#most siblings bond in way parents could never because it’s like having a best friend to do stuff with

[oddly-casual]

This entire scene makes me hurt but I wanna talk about this part in particular because it drives me insane.

Like- Splinter knows they aren’t just running errands. He can see his sons sneaking out thinking their slick and he found all their human stuff bc he’s nosey and if his sons won’t talk to him he’ll just have to investigate himself right?

So Splinter knows his sons are hiding something from him because duh- and he knows they want to be apart of the human world but he’s scared they’ll get hurt so he tries to bring the human world to them.

And you can just see the cringe and discomfort in the boys eyes because their father keeps trying to make them stay but it’ll never be in the way they want it, but they clearly feel bad.

And the real kicker is when Splinter tries that thing he did in the beginning of the movie, where he presses his sons about the truth but he specifically looks at Leo, like the screen cuts to Leo and even Raph looks at Leo because Splinter knows his eldest son would never lie to him.

But then he does

Leo lies right to his fathers face no hesitation and Splinter gets that look that just screams ‘i lost them’ because even if his son’s disobey the rules and don’t talk to him anymore, Leo was like Splinter’s insider into what his kids are doing and how to keep them safe. Splinter lost their trust.

But now even Leo is shutting Splinter out, so Splinter has been completely walled off by his sons and to Splinter he has no idea why because he’s just doing this to protect his kids.

Looking at it from Leo’s perspective, he has a strong sense of Justice. In the beginning when their father grills them about where they’ve been, Leo caves immediately even though he knows it’ll make everyone mad at him.

He braces himself for it too. There’s no reward in telling the truth but Leo does it anyway.

But Leo is a teenager, and teenagers tend to act in their own self interest. So when Leo keeps snitching and it only leads to punishment on all sides

Isolation from his brothers, distance from his father, of course Leo is going to cut his losses and stick to the thing that brings him joy. Possible acceptance and April. It’s also the most we see him bond with his brothers since Leo isn’t trying to follow their fathers rules.

[fancyfeathers]

With the bat family daughter darling, did she already go to the same Gotham rich kid academy or did Bruce have her transfer there?

Referencing this post

Nope, her mom left Gotham before she was born traveled for work so she went with her so essentially she grew up around the world with maybe one or two homes in some place like New York or Singapore where they would stay for longer periods (1-3 months) when not traveling, with a tutor/governess teaching her. Like when her mother was originally engaged to Bruce he was more wealthy than her but she certainly has quite a bit of money to her name, like think Astrid Leong from Crazy Rich Asians, like the the first scene we see her in she buys earrings in Shanghai that cost 1.2 million (at cost), she has money.

Now I think Bruce would want her to attend a private academy, especially with Damian (despite the fact that she is terrified of him, it’s good sibling bonding). Now this could go one of two ways, she wants to go or she does not.

The first of two is if she might not be the best behaved and school would be her only way of socializing with other people her age, she is in a different class than Damian since he’d probably be older than her so he is not there to watch her every move throughout the day despite how much he would try to.

The other way is that she would not want to go to school there, like I mentioned earlier her and her mom had houses in New York and Singapore and while NYC isn’t too far away from Gotham, Singapore is and she has friends in both places and if she went to regular school it would be harder for her to see them when their own families were in town for business or if some good grace allowed it, being able to go back to see them.

Now the second option is very much less unlikely unless there is some serious good behavior from both of the darlings, mother and daughter. Bruce could certainly be convinced, especially after seeing his little girl’s wide smile when she finally gets to see her friends at the wedding of her parents.

Now her brothers certainly would not be happy, namely, and in order of how upset they would be, Damian, Dick, and Tim (Jason would not care enough that it would be a major issue for him).

Damian is very much that scary big brother that scares everyone away, there is no way he can look after her if she is with a bunch of people he’s never met besides maybe once or twice tops.

Dick is clingy, he doesn’t think his baby sister old enough to have friends outside of her family (ignoring the fact that she was raised by her mom and these are the kids she grew up with), he knows she doesn’t like his company much but to see her actually enjoy herself around people he does not know, it gets under his skin.

Then Tim, he has looked into everything about both of their darlings, he knows all about her friends, he knows those friends’ parents are friends of her mother, he knows of those parents and their sketchy business deals that come with most other socialite circles, and Tim certainly does not approve of them because children could turn into into their parents, he just doesn’t like the way it sits with him.

So while Mother!Darling tries to convince Bruce of allowing her to homeschool Daughter!Darling, the little girl is in the other room playing, pretending her old friends are with her.

[erenjaegerwifee]

Summers In Pandora 🌸 Day 8 Corruption

Paring: Dilf!Jake x Fem!Omatikaya!Reader

Summery: Your best friend’s dad shows you what it feels like to touch yourself for the first time.

Warnings: MDNI 18+, fingering, kissing, corruption kink, infidelity.

Word Count: 1.9k

Index: kelku - home/house

Disclaimer: All my characters are aged-up! If that makes you uncomfortable please do not read or interact with my account or any of my posts. 

Main M.List | Event M.List

Your friend Kiri is your best friend in the entire world, you have never met a girl quite as unique and caring as her, and you love her extra fingers and toes. Kiri was one of the most trusted healers in the clan, you on the other hand were very reserved and shy, your parents kept a hold on you even after all these years. You are now 19 and still you do not go anywhere alone.  

Yours and the Sully family have been close ever since Jake Sully joined the clan years ago, you spent a lot of time with the children hence how you and Kiri are so close. The handful of people your parents trust you with sleep in the Sully house hold. Your parents often allow you to spend time, even nights at their house knowing someone they trust is with you.  

You have never had any friends outside the Sully siblings in your entire life because if someone approached you, someone is always with you to scare them away. They do not want anyone to ruin your innocence, they do not wish for anyone to hurt such a fragile girl. Now, the protectiveness everyone has is not for no reason, when you were born you were your parents miracle child. After you, your mother couldn’t conceive another child and it was hard enough for her to conceive you. 

Then when you were born, they thought you would lose you after you contracted an illness and got incredibly sick. The Sullys stuck with your parents the entire time and saw them through it so why wouldn't they trust them. Thank Eywa you recovered and grew into a very beautiful young woman.  

For a while now you have been sporting a crush on your clan’s leader and your best friend’s father, Jake Sully. He just made your heart race in ways you didn’t know possible so what other emotion could you feel for him besides love? You always felt strange when he would touch you even in the smallest ways, like if he helped you with your archery stance, or when he cut up fruit and feed it to you so you wouldn’t have to get your hands sticky, even at your big age of 21. 

You were not stupid, you understand that Jake is a mated man, you know he made the bond with his wife and that’s how he had children. You also know one day you will make the bond with someone and they will be your mate forever. Thought further than that, you have no idea. You know boys and girls have different private parts and only girls can have babies but you were under the impression only when you bond you get pregnant and your parents preferred it that way, because they know you would never bond without their permission.  

There was recent talk between your families that you and Lo’ak are meant to be a mated pair so your parents can stay close to you and you will mate with someone you trust. Lo’ak as am amazing young man, he is an exceptional tracker when it comes to hunting, mating him is not the worst thing in the world but your tummy doesn’t flutter the same way when he is around than when you are with Jake.  

You were meant to stay at the Sully household this weekend. Your parents and Neytiri are going hunting with Neteyam and Lo’ak. Jake volunteered to stay back with the girls while they went. The hunting trip was meant to last 3 days. You pack up your bag and you walk over to the Sully kelku and you say goodbye to your parents and settle yourself into Lo’ak’s room. You eat dinner with the family talking about their day and Tuk told you about the bracelet she made for her mother.  

Kiri and Tuk quickly retired to their room and Jake turned on a human movie on the big screen tv in their common area. He prided himself in having time to use it as Neytiri doesn’t like that it is there. He turned on a movie called The Proposal, he thought it might be a good innocent movie to watch with you and he ended up having to explain the entire movie to you as you both watched but he didn’t really mind, his kids never cared to watch movies with him so he enjoyed your company.  

When the boy and girl kissed in the scene in front of his entire family you gasped and covered your mouth, “They’re having a baby Jake, in front of everyone? Humans do that?” Now Jake knew your parents kept you on a tight leash but he had no idea you were this innocent. Jake glanced at you and saw you covering your eyes and he paused the movie. He double checked to make sure Kiri and Tuk’s room light was off so he knows they are asleep.  

“Babygirl, that’s not what happens when people make babies, that’s not how girls get pregnant.” he said in a low voice. You drop your hands and turn to face him, “Well I know na’vi have to make the bond first but they are kissing that is forbidden unless you are mated, that’s how na’vi get babies”  

“Ok I see your logic and to a point your right, but kissing is not all that happened when someone wants to make a baby.” you were confused, “So what happens?” you look at him with doe eyes. “Well after you make the bond, you and your mate will touch each other's private parts, you know, like you do by yourself, your mate will do it.” Jake tries not to think about what you might look like while you touch yourself but he couldn’t help but trail down your body with his eyes.  

“Touch myself? I supposed to touch myself? How?” your question but him in a tuff spot, should he drop the conversation? Or should he tell you? Maybe even show you. “When you are alone, you’ve never felt a little different down there and let your hand help you?”  

“I've felt different but I never knew what to do, happens almost every day, but I wasn’t sure I was allowed...” Jake squeezes his eyes shut and lets out a deep exhale, he can’t pass this up. “You know I take show you how to help yourself if you want? But you cannot tell anyone” you nod your head silently at him and wait for him to tell you what to do.  

“I won’t tell, show me” you look so innocent he almost rolled his eyes back; it’s been years since the last time he took someone’s virginity, his wife’s. Jake told you to relax and he pulled you closer to him, his beefy right arm wrapped around your waist and sat on your thigh, his large palm covered the entire space. His other hand came to hold yours as he asked again if you are sure you wanted to do this. When you nodded once more, he pulled you up on his lap, and spins you to face him. You straddle his legs and Jake turns the move back on for some background noise.  

You pay no mind to it as your attention is focused on Jake entirely. You’ve never been this close to him before; you can smell his musky forest scent. Jake asks your permission to take your clothes off and you allow him. His eyes dart back and forth from you to the doorway separating him from his children. Jake untied your top and your loincloths dropping them to the side next to you both. He takes in the sight of your body, so small and untouched, you look so beautiful. His hands run up your thighs to below your tits and back down.  

“Ok firstly you have to want me to do this, are you sure?” you roll your eyes at his words he keeps asking if you are okay with this when the truth was you wanted nothing more, “Yes Jake, wanna kiss like the movie” you said softly, you feel how your body was responding to his eyes on you, how your skin felt hot and you blushed. Jake took a deep breath before he pulled you close, his eyes dart to your lips and back to your open eyes, “Close your eyes girl, follow my lead” he said before he pressed his lips against yours.  

Your eyes flutter shut and your hands instinctively held onto his big shoulders, you let out a little hum when he pulled away from you, your folds were slick and without thinking you bring one of his hands to your cunt, “Is that normal?” you asked softly. 

Jake dropped his head on your shoulder and groaned, one little kiss soaked you, how has he never done this before? “Yea babygirl, that’s normal” his finger glided through your folds slowly and gently making sure not to hurt you, his index came up to find your clit moving small circles on your nub. You moan and wiggle in his grasp and his other hand came around your waist to hold you still on his lap. He switches his index for his thumb and brings his middle finger down to your clenching hole. Your eyes move between his arm moving back and forth between your legs and his face that now has a light blush, he looks so pretty. You lean in and give him another kiss on the check and when he looks at you, he pulls you in for a kiss on the lips.  

You moan into his mouth as his fingers work magic for you before he pulls away, he doesn’t stop his movements, only whispers against your lips, “I’m gonna do something ok? It might hurt a bit at first but after it will feel good, ok?” his voice was calm, he helped you feel your nerves in check when he slots his finger slowly into your cunt. Jake’s entire finger soaks in your pussy before he pulls out and starts pumping slowly, “You see what I’m doing babygirl? This is how you touch yourself, curl your cute fingers inside you like I’m doing, and it feels good right?’ his voice was so pleasing to hear.  

Jake had the perfect voice to coach you through your new discovery, you shut your eyes and bit your lip when he asked you to insert another finger, you nod your head quickly and the stretch is almost too much for you. Jake feels the way your clamp down on his fingers you’re so close already but you don’t even know that, he swears he’s about to cum in his loincloth from how fucking sweet you look right now.   

“J-jake, I feel weird, something is happening!” you squeal out in a low tone, his lips came down to kiss your neck making sure not to leave any marks as he does so, “You’re gonna feel even better baby, just let me keep going yea?” he whispers in your ear. “Y-yea, don’t stop!” your voice is pitched as you talk to him, he feels your body convulses when your clench on his fingers and gush on him. Your fluid drips down between your thighs leaking down his hand onto the floor.  

Jake slows his movements until he stops and pulled out of you admiring the string of cum connecting his two fingers. His hand was a mess, but you were an even bigger mess. Your body was swaying on his lap, your head dropped down on his shoulder as if you were falling asleep and you were, you have never felt so good in your life. You question yourself as you drift out of consciousness how you have never done this before but you come up with nothing besides you will definitely be asking Jake to do this for you again.  

🌸 I hope you all enjoyed reading! I feel like this was kind of rushed but I still enjoyed reading it. I thought about what it’ll be like when she mates with Lo’ak months from now and she’s fucking like she was pretending to be innocent all this time 🌸 Reblogs, comments and likes are always appreciated!

Taglist: 

@rivatar @delusionalwh6re @strongheartneteyam @xylianasblog @nilahsstuff @inlovewithpandora @neteyamsoare @m1tsu-ki @xrollingmyeyesx @goofygremlin123 @quicktosimp @its-jennarose @r11k4 @anonymuslydumb @winterhi09

[eternalbuckley]

Making Progress. — aemond targaryen

SUMMARY: Making progress with someone you used to be close with when you were younger could be hard but you put in the effort, so Aemond could trust you again. Giving him the time he needed and when you don't expect it at all, you might end up with the most vulnerable moment you've shared with him. OR When braiding his hair turns into him showing you his most vulnerable side and has some confessions.

word count: 3,819

genre: comfort | wife!reader, queer!reader, bipoc!reader and plus-size!reader friendly

warnings/tropes: it's just very very soft, one mention of health problems (readers father), arranged marriage, reader is the oldest daughter of her parents and has implied younger siblings, no use of y/n, set before the death of viserys, english is not my first language, slightly proofread — if I forgot something, please let me know!

a/n: i just need my babygirl to be happy and get the love he deeply deserves and always wanted :( it's my first time writing for him and this fandom in general, i hope you enjoy it <3 reblogs, likes and comments are appreciated and highly welcomed!

disclaimer: please do not repost or try and take ownership of my work or post this anywhere without my consent. do not translate my work and post it anywhere — i give you no permission to do that. i only post my stories here, so if you find my work anywhere else please let me know!

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Ever since you’ve been friends with Aemond in your childhood, you were fascinated with his hair and always played with it whenever you were able to. You spent most of your time with him when your family was visiting the King and Queen’s family since they were close friends to the family. You’ve always been the closest person Aemond had and were there for him. You were his best friend and always listened to his rants whenever his brother or nephews made fun of him, especially when the situation with the pig happened. You hated Aegon for how he treated Aemond sometimes, despite being his older brother. You didn’t have older siblings but you could never imagine treating your younger siblings the way Aegon treated Aemond sometimes.

The next time you saw him was at the funeral of Lady Laena Velaryon. Your parents were close friends and allies with her parents, Princess Rhaenys and Lord Corlys. You and your family wanted to pay your respect to their loss. Later, when you found out what happened the following night with Aemond, you were shocked. You were shocked when you found out how he lost his left eye and were angry with the whole situation but you couldn’t change anything about it. But Aemond felt somewhat happy because he finally claimed his own dragon, even if he lost his eye for it.

You tried to be there for him as much as you were able to but over the years, your father got sick and you weren’t able to see him so often anymore. Because your father wasn’t always to travel to the Red Keep and Viserys was slowly losing his strength every day as well. You thought you could bond over this with Aemond but you quickly realized it wouldn’t happen. You tried to keep in touch with him, by sending letters to him but over the time he didn’t respond to them as much as he used to. Which resulted into that you drifted apart from each other, you still cared for him but you noticed that he started to shut you out of his life. He wouldn’t let you into his thoughts anymore but the few times you were able to see him, you noticed that his demeanour had changed, especially the older you got. He acted colder and more firmly, you barely saw him laugh anymore unless he tortured his nephews. It was hurting to see how much he had changed over the years and that you couldn’t be there for him as much as you’d want to. You missed your best friend.

