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nella09archive · 1 year ago

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Marriage. 82

Chapter 82: All Boys Camping Trip

It wasn’t until dinner that Gohan returned home, and he had the biggest smile I’ve seen yet. I was very happy for my son. Dinner was quiet, but at least my boys were all wearing big smiles. I don’t know what Goku talked with Gohan, and why he pushed him and Videl out the house. But in the end our Gohan looked happy. And if I was mistaken, he even looked at peace with something. I was so happy. Even Goten looked extremely happy after going on that little trip with his father. Right now, everything seemed right with the world.

I was just about to get up, to clean dishes, when Goku pulled me back down. He then filled my plate again. I was about to protest, till he stuffed food in my mouth. Jerk! Eat. I gave him one more glare, and started digging in. After dinner, Goku helped with the dishes. What’s going on? I’ll tell you later. I was feeling slightly worried. But the smile he wore, gave me hope it was nothing bad. After dishes were done, Goku helped me tuck away an exhausted Goten, and say good night to Gohan.

When we entered our room, I heard the door lock. Oh no! There’s only one reason he would do that. “Goku, what’s going on?” He still didn’t answer, but I felt him behind me. “You said you’ll tell me later. It’s now later.” I then felt his hands on my hips, and him dropping kisses on my neck.

“This weekend was interesting to say the least.” Oh, how so? “I got to spend alone time with our second son. Also, I did something I never thought would happen.”

“And that is?” That’s when he turned me around, and kissed my nose. He then dropped kisses on my lips.

“I spoke with Gohan about certain things.” Like? “Almost like my version of the talk, but leave out the babies. He wanted to know what’s going on with him, and he asked what I went through. Our boy is so smart. But it made me happy to share something that had nothing to do with training or fighting.” I was surprised, and so very happy. “Yeah. Our Gohan truly found his special someone. Especially if she’s making him go crazy, like you do to me.”

“What do you mean?” That’s when I saw him smirk, and him transform. Let me show you. He then licks his lip.

…

For the rest of the school year went pretty well. My classmates slowly started talking to me again, and nobody was afraid of me. I was able to play games with everyone again. But it made me realize who were my true friends, and I made sure I played with them the most. On the weekends were also interesting. Gohan wasn’t home as much, which made me sad. But it did give me more alone time with dad. Also, every day after dinner, I would read a book while on dad’s back, while he did pushups. We have yet missed a day. If I wasn’t reading a book, I was telling my parents of my day.

It was now the beginning of summer vacation, and I knew the real for was going to start. I wonder what I was going to do all summer. Maybe ask big brother to join me and dad on a camping trip. Just as I was coming into the kitchen, for breakfast, mom was getting off the phone. Gohan even looked between excited and disappointed. Dad looked super excited. It was after breakfast we had guess. It was Trunks and uncle Vegeta. I wonder why they’re here. That’s when dad picked me up, and Gohan followed behind. “See you in 7 days, Chichi.” “Have fun boys.” What in the world is going on?

I asked Trunks if he knew. “Na. My dad just told me to get dress, and to let’s go.” This is just weird. As we flew, we passed a few mountains till we finally stopped. Then dad started talking.

“Let’s have a little scavenger hunt before lunch.” Uh? He then took out two sheets of paper and handed them to me and Trunks. “You can’t ask Gohan for help, and you can’t go into the city. Plus, no trying to contact mom for the answers. The one who is able to find the most, or everything, on that list gets the afternoon to themselves.” Me and Trunks looked excited at the list. It was a list of how certain things looks. So, we’re supposed to what? “Find what those things are, and bring them back to us.”

“What is Gohan gonna do?” I agreed with Trunks. What is big brother going to do?

“He already done this, so he gets a pass. So, he gets a choice on what he wants to do. That doesn’t involve leaving the mountains.” Gohan looked happy for a moment, till he heard that last part. “So.” Dad then looked at the sky. “From the looks of it, you got about 2, maybe 3, hours to find what’s on that list.” Me and Trunks gave each other one more look, before we slip up and went looking.

…

“Summer Vacation? What’s that?”

“Oh, the boys are out of school for the summer. It last for at least 2 months. And if I’m correct, it starts next week.” I got up from the floor, and followed her outside. She then told me how the boys spent last summer. Then I got an idea.

“Maybe I could take them on a camping trip. Like, just as boys.”

“I don’t know. It has been years since you and Gohan did something like that. And then your improv one went well, from how happy Goten was. But what would you do with the boys?” She then put the sheets back in the basket, and marched over to me. “No Goku! No training!”

“Oh, come on. Not super heavy. Just the great outdoors, maybe a spar or two. You know, basic stuff. I could also invite Vegeta, and Trunks.” She then raised an eyebrow at me. “Come on. Not the whole summer. Just a few days.”

“How would you convince Vegeta to agree?” I kissed her forehead. She gave me a smile before I was off to catch Vegeta. He was in this gravity room, and I almost fell head first. Then the heavy gravity was gone.

“What the hell do you want, Kakarot?”

“Camping trip. You should come with Trunks. Should be fun.”

“What the world is a camping trip?”

“The great outdoors. Tell stories. Hunt your own food.” He told me to get ready, and he turned back on the gravity. We ended up sparring for an hour, till he told me he’ll go.

“But how the hell we’re going to making a training camping trip?” Leave that to me. Also do you mind rising the gravity a bit. “Done warming up?” We smirked, and I gave him a nod. “Fine.” We went at it till it was time to go pick up the boys. “Call the woman the day of.” I nodded and was off.

…

The moment I got home after school dad dragged me back outside. What gives? “Camping trip, I want your opinion.” What? Why my opinion? “Because I want to include training, and I want to make it fun for the boys.” Boys? “Yeah, I invited Trunks and Vegeta to join us.”

We ended playing different training games. This actually got me excited since it’ll be the first camping trip I go with dad, since he came back to life. It’ll feel like old times, plus I was able to plan the activities this time around. And for some activities I could do whatever I want, and for some I couldn’t get away from. Plus, the idea of doing a little training with dad sounded fun. “Why can’t I bring a book?” That’s so not fair.

“Gohan.” I was actually pouting, folding my arms, and looking away. “Next time. And maybe next time you could bring Videl.” I actually felt my face getting hot at that idea.

“But I get first dibs on picking what’s for lunch on the first day.”

“Are you going to hunt it?” I nodded. “Cut it up?” I nodded again. “What about cook it?” I nodded one more time. “Fair enough. But Gohan.” I felt nervous as I looked at dad. “During this trip no contact with Videl. Your only focus is on this trip.” I actually got sad at that. “Don’t worry, afterwards your free to spend as much time as you want with her. Just make sure nothing happens.”

“Like what?” He raised an eyebrow at me. “Oh! No. Of course not. I’m behaving. Mom told me I shouldn’t be doing that stuff till after marriage.” He then snickered. “What?” He ruffled my hair, and we made our way back home. I can’t believe this.

When the day finally came, I got out of bed early. When I made it downstairs, mom was already making breakfast. Guess I didn’t wake as early as I thought. At least I was up before dad. That meant I get warm pancakes, while theirs get cold. The moment I started to dig in is when dad finally came down. Soon after, Goten came. I already told Videl last night on what’s happening, and apologized. After breakfast Vegeta and Trunks came, and we were off. After dad told the squirts what to do, I was free. Since I got 2 to 3 hours of time, I chose to hunt bear. It’s been forever since I had that. Especially since mom didn’t allow me to hunt them. Only dad was allowed to.

I was between asking dad if he could give me any pointers, or just wing it. I chose to wing it, and I was so glad I did. It was fun using all my senses like this. I actually felt like I was in my element, and it felt incredible. This is exactly what I been missing. Even though mom gave me the chance to be out hunting, and have my morning workouts. But when I started school, it became less and less. It had become I only hunted on weekends and working out was almost nothing. I started to get something when I started helping Videl, but it’s kind of wasn’t the same. This trip is allowing me the time to actually not rush things. To actually allowing me to use all my senses.

Maybe this summer I should do my own training trips. With or without dad. I could even ask Mr. Piccolo. Maybe even Videl. She might not be able to keep up with me, but it could be fun. The more I think about it, the more excited I become. A whole summer doing training trips. Maybe not even train, just have fun doing other stuff.

When I made to the camp with my kill, the brats was nowhere to be seen. On top of that both dad and Vegeta seemed to be having a staring contest. But if I know any better, it’s probably something else. I just finished cutting up the meat, when Trunks and Goten showed up. Trunks was complaining about the things on the list, and how were they supposed to find everything. Even Goten was agreeing with him. I had half a mind to answer, but dad seem to have got it. I couldn’t help overhear as I finished up with the bear.

…

“Yeah! How were we supposed to find this stuff?”

“Were you two flying the whole time?” We both nodded. “So, of course you wasn’t going to find much.” He then looked over to Gohan, and then looked back at us. “Looks like you boys have at least 30 minutes to find one or two things. I’m sure you could do it.” I looked over to Trunks, and he looked ready to say something.

“Boy! Don’t you dare open your mouth.” Uncle Vegeta then tapped his wrist. “Time is running out.” That’s when we panicked and went back in search for at least one more thing. This was way harder than I thought. Some of this stuff I’ve kind of seen, but everything else sounded funny. Two of them were flowers, I think some were fruits, but the last three was what confused me. On top of that my list was different than Trunks. So, we couldn’t help each other. Oh! I think I found one. This is a weird looking plant. But it’s big green leaves, blue small flowers, and is shiny. With this I made my way back.

As I watched dad count, I was getting nervous, I even saw Trunks looking nervous. Turns out I only got half of the things right. I was disappointed, but was happy that I got more than Trunks. In a way I finally beat him at something. It also meant after lunch I could do whatever I wanted. But what about Trunks. Turns out he had to find everything we missed on his own. He wanted to complain, but was stopped by uncle Vegeta.

As I watched Gohan use ki blast to cook meat, dad was praising him. Saying stuff like, how he finally didn’t burn dad’s hair. Also, stuff like, how he finally learned to not burn meat to ash. They seem to laugh at that. Why was that so funny? I don’t get it. Even Trunks seemed confused by it. That’s when dad called me, and asked if I wanted to give it a try. He even asked Trucks to try. We tried, and it was funny. Trunks’ was ash, and mine had a hole in it. “Guess that’s a lesson for tomorrow.” Uh? What did dad mean by that? We then saw Vegeta have a piece of meat in his hands. He didn’t throw it. He just had it resting on his hand. Then it was in flames for a few seconds, and his meat was cooked. WOW! “And you call me a show off.” Both our dads gave a smirk.

-----

Ch81

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kdjamlabel · 2 years ago

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Acceptance CH 4

Pairing: Hawks x F!Y/N

Summary: You catch Hawks cheating one day after work. After leaving him, you revert to your old ways as you strive to find some semblance of normalcy and the answer to a simple question.

