#maybe ill colour this one day I DO LIKE HOW IT CAME OUT but i werent feeling . colouring. so

[marvelwitchergilmore]

Medical Emergency

Summary: Jake 'Hangman' Seresin x Fe!Reader -> When Jake gets a call asking to pick you up from the hospital, it's safe to say he's confused. Especially considering neither of you were known for getting along with the other.

Disclaimer: Enemies to lovers, brother's best friend, descriptions of being ill (nothing fully specified, just fainting a lot, low blood sugar and hormones), swearing, fluff, steamy moments, he takes care of you. This has been in my w.i.p for a while now so it's kinda a long one. Not Proof Read.

It was safe to say Jake was confused to find out he was your emergency contact. 

It was known to most people in the town that you and Jake weren’t exactly the best of friends. The hatred started all back when he was brought into Top Gun the first time round. Before he suddenly became the best, of the best of the best. And each year he came back, it only got worse. 

Neither of you would be surprised if everyone in San Diego knew about how much you and Jake didn’t get along. 

So, yeah. Getting a call from a Nurse called Emma telling him he needed to come and pick you up from the hospital…he was confused. 

He’d spent most of the day training the new recruits at Top Gun. He was on base when he got the call, but twenty minutes later, he was parked outside the hospital and was being shown to your room. 

“She’s to take two of these every six hours for the next three days. If she has any drastic changes; dizziness, nausea, vomiting, etc. Bring her back. But she should be okay.”

He hadn’t even been told what had happened. 

Then he saw you. 

On a typical day, your hair was either up or down. You typically wore bright colours since the kids in your class like to point them out and name them. And even at the end of the week when you’d walk into the Hard Deck, Penny already having your drink waiting for you, and you’d look tired and ready to go to bed, you were still…bright. Put together. 

But from where he was standing, you were dressed in grey sweats and a Top-Gun hoodie. Most likely, you thought it was your brother’s. But from the worn hole around the edge of it let Jake know it was his. One your brother had never returned to him. 

You looked…like you needed to be comforted. 

Your hair was pulled back into a messy ponytail at the base of your skull. Any hints of make-up had been long washed away. Your nail polish was chipped, if not already peeled from your nails. 

Finally slipping your shoes on, you stood slowly. You looked like you needed to sleep for a year, and maybe take another nap for eight months. 

“Just sign here and here and then you’re free to go.”

Jake watched as the nurse’s words just about registered in your ears before you slowly picked the pen up from her hand and signed your name at the bottom of the paper. 

Reaching to grab the rest of your stuff, Jake almost swooped forwards. “I’ve got it.”

You just nodded. “Thanks.”

Any other day, you would have told him you could do it yourself and tell him to fuck off. 

He picked up your overnight bag and, with a hand at the bottom of your back, led you out of the hospital. 

“This way.”

You followed him back to his car and once he knew you were safe inside the passenger seat, he rounded the car and got into his seat. 

“I did tell them just to call me a cab. You can just drop me off down the road. You don’t need to-”

“I’m not letting you walk home.” He told you. “What’s your address?”

Part of Jake wished you’d fight him more about walking home. At least that way he’d know you were actually okay. He still would have driven you home, but…he wanted you back. 

Typing your address into his phone, he followed the sat-nav. 

By the time he pulled up outside your house, you were asleep. He waited for five minutes, letting you sleep whilst he researched and read the prescription you’d been given. 

Then he looked up at your house. You had to have a spare key. 

Carefully, he left his car and walked up your path. He looked in all the typical places until he found a small patch of wood from your porch coming loose. Inside was your key. 

So, opening your door and carrying your things inside, he came back for you. 

Unbuckling your seatbelt, he placed one of your arms around his neck before placing his own arms around your back and under your legs. 

“It’s okay. Go back to sleep.”

And you did. 

Shutting the door to his car with his back, he carried you into your house, shutting your front door with his foot before taking you into your bedroom and laying you on top of your sheets. Looking around, he found a basket of blankets just under your window. 

However, as he covered you up, he checked your temp with the back of his hand. You seemed okay. 

Then you reached for him. 

It was only for a few seconds, but you held his hand before your body fell back to sleep. 

Before he left your room, Jake got you a glass of water and left your window on a latch. And then he stayed. 

Kicking off his boots by the door, he locked everything up around your home before laying down on top of the guest bed with a million and one questions circling around his head. 

Why was he your emergency contact? What had happened? Why didn’t anyone else tell him you were in the hospital for, clearly, more than a couple of hours? 

You spent the next two days in and out of consciousness. The hospital told Jake not to worry and that it was a good sign you were sleeping. He’d wake you every couple of hours and give you your tablets. 

And each time, you’d wake up with the same confusion of how and why he was in your house. And then you’d remember. And apologise. And thank him. Before he’d tell you to lay back down and get some rest. 

By the time you came round, you woke up to texts pinging on your phone. 

How could you not tell me you were dating someone?

We SERIOUSLY need to catch up about this when you’re back in. 

Your boyfriend called the school. Why is this how I’m finding out you’re sick?

Get better soon, honey xoxo

Also, don’t worry about the kids. I’ve got your class covered. 

One of your fellow-teacher best friends. You and her had joined the school as teachers in the same year. She had been away on a cruise for the last two weeks. 

Slowly, everything that had happened over the last two days came flooding back to you. They had called Jake. He had come to get you at the hospital. He kept waking you up. Had he stayed that whole time? Was he the one to call your school?

Pulling yourself from your bed and heading to the bathroom, you caught a look of yourself in the mirror. You looked…rough. And also the exact same as you had when you’d left the hospital. Maybe there was a little more colour in your cheeks. 

And you did feel better. 

The room felt still and you didn’t feel like throwing up all your insides out, despite being unable to do so. 

Drying your hands on the towel, you made your way through your home. Things were…tidy. Militarily so. The last time your place, although tidy, had looked militarily tidy had been when your brother had visited you before he got deployed again. 

So, either, he was here now. Jake was still here. Or you had a ghost haunting your house that just so happened to be in the Navy. 

Walking down the stairs, you found a pair of boots at the bottom of your stairs. They definitely weren’t yours. 

Then you heard someone in the kitchen. The smell of fresh bread and chicken noodle soup wafted through your home. 

It was a minute or two before Jake spotted you. It felt like a fever dream, watching him in your kitchen, dressed normally, a towel slung over his shoulder as he slid the bread buns from the tray to a cooling rack. 

“Oh, hey. You’re awake.”

You nodded. “Did you cook?”

“How are you feeling?” Jake made his way over to you, his hand coming to touch your forehead and cheeks. You swatted his hands away. You could have sworn you saw him smile after you did it. 

“Get off me, I’m fine.”

Jake smiled as he watched you make your way to sit down on the opposite side of the kitchen island. You looked way better than you had done when he saw you in the hospital. 

“What day is it?”

“Tuesday.” He told you, continuing to slide all but one of the bread buns onto the cooling back. The final one, he dropped onto a plate before dishing out a bowl of the soup. 

“Eat up. You’re gonna need your strength.”

You looked at the food in front of you. “You made this?”

“I made it.”

You looked at him sceptically. “Is this how you plan to kill me? She was weak, your honour. I just wanted to help her.”

“Why would I take care of you for three days and then kill you? It’d be easier if I did it in three days.”

“So you did think about it.”

Jake rolled his eyes and handed you a fork. “Just eat.”

You couldn’t lie, it was one of the best meal’s you’d had in a long time. And as you ate, you looked around your home. Your books had been tidied away and back onto your shelves. All except two. One you were part way through reading and one that was…almost finished. But not by you. 

You didn’t notice as Jake watched you take everything in. Your books, your pots of pens. You dish towels, your spices and other baking ingredients. Some had even been put into the jars you had been meaning to fill back up. Then you noticed the smaller things. Like how he’d put up the wooden signs in your kitchen you’d been planning to do for months, and how he’d cleaned…everything. 

It looked like he’d done a complete renovation of your place whilst you’d been knocked out. 

Then you noticed the pile of papers on your kitchen counter. 

The English and maths tests you’d given to your class a few weeks ago. You hadn’t finished marking them. 

But Jake had. 

You took the top paper and looked it over. 

“Did you mark these?” You flipped through the pages. Not only were they marked, but they were marked correctly. They even had a sticker on each of “well done” or “great stuff”. 

You heard Jake chuckle. “I am a teacher, too, you know.”

“You’re a…Top Gun instructor. Not a third-grade teacher.”

“I do suppose I am over qualified to help but-”

You shook your head. You hadn’t meant for it to sound so insulting.

“No, I-I mean, thank you. But you didn’t have to do this. Any of this.” You gestured around your home. “You already did enough bringing me home.”

“I wanted to ask you about that. Why was it me that brought you home? Surely you have people who you actually like, to be your emergency contact?”

Tyler watched as you fell silent and searched for the words to tell him. 

“You’re…not.” Taking a breath, you looked up at him. “They…they tried a couple of people. They couldn’t make it. One of the nurses knows Penny so called and asked if she had anyone’s number who I knew. I did try and tell them to just call me a cab.”

He let your words settle over him. 

“Who?”

“What?”

“Who else did you call? Who didn’t pick up?”

You listed them off. Most were people in your family and a couple of friends. 

“I would have fought them on it but-”

“I’m glad you called me.” Jake admitted you. And it struck you. “Give me your phone.”

You slid it over to him. And he called his number from your phone. 

“If anything like that happens again, I want you to call me.”

“Jake-”

He shook his head. “You’re not fighting me on this. Fight me on everything else. Anything else. But not this. Call me.”

So you just nodded. “Okay.”

“Good. And eat up, too.”

You did. “You say that as if we’ve got some place to be.”

“We do.”

“Where?”

“You’ll see.”

Twenty minutes later he practically shoved you into your bathroom en-suit telling you to shower and get changed. 

“I thought my nurse was meant to be kind.”

“I am kind!” He said. “And I’m not a nurse. And I’m a friend.”

You laughed a little at that one. 

“I’ve seen the inside of your junk drawer. I’m your friend. I have to be, or else I don’t have a word for it.”

He did have a point on that. Your junk drawer…even you hadn’t seen the inside of that thing in at least a year. 

So, after getting dressed, taking the last of your antibiotic and forcing some kind of health smoothie Hangman had made you with the blender he found at the back of your cupboard, you found yourself back in the passenger seat of his car. 

“Where are we going?”

He said nothing, just smiled and pulled the aviators from his collar and put them on before starting his engine and for a moment you wondered if that was what he did when he got into his jet. Flash his million-dollar smile before starting his jet engine and taking off into the sky. For a moment you wondered what it would be like to watch him land and look over at you just like he did. 

But then you forced yourself back to reality. 

This was Jake Seresin, aka Hangman. Given that name because he hangs his team out to dry. 

But he didn’t leave you. 

In fact, he was the only one to show up. 

And the first to stay. 

You read the road signs as best as you could until you realised where he was taking you. 

“You know there is a beach like ten minutes from my house.”

He nodded. “I know. But you’re there all the time. You’ve seen that patch a thousand times. This is different.”

“How? Isn’t all sand the same?”

He shrugged, still smiling. “Maybe. But they always say the beach can work a thousand miracles. Come on.”

It was a five minute walk to the bottom. 

“Is it usually this empty?”

He looked around. “There’s usually a couple more people, but yeah. This is usually it. Not many people drive this far down. They think it’s not the best but to me…couldn’t be more perfect.”

“Huh.”

“What?” Jake asked, looking at you. 

You continued looking out to the water. You shook your head. “No, nothing. Just…never thought you’d be the sentimental type.”

“Well…I’m not.” 

You looked at him. 

“To most people.”

It was at that moment you felt a small crackle. Either in your chest or your gut, something crackled. And you felt the blanket of hatred you had for Jake Seresin start to fade. 

His call sign might be ‘Hangman’, but you had a strong feeling that when it came to those he cared about…he tried his best to stick around. And even if he couldn’t, he’d make a memory of them to last a lifetime. 

 For the rest of the day, you spent most of your time lying on the beach watching the waves or reading your book, which he had packed. And it was…one of the best days you’d had in a long time. 

“Why are you doing this?”

“What?” Moving the book from his face, Jake looked at you from beneath his shades as you lay on your stomach beside him. 

“This? Less than a week ago I’m pretty sure people would have made money on you and I killing each other. Why are you helping me?”

“Because you need it. And I’m pretty sure anyone else would believe you when you say that you don’t.”

“And you don’t believe me?”

He shook his head. “No.”

“Why not?”

“Because I know you.”

You scoffed. “What do you mean you know me?”

You watched as he smiled and tried to kill the butterflies in your stomach. 

“Y/n.”

You were still getting used to the fact he was using your first name. Usually it was your last, or some sweet nickname like ‘Sweetheart’ that would grate through your entire body. 

“You spend most of your time making sure everyone feels okay and is doing okay. The only time you actually let your feelings know is when you’re taking shit to me. You deserve a break. You deserve to take one before your body forces you to have one.”

Hearing his words as he spoke, you slowly sat up until your back was to the water and you were fully facing him. 

“Plus, your brother asked me to look out for you. And I’d rather not suffer his wrath again.”

Okay, that had to be complete bull. Your brother’s wrath when it came to protecting you, that was true. But why ask Jake of all people given he knew your history and track record with him. 

And what did he mean by again?

You barely had time to ask all of your questions before you watched him stand up, throwing his book closed to the ground. You mentally scolded yourself for letting your eyes wander all over him. 

You weren’t blind to the fact Hangman looked, well, like him. A daring smile, enough charm to charm even the most sourest of people and the body to go with it. But before today, you had been immune. At least, you considered yourself immune since the blanket of hatred that you held for him seemed to block plenty out. 

Worst of all, he caught you. 

You knew he caught you because of the smirk on his face and the chuckle that escaped his broad chest. 

“Shut up.” You groaned, forcing yourself to stand. “I’ve been in the hospital. My immune system is temporarily weakened.”

“It isn’t the first time I’ve caught you, Sweetheart.” Seresin drawled just as you looked at him both annoyed and confused. And maybe slightly offended that he thought you had, before today, purposefully checked him out. 

But he just laughed. “Come on, I want to show you something.”

“But what about our stuff?”

“It’ll be safe. I know most of the people on this beach, they’ll make sure nothing happens to it.”

Taking your hand in his, he led you down the beach, under a small cove and through to the otherside where some rocks were covered in seaweed and sand. 

And for a while, you and Jake explored the place. You’d never been this far down the beach so finding out it existed was a bonus. Finding seaweed to pop and watching the crabs crawl across some of the rocks was fun. 

You’d never stop to take a break. Straight out of college, you’d begun teaching. It had been in your home town until your brother got accepted into Top Gun. And, with an internalised fear of losing him, you moved out to San Diego. You knew after a while he’d be stationed somewhere else, but you’d managed to find a home there. And when your brother was stationed not too far from his Top Gun base, the rest of your family moved closer. 

Since then, it has been helping them get settled, tutoring their children after spending all day teaching. It was sleepless nights spent alone at home, living off the quickest food you could make because you simply didn’t have time to cook. It was running yourself so far into the ground that the one person who you never thought would even step foot into your home was the only one to show up and give you enough space to actually relax. 

So watching crabs walk along the rocks was fun. 

And hearing your name, and calling out his name above the waves, without hatred or malice behind it, was fun, too. 

“Come and look at this.”

Carefully, you made your way over the rocks, trying your best not to slip and hit your head. And you did so, until the last rock before you joined him. 

Letting out a small yell as you reached out to try and catch yourself, he threw out his hand and caught you. 

“You okay?”

“Fine.”

“Can you stand?”

You lowered yourself to a lower rock, still holding onto his arms before letting go and allowing yourself to take his hand and help you up the rest of the way. 

“What am I looking at?”

It was a starfish. 

The rest of the day, you and Jake explored the shore, skipped rocks on the calming water, sunbathed and even took a swim in the water. 

By the time the sun had set, you found yourself sitting with him on the hood of his car, a pizza box between you both, watching the planes fly from the airport. 

A week ago, if anyone had told you that you would have done any of this, especially with Hangman, you would never have believed them. 

“Thank you, for your help.” You blurted out as you watched another plane fly into the sky. 

“You don’t have to thank me.”

“Yes, I do.” You wanted him to listen to you. “Given our track record for being nice to each other, I wouldn’t have been surprised if you didn’t turn up at the hospital to bring me home. But you did. And you made sure I didn’t fall into some kind of coma after it. And today you gave me the first day, I think, ever, where I’ve not done a thousand things for somebody else and enjoyed what I was doing. So, I do need to thank you for that.”

“Are you saying…you…like me?”

You couldn’t stop the smile on your face, but you tried to force it away. “Okay.”

“No, no. I mean, this is a miracle.”

“You’re tolerable.” You corrected him. 

Smiling, he took another slice of pizza. “You like me.”

“No, I don’t.”

“You like me. I am now your friend. We are now friends.”

You shook your head, holding in a laugh. “Just shut up and eat your pizza.”

It was safe to say after that, that everyone was shocked at the dynamic between both you and Hangman. 

They had all gotten so used to the insults and borderline flirty comments you’d both sling each other's way, it had become like white noise. So, when it was gone and replaced with laughter and smiling, it gave everyone a terrified feeling. 

“I’m guessing they’re not here yet.”

Penny shook her head as she poured another pint. With a smile, she nodded over to the other end of the bar. “They’re over there.”

Twenty minutes later, it had become like a social study for everyone in the bar to watch you and Jake. 

“Do you think they fucked? Got all that pent up energy out?”

Coyote shook his head. “No, he would have told me. How long have they been like this? Maybe they’ve been hypnotised into liking each other?”

Rooster shook his head. “The hypnotist left like three months ago. Maybe they’re…faking it. Do you think they heard us talking about them last week? About who would kill who first? Maybe they’re teaming up so nobody wins?”

Penny shook her head as she wiped down the bar. “Well, whatever it is, it’s a nice change. She looks a lot happier. They both do. Who knows, maybe next we’ll be holding a wedding here.”

“Not their wedding?” Rooster seemed shocked. “Penny, they were about three insults away from killing each other three weeks ago.”

“Love is blind, as they say.”

For the rest of the night, people watched you and Jake sat together. Seresin and Y/l/n. Hangman and Sweetheart. 

And then they watched as you walked home. 

Together. 

It was safe to say everyone was shocked to their core. For the first time ever, there had been a night where both you and Jake had not only been in the bar at the same time but had also sat together for the whole night, and not once killed each other. 

Verbally or otherwise. 

“You know, you’re not as big of a dick as I thought you were Seresin. Tonight was a nice change.”

“I have been known to be kind once in a while.”

“Keep this up, you might be fit to see another day.”

“So might you.” Jake replied as he watched you climb the steps of your front porch. “I meant what I said, about taking a break. You deserve one, Y/n.”

You took in what he said with a small nod before adding. “You know, it’s still freaking me out, you even know my first name.”

“If it helps, the nurse had to tell me.” He said. “Guess I’ve called you by your last name so much, I forgot your first.”

“Is that why you keep saying it? So you don’t forget?”

He shrugged, a slight smirk on his face. “Maybe. Maybe not.”

“You know, it is okay if you forget it once in a while.”

Jake smiled a little at that. “How could I forget the name of the woman who once dumped three shots of tabasco sauce into my drink?”

“Hey, you can’t prove that was me.”

“Hey, the bottle was in your hand.”

You unlocked your door. “I still plead not guilty.”

“Whatever you say, Sweetheart. Sure you’re okay on your own?”

You nodded. “I’ll be fine. Besides, don’t you have an early start in the morning?”

He nodded. “Even so. Call me.”

“Goodnight, Jake.”

“Night, Sweetheart.”

He waited for you to lock your doors before he got into his car and drove back home. 

The following weeks continued the same way. If anybody who was anybody saw you and Jake ‘Hangman’ Seresin together, in the same room, talking. They would stop and watch. 

Never in a million years did anyone expect you and Jake to talk, never mind actually become friends. 

Each Friday, you met each other at the bar. You both have a drink. You’d both sit and talk. Maybe some of your old ways were still there with each other, but there was less “25 to life” about it and more “affection” in the words you both said. 

However, it nearly gave people an aneurysm when they thought you were both actually dating. 

Two people who were thirty seconds away from physically fighting each other every day had gone from, well, that, to…to…to dating?

It couldn’t be…could it?

And the rumours that had been spread by one of the bar regulars, after she’d spotted both of you grocery shopping together before spotting Jake’s car leave from the top of your road hours later, were only fueled when they heard about what happened at the school. 

It had been months since you fainted and you had been getting better. You felt better, you felt like you had more energy. And with Jake’s help you started to feel like a person again. A person who wasn’t wholly consumed by their work constantly, whether they were ten miles from the building or not. 

Except, one morning, you woke up and felt…off. 

Something wasn’t right. You couldn’t put your finger on it, but something didn’t feel right. Maybe your period was coming early. It has been doing that lately. Surprising you when you least expected or wanted it. 

Just a few weeks ago, it had arrived early once again. And the pain you’d felt in the days before nearly floored you. And when you hadn’t showed up at the bar like you’d agreed to with Jake, he came looking for you. That night he’d taken a quick trip to the grocery store after you told him what happened. He looked after you. Made sure you were okay. The next day, he drove you back to the store and you stocked up on supplies and snacks. 