You always thought you’d end up being betrothed to his brother since you are your parents’ oldest child and because they mentioned it a few times to you when you were a few years younger. But it surprised you when your parents agreed with Viserys and Alicent to betroth you and Aemond instead since Aegon had been married with Helaena already. Your parents and Aemond’s parents wanted to bond both families together, knowing that you two used to be close when you were younger and wanted to use that connection between you. But if you were honest, you weren’t sure how to feel about the betrothal back then. Both of you didn’t seemingly share the same interests anymore or really knew what the other one was thinking about. You were sure, that Aemond was still angry and fed up with the Velaryon brothers and that Lucerys was the one who cut out his eye and was the reason for losing his eye. You never agreed with the way how his brother and he mocked Jacaerys, Lucerys or Joffrey for being bastards from time to time, they weren’t responsible for their mothers’ actions. But you didn’t do anything against it either. You tried not to listen to what others were saying but it was undeniable. Everyone knew the truth about the Velaryon brothers, even if some tried to deny the truth.

On the other hand, Aemond was happy that he’d marry you, something he maybe dreamed about too many times in his life. You were the one person he had a soft spot for, even if the two of you weren’t that close anymore. Aemond had different reasons for pushing you away. Ever since the accident with his eye, he didn’t want to possibly get hurt or betrayed by you, which caused him to push you away and out of his life. He focused more on his training sessions with Ser Criston or spending his time reading. Spending less and less time with you whenever you visited the Red Keep. You tried to get into his interests but whenever you tried to watch his training sessions, your mother would make you join Helaena and spend time with her instead.

You didn’t mind spending time with her because you enjoyed it and were happy to call her sister as soon as you’d marry Aemond but you wanted to get to know him again. You missed him as your friend. All you wanted was to find out what he liked and if there was anything that didn’t change about him. But in the end, both of you were glad that you wouldn’t have to marry a stranger even if it meant trying to get to know each other again. Which seemed to be harder than you thought, especially during the first months of your marriage. You would spend barely time with each other, the only interactions between you were stolen glances. Whenever you would pass him as you walked through the castle, whenever you two saw each other in the gardens or were together with his siblings and parents during feasts or in general. It didn’t happen a lot but whenever you all were together you felt his gaze on you. The longing between you two was hard to ignore, yet the only people to notice this were Alicent and Helaena. Helaena knew how much you cared for her brother, many times you’d talk about him whenever you spent time with her. Alicent hoped that Aemond and you would find your way back to each other again and that your marriage would be filled with love and trust.

On your wedding day, Aemond and you kept your formalities and consummated your marriage that night but after that, neither of you tried to push the other one to sleep with each other or keep an intimate behaviour. It happened quickly and you didn’t ever really talk about it afterwards as it didn’t seem to be necessary to do it. Everything was still the same, gazes filled with longingness.

Over time you started to talk with each other more, most of the time it would be whenever you were in the garden at the same time. In the beginning, it would only be about the smallest things but he slowly warmed up to you. You always tried to never push him too much and swore to yourself to give him the time he needed. You started joining him in the library and sat together while the two of you read. He started talking about the things he read or studied in particular and you engaged with him about it. Or listened to him talking and appreciating the progress you had made so far. You slowly got closer again and started to eat your breakfast and dinner together and had more engaging conversations and laughed together from time to time. Aemond noticed the effort you put into him and your relationship. He appreciated you and how you gave him the time he needed to open up and trust you again. He always trusted you but his fear of being abandoned by you haunted his nights and thoughts many times.

You started to notice how he would have one hand on the lower back of you whenever you walked together, the more time you spent together. It was a gentle and small touch but meant everything for both of you. Because deep down you both knew you’ve always liked each other, you just needed to feel brave enough to act on it, despite being afraid of possibly hurting yourselves. You fell in love with each other all over again. You brought out a side of him, he thought he lost. Though, he’d only show it if you were alone and felt comfortable.

For him, you were the one who made it seem worth it to have a smile on his lips and feel happier again.

He’d be the one who had the courage to kiss you first. It was a moment of peace while you sat with him on a bench in the garden of the castle. You were talking about something you recently read and wouldn’t go out of your mind when he gently took your hand into his which caused you to look at him and stop midsentence. You felt his thumb stroking over your hand when he quietly asked you if he could kiss you. You felt how your face heated up and how your heartbeat quickened. His eye lit up when you nodded your head. His breath hitched for a moment and his own heart was fiercely beating against his chest as well. You both had leaned in and the moment your lips met; it was like the world didn’t exist but the two of you.  It felt like you were shaped for each other as they moved against each other. It was a short but very soft and gentle kiss but meant everything for both of you, especially Aemond. There was a slight smile on his lips when his eye looked into yours and you smiled back at him. You two continued your conversation and he continued to gently hold your hand while his thumb brushed over the back of your hand. This step was the reason why you two continued to grow closer and he slowly started to share more of his deeper thoughts with you again.

While you grew closer again, more things started to change slowly. Sleeping segregated in your own chambers turned into sharing one. Sleeping in your own beds turned into sharing one. Not having a lot of physical touch turned into holding each other’s hands while falling asleep. And holding each other’s hand would turn into laying in each other’s arms from time to time. Everything happened slowly but this gave you the opportunity to bond a strong connection with him again and it made everything even more worth it.

Ever since you started to share a chamber, you got into a regular nightly routine. You’d already lay in bed when he came back from whatever he was doing and joined you. Giving you a small, tender kiss on your forehead as he laid down next to you after he removed his clothing and held your hand as you slowly drifted to sleep while facing each other. He would watch and admire you before he’d fall asleep after you. Some nights the moon would shine through the window and let your beauty shine even more. He’d brush his thumb over your hand he was still holding, wishing he could fully open up to you again. Wishing he could show you his vulnerable side, one he thought was long gone. But with you, this side wanted to come out again. You were always so patient with him, something he was more than grateful for. Aemond knew he could lose his temper easily but with you, in his life, it was completely different. One smile of you and he would burn the world if it meant to see it even more.

Some nights you would hold him if he had nightmares and woke up from what he dreamed about. Aemond never told you what his dreams were about but many of them included you and your death. You would hold him tightly so he could calm down and relax in your arms. He would cling to you, internally pleading you’d never let go of him, which you never did. There weren’t many words spoken during these moments but both of you knew the impact they had.

You were his safe place and always had been.

Once his breathing got steadier again, he’d mostly thank you with a soft but still shaky whisper and would drift off to sleep again. While you stayed awake and held him in your arms, continuing to trace his arms gently. These vulnerable moments between you would be the closest you’d share your nights with.

The nights were still often filled with all these moments but in the most recent days, your nightly routine started to include more softer moments between you. Instead of waiting for him in your shared bed, you would wait for him while sitting on the settee in front of the fireplace, already changed into your nightgown. You would sit next to each other and enjoy the presence of the other one after he changed into his undergarments. Reading in peace and going to bed together after a while. Sometimes you’d already fall asleep, leaned with your head on his shoulder while he continued to read for a little while. Aemond enjoyed these moments a lot since you felt comfortable enough around him to lay on his shoulder and be asleep. Once he was done with reading for the night, he’d gently pick you up, trying not to wake you up and carry you towards your bed. Placing you on it and put the blanket over your body before he’d lay down next to you and give you a tender kiss on your forehead and fall asleep afterwards.

A few nights ago, it was quite different from the nights before. You sat next to each other on the settee in front of the fireplace, your hands touching each other from time to time. Which sent you a warmth through your bodies, there was a comfortable silence in the room. Only hearing the fire that was crackling, until Aemond spoke up with a soft, quite vulnerable tone in his voice. He asked you quietly if you could play with his hair, “like in the old days when we were younger” he would say and you happily did so. Your heart filled with awe as he mentioned the piece of your past.

Since then, your nightly routine included you standing behind him while he sat on the settee in front of the fireplace and listening to the crackles of the fire. He was reading one of his books while you carefully combed through his open platinum-white hair with your fingers, making sure you wouldn’t accidentally tug too much on it and that you wouldn’t accidentally tug on his eyepatch. It was always a comforting atmosphere while you two stayed like this, no conversations were needed. You both knew that you appreciated the quietness. Each time you combed through his hair he closed his eye for a moment and enjoyed the feeling of your fingers, bringing him the beautiful memories into his mind from when you were younger. Tonight, you wanted to add a few small braids into his hair and he happily let you do it. Aemond admired how widely you smiled after he agreed to let you braid his hair.

“Your hair is so soft, that’s not fair,” you pouted as you parted a small strand of his hair into three equal strands and began braiding them. He chuckled in response and flipped through his book. You always felt this way about his hair, even when you were younger. A memory he would and could never forget.

You didn’t talk for another while as he tried to focus on reading and you tried to focus on braiding his hair. After a while, you were done and he stopped reading and put his book aside. You walked around the settee and stood in front of him with an extended hand. It would usually be the moment you two would go into bed but he gently took your hand and pulled you into his lap instead. You sat sideways on his lap, his chest against your arm and legs laying on the free space of the settee. You looked at him surprised as he wrapped his arms around you, not used to such actions from him but you liked it a lot. One of his hands drew small circles on your thigh and without any questions you snuggled into him and put your head on his shoulder. You watched the fire and enjoyed the warmth of it and Aemond’s body. His chin was on top of your head and he had his eye closed.

“This feels good,” he mumbled and let out a relaxed sigh, his arms slightly tightening around you. Which caused you to smile and hum in agreement. This night you made more progress again.

“More than good,” you replied and put your hand over his hand, which was still drawing circles on your thigh. His touch was soft on you as he pondered about something that would change so much between you. He was sure it would add a deeper level of trust, vulnerability, love and understanding between you but he was afraid that it could ruin the progress you’ve made so far.

You noticed that something was on his mind and raised your head to look at him. “Do you wish to talk about what’s on your mind, my love?” You asked him with a gentle tone in your voice and brushed a strand of his hair out of his face.

“You’ve never left my mind,” he admitted and looked into your eyes. “I always missed you each time you weren’t here over the years.”

 If it would be possible, your face softened even more with his admission. You carefully traced his cheek under his scar. Not daring to get too close to his eyepatch, knowing he never really showed any intentions to show you how his eye looked underneath. You always wondered what it looked like but you didn’t want to push him to show it to you and rather waited as long as he might need to feel ready to show you. Aemond never took the eyepatch off in your presence, he was too afraid to scare you off or that you would be disgusted by it or by him. But you would never feel these ways. During most of the nights, he’d take it off but mostly you fell asleep first and he was the first one to be awake in the mornings again. If he woke up from his nightmares you wouldn’t light up a candle, so you were never actually able to see how it looked like. Of course, you were curious but you respected his decision to keep it hidden from you.

“So did I. I always missed the little jokes we made,” you reminisced with a chuckle but there was a hint of sadness in your voice. You’ve also remembered the times where he pushed you away and kept you out of his life.

“I never wanted to push you away,” he mumbled, which made you look into his purple eye, “I… I think I was afraid that you would hate me and leave me like almost everyone else when I needed them the most. So, I pushed you away instead.”

You listened and slowly nodded, “I’d have never hated or left you, Aemond.”

He tightened his embrace and nuzzled his face into your neck. You wrapped your free arm around his neck and held him close. “I was afraid you wouldn’t feel safe in my presence anymore.” He mumbled into your neck but you heard him clearly.

“I always felt safe in your presence.”

He looked up again and you saw the love he held for you in his eye. You caressed his cheek and leaned your forehead against his. The arm you had around his neck slightly tightened for a short moment.

“I never could have hated you, even after you pushed me away. I never held any hatred towards you,” you whispered with a tender voice. “I knew we drifted apart, as we had many things happening in our lives but I don’t blame you for anything.”

“I was always afraid that you would think that I’m disgusting after I lost my eye.”

With a shake of your head, you continued to caress his cheek. He leaned into your touch. “I could never imagine myself to ever feel disgusted by you, my dear.”

You felt how Aemond’s shoulders relaxed with your words, it was like he let out a breath he didn’t know he was holding. He exhaled with a shaky breath, closed his eye and nuzzled his head back into your neck, inhaling your scent. He continued to draw small circles on your thigh and kept his eye closed. After another while he slightly pulled away from you and slightly adjusted how he sat. You watched him how he took your hand and moved it to his eyepatch. Your eyes widened and you tried to stop him but he held your hand firmly. His purple eye looking into yours.

“You don’t have to do it if you don’t want to,” you whispered gently but he shook his head. “I want to, I wanted to show you for the longest time.”

You gulped and slowly nodded your head as you slowly removed his eyepatch. Watching the now-revealed blue sapphire where his left eye once was, your face softened again. You slowly and gently traced his scar in admiration. He held his breath; in fear, that you would change your mind and think he was disgusting but once he noticed that none of his fears would come true, he relaxed again and leaned into your touch.

“I still think you’re beautiful. What happened is horrible but it makes you, you. And I still love you regardless. No matter what,” you whispered and didn’t notice at first that you just told him for the first time that you loved him. His face softened and your eyes slightly widened and your body tensed up once you processed what you just admitted. He gently put his hand over yours, which was tracing his scar and squeezed it.

“I… I love you too,” he admitted and a smile made its way on your lips. Your body relaxing again.

The progress you two made that night caused you to get even closer and grow to be stronger together than you ever were. You shared many loving moments but it didn’t mean that everything was always going well and situations ended in very heated ways. Gladly, you were able to solve them in one way or another. After all, he would burn the world for you if it meant he would save you from any harm and keep you happy.

[idontgiveaflyinggrayson69]

The Bond

Author: Nat / @idontgiveaflyinggrayson69

Relationship: Neteyam x Fem!Na’vi!Reader

Summary: The bond is a beautiful thing, but it’s also the most painful thing you ever experienced.

Word Count: 14k

Warnings: Smut. Unprotected sex (wrap it up kids). Major character death. Angst. Pregnancy. ATWOW spoilers.

Comments: Hockey people look away, look away… After watching ATWOW I physically could not stop thinking about ‘what if you could feel the bond’ the way Parabatai feel each other in the Mortal Instruments and one thing led to another… This really was supposed to just be a short little imagine just to get the idea out of my head so I could work on my other projects but then I went hmmm no I think this needs some context for it to make sense and then I proceeded to write their entire fucking story cradle to grave and spent WAY too much time fact checking every single detail… There were a bunch of ways I could have expanded this, but I told myself no because no one needs a 50k+ Neteyam story... Also, this was not betad because I was not about to subject my poor beta to my current Avatar obsession.

Disclaimer: I thought Neteyam was 20 the whole movie so that’s how old he is in this, which is about the same age Jake and Neytiri were in the first film. And also, Neteyam wears a battle belt, which means he is seen as a man among the Omatikaya.

do not repost, do not claim as your own

Tsaheylu.

The bond.

The beginning and the end of everything.

You feel their breath, you feel their heart, you feel their strength. It’s your way to connect with the world around you. At least, that’s what they always told you.

It’s a beautiful thing the bond. You can ride and fly and see and hear without uttering a single word. And most beautiful of all, you get to feel your mate, if you were lucky enough to find one.

With a mate, it wasn’t just their breaths and heart you felt like a horse or an ikran. It was deeper, much deeper. You felt them. Their thoughts, their memories, the every ounce of their being. The bond ties you to them—to their soul—for life, connects you to them in a way you’d never be connected to anyone or anything for as long as you lived.

It’s a beautiful thing the bond.

--

You could remember the first time Neteyam brought up the possibility of mating.

The golden son, the next Olo’eykton, the first-born son of Toruk Makto and Neytiri, Neteyam always had big shoes to fill, and it was always something he struggled with in silence. Who was he to talk to about the shade of greatness he grew up in? His father? His mother? His little brother? None of them understood, and none of them saw him.

But you did.

For as long as you could remember, Neteyam had been your closest friend, and you his—outside of his siblings at least. Kiri wasn’t much younger than him, but she had always been closer with Lo’ak than him, and Neteyam had always had more of a protective, fatherly role than a brotherly one with them and Tuk especially.

But you? You held no expectations for him. With you he was just Neteyam—or ’Teyam when he made you laugh hard enough you could barely breathe. You did everything with him. Training, hunting, claiming a banshee. Every step, you were there, and there was no one you felt closer to than him.

You didn’t have a big family like he did, it was only you. But you had him. He was your best friend, your everything, your—

Neteyam was going to be the next Olo’eykton and whoever he took as his mate would be the next Tsahìk, so you knew it wasn’t a decision he took lightly. If his father wasn’t Jake Sully, you were sure he’d have been betrothed to a woman his parents deemed worthy of being the next Olo’eykton’s mate. You didn’t know if Eywa had her eyes on you at the decision not to betroth him because, on one hand, there was a chance he’d take you, but on the other, you knew him choosing another of his own will would break you irreversibly.

Neteyam had shown some interest in the other girls in the village, especially the ones his mother mentioned to him, but you never saw him have more than a few conversations with them, mostly about hunting, which they didn’t seem to appreciate as much as you did.

You didn’t know that they were never the one he wanted. That for him, there had only ever been one.

It was the eve of his iknimaya ceremony, the final step of him becoming taronyu, of becoming a man, that he first brought up the possibility of mating with you. Once he became a man, he could choose a woman.