Angst with a capital A T-T

Next: Ch 5

~~~~~~~~~~

A heartwarming reunion

You were never fond of alleyways. It didn’t matter what time of day or what part of town. You were 100% sure that whenever an alley was involved, nothing good ever happened. The sheer amount of times you had gotten ambushed in these passageways was a testament to that. The stench of cigarette smog and alcohol clung to the inside of your throat as you tried to, unsuccessfully, lean against a stack of crates. The reason being the envelope hidden on your person was starting to stick you in the ribs. That thing was so goddamn pointy.

When was that agent getting here?! It’s not like they were late or anything. On the contrary, you had shown up about ten minutes early, but only because every time you and the commission had done business together they insisted that being early meant being punctual. It sounded just as stupid when you thought about it now as it did when they said it. Nevertheless, you were here. Alone. Not an agent in sight. Leaning the side of your head against the wall, your impatience starting to get the better of you.

Maybe I should just hide this somewhere and call them to look for it. It's better than wasting my time standing here. A fun little scavenger hunt at their expense. You smiled under your mask. Watching them frantically search for this might be more fun anyway. Now, where would be the most inconvenient place to find an envelope?

You hadn’t even pushed yourself off the building to start looking when you heard footsteps approaching. Snapping your head in their direction, you tried to focus more closely. The footsteps sounded heavy and slow, whoever it was sounded like they needed a nap. Since the alley was dark it was hard to make out the person’s silhouette, save for a thin outline, courtesy of the neon lights from a club on the other side of the street. One feature you did notice was a large pair of wings, and judging from the reflection of light, they appeared to be red.

Red wings. Red wings. Now wait a damned minute-

You froze. Hawks. Hawks has red wings. No no no nono nonono. NO! NO! Why did it have to be HIM?!! You were so not ready for this. Your chest tightened and your voice was caught in your throat. This can’t be happening. Not now. NOT NOW! You thought after all this time you had gotten over him. Or at least enough not to panic at the first sight of the man.

When he finally stopped, he was only a few feet in front of you. In your panic, you hadn’t noticed how much closer he had gotten. Your mind came to a halt after you took his current state. Upon closer inspection, he looked...decrepit? Well not completely, but it was just enough for someone who paid enough attention to notice.

His eyes looked like they had sunken in quite far for it to even be noticeable in lighting this bad. The bags under them looked like they held the weight of the world. He was dressed in his hero suit, and that didn't look any different than when you saw it last time. Not a thread, or feather, out of place. His face was what threw you for a loop. You remembered that Hawks always wore at least some makeup of some kind to cover up what he liked to call “the unseen parts of hero business”. That usually meant bruises and the like, but eye bags weren’t off-limits.

A snippet of memory flashed through your mind. One of you helping him cover up a couple of bruises he had gotten in a robbery case earlier that day. You chided him for not being careful enough while he just stared at you with all the love and admiration in the world. But things were different now. You shouldn’t be dwelling on the past. Still, it was a tad strange seeing such a usually well-manicured bird look so haggard.

His mouth was moving but you couldn’t hear anything. When had he even started talking? You tried to tune in, but only heard the last syllables of his sentence. The password. Whenever you met with an agent they usually gave you some sort of password. It was different every time so they let you know beforehand. You knew what you were supposed to respond with so you started to without thinking.

Parting your lips to speak, you quickly paused.

Your voice was the only part of you that wasn’t disguised. If you said a single word he would recognize you immediately and that terrified you. What if he reported you to the police? Or worse, what if he took you in himself? The thought sent a shiver down your spine. You could imagine it now, Number 2 pro hero Hawks, dragging his secret ex into the station for being a vigilante. Through your panicky haze, a rational thought finally cropped up. You weren’t actually scared of any of that. You could easily escape any holding cell they put you in. Staying under the radar after that wouldn’t even be an issue for you. You were really afraid of what he might think of you, despite it all. After everything he put you through you still wanted him to remember you as you were. Sweet, innocent, and powerless. You shouldn’t care what he thinks at all! Who is he to judge your life decisions if his are what got the two of you in this situation in the first place!?

With renewed confidence and the safety net of your mask, you locked eyes with Hawks and gave him the password. The look of terror on his face once your words registered to him was surprising. Now that your mind was clearing up you realized he had to know it was you. There was no way the suits didn’t give him a dossier on you or something. Unless he didn’t take his job seriously anymore. In which case that was uncharacteristically sloppy on his part. Okay no more mind wandering to avoid this. FOCUS

“What are you doing here?” Hawks’ voice wavered. Your body stiffened at the rasp in his voice.

“My job. Which is done now,” you stated bluntly, quickly shoving the envelope into his chest. “So I’ll be on my way now Mr. Hero.” You tried to bully your way past him to avoid further confrontation. He wasn’t having it though, grabbing your wrist and yanking you to a stop.

“Wait! Please,” he begged, “We need to talk.” You refused to respond immediately. Electing to stay silent. You could feel the newly built walls around your heart weaken. He took your silence as a signal to continue.

“Not here obviously, but this is important. I can explain if you would just listen to me. I need you to know what really happened. All of it. Please. I-”

“And why should I even trust anything you say, huh? I don’t have time for your excuses. I have a life outside of you, you know. A life that I need to get back to. So let me go and we can pretend this meeting never happened yeah?” You said, still stubbornly refusing to turn your head back in his direction.

Here was the man who had shattered your entire world in an instant. The man you had so thoroughly convinced yourself you were over moments ago. He was begging you to hear him out. You had even convinced yourself that you were doing better without him. But for all the judging of his appearance tonight, it hurt you to see him like this. Somewhere deep down, in the thoroughly shattered crevices of your heart, you wanted to hear him out. Maybe find some closure in all this. You don’t know. You could feel your whole body begin to shake. Like a small quake only you could feel. You wondered if he could feel it too. In the arm he was holding on to like a lifeline. Or maybe he was shaking too. Holding his breath for you to do something. Anything.

You twisted your whole body to face him now.

“Fine then. Lead the way.”

#hawks x reader #bnha hawks #bnha angst #hawks x y/n #hawks angst #my hero academy fanfiction #my hero academia hawks #mha fanfiction #fanfiction #keigo takami #mha takami keigo #x reader #x y/n #angst

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peachyposy · 3 years ago

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fratboy!bucky blurb

a/n: i dont know what this is… i just like frat boy bucky, but idk this just kinda got me annoyed at him. anywho, here’s a short lil thang with absolutely nO payoff. this is just an intro to the universe so feel free to ask me things about you and bucky and i’ll write, honey!

warnings: alcohol mention, complaining about white people, slightly sexual? (slight booty grab (not of reader)), reader is completely sober, drunk bucky, literally nothing happens i just wanted to write something HEHE

all mistakes are my own, lemme know if there’s something i need to fix!

banner by: maysdigitalarts (thank you love! the banner is so pretty!!)

gif not mine!

Why were you at this cliche sweaty bump and grind for freshly turned young adults? Especially when you knew he was here. You looked around and grimaced with disdain. You never liked parties like this, you much preferred low key hang outs with your best friends- movies, drive thrus, midnight target trips, scavenger hunts at ikea, hide and seek in a museum- that was fun. Not this frat house where everything smelled like sweat and cheap tequila- where all the dudes attempted to score girls like points in a soccer game. This was not fun at all, and seriously, god why the hell were you here?

“Y/n are you sure you don’t want me to make a mocktail for you?”

Ahh, that’s why…

“I’m sure some club soda and fruit juice would be nice, right?” Wanda’s sweet sympathetic and concerned voice asked, aware of your sobriety, and attempting to give you something to do instead of stand against the wall and turn down horny classmates who don’t even recognise you as a functioning and fully sentient being.

Wanda was the sweetest girl you had ever met- kind, caring, considerate.

“Nah, don’t worry about me, Wands, I’ll be fine. You go have fun.” You didn’t want her worrying about you, it’s not her fault she likes the exact parties you despise. You gave her a reassuring smile to calm her nerves, and it evidently worked, as she took a deep breath out that she was holding.

“I would wish for you to enjoy parties like this, but I’m well aware of how trashy and cringe they are,” she remarked with a little laugh.

You shook your head before answering. “Wanda, there’s no need to feel bad for liking parties like this.” You looked around the party scene in front of you before continuing. “You’re right, this isn’t my perfect idea of a night out, but just… calm down. Have some fun- I can endure one night of this, easy peasy!…” You knew she was just putting herself down in an attempt to make you feel better- she didn’t need though.

“…Although, I will admit that if he talks to me, I will tear my eyes out of my skull…” You rolled your eyes in distain of even the very thought of him.

Wanda held a knowing look on her face. “Would it really be that bad to see him, even if it was just for one second?” She sighed in exasperation.

Y/n knew that to Wanda, you sounded unreasonable as hell- why would you avoid and hate a guy so much for the plain reason that you simply did not click with him? But it was more than that- so much more. Wanda had only seen the occasional cocky and annoying one liners that popular “God of Party” o mighty Mr. James Buchanan “Bucky” Barnes would throw at you, somehow always knowing when you was in the worst moods and sneaking up on you only then. But, what she didn’t understand was how truly awful he was…

There was just something about James Barnes that boiled your blood and tested the very patience within you 24/7. You had already gotten your fill of the annoying, drunken, walking boners that were the white, daddy’s money fuelled frat boys of your uni on day two, but James seemed to go above and beyond what you could tolerate as a mere human being. From the loud yelling, the idiotic flirting despite not even knowing your name, to the constant belittling and underestimating of you… for God’s sake, he even had to follow you to your friend group, allowing you not a single spare moment to simply relax and have fun.

You thanked your lucky stars that his incredibly large ego and appetite for attention made sure he was in attendance to every single party ever held, a feat that made him unavailable for midnight Target runs or drive thru’s- everything that you thought was fun. And when you wanted to go to IKEA or flower festivals, which weren’t open in the late hours of the night, avoiding James was as easy as planning the meet up times early, with him unable to wake up and leave his room after a “banger”, despite his seemingly energetic and frantic leave from his flavour of the night’s house, usually some white sorority girl who seemed to forget the socially acceptable limit to how dark a fake tan can be.

But, unfortunately for you, despite your numerous attempts to shake him off, he had a solid placing within the friend group, one that would not ever waver- he was best friends with Steve Rodgers, a.k.a. The Golden Retriever of people. Childhood friends in fact, together as a matching set since primary school. However, close as they were, Steve was the antithesis of James to a T- Steve was sweet and caring, while James never cared about anything but his dick. While Steve regularly checked up on his friends, James didn’t care to talk about anything other than himself. Steve was cautious around women, aware that his large appearance may intimidate some, resorting to taking measures to make sure people felt safe around him, while James, a deadly flirt, would fuck a cactus if it had a tan and hole.

Steve made you feel listened and looked out for, but James… he made you feel anything but.

Wanda excused herself to say hi to Victor Shade- a geeky Brit, studying some smart subject that involved too much math for your taste. Though a bit of a textbook nerd- what with the glasses and wit, going as far as earning him the nickname “Vision”, it couldn’t be denied how awkwardly charming he was. It was refreshing for there to be a down to earth, slightly anxious, tall and lanky man with proportions akin to Gumby in a school full of jacked dickheads- it made sense for Wanda to be so drawn to him, despite her insistence that she is just being friendly. Both you and her knew the truth, Wanda was just in denial of her feelings.

Thinking of how happy your friend is around him, you smiled to yourself. She deserved something good- something sweet and simple. Seeing it unfold in front of your eyes made you feel nothing but pride as they shyly conversed in the kitchen, both grasping red solo cups tightly for a release of their anxiety.

You continued to watch them, not noticing the figure coming towards you until he stood against the wall and looked at you before following your eye line to what was holding your attention.

“Huh, I guess this is a perk of being a wallflower,” he commented, voice as soft as it could be in the noisy party.

You looked over and saw the sweet face of your friend, Sam Wilson. He smirked at you and looked back at Wanda and Vis across the room. You smiled at him before he wrapped an arm around you. You leaned into him, fully resting on the side of his chest while the two of you simply enjoyed each others presence. Though not exchanging any words, you knew he was attempting to comfort you for being in a setting you so obviously weren’t in your element in.

The moment of a breath of peace in a wave of overwhelming noises and smells was interuppted, however, when another presence hastily entered your field of view- brown hair mussed and sweaty, blue eyes wide and lust blown, panting breath and clothes crinkled from the girl clinging onto him- of course another sorority chick. She was sucking deep angry red hickeys into the tender skin of his neck. You looked at him with a face filled with disdain, nose scrunched up and eyes squinted. You took your head off of Sam’s shoulder to look at him properly, guard lowered previously now fully raised once more. He gave a quick once over at you before looking at Sam, acting like you weren’t even there before beginning to talk about you.

He yelled, drunk as anything, body swaying and words slurred. “Yo man! What’re you doing! You need homework help or something?!”

Wow, so original. You rolled your eyes hard. The most pathetic bit was that he probably thought this genuinely hurt your feelings. Who ever felt sad or insecure about being smarter than a dude who spent his weekends buttchugging Tito’s like it was his last day on Earth? Your three year old cousin, Zayn was smarter (he really was- you were so proud of his ability to distinguish between colours, numbers and complex problems like 7 x 55).

“Ooft, careful there princess. Attitude won’t get you nowhere… except maybe my bed” he smirked with his signature smile and winked at you. You looked over at Sam with an eyebrow raised- was this guy for real? He looked at you, rolled his eyes and looked back at the girl hanging off of Bucky, fully ignoring his comment.

“Looks like you’re having fun, Barnes…”

Sam’s comment brought your attention back to her, and Bucky held onto her ass even tighter, his hands going white with the grip. The girl moaned a pathetic little whine, and Bucky lightly swatted her, smirking at you and your face filled with disgust.

You were so uncomfortable that you had to fully avert your eyes. God, you hope no one saw you in the same vicinity with the monster that was Bucky. He had no shame at all…

and it fucking pissed you off…

#bucky barnes #bucky barnes x reader #frat!bucky #fratboy!bucky #college!bucky #bucky barnes enemies to lovers #bucky barnes x poc!reader #me complaining about white people

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absolutepokemontrash · 3 years ago

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MC is Half Demon and Blah Blah Blah-

Time for the Group Retreat!

Part 1 Part 2 Lessons 1-5 Lessons 5-6 Lessons 10-12 Lessons 13-15 Part 3 Part 4

I’m quite hyped for this one, ladies, gents, and esteemed readers! For simplicity’s sake, since this is before M!MC and A!MC arrive, L!MC will go back to being referred to as just MC. Enjoy the Headcanons!

Since the previous Underground Tomb incident ended much less violently, Lucifer is now more worried than angry about MC’s rampant shennaniganery.

Like... his kid was poking holes in his totally foolproof “Your cow-uncle went to live on a farm in the human world” story. What if MC somehow got into the attic and got hurt?!

It didn’t help that they were still in this weird phase of their father/child relationship. On one hand, Lucifer obviously cares for his kid, and his kid likes him... but it’s also only been less than three months and we all know how emotionally constipated Lucifer is.

MC’s also getting REAL sus of all the secrets their dear old dad is keeping... doesn’t help that they STILL haven’t went up into the attic.

Anyhoo~ the announcement for the retreat was a barrel of laughs.

“I’m proposing, a group retreat!”

Everyone met Diavolo’s announcement with the exact same confused reaction. It’s like the entire assembly hall was doing the ‘Guy Blinking’ meme.

“A... group retreat?” Lucifer repeated slowly. “For what reason exactly, Lord Diavolo?”

The Crown Prince was giddy with excitement as he explained. “MC told me about their middle school overnight trip and it sounded like it would be quite fun!”

Simeon, Luke, MC, and Solomon were all seated next to each other in the ‘exchange student seats of less importance’. Luke leaned over and whispered a question to MC.

“Why are you so friendly with the crown prince?”

MC smirked and shrugged. “Lucifer had the Demon-Flu and couldn’t go meet with Lord Diavolo last week so I went for him. Lord Diavolo’s surprisingly bad at Connect Four but has really good luck in Snakes and Ladders.”

Luke’s jaw dropped in complete and utter shock and horror.

“We’re playing CandyLand and the Game of Life next time, want to come?” MC added.

“Play CandyLand... with him..?” Luke looked at Diavolo, who was still explaining his plan for the retreat, then looked back at MC. “I’ll only go to shield you from his corrupting influence.”

“Yeah... Corrupting...” MC had to hold back a laugh at the thought of Diavolo, who during MC’s visit lit up like a Christmas tree upon being called ‘Dia’ and believed that Mood Rings were the greatest human invention ever, being a corrupting influence.

“MC! Torture dungeon or no!?” MC was snapped out of their conversation by Mammon shouting at them from his seat.

“What?”

“Do ya think there’s a torture dungeon under the castle, or not?”

“I’m not sure,” MC turned to Diavolo. “Lord Diavolo, is there a torture dungeon under the Demon Lord’s Castle?”

There is in fact, no torture dungeon. Presumably...

Everyone packed up and headed out to the Demon Lord’s Castle!

The fabulous seven all broke several speed limits and traffic laws in order to be there early. Listen, they had to get there before Purgatory Hall, it was a matter of pride.

Besides, what’s the Royal guard going to do? Arrest six of the seven rulers of hell and a kid? Ha. No. Not when Diavolo controls their paychecks.

The rooming situation remained the same, Asmo, Simeon, and MC were roomed together, and MC got to watch Asmo get psychologically profiled by Simeon. It was truly a sight to behold.

MC was nice enough to assure Asmo that they really liked him and thought he was very sweet.

Asmo, not used to being complimented on his personality, almost started openly weeping.

So, the tour of the Demon Lord’s Castle began! Asmo got yelled at by his ex in the painting and the usual batch of idiots got sucked into the catacombs under the castle.

Lucifer wasn’t terribly sure how or if he should express his concern for MC being stuck in the labyrinth.

All these new fatherly feelings of worry are very very odd. He didn’t worry this much for Satan, mainly because Satan was usually the threat.

Even as a baby...

Lucifer found himself checking his DDD every few minutes to see if MC had texted or called from wherever the painting dragged them to, never mind that if they did text he’d hear the phone ding.

“Lucifer, don’t worry too much,” Diavolo patted Lucifer on the shoulder, a bright smile on his face. “Your brothers and MC will be perfectly fine! There’s nothing too dangerous in the catacombs that they wouldn’t be able to take care of.”

Resigning himself to the fact that MC was under the care of his last choices for babysitting, Lucifer put away his DDD. “I know they’ll be fine, but I’m not overly pleased with the situation.” He shot a glare at Helene in the portrait, who rolled her eyes and crossed her arms.

“Lucifer worrying about someone, I’m truly, genuinely shocked.” Hearing Satan’s attempt at goading him, Lucifer, flawless demon that he is, resisted the urge to throw his DDD at his brother.

“Quiet, Satan.”

————

“WHY THE FUCK IS A SNAKE DOWN HERE?!”

“ITS HENRY 1.0!”

“YEAH THAT REALLY CLEARS STUFF UP, LEVI!”

MC and Levi continued their screaming match as the group ran for dear life from a giant snake.

Yeah... nothing the brothers couldn’t handle... sure, Lord Diavolo...

They made it out of the scary catacombs... don’t worry.

Lucifer did that parent-thing where he cleaned the catacomb dust off MC’s face with a napkin.

Yay! Parenting!

Failed pillow fight attempt #1 happened that evening. Because Mammon was obsessed with being the fun-uncle and saw his brothers encroaching on his place as favourite uncle.

MC doesn’t know how to break it to him that he’ll probably always be the favourite uncle and he doesn’t have to be such a dumbass to keep his spot.

Scavenger hunt went on as canon dictates.

Asmo had his diva tantrum and stormed off, but MC also wanted to win so they didn’t go after him.

Clearly expecting someone to go beg him to come back, Asmo was very annoyed when no one went after him.

“Um, helloooo? Anyone going to comfort me~?”

“Nope.”

“Well I don’t want your comfort anyway, SOLOMON.”

It was very close, L!MC insisted their loss came from sabotage. No evidence was found but just LOOK at Satan’s face.

Time for the Formal Dance~

If you’re wondering why Luke didn’t say anything when MC was suddenly poofed into their demon form, you’re assuming that Mammon wasn’t in on the “let’s prank the chihuahua” plan.

“Mammon..? Is MC behind you?”

“Nope! Why?”

MC was able to get to the other side of the ballroom with Luke none the wiser! Hell yeah, nothing like screwing with your friend!

So it’s canon that Lucifer is like, a solid 20/10, therefore MC is ADORABLE. What I’m saying is, some of the younger demons asked them to dance.

Asmo was also being MC’s hype man, which was very nice of him. Mammon also tried to give advice on how to be cool and suave. Beel was there for moral support.

“Alright kiddo, you need to be aloof and mysterious! People love aloof and mysterious, that’s why I’m so popular.”

“Don’t listen to him, MC. He flew into a wall as a kid and it killed all his brain cells. Just be proper but not snooty, sweet but not saccharine, friendly but not annoying,”

“Ask them if they want to share some of the hors d’oeuvres.”

“Okay, first, aloof and mysterious are the last words I would ever use to describe you, Mammon. Second, Asmo I have no clue what you’re asking me to do. Third... Beel that’s the best advice I’ve received in recent memory.”

None of that mattered anyway because MC got swarmed with dance offers.

“Well,” MC smirked and held out their hand at the demon that was bold enough to ask them to dance first. “I admire the confidence.”

The demon’s smile brightened, then dropped completely when their gaze drifted behind MC. “I uh... on second thought... I’m gonna...”

MC’s potential dance partners all quickly scattered to the snack table. The half demon growled and turned around to see their father acting like he didn’t just scare away MC’s groupies.

“Father! What was that for?!” MC huffed, Lucifer rolled his eyes and grabbed MC’s wrist and began to pull them away from the dance floor.

“You’re too young to dance.”

“That’s crazy! They looked like they were my age.” MC protested, their wings fluttering in annoyance.

“Even if they looked to be your age, MC, they’re hundreds of years older.” Lucifer said calmly.

“What about that equivalent age stuff you told me about? Like how Luke is hundreds of years old but by angel/human standards he’s technically younger than me?”

“That doesn’t matter right now.” Lucifer lightly pushed MC towards the hallway that led back to their room.

“But I want to dance with someone!” MC felt their wings involuntarily fluff up.

Lucifer turned and smiled at his dear little brat, crouching slightly to get to their level. “Not on my watch.”

MC’s face was literally this: >:0

Lucifer is out here being the dad in every comedy that involves someone bringing home their partner to meet their parents.

MC was banished to their room, they spent their time angrily reading the manga they had packed.

When Levi escaped the party slightly later MC grilled him for details of what went on after they left.

“Nothing too interesting... except... um...”

“Spit it out, Levi!”

“...lrddiavlondlucferdnced”

“I can’t understand you, stop mumbling.”

“Lord Diavolo and Lucifer danced together...”

“...”

“I MISSED THAT?!”

So yes, MC’s desire to get a picture of Lucifer sleeping stems from VENGEANCE!

How DARE their father send MC up to their room and make them miss their OTP dancing together!?

So they call up their troupe of idiots and get ready to go be menaces to society.

MC also invites along Asmo because he seemed like he could use the adventure.

And because MC couldn’t plan the prank without Asmo noticing so it was better to just implicate him as well...

“Grrr...”

MC brightened and clapped their hands. “I know that growl!”

“It’s not my stomach, I packed snacks.” MC couldn’t see this, considering the room was pitch black (it must’ve been some kind of magic because demons have excellent night vision), but Beel waved a bag of chips in the air and got to eating.

“No, I’m not talking about your stomach, Beel.” MC skipped towards the source of the growling despite Mammon and Levi’s pleas for them to stop.

Ah! There he was!

“Cerberus!” MC cooed, the three headed dog stopped growling and barked happily. “Whose a good boy? Is it you?”

Cerberus let lose a bark that would probably make anyone crap their pants, but MC giggled and kept petting him. “Yeah! You’re the good boy! You like cuddles! Yes you do! Yes you do!”

A flash of light from a camera caused MC to drop their baby talk voice and stare angrily in the direction where the light came from.

“Whoever took that picture better delete it or I’m going to feed you to the dog.”

Cerberus growled in agreement. What a good boy.

“Well, as nice as this is...” Asmo huffed. “We’ve clearly been duped because this is not Lucifer and Diavolo’s room.”

“Oh well!” MC chirped and continued to pet the three headed dog. “Look at the doggy!”

“MC, you’re crazy. Dontcha ever forget that.” Mammon whimpered as Cerberus growled at him.

So yeah, they couldn’t get out of the room, so they ended up opening up the other door and falling into the catacombs like a bunch of lemmings.

Asmo charmed Henry, and they got out of the labyrinth no problem.

Yay! No consequences! Oh no- hi Lucifer.

Lucifer gave them all the mother of all lectures. Satan showed up with the rest of the gang and brought popcorn.

Belphie wasn’t there, okay? Satan needed to be a little shit for him.

Ah yes, the pillow fight... Mammon’s crusade to be the best uncle culminated in a massive pillow fight that ended with MC, Lucifer, and Diavolo standing over everyone’s unconscious bodies.

So they uh... won the pillow fight.

MC couldn’t sleep. They legitimately couldn’t. As exhausting as the pillow fight victory had been, everyone was snoring, and MC was bleary eyed and awake at one in the morning.

They eventually sat up and looked around, Asmo was passed out in a very unflattering position, Solomon was chanting god knows what in his sleep, Levi was half hanging off Simeon’s bed, Simeon and Luke were sleeping like angels (hehehehe-), Beel was in the middle of eating his pillow in his sleep, Mammon appeared to be dreaming about winning the lottery, and Satan was... suspiciously absent.

He was there a minute ago... weird.

Deciding that this wasn’t worth it and they should just go sleep somewhere else, MC got out of bed and avoided stepping on anyone as they vacated the room.

The Demon Lord’s Castle at night could rival the House of Lamentation in terms of overall creepiness. MC had gotten used to the spirits and curses that littered their home, but they had only been to the Demon Lord’s Castle once before, so they were extra careful not to accidentally touch anything. Their stomach rumbled and they frowned.

Damn, they had the midnight munchies... they needed a snack.

MC made their way to the kitchen and on there way, noticed a peculiar room through a half open door. Taking a few steps back to peek into it, they noticed... doors. A lot of doors. And ivy covered steps. There seemed to be no rhyme or reason to any of the placements, and the room was... weirdly chilly.

“You can come in if you’d like, MC.”

Barbatos’ voice nearly caused MC to hit a high note that they hadn’t been able to hit since their voice began to change. They straightened out their wrinkled pyjamas and stepped inside.

The butler himself was walking down one of the flights of stairs.

“Um...” Quickly remembering their manners, MC straightened their posture and cleared their throat. “Good evening Barbatos.”

Barbatos smiled and inclined his head in turn. “Good evening to you as well, MC.”

“How did you know it was me outside? You were up there a second ago.” MC asked.

“It’s a part of my powers. I can see possible futures, and I foresaw you passing by my room and getting curious.” Barbatos explained.

“Oh,” MC said, half nodding and continuing to look around. A the sound of a door closing out of MC’s vision made them squeak and look around for the source of the noise. “What was that?!”

“It’s nothing to be worried about.” Barbatos raised his hands in a placating gesture. “These doors in my room are gateways to different timelines and some are gateways into the past of this particular timeline. That was another version of me passing by.”

“Does this... happen often?” MC knitted their eyebrows.

Barbatos hesitated before answering. “Not really. It’s quite rare. Lord Diavolo has expressly forbidden me from using my full powers freely.”

“Ah... makes sense...”

“Now, I believe you came down for snacks?”

MC blinked in surprise. “How did you- oh... the time magic...”

“Yes, the time magic. Now, would you prefer yogurt and fruit, or apples and peanut butter?”

“Yogurt and fruit please!”

I’m sure MC’s knowledge of how Barbie’s room works will totally not come into play later. I’m sure.

Solomon and MC graced the brunch table with their cooking. I think you can guess how it would have turned out if Barbatos hadn’t intervened.

Rest In Peace to Beel’s tastebuds.

Anyway, the rest of the retreat was all fun and good.

MC may or may not have slipped up and called Diavolo ‘Dia’ in front of Lucifer. It would’ve sparked a lecture if Dia’s puppy-like excitement wasn’t so damn adorable.

Lucifer’s got a heart... somewhere... it’s probably all shrivelled up and tiny, but I’m sure it’s there.

Everyone went back home, brought closer together through... pillow fights and surviving Solomon’s cooking I guess..?

Anyway, MC got home, unpacked their stuff, watched Kakegurui with Levi and Mammon, let Asmo paint their nails, made and ate dinner with Beel, continued their piano lessons with Lucifer, and received a 100% fake smile from Satan.

It was a nice day with their new family, MC curled up in their bed and prepared to go to sleep.

“Help me!”

MC lurched upwards in their bed, whipping their head from side to side, trying to find the source of the voice. Their room was completely empty, the perks of being half demon extended to being able to see in the dark. No new smells either, they were alone in the room.

Auditory hallucinations were common before falling asleep after being sleep deprived, creepy, but not too unusual.

“MC!”

Okay- that one couldn’t be ignored. It was common knowledge that the House of Lamentation was definitely haunted in some capacity, but the ghosts never really bothered the demons living inside, MC was partly convinced that some of the ghosts didn’t even notice that the demons were there. So it couldn’t have been a ghost calling their name.

“MC! I need help!”

The voice reverberated through their head, like it was trying to hit every part of their skull to make sure it was at least felt if MC couldn’t hear it. MC massaged their scalp and got out of bed.

The House of Lamentation at night truly lived up to its haunted reputation. Cold, clammy, dark, even by demon standards. No spooky old house was going to scare MC though, they walked down the hall with their head held high.

They walked closer to walls and furniture, knowing that the floor was less likely to creak in those areas. How did they know that? Mammon had told them it worked like a charm. Well, it’d work better for him if he stopped tripping over the furniture and alerting Lucifer.

MC was much more nimble and careful, stepping slowly and lightly around the hallways until they reached the door to the attic. They reached out to clasp their hand around the doorknob, then froze. It smelled like…

Oh no.

MC leapt away from the door like it was rigged to explode if they touched it and practically dove for cover into an alcove. The all too-recent smell of Lucifer’s fancy cologne and the increasing sound of someone coming down the stairs made them clamp their hand over their mouth and crouch down.

What was their father doing up there?

He had said the attic was full of old junk and there was no reason to go up there, so why exactly did he-

The door slammed open and Lucifer stomped down the hallway back towards his room, MC presumed. They were about to let out a sigh of relief when the footsteps paused. MC felt their heart drop right into their gut when they heard the footsteps coming back in their direction.

What were they going to say to him when he found them? ‘Sorry! This isn’t where the bathrooms are!’ The last thing MC wanted was to add to their father’s ever growing list of stresses. MC was totally responsible and grown-up, their father didn’t need to worry.

MC clamped their eyes shut and tried to slow their heart rate. Demons were beings of darkness and shadow, they could blend in quite easily. They took a deep breath, cleared their head, and felt the shadows of the hallway shift and cover them like a blanket.

Lucifer’s footsteps stopped, MC heard a tired sigh, then the footsteps started up again, this time in the direction of his room.

They allowed themselves a sigh of relief before relieving themselves of their hiding space and opening the door leading to the attic staircase.

If the rest of the House of Lamentation was considered clammy, cold, and foreboding, the attic staircase was that multiplied by a factor of twelve. MC felt themselves shudder involuntarily when they stepped closer to the staircase. Every primal part of their brain was telling them to turn around and walk away, but one tiny part was holding them back. They placed their foot on the first step, waiting for any kind of resistance, nothing other than the feeling of passing through invisible cobwebs.

“MC?”

Upon hearing their name, MC craned their neck to try and get a look at what could be waiting for them at the top of the stairs.

“Are you coming, or not?”

The cascade of warning sirens that began to blare in MC’s head went ignored as they continued to scale the staircase.

When they reached the final step, they were met with a long hallway, with a single door on the right side of the wall.

“H-hello?” MC tried to instill some force into their voice, but it still ended up quavering a little.

“Down here.” Someone knocked on the wall next to the door, almost causing MC to jump.

Oh. Oh no. MC stood straight in front of the door, and when they saw who was looking back at them they nearly passed out.

“Belphegor..?”

Belphegor’s eyes flashed as he gave MC a once over. His eyes narrowed when his gaze snapped to MC’s. The analytical expression melted into a lazy grin.

“That’s me,” he said softly. “Nice to finally meet you, MC.”

249 notes · View notes

shuahoonie · 4 years ago

Text

holidays with tom [tom holland]

PAIRING: tom holland x female!reader

SUMMARY: life isn’t exactly back to normal. with another lockdown in place and the holiday season is vastly approaching, you and tom are stuck in quarantine with each other the problem? there was supposed to be at least 5 of you in that house and tom is the last person you want to be with. shouldn’t be too bad right?

WARNINGS: in no particular order swearing—err foul language lmao, sexual innuendos, things get heated but not that much??? exuding sexual tension but also fluff??? alcohol consumption, a series of bad decisions??? idk writing this made me experience the 5 stages of grief tbh lmao it’s not that bad I promise lmao

WORD COUNT: 6.9k!

A/N: hello and happy new year! I was supposed to post this during Christmas Day but guess who got into a writing rut—yet again. I didn’t want to abandon this because I actually had fun writing it. I hope you all had a festive and safe holiday. I know things have been hard but I still hope you guys enjoyed the holiday.

2020 has finally came to an end and we’re all ending it the same way when the pandemic started—staying at home, hopefully following the appropriate health measures. I can only hope that 2021 is a brighter and hopeful year for all of us.

stay safe, sending u all my love.

gif credits: @underoos-shield

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Two hours. It’s been two hours since you found out that you were going to spend your holidays alone. You were aware that you weren’t going to spend your holidays with your family as you normally would, embracing the fact that working in a different country whilst in the middle of a pandemic was going to be challenging.

Working in the film industry, constantly visiting sets while still living in a pandemic means that you threw away your chances of being home for the holidays. However, you weren’t entirely the only one who shares a similar struggle.

“We should still do something for Christmas, you know,” Tom muttered as he watched you lay down on the sofa, your head is supported by the armrest.

See—it should’ve been you, Ophelia, Alex, William, and Tom in that AirBnB, not just you and Tom.

The five of you reside abroad, however, you all had to fly to Los Angeles for work. You all collectively knew that it would be irresponsible to fly home for the holidays and it wouldn’t make any sense as you would all fly back for work anyway.

The five of you had a brilliant idea of renting an AirBnB for the holidays since you were all in each other’s personal and work bubble anyway. Obviously, the three of them bailed as they’ve decided to stay with their partners instead, leaving you and Tom alone—which is the last thing you’ve wanted.

“There’s just us two, Tom,” You replied as you sent a lengthy text to Ophelia, telling and reminding them about what happened between you and Tom. “I’m not entirely sure if it’s worth anything if we did plan on doing something remotely festive.”

There are four more days till Christmas and if you were being honest, the last time you felt festive was on the 18th of December...of 2019.

“Surely there’s something we can do, right?” Tom’s optimism still shined beneath him. “This year has already been shitty enough, we don’t need to feed more into that.”

The three dots bubble immediately popped up on your message thread with Ophelia as soon as you sent your passive-aggressive rant. Your focus was now on your phone.

Suddenly, Tom’s face appeared on top of yours—his face was definitely close enough that it’s not CDC approved. He was standing on side of the sofa, both of his palms planted against the armrest as he loomed over you.

“What do you and your family do during Christmas?” He dared to ask as if he wasn’t towering over you.

Your eyes nearly popped out of their sockets. “Uh—give each other personal space?” You answered out of sheer reflex. You always had a problem with keeping your mouth shut, especially when it sounds rude to other people. In your defence, being unable to do so has helped you put people back in place.

To be fair, you were used to people standing at least 6 ft away from you ever since the pandemic started.

Tom’s cheeks went bright red. “’m sorry,” He apologized, giving you a shy smile and scratched the back of his neck. You muttered a quick apology too, for acting so rashly.

You rose from your position and sat upright instead. “Well, we never do anything special during Christmas,” You said as you threw your hair into a bun. “We usually just go to the movies on Christmas Day because that’s the only thing you can do back when life was normal.”

Tom nodded understandingly as if he was taking this into account. Now you were curious.

“Do you guys do anything special for Christmas?” You asked him.

“Well, on Christmas Day, we would usually just lounge around the house and use it as a chance for me and my family to catch up,” Tom replied. “However, on Christmas Eve, my mum always made sure my brothers and I would have this scavenger hunt to look for our gifts—It’s really fun, actually.” Tom smiled sadly.

You could easily see how Tom was genuinely broken about not being able to be around his family over the holidays. Heck—he really just misses his family. But who wouldn’t? Britney Spears didn’t sing the line “my loneliness is killing me” for nothing.

“I’m sorry,” was all you could say. Aside from biting your tongue, being able to easily comfort people was one of your weaknesses too.

