#one of my siblings called and asked and my dad and I confidently gave opposite answers

[tj-crochets]

Hey y'all! Weird question, if a thunderstorm hits while you are in your car in a parking lot, should you stay in your car until it stops lightning-ing as much or should you run into a store for safety? Edit: should have made it clearer in the post itself, I am not in a car in a thunderstorm and the person who asked me about this is already safely at home

[angryschnauzer]

In Need Of Help

Summary: Whilst visitng your parents for the holidays you find a present your roommate gave you, a buttplug. Unfortunately for you it gets stuck and there’s only one person you can ask for help; your parents next door neighbour and your dads best friend; August Walker

Pairing: Dads Best Friend August Walker x Female Reader (Slight age difference approx 8 years)

Fandom: Henry Cavill, Mission Impossible: Fallout.

Warnings: NSFW, 18+, Smut, Age Gap Relationship, Sex Toys, Butt Plug, Butt Plug getting stuck, fingering, Oral Sex, Vaginal Sex, Unprotected Sex, Creampie

Wordcount: 3333

Here is my masterlist and AO3

 I do not run a tag list, instead please follow @angryschnauzerwrites​ and put that blog onto notifications, you’ll then get an alert each time i post something new. My AO3 also has my entire back catalogue of stories (going back to 2013).

In Need Of Help

This is not the predicament you had been expecting to find yourself in when you’d made plans to spend Christmas with your parents in the suburbs. The worst thing you could have imagined happening would have been your much younger siblings causing bruises as they excitedly climbed on you - their big sister - instead you found yourself with your phone in your hand, scrolling through your contacts from high school to figure out who you could call as this was a problem you couldn’t fix on your own and was certainly not one you could ask your parents with.

When your best friend handed you your Christmas gift before you’d left, she had a shit eating grin on her face and simply said ‘don’t open it in front of your family’. It was only when you’d been sorting through your bag towards the end of your stay you’d found the forgotten gift and unwrapped it, almost dropping it when you saw the silver plug shining in the discrete velvet box, a small package of lube tucked in next to it. A note in your friend’s handwriting was tucked into the lid; ‘you need to open your horizons’. 

“Yeah, we’ll I've got to open my asshole first it would seem” you muttered to yourself, your thoughts interrupted by your Mom as she called up to you.

“We’re going now, enjoy the peace and quiet!”

That had been an hour ago, and now as your parents had taken your younger siblings to their post Christmas gymnastics lesson you’d stayed home, and after a restless half hour of attempting to read or enjoy your other seasonal gifts, you’d found yourself in your bedroom with the plug. You were horny. The walls of your parents' home were thin, so you hadn’t had a chance to use the small vibrator you’d optimistically packed, and had settled down with your kindle and some of the spicy titles you’d downloaded. A brief moment of misplaced confidence and that was how you found yourself in your predicament; the plug was stuck. 

At first you’d enjoyed the sensation, having gone slowly with a small amount of lube, but you’d shifted on the bed to get more comfortable but it’d had the opposite effect. Deciding it was time to remove it you’d stretched, twisted and tried, but no matter what you attempted your ass was not giving up its new decoration. 

So this is where you were, in need of help. Shutting your phone down you sighed, not a single one of your local contacts was someone who you’d feel comfortable approaching with such a matter, those that had stayed in town seemed the most vanilla type of people possible. You couldn’t even call your best friend as you knew she was on duty as a flight attendant, probably somewhere 40,000ft in the air right at this moment. Standing in your room you glanced out of the window and a thought came to you. Chewing on your lip you considered your options, before pulling your woollen socks further up your legs so your knitted dress covered the tops of them, sliding on your boots and making your way out of the house.

-

Your parents had conceived you early, whilst they were in high school, and against the odds had made a teen pregnancy work. Married fresh out of high school they had taken turns to go to local community college whilst raising a small child, only expanding their family once you headed off to college, and now you had twin sisters who were almost a generation younger than you. It also meant that the ages of your friends and the ages of your parents' friends would intersect in the middle. One friend in particular of your parents was their next door neighbour, August Walker. 

Mr Walker, or August as he’d insisted you’d call him, was smack bang in the middle of the age bracket between you and your parents, and although your father’s friend, he was known to throw a wink at you now and again when your parents weren’t looking. When you’d visited for 4th of July you’d be bending over in a short sundress to unload the dishwasher, when you’d turned around and saw him paused at the door to the kitchen. A smirk and a wink, he’d started to approach you when your Dad had called out to you, and with another wink he’d discretely adjusted himself before disappearing back to the party.

As you crossed the short path between houses you did your best not to slip over on the snow, the last thing you needed to happen was to fall on your ass, especially considering your current ass-based issue.

When he opened the door he briefly looked surprised, before a small smile crossed his face;

“Hi, what can I do for you?”

Shivering on the doorstep you hugged yourself tightly, your shivering more from nerves than the cold;

“Umm… can I come in, please?”

-

Ten minutes later you were stood beside the sleek marble kitchen island, August pushing a strong drink across the counter for you to take;

“Thanks”

Rather than staying on the opposite side of the island, August circled around with his glass of whiskey before he stood in front of you. Placing his glass on the counter he rested both of his hands on your upper arms, softly rubbing as he spoke;

“Thank you for coming to me with this. You’re a beautiful girl and i wouldn’t want anything to happen to you”

“August, I’m not a girl, I’m 25” you corrected, slightly annoyed that he called you a girl; “And currently have a buttplug stuck in my ass”

“And we’ll get that sorted. Lots of first times can be embarrassing or tricky”

“It’s not my ‘first time’, i’ve fucked before”

He hooked his finger beneath your chin, guiding your head slightly so you could meet his intense gaze;

“I don’t doubt that, I meant the first time with something in your ass” he said with a slight chuckle.

“So umm… how are we… Are you going to do this? Should I just bend over or…?”

Wrapping his arms around you he pulled you to his chest and pressed a kiss to the top of your head;

“Oh Princess, no. No we’re not. You need to relax, as you’re no doubt wound so tight right about now that nothing is gonna go in or out of that ass”

You let out a sigh, inhaling his aftershave as your face was pressed to his chest, the soft knit shirt warm and comforting. After a few moments you pushed back and looked August in the face, for the first time noticing how his left eye had a little patch of brown in the iris among the icy blue. You were lost in your own mind when you realised he’d been saying something;

“I’m sorry, what did you say?”

“I said, let's get started”

He slipped his hand into yours but you didn’t make a move;

“How are we going to do this?”

He sighed before stepping back towards you;

“Believe it or not Princess, this isn’t my first rodeo with a lovely young lady being a little over confident with their butt. First and foremost you need to relax, and i don’t mean mentally, i mean physically. You need to relax all your pelvic muscles…”

“Ok…”

“And the easiest way to do that is arousal”

You paused, taking in the reality of what you were about to do

“I see. And you’ll…”

“Help. In any way you need me to”

-

August had led you through his house to his bedroom which was exactly as you’d been expecting; simple dark tones, dark bedding, low lighting. The windows overlooked the wooded shore of the lake, the opposite direction from your parents house. The sense of privacy was comforting, and yet as August shut the door you felt a sense that you were way out of your depth. Crossing the room he stood in front of you, again resting his palms on your upper arms;

“So, what would you like?”

Taking a deep breath you could feel your voice waiver a little;

“I want you to take charge please, August”

He let out an appreciative hum before hooking his knuckle beneath your chin to turn your face to him before kissing you. What started as a small gentle touch of his lips soon developed into more, and before long your arms were around his shoulders as his tongue pushed into your mouth, tasting you as you were pliable in his grasp. He slowly pulled at your sweater dress until it was at your chest, breaking the kiss;

“Lift your arms Princess”

Doing as he told you, he lifted the garment all the way off, taking a moment to appreciate the way your bra cupped your breasts.His gaze travelled further down and smiled at the Christmas print cotton thong;

“Mmm, turn around” he instructed, his voice low

Slowly turning, your socks smooth on the thick pile carpet of his bedroom, when your ass was facing him he rested a hand on your shoulder;

“Hands on the bed”

Leaning forwards a little you set your palms onto the black comforter that was neatly folded on the high bed. You felt as he held your buttocks in his massive hands, warming the skin with his palms before pulling your cheeks apart a little and letting out a long slow breath;

“Now that is one of the prettiest sights i’ve seen”

You let out a small squeak as his hand slid between your legs, his thumb barely grazing against the plug as his fingers worked between your folds, grunting as he found you already soaked. Tenderly his fingers explored your folds, his other hand wrapping around your torso and pulled you up to stand, cupping your chin to turn your head so he could kiss you as his fingers worked between your thighs.

As his fingers pushed further you broke the kiss, panting out as you instinctively rose up onto your toes, your back supported against August’s chest.

“Such a good girl, so wet and tight, your pussy is begging for another finger, isn’t it?”

“Yes August, please”

With another low hum of appreciation he shifted his hand to allow a second finger slide into your eager hole, his breath hot on your face as he worked your body until you were rocking against his hand, eager for release. Your sighs and moans were an easy indication that you were close.

“It’s time to cum Princess, cum for me”

Your mouth fell into a silent O as you came, your hands clinging to August’s strong forearm that sat across your torso, your body shaking as he held you tight and let you ride out your orgasm on his hand. 

Eventually he pulled his hand away, and as you turned slightly you watched as he sucked two fingers into his mouth, sucking your slick juices from them;

“Delicious. Now, on the bed, on your hands and knees”

He swatted a light slap on your ass, to which you let out a little yelp before you did as he asked, settling on the high bed, your ass towards him.

“Now, let's have a good look here” he muttered to himself, smoothing his palms over your cheeks to pull them apart and take a look at the prize between them. Hooking your thong panties to one side he tenderly ran his finger through your folds and up to your ass, around the jewelled flared base before grasping it and giving it a little tug.

“Hmm, still tightly in there. How much lube did you use?”

“Just… Just a little bit”

He sucked in air through his teeth;

“Tut tut tut, No, with anything butt related you use a ton of lube. Copious amounts, it needs to be wetter than a slip and slide in a thunderstorm. Stay there.”

You heard him moving around the room before quickly returning to you, his warm hand on your ass again, this time carefully pulling your panties down until they sat around your thighs. The soft click of a capped bottle broke the silence before you felt a cold drip of something viscous land on your ass near to the plug, soon followed by the warm touch of his finger spreading the lube around the base of the plug;

“We’ll need to work the lube in around your little decoration Princess. No no, I can feel you tensing up again, relax…”

“That’s easy for you to say, you’re not the one with something stuck in your ass”

“How do you know I haven't?”

You whipped your head around in shock, only to be greeted with August’s now tell tale smirk. Narrowing your gaze you glared at him;

“Kinky”

“Yup. Now get back into position”

He pressed a hand to your shoulder blades, pushing you down until your chest was resting on the comforter;

“Time to get you relaxed again”

With your vision now obscured you could only feel what he was doing, the soft furnishings muting his movements, so you were shocked when you felt something warm and wet slide through your folds, followed by the rough brush of facial hair against your labia;

“Oh oooh god”

August set off at a brisk pace, his tongue working against your cunt to the point you barely noticed his fingers working around the plug, only realising something was amiss when you felt the definite stretch of a finger sliding in alongside the plug. The movement was a foreign feeling, but as his tongue delved further into your soaked hole you started to enjoy the feeling, your moans and sighs increasing until you could feel the start of an orgasm building in the pit of your stomach;

“Please… please, so good, more… please August…”

He didn’t reply, one hand now firmly gripped on your hip whilst the other worked at the plug, his mouth all but buried in your pussy until you came with a cry of his name, shuddering as your body was rocked with a strong orgasm, cumming on his face until you slumped forwards and lay twitching on the soft covers of his bed.

As the world came back into focus you saw August moving at the foot of the bed, a soft cloth in his hand before he pressed it to your buttocks;

“Sorry, there was a bit more lube than we needed”

It took a couple of seconds to register, but when it did your eyes went wide and you stretched a hand to your ass, only to find the unwanted decoration now missing from its prison;

“You got the plug out!”

“Hmmm mmm” he hummed, looking down at you as your hands explored your naked below the waist body, running his own hand over the obscene bulge now in his pants. In a moment of confidence you moved forward, resting carefully on the edge of the bed before reaching a hand out to palm over the bulge alongside his own much larger hand;

“I should thank you for your help” you said coyly, looking up through your lashes as you moved to tug the zipper down. 

August cupped your chin;

“Do you think you can handle me? You ever been with an older man?”

“Dude, you’re seven years old, eight at most depending on what month”

He just smirked at your response, instead picking you up and softly tossing you on to his bed;

“Lets apart, I want to see that pussy”

You did as he asked as he stripped, and you were transfixed by his body. Thick with muscle his chest was covered in a thick layer of hair that ran down to his stomach and dick. Speaking of which he was rock hard and girthy, patterned with veins. You licked your lips as you watched him roll a condom down before climbing into the bed.

He kissed his way up your body before settling between your thighs, pressing a kiss to your lips before he suddenly turned the pair of you so you were on top and straddling his stomach;

“You’re gonna show me just how much of a big girl you are Princess, I’m gonna let you ride me, see how much of me you can take”

“You want me to…?! Oh god…”

Pushing yourself up on your knees you took a deep breath and looked down at the monster standing proud beneath you. Reaching out to hold it you positioned him at your entrance before pushing down, feeling him breach your body. Resting the palms of your hands on his stomach you shut your eyes and rocked up and down a little, easing your way a little further each time until you heard him grunt;

“Doing well Princess”

In a moment of bravery - or perhaps stupidity - you rose and then fell all the way, taking him as deep as you could. Both of you let out curse words as your bodies grew accustomed to the size and tightness, trembling as you urged your body to relax until you were confident enough to start rocking your hips just a little.

“You’re so big August…” you praised, riding him with your eyes closed so you could focus on the stretch and pull every time. 

He didn’t respond, and when you opened your eyes you saw his were wide open, jaw slack as he watched where your bodies were joined;

“Your cunt looks so perfect stretching around me. I know you’re struggling to take me, you can do it… ride me Princess”

With renewed vigour and confidence you rode him like he was a pony ride at your 10th birthday, grinding your hips down so your clit rubbed against the root of his shaft, bringing you closer to another orgasm. You felt his hand grip your thighs then hips, pulling you down to meet his upwards thrusts and you could tell he was getting close. You quickly moved your hand to your pussy, rubbing your clit;

“Cum for me August, let me feel you inside me. You needn’t have worn the condom, i’m on the pill and tested…”

He suddenly pushed you up, pulling the condom off and tossing it aside before pulling you straight back down again onto his cock. The groan you both let out as you felt skin on skin filled the room;

“Oh fuck, i’m gonna cum, your cunt feels too good”

Your orgasm surged through you as you felt August filling you with his creamy seed, pumping you full as you trembled around him.  As your throes of passion subsided you collapsed on his chest, sated and full.

-

“It was so good of you to show my girl how to stop that hacker getting into her phone” you Dad said, clapping a hand over August’s shoulder as he stood in your parents kitchen. 

After what had happened you’d had to think of an excuse as your parents had seen you crossing the snowy lawn to which you’d had to come up with something quick as an excuse. That was how you found yourself standing in your parents kitchen listen to August make up a very plausible scenario, whilst his cum slowly dripped down your inner thigh.

“Hey, did she tell you she got a paid internship?” your Dad’s question to August pulled you out of your daze.

“No, where is that then?” August asked animatedly

“Some big law firm in the city”

“Oh really?”

“Where was it sweetie?” your Dad pushed

“Syverson, Marshall & Walker Associates”

“Ohhh really…” August nodded, a smirk tugging at the corner of his mouth

Your Dad missed the expression on August’s face, wrapping his arm around your shoulders;

“Yup, my little girl is all grown up now, playing with the big boys”

August smiled;

“Sounds like a dream come true”

You were completely unaware of just who your bosses come Monday would be.

[marauderundercover]

Taking Chances Ch. 23: Stealing the Batmobile (Alt Prompt Driving)

AO3

Prev

Marinette looks at her little brother with an amused expression before asking:

“He really stole the Batmobile?” 

“Yup. Claimed he was a better driver than me.” Dick says with a snort. Marinette winces. 

“To be fair, he’s probably right. You’re kind of an awful driver.” She says with an apologetic smile. Dick clutches his heart and sniffles loudly. 

“My own flesh and blood!” He cries dramatically. Damian scoffs. 

“Tt. She is on my side, Grayson. As she should be since she is <i>my<i> flesh and blood.” He says with a scowl. 

“The pain!” Dick cries, throwing himself off the couch and onto the ground. Jason just sighs and shakes his head, while Tim looks on tiredly. The five of them had decided to hang out at the manor together earlier, which had somehow shifted into telling stories about each other and funny things that had happened. Marinette loved hearing stories about her brothers from when they were younger. 

“Out of all of us, I am likely the most competent driver.” Damian says, glancing at Marinette before nodding once. “And I assume Marinette would be the second most competent.” He adds. Marinette’s face instantly turns red- she’d never driven before. Her little brother (who was two years younger) was already a great driver. And she…..was not. 

“Oh, uh, I’ve actually never driven before.” She admits. Damian frowns. 

“Wait, you’re almost fifteen and you’ve never driven before?” Jason asks, leaning forward. “Like, ever” 

“Well, no. You can’t get a license in France until you’re eighteen. So no one in their right mind is going to let a fourteen year old drive around the city.” She explains. She watches as a thoughtful look crosses Damian’s face before settling back into a neutral mask. 

“I require your assistance with something. Follow me.” He says, standing and walking out of the room. 

“Er, okay.” She says, furrowing her eyebrows. “We’ll be right back.” She reassures her other brothers. She walks quicker, trying to catch up with Damian who was practically running at this point. He glances at her and raises an eyebrow. 

“Did the others act as if they would follow?” He asks. She frowns, but shakes her head. “Excellent.” He says, opening one of the entrances to the Batcave. She follows him, but freezes as they walk in and she sees where he’s heading. 

“Damian, we’d get into so much trouble.” She says, planting her feet and freezing in place. 

“Not if we aren’t caught. Which we will be if we don’t leave soon.” He says, rushing into the changing room. She stays where she is, glancing down at Tikki peeking out of her purse. 

“Marinette, your father would not like this.” She warns. Marinette bites her lip. 

“I know, but Damian seemed so excited.” She counters, with a small smile. Tikki gives her an unimpressed look. Marinette watches as her little brother walks back out, dressed in his uniform. He nods at her once and then climbs into the driver’s side. She hesitates, weighing her options. She could go with and attempt to drive the Batmobile, or she could watch her little brother drive away and know that no one knew where he was. Crap. Pushing away every instinct telling her this is a horrible idea, she rushes after Damian and hops into the car, calling her transformation as she does. She grins at her brother, her Ladybird suit had started giving her more confidence than her Ladybug suit. It was odd, but she loved it. He immediately slams on the gas, driving out of the cave and into Gotham.

“Ukht, will you be driving as well?” He asks and she hesitates before nodding. It was the Batmobile, what could go wrong?

---

Okay apparently a lot could go wrong, she thinks, watching as the Batmobile slides into the Gotham river. 

“How the fuck did you guys manage that?” A voice asks. She whirls around, wincing when she sees Jason, as Red Hood. She can’t see his face but she can just imagine the look he’s giving them. 

“In my defense, we were left unsupervised.” She says. He scoffs. 

“You little shits left us!” He reminds her. 

“Ladybird had never had the chance to drive before. It made sense to make sure that she could drive and to train her in case she ever needs to utilize a vehicle on patrol.” Damian reasons. And yeah, the reasons are sound. But the Batmobile slowly sinking into the river kind of makes his reasons weak. Just a bit. 

“And driving into the river was, what, to see if she could drive a boat?” Jason asks, crossing his arms. 

“Don’t be ridiculous, Hood. That’s a car.” She says, the words tumbling out of her mouth. She regrets it, but only for a second because then she hears Damian snort. Score! Every time she was able to make her angriest brother laugh, she gave herself a point. She was so close to double digits.

“Well B’s gonna be ready to go on patrol in less than an hour. Either of you two geniuses have any ideas on how to get the car out of the river and back to the cave?” Jason asks, pulling Marinette from her silent celebration. 

“We could call a tow truck.” She suggests. 

“Tt. That is unwise. The Batmobile is not a regular car.” Damian argues and she huffs. 

“Okay well, last I checked you didn’t have any bright ideas either.” She quips, annoyed with him again. They were good at that. Laughing one minute, then annoying each other the next. She figured it just meant they were doing something right as siblings. 

“Ladybird might actually have a good idea, Robin. Unless you want to call Superman here and have him rat you out to B.” Jason says. A devious smirk stretches onto Damian’s face and Marinette suppresses a shudder. She was definitely glad the kid was on her side. Most of the time, anyway. 

“Excellent point, Hood.” He says, clearing his throat slightly before yelling. Well, not really yelling. Just talking slightly louder than normal. “Jon. I require your assistance.” A few moments later a boy flies down and lands in front of Damian. If she didn’t know any better, Marinette would assume the boy was another of her dad’s kids. Dark hair, blue eyes. But this kid had a huge smile stretched across his face. So maybe not. 

“Hey Robin! I haven’t seen you in ages!” The boy says cheerfully before waving at Red Hood. He turns to her and his smile falters slightly before it’s back full blast. He sticks out his hand. “Nice to meet you! I’m Superboy.” He says. Marinette grins, shaking his hand back. 

“Ladybird, and likewise.” She says. 

“So what-” Jon (Superboy?) starts, glancing at the river, eyes widening at the car. “Did you steal the Batmobile again!?” He yelps, obviously shocked. And concerned. Which she understood. It’s not everyday you see the Batmobile slowly sinking into the Gotham river. 

“Er, temporarily misappropriated.” Marinette says, glaring at Jason who snorts at her response. 

“No, they definitely stole it. And Ladybird here decided she’d try to drive for the first time. What I’m not understanding is why you knuckleheads thought it’d be smart to drive so close to the river?” He says. 

“Obviously I wasn’t thinking clearly, Hood. Can we please just focus on getting the car out of the river before I’m murdered by Batman?” Marinette rambles, looking pleadingly at Jon. It was odd, begging a little kid to drag her superhero dad’s super car out of a river, but it had to be done. 

