#not teen me not child me not current me. none of us is okay with whatever the fuck i have going on and yet!

[thecherrygod]

Hm

[gaintsnowflake]

Hi,can you write Anthony Lockwood x reader,in which they take care of a baby (the child is the reader's niece), and George jokes that they should make their own, and Lockwood picks up on this idea. Thanks in advance 😊

𝐋𝐎𝐂𝐊𝐖𝐎𝐎𝐃 𝐉𝐑

PAIRING : Anthony Lockwood x fem!reader

ONESHOT : in which george has the brillent idea to joke about you and lockwood having a baby while watching your niece

TRIGGERS : none

A/N : I hope you enjoy this, if this isn't what you were hoping for, please dm me and I will do write it again or if you want an extention. This was a little bit of a struggle to write, but still thank you so much for this request! Please ignore any spelling and grammar errors, this is not proof-read!

WORD COUNT : 1.1k

masterlist

A CRYING baby is loud and obnoxious. The constant attention it needs gets quite annoying. The diapers smell terrible and so does the formula put in the body. I mean, what do they put in that stuff? All and all, an eight-month-old baby is not supposed to be in a psychic agency run by teens. Yet here we are.

It was Saturday, and Anthony and Lucy just got home from a small shopping trip. We had a few days till our next case, it was a slow month. But I can tell you that they were not expecting to hear two voices coming from the kitchen, especially since George is at the archives.

"I am not sure," I muttered, my hand running through my hair as I sat back. "I love you, I do, I love her too. But this is a psychic agency, we have work to do."

"Please, y/n, it's just a few hours," My sister argued quietly as the baby in her lap was fast asleep.

I heard Anthony call my name as he and Lucy pushed the kitchen door open. I gave them a quick smile with tired eyes. They looked between my sister and me, confused as to what is going on.

"Hi love, hi Lucy," my voice was still soft as I was trying not to wake the baby.

"What's going on here?" Anthony asked, his eyebrow raising as he looked at the sleeping child.

"My sister here is just asking if we could watch my niece for a few hours, I was just telling her-" 

"Of course, we can!" Anthony cut me off, leaving Lucy and me shocked as we just looked at each other.

"What?" Lucy was the first to question as she stared at him dumbfounded.

"Don't worry ma'am, we can watch your child for a few hours. No issues at all," He ignored Lucy. and gave my sister his typical grin.

"Anthony," I warned sending glares into the side of his head.

"How long will you be gone for? Will we need to feed her or anything?"

I rolled my eyes and sat back, this was going to be a long few hours.

--

It's been nearly three hours since my sister left us with the baby. Currently, she is sitting by Anthonys's feet in the lounge, giggling away as he plays peek-a-boo. George had just returned home and was now watching with Lucy and me as we watched him become soft around the kid.

"How long has he been playing with her?" George whispered to the two of us, not looking away.

"About a half hour..." Lucy replied.

"Alright Lock," I walked forward to the two of them. "It's around ten, so we should get ready to feed her."

Anthony only nodded and played for a few seconds longer with her.

"Anthony," I scolded quickly, not wanting to deal with a crying baby.

"You wanna go get a bottle?" He cooed at the baby before scooping her in his arms, spinning slowly. 

Before I could say another word, Anthony was walking out with my niece in his arms, in a flying motion. He started to make a "br" sound as he forced his way through the door and to the kitchen. George and Lucy once again gave confused looks.

"Okay then," George mumbled before we all followed him to the kitchen to see him struggling to fill to get the bottle.

"You want help, Anthony?" I asked him, suspecting a no since he always refuses it.

"Yeah, that would be wonderful," He smiled at me before stepping back to go sit down at the table and play with my niece a bit more.

"Did you just accept help?" Lucy asked just above as she sat down across from him, her eyes wide. 

"Well we wouldn't want this cute little girl going hungry now would we?" He started to coo at the baby halfway through the sentence bouncing her on his lap.

"God Lockwood, you've gone soft for a baby," George mumbled sitting down as well, leaving me to get the bottle for the baby. "Always thought y/n would make you crack, but no, it was her niece."

Once I was finished preparing the bottle I handed it to Anthony and let him feed my niece. Slowly I sat down next to him and brushed the hair off his forehead before looking down at the baby in his arms. I gave her a quick kiss on the forehead before putting my attention towards the table. 

"Oh laugh all you want, you act like you guys don't like it when I am not focused on everyone getting worked done," Anthony joked, rolling his eyes.

"You're right, maybe we should let your niece stay over more often," George commented, taking off his glasses to wipe them.

"I will say, it is nice to be around a baby, they can be fun," Lucy added to the joke.

"It would just be easier if you just made one," George joked, not knowing where it would start.

"Made one? George, what the fuck?" I asked him.

"You know, little Lockwood Jrs," He continued, laughing with Lucy.

I wanted to tell George to stop, that he didn't know what he was starting. Before I could, I felt a breath on my ear, I turned a little and looked out of the side of my eye to see Anthony inching closer to my ear, preparing to whisper in it.

"You know, I don't think that is such a bad idea now..." He started, sending chills down my spine.

"Anthony," I warned him again, moving slightly away from him.

"Come on, love, wouldn't it be great," He continued, this time louder so that George and Lucy could hear. "Imagine a little me running around! Rapier and all!"

"Anthony, we are not doing this," I put my head down in my hands, my elbows resting on the table supporting my arms and now head.

"I think it's a great idea," he poked at me with his free hand.

"What do I have two annoying angsty boys to deal with?" I huff, not looking up at him. 

"Oh you know you love me," he was right, I loved him through it all and I always would.

"Yeah, sure I do," I joked back, sitting up to give him a slight push, but not enough to knock the bottle out of the baby's hand.

We continued to go back and forth, George and Lucy making a few jokes as well. We all just kept playfully arguing at the idea of LOCKWOOD JR.

[magician-kitty]

Minor Scale

Ice constricted around her wrists and waist. Her legs were somewhat free but with the heavy body on top of them, all she could see was Darkness, hearing the constant sound of eerie whispering.

"Why so sad, little one?" A voice said. Bai-He looks up from her imprisonment to see none other than the one who's currently taken over her body.

The Lady Bone Demon.

The Lady Bone Demon is a demon with white skin, red eyes, and prominent cheekbones. Her hair is white and a part of it tied into a bun while the rest of it is straight and loose. She has magenta lips and medium blue eye shadow.

She wore a black dress with purple around her upper waist, gray designs at the sides, and white long-sleeves, a white chestplate with one row of rib bones at the bottom and a gold half circle at the center, as well as sharp purple shoulder pads.

The young girl glared silently toward the bone demon.

"There's no need for that face child, this is a day for celebration," She smiled. "Destiny is upon us." She cooed.

Bai-He held a deadpanned expression on her face. "You know, Dad said you were crazy. But I didn't think you were a complete psycho!" She yelled angrily.

Lady Bone Demon frowned, "I don't expect a child like you to understand, but no matter. In time this world will cease to exist, and a new one shall take its place."

Bai-He scoffed, rolling her eyes. "Yeah you say that now, just wait until they come and save me, you're gonna wish you'd- " Lady Bone Demon grabbed onto Bai-He's face, digging her nails into her skin. Bai-He grunts, attempting to push the demon off her, but the chains held her tightly.

"I think your sassy little mouth is starting to irritate me," She growled, eyes flashing red. Lady Bone Demon then lets go of her face, stands back up. "But no matter."

Bai-He raised a confused brow. "Why?" She asked. The bone demon smirked, leans down and whispers something into the girl's ear.

Bai-He gasped, a feared look spread on her face that send shivers to her spine. "No...y-you wouldn't..." She trailed off.

Lady Bone Demon just smiled eerily, "Now if you'll excuse me, my destiny awaits." She gave the girl a bow before walking away into the darkness.

Bai He attempted to stand, but the more she struggled the more the chains held onto her tighter. "Wait! No! You can't, leave her alone!"

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Deep within of the Lady Bone Demon's old lair, the two monkey demons were dodging traps, as they looked for information on The Lady Bone Demon. Monkey King grunts as he holds up a spike ceiling trap threatening to crush him, "Baby! A little help please!?" He shakily asked for Macaque's help.

"Hold on for a second, Peaches!" He yelled, as the shadow trickster was dodging traps himself.

"Any minute now, Honey!" He exclaimed, quickly pushing the spike ceiling trap above him away. Macaque dipping himself and his husband into a shadow portal transporting them to the outside of the throne room.

Wukong pants, sighing in relief, wiping away sweat. "Thanks hon. I told you this place would be full of traps," Wukong grumbled.

"I know. I'm sorry, okay?!" Macaque whined, tail drooping as he followed his husband.

Monkey King turned and caressed his mate's face. "Macaque you gotta calm down, I know you're worried about her, we'll get her back." He reassured him.

"I know, Wukong..."

"It'll be okay...~," Monkey King smiled, giving his husband a quick peck on the lips. All of a sudden a golden projection of MK appeared. "Monkey King, it worked!" The teen cheered smiling at her achievement.

"MK?" The husbands gawked in surprise. "Hey guys! I finally got a hold of Astral Projection," She smiled. "And it only took five nosebleeds!" MK grinned wiping the thin trail of blood from her nose.

"What!?" The husbands screeched in horrified unison, their tails puffing up.

"But that's incredibly unsafe!" The Monkey King said in a worried tone.

"Aw don't worry you two!" MK said in a reassuring manner. "Im fine, right guys?" As soon as she mentioned the shadow twins, they appeared on the Astral Projection. "Father!" The two greeted, their tails wagging happily.

"Hey there little ones," The shadow demon smiled gently, yelping as he had to duck, not realizing that he'd set off another trap.

"Is everything okay?" Savage asked in worry. "Are we distracting you?"

Monkey King shook his head. "Nah you're not, just more dead ends," The Monkey King sighed. "But hopefully, this old lair will give us something we need."

Macaque's six ears perked up, hearing the sound of eerie whispers. "Wukong..." He trailed off.

"Uh bud, I'm afraid I'll have to cut this a bit short," Wukong spoke up, giving the trio an apologetic look. "But! I do have some new lessons for you guys to try."

This make them excited. "MK, keep working on shrinking and growing yourself." MK nodded, "You got it!" Macaque then turned to the twins.

"Savage, I want you and your sister to practice summoning your own weapons. You're going to need them sooner or later, okay?"

The twins nodded. "Yes, sir!"

"Oh! I just remembered something, MK got kissed by a boy!" Savage suddenly blurted outs

"Say what!?" Monkey King yelled, causing his husband to cover his ears.

"Uhh, i think we have a bad connection, Kay bye!" MK waved as the projection ended. MK groaned, glaring down at the little monkey.

"What, I'm right ain't I?" Savage asked, looking innocent.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Meanwhile in the Sewers, The little girl held up her arms, she was still currently creating the mech. The powerful artifacts that were needed hovered next to it. "I don't know who taught you to take revenge, but it ain't normally this boring! Can we hurry this along?" Spider Queen demanded, hanging upside down her arms crossed.

The girl blinked, her eyes focused on the hologram. "With time and patience, the mulberry leaf becomes a silk gown." she said as she spun a small part of the projection in front of her. "There are still more items we have yet to add to the furnace, destiny cannot be rushed my queen." the little girl stated.

The Spider Queen huffed in frustration. "So you keep saying, well my patience is growing thin little miss mystery." She rolled her eyes. "At least lighten up a little, your creepy whisper business is getting on my nerves."

The little girl turned her attention back to the furnace uninterested in her patience. "Let me out, let me out of here!" Bai-He voiced echoes through her head, making her run her head in frustration.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

MK let of a sigh of exhaustion as she mopped the floor for the third time. "I'm finished, Pigsy."

"Thanks kid," Pigsy sighed in relief. "This place needs to be spick and span! I got a very special guest coming!" Pigsy said as he cleaned every surface, organized everything so it was perfectly in line.

"Did someone say free noodles for a special guest?" a voice said making Pigsy and MK looked towards the entrance, seeing Tang leaning against the door as he pushed his glasses up.

"Im sure it ain't you hon, if that's what you're wondering." Pigsy growled as Tang took a seat. "Honey, that anyway to speak to The Golden Cicada Yum yum?" Tang asked smiling at his husband, Pigsy huffed.

As the two husband argued a bit, MK's mind wandering back to her lesson. 'Shrinking myself huh? How the hell am I supposed to do that?' MK's thoughts were cut short as her body started to glow. She let out a shrieked before she started shrinking.

She fell through the pipes, hitting against the side at every turn before finally falling to the ground in a large cavern.

"Ow! F**k that hurts!" MK groaned standing up rubbing her sore head but the looks down at herself. "Hey, I did it. I shrunk myself!" She exclaimed.

The poor girl realized that not only she finally shrunk herself, but she shriveled up in fear when she recognized she's back in the Spider Queen's lair.

"No, no, no, No! The Spider Queen's lair" She trembled in fear as her arachnophobia started kicking in. "Not here, not now, come on!" MK yelled, her voice echoing throughout the lair walls.

Spider Queen perked up when she heard a familiar voice echoed the the walls. "Ah, The Monkie girl!" Spider Queen grinned, landing back on the ground. "My day just got a little more interesting. She said with a smirk.

The little girl sighed, "My Queen, perhaps you should-" The Spider Queen interrupted her.

"Sorry! Can't hear you over the sound of me rushing destiny, kay bye!" Spider Queen taunted, swinging her web MK's location.

'Hm, perhaps I can use this to my advantage' She thought, The little girl smirks, her eyes flashing blue.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Meanwhile, MK continued focusing on her breathing, trying to calm herself. "It's okay, it's going to be fine! I'm going to be fine!" She panicked.

She looked towards the viewers.

"It's finally gonna happen! A spider's gonna wrap me in its web and eat me!"

She shook her head, "No! I am the Monkie Kid, I ain't gonna keep being terrified of spiders my whole life!" MK said clenching her fists. "I can do this, I can get out of here!" She shouted before closing her eyes and focusing.

Before she knew it, MK turned back to her normal size. "Yes! I'm normal sized again!" MK cheered. The teen froze when she heard the sobbing of a little girl. "Hello?" MK called out slowly walking towards the sound pulling her staff out in case it was a trap, she peaks around a corner and sees a little girl sitting between some rocks. Her hair was rolled up around a jade green bun holder that curved up into sharp tips on its ends.

She's dressed in a qixiong ruqun with a standing collar. The ruqun consisted of a white top that secured the right blue trimmed lapel using two blue bone-shaped buttons, and a long, flowing black skirt.

"Stay back!" The girl cried out, flinching and frantically backing away from the MK.

"It's alright, I ain't gonna hurt you. I-" She stopped as she started to recognize her. "B-Bai-He?" She stammered.

"Monkie Princess?" She said in disbelief, "I-It's you..."

MK let out a sigh of relief, a smile spread across her face. She couldn't that she's here, and okay. "I can't believe it- you're-" But before she could finished "Bai He"quickly hugged her. "I knew you'd come!"

"I'm so happy, I-I thought-"

"Please, you have to help me, there's not much time!" She said looking terrified, she gasps as she heard whispers coming from the pipe.

"What was that?" Bai-He asked curling back to the wall sobbing.

"Hey, it's okay. I get it, it's scary being alone," MK said kneeling down to her, trying to ease her sorrows. "But you're not alone now, I'm here now. We'll find our way out together," MK said, smiling. "I promise." MK held her hand out for her.

Bai He started to reach out to her but stopped. "Wait! If you're here then that means..." she muttered, Her terrified face turned into a determined one as she quickly got onto her feet.

"This way! You have to follow me!" Bai He exclaimed running off, in the direction of Spider Queen's lair.

"Wait, Bai He, Stop!" MK cried out, rushing after the child, trying to stop her from getting hurt. "Not that way!"

"We really shouldn't be here!" MK panted, finally caught up to her. "We can't go yet. Spider Queen is building something...evil." she said pointing at the giant blue hologram of a mech suit.

"Whatever she's planning, it has to do something with that," she told her pointing at the furnace. "I-I've seen you use your staff, surely you could use it to smash that thing?" She suggested.

MK stared at it, staff at the ready "MK, you have to do something. Don't let her hurt someone else, please?" She begged.

MK turning to look at her. "Okay, you might want to stand back though." She told her, watching her take a step back as she prepared her staff.

"Here..." she launched herself forward with her staff. "Comes..." she pulled it above her head. "Monkie kid!" She was about to hit the hologram.

Until she saw her reflection in it, begging her to stop. "Don't do it!" The reflection told her. MK stopped right on her tracks, "Wait! Is this...this is the trigram furnace! From the celestial realm! How-"

She gasped as blue spirits came out from under the furnace, whispering quietly. MK gasped, recognising the whispers from when she fought the Demon Bull King.

'No, it can't be.' She slowly turning around as she remembered everything she'd seen and it sends chills up her spine.

The sound of Cackling came from "Bai He"a light blue storm of spirits surrounding her as her true form was revealed.

MK yelped and backed away, hitting the furnace, dropping her staff. "It's you- you're-"

"I am the Lady Bone Demon," "Bai He" chilled whisper rang in her ears as her head started to hurt, the pain getting stronger as the seconds roll by.

"You...you tricked me!!" MK growled out, clutching her head, breathing heavily.

"My, aren't you quite the observant little girl," she started, getting closer to her with every unstable change of scenery. "MK, I do apologize, but I need to take that staff," She demanded. MK, in a panic, quickly got to her feet, collected her staff and tried to make a break for it, but with every step she took, the pain kept growing bigger and bigger.

"Calm yourself," A whisper came from behind him, "It is pointless to deny me," MK couldn't take it anymore. She turned around and aimed her staff towards the girl, her not even flinching, stood there with a calm collected smile.

"What going on, W-Where's Bai He!?"

"Bai-He?" She questioned, tilted her head to the side, "Oh yes, the little girl. Quite clever is it? This body is useful...for now." she said smiling.

"Body? What do you-" She stopped, she remembered what Macaque had told her before they left.

It was her all along. She's the one that took her.

"Let her go! She's just a little girl!" Lady Bone Demon stood there for a second before she began to giggle.

"It's so cute, you really think you can stop me," LBD cooed mockingly at the girl, who groaned in pain as her vision flashed blue once more, the world around her glitching sporadically.

"I'm not going to let you win, Monkey King and Macaque will stop you and-" She gripped her head more as the glitches continued.

"Monkey King? Do you really think he can stop me? Curious that he is not with you now? Perhaps that he made the wrong choice, he picked the wrong successor" her voice seem to come from every direction,

"You were right you know," His attention was drawn back to the bone witch, holding her hands in front of her as his vision switched from her host form to her true form. "It's scary being alone!" She whimpered in the little girl's voice before her eyes were shadowed. One glowing a bright blue as she grinned. "I do pity you."

MK gagged as the Lady Bone Demon slowly started to rise out the ground below her, grabbing tightly onto her neck as she smirked at her.

"You're just a piece in a game you simply cannot possibly comprehensive." she grinned squeezing tightly, MK tried to loosen her grip but to no prevail.

Then, an explosion shook the room behind MK, making her let go and MK left gasping for breath as she dropped to her knees, her eyes filled with fear.

The Spider Queen cackled as she slowly made her way through the hole in the cave she'd just exploded, grinning. "Monkie kid! Im done waiting! I'm going to enjoy this!" She said happily, launching herself at her.

"Think little!" MK shrieked as the Spider Queen hurtled towards him at a frightening speed. She quickly managed to shrunk herself.

The Spider Queen was sent flying with a huge wave of energy, slamming into the wall and creating a shockwave. MK took that chance to retreat into the rubble, all the while gasping and trying not to trip over her own feet.

The Bone Demon watched her leave with glowing blue eyes and a satisfying expression. "It would seem that she has left you little girl..."

'No! Wait! MK, don't leave me. I'm here! MK, come back!' Bai He's voice screamed, calling out for her.

Run…

Run along as you wish, Destiny will find you soon enough.

[avidgrapejuicelover]

mark me with your words - ch.9

pairing: diluc x childe

genre: angst & fluff/ au-soulmate

warnings: none

word count: 3.5k

summary: 

Those eyes seemed to lose their shine as the smile widened into something sinister splattered with red.

No, that couldn’t be Ajax. Surely not.

Diluc closed his eyes and allowed himself to be embraced by the darkness, hoping to dream of his sweet angelic smiling Fated.

A/N: sorry for the lack of updating, life was crazy, but im back to writing

also on ao3 under the user playfuldreams

ch.1 | ch. 2 | ch. 3 | ch. 4 | ch. 5 | ch. 6 | ch. 7 | ch. 8 | ch. 9

enjoy!~

Diluc completed his training session for the day and walked to the barracks to clean up.

After sending his encouragement to Ajax, Diluc hadn’t gotten a response in return. Diluc simply brushed it off as Ajax not having time as he was busy adventuring.

In the bathroom, Diluc quickly removed his top only to stiffen at the sight of his bare chest. What used to be silky smooth skin was now painted with silver scars.

Diluc’s heart pounded as he tried to make sense of what he was seeing. He felt no pain, nor did he remember ever fighting a battle where he received these scars. Feeling his anxiety start to peak as his mind wandered to where these scars could have come from, or rather who, Diluc closed his eyes and focused on his breath to keep his calm.

However, that did little to settle his worry as three new scars had already appeared on his arms when he opened his eyes.

Diluc was now sure of the reason for all these sudden markings. His Fated. Ajax.

Now that his mind had accepted the reason, Diluc panicked. Ajax was supposed to be going on an innocent adventure around his village. There is no reason for him to be in any kind of danger that would cause him to receive this amount of scars, especially this fast.

Diluc paced along the bathroom tiles trying to come up with an explanation. It did not make sense. Nothing did.

He stopped and stared at the mirror, eyes tracing a particularly bad scar that looked like claw marks raking down his right shoulder to his abdomen. His stomach churned as his mind conjured up unsavory images of a lone teen clutching his shoulder, turning the white snow around him red. A hand outstretched, calling for help, calling his name…

Diluc clamped a hand over his mouth as he felt his breakfast quickly rise up.

A knock came from the bathroom door.

“Captain?” Diluc heard his subordinate call out. “Is everything alright? You’ve been in there for a while.”

Diluc forced himself to swallow. His throat felt like sandpaper. He took a couple more breaths before clearing his throat and answering.

