#nah i hate this she should have given better instructions and if there is room for improvement please say so and not only when grading 🙃🙃

[adore-gregor]

😒

[servin-up-surveys]

survey #095

(taken december 29th last year; uploading surveys taken while gone)

Have you ever given someone flowers? Yes; I remember one specific Mother's Day I took a jar and went walking down our path collecting wild flowers to give my mom. I'm also pretty sure I've given Jason roses before, but I'm not entirely positive. I want to give Girt some someday, even though he's said he thinks flowers are kinda a dumb gift, since they're just dying plants and all but honestly, I feel like if someone he loves like me actually gifted him flowers that he'd probably be really touched and cherish them.

Are there any lamps on in the room that you’re currently in? Yes, I have a guitar lamp in this room that's always on because I like its warm, orange glow.

Is there a place that you will never return back to? I've made it a point that I simply will fucking not EVER go back to the local mental hospital here if god absolutely forbid I need one again. I'll die before I do. It's literal hell and pure, rancid garbage of a facility.

Does your grass need to be cut currently? Nah, it naturally stays dead/real short this time of year.

What’s the worst thing that’s ever happened to you? A very abrupt and just overall traumatic breakup with a long-time partner I'd completely, utterly, entirely lost myself in. I had no self-autonomy; I lived for him, and suddenly he was gone, so I lived for nobody until I finally started to build myself and decide who I was in 2017. It's a journey still in progress today, because I still don't feel like I've entirely found myself and I definitely don't love myself like I should at all. I would wish the experience on absolutely, positively nobody. It changed me forever.

Would you ever want to get married? If so, why? Yes; the primary reason is I just really like the symbolism and general drive to always be and work together, but I also find it appealing for legal and financial ease when it comes to various processes.

Have you ever abused an animal? Hell fucking no.

Do you think animals are less important than humans? If so, why? Nope. They have just as much right to life and kindness as humans do, and you cannot change my mind. We came about existence and (varying degrees of) sentience the same way they did, so what the hell makes us better? And hey, at least animals don't consciously make evil decisions like we do...

Have you ever been sectioned? I am honestly STUNNED I haven't even HEARD this phrase before I just googled it, because I've been admitted to psych hospitals many times. The term "involuntary commitment" was used instead.

Are you on any medication? I'm on so many meds, and I hate it. I very much hold just how many meds I have been and also am still on as being responsible for my extreme memory problems. They're also why I have tremors in my hands. And why I have a chronically Sahara-dry mouth, like I'm supposed to carry a moistening spray for my mouth with me as instructed by my dentist because just how horribly dry my mouth is actually contributed to cavities in very difficult locations, like around the gum line and in difficult cracks.

Have you ever been homeless? Technically, yes, but I have Colleen to thank for ensuring I had some place to stay during this time. She, in her core, was not a very good person, but bad people are still capable of doing nice things. People are absolutely not merely black and white.

Have you ever had a steady job? Nope. Just three humiliating, very short-lived attempts.

Have you ever wanted to go to space? I absolutely would if it wasn't such a long, daunting journey. I feel like I would ultimately and very easily just cry if I went to and truly experienced outer space. That's the home of our very genesis, like I don't think anybody WOULDN'T cry.

Do you identify as a geek? If so, explain. Eh I guess so, I've definitely got my geeky interests and aesthetics and stuff, but I ultimately just don't care about labels and whether I fit them or not at this age.

What has been the most exciting moment of your life thus far? Markiplier acknowledging my existence lmfao

Do you have a dog that is destructive? Nah, Cookie's totally harmless.

Does your mom like to burn candles? Oh yes, she's big on Yankee candles.

Where’s the weirdest place you’ve ever slept? Zero clue. Nowhere very odd, I'm sure.

Quick! Chinese or Mexican? Mexican, I guess, but I'm not big on either.

How many significant others have you had in your WHOLE life? I only consider three TRULY significant. I uh, think. What I had with Sara was nowhere near what I felt/feel for Jason and Girt, but it was still significant to me.

When was the last time you applied chapstick? Not long ago, actually. It's been every day for like a week or two now... They're just constantly burning and the top lip has a notably red shade above it.

All the people you’ve kissed, what did their names start with? J, T, D (or "G" if you go by what I call him), and S.

What did you and your ex fight about most? Jason and I I'm pretty sure fought most about instances where games came before me. I think. This was just so long ago that our old fights barely exist in my head now. Sara and I mostly argued about RP stuff, which is so fucking stupid and is just a reminder to me of how not worth it that friendship was, we could never agree on shit, shit that wasn't even real.

Have you ever purchased condoms? I personally haven't, no.

What brand is your camera? It's a Canon EOS Rebel T6.

Do you like raisins? I absolutely hate raisins.

When did you first kiss the last person you kissed? It was the first time he visited my house after we started dating the first time. As we were hugging before he left, he like shyly mentioned he wanted to but clearly wanted my permission, which I gave him even though at this time, I was not ready. No fault of his own, he was mannerly and considerate in seeing if I was okay with it and I SAID yes, so it's my own fault. Obviously doesn't bother me nowadays though.

Have you ever gone on vacation with your boyfriend/girlfriend? No, but that'd be super nice one day.

Would you rather be able to talk to animals or be fluent in every language? Talk to animals. I feel like it would ultimately be more beneficial, like others could translate my English, speaking to animals would be a major new thing.

What was the last thing someone asked you for advice on? Uhhhh... I can't remember.

What are some things that make others cry, that don’t make you cry at all? There is honestly probably nothing. I cry very easily.

Have you ever swam in a saltwater pool? No, and I'm cool with never doing that.

List three people you’ve had crushes on. I'm only gonna list people I never dated: Sebastian, Kyle, and Alon.

How old were you when you were first head over heels in love? 16, 17.

List three people you had a hard time forgiving. Jason, Dad, Colleen.

Is there someone you are currently struggling to forgive? I don't think "struggling" is the right word, I straight-up refuse to forgive Sara for invalidating my trauma. I could possibly forgive everything else, but not that. Never that.

[TW: EATING DISORDER, SIMILAR BEHAVIORS] Have you ever tried to starve yourself in order to lose weight? Yes, but it's never gone far. I handle the feeling of hunger quite badly, especially if I am super in need of food, so I've never been able to resist all that long.

If applicable, what form of birth control do you use? I use the Tri-Sprintec birth control pills, and condoms are mandatory for me. Maybe TMI but pulling out is also not merely an option, my partner is absolutely gonna fucking do it. I'm unwilling to do anything less than those three together.

What gender do you identify as? What gender were you born as? Female for both questions.

Have you ever gotten high off a prescription medication? No.

Do you prefer tampons or pads? Honestly, I hate both. Tampons are just uncomfortable and tend to just not stay perfectly in place for me, and pads are like bloody diapers, but ultimately I use pads these days anyway. I sometimes wanna try to use the cup, but I know I wouldn't handle it well for a few reasons.

Have you ever used a tampon? Yes, I think I've used tampons for most of my menstruating life. I only recently switched back to pads.

Did your parents give you “the talk”? No, I learned about periods and sex solely from family life/sex ed classes in school during 4th and 5th grade.

Do you think you are attractive? Absolutely not.

Have you ever accidentally overdosed on a drug? Yes actually, but it just made me very tired. Mom called poison control or whatever and they let us know I'd be fine, I probably just would be sleepy.

Would you ever name a child after yourself? No, I honestly REALLY dislike parents naming their children after themselves. It comes across as so self-important and like the child's identity isn't their own. I worry if I do have kids/a son, Girt's mom is absolutely going to want a Donald III which she will absolutely, positively NOT get. I don't even like the name Donald.

Is there a guy or girl you wish things had worked out with? Not anymore!

Would you rather have a daughter or a son? I would very strongly prefer a daughter if I have children.

Have you ever written to an advice columnist? No.

If you’re female, would you feel uncomfortable having a male gynecologist? Yes, I would literally refuse a male gynecologist, like I'm sorry, but a man picking a career of examining vaginas and pretending it's not something he gets some sort of sexual satisfaction out of seems REMARKABLY unlikely to me.

Do you like Lisa Frank? Yeah, I really enjoy her aesthetic. Kinda want a Lisa Frank-ish tattoo at some point.

Were you ever hospitalized as a child? No.

Do you believe that drug addicts and alcoholics should count as people? Are you fucking kidding me with this????

Will you vote in the next presidential election? Yes.

What’s your favorite zoo animal? Meerkats! Even though my zoo no longer has them. :(

Are you allergic to your favorite animal? I wouldn't know, I've never been in contact with one.

Did you ever have to take home a fake baby in health class? No, thank fucking GOD.

Would you rather wear ivory or white on your wedding day? What color will your bridesmaids wear? Well, I most want to wear black, but if that wasn't an option, uh... idk, it would really depend on the dress. I think my bridesmaids are gonna wear orange; I want a black-and-gold themed wedding and I think orange would work okay. I think gold dresses would either be very expensive or just distracting, or both.

Have you ever taken a poetry course? No, but I absolutely would've if it was an option in school.

What would you name twin girls? I can basically promise you I would selectively abort if I got pregnant with twins even if I wanted children, BUT if I did keep both for whatever reason, I'm rather confident in Alessandra and Anneliese.

Are you named after anyone? No. Well, my middle name is frequently used as a middle name in my family, if you'd consider that as counting.

Do you want to have a bachelorette party? Idk, probably.

Would you be scared to meet God? My totally honest, rather confident opinion? Even if he existed, no. Because if he IS real, I have a negative amount of respect for him so therefore don't respect anything he'd think or feel. The idea of going to Hell is terrifying, yeah, but even that fear won't keep me from what I so firmly believe in these days.

Have you ever questioned God’s existence? Story of basically my entire life.

Is there a Kmart in your town? There once was quite close to here actually, but it's been closed for a veeeery long time now.

Do you enjoy seeing wedding and baby announcements on Facebook? Of course! Those are exciting times for people and I'm happy for them.

What would you say if you found out your last ex was in a relationship? I wouldn't say anything, idc.

Would you go back in time if you were given the chance? When it boils down to it, no. I want to keep moving forward.

[heyitssmiller]

Chop It Like It’s Hot

A Worst Cooks in America O’Knutzy AU

The Sweater Weather Discord group helped me come up with this idea like two months ago, and I haven’t stopped thinking about it since. All credit goes to @lumosinlove for her amazing characters!

Chop It Like It’s Hot Masterlist

Chapter 1: Don’t Go Bacon My Heart

The Day Before the Competition

Interviewer (off camera): Finn O’Hara and Logan Tremblay for their introductions.

Logan: * taps on microphone* Is this mic working?

Finn: How do you still not know how to work a mic? You deal with them all time.

Logan: I signed up to compete in a cooking show, not to deal with your chirps.

Finn: You love ‘em. *winks*

Interviewer: So basically all we want from you guys is a brief introduction for the viewers. I’ll ask some questions, but most of this should be you guys just talking. We can edit things out later, so don’t worry about anything like that. Why don’t you guys start with your names and careers and we’ll go from there.

Finn: Yo, I’m Finn O’Hara, and I’m a terrible cook. *finger guns* Although I guess that’s a given, seeing that I’m on this show.

Logan: *mumbles in French, head in hands*

Finn: This asshole – shit, no – fuck! Sorry, I probably shouldn’t be cussing. This is a family-friendly show.

Logan: Dear God, please stop talking. I’m Logan Tremblay, the unfortunate boyfriend.

*Finn pouts*

Interviewer: And you guys play hockey?

Logan: Yeah, we play in the NHL. Gryffindor Lions.

Finn: That’s how we met, actually. Through hockey. We played together at Harvard, then got drafted to the Lions about a year apart. We’ve known each other for eight years and have been together for three of them. Can’t seem to get rid of this one.

Interviewer: And you’re not worried about being rivals on this show?

Finn: Rivals is a strong word… I mean yes we’ll be competing against each other instead of being teammates, but we know going in that it’s not personal. Just a little healthy competition.

Interviewer: So what made the two of you sign up for this show?

Logan: We didn’t. Our teammate Dumo and his wife Celeste did. They thought it would be funny. *pause* They’re probably right.

Interviewer: Out of the two of you, who is the worst cook?

*Finn and Logan point to each other*

Logan: You can’t be serious.

Finn: You once cooked pasta so much that it turned into literal paste!

Logan: You tried to cook pizza rolls in a toaster.

Finn: That’s what it said in the instructions!

Logan: It said toaster oven, you - *more French*

Finn: English, Tremz. How many times do I have to tell you that? I guess we’ll find out once and for all who the better cook is by the end of the next eight weeks, right? *mouths “it’s me” to the camera*

Logan: Whatever, Fish.

Interviewer: I think we’ve got all we need guys, thanks. Start time for tomorrow is 10:00 am, but plan on being here forty-five minutes to an hour early to get ready. We’ll see you then.

Competition Day

“Are you nervous? I’m nervous.” Finn stated, running a hand through his hair and looking around at the studio they’d be in and out of for the foreseeable future. There were cooking stations everywhere and he could already see tools and machines that he had no clue how to use. There were twelve other contestants that he didn’t know and the crew scattered everywhere, running back and forth trying to get everything ready. “God, how am I sweaty already? Is this normal?”

Logan rolled his eyes but still reached over to grab Finn’s hand, squeezing it lightly. “Relax. It’s not so bad.” Finn smiled down at him, glad that they were at least here together. How in the hell did he get so lucky?

“Besides, you’ll be sent home soon enough. So don’t stress too much.”

Finn laughed. “Wow, I hate you so much right now.” He betrayed his words with a quick kiss. “You’re going down.”

Those green eyes flashed at the challenge, but right as he opened his mouth to respond-

“Good morning, recruits!”

All heads turned towards the voice. Three figures stood towards the front of the room: one they both recognized as the producer, who was flanked by who Finn assumed to be the chefs, seeing that they were wearing chef’s outfits. Chef’s uniforms? Did their uniforms have a technical name? Finn made a mental note to google that later.

Anyways, one was a short woman with dark ringlets tied back in a ponytail and an undiscernible expression on her face. The other was tall, blond, and had legs for days Jesus Christ-

“Welcome to your first day of boot camp! This is chef Dorcas Meadowes and chef Leo Knut; they’ll be your team leaders. We’re going to start with some footage of you all walking into the kitchen, so if you all would wait out there until you’re allowed to come back in. Cameras will be rolling, so be ready! After that, our chefs will explain the first challenge and then you’ll start cooking.” He clapped his hands together. “Alright, let’s get this show started!”

“Why did they make us come in here just to send us back out?” Logan grumbled, following the other shuffling contestants out into the hall.

“Probably easier to give directions to the main studio instead of saying ‘hey, just wait out in the hall.’”

Logan hummed noncommittally. “I guess.” He wasn’t overly excited to be here; most of this (besides the initial push by Dumo and Celeste) was Finn’s idea. And god knows he could never say no to Finn. One look at that pout and brown puppy-dog eyes and he was done for. Logan didn’t like cooking, but he did like Finn. And they’d probably remember this for years to come. It didn’t matter what he was doing, as long as he was with Finn and making memories with him he’d do just about anything.

“Wonder what the first challenge is.” Finn mused, his eyes locked on the doors.

Logan laughed. “Always so impatient.”

“I’m a New Yorker,” Finn grinned, leaning into his accent. “It’s in my blood.”

The doors opened and contestants began filing back into the kitchen. Finn made sure to wave enthusiastically at the chefs with a wide smile. Logan noticed the tall one (god, he’d already forgotten the guy’s name) give a little wave in return as the other chef commanded the attention of everyone else in the room.

“Good morning, recruits, and welcome to boot camp! I’m chef Dorcas Meadowes, and this is chef Leo Knut. He’s the rookie of our crew, but don’t worry – he’s still qualified to teach all of you. Even though that’s not saying much.”

There was a smattering of laughter and chef Leo smiled, revealing dimples Logan could see from where he stood. “Hey, y’all. I’m very excited to see what makes all of you qualified to be put on this show. Who knows? Maybe you’ll give me more gray hair.” Dorcas laughed and ran her fingers through the tuft of gray hair at his temple.

“When did you get this? I don’t remember seeing it when we were in culinary school. Is it from Iron Chef?”

“Nah, this is from having Gordon Ramsay come to my restaurant.”

“Truly a terrifying man.” She shuddered. “Anyways, you guys be nice to this giant ball of sunshine. Even if he’s new, he’s still able to eliminate you from this competition.”

“In order to pick our teams, we need to see what kind of skills you have.” Leo winced. “Or don’t have. So today, we want you to make your favorite dish. Easy enough, right?”

“Oh god,” Finn murmured into Logan’s ear. “What’s my favorite dish? Do I even have one?”

“Finn.”

“You all have an hour to complete this task.” Dorcas said, glancing down at her watch. “And your time starts… now!”

“Fuck.” Finn stated emphatically, dashing off to the pantry.

Fuck was right. God, what was Logan going to make? He was wracking his brain for something while he grabbed two aprons from the back. He tossed one to Finn and took the station beside him before hurrying to the pantry. Chicken was always a safe bet, right? Celeste made a barbeque chicken recipe that was to die for. That couldn’t be too hard. It was just chicken and barbeque sauce. And maybe green beans on the side? He could get those canned ones and they’d taste fine if he rinsed them. This was fine.

He guessed on the temperature for the oven. 350 seemed good. Then he dumped two chicken breasts into a pan, poured the barbeque sauce over them, and put them into the oven.

“What are you making?” Logan startled at the soft voice, turning to see chef Leo at his station.

Blue eyes.

Logan blinked, Leo’s question forgotten. “Quoi?”

“You speak French?”

Why was his brain refusing to work all of a sudden? Get it together, Tremblay. “Uh, yeah.”

“What are you making?” Leo asked for the second time, but now it was in French. Weirdly worded French.

“Barbeque chicken.” Logan responded in French, then switched back to English. “What in the world was that?”

Leo flashed him a grin. “New Orleans, born and raised. We speak French there, too. Now tell me how you’re making that chicken.”

“Uh.” He had never said the word ‘uh’ so much in one sitting. Merde. “I put it in a pan, spread barbeque sauce over it, and I’m cooking it at 350.”

“How do you know when it’s done?”

Was this a trick question? It felt like a trick question. “Uh.” Fuck. “It has to get to a specific internal temperature, right?”

The chef nodded. “And what’s that?”

“145?"

Something in Leo’s expression flickered, but Logan couldn’t figure out what it meant. “Well, good luck. Logan, right?”

“Yeah.”

“See you at the judging table.” He said with a dimpled smile before moving to Finn’s station, which was already a mess. “Oh my. How are you doing over here?”

Finn laughed a bit hysterically. “Not good. Not good at all.”

“Ok. What’s going on?”

“Well I’m trying to make carbo’hara, and –“

“Really, Fish?” Logan called from his station. “That’s what you’re making?”

“What’s carbo’hara?” Leo asked as he watched Finn put bacon in a pan.

“Oh,” Finn waved a hand carelessly. “It’s just carbonara, but a pun on my name, O’Hara. Get it?”

Leo laughed, crossing long arms over his chest. “That’s terrible.”

“Yeah, but it makes me happy. My parents used to make it every night before my brother or I had hockey games.”

“Oh, that’s right. You guys are hockey players.”

“Go Lions!” Finn cheered, taking a spoonful of butter and throwing it into the pan with the bacon.

“Are you putting butter on bacon?” Leo asked with a raised eyebrow.

Finn responded with full confidence, “I didn’t want it to stick to the pan.”

“Ok. Got it. I… I look forward to seeing what you make.” Finn watched as Leo bit his lip and tried his hardest not to laugh.

Cute.

Finn felt his cheeks flush and blamed it on the steam from the pasta.

The last thirty minutes of the task were absolute chaos, but both boys got it done. Finn’s looked messy, which accurately summed up his cooking style. Logan was pretty proud of how his looked; he just hoped it tasted good. He gave Finn a smile and a fist bump. “Ready to be judged?”

Finn laughed, looking down at his plate. He grimaced. “Not really.”

“We’re all bad cooks. Chances are someone else’s dish is worse than yours.”

“That… actually helped. Thanks.”

***

 Finn was chosen to be judged before Logan. He brought up his plate with a sheepish smile and placed it on the table in front of the chefs. Dorcas raised an eyebrow while Leo prodded the pasta with his fork.

“It’s carbo’hara.” Finn stated with pride.

“Well, Finn…” Dorcas met his eyes. “This looks like a mess, but let’s see how it tastes.”

Finn cringed as they both took a bite of his food. Dorcas frowned as she chewed and Leo tilted his head, a confused expression on his face.

“I don’t know how you did it, but this solidifies in my mouth like glue.”

“Oh god, please don’t eat any more.”

“You definitely put a lot of effort in and you have a lot of potential,” Leo said with a small smile. “I think you were just a little too ambitious for this first round and it got away from you.”

“That’s fair. Thanks for the input.” Finn grabbed his plate and made his way back to his station. He wasn’t too upset by those reviews – he already knew he was a bad cook. But he had potential, so at least he had that going for him.

Logan grinned at him back at his station. “I can’t believe you served the judges glue pasta.”

“At least I’m not serving them canned green beans.”

“They taste just fine, thank you very much.”

“Lo, they’re professionals. You’re not getting away with something lazy like that.”

He definitely got in trouble for using the canned green beans. Dorcas looked down at them like they were worms. Leo gave him the ‘I’m not mad, I’m disappointed’ look, which was even worse, please don’t look at me like that.

“Canned food is a no-go, huh?”

“Definitely.”

“And this chicken isn’t cooked all the way.” Leo said, showing him the pink meat. “You said earlier that you’d cook it until it reached 145 degrees, but chicken needs to reach 165 at a minimum.”

“I’m sure it tasted fine, though.” Dorcas added. “You can’t really go wrong with pre-made barbeque sauce and chicken.”

Ouch. Logan grabbed his plate. “Right. Thanks.”

Finn was predictably cackling at his station. “Tremz, they couldn’t even eat yours. Celeste is going to be so disappointed in you.”

“Shut up.”

 ***

As soon as they were back into their hotel room, Finn kicked his shoes off and faceplanted into the couch. “I can’t believe that took so long.”

“Yeah,” Logan sat down and grabbed his take-out. “Who knew cooking all day would make us so hungry?”

Finn made grabby hands at the other food container. Logan laughed and handed it to him. “I haven’t been this hungry since playoffs, fuck.”

They ate in silence and were finished in record-setting time. Finn collected their trash and stood up to throw it away. “So blue team, huh? I’m kind of surprised they put us on the same team.”

“Me too. But Leo seems like a good teacher, so I’m glad we’re on his team.”

“Yeah, he seems so young, too.” Which sounded ridiculous to say; Leo couldn’t be that much younger than them. “If he’s already winning competitions and starring in cooking shows at that age, he must be pretty good.”

“Winner of Iron Chef America, Chopped, Guy’s Grocery Games…” Logan read off his phone with a low whistle. “He graduated culinary school early and opened his own restaurant a year later.”

“Damn.”

“There’s a video of one of his competitions on here.”

“Play it!” Finn said excitedly, flopping back down on the couch and peering over his boyfriend’s shoulder. Logan gave him a strange look. “What? Maybe we’ll learn something useful.”

“I think this is going to be way too complicated for us, but ok.”

So they sat on the couch watching cooking competitions for hours, learning skills and techniques that went way over their heads. Logan wordlessly switched to Leo’s cooking show Cajun Cooking, watching episode after episode of the blue-eyed chef teaching traditional New Orleans recipes.

Little did they know that halfway across the city in his own apartment, Leo Knut was watching Youtube highlights of the Gryffindor Lions, keeping a sharp eye out for number seventeen and number ten.

[witcherslittledove]

Life's a Bitch

For @jaskiersbow as part of @thewitcherbog RPF exchange! - AO3

Ship: Joey/Henry (with a side of Joey/Kal)

A lockdown fic.... but with more dog fucking.

CW: RPF, Bestiality, Dead Dove: do not eat, masturbation, Joey has a small cock, multiple orgasms, knotting, accidental voyeurism

_

Lockdown was a bitch.

It wasn’t like Joey was a particularly sociable person, but the one thing really did enjoy was sex. He was no stranger to one night stands, getting far too drunk at the club and falling into bed with whoever took his fancy. Having sex with strangers was easy, especially when he was too drunk to care what they might think about him, about his dick. It wasn’t exactly average, and he’d been laughed at one too many times by people he cared about, so now he had a habit of pushing people away before he could get hurt.

Henry was no exception.

Sweet, kind, loving Henry, who had offered Joey a place to stay when the electrical mains had blown in the flat he shared with Madeleine. Gorgeous, filmstar, sexiest man alive Henry, who just happened to be Joey’s biggest crush.

So, despite the fact he was desperately horny, Joey kept his co-star at a distance. Preferring, instead, to cuddle up to Kal or spend hours locked away in his room composing, or trying to compose at the very least. He really didn’t want to admit how many hours he actually spent reading porn with his fingers up his arse. Honestly, the amount of lube he’d gotten through the last few weeks was just embarrassing.

There were moments when he thought that maybe, just maybe, Henry fancied him back. The soft smiles when they danced around each other in the kitchen in the mornings, the lingering glances across the room when they were watching Netflix in the evenings, or even the rather romantic walks with Kal at dawn.

But he couldn’t risk it, not when he had to spend the next seven odd years working with Henry. If they were lucky anyway, god, he hoped it would be that long. Lauren wouldn’t kill off Jaskier, would she?

Nah…

He was fine. Dandelion was integral to Geralt’s development in the series. Joey just had to have faith that Lauren saw that too.

Of course, there was a niggly feeling at the back of Joey’s head, an anxiety that said this stupid bloody pandemic would never end and he’d never get to perform again. He kept wondering whether he should just give up, get another job; something stable.

He sighed, running both hands through his hair as he collapsed back onto the bed, his guitar abandoned on the floor. Lockdown wasn’t the most inspiring of events, but he had to be productive. It was the only way he was getting through his boredom, that and far too much gin and wine. He smiled at that, Henry had been terrible for encouraging his love of gin and tonic, the pair of them spending most evenings lost at the bottom of the bottle.

Okay, so maybe he wasn’t keeping Henry at as much of a distance as he should have been, but a broken heart would definitely fix his lack of inspiration. There was no better cure for writer’s block than a broken heart. Any artist could tell you that.

Until then Joey supposed he would just continue to be unbearably horny and get through too much lube.

He had nothing better to do.

Groaning, he leaned over to grab the bottle he kept in the drawer, and then hastily unzipped his jeans. It didn’t take long for his cock to get hard, teasing strokes along his length as he fell into the memory of Henry working out that morning, biceps bulging in the dark blue tank top, tanned skin glistening with sweat in the sun. Thick curls fell in front of Henry’s eyes, sticking to his forehead, and he winked -sort of- as he noticed Joey watching from the doorway. Joey wanted to lick every inch of Henry’s skin, lavishing him in kisses and hickies until there was no denying who he belonged to, then he wanted Henry to ruin him; fuck him against whatever surface they could find, strong arms lifting him up against the wall. Joey could ride him until his legs started to shake, Henry thrusting up into him until he couldn’t remember his own name.

God, he wanted it all.

Henry’s lips around his cock, never judging him or complaining, but loving him, loving his cock.

Sparks flew in front of Joey’s vision and he cried out as he came, spilling into his hand. The pleasure crashed over him, leaving him boneless as he fell back onto the bed with a blissful sigh, happy to bask in the haze of his orgasm and forgetting that it was all just a fantasy.

Until the door burst open and Joey was suddenly bombarded with a faceful of fur as Kal bounded into the room. It was mortifying. Joey was still covered in cum and lube, and now he had to try and force Henry’s giant hound onto the floor, but if Kal didn’t want to do something it was incredibly difficult to get him to behave. He was just so fucking heavy.

“Okay, that’s enough now, boy,” Joey mumbled, his face burning hot and he wondered if he could just die there, never having to show his face again.

Kal’s fur was already sticky with the mess of lube and cum, and Joey really didn’t want to have to explain that to Henry.

It was fine. He could pull Kal into the bathroom, nothing a flannel wouldn’t clean off. Henry never needed to know…

“Oh fuck, shit, Kal. No!” Joey stammered as the dog started to lick at his hand, dangerously close to his cock. “No, no, no. No!”

Kal ignored him, continuing to lick up the mess on Joey’s hand, before nuzzling against his cock, and holy shit, it had been so long since someone else had touched him. Despite the fact he’d just cum, Joey felt a whole new wave of arousal flood his body and his cock twitched pathetically, trying to get hard.

“Fuck,” Joey groaned, knowing he should be disgusted but he was just so fucking horny that he was struggling to keep a good grasp on reality.

And Kal really didn’t care that Joey’s cock was small even when hard.

Joey whined and closed his eyes, letting the dog lap messily at his dick. He was already so sensitive from his first orgasm but it felt so fucking good, and as long as he was already there and trapped by Kal, he might as well enjoy it. Every lap of Kal’s tongue sent fireworks through him, and Joey couldn’t help the needy whimpers that escaped his lips, his own hands running up inside his shirt to play with his nipples. It didn’t take long until he was hard again, panting and on the edge of a second orgasm.

“Joey?”

“Oh fucking cock!” Joey cursed and tried, to no avail, to push Kal off him

The door.

Kal had rushed into the room leaving the door wide open behind him.

“I- it’s… shit!” Joey stammered, trying to find an excuse that just didn’t exist.

He was caught. Life as he knew it was over. Henry would turn him into the police and he would never work again, all because he’d been too horny to stop Kal from licking his cock. It wasn’t as if he’d meant to do it. There was no pre-meditation and he hadn’t sought out the dog… but he’d enjoyed it?

“Kal, come here,” Henry’s voice was firm, and unfairly hot given the situation.

Despite his now flagging erection, Joey still wanted to climb the man like a tree. He was weak. He was desperate. He probably needed therapy.

Shit.

“I’m sorry, Joey,” Henry mumbled, sounding… ashamed?

Joey frowned, covering himself with a pillow as he sat up, running a hand through his hair. “Sorry? You just… Kal… Me?”

“I didn’t know he’d- I should have told you to lock the door.”

Henry was blushing, and he really did look apologetic, like he was the fucked up one in this situation. It didn’t make sense. None of it made sense. He should be angry, yelling, phoning the police, not apologising.

“Henry? What exactly are you apologising for?” Joey asked cautiously, chewing at his bottom lip. There was a flutter of hope in his chest that maybe, just maybe, he was the only one.

“Don’t make me say it.”

“Darling, you just caught me getting my cock licked by your dog. I think we’re beyond boundaries now. I- You should hate me?”

“You should hate me. It’s my fault. I- I trained him to- to-”

Joey felt his eyes widening as he processed Henry’s words. Not only was he not disgusted at what he’d witnessed… he’d practically been the reason for it.

“Holy shit.”

“Please don’t tell anyone.”

“Holy shit!” Joey whined, scrambling off the bed to get closer to his crush who had just somehow got impossibly hotter.

“Joey, please.”

“I liked it.”

“What?”

“Kal, I- I liked it, and- umm, well… I like you too,” Joey admitted with a bashful smile, “and you did interrupt so… you could always join in?”

Henry’s face flew through a million different expressions until he seemed to finally understand what Joey was saying. A dangerous smile fell into place and they crashed together in a heated kiss, hands tearing at each other’s clothes, their shared shame fueling the passion until it was scorching every cell in their bodies. Teeth clashed, noses bumped, breaths intermingled, the taste of coffee dancing on Joey’s tongue.

And when Henry’s hand wrapped around Joey cock, he felt like he had died and gone to heaven. He waited for the comments to come, a raised eyebrow or something, anything… but Henry didn’t seem to care that his hand dwarfed Joey’s cock considerably. All his fears had been for nought. He whined and just kissed Henry with even more fervour.

“Fuck, Henry,” he moaned as Henry’s fingers stroked the length of his cock.

The bastard just chuckled, pulling back to press their foreheads together. “Ever taken a knot?”

“W-what? No?”

“Do you want to?” Henry asked, his fingers moving to tease Joey’s rim, the sensation making Joey keen.

“I- fuck, yes. Jesus Christ! You’re trying to kill me....”

“Get on the bed,” Henry instructed, then whistled at the dog who had been sitting rather patiently by the doorway.

Joey did as he was told, pulling off the last of his clothes before crawling back onto the bed, eagerly awaiting whatever new delights that Henry had in store. Smirking, he watched as Henry stripped down, looking like a fucking god, and Christ, the size of his cock… Joey might never walk again.

But that wasn’t what really caught his attention. No, Henry had Kal by the scruff of his neck and was pulling him up onto the bed to join them. It didn’t take Kal long to understand what his owner was asking of him, and he happily let Henry guide him, his own long pink cock unsheathed.

“Fuck,” Joey breathed as he stared, transfixed as everything he knew about himself was suddenly turned upside down.

He wanted this… badly. He hadn’t just enjoyed the mindless lapping at his cock because he was horny. Fuck, no, it was more than that. He wanted it. The thought of Kal fucking him made his cock ache and he was sure he’d never been quite so aroused in all his life.

“Good?” Henry asked, tilting his head.

“Uh huh. Yup, very…”

“Good,” Henry murmured before capturing Joey’s lips in another kiss.

There was a click of the lube bottle, and he hissed as Henry’s finger pushed inside him. “More,” he whined, “I can take more. I- already…”

Henry growled, and in the next thrust, he was two fingers deep inside Joey, his lips moving to attack Joey’s neck. Teeth grazed against Joey’s skin, fire burning in his lungs as he tried to catch his breath, another hand wrapped around his cock.

“I- I, fuck!”

“God, you’re perfect.” Henry’s words caught in Joey’s neck, his collarbone, his chest. “You fit so beautifully in my hand.”