It was also later that night when he surprised you by making dinner. 

Opening up your fridge, you took one of the healthy smoothies that Jake had left you the last time he’d come round, before packing it into your bag and heading to work. 

Your queasy feelings only got worse. And then…you felt it. 

Sticking on a documentary for your class, you took your phone and slowly made your way towards the teachers bathroom, stopping off at the next class. 

“Can you keep an eye on them for a couple of minutes?” 

Your best friend nodded. “Course’ honey.” Before asking her TA to go next door. 

“You okay?”

You tried your best to look okay, despite everything you were feeling inside. 

“Yeah. Yeah. I will be.”

As the TA headed next door, you made your way towards the bathroom, then dialled his number. 

“Hey,” Jake said as he answered. “Just about to call you. They’ve got a showing of The Wizard of Oz tonight at the theatre, if you wanted to go-”

“Jake.”

“Are you okay? What’s happened? Is everything okay? Is it your brother-”

“Every…” You swallowed thickly before carefully lowering yourself onto the floor with your back against the wall, and unlocking the door. “Everything’s okay, it’s just…”

Jake had a strong feeling he knew what was happening. “I’m on my way. Where are you?”

“School bathroom. Teacher’s.”

“Okay.” You could hear him leaving his office and getting into his car. “Is the door unlocked?”

You didn’t answer. 

“Y/n.”

“I’m here.”

Jake breathed. “Y/n, Sweetheart. Is the door unlocked to the bathroom?”

“Yes.”

“Does anyone else know you’re there?”

You explained what happened as best as you could. 

“Just, please get here soon?”

“I will, Sweetheart. I promise. I’m almost there.”

You didn’t know how long had passed but it wasn’t long before you heard your name being called out by Jake. 

Pulling the door open a little from the floor, Jake ran towards it and peeked inside. There you were, sat with your knees close to your chest, against the wall. 

He stepped inside before crouching down. 

“I-I’m sorry I called. I just-”

Checking you over, Jake cupped your face. “Hey, no. No. I’m glad you called me. You can always call me. How are you feeling?”

“Dizzy. It’s better now but still like the room is spinning. And I’m not harnessed in.”

“Okay. Do you think you can stand?”

You gave a small nod. “Maybe.”

Helping you up, Jake took your hands in his and you stood up. 

“Come on, we’re getting you checked out at the ER.”

You would have fought him on it but considering the last time it happened they kept you in overnight, you went willingly. 

Thankfully, you didn’t pass out even when the dizziness and the nausea felt like they were getting worse. 

By the time the doctor saw you, she did all of the routine checks before turning and looking at Jake and back to you. 

“Is there a possibility you could be pregnant? I’ve seen a lot of couples come in here with similar symptoms and-”

Oh shit. 

“Oh, no. I-I’m not. And he’s not-”

“We’re- We’re not together.”

A few more awkward moments like that filled the next couple of hours until both yourself and Jake seemed to give up on correcting people. 

By the time they discharged you, they told you your blood sugar levels had dropped and your hormones were beginning to change with your cycle. Along with the advice to try and reduce stress. 

Driving you home that night, Jake made a detour. Towards the diner and then towards the beach along The Hard Deck. 

It was quiet for a Tuesday evening, but yourself and Jake just sat and ate dinner whilst watching the water push in and pull out constantly across the sand until eventually, laying your head on his shoulder, he placed his arm around your own. 

“Thank you. For everything you’ve done for me.”

“Thank you for calling me. Are you feeling any better?”

You nodded, gratefully. “Just a little tired, that's all.”

“I’ll drop you off at home, soon, if you’d like.”

You nodded then looked at him. And before you could stop yourself, you asked him; “Would you stay with me? Tonight? If you can’t- or if you don’t want to-”

“I’ll stay.”

“A-are you…sure?”

Jake nodded, a faint smile on his lips. “I’ll stay with you.”

You didn’t know what else to say other than thank you, so pressing a light kiss to his cheek, you said as much. “Thank you.”

You could have sworn you saw him blush as he smiled and looked down. “Anytime.”

It was odd really, laying beside the man you thought you’d be telling your kids about when you were older. About how much you hated him and how much he hated you, and why neither of you could sit next to each other at the Thanksgiving table every year. 

Jake had decided to stay in your guest bedroom, but the minute you heard him lay down in his bed, you felt…awake. Not wide awake. You were still tired. But you weren’t settled. Something inside of you wanted to be closer to him. 

So, after an hour of laying on your back, staring at your ceiling and listening to the distant shore line, with the odd rumble of a car’s engine running up and down the road every now and again, you got up. 

Jake had left his door open. If you shouted for him, or needed him, he would be able to hear you. Usually, he’d be out like a light, waking up at the smallest of noises. But this time, he couldn’t sleep. 

Instead, his mind was going over the fact you had called him when you were at work. And the fact that he enjoyed it when you were with him. That he was the one you chose to lean on. And the fact that he wished he was down the hall with you at that moment, then lay alone in the dark in your guest bedroom. 

Then he heard you. 

From the dim, moonlit hallway, he saw you. 

“Hey, everything-”

“Can I stay with you?”

Already half way up, Jake paused for a second. Then nodded. “‘Course. Come ‘ere.”

Walking over, Jake pulled the covers back and you climbed under them before feeling his arm wrap around you. And your arms came around him, one over his shoulder and round his neck, the other by his side. 

Instinctively, he pulled one of your legs across him and held it there whilst his other arm remained securely around your back, holding you to him. 

“Is this okay?”

He felt you nod and he nervously swallowed. 

“Are you okay, Sweetheart?”

In a quiet voice, your breath against his neck, you answered. “Better now.”

Pressing a kiss to your head, you nuzzled into each other. 

“Good.”

Not too long after that, you both fell asleep. 

And when you both woke up, neither of you wanted to move. 

If this had somehow happened six months ago, you probably would have thrown each other to the other side of the room. But it wasn’t six months ago. And you’d come to know Jake as…Jake. Who took care of his friends, and made sure everyone was okay and was kind and caring and…a lot of other things you didn’t want to think about at six o’clock in the morning. 

And the way he was looking at you at that moment made you think about other things that you didn’t want to think about. 

“What are you thinking about?” Jake asked after a few moments of watching you study him. 

“That you need to stop looking at me like that.”

“Like what?”

“Like you…like me.”

Jake smiled. “I do like you, Sweetheart.”

“Jake.”

Then, for a moment, everything felt…serious. His tired smile dropped a little from his lips as he looked at you. 

“Do you trust me?”

You felt your heartbeat pick up in your chest and for a moment, you wondered if he could hear it. 

“Yes.”

Tucking your hair behind your ear, you felt him cup your cheek. “Y/n…”

He seemed nervous. 

“Can I kiss you?”

If you had let yourself think about it long enough, you never would have guessed Jake ‘Hangman’ Seresin, who went after whatever, and usually whoever he wanted, would ask if he could kiss. You’d always assumed that he was so confident in life and with women that he’d know. That he’d see the small signals. Or even the loud ones. And just…kiss a girl. 

But no. 

He asked. 

And something in your gut jumped. 

So you answered; “Yes.”

Nervously, he licked his lips before he leaned in. And kissing him felt…weird. Because it felt…normal. Unlike anything else you’d felt in your life. 

You managed to pull him closer, until he was leaning above you. “Is this okay?”

“Yes.”

From there, the softer, searching kisses slowly faded away and turned into something more. More wanting, more needing. Feeling his hands move down your body before he gripped your hips, and pulled you closer to him and carefully slid them back up until the fabric of your t-shirt began to bunch together. 

Feeling him press into your thigh, you let out a small noise that was only swallowed by his kiss. Swiftly, he pulled you across him, your legs straddling his lap before he sat up. Once more, he pushed the hair from your face and took you in, in the rising daylight. 

No words were spoken out loud, but everything was said. 

Leaning down, you kissed him again before letting your own hands move down his chest and towards the hem of his t-shirt. Except, just as he pulled you closer by your waist, his hips rocking into you, you both jolted at the sound of his alarm. 

“Sorry.” Jake quickly turned and switched it off. You were both going to be late for work. 

“If we don’t get ready now, we’re gonna be late.”

Looking at him, you didn’t know fully what to say. It had just been the hottest make out session of your life, with a guy six months ago people would have bet money on you killing. And you’d both been cock-blocked by his alarm. 

“I’ll meet you here, after work?”

That made you smile. “Okay.”

Then he did, too. “Okay.” Before throwing his phone to the side and pulling you down to kiss him. But as you pulled away, he groaned, trying to pull you back to continue but you walked a good three feet away from the bed. 

“Can’t be late, Hangman. You’ve got pilots to teach.”

With a coy smile, he was standing in front of you within seconds before lifting you onto the dresser behind you. This time, it was you trying to pull him back when he stopped kissing you. But he just stood back and let out a small chuckle. 

“We’ve both got students to teach, Sweetheart. We stay here any longer, they’re both gonna miss us.”

One final kiss to your lips, he stood back and practically ran away before you could grab hold of him. 

Twenty minutes later, he was showered and dressed for the day and had poured you a coffee to-go as well as packed you another smoothie and grabbed your lunch for you before you’d come downstairs, dressed and began loading the last of the exam papers into your bags. 

He dropped you back off at work, however, when you realised he was waiting in the parking lot for you to enter, you left your bags by the pillar and walked back. With his window already being down, you leaned in and kissed him, feeling his hand cup the back of your head. 

“See you tonight?”

“See you tonight.”

The day for either of you couldn’t have felt longer. And by the time Jake came walking through your back door, dropping his bag onto one of the pantry hooks, he couldn’t have been more relieved to see you. 

And for a moment, he just watched you as you sat on the sofa with crossed legs, flipping through a textbook and making notes. Softly, he approached you from behind before wrapping his arms around your shoulders. 

You smiled. 

“Hey, Sweetheart.”

“You’re back.”

You felt him relax against you. “Finally.”

“There’s some food. I made you a plate in the oven.”

He pressed a kiss to your head before walking towards the kitchen. “I would have cooked.”

“I know, but I needed the distraction.”

Waltzing back inside holding onto the warm plate, he smirked as he popped a fork-full of veg into his mouth. You could already feel your cheeks heating and from the look on his face, he could see it clear as day. 

“Distraction from what?”

“Nothing in particular.”

“Nothing, huh?”

At some point, he put down his plate and rounded back to the sofa, standing behind you before pressing soft kisses into the side of your neck. 

“Jake.”

The way you said his name went straight to his dick. 

As he moved your hair, you leaned to grant him more access. A satisfied smirk came to his lips as he watched your legs move to straighten out. 

“I’ve been thinking about you all day, Sweetheart.”

Eventually, you felt Jake move away but he appeared again, lowering himself in front of you. Taking the textbooks and notes from you and placing them on the coffee table behind him, he leaned forward and pulled you in to kiss him. 

“Have you been thinking about me?”

Feeling his hand move up your thigh and towards your shorts, you leaned in closer. “Have you, Sweetheart?”

“Yes,” your voice came out breathy. 

“Is this okay?”

You nodded. 

“I need words, darlin’.”

“Yes. Yes, it’s okay.”

As time passed, the small part of you that was still able to function started to ask questions. Like why you had hated him so much in the first place? And how you almost missed…him. 

And by the time you woke up in the morning, Jake practically wrapped around you like a boa constrictor, you had come to a new conclusion. 

You didn’t hate him anymore. 

You hadn’t hated him for a long time. 

All opinions you had of him, especially after a night of mindblowing sex, had been shot out of the water. 

Jake ‘Hangman’ Seresin was no longer the man you thought he was. The man you had come to know and lo- 

The man you had come to know was a man that showed up. And stayed. He was someone that took care of the people he cared about. He was someone that would fix things in your home without you asking. He was someone that cooked meals, even if it was almost one o’clock in the morning and you were craving a grilled cheese. He was someone that, even after sex, took care of you in a way nobody had ever even thought about doing before. He was someone that you could trust and respect, and did so. 

Jake ‘Hangman’ Seresin was a man that had proved your theories wrong and he was a man that you realised you were falling for. 

And in some ways, that scared you. And in some ways, it didn’t. 

Because, for as much as he could be so sure of himself. So bold. So confident, it bordered on cocky. You were also sure of him. Sure that, if he was feeling the same things you felt, that he wouldn’t let you hurt yourself when you fell, but rather he’d catch you. 

And it, surprisingly, didn’t take him very long. 

By the time you woke up in the morning and headed downstairs, freshly dressed in a worn Top Gun hoodie and a pair of sleep shorts, you started making breakfast. However, as you stood at the stove, flipping the bacon, you felt a newly familiar pair of arms wrap around your waist from behind. 

Dropping his chin to your shoulder, Jake pulled you close to his chest. 

“Good morning.”

“Morning’.” He drawled. “Whatcha’ cookin’?”

“Bacon and eggs. There’s also toast in the toaster.”

With a smile, Jake pressed a kiss to your exposed collar which caused you to let out a small giggle before quickly turning the stove off. 

“You’ve gotta be careful, Hangman. You’ll make me burn breakfast.”

He hummed a response. “I had a couple other meals in mind.”

“Oh really? Like what?”

With his hands on your hips and his lips on your neck where you suspected he’d just left another hickey, he slowly turned you around. “I can think of one.”

Finally facing him, he kissed you as you fumbled with the last temperature gauge and turned it off. Picking you up, he carried you away from the counter near the stove to the one complete opposite. 

“You’re driving me insane dressed like this.” He mumbled against your kiss. “Wearing my shirt.”

“Your shirt?” You asked as his lips moved to your neck. 

Looking at you for a moment, half drunk on your kiss, he nodded. “Didn’t you know, Sweetheart? This here is mine.” Pinching some of the fabric between his fingers he shook it as he told you so. 

You laughed. “No it’s not.”

He nodded. “God's honest truth. Your brother stayed at mine one night after he’d gone out drinking. Lost his shirt, don’t ask me how. Stole one of my hoodies. Never got it back.”

“How do you know this is yours?”

With a smile, Jake showed you the small hole that you’d made a little bigger over the years from when you’d get nervous. “This right here. Loose thread got caught in a cabinet I was fixing in my room. Pulled at it too hard. And…”

Jake watched as your expression changed a little, hungry for more of his touches, as he pushed his hand slowly up the inside of your- his hoodie. 

A slight smirk, he pulled at the side tag and showed you. And it baffled you how you’d never noticed before. 

J.H.S

“See. But, I have to say, Sweetheart. It looks better on you than it ever did me.”

And as he was looking at you, he asked you something else. “Let me take you out on a date. A real one. You know, seeing you like this…I never want to see anyone else like this but you.”

“Jake…”

“I’m being serious. Sweetheart, I want you. And not just temporarily.” Then he looked away as he said the next part. “I’d get it…if you didn’t want that. God knows you and I don’t have the best history when it comes to even getting along but-”

“I want to date you.”

He looked up at you. 

“I want to date you,” you repeated. “Believe me, half of the time I don’t get it myself. How we’ve gone from one extreme to the other, but I know…I know I want you around.”

“I want you around, too.”

“So, yes.”

Jake smiled. “Yes?”

You smiled back. “Yes. Take me out on a date, Jake Seresin.”

Leaning forwards, he kissed you. And before long, your hands started to feel for the hem of his shirt before pulling it over his head. 

It was safe to say, when you and Jake walked into The Hard Deck in the evening after your official first date, hand in hand before he pressed a kiss to your lips, a lot of people were shocked. 

And lost a lot of money. 

But Penny won it all. 

She knew the minute Jake saw you, and your brother scolded him, that something would happen. After all, Hangman was known for going after what he wanted. She just never expected to have to be the one to force you to be in the same room and for that room to be a hospital.

[picusviridis]

Ludwig 🚪 (typical clothes worn around the house iirc?)

I imagine his outfit wouldn't change much? There's not much time between him getting home and him like. conking out. So it's like. Oh well he took off his coat. . . What a fashion statement

THOUGH I think even on like break days (if he could even fathom of such a thing) he'd probably just wear the same thing. Anyway. Not like he's got anything else? It's fine. It's comfortable? It'll do?

AND HE ALWAYS WEARS THAT SCARF THING EVERYWHERE. No matter what. He always puts that on he loves that thing. That's His Thing. Okay

[smallpwbbles]

Learning

Finally got this one-shot finished, I know I keep talking about how I don't expect these stories to be as long as they are when I start writing but I am just flabbergasted I could write 9k in two days. Uni pebbles could never.

Anyway take this fic going over some of Maria and biolizard Shadow's time on the ARK

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

Maria Robotnik knew many things about herself, her favourite colour was blue, she loved to read and draw, she’d prefer to pour the milk in her bowl before the cereal cause it’d get soggy faster otherwise and she really loved to look out the windows of the ARK observatory. 

The planet earth looked like such a small little thing from the view she was granted, but as she stood in the gigantic room, aboard the space colony, the little blue ball of earth gave her hope. Hope that someday she’d be away from the machinery and labs that did nothing but fill her with apprehension. 

She yearned for the many things her grandfather Gerald told her stories about, to feel the grass between her feet, to smell the air of the oceans. These fantasies made her feel warm and filled her with that hope, but woefully, Maria knew one other thing about herself. 

She was sick.

Maria Robotnik was a victim of disease and it slowly worked to hinder the small hope she garnered as she looked out the windows of the observatory. With every burst of excitement that came as Gerlad told his stories of the earth, came the concerning reminders of her sickness as she felt her lungs strain when she overworked herself. Maria wished she could run without feeling like her legs would collapse on her at any second, or sleep a good night's rest without worrying she’d wake up with a fever. 

But it was sad to say, she had to make due with these things. Maria believed this would be the routine of her life, until she was informed about her grandfather's latest project, she heard many of his scientists rave and rant about this project when Gerald didn’t think she was listening in. But Maria was a sneaky little thing when she wanted to be, unfortunately the most she was able to gather were inklings of a “ultimate life form”, whatever that meant. 

Her interest boiled over when her grandfather sat her down one night, he was absolutely buzzed with excitement and told her of all his findings, research and effort to find a cure for illness. Maria felt despondent when it came to her sickness, it was a horrible, disgusting, parasitic thing that was taking everything from her, but she was beginning to come to a sort of term where she’d just live with it. Her grandfather had already been doing so much with no results so she couldn’t help her apathy towards Gerald’s enthusiasm.

Though it did have something to do with that ultimate life form thing she had eavesdropped on, the perfect being that would have all the answers to all diseases? She didn’t doubt that her grandfather could do amazing with his intelligence, they were Robotniks! It was in their DNA to do great things. But the idea of something that could achieve feats as grand as curing all diseases was quite ludicrous. Maria kept that to herself as she didn’t want to curb her grandfather's elation. 

There wasn’t much on the project for her after that, Maria kept on with her stagnant life for many months, going from the usuals rounds of feeling normal to sudden long visits to the infirmary. It was a sad existence and Maria knew this, but it was the only existence she knew for herself. Maybe it was quite crazy to think this but better her than anyone else, she wouldn’t wish such a life on her worst enemy. 

The blond girl walked down the long corridors of the labs, she wasn’t really allowed to do so without permission but what her grandfather and the scientists didn’t know wouldn’t hurt them. The corridors were dull and grey, she wished Gerald would allow her to maybe put up some drawings or just some cute decor, it did get boring walking down such drab walls. She was talking it slow as she was recovering from a recent fall, Maria had no idea what caused the spike in her temperature and neither did the scientists, it amazed her how quick her body could be to hinder itself.

The steely doors to Gerald’s private lab were presented in front of her, she pressed an ear to the door, lately when she took to creeping around the labs she could hear rushed voices and shuffling about, it was clear there was something pretty important happening as of late, Gerald had been quite absent from the recreation rooms and just in general. The last time she’d seen him was a couple days ago and he had that look she’d seen before, he was about to break through with something, she was sure. 

The code box to the right of the doors tempted her, she knew the code. A peek into his labs wouldn’t hurt. 

Maria meticulously entered her birthdate with the right keys, she was sure literally everyone knew the code but didn’t enter into restricted areas out of respect for principle. The doors slid apart and Maria felt a cold air flow around her body, there was nobody in the lab which worked heavily in her favour. 

Her heels clicked as she walked into the labs, there were notes strewn about and many coffee cups standing or thrown on top of the worktops, the amount of cups she saw told her an unhealthy amount of coffee was consumed in this room, however what caught her immediate attention was the middle of the room, she’d been the private lab before and was never presented with the gigantic test tube flowing with whatever green liquid was in there. 

The most important discovery of her observation was a little creature floating in the tube. Maria hesitantly approached the glass cylinder to get a closer look, the little thing was a hedgehog of sorts? Maria couldn’t safely say that as the little greyish black creature was full of a lot of red scales and had quite a long tail, almost as big as its entire torso. Though there  was one thing she couldn’t deny about the creature, it was stinking adorable.

