over. Help Shane come back to himself, remember his goodness. No one was past redemption.

…I love Rick, I love Shane, I love Rick, I don’t hate Rick, I don’t hate him, I love him, I love Rick, I love Shane…

Jimmy and Shane you already knew were gone, when the group found each other. It was bad enough letting Beth and Hershel know about him, but least you didn’t have to tell Jimmy’s mother what happened and how you couldn’t save her child. You see, Patricia didn’t make it, either.  

Neither did Andrea, which — okay, you still can’t shake the notion that you’d seen her after she was supposed to have gotten killed. Maybe their time references were mixed up, but, it looked just like her and it hadn’t been moving like a walker, neither.

But, again, the memory situation is strange, you suppose. Clear as plastic wrap, yet messy, sort of like when the plastic wrap clings to itself.  

The next afternoon, when Rick had walked off after telling all of you that you were infected, you hadn’t known that he admitted to Lori what he did to Shane right then and there.  

Because, no, you’d immediately taken responsibility and done what needed doing, just like your brother would have, which was rounding up a group to get water, firewood, and something to eat.

You need water, warmth, food and wits to survive, so you desperately clung to whatever wits you still had and tried to ensure that there’d be water, warmth, and food.

As for that strange, cruel, awful, messy whispering you’d had in your head since the night before, that Rick somehow killed Shane? Because of the shouts and screams you’d heard, how Rick (and Shane’s body) looked like they’d been fighting, that Rick had blood all over his hand, how Shane’s wound looked so neat and clean compared to other bites, because of the strange things Shane was saying the last time you saw him?

Well, you’d shoved all that down and away and shamed yourself for thinking it because it was impossible. 

It was your wits running away from you, not anything that could have been true. They were brothers. They were your brothers, and you had a damned job to do — doing something to keep who was still alive living, so to hell with all those awful red flags and questions in your head. Those questions were unfounded and stupid and wrong and impossible.

Which means, when Rick had that little outburst around the fire later that night…

Turns out, Shane had trained you very well how to fight. And how to fight multiple people off, including those who were bigger than you. It was quite the show, you imagine.

You still ended up restrained (you were too outnumbered) and thank God for it.

It was as if you’d turned into a rabid animal, you—you scared your Carl even more than he was already scared of his father, frightened Lori who was already frightened of her husband. Hell, you low-key terrified everybody, yourself included. All you saw was red, it was similar to that time you’d tried to beat up Ed Peletier, but amplified to eleven.

And yeah, you’d even left them that night. Your family.  

A knot forms in your stomach when you acknowledge it, so you curl up tighter. That you’re crying harder now is good, soon you’ll have it all out.

Here you are still, with your family, and again, thank God for it. Your rage lessened, you’re healing bit by bit. Rick’s darkness lessened, he’s healing bit by bit.  

Things got okay, and fairly fast, too.

You love him, you know that.

He loves you, you know that.

And as much as you can tell it rips him up inside even more, it doesn’t change the fact that it’s still easy for anger and hurt and even something like hatred to cloud you sometimes.

Anyways, T-Dog was right, maybe you’re having some trouble because it’s the first Christmas “without.”

…………………………..

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[cyborg-franky]

Happy Halloween!

This was my part of the server trade with my lovely @mikoyamisheadcanonblog please enjoy <3 your OC and Law fit together so perfectly.

Law x OC SFW Modern AU Word Count: 1,330

He hated parties and wasn’t really a fan of the sillyness that came with Halloween either. Shachi and Penguin had both clung to him and begged him to go with them, that despite how little Law contributed to a party atmosphere it just wouldn’t be the same without him!

Law knew the drill, he’d meet up with the pair, head to the party Luffy and his housemates were throwing, and as soon as there were cute girls he would be ditched, left alone to sulk in the kitchen with the rest of the single men, picking pitifully at plates of tacky Halloween themed snacks and nursing the same beer for a few hours until warm from being clutched in the palm of his hand.

But he did owe them, they got him out of a very awkward and annoying wedding invitation and a Halloween party could never be as awkward as being nagged into being a friend's platonic date to a wedding for two people he couldn’t give a shit about.

He was told to dress up, even given some ideas by Shachi and he rjected them all. Law simply dressed in his normal clothes, jeans, T-shirt, and a hoody, the only difference was he grabbed a cheap apron and covered it in blood.

When he rocked up to Shachi’s house the redhead shook his head and clicked his tongue looking at Law. “What are you meant to be?” He asked and Law shrugged as he watched Penguin, dressed as a zombie ambled towards him making zombie sounds with his arms stretched.

“Insane doctor.” He said simply and Shachi, dressed like a vampire, gave him quizicle eyebrow.