“Oh, yeah, of course!” Jon says, his earlier shock replaced with a wide smile once again. He flies over and grabs the car, gently pulling it up and placing it back on the road. Marinette winces at the water pouring out of the car. She was so grounded. 

---

Walking into the Batcave, Bruce frowns at the lack of Batmobile. He’d passed Tim and Dick on his way to the Cave, so he knew they didn’t have it. Which left his two most mischievous sons and the daughter they had so easily corrupted. Hopefully they were just getting fast food or something again. Hopefully nothing bad was happening. He winces. That was unlikely with his children. He rushes over to the computer, tracking the Batmobile and accessing the cameras near the car. The image in front of him makes him pinch the bridge of his nose and grit his teeth. 

“Just one day, one day is all I ask.” He mumbles under his breath. Because of course traffic cameras would catch Superboy lifting the Batmobile out of the river. Of course. He sits in his chair and watches as the kids argue for a few minutes before getting in the car and driving off. He tracks them all the way until they’re past cameras, and then he waits. Knowing it’ll only be moments until they’re in the Cave. He sits, silent as they get out of the car. 

“No, seriously, he’s gonna know.” Marinette is saying, obviously looking nervous. 

“Then beg Tikki to take all the water out or something. It’ll be fine, Pix.” Jason says. 

“She’s gonna be so mad at me though. She warned me that it was a bad idea.” Marinette says, and Bruce decides to speak up. 

“She was right.” He says, turning his chair to face them. 

“SHIT! Goddamn you Bruce, why the hell would you sneak up on us like that?” Jason huffs out, glaring at him. 

“Perhaps it’s the same reason that you three thought it was a good idea to steal the Batmobile.” Bruce says, crossing his arms. 

“Uh, fuck that. I wasn’t in on it. I went out to try and find the little shits when I realized they were gone.” Jason argues, crossing his arms too. 

“Ukht had never driven before. I believed it was a useful skill that she could utilize on future missions or patrols.” Damian says simply, his calm demeanor the complete opposite of Marinette’s current demeanor. She’s obviously panicked and anxious, avoiding looking at him. He feels his former resolve soften slightly. No one was hurt, they obviously felt bad. And Marinette obviously felt bad about it. But still….

“You’re benched for the night. Both of you.” He instructs. Damian grits his teeth but nods, while Marinette looks confused. 

“But I’m not even-” She starts to say, stopping as Jason throws a hand over her mouth. “Well, well, look at the time. I’ll take them upstairs and tuck ‘em in before patrol.” Jason says, rushing away with Marinette and leaving Damian behind. Damian turns to Bruce and frowns. 

“It did not go unnoticed by me, Father, that you benched the one child you do not allow to patrol. You may have done this in an attempt to not punish Marinette, but make no mistake she will remember this. And she will be on patrol later this week. After all, you only benched her for tonight.” Damian says, nodding at his father before walking away. Bruce sighs. He hadn’t thought this one through.

---

“What was that for?” Marinette asks, frowning at her brother as he drags her to the house. She drops her transformation as they walk, wincing slightly at the ‘we’ll talk later’ look from Tikki. Oh yeah, she was definitely getting lectured. 

“He just benched you for tonight, right?” Jason asks, a smirk on his face. Marinette huffs. 

“Yeah, but I’m not even technically allowed on patrols.” She reminds him. 

“Except now, you’re technically allowed to come tomorrow. He said you were ‘benched for the night’.” Jason points out. Marinette opens her mouth to argue, then closes it. She blinks before a wide smile stretches across her face. Was she really gonna get to go back on patrol on a technicality? Suddenly, she no longer regretted driving the Batmobile into the river.

Next

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[queenmagnusao3]

Bedtime - Lin the Babysitter

“Meelo! Get down from there this instance! I swear if you wake your brother after I just spent an hour getting him to fall asleep I will-“

Lin was cut short by the young airbender hopping down from the roof and landing, very expertly, on Lin’s shoulders. Her eyes narrowed and her mouth got very thin in obvious annoyance.  Meelo crossed his arms on the top of her head and rested his chin on them.

“Where are your sisters?”

“IKKI, JI-“

Lin’s hand shot up and quickly covered the airbender’s mouth.

“What did I just say about waking your brothe- ugck!”

She pulled her hand back down, shaking it furiously.

“Did you just lick me?”

He giggled in response, thumping his heels against her metal chest plate. Having had enough, she grabbed him by one ankle and pulled him from her shoulders so he was hanging upside down in front of her. He laughed uncontrollably and she lifted him up so she could look him in the eye.

“Now you listen to me. We’re going to find your sisters and then it’s time for you all to go to bed. Do you understand?”

“No!”

He wriggled against her grip and Lin felt her stomach drop for a moment when he slipped out of her hand. It was short lived, however, as she was quickly reminded that he was an airbender. He merely twisted around mid-air, landing on his feet like a cat before immediately taking off in the direction opposite the house.

Lin let out a loud groan, throwing her head back in frustration. How did she EVER let Tenzin convince her to babysit his herd of brats. He and Pema had wanted to have night to themselves for the first time since the kids had been born and somehow they had thought she was the best person to keep the children in line. They had sent Meelo to try and sweet talk her and she cursed herself for being unable to say no to his toothy smile as he fed her some bull about her being his hero or something.

As she watched him running farther away from her she made mental note to never fall for his antics again. Deciding that it was best to act before he was completely out of her range she stomped her foot to the ground. Too distracted to be paying much attention to his surroundings, Meelo quickly found his entire lower body encased in earth, his hands trapped by his sides.

“No fair!”

Lin couldn’t help but smirk as she slowly sauntered towards him.

“Meelo, what did you do?”

“She said we have to go to bed!”

“But I don’t want to go to bed!”

“Ikki, Meelo, the sun is setting. You know that means it’s time for bed.”

“Jinora, just because you’re the oldest doesn’t mean you’re the boss of us!”

“No, but I am.”

Jinora and Ikki were walking up one of the grassy paths when they came across their trapped brother.  Lin put her hands on her hips as she approached in an attempt to look more intimidating. She could regularly make grown men nearly wet their pants with a single glance but these kids weren’t even phased by her general authoritarian demeanor.

“B…but Aunt Lin! Why do we have to go to bed?”

“Because I said so. And don’t call me that.”

“Why not?”

“Because I’m not your Aunt.”

“Why?”

“Because I’m not.”

“Lord Zuko isn’t our dad’s uncle but he still calls him that. And he calls your mom Aunt Toph.”

“That’s because he had a close relationship with both of them growing up.”

Lin released Meelo from his earthen prison and made a motion for him to reclaim his perch upon her shoulders. He squealed with delight before launching himself back up, squeezing his legs tightly against her neck.

“No fair! I want to ride on your shoulders. Meelo always gets to!”

“Meelo, stop squeezing so hard. Ikki, you can ride on my back if you want, just don’t knock your brother off.”

“Really?”

“Yes.”

Ikki jumped into the air and latched herself onto Lin’s back. With Meelo on her shoulders there wasn’t much space for Ikki to hold on so Lin flicked her hand so one of her cables wrapped around the girl’s behind and crisscrossed over her back like a harness.

“Let’s go!!”

Lin looked over to Jinora with what she hoped was a sympathetic look.

“Sorry, I don’t have any other body parts for you to climb on, kid.”

“EW MEELO FARTED!”

Lin stumbled a bit as she tried to stay upright while Ikki struggled against her back. Meelo was laughing hysterically and kicked his legs hard against her chest. She and Jinora shared a look, both deadpan and completely done with the younger airbender’s antics.

“It’s okay. I prefer to walk.”

Twenty minutes later Lin had managed to get them all into bed. Not their own beds because apparently that was asking too much. Instead she had convinced Jinora to share their parents’ bed with her younger siblings. Lin had formed a silent alliance with the girl and she hoped she’d be able to keep them in line should they decide to rebel against bedtime… again. She carefully pulled the blankets up over the trio, pleading silently with the universe that they’d just go to sleep.

“Now, you all go to sleep and no getting out of bed. Or else.”

“Or else what?”

“Yeah! Will you throw us in jail?”

“Oh! I’ve always wanted to see what jail is!”

“Me too!”

Meelo was already halfway out of bed when Lin finally lost her temper.

“NO! You. Get back in that bed right now.”

She really did try to not use her police chief voice with the kids but she was just so exhausted and wanted nothing more in the world than for them to go to sleep. Then she saw the looks on their faces. Meelo was frozen, eyes wide as he stared at her. She hadn’t meant for it to come out so abrasively but then Ikki started to cry and she actually felt bad.

“Ikki, don’t cry. I’m sorry. I got a little frustrated.”

“It’s okay. We have been kind of bad, haven’t we?”

Lin, once again, felt bad for making the kids feel like she was upset with them. They definitely were a burden but she didn’t need to make them feel bad about it. They were children. She spent every day dealing with adults who behaved more poorly than Tenzin’s kids, she supposed she could give them a little leeway. She sat down on the edge of the bed and smiled at them.

“No. You haven’t been that bad. I’m just still getting used to looking after you. I don’t have much experience with kids.”

“That is painfully obvious.”

Lin looked to Jinora in surprise and found the young girl giving her a cheeky smile. Oh, she most definitely was becoming Lin’s favorite.

“Thanks for the vote of confidence, kid. Now, back into bed. You really do need to go to sleep.”

“B..but I’m not even tired.”

Meelo yawned, not fighting Lin as she covered him back up with the blanket. Ikki already had her eyes closed and she walked around to the other side of the bed, making sure Jinora was comfortable as well. To Lin’s surprise the girl sat up and wrapped her arms tightly around her neck.

“Thanks for watching us tonight, Aunt Lin.”

Lin didn’t correct her this time, giving her a quick pat on the back before Jinora nestled back into the bed. She surveyed the three of them for a moment. They’re much cuter when they’re quiet. She quietly walked to the door, thinking she had finally achieved the impossible when…

“EW! MEELO!”

Ikki was yelling again while Meelo waved the blanket up and down wildly.

“I’m sorry, I can’t help that I’m so full of air. It just has to come out.”

Lin felt like crying. She really did. They had been so close.

“Meelo, Ikki, lay back down. There, the smell is gone.”

Jinora had taken control of the situation before Lin even had a chance to turn back to them. Sending a jet of air around the room to clear it of any unpleasant smells produced by her disgusting little brother. Ikki was still pouting and Meelo gave Lin one of his signature, toothy smiles.

“Sorry.”

“It’s fine. Just… just please go to sleep now.”

“Wait!”

“What is it Ikki?”

“Tell us a story!”

“It’s way too late-“

“I’m sure we’ll all go right to sleep if you tell us a story.”

“Jinora, I thought you were on my team.”

She looked at her innocently and Lin let out a long sigh.

“Fine. I’ll tell you a story my mother used to tell me and my sister when we were kids.”

They all looked very excited as Lin sat on the edge of the bed again and cleared her throat dramatically.

 “The cats nestle close to their kittens,

 The lambs have laid down with the sheep.

 You are cozy and warm in your bed, my dear.

 Please go the fuck to sleep...”

Ao3 Link

[queen-pudi]

Cuteness Overload

Hello! So I’ve never written a fic before and English is my worst subject in school but when I realized I read every single fic on this app for Fire Force I got sad so I made this. Please enjoy and if you like it maybe I’ll make more! Also thank you to @seashellsandshores for getting me into Fire Force, proofreading this for me and overall being a great friend!! She is a much better writer than I am so please check her out!!

Viktor x Reader

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

Being a new recruit to Company 8 was something you thought you were prepared for but apparently weren’t. You were a little shy in the beginning but over time you warmed up and created a family within Company 8. Sure most families don’t have siblings getting attacked and kidnapped by a cult every 2 weeks but it’s still a family nonetheless. Your power was the ability to use your hair as any sort of weapon you want. It was a little hard to get used to but once you got the hang of it was super useful on the field. 

However, you still had a hard time controlling your power, especially when you were flustered or nervous. When you were a bit flustered like most people you’d blush but sometimes you’d been known to get so hot your cheeks would go up in flames. Sometimes going as far as your hair catching on fire and wrapping yourself in a cocoon. 

At first, it was annoying but overtime you got used to it, and overall most of your shyness was just you trying to avoid having to explain why you were having a mini bonfire on your face. You had been doing a great job until Viktor showed up.

 When he joined Company 8 you just about burst into flames. In your eyes he was perfect. He was everything you wanted, witty, smart, kind, and extra points for the height and that beautiful head of hair

When he first came to Company 8 he wanted to learn as much about everyone as he could. This meant he wanted to set up appointments to meet with each and every one of you guys, this obviously including you. Due to your condition and his overall, well everything, you were dreading this moment. You had gotten better at hiding it but normally you weren’t going to be as close as you were with him. It was just going to be you and him with all his attention on you. 

“SHIT” you screamed, at the mere thought of talking to him you had burned your pillow and effectively rendered it useless. Sighing you threw it with the other ones and went to get a new one. 

Viktor saw you as an enigma. You had been actively avoiding him ever since he came to the company. Only ever speaking to say Hello or goodbye or “Arthur accidentally stabbed himself with his sword again” You barely even made eye contact with him and he was starting to get curious. He knew he could be a bit eccentric but you haven’t even spoken enough to see that side of him. 

Truth be told he also fancied you. He thought your quiet nature was cute but he also found it fascinating how you became so confident and fierce when you were in battle or when you were in a meeting. He wanted to get to know you but every time he got close you’d dodge him or go off with someone else.

He was patient though because he knew his time would come where he could sweep you off your feet and impress you with his intelligence. 

While you avoided him for a while it was finally time to have your meeting with him. To say you were nervous was an understatement. You were like a walking radiator at that point. It’s amazing how you aren’t a puddle right now. 

After standing outside the lab door debating the consequences of just quitting and joining the circus you finally gained the courage to knock. Before you could though Viktor was already opening the door on his way to find you

“Y/N! I was worried you wouldn’t show up!” He exclaimed just a little louder than he wanted to and instantly regretting it once he saw you flinch

“Well, I wouldn’t miss an opportunity to improve on my abilities!” You said trying to come off confident but ultimately failing when your voice started to crack. You walked into his makeshift lab. It wasn’t perfect but it would do for now. You observed all the equipment like a child, curious on how it works and what it was used for. 

You stopped when you felt a pair of eyes watching you. You turned and saw Viktor looking at you with a dopey grin. You spun around fast, feeling your face warm up not even a minute into this and you were already on the verge of erupting.

For the first 5 minutes, it was an awkward silence. While he took your vitals you were trying not to turn into hades as he was just inches away from your face. He was trying to scramble for something to say. (All that brainpower and he can’t even think of a dad joke smh) 

“Well it looks like you are perfect!” he said after finishing the first round of tests. You knew he meant you were in good health but to hear him call you perfect was enough to set your cheeks blazing. You were scrambling to calm down before he took notice of your predicament 

The next test was just accessing your abilities. Show all the things your hair could do and so on. Nothing really interesting, although you did burn a hole through the wall and almost gave yourself some wicked whiplash. 

For a while he was chalking this up to the uncomfortable setting of him constantly probing you with tools and questions. After a while though he started to worry it wasn't the setting that was making you uncomfortable but him.

Viktor tried to make conversation but all he would get was a few chuckles and some nodding. It was starting to get to him. He knew he wasn’t as sweet as Shinra or as Attractive as Obi but he thought he was good enough in the looks department and overall a pretty nice guy. 

The meeting eventually came to a close and he had just about enough of your lack of response. As you were on the way out he just couldn’t help himself 

“I’m sorry but am I doing something wrong?” he asked, concern lacing his voice, you stopped in your tracks and looked at him in confusion 

“No you have been great-” “ Then why won’t you talk to me, hell you barely even look at me!” He cut you off. He was frustrated at this point, and rightfully so.

Thinking back on it you had been a bit ruder than you intended to be. While trying to keep your distance you had basically ignored him. It was almost as if he was just another wall to you. 

“I have been trying to talk to you for weeks only for you to avoid me at every chance you get. I was hoping to maybe establish some sort of friendship during this meeting but you have been ignoring me and when you do acknowledge me it’s with short responses and nods. You don’t have to like me but at the very least you could pretend for a second-” He blurted out. 

He hadn’t intended to word vomit all at once but he couldn’t help himself. He was a curious creature by nature and he needed to find the answers to all these questions he had.

“It’s not that I don’t like you, it's just the opposite! I just…” you trailed off you had noticed that in his state of frustration and your panic you 2 had inched closer to one another. Your faces just within inches of one another.

Ultimately it was too much and you could stop your cheeks from flaming up. Viktor backed away in shock wondering why you didn’t mention this before. Before he could ask what was wrong you had cocooned yourself in a little hairball out of complete embarrassment. 

“I’m so sorry I didn’t mean to! You are just so nice and smart and I just get so flustered when you are around! I want to get to know you but then this happens and I’m sorry-” you were trying to calm down but you just kept getting more embarrassed causing your cocoon to heat up more.

Viktor was just in awe. Besides the fact that you were in the process of turning into a human butterfly, he sort of found it adorable. This combined with what you were saying he was also in the process of burning up

“Y/N! It’s ok! I’m not mad!” he said in an attempt to calm you down “I actually think it’s sort of cute” he mumbled just loud enough for you to hear. This intrigued you enough for you to calm down so that you could look at him, cheeks blazing an all. 

“Really? What’s so cute about me turning in a human lighter?” 

Viktor laughed while taking a seat next to you “I find everything you do cute when you laugh and your nose crinkles; cute when you yawn and instantly cover your mouth with both hands to hide your face: cute, and when you turn into human torch from fantastic four when you get embarrassed: cute” he confessed

You slowly cooled down and let your hair unravel. You mustered up all your courage to look at him. Your cheeks were still emitting flames but not as bright as before. He gave you a soft smile which you returned. You don’t know how it started but slowly you 2 started to lean in. Lips just a breath away from each other until

“Viktor Y/N its time for dinner…” Hinawa said, bursting into the room. You and Viktor bolted away from each other, flames starting to engulf your face. Hinawa paused, processing the scene that was in front of him. 

“Lieutenant this is not what it looks like! I mean it sort of is but it’s also no-” You screamed frantically

 “When you two are done making out can you please join us for dinner. Afterwards we can discuss workplace romance and fill out the proper paperwork.” He announced while on his way out. 

Mortified you wrapped yourself up into a burrito and ran out the room. Left in the lab was Viktor who looked just about as red as you, wearing a lovesick smile, “Like I said: Cute”

[andromeda612]

Renga Fantasy AU

I've seen lost of fantasy Au's with Langa being the prince and Reki either the cute gardener, the adorable captain of the army, or any other common role that will be the prince's love interest... but what about Prince Reki?

I can see it like this:

Joe is the head of the cook and Reki's paternal figure number #1.

Cherry is the first advisor of the royal family and Reki's paternal figure #2.

Shadow is a guard and probably Reki's main bodyguard, he acts like he is annoyed by Reki's too energic and loud personality but in reality he is a big softie and has a weakness for the young and gentle prince, he is Reki's older sibling figure.

Miya is the son of a noble family, probably training for either being court sorcerer or knight, he is Reki's closest friend despite being younger, he sees Reki as his old brother and is very protective of him because in his opinion (and in everybody else's opinion for that matter) the redhead is too nice for his own good and someone needs to take care of him for god's sake! Of course he will deny it for ever and still be the tsundere he is.

Langa can be the son of a merchant and a doctor from another kingdom, after his dad dies his mother decides to go back to her home in the Kyan's kingdom (Okinawa), because of her reputation as a good doctor she gets a job in the palace as court physician. Langa stays with her at the palace and he could be either training for knight, physician or maybe sorcerer too but he hasn't decided yet, or even training for advisor under Cherry's wing. For the time being he just study with Reki.

Now in this au's Prince Langa main trouble is he feeling lonely or incomplete, Reki being the sun he is complement him and his trouble is of course his self confidence, I want to keep it that way even if Reki is the prince now.

So Langa feel not sad anymore but definitely off since his dad died, he used to love traveling with him, try new things, he loved the most all the things he could learn from the items he got to sell, he wanted to be a merchant like him but now he is not sure anymore, that's why that for now he is just studying along with the prince as he decides what he want to do with his life, he is not unhappy but he can't help but feel there is something missing, that's it until he meets the ray of sunshine that is Prince Reki, the royal is gentle and unlike other royal member he has met (due both if his parents jobs) he doesn't treat the rest with superiority, he traits everyone the same, with kindness, a warm and genuine smile, he actually doesn't act like how he was taught princes are supposed to act, he is loud and very energetic, he is polite and all, but he doesn't emanate an aura of someone to be afraid off or someone you feel intimidate with, he makes you feel like you are with a friend, he will talk and talk enthusiastically to no end... unless you show him you were bored, which was not rare to happen, with the prince being too kind and easygoing is was easy for others to forget he was the prince. But Langa could hear him for hours and never get bored, Reki showed him the palace and different places of the kingdom, he show him his drawings, all his crafts, the prince was incredible with smithy, he designed most of the best warriors' armors, as well as some of the innovative artifacts that helped so much in the kingdom, he showed him his passion for his realm and his passion for his hobbies, he was amazing... it's such a shame the prince is not capable to see it himself.

Reki for his part, he is the genius, creative sunshine we know. He is energetic and almost all the people loves him. Almost, because there is still the royal and nobles assholes that think he won't be a proper ruler because of his personality. As well as the people that get fed up with his energy. Those all are the people less liked in the kingdom. Though is really a trouble that the royal ones hold such power, because they really chose violence when it comes to Reki's self confidence. Especially because the most deep root for his insecurities comes from no other than his passed away father.