Joey keened as Henry’s thumb ran along the head of his cock, the words tingling over his skin. “Please, Henry.”

“Shh, I’ve got you.”

Another finger slid inside him, the stretch a delicious burn that soon gave way to pleasure as Henry attentively opened him up, murmuring praise with every thrust of his fingers. His deep rich voice the bassline to the melody of Joey’s gasps and moans that filled the room.

“There you go, good boy, come on Kal. He’s ready for you,” Henry finally said.

“Oh, oh cock!” Joey panted, biting against his own hand to try and stop himself from cumming.

They were doing this.

Fucking mother of god, they were really doing this.

Henry’s strong arms scooped him off the bed, flipping him with ease and guiding him onto all fours. He whined, fingers gripping at the already filthy sheets, head dropped forward so he could see his own cock red and leaking onto the bed. Kal’s nose was cold against his skin, but Henry didn’t let him sniff for too long.

“Up boy, come on,” Henry coaxed.

The weight of the dog almost had Joey collapsing back down onto the bed. Pain seared down his spine as the claws dug into his skin, but fuck he wanted more. He needed more, everything that he could get. Joey could do little more than close his eyes and hold on as Kal rutted against him, frantic and desperate until finally, oh god, finally, his cock pushed inside.

It felt strange, different to any other cock Joey had taken before, reminding Joey of just how filthy this was, forbidden, disgusting and yet so fucking good. Kal fucked like a man possessed, desperate, ruthless, uncaring, and Joey felt tears prick in his eyes. He needed to cum, already so exhausted and oversensitive, but yet he felt like he might explode if he didn’t cum again. He vaguely heard his own voice babbling, pleading, begging, Henry's voice a constant low growl in his ear, stroking and pulling at his hair.

He felt so full, and it was only getting worse with every thrust until he finally felt the pressure of Kal’s knot teasing at his hole.

Fuck.

Henry hadn’t been kidding.

He whined, hand desperately reaching out until felt Henry’s fingers lace with his own.

“So fucking, full,” he gasped.

“You’re doing so well, Joey, almost there.”

“Fuck!” he cried as the knot finally pushed inside him, the dog cumming harder and longer than any human. With just a single touch to his cock, Joey’s own orgasm burst through him, spilling over Henry’s hand as he struggled to stay upright, the energy draining from him.

“That’s it, well done,” Henry murmured and Joey wasn’t sure if he was talking to Joey or to Kal.

Kal continued to rut against him, working the cum deeper and deeper, leaving Joey to whimper pitifully as he hung off the dog’s knot, unable to move. By the time the knot finally released him, Joey was a mess, whining against Henry’s chest, covered in cum; Kal’s, his own, Henry’s. He felt thoroughly used and fucked out, dozing quite contently in Henry’s arms.

So maybe lockdown wasn’t quite so bad after all.

[chayacat]

Devil’s Sweet Star (41)

Fandom: Dead by Daylight

Ghostface x Female Reader  

Rated M for Violence, Language and Smut  

***

My kingdom for something. It is a fairly well-known and old sentence that is used very little today. But... for you it would be: My kingdom for something that relaxes me. What for? Let's say your awakening was... Disturbed. Jed was still sleeping for once; it was quite surprising considering that he is always the first awake to go to work. But you have to believe that his evening was... Exhausting. So, you are the first one standing. And on your nightstand, you found a piece of paper. What is written on it leaves you in no doubt about the identity of the author.

*Hoggins is dead. We see each other tonight, Honey. Be ready. *

That's it. It's done. And now it's up to you to honor your share of the deal. An entire evening with Ghostface. But it is far too early. You wish you had a little more time, just to find an excuse for Jed to not be there. What can you do? How are you going to do? If Jed sees Ghostface... And if Ghostface sees Jed... God only knows what could happen. This is why you are stressed today. But you found the excuse of the festival and the journalists to not worry everyone. Although in itself this is not really an excuse, because you also tense for this reason.

What do journalists in other cities think of you? of your pastries? of the festival in general? Were they satisfied? or disappointed? What will they write about you? So many unanswered questions... For now. Several options are jostling in your head: The first is that they loved everything. They will write a very good review about you, about the festival, about the city. People from other cities would come, even tourists, to visit the city and take the opportunity to go to your café. And if they also appreciate... they could come and live there! So, the city would get a little bigger, and your coffee would be better and better known throughout Ohio.

The second option? It’s that they are... neutral. They didn't hate it but didn't like it either. As a result, they will write a fairly neutral article, which will not change much. Or it will attract a few tourists, who will make Roseville a city where spend your holidays quietly... but nothing more.

And the last... it's that they hated it. After all, and without wanting to offend Jed, journalists are quite particular. They are quite snobby; they have tastes...how to say... Let's say they enjoy luxurious places at poor little country festivals. So, when you send them to this kind of place, they're not necessarily cheerful. So just to annoy everyone, and especially the city, they write negative articles, where they criticize everything, invent fake stories and fake anecdotes just to get revenge. And so, they could do the same with the Roseville festival. They could write an article in which they would criticize everything, tell anything. It wouldn't really benefit the city, just like it would be for your coffee. Because if you want to expand, you need good reviews. But also, good reviews of the city. And unfortunately, it’s not with the Roseville Gazette that this can be done. It has to come from the outside world.

But let's remain optimistic! there's no reason they hated it, right? You were working in the back of the shop. At least you try because with all this stress in you... it’s difficult to concentrate. Amy who saw you from the counter, because she turned to you from time to time, brought you a cup of tea, a smile on her lips.

“I thought it would relax you. Do not worry! I'm sure that everything went well and that we will read good returns in the days!” she said cheerfully.  

“Thanks Amy, I guess you’re right. I should relax and hope for the best. How is it in the café? we have a lot of customers?” you respond with a smile.

“Oh yeah! As usual I want to say. Corey runs everywhere but hey, I feel like it doesn't mind him more than that... quite the contrary.”

“Hahaha It's true. You know, there are people who can't stay in place. They have to move, do something all the time otherwise they get bored and find everything boring. Corey is surely that kind of person who doesn't like to stand by and do nothing, just like me.”

“AMY! New orders are here! Hurry up!” Shouts Corey from the counter.  

“I'M COMING! I have to go back to work! Don't forget boss, breathe and relax. Everything's fine. We had the hardest time. Everything will be fine now.” said Amy before going back to the counter.  

You smile as you watch Amy go back to work. She’s right, you have to relax. But... unfortunately for you, the hardest part has not yet passed. The hardest part is coming tonight. And you don't know what to do with Jed. How to convince him to not be at the apartment tonight? Without offending him? Unless there is a miracle, unless he has to leave on his own to find another scoop or go to the scene of a murder, it’s impossible. But hey... so far, you've been lucky. You could have been killed by Ghostface, and he decided to leave you alive. You could have been the victim of an assassination, and Jed protected you. You could have been there when this guy ransacked your coffee, and yet you were already at home when it happened. So, what could go wrong tonight?

It's better to not think about it anymore. It will happen... what will happen. For now, you need to focus on your job and nothing else. Tonight... it will be a different story. The day went off without a hitch. Customers came and went, some with a smile, others a little grumpy, some were stressed, others confident. There was everything, and everything was needed in this world.

Melina and Mattew arrived laughing, and sat down at a table. Amy took their order and Melina asked her if you were there. Amy told them you were in the back of the shop baking March cakes. You gave them a small greeting with your hand, which they returned to you with a smile. You put down your tea towel and leave the room to go see them. And as usual, they were making fun of each other.

“Only 3 slices of cake? I don't believe you. You are a little glutton, OUR little glutton Mattew. 3 parts is only the aperitif for you.” Said Melina laughing.  

“Hey! I swear to you that I am telling the truth! I didn't want the boss to give me an eternal sermon! You know how he is when you don't respect his instructions... I have often been paying the price...” responds Mattew.  

“That’s true.”  

“My poor Mattew... I hope at least you were able to enjoy it when you got back.” you said smiling.

“Nah, I left my shares to Chris. He must also take advantage of it. With work it's hard right now." responds Mattew

“Awn it’s too cute. He's really lucky to have you.”

“Oh! I almost forgot! Jed asked us to warn you that tonight he will be coming home very late. He must apparently go to the scene of a new murder committed by Ghostface. Another innocent inhabitant who died by his cold and heartless blade.” Said Melina.  

“Oh. O-okay. Poor guy...or girl.” You simply respond.

When I was talking about miracles... here is one. It saddens you to learn that Ghostface is being killed again, but it suits you for tonight. Jed will return very late, until he comes back, Ghostface will surely be gone. Luck is still on your side for now. You talk for a little while with Mattew and Melina before they go back to work, and so do you. The rest of the day was quiet, although towards the end you received the call from Mr. Parkson and your Aunt Marnie.

The first one informed you that everything was finally settled for the succession and that the inheritance had been divided at your request between your uncles and aunts. Nevertheless, they have asked that you receive a share of this inheritance as well, so you should expect an upcoming transfer to your bank account. Mr. Parkson greeted you and wished you good luck for the future, hoping that time will heal your wounds. He also informed you that if he learns something about your parents' death, you will be the first to know.

As for your discussion with Aunt Marnie, it was simple. She was taking news, knowing how you were doing, if you needed anything and if everything was okay with Jed. You couldn't help but laugh at her mother hen attitude, it was so adorable coming from her. Your uncle Joey had finally decided to talk to you on the phone. And just by his voice, you felt that it made him feel better to hear you and chat with you. He was fine, some back problems, but nothing very bad according to him. You still tell him to pay attention to him and to not force too much if he does not want to end up stuck in bed for days. He laughed, saying that you reminded him of his sister, your mother, when she was still of this world. He hung up saying that he loved you and hoped to see you soon. You answer him the same thing before hanging up in your turn.

You walk home, without a hitch, and once in the apartment, you sigh with relief. It feels good to finally be at home. And you'll get even better after a good shower. In any case, you will have to prepare. Ghostface is coming. And welcome him in work clothes... is not really a good idea. So, you take clean things, go to the bathroom and take a shower. You leave the room after a few minutes and decide to prepare food. Since you are not very hungry, because of the stress of Ghostface, a simple salad of tomatoes and cucumbers will be enough. You were doing the dishes, when you heard footsteps that you would recognize between a thousand.

“Well... I really hoped you weren't going to come tonight. I thought maybe you'd be lenient and give me an evening off.” you said without turning your back, hearing HIM chuckling.  

“Sorry Honey, but unfortunately, a deal is a deal. And then... spend an entire evening by your side... I will certainly not refuse.” said Ghostface.  

“Is he really dead? Are you sure?”

“Given the state in which I left him, I can tell you that he is indeed dead. He ended up... like his creator. On a nice wooden cross, crucify by me. If you could have been there... you would have been amazed by my art.”

“You’re a twisted devil.”

“And you’re guardian angel. I am both. Then... Where do we start?” Ghostface replied.

“What if you finally told me who you are? Remember? it was part of the deal. A whole evening with you in exchange for your true identity.” you respond, facing him.  

He sneered before approaching you slowly, but with a determined step. He gently pressed you against the worktop and you could guess through his mask that he was devouring you with his eyes.

“Do you REALLY want to start with that? This is just a small detail... we can deal with that... later in the evening.” he said with a softly voice.  

“Deal is a deal. That’s what you said. No true identity, no evening with me. And anyway... Jed will return sooner or later.” You respond with a provocative look.  

“... Fine. As you wish. But regarding Jed... I don't think... that he will bother us tonight. In fact, he will no longer bother us.”

“What do you mean? What did you do to him??? ANSWER ME!”

Ghostface sneered before exploding with laughter before backing up and closing the curtains properly so that no one outside could see what was going to happen. He went back in front of you, now standing in the center of the room and gently removing his mask. And the face that was underneath... No... That's impossible... you didn't want to believe it.

“J... Jed?” you said shocked.

“Hi...Honey. I’m home.” He responds with a sneaky smile.

You couldn't believe it... you didn't want to believe it. Since all this time... he lied to you. Since all this time... the man you loved, was the one who at night came to see you under this mask.  

Since all this time... your guardian angel... was also the devil you are trying to drive away.

***

(My right arm finally doesn't make me suffer anymore! what a pleasure! Gone is the horrible feeling of being hit in the arm! I will be able to write fully! But I also can't wait to go back to bars, restaurants and more... but for that I have to have the sanitary pass. And it won't be until September. What a hell! The next chapter will be the continuation of this one, but from the point of view of our dear Danny! I hope you’ll like this chapter like the others ones! Well, it's time for my brain to rest! Have a great weekend to you all!  See ya!)

[the-goddessfighter]

[ Alien vs Predator Batarou AU - Part 1 ]

by: Little1993lamb

for: Temperans-sama / @the-goddessfighter Word count: 7252 Warning: Background characters' death. Some violence and gore mentions, but not too explicit.

Not exactly a fanfic but more of a long scenario AU headcanon. Caution for bad English and very limited vocabulary as I'm not native English speaker and still not fluent enough, OOC characterizations, and lots of inaccurate concepts compared from the movie plotline as this headcanon is just loosely inspired by it, so please forgive me if this not so good I'm so sorry 🙇💦

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

This AU headcanon was based on my weird "Alien vs Predator" movie-like dream I had weeks ago. But for this AU, the story has slightly modificated to fit Batarou situation:

• Badd as a Spaceman, working for the extraterrestrial research scientists organization, unexpectedly met Garou in one of his mission.

• Garou as one of the Yautja/Predator warriors, aiding Badd on fighting against the Xenomorphs Aliens.

The other headcanon concepts, like Garou's concept designs for the AU, are written on the notes at the end of story below.

As I promised before, this is my present for you to begin the year 2021, Temperans-sama (and of course also everyone in the fandom). I hope you enjoyed this AU headcanon!

Let's get started! 😊😉👌💖

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Badd was working for Space and Extraterrestrial Research Organization as their Spaceman. Not as the researcher because he hates to work in a lab, he rather to do some actions in the field or outdoor works. There were several divisions for Spacemen jobs in the Organization, but what Badd specialized was the ones who could do fighting or combat. Basically like security guard to ensure the safety of Research Organization members. Sometimes he also being included in a rescue team when there was something life-threatening emergency situation happens.

One day, he got a mission along with his other coworkers in rescue team to save their crewmates, who previously were sent to investigate an unknown spaceship that was approaching Earth's orbit but then they were trapped in there.

Just after arriving on the ship and navigating their crewmates' location, they found a bunch of terrifying monstrous Xenomorph aliens attacking them. Battle was ensued, many of them died because they weren't expected these creatures' presence in the spaceship. None of the hostages crewmates informed them because turned out either they were already dead or incapable to send complete information to the base.

In the middle of fighting inside an alien spaceship, Badd finally met one of the hostage crewmates who is also one of his bestfriend and he joined to fight along with his friend against the creatures.

At the end of exhausting battle, Badd and that one friend survived on escaping from the ship along with some few other crewmates. When Badd asked him on a private room, "Why didn't you send help request more sooner?", the friend just answered, "Because I was waiting for this moment".

Badd saw his friend's appearance changing into an unknown stranger figure: a spiky white haired humanoid alien with heavily intricate armored body. Surprisingly, he is not so hideous like the other alien creatures but still has an otherworldly figure.

Badd was stunned when the stranger alien explained his intention using some language translator device on his helmet armor,

"Initially, my warrior troops were gonna invade your precious Earth but unexpectedly our spaceship was infested by those creatures you've seen before. I'm the Leader and the only survivor during the ambush and that's when your naive crewmates coming to our already wrecked ship. They sent SOS signal to your base when they were under attack. Because I want a chance for long-term survival, I borrowed your dead friend's appearance by shapeshifted as him".

He continued, "Luckily, you found me and think of me as your friend! I must gained your trust by playing along as your crewmate the whole time so I could hop into your ship together with you, thus fulfilling my intention to invade the Earth. Thanks for bringing me along, tiny human..".

The alien warrior ended his speech with a growling voice into the still stunned Badd's ear. Then he reached on his armor helmet mask and slowly took them off, revealing the true face of him:

A humanoid monster-like face with wide ridged forehead, intimidating-looked narrow hollowed eyes in which have round big golden-coloured irises, no nose, has these huge mandibles complete with two sets of long pointed tusks on them, and when they opened a bit Badd could see rows of sharp teeth inside. This alien warrior also has swept-back long spiky white hair, it was the most eye-catching feature on him.

Realizing Badd was observing his unmasked face, the white-haired alien suddenly snarled by opened his mandibles up in front of Badd's face to scare him. He wanted to test if this human would weirded out or cowering in fear from seeing his real appearance or not. But Badd only jolted back in reflex from getting surprised, without any hints of fear detected in his eyes. "You.. aren't scared by me?"

Badd was taken aback by the question, "Huh? Nah. I've seen much worse and it wasn't you, obviously".

"Not for a little bit? Nothing at all?", the alien didn't convinced by Badd's statement at all.

"Yep. 'Sides, I rather looked at your face than have to witness those Lovecraftian abominable creatures in that spaceship before. Hey what are you trying to do, by the way, huhh??", Badd could swears this white-haired alien just wanted to make fun of him. 

The white-haired alien just humming and nodding to himself, "Hmm.. You're indeed an interesting one.", as he placed his hand under his chin and rubbing it, it seems like he found some amusement in Badd.

Although he was indeed caught off-guard by the surprise snarl, Badd didn't afraid of him on a slightest, instead he actually was mesmerized by the alien's charm. Badd blurted out, "Are you gonna eat me?".

The white-haired alien just giving a funny look for a second and then grinning widely after hearing that silly question, showing all of his sharp teeth and fangs inside his mandibles, "No, not yet. Not until I know you better..", a chuckling sounds like a cat's purr was heard from him as he caressed the human's soft cheek with his long claws.

Badd frowned on what the alien had said, 'So in the end he will devours me if I'm not useful anymore?'. He didn't wanna think what he should explain to Zenko when the time has come.

When Badd said he didn't afraid to die, it doesn't mean he wanted to leave his beloved little sister alone, not when she hasn't finished her education in college and reaching her dream! Also, sure as hell not by being eaten by this strange alien!

Seeing Badd was slightly affected by the threatening words, he retreated his hand back. "Well I'm just joking, I never and wont eat humans, don't worry. They make a good prey but totally not good for consumption at all". Then he laughed loudly at Badd's dumb-strucked face. Badd started to feel pissed off: they both had just met and this alien already have the guts for teasing him twice??

The laughing finally ceased, "I think we should cooperating from now on. What is your name, little human?", the alien curiously asked, those bright yellow irises staring deep into Badd's rich dark chocolate eyes, searching for any hints of fear emotions but instead found some fire ablaze in them.

"Badd. My name's Badd, just remember whose human who had saved your sorry ass", he answered while removing the clawed hand that caressed his cheek, boldly swatting it away from him.

The charming white-haired alien quickly caught Badd's hand and clasped it with his palm, "Ooh a feisty one! Seems like I was right for choosing to fight along with you minutes ago, you're quite strong for a mere human. I like that. And you can call me 'Garou'. Nice to meet you, Badd..".

From the corner of his eye, Badd saw 'Garou' took something from his pocket. It was a small piece of the Xenomorph's sliced finger. He squished it a bit until the green-ish blood residue leaked out from the cut, then slowly moved it closer towards Badd's face.

"Stay still, Badd", the warrior instructed him.

"WHOAA NONO NO NO, GET IT AWAY FROM MY FACE!!", the young spaceman tried to swat that finger thing from Garou's hand and moved away as far as possible, refusing Garou's request.

"I said stay still! Calm down it's just a quick little brush", Garou insisted as he keeps holding Badd's hand to prevent Badd from swatting and moving too much.

The moment Badd's forehead being brushed by the blood as Garou carved a symbol on him, his skin sizzled from the contact of corrosive acid fluid and those left red scratched marks as the result.

"OUCH OW THAT HURTS! IT BURNED MY SKIN, JACKASS!!", Badd shouted then grimaced at the burned sensation on his forehead, he let out pained moaning. "Uuh.. What's that for?"

"I'm 'marking' you. You fight along with me, you even managed to kill those creatures despite being a human. Therefore, you earned my respect to bear an honourable mark from me," Garou smiled proudly at Badd, genuinely happy to find such a strong fierce human at the first meeting.

Badd didn't know how he should reacted at the explanation, but after seeing Garou's genuine proud expression he thought maybe it was actually a very rare honourable thing to be given outside his clan. From the spaceship window glass reflection, Badd could see the fresh carved scratched-like mark. He was admiring how neat the mark Garou has carved onto his forehead. An honour mark.

"Umm.. Honestly I didn't expected it, but.. Thank you, I guess?", Badd muttered while caressing his freshly marked skin.

"You're welcome, tiny human. So, right now we are heading towards your precious Earth, right? Do you have any spare room in your house for me, hmm?", Garou grinning confidenty, expecting for more interesting things from Badd after they live together.

Badd felt an impending huge migrane forming in his head, as well as the sudden urge to facepalm so hard, "... Goddamnit."

This would changed his normal daily life.

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

As the consequence of accidentally helping Garou, Badd must hide his existence from the Research Organization. So, after arrived back to the Earth, Badd must gives false-report for the base that their rescue mission was failed and only a few of team members were survived.

During that time, Garou made himself invisible but also could shapeshift into anyone for more advanced stealth tactics. Badd allowed Garou to live temporarily in his house, as long as Garou wont harming his beloved little sister Zenko and his cute cats.

At first, Garou forgot to shift into his human form in front of Zenko when Badd sneakily brought him into his house at late night. He didn't know Zenko was still awake at that hour because she was waiting for his comeback.

Badd wanted to smack himself after noticed Garou's big mistake, but after staring intensely at Garou for a full minute, Zenko just nonchalantly said,

"So you've got back from the space and you're bringing an alien boyfriend home? Hmm.. Not bad. Nice choice by the way, I always know your type, big bro", and she gives Badd thumbs up of approval.

Garou takes a liking on Zenko's bravery, maybe he could get along with her more easier later. On the other hand, despite his attempt at correcting Zenko that Garou isn't his alien boyfriend (yet), it makes Badd feels relieved that his little sister doesn't really mind of him bringing an extraterrestrial being as a new roommate in their house.

Garou spending most of his time at Badd's home by trying to learn human's behaviour and any other knickknack Earth-y things out of curiousity, that he slowly forgetting his original intentions and getting more interested on building a newfound relationship with Badd.

Badd also slowly growing fond of this charming alien, especially when Garou becomes more protective to him and his family, not to mention Garou actually learning humanity better than actual human. He was actually surprised that Garou had decided to develop a new "adaptive" form, in which a mix between his real form and human form, to help him communicate better with Badd while still maintaining most of his real appearance. Especially when it requires him speaking by human language more fluently.

Sometimes when Badd wasn't working or taking a day-off, they would spending time together at home and exchanged stories of their life. After Badd promised Garou that he wont tell any information to the higher up in the Organization, Garou explaining his life as a Warrior from his own planet, the secret history behind the invasion mission toward Earth and the super advanced technologies they owned compared with what human have currently.

It's kinda fun to have someone from another world to talk casually with, since Garou himself didn't have many close friends in his own troops. Not even to the old Elder warrior, Bang, who Garou regards as his adoptive father and his former trainer.

In return, Badd telling Garou about his favorite things, his childhood stories, his family including his late parents, everything about Zenko as he adores her so much, also about the reason why he took such adventurous yet dangerous job as Spaceman for the Research Organization. If Garou ever curious for some Earth-y stuff that he still didn't understand (as he called those things "outdated ancient stuff"), Badd will also explaining about them to him.

On special occasion, Badd would brings Garou and Zenko out to go shopping together or having fun on amusement park. He thinks it's good idea to take Garou with him and introducing many fun things humans usually do in daily life. It feels good to have a sense of having a full family again after he lost his own parents years ago. Besides, seeing how adorable Garou trying to enjoy human's entertaintments or bonding with Zenko was amusing.

To blending himself in public when they're going outside together, Garou usually shifted onto his "human-persona" so he wont attracts unwanted attention from people. But when he's around Badd's house, Garou just shifted back to his original form or his adaptive form since Badd loves it so much and wants Garou to be comfortable as himself at home.

Fortunately, it seems Badd's neighbourhood was inhabited by chill people. They never questioned further or suspicious about who Garou really is, especially after Zenko purposely introduced him as "her big brother's new boyfriend who just moved in from another city". Badd immediately blushed or flustered everytime they mentioned his "handsome boyfriend", as they also greet Garou warmly and saying that Badd was so lucky to have this gorgeous man as his lover.

Garou persistently asking Badd what is this "boyfriend" supposed to meant and why did Badd always deflecting his genuine questions while being all bright red faced with higher heart rate. Despite never got the answer, Garou likes to tease the cute little spaceman that he adores so much.

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

After staying on Earth for months in Badd's home, Garou started to questioning himself.

Garou wondered if his original mission is really worthy or not, because in truth what he had said to Badd about the reason why he comes to Earth is not entirely true.

The real story was, Garou was just wanna visit the Earth for sportmanship and training himself to become the best hunter warrior. He was going to prove the Elites that he is worthy enough to get more superior rank that the one he currently is. That's why he also brought the Young Blood packs along with him to train them once they arrived on the Earth.

Until that accident happened because of a miscalculation: the Xenomorph alien larvaes that supposed to be used on humans, the supposed hosts, for initiation and hunting ritual were infesting his packs when they were still in the middle of their journey towards the Earth. Garou's plan was destroyed spectacularly, he lost all his pack members before he reached their destination. At least on the better side, because of that accident he could meet Badd along the way, so it feels not too bad.

On the other hand for personal fulfillment, he wanted to seek different challenges in another planets to polish his hunting skills and adding new experiences. So, the invasion plan was actually just his secondary mission, in fact it was actually just a bluffing. But it sounds like a more cooler way to threatened Badd back then. 

Not that he ever cares about human civilization and the entire human population in Earth, as he remains indifferent for them and regards them as mere weak prey for hunting sport. But he found out this one particular human is very fascinating to him: Badd. The more he interacted with Badd, the more he gets attached.

Not to mention lately Garou sensed something wrong with himself that only occured everytime they spend time or hanging out together, like there's warm feeling in his chest or sudden protective instinct whenever he is near Badd.

And while Garou considers humans are ugly, for some unknown reason he thinks Badd, in human's expressive language, is "beautiful". Inside his fierce hot-headed appearance, Badd has the kindness and all the sweet personality package in his heart. Which is total opposite with Garou, who is ruthless and cunning. Those contrasts has really melted Garou's own cold heart, surprised that he could managed to find such special human being.

Badd was supposed to be his prey, not a companion. If only Badd were born as the same kind like him, without doubt Garou was 100% sure Badd would be a perfect Warrior partner to fight along with, as he had already seen Badd's remarkable strength as a human. Such the best dream-like scenario ever that will never happens to them, but still very good 'what-if' situation.

The moment Garou saw Badd could kill the Xenomorph aliens alongside him in a combat and capable to defend himself, he respects Badd so much. It made Garou wanted to initiate Badd as one of his kind, a honourable strong Warrior. Or taking Badd with him to train as his personal human Apprentice.

For his bravery and incredible fighting abilities, Garou presented Badd a gift as a sign of respect for him. It was one of his exotic Yautja warrior's weapon collections that he managed to bring along in last expedition: an unbreakable metal bat.

Garou thinks it suited Badd's brawler fighting style, and because the bat made from special metal from his planet it can't be destroyed with anything on Earth. Except if it was smeared with corrosive acidic Xenomorph alien's blood, it would slightly melt. Whoopsie. But anyways, still an honourable thoughtful gift! Garou hopes he can witness the day Badd will using the metal bat in a combat.

Maybe it's not really bad he prolonged his stay on Earth for the sake of Badd and Zenko, although just for a bit. Garou wanted to have more "connection" with Badd before he continued the original plan. He wanted to know more about this special human, always being near him and protected him.

At least before the old man Bang realizing Garou has been missing for awhile after last Xenomorph attack and doing some search party for him by sending reinforcement army towards the Earth. 

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

At the same time on his workplace at the Research Organization, Badd was contemplating his life decision.

Badd was thinking why should he still insisted to hide Garou's existence? He could just secretly reported the truth to the Organization behind his back, handed him to them as new research subject and thus ended the Earth's next possible threat.

But that's so wrong!

Just thinking about Garou being treated as a test subject like some lab guinea pig made Badd's blood boil. Not that they can ever catch Garou and managed to survive from him, though, as he knows how strong Garou is. Surely Garou is an extra-terresterial being, but in reality he's not so different from human. There's also alot things that separated him from another Alien species he had encountered before.

Garou has a good heart and moral despite being an asshole sometimes. He's super intelligent and quick to learning something new, willing to cooperate once they're bonded over mutually trust.

Speaking of morality, Garou has better grasp of humanity than most people. Although he is a ruthless warrior, he wont bringing harm to those who are already weak or sickly people, unarmed opponents, childrens, or females especially the pregnant ones. Those are basically the Yautja Clans' Warrior Rules, as they only do fair fights. Badd thinks Garou's own kind are very cultured people, that's cool.

One thing Badd didn't expect before was the fact Garou is kind of "nerdy guy". He thought Garou was a ruthless jock-type warrior who only likes hunting or chaotic things, but in reality he is just the biggest nerd Badd ever known. Garou has always been curious about anything he deemed interesting enough, like human's lifestyle, social classes, education, or even the cuisine. Currently Garou is obsessed with martial arts and his homemade food, also when they're going out together he always asked for buying some fast food preferably with Cola for the drink. Truly an example of alien with unique taste.

The more Garou learned from Badd and observing people around them, the more he understand what human and their "humanity" is, both good side and bad side. Garou said he considered himself on grey area. But he would try to be on the good side, just for Badd.

About Garou's appearance, Badd never got scared of Garou's real form. In fact, he finds Garou in his full warrior armory looks charming and kinda handsome. He had seen Garou in the middle of daily training to sharpen his instincts during his stay at home, surely Garou got a lots of cool fighting techniques and movements, both bare-handed or with weaponry. Truly showing a professional experienced Warrior skills. Or when Garou shifted into the adaptive form so he can spar with Badd more comfortably without really hurting him.

Not to mention his unusually bright golden irises when Garou stares intensely at him, the way Garou tilted his chin up with those long slender clawed hand, that teasing smug grin with those sharp teeth show-off, and those surprisingly soft slicked back spiky white hair..

Yeaah okay, Zenko was totally right about him being into monsters. Fortunately to Badd, she wont and never judges his taste on men.

And Garou is actually a very good friend.. Or maybe more, if only his feeling ever reciprocated. Badd wondered if he could asks Garou to just stay forever on Earth together with him.. 

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

Badd was just coming home early in the afternoon from the work, as he only finishing yesterday's home paperworks and delivering it to the office. Time to get some rest after working the whole night filling the mountain pile of papers, Zenko still in school at this hour anyways so he would take a brief nap before picking her up.

Strangely, the house was too quiet. He usually hear some noises from across the room, whether it was Garou watching some tv programs or news or movies, or sneaking around the kitchen as he attempted to raid Badd's fridge contents (nowadays he often found out all the meat stocks or even any of homecooking leftovers in his fridge vanished thanks to Garou's huge appetite).

Badd tried to calling for Garou and checking on his room upstairs but there still no sign of him. He guessed maybe Garou went to their sparring place in the woods, training by himself to polish his hunting skill. Or maybe Garou was lurking on city downtown again?

Badd wished it was the former, he doesn't want Garou to make some trouble with humans when Badd was not with him. Even if Garou indeed goes to town he hoped he just do sightseeing or observing people from afar. Whatever, Badd will take a nap while waiting for Garou.

Just as Badd started to sleep, he heard the bedroom window clicked open suddenly. He immediately jumped out of the bed and grabbing his metal bat, ready to whack anyone who dared to sneak into his house like this. Nothing on sight, though, until some invicible force putting down Badd's metal bat and revealing it was Garou in his "adaptive" form, who just deactivated his invisibility cloak after entering his room from the window.

"Yo Badd!", he grinned widely, happy for successfully surprising Badd again. 

"Oh for fuck's sake Garou, please just use the front door! I already gave you my spare key, right? What if someone sees you and thinks you're a robber- Forget that, you were in invisible mode nobody could ever see you anyways, Mr. Ninja Warrior". Badd flomped down on the bed again, feeling ridiculously tired by Garou's antic yet relieved that his favorite alien is back. "Where did you go?"

Garou sets his knapsack down while explaining his disappearance, "I was so bored doing nothing in your house and my instincts will slowly dulled if I don't practice my routines, so I sneak out to nearby forest hoping to get some good prey for hunting practice. But it seems like Earth's creatures are not challenging enough to become my prey. It's either too small, too tame, too weak, or too pitiful it can't satisfy my hunting urge".

Garou sat beside Badd on the bed and stared at him, "Why can't I fight your people? It would makes alot things more interesting..", he whispered the last sentence with a naughty shit-eating grin on his face.

Badd propped himself up from the bed to grab Garou's arm and pointing his index finger in front of Garou's face, "No, I wont allowed you to do that! No hunting on humans, not on my watch. If you want some fight you can spar with me like what we always do. I'll take you on in a fair fight. Was that still not enough?". Was I'm not enough for you, Badd left it unsaid. He frowned at the though of Garou not satisfied with his effort.

"Ugh, what a let down, I would love to add human skulls on my trophy room when I get back to my planet soon. But your wish is my command, Badd. I promise not doing that for your sake", Garou huffed and rolled his eyes, but his tone softened. "About our sparring, while yes we can still spar with eachother, it doesn't fullfil my hunger for hunt. That's different", he shifted closer to Badd and gazing deeply into his rich dark chocolate eyes.