“Maria?!” A voice yelled behind her, she felt her heart leap into her throat as she whipped around to find the source of the yell. Gerald was standing in front of the doors, he held a coffee cup in his wrinkly hand and looked absolutely swamped. “What are you doing here?! I was so worried when your caretaker said she couldn’t find you” 

“Oh- uh, Grandfather I’m sorry I just-“ her words fumbled about, she didn’t really have a good reason for being in here other than she got bored and missed her grandfather “I just… haven’t seen you in a bit and was wondering what the fuss was in your lab”

The old man sighed, he wasn’t mad at her, just concerned she was missing in the entire ark for a moment, he was just realising how scarce he himself had become from Maria and felt a tiny bit like a hypocrite “I apologise Maria, it’s just been quite hectic with the project”. 

“Are you the one with all these empty coffee cups grandfather” she questioned, the old man blushed at the accusation as he also hadn’t realised the ridiculous amount of caffeine he’d consumed in the past week let alone the past day, he decided he wouldn’t worry Maria with that fact though. 

“No, just the one” he shook the paper cup in his hand with emphasis. 

Maria seemed satisfied with that answer and turned her eyes back to the tube. Gerald hoped he could present this project when it was actually ready but he overestimated his granddaughter's patience. He walked to join Maria in front of the glass tube and put a hand to its surprisingly warm exterior.

“This, Maria, is project shadow” he announced, the little creature in the tube twitched at his voice but made no other movements, its eyes were screwed shut, it would move its head every so often slightly to the noises of the machinery that surrounded the labs. It scrunched up its itty bitty snout and Maria fought with the power of her ancestors to hold back a squeal. 

“This is to be your ultimate perfect creature grandfather?” The blond girl looked up at the old scientist, her tone sounded incredulous to Gerald.

“All that and more Maria, what do you think?” The scientist asked.

“Well that makes sense, it’s the cutest thing I’ve ever seen in my entire life” Maria concluded.

Gerald raised a brow “Maria, my darling, it’s not the perfect creature because it’s cute”. While Gerald could agree his creature was small and therefore looked seemingly harmless, he felt a bit defensive at the idea that he had worked these many months to make a creature with the grand potential this one contained only to have it be called “cute”.

“Grandfather if you didn’t want me calling it cute you shouldn’t have made it cute” the girl lightly chided, she was just riling up the old man but she then watched as the tiny thing yawned, it had one little fang poking out of its gums and she almost started crying at the absolute adorableness of the tiny hedgehog, lizard thing.

“It has not finished growing Maria, we’re currently having Shadows growth accelerated as we are quite behind on the time frame of the project” Gerald explained.

“Shadow?” Maria looked to her grandfather “is that what your calling it” she asked 

“I think it’s quite a fitting name, its fur is actually going to look much darker in the next coming months” Gerald felt a bit shaken from all the caffeine he’d consumed and was going to double check on the validity of that claim later. 

“Shadow” she repeated as she watched the small thing float in the tube, she’d only just met the creature, but she loved him. Maria couldn’t explain the feeling that began warming her heart as she watched the infant in the tube, but she was reminded of how she felt when she looked down at the blue planet from time to time. 

It was that feeling that reminded her that not all was hopeless.

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

Maria thanked the lady, who was entrusted with the duty of cafeteria leader today, as she was handed a few chocolate chip cookies. The plump lady was called Barb, she believed. Maria did her best to remember everyone she could on the ARK but her little 11 year old brain could only remember so many names. 

Barb was her favourite in the cafeteria because when Maria was on her best behaviour she’d be rewarded with treats from the kind lady, though today, as she carefully deposited the cookies in her pockets, she knew the treats would be of need for emergency use.

Shadow had grown considerably in the many months after Maria invited herself to Gerald’s lab and met the black creature for the first time. As an infant he wasn’t much bigger than her hands, and from time to time Gerald would give special permission for Shadow to be allowed out of his tube for closer inspection and testing. Once Maria had the chance to hold the tiny thing, she cradled him like a baby as he cooed and hiccuped in her arms. She thought she would ascend to heaven on the spot, he really was the cutest thing. 

Unfortunately he had grown too fast and much too big for her to do such a thing now, he was also a very quick learner as Shadow was quite cognizant, it was like there was a fast forward on the creature's ability to learn as he picked up on things just from observing. Teaching Shadow basic knowledge was a breeze for Gerald and his scientists and so it was for Maria, she mainly taught Shadow his manners and how to pull the perfect puppy doe eyes to sway people to get what you want. 

Maria loved discovering the facets of the little hedgehog’s personality, he soaked up the praise of all the scientists and other people aboard the ark when he did something asked of him successfully, Shadow didn’t talk much but Maria was sure if he did he’d be bragging a lot as he was starting to get a bit of an ego. 

The blond girl patted at the cookies in her pocket as she made her way to her accommodations, the current emergency she tasked herself with solving was due Shadows hubris ending up getting him into trouble, he’d recently joined Maria in her private studies with Gerald. The little creature was smart and Maria couldn’t deny that but she wouldn't say he was smarter than her grandfather. Shadow thought otherwise as the lesson she thought she’d be fighting sleep to get through turned into two people trying to one up the other.

The black hedgehog lizard stubbornly tried to correct the old man on a simple innocuous problem that Gerald wrote on the black board for him and Maria to solve. The scientist however was just as stubborn as he stood his ground that the answer he’d written next to the problem, right after Maria gave up on it, was in fact correct and Shadow needed to knock it off. It had been amusing at first watching the little hedgehog wipe off the chalk and rewrite the answer but as the two kept bickering, Maria just wanted to slam her face into her desk. How she wished she snuck in her sketchpad into today's lesson.

Shadow had edged towards a tantrum and absolutely lost his nerve when Maria intervened and begged him to give up in his pursuit to be right. Gerald had just face palmed when the hedgehog ran away clearly feeling ganged up on “I put way too much of us robotnik's into that boy”.

Maria had to agree, because now she was in her room trying to coax Shadow out from under her bed. The little guy always hid out under her berth when he was upset, Maria could recall doing so herself at a younger age. Despite probably being mad at the blond girl for not taking his side, he couldn’t help but seek out comfort in the darkness from underneath her bed.

“Shadow? Won’t you come out please” Maria begged, she bent down and poked a hand under the covers that hid the darkness underneath her bed, in response Shadow swiped at her fingers as she quickly pulled them back. She noticed his claws were unsheathed when he swiped, he was clearly really upset. 

“Sorry, sorry I won’t make you come out if you don’t want to” the girl apologised, she did however retrieve a cookie from her pocket and placed it right in front of the space Shadow was occupying, she sat on her knees patiently and waited to see if he’d take the bait. 

She watched as a clawed furred and scaly hand slowly revealed itself from the darkness, it quickly swiped at the cookie and brought it into the darkness. Maria waited a few seconds, it usually took Shadow a minute to come out of the covers after being given a bribe. 

Just as she had predicted, Shadow poked out his head to make eye contact with her, his face seemed a little red and his muzzle was tear stained. She opened up her arms inviting Shadow to come into her embrace. 

The little creature hesitated for a second before nearly bowling her over with how quickly he crawled into her arms, Maria brought her arms to cradle to him, he certainly wasn’t a baby anymore as he came up to about her waist height wise but she couldn’t help but still try cradle him like one, she even rocked slightly as that always seemed to help calm him when he was like this. 

She brought a hand up to his head to stroke at his quills, it was a weird feeling as her hand caressed his spines to his scales, she wondered what it was like to be a mammal yet also reptilian. She could feel Shadow begin to purr slightly, Maria wouldn’t say it around the black hedgehog but he was the cutest thing, he’d grown tired of her calling him that after about the fifteenth time so she made a point to only do in her head now. 

“You are so smart Shadow but if you have something to prove you shouldn’t just blindly argue with Grandfather, he’s as stubborn as you and won’t listen if you do that” she scolded the hedgehog.

Shadow looked up at her, his face was flat as he didn’t look like he wanted to be lectured at that moment, but Maria didn’t want him arguing with her grandfather, it made studying much worse than it could already be sometimes.

The hedgehog instead nuzzled his face into her waist, she wasn’t sure if he had acknowledged what she just said but her attention was taken off his apathetic attitude to the pile of scales that lay on her skirt, probably pulled off as he rubbed his head into her torso, she picked at one and held it to her face.

“Gosh you're shedding a lot, I hope you're not getting bigger, you're already hard enough to hold at this size” she complained, the hedgehog on her lap looked unstirred by the idea. 

She wondered how she was going to get him to apologise to Gerald for ending studies early due to his little outburst, shadow looked like he’d rather take a nap right in her lap and he looked rather adorable so she was edging towards letting him. Maria calmed her thoughts as she decided she’d let the hedgehog off just for today. She was sure her grandfather was making himself busy somewhere and probably already put the tantrum aside.

The girl began to stroke at the little hedgehog's head of quills and Shadow in response started up his purring again. Everything would be fine.

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

Everything was not fine, it had all started going downhill a couple months after that incident during studies. Maria wondered if there was some higher power or something that just wanted a laugh and made Maria and her loved ones the victims for some hardships that began taking place.

Shadow by all accounts was a perfect being or at least should have been, he was strong, fast, could harness this power that Maria was told was chaos energy. He healed so quickly after even the largest injuries, most of which he would get during tests that Maria was not well informed about. However the scientist couldn’t have foreseen the extent of Shadow's progress.

The hedgehog grew, the escalation of his size was alarming at first. He began reaching the torsos of many average height humans on the ARK, the alarm turned to panic when he shot up well past that overnight. Becoming double the height of even the average person of Shadows species had made the scientists scramble for answers, Gerald was absolutely stunned with the mutation Shadow developed. 

As the hedgehog did not stop growing, his body fought to keep up with the rate of enlargement. Shadow had  become poorly as a result of his heart struggling to provide sufficient blood flow around the body. He should have been fine but as his body kept increasing his heart had to constantly readjust to how much work was required to keep his blood flow steady. 

Maria hadn’t seen Shadow in some weeks as an outcome of this event. She sat on her desk as she struggled to gain motivation to draw. The pencil barely scratched at the paper of her sketch pad as her frustration grew, she chucked the pencil across the room and threw her head into her hands. 

She felt sick and not because of the aching disease that ate away at her cells, Shadow was in the labs being poked and prodded as the scientists did their best to keep him alive. It wasn’t supposed to be him in pain, wondering if he’d make it through the day. It should have been her like it always was. She had never wished this pain on anyone, so why was Shadow being punished because she couldn’t be well?

The page her pencil had only barely touched was ripped right off the metal spirals that held her sketchbook together. She tore the page into pieces, shoving all her frustrations into desecrating the empty page. The paper had done nothing wrong but Maria couldn’t think of anything else to alleviate all the negative thoughts that swarmed in her brain. 

She wanted to see Shadow so badly. Tell him it was all going to be okay, hold his hand in hers and just be there by his side. Maria didn’t even know if he was okay.

It was like the universe was listening to her, as the doors to her room abruptly opened, surprising her. She stood up to face the intruder, who happened to be Gerald. The old scientist looked rugged, it was clear he hadn’t had a good night's sleep, as evident from the bags under his eyes Maria could see even through his glasses. It seemed the old man was about to greet her but Maria’s voice was faster than her manners “grandfather, is shadow-“

“Settle down Maria” the scientist quickly interrupted whatever word vomit that was about to erupt from the girl. He walked over to her desk and placed a hand to her shoulder and guided the two of them to her bed to take a seat. “Shadow is stable, we’ve done everything we can for him for now, but only time will tell how he’ll recover”. 

“Did you figure out why he started growing so big, grandfather?” She couldn’t help but ask, it was part of the Robotnik charm being so curious. 

“There’s too many variables that we couldn’t point down, it could be his chaos energy, possibly something mutating with his additional lizard DNA, maybe even an effect of the accelerant we had him under, we aren’t too sure at the moment Maria my dear. Our focus was just stopping the growth before it got too much for Shadow to handle” Gerald explained, he felt irate at not being able to determine the main cause of Shadow's recent mutation. 

The hedgehog was a one of a kind being and Gerald couldn’t just watch Shadow waste away and start over. The scientist and his team had invested their lives into the project and Gerald’s attachment has grown too great. 

Maria looked down as she fiddled with her hands, she appreciated her grandfather for being honest with her about Shadow’s condition, even though the details wrenched her heart to hear. It was nothing compared to what shadow was most likely going through.

“May I see him?” her voice was quiet, she really didn’t expect Gerald to let her but she had to ask.

“Maria I don’t think that’s a good idea-“ she’d expected him to say that but it didn’t stop her from screwing her face, her eyes felt hot but she didn’t want any tears escaping them. 

“Please, please may I just see him grandfather” Maria turned to her Gerald, she had an idea of what her face looked like but she wasn’t even attempting an usual expression that would sway the old man, her face bore her anguish and the second Gerald looked down at her face he knew he didn’t have the strength to say no. 

The scientist sighed as he stood and placed a hand to offer, Maria would usually be jumping for joy at the success of being able to see Shadow when he was in the labs but this time when she took the scientist's aged hand, she was scared. She was afraid of what had become of Shadow, what would she come to find when she saw him she wondered. 

Her thoughts weren’t left unanswered for long, when Gerald had taken his granddaughter to the labs she was introduced to an entirely new section, it reminded her of the zoo she’d seen in a picture once. It was a gigantic space that had large windows that let people view from the outside which was where Gerald had taken her instead of directly Inside the enclosure. However what was inside the enclosure was a large beast, it was larger than large, it was huge to Maria. It was so huge she could hear the things breathing, It was very laboured and it made the girl feel sympathy.

It only took her a moment to identify the familiar black quills and red scales, she was flabbergasted that she was presented with Shadows presence in all his gigantic glory, she’d only not realised it was shadow because of how pale he looked as well as the fact that a behemoth lay in place instead of the three foot creature she was used to. 

Maria could just barely see his face which was currently covered by his arms, he looked flushed and his face kept crumpling in what she assumed to be pain, he was sleeping fitfully. A lump formed in her throat as she watched the beast lay there in suffering, she balled up her fists and before Gerald could do a thing she slammed her fists into the glass of the enclosure. 

Maria couldn’t think of a concrete reason for doing that, it wouldn’t have solved anything, slamming the glass wouldn’t have magically made Shadow better. Maybe she wanted to spread her pain literally anywhere that wasn’t just her, maybe the glass just looked really annoying and deserved the hit. All she knew after the fact was she really shouldn’t have slammed the glass. 

One of Shadows' gigantic and significantly fluffier ears perked up at the source of the noise and he painstakingly lifted his head in the direction of Maria and Gerald. The girl hadn’t even noticed her grandfather scolding her for attacking the glass as Shadow began making his way towards them, the windows they observed him from was at a notably higher higher platform than the one Shadows enclosure was built at, but the height difference was no problem for the hedgehog as his new height made it easier for him to cross the dissimilarity. 

Maria felt ashamed of the sudden fear that struck her as the monstrous hedgehog took earth shaking steps towards where she stood, Gerald had finally noticed as he watched the girl's face turn white and turned to the source of his granddaughter's fear. His eyes abruptly widened, Shadow was not meant to be up just yet. Gerald and his team had continuously worked for weeks to halt the upsurge of growth that literally could have killed Shadow had they not. An idea formed around the scientists to create something to inhibit Shadows powers as the hypothesis between them was that it was a combination of Chaos energy and Shadows overall unstable DNA that was mutating him 

Everyone was relieved when the  plan worked well in execution and the hedgehog had indeed stopped enlarging. Gerald had measured the hedgehog and Shadow was capped off at exactly about thirty-five feet. He now wore brown metal cuffs that were equipped with additional tools to monitor the hedgehog's condition. The old man thought they were quite an eyesore on his project so he declared the cuffs would be a prototype until he and his team could develop something better, given that Shadows rapid increase in size was quite abrupt and his team had to act quickly.

“Maria stand behind me” Gerald commanded, the girl was frozen in place as Shadow haphazardly placed a claw to the window of the enclosure right in front of where she stood. His claw was so huge he could crush her in seconds if he wanted, Maria scolded herself for such a thought. Shadow would never do so. She felt her arm being tugged as she was carefully pulled behind her grandfather, he pulled a device from his pocket that Maria couldn’t really identify until she heard him talk into it. His voice was low and calm but she could hear a spike of panic in it.

Her attention was taken away from the old man when she heard creaking, and then cracking. Her blood turned to ice when she realised the weight Shadow was putting on the windows were making them break, she wanted to yell at the hedgehog to stop but her throat was not eager to listen to her commands, she was too afraid, she was just a useless sick and afraid girl. 

“I believe he is feverish, you will need to come in carefully and administer the sedative” she heard Gerald instruct into the walkie talkie like device. 

In the corner of her eye she looked into the other side of the enclosure, away from where Shadow currently stood. Two scientists apprehensively walked into the gigantic rooms, they were armed with something that looked like a weapon, were they going to hurt Shadow? Maria wanted to speak up but she was still frozen still behind her grandfather. The old scientist himself was standing still, he didn’t want any sudden movements to irritate or confuse the hedgehog, if Shadow broke through the glass, Gerald didn’t know if he and Maria could move away in time to prevent injury. 

Maria could see the scientists whispering harshly to each other, from the distance she was at she obviously couldn’t hear their words but she deduced from their movements they were arguing about who should use their weapon on the distracted hedgehog, in their bickering the taller scientist between the two suddenly and accidentally fired off their weapon. 

A syringe blasted off with smoke trailing it and got Shadow right in the calf, the hedgehog yipped in response and accidentally leaned his entire arm weight into the window. Maria didn’t know what was happening in that moment as glass shattered and she felt herself be shielded as the old man in front of her took the brunt of the glass, there was yelling and panic as she heard the two scientists in the enclosure scream at each other. 

There was a angry roar she was sure came from a provoked Shadow, the sound of shots rang throughout the enclosure as she held on for dear life to her grandfather, her heart couldn’t stop racing, the room shook as Shadow lunged for the scientists that had shot off more sedatives in the their panic at the hedgehogs provokation. They sped towards the steel doors leading out of Shadows enclosure before he could get his claws on the squealing duo. The doors shut quickly as Shadow practically rammed himself into them.

Maria felt her ears ringing, there was just too much going on, her heart felt like it was going to explode out of her chest, it was painful. There were concerned shouts as scientists and other ARK personnel entered the hallway of the enclosure viewing. The floor was covered in so much glass as were Gerald and Maria, she was shielded well from the accidental attack so she only felt the littlest pricks of tiny glass that flew onto her bare legs. She couldn’t identify if her Grandfather was as lucky as she was, her head just felt so light. 

The scientists began examining the blond girl and her grandfather as they were rushed to exit the enclosure. Maria could only spare a couple seconds to look back at Shadow. The gigantic hedgehog lizard looked absolutely distressed, he had done a number on the steel doors as they were covered in claw marks and dented from punches Shadow threw in pursuit to get the doors open. He was on his hands and knees and wobbled due to the effects of the sedatives. The beast turned to catch her eyes in those spare seconds, Maria knew that look he gave, his pleading eyes told her everything.

“I need you”.

Maria felt her eyes droop as the stress of the situation finally caught up to her and she knew no more as she felt herself be pulled to unconsciousness. 

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

The ARK was permeated with tension and quietude the past couple weeks. It was like the atmosphere itself was affecting the residents of the ARK as almost everyone aboard the ship was in low spirits. Gerald had been released from the infirmary a while ago, he hadn’t been too harmed by the glass the day of the incident, however the doctors and nurses didn’t want to risk anything as the scientists was still a fragile old man. He was eager to leave the recovery room as soon as he could, he had so much work to do concerning Shadow.

The enclosure had been rebuilt from the ground up, it was double reinforced to prevent such an incident from happening again. The windows and walls held strong as Shadow was monitored in the large room. He had slept for quite a while after the event due to all the sedatives that were carelessly shot into him. Gerald had reprimanded the two scientists of his endlessly for their actions.

 He understood the situation was not the easiest to deal with but he couldn’t have his team panicking the way these two did if such an incident was to occur again. Training would have to be implemented to any new personnel hired into his team. 

The old scientist was busy working on blueprints for what he hoped would be the final version of his device to help Shadow, the perfect inhibitor rings that would perfectly cap off Shadow's immense power and prevent any further mutations. Gerald ignored any advice from his teammates to take a break, he was quite engrossed in his notes and wanted the prints to be just right.

As his brain stormed with new ideas to add to the inner workings of the rings but  his mind ended up wandering to his granddaughter. Maria had recovered from the incident, he terribly regretted putting the girl in the situation. She could have seriously been hurt, Gerlad couldn’t have foreseen the events playing out as they did but he was her guardian and should've known better. 

However it perturbed the old man when he instructed she was to go nowhere near Shadows enclosure until he deemed it safe, she readily agreed with his command which was so unlike her. Such a prospect would usually have her arguing with the scientist for hours. Maria was a sickly thing but she could really stand her ground when pushed enough. 

He knew how close his granddaughter had become to his project, the two were kind of like siblings in the way they would act. Shadow could be quite the troublemaker when he wanted to be and annoyed Maria sometimes until she was begging the old man to put him back in the labs, and other times she’d be scolding the scientist for checking in on them so much when Maria had Shadow hiding in her accommodations. He’d find them in a makeshift pillowfort doing who knows what in the mountain of pillows. Usually Maria was styling his quills and decorating them with whatever adorable trinkets she owned. 

