#not the devil that i fist bump every day on my way to the Tasks

[fisheito]

Dominant yaku works on a stamp card system. He's only allowed to dom for every 6 times he subs

[neverdoingmuch]

Wait cql lawyer/law school AU

i got you my pal dont worry!!

law school, im gonna be honest and say i know like nothing about law or law school so pls ignore any inconsistencies or inaccuracies

lwj goes to law school and he is definitely the top student in his class. they’ve been there for like a month and everyone already knows he’s gonna be the best

his one and only competition is this dude called wei wuxian but lwj isn’t particularly worried about him

so far they’re still in the stage of the course where they do the fun things to sucker people into doing the class for the semester so there’s been some practise debates and arguments and stuff in their tutorial classes

wei wuxian has that Charisma and like yeah all of his arguments are perfect but also he has an amazing smile and people are like yes i can trust him 

(he’s definitely the sort to be like hm, the easy way to argue this case would be to quote some laws and use precedence to justify this but that’s boring)

lwj is also good at that sort of stuff because his arguments are perfect and everything is so perfectly researched that there should be no ground at all for someone to lodge a counterargument

(wei wuxian manages somehow and it makes lwj so mad)

but that’s whatever lwj thinks,, a lot of people join law thinking it’s gonna be like the tv shows and books and then get completely blindsided when it comes to the rote learning part or like the actual laws 

and for all of wwx’s confidence, lwj hasn’t actually seen wwx so much as touch the textbook/s and he always studies in the law library so he knows that wwx has probably never even been there bc he hasn’t seen him even once (why’s he looking? bc he needs to see which books wwx uses to study,, bc there has to be something going on there,, obviously)

then they do their first like proper written assignment and lwj and wwx tie for the highest scores and now lwj has a Rival and he refuses to lose to someone who thinks that putting a ‘-us’ sound at the end of a word makes it latin (did wwx say habeas corpus and then point at a soft drink and go  sprite-us can-us,,, maybe,,,,)

anyway! lwj and wwx are kinda rivals for the top spot and it’s one of those situations where one test lwj wins by a point but then the next test wwx gets full marks and they just keep exchanging the top spot in class

and this whole time wwx is like The Worst to have in class. he’s always interrupting to ask questions or just straight up not listening and spends the class doodling pictures of rabbits (they’re cute but wwx is terrible and he’s not allowed to make cute drawings)

so after a few months the most horrible thing happens.... they get put together in a project and lwj is like ugh. internally of course but his face is also saying ugh

the first time wwx and lwj get together to work on the project, lwj is prepared with a proper list of tasks to do all nicely split up between the two of them and a schedule for when they should get certain parts done by. 

needless to say, lwj does not expect wwx to be ready, but wwx is definitely on top of things

he rocks up and is like yeah let’s do this, this and this and have them done by this time - basically proposing to do everything that lwj has already written down

and lwj is pleasantly surprised and is like hm maybe i misjudged wwx and decides to like re-evaluate his opinion on him

in doing so he realises that when he’d never seen wwx studying, it wasn’t an exaggeration at all. he’s never seen wwx so much as touch a textbook or spend more than a minute on a laptop doing something that wasn’t minesweeper or solitaire

but wwx is also making all of their deadlines and even adds extra information and resources to their document that could be useful elsewhere and sometimes he shows up to their study sessions and he looks absolutely exhausted

eventually lwj manages to get the truth out and wwx is just like yeah it’s easier to get worse grades than a genius but if you both study and you still get lower grades, it’s not easy,, for jc or for me

so wwx usually studies at night when his brother is asleep and lwj is like that’s bad, you can’t keep that up and just when wwx is about to go off at him lwj is like you can come study at my place

and thus begins the wonderful time where everything is alright and lwj falls in love with wwx

they work really well together and wwx is strangely considerate and nice? when he finds out lwj likes rabbits, he goes out and buys bunny post-it notes for lwj and starts to always bring him a doodle of bunnies every time he comes over. he always gets his work done on time, early even, and his work is always so brilliant and every time wwx smiles at him, lwj feels warm inside etc etc

for a long while lwj is like yes (: this is friendship (: bc he’s never had a crush before but then on the day they submit their project wwx is like hey,, the two of us make a great team,, we should always work together,, now and next year and even when we graduate,, i want to help the innocent people who need our help and i think i’d like it a lot if you joined me and lwj has his oh moment

they get a perfect score on the project of course and even after it finishes, wwx keeps coming over to lwj’s place to study or just hang out and lwj is just falling more and more for wwx each day

they’re best friends now and everyone gets used to seeing them work together on projects and then turn around to try and decimate each other when they’re working one on one and lwj thinks that he might just be the happiest he’s ever been

but then one day wwx doesn’t show up to class. it shouldn’t be strange but wwx has never missed class even once and he ends up hearing from lxc who heard from jgy that wwx was caught sabotaging some other student’s work (the other student was jzxun, who had a fondness for playing devil’s advocate and other than wwx once telling him that his argument was shit, wwx never spoke to him or seemed to know who he was but lwj is a bit too angry to remember that)

he manages to find wwx outside of his dorms as he’s moving out and he’s just like why did you do that? and wwx is like oh y’know,, bc he’s not really sure what’s happening himself,, one second he was at the top of his class and the next he was being brought before a board and being told that he was being expelled but he’s not going to tell lwj that bc lwj would definitely try and stand up for him and then they’d both get expelled

but lwj is furious and just spits out well if our dreams meant so little to you then maybe it’s a good thing you failed now,, bc his mother was a lawyer who took all these little jobs that helped people who actually needed the help and lwj was looking forward to doing that with wwx and he doesn’t even seem to care that now they can’t do that 

wwx flinches and then smiles at him and just cheerily says, that’s me and leaves. he doesn’t look back and lwj doesn’t chase after him.

lwj doesn’t see him again for years (you can do 13 or 5 or however long you feel like)

lwj is a fully licensed lawyer and he’s working for the family company and he spends half of his time working on cases and uses the rest of his time to do like outreach programs where he goes and visits schools and runs sessions on what it’s like to be a lawyer, how to apply, and to provide assistance to any students who decide to study law at uni

and then at one of these programs he meets this kid, wen yuan, who is ridiculously bright and enthusiastic and has a smile that seems oddly familiar

at the end of the second session he comes up to lwj and is like mr. lan, is your name lan wangji? and lwj just says yes, expecting the kid to be a fan of one of his cases or something but then wen yuan is like oh wow! i thought i recognised you from my dad’s photo!

and lwj isn’t expecting much but he asks what the photo looks like and wen yuan pulls out this photo from his pocket and lwj immediately recognises it,, it’s the only photo he has of him and wwx

your father is wei ying? lwj asks him and wen yuan is like yes, hesitates, and then asks, would you like to see him?

and that’s how lwj finds himself following wen yuan to some dinky little office that has a plaque outside that reads wen and wei

(wen ning is the nicest and sweetest person ever and lots of people underestimate him but then he’s an absolute monster on court. he gets up and completely decimates the opponent and then at the end is like (: it was so nice to meet you!! i am baby!! and all that,, you know our boy)

anyway they walk in and wwx turns to greet wen yuan but then he sees lwj and is like woah! you! and he’s not sure whether to hide or go and hug lwj so he just gives him a fist bump,, like a bro,, and immediately wants to shrivel up and die

anyway they get the reunion stuff out of the way, swelling music, tender wrist holding, lots of staring, lwj silently declaring his wholehearted love for wwx and refusing to believe rumours about him again even though he doesn’t actually know what happened, you know how it goes

from wwx’s side of things,, after he got kicked out he went to some small uni. good in its own right but not known for their law program and ended up specialising in family law

the first case he ever won was for the wens to have the right to keep custody of a-yuan and the first case wen ning ever won was to let wwx adopt a-yuan bc i’m soft like that

so wwx has just been kinda vibing,, being a single dad, living with the wens and helping to make that difference he always promised he would

now this isn’t gonna be some au where lwj goes oh my! i must give up my high salary job and work with wwx! bc lwj has been doing good stuff at his current job and for all of his family’s stuffiness, they run a fair and just company 

but! he does end up helping wwx when wwx gets a letter with a bunch of information about the jins and how they’re actually super corrupt and evil (big surprise,,) and how wwx was maybe definitely framed bc he was doing some casual work on the side and stumbled across some bad shit on the jins back in uni

lwj ends up being the one to take the case officially but wwx is definitely the guy leading it and so lwj ends up spending most of his time at the wen-wei office

lwj definitely bonds with wen yuan, who also wants to go into law, and writes him recommendation letters and helps him edit his applications and stuff

(and one day wen yuan is like leaving you was the hardest thing dad ever did and i dont think you appreciated how much he cared about you. he really did think that he annoyed you ‘til the end and lwj is like no! he didn’t! and wen yuan is like yeah i know but you gotta tell him and lwj really does mean to but the time is never right or something like that but also wen yuan is all but calling lwj dad at this point)

anyway they end up going to court, side by side, working as a team just as they promised to do and just as they finish their final day on the case, ended with the jury ruling jgy guilty and wwx’s reputation all but saved, wwx turns around and flings himself at lwj

is he crying? is he laughing? a bit of both tbh but wwx ends up confessing right then and there, still on record and everything (is that how that works??? idk! let’s say it does)

and what can lwj do but make out with him?

did a news crew come in to film the results of this massive court case just to end up with five minutes of wangxian kissing?? maybe! but when it played on tv it meant wwx and lwj didnt have to actually tell anyone they got together

(and does lwj eventually pop the question using wwx’s bad latinification? yes and wwx is too busy laughing to accept at first but he does and they end up being the worst possible tutors for wen yuan as he goes through law school bc they keep being all gross and lovey-dovey and acting like law school is the most romantic place in the world)

[cocochannel00]

Don’t Leave Me Alone

This is so long overdue and I apologize for such a long wait but here it is!! I hope you guys enjoy and as always requests are slow, but always open!

Description: over 6k words, dad!Harry, husband!Harry, Pregnant Y/n, Angst, Fluff.

Masterlist can be found here!

Sometimes when you’re pregnant all you need is a little break...

Kids: Connor (2), Rebecca (1)

You felt like a whale, and not one of those cute baby whales you see at the aquarium. No, you felt like a fat Blue Whale that was about to explode. You were six months pregnant and it had not been as glamorous as Beyonce made it seem. So far you had spent the first trimester throwing up at least twice a day and your second trimester going through insane hot flashes that left you contemplating whether going to the grocery store nude would be that bad of an idea. You were hoping your last trimester would be somewhat more bearable but seeing as the two devils inside you were currently competing to see who could break your rib first, you had a feeling it wasn't going to get better.