“You don’t look much different Law..” He sighed and locked the front door.

“Exactly,” 

—

Ash looked around the party, annoyed with the music, annoyed with the drunken idiots, and just done with the entire thing. She didn’t want to dress up or come out but she owed Nami a few bucks and Nami decided to take it from her in pacripaption.

She sighed a little and brushed down her skirt, wearing all black with a simple witch hat on her head, the most she wanted to get into the spirit of things, never a fan of Halloween and all the sillyness that came with it.

Still, she grabbed a drink and sat in the corner on a small sofa by herself and watched as everyone had a good time, a shadow of a smile on her lips, she at least liked seeing her friends have a good time.

The doorbell rang and Luffy threw himself through the crowd to open the door, swinging it open and seeing the three, grinning ear to ear and pulling them in with a big hug, not caring how displeased Law looked.

“Traffy! You look great!” He laughed and pulled Law into the house pushing him through the living room with Shachi and Penguin trailing after them with amused smirks,

Law was about to tell Luffy to stop when he saw a familler person from the corner of his eye, turning he saw Ash and he felt his heart skip a beat. They were friends and had met a few times but it was only ever at this forced get-togethers where neither wanted to be there but they’d been required to show up.

Ash watched as Law was dragged into the kitchen, more than likely being told by Franky that he was too skinny and needed to eat up while Luffy shoved more food into his mouth and tried to make conversation with Law through the food stuffed in his face.

Law soon came out, a beer in his hand, and managed to lose Luffy, he glanced around and was pleased to see Ash was still sitting where he’d caught sight of her before. He walked over, catching her attention, those beautiful eyes and long lashes flicked up from her phone and focused on his, he swallowed the lump in his throat and watched her adjust.

“Can I sit?” He asked, feeling awkward as she nodded.

He normally had this confidence, this nonchalant air but the feelings that were always stirred when he’d spend time with her, well they weren’t what Law was used to, he struggled to comprehend and process but he was happy when she smiled at him, and nodded.

“Did you get dragged here too?” She asked as she watched him sit, sigh and nod at her question.

She liked Law, he was always nice to spend time with, and they sometimes exchanged messages, a friend of a friend sort of thing though she dearly wanted to be more. The time they spent in one another's company was always enjoyable and they seemed to click.

The only time she ever heard him laugh was when they were together.

“Shachi?” A nod. “Nami got me, I owed her.”

Law chuckled, a wonderful sound to her ears, the low timber, and pleasant rumble as he leaned back on the sofa. “Yeah, always is and that’s unfortunate, she’s a real witch, you could owe her a dollar and she’d bleed you dry for a favor.” He said with a shrug of his shoulders.

They both sat there in comfortable silence, both with small smiles on their faces, giving one another shy glances before he took a breath and turned to face her, he started talking about various things, asking what she'd been up to.

He wasn’t a big talker but he wanted to get to know her, he wanted to be in her life as more than just a fleeting glance, a text here and there when the season dictated, causal happy holidays! Or Happy new year! He wanted more, he desired depth in their friendship.

Maybe he wanted more than a friendship. The way she looked at him, her eyes looking him over, checking him out but mostly meeting his eye, she was never put off by his cold demeanor nor did she try to change it. There was no push or pull but simply a calm flow between them.

As the night went on, he rejected invites to games from Shachi, as she told Nami she wasn’t interested in gossip, they both avoided anything that would take them from one another's company. They spoke of many things, getting into so many topics and real thoughts and they were so compatible, just like Law had thought.

“Hey, do you really want to be here or would you like to get out of here?” He asked and her face lit up, a nod and a smile on her painted lips as she stood and offered her hand to him, which he took.

They managed to sneak away from the crowd, dodging any attempt at unwanted interactions, managing to sneak out onto the balcony, they sat on the bench, strewn with fake webs and string lights shaped like pumpkins and bats.

“It's nice out here,” Ash said with a sigh and sipped her drink, looking out at the moon in the sky, the sparkling stars that twinkled above them.

“I can still hear the shitty music,” Law said with a gruff chuckle as he glanced at her, she nodded in agreement, a small laugh, such a soft sound. He found he adored it and longed to draw more from her.

“So, I think we need to make plans to meet up more often.” He said, not looking at her, just watching the sky, feeling her shuffle closer.

“I agree, maybe something that doesn't involve a costume or everyone else getting drunk around us?” She suggested and stared at the sky with him.

“Yeah, I was thinking maybe tomorrow? We could perhaps get a coffee or something?” He asked and Ash could tell there was a hopeful tone in his voice which caused her to smile.

“Sounds great, it’s a date then Trafalgar.” 

He turned to her, meeting her gaze, and nodded, smiling brighter than he had in a while.