He continued, "You're not a prey anymore and I hate to see you getting hurt everytime I went overboard in our fights. You're my human companion, I only wish to protect you. But thank you for letting me spar with you every week, it was really fun", Garou touched Badd's forehead, where an initiation mark as fellow Warrior was given by him after their first encounter. Then slowly he put his clawed hand on Badd's cheek, caressing the soft skin gently while looking at Badd with much tenderness.

Badd just averted his eyes from Garou's uncharacteristically tender gaze, face heating from blushing too much as his heart-rate spiked. Of course Garou would know he was flustered by his touching words, he could see it by his vision, by the way. Not that Badd hated to be treated like this, in fact he felt so happy that Garou considered him as a human companion, a "someone special" for Garou.

"Umm yeah you're welcome, then.. Don't worry I know you will never really hurt me. Besides, I'm a tough guy, y'know? I can totally revive through fighting spirit and have another go with you", Badd placed his own hand on top of Garou's, letting the charming alien caress his face more. It's very comforting he loves it when Garou showing some rare affection to him.

They enjoyed the heartwarming moment until suddenly Garou moved away from Badd, "Oh I just remember something! Wait here", he let go his touch on Badd as he rushed to get his knapsack on the floor, picking its content and shoved it in front of Badd's face. "Here I got this for you, accept it!".

It was a flower bouquet. A simple makeshift one, but what made Badd astounished was Garou's choice of flowers: all of them were rare exotic flowers, which only grows on mountain or on the deepest part in forest. All of the flowers were wrapped by a wide green leaf as replacement for plastic wrap ('is that a banana leaf??'), and tied together by a thin rope.

"Wow.. Thanks, Garou, these are very pretty ones", Badd carefully took the beautiful bouquet from Garou's hand, still mesmerized by the exotic colourful flowers. He cradled it close on his chest. "Where and how the hell you get these flowers? I didn't even know that they grow or ever existed around our sparring place??"

Garou scratched his head, "After I got bored by pitiful failed attempt of hunting and start heading back to your house, I saw one kind of wild flower plant growing at hidden small valley near our sparring place. I though you would like it so I took some then continued searching for more wild flowers in the middle of forest until on the top of hills. Worth it for a passing time aside from going hunting", he shrugged like it was no big deal.

"But why?? What's the real reason?", Badd was honestly baffled by Garou's whole effort to flatter him.

"I saw from TV or on the street when we were going outside that you humans like to giving and receiving flower present as, what is that, "courting attempt"? Also you always go 'Aww that was so sweet~" or swooning like a fool everytime you and Zenko watched that scenes in some sappy drama movies. I don't understand why humans feel an enjoyment from getting a reproductive part of plant. Is that something meaningful behind that?", Garou raised his non-existed eyebrows in honest wonderment.

Badd tried to answer him, "Well.. It was--".

Garou continued his rants, effectively cutting Badd's explanation, "On my planet everyone courting their companion with a head or remnants of deadly dangerous prey, showing how great their hunting skills are. The more kill count the better. While your people giving a flower bouquet, a plant, really? You humans are just weird", he was shaking his head.

"So.. You didn't deny that you were courting me, right? You realized what I like and tried to do it for me even though you didn't understand the meaning of it, so that you can make me happy. Was that true, Garou..?", Badd slowly connecting the dots and stated the conclusion to Garou. He clutched the flower bouquet tighter, as once again he feels warmth in his heart. Not expecting the ruthless alien warrior has a soft spot.

So this meant his feeling is reciprocated? Garou feels the same as him? 

"What-- I'm-- Okay, you're right I was! There you have it now. Happy? Damn, this still weird to say..", Garou awkwardly confessed to Badd, not sure what should he says next. If he were in human form at that time, Badd was sure he was flustered heavily.

"Mmhm..", Badd hummed in agreement, as he placed the pretty flower bouquet on the nightstand carefully. Then Badd clung his arms around Garou's neck and pulling him down together with him on the bed, so now Garou was on top of Badd.

"Whoaa what are you doing?!", Garou propped on his elbows not to crush Badd directly with his weight. He wanted to protest but stopped himself when he saw Badd smiling softly full of fondness at him.

From very close distance, Garou could see how Badd's eyes are twinkling and the pinkish blush on his cheeks made Badd looked more prettier than usual. Those are something that made Garou was at lost of words when he tried to describe how beautiful this human is. His own companion.

Without saying anything, Badd released his hold around Garou's neck. He was caressing Garou's jaws and then cupping his face gently, before pulling Garou down towards him to peck his forehead. Looking briefly at Garou's softened eyes, Badd smiling again then finally kissing his lips. It was a light kiss but also a lingering one.

After a minute that feels like eternity, Garou released himself from the kiss and asking Badd in a soft whisper, "What was that for?". Not with the tone of rejection but instead searching for confirmation.

Beside the "human's courting", Garou also had seen this kind of acts on TV dramas or in real life, where a couple of "lovers" touching their lips onto eachother's for the purpose of showing their affection. So, he wanted to know if Badd was also meant it.

"Do y'know, when someone accepting the other's courting attempt, they would hug or kiss them. To show how much they loved and appreciated the other. I was doing the same to you, Garou.. You don't understand how long I was waiting for this moment", the raven-haired human answered while caressing Garou's face, the adoring smile still haven't leaving his face.

"Huh, I guess this proved what Zenko told me weeks ago was right, you have the hots for monster guy", Garou was smirking in victory, glad he was the one who captured Badd's heart.

"Don't be such a bighead, you silly alien warrior", chuckled Badd while he ruffled Garou's spiky hair. "You were the one who fell so hard on me, as far as making me your companion, swore to protect me in the name of warrior honour and do the whole 'weird human courting' for me. While noone ever dared to do the same as you. Admit it, you're a dork".

"What did you say?! A dork?? How dare you--", Garou offended complaint was halted as he processed Badd's entire words. "Wait, you said noone ever trying to court you before? Why? You seems more than average people in appearance or attitude", he showed pure confused look to Badd.

Badd gladly took Garou's appreciation remark before answering, "Have you seen my temper? Or listening on my way of speech? Or knowing my habit on ditching someone for Zenko if I'm not very interested in them? Nobody could handle that, Garou. Maybe except you, you're the only one who ever wanted me..", he pulled Garou down again for more soft kisses.

Garou hummed in their kiss, "Hmm, then it was their loss. For not considering you an amazing person". He swept the wild strands of Badd's hair away from his forehead, peppering kisses on it gently. Garou has learned it from Badd and now he tried to do the same for him.

"Aww thank you, Garou. Besides, I like my man being tall, strong, dangerous, loyal, and have lots of adorable soft spots behind the whole cocky bravado", Badd purred in bliss from Garou's affection.

"Says the one who said he hates skyscraper-like tall man. Which was the truth, hmm, Short-stack?", Garou lifted one of his non-existed eyebrow in amusement. He likes to tease Badd with that endearment term.

"Sssh it was for the public, lemme have my preference in secret. And don't call me a Short-stack, say that once more I'll bash your head using your metal bat gift!", he pushed Garou aside then hit his sternum hard enough before closing his eyes and snuggling his head on Garou's chest.

Garou just let himself being pushed aside while chuckling, "Whoa okay Short-stack, I wont call you with that name again-- Badd?", he found his companion looked sleepy.

"Mmmh lemme take a nap for awhile, there's still 2 more hours before I have to pick Zenko up at her school. Please staaayyy with meee..", Badd slurred the last line from sleepiness, he curled his body against Garou's own big body, snuggled even more closer to him.

Garou just taking Badd into his embrace, made sure his human companion feels comfortable in his sleep. He caressed Badd's soft silky raven hair, "So, are we 'boyfriends' now?".

"Whut are you talkin' 'bout? I already introduced ya as mah 'boyfriend' to our neighbours, right? Always has been..", Badd tried to answer despite getting more sleepier.

"Oh right", Garou nodded at the memory. So Badd was really meant it that way? Glad to know.

Badd purring at Garou's caresses on his head, "Mmhm.. Love ya, Garou". After the unconsciously big declaration of love, he finally went to sleep, peaceful smile still plastered on his beautiful face.

Garou was at lost on words again. He heard the Love word and his mind just exploded. Badd loves him. The human loves him, an extraterrestrial being.

Thinking about it again, is that even allowed? To love someone from different world and different species? He wasn't sure if the Warrior code would let him taking a human as anything else outside as a prey, an apprentice, or a companion.

Honestly this is the first time Garou received a romantic love, not a friendly love or familial love. Because as a warrior who dedicated himself to be the best hunter, romance is not even listed on his priority list. He can't say for other fellow Elites who seek love interests by charmed them with their hunting abilities, but for himself Garou doesn't even interested on that thing back then.

But with Badd? How can he rejects his love, not when this special kind of human is compassionate, wonderful and not to mention worthy of his full respect. Badd is also the only human who doesn't cower in fear in front of him at their first meeting. Even as far telling him that he adores his soft side.

Him, a ruthless hunter, a "monster", was loved by a kindhearted human.

"... I love you, too, Badd."

Garou whispered it softly into Badd's ear, he embraced the sleeping boyfriend's body tighter before following him into the dreamland.

Both were smiling in their sleep.

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

-Few months later-

There was another new exploration mission from the Research Organization to obtain alien egg or larvae samples from the same wrecked spaceship on the previous expedition, so they could studying and observing the newfound alien species.

The newest mission was successful as the researchers team bringing the samples with them and be able to come back with minimal casualty. Thus Badd didn't need to join because he is working in rescue team.

At first week, everything was okay according to the plan. It seems the autopsy of larvae samples was successful as the Organization researchers have gotten some new informations from it.

Until an unexpected accidents occured during the second week of research.

The alien eggs samples in the special laboratory room were suddenly hatched and bursting out the new "facehugger" larvaes. Some of the lab staff were infested by it, while the other larvae strays were killed on the spot to prevent any infestation happening on more victims. Therefore the research was cancelled and the lab staff who became its alive hosts were quarantined until further notice.

The higher-ups were tried to keep it down so nobody outside The Organization know about this accidents. All the scientists and other staff members also tirelessly forced themself to solve this emergency situations. They tried to save the victims who currently become the alien's host, as far as preparing extraction operation for them hopefully it will have successful result.

But just a few days after that incident happened, all of the matured embrios inside the alive hosts bursted out from their body when they were still in the middle of intensive body examinations. The victims were died immediately, leaving a bunch of terrifying creatures that emerged from the wounds and crawling out attacking people in the laboratory.

Everyone was shocked by those horrible gorey sight, some of them were panickly calling for help while the others trying to escape from the room but stopped by the juvenile aliens' quick attack. When the security team came to rescue, most people in the room were either already dead from fatal wounds or barely alive still struggling to avoid getting attacked by the creatures.

The team quickly eliminate the rest of juvenile aliens by shooting it all, ensuring it wont leave past the entrance door. After ensuring no more alive aliens detected, they immediately sent the survivors to the hospital while the dead ones were sent to the Organization's morgue.

By this horrifying incident, the Organization executives hold the emergency meeting on that day They discussing how to solve this unexpected catastrophe during the research, how they should tell to the victims' family about the incident, or if this research are really worth it with these casualties. The higher-ups commanded them to call or reaching everyone who were involved on the newest expeditition mission, to make sure if there is nobody else got infested among the crew members.

Someone reported that most of expedition members along with other spaceship passengers on that mission have gone missing for days, and a few of them were found dead at their home with the same wide gaping hole wound on their chest. Two recordings from CCTVs on one dead victim's home clearly showed 3-4 Xenomorph alien younglings that just born or bursted from the victim's body, crawling outside the house towards neighbourhood area.

From those reports and evidences, it was confirmed that the crew members who participated on the newest exploration mission actually contained alive Xenomorph larvaes before they landed back on Earth, and somehow the infestation itself couldn't be detected because it was still on very early stage at that time. By the calculation of every "chestburster" larvaes that would be born into juvenile Xenomorph aliens from the total 30 suspected victims, it could be up to 120 individuals. And one of the juvenile aliens could be the next Queen that will reproducing new batch of eggs on somewhere else right now.

The plan has failed. This accident has shaken the Research Organization to the core as they prepared for worst scenario: the Xenomorph alien has already reproduced and multiplied itself inside or outside the Organization building complex. Not to mention they haven't managed to supervise the suspected victims current whereabouts prior the incident. Thus, as for the first step action to prevent bigger fatalities happens, they alerted all of the Research Organization members.

At home, Badd got the emergency messages from his higher-ups as he also explaining Garou about what was happened at the moment, that there was infestation of Xenomorph aliens among the researchers in the Research Organization. The higher-ups already deployed all of their hunter squads towards several different locations based on victims' last sighting or their home address. The higher-ups also instructed him to join the hunter squad for outside building complex area or near the suburban area to search the rogue Xenomorph aliens or at least for any survived suspected victims.

Garou suggested that he will also doing the hunt with Badd as it's the Warrior's duty to banish those alien species' existence, as it was their main prey. He asked Badd to always stay near him during the hunt so he wont get hurt by those beasts. Garou promised Badd that he will protect him, no matter what. But he wont promised to do the same for the others, no guaranteed he will helped them. Mostly they will be on their own. 

Both had agreed to eachother, they set their own combat gears. Garou wore his warrior armor and brought all his hunting weapons. Badd also did his part, not forgetting to bring Garou's metal bat gift, he couldn't wait to finally trying it out to smash those aliens' head off. He strapped it on his backpack, shoving all of other combat equipments on his car trunk, then driving his car out along with Garou towards their destination.

Before they go to the mission location, Badd dropping Zenko first to their neighbour family house to make sure someone watching over her and keeping her safe during dangerous situation. Garou shifted into invisible stealthy mode on their way to the squad assembly point, secretly blending with the rest of Badd's hunter squad members.

They started to investigate the forest near the suburban area which was previously has been reported for most recent Xenomorph alien sighting.

----- ⭐To Be Continued⭐ -----

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

Notes:

So I made this headcanon because I had a dream which was strangely similar like the movie's plot, although not exactly same. Still don't know why and how I got that kind of dream since I haven't watch the movie again for so long 😅

The dream was about where I was accidentally saving the Queen of Xenomorph who infested my friend and took control of her mind, then turned out I must ensured the Queen's next survival 😱😰

But the difference between my dream and this Batarou AU is that I met a Queen of Xenomorph alien, while in the AU story Badd met one of Yautja warriors as I've decided to make Garou as The Predator instead. I thought it would be cooler than him being a Xenomorph alien, lmao! ✌😁

Coincidentally, besides getting an inspiration from my own dream, this AU especially for Garou as Predator also inspired by the fact we getting his Awakened Monster form from Murata 😳✨

Combining both the ideas, his Murata-styled Monster form and the amazing Predator figure appearance, WHAM, we got badass concept of Predator Warrior Garou! 👏👏😤

By the way, because I've made Predator Garou and his entire clans can do some shapeshifting as the more advanced hunting skill, he has 3 forms in this story:

1. Original form:

Exactly like the Predator in the movie, but the differences are the hairstyle, body build, and the ability to speak human language. Instead of dreadlocks, his hair is swept-back long spiky white hair. His body is more on slender-built than buff as Garou is an agile-type warrior, but he is so much taller than his canon-self, approximally 200 cm, unless he was shapeshifting into another form. He can speak human language in original form, but a little bit difficult to do it because of his mouth's structure so whatever he spouted when he talks would sounds like either growling or hissing. 

It's Garou's default form when he was among his own kind. Showed this form the first time he met Badd in rescue ship to threatened him (but failed as Badd didn't afraid of him at all), or when he was facing off some Xenomorph aliens in combat during the research organization's incident catastrophe.

When Garou revealed himself in front of the Organization executives at the next part (spoiler!), he refused to show his true face as they aren't worthy enough to see it, unlike Badd and Zenko. Hence he only shifted into adaptive form at that moment before Badd comes to defend him.

2. Adaptive form:

After living together with Badd for months, he has adapted into a new hybrid form, a mix between his own original Yautja form and human form. The result is like Monster Garou in Murata's style! No more arthropod-like mandibles with tusks, but instead human-like jaws with rows of sharp teeth and fangs (just imagine it like Murata's Awakened Garou). His hair is just like his canon-self with the iconic long horns-like spiky white hair, but at some point Badd cuts his hair shorter for more easier maintenance, so it now looks like Awakened Garou with short hair-style.

Mostly Garou showed this adaptive form when he was around Badd and Zenko at home. He knows Badd likes it so much thus alot of teasing, so he decided to make this adaptive form as a new default appearance during his stay on Earth. More practical to use as he doesn't do much hunting at that time, also the new set of jaws makes him easier to communicate by human language with Badd without his tech-armor helmet mask.

In this form, Garou still in his super tall self even though the height can vary around 185-190 cm, depends on the situation, ex: sleeping as he's a big boy Badd's bed or couch wont fit, so he'd shrink a bit. Sometimes Garou and Badd would spar at their secret place in the middle of woods using this form.

Despite the adaptive form is not quite suitable for hunting strong prey like Xenomorph aliens, Garou prefers to use it whenever he was training with Badd. Also, he can kiss Badd while in this form. Actually even more easier when he was in human form, it's just Badd loves this form more. Don't kinkshame Badd, he is one of monsterfucker, lmao. 

3. Human form:

Because he has shapeshifting ability, Garou can create his "human persona" everytime he blends into human crowds, especially when Badd asked Garou to go outside with him, occasionally also along with Zenko. Exactly like Garou in canon, but now with short-hairstyle as Badd said it suits him more. Garou interpreted it as a way to say "You look more handsome" but denied profusely by Badd.

He still maintained his lean-muscled physique like his other forms, but Garou shrink his height down into 177 cm because not only being too tall would catch many attention from people (Garou: "It's not my fault you all humans are just so goddamned short!"), Badd hated it when he was being towered by his own "boyfriend" when they're walking together in public. Although Badd accepted his tall monstrous height when they're only with eachother.

Badd's neighbours were successfully charmed by this "camouflage" appearance, Garou in a very cocky way tried it on Badd but it seems Badd only tolerates Garou's human form. Honestly, Badd loves his adaptive form as it shows Garou's own will to connect more with Badd while still maintained personal aspects of himself. Badd also totally didn't mind his original form as it was Garou's true face, and to be shown the real Warrior's face behind the mask is a great honour for Badd.

-----------

I just remember that I've been in Batarou fandom for a whole year since January 2020, so you can think this headcanon AU as a new year gift and a thankful gift for the fandom 😆😚🎂🎁🎉🎊

Special thanks for:

🌸 @kaincuro​ and @the-goddessfighter​

Thank you so much for being huge inspirations! You guys introduced me about the beautiful side of Batarou ship via your awesome blogs and encourage me to also participating by sharing ideas to the fandom. Because of you, I managed to stay in this fandom for 1 year full despite 2020 being a hard year.

Thank you Cain, for being a wonderful person and providing us the Good Quality™ Batarou contents, both headcanons and arts! Whenever I'm on bad days and want to read Batarou stuff, I always go to your blog, it never fails to makes me feels alot better! Seeing your fluffy Batarou drawings and your amazing explanation on headcanon about them are absolute mood booster, it really helped me going through my hard days, seriously. So I wanna thank you from the deepest pit of my heart, because of you I could passed a difficult year more easier.

Please keep running your amazing blog, you're great and we love you! 😉👍❤🌸

Thank you Temperans-sama, for being one of greatest Batarou artists I've ever known in the OPM fandom and for your dedication on always working hard making many beautiful Batarou drawings to deliver to the fandom! Everything you've made are PERFECTION, really a God-tier artstyle. Not to mention your Batarou art always the Softest and Fluffiest! 😚👌💖💖

Thank you for kindheartedly willing to listening my super random headcanons or AUs, even as far liking it and drawing the illustrations for it, all of the arts are magnificent I'm so grateful for that AAAAA thank youuuu- *sobbing happily* 😭🙏💕💖 I feel so happy for being able to talk and sharing ideas with an incredible artist like you waaah THANK YOUUU!! Please accept my promised thankful gift for this year, I hope you like it 😚💕🎁♥

Biggest respect, support, and neverending love for you~ 😘❤💜💙💖💝💐👏

🌸 @lovelybutnot-ablankcanvas​ and @guby1620​

You guys are such very good friends during my stay in the Batarou fandom throughout the year, thaaaank youuu! Both of you deserved the best! *hugs tightly and never let go*

Thank you Eir, for being one of the most talented Batarou fanfic writers and most supportive understanding friend! I feel blessed to ever know you through your first Batarou fic a year ago, I still remember being one of your first reviewer and we shared alot of new ideas or random stuff. Now you already become a multitalented artist on both as fic writer and art drawing I'm so proud of you! 👏👏😤✨

Also, thank you for writing so many Batarou fic gifts last year, all of them are my favorite stories until now I really appreciate them! Keep being awesome, Eir, and yes you have my endless supports~ 😉💖✨

Thank you Ruby, for being a very talented Batarou artist with the most loveliest artsyle and I really admired you for that! You always have fluffiest ideas for arts and I love your handsome Garou + adorably sweet Badd drawings. I always enjoyed our interactions whenever we talk about our HCs, you're very easygoing and fun person to talk with, also you always successfully cheer me up with your cutest Batarou art 😉👍💯✨

I should thank you for liking my AU stories, even making one of them into a Doujin THANK YOU SO MUCH I didn't expected you would included the Reincarnated Demon/Angel AU into your long project I feel both grateful and honoured AAAA THANKS A LOT! *died from happiness* 😭💞💖💝

Undying supports and greatest appreciation for youuu, Ruby! I will always waiting for your new creations 👏💝🌸🌻💐

🌸 @garous-nipple​

I wanna say thank you for being one of the most talented Garou-centric fanartists in the fandom, you're amazing and I always love seeing your progress on evolving your artstyle throughout the time. You have great drawing skill and trust me you have already on the path to become next Murata! May this year will becomes Garou year as his inevitable comeback in the manga is near, so you will get loads of new art inspirations 😤👍💯🌟

Thanks alot for always accepting my requests or art idea suggestions! You absolutely deserved all of the best appreciation for your hardworks, we the OPM fandom are loving you 😉👌💖

I hope you enjoyed Garou's "the Predator" concept design headcanon as a humble new year gift from me 😆💝🎁🎉

And lastly for special mention:

🌸 @himbo-in-limbo​

I know we haven't interacted yet, but knowing that you love both Garou and AvP after stumbling into your lovely blog, I've decided to include you, too! As someone who only saw AvP once and not too familiar with the story, I honestly kinda embarassed of myself and afraid if my headcanon wont makes any sense so I apologized if there's alot mistakes and inaccuracy in here or if it's too OOC, please forgive me 🙇💦

I realized it's not perfect but I hope you like my concept design of Garou being a Yautja! Also sorry for the Batarou hints I hope you wouldn't really mind about it 😅😉💕💝🎁

(btw, all of your OCs are fantastic and very thoughtful-made! ❤)

----------

Once again I'm so sorry if my writing sucks, I wanted to share the idea but I don't have good writing skill at all please forgive me.. 😭🙇

I hope I can continue for the second part which is also the last part, it's currently on 1/4 way of completion. I'm currently stuck on the action scene why does it so hard to write battle scenes heeeelpp! 😫💦

So please wait for me, yeah? Wish me luck I could finished the story 😅🙏

Thank you so much, we will see again on the final part! 💖

-Little1993lamb-

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

Temperans:

Anon! Thank you very much for sharing another fantastic fic for this fandom! Sorry for taking time to post it here. You know? My vacation will be over soon and I'm getting ready for TuT school

I would like to have dreams as interesting as yours, I hardly dream anymore, and it is nice that you can capture an idea from that. Honestly I've been a bit off these days, I miss our guys a lot and the way the webcomic is unfolding really distresses me (I'm so scared for Badd X'C). But your fic lifts my spirits every time I read it! So I wanted to reward your hard work with a drawing. I really like H. R. Giger's art and I tried to give that vibe to my art (I tried X'D). Thank you anon for always being there to support the fandom unconditionally! I hope you have a better year and health! 😘❤💜💙💖💝

[nekomassetters]

Nineteen

After hearing your coach's voice boom across the gym, the girls' volleyball team members simultaneously whip their bodies across to face their mentor.

"Alright girls I'm ending practice here. You all should try to relax before we leave on Monday and remember we're leaving right in the morning!"

Your friends begin to sigh in relief from finally getting a break. Nakamura especially voices her excitement, forgetting that her coach is nearby.

"And don't go too crazy with partying either," your coach says skeptically, "I'm looking at you 'Mura!"

Nakamura's face immediately goes pale and apologizes for her behavior. After the rest of the lecture, you walk over to Nakamura to soothe her gloomy state.

"She always calls me out," Nakamura pouts as you guide her to the other girls packing their belongings.

"That's so not true," Ritsuko voices, "I constantly get told to check my damn language because I'm the captain! So dumb. It's not like any of you don't say that stuff!"

"Yeah but it's because you're the captain," Mito chuckles.

"No fair," you hear Ritsuko mumble in response.

As you begin to walk away you hear Mito call out to you.

"Hey Y/N you want to get something to eat?"

Behind Mito, you hear Ritsuko mumble to herself.

"Y/N. The one person coach never yells at."

Either you were the only person who heard her or the rest of your friends decided to ignore her complaint.

"Sorry but I'm going to practice with the guys," you tell them.

"Again?!" exclaims Nakamura.

"Well yeah," you say as you observe your friends who all have worried looks on their faces, "but I promise I won't go too crazy like coach said!"

You wave goodbye to your friends and exit the gym, heading to the other one nearby containing the boys' team.

Once you put your bag down, you walk up to Kenma who stands with Kuroo, Yaku, and Lev.

"You really don't want to come?" Kuroo begs his roommate, "It's just going to be me, 'Kaashi, and Bokuto."

Kenma shakes his head, telling his friend that he doesn't plan on going to Fukurodani University with him right now. This immediately strikes an idea in your brain as you turn to Kenma and give him an innocent smile.

"Wanna hang out with me then?"

The group looks at you as if you have three heads before proceeding to look at Kenma in anticipation of his answer.

"Sure," he replies calmly as he shrugs.

"What the hell?!"

You can see the shock on the boys' faces as Kenma's response registers in their ears.

"You won't go with Kuroo but you'll hang out with Y/N-chan? That's a little suspicious, Kenma," Yaku teases.

"Yeah seriously," Kuroo whines, "how is there nothing going on between you two."

Before either you or Kenma could retaliate, Lev comes to your rescue.

"Because they're both friends and have common interests. Besides Kenma probably doesn't want to go all the way to Fukurodani when he could just stay here," he shrugs.

Someone remind me that I totally owe Lev one.

"Huh?" Yaku's voice squeaks, "you really believe that's all that's-"

"Come on Kenma," you say as you interrupt Yaku as begin walking away from the group.

📷

That evening after practice, you and Kenma hang out in his room for awhile. The two of you spend a little over an hour playing video games together until you realize the time.

"Oh shit," you exclaim as you look down at your phone, "I've gotta work on something for my class, is it okay if I finish it super quick?"

"Sure," Kenma says as he nods his head, "do you mind if I call Kuroo?"

Kenma holds up his headset, indicating to you that he was going to join a game with Kuroo and Bokuto.

"Sure you don't have to ask me," you grin.

"Well I just didn't want to disturb you while you're doing your work," he quietly expresses with a bit of concern in his tone.

"Nah don't worry about it," you tell him.

You give Kenma a quick kiss on the cheek before standing up and pulling out your notebook.

Stupid. I shouldn't have done that.

After grabbing the tools you need to complete your work, you lay everything out on Kenma's bed, just above where he is leaning against it.

As you continue to work, you find yourself getting distracted by the game Kenma's playing, not that you really cared about the work anyway.

Once completing most of the work, you finally allow yourself to become fully attentive to the game he's winning. Without real thought, you find your hand playing with Kenma's hair. The only thing making you realize that you had started petting him was after he sat up a bit from tensing to the unexpected behavior.

For a moment, you could swear you saw Kenma's ears light up, and you decided that you could take this to your advantage yet again.

After closing your notebook and packing your things up a bit, you slide down beside Kenma to sit next to him.

"You guys are so damn slow," Kenma's bored voice strikes as he does his best to ignore you staring at him.

As you look over at him, you observe how his cheeks refuse to stop turning bright red.

God he's so cute when he's flustered.

While turning your gaze back to the screen of his game, you place your hand against his shorts. Immediately you're greeted with a hard bulge at contact.

Aaaand, that's why.

Briefly, Kenma makes eye contact with you. You immediately acknowledge the almost pleading look in his eyes as if to tell you to stop although he clearly wanted you to continue.

"May I?" you whisper to him.

After Kenma nods, you position yourself a bit better to face his bottom half and remove his shorts along with his boxers underneath. When you look up at him, the pleading look on his face intensifies.

Swiftly, you position your mouth over him and begin to take in his length. As your mouth swirls around him, you feel him squirm a bit underneath you.

A hand suddenly attaches to your hair. By now you knew that this meant he wanted you to take in more of him. Willing to submit to his nonverbal instruction, you do as he wishes.

"Fuck..."

Small grunts find their way escaping from his mouth as you continue to pump your mouth around him.

"Shut up," you hear him groan.

Remembering that he's still on the call with his friends, you find a smirk crawl across your face.

"Because I hate having to play with you guys," he continues talking as best he can manage, "you've got no skills, Kuroo."

Knowing he was about to finish, Kenma places a hand back on your head, but this time just to feel you as you push deeper on your own.

"Yo Kenma why the hell did you stop moving?!" you hear an unfamiliar, yet loud voice call out.

Kenma doesn't respond to his friend. As he tunes out the others, he focuses on the hot ropes of liquid he's once again shooting down your throat.

"Fuck," Kenma groans, not caring who heard him, "it's Y/N's turn."

You instantly pick your head up in shock as you hear Kenma's words. You begin shaking your head frantically as you know what he's trying to do.

Kenma stuffs the headset on you and quickly tells his friends through the speaker that you wanted control so he's letting you have it.

You feel your face heat up at his statement. His eyes slice into yours as he deviously smiles and backs away from you. After pushing the controller into your hands, you feel your own shorts getting removed.

"Hey Hey Hey!" you hear the same voice from before boom through the speaker.

"Hi," you awkwardly respond as you try to keep your eyes fixated on the game.

"Concentrate on the game Y/N," Kenma whispers to you as he spreads apart your legs.

You shake your head no and do your best to silently protest, but Kenma doesn't listen.

As the game starts for you, it starts for Kenma as well. His warm breath hitting you first as you try your best to stay focused on the task he's given you. You feel your panties being slid down to your ankles before Kenma pulls them off entirely

"Listen Y/N," Kenma says to you after getting tired of your squirming and constant distraction, "don't make a noise."

You shake your head stiffly in response. You then shift your gaze back to the game screen as Kenma dips his head back down between your thighs and beginning to glide his tongue against your folds.

As Kenma plunges his fingers into you, he attaches his mouth to you as well. The sensation of immediate pleasure driving you insane as you do your best to stay on task.

An eventual squeal reaches your lips as Kenma's fingers curl and reach deep into you just the right way.

"That's what you deserve," he mumbles before continuing his own job.

"What's going on?" you hear Kuroo's skeptical voice through Kenma's headset.

"Sorry," you breathe, "I guess I'm just not very good at this game."

You let out a weak laugh as you once more get distracted by looking down at Kenma.

"Hey once this game is over, you and Kenma should come over so I can meet you!" the man who you were recently introduced to as Bokuto randomly exclaims.

"Uhm..." you try to let out as Kenma keeps his hand attached to the inside of your pussy.

"Don't bother Kenma when his girlfriend is with him," you the other voice you were just introduced as well announces.

Once again your face heats up. This time you look down at Kenma who continues his job as if nothing happened, since he can't hear what the others are saying.

"O-Oh no we-"

"Sorry, Y/N," Bokuto sadly interrupts your rebuttal.

Just then you feel your walls continue to contract as Kenma reaches you to your climax.

"Mmm, it's o..." you try to say to Bokuto.

However, the pleasure you're feeling takes over and you instantly turn off the mic. Freeing Kenma's name from your lips, you feel yourself release onto him.

After pulling his fingers out of your sopping pussy, he looks up at you puzzled.

"I muted it," you say as you try to catch your breath, "don't worry."

"No you didn't," he calmly replies.

You turn your attention to your headset, immediately taking it off of your head and staring at it in horror.

"I'm just kidding," he says as he scoots closer to you, "you did."

"Kenma!" you exclaim, shocked that he made a joke, "don't-"

"Don't what, Y/N?" he asks as he gets dangerously close to your mouth, "you look like you enjoyed that so I doubt you're in any position to complain right about now."

He was right. You had nothing to protest so instead of contradicting him, you were forced to settle with defeat this time.

[chipper9906]

Bound To You - Chapter 5: Different Ways To Fall

<- - - Previous Chapter

WARNING: SPOILERS FOR SEASON 15

NOTE: Pairings and Ratings Will Change As Story Is Updated

Pairings: Castiel/Dean Winchester, Eileen Leahy/Sam Winchester

Rating: General Audiences

Chapter Word Count: 8,698

Overall Word Count: 34,834

Status: Multi Chapter Fic - In Progress (5/?)

Chapter Preview: 

Getting back into the wheelchair from the Impala was about as fun as getting out of the wheelchair – but at least this time he didn’t end up face-first on the floor, so... Dean considered that an improvement.

Sam walked ahead of him, leading them out of the garage and to the main entrance, pushing the heavy door open and holding it there for Dean to roll through. The door closed behind them with its familiar clang of locks settling back into place, and Sam stepped up to Dean’s side before freezing in place, the two of them staring at the impossibly long looking metal stairs of the bunker.

“...Dammit.”