You weren't usually one to complain out loud or at least about your own personal problems, but this pregnancy, unlike your last two, was starting to get on your last nerve and so was Harry. You admit you were a bit more agitated than normal but Harry was definitely not helping. He had taken his own form of paternity leave a little over three weeks ago after a small scare you had with one of the twins. You thought that having him home so much would be amazing and you could use the extra help with Connor and Rebecca, especially since your baby girl was just learning how to properly walk. So far she had nearly cracked her head against the edge of the shoe rack in your mudroom which had led you to bubble wrap nearly every corner of your house. You were nearly at your wit's end and there seemed to be no end in sight.

Luckily today was Sunday so you let yourself indulge in a few extra hours of sleep while Harry watched the kids. You had kicked him out of bed last night because his body was like a furnace and in between the hot flashes you were having and the fact that you were feeling too insecure to lay naked next to him, you had sent him to the guest room. At 3 a.m. Harry thought nothing of it and since he was sleep deprived as well he probably jumped at the chance to get away from you and get some sleep without all of her moaning and groaning. You and Harry had spent the last week snapping at each other constantly over little things, but you hoped with a couple of more hours of sleep your hormones would cool down a bit even if your body couldn't.  

The sun was already shining through the window as you rolled around to check your alarm clock that read 10:30 a.m. Well, at least you had gotten to sleep in a bit before the twins started their kickboxing match. You had just finished the ever-challenging task of sitting up on your bed when you heard two piercing cries come from downstairs. You carefully pushed off the bed and leaned against the nightstand to gain your balance before heading to your closet to get dressed. The only thing you were willing to wear these days were dresses. They were elastic, lightweight, and the only thing that you wouldn't sweat through 30 seconds after putting it on. You decided that you would try and be optimistic about the day so you wore Harry's favorite blue dress with sunflowers. You should have thrown it out after your first pregnancy but it held so many memories that you couldn't get yourself to part with it. You were just walking out of the room when a crying Connor came barreling towards your legs.

"Mama" he cried as he buried his face in your dress. You could barely see him under your belly but you wrapped your arms around his back and stroked his brown curls softly.

"What happened baby?" you asked quietly as he scrunched the end of your dress in his tiny fists and wiped his eyes.

"I play with Becca... and fell... and dada mad...and I cry" he mumbled.

"Oh, baby I'm sure it was an accident. Is Becca okay?" you asked as you grabbed his hand and started carefully walking down the stairs with Connor.

"Uh-huh mama accident" he mumbled with a slight lisp.

"That's okay, baby. I'm sure daddy was just worried and that's why he got mad. Let's go make sure Becca's okay" you replied back as you made it down the last steps of the stairs.

You waddle passed the kitchen door to find Harry sitting on a kitchen stool with your daughter in his arms, an ice pack placed on your baby girl's lip as big crocodile tears fell down her face.  

"Connor I think Becca would feel so much better if you drew her one of your special pictures. Do you think you could draw her one?" you asked your baby boy as you rubbed his back.

"Yes, mama I draw. Stickers too" he mumbled as he ran into the adjacent living room.

Once your baby boy was cheerful again you made your way to your daughter and picked her up from your husband's arms.

"And what happened to you, my love? I leave you with your dada for five minutes and you get a boo-boo on your lip" you whispered to her as she tucked her face into her neck.

"Dada turned around for 2 seconds and this is what happened" Harry grumbled as he leaned against the granite countertop.

"Two seconds?" you questioned as you bounced your little girl softly. Harry groaned.

"Ok, it was like 5 minutes. Jeff called me and we were trying to figure out when would be a good time to get into the studio before you give birth and I was distracted and I heard her scream and there was blood and I yelled and Connor started to cry and..."

"Harry I told you already that you can't leave her alone. She's just figuring out how to walk and she bumps into everything. What did she even hit her lip on? Every sharp edge of the furniture is wrapped in bubble wrap." you replied harsher than you wanted too.

"I don't know (y/n). I was talking and she must have bumped her lip on the floor or maybe the bottom leg of the table? It wasn't my fault, it was an accident" He exclaimed defensively as he rubbed his eyes tiredly.

"Harry, it is your fault though. You should have been watching her while you were on the phone. You watch tv while on the phone all the time! The least you could do is watch your own children" you replied back in frustration. You weren't sure if it was your hormones or the fact that you were hungry that was causing the wave of anxiety and anger, but you had a feeling this conversation wasn't going to end well.

"I get it (y/n) I should have been watching her, but maybe if I wasn't getting kicked out of my own bed at 3 am because of your moods. I'll make you some breakfast, maybe it will make you less cranky" he grumbled as he made his way to the toaster.

"I don't want your stupid breakfast and I'm sorry if the two children you helped create make my body feel like it's burning. Maybe we should get you pregnant and see what happens" You repeat harshly as you cradle your baby and went to put her down in her highchair with some cheerios.

"Love, I want to help you... I know this pregnancy has been much harder than the others but I can't help if you kick me out of our bed. You need to tell me what you want me to do" Harry pleaded as he placed some bread in the toaster and turned to face you.

"I want these babies out. I want to not be the size of a whale. I want to sneeze without peeing myself and I want to walk more than five feet without getting heartburn. I want..." you started before the tears began to fall.

"Oh baby, no" Harry mumbled before he ran around the counter to engulf you in a hug. "I know this has been hard and I'm sorry I haven't been as helpful as I should have. I'll make more time for our family and I'll-"

"But I need you to actually do those things, H. You promised me when we got pregnant that you'd be finished with everything by the time the babies got fussy" You mumbled as you put your hands on his chest

"I know, love, and I am, I promise. Once the band and I record a couple more songs in the studio next week I'm all yours," he whispered as you shook your head violently.

"No! You won't be all mine. You'll find something else you'll need to do and then I'll have to watch the kids alone and I can barely walk and you're just going to leave"you all but yelled as you turned your back to Harry.

"(y/n)... what? What are you talking about? Of course, I'm going to be here. I've been home for weeks helping out" he replied back confused.

"Harry every day you've been home you're always locked away in your office or the studio downstairs. You bath the kids, you feed them lunch, great! That's the bare minimum. Who's the one that has to stop their tantrums or bubble wrap the house so they won't get hurt or even try and run around the garden with them while being the size of cow cause it sure as heck isn't you. And then once you're done with the album, you'll be on tour and I'll be alone again." you grumbled angrily.

"(Y/n) you are not the size of a cow and you know I'll give up my music the minute you tell me" he replied.

"I don't want you to give up your music" you stated stubbornly as Harry groaned.

"(Y/n), what is this really about then?" Harry asked tiredly.

"I need a break, Harry... I need to get away from here. The stress and the kids and the babies, I just... I need to go" you cried softly as you wrapped your arms around your bump and watched your baby girl play happily with her food, oblivious to the meltdown happening a few feet away from her.

"Baby, you're scaring me. What do you mean by go away? Do you want to head up north together? We can take the kids up to the cottage or visit my mum" he said quietly trying to hug you, but you stepped away.

"No Harry I need to get away from here... from you" you mumbled just as Connor walked into the room with his drawing.

"Mama look finish," he said with a squeal as you quickly wiped your tears and slowly crouched down to look at his drawing.

"It's beautiful, my love! Why don't we hang it on the fridge so Becca can see it every morning?" You replied back with a small smile as you used all of your strength to stand up again.

Harry saw you wobble slightly and quickly went to help you up from your crouched position. You leaned on his body as he steadied you from falling. You mumbled a quick thanks before going to the fridge with your little boy and helping him place his drawing on the fridge door with some magnets.

"Mommy's very tired baby, why don't you ask daddy and see if he'll make you mac and cheese for lunch while I take your sister up for her nap," you spoke to your son as he nodded with excitement. You carefully went and picked up your daughter from her high chair as Harry grabbed your elbow.

"(Y/n) come on, we're not done talking about all of this. You haven't eaten either. You've got me worried" Harry whispered as he looked at you expectantly.

"I'm not hungry now, thank you. It was a long night and I'm not feeling the best. Go make Connor's lunch, please" You replied as you began to make your way up the stairs.

You finally made it up the stairs with only a bit of heartburn to show for it. You carefully placed your baby girl in her crib and gave her a soft kiss on her forehead. You whispered a quick goodbye and started packing a bag. As you threw some dresses and a couple of sweaters into a duffle bag you called Anne who thankfully picked up on the first ring.

"Hello (y/n), how are you? How are the babies" she spoke cheerfully.

"Hi, Anne. I'm doing okay, the twins are definitely fighters. They're going to be a handful" you sniffled softly.

"Oh, sweetheart what's going on?" Anne asked, concern laced in her voice.

"I need to get away for awhile. Harry and the kids and the babies it's just all too much right now. I feel like I'm losing my mind and my hormones are all over the place and it's just so overwhelming and all Harry and I do is fight and I..." you said as you began to hyperventilate.

"(Y/n), I need you to breathe sweetheart, Okay? Stress isn't good for the babies and you already had that scare a couple of weeks back. Breathe love. Pregnancy can very hard and i know these twins haven't made it easy. Do you want me to yell at Harry for you?" she asked softly.

"No, no, it's okay. I just... I need to go somewhere for a couple of days. Just to get myself together before I say something or do something that I..." you started but you couldn't think straight.

"Okay love, that's okay. Everyone needs a little break every once in a while. Why don't you pack some clothes and your pregnancy pillow and come spend a couple of days here in Cheshire with me? I'll call Harry right now to tell him and he can stay and watch the kids for a bit. Why don't you call Gary and ask if he can drive you?" Anne asked.

"Yes, that sounds good" you mumbled as you began looking for your pillow.

"Ok, my love. I'll call Harry and tell him what's going on so he doesn't worry. You just message Gary, ok?"

"Yes, thank you, Anne. See you soon," you replied as Anne said her goodbyes.

After hanging up on Anne you texted Gary to ask if he could pick you up and drive you to Anne's. He agreed and told you he would be there in 15 minutes, giving you enough time to finish packing and say goodbye to your babies.

You were mid-way through packing your toiletries when you heard Harry's footsteps running up the stairs. He walked past your room and towards Connor's before making his way back to you.

"Mom just called me" he spoke softly as he approached you.

"Yes. Gary will be here soon to drive me up to her house" you replied as you placed your toothbrush in your bag and zipped it close.

"I'm glad he's driving you up... (Y/n) what's... what's going on baby. I need to know what's going through your head right now" he whispered as he wrapped his arms around your body tightly.

"My hormones have been all over the place and then I think the scare a couple of weeks ago has made me even more anxious because I don't want anything to happen to our babies and... I can't sleep well at night and I just..." you stammered as you forced yourself to take deep breaths while Harry rubbed circles into your lower back.