He missed how elated he saw Maria with Shadow's presence, he hoped that this experience hadn’t deterred the girl from wanting to see shadow. Gerald would allow her to do so in time but he himself felt uneasy with Shadows' new state and knew his scientists and himself needed time to adjust. 

Maria didn’t know what she was doing as she lay face planted down in her bed. In the time since Shadow had been provoked and nearly attacked those scientists, she couldn’t bring herself to even try and see him. Every time she thought about it her heart would begin thumping faster in her chest, she thought about Shadows looming and intimidating presence when he was up so close to the glass. His gigantic claw as the windows fractured from his immense weight leaning on them. The way she could feel her entire body vibrate at the strength of his footfalls.

Shadow was dangerous now, there was no denying that. He was always dangerous before, Gerald always reminded the girl of the immense power Shadow had lying dormant, but he never used it on or around her. The most she’d see was his chaos energy flickering when he was having a tantrum, but this never put the absolute trepidation in her that the gigantic Shadow from a few weeks ago did. 

This was stupid Maria decided, as she sat up on her bed. She turned to her wall that was full of doodles she’d put up with some tape. It was mostly drawings of things she’d wanted to do when she got to earth someday, she took note of the one drawing that was Shadows. She had to beg the hog to let her put it up as he was quite self conscious about his artistic abilities at the time. It wasn’t the best drawing in the world but she loved it because it was a crude drawing of Shadow and herself. Maria was honoured to be the muse of the artistic piece and treasured the little piece of paper.  

Fear of the monstrous hedgehog or not, she missed him. 

She felt guilt build in her chest, she’d been avoiding the hedgehog for so long now. A strong wave of determination overwhelmed her guilt as she tried to gain the persistence to make action. Shadow was her friend and he wasn’t himself during that incident. She recalled his face when she managed to catch a look back at him before she was carted right to the infirmary. 

Maria wished she told him she was right there and it would be okay. There was no reason she couldn’t do that now though. Apart from her grandfather catching her in the act and grounding her for life. Honestly though, being grounded felt better than the guilt currently swarming in her chest. 

Whilst she’d only been to the enclosure once, the trek there the first time had been so cemented in her mind it was no problem making her way there again. Maria had to deter a few scientists that passed her direction and questioned what she was up to and if she was okay which she appreciated. She didn’t want them immediately reporting her presence to Gerald so she kept the conversation light and simple. 

She got a bit sneaky when she got to the labs, keeping herself discreet behind some crates full of things she couldn’t identify. When the coast was clear she found herself face to face with the corridor, the same corridor that allowed a view into the enclosure. Maria felt her heart beginning to pump faster and her palms get sweaty. She wanted to scream at her fear and tell it to pipe down but she remembered her grandfather once telling her fear is an irrational thing, Maria had every reason to be afraid but she just didn’t want to be. 

Her heels clicked as she took slow paced steps down the corridor, her mouth felt dry as she noticed the windows were good as new. No evidence that a feverish giant hedgehog had previously tore a hole through them. Speaking of the giant hedgehog, Maria was greeted by his presence as she stood a couple feet from the windows. She wasn’t frozen in place like she was last time but she couldn’t help but stand in awe of his stature. 

He looked much better compared to the pale and sickly hedgehog she saw before. His breathing looked much better, his crimson scales were practically shining anew and his quills looked strong and healthy. Maria could only spy the behind of his head as he lay turned away from her, he was quite a thing to behold.

Maria hadn’t even realised she walked over and put her hands to the glass. It was only when she saw his head perk up and look toward her did she quickly remove herself from the window and return his stare. How did he know she was there?

There was a stare off for a moment as it seemed like Shadow couldn’t believe she was actually there. She felt her cheeks heat up as she was sure she looked quite silly. Suddenly she watched as the hedgehog rose to his hind legs and moved himself to a corner of the enclosure. It was a part of the giant room that was lightly obscured from view of the observation platform unless Maria walked herself down the corridor a bit more. Was Shadow trying to hide himself? From her? 

Her fear began to fizzle a little, instead replaced by curiosity. The giant hedgehog began to curl into himself, it looked like he was trying to make himself smaller, he was failing unfortunately. It was a sad sight and Maria felt her insides shrivel, in all this time she was wallowing in her inability to not be afraid, to be stronger, it hadn’t even occurred to her what this change felt like to Shadow. 

She couldn’t imagine what it was like to see the world change around you only for your body to be the only thing to change, and for everything to become unaccustomed to yourself. But there Shadow was trying to gain some semblance of control, clearly trying to not frighten the poor blond girl by his mere existence. 

She needed to get down there. 

Maria hurried down the corridor, forgetting her previous efforts to be sneaky and avoid attention.  She whipped her head around the environment and her observation was rewarded with some stairs leading down the platform towards the enclosure, she spied some steel doors at the bottom which she was sure led inside.

The blond girl wasted no time sprinting down the steps, she was hit with a bit of clarity to slow down when a wave of dizziness passed over her,  she was then greeted with a code box next to the doors. She really hoped her grandfather would never change the password, it was so easy to guess it honestly felt kind of cruel the little effort she put when she entered her birthdate. 

Maria was annoyed when she felt that little twinge of fear come back as she entered the enclosure. Unlike the windows there were still clear huge claw markings maimed on the other side of the doors and walls, it seemed Gerald and his team hadn’t had time yet to sort it out and it was a good reminder to Maria that she wasn’t supposed to be in there yet. 

The rest of the enclosure looked the same as the last time she was introduced to it, but honestly her memories of the enclosure were so repressed she couldn’t accurately compare. It was still the same gigantic empty room except there was a giant hedgehog huddling in one of the corners of it.

Shadow was really trying to put himself in that corner. He looked absolutely dismayed that Maria had actually come into the room, he did what he could to make himself look as least threatening as possible as he lay on his front and covered his head with his arms. If Maria didn’t know any better she’d say the monstrous hedgehog was afraid of her.

“Shadow?” Maria called out, she gaped at the black hedgehog as he seemed to flinch at her voice. She heard a whine rumble from out of him and it tore at the heart.

The blond girl wondered what to do, Shadow was clearly distressed by her presence. She didn’t want someone coming by only to catch her in here before she could make things right. 

She trudged dubiously to the giant hedgehog as his whines pitched up, there was one of his claws covering up his large head. It was just as big and petrifying as the last time she was approached with the claw, it hit Maria why he’d even put his hand to the glass last time. He wanted her, he always wanted her when he was upset, even if he could be obstinate with his affection he always held it out towards her. She wanted to facepalm at the fact she let her fear overwhelm her so much that she didn’t realise it sooner.

Maria took her own palm to his oversized claw, his scales felt so smooth as she began to pet them, she could feel he was trembling slightly, this only ignited her to continue in her efforts. Shadow slowly took the claw she was comforting off his face, she saw his strained expression and saw fat globby tears threatening to roll down his muzzle. Maria wished she could just collect Shadow up into her arms and rock him like she used to but he was way beyond a point where she could even attempt that.

“I’m here, I’m not going anywhere” her heart wasn’t hammering in her chest anymore, rather it beat proudly as she kept her cool and looked up at the massive hedgehog, he kept his hands to himself, clearly he was well informed of what he had done while in the incoherent state he was in previously. He didn’t want Maria to come to harm like she almost had on the observatory. 

“It was an accident, look! Not even a scratch” she emphasised by waving her arms, the little scars where glass had broken her skin begged to differ but Shadow didn’t need to know about that.

The hedgehog sniffled, she watched his face scrunch up as she did so. Maria made an attempt to wipe at the tear on his left cheek that lost its battle trying not to fall. He moved his face away from her slightly, clearly words alone weren’t gonna convince him she meant her words. 

Shadow choked on nothing as Maria marched up to his other claw that happened to be near her, she made an attempt to heave up a finger and curl it around herself. Shadow in response made an attempt to become as still as a statue, did she not realise the danger she was in right now? He was beginning to grow irritated. 

Maria smiled smugly at the hedgehog's incredulousness and curled the finger around herself tighter “I’ve got your hand all to myself now! Are you gonna do anything to stop me?” The girl challenged. 

Shadow brought his snout closer to Maria as he growled in warning at her, she felt his growls vibrate through every nerve in her body but she kept her composure, she noticed how he curled his other fingers around her. It was such a gentle unconscious gesture, it was kind of funny how Shadow could bore such an angry expression while literally cradling her in a claw. 

Her smug smile disappeared as she placed a palm to his thumb. “See, your so annoyed at me but haven’t done anything to hurt me” she pointed out 

Shadow ceased his growls and took a moment to comprehend Maria’s statement. Before she entered his enclosure that day he was lost in his head thinking about the changes to his person, his body felt like a prison. When he moved it made the scientists that took readings of him flinch. If he made a sound they would brace their ears in case he was too loud. It was all so much and happened so fast. He was small and somewhat normal once and suddenly wasn’t.

Then Maria had seen him, his thoughts weren’t coherent then, he had just seen her and wanted nothing more but to be by her side and hear her talk about the things she got up to that day, he’d only realised something was amiss when he felt a throbbing pain in his leg, by then the damage had been done and his massive body had accidentally caused damage to the enclosure and in doing so to Maria and Gerald. 

The old man had greeted him after the fact with apprehension, Shadow knew the scientist was doing his best to not seem afraid but he could just feel it in the way Gerald talked. He was just like the other scientists that flinched and kept away, Gerald could just hide it better

Maria wouldn’t even come see him. He didn’t bother asking about her, why would she want to  after what he did. 

But she was here now, in his claw, by his side like she always said she’d be. 

The thought made his eyes well up again as he brought his head down on the ground at level with Maria, she felt his previously tense claw relax around her as did his entire body. She joined him on the ground as she made an effort to get whatever she could of his muzzle onto her lap, she mostly got a face full of fur but she was the best she could do. 

“Your shedding is going to make people so annoyed” she complained as his muzzle fur clung onto her dress when she moved her torso off his face. She felt a series of vibrations go through her and the floor but then realised he was chuckling. 

“No seriously, you know what, I bet I could ask someone to knit a sweater with all this fur you have now. Think of the possibilities and all the sweaters we could get out of this Shadow” she chatted on.

Shadow had missed her little rambles that tended to tangent onto other things, it was always hard to keep track of but he just loved listening to her talk. He loved Maria. 

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

“Maria get off of Shadow this INSTANT” Gerald exasperated.

“I will not. I am perfectly comfortable here and see no reason to come down” Maria replied nonchalantly. 

“Maria I do not have time for your games we are behind schedule on tests and you are in the way, come down” Gerald commanded, Maria could swear a vein was popping out of his bald head. 

“The only way I’m coming down is if someone comes up and gets me” she folded her arms in emphasis. 

Gerald raised his arms in defeat and stomped out of the enclosure, Maria leaned over Shadows red scaly torso to double check he was out before swiping at her forehead, she thought he’d never give up. 

She was feeling quite rebellious when she woke up that day. She wanted to do things her way or the highway, which meant being a good member of society and completing her studies which she guessed wasn’t actually rebellious. 

But it truly kicked in when she was rejected from spending time with Shadow today, Gerald and his scientists had recently been testing out the limits of Shadows chaos energy after applying the finished inhibited rings to Shadows wrists and ankles. Maria told the titanic hedgehog the gold rings made him look snazzy in which Shadow couldn’t help but strike a cool pose down at her. He was so adorable.

But she hadn’t seen him in a couple days and decided now was the time to abuse her power as she formed a one woman strike when she entered into the gigantic room without permission and told Shadow to put her upon his chest. He was so jarred by her confident yet commanding aura that he didn’t protest and simply did as she instructed. 

The argument that ensued between her and Gerald was kind of worth the confusion as the girl had the old man so riled up he simply stormed out of the room. Shadow had no idea Maria held such power to sway the scientist like that, it was usually with a puppy eyed face she had to get her way but that was beginning to get old. 

As she sat on the gigantic hedgehog's chest she was open to his heart hammering in his torso. She could feel it beating right under her, it was accompanied by his breathing which made Maria feel good for some reason. She was always alert on her own breathing in case something was amiss and she needed to report it to the nearest doctor or her grandfather. Maria guessed she felt better knowing Shadow was healthy.

The hedgehog lay spread out with his arms folded and cushioned under his quills. He was at a perfect ease and Maria couldn’t be more than glad to see him as such. 

Shadow had grown to be really confident in interacting with the tiny people around him, Maria could barely remember her previous fear and apprehension at Shadow's stature, he was just so tender in how he held her in his palms. The worst he'd gotten that Maria could recall was when he’d cupped her in his two claws a little two tight but it was an unfortunate quick reaction to Gerald calling her for lunch that had surprised Shadow. He was normally so perceptive to people coming in and out of his enclosure so he was quite embarrassed by the slip up.

Maria saw Shadow's head turn towards the enclosure entrance and did so as well, there stood Gerald, the man’s face was flat as he whipped his head back to the doors behind him, he simply said “Tony get her”.

Tony? That was one of the bio engineers on the project, he was such a lovely fella and treated Shadow so well that he actually gained the privilege of being allowed to touch Shadow, most people would get a growl in response to unwanted

physical contact with the hedgehog. 

She watched as a hulking form sped past Gerald and hopped up onto Shadows tail, Maria released her strike was about to come to an end, she twirled around to her last resort “Shadow! Hide me in your quills! Quick!”.

The giant hedgehog's eyes bore into her for a moment before a smirk spread across Shadows face, his fangs poked out as he shrugged and went back to looking comfortable. Maria was aghast that the hedgehog would do this to her. Tony had made his way to Maria’s spot on Shadows chest and gently lunged for the girl “sorry little miss, got strict orders to getchu outta here so we can get back to work” at least he sounded apologetic. She swore she could feel and hear a rumble from Shadows chest, the traitor had the absolute audacity to laugh at her plight.

Maria’s effort to grab at Shadows chest fur was a feeble effort as she stood no chance against Tony’s muscley form, she was a sickly little girl and she knew it meant she’d be removed from her strike that was against the oppression of doing as you are told. Tony walked towards the doors with Maria in tow as Gerald’s eyes cut into her like knives “to your room young lady”. 

She glanced a look back at the gigantic hedgehog, oh how she loved him but as she learned today, betrayal never came from your enemies.

If anything she guessed she learned something new about herself today. She was a sucker for revenge and Shadow was definitely going to get it once she was ungrounded from whatever punishment Gerald had in store for her 

[runningfrom2am]

cold nights // twenty-one

summary: you showed him colours he knows he can't see with anyone else.

pairing: coriolanus snow x fem!reader

wc: 4.2k

masterlists / nav / requests

tags/warnings: tribute!reader and mentor!coriolanus, r is very sweet (too kind for this world. literally.), sunshine x grumpy trope kinda, he falls first, violence typical for the source material, depictions of mental illness, also she's is very smart (as she should), district twelve!reader.

a/n: oh- you guys wanted them to be happy and in love in peace?? my bad. anyway, good a time as any to wish you guys a happy valentines day! lol

my asks are also open to talk about this series! (i do have emoji anons open now too!)

send me any and all of your thoughts! here!

series masterlist // playlist

"Where are ya takin' those?" Lennox asks you as you're quickly scanning through your piles of books, pulling out one or two at a time and holding onto them.

"I will bring them to Coryo and Sejanus." You smile to yourself, standing up straight as you finish picking out most of your favourites.

"Coryo." Lennox scrunches his nose up. "Why bother? They can't read that many books in a week. Especially when he'll hardly get his hands off you long enough to do literally anything else."

"Oh, Lennox hush. That is not true." You shake your head pointedly, cheeks burning red.

"It is true."

You had kind of explained to Lennox what happened, that Coryo explained, apologized, and that you were wrong about him. Your mother was right, of course, but Lennox still wasn't buying any of it. Although, he wouldn't deny that you seemed happier.

"Ma!" You call out, coming out of your bedroom with the stack of books in your arms. Trying to talk to Lennox about this would never end in him actually listening to you.

"Just out back, honey!"

You follow her voice out onto the back porch. "Ma, do you know if there's a limit of things you can take on the train?"

She looks up at the question, laughing at the stack of books you have steadied under your chin.

"It's not a passenger train, honey. I don't know." She chuckles. "You want to give him all of those? Won't you miss them?"

"Well..." You think about it, placing them down on the ground to rest your arms for a moment. "I don't know when I'll see him again, and books are expensive to post. Besides, I know they'll be in safe hands, and if I want to read them again I can take them from the library."

Your mom smiles sadly at you. "I suppose that's true."

"Yes." You grin, crouching down to pick the books up again carefully. "I shall go drop these off."

"When will you be back?" She asks, just as you're about to walk back inside.

"Uh, I'm uncertain, but I shouldn't be long! We don't have any plans."

"Maybe you should take your brother with you, he can carry those." She suggests and you sigh.

"No, Ma. He's mean." You pout.

"He only wants to keep you safe. Take him with you, please. He'll be driven mad here waiting for you to get back." She insists and you groan, dropping your head back. "I won't ask again, I promise."

"Okay, Ma." You relent, stepping back into the house and letting the door swing shut behind you. "Len! Ma says you're coming with me!"

"So... how do you know where they are staying?" Lennox asks you, half the books in his arms as you practically skip ahead of him.

"Coryo showed me the other day."

"Oh, he did. Of course he did." You can practically see him rolling his eyes behind your back. "Have you ever considered that he could just be using you? I mean-"

"Lennox, that's not a rational thought process. I have nothing that he would want, he already won his prize." You interrupt. "He just came here to spend time with me, we talked about that when I was in the Capitol."

"I can think of something he wants..."

"Lennox!" You turn on your heel, pointing a finger in his face so fast he almost stumbles as he stops. "That is enough. You have so little trust in me!"

"It's not like we haven't been down this road before!" He argues, and you quickly look around as he raises his voice. The path is deserted this time of day.

"And you don't think me capable of learning?"

"Clearly not! Him and Cole are practically the same person!"

"Don't you say that- I didn't like Cole and you know it." You narrow your eyes at him. "Coryo is different. He wouldn't hurt me."

"You do realize that those are like, the famous last words that every teenage girl ever has said and regretted it, right?"

"Do you just not want me to be happy?" You ask bitterly. That wasn't true and you knew it, but you were upset and you knew it would get your point across. He was being cruel.

"The opposite, actually! I just want you to think realistically about fallin' into the open arms of your 'knight in shining armour' who you've literally had nightmares about for weeks on end."

"I am not a child! I am an adult, and I am capable of making my own decisions." You spit. "He's not using me. He loves me, and I love him."

"Yeah, I'm sure he'll say that until-"

"Lennox you are such a.. boy!" You groan. "If you must know, if you must insist that I am so stupid, no, I have not slept with him. Is that what you needed so desperately to hear?"

"Gross." He mumbles, shaking his head with disgust. "I don't care what you do with your alone time, actually I'd really rather not know! All I'm saying is you need to be more careful."

"I'm not going to fight with you. You can trust my decisions or not." You grumble, turning back around to keep walking. He follows behind you silently, neither of you saying another word the whole walk there.

You knock on the door, taking a step back while you wait for it to open. You can hear your brother breathing behind you and it's driving you up the wall. You would drop off the books and send him home- maybe you would stay for a while, go for a walk, something.

The door creaks open and you smile when you see Sejanus. "Y/N!" He grins, opening the door wider for you to come in. "Coryo! Your girlfriend is here!" You blush at the term as you walk in past him.

You hadn't discussed any kind of title to what you had, the looming ache of him leaving again so soon holding you back from wanting to mention it. You assumed he didn't want to discuss it either, both of you silently agreeing just to enjoy the time you still had together.

"Y/N/N." Coryo grins, eyes lighting up as he enters the room.

"Hi." You smile, ignoring your brother pretending to gag behind you.

"What brings you?" Coryo asks. "I didn't expect to see you today, I was thinking of coming to see you myself."

"Yes, well, I went through my books and brought some over that I would like you to take." You look back over your shoulder as Lennox is placing the large pile of books on the dining table.

Coryo hums as he wraps his arms around you, resting his chin on your head. "That's a lot of books." He chuckles.

"You don't have to rush through them, keep them as long as you'd like." You assure him. "I just thought they were some you may enjoy."

"I'm sure I'll love them." He kisses the top of your head. "Thank you."

You turn in his arms to look up at him, ticking your head slightly when you hear Sejanus speak quietly. Clearly, not to either of you. "Hey, I just want to show you something. Come outside with me?" And then the door is shut, and you and Coryo are left alone.

"What's he showing him?" You ask, and Coryo watches through the window as his friend and your brother circle around to the side of the house.

"I am not sure." He answers. Immediately, he's thinking of the note Sejanus had scribbled out for himself. It included your brother's name alongside the dates and times, and those dates were creeping up quickly, the seventeenth being in three days- if he had today's date correct.

"Coryo?"

"Hm?" He looks down at you again. "You were thinkin' for a minute there. What's wrong?"

You were always so concerned. All he had done was take a moment to think, and you seemed genuinely worried. Maybe there was something in his face that showcased his confusion. "Nothing, love." He assures you, but you don't seem inclined to believe it. "Okay, uh, just... Come with me." He grabs your hand, watching out the window to make sure they aren't coming back yet as he leads you to his room.

You step into the small space and smile. He wasn't here for long, but the room already had little touches of him. The bed was made, and there was nothing on the walls but the bedside table had the copy of Romeo and Juliet he had got for you, a folded-up note, and a comb for his hair he had yet to put back in his bag despite him not needing it anymore.