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Character Key For Telepathic Conversations

'Italic Text' - Castiel

'Bold Text' - Dean

* * *

Dean Winchester glared at the wheelchair they wheeled in for him like it was his worst enemy.

‘Unless you plan to drag yourself everywhere you go Dean, you’re going to have to accept the wheelchair.’

Dean huffed at the sensible words Cas was speaking into his mind, crossing his arms in the hospital bed like a child throwing a tantrum.

‘Doesn’t mean I have to like it.’

‘And I wouldn’t expect you to. I’m only asking that you accept the fact that it’s a necessity for any sense of freedom in your life.’

‘Freedom? Trapped to a chair? How’s that freedom?’

‘Better than being bedbound, is it not?’

Castiel was one hundred percent right, but it’s not like Dean was going to admit that.

Doctor Sullivan stepped into the room, scribbling away at some forms atop a wooden clipboard in his hands. “Alright, Mr. Winchester… You are officially free from our confines.” He finished signing something on the paper, looking up to Dean with an encouraging smile. “I see you still haven’t given the wheelchair a try?”

“I’m a bit worried it’s gonna ruin my look, Doc. Not really my style.”

“I think the wheelchair is a better look than me and Doctor Sullivan carrying you out here by your feet,” Sam pushed himself out of the chair he was sat in, stepping over to where they placed the wheelchair and wheeling it closer to Dean’s bedside. “C’mon, Dean. Just give it a try.”

‘You said it yourself that you wanted to get out of here as soon as possible.’

‘Yeah, yeah, I know I did… Stop using my own words against me.’

‘If you’d really rather not do it, I could take over and get you into the chair. Doctor Sullivan would have to leave the room of course, or at least be distracted while I take over so he doesn’t see the flare of my grace in your eyes.’

‘Nah, it’s… As much as I don’t wanna do it, this is something I gotta do, you know?’

‘Of course, Dean. I understand.’

“So… how do I do this?” Dean directed his question towards Doctor Sullivan, glancing over the bed to the chair beside him. “Would be embarrassing if I fall on my ass trying to get out of bed…”

“You’re going to be relying on your arm strength, mostly,” Doctor Sullivan bent over the wheelchair, applying the brakes on the underside of the chair.

“Got plenty of that,” Dean’s comment elicited quite the snort from Sam, who respectfully hid his laughter behind his sleeve.

“I’ve applied the brakes for you, here-,” Doctor Sullivan pointed to the brakes he had just fiddled with. “You’ll have to disengage them before you move, otherwise – well – you won’t move.”

“Got it.”

“Now, with time, your arm strength is going to improve. Don’t feel disappointed if you can’t do much at once – it’s quite the shock to your arms when they’re used to shift your entire body weight constantly.” Doctor Sullivan said as he stepped to the end of the bed, placing his hands under Dean’s calves. “I’m going to help you turn yourself, okay? I need you to turn yourself, so you’re sat on the edge of the bed with your legs just hanging off the end.”

“Okay…” Dean got his arms behind him, pulling himself up. It was significantly easier with Doctor Sullivan holding his legs up, gently guiding him as he pulled himself inch by inch closer to the edge of the bed. He could already feel his biceps twinging in protest with every movement, chest heaving with the exertion of pulling his entire weight.

“That’s the first step done,” Doctor Sullivan declared once he was at the edge of the bed, gently lowering Dean’s legs down so they were just hanging over the edge. “Now, this is going to be easier to do since the bed is about the same height as your wheelchair. Hopefully, it’ll be the same at your home – otherwise you may need to rely on your brother or another carer to get you in and out of bed.”

“I’m sure we’ll figure it out,” Dean already hated the prospect of being such a burden on his brother, especially for something as simple as getting into bed. “I guess I just pull myself into the chair…”

“Essentially, yes.” Doctor Sullivan agreed. “You just need to brace yourself with one arm on the handle, then pull your body over and lower yourself onto the wheelchair. Again, I must repeat how important it is to keep the brakes applied at this stage, otherwise you risk seriously injuring yourself.”

Dean followed the doctor’s instructions, reaching out with his right hand to grab hold of the armrest of the wheelchair. He used his other hand to push himself over to the chair, damn near sitting on the hand he was using the brace himself. It was more of a staggering fall into the seat than it was a graceful descent, but Dean could at least take some pride in the fact that he landed in the somewhat comfortable chair and not on the hard plastic floor of the hospital room.

“And that’s all there is to it!” Doctor Sullivan exclaimed joyfully. “Same kind of method for getting into the bed, and for chairs, things like that.”

Doctor Sullivan reached into his lab-coat pocket, pulling out a few colorful pamphlets and handing them over to Sam. “Any questions you might have, these should help to answer some of them. Plenty of advice in them too, such as exercises Dean can partake in to help strengthen his arm strength and core; things that’ll help make the transition easier.”

“Ah yes, pamphlets. The answers to all my problems,” Dean stuffed as much sarcasm into the words as he could, smiling mockingly up at the two of them.

‘Dean… he’s just trying to help.’

‘You know, you’re slowly turning into my conscience, Cas. Somehow, hearing it through your voice makes me feel more guilty than if it was my own damn voice.’

‘Good to know I’m of some use up here, then.’

“I have plenty of faith in you, Mr. Winchester. You’re going to adapt just fine to this new difficulty, I’m sure of it.”

“Hell yeah I will, Doc. I’ve just gotta mope about it enough to get special treatment from my brother.”

“Like you wouldn’t give me hell for treating you different,” Sam pointed out, folding up the pamphlets and stuffing them into his jacket pocket. “C’mon, we better get you home before Miracle starts missing you too much.”

‘Miracle?’

‘Yeah? Miracle, she’s- oh! You didn’t get to meet her… Oh boy, do you have a surprise waiting for you back home, Cas.”

Sam walked behind Dean’s wheelchair, leaning down to switch off the brakes before grabbing hold of the handles at the back of the chair.

“What do you think you’re doing?” Dean’s words brought Sam to a stop.

“Uh… taking you home?” Sam clarified.

“Sam… what are these?” Dean asked, holding his arms out by his side.

“…your arms?”

“Bingo. And you see what I just did with them?”

“You… moved them?”

“Exactly. I can still use my damn arms, Sammy. So get your paws off my chair, and let me wheel myself outta here.”

Sam sighed at his brother's annoying sense of pride, taking his hands off the handles and holding them out in front of him in surrender. Dean nodded his head at him, turning his head back around to face forward before placing his hands on the wheels, pushing them forward and sending the wheelchair traveling towards the open door. Sam and Doctor Sullivan stood there and watched as Dean immediately collided with the frame of the door, listening to him curse quietly to himself as he reversed back from the door, then succeeded to go through and out into the hallway the second time around.

“I should probably run after him before he mows down a nurse or something…” Sam sighed, plucking up Dean’s hospital bag from the ground and heading towards the door.

“Wait, Mr. Winchester-,” Doctor Sullivan caught Sam by his elbow, stopping Sam in his tracks. “I didn’t want to bring it up while Dean was still in the room, but… I wanted to give you this.” He passed over a small white card over to Sam, the words ‘Dr. Ward’ printed out in sleek black ink, along with a phone number.

“What is this?” Sam asked, glancing from the card in his hands to Doctor Sullivan.

“It’s the number for a specialist I know. He deals in newly paralyzed patients, more particularly… their mental health. I’m not saying you have to give him a call, but I wanted to give it to you so the option is there. Your brother is good at putting on a brave face, but it’s one I’ve seen many times before. Those that make it seem like everything’s alright are usually the ones that are suffering the most. I’m hoping you’ll never need to call that number, but… challenging times lie ahead for both you and your brother, and there’s nothing wrong with finding help.”

“Thanks, Doctor… I’ll, uh… I’ll see how Dean goes for a while, but… yeah, I’ll think about it.”

* * *

 Dean had already made it to the parking lot before Sam had even left the hospital room. That’s where Sam found him, frozen in place in his wheelchair in front of the Impala. Sam didn’t even need to look at his face to know he was staring at her longingly. This… was one of the moments Sam was dreading. The moment that Dean realized…

“I can’t even drive her anymore, Sammy… I’m never going to be sat behind her steering wheel again.”

“You never know,” Sam tried to stay optimistic for the sake of his brother. “There’s always a chance, right? Maybe we can find something to help fix your legs in our research, too.”

“I doubt that, Sam. Besides, that’s not where we should be focusing our efforts. Don’t go distracting yourself with stuff like that; We’ve gotta find a way to get Cas back – that’s the priority.”

‘Dean-,’

‘Nuh-uh, don’t you start with me either, Cas. You’re top priority, and that’s that. My legs can wait.’

“Dean, you know that’s what we’re going to be focusing on. I’m just saying that after we get Cas back and we have another pair of eyes with us… it’s something we can look into.”

“I know you’re trying to keep my hopes up, Sammy. But I don’t want that. Sure, if we find something, then… that’ll be fucking great. But chances are that’s not gonna happen, and I’d rather not have my hopes raised and crushed and like that. So… the sooner I accept that this is my life now, the better.”

Sam looked ready to argue with Dean some more about that, which Dean was absolutely not having. He wheeled away from the conversation, rolling himself over to the Impala’s passenger seat. “Now c’mon, unlock this damn door before I find my own way home.”

Sam shot his brother an incredulous look, but pulled Baby’s keys out of his pocket anyway. “Yeah, how you gonna do that? You going to wheel yourself all the way home?”

“Don’t test me, Sammy. You might just see me rolling down the I-70.”

‘I think he’d be more likely to see you as a red stain on the I-70’

‘Wow, Cas. That’s a dark thought.’

‘I’m just going with the most likely scenario to come from that.’

Sam had jogged over to the passenger side by the time Dean pulled himself out of his own thoughts, grabbing hold of Baby’s handle and pulling the door open for him. Dean waved his brother out of the way when he went to help, rolling himself closer to the Impala until he was lined up parallel with the seat.

“Dean, the brakes-,”

“Yeah, yeah, I got it,” Dean grumbled in interruption. He attempted to lean down, reaching for the brake, but found his body simply wouldn’t allow him to go that far. Sam watched his brother struggle in silence before it became too much, stepping closer to Dean with an arm outstretched. Sam flicked the brakes into place before Dean could utter a single complaint, moving away quickly to avoid a likely swat from Dean.

“I could have done that…” Dean mumbled darkly.

‘No, you couldn’t, Dean. There’s only so far your back will allow you to bend. I can feel the pain you feel too, I know where your limits are. I’m sorry, but you couldn’t have done that by yourself.’

‘Way to bust my balls there, Cas… God, I really am turning into Bobby, aren’t I? Pretty sure Bobby didn’t bitch as much as I did, though.’

‘You’re not Bobby. You are your own man, and the way in which you react to such a traumatic change in your life does not make you any less of one.’

‘Yeah? Then why do I feel like a useless sack of crap…’

‘Because you are the one used to helping others, not being helped. It’s who you are. Always the one to put others before him.’

Dean stretched over to the Impala as far as his weakened back would let him, placing his palm down on her leather seats. With his other hand on his chair, he began pulling himself over, gritting his teeth in pain at the twinge in his back, his arms trembling with the effort. The gap between the chair and the Impala was too large, and Sam could see it happen before it even happened. Dean’s arm gave away the same time the chair tipped over, sending Dean sprawling into the asphalt with a pained grunt, getting the air knocked out of him upon impact.

Sam rushed forward to his brothers’ side in an instant, the fear of Dean’s wound reopening itself or potentially injuring his spine more than he already had springing into his mind.

“Fuck!” Dean cursed sharply, the single word echoing between the cars parked around them. He brought his fist down into the ground in his frustration, feeling the familiar sting of his knuckles splitting as they hit the hard ground of the parking lot. Sam knelt down by his side, one hand on the tipped over wheelchair and the other wrapped securely under Dean’s arm, ready to help him to his feet.

“Dean, please, just let me-,”

“Don’t!” Dean snapped at him, directing his frustration with himself at his brother. “I can do this! I’m not going to be some fucking weight dragging everyone down.”

“You’re not,” Sam insisted strongly, squeezing Dean’s arm tight. “Dean, you’re not. And I know you can do this, but that doesn’t mean you can’t accept my help.”

‘Dean… please.’ It was Cas’s pleading tone in his head, the pain he heard in that usually strong and resolved voice, a pain he knew Cas was feeling because of his pain… that’s what made the anger running through his veins start to simmer.

‘I know you want to prove you’re more than your injury. That you want to show everyone you’re stronger than it. But it’s not something you need to prove. We know you’re more than that. We know you’re stronger. Just the fact that you’re trying, and that you care more about solving my problems than even thinking about finding a way to heal yourself… There’s no one I admire more – and am proud to admire more – than you, Dean Winchester.’

Dean slowly uncurled his fingers out from his clenched fist, closing his eyes and letting out a deep sigh. Sam had remained silent- perhaps sensing that Cas was talking to him – his grip around Dean’s arm loose but still there, still ready.

‘I’m broken, Cas.’

‘No, you’re not. Because you’re most than just your legs. You’re more than your ability to hunt. What makes you – “you” – is all up here with me. And accepting your brother's help, or anyone’s help for that matter, will not change that. You are not weak for accepting help. You are not “less of a man” for admitting you need help. Your brother is not offering help because he thinks you’re weak, but because it pains him to see you hurt yourself like this. He just wants to help, as I would in his position. It kills me to know I can’t help... But one day, you’ll be a master at this. It will become a part of your life as everything else is. But today? Today, you’re still injured, you’re still recovering. You’re new to this. So please… let Sam help you.’

“Alright…” Dean caved, lifting up his arm to rest on the Impala’s seat above him. “Alright, Sammy… help me up.”

Sam took his hand off the wheelchair, shuffling behind Dean and pulling him up to a sitting position. He slid his arms underneath Dean’s armpits, straining with Dean’s weight as he pushed them both up, slowly pulling Dean up the side of the Impala until Dean all but collapsed into the seat. Dean dropped his head back against the seats with a heavy sigh, already feeling his arms start to ache from overuse.

Dean let his eyes close shut, waiting for Sam to finish up folding his chair and shoving it into the backseats (Baby’s trunk was far too cluttered to fit that in) before climbing into the driver’s seat. Sam shoved the keys into the ignition, twisting them until the sound of Baby’s purring filled the air, immediately putting Dean at ease.

“You okay?” Sam asked, glancing over at his brother.

“Yeah… I’m good,” Dean answered, his eyes still closed. “Thanks, by the way… For helping me.”

“Yeah, of course… You know it doesn’t bother me, right? Anytime you need-,”

“I got it, Sammy,” Dean cut him off. “I appreciate it, I really do. I just… I wanna go home.”

Sam’s lips pulled into a sympathetic smile at the exhaustion he could hear in Dean’s voice, nodding at him even though Dean couldn’t see him with his eyes closed. He turned forward in his seat, switching the gear into ‘drive’ and releasing the handbrake, smoothly pulling Baby out of the hospital's parking lot and onto the road.

‘Hey, Cas?’

‘Yes, Dean?’

‘You are helping. I know you think you’re not, but… you are. More than I think you realize.’

* * *

 Getting back into the wheelchair from the Impala was about as fun as getting out of the wheelchair – but at least this time he didn’t end up face-first on the floor, so... Dean considered that an improvement.

Sam walked ahead of him, leading them out of the garage and to the main entrance, pushing the heavy door open and holding it there for Dean to roll through. The door closed behind them with its familiar clang of locks settling back into place, and Sam stepped up to Dean’s side before freezing in place, the two of them staring at the impossibly long looking metal stairs of the bunker.

“Dammit...”

Dean couldn’t help it. Something about the genuine annoyance in his brother’s voice at the sight of the stairs got to him, cracking up into deep pearls of laughter that echoed around the bunker, hunched over as far as his back would let him.

“Sorry, Dean... I didn’t think about it,” Sam apologized, scratching at the back of his head as he tried to figure out what to do next.

“Yeah, I didn’t know what to do about that one.” Eileen’s voice filtered up from down below. Sam and Dean peered over the edge of the railing to see Eileen stood by the map table, craning her head up to see them. “I went out and bought some small ramps and set them up around the bunker on the smaller stairs, but... this one’s a bit too long to do that.”

“I’m sure we’ll figure something out.” Sam asserted, looking from Dean to the stairs in front of them. “Maybe something like one of those-,”

“I swear to God Sammy, if you install a goddamn chair lift that eighty-year olds use, I will push you down these stairs.”

‘Considering you’re going to need your brother's help to get down the stairs, I wouldn’t suggest that.’

“Well… that might be the only option that works, Dean. Unless you have any better suggestions?”

“Whatever…” Dean grumbled under his breath, cautiously wheeling closer to the edge of the stairs. “So how we doing this? Gonna wrap me up in bubble-wrap and roll me down the stairs? Or just roll me down the stairs and hope for the best?”

“Don’t tempt me,” Sam warned light-heartedly, glancing back to the stairs to see Eileen making her way up to them. “Our best bet is just carrying you down in the chair. Can you grab him by the handles of the chair, Eileen? Then I’ll grab him by the front and help steer you down.”

“That still sounds like rolling me down the stairs and hoping for the best.”

“Shut up and focus where you’re going,” Sam grunted, stepping around to the front of the chair. He took a single step back onto the first stair, leaning forward and grabbing hold of the handles near the bottom of Dean’s chair.

Eileen disappeared out of Dean’s sight, taking hold of the handles at the back of his chair. “I’m good. You ready?”

Sam nodded, keeping his eyes focused on where the chair was going. “Yep, Just take it slow, alright?”

And take it slow they did. Minutes ticked by as they crawled agonizing slowly down the stairs, inching the wheels down one by one. Even though Dean knew all Sam and Eileen were worried about was him falling out of the chair and hurting himself again, all he could worry about was losing control of the chair and taking the two of them down with him.

It was both relieving and frustrating when they finally made it down to the bottom of the stairs, the concrete floor under his feet never seeming quite as safe as in that moment. Sam and Eileen looked rather proud of themselves for getting him down there, and Dean knew he should be feeling that way, too. Except… he hated everything about all that just happened. The fact that he wouldn’t have been able to go down some goddamn stairs if it weren’t for two other people helping him. The fact that going down a flight of stairs -something that usually takes him five seconds at most - took around five minutes.

“Who woulda thought, eh Sammy?” Dean glanced up at his brother. “From demons, to angels, to scribes of Gods, and then to God himself… my next enemy is going to be stairs.”

“And you’ll kick their ass, too,” Eileen assured him with a pat of his shoulders.

“I think it’s more likely the stairs will kick my ass. Literally. When I fall down them.”

“You gonna keep making more jokes about you falling down the stairs, or you gonna go get that drink you wouldn’t shut up about the whole drive home?” Sam teased as he made his way down to the hallways leading to the rooms, brushing a hand across Eileen’s back in thanks as he went.

“You know the answers both, Sammy!” Dean called after him as Sam went, giving a dismissive wave of his hand before disappearing out of sight.

“Thanks, by the way,” Dean craned his head around to face Eileen. “For being here, helping out… I know things must be weird for you at the moment, what with the whole resurrection thing… again…”

“You don’t need to thank me,” Eileen leaned back against the map table, bracing her arms behind her as she spoke. “You, Sam, and Cas… you’re my family.”

“Yeah, yeah, I know you’re just here for Sam,” Dean grinned at the flush that spread across Eileen’s face. “Seriously, though, you being here? It’s what Sam needs right now. He, uh… he was crushed when you left. He understood of course, but… kid was pining hard for you. Wasn’t the same, you know?”

“Do you ever stop worrying about Sam’s wellbeing?” Eileen asked with an inquisitive smile. “Most people who get injured like to soak up every ounce of sympathy from others… yet all you can think about is others.”

“You said it yourself; you guys are my family. I don’t consider my injury a ‘problem’. Not one high up the list, anyway.”

“Hmm… first on the list goes to Castiel, I’m guessing?”

“We like to take turns. I’ll have a problem, then Sam’ll have a problem… Then Cas… It’s just Cas’s turn to step up to the plate.”

‘Is that some kind of sports reference?’

‘Yep. Baseball.’

‘Oh, right – I think we watched a game at one point, didn’t we?’

‘Yeah, just the one. Jack wanted to know what it was all about - think he got kinda bored with it. Didn’t wanna say though coz he knew we were still watching it… Think the poor kid just wanted to boot up Netflix and keep on binging.’

“Maybe one day you’ll solve the last problem,” Eileen suggested. “Well, the last ‘loved one at risk of death or worse’ kind of problem.”

“With us? You do know who we are, right?”

“Good point,” Eileen's eyes shifted over to the entrance of the hallway, something Dean easily spotted.

“Hey, you know you don’t have to keep talking to me out of pity, right?” Dean brought her attention back. “I’m not stupid, I know you want to go chasing after my little brother. Don’t let me keep you. Besides, Sam was right – I really do want to go get that drink… been on nothing but water and IV fluids for the past few days…”

Eileen huffed out a laugh, shaking her head as she brought her arms in front of her and crossed them. “I can’t imagine that’s what the doctor ordered.”

“Hey, I know my body. A nice glass of ten-year-old malt is exactly what I ordered.” Dean retaliated with a beaming smile, turning his wheelchair around and heading towards the hallway.

“Hey, Dean!”

Eileen’s call brought Dean to a stop, turning the chair back around to face Eileen. “Yeah?”

Eileen looked to him for a moment, the pause in their conversation lingering before she spoke. “Are you okay?”

This was a question Dean’s been asked many times before; Usually when he’s had his ass handed to him by whatever freak they’re hunting that week. Or when he’s fighting something within himself. Or when someone he loves dies – which is too often in their line of work. And nearly every time that question is asked, he’ll plant the best smile on his face that he can muster and say the same line every time – ‘I’m fine.’

This time? This time, with Eileen looking at him like she can already smell the bullshit lie he’s about to say, and with Cas staying suspiciously quiet in his head – listening in more like – he decides…

He’s done with lying.

“No, I’m not,” His answer seems to take Eileen by surprise, her eyebrows shooting up as she does one big blink in shock. “And I’m not gonna say ‘but I will be’ or something cheesy along those lines, coz’ honestly? I got no friggen’ idea if I’ll ever be ‘fine’ with all this. I’m just… dealing with it hour by hour, day by day. Besides, I got more important things to worry about right now.”

The corner of Eileen’s lips lifted in a sympathetic smile, lifting up her hand at chest height, palm down and parallel with her body. “Let me guess; this is where your problem is, and this-,” Her hand lifted up to above her head. “-Is where Cas is?”

Dean clicked his mouth, shooting a finger gun at Eileen. “Top of the list.”

“You know, one day you and Cas are going to have to tell me the whole story. How Castiel went from an angel of the lord, to an acquaintance, then to your best friend.”

“Kind of a long story. Twelve years in the making, you know.”

“Sounds like an interesting one though. From the family of God to the Winchester family…”

“Heh… Nah, he’s more than that. Cas is…” Dean paused, searching for the right words. What was Cas to him? “He’s… huh… he’s a bit of everything. There’s been times where he’s been my enemy, times where he’s gone behind my back… then there’s times where he’s thrown away everything he knows, everything he believes in, to help us. Help me. Everything he’s done, everything he ever does… it was always because he was trying to do the right thing.”

“Sounds like two other guys I know.”

Dean chuckled, dropping his head down. “Yeah… maybe we rubbed off on the guy. I’m pretty sure corrupting an angel is some kind of sin…”

“Considering how Cas is one of the only good angels out there, I think ‘corrupting’ him was probably for the best,” Eileen said.

“Apparently our Cas is the only one we could ‘corrupt’. Said so by God himself. All the other Cas’s stayed in line, but not this one.”

“Do I detect some pride in your voice?”

“Hell yeah you do. You know, Cas is… before I met him, I didn’t think there would be anyone I would care about as much as Sammy. No one else I thought I’d be willing to die for. Then Cas waltzed right in that barn and changed everything.”

Eileen smiled warmly at him. “Yeah… that sounds like ‘more than family’ to me.”

“Exactly. And that’s why he’s top of the list.”

“And probably why you guys get into so much trouble all the time,” Eileen pushed herself off the map table, patting Dean’s shoulder as she passed by him. “I think I’m going to head to bed – and you should do the same after your nightcap.”

“Already planning to!” Dean said in passing, having to resist the urge to punch himself in the face when he remembered Eileen can’t actually hear him.

‘You know, I recall not too long again when Sam and Eileen were being held captive by Chuck that you did something similar. You-,’

‘Yeah I know, I answered her call and started talking. I’m a dumbass. That the point you were trying to make?’

‘Of course not, Dean. You were in a stressful situation and likely weren’t thinking clearly.’

‘Yeah? What’s new?’

Dean carefully maneuvered himself down the matte black ramp Eileen had set up, thankfully not too steep so he didn’t go zooming down at uncontrollable speeds. Even though that sounded kinda fun…

The plan was to head straight for the bottle of scotch he had stored in the kitchen cupboard, pour himself a glass and let the warming flavors soothe him to sleep.

Castiel decided he wanted to ruin those plans, however.

It was quite cruel on his part, in Dean’s opinion. Waiting quite literally to the last second, with the cap of the whiskey twisted off and seconds away from being poured into his favorite crystal tumbler when Cas interrupted him.

‘Dean, I have to remind you of the Doctor’s instructions. They said not to drink any alcohol for the next twenty-four to forty-eight hours whilst the medication is still processing through your system.’

Dean groaned out loud at this, placing the bottle down hard on the kitchen island with a loud ‘thump’, very nearly spilling the precious amber liquid.  ‘C’mon, Cas… Just one drink isn’t going to hurt me.’

‘Perhaps not – but it’s best not to take the risk. If your body doesn’t react well, there’s nothing I can do to heal you.

Dean eyed the bottle in front of him for a while, letting Cas’s words settle in his mind. ‘Fine…’ Reluctantly, he scooped the cap back up and twisted it back into place. Dean placed the bottle and tumbler back in their usual resting places, staring mournfully at the closed door that contained them.

‘You owe me a drink, Cas.’

‘And… how am I supposed to do that?’

Dean smiled to himself in the quiet of the kitchen, wheeling himself back in the direction of his bedroom. ‘I think I have just the idea…’

* * *

The bar Castiel found himself stepping into was familiar. Usually, it’s quite difficult to name particular bars as they generally all have the same feel; grimy tables sticky with various alcoholic beverages, worn and damaged bar stools, pools of blood and other liquids that he’d rather not think about stained on the cheap vinyl flooring.

This bar was… nice. Homey feeling. Soft rock music floated around the room from the old jukebox tucked away in the corner of the bar, sat upon wooden paneled floors which were spotless, matching the overall wooden appearance of the building. Neon signs advertising the bar's drinks adorned the frosted glass windows which hid the world outside – though Castiel guessed there wasn’t even an outside anyway. The barstools were cushioned and comfortable looking, their red cushions somehow without a single scratch or split on them. And there, behind the beautifully carved wooden bar with a pleased smile on his face and a glass of whiskey in hand, was Dean.

“I’m almost impressed,’ Castiel stepped further into the room, making his way over to the bar. “Seems you’re starting to get some control over your dreams – forcing the location is a good start.”

“Almost impressed?” Dean lowered the tumbler from his mouth, looking almost offended. “I managed to conjure up a whole freaking bar. What’s not to be impressed about?”

“For one, you didn’t ‘make’ this bar. Michael did. It exists as a memory within your mind – which you were able to entice your mind into recreating for your dream. That’s the part that’s impressive.”

Dean took a seat on a stool he had dragged to his side of the bar, taking a seat and gesturing with drink in hand for Cas to take a seat of his own. “So why are you ‘almost’ impressed?”

“Well, If I were to guess, you’ve spent nearly a third of your life in bars,” Castiel pulled the barstool out, dropping himself down and leaning his arms on the miraculously non-sticky wooden top of the bar. “It’s almost cheating to assume your brain wouldn’t create dreams of bars without your intervention.”

“Okay, first of all? Screw you,” Dean downed the last drops of whiskey in his glass, turning around to pour himself another glass from a new selection of whiskeys adorning the wall behind him, missing the tender smile that hitched at Cas’s lips from his teasing. “And second of all, what you drinking?”

“Water’s fine for me.”

Dean turned back around, shooting Cas his most disgusted look. “Wow, Cas, uh, calm down? Don’t go too crazy.”

Cas rolled his eyes, leaning back from the bar. “I’ll have whatever you’re having then.”

“That’s the spirit!” Dean cheered, ducking down to grab another tumbler from under the bar, pouring a drink for both him and Cas. “Could always go the Crowley route, you know? Nice fruity cocktail with one of those little umbrellas in it.”

Dean slid the glass across the bar, which Castiel easily caught with his hand. “Considering I barely have any sense of taste, there’d probably be no point.”

“Seriously?” Dean sat back down on his stool, leaning back against the wall behind him. “I’ve seen you drinking before though? Why’d you bother if you can’t taste it?”

Castiel shrugged, spinning the glass absentmindedly on the table. “Do you drink alcohol just for the taste?”

“Point taken,” Dean raised his glass to Cas, the two of them sharing small smiles as they clink their glasses together. The two took simultaneous sips of their drink, and Dean noticed Cas’s brows raising in surprise, raising the glass up to his eyes and looking at the amber liquid inquisitively.

“Something up?” Dean asked, resting his glass on the bar. “Don’t worry, I didn’t poison you.”

“I can taste this,” Castiel’s voice was alight with curiosity, raising the glass up the dimmed lights that hung above the bar.

“You can? How?”

“Not sure,” Castiel placed his glass back on the bar, done with his inspection. “I have two theories; The first being that, since we now share a body, your memories of the taste of alcohol are accessible to me. So, if I drink or eat in your mind, I will taste it, feel it and smell it in the way you remember eating it.”

“Huh. So, if you tried eating something I’ve never eaten before, you wouldn’t be able to taste it?” Dean asked, crossing his arms and leaning them on the bar.

“Possibly. Unless the reason is my second theory; that this is all a result of my diminished grace. The closer I am to being human, the more human abilities I will adopt – senses being one of them. This no longer tastes like ‘molecules’ anymore. I can feel the warmth as it slips down my throat. I can taste the hints of honey and cinnamon and… I believe that may be apple?”

“Alright, so either way – you can taste stuff now,” Dean raised his glass in the air. “That’s gotta be a bonus, right?”

“I suppose. I do miss the taste of a peanut butter and grape jelly sandwich…”

“Well then, you better hope your ability in tasting isn’t based on my memories. Coz from my memory, grape jelly sucks.”

“You don’t like grape jelly and peanut butter sandwiches?” Castiel sounded as if the thought of such a thing was a crime.

“I like peanut butter and jelly sandwiches,” Dean clarified. “But I don’t like grape jelly.”

“Why not?”

“It doesn’t taste like grapes!” Dean slammed the glass down on the table, this time hard enough for the drink to slosh over the side and onto the bar. “It tastes like… the color purple.”

“The color purple has a taste?” Cas clicked his fingers, effortless cleaning up the spilled whiskey.

“Yep. Grape flavor stuff. The grape-flavored Gatorade? Not grape-flavored, it’s purple flavored. Grape candy? Nope, purple flavor again. It tastes like… sugar and processed crap. Can’t be good for you.”

“Says the guy on his second glass of whiskey – since I’ve been here.” Cas raised a good point. “How many did you drink before I entered your dream?”

“None of your business…” Dean finished off his sixth drink of the night, the narrowed eyed look Cas was sending his way only going to show that he wasn’t getting off the hook that easy. “Besides, what does it matter? It’s in my dreams, right? Doesn’t actually affect my real body?”

“I suppose that’s true,” Cas conceded, still sipping on his first drink of the night. “If you can have free reign of the drinks you have in your sleep, does that mean you’ll reduce the amount you drink when you’re awake?”

Dean’s head jolted back, a half-amused half confused look plastered on his face. “You don’t want me drinking anymore?”

“I know you stopping completely will never happen. But I’d like you to slow down, yes.”

“You gonna tell me why, or…?”

“It’s because… Dean, you’re getting older-,”

“You sure do know how to make a guy feel pretty, Cas.”

“I wasn’t finished,” The narrow-eyed look was back again. “In the times when you were injured on a hunt and you permitted me to heal you… I’d… I’d clear our your system, too. Remove any toxins, heal any damage to your liver, clear out the build-up in your arteries…”

For some strange reason, Cas actually looked guilty to be admitting this. He was practically hunched over himself, staring down intensely at the glass between his hands, ignoring Dean’s burning gaze on him.

“Oh… That was, uh… that was nice of you to do, Cas.”

This at least got Cas to break his intense staring match with his whiskey, risking a glance up to see Dean’s reaction. “I didn’t mean to overstep boundaries, I just…”

“You wanted to help, I get it, Cas. It’s okay.”

Cas relaxed marginally at this, releasing the tension in his shoulders and taking another sip – albeit slightly larger than before- of his whiskey.

“So, how often did you do that?” Dean asked, shifting one foot to rest on the bottom of the bar stool, the other hanging off the edge of the stool. “I didn’t get hurt that often – and you didn’t always heal me for every little boo-boo I got.”

The panic was back. Dean could see the subtle changes in Cas; the brief widening and blank look in his eyes, face set in stone so Dean couldn’t read a single emotion on his face – which was actually what gave him away. This was Cas reverting back to his classic angel mode.

“I suppose I, um… there were occasions where I would try to be… close to you. Standing side by side at interviews, next to each other in the kitchen or at the map table… I would take the opportunity then; A touch of the hand, legs bumping under the table, my shoulder brushing against yours… Any time there was even the slightest of contact, I would send over some of my grace. Heal the minor damage inside that you usually can’t see – or don’t keep track of.”