The thought alone made your chest tight. You couldn’t sleep, tossing and turning in your tent before you finally resigned yourself and slipped out. A night walk in the forest would, at the very least, keep your mind occupied.

You should have known Neteyam had the same idea.

Becoming a hunter, becoming a man, becoming one of the People, and earning his place in the clan all weighed heavily on him. He lived in the shadow of his father who had gone from Sky People to one of the People to Toruk Makto to Olo’eykton in a span of a few months. He was only the sixth Toruk Makto since the first songs and Neteyam knew that even if he were to be a great Olo’eykton, he’d never be his father, and it ate at him.

No matter how hard he tried, Neteyam couldn’t sleep. He tossed and turned but his mind fought his every attempt at sleep. He knew he needed sleep for the day ahead, but he wasn’t granted peace and finally he resigned himself to a walk to clear his mind. At the very least, the night would pass more quickly and bring him into tomorrow.

Neither of you realized the other was close, not at first. Your mind was so consumed by the thought of him that you weren’t looking where you were going and didn’t put the care into your steps like you knew you should. The snap of the twig under your step was secondary to you, but it made Neteyam’s ears twitch.

He wasn’t alone.

A moment later, another twig snapped under your foot and Neteyam let it consume his attention. All he had on him was his knife, but it would have to do, he was the best hunter of his age after all.

He followed your uncaring, twig breaking steps silently with his knife down, unsure of what he was following. But as soon as he caught a flash of blue skin in the dark, he let himself relax a little. When he stepped a little closer to get a clearer view, he sheathed his knife as he let out a soft laugh. He’d know you anywhere.

The sound of his laugh made your ears twitch and you tensed. You’d know that sound anywhere. “Neteyam?” You breathed as you turned around and a moment later, he revealed himself with his hands up and a playful smile on his lips as he said your name back to you.

“It is late,” he told you as he stepped closer, his tail flicking behind him. “You should be asleep.”

“As should you,” you replied and returned his smile. “You have a big day tomorrow.”

“Ah,” he brushed you off with a short wave of his hand. “I’ll be fine,” he told you. “I do not have to hunt tomorrow, just become taronyu.”

Your smile slipped for half a moment before you pushed it back up. “I know,” you replied, hoping your tone didn’t betray you.

His ears straightened as he watched you and he hoped, oh Eywa he hoped, that he wasn’t misinterpreting your hesitation as he stepped closer to you. “Once I become taronyu, I may take a woman.”

You couldn’t hide the disappointment in your eyes so you turned away from him. “I know,” you whispered. “It’s a big day for the clan. There are many fine women to choose from.”

His heart dropped, fearing rejection from the only woman he had ever wanted. “I know,” he said and let his tail brush yours as he stepped around you, forcing you to look at him.

You shivered at the touch but brushed it off as an accidental touch. “Your father is very fond of Miayho, and your mother favours Zia,” you told him softly, unable to meet his eyes.

“You’re right,” he agreed. “But I’ve already chosen.” His words made your heart drop and you tried to turn away from him again, but he cupped your cheek to stop you. “But this woman must also choose me.”

“She must be lucky,” you whispered, your heart aching.

“She is,” Neteyam smiled. “She is strong and beautiful and a little slow at times, but she is the only one I could ever want.”

“’Teyam,” you breathed, your voice breaking, but his smile never faltered.

“I’m speaking of you,” he told you and softly shook his head. “Tomorrow I am granted the chance to choose a woman, and you are the only woman I have ever wanted. I choose you, if you choose me, too.”

You were quiet as the weight of his words sunk in, but slowly you cupped his cheek, too. “I chose you the moment I saw you,” you replied and rubbed your thumb over the deep blue line that traced the arch of his cheek.

Neteyam’s smile filled your chest with warmth and you leaned forward to rest your forehead against his. Neteyam’s smile softened as he rubbed his nose against yours. He’d mate you right here right now if you let him, but it was not the way, and a day was a short wait compared to the years he had already been waiting.

“So, it is decided, then?” He asked as he pulled back to look at you.

“It is,” you blushed and dipped your head as your ears went back, already itching to reach for your braid. At your words, Neteyam’s shoulders lightened, somewhat anyway. The weight of being the next Olo’eykton and living up to his father still plagued him, but he knew as long as he had you by his side, he’d be alright.

“We should sleep, then,” he told you and bit his lip. “I intent to mate you before Eywa tomorrow.”

Your blush darkened as you smiled. You didn’t dare ask if his mother or father approved of the match, you didn’t care, you just wanted him, needed him. “We should,” you agreed and tilted your chin up. “It is a big day tomorrow.”

Neteyam’s smile widened and he dipped his head. “A very big day,” he agreed and took your hand before he led you back to the village. The sooner you both fell asleep, the sooner tomorrow would come, and the sooner you could become one.

“You could stay with me,” you told him as you approached your tent.

There was nothing Neteyam wanted more, but he also knew his father would expect him in his own bed bright and early and he didn’t want to start the big day on the wrong foot. “Tomorrow night,” he replied and dipped his head. “Tonight will be our last night apart.”

You hated when he pulled his hand from yours, but you knew he was right, that it was the way. You had waited years for this, you could wait another night. “Tomorrow,” you nodded.

“Tomorrow,” he echoed you before he stepped back. Still, he watched as you slipped into your tent safe and secure before he made his way back to his own and prayed to Eywa his father hadn’t noticed his absence. Thankfully, he hadn’t, and Neteyam settled into his bed with a smile and warm chest.

Tomorrow he became taronyu.

Tomorrow he became a man.

Tomorrow he gained you. 

His eyelids were heavy and sleep came more easily to him. One moment he was thinking of your beautiful golden eyes, the next he was passed out, dreaming of your smile and the comforting flowery scent that always clung to your hair.

--

The sun woke him bright and early like it always did and he smiled as he stretched out.

Today was the day.

“Are you nervous?” Lo’ak asked him over breakfast and Neteyam rolled his eyes.

“Why would I be nervous?”

Lo’ak’s shit eating grin widened as he shoved his brother’s shoulder, “that no woman will want to mate with your ugly face.”

Any other day Neteyam would have told his brother off and shoved him back, but your words were still fresh in his mind—I chose you the moment I saw you—and his ears went back as he dipped his head.

Lo’ak’s smile faltered as he moved closer, his ears perking up before he knocked his shoulder against his brother’s. “Bro,” he said under his breath so their parents wouldn’t hear. “Got something you’d like to share?”

Neteyam knocked his shoulder right back against his brother’s. He was quiet for a moment as he debated whether he should say anything, but Neteyam knew his brother well, better than anyone, and he knew Lo’ak wouldn’t stop pestering him until he spilled. “I may have already chosen a woman,” he said with a small smile. “And she has chosen me as well. We will be mated before Eywa.”

“Bro,” Lo’ak breathed and put his hand on the back of Neteyam’s neck as he gave him a little shake. “You asked her?” Neteyam didn’t have to say a name for him to know he meant you.

Neteyam dropped his head again as he nodded, “it is decided.”

“I am surprised she settled for your skxawng ass, but I am happy for you, bro,” Lo’ak grinned, and he laughed as Neteyam bared his fangs at him and shook him off.

“Watch who you call skxawng, skxawng,” he replied, making Lo’ak laugh hard enough that their father looked over at them and their ears went back as they quickly went quiet.

Jake watched his sons for a long moment before he stepped over and sat down next to Neteyam and put his hand on his shoulder. “Are you ready, son?”

Neteyam smiled as he nodded, “born ready, sir.”

“Good,” Jake smiled and patted his son on the back. “Your mom has the paint, whenever you’re ready.”

Neteyam’s tail flicked behind him. “Actually, if it’s alright, there’s something else who I’d like to do the paint.”

For a moment Jake’s eyebrows raised as he looked at his son before the corner of his lip twitched up as he remembered when Neytiri painted him for his own iknimaya. “Of course,” Jake nodded. “But you have to tell your mother.”

His mother wasn’t exactly happy to give up the chance to paint her first born son ahead of the ceremony, but Neteyam rarely asked for anything and she could see in his eyes that it meant a great deal to him, so she resigned herself and handed the bowls of paint over to him. “I hope you chose well, my son,” Neytiri told him.

“I did,” Neteyam replied with a smile. “Thank you, mother.”

The bowls were full and despite their small size, they felt heavy in his hands as he headed out to find you. Neteyam knew both you and the village like the back of his hand so it was easy for him to find you. you blushed as he met your gaze and he smiled before he lowered his head to you and he sat down across from you.

“Shouldn’t you be getting ready?” You asked him softly, buzzing with anticipation of what was to come.

“I should, yes,” he agreed and sat the bowls of paint down in front of you.

“Neteyam,” you breathed. It was traditionally done by mothers.

“I want you to,” he smiled. “That is, if you want to, too.”

You were quiet for a moment before you nodded. “I want to,” you smiled softly and moved the bowls closer to you, the weight of their significance not lost on you as you beckoned him closer. “Now?” You asked softly.

Neteyam nodded as he moved closer. You blushed when he ginned at you shoved his shoulder before dipping your fingers into the white paint. You started with his arm, your touch light as you traced familiar patterns over his skin. Neteyam shivered, both at the coolness of the paint and your touch and it made you blush deepen as you focused on your lines, not wanting to mess any of them up, especially when you felt the weight of his gaze on you.

After his arms, you moved on to his chest and you gave Neteyam a look when the corner of his lip twitched up. “I am well aware you are a mighty warrior, Neteyam,” you told him and pulled your fingers back so you wouldn’t ruin the lines.

“But now you feel that I am a mighty warrior,” he smirked, making you roll your eyes.

You were quiet for a moment as you tried to think of a reply. Slowly, you trailed your fingers down his abdomen and let your lip twitch up when you felt him tense at your touch. “I do,” you hummed and looked up at him. “And soon I will feel all of you.”

You bit your lip as Neteyam’s eyes darkened but you devoted your attention to finishing the lines on his abdomen before you picked up one of the bowls and moved to his back, giggling as Neteyam’s tail kept flicking as you traced the patterns on his skin and once you were done, you hesitated before pressing a soft kiss to the back of his neck and giggled when his ears stood straight up.

“You are a tease, woman,” he breathed as you settled back in front of him to paint his face.

“Am not,” you replied with a smile as you dipped your fingers into the paint again. “Now stay still.” To his benefit, Neteyam was still as he watched you, his tail flicking every now and then as you traced careful lines over his face, finishing with a feather light touch over his lips.

Your tongue darted out to wet your lips as you looked him over. “You are ready,” you told him as you sat back on your haunches.

“I am?” He asked and you nodded.

“You are.”

Neteyam knew kissing you would ruin the paint you worked so hard to get perfect, but he still thought about it and it took every ounce of his self control not to kiss you. “Thank you,” he smiled before he stood and your heart fluttered in your chest as you took him in.

Your best friend. Your lover. Your mate.

A man.

You took his hand when he extended it to you and let him lead you down to where the ceremony would take place. To no surprise, his parents, siblings, and grandmother were already there and when you met his mother’s gaze, you get go of his hand. You weren’t mates yet and this was his ceremony. A ceremony for the clan.

At the loss of your hand, Neteyam looked back at you but you gave him a reassuring smile as you encouraged him on with a nod so he returned his gaze to his parents. Slowly the rest of the clan emerged and began to form the circle around him, and you.

“Neteyam,” Jake started as he looked at his son, trying and failing to restrain his smile. “My son. You tamed an ikran and completed your dream hunt. You are one of the People now,” he said before putting his hands on Neteyam’s shoulders just like Eytukan had done to him many years before. Once Jake touched Neteyam, the rest of his family and then the clan followed suit, one by one until everyone was connected as they welcomed Neteyam into the clan as a man.

You smiled at him as the people began to separate and once he could, Neteyam turned and put his hand on your shoulder, making you blush. His parents weren’t oblivious as they watched you, and Jake gave Neytiri a knowing smile as he held his hand out to her. It felt like just yesterday that she had done the same to him and he was happy for his son. He chose well, just like he did.

--

Every time a member of the clan came of age, there was a celebration. It was filled with food and dance and stories and songs; and Neteyam spent the whole night looking at you.

He was seated between his father, the Olo’eykton, and Lo’ak, and you were across from him, much too far for his liking. He could hear the people telling stories, but he wasn’t listening as he focused on you. You were the only thing that mattered to him.

You had put flowers in your hair and you wore a top he didn’t recognize so it had to be new and Neteyam couldn’t take his eyes off you. You were his everything.

It was only once the sun began to dip in the sky and people returned to their tents that Neteyam was able to steal some much needed alone time with you.

Neteyam washed the paint off and put his newly earned battle belt on by himself, but Jake stuck around with a gut instinct and gave his son a nod before he put his hand on his shoulder. Neteyam didn’t have to tell him for him to know he intended to take a mate, he remembered his own youth well and he could only hope his son found the same happiness he found in Neytiri.

Neteyam nodded back to his father, a smile playing on his lips. “Are you sure, son?” Jake asked and Neteyam nodded.

“More sure than I have ever been.”

“Good,” Jake nodded and squeezed his son’s shoulder. “Don’t do anything I wouldn’t do.”

It was Neteyam’s turn to laugh and he shrugged his father’s hand off, dipping his head to his father one final time before he slipped out to find you. He was a man now, and you were his to claim.

Neteyam held his hand out to you and you blushed as you took it and let him guide you toward the Tree of Souls. If you were to be mated, then you were going to do it properly and you would be mated before Eywa.

It was only you and Neteyam before the tree and your heart raced with anticipation. By the time you got before the tree, before Eywa, you were a couple steps ahead of Neteyam and your ears twitched with every step he took to close the distance between you. Your tail flicked as he shifted his weight and it took him way too long to touch you, his hand just barely brushing your back to make you look at him.

“We don’t have to do anything you don’t want to,” he said softly, giving you an out. But you didn’t want an out.

“I want to,” you told him, holding his eyes before you slowly lowered yourself to your knees, your heart racing. This was the moment you had been waiting for your whole life, with the person you had been hoping for.

Neteyam followed your lead and knelt across from you before he pulled his braid over his shoulder. You held his gaze as you did the same, your braid heavy in your hand. You had made the bond with horses and your ikran, but taking a mate was something else entirely. Your heart raced with excitement and anxiety as you gripped the end of your braid and held it up, your tendrils searching for his.

You held Neteyam’s gaze as he gripped the end of his own braid and held it out. You let your eyes drop to your braid as he brought his closer. He paused to give you a chance to pull back, and when you didn’t, he moved his braid closer, letting his tendrils intertwine with yours.

It was unlike anything you had every experienced before.

The air left you lungs and you closed your eyes as you leaned into him, resting your forehead against his as you took a deep breath to steady yourself. His touch felt like electricity as he trailed his hands up your arms. And then you were overcome with warmth and familiarity and comfort. Home, you realized. You felt at home. You pulled back to look at him, your jaw slack and pupils blown and you found Neteyam looking back at you with the same awestruck expression. Warmth and pleasure coursed through your veins and when he cupped your cheek, you leaned into his touch.

And then he kissed you. For as long as you could remember, you dreamt of the touch of your mate, but it was so much better than you could have imagined and you melted into the kiss as you rested your hands on his shoulders and moved closer.

Neteyam’s hands trailed down to your hips and you let him pull you onto his lap, both of you desperate for every touch you could steal. You pulled back from the kiss to catch your breath as you struggled to keep air in your lungs, your pull to Neteyam so strong. Your jaw was slack as you looked at him and you were sure your pupils were as blown as his were.

“Neteyam,” you breathed and rubbed your nose against his, craving his touch.

“I know, my name,” he breathed and rubbed his nose back against yours as he let you feel him through his loin cloth. It pulled a soft moan from your lips which he quickly quieted with another kiss.

“I need you,” he said against your lips and let his hand brush the top of your tail, knowing how sensitive it was, and he was rewarded with you rocking your hips into his.

“I need you, too,” you told him and pulled back so you could run your hand down his strong chest to his newly earned warrior’s belt. It wasn’t something you had ever put on let alone taken off, so Neteyam had to help you rid himself of it so you could once again trail your fingers down his abdomen and down to the top of his loin cloth.

Neteyam’s soft groan had heat pooling between your thighs and you were sure he could feel it. “’Teyam,” you whispered and covered his hand on your hip with your own. His golden eyes were dark as he looked at you and you slowly guided his hand up to your chest, needing him to touch you.

Neteyam had seen your chest more times than he’d care to admit, the necklace and beads provided little coverage, but seeing you and feeling you were two entirely different things. Your skin was warm and soft beneath his touch, but your nipples were hard and when he caught it between his fingers, he was rewarded with a soft moan from you, which he desperately wanted to hear again.

He licked his lips as he brought his hand up to your other breast. His hands dwarfed you, and you moaned and leaned into him as he pinched your nipples, learning exactly what you liked, what you needed.

“’Teyam,” you whined and rocked your hips into his once again. His touch wasn’t enough, you could feel him and you needed him. “My mate,” you whispered and trailed your hands down his back.