The king was... not a good man, the kingdom was not in ruins but the people were not happy, his family was not either, he would lash out to his wife and daughters, telling them they were good just to show of, to serve him, he was abusive with this staff on the palace and to his people, but who got the worst treatment was the young prince, since a child Reki was unquiet, loud, energic, totally the opposite to a centered, reserved and serious prince, he was also too kind with everyone no matter how much he told him he was above all the people, but Reki refused to be rude or mean to anyone, the only people that he lashed out to were the rude and cruel royals that abused of their power and were mean to people with no status or power. The king ruled with an iron fist and with stronger severity he tried to rise his heir, but Reki's golden heart was always stronger, however it didn't protected him from the abuse, the hard punishments and the constant reminders of how a failure he was, how he was worthless, how he was a mistake, how easy it would be for him to replace him if not were for the fact he needed a boy of royal blood to be his heir and he had no one, how annoying he was, that there was something wrong with him. And all the people that thought the same as his father had no seconds thoughts to remind him of the same in every. Single. Opportunity.

It was such a relief when the king died from a mysterious illness, and if anyone ever thought about it as a coup from the queen and the royal staff? Well nobody blamed them, but that was just a rumor and they were fine without him anyways.

Indeed, after the king's death the Kingdome went through a prosperity that haven't been seen in years. Despite what the king and his lackyes believed the Queen was actually a very well skilled ruler, she fixed the mess her former husband made and bring a new era to her people, she made new allies, she cleaned the corrupted government and brought new opportunities to the kingdom of Okinawa, the people were happy again. And her son, his ideas for artifacts to make certain tasks easier, his enthusiasm about cultural development, not mention that despite what his father said Reki was really smart, a total pride for his tutors even if his chaotic nature gave them green hairs, also his ideas to improve the army of the Kingdome, his ideas helped a lot to their realm's development. Many people called him the inventor prince.

However there were some royal asses that were not happy with him, there were invertors for that, there were artists, musicians, artisans for the cultural things, a prince shouldn't be look being so friendly and informal to commoners, shouldn't be so loud and idiot.

Not to mention the people that just... were fed up with his chit chat, and okay, they get it, Reki's personality could be overwhelming and even obnoxious to some people, but they needed to be so rude about it? The fact that must of this people were royal visitors didn´t help at all, Reki just felt he was embarrassing his mother and the Kingdome, no matter how many time she and the royal advisor Kaoru told him otherwise, or the fact that those people were usually not good allies at all.

Years of abuse and constantly hearing how a waste you were are hard to heal.

But, the love and support of the people that truly loved him helped Reki a lot, it was a long path but he was getting there. Though, the person that were really close to him, and you know who these persons are, know that sometimes the thoughts gets too loud on Reki's head, but they are there for him, and are happy to see that everyday the sunshine prince is doing better and better.

Well, and then of course the boys met and all of that, they help each other to find what was missing, to discover how much loved and worth they are.

The Queen and the court physician ship them, because this is my fucking au and I say love is love, you are who you are, no labels :)

Kaoru, Kojiro, Miya and Hiromi are definitely fondly exasperate with their mutual pining and just want them to just kiss already and spare their poor souls out of their misery.

About Ad*m... I don't know yet honestly.

In one hand I'm so tempted to make him not existing in this au. On the other hand he could be a major villain, maybe a lord wanting to make coup to the kingdome with Tadashi being a spy loyal to Queen Kyan. And I really want Langa to beat the shit out if him for messing up with his sun, but well, idk.

Any thoughts about this? Feel free to ask! 👀

[rbbalmung]

Pokemon SwSh GPL AU: Character Headcannons P1

(From this point on, I am calling this Pokemon Sword and Shield AU the GPL AU after the Galarian Pokemon League). Here are my character headcannons! I am going to give each character and age and a general ethnicity even though A) time will pass in this au and B) obviously there are no countries in Pokemon. I will be giving them an age based on when the AU starts, at the beginning on Gloria’s Pokemon League Journey. 

GLORIA:

-Age: 16

-Ethnicity: Half English, Half Japanese (English father, Japanese mother)

-General Headcannons: 

o  She is an introverted extrovert. She loves meeting new people and making new friends, but she is on the quiet side due to her troubled relationship with her father. 

o  Going off of that, her parents got a divorce when she was 6 years old because her father was negligent. She has not been in contact with him since he left, but he is at the base of some of her social anxiety. That is why she mostly speaks either in short sentences or not at all (going off her interactions in the game). 

o  The thing that makes Gloria stand out as a Pokemon trainer is that she can pick up on her opponents nuances just by examining them. For example, if her opponent’s breathing quickens, she knows that they are nervous and will resort to mainly attacks. That is why it is so hard for her to beat Leon: He has an emotionless mask during his battles.

o  She picked up this strategy by watching GPL battles throughout her childhood. Gloria was often put in front of the television set to distract her from her parents fighting, and since she had to put so much of her attention towards the matches, she picked up on a lot of people’s ticks. 

o  Gloria is very clingy to Hop. She finds comfort in being near him, so she is often latching onto his arm, hugging him from behind, or holding his hand. The closer she gets to people, the more she hangs onto them. This is rough with Bede and Bea, so it takes a bit of work on both their ends to make sure they’re not making the other party unhappy. 

o  Gloria is ridiculously brave. She will go into pretty much any situation, which is why she just goes along when asked to join the dojo/go on an expedition. 

o  Speaking of expeditions, she looks up to Peony as the father figure she never had. She doesn’t outwardly tell him this because A) her relationship with her father really messed her up and B) the fact that he is related to Rose makes her a little wary. She knows how much Rose messed up Bede and does not want to cause more grief. 

o  Speaking of Bede, they actually become really close friends after the League wraps up and during Rose’s trial. Bede is one of the only people that can emphasise with her social anxiety, and luckily for him, Gloria doesn’t give up on people. She has to work on not being clingy with him because he does not like being touched. 

o  Gloria is the first female champion! 

o. Victor exists in this au, but not until way after Gloria’s first year as champion. He is her half brother; her father eventually remarried in Stow-In-Side and had Victor a year-ish later (making him 7 years younger than Gloria). They do not reunite until she is 20 years old, but she accepts him as her brother easily (she knows how terrible their dad is). 

o  Gloria’s full name is Gloria Park. She does not have a middle name. 

(I took the most liberties with Gloria because she is the MC and the game doesn’t give toooo much of a character. I know a lot of people head cannon her as super extroverted and confident, but I preferred this take for this particular AU).

HOP:

-Age: 16

-Ethnicity: Half Spanish, Half Black (His mom is Spanish, his dad is black)

-General Headcannons: 

o  Hop’s dad died when he was 2 years old, so he doesn’t really remember him. He never really had a father figure since Leon left to become Champion when he was 6. That is where is anxiety is rooted: Both his father (who was a firefighter and treated like a hero after his death) and Leon’s success makes Hop feel like he has to do something grand to live up to them. 

o  Hop actually befriended Gloria through their love of Pokemon battles! His mum invited her mum over for dinner, and while his and Gloria’s interactions were stiff at best during dinner, they really clicked after when they began watching the game on the TV. They’ve been inseparable ever since. 

o  I headcannon that Hop has ADD. He practically never sits still and has a hard time paying attention to things unless he is hyper focused. Hop is really booksmart, he just has trouble focusing. He also doesn’t really see the point in maintaining his grades when he’s just going to become the new Champion.

o ��He played soccer when he was little as an outlet for his ADD. He joined the GJPL (Galar Junior Pokemon League), but since he was in a small district, he never made it to the big times like Bede. He did manage to score fairly well with his wooloo, though, making him one of the MVPs in the 76th GPL.

o  Hop is a nickname. HIs full name is “Hipoltio Henry Hoffman”. (Henry was his father’s name).

o Like Gloria, Hop is a really touchy person. They kind of rubbed off on each other, so he shows affection by linking arms, bumping shoulders, ect. 

o  After the GPL wraps up and he gets asked to be Sonia’s assistant, she gives him the opportunity to study abroad until he graduates high school. He takes this opportunity and briefly moves to study other Pokemon in Johto. He does come back to visit in the summer, which is why he ends up on the Isle of Armor around the same time as Gloria. 

BEDE:

-Age: 17

-Ethnicity: White 

-Headcannons:

o   He never met his parents, but he was told he was taken away from them by child protective services. This made him really bitter from the get-go because they never came back for him.

o   Bede has abandonment issues, but in a different way from Gloria. While she is willing to let anyone in, he is more prone to shut everyone out. He only starts to open up when he realizes Gloria’s life isn’t as perfect as he originally guessed.

o   Bede reeeeaaaallllyyyy doesn’t like being touched. He got into a lot of fights in the orphanage when he was younger because of his short temper. That is barely the tip of the iceberg: There was a lot of shady things that happened at the orphanage that only stopped once Chairman Rose started showing interest in him. Bede doesn’t talk about this to anyone.

o  Bede participated in the GJPL and made it to the championships two years in a row! He got to travel to Hoenn for one of them and meet the champion there. This was what brought Rose’s attention to him. 

o  The reason Bede didn’t join the league at 16 was because Rose didn’t sponsor him yet. Because of this, he decided to challenge Raihan for his position as gym leader of Hammerlocke. Sufficed to say, Bede lost pretty badly. 

o  He was very convinced that Rose was going to adopt him, which made his dismissal ten times worse than it originally was. He eventually comes to term with the fact that the Chairman used him and threw him under the bus when he realised that he could get in trouble for destroying the monument. 

o  Opal becomes his guardian when he accepts his new role as the Fairy Gym Leader, but she officially adopts him about a year later. He isn’t very good at talking about his emotions, but he does care deeply for the old woman and her acceptance of him brought him to tears. 

o   Bede gave himself his middle name: Steven, after Hoenn’s Champion Steven Stone. His full name is Bede Steven Doe pre-adoption, and Bede Steven Waltz post-adoption. 

o  He is super prickly, but after becoming gym leader, Bede mellows out a little bit. He is still haughty and self absorbed, but he is not as outwardly rude about it. 

o  He ends up forming a lot of unlikely relationships after he settles in his position as gym leader. He and Bea get along really well because of their proximity and similar personalities, Gloria won’t let him not be her friend (he has a soft side for her), and Marnie is one of the less eccentric gym leaders that he likes to hang around with at group gatherings. 

MARNIE:

-Age: 16

-Ethnicity: White

-Headcannons:

o   Marnie is the youngest of 5 children, and she is the only girl. Therefore, she was always coddled by her family. One of the biggest reasons she joined the pokemon league was to prove her true worth to her family.

o   Out of all her siblings, she is the closest to Piers. She doesn’t agree with his opposition to dynamaxing, but they are both passionate about restoring glory to Spikemuth. He also spent the most time with her when they were growing up because her parents worked a lot (Spikemuth is a poverty-stricken town). 

o   Marnie is quite the little activist. It is a little ironic because she is incredibly soft-spoken and will swear up a storm at the same time. 

o   She gains a lot of fans during her GPL alongside Gloria because they are both favourites to become the first female champion. Instead of forming a bitter rivalry with her, Marnie elects to befriend Gloria because she reminds her of her friend, Primrose. 

o   Marnie LOVES shopping. She never really had the chance to leave Spikemuth growing up, so a lot of her free time when not participating in Pokemon battles is spent in boutiques. 

o   One of Marnie’s special skills is that she can see right through a person’s core. That is why she is initially kind to Gloria, Hop, and Bede. On the other hand, she and Piers both constantly talk shit about Chairman Rose. She isn’t really a fan of Leon either, but she knows that he is a good person so she tries to be nice.

o   Speaking of Leon (to some degree), she immediately decides to befriend Hop when she realises he is also the younger sibling of a famous Pokemon trainer. They bond over their similar roles in life and their shared love of music! (Hop really likes Piers’s music and freaks out when he gets to meet him). 

o   Marnie can play the guitar and the piano! If she didn’t become a gym leader, she could definitely see herself going into music. 

o  I head cannon that Marnie is bisexual, but she is not currently aware of it. I will definitely talk more about this later in the AU or if I actually get around to writing a one shot. 

o  Her full name is Marnie Isla Lewis. 

Next Part: Gym Leaders! 

[writingformymentalhealth]

Chapter 5

The Black Brothers

Josephine Fawley or as her brother liked to call her the tomboy Princess had a striking romance with Hogwarts very own Pureblood rebel Sirius Black.

Sadly her parents deemed his Brother the so called Slytherin Prince as a better fit and arranged a marriage with the younger Black.

Tw: Arranged marriage, possible smut, swear words, lots of fluff, angst, mentions of abuse and depression,

Part 1

Wattpad link

Masterlist

The Newts went by in the blink of an eye and before any of them knew they were back at the platform 9 3/4.

“I will miss you so bad,” Isa said and Joey’s insides felt warm. Isa wasn’t one for sentimentalities usually and having her openly talk about missing her made her happier than she would ever admit.

“I’ll miss you too, Isa.” She said, pulling the girl in a quick hug.

“Hey Isa, don’t steal away my girl,” Sirius’ voice said from behind, earning him a playful shove from Joey.

Isa waved a last time before going to look for her parents, leaving the couple to bid their goodbyes.

“Farewell Princess.”

“We’ll see each other at the next boring pureblood ball.”

“I’ll still miss you like crazy.” His hand cupped her cheek, making a blush creep up on her. How could he make her feel this way, even after all these years?

And then kissed her. He kissed her like it was the last kiss they ever shared.

After pulling back, both teens were slightly panting.

“I’ll miss you too, Black”

“Write to me, love.”

“Every day.”

And with a last playful wink the boy disappeared between the people, going to find his parents - or hiding from them.

Just seconds later, Quentin appeared next to the girl.

“Let’s go, mum and dad will be waiting.” He said, nudging her.

It only took the twins minutes to find their parents chatting with the Malfoys, and even though Quentin’s expression remained rather neutral, Joey could practically feel her brother’s blood boil at the sight of Lucius.

Their Mother was the first one to see the twins hugging them both and mumbling something about having missed them. Their father just nodded at the scene, bidding his goodbyes to the Malfoys.

“We have something to tell you when we come home.” Cordelia whispered to her children before grabbing Joey’s hand.

Joey and Quentin exchanged a look.

With a plop the family landed back at the Fawley residence and Joey inhaled the familiar scent of Lavender and Moth balls that always seemed to linger in the old house and didn’t pay much attention to her mother asking for a teatime with the family to discuss ‘important matters’. At least until Quentin took her hand, and she felt just how clammy and sweaty his hand was.

“It will be alright Quen.”

He shook his head. And Joey prayed they weren’t going to tell her that his depression got worse.

With a weird feeling in her stomach, she made her way to the sitting corner in which the Fawley family always drunk their tea, carefully pulling Quentin behind, who seemed almost frozen into place.

Their parents sat opposite to them, both seeming suspiciously smiley.

“What’s up?” Joey asked, not able to take the tension anymore.

Her mother inhaled sharply before letting her catlike green eyes meet her daughters. “We arranged a marriage for you, Josephine.”

“You what?” The siblings asked simultaneously.

“We arranged for you to marry a respectable pure blood gentleman.” Her father explained, not looking his children in the eyes.

“Absolutely not.”

Her mother pursed her lips. “I fear you don’t have a choice, Darling.”

“You were always against that bullshit,” her brother spat, his voice being louder than ever.

“Things change, circumstances change.” Their father said, just earning a scoff from his son.

“It is the best for all of us.”

“Not for me.”

Her mother looked at her sadly, “You don’t have a choice.”

“Oh hell, yes I do.” Joey screamed, standing up, running into her room, still faintly hearing her brother argue with her parents.

In her room she pulled out her trunk, chaotically throwing clothes, pictures and other prized possessions in it. She didn’t know where she was going to go, but she knew she needed to go. Hot tears streamed down her face, she always thought her parents were different, sure most pure blood families had some weird beliefs about keeping their blood pure therefore arranged marriage looked like the best thing to do, but her parents always seemed to accept that their children would go their own way.

A faint knock on the door alerted the girl of her mother’s presence.

“Can I come in?”

“In your words, I don’t have a choice, do I?”

“We made a deal with the family years ago,” her mother sighed suddenly looking decades older, “we promised them you would marry their son in exchange for safety from the dark Lord.”

“What has Voldemort to do with all this?” her Mother flinched by the mention of his name.

“The family is very close to him. They inform him about blood traitors, eventual followers and all that.”

“So I don’t have a choice?”

“Not if you want your loved ones to live.” Her Mother said simply giving her daughter a reassuring squeeze before going out of the room leaving Joey at a complete loss.

After the initial shock, there was only one thing on her mind: Sirius.

She fidgeted with the silver ring on her left hand, knowing that she always wanted to marry him, spend her life with the boy she loved above everything else, and now she would have to face a relationship like Narcissa had with Lucius.

The lump in her throat grew bigger and bigger, and she barely noticed the tears streaming down her face mercilessly.

Perhaps the worst heartbreak isn’t getting broken up with, perhaps the worst heartbreak is knowing you have to break up with someone who you still love with every fiber of your body.

-

Two days had gone by, but Joey didn’t even seem to notice. Everything went on in a blur and no words from Isabella, who she wrote to immediately nor her brother, could pull her out of her misery.

“You know you need to break up with him, don’t you?” Her brother just asked, while soothingly drawing circles on her back.

“Isabella said I should break his heart really bad to make it easier for him,” Joey scoffed, tears still rolling down her cheeks.

“That’s a terrible idea, even for Isabella.”

“You just say that because you hate her. She said, I should just tell him I am in love with someone else.”

“Josephine, don’t do it, please. People will know about the arranged marriage just like they know about Lucius and Narcissa.”

“I could still love him though.”

“Sirius isn’t stupid - not that stupid at least.”

“If I tell him the truth he would try to fight the bloke in some deathly duel or something,” she laughed humorlessly, “he’d do anything for me.”

“You don’t need to tell him a reason to break up with him.”

“Don’t you think I owe him one?”

Her brother stayed silent, engulfing her in a hug, while her tears left a wet patch on his shirt. Quentin knew better than to argue with his sister. She already made up her mind.

-

Joey had asked Sirius to meet her at the park bench he once gave her the promise ring at. Her face was stoic, almost unreadable. She knew she couldn’t show weakness in front of him. She couldn’t make him question her decision. She needed to be confident and cold.

She already saw him from afar, his long hair hanging in his eyes while he comfortably sat in the grass even though a perfectly intact bench was right next to him.

As soon as the boy saw her his eyes lit up and he stood up to hug her, but she took a step back making his eyebrows snap together in confusion.

“We need to talk.” She said instead of a greeting slowly making her way to the bench.

“What’s wrong, love?”

She forced herself to look into his concerned eyes that were so full of love for her and she knew Isabella was right. She would have to break him so he could let her go.

“I am breaking up with you.”

Sirius’ eyes widened in disbelief, his hands fidgeting with each other like they always did when he got overwhelmed, and Joey had to resist the urge to hold them.

“Why? Joey we can fix this I-“

“I made my decision.”

He swallowed hard, and she saw tears starting to pool in his eyes.

“Why?” He asked again, his voice cracking.

“I found somebody else.” She said simply, not daring to look into the stormy grey eyes she was still very much in love with, “and I am in love with him.”

“I love you.” Sirius said, his voice barely above a whisper and it took everything in Joey not to say it back.

“I should go.” She said, not waiting for an answer before standing up and taking fast steps towards the point she knew she could Apparate away in safety. A small part of her hoped he would run after her, tell her he saw through her act, tell her he knew how to get out of it but he didn’t so she let the tears that she was holding in since the moment she saw him sitting next to the bench fall but to her surprise she didn’t feel the hurt anymore. Instead, her heart felt cold, as if it was made of ice or as if someone had just burst through her rib cage and taken it out, leaving only an empty space.

Sirius Black felt like he was having a heart attack, and for a short second he thought about admitting himself into St mangos hospital but he came to the conclusion that maybe having a heart attack right now wouldn’t be too bad because the one person he trusted and treasured over anyone else made his worst fears come true. He knew he was always jealous, but that was just because he knew deep inside that a guy like him could never keep a girl like her. That a girl like Josephine didn’t settle for family disappointments with lots of baggage, but he still tried and for a brief moment he thought he could be happy. Now he knew that some people just aren’t meant to be happy.

For the first time since the couple started dating, Sirius lit up a cigarette, inhaling the deathly smoke deeply, hoping that it would kill the sadness in him.

Sirius Black’s world became dull that day.

Unbeknownst to both they had the same essential question running through their head, ‘who is this other guy’ but while Sirius would have to wait some time till his question got answered, Joey had the option to confront her parents.

Of course she could have done this earlier, but she had to admit she was scared of the answer. She knew most pureblood families and couldn’t say she particularly liked them. Additionally a family that was close to the Dark Lord was bound to be involved in the dark arts and at least to some extent evil.

She shuddered at that thought; she heard all the stories about arranged marriages - the regular rape, the abuse and the fear and she wasn’t keen on joining that club. So when she saw her Mother that day ready to confront her - she couldn’t.

She couldn’t bring herself to ask.

Actually, she couldn’t bring herself to do anything besides lay in bed and sleep, she didn’t even have it in her to cry anymore. Even after her Mother informed her she was going to meet her future husband for dinner, she didn’t have it in herself to react.

In the end it was her brother who brought back the girl’s spirits on the day of the dinner.

“Oh no, you are not meeting your future husband looking like that.”

“Why? He has to marry me, anyway.” Joey said, rolling over.

“Go shower. Now. You smell, and if you don’t shower, I will conjure a bucket of ice water and shower you myself.” He said while rummaging through her closet.

Joey frowned, not being used to her brother being so authoritarian, but she did as he said, too tired to argue with him.

Even though she would never admit it, the shower did make her feel better, and the dress her brother chose made her feel like a real life princess.

“You have to do your clown paint on your own, I have no idea what that stuff is.” He said gesturing to her makeup and for the first time in eleven days Joey chuckled.

She was just doing her eye makeup as her mother came in, a sad smile decorating her face. “You never asked who.”

“Does it matter?” Joey asked, applying mascara.

“It’s Regulus Black.”

Joey almost poked her eye out as she heard that. Her heart hammered desperately against her chest.

“Why not Sirius?” Quentin asked the question Joey wanted to ask so desperately. “Isn’t he the oldest?”

Her mother made a sound with her mouth, “We discussed this matter but Sirius and his family have a complicated relationship, they want regulus to make the proud.”

And Joey felt like her heart broke all over again. She was so close to getting what she wanted, yet destiny had ripped it away from her again. If this was a story, the Author had to be downright cruel to put her through this.