"Shhh, love... I know. I think staying with Mum for a couple of days will be good for you, give you some time to relax. I'll make sure the kids are okay and you just message me when you're ready to come back. I'll be just a call away if you need anything" He replied back as he continued to hug you tightly.

"You're not mad at me?" you asked as you looked him in the eye for the first time since your breakdown in the kitchen.

"Of course not, love. I know this pregnancy has been hell for you and I haven't been the best support these past couple of days so I think it will be good for you to have some time to yourself. I'll make sure the kids are ok and if I need I'll call up Gemma. Now, come on, Gary's waiting outside for you. I'll bring your bag and your pillow while you say goodbye to Connor and Becca" he stated as he placed a soft kiss to your forehead before grabbing your bags and heading down the stairs.

Carefully you slipped on your Dr.Scholls flip flops and made your way to Connor's room to say goodbye. Connor was playing with his blocks on the floor happily as you quietly called out his name as you went to take a seat on the rocking chair in his room. Connor stared up at you with a smile and ran over to hug you.

"Mama look blocks," he said excitedly as he pointed at the tower he had abandoned.

"Yes, baby it's a beautiful tower. Listen, love, mommy has to tell you something, ok? I want you to listen to mommy, ok? Can you listen to mommy?" you asked your little boy as he shook his head vigorously.

"Mommy's going to go spend a couple of days with Grandma Anne while you and Becca stay with daddy. You guys are going to have so much fun together! You're going to play lots of games together and maybe in a couple of days, you can come to visit." You spoke as the little boy frowned.

"I no go grandmas?" He asked quietly as he frowned.

"No baby, not yet. You have to stay and help daddy with Becca. Can you do that for me?" you explained to Connor as he nodded his head and hugged you tighter.

"Thank you, Connor. You're getting to be such a big boy. Thank you for watching your sister for me. Why don't you come with me so I can say bye to Becca and we can meet daddy downstairs" you mumbled as you stood up while taking your son's hand and slowly made your way to Becca's room.

Becca was peacefully sleeping in her crib when you walked in. You didn't want to wake her up and make Harry's day more difficult than it already was so you gave her a quick kiss on the cheek and made your way downstairs. Harry was at the door talking with Gary, most likely giving him instructions on getting me safe to Anne's. Harry saw you from the corner of his eye and quickly came to help you down the last few steps. Once you had made it to the bottom, Harry went to grab a lunchbox from the kitchen and passed it to you.

"Packed you a couple of snacks and a sandwich for the road and some of those weird gummies you've been craving," he stated, a small smile on his face as he crouched down to pick up your two-year-old in his arms.

"Say bye-bye to mamma, Connor. We'll see her in a couple of days." Harry mumbled to the little boy that pouted as he waved his little hand goodbye.

"Bye mama" Connor whispered as you kissed his forehead. You smiled with watery eyes as you said goodbye to your little boy before looking at Harry.

"I love you (y/n)" He told you as you whispered a soft 'I love you" back. You gave him a chaste kiss on the lips before walking outside to meet Gary.

You greeted Gary and got into the back seat of the black suburban that would be driving you to Anne's. By the time you rounded the end of your street you were fast asleep.

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

Harry's POV:

I was officially going to lose it. I had been close over the years, but if either one of my kids cries one more time today I was going to have a mental breakdown. It had been four days since (Y/n) had gone to my mum's house and I had been left to watch the kids by myself. If there's anything I've learned from the last couple of days it's that my wife is fucking Wonder woman. I don't know how she managed to keep it together for so long because I was falling apart at the seams already.

It's not like I hadn't taken care of the two of them by myself before. I had numerous times when (Y/n) had worked late shifts at the hospital or had taken a weekend trip with her friends but for some reason, these past couple of days have been far worse than any of the previous ones. Becca had made it her absolute mission to try and run herself into every corner she could. So far she had managed to fall at least four times, all ending with a minimum three-hour cry afterward. Connor tried to help calm down Becca but most of the time he would just get upset because she was and they both end up crying. Yesterday had been the breakpoint for me though.

I had managed to keep Becca and Connor from crying all afternoon which was quite a miracle and just as I was putting them to bed, Becca saw a picture of (Y/n) in the hallway and began to scream for (y/n). This consequently woke Connor up who also cried because he could go to sleep so the three of us ended up in (y/n) and I's bed cuddled in the sheets as both of my kids cried through the night. The only person I knew that could fix this situation besides (Y/n) was Gemma and after practically begging her and promising to not be a dick when she came she said yes to helping me out.

After giving up on trying to get the kids out of their pajamas, I grabbed them both in my arms and walked them downstairs to start on some breakfast. They seemed to have tired themselves out with all of their crying so for the time being, they sat down quietly in their respective chairs and munched on their cheerios. I had just finished up making some Oatmeal when the doorbell rang, signaling that Gemma had arrived.

"Mama" Connor mumbled as he rubbed his eyes.

"No baby not mama yet, but aunty Gemma came to visit. Should we go open the door?" I asked as he nodded excitedly.

I grabbed Becca out of her high chair and held Connor's hand as we made our way to the door. As soon as I opened it Connor sprinted into Gemma's arms in a fit of giggles. It was nice to hear him laugh after all the crying that had been going on these past couple of days. I gave Gemma a quick kiss on the cheek before letting her in and walking back into the kitchen.

"Looking a little rough there Har. When's the last time you shaved those whiskers on your lip" Gemma laughed as she grabbed Becca from my arms and held her.

"Shut it. I haven't slept in days. Feel like I'm losing my mind" I mumbled as I poured the oatmeal into two bowls.

"You want anything to eat? Can make some toast and scrambled eggs" I asked as Gemma shook her head.

"Mama mama" Becca mumbled as she clawed at Gemma's shirt.

"I might have boobs like mama but mine, unfortunately, can't give you what you want little one" Gemma replied back as I laughed.

"Lot's of missing mama this week from all of us. Have you gotten a chance to check in with mom yet? See how (y/n)'s doing? Didn't want to be annoying so I haven't called since the first day" I stated as I placed a bowl of oatmeal in front of Connor and gave the other to Gemma to start feeding Becca.

"Mom said she's been okay. I think the fresh air is helping but her hormones are still all over. Mom said she was feeling a bit insecure about her size the other day but was starting to get better about it." Gemma replied as she fed Becca a spoonful of oatmeal.

"Insecure? She's pregnant. I think she's glowing. Nothing more beautiful than a pregnant lady" I said with a frown think about (Y/n).

"I know but Tracey always says that being the pregnant one is different. It feels like everyone's always watching you and now that she has twins she feels even bigger. One baby is bad enough but two of them with your big head inside at once can't be at all comfortable" Gemma said.

"I know but she's big because she has two of my babies and I think she looks breathtaking."

"Did you tell her that recently?" Gemma asked.

"Well... no ... maybe I- I think so" I mumbled as Gemma glared at me.

"I know I know I should have told her more often but I got busy and then Jeff kept calling and she'd kick me out of bed and-"

"Harry everything you just said is why (Y/n) needed a break. You hadn't been paying attention to her at all or the kids because you were so caught up in work. Now that you've realized that as a parent of two and two on the way you need to step it up because your wife can't do it by herself. You can't overwhelm yourself with work especially with the scare (Y/n) had a couple of weeks back."

"I know I know, but I don't know how to help her if she pushes me away" I replied back in frustration.

"Why don't you start by calling Jeff and canceling all those recording sessions you have planned. I know your job and your music is important but you need to put your family first and the health of your wife and your babies" Gemma stated as she wiped some oatmeal off of Becca's cheek.

"I already did! Once (Y/n) left I canceled all of the sessions and interviews and meetings that I couldn't do from home. Told Jeff that after this week I was officially going on a break until after the twins are born and we're all settled." I replied as I passed Connor a napkin for his sticky hands.

"Well did you tell (Y/n) or mom any of this cause (Y/n) is so stressed you'll miss the birth of the babies cause of your work!" Gemma said sternly as she looked at me.

"Bu-but why would she think I'd miss it! Haven't missed any of the births or her appointments?" I groaned.

"I think she's just scared. You were out of town when the bleeding started and she was an absolute wreck when I took her to the hospital. Doctors said they had to give her a sedative because she nearly had a panic attack in the ER and her blood pressure skyrocketed. Mom said she was panicking on the phone when she called her" Gemma replied as she bounced Becca up and down on her lap.

"Careful, she'll vomit. God, I wish I could just see (Y/n) but I don't want to make things worse"

"I think both of you suffered enough with this time apart so why don't you call mom and tell her you and these little rascals are coming up today. Once you called me I texted mom to let her know you'd probably make an appearance today" Gemma replied as she tickled Becca's tummy.

"You're right, I should. I'm going to call mom and let her know. Can you pack Becca a bag and maybe change her diaper?" I asked as I made my way to go find my phone upstairs.

"Bag, yes. Diaper, hell no" Gemma mumbled as I laughed.

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

(Y/N) POV:

Today was a good day. You had managed to make it the entire morning without crying which is more than you can say for the other three days you had spent at Anne's house. It looked like you had finally managed to get your hormones under control and were even excited to spend the day in town with Anne. You had promised her that after moping around her house since you got there that you would spend today with her in town as long as you could stop to get one of those chocolate croissants Harry always brought from the bakery.

You waddled down the stairs in the navy blue Gucci dress Harry bought you for Christmas that cinched just above your belly, making you look all the more pregnant. You didn't necessarily like it the first couple of times you tried it on but every time you wore it Harry's face would light up with a smile and that was enough for you to wear it a bit more often.

"Good morning (Y/n), how did you sleep last night? Did the ice pack behind your neck help with the hot flashes?" Anne asked as she sipped her cup of coffee at the kitchen table.

"It was a miracle worker, first time in months that I haven't woken up in a puddle of my own sweat" you replied back as you gave her a quick kiss on the cheek and sat down next to her.

"I'm glad. I know you're not a tea drinker but can I get you some decaf or maybe some hot chocolate? I think I have some from the last time you guys were over" Anne replied as she got up to get her a mug.

"Hot chocolate sounds wonderful. I can make it though don't worry" you said as Anne waved you away and began taking out the chocolate mix.  

"So how are you feeling today? Better with the hormones and such?" Anne asked cautiously as she stirred the hot chocolate and placed it in front of you.

"I've gotten them under control for the most time, I usually only feel like crying when I to miss Harry and my other babies. Wish they could have come up for a bit but it's been nice to spend some time with you and away from the chaos."

"It's been very nice having you here and I can't wait to meet two more of my grandbabies. Speaking of Harry, he called me this morning?" Anne mumbled into her coffee.

"Is he ok? Are my babies ok? Is someone hurt?" You questioned with a jump.

"Everyone's fine don't worry. Just wanted to see how you were doing." Anne replied. You relaxed back into your seat knowing that everyone was ok at home.