“I know,” he nodded. You didn’t have to tell him for him to know. He gave a final tweak to your nipples before trailing his hands down your sides to the band of your loin cloth. He kept his eyes on yours as he undid it and slowly peeled the material away from you. it only made your racing heart more intense as you rested on his lap, and your tail brushed his knees as he looked at you before he laid you back against the soft moss.

You were bare to him, but you didn’t care as he looked at you like you hung the stars in the sky. Neteyam ran his eyes over you before he reached down to untie his own loin cloth, and then there was nothing between you.

“Please, ‘Teyam.”

He nodded and ran his hand up your thigh toward where you needed him most. As soon as his thumb reached the seam of where your thigh met your hip, Neteyam could feel how badly you needed him, your wetness coating your skin, pulling a soft groan from him.

When he finally touched you, his touch was light and you let your eyes close as you moaned softly. He was gentle as he trailed his fingers up your slit to the bud at the top and he was rewarded with a loud gasp when he rubbed your clit. He watched you with careful eyes as he circled the bud with his fingers and felt how you throbbed for him.

The tips of his fingers were rough from his years of hunting, and between the roughness and sureness of his touch, you wouldn’t last long. Your high was building fast and when you opened your eyes and found his familiar golden eyes looking back at you, it sent you over the edge.

“Neteyam,” you moaned as you came, your back arching as you pressed your hips into his hand. Neteyam groaned as you drenched his hand and he kept rubbing your clit through it, loving your blissed out expression. It was only when your moans turned to whines that he trailed his fingers down your slit to your entrance.

“May I?” He asked and you nodded quickly so he pressed his finger into you, moaning at how warm and tight you were. His mate, he thought. His perfect mate.

Once you adjusted to his finger, he added a second, not wanting to hurt you. He felt your every flutter around his fingers and it made his cock ache. “I need you,” he told you, his voice rough from holding himself back.

“Then have me,” you replied and spread your legs wider, desperate for your mate.

“Eywa have mercy,” he whispered and pulled his fingers from you before slotting himself between your thighs. He didn’t have to ask, he could feel your need, and he held your gaze as he guided himself to your entrance.

You gasped as he pressed into you and he rested his forehead against yours until his hips were touching yours. “My mate,” he breathed as you ran your hands down his back, and when you wrapped your legs around his hips, you felt his tail brush your ankle. Neteyam’s breaths were shallow as he rested his forehead against your shoulder, both of you needing a moment to adjust.

You were finally tied together the way you always should have been.

Together.

Connected.

One.

“’Teyam,” you breathed once you had adjusted and you cupped the back of his head.

He knew exactly what you needed and he nodded as he pulled halfway out before thrusting back into you and started a slow rhythm, soaking in every feeling of you. You had never felt so connected to someone and you melted at his touch, unsure of where you ended and he began.

His movements were slow but sure and you were consumed with the feel and smell of him. He filled you in a way you didn’t know you could be filled and you could feel yourself get closer and closer to that high with his every movement.

It wasn’t long until your moans grew louder and you dug your nails into his shoulders as your tail thrashed against the moss. When you came, your veins were filled with warmth, a warmth that only Neteyam could feel as his hips stuttered. The feeling of his mate cumming around him was indescribable and it pushed him ever closer.

He fucked you through your high before he picked his pace up, searching his own high. It wasn’t long before he came, too, burying himself deep inside you as he filled you up. You gasped at the feeling and pulled him closer, needing every piece of your mate you could get.

Neteyam smiled into your neck as you both caught your breath, and he pressed a light kiss to your skin before he pulled back to look at you with a soft smile. “We are mated before Eywa,” he breathed and cupped your jaw.

You leaned into his touch with a soft smile. “We are mated for life,” you replied, making his smile widen.

“My mate, my beautiful mate,” he smiled and rested his forehead against yours as you both soaked each other in.

You stayed with your forehead against his as your highs melted away, and slowly Neteyam pulled out of you, murmuring a soft apology when you whimpered at the loss of him. You could still feel his every breath and heartbeat, just like he could feel yours, and when he reached to break the bond, you shook your head. “Can we stay like this?” You asked softly.

Neteyam dropped his head as he nodded and he gave you a small smile before he kissed you softly. His every touch felt like home and you melted into him. He ran his thumbs over your cheek as he looked at you, his eyes full of love for you before he let himself settle behind you. His chest was warm against your back as he wrapped his arms around your waist and you smiled to yourself as you leaned back against him.

You could feel his breath and his heart and the entirely of his being.

Whole, you realized, you felt whole. Neteyam was your other half, the part you hadn’t realized you were missing. Your everything.

The bond was a beautiful thing.

You smiled as you melted back against him. Your eyelids were heavy and it was easy for sleep to claim you, and when it did, you dreamt of your future with Neteyam—the way you’d grow together and the son he’d give you—and you smiled as you slept, unaware that Eywa had shown Neteyam the same dream.

--

When you woke to the sunlight streaming on your face the next morning, Neteyam was already awake, just soaking in the feeling of you, your braids still conjoined. He smiled when he realized you were awake and guided you onto your back so he could look at you as he rested on his side.

“Good morning, my mate,” he smiled softly.

“Good morning, my mate,” you repeated and reached out to cup his cheek. Neteyam leaned into your touch, making you smile as you ran your thumb over the arch of his cheek.

All he wanted was to stay wrapped up in you forever, but he knew you both had things to do and expectations to meet. “We should head back to the village,” he whispered and you sighed before nodding.

“We should,” you agreed, even if all you wanted was him.

He nodded and pressed a soft kiss to your lips before he asked to separate your braids. You didn’t want to, but you nodded and let Neteyam pull his braid from yours. You gasped at the break, feeling colder than you did a moment before, but even without the bond you could feel Neteyam. It was nowhere as strong as when your braids met, but he still lingered in the back of your mind and you knew you lingered in the back of his. You gave him a soft smile as you trailed your hand down his arm and he grinned at you, so in love with you.

It wasn’t hard for both of you to redress, through it did take you a few extra moments to clean your thighs, which made Neteyam smirk as he watched you, both of you taking your time, neither of you wanting the moment to end.

You had left the village as individuals, but now you returned as a mated pair. You held his hand as you let him guide you through the village toward his parents, toward the Olo’eykton.

As the Olo’eykton, it was his duty to know of every newly mated pair, and had it been anyone but his father, you wouldn’t have been so nervous. Sure, it was soon after his iknimaya, but he was still a man. But it was Neteyam’s father and Neteyam was the next Olo’eykton, making you, his mate, the next Tsahìk, and you couldn’t disappoint his family, or the People.

To no surprise, his family was already awake. Village life always started early.

“Neteyam,” Neytiri started when she laid her eyes on her oldest son, but her next words died on her tongue when she saw him holding your hand. He didn’t have to say anything for her to know. At his mate’s voice, Jake looked over and the corner of his lips twitched up as he saw his eldest son, already sensing his earlier intuition was correct.

“Mother, father,” Neteyam said and dipped his head to his parents, his hand never leaving yours, “I am taronyu now,” he continued. “Which means—”

“You may now choose a woman,” his mother finished for him, thinking back to the night she told Jake the very same words.

“Yes,” he breathed before he glanced back at you with a smile. “And I have.”

“You have?” Jake asked and Neteyam nodded as he looked to his father.

“We are mated before Eywa.”

His mother took a sharp breath in, not in disapproval, but out of realization that her eldest son had truly become a man and had left her nest. Jake touched Neytiri’s arm to ground her as he nodded to his son. “We’re happy for you,” he said for the both of them before looking at his own mate, encouraging her to say something.

“We are,” she breathed and stepped forward to cup Neteyam’s cheek. “My son,” she whispered and ran her thumb over the arch of his cheek.

Neteyam smiled at his mother before he nodded and pulled back from her touch, his smile widening as he looked at you and let his tail brush yours. Jake nodded at the interaction before he smiled at you, “welcome to the family.”

Your smile widened before you dipped your head to him. “Thank you, sir.”

“Nah,” Jake waved his hand. “It’s Jake.” He told you, though one day you’d come to call him ‘dad.’

You were welcomed into the Sully family with open arms. Neytiri had her reservations, as would any mother, but Jake adored you. He saw how deeply you cared for Neteyam, and how deeply Neteyam cared for you, and though he’d never admit it, Jake could see him and Neytiri in you two.

Neteyam’s youngest sister, Tuk, adored you and though Neteyam was her best friend, you were a close second. Kiri was happy to have another sister, and one closer in age than Tuk. And Lo’ak…

Lo’ak treated you like you had always been there. He didn’t hesitate to make fun of you like he did for the rest of his siblings, and he certainly didn’t hold back as he made fun of you picking Neteyam for your mate. It always made Neteyam roll his eyes and, more often than not, call his sibling a skxawng, but it made you smile because it meant you were truly part of the family and you loved it.

The bond was beautiful, as was the family you gained with it.

The problem was, nothing stayed perfect forever.

Everything changed the day Jake realized there was one too many stars in the sky.

Twenty years before, Toruk Makto led the clans to victory over the Sky People, all Na’vi knew his story, but the war was over, something of the past, something that had come and gone before either you or Neteyam were born—or it was supposed to be anyway.

The Second War against the Sky People was more intense than you could have ever imagined, with the guns and the fire and the relocation and the devastation and the death—so many deaths.

A very capable hunter, Neteyam was always involved in the war effort. A spotter. He tried to reassure you that it was the safest role he could have, that he wasn’t on the ground on the front lines, but it didn’t make you feel any better. There was no “safe” in a war. And you had seen too many of your people die.

As the mate of the next Olo’eykton, you could be the next Tsahìk, so Mo’at had taken you under her win, teaching you so you could one day take her place. So, unlike your mate, his parents and his brother, your role in the war wasn’t out there but back at home as you worked to heal the wounded—and make comfortable those who would be welcomed into Eywa’s arms.

You knew your role was important, but it was hard. It was hard to see the devastation and the death, and it was hard knowing your mate was out there and could just as easily be the next person who came through the tent flap in need of help.

You could never breathe deeply, let alone eat or drink, until he was home safe.

And the day he came back home bruised and bloodied, you dropped your tray of herbs before you rushed to him, even as Jake scolded him and Lo’ak.

“I’m fine,” he told you softly, but the blood on your hand said otherwise.

“You are bleeding, he is bleeding,” you said as you turned to Jake after he finished his little speech. “I am taking him to Mo’at.” Neytiri backed you up, also worried for her son, so Jake dismissed him and you heard Neytiri arguing with him as you led Neteyam toward the healing tent, your hand on his back.

“I’m fine, truly,” he repeated once you two were out of earshot of his parents.

“You are hurt,” you replied softly and stopped to look at him, taking his hand in yours. “My heart aches seeing you hurt.”

Neteyam gave you a soft smile and rested his forehead against yours. “I am fine, my mate,” he said before he kissed you. “I feel no pain when I am with you.”

His words made your heart flutter and you retuned his smile. “You still require healing,” you replied and led him to Mo’at’s tent where Kiri was helping her grandmother.

You knew you should help Mo’at, but you couldn’t find it in you to leave your mate’s side. Kiri knew what to do, she was even better than you were, and you were more than happy to let her assist Mo’at while you held Neteyam’s hand, the end of your tail curled around his ankle.

Your heart ached every time he winced at the sting of the antiseptic and you squeezed his hand as you watched Mo’at and Kiri. His wound looked worse than it was, and you let out a relieved breath as they finished up.

“See?” Neteyam smiled weakly. “I’m okay.” You shook your head but still thanked Eywa that your mate was alright.

Still, you struggled to find sleep that night, your mind consumed with the what ifs of your mate’s injury. It would be too easy for his injury to be worse, for him to be taken from you. You had seen too many lose their mates the last year and had their blood curling screams as their hearts shattered beyond repair permanently imprinted in your memory.

To lose a mate was a fate worse than death, and you knew you’d never survive it.

Neteyam healed quickly from his wounds and Lo’ak was grounded for his recklessness. Neteyam was back on his ikran long before Lo’ak was, and without his ikran, without being involved in the war, Lo’ak somehow managed to create even more trouble as he convinced his siblings to return to the old shack.

It was a harmless intention born out of boredom and frustration, but the results were life altering.

It was Avatars. New Avatars. In tactical gear. They managed to get Lo’ak, Kiri, Tuk and Spider under their knives and you didn’t want to think of what could have happened if not for Jake, Neytiri and Neteyam. But Jake knew they’d never stop hunting them, hunting his family. They may have won the battle, but the war still raged.

Everything changed after that, after they took Spider.

Jake and Neytiri knew the People would never be safe as long as they stayed with them, so they had to leave.

The words were like stones in Neteyam’s heart as he told you his family was planning to leave.

The Forest was your home, the only place you ever knew, the only place you ever wanted to know. The Forest was where you were born, where you grew up, where you fell in love with Neteyam, where you were supposed to raise your children.

Neteyam could sense your hesitation. “My father said it was for the best. He said that the Sky People are hunting us and not the People, so if we leave, the People will be safe,” he explained as he took your hand in his and brushed his tail against yours. “But I will stay with you if you ask me, my mate.” He would follow you to the end of the world if you asked.

You tightened your lips as you thought, but it was an easy decision. Just a painful one. “I go where you go,” you told him softly and squeezed his hand. “You are my home and my future, Neteyam.”

In hindsight, you really wished you had asked him to stay.

You packed your things onto your ikran and your heart ached as you said your goodbyes, but Neteyam was your mate. You couldn’t be without him.

Neteyam flew by your side as you left the Forest and even without touching him, you felt his comfort and you gave him a soft smile. As long as you were together, you’d be alright.

In the end, you found sanctuary with the Metkayina, the reef people.

It was hard to learn their ways, it was hard leaning the way of the water when the Forest was all you knew, but what you didn’t expect was how hard it was to see Neteyam lose his battle belt. His whole life he had been working toward it, working to become taronyu and earn his place among the People, and he barely had it a year before it was taken from him; before his symbol of manhood was taken from him.

Neteyam may have been taronyu, a man, among the Omatikaya, but you were Metkayina now and the iknimaya of the Omatikaya meant nothing here. He had to learn the way of the water and earn his place among the Metkayina before he’d be seen as a man.

Like Jake, Neteyam’s ears dropped as his belt was taken away and you did your best to steel your shoulders like Neytiri. You both had to be strong for your mates.

None of you were seen as adults among the Metkayina, but rather as children. It frustrated some more than others, like you and Neytiri. Neteyam took after his father and tried to take the transition in stride and did what he could to fit in.

And if the relocation and the helpless feeling wasn’t enough, you were sick a few times after the transition. Initially, you blamed it on the dietary shift. Sure, fish had been a part of your diet before, but it was freshwater fish and something you only had on occasion rather than every meal of every day. It was easy to blame your sickness on the fish, you just didn’t realize that none of the others were getting sick. Not until you were shucking oysters with Ronal at least.

Ronal was the Tsahìk of the Metkayina. She saw all and she was especially hesitant toward you and Neytiri. Both you and Neytiri were being trained to become the Tsahìk of the Omatikaya, so it was natural for you both to resume your training with Ronal, she just wasn’t overly fond of the idea.

Ronal let it go the first few times you gagged at the smell of the oysters before she sighed. “Have you mated recently?” She asked without looking at you.

Your eyes bugged at the question. “Why do you ask?” You replied and stopped shucking to look over at her.

“Because I am wondering if you are with child,” Ronal replied, and the knife slipped from your hand.

“What?” You asked breathlessly.

“With child,” she repeated simply. She had had two children of her own with a third on the way, and she had helped to deliver more babes than she could count. She knew the signs well and given the amount of time she had been spending with you over the last couple weeks, she could see them in you. When you didn’t answer, Ronal looked over at you, “it is a simple question. Have you mated recently?”

Your ears went back as you blushed and nodded. Ronal hummed and put the oyster she was holding and her knife down before she stood and beckoned you up. She hummed as she looked you over before she touched your forehead and then your stomach.

“Food aversion?” She asked and you nodded.

“Fatigue?” You nodded again.

“Have you bled?” You thought about it for a moment before you ears went back further. You had been so focused on fitting in and your mate you hadn’t realized.

Ronal hummed and stepped back. “I do believe you are with child,” she said before she returned to her oysters like your world hadn’t just shifted on its axis—again.

Your hands shook as you gently touched your stomach.

Pregnant.

You—

You’d be lying if you said you couldn’t be, you certainly found comfort in your mate’s arms many, many times since the relocation. But pregnant? Now? Could there be a worse time?

Slowly, you pulled your hands back and took a deep breath to clear your mind and ground yourself before you picked your knife back up and reached for another oyster.

“There are other things to do,” Ronal told you. “If the small bothers you, you will be slow. Tsireya will provide you with a different task to do.” You wanted to take her up on the offer, but you could hear Jake’s voice in your head telling you not to cause trouble and pull your weight, so you shook your head.