Now that… that happened a lot. He had long since given up reminding Cas about personal space and just accepted that that was how Cas was. But now he thinks about it… did Cas ever stand that close to Sam? To Jack? To anyone else but him? No… no, he didn’t. It was just something that became the norm for them, it was how they were with each other, and now Dean was so used to it that he didn’t even bat an eye when he felt Cas’s arm against his, or when Cas scooted so close to Dean at the table that he as may as well have been sat in his damn lap. That was just… Cas.

Now, at least, there was reasoning behind it other than ‘just because.’ And it was a logical reason, a kind one even, for Cas to be doing that for him. Except… why did he feel disappointed with the reason? He should be feeling relieved about it, right? That Cas wasn’t invading his personal space for the hell of it?

“Oh…” Dean shuffled on the stool, dipping his eyes down to the bar. “So, uh… you were doing all that just to heal me?”

Dean could feel Cas’s eyes burning a hole through him now, forcing his gaze back up to meet Cas’s intense one. Intense, yet… almost sad.

“You know that’s not the only reason.”

Cas had uttered the words so soft, so quietly that Dean almost didn’t hear him. Like Cas intended for those words to be heard for him and him alone, even though there wasn’t another soul in sight. And yeah, maybe he did know the other reason. Maybe he’d been keeping it buried down, pretending that it had never happened. That Cas had never told him those things… Because even now, months after he had said them, after Cas had made them his final words to him, even with Cas back… he still doesn’t know what to do with them.

He hadn’t really tried, truth be told. After Cas had died, the pain of it was still too raw, and thinking about it only ripped the wound open further. He thought it’d be easier to lock the memory away, keep it out of sight and out of mind and find a way to... to move on. It seemed impossible – to keep Cas in his memory, yet simultaneously try to forget about him. Clearly, it hadn’t worked. He might as well have had Cas’s smiling, tear-streaked face etched into his eyelids.

Then, with Cas back… it was as if Cas was trying to forget about it, too. Which Dean can’t exactly blame him for. After all, the poor guy had probably assumed he would stay dead after making such a confession. Easier to pretend it never happened than confront it – at least, that was Dean’s personal motto. Plus, with all they have on their plates (again….), it was probably pushed to the back of both their minds.

Which is why none of this makes sense. There’s a part of him that wants to talk to Cas about it, but… he still hasn’t processed it all. Not really. He had no idea what to say to Cas in that very moment, the Empty and Billie breathing down their necks, about to lose his best friend in the worst time of his life. Now, in a relaxed and cozy bar with literally no-one else that can hear them, safe in his own mind… Dean still doesn’t know what to say to him.

But the liquid courage running through his veins sure knew what to do.

Dean downed the last of the drink for that little extra bit of drunk idiocy, turning the glass upside down and slamming it down on the bar with a grin. “C’mon, finish your drink,” Dean nodded his chin at the glass in Cas’s hand, the stool underneath him screeching across the floor as he stands.

“What for?” Cas asked, though brought the glass of whiskey up to his lips anyway, the last of the drink disappearing steadily.

Cas copied Dean’s prior movements, turning the glass upside down and placing it next to Dean’s glass. It was only once Cas looked up at the shy grin on Dean’s face, a single eyebrow raised up as he waited patiently that Dean moved. Cas turned on his stool to follow Dean as he stepped around the bar, coming to a stop in front of Cas and offering out his hand to him. Cas’s eyes flicked up from Dean’s outstretched hand to Dean’s face, still not getting what it was Dean was trying to do.

“Twelve years on this Earth, Cas. But I don’t think I’ve ever seen you dance.”

“…Because I haven’t?” Cas eyed Dean’s hand suspiciously, hand twitching by his side as he resisted the urge to reach out and take it.

“Hmmm…” Dean hummed, inching his hand even closer to Cas. “How ‘bout we change that?”

Dean could see the moment it clicked in Cas’s head. His eyes were wide like a deer caught in the headlights, looking to Dean as if to try and figure out what weird and cruel joke Dean was trying to play on him. There was no joke. There was no ulterior motive. Hell, not even Dean himself knew why he wanted to do this. He only knew that he wanted to. It was kind of weird, it was all kinds of terrifying and definitely not what two guys do in their spare time, but hey – this is just a dream, right? People have weird dreams all the time. It’s not like his minds trying to tell him something or anything like that…

Castiel swallowed harshly, that partly terrified look still on his face that Dean remembers seeing the day he took him to that brothel. Except, this time, Cas was resting his hand in Dean’s, not some random chick that would be throwing stuff at Cas’s head less than a minute later. Cas’s hand was calloused like Dean’s, both of their skin marked by scars and roughened by years of wielding weapons. The warmth of Cas’s hand bled into his skin, his grip around Dean’s hand tight with nerves, thumb resting lightly over Dean’s pulse point. It was strange that, even in his dream, Dean’s heart was pounding hard in his chest like it would if this was really happening – which Cas definitely had to feel from his pulse in the unlikely event he couldn’t hear his heart going crazy.

Why was he so nervous about something as simple as dancing? Sure, he’s no master at the waltz, but it’s not like he’s at some fancy big-wig party trying to blend in with the rich folk. It was just him and Cas, after all.

Well… that was his answer, he supposed. It wasn’t just Cas. It was Cas.

“I… I don’t really know what I’m supposed to do,” Cas admitted as Dean led him to the center of the bar, the room spacious and perfect for just this occasion.

“I don’t know about dancing either,” Dean replied with a shrug of his shoulders, lifting up his other hand and placing it tentatively on Cas’s back. “We’ll figure it out as we go. It’ll come natural.”

It did come natural, as it turned out. Almost a little too natural. Cas’s hand rested between his shoulder blades like it was always meant to be there, placed directly over where Dean knows his wound exists in the real world. Cas’s grip had slackened somewhat, his nerves lessening as they swayed together.

From the outside, it was probably the most awkward-looking dance in existence. They didn’t sweep each other across the floor with the graceful movements of a professional. It was more of a… stumbling step and shuffle, a few winces occasionally shared between them as they inevitably stepped on each other's toes.

But… that made it all the better. Moments like that got them giggling quietly in the tranquil space between them, smiles plastered on their faces that would be hard to wipe off as they shambled around the room to the hushed chorus of ‘All My Love.’

Of course it was a Led Zeppelin song.

Of course.

“This is one of the songs you put on the tape you gave me,” Cas pointed out part way through the song, feeling coordinated enough now to dance and talk at the same time. Mostly…

“Another guilty pleasure,” Dean said with a sly smirk. “Dad was always embarrassed to admit he liked these kinds of tracks, too. Guess that passed on to me.”

“Well, I like it.”

Dean snorted. “Course you do. Would be foolish to label the tape “Top ten tracks” if they weren’t the greatest of the great, wouldn’t it?”

Cas broke his gaze away from Dean’s, looking instead to their joined hands held out in front of them, fumbling slightly in his steps as he does so. “Did you mean it?”

Dean frowned at him, racking his brain for what Cas could be referring to. “Did I mean what?”

“When you were talking to Eileen… You told her I was ‘more than family’. Did you… did you mean it?”

“Wouldn’t have said it if I didn’t,” The answer came surprisingly easy to Dean. He should have fumbled over the words in his head, any logical part of his brain shut down as panic took over. That’s what should have happened, but it didn’t. “It’s hard to say what you are to me, Cas. Family is all I’ve ever really known, the only thing that was important to me. So putting you in there made sense, you know? And you still are there, but… dammit Cas, you’ve been my longest friend. It feels like… it feels like my mind wants to put you into another category. It just doesn’t know what that is.”

Dean had been expecting for Cas to look disheartened after that. He knows it’s not what Cas wants to hear, but… he can’t. He doesn’t know how, all he knows is that he wants his best friend back. He wants for everything to be fixed, for Cas to be shoved back into his body and then… they can go from there. Hell, maybe they will fix his legs. And then maybe Dean will be stupid and keep hunting despite the clear wake-up call, and Cas will tag along even though he’s pissed at him for carrying on because he’ll always feel the need to watch over him.

He wants things back to the way they were. And Dean knows that’s what he wants.

He knows what he wants.

He’s sure of it…

Next Chapter - - - >

[justoneday-namjoonii]

Quarters. | 7

☼1 • 2 • 3 • 4 • 5 • 6 • 7 • 8 • 9

prompt: He is the definition of young blood, so sweet, so hot—it courses through his veins and fuels his vigor. When he fights, each punch cracks the earth and every drop of sweat gives birth to a flower somewhere in the universe.

pairing: Jungkook x reader

warnings/au: dysfunctional relationship, mentions of being insecure because of being adopted, family issues, humor(i try), mature subject matter, drug usage, don’t smoke children, fluff, angst, boxer!au, iceskater!au.

authors note:  It’s been a while! But it’s back and I’m happy with how this came out, i hope you are too^^ feel free to comment what you think! Also, I will edit this later and lotte jk choked me. ♡´･ᴗ･`♡ i know this is late but happy b-day jungkook

Jimin yells pointers from the sidelines and he takes heed of all of them.

People are cheering, smoke wafts through the air to create a cloudy ambiance, and he drips with sweat. He is the definition of young blood, so sweet, so hot—it courses through his veins and fuels his vigor. When he fights, each punch cracks the earth and every drop of sweat gives birth to a flower somewhere in the universe. He grits his teeth and he’s dying to spit out the mouth guard, all he has to do is hope the dude he just socked doesn’t get up. He stays heavy on his feet, keeping his guard up as the guy rolls on his side in an attempt to get up. In his mind he’s chanting, please stay down, please stay the fuck down-

“...5, 4, 3, 2, 1. We have a winner!

“Yes!”

Jimin exclaimed he was elated, to say the least. Jungkook was glad. Tae was there, Hoseok, Yoongi, and a bunch of his friends came to support. This result was far better than the last match he had. He thinks in the back of his mind, I did good, but I could have done a lot better.

Jungkook was all smiles when he ran back to the locker room with a crowd chorusing his name.

“Are you on steroids or something?” Taehyung snickered, he was back there waiting for him. Jungkook just giggled like a little kid, making his way to the showers.

“Nah, I think I’m starting my winning streak though.”

“You were a fucking beast!” Jimin hit the shower room door as Jungkook was back there stripping off the sweaty boxers and letting the hot water wash the sweat from his shrine of tattoos. “We have to celebrate.”

“I’m up for whatever.” Jungkook pushed back his once pink, but now freshly died black hair and washed his face. When he deemed his body clean enough, he tugged the towel down from the door and hastily dried off. He swings the shower door open and stumbles out and into his slides.

“Let’s go swimming! I’ll order some food and we can go to my place. Jungkook, you should bring y/n too, it’ll be fun.” Jimin grins, knowing Jungkook would be more than happy to have you join them. Jungkook has only been with you for a few months but Jimin can tell that you’re different from any other girl he’s been with, as cliche as that seems. Jungkook sounds so in love when he talks about you, if you look hard enough, you can see him blushing when you’re even mentioned. And given you’ve stuck around to get him out of jail and all the other crap Jungkook has got himself in, you must really love him.

*

*

You skate around playfully, lazily trying to wrap up your conditioning for the day. Unfortunately, Charlotte’s best bud Stephanie came to the rink about 30 minutes ago to practice her routine. Just when you thought you could get a break, she skated up to you, a snake-ish smirk on her face.

“Y/n, how are you?” She grins, a very fake grin at that.

“I’m good, you?” You return her smile with the same expression.

“I’m fine. It’s Charlotte I’m worried about.”

“Oh?” You almost choke at your attempt to compile a comment of concern for your fellow skater. “Why?”

“People are talking about the competition and your scores...”

“And what about my scores?”

“Some people are thinking that the judges were biased when tallying up your scores.” You couldn’t hide the grimace on your face when she said that.

“What?”

“One of those judges used to be your coach.”  How did she know that? “I heard she gave you a great score, the one that made you beat Charlotte.”

“And?” You didn’t have time to fool with her today. The most important thing for you to do is keep your cool and ignore her.

“And that seems suspicious, everyone thinks so.” That’s when she skated away.

You roll your eyes and skate off the ice. Instead of finishing conditioning, you decide to change and go home before you do something you regret. You grab your gym bag and take it to the locker room. The competition season has ended so everyone is focused on sharpening their skills for the next season. Why are people still talking about that one competition? You won, that’s it, it’s over. But you should have known the win couldn't come that easy, especially if you beat Charlotte, your arch-nemesis.

“Hello Y/n.” Charlotte enters the locker room, her pitiful little assistant trailing behind her with her bags. Due to repairs at her own center, she had to come here to practice. “I didn’t know you practiced on Thursday’s.”

“Yeah, I’m here every Thursday.” You grin, turning to face your locker as you take out your sweats and sneakers, eager to slip them on.

“This is kind of my home rink...” You mumble that to yourself while situating your sweats and then taking a seat to tie up your sneakers. Once you’re dressed, you threw your bag over your shoulder and you were ready to get out of there. Her assistant walked out and you were about to do the same.

“Wait,” Charlotte grabbed your arm, “I wasn’t going to say anything, but I might as well.” She grins. “I brought a complaint to the judging panel.”

You pull your arm away and frown. “A complaint about what?”

“About you. One of the judges was a past coach of yours, and that judge gave you the score that put you in the first place. Isn’t that a bit of a coincidence? You’ve never won first place over me, ever. But the one time a past coach of yours judges the competition, you win.” She scoffs. “Their reviewing the scores and should be contacting you within the week.”

Of course she would do that.

“What? What is wrong with you? Why do you feel like you have to win everything?”

“Because I deserve it, Y/n. I work harder than anyone out there on the ice and for you to sneak your way into first place was cheap. My routine was flawless.”

“I still don’t understand what you have to complain about. You have world-renowned coaches, your equipment is state of the art, you’ve never had to worry about entrance fees, you get to live your passion and you have all the resources to cover it. Unlike you, my parents aren’t paying for me to do this. So I work my butt off to perfect my routines and I know for damn sure that I deserved what I got.”

“You’re an amateur!” She flails her arms dramatically, brows furrowing angrily. “I’ve been on the ice since I could walk, I was made for this. And I didn’t come all this way to let someone like you take it from me.”

“Charlotte, each and every skater in the building thinks they were made for this.” You cross your arms, throwing your bag over your shoulder. “It’s a matter of proving it.”

“Well, that’s just the difference between me and everybody else. I’ve proved it.” She walks up to you, too close for your liking so you purposely take a step back.

You realize that you don’t have to take this, so you don’t. You storm out of the locker room and pray you don’t look back, because there are a thousand things you could say to her right now. All the blood, sweat, and tears���and this is what you get in return? This is B.S.

You tried not to let it get to you, you really did. But here you are, sitting in your car and brewing with frustration over your messed up life. “I hate that girl. I hate her, I hate her stupid ponytail, I hate her attitude, I hate her...” You hook in your seatbelt and just as you’re about to pull off, you get a phone call, it’s Jungkook.

You try to sound as pleasant as possible. “Hello?”

“Hey baby, are you done with practice?”

“Y- Yeah, how’d your match go?” You’ve become progressively more supportive for his boxing hobby.

“I won.” he sounded so excited and it made you smile.

“That’s so good Jungkook, your practice paid off, I told you it would. Are your friends taking you out to celebrate?”

“Yeah, we’re having a little late-night pool party at Jimin’s. Can you come? I’ll pick you up.”

“Y-yeah, of course,” You clear your throat, “that sounds like fun.”

“Great, I’ll see you in 30 minutes. I love you,” You can literally hear him smiling, “I can’t wait to see you.”

“I can’t wait to see you too Jungkook, love you,” You grin to yourself, “bye.”

Sitting your phone down, you let out a heavy sigh. Despite your sour mood, you decide to quit sulking in the parking lot and head home so you can get changed. You’re happy for Jungkook, honestly. Ever since the beginning of your relationship, his boxing hobby was a concern of yours more than anything. Seeing him all bent up was hard to stomach at times, especially when he’d lose—that was hard to see. But luckily, he tried not to get stuck on a fight so you never had time to dwell on it.

Now, more than ever, you’ve begun to accept it as a part of him and actually like it a little. He’s an athlete, so he does have the tendency to find identity in the sport and you can definitely understand that. Without skating, you don’t know where you’d be right now. It’s your passion, there’s nothing on this planet that makes you feel as alive as dancing on the ice. Jungkook feels the same about his sport so you embrace it at full force now.

It’s not long before you make your way home and struggle into your humble abode. Your knee has been bothering you lately and last night you forgot to ice it like you were instructed to at the clinic, oh well. You lowkey aren’t too crazy about a pool party, you don’t really care for stuff like that, but it’s for Jungkook so you decide to suck it up. You go to your drawer and search for a suitable swimsuit. After narrowing down your options, you decide to go for the black spaghetti-strapped one-piece with the low back, that seems nice enough. You quickly go to freshen up a little, put your hair up, and pull a hoodie and some jeans on. Your phone begins to buzz and you see it’s a call from Rosie.

“Hey, Ro.”

“Hey, girl! I heard Jungkook won the match.”

“Yeah, he did, I wish I could’ve been there but I had conditioning and I had to be there since I skipped last week. But yeah, he’s been at that gym nonstop for the past few weeks and it paid off.” You have the phone on speaker and you lean down to tie your shoelaces.

“That’s so awesome. I was just calling to let you know that Jimin invited me to the pool party and he said Jungkook went to pick you up, so I’ll see you soon- Oh, and you said you had practice tonight, how did that go?”

You smack your teeth and she can already tell it wasn’t good.

“That bad?”

“I mean, it was fine until Charlotte showed up with her bullshit.”

“Y/n, I always tell you, don’t let her get to you-”

“You don’t understand, Ro.” You take a deep breath. “She reported me, for no reason.”

“Seriously? Reported you for what?”

“She said since one of the judges was a past coach of mine, and that coach gave me the score to put me in the first place, she doesn’t think I deserved first place. Can you believe that? I’m so pissed...”

“Man, that sucks. She shouldn’t be able to do that, how can they prove that the judge was biased? You just had a great routine. Charlotte has always been a bitch to you and now it’s really coming out.”

“The board is going to contact me soon so I don’t know what to do...”

“Well don’t worry about it, okay? Let loose and have fun tonight.”

You sigh. “I’ll try. See you later Ro.” You bid each other farewell and drop your phone on the bed. You’re so stressed right now, but you’re gonna try your best to not let your mood affect Jungkook or anyone at the matter.

Suddenly, you hear a knock on the door and a voice saying ‘it’s me, it’s me.” You sigh, he’s here. You run to the door and look at yourself in the mirror real quick before you open it.

“Hey, baby.” He coos, his sweet bunny smile making an appearance.

“Hi, Jungkook.” You shyly smile when you see him, a simple tee and sweats on. You reach up to give him a big hug and he attacks you with a kiss. You try to move back but he just laughs, pulling you closer and lifting you up to spin you around.

“Woah,” You steady yourself as he finally stops moving, “I’m happy to see you too,” He puts you down but you’re still in his arms, “why didn’t you use your key?” You mumble into his chest.

“Left it at home,” He breathes. “ahh, you smell so good, I mean you always do but today it’s more—almondy?” And he exhales. “You ready?”

“Yeah, just about.” You let him go in search of your tote bag. “I’ve had a really annoying day so it’s nice to go out. You deserve to let loose and get rewarded for all the work you’ve put in.”

“Aw, you had a bad day? What happened?” He frowns. You feel him come up behind you and before you know it he’s trying to hug you but you gently pry his hands off.

“It’s- it’s nothing really, don’t worry about it,” You press your lips, “tonights about you.”

*

*

As soon as you pull up to Jimin’s place, you can hear people jumping in the pool and your heart starts to beat faster. You’re a little jumpy, per usual. You know most of his friends and they know you but you’re still subject to a little anxiety every now and then. You get out of the car and rush over to walk beside him so you can walk in together. That’s when he rests his hand on your waist, and that’s when you know he’s paying close attention to you.

“I haven’t gone swimming in forever.” He mumbles as you two walk up to the front door and he knocks. “And I don’t think we’ve ever gone swimming together, have we?”

“Um, I think once, at Rosie’s sister’s party a few months ago, but I didn’t really get in the water.” He nods to himself and as soon as he does that, the door flings open.

“Look who decided to show up late to his own celebration!” Jimin yells into the house with a bright smile on his face. He must’ve been in the pool not too long ago because his hair is somewhat wet plus he has a towel around his neck. “I guess the champion runs on his own time now.” Jimin is clearly joking and Jungkook just laughs and defends himself as you both enter the nice home.

“Hi Y/n, how are you?” Jimin reaches in to give you a hug before playfully nudging Jungkook aside. “Glad you could make it.”

You smile, embracing Jimin for a few more seconds before you release him. “I’m good, thanks for having me.”

Jimin gives a sweet smile. “Anytime-”

“You didn’t even give me a time. And it’s only been like 30 minutes.” Jungkook is pretty familiar with Jimin’s house so he’s already walking out to the pool and you follow right behind him.

“Hey, guys.” You and Jungkook both say in sync. Everyone greets you two, paying more attention to Jungkook of course, congratulating him and making him feel loved. Most people are watching the TV that’s mounted on the wall, you can’t help but think—Jimin’s house is fancy as hell. When you look up from greeting Taehyung, Rosie is hopping out of the pool to tackle you with her dripping wet pale pink hair and neon green swimsuit.

“Hey- Ro! You’re soaking wet!” You tense up as she hugs you extra tight anyway.

“Y/n quit whining! You’re about to get in anyway.” She laughs, finally letting you go. She lowers her voice and grabs your hands to get you to look her in the eye. “Are you okay?” You know what she’s referring to and you nod.

“I’m fine, let’s not talk about it right now, okay?” Rosie gives you a look, just to ensure that you’re okay and you reassure her, she lets you go.

“Okay, but if you need to talk, we can pull away.” She gives you a look before getting back in the pool and that’s when you look up and see that Jungkook has already stripped down. You walk over to one of the pool chairs and take a seat so you can take off your clothes. Carefully, you take off the hoodie and pull off your jeans to reveal your cute little black suit.

Jungkook walks up to you, standing in all of his tattooed glory and black pool shorts, smirking down at you. The way he looks alone is enough to distract you from your sucky day. You furrow your brows and stare up at him, rubbing your exposed arms. without a word, he leans down to get close to you while still standing and you smile nervously, unsure of what he’s doing. “What?...Jungkook!”

He’s such a child.

Jungkook picked you up against your will and walked you towards the pool.

“No! Put me down!” You say that but you’re both laughing hysterically and you shriek when he jumps in the water—practically drowning you. Apparently, he finds this hilarious but you’re coughing up water and slowly dying because of him.

“Are you trying to kill me?!” You scream, swimming away from him and splashing him in the face. “And why are you laughing?!”

He snorts, trying to block his face from your constant splashing. “Ah!- I’m sorry Y/n!” You’re relentless and you know for a fact that he’s regretting every decision that led to throwing you in the pool.

“Ok!- Ok, fuck-“ He grabs you to hinder your movements. You fall out laughing, finding his need to restrain you laughable, it only excited you.

”Geez, I forgot you were crazy.” He shakes the water out of his hair.

Rosie was out of the pool and in the little outside kitchen whipping up a few drinks for everyone. “Hey! Who wants drinks? I make a mean margarita, virgin or experienced.”

“Me! I want one!” You swim over to the ledge, resting your chin on your folded arms. “One for him too...” You look back and Jungkook’s already swimming under the water and you move over to sit on one of the steps to wait for him to emerge.

“Here you go, Y/n.” She hands you two drinks.

“Thank you.” You set his drink down and you smile when he slowly swims up to rest his folded arms on your knees, doe eyes sparkling like stars.

“You wanna tell me what happened today?” He whispered, careful not to make his voice heard by anyone other than you. “I know something happened, you sounded frustrated when you answered the phone.”

“I don’t want to talk about it right now, let’s just focus on the good vibes in this nice heated pool, okay?...” You force a convincing grin, taking a sip of your drink, and directing your attention to the movie that’s playing.

He shrugs, moving to sit on the step beside you only to move you as if you’re weightless to sit between his legs. He grabs his drink and relaxes, freehand holding you against him. It’s not long before Jimin brings over some snacks and you know Jungkook is in his little heaven right now. His baby in his lap, a drink in his hand, and snacks at arms reach; he’s all set.

Though you’re trying to keep your attention on the movie, you can’t ignore the nagging thoughts about today. It’s hard not to let the thought of being stripped of your title all because of a sore loser get to you.

The night goes on, people are heading inside where Jimin had another movie set up in the living room inside. That meant the only people lingering in the pool are Jungkook and you. Eventually, you turn to straddle his lap and he pulls you in for a kiss, which just heightened your stress for some reason. His hands find their place on your hips and he leans up for more of you.

“Hey, will you do something for me?...” Jungkook pulls away, grinning at your pinkish lips and the thought of his own, you nod. “I want to take pictures of you out here in the water...”

You blink, fingers fiddling behind his neck. “Um, how would you like me?” You hoped that didn’t sound too awkward.

“I could answer that a thousand different ways but in terms of the picture, however you’d like, pretty girl,” He smirks as he fights not to take your seemingly innocent question for an entertaining turn.

He got out of the pool and made his way to your tote bag. You weren’t surprised to discover that he had snuck his snacks and camera into it.  You knew it felt heavier than normal. You folded your arms and rested your chin on them as you waited patiently for him to press the little buttons.

He crisscrossed his legs and held the camera to test out the angles. It always amazed you to see him take pictures or draw, he seemed so calm and focused, completely in his element.

“Charlotte told me she reported me today.” You confess suddenly, causing him to lower the camera. He glances up at you briefly, brows furrowing.

“For what?”

“When I won first place, the judge that gave me the winning score was a past coach of mine. She argued that the coach was biased and gave me an unfair score.” You sigh, wanting to get out of the water now that he wasn’t beside you. “Can you believe that?”

“That’s what you were upset about. Baby, don’t let that get to you. You won because you’re fucking talented and no self-righteous bitch has the right to take that from you.” He reasons, but you still have a pout on your face.

“Yeah, but there’s nothing I can do. It just sucks, a lot...” You lift yourself out of the water and sit on the edge, legs dangling in the warm blue oasis. You can hear the shutter of the camera and you look back at him, trying your hand at a little pose of some sort. He smiles when he pulls away to see how it came out.

“That looks good. I’m blowing that one up and putting it in my room.”

“Oh my God, Jungkook. Do not do that...I’ll cringe every time I see it.” You frown, now fully getting out of the water with the empty pina colada in hand. The little alcohol that was in it did little to nothing to soothe your nerves, but you’ll get your buzz soon enough.

“I’m getting kind of cold out here,” You head over to the chairs and grab a towel. “can we go inside and change?”

“Yeah,” He does a few things to the camera and shoves it back into your tote, “we can change in one of the back rooms.” Jungkook is shirtless still, and you can’t help but stare at the art adorning his skin, and how good it looks in the pale moonlight. He’s also sporting a killer pair of earrings today and you’re wondering if he’s trying to seduce you or something. If so, it’s working. For some reason, when he bends down to grab his top off of the floor, you don’t even notice yourself reaching to tangle your fingers into his long damp hair. He grins to himself but continues to walk inside, a towel now loosely around his shoulders.

When you walk beside him, you see the house is only lit by the lamps on the end tables and everyone's laughing at the movie that Jimin put on. Jungkook easily grabs your hand and quickly leads you to the guest room where Jimin said you could change.

“J- Jungkook, why are you in such a hurry?” You giggle when he skips into the darkroom and shuts the door behind you two—something told you he had other plans in mind. Before you know it, he’s grabbing the backs of your thighs and picking you up, towel falling from both of your shoulders as he sits on the edge of the bed with you straddling his lap. His hands graze your sides before they fall behind him to keep himself up and let you sit however you wanted. You furrow your brows, blushing at the suddenness of it all.  “What are you doing?”

“You’re so beautiful, just wanted to tell you that.” He simpers, his eyes sweeping over you in your little black swimsuit.

“Thank you, you’re beautiful too,” You lean into him to tickle under his chin like he does to make you feel little. His hands go to your waist and he holds you tight, face nuzzling into your chest like a sleepy child.  “Can I ask you something? And can you answer honestly?...”

“Sure,” He peers up at you, “shoot.”

“Um, you never talk about your family...We’ve been together for a while now and you’ve only told me that your real dad died when you were little and that you really don’t like your stepdad...And that your brother recently got married and lives in a different city...But what was growing up like for you?”

He furrows his brows as if he didn’t quite understand your question. “Uh, you don’t want to hear about that baby,” His mood turns a bit cold suddenly and he lifts you off of him. You’re sitting on the bed and he stands up to slip on his t-shirt, “it’s nothing special.”

“If it’s about you, it is special to me.” You argue, turning from him to slip your suit off and putting your undergarments on then your sweats.

“I know you’d like to think that, but that’s really not the case.” He scoffed, this little attitude of his taking you by surprise.

You frown, opening your mouth to come back at him, “But-”

“I swear Y/n,” He grabs your shoulders and kisses you hard. Aggression. When he doesn’t want to face something, that’s one if his first responses. That or an attitude.

You don’t dare move because he tilts his head and boldly tongues at your lips. Regrettably, you find yourself submitting to the overwhelming feeling. When his hands slide down to grasp your small wrists, he pulls away, leaving you breathless, “even thinking about it makes me want to smoke, and I know you don’t want that so let’s drop the subject, okay?”

“B- But why don’t you want to tell me, Jungkook?” You step away from him as you rub his saliva from your bottom lip. “I’m not trying to mess up your night or anything, I’m just curious. I’m your girlfriend, but Jimin knows more about your past than I do and I just feel like-”

”Y/n,” He stops your rambling, “you can stay in here if you want but I’m going to watch the movie.” He walks out of the room and it takes everything in you not to yank him back.

You shove your swimsuit in a plastic bag and into your tote before walking out of the room behind him.

“They’re back...” Jimin mumbles more to himself with grin and you roll your eyes, throwing your bag to the corner. Jungkook sinks into the couch but his eyes don’t follow you into the kitchen like you thought they would. He’s sitting like he always does, legs spread wide and head resting on his hand as he mindlessly watches the TV screen.

He’s so moody.

He must have somewhat of an idea of how you might be feeling. If he’ll be closed-lipped to his own girlfriend about his past—what else would he be willing to keep from you?

As the night went on, you sat beside him and ate the rest of your snack. It was weird, you didn't talk to each other, and even when he put his hand on your thigh every now and then, he wouldn’t say a word. Even when he’d curl his fingers into your fleshy thigh, earning an expected squirm from you, he wouldn’t even look at you.

Around 1 a.m, everyone started to trickle out. Jimin went to shower and he convinced his friend to go sleep in the backroom because he had a little much to drink to drive anywhere. Eventually, it was just you two and Back to The Future in the living room.

You glanced at him, his hair covered his eyes a bit, it made you want to push it back and see that cute furrow in his eyebrows. But he’s not fluffy and cute right now, he’s burning hot and dripping with propane, one spark from you and he’s up in flames. The tension is pretty ridiculous, neither of you want to give in. If there’s one thing you have in common, it’s that the silent treatment is both of your go-tos.

“So, we’re just not gonna talk now.”

Is that supposed to be a question or a statement?

“That’s entirely up to you...” You cross your arms, eyes glued to the TV now that he’s looking at you. “Since you obviously don’t talk unless it's on your terms...”

“That’s not fucking fair and you know it. You’re being really selfish right now, you know that?” He shakes his head like you’ve gone completely delusional. “I never made you talk about your personal life. Like the fact that your birth mother gave you up.”

You visibly stiffened at that.

He certainly knows how to strike a nerve.

“Or the fact that you grew up with your foster parents and even though they “loved you like their own” and adopted you, sometimes you feel out of place with your adoptive brothers and older sister. You told me all of that but I never forced it out of you, I let you tell me when you were ready.” He stares at you, awaiting a response.

He really went there.

“Jungkook,” You glare at him, “Why would you use my past as leverage in an argument?” You turn completely away from him and bite your lip, “that’s low.”

Already having anticipated your reaction, he lets out a heavy sigh,. “I’m not using it as leverage, I’m using it as an example to show you that you’re being hypocritical. I love you but you can’t force me to talk about some things, I need time to-”

“I am not a hypocrite!” You raise your voice at him abruptly, making him pause mid-sentence.

Wow, you really sounded childish. Tears are forming at your eyes and your face feels like it was set on fire—this is not how tonight was supposed to go.

“I don’t understand why you would keep this type of stuff away from me.” You whine, brows furrowed and tight with a puffy pout. “How can you expect me to trust you when you can’t even talk to me about your own family?”

“Fine.” He snaps at you, tone sharper than you’ve ever heard it. But you can’t bring yourself to be phased by it. He pushes his damp locks from his forehead, exposing his dark brows in his wake.

“My mom was a nurse, my dad was a cop. Everything was fine when I was younger but behind closed doors, they were ripping each other's heads off.” His firey presence is decreasing in size the more he talks, now he’s just getting cold. “Only when I got older did I find out that my dad had a drinking problem and my mom was always on the verge of filing for divorce.” He sighs.

“He drank like he didn’t give a shit about his life and ended up dying in a DUI when I was 8. After that, my mom went through guys like fucking clockwork, there was a new one every few months. I gave her a lot of problems because- I don’t know, I was just reacting to a fucked-up situation. Her boyfriends would try to parent me, tell me to stop getting tattoos and smoking because it quote, ‘upset my mother.’  That was bullshit. I didn’t listen to any of the crap they had to say to me.” His voice was vehement and it was almost as if talking about it made him re-live parts of it.

“Why would I listen to someone who doesn’t know shit about me? I had to remind them that just because they fuck my mother doesn't mean they suddenly had a free pass to play daddy to me.” The blatant vulgarity of his words makes you shudder.