You turn to face him after he shuts the door, smiling. He almost looked normal here, now. Like he was getting used to being here with you, living your life. It certainly wasn't like what he left behind in the Capitol, but to you it was special.

"Y/N, I have something to tell you." Coryo says, serious with a lowered voice. He didn't want anyone to hear it, even though you were still likely alone in the home.

"Okay." You reply, feeling your brow crease as you nod at him. His tone makes you nervous- your heart skips a beat in your chest. For a moment, you feel trapped. Tell him what you need. He won't mind.

"Can you... can you move away from the door, please?" You ask quietly before he has the chance to speak again.

He nods, not wasting a second before passing you and you turn with him, now with the door to your own back. "Is that better? You okay?" He asks and you nod.

"Fine just fine." You smile, trying to be reassuring. "What were you going to tell me?"

"Right, so..." You watch as he runs a hand over his head, still in the habit of pushing back his hair. "I was in Sejanus's room the other day, and I found this note. It had two dates and places on it, and then your brother's name and that was it."

"Oh." That's the only thing you can think of to say. "Well... do you remember the places? Maybe he was just trying to remember Len's name?"

"I don't know, I was hoping you'd know more." Coryo sighs, reaching for the bedside drawer. He had written down what he remembered from the dates and times, because he did want to ask you about it. "But he's been leaving and coming back at odd hours, he won't tell me what he's doing. Is he with Lucy Gray?"

"I don't think so." You frown, shaking your head. "But they have been getting close."

"But that doesn't really feel relevant to the note, or your brother."

"No... It certainly doesn't seem that way."

"Here, so... I wrote it down. Uh... The Hob, August seventeenth at ten pm, and broken fence August eighteenth at four am." He reads off what he remembered enough from the note to write down.

You tilt your head.

"Does that mean anything to you?"

"Well, on the seventeenth The Covey is performing at the Hob, so maybe he planned on going to that." You explain. "But broken fence... there's so many of those around here I couldn't tell you. Although, four am is an incredibly odd time to be meeting anyone."

"That's three hours before our train leaves."

"Oh." You shake your head slightly. "That's very weird."

"I know." Coryo sighs. "He won't tell me either, I've asked if he has any plans that night and he said no."

"Well... We should go." You offer. "Tell him that we're going to the meadow that night, and we'll just go after him. See who he's with."

Coryo raises his eyebrows at you. "I didn't take you for the nosy type."

"Well, I'm a big sister at heart and if it possibly involves Lennox I have to know." You argue. "It could be dangerous. He's always had a few friends I didn't love."

"Are you okay to go back there? I can go without you." He offers.

"I'll be fine." You insist. It's more so out of necessity, you have no choice but to be fine. You have to know- you have to make sure your brother and friend are safe.

"Are you sure about this?" Coryo asks, stopping you outside the entrance to the Hob. "If you want to go home I can take you, I just want you to feel safe."

"I know." You give him a small, reassuring smile as you squeeze his hand. "If I need to leave I'll tell you. I promise."

He nods, taking one last look at you to make sure you still seem okay before he pushes the door open and you both head in.

The building is buzzing- as it usually is when The Covey performs. You smile at the music, letting Coryo pull you close to the side wall as he scans the crowded room for his friend.

"Do you see him?" You ask, and he somehow hears you over the music and shakes his head.

You frown, looking around as well. No sign of Sejanus, no sign of Lennox. Lennox isn't even old enough to be here, but he wasn't at home when you left- and it's not exactly hard to sneak in.

"There," Coryo says, nodding in the direction of the opposite side of the room. You follow his eyes, and spot Sejanus talking to someone you recognize. "Who's he with?"

"Spruce." You explain. "His sister is scheduled to be executed tomorrow afternoon." You add, leaning closer so no one else will hear.

You watch as they head toward the back hall, the same one you ran down just a couple of weeks ago. "Should we go after them?" You ask when Coryo doesn't reply and he nods, watching them as he pulls you down the outside wall toward them.

You make it back to the hall without Lucy Gray spotting you, as far as you can tell. Standing outside the door, you hear shouting. You watch Coryo as he clenches his jaw, shaking his head.

"Wait out here." He tells you, dropping your hand.

"No- I, I should come." You shake your head and he grabs your cheeks, lifting your head to look into your eyes.

"I don't know what they're fighting about but it doesn't sound good. Wait out here." He's stern as he gently brushes his thumbs over your cheeks. "Listen to Lucy Gray, just watch the door. Okay, love?"

"Okay." You agree quietly, slightly nodding.

He kisses your forehead before letting you go, taking a deep breath before pushing the door open and disappearing behind it.

You chew your nails as you wait with your ear to the door, trying to decipher who is inside with them. It's hard to tell with all the shouting going on, but you hadn't heard Lennox.

"Y/N." You hear your name, quickly jumping back from the door and turning to face the voice. "What are you doin' here?"

You chew your cheek, trying to avoid Cole's gaze. "Just waitin' for Lucy Gray." You lie, looking down.

"Ah." He hums, nodding slightly as he steps closer to you. "Where's your purebred Capitol attack dog?"

"What are you doing here, Cole?" You ask, ignoring his question.

"We got leave passes for the weekend." He answers. "Hoff said something about 'boosting morale'."

"That's nice." You smile nervously. "Well, I don't want to keep you, so..."

"You aren't." He smirks, tilting his head as he looks down at you. "I'm not gonna hurt ya, you know that, right?"

"I know." You say softly.

"We're friends, aren't we?"

"Cole..." You sigh, looking down again. "We talked about this I just... We're too different. I'm sorry."

"Oh, because you have so much more in common with that prick- right?" He laughs sarcastically. "He's Capitol! He'll never know you like I do. Honestly, I'm offended that you'd choose him over me."

"I'm not choosing him over you." You frown. "I already knew we wouldn't work before I ever met him. This is very, very different. I'm sorry."

"You are? Oh, I'm glad to hear that." He nods and you eye him suspiciously. "Maybe then after he leaves, you'll give me another chance. He's taking the next train, tomorrow morning, right?"

"I can't do that, Cole." You shake your head.

"That's an awful shame." The evil smile on his face doesn't fade. "I'll have no choice but to report your father."

Your heart drops. "My Pa hasn't done anything."

He sucks in through his teeth. "Well, suspicion is enough to charge, and I don't know... I get a bit of an off feeling from him. It's actually my duty to report any suspicions we have, so honestly I've been protecting you, and I'd like to keep doing that, you know?"

You finally picked up on what he was saying, and immediately could taste the bitterness of fear on your tongue, a metallic tang that seemed to linger in the air.

"So? Do we have a date?"

"Sure." You mutter through gritted teeth.

"Sweet, thanks for finally coming to your senses, bug." Cole smiles, patting your shoulder. "I'll see you tomorrow afternoon!" He calls back as he walks away.

You don't even care what's going on inside, you can't be alone in this dark hallway anymore.

You pull the door open and rush in, but you're quickly stopped by Coryo's arm as he takes a few steps back, pushing you behind him. "What- what's-"

"She can't be in here!" Spruce spits at Coryo as you look past him, gasping at the sight of several guns on the table and the one in his arms.

"Listen, she's not involved." Sejanus promises.

"Her brother is gonna help us, it's cool. She won't tell." You look at Billy Taupe when he speaks, eyes wide.

"No- this is crazy." Mayfair shakes her head. "She's not coming with us. We're not bringing her or Lucy Gray. I'm leaving."

"No, they aren't coming. I just said I'd ask. Now she knows, so she probably should." Billy Taupe replies and your eyes flick between the couple. You had no idea what was going on, where he wanted you to go, and what this had to do with Sejanus or your brother.

"No! My daddy will have you all strung up for this." She throws her hands up and starts to walk toward the back door. Your heart is pounding in your chest as Coryo reaches for one of the guns.

"Don't!" You cry out, forcing yourself in front of him just as he aims the gun at her. At you.

"Y/N, you gotta move right now." He says quickly, and you hear her footsteps stop behind you.

You can only look at his eyes as they flit between anger, instinct, and fear.

"Coryo." You say, voice cracking and it's only then that you feel the tears dampening your cheeks.

The barrel of the gun is under an inch from your chest, and you can see his hands shaking as he holds the heavy weapon in his hands. He won't shoot you- he won't.

The world around you seems to blur as your focus narrows on the overwhelming sense of fear gripping you tightly. Right now, if someone asked where you were, you wouldn't know. You just as easily could have been standing in the arena. 

He doesn't dare move as he stares at you, eyes wide. He doesn't want to hurt you, but that's why he has to do this. He can't let whoever that girl was have you killed. Still, you stand in front of him. Shaking, but not moving. This was the girl he knew from the games who offered a rose to Coral who in the moments before was threatening her. The girl who so thoroughly hated the idea of bringing harm to others that her own mind blocked it out completely and replaced the story with something else. This was the girl who was willing to give up her life just to be able to give the other tributes an honourable burial that she knew they wouldn't otherwise receive. 

The girl who saw him kill another boy and despite all of that, still had it in her heart to forgive him.

You don't even hear Mayfair laugh and begin to walk away again, you only hear the gunshot that follows. You jump, immediately looking down to assess the damage. Coryo wasn't pointing the gun at you anymore, he had dropped his arms in defeat- and you had mistaken the loud noise for an impact you were expecting.

He didn't shoot you.

"What did you do?" You turn as Billy Taupe screams, eyes widening as you see Mayfair bleeding out on the floor.

"Oh god- oh god..." You mumble, stepping back until you bump into Coryo. He drops the gun back onto the table, pulling you into his arms.

"Don't look, don't look..." He tells you, turning you and pressing your head to his chest so you can't see anymore even if you wanted to.

You can't even make out what Spruce and Billy Taupe are yelling at each other over the sound of your blood pumping through your veins. Until the second gunshot.

You must be sobbing now, clinging onto the front of Coryo's shirt so tight your knuckles are burning. "You're okay, it's okay." He tells you. You don't know what's going on- you don't want to.

Coryo stares between Spruce and the body of Billy Taupe now slumped down next to Mayfair. He needs to get you out of here, now, but he doesn't know how. This has to be handled first.

He's letting you go only to grab your cheeks and get you to look at him. "Go back outside, you have to go back outside, I will handle this."

You can't even speak- can't even move. You try and shake your head. You couldn't leave him, not right now. You feel like you'd die the moment he ceased touching you.

The door slides open again, followed by an angry voice you know too well. "What the fuck?" Cole must have been watching you. He must have heard.

"No..." You cry, shaking your head. If Cole saw this you were absolutely all screwed.

"What the fuck did you do?" Cole shouts again. "Nobody fucking move! You're all-"

Another gunshot. Silence.

"Oh no, no, no..." You try and look behind Coryo but he doesn't let you, holding your head firmly into his chest again.

"It's okay. Don't look." He says again, staring at Sejanus who looks like he's panicking just as much as you are now.

"Why'd you tell them where we were? Now you've gone and screwed us all over! I just shot a peacekeeper!"

"He didn't tell anyone." Coryo defends him. "We followed him, Cole followed us."

"Fuck." Spruce sighs, throwing the gun onto the pile of others still laid across the table. "We gotta bump this up. We have to get Lil now, go tell Lennox to get the stuff and hide it for us like we said."

"Get rid of the guns and pretend this never happened."Coryo hisses. "And leave the kid out of this. It's too late for whatever plan you had now- we don't know where he is."

You can't even hear a single thing going on anymore. You're actually sure you might faint.

When you go from shaking to completely still in Coryo's arms, he knows you have. "Shit..." He mumbles, trying to steady you as your knees give out. He quickly readjusts so he can lift you with an arm under your knees and the other under your back.

"I gotta get her out of here and you have to move quick. Get rid of the guns. Now." He instructs, and surprisingly, Spruce listens. He throws the weapons into a bag and steps over the two bodies by the door before leaving.

"It wasn't supposed to be like this." Sejanus cries, gripping onto his hair and breathing heavily. "No one was supposed to get hurt!"

"Sejanus, for once just shut up!" He grabs his attention from where his friend is staring at the dead couple, clearly losing his mind. Coryo doesn't have time for this- an unconscious girl in his arms and his friend looking like he's about to be in the same state in a matter of moments.

"It's all my fault..."

"All of this is your fault!" Coryo agrees, looking around at the mess of the room. "It's only gonna get worse if you don't pull yourself together."

"Oh, god..."

"If you breathe a word now, all three of us are finished. Just like in the arena. We came here to see her. If we go down, she goes with us." He holds you tighter to his chest as your hair falls over the curve of his arm, your head limp against his skin. "So now we have to go back to the house, gather all our shit, and act like nothing is wrong. We have to board the train tomorrow like nothing is wrong. Do you understand?"

"I- I don't know." Sejanus sniffs.

"Hey." Coryo says, taking a few steps closer. "Look at me. You have to pull it together. I know you wanted to go with them but now they aren't going. We've got to stick together. You won't get in trouble. I won't let anything happen to you, but you have to listen to me." It was obvious that it didn't matter that none of you pulled the trigger- being in the room was enough; especially when a peacekeeper had been murdered. If you were caught, you'd all be executed. "We're brothers, yeah? Brothers. Whatever you've done, I swear I will keep you safe."

"Brothers. Yeah." Sejanus mutters, still obviously in shock.

"Those guns were the only loose ends besides the four of us, so we're gonna be okay as long as we leave tomorrow." He breathes. "Okay? Not a word."

"O-Okay." Sejanus nods slightly, trying to keep his focus on the boy in front of him rather than their unconscious friend in his arms.

Coryo tried to give him a reassuring smile, but inside he was panicking too. They could escape it all on the train tomorrow, but now came the problem of what to do with you.

taglist: @soulessjourney , @that-veela-girl ,  @dreamyysouls, @rockstarbfs , @maysileeewrites , @baybieruth , @kitscutie ,  @fratboyharrysgf0201 , @totallynotkaibiased , @stelleduarte , @secretsicanthideanymore , @bejeweledreverie , @drewsandsebastianswife , @niicole-87 , @queenofshinigamis , @innercreationflower , @nallasstuff , @iovemoonyy , @thatmarvelchick19 , @wearemadeofstardust0 , @regulusblackcore , @puredreamagination , @fantasticchaosthing , @becauseseaotters , @secretsicanthideanymore

okay suddenly tumblr isn't letting me tag more people than this so i just made some cuts unfortunately :') i just left the max amount of people i could whose users i recognized and see in my notifs all the time :) if you're not on here and you should be i'm so sorry!

also this taglist is closed now!! if you’d like to get a notification when i update, turn on my post notifications!! i promise i won’t spam y'all :,)

[stagefoureddiediaz]

hi!! I’ve read and loved your color theory and costume metas for a while now. I know the 8x06 stills literally JUST came out like 5 mins ago, but do you have any initial thoughts on them? I thought maybe the black jacket Tommy was wearing while he’s frowning might’ve meant something, but I’m literally clueless about the topic. (What I’m trying to say is, what do you think of them?)

Hope you have a good day! Can’t wait for 8x06

Hey!

How lovely to hear that you enjoy my metas! 🥰

I have so many thoughts on the costumes I’ve seen in these stills!

Firstly - lots of yellow and blue theory going on in t his episode - its literally everywhere we look - the calls are all yellow blue coded from what we can see from the stills - the woman at the first call (which hI’m assuming is the divorcee one) is in yellow and blue, the man is wearing blue trousers and blue plaid patterning on his jacket and she stands in front of a very yellow/blue coded painting. Eddie is sat in front of blue parasols when he talks to Hot priest. The kid who goes into the well to rescue his brother is also wearing yellow and blue and the house they’re in front of has yellow walls, not to mention the tripod the 118 are using is yellow. I’m screaming a little bit about the fact that we have Buck and Eddie both inside the tripod as well - that is not something we see - ever - they’d always one of them on The outside of the tripod or they are both outside of it - and considering we last saw one in 704 - when they were both outside of the tripod and divided by a pole - it feels pretty significant to me!

Bucks brown jacket is making my eyeballs pop out of my head - the two directions of the stripes suggests confusion and the little triangles details where buttons would be feels significant as well, plus its a very orangey brown - which plays very nicely into my theory about the season being orange and brown colour coded - and we’ve seen Buck in far more orange and especially brown this season than we’ve ever seen him before - which I am very intrigued by and also excited for.

We also keep getting him in white shirts this season - it feels like something pretty significant is brewing for him - we’ve not really had the payoff for all the white shirts we’ve seen up to now and they have always meant Buck in danger before this season. I still think this holds true. I just think that we’re going for a build up to something significant for him - what that is I am not yet sure - It’s something I keep meaning to look at a bit more, I just haven’t had the time to yet!

Then we have Buck in green and Tommy in black.

The Buck in green thing is very interesting to me - the tee is slightly on the too large size - which is in keeping with how they have been dressing Buck this season - we’ve had the slow progression over season 7 of his clothes fitting him correctly for the first time since season 3 as he figures out he’s bi, and then as his relationship with tommy had its false start the clothes were ill fitting and then they fit pretty well - up until 801, since then, we’ve seen them generally be on the slightly too large side of things - suggesting that while he’s more comfortable in his own skin, things are still not quite a perfect fit - it’s interesting to me that generally speaking - if Eddie is in the scene then the clothes fit a bit better than if he isn’t! This green shirt is no exception - it’s slightly too big and it’s dark green.

The dark green matches the break up hoodies and jumpers of Ali and Taylor - its not quite the same colour - this one is more of a dark olive green where the other 3 are much more of a bottle green as you can see above - but I actually think this is a good and interesting thing. The most interesting thing is the progression of what Buck is wearing though. We have a zip front hoodie with a blue hood lining when Ali breaks up with him - and it’s worn over a black tee. Then we have a hoodie when buck confesses to kissing Lucy - the fact we go from two layers of clothing (visible) to one is in and of itself interesting the fact that we’re still in a hoodie though is an indication of the fact that Buck is still in a similar place to when Ali broke up with him - expecting Taylor to do the same with the hoodies symbolising self soothing - they are generally representative of giving ones self a hug! Then we move onto the knit sweater in the same green for the actual break up with Taylor - we’ve moved down from thick self soothing hoodies to a much thinner sweater and now we’ve made it to a t-shirt. It’s suggestive of Buck taking an increasing amount of control and confidence of his life and his relationships - and if they’re serving him - that he’s prepared to end things on his terms if he doesn’t think the relationships is worth pursuing because he is sacrificing too much of himself to stay in it.

I don’t think this is going to be the break up scene to be honest - I just think its going to be the scene that makes it clear that the relationship is on a time limit - that this scene will kick start things towards a break up! Part of my reason for that is because Tommy is in black and not in blue!

I do want to point out that behind Tommys head we have a new coat rack - replacing the bike Buck has had hung there before. The departure of the bike without brakes interests me - it again plays into the idea that Buck is more in control of his life - that it isn’t out of control and that he can put the brakes on things if he wants to. But I digress - what I actually want to point out is the fact that on the one side of Tommys head is a pair of jackets hanging up - one green and one blue, and on the other side of his head is a yellow ochre jacket. Now green/blue is the colours of break ups, but its also a colour way we see on Buck and Eddie a fair amount when they’re together - the previous episode is a perfect example of this. Yellow is also the colour of communication, but it is also Eddies colour - the one we’ve only seen him wear once - in the lasagne scene of 601 - those jackets are important. They are creating the idea that the Eddie of it all is always lurking and present in the background!

Tommy being in Black is a play on his general colour theming - he generally wears dark colours and black especially. Not all the time, but generally speaking. I’ll do an updated costume list for him if I have the time in the next few days as I’ve been keeping track of his costumes and it’s pretty telling about when he wears what colours. The shirt is very very similar to Eddies black shirts - the western style pockets and poppers - it’s just more washed out and faded than Eddies have been. This is a deliberate choice - to contrast him with Eddie and also with himself - the washed out nature of the shirt is likely intentional - the black shirt he wore in 805 was not washed out, so this suggests he is both a washed out faded version of Eddie, but also that he is fading out of Bucks life - its all subtle, but in combination, all these small things add up to help with the storytelling and are showing us that Tommy is not likely going to be around for too much longer!

The thing that I’m most fascinated about with the black shirt though, is the fact he is located in the same place we saw a Eddie sitting in 705 - when he talks about having to break up with Marisol, and also where Buck comes out to him. I’m really interested to see if we get a contrast between that scene with Eddie and this one with Tommy. A scene talking about a possible break up - and about just being friends and hanging with the boys and then showing Eddie being a super supportive friend seems like the perfect scene to use to continue to show the contrast between Eddie and Tommy. It perfectly builds on what We’ve already been seeing all season - this ever increasing space between Buck and Tommy and the very loud and clear way they’re are showing how much Buck and Eddie know and trust and accept one another in comparison with the way Buck and Tommy clearly don’t. It’s one of the things I enjoyed most about 805 - the way they showed Tommy only really going near Buck when othered we’re present - then the distance started to grow as soon as he took up residence on the couch overnight - here we have a scene where it appears we’re going to get the vast space of the kitchen counter between them - it parallels the first kiss scene from 704 as well - in the opposite direction - especially interesting as it places Tommy near the door - a place we’ve yet to see him near again since that first kiss in 704 - feels very much like we’re supposed to view it as him heading out of the door and out of Bucks life (remember they did a similar thing with Taylor in the build up to the break up and immediately after it!).