“Oh, there’s nothing to be sorry about, darling.” Tom quickly dismissed the genuine heartbreak he was trying to hide. “We’re all making sacrifices and we chose to be responsible for the benefit of other people.”

“Yeah, I know.” You said softly. “We’ll just try our best to make something out of this holiday season. I mean—we have to or else we’ll welcome 2021 with a fresh face of misery.”

“I’m sorry!” Ophelia pouted at the screen as they mindlessly walked around their partner’s place, something that most people do when they’re on the phone with someone. “I genuinely forgot about what happened between you and Tom.”

“Well, Ollie, it seems like you weren’t the only one.” You replied, adjusting your glasses. Tom seems to be genuinely fine around you, no awkward tensions or anything. If anything, it’s just you who feels weird around him. “But I guess that’s a good thing right?”

Ophelia forced a smile but they couldn’t, for the life of them, say anything about it.

“Oh my god,” You sighed “Seriously, Ollie?”

“It’s just—how could he forget?! You were literally on top of him as I recall and that very much left a permanent image on my mind. I—You know, I really tried my best to forget that ever existing in my mind. So really, if anything, it’s your fault.” Ophelia rambled on.

“I—I wasn’t on top of him. That’s absurd! I was merely pressed against him” You said defensively, in which Ophelia just laughed atrociously. “Why am I friends with you again?!” You asked rhetorically, bewildered by the fact that you two lasted this long.

“First of all, that is a hate crime. Second, I’m cool—like everyone wants to be my friend and you should be glad that I gave you the privilege to be even on a nickname basis as me.”

You rolled your eyes at them. Despite the never-ending banter, you were grateful to have Ophelia as your friend.

“But seriously, Y/N,” Ophelia said, “You can always just stay with me and Ericka. She’ll be glad to have you over for the holidays.”

“Ollie, as much as I love spending time with you two—I can’t stand being a third-wheel, especially when it comes to the both of you. You two are inseparable when you’re together.” You replied. “I appreciate the offer though.” You smiled at her.

“I’m just saying—” Ophelia replied, shrugging her shoulder. “Unless you and Tom really want to have the house by yourselves.” They sang teasingly.

“Ophelia!” You gasped.

“What?” They feigned innocence. “I gave you an option to stay with us! Plus, I know Alex and Will are would’ve asked you to stay with them if they had any idea what happened between you two.”

“I can’t leave him!” You started to whisper “Tom seems genuinely bummed being here. I can’t just do that to him.”

It’s as if a light came on inside them. Ophelia started to smirk and you recognized that smirk from anywhere. For christ’s sake, their eyes twinkled like Christmas lights. It drove you nuts. “I fucking knew it.”

“What?”

“You like him don’t you?!” They teased, but all you could do was blush.

“I do not!” You denied it as you could still feel the burning heat emitting from your cheeks.

“His tongue is that good huh?” Ophelia decided to pry even further. They clearly find enjoyment as you squirmed your way out of this conversation.

“Bitch, I am ending this call.” That was all you could say. Even if you did find a smart retort, it was no use, especially with Ophelia. They can see right through you and there’s no point in trying to hide it.

“Honestly, Y/N, we’re living through a pandemic. If there’s any time to make any rash decisions, it’s now. Go get that dick, bih—”

You drowned out whatever Ophelia was trying to say with your goodbyes and proceeded to end the call. The one time you asked your friend to be serious and they come up with this.

So—what really happened with you and Tom?

It was two years ago. You were at a party that you didn’t even plan on attending. However, you were dragged by Ophelia and their partner, Ericka—your new friends in the area. You couldn’t say no to them, they were your first friend in LA!

You thought about it though, saying no. But when you got a message from your friend back in Canada sending a photo of your boyfriend ex-boyfriend (the same guy who had ghosted you ever since you moved to LA), swapping spits with another girl, you suddenly had the strong urge to drink until you die of alcohol poisoning.

You were burning with anger that you really felt tears pricking your eyes. You were so close to crying or punching someone—whichever comes first.

One thing’s for sure, though, you weren’t going to cry over a man. So what did you do? “Ophelia, where’s the booze?!” You asked your friend whose eyes nearly popped out of their head.

Well, you weren’t really going to punch a stranger. Though you felt this burning sense of violence, it’d be much more satisfying to punch the living daylights out on your ex.

“Y/N, honey, are you alright?” That line always puts on the waterworks, no? Ophelia was clearly concerned about your newfound thirst for alcohol.

You furiously wiped the tears off your face. “Um just found out my boyfriend—er ex-boyfriend, who stopped talking to me as soon as I moved here, is seeing someone else now? I don’t know, am I allowed to feel angry when I don’t even know if we’re still together as soon I moved? Fuck—” You tried to explain as you wiped every tear that left your eyes.

“Oh—of course, hon.” Ericka who handed you a drink. You weren’t exactly sure what it is, but you knew it has alcohol in it and that’s all that matters. You gulped the entire thing and you wanted more. “Y/N, you need to slow down.”

“Are you sure you want to stay? I mean we can crash at our place, eat take-outs, watch movies and be totally disconnected from the world.” Ophelia suggested, but you shook your head furiously.

“No, I—I’m ok.” You answered “I can’t let the both of you be stuck in misery with me. I need this. I’ll get drunk and if I'm up for it, I’ll hook up with someone. It’s not a healthy coping method but I really want this night to be a series of bad decisions. I don’t want to be myself, even just tonight.”

So that’s what you did. You were going from one drink to another in record time. Both Ophelia and Ericka kept an eye on you, just in case someone tried to take advantage of your drunken state.

You were talking to some guy you met in the kitchen, one thing led to another and next thing you knew, you were making out with this dude in someone’s bathroom. Ophelia and Ericka were drunk enough to pester the guy you were making out with but not drunk

As you were propped on top of the sink and your legs wrapped around his waist, you felt every bit of his lips explore the side of your neck as his hands explored every inch of your body. With his hand under your shirt and his fingers tracing every part of your skin, it just reminded you of how lonely you were.

Here you were, a thousand miles away from home, all alone just so you could do the one thing you really love. Your family would sometimes call to check up on you but it just wasn’t the same. Your ex tried to guilt you into staying in Canada, but you couldn’t do that. You love what you do and you love yourself too.

You were willing to risk everything, even if happiness came at a price.

Now you were crying, and the guy you were making out with definitely noticed.

“I’m sorry, am I making you uncomfortable?” He asked as he pulled down your shirt.

“No—no, I’m just—” You tried to calm yourself down. “I’m not sure if I want to do this anymore.”

“That’s alright,” He mumbled wiping the tears off your face. “Do you want to talk about it? You seem rattled.”

“It’s just I’m so tired of pretending everything is alright—that I’m okay being alone, that��I don’t need anyone. But it’s just so hard because I’m—” You sobbed “I’m so fucking lonely. I’m so tired of being alone.”

The guy tucked the stray piece of hair behind your ears as he carefully wiped your tears with his thumb. He was just silent as he listened to you sob.

“I’m sorry, I know you definitely didn’t come to this party to watch a complete stranger cry over something stupid.” You couldn’t even look him in the eye, you were embarrassed as this was the first time you felt really vulnerable—especially in front of a stranger.

“No, you’re alright.” He tried to console you “I think that’s the beauty in strangers, no? You can act and do whatever you want in front of them because there’s a slim chance you’ll ever see them again.”

You were definitely drunk enough that trying to make sense of who the person was a struggle enough of itself. You tried your best to look at the guy but your vision was getting hazy and you could feel your head thumping that focusing made you feel like you want to crack your head in half.

A loud knock on the door caused you two to jump. “I’m coming in,” Ophelia yelled and opened the door. Ophelia looked at the guy for a while, trying to make sense of who he was before their eyes widened. “I remember now—You’re Tom Holland.”

Imagine your surprise when you found out that you were going to work with Tom Holland for a while. You tried your best to avoid Tom at work but of course, that didn’t work out. He never brought up what happened between you two and you assumed he probably forgot all about it.

You tried to rationalize that he meets a lot of people every day. Surely, one failed hook-up wasn’t worth remembering (especially with alcohol involved) and you held on to that.

At least that’s what makes you sleep at night and also one of the reasons why you considered spending the holidays with him. However, you were also expecting your crew friends to stay with you and not just Tom.

“Y/N, did you like the gift? It’s from me and Ericka!” Ophelia asked. It was the next day and you two were just chatting on FaceTime. You were sorting out your closet out of sheer boredom. You figured if you were going to stay here for three weeks, the least you could do was sort your clothes out.

You stared at the neatly wrapped box that Ophelia and Ericka dropped off earlier this morning. “I haven’t opened it yet.” You said as you showed them the box. “I wanna open it till Christmas.”

“Oh my god, just open it. Christmas doesn’t exist this year, babe.” Ophelia waved their hand, encouraging you to open it.

“Fine,” You gave in. You opened the box and saw a very lush and well-made lingerie set. “Ophelia, what the fuck” You gasped. You held out the lingerie in front of the camera.

“Y/N, I definitely outdid myself this time.” Ophelia sighed happily, staring at the screen. “Try it on!”

“Ollie, this is gorgeous but when am I ever going to use this?” You asked holding it out on your body and looking at the mirror.

“Uh—you’re stuck at home with your failed but also potential hookup,” Ollie suggested, wiggling their eyebrows. “Who knows what might happen?”

You rolled your eyes at them. “Bold of you assume that something might happen.”

“Something won’t happen if you don’t try that one,” Ophelia said. “C’mon, I wanna see.”

You shook your head and went out of frame in order to strip off your clothes. You tried on the lingerie—it’s a black lace teddy with a very exposing back. IT fit you perfectly—it accentuated your figure and definitely showed off your boobs. You weren’t really fond of showing off your body but you still tried your best to show it to your friend.

“What do you think?” You asked, stepping back to the frame.

“You look gorgeous, babe!” Ophelia squealed. “I knew I made the right choice with black.”

“I still don’t know where I should wear this though—” You were stopped mid-sentence when your door swung open.

“I know what we’re doing this—Oh shit. I’m so sorry,” Tom stood there, frozen, his eyes widened and immediately shut the door.

You couldn’t even say anything. You were frozen in shock.

“Was that Tom?” Ophelia asked from the call, briefly forgetting that you were talking to them through FaceTime.

You nodded slowly, unable to talk.

“What did he think?” Ophelia asked excitedly.

You snapped out of this haze. “Ollie,” you groaned. “I think he was mentally scarred.

“What do you mean scarred? You look great!” Ophelia said, appalled. “If he doesn’t think you look banging in that lingerie then it’s his loss.”

“I gotta go, I need to change.” You said, bidding Ophelia goodbye. “Thanks for the gift, Ollie. Tell Ericka thanks too.”

You ended the call and changed into comfier clothes. You couldn’t help but wonder how on earth you’re going to face Tom now that he’s seen you practically naked. Well, it’s not like that’s a new sight. He did see you with your bra on when you were making out in the bathroom that one time. But still!

Are you actually going to spend your Christmas in your room?

It was the next day and there are only two more days till Christmas. You spent the entirety of last night in your room after the incident between you and Tom.

You were about to make yourself some coffee when you found Tom in the kitchen, making tea for himself. You stood there frozen, wondering if you were going to proceed to the kitchen or just run back to your room since Tom hasn’t noticed you—

“Oh—good morning, Y/N.” So close.

You smiled at Tom and said, “Good morning, Tom.”

You grabbed a coffee pod and waited for the Keurig to make your coffee. You leaned back against the counter and fiddled with your phone—all in the hopes that things move quickly and for this awkward tension to be over.

Honestly, why were you so worked up about it? People have seen you in a bikini before and that’s no different from lingerie. If anything, lingerie is itchier and has lace. You should be able to feel confident in your own body and you shouldn’t have to mind what other people think of it. It’s yours alone and it’s your opinion that should matter—

“I’m terribly sorry about last night, Y/N.” Tom apologized, sincerity was written all over his face. “I should’ve knocked and I just got so bloody excited about what we can do over Christmas—but that’s no excuse for what I’ve done. What I did was incredibly intrusive and you deserve a proper apology.”

“Tom, I—”

“I wanted to apologize last night—over dinner—but you didn’t come down to eat, so I figured you didn’t want to talk. “ He rambled on.

“Tom—”

“But even then I should’ve asked you to come down and eat dinner because that’s what any decent human would do! And yet I didn’t. God—I’m just doing one wrong thing after another—”

“Tom, listen to me.”

“Hm?” He finally snapped out and looked at you in the eyes.

“It’s okay. It was an honest mistake and you sincerely apologized, and for me, that’s enough.” You smiled softly at him. “So—what’s this thing you planned over Christmas?”

“I was thinking we could do both our family traditions over the next two days. My family and I usually do a roast dinner and open our Christmas stockings on Christmas Eve. Then on the 25th, we can watch movies all day just like you do with your family.” Tom grinned, clearly satisfied with his plan. “What do you think?”

“I think it’s a great idea,” You smiled “However, I don’t think we have any ingredients for a roast dinner and we don’t really have Christmas stockings. Well—I don’t have any Christmas stockings and stocking stuffers.”

“That’s true,” Tom mumbled “But I have to do the food shopping anyway. We’re running low on food and I couldn't really book one of those online delivery things that most groceries now offer.”

You nodded. “Okay, so I guess I have to get the house sorted then.”

When you two first arrived in this AirBnB a few days ago, it had already been decorated for Christmas. It had a massive tree in the living room decorated with stunning and intricately-themed ornaments. Christmas garlands were wrapped around the stair-bannisters and foliages were placed by the fireplace and the tables.

All you really had to do was clean the place—do a bit of vacuuming and get things nice and neat for Christmas. It didn’t take you too long to do it too. It had only been a couple of minutes since Tom left to do the food shopping and you prayed to the gods that he doesn’t get too much attention whilst out.

You figured you might as well do some last-minute shopping while Tom was out, so you can grab gifts for him as well. After all, this whole thing was orchestrated by Tom and you don’t even have anything to give him for his stockings.

You arrived at your AirBnB a tad later than Tom. He was in the kitchen putting things away when he saw you walk through the door.

“Ah, I was wondering whether I spooked you with my plan,” Tom commented, making you chuckle and roll your eyes.

“Trust me, I would’ve made it very obvious if you did.” You replied, earning a laugh from Tom. “I went out to do my last-minute shopping. Granted, it’s not ideal since we’re still living through a pandemic, but there’s not actually that many people where I went to considering it’s the Christmas rush.”

You made sure to hide the stuff you bought using the handmade tote bags that a friend gave you for your birthday. No retail bags, no clue. “How did you survive the groceries? I bet it’s busy out there.”

“Yeah, it was.” Tom chuckled, scratching the back of his head. “Remind me to never do that again for Christmas.”

“Sure,” You said, “That is if I spend another Christmas with you.” You said jokingly, hoping that Tom didn’t find that rude.

“You’ll never know,” Tom shrugged. “What if you liked our Christmas this year and you’d be begging to spend Christmas with me and my family in London,” Tom smirked, playing along.

“Yeah, right.” You scoffed playfully, crossing your arms. “If anyone’s begging, it’s going to be you.”

Tom stepped closer, “Wanna bet?” He whispered, a teasing look in his eyes. “Whoever has the most fun during our respective holiday traditions would have to spend the holidays with them next year.”

“Oh, you’re on, Holland.” You took a step closer. “We will both film our holidays for the entire two days and then we’ll ask Ophelia, Alex, and Will to vote whoever looks like they had the most fun.”

“Okay,” Tom nodded “But no editing! We’ll give them raw footage so there are no chances of tampering.”

You laughed but you agreed anyway. “Of course, we’ll give them hours of footage. The least we could do is make them sit through hours of content after they ditched us all alone on the holidays.”

Tom gave a broad smile. “Let the festivities begin.”

It was the 24th of December—Christmas Eve. You spent the entirety of last night wrapping Tom’s presents for later. Not that you despise Christmas, but it’s been a while since you were actually excited to celebrate it. It was pretty clear that the magic of Christmas dies once you grow up.

Today was different; you were looking forward to whatever Tom has installed for tonight.

You went downstairs to make some breakfast only to be greeted by Tom blasting Christmas music and preparing some ingredients for breakfast in the kitchen.

“Good morning, Y/N, happy Christmas Eve,” Tom greeted with a huge grin. “Say, hi to the camera.”

“Oh, we’re starting this early, huh?” You asked, putting your hair into a loose ponytail.

“Why of course, we have to make the best out of this,” Tom said, holding the camera to your face. “I made you coffee.” Tom handed you a cup of coffee.

“Are you using my love for coffee as an advantage?” You tried to hide your smile while drinking your coffee.

“Obviously not,” Tom feigned his innocence. “I obviously did not know you were obsessed with coffee—it’s not like I don’t see you on set without one.” He mumbled in which you definitely heard, giving him a smack on the head. “Ow! I’m kidding.” He laughed.

You rolled your eyes at him. “So, what’s for breakfast?”

“We’re going to make french crèpes,” Tom replied and propped the camera on the kitchen island, facing the two of you.

“Do you know how to make french crèpes?” You asked, washing your hands.

Tom blinked, almost trying to decide whether he wants to be honest or impressive. “Do you know how to make french crèpes?” He returned the question.

“Oh honey, my mom resents me in the kitchen.” You replied, taking a sip from your coffee. “But you know, I manage.” You murmured.

“That’s giving me a lot of hope, darling, thank you.” He said half-heartedly.

“Shut up,” You nudged him playfully, rolling your eyes. “Tom, honestly, most of the footage is just us bantering for 20 minutes.”

“To be fair, that’s part of the fun.” Tom smiled. “Okay, I think you just mix all of these in a bowl. Start with the dry ingredients first.” He said, looking at the recipe on his phone.

“Okay, that shouldn’t be too hard,” You commented pouring the ingredients into the bowl. As you started all of the ingredients together, you noticed small lumps forming in the batter. “Tom, did you sift the dry ingredients by chance?”

“You were supposed to sift it?” He asked, completely clueless.

You nodded slowly. Panic was now clearly painted on his face. “I’m sure we’ll be fine.” You tried to reassure him.

It was not fine. The first time you two tried to pour the batter in the pan, you burnt the entire thing. It’s not even the cute, lightly burnt crepe. It was activating the smoke alarm-burnt crepe.

The next one was pancake-like. The next one after that had pocket flours on the crepes because you two didn’t sift your dry ingredients beforehand. You ran out of the batter when you two finally got the consistency right—you managed to get one proper crepe from the entire batter.

“I feel like Sam would probably curse me out as soon as he finds out I fucked up a simple crepe,” Tom said, delicately filling the crepe with creme and berries. “My brother’s done so well in culinary school.” He cut a piece with his fork and brought it to your mouth.

“Well, you can’t have everything.” You said taking a bite out of the crepe. “This is better than the last one.”

Tom nodded, taking a bite of it himself. “It’s not as tasty as Sam’s but I’ll take it.”

“Now, I’m curious as to what your brother’s cooking tastes like.” You commented taking another bite from the crepe.

“I guess I’ll just take you home to London to find out,” Tom teased with an annoying grin.

“As long as I’m being fed, I’m fine with it.” You remarked. What in god’s name are you are you two playing?!

The day rolled by very quickly. It was already evening when you finished wrapping the presents for your friends. You plan on dropping it off tomorrow before you persuade Tom to glue yourselves on the couch for the entire day.

You grabbed all of Tom’s gifts—Christmas stocking included— when you went downstairs, only to be greeted by someone yelling at Tom through his phone.

“I did everything right, Sam. I don’t know why you’re yelling.” Tom yelled back at his phone. His back was turned against you as he was putting away the pots and pans that he used.

You quietly walked up behind him and said calmly, “Why are you yelling?”

Tom probably jumped six feet away from you, making you laugh. You always forget that he gets scared easily. “Holy shit, don’t scare me like that, Y/N.” Tom breathed out, putting a hand over his chest.

“I’m sorry,” You said whilst laughing. “I promise I won’t do it again.” Tom rolled his eyes, murmuring something about you being insincere about it.

“Please do it again!” You heard, whom you assume is Sam, say from the background. You looked at Tom’s phone that’s propped on the island and saw his brothers on FaceTime.

You beamed at them. “Any recommendations?” You asked, hearing Tom groan behind you.

“Well, he hates—”

“This is the last thing I want in 2020, for my brothers and Y/N to conspire against me,” Tom said loudly on purpose, drowning his brothers' voices.

“Tom, don’t be rude. Let your brothers finish—” Tom put his hand against your mouth.

“I’ll call you guys later,” Tom said “Wave goodbye, Y/N.” He used his free hand to grab your hand and forced a wave towards his brothers. The call soon came to an end and you could only roll your eyes at Tom. You seem to do that a lot around him. You also do a lot of that when you try to hide your feelings towards a person you like but that’s beside the point.

“So are we going to have dinner first or are we going to do presents first?” You asked fixing your Christmas sweater, a gift from your parents since you and your family usually wear matching sweaters for Christmas. “Or are you the type to wait until Christmas Day to open presents?”

“We can do the Christmas stockings after dinner tonight, then do the presents tomorrow, if you’d like,” Tom answered with his arms crossed.

You shrugged, telling him it doesn’t matter since you don’t really go all out on Christmas. Your family on the other hand—the house is always full of people, especially since most of your extended family are usually around during the holidays. You had this ongoing game you made for yourself whether or not you’ll be able to greet everyone with the number of people in the house.

You could only guess how quiet your family’s Christmas is going to be. You definitely needed to call your parents later.

“Is the sweater that itchy, Y/N?” You heard Tom ask, breaking away from your thoughts.

“Huh?” You asked, confused. You didn’t even notice that you’ve been scratching yourself subconsciously.

“You’ve been scratching yourself since I saw you.” Tom said, chuckling. “It’s a cute sweater on you.”

You smirked. “That reminds me—I got something for you, Tom.” Tom raised his brow as you grabbed the bag you stashed behind the tree. “Actually my parents got this for you. A little thank you gift apparently for having the tolerance to stay with me over the holidays—as if you had a choice.” You mumbled the last part.

Tom curiously opened the bag and there revealed a matching sweater such as yours. This year’s sweater was green and had red tinsel all over it, probably the reason why you’re itchy. The real kicker is that—

“No way,” Tom gasped “It lights up?!” He asked laughing. It lights up.

“Yeah, I don’t recommend turning that on. I did it earlier and I’m pretty sure I was about to combust—it’s a real fire hazard.” You replied, enjoying the genuine joy that Tom is showing on his face.

“Oh but we have to turn the lights on when we take pictures,” He commented as he put on the sweater. “Thanks, Y/N.” He said softly, surprising you with a hug.

It’s the first real physical contact that you two had ever since that night when you made out and you were pretty adamant that people were just making up this notion of having butterflies in their stomach—they weren’t.

Tom’s roast dinner went surprisingly well. You kept teasing him that it’s Sam that you had to thank because you knew that Tom wouldn’t last in the kitchen without his brother’s instructions. Tom pouted the whole time. You eventually had to tell him

“It was sweet.” You told him as you helped him clear out the plates.

Tom was confused.

“I don’t think I’ve known someone that went through hell and back just to make a great effort Christmas dinner —even if it means getting yelled at by your brother.” You said, smiling softly at him. “I mean it’s just us two, really. We don’t even have to do this.”

“Think that’s the reason why I wanted to do it,” Tom replied. Now you’re confused. “It’s because it’s the two of us—that’s why I wanted to do it.”

As soon as you heard those words come out of Tom’s lips, you tried your best to stay calm. To say that you weren’t overwhelmed with emotions would be a huge lie. For someone who couldn’t hold their tongue, you were speechless. Tom’s giving you a run for your money and you weren’t exactly thrilled about it.

After dinner, you and Tom opened your stocking presents. The presents were pretty tame at the start—you both got each other socks, which was hilarious but greatly appreciated. You love socks, especially comfy and cushiony ones. You came to learn that Tom does too, which prompted you two to wear the socks immediately.

You got him candy canes, he got you chocolates. You also snuck in those small, in-flight alcohol bottles in there too—which he ended up loving. He got you those 10-pack skincare face masks, in which you let out a huge gasp, making him laugh.

“Oh, we have to use this at some point!” You exclaimed happily “Like, we need to have a spa night—where we just watch movies, doing face masks, eating takeouts. Oh, that’s the dream!” You sighed happily.

“We still have two weeks left till we go back to work, I'm sure we can find the time to do that,” Tom said with a permanent smile on his face, watching you with pure joy made him feel like he accomplished something big.

You got him one of those Instax polaroid cameras—true, it was a bit too much for a stocking stuffer especially since the box definitely stood out against the stocking, but you figured he’ll like it.

“Darling, this is too much but I’m thankful,” Tom commented as he took out the camera from the box. “I can’t wait to use this and keep memories using it—why don’t we start right now?! Let’s take a photo of us and our matching sweaters!”

Tom took a lot of photos of you two, in the end. A couple of overexposed photos, one with the matching sweaters, one with your faces pressed against each other, one with your faces way too close to the camera, and one where he gave you a kiss on your cheek (he asked if that’s okay, of course, you said yes. it’s not like he hasn’t kissed you before— still no conversations about that, by the way). It was a good thing you got him at least 3 boxes of those 20 pack films in his stockings as well.

The real kicker was Tom’s “small” stocking present for you. He got you this dainty, gold necklace with a crescent moon charm. You were pretty sure it was expensive because of the teal box it came with.

“Stop,” You gasped “Tom, now this—this is too much.” You stressed out. “I can’t have this. Nope, you have to return this.”

Tom shrugged as if it was nothing. “You deserve it. Darling, you deserve something nice after this shitty year.”

“Tom, I’m serious. This is too much.”

“I’m serious too, Y/N. Keep it, please. I’d be offended if you don’t.”

After the roller coaster of emotions due to the stocking presents, you gave your parents a call to wish them a merry Christmas. They insisted to do a video call because they wanted to see Tom in the family sweater—which your mom wouldn’t stop gushing about.

“I think your mum loves me,” Tom whispered closely in your ear. He didn't have to try too hard. With the laptop propped up on top of the coffee table, you two were sitting close together on the living room floor—knees touching, maximum close skin contact. CDC would never approve.

“Yeah, I think it’s the accent,” You mumbled jokingly.

Tom moved his head to take a good look at you, smiling. You could feel his eyes burning your skin. Why does he have to look at you like that? Why does he have to be this close?

The initial video call with your parents turned into a whole family reunion when you found out they set up a group call with your extended family. Imagine the dread and fear in your eyes when you heard your one aunt ask,

“Finally, Y/N, is that your boyfriend?”

Your eyes widened as you stuttered to say your defence, making Tom chuckle. You frowned at him and nudged him saying, “Don’t laugh, tell them no or I’ll never hear the end of it.”

“No, unfortunately, I’m not,” Tom replied, laughing. “However, I do believe we make a cute couple, don’t we?” He teased, earning an earnest yes from your mom.

You could only wish for the floor to swallow you whole.

As the clocks rolled to twelve, it was officially Christmas. You and Tom figured you might as well start opening gifts again because Christmas Day is going to be a drag for the two of you.

“Okay, start with this.” You said as you handed him a gift bag. You didn’t give him a lot of gifts for the actual Christmas Day because you went all out on the stuffers.

“Pyjamas?” He asked with a grin. You made a signal for him to give you a minute. You ran to your room and changed into pyjamas.

“Not just pyjamas, Tom, but matching pyjamas!” You exclaimed, laughing. “I saw it and figured we should do this for my day.”

“Sick!” Tom laughed. Tom got into his pair of pyjamas as well and of course, he didn’t forget to pull out his new polaroid camera to take a photo of you two. “Shit, I forgot to film our entire Christmas Eve.” He said as he saw the camera that was still sitting on the kitchen island from earlier that morning.

You shrugged. “I’m pretty sure you’ll win either way. Just that content from the breakfast crepes was enough to secure your place.” You said jokingly.

“All I’m hearing is that you’re going to spend Christmas with me in London next year.” Tom sang teasingly.

“Yeah, maybe bringing you to our big Christmas holidays is a bad idea.” You wondered out loud.

“I like your family,” Tom commented with a smile “and I think they will love having me there for the holidays.”

“That would be a nightmare.” You mumbled to yourself.

The rest of the night dragged on. You and Tom finished the rest of your gifts—you got him a watch, he got you a vinyl player. You two managed to watch the first Harry Potter film before you called it a night.

You were about to head into your room when you heard Tom say, “Mistletoe.”

“Hm?” You hummed, confused. He placed a finger under your chin and gently tilted your head. There you saw a mistletoe hanging by one of the light fixtures.

“How did that even—”

“Can I kiss you?” Tom asked, cupping the sides of your face.

“Hm?” Tom was definitely giving you a run for your money. How can a girl with a speech turn speechless?

“Can I kiss you?” He asked more softly. All you could do was nod. For if you even dare to open your mouth, all of this would cease to exist.

His lips gently touched yours and then soon moulded into one. It was soft, sweet—familiar. His lips were something you never thought about—at least not a lot but you craved it. You crave his lips, his touch, him. You were riding a new high and you thanked every single god that you were sober to remember this—because this, this is something you want to cherish.

“You told me you’re tired of being alone,” Tom whispered against your lips. “You don’t have to be anymore. Not when you have me, not ever.”

PERMANENT TAGLIST: @quaksonhehe @dark-infernal-instruments @trustfundparker @emsma11 @tomshufflepuff @spider-babe @goodgirlgonetom

#tom holland #tom holland imagine #tom holland x fem #tom holland x reader #tom holland fanfiction #tom holland fluff #tom holland fic #tom holland blurb #tom holland and reader #tom holland and you #tom holland angst #tom holland imagines #tom holland x y/n #tom holland au #tom holland and y/n #tom holland x you #the girl writes i guess #txmhoellandwrites

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sunnieskies02 · 4 years ago

Text

Surprise!! (Headcannon)

Midoriya x Reader; Todoroki x Reader; Denki x Reader

4.1k Words

Trigger Warnings: n/a

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

Izuku Midoriya

Izuku’s birthday always had some form of mishap regardless of the situation. He either had overtime work or was just too tired to want to go out and do anything. But today his birthday was finally going to happen or something was going to happen for him this day apart from him taking overtime or being tired. Nonetheless, the number one goal for the number one hero today was to make sure that Izuku’s birthday was something that he would never forget and that it would be full of surprises.

As your alarm chirped it beckoned you to rise out of the comfort of your bed but , you were already awake mentally but the alarm made sure that your physical body rose up from out of the sheets and turned to see a still sleep Izuku. You smiled and kissed his cheek and slowly creeped out of the bed, you threw on his rob and walked into the bathroom. The sun shined through the window hitting your eye, making your eye strains, you rub your face and started to run the water for your morning routine.

The cool water hit your face and woke you up more than the blaring alarm. Rubbing your face and finishing your routine you hear the shuffling about in the room. Walking out of the bathroom onto the wood floor you see Izuku bleary and still sleepy with bed head. Smiling, you move into his lap and kiss his cheeks as a way to say good morning. A soft smile creeps onto his face and he kisses you square on your lips.

His arms wrap around you and pull you closer to his body but causes him to fall onto his back with you on top of him. A blush spreads on his face and so does yours, but you do lean down and kiss his temple and call out to him. “C’mon lets make breakfast together before you run my errands for today.” Izuku nodded his head and followed you into the kitchen.

In the kitchen you and him decided to make a simple breakfast together, set breakfast consisted of eggs, sausage and biscuits in one. It was simple but wholistic, and as you whisked the eggs for the heating pan and oiled stove Izuku was readily opening the biscuits and heating up the oven. As the time passed by breakfast was made and you were eating with him on the counter of the kitchen.

As you chewed he beckoned you “What do I need to run errands for puppy? What’s the occasion?” A small laugh fell from your lips, “Today is your birthday Izuku and I need a few things to make sure a good celebration of it occurs okay?” He nodded his head and went back to chewing his food, you finished before him and moved onto the couch and sprawled out. As you laid on the couch you hear the running water of the sink and the clink of the dishes getting washed. You peak over the rim of the couch and smile at him.

You really really loved and adored Izuku and would still find his innocent face so laughable despite the contrast you would also get other times. Regardless your plan was perfect for today to keep him out of the house for the longest time. You were truthfully sending Izuku on a scavenger hunt where his friends would have all of his gifts and he would have to find them.

However, knowing how annoying analytical and smart your boyfriend was you had to send him for a loop and make it to where his friends were always moving so they had the gift but made sure that they had multiple notes to lead him wherever to keep him out of the house. And on your end this would give you enough time to deep clean the house, go grocery shopping, change the sheets and make sure you also looked your best.

Teasing and pampering where the name of the game and today you needed to make sure you played it well. As the sound of the water stopped and the nearing footsteps could be heard you spoke unto him. “Are you getting ready to go out Izuku?”

He leaned in and kissed your temple with a nod, you smiled at him and watched him walk down the hall and into the bathroom. You still rested in his robe on the couch and listened to the sound of the shower running, him getting out and walking out of the bathroom to the bedroom and his last steps of him walking to the door.

“Please be safe Izuku and you shouldn’t be out to long alright?” He smiled and kissed your cheek “I’ll make sure to be back in enough time to spend this day with you okay puppy?” A smile beamed across your face as well did you kissing him one last time and sent him off into the world. He walked out of the front door and waved you goodbye.

oOo

So….maybe making sure that his friends were always on the move was a bad idea. Izuku left this morning at 8am and it's now 5 in the evening. To deep clean the house, go grocery shopping, cook, change the sheets and even wash your clothes only took about 5 hours after you lollygagged for a bit and messed around in the house. Regretting the choice of making his friends on the move you decided to take out the final load of clothes and fold them.

Walking over to the dryer you take the hamper and put it at the opening and start to pull the clothes out of the dryer into the hamper. As you pull out the clothes you run into Izuku’s hero suit, smiling wide you take a big whiff out of it. Knowing that he’s been gone for the longest you decided that you walked to indulge a bit and see what it looks like. Picking up the hamper and placing the suit on top you walk into the bedroom and start to take off the robe.

Getting a closer look at the suit you realize that it might be just a tad too big on you but who cared. You were alone in the house and Izuku had been out of the house for who knows how long. He indulged in himself a lot and why can’t you, so you quickly folded the clothes and put them up you eyed his suit that lay out on the bed. In the back of your mind it was taboo… what you were going to put on was what he wore out to battle. Saving people, running and jumping and sometimes getting covered in blood. It sent a small shiver up your spine but also allowed you to acknowledge the fact that he risks his life everyday.

Grabbing the suit and walking in front of the mirror and stared at your naked body, it was pretty and covered in scars of course from previously being a hero but picked up the suit and stared at it for the longest. Your boyfriend wore this everyday, saving people in it, getting scarred in it, getting dirt on it and there truthfully was nothing wrong with putting on the suit but….it still felt so taboo.

Shaking doubt out of your mind you quickly put on the hero suit and eye yourself in the mirror. A nice giggle fell out of your mouth as you looked at the total size difference from the suit to your body. It was like one huge onesie (which exactly what it was but leathery kinda.) You fall back onto the bed and rub your hands up and down the shape of your body.

It was comfortable and it felt nice on your skin, another laugh fell out of your mouth and wanting to spend more time in you hop off of the bed and slide your way into the kitchen. You turn on the radio station and turn it up and rummage through the fridge to grab some snacks, with the snacks acquired and the music playing slipping and sliding around the house in your boyfriend's hero suit was on the menu.

Dancing and singing while also eating snacks was so much fun especially in Izuku’s hero suit. You run and slide into the front of the door and start to strut along with the music with a piece of milk bread in your mouth. Shaking your bottom you neglect to hear the door open and Izuku is presented with shaking your bottom in his hero suit eating milk bread.

“Puppy?”

You jumped back and turned to see Izuku tired carrying bags with….soot on his face? Oh….it was Bakugou “What are you doing in my yawn hero suit and playing that loud music?” Embarrassed and flushed you answer him “W-well…..I kinda sorta wanted to indulge in myself a bit and I wanted to see what I looked like in your hero suit Izu……” You brace for impact but you are met with a laugh, he walks down the hallway to the kitchen and places his gifts on the table.

“Y-you look stunning puppy!! So cute and small too,” you stare at him later squealing as he picked you up and continued, “But I didn’t think that my puppy would send me all around the world to have my friends give me gifts when the greatest one was here at home dancing and snacking in my hero suit!” A laugh falls from his mouth as he carried you to the bed room and tossed you onto the bed.

Giggling happily you cup his face and say “I just wanted to make sure that you had an unforgettable birthday Izuku.”

“Well...you did just that naughty puppy but I think punishment is on your agenda for today since Kacchan did try to blow me to pieces.” You gasp and watch him place both hands at the side of your head and stare you down.

“Any last words puppy?” You chortle a bit and try to save face, “Happy Birthday Izuku.” A deep chuckle fell from his lips and then his birthday was bound to become unforgettable.