“A few years back, she started talking to this new guy. He was a successful businessman, lived in a nice area, he was everything she wanted. I knew she really liked him too, so I laid off a bit on getting into it with him so much. We didn’t talk much but he respected my space so I was fine with him. She stayed with him longer than she had with any of them. They’ve been married for 4 years, maybe 5 now? Besides his 25-year-old son from a previous marriage, he has a daughter with my mom, she’s I think 6 now...Yeah, her name is Jooe, she’s my half-sister.”

That’s the first time he’s ever mentioned a little sister. You grinned at the thought of Jungkook interacting with a cute little girl who favored his soft appearance.

“I had a falling out with their dad a few months back over some life choices I’ve decided to make. We can barely be in the same room for more than a few minutes without arguing now. My stepbrother was gonna have me come to his wedding but he knew his dad wouldn’t have liked that. I guess to avoid the commotion, he kept me out of the picture entirely, it was better for everyone in the end...I’m sorry I called you that night, I was so drunk.” He scoffed, sliding both hands down his face with a heavy sigh. “I wish I was drunk right now.”

That was it.

He said what you wanted to hear.

Silence engulfs the room and only now do you realize that the movie is indeed still on and Jimin is still in the bathroom. After a painful dead silence, he gets up and you watch him trail off into the kitchen. Of course, he went straight to the fridge, eyes in search of one of a bottle of relief. You don’t say a thing to him when he walks back to you with a bottle of his choice of alcohol and sits it on the table in front of you two.

He peers at you, hand reaching for the bottle but you stop him by grabbing his wrist. “What?”

“I’m sorry,” You blurt out, and you only ramble from then on, “I’ve never been in a serious relationship like this before and- And I don’t want to get hurt again. I was with this guy a long time ago, we met at school and while we were dating, he had been seeing this other girl. He didn’t answer my calls and when I went to his house to see if he was ok, this other girl was there, and she was pregnant.” You grimace at the thought.

“I got so mad, I wanted to hurt him the same way he was hurting me...I started screaming at him and hitting him, the girl eventually called the cops and they had to pull me off but he didn’t press charges against me.” You scoff. “I think they just felt sorry for me.”

He tightens his brows. “Why did you never tell me this?” When you first met, he would have never imagined that you did something like that. “That’s pretty rough stuff to carry, I didn’t know you had any past relationships.”

“Yeah, but it’s embarrassing...I thought you might think I’m crazy or something and decide to leave me.” You twiddle your fingers, looking up to gauge his reaction.

“Y/n, I’ve done some crazy shit, I’d be stupid to leave you just because that idiot pissed you off for knocking up some girl while dating you. I don’t blame you.” He takes a sip of beer and lets his hand rest on your upper thigh, almost touching the crease separating your hips and thigh. “I swear, I would never do something like that to you.”

You slide your hand over his, eyes wavering when he continues to stare you down with that look of want that never fails to chill you to the bone. He presses his face up into the crook your neck, his breath hot against your ear, “Do you hear me?” He almost purs. “Baby?” He trails his hand up to rest at the base of your neck, index finger tracing your skin. He’s too much.

“Mhm,” You nod, smiling, “we should head home, it’s getting late.” You clear your throat, and Jungkook moves away to look you over.

“Your place or mine,” He smirks,

You bite your lip. “Yours...”

“Hey, guys-” Jimin emerged from the bathroom and your eyes widened. “Sorry,” He snickers when he sees Jungkook’s hand leave you to settle on your lower back, “I didn’t mean to interrupt,”

“You’re not! Nope, you’re not interrupting anything,” You quickly stand to your feet, scrambling for your tote, “We’re actually about to head out.”

“Yeah, I gotta get her home, she’s got stuff to do in the morning.” Jungkook glances at you and you have to stop yourself from saying that you really don’t. But you know Jungkook is just saying that to get you two out of here without Jimin insisting that you stay.

“Okay,” Jimin just shrugs and grabs the bowl of pretzels off of the coffee table, “drive safe.”

“Thanks, Jimin, we’ll see you later,” You rush over to give him a goodbye hug, “thank you for tonight.” He easily wraps an arm around you with a smirk directed towards Jungkook.

“Okay,” Jungkook grabs your hand eagerly, “see you Hyung,”

Jungkook wisps you away and soon you two are in his car, anxious to fall into his floral-scented bed sheets.

You look through heavy eyelids to see a sheen of sweat covering his bare chest and some of his long hair was sticking to his forehead. He looks so, so good. Your eyes find the plumb blossom tattoo that you love so much and you follow it as it continues down his chest. On his left bicep, he’s got this intricate collage of little pictures he’s drawn, he’s even got a tattoo of a butterfly that you tried to draw one day. You told him not to use it because you didn’t think it was good enough, but a few days later, you showed up to his gym and there it was. He wears it proudly now and it makes you feel fuzzy inside.

Earlier, he reached into his nightstand for something, hand plundering around until he finds it. He sits up and he’s holding a lighter and a blunt in each hand. You're watching him through squinted eyes because you're sure he thinks you’re asleep. The blunt is pinched between his long fingers and he lights it, desperate to breathe the vapors for a fleeting euphoria. You make note that he keeps blunts in his nightstand for times like this.

His head lols back after the second drag and he sits it in the ashtray. He looks like art, smoking hot art. His earrings dangle when he moves, his hair beautifully unkempt—courtesy of you. His arms are lined with veins and that reminds you just how strong he is, and how easily he throws you around. The thought alone makes you remember how lucky you are.

“Mm...” He groans, mouth agape and eyes heavy with the after-effects. He smoothes his fingers over your cheek, smirking at how flushed the skin was. “You awake?”

“Yes.” You grumble.

“Let’s dance.” He grins.

“What? It’s 2 o’clock in the morning.” You sit up, “How do you have energy? I’m tired...” He had already hopped out of bed, black boxers being the only thing covering him. You watched as he typed a few things on his phone and the Bluetooth on his nightstand starts blaring out one of your favorite songs.

“Get up and dance with your boyfriend,” He grabbed your arm and started tugging you up, there was no point in resisting.

You let him place your arms around his neck and lead you to the rhythm that he followed naturally. You’ve only had the pleasure of going to the club with Jungkook twice and each time he gave you the dance sessions of your life. You had never been shot dirtier looks by more girls in your life, you just laughed it off as jealousy. Who could blame them? His hands find their place on your hips and he presses his face up against yours—these are the moments you get to experience Jungkook at his most transparent.

“Hey,” He wraps his arms around your waist and pulls you closer, “are we good?”

“Yeah, we’re good.” You nod, “I’m sorry for even bringing your personal-life up in the first place, tonight wasn’t the night to talk about stuff like that.”

“Babe,” He doesn’t stop dancing with you as he reaches for the joint in the ashtray, “you were gonna find out sooner or later, it’s fine.” Mindful not to blow it in your face, he knows you hate that—maybe even more so than him actually smoking. He takes a hit and blows the cloud of smoke over your shoulder, eyes shutting in bliss when your fingers tangle into his luscious raven locks. “You feel sooo amazing...”

“Are you high?” You trace your hands down to his warm chest, he shivers at your touch.

He laughs, long hair covering his eyes when he looks at you. “No. Well, maybe a little-”

Suddenly, the music goes off and his phone buzzes rapidly. He reluctantly pulls away from you to grab it off of the nightstand, he stares at his phone.

“Who is it?” You inquire, taking a seat on the bed with him when he continues to stare at it.

“It’s Jooe.” He frowns, questioning why the little girl is even up at this hour. “Why is she even up this late? And when did she get a phone...”

“Answer it Jungkook,” You nudge him, “it could be an emergency.”

He picks it up and holds it to his ear. “Jooe? What are you doing up-” You hear a little voice over the phone and rambling on, your heart plummeting into your stomach at the thought of what she was telling him.

“Hey, slow down, tell me what happened,” His eyes are laser-focused and he grimaces at what she’s saying, “she’s okay now? It’s just you and your dad there? Why the fu-” He bites his tongue when he realizes who he’s talking to, “Why didn’t he call me?” He glances at you, a hand on your thigh to reassure you. “Okay, I’ll come first thing in the morning, tell her and your dad that.” She says a little something and he sighs. “Love you too.”

He puts the phone down and takes the longest drag of his blunt you’ve ever seen anyone take. There had to be not an ounce of oxygen in his lungs.

“What happened?”

“My mom is in the hospital.”

“Oh my gosh,” You gasp, “Is she okay?

“Her appendix ruptured about two hours ago and I got the call from a 6-year-old, not her husband. A 6-year-old, Y/n.” He abruptly stands up, hands pushing his hair back angrily, “I have some fucking words for him when I see him.” His ears are tomato red, he’s getting angry. You get up to drag him to the bathroom. “I have half a mind to go up there now-“

“Shh, you need to stay calm,” You flick on the light and put his toothbrush in his hand, “brush your teeth and get in bed. Don’t stress yourself, okay? I’ll go with you in the morning.” You wait for him to respond and he gives you a weak nod.

You tell him not to stress himself out but you’re freaking out on the inside. If you go with him in the morning, that’ll be the first time you meet his family and he’s not on good terms with his mother's husband. Now you have to get added to the mix. Jungkook walks out of the bathroom and basically dives face first into bed before crawling up to lay his head on your soft chest, arms wrapping around your middle. Sometimes he forgets how heavy he is and just crushes you, but you let it slide because he’s just so cute like that. He’s quiet, mind probably facing with worry. The steady beat of his heart, the rise, and fall of his chest as he let his eyes slip shut. You let him drift asleep with the comfort of knowing loving hands were holding him. When he gets like this, and life is literally kicking his butt, you feel like your problems pale in comparison. And it makes you hold him tighter.

They do you so so dirty, baby.

[darylwillfightnatureforcarol]

Don’t Feel Right Without You

Alternate take on the opening minutes of Season 10 episode 4. Aka when Daryl brings Carol a cute little tray with a flower. 

Don’t Feel Right Without You

Daryl knocked gently on the door he stood in front of, laden with a tray of food. He didn’t have very high hopes of her actually answering the door. He’d probably be left with no choice but to leave his offering on the floor in front of the door.

He was pleasantly surprised by the sound of footsteps approaching. The door swung open slowly, revealing Carol. She had her hair half pulled up and he admired the sight for a moment. He was happy to note that she seemed less tense than the days previously. He was pretty sure she had run out of the pills she had been taking, which was another thing he was happy for.

It had taken everything in him not to actively rip the things from her hands. He hated drugs. He had his whole life. His father and his brother had abused them, turning into monsters and shells of themselves. He remembered the time he damn near killed Merle after he had slipped him the shrooms which had resulted in his hallucination of a Chupacabra.

He didn’t take the pills from her though. It needed to be her choice and he wasn’t going to take her choice from her no matter how much he wished he could help her.

“Hey,” she greeted him, sounding tired. She had dark circles under her eyes, signalling her continued struggle with sleep. She glanced down at the tray in his hands.

“Hey,” he replied quietly. He thrust the tray toward her. He did it a little too zealously, nearly dropping it and he blushed as she took it with an amused smirk. “Brought you some dinner.”

“Thank you.”

He nodded and shifted his stance. He really didn’t want to leave her yet. Carol was staring at him with a questioning look. Fuck it, he thought to himself.

“Uh, can I come in?” he asked shyly, glancing at his boots before looking back up at her. Her smile softened and she nodded, stepping back and out of his way. She closed the door and moved over to the bed and sat down on it, leaning her back against the pillows.

Daryl tried not to stare too obviously at her as she began to eat. He took up a place against the dresser and crossed his arms. He felt awkward being in the room with her even though it was actually his room. He had carried her here after she had gotten her arm fixed up and she had barely left the room.

“Daryl,” her voice came making him snap his head in her direction. She had an amused look as she watched him.

“Come here,” she ordered as she patted the bed. He hesitated, unsure if he could handle being that close. She patted the bed harder now with a challenging look. He huffed and approached the bed. He sat gingerly on the edge. He heard her let out a little snort. He looked at her in question.

“Relax, will you? This is your room, remember? You’re putting me on edge,” she admonished in a light tone. He shook his head at himself. She was right as usual. He was being ridiculous. It was just Carol. But, as usual he was a bumbling nervous wreck in her presence.

He shifted on the bed and adjusted himself. He now lay on his side, head propped up on his left hand and his muddy booted feet hanging off the bed. He raised his brows at her teasingly.

“Better?”

“Much,” Carol simply answered and he could see that she had actually relaxed somewhat. She continued to eat her dinner and her gusto in which she did proved what he suspected. She had not eaten properly in a while. He openly watched her eating, which he hoped she didn’t find creepy. It just made him feel better to know that she was getting a proper meal.

“So,” she started out of nowhere, making him jump a little. “How come you’re not downstairs with Michonne and the kids?”

Daryl chewed his lip at her question. Because you’re not there, his head whispered.

“Didn’t feel right without you there,” he glanced at her shyly. He didn’t want to overwhelm her with his sappy thoughts. She gave him a look he couldn’t decipher but she didn’t look upset. She looked…kind of happy?

Carol watched him for a beat before she moved her legs to curl underneath her. He watched every move she made and he couldn’t help smiling a little at the new image she presented. She looked smaller somehow but no less strong as she was.

“And the flower?” she nodded to the little white flower in water that he had included on her tray. He blushed. He had practically had a war in his head over whether or not to give it to her. His want to make her happy had won out, of course.

“Thought you might like it,” he replied shyly. When he gauged her reaction he was able to finally relax about the decision. She looked happy.

“I do. Thank you.”

He nodded at her as if it was a given and no big deal.

“So you didn’t come up here to interrogate me?” she questioned after a while, watching him carefully. He frowned at her question. He knew what she was getting at. Alpha, the pills.

“Nah,” he paused, considering his next words carefully. “Just wanted to be here with you.” He couldn’t help but wince as he heard the words. He hoped she didn’t read too much into it. He looked at her worriedly, chewing his lip and tasting a hint of blood.

Carol smiled. She looked down at her lap for a moment, still smiling before she looked back up. She seemed to be thinking about something as she looked at him.

Daryl jumped at the sound when she patted her thigh. He stared at her.

“Come on,” she said. He frowned, not understanding what she wanted. She rolled her eyes but didn’t look annoyed at his slowness. She patted her lap again, harder this time and indicated with her head for him to move closer to her.

He felt his heart beating a little quicker. He felt more nervous all of a sudden and he tried not to show it. He practically crawled up to the head of the bed where she sat waiting, for what he still wasn’t sure. He sat uselessly by her side, staring at her, waiting for more instructions. He fought to not fidget.

Carol gave him a sweet smile and took his hand in hers. She used her grip on him to tug him forward and he went willingly. He was a bit stiff and awkward as she manouvered him but he didn’t resist her. He soon realised she was trying to get him to lay down. On her lap. It made his stomach jolt but he hurried to settle himself on her. His head lay on her knees and his view was filled with the sight of her pink covered stomach. He smiled as he remember teasing her the other day about her cast.

“See my words had an effect on you,” he quipped as his eyes looked up at her. She frowned down at him, looking confused. He tugged on the front of her shirt gently. Her frown softened and her eyes rolled. She smirked and looked to the side with a chuckle.

“Shut up.”

He grinned at having gotten her to laugh.

“Nah, I meant it. Pink suits you,” he reaffirmed with a nod, feeling her pants rub against his cheek. She raised a brow at that, not looking like she believed him.

“It makes you look…I don’t know…Softer, I guess,” he elaborated shyly.

He stared determinedly at her belly, afraid to see her reaction. He heard her huff out a laugh and his gut twisted, thinking she was laughing at him. He looked up to study her. But she didn’t look like she was laughing at him. She looked genuinely surprised by his words and looked pleased. He calmed down upon seeing it. He should have known. Carol wouldn’t laugh at him in a mean way. She never had.

“So, you think it makes me look pretty?” she questioned and this time there was a sparkle in her eyes that hadn’t been there in a while. His mouth went dry as he stared at her. He swallowed heavily and found his mouth moving without him trying to filter it.

“Yeah.”

He froze when he realised what he had just said. He hid his face behind his hair that fell over his forehead. How the hell was he supposed to explain that? He shook his hair back and hesitantly looked upwards once more.

Carol looked shocked. Her mouth hung open a little. That’s when he knew he had fucked up. He’d made her uncomfortable and he had no idea how to fix it. He thought hard about a way to apologize and maybe play it off as a joke. When he looked back at her face to lie his ass off, he was surprised by what he saw.

The shocked look was gone. It had been replaced by something Daryl was sure he had never seen on her before. Not to the extent he was seeing now.

Carol looked confident and proud, like his simple, stupid compliment that he had blurted accidentally had made all the difference to her self esteem. Her shoulders were back and her eyes sparked with a fire he had never seen in them.

Whatever the hell effect his words had given her, he knew for sure that he liked it. She looked gorgeous. He always thought she was but now it was something else. For that one little moment, the haunted, haggard version of her disappeared and a confident, self assured woman had stepped out from behind a curtain. He felt disgusted with himself as he tuned into how tight his pants had become. It was not the first time he had been embarrassingly hard in her presence.

“Hmm,” she hummed as she looked down at him with a seemingly permanent smile on her lips. He just watched her, feeling like if he spoke he might puke. To be honest, he felt like he go into cardiac arrest at any moment. He didn’t think he’d ever been so nervous when he was with her. He couldn’t explain it but there seemed to be something lingering in the room with them. Something that always seemed present between them but had now been amped up to another level.

Carol brought her hands to his head and he stopped himself from moaning when her fingers slid into his greasy hair. He closed his eyes, feeling her start to massage his scalp. Her touch was gentle and he felt shivers down his spine in response to her unexpected attention. Her massage continued for a long while before it turned into simply running her fingers through his mess of hair.

He prayed to whatever god there may or may not exist that she didn’t look down at his body.

[dwillfightnatureforc]

Don’t Feel Right Without You

Hey guys,

Thanks for the positive response to Kamikaze that I posted yesterday. I watched the little opening scene that the AMC Premiere guys got to see and was inspired to write this. So it will be kind of spoiler-y for people who don’t know about the opening scene for episode four. Totally goes away from canon though. Hope you guys like it and I’m thinking that it might actually be two chapters.

---- 

Daryl knocked gently on the door he stood in front of, laden with a tray of food. He didn’t have very high hopes of her actually answering the door. He’d probably be left with no choice but to leave his offering on the floor in front of the door.

 He was pleasantly surprised by the sound of footsteps approaching. The door swung open slowly, revealing Carol. She had her hair half pulled up and he admired the sight for a moment. He was happy to note that she seemed less tense than the days previously. He was pretty sure she had run out of the pills she had been taking, which was another thing he was happy for.

 It had taken everything in him not to actively rip the things from her hands. He hated drugs. He had his whole life. His father and his brother had abused them, turning into monsters and shells of themselves. He remembered the time he damn near killed Merle after he had slipped him the shrooms which had resulted in his hallucination of a Chupacabra.

 He didn’t take the pills from her though. It needed to be her choice and he wasn’t going to take her choice from her no matter how much he wished he could help her.

 “Hey,” she greeted him, sounding tired. She had dark circles under her eyes, signalling her continued struggle with sleep. She glanced down at the tray in his hands.

 “Hey,” he replied quietly. He thrust the tray toward her. He did it a little too zealously, nearly dropping it and he blushed as she took it with an amused smirk. “Brought you some dinner.”

 “Thank you.”

 He nodded and shifted his stance. He really didn’t want to leave her yet. Carol was staring at him with a questioning look. Fuck it, he thought to himself.

 “Uh, can I come in?” he asked shyly, glancing at his boots before looking back up at her. Her smile softened and she nodded, stepping back and out of his way. She closed the door and moved over to the bed and sat down on it, leaning her back against the pillows.

 Daryl tried not to stare too obviously at her as she began to eat. He took up a place against the dresser and crossed his arms. He felt awkward being in the room with her even though it was actually his room. He had carried her here after she had gotten her arm fixed up and she had barely left the room.

 “Daryl,” her voice came making him snap his head in her direction. She had an amused look as she watched him.

 “Come here,” she ordered as she patted the bed. He hesitated, unsure if he could handle being that close. She patted the bed harder now with a challenging look. He huffed and approached the bed. He sat gingerly on the edge. He heard her let out a little snort. He looked at her in question.

 “Relax, will you? This is your room, remember? You’re putting me on edge,” she admonished in a light tone. He shook his head at himself. She was right as usual. He was being ridiculous. It was just Carol. But, as usual he was a bumbling nervous wreck in her presence.

 He shifted on the bed and adjusted himself. He now lay on his side, head propped up on his left hand and his muddy booted feet hanging off the bed. He raised his brows at her teasingly.

 “Better?”

 “Much,” Carol simply answered and he could see that she had actually relaxed somewhat. She continued to eat her dinner and her gusto in which she did proved what he suspected. She had not eaten properly in a while. He openly watched her eating, which he hoped she didn’t find creepy. It just made him feel better to know that she was getting a proper meal.

  “So,” she started out of nowhere, making him jump a little. “How come you’re not downstairs with Michonne and the kids?”

 Daryl chewed his lip at her question. Because you’re not there, his head whispered.

 “Didn’t feel right without you there,” he glanced at her shyly. He didn’t want to overwhelm her with his sappy thoughts. She gave him a look he couldn’t decipher but she didn’t look upset. She looked…kind of happy?

 Carol watched him for a beat before she moved her legs to curl underneath her. He watched every move she made and he couldn’t help smiling a little at the new image she presented. She looked smaller somehow but no less strong as she was.

 “And the flower?” she nodded to the little white flower in water that he had included on her tray. He blushed. He had practically had a war in his head over whether or not to give it to her. His want to make her happy had won out, of course.

 “Thought you might like it,” he replied shyly. When he gauged her reaction he was able to finally relax about the decision. She looked happy.

 “I do. Thank you.”

 He nodded at her as if it was a given and no big deal.

 “So you didn’t come up here to interrogate me?” she questioned after a while, watching him carefully. He frowned at her question. He knew what she was getting at. Alpha, the pills.

 “Nah,” he paused, considering his next words carefully. “Just wanted to be here with you.” He couldn’t help but wince as he heard the words. He hoped she didn’t read too much into it. He looked at her worriedly, chewing his lip and tasting a hint of blood.

 Carol smiled. She looked down at her lap for a moment, still smiling before she looked back up. She seemed to be thinking about something as she looked at him.

 Daryl jumped at the sound when she patted her thigh. He stared at her.

 “Come on,” she said. He frowned, not understanding what she wanted. She rolled her eyes but didn’t look annoyed at his slowness. She patted her lap again, harder this time and indicated with her head for him to move closer to her.

 He felt his heart beating a little quicker. He felt more nervous all of a sudden and he tried not to show it. He practically crawled up to the head of the bed where she sat waiting, for what he still wasn’t sure. He sat uselessly by her side, staring at her, waiting for more instructions. He fought to not fidget.

 Carol gave him a sweet smile and took his hand in hers. She used her grip on him to tug him forward and he went willingly. He was a bit stiff and awkward as she manouvered him but he didn’t resist her. He soon realised she was trying to get him to lay down. On her lap. It made his stomach jolt but he hurried to settle himself on her. His head lay on her knees and his view was filled with the sight of her pink covered stomach. He smiled as he remember teasing her the other day about her cast.

 “See my words had an effect on you,” he quipped as his eyes looked up at her. She frowned down at him, looking confused. He tugged on the front of her shirt gently. Her frown softened and her eyes rolled. She smirked and looked to the side with a chuckle.

 “Shut up.”

 He grinned at having gotten her to laugh.

 “Nah, I meant it. Pink suits you,” he reaffirmed with a nod, feeling her pants rub against his cheek. She raised a brow at that, not looking like she believed him.

 “It makes you look…I don’t know…Softer, I guess,” he elaborated shyly.

 He stared determinedly at her belly, afraid to see her reaction. He heard her huff out a laugh and his gut twisted, thinking she was laughing at him. He looked up to study her. But she didn’t look like she was laughing at him. She looked genuinely surprised by his words and looked pleased. He calmed down upon seeing it. He should have known. Carol wouldn’t laugh at him in a mean way. She never had.

 “So, you think it makes me look pretty?” she questioned and this time there was a sparkle in her eyes that hadn’t been there in a while. His mouth went dry as he stared at her. He swallowed heavily and found his mouth moving without him trying to filter it.

 “Yeah.”

 He froze when he realised what he had just said. He hid his face behind his hair that fell over his forehead. How the hell was he supposed to explain that? He shook his hair back and hesitantly looked upwards once more.

 Carol looked shocked. Her mouth hung open a little. That’s when he knew he had fucked up. He’d made her uncomfortable and he had no idea how to fix it. He thought hard about a way to apologize and maybe play it off as a joke. When he looked back at her face to lie his ass off, he was surprised by what he saw.

 The shocked look was gone. It had been replaced by something Daryl was sure he had never seen on her before. Not to the extent he was seeing now.

 Carol looked confident and proud, like his simple, stupid compliment that he had blurted accidentally had made all the difference to her self esteem. Her shoulders were back and her eyes sparked with a fire he had never seen in them.

 Whatever the hell effect his words had given her, he knew for sure that he liked it. She looked gorgeous. He always thought she was but now it was something else. For that one little moment, the haunted, haggard version of her disappeared and a confident, self assured woman had stepped out from behind a curtain. He felt disgusted with himself as he tuned into how tight his pants had become. It was not the first time he had been embarrassingly hard in her presence.

 “Hmm,” she hummed as she looked down at him with a seemingly permanent smile on her lips. He just watched her, feeling like if he spoke he might puke. To be honest, he felt like he go into cardiac arrest at any moment. He didn’t think he’d ever been so nervous when he was with her. He couldn’t explain it but there seemed to be something lingering in the room with them. Something that always seemed present between them but had now been amped up to another level.

 Carol brought her hands to his head and he stopped himself from moaning when her fingers slid into his greasy hair. He closed his eyes, feeling her start to massage his scalp. Her touch was gentle and he felt shivers down his spine in response to her unexpected attention. Her massage continued for a long while before it turned into simply running her fingers through his mess of hair.

 He prayed to whatever god there may or may not exist that she didn’t look down at his body.

[justatiredghost]

It wasn’t strange, seeing Ben just standing there in front of him. Klaus could always see Ben after all, but that’s not what this was. Ben was flesh and blood now, looking down at himself like he���d never seen his body before, which he supposed was partly true, it had been over a decade since his death. They were manipulating the timeline to stop the apocalypse, so why not tweak it a bit more to save a few lives? Best Timeline, and all that. So of course their brother had been at the top of the list.

And Klaus was overjoyed that they’d managed to prevent Ben’s death, of course he was. He’d always wanted this for his brother. But a quiet dark part of him that he hated more than anything whispered that he was sad too, because now he was truly alone.

His smile felt too brittle as he watched his siblings cheer and hug Ben, back from the dead, and he of course joined in, promising himself that he’d never let anyone know. This wasn’t about him, this was about Ben and he deserved happiness more than anyone.

“How do you feel?” Vanya asked.

“Too much,” Ben said with a shaky laugh, still looking at himself in wonder, gripping his arm tightly as if he might fly apart.

“All right, all right,” Klaus said, clapping his hands to get everyone’s attention. He regretted it when Ben flinched. He knew what it was like, the sensory hell that could overwhelm you, drown you. He continued at a more normal volume. “Let’s give him some space, yeah?”

Who would have thought Klaus out of all of them would be the voice of reason? It was honestly a little odd, having them actually react with something other than contempt to an order of his, but this was life and death and he was the only other one who had any experience with it.

“Are you hungry?” Mom asked, because that was how she showed her love. Klaus wondered what she was feeling, to be honest. Was it dulled as she struggled against the programming to be herself, or did it hurt just as much as it did for the rest of them, feeling so much?

“Yeah, actually,” Ben said with a sudden wide smile. “Fuck, it’s been ten years. I think I’m starving.”

“Great, I’ll make your favorite. Waffles with bacon?”

“Thanks Mom,” Ben said, shooting a grin in Klaus’ direction, like they were sharing a secret and Klaus treasured it, doing his best to mirror it. How long until they wouldn’t have this shared language and history anymore? He tried to ignore that thought and instead focused on all the times he’d eaten waffles for Ben. Eaten anything really.

Dinner was a loud affair, everyone wanting to talk to Ben, clamoring to be heard over each other. Ben seemed to be taking it in stride though, he always had been so patient. He was the only one who had been able to put up with Klaus, after all. Or maybe he was just so glad to be able to talk to them for a change.

After his death, for the longest time none of them believed he was really there, although Klaus supposed that was his fault. If anyone else had had ghostly abilities, everyone would have believed it and Ben probably would have been much better off, he could have been talking to them all this time instead of only recently on the few occasions he had managed to manifest him.

Klaus was sitting on the counter, legs swinging back and forth, for once staying mostly silent. He’d already hogged more than enough of Ben’s time and as selfish as he was, he didn’t want to be for this. But then he noticed the way Ben winced when their arguing siblings started to gain in volume, and figured he should intervene.

Klaus knew he could never really be there for Ben the way Ben had been there for him. He’d saved Klaus’ life more times than he could count, just his presence a comfort when Klaus felt like everyone had abandoned him. But he had to at least try to return the kindness. He hopped off the counter and headed over to lean against the table beside him.

“You hanging in there?” Klaus asked, dropping a hand on Ben’s shoulder.

Ben flinched at the sudden contact, but tried to cover it immediately. No luck, though, Klaus could read him like a book after all this time and he released him, giving him his space, making a note not to do that again.

“Yeah, yeah, I’m good,” Ben said quickly. “I think I’m just getting tired. I should probably head to bed.”

“Righto,” Klaus said with a mock solute.

There was half-hearted grumbling but they let him go. Klaus followed shortly after, waiting for a moment when he could slip away unnoticed. He didn’t have to wait long. He poked his head into Ben’s room only to find it empty. He tried the bathroom door. It was unlocked.

After being literally tied together for ten years, even longer if you counted how inseparable they were as children, they both had no real concept of boundaries or privacy so he didn’t really spare a second thought, he just pushed the door open and walked inside. He found Ben just standing there, staring at his own reflection, looking so tired and grim.

“You are a handsome devil, aren’t you?” Klaus joked because he didn’t like his expression.

“It’s actually super weird seeing myself, you know?” Ben said, mustering up a smile.

“So what do you want to do? Shall I draw you a bath?” Klaus asked, gesturing dramatically.

“No thanks, I never really liked baths as much as you,” Ben said with a weak smile, arm absently wrapping around his stomach as if to keep his insides from spilling out onto the floor and Klaus supposed that was partly true when you had a monster living inside you. Ben quickly lowered his arm when he realized what he was doing.

“I’ll try not to be offended on behalf of baths everywhere,” Klaus said, trying to lighten the mood. “Ah fuck, I just realized, you’re gonna have to remember to brush your teeth now. That sucks.”

“Toothpaste tastes worse than I remember,” Ben joked.

“Come on, bro, give him some space,” Diego said, bumping his shoulder into Klaus as he walked past. It wasn’t done out of spite, there wasn’t even enough strength behind it to do more than jostle. He always had been bad at feelings, Klaus wondered if it was his attempt at friendly touch.

“Right, right, sorry,” Klaus said, hands raised in surrender. “I’ll let you get to it then. Do you need anything?”

“Nah, go sleep,” Ben said, shooting him a grateful smile.

But Klaus couldn’t sleep. There were the screaming of ghosts, sure, but also there was the crushing loneliness. He knew Ben deserved to have some alone time, he’d been stuck with Klaus for what must have felt like an eternity. Sure, he could disappear to who knows where when he wanted to get away from him which honestly wasn’t as often as Klaus would have if he’d been stuck with himself, but that was beside the point.

Ben had his own life now. He needed sleep, he needed to live and it wasn’t fair to selfishly demand all of his time just because Klas was feeling a little lonely. Would Ben even want to spend time with him now? Klaus had already driven all of their living siblings away, none of them could stand him as he constantly self destructed but Ben hadn’t had a choice, he had to stick around or be alone forever. Now that he was free, surely he’d make the only reasonable decision and put as much space between the two of them as he could.

Klaus wanted to be different, though. He didn’t want to make his siblings miserable anymore. More than anything he wanted to be there for Ben, he didn’t want to be selfish or for his family to think he needed everything to be about himself. He didn’t want to lose Ben after everything they’d been through. Not that Ben owed him the chance to prove that.

Consumed by his thoughts, Klaus sat with his head hanging over the edge of the bed, hands fiddling restlessly with anything within reach, full of a terrible energy. Being sober was fucking awful. That was a phrase that crosses his mind almost constantly. He told himself it was worth it.

Sure, Ben didn’t need him to use his powers anymore, but he still needed to see Dave. And, well, he didn’t want to disappoint his siblings again. He didn’t want to give Ben one more reason to leave him behind either.

Eyes tightly closed, he flinched as a ghost screamed his name. And then he flinched again at a light tapping at his door. For a terrible moment, he thought maybe he’d accidentally given a desperate ghost physical form and that it was coming for him, but then his door cracked open and Ben stuck his head inside.

“Can I— come in?” He asked hesitantly.

“What’s the matter? Missing my stunning presence already?” Klaus joked even though he didn’t believe it. Anything to lighten the mood and make his brother feel better about all of this.

“Yeah, it’s weird not hearing your annoying voice all the time. It’s like background noise at this point, it’s just not the same without it.” Ben said, because it was easier than saying he didn’t want to be alone, or so Klaus imagined. Maybe it was the monsters in his stomach, or the newly being alive thing that made Ben seek him out. Either way, it didn’t really matter. If Ben needed something, that was all he needed to know.