“I will be fine.”

She hummed but wasn’t surprised when you gagged again a moment later and she cast a look in your direction. You sighed as you nodded and moved your basket of unshucked oysters over to her, “I will find Tsireya.” If she smiled as you walked away, well, no one had to know.

Everyone was still so focused on fitting in and you could see the way looking after Lo’ak and keeping him out of trouble weighed on Neteyam, so you kept the news to yourself. If you told him, he’d only worry about you more than he already did and you didn’t want that.

And, well, it was no surprise that Ronal wasn’t fond of you. Forest People. Outcast. Alien. But knowing you were with child made Ronal soften. She didn’t look at you with the same animosity she did the others, and every time she saw you, she was sure to ask how you were doing. The Sullys were smart people, and it didn’t take Neytiri long to put two and two together and realize something was up with you, but she kept her suspicions to herself as she kept a careful eye on you.

You had always been the more affectionate one in your relationship with Neteyam, always touching him or seeking to touch him, but now you were reserved. At first, Neytiri thought you two were fighting, but Neteyam assured her you weren’t, that it was just the move and the swimming was exhausting you and the fish wasn’t agreeing with you, which was true—it just wasn’t the whole truth.

It wasn’t that you didn’t want to tell him. You did, you just didn’t want to add to his already full plate, and then the longer you kept it a secret the harder it was to tell him. Between Kiri’s seizure and Norm coming and Lo’ak and Neteyam’s fight with Ao’nung and Payakan and the Tulkun, there just wasn’t a good time to tell him.

It was only after yet another dinner you couldn’t keep down that the truth finally came to light.

“You are unwell,” Neteyam said as he followed you toward your hut. It was the third time this week and he was tired of you constantly brushing it, and him, off.

“I’m fine, Neteyam,” you sighed. “It’s just—”

“The move? The fish?” He repeated your words back to you. “No, I don’t believe you. Have you spoken to Ronal? She is Tsahìk and she could help you.”

You hesitated before you turned back to look at him with tight lips before you sighed and took his hand. He gave you a concerned look as you guided him down to the beach where you could have some privacy. “Ronal can’t help me,” you said as you turned to face and gently fiddled with his fingers. “Because I am not sick.”

“It is just us, my mate, you never need lie to me,” he replied softly and used his free hand to cup your cheek.

“I’m not lying, ‘Teyam,” you breathed and covered his hand with yours before you guided it down to your stomach. “I’m not sick, I’m with child.”

Neteyam froze as he let your words sink in before he softened. “You are with child?” He whispered and stepped closer to you.

You nodded, “it’s horrible timing, but—”

“But nothing,” he smiled. “This is amazing news! We’re having a baby—the first of many I hope.” You were taken by surprise when he picked you up and spun you around, completely elated.

You laughed softly as you wrapped your arms around his shoulders before you patted him. “Enough, ‘Teyam, I’ll be sick again.”

“Right, sorry, my love,” he replied and sat you down, his smile never wavering as he touched your stomach again. “I’m just really happy.”

“I am, too,” you said softly and covered his hand before you kissed him softly. He cupped the back of your head to keep you close, but you both couldn’t stop smiling so you pulled back and rested your hand on his chest, feeling the familiar, comforting beat of his heart.

Neteyam wrapped his arm around you and pulled you closer by the small of your back before he rested his forehead against yours. “I would take you here and now on the beach if you let me, my mate,” he hummed.

“Anyone could see, including your parents,” you laughed.

“Then let them see,” he hummed and when he tried to kiss you again, you shoved him back, making him laugh loudly before he pulled you close again, the tips of his fingers brushing the base of your tail, knowing how sensitive it was.

“Once the sickness passes,” you told him and guided his hand back up to your back.

Neteyam softened and he nodded, “of course, my mate. May I at least hold you tonight?”

“I’d expect nothing else,” you smiled and let him lead you back toward your hut. Once Neteyam closed the flap, you rid yourself of your top—another sign of your growing baby was how swollen and sensitive your breasts had become and the weight of the beads irritated you in a way they never had before.

Neteyam groaned low in his throat as he knelt on the bed, “are you sure you don’t want me to pleasure you, my mate?” He asked softly.

“Maybe tomorrow,” you laughed and pulled him down next to you and you laughed when his hand managed to find your breast after he settled behind you. He didn’t try to do more than hold your breast while his other hand rested on your stomach, so you let him as you pressed yourself back against him.

The reef wasn’t the Forest, but it was nice and welcoming and you could see you two raising your children along the blue water and sandy beaches. Neteyam’s tail curled around your ankle and you smiled as you tried to press yourself closer to him. You could feel him smile into your neck and it was easy to fall asleep.

He was your everything.

This family was your everything.

And if you knew what would happen next, you would have fought sleep to soak in the feeling of his arms one last time. You would have memorized the beating of his heart and the rise and fall of his chest. You would have traced every dark line that decorated his body. You would have held him a little longer.

You wouldn’t have taken the moment for granted, expecting thousands more in the coming years.

But you didn’t know what would happen so you didn’t, and the ache of regret would eat at you for the rest of your days.

The bond… it’s a beautiful thing.

Until it isn’t.

--

The village was devastated by the hunting of the Tulkun by the Sky People. They were their spirit brothers and sisters, and Jake didn’t have to say it for you to know it happened because you were here. They weren’t hunting the Tulkun, they were hunting you. When Jake took the tracker from Neteyam, you took his hand and he tried to reassure you as he squeezed your hand.

“You tell the Tulkun if they’re hit by one of these, they’re marked for death.”

Jake’s words hung heavy in the air. Neteyam gave you a look that told you everything would be okay, but your stomach still twisted. You came to the Metkayina to hide; to keep your people safe. You promised them you were done with war, but the war still followed you—and at the cost of their spirit siblings.

And because nothing ever came easy, Lo’ak was determined to warn Payakan himself. Neteyam followed Lo’ak, knowing his brother better than anyone and his suspicions were confirmed when he saw Lo’ak gathering a saddle for an ilu.

He shook his head, a frustrated smile on his lips, “no way, you’re not going, baby brother.”

Lo’ak wasn’t having any of it. “I have to warn Payakan,” he told his brother firmly.

“No. You have to keep your skxawng ass here,” Neteyam replied, gritting his teeth. For once, could he just listen to him.

But Lo’ak never did. “He’s outcast. There’s no one to warn him but me.”

Neteyam shook his head as he clenched his fist. “Bro, why do you always have to make things so hard?” Neteyam said exasperated as he touched the top of Lo’ak’s’ head, but Lo’ak quickly shoved him off as his eyes hardened.

“No. You mean why can’t I be the perfect son like you, a perfect little soldier. Well, I’m not you, okay? I’m not you. He’s my brother. I’m going.” Neteyam clenched his jaw as he stepped back, his brother’s words cutting him like a knife. If he only knew the weight of his words, but he didn’t and he never would as Neteyam swallowed back the bitter words threatening to spill out and he steeled himself as stepped closer to his brother.

“Oh, he’s your brother? No, I’m your brother,” his voice was hard as he stared Lo’ak down, but Lo’ak didn’t concede and he scoffed before he dove in the water, heading for Payakan and Neteyam knew he had to go after him.

“Neteyam!” You called as you came up behind him and he shook his head.

“He’s going to Payakan,” he told you and you were hot on his heels as he summoned his ilu, as were Tsireya, Kiri, Tuk, Ao’nung and Rotxo. But when you went to summon your own ilu, Neteyam put his hand on your stomach to keep you back. “I need you here where you’re safe,” he told you but you shook his head.

“I’m going, Neteyam.” He opened his mouth to argue, but your look silenced him. Wherever your mate went, you would follow.

His tail flicked as he clenched his jaw before he nodded. “With me then,” he said before he dove into the water and you followed his lead. You quickly settled behind him on his ilu and wrapped your hand around his waist while he held onto the reigns of the ilu with one hand, his other hand reaching back to hold your thigh, keeping you against him as he followed after Lo’ak to Payakan.

By the time you got to Payakan, Lo’ak was struggling against the red tracker buried in Payakan’s back while the others tried to help. You and Neteyam were quick to jump on and help, but the tracker was in deep and you realized quickly that the demon ship was rapidly approaching.

“Call dad,” Neteyam said to Lo’ak. “Just do it.”

He didn’t want to, he knew the trouble he’d be in, so he hesitated before he called Jake. Lo’ak’s words were muffled as you all focused on the tracker. Your heart raced as you kept glancing between it and the demon ship. “Come on, come on, come on,” you said as Neteyam tossed a rope up to Ao’nung who wrapped one end around the tracker while Neteyam wrapped the other end around the reigns of his ilu.

“Please, Eywa, please,” you whispered as you pulled and pulled and finally the tracker gave, and you all fell at the release of tension. Neteyam was quick to gather the tracker as Lo’ak told Payakan to go.

“Go, I’ll draw them away,” Neteyam told you, making your blood go cold. When you opened your mouth to argue, Neteyam shook his head. They were after the tracker and Neteyam couldn’t have it anywhere near you, your baby, or his siblings. “Take Tuk, I’ll see you after.”

You had no choice but to nod and you gathered Tuk and Kiri on Kiri’s ilu and led them into the seaweed for cover, but the submarines followed you. Your mind raced as quickly as your heart as your ilu weaved between plants and leaves, desperate for any cover, but there wasn’t any to be had. There was too many of them.

The submarines swarmed you, forcing you off the ilu and you kept your eyes on Tuk as you swam toward an air pocket, Lo’ak and Tsireya right behind you while Kiri ended up with Ao’nung and Rotxo. “They’re coming,” Tsireya said and you were all quick to dive back under, but it was useless. The submarines could move faster than you could swim.

It was over when they launched the net at you. You didn’t realize it was coming until it was too late, the net already surrounding you and the air left your lungs as you began to panic. Lo’ak managed to escape before it caught him and he pulled at the net trying to rescue you, Tuk and Tsireya, but it was no use. The net scooped you up and dropped you on board the demon ship. Your vision swam as you tried to catch your breath, your lungs burning, and before you knew it, you were bound to the demon ship’s rail.

You watched as Tuk, Tsireya and Lo’ak struggled against the bonds but you knew it pointless. You were stuck. You were stuck and your mate was somewhere out there. You felt useless as the Metkayina attacked the demon ship. When you came and begged for sanctuary, you had promised them there would be no more war and now the war was here and they’d die because of your family.

You looked Tuk and your heart sank at the terror in her eyes, and you were so focused on Tuk you didn’t notice Payakan until he was on top of you, desperate to save Lo’ak.

All hell broke loose after that.

“Don’t watch,” you told Tuk. “Keep your eyes on me, okay?” Neteyam had always been her favourite family member, but you were a close second given you were his mate. Her cheeks were wet with tears as she nodded. “Just keep your eyes on me, Tuk,” you repeated.

It was only when Neteyam jumped on board that you were finally able to take a deep breath. A smile played on his lips as he cut your bounds, then Tuk’s, then Tsireya’s before he reached his brother and cut him free. “Who’s the might warrior? Come on, say it,” he grinned as he touched Lo’ak’s head before he turned back to you.

“Bro,” Lo’ak smiled and reached for a gun while Neteyam had his back to him.

“Go, get out of here. Take Tuk. Go,” Neteyam said to you.

“Neteyam—” you tried but he shook his head.

“Go,” he repeated, begging you to listen to him, and you clenched your jaw as you tried to lead Tuk away, and Neteyam kept his eyes on you, desperate to make sure you and Tuk were safe. But when he heard the familiar click of a gun, he turned back to his brother.

“We have to go,” he said but Lo’ak shook his head.

“He has Spider. Come on, bro, we can’t lose him,” Lo’ak said and headed into the ship.

Neteyam protested under his breath before he followed after his brother. Lo’ak always had to make things difficult.

At the same time, they managed to grab Kiri. Tuk’s scream for her sister would forever be imprinted in your memory, but you had to get her to safety. Jake and Neytiri would get Kiri.

Except, Tuk fought your hold on her before she slipped free and headed back for the ship. “Sullys stick together,” she said and you grumbled under your breath before you abandoned your ilu and headed after her, needing to keep her safe.

“This isn’t a good idea, Tuk,” you whisper shouted at her, but she ignored you, desperate to save Kiri, and you were sure to be quiet as you followed her.

“Kiri!” She called when she saw her sister, slipping under the bars as you both tried to break Kiri’s bonds, but it was no use and an Avatar was quick to bind Tuk to the rail next to Kiri before shoving you back into the water. Your heart sank and you wanted nothing more than to jump up and fight and rescue them and keep them safe, but when the bullets hit the water, you knew it wasn’t an option and you called to a nearby ilu and quickly jumped on. You’d have to find another way to rescue them and you circled the water looking for any sign of your mate and Lo’ak.

You were granted a moment of relief when you saw Tsireya, but it was short lived as you realized she was alone and your heart sank. Tsireya pulled her ilu up beside yours and pursed her lips as she shook her head. Neteyam and Lo’ak had to still be on board.

Your heart twisted before a flash of cold went through your body and you gasped for breath under the water, the air bubbling around you as Lo’ak, Spider and Neteyam jumped into the water above you, bullets still raining around you.

No.

No.

You knew it. Before he could even say it, you knew, the freezing cold blooming in your chest that left you gasping for air as you resurfaced in the water.

“That was insane, cous,” the voice was muffled in your ears.

“Neteyam,” you breathed and reached out to him.

“You skxawng, I’ve been shot.”

Panic coursed through your veins and you swore you didn’t breathe as you wrapped your arm around him to keep his head above the water, the normally clear water stained red with his blood. Too much blood.

“You’re okay, you’re okay,” you said to both him and yourself, even as the ice in your chest melted to a sharp ache that shot down your arm and Neteyam’s expression twisted in pain.

The panic in Lo’ak’s eyes mirrored your own as he helped you get Neteyam onto the ilu before he pulled you on too. “Shit,” he hissed under his breath. Neteyam was a mighty warrior, the best of his age, but he was weak in his arms.

“They have Kiri and Tuk,” Tsireya tried to tell him, but the words never really processed for him.

“We can’t go back,” he replied and raced for the rocks, Tsireya and Spider holding on to the side if the ilu’s reigns. You kept your hand pressed against Neteyam’s chest as you moved through the water and his hand gripped your wrist tightly, needing to hold on to you, needing to anchor himself to you.

It only took a minute to get to the rocks, but it felt like hours. Lo’ak helped you carry Neteyam as he gritted his teeth in pain. Your chest felt tighter with every passing second and you didn’t know if it was your own anxiety, or your mate slipping through your fingers.

Your hands shook as you moved around him and your ears started to ring as you rolled him onto his side. The shot was clean through.

“It’s almost always better for the bullet to be clean through.” You could hear Jake’s voice in your head and you laid him back and put pressure on his chest as you begged Eywa to help you.

It was almost always better.

Almost.

Neteyam’s hands were coated in his own blood and he looked up at you with wide, terrified eyes before he grasped your bicep, his grip nowhere near as strong as it was when he held your wrist.

“You’re okay, you’re going to be okay,” you told him, willing your voice not to shake so you could be strong for your mate. He breathed your name before he scrunched his face up like he was trying to get away from the pain. “You’re going to be okay,” you repeated before pulling your eyes away from his as Jake and Neytiri settled around you.

“No, no, no,” Jake whispered as he perched across from you.

“Clean through,” you told him before he could ask, your ears back and hands red with Neteyam’s blood, and your heart dropped at the way his ears went back. “No,” you whispered, unable to muster your voice any louder before you looked back at your mate. He had to be okay.

He had to.  

“You’ll be okay,” Neteyam told you as he struggled to force air into his lungs.

The ache in your chest began to ease to a fuzzy feeling and you shook your head. “No, no, Neteyam.” You couldn’t lose him. You couldn’t. You wouldn’t survive it.

“You’ll both be okay,” he breathed, his voice softer than a whisper as he dropped his hand to your stomach.

“I see you; I love you,” you told him, desperately trying not to cry and you pulled one of your hands from his chest to cup his jaw, your thumb tracing the dark line that decorated the arch of his cheek.

“I know, I—”

Neteyam never finished his sentence and his hand dropped from your stomach, leaving a bloody handprint in its wake.

You felt the moment he died.

The warmth, the comfort, the unmistakable feeling of him, fizzled out, replaced instead with an unshakeable feeling of emptiness.

This wasn’t how it was supposed to be.

This wasn’t how it was supposed to be.

This wasn’t how it was supposed to be.

You were supposed to spend your life with him.

It was supposed to be you and him.

You and him.

You were lightheaded as you settled back on your haunches, your hands red with his blood and Lo’ak caught you as you swayed.

Numb.

The only way to describe the feeling was numb, like he had taken your soul with him when he died, leaving nothing but an empty shell in his wake.

And maybe he had.

The bond is beautiful, that’s what they tell you. But they never tell you of the anguish that comes with it.