“I am fine. I will be out in a minute.” He said.

“Understood, sir.”

Diluc waited til the sound of footsteps faded before removing the rest of his clothing and inspecting where the other scars were. Using the mirror to check his back, Diluc concluded his findings. New markings had shown up practically all over his body, all of which were scars from wounds and not a single was a message from Ajax.

Before his mind went off the far end, Diluc reached for the bucket of water and dumped it over his head. The water had cooled while he had been stressing, so the coldness helped bring back some of his rationale.

He dried off as quickly as possible before dressing in some fresh clothes. Exiting the bathroom, Diluc headed to his office. He made sure to keep his usual calm demeanor as he walked calmly to his office. There was no need to alert anyone of the mental breakdown occurring currently inside his head.

Diluc nodded his head as two knights walked by and saluted him. He opened his door and quietly closed it. Keeping his hand on the handle, he took in a breath before running to his desk. He hastily opened his drawer and grabbed the ink and quill.

Ajax, where are you? What happened?

Every second that passed seemed like an eternity. No response came.

Are you okay?

Diluc tried again. Still nothing.

Please, just send a sign that you’re okay

Ajax, please.

No matter what he wrote, he never got an answer.

Diluc rationalized that Ajax was probably somewhere where he didn’t have access to any ink and couldn’t write to him. However, instead of calming him down, that thought only caused him to become more anxious. Where could he possibly be that he couldn’t respond to Diluc?

Diluc ruffled his hair in frustration.

A knock at his door called his attention.

“Diluc?” Kaeya’s voice came through the door. When Diluc didn’t answer immediately, Kaeya followed up, “I’m coming in.”

“I wanted to ask about the-,” Kaeya stopped mid sentence when he took in his brother’s face. “What’s wrong? Why do you look like you drank spoiled grape juice?”

Diluc had hastily put away the ink and quill, trying to rid any evidence of his malfunction.

“Nothing, I just strained myself during my session.” He said, making a show of rolling his shoulders.

Of course the one person Diluc wouldn’t be able to hide his panic from was Kaeya. Still, his pride wouldn’t allow him to show weakness, not even his own brother.

Kaeya gazed at him with his all-seeing eye, and for a moment, it felt like he could unravel everything Diluc was hiding. But Diluc stood firm.

“Okay. Well make sure you stretch properly. If it’s still bothering you, why don’t you let Jean handle the demonstration later today.”

“No, I will be fine.” Diluc shook his head. He wouldn’t let his personal problems get in the way of his profession. “What do you need to talk about?”

Kaeya stared at him a little longer before sighing. “I was going to ask about the proposal for the event during Windblume. Some of the things weren’t adding up and I just wanted to double check before I went ahead with the plans.”

Diluc motioned for the papers Kaeya had been holding. He quickly scanned them over, then looked over them a couple more times because the words wouldn't register in his head.

Every word he read would be followed up by images of red. Red hair, red blood, red snow.

Diluc jolted when he felt pressure on his shoulder. Looking over, Kaeya gave him a concerned gaze.

“Are you sure you’re okay?”

Diluc debated on coming clean to his brother and getting his help. Within those few seconds, Diluc had come up with a plan of him getting to Snezhnaya and finding his Fated. However, after those seconds were up, Diluc erased all those thoughts. He knew none of those plans would be feasible.

Diluc only sighed. “I’m fine. Just tired is all. I guess I didn’t get as much sleep as I thought I did.”

“Diluc, you’re sweating. You’re clearly not ok-”

“I am fine.” Diluc harshly stated.

When he saw Kaeya’s brows furrow, he added, “It’s just left over water from when I washed up.” He avoided his brother’s eye.

Kaeya sighed, “I just wish you would open up a little more.”

“That’s rich coming from you.” Diluc whispered.

Kaeya stiffened.

“...What?”

Diluc cleared his throat, turning to face away from Kaeya. “Nothing. I said that there is nothing wrong, understood? So just let it go.”

“At least let me-” Kaeya started saying before Diluc cut him off.

“No, I am fine now. Give me a second.” With that, Diluc focused his attention on the paper again.

After reviewing it and changing a few things, Diluc sent Kaeya off. He assured him nothing was wrong one last time and that he would be able to complete his duties for the day.

The rest of the day flew by in a haze. By the time Diluc had gotten a hold of himself, he was back in his room getting ready to bathe. The sight of the scars sent jolts of fear through him all over again.

After removing his clothing, he took his time to look for any sign of communication Ajax could be sending him. His fruitless search ended when two more scars showed up.

At least Diluc knew his Fated was alive and kicking. That would have to be enough for now.

He got into the bath and began washing. He hoped he could rinse off his fears like the soap suds. Instead, it seemed his thoughts got more twisted. Every time he washed a body part, a new scar appeared. Forcing himself to calm down, Diluc focused on his breaths.

He tried the method Adeline taught him. He breathed in for four counts, held it, let it out for another four, and held his breath again before repeating. Diluc repeated the exercise multiple times, only stopping when he realized it wasn’t doing much.

He rationalized that it was simply because he was in the bath. So Diluc stood up and got out of the bath. He reached for the towel and wrapped it around himself. He walked over to the door only finding it taking much longer than he remembered.

His vision began to blur and a sudden bout of dizziness washed over Diluc causing his knees to buckle. He fell to the floor and found it hard to breathe. Diluc closed his eyes and began doing the breathing technique again. The steam filled room did not help at all. It felt like the water was pressing onto every pore of his body, slowly suffocating him.

Diluc crawled to the door, struggling to reach the door handle. His eyes watered as the room began to dim and black dots danced in his vision. Diluc pushed himself one last time and twisted the knob, finally opening the door.

Cool air rushed over his face. Diluc greedily took in the fresh air. Feeling himself grow weaker, Diluc gradually let himself go. As the steam rolled into his room, he thought he saw a blue eyed boy smiling down on him.

Ajax?

Those eyes seemed to lose their shine as the smile widened into something sinister splattered with red.

No, that couldn’t be Ajax. Surely not.

Diluc closed his eyes and allowed himself to be embraced by the darkness, hoping to dream of his sweet angelic smiling Fated.

When he woke up, Diluc found himself lying on a bed covered by familiar sheets. Glancing around, he confirmed that he was in his room. Blinking a few times, Diluc remembered what had transpired earlier.

In any other situation, Diluc would have been ashamed to have passed out from anxiety. However, the only thing Diluc was ashamed of currently was his lack of ability to help his Fated.

He felt the sting of tears overwhelm his eyes as he sighed mockingly at himself. What great knight? What great captain? He was praised for so much and yet, he couldn’t even do anything when he was needed the most.

Diluc tried moving around his arms and legs but still felt weak. His arms were a bit sore, and Diluc doubted he would be able to stand right now. He wondered how long he had been unconscious. Did Ajax have time to read his messages? Would he have replied by now?

He wallowed in his thoughts for a bit longer before he heard the door open. Turning his head, Diluc saw his father step in.

“Oh thank Barbatos you woke up. We were all worried when Adelinde found you on the floor. She said you came to quickly but were tired, so she let you sleep,” His father said.

Diluc averted his eyes. He did not recall any of that. And just his luck that his father had to come home when Diluc was falling apart. He took a deep breath before facing his father.

“I apologize for not taking care of myself well enough. But I assure you I am doing well now.” Diluc lied with all the confidence he could muster up.

His father’s eyes bore into his. Diluc struggled to keep his gaze, but he stood firm.

At least until his father sighed. Diluc felt his confidence crack.

“Diluc, I am not reprimanding you. I am worried. It has been a while since this has happened. What brought this on? Did something happen?” his father asked.

Diluc started shaking his head, but Father kept going.

“Is it the Knights? Are you being overworked? I heard from Kaeya that you have been pushing yourself more. Maybe you should take a break for a bit.”

Now Diluc was really shaking his head. “No Father, I am not overworking. And nothing is wrong. I simply was overheated while bathing. That is all”

Yes, if he said it enough times, it would become the truth. Nothing was wrong after all. Diluc had everything under control.

“Is that so?” His father asked. Diluc could hear the disbelief underlying it.

In order to convince him and Diluc himself, Diluc moved to get out of bed.

His father came to assist him, which Diluc allowed.

“How’s Ajax been doing?” His father asked.

Diluc felt his heart stop. His entire body tensed as his mind brought back all the images of the rapid scarring Diluc witnessed yesterday.

“He’s-,” Diluc swallowed, forcing the words out, “He is fine. I think.” Diluc did not dare look at Father for fear of being found out.

“We have not been contacting each other everyday, but the last time I heard from him, he seemed to be fine.” Diluc said.

It was the truth. After all, the last time Ajax wrote to Diluc, he had been fine. He had been fine.

“Well, that is good to hear.” He paused, “You know, it was discussed in our past meeting about branching into Snezhnaya’s market. Apparently Snezhnayan tourists that visited Mondstadt have been spreading the word about Dandelion wine over there. I am thinking of taking a trip to the capital in order to scout the area and survey their alcohols. Would you like to come? You could finally use some of your days off.”

Diluc turned to his father.

“Really?” Was all Diluc could utter.

His father nodded with a faint smile.

“So, what do you think?”

“That… would be nice.” Diluc softly smiled. Yes, that would be nice. He would finally get to see his Fated in person. Diluc’s growing smile stopped when an intrusive thought made its way to the forefront of his mind.

If his Fated would still be alive then.

Diluc exhaled in order to abandon the thought.

“Son?” his father asked.

“Yes, that sounds good. I will… let Ajax know,” Diluc said.

“Alright. I will update you on the details once they are sorted out.” He clapped Diluc’s shoulder while standing up.

“We should head down now. Adelinde made a feast for you, so make sure you eat your fill,” his father said.

Diluc laughed softly, “I will.”

He stood up, making sure to keep his balance. Thankfully, the talk with his father helped relieve some of his tension and he only felt a bit sore. But that was something Diluc was used to.

As they walked out of the room to eat breakfast, his father began telling Diluc about his most recent journey to Liyue.

Two days have passed since Diluc first started seeing the new scars from Ajax. Thankfully, the first day was the worst of it. The scars appeared less frequently and almost stopped happening by the third day.

Diluc was not sure whether to be happy or concerned about it. Obviously he was happy that his Fated was no longer in pain or in danger. But Diluc was also worried that the lack of scars meant something else. Something Diluc did not have the courage to even think of.

Diluc had continued his duties as Captain. It was more like he was running on autopilot. Thankfully, none of his peers noticed anything strange. Well, except for Kaeya. But Diluc managed to avoid him for the most part. And when he could not, they were with other people, so Kaeya would not be able to grill him for answers.

Every morning, Diluc would write a message, asking, pleading for Ajax to reply. And every night, there would be no answer. It felt as if Diluc had gone back to the days when he was younger, waiting for his Fated to finally contact him for the first time.

Was that it? Did Ajax regret being his Fated? Did he hate Diluc now because Diluc did not keep his promise of keeping him safe? Because he was not there for Ajax when he needed him?

Diluc would not even fault him if that was the case. Diluc should have been there, protecting Ajax. He was his Fated, that was his duty to Ajax. And yet, he had failed him. Over and over again, allowing his sweet Fated become scarred by Archons know what.

And the only thing Diluc could do was pray to Barbatos, to all the Archons, that Ajax was safe and alive. So that’s what he did.

Once he was relieved of his duties, Diluc walked up the steps to the church. He was greeted by Barbara when he got to the front rows.

“Sir Diluc, it’s good to see you again!” She greeted him with a smile.

Diluc was always unsure how to interact with her, given her relationship with Jean. But he could not even think about whether his manners were proper or not for the circumstances.

“Sister Barbara.” He nodded back.

Diluc waited for her to go back to her regular duties as she had yesterday, but when she stayed in place, fidgeting, Diluc knew he would have to put on the “I am perfectly fine” mask.

“Did you-“ Diluc started before getting cut off by the deaconess.

“Sir Diluc, if… if there is anything you would like to get off your chest, please feel free to tell me.” Barbara said enthusiastically. Her face started to redden, “O-of course it doesn’t have to be me you talk to. You could tell any of the Sisters or even Father-“

“Sister Barbara, thank you for the thoughtful gesture, but I do not have any worries I need to relieve myself of. I simply came out of devotion.” Diluc said, placing a hand on his chest, smiling.

Maybe Kaeya rubbed off on him more than he thought. He was getting far too comfortable with lying.

“Oh… I see. I’m sorry. I thought something happened since you normally only come to church during mass.” She said shyly.

Diluc’s jaw tensed.

“As a Knight, I thought it was time I regularly offered my prayers to our great Archon. After all, it is only thanks to Lord Barbatos that our nation is what it is today. He is protecting all of us and allowing us to live a truly free life.”

Now even Diluc felt like he was laying it on thick. But it seemed to do the trick.

“Yes, I completely agree. It is all thanks to Lord Barbatos that we live such happy days.” Barbara nodded.

“Now, if you will excuse me, I wish to offer my prayers,” Diluc said.

“Of course! Feel free to stay as long as you like. And if you need anything, let me know!” And with that, Barbara finally went back to her duties, leaving Diluc alone with his thoughts.

Diluc did not completely lie when he was praising the Archon. After all, it was true that Mondstadt only became what it is due to Barbatos’ winds. His father brought both Kaeya and Diluc to church whenever he was home and was a devout follower, so Diluc was no stranger to the faith. But occasionally he had thoughts about why Barbatos never showed himself in times of need like the other Archons did.

But maybe his impure thoughts are the reason for his current predicament. Diluc wonders if Ajax would have been safe if Diluc had attended church more often.

Diluc sighed as he sat on a bench. It does not matter now anyway. He closed his eyes and held his hands together. Bowing his head, he began to pray to the Archon. He begged him to keep Ajax safe and to send him a message.

Lord Barbatos, I have spent my entire life protecting your beloved nation. Just this once, please help protect my beloved Fated. I promise, as long as you protect the ones I love, I will forever be your knight.

Diluc continued praying til the sun fully set. He stood up and walked back to the entrance.

Barbara was waiting by the door greeting all the believers who were entering and leaving. She smiled when she saw him.

Diluc nodded, about to continue walking, but Barbara spoke up. “Whatever it is, I’m sure your prayers will be answered.”

“I do hope so,” Diluc said, looking down. “Have a good night, Sister.”

“You too, Sir Diluc.”

On the way back home, Diluc took in the stars and felt the wind ruffle his hair.

Yes, maybe his prayers will finally come true.

That same night, Diluc could not sleep. He kept tossing and turning and eventually gave up on getting any rest. Instead, he went to the training grounds and worked through a few exercises. By the time the first rays of light came, Diluc had worked up a good amount of sweat. Deciding he had trained enough, he went to wash up before getting breakfast.

As he took off his clothes, he began examining his body for any new scars that might have appeared.

The light caught on an unusual pattern on his left arm. His heart jumped. Diluc closed his eyes and took a deep breath before looking back at the writing.

I am alive and fine.

The only one thought went through Diluc’s mind as tears blurred his vision. It looks like Barbatos had yet to abandon him.

[harmonyckrs]

Day 20 of Twisted Pleasantview: More Videos that Lazlo(?) Sent Us as a Cry for Help (I think)

THE PREVIOUS DAY

NAME: ROSALINE CAPULET

LIFE STAGE: TEEN

STATUS: ALIVE, FUNCTIONAL

SPECIAL NOTES: A pacifist at heart, and the only human teen from Veronaville not participating in the feud.

---

VIDEO TRANSCRIPT 1:

A: Hello! I just thought I'd come check on you. How are you feeling, outside of, you know, being locked up?

L: Don't talk to me.

A: I'm guessing you're sad. Well, how about I spruce up the room a little?...there we go. A nice snapdragon bouquet! Got it from Florence.

L: You think some fucking flowers are going to make me feel betteR

A: Well, what would?

L: Letting me get the FUCK OUT OF HERE! And for you to get your fucking memories back so you'll stop acting like a puppet to Crystal!

---

VIDEO TRANSCRIPT 2:

H: And she got her job back as a Drive Thru Cashier! Not to mention her son became an Overachiever recently. I couldn't be happier for them both!

L: Why are you telling me all of this?

H: Aktu and Zoya would never understand. They hate humans.

L: Only because they were programmed that way.

H: Hm...well, you do have a point! If they interact more with humans, then maybe they'll start to warm up to them! If Chrissy could get to them, I'm sure someone else can, too!

L: ...Yeah. I guess you can say that.

H; You always seem so sad when we talk. Are you feeling okay?

L: Yeah, it's just...do you have any memories of being at a breakfast diner? You trying to hit on a waitress before spilling chocolate milk on your shirt in front of her?

H: No? Why do you ask?

L: ...Forget about it.

---

VIDEO TRANSCRIPT 3:

Z: What's up, dude?...you've been taking a bit of a liking to those snapdragons, huh? I'm surprised they're still alive.

L: Aktu said they're enchanted, so I don't need to water them and they never die. It's just good to feel like I'm taking care of something.

Z: Yeah, I get that. I imagine it keeps your mind away from Nova.

L: ...

Z: Aw, too soon? Sorry, man. It's been like, five years, so I thought you would've been over it by now.

L: Why would I be over her tearing MY OWN CHILD away from me?

Z: Laz, she's a damn robot! She can't feel emotions or anything, and besides! She's Chrissy's child too. And also, we're calling her Viola now.

L: Why?

Z: We've got a new town to take over, so she gets a new name. People are already on high alert for "Nova Curious."

L: This was not what she was built for...

---

R: Oh, I remembered Viola. She was so sweet...helped me realize that I was ace, too. I can't believe she was just a robot this whole time...

P: That must've been hard to find out.

R: Well, it's more important that we're able to stop her before she tries to do it again.

P: Yeah, that sounds good. Think Grandpa and Grandma will get paranoid if I'm gone for too long, and they don't really want to be associated with either the Capulets or Montagues. No offense.

R: None taken. So, we can confirm that the fairies seem to be working for someone named Crystal, and they had their memories erased in the past that's preventing them from remembering something that would cause them to rebel.

P: Seems so. And everyone in Strangetown is apparently a sleeper agent for Crystal, too. But if that was the case, why would Tank and Vidcund get abducted? And wouldn't it make sense for Ripp to go after one of us, instead of running out of school to capture someone?

R: Who's Vidcund?

P: Oh, right! You weren't there. Let me fill you in...

THE NEXT DAY

[militarydm]

Okay, person who submitted here. I noticed some people complaining about lack of detail about the people and situation overall. I was trying to leave it vague on purpose, I honestly didn't think the entire groups ages were important. So here is the additional/background information that should have been there to start with:

The group's ages are 9f, 10m, 12m, 15m, 16f, 17m, 17f(me, closeted nb), 18m, 30m, 40f(my mom), 40m, 47m, and 50m (DM). There are sometimes other people who join us on the occasion, but these are the people who come most often.

The group started with my cousins after they were taken from their mom by Child Protective Services. The DM started it so they could have something to look forward to on the weekends. It expanded into the group it is now

He didn't start with the military recruiting until the boys started to get to 15-17, before that the only thing we heard about it was the glorified versions of what he went through as a field medic.

At first, he started talking to people's parents he would casually bring it up and ask if any one was thinking about joining. It escalated from there.

He eventually convinced his daughter to join the air-force. Now, I don't have a lot of detail from any perspective other than his, so what I know is after she joined, she got a boyfriend, cut contact with him and married the now-husband.

After that is when he really started pushing everyone to join. However, his focus is now mostly on the boys.

None of our parents have signed anyone up and are firmly on the ground of thinking everyone should join willingly, but not forced by being signed up.

That's pretty much all the background information that led up to the current status.

Additional notes as responses to requests for info:

He's DMing for a bunch of teens and younger kids to help them socialize.

I have said something to him about how uncomfortable he's making us. Not yelling or anything, but pulling him aside to ask him to stop, and he hasn't. Some parents have also asked him to stop, he lessened his pushing after they asked.

Also, people telling me to get as far away as possible, while I could stop showing up, I am unwilling to leave my young cousins (9f, 10m, 12m) with him in case all his talking of the military influences them. I don't think it has, but I'm staying around for them, as they have repeatedly asked me if I agree with him and they seem to listen to him a bit less with each person opposing him.

AITA for thinking my Dungeon Master needs to lay off on pushing the teens we play with to join the military?

The DM*(50m) for our party's ttprg is ex-air force and ex-army. He is very pro-military and keeps pushing the younger people to join the military. When they get hesitant or say no, he talks to their parents and tells them to sign their kid up because he thinks it would be great for them to fight for their country.

Most of the other adults agree with him, but I'm one of the teenagers in the group and his pushiness just doesn't sit well with me.

*not sure if this changes the context but he, with all the other adults, are Republicans and conservatives. I am not.

What are these acronyms?

[calswildflcwer]

Turn It Down ! ~ Part Two

Pairing : Madrigals x fem!reader (platonic).

Warnings : Foul language, cussing, feeling bad, hurt, self worry, overwhelming emotions, anxiety, panic attacks, hating her gift, disliking Abuela, parentless child.

Plot : When you were adopted into the Madrigal family, you were beyond lucky. You had a place to call home, you had a place to belong. You received a gift at age five, just like every other Madrigal kid, however, it feels more like a curse. And when the casita falls, your own feelings surprise even you.

Pronouns used : she/her for reader, all other respectable pronouns for Madrigals.

Note : I am not a Spanish native and I don’t know any Spanish, all Spanish nicknames mentioned in this story are translated from google. If anything is wrong PLEASE let me know and I will correct it.

Info : Think this’ll be around 3-4 parts but if you know my track record with series then you’ll know not to quote me on that.

Madrigal taglist : @samiiika, @try-cry-why-try, @camilos-mivida, @the-ice-frozen-ground-red-rose, @soumya-13.

|| prev || part two || next ||

It didn’t take long for you to begin hating your gift. Not just around the town, but also at home. And now? Now you didn’t have your papá to let you know that he understood or to tell you that everything was going to be okay. No, he left. He left so many years ago now.