“Come in, come in, welcome to my abode,” Klaus said, throwing his arms wide. “We aren’t as small as we used to be but I’m sure we’ll both still fit.”

Ben rolled his eyes at his showmanship but did as instructed. The bed was a tight fit, but they didn’t mind. They used to share a bed all the time growing up, both of them struggling with nightmares almost constantly. Eventually even Dad had given up trying to catch them whenever one of them snuck into the other’s room. It was easier for him to just pretend it wasn’t happening. Klaus took his hand and squeezed it, trying for an encouraging smile.

“This is stupid,” Ben grumbled, rubbing his forehead with an embarrassed smile.

“Nah, happens to the best of us. You know how I sleep, though. Not my fault if I shove you off.”

“Brave of you to assume you could,” Ben shot back and for a moment it felt like normal and Klaus could almost, almost believe that nothing had really changed between them.

“Is it Them?” Klaus asked more seriously and they both knew immediately what he was talking about.

They’d had this conversation many times before he died. Klaus had to deal with ghosts screaming at him while Ben had to worry about his own body playing host to monsters even he was afraid of. That was partly why they got along so well. They both hated their abilities. The only difference was Ben couldn’t run away from them like Klaus could when he turned to drugs. If he could, maybe he never would have died.

“Yeah,” Ben said, looking away. “I’d forgotten what it was like. Obviously They were still there after I died, but I couldn’t feel Them like I can when I’m alive. It’s not just that though.” He paused for a long moment before continuing, voice quiet, still not looking at him. “I-- I don’t know if I like being alive.”

“What, too much responsibility now?” Klaus joked, desperate to make his brother smile. “You’d think there’d be less now you don’t have to deal with my sorry ass.”

He never had been very good at saying the right thing. Making people laugh though? He could usually handle that. It broke his heart that Ben was struggling but he wouldn’t be in this alone at least. Ben chuckled a little at the comment, but he could still see the pain in his eyes.

“There’s just so much, all the time,” Ben said. “I forgot how loud everything was, how much there was to feel. It hurts sometimes. And I don’t just mean the Horror.”

“I know,” Klaus said, feeling a pang in his chest.

He really did know. He’d spent most of his life, starting at age 13 for christ’s sake, trying to numb it all. Not just the ghosts but everything else they’d been put through, the trauma and the abuse. A part of him couldn’t help but feel special that Ben would trust him enough to confide this in him. Then again, he was probably the only other one fucked up enough to really get it, this sort of despair, deep down in your core that goes beyond sadness.

“Don’t tell the others,” Ben said. “I don’t want to worry them. I don’t want to die again or anything, I just, I don’t know. It’s a lot.”

“I get it,” Klaus said. “It’s okay. We’ll figure it out.”

“Thanks,” Ben said, offering up a weak smile. There was unfortunately little Klaus could do to actually help, but then he didn’t think Ben was expecting that. Hopefully this would be enough for now, knowing he wasn’t alone. Still, the atmosphere was getting a bit heavy so Ben changed the subject. “What about you? How’s being sober going?”

“Oh, fantastic,” Klaus said. “So great. Never better.”

“And, as usual, you are a terrible liar,” Ben said.

“Shut up, I’m a great liar,” Klaus said, taking his pillow and hitting Ben with it.

“Oh you did not just do that,” Ben said, grinning as he grabbed his own pillow, and just like that the tension was gone. “Finally I can kick your ass.”

It was nice to have Ben here and alive again.

-

Klaus was not doing okay. He rarely was, but today he was particularly bad. He sat in the corner of his room, hands over his ears as if that could help block out the ghosts. He couldn’t. He might have been rocking back and forth but he wasn’t sure. There was only the screaming. Every time a ghost reached out to him, he flinched, afraid that maybe this time they’d be able to grab him and then there would be no escape.

He could ask any of his siblings for help. Not that he knew how they could help, Klaus was still learning how to cope and had been having very little success. Then again, even if he did ask, would they even believe him? They rarely did, brushing it off as him just trying to be the center of attention. Annoying Klaus, always too loud and too much.

And sure, sometimes that was true, most of the time growing up especially. They all already had too much to deal with, he’d rather joke around than actually talk about the shit they went through. But even then, more often than not, he was trying to drown out the ghosts, to be heard above them. Being dismissed and ignored just made him feel worse.

Ben would believe him. He always knew what to do, what to say. Especially since he’d gone sober, Ben was probably the only reason he’d made it this far. But he didn’t want to go to him now. Ben had his own life, his own concerns. What time was it even? He could be asleep. Klaus couldn’t constantly harass him with this. He’d driven all of his siblings away, he couldn’t risk doing the same to Ben.

Klaus had spent the last few days slowly withdrawing from his siblings as he felt himself growing worse. He could deal with this himself, he just had to wait it out. And this way he wouldn’t risk losing any of them again. Maybe some music would help drown them out. Music always helped.

The door burst open and Klaus toppled over in his surprise. He tried to look casual, reclining on some pillows hoping he didn’t look too tense. It was Ben and Klaus mustered up a smile for him. That was a habit they should both probably work on breaking, otherwise it could become a problem. It would be harder to keep his problems to himself if Ben could just barge in at any moment.

“Hey,” Ben said, dropping to sit on a pillow beside him. “Diego and Five are planning to do some sparring, which sounds like a recipe for disaster. You should come down and watch with me, I’m making popcorn.”

“Hey, yeah, that does sound amazing. Why don’t you go ahead and I’ll follow in a sec,” Klaus said.

Ben started getting up but paused. “Hey, what’s up?” he asked.

“What? Nothing, nothing at all. Just lounging, ya know?” Klaus demonstrated by leaning back and raising an arm dramatically.

“You can’t lie to me, Klaus,” Ben said, leveling him with a look.

“It’s nothing, I’m just tired. You know, people get tired.”

“Look,” Ben said. “I know it’s easier for you to hide now that I’m not haunting you, but that doesn’t mean I’m gonna let you wallow here all alone.” He leaned back, getting comfortable like he was planning on sticking around.

“Oh, come on, Ben,” Klaus said, throwing a pillow at him, trying to ignore the ghost screaming directly into his ear, hoping his voice wasn’t too loud. “I’m fine, just go back outside. I’ll meet you there to watch Diego and Five get way too into it and destroy the courtyard in a bit.”

“Look, we need to talk,” Ben said with a heavy sigh and Klaus couldn’t help but flinch in anticipation. “You’re shit at asking for help. And I know why, I get it, I really do, but I know your tells. I’m not letting you push me away too. Even if you don’t want to talk, the least I can do is keep you company.”

“You don’t have to do that,” Klaus said with a heavy sigh.

“I know, but I want to. You’re my brother.”

“That never stopped any of the others,” Klaus said. He didn’t sound bitter. And he wasn’t, really, just sad. And tired.

“That’s not fair,” Ben said.

“Isn’t it though? No, you’re right, I’m sorry,” Klaus said, backtracking immediately and feeling guilty he’d even let himself think that. “I’m not being fair at all. I didn’t make it easy for any of them. I wouldn’t let any of you help me. And there wasn’t really anything anyone could have done anyway. But you still tried. Saved my life countless times. I’ve got a lot of catching up to do in the helping department.”

“Okay, there’s apparently a couple different conversations we need to have,” Ben said seriously. “Yeah, you really didn’t make it easy, but that still doesn’t excuse how they treat you sometimes, and I know it’s frustrating. But also, this isn’t a competition, you don’t have to make anything up to me. Besides, you’ve done just as much for me all these years.”

“What are you talking about? I made your afterlife hell.”

“Even high out of your mind you always made my comfort a priority, even in stupid ways like making sure I had a chair. Besides, why do you think I stuck around? I mean, sure, it hurt watching you kill yourself over and over, and sometimes you’d drove me crazy, still do, but I wanted to be here. With my family. You guys didn’t abandon me and there is no way I was going to abandon you all.”

“You should. We’re not worth this. Especially not me.”

“Shut up,” Ben said, elbowing him gently. “You are. Especially to me.”

“This family is fucked up,” Klaus groaned. He dropped a hand on Ben’s shoulder briefly. “Guess we’re stuck with each other.”

“Yup,” Ben said, stretching out and resting his legs across Klaus’ lap.

They eventually did go watch the sparring match. A couple injuries on the part of those dueling and a destroyed courtyard later, Klaus was feeling much better. Ben still wanted to be there with him, even when things were bad even though he didn’t have to be anymore. Somehow just that knowledge seemed to help when the ghosts refused to leave. They both had a long way to go getting used to their new lives but at least they didn’t have to do it alone.

[thats-what-sidhe-said]

Keithtober - Family (Voltron Next Gen)

Keith returned home battered, filthy, and carrying a baby in a sling across his chest. "What happened?" Shiro asked. "I thought this was supposed to be a milk run."

"It was," Keith said bitterly. "Someone tipped off the Galra troops and they ambushed us."

"How bad?" Shiro asked.

"Brutal," Keith said. "They're losing, but they'll never back down. They're going to take down as many of the Blades as they can." He touched the baby's head. "We lost Susan and Jarak."

"Oh, no!" Shiro said.

"I never would have sent them in if I'd known," Keith said, looking away from Shiro. "They weren't supposed to be on the front lines."

"We don't always get to decide that," Shiro pointed out.

Keith lowered his head to look at the child he was carrying. "There wasn't anyone to take Yurak, so I brought him home. I figured you wouldn't mind."

"Of course not," Shiro said. "Do you want me to hold him while you get cleaned up?"

Keith looked down at himself. He was coated in blood and soot and reeked of smoke. "Oh. Yeah." He lifted Yurak out of the sling and carefully handed him to Shiro. While the child was - thankfully - not covered in blood, some of the soot from Keith's suit had rubbed off on him.

"Do you have any extra clothes? Supplies?" Shiro asked.

"Just what the babysitter had," Keith said. He unslung his pack and gave it to Shiro. "That should enough to get us through until the stores open."

"What then?" Shiro asked. "Does he have any family?"

Keith shook his head. "Susan lost all her family in the first Galra attack on Earth and Jarak was disowned by his for marrying someone who wasn't Galra."

"Maybe they'll reconsider, now that they've lost their son," Shiro said.

Keith shook his head. "Jarak told me some stories about his childhood. If they try to take Yurak, I'll fight them." Keith touched the fine black hair on the boy's head. "They won't try. He looks human."

"Go clean up," Shiro said. He gave Keith a light kiss. Keith nodded and went into the bathroom. Shiro sat down on the couch and tucked the baby into the crock of his left arm. "You're really tiny," he said. "I suppose you know that." He hesitantly touched the baby's cheek. Yurak grabbed one of his fingers and held on. Shiro smiled. "Strong, though."

"Shiro, I could use a hand," Keith called. Shiro sent his right arm into the bathroom.

"Still funny," Keith said dryly. "I need help changing a bandage, so I think it's better if you can see what you're doing."

"All right," Shiro said. He stepped into the bathroom, took one look at Keith and said, "Doctor tomorrow."

"Yes, sir," Keith said. He held up the medical tape. "I did the one on my leg, but I can't reach the one on my back."

"I got it," Shiro said. He took the tape and reached for a bandage, then remembered he was holding Yurak.

"I'll take him," Keith said. He took the baby and Shiro gently bandaged Keith's wound. Keith passed the baby back so he could pull on a black t-shirt. "We're going to need a bed for him," he realized.

"Maybe we can just keep holding him until tomorrow," Shiro said. "You should sleep, though."

Keith shook his head. "I can't sleep yet." He wrinkled his nose. "What's that smell?" And then he realized. "Oh."

So did Shiro. "Oh." He looked down at the bundle in his arms. The baby sucked on his fist and managed to look smug.

"You're holding him," Keith said.

"This isn't Hot Potato," Shiro said. "I don't know how to change a diaper."

"It can't be that tough," Keith said. He tossed out the used bandages and got his data pad for instructions. They decided to change the baby in the office, using Shiro's desk, as it was more sanitary than using the kitchen table and involved moving fewer stacks of books, papers, and interesting rocks than using Keith's desk.

"If you'd clean your desk, you wouldn't have to use mine all the time," Shiro said. He put a stack of folders in a drawer and laid a towel out on the desk.

"Then I'd have to change my entire organizational system," Keith said. He placed Yurak on his back in the center of the towel. Yurak kicked his feet and cried.

Shiro put his hands on the side of the diapers, took a deep breath, and immediately regretted it.

"Hold on!" Keith said. He grabbed their flight helmets off a shelf.

"Good idea," Shiro said. Both men put on their helmets and activated their breathing systems. Shiro peeled away the diaper and set it to the side, still on the towel.

"Wipes," Keith said, looking at the instructions on the datapad. He handed Shiro a box of wet wipes. Shiro used half the box, but Yurak's bottom was throughly cleaned.

"This isn't so bad," Shiro said. Yurak gurgled happily and a stream of urine shot up. Keith leapt forward and threw a diaper over the lower half of the baby, but not before Shiro's faceplate had been spattered with baby pee.

"Sorry," Keith said. "I wasn't expecting a frontal attack."

"It's okay. I've had worse things on this helmet," Shiro said. He used a wipe to clean the faceplate. Keith handed him a fresh diaper and Shiro quickly wrapped the baby in it and taped it up. Keith dressed Yurak in a fresh jumper while Shiro cleaned up. "Next one's yours," he said to Keith. "How many do we have left?"

Keith checked the bag. "None," he said. "How long do they last?"

"Not long?" Shiro guessed.

"Lance!" Keith said suddenly.

"Huh?"

"He and Allura got diapers at their baby shower. They won't need them for a couple of months, so we'd have plenty of time to replace them."

"Can't hurt to ask," Shiro said. They sat down on the couch and put in a call to Lance.

"If we're defending the universe, can it wait until after breakfast?" Lance asked sleepily. He had video on, but a sleeping mask over his eyes.

"It's not Voltron. I just need a favor," Keith said. "Can we borrow some diapers?"

There was a long pause, then, "Keith, if you woke me up at three am to indulge in some weird fetish thing-" He pushed up his sleeping mask and squinted at the screen. "Whoa. You look like you went three rounds solo with a snick."

"I had a rough day," Keith said wearily.

Allura stirred beside Lance and rolled over. "What's going on? Do we need to get the lions?"

"We just need diapers for the baby and the store's closed," Shiro said. "Keith thought you might have gotten some at the shower."

"Baby?" Lance asked. "Keith, is there something about Galran biology that you're not telling us?"

"He's an orphan," Keith snapped. He hated that word. It dripped with pity and condescension, of being given used clothing two sizes too big and being expected to be grateful for it.

"Where did you-" Lance began, then looked at Keith again, battered and exhausted and straight from the battlefield, and said, "Never mind; you can tell us later. Do you just need diapers? What do you have?"

Shiro picked up the bag. "There's a can of formula, a change of clothes, a stuffed yupper, one of those things you put in their mouths-"

Lance laughed. "Hey, remember when Bob stuck one of those in Keith's mouth?"

Allura laughed, too. "Oh, yes!" She caught Keith's glare and sobered. "What else do you have? What about furniture? A crib?"

"That's all," Shiro said.

"We'll be over soon," Allura said. "I'm afraid we don't have any formula, but we do have a few other supplies."

"Thank you," Shiro said.

---

Shiro opened the door at the first knock. "Shh!" he said. "They're sleeping." Lance and Allura crept into the room and saw Keith lying on the couch asleep with Yurak on his chest.

"That is the cutest thing ever," Lance whispered. "Did you take a picture?"

"At least twenty," Shiro whispered back. "I already sent one to Krolia."

"What's happened?" Allura whispered. "Where did you get a child?" She wore long blue robes tied just over her rounded belly.

"Two friends of Keith's died today," Shiro said soberly. "There was no one to take the baby, so Keith brought him home."

"Are you keeping him?" Allura asked.

Shiro watched Yurak rise and fall on Keith's chest. "I don't know," he said. "We've talked about adopting, but that was something for the future. I don't know if we're ready."

"At least you don't have to be pregnant. It's quite annoying," Allura said. "People treat me like I'm fragile and try to carry things for me." She shot a glare at Lance.

"What? When human women are pregnant, there's stuff they aren't supposed to do for their own safety. I was trying to help!"

"I'm not human and you dropped it on my foot!"

"Shh!" Shiro reminded them. "Where's the diapers?"

"In the hallway," Lance said. He stepped outside and came back pushing an old-fashioned crib with wooden slats, filled with bags.

"What's all this?" Shiro asked.

"Supplies," Allura said. "We've got plenty of time to replace them."

Shiro looked through them. Diapers, as promised, plus creams for diaper rash, a stack of cloths and towels, another stack of baby clothes... Shiro picked up a onesie. "There's too much stuff here. We won't need it all."

"Oh, yes, you will," Lance said, with the weary voice of experience. "Trust Uncle Lance."

"Are you sure you want to let us use the crib? We can probably come up with something else," Shiro said.

"Please take the crib," Lance said. "Coran's making us an Altean crib, but this came from my Aunt Neoma and if I chose someone else's gift over hers, I will never hear the end of it. If I give it to you, I'm off the hook."

"It's beautiful," Shiro said, running his hand over the wood. "I don't know if we'll be needing it for long, though."

"Consider it a gift to the child, then," Allura said. "He can take it to his next home, if there is one."

The child made a fussing noise at that moment and Keith snapped awake. He wrapped his arms around the baby and sat upright, then winced as the movement pulled his injuries. "What's wrong?" he asked Yurak. The baby began to cry softly. "Hungry?" he guessed, and looked at Shiro.

"Could be," Shiro said. He got the can of formula from the bag, looked at it, dug through the bag again, and said, "I think we have a problem."

"Nah, I got you," Lance said. He took an empty bottle and rubber nipple from one of the bags and waved it. "Let me show you how it's done." He put his arm around Shiro's shoulders and let him to the kitchen.

"Mind if I sit down?" Allura asked Keith.

"Go ahead," Keith said. He bounced Yurak lightly. "Shh. Shh. Shiro's getting your food ready," he said softly.

"What's his name?" Allura asked.

"Yurak," Keith said.

Allura's eyebrows went up," That's Galran!"

"So was his father," Keith said.

"Oh." Allura was silent for a moment. "He's like you, then,"

"I guess," Keith said. He stood up, cradled Yurak his arms and swayed gently as the boy sobbed. "My mom almost named me Yurak."

"It's a lovely name," Allura said. "Does it have a special meaning?"

"'Tramples on his enemies'." Keith shrugged. "Most Galran names are like that."

"Perhaps he'll grow to be a great warrior," Allura said.

"Maybe he'll make peace," Keith said. The baby's cries grew louder. "And quiet. What do you say, buddy? Peace and quiet?"

Shiro hurried into the living room with Lance right behind. "Okay, I've got a bottle ready."

"Sit down," Lance said, pointing at the recliner. Shiro sat. Keith placed Yurak gently in his arms. Lance adjusted the baby and Shiro into a comfortable position and Shiro held the bottle to the baby's lips. "Tilt the bottle, like this. There!" The baby stopped crying and started sucking on the bottle. "Keep the bottle up. You don't want him to be swallowing air."

Shiro looked up with alarm. "It'll hurt him?"

"It'll give him gas," Lance said. He sat down in the other recliner.

Shiro watched the baby drink as his right arm hovered over Yurak with the bottle. "You know a lot about babies, huh?" Shiro asked. Keith watched the baby anxiously.

"I come from a big family," Lance said. "Everyone helps out."

The baby spat out the rubber nipple after a few minutes. "I think he's finished." Shiro held up the bottle to see what was left. "Did he eat enough?"

"Yeah, that's fine," Lance said. "He'll let you know when he's hungry again. You should burp him."

"Um. How?" Shiro asked.

"Hold him against your shoulder and rub his back," Lance said. "Do you want me to do it?"

"I will," Keith said. Lance draped a cloth over Keith's shoulder. "That's for burping?"

"Yeah, sometimes something comes up. Little messy, but no big," Lance said.

"Okay," Keith said. He took the baby in his arms and positioned him in place with help from Lance's instructions.

"I can loan you some books," Allura said. "I've been reading whatever I can about human babies. They're very similar to Altean babies. I expect Galran ones are similar as well."

Everyone looked at Keith. "I guess I could ask my mom," he said.

"Wow," Lance said. "I can't believe you guys have a baby."

Shiro shook his head. "We can't make a decision like this without considering all the factors. Keith travels a lot. I'm busy with the Garrison and we both need to be able to drop everything if we're needed for Voltron and the Atlas. We've got to look at our finances and we're going to have to think about education options. What if he's not interested in the Garrison?" He looked at his husband, who was watching the baby with a furrowed brow. "Keith?"

"He's like me," Keith said softly, not looking up. "He doesn't have anyone else."

Shiro crossed over to the couch and Allura slid to the side so he'd have room to sit next to Keith. He put his arm around Keith and touched their heads together. "Do you want to keep him?"

Keith nodded.

Shiro let out a long breath. "Then we'll make it work."

Keith looked up in surprise. "Yeah?"

"Yeah," Shiro said, and kissed him. He looked down at Yurak. "What do you think, buddy? Wanna stick around?" Yurak gave Shiro a puzzled look and puked up warm formula.

"That's a yes in baby language," Lance told them, as Shiro dabbed at the vomit with the burping cloth.

"This is so exciting!" Allura clasped her hands "Just think, our children will grow up together!"

"Yeah!" Lance said, then frowned. "Wait, no, our kid was supposed to be the oldest. This is cheating!"

Keith looked up from the baby long enough to smirk at Lance. "Guess you should have gotten Allura pregnant faster."

Lance put his hands on his hips. "Ours will be the prettiest. Obviously." He nodded at Allura, who rolled her eyes.

"Yurak will be the better pilot. Obviously," Keith said.

"Ours will be able to do magic!" Lance said.

"We don't know that for certain," Allura interjected.

"Yeah? Yurak will kick your kid's butt in hand-to-hand," Keith said.

"Our kid will kick your kid's butt in target shooting!"

"Hey, hey!" Shiro lifted his hands. "Don't forget academics."

Lance and Keith looked at each other, and both said, "My kid's going to be smarter than yours!" at the same time.

"All right, I think it's time we went back to our apartment," Allura said. She put a hand on the arm of the couch and awkwardly pulled herself to her feet.

"Thank you so much," Shiro said.

"Yes, thanks," Keith said.

"It isn't a problem at all," Allura said.

"Call if you need anything," Lance said. He held out his fist to Keith. "Dad bump," he said. Keith smiled and bumped fists with him.

After Allura and Lance left, Shiro unloaded the crib, then came back to the couch. Yurak was dozing against Keith's shoulder. "Come on," Shiro said. "Let's try out that crib so you can get some sleep."

"'M fine," Keith mumbled.

Shiro looked Keith over. His husband sat propped against the arm of the couch with a little twist, so he wouldn't be leaning on the worst of his wounds. His skin was pale under the bruises and his eyes were rimmed with red. "Come to bed and I'll do the next diaper change," Shiro said.

"Yeah, okay," Keith said, and gingerly got to his feet. He kept Yurak cradled in his arms until the got to the bedroom. Shiro rolled the crib next to the bed. Keith frowned. "Does he need pajamas?"

"Let me see what we have," Shiro said. He went into the other room and returned with a garment that looked like a tiny sleeping bag with arms. He handed it to Keith, who frowned. It was covered in blue Voltron lions.

"Do they make these with black lions?" Keith asked. He laid Yurak down and wrapped him up in the garment.

"Probably," Shiro said. "We can look tomorrow."

"No rush," Keith said. "I think we should get them for Lance and Allura. As thanks." He set Yurak down gently in the center of the crib and hovered over him. The baby made light fussing noises, but settled down quickly.

Shiro put his arm around Keith's waist. "I bet we could find ones with Red."

"I really think Lance would appreciate Black," Keith said. He leaned against Shiro.

"Let's get into bed," Shiro said. "We'll be right here if he needs anything."

Keith didn't move. He just watched as Yurak blinked his eyes slower and slower, until they finally stayed closed. "If we keep him-"

"'If'?" Shiro asked. "I thought we'd decided."

"Shiro, one day I'm going to have to tell him that I'm the one that got his parents killed," Keith said miserably.

"It wasn't your fault," Shiro said.

"It was my plan. I recommended them for the infiltration team," Keith said.

"You had no way of knowing what would happen," Shiro said.

"Will he understand that?" Keith asked. "I used to hate the other firefighters that let my father go back into the house. I thought they should have stopped him."

"He saved three people that day," Shiro said softly.

"I know," Keith said. "I hated myself for being selfish, too. I just wanted him back." He rubbed his arm across his eyes. "Sorry. I guess I'm just really tired."

"Keith, he's going to love you and he will forgive you," Shiro said. "Do you think it's better to put him with strangers who never knew his parents? Who wouldn't know what it's like to be both human and Galra?"

Keith shook his head. As leader of Voltron, he was rarely challenged outright, but he didn't miss the looks people exchanged when they found out about his heritage. It would be tougher for a child. "What about you? You keep asking how I feel, but he'd be yours, too."

"I want a family with you," Shiro said. "I've wanted that for a long time. I didn't expect it to happen like this, but it feels right."

Keith nodded. "I'll start the paperwork tomorrow." They climbed into bed. Keith rolled onto his good side and draped his arm around Shiro. He sat bolt upright about half an hour later, when Yurak started wailing. Keith lunged toward the crib, sniffed, and fell back. "This one's yours," he said to Shiro.

Shiro groaned and climbed out of bed. "I did say that, didn't I? You're up next time."

Keith lay back on his pillow. "Course." He didn't close his eyes until Yurak's crying stopped and the baby was safely back in his crib.

---

I wrote a couple of short ficlets showing Yurak as a kid in the Garrison. I might expand on them, if anyone's interested in reading more.  Here & Here.

---

Keithtober Prompts I've completed: Bonds / Garrison

---

My fic on AO3

[shewhodancedinthemoonlight]

Michi Headcanons #2

Find the first list here :)

1. Mimi’s feel-good-movie of choice is High School Musical. She gets extremely cross when Tai makes fun of her for it.

2. When Tai moved out of his parents’ apartment, he bought two plastic cups with the Havana Club logo on them. He’s had these two cups ever since, and no matter how often he moves, he never gets rid of them.

3. He loves putting his head on her lap when they watch movies.

4. Mimi’s favourite social medium is Instagram. She uses the Stories to update her friends in America about her day and loves uploading her favourite outfits, meaning that Tai has taken more #ootd pictures than he can count on his own two hands. She’s also gained quite a few followers because she regularly recommends new restaurants in the city.

5. Whenever they have a day off during summer, they drive down to Yokohama Bay. Mimi loves it because her grandparents lived in Yokohama, so she knows many hidden corners where they lounge in the sun all day. Usually, they have dinner before they head home the same night; sometimes, if they need a little more time away, they’ll book a room spontaneously.

6. Both of them absolutely hate to vacuum. They will do anything to get out this tedious household chore: bribe the other with sex, tell them they’ll do the laundry for a whole month, pretend they’ve vacuumed the last time. At one point, they employ Sora (without her consent) to keep track so that they’d have to take turns, but it’s not long until the redhead loses all patience and tells them to get lost. (Pretty much everyone in the gang is in charge of keeping track of the couple’s hoovering schedule at one point, but the only one who is relentless enough to resist both of their many attempts at bribing is Cody.)

7. A couple of weeks into dating, Mimi invited Tai to watch a horror movie in complete darkness so she could pretend to be scared and cuddle up to him. She’s completely endeared when Tai does put his arm around her in protection, but almost jumps out of his skin several times throughout the movie. (She also calls him out on leaving the hallway light on because he was scared shitless, but to this day, he persists he just forgot to turn it off.)

8. Although they’re both secure in the relationship and never feel like they can’t trust each other, they do get jealous sometimes. Tai has an ex-girlfriend from uni who he still sees sometimes at work events (they both work for the government). At one of these functions, she’s a bit too familiar with Tai, starting with the kiss on the cheek to greet him. When Tai tells the group about the desserts at a restaurant he and Mimi went to recently, she catches his gaze and smiles. “Aww, it’s so cute that you also take Mimi there. Remember how often we used to go there?” Mimi remains calm, but when they catch a taxi home, it takes him everything to keep her from undressing him right then and there.

9. Likewise, Tai’s especially attentive to all of Mimi’s needs whenever they run into her highschool sweetheart when they visit New York (and for such a big city, this happens ridiculously often). He makes a point to speak English all the time to show that there’s not one thing Michael can do better than him. Mimi never encourages this behaviour, but secretly loves it.

10. There’s a lot of things he does that Mimi finds sexy. Grinning so his dimples pop, stretching so his back muscles flex appealingly, driving with one arm resting by the window. While he knows about all of these, he has no idea she also loves it when he leans against a wall with one shoulder when he talks to her.

11. Tai finds it sexy when she expertly adds spices to her meals, when she joins him in the shower and when she sings. Also, he cannot stop looking at her when she’s wearing skinny jeans, a black t-shirt and her red plaid flannel shirt.

12. Mimi regularly meets up with Kari and Mrs. Yagami for shopping sprees, a day at the spa or a self-made dinner and a bottle of wine or two.

13. Whenever Tai wants something from Mimi, he doesn’t ask directly for it, but pretends to offer her something she’d like. If he wants a kiss, for example, he’ll  flirt, “Would you like me to kiss you?” She’ll almost always say, “nah, thanks,” just to spite him before kissing him anyway. Sometimes, though, she makes him state directly what he wants from her (she’s got an ego, too, after all).

14. Mimi does not mind going to the dentist. Tai regularly reminds her that this makes her an alien.

15. Mimi always kisses Tai goodnight, even when they fight. So that one time she doesn’t, he knows he screwed up.

16. Mimi’s parents adore Tai an almost absurd amount. If she didn’t know her parents loved her to bits, she’d be a bit jealous. Mrs. Tachikawa’s first question when they talk on the phone is always, “How’s Taichi? Is he doing well?” Mr. Tachikawa regularly consults him before getting a new computer or phone (Tai may or may not check with Izzy beforehand). They send them care packages regularly, and her mother labels all the items with post-its to indicate what is for whom (once, she wrote “to share <3” on a bag of Hershey’s Kisses, resulting in Mimi calling her to complain that Tai allegedly “did not share.” She sends two the next time.)

17. Tai is particularly proud of her when she agrees to teach a cooking class. She was incredibly nervous to do it because being a brilliant chef is one thing, but teaching others to be brilliant chefs is a different matter. Mimi is proudest of him whenever he scores a goal for his football team, because she knows how much the sport still means to him.

18. She loves house plants and is really good at taking care of them. Tai, on the other hand, is not green-thumbed. Therefore, whenever Mimi goes away, she leaves him a list of detailed instructions, always giving them silly headlines like “How to not Kill my Piece Lily :)”, “Tai’s Guide to not Overwatering Mimi’s Devil’s Ivy, Take 2” or “I Overheard my Chinese Evergreen Saying, ‘Please Don’t Put Me In Direct Sunlight, Taichi!’”

19. The most upset Mimi’s seen him to date was when Kari was brought into hospital to have her appendix removed. Even though it was routine duty for the staff, he couldn’t stop pacing. Mimi knew it reminded him of the time he was responsible for her going into hospital with a very high fever.

20. He has given up to convince her to come to the gym with him since all she does is take Instagram selfies and stare at him when he does weights. Sora and Tai regularly go jogging together, and Mimi’s started to hang out with Matt whenever they do (he, too, cannot see the point of working out).

21. She loves horoscopes and will always read them out to Tai whenever there’s one in her magazine. She doesn’t really believe in them, she just enjoys them.

22. When Mimi has trouble sleeping, she asks him to tell her corny jokes. There was a period of time in which he refused to because she’d laugh so hard it woke her up more than it made her sleepy.

23. While he has a handful of nicknames for her, Mimi calls him all kinds of things. She’ll use babe, handsome, darling and sunshine (both when he’s in a good and bad mood). Her response to “Your Majesty” is a sarcastic “Your Royal Highness”. Whenever he greets her with “Mimi Choo” after a shooping spree, she’ll call him “Gucci Yagami.” And her response to his deep, raspy “sweetness” is usually a breathy “gorgeous.”

24. As an early riser, Mimi’s the first to wake up on weekends. Tai always pulls her back when she tries to get up before 9. “Stay, please,” he whispers in a tone that should not be that persuasive that early in the morning. It doesn’t take much to convince her when his hands start to wander.

25. He’s yet to admit it, but one of his favourite things that Mimi does is when she climbs on his lap and wraps her arms around his neck. “Guess what?” she’ll say. “What?” he’ll always ask, even though he knows what’s coming. “I love you,” she’ll whisper against his lips. “What a coincidence,” he’d said one time. “I love me, too.” She huffed, but he kissed her protests away. “Just joking, Mi,” he’d said. “I love you more.”

[bellarkefanfiction]

just the beating of our hearts

*click thru to read on ao3

written by: Nai | @hiddenpolkadots

prompt: ‘Fanfic about Clarke taking care of Bellamy after he gets hurt and they are being all flirty and Abby is watching trying to figure out what the hell is up ’ for @nuclearwhalecake

word count: 4683

He leans into it, tilting his body towards her where she still stands between his legs, and they’re so, so close, breathing in each other’s air before his eyes flick up to meet her gaze and then—

Abby opens the door and steps out of the supply closet. “Clarke.”

-

or, 3 times Bellamy gets hurt and one time he isn't.

i.

“Stop moving, goddammit.”

“That hurts.”

“Well then maybe you should have thought of that before you went and did something stupid.”

“I wasn’t doing ‘something stupid’—”

“— I don’t know, climbing the Factory wreckage without any kind of harness seems pretty stupid to me.”

“I’m fine.”

“Yeah? Lift your right arm for me then, go on.”