"Thank god. I was worried about leaving them with Harry. He's a great dad, but they can be a handful especially if they tag team you with the crying. It's enough to pull your hair out" you mumble as Anne laughs.

"I can only imagine. Gemma was pretty calm as a child, but Harry was my little attention seeker, couldn't put him down without the tears starting"

"Becca's the same way. If you leave her alone more than a quick bathroom break she'll start screaming her head off. I miss them..." you stated as you grabbed a biscuit and shoved it in your mouth.

"Well a little birdy might have mentioned that someone special could be coming up later today" Anne mumbled trying to hide her grin behind her mug.

"What? What do you mean? Is Harry coming up here?!" You asked excitedly as you nearly drop your coffee mug on the floor.

Anne nodded as you crushed her into bear hug and placed a kiss to her cheek.

"Thank you thank you" you whispered as you held her tight.

"It was all Gemma, dear. And besides, I think you both could really use it. From what I hear my grandkids aren't making it the easiest time. They should be here within the next half hour so why don't you go get dressed and I'll get the kids room all set up for them?" Anne replied as she carefully helped you stand and walked you up the stairs.

Once upstairs, you could help but let out a small squeal at the idea of finally seeing Harry and your kids again. It had only been a couple of days and even though you always love spending some girl time alone with Anne, it was time to see all of your babies (Harry included). You decided to take a quick shower before throwing on a coral pink wrap dress that cut off just above the knee. Just as you were putting on your sneakers (probably the most comfortable shoes you own tbh) Anne knocked on the door to tell you that Harry's car had just pulled into the drive way. You smiled and quickly finished tying your shoes before carefully, but quickly, made your way down the stairs and to the front door.

The sight in front of you was almost too much for you to handle. Connor stood at the side of the car staring at the birds playing the bird feeder. His foot pajamas were covered in what you could only assume was banana stains and the shoe laces on his Gucci sneakers were untied. Your husband stood with his back to you as he wrestled with the fussy one year old in the car street. His pajama pants were riding low on his hips and the white cotton t shirt he sometimes wears to bed had a large stain on his right shoulder, most likely from burping Becca. Just as you were about to approach your little family when suddenly you son came running towards you.

"Mama mama... I here" Connor called out as he hurled himself towards you.

"I see that baby! How are you? Were you good for dada?" You asked him as you carefully lifted him up in your arms and nodded his head.

"I good mama. I good" he stated enthusiastically as you placed a kiss to his cheek.

"How is my favorite grandbaby boy doing? Come with me so your mommy can go help daddy with Becca" Anne stated as Connor all but launched himself at his grandma with a squeal.

You gave Anne a smile before walking over to Harry. You tapped on his shoulder and watched as his shoulders relaxed and he carefully turned around to see you. The weeks could be seen right on his face. His hair was shooting out every which way, a curl follow over his eyes every now and then. There was also a slight hint of stubble across his chin which you knew only appeared after he had gone a couple of days without shaving. The stain on the shoulder of his pajama shirt wasn't the only one on his shirt as you saw a couple splatters of green which you could only assume was peas. He was mess all over, but he was your mess. He gave you the soft smile that you fell in love with all those years ago and you practically tumbled into his arms.

"Hello my love" he mumbled into your hair as he brushed a strand of it behind your ear while rubbing his other hand up and down your back.

"Hi H" you whispered as tears began to prick your eyes.

"I missed you so much, the kids and I were a mess without you but I hope you got to relax a bit" Harry whispered into your ear.

"It was nice, but I missed you all a lot. I hope they weren't to much trouble" you mumbled into his neck.

"Let's just say it's a miracle we didn't get a noise complaint from all of the crying but we survived... barely." Harry replied as you laughed.

The two of you stood there for a bit before you began to hear your daughter's soft whines coming from the open car door. You carefully detached yourself from Harry and made your way to your daughter who sat in her car seat, eyes wide looking at the two of you.

"Hello baby. How is my precious girl doing? Did you make daddy's life difficult?" you mumbled in a baby voice as you picked her up from her car seat and cradled her into your neck.

She let out a soft whine before snuggling into your chest and closing her eyes again.

"All she needed was her mama" Harry replied as he wrapped his arms around you from behind and placed a kiss to your temple.

"All I needed was you" you whispered back as you placed a soft kiss to his lips.

"I love you (Y/n)"

"I love you too, H"

[pagingevilspawn]

Would you please write a fic about alex and jo help their daughter with her homework, they would be kinds cute help them study

cross my heart, hope to die, please stick this pencil in my eye

there’s a reason this took me forever. reason number one, two, and three; proofs. i was unable to write this because of proofs. i got this ask and LIKE A CHILD decided that i wanted to make my fictional characters suffer as much as i did. so once i was done with proofs, i had to write something about proofs, which made me exhausted because i hate even talking about proofs

that made no sense, but here’s this thing that i made. lots of it was my real life monologue, screaming at my computer bc of fucking proofs. enjoy. (also, let’s appreciate the fact that i updated three whole days in a row)

(also, another installment of the “payton loves evan peters too much” series, where i name jolex babies after his AHS characters)

Alex Karev sat in the drivers side of his SUV, making a right onto the upcoming street as he listened to the song playing on the radio. He drummed his fingers along the steering wheel absentmindedly, pulling up to the curbside of James Madison Middle School, waiting patiently in his seat until he heard the five minute warning bell ring.

When the loud bell goes off, he exits the car and makes his way to the other side, learning against the door so his kids would know it was him. Too many parent’s owned black range rovers, and the last thing Alex needed was for either one of his kids to climb into the back seat of some stranger's car. 

He didn’t need to wait long for children to start piling out of the school in large crowds. Middle school was so different from elementary, for his kids at least. He remembers when they would come sprinting out of the building as if their lives depended on it, but now they just casually strolled, no matter how much they liked or disliked school. 

A few minutes later he catches sight of his daughter, who’s eyes light up when she sees him. He wasn’t supposed to pick them up today, the nanny was. But he had gotten off of work early and had insisted with Jo that he be the one to pick up the kids. It was a task he wished he got to do more often. 

“Hey.” his daughter greets him with a smile on her face. He steps aside and lets her enter the side door, where she flops her black backpack on the floor and settles into the seat, pulling out her phone and begins to start scrolling through it. 

“Dad!” he hears another voice exclaim, quickly tracing it to his son, who was currently running to the car, backpack bouncing up and down behind him. The sixth grader moved across the property quickly, greeting his dad with a fist bump before sliding into the back seat.

He closes both of his kids doors before making his way into the driver's side, revving up the car’s engine before he drives down the long block, whatever music his daughter decided on playing through the radio. 

Alex winces when the music begins to blare through the car, “Brynn, turn that crap down would you?”

Brynn’s face looks scandalized. “It’s not crap. It’s art.” she emphasizes, turning it up even louder and screaming the words. (Poor Brynn couldn’t sing, and she knew it)

“I came in like a wreeckingggg ballll I never hit so harddd in loveeee all i wanted was to break your walls all you ever did wre-e-e-ck meee.” she yells, using her phone as a microphone, hair flying around wildly as she moved up and down, side to side in her seat.  

Alex rolls his eyes, unable to hide the smile on his lips. His wife and daughter were too much alike sometimes. He turns the knob himself, sending his daughter a look, silently telling her not to do it again. 

“I think it’s crap. Just like how I think you sound like a dying cat whenever you sing.” his son pipes in from the back, a signature Karev smirk plastered on his lips as he keeps his gaze locked on his phone. 

“Shut up Rory,” she sneers, “Nobody likes you.” 

Rory fakes a laugh, looking back to his phone, and then to the scenery outside his window. They passed house after house until they finally reached their destination, John Quincy Adams Elementary School.

“Wait here,” Alex instructs the two kids, who murmurs their we know’s, more focused on the devices in their hand to the words coming out of his mouth. 

He makes his way to the ‘log cabin’ that sat at the front of the school, giving a friendly smile to the woman sitting at the sign out table, a crappy fold out plastic table that had definitely seen better days. “Faye and Bridgette Karev.” 

The woman slides the forms across the table, handing him a pen. “Sign here and here. I’ll go get them right now.” She stands up from her seat and heads inside to tell the two girls that their father had arrived.

Alex sprawls his messy signature onto the page, huffing before leaning up against the gate. His girls could take anywhere from thirty seconds to five minutes to pack up their things. Luckily today didn’t seem to be the latter, because before he knew it, the two youngest Karev’s came bouncing towards him. 

“Daddy!” “Daddy!” 

The seven year olds gave him a large hug, showing him matching toothless smiles. When Jo and him found out that she was pregnant for a third time, they were overjoyed. They had always wanted more than two kids, but hadn’t really been actively trying. They were excited to expand their family of four into a family of five. When they discovered that she was not carrying not one, but two babies, they were shocked. Jo wasn’t expecting to get pregnant at thirty-nine, much less with twins. Brynn was seven at the time, and Rory was five, so they were worried about how their kids would react when they found out two new babies would be joining the Karev household. 

Rory --surprisingly-- took the news really well. He was excited with the fact that he could have baby brothers. (Oh well. Alex Karev only seemed to make girls, Rory being the one exception.) 

Brynn was a bit more reluctant. She had heard from her friends at school how much babies cried and stole all the attention. She loved both her parent’s equally, but she was a Daddy’s girl through and through. The thought of losing both of her parent’s focus was terrifying. What if her Daddy called her new siblings names like Bug or Princess? Those were her names, and her names only. She couldn’t let the new babies steal her names. 

It took a while, but after multiple long talks and countless acts of reassurance, but Brynn eventually came around to the idea. Before they knew it, Brynn was just as excited for the upcoming babies as they were. Jo was worried throughout her whole pregnancy. Since she was almost forty, she was now considered to have a geriatric pregnancy. Just the word ‘geriatric’ did nothing to soothe any woman’s nerves, but add that to the fact that Jo was a surgeon and knew all the risks of pregnancy, and she was practically a mess the first few months. As it turned out, the twins ended up being her easiest pregnancy, since Brynn decided to make her entrance into the world four weeks early and while she was carrying Rory she had the occasional spotting that terrified her to her core every time, worried that she was miscarrying. 

The twins ended up being born at thirty-five weeks, perfectly healthy. The only thing that gave Jo any trouble at all was the severe morning sickness, which turned out to be all day sickness. 

But in the end it was way more than worth it. Faye was pretty much Jo reincarnated, just like Brynn. Every aspect about her was exactly like her mom. Her hair, her eyes, her face shape, chin. The only thing that she inherited was the Karev crooked grin, which all of their children had. (She didn’t even have a big Karev head when she was born!) 

Bridgette on the other hand, was all Alex, except for the eye color. Between her potty mouth, sassy attitude, and overall appearance, she was the female mini evil-spawn. 