You were now fifteen. Mirabel, Camilo and Carlos were all thirteen, they were in their rebellious teen phases but none of them really knew what you were going through. Luisa was seventeen and constantly throwing herself into work just to prove to Abuela that she was good enough. Antonio was three and was always babbling to you about something, that’s where your gift came in handy, you could let Pepa know what the baby was trying to say before he could form proper sentences- you’d done the same with Mira, Cami and Carlos when they were toddlers. Pepa and Julieta had no bad feelings or thoughts towards you, whenever you heard their thoughts they were usually worrying about you; you would always hear ‘I hope (name)’s okay’ and ‘she never leaves her room anymore, I wonder how she is’. It was sweet. Dolores and Isabela were both nineteen, Isabela tried to help you as much as she could but admittedly, that wasn’t all that much considering she had to keep up her señorita perfecta act… Dolores was the only person left there to understand you, given that your gifts were both eerily similar. She knew exactly how you felt and she would always come into your room and try to have talks with you; she was your favourite person in the whole family since Bruno had left.

And abuela? She grew to hate you. It didn’t take long, especially after Bruno left. You were forbidden from talking about your father, you were forbidden from even so much as mentioning his name. It frustrated you. Her thoughts about you were the worst. They were so much worse than those of the villagers, their thoughts were just that you were weird and they didn’t wanna be around you, but your Abuela? It was your Abuela’s thoughts that sent you in a downward spiral of anxiety and panic attacks and everything else. Whenever you came out of your room, her thoughts were the loudest, they were the first ones that would come to you; ‘(Name) is useless.’ ‘I hope (name) doesn’t ruin the dinner with the Gonzalez family tonight!’ ‘(Name) is too emotional, even worse than Pepa.’ ‘(Name) doesn’t care about this family, she’s just like Bruno.’

She made you want to scream. The thoughts you heard sometimes became too much and it burned you out and made your panic attacks more frequent, you didn’t really have anything to ground you or to bring you back to reality. The thoughts you heard made you become very emotional and upset and made you want to scream so much that you often had a panic attack around the table due to the emotions that you felt.

You were currently sat in your bedroom, sitting at your desk, your head was resting against your hand as you absentmindedly drew on a piece of paper that sat on your desk. ‘I love you, mija.’ You suddenly heard. You shook it off, continuing to draw.

You’d been hearing Bruno’s thoughts for years, even when you were in your bedroom which didn’t make sense considering your gift didn’t work in your room unless the person thinking it was in your room at the time. You figured that your mind had made it up due to you missing him so much, he was the one person that kept you grounded during your panic attacks, he always knew how to get you out of them.

You had your first panic attack six months after your fifth birthday, Bruno found you struggling for breath and clutching your chest with tears down your eyes, it scared the life out of you.

Bruno immediately recognised that it was a panic attack, him being a sufferer of them himself. He immediately dropped to his knees in front of you, cupping your cheeks and making you focus on him. “Mija, mija, listen to me.” He told you. You stared him, your eyes searching his face frantically as he stared at you. “I need you to focus on my voice, okay. Just focus on me! Don’t focus on your surroundings, don’t focus on anything else. Focus on me okay, focus on me!” He spoke frantically as you nodded in understanding. “Okay, I need you to use your senses okay. This’ll help ground you, cariño. Use your eyes, focus on something and tell me the colour, tell me if it’s bright or dull, give me details about it.” He told you.

Your eyes found his ruana, “I-it’s green a-and has hourglasses on it. It’s d-dull and dirty.” You spoke.

An offended expression crossed his face but he shrugged it off, “Okay, now touch. What does it feel like? Is it soft or rough? Is it heavy or light? What does the fabric feel like?” He asked you.

You reached out, clutching the ruana in your fists as you kept your focus on it, “It’s soft a-and it’s light, really light and thin.” You let him know.

“Okay, now what do you hear? Focus on your hearing, what do you hear, niña?” He asked you, stroking his thumb down your cheek as he cupped your face.

“I-I hear Carlos and Camilo fighting. I can hear rain hitting the window. I-I can hear Isabela and Abuela talking.” You told him.

You breathing was starting to slow down as Bruno moved on to the final sense, “Well done, mija, now smell. Tell me what you can smell.” He told you.

“I can smell tia Julieta cooking arepas and… And I can smell the lavender scent from my clothes. And I can smell… I can smell the roses that Isabela grew for me yesterday.” You told him, you breathing finally going back to normal as he pulled you into him fully.

You wrapped your arms around his neck and rested your head against his shoulder, he combed his long fingers through your hair, “Well done, mija.” He let out a sigh of relief as he held you tightly. He could feel your tears hitting his neck as the tears from before continued sliding down your face.

That was the scariest moment of both yours and Bruno’s lives. Your first panic attack. And they’ve only become more regular but you had continued to use his trick and use your senses to ground yourself.

You heard a knock at your bedroom door before glancing over your shoulder, your door was pushed open and Dolores walked in, “Hola (name). Abuela says that dinner is ready.” She let you know.

You nodded, standing up and smoothing out the green dress you were wearing; it matched the colour of your fathers ruana. You headed out of your bedroom and began walking downstairs, closing your eyes; trying to block out the thoughts that were coming from Abuela.

Why did hers always seem to be the loudest? Was it because hers were the worst thoughts? Was it because she hated you the most?

‘I’m proud of you, mija.’ There it was again. Your papás thoughts.

You didn’t care that this was just in your mind. You didn’t care that these weren’t his real thoughts, he was long gone. You had to have made him up in your mind due to missing him so much but even if this was just all in your head, it still brought a smile to your face, knowing that your father was still with you, even if it was only in your thoughts.

You walked into the dining room, taking a deep breath as you took your place beside Dolores. Abuela’s eyes glossed over you but she didn’t say anything, she didn’t need to. Her thoughts said it all. ‘Oh great, she’s out of her room. She better not ruin this dinner like she does with every other one.’ Your eyes focused on your plate, relaying all of the colours and the patterns on it. Your hands gripped the table, telling yourself that it was hard and that the wood was smooth and freshly polished. You then focused on your hearing, immediately hearing the clanking of cutlery against plates. You then focused on your smell, instantly smelling the meal that Juli had made; avocados, rice and a smell of arepas in the distance. You took a deep breath, calming down from the panic attack that you knew was oncoming previously.

Dolores placed her hand on top of yours and gave it a tight squeeze. You sent her an appreciative smile before filling your plate, trying to drown out Abuela’s thoughts. ‘Can’t she just leave mi hija alone!’ You heard your father again, a soft smile graced your features as you began eating.

You were about to retreat back to your room once dinner was over but you were stopped by the twins, “(Name), come and hang outside with us! It’s better than staying in your bedroom all the time!” Camilo grinned at you as Mirabel quickly stood beside you, linking her arm with yours.

“I… I don’t know.” You began.

“Come on, prima. Chico de oro is right, you can’t stay cooped up in your bedroom all the time.” Carlos told you.

You stared between the three of them, a soft sigh left your lips as you nodded in defeat; seeing the pleading eyes of the younger teens. “Fine!” You groaned, letting your cousins drag you out of the house.

They dragged you to the town centre where you noticed a hopscotch path on the floor, you frowned before turning to your cousins, “You brought me out here to play hopscotch?” You laughed, cocking a brow.

“No, we brought you out here to get you away from that puta-” Carlos began.

“Carlos!” Camilo warned, glaring at him.

Carlos held his hands up in surrender, “Sorry, I mean Abuela.” He cocked a brow.

“You know how Carlos feels about Abuela, I mean he did try to blow the candle out for not giving me a gift.” Mirabel chuckled.

You nodded, “I know. Abuela was so angry that Dolores had to cover her ears when she was yelling at him.” You laughed.

Carlos laughed along with you, nodding his head. “You know, (name). That’s the first time we’ve seen you happy in a while.” Camilo told you as the three of you started playing the hopscotch that the kids had drawn.

You stopped when you heard Abuela’s thoughts again, ‘she’s so useless. Why can’t she control herself!’ You closed your eyes, taking a deep breath, almost falling over as you took another hop.

The younger teens quickly caught you, stopping your from colliding with the pavement. “Are you okay, prima?!” Mirabel asked worriedly.

“Y-yeah. I’m okay.” You nodded, sighing slightly as you smiled at your cousins reassuringly.

“It’s Abuela again, isn’t it?” Carlos asked.

You shrugged, “It’s nothing.” You told him, heading back to the start of the hopscotch path, continuing the game you were playing.

You would never be good enough for her. Ever. You just knew it.

Your sixteenth birthday would be coming around soon and not one single person was excited about it, not one single person had mentioned it.

It was just days away and nobody seemed bothered by it.

You were sitting in your bedroom once again, head resting against the palm of your hand as you stared down at the sketchbook and noticed that you weren’t drawing on your paper. No, you were drawing on a photograph of the family. You laughed when you noticed, that’s what you did, you laughed. It was the happiest laugh you’d done in a long while, you’d inadvertently drawn a moustache and glasses on the photograph, on Abuela’s face to be precise. You placed your hand over your mouth, letting the giggle die down as you tried your best not to disturb anybody. Your door opened and someone peeked their head around the side, “What’s got you giggling so much?” Dolores asked.

“Oh, nothing. I… I kinda drew a moustache on Abuela.” You laughed, lifting up the photograph to show her.

Dolores’ hands rose to cover her mouth and hide the giggle that came from her lips.

Once she’d calmed down, she opened her mouth to speak again, “Mami asked me to come and get you, anyway.” She grinned at you, holding her hand out. You grabbed her hand, letting her drag you downstairs and into the living room. All of the furniture had been pushed aside and a huge party was taking place, the whole town was there.

“What’s all this?” You asked, your eyes staring around in wonder.

Julieta was by your side in an instant, “It’s your party, of course!” She let you know.

“M-my party?” You stuttered.

“You didn’t think we’d forgotten, did you?” Pepa appeared at your other side, linking her arms with yours.

“N-no. I… I just figured that I wasn’t important enough…” You mumbled.

Your aunts eyes both widened, glancing down at you, “Cariño, you are just as important as any of the other kids.” Julieta let you know.

You smiled, hugging your aunts close as a few tears slipped down your cheeks.

The music played and the party was in full swing as they led you over to the dance floor. The pair of them danced with you as you heard your father yet again, ‘Happy birthday, mija.’ you heard him say.

You smiled as you danced with your aunts, glancing around the room and quickly noticing that you couldn’t see Abuela anywhere. Of course she wouldn’t be here. It was all too good to be true.

You soon separated from your tias and headed towards the punch bowl, grabbing a cup of the fruit punch and drinking it down. “Happy birthday, cariño.” Somebody said from behind you.

You glanced over your shoulder to see Abuela, you turned to face her and smiled her way, “Thanks Abuela.” You nodded, placing the plastic cup on the counter and crossing your arms over your chest slightly. “Did, um, did you plan all of this?” You asked, glancing around the room.

Abuela froze slightly, “U-uhm, no. Not exactly. Carlos suggested it and he and your other cousins helped to plan it.” She let you know.

You nodded, raising your brows slightly, that figures. “That was nice of them.” You grinned.

“Yeah, it was.” She glanced down at the floor.

‘Which got me thinking, what’s so special about you? You’re just a problem child.’ You heard. You were staring at her the whole time, her mouth didn’t move, it was a thought.

“You never hide it, do you?” You snapped, causing her to lift her head.

“What do you mean, cariño?” She asked, confusion taking over her features.

‘Oh, god, here we go again. Here comes the next breakdown.’ You heard her thoughts again.

A few stray tears fell freely down your face as you pushed past the elder and ran. You finally ran. You ran out of casita, you ran away from the party. You didn’t even know where you were going, you just wanted to get far enough away so that you wouldn’t hear her thoughts anymore.

Dolores placed her head in her hands and sighed, her prima and younger brothers all stared at her, “Dolores, what’s wrong?” Carlos asked.

“I don’t know exactly but I’m guessing it was Abuela’s bad thoughts again. (Name) snapped at her and then ran away crying.” She whispered.

“She’s still have bad thoughts about (name) even though it’s her birthday?” Mirabel asked, sighing deeply.

“Woah! Carlos wait!” Camilo suddenly called out, getting the attention of the two girls.

The three of them sprinted after an angry Carlos, knowing just what he was capable of when someone messed with a family member he was close to.

“WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH YOU, ALMA!” Carlos snapped, stopping in front of the elder.

“Watch your tone, Carlos.” Alma said, authoritatively.

“(NAME) HAS RAN AWAY BECAUSE OF YOU! IS THIS WHAT YOU DO NOW, ALMA?! FIRST YOU PUSH TIO BRUNO SO FAR AWAY THAT HE LEFT AND NOW YOU’RE FUCKING PUSHING (NAME) AWAY WITH YOUR HORRIBLE FUCKING THOUGHTS ABOUT HER!” He snapped at her.

“Carlos, watch your tone with your Abuela.” Pepa said from behind the children.

Carlos shook his head, glancing over his shoulder to see his mamá and papá along with his tia and tio, “She made (name) run away, on her damn birthday as well!” Carlos snapped, he was pissed off.

Félix quickly took note of his sons clenched fists before leaning forward, placing his hand on the teenagers shoulder, “Then let’s go and find her, mijo.” He said, gesturing for his son to follow him out of casita.

Carlos gave Alma a dirty look before following his father out of the house, “She could be anywhere, papá. You know she’s always been good at track in school.” He sighed.

“Hey, I know she and Mirabel are your favourite primas but you can’t attack your Abuela like that, Carlos.” His father told him.

“If only you all knew the truth.” Carlos muttered quietly, luckily his father hadn’t heard him.

Carlos shoved his hands in his pockets as he and his father began the search for you, calling out your name as they searched.

Every time they got closer to finding you, you would continue running. You soon found yourself in a clearing deep within the forest, quickly climbing a tree and sitting on an extremely thick branch.

You rested your head against the trunk of the tree as your legs dangled over either side of the branch and you tilted your head back slightly, staring up at the sky and letting your tears fall freely.

You had to leave. You had to stay away. You didn’t belong there. Not anymore.

~ Hai! So, here’s part two! In the next part I think will be leading up to the fall of casita, I think I’ll definitely be ending this at part four though, with the reunion and Abuela finally apologising for being a biiiii- Lemme know what y’all think, angels! 😘 Stay hydrated, make sure you’ve eaten today, remember you’re loved more than you’ll ever know and stay safe, lovelies! Mwah! 💖

[phoenixyfriend]

Uncle Ben and Little Luke

AKA we combine several types of time travel for maximum Soft Chaos, let’s go

EDIT NOW THAT I’VE WRITTEN THIS UP: jfc this ended up much angstier than initially intended uhhhhhhhhhh sorry

So a common enough thing I’ve seen in time travel fics is characters getting de-aged when tossed back physically, to neither the age they should be in that time, nor the age they were from the time they left, but whatever is most convenient. This is usually de-aging OT Obi-Wan into his TCW self, for reasons relating to, chiefly, removing the damage of Tatooine absolutely destroying his body alongside PTSD-driven alcoholism, but also because fic writers are horny, and Ewan McGregor playing a late-thirties negotiator is on average more appealing to people than Alec Guinness playing a vaguely feral desert hermit.

So, here’s how it plays out:

We take Luke and Ben from some point in the OT. There are a variety of options depending on how angsty we want it to be. My first instinct is ‘right after Owen and Beru die’ but I want to have that sweet angst where Luke knows that his dad is Vader and that Obi-Wan was trying to convince him to kill his own father without telling him that.

We’ll go with shortly after Bespin, and then they end up significantly before TPM. The Obi-Wan of the timeline proper is, eh, let’s say eighteen. Not really ready to be a knight, but old enough that we don’t have to worry about “if we go save Shmi, do we somehow wipe out Anakin?” which is absolutely a worry. Anakin is a toddler, and is in no place to be evil, on account of being literally two years old. He can’t even explode people with his brain yet.

Now, Ben finds himself mid-thirties, as is traditional. He’s not upset at this, because his joints hurt so much less than they used to! His knees aren’t exactly teenage-perfect, but by the Force are they better than they were in the years before he died! His hair has color! He doesn’t have arthritis! And, goodness, no physical withdrawal symptoms! The psychological aspect is still there, but nonetheless, he’s in much better shape than he last remembers being.

Luke looks like he’s about six. He was recently twenty-two. This is not an upgrade. Ben keeps having to carry him. He can’t see over the counter when they enter a bar for information. He can’t enter the bar in the first place. He’s very annoyed by all of this.

Ben is not annoyed. Ben is having a lot of emotions, actually, but annoyance isn’t one of them. He didn’t get to help raise Luke the way he might have if Anakin hadn’t lost his shit, okay, he sees a small Luke and he wants to hug him and cry.

Luke would like to be able to purchase a speeder part without the lady at the stall asking him if he needs his “dad’s” permission.

Once they figure out when and where they are, they need to decide where and how to leave. There are general shenanigans to gamble their way into enough money to hire a ship. They are in the ass end of nowhere, but definitely not Tatooine. There appears to be a jungle. There appears to be a significant variety of man-eating creatures. There appears to be a temple to the Force of questionable origin. None of this is actually helpful, except for the moment they find a “baby’s first lightsaber” in the temple.

Luke only has one hand and, being a six-year-old, his body is growing too fast for him to bother with getting a wired-in prosthesis the way he could as an adult. He can get a more basic prosthesis, but nothing that attaches to the neurons. He’ll outgrow it too fast.

He’s tiny and he’s not used to doing things with just one hand. He uses the Force to do what one hand can't, and every time someone tries to tell him he's misusing the Force he whaps them with the empty sleeve.

So, you know, they find out what year it is. Ben has a breakdown. Luke is upset that he left behind his friends. Ben admits to him that Leia was his twin. Luke stares in horror because dude, she kissed him, you couldn’t have mentioned this earlier???

Ben points out that Beru and Owen were keeping Luke away from him for nineteen years, and then they had about three days of awkward travel to find Leia in the first place, and then Ben died. He didn’t have a whole lot of time to figure out how to tell him.

(This sparks an argument that lasts several days. All onlookers assume that Ben’s son is throwing a tantrum. He doesn’t correct them, even though this is a very valid reason to be upset, because the truth is much harder to explain.)

Sooooo they travel. Mostly, Ben plays Sabacc, cleans house, and pays their way towards Coruscant. Luke still really wants to learn to be a Proper Jedi, even though Ben is pretty sure that Luke would have... a lot of difference of opinion with the Temple, but sure. Coruscant. They can at least stop by, and see Qui-Gon, and Mace, and Quinlan, and Bant, and everyone else that’s still alive and not tragically deceased in the horror following the start of the Clone Wars and then the birth of the Empire, and Ben can have a nice sob over all his dead friends being alive again.

Ben is only barely holding it together while Luke is in the room with him at any given point. But it’s fine! It’s fine. He’s fine. All of his loved ones have come back to life! It’s great! HE’S FINE.

He is not fine.

Luke is also grieving all the people who haven’t been born yet, but he’s... significantly more okay than Ben is.

The closer they get to the Core, the more often people just assume Ben is Luke’s father, and then look shocked and uncomfortable when Luke flatly calls him by his name, and they just... compromise. This is the point at which Luke starts calling him “Uncle Ben.”

Ben cries in his bunk later that night. Luke overhears it and wonders how the HELL Ben is more unstable now, when there’s a chance to fix things and no Vader or Empire trying to kill or capture both of them, and all his friends are alive.

(Luke will later learn a lot about PTSD and realize this is actually a fairly normal situation, to process significant events and emotions only after gaining safety or catharsis.)

(Twenty years on a ball of sand with an alcohol addiction and debilitating fear of the man you raised as your own brother is not, in fact, safe or cathartic.)

At any rate, they’ve settled into that pattern by the time they reach the Inner Rim. The Inner Rim is the part of the galaxy at which they’ve collected enough money (and mental stability) to travel a little better, and to take a few more risks.

Risks like “manipulate people with those baby blues.”

Ben tells Luke that he’s a menace, after he pouts so cutely that he gets a free scarf added on to a purchase that Ben makes. Luke responds that Ben has no room to talk, since he flirted a free breakfast out of that one inn owner.

Also, Luke is currently physically six. That is objectively a situation that sucks. He deserves to use it for all it’s worth if he’s stuck like this.

“You know, if you keep wearing all-black and looking longingly at the velvet cape and Space Chanel boots, the temple is going to worry that you’re a darksider.”

“Uncle Ben... you told me, yesterday, that I sparkle so brightly in the Force that it’s almost blinding.”

“Yes, but the gloves--”

They don’t agree on this, but Ben relents. He does actually understand good fashion, unfortunately, and he’s not unaware of how much Leia taught Luke about such things.

Luke’s about forty years ahead of the curve, of course, but Skywalkers are prone to such things. It’s usually in regards to technology, granted, but...

They get to Coruscant. Ben is very obviously a Jedi. He knows all the right words and walks like a Soresu master and feels warm and comforting in the Force. They let him in with minimal questions. They note down “my first padawan left the order to have a child, but died shortly after; I consider Luke here to be my nephew, and have raised him as such,” and move on.

Luke is vaguely annoyed because he already had an uncle (and aunt) that raised him, but he admits that a person can have more than one uncle. He can live with this. Ben was more family to Anakin than Owen was, in some ways, so it’s kind of true. Luke is even working on feeling more childish affection for Ben instead of the complicated mess of emotions that come from being lied to about some very large and important subjects, and then seeing the person saying those lies have regular emotional breakdowns due to something as small as Luke saying he likes the curve of the hull on that freighter.

(Apparently he sounds just like his father did as a child. This is almost heartwarming.)

The thing is! The thing. The thing is, they almost make it to the Halls of Healing to get looked over for weird viruses, or Outer Rim Parasites, or whatever the hells needs to be happening. They almost make it without Ben having a flashback to dead younglings or brainwashed troopers or the declaration of a Sith Empire. They almost make it without incident.

Then Ben sees Qui-Gon, and freezes, and does not move again.

Luke cannot get him to restart.

People are staring.

They haven’t even made it to Medical, Uncle Ben, come on.

Young, local Obi-Wan comes over and asks if there’s something he can do to help. Or maybe this “Ben” knows Qui-Gon? Master Jinn doesn’t recognize Ben, but maybe Luke knows more?

Luke does know more, but what Luke actually says is “he probably needs a mind healer.”

(Ben will not appreciate this.)

(Ben is unfortunately standing in the middle of the hallway and completely unresponsive, and is unable to argue with this assertion.)