The other thing to point out is the brightness of the lighting - I know these are stills and so generally taken with a different camera and from a different angle, but the fact remains that the set is very brightly lit and it won’t darken that much with whatever filter they have on the camera, so the brightness of the loft when Tommy is there compared with when Eddie is there is pretty telling - the starkness versus the intimate low lighting - the coolness of Tommy versus the warmth of Eddie.

Hope this is interesting for you and that you enjoy it. I can’t wait to see how the scenes play out - How close to the money I am on things and getting to see what direction they’re taking things! Thanks for the ask!

[lanabuckybarnes]

This is a little headcanon of how I believe Bucky got Alpine in my lil universe

Bucky’s treatment in Wakanda was almost up, he’d finally get to go back to the US and live out his retirement back in his hometown. He was pleased to go home, he missed the hustle and bustle of NYC but there was one thing here he'd miss most of all. His stray cat.

It was one hot day while he was out feeding his goats when a ball of white in the field caught his attention. Strange? That was never there before. Thinking that maybe one of his pregnant goats had given birth he paced forwards and crouched to inspect further.

It was then he came face to face with a tiny white cat with big blue eyes. The small feline was warm, unnaturally so, its white fur being cooked in the hot Wakandan sun. He couldn’t leave it to die.

The day after, once he’d made sure the cat was healthy and fed, it disappeared. He was a little sad but he understood, it looked like it had spent its entire life as a stray so it would’ve been extremely unsure around humans, he reasoned.

This day had been particularly rough, his treatment had gone slightly wrong and had made him ill. He’d just about managed to pull himself out of his small cot and cook some dinner.

Deciding that fresh air may be of some good, he sat by the river to eat his dinner listening to the flowing water and the birds flying through the air. He almost missed the small meow that came from his left side, it was the little white cat. It was more plump than he’d last seen it, its sapphire doll-like eyes staring at the cooked fish in his hand.

“Don’t look at me like that” he murmured, resisting the urge to give in to its demands. He was doing a good job until he wasn’t. The mass of white fur meowed again and reached up, placing an outstretched paw on his chest. He sighed in defeat, pulling some of the fish from the stick with his teeth and dropping it on the blanket he’d laid before.

“There we go” A rare smile crossed his face when the feline scarfed down the food, blinking up at him again for more.

“Come on now I don’t have much” but instead of begging anymore it rubbed itself up his left side, cuddling up next to his hip.

The cat never left him after that day, they became a sort of duo. Wherever Bucky was it was sure to follow. He even named it, little Alpine.

Bucky would miss the much bigger cat now that he was returning home. He didn’t want to take the cat from where it knew, fearing that it may do more harm than good.

The journey on the quinjet was long. Bucky, now with a new vibranium arm, dozed off once to the soothing thrum of the engines. When they had arrived Bucky was instantly shown to his room, where his bags had been taken before. What he didn’t expect amongst the small pile was a large ball of white fur.

“Alpine?” He questioned.

The cat jumped awake with a chirp at his voice, stretching its long body off the bed to the carpeted floor before rubbing itself on Bucky’s ankles.

Bucky never did find out how the cat got there, he guessed that it had something to do with a little statement Shuri had made before he left.

“You’ve named it, it’s yours now” She’d smiled at the burly figure with the snow-coloured cat in his lap.

He was happy he’d have a friend, albeit one who would steal his food and take up most of his bed.

—

Definitely not posting this because all I have in the drafts is smut 👀

[creative-caramel-coffee]

The Ebony Wings of Hydra - CH 1

Pairings: Wanda x R

Word count: 3.7K

Summary: Hydra has been all you have ever known. But one day when the base you live in is attacked you escape. What will the real world be like for you. The avengers are happy to take you in but there are so many questions. You however are special. You have powers. Ones hydra wants back. Love, Drama, Romance (but not spicy), Illness, Injury, and trauma; What will win?

TW: Past trauma, fainting, flinching? Kidnapping, torture (mentioned), malnourishment, dehydration, medical shit, canon-typical violence

A/n i think this will be a series so stay tuned lol

The alarms were going off. Soon many guards ran past your cell towards what sounded like explosions. They rocked the floor with force and you watched in awe as the vibrations shattered the lock to your cell. You froze. This place was awful but it was all you had ever known. It was home. In a heartbeat you decided.

Waiting until the sound of footsteps disappeared, you carefully slipped from the cell. Once you had cleared the halls you took off into the surrounding woods. There was a trail of destruction leading west. You kept to the edge of it following the track for a half mile before something glinted up ahead. It was huge and looked very expensive. Your legs were shaking and the edges of your vision began to dim. After all you had just run a mile on an empty stomach. It wasn’t like hydra gave you five star meals or meals at all unless you were on the brink of death. Knowing you would regret it later you needed somewhere to crash. Maybe whoever owned this would be nice enough to let you leave once they found you. Carefully you stepped onboard. You had barely taken five steps before your knees buckled and your vision dipped entirely. Your body went sprawling and you fell to the floor. The world was dark and you were out cold. And that’s how they at found you when they came back.

***********************

“So shawarma?” Tony asked as they began walking back. A collective groan sounded

“Tony we had shawarma after the last six missions.” Natasha said placing her gun back in its holster.

“I can order us a pizza?” Wanda posed and frowned as she realised the jet was open to the woods.

“Hey Tony-?”

“Yeah I see it.” He said putting down the Ironman mask again. “Friday scan for heat signatures.”

“One heat signature detected inside.” Friday responded. “Shit. Ok guys stay behind me.” He said. Wanda ignored him and stepped cautiously into the jet.

“Umm Nat you may wanna come see this.” She called.

“Coming.” Nat said and tony followed behind her. The entered to see Wanda crouched by your side. Still out cold. Wanda’s fingers were on the slow steady pulse of your neck.

“She’s alive” Wanda said.

“Friday run threat analysis.” Tony said.

“Enhanced abilities detected. However she seems to be malnourished and dehydrated. She has extensive scarring across her body. No persons found to match her in government records.”

“Right … ok” tony said. “Thoughts guys? Come on this was suppose to be an easy mission.”

“I say we take her in. She obviously has nowhere else to go. Treat her as friendly until she threatens us. Standard medical care. From the sounds of it she’ll be out for a while yet. We can have Bruce look over her back at base and when she wakes up we’ll go from there.” Nat said.

“Do you think she’s from the base.” Wanda asked still crouched beside you.

“I wouldn’t rule it out.” Nat said. “Make sure she’s secure. I’m going to get us out of here.”

“Got it.” Wanda nodded and tony wandered off to alert fury of a mission update. Wanda sat against the bench in the jet, gently pulling your head into her lap so she could make sure you weren’t uncomfortable and so you wouldn’t go flying when the jet took off. The engine hummed to life and the jet took off. Wanda brushed the small curls from your eyes. As she sat studying you face she wondered what colour your eyes were. Probably blue or green. After a few hours bay carefully set the jet down and tony went to debrief while Nat picked your unconscious form from Wanda’s lap. Carrying you bridal style with Wanda trailing behind.

“You know I’ve got this I don’t need an escort.” nat said.

“Um I wanted to come along. If that’s alright. Just to make sure she’s doing ok.” Wanda said hesitantly and Nat nodded as they silently made their way to the medical wing.

Carefully setting you down on the bed Wanda came and sat beside you and took your hand. She felt like she knew you somehow. It was odd but your aura that her magic picked up on seemed familiar but she couldn’t place it. Bruce came in a moment later checking a few things and placing an IV before giving Nat a quick update. Wanda listened from her chair.

“She’s malnourished and dehydrated. I have given her an IV but I’m hesitant to give a feeding tube before she wakes up. We don’t know her history and i don’t want to do anything wrong. When she wakes up give her something to eat. Keep her calm, from what I can tell she’s been through something traumatic based off the amount of scarring alone on her arms and legs. I’ll get you a change of clothes for her. I’m expecting her to wake up in the next couple of hours.” He said before nodding to Wanda and leaving.

“Thanks Bruce.” Nat called after him as he went back to his lab.

“I’m gonna go clean up. Are you ok to stay with her?” Nat asked. Wanda nodded she wasn’t very dirty her magic kept her hands clean so she didn’t need a shower imminently like Nat did.

“Ok get Friday to call me if she wakes up.” Nat said and left to shower. Wanda studied your face again trying to place where she knew you from.

You began to stir. Two women’s voices seemed to be nearby and it took all your training not to stiffen. Where were you? Were you back there again? Despite your primal need to find out more or if you were safe you drifted back out of consciousness again.

The next time you woke your eyes fluttered open before you promptly shut them again. It was too bright. Much different to the darkness of your cell. You heard shuffling beside you and realised there was a hand in yours. You stiffened and the weight beside you lessened.

“Nat?” A voice called softly. You heard another persons, Nat supposedly stir on your left side. You were surrounded.

“Hmm?” A sleep voice hummed.

“I think she’s coming around.” The voice from earlier said and you stiffened as you felt a hand brush the curls from your face. Internally cursing yourself for reacting.

“Actually scratch that. I think she’s already awake. You can open your eyes sweetheart.” The voice said and hesitantly you did hearing the voice chuckle. But it was odd. It wasn’t the cruel chuckle you heard when they beat you. No this one seemed softer. Safer. Familiar. You looked at the two women who sat beside you. Both had red hair. Both had green eyes. The one holding your hand was the one who had spoken earlier. Noticing you observing them Wanda cleared her throat and you flinched slightly.

“Sorry.” She said seeming concerned by your reaction while Nat just raised a brow. “I’m Wanda and this is Natasha but you can call her Nat.” She said. You nodded slowly.

“Where am I?” You whispered quietly. Wanda visibly softened at your tone.

“You’re safe. You’re at the avengers compound in New York.” Wanda replied

“America?” You asked.

“Yes.” Nat said. You nodded again slowly.

“What do you need me for?” You asked softly. Wanda looked confused.

“Need you for?” She asked. Her nose scrunching.

“I’ll do whatever you want.” You said softly.

“Oh honey no. You don’t have to do anything you don’t want to. This isn’t hydra. You are safe here.” Wanda said understanding now.

“I’m… free?” You asked softly.

“Yes. And we have a few questions but we can save them for later when you’re better. In the meantime eat this.” Nat said handing you a Nutella sandwich. You frowned at it. Taking it and studying it closely.

“What is it?” You asked not used to anything otero than the grey porridge you rarely got.

Wanda gasped. “You’ve never had a sandwich before?” She said. Suddenly feeling embarrassed you shook you head slightly. Letting a quiet “no” pass your lips.

“Try it.” Wanda said. And you looked at it again before deciding it was worth the risk. Biting into it flavours you had never tasted burst on your taste buds. You hummed quietly to yourself in content and your shoulders relaxed as you let yourself indulge. After eating half of it you felt full and slightly nauseous. Carefully you set it down on the plate in your lap.

“Done already?” Wanda asked and your cheeks burned with shame. Wanting to appease her for some unknown reason you picked it up again lifting it to your mouth when a hand stopped you. You flinched slightly and dropped the sandwich. The hand withdrew quickly.

“Sorry. I’m sorry.” Wanda said not meaning to scare you. “I just wanted to stop you and tell you you don’t have to do anything you don’t want to. If you’re done with true sandwich that’s fine. You don’t need to eat more to appease me.” She said. Softly and you nodded.

“Do you think you could answer some questions for us?” Wanda asked carefully. You stiffened but nodded. Wanda hummed and decided to proceed.

“What’s your name kid?” Nat said.

“Subject 65798” you said softly.

“Jeez we need to call you something better than that.” She smiled softly. You exposed your left wrist to them and their eyes widening at the numbers tattooed on your wrist.

“But my brother called me y/n” you said quietly.

“You have a brother?” Wanda asked

“Had” you corrected.

“I’m sorry.” Wanda said.

“Don’t be it’s not your fault.” You said avoiding their eyes and picking at the bedsheets.

“Next question.” Nat said sensing your discomfort. “How old are you?”

“I’m not sure.” You replied honestly.

“Ok that’s ok. You look to be an adult but we can have Bruce do some tests fo find out.” You froze. Your breathing speeding up at the word tests. You knew tests. Tests hurt. Tests killed. It was Wanda’s voice that brought your back. Her concerned face was looking at you and both your hands were being squeezed in hers.

“Breathe y/n breathe it’s ok. You’re not there anymore. It’s ok. There we go, are you back with us sweetheart?” She asked softly. You nodded swallowing the shame you felt for breaking down.

“If you want to stop for today we can”. Nat offered.

“No it’s ok.” You said shaking you head. Wanda dropped you hands and you mourned the loss of contact. To say you were touch starved was an understatement.

“How long were you at hydra y/n?” Wanda asked.

“As long as I can remember.” You whispered.

“Do you have any powers we should know about?” She asked knowing you did but not knowing what they were.

“No.” You shook your head. If they didn’t know maybe they would let you stay you thought. Wanda sighed.

“We know you have powers y/n but I was hoping you would tell us yourself.” Wanda said

You stiffened. “Then why ask?”

“To see if you trusted us.” Nat said

“It’s a bit hard to trust when you spent your entire life in a cell.” You snapped and immediately felt bad as Wanda’s face fell.

“I’m sorry. I’m just not good with people.” You whispered.

“It’s ok.” Wanda said smiling again.

“It’s easier to show you rather than explain it. When I have some more energy I can do a demo if you’d like?” You said and Wanda smiled and nodded. Nat hesitated weighing the risks before agreeing.

“No. Not happening” a voice said from the door and you flinched. There was a man standing there with his arms crossed. You curled into yourself. You were defenceless in the bed and he stood blocking the only exit. Your heart quickened and you felt your breaths shorten.

“Tony not now. We would be with her the whole time. Not much can go wrong.” Nat said and they began arguing. Wanda watched before turning back to you and seeing you shaking as tears fell down your cheeks. She carefully put her hands over your ears sushing you as you flinched.

“Guys knock it off. Tony leave us be.” Wanda said with authority waiting for tony to leave before taking her hands from your ears. Instead she held you hand and helped you steady your breathing again.

“It’s ok.” Wanda said as she shifted to sit on the bed next to you. She hadn’t expected it but you threw yourself into her side. She gave you a comfort you hadn’t felt before. She was shocked stilling for a second before wrapping you in her arms. She petted your hair and whispered quiet words to you as you shook quietly.

“It’s ok. You’re safe now.” She said and pressed a featherlight kiss to the crown of your head. Your body relaxed and you drifted to sleep in her arms.

The next time you awoke you were still wrapped in her arms. However the room was different. She must have carried you here while you slept. The room was clean. A couple posters on the wall and a cold hot chocolate by the bed. You are curled in her lap as she read a book and ran her fingers through your hair. It felt amazing. You yawned and stretched like a cat. Wanda chuckled.

“You know you remind me of a puppy when you’re tired.” She said. You nodded still sleepy after getting more rest than you normally would.

“Where’s Nat?” You asked

“She’s training. She’ll be back later.” Wanda said setting down her book.

“I made a hot chocolate for you but it’s gone cold”

“I’m happy to drink it cold.” You said not wanting to waste her efforts.

“You don’t have to do that y/n” she said and you waved her off eyes wide ping as you brought the mug to your lips. The taste was amazing. Wanda chuckled at your expression.

“It’s even better when it’s warm.”

“I gets better?!” You asked and Wanda laughed at the chocolate on your nose. Using her finger she wiped it off celebrating internally as you didn’t flinch at the touch.

“If you want to come with me to the kitchen I can heat it up.”

“No it’s ok. They’re something I think I’m ready to show you now.”

“What is it”

“My powers.” You said softly.

“You don’t have to.”

“I want to. You… you make me feel safe.” You said and Wanda beamed.

Wanda was confused as you led her to the roof. Her confusion turning to worry as you grew closer to the edge.

“Y/n wait! You could fall!” She said trying to rush to your side. You simply turned grinning and giving a mock salute before falling backwards with your arms spread.

“Y/N!” Wanda yelled rushing to the edge and peering over. Just then you whooped and shot upwards. Two ebony black wings spanning out from just below your shoulder blades. Wanda sat back in awe. You spun and dipped grinning wildly. You rarely ever got this much freedom to use your wings and they were stiff from lack of use. The wind in them felt amazing. You smiled and used your hands to create a ball of magic like Wanda’s except black. You grinned at Wanda’s shocked expression and made the magic disappear before carefully leaning back on the roof. Your black wings folded behind you and retreated into two black lines that ran down your back looking just like they were drawn on with a pen. The wings were now gone. You smiled and Wanda tan over to you.

“That was Awesome but never do that again I thought you were going to die.” Wanda gushed and your grin faltered.

“Amazing though. I’m honestly impressed. But u have one question.”

“Sure?” You asked feeling more confident now.

“Do I know you?” She said quickly. You turn disappeared. You were hoping she wouldn’t ask.

“You had the cell next to me in hydra.” You said sadly. “Only you escaped and I didn’t. But it’s ok. I never blamed you.” You said softly and Wanda pulled you into a hug.

“I’m so sorry y/n” she said running her hands through your hair.

“It’s ok Wanda.” You said.

“No it’s not. We left you … I left you.”

“And I never blamed you.” You said taking her hands. “If anything I should thank you.”

“Thank me?”

“It was you and your powers that gave me my magic.” You grinned.

“So you can do what I do?”

“Yep just my magic is black and I have wings because of the extra years of testing after you escaped.”

“Y/n I’m sorry” Wanda said and you held up a hands.

“I don’t want to hear it. I don’t blame you and i never will.” You said softening and giving her a big hug.

“What did i miss?” Nat said walking onto the roof.

“Y/n has-“ Wanda started but you clamped a hand over her mouth. She stopped before you quickly pulled your hand away.

“EW Wanda … why?” You said cradling your hand and then wiping it on your black jeans. She had licked you. Wanda doubled over laughing while nat watched looking amused.

“Something you want to tell me y/n?” Nat asked again. You grinned at her before running and leaping off the edge of the building. You heard nat cry out and then gasp as you shot back up with your wings out stretched.

when you landed she cautiously ran a hand through the black feathers which felt softer than powdered snow.

“They’re beautiful.” She said in awe and you blushed slightly. When she removed her hand you folded them away again and they once more disappeared into your back. You made the two of them promise not to tell the team until you were ready and they agreed. But assured you the team would love them. You sighed and walked back inside with the two following you.

“Y/n? Isn’t it cold for you out there?” Wanda asked and you shrugged. It was nearing winter and you were in ripped black skinny jeans and an faded black AC/DC singlet with the sides deep enough your black sports bra showed. Your lace up black high top converse were double knotted and there was a small lesbian pride bead on the lace. Wanda had gone to the trouble of finding an outfit you would like and Friday had promptly gotten it delivered. You had a silver ring on your left pointer finger with a small skull on it and a black leather bracelet on the same wrist. Your hair was done in a half up half down braid that left locks falling part way down your back and shoulders.

“Its not bad. My body is used to extreme conditions so they don’t effect me as much as they used to.” You stated simply. Wanda looked sad and you quickly changed the topic not wanting to bring up memories for her either.

“Is there any chance i would be able to…” you trailed off realising you had almost asked for something.

“To what y/n?” Nat asked.

“Oh nothing.” You waved her off but nat persisted

“Y/n you can tell us anything.”

“I kinda … really need some more stuff. I don’t have well … anything so i need more clothes and some … other things. I mean i would love some art supplies it was kind of all i could do in the cell. But i don’t need them and i don’t want to waste any of your money.” You were rambling now. Wanda cut you off placing her hands on your shoulders.

“Y/n you can have whatever you like. Tony is rich as all hell and i could use a shopping spree. I’d love to help you find new clothes and I’m sure Steve can recommend some good art supplies. He draws right nat?” Wanda said looked over her shoulder at nat who smiled nodded.

You felt tears prick your eyes.

“Oh sweetheart its ok. I’d be happy to make you happy. And if you need anything at all i want us to be the ones to give it to you. Anything you want or need just tell us and we’ll make sure you have it. Honey your life has been hard and we just want to make it better.” She said pulling you in from arms length into her chest as small sobs wracked your body. You were so grateful. Wanda shushed you and gently ran her fingers through the ends of your hair. You were mildly surprised to feel another strong pair of arms wrap around you from behind as Nat sandwiched you between her body and Wanda’s. You let out a content sigh, wishing the moment would never end.

“How about i make us some lunch then we can go explore amazon” she said and winked “i have Tony’s login.” Which made Nat laugh. You simply looked confused

“Amazon? Like the rainforest?” You asked and Wanda looked you you with a grin.

“No its like an online shopping website. You order the stuff and it gets sent to you in the mail.” She chuckled and you felt the tips of your ears go pink.

“Damn i think even Steve might be more adapted than you at this point.” Nat said and bumped shoulders with you. She grabbed your hand and began leading you to the kitchen following Wanda.

MASTERLIST

[icyfox17]

New tag game bc I'm bored

List 5-10 of the most obscure crossovers you have floating around in your brain !!