-

At the Black Mansion Sirius - for the first time in his life felt completely and utterly broken. Hot tears ran down his face, and he couldn’t contain the sobs coming out of his mouth.

He almost didn’t notice his Mother coming in hitting him with the stupid Black family ring she was so proud of turning it outward so it would leave deep cuts on his cheeks.

“Crying is something for muggles and weaklings. Not for Blacks.” She screeched, but he didn’t care, he never cared for anything his parents wanted or said, he only cared for her and his friends and maybe Regulus even though his loyalty to their parents could be infuriating sometimes.

“We have guests this evening. If you aren’t on your best behavior, I will crucio you right in front of them.” His mother sneered, and Sirius knew from experience that she meant what she said.

“Yes.”

“Yes, what?” His Mother grabbed her wand and Sirius bit his lip till it started bleeding.

“Yes, ma’am.” he grumbled quietly, just hoping that she would disappear soon so he could be sad in peace.

Walburga strutted out of the room, locking the door behind her, making Sirius sigh.

He looked around his room trying to ground himself, the red gryffindor flags, the muggle band posters from bands he didn’t know just to spite his mother, the pictures of the Marauders and of course the pictures of Joey that he didn’t yet have the heart to take down, her smile illuminating the whole room even through a picture. Tears filled his eyes again, yet he didn’t dare to cry. Instead, he got out his wand, muttering some spells to heal the wounds.

A few hours later Sirius was well aware of how horrible he looked, skin pale, deep rings under the eyes and his usually shiny hair hanging matted over his eyes, this look being further enhanced while standing next to his brother who looked more and more like Sirius every day, sharing his aristocratic features. But other than Sirius;, Regulus looked amazing, his tie in place, his hair combed and his shoes cleaned.

Sirius saw the disgusted face his mother gave him before gushing about Regulus and he couldn’t help but feel accomplished at his disheveled appearance that hopefully would disgust any weird poor blood family her mother invited for today.

“Adrian, Cordelia! How nice to see you.” Walburga greeted, making Sirius’ blood run cold at the mention of Joey’s parents’ names; and really just behind the two middle-aged wizards and next to Quentin, the girl of his dreams, stood. Her usually wavy hair was curled and neatly pinned up, leaving just a few strands to frame her beautiful face.

Sirius stood there frozen as the other people greeted each other. Joey stiffly shook his hand. Her eyes looking cold and disinterested, just like the first time Sirius saw her at the pureblood ball.

Joey, on the other hand, felt immensely grateful for her brother standing beside her, as she didn’t know where she should look. She was scared to look in Regulus eyes seeing the familiar cold and steely gaze of her future husband and even though she wanted to, she knew looking in Sirius’ eyes would just open up a Pandora’s box of feelings.

The dinner went over like a blur, Walburga asking lots of questions that were being answered politely, mostly by Cordelia.

As dessert came - crème brûlée, finally the point of the entire dinner was made clear.

“Josephine, Regulus, as you both know we arranged a marriage between you two, binding two of the most pureblood families together by law.” Orion said, his voice cold and calculated just like Regulus’ voice was. Sirius started coughing uncontrollably, choking on the water he just tried to drink, earning himself dirty looks from the pureblood parents, Orion especially looking at Sirius like Walburga looked at discounter clothes. “Don’t mind my son, he doesn’t take news like a gentleman, another reason why we chose regulus over him.”

Joey looked up from her plate - the first time this evening and her mask broke for a short second and Sirius saw how deeply horrified she looked before she went back to smiling politely with the same cold disinterested eyes every pureblood kid learned to have at a young age.

“We expect you to be a pleasant couple till you marry, no drama or other nonsense.” Orion continued.

“Josephine, darling, I suspect your parents already informed you about the risks of acting out?” Walburga asked, and Joey’s stomach turned at her sickly sweet voice. Her eyes automatically found Sirius’ for comfort, but his eyes were clouded with shock and something Joey could only interpret as realization.

“Yes, ma’am.”

“Very well, how about you two go up to Regulus’ room to get to know each other better, while we discuss the details of the engagement party?”

Regulus nodded wordlessly, taking his future fiancée’s hand leading her up the stairs so familiar of the noble house of black, into his room.

It was the first time that Joey saw a room except the ball room and Sirius’ room and she was impressed at how unimpressive the room looked. The walls were empty except a Slytherin flag over his bed; the room was almost hauntingly neat, and she didn’t see even one personal item.

“I apologize for all of this.” Regulus said, looking at the stoic girl in front of him.

“No need to apologize.” She whispered, her voice sounding hoarse as she took in the room, looking anywhere but into the boys’ eyes.

“I’m sure no girl wants to have that kind of proposal.”

She chuckled at the absurdity of his words, sitting down on his bed, surprised at the softness of the mattress, yet shuddering at the thought of her having to have sex with him on that mattress - or anywhere, for that matter.

“We are practically engaged and you don’t even know my favorite color.” She said, looking into his eyes for the first time this evening.

There was a deep breath, and then Regulus sat beside her.

“Josephine-“

“Why are you marrying me?”

He looked shocked at the question and Joey wished she could take the words back, knowing that she crossed a line and being basically the property of Regulus now, she should maybe at least try to keep the comments to herself.

“Josephine, it’s what our parents want from us.”

“Nobody calls me Josephine, except my parents.” Joey whispered, her voice restrained from the fear pulsing through her body.

“I know, but I didn’t know if you wanted me to call you that.”

Joey looked into his steely eyes, and they looked surprisingly soft and understanding. And a small glimmer of hope tugged at her heartstrings.

“Why do you care what I want? Am I now not your property?” The words came out harder than she intended, and Regulus flinched slightly.

“I’m not a monster.”

Joey stayed silent.

She was glad, as Walburga called them downstairs, looking at them as if she just won the lottery.

“Splendid news, we will hold the engagement party in one week.”, Joey forced a smile but by the falling face of Walburga she could already tell that it came out more like a grimace, “and the even better news is that you will spend all summer with us so you and Regulus can bond and have some appearances as a couple before you marry.”

Joey’s stomach turned. Spending all summer with the guy they forced her to marry, her ex boyfriend who still gave her butterflies and their psychopathic parents sounded like a nightmare.

“We will have a guest room ready.” Orion added coldly, and from the corner of her eye she saw Sirius exhaling in something that looked like relief.

“Oh no, we aren’t in the eighties anymore. She can sleep in Regulus room, they can practice for their wedding night.” Walburga grinned wolfishly, and Joey felt so sick she was sure she would throw up all over the carpet.

Masterlist

Part 6

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[justafewsmallsteps]

Okay, with the new series announcement, I’ve finally been inspired to finish off this artwork and story that I’ve been sitting on for years. Call it a goodbye to my headcanon kids because now we have the real deal!!! 

Title: The Golden Girl 

Word Count:

3576

Rating

: G+

Let it be known that Mizuki adored her father. Anyone could tell by the way she followed him around and tried to copy his actions. 

She had his temperament and lack of patience, but in a cuter way (for now). Her big, shiny, golden eyes were just like his, and the black ears atop her head swiveled around just as his did. She loved it. She loved being just like him in every way she could; going around picking up big sticks to swing like her own Tessaiga. 

She looked up to him so much, it made Inuyasha’s heart ache. It did come with some new, dangerous territory though. For instance, he had one hell of a time trying to watch his vocabulary once Mizuki started speaking. He’d never forget the dagger of a glare that Kagome sent his way when their daughter babbled her first, “Damet” after dropping her snack. He thought he would be skinned on the spot. 

“She’s going to copy anything you do, so you have to be more careful!” Kagome chastised. 

“Why me?” Inuyasha asked in a grumbled whine. “She should be looking up to you! You’re her mother, ain’t ya?” 

Kagome frowned. “Mizuki thinks the world of you.” Her expression softened. “That’s what daughters do when they love their dad.” 

A pang of guilt seized his chest. In flashes he remembered another time and place, photographs and a stick of incense at the shrine tucked away in a private room; a young man with Kagome’s eyes. It was something that she didn’t talk about often, but her father’s loss still shook her sometimes. He took in Kagome’s glassy eyes and the pink flooding her nose. He reached around to hold his wife in his arms. “Okay,” Inuyasha mumbled as he kissed the top of her head. “You win. I’ll watch out.” 

So he proceeded with caution, tried to hold his tongue from cursing, and he did his damn best to be more patient than he’d ever thought possible. All for their family, for his wife, for his daughter. 

He never thought of himself as a role model. 

He used to think he was a freak.

But then Kagome came around, and then he had friends. He found a place in the world that accepted him as he was, and he held onto her with a fierce protectiveness. He even let her go once and was forced to find peace within loneliness. He did it for her, because even if he never saw her again, he’d love her. He’d live for her even without her there. 

But then by some miracle Kagome came back. The world was right. He belonged, they got married, and they were a family all on their own.  He didn’t think life could get better honestly. Then they had their first kid. When Mizuki was born, Inuyasha was sure that he’d never seen anything more precious in his life. He loved the dark ears atop her raven-haired head, and he nearly melted the first time she opened her honey-colored eyes. She was an existence made up of his and Kagome’s love. 

He wished she didn’t take so much after him though. She was just shy of passing for normal… 

“So beautiful,” Kagome had whispered, instantly washing away his fears and doubts. “Just like her dad.” 

Beautiful, huh? He hoped that someone would love his daughter like Kagome loved him. He also hoped that day was very far away, he thought warily. For now, he would make sure that his kid felt good about herself. He would never let Mizuki think of herself as a monster or a weirdo. He’d do his damnedest to build her confidence and surround her with love. 

And it worked out pretty well. Maybe too well if her ego was anything like his own. 

Mizuki really did love everything she had in common with her father. When they both heard a sound and turned the same way, she’d puff up with pride. “Mizuki hears it too!” she’d exclaim gleefully, making a point to wiggle her ears. 

It always made him grin. 

He never thought there could be a downside to her adoration. She loved him, she loved herself; everything was good. 

Then Shouya was born. 

Shouya, his son, who did not have his ears or his eyes. He actually looked a lot like Kagome, Inuyasha thought fondly. He had his mother’s nose, her human ears, even her adorable puffy cheeks. The one thing that made Shouya anything like Inuyasha was his distinctly silver colored hair. Yet somehow, despite being almost the opposite of his daughter, he was equally as perfect. Inuyasha had thought it was impossible to love anyone more than Kagome, and then Mizuki, and yet somehow his capacity for love simply grew as soon as he witnessed his son. 

And when Mizuki, at just five years old, laid her pretty, amber eyes on her brother... she burst into tears! Kagome was still bedridden and recovering, so Inuyasha flew into action. He tried to calm her down but she was inconsolable, and her crying triggered Shouya to follow. 

With two wailing children, Inuyasha and Kagome were immediately set to high stress mode. It was not the cute first meeting between new siblings that they had anticipated, dreamt about, planned for when Kagome was still waddling around as she told Mizuki all about being a big sister. 

Instead she cried. A lot. Loudly. 

Inuyasha had to pick up his distraught daughter and take her outside. 

“Kiddo, what’s wrong?” He asked, shifting her a little in his arms. 

Mizuki rubbed at the tears on her face and clutched to her father’s shoulders. Unable to form words past her sobs, she grabbed fistfuls of his hair and tugged, but Inuyasha didn’t pay any attention to the pain. Instead he did his best to soothe her, patting her back until she was reduced to hiccups. That night she cried and sniffled herself to sleep, leaving two very anxious parents. Thankfully Shouya slept soundly. 

It took a week of grouchiness and tantrums before anything productive happened. Inuyasha whined to his recovering wife about his daughter’s poor attitude and lack of communication. Kagome simply laughed at him. “Now you know what it’s like dealing with you.” 

Indignant, he scowled, “She’s a child!” 

“At least she has an excuse,” Kagome retorted cutely. 

Inuyasha would’ve been more upset, but having her humor back was a relief to him. She’d been exhausted and bedrested for the end of her pregnancy. Kaede had assured him that she’d be fine, but it still made him anxious to see her so putout. Shouya came out a fat, healthy baby, but even then Kagome didn’t get much time to relax. The newborn was up at odd hours and constantly hungry. It was the least Inuyasha could do to try taking care of Mizuki, though he hadn’t anticipated her moodiness. 

Whenever they were out of the house and away, she seemed to relax, but otherwise his girl was totally uncooperative. Miroku and Sango figured that she didn’t like sharing the attention. It was something they dealt with in the early days with their own twin girls. They shrugged and gave him their sympathy, but otherwise couldn’t offer much advice except for him to be patient and try to talk to her. 

The problem was Mizuki didn’t want to talk. As soon as he mentioned her brother she’d have a fit. Admittedly, he joked dryly to himself, he felt the same way about his own brother for a long time. The feeling had been mutual, probably. 

But Sesshoumaru was an asshole, and Shouya was barely eight days-old. 

Inuyasha sniffed the air as the wind passed them by. Kagome was waiting for them. “Kiddo, the sun’s getting low. We gotta go home to Mama.” 

Mizuki didn’t look up from her spot on the ground making leaf huts. “I don’t want to.” 

“There’s dinner at home.” 

“I’m okay.” 

He wondered how to persuade her. “Papa’s getting real hungry though. I might fall over if I don’t eat!” 

“Papa can fish,” she replied with no mercy. 

“So we’ll never go home again? I’ll never see Mama again?” 

She seemed to consider that. “Mama can visit us, but leave the baby.” 

Inuyasha folded his arms. “That’s your brother, ‘Zuki.” 

“I don't care. I don’t like him.” 

“So you won’t go home unless we get rid of your brother?” 

“Maybe Mama can put him back in her tummy.” 

He snorted. “That’s probably going to hurt your mother.”

“Then give him away to someone who wants a new baby. Far away.” She seemed set, and if Inuyasha knew anything about his daughter, it was that her stubbornness rivaled her parents’. Yikes. At least that was only half his fault. 

He figured lying would get him farther than arguing for now. It’d get him home at least. “Okay. We’ll tell Mama to leave the baby because you don’t like him. Then you’ll let us go home and eat? I can smell the food. Smells good. Can you smell it, little one?” 

Mizuki wrinkled her nose and sniffed the air. 

“I smell it too, like Papa! It does smell good!” she agreed with enthusiasm, but Inuyasha smirked. She had to be lying. They were far away enough that Inuyasha knew she’d have trouble picking out the scent, but she was always trying so hard to keep up with him. He decided to humor her. 

“You smell the stew?” 

“Yes!” 

“Wow, I’m so impressed. Let’s go get some. I’m starving!” He knelt down and opened his arms wide for her. When she barreled into his arms he was reminded of his great, unending love for her. He spun her around and squeezed her squirmy body as she giggled, then dipped her over to attack her face with kisses. 

“Papa, let’s go!” 

“Okay, okay. Let’s go.” He shot off with his usual pace when carrying his daughter. She liked to feel the bounce of his steps, laughing her way as they went up then down. It was slower than his run, but way more fun. He figured he should put her in the best mood possible when they broke the news that they were going to have to keep her brother around. 

“We’re home,” Inuyasha announced as they entered. 

Kagome was standing near the futon, rocking the baby in her arms gently. 

“Good timing. Shouya just had dinner and just fell asleep.” 

“I’m envious. Sounds like a good life,” he joked. 

Mizuki tugged on his arm. “Papa.” 

Right. 

“So Kagome, I have some bad news.” When she looked at him confused, he made sure to emote that everything was fine. He liked how easily they communicated. 

“Oh yeah?” she goaded. 

“Yup. Looks like we’ll have to get rid of the new baby.” 

“Oh no! That’s so sad. Why’s that?” 

Mizuki squirmed around and pulled her father’s face down. “Papa!” she whispered with urgency. 

He held up a finger, motioning for Kagome to hang on. She gave him a smile to show her amusement. He missed her face today. He hasn’t seen enough of her while he was out distracting their daughter. Speaking of which… 

“What’s up, kiddo?” 

She cupped her small hands around her mouth to relay her secret message. “Tell Mama you don’t want the baby! Don’t tell her I don’t want him.” 

“Mizuki, I’m not going to lie to Mama. You’re the one who wants him gone, so you should tell her,” he whispered back. He lifted his head back to Kagome, assuming she must have at least heard some of their conversation. “Mama, Mizuki has something to tell you,” Inuyasha proclaimed, full-well knowing he was throwing her under the bus. Poor thing. 

The girl seemed to go red in his arms, suddenly panicked as she faced the most intimidating figure in her (and his) life: her mother. 

“Is that so? What do you need to tell me, Mizuki?” 

“I--” She sputtered and her eyes began to water and she looked up at her father, silently pleading for him to take over. He shook his head. Of course he felt bad, but she wasn’t being very cooperative when he asked. Kagome was their best bet at getting some answers. If she could get him to open up, she’d manage a five year-old. 

“You?” she leaded. 

“I want the baby to go away!” she admitted quickly. Her mouth turned itself into a defiant pout, as if she was putting on a brave face. 

Kagome paid it no mind. “You do? Why?” 

She hesitated for a second before supplying, “I don’t like him!” 

“Okay, but why?” 

Mizuki whined; a true, genuine whine that sounded like a puppy. 

Inuyasha would’ve broken, but Kagome seemed unfazed. How could she? Did she have no heart? It amazed him. 

“Do you not like him because he’s a boy?” 

“No.” 

“You don’t like how he smells?” 

“No…” 

“Are you jealous?” 

Bingo. 

Mizuki ruffled and got even redder in the face. Inuyasha gave his daughter a reassuring pat. They already figured that was the problem, but it was a new feeling for her to navigate. 

“Mizuki, are you jealous that Mama spends so much time with Shouya?” Kagome asked softly. 

“No!” she yelped back.  

“Don’t yell at your mother,” Inuyasha chastised. 

She shrunk down, her ears flattening. It must have felt like they were ganging up on her, but the time had come for her unexplained tantrums to end. With pent up frustration and embarrassment, pools of tears began to stream down her face and she cried, “I hate him!” 

“You don’t have to be jealous, kiddo.” 

She wailed, and Shouya finally took notice of the volume, beginning to wiggle and fuss in his mother’s arms. Kagome motioned for Inuyasha to take her away so she could calm him down before he had his own fit. The baby was a heavy sleeper and not a huge crier, but he was cranky when woken up. They’d both be miserable with the two of them crying up a storm, especially Inuyasha with his sensitive hearing. 

As soon as he got out the door, he went into comforting mode. There was no use trying to talk to his little girl in this state. He bounced her up and down, shushing her and rubbing her back as she got out her tears and hiccuped. 

Inuyasha wracked his brain for the right approach. He had only recently come to terms with expressing his emotions. How was he supposed to tell a child to handle hers? “It’s okay to have feelings, you know.” 

Exhausted from crying, she slumped against his shoulder. 

“Papa gets jealous too sometimes. Is that what’s happening? You’re jealous?” 

She sniffled and slowly nodded. He could feel the heat and moisture of her tears seeping into his firerat. Probably snot too. 

Gross, he thought affectionately. 

“That’s alright. Do you want to tell me why?” 

He felt her shake her head. 

“And it’s not because Mama’s busy taking care of him?” 

Another no.

He was kind of at a dead end. She was jealous without much reason behind it. Was she capable of having a good reason? He searched the recesses of his mind, channeling the nurturing care of his wife. 

“Even if I love your brother, you know I don’t love you less, right?” 

“Okay,” she replied in a small voice. 

“Does that make it better?” 

Negative. 

Inuyasha sighed, feeling impatient and hopeless. 

Kagome emerged from the hut just then; Shouya once again soundlessly asleep and swaddled against her chest. She smiled at him sympathetically, knowing that crying was never his wheelhouse. He’d always hated when women cried, but Mizuki’s tears were a whole other level of unbearable. 

“The weather is nice. The sunset looks like it’ll be pretty,” she stated in a soft, even tone. 

“Wanna take a look, kiddo?” 

“The colors are pretty. The clouds are getting pink! Our favorite.” 

Mizuki shuffled a little as her father angled himself so that she could see from her place on his shoulder. She turned to rest her cheek on him, but otherwise kept sniffling. 

“Are you feeling any better now?” Kagome asked her daughter, placing a quick kiss to her swollen face. 

Instead of replying, she tugged at her father’s hair again, using it to cover her face. It was a strange, new behavior. Usually when she wanted to hide she’d simply turn her head into his shoulder. Maybe it comforted her though. 

“Not sure why she’s doing that,” Inuyasha murmured. “She does it whenever she has one of her fits now.” 

Kagome stared for a while before she let out the lightest gasp. When the hanyou looked down at her curiously, he saw the familiar expression of her coming to some kind of understanding. 

“Oh, Mizuki…” she cooed with sympathy. “You poor baby.” 

Inuyasha raised a brow and Kagome pulled away to laugh. Whatever it was, he knew she’d explain, but it was killing him to be out of the loop. 

“She just wants to be like her Papa,” she said with soothing empathy threading her tone. Kagome looked up at her husband fondly, taking her hand to cup his cheek. “From his golden eyes,” she ran her thumb across his eyebrow. Then she reached up towards his ears to stroke one until it flicked in response, “To his fuzzy ears…” she smiled brightly, “to his pretty, silver hair…” Kagome finished, loosely twirling a strand around her finger before turning her gaze to their son. 

It clicked for him then. 

“You’re jealous of your brother because of his hair?” 

Mizuki whimpered, the scent of collecting salty tears assaulting Inuyasha once more as she grabbed more of his locks to cascade down over her own head. 

Mystery solved! 

It was so cute and so stupid that Inuyasha wanted to laugh and cry at the same time. 

“Is that really it, ‘Zuki?” 

“I told you, she wants to be just like you,” Kagome reiterates, placing a soothing set of fingers to touch her daughter affectionately. 

“Keh!” Yet somehow he was blushing. Maybe it had to do with the way Kagome was beaming at him, prettier than any sunset. “That’s stu--silly. What a silly reason to be upset.” 

Mizuki huffed in anger. 