(Ben is pretty much proving this assertion entirely correct, actually.)

Obi-Wan is helpful, if a little bitchy in the manner of most late-teens individuals, and offers to help get Uncle Ben down to the Halls of Healing. It involves Obi-Wan gently pushing on Ben’s shoulders, and Qui-Gon offering to carry Luke so he can be in Ben’s sights (because Ben is a Mystery, and Qui-Gon is quite fond of those, so he wants to stay involved). Ben kind of just... shuffles on down.

There are medical tests. They ask about how Luke lost his hand. He refuses to talk about it. They ask how Ben got all his scars. Luke says he doesn’t know. They ask if he knows why Ben looks like he’s been through a war. Luke says it’s because he probably was.

They check for foreign viruses. They find evidence of thus-far-unpatented vaccinations. They ask Luke if he knows what he’s vaccinated for.

“How would I know? I’m six.”

They agree that this is a good excuse.

(It is not. He’s lying. They do not know this.)

They do some more tests. They find a lot of questionable medical bullshit in Ben’s body. Most of this is from the clone wars, but they don’t know this. Someone realizes they haven’t gotten a ping back from the Shadow Network regarding “do we have permission to pull the medical file of a Jedi that isn’t in the normal database? We’re assuming you know who he is, since we don’t.”

The Shadow Network does not know who Ben is.

The healers, of course, go “huh, that’s weird, but maybe the name he gave his nephew was fake. We can’t exactly ask ‘Ben’ for more details right now. We already had to sedate him. Let’s check the DNA!”

The DNA pulls up as Obi-Wan Kenobi.

The padawan who brought this guy in two hours ago.

“Huh, that’s weird. Let’s call in Kenobi and ask if he knows what’s going on.”

Obi-Wan absolutely does not know what’s going on.

They ask Luke.

“Oh, I don’t know,” he says, lying through his teeth and not even pretending otherwise.

“You’re not a very good liar,” teenage Obi-Wan tells him.

“I’m not trying to be,” Luke says. “Can you get Master Yoda? I feel like we’re going to need him.”

They normally wouldn’t get Yoda on the request of a six-year-old, but they also normally don’t have a catatonic thirty-something Jedi who looks like he’s been through a war popping up in the medical database as the pimply teenage padawan that broke his pinky trying to do a Badass Ataru Flip last week.

Or... whatever Luke i... is... oh dear.

“Young one,” Qui-Gon asks, while people whisper-shout behind him, not realizing he’s cutting the Correlian Knot and just asking the kid himself. “Do you know why your midichlorian count is so high? It’s almost unheard of.”

“Uncle Ben said my dad was the Chosen One,” Luke says, because he is capable of being a little shit and is actually really eager to let Ben deal with some of the fallout. He feels for the man, really, but he’s also tired of being the one to field every single question.

Also, the expressions that pass on Qui-Gon’s face are hilarious.

(Luke may or may not be more affected by his six-year-old brain than he would like to admit.)

“Thank you,” Qui-Gon says, sounding more than a little strangled about it.

It takes another three hours for Ben to wake up.

He listens to the questions. He hears what they say his ‘nephew’ said. He looks at Luke.

“Is this revenge for not telling you about Leia?”

“It’s not revenge,” Luke does not lie. “I just don’t know how to explain it.”

“It’s pretty easy to explain.”

“It’s not my secret.”

“This is revenge for the Leia thing.”

“No,” Luke says. “Revenge for the Leia thing was when I ate a live frog in front of you.”

This is the point at which someone interrupts and points out that they appear to be stalling.

“Oh, he is,” Luke tells them. He gestures at Ben. “I can’t tell you more, because it’s more his story than mine.”

“I’m afraid, Master, that I am very likely to have an emotional breakdown if I allow myself to consider the reality of this situation for longer than the fraction of a second I already have,” Ben reports, full of false cheer. “Suffice to say, I am far from stable and have only held out this far for Luke’s sake.”

“Can you explain why you have my DNA?” Obi-Wan asks, as the person who’s most concerningly involved in this situation.

“You can,” Ben says, smiling like there is absolutely nothing wrong in the slightest, ever. “I’m you, from the future. I actually died and spent a few years dead before coming back. I’m not sure why I’m younger than I was when I died, but I appreciate being able to put on my shoes without my knees attempting to mutiny.”

“He needs a mind healer,” Luke reiterates, in case the strained grin hasn’t made it clear. “So do I, but not as much.”

“I have felt literally every person in this Temple save for Luke and Yoda die,” Ben reports, looking a shade more manic than a few seconds earlier. “It’s very overwhelming to feel you all being alive again. I may be approaching a mental breakdown, and I’ve been rather strictly advised against using alcohol to treat my traumas again.”

Luke kicks him in the thigh. It’s not a very hard kick, because he is very small, and he does actually like Ben. “I’m not letting you turn into an old drunk again.”

After several seconds of silence, a healer quietly suggests that everyone clear the room, and asks if someone could fetch Master Yoda as the youngling requested.

(THIS IS ALMOST THREE THOUSAND WORDS. I started it less than two hours ago. Why am I like this.)

[ramzawrites]

I've always liked the idea of eastern dragons, long bodied and often aquatic in nature. And ever since the movie Raya and the Last Dragon came out, I've only grown more enamored with them.

Then came the idea of the Sleepy Bois with a water dragon hybrid reader. I don't know, I just thought it'd be fun to see Phil freak out about a mystical dragon hybrid, Techno chilling out with another hybrid friend, and Tommy challenging this water dragon warrior to a fight. It could just be me, but I thought it would make a fun request.

And for fun, this water dragon hybrid wields a trident for a weapon, cuz you know, ocean n stuff.

A Dragon Friend - Reader and SBI

GN

Pairings: None

Characters included: Philza, Wilbur Soot, Technoblade, Tommyinnit

Warnings: none

Series: a request :)

Summary: Wilbur brings home a new friend so his family can meet them. To Phil’s shock it is a Dragon Hybrid, just one of the rarest kind of people out there that tend to stay away from society. No big deal really. Then again of course Wilbur managed to befriend them.

Words count:

Authors Note: I am not too knowledgeable on easter Dragons so I generalized it more into the Dragons I know of, I hope this is fine :0

Wilbur threw open the gate that led into the front yard of his home.

Philza was currently kneeling in the dirt as he took care of the growing vegetables and other plants. It was his little hobby to take care of these plants, though he isn’t the only one who took care of them. Technoblade, the oldest child of his, begun taking interest in this little hobby of his as well. Though right now Philza was working alone. His clothes covered in dirt but still wearing gloves that protected his hands from it.

As he looked up, curious why suddenly the gate crashed shut, he could see an incredibly happy looking Wilbur standing in front of another teen.

He had to do a double take as he realizes who was standing next to him. Blue scales were growing along their jawline, sneaking at times into the face and going down their throat and arms. Ending at their fingertips. Philza also managed to spot unmistakably gills at the side of their throat, now closed shut due to them being in the air.

Though the thing that was probably the biggest give away to their nature was the long, elegant tail behind their legs. Swishing around nervously in the air. It was mesmerizing to see the scales moving around and glinting in the sun.

On their back was a shining and sharp looking Trident. The bright and colorful shine alone gave him idea enough of how incredibly well enchanted the weapon must be.

Philza threw his gloves off and walked closer to Wilbur, his face contorted into a mix of shock and worry while Wilbur looked like he just had the best day in a long while. For some reason he couldn’t help but suspect that Wilbur must have done something.

“Hey, dad! I wanna show you my new friend!”

“Friend? What do you mean friend?”

He needed to know more. During his travels he has only met a few Dragon Hybrids since they liked to keep to themselves. It was rare to meet one and he was pretty sure it was near to impossible to get them to leave their clan to follow someone else around like this. Knowing Wilbur something must have happened, then again, he was quite charismatic and has surprised Philza before with his people skills.

Wilbur nodded enthusiastically “Yes! This is Y/N and they are my cool friend! We met a few weeks ago.”

Well, that explained why he suddenly visited the ocean so often.

Y/N took a step forward and gave Phil a quick nod as a greeting “Hello, I hope this isn’t a bad time. Wilbur just told me so much about his family that I couldn’t help but be curious. He just wanted to help me satisfy my own curiosity towards people on the outside.”

And here was the explanation why they just followed Wilbur like this. They were curios and not afraid enough to follow up on it.

“Ah, okay. It’s, uh, fine. My name is Philza. Nice to meet you Y/N.”

It was obvious that Phil was still trying to wrap his head around this situation. It just kind of felt unreal and yet it just made sense. This family and the world were already so Ender damned weird, this might as well happen.

Wilbur didn’t seem to be bothered by his father’s clear confusion “Where are Techno and Tommy, by the way? Are they home?”

Phil slowly nodded “Yeah. Both should be in the house.”

“Thanks, Dad. Let’s go Y/N! You have to meet my brothers as well!”

He then grabbed Y/N’s hand and pulled them along towards the old but sturdy wooden door that led into their home.

Before Wilbur could open it though Phil yelled out one more thing towards Y/N “If any of my sons are too much or just generally annoying don’t hesitate to get me, I also give you full permission to just tell them off.”

Y/N couldn’t give him an answer though since Wilbur just opened up the door and dragged them in but at this point they were used to Wilbur and taking the charge like this at times so all they did was follow along.

“Your father seems nice, even if a bit sur-“ but Y/N couldn’t finish the sentence. Wilbur pressed his finger against his lips, giving them the sign to be quiet. They were confused but begun following Wilbur as he slowly opened up a door to what Y/N assumed to be the living room.

In the middle of a couch, with his back turned towards the door, sat another teenager with pink hair and pink ears poking out of it.

They might have never met him, but Y/N could immediately tell that this must be Technoblade. The older one between the twins. Even if only by two minutes according to Wil.

Now, Y/N was very interested in meeting Technoblade as well since he too was a Hybrid and they had only been in contact with fellow Dragon Hybrids.

Though right now, Y/N was just watching.

Watching Wilbur who was sneaking up on his brother. His hands out, obviously he planned on somehow scaring him by suddenly touching his shoulder. And just as he got close enough to slam his hands down, Techno loudly shut his book.

The next thing Y/N heard was a bang and saw that Wilbur sank down to the ground, holding his nose and crying out in pain. Techno’s hand with the book in the air.

He slammed the book into Wilbur’s face.

Y/N let out a chuckle but more out of surprise than anything. They knew from Wilbur that Techno was an incredible fighter and had amazing reflexes but somehow they didn’t expect this.

“What the hell, Y/N. Here I am on the ground dying and all you do is laugh?”

They just rolled their eyes and helped Wilbur back up. His nose was a bit red but nothing more, he probably reacted more out of shock than anything.

Technoblade stood up with a sigh and turned around “You really think I couldn’t hear you? I knew as soon as I heard your sneaking steps what you were planning, nerd.”

With Techno now turned around Y/N couldn’t help but be amazed by his Hybrid features. Two huge tusk decorated his face, bristle like fur growing along his arms and now they could see that the ears were definitely that of a pig.

As Y/N stared at him and Wilbur was still cursing his brother out, Techno noticed how Y/N’s gaze was transfixed on him in awe.

He raised one of his eyebrows “Uh, hi?”

Y/N’s eyes widened “Oh! Sorry! My name is Y/N! Wilbur was so nice to show me around since I usually stay with my own clan.”

His own gaze fell then onto his brother who just nodded to show that this was indeed the truth “Mhm, yeah. Pretty much, also, I was so quiet! How did you hear me?”

As an answer Techno just pointed at one of his animal ears “I have better hearing, remember?”

Wilbur scoffed “Yeah, yeah. You are so much better than us. Better hearing, better nose and even better eyes, but we non-Hybrids are pretty cool too.” He then looked at Y/N expectantly as if to wait for them to support his statement.

But Y/N just squinted their eyes and took a good second to stare Wilbur down “Are you- You know who you are talking to, right? I can breathe under water, my eyes are better as well and I have a Ender damned tail.”

“Okay, maybe I talked to the wrong person.” He admitted.

Techno chuckled and moved next to Y/N and held his hand up, palm towards them. It took them a small moment to understand but their own palm soon clapped together with Techno’s.

“Hybrid Buddies?” he asked.

“Hybrid Buddies.” Y/N confirmed.

They might only really know Techno now for about a minute, but they could tell he mostly did this to infuriate Wilbur even more.

Wilbur just sighed and cupped his hands around his mouth “Tommy? Get to the living room for a sec!”

“Oh, are you getting backup?” Techno mused.

At this point Wilbur just looked unamused, crossing his arms in front of his chest as he waited for the youngest brother to react.

The sudden sound of rumbling and loud steps from above seemed to be this answer.

“What do you want Wil! I was working on something! Wait, who is that?” Tommy begun yelling out as soon as he arrived at the stairs only to stop once he walked into the room properly to see Y/N who greeted him with a little wave.

“This is Y/N. I met them a while ago and wanted to show them where we live.” Wilbur put his arm around his younger brother as he begun explaining.

Tommy seemed to be incredibly confused but nonetheless intrigued. His eyes darting from Y/N to Wilbur and only for a split second jumping to Techno “Okay? Hello, Y/N. I’m Tommy.” He then squirmed away from beneath Wilbur’s arm, taking a closer look at them “Woah! What are you? You look awesome! Is that a trident? I thought they were super rare! It’s also enchanted! I mean… you seem to be alright, I guess.”

Y/N laughed, more at the reactions of both Wilbur and Techno who seemed to grow incredibly tired as Tommy went along with his usual spiel “Oh! I’m a Water Dragon Hybrid! Also, yeah, I got that trident from my parents as a way to protect myself. We primarily live in or close of water, so, tridents are incredibly useful to us. Also, they mean a lot to us as well.”

They then got the trident off their back to let Tommy have a better look at it. He looked awestruck. Not only at the revelation that Y/N was a Dragon Hybrid but that weapon seemed to really have enamored him somehow.

A dangerous glint appeared in his eyes as he looked back up “This is cool but nothing against me and my sword.”

Technoblade seemed to be bewildered at that “You just have an iron sword what are you talking about?”

But Wilbur put his hand on Techno’s shoulder “No, no. Let him. Let’s just watch.” It was clearly Wilbur’s chaos was getting the better of him and Techno was too tired to deal with that.

“Your sword? Are you sure? Even if you have an enchanted iron sword, I’m pretty sure it would be nothing against a trident, especially since I am very well trained with this weapon.” Y/N seemed almost smug.

Tommy puffed up his chest and placed his hands at his sides “But my father is the one and only Philza and he taught me everything! There is no way you even stand a chance against me! Fight me and I’ll prove it to you!”

Y/N rolled their shoulders “Okay, little one, let’s get outside and fight! I’ll show you.”

“Little one? Little one?!” Tommy repeated flabbergasted. How dare they call him little.

The sound of the closing front door rung out through the house which was soon followed by an annoyed groan “I swear by Ender. I leave you alone for a few minutes and I already hear Tommy screaming about wanting to fight our guest. Amazing first impression for Y/N.”

He appeared at the door, gloves still on this time. His expression pulled down into a strict frown as he looked around at the scene in front of him.

Both Tommy and Y/N were standing in the middle of the room, turned towards each other due to their bickering while Techno and Wilbur stood to the side. Techno had a skeptical look about him while Wilbur couldn’t help but smirk at the argument of the two.

He purposefully didn’t say it, but Y/N was being trained as a full-fledged warrior of their clan. It was their job to keep off mobs and unwanted guests away from their family. Tommy would have no chance against them, but he couldn’t help but still wanting to see it. Besides Y/N wouldn’t seriously hurt him.

Honestly if anything Wilbur really wanted to see Techno and Y/N fight. In Wilbur’s eyes Techno was definitely the best fighter he knew but Y/N was a close second and while he couldn’t understand it, he also knew that those two would probably bond over fighting each other.

Tommy pointed at Y/N “Well, they started it! Just strutting in here with a weapon! I have to protect our home!”

Philza shook his head, already done with his mischief “Is that right?” He directed that question towards the other teens.

Wilbur just continued smiling while Y/N and Techno just shook their heads.

“Alright. Tommy, stop lying and no fighting. How about you guys just help me make food, at least then I know what you guys are up to.”

This seemed to pull Wilbur back out of his chaotic loving thoughts ��Oh! That reminds me! Can we make cookies? Y/N never had any.”

Even Techno, who acted calm and collected, looked shocked towards Y/N. They lived for this long with never eating any cookies? Now that just seemed wrong.

“Sure. Let’s make some cookies then. Is that alright Y/N?”

Y/N’s eyes widened “Oh? Uh, yes! I would love to! It seems to be a big thing that I never had any so I really want to try them!”

Excited Tommy threw his arms in the air “Cookies!”

Laughing at his little brothers’ antics, Wilbur joined in and cheered as well “Cookies!” He then followed said brother and his father out the living room and into the kitchen. Leaving Y/N and Techno behind.

While Y/N was excited as well they were still a bit overwhelmed with this sudden reaction right after being threatened by Tommy. Techno seemed to notice this and put one of his hands on their shoulder “Don’t worry too much about what Tommy said. He was seriously impressed by you, but he unfortunately has an incredibly huge ego with nothing to back it, hence the insults and threats. So don’t worry too much about it. Wilbur seems to really enjoy your company and I too think you are… interesting company. Yes, let’s say that. If you are really such a great fighter, we definitely have to spar at some point though. I rarely get the chance to test my skills against other people besides my family and mobs.”

“I would love that.”

“Nice. Let’s join the others. Seriously, you have never eaten any cookies? How is that possible?”

[gojology]

Strawberry Flavored Pocky.

pairing : teen! gojo x gender neutral reader warnings : the big three: unedited, most likely badly written, and some cursing. also there’s like.. graphic imagery that gojo and reader exchange to eachother. it’s just banter though! wordcount : 2273 a/n : for that one anon that wanted teen gojo. my stroke of genius always occurs when im eating strawberry flavored pocky i swear.. anyways yeah this is unfiltered writing n it’s probably like not the best tbh and maybe i didn’t nail teen gojo’s personality but u know what this was so fun to write