~~~

Shoto Todoroki

A very stoic lover was what you were given, he was respectful and sweet and was still amazed that he was able to get married to someone who was his total polar opposite.

Being married to Todoroki was like dealing with a sometimes petty, very sarcastic and still very very clueless when it comes to being intimate. Truthfully there was nothing but something still wrong with that, could you blame it on his father? ABSOFUCKINGLUTELY, and because of that literal hot head your Ice King became a materialistic lover. Who would be complaining about that, damn near everyday he would come home with something so expensive and before you thought it was nice and amazing to have this large jewlry line up but…..it became restless.

Out of your 10 year marriage it took 3 years to show him and tell him that saying ‘I love you’ was perfectly fine. Now there was another obstacle to face, him being intimate. Him being intimate in the bed was no issue at all...literally, but there was an issue with him being intimate without having to be in the bed.

Todoroki was very uncomfortable with slight touches or just random kisses on the cheek,forehead and lips. Even when you would watch him go to work you would tell him to be safe or have a good day. Before he would look at you confused, as if he really couldn’t understand why you would show random acts of affection.

It made you laugh and he would always respond with something stoic and still something among the lines of “When have I not been safe” or “I always follow the speed limit and road laws’ And it was a sad fact that he literally did not go over or under the speed limit. When you would drive he’d think you are a madman, but nonetheless you would always make sure that the two of you made it to all the place on time or earlier than the rest.

However today was something you wanted Todoroki to enjoy and to make it the most intimate day for you and him. The luckiest thing that could have happened on this day was that he wanted to go grocery shopping for the home you two shared. It left you alone in the house and time to mess around in his stuff to see what Todoroki likes to do when you are out of the house.

You roll out of the bed and throw on one of his shirts and skip around the room. You go to his side of the bed and open up the drawers and look around you see the regular condoms, books and his hero license and all that good stuff. As you look further onto his side of the bed in his night stand you see a notebook. Intrigued you reach down and picked up the book, looking at the book its old but it was used.

The title on the notebook was called The Little Things, the name of it was boring but this was Todoroki Shouto we were talking about. He keeps a lot to himself and he probably wrote all of that out in the bok form so…...lets get nosy.

Opening the first few pages you see that it was dated to after you two got married you chuckled to yourself and flipped a few pages and skimmed it a bit. Most of the pages were on how you look and how much he would wish to show some affection and return it but feared that the situation would be awkward and it would come off wrong. You continue to skim the book and your reach closer to today and see that Shouto is getting a little….spicy. It was a side of Shouto that you haven’t seen or heard of at all.

It was reading a spicy love novel that involved you in so many different situations and positions too. In reading more and more of it, Todoroki is truly a flirt and very very erotic behind pieces of notebook paper. Wanting to be a tease you put the notebook back and close it up and walk over to the closet. Looking at the time you see that its late in the afternoon and you felt as if you had good two hours before he returned so you decided to look for his hero suit.

It was the same all blue jumpsuit with the utility belt and straps that wrapped under his arms that made him look so refined. As you slipped on the navy blue jump suit it was a little tight on you, it cupped your ass perfectly and hugged your legs well too. In the mirror you looked pretty damned good in the suit. Running your hands all over your body you admire the shape that has filled out the suit.

Your chest did protrude a bit and just gave you a refined look more or less like a vigilante model or something of the sort. Wanting to play a game of cat and mouse you send Shoto a text saying ‘Hey I have a really good gift for you waiting at home come as soon as you can okay…’

Staring at the illuminating screen of your phone to see that he has read the message, you chuckled to yourself and scurried around the house to find a good hiding spot. Running around the home like a madman you decided to take your hiding spot under the guest bed and covered your mouth to stifle a giggle. Several hours have passed and the sound of the door finally opening.

The sound of his footsteps prodded onto the floor and wandered for a bit. His steps traveled into the kitchen where he put up the groceries by the sound of the bags falling onto the counter. Knowing Shoto for as long as you have he would always put on his slippers and walk around the house to do whatever he needed to do.

His steps followed throughout the house and he was calling out your name and knowing that he wasn;t getting a response he let out a low sounding chuckle. “So I guess….I have to look for you now huh y/n.” The sound of his chuckle and deep voice made you shudder and send a shiver up your spine.

Now as you listened to his footsteps they were slower and more sudden, making him like predator looking for his prey. This hunt was fun and it was exciting to know that Shoto was looking for you and was going to make your skin jump a crawl with every open opportunity.

Avently paying attention to the sound of Shotos footsteps you learned that he had gotten closer to you his footsteps lingered more and more. “C’mon baby~ I know you’re in here…..”

His slipper covered feet walked around the edge of the bed as you laid there giggling and whimpering out of joy. The footsteps stopped at the from of the bed and stood there for a few minutes, your breath halted in your chest as he stayed and walked even slower to the side where your feet were. You look back where your feet were and you moved your hand off of your mouth and a loud yelp fell from your lips.

You were pulled from under the bed and a laugh fell out of your mouth and Shoto chuckled and then turned red as he looked at your body. Looking up at him you see his cherry red face, you wonder why he looks like that then you look back down at your body and see that you are clad in his hero suit.

Chuckling half heartedly, you sit up to cup his face and kissed him on the lips, “ I’, guessing...you like what you see don’t you Sho-to To-do-roki?” With a flustered face he nodded and scooped you up into his arms and never broke eye contact. Even you became flustered when his cold stare met yours and didn’t waiver at all, you smile and say “People do this as a way to show affection or to know that they love you Shoto and this is another way to be intimate.”

“R-really….putting on my hero suit….teasing me like this is intimate baby?” A smile spreads onto your face and you move up to kiss him on the lips “Yes husband, wearing someone’s professional wear is a sign of love and affection….”

Your husband was speechless, he couldn't believe that you would year something like this nor that you would look so good in it too. His lips captured yours in a passionate embrace and he deepened it as well. Pants and soft moans fell from your lips as he lowered you onto the bed and toppled over you.

“You look so delicious y/n, I did purchase a birthday cake but…..I think I’ll have you instead.” His lips captured you soft, sensitive neck as you raked your fingers through his hair and arch your back.