1. Dumbass!crimeboys x halcyon!crimeboys

-> arguably the most obscure since it's a crossover between two aus that aren't even posted publicly, but i gen adore it sm<3 db!crimeboys is a hero au where tommy is just. Welp. A dumbass<3 he's my fav tommy ever guys 😭😭 he's my friend's au and I just SOBS most precious guy ever... And halcyon crimeboys is a detective au. Basically take the dumbest tommy and tired older brother Wilbur and make them meet the smartest crimeboys. It's very silly:))

2. Psych x Dsmp

-> okay hear me out. Hear me out. Shawn Spencer is literally Tommyinnit. They are the SAME. Now Phil as Chief Vic, Techno and Wilbur as twin detectives who both function as Jules and Lassiter (platonic ofc), and Tubbo as Gus. It fits way better than it should 😭😭

3. Critical Role (specifically Mighty Nein) x Dsmp

-> guys. Guys. I went on a rant on here like a year ago BUT CADUCEUS AND TECHNO'S CHARACTER DESIGNS ARE EERILY SIMILAR TO EACH OTHER. Tall pink dude w animal traits (cad is more cow, tech is more pig)? Cad is like c!Phil and c!Techno to me... (Is it bc of the tea obsession? Maybe...). I just also think that clingyduo would get along with Jester and Nott/Veth like a wildfire. OR OMG FOOLISH-- Does anyone remember Foolish building dick statues everywhere?? Yeah, he's definitely a follower of the Traveler.

4. 911xMCU

-> okay ngl guys this just came 2 me bc I realised that everyone calls Bobby Cap like how all the Avengers call Steve Cap and I was like lmfao imagine a scene where someone says Cap and they both respond to it.

5. Cw Flash x Pjo

-> okay this isn't my idea but it's one of my fav fics ever WHY DOES IT WORK SO WELL LMFAO

6. Spider-Man x Dick Grayson & Wally West

-> PETER IS LITERALLY DICK AND WALLY IN ONE PERSON 😭😭 SUPER SMART SCIENCE BRAIN + SILLY GOOFY + ACROBATS they're the same. I need them to meet so badly sobsosbsosbsosvsosbsosbsisbsjs Not sure which versions of which I just. Need it. Pls 😭😭😭

7. Justice League Unlimited x Young Justice (tv show)

-> This one has its own separate post here, but omg it makes me SO UPSET GUYS 😭😭😭

8. TMNT x Batfam

Okay not obscure bc they have had both a movie and a comic BUT HEAR ME OUT. SPECFICALLY THE 2007 MOVIE VERSION OF TMNT. This scene is literally Dick and Jason I can't do this guys WHY DO THEIR COLOURS EVEN MATCH

9. Dceu!Bruce & Barry x MCU!Irondad

-> okay my mental illness is full blast here but omfg they are the same duo THEY ARE THE SAME I need them to swap sons for a day plspslspslspspspdlfkfdishskdfjdksklaskd

10. Any vigilante au Tommy x Spider-Man

-> this is hidden in my notes app and is both like my own version of Tommy and Spidey but omfg I'm attached it's such a fun idea to play around with rahhhshshshss. I have a scene where Tommy and Spidey have a miscommunication over Blade lmfao and it lives rent free in my mind. Like Blade is a vampire but does NOT dress the same as Technoblade who might also secretly be a vampire in Tommy's universe lmfaooo

Okay and Bonus One that literally no one will understand except me

11. Magnum PI remake x Orphanduo (Techno and Skeppy)

-> Katsumoto is literally Technoblade guys. THEY ARE THE SAME PERSON. And omfg Magnum and Higgens are so happy duo ngl 😭😭😭

OKAY THAT'S ALL FOR NOW YIPPEE

Tag time :D

@sammiekel @jiksvokrat @cristalmystery @ghosts-and-blue-sweaters @sleepdeprivedofmycorn @sunflowervc @angrilydancing and anyone else who wants to join in!!

[drawlody]

Wip of my Overlord!Adam n Sinner!Adam designs:D

Update: Now Overlord!Adam is more chimera-ish, I saw an idea bout him staying at a cathedral n wanna use it so bad damnnn. Sinner!Adam I decided agaisnt the wings n opt for a tail, would be funny if he was to sneak stuff with his tail n shit

Why 2? Cause i cant decied if having the mask morph into his face or just regular human face is cooler :DDDDD

Overlord: is not at the hotel, is doing relativecally fine through hell, he will get redeem albeit slower n more fucked up. Im thinking bout ripping off half the wings so he cant fly but can still use them to appear larger (plz i hold on this idea for 4y already i want to use it so bad). I'll give him some tattoos representing Eve n the kids cause DADAM IS THE BEST ADAM (´▽`ʃ♡ƪ) also should i give him a tail hmmmmm???

Sinner: is at the hotel redeeming n is miserable, yes that is a skirt i saw that idea in 2 fics n it havent leave my mind once, it would be the closest thing he got to a robe, was thinking bout like a garderner apron but it look off so leather jacket it is. Off-coloured wings or no wings? On one hand having him curl up crying but unable to wrap himself in the wings is a delightfully painful ass image i would love to use but i also feel like without the wings it feel like its missing smth (cause technically it is ¯\_(ツ)_/¯) maybe really small wings??? like enough to lift him off ground but not enough to fly around n be use as a blanky how r we feeling bout that hmmm. Also idk if ya can tell but he only got 1 horn, cause he ripped off one:DDDDD

A lot of these design choice is the result of the 400+ adamsapple fics i read which btw update slow as hell today man i cant go an entire day with only one 2k word chap man plzzzzzzz (if ya want those fics do tell me ill try to find the ones im talking bout here)

Fun fact: i learn to draw chubby people specifically for this man (((o(*ﾟ▽ﾟ*)o))) like i wanna learn eventually but never really comfortable stepping out of my comfort zone. That is until this fucker came along n i will hate myself if i draw him as a twink

(as much as i love twinks this aint the char for that)

Plz go ahead n tell me bout ya own interpertation of Adam designs in hell:D!!! Like what hc r ya using here? i saw many go with robes, many go with the rocker vibe which obvs love that , litterally using that for mine (*✧×✧*) one even go full whore mode n i gotta say ✨slay✨

I'll go through each design choices once i finished the thingy so watch out for that :DDD

[rriavian]

Slightly different take than the premise @aisalynn came up with so hopefully I can entice them into writing a vampire au too. And maybe @seiya-starsniper with that iwtv idea :)

So! The fic! The Corinthian is a vampire, and Dream is the weirdly immortal entity he’s obsessed with. Had a couple of options for this but settled on Dream is (still) the Greek god Morpheus who’s spending his spare time vampire hunting and looking very good while he does it. Why is he doing it? Well, vampires don’t sleep/dream once they are turned and yeah that could potentially offend a god but…a group of them once caught Morpheus unawares and drank his blood which is far more offensive actually.

And it also gave them back the ability to dream which is doubly insulting and so Morpheus was like how dare you. 

To keep that a secret—and also punish them for the theft—Morpheus goes on a vampire killing spree. And then keeps it as a hobby. The Corinthian is already a vampire doing his own unhinged thing, but he catches sight of Morpheus somewhere somehow and is like ooh. But he doesn’t actually know who he’s messing with. So he manages to drink his blood—this would involve some sexy wall/floor pinning probably—and then is faced with a very very pissed off god. 

(He’s into it)

Anyway he's lucky enough not to be murdered (maybe Morpheus gets distracted and lets him go?) but he does fall even deeper into obsession. The Corinthian realises he can now dream and is like ok I’ve gotta figure out who this mysterious immortal is because not only is this a little odd but I didn’t even get a name. And then there’s some tension filled dream sharing, a bit of ill received flirting, and the Corinthian maybe tries to leverage the fact that he now knows Dream’s secret in order to get laid (and/or more of his delicious blood).

Morpheus is like: I will introduce you to the exact colour of your internal organs if you continue to speak to me this way

The Corinthian with hearts in his eyes: yeah sure would I need to lay down for that or can we do it standing up 

Unfortunately Morpheus doesn’t go for this. After being turned down quite spectacularly the Corinthian decides giving up is for losers and that the best course of action is actually to seduce the fuck out of this god. So he goes about figuring out how Morpheus likes to be worshipped. 

And then precedes to be far, far too good at it.

Morpheus is annoyed at how flattered he is because the world has moved on from ancient times so he’s mostly been forgotten. He’s still just as powerful but people don’t know about him the way they used to. No one’s built him a temple or left him an offering in centuries. They don’t even say his name anymore. And they certainly don’t murmur prayers the way the Corinthian does, or with such descriptive content…

The first time it happens and he actually blushes Morpheus is enraged that he’s become so easy. That his standards of worshippers have fallen so far that this small thing is making him squirm.

What happens next is a matter of pride. (Is it though?)

In typical Dream fashion Morpheus is like ok I’m going to demand more and more, because if this vampire wants to worship a god then he better worship a god. Cue even more intense dream sharing. And Morpheus very reluctantly starts to become just as obsessed in return while happily denying it. Just fighting it the whole time while also acting increasingly possessive towards his vampire. Mostly he manages to keep this a secret through the use of carefully blank facial expressions and a lot of casual threats.

Though sometimes he slips.

One day he’s daydreaming about the Corinthian’s pretty gold hair and accidentally shares it with him.

(That’s it I have to kill him now.)

[encrucijada]

BABYLON BOY & GOSSAMER GIRL by pía & teddy

♡ genre & categroy: literary fiction, adult

♡ pov: dual 3rd person

♡ teddy and i revisited the beginnings of mari & theo and came out of it with a rewrite of their first story that reclaimed its place as their real canon??, duology + all the novellas we want, alliteration galore, sometimes all you need is a personal project with your qpp

♡ a reminder that teddy is @teddywriting

♡ cw: drug addiction, child neglect, homelessness, imperfect recovery, unmedicated mental illness

♡ themes: second opportunities, self-love, family both chosen and born, gentleness, what if choosing to live your life was an option

a b o u t :

babylon boy - circa late 00s. theo and maripaz find each other while searching for meaning, but they're not quite the answer they were looking for. having independently run away from home they are focused on survival. maripaz left behind a family with more kids her parents knew what to do with and a boyfriend she never really liked. theo cut his family's losses and he hopes eventually they will stop missing him, his problems are his own. survival leads to companionship leads to friendship leads to i would be really bummed if you ever parted from me. there is no future as they hop from place to place, shoplift, and try to have a night of rest, there is only today and maybe tomorrow. gossamer girl - circa early 10s. the most earth shattering things still happen walking down the street or in the store.

in other words: a story told in two parts (plus a few others) about maripaz and theo—who ran away from home to spare their families the trouble. maripaz was only taking up space in her house and theo definitely does not have a drug addiction problem. they meet when theo helps maripaz shoplift from a grocery store and he steals one of the two necklaces she brought with her, this one with an angel charm (this is important). teddy is writing the theo pov and i am writing the mari pov and they go back and forth throughout.

c h a r a c t e r s :

maría paz "maripaz" vega. would rather die than ever express a want or need. should be dancing to abba at a discotheque. loves valentine's day themed stuff unironically. sixth daughter of eight kids. audhd. constantly interrupting her narration with snippets of the past. wants love to fix her so so bad. i think that i'm not who you think i am / but i like to be seen and i like to be wanted [better than this - lizzy mcalpine].

theodore "theo" rayes. hasn't had a problem ever his brain is so normal promise. should be doing silly tricks at the skate park. smartest stupidest pretty boy you'll ever meet. twin brother (older). autistic. constantly interrupting his narration with daydreams of the future. has these drugs under control (trust me). medicate, meditate, save your soul for jesus / throw a punch, fall in love, give yourself a reason [call your mum - noah kahan].

the actual plot is less important than these two's emotional journeys. the conflict comes from... why isn't how much i love you enough to make everything right? what if you wanted someone to choose you and mean it. what if you wanted to be someone people can rely on. what if we were what the other person is looking for but where we're at right now is making it so hard but here we are, we are staying.

aesthetic: the changing lights of a carnival ferris wheel, tongues coloured from candy, heart-shaped sunglasses, intertwined fingers, the murmur of the ocean tide, fine white sand, pink and orange sunsets, hands sticky from melting ice cream, light refracted on a suncatcher, cramped secondhand bookstores, the buzz of fluorescent lights in a hospital waiting room, freckle-covered cheeks, the heads of strawberries, nightlife lights refracted on wet pavement, a necklace you never take off, rhinestone decorated flip phones, a steady heartbeat, graffities that scream for something more, homemade plastic jewellery, the light behind your head looks like a halo, tangled bedsheets, soft music at the grocery store, the cold of the frozen aisle, photographs from disposable cameras, porcelain angels

snippet for you:

Watermelon in triangles.

“That one’s mine.” Carla had grabbed one of the soup bowls, then the watermelon Maripaz had picked, and another one. Juan Pa had left then unattended after calling up the stairs if anyone wanted any.

“Girls,” Mum called from the living room, her telenovela was so loud Maripaz had been able to hear it from the second floor. Bringing herself to do homework before dark was hard enough. “No fighting, please. I don’t want to deal with this.”

Carla had watermelon juice, a single drop of it, rolling down her chin. “Don’t make a scene. It’s just fucking watermelon, just grab another one.”

Maripaz made a scene.

The soup bowl broke into six separate pieces when it crashed on the floor. Carla screamed, not from pain, but indignation and anger. She shoved Maripaz so hard she knocked over one of the kitchen table chairs.

“Girls! Por el amor de Dios, not one second of peace in this house.”

the universe as a whole has been baptised as HOME HABITAT. but you will see this tagged as #bb&gg, as well as any variation of #maripaz&theo. teddy and i have at least 2 novellas planned to bridge the gap between babylon boy and gossamer girl, and one prequel about maripaz's oldest sister. but more on that some other time!

[scaly-freaks]

Hiiii!! I fell in love with 'until the colours fade' and the end made me think that maybe Aegon was going to commit su*cide? it felt open ended too as if maybe he could work things out with Jae and they could be the family they both so desperately need. I was so angry with Aegon at first because the neglecting hit close to home, but I ended up feeling sad for both of them in the end. It felt like you meant to keep the mother unnamed but was she Amara? i wanted to guess because of the moodboard and the girl with the dark hair.

If you want to reveal anything about their life when she was still alive I'd really love that!! The idea of Aegon mourning her when he found out she died just made me so sad and I didn't even wannt to imagine it because they always feel so joined in my mind

Aaahhhh thank you so much (and thank you for being so sweet with your request omg)

It is open-ended. It's ultimately up to the reader to decide what happens without any input from me. My irls read the fic today and were dragging Aegon over the coals because they refused to accept that anyone once they've become a parent has any excuse not to raise a perfectly normal, well balanced child, which I didn't agree with, but to each their own. Traumatised children grow up to become parents all the time and don't stop being traumatised. All you can do is your best, even if that counts as bare minimum to someone else. To you, that is your best. Your intentions are there.

Aegon definitely didn't mean to let his intentions slip, but after the mother's death, aka someone he obviously relied on heavily in terms of emotional support, he lost his mind a little bit. His family is busy with their own lives, and are also quite neglectful of him because I imagine he's not the success story amongst the Targ-Hightowers. No one came to his house after the funeral to clean up and make sure there was food in the fridge when he got back. That's how they never realised Jae was still there until a week and a half later. He had the excuse (barely) of numbing himself on alcohol and drugs to avoid facing up to the fact that his wife was gone, hence why he forgot her. He let Jaehaera parent herself which was also wrong, and she became a latch key kid pretty much. If the electric bill isn't paid, the washing machine isn't working, and then who's cleaning her underwear? At eleven, she's probably thinking whatever, it's fine i'll reuse it, it doesn't look dirty because no one's teaching her that stuff (can't even say it's common sense because kids will be kids). She hasn't started her period yet, but I imagine Aegon would be a lot more aware of that this time round and actually buy her the stuff before he drags Helaena in to explain it all LOL.

And yes, 'Momma' was in fact Amara. And yuupppp, pulled my heartstrings to think of Aegon losing her. She was a baby having a baby, and then suddenly she was gone and Jaehaerys went with her.

Their life before she died was happy, I must admit. They both obviously struggled massively with mental illness and addiction and whatnot, but the kids were their pride and joy, something they made between them and would go to the ends of the earth for. Aegon was a good dad before she died, which is the most heartbreaking bit. Glimpses of it come through, for instance the glitter shampoo, buying Jae sweets after they fight, running after the ice cream van, but these are all notably things he did when she was way younger and before Amara died, suggesting he's frozen in time. Jae is growing up, and her Dad is failing to keep up. He's sluggish and trapped in memories he wants to return to. He used to put his all into making sure his kids were happy on the little money they had, and that his wife wasn't sinking into her depression again (Amara went through a couple suicide attempts during her post-partum period). She was terrified she'd go through with it one day and that it would never end even once the kids were older, and Aegon was the one who was like I won't let you, I promise, I'll keep you here even if it's not that simple.

The sad irony is she died and it was completely out of both their hands. She didn't want to leave, but she did. He tells Jaehaera no, baby, you're all me to disguise the fact that she has her mother's eyes and those eyes haven't looked at him the same since Amara died. Obviously Jaehaera's lonely and depressed and struggling to cope, so when she looks at her dad, he sees all those things staring back at him. He sees what Amara used to look like in her worst moments, but he doesn't have half the mental and emotional energy he used to in order to help his daughter. Instead, he drowns and watches her drown with him.

Amara is probably somewhere in the afterlife crying over the pair of them and not enjoying heaven I'm ngl 😭

[endlesstwanted]

A Kiss For The Unwell

My entry for @flashfictionfridayofficial prompt #251 — Out There, read under the cut or on Ao3 here 🏵

Fandom: 9-1-1: Lone Star (TV 2020)

Rating: General Audiences

Pairing: Carlos Reyes/TK Strand

Tags: AU (pollen allergies work the opposite way), Flowers, Sick Character

Summary: TK suspects Carlos may be sick because of the pollen season, so he goes to check on him.

Wordcount: 1,089

Also created for: @sweetspicybingo, Hurt/Comfort | Checking in // @fandom-free-bingo, Maritime May | New Treatment // @seasonaldelightsbingo, types of love | “You’re Not Letting Go, No, I Won’t Let You Go, Oh”

TK heard from Michelle that Carlos hadn’t left his house in a couple of days during the shift.

They had hung out only a few times, so while they weren’t exactly a thing (TK wanted to think that yet), it obviously surprised him. Carlos had the face of someone who has never called in sick at work and has never missed a class in high school for being ill. So he decided to text him, and sent Carlos a casual “hey, how are you doing?”.

A false fire call and a gas leak later, TK got to check his phone while eating something that had brought a few arguments between Marjan and Paul. Carlos had replied that he was fine, and that told TK that he wasn’t working that day since Carlos never used his phone while patrolling. So, his guts told him everything was not fine.

Not wanting to push the situation, but with the intention to keep the conversation going because he was starting to worry, TK sent a new message, this time asking if he could come around his place after work.

The next hours passed by slowly, with just one more call and plenty of time to overthink and burn energy in the gym. Perhaps it was a hard week at work in Carlos’ station, caught up in a big case that was too much for him or had asked him to work non-stop the days before he last went home. Maybe he had found himself in a crossfire and asked to take a step back and a break because of it.

And of course, it could also be the damned pollen season they were in. Mateo had just had to stay in at the station during the last call because of it. He had a sneezing attack that caused him a headache, and none of those stopped until they came back to the station and Nancy brought some lilies out of the ambulance. With just a sniff of them, Mateo was feeling much better. The way pollen works in this world often made TK have a headache himself; it felt only natural for it to have a bad effect on people, but instead, the negative effects were had if you were not exposed to enough pollen during spring.

Once he was changed and ready to leave the firehouse, Carlos had sent a new text giving him the green light to drop by, but warning they’d have to order in if he planned to stay for dinner. TK replied with a smiling emoji, and headed outside.

First he stopped at a flower shop around the corner, where he stood trying to decide what to get among the huge variety of flowers and ready-to-go bouquets for a while. Finally, he chose a little bouquet of yellow pansies; yellow was the colour he thought of when thinking of Carlos, and the other way around. Next, TK went to a Thai restaurant from which they had ordered once in the past, and got the exact same dishes they had done that time —he remembered all the important stuff, and to know Carlos’ comfort food was one of the ways he had of showing how much Carlos meant to him.

TK called for a ride that left him in Carlos’ street and he walked the houses to get to his house thinking of what he was going to say. He didn’t want to step over anything that Carlos could be going through, or break any boundary they still hadn’t set up, so he opted to act like he hadn’t heard Michelle talking about him being at home for some days and just be a supporting friend Carlos could turn to if needed.

After a few knocks on his door, Carlos welcomed TK with messy hair like he had just woken up from a late nap, a little yawn he poorly hid with his hand, and watery eyes. Right before he turned to his side and sneezed on his elbow.

“Sorry about that,” Carlos apologised when he focused back on him, sniffing and taking a probably slightly used tissue from his pocket. “I’ve been … like this for a few days.”

TK had managed to hide the flowers behind his back for a surprise effect, so while they stayed unnoticed he showed a close smile and said “Sorry if this wasn’t the best day to hang out. But I brought dinner!”