     The sound of the tear of the wrapper containing the Pocky you had just bought was music to your ears, crinkling with every touch. Your fingers are itching to grab for the deliciously coated sticks, but you’re stopped by someone none other than Gojo Satoru himself.       “What’d you get?” he inquired, seemingly unbothered by the face you were making, he hadn’t even greeted you with a simple, “Hello.” he sat down on the bench seat right next to you, uninvited.       In his hand were many bags of various sweet treats, you could only make out some familiar ones- ramune flavored gummies, a bag of chips, vibrantly colored candy. Your lips quirk downwards, exhaling, turning to face the setting sun.       “Just some Pocky.” you flatly respond, beginning to pick the biscuit up. Contrary to Gojo’s wide choice of snacks, you only really had one favorite- Pocky. Specifically, Strawberry flavored Pocky. The sweet, yet somewhat tart aftertaste treat dominated your mind almost day and night. It wasn’t everyday that Yaga would be lenient enough to take the four of you to the local convenience store. You were waiting for Shoko and Geto to finish shopping to finally head home for a night of yummy snacking.       Gojo sighs, lazily dropping the treats right next to his side, they sat idly, limply resting on his thigh as he crossed his right leg over his left knee. His hands warmly nestled into his snowy white hair, his elbows jutting into your personal bubble.        “Not one to chat, are you? What’s the problem? You scared?” his tone is teasing, and you jerk your head to face his. Your head is tilted, like your confused, but in reality you’re just astounded how obnoxious he was.       “Why in the world would I be scared of you? You wouldn’t lay a finger on me. Yaga-Senpai would rip your limbs off one by one and fling you into the horizon! And he’s not even that far away, I could report you to him if you even get on my nerves in the slightest.” you shot back, huffing and taking your first bite on the biscuit. You instantly melt.       He flashes you a toothy smile, and you stiffen, did he ever take anything seriously? “Oh my, so riled up. Only scaredy-cats would talk about how not scared they were. Look, you’re even shaking-” he gestures to your just slightly shaking, tightened grip on your Pocky. “-I win, Y/N! Boo hoo, case closed, gimme your Pocky~”        “No, fuck you and your fat ass trying to take my Pocky, I’m not shaking from fear anyways.” you sternly retort, warmth rushing to your cheeks for whatever reason. “I’m shaking because I’m resisting the urge to duct tape your mouth shut and gouge your eyeballs out.”       He chuckles warmly as if your gruesome detailing was humorous, he probably didn’t know you meant it. He too, ripped open one of his snacks. “Calm down, Y/N. I was joking, I could buy Pocky’s whole stock and probably also buy my position up as CEO if I wanted to. I wouldn’t leech off of you, sugar.” readjusting his crooked, circular shades, he looked down at your now slack grip on the wrapper.      Unanswering, you’re grumbling instead. Under your breath, you’re curious as to how Gojo hasn’t realized how obnoxious he was, and how much longer could he survive without his head exploding from how big it was from his inflated ego?      Gojo grinned. He was all too aware of those things, but who really cared?      “Not unless you let your guard down!-” unable to finish the rest of his sentence, he yanked up the wrapper from your hands, using the extent of his long arm to dangle it high above your head. Your reflexes are far too slow to react, causing you to glare at him in a mixture of shock, hatred, and disbelief.      “Give-” you jump, arm reaching towards your snack, but he backs off, snickering and still dangling it above your head. “It-” now you’ve leapt up on the bench, grabbing at the wrapper to no avail. “Back!-” whimpering and flailing your arms out, every time you came close to retrieving your rightfully owned pack of Pocky, he’d simply throw it to his other hand so carelessly it pissed you off. All the while giggling, juggling it like a clown.      A breath of laughter escapes his lips as he looks at you, prancing around like a circus act on the bench, yelling curses and many death-wishes to his clan. Your eyebrows are knitted together, and he can’t just help but realize how adorable you were when concentrated in getting something- so stubborn.    “Okay, okay!” and as if Gojo had flipped a switch, you simmer down, looking at him with an impatient side-eye. “You want it, doggie?”     “Refer to me as doggie, and I’ll send a pack of strays to ravage you.”       Gojo exhaled out of his nose. “You’re a funny one, doggie.” did he just dismiss the conversation you two were having literally 2 seconds prior? “I’ll ask this again, do you want to get your treats back?” his eyes are glinting with amusement and child-like glee. You were almost sure that he had started calling your beloved Pocky as treats because of just how well it suited the nickname Doggie. It looked like you would be getting no where unless you paid no mind to him calling you such a.. Derogatory name.       Grumbling and studying the concrete you were currently trampling on, you exasperatedly sigh.       “Yes. I do want my Pocky back.” you grunt, averting your gaze to anywhere but Gojo’s shoes.       He perks up in approval, drawing out a long, “Hmmm?” as if he hadn’t expected you to give up so easily. “What are the magic words, Y/N?”       This was so humiliating.       “Please?” you politely say through gritted teeth. If it weren’t for the general public bustling about, you would’ve lunged for his unruly hair and tear it out of his scalp.       “Hah! You think I’m gonna do that sorta bullshit?” he crosses his arms, Pocky tucked safely under his arm. You wince, thinking about how the biscuits may potentially be snapped in half. Did you really want your snack still? It probably smelled like Gojo’s armpit sweat, death, and all the bad things in the world combined. “You’re gonna have to earn it, Y/N, in a game.”       Now convinced that Gojo was the manifestation of all the bad karma that you had avoided, you stare at him with wide eyes and fear, the irritation long gone. Games, no, scratch that, literally anything with Gojo only resulted in a small, or maybe large piece of your sanity torn away from you, lost to the infinite dark abyss. Maybe that’s why Geto seemed to slowly go insane everyday.       “On second thought, I’ll just go-”      He cuts you off, alarm now displayed on full view, his face contorting back to neutral. “Wait, no! It won’t be hard. Pinkie promise.” extending a pinkie towards you, you gently slap it away. The mood change was so instant, you were still shocked, that, and he was almost a legal adult and still believed in pinkie promises.      Still hesitant, you quirk an eyebrow, crossing your arms over your chest. “I’d rather spend another two dollars than play whatever game your planning, unless you tell me about it.”      “That’s a given, besides, it won’t take too long, Y/N. I think you’ll like it.” he replies cheerfully, leaning and whisper-yelling into your ear, fruitfully jolting you up. Seriously, did he have any idea what personal space was?      After just a few seconds of thinking, you roll your eyes in defeat. “Okay, what’s this game?”      His incredibly long fingers inserted themselves inside the crinkling wrapper, pulling out a slender stick. You’re almost sure your salivating, and subconsciously swallow the lump at the back of your throat. “Okay, rules of this game are... Hm, we both place our mouths at both ends of the stick. You get the pretzel part because that part sucks.” mischief flickers in his eyes briefly. “Whoever can get down the Pocky longest without being afraid of kissing and pulling back, loses and doesn’t get the Pocky. Whoever stays in their place wins. I’ll throw in some money, deal or no deal?”       “This doesn’t sound.. Fun.” you were still skeptical, but curiosity was blossoming rapidly inside of you. Could you really resist such an intriguing request? The guy was rich, and he did say he’d throw in some money. Gojo probably hated the thought of you, too. You could probably get up and close, get him to cower away from the thought of locking lips with you, and you’d be on your merry way.       “Um, actually, never mind. Let’s do this.” you chirp, the weariness had depleted completely. Besides, Gojo would pester you into doing it anyways, this would effectively save time. The expression on his face was indecipherable, silently wishing to yourself to see his eyes. You wonder if they’re wide open, in shock of your acceptance.       He gently placed the biscuit between your lips, his thumb brushing against it. Your breath hitches, now he’s up close. The shades adorning his handsome features, concealing those vivid blue eyes of his made your heart pace quicken in just seconds, maybe it was because he could see you- and you couldn’t. Your gaze shifts to the tufts of white hair hanging above his forehead. His bangs look lusciously soft, so soft you wonder what it’d be like to ruffle his unruly hair, what did it smell like? What conditioner did he use?     Your cheeks darken, but you hope he doesn’t notice it. This was what people thought of when they saw pretty people up close, it wasn’t like you had a thing for him, he was just attractive, that’s all.      “You look real stupid holding that stick between your teeth and looking at me.” he comments, charmingly smirking as you give him another death glare, unable to speak in fear of dropping the Pocky stick. You could count each individual hair strand he had on top of his head with the amount of time he was taking.      Chomp.     You take the first bite, and you can’t help but realize how much your heart is fluttering about in your chest. Eyelashes fluttering, nerves getting jittery, the exchange was strangely intimate. No kidding, of course it was- if the two of you were adamant and continued to chomp on the stick, it would only end in a kiss. There was no way around it.      He takes a bite too, his lips look curved in a dopey smile, but there’s not a single word traded between the two of you, just tiny, slight nibbles. It would be eons until someone finished, and you were growing impatient by the minute. Quicken the pace. Quicken the fucking pace.     So you did the unthinkable, you quickened the pace.     Taking a large bite, he pauses for a minute- as if to think, before taking an even larger bite. Now, 2/3′s of the original stick is gone. One more large bite, and a kiss would follow suit. Now, you’re sweating bullets, eyes bouncing from him, back down to the microscopic sized Pocky. His lips are so, so close. Soft, plush pink, so glossy you’re inclined to ask what brand of lip gloss he uses. You can hear his breathing grow heavier, why wasn’t he giving up?      The two of you don’t take a single bite, plainly avoiding the objective, the world around you had evaporated into thin air. It’s you, and Gojo Satoru.      You nibbled a little bit more, and then you make up your mind. You’re going to kiss-       Growing chatter grew closer to closer, and you realize Shoko’s monotone and Geto’s lively voice, alongside a very disgruntled Yaga.       “Yeah, she’s pretty hot. I actually liked the movie- Uh...?” the steady rhythm stopped against the concrete. Immediately, you straighten and clear your throat, spitting out the Pocky stick into the nearby grass. Gojo follows suit, shoving his hands deep into his pockets and twirling around. “Oh hey, Geto!-”       “Are we interrupting something? Something.. Important?” Shoko quizzes, struggling to stifle her giggling. A sheepish smile was displayed widely on your face for the world to see, hands behind your back like you were hiding something. Gojo, on the other hand, is facing the other direction, whistling and staring at the now setting sky.       You stutter, cheeks growing even darker. Yaga looks as disgruntled as ever, facepalming and murmuring to himself. Geto looks ecstatic.        “MY MAN!” he beams. “WERE YOU GOING TO-”       “SHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!” Shoko shushes him in response, turning her head back to the two of you. You looked like you had just seen a ghost. “We thought you hated Gojo, we’re just...” her head is cocked slightly, an understanding expression on her features. “Just surprised, is all.”       Spluttering, you try to explain yourself- but no sound comes out. Your mouth is opening and closing, struggling to find the words.       “I do hate him... I just... He.. Pocky.. He uh...”       “Sheeeeeeeesh! Poor Y/N over here is going through some shock right now!” Gojo muses aloud, he places an arm around your shoulders, pulling you in under his arm. There’s a small, coy grin on his lips. As if he didn’t try kissing you 1 minute ago. “Just ignore them, anyways, what are we having for dinner tonight? I heard there’s a really good KBBQ place down the street that just opened..”      As much as you hate Gojo, his ability to escape anything did come in handy.    Well, maybe you didn’t hate him as much as you were leading on.     You’d go as far as to say.. Maybe you enjoyed some parts of him.      

[cdroloisms]

i think that although the theories/aus of puffy's son dream and wil's brother dream are interesting to think about, especially the implications, the (probably) canon statement that he really has no family to me hits the hardest. because it's just dream, you know. his friends hate him, he has none (p relatable), but i can't really imagine,, both not having friends and not having a family. that's kind of what keeps a lot of us sane and okay ( - quill anon (same anon from the c!tubbo c!wil ask) )

ouch quill anon ,, this ask Hurt. it’s true - usually, it’s our family and friends that keep us going, that are the ones that we fight for and live for and love for. c!dream’s “family” was his reasoning behind ,, a lot of the stuff he did, good or bad, and even now you can hear his desperation in getting someone, anyone to visit sometimes, in wanting to know how people are doing outside the cell. 

at the same time, he’s a character very much defined by his solitude, by his isolation, by all of the time he has spent,, alone. by the alliances that had been broken, betrayed, forgotten. by how- at the end of the day - he sits for hours on end in an obsidian box with nothing but his thoughts to accompany him. it’s awfully ,, sad, despite everything he’s done. through it all, he’s alone. he survives the horrors of the vault (until this current arc) alone. nobody’s there to hear his thoughts. nobody knows his mindset, or feelings, or wants, or anything that really makes him human. for someone so driven by people, he spends so much time completely isolated - and it’s. honestly really, really tragic. 

anyway, this is a sad little drabble set pre-roommates arc abt c!dream in the prison, alone, bc he makes me Sad. 

tw: mentioned torture, abuse, violence, broken bones, blood, injuries, mental deterioration, isolation, panic attacks, self-deprecation, trauma, memory loss, death, contemplations of death, dark content, dark imagery

The blank book in his hand stares at him stubbornly, the stark white of the untouched pages nearly burning his eyes, used to the dark walls and floor of the cell. Dream’s hand shakes around his quill, ink splotches marring the pages from where his too-unsteady hand had let the nib brush against the paper and left freckles of black spots behind. He pulls his thumb back from the bottom left corner, hissing slightly when it leaves a dull red fingerprint behind, a smudge of half-dried blood further dirtying the paper.

He’d pulled out one of the books for some reason, probably on a whim, letting his hands run over the leather spine and along the thread of the binding absentmindedly after Quackity left for the day. He hadn’t touched them in a while - he liked to save them, at the beginning, just in case visitors came and he wanted to thank them or if he needed to communicate (though he hadn’t gone silent since Sapnap left, ‘cause Sapnap wanted him to talk and he doesn’t know why he still clings to that visit when it’s been months and he still hasn’t come back, but he promised that if Dream behaved he’d visit again and - it’s stupid to hope, but Dream can’t give up, not yet) and then he kept them because he would need them for the revive book and the Warden would confiscate them, anyway, so it was better not to get attached. Regardless, he’d stubbornly ignored the chest of books for a long time, let the remain closed and the clasp go unlatched as he wasted his days away watching the walls drip bright purple and pretend he didn’t miss his clock.

Until now.

He runs his fingers along the surface of the paper again, ignoring the red and black smudges they leave in their wakes, ruining the previously unblemished pages. The paper is smooth, bearing a very slight grain, and smells clean and woody - this book must’ve been a newer one the Warden replaced into the chest. He’d counted the pages a few times, front and back - there are fifty sheets, so a hundred pages to use as he sees fit, completely empty and untouched. The quill shakes in his hand, the tip pressed against the paper, unmoving.

What is there to write?

He’s forgotten why he pulled out the book in the first place, already - his head keeps getting fuzzier, memory impossibly fragmented and seemingly worsening with every passing day. He knows he had a reason because he’d been very determined about it, had spent what must have been hours dragging himself along the obsidian floor with a broken shinbone jutting out of his right leg and a dislocated left shoulder that he’d taken an extra few minutes to jam back in place by pressing it against the floor. Something had come into his head, probably in the middle of Quackity’s daily session, and he’d found himself desperate to write it down before he forgot despite the throbbing of his head and the pain in his chest making it impossible to take a full breath.

(He must have talked back, or acted defiant, or something - he doesn’t remember much besides the look Quackity had given him after, dark and angry and tight with rage. There had been a hand tangled in his hair, a blade jammed right up against his throat, curses and screams in his ears dying into a singular ringing echo as the blade was pushed deeper and deeper. It wasn’t until a few minutes later when Quackity realized that he’d gone too deep and that Dream was choking on his own blood - his memories shatter, and there’s nothing but more screaming, red and black and blood everywhere, warm against his skin, the sweet-sour taste of glistening melon on his tongue, a healing pot desperately stitching his skin together and bringing him back from the darkness that he’d swelled in the corners of his vision - mostly, he remembers everything going cold and numb and he’d realized, halfway into the Void, that he would never leave the Vault alive.)

His hands tighten on the book as he breathes a shallow, harsh breath through his teeth, because - oh. Oh. He looks back at the trembling white plume in his hand, at his shaking fingers clenched tightly near the end, and he swallows the thick, heavy feeling in his throat. Quackity had- and he had- and then-

Right.

He forces air into his lungs steadily, counting the seconds off in his head. He’d learned how to stave off panic attacks on his own ages ago, and the knowledge had come to full use in the Vault - the struggle to stay calm seems harder with every passing day, but he can’t exactly risk himself passing out every three seconds when he’s inevitably set off by the smell of blood or a twinge of pain or any of the million other triggers crammed into this tiny box that’s been the source of all of his torment for months. He keeps up the slow, steady breathing for another few minutes, just enough time to pull back the darkness creeping in from the edges of his vision, and looks back down at the blank paper.

It stares back at him, almost judgmental of his hesitancy. You opened me up, it seems to challenge him, why aren’t you writing? The quill still shakes in his hand. He doesn’t know if it’ll ever stop shaking again.

Dear, he begins, almost in defiance, proof that he Is Going To Write Something, thank you very much, he isn’t just going to chicken out and leave it a blank book (like you have before?) but the quill tip digs into the paper as he grinds to a sudden halt, the empty space next to the first word nearly taunting. He feels his mouth dry, heat rising behind his eyes - the book, silent and blank as ever, stays imprinted in his vision even as he squeezes them shut.

Dear, what a stupid, sentimental way to start a letter. He can’t even fool himself into thinking of it as a business venture, turn it into an elaborate plan to escape and address it to either Techno or Wilbur (who would never receive his message anyway), not without admitting his regard for the two edged past his pretense of professional interested and owed favors. He can hardly write it to Ranboo, not without compromising their already fragile alliance (if it even exists, anymore. The enderman hybrid had yet to visit for months - and sure, it was probably for the best, who knows how Quackity would react if he found out about the nature of their relationship, but that didn’t make it sting any less.)

In the back of his minds, name rise from where he’d kept them carefully buried despite his best efforts. Punz. Bad. Puffy. Sapnap. George. He shakes his head, trying to wave away them from his thoughts, but the effort is as fruitless as it has always been - he stares at the first word angrily, like it has betrayed him, and receives no response. The words are messy, shaking, his script overly looping and rounded like a child’s. He hates it, hates how cheery it looks, even on the bloodstained page - it looks like the beginning of a birthday card, or a perhaps a particularly dedicated Halloween party invite. Like he’s some sort of lovesick teen, writing letters to crushes that would never pay him a second glance. He laughed a little, without any real humor - minus the romance, that description isn’t all that far off.

Because- well. His memories might be shot to all hell, but he doubts he’ll ever forget the hatred on Sapnap’s face, a loaded crossbow pointed between his eyes, George’s expression set in disinterested apathy - “George, you can give the word.” Bad’s face, twisted in pity and resignation, voice carefully measured as he looks away and gestures at the cell, “you did do some pretty bad stuff to get put in here though, Dream,” the hidden “you deserve it” that he’d heard, just as clearly behind the words. Punz - “you should’ve paid me more” - jaw set stiffly as people poured through the portal, watching, wordless, as Dream bled out twice on that blackstone floor. Puffy, poorly hidden disgust flickering over her face as she looks away from him being dragged away in chains, sword held steady in her hands. Sapnap, that same fiercely determined expression on his face so familiar that thinking of it aches, even now, “it’s gonna be me, who takes your final life.” Months and months and months and months, alone.

Always, always, alone.

The page makes a quiet, complaining groan under his pen - he looks down to see it torn under the tip of his quill, the word completely unreadable under line after line of black ink scratched over it, each one deeper than the last. He stares blankly at it for a few minutes longer, the brief flash of anger that had seared through his body settling into numbness once more.

To whoever may find this: he scratches the words on the page slowly, keeping his print deliberately blocky and neat. The heavy feeling in his throat returns, stronger than ever, and he ignores it as he pushes on.

He pauses for a moment, wondering what more to write. Apologies? Accusations? He could detail every second that he remembers from Quackity’s visits, describe every inch of pain that had been pulled from his aching lungs, every line etched into his skin. He could apologize for every act of cruelty that had ever been caused by his hands, every bridge he’d ever torched to light the path to a better future. He could explain - everything, every tortured thought that had circled his head for hours on end and every night that had passed without any sleep and every time he’d pushed on without complaint or hesitancy because it would be worth it, even if he was the only one who saw it, it would be worth it because he’d sacrifice too much for it to be anything but. He could- he could, he could write and write until he’d filled every page of every book back and front, and would they even believe him? Would it even matter?

Goodbye, he writes at last. It feels strangely final. (He won’t be leaving this Vault alive. He knows this as surely as he knows that he will leave this world uncared for, unheard. As surely as he knows that he’ll always be alone.) With a quick snap of magic following the signing of his name, the book is preserved, shining slightly with a purple glow as he sets it back down in the chest. He looks around, the cell once again stiflingly quiet without the book to busy him, Dream once again completely alone as he’s been for - well.

(Pandas, eyebrows drawn in uncharacteristic seriousness from the usually painfully spirited eight-year-old, pinkie raised between the two of them, solemnity belied by the gap in his front teeth poking out between his lips.

“We’ll be together forever,” he whispered with the volume control you’d expect from a kid that age, which is to say that it wasn’t much of a whisper at all, but Dream, newly ten years old, remembers being particularly moved by the gesture anyway, moving to hesitantly hook his own pinkie in the other’s.

“And we’ll never be alone ever again,” he’d replied, voice faraway with a disbelieving sort of awe.”

“Never,” Pandas’ voice had been just as firm as his first statement, twisting his wrist to tighten the grip of their linked fingers further. “Best friends for ever and ever, right?”

“For ever and ever.”)

“For ever and ever,” he whispers, eyes fluttering shut as he slumps down against the floor, and only the lava bubbles in reply.

[astonmartinii]

lemonade and star-crossed lovers, p1 (JJ Maybank)

Warnings: none yet, swearing? all core characters are aged up to 18, Rafe is 21. 

JJ Maybank x kook!reader (super super slow burn) (this will hopefully be a series) 

WC: 4.0k 

Growing up, Y/N always heard jokes about how the eldest daughter was just the mum in a different font. She never used to believe it, but that was when she had present and dedicated parents. Now, it just seemed that with every addition to the Miller family, the less interested Kevin and Julie Miller became. 

So here Y/N was, practically a mother to her three younger siblings. 

Dylan is only a year younger than Y/N but is no less of a hassle, especially when his useless friends decide to crash at their place. But considering they had the most hectic house of Dylan’s friendship group, the Miller household was usually the last option. 

Then there’s Anderson, he’s in his rebellious phase currently, getting to that point where he’s figured out that acting out could maybe get the attention of his parents. Though Y/N wasn’t sure how well his plans were working out. 

Peach is the youngest and practically attached to Y/N’s hip. To an untrained eye, Y/N often looked like a teen mum as she took Peach with her to the grocery shopping. In fact, Y/N was sure that if the kooks in Figure Eight didn’t know her family, they’d sneer at her with the same ignorance that clouded their entire lives. 

Y/N woke up glad - it’s the last day of school. Summer break looms. The idea of boneyard keggers and hot (but equally clueless) tourons, excited the girl. But she knew her summer reality would be looking after Peach, bailing Anderson out of jail and swatting away the affections of Dylan’s stupid friends. 

—————————————

Dylan is already awake when Y/N comes knocking, taking extra close care to his hair. 

“Oh, you’re up,” Y/N said, moving to ruffle his hair and grab the empty plate on his bedside cabinet. 

“Jesus, fuck Y/N, was that really necessary?” 

“Hey maybe if you spent more time on assignments than your hair you wouldn’t have to take so many summer classes - oh yeah, mum might not remember, but I do, and you will be going.” 

“But it’s summer, surely it’s a violation to my human rights to go to school.”

“I’m sure you’ll survive, and maybe when you finally pass this year, you’ll thank me. Breakfast in 10.” 

Dylan just flips his sister off, going back to admiring himself in the mirror. 

Y/N next goes to Peach’s room to find her awake and rummaging through her draws. 

“Hey, princess, what are you thinking for the last day? Third grade finished already, you’ll be my age soon, wheeling me into the retirement home.” 

Peach erupts into giggles, pulling out a little pink summer dress and grabbing her pink sandals to complete the ensemble. 

“All pink, we love. Breakfast in 10, alright, don’t want you to be late for the last day.” 

Anderson’s room is last, Y/N doesn’t bother knocking on her parent’s door. Kevin is probably already down on Judy - his beloved boat. The room is typical of a 14 year old boy, it stunk, his weed paraphernalia was badly hidden and there was a lump of pillows under the cover instead of a boy. 

Shrugging, Y/N picked up the dirty mugs in his room and moved downstairs. She’d been awake nearly an hour now but was still unsure of what to make for breakfast. Opening the fridge gave her the only possible answer, leftover pizza from the previous night and maybe a porridge pot, though considering there were only two siblings to account for, it would do. 

Dylan and Peach joined her in the kitchen shortly after, each taking a slice or two of pizza. 

“No Anderson and pizza for breakfast? Watch out, we'll be calling CPS as soon as we’re outside.“ 

“You don’t know where the bug is? Why does that boy insist on giving me early onset cardiac issues?” 

“Don’t take it too to heart, I’m sure he’ll turn up by the second period.” 

“Okay, go to school now. Dylan, are you okay to drop Peach off, I’ll pick her up.” 

Dylan nods and ushers the youngest out of the door and to his car. Y/N lets out a sigh when she sees them leave the driveway and makes her way to the back door. Through the sliding door she can see her dad, Kevin on Judy instructing John B, the kid who worked on the boat, what to do. Y/N puts two slices of pizza on a plate and grabs an apple and ventures out to the dock. 

“Morning Y/N.” 

“Morning, John B, can I interest you in an apple? It’s all we have I’m afraid.” 

“No worries, any breakfast is breakfast when you’re a pogue.”

“Oh John B, you know I don’t believe in all that sub-par class warfare bullshit.” 

“Of course you don’t, but that’s very easy to say when you’re on the other side.” 

“Touche.” 

Y/N doesn’t say anymore, but moves to give her dad his breakfast. She liked John B and hoped he didn’t see her like the other kooks. Sure Rafe Cameron frequented her house, but she’s nothing like him. 

“Thanks, squirt.” 