Well...now you know where to look to get more info on stoic Shoto Todoroki.

~~~

Denki Kaminari

The amount of times you were electrocuted by him couldn’t amount to how much you loved each other. Loving Denki Kaminari was like falling for a perverted Gur that would always distract you. Despite being in college together he was still doing hero work as a side kick and would occasionally stream on twitch.

You and him were the team Rocket of sharing one brain cell and being social media Icons. It was funny but it did opt for another method of income since you and him lived in the apartments close to campus. But that didn’t matter honestly because today was going to be an amazing day for your cracked headed lover Denki kaminari. This day was his birthday, and what could you possibly do to make his birthday the most unforgettable day of his life.

As some or half of Japan may know, Denki Kaminari, aka Chargebolt, aka S. Park is a doujinshi writer. He started in high school and you supported him with unwavering doubt and he loved that and he loved you especially. And because of that it ignited a massive flame under him to the point where one doujinshi was literally subbing your cough interactions in the bedroom.

REGARDLESS of Kaminari openly but secretly putting you was not what you signed up for in the relationship but after reading it yourself you did get…..a little excited. But what you planed to do was to make Denki drool and play with you like a bunny in heat.

It was late night and as normal Denki would be playing the most recent game with his friends the usual rioter34, dispenser22, Pinky 291 and Big Boom429 all playing the game. Wanting to bait your baby spark you walk into the living room and walk up behind him.

“Kami~ lets go out to eat.”

“Sorry baby, I can’t right now I’m playing fall guys and I need to win.”

“Kaminari please!! Its your birthday and I wanna do something nice for you please….”

He looked back at you with puppy dog eyes and put out his bottom lip, you sigh as you look up at the screen and that he qualified for the final match. Rolling off of the couch in a pout and stomp off into the bedroom. Stomping down the hall you wanted to make it clear that you wanted to do something for Kaminari but you threw yourself onto the bed and let out an unsatisfying sigh.

Today was supposed to be a special day to celebrate the fact that Kaminari was getting older and was becoming a more refined adult and hero. At the end of it all you just wanted him to have an amazing birthday. Being upset resulted into you getting up off of the bed in a fury and look through the closet for something to wear.

There were clothes on clothes upon clothes that you could wear. But you didn’t know what could fulfill your sour mood. As you continue to hear the repetitive scrapping of the hangers on the metal bar you stop at his hero suit. It was a back up suit but still...it would be nice to tease him in it. Rushing around the room you slam the door to the bedroom and throwing on the suit.

The black leather that made the suit was tight fitting on your body but it looked amazing on you. But a little boo boo happened when you tried to zip the suit up all the way but that Denki calls your massive milkers got in the way. There was some peak out boob but there was nothing bad about that, it just gave you more leeway to tease denki.

The suit was on and the fit was cute, ready to mess with kaminari. You walk out of the room slowly and lean on the wall in the hallway staring at Denki. You could see the back of his head and little zaps of electricity fly off of him in frustration. Walking up behind him you rub your hands down his body and nibble on his ears slightly. He chuckles slightly and rolls his shoulders back, “Oh! Ho-ho you are a sly one babe.”

He laughs it off and continues on the game, you roll your eyes in frustration at your lovers distraction on the screen. Keeping your hands on his shoulders you wait till there is some down time in the game and you turn him around quickly. You beam a large smile and you hear his words of protest slowly start to form from his lips but his eyes grow wide.

“Hot damn babe you look so~ fucking good! I could just eat you up and light a few sparks with you baby.” His arms wrap around you quickly and rub your body up and down with such a rush in his bones. Slowly growing smile was plastered onto his face and his golden eyes were lidded with lust. Short little sparks fly from his fingers and and run through your body causing goosebumps. A smile grows on your face and you watch him adorn your body in his hero suit.

“I guess dressing up as you pulls you away from that screen huh?” Denki frantically nods his head and throws you over his shoulder immediately causing you to giggle happily. He pats your bottom and bites yout inner thigh, “And now that you got my attention little firefly your gonna get all~ of my love okay?” You gasp in humored shock and look at him over your shoulder.

And surely enough, you were going to be in bed with Denki Kaminari all~ night.

**I know its been a while I KNOW!! College as a freshman is ridiculous and I’m trying here. The stress has been A-1 and DON’T FRET, I’m working on the multi-fic....don’t shame me....plz. Oh and here pocket I DID IT!! @onyxiana-is-obsessed

#izuku headcanons #todoroki headcanons #denki kaminari headcanons #izuku x reader #shoto x reader #denki x reader #birthday #boku no hero academia #mha headcanons #mha todoroki #mha izuku #mha denki #mha deku #mha imagines #mha headcannons #mha x gender neutral reader #mha x y/n

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gemstoneconstellations · 5 years ago

Text

Little Match Maker

Summary: Single dad!Kirishima has a 8 year old wingman who only wants her daddy to be happy, by talking to the cute neighbor across the street for him.

Wordcount: 1917

A/N: this has actually happened to me and its the most adorable thing to see a child ask if you have a boyfriend while their dad is dying in the background of embarrassment when they off handily mention that they found some stranger pretty. So now its a fic. Thank you little girl for the scenario and I hope you got your dad a girlfriend.

Kirishima watched from his kitchen window as his neighbor plucked a few weeds from her front yard. She bent down to pick up a tool and he could see her shorts dig into her soft skin. He sighed as she smiled at another neighbor walking by with their dog. “So pretty…”

He wished he was on the receiving end of that smile, even if it was just you being polite. There were a lot of things he wished for when he saw you across the street. . Maybe he’s just lonely, but he couldn’t help the crush he’d had on you for a while now, despite barely knowing you.. He groaned as you squatted down in front of your flower bed. Sometimes he feels like some dirty teenager again with how much he thought about his head between your—

“Papa! The stove!” The pot of water he was boiling to for the oatmeal overflowed, liquid sizzling on the hot burner. He quickly lifted the pot to the other side of the stove and turned off the burner. Kirishima sighed but smiled towards his giggling daughter behind him as he berated himself mentally for getting distracted.

Kirishima had had many plans for his future. Becoming a pining single dad was not one of those plans. His ex-wife, despite saying that she knew what she was getting into by being with a pro-hero when they’d started dating, gave up on their marriage three years in. She also left him alone with a beautiful two-year-old little girl.

At first, they had shared custody. But over the years, he had slowly taken on all of the parental responsibility. By the time Minori was eight, Kirishima was the only parental figure in her life and lived with her father full time.

Kirishima got over his failed marriage and raised his daughter to the best of his ability, making sure to spend plenty of quality time. Even if it was an errand, he would go out of his way to make it fun. Grocery shopping was made to be like a scavenger hunt, letting his daughter lead him around looking for the needed items on the list while giving her hints, and it always ended with treats, even if it would possibly spoil both of their dinners. Even when stopping at the agency to do some quick paperwork, he always brought her around when he knew the others were on break there.

“Off, brat,” Bakugo grumbled as the black-haired child climbed up Bakugo’s back.

Minori just giggled, wrapping her arms around his throat, nearly choking him. “But Kacchan is so warm and smells like candy!”

“Seriously….what is with Shitty-Hair and his spawn clinging to me?”

“Aw, it’s not so bad, Kacchan.” Deku picked up the giggling child, spinning around the office while Bakugo sat at his desk filling out paperwork, ignoring them. Deku brought her back to his chest, hugging her tightly and her plump cheeks crushed against his own cheeks. “I want a baby!”

“You already have a screaming toddler at home,” Kaminari chuckled as he came up beside Kirishima’s desk, who was filling out some leave forms for Minori’s upcoming school break.

Deku placed Minori back on Bakugo’s lap, who begrudgingly let her sit on him. “I do?”

“Yeah. Blasty over there.” Kaminari leaned against Kirishima’s desk, shooting finger guns at Sero, who failed at covering up his snort.

Bakugo glared at Kaminari, leaning back with an arm around Minori. “I’m not a fucking toddler.”

Sero chuckled, spinning a pen between his fingers. “Notice that he doesn't deny that he screams at home.”

“Speaking of making people scream at home, how’s your dating life, Ei?” Kaminari rested an arm around Kirishima’s shoulders, who instantly went red, his hairline blending with his skin perfectly.

“Don’t be gross in front of a kid, idiots.” Bakugo pressed Minori against his chest, covering her ears before throwing a stapler at Kaminari.

The loud clatter shook Kirishima from his shock and he instantly scooted away from Kaminari, waving his hands in front of him. “D-dating? M-me? No way, dude.”

The room went quiet for a moment. “Seriously? You aren’t interested in anyone after… you know who?” Sero raised an eyebrow, asking what everyone was thinking.

“No! Not at all! Why would you say that? I need to focus on raising Minori while still trying to rise in the ranks. I have no time to even entertain the idea of d-dating! That’s completely out of the question. I’ve never once thought about—”

“You into someone aren’t you?” Bakugo stood up with Minori in his arms, interrupting Kirishima’s frantic ramble, having seen right through him. Years of translating Midoriya’s nervous rants gave Bakugo an unwanted, yet useful, skill of translating long-winded explanations.

“It’s nothing…” Kirishima looked to the side, avoiding looking anyone in the eye. He could feel the pressure from their intense stares and sighed. “Okay, we’ve hardly even had an actual conversation… but there is this woman who lives across the street...”

Kaminari let out a low whistle. “Ooooh, a MILF for a neighbor. She gotta be super hot for you to notice.”

Bare legs bending down in the garden flashed in his mind. Kirishima could feel his cheeks get warmer as he buried his face in his hands. “Well, I…. just… she’s really pretty….”

Sero laughed and hooted for his friend, clapping loud enough that a few people started to look their way. “Go for it, bro!”

Deku waved the bystanders off to not mind them as Kirishima rested his head against his desk, groaning with embarrassment. “I don’t… I can’t…. I don't even know if she’s single…. And I'm so out of the game...”

“Dude, I’m not talking about you starting a relationship with her. Lonely housewife, single father hero; sounds like a plot to a really steamy—”

Bakugo slammed a hand over Kaminari’s mouth, Minori now clinging onto Bakugo’s back. “Dunce face, if you don’t shut the fuck up, I will cut your tongue out with a plastic spoon and shove it up your ass.” Kaminari nodded frantically out of fear.

Bakugo huffed triumphantly, looking back at the kid he was currently giving a piggyback ride to. “And that’s how you get an idiot to stop talking. If anyone at school gives you shit, just do exactly that. Got it?”

“Got it.” Minori chirped, nodding her head in agreement.

“Bakubro…. please, no more defense lessons. I’d rather not get on a first name basis with the principal this year.” Bakugo rolled his eyes as he took Minori to the breakroom for a snack, continuing his lesson on how to verbally intimidate her enemies. Kirishima can’t say he didn’t try.

Midoriya sighed, holding a hand to his chest as the other patted Kaminari on the back as he gasped for air. “He’s so hot, all parental like that.”

“Oh yes, he’s the perfect fatherly figure that every child deserves in their lives,” Sero commented sarcastically, which went right over Deku’s head.

“But Kaminari is right. I think it’s time to put yourself out there again. If you want to start dating, I would be happy to ado-babysit, I meant babysit, for you.” They all looked at Deku, who was chuckling nervously while staring up at the ceiling.

“You really want a baby, don’t you?” Sero and Kaminari made eye contact before they got up and ran after Bakugo together. “Yo, Blasty! Come back and knock up Izuku before he steals Mini-shima!”

Midoriya chased after them, looking like a strawberry as he frantically tried to hold his teasing friends back. “You guys!! Stop it!”

After some more teasing of Deku’s obvious baby fever and probing of Kirishima about finally putting himself out there again, Kirishima and Minori were walking back to their home. He always checked his mail before going inside, but this time something else caught his eye. The sound of a hose had him turning around to see his neighbor conveniently spraying down a soapy car.

Kirishima’s jaw went slack as he watched water droplets run down your bare skin; those shorts should be illegal. He loves them. “You okay Papa? That’s not our mailbox.” Minori watched as Kirishima tried to put the mailbox key into the next-door neighbor’s mailbox next to theirs.

“Mhm, I see,” he mumbled as he watched you bend down in front of a bucket, pulling out a soapy sponge.

Minori rolled her eyes. “Give me that.” She guided her father’s hand to the right mailbox, opening it and taking out the mail.

“So pretty…” Kirishima mumbled; it was a moment before he noticed his daughter crossing the street by herself. He looked down to his side; yup, she was no longer holding onto his hand. “Ah, Minori!”

She completely ignored her father as she ran up to you. “Excuse me, miss!”

You jumped back, turning off the hose as you looked down at the little girl in front of you. “Oh hello?”

“Are you married?” You blinked at her, completely thrown off by the question.

You tilt your head, not sure where this was going. “I…um…no?”

“Are you dating anyone?”

“Minori!” You see your neighbor across the street yell; he tried to cross the street but a passing car blocked his path.

The little girl just pointed back at the man who was now panting as he ran over. “Wanna date my Papa? He’s a pro-hero and Kacchan says my Papa is painfully single. My Papa also said you are really pretty. He almost burnt the house down staring at you. And you don’t have to worry about me; Uncle Zuzu said he’d watch me.”

Your neighbor, whose name you remembered was Kirishima, suddenly covered her mouth with one of his large hands but the damage was done. You giggled as she just looked up at her dad, annoyed. “Well aren’t you straight forward.”

Kirishima chuckled nervously, rubbing a hand on his neck. “Yeah, kids, huh? They say the darndest and most embarrassing things….” You heard him whisper to her that she was so grounded, which she responded with another roll of her eyes.

You smile at their antics; they were a sweet pair. “I remember those days, I have a teenager myself.” You thought about your son, who was getting close to becoming a full grown adult.

“You have kids?”

“Just one; he’s spending a week at my ex-husband’s.” You hold up a finger on your left hand, showing off slightly the lack of a wedding ring on your finger.

“Um, so single?” You nodded and his shoulders relaxed as a dopey smile spread on his face. It was so adorable. “That’s great….I mean, it’s not great that you are single, unless you want to be, then it's awesome…uh, I um….I don’t know where I’m going with this and I’m sorry.”

The little girl looked up at her dad and whispered, “This is where you ask her out Papa.”

“Minori, shhhh.”

“She’s a cute one, and fiesty.” You pulled out a pen from your pocket and grabbed Kirishima’s very meaty arm and began to write your number. “I don't work on Fridays and Sundays.”

He looked down at his arm and then back at you, confused for a second before his eyes went wide. Luckily, Minori piped up for him and held out her hand. “Great, he’ll pick you up at seven on Friday.”

You giggled, shaking her hand in agreement. “It’s a date.”

#kirishima eijiro #kirishima eijirou #kirishima #kirishima x reader #kirishima eijiro x reader #kirishima eijirou x reader #single dad kirishima #fluff #minor bakudeku in the background #deku has baby fever #im deku #I have bad baby fever too

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nicka-nell · 4 years ago

Note

Aaaaaand my second req is sfw alphabet with Sugawara (´▽`ʃ♡ƪ)

Sugawara Koushi: SFW-Alphabet

Waaah I am soo so excited because I am so happy about this request! ♥

Actually, I wanted to upload the Kuroo story first, but sadly my laptop thought that it doesn’t save the file before it crashes :’’). I’ve already written half of it again, but I’ll finish the rest tomorrow and then upload it. (because it’s already late for me)

I hope that’s okay :(

Buuuut now I wish you at least a lot of fun with the Sugamama-alphabet! *u*

Stay healthy and safe ♥♥

Easter Event (match-up/ sfw & nsfw-alphabet/ prompts)

A = Affection (little things they do to show love)

Since Sugawara works as a teacher, he always has to get up early. He prepares your breakfast by placing a coffee cup and a plate and cutlery on the table for you. In his first break, he writes you a sweet good morning message, with motivating words for the day. But most of all, he shows you his love by listening to you with full attention when you tell him something.

B = Beginning (how you met)

The first time you saw each other was at Ukai’s store. Sugawara and Ukai were just discussing some volleyball tactics for their team when you came to the store. Actually, all you wanted to do was ask for directions to the new cafe in town. But after Ukai gave you a complicated explanation of the way, which sounded more like a scavenger hunt, Sugawara said that he would accompany you there. So you went to the cafe, and as a thank you, you invited him for coffee.

C = Confession (how they confess)

He was a little nervous, although he was sure that he had interpreted your feelings for him correctly. Sugawara asked you if you want to go back to that cafe and wanted to confess his feelings there. However, the time was never right and his feelings for you remained unspoken. You were already standing on the doorstep and wanted to go to your apartment when Sugawara stopped you and reached after your hands. With a charming smile, he caressed the back of your hand as he gathered his courage and confessed all his feelings for you. His confession was honest and full of emotion. As if he wanted to show you everything about him.

D = Dating (what are they like on their first date)

On your first date, he wanted to have dinner with you, but he had so many exams to control that he had not made it out of school. So you had bought two servings of fried noodles and had visited him at school. Sugawara sat at his desk, you on top of it while you ate the noodles and talked. The exams were only secondary, because he only had eyes for you. From the outside he was calm, but inside his heart beat so loudly that he was afraid you could hear it. He kept apologizing for that screwed up date, which made you laugh. Even after years of your relationship, Sugawara likes to invite you on a date. Mostly they are rather intimate, only you both in quiet places with little or no people.

E = Evolution (how fast does your relationship evolve)

Very slowly. Not because he’s uncomfortable with changes, no. Sugawara enjoys every second with you and thinks you don’t have to rush into anything. He wants it all to be special that you will remember these milestones for a long time, and smile while thinking of them.

F = Fiancee (do they want to get married)

He definitely wants to marry you. Even if weddings become increasingly out of fashion, it is part of a relationship for him. He would love to see you in a wedding dress, and would cry inwardly with joy when you walk to the altar. Sometimes when he puts his signature under an exam, he leans back in his chair and silently mumbles your name with his last name.

G = Gentleman (how gentle are they)

Sugawara is very gentle and attentive. Whether it is his touch, how he gently lays his hand on your shoulder, or your conversations, where he’s just fixating on you. But he can also be rough, then only unintentionally, when you fight playfully and he accidentally kicks you out of bed because he forgets that he is much stronger than you.

H = Hugs (do they like hugs/cuddles)

It depends on where you are. At home, he loves to cuddle or hug you. Whether it’s small gentle hugs or swinging twists with you in his arms. He loves it to cuddle in the evening, before you sleep. But his favourite position is, you both are facing each other with your arms draped around your body’s. You can look each other in the eye. And that’s what Sugawara loves, watching you full of love while caressing your form.

I = I love you (how fast do they say it)

Unlike in the evolution of your relationship, it happened quickly when Sugawara said ‘I love you.’ for the first time. And even now he whispers to you every night a fond ‘I love you’ before he gives you a kiss on the shoulder and falls asleep.

J = Jealousy (how jealous do they get, what do they do when they’re jealous)

Sugawara is not jealous, he trusts you completely. But if it should come to a situation where he gets jealous, he would wave and come to your side with a broad grin to give you a smack on the cheek. He would also leave you quickly if you want to, but not without telling you how much he loves you. Hoping the person in front of you understands you are in a relationship with Sugawara.

K = Kisses (how are their kisses)

His kisses are usually playful and loving. Fleeting and brief kisses on the lip followed by a cheerful smile as he looks into your eyes is his way of affection. Tongue kisses are rather rare. In the beginning he was nervous and overwhelmed with tongue kisses, and had more often accidentally hit his teeth against yours, but he got better and better.

L = Light up (what do they do to make you feel better after a rough day)

If you have a bad day, Sugawara immediately notices it. He makes you a hot tea or chocolate and snuggles you in a warm blanket. He listens to you if you want to let all the negative out while he’s standing behind the sofa scratching your head. If you still don’t feel better after that, he stretches out his hand, tense it and knocks with the side of his hand on your shoulder, with the words ‘out with the negative energy!’

M = Mornings (how you start the day)

In the week you get up alone, because Sugawara has to get up before you. On weekends, he likes to lie in bed with you. Usually you get up before him, make a nice breakfast before you wake him up with the meanwhile bright sun rays. You have breakfast together while talking about what you are going to do today.

N = Nurse (how do they take care of you when you’re sick)

If you are sick, he will make you a lot of tea and bring you some of the delicious chicken soup his mother made especially for you. He always reminds you to drink and eat a lot, but leaves you alone in bed most of the time, since he knows you need rest to get fit again. Still, he checks the bedroom every hour to see if you need anything.

O = Open (when would they start revealing things about themselves)

Sugawara is more of a listener than a speaker. That’s why he reveals nothing unless you ask him to. He has no problem talking to you about himself, only he prefers to talk about you. Even in the beginning it was okay with him to reveal things about himself if you asked him.

P = Pregnancy (do they want kids, how are they in your pregnancy)

He definitely wants kids, but he isn’t pushy about this topic. Step by step. Sugawara would barely change in your pregnancy. He would just pay more attention to buying food that you can eat. He tries to be present at all gynaecological appointments, even if he does not always make it. Sugawara would be incredibly proud and would tell his friends about the fact that you two will soon have offspring.

Q = Quarrels (how is it to have a fight with them)

You don’t know exactly what it’s like to argue with him, since you almost have no quarrels. Sugawara always tries to settle everything as peacefully and adult as possible, so that there is no quarrel, since he hates it to see you upset.

At your wedding he is the happiest man on earth when he sees you in the beautiful dress before him. So damn happy that he’s crying. You have a small wedding, only with your closest friends and relatives. You have rented a room and spend your wedding there classically and comfortably, with wonderful food, a small wedding cake and calm music.

R = Rings (how do they propose, the wedding, the honeymoon)

His proposal was well prepared. Sugawara had recreated your first encounter. He called you to go to Ukai’s store, because he wouldn’t make it to the restaurant in time. He was just waiting for you to come through the door when Ukai asked if you were looking for the new cafe. At first you were confused, but you could tell from Sugawara’s smile that there is more behind all this. So you played along and Sugawara and you were back at the cafe. When he asked you the same questions as he did when you first met you thought this was the cutest date ever. But you were wrong. In the evening you stood at your doorstep, as he took your hands in his, playing with the back of your hand. It was just the same gesture as years ago, where he confessed his feelings. Yet, it was another kind of confession. It was a proposal full of love.

You spend your honeymoon at home. Because that’s where you feel most comfortable. You sleep long, start your day with cuddling sessions while you sit on the terrace until night afterwards, as Sugawara raises your hand and kisses the no longer empty spot on your ring finger with the words “My beloved Mrs. Sugawara.”

S = Secrets (do they keep secrets from you)

He has no secrets from you. Everything that matters, he tells you without hesitation. If he hides something, then only because he has forgotten to say it, so unintentionally.

T = Try (how much effort would they put into dates, anniversaries, gifts, everyday tasks)

He would put a lot of effort into the relationship. After all, he wants you to lack nothing. He loves to see you smile. You always go to a restaurant or cafe together after work. Also, he often gives you something, but mostly small things that have a deeper meaning. For example, a necklace which reminds you of your first vacation. He also does not shy away from daily chores, he makes breakfast, laundry and goes grocery shopping during the week.

U = Ugly (their bad habits)

He’s not a big talker, so he often carries his insecurity and negative feelings around until you talk to him about it. He often thinks that he didn’t deserve you. Another bad habit is that he distributes his pens everywhere in the apartment and never knows where he put them down.

V = Voicing (how hard is it for them to talk about their feelings)

It’s not really hard for him to talk about his feelings. Only he does not talk about them without being asked, because he finds them too unimportant and does not want to burden others with it. But when it comes to expressing his love for you, he does so without hesitation. He tells you how happy you make him every day.

W = Waking up (how is it to wake up by their side)

Waking up next to Sugawara can be nice but also exciting. He rarely wakes up before you, then strokes your cheek while watching you until you wake up. He greets you with his angelic smile and a gentle ‘good morning’. You cuddle for a while before you get up, have breakfast together and then get ready for the day. But most of the time you get awake through his arm in your face, his loud snoring because he’s lying on his back. You get up to let the bright light into the room because that’s the only thing that really helps to wake him up. While Sugawara is still busy getting up, you prepare breakfast and push the hot coffee into his hand while he strolls into the kitchen like a zombie.

X = XOXO (PDA, kisses or hugs in public)

He enjoys being close to you, but he’s not one to be extremely touchy. Most of the time, Sugawara walks beside you, always looking down at you to give you a friendly smile. But if you are in the city where several people are too, he likes to hold your hand or just your little finger. Also, he does not like to kiss you properly, because this beautiful look of you after your kiss no one but himself may see. But he likes to give you a smooch on the cheek to say goodbye, or hello, or if he notices men are watching you.

Y = Yuck (what are some things they wouldn’t like, either in general or in a partner)

In general, Sugawara hates arguments. He just doesn’t feel comfortable with them and doesn’t want to hurt the other person’s feelings and probably barley soup. In a partner Sugawara wouldn’t like it if you’re not self-employed or if you would dislike his friends.

Z = Zzz (what is a sleep habit of theirs, does it change around a partner)

Sugawara always sleeps on his back. At first, it looked frightening how little he had moved, almost like a corpse. But you quickly learned that he uses his arms to stretch them all over the bed. Sugawara needs a blanket to sleep properly, and only a pillow because several would disturb him. During the week he tries to fall asleep around 10pm, but he rarely succeeds. Most of the time he stays awake into the night to correct exams or to write new plays for his team. Therefore, he often lacks sleep, which is why he probably wants to sleep for a long time on the weekend. What’s changed since he’s been with you is that he’s snuggled up with you until you fall asleep before he lies on his back again and that he is less awake into the night, since he always gets tired when he cuddles with you and then usually briefly falls asleep after you.

#haikyuu #haikyuu x reader #sugawara x reader #koushi x reader #nelas easter event

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unholyobsessions · 4 years ago

Text

Scavenger Hunt

Pairing: Julie x Luke

Description: After a not seeing each other for years, Julie and Luke are brought back together by their home town’s annual Christmas scavenger hunt

Requested: Yes @riverdalefan2019

Warnings: none i think

Word Count: 4.6k (i know it’s long. please give it a chance)

Masterlist

High school relationships don’t last. That’s what Luke and Julie heard all the time. They started dating halfway through Freshmen year, during Christmas to be more specific.

They live in quite a small town so it is quite normal for everyone to host different activities, one of the most popular being the Christmas Scavenger Hunt. It’s a tradition going as far as well…Julie isn’t sure how long. Everyone participates, the only rule is if you’re younger than fifteen you have to be paired with an adult.

After turning fifteen Julie is excited to finally get paired with someone around her age instead of neighbors and family members. When the mayor announced her name along with Luke Patterson she froze. She and Luke had been in the same class their whole lives but never really interacted as they were on very different sides of the social spectrum. While he hung out with the ‘cool’ kids she stuck with the ‘nerds.’ She never minded but there was always a part of her that was extremely curious of the brown haired boy.

They worked surprisingly well together, and for the first time in twenty years, two teenagers won the hunt. Right after they were given their small trophy he asked her out on a date and things sort of just proceeded from there.

Looking back, Julie doesn’t regret anything, but she does wish they had broken up before they left for college. They were so sure that they could survive the distance, that they would prove everyone wrong. The only thing they managed to accomplish was missing each other, losing their trust, and extinguishing their spark. Days consisted heated arguments over the phone and words that they couldn’t take back. It ended the same way it started, one chilly December night.

Luke stood at Julie’s doorstep with tears streaming down his face and she had to look away. Words were exchanged, hearts were broken, and all Julie could do was accept it as Luke walked away from her.

That was years ago though and Julie is completely over it. She’s now a high school music teacher and choir director.

She’s dismissing the Junior class that she had for last period when a familiar face pokes through the door.

“Mr. Mercer, to what do I owe the pleasure?” Julie turned back to her desk, knowing that Alex would follow her into the room.

“Well Miss Molina, as it is tradition, Willie and I are inviting you to Christmas at our house and as it is tradition you will say,” Alex pauses and gestures a hand toward her, causing Julie to laugh lightly and roll her eyes.

“That you don’t have to. However, I do have plans this Christmas,” Julie says as she starts collecting the papers on her desk. Alex gapes at her, at a loss of words and thankfully he doesn’t have to say anything because another voice breaks through the silence.

“What is this I hear? Julie actually has plans and won’t spend her Christmas moping alone in her apartment?” Willie walks in and stops next to Alex, throwing an arm over his shoulder. Alex smiles and unconsciously leans into him. Julie smiles at them and has to remind herself that she is supposed to be annoyed at them.

“Hey!” She calls out in protest. “I do not mope and yes I do have plans. My parents want me to go home this year after years of avoiding it.”

Alex nod in understanding. “Ah yes. Avoiding the high school ex. Really mature Julie.” Willie snorts but immediately covers it up with a cough when he catches Julie’s glare.

Julie reaches across her desk to slap Alex’s arm, who pouts adorably at her. “Shut up Alex. I’m not avoiding him exactly. It’s just,” she pauses and looks down at her hands, which are playing with the many bracelets tied around her wrists.

“I know Jules. I’m sorry.” Alex pulls away from Julie and pulls her into a hug. “If you get sick of being home, we’re staying here this New Year’s since Willie’s parents are out of the country. Remember our apartment is always open to you.”

“Actually I’m begging you to be here on New Years, Alex always fall asleep at ten thirty,” Willie speaks up and Alex throws whatever his hand grabs first which happens to be a pencil. Willie quickly crouches down and throws an incredulous look at his husband. Alex shrugs and Julie laughs loudly, throwing an arm around her friend’s waist and leaning into him.

. . .

Luke definitely got over it. Sure he was convinced that Julie was the love of his life and he would never find anyone as great as her but who needs love, right? He sure doesn’t, not when he has a bunch of six-year-old children crowding around him as he strums his guitar before nap time.

Luke loves his job more than life itself so it is a little bittersweet saying goodbye to them the day winter break is set to begin.

“Have a nice Christmas Mr. Patterson!” A cheery girl covered in a coat that is way too big on her called from her mother’s side.

“You too Chrissy, see you in January,” he answers before closing the door and letting out a sigh. That was the last of them. He walks back to his desk and collapses on his chair, a small sigh leaving his lips as he closes his eyes.

The sound of the door opening makes him sit up and he wonders if anyone left something behind. He relaxes once he sees it’s Reggie, who is balancing two cups of what is presumably hot chocolate in his hands as he pushes the door closed with his hip.

“And the kiddies are gone,” Reggie says, handing Luke one of the cups and sitting on the edge of the desk.

“That they are. I’m going to miss them.” Luke takes a sip and hisses when the drink burns his tongue.

Reggie chuckles and pats his knee. “You say that every year man. They’ll be back to annoy us faster than you’ll realize.”

Luke smiles, knowing he’s right. He and Reggie started working the same year and became fast friends with ‘Mr. Peters’ being the first grade teacher two doors down.

“Any plans this year Reg?”

“Nothing big. My sister’s coming over in a few days and will stay the rest of the break.” Reggie takes a sip of his drink and smiles a little.

“That’s great. I know how much you miss her.”

“How about you?” Reggie asks, wanting the attention off of him for a while. “What are doing this Christmas? Wallowing in self pity and loneliness like you do every year?”

“Ha ha. If you must know, I’m going home. My mom’s been bothering me about it ever since I graduated but I always found an excuse not to. This year however, she said that if I didn’t visit her for Christmas she would come here and drag me by the ear so…I figured it was best to comply.”

Reggie snorts. “Bad memories back home?” He asks, wondering why Luke always refused to go home for the holidays.

Luke shrugs. “Something like that.” If you count getting dumped on Christmas Eve as bad, then definitely.

They sit in silence a few seconds, neither knowing what else to say and eventually they bid each other goodbye. Luke packs up his stuff and shoves everything into his back pack, looking around the room one last time before turning the light off and locking the door.

. . .

“Okay now next up is Luke Patterson and Julie Molina.”

It really wasn’t supposed to happen like this. Luke and Julie haven’t seen each other in over eight years and the first time they do should not be this way.

Julie thought it would be fun to participate in the scavenger hunt again this year. Her parents encouraged her to do so, telling her she couldn’t let a past relationship ruin one of her favorite holiday traditions.

Luke was forced into it by his parents. They reminded him that Christmas was not complete without the scavenger hunt and that he needed to participate.

They both regretted being such good son and daughter and listening to their parents.

It sort of felt like time was frozen. They both knew there was no backing out, rules were rules. You keep your partner, no switches.

Julie makes her way to the stage and once she starts going up the steps she looks up. She meets Luke’s eyes from across the stage and she resists the urge to run away. They meet at the podium and avoid looking at each other the whole time. The host gives them the list of items they need to find and a knowing smile.

They stand next to each other awkwardly until the end of the pairing ceremony and stay frozen for a few seconds even after the host yelled, “GO!”

Julie clears her throat. “Sooo-”

“We don’t have to do this,” Luke interjects. “Really we can just pretend we did.”

“It’s tradition,” Julie says, surprising even herself. “We don’t break tradition. We’re both adults come on hand me that thing and let’s get going.”

Luke stares at her, completely flabbergasted, as she takes the paper from his hands and starts scanning the list. He quickly snaps out of it and begins to read over her shoulder, slightly breathing down her neck. Julie shivers unconsciously and tries to ignore him as best as she can.

“Okay we can get the Christmas decorations at my place, we have extras in the garage. The gingerbread cookie house ingredients at the convenience store,” Julie keeps listing off where they should get each item and Luke makes a mental note of everything, listening intently to her. He never realized how much he missed the sound of her voice.

Once Julie’s done speaking she is slightly out of breath and her eyes are unfocused from staring at the paper for so long. When she starts to walk in the general direction of her house, she stumbles and is fully prepared to hit the floor. She squeezes her eyes shut and awaits the impact but it never comes. Luke is gripping her elbow tightly, but not enough to hurt, and his other arm is snaked around her waist. Julie opens her eyes and looks up at him, her breath hitching once she meets his gaze. They are frozen for a second, neither knowing how to react, being this close feeling both foreign and like coming home.

Luke clears his throat, a blush covering his cold cheeks as he takes a step back and away from her. Julie snaps back into motion almost immediately, speed walking the familiar path to her childhood home. Luke follows a step behind her, keeping his distance in an attempt to ease the tension he had created. Once they reach the house Julie turns back to Luke with a determined look in her eyes.

“Okay I’m pretty sure I have some paper snowflakes in a box up in my room. You go to the garage and get the Christmas lights and the old reindeer with the broken leg alright? You know where they are.” Julie immediately turns back around and starts jogging up the stairs and Luke is sure that if she were slightly taller she would be taking two at a time.

With a small shake of his head, Luke starts navigating around the house, his feet recognizing the correct way to the garage door before he even has time to think about it. He swiftly grabs the small step ladder leaning against the wall by the door as he makes his way to the shelving unit containing the left over decorations. Climbing up to the second step he reaches up and grabs two small boxes of lights, one multi-colored and one plain white, and the box containing the broken reindeer. He steps down and opens the box, a slight pain pulling at his heartstrings when he looks at the dust covered fictional animal with a bright red nose that no longer lights up.

. . .

“Luke just pass me the ball already!” Julie tries to sound annoyed but the laughter bubbling up in the back of her throat is spilling out into her words.

“Jules it’s not really that hard, just try to take the ball away from me,” Luke teases, a wide grin spread across his face, his foot resting above the soccer ball.

“I’m going to kick you in the shin, that’s what I’m going to do,” his girlfriend threatens, a playful glare sent his way.

Luke raises his arms in defense. “Hey, you’re the one that wants to try out for soccer. Just come here.” Julie reluctantly walks up to him and he pulls her into a hug, pressing a kiss to the top or her head. Julie uses this to her advantage and kicks the ball hard from under his foot. She whoops in triumph but is inevitably silenced by the loud crash of something breaking.

Both their heads turn to the direction of the sound, groaning when they see the exact decoration they broke. It was Mr. Molina’s favorite, he had bought it when he was in his early twenties and insisted to put out each year even though it was old and fragile and no longer seemed very ’spirity.’

“What was that?” Was called from inside the house.

Julie and Luke turn to each other and yell in perfect sync, “Run!”

. . .

Luke is snapped out of his memory by Julie’s voice calling from further inside the house.

“Did you find them?”

He clears his throat and blinks the tears he hadn’t even noticed were building behind his eyes away. “Yeah, coming.” He picks everything up and meets Julie in the hallway. She’s holding a ziplox bag filled with paper snowflakes and another filled with different colored tinsel.

Luke follows her out of the house and to where Julie’s car is parked in front of the street and he assumes that, that is where they will be storing their items.

Julie does not know what she was thinking when she agreed to do this. Just being in Luke’s presence brings back memories that she would rather forget. She walks faster than him, hoping that the distance serves as a sort of buffer from his intense gaze.

After stuffing all of the items in the car she takes out the list from her pocket. They’re missing a good amount of items, most of which they can find at their local convenience store so she decides that will be their next location.

She tells Luke as such and doesn’t bother to see if he’s following before she starts speed walking away from her house. Julie’s having trouble wrapping her head around being home. It’s been years since she’s been here, yet everything feels the same. She knows these streets like the back of her hand and she’s sure that she could go walk with her eyes closed. She’s doing the same silly activity with the same person she actually remembers doing it with. She feels like she’s in high school again and she’s not sure what to make of it.

Lost in her thoughts, Julie doesn’t realize that they have arrived until Luke places a hand on her shoulder to stop her. She looks up over her shoulder to meet his eyes and just like in high school, she is absolutely captivated by them. Always a different color, Luke’s eyes always made her want to kiss him and she’s about to do so but the sound of a cart crashing against the store wall pulls her back to reality.

Julie pulls away from him quickly with a shake of her head. Luke pushes his hands into his pockets and holds open the door for Julie, who mumbles out a thanks.

With the thoughts of the scavenger hunt back in her mind, Julie shoos Luke off to find the ginger bread cookie box and three Santa hats each with a different design/color as she goes to find the blue candy canes and a gift bag with Santa and two elves on it. Once they have gathered their assigned items, they meet in the cake isle where they will try to find the dreaded peppermint frosting.

Always on the list, this particular cylinder of frosting is always out of stock by the time they get there, only managing to get it once before which was the first time they were paired together.

Their eyes scan the shelves in a haste, scared that another team will show up any second. When they’re about to give up, Julie sees it. Far up in the tallest shelf is the last container. She shoves everything in her arms into Luke’s.

Refusing to accept Luke’s help, Julie climbs up the shelves, her feet struggling to find stability as her arm reaches up. A small smile pulls at her lips as she is finally able to touch the container of peppermint frosting.

And in that moment, Luke remembers why he fell in love with her. As he sees the determination in her eyes, loose strands of hair falling out of her ponytail and framing her face, arm stretched as far as it will go and fingers tapping the plastic cylinder of holiday sweetness in an attempt to get it within grasping distance, and a small grunt leaving her lips, he falls in love all over again.

If he’s being honest with himself, he never stopped loving her. Some nights, right before he went to sleep, he could picture her smiling up at him after he said some stupid joke. He could hear her laugh after he hit the ground during roller skating. He could see her walking down the stairs in her prom dress, hair and makeup done to perfection, when Luke thought she could never look more beautiful.

But some nights, those he struggled to fall asleep, restlessness filling his whole being trying to escape, he saw the tears streaming down her face as she looked down at her shoes to avoid eye contact. He could hear the sobs leave her lips and the way her voice sounded horse after a screaming match over the phone. He could see her standing by her door as he looks over his shoulder before walking away away from her one last time.

He never stopped loving her and, as a result, his heart never healed. And he will be damned if he has to walk away from her again.

Julie jumps down, a big smile on her face that Luke can’t help but return.

They run back to Julie’s car a few blocks away, laughter escaping them from deep in their chests like giddy school children on the first snow day of the year. They throw everything in and Julie expects the atmosphere to change back to their awkward exchanges, as it had all night. But it didn’t.

Luke throws an arm around her shoulders and she leans into the embrace, fitting into his arm like a lost piece of a puzzle. She allows herself to feel this comfort, this unadulterated happiness for at least a few seconds.

“What’s next?” Luke’s voice is a whisper, and if Julie hadn’t been so close his question would have been lost with the wind.

“Umm,” Julie has to pull away in order to retrieve the list form her pocket and she does so reluctantly. “Two oddly shaped pinecones, five tree branches, and a picture of our names spelled out in snow.”

Luke nods and gestures in the general direction of the park. “Let’s go.” He holds out his hand and Julie takes it with no hesitation. Their fingers intertwine and Julie swears she feels a shock go up her arm and straight to her heart.

“Do you still play music?” Julie asks, not wanting to walk in awkward silence anymore.