The Evil Spawn Jr, title belonged to Rory, who was basically the male version of Bridgette. Same spunk, same mischievous smirk. Jo was always telling him that she didn’t know what she did to deserve three devil’s in her house. Alex always found that one really funny. 

“You guys got everything?” he questions the two, who nod their heads up and down enthusiastically, skipping to the car and greeting their siblings. 

He drives the twenty-five minutes back to his house, the twins chattering about in the back seat. 

“And then Julie showed her her math problems, and I tried to tell her they were wrong, but she just wouldn’t listen!”

“Tommy was sooo annoying. I kept telling him to stop making noises with his pencil, but he just rolled it back and forth so many times!”

Alex laughs under his breath, listening partially to the twins’s conversation. They sounded exactly like how Cristina and Mer used to rant about completely different things to each other, so it never failed to make him think back to the ‘olden days’ as he and Meredith liked to call them. 

If someone were to tell cocky, intern Alex that he would be happily married to the love of his life for (legally) fifteen years, father of four kids, and lived in a house that literally had a white picket fence on the outside of it, he would’ve sent them to a long term psychiatric care facility, because there was no way he would ever have that life. (A life he always secretly wanted, tucked into the very tiniest corner of his brain so it could never venture farther than a fleeting thought here or there). 

“--We’re here,” he calls out, shutting off the engine as he parks in the driveway, the kids unbuckling their seatbelts and scrambling out of the car, eager to escape the confines of the vehicle and enjoy the peace of their rooms. 

Once all five were inside, he watched as the four children parted ways. “Faye, Bridge, you have thirty minutes of reading down here. Ror, you have that history test you need to study for, and Brynn, you know what you need to do.” he says, his two oldest tromping up the stairs as the twins take their place in the living room on separate seats, already engrossed in the books they needed to read as part of their daily homework assignments. 

Alex lets out a tired sigh as he flops onto the couch, more than tempted to grab the remote from the side table and flick on ESPN, but knew that he couldn’t. As much as the girls loved reading, they got distracted from books really easily. Loud horns, cheers, and buzzers wouldn’t be the way to go if he wanted any work to get done. Instead, he plucks the iPad from the coffee table, picking up where he left off that morning with an online medical article.

Before he knew it, Faye and Bridgette’s timer had rung out and they started on their math homework on the kitchen island, something that they finished with ease. Another trait Alex was grateful the children inherited from Jo, her smarts. (Specifically in math)

“Ugh!” he hears a loud exclaim from upstairs, causing him to look up from the device in his hands and glance towards the steps, half expecting an angry looking Brynn to come storming out at any moment. He huffs, focusing his attention back to the iPad in hand when no mini Jo comes down. 

“No! There are no other ways!”

Another loud groan of frustration. 

“Son of a butthead! There are NO more ways! None! I don't know how the frick to prove that the freakin angle is congruent!”

Alex debates ignoring it and letting his daughter figure it out on his own, that is until he hears something hit a wall. He quickly makes his way up the stairs and to Brynn’s bedroom, standing in the doorway for a few seconds, trying to observe the scene. 

Brynn’s normally pristine room had books scattered on the ground, blankets thrown to the side, and an open notebooks posed at an awkward angle on the floor. 

Well, at least he knew what hit the wall.  

Brynn sat on her bed, literally glaring at her computer screen, partially debating whether or not to throw the expensive device across the room. She didn’t break eye contact, as if she was in a staring contest. Alex wanted to laugh, but he knew a deathly glare would be sent his way if he did. 

He knocks on the wood door, sending a questioning glance Brynn’s way as she finally breaks her stare with the inanimate object. “Everything okay?”

The brunette huffs loudly, bouncing back onto the bed as she lets out a groan. 

“I hate proofs.” she turns her head to look at her dad, Jo’s signature puppy dog face plastered on her features. He couldn’t help but chuckle. It was crazy how much Brynn looked like Jo. Add that onto the fact that she too shared a love for flannels and jeans, she was pretty much what he imagined a fourteen year old Jo to look like. When he first found out that Brynn was going to be a girl, he said to Jo, ‘I’m gonna need a gun.’ 

Luckily, that never happened, partially because of the fact that Alex hated guns and Brynn had yet to have a boyfriend. He was more than thankful for that. Especially since he’d seen couples at Brynn’s school canoodling in what they thought was private, even though they were in full view of everyone. He’d be fine with his not-so-little little girl dating when she was twenty-five, no earlier. Any man before that would not be very fortunate. 

“I’ll help,” Alex says, taking a spot next to her and Brynn begins to show he dad the problems on her screen, going on about how she was struggling to figure it out. 

Shouldn’t be too hard, right?

____

Jo Karev was thrilled when Bailey offered to take over her service for the rest of the day. Her husband had gotten off early, and Bailey knew how much of a struggle it was to spend quality time with family as a surgeon. 

She thanked Bailey so many times she lost count, all while boasting a large smile. She couldn’t remember the last time both she and Alex had been home before five o’clock. All she wanted was to go home, snuggle with her babies, and spend time with her husband. Well, her babies weren’t technically babies anymore, Brynn was fourteen, Rory was nearly twelve, and the twins were seven, but nevertheless, they would always be her babies. (Who cared if Rory was five foot three and already almost as tall as her? He was still such a mommy’s boy.)

She drove home with a smile on her face, humming along to the songs on the radio. She was so happy. She wanted to take her kids in her arms, and watch action movies on the couch while they pigged out on pizza together. 

When she pulls up in the drive she practically bounces up the steps to the house, swinging open the door and dropping her coat carelessly onto the rack. She hadn’t texted Alex to let him know she was coming home early, in hopes to make it a joyful surprise. 

Her heart stopped momentarily at the sound of yelling coming from upstairs. Arguments between Brynn and Alex were few and far between, but when they did happen, they were nasty. Alex always felt like crap for days afterward and Brynn stayed quiet, both at home and at school. 

“Do the reflexive property again!”

“Dad we already did that!”

“Well do it again!”

“Why?!”

“Do you see any other way to do it?”

“How is that going to help!”

“It just is!”

“Dad, we've done the reflexive property five times now!”

“You think I don’t know that!”

“Say that segment DA is congruent to AD.”

“But-”

“There are literally no other fucking ways to do it! It’s fucking shit! Thats what it is!”

“You act as if I didn’t already freakin know that!”

A loud groan. 

“What the fuck even is this one! We’ve managed to do three of them already. Try proving the triangles congruent now. Push random ones, like Side-Angle-Side.” 

“This is crap! ‘You don’t have enough proof to show that the blah blah blah.’ Stupid freaking thing! Freaking worthless!”

Jo is unable to suppress her giggle, clasping a hand over her mouth, trying not to make too much noise. It was a relief to know that the current screaming match going on wasn’t an argument. 

“They’ve been at that for an hour and a half now.” she hears her son pipe in, drawing her attention to where he sat on the couch. 

Jo sets her bag down on the table, greeting her son with a large hug, “Hi bubs.” she mumbles into his hair, feeling his arms wrap back around her. In private, Rory was the biggest cuddler, touchy-feely person you’d ever met, but in front of his friends he tried way too hard to show he was ‘too cool’ for hugging his mom, so Jo took in these moments and held them close to her heart.

“An hour and a half huh?” she chuckles, running a hand through her son’s gelled hair. 

Rory snickers, hazel eyes shining with mischief, “Yeah, dad won’t stop cursing and Tissy just keeps screaming alongside him,” he sits back onto the couch. “I’m surprised neither one of them had lost their voice yet.” he smirks his crooked Karev smirk, focusing his attention on the TV where he had opened up netflix, where he was currently binging Bates Motel. The name ‘Tissy’ came from when he was younger and couldn’t for the life of him say either Brynn nor Sissy. It seemed to have stuck all these years, and he was the only one who ever called his older sister that, even ten years later.

She sees him cringe, “I never called you mother right?” he asks, eyes not leaving the screen, where a certain Norman Bates is practically spooning his own mother in the bed, claiming that he couldn’t sleep. 

Jo snorts, ruffling his hair fondly, “Definitely not. And if you ever do, you’re dead Ror, hear me?”

Rory rolls his eyes playfully, giving his mom a grin. “I won’t. Promise.”

Jo heads up the stairs, the loud yells continuing to echo through the halls, which she chooses to ignore. 

“Dad for the fiftieth freaking time-”

“--What’s going on here?” Jo questions, causing both her husband and daughter to break away their concentration from the computer screen. 

Brynn’s face lights up at the sight of her mom standing in the doorway, more than thankful to have someone who actually knew stuff help her with her math. “Mom!” she exclaims, getting up from her place on the bed to give her mother a hug. 

“Hey baby. Care to explain to me why the second I walk through the door I'm greeted with screaming?” She questions, eyebrows raised as she sees Alex sheepishly avoid eye contact, suddenly finding the pictures that hung on the wall very interesting. 

Brynn smirks, “Well, Dad sucks at math so-”

“--Hey!” Alex interrupts, crossing his arms over his chest. “I haven’t done this crap in like thirty years!” He defends himself.

Jo rolls her eyes and smiles of her own gracing her lips as she reaches the bed and takes a look at the problems on the computer. “Proofs?” she asks from confirmation, earning a nod from her husband and daughter. 

She hums, “Given: segment CA bisects angle BAD and segment CA bisects BCD. Prove: triangle ABC is congruent to triangle ADC.” she murmurs to herself.

The brunette laughs when she sees the fact that the pair had put down some form of the ‘reflexive property’ not one, not two, but seven times.

She grins triumphantly as she remembers how to do the problem, the skills seemingly coming back to her after years of them being dormant. “Next statement is angle BCA is congruent to DCA because…” she scrolls through the possible options the box provided, smirking when she found the right one. “An angle bisector divides an angle into two congruent angles.”  

She watches as an angle pops up on the screen, only encouraging her to continue, “Then… angle DAC is congruent to angle BAC because an angle bisector divides an angle into two congruent angles.” 

Another angle comes up. 

“Finally,” she smirks, glancing to the side of for a brief second to take in the draw dropped stares of the two behind her. Brynn was a whiz at math like her mom, but proofs was something she’d been struggling with since they’d started learning them yesterday. Geometry was no joke. Her and her dad had already gotten almost all of the problems done, but it had taken so long to do a few measly problems that they’d lost track of just how long they'd been sitting in the room, arguing back and forth over different possibilities to try. 

“Triangle ABC is congruent to triangle ADC, reason being Angle-Side-Angle.” 

She grins, wiping her hands together as she hits the submit button, a large green check with a correct! floating on the screen, going over the ways to solve the problem. 

Alex glares at her. He’d been working on these fucking proofs for so long now, and Jo just comes in and completes it in less than a minute?