Despite the nickname, Kevin was absent as ever, not moving to look at her. 

“You’re children are off to school, don’t worry.” 

Silence. 

“Oh thank you Y/N, I really don’t know what we’d do without you! You’re such a gem, you’re really unappreciated and we don’t deserve you! Thanks dad, I really needed to hear that. Are you coming later?”

“Where?” Kevin grunted, with pizza in his mouth. 

“My graduation? Did you forget that was today?” 

The awkward silence was enough of an answer for Y/N. 

“Sorry squirt, I promised to go to the mainland to pick something up for your mother.” 

With that, Y/N stormed off Judy, towards the house and into her room. When she sat down on her bed she could think about what just happened. She knew her parents didn’t care about her, but missing their first child’s graduation for a small errand to the mainland? 

Now that the house was quiet again, she could get ready - she was graduating today and as valedictorian she wants to look her best. Julie, her mum, is in Washington on some mysterious job venture, Y/N wasn’t told until she came down in the morning a few days ago and saw Julie with her suitcases. She guessed that one positive of her parents’ absenteeism is her ability to steal Julie’s expensive jewelry to wear. 

Y/N looked in the mirror, she did clean up nice when she wanted to. Her lengthy hair is in a half-up, half-down style, with minimal makeup and a red knee-length dress. The dress hugged her figure and complemented her graduation gown perfectly. Too bad none of her family would be there to see it. She knew deep down that Peach and Dylan would’ve attended if possible, and Anderson would maybe even make an appearance, especially if there was food involved. 

Y/N put her matching red heels on and grabbed her cap from her closet. After one final look in the mirror and putting her printed speech into her bag, the young girl made her way down the stairs. 

To her surprise, none other than John B sat in her kitchen drinking a glass of water. 

“You clean up nice kook,” said John B, a smug smirk on his face. 

“Thank you, John. Don’t you have graduation today?” 

 “Eh, yeah. I’m just going for the food though, school isn’t really my thing…” John B looked closer at her cap. “I’m practically the opposite to you Miss Valedictorian”. 

“Hmm, well at least someone in this house noticed, thank you John B. I’m going now, I didn’t notice your van out front, you need a lift to yours?” 

“Is that really on your way, wouldn’t want Miss Valedictorian to be late to her own event, you got a speech ready?” 

“I do as a matter of fact, but I want to be just on time, minimise the time people have to ask about the whereabouts of my parents. So, do you want a lift or not?” 

“Sure thing, Miss Valedictorian.” 

Y/N doesn’t acknowledge the nickname, but secretly loved it, it was a joke, but at least someone was appreciating her achievements. Peach would, she knows, but she’s not really at the point of understanding what it means and the others really are wildcards.

She led John B out to her small car, a baby blue Beetle. The boy smiled at her choice in car, 

“I’m sure that a kook like you could afford better than this.”

“Don’t insult Shelby in her presence, weren’t you ever taught manners? Now get it and give me directions.” 

The drive was fun, not that John B would tell Y/N that. He enjoyed her music choice, Mac Miller blasting from her speakers and the windows were fully rolled down, damned be her hair. 

Y/N neared the chateau and came to a stop. There were a few people sitting on the porch, looking over in confusion. 

“Yo, what’s with the kook-mobile, John B?” The blonde yelled from his seat on the beaten-up couch. 

When John B only turned to Y/N to say thank you, the interest peaked on the porch. The little gang of pogues moved towards the car. 

“John B, I didn’t realise your job came with a taxi service, why did I have to drop you off this morning?” The blonde, once again. 

“Lay off JJ, this is Y/N Miller, she’s the daughter of Kevin, the guy whose boat I work on. She’s on her way to her graduation and offered me a lift.” 

“Since when are kook graduations on the Cut?” The other boy interjected. 

Y/N decided to speak up, “if I knew an act of kindness would cause so much strife, I’ll just let you walk home next time. Now, I do have somewhere to be, so it was nice to see you, John B. I'm sure I’ll see you again this week.” 

“Bye Miss Valedictorian, good luck with your speech,” John B said, getting out of Shelby. 

“You’re the valedictorian?” Kiara finally spoke, face shocked. 

“Yeah, surprising what happens when you show up for school right?” Y/N snapped, angrier than she intended. 

“Oh yeah, sorry. I guess I thought that maybe Sarah would get it, especially if Ward has anything to do with it.” Kiara grimaced, she didn’t mean to offend the Miller girl. 

“You can’t buy the valedictorian title, well I’m sure you could, but not to flex, but my grades were miles better. If we’re being really ironic though, Ward technically does pay for the valedictorian,” Y/N said with a smile, not meaning to brandish her academic success in their faces. 

A chorus of “huhs?” from the pogues surrounding her car told Y/N that they weren’t catching her drift. 

“I’m Ward Cameron’s assistant. Sorry, I didn’t make that very clear.” 

“You have a job, but you’re a kook?” the blonde, JJ, said. 

“Yes, blondie, some of us do have to look out for ourselves, didn’t your parents tell you not to judge a book by its cover. I’ll see you around. Bye John B.” 

Y/N backed out of the road, heading back to Figure Eight, with her graduation starting in 10 minutes, she had massively overstayed her welcome at John B’s. If she weren’t so busy, Y/N always thought she’d like to be friends with John B and his crew, they had an unmistakable family bond that Y/N craved. She loves her siblings but they are still grappling with the idea of give and take, mainly fixating on the taking aspect. 

Y/N pulled up to school, and took out her phone, dropping a text to Anderson pleading with him to at least make it to two classes today. Even with her phone safely away in her bag, Y/N couldn’t quite bring herself to get out of the car. Happy families surrounded her everywhere she looked, she couldn’t handle the stares when she walks in alone. Well, it’s now or never she says to herself. 

Walking isn’t as bad as she suspects, Mr Morgan, her English teacher, meets her at the door and takes her to her seat, explaining the mechanisms of the ceremony and when she’ll make her speech.  

The hall, however, is the reminder that Y/N was dreading. The two seats she had booked for her parents sat empty, standing out like a sore thumb in the packed hall. She made her way to the student section with her head down. However, before Y/N could sit she was apprehended by an excitable Sarah Cameron. 

“Y/N! Hi! I heard you’re valedictorian, well done! I don’t know how you managed, with all the work and your siblings, you really are amazing.” 

“Thanks, Sarah.” 

The words sting, despite their pure intentions. She’s a kook, she shouldn’t have to work, and she should have parents who care for her and her siblings, but some things just aren’t meant to be, clearly. Y/N sat in her assigned seat and willed the ceremony to go fast, though she wasn’t looking too forward to her speech. The diversion to the chateau meant that Y/N had no time to look over it again. 

The ceremony started and the hall quietened down. Principal Stoney started her opening speech, basking in the spotlight when the hall door bursts open and interrupts. In the doorway stands Anderson. His hair is disheveled and the clothes are torn, probably from the nightly activities with the skateboard he held in his hand. The boy scanned the hall, eyes falling on the empty seats with the name Miller and then Y/N herself. He gives her a small wave and pushes past the Figure Eights families to the seats. 

Principal Stoney just restarts, a slight bewildered look on her face. 

When it was time for her speech, Y/N didn’t even feel real, like she floated to the stage and was possessed. Her speech went well from what she could gather, Mr Morgan gave her a thumbs up and Anderson hollered, much to the dismay of the families around him. But he was even worse when she received her diploma. 

As families spilled onto the field for fancy food and photo opportunities, Y/N wrangled Anderson to the side before he could raid the food stalls. 

“Anderson, what the fuck? First you didn't come home last night and then crash my graduation?” 

“Hey, I’m sorry about last night, me and the boys got carried away skating and I crashed on Oscar’s couch. I’m sorry, I should’ve called. And as for now, you think I’m going to let my smart-ass VALEDICTORIAN sister graduate without anyone being here to holler? You’re dead wrong.” 

The sentiment fills Y/N’s heart with joy and tears threaten to spill. Anderson’s never been good with feelings, it was nice to know that he did care. 

“Mum and dad can go fuck themselves, if they don’t see how great you are then they’re blind.” 

“Thanks, bug. It means a lot. Now don’t eat too much, people are probably already annoyed that you’re here.” 

Anderson shrugs, he couldn’t care less what they thought, he was here to eat and show off his sister. 

“Congratulations Y/N!” 

The voice of Y/N’s boss, Ward Cameron, was easily identifiable. Y/N puts on her confident face and turns to see the whole Cameron brigade, minus Wheezie. 

“Thank you, Mr Cameron.”

“You know, I just don’t know how you get it done, working for us and dealing with your siblings…” Rose says, the last part fading out as she watches Anderson walk back to his sister with his arms piled high with fancy horderves. 

“It’s tough, yeah, but what wouldn’t you do for your family?” 

“Of course, of course, sorry for any implications, where is the old man, I know Julie is off on business, but Kevin has to be proud, I didn’t see him in the hall?” Ward’s voice feigned sincerity, but the Miller siblings saw right through it. Before Anderson could respond, Y/N replied. 

“Dad is also doing business on the mainland, at the last minute. He’s devastated, really,” it's not convincing, even to her. Y/N can tell she hasn’t convinced the Camerons either. Sarah gives her a sad look, Rose attempts to mirror her step-daughter but fails, Ward looks slightly smug, like he’s trying to hide it but Rafe doesn’t even try to hide it like his dad, a massive smirk on his face. 

“What are your plans for the summer Miller?” Y/N is surprised when it’s Rafe who asks the question. 

“Well, I’ll be working for your dad, if he’ll have me, I still have my volleyball coaching in the tourist season and there’s never a dull moment with these around,” Y/N puts her arm around Anderson. 

Looking for a quick exit, she looks at her watch. 

“Oh, if we go now, you can still catch your last two periods. Kids, am I right?” She gestures at Rose and Ward, “we’ll be off now, I’ll see you next week?” 

The Camerons nod as Y/N pulls Anderson away and towards the car park. But before they can fully escape, they’re stopped by Mr Morgan. 

“You think you can leave without a photo and a proper goodbye, I didn’t think you were that kind of girl, Miller.” 

“Of course not, Mr Morgan, here,” she hands Anderson her phone, “take a picture please.” 

Anderson does so, taking about 50 at once. 

“Okay, okay, let's get one of you two, you can’t not have a proper graduation picture, especially not when you’re valedictorian.” 

Mr Morgan takes the phone and smiles at the siblings. When the impromptu photoshoot ends, Y/N is glad, despite it pushing back her escape. 

“Y/N, on a serious note, you are always welcome in my classroom, you’ve been a pleasure, and don’t tell anyone, but you were my favourite. And you, I hope you’ll be just as good next year sir,” he says turning to Anderson, “although considering you’re here and not in class doesn’t bode well.” 

“Thank you, sir, really. But you are completely right, and that’s why we’re bouncing now, so he can get two at least two periods.” 

Mr Morgan smiles at the two when they start to run to the car. He’s always felt sad for the eldest Miller, and her parents absence did not go unnoticed. 

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

“I’ll see you later, I know you guys will probably crash a kegger, but at least come home before you go?” 

“Yeah, yeah, okay, who knows maybe I’ll see you there?” 

Anderson laughs and gets out of the car, he knows his sister won’t especially when Peach will be home. Y/N watches him go into the building and stays a couple minutes to make sure he doesn’t sneak back out when he thinks she’s gone. 

But Y/N barely gets time to breathe, as she’s down to the elementary school to pick up Peach. The girl in all pink is waiting with a gaggle of friends and shrieks when she sees the blue car. 

“Y/N! Y/N! I got the “most improved” in drama!” 

Y/N opens the door and picks up Peach, spinning her round and congratulating her. 

“Well done, bubs. This calls for a celebration, it’s the first day of summer and the boys won’t be out for another couple of hours - what do you want to do?”

Peach doesn’t even need a second to think. 

“Lemonade stand!” 

Huh? Y/N was prepared for an answer closer to maybe a princess party or surfing lessons, but a lemonade stand? 

“Are you sure?” 

“You said we could do whatever I want!” 

“Okay, okay, let’s go then we’ve got a lot to do.” 

Satisfied with getting her way, Peach got in the car and demanded that the next stop was the craft store. 

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

The next 90 minutes were gruelling. Peach spared no expense, Y/N was lucky that she still had the credit card Julie gave her. But she knew it would all be worth it. And it was. 

Peach chose a spot right in the middle of the beach and the stall was already making a profit. Y/N knew kooks just couldn’t resist the temptation to look good and what was better than giving a generous tip to a child’s lemonade stand? 

But with a successful kook-trap came the kook assholes. Namely Rafe, Topper and Kelce. 

“Three lemonades please. Apricot, right?” Rafe said with a smirk. 

“You know it’s Peach asshole.” 

“That’s a bad word, Y/N,” Peach mumbled, clearly upset about being called apricot of all things.

“Yeah that’s a bad word, Miller, you should listen to Apricot a little more.” 

“Maybe, you should listen to your college professors, oh wait, you dropped out, my bad, must be a bit of an open wound judging by the look on your face. I bet daddy wasn’t impressed.” 

“Excuse me, you bitch, how dare you talk to me like that.” 

“Run along, lap dog, we don’t need your money.” 

Rafe goes to say something but Topper and Kelce hold him back. 

“Bro, don’t get it shit with your pops over a fucking lemonade,” Topper warned. 

With a final “fuck off”, Rafe Cameron stalked away to his car, his gang of cowards following, but not without Topper placing a crisp $20 bill in the tip jar. Peach mumbled and thank you and Y/N just nodded to Topper, too tired to say anything more. 

And if her afternoon couldn’t get any worse, the prickly blonde from this morning strolled over to the stand. 

“I’ll have four lemonades please.” 

Peach gasped and accepted his money right away, getting to work on the drinks. 

“I’ve seen many a kook-trap in my time, Miller, but not many operated by Kooks themselves. Impressive ingenuity.” 

“Thanks - JJ, was it? Peach here won “most improved” in her drama class and this is what she wanted to do in celebration” 

“Cute, Miller, didn’t take you as a softy earlier.” 

Peach announces that she’s finished with the pogue’s drinks, he puts another $5 in the tip jar and grabs the drinks. 

“Miller, there’s a kegger at the boneyard tonight, wanna come? I’m sure at least one of your brothers will crash.” 

“Sorry JJ, someone’s gotta look after the little one, maybe another time, if you can stand being around a kook for that long.” 

“I think I can make an exception, especially if they look like you Miller,” he winks, “boneyard tonight, if you change your mind.” 

Y/N blushed, but she knew she couldn’t, she couldn’t leave a nine year old at home, even if Kevin was there, there was no guarantee that Peach would be fed and given adequate attention. 

“He’s pretty, you should go.” 

“Peach, honey, you know I can’t, I can’t leave you at home.” 

“But I could go to Jenny’s, she’s having a sleepover tonight, I forgot to ask earlier, I got too excited about the lemonade stand.” 

“Okay, you can go to Jenny’s, but promise not too much candy?”

“Only if you promise to go with him tonight.” 

Peach was proving to be just as mischievous as her brothers. 

“Okay fine.” 

“Go tell him then.”

“Huh?” 

“I won’t believe you unless you go tell him now that you'll be there!”

 Y/N groans, but gets up to follow the blonde. As she nears, she shouts, 

“Hey JJ! I’ll be there tonight, at the boneyard, I’ll be there.” 

“Didn’t take too long for you to change your mind then, am I just that irresistible?” 

“No? What? Of course not! It’s just Peach - she’s a master manipulator, and she’s only nine!”

“Sure, Miller, if that’s what you want me to believe, I’ll see you later, sweetheart.”

Y/N turned, she should cringe, but she finds herself blushing as she walks back to Peach. 

“Don’t say anything, missy, you’ve done enough, let’s pack up and get you ready for Jenny’s. You young ones are such troublemakers, damn.”  

A/N: I am not American, so I hope that the graduation stuff makes sense, from someone who has no real clue what happens there lol  

[sofiaaaaaaaa03]

Goodbye

Pairing: Dan!Din Djarin x Teen GN reader

Request:

 hello ily u and ur writings are so great

uhhh may i request dad!din with a teenage reader (like, 15 idk) after grogu leaves with luke? like maybe comforting each other, and the reader asking what happens next, etc etc

just some good ol' angst fluff :] 💞

Scenario: After Grogu leaves with Luke the Reader and Din comfort one another after having to say goodbye.

Rating: PG

Warnings: none 

Word Count: 1,980

A/N: I love you!! Thank you so much for reading and I’m sooo happy you like my writings. And yes! I LOVED that Idea. I hope you don’t mind if I sort of went with my own thing for how the reader and Din argued a bit, it sort of just made sense in the situation??? Anyways, I hope you like what I came up with :))) I haven’t written anything in awhile so I’m a tad rusty. 

  Saying goodbye to each other was always something you’d always known would happen.  You simply chose to not think about it and greedily hoped that Din would not be able to find another Jedi who would take Grogu under their wing. In your world, Clan Mudhorn would never break apart and you’d three live together for a very long time. However, life in its mysterious ways is ever changing and never promises one’s future. It certainly never promised yours. 

You thought of this as you watched the Jedi in front of you. It was not just any Jedi, but a Jedi who was offering to take care of  your little brother. You felt your face blanch at the thought of Grogu leaving you and Din. The thought of you leaving this ship with only Din and the memories you’d made with Grogu terrified you. It couldn’t be real. It can’t be real. You shut your eyes tight, turning your head toward the ground before anyone could see your expression. 

“Y/N.” 

Din’s hand rested on your shoulder, when you’d looked up you were surprised to meet flesh instead of metal. He took off his helmet. For a moment there was nothing that mattered but the expression your guardian made. It was… sad. Tears pricked his eyes, something you’d never expected to see from him. Din gave you the tiniest of smiles and told you it was time to say goodbye.

Goodbye?

Din held Grogu out for you to take. Slowly you accepted him close and relished one last time on what it was like to hug him tight.

“Ni kar'tayli gar darasuu, ner vod.” You whispered. During the time the two of you spent with Din he’d taken it upon himself to teach you Mando’a. It’d become a habit to show affection in his native tongue. Grogu cooed, leaning away to take in your face. You gave him a tight lipped smile, taking in his own. He’d grown so much. It was hard to believe that he was once a small little thing. “ I’ll always be your sibling. Don’t forget me.”

You sat Grogu back down on the floor and began to rummage through your bag before pulling out a small, plush frog, making Grogu’s ears perk up.

“Can Grogu take this with him?”

 Luke nodded, but Grogu made it clear that he wanted you to keep the plush when he wouldn’t reach out for it like he always did. Instead, he stared at you with his big eyes before gently pushing the frog back to you. You bit back a frown. You wanted to ask him, beg him to take the frog you’d put so much love into just for him. Instead you stood up straight and held the plush close to your chest, glancing again at Din who was holding a stoic expression. You forced a smile onto your face.

The goodbye was harder than you’d imagined. So was the deafening silence when the Jedi, his droid, and Grogu disappeared into the elevator. 

The moment the elevator door shut you snapped your head towards Din, but he turned his back to you and walked away. He wandered to the far end of the room and stayed there, quiet as he kept to himself. His hands fiddled with the darksaber that weighed more than you ever imagined it would before this mission began.

It was easy to forget that there were others in the room, though you were quickly reminded of their presence when they surrounded you to provide comforting words, some giving warm embraces and telling you about their own separations from loved ones. They reassured you that you would be fine in the end. You didn’t believe them. Fennec was talking to you, but your focus was on the far side of the room where Din was currently talking to Bo-Katan and Cara. You wondered what they talked about. You wondered what was going to happen now. Now, that the clan lost one member and had no ship to call home. 

Din would barely look at you when Bo-Katan and the other women left the cockpit, looking for supplies and scrounging up any valuable information left. That was assuming that there was no emergency delete button someone pushed in a panic amid the raid. You didn’t bother thinking about it long, as you stared at the back of Din’s head. He’d kept his helmet off, making it the longest that you’ve seen him without it. You stared at the helmet from where it sat on top of the mainframe. 

“Are you going to rule Mandalore now?” Your voice cut through the barrier between the two of you, making Din shuffle in his steps.

His back remained towards you and his tone was cold. “I don’t want to talk right now.”

You frowned, taken aback by this sudden attitude he’d taken on. “What do you mean by ‘I don’t want to talk right now’?”

“Exactly that.” 

“But I want to.” You crossed your arms. 

“It can wait.” 

His response came off indifferent as though he wanted to move on. For a moment you felt like you’d shut down, sure there were times where Din would behave like this coming home after a long day, too exhausted to deal with two children. But he’d never done this before. No. This was new. You didn’t like new. Not now, not when things were so uncertain for you.

“You can’t just shut me out so quickly!” You walked up so that you spoke to his back. “You’re not the only one who just went through that. I never wanted to say goodbye to Grogu. I didn’t think it’d be this soon, either. I didn’t think that. And now I don’t know what you’re going to do after this, where you’re going to go, if you’re going to let me go with you, if-”

“If I let you go with me?” Din turned to face you, eyebrows furrowed. “Y/N, of course you’re coming with me. You’re my foundling.”

“So was Grogu!” You exclaimed, suddenly realizing that tears were streaming down your face. The stress and grief were suddenly catching up to you and it showed, causing Din to raise his hands up a little. He slowly lowered them, seemingly in thought. He sighed, and gently pulled you to sit down with him on some chairs by the mainframe. You felt ashamed of yourself for crying in front of him, but didn’t say anything. Instead you were wiping your tears with your shirt as you waited for him to finally speak.

“You know Grogu is too strong with his magic to be left without training.” Din scratched his ear, eyes downward so that you couldn’t see the tears pricking his eyes again. “You… you’re only a kid. You remember that, right? You need me to protect you before you’re strong enough to leave the clan.”

You stared at him with big eyes as though you were pretending to process what he was saying. But you understood what he meant. He had the best intentions for Grogu and he has the same intentions for you. You were lucky to have someone like Din. The cloth of your shirt suddenly caught your interest as you stared down at it, playing it in between your fingers.

You sniffed, rubbing your arm across your nose. “I’m sorry for yelling at you…”

“It’s okay, Y/N.” Din wrapped an arm across your shoulder and pulled you close. As you settled into him you rested your head against his shoulder, waiting for him to say something though he never did. Maybe he was thinking about Grogu. It wouldn’t be a surprise. Anyone could see how much he’d grown attached to the little thing, despite his initial response to having to care for him. 