“Yeah, I mean I play the guitar and sing to my kindergarten class everyday and I still write sometimes. Mostly though I’m just focused on teaching.” He smiles at the thought because even though he had dreams of being a rock star, he really cannot imagine himself as anything other than a teacher. “What about you?”

“Well I’m the music teacher at a high school as well as the choir director so yeah. I basically live music.” Julie looks up at Luke to see him already looking down at her. She knows what he’s thinking, she always does, it’s the same thing she wants to tell him. I’m so glad that you’re still playing, because music has always been their happiness. She sends him a smile, a way to tell him I know and he squeezes her hand in return.

They don’t let go of each other even as they arrive to the snow covered park. They do let go however when they go in their search for pinecones, Luke saying he’ll get the branches as well.

Julie looks up after picking up a pinecone she categorizes as ‘odd’ to see Luke with his arms raised, breaking a branch from a tree and her heart speeds up.

. . .

It’s summer and Luke thought it would be the best idea to drive them up to the Orchard a few hours away.

When Julie told him that she had never been apple picking, he proclaimed it as the greatest tragedy to ever exist. Julie had rolled her eyes but readily agreed to his suggestion.

The long car ride is spent jamming out to Luke’s “greatest road trip playlist to ever grace this earth” and when they arrive Julie cannot suppress the smile that fills her face at Luke’s excitement.

“Come on Molina, I’m going to show you how it’s done.” With a basket in hand, Luke reaches up and pulls out the first apple of their trip. Julie follows after him, laughter bubbling up in her throat as she raises her arm high above her head.

Unable to reach her desired apple, she turns to Luke with a pout gracing her lips. Luke shakes his head and snakes his bare arms around her waist. Lifting her swiftly off the ground, he is able to help Julie pulls the apple out. He gently starts to lower her, stopping when they are face to face and Julie’s feet are dangling a few inches above the ground.

“What-“ Luke cuts her off and closes the short distance between them, smiling against his girlfriend’s lips. Julie pulls away with a giggle, wiggling until her feet hit the ground. She pulls Luke to another, smaller, tree where she hopes to actually be able to reach by herself.

. . .

A snowball to the face brings her back to reality. Her head snaps up and she is met with Luke bent over in laughter. Julie drops the pinecone in her hands and starts to maneuver her very own snow ball. Positioning her arm back, she throws with as much force as her body can muster and a proud yell escapes her lips when it hits Luke straight in the face.

“Oh it’s on Molina!” Luke yells before crouching down and piling snow up in his hands.

“Bring it Patterson!” Julie follows his lead, and that is how they find themselves, scavenger hunt forgotten. Just two young adults in love, finally finding their way back to each other.

They throw large amounts of snow at each other, by the end not even shaped into balls. Laughter fills the air and for the first time in a long time, it feels like Christmas. They collapse next each other on the snow, out of breath and with smiles on their faces.

They both turn to look at each other and time stops. It’s just the two of the them, forever in this moment, each trying to tell the other how they feel.

“Jules-“ Luke is cut off.

The bell. The hunt is over. Someone else won. This isn’t their happily ever after. They didn’t win.

Julie scrambles up, dusting off her jeans with her gloved hands. She hears Luke call out her name again, but she ignores him, her thoughts to keep walking louder than her heart telling her to turn around.

“Julie!” Luke is in front of her now, his hands are on her shoulders, halting her movements. She looks up at him and immediately wishes she didn’t. His eyes are pleading for her to give him a chance and Julie has always been a sucker for his eyes.

“What?” She hopes that her harsh tone is enough to defer him, but Luke is anything if not stubborn.

“Please Julie I-“ Luke realizes that he has no idea what he wants to say, he just knows what he feels and he has never been good at expressing his feelings. Not unless he has a guitar in his hands and his journal in front of him.

Julie is looking at him expectantly and Luke does the only thing he can think to do at the moment. He kisses her. He kisses her like it’s both the first and last time. He kisses her like he has wanted to do all day long. He conveys everything he’s feeling, every ounce of exasperation, frustration, happiness, sadness, and love. He puts all the love he feels for her into the kiss and hopes it’s enough.

Julie is shocked at first but quickly melts into him. Her minds is yelling at her to stop, but for once she deicides to listen to her heart, who is telling her that she meant to do nothing more than kiss Luke at this very moment. She is overcome with emotion at the feeling of his lips pressed against hers, that just yesterday were only a distant memory.

They inevitably break the kiss and Luke is scared to open his eyes, scared that this is all fake, and when he opens them he’ll be back in his classroom, about to dismiss his students.

Julie opens her eyes first and places her hands on Luke’s cheeks, prompting him to open his.

“Luke we can’t,” Julie whispers, no matter how much it hurts her to speak those words.

“Why?” Luke’s heart breaks but he refuses to let her go. Not again, not ever. “Julie if there is one thing I am sure of in this world is that I am meant to be with you.”

“But we live completely different lives now! You can’t just expect me to drop everything I have worked for,” Julie exclaims, completely exasperated.

“Then I’ll move,” Luke reasons.

Julie shakes her head. “No I can’t ask that of you.”

Luke takes her hands, which have fallen to her sides. He kisses the inside of each wrist and Julie releases a content hum. “You’re not asking anything Jules. I don’t care where I am. Anywhere not with you will never be home.”

Julie doesn’t know when she started crying and only realizes it when Luke reaches froward to wipe away her tears. “I-“

“Stop thinking about the technicalities for just one second. Do you want to be with me?” Luke is more scared of the answer than he should be. Everything is riding on her response to his question.

Julies breathes in deep through her nose and releases it through her mouth, the cold weather making her able to see her breath form before her. “More than anything.”

Luke grins and Julie can’t help but grin back at him. Standing on her tiptoes, Julie pulls Luke’s face to hers, relishing in the feeling of his lips that she will never have to worry about forgetting again.

“I love you,” Julie mumbles against his lips, not wanting to wait for him to pull away completely.

With a grin, Luke replies, “I love you too.”

#julie molina #luke patterson #Julie and Luke #luke and julie #julie x luke #luke x julie #juke #jukebox #jukebox fic #julie and the phantoms #julie and the phantoms fanfic #julie and the phantoms fanfiction #jatp #jatp fanfic #jatp fanfiction #julie and the himbos #julie and the fat ones

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ctay21 · 4 years ago

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The Scavenger Hunt

(Marco x Fem s/o Reader)

Hey guys! I wrote this for @mooshs-crack-headcanons 300 follower special! I am still new to writing fanfic but also still feel new to the fandom. So, I hope you guy’s enjoy! I had a ton of fun writing this and kept giving myself mini fangirl heart attacks. My prompt was Ideal Date. Just call me spontaneous, Whoops! Also there’s no trigger warnings other than big fluff. Also anything in italics is a memory/flashback. Enjoy!

It was a regular day on the Moby Dick. You had gotten all your baking done a little early in the kitchen. So Thatch asked you to take inventory of the stock because we were approaching an island. Knowing you can’t say no to your commander, you grab the clipboard to start inventory and head to the storeroom.

Grumbling to yourself because you had to yet again recount the same thing you were trying to count five times already. Mainly, people kept interrupting you and you were starting to get really frustrated because all the interruptions made you lose count. Thinking to yourself the next time someone dares to interrupt you. Let’s just say it wasn’t going to be pretty. You were crouched down counting vegetables. When out of the corner of your eye you suddenly see Thatch’s face.

Seeing his face so suddenly scared you and made you jump up really quickly. Also because it scared you so much you instinctively turned and punched his arm. Trying to calm your heart rate down you slightly scream “What the heck Thatch, a little warning would be appreciated next time! You almost gave me a heart attack!”

“OW! I was talking to you when I walked back here, I thought you heard me!” Thatch said while holding his arm pretending to look wounded.

“Well you know how I get when I’m focused. Also I’m not apologizing for punching you, you probably deserved it.” You said while crossing your arms, over the clipboard you were holding.

“Well excuse me. I guess I’m not gonna tell you what I just saw then.” Thatch said while turning back around to walk out of the storeroom.

“Wait!! Fine, I’m sorry! What were you gonna tell me?” You quickly yelled before he could walk out the door.

“Ahhhh.. I knew that would get an apology out of you. Anyway, I saw Ace walk out of your room about twenty minutes ago. I think he set up another prank. You should go check your room before something either explodes or something bad happens. You know how he is.” Thatch said while grabbing the unfinished inventory list from you.

“Ugh! He’s the worst! He either goes way to big, or way to small with pranks. Why people call him Prank Sinatra, I will never understand. Thanks for telling me, are you gonna finish up or do I need to come back?” You asked Thatch while letting go of your clipboard.

“Nah, I’ll finish up. Be careful, who knows what Ace did this time.” Thatch called out to you before you walked out the door.

“Ok thanks! I’ll be careful.” You called back before heading to your room.

Being on the lookout for things that aren’t supposed to be there, you cautiously approached your bedroom door. Seeing nothing tied to the handle or anything sticking out of the door. You turned the handle and pushed the door open quickly, thinking something might splash on you from the top. Nothing happened, walking all the way in the room you’re still searching for something out of the ordinary. You’re so focused on some dumb prank and looking for something small around your room that you failed to notice what’s on your bed. When you finally turn around and look at your bed, you gasp and cover your mouth really quickly.

On top of your bed is the cutest romper you had ever seen along with a pair of matching converse and a note on top addressed to you. Walking over to the bed you admire the outfit first. It’s white with a red and pink rose floral pattern, it has a halter top neckline, and the shorts came halfway down your thigh. Picking it up you noticed it was open-backed. Smiling at your new favorite outfit, you lay it down and pick up the note with your name on it. Written in your amazing boyfriend’s doctor handwriting. Opening the note you look down and start reading.

“My dearest, (y/n). I have a surprise waiting for you. Please put on the outfit I laid out for you. I hope to see you at 7. Follow the clues to find me. Good luck! Love, Marco Your first clue is: Go to where we shared our first kiss.”

Looking at your clock, you notice that it’s already 4:30. How many clues are there, you think to yourself. Hopefully you can find them all and especially find him by 7! Rushing around your room, you quickly get changed. Looking in the mirror one last time you realize how cute this romper looks on you and how amazing it is that Marco found it just for you. Putting on your new converse because he knows that you’ll never wear anything else, even if it’s supposed to be fancy. You can put the girl in a nice outfit, but you can’t take her out of her converse. Which is something you have told him multiple times. You look at the clock one last time before you rush out of your room. It’s 4:45 which means you have two hours and fifteen minutes to finish Marco’s surprise scavenger hunt.

Remembering clue number one, you start to head to the stern of the ship. While on your way you reminisced about your first kiss. You were in the middle of passionately telling Marco about something. You couldn’t even remember what it was because all you can remember is the next moment. Marco had grabbed you with both of his hands, one on each side of your face and immediately kissed you. That first kiss took your breath away, just thinking about it takes your breath away all over again. He was so passionate and gentle all at the same time, his lips were as soft as you always thought they’d be. When he pulled back he just smiled at you and pretended like nothing happened and even motioned for you to continue your story. Like you could even think after a kiss like that.

Shaking your head at the memory you finally reach your destination, Izo is standing there waiting for you.

“Well (y/n), are you ready for clue number two?” Izo asked while smirking and holding out another note addressed to you.

“Izo, you’re in on this too? Can’t you just please tell me where he is, I’m too anxious! I need to know!” You exclaimed, while reaching for the next clue.

“Aww. Where would be the fun in that. It’d ruin the surprise! I’m not telling you, also I think if I did Marco would throw me off the side of the ship. So you’re just gonna have to figure it out (y/n).” Izo said as he walked away from you, leaving you with the note.

Rolling your eyes at Izo because you should’ve known that he was gonna say that. You open up your next clue. It said

“When you were talking that day, the passion in your eyes was so beautiful. That I couldn’t help myself but grab your face and kiss you. The blush you had went on for days and I thought you had never been so cute. Now head to where we both said “I love you” for the first time.”

Smiling at the clue, you take off towards Marco’s office. Remembering that day like it was yesterday, you think back to that moment. The Whitebeard Pirates had just fought a group of marines that tried to ambush them on an island that we had just docked at. Within the hour the marines were defeated and we had already sailed away and lost them. You unfortunately got a deep cut on your right shoulder from a stray sword you couldn’t block in time. You headed to Marco to get stitches and as he was treating you he was yelling at you about how careless you were and seemed to be about your injury. Which led to a major fight. In the middle of the fight he yelled out.

“I LOVE YOU! Look (y/n), I know you are really strong and a great fighter. Just please be careful and more aware. I just can’t lose you.”

You started crying and pulled him into a hug.

“I love you too. I do take this seriously and you won’t lose me.” you whispered in his ear.

Pulling yourself out of memory lane, you walk into his office and sitting on the table where Marco gave you your stitches was Ace.

“Wow.. So did you really go in my room or was Thatch just saying that to get me to go in my room looking for something?” You accused while walking up to Ace reaching for the next clue.

“Nah. It wasn’t me who did that, but pranking you is something I do enjoy doing. So Thatch had a great excuse.” Ace laughed while handing you the next clue.

“Yea, too bad you do the worst pranks. I wonder how many clues there are, it’s already 5:30 and he expects me to find him by 7.”You muttered to yourself. Breaking the seal and opening the third clue.

“Hey! I do great and funny pranks! You just don’t have a sense of humor. Honestly I don’t know how many he has (y/n), but read the note aloud! I wanna know what it says!” Ace said excitedly bouncing in his seat, while also trying to defend his subpar pranking abilities.

“Fine, It says. I was so upset that day, because I felt a fraction of what I think it would feel like to lose you. I never want to feel that way again. I promise to always protect you and love you. Let’s go back to where this all began. Your next destination is the spot where we first met.” You read out loud as you tried not to cry over Marco’s sweet promise.

“Wow. Marco is way smoother than I gave him credit for. Also he’s super cheesy. So where did you guys first meet?” Ace asked while he hopped down off the table.

“We actually first met on the deck, he was sitting next to Pops. Thatch brought me to the ship wanting to bring me on as his Sous Chef/Pastry Chef and when has Pops ever turned someone who needed a family away.” You said as you started walking out the door headed for the deck to see Pops, turning your head and looking at Ace as you said the last part.

It was a dreary day on a random island on the grand line. It was pouring down outside the little cafe you owned. Two men ran into the cafe to get out of the rain, you later found out their names were Thatch and Jozu. Since there were no other customers you decided to take them up on their offer and sit down with them and get to know each other. When you started talking about how you were all alone on this island with no family and no one really to call friends both Thatch and Jozu demanded you come join their crew and be a part of their family. Thatch especially after he tasted how delicious your cooking and baking were. You were a little weary just because, well they were pirates but so far they seemed like really good people. You also had always dreamed of adventure and a place far away from all these bad memories. So you packed your essentials and took off with them and never looked back. You finally had a family and a dad who loves you and all his children unconditionally.

While on your way to see Pops, you couldn’t help but think about how different your life would’ve been if Thatch and Jozu never ran into your cafe all those years ago. You wouldn't have the family or friends you trusted. All the adventures you’ve been on wouldn’t have happened. Most importantly, you would have never met the love of your life, Marco. That is what you would’ve missed out on the most.

Stepping out onto the front deck, you noticed the sun was starting to go down and the sky was starting to turn a bright orange.

“Pops, please tell me this is the last one. It’s almost 7 and I still haven’t found Marco yet. Ace completely sidetracked me and I lost precious time. I’m worried I’ll ruin the surprise because I’ll be late.” You worried while walking up to your dad and hugging him.

“Yes my daughter, you can stop worrying now because this is the last clue and you will find him before 7 like I knew you would.” Pops reassured you as he handed you the last clue.

“Ohhh! Thank you!!” You exclaimed while ripping open the note to see where you can finally find Marco. Reading the note it said.

“I remember the first time I saw you. You didn’t notice me at first which is fine but you instantly captivated me. You had flour smudged on your face and it was clear you had just been pulled out of a bakery of some sort. I knew then just by looking at you that you were different and I had to get to know you. So that leads me to the final spot. Where we connected every time we sat and talked together. Go to where we eat every meal together.”

“What, this makes no sense. Why would Marco be at the table we eat at everyday? What’s the significance?” You asked confused while looking up at Pops. Who merely just shrugged his shoulders.

“Only one way to find out (y/n).” pops called out as you had already started walking towards the dining hall.

“Also when are you guys gonna start having KIDS?” Pops yelled out.

“POPS!! Stop!!” You yelled back flushing with embarrassment as some of the crew around heard what was said and started laughing.

“WHAT? I’m ready to be a grandpa!!” He yelled back at you, joining in with everyone laughing at the situation.

Feeling even more embarrassed all you could do was start running to where you knew you would find Marco.

Stopping right outside the dining room doors, to catch your breath from running all the way here. You continued to ponder on why here specifically. After catching your breath, you knew the only way to get an answer was to walk in and ask Marco himself.

Pushing open the doors to the dining room, you see him sitting exactly in the same spot he always sits in while eating. Although most everyone was here and had food in front of them, no one was eating. Everyone was patiently waiting to see what happens next. You slowly approached Marco and sat down in your seat opposite of him. Looking at him you couldn’t help the smile that graced your face. He had dressed up just for you, he was wearing a white button down shirt and black dress pants. He also had on a red tie that complemented the outfit he gave you. Looking back up at Marco he grabbed both your hands from across the table.

“Marco, I don’t understand. Did I miss an anniversary? I know I’m super forgetful but I never thought I would miss an important date.” You asked as you looked at him, all he did was lightly smile and shake his head.

“(Y/n), it was this very spot six months after getting to know you, three weeks before I kissed you, and two months before I told you I love you. It was this very spot that I first knew I was deeply in love with you. So in love with you that I couldn't get you out of my head and everyone was tired of me talking about you or asking about you. So they forced me to do something about it. That was one year ago today, that I came to this realization. I just really wanted to do something special for you and I know you love surprises and scavenger hunts.” Marco professed as he looked into your tear stained face. While the whole dining room is fangirling over their OTP being so cute.

“Why are you crying (y/n), I’m so sorry!” Marco panicked thinking he did something terribly wrong and trying to wipe your tears away.

“No No! Don’t be sorry! This is just the most sweetest thing someone has ever done for me and it makes me love you even more, which I didn’t know was even possible.” You said as you tried to hug Marco over the table.

“Hey, there’s more planned. Come on, follow me!” Marco said as he grabbed your hand and started walking back out onto the deck.

“Where are we going?” You asked once you were both on the front deck. By this time the sky was in full sunset mode and it was so beautiful.

“You’ll see, I don’t want to ruin the surprise. Hop on, we gotta fly there.” He said while he was helping you climb onto his back.

Flying with Marco was an experience you think you’ll never get used to. He’s so warm and the flight is always so relaxing that you have a hard time not falling asleep because you feel so safe and comforted with him. Getting to fly during sunsets was always your favorite. All the beautiful colors mixed with Marco’s phoenix coat, never failed to take your breath away.

Finally getting to your destination, it’s a cliff side picnic. Overlooking the ocean with the Moby Dick in the distance. There were a few candles around the blanket for light, since the sun was going down. It was simply picturesque and you still couldn’t believe that Macro did all this for you.

“I love you so much, but you really didn’t have to do this.” You told him, while you both were starting to eat the meal Thatch had prepared for the date.

“Yes I did, you deserve to be spoiled every once in a while (y/n). Also I wanted you to know about the significance of this day. I love you too and I can’t wait to spend many more years by your side.” Marco confessed, while grabbing your hand and kissing the back of it. You just smiled and shook your head at him.

The night went on very peacefully. After you both finished dinner it was finally dark outside. You blew out the candles and laid back on the blanket. You guys stargazed for about two hours, just cuddling and whispering about dreams and life in general. When it got too cold for you even with Marco’s heat. He packed everything up and flew you back to the ship. After changing and crawling into bed, right before sleep was about to take you. You turned over and looked at Marco.

“This was the most perfect date I think we’ve had yet. Thank you, Marco.” You whispered, Marco smiled and simply leaned forward and kissed your forehead. Then you drifted off into a blissful sleep next to the sweetest man you know.

#moosh's 300 follower - how did this happen special?!#one piece #marco the phoenix #marco x reader #one piece x reader #marco the phoenix x reader #ideal date #major fluff #my fan fic

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renaerys · 4 years ago

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PPG One-Shot: You Going to Todd’s? (Brick/Blossom)

My Powerpufftober fic! Still rocking the high school AU for this, so consider it a part 5 to the Shooketh, Not Stirred series. As always, can be read alone, but happens in the same universe as part 1, part 2, part 3, and part 4. This is also posted on my AO3.

Summary: Brick and Blossom go on a Halloween scavenger hunt. It sucks.

xxx

Blossom checked her watch for the fourth time in ten minutes. It was already a quarter past 9 p.m., her Frankentini was going flat in its plastic neon martini glass, and she was starting to regret coming to Todd’s overhyped Halloween party at all.

“Oh, hey Blossom,” said Harry Pitt, ferrying three bright glasses of the same watered down mixed drink Blossom was too preoccupied to enjoy. “You hanging out?”

Blossom smiled politely. “Hi, Harry. Just waiting for someone.”

Harry’s extra padded shoulders slumped in his pinstripe mafia boss costume. “Oh, let me guess.”

Blossom frowned, a reply on the tip of her tongue, but she bit it when precisely at that moment, Brick stormed through the front door like he was running from a zombie horde and desperate for a weapon. Todd himself spread his arms with a “What, your hairdresser keep you late?” and was almost mowed down with a cursory “Shut up, Todd.” Curiously, Brick made a beeline for the unpopulated second floor. He didn’t even see the other high school Seniors who barely dodged his path. Todd grimaced in his fake vampire fangs and chugged the rest of his beer. “Cool, catch up with you later, bruh!” he said, but no one was listening.

“Sorry, I have to go.” Blossom didn’t have time to feel bad about Harry’s dejected sigh as she ditched her drink and followed Brick upstairs. The Spotify Halloween playlist booming in the speakers faded to a low bass din as Blossom rounded the corner in the upstairs hallway. “Brick?” she called, a little annoyed.

No text, no call. He could have at least told her he’d be late so she could have timed her arrival better. With a mouthful of grievances and a heart full of him, she pushed open the lighted bathroom door at the end of the dark hall. “Brick, did you hear me calling—”

A fluttery and spine-chilling laugh slithered past the crack in the door and sank into her flesh like a snake bite. It arrested her where she stood halfway over the threshold, shackled in the throes of a very specific terror she could never forget.

Brick stood at the pedestal sink, his fingers attempting to fuse with the porcelain as he gripped it hard enough to crack and stared with manic focus at the mirror. All around them, the lyrical voice reverberated:

“Poor, angry boy, there’s yet no end to your suffering! For this next task, I want you on your knees groveling. Hide your tears And sharpen your shears— To save your brothers, make me a true offering.”

Brick snarled at his reflection, as if his demon might appear there in the mirror to throttle. But there was only him in the glass, furious and frothing under his red hoodie. “You have to be fucking kidding me.”

It took only a moment for Blossom to shake her stupor as instinct and training took over. “Brick,” she said, crossing the small bathroom to touch him.

Red eyes narrowed at her approach until the moment he recognized her beneath her smeared costume lipstick and dark eyeliner. “Blossom?” he rasped. His surprise made sense when she caught a glimpse of her own reflection in the mirror. Crop tops, fake bloodstains, and fishnets weren’t her normal style, but in a parallel nightmare universe perhaps they could have been.

The blushing eighteen-year-old boy in him went straight for her midriff, but his distress stayed his hand. “Fuck.” He rubbed his eyes.

“What’s going on?” she demanded.

“Nothing, just— Let me get in there.” He reached around her to pull open one of the drawers next to the sink in search of something.

“It’s not nothing.”

He didn’t answer as shut the drawer and checked the one below it.

“Brick, hey. You could have called me—”

With a snarl, he slammed the drawer closed and glared at her. “I was a little busy.”

“Talking to Him?” Blossom held his glare like a hand grenade with her thumb through the pin, ready to pull. “I’d never forget that repulsive lilt. Tell me what’s going on.”

He chickened out of answering her and dove for the drawers on the other side of the sink, where he found what he’d been looking for. Blossom barely had time to question the large scissors he’d pulled out before his hood was down and his man bun toppled into the sink with all the finality of a guillotined head.

Blossom gasped. “Brick!”

Somber as a corpse, he fished out his shorn bundle of hair from the sink, and Blossom watched as it burst into flame in his palm. Smoke curled through his fingers and rose high above them in an angry, red miasma. Its stink was saccharine and brought tears to Blossom’s eyes.

And then, it moved. In swirling, bloody tendrils, it slithered through the cracks above the bathroom door and down the hall as though it had a destination in mind.

“Oh, shit.” Brick dashed after it, and Blossom dashed after him down the stairs. His hand was hot in hers when she caught it and yanked him back. The split second in which their eyes met was an eon of understanding, bone-deep and cauldron-brewed. He looked like he’d seen a ghost. He looked like he needed a friend.

“I’m coming with you,” she said.

“Blossom,” he tried to argue.

“I’m coming with you.”

“Blossom, hey babe, wanna flip some cups on my team?” Todd sidled up to Blossom with a stack of solo cups. Then he noticed Brick’s serrated haircut. “Buddy, what the shit happened to your hair?”

“Please go away,” Blossom said at the same time as Brick said, “Choke on my dick.”

She grimaced at Brick’s vulgarity, but Todd took a step back. Before he could snap back, he noticed the red smoke wafting through his house out the open window. “Oh shit, fire?”

“There’s a fire?!” someone else exclaimed, and panic ensued.

Blossom was about to intervene when Brick snatched her hand and dragged out the front door. “Where did it go?” he said, squinting in the dark.

Blossom swallowed her instinct to calm down her fellow partygoers (there was no fire, they’d be fine, surely…) and looked around for the demonic smoke. “There! It’s heading east.” She rose into the air to fly after it, but paused when she noticed Brick hadn’t followed her. Instead, he jogged down Todd’s cul-de-sac toward the main road. “What are you—hey!”

She landed on the ground in front of him, cutting off his dash. He tried to go around her, but she easily blocked him. It was like he wasn’t even trying to move past her, unless…

“You’re powerless,” she said.

That was the wrong thing to say. “It’s just a temporary setback,” he said in the same choke-on-my-dick tone he usually reserved for Todd.

When he tried to get around Blossom again, she put her booted foot down and cracked the asphalt. He didn’t try to pass her again. “I’m not going to ask you again.” Then, more gently: “Please, let me help you.”

The last of Brick’s petulant pride dissolved to ashes just like his ruined hair she knew he loved, and yet he’d viciously cut it off anyway. Hesitant, yet stubbornly determined, he held her gaze. “It’s Him. He’s fucking with me. Sapped my powers and said my brothers and I will pay the ultimate price unless I solve this idiotic scavenger hunt by midnight.”

“…Wow.”

“Yeah, so it’s not like I have much of a choice.”

Blossom cupped his cheek. His chopped hair was not a total disaster, but it needed cleaning up. All that time he’d spent growing it out again…

Brick sucked in a sharp breath at her tender touch. He was as rigid as a pole, gritting his teeth hard enough to shatter. Blossom’s gaze hardened, and an old but fierce fire ignited in her Super-powered veins. “We’ll beat Him’s game. I promise you. Nothing’s going to happen to you or your brothers.”

Brick let his eyes fall closed as he touched his hand to hers, and that was probably the most intimacy she was going to get out of him in the middle of a murder-y scavenger hunt on Halloween. Maybe after they booted Him back to whatever pit he’d been living in all these years she could salvage what should have been a fun, romantic date with her sort-of boyfriend.

Blossom cleared her throat. “So, evil limericks?”

Brick just groaned from the bottom of his tortured soul. He took her hand and led the way after the demonic smoke before they could lose its trail. The smoke led them to Townsville High School a few blocks from Todd’s, specifically to the annual haunted house experience the Senior class spearheaded every year. Plenty of students dressed in their ghoulish finery crowded in the lawn socializing and lining up to take a turn through the haunted house.

Bubbles was on duty as part of the social committee in charge of managing the exhibit. When she spotted Brick and Blossom headed for the cafeteria door that had been transformed into the haunted house’s black-curtained foyer, she bounced over to them. “Hey, I didn’t expect to see you guys here tonight! I thought you were going to Todd’s. Wait, Brick, did you cut your hair?”

“It’s a long story,” Blossom said.

“Whoa! Slow down. You can’t go inside without a costume.” Bubbles blocked Brick’s single-minded steamroll inside after the last of the curling, red smoke slithered past.

“Bubbles, move,” Brick spat.

“No way. You can be a party pooper at Todd’s all you like, but you’re not bringing any of that into my super scary haunted house that I spent all day decorating.”

“I swear to god—”

“Bubbles, do you have any eye liner?” Blossom interrupted before Brick could say something to her sister she would make him regret for the rest of his life.

Bubbles, dressed in glam trash Powerpunk solidarity with her sisters for the night in fishnets and glitter, grinned as she dug in the pockets of her spider web-patterned black tutu. “Great idea, Blossom! C’mere, you.”

“What—hey!” Brick was literally powerless to stop Bubbles from manhandling him into a quick makeover. “There, it’s purr-fect!”

Despite the possibility of Brick’s gruesome end by satanic evisceration looming at the end of the night, Blossom could not help but laugh at the cute nose and whiskers that transformed Brick from grumpy boy to grumpy cat.

The flash on Bubbles’ phone went off.

“Hey!” Brick was redder in the face than his ruined hair.

Bubbles preened as she easily danced out of Brick’s reach before he could nab her phone and delete the evidence. “You look so cute!”

Brick turned to Blossom as his final saving grace, but there were tears in her eyes as she tried to pull herself together. “I’m so sorry, but she’s totally right. You look very cute right now.”

“Fuck this,” he grumbled, bright as a tomato as he shoved past a floating Bubbles and stormed inside the haunted house.

“Oh no—Brick, wait!” Blossom tried to tone down her giggles as she ran after him. “Bubbles, come on, this is actually serious.”

The sisters headed inside to a spooky banshee screams playlist past Ms. Keane’s bubbling cauldron and the football team zombified in a cardboard graveyard, until finally Mr. Green welcomed them to the final stop with a frightful flourish. “Step on up, boys and girls. See your future, if you dare. Mwahahahaha!”

Brick took one look at the over-eager demon teacher and tried to leave. “Maybe I should just let Him kill me while I have some dignity left.”

Blossom caught up to him and slipped her hand in his before he could turn back. The sobering reminder of why they were even here sent a chill all the way to her fingers, and she squeezed his hand in what she hoped was reassurance. “I’m not letting that happen.”

“What’s going on?” Bubbles asked, peering around Blossom’s shoulder.

But Blossom was too preoccupied by the unnatural red smoke swirling around the final, purple-draped room and its sole occupant: Robin Snyder in a truly rocking dead fortune teller costume. “Come in, come in! Let the spirits foretell your Halloween future!”

Bubbles giggled and skipped inside. She planted a very loud, very adorable kiss on Robin’s head.

“Bubbles, what’re you doing in here? You’re supposed to be on welcome duty!” Robin complained, but she reached for Bubbles’ hand and pulled her down into the chair next to her.

“I wanted to see you, obviously!”

Brick’s hand in Blossom’s squeezed uncomfortably tight, and she soon realized why: the red smoke had descended upon the ouija board set up on Robin’s table and absorbed inside it. Bubbles and Robin did not seem to notice it at all.

“All right, let’s get this shit over with,” Brick said, taking one of the empty seats across the table.

“Wow, such enthusiasm,” Robin said flatly.

Blossom took a seat next to Brick and asked their costumed host, “How does this work?”

“It’s a séance. We’ll ask the spirits what we want to know, and the board will do the rest. Everybody put a hand on the planchette.”

The moment everyone’s hands touched the plastic planchette, red smoke bubbled up from beneath it and swirled around them. In a panic, Robin tried to pull away, but found that she couldn’t. Everyone’s hands were stuck to the planchette.

“What—” Bubbles sputtered, but Him’s cotton candy creep show voice slithered from the smoke and stole her breath:

“This clue is not for the fainthearted: Unearth your next destination uncharted. Absent any confession, To the board pose your question And divine who among you just farted!”

“What the hell was that?!” Robin said at the same time as Bubbles wailed, “Oh nooooo!”

Before Blossom could respond to Robin’s very reasonable question, her arm was yanked across the board still stuck to the planchette: “B”.

Brick’s smoky cat-eyes were wide and slightly manic as he looked at Blossom, and she looked at him. She flushed so badly that she nearly swallowed her own tongue to say, “It wasn’t me!”

“Well, it sure as shit wasn’t me,” he shot back. And then, understanding dawning, they both looked across the table.

“Bubbles?” Blossom said.

“I DON’T WANT TO PLAY THIS GAME ANYMORE!” she screeched.

“Bubbles definitely farted,” Brick deadpanned. He dragged the planchette and everyone’s hands still stuck to it toward the “U” and then back to the “B” until the board spelled out Bubbles’ name. As soon as the planchette settled on the “S”, it released everyone’s hands in time for the heady, red smoke to engulf the board entirely.

Bubbles, distraught, shot out of her chair and covered her eyes in shame.

“Hey, it’s okay,” Robin tried to coax her back down from the high corner she’d flown to. “Come on down from there—Bubbles, really, I can’t even smell anything!”

“You’re just saying that because you love me!” Bubbles complained.

“Oh my god,” Blossom said, too preoccupied with the board to worry about her sister’s mortification. “Is that—”

“A map of the city?” Brick finished her sentence.

The ouija board was transformed into a mini map of Townsville, if a preschooler had drawn it in crayon.

“Here we are at THS.” Blossom pointed her finger to a collection of buildings scribbled in blue crayon. “And here…” She followed a crosshatch path to the edge of the map where a horned, red, devil face sticker grinned up at her. “The cemetery.”

Brick stood up so fast his chair fell over. He stood there for half a second, his face screwed up, and then: “Goddamnit!”

He’d forgotten he couldn’t fly.

“I can carry you.” Blossom held out her hand.

“Is everything okay in here? Robin, the next group is waiting.” Mr. Green poked his horned head through the thick drapes and sniffled. “Ew, what’s that smell?”

“Oh my god!” Bubbles turned beet red and disappeared in a flash of blue, knocking down the rest of the chairs and Brick too, if Blossom hadn’t caught his elbow before he could break his nose on the tiled floor.

“Bubbles! Sorry, Mr. Green.” Robin dashed after her.

“Wait just a minute—”

In the chaos, Blossom let Brick slip out of her grip, and he stormed out the opposite door back outside.

“What are you doing?” Blossom asked when he stopped at the sidewalk.

“Calling a Lyft.”

“I just said I can fly us both.”

“Hard pass.”

Blossom crossed her arms over her chest. “What’s wrong with it? Flying would be faster, and it’s free.”

“I’m not letting you carry me like some damsel in distress.”

“Honestly, Brick. There’s a demon threatening to kill you and you’re worried about your masculinity?”

“No, I mean—look, this isn’t your problem, okay?”

“You did not just say that to me.”

He scowled so deeply that it should have given her pause, but the painted whiskers somewhat ruined his menace. He clenched his phone hard enough to crack if he’d still had his powers. “I didn’t mean it like I don’t want you here.”

Blossom materialized inches from his face in an unnecessary display of power that nonetheless felt fantastic. “That’s better.”

Brick flushed, but not from anger. When she slipped her hand over his, he eased his grip and relinquished his abused phone.

“That’s better,” she said again, more honey than venom this time.

Like hell was she going to send him off to his possible doom alone, powerless and with a really bad haircut painted like a cat.

“Blossom, I’m—”

Her kiss shut him up, and with it any further excuses to go it alone. And despite his increasingly desperate situation, he kissed her back like he’d never get the chance to again.

A car horn honked. “Hey, are you Brick?” asked an older guy in a Honda Civic with a fuzzy, pink mustache attached to the front bumper.

Brick very briefly broke their make-out session to reply, “No,” and then tightened his arms around Blossom’s waist and got right back to it.

The Lyft driver squinted between the profile picture on his phone and Brick. “Wait, really?”

“Never heard of the guy,” he mumbled against her lips, proving that if she wanted to get something done, she’d have to do it herself.

Blossom rolled her eyes and removed his hands from her. Before he could do anything about it, she hoisted him onto her back and hooked her arms under his knees. “Come on, let’s go thwart your imminent murder.”

The Lyft driver watched them take off in a blur of pink. “Goddamn teenagers.”

He canceled the Lyft order and left Brick a one star rating, which was probably fair.

xxx

When Blossom touched down near the entrance to the graveyard, it was back to business. “How much time do we have?”

Brick checked his phone. “About an hour and a half.”

She jogged to keep up with his longer stride as they made their way deeper into the graveyard. “Okay, that’s plenty of time to figure this out.”

A peal of laughter stopped them in their tracks on the gravel path for the split second it took them both to recognize that particular manic cadence.

“Butch,” Blossom said at the same time as Brick said, “Motherfucker.”

Beyond a small hill near the base of a huge oak tree, Brick’s brothers, Buttercup, and Mike Believe sat among the granite tombstones with a pillowcase full of candy passing a joint around. Buttercup had just blown a smoke ring in the shape of a star.

“Bitch, I’m too stoned for this fucking tongue witchcraft,” Butch said. He made an appropriately chilling sight all in black with his face painted black and white in the design of a skull.

“Hey, can you blow a heart?” Boomer asked.

“You sap.” But Buttercup took another drag and hopped off the tombstone she’d been sitting on. Moonlight glinted off the spikes on her black leather jacket as she reeled back and blew three perfect, concentric hearts from her red-painted lips.

Boomer sat up from his place under Mike’s arm and snapped a picture on his phone. “You officially have the greatest special power out of all of us, no contest.”

Mike laughed and accepted the joint when Buttercup passed it to him. “I’m gonna have to agree with that one.”

“That’s because you’re one hundred percent whipped,” Butch said.

Mike shrugged. “Eh.”

“Buttercup.” Blossom approached her sister. “You’re smoking here? What if someone catches you?”

“Somebody just did,” Boomer said under his breath.

“Damn, Blossom, you girls doing a three-way theme tonight?” Butch slipped off the tombstone he’d been draped over to admire her fishnets and then Buttercup’s matching set. “I like it.”

“Give me that.” Brick took the joint from Mike and snuffed it out under his foot.

“Whoa, whoa,” Mike said. He stood up, and at his full height in a 1920s-style adventurer’s costume, he was a Sight™ to behold, if Blossom was being completely honest.

“Brick, what’s the matter?” Boomer peered around Mike in his homemade mummy costume. “And why the hell are you wearing cat makeup?”

“Oh shit, he is,” Buttercup said with a snort.

Before Brick could lose his temper, Blossom said, “Brick, the clue. We don’t have all night.”

“What clue?” Boomer asked. He peered at them seriously. “What’re you two doing here, anyway?”

“Yeah, I thought you were going to Todd’s,” Mike said.

“Todd’s parties blow,” Buttercup said.

Blossom ignored them. “Something about unearthing a destination uncharted. What could it mean…?”

Brick made for quite the adorable pensive cat as he considered. He seemed to come to the answer at the same time as Blossom.

“No,” Blossom said. “There’s no way.”

“We’re going to have to,” Brick said. “What else could it mean?”

“It’s extremely illegal.”

“Yeah, well, I’m fucking cursed!”

“We can’t dig up a bunch of graves!”

“Wow, so that’s what that creepy limerick meant?” Robin approached the group with Bubbles looking windblown and totally ready to get her hands dirty digging up some goddamned graves.

“Bubbles,” Blossom said. “Look, I’m sorry about before—”

“This is Him’s doing,” Bubbles said flatly. “I recognized the voice when I calmed down and we followed you here. Just tell me what the plan is.”

“Did you say Him?” Boomer said soberly.

Buttercup put her hands up. “Okay, what the fuck is going on?”

Brick pulled down his hoodie and revealed his ridiculous haircut. “This is what the fuck’s going on.”

Boomer looked close to tears at the sight of Brick’s mangled hair.

“Him cursed Brick, and we have to solve a scavenger hunt before midnight or he and his brothers will pay the ultimate price,” Blossom said.

“The ultimate price?” Mike said, aghast.

“What the fuck.” Butch advanced on Brick. “What bullshit did you get us into this time—”

Blossom materialized in between Brick and Butch before the latter could carry out whatever violence he intended. She tapped him hard on the chest, and he stumbled back, probably too stoned to hold his normal balance against her Super strength. “Not today, Butch. Him took Brick’s powers.”

“Shit,” Boomer said. Blue sparks jumped in between his toilet paper-wrapped fists. “Okay, what’s the plan?”

Blossom looked to Brick, who was clearly outnumbered and they both knew it. With a groan, he ran his hands through what was left of his poor hair. “We’ll split up,” he said.

“And do what?” Buttercup said.

“Somewhere here, there’s bound to be a clue left by Him. I know that’s not a lot to go on, but it’s all we’ve got right now,” Blossom said. “Split up and cover as much ground as possible.”

“And what are we looking for?” Robin asked.

“Red smoke, demonic laughter, a general feeling of imminent disembowelment,” Brick said.

Bubbles cracked her knuckles and tightened her pigtails. “The usual, then.”

“Fuckin’ right.” Butch began to crackle with pent up green power.

With four other Supers plus Mike and Robin helping cover ground, Blossom hoped they could at least glean some inkling of what Him’s last clue meant. She stayed with Brick since he didn’t have his powers anymore, and together they wandered deeper into the graveyard. Lampposts along the gravel path cast a saturnine glow amidst the trees, fey and eerie on this most eerie of nights.

“Blossom,” Brick said softly. “If we don’t figure this out before midnight—”

“We will,” Blossom said.

He stopped, and Blossom turned to look back at him. Even powerless, there was a presence in his red eyes, beyond mortal and brimming with fire. Even as enemies, even when she couldn’t stand to breathe the same air as him, she had recognized that counterpoint in him, that tranquil confidence that there was nothing in this world he couldn’t overcome. It was a part of him and no one, not even Him, could take it away.

“But if we don’t,” he pressed.

Blossom’s throat wrenched to see him so calm. Not much scared Brick, not truly, but his softness spoke volumes here where only ghosts could hear them. Go, his eyes entreated her, forget about me and go before it gets you too.