“I hate you.” he gruffs, still glaring at both his wife and the computer. 

Jo giggles, leaning over and pecking her husband’s lips. “Love you too.” 

She begins to walk out of the room, stopping and calling out over her shoulder as she reaches the doorway, “Now you just need to make sure the twins did their homework!”

[closetdwellertales]

anna’s hope

I

Anna wanted a baby. 

On the long, cold nights when she fretfully waited for her husband to come home, and on the dawns when he finally came home and she wished he hadn’t, and on the dizzyingly hot days of field work, with insects swarming in her face and on the strips of bare, wet skin, and on the dull winter days when the house was filled with the buzz of her spin and her husband’s silence, she wished for a baby. She wished for it as desperately as a traveler wishes for the smallest shadow on a scorching day. It does not help the thirst, or the heat, or the exhaustion, but at least it helps you forget about the sun for a few minutes.

She was not too ambitious. Her baby did not have a face, or a character, or a dream of hers to grow into. She imagined a bundle of cloth that made meowing, gurgling sounds when she carefully scooped it up and pressed to her breast. It would be simply a soul to take care of - and, hopefully, a soul that would eventually take care of her once she became old and frail. It would be someone to love that would love her back. Her husband’s love was rough and bitter, with the aftertaste of bruises on her ribs.

Anna wanted a baby - ever more desperately as the years passed. Her husband wanted a boy heir, so their desires crossed yet bore no fruit. There must have been a fault with either of them. Anna prayed to every saint she knew and even donated her mother’s silver earrings to Mary the Mother of God, hoping that the gift that adorned the ears of three generations of good earthly women would skew Mary’s judgement in her favor. Those were well-made earrings, after all, bearing the handwork of Anna’s grandfather, and she saw no reason for the Queen of Heaven to scorn them in any way. 

Then her husband died.

Anna was numb with shock. She was left alone. The silence of her house thickened. No one was going to marry an aging, poor woman who was not special in any meaningful way. And above all, her dream of a child - and of a satiated, happy autumn of her life - slipped from her fingers. It was too much of a strike to bear.

On the fifth night after the funeral she found herself getting off her bed and walking towards the river, not thinking of anything. She came all the way to the river bank, grabbed a willow branch and leaned over the edge, staring into the dark water below. Then she came around and jerked back. She lost her balance and fell - thankfully, landing on the ground rather than the cold, rapid river.

She started sobbing. There, loudly, she complained to anyone who could hear her about her hapless life and her simple broken dreams. She begged the entire world for what she knew was no longer possible. She knew that despair was a sin, but she hoped that, even if the Lord or one of His saints were awake to hear her, they would have trouble recognizing her on such a dark, cloudy night. 

When her tears and complaints ran out, Anna stood up, dusted off her skirt as well as she could and walked back home, swaying side to side from the exhaustion.

Two months later she was found to be pregnant. 

II

Anna could barely believe it, and kept wondering and questioning it even when she started feeling bumps from within. People were just as surprised, but most decided to congratulate her on what was by all accounts her husband’s parting gift. No one dared accuse her of anything inappropriate, as no one could even imagine her luring a younger man away from his family or, god forbid, flying on a broomstick to fall into the Devil’s welcoming arms. Every Sunday she could be seen in church, praying and diligently bumping her forehead into the floor every couple of minutes even after her growing belly made the task arduous. She was especially careful when praising Mary, certain that the Mother of God had her hand in the ordeal.

Despite everyone’s unspoken worries, Anna’s frail, aging body did its task well till the end. Even the birth was relatively easy, given everything. She bore a healthy baby girl with steel grey eyes and thin, dark hair. The first time Anna took her daughter to feed her, she nearly dropped her: she was not prepared to the weight of a real human baby in her arms.

She named her Hope.

III

The signs did not start at once, or, if they had, Anna did not notice.

She was too happy, closed off in her small, simple dream. She could not believe it even so, sometimes waking up in the middle of the night and rushing towards the crib to check. Every time, baby Hope was there, and Anna wiped off her brow and loomed above for a few minutes, soaking in the sight of the baby’s chest rising and falling in her sleep. Everything about her child was beautiful: the slowly growing hair, the tiny sharp nails, the plump hands that were curled into soft ball-like fists, the way that Hope frowned and flailed her arms when she wanted to be picked up. She was the sweetest, most precious child ever, according to her mother, and Anna believed herself to be the truest source.

So she did not mind the long stares of her baby’s grey eyes, so unlike her own or her late husband’s, or the way that Hope seemed to listen very closely to people around her, as if understanding everything, her baby face frowning; or how she suddenly found the cross to be in bad taste, wiggling away like a tiny caterpillar from where it hang above her bed. Anna did not mind that her baby did not want to laugh. She did not mind the lack of babble. She did not mind that Hope did not want to walk even when she was supposed to be waddling everywhere on her plump feet. She was nearing two years, but she has not said a word or made a step yet. Anna did not mind. Hope was a late child, after all, making her wait for such a long time. Perhaps she needed some more time again.

But time went, and nothing changed, and Anna found herself wondering.

People talked just like they always do. The general opinion was one of pity: everyone knew how the poor woman wanted a baby, and being dealt such a hand was simply unfair. The rumors spread, but without a proper ground to cherish on, they withered like the sprouts that rose just before a snowstorm. No one could sincerely say that the old Anna had a sin that needed to be punished in such a twisted way. That left a single option.

It happened when Hope was three. She looked like a little doll, pretty but nothing like her mother: her eyes failed to change color, like it happens with the babies, and her hair was as dark as a raven feather. Her skin was pale, and her lips never smiled, and if you looked at her face a little too long you’d feel like something was wrong with it - to anyone but her mother.

She was still silent, sitting in her chair and watching her mother with her steel grey eyes all day. To fill the silence, Anna found herself doing all the talking, asking and replying and explaining everything as she worked her broom. She fell silent when someone knocked, ashamed of herself for a second, and went to check the door. It was her neighbor, a good woman whose husband chopped the wood for Anna the last few years. She caught Anna by the sleeve and started whispering, glancing around as if she was doing something borderline sinful. 

That was when Anna heard the word “changeling” for the first time.

She went back inside, overwhelmed with the knowledge. Her fingers found the broom handle. She started sweeping again. 

The neighbor said to take the broom handle and hit the changeling a few times, as hard as she could. It was hard to say when baby Hope was taken by the faeries, and how they would benefit from a human baby, but everyone knew that faeries did things like that. Perhaps it happened because the pastor was drunk when he baptized her. But now, that baby on the chair was not Anna’s Hope, and she would never speak, or walk, or help her not-mother, and she would never give Anna what she wanted. So it was either the broom, or two eggshells to boil water in. 

Anna looked up and met the not-Hope's steel stare. Her fingers tightened around the handle.

But… she only ever wanted a baby. A child. 

Whoever Hope was, she was a child, the child that Anna watched day and night, the child that she nursed and sang to, the child that was now undoubtedly hers even if people and faeries dared think otherwise.

She was still her Hope. 

Anna’s fingers loosened again, and she smiled to her baby, knowing she won’t see a smile in return. Hope frowned and looked away first - for the first time.

IV

When Hope was five, she talked, and the first thing she asked was “Why?”

Anna startled and blinked, uncertain. Her eyes circled the room before landing on Hope - sitted in her chair, looking so nicely in her dress that Anna meticulously sewed together last month. There was no one else to speak up, but she had long made peace with knowing that she won’t hear a word from her daughter. It was as much of a surprise as when she felt the first tiny bump inside her.

“What, dear?” she asked, putting away her spin.

“Why didn’t you return me?” Hope asked in a singsong voice that flowed and trembled like a summer stream. “You know what I am.”

Anna shivered, feeling the years of talks and pity piled on her frail shoulders. She did not know what to say, so she told the truth: “Yes, I know. You are my child.”

This was not the answer that was wanted, but it was the answer, so Hope nodded and fell silent again.

The next morning, when Anna woke up, there was no more yarn to spin - all her work was done.

V

Hope spoke again only half a year later. 

The swallows took a liking to their yard, nesting under their roof for several years, and Anna had moved her chair so that Hope could see the birds. She was sitting there, staring outside and kicking her legs. Suddenly, she spoke up in a voice that was like the first gust of wind before a thunderstorm:

“Don’t you want your real daughter back?”

The arrow hit the target and pierced it through, lodging itself in the ground. Anna dropped the plate she was holding. 

Hope turned her head and stared at the shards. She spoke again, like the first distant thunder: “Don’t you love her?”

Anna blindly searched behind herself till she felt a chair and dropped into it. She covered her face with her hands. Later, much later, she said weakly: “I do.”

“Why didn’t you return me?” Hope asked again, her steel eyes unblinking.

Anna did not know what to say, so she said the truth: “Because I love you too.”

It was not the answer that was expected, but it was the answer. Hope blinked, frowning, and her silence was worse than the one that reigned in those long winter days when Anna’s husband was still alive.

Minutes came and went, sweeping over the two of them, till Hope said in a whisper that was like the first drops of the summer rain: “I don’t understand human love. I don’t know the love of a mother. I won’t know the love of a child.”

“I love you,” Anna told her again, and she picked her child and pressed her to her chest like she did through all those years. Hope was cold and heavy in her arms. “I am your mother.”

Hope did not press to her, but she did not push her away either, and slowly her heavy head rested on Anna’s shoulder.

From that day, not a single thing ever broke or tore in Anna’s home.

VI

Hope started speaking more. Anna grew used to her voice that glided and thundered, echoed and withered away before it could properly sound. She never spoke to other people, only to her; no one else could hear her, either. Neighbors whispered to one another, rumors dripping with pity: poor old Anna had finally gone mad.

Anna did not ask for secrets, or powers, or water that can bring back the dead, or medicine that helps you see the other world. She did ask, though: simple questions, like the whereabouts of a kitchen knife or Hope’s desires concerning dinner. Maybe that is why Hope answered her. Maybe that is why she started talking at all.

There were different questions, too.

“Is my daughter safe?” Anna asked once, both afraid and eager.

“Yes,” Hope said.

“Is she happy?” Anna asked. “Does she have anyone to look after her?”

Hope did not answer that, her grey eyes as calm as a lake on a cloudy day. 

“She is appreciated,” she said later. “My kind like human children. We get born old, we grow ancient. We don't have a chance to meet children. To be children. She will be liked. She will never get sick, or tired, or hungry, or old.”

“I’m glad,” Anna said, and that was almost truth, because she could not help but wonder how her daughter would look if she ever grew up. She wondered if she would have grey eyes too, and if her hair was the deep color of Hope’s braids. She wondered if her daughter - her other daughter - ever had anyone to love her, there. 