“You’re a great dad…” You whispered, playing with the frog in your hands. Din smiled warmly, something you missed as you continued to look down.

“Do you remember how happy Grogu was when you gave him that frog?” Din’s voice made the armor he’d dawned vibrate slightly. It ticked your cheek. You liked how it felt.

“Mhm.” You nodded as you made the frog dance in your hands. It’s chipped, mismatched buttons stared back at the two of you. 

“When I was young I used to lose my toys all the time.” 

You looked up at him, “But that was before the Mandalorians took you in, right? Weren’t they, I dunno, strict about toys?”

“No.” Din looked off, watching the stars that decorated the space they shared. “If they found a kid that still had their toy with them  they didn’t take it away. In my clan, every child had a toy of their own, to help make their transition easier, though I kept losing mine.” 

The two of you shared a small laugh. Din shook his head and looked at you fondly. “Grogo went everywhere with that frog. It meant so much to him. Guess it was because of you.”

You didn’t say anything. A warmth began to spread through your sternum at Din’s remarks. You hugged the frog close to your chest. It still smelled like Grogu. The same, earth-like geranium that followed him around. He knew that you needed the plush more than he did now that you had to say goodbye, and you were thankful for that.

 “Are you going to miss him?” 

“Of course I am.” Din nodded solemnly before he turned towards you and ruffled your hair. “But we’ll see him again.”

A moment of silence falls upon you two, one of the mainframes makes a sound and the security shows the women entering a room on the other side of the ship. They were covering good ground and carried several bags of what was assumed to be supplies for their next mission. Would Din be a part of that mission? 

“So, what happens now?” You inquired, glancing up at him. “Are you going to rule Mandalore?”

Din looked up and inhaled deeply as though he was pondering the question. He must have made some sort of plan prior. But his possession of the dark saber meant that plans had now changed. “I never expected to become a… king. Though, there’s not much to be king of.”

Behind closed doors between Din and the adults you’d hear bits and pieces about what the Empire had done to the planet. Though you were heavily uninformed, you had a good grasp that the planet was practically not worth ruling. 

“Are you going to go with Bo-Katan? She wants to take back Mandalore. With you as king it’d be fitting.”

You didn’t miss how Din grimaced slightly at her name. “What?”

Din pushed himself up and motioned for you to follow as he grabbed his helmet and began walking out. He draped an arm across your shoulder when you caught up to his pace. “Bo-Katan doesn’t seem to be all too happy with me having the darksaber. I should keep some distance and wait for her to cool off.”

 You whispered a small ‘oh’ and looked ahead. Guess he wasn’t going to go with her then. “So we have no plans then, great.”

Din glanced at you, “ What do you think we should do?”

Your mind flashed back several days ago to when you’d barely escaped being destroyed along with the razor crest. “I miss the ship.”

“You and me both.” 

“Do you think we can find a new one?”

“You can’t just find a ship, kid. It’s gonna need some credits.”

“Yeah but technically you’re a king now! Use that royalty of yours and get us one.”

“That’s not how it works kid.”

“You don’t know yet! You’ve been king for what, five minutes?”

“Maybe I will leave you here.” 

“No you won’t. You love me too much to do that.”

[corysmiles]

Little streamer AU prompts!

-Thinking they were all humans, either Wil or Phil bought tickets for them all to go to an amusement park....but Tommy’s too short to ride. Where does it go from there? Does Wilbur feel bad and sob out apologies? Does Tommy say it’s fine and that they can go without him, only to get kidnapped/lost? Does Tommy say f*ck it and try to sneak on with Tubbo? Your choice :)

-The bois at the arcade during the meetup. They try to cheat the games by having Tommy roll skeeballs into the best slot, or go inside machines to fix the game in their favor

-While Tubbo has Lani, and Phil has probably had like a borrower coworker or something, this is Wil’s first time heavily interacting with someone so small, and constantly watches the others and stays up at night googling how to best handle a borrower. Some of the suggestions he gets from online are way too formal and Tommy is confused as heck at where he’s getting these ideas. Like Wil you don’t have to wash your hands before picking me up if we’re RUNNING LATE C’MON LETS GO

-(the angst prompt) Tommy was so excited to meet others his size and during the meet up he doesn’t feel included or something, and he ahas a mental breakdown. Maybe he hides in a small space so the others can’t find/reach him

-If you don’t have plans for techno yet, maybe he’s also a tiny and thought he was the only one of any of his online friends, but the group FaceTimes him and he sees Tommy is small too but doesn’t make a big deal out of it, just a mentions it in the conversation at some point. Tommy feels instantly better. “Technoblade’s a bigger bad ass than any of you talk freaks!” “Techno was already the coolest, but none of you have a chance now.”

-Tommy wrestles with everyone’s hands

If you can’t tell I love this idea so much lol

-🦎anon

omg I love your ideas so much thank you and I’m so so sorry this post is so long I was gonna split it up but then I was motivated and got really excited (also pls forgive me for any spelling errors this is long and I didnt want to go back and edit it) :]

Little streamer au drabbles

—————————————————————

When Phil and Kristen had originally been planning out all the things they could do at the meet up they didn’t take into account the possibility that any of their friends might be well...tiny. So when the day came for the group to go to the amusement park and they were stopped by security at the first ride Phil knew the day wasn’t going to end well.

“Sorry sir,” the man said to Wilbur who currently had Tommy in his front pocket, “Tinies can’t go on the rides here, it’s too much liability for the park.”

Wilbur just stared at the man in mild confusion, “What if I hold him though, there’s no way anything could happen.”

The man just shrugged, “I don’t know it’s the park’s rules not mine so you can either stay out here with him or pass on rides for today.”

Wilbur looked down at the small teen in his pocket and could tell he was getting upset by the confrontation. Tommy’s shoulders drooped and he kept his eyes down as if to not show the others his disappointment.

“Its alright big man, go on I can stay down here,” Tommy whispered and patted Wilbur’s chest reassuringly. The attempt at comfort just made Wilbur’s frown grow.

“Hey it’s alright Will I’ll stay down here with Tommy,” Tubbo said, “I’m not the biggest fan of heights anyways.”

Wilbur reluctantly agreed and handed over the tiny to the other teen who walked over to one of the benches to wait for the others.

When Wilbur and Phil got off the roller coaster they panicked when they couldn’t find the two teens until they found Tubbo riding on a carousel horse with Tommy hanging off the pole.

Safe to say Wilbur didn’t let Tubbo take Tommy the rest of the day. (Sorry i didnt do angst for this one)

(More under the cut)

—————————————————————

Tommy was so excited to go to the arcade with his friends. When they got there though and Tommy saw all the prizes he could win he started to form a plan.

Tubbo of course would be the one to help him out though since he was the only one that was willing to let Tommy cause any chaos.

It started with small things like having him help them cheat on skeeball or hit targets with his hands on shooting games until they started to look for more ways to cheat.

For the final plan, Tubbo watched as Tommy climbed through the slot of a crane machine and tried to push a large bear toy into the hole.

When he saw the bear he thought Wilbur would like it and while Tubbo was usually opposed to crane games since it’s just a “waste of fucking money” he wasn’t necessarily opposed to helping Tommy get into the machine.

Everything was going fine until a woman with a child came over to the machine to play for themselves; immediately Tommy ducked down beneath the plushies so they wouldn’t get caught and Tubbo began to panic when he lost sight of the tiny.

It was at that moment that the rest of the group came over to Tubbo and asked where Tommy was.

“Uhhh hes in the bathroom,” Tubbo said nervously.

Phil tilted his head at the boy, “Uhuh...where is he Tubbo?”

“Ummmm so about that big man we uh-“

However, Tubbo was interrupted by his phone dinging and his face went pale as he read the text from Tommy.

-Pls get me out of here big man I can’t get this shit off me anymore-

“Uhhhh...oh fuck,” Tubbo muttered, “Um I have not the best news for you.”

“And what’s that?” Wilbur asked.

“Ummm do you have any coins on you?”

Phil looked at Tubbo with confusion, “Yeah, why do you ask mate?”

Tubbo turned back to the crane where the mother and daughter had left and laughed nervously, “well....ummm so by bathroom I kinda meant uh the crane machine? Yeah, Tommy’s in there.”

The adults immediately freaked out at the situation because what the fuck were the kids thinking. And when Tubbo told Wilbur they were just trying to get the teddybear for him cause Tommy thought he’d like it, he felt even more dread.

After almost an hour of Wilbur and Phil putting in money into the claw machine they finally got enough toys out of the way to see the tiny.

With one more try Tommy was able to grab onto the claw and let himself fall out of the machine. Wilbur immediately scooped him up to scold him for being a dumbass but when he saw that Tommy’s face was red and swollen he decided instead to just slip Tommy into his pocket to rest.

With the extra cheated tickets though they were able to buy Tommy a tiny plastic nerf gun from the arcade before they left.—————————————————————

Wilbur was surprised at how quickly Phil and Tubbo were okay with Tommy’s size. While Tubbo apparently had a tiny sister and Phil had had tiny friends before, Wilbur couldn’t recall ever actually interacting with someone so small expect for in passing.

He really cared about Tommy as both a friend and as a brother and he was so afraid of messing up with the teen. He didn’t want to hurt or offend Tommy in any way so of course he went to the best place to figure out what to do: wikihow.

The articles were strange for sure but anything to make Tommy feel more comfortable with him would be worth it.

So the next day when Tommy was supposed to be eating breakfast at Wilbur’s house and Wilbur wouldn’t pick him up to put him on the table he thought the taller man was just being a dick.

Then when Tommy asked him if he would pick him up Wilbur walked away from him to go to the bathroom instead of helping him.

After a minute the brunette man walked back and reached a hand down to lay besides Tommy. Tommy stepped onto his palm and expected him to pull him up towards him but when he didn’t he started to get really annoyed.

“Hey you can move what the fucks up witb you right now you’re being all weird and shit man,” Tommy grumbled.

“Huh? Oh I just...I was looking up some stuff about uh tinies and I thought maybe it would make you more comfortable?” Wilbur whispered with embarrassment.

“What?” Tommy laughed, “Why the fuck would you do that you were fine before I would tell you if I wasn’t comfortable big man you don’t have to worry about that.”

Wilbur felt his heart swell at the comfort and slowly lifted Tommy up to the table for them to eat together. It was still strange having someone so small around but Wilbur would get used to it for Tommy.—————————————————————

Tommy usually didn’t have any problems with having bigger people around. All his friends at home and his family were all humans so he knew he was overreacting about none of his online friends being tinies. But when they went out to dinner together and Phil, Tubbo, and Wilbur were all talking together while Tommy sat next to Wilbur’s cup something broke inside him.

The reason he loved streaming so much was that he thought he finally had met other people like him, but he guessed it was his own fault for never really checking.

As the three laughed loudly Tommy felt himself becoming more and more overwhelmed by the chaos in the restaurant. He couldn’t cry now though his friends were having fun, it would be a dick move for him to ruin the meet up for them just because he expected them to be tinies.

Throughout the meal and on the way home Tommy was mostly silent, he sat in Wilbur’s pocket as they arrived at the man’s apartment. Wilbur waved goodbye to Phil and Tubbo as he took Tommy inside.

Wilbur sat Tommy down on the counter as he changed and Tommy finally felt a few tears fall from his eyes. He heard the sound of a door opening and quickly hid behind a tea box so Wilbur wouldn’t see him in this state.

He started to shake as the tears kept coming while he heard Wilbur searching around for him.

“Tommy?” Wilbur called out but Tommy couldn’t even get a solid breath much less respond.

After a few moments Tommy felt the tea box he was hiding near shift as a large hand wrapped him up gently.

“Oh jeez Tommy are you okay?” Wilbur asked as he lifted Tommy to his eyes.

Tommy wiped his eyes and slowly nodded to Wilbur who looked heartbroken by the tears.

Wilbur sighed, “Do you want to talk about it?”

Tommy shook his head no and Wilbur gave the boy a sad smile.

“I’m sorry Tommy, we’ll talk about this later okay,” he whispered as he tucked Tommy up against his chest. He held the tiny until he heard soft snores replace the sobs and promised himself that whatever made him this sad would never happen again.—————————————————————

Techno had been tweeting at the rest of the sleepy boys since the start of the meetup. The American wished he had gotten to meet up with his friends but sadly because of covid there was no way to safely visit the UK, so instead they settled for FaceTiming one night so that Techno wouldn’t feel as left out.

Techno grabbed his specially made phone and anxiously waited for the call. When Phil’s contact showed up Techno opened it immediately and was greeted by the familiar blonde human’s face along with Tubbo in the corner.

“Hey Techno!” Phil smiled as Tubbo waved aggressively.

Techno smiled and waved back, “Hullo.”

After a little bit of shuffling Wilbur appeared on the screen with something cupped in his hands.

“What you got there Will?” Techno asked with an amused expression.

“It’s me bitch! Ayyy Techno,” a loud and annoying but familiar voice yelled form the taller man’s hands.

“Oh hey Tommy,” Techno laughed, but besides that there was almost no reaction to Tommy’s height.

“That’s it? No big ‘wow you’re small’ or like ‘poggers’ or anything?” Tommy asked.

Techno hummed in response, “Nah why would I care your nothing special cause you’re small.”

Tommy huffed and crossed his arms at Techno, “I’m not special bitch? I’m the only tiny here I’m amazing!”

A small chuckle left Techno as he realized the situation.

“And why are you so sure you’re the only one huh?”

Tommy blinked wide eyed at Techno before a wide grin spread across his face.

“Wait you’re small too?” Phil asked.

Techno nodded to his friends who all had different ranges of shock on their faces.

“Oh fuck yeah!” Tommy screeched causing everyone to laugh.

“See I knew this is why you were so much cooler than these bitches were alpha men you see,” Tommy laughed.

“Yeah,” Techno smiled, “I’m sure that’s why.”

The rest of the call was calmer however Tommy continued to insist that Techno and him were much cooler than the rest of the them. —————————————————————

The first time Tommy had been grabbed to try to get him to calm down or stay still it had been by Phil when he was trying to cook breakfast and Tommy kept getting too close to the stove top. Phil placed his hand over Tommy to keep him still when he felt the kid latch onto his pointer finger and try to pull it away.

“Ay what are you doing mate?” Phil laughed as the tiny continued to struggle with his finger.

“I’m wrestling you big man can’t you tell, and I’m fucking winning!” Tommy grinned.

Phil chuckled at the kid before flipping him over with his thumb.

“Yup you’re winning sure,” he said slyly.

When Wilbur and Tubbo walked in to Phil trying to pin down Tommy with his fingers while the small boy laughed and pushed them away as much as he could they had no fucking clue what was going on.

[route22ny]

With Covid-19 cases and hospitalizations spiking around the country, dreams of a summer like those many us had in mind just a short time ago have faded.

The fully vaccinated have been told to resume wearing masks indoors. Companies and institutions are leveling vaccine mandates. And some municipalities are requiring people to show proof of vaccination to get into restaurants, bars, and gyms.

Confusion abounds about what is safe to do. (For the unvaccinated, there’s no confusion about what’s most important to do: Get immunized.)

To try to cut through the fog, STAT contacted three dozen epidemiologists, immunologists, and other infectious disease experts around the country to see how they are navigating the risk of Covid in these uncertain times. Twenty-eight responded.

STAT didn’t ask these experts to explain how they would advise others. Rather, we asked them to answer 10 questions — saying yes, no or only if masked — about their own willingness to engage in various activities, assuming they were vaccinated.

Their answers suggest that, with the highly transmissible Delta variant spreading, caution prevails. Those who know viruses best aren’t buying many movie tickets, and most aren’t eating indoors in restaurants.

But in other ways, responses diverged. And at least one expert suggested that geography really does matter when it comes to his own comfort level. Naor Bar-Zeev, a statistical epidemiologist at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, declined to respond to all but one of the questions, saying answers are highly dependent on the circumstances of a place.

“In a place where most people are unvaccinated, or otherwise at high risk, and where there is active transmission, I should act more conservatively and with greater caution, even though I am protected from disease,” he said. “In a place where most people are vaccinated, and there is low transmission, one can be more permissive.”

Let’s unpack their answers.

Of the questions, only one earned a unanimous response: “Would you send your unvaccinated child to school without a mask?”

“Lord, no,” Paul Offit, a pediatric infectious disease specialist at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, replied. “NO!!! As a parent and a pediatrician, that is a terrible idea,” wrote Andrew Pavia, chief of pediatric infectious diseases at the University of Utah.

None of 27 people who answered this question expressed a willingness to send an unvaccinated child to school without a mask. Carlos del Rio, a professor of epidemiology and global health at the Rollins School of Public Health at Emory University, said he’d withdraw an unvaccinated child from a school if it didn’t have a mask mandate.

Children under the age of 12 cannot yet be vaccinated as none of the vaccines has been authorized for use in this age group.

The other school-related question — “Would you send your vaccinated teen to school without a mask?” — drew almost as fervent a response, with 24 of 26 saying no.

Ellen Foxman, an immunologist at Yale University, was one of the exceptions. “Yes, if the high school had a high vaccination rate/low Covid transmission rate and my family had no high-risk personal contacts,” she wrote. “If the school required all students and staff to be vaccinated, I would have no problem whatsoever with no masks.”

Pavia gave a nuanced answer for his support for masks for vaccinated teens. “If the vaccinated kids don’t mask, the unvaccinated are unlikely to mask and there is a risk of bullying. Masks for all is much more likely to work,” he wrote.

Michael Osterholm, director of the University of Minnesota’s Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy, said he not only wouldn’t allow a vaccinated teen to go to school without a mask, he’d demand the teen wear an N-95 respirator. Cloth face coverings aren’t enough to combat Delta, he insisted.

Shane Crotty, an immunologist at La Jolla Institute of Immunology, said he’d send teenagers to school with masks, but would be okay with them taking them off around friends outside of school or during an outdoor lunch break.

When the experts were asked whether they would eat indoors at a restaurant, responses were slightly more mixed. More than half of respondents said no, but six said they would, or would in off-peak hours, and three more said they would do it but would wear a mask when they weren’t eating.

Saad Omer, director of Yale’s Institute for Global Health, said he would eat indoors in a restaurant that required customers to show proof of vaccination. “I generally feel safe indoors in a restaurant as long as underlying community transmission is low and I’m eating with other vaccinated people,” wrote John Brownstein, an epidemiologist and chief innovation officer at Boston Children’s Hospital. “However, I always prioritize eating outside where possible.”

That approach no longer seems viable to Syra Madad, senior director for the special pathogens program in the NYC Health + Hospitals network. “More than 95% of Americans live in areas of high or substantial community transmission so it’s no longer a matter of ‘Yes, I’ll eat indoors if I’m in an area of low community transmission,’” she wrote.

It seems like we’re over DIY hair — or so the answers to the question of whether the experts would go to a hairdresser or a barber shop would suggest.

All but four respondents said they would go to a hair salon or barber at this point even if they didn’t know the vaccination status of other clients. And even one of the four more cautious respondents allowed that she might consider it. “No, but if we are all far apart and there are few people I might with a mask,” said Krutika Kuppalli, an infectious disease physician at the Medical University of South Carolina.

Most people who said yes did so with the caveat that they’d wear a mask. Jesse Goodman, a professor of medicine at Georgetown University, said he would go only if he and everyone else in the place was masked. Akiko Iwasaki, a Yale University immunologist, said she would try to reduce the frequency of visits. But Jeanne Marrazzo, director of the division of infectious diseases at the University of Alabama in Birmingham, was in favor of professional hair care in general.

“I know how careful my hairdresser has been,” Marrazzo wrote. “She also needs financial support; my hair also needs it.”

Would the experts go to the theater to see a film? Seventeen said no.

“Non-essential,” said Shweta Bansal, whose Georgetown University laboratory studies how social behavior affects infectious disease transmission.

Florian Krammer, an immunologist at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, in Manhattan, believes most people who are fully vaccinated are well protected at this point. He would go to see a movie wearing a mask.

Amesh Adalja, an infectious disease physician and a senior scholar at Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security, has a different view on Covid risks than some of the other people STAT polled. He (and others) believe Covid is going to become endemic — we’re going to have to learn to live with it. For fully vaccinated people, Adalja said, the risks even from contracting Covid are pretty low.

“That fact makes me comfortable as a fully vaccinated individual without underlying health problems to resume my pre-pandemic life because I am risk-tolerant and I know that if I am to get a breakthrough infection it is likely to be mild,” he said. Adalja said yes to all but two of STAT’s questions; he would not send an unvaccinated child to school without a mask and would not currently give a second dose of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine.

William Hanage, an epidemiologist in Harvard’s T.H. Chan School of Public Health, said he’d happily skip going to the movies, but his wife enjoys going. So he would go, wearing a mask.

There was almost an even split among the experts to the question of whether they would attend a large outdoor concert or sporting event, with a slight edge going to the “yes” side. Most of the 15 people said they’d do it if masked.

Robert Wachter, the chair of the University of California, San Francisco’s department of medicine, said he’d don a mask “if shouting people [were] at very close range.” Jason Salemi, an epidemiologist at the University of South Florida, said he “would not attend a large outdoor concert right now,” stressing the amount of Covid transmission in his state at the moment.

Move a mass gathering indoors and the answers shift. In response to the question of whether they would go to an indoor wedding or other religious service — one where they did not know the vaccination status of the other attendees — more of the experts said no.

Saskia Popescu, an infectious disease specialist and assistant professor in George Mason University’s biodefense program, for instance, would go to an outdoor concert or sporting event, masked. Even with a mask, she would not attend an indoor wedding or religious ceremony.

Emergency physician Uché Blackstock, founder and CEO of the consulting firm Advancing Health Equity, said she’d forgo indoor and outdoor large gatherings at this point.

We asked two questions about travel: “Would you travel to a part of the United States experiencing a surge in Covid cases?” and “Would you go on a non-essential international trip?” Surprisingly, there was slightly more willingness in the group to travel internationally than to domestic Covid hot spots.

In response to the former, Peter Hotez was succinct. “I’m living it,” said the Hotez, co-director of the Texas Children’s Center for Vaccine Development, based in Houston-swamped Covid-19.