She marched up to him and placed her hand on his chest. Ice froze her breath to mist as her anger clawed its way out of her, and she let him see it. “Then Hell will tremble to watch me drag you back out.”

Brick said nothing. He slipped his hand over hers and curled his fingers. Even now, he was far warmer than anyone she had ever known, and she clung to that certainty.

“Come on,” Blossom said, pulling him along after her. “Let’s solve this so we can go home.”

They followed the floating lamp lights east. Fog gathered at their feet, heavy and strange, but Brick held her hand, and secretly she was grateful not to be alone in such a creepy place. When a laughter they both wished they didn’t recognize reached them on the wind, Blossom’s heart leaped into her throat and she took off running with Brick hot on her heels.

The cachinnation petered out when they came across a man in a grey uniform and hat with a flashlight. “Hey, what’re you kids doing here?”

“We were just—” Blossom began.

“Enough,” Brick said, stepping forward. He put an arm out to block Blossom’s path. “I know it’s you.”

“Brick,” Blossom said.

“Son, I don’t know what you mean,” the graveyard worker said.

Brick ignored him. “I played your shitty game. This is the end. Stop hiding behind that pathetic mask and show yourself.”

The portly graveyard worker dropped his flashlight with a heavy crunch on the gravel. Watery, blue eyes bled to baleful red, and his pasty cheeks stretched to accommodate a smile far too wide for his human face. A low chuckle built deep in his chest like termites in a kicked mound, bubbling up through his throat to bursting.

“H͓̼̯ḭ̠̣d͜i̞᷊̯᷂͜n̨͇͟g̤̱͓,̼͎ a̮m̱̪̫͚͢ I̤̜̗?̨̞ T̨̳̻̜h͚̟̖̜͢a͖̻̠̜͇t̨̹ s͖i̹ṃp̨̟͈͕͢ļy̢͔͜ w̨̱o͈̜̟̠͟n̹̮̖’̳̝t̮ d̪̟̪̝o̹̠.͕̫̙̩”

The booming, sinister voice came from that mouth full of teeth, but it seemed to grow out of Blossom’s bones. She felt it in her lungs, her fingertips, as a tingle on her lips Brick had kissed. And she remembered he was vulnerable, under attack by this very thing standing before them now masquerading in a meat sack.

Well, screw that.

Blossom lowered Brick’s wrist and stepped around him. No matter how hard he pushed against her, he was no match for her power—power she leaked now like gasoline fumes hungry for a spark. The gravel at her feet froze, and her eyes faded to ghastly pink as she faced her childhood nightmare. “Hello, demon,” she said.

“Y̹o̬͟u̢̡̳.”

The lampposts flickered and popped, plunging the earthly ossuary into chilling shadows, but Blossom did not fear the cold. Her fists frosted over as she clenched them, and her step summoned an ice floe in the gravel that bridged the crevasse between her and the coward who dared to haunt Brick and his brothers on her watch.

“Well?” she said. “I’m waiting.”

His meat sack shrank back. This was no child Him was taunting, but a fully realized Super who was no longer afraid of his mind games. He closed that heinous mouth and cleared his throat with a dainty, sausage-fingered hand over his heart, and recited in Him’s more lyrical pitch:

“You’ve served all night at my gracious pleasure. Now the final test to determine your true measure: Find the lady who slumbers In her crypt sunk in umber. X marks the location of my precious treasure.”

No sooner had Him given them their last absurd clue than the graveyard worker seized and fell to his knees. Blossom dashed to catch him before he could injure himself. The man coughed and wheezed as if he’d held his breath for too long.

“What in tarnation…?” he muttered, dazed.

“Sir, you had a dizzy spell. You’re all right now,” Blossom said, clinically calm as she discreetly checked him for signs of blood or other wounds. She found none. “Maybe you should take a break.”

“Who… Hey, you kids shouldn’t be here!”

Brick growled and grabbed Blossom’s elbow to haul her back up. “Let’s go.”

“Take it easy, sir,” Blossom said, and let Brick drag her along before the man could think to call security on them.

When they were out of earshot, Brick whirled on her like he was about to get scary, but she held up a hand for silence.

“Before you get mad, I was just trying to—”

His kiss was not as unexpected as she once may have thought it would be. Feverish, frantic, like a boy about to die in twenty-odd minutes, sure, but not unexpected. “Fuck, Blossom,” he panted when they parted for a breath.

Blossom’s heart swelled at his raw emotion on full display, as rare as it was true, and she almost lost herself in it. But they had work yet to do. She tucked his too-long bangs behind his ear.

“So, a lady who slumbers,” she said. “I’m guessing it’s a special statue.”

“A crypt sunk in umber,” Brick said, licking his lips. “A mausoleum, maybe.”

“That narrows it down, for sure. Must be older if it’s sinking.”

“I saw a map of the cemetery at the entrance.”

Blossom grinned and put her fist in the air. She fired a pink blaster that lit up the night sky and would summon their siblings soon. “Let’s check it out.”

He didn’t complain this time when she carried him on her back for a speedy trip back to the entrance and a quick check of the map. There were four mausoleums in the cemetery.

“Found something, Leader Girl?” Buttercup, Butch, Bubbles, and Robin were the first to catch up to the Reds, and Blossom filled them in just as Boomer returned with Mike.

“Four mausoleums? Sounds like we need to split up again,” Mike said.

“If you find anything, send a signal,” Brick said.

Chance. Brick’s and his brothers’ lives were up to the one-in-four chance that they would find the right crypt. All around them, Him’s lollipop laughter followed them like a demented poltergeist.

“This isn’t it!” Brick slammed a fist against the innermost tomb in their chosen mausoleum. “There’s nothing here.”

Blossom was about to respond to that when a bright, blue spark crackled in the air. Boomer and Mike had found something. “Hurry!”

The mausoleum Boomer and Mike had picked was guarded by a lichen-infested statue of a woman with angel wings in a bed of grassless, brown soil, so dark it could have been umber in daylight. Bubbles, Robin, and the Greens arrived soon after Blossom and Brick charged inside.

“Check it out.” Boomer indicated the innermost tomb carved with two crossed sabers.

“X marks the spot,” Mike said grimly. “Oh crap, it’s almost midnight!”

“Move!” Brick tried to push the crypt open, but it was too heavy for him, so Blossom helped. The heavy stone slab groaned when she pushed it, and a plume of foul, red smoke burst from the opening.

Him’s maniacal laughter rose with the smoke that swirled on the domed ceiling and opened two glowing eyes and a cheshire smile. “My my, cutting it a bit close, aren’t you?”

Bubbles shoved her phone at the unholy miasma. “It’s midnight! We beat your stupid deadline, see?”

“Bubbles, please don’t antagonize the ancient evil,” Robin whispered nervously.

“Technically, Blossom met the deadline since Brick was too weak to open the tomb,” Him crooned.

“You took my powers!” Brick said.

Him’s sinister smile fell. “Oh…did I? My bad. Here you go.”

The red smoke converged on Brick and passed through him with the force of a sword through the gut, and he collapsed to his knees in a circle of fire, gagging. Bubbles and Boomer were lightning fast as they swept Robin and Mike as far away from the conflagration as possible.

“Butch, shield!” Blossom commanded, and Buttercup shoved him so hard he tripped and crashed against his own hastily-erected shield bubble. It contained the explosion of power well enough to keep the mausoleum standing.

“Tsk tsk tsk, this won’t do. All I wanted was to play a little father-son game with you, and you had to drag your girlfriend into it. Parenting is so hard these days. I’ll just have to teach you boys a lesson.”

Blossom’s heart twisted. If Him was truly serious about killing Brick and his brothers, he would have to go through her first.

“Like hell,” Buttercup spat, her fists glowing green.

Brick got to his feet groggily. He looked like he just survived a bad case of seasickness.

Him burst out laughing. “Choice words, Buttercup. Now boys, time to pay the ultimate price!”

The tomb lid slid to the ground on unseen forces, revealing the horror within. Blossom readied her pink blasters, and her sisters did the same. Brick took one look in there and recoiled. “What the fuck—”

When no hellspawn burst from the tomb to attack, Blossom approached and peered over the edge. Inside were hundreds of polaroids of young children in dresses with their hair styled as they posed like Victorian paintings. Blossom reached for one.

Buttercup burst out laughing. “Holy shit, is this you?!” She had two polaroids in her hands as she flapped them in Butch’s face.

“Give me those!” Butch snarled.

“Wow,” Robin said, torn between hysteria and horror as she gawked at a picture of six-year-old Butch with bunny clips in his hair wearing a frilly white dress. “Wait until my therapist hears about this.”

In the picture Blossom had selected, Brick’s hair was expertly braided over his shoulder as he sat on a stone throne surrounded by candelabras and horned skulls in a flowing, white dress. He did not look happy to be there. He looked even less happy to behold this childhood shame years later.

“I burned those,” he said in a voice from beyond the grave to no one in particular.

“I made copies!” Him sang. “And now, all of Townsville will get to see you in your pageantry finest!”

“I’m gonna fucking kill you!” Butch screeched as Buttercup took off flying with a fistful of polaroids laughing her ass off. “Get back here!”

“You know, I think I look pretty cute in these, actually,” Boomer said.

Mike laughed. “Yeah, you totally do.”

“This is what you meant by paying the ultimate price?” Blossom asked the incorporeal demon head floating above them.

Him grinned. “Why, of course. Oh! You didn’t think I would murder my own sons, did you?”

The sinister glint in those yellow eyes told a very different story, one that may have ended poorly if she hadn’t forced Brick to involve her in whatever was going on.

Or maybe Him was just bored of his perpetual existence in a hellish void where a cute photoshoot with his re-spawned Super sons was the most exciting thing that had happened in a millennium, and he was feeling nostalgic.

The tomb erupted in flames all of a sudden when Brick breathed fire over all the polaroids.

Bubbles gasped. “Brick! Those were a work of art, how could you?!”

Brick glared at her with glowing, red eyes. “We’re never speaking of this again. Give me those.” He snatched the photos Robin was holding and burned them too.

Blossom hastily pocketed the picture she’d nabbed of baby Brick before he could notice.

Him disappeared in a swirl of smoke and laughter. “Happy Halloween! Remember to brush your teeth…”

“I can’t believe I came all the way here for this,” Robin said. “Literally, the weirdest shit is always happening to you guys. Can we just have a normal Halloween, like, one time? Just once?”

Boomer laughed. “Tall order, Robin.”

A loud explosion outside told Blossom the Greens’ fighting was going too far, as usual.

“Brick? What’re you doing?” Blossom asked as she and the others followed him outside.

“Helping Butch destroy the evidence your sister stole.” He took off in a blaze of red.

“What a killjoy,” Bubbles pouted.

Blossom bit her lip and revealed her pilfered polaroid. Bubbles’ smile turned downright sinister as she greedily snatched it. “Blossom, I love you.”

“That’s for emergencies only. I mean it, or he’ll kill me.”

Boomer threw an arm around her shoulders and grinned. “Nah, he’d never turn on his girlfriend.”

Bubbles gasped. “Oh my gosh, you’re right!”

Blossom flushed. “But we’re not exactly—”

“Him said it, so it’s gotta be official by now,” Boomer teased.

“Ooh, true. There’s nothing more official than a primordial force of chaos acknowledging your relationship status,” Mike said.

“Hey, you damn kids! You’re not supposed to be here!” shouted the no-longer-possessed groundskeeper from before. He had a shovel that he shook at Brick, Butch, and Buttercup locked in a game of cat and mouse as the brothers tried to reclaim the evidence of their dignity.

“Time to go,” Blossom said.

“Hey, party at Todd’s?” Mike asked.

“Great idea!” Bubbles chirped as she gave Robin a leg up onto her back.

As Blossom found herself back at the same party where she’d begun the night on the sofa next to Buttercup regaling everyone who would listen with the story of Butch’s child beauty pageant past (sans evidence because Brick had managed to burn it, unfortunately), she found her gaze drawn back to Brick. He was up getting them drinks, his haircut cleaned up thanks to Boomer, snickering at something Mike had said.

“Blossom, where are you going?” Bubbles asked when she got up.

“Just going to talk to Brick,” she said. “Officially.”

Bubbles lit up and grabbed the nearest hand to crush her feelings into, which happened to be Butch’s. “What the—ow, woman, let go!”

Brick saw her coming and stared at her growing smile like the baffled teenager he was underneath it all. With all their friends’ eyes on her, she walked right up to him and kissed him in front of everyone.

Let them see, she thought. Let anyone who was watching and biding their time to strike see, and let them try.

Lyrical laughter echoed somewhere on the edges of hearing over their friends’ laudatory cheers and loud calls for celebratory shots, but Blossom tuned it out as she smiled into her kiss.

xxx

Like Boomer, I am a sap who loves a happy ending. Reds are finally official in this AU?! Took us long enough. Also, I always saw Him as this weird dichotomy of ancient murder-y evil and chaotic good mom. I feel like trolling the Boys would be a favorite past time of his. Might write more Him in the future and explore that more.

Happy Halloween y’all. Get spooky, and stay safe!

#Powerpuff Girls #Blossick #Reds #Blossom #Brick #powerpuff girls fanfic #powerpufftober #powerpufftober 2020 #february fic prompts #ppg shook

25 notes · View notes

slywrites · 4 years ago

Note

“Aren’t we supposed to be working?” & “Okay, so maybe I didn’t see that coming.” with Chris Redfield? Maybe like a competition or something during a slow day at work? (Am I basing this off of Brooklyn Nine Nine? Yes I am) S.T.A.R.S era please? Seriously congrats on 100 Sly! 💛

Ness, this.....became a whole lot longer than I expected. I hope you enjoy this bc I had a lot of fun writing it!! Thank you <3 I cant believe I’ve made this milestone I’m so happy :D

I also might be writing a BSAA Chris one as well bc I love Chris

Warning: cussing and fluff

prompts from this post

Chris kicked the S.T.A.R.S. office door open, the sound of the wood slamming against the wall startled you. You scanned the rest of the office. Brad, Barry, and Jill continued on like nothing had happened. As soon as the door closed, everyone closed the files they were reading and turned to Chris who stood triumphant in front of the door. You noticed he had set a large duffle bag on the ground. You were the only one that was visibly confused and Chris took notice. He gave you a brief nod then turned to the rest of the S.T.A.R.S. team.

“It’s cluster meeting day,” Chris smiled, “Once a year, all leadership in the department are whisked away to an all day meeting. Usually, Wesker has us catch up with case files, but we use it for more extracurricular activities.”

Jill turned to you, as her desk was across from yours, “We call it team building.”

“But aren’t we supposed to be working?” You questioned.

“We work every other day of the year, this is our one day to strictly not do work and have fun,” Chris smiled and winked at you, “You’ll enjoy it.”

You nodded, “Okay, um, what kind of activities do you do?”

“All sorts of things,” Barry interjected, “Last year we sumo wrestled in the bomb squad gear.”

You chuckled at the thought of seeing that.

“Did we do taser darts last year or the year before?” Jill asked.

You mouthed ‘taser darts’ to yourself both curious about what that meant and not wanting to know at the same time.

“Year before,” Brad answered at his console behind you.

What were you about to get yourself into?

“We leave coming up with the games to Chris,” Jill smiled, “So what’s in the bag Redfield?”

“Well, Valentine you’ll just have to wait and find out.”

Jill leaned back into her chair and watched Chris intently. Chris only smiled and checked his watch before the office door opened up behind him. Rebecca Chambers from Bravo squad walked in with a shy smile on her face.

Chris turned, “Right on time, Becca.”

Everyone gave Rebecca a ‘hello’ as she stood next to Chris.

“This year won’t be a physical challenge like before. Rebecca wanted to help, so I put her in charge of our very first scavenger hunt.”

“You don’t know what’s in the bags do you?” Jill smirked.

“Not a damn clue,” Chris returned the smirk and moved to his desk, “Take it away Becca.”

You had only interacted with Rebecca a few times. Since she was on Bravo team, you two just naturally worked opposite shifts. But in the times you have talked with her, she’s always been so lovely and kind. She stood where Chris was and unzipped the bags on the ground. Inside the large bag were three smaller ones.

“There will be three teams consisting of two people each. Each team will get one bag. You all have different clues and items you’ll need to receive and put in your respective bags. There will be four items for each team. Whoever gets back to this office with all their items first, wins,” Becca smiled then she pulled out a small box from the bag, “To make it fair, the teams will be picked at random.”

Rebecca walked up to you and held the box out. You stuck your hand in the precut hole and felt ping pong balls. They all felt relatively the same as your hand grasped one and pulled.

“Hey, looks like I’m number one,” you joked and showed the ball with a one written on it in permanent marker to the rest of the team.

Jill went next and she got….number one! There wasn't any other person you wanted on your team other than...

“We are going to destroy them,” Jill smirked, taking you out of your thoughts.

You gave her a nod and smiled. Then you and Jill watched Barry pull number three. Then Brad pulled two. Which left Chris and Joseph. Chris had his hand in the box. His tongue stuck out the side of the mouth and he felt around between the last two ping pong balls. It was comical to say the least and as he pulled his number which had a large two on it.

“Good luck Rookie, Brad and I are guaranteed to win,” Chris smirked.

“That’s a lot of talk Chris,” Barry said, “Joseph and I are going to kick your ass.”

“I’d like to see you both try, I’m not losing,” Jill cut in.

Rebecca placed the box back in the big duffle bag and picked up the individual bags. She gave you, Chris, and Barry a respective bag.

“Okay, you have five minutes to get ready, then the games begin!” Rebecca jumped in place a little, excited to see her hard work and planning actually coming together.

Jill stood from her desk and walked around to yours.

“I know this station pretty well, we’ve got this,” Jill mused, “Let’s look at that first clue.”

You unzipped the bag and pulled out a small replica mannequin. Confusion was evident on your face and Jill smiled. Carefully she took the item from your hands and inspected it.

Jill leaned in to whisper in your ear, “I know exactly where to go, make sure you can keep up.”

You nodded quickly, “Can do.”

“Okay,” Rebecca called out, “Your time starts now!”

Quickly Chris dashed towards the door and Jill followed. They both fought to get out the door first. You couldn’t help but laugh at them as you followed through the door. Jill was almost at the end of the hallway when you made it through.

“Come on! We have no time to waste,” Jill yelled as she headed to the first location, where you didn’t really know, you just jogged behind her.

After ten minutes of jogging through the station, trying to dodge the other police officers and employees, you made it to a storage room you’d never been to before. You took a second to catch your breath, tired of having to go down stairs then up stairs and around to get to this one storage room. The design of this building was horrible and made absolutely no sense, but Jill ran through it with no problem.

The most surprising aspect of this challenge was how unphased the other officers were. Some of them even cheered you two on. It was something you’d never experienced at your previous job before and you couldn’t help the smile on your face.

Jill found a small slip of paper and another trinket. As she read the clue, the radio at her hip went off. It was another officer, someone you didn’t recognize calling in.

“Valentine, come in. I got a hit on Redfield.”

Jill smirked, “Where is he?”

“He’s in the library right now. Looks like he’s alone.”

“Thanks for the tip, I owe you one.”

You heard a laugh from the radio and a ten four.

“Okay,” Jill started as she threw the second trinket in the bag, “Splitting up is probably a good idea. Why don’t you distract Chris while I continue? I’ll radio you on channel 1 when I need help. What do you think?”

You listened to her suggestions and she was right. She knew the department way better than you did and being a distraction wasn’t that bad of an idea. There were no rules against it, and you were S.T.A.R.S. after all, you had to be able to adapt on the fly.

“Good idea, Jill,” you smiled, “I’ll make sure to take Chris out.”

“On a date or with a sniper?” Jill hid the smirk with a dip of her head to study the clue.

The storage room warmed considerably, or maybe that was just you, “Uh-”

“The next clue is in the records room!” Jill shouted and started a slight jog.

You followed her movements out of the storage room.

“Library is that way. Make sure you keep him busy!” Jill yelled as she ran ahead of you.

This was not how you expected your day to go. Here you were sprinting towards the library, trying to figure out how you could possibly keep Chris busy as Jill traverses through the RPD by herself figuring out the clues alone. Jill was more than a capable partner, and you trusted her to find the rest of the items. You just had to make sure that you kept up your end.

The door to the second door of the library busted open at your momentum. Below you could only see Chris. It looked like he was going through various books, probably had to do something with his clue. You didn’t see Brad at all. Chris might have sent Brad to do the same thing Jill did to you.

Chris didn’t see you or hear you above him, he was too engrossed in his search which helped to your advantage. You kept your eye on him, making sure to keep yourself low. You had no idea exactly what you were going to do now. Your first thought was get here now your mind went blank.

Below, Chris made an ah-ha sound as he pulled out a book. You strained to see what he found. It looked like the book was fake, from your point you could see that a large hole was cut out of the pages and there laid something inside but you couldn’t see it. Chris stuffed whatever it was inside the black bag in his hands and started reading the next clue. You saw him walk in a circle around the two large tables then he made a headway towards the stairs that were to your left.

Shit.

Your nerves started to buzz as you saw him ascend the stairs towards you. Your body reacted before your mind does as you stood and ran towards him. Chris looked up from the clue for a second before your body collided with his. Your shoulder dug into his stomach, your arms wrapped around his torso, making his feet come up from underneath him as you both flew down the stairs. Chris instinctively held you close against him and rolled his body so that every hit down the stairs he took instead of you. The momentum threw you both against the wall at the landing between upstairs and down. Neither of you could stop, sending you down the last bit of stairs. You landed on top of Chris at the base of the stairs on the first floor.

Chris groaned with you on top of him digging into his ribs.

It took you a second to realize you were at the bottom of the stairs laying right on top of Chris. You scrambled to get up. He was still in a shock that you fucking tackled him down the stairs, which you used to your advantage. You quickly straddled his waist pinning his hips to the ground. Your hands grasped his wrist and kept them to the floor.

Chris blinked trying to get his bearings.

“I can’t believe you tackled me,” Chris laughed and you felt the rumble of his chest beneath you.

“I want to win,” you breathed, “By any means necessary.”

“Including bodily harm?”

Your heart rammed against your ribs, be it the adrenaline or his comment. You didn’t think you just acted and didn’t consider the consequences of your actions. The grip on his wrist loosened, your mouth opened about to apologize. Before you could even say anything, Chris took advantage of the moment.

Quickly, Chris grabbed your wrist. He planted his feet. His thighs stretched as his hips bucked up. The force threw you right over his head. You landed with a thud on your back. All the air in your lungs left with the hit.

Chris clambered to grab his scavenger bag that laid a few feet away. You were stuck trying to get air back into your lungs to realize what Chris was doing. He was a S.T.A.R.S. member for a reason.

But that wasn’t going to make you back down from winning your first cluster meeting activities. You moved, though slower than Chris. He bolted out of the closest door to him which led to the Reception and the Main Hall if you weren't mistaken. You sprinted, following him intently.

“Jill, I stopped Chris for a bit. I’m pursuing him through the main hall now,” You radioed.

“I’m on the last clue, stall him for a little longer,” Jill heaved, she sounded as breathless as you.

“Gotcha,” you stowed the radio back into your hip pouch.

Chris took the stairs two at a time, his laugh echoing in the large hall. You were right on his heels. Some officers cheered and laughed at you two, but you didn’t have much time to pay any attention to them.

“I never knew I liked being chased, until right now,” Chris shot over his shoulder with a stupid smirk on his face.

You brows knitted together in anger, deciding not to indulge in his talking. You just had to stall, a little longer like Jill said. The victory was just in your reach.

It didn’t seem like Chris had any destination in mind he just ran through door after door with you right behind him. But Chris took a corner too quickly for you. You weren’t able to stop your motion, your feet skidded and you felt yourself about to fall.

On instinct your eyes squeezed shut, your hands came out in front of you to try and catch your fall. But the fall never came. You opened your eyes to see the floor, but you were still standing. You looked at the arm around your waist. Then you twisted to see who caught you.

“Are you falling for me, rookie?” Chris blatantly flirted.

Your face heated. You regained your footing, with his help. His hand still hovered on your waist. You both stared into each other’s eyes, though there was something different in this look than the one in the library. Chris’ eyes darted to your lips for a quick second, the scavenger hunt all but forgotten as you mirrored his actions.

Then you both leaned, the distance between you two closing till your lips pressed together lightly. Chris’s lips were softer than you expected. You couldn’t help the smile that pressed against him. Your hand came up to rest on his cheek holding him gently in place not wanting to part just yet. Until you heard the muffled voice at your hip.

Slowly, you two pulled away your eyes half lidded as you focused on his lips.

“Okay, so maybe I didn’t see that coming,” Chris breathed, his hands still resting on your hips.

The edges of his lips tugged into a smile. You heard your name again, glancing at the radio.

“Sorry,” you muttered, pulling the radio out.

“I got it! Head to S.T.A.R.S NOW!” Jill screamed.

You glanced at Chris, a devilish smile on your face as you pushed him away, then bolted down the hallway. You heard a faint hey as you ran. The biggest smile on your face. Not only from the kiss, but from the prospect of winning.

Within a few minutes you made it to the S.T.A.R.S. office a light pep in your steps until you heard a loud scream from behind the door. Your fighting instinct kicked in and you pushed through the door. Jill stood staring at Barry and Joseph in the office. Joseph took his feet off the desk with a meek smile on his face. Barry had the largest smile you’d ever seen.

“How?!” Jill exclaimed.

“We knew you and Chris would go after each other,” Joseph stated simply like it just made sense.

“We even took our time,” Barry laughed.

Chris and Brad came in a few seconds later with their bag full. Rebecca took the bags from everyone and put it back in the large duffle that sat next to the door.

“What did you think?” Rebecca asked.

“It was fun, Becca. We’d all be happy to have you help out again,” Chris turned slightly to make eye contact with you, “I don’t think I’ll ever forget this year.”

Rebecca smiled and clapped happily at the statement, not fully realizing the intentions behind the last statement. The scavenger hunt felt like it went by extremely quick but it took up a good portion of the afternoon. Everyone went back to their respective desks to finish up the menial amount of work they started on earlier this morning.

You could barely focus with Chris’ adjacent to yours. He smiled as he looked back and forth from glancing at you to the case file on his desk. Soon, the Bravo team would be here for a shift change.

You started to gather your things to head out. Jill looked sullen at coming in second. You stood and placed a hand on her shoulder. She squeezed your fingers.

“There’s always next year,” you tried to sooth.

Jill nodded, “At least we weren’t last.”

You held the laugh back with a cough and you saw the little mischievous look in her eyes. Chris stood from his desk and moved towards the armory doing final checks before heading out.

Jill looked at you and tilted her head towards Chris behind her shoulder, “So, date or sniper?”

Your face flushed, “I’m about to take you out with a sniper.”

She just smiled and shook her head, “I’ll watch my back. See you later.”

With that she left, you still stood by her desk, your eyes focusing on Chris at the far end of the office. He turned, and saw you staring. A dumb smile crossed his face, and yours. He walked straight towards you.

“So,” Chris started.

“So,” you repeated.

“Did you enjoy today?”

“Yeah I did, are cluster meetings like this every year?”

Chris took a second to think, “If you’re talking about our kiss, no. But the fun? Yes.”

You punched him in the shoulder, unable to say anything. Chris just laughed and rubbed the spot on his arm.

“You’re an idiot,” you laughed.

Chris shrugged, “Am I still an idiot if I ask you out for a drink?”

You pouted as you pondered his words. You grabbed your jacket off the corner of your desk.

“No,” you beamed, “That’s probably the smartest thing you’ve done.”

“Ladies first,” Chris extended his hand towards the door.

You shook your head and exited the S.T.A.R.S. office with probably the biggest smile on your face.

#code-verxnica #chris redfield #chris redfield x reader #slywrites requests #slywrites celebration #i am writing bsaa chris just so u know with this same prompt bc i am in a chris mood #thank you so much ness!!!!!!!!#i'll probably post this on ao3 as well #just not rn #i don't have a title for this #so if u want to title it ness let me know

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mybeautifulbeautifuleternal · 4 years ago

Text

i couldn’t utter it, i couldn’t whisper it (my love for you was silent); i

Chapter One - But do we really have to?

rating: its a gen fic for The Umbrella Academy

words:6.7k

chapter:1/10

warnings: nothing atypical for the umbrella academy

AO3

a/n: I blame @sam-writes for pretty much all of this!

Summary: In one world, the young teenager hid when she abruptly found herself pregnant and she gave birth in secret, left the baby on a random doorstep, and never looked back. Unfortunately, this isn’t that world. In this world, Reginald Hargreeves finds her and takes her baby. It doesn’t end well.

The young women gasped in pain. Her stomach hurt so much. She didn’t know what was happening and her new husband wasn’t around to help her. She started bleeding and her stomach ballooned outward. She lay back on the bed, her stomach bulging out in a massive dome, while the blood continued to seep out of her. She could do nothing but cry as she felt the urge to push.

Hours later, with an outraged and confused husband in tow, she looked up from her new daughter when she heard the knocking on the door. She had a bad feeling about it.

Only 30 minutes later, the eccentric man left with her daughter. She had just sold her daughter away.

She started to cry again.

Charlie sighed as she locked her doors. Another good day on the books. She was glad that Mr. Johnston had stopped by again - she always liked to hear from her regulars and she was glad his mother was doing better from her hip surgery. She had had a small group of young teenagers - Sam, Lena, Jonathan, Rachel, and Georgie - come through today and grab some fruit and camp out in her side room to work on their homework. She had wandered through occasionally offering help but receiving it more often than not. She could now say she knew what the mitochondria was and that apparently it was the powerhouse of the cell. Cause apparently that was a thing.

Thanks, dad for all that stellar education you gave us.

She continued her walk through the downstairs, absentmindedly picking up Knickknack - a stray that she’s pretty sure she can’t actually classify as a stray anymore - to check up on her plants. She was encouraging them to grow bigger, to grow stronger, removing the death within them, giving them nutrients. This was truly the best part of her day. To sink herself into the Green, the living, the growth. To let herself feel the Life thrumming through the plants, through them even deeper into the Earth, and the people, and the animals.

For all the grief that these powers had given her - a father that never loved her, siblings who now hated her, missions that almost destroyed her - she couldn’t bring herself to ever hate them, not the powers, not the Green, themselves.

Not with all the good they gave her, the good she could give to other people because of them.

As she was working, the TV caught her eye. She dropped her watering can.

Billionaire Reginald Hargreeves Dead.

She couldn’t breathe. Was it actually possible that he was dead? She moved closer to the TV, reading the subtitles. She couldn’t contain her grin if she tried - which she didn’t.

Ding dong - the wicked witch was dead.

Charlie was walking. Whenever she had to come in this direction, she walked. She didn’t want to give those men any more power over her than she already had.

Now that Allison and Luther were back in New York, she knew that the funeral was going to happen today. None of them were all that comfortable staying in close quarters for all that long. They’d get the funeral done as quickly as they could so they'd be able to disperse across the country again. She’d say they only see each other for funerals and weddings but Allison was the only one married - to her knowledge anyway - and none of them had been invited to her wedding. So they really only saw each other for funerals, apparently.

And as much as she didn’t want to be back in that house, among siblings that hated her, she did want to see Mom and Pogo again.

Also, she felt if she didn’t go, then she’d always wonder if the bastard was actually dead.

She slowed down when she saw that she was getting closer to the academy. She really didn’t want to get there too early and have to deal with the entire family for longer than she had too. Not anymore.

All too soon, however, she made her way home.

bleh. Too nice of a thought to have for that place.

She crept into the house and made her way into the upstairs library’s balcony. She planned to stay there until the last possible second and they could get the whole farce over with.

Laying in the upstairs library, Charlie had a front-row seat to the comings of her siblings. She had gotten here early (too early honestly) and planted herself in a dark corner then just didn’t move. At all. She had spent her teenage years learning the best way to go unnoticed amongst a group of people that spent their life in the spot life or had the utmost wish to do so. Her? She had no wish for more cameras, more attention, than what was needed.

Luther was the first. He had come down the main stairs soon after she had arrived so Charlie guessed that he was actually staying here and had arrived before she had. Diego stomped in just before lunch and immediately made his way to the kitchen (and Mom, based on what she could smell coming from the kitchen) so she had 3 guesses to what he would spend the day doing but she only needed 1 of them. Allison swanned in just after lunch and she was seen up and down the hallways. Klaus pranced in and went off on a scavenger hunt, so Charlie guessed he was looking for something to pawn for his next hit. Vanya had crept in the middle of the afternoon and Charlie could see that had set off some sparks. Allison seemed to like her presence well enough but Charlie didn’t need her hearing to know that Diego went for the soft spots when they actually interacted.

Luckily her hiding spot was good and she didn’t actually have to interact with any of them yet. She wondered how long it would take them to notice. She wondered if they would. Or if they would even care.

She finally moved from her hidden corner and laid out on a couch so as to announce her presence whenever her siblings deigned to come back to the library.

She made sure she stayed away from the area where she was injured. She wasn’t going to test fate. She also made sure that she could see all the seats in the area well enough. Most of her charade counted on her being able to read lips and guess what was happening.

As she settled down on her chosen chaise, she watched as Vanya wandered in from the atrium. Vanya glanced at her but then proceeded to ignore her as she? apparently searched out and found her book. As Pogo made his way into the room and engaged Vanya in a conversation - one centered on the book and dad’s indifference - Charlie switched her attention to Five’s weird-ass portrait.

Which was just hilarious because like hell Reggie actually cared about any of his child soldiers. Charlie always thought that he had placed that portrait (and eventually, Ben’s statue) to remind them of the ‘failures’ of the family. She didn’t believe for a second that Reggie had actually brought himself to care about any of them let alone the one he couldn’t control or the one he couldn’t stand.

“16 years, 4 months, and 14 days.”

So the subject was Five? She wasn’t really surprised - before he disappeared, Five and Vanya were almost always in each other's pockets. Her siblings had really paired off when they were young - One and Three, Two and Mom, Four and Six, and Five and Seven. She had floated between the pairs whenever she wanted really - she was well-liked between all her siblings. She always thought it was because it was hard to hate the person who kept you fed when Dad was being a dick. Charlie had tried to actually connect with any of her siblings, to form better closer relationships between them - more than what they had actually wanted to have, apparently. And when Five did disappear, she tried to be there for Vanya. She joined her during their scheduled free time, she taught herself some musical terms so she could talk to her about her violin lessons, she reached her hand out again and again. But Vanya didn’t seem all that interested in reaching back. And while she kept trying, Vanya seemed less interested as time went on.

And then her book, Extra-Ordinary, came out and apparently Vanya thought Charlie had been mocking her the entire time. She couldn’t see that Charlie, allegedly the popular sibling, was just trying to be her sister. No - Charlie was just making fun of her for missing her best friend.

“Where’s the cash, dad?”

Allison was jerked from her memories of standing here 17 years ago, wanting her dad to finally just acknowledge them for even something as little as a goodnight, by Klaus. She strode over to the ridiculous deck that dominated the room and peered at Klaus pawing through Dad’s drawers.

“Where’s the cash?”

“Klaus? What are you doing in here?”

“Oh! Allison! Wow, is that you?”

Allison could only smile as she looked at Klaus. He was, as always, one of a kind. She knew that he was only trying to get cash for his addiction but she was still charmed by him.

“Hey, come here. Long time. Too long. Hey, I was hoping to see you, actually, because I wanted to get your autograph. Add it to my collection!”

Despite the fact Klaus was mocking dad and the fact that he was dead, Allison was still smiling. She was just glad that she decided to come home. With everything that was happening with Patrick and Claire, she hadn’t been sure it was the right decision but she was enjoying herself. And with everything that was happening in LA, she knew that she wanted to reach out to her family. She wanted to be close to Luther again, her best friend, like when they were kids. She wanted her brothers - the entirety of them, Diego in his weird leather BDSM gear and Klaus with his unique fashion sense and drug habits. She really wanted her sisters back as well. Loving, caring Charlie and sweet, gentle Vanya. Charlie who had tried so hard to love all her siblings. Vanya who just wanted to be seen and known by them. Allison wished she could go back in time to fix things but she couldn't. She was determined to start now, however. It might be 30 years late but she was going to make positive relationships with her siblings if she had to kill them. And really, based on previous experience, she would have too.

“Get out of his chair.”

Allison stiffened slightly as she heard Luther speak from the doorway. This was going to be the first time she saw him since she left at 18. When she turned to look at him, she was surprised to see him. He was so much larger than he was 10 years ago, almost grotesquely so. But he was still very much her best friend.

As Klaus babbled in a panic at being caught, Allison looked Luther over. He was still the towering figure she remembered but his muscles had grown and bulged in weird spots. He also appeared to have ditched the all-black mission uniforms and even those awful Academy uniforms that dad had made them wear all the time. Instead, he was bundled up in a, frankly, ugly turtleneck, a large overcoat, and fingerless gloves. She wondered if this was normal from before the 4 years spent on the moon or if this was something that had happened because of the moon mission.

Klaus dropped his treasures and made his retreat, and Allison had to laugh. She was really glad she was home.

Luther was frustrated but not surprised. Of course, Klaus was trying to steal from Dad. Even on the day of his funeral. Pair that with Diego disregarding his thoughts on why Dad was dead - someone took his monocle and it really meant nothing to anyone outside the family, of course that implied something - and he was tired of dealing with his brothers already. It had been less than an hour - which was on point for them, honestly.

“So, Klaus is still Klaus, in case you were wondering.”

“You know, after all these years, I find it strangely comforting.”

“Did you see Diego?”

“With his stupid outfit?”

“Oh, I know. Do you think he wears that thing in the bathroom?”

“Like in the shower?”

“Yeah.”

“Yes, Absolutely!”

As Allison laughed, Luther looked down. He was always happy when he could make her find joy. And it had been too long since they had seen each other in person. He had gone to see each of her movies, she was amazing, but they hadn’t talked since she left a decade ago. And Luther had missed his best friend.

“I-is Charlie here? Have you seen her yet?”

Luther paused in his thoughts about how to keep the conversation going to look up at her.

“Charlie? Why do you want to talk to her? You do remember what she did, right?”

“She did nothing but support our other sister. We snapped and snarled at Charlie because we were angry with Vanya but she wasn’t there for us to do so. Charlie has, since the very beginning, been nothing but kind and loving towards all of us. She wanted nothing more than for us to actually be a family. Instead, we shot her down time and time again.”

“That book was completely awful to all of us!! And she didn’t care!”

“She cared! She cared about what was happening with Vanya that she felt like she had to write that stupid thing! And regardless of all of that - Charlie is still our sister and I want to see her!”

Luther took a deep breath. He had forgotten that, despite the fact that Allison was his best friend, she was still his sibling and that included the ability to completely infuriate him in only a couple of words.

“I haven’t seen her yet. And I didn’t think you’d come.”

“Me either.”

The one main downside to the spot she chose was that she couldn’t see the door. On the other hand, with her laying down - people didn’t see her so they generally didn’t try to talk to her before coming in.

Diego was the first in the room. As he came around her couch, he spotted her from the corner of his eye and his hand went automatically to his BDSM gear and the multitude of knives he kept there. It took more than a second for him to release them. Charlie raised a very judgmental eyebrow in his direction. She knew he was still thinking of using one of those things - but against her instead. She dared him to try. He flicked a look up and over her shoulder where she knew the giant ferns, trees, and vines that were placed against the inside wall were growing and moving in the nonexistent wind. He was surrounded by Green things.

Who would be faster?

He scoffed, released his hand, rolled his eyes, and dropped into his chair by the fireplace.

Good. At least with him choosing to ignore her, this wouldn’t progress into a fight like their family meetings usually did.

Vanya was the next into the room and the tension racketed up again.

Klaus was the third into the room and, other than a flippant wave of his Hello hand, ignored them to survey Dad’s very extensive liquor collection. He was kind enough to bring her a whiskey when she peered over at him. Thank God - she would definitely need the alcohol later. And she was glad to see that he was still wearing her keys around his neck. She wasn’t sure if he had ever used them but she was glad that he had kept them, nevertheless.

Allison and Luther finished up the collection, and while it looked like Allison wanted to talk to her, Luther walked her over the seat across from Diego. He took the seat across from Vanya. His sitting down seemed like a call for the official meeting to start. He was always so dramatic.

Despite Luther apparently calling to order the meeting, nobody actually said anything for a solid couple of minutes. They were all just sitting around, pointedly not looking at one another.

“Um...I guess we should probably get this started. So I figured we could have a sort of memorial service in the courtyard at sundown. Say a few words, just at Dad’s favorite spot.”

Of course, it was Luther, the golden boy, who knew that dad had a favorite spot. Nobody else was close enough to that human icebox to know that kind of information.

“Dad had a favorite spot?”

“You know, under the oak tree. We used to sit there all the time. None of you ever did that?”

The rest of us just sort of pursed their lips and avoided looking at Luther. While it sort of wasn’t his fault that Dad was a dick and favored him over them, it still stung something awful to be reminded of that fact.

Fucking Dad

Thankfully Klaus, with his usual spectacular timing, interrupted Luther.

“Will there be refreshments? Tea? Scones? Cucumber sandwiches are always a hit.”

He looked around hopefully. Charlie decided to help him and grew some fruits and nuts near him, making a big cucumber near his seat - kinda mockingly.

He almost flinched away before he shot her a delighted look and picked up a peach.

“Danke Schwester!”

She gave him a thumbs up and turned back to Luther cause she just knew that he was going to have some sort of fit about something that just happened.

“What? No. And put that out. Dad didn’t allow smoking in here. And get rid of the fruit. You know that Dad didn’t allow that sort of thing outside of training.”

She flipped him off and Klaus very pointedly turned around.

“Is that my skirt?” Allison cut off whatever response might have come when she questioned Klaus’ newest fashion choice.

“What? Oh, yeah, this. I found it in your room. It’s a little dated, I know, but very breathy on the bits. ”

Luther proved his place as Number One Ass within the next couple of minutes.

“Listen up. Still, some important things that we need to discuss, all right?”

“Like what?”

“Like the way he died.”

“And here we go.”

“I don’t understand. I thought they said it was a heart attack?”

“Yeah, according to the coroner.”

“Well, wouldn’t they know?”

“Theoretically.”

“Theoretically?”

Charlie had a bad feeling about where this conversation was going.