Carlos’ eyes lit up at the sound of that word, and his eyes fell on the bag on TK’s hand. “I wish I could smell it, but the bag tells me it’s from that Thai place we ordered once?”

“I’m glad your sight is intact,” TK joked, and shifted his weight from one leg to the other. “So … can I come in?”

“Yes-yeah. Of course.” Carlos moved to the door’s side and let him in.

TK made a spin to still face Carlos and not let flowers show, and when he closed the door, TK held the food up while saying “I brought something else.”

Carlos frowned, and TK noticed how red his nose was. He made a mental note to run to the pharmacy and get some meds if the flowers didn’t work, or at least moisturising balm for his nose. To Carlos’ puppy eyes, TK didn’t waste more time and took the flowers out.

A smile grew on Carlos’ face, who looked as cheerful as he could be given his state. “For me?”

“For you.” With another smile, TK bowed and handed Carlos the pansies.

He watched as Carlos closed his eyes and brought the flowers to his face. Taking a big sniff he smiled again, and TK thought maybe that was exactly what Carlos needed. “Yellow is my favorite color. I could kiss you right now,” he chuckled.

Now it was time for TK’s eyes to light up at the hint of the possibility of physical contact.

“This is exactly what I needed.” Then Carlos opened his eyes, and saw his face. “But I don’t think I’m the best person to kiss right now.”

TK only smiled wider. “Can I do it anyway?”

Carlos smirked, and teased him by taking the food’s bag out of his hand, leaving it on the entrance’s furniture. “Go for it. I think your visit is making me feel better already.”

TK took Carlos’ hand that was holding the flowers and moved them away, keeping them safe as he reached Carlos’ neck to bring him closer, pulling him into a delicate kiss.

[minawritesfanfic]

Stu Macher x Gn!reader

Playing Nurse

Work count: 1,421

Summary: Your friends come to visit you after you fall sick in the middle of summer, and you’re met with a surprise of the goofball of the group staying to spend his week nursing you back to health.

☆ ★ ✮ ★ ☆

Just my luck.

Of course, I’d be the one person to get violently sick right at the peak of summer vacation. All the plans I had for the week fizzled into nothing just like that. It was frustrating and the pounding headache I had just accentuated my frustration. I could barely think and the room felt like it was spinning, despite the fact I was laying still. I hadn’t left my bed for the last two days, and of course, now would be the time I realized that I should probably reorganize my room.

“Oh sweetpea, you’re friends are here. Ain’t that sweet of them!” My mother called as she opened the door to my room, through warped vision I managed to see Sidney, Tatum, Randy, and Stu.

“Hey guys, what are you doing here?” I asked readjusting my position to sit up more.

“Nono, lay back down! We just came to say hi and check in on you.” Sidney said as she approached me and forced me to lay back down, I didn’t have the energy to fight her.

“Yeah, how am I supposed to enjoy my summer when my favourite piece of arm candy is ill?!” Tatum exaggerated with a pout as she sat down on the edge of my bed pretending to faint.

“I thought I was your eye candy Tatum?” Randy chimed in with an offended loom while Stu just snickered behind him and place a hand on his shoulder.

“Randy, you’re about as appealing as a grey rock.” Randy shook off his hand and dropped his head sadly whilst we all laughed.

“It’s okay Randy, you can be my arm Candy. Tatum and Stu just don’t see your…. unique charm.” Tatum and Stu laughed again and I shot them a look.

“Yeah screw you guys, they get it. At least they can see my irresistibility, you all are blind.” He said slicking his hair back and flashing me a grin, Sidney and I laugh and Tatum just rolled her eyes.

“I really appreciate you guys coming over, I honestly thought I would die of boredom.”

“Of course, we even brought you some things. It was Billy’s idea since he wasn’t able to come with us today,” Sidney sat down next to me and handed me a basket.

It had a little ribbon tied on the handle in my favourite colour, and it was filled with all of my favourite things. I instantly picked up one of the snacks and opened it up, taking a savory bite. I practically melted into my pillows, it had been a while since I’d had one of these since the local grocery stores stopped selling them. I smiled up at everyone before letting out a painful and gross cough.

“Thanks you guys, but you shouldn’t get too close. I’d hate for all of us to be stuck inside this summer, I appreciate you all coming but get out. Go enjoy your summer, then you can tell me all about what I missed when I’m better.” I said as I sat up and shooed the group away, Sidney stood and gave me a sad look.

“Come on Sid, you heard them. They probably need to rest now anyways.” Tatum placed a hand on Sidney’s shoulder before dragging her out of the room, Randy followed with a wave and Stu just shot finger guns at me closing the door behind them.

And then I was alone once again, I was a little sad they left but I didn’t want them to miss out on summer because they were taking care of me or get sick because of me. I rolled over set the basket down on my bedside table, then rolled onto my stomach and snuggled into my pillow. The short interaction had honestly drained me, so maybe I’d do what Tatum said.

Just as I was close to falling asleep I heard my door creak back open, I looked up and saw Stu entering my room with a bowl and spoon.

“What are you still doing here Stu?”

“I’m not Stu, I’m Nurse Stu here to help you feel better.” He grinned and sat down next to me, “I brought you some warm soup to calm your stomach.” He set the bowl in his lap and used the spoon to scoop up the soup, then he brought the spoon to my lips.

“Thank but no thank ‘Nurse Stu’ but I have ‘Nurse Mom’-“ He took the opportunity of me talking to gently shove the spoon into my mouth, I rolled my eyes and just ate the soup.

“Shhh, just enjoy the royalty treatment alright, do you want to kill my dreams of being a nurse on my first day on the job?” He gave me puppy dog eyes and pleaded visually for me to let him stay, I just groaned before coughing again.

“Fine fine stay, but it’s your fault if you end up sick,” I grumbled but he just smiled and fed me another spoonful.

★ ✮ ★

I expected Stu’s nurse act to last maybe the rest of the day, but it continued through the week. Today had been the hardest day, I was feverish with constant chills. Not to mention I was unable to keep anything I ate down, I was just in so much pain with no way to stop it. All I could do was cry.

Stu came barreling into the room with a smile as he always did, but seeing the pained look, tears in my eyes, how red and pale my face was his expression quickly changed. He was by my side in a flash with his palm on my forehead, I was comforted by the coolness of his hand in comparison to my forehead.

“You’re burning up,” He murmured to himself before gently squeezing my cheek and exiting the room.

He returns a few moments later with a wet rag and placed it gently on my forehead, I shivered at the abrupt temperature change but relished in the relief it brought. Though it reminded me how cold I was despite it the fact I was snuggled quite warmly in my blankets, I could barely hold back my teeth from chattering.

“Ugh being sick like actually sucks, how can I be so hot but yet so cold?” I whined shifting uncomfortably in my bed.

“Well if you’re so cold I could warm you up?” Stu said with a smirk and a teasing undertone, at first I opened my mouth to say no but the more I thought about it the more I warmed up to the idea. No pun intended.

“Actually yeah, would you? At least until I fall asleep?”

“Oh uhm well, I mean if you insist,” Stu said letting his flirty and confident demeanor falter for a moment, but he quickly composed himself and climbed carefully into the bed next to me.

I scooted over and made space for him in my bed, it was a bit awkward at first and I felt my face growing more red than it already was. But once we found a comfortable position, him on his back and me resting on his shoulder, the awkwardness slowly disappeared. He took away the wet rag and set it on the side table, my fever had thankfully gone down significantly. Though a new symptom arose, exhaustion from my body working hard to expel this god-awful common cold. I yawned softly and snuggled into his chest a bit more, a smile growing on my face as I could hear his quickening heartbeat. It wasn’t long before the soothing melody of his heartbeat and warmth lulled me into a peaceful sleep.

★ ✮ ★

A few days had passed and I was feeling wonderfully refreshed and happy to be healthy again. I currently sat on the island reading a magazine whilst my mom prepared dinner in the kitchen. We both stopped what we were doing when the phone suddenly rang, my mother looked over her shoulder at me before she spoke.

“Sweetpea, could you get that for me? I need to start setting up the table.” I just hummed in response and made my way to the landline in the living room.

“Hello, who’s this?” I said as I picked up the phone, I snickered when I heard a raspy voice call my name.

“Hey…It’s Stu, I think you got me sick…” He droned with a weak laugh that ended in a cough.

“Oh? Well, I guess it's my turn to play nurse until you feel better, huh?”

☆ ★ ✮ ★ ☆

[thosesillylittlegayghosts]

Tlh characters/relationships as speak now (Taylor’s version songs)

Mine:

It pains me to say this but jordelia. Hear me out! ‘Careless man’s careful daughter’ and Cordelia doing everything she can to get Elias off the hook in cog. ‘Do you remember we were sitting there by the water…’ and Cordelia reading to James when he was ill.

Sparks fly

Ghostwriter. ‘Kind of reckless that should send me running’ when he’s literally a ghost?? ‘Captivated by you baby like a fireworks show’ when Lucie so clearly remembers their first meeting? Also the song just gives off major like writer with an idealistic view of love so it’s perfect for Lucie

Back to December

Alastair to Thomas. Mainly like after coi/early chot Thomastair. ‘I’m so glad you made time to see me’ as Thomas going to see Alastair when he wrote despite their ‘break up.’ ‘You gave me all you love and all I gave you was goodbye’ I mean really it’s their whole convo after the sanctuary scenes guys

Speak now

Matthew. Do I even need to explain??? His whole monologue about if they really loved each other then he’d leave but it’s a sham and she shouldn’t be marrying James as a sham but hes still gonna let it happen because he’s in love with her and he’s his parabati. Also him actually shooting his shot at the end of chain of iron (rip his chances after the gracelet came off though)

Dear John

Alastair carstairs and also to some degree grace? I mean the opening line just screams Alastair. Also the whole don’t you think I was too young to be messed with HE WAS LITERALLY A CHILD. ‘Don’t you think nineteens too young to be played by your dark twisted games’ and Charles engagements and lies ‘but I took your matches before fire could catch me’ he made it out! He dumped Charles before he lost himself completely and I will never not love him for that

But also Grace like to her mum? ‘Never impressed by me acing your tests’ I mean come on

Mean

Once again, Alastair carstairs. And not just because I love the man. It’s giving him at the academy and then him growing up and loving himself and stopping being the bully to avoid being the victims. It’s giving him spending his childhood under his dads abuse to grow up and be free of him and be able to live his life how he wants. It’s giving him dumping Charles and dyeing his hair back to its natural colour in the same day. It’s giving him growing up and learning to be happy.

The story of us

Ari to Anna. ‘So many walls up I can’t break through’ with Anna being on the defensive but not telling her why. Them being so happy the first night they met to them not talking in cog to them almost being back together to them fighting to them actually communicating and getting back together? ‘Is it killing you like it’s killing me’ Ari knowing how she feels but believing that Anna is entirely unaffected by their ‘relationship’

Never grow up

Any of the tid adults to the Tlh gang but also Alastair to Cordelia (and now Zachary)? Like the man gives up his childhood to ensure Cordelia has one then suddenly she’s grown up and has her own opinions and he can’t keep protecting her because now she knows things he never wanted her to and then she’s married and he really can’t protect her anymore.

Enchanted

Thomas to Alastair. I don’t really need to explain but it’s the way Thomas has loved him from the start. Maybe not truly been in love with him given they barely knew each other but there’s always been those feelings. ‘Please don’t be in love with someone else’ and Thomas watching Alastair and ch*rles interact over the years and just know that Alastair doesn’t feel the same way but still desperately dreaming that maybe one day he will and then one day he does?!

Better than revenge

The one and only Miss Cordelia Carstairs. Pre chot obviously. Like the majority chain of iron being her and James married and content and having their deal and her not really worrying about Grace all that much because nothings gonna happen between them for another year and James is acting a bit different know so maybe there’s hope?? And then suddenly seeing them two kiss.

Innocent

Both Alastair and Grace. The whole song is about not defining someone by their mistakes (although fuck Kanye) and both Alastair and Grace repent for their pasts (I would personally argue neither are actually responsible for what they did but that’s another post) this song is also Thomas and Christopher respectively, constantly standing up for the other after they get to know them. It’s giving Thomas defending Alastair to the merry thieves for YEARS and kit defending Grace to the whole crew after the gracelet thing comes out

Okay this is extremely long imma do a part 2

[romi--weiss]

TRIGGER WARNING: drug abuse, death, murder, guns, homophobia

❀ *◦ mia goth. cis woman. she/her. lesbian. ⇝ hey, isn’t that romi weiss ( nickname: onyx )? i think that the twenty-five year old from new york city, ny works as sous chef at the ivy and spy for the cardinal serpent, but outside of that people describe them as glitter on the floor after the party, chanel diamond earrings & a fresh manicure. i hear they are contrary & self-destructive, but they are also known to be bubbly & generous. consider giving them a visit at their home in the marionette and get to know why they’re called the life of the party.

BASIC INFORMATION

NAME: Romi Chava Weiss NICKNAMES: Rom (pronounced "Rome") AGE: 25 BIRTH DATE: August 5, 1999 ZODIAC SIGN: Leo ETHNICITY:  English, French, Brazilian GENDER: Cisgender female (she/her) ORIENTATION: Gay BIRTHPLACE: New York City, New York OCCUPATION: Sous Chef at the Ivy

RELATIONSHIPS

SIBLINGS: Liliana Weiss (sister) RELATIONSHIP STATUS: Single CHILDREN: N/A

PHYSICAL TRAITS

FACE CLAIM: Mia Goth EYE COLOUR: Light brown HAIR COLOUR: Dirty blonde HEIGHT: 5′10″ WEIGHT: 120 lbs. BODY BUILD: Slim 

HEALTH

ALLERGIES: N/A SMOKES?: Yes DRINKS?: Occasionally DRUGS?: Yes, weed on occasion CHRONIC ILLNESS: N/A

DISORDERS

ADDICTIONS: Cocaine (in recovery) MENTAL DISORDERS: Depression WHEN WAS THIS DIAGNOSED?: When she was 24, Romi was diagnosed with depression while she was in rehab

BIOGRAPHY

EARLY BEGINNINGS

Romi was born in New York City in 1999 to her parents Peter and Eva Weiss. Growing up, she and her older sister, Liliana, were incredibly close and they spent a lot of time playing together in their Greenwich Village townhome. The Weiss family lived in the lap of luxury and Romi and her sister never wanted for nothing

What Romi didn't understand when she was younger was where all that money came from. The truth was that her father was a mobster and he made all of his money by being a drug baron. In fact, at one time, Peter Weiss was responsible for a majority of the heroin that was being sold in the city

Growing up, Romi was the apple of her father's eye, his baby girl. However, it wouldn't always stay that way. Though her mother, Eva, tried her best to look their other way regarding Peter's dangerous line of work, her final straw was when a bomb was set and detonated in their home when Romi was fourteen. Thankfully, Eva had taken the girls out for the day, though their housekeeper was killed. After this, her mother was determined to keep her children safe. She packed a suitcase and took the girls with her

However, Peter Weiss did not take kindly to his daughters being whisked off into the night and he wasn't about to let his wife win, nor would he allow her the opportunity to take all of his blood money in alimony and child support. So he did something about it

While the girls were at school, Peter had his wife taken care of and he was determined to ensure that his girls never found out. When he picked them up from school, he informed them that their mother had gone away for a while. And then 'a while' turned into 'a few months' and then finally, the story was 'I'm sorry, girls, but she's decided that she doesn't want to come back'

From the very beginning, Romi knew that something was very wrong--her mother would never, ever leave her daughters behind. The whole story just sounded wrong, like it was just vague enough to buy some time. Though no one ever said it, as Romi grew older and realized the dark truth about how her father supported their lavish lifestyle, she realized that her mother was dead and that she would probably never, ever be found. You could call the mob a lot of things but you could never call them inefficient

THE CHATALYST

For a very long time, Romi didn't feel like she could do anything about her suspicions. How could she? By the time she was 17, she was well aware that her father financed her entire lifestyle. She wasn't stupid enough to think she could just get disowned and survive. Maybe that made her weak, to be unable to live without Daddy's money, but she didn't know what other choice she had

Over time, though, it began to weigh heavier and heavier and heavier. She'd started to have nightmares about her mother, started to wonder how much her father actually loved them. Sure, he said it all the time but did he really love them? Or were they just his darling dolls, his prized possessions to show off and take credit for raising such wonderful children--or so he thought

The first straw was when Romi came out. She'd always known she was different but she never thought it was a big deal--in fact, she really didn't try to hide the fact that she was gay. However, when she brought her first girlfriend, Meg, home to dinner, her father blew up, screaming at her, calling her a disgrace, disgusting, and a disappointment. Romi would remember looking at her sister, Lily, and pleading with her eyes 'Please say something! Please stand up for me!' But instead, her sister just averted her eyes, probably grateful this wasn't happening to her. Romi had always feared her father but this was the first time that he'd ever screamed at her

After that, things were different. She wasn't the apple of her father's eye anymore--quite the opposite. From that moment on, he only ever told Liliana that he loved her and it showed. Romi felt the lack of love, from the both of them. It's like she'd completely abandoned. A few days after the incident at dinner, he'd come to her and apologized for yelling but he also made it explicitly clear that she was to keep her sexuality to herself. She remembered having laughed in his face, asking him "Are you fucking serious?" His face of anger and disgust showed that yes, he was indeed serious

Romi's father was verbally abusive but he'd never been physically abusive--after all, why raise a hand yourself when you can pay someone else to do it? After she'd come out, Romi had noticed that she was being followed. At first, she was worried that it was some creep but it turns out that her father had had her tailed, just to keep an eye on her, to make sure she wasn't 'disgracing the family.' It was soon after this that Romi started to use coke on a regular basis

Though she'd never been interested in drugs before, suddenly, partying became her escape. After all, what else could she do? She was forced to be closeted at the threat of being kicked out of the family. Feeling unloved and unable to love out in the open, she really lost all inhibitions and threw caution to the wind. Every single night, you could find her in a club, high, having the time of her life

One night, however, she'd made the mistake of stumbling into the house right in the middle of an important business meeting. To save face, her father tried to have her escorted to her room but something in Romi just snapped--maybe it was the way he was talking to her, so fucking condescending, like she was a child. Sure, maybe she was acting like a child but he should fucking know why. After all, how could you expect a motherless child not to be lost?

In front of her father's business associates, she'd made an offhand comment about her mother--she hadn't meant to, it had just slipped out. "Are you gonna' do to me what you did to Mom? So I'll stop being such a fucking bother to you?"

After apologizing to his associates and apologizing for his 'disturbed' daughter, he had Romi escorted to her bedroom where she passed out. However, when she woke up, she found herself in a very different place. She was alone in a room and shortly after she came to, her father stepped into the room. Shit, this was bad

At first, she started begging him--she was sorry and she promised not to cross him again, promised to no longer embarrass him. But he said it was too late for that. At that, suddenly her fear turned to rage and she leapt at her father, her nails tearing at his skin. "I know what you fucking did," she snarled. "You think you can just throw people away when you get tired of them? When they're no longer of use to you?" Her father simply pushed her away and gave her a sickening grin. "Precisely." Pulling the pistol from his waistband, he muttered something about how she was far more trouble than she was worth. After that, everything went dark

THE AFTERMATH

For quite a long time, it's as if Romi was living her new life on auto-pilot, as if she'd barely registered that she herself was alive--and how exactly the fuck was she alive anyways? For a long time, her memory was a thick fog that she was unable to see through, only getting bits and pieces here and there. However, eventually, she was able to piece enough together to know that her father had been behind it all

She hadn't been able to locate her sister, Lily--though she never stopped hoping that one day, they'd be reunited. She did, however, find her father. She tracked him down and discovered that he was now living in Anchorage, Alaska, one of the city councilman no less. With that, she set off to Alaska

She still had her orders, of course, but she was also pursuing her own agenda. When she showed up in her father's office, for just a brief moment, she saw a sight that she'd never beheld before: he was afraid, like he'd just seen a ghost--because hadn't he?

Needless to say, Romi turned the tables on him and blackmailed him--what kind of father gunned down his own fucking daughter anyways? She let him know straightaway that he would be funding her lifestyle and he'd continue to do so lest he risk losing it all. It wasn't just what he'd done to her--it was what he'd done to her mother and all of the knowledge that she held about his life of organized crime

Even though on the outside, it seemed like she'd won, she still felt as if she had a storm inside her chest. She continued to party, becoming even more reckless now that she seemingly had endless money to spend. In her young adult life, she'd had a lot of low moments but perhaps her rock bottom was when she'd gone on a three-day bender in her big, empty apartment. She'd been doing line after line and at one point, her euphoria turned to sheer panic because she could hear her heartbeat in her ears and it felt like it was racing faster than ever before. Suddenly, she was sobbing, terrified that her heart was going to explode, terrified at the idea of missing out on everything that she'd yet to do

With some encouragement from friends like Cyrek Fawn and Anka Mae-Nava'i, Romi eventually checked herself into rehab, where she was diagnosed with depression. She's had a few backslides but she's now been sober for a year-and-a-half, a huge feat for her

Anka also encouraged her to explore her culinary skills, which Romi seemingly had a knack for. Having trained under Anka, Romi is now a sous chef at the Ivy, an accomplishment that she's rather proud of