It’s not unusual to hear bits and pieces of conversation floating around the medbay— the place is a hotbed for gossip and keeping up to date with all the camp drama— but, for the most part, Abby is able to tune it out.

At least until she hears her daughter who, since they’ve been reunited, has yet to step foot in the med bay or be anywhere near to her for any extended period of time, and that is what finally gets her to look up from the inventory she was taking.

She hits her knee on the edge of the table as she scrambles to stand up and hisses at the shoot of pain that ratchets up her thigh.

The stockroom is separated from the medbay by a door that’s usually kept closed. Now though, it’s open just a crack and it lets her look into the next room without being caught.

The first thing she notices is the broad torso that belongs to Bellamy Blake.

He’s sitting on one of the examination tables, stripped down to a thin undershirt and cradling his right arm close to his chest. His jacket is in a crumpled heap next to him and his fringe flops down into his eyes as he glares presumably at Clarke, who she can’t see at this angle.

She walks back in two seconds later, holding an old piece of fabric and a small metal tin.

“What, you’re not lifting it?” she asks, setting the items down on the table next to him.

Bellamy aims a kick at her shins and she pinches his bicep without missing a beat.

“Fuck you, Clarke,” he grumbles, slouching further and wincing when it pulls at his shoulder.

She bares her teeth at him in a wicked smile. “Nah, you might end up dislocating your hip too, grandpa.”

He kicks her again and she sticks her tongue out at him.

It’s unlike anything she’s ever seen, the way they’re both so comfortable with each other, that Abby can feel the horror dripping over her like a cold bucket of water.

She’s never really given much thought about Bellamy Blake but now, watching as Clarke easily steps into the vee of his legs and he shifts to make room for her, she’s trying to come up with every scrap of knowledge she has on the man.

“I'm fine,” Clarke mimics in a poor impression of his voice as she assesses him once again. “If you were fine then you wouldn’t have a dislocated shoulder.”

“Can’t you work your doctor magic on it already?” he huffs, “Slap some bandages on it or something. I have to get back to work.”

“Oh no, you’re not going anywhere else besides your bed after I’m done with you.”

“Clarke.”

“Bellamy.”

He glares at her and she glares right back until he caves with a sigh. “You’re a pain in my ass.”

“Whatever. You like it.”

It gets a smile out of him, a real genuine smile that lights up his entire face for a fleeting moment, and he says, “Yeah, I do.”

It’s those words that has her wondering what exactly she’s looking at.

Friendship definitely. That’s easy to see. Everything from the bickering to their body language confirms it, along with mutual trust and respect, but there’s something else there. Something deeper and, frankly, something that makes her feel more than a little bit jealous.

Clarke is as open as she’s ever seen, laughing and joking alongside him. She lets her guard down completely around him and for that reason alone Abby finds herself hating that he gets to share that part of her that she’s lost. That she’s chosen Bellamy Blake of all people.

He’s dangerous. He might be a few years older than the other children they sent down, but he’s still only a young man with a hot head that gets him into trouble.

They’re dangerous together. And her daughter has had enough danger to last several lifetimes.

She doesn’t know much about him, but she can already see that he’s different here. Softer. Younger. What she thought was a permanent frown on his face is nowhere to be seen and he looks at ease, relaxed, eyes glittering with mirth as he smirks up at her.

At Clarke.

Her daughter.

That little green eyed monster inside her is practically foaming at the mouth.

“Gonna pop it back in on the count of three,” she tells him, placing both hands on either side of his shoulder. She can see Bellamy visibly tense. “One… two…”

She moves swiftly, slotting the bone back into the socket with little fanfare and steps back as he yelps.

“Three,” she finishes, voice smug.

Bellamy glares balefully at her, clutching his sore shoulder. “You cheated.”

“Because you’re a big baby,” she says sweetly, scratching her nails at the base of his scalp.

He leans into it, tilting his body towards her where she still stands between his legs, and they’re so, so close, breathing in each other’s air before his eyes flick up to meet her gaze and then—

Abby opens the door and steps out of the supply closet. “Clarke.”

The two of them jump apart as though they’ve been caught doing something wrong and she can see the shutters fall shut, hiding that softness from before.

Clarke recovers first, crossing her arms over her chest and trying to look nonplussed despite the pink dashed across her cheek. “Mom,” she says evenly.

Bellamy just nods, a tic in his jaw making itself known. “Chancellor,” he says, voice gruff.

She remains unimpressed, folding her own arms and surveying the room.

“What are you doing here?”

“Uh,” the two of them share a look, “Bellamy injured his arm.”

Abby presses her lips together. “I see.”

She suddenly wants them gone, separated, left on opposite sides of the camp, just-- away from each other. She knows she doesn’t have a good, solid reason for this, that it’s mostly out of pettiness and the jealousy bubbling in her gut, but still.

There was something in the way Clarke looked at him— warm and open in a way she hasn’t seen since before everything happened— that makes her purse her lips and say, “Don’t you have a meeting with engineering? I can finish up here for you.”

Bellamy and Clarke share another wordless glance and oh how she hates them.

“The meeting isn’t for another half hour,” she says slowly, “And Bellamy is going to it too.”

Of course he is.

“Well don’t you need to prepare?” she asks, trying to prod her into leaving. “Besides, you’re not assigned to the medbay. You shouldn’t be treating patients.”

“Seriously ?” she splutters. “It’s just a dislocated shoulder, I could do that in my sleep.”

“You don’t have any proper training and I’m not going to bend the rules for you,” she says succinctly before turning her attention to Bellamy.

He’s been quiet this entire time glancing back and forth between the two of them from his spot on the table. He’s no longer slouching, instead sitting up straight with obvious tension ratcheting up his spine and trying not to make eye contact with her.

Clarke on the other hand throws a disbelieving look his way, and Abby catches the barest twitch of his lips as he tries to keep from reacting.

“You know what, fine,” she says and throws her hands up with a roll of her eyes. “You take over then. I’ve already set it back in place but since you don’t trust me you can look it over.” She wipes her hands on her jeans before throwing one last look at Bellamy. “I’ll see you later,” she says to him, before turning on her heel and walking out.

Bellamy still doesn’t say anything when she starts prodding and poking at his arm, and just gives simple yes or no answers in response to her questions. Clarke did set it back properly and all that’s left for her to do is tie off the sling and instruct him how to use the muscle balm.

It’s all very civil considering mere minutes before she stewing in the corner.

“Come back in a few days for me to take a look at it again,” she tells him, watching as he clumsily shrugs on his jacket.

He nods once. “Thanks Doctor Griffin,” he says, voice gruff, and then walks out of medbay, most likely to go find Clarke again.

Abby sighs, watching as he disappears in the distance. She’ll have to find a better way to keep them apart from each other if they knew what was good.

(Later she would walk past Bellamy’s tent at just the right moment and hear him say, “I don’t think your mom likes me much,” sounding absolutely delighted by the fact.)

ii.

It’s staggering to think about the change that has happened over the past six months.

She’s lost people and found them, been stabbed in the back and betrayed and had to make some near impossible choices. She’s lost Clarke and found her only to lose her once more, this time of her own volition. She’s strengthened old bonds, broke some, and forged new, albeit strange, ones.

Most notably that with Bellamy Blake.

Her lips tip up in a wry smile.

The Abby of four months ago would have deemed it ridiculous but yet here she is, somehow trusting this man.

It all has to do with Clarke of course, and it’s just so funny that his relationship with her daughter was the exact same thing she’d resented him for in the beginning.

She’s learnt better by now.

There’s still that friendship between them, burning brighter and deeper than ever, but she’s seen it— through her eyes and thousands of unknown more— that they’re lingering on that precipice, just waiting for that right push.

She honestly shouldn’t be surprised about this anymore, and yet--

“That’s going to bruise,” Clarke murmurs, brushing her fingers across his throat. They trail up his neck, chin, jaw before finally settling on his cheek, thumbing the wound still sluggishly oozing blood. “And this is going to scar.”

Bellamy for his part keeps his eyes closed, slumped against the wall. “What’s one more to add to the collection,” he mumbles, lips barely moving.

They’re still in the throne room, battle weary and exhausted in all forms of the word, leaning against a pillar to the extreme right, next to an open balcony.

Moonlight streams through it, dripping onto their skin and hair and making them look otherworldly.

Clarke’s hands continue to trace over Bellamy’s face, cataloguing every hiss and flinch and groan he makes.

“I don’t think anything is broken or fractured,” she says, leaving her palm on his cheek, “So you don’t have to worry too much about losing your pretty boy membership card.”

“Thanks for looking out for me,” he says dryly, “You always have my best interests at heart.”

“Well, your face is the only thing that makes you seem bearable,” she teases and he huffs out a breath.

“You’re such a little brat,” he tells her, and now it’s Clarke’s turn to laugh.

“Yeah, yeah, I know. Soon you’ll be yelling at me to get off your lawn too,” she sniggers, easily dodging the blind fist he swings her way.

“Rude,” he says, and Clarke’s smile is almost painfully wide.

She hasn’t seen her smile like that since, well, ever.

“Come on,” she says softly, shifting closer to him, “You might not have any fractures but you do have way too much blood and dirt on your face right now.”

And with that Abby watches as Clarke all but climbs into Bellamy’s lap and starts to wipe away the mess bit by bit.

The fabric is rough, but even from here she could see the delicateness she wields it with, cleaning the grit from the corner of his eyes, thumbing gently at the cut across his cheek, wiping the sharp angles of his jaw. She would think that it would have lulled him to sleep had it not been for the hand he has splayed out on the small of her back, holding Clarke steady as she works.

Her strokes slow as she nears the end, and when she stops all together, Bellamy’s eyes flutter open and he looks up at her from beneath his lashes, hot and wanting.

She’s taken back to the first time she saw them like this, trapped in their own little world. That time was different though. It was like the nip of the wind before the first snowfall of the year, a promise of something more to come.

This was the something more.

The two of them alone in all their hazy, softened glory.

It seems so intimate, the way they look at each other as he lets his fingers trace the mark left by the AI in her neck, the spot still tender but Clarke shivers when he touches it.

It’s almost enough to make her want to avert her eyes and give them some semblance of privacy.

“You okay?” he asks when she’s finished, leaving a hand cupping the back of her neck. He takes the rag from her and uses it to wipe the black blood that leaked out of her nose, just as gentle as Clarke was.

“Yeah,” she says, putting her hand over his wrist and leaning into it.

It’s always struck her just how comfortable the two of them are with each other but this, sitting tangle up in each other seemingly unaware of the rest of the world around them, is something else.

Clarke leans her head against Bellamy’s bicep and lets out a sigh that seems too big for her body.

“Yeah, I’m okay.”

Abby watches them as they fall asleep, half slumped against the pillar and half against each other. Their hands are loosely linked together on his thigh and it stays there, until they wake up the next morning, ready to take on the world side by side once more.

iii.

In the almost seven years that Abby’s known Bellamy Blake he could have lost his life about twenty different times, and that’s being optimistic.

His hothead gets him into all kinds of trouble, as does his inability to stay still. It’s a valuable asset most of the time, though sometimes things can go a bit too far.

But, all past near death experiences aside, this one is surely the closest he’s come to actually dying, and it leaves Clarke clinging to her arm like a scared little girl once more as she watches his pale body barely even breathe on the table in front of them.

It is not war that left him in this position. It’s not yet another battle to add to the thousands under his belt, it’s not another ambush, or a trap or even a trade meeting gone wrong.

It’s a panther, one with no tail and twice as many claws, that attacked him during a routine hunting expedition. A reminder that even when they are at peace, they’re never really going to be able to let their guard down fully.

Jackson has finished prepping the vial of anaesthetic and as she takes a step towards the table, Clarke’s grip somehow grows stronger.

“Mom, please,” she whispers, bottom lip quivering and eyes trained on his still form lying just in front them. “I just got him back. I can’t lose him again. Not for good.”

If she had any doubt about their feelings for each other; or rather Clarke’s feelings for that boy- man- as he’s always worn his heart on his sleeve, then those few words would have cleared it right up.

She spares a moment to give her hand a brief squeeze. “I know,” she murmurs, and catches her eyes for second before pulling on her gloves.

The next few hours are gruelling.

A rough preliminary examination of his body shows that only one of the gashes is life threatening, and she and Jackson immediately get to work on that, cleaning and closing and stitching. None of his organs are damaged, thank god, but it’s a sizeable injury that caused him to lose a lot of blood.

Clarke doesn’t leave the medbay.

She can hear Octavia pacing outside, growling at everyone who tries to speak to her, but Clarke is curled up on the floor in the corner, knees pulled up to her chin and unmoving. She doesn’t seem to breathe until she sees him breathe, eyes trained so hard on his chest that if Abby didn’t know better she would think it’s the force of that alone that keeps him going, hanging on to this side by his fingernails.

Two bags of blood and another sedative later, they’re able to slow their frantic pace and stitch him up, slow and methodical.

She loses count of how many stitches she’s put to hold his torso together, but she can see Clarke’s lips move soundlessly, keeping track of it all.

As Jackson finishes tending to the other superficial wounds on his body and she ties off the last stitch, Clarke stands, all creaking bones and heartbreak, and crosses the room to take a seat next to Bellamy’s figure.

She looks worse for wear, purple bruises under her eyes and dried blood staining her shirt and hands.

If this was six years ago she would have ordered her to go home, tell her that there was nothing for her to do here.

Now though, she just squeezes her shoulder and says, “At least wash off the blood,” she trudging off to the makeshift doctors’ quarters on the other end of the room.

She’s done all she could, now it’s for him to pull through the night.

From her spot in the hammock she can only see a bit of their figures, but it looks likes Clarke has her head bowed in prayer, hands clasped and forehead on the tabletop.

She doesn’t say anything when she finally straightens and takes his hand instead, and doesn’t say anything again when she starts humming to him the old song she used to sing for her at night on the ark.

Bellamy makes it through the night with minimal fuss and the whole world seems to breathe easier.

They move him from the exam room to what used to be a closet, now outfitted with a cot and a chair for Clarke, and now it’s just a waiting game.

Clarke doesn’t leave his side for more than five minutes at a time, which is to be expected. She talks to him and tells him mythology stories from an old book they found on the Ark, and Abby even finds her changing his bandages on the morning of the second day and wiping him down with an old wet rag.

She does it so carefully, so lovingly, that she can’t help but wonder if they actually are together at last.

She supposes that that’s a question for another day.

On the third day, Bellamy wakes up and Abby is lucky enough to be in the room at the same time he starts to twist and turn, muttering unintelligently before—

“Clarke,” he murmurs, because of course that’s going to be the first word out of his mouth. Abby tries not to roll her eyes at how transparent they are.

“Hey,” she says, flashing him a small but no less stunning smile when he finally blinks his eyes open. “Hey Bellamy.”

His responding smile is more of a lazy tilt of the lips but neither of them care.

And then it turns into a wince when he tries to move and her hands automatically start fluttering all over him to check for damages.

“That hurts,” he says, making a face.

Clarke laughs low as she cards her fingers through his hair. “Well then maybe you should have thought of that before you went and did something stupid.”

“S’not my fault the panther came out of nowhere,” he says before trying to smirk at her. “Can’t blame it for wanting to take a bite out of me; I’m delectable.”

Clarke’s laughter is surprised, and even Abby feels her lips twitch in response.

“You ass,” she says fondly, “You think you’ve got jokes, huh.”

“Well they do say that laughter is the best medicine.”

She giggles. “Yeah, they do.” She takes a minute, the laughter and jokes disappearing from her face before she nudges him. “Hey.”

“Hmm?” He looks up at her.

“You mean a lot to me, okay?” she says, soft, and Bellamy’s face turns sombre. “I don’t— you’re my best friend, Bellamy. I don’t know what I’d do without you. You just can’t leave me. I can’t- I can’t lose you too.”

Her eyes are blazing as she stares down at him, and she looks like she’s steeling herself to actually say it, and Abby finds herself waiting with bated breath to see if she’s right about this whole thing.

“I know, Clarke,” he murmurs, tracing the delicate bones of her hand.

“No, you really don’t,” she says, a little helpless smile blooming across her face as she looks at him, eyes glistening. “The reason why I can’t lose you. It’s because I… I-”

“I know,” he says quick, smoothly filling in her pause, and she huffs, swiping at her eyes. “I know, Clarke. You don’t have to say it.”

“But I want to.”

“You don’t have to say it now, then,” he corrects himself, pressing a kiss to the inside of her wrist. “Whenever you’re ready, I’ll be here.”

She laughs again and a few tears slip down her cheeks. Even Abby can feel a bit of a sting in her own eyes as she watches them, watches just how happy they are, how happy they make each other.

“Good,” says Clarke fiercely, twisting their hands so that their fingers are linked. She drops her head to rest on his shoulder, nose skimming the line of his jaw. “I’m not letting you go anywhere, Bellamy Blake.”

+i.

She blinks in surprise when she steps into the first examination room and comes face to face with Bellamy and Clarke.

The former is leaning against the wall, looking completely at ease, while the latter grumpily sits in the chair, face clouded over.

It’s not particularly unusual to see them both around the medbay; Clarke usually covers the easy shifts of treating colds and tending to minor wounds, and more often than not Bellamy would wander in at all times of the day just to say hi or drop off an apple because he frets more about her eating habits than she does.

It’s nothing short of amusing at times.

That being said, she usually sees them working in the clinic. Not as her patients.

“Clarke?” she asks, coming up short.

She sighs, leaning back, and Bellamy puts a hand on her shoulder. “Hi mom.”

“What’s wrong? Are you sick?”

“No,” she growls the exact same time Bellamy nods and says, “Yes.”

She glares at him and he only just lifts an eyebrow in response. She ends up sticking her tongue out him after the glare falls through.

Abby hides her smile. They’re both adults now, and have been married for almost a year, and yet they still manage to act like a pair of preschoolers with a crush on each other when the other is near. It’s a bit exasperating sometimes but cute nonetheless.

Still, there are more pressing matters at hand.

“Yes or no?” she asks, looking between the two of them. Clarke grows increasingly more sullen as time ticks by.

“I’m fine,” she grits out, “Bellamy is just being a drama queen like always.”

“You threw up this morning,” he shoots back, crossing his arms. “You’ve thrown up almost every morning for the past two weeks, you’ve been so tired and achy all the time but you haven’t actually been sleeping, and you’re not eating properly.”

“I’m fine,” she says again, this time trying to keep her tone even. She glances up at Bellamy and  softens even more. “I’m not sick, okay.”

And then all of a sudden, it hits her.

Oh.

Abby’s eyes dart down to her stomach for a split second before flicking back up to her daughter’s face. Clarke has noticed of course, and is biting down on her bottom lip when she gives just the tiniest of nods.

Oh.

All of a sudden the world goes blurry and she finds herself blinking back tears while Bellamy just looks back and forth between them, desperation evident.

“What?” he asks, squeezing Clarke’s hand tight. “What?”

She lets out a soft laugh, more of a huff really, and stands up, linking both of their hands together.

Abby turns away under the pretense of giving them some privacy, but really it’s because her eyes are still wet and she needs to find something to pat it dry.

“I’m not sick,” she tells him again, rolling up on the balls of her feet. “Or rather, not the kind of sick you’re thinking about. This is normal. I’m fine.”

“Clarke,” he whines, voice shot, “Could you please stop talking in circles and just tell me what’s going on?”

She ducks her head, laughing again. “You better hope our kid isn’t as impatient as you.”

“Oh please, our kid would be lucky to have my—” He jerks like he’s been shot, gaze snapping over to her and Clarke grins back, a bit tentatively.

The whole thing has Abby crying even more and while she tries to covertly wipe away the tears lest she breaks the moment, she doubts that even a hurricane could rock them, the intensity of their gaze damn near overwhelming.

“Our kid?” he repeats hoarsely, once he’s found his voice again.

Clarke nods. “I told you,” she says pulling him close, “I’m not actually sick. It’s just a bout of morning sickness and— yeah. I’m pregnant.”

“Jesus fucking Christ you’re pregnant,” he says, before collapsing into her recently vacated chair.

She lets out a bright laugh. “Yeah, Bell. I’m pregnant.”

“Holy shit.”

She giggles again and Abby can’t help but smile fondly at the two.

“Did you know?” he asks, eyes snapping to hers, and Abby shakes her head.

“Only two seconds before you did.”

“It was supposed to be a surprise,” she grumbles, even as a truly ridiculous smile tugs at her lips. “I was planning a thing. It was gonna be fancy. Congrats on ruining it.”

“I really don’t care,” he says before dropping her hands in favour of lightly caressing her stomach.

There’s not much to see, not yet, but even Abby’s heart squeezes at the pure love and joy reflected in their eyes, especially when Bellamy places a chaste kiss on her stomach and then steals a lingering one from her lips.

“We’re gonna have a baby,” he whispers, grinning from ear to ear.

Abby already knows that she was wrong with her first judgment of him, but it’s times like these that she’s especially glad she was wrong. That this is the man who loves Clarke wholeheartedly and unconditionally. That she feels the same way about him too, that they both make each other happy.

They’re so wrapped up in each other, murmuring all sorts of sweet nothings while his hands continue to trace circles into the skin of her tummy, that they don’t notice when she sneaks out.

There’ll be plenty of time for her to talk and give advice, both medical and maternal, to Clarke later, but now, now she lets them have this special moment on their own and she’s positive that nothing could wipe the smile off her face for the next nine months.

[sandyferal]

Not wanted

A Darrell x reader.

Just a warning, I can’t make it 100% happy so ¯\_(ツ)_/¯  

I tried hope u like it!

“You think you know pain? You’ve never experienced pain until you met me!” You heard your master ramble on to the hero they had caught. 

They were trying to get the hero to reveal the location of their base. And as always the only thing they had told you was to not bother them. That was why when you heard a loud *THUMP* and then the doorbell ring, you went to answer it yourself. 

There was a large package on the doorstep that said “BOXMORE” in large letters.

“Oh great.” You grumbled. “I guess I’l have to bring this thing in by myself.”

 You wrapped your arms around the huge box and lifted. It must have weighed at least 5 times more than you did, but you wouldn’t have gotten the job as minion if you couldn’t handle something like this. You set the box down in the mechanic’s room. You pried open the lid to see a couple stack of robots.One by one you took them out. 

The first model you saw was orange. It had a feminine shape, with a round head, and two eyes arms and legs. The second model you saw was green and had a yellow, pointed face, large black hair, spikes on it’s shoulders, and parts of it’s casing that where larger than others. There were a ton of each model which must have been why the box was so heavy. It seemed that they were the only two models in the box until you saw one in the bottom. 

It looked relatively different from the other ones. It was bright red, and only had one eye. On it’s head was a glass case that seemed to contain a brain. You searched through the box, but there only seemed to be one of this model.

You activated the robots one by one. Once activated they all started chattering. They seemed to be very… personalized. There was Shannon, the orange one, Raymond, the green one, and they called the red one Darrell. A short while you had them all activated, your boss came in.

“So my shipment finally came.” They said. “Alright, listen up!” 

Your boss had a very commanding voice. Even though you were used to it, you still perked up at the sound. 

As the robots were given instructions, you looked around at them. The one that drew your eye was the red one, Darrell. You drew closer to him. You could almost see him vibrating in anticipation.

“Are you excited?” You asked him. 

Darrell turned to you.

“Yeah! I need to impress my new owner!” He said.

You looked at him curiously. “I wonder why they only ordered one of you.”

This caused Darrell to look at you. He seemed slightly confused. You could see the cogs turning in his head. Then he shrugged.

“I guess they know that they only need one of me. I’m just that good.”

You smiled. “I doubt that.” You said under your breath.

 The other robots had all been assigned to duties. Some lingered, but most were gone. Now your master turned to the two of you. You stiffened and moved away slightly, not looking directly at your master’s face.

“And you..” They looked at Darrell, who tensed up, looking eager.

“Wait a second. I didn’t order you.”

“What?” Darrell’s face fell.

“Yeah I only ordered the Shannons and the Raymonds. You’re just a 1.0 model, and those are ALWAYS the worst.”

You looked between your master and the robot. This was worrying.

“Yeah, that’s right!” One of the Shannons said happily. “He’s terrible at fighting!”

“Shut up! You’re the worst!” Darrell said back.

“Shut it both of you.” Master said. They both complied immediately.

“What should I do with him?” You asked.

“Eh, just throw him away. I don’t need him.” Your master said nonchalantly.

Darrell looked crushed. 

“No!” You said. You immediately regretted speaking out but you couldn’t take it back.

“What?” Master asked. “So what would you do with him?”

“He could fight like the rest of them!” You added. “It couldn’t hurt could it?”

“Yes it-” Another Shannon started.

“Quiet!” Your master said.

They thought for a moment. Then they nodded. “As long as he doesn’t get in my way.” 

You breathed a sigh of relief. You were surprised you had spoken out in the first place, but at least you weren’t punished for it.

“Great.” One of the Shannons grumbled. Though no one but you could hear.

“Anyway,” You master said. “I’ll call for you when I need something. I left the torture machine to run for a bit so I should probably check on that hero to see if shes cracked yet.”

With that your master left the room and you and Darrell were the only ones left.

“Uh thanks I guess,”

You turned to Darrell who was looking you.

“For telling them not to throw me away and all.” He said.

“Yeah I probably shouldn’t have done that.” You replied. “But since I did, you gotta make sure you don’t get in their way. I don’t want to have to stick up for you again.”

“Don’t worry, I’ll won’t let you down!.” He said.

You laughed. He sure was enthusiastic.

“Well let’s hope not.”

…

The next day you saw a lot of the robots. As you spent more time with them you learned something; they all hated each other. It’s not like they were constantly trying to kill each other or anything, but they all seemed to want to prove they were the best. They were like sibling fighting for a parents attention.

This was really unfortunate for Darrell because there was only one of him, not to mention that your master had already said 1.0 models were the worst. As much as Shannon and Raymond seemed to hate each other they seemed to have no problem joining up to pick on Darrell. Of course he didn’t take that. He would throw around insults and get into tussles just as much as the other two. Your master’s stern warnings were the only thing stopping utter chaos.

“I can’t believe you broke that!” You heard a Shannon yell from a room.

“Raymond broke it! I wasn’t anywhere near it!” Darrell retorted.

“Me? It was your clumsy fingers that dropped it. If I was holding it, it wouldn’t have broke at all.” Raymond said loftily.

“Yeah One eye, that’s all on you!”

You entered the room to see a broken tablet on the ground. On one side were Shannon and Raymond, who seemed to have backed off from the wrecked tablet. On the other side was Darrell, who was standing closer to the broken device, not noticing that the other two were setting him up to look like the most guilty one in the room.

“Like the boss said, 1.0 models are always the WORST.” Shannon said teasingly. “Be careful or you’ll get yourself thrown away glass brain!”

“What?” Darrell’s face fell, realizing he was set up. “But that’s not fair! I didn’t- I mean it wasn’t-”

“HEY!” 

Everyone turned to you. Shannon and Raymond took a couple steps back and pointed at Darrell.

“He did it!” They said in unison.

“But I didn’t!” Darrell said, sounding more than a little upset. “I swear it was them! They set me up!”

You looked at Shannon and Raymond, who were trying to look as innocent as possible.

You sighed. “I don’t care who did it,” You pointed at Shannon and Raymond. “Clean this up now!”

They looked indignant.

“But it’s only fair that if he broke it he should clean it!” Raymond said.

“Yeah, and you’re not our boss anyway.” Shannon added.

“I have been here longer than any of you, so as far as you’re concerned I am your boss. Plus, if really did break that, then I don’t want him to attempt to clean up, then break something else because he’s so clumsy.” You said calmly.

“I’m not clumsy.” Darrell muttered under his breath.

Shannon and Raymond looked like were about to argue, but thought better of it and begrudgingly started cleaning. Meanwhile you grabbed Darrell by the arm and dragged him out.

“I-” Darrell started again.

“I know you didn’t break it and you’re not clumsy, it was obvious they were trying to frame you. Even if I did tell Master they would have known you didn’t break it.” You sighed. “The problem is that if those two are messing things up to try to frame you, then it would honestly be easier to throw you out than to let them try to get you in trouble.”

“But that’s not fair!” Darrell said.

“Yeah, well good thing that’s what Master thinks, not me. I’m not going to throw you out. Just don’t let yourself get set up again.” You said.

“Yeah, ok…” Darrell said. “But if I do you’ll be there to help me right?”

“W-what?” You looked at him.

“You stood up for me twice, you won’t let me get thrown out right?” He smiled at you. Both the smile and the naivety was…adorable.

“Yeah I guess I’ll try.” You said.

…

It only took a couple days for your master to get the information out of the hero they had kidnapped. And after that the robots had a job: go to the heroes base and defeat them. There must have been at least thirty of them. Around fifteen Shannons, around fifteen Raymonds, and the one Darrell.

“Doesn’t it make you nervous that there’s only one of you, and so many of everyone else?” You asked him.

“Nah. Those dumb heroes won’t take me down so easily.” He said.

“You sure? They’re pretty high level.” 

“Yeah. I can take them.” He said confidently.

“I guess I’ll see you later than.” You said.

After the robots left, you started your duties around the house. But you felt nervous. You were actually worried about Darrell. He was such a dork. Excitable, confident, but he wasn’t mean. He seemed to be more naive than the Shannons and Raymond’s. You used to be that naive but you had changed. Working for a level -7 villain did that to you.

By the time the hoard of robots came back you had made yourself way more nervous than you needed to be, which is why it came as a huge relief that they were super excited about their victory.

You went down to greet them. To your surprise Darrell came straight to you out of the excited crowd and threw an arm around you. 

“See, I told you there was nothing to worry about! We won!” He said.

He took a step back and you looked at him. One of his arms hung limp. Sparking wires were sticking out of it, and some of the casing was torn off.

“Is your arm ok?” You asked.

“Huh?” He looked at his arm. “Oh that. It’s probably fine.”

The moment he said that, both of his arms fell into pieces on the ground.

“Oh.” He said.

“Ok, if your injured get in here so Master can fix you!” One of the other minions yelled from a doorway.

Darrell started toward the door but you stopped him.

“Don’t.” You said to him.

He looked at you puzzled.

“But my arms-”

You looked at the doorway.

“We can’t let Master know that you’re damaged.” You said. “Since they didn’t order you in the first place they’re not going to fix you. Besides, I shouldn’t say this but personally I’m a bit more adept at fixing machines than they are.”

You led Darrell to a secluded area near the room you slept in. It contained a work bench and tools. You begun to work on Darrell.

“Thanks again.” Darrell said. “For standing up for me and fixing me. That’s pretty cool of you. No one else has ever done that for me.”

“I usually wouldn’t do this.” You said. “But I… well, I guess I just like you.”

Darrell looked at you and you could swear that even though he was a robot you could see him blushing.

“You like me?” 

You realized what he meant. 

“Not like that! I mean… maybe I do.” You felt yourself blushing too. “It’s too soon to tell. I mean you’re pretty cute.”

He smiled. “Thanks.”

Once you had finished repairing him you snuck back to where the rest of the robots were. Your Master saw the two of you.

“So, hes still in tact?” They asked.

“Yep! Still in working order!” You said.

“Hmm. Ok.” Then Master walked away.

“I got things to do, so see you later.” You said.

Darrell hugged you, causing you to flinch. 

“See ya!”

After a moment you embraced him back. When he backed away you could see Darrell. He looked so happy. He was adorable. 

…

Over the next week it seemed that Darrell took every opportunity to help you out. He was could be really silly sometimes, which would’ve annoyed you but he was so happy to work with you, so eager to please that you couldn’t help but appreciate that he was trying his best. 

“Is there a reason that you keep hanging around me?’ You asked him one day.

“Well, I guess no one else wants me around.” He said. “Raymond and Shannon don’t want me getting in their way and your boss said not to bother them. You never tell me to go away.”

“Of course not.” You said. “I’d rather spend time with someone who doesn’t act like they’re better than me all the time, unlike your siblings.”

“They shouldn’t act like that. You’re way cooler than they are!” Darrell said.

“Thanks.” You said. “You’re such a sweetheart.”

Darrell’s eyes lit up. He seemed to be blushing again.

“Hehehe… well..” He laughed.

At that moment your Master came into the room. You backed away from Darrell and looked at the ground.

“[Name], I need to talk to you for a second. ” Your Master said.

You approached your master.

“You know that Darrell keeps causing problems with the other bots, getting into fights and stuff.” Your Master said.

“It’s not like Shannon and Raymond like each other. They’d fight anyway.” You said.

“Mmmm ok, nevermind I’ll be honest, what I really mean is could you do something about him? I didn’t want him in the first place, and it’s been a while, so…” Master trailed off.

“Please no! He’s helpful isn’t he? And I like him. There’s nothing wrong with keeping him around!” You pleaded.

“I’ve never seen you act so… sentimental.” Your master said. “I really don’t like how you’re acting right now.  It’s not like a villain to get this sentimental. Get rid of him, for your sake.”

Your master left and you stood for a second, thinking. Then, you walked back into the room. Darrell looked at you.

“What’d the boss say?” He asked.

You looked at Darrell. Then back at where your master had gone.

“It’s not important.” You said. “Remember how you said I never told you to go away?”

“Yeah.” 

“Well that’s because I like you.” Then you kissed him on the cheek. “And no matter what happens, I want you around. Remember that.”

“That’s-that’s” Darrell stammered. “That’s the first time I’ve been told that. Thank you.”

You smiled. “You deserve to be told that every day.”

You and Darrell got back to the work you were doing, and you tried to act like nothing was wrong. You didn’t like how your boss had said “for your own sake.” You had a feeling that if you didn’t actually get rid of Darrell something bad would happen. But when you looked at him you realized that at the moment you didn’t care.