“I’m just saying, at the very least, something happened. The last time that I talked to Dad, he sounded strange.”

Yeah, her bad feeling about this conversation was correct. She had an idea about where he was going to go with all this lead. By the looks on her siblings’ faces, only really Diego knew where Luther was going with this. Everyone else just looked surprised.

She started to mostly ignore what they were saying. She knew that Luther was implying that one of them had killed Dad because Luther couldn’t rationalize the fact that Dad was, supposedly, human as well. That Dad could die from something just as common as a heart attack, instead of a portal to hell opening up to take him back.

“Look, I know you don’t like to do it, but I need you to talk to Dad.”

Everyone looked at Luther in disbelief. They all knew that Klaus was high as fuck. And even if he wasn’t, there was no way he would ever want to summon that monster here.

After Klaus soundly shot down the theory of summoning Dad from his brunch with Mussolini, Stalin, and Hitler, Luther was finally ready to move on to why he suspected them of offing the old bastard.

“Then there’s the issue of the missing monocle.”

“Who gives a shit about a stupid monocle?”

“Exactly. It’s worthless. So whoever took it, I think it was personal. Someone close to him. Someone with a grudge.”

“Where are you going with this?”

“Oh, isn’t it obvious, Klaus? He thinks one of us killed Dad.”

And with that, the silence fell. Or so she assumed. The looks on everyone’s faces though. She knew that none of them were extremely sad that he had died, but to have Luther accuse them of killing him? That hurt.

“You do?”

“How could you think that?”

“Great job, Luther. Way to lead.”

And with that, she was up from the couch and headed out of the room. She didn’t really feel like staying near him. For him to think, after everything that he had done, that she would kill Dad?

She knew that she shouldn’t have come here today.

As she was walking out to the courtyard, she thought of the first mission they went on. The Capital West bank - 17 years ago. Robbers had taken hostages and were threatening them. Sir had taken them there to deal with the problem. Number Three and her had entered first, Three so she could Rumor someone and her so she could have time to spread some seeds and Grow some plants to have a base to start off from.

As she and Three started wreaking havoc, One dropped in from the glass section of the roof and started throwing some of the robbers around. Two came in from the front and started his work with the knives. Soon she was using her Growth to help shield the hostages while Two, Three, and Four were mocking and messing with the guards near the front desk. Five dropped in with his signature sass and took down those guys.

One was finished with his targets and was searching for some more people. He found them in the vault and she knew it was Six’s turn. He never liked any of the work but he especially hated having to release the Horrors when they could be a target. This isolation of robbers was just the kind of thing Sir would insist on Six handling.

They finished with the robbers in the main room and she and Two released the hostages while One and Four prompted Six to finish off the people in the vault. She hoped he hurried. She was growing weary and needed some sun and sugar to regain her energy.

After Six exited the room, she went to help him wash off the blood and to make him look more presentable. Sir was going to come down and give a speech, introducing them to the world and he wouldn’t be pleased with them if the first look at Six the world had was him covered in blood.

After the seven of them gathered on the front steps, Sir joined them from wherever he was when they were completing the mission. He had them lined up in front of the cameras and reporters while he gave his prepared speech and answered some of their questions.

“Our world is changing. Has changed. There are some among us gifted with abilities far beyond the ordinary. I have adopted seven such children. I give you the inaugural class of the Umbrella Academy.”

Minutes after she sat down outside, she could feel vibrations coming from the plants closest to Luther’s room. She sat up and concentrated some more. Luther had the biggest vinyl collection in the family, and whenever Dad had to leave he’d place something on the machine and let the music play throughout the entire mansion. And it seems like he was going to continue the tradition. She wondered what was actually playing now. She’d place money on it be I Think We’re Alone Now. He usually started with that one as a signal.

She stood up from her seat and started to sway around the courtyard. She may not be able to hear the music but that song was imprinted on her very being. It was one of the best things from their childhoods - freedom, as much as they were granted back then.

Just as she was getting into the groove, everything went suddenly dark and ominous. Lightning flashed and she could feel the thunder boom.

She quickly went from being semi-carefree Charlie to serious, trained Number Eight. She placed herself up against one of the walls and sunk herself into the Green. A blue portal was opening up above her and she was determined to stop whatever it was here in the courtyard before it could gain ground towards the Academy.

Her jewelry, few as it was, pulled in the direction of the portal - but most of her free attention was dragged towards the door where Number Two was exiting. She made her way towards him by routine memory. She was always near the back of the Academy - where she could see everyone and could also protect their backs. Over a decade later and it was still the position she was going to take.

Seven, One, and Three were on Two’s tail when she finally slid up to them. They quickly set up in their positions. One and Two in front, where they had the most space to move and could make up the physical wall that Three used before she could figure out who to actually Rumor. Seven was pushed into a spot so they could protect her as well. Eight stayed back a couple of steps so she’d have space to Grow. Four, who was running from the house, broke through the ranks with a fire exti-- a fire extinguisher?!? Why? Which he then used on the portal to no effect. When it very obviously didn’t work, he threw it into the portal.

When Eight glanced towards the portal, she saw a man. He was old and grey and she had never seen him before in her life but still. Her heart gave a particularly hard thump and she could swear she knew him. As she continued to watch him, she saw that he was screaming. And that he was getting younger? As the waves of blue were flashing over his face, he went from the original old man back through the ages, flashing back into a young teenager. After his final transformation, he fell face-first onto the ground - as he hit the ground the portal disappeared.

But before he hit, Eight could have sworn…

Fucking fuck. That goddamn hurt.

Five was hoping that he had actually made it because he really didn’t want to have to do that sort of jump again. Nor did he want to attempt that sort of landing again.

As he slowly stood up from where he slammed face-first into the ground, Five took stock of where he was. And while he didn’t necessarily recognize them, he was reassured when one of them said,

“Does anyone else see little Number Five or is that just me?”

Then the actual words the other man uttered registered and he looked down.

“Shit.”

Well, Eight supposed there were weirder things than their 13-year-old brother, who disappeared 17 years ago, popping up on the first day they were all together again from a glowing blue portal in the sky.

She couldn’t think of anything weirder currently but she was sure they existed.

After they collected themselves from his reappearance, they all moved towards the kitchen, slowly trailing after Five.

She was sitting with her back to the door - half an eye on her older siblings, half an eye on her little brother, and trying to calm herself down from the absolute adrenaline rush the last 10 minutes had been.

“The 24th.”

“Of what?”

“March.”

“Good.”

“So, are we gonna talk about what just happened?”

Of course, it was Luther who started the aggressive questioning, like he didn’t remember what an absolute little shit Five was. He was going to take this line of questioning really well.

And there they went, the tallest brother squaring up against the shortest brother.

Despite only catching half of the conversation, she was doing her best to follow along. They were arguing - like usual - about what had happened to Five when he left. She had the hardest time tracking what Five was saying with his tendency to Jump from place to place instead of using his legs.

“- jumping through time is a toss of the dice. Nice dress.”

“Oh, well, danke!”

“Wait, how did you get back?”

“In the end, I had to project my consciousness forward into a suspended quantum state version of myself that exists across every possible instance of time”

“That makes no sense.”

“Well, it would if you were smarter.”

She had to roll her eyes. Even 17 years later and apparently some time travel, and he was still a colossal ass. Then again, her siblings made it super easy.

“How long were you there?”

“45 years. Give or take.”

Well. Holy shit. 45 years…he was 58? Well, he was always an old man in a young body.

“Delores?”

“Guess I missed the funeral.”

“How’d you know about that?”

“What part of future do you not understand? Heart failure, huh?”

“Yeah.”

“No.”

“Hmm. Nice to see nothing's changed.”

And with that glowing review, Five left the room. She wasn’t too surprised. He never really had the temperament to stay long in voluntary family gatherings - especially when the extra-thick duo were really living it up to their title.

When Allison turned back towards the table, she assumed that Five really had left and she shifted to better face the rest of them to keep them in her sights. They were all trading looks.

“Well…”

“That was interesting.”

Idiots.

After that disaster of a full family meeting, she retreated back outside to hide amongst the Green. She most definitely didn’t want to deal with any more people bullshit than she had too and they still had to do the actual funeral. She decided that some meditating was in order and she had made it very clear years ago that to interrupt her meditating time was at their own peril. Of course, that only stopped the lower numbers but the first 4 learned quickly, for the most part.

Too soon really, the rest of her siblings and Mom joined her outside near Ben’s god-awful statue. The weather seemed to mirror the general situation with a rainstorm finally breaking. She moved to stand near Mom to share her umbrella but slowed when Diego’s hands got real close his stupid leather harness.

Instead, she felt Allison come up beside her to share her umbrella with her. She tensed slightly with the close contact but soon relaxed when she realized it was harmless. She moved a little bit closer to her and relaxed as much as she could.

Huh. She still wore the perfume Charlie got her for their 17th birthday. That was…nice.

“Did something happen?”

All of them turned to Mom when she asked that. Charlie felt a pit form in the bottom of her stomach. Mom shouldn’t sound like that and she definitely shouldn’t be questioning what was happening

“Oh. yes, of course.”

Charlie really hated that look on Mom’s face. She never wanted to be the reason why it was put there and she found some more hate for Dad, because of it.

“Yeah, yeah, she’s fine. She just needs to rest. You know, recharge.”

Pogo finally joined them outside and it signaled the start of this shebang.

“Whenever you’re ready, dear boy.”

With a look around at them, Luther took Dad’s urn and upended it...where it piled up on top of the wet ground. Gross.

“Probably would have been better with some wind.”

She only raised an eyebrow at him.

“Does anyone wish to speak?”

She aimed the flattest look she knew how to at Pogo but stayed where she was. Does anyone wish to speak? Of course, she did but could she? Hardly. And none of her siblings offered.

“Very well. In all regards, Sir Reginald Hargreeves made what I am today. For that alone, I shall forever be in his debt. He was my master...and my friend and I shall miss him very much. He leaves behind a complicated legacy--”

“He was a monster. He was a bad person and a worse father. The world’s better off without him.”

“Diego.”

“My name is Number Two. You know why? Because our father couldn’t be bothered to give us actual names. He had Mom do it.”

“Would anyone like something to eat?”

“No, it’s ok, Mom.”

“Oh, okay.”

“Look, you wanna pay your respects? Go ahead. But at least be honest about the kind of man he was.”

“You should stop talking now. I'm warning you.”

And here we go, One vs Two funeral style. She was worried they weren’t going to follow their script. And of course, Diego was the one to actually start the fight. She pulled Allison back to give them some more room to try to bash each other’s heads in. She’d place money on Diego, he’d always been jealous of Luther and could fight at a distance. Luther, despite everything about him, didn’t really like fighting against the family.

“And there goes Ben’s statue.”

Ben’s statue hit the ground with a thud that she could feel and she and Allison turned to go back inside. She had had enough of this crap. They were only in the kitchen when Luther ran past them. Vanya was close behind him. As her siblings streamed past her, she went to the cabinets. Mom always kept some cookies at hand in case any of them needed a case of pick me ups. She didn’t really know when else they would need them. And there they were - chocolate chocolate chip. She plated them and grabbed some milk and glasses. As she sat down at the table, she was surprised by the familiarity of it. They always had their assigned seats and she had just taken her normal spot.

“Nietzsche once said, ‘Man is as a rope stretched between the animal and the superhuman. A rope of the abyss. It is a dangerous crossing, a dangerous looking-back, a dangerous trembling and halting.’”

After dad finished his quote, Seven blew the whistle and the rest of them started their run up the stairs. She was slower than the rest but she was reaching for the Green on the top floor. As soon as she got a good grip on it, she pulled it towards herself and used it to pull herself up. As she was rapidly going up, she saw the tell-tale sign of Five’s Teleporting.

“That’s not fair, Five and Eight are cheating!”

“They adapted.”

She felt bad for her siblings, but she was loving the feel of the tattoo gun. It was a very soothing feeling. But she could see her siblings were hurt from their tattoos or were scared for their turns. She wished that they could like it more or that they didn’t have to get one.

After she sat down with her cookies and milk, Diego led Mom past them - probably towards her charging station. He barely glanced at her and she told him - using her face alone - to fuck right off. She was almost ready to fight him.

Klaus flounced in and sat at the head of the table. He grabbed a couple of cookies from her plate and then drank her milk. She just frowned at him prompting him to flap his Hello hand. With a roll of her eyes, she just refilled their glass. Soon afterward, Five came in and started going through all the cabinets.

“Where’s Vanya?”

“Oh, she’s gone.”

“That’s unfortunate.”

“Yeah.”

“An entire square block. 42 bedrooms, 19 bathrooms, but no, not a single drop of coffee. And you can shut up.”

He pointed at her and her raised eyebrow. She only shrugged and made a point to use her eyes to point out the fact he was 13 again.

He just rolled his eyes back at her.

“Dad hated caffeine.”

“Well, he hated children, too, and he had plenty of us.”

She really hated to admit that Klaus was right.

“I’m taking the car.”

“Where are you going?”

Both she and Five turned to stare incredulously at Klaus. He was just talking about not having any coffee. Where else was he going to go?

“To get a decent cup of coffee.”

“Do you even know how to drive?”

“I know how to do everything.”

He made another face back at her, cause like hell he knew how to do everything.

The arrogant ass. And then he was gone.

“But then again, I also just kinda want to see what happens.”

“All right, I guess I’ll you guys in, what, ten years? When Pogo dies? You, hopefully, longer still. Or never.”

Diego made his way into the room talking and pointed at her at the end of his sentence. She flipped him off and leaned back in her chair.

“Not if you die first.”

“Yeah, love you too, sis.”

“Good luck on your next film. Hope it turns out better than your marriage, huh?”

She kicked at his ankles for that asshole comment. He flinched back from her and went for his harness. She steadied herself and narrowed her eyes. But then Allison left back into the house and Diego and Klaus went out towards the back door.

She just leaned back in her and closed her eyes. She was so fucking tired of being in this stupid house. She finally decided to just leave. There was nothing, well almost nothing, left for her in this place.

She stood up and washed her dishes, then went to find Mom. She didn’t want to leave before she said hi and bye to her.

As she was walking through the main lobby, she saw Mom’s shadow on the upper levels. As she reached the top of the stairs, she looked around and saw Mom sitting at her charging station. She made her way over to her and sat down next to her.

She held onto Mom’s hand and they sat together staring at her paintings. This, this right here, the calm evenings with Mom, were her favorite parts of this house. She studied Mom’s paintings. She did have some pretty ones. But she knew Mom’s favorite was the portrait of the young lady in the black dress. She sat with Mom until her eyes started to flash blue, signaling her recharging.

She stood up, gave Mom a kiss on her forehead, and left the house.

She arrived home and she could finally relax. Once she was in through the front door, she locked it and slid to the floor. That was...exhausting. She sincerely wished her siblings long lives so she didn’t have to see them again, soon. Knickknack climbed up into her lap. She started to comb her fingers through their fur. She really should take her to get checked out soon, cause she was pretty sure she’d been adopted by this grey cat.

She heaved a sigh and stood up sometime later. She felt like she’d feel better if she completed her evening routine. She grabbed the watering hose, tucked Knickknack up on her shoulder, and started her circle around the store. The Green and Growing would help settle her down. Maybe some actual supper and then a rosewater and lavender bath before she went to bed.

When Knickkack rubbed her head against her chin, she took that as an agreement that it was a good plan.

Hopefully, things were going to go back to normal in the next couple of days.

Next Chapter

#the umbrella academy imagine #tua imagine #the umbrella academy #m's fics #my stuff #tua #hargreeves children #luther hargreeves #diego hargreeves #allison hargreeves #klaus hargreeves #five hargreeves #ben hargreeves #vanya hargreeves #charlie hargreeves #i couldn’t utter it

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foxtophat · 4 years ago

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HEY HEY HEY!!!! hey guys. haha. um, idk what to say exactly and tumblr likes to eat my posts so lets see how long this lasts:

its’ only been a couple months but i have been frothing at the mouth trying to figure out what next part of mercy to put out. i have a lot of much bigger stories to tell than this one, but kim and john sharing insomnia felt sort of like the right segue into those bigger bits. so for now, let’s just enjoy a 20k fic about Kim and John, and also a little about John and Nick, but mostly just about John and Jacob.

there are 3 chapters. i’ll post the 2nd one later this week (wednesday or friday i think) and the third will probably go up next monday. YEAH THAT’S RIGHT i actually have most of this one finished right out the gate!!!

as usual, i’ll put the entire chapter under a readmore in case you don’t want to leave tumblr. i hope you enjoy what i’ve got for you this time -- if not don’t worry, there will be more dramatic bullshit later :) comments, kudos, reblogs and likes are all the things that make ficwriting more fun than it already is, so consider helping me out if you enjoy what i’m doing. otherwise, have a good day!!!

Kim's dreams are normally composed of fleeting images in dark, monochrome colors. They're howling-wind nightmares or ethereal moments of peace, but they're short-lived and she's always disconnected from them. She hasn't had a real dream in probably nine years. She used to miss them, before John Seed reappeared with all of his night terrors, just in time to remind her of how good she has it. Now, she's glad that the most she has to contest with is a looming sense of dread that fades almost as soon as she wakes up.

But tonight, Kim is a long way away from all of that. She's standing at the kitchen sink in her childhood home, which is in full summer swing. The rosemary plant her mom keeps on the sill is in full bloom, thick green spikes dotted with blue puffball flowers. Beyond it, the Canadian sky is seawater green, and Kim marvels at the fluffy clouds drifting through the unnatural color. They seem to be floating by much faster than the still air outside would imply. It should rattle her, confuse her, but before that realization sinks in, her mom's voice distracts her away.

"Do you really think he's the one?" she asks, as skeptically as she had all those years ago when Kim first decided to move to Montana. Her mother had liked Nick, of course, because he was a likable guy, but Kim had known from the start that her parents were worried about her. They'd worried about her moving to a red state, about her trusting a man she'd seen a handful of times since they'd met. They hadn't understood the idea of purple pockets or internet dating, and while they supported Kim's love of rifle showmanship, they'd never trusted Nick owning more than three guns.

"What's the point, is all I'm asking," Kim's mom laughs in response to Kim's unspoken comment. "It seems strange to collect weapons..."

"Mom, he hunts !" she chides. "And anyway, he isn't the worst one out there."

"That's exactly what I worry about," her mom says. "What if something bad were to happen? His family is gone, and we'll be so far away..."

Kim sighs, the words stinging more than they should. The aqua colored sky begins to churn outside, the light filtering through a strange red haze. Inside, the sunlight reflects off the white counters, nearly blinding Kim.

"I'll be okay," she says, reciting an amalgamation of all her old defenses as her eyes readjust. "There are a lot of good people out there. They rely on each other a whole lot more than we do here."

"I worry about you, Kimiko. That's all." Her mother sighs sadly. "You'll understand when you have kids of your own."

"But mom..."

Kim tries to tell her that she already has a kid, but she can't muster up the words. After all, shouldn't she know? Wouldn't Kim have visited? Wouldn't she have brought Carmina into this very kitchen, all the surfaces glowing with light, and introduced them? Wouldn't her mom have been there when Carmina was born?

"It's unseasonably warm, isn't it," her dad remarks at the table. He's sitting there with a magazine as if he'd been there the whole time. He, like the rest of the room, glows from the inside, as though a flashlight were shining through his skin. It shines through the wood of the table, through her mom's curious smile, until Kim has to turn her face away. The room grows hotter and hotter, and in the far-off whistling wind she hears the first lonesome wail of an air-raid siren beginning to pick up. There's a blinding burst of light and howling wind, and Kim lifts her hands to her face, desperate not to look directly at the blast —

The bedroom is dark, warm and humid. At first, Kim doesn't know where she is, struggling to sit up, desperate to run, until all at once reality comes crashing back into focus. It doesn't help that she's pinned beneath Nick's arm and Carmina's full dead-sleeping weight.

Normally, moving would be out of the question. But Kim doesn't want this dream clinging to her memory, and she desperately wants to put some space between her and the nuclear glow of her mother's smile. Hell, maybe it isn't the dream at all — maybe it's the heat that's making lying here unbearable. Maybe it's the extra weight pinning her down, or a panic attack waiting in the wings — whatever it is, she needs to get up and run from it. As she worms her way out from underneath her family, Kim can feel the pressure building behind her eyes, fueled by the need to jog out the tension that will soon become unbearable. She needs to exercise the nightmare away before it sticks around and ruins the rest of her night.

It's probably already too late for that. The back of Kim's eyes are itchy with tears as she struggles to get free. She's already memorized her mom's smile, trapped forever in radioactive amber, and that alone is enough trauma to fuel ten more terrible dreams.

Nick and Carmina remain peacefully asleep, even as Kim extracts herself from the bed. That's good — the last thing she needs to do is worry Nick, whose own sleeping habits have just started to even out. He'll try to keep her company, and they'll just wind up keeping each other up, which wasn't ideal back in the day and definitely isn't ideal now .

Even though Carmina sleeps like the dead and Nick isn't likely to hear her, Kim is careful to watch out for the creakiest steps as she heads downstairs. Sunrise isn't for a few hours yet, but Kim isn't going to let that stop her from insomnia-pacing around her own home. It used to be that Kim would jog laps on the runway to clear her head, but that isn't going to work nowadays. She still wants to, of course; she's desperate to step out into the relatively cool night air and run herself ragged enough to pass out again, but that's out of the question. She's not about to break her own rule.

It's only once Kim is downstairs that she starts to relax, lighting one of the candles left out on the table. The light is just barely enough to see by, and Kim struggles to find something to clean up or organize in the half-dark. All of the coping mechanisms that got her through eight years of bunker living have fallen flat in the face of the apocalypse, but that doesn't keep her from trying them over and over again. Some techniques are more adaptable, but it isn't like she can dig into reorganizing the hangar for Nick at... whatever time it is now. Not without somebody catching her breaking her own rules about going outside alone.

If she had any books worth reading, she could throw herself into that, but she can't bear the manuals and children's books right now. Maybe if there was a radio station she could listen to... but no, she wouldn't want to risk burning out the radio after everything Nick and John went through to fix it. There's not going to be another Hail Mary when it comes to that kind of repair.

Her mom would probably use this time to make a series of endless lists. Grocery lists, to-do lists, lists of pros and cons for buying new appliances or inviting Kim's awful step-grandmother to her wedding... there was nothing that her mom couldn't organize into a column of bullet points or check-boxes. Kim could probably do with a few lists herself, but where is she supposed to get the paper? And even if a supply list wouldn't be a waste of resources, where would she go to fill it? It's going to be a while before they can pick up flour from the farmer's market again, that's for sure.

Well, at least wasting some paper will keep her mind busy. There's too much stuff they need, and she's going to drive herself crazy trying to remember all of it. Anyway, they've been using decades-old junk mail to prop up the radio desk — it can't be wasted if it was already trash, right?

She's careful in her search for a decent piece of mail, not wanting to tip the radio over as she jimmies a yellowed envelope from under the desk. It's only once she's back at the table with a worn-down nub of a pencil that she finds herself hesitating. After all, what is she supposed to write? What could they reasonably expect to get out here, with no supply chain to rely on? Everything that comes to mind is laughably improbable at best.

It doesn't really matter, though, does it? They're probably not going to be able to find anything besides what they can hunt and grow for themselves, so any food she writes down will be wishful thinking. John had offered to help their scavenging efforts, but it isn't likely they'll find working walkie-talkies or a new car. People who have been above ground longer than the Ryes have already taken over key resource points, and they'll be hard-pressed to give up things without a fair trade. And until they can reliably communicate with one another, trading is going to be nearly impossible. One day, maybe, they'll have trading posts and reliable supply chains, but like other pieces of their fractured society, that's not coming for a long time yet.

Staring at a blank piece of paper is worse than writing something stupid down, and so Kim quickly scribbles the word flour across the top of the envelope. She can't imagine that's going to be a reasonable expectation for a while, but at least it's on paper — and it's outlandish enough that it encourages her to continue, her thoughts darting between impossible dreams and honest reality. Salt , she thinks might not be quite as hard to find. Sugar, probably impossible. For now, they can hope for honey instead.

It goes on like that, growing more abstract as Kim lets herself dream. Milk, eggs, bread, twinkies , meat grinder, hamburgers, tomatoes, grains (seeds), grill (charcoal), gas, gas canisters (storage), duct tape, insulation foam (spray, sheet), toilet cleaner, toilet, hot water, plumbing, bathtub! , tarp, doors, ammunition, floodlights, security system, cans + string (security) —

Her flow is interrupted by a soft, distant thud somewhere upstairs. Kim listens for a few tense seconds, waiting to hear boots on the roof, the hiss of a walkie-talkie, or the slide-click of a gun being cocked. Without the cult, those fears go unrealized, and Kim slumps tiredly into her seat. She's just as paranoid about armed cultists tonight as she is about wild animals, although she's sure that's just her nightmare talking. Eden's Gate is nowhere near the threat it used to be.

The relief is short-lived, as is her solitude, when she hears an upstairs door click shut, followed by the sound of quick footsteps on the landing. The house is too old for any real attempt at stealth, but John tries to avoid the worst offending stairs on his way down. He only realizes Kim is there when he notices the candlelight, coming to an abrupt stop on the last step, one hand clutching the banister tight.

He's sweaty and out of sorts as he wipes his limp hair out of his face. "Oh," he rasps. "Kim."

He's surprised to see her. Kim should be surprised, too — it's one thing to know that John wanders the house at night, but it's another to see it happen in real-time. Honestly, she's barely phased by his appearance. John's sleep schedule has been bunker-erratic ever since Nick brought him home, and no amount of diurnal activity has managed to change it. If anything, Kim suspects he gets less sleep now than he did underground. It isn't for lack of trying, she's sure, but this isn't the first time she's heard him stumbling around in the dark. It's just the first time she's been in the same boat.

"Late night?" she asks.

John struggles once more with the hair in his eyes before giving up. "Just needed some air," he rasps, minding his volume. "Some water."

"Don't mind me," she replies, surprising herself with her own ambivalence. Knowing he moves around while they're sleeping is one thing, but seeing it should be upsetting. It should bother her when he avoids creaky floorboards on his way to help himself to their fresh water. It should make her angry to see him using their resources; at the very least, it should have upset her back when it began normalizing. But, honestly, it hadn't. Kim had just been relieved to see John acting like a person, and not just a haunted shell.

John wipes the back of his hand across his mouth, regarding Kim with deep uncertainty that Kim mostly makes out from his hunched shoulders and tense posture. He tries to hide just how lost he is, but Kim never misses it when he slips. It's not that she's sympathetic towards him, exactly, but she knows just enough about his history to want to pity him.

He doesn't speak, not even after the silence stretches out. Maybe he's waiting for her to make the first move?

The thought almost makes her laugh, but she still cuts him some slack. "Can't sleep either, huh?" she asks.

"Hardly ever," John replies, although he clearly isn't looking for reassurance. He takes a step away from the kitchen, hovering in the nebulous space between the table and the stairs. He's usually quick to leave Kim alone — quicker than he is with Nick, anyway — and so she appreciates the fact that he doesn't run now.

His voice cracks on its low pitch as he haltingly asks, "What are you doing?"

For just a second, Kim imagines giving John the cold shoulder and telling him it's none of his business. But the thought fades as quickly as it comes; it's replaced by the knowledge that John is just as dependent on the family's supplies as she is. Anything she needs, he'll also need. And besides, she's almost positive he'd been in control of the cult's supplies, which means he might have an idea of what they should realistically be looking for. He would know what the cult had planned to do, and she could probably translate that into useful advice.

"Just making a list," she sighs. It sounds stupid enough to make her wince, and she concedes with a joke, "You know, for the next time we're at Wal-Mart."

John huffs in amusement and approaches the table. Now that she's got an audience, Kim wants nothing more to do with the list, and so she pushes towards him before slumping back into her chair. Instead of the quick, distracted glance she had been expecting, John leans over to read it in full. The longer he reads, the more embarrassed Kim is of her late-night daydreaming, but he finishes with the list before she can grab it back.

"Some of these are... more manageable than others," he says, using the same kind of diplomacy he utilizes whenever Nick makes a particularly dumb comment.

"Uh, yeah ," she says, embarrassed even if she isn't surprised. "I know. It was just... taking up space in my head. I needed to write it down, otherwise, I'm going to be up all night."

Kim runs her hand through her hair, waiting for John to retreat as quickly as he'd arrived. Instead, John rereads the list once more. Kim can see his amusement much more plainly as he leans into the candlelight. It highlights the deep bags under his eyes as well, but who isn't carrying that particular mark of exhaustion these days?

"Ammunition isn't as high on the list as I'd imagined," he comments.

"We're okay on bullets for now," she replies. "And it's not like there's much to spare."

Whether or not that satisfies John, Kim isn't sure. He only hums in response, eyes roaming down the paper.

"I see you didn't bother to add more guns."

"We don't need more guns," Kim insists, although it's not strictly true. She's just hesitant to overwhelm the house with firearms. They've been getting on just fine with what they have — any more, and they might turn into a target themselves. One day, sure, they'll need to find something for Carmina to carry on her own, but that day is a long, long way away.

She doesn't need to explain herself to anyone, let alone John Seed, but as he watches her and waits for more, she feels compelled to justify herself. "I don't think we're going to find spare guns or ammunition just lying around, and I'm not about to take them by force. We've managed just fine with what we have."

"For now," John points out. "Things could change. It won't stay this calm forever."

"Why not?" Kim retorts, feeling childish and petulant as soon as the words leave her mouth. "Why do you even care? You're certainly not getting armed."

John clicks his tongue against his teeth. "It's not that," he says, only to abruptly roll over with a muttered, "Never mind."

If John thinks he can avoid the conversation that easily, he has another thing coming. "No, what is it?" she asks.

"It's nothing," he sighs, as if arrogantly dismissing her will keep Kim from pushing. When Kim only frowns unhappily back at him, he reluctantly relents. "Joseph had said taking your weapons was the only way we could ensure you wouldn't use them after the Collapse. And if we didn't lock them away, it would be all you would look for." He stares at the list, although Kim imagines his thoughts are about fifty miles away. "It's stunning how wrong he was about everything. But there are reminders everywhere."

John rarely speaks about Joseph; Kim hasn't heard him broach the subject of his own volition before. The only person who ever talks to him about his brother is Jerome, and those conversations are private and short. Having John bring him up with almost no needling feels like a step forward, even if it's only a small one. Even though John is anxious saying Joseph's name.

It's so easy to forget how much control Joseph had over John. Kim has to make a concentrated effort now and again to remind herself that Joseph hadn't only brainwashed normal, desperate people, but his own family. She can't imagine doing anything to Carmina or Nick that would turn them into the angry, anxious mess John had been even before the Collapse. Not even if it meant they would always do what they were told and would trust her implicitly. She couldn't bear it if Nick ever talked about her the way John talks about Joseph. It's late enough that Kim finds herself wondering how Joseph can even sleep at night.

"It's stupid," John says, taking Kim's contemplative silence as disapproval. "I should have known better."

He inhales, letting out a shaky breath, and closes his eyes briefly. When he opens them, they're suspiciously shiny in the candlelight. It sparks a genuine pang of sympathy in Kim, but there's nothing she can say or do to help him. Nothing she's done so far has made an impact.

"Some of this is reasonable enough," John says, desperately trying to redirect the conversation back to the list. It's an obvious, flat-footed attempt to avoid a tender spot in his psyche, but Kim is willing to let it slide.

"Sure, eventually . But we're a long way off from hot baths and backyard barbecues, much less flour and sugar."

"Those are... less reasonable," he admits, dragging his finger across one of the harder to come by items. Still, he isn't nearly as deterred as she is. "But not everything is impossible to come by. Insulation, for one. Tarp, duct tape. Components like that should be easy enough to find." He taps his finger against the envelope. "And there still places to investigate. Root cellars nobody bothered to touch. Caches you never found. Things hidden in places you wouldn't know to look, especially if you weren't in the Project."

Frowning, Kim rereads a few of the items upside-down from her side of the table. "It's been almost nine years," Kim points out, reluctant to get her hopes up so easily. "Isn't it more likely that everything good has already been discovered?"

Still... John's mentioned secret Eden's Gate supplies before. Given the size of the project and how long they were operating in the county, it's not impossible that some of their hidden stashes haven't been found yet. And they were planning for the apocalypse, right? They'd likely have saved things that could last for a long time. John isn't wrong — more ammunition and more weapons would be helpful. At the very least, they could help arm other survivors.

"It wouldn't hurt to have a look, I guess," Kim relents after thinking it over. "How good is your memory?"

That earns her a rare, quiet chuckle from John. "Middling to poor," he admits, "Although if I had a map, it would help. It would make it easier to mark what I remember."

"To think, it only took nine years and an apocalypse for you to finally hand over the intel."

John huffs, but his response is only mildly offended. "Do you want what I have to offer, or not?"

"Don't be like that," Kim says, placating him with a smile. "It would be a big help. It'll help me sleep better, anyway."

It seems there's more on John's mind than Kim teasing him, since he takes the non-apology and moves on without a fight. "Jacob had caches buried for after the Reaping," he says. "They'll most likely be weapons, but he was... hard to read. It could be that he stored survival equipment in one. There were a few in the valley, but most of them would be in the mountains."

Kim shakes her head at that. "As far as I've heard, nobody's made it very far north. And the stories I have heard aren't good. The dam broke, so a lot of the area is flooded, and supposedly the radiation is still pretty bad."

John hums briefly as he considers the facts. He leans contemplatively over the list, and for a moment Kim wonders if this was a common occurrence for him before the Collapse. How many late nights did he spend bent over a map while his brothers watched and waited for his decisions? She has to suspect it was a lot, because this is the first time she's seen John look even remotely confident.

That confidence is clear in his voice as he remarks defiantly, "I suppose the valley will do until we get airborne again. Let flooding stop us then ."

"Oh, okay," Kim laughs, checking her volume before she lets her amusement wake up the rest of her family. "You are just like Nick. Neither of you are going to give up until you get back in the sky, huh?"

"Exactly," John replies. "I won't trust anybody else to do it. Realistically, a helicopter would be the best option..."

"Oh, right," Kim chuckles. " Realistically ."

John taps accusingly at the list and raises an eyebrow at her. "Less realistic than hot water and iodized table salt?"

If Kim didn't know better, she might think that John is actually teasing her. He normally saves that kind of attitude for Nick, who prefers arguing through and around problems. Kim, on the other hand, rarely has the energy to deal with avoidance tactics, and so she tends to demand his sincerity. Thankfully, the liminal time of just-about-three has softened her stance on the matter.

"Okay," she relents with a smile. "Sure. Might as well add helicopters to the list." It would be a pretty big get for them, all things considered. And anyway, John's right — Kim wouldn't trust flying in a plane jury-rigged together by anyone other than Nick.

But that's a resource that will come in the nebulous future, and Kim's too realistic to worry years in advance right now. There are more pressing concerns to deal with, first — like food, water and security. Any caches John can find will at least fulfill one of those priorities, although Kim can't imagine the cult storing anything other than ammunition and weapons. But even if the caches don't pan out, they might find valuable scrap, like logs for firewood, furniture they can re-purpose, or even old survivalist caches that nobody thought to dig up after the world ended. And now that there are four of them, Kim won't feel so uncomfortable when Nick wants to drive to the middle of nowhere looking for supplies.

Kim sighs with relief, feeling a weight roll off her back that she hadn't been trying to remove. "Things will be a lot easier if you can help us with supplies. And I'll feel better about Nick going out if he has somebody to watch his back."

John pulls the same face he usually makes when someone implies they trust him. Kim could ignore it — after all, John doesn't need to believe they trust them for it to be true. Too bad for him, it's too late at night for her to turn a blind eye. "Oh, get over it," she tells him, unable to help a lopsided smile at his offended scowl. "I seriously doubt you're planning on murdering us at this point. And I know Nick is smart enough to knock the crap out of you if he thinks you've changed your mind."

"I won't," John immediately replies.

Kim believes him, if only because there's nobody left for John to rely on other than them. "Good. Because if I can trust you, that means I won't worry about Nick when he decides to go farther than town. It means we can spend more meaningful time with Carmina, too. Anyway, Nick likes bossing you around, and you like being bossed around, so everybody wins."

John ducks his head, embarrassed, but Kim laughs to let him know she's only teasing. "Seriously," she says, relenting for his benefit, "It does help. It's good to have somebody else to rely on."

"I... want to be helpful," John replies, although Kim suspects that he might be confusing his wants and needs again. It's not quite a compulsion anymore, but even John's most heated attempts to argue about a job end with him rolling over quick. He hasn't outright refused to do something, and Kim doesn't think he ever will, if only to prove to himself one more time that he might actually be capable of change.

It might get annoying one day, but for now, Kim can respect his intense desire to make amends. She just wishes he would accept some form of gratitude or praise in return, to make it less awkward on her end.

Kim rests her hands momentarily on the tabletop, tapping her fingers briefly against the wood. "Okay," she softly declares, "I think I'm going to try to get back to sleep." Whatever she winds up dreaming about now, she's pretty sure it won't be the same awful nightmare again — and that's at least partially because of John's intervention. She figures it's worth telling him as much. "You made a pretty good distraction, so thanks."

He nods immediately in response. "Of course," he replies, momentarily bewildered as he checks Kim's expression for signs of sarcasm or annoyance. His posture relaxes as Kim stands, although Kim imagines his relief is temporary. He's pretty good at working himself up into anxious frenzies — staying out of them is another matter entirely.

"Try to get some sleep yourself, okay?" Kim suggests.

There's no way John means it when he says, "I will," but at least he's willing to placate her instead of getting mad at her being concerned in the first place.

"And try not to wake up Carmina."

John nods affirmatively. Kim's positive that he'll sneak outside once she's gone upstairs, but at least he's waiting patiently for her to leave. If it weren't for her returning exhaustion, Kim might've used him as an excuse to do her own late-night workout, but it'll have to do to merely turn a blind eye to him edging around her rule about going out after dark alone. Kim and Nick have both been woken up by the exterior doors, but John never goes beyond the planters out back, and he always closes up when he comes back in. Kim could call him out on it, but... well, it seems like he needs the freedom.

Kim says goodnight and is mildly surprised when John returns it without any lingering sarcasm. He must be pretty tired, but that's not really a surprise. Hopefully, he'll try to take some of her concern to heart, or at least pretend for her sake.

Although Carmina is definitely still asleep when Kim returns to the bedroom, Nick is watching her with bleary-eyed curiosity. He waits until she's closed the door to speak up, and even then it's a dull, quiet whisper.

"Everything okay?" he asks.

He doesn't mind waiting for Kim to creep back to bed before she answers. "It is," she tells him, gratefully crawling into bed as he opens his arms for her. He folds his arms over her shoulders, letting her wiggle into a comfortable spot before she explains in a whisper. "I needed to move around, and John came downstairs. That's all."

"Hope he wasn't a creep," Nick mumbles into her hair. Kim sighs laughingly into his collarbone, which is already sticking to her cheek with sweat. There's no way she's going to be wrapped up in Nick's arms all night, not when it's this hot, but she'll appreciate it while she's got it.

"Not yet," Kim says. "Just talking about supplies." She presses a kiss to Nick's shoulder and whispers, "We'll talk about it in the morning."

Nick hums happily into Kim's hair. "Sounds good to me," he mumbles. The less they talk about John Seed, the better, after all. Especially right now, when they're tangled up in bed with their daughter snoring next to them; there's no room for serious conversation, and there's absolutely no room for John. There's no space for the nightmares that woke her, either; as Kim falls asleep, Nick's hand tangled up in her hair, she thankfully forgets everything save for a warm, melancholy amber glow.

#fc5 #fcnd #john seed #kim rye #far cry new dawn #its only the first 5 right i can't remember #i feel like i was channeling james a janice here for a minute #HEY GUYS welcome to the kill count where we'll be tallying up all the skeletons in john seed's closet #mercyverse #my fic

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