Hope watched her as she always did, and her calm eyes betrayed no thought or feeling.

VII

On the day that Hope turned seven, she told her human mother: “I know how to bring your daughter back.”

Anna gasped, something gripping her heart just like it did when she was young and fresh and she saw her husband for the first time: excitement and fear. “Is it so, my child?”

“Do what I say,” Hope told her, and it sounded enough like a ‘yes’ for Anna to not ask again.

That night, all done the way it needed to be done, her little silver cross left behind with an apologetic prayer, Anna and Hope left home. Anna felt a little bad for mingling with the unholy in a way that bordered on sin, but she comforted herself with the thought that the Mother of God, whom she considered her old friend of sorts by then, would understand her struggles better than anyone and turn a blind eye if needed.

“Don’t ask for anything except what is yours,” Hope instructed her as she was helped over the doorstep for the first time in her life. 

“I wouldn’t,” Anna said. 

Her changeling daughter did not say anything, but squeezed her hand a little harder. That was the right answer, it seems. Anna never asked for more than she could carry.

Hope could not walk, so Anna helped her onto her back and carried her, huffing with effort as the old woman’s back and legs slowly started aching. The girl’s hands rested on Anna’s shoulders, and she pointed the way. Farther, farther from home they went, farther from the village; the forest rose and swallowed them in the darkness. 

The shadows seethed with life. Anna could feel countless eyes on her. Eager. Waiting for something.

“A butterfly grows,” Hope said, in a voice like the first autumn leaf falling. “It changes. First, an egg. Then, a caterpillar. Then, a cocoon.” She shifted. Her small body was so unbearably heavy on Anna's shoulders. “A fairy grows. It changes.”

Anna’s heart soared and sank.

“I could not stay,” Hope whispered. “I need to grow. I need to change. Humans would hurt me.” Then, after a pause, more hesitant than Anna had ever heard: “They would hurt you too. I cannot stay. I could never stay.”

Anna made two dozen steps before she found her voice again, and she said, with all the conviction her tired soul could muster: “I will always love you, Hope.”

And Hope shivered, and then, leaning in, her lips close to Anna’s ear, she whispered something to her mother.

Anna remembered that, even though she could not remember anything else from that night - aside from walking home with a brown-haired, brown-eyed girl that looked just like her and nothing like Hope.

And she also remembered Hope reaching out to her, planting a single kiss on her wrinkled forehead.

She never felt a single tug of pain in her overworked back or legs ever again.

VII

On the night Anna returned from the forest with her daughter in tow, she dreamed of the Mother of God. She stood on a cloud, regal, too blinding to look at properly, but Anna squinted and saw her mother’s earrings sparkling in Mary’s ears. Those were good earrings, worn by three generations of good, working women, and Anna saw no reason for anyone to look down on them.

She baptized her daughter again, just in case. This time, the pastor made sure to not have a lick of liquor for three days in advance and breathed at every person attending so that they could smell and see for themselves. 

Anna decided to name her Patience.

Patience was just a little weird, but anyone would be after spending seven years in fairies’ care, so people made peace with it rather soon. Weird people are not necessarily bad, especially if they can spin yarn better than anyone else in the village, and there is no point in asking if it is a gift from fairies or the God. After all, it was Patience's hands that made it, and her hands were baptized - twice.

Anna loved her, with her entire being, unquestioning and soft. It was nothing like her love to Hope, but it was just as strong. Patience was a good girl, and, luckily enough, she was quite happy growing up - it turned out that fairies appreciate it when you are kind to their own offspring, enough to pay you back in kind.

Anna still went to church on Sundays, and she still was a good old woman who could not be accused of a single sin except for slight naivety, so no one minded that she was a little weird, too - she met fairies too, after all. But she still was careful when she left at night, every now and then, because people like talking about things they cannot understand.

She went to the forest, far from the village, to whisper what the changeling whispered to her once when she was carrying her on her back: the gentlest sound of wind rocking the crib, of a hand running over feathers, of a heart beating - she called her other daughter.

And Hope came to her.

[chloca-cola]

(Un)Corruptible Chapter 8 [end]