“I mean,” he faltered. “It’s sweet. It’s very sweet.” Finally feeling like he had a hold on things and the world made sense again, he mindfully moved back his daughter’s sagging body from his shoulder, some of the hair getting pulled along with her. “But you don’t have to be jealous, little one. You’re great just the way you are, you know that?” He nuzzled their noses together. 

“B-But I want to be like Papa!” she sobbed, pushing back. Not even her snotty nose or blotchy crying face could detract from how wretchedly adorable she was. 

Kagome thought her heart would melt. “Papa is pretty great, but baby, you are so much like him! You don’t have to have everything be the same.” 

It didn’t seem to matter. “Why does the baby have Papa’s hair and I don’t? It’s not fair!” 

Both Inuyasha and Kagome exchanged looks. It was clear that Mizuki wasn’t going to get much consolation from her mother on this issue. 

Finally, an idea popped into Inuyasha’s head. 

“You got my eyes though, don’t ya?” He asked, looking right into her honey colored irises. They were even more intense at this golden hour. 

“Yeah…” her ear twitched along with her sniffle. 

He grinned. “Then you see the same way I do. You see everything I do, right?” 

“Right,” she agreed. 

“When I look at you, I see the most perfect little girl in the world. Beautiful eyes, cute little ears and nose, pretty hair like her mother, and the best smile. I see all that. You see it too?” 

Mizuki’s eyes watered again, but she nodded. Kagome took the time to brush back the hair stuck to her face. 

Inuyasha prodded his daughter more. “You see it, kiddo? Just like me?” 

“Yeah.” 

“That’s what I want to hear!” He pulled her from his body and hoisted her into the air. It was one of their favorite things to do. He spun her around and tossed her until she was nothing but an exhausted heap of smiles, and the stars began to twinkle in the early evening sky. 

Later that night when she was about to sleep, Mizuki looked at her brother for a long time before turning away with a curt, “Goodnight baby. We won’t give you away.” 

Kagome snorted back a laugh and had her husband put her to bed. Crying, laughing, and letting go of a grudge all in one day really took it out of their poor toddler. Still, seeing Inuyasha fumble through feelings and childrearing-- it all felt so surreal. It felt like home, and she’d never been more content with her life. 

Once the kids were both asleep and tucked away, Inuyasha sat behind his wife and finally held her close, his head sitting on her shoulder. He inhaled her scent to re-center himself. 

“Tough to be a dad?” she asked teasingly. 

“She’s a lot to handle.” 

“She’s just like her father.” 

Inuyasha rolled his eyes but let them fall shut as he nuzzled into the crook of her neck. 

Kagome turned her cheek and pressed her lips against his bangs. 

“Perfect to me,” she added. 

Embarrassed but happy, he simply tightened his arms around her. “Yeah, yeah.” 

[philthepegacornfics]

Limits Part 4

Sam Wilson x Sibling!Reader, Peter Parker x Reader

Word Count: 4.6k+

Trigger Warnings: Possible swearing

A/N: This is the final part to this series! I’m so excited because I’ve actually finished something! Thank you so much to everyone who’s read this. For this final part, I haven’t edited at all... So don’t judge to harshly. Feedback is always appreciated!

Part 1  Part 2  Part 3

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

Rolling myself into my first class for the day, I see Peter sitting where he was yesterday. Ned sat behind him. It sounded like they were having a conversation about Star Wars. MJ sat next to Ned reading a book. I took my place by the door, next to Peter.

Peter stopped talking to Ned to turn towards me. He gave me a bright smile while some pink dusted his cheeks. “Hey, (Y/n)! How was getting your casts off?”

“It was great!” I beamed. “I started physical therapy right after, and it felt so good to move my legs. Though I am pretty sore today.”

“That’s great!” Peter exclaimed before furrowing his eyebrows, “Er.. uh… Not great that you are sore, but great that you’re able to do physical therapy already.”

“Cool leg braces!” Ned said pointing down at my legs. 

“Thank you! They’re pretty advanced. They’re supposed to help my legs heal quicker.”

“Wicked,” Ned murmured, pondering to himself. 

I could see in Ned’s eyes that he had a lot of questions. Before he could ask, Mr. Harrington walked up in front of us. “(Y/n), Peter, I spoke with Principal Morita. Peter will be excused from detention as long as he is helping you with classes.”

“Don’t worry, Mr. Harrington. I definitely plan on doing everything I can to get caught up on classes,” I reassured him of his decision on pairing Peter and I up.

Just then, the late bell rang. Mr. Harrington looked over the class before speaking loudly to everyone about today’s topic.

I immediately start taking notes. Trying to hang onto every word that Mr. Harrington was saying. With being so far behind, I didn’t want to miss anything else. It wasn’t long into the discussion that I felt someone’s eyes on me.

I looked over at Peter who had a tight grip on his pen. He was looking straight ahead at the white board. Redness covered his cheeks and spread to the tips of his ears. His small freckles stood out.

I made a mental note to ask him later what got him so frazzled. Continuing to look around the room to see if I can see anyone staring at me, I turned in my seat. Ned looked up at me with my movement and gave me a small wave. I nodded with a smile. MJ was still reading her book. Everyone else in the room was focused on different things. Whether it was taking notes, or whispering to the person next to them.

I furrowed my eyebrows and focused back up to the front and went back to taking notes. “I must’ve made it up,” I told myself.

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

“I think we finally got you caught up on our chemistry homework,” Peter said, putting his copy of the textbook down.

“Finally!” I cheered.

“What do you want to work on next? Math?”

“Actually, can we take a break? I’m pooped.”

Peter chuckled and nodded his head. “What do you want to do instead?”

“It’s been three days. I’d like to get to know you better,” I said leaning back in my chair. My hands playing with the pen I was writing with.

“What do you want to know?”

“Yesterday in Chemistry, you looked very flustered. What was that about?”

Peter’s cheeks dusted pink, “Oh, um… it was nothing.”

“Sure looked like something,” I giggled.

“I um, thought of um, something embarrassing.”

“What’s that?”

“Sorry, you have to at least be a level three friend to know.”

“One, I’m offended. Two, what are we? The Sims?”

Peter just laughed at that.

“So, then just tell me about yourself if you won’t tell me that.”

“That’s a very broad topic.”

“Well, what do you do when you’re not at school?”

"I used to be part of the debate team. And, as you know, I play trumpet. I used to be in marching band.”

“Used to?” I questioned.

“I, um,” Peter scratched the back of his head, “I sorta quit so I could spend more time for this internship that I had. But that fell through.”

“Oh, I’m sorry to hear that.”

“It’s okay, my own fault really. Now I just practice for the next Decathlon. And Ned and I are building the Death Star out of Legos.”

“Sounds like you pass the time.”

“Yeah. What do you do?” he asked.

“Well, I-” Suddenly the pen I was playing with flew out of my hands and landed on the table. I leaned forward quickly to grab it. Peter did the same, but he was quicker. My hand landed on top of his.

My head snapped up to look at him. His deep brown eyes met mine. My cheeks felt warm as I retracted my hand. He cleared his throat and held the pen up for me to grab it. I took it thankfully and gave a shy smile.

“I, um, I,” I stuttered, “I mostly do physical therapy and watch movies with my friend, Wanda.”

“That makes sense,” Peter nodded his head.

“Kind of speaking of physical therapy, I want to stretch my legs. Would you help me with that?”

“You can stand?” he asked in bewilderment. 

I chuckled. “Don’t tell our gym coach, but yeah. I can walk a little too. It’s very exhausting though. And I can only do so with my braces on.”

“That’s awesome!”

“So will you help me?”

Peter nodded and stood up from his seat opposite of the table from me. I rolled my wheelchair slightly away from the table so there would be room for both of us. Planting my feet on the ground, I took his arm and stood up.

Unlike with Tony helping me pull my weight, Peter didn’t strain at all. It was as if I weighed nothing to him. Feeling his arm muscles through his shirt, I knew that my earlier assumption of him being physically fit was correct.

“Did you want to take a few steps too?” Peter asked.

“Maybe a couple.”

He walked by my side, keeping his arm out for me while I shuffled forward. After we were a couple of yards away from my wheelchair, I had Peter help me turn around.

“I want to walk back on my own,” I declared as a wave of confidence washed over me.

“Are you sure? I can help you get-”

“I can do it,” I scoffed.

“Okay…”

I let go of Peter’s arm and started shuffling my way back. I made it halfway to my chair when my legs started to wobble and burn. Losing my balance, I started to stumble forward. Before I could fall, Peter caught me in his arms. Pulling my back against his chest.

My heartbeat started racing as butterflies erupted in my stomach. I turn my head to look back at him. He was already looking down at me.

“Careful,” he muttered. His breath fanned across my face because of our close proximity.

Heat radiated off of my face as I stared up into his brown eyes. Pink that was dusted across his cheeks slowly became red. What was only a second, felt like an eternity as both of our eyes glanced down at each other’s lips.

“Okay, you two. It’s time to go,” the school librarian said, interrupting Peter and I.

Peter cleared his throat and shifted so I was able to grab on to his arm and he walked me back to my chair.

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

Talking to Sam became rare since the Soviet Accords took place and he became a criminal. He would call occasionally to check on me, to see how I was doing. So, when my phone rang in the middle of the night with an unknown number, excitement coursed through my veins.

“Hello?” I answered cautiously, in case it wasn’t him.

“Hey (Y/n/n), how’s it going?” Sam spoke on the other end.

“Sam!” I cheered quietly so if anyone was outside my room, they wouldn’t be able to hear me.

He chuckled on the other end.

“I’m doing pretty well,” I answered. “Having my casts off has been really nice. Tony made me leg braces that have been helping me with my healing progress. Though, I still get tired after walking a short distance.”

“That’s good. I’m glad Tony’s treating you right.”

“You know he’s not a bad guy, right? He’s just a little mixed up, ya know?”

“I know that. It’s just hard when you’re fighting against him.”

“I’m sorry, Sam. I hope this clears up soon. I miss you,” I sighed.

“I miss you too… So, tell me how school’s been treating you.”

“It’s been pretty good. I made some friends and the teachers have been understanding and have given me time to make up work. One of the friend’s I’ve made, Peter, has been helping me catch up.”

“Oh, so a boy is helping you?”

“It’s not like that!” I squeaked. “Mr. Harrington asked him to help me catch up. Then we ended up having a lot of classes together, so he was kind enough to help me with those too.”

“If he tries anything, just know I’m not afraid to-”

“Sam,” I scolded. “We’re not like that.”

“I know, but-”

“But, nothing. He doesn’t even like me,” I said disheartenedly. “He asked a girl named Liz to the homecoming dance.”

“So he asked this Liz girl before he asked you?”

“Yeah,” I sighed heavily.

“I’m going to kick his ass,” Sam said sternly.

“What why?”

“Because he hurt my little (Y/n/n),” he stated matter-of-factly.

“He didn’t hurt me-”

“Yes he did. I can hear it in your voice.”

“What does it matter? Also do you want him to like me or not?”

“I want him to like you, it only makes sense that he would. I just don’t want him to get any funny ideas,” he explained.

I couldn’t help but laugh at Sam’s logic.

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

Peter had a decathlon meeting after school, so we decided to skip studying for the day. When I got home, Tony informed everyone that the press was here for something that he was announcing.

“What’s the news?” Rhodey asked.

“We’re announcing our newest Avenger,” Tony clapped his hands together before rubbing them.

“Shouldn’t you have talked to me about this?” I asked. “I don’t know if I’m ready-”

“Though announcing the existence of ‘The Avatar’ would be exciting,” Tony cut me off, “I was talking about our friend, Spider-Man.”

“The kid?” Rhodey questioned.

“Based on his voice and mannerisms, he’s only about (Y/n)’s age,” Vision supplied.

“Who are we talking about?” I asked.

“The friendly neighborhood Spider-Man of Queens,” Tony stated matter-of-factly.

“Oh, the one all my classmates are talking about? Who saved them in DC and took down Liz’s dad?”

“Who’s Liz?” it was Tony’s turn to ask.

“Adrian Toomes’s daughter. Ya know, The Vulture.” I stated matter-of-factly back at him.

Tony blinked slowly at me before saying, “Yes that Spider-Man.”

Rhodey chuckled at Tony’s dumbfoundedness. “Does this Spider-Man have a regular name other than Spider-Man?” he quizzed.

“Yes and no,” Tony answered.

“What does that mean?” I asked.

“Secret identity, I would presume,” Vision chimed in.

“Exactly,” Tony said, pointing at him. “I’ll introduce him to all of you later. For now he’s going to remain as Spider-Man to all of you.”

Suddenly Tony’s phone pinged. He quickly read the notification before turning his attention back to us. “He’s here. Who’s ready to meet him?”

Rhodey rolled his eyes and started to shuffle away. Vision walked away and phased through a wall in the direction of his room. That left Tony and I. He looked at me expectantly.

“Let me go change first,” I sighed before rolling myself away and towards my own room.

After changing my clothes and putting my braces back on, I rolled my way to the front of the building towards the press conference room.

Knowing the building decently well, I wasn’t fully paying attention to where I was going. Instead I was admiring the scenery outside of the large windows.

Suddenly a familiar male voice spoke up in front of me, “(Y/n)?”

I look up to see Peter in front of me near Tony and Happy. Behind them was a metal Spider-Man suit. My eyes dart between the three men and the spider suit. Trying to figure out why Peter was here of all places.

“What’re… what are you doing here?” he stuttered. His cheeks were a bright red.

“What are you doing here?” I questioned back, my own cheeks heating up.

“Well, I um… re-remember the internship I told you about that I lost?”

I nodded my head.

“This is it. It’s with Mr. Stark,” he explained.

“How do you two know each other?” Tony asked, gesturing between Peter and I.

“School,” we answered at the same time.

“Wait, (Y/n), is this the Peter you told me about?”

The heat from my cheeks spread to the tip of my ears as I nodded, answering Tony’s question.

“So your Peter is my Peter,” Tony concluded. “Oh, that is funny. What are the odds of that?” he smirked.

“Uhh, what’s going on?” Peter asked.

“Yeah, Tony. What is going on?” I folded my arms in front of my chest.

“What was I saying before, Peter? Oh yeah, your room would be between Vision’s and (Y/n)’s room,” Tony said, ignoring our question.

Peter’s eyes went wide. “You live here?”

“You’re Spider-Man?” I asked with my eyes just as wide.

“Yes, and yes,” Tony answered for us. He turned his attention back towards Peter, “So, what do you say, kid? Be an Avenger?”

Peter looked between me, Tony, Happy (who took a few steps away from us, not wanting to be caught in the conversation), and the suit before answering with, “No.”

“No? What do you mean ‘no’?” Tony asked while both him and Happy looked dumbfounded.

“I think it’d be good to sit back and be, ya know, a friendly neighborhood Spider-Man.”

Tony’s face quickly recovered from looking flabbergasted to looking proud of him.

“Okay… okay,” he said, patting Peter on the shoulder. “Happy will take you home.”

“Actually,” I piped up, “we didn’t get to study today. Would it be okay if he stayed awhile?”

“You have physical therapy,” Tony objected. 

“We can do both,” I shrugged. 

“Okay, he can stay. But, doors open at all times.” Tony pointed between the two of us.

My eyes widened before my gaze shifted to my lap. My face burned more than it did earlier.

I played with my hands as Peter replied weakly with, “Yes, Mr. Stark.”

I turned my chair around and started rolling back the way I came saying, “Let’s go Peter.”

“Right,” he said, taking a few steps before pausing. I stopped rolling and looked back at him. He started scratching the back of his neck. “Did you… um… did you want me to push you? I know that your arms kind of get tired after a while. You can just direct me where to go.”

I gave him a small smile and nodded. He moved behind me and we started going again. We only made it a few feet before Peter paused again. I turned around to look at him to see why we stopped. He was looking back at Tony.

“This was a test, right, Mr. Stark?” Peter called out.

“Yes, and you passed. Good job, kid. Flying colours.” Tony gave a thumbs up.

Peter turned back around looking satisfied and started pushing me again. I directed him back the way I had just come, back to my bedroom. 

“What are we doing here?” he asked, looking around my plain room.

“Sorry, it’s not much to see,” I giggled at his actions. “We moved in not too long ago, and I’ve been too busy and a little preoccupied to decorate.”

Peter looked at my legs and nodded his head in understanding.

“As to why we’re here, my school stuff was in my bag,” I pointed to my backpack in the corner. “I also needed to change for physical therapy.”

“Oh, did you need me to step out? Because I can step out,” he blushed.

“It’s okay, I have a bathroom,” I nodded my head in the direction of the closed door.

“That’s awesome!”

“Yeah, it’s pretty nice. Now, make yourself comfortable while I go change.” I smiled at him.

I could feel Peter’s eyes on me as I made my way to the bathroom door. I reached up and opened it with ease, thanks to practice. Rolling in, I pushed it shut. A small thud echoed in the bathroom from me shutting it too quickly. I grimaced at the noise.

My bathroom had a walk in closet attached to it, so thankfully I didn’t have to gather things with Peter watching me. He would want to help me because that was his nature, but the thought of him going through my underwear drawer to get my swimsuit made me blush.

In front of my dresser I stood up and pulled out two of my swimsuits from the top drawer. The first one was a one piece swimsuit that was a solid (f/c). The second was a two piece that I rarely wore because it showed my mid-drift. It had a (f/c) floral design on it.

I nibbled on my bottom lip, trying to decide. Butterflies erupted in my stomach thinking about Peter seeing me in these. I decided on the one with the floral pattern when a wave of confidence washed over me. 

After changing, I opened the door with some struggle. It was easier to open doors when they opened outward, not inward.

Peter had taken a seat on my bed and was typing into his phone. Anxiety rippled in my chest and I quickly spoke, “You can’t tell people I live here.”

“Oh, I’m not. Ned was just asking me-” his words cut off as he looked up at me. His whole face immediately turned red. “Wow, I mean, I uh,” he cleared his throat. “Ned was asking me about what I wanted to with the Death Star we constructed.”

My face burned from Peter’s reaction to seeing me. “You built a Death Star?” I squeaked.

He scratched the back on his neck before standing up. “Yeah, out of Legos.”

“Cool.”

“Yup.”

Both of us stared at each other in an awkward silence. Just nodding our heads in agreement. After a few moments, Peter cleared his throat again, “Why… why are you wearing a swimsuit?”

“Part of my therapy is to be in a pool.”

A silent “Oh,” came from his lips as he nodded in understanding.

“So, um… Let’s head to the pool, yeah?”

“Right!” He quickly moved and grabbed my backpack for me. He stepped behind me and hung it on the handles to my wheelchair before pushing me as I directed him to the pool area.

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

“So…” Peter started, closing the textbook that was in his lap. He was seated on a bench beside the indoor pool, watching me walk laps in it. “You live here?”

I popped the “P” when I answered with a, “Yup.”

“How did that come about?”

I sighed debating on how I wanted to answer. “If I tell you, I’m trusting you not to tell anyone. You can’t tell anyone, okay?”

“And, I’m trusting you to not tell anyone that I’m Spider-Man,” he countered. “So, we’ll be even.”

“I have powers,” I explained. “As far as I know, I was born with them.”

“What kind of powers?”

“Well… I’m sure that you’ve heard the rumors of my existence. I can control the four elements.”

Peter’s eyes widened as he looked at me, “You mean, you’re ‘The Avatar’?”

A small giggle escaped my throat as I nodded my head.

“I didn’t think you were real! That’s so cool!”

“It is pretty cool, huh?” I smiled at him.

“Way cool! Wait… What happened to your legs then?”

“I wasn’t lying when I said a building fell on top of me during an Avengers squabble. I just left out the part that I was involved in it. We were in Lagos at the time-”

“The fight that caused the Soviet Accords?”

I nodded my head. “Before the famous explosion that Wanda tried to stop, there was an explosion in the building I was in. The ceiling collapsed. Thankfully, with my powers, I was able to stop the rubble before it killed me.”

His eyes glimmered as he looked mystified by my recount of the story. After a moment, he snapped out of it. “Can you show me?”

“Show you?”

“Your powers! Can you show me your powers?”

I pretended to think for a moment about it before splashing water in Peter’s direction. He flinched and held up the textbook that was in his lap to protect his face. Before any of the water could hit him, I held up my hand and stopped the water in its tracks.

After realizing that he didn’t get wet, Peter carefully peeked out from behind the text book. His jaw dropped while he stared at the water droplets floating in the air.

“Wow, (Y/n), this is amazing!” he exclaimed, poking one of the balls of water.

I beamed proudly as I made the water fly back towards me and into the pool. “Your turn!” I clapped my hands.

“My turn?”

“Yeah! Show me what you got!”

“Okay… give me a second,” he said while taking off his socks and shoes. Once he was done with that task, he stood up and asked, “Are you ready?”

I nodded my head excitedly.

Peter swung his arms a bit before suddenly doing a backflip. He landed perfectly on his feet, no wobbling in any direction.

I raised my eyebrows at him. “While impressive, that’s not what I was expecting.”

“What do you mean?”

“Like, cool, you can do a backflip. But, there are people without powers who can do that too. Show me something only you can do!”

He nodded his head in understanding. He swung his arms again before jumping up into the air. Both of his hands touched the ceiling, and he stuck to it. Using his strength, he pulled the rest of his body weight up. Once his feet got to the ceiling, he started crawling around effortlessly. 

My jaw dropped. Not only did he just jump several feet into the air, he was crawling around upside down. I brought my hands together and started clapping. “Wow, Peter! You’re incredible!”

His face lit up and he smiled down at me, his cheeks slightly pink. 

Suddenly an idea popped into my head, “You want to play a game?”

“What kind of game?”

“Kind of like Marco Polo. I have my eyes closed, and you move around the room. I’ll splash water in your direction when I hear you, and you have to dodge!”

“I don’t know… I don’t really want to get wet.”

“Are you saying you don’t think you can win?”

“I can’t really win if there is no objective for me to do.”

I thought for a moment about what he said, and smiled. “How about I only have three shots. If I miss all three, you win. If I get you, I win.”

“And what’s the prize?”

“The loser has to do whatever the winner wants them to do. Either answer a question truthfully or do a favour.”

Peter was silent in thought as he made his way off the ceiling and to the edge of the pool. “Let’s do it!”