Del Rio, who lives in Atlanta, goes frequently to Miami to visit his son and his son’s family. “I am very careful when I travel,” he said. Since the pandemic began he has twice visited his mother in Mexico, “but at this point I am not going. May go later in the year,” he wrote.

Carl Bergstrom, an evolutionary biologist at the University of Washington, said he wouldn’t travel abroad now. Not because of Covid directly, but because he might get stuck somewhere if travel restrictions were instituted. Hanage and his family vacationed on Cape Cod this year instead of taking a planned trip to Iceland, for the same reason.

Nahid Bhadelia, director of Boston University’s Center for Emerging Infectious Diseases Policy & Research, said she would not travel to an American Covid hot zone if she could avoid it, but would travel internationally, if her destination had a high vaccination rate and a low transmission rate.

Angela Rasmussen, a coronavirus virologist at the University of Saskatchewan’s Vaccine and Infectious Disease Organization, said she would travel to a location in the U.S. having an upswing in Covid transmission, but would do it using precautions. As for international travel, “depends where, but masked,” she said.

Our final question was for the physicians in the group was this: “Would you recommend that patients who received the one-dose J&J vaccine get another dose of vaccine?”

Crotty, the immunologist at La Jolla Institute of Immunology, said yes; he tweeted recently about his support for giving J&J recipients an extra dose of vaccine to cope with the Delta variant. “I have had physicians emailing me thanks about my [Twitter] threads on this,” he said.

Megan Ranney, an emergency physician at Lifespan Health System in Providence, R.I., said she’s waiting for guidance from the Food and Drug Administration. “But in the meantime, I certainly wouldn’t judge anyone who does get another dose.”

And Helen Keipp Talbot, a vaccine researcher at Vanderbilt University, pleaded the Fifth. Talbot is a member of the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices, which advises the CDC on vaccination policy. “No comment,” was her reply.

***

About the Author: Helen Branswell

Senior Writer, Infectious Disease

Helen covers issues broadly related to infectious diseases, including outbreaks, preparedness, research, and vaccine development.

@HelenBranswell

***

source: https://www.statnews.com/2021/08/17/whats-safe-to-do-during-summers-covid-surge-stat-asked-public-health-experts-about-their-own-plans/

[flowesona]

Visitation of a Lover - Yandere! Ghost Taehyung x reader

Happy Halloween! i hope everyone has a great evening and i hope you will enjoy this oneshot 🖤

Life never ceased to pass by. People were born and grew old, created their own families, earned themselves a legacy. Meanwhile, all that Kim Taehyung could do was watch. For hundreds of years he wandered around his estate, because he had nowhere else to go. No one that lived in his house even cared to acknowledge his life or history - he hadn’t heard his name leave the lips of his family in decades, and the portrait he’d commissioned of himself when the house was first built remained tucked away in the attic.

At the very least, he was thankful that he never had to see anything distasteful. The current occupant of his house - a very distant family member - was a mild mannered widower who only ever ventured into half of the rooms of the house, leaving plenty of space for Taehyung to live. The ghost had even been so bold as to start leaving a physical presence - in the dusty studio where he had spent many afternoons writing his diary when he was alive, he’d taken up painting landscape views. There was the slight risk that the old man could walk in and have a heart attack upon seeing a floating paintbrush but considering that he could barely make the trek to the kitchen for a cup of tea, Taehyung was more than happy to take that risk.

“Oh really? Good golly, you have to send me a picture?” Taehyung had been enjoying a light novel in the lounge when he heard the elderly man cheering loudly in his study. Curious, he folded the corner of the page and tucked the book away, phasing into the next room to see what was so exciting.

“A baby boy! Just like I wanted!”

He peered over the shoulder of his kin, seeing his open laptop on the polished maplewood desk. What the old man was so delighted by was an email showing a picture of a small newborn baby being cradled in a woman's arms. It didn’t take a genius to figure out that this was a new member of the family, but what piqued Taehyung’s interest more was the woman holding the child. Even with her forehead drenched in sweat and her body covered by a not-so-flattering hospital gown, there was something ethereal about her. For the first time in ages Taehyung felt some yearning in his heart.

He wanted… no, he needed to meet her. Maybe this angel could be the salvation he needed, the key to him escaping his mundane existence in purgatory.

It just so happened that through death that they would be brought together.

◦◦,`°.✽✦✽.◦.✽✦✽.°`,◦◦

The elderly resident passed away a week after his great-grandson was born. Unfortunate timing, as he never even got to see the infant. Taehyung, however, was more fortunate, as the wake was held at his manor as per family tradition.

It was at this somber occasion he was able to see the woman who had piqued his interest up close. Maternity had had its toll on her body with her breasts sagging slightly and her figure still slightly bloated but the black funeral dress still looked quite beautiful, Taehyung noted. Interesting, how she lacked the figure most men would desire yet her husband still looked at her as if she was Helen of Troy reincarnate.

He found himself tailing her for the most of the occasion, still keeping a safe distance out of fear one of his fingers could brush against hers and scare her away for good. It was through this stalking he learnt of the young woman’s name - (Y/N).

She was quiet and respectful - as to be expected at a wake - but a bright smile lit up her face when she showed pictures of her newborn child to anyone who asked. It was way more intriguing watching her interact with everyone at the wake than to read one of the romantic books he’d poured over so many times.

“We’ve been reading through the will. And it seems Grandpa Kim left you his estate, rather than the money.” (Y/N)’s father-in-law was speaking to the couple in a hushed voice, drawing the ghost’s attention instantly.

“Really?”

“Well, it was updated quite recently with the birth of your son. I guess he thought by giving it to you, it would make sure the property stays in the family.”

“How do you feel about moving here, darling?” (Y/N)’s partner Seokjin - Taehyung had also learned his name through eavesdropping - asked, cradling her hand within his own.

“I would love to. But what about the dust? Won’t that be bad for the baby?” On god, her voice was as sweet as a nightingale song. How Taehyung longed to hear it for hours on end.

“I’ll clean it for you, silly. But do you think we could live here for the rest of our lives?”

The nod of (Y/N)’s head sealed their fate.

◦◦,`°.✽✦✽.◦.✽✦✽.°`,◦◦

Initially the change in ownership had been a nightmare. Between the seemingly none-stop arrival of moving trucks, the buzz of people helping to put things away and the loud whining of the month-old baby, it was hard to relax. Taehyung felt almost as on edge as the new owners of the house, Yet after many arguments and sleepless nights the couple were settled in.

They seemed to have more appreciation for the house than it’s former occupant, with many of the dusty spaces becoming clean and decorated again. Even Taehyung’s writing room - he’d watched with apprehension at first when they entered the room, but a warm feeling bubbled in his non-existent stomach when he saw (Y/N) taking his paintings and hanging them on the wall. Did she appreciate art just as much as him?

Even if the couple had settled properly, the one person who was still restless was their infant. The baby boy would often wake up in the middle of the night and wail loudly, leading one of the parents to climb out of bed and hush him back to sleep. This routine nearly drove Taehyung up the wall, as his peaceful naps were often disturbed by the cry of a hungry infant. It had been a while since there had been an infant living at the manor and Taehyung still had yet to adjust to the noise level.

“There’s milk in the fridge if he wakes up, and nappies are in the second drawer down in the nursery. Feel free to help yourself to anything in there, except the Sauvignon of course. We’ll be back at about 11PM, thank you so much for helping us!”

Taehyung was too distracted by the sight of (Y/N) dressed up so elegantly in a sleek black dress to process what she was saying to the spotty-faced teenager standing before her as Seokjin slipped on his shoes.

“No worries Mrs Kim.” The teen responded. With one last fret about the child, the couple left to get in the taxi, and the house felt like it had lost all of its life.

Taehyung wished he could trail after (Y/N) as he usually did, but being confined to the manor meant he had to seek out the next best thing.

The nursery had been fully made over by (Y/N) and Seokjin within a week or so of moving in. Gone was the Georgian wallpaper, replaced by a coat of blue paint and decorated with twinkling moons and stars. Taehyung approached the coat, his fingers brushing the plush mobile over the cot and watching it spin.

He heard the gurgle of the baby below him, glancing down to see the blinking brown eyes gazing back up at him. Perhaps not directly at him, but it was enough to make Taehyung double back in shock. He reached down into the cot and placed one of his cold hands on the baby’s face. Its response was a delighted giggle, as if his touch was ticklish. Taehyung chuckled, poking at the child’s ribs to see him scrunch up his tiny legs. Suddenly, gazing into the little boy’s eyes Taehyung knew what he’d been missing in both his alive and undead life. A real family, someone he could speak to and someone he could love.

He wished he could pick up this child and coo over its chubby cheeks with his wife. He wanted to write poems about his love for life, he wanted to fall asleep holding someone at night.

But not just anyone would do. He knew, he just knew, it had to be (Y/N). She would be his, and he would be hers.

However, whilst Taehyung was pondering this, the child was growing uncomfortable and it startled the ghost back into reality with a loud cry for attention. He glanced down at the child, panicking at the sight of tears running down its cheeks. Luckily, it seemed that the young boy was only hungry, as the room still smelt like fresh linen.

‘It’s okay. The babysitter will sort him out.’ He told himself.

However, after several painful minutes of waiting there was no sight of the teenager leading Taehyung to search the house for him. He found the babysitter lying on the couch fast asleep, a movie playing on the TV and an abandoned bottle of beer on the coffee table.

‘Pathetic’. Taehyung scoffed to himself. ‘I’ll do it myself.’

He found the bottle filled with breast milk that (Y/N) had left in the fridge, the teat already attached. With one last glance at the passed out teenager, he picked up the bottle and made his way back to the nursery.

It must surely be a jarring sight to see a floating bottle of milk, and furthermore to be picked up and fed by an invisible person. However, the baby didn’t seem too disturbed, happily drinking the milk and burping without a care in the world.

After the infant was fed he started to nod off the sleep again, and Taehyung gently laid him down in the cot. He gently traced over the warm cheek of the child before leaving, the most happy he’d been in his life.

He spent the rest of the evening waiting on the sofa for (Y/N) to return. Whilst the TV was showing some action movie, Taehyung couldn’t find it in himself to become interested in it. Not when he had much more pressing issues on his mind. His mind was flurried with the realisation of how he felt. How could he love someone when he’s dead? How could he win the heart of (Y/N) when she couldn’t see him?

Luckily he wasn’t left to stew in his thoughts for too long - as the clock crept around to ten o’clock the front door opened and shut as (Y/N) and Seokjin returned home. Her face was creased with worry as she crept up to the nursery to check on her darling child, whilst Seokjin stayed to pay their now conscious babysitter who had hidden all traces of delinquency and was happily accepting his payment for doing nothing.

Taehyung, as always, chose to join (Y/N) in the nursery. He stood by the doorway, watching as (Y/N) bent down to press a kiss to her beautiful sleeping child. Then, unable to resist he approached her and rested his arms on her waist. He felt her shiver slightly at the cold touch of his hands and for a second the melancholy of his situation hit him like a truck. But Taehyung couldn’t let it haunt him, not when the warmth of her skin under his hands made him more at peace than he had been for years.

She stumbled slightly as she left the nursery, the evening’s drink hit her harder than it usually would, but Taehyung’s hands steadied her. Whilst he secretly savoured the feeling of her body in his hold, he was more concerned about how unstable she was - most likely due to having not drank alcohol in over a year.

Seokjin still hadn’t returned to his wife’s side, and for that Taehyung was both grateful and condemning of the man - he despised how the man could be married to such an ethereal woman and not spend every waking moment by her side, but he was grateful to be able to fill that role. He gently guided her towards her bed, scared that she could fall, and once she had flopped onto the bed lay down next to her, admiring every one of her features as she fell asleep still in her fancy clothes and makeup.

Taehyung had waited hundreds of years to find his purpose in life, and now that he’d found her he knew he would do anything to make her happy.

◦◦,`°.✽✦✽.◦.✽✦✽.°`,◦◦

(Y/N) had become increasingly stressed since she returned to doing work, Taehyung noticed. Sure, it was only part-time and luckily they were happy for her to work from home meaning she didn’t need to get a new job. However, the incessant demand for attention from the young infant meant she rarely had a moment to rest her feet.

Taehyung wasn’t going to stand for it. Occasionally on the nights that his loneliness got to him, he would press his hand to her forehead only to find it hot and drenched with sweat. She was working herself to death, no doubt about it. And whilst Taehyung secretly longed for her to join the land of the dead with him, it wasn’t her time.

Thus, to take some of the stress off her back, he started to help out around the house. At first, it was minor things that (Y/N) wouldn’t think twice about. Putting dirty laundry in the basket, washing the dirty breakfast bowls, retrieving the toys that precious little Si-woo had thrown across the room, turning off the stove when she accidentally left it on. Seeing the positive effect these had on (Y/N), he started to get bolder in his actions - making her lunches (and letting her assume that it was Seokjin making them in the morning), taking out the garbage, shushing Si-woo when he started crying. All things Seokjin couldn’t do, that Taehyung would do everyday for her if she could only love him.

Spending time with her son was a new favourite hobby of Taehyung. He could stare at those twinkling eyes that inherited from (Y/N)’s for hours. He found that as the son grew he became more playful, and Taehyung was more than happy to keep the little tyke entertained. It was a risky game - if (Y/N) walked in and saw her son’s toys moving by themselves she would no doubt call an exorcist but with the delighted giggles that Si-woo made it was more than worth it.

However, with the increasing time he spent with (Y/N) Taehyung had a first hand seat to watching her relationship with Seokjin deteriorate. At first, it was just the lack of intimacy - Seokjin would often get home late, and by that time both (Y/N) and the baby were asleep leaving him to heat up whatever (Y/N) had made for dinner. When Seokjin woke up in the morning, (Y/N) had already been awake for hours caring for Si-woo. Seokjin missed everything, from Si-woo’s first teetering steps to the adorable way that he had said his first word: ‘dada’.

Then there was the argument.

“Have you seen my copy of ‘Eileen’?” In fact, Taehyung had borrowed it. Not only did he find the modern fiction way more interesting than his old romantic novels, he found it comforting to thumb the pages where (Y/N), much like he did, would fold the corners to save her progress.

“No. Where was the last place you left it?” Seokjin replied, not seeming nearly as interested in the issue as (Y/N) wanted him to be.

“I swear I left it on the dresser. Can you help me look for it?” She sighed in reply. Seokjin didn’t move.

“Is it such a big deal?”

Taehyung decided to leave his cozy chair in the corner to join (Y/N)’s side. He wasn’t sure, but he hoped she could feel his presence, to know that he was there for her even when her husband wasn’t.

“I just wanted to read it today. I was at a really good point.” His lover’s voice had a defeated tone to it, as if the book was her last hope in life.

“I’ll get you another copy. Come back to bed, (Y/N).” Seokjin purred, but (Y/N) shook her head.

“Why are you so selfish?” She suddenly snapped. “I feel like I do everything around here. I do all of the housework, I look after Si-woo all day long and I still find time to do my job! When was the last time you let your precious hands touch something domestic?”

“You think that I want to be away from home so much? I wish I could spend more time with my family but in case you forgot being in charge of a firm is actually quite demanding!” Seokjin stood up, his tone matching her aggression in a second.

(Y/N) paused, her eyes scrunching up as if she was going to cry.

“What happened? What happened to us that has made us this way? Why… why don’t I feel like you love me anymore?”

The sadistic side of Taehyung wished he could frame the scene and hang it up on the wall forever. The look of horror on Seokjin's face was simply priceless.

“You don’t mean that.” He said, trying to be firm only to have his voice shake with every word. “(Y/N), you can’t doubt my love for one second. Please.”

His wife just breathed out, rubbing at her eyes.

“I need a break.” She finally said. “I need to leave for a few days. Please.”

Seokjin looked hurt, but he nodded nonetheless.

“Take as much time as you need. I’ll look after Si-woo. You just need to look after yourself.”

◦◦,`°.✽✦✽.◦.✽✦✽.°`,◦◦

Taehyung was fuming. Half an hour after the Kims had argued (Y/N) had packed a small bag and left to stay with “some family”, allowing her husband to give her a small peck on the cheek before she left.

It was torturous for Taehyung, thinking of how much time he would have to spend away from his (Y/N). Although he was glad that she was going to have a break, the entire situation could have been entirely avoided if she had never married Kim Seokjin. If only she could have married Taehyung instead, he would’ve made sure she would never had to lift a finger and her every wish would be his command. Instead he could only have an invisible presence in her life, whilst she was stuck with a deadbeat husband who seemingly left all of the parenting to her.

Taehyung felt sick to his stomach seeing as he watched Seokjin act on his words, taking the next few days off work to look after his son. It just wasn’t fair, how he could talk to the toddler and get a babbled response or how he could hold out his arms and Si-woo would stumble towards him. Seokjin didn’t deserve fatherhood, Taehyung concluded. (Y/N) deserved a loving husband and father to her child and no matter how many hours Taehyung spent over the three days watching the broken family whilst (Y/N) was gone, nothing could convince him that Seokjin was the right match.

Seokjin had had a call from (Y/N), telling him that she was going to return home in a few hours. The giddy smile on Seokjin’s face as he told Si-woo that Mommy would be home today and they were going to help make her a special meal was just disgusting to Taehyung. No way did this pathetic excuse for a husband deserve to have (Y/N) back.

Taehyung sat at the table plotting what he should do as he watched Seokjin cook a meal to welcome (Y/N) back, as his adorable son sat on the counter and watched. He didn’t want to do anything in front of Si-woo, that would be too cruel. But he had to stop Seokjin in some way, and all his plans ended in the same result - killing him.

He could pour bleach down his throat. Or he could spill some oil onto him and set him alight. Or he could strange him with one of the curtain cords. All valid solutions to the problem.

“Daddy just has to go pee. Are you happy sitting in your playpen for a few minutes, hmm?” Taehyung’s murderous lines of thought were broken by the sound of Seokjin’s cheerful voice cooing to his son.

Finally, an opportunity. He could end Seokjin’s life in the bathroom, and Si-woo would be none the wiser as to where ‘Daddy’ was.

He waited until the scoundrel had placed his son in the playpen and left the kitchen before approaching the magnetic knife rail and plucking a decently sized blade from it. Taehyung then trailed a few metres behind Seokjin as he made a beeline for the bathroom - he couldn’t get too close, no doubt Seokjin would be immediately alarmed and his plan for subtly would be ruined.

When he finally reached the bathroom he cursed when it was closed (although luckily enough not locked) - whilst he could easily float through the door, his knife would not be able to and thus to enact the plan he swung open the door.

Seokjin turned around, slightly concerned at how the door was open when he was so sure that he’d closed it. Disregarding it as a draft he zipped up his trousers and was just checking his hair in the mirror when suddenly there was a force gripping his throat. His eyes darted side to side trying to find some answer but all he found was air. He wasn’t left in the dark for long, however - Taehyung would love to make the scumbag suffer but he didn’t want to risk (Y/N) walking in on the unfinished scene.

Thus, in one swift move he slit Seokjin’s throat and pushed him towards the bathtub, his victim’s body hitting the rim of the tub with a satisfying ‘thunk’. (Y/N)’s pathetic excuse for a husband’s last moments were agonising, his eyes wide with shock and confusion as he choked on his own blood. But before Taehyung had fully gotten to enjoy the pain of his rival’s death, life had drained from Seokjin’s eyes and his body slumped over. Taehyung drifted over to place the bloody blade in the corpse’s right hand, and as a final touch he wiped up the drops of blood that had fallen onto the ground just a little too far away to be believable.

Content with what he’d done, Taehyung left to visit Si-woo. The toddler seemed happy enough playing with his toy alpaca to even notice his biological father’s disappearance. Rather, he was delighted when he felt an invisible presence pinching at his cheek, letting out a hearty giggle. Taehyung managed to keep him occupied for the next hour, until (Y/N) returned.

Taehyung's non-existent heart thumped at a thousand beats a second when he heard a car drawing up on the gravel drive, and the car door slamming home announced that she was finally back.

“I’m home!” She called out, the only response she got being some babbled nonsense from Si-woo. She walked into the living room to see her son, smiling at first but the smile dropping off her face when she couldn’t see anyone else.

“Hey precious!” She cooed, scooping the toddler into her arms. “Where’s daddy?”

She didn’t hear the normal witty response from Seokjin nearby, leading her to click her tongue in annoyance.

“Did daddy really leave you all alone? That’s a bit strange, isn’t it?”

“Not at all.” Taehyung quirked back, scowling at how she seemed to have completely forgotten how neglectful of a father Seokjin really was compared to himself.

Evidently having not heard Taehyung’s comment, (Y/N) started to search for Seokjin, finding his abandoned cooking (although thankfully the bastard had turned off the stove). Taehyung just trailed behind her as usual, holding his breath as if she would be able to hear him.

After calling out for her ‘husband’ a few more times, (Y/N) gave up.

“I guess he got called into work. So much for spending time with his family.”

She made her way up to the nursery, placing Si-woo back down on the floor.

“Mommy just had a long journey, so she’s going to go to the toilet and then she’ll get you some dinner, okay?” (Y/N) said softly to the child, as if she expected a response. Si-woo just looked up at her innocently, completely oblivious to all that was going on except his own hunger.

Taehyung realised, as (Y/N) was walking away, that she was headed in the direction of the bathroom Seokjin had used and she was about to find his body. Upon that thought he followed her, hoping to support her when she found the grisly scene.

However, the shrill scream he heard when he was mere metres away from the room told him he was too late.

(Y/N) fell to her knees, tears rolling down her cheeks as she surveyed the situation. She was frozen still, unable to stop screaming until her voice was hoarse. Taehyung took the initiative to kneel beside her and rub his hand on her back. (Y/N) didn’t even seem to notice, not flinching from the cold as she usually did. All she could do was bury her face in her hands and weep at the sight before her eyes. And as much as it hurt Taehyung to see his (Y/N) in pain, his heart was telling him he’d done the right thing.

Now, (Y/N) needed him. She couldn’t survive as a single mother, not when she was struggling already when Seokjin was alive. But Taehyung believed with all his heart that he was more than fit to take on Seokjin’s role, as a father, as a husband, as the only one in the world who could truly love her.