TW: none

@minteyeddemon

Word count: 1,161 ish

~~~~~~~

    Vergil actually held a visage of apology when Meande looked back into his eyes, releasing his hold on the Yamato, stepping back and she sighed, looking back down at the object jutting from her gut. She placed her hands on her hips, before grabbing the handle of the Yamato with her right hand, slowly pulling it from her body. 

    “You, uh, left this in me, and this was my favorite shirt...” She teased him, flicking her wrist, cleaning her own blood off the blade, and Dante chuckled.

    “Welcome to the Got Stabbed by Vergil Club, Squirt.” She smiled at her fiance, as she stepped towards Vergil taking the scabbard from him, properly resheathing the Yamato herself, which wasn’t an easy task, considering the katana was nearly as long as she was tall.

    “I apologize, Meande.” Vergil genuinely regretted hurting her and she laughed, handing his katana back to him, clapping him on the arm.

    “You did what you had too, it’s no biggie, Dimples.” Walking passed him to hug Dante and her mother.

    “What happened?” Cassiel asked, and Meande shrugged.

    “It’s like when you slapped me, all my abilities came together.” She crudely explained, frustrated she couldn’t do better. “That doesn’t make sense…”

    “You were supposed to kill them!” Maltheal roared, appearing before them, and Meande scoffed, sarcastically bowing to him.

    “Forgive me but I'm disinclined to acquiesce your request.” He roared again, black flames fully engulfing him now. “Watch me kick your ass!” Meande devil triggered again, lunging towards the much bigger demon, causing Dante to sigh.

    “She's always running head first into trouble...should we help her?” He asked Vergil, who still seemed to be lost in contrition. Cassiel was already in her demon form, flying towards Maltheal helping her daughter, and Vergil nodded curtly, and they joined in the fight as well.

    Between two psionic demons and the Sparda twins, they all four slowly chipped away at Maltheal, lightning shooting from Meande as she used her newfound infinite psychic abilities for physical combat. They all four worked as a cohesive unit, as if they’ve always fought together. Covering blind spots, Meande and Vergil both quickly striking Maltheal as Dante provided the more powerful blows, and Cassiel used her abilities in a more defensive way, helping block attacks that others couldn’t see coming.

    Maltheal began to grow frustrated with the fight, which would prove to be his downfall as his attacks became sloppier and easier to read.

    “Nero is gonna be mad he missed out on this one!” Meande bantered as she landed a shock filled right hook to Maltheal’s jaw. “He’d really enjoy kicking your ass!”

    “Shut up, you weak minded fool!” Maltheal howled out in pain, back handing at Meande, but she phased out of the attack, finally having the control to just reappear back in spot, and she landed a hard kick to his sternum.

    “I’m weak minded, d’you guys hear that!” She informed, and Dante laughed, coming up behind Maltheal, thrusting his devil sword straight through him. Meande leaped backwards as Maltheal fell to his knees before her, Dante planted his foot against Maltheal’s back, pushing him forward to pull his sword from his body. Maltheal turned and fell onto his back. The four came to stand over the fallen demon as he growled in defeat.

“Say hi to Mundus for us, would ya?” Dante quipped before Vergil delivered the final blow, thrusting the Yamato through Maltheal’s head.

~~

    Back at Devil May Cry, Meande flopped onto the couch, a loud oomph erupting from her.

    “Damn...this has been some crazy two fuckin’ days.” She complained loudly and Dante laughed, flopping down beside her in the same manner, draping his arm over her shoulders, and she curled up against him.

    “Tell me about it, Squirt.” He agreed as Cassiel milled around the room just glad every one is ok, and Vergil kept staring at Meande, causing her to finally sigh and look to him.

    “Are you gonna be in this self loathing state forever now?” Vergil cast his eyes downward and she exchanged a look with Dante. “Should I stab you to make things even?” She asked in jest, chuckling softly, but she stopped when he locked eyes with her again. “Hell, I was only kidding Vergil, I’m not gonna stab you.” She stood, walking over to him, smiling. “Look at it this way, you feel bad about it. That means you care about me.” A slight blush graced his cheeks and he looked away from her.

    “It’s a good thing, Vergil.” Cassiel pointed out, giving him a genuine smile, and Meande nodded, punching his chest playfully.

    “It’s progress, work with it, huh?” He grunted, turning and walking away.

    “You’re insufferable.” He deadpanned, and she laughed.

    “Same to ya, Dimples!” Meande called, pointing finger guns at him and she turned to her mother, smiling. “Now, you are more than welcome to stay here. I can move into Dante’s room, and you can have mine.” Cassiel smiled as if it's more than what she was going to ask for.

    “You don’t mind?” She asked, looking to Dante as well, and he shrugged.

    “Not at all, since we are gonna be future in-laws and all.” 

    “Well, if you don’t care, I would love to stay here and make up for the time we lost.” Meande and Cassiel embraced, as Dante stood from the couch.

    “Not to break this up or anything, I’ve got lost time to make up with her too. Between my brother whisking her to the roof and you coming back around, I feel like I have to fight for her attention.” Dante pointed out, almost in a pouting tone, as he lifted Meande up and over his shoulder, and she waved at her mother as he took her up the stairs.

    “Make good choices.” She teased before sighing, looking around her new home, happy she finally gets to be in Meande’s life again.

--

    “Hey, why didn’t any of you decide to tell us these two idiots were back?” Lady asked, as she and Trish stopped by after their jobs, and Meande smiled at them.

    “Well...we’ve been busy.” Cassiel elbowed Meande as she looked at Trish, and Meande giggled.

    “Mom, this is Trish, not Eva.” Trish blinked, sharing a look with Lady. “And this is Lady.”

    “Mom? As in your dead mother?” Trish inquired, and the four sighed, getting ready to catch them up on what happened these past two days. 

             The doors burst open, Nero and Nico coming inside, bickering amongst themselves, carrying several boxes of pizza. Nero sat the pizzas down before he and Meande fist bumped each other like the two dorks they are, and they all dug into the pizza.

               Meande sat back, smiling as she listened to Dante regale the story, and make several exaggerations, and Vergil corrected him along the way, happy that finally, maybe her life could go back to being simple, at least half way anyway, surrounded by the ones she cares about.

[pleasurextreasure]

❜cutlass (pt. 12/?)

genre: Aristocrat!reader x Pirate!Jeno, ft. NCT Dream

warnings: all nct Dream members are above 18+, multi-chapter, swear words here and there throughout fic

word count: 1.3k

prompts: in which Jeno is cursed to live for three more years and only loving someone and expecting nothing in return can break it

a/n: LELE IS OUT HERE TRYING TO COME FOR MY NECK. YEAH, WELL, BET ➵admin kiki

01 | 02 | 03 | 04 | 05 | 06 | 07 | 08 | 09 | 10 | 11 |Current

Ξ r e q u e s t Ξ

For whatever reason it was for, the crew members’ actions had grown suspicious. Whether it was deliberately keeping short conversations with you, or trying to steer clear of you altogether, it was clear something was going on in their close-knitted circle.

It pained you to be treated this way, especially when you believed had finally been accepted onto the ship. You had been working on with your sewing, and helping others on the ship whenever it was asked. So, why in two days time, was everyone acting strangely?

Although their actions were subtle (other than growing wide-eyed and walking in the opposite direction of you at times), you were quick to pick up on them. They were still kind, but it was a kindness that contrasted from the one you were once accustomed.

The soft winds kissed your cheeks as you wistfully closed your eyes. You escaped to the quarterdeck, one of the places where not many members will pass by unless a certain task calls for it. You enjoy the peaceful atmosphere that surrounds, allowing it to bring you to a melancholy state.

The mixture of the sun’s beams nurturing your skin as well as the time that passes begins to make you drowsy. You’re on the brink of fully dozing off when Jaemin’s shouts startles any sleepiness you once had.

Your figure perks up as you strain yourself to hear what he was hollering away at. The words “Land ahoy!” are what is picked up and you stumble to your feet to verify his proclamation for yourself. Your feet carry you to the the ship’s side, arms bracing themselves against the railings. You’re leaning as far as you can over the brass railing, fingers gripping tightly around it.

The smile that had appeared was now faltering as you took a good look at the land ahead. It was at that moment that you finally understood why the crew, and Jeno especially, acted so distant towards you.

They were taking you home.

⚓⚓

Renjun was unable to stop you from barging into Jeno’s quarters, his failed attempts of trying to coaxe you trailing behind your fiery strides.Your words are strewing before your hand has the time to slam the door open.

“How could you,” you began, ignoring the bugged state of Jisung’s stare as you point an accusing finger to the perpetrator at hand, “after… after everything that’s happened. This is what you do?”

Jeno avoids your intense stare, going back to the interrupted conversation he was having with his crew member. “You will be escorting Y/N to the courthouse. Claim you and your father found her after her boat was lost to sea.”

“Will they believe that, Captain?” the younger asked, shrinking away from your hotted gaze.

“No, they won’t. Because I’m not getting off this ship.”

Ignoring you once more (which sends a heart-wrenching your way, mind you), Jeno answers, “They shouldn’t ask too many questions once they find out who she is. Her father probably put a reward up for it. It’s up to you if you want to collect it or not.” You audibly gasp, and your hand reaches out to grab at Jeno’s cloth-covered arm. “Stop acting as if I’m not here and explain to me what’s going. Why was this decided all of a sudden?”

Finding this his queue to leave, Jisung is quick to flee the scene, closing the door behind him in his hurry.

It’s now that he finally decides to look at you, and for a moment, you wish he hadn’t. “We had an agreement in the beginning, remember? We don’t need your services anymore.”

As they registered in your head, his words were twisted to reveal their true meaning. We don’t need you. You weren’t sure what you were feeling at the moment, but you had a sense of comparing it to a heartbreak you’re experiencing for the first time.

You sound defeated as you utter out, “Is that really it?”

“We’ve arranged for your departure within the hour of docking. We’ll be on land soon, in the next half hour or so. If you’d like to say goodbye, now is the time.” He shakes your hand off, triggering the stringing in your eyes to appear. Jeno brushes pass you, bumping your shoulder in the process.

“Jeno,” you barely whisper out, the shock still in its full effect.

It was as if you were dreaming right now. Your body was beginning to grow numb from the clenching of both your stomach and chest. You see him stiffen,  first by the squaring of his shoulders then down to the clenching of his fists, at your weakened tone, but he makes no move to turn back to you.

You clench your own hands, allowing your nails to create crescents into their palms. “Pirates truly are the worse, afterall.”

He’s silent for a moment, most likely processing the amount of hate you’ve just spat at him.

But all too soon, he answers, “I trust you can find yourself out.”

⚓⚓

You find yourself drowning in the same melancholic feeling as earlier mixing itself with dejection, anger but most of all, abandonment. The whole ordeal didn’t seem real, yet here you were, being led by Jisung to the courthouse. After Jeno’s final words to you, all fighting strength within you had escaped and you were now following orders despite every ounce in your being telling you not to.

Although you had ill feelings towards them, you decided to still say bye to the boys you had believed were once close to you. You could see some hold back tears, for reasons unknown to you since they were the ones throwing you away. Chenle had been the one to give you a firm hug, and you couldn’t help but return it for the sake of his sanity.

The walk to the courthouse was a brisk one, with neither you or Jisung uttering a single word to one another. What was there to say at a time like this, anyway? After he exchanges you off for reward money, he’ll be heading back to their ship that was hidden from the Navy guards.

“They’ll recognize you,” you find yourself saying. “Aren’t you worried of that?” “No.” Jisung shakes his head. “Captain and the others have a higher bounty than I do. There’s probably little to no areas who know what I look like.”

You’re back to being quiet with each other up until you are at the courthouse’s stone steps. You notice the slight hesitation he faces when debating on entering the building until he finally steps foot in, with you glumly following close behind.

You’re quiet during Jisung’s introduction of who you two are. You’re quiet as he explains your fake story, only nodding here and there for confirmation when needed. You’re quiet when the Navy officer hands Jisung the reward your father had put out. You’re even quiet when Jisung sends you one last mourning look and takes his exit, leaving you forever behind.

“Let’s get you back home now, Missus. I’m sure you must be worn to the bone from the unfortunate events that you faced.” The officer’s kind smile sickens you to the core. How air-headed did he need to be to believe those pirates’ story?

The dreaded time had come where you were escorted to your father’s estate. You could feel the apprehension crawling within as you watched the officer announce your arrival. The door opens, revealing the devil himself.

“Welcome home, daughter of mine.” Your father’s pressed smile was anything but welcoming. “Why don’t we go freshen up and we can discuss your behavior over a nice lunch your mother was kind enough to prepare?”

Your father’s head butler escorts you back to your prison of a room and softly shuts the door once he confirms you have nowhere to hide. You find yourself stumbling towards your vanity, taking in the rugged-looking girl that is you.

You firmly place the back of your hand against your mouth when you felt your shoulders begin to shake and your body wrack with sobs, as you allowed yourself to finally cry.

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[kaiunkaiku]

I see you have drrr on the list so... Would you be willing and interested in writing something with Shizuo?

Lo and behold, it’s my first finished request! As a sidenote, Izaya didn’t poison him. It’s just a possibility because well, Izaya.

This can’t be happening. Cannot. Not today. Today is not a good day for this crap.

Shizuo glares at his reflection in the mirror. His eyes are bloodshot and he looks scarily pale in the harsh lights of the bathroom. His hair is a downright mess, even more so than usual - it’s sticking out in weird places and matted down in others, not to mention that every strand not in its place is going somewhere that has to be against the laws of nature. Has to. There’s no way gravity works like that.

He’s supposed to have a test today. A simple test, and he knows none of the material for it, but he figures his overworked history teacher would probably start either crying or contemplating bloody murder if Shizuo didn’t show up. She’s one of the nice teachers, really, she’s still trying to save the scores of her worst delinquent students. She claims she believes in them, though Shizuo himself has lost that hope long ago. He just wants to graduate so he doesn’t need to see Izaya’s face again (though he probably will see it again, but at least they won’t be in the same school anymore).

And speaking of Izaya, Shizuo is pretty sure the little devil (Satan himself) has poisoned him. That has to be the case, it’s the only logical explanation. Shizuo has an immune system of steel, but the feverish flush on his cheeks and the wooziness in his head tell a story of a cold or the flu or what-fucking-ever, and the only explanation he can come up with is Orihara Izaya stealing something suspicious from Shinra’s Hazardous Stock of Creepy Things and poisoning him with it.

He sighs, defeated, and decides that school is a stupid idea. Izaya poisoning him is also a stupid idea, though plausible. He can take the test later and spend today trying to sleep this thing off. He texts Shinra that he won’t be coming today, and promptly marches back to his bedroom.

When he wakes up a few hours later, everything hurts. His throat burns, his muscles ache and his head feels weirdly heavy and light at the same time. There’s a churning pit in his stomach that he tries to ignore. His nose is completely blocked, but breathing through his mouth aggravates his throat and sends him to a series of nasty, dry coughs that feel like they’re coming straight from his lungs and pulling the said organs out with them.

The coughs die down and leave him gasping for air. Shizuo attempts to grumble something,  anything,  though his intended phrase is either “fucking hell” or “my fucking god”, but his voice comes out as a pathetic wheeze.  He settles with frowning at his ceiling.

Getting up is a task that requires effort, way more than he’s used to, but he decides that a glass of water could be in order. When he stands, though, several things happen at once.

One, he almost falls right back to his bed as all the blood rushes down from his head. Two, he damn near bumps into the sharp corner of his nightstand. And three, the churning pit that is his stomach lurches violently and shoots up to his throat. His mouth floods with saliva and screw almost passing out, he has to get to the bathroom now.

Shizuo scrambles out of his room and to the bathroom, desperately pressing his fist to his lips and trying to swallow the rising contents of his stomach down. His belly gurgles and he’s not really sure if he hears or feels it, but it’s awful and sends shivers up to his neck. He gags and belches at the same time and vomit fills his mouth just before he’s made it to the toilet.

By some miracle he manages to keep his lips together until he can drop to his knees in front of the toilet bowl and get the lid up. Then he lets go and and the vomit in his mouth hits the water just as another wet burp rumbles up and brings forth more puke. It’s awful and it’s lumpy and he has no idea what he’s eaten,  other than it’s making him sick.

Shizuo spends the next thirty minutes puking and shaking and retching and heaving until he’s sure nothing can come up anymore. His mouth tastes sour, his muscles ache even worse than before and the nausea hasn’t gone anywhere. Slowly, he gets up, using the toilet seat as a lever, and walks the short distance to the sink.  

His reflection looks even worse than before. His eyes are red-rimmed and sunken,  framed by bruise-like circles, and the pallor of his skin looks more gray than pale. His hands and arms are shaking as he braces them against the sink.  His stomach is still arranging a rebellion against him and if the rumbling is anything to go by,  it’s winning. The vile taste in his mouth isn’t helping, and the more he looks at himself and thinks about what his stomach is doing the worse he feels, until a belch rolls up again.

Shizuo clamps his mouth shut and takes as deep a breath as his congestion allows him to, but it does nothing to alleviate the intensifying nausea.  Soon another burp rumbles up, and this one brings bile with it. He’s gonna hurl again,  of course he is, because the world hates him, or at least his stomach does.

So he heaves a mouthful of bile and saliva into the sink as his gut cramps and pushes up nothing solid.