“Okay!” I cheered, closing my eyes. “I’ll give you ten seconds to move around wherever you want to start out in the room.”

After counting to ten, I listened intently for Peter’s movements. We stayed in silence for several minutes. Suddenly I heard his foot scrape against the cement of the floor to my left. Not wasting a moment, I sent a bunch of water in that direction.

I could hear the water hit the wall, indicating that I missed Peter. Thinking quick, I sent the water to the ceiling above where I heard him. There was no noise from the boy as the water splashed against the ceiling.

I let out a small curse. I only had one more shot of getting him before I lost. I took a deep breath and settled the water of the pool so it wasn’t making any noise. A few more minutes passed without any noise from Peter. Kneading my bottom lip between my teeth, I started to get nervous.

“Ah-choo!” Peter sneezed from above me and to my right. Sending a bunch of water that direction, I could tell I hit him based on how the water moved and the gasp that escaped his lips.

I cheered as I opened my eyes, just in time to see Peter fall into the deeper end of the pool. I couldn’t help the laugh that bubbled out of my chest when he broke the surface, shaking his head.

“I win!”

“Because you cheated,” he whined.

“I did not cheat!”

“You only got me because I sneezed!”

“That’s not cheating!”

Peter swam over to where I was standing in the middle of the pool. He stopped and stood merely a few inches from me.

“I’ll let you win because I’m such a good sport.”

“Oh, how kind of you,” I rolled my eyes. “Letting me win after I won fair and square.”

“You did not, cheater.”

Exasperated, I stuck my tongue out at him. He just laughed.

“So, Miss Winner, what do you want me to do?” he asked teasingly.

“I want you to answer a question!”

“Oh?” he raised an eyebrow.

“I asked you this before, but you said we weren’t close enough. Now you have to answer it!”

His eyes darted up to the ceiling as he tried to recall what question I was talking about.

“When you got flustered in Chemistry that one day, what were you thinking about?” I reminded him.

“Oh, that question…” Peter scratched the back of his neck while his face turned red again.

“Yes that one, now tell me.”

“I don’t remember.”

“Liar!” I pushed against his chest, but he didn’t move. “You obviously remember, so tell me. You have to!”

He looked down at me. His eyes darted between mine and my lips. His tongue poked out and licked his lips. “You really want to know what I was thinking about?”

“Yes!” I threw my hands into the air.

Peter’s right hand reached out and cupped my cheek. He ducked his head down. My breath hitched in my throat. His lips grazed against mine as he whispered, “This.”

Closing the rest of the distance, his soft lips pressed firmly against mine. I wrapped my arms around his neck, pulling my body closer. The kiss tasted of a mixture of mint and chlorine from the pool.

Peter pulled away. His eyes looking deep into mine. My eyes fluttered shut as I leaned towards him, going in for another kiss.

Suddenly Tony’s voice boomed over the intercoms, “Finally!”

Peter and I jumped away from each other and looked around the room.

“Mr. Stark?” he called out.

“Over the intercoms, kid.”

“What do you mean, ‘finally’?” I asked.

“I knew you two would be perfect for each other! You know how hard it was to get both of you in all of the same classes?”

“You did that?” Peter and I asked at the same time.

“Of course I did!”

“What the hell, Tony?” I yelled.

“Don’t curse at me when it worked,” he said back. “Now Peter, before you kiss her again, ask her on a real date.”

“Yes, Mr. Stark!” Peter turned to me. His whole face to the tips of his ears were red. Freckles stood out against his bright coloured face. “(Y/n), would you like to go out on a date with me sometime?”

Though Tony just pissed me off, I couldn’t help but smile at Peter. “I’d love to.”

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

Taglist:  @galcalirwin @frontmanash @dontdowhatisayandnobodygetshurt @aneclecticwriter

[jos-corner-of-the-world]

Homecoming - 1

"Everyone is going to be out of the office today greeting soldiers home. You can write that letter today." Hyungwon told her as he came into her office.

"Yes sir." Cora responded immediately.

"Don't rush yourself. Just take your time and write naturally. You're an amazing conversationalist and sometimes it's easier with writing."

Cora nodded her head, waiting for Hyungwon to tell her he's disappointed she's not going today.

"I'm not disappointed." He said, reading her face clearly.

"What?" She asked, looking up at him.

"I can see it all over your face. You're waiting for me to yell at you or be disappointed you're not coming. I understand why you can't. There will always be more, so take all the time you need."

Cora exhaled a deep breath when her boss left.

He said he wasn't mad, he said he wasn't disappointed...but Cora wasn't sure if that was a lie or not.

Not wanting to think about it any further, she got out her stationary and set out writing her letter.  She didn't have more than a name, but that was enough for her.

-----

"Private Lee, you got mail!" Jooheon heard his Sargent yell toward his tent.

"Sir, I've not gotten mail the whole time I've been here.  It's not for me." Jooheon said as he came out of the tent.

"Unless there another Lee Jooheon stationed in your tent, this is definitely for you." 

Jooheon's heart rate picked up as he quickly made his way over to his Sargent's outstretched hand.

He took the thin envelope and inspected it carefully.

"Thanks Shownu." Jooheon said quietly.

Shownu went rigid, his body wanting to correct the man, tell him he should always be addressed as Sargent, but he stopped himself.  He knew this was big for Jooheon.

"You're welcome."

Jooheon didn't go back to his tent. He went to the little clearing between his tent and the mess hall and sat on his favorite rock.

With shaky hands, he opened the letter.

April 23rd

Lee Jooheon,               

Jooheon. Private Lee...what is the proper way to greet a soldier? I'm still unsure. Please correct any error that I make in addressing you, I'd hate to offend you upon first impression.

Jooheon didn't know who had written him this letter, but he could only smile through watery eyes.

My name is Cora and I work for a non profit organization called Homecoming.  We help soldiers transition back into civilian life after deployments as well as while on deployments. You had stated upon enlistment that you have no familial ties or anyone to help care for you while you are away. That's where I come in.

I'm here to be your tie to the outside world, should you want that. This is by no means something you're obligated to do, but I'm here should you need anything.

I can be a friend, a confidant, a sender of items. Whatever you need.

I mean, I don't have the money or means to send you a new car, but I think you get it.

Should you not want or need anything, please disregard this letter. I don't want to be a burden on your already hectic life.

I don't really know how to talk about myself, but I've been told basic information is a good way to start.

As I mentioned, my name is Cora. I'm 25 and I am working on my undergrad degree in writing. It takes a while because I'm doing it part time online, but I enjoy it a lot.

I have a brother named Changkyun. He's younger than me and obnoxious most days, but he's my rock. He's been there for me through… Everything I've ever gone through.

My best friend is Naomi. She's beautiful and elegant. She's a therapist and the smartest person I've ever met in my life.  We could not be more polar opposite if we tried.

Honestly, that's really it. I don't keep many people close, but the ones I have make up for it tenfold. They're amazing people and I'm lucky to have them in my life.

Please let me know if there's anything you want or need and I'll be sure to get it to you as soon as possible. 

Sincerely,

Cora

P.S. Oh! I have a cat named Toast. I thought that'd be worth mentioning.

Jooheon couldn't stop smiling, even if he wanted to.

He read the letter and then reread so many times he'd lost count.

He walked back to his tent, letter folded neatly in his pocket.

"You've been gone a long time." His bunkmate commented.

"Yeah, sorry. I…I got a letter."

"Wait! Seriously? From who?" Kihyun asked.

"Her name is Cora. She works for a place called Homecoming. Said she'd be my tie to the outside world."

"Are you going to write her back?" Kihyun asked.

"Absolutely. I can only live through you and Minhyuk so much. It'll be nice to have someone else to talk to."

"That's awesome. I'm happy for you."

Jooheon smiled at his friend before going to his bed and getting out his paper.

"Not wasting any time are you?" Kihyun laughed.

"Not even a second"

------

Cora was sitting in her office a couple weeks later, worrying she'd offended Jooheon. He'd yet to write back, so she assumed she'd be getting nothing from him.

"Cora, what's up?" Naomi asked her. 

Naomi was in having lunch with her.

"Just worried. What if he doesn't write back?" Cora asked.

"You told me you gave him the option not to." Naomi pointed out.

"I did, but I guess I expected something back. I'm an idiot" 

"No you're not. If he doesn't write back, that's okay too ya know. Doesn't mean you did anything wrong."

"I know...I mean I think I know."

"Listen, just focus on the right now and don't worry about anything else."

"I know I know...if it doesn't matter in a year, it doesn't matter now. The therapist is coming out in you." Cora laughed.

"I can't help it." Naomi shrugged.

"I better get back, I have a client coming in right after lunch. Call me so we can get dinner tonight." Naomi said, gathering up her stuff.

"I wouldn't forget. It's Friday night."

Every Friday for the last six years has been spent at dinner with Naomi. In the last six years they'd only missed a hand full of dinners, and they were extreme cases.

-----

Cora was finalizing a list of items needed for the newly returned when her coworker Jason stepped into her office.

She tensed up immediately.

"Got big plans tonight?" He asked casually.

"Dinner." Cora answered.

"You're never free. Maybe I can take you out to dinner tomorrow?" He asked.

"No thank you." She responded, remembering Naomi's words. She needed to tell Jason no on his advances and not skirt around them.

"What? Why not?" He asked, clearly offended. 

"I don't want to." She said honestly. Her voice was quiet and she could feel herself shaking slightly.

"Well that's rude. What'd I ever do to you?" 

The further in to her office he walked, the more tense she become. Every muscle in her body was telling her to run.

"Please leave my office." Cora finally said.

"What the fuck? Why are you kicking me out? I just want to take you out." 

"And I'm assuming she said no. And ya know, that's definitive and needs no explanation. No means no...no matter what the situation."

Cora looked up to see her brother standing in the doorway.

"Jesus, fine." Jason said, holding his hands up in surrender before leaving her office.

"Fuck that guy." Her brother said as he walked over to his desk.

"What are you doing here?" Cora asked him.

"Came to pick you up. I dropped your car off at the shop earlier to get your brakes changed, remember? The guys already took it home for ya."

"Right, right. I forgot"

"You alright?" Changkyun asked 

"I'm fine. Let's take off."

-----

The ride home was quiet, Cora thinking about the exchange in her office a bit ago.

She didn't know how else to tell Jason no and he was starting to freak her out.

"We're here. Have fun with Naomi at Friday Night Dinner." Her brother said, breaking her from her thoughts.

"Always." Cora said, smiling at her brother.

"Oh! Cora" he said, leaning out his open window.

"Hyungwon told me to give you this but that douchebag made me forget."

Changkyun handed her an envelope before waving and driving away.

It was a letter from Jooheon.

Cora stared at for a long moment, wondering if she were imagining things.

She ran into her house before carefully opening the letter.

May 2nd

Cora,

Thank you for your letter. It's much appreciated and very surprising. You can call me whatever you like, but Jooheon is definitely just fine. I get enough people screaming Private Lee at me while here.

It makes me happy to know that places like Homecoming exist. There are many men and women who go through much worse than me, so having help is going to do great things for them. And for me too.

I'd hate to ask for anything, we did just meet. Kind of bummed that new car is off the table though ^_^. 

In all seriousness though I could honestly use a good toothbrush. Mine from home didn't last as long as I thought they would and the issued ones here are horrible. If not, please disregard.

Going through school slowly isn't a bad thing. You don't get burned out as fast and you can really get a grasp of what you're learning. I think that's awesome.

I'm not good with talking about myself either, but here we go.

I'm Lee Jooheon. I graduated top of my highschool class, but didn't attend college. I’m also 25. I have no siblings or family, but I have a couple good friends I met over here.

Kihyun is nice, but pretty motherly to be honest. Makes sure I've eaten and get decent sleep. He’s my bunkmate and self proclaimed best friend.

Minhyuk is...something else entirely.  He’s hyper and sings too loudly. He’s definitely the mood maker of us.  Makes our time go by faster, which is never a bad thing.

The other two people in our pseudo group aren’t really friends, but they’re not not my friends either...does that make sense?

The first one is Shownu.  He’s my Sargent. He’s awkward and tough, but one of the best guys you’ll ever meet in your life.  If Kihyun is my mom, Shownu is definitely my dad.

Lastly, there’s Wonho.  He’s an enigma, that man.  He’s tall and buff as hell and looks like he could kill you with the snap of his fingers (and ya know what...he just might be able to) but he’s the softest person I’ve ever met.  He gets homesick and cries when watching ASPCA commercials on TV.

Speaking of TV, that might be what I miss the most while stationed here.  TV and music.

So... since neither of us are good at talking about ourselves, I’ll ask some questions throughout our letters.  You don’t have to answer of course, but it’s a good way to keep conversation going.

What’s your favorite color (cliche...but important!)

Mine would be cyan.

Hope to hear back from you soon.

Sincerely,

Jooheon

P.S. I love cats! What color is Toast? (That is such an awesome name for a cat by the way)

-----

(2)

[danni-chuu]

The 7 brothers as humans going to a Regular school

So Me and my friend ( @heeminchan ) got bored and made some hcs about the demon brothers in a regular school ( slice of life style ). This is my first time posting hcs so ye, lets go! :

Lucifer

Luci being Diavolo's Lap Dog™ he would of course be the Student Body Vice President. Strict and abides by the School rules no matter what . He's also known for being the student role model, perfect in almost every way that even teachers wanna be him. Though, he often is quite cold to others because he is a very work-centered person.

Popular with the girls of the school because of mature air and handsome features. Though, the troublemakers make him their archenemy ( probably mammon ) because he always seems to rat them out before they even do it, and if they do get away with it..not for long thats for sure.

Rumors are just rumors, but there has been rumors of lucifer and diavolo having a relationship beyond friends which he rejects completely. ( But you're never too sure eh? )

His relationship with his brothers can be summed up with one word, " Dad ". Luci being the eldest holds alot of responsibility for his siblings, so he often acts like a father to them. Besides his brothers, he has a close relationship with Diavolo, who he has alot of respect for.

Luci can often be found roaming the halls to make sure no one gets in trouble or to make sure that there aren't any students skipping class. During breaks, he can be found doing school work or having tea with diavolo.

Mammon

If you're going to ask his brothers, mammon can he summed up with quite a few colorful words. For example : scum, con-artist, scammer, snitch, delinquent, etc. But despite what his brothers say, he is the Student Body Treasurer (buuutttttt only in title). Mammon is often out and about with his antics which leaves lucifer to do his work, which he does anyways. The only reason lucifer even lets him stay as the treasurer is because he wants to keep a close eye on him.

Many of the students have a mixed impression on mammon. Some people hate him because they got scammed by him or they lent him money and he never gave it back, while some are very entertained by him because he can be quite the class clown.

The rumors that circulate around mammon is that he is part of a gang or he owes a big sum of money to a gang. Another is that he sells pictures of his brothers to girls. ( And all rumors are very plausible , but mammon doesn't disclose any of them anyway).

Alot of his siblings actually tease him alot because....he isn't that bright but he goes along and counters them by saying he's street smart ( and they all shake their head in disappointment)

He can be found in the cafeteria either planning for his next money making adventure or hiding from lucifer.

Leviathan

Levi is a special case....in more ways than one. First of all, he's taking the online classes program of the school. Second, he's the Student body PRO ( Public Relations Officer, but the other pro hell yeah! He totally wants you to call him that ). Thanks to streaming and gaming, he has a big array of connections that he can hit up for a school event, the catch? He can only talk online, if its IRL he will literally malfunction, lag and glitch and crash.

Being the otaku that he is, he rarely goes outside so he isn't that well known in school. Buut that doesn't mean he isn't popular. In fact, he is very well known in the communities he participates in.

For rumors...there are actually a few rumors about levi, one of them is that he doesn't show his face to the school is because he's a deformed or something, while others say he isn't a real person. ( Of course those rumors are just for fun because alot of them have been debunked anyway)

He barely goes outside his room so he doesn't interact with his brothers that much...which means less problems for him! Score! Though...that doesn't mean he can avoid mammon. He pretty much thinks mammon should be kicked out of the family because he steals his stuff or doesn't return money he borrows. (Total jerk eh?)

No surprises here, you can find him in his room playing his games,streaming, watching anime. In the rarest of occasions, he can be spotted in anime or game conventions.

Satan

Students say that satan and lucifer are pretty similar, but if there's one thing that makes the two different its the fact that satan is more chill than lucifer. Being the Student body discipline officer, he is quite strict but he lets students with minor offences off the hook but only if lucifer isn't there.

He's popular with the female population of the school, because they see him as quite the gentleman. Except for one thing, his outburst are... terrifying so to say. Its either things flying around or shouting, so when students see him about to blow they just simply RUN. He's often compared to lucifer which he really gets infuriated with. There are even moments when students mistook his work as lucifers.

As for rumors there isn't much. More on seeing who is better, lucifer or him. It is a well known fact that he loves animals, so rumors started popping up that he has a room full of kittens in the school. ( Sure it will be a good idea but he cant take care of all the little things)

He has a pretty good relationship with all his brothers, except for lucifer. He always feels alot of inferiority towards lucifer, feeling like he's always overshadowed.

Satan can be found in the library reading a book or playing with the school cat.

Bonus: the school cat is actually a stray cat that satan found and took in, the cat often waits in the morning by the path satan takes to his class.

Asmodeus

The shining star of the school is of course the Student body grade level rep Asmo! There's no one better for the position than him and only him! He's a pot full of overflowing confidence and beauty ( and narcissism ). I mean there's no one else like him in the world❤️❤️

He's very very popular with the girls of the school ( and boys~? ), His flirty and charming attitude just makes him an absolute Chic magnet! He values three things: his face, his reputation, and his image. Mess with one of those he will not hesitate to give you a bad time.

The rumors about asmo are pretty much who he sleeps with or who he's dating at the moment. One specific rumor was one involving his good friend solomon. The rumor goes that they are either fbs, dating, or just had a short fling. These rumors rarely bother asmo because more than half of them are true.

Asmo is again very flirty even to his brothers, he often teases them in a very playful manner. Though sometimes they get pretty uncomfortable, they're already used to it by now.

Students can see asmo often in the cafeteria with a group of girls or anywhere as long ad there's someone to flirt with. (Or in the restrooms having some fun but of course he wont tell you that ).

Beezlebub

While he is part of the student body, he doesn't really give it alot of thought. Why? He focuses alot on sports. Being an athlete, he is expected to eat healthy and keep lean. Well he can keep lean but he actually has a big appetite, alot bigger than what an athlete should have.

He has a good reputation with the athletes and same with the girls(( because that body doesn't disappoint)). Because of this reputation, alot of students actually give him snacks buuutt even those snacks aren't enough so he still ends up asking for more.

Rumors about beel centers around on how he is able to keep a good figure even if he eats like a cow, some people want to ask him how he does it but he always just says "i work out".

Beel has a good relationship with his brothers especially his twin Belphegor, the two are often seen together in the cafeteria or in the library napping. after school beel is seen at the school gym doing his regular training.

Belphegor

Belphie works his hardest to fufill his role as secretary of Cleanliness his work load includes walking around and checking the classrooms if their clean. Easy right? Well not for belphie, takes him every bone in his body to do it but atleast the jobs done...right?

Belphie isn't that much popular because he would rather lay low( less problems), but if there's one thing that belphie is known for...and that's his amazingly sharp tongue that can stab anyone who crosses him. On the bright side, he can be very cuddly and puppy like.

Rumors well there aren't much mostly all about students being surprised to find out that belphie and beel are twins, since they're very different .

He doesn't have much of an issue with his brothers,except Lucifer. He's pretty disappointed in lucifer since he changed so much after....ehem. but his relationship with his twin is the complete opposite. They're so close that they spend alot of their time together.

Belphie can be found anywhere and everywhere where you can sleep, but his favourite spot is the library since its quiet and cold. If not there then the roof because the fresh air and silence makes it the perfect place to snooze. All his classmates knows that he even sleeps in class.

[szopenhauer]

What type of friend are you?  funny mom friend so like... dad friend? XD 

Have you ever been friends with someone for longer than 7 years? nah

Do you have a family member you hate? could say so

Does your family accept who you are? it’s complicated

Have you ever puked in school or at work? luckily not

Do you hate puking or does it make you feel better? hate 

Have you ever coughed up blood? nope

Do you lie to your doctor? sometimes we all have to but nothing important

Have you ever been misdiagnosed? yup

Do you think you have an disorder but havent been properly diagnosed yet? that too

Is self diagnosing good or bad? depends

Do you think sex is overated? it is

Is it important for both genders to understand eachothers bodies? I’m not dating men, I don’t want to have a son and I am not a doctor so I don’t care about male bodies, sorry

If someone was a virgin and was raped, did they lose their virginity? ...

Have you ever dated someone more than twice your age? nooo

Have you ever been cut off by a bartender because you were too drunk? I don’t drink

Have you ever borrowed money from your mom & lied about why you needed it? I don’t think so

Have you ever dated someone just because they had money? no

Have you ever lied to your spouse about the money you spent shopping? it wasn’t a lie but I bend the truth a little 

Have you ever gone on a first date with no underwear? I might go without a bra but because I don’t wanna wear it and not because I might have sex 

Do you treat attractive people better than others who aren’t as attractive? nope

Are you more comfortable with friends that are less attractive than you? not less but not more as more attractive might make me feel insecure at times

Have you ever hated a job to the point that you tried to get fired? I would if they let me stay in few places but luckily they didn’t care much about me as their worker hahaha

Have you ever lied about your weight on a driver license? there is weight on a driving license? :o

Have you ever lied during a job interview? meh

Have you ever lied to your boss to get out of work? I exaggerated feeling sick once to not get a job in a horrible place if that counts

Have you ever lied under oath in court? I wouldn’t!

Have you ever bought alcohol for someone underage? I said NO

Have you ever switched tags on an item to pay less for it? I only took tag from an identical item, just different color, as someone tore it out before and I really wanted that particular color, so no

Have you taken any pics of yourself that you wont want your parents to see? umm... yeah ^^”

Did you ever tell your BF/GF you like their outfit when you really didn’t? there are different types of like - like as I would want to wear that myself and like as I enjoy it in general but also like it on particular person etc. 