You could separate your life into before Neteyam and after Neteyam. The before wasn’t important, it didn’t matter, because Neteyam was your world. He was your everything, your world spun on an axis of you and him. The People say you’re born twice, once when you are born and then again when you find your place among the people, and you were born again the day Neteyam chose you. And now all that was left of your mate was his bloody handprint and the world had the audacity to keep on spinning.

The ringing in your ears drowned out Neytiri’s blood curling scream for her first-born son, and you slouched into Lo’ak as you kept your eyes on Neteyam’s. His beautiful, golden, lifeless eyes.

You didn’t hear Jake ask Lo’ak where his sisters were. You didn’t hear Tsireya tell him they were on the ship. You didn’t hear Spider tell him to follow him. And you certainly didn’t hear Jake tell Lo’ak to stay and that he had done enough. You didn’t hear any of it as you kept looking at your mate, unable to pull your eyes away, no matter how painful it was.

This wasn’t how it was supposed to be.

You only heard Lo’ak tell Tsireya he was going because he pulled back from you, jostling you enough to pull you from your trance to steady yourself. “Lo’ak, no,” she replied desperately, but there was no stopping him as he dove back into the water, leaving you alone with her and your mate’s dead body.

You didn’t know how long you two sat there in the silence, it could have been seconds or minutes or hours, before Tsireya broke it. “We should wash your hands,” she said softly.

You curled your hands into fists. You didn’t want to. Washing the blood off meant losing the only tangible part of your mate you had left. But you knew she was right, so you nodded and you moved on autopilot as she led you to the edge of the water. Your gaze was blank as she washed Neteyam’s blood off your hands, but you drew the line when she reached for your stomach.

“No,” you said sharply and gripped her wrist before she could touch you. Her ears went back as she nodded before she took your hand in hers as you sat back on the rock.  

You felt both empty and heavy at the same time as you sat there before Tsireya found her voice again. “I’m so sorry,” she whispered, unsure of what else to say.

Your ears went back as you nodded, not trusting your voice. You opened and closed your mouth a few times before you looked over at her. “You and Lo’ak deserve better,” you whispered and touched your stomach, desperate to remind yourself of something worth living for.

Her ears went back even further as her shoulders dropped, but she followed your hand with her eyes. “He—” she started before she stopped herself. “Are you?” She asked instead.

You nodded again before you looked over at her with tears streaming down your cheeks. “I can’t do this on my own. I can’t do this without him.”

Her shoulders dropped as her ears went back again. She couldn’t imagine what you were feeling. “You won’t do this alone,” she told you softly. “You have the village behind you.”

You knew she only meant to comfort you, but her words only reminded you that Neteyam would never meet his child. “But I need him,” you whispered before you pulled your hand from her and pushed yourself away from the water’s edge.

Your heart broke all over again as you looked at your mate, laying there lifelessly, blood staining his beautiful blue skin. His eyes were still open as they stared at the sky above—at nothing. You couldn’t help the sob that escaped you as you looked at him before you reached out and softly closed his eyes. He’d look like he was sleeping, if not for all the blood.

But despite all the blood, you laid down next to him and gently put your head on his chest as you curled into him, your tail wrapping around his ankle.

His chest was silent and still and you wept into him, begging Eywa to give him back.

But she didn’t.

His chest never rose, his heart never beat, his skin never warmed, and his eys never opened.

He was gone.

Your beautiful mate was gone and there was nothing you could do to get him back.

--

The funeral was harder than you expected, having to say goodbye to his body as you, Jake and Neytiri lowered his body down to the Cove of the Ancestors. You knew that he was gone, that your mate was gone, that it was just a shell of his being, but you still wept, your tears burning your eyes more than the salt ever did.

Your lungs burnt as the air left you as you watched as the cove took his body, wrapping around him as it slowly consumed him, and just like that, he was gone, a piece of the ocean.

The way of water has no beginning and no end. The sea is around you and in you. The sea is your home, before your birth and after your death.

The first thing anyone heard when you resurfaced was your sob and you let Neytiri hug you as you sobbed into her shoulder. “My child,” she whispered as she held you close.

“It’s not fair,” you managed to get out between sobs.

“I know,” she whispered, her heart just as broken as yours.

Eywa holds all her children in her heart, but all you wanted was to hold him in your arms.

--

And if you thought the funeral was hard, visiting the Spirit Tree was even harder. Jake and Neytiri had gone soon after the funeral but took you days to get the courage to visit, to visit Neteyam.

Your tears disappeared into the salt water as you held your braid in your hand. Your heart ached in your chest, but slowly you let your tendrils connect with the Spirit Tree.

At first, all you felt was warmth as white consumed your vision, but then you were filled with the familiar view of the Forest, of your home. You smiled to yourself as you looked around, and just like that, Neteyam slipped out from between the trees, his battle belt and ikran eyewear on and your eyes watered as you looked at him, every bit the man you loved.

“Neteyam?” You asked and he smiled as he came around you, his tail wrapping around yours in a way he knew comforted you.

“Why are you crying, my mate?” He asked concerned he reached out to cup your jaw.

“I’m just happy to see you,” you told him breathlessly and you committed his smile to memory.

“I’m happy to see you, too, my mate,” he replied and you trailed your eyes over every mark on his body as your heart wept.

This wasn’t how it was supposed to be.

Neteyam was your everything, your best friend, your lover, your mate, the father of your child.

From the moment his braid meant yours, you felt him. You felt him in a way no one else could and no one else would. You felt his being. And too soon you had felt him go.

Memories of you two as children, growing up, becoming teenagers, and falling in love, flashed before your eyes and you took water into your lungs as you sobbed, forcing yourself to pull back from the spirit tree and returned to the surface, one hand treading water as you held your stomach with the other.

A boy, you thought suddenly, the Tsahìk abilities you had been training for finally showing themselves. You were having a boy.

The bond is a beautiful thing, but it’s also the most painful thing you ever experienced, the beginning and end of everything, of all that you are.

[gowonders]

go you girl ♥ ot5 + you!

aka.. y/n getting princess treatment from her members and having the best relationship with them

notes : hiiii! this is one of my favorite things to write i am absolutely in love with sixth member reader.. anyways this could be seen as romantic or platonic!! definitely written with best friends to lvrs in mind but that’s because that’s my fav trope.. gulp

warnings: fem reader, not proofread, lowkey tension in yeonjun nothing bad though, serious mutual pining in beomgyus, size difference with reader and hyuka.. (tell me if i missed any!)

yeonjun :

y’all definitely have sibling-type relationship..

BUT NOT IN A GOOD WAY. on camera y’all act like you 100% hate eachother.

maybe the best fans are getting is a forced hug

maybe a shared slam on one of your other members..

but behind closed doors? you’re actually best friends.

laying in his arms as he plays with your hair as you watch a corny movie, painting his nails, helping him pick out outfits, maybe even doing his makeup is some of your favorite things to do together…

maybeee you have some tension after that one “challenge for acting!” on m2…? (PLEASE KNOW WHAT IM TALKING ABOUT.)

maybeeeeee he actually kissed you when you get back to the dorms!! we’ll never know! 🫣

onto princess treatment.. you definitely get it from this man.

remember the whole sibling thing? yeah.

”don’t you want something from the store?”

”yn, do you want me to buy you this?”

”i’ll get it for you. oh my god.”

rumor has it, if you complain about not having something long enough it’ll appear in your room along with your favorite snack~ yeonjun swears it’s the hybe santa..

soobin :

you guys are an UNSTOPPABLE DUO.

sometimes it feels like you’re the only two with sense in that group ….

you two have bonded over the fact that maybe you’re the only sensible ones in there!

he hasn’t told you.. but he definitely likes spending alone time with you.. so he lies and says you’re definitely better than everyone in the group (you’re not. you’re literally worse than huening kai..)

”no no no no yn!! you’re so responsible!” you spent 200 on albums for a group you fangirled for the other night.

he also loves giving you nicknames!! maybe it’s the leader in him, but he’s almost like your father figure?? (it literally doesn’t matter how old you are, he’s like your second dad.)

”silly, mini-me, *something based on your animal*” it is never ending!!!

you being the only girl doesn’t help how he practically acts like your dad…

”ynnnnnnnn.. when did you go to sleep last night..”

“um!!! 9:00!”

“then why did i hear the door close at 11:00? huh??”

“i was practicing….”

he gives you THAT look. you know the one your parents give you when they’re upset?

”im not mad. just disappointed.”

”okay daddddd..” new nickname am i right?

ANYWAYS

this man is the king of princess treatment.

opening your water for you.. you didn’t ask?

“i knew you would…” he says, handing your the bottle with a shrug.

beomgyu :

well well well if it isn’t my favorite man to write for mutual pining!

like.. you two have been best friends since you were trainees..

and you too were so obvious with the flirting…

BUT YOU WERE BOTH SO OBLIVIOUS TO EACHOTHER.

beomgyu would always hug you from behind at practice, pretending to be interested in what you were looking at..

he really just likes hugging you..

but i feel like your relationship would just be very touchy yk??

likeeee.. let’s say you’ve been going to the gym more, the second you wear even a shorter top..

he is poking those abs ‼️

”i dunno yn.. might be getting better than taehyun!”

OR HES ALSO LIKE YEONJUN. he loves having you in his arms, telling jokes and random gossip as his fingers ghost over the neck he’s “jokingly” marked when you were both drunk..

anyways

his favorite thing to say to you is “i’ll do it!”

”i got it!” “let me do it yn!!”

this man will never let you do anything yourself..

he’s grabbing things from a cabinet you could totally reach, buying you things you can most definitely afford, even doing your hair for you sometimes (which he’s surprisingly good at ??)

he’s also very very very protective

like he’ll get you a blanket if you’re wearing a skirt, or he’ll stand behind you on tour to make sure nobody is being a weirdoooo <3

(can y’all tell i gushed on his..)

taehyun :

you two are the embodiment of sunshine protector x sunshine!!!

in “ to-do “ you could literally be jumping around and giggling in one side of the frame and taehyun could just be like

:>

YALL ARE SO CUTE

it’s like a perfect combo , like one of you do too much one of y’all do little!!!

he loves hugging you.. and you love it too!!

the way his arms wrap around you tightly, the way he picks you up a little, and the way his fingers linger around the hem of your shirt before he pulls away..

his cute little thing he does is he always takes your recommendations..

like i 100% see him adding the song you recommended to his playlist or the drink you always drink sitting on the desk in his room

”what do you have there, tyunnie?” you ask as you peer into his room. “the snack you always make me get at the store.. wanted to see the hype!” he smiles sheepishly.

he loves buying you things too

but he’s less shameless about it :3

‘I was at the store and I saw that album you wanted, can I get it for you?’ he texts you while he’s out and about !!

he just loves getting you stuff it’s insaneee

he’s also like beomgyu in the way he will do everything for you

”nah nah nah let me get it.”

king of princess treatment tbh

huening kai :

YALL ARE LITERALLY BEST FRIENDS IDGAF

you two are always caught together

“have you seen huening kai?” “umm probably with yn but that’s just a guess!”

he loves sharing things with you too

like snacks or drinks, indirect kissing?? who cares (huening kai.. his cheeks are always pink when you take a sip from his can >_<)

he loves laying in your lap

(but this might be because i will forever head canon hyuka as a thigh/tummy man…)

he literally just loves laying on you

HES LIKE A DOG WHO DOESNT REALIZE HOW BIG HES GOTTEN SINCE HE WAS A PUPPY SO HES ALMOST CRUSHING YOU BECAUSE OF THE SIZE DIFFERENCE

but you don’t care 👍👍

extremely obsessed with matching items

you guys have matching plushies and keychains just to match a few!

he literally started to look for things that reminded him of you to buy you

like he bought you a plushie of your rep animal just because

HES ALSO DEFINITELY THE ONE YOU COME TO AFTER PERFORMANCES

“you literally did so well ynieeeee!”

gives excellent hugs too

i feel like he’d also be really helpful if you had a wardrobe malfunction (+funny..)

wide eyes as he lowkey messes up the choreo to help fix whatever was wrong with your outfit :>

fans say y’all are basically siblings too

im just saying i headcannon YOU TWO as the best duo 🤷‍♀️🤷‍♀️

༘⋆🍊💿💭 ⋆˙

i hope you liked theseeee! if you want i would love to hear any feedbackkk! have a nice day ♥ ♥

[team7-headquarter]

Tsunade is the best written female character in Naruto because she had a life outside her team.

Like, if you can erase the main male characters out of the life of a female character and you still have a female character, that's something.

Who is Rin outside Kakashi and Obito? "Oh she almost became a jinchuuriki—" that event was made do that Kakashi and Obito couple awaken their mangekyou sharingan. Besides being their crush or teammate, who was she?

Kushina was more than a mother and a wife, right? But what happened to her dream of being Hokage? Why did Minato get the job instead? She has something going on for herself, but it was erased even before she died.

Yahiko and Nagato were as lonely as Konan was. At least none of them have anything beside each other, which isn't exactly good, but at least they were equals.

Sakura was someone before Naruto and Sasuke. She had Ino, she had a family— and in Shippuden they treat those things like there's nothing more to it. The focus is her role within Team 7, her role as the girl in the love triangle, her role as a healer that she took because of them. You're telling me that Sasuke and Naruto were gone for years and just trained and waited for them? In the Chunning Exams we were shown how much Ino and Sakura meant for each other, so why downplay it? Why minimize it? All the times Konoha was attacked and you never showed Sakura being worried for her parents? No one ever asked?

I'm so glad for Tsunade in that sense.

Erase her team, who is she?

A Senju. She's the granddaughter of two of the most powerful shinobis to ever exist and she does something with it. It isn't just a mention. She was an older sister and we were able to explore that connection with Nawaki. She was a lover to Dan and we saw her love for him multiple times. Do you want to ease all men in her life? She's a medic nin, the best in the world. She changed the way wars were fought. She has a pet and she has an apprentice, Shizune. The bond between Shizune and Tsunade is deep and developed through the story. She was a rival to grandma Chiyo. She was a sensei to Sakura too, taught her all she knew and trained her so no man could ever step over her again as if nothing. She was a killer. She was freaking Hokage.

If it wasn't for Tsunade, Sakura wouldn't have been allowed to be multidimensional like her. In fact, even after Tsunade, the story kept portraying Sakura like just the female crush, the healer for them to survive, blah blah blah.

They made Kurenai only a mom. Wrote Anko off. Treated the kunoichis of the Konoha 12 as an afterthought. Hell, they gave Sasuke another girl love triangle with Karin. A freaking Uzumaki girl and they did that. At least Temari is as chained to her siblings as they are to her.

If you erase Tsunade, tell me how the female characters of Naruto stand? Because every single male character is someone outside their female friends or lovers or whatever.

What about the girls? What about them?

[musicalmoritz]

Ok ok I want you to think about swap terukane so like clock keeper Teru x exorcist Akane. And also like Akanes the super super popular school president. Yea so like thoughts/headcanons?? (I always cook up the most insane ideas in the middle of the night and I actually remember this one vaguely!)