Do you feel accepted by your BF/GF ’s family? could be worse lol

Do you lie about your age? what for if everybody think I’m younger anyway

Would you risk your life to save a total stranger? maybe

Have you ever trashed your ex’s car after an argument? hell no

Have you ever snuck out of the house to go out with friends? not really

Have you ever shoplifted? no way

Have you ever done something because of peer pressure you are ashamed of? yup Have you ever been embarrassed to introduce your parents to anyone? omg

Have you ever held back a well deserved compliment because you were jealous? I don’t recall

Do you guilt people into giving you what you want? hope not, I try not to, it’s manipulative and I already am seen this way due to my BPD so... 

Would most ppl consider you better than average looking? pfft Would you prefer to have hot body or high IQ? good health

Are you embarrassed to tell people your job? I’m ashamed to tell them that I don’t have a job 

Would you give up your car to save the planet? if I had one...

Are you more likely to believe a man or woman? woman :x

Has your credit card ever been declined? I don’t use a credit card

If you ran over an animal would you keep driving? oh no...

Do you think your parents are too critical of you? my mother is

Ever blame a sibling for something you did wrong? I usually have to take the blame for her instead

Have you ever accepted credit for someone else’s work? just my alters lmfao

Did you ever buy something expensive,wear it once and return it? I didn’t, I have no money to buy and no heart to act like this either

Have you ever re-gifted something? shitload of times

Do you really care about saving the planet for future generations? not for future ppl, just for itself

Do you own anything from IKEA? not furniture 

What was the last task that you required the use of scissors for? I just dropped them and let them lay on the floor under the table because I am unable to reach ‘em

Look around the room and name any item that’s grey. stuffed bad from Biedronka that I got on a flea market

Do you know what any of your close friends did yesterday afternoon? me and M. been spending time together while my parents were at home

Can you recall the last time you woke up in a bad mood? Why was that? I always do?...

Who was the last person to send you a message with a heart emoji? my gf obviously

Does your hometown have many good bookshops? none

What would be your typical outfit for a party? I don’t attend parties 

If your girlfriend/​​boyfriend broke up with you tonight, what would you do? oh...

last dream you had: K. 3D printed or smth almost identical album as the ones I had as a baby and her and my current partner gave it to me as a gift :3

do you think a lot of people think bad things about you? I aware of that

is your best friend pissing you off at this exact moment? I informed my father that I dropped scissors and now as I picked them up he asked me when and how they ended up there while I told him about it few minutes ago - I was more worried than annoyed tbh

Why aren’t you texting the last person you kissed? she’s taking a nap

Sex ruins relationships, right? it can happen

Last person to stand up for you? hmm...

The last person you kissed, how many times have you cried in front of them? I lost count which is weird because I cry in front of my family members only (not even my grandma until I was a baby), I know that sometimes I cry in public but because I don’t give a fuck about strangers as much as I used to, close ones in the other hand... Nat hates the most when someone sees him so vulnerable

Something good going to happen tomorrow? doubt it

The last person you kissed hates you. Why? would have reasons

What do you usually do when the clock turns 11:11? it’s a secret you can unlock in a very high level of our relationship

Do you like your cell phone? it’s ok

So, what if you married the last person you kissed? we’re engaged so that dream ain’t that unreal

Have you ever had a really big fight with a best friend? uh oh

Do you plan on moving out within the next year? I wish

What are you listening to at the moment? mom and dad talking <rolling my eyes>

Do you think you’ll be married in 5 years? or never

What’s your favorite high school memory? I have a bunch of those

Do you wish you had more money? absolutely

Team Jacob or Team Edward? team hate Twilight

Do you have a problem with bisexual, gay, or bicurious people? with bicurious maybe, definitely not gay

Have you ever held hands with the opposite sex? I have

Are you a patient person? weirdly unpatient Do you think you are a good person? am not

Honestly, have you ever eaten raw cookie dough? ewww

Is there a difference between the word ‘best friend’ and ‘friend’? there is 

How was your week? rollerclaster XD

Does it bother you when an artist remakes a song that one has previously done? usually

When was the last time you cried? recently

What letter is the song you’re listening to under? M if vocalist/band B if title of the song

Would you rather visit the 60s or 70s? 60s I guess

Do your socks say anything on them? I have no socks with anything said on them

Name a TV channel that only has three letters in it. BBC

Gray or Grey? grey

Will you be buying concert tickets any time soon? I won’t

Have you seen the movie The Perks of Being a Wallflower? Did you like it? yasss, it was fine

How many weddings have you been to? less than 5

When you smile, are you confident? I am not

Have you ever not done something because you were afraid of getting in trouble? of course

Was the weather beautiful today? it’s cold

Do you have to have a fan on when you sleep? I don’t own a fan Would you rather have an orange, red or gray bedroom? walls? orange 

Would you ever dye part of your hair blue? why not whole

Is Finding Nemo a favorite movie of yours? I dislike it

Does/Did your school have a uniform? middle school only and that was a great idea

Turn on the TV. What channel are you on? not gonna

What’s your favorite thing to do? nothing

If your house was haunted, what would you do? depends

What’s worse: Slow internet or slow walkers? slow internet

Are you a fast or slow walker? which alter? :P

Do you usually have to wear a belt with your pants? I must buy belt for Nat

Are you usually the person to try new things with your hair? no comment

What age do you look forward to reaching? I live on borrowed air...

What exercise do you hate the most? awkward ones

Do you know anyone that has a gecko as a pet? no

What color shirt is your mom wearing today? she’s wearing a striped pajama and light blue sweater atm

Does any part of your body hurt right now? mor than one

Do you like Greek Mythology? not a fan

When was the last time you had Pepsi? ages ago

What was the last question you answered, not on surveys? it was more an order than a question coming from my mom 

Do you own anything Polo? used to

Do you know anyone with exaggeratedly big muscles? neighbor

What is your favorite endangered animal? are elephants still endangered?

Do you like to dance? kinda, from time to time Who was the last person who screamed your name? mom’s calling me again, grrr...

Which underwater creature do you find the most badass? what do you mean?

How do you usually find out what the weather will be like for the next week? someone tells me, I ignore them, they were wrong all along

Why have/haven’t you joined Twitter? I left as it was boring and irritating Are you good at rhyming? but don’t like to rhyme

When’s the last time you were woken up in an obnoxious way? lately it’s common

Why do you/don’t you enjoy horror movies? they’re disgusting and pointless

Do you have any celebrity’s perfume? I don’t use perfume

How well do you do at Scrabble? in polish or english?

Who is your favorite Scooby-Doo character? Velma I suppose

Have you ever played or been interested in playing World Of Warcraft? been interested, liked the movie

What kind of cake/other dessert treat did you have for your last birthday? nothing?

Who do you think does the best job at cartoon voiceovers? Jarosław Boberek 

Does your dad wear a watch all the time? years ago frequently

How much ice cream do you think you’d be able to eat before you got sick? only a bit

Do you know anybody under 40 with grey hair? I have some myself

Do you think you have the potential to be a good stalker? oh well...

Why did you read the last book that you read? I watched film and heard it has a different ending so wanted to check it out

Have you ever cross-dressed? clothes have no gender but I drew mustaches and such 

Which sport are you the best at playing? unihokej/floorball or however it’s called

Do you know anyone who has gotten pregnant despite using contraception? possibly

What would you do if you were in that situation? I’m an asexual and I’m into girls

Are you planning on buying a house in the near future? not possible

Do you prefer on-campus classes or online classes? online

What was your favorite family vacation you went on as a kid? personal

What’s something about you that others might find unpleasant or off-putting? my skin for example (not color)

What gaming consoles do you own? I only play PC and android 

Have you ever been so sick you had to be taken to the hospital? been to ER few times

Do you know any lesbian couples? I’m in one ;)

Have you ever lived in an apartment building?  just when I was staying with my grandmother

What was the last topic you asked someone for their opinion or advice on? not sure which was last

Is your house visible on Google Street View?- barely

What’s the largest thing you currently have in your refrigerator? *shrug*

Do you know anyone who has never had a pet? I believe

Would you ever get a tattoo on your collar bone? no thx

Would you take the 3 minute beatdown to be in a gang? neither Do you check your texts right away when you receive them? not every single time, it’s impossible!

Does it make you uncomfortable when you receive a compliment? sorta, I think they’re lying/want something or make fun of me (even if just slightly teasing for fun)

When you are home alone at night and hear strange noises, are you afraid someone is going to break in? I’m more “ghost” type of person hahaha

Do you wake up cranky? mhm

What is on your wrists right now? sleeves

Are you a beach, country, or city person? country or small town

Are you an official couple with the last person you kissed? we are 

What’s the greatest thing that happened to you today? ex - I got a gift and found a shirt for Nat and myself :3

How old do you think you will be when you finally have kids? -

Are you waiting for something? food

Something you do a lot? suffer

How many chances do you tend to give people before enough is enough? it’s not about the amount

What’s a fact about the last person you kissed? she likes hugs

How long have you liked the person you like? it’s a long story 

Did anyone see you kiss the last person you kissed? not our last kiss

Do you think you will be in a relationship 3 months from now? I worry

Have you ever given your ALL to someone who walked away?

Have you ever kissed the last person you texted? we kissed 

Are you one of those people who are always cold? not always but often

Do you tend to waste a lot of money? I still feel like it even tho I don’t, I thrift often but spend little for those trinkets

Did you sing at all today? może coś nuciłam, nie pamiętam, w headspace?

Would you rather be able to control the weather or control traffic? weather

Do you own any articles of clothing with skulls on it? gave it away to John

Are you faster at text messaging or typing on the computer? typing on the computer

In your opinion which is the stronger emotion: love or hate? hate

Tongue piercings - cute or trashy? trashy

When it comes to jeans: skinny, flared or boot cut? skinny

Would you rather be a star ballerina or a star break dancer? none

They say diamonds are a girls best friend; what do you say? I don’t care for diamonds

Has anybody ever told somebody one of your secrets? plenty of times

Do you get on better with funny or serious people? smth in between

Do you have mood swings around the time of the month? I don’t need period to have mood swings, it’s stereotypical!

Have your friends met the last person you kissed? aha

What if you got stuck in a lift with the last person who Facebook messaged you? we would end up having sex? jk

When/where did your last hug take place? today

Have your parents ever told you about their love lives, and any previous relationships they had before they met? kind of

Do you and your friends have any inside jokes? and with family 

When you listen to music, do you ever find that the songs affect your moods and change how you feel? no shit Sherlock!

What’s one thing about today that you didn’t like? don’t wanna talk about all that

Who is the last person that you said i love you to, besides family members? my fiancee

Would you ever go back to any of your past relationships? done

Do you still talk to the first person you kissed? we’re together again

Do you have a picture of you kissing someone? :D

What’s a cuss word you use often? there’s a whole list

Who’s the last guy you texted? dad

Have you ever not been able to get someone out of your head? this question...

Do you remember the first conversation you had with the person you have feelings for? I remember how we met

Do you believe that people talk about you behind your back? ha!

If you had twins, would you give them rhyming names? yuk

What are you listening to? Tame Impala - Let It Happen

Did you do something mean to someone today? she deserved it!

Is there anyone that you wish was IN your life who used to be? babcia...

Give us a lyric from a song you’re listening to: The truth of it is it doesn’t get better than this

Is your birthday in less than 6 months? whoops

What brings out the worst in you? better not say that out loud

How’re you feeling right now? bad

Are you afraid of the future? very

Do you believe in true love? I’m trying

Do you believe that every one has a soul-mate? not everybody

Was today a good day? should be better

What woke you up this morning? woke up on my own

Do you look people in the eye when you talk to them? I don’t 

Have you ever played naked twister? wut...

Is your hair longer than your shoulders? not yet and don’t plan to keep it that long

Would you get in trouble if you came home drunk? that would be a shock to my family (and to me)

Do you ever think about things and start to worry? 100% of the time

Are you one to get annoyed easily? that me!

Is the last person you kissed yours? we don’t own ppl...

Was it a boy or a girl to text you first today? girl

Are you scared of spiders? am not

Do you hate the last boy who talked to you? I love my parent

Do you tend to make things complicated? not on purpose

Have you ever gotten to the point where you’ve said “I’m done trying”? gqe1gIQASGCK...

Do you think things will change in the next few months? I’m afraid for worse 

Do you like when people play with your hair? it’s strange

What are you wearing right now? bluzę w czarne i białe paski, zieloną bluzkę z długimi rękawami i szare legginsy z niebieskim wzorkiem

Ever feel like you have been replaced? more than once

Would you rather write a paper or give a speech? write

Are you lying to yourself about something? thx a lot for this ask...

Is the person you last texted single? she’s with me

Do you think any of your exes will eventually want to be with you again? tha hell

If you could move away, no questions asked, where would you move to? just my own apartment

Which do you prefer, relationship or a one-night-stand? relationship

[invisibleanonymousmonsters]

Guard Dog

Pairing: Steve Rogers x Reader

Summary: Sometimes Steve has to protect his girl from the least expected attacks. 

Word Count: 1,750 - One Shot

A/N: I’ll just be upfront and say this exact thing basically happened to me and this one-shot was my way of just getting it out of my head. 

Special thanks to @kquel12 and @alexabarnes for letting me pick their brain. 

Y/N once told Steve that she missed her family constantly. 

But when she finally came home, a part of her no longer felt like she belonged. The older she got, the stronger that feeling became. She’d taken quite a different path in life than her siblings and childhood friends.

 Yet they still saw her as that little girl they grew up and raised. They either teased her about how much she’d changed or they treated her like nothing had changed and she was still a little girl.

When Steve saw how anxious Y/N got before trips home, he decided he couldn’t keep letting her go alone. So no matter what was going on with the Avengers, he started going with her.

She was instantly grateful for his accompaniment. Having him at her side calmed her and made her feel less alone. 

Afterward, she could vent to him about everything that happened: the good, the bad, the ridiculous, the cringeworthy. He could reassure her that she wasn’t crazy or oversensitive when her family made her feel not so great about herself.

Now Y/N was sitting around a table with some of her childhood family friends and cousins.

It was her mother’s 60th birthday and she decided to make the trip out. Steve, of course, refused to be left behind.

Steve was currently talking with the neighborhood dads. It was easy to fake his way through the conversations: just talks sports and complain about how bad their team was.

Y/N would glance over every once in awhile to make sure he was okay. They didn’t have a signal, but there was a look one of them could give and the other would immediately know it was a call for help.

“Y/N, where’s that friend of yours? What’s her name…the one that came to the Christmas party last year?” Her cousin, Justin, asked loudly.

Justin was the ham of Y/N’s family. He was loud and desperate for attention. She had to give it to him, he did have some funny jokes. But he often didn’t know where to draw the line and he got too bold. He was only a few years older than Y/N and took it upon himself to tease her to annoying degree. 

But what they both knew was that Y/N was smarter, so she could give it right back and make it hurt.  

The more Y/N thought about it, the more she realized Justin was quite the opposite of Steve. Instead of being loud, cocky, and an aggressive jokester, Steve had a quiet confidence to him, he demonstrated non-toxic masculinity, and he had a polite approach to socializing with those around him.

“Marie? She’s not in town, only really is when it’s the holidays,” Y/N answered. It wasn’t unusual for the men in her life to ask about her best friend. She got all the boys.

“Yeah, that one. She’s pretty hot,” Justin answered crudely.

Y/N rolled her eyes playfully and laughed. “Trust me. I know. When we go out together, I’m pretty much invisible to men. Meanwhile, she’s absolutely beautiful and got a rockin’ bod, so I can’t even complain.”

Justin laughed her a joke. “Don’t worry, Y/N. Maybe there’s still time for your boobs to come in.”

Y/N ground her teeth. Her self-deprecating humor was not an invitation for him to make a rude comment.

This wasn’t the first time Justin made an inappropriate joke about her body. There was a part of her that got it. He’d known her since she was a baby. She would always be a little girl to him. But that still didn’t make it okay.

Her eyes flickered over to Steve, hoping he didn’t hear the comment. But his back was to her and he wasn’t glancing over to her little circle.

She heard one or two of her other cousins scolding Justin for the comment.

Y/N narrowed her eyes at him. (The first indicator that she was about to eviscerate him.) “Well, lucky for you, Justin, you’re jeans are covering your dick… Otherwise we could both point out blatantly small things.”

Everyone in their conversation ‘oohed’ and laughed, knowing that Justin fully deserved the burn.

Y/N cocked an eyebrow and threw back the rest of her drink before excusing herself.

She didn’t notice Steve watching her closely as she walked by him. And she definitely didn’t notice Steve’s entire body going rigid when he’d heard the rude comment directed at his girlfriend. He had to concentrate just to stop himself from cracking the glass in his hand.

Y/N kissed her mom on the cheek as she caught her in the kitchen. “Mom, it’s your birthday party. Stop cleaning everything. I’ll do it.”

“Oh, thank you, hun. Can you just bring these leftovers down to the basement fridge?”

Y/N nodded and picked up the food.

She allowed herself to take in a deep breath, now that she had a moment to herself, some quiet away from the party.

Y/N was rearranging things in the fridge when she felt strong arms wrap around her waist.

She smiled, instantly recognizing the feel of him and his scent.

“Hey, you.”

Steve didn’t say anything, but turned her around.

Instead of replying, his lips crashed onto her lips in a very passionate kiss. Hot even. 

This was unlike him. Steve was not one for PDA. And he was always on his very best behavior while in the presence of Y/N’s family or his teammates.

Steve didn’t stop until he’d made himself clear.

When he finally pulled away from Y/N, she was struggling to catch her breath and her lips were already a little swollen from the intense kiss.

“What was that for?” She asked with a cheeky smile. While she recognize that his actions were unusual for his character, she wasn’t about to complain about it.

Steve tightened his grip on her hips and pressed his forehead adorably against hers, like a love sick puppy.

“Just so we’re clear,” he cleared his throat. “I happen to love your boobs. And while I love your best friend… Marie was the invisible one the night we met, not you.” Steve voice was firm, yet loving.

Y/N blinked and then sighed, “I was hoping you didn’t hear that comment.”

“Your cousin is a dick,” Steve muttered under his breath.

Y/N gasped melodramatically. “Did Captain America just say ‘dick’? You should really watch your language,” she scolded.

Steve playfully glared at her as he pinched her hips.

“If a random guy at a bar or party said something like that, I’d…” His words died out. “But I guess your family wouldn’t be too happy with me if knocked out your cousin.”

“Probably not,” she laughed.

Then Steve eyed her attentively, trying to gage if her cousin’s words really didn’t bother her as much as she was acting like they didn’t.

He was fully aware of her insecurities, that she didn’t feel as womanly or desirable as the curvy women who often surrounded her.

So when he heard her cousin make an inappropriate comment right where all her self-doubt lingered, it took the majority of Steve’s mental strength not to instantly come to her defense.

“You okay?” He finally asked her softly. It was his final test.

She nodded, “I’m fine. You don’t always have to be my protector.” She added that last part teasingly.

Steve smirked and pulled her closer to him again by her hips. “I know you’re more than capable of defending yourself. But that’s not gonna stop me from still looking after you.”

She dipped her head in understanding. “Come on. They’re going to notice we’re missing soon.”

Y/N started pulling away but Steve quickly grabbed her wrist. “Wait, wait, wait.”

Then he pulled her back in for another heated kiss.

“Do you know how hard it is not to do that whenever I want while we’re with your family?” He whispered huskily when he finally let her lips go.

“Mr. Rogers, you’re feeling rather frisky tonight. You sure you’re feeling okay?” Y/N mocked before pulling away from him.

Steve swatted her butt playfully as she giggled and skipped up the stairs with him close at her heels.

Despite Y/N proving that she could defend herself, Steve stayed at her side the rest of the night. He barely allowed an inch between their bodies. She noticed him touching her lower back more often than usual. Or staring at her longingly as he pretended to listen to the conversations around them. 

He turned on his Steve Rogers charm, which only came out when he was really comfortable. He had Y/N to thank for that. It seemed no matter where he was, if Y/N was by his side, she brought it out of him.

It wasn’t possessive by any means. If Y/N were being honest, she found it rather adorable. When he behaved this way, she saw Steve as more of a loyal guard dog that was telling those around him, “This is my person. You mess with her and I won’t be so cute anymore.”

The rest of the night went off without a hitch.

It wasn’t until they had to leave and say their goodbyes that Y/N noticed her big puppy making any moves.

They got to her cousin, Justin, and Y/N gave him a small hug, adding the lie that it was good to see him.

When she pulled away, she saw the icy – yet subtle – glare in Steve’s blue eyes.

Her boyfriend didn’t say anything as he held out his hand for Justin to shake.

“Nice seeing you, Steve,” Justin smiled obliviously.

Then Y/N caught the hidden wince from her cousin. She could only assume Steve gripped just a tad bit too hard. 

When she glanced at Steve’s face, he was giving her cousin a look that very clearly said, “You tease my girlfriend about her body again and I’ll end you.”

When they were finally alone, walking to their car, Y/N let out the most hilarious giggle as she gripped her boyfriend’s bicep. “I know you think that was subtle, but it soooooo wasn’t.”

“I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

When the got home later that night, Steve proved how much he loved Y/N’s body without using his words.

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

So I’m honestly not sure how this one’s gonna land. I feel like reader inserts have to be generic enough for anyone to feel like they can relate. And this might be the most specific and personal one-shot I’ve ever written. 

Anyways, I want to start writing more Steve Rogers fics, so let me know if you think you have an amazing idea. I always love hearing suggestions. 

[alonely-dreamer]

Dangerous Creatures | Chapter 20: Peace and Forgiveness

Summary: Mackenzie Alemaund is an unlucky 18 year old teenager whose life changes drastically after she gets kidnapped by two vampires and learns, in the same day, that she is not human.

Pairing: Elijah x OC

Words: 9092

A/N: Please, note that I am French so there might be some mistakes here and there, besides I couldn’t have it edited! I hope you’ll like it!