Let’s talk about the Terukane swap au!! I’ve seen a few people write and draw for this but I’ve never rly read any of the fics or looked too much into it so I’m entirely making this shit up on my own, Ik this is a popular trope so I apologize if I miss any of the sub tropes that are included with it ;-;

It’s hard for me to separate Teru or Kou from exorcism since the Minamotos were a real life clan, but I don’t think I’d go about this in the “Akane is a Minamoto and Teru is an Aoi” way. I suppose for this au it’s most reasonable to say the Minamotos are a regular family and the Aois are the exorcist clan. That provides another fun question tho, are the Akane girls still kannagi?? Since this is strictly a Terukane swap au I’ll assume they are, though if we wanted to take it further we could swap Aoi with Nene or one of the other characters. It’s easier for me to follow strict guidelines tho so I’m gonna keep it at just Terukane being swapped

That alone changes so much of the story tho, it’s very interesting to me. We’ll say the Minamotos are still a strict/traditional family, so there’s still some pressure on Teru and Kou. Just not to the extent that there is in canon. And assuming their mom still died in due to complications from childbirth, their dad would still be absent and Teru and Kou will still have to grow up too soon by raising Tiara. But things would be significantly easier on them since they’d be taking care of the family together. Teru would learn basic life skills like cooking, which would take a load off of Kou. Then since the work would be split, they’d both have more free time on their hands. If one of them wants to hang out with friends, the other can take over cooking and cleaning for the night. Tho that would lead to numerous sibling arguments, since Teru is the oldest he’d probably push Kou around a bit when they’re younger lol. He’d run that house like the military

I want to say Kou is the one the Clock Keepers threaten him with since Teru is so protective of him, but that wouldn’t rly work since they wouldn’t be at school together during Teru’s first year of junior high. As an oldest sibling, Teru is very protective by nature, so they might be able to choose any random student. Once they have him where they want him, they throw in some threats aimed at his siblings to secure their chances of making a contract. So Teru ends up going down the same self-sacrificial route we see in canon, he becomes a Clock Keeper so that no one else has to do it

Without any siblings, Akane is the soul beholder of the family legacy. Self-sacrifice isn’t even an option for him, he’s the only one who can succeed his parents so he must do it. Then there’s Aoi, his childhood best friend. If Akane were an exorcist and they grew up together, Aoi would find out about supernaturals way sooner. Maybe he tells her himself, because he can no longer carry the burden alone. And he knows she’s a kannagi, that something bad could happen to her someday if he doesn’t keep a close eye on her, so he has to watch her like a hawk. In this au there’s not as many secrets between them, so much is at stake so they have to be transparent with each other. Akane’s honesty inspires Aoi to be more honest with him as well. So the obsession between them, platonic or otherwise, is a lot more mutual. They developed sort of a trauma bond at an early age and now they have to look out for each other

Akane’s popularity comes from his natural inclination to help others. He’s such a kind person, even if he can be aggressive. And without him having to constantly chase Aoi, no one thinks he’s a weirdo. It’s a little odd that he’s so protective of his friend, but he’s so damn nice that everyone just shrugs it off as him being sweet. Teru though? Teru is the weirdo

His family is still strict but without the same expectations placed on him, there’s no need for him to try and excel at everything. No one cares if he’s the best student so he can do whatever he wants. And yeah, he’s pretty, but he’s also loud and annoying. He teases people and gets creepily sadistic at times. This ties into my audhd Minamotos headcanon, without the pressure he’s under in canon, Teru feels less of a need to mask. He still does it to some extent due to societal pressure and all but the only opinion he really cares about are those of his siblings, so he’s content to be himself. He makes a few friends this way too, he’s not exactly popular but the people who get him get him. I’m gonna make him friends with Nene in this au, she appreciates his realness

Because of Akane’s hatred for supernaturals, they don’t get along at first. Teru joins the Student Council to keep a better eye on everyone so he can do better at his job as a Clock Keeper. Kou attending Kamome and getting closer with supernaturals has a lot to do with it. When they first meet, Akane ties Teru up and tries to interrogate him but bcuz this is Less Traumatized Teru it goes way differently than he planned. Teru’s filter is nonexistent so when Akane tries to threaten him he’s just like “oh hello cute boy I like you very much.” But the thing is, Akane can’t tell if Teru is joking or not. He assumes he must be, because there’s no way a School Mystery feels things like love and crushes. Still, Teru is so painfully Just A Regular Dude that Akane is forced to see him differently. Cue the typical Terukane “relationship built on trust” shenanigans. Reluctant partners in crime and what not

I’m not gonna go as far as to say they have a Sakura and Natsuhiko type dynamic but it’s similar. The classic “are you flirting with me?” “have been for the past 10 years, thanks for noticing” meme. Think of it as all of Teru’s jokes about liking Aoi in canon if they were directly aimed at Akane instead. Then the “wait- do you have genuine feelings for Ao-chan?” scene becomes “do you have genuine feelings for me?” or “were you serious this whole time?” Their dynamic changes a lot after that. Akane starts flirting back, and instead of using Aoi to motivate Teru he uses himself. “Help me save her and I might take you up on that offer for a date.” And then they do go on a date, at the school festival right before everything turns to shit

Adding to that, in this au I imagine Aoi and Akane are the ones betrothed in the new timeline. This brings in conflict bcuz let’s say Akane used to have feelings for Aoi but those faded over time, it’s all platonic between them now as opposed to what we see in canon. So he has the opportunity to either be with the girl he used to love, the girl he’s been with all his life, his safety blanket…or go back to the boy who’s stolen his heart. Damn that was cheesy, I’m cooking here

Kako also becomes Teru’s father figure btw bcuz he needs one. And despite his dislike for supernaturals, Teru adores Mirai bcuz she reminds him of Tiara. Found family ftw

Thanks for the ask, I hadn’t thought much abt this au before but now I’ve gotten myself invested

[clovermarigold]

Smoke & Ice Headcannons- Happy edition

Ok so doubling down might not have been the best idea. I am writing this at gun point now. So, enjoy I guess.

pt.1 pt.2

Being the middle child, he had the most free time to himself, his father doting on Tomas, and his mother on Bi han. This is what led him to become such great friends with Harumi.

Was made fun of endlessly by Bi han for his obvious crush on Harumi. Tomas said it was sweet and that she would make an amazing sister.... He preferred Bi han's teasing.

In the past two head cannons I've stressed that he was not his parents' priority, but they still loved him and spent time with him. After Harumi had expressed her love of tea, Kuai Liang tried to adopt this love, so, he turned to his father, who could never be seen relaxing without a good cup.

He bonded with his mom by cooking, contrary to what everyone else would think, he is a very good cook. The majority of the clans moon cakes are his mother's recipe, and a good half were made by him.

Though the brothers are different and tend to get into arguments regularly, that is standard brother behavior. And up until the betrayal they had their good moments. So here are some sibling style antics they've gotten into.

Bi han makes an unhealthy amount of 'milk' jokes to Tomas. Both in the sense of Tomas being super white, but also... his father didn't come back with the milk.

Both Bi han and Tomas make fun of how Kuai Liang sits.

Kuai Liang got fed up with how one sided the fights were between his two brothers, so he taught Tomas the art of, "I'm not in your room" (standing in the doorway).

What he did not account for was Bi han beating the absolute shit out of his brother for it. The three of them ended up cleaning the dojo for a month after their dad found Tomas on the floor crying, while Kuai Liang and Bi han tried to shut him up and tell him he was ok.

Bi han lunging at Kuai Liang after he walked in on him confessing that he did care for Tomas to their mother.

The three of them getting grounded after getting caught trying to sneak out because Tomas told them about a honey cake, he grew up with in Prague called a meldovnik.

Bi han will head lock Kuai Liang and force him to take back saying he was a pushover.

Kuai Liang will make Tomas feel so guilty and tell him he definitely hit Madam Bo WAY to hard.

(Dressing the brothers in matching clothes)

Mom: aww you look just like your brother

Kuai Liang: shit

Bi han: ew

Tomas: 😢

His first roll was a middle school play rendition of the wizard of oz... he was a tree.

He's a huge cat person, but after he found out Kenshi was allergic to them, he bought a pet rabbit saying it 'reminds me of you'.

At first Kenshi didn't care for it but after waking up to a warm fluffy lump on his chest he caved. Johnny gave him the power to name it... he regrets that decision every day of his life.

And so may I introduce the mascot of the mkcu, the rabbit that can be found sleeping on the director's chair in-between takes of every shoot, Kris.... (Ex wife's name with a 'k')

He's starting to regret dating this asshole.

[solsticethebatearedfox]

Bad Kids Food + Cooking Headcanons

Adaine

Before moving in to Mordred, she couldn't cook for shit. Her family had unseeing servants and stuff and it was assumed she would never need to know.

Eventually Jawbone, Lydia and Sandra Lynn teach her. She begins to love it - it feels similar to ritual spellcasting for her.

After the Nightmare Forest, she starts cooking and baking with Aelwyn. They make a mean black forest cake together. It's great bonding time

Kristen

Is better with camp food than regular food - made it at church camps a lot

Also had to cook for her siblings constantly (we stan parentification :/) but for the most part it was chicken nuggets and microwaved corn kernels and whatever - easy, processed meals

However, her mother insisted she know how to cook because when she had a husband and children it would be her job. So she would often make roast meals and big servings of chicken corn soup to freeze for the week

To this day she hates cooking - it brings back bad memories and feelings.

Fig

Much like Kristen, better at camp food (ie. ranger meals that Sandra Lynn taught her)

She kinda knows how to forage and hunt but not as well as Sandra Lynn would like

She loves baking but has little patience

Her decorating skills are non-existent but she tries

Fabian

My man can't cook for shit, like at all. He can't even make a sandwich. Cathilda tried to teach him but his parents would often intervene so he never had the patience to learn.

Riz

Riz would be a good cook if he knew how. Unfortunately Sklonda didn't have the time to teach him or the money to buy ingredients for him to learn. She did what she could - he at least knows sandwichs and pasta and rice and very basic staples - but he couldn't tell you how to cook steak

After the Nightmare Forest, Sandra Lynn teaches him how to forage and hunt. He takes to it far better than Fig (he has more patience for it)

Gorgug

Other than Adaine after season two, Gorgug is the best chef of the bad kids. Ain't no way Digby & Wilma were letting him not know how to cook.

He likes baking too, but mainly does things like slow cooker stews and pulled pork sliders with homemade curly fries.

He enjoys seeing the delight on his friends' faces when he makes them food

Honorary Bad Kids

Ragh is in the same boat as Adaine - didn't learn until after Jawbone was in his life. After he worked through his issues, Ragh got really close to Lydia via learning how to cook. Now he often cooks with Gorgug, making BBQ dinners together for their families

Ayda doesn't know how to cook. Past iterations might have but this one doesn't. She has Garthy after all. But she does enjoy baking with Fig or Adaine (and sometimes even helping Gorgug or Ragh)

Tracker knows how to cook, Jawbone taught her. She learnt how to cook on a tight budget, and how to forage and hunt. She and Sandra Lynn bonded over that

Aelwyn is the same as Adaine, never knew until after the Nightmare Forest. She gets really into it, especially baking, making perfect macarons and puff pastry. It's escapism, but she doesn't always have the spoons (it takes a lot outta her)

[eywamygoddesswrites]

— 𝓼𝓲𝓬𝓴 𝓸𝓯 𝓵𝓸𝓼𝓲𝓷𝓰 𝓼𝓸𝓾𝓵𝓶𝓪𝓽𝓮𝓼 — (neytiri x gn!reader)

pairing: neytiri x gn!omatikaya!reader

tags: "right person, not enough time", young neytiri, physical affection (sfw)

warnings: lowercase intended, angst

a/n: takes place before jake sully was in pandora

word count: 1.0k

+ gif not mine. ctto.

before jake, there was y/n. an omatikaya who exceeded expectations, who performed their iknimaya earlier than most of the clan, who also trained to become a warrior but also studied the practice of the tsahik. they loved learning when others dreaded it. that’s why eytukan and mo’at saw them as someone worthy of taking the role of olo’eyktan or tsahik, someone who is also a great influence on their daughters sylwanin and neytiri.

growing up, neytiri would follow y/n everywhere they go. she would learn from the older na’vi on how to hunt and would ride their ikran until she herself completed her iknimaya. it was like another older sibling taking care of her until she began seeing y/n in another light.

it started off as a little crush. they looked up to y/n so much that they wanted to hang with them outside of their responsibilities. they got the chance early on but y/n began to get busy so their late-night walks became a once-in-a-blue-moon occasion for the two.

neytiri herself became busy training to become a warrior. she also became busy but that didn’t stop her from taking time off her busy schedule to see y/n. they were also students in grace’s school and y/n as one of grace’s best students, standing beside neytiri and sylwanin. this was one of the times that they get to hang during their training and made the most of it.

y/n in turn, they began liking neytiri more than a friend when during one of their ride in the night on their ikrans, the moon shone brightly and enhanced neytiri’s beauty. y/n’s face flushed light purple as their white spots glowed.

neytiri saw this and laughed in glee, her face flushed like the na’vi in front of her.

after flying, they rested on one of the floating rocks and watched the sunrise from the distance. no words were exchanged but their hands laced on each other, leaning on each other’s shoulder in comfort.

when they came back home, y/n had asked the olo’eyktan and tsahik if neytiri could be promised to them for when the time comes, they will be able to mate before eywa. seeing their hard work and efforts as a member of the omatikaya clan, they accepted.

of course, they are not to do anything beyond hand-holding, hugs, and occasional forehead and cheek kisses until they finished all their rites and initiation.

but when the school that grace’s school was attacked, not only was sylwanin taken by eywa, y/n was taken as well. they were so close to leaving the school but a stray bullet flew through their chest, hitting an artery, and had no way of reaching hometree back.

neytiri thought y/n got lost during the escape and came back to the ruined school, only to see their body a few feet away, chest unmoving as their skin was pale because of the blood loss.

just like that, her sister and future mate were taken away from her. her cries were painful to hear as she clung to y/n’s cold body. she begged eywa to give y/n back to her. she promised to become a better hunter and warrior in order to protect y/n from harm. just give them back… please…

like the na’vi’s before them, when eywa gave life, the energy must be returned. she carried y/n back to hometree and was buried alongside the na’vi’s that had lost their lives because of the sky people.

neytiri decided to keep one of the beads in y/n’s songcord, the bead that told the story of how they asked her parents to have her be promised to them until they were of age to mate and bond for life.

y/n’s life was cut short. their songcord was short and deserved to be longer but it could never add new ones anymore. neytiri thought at the moment that eywa was selfish. she was cruel for taking her first love and the first person that understood her fully. but, maybe it was eywa’s plan the whole time. she is the great mother of pandora and maybe it was really y/n’s time to go.

two years passed and neytiri met jake sully. although she didn’t want to love another because it felt wrong to love someone other than their first love, then she remembered what y/n had told them during one of their flights.

“ma ‘tiri, when i die, don’t force yourself to not find love. better yet, when love finds you.” y/n says while playing with neytiri’s fingers, eyes staring at the ground in fear of seeing her confused and hurt eyes. they sat on one of the floating rocks so their ikrans can rest.

“what makes you say that, ma seze? you’re not dying! i’m not allowing it.” neytiri grabs y/n’s face with both her hands, forcing the na’vi to look at her. “i will protect you so that we can both grow old together, okay?” neytiri leans against y/n’s forehead, y/n’s arms wrapping around her waist as they basked under the sunset’s glow.

it took a while for neytiri to even be close to jake but love grew between the two. neytiri had told the story of how she once upon a time, found love just like this. though, instead of her teaching the other, it was y/n who taught her what she knows now.

neytiri also showed the bead she had gotten from y/n’s songcord, explaining the story behind and why she kept it.

jake knew he would never replace her first love, but what he can do is help neytiri heal from the pain of losing a loved one because they aren’t that different from one another and show her that finding new love is not so bad.

all their experiences in life will help them strengthen their bond.

and so, their story began.

na'vi dictionary:

seze — blue flower

[isthoughts]

Canon Regulus Black wouldn't have best friends. He would be too scared, and hurt to actually let himself share whatever pieces of humanity he had left.

Pandora and him would understand each other and in those other universes, they are platonic soulmates, but in canon I believe Regulus wouldn't let himself explore that bond. Any bond for that matter. He would cut off anyone who would get too close.

He would have awful trust issues, even before Sirius left. And his and Sirius' relationship would rot way before that. They would love each other desperately, but despise each other for being what they were. And they would both truly believe that the other had nothing but hate for them. Walburga would have a lot to do with that. But some pieces would be theirs, and they would still never find their ways back to each other.

Regulus would only trust Kreacher, because Kreacher had to stay silent if Regulus would order it, and Kreacher would already know everything about Regulus.

Canon Regulus would be so, so lonely. He could be around Barty and Evan, but he would never fully trust them. Doesn't matter if they would deserve the trust or not, Regulus wouldn't be able to do it. He would feel like anyone could betray him. He would be paranoid, tired and alone.

The biggest difference between canon Regulus and Sirius would be their suport systems. Sirius having Andromeda and later the marauders would be the thing that made him turn from his family, find his own way. So Walburga would make sure, that Regulus would never have that. She would never let anyone too close to her second son. She would teach him awful lessons about the consequences of trusting different people. She would hurt him too, but then she would comb through his hair and tell him that it was his fault for being too close to a certain person. And after enough "lessons" Regulus would believe her.

Walburga's violence towards Sirius would be mainly physical. Punishments. And after she would realise they weren't doing much she would use him to learn what worked and what didn't to make Regulus the perfect son. The way she abused Regulus was less visible, and would make Sirius resent him more for never being treated that way. (Which I want to emphasise is a normal thing. Many older sibling feel some sort of resentment when they realise how worse their parents treated them compared to their younger sibling/s. I'm in no way, shape or form throwing shade at Sirius, he deserves all the love he can get, I love him so much, it's just a Regulus focused post.)

Regulus would learn to do what was expected of him, without questioning it. He would feel too hollow to even consider how his actions might affect him or other people. He would be too dead inside. Just wishing all of it would be over.

Because of Walburga, Regulus would grow more and more paranoid and anxious about his every step. He would isolate himself as much as possible. The only loyalty he would have would be to his family, because only his family would hold his hand after he was tortured. Or should I say Kreacher. That would be Walburga's mistake. Making their house elf the one to usually take care of Regulus, after she would be done "teaching" him. That would be why Regulus had loyalty to him too.

Canon Regulus would die lonely, the same way he would live most of his life, and he wouldn't feel that much of a difference between living and dying. He would just want it to end.

I don't think canon Regulus' last thought would be of Sirius, Kreacher, or even his mother. I think he would just wait for it to be over.

Always waiting for it to be over.

And it never would be. Regulus ended up as an inferni after all.

[historia-vitae-magistras]

How much would you, based in your head canon, say is nurture as versus nature? I know you don't mean actual "blood relations" with family like Rat Dad and kids, but in general, how much of their relationships with each other is tied to the circumstances of how they were nurtured for as versus how they may be under other circumstances. That is, how much of their family is perception and choice?

Just for example, if Alfred had been raised by Antonio, would his relationship with Maria and Matthew be reversed? As in, would he be the younger sibling to Maria, while Matthew could be a friend but wasn't a sibling?

Oooh, good question. So in my mind, there are at least three major things for nations rather than two. Culture, geography, and privilege.

Privilege is the one that defines their relationship to a 'parent' most. Maria, for example, added so much to the Spanish economy that it collapsed the global economy. She's beautiful and intelligent, and Antonio, with his history as Hispania under Rome, used the word he knew from Lucius and set the precedent. That was a choice on the European part. And it was often a long period of that being unchallenged by those dubbed their offspring because of the respectability that could give.

But the second would be culture. The Anglosphere is a very weird concept. As adults, Zee and Jack have a strange time calling Matt or Alfred 'family,' but they and Matt usually don't outright deny it because they have yet to chuck the limey off the money and still look to Britain in some ways as the mother country. 100 year ago, Matt was extremely culturally British; calling him their elder brother was no problem. Alfred was never a part of their lives in childhood. But now Canada is largely French or Americanized and largely irrelevant in their affairs, and the word 'sibling' doesn't quite sit right, but they've perhaps yet to find a better word. Jack and Zee, however, would have a lot longer to go to break that definition between themselves, being both of British cultural background and geographically close. It's much the same in the Atlantic Archipelago. Rhys and Alasdair are both locked into Arthur with their borders in Britain. And they're locked into Brighid culturally due to their Celtic backgrounds.

So, geography often makes them close regardless of culture. Maria and Alfred will be in close proximity, regardless of their backgrounds. He and Maria shared much the same sense of closeness that he and Matt shared from the get-go, but they're translating nebulous dirt fuck feelings onto much more defined human concepts.

There are also the social mores of the time when these relationships were happening. In Matt's earliest days, there wasn't much English influence at all, and he's mostly a very mixed culture of French-Indigenous. So the cultural aspect of siblings isn't present yet. He's also male presenting. Alfred was trying to use human language to describe a relationship that is only partially human itself. When he was very little, the word others used was 'brother' and at that age it was the most appropriate. But when he was independent, he re-evaluated and wanted to find a word for his intense bond with his northern neighbor. But independent or not, he's taking into account what is acceptable, what is appropriate, and what feels right, and that hasn't changed much despite the revolution. The closest word he could find was the existing one. 'Brother.' Matt has always found it accurate enough to reciprocate, so their relationship remained familial, which was later reinforced by Canada's transformation into a largely Anglo culture and country.

Maria, presenting as female and coming to Alfred's point in life where he's a hormonal, self-righteous teenager, sent absolutely careening from any female attention, and Maria was no exception whatsoever. She was the best read and educated of any New World country then. She was in the throws of the enlightenment before Alfred was in many ways, and he was dumbstruck by her perspectives and knowledge at that age. There's this pull between them, the closeness of the future and their geography, and the best way in both their cultural contexts of the time to view and indulge that feeling was through a romantic and intellectual lens.

All that probably reads like a pretentious way of saying, 'Well, it depends,' but that's the thought process.

[ell-arts]

Honestly wait, I'm not sure if it was mentioned already before but like, i feel like out of all characters, i feel like Spiral waa done dirty the most, yeah i know people already mentioned Ghost Gang also suffered from the same fate, but i feel like people barely talk about Spiral in here due to how we little bit know about him outside of being a bubbly person.

Because in season one he seemed very genuine and fun to be around! And being beside Pac whenever he was needed! Luke a brother to him! But for some reason in season two they reset his character so hard they made him dumb, like whyyyy, he was so fine the way he was! ...or whatever he actually was besides his caring and bubbly personality.

but yeah, what are your thoughts? What are your headcanons for him?

Honestly, I'd say that Spiral stayed relatively the same in season 2. He was still brotherly, caring, fun, genuine, etc, maybe just not as frequent as in season 1. The reason people don't talk much about him could just be because fans will prefer to talk more about their favourite characters, which is natural, it just so happens that Spiral is not at the top of the majority of fans' fave lists. Everyone asks, "Where is Spiral," but nobody asks, "HOW is Spiral" :')

But anyway, headcanons for Spiral:

Spiral's favourite food is bacon, but his all-time favourite meal is his mother's signature dish - barbequed steak with cheddar melt sauce. Or just anything that combines meat with cheese.

Spiral is a liiiiitle bit tone deaf. He enjoys playing the harmonica, but he's yet to realise that he's not particularly good at it. Or maybe he does know, but he keeps playing anyway xD

I'm not quite set on this headcanon yet (or I might just tweak it) but I've started playing with the idea that Spiral could've had a mild form of ADHD in his youth, in that he was a hyperactive kid who couldn't sit still for too long, and often had impulsive tendencies. He's mellowed out as he grew older, but he's still easily excitable and full of energy. He's learned to channel this energy into sports and ghost-fighting, and being a hypeman for Pac.

For as long as he can remember, Spiral had always wanted a little sibling. His mother never had any more children after him, so he was an only-child. Baby brother or baby sister, doesn't matter, he just wanted someone to play with and to look out for. Then Pac entered the scene :) As soon as their friendship grew into being best friends, Pac became like the little brother that Spiral never had. With time, Spiral also came to see Cyli as a sister.

This could be tweaking canon a lot, but I headcanon that Spiral never knew his biological father. He only has very vague memories of his father when he was a little boy. His father is not part of his and his mom's lives anymore. However, Spiral does have a stepfather, and the two of them get along well enough that Spiral just calls him 'Dad.'

Following up on that, because of the absence of his biological father, there was a period in Spiral's early childhood when he had a strained view of 'family,' and often watched his single mother provide for him with little to no support. This was before his stepfather entered their lives. Afterwards, Spiral's cynicism went away and he's come to learn that family is not just about blood, but about forming strong bonds. This is why his friendship with Pac and Cyli is so strong - he sees them both as family.

We MIGHT have a hint on who Spiral's mother could be. Remember this character?

I know this might be reaching, but she looks so similar to Spiral. They both have blue hair, green eyes, and red skin, and both are quite tall. Like those are all literally Spiral's genes right there.

And if you might need a bit more convincing on why I'm convinced, have a look here:

This shot comes from the episode "Santa Pac," right as Spiral is talking about his parents' holiday decorating business. Spiral's words, combined with the flashback of visuals, make a strong implication that this here is one of his parents. It's that same character with the red skin, blue hair, and even the same lavender gloves. Plus, in most of this character's appearances, she's either a make-up artist or working with arts and crafts, which ties in perfectly with Spiral's parents owning a decorating/creative business.

Overall, it's more likely that this is just your average background/stock character that's being used to fill in empty NPC positions, especially because Spiral didn't acknowledge or talk to her at all in episodes where she appeared more frequently ("Pac-Mania"). But I'd like to think that she's his mom and just has a flexible job schedule in the creative industry :)

[fangirlwriting-stories]

Sibling Bonding

Summary: It takes Phineas almost no time to click with Ferb, even before their parents get married.  Ferb connects with Phineas just as quickly.  Ferb and Candace, on the other hand, both need a little bit longer to get each other.

…

Phineas decided very quickly that he liked the Fletchers.  Mom’s boyfriend Mr. Fletcher had very specific interests, and though they could be a little boring to listen to sometimes, it made him really happy when someone did, and him being happy made Mom happy.  Plus, Mr. Fletcher was a really good listener and always let Phineas talk about his latest ideas, and Phineas wanted to return the favor as best he could.  Even more than Mr. Fletcher, though, Phineas liked his son.

Ferb was super fun to play with, and though he didn’t like talking much, he’d said he loved listening to Phineas’ ideas and adding on his own in his head.  He even had a knack for bringing them to life, which made it so much more fun for both of them.  Phineas liked playing with him better than almost anyone else in his whole life— almost.  Because while Ferb was amazing, there was one thing that bothered Phineas about him, and that was that he didn’t like Phineas’ bestest closest most wonderful friend in the whole wide world, who also happened to be his sister.  Mom had tried to explain it to him— Ferb didn’t like talking, which Phineas knew, and while Phineas talked a lot, he tended to do it in a way that Ferb didn’t mind so much.

Candace, on the other hand, was loud.

And Phineas knew that, sort of.  It had never bothered him, but he could understand why it would bother Ferb.  But that didn’t solve their problem, being that if Ferb didn’t like Phineas’ bestest closest most wonderful friend in the whole wide world, that was something he wasn’t sure he could get past.

So obviously, he had to explain to Ferb why Candace was so amazing.

“She’s really super determined when she wants something,” Phineas said to Ferb, who was listening intently as they both sat under the tree in Phineas’ backyard.  “And she doesn’t stop until she gets it.  And she makes me laugh really hard, and she still plays with me even though she has older cool friends at her school that like most of the stuff she likes more than me.”

Ferb nodded, seeming like he was thinking it over.  “I don’t not like her,” he said after a second.  “I just wish she wouldn’t talk so loud.”

“But that’s a problem,” Phineas said, leaning forward so Ferb could see he was serious about this.  “Because I really like you.  But if your Dad is going to marry my Mom so you can move in with us so we can play together all the time and have it be super awesome, you’re going to have to deal with Candace being loud sometimes.”

Ferb’s eyebrows furrowed as he thought this over, nodding again in agreement.

“How about this,” Phineas said.  “Sometimes when I need Candace to listen to me I have to let her finish her thought first or she won’t have space for it, and sometimes she does that for me too.  So what if when you know you’re not gonna be able to handle Candace being loud I go let her talk a bunch first and then I can tell you when she’s done so we can ask her to be quiet and she won’t mind so much?”

Ferb thought about this for another moment.  “That sounds like a lot of work for you,” he said after a second.

“Eh, it’s okay,” Phineas said with a shrug.  “I mean, I’d be doing it anyway.  This way I can just let you know when it’s quieter so then we can all have fun!”

Ferb started to smile at that, and then he nodded, seeming satisfied with that solution.  He should be, it was a good one.

So next time Mom told Phineas and Candace that Ferb and Mr. Fletcher were coming over, Phineas ran to Candace’s room before they got there and asked her what episode of Ducky Momo she’d watched most recently, because he’d missed it and needed to catch up.

He didn’t actually like Ducky Momo too much, but Candace liked it, and he liked Candace.  She was his bestest closest most wonderful friend in the whole wide world, after all.  Plus, when Phineas pointed out that she could talk to her friends about Ducky Momo, Candace just got quiet and looked down at her feet and said something about it being embarrassing.  Phineas didn’t quite get that part, because they were her friends, and obviously they’d love her no matter what.  Phineas didn’t like Ducky Momo, after all, but he loved hearing Candace talk about it because it made her really happy.  But Candace insisted, so for now it was their secret.

But Phineas must have misjudged the time it would take Ferb and Mr. Fletcher to get there, because a knock on the door to Candace’s room came as she was in the middle of explaining Ducky Momo’s quest for the Butterberry Bridge, and Phineas turned to see Ferb there.  He didn’t look bothered by Candace’s loud talking and gestures, so he must have had more space for it that day.

Candace, however, instantly stopped talking, and ducked her face down into her shirt.  “Phineas,” she whined.  “Why didn’t you tell me Ferb was coming?”

“I was trying to let you talk before he got here,” Phineas explained, climbing up from his spot sitting on Candace’s bed.  “Because sometimes you can be a little loud, and it can make Ferb uncomfortable.  But I didn’t want to tell you to just stop because you usually just get loud when you’re excited or upset, and it’s not fair to ask you to stop then.”

But Candace just glared at him.  “But I didn’t want to tell him!” she snapped.

Phineas blinked.  “Why not?”

“Because he’s not— he’s not you!” Candace exclaimed, looking away again and shifting uncomfortably.  “He doesn’t get it, and he’s not my brother!”

Phineas tipped his head in confusion, looking back at Ferb, who looked confused right back.  “But he’s gonna be, right?” Phineas asked.

“What are you talking about?” Candace asked, crossing her arms and looking down.

“When Mom and Mr. Fletcher get married,” Phineas said.  “And Mr. Fletcher becomes Dad.  That would make Ferb our brother, right?”

“No!” Candace snapped, though she didn’t really look mad, just upset and uncomfortable.  “Ferb isn’t like you!”

“Well yeah,” Phineas agreed.  “He doesn’t like talking as much.  But he’s still super awesome and fun!  You’d like him too if you got to know him!”

“Phineas,” Candace hissed, glaring at him.  “Only you get to know about Ducky Momo stuff!”

“Why?”

“Because— because—” Candace looked away and hid her head in her hands.  “Because you’re the only one who wouldn’t laugh at me,” she grumbled.

“I like weird things too,” Ferb said, taking a step forward.  “A lot of other people don’t get it.”  He smiled just a little at Phineas, who beamed back.  “Phineas does, though.  And he’s never mean about it.  I like him a lot.”

Ferb turned to look back at Candace, and Candace turned hesitantly to look at him too.

“I wouldn’t laugh at you,” Ferb said.  “I know what that feels like.  I don’t like it, so I wouldn’t do it to you.”

Candace turned to face them both, not saying anything for a minute.  Finally, though, she took a slow step towards Ferb.  “Do you want to watch the episode Phineas missed with him and me?” she asked finally.  She thought for a second.  “We can turn the volume down if you want.”

Ferb smiled and nodded, and Phineas bounced happily in place.

“Yay!” he called.  “Let’s go let’s go!”

Candace finally started to smile, and she followed both of them out of the room and down the stairs towards the living room.  Mom came into the room to set up the TV so they could all watch Ducky Momo, and Candace started to explain to Ferb all of the parts he hadn’t seen and everything he’d need to know before hand.

And as Ferb leaned forward to listen, clearly paying close attention and taking it all as seriously as Candace was, Phineas decided maybe it was time he had two bestest closest most wonderful friends in the whole wide world.

[scryptids]

lulu antariksa / she/they  ———  no way is that FINCH FRICKS.. they’re a 29-year-old HUMAN notoriously known for being REBELLIOUS  &  ANGRY  but there are some people who have seen them being ARTISTIC  &  PENSIVE.  if you ask me, they remind me a lot of bedroom windows cracked open for a easier escape, a dark wardrobe to cover up any paint splatters, empty spraypaint cans, and coming home to the power being shut off, but that could just be because they’re considered the TAGGER around town. just keep an eye on them  &  see if their true colors shine through..

full name: finch maureen fricks birthdate: august 22nd age: 29 height: 5���3” occupation: cat attendant at the puurfect pour/graffiti artist/volunteer at citizen uprising ship status: open bio:

finch fricks was dealt a crappy hand in life, and they won’t ever be the one to tell you that

they never met their dad, knowing he existed only because their mother would receive a monthly check that would help take care of finch’s needs and any extras that their mother may have indulged in on a rare occasion

finch didn’t mind that it was just her and her mother; they lived in a crappy apartment in the lower district, and even though her mother had to work almost every single day, they still found time to be together

they had a very strong bond, and finch figured she didn’t miss out on having a dad because of it

however, their hours spent alone usually lead to some pretty terrible decisions on their part, if only so they could keep themselves entertained

their friends at school were all taggers of some sort, always managing to sneak out of their houses at night to put spray paint on the sides of buildings under the guise of night

finch envied them for being so reckless, but being the child of a single parent often made them hesitant to act out like that; their mother had enough going on without the added stress of her child being picked up by the police

but as finch got older and became more tuned into how the metroplex worked, they began getting angry

why were some people given every little thing in life, while she and her mother had to work their asses off just to keep the lights on every month

and so they took to tagging, going to the upper district every night with their friends to spray paint lavish buildings just to create an uproar

the group never got caught, always knowing when it was and wasn’t safe to go out at night, and of course they took pride in that

their work was on the news more often than not, and even though they hoped their tagging would send a message to major corporations, they never did

it didn’t take long for finch to stumble across citizen uprising

the work they did is what finch was most passionate about, and any time they weren’t at work, they would either be at citizen uprising headquarters or out protesting with other volunteers

it wasn’t a way to keep them out of trouble, but it had finch convinced that at least their voice was being heard, and it was completely backed by their mother for once

these days, finch still works full time and volunteers whenever she has the free space in her schedule to do so

she is still very much a graffiti artist, but has simmered down quite a lot since discovering citizen uprising

they chose to live in an apartment in the lower district by themselves, and they can barely make rent each month, but they hate asking for handouts

they have an older half sibling, draven, that they know nothing about, nor do they know they have a half-sibling

finch has a very standoffish attitude towards everyone apart from their mother; she’s their best friend, and she doesn’t care who knows it

they absolutely love working at the puurfect pour, and they always have to talk themselves out of bringing a cat home with them