Masterlist

New Series: The Valuable Sun

Chapter 1 | Chapter 2 | Chapter 3 | Chapter 4 | Chapter 5 | Chapter 6 | Chapter 7 | Chapter 8 | Chapter 9 | Chapter 10 | Chapter 11 | Chapter 12 | Chapter 13 | Chapter 14 | Chapter 15 | Chapter 16 | Chapter 17 | Chapter 18 | Chapter 19

Mackenzie didn’t like hospitals. She didn’t like what it reminded her off. She didn’t like the feelings it brought up. Walking through the hallways with Elena and Matt made her feel sad, uncomfortable, powerless, disgusted, scared and even angry. Though, she was scared and angry even before she got there. Alaric’s ring was supposed to bring him back to life and heal him but when he woke up on Elena’s floor, lying in a pool of his own blood, he wasn’t healed at all. They had to call an ambulance to get him to the hospital where he was going to spend the night in observation. She felt guilty for not wanting to stick around, but she really hated hospitals. Matt tried his best to distract her, but there was no way to shut out the smell and the noise. Besides, he wasn’t feeling too confident himself. After all, Caroline’s dad had been killed in this very hospital that morning and Mackenzie wondered if it was really a good idea to leave the history professor there alone.

“Any idea on who’s behind all these attacks?” he asked as they were walking out the hospital, to Mackenzie’s relief.

“No,” Elena shrugged. “Sheriff Forbes said that there’s no real suspects at all.”

Now that Meredith Fell had been cleared, they were back to zero. Elena had doubts, at first, until she heard that the doctor had a strong alibi. But it wasn’t entirely bad news. She was happy she had been wrong, and that Alaric’s girlfriend was innocent.

“It’s weird that he didn’t see who attacked him. Caroline’s father didn’t see his killer either,” Mackenzie said, “are we sure it’s not a vampire? Maybe Klaus trying to mess with us?”

“I don’t know,” Elena shook her head, unconvinced by the elemental’s theory. “Klaus got his family back last night, he has more important things to deal with then kill council members just to screw with us.”

“Besides,” Matt said, “would a vampire use stakes and knives to kill people?”

“I don’t know,” Mackenzie sighed. She was tired. They really couldn’t catch a break.

The cold air of the late night hit them as they exited the building. Mackenzie shivered, though not because of the temperature. They were walking towards their car and she was reminded of the mess they’d have to clean once they were back at the house.

“How are you dealing with everything?” Elena asked her friends. “I mean… you keep getting dragged into all this.”

“Honestly, I’m kind of lucky,” Matt answered. “The only thing that I have to worry about for tomorrow is showing up for my shift at the Grill.”

Mackenzie smiled without humor. He wasn’t wrong. He was kind of lucky. Unlike her. Though her luck had turned recently, since Elijah was back. Maybe she could get a job at the Grill, too. Maybe replace Jeremy. After all, it would do her good to have a normal thing in her life.

“Thank you, for everything today,” the doppelganger said to the human as they reached his car. “Really.”

“Get home safe,” he merely said as he gave them a small smile, before getting into his car.

They waited for him to be gone before they silently walked towards Elena’s car. She sighed, impatient to get home, as she reached for the car keys in her bag.

“I can’t wait to be done with this day,” she said as she put her seatbelt on.

“I know what you mean,” Mackenzie nodded. She wondered if Elijah had gone by their house and what he would have thought of all the blood he’d have found there if he had. Her heart tightened in her chest as she worried she had missed him. She figured he wouldn’t be too mad for being stood up once he heard about what happened.

Mackenzie closed her eyes and leaned back into her seat as Elena turned on the engine. She started backing up the car but immediately bumped into something.

“What?” Elena frowned, confused and worried. She didn’t see anything when she looked into the rear-view mirror.

“Did you hit someone?” Mackenzie asked, sharing her friend’s worry, as they both got out of the car. They made their way to the other side but found nothing there. “That’s weird,” she said, before she looked beneath the vehicle.

“Drive much?”

Mackenzie jumped, startled by the familiar voice.

“Rebekah,” Elena breathed out, backing away but she didn’t go far as the vampire seized the doppelganger by the throat and pushed her against the car.

“Surprised? You drove a dagger through my back, Elena. It hurt.”

“Rebekah!” Mackenzie shouted as the vampire was about to dive her teeth in the doppelganger’s neck.

But the blonde didn’t have time to hurt the Gilbert girl as it was now her back that was pinned against the car, and Elijah’s hand on her throat. Mackenzie always thought that seeing them reunited would be a beautiful moment, but she was starting to learn that beautiful moments were rare among the Original family.

“Leave,” he ordered his sister before he let go of her.

Rebekah said nothing as she straightened up and took a step towards her brother, with her chin high and a defiant look on her face.

“Are you challenging me?” he asked with an amused smirk.

“You’re pathetic,” was her only response. “Both of you,” she said as she looked at Elena. She then moved her eyes on Mackenzie who was behind the doppelganger. The elemental gave her a small smile she wanted friendly. She hoped she knew she had taken no part in Elena’s betrayal. Rebekah disappeared before she had a chance to say anything to her.

“Well,” Elijah smiled at Elena, “I believe we have a little catching up to do.”

***

Mackenzie was in the back seat as Elena drove back to her house, Elijah sitting next to her. The elemental figured that if Rebekah was back, it meant Elijah’s plans had been successful. Unfortunately, she came to learn that even if they had been successful, something had taken a surprising turn.

“Your mother?” Elena repeated, dumbfounded by what she had just heard. She had been told that whatever was in that coffin would be the answer to stopping Klaus for good, to killing him once and for all, but what Elijah was telling her was the complete opposite.

“Yes. It appears that even death cannot stop my mother.”

“A trait that runs in your family, it seems,” Mackenzie said with a yawn.

Elijah raised an eyebrow and turned to give her an amused smile. “Yes, indeed,” he said softly, quietly, almost like a whisper, with his smooth voice that made Mackenzie shiver.

“And… she’s not mad at Klaus for killing her?” Elena asked, trying to get the Original’s attention back.

But Elijah was too focused on the elemental sitting behind them. He caught her eyes and she wasn’t sure what he wanted but he wouldn’t look away. She gave him a confused look which only made him smirk.

“Elijah?”

He sighed as he turned his attention back on the driver.

“No. She’s forgiven him. She wants us to be a family again. So, we’re staying here, in Mystic Falls.”

“All of you?”

“Yes, all of us. But don’t worry. My mother instructed my siblings not to harm anyone.”

“Will Klaus listen?”

“Niklaus wants her forgiveness. He will do as she says.”

Elena almost scoffed. She doubted Klaus would listen to his mother, and if he did, who would have thought that all they had to do to stop the original hybrid was to call his mother.

Klaus might be stopped for now, but Mackenzie wasn’t reassured at all by the sudden come back of the original witch. After all, she was a powerful servant of nature who, according to Elijah, hated her kind.

“Our intention is to live here in peace, you have nothing to worry about.”

“I believe you, Elijah,” Elena said. Elijah was a man of his word. Even if he had betrayed them on the night of the sacrifice, she understood why. “I’m happy you got your family back.”

Happy, she was. Both girls were. Though, maybe a little bit envious and a little angry, not at anyone in particular, that Elijah and his siblings would get their mother back, but not them. No. Elena’s parents were still dead, Mackenzie’s too. It wasn’t fair, they thought. But they both knew all too well that life wasn’t fair.

When Elena pulled over, she was relieved to be home and ready to go to bed. She got out of the car, thinking Elijah would then say goodbye and leave, but when she reached the other side, she saw he was leaning against the vehicle, waiting for Mackenzie to come out.

“There’s a lot of blood in your house,” he said as Mackenzie closed the car door. “But there’s no one inside.”

“Yeah, we know,” Elena told him, “someone tried to kill Alaric.”

“The same killer responsible for Ms. Forbes’ father’s death?”

“That’s what we think,” she nodded.

“Are you sure you want to stay here? The attacker could come back.”

“I’m not leaving my house,” Elena said, though she knew the question wasn’t meant for her. “Besides, it’s seen worse.”

“It has?” Mackenzie asked, unaware she’d been living in a horror house.

Elena nodded. An awkward silence settled as she waited for Mackenzie to follow her.

“Could you give us a moment?” Elijah dismissed the doppelganger who looked at Mackenzie, silently asking her if it was okay for her to leave. She nodded. They waited until Elena was inside the house before speaking again. “Do you wish to stay here?”

She wasn’t sure. She hadn’t thought about the house being unsafe. But the victims of the mysterious killer had only been council members so far, and Alaric was one too, in some ways, so she would probably be safe.

“I don’t really have anywhere else to go.”

“My house has many guestrooms.”

She breathed out a laugh. “You want me to live with you and your siblings, two of them I’ve never met, one of them has kidnapped me, twice, and with your mother… who hates me?”

Elijah chuckled. “Fair point.”

“Thank you, though,” she said. For worrying about me.

“Feel free to change your mind.”

She doubted she would. In fact, she’d be happy if she never set foot in that house. His mother terrified her.

“What do you mean Niklaus kidnapped you twice?”

Mackenzie sighed. Right. He didn’t know about Chicago.

“It’s nothing. I was gone the next day.”

“You escaped my brother?” he raised an eyebrow.

“Stefan was there, it’s uh… it’s a long story. It’s not important.”

“Did he harm you?”

“No,” she quickly told him. “No, he… he just wanted to make sure I wouldn’t help you.”

“You went after Niklaus, to help me?” he asked, and she didn’t know if he was angry or just surprised but he didn’t look happy with her. After all, it was a very stupid thing to do.

“I didn’t go alone,” she mumbled, knowing it was a bad idea to mention Katherine. “Anyway, after that I came back here and… so did Klaus…”

“Mackenzie,” he said, stepping forward, bringing a hand to her face and locking a strand of hair behind her ear. “You shouldn’t put yourself in danger for me.”

“Why not? Isn’t that what friends do? They help each other.”

“You could’ve died. You were lucky enough Niklaus let you go the first time. He could’ve killed you.”

“Well… he didn’t.”

“Don’t put yourself in danger for me,” he repeated. She knew why. He’d feel guilty if she got hurt.

“Well, I didn’t do it for you,” she said. “I did it for me. Because I needed you. It was all very selfish,” she joked. He cupped her cheek with his hand, she could see on his face he wasn’t finding it funny. “I just,” she sighed, all joking aside. “I didn’t know what else to do,” she told him, putting a hand over his. “You’re all I have. I didn’t want to lose you.”

He gave her a sad smile. “You’ve made new friends.”

“Are they really my friends? They don’t even know who I really am. You… you do. You helped me. You were there for me. You answered my questions, you gave me a home, you dealt with my nightmares… You saved me.”

He looked down, not really sure of what to say or what to think. He had enjoyed her company, her friendship. He liked her. He really did. But like his brother had said: “love is a weakness”, and he was afraid he would get her killed, like everybody else he had ever cared about. But that was before. Before his mother had come back and made them a family again. Before he had his siblings back. Before he had a home.

He looked back up and smiled, taking her hand and bringing it to his lips. She blushed as he placed a gentle kiss on her knuckles.

“It was no hardship,” he said. “And it was an honor to help you.”

***

Mackenzie didn’t even bother to take a shower before letting herself fall on her bed after having helped Elena clean up the blood. She was exhausted, to say the least. When she woke up, it was already late in the morning, and Elena was already up, bringing Damon and Stefan up to speed. Mackenzie was starving, though the mere thought of going to the kitchen made her lose her appetite. She didn’t think she’d ever eat there ever again since all she could see now was Alaric’s blood all over the kitchen floor. She took a long and hot shower, thinking about wanting to do something normal. Like get a job. Yes. That was what she was going to be doing today.

She picked up a basic pair of jeans and a purple shirt she was pretty sure belonged to Elena, before she stepped out of her bedroom, almost bumping into her roommate.

“Hey,” she laughed, “slow down. Are you going somewhere?”

“Sorry, I didn’t hear you knock.”

“I didn’t, I was going to,” she said, handing her an envelope with her name written on it. “This came in this morning. One for me and one for you.”

“What is it?” she asked, opening it.

Please join

the Mikaelson family

this evening at 7 o’clock

for dancing, cocktails and celebration.

It took Mackenzie a second to realize the Mikaelsons were the original family. There was something else written behind the invitation.

Mackenzie,

It would be my pleasure to introduce you to my siblings,

Please, do me the honor of accompanying me tonight,

I am looking forward to it, I believe you owe me a dance.

Elijah

PS: I hope you like the dress.

Mackenzie frowned. The dress? What dress?

“And this came with it,” Elena said, picking a box from the floor. It was a beautiful beige with a bow on it. It was large but not too heavy.

Mackenzie’s eyes grew big as she took it. Elena looked a little worried, though somewhat amused.

“Elijah?”

Mackenzie nodded.

“Can I see?”

She invited her in the room and laid the box on the bed before she opened it. She almost gasped when she saw it. He couldn’t expect her to wear this. It was way too nice.

“Wow,” Elena said as she carefully took it out.

The dress was a golden ball gown. The corset was heart shaped, the details finely made, with what looked like diamonds precisely scattered here and there. The skirt was gigantic. It looked like it was made for a Disney princess.

“You wanna know what I think?”

“Uh-uh,” Mackenzie nodded, speechless.

“I think he really likes you.”

Mackenzie didn’t know what to say to that, but she wouldn’t have had the chance to say anything anyway because someone came knocking on the front door.

“I’ll get it.”

Mackenzie was left alone to stare at the dress she didn’t even dare touch. She would look ridiculous in it, she thought. She ran a thumb over the embroidment. She wondered if those were real diamonds.

“Mackenzie!” Elena called from downstairs. There was panic in her voice, though she wasn’t shouting for help.

She hurried down the stairs to find Rebekah standing by the door. She understood why Elena had sounded scared, she had just tried to kill her after all.

“Relax, I’m not here to kill anyone,” the Original said.

“Then why are you here?”

The vampire shot a dark look at the doppelganger.

“I need Mackenzie to help me pick a dress for tonight.”

Mackenzie knew it was a lie, or not entirely the truth. Rebekah had learned that Mackenzie was no good at these sorts of things when she helped her get ready for the homecoming dance.

“Are you coming?”

She couldn’t really say no. Not that she was afraid of the vampire, but she couldn’t imagine it going well. She gave a look to Elena who had come to the same conclusion. The only difference was Mackenzie kind of wanted to go. She was happy Rebekah was back and she wanted to apologize for not being able to help her when Elena had daggered her.

So, Mackenzie nodded. “Yeah. Of course.”

***

Facing the big mansion, Mackenzie was starting to regret her choice. The last time she entered a house with witches inside, it hadn’t gone so well. She swallowed before following Rebekah into the house. As soon as she stepped inside, she started to feel it all. The five original vampires and the original witch’s magic. It was frighteningly powerful. She shivered. She hoped she wouldn’t meet Esther any time soon.

Rebekah led her to what she thought was a living room. She wasn’t sure because she had walked pass at least two of those already. But it was a big house after all. She then realized it was a dressing room. Elijah was there with whom she guessed were his brothers. They were trying different suits and Elijah was inspecting a pair of shoes. He seemed surprised to see her.

“Ah, Rebekah,” one of the two vampires Mackenzie had never met said when he saw his sister approach. He was wearing a black tuxedo and admiring himself in a tall mirror. “Tell me how handsome I am.”

Mackenzie raised her eyebrows. Remembering Elijah’s stories, she knew exactly who that was.

“Oh, brother, you know I can’t be compelled,” she told him, making Finn and Elijah smile.

“No, but your friend can,” he said, turning around and making his way towards Mackenzie.

She forced herself not to move, not to step back, and to keep her chin high. She didn’t want to show her fear. She didn’t want to be scared. They were Elijah’s siblings, he loved them, he trusted them enough that he wanted her to meet them. She would be strong, like Katherine had taught her. If you show them your fear, they win. Be brave enough that they like you, but not too much so they don’t kill you.

He approached and looked her deep in the eyes before he said: “Tell me how handsome I am,” he tried to compel her with a smirk on his face.

“You must be Kol,” was all she said, making Elijah chuckle and Kol frown.

“You gave vervain to your friend?”

“She doesn’t need vervain,” she said. “She’s a witch.”

“A witch?” he repeated, like it made him like her instantly. “Well, at least you’ve heard of me,” he winked, “I’m afraid I haven’t heard of you.”

“She’s Mackenzie,” Rebekah introduced her friend, “she’s Elijah’s girlfriend.”

Kol and Finn turned towards their brother with a surprised look on their face and Elijah just rolled his eyes.

“I’m not… we’re not,” Mackenzie stammered, her face suddenly a very bright red. “We’re friends.”

“Whatever,” the blonde said as she sat on the couch, in the middle of the room. “We have hundreds of dresses here,” she pointed at the other end of the room where garment racks were waiting for them, each dress more beautiful than the other. “You can…”

But Rebekah didn’t have time to finish as Klaus stepped inside the room, pushing the door so hard it bumped against the wall and made Mackenzie jump.

“You went after Elena?” he growled, making his way towards his sister, walking pass Mackenzie like she wasn’t even there. “What is wrong with you?”

“Here we go,” Rebekah smiled, like she’d been looking forward to this moment.

“Do you want another dagger in your heart?”

“Again with the dagger threats?” Kol said. “Don’t you have any other tricks?”

“Oh, go back to staring at yourself!”

Mackenzie watched the exchange and was somehow not surprised at all by the tension in the room. No matter what their mother said, peace and forgiveness was a long way still. After all, she’d be angry too if Klaus had daggered her and kept her in a box for centuries.”

A shiver ran down her spine and she instinctively straightened up as she felt a dark power approach.

Esther was here.

“Enough!” she stopped her sons. She came in from the other room, at the opposite of where Mackenzie stood. She moved her eyes over all of her children before they reached the elemental. She wasn’t happy. She wasn’t happy at all. But she didn’t look surprised. She must have felt her arrive.

And there went Mackenzie’s bravery. Kol she could deal with. Elijah and Rebekah were there to stop him if tried to do something stupid. But their mother, a witch, the witch that had created vampires… She wanted to run and never come back.

“Children,” Esther said. “Who is your friend?”

Elijah moved, vampire speed, to where Mackenzie was standing. He had his back turned on his mother and took Mackenzie’s hand, making her look up at him. He nodded, silently telling her it was going to be alright. She didn’t know if he had seen the fear on her face or if he could hear it in her heartbeat, but she was grateful he had come to her. He slowly turned towards his mother.

“This is Mackenzie, mother,” he said. “She’s a friend of mine.”

“She’s a witch,” Kol said, like it would gain her any points. But Esther wouldn’t be fooled. Mackenzie was no witch, and she knew it.

“A witch? Is that what she told you?” She didn’t sound angry or mean or threatening. She sounded calm. Too calm.

“It’s what I told her,” Elijah replied.

Esther looked at her son in silence for a few seconds, then at Mackenzie. The elemental wouldn’t look away from Elijah.

“Niklaus,” she eventually said. “Come.” And with that, she was gone.

“What was that about?” Klaus asked, not waiting for an answer before he followed his mother into the other room.

“Yeah, what was that about?” Rebekah repeated with a frown on her face.

Mackenzie looked up at Elijah who said nothing. She could see on his face that the decision to answer that question was hers and hers alone, and he would support her, no matter what she chose.

“I don’t know,” Mackenzie said with a trembling voice, then cleated her throat.

“Did you get the dress?” Elijah asked, hoping changing the subject would make her feel better.

She blushed as she remembered what Elena had said about it. “I did.”

“Did you like it?”

“I did,” she nodded. “Very much. Thank you,” she gave him a small smile that he returned.

“Give me back my friend,” Rebekah whined.

Elijah didn’t let go of Mackenzie’s hand right away, he didn’t let go of her eyes. He wanted to make sure she was alright. He stroke her hand with his thumb before letting go of it. She smiled, then nodded, before he stepped away.

“I’m sorry, did you say you weren’t his girlfriend?” Kol joked, making Mackenzie look away.

“You already have a dress?” Rebekah asked, like it bothered her. “That’s fine,” she waved a hand, “that gives us more time to look for mine.”

***

After getting Rebekah a dress, they had to get her a date. She already had someone in mind, but Matt was currently working at the Grill. Mackenzie had agreed to go with her, she had to go home anyway, to get ready for the ball, and the vampire had promised to drive her back.

They found Elena and Caroline sitting at a table inside the restaurant. Mackenzie asked Rebekah to walk pass them but of course, she didn’t.

“Careful Caroline,” she said as she stopped before them, interrupting their discussion. “It’s all well and good till she stabs you in the back.”

“What are you doing here?” Elena asked, looking at Rebekah, then at Mackenzie, then back at the vampire. “I know your mom’s rules. No murdering the locals.”

“We didn’t come here to kill anyone,” Mackenzie said, confused as to why she’d think Rebekah would drag her here to murder people.

“Get over yourself, Elena. It’s not all about you,” she replied before she walked away to find Matt.

“What are you doing fraternizing with the enemy?” Caroline asked her with a reproval tone.

“She might be your enemy, but she isn’t mine,” Mackenzie said. “She’s my friend, and she’s done nothing to you.”

“She helped her psycho brother turn Tyler into a hybrid!”

“And Elena stabbed her in the back, I guess you’re even.”

“Wait, what is she doing?” Elena interrupted them.

The girls looked up to where Rebekah and Matt were standing at the other end of the room and watch her give him an envelope.

“She’s inviting him to the ball,” Mackenzie shrugged, like it was no big deal.

“Why is she inviting him?” Caroline asked, very unhappy with the idea.

“Maybe because last time they were supposed to go to a dance, she was… indisposed.”

Elena rolled her eyes. “I thought we were over that.”

“I don’t think Rebekah’s over that,” Mackenzie said. “Don’t worry. She’s not gonna hurt him or anything.”

“And you know that because…” Caroline questioned.

“Because her mother wouldn’t like it and I think she likes him.”

The blonde shook her head then sighed as she leaned back into her seat. “Urgh. What time is this stupid dance?”

***

It was 6:30 and Mackenzie couldn’t stop looking at herself in the mirror, and not for the reason one would think. She loved the dress, she loved that Elijah had picked that dress, but what she didn’t love was her in the dress. Elena insisted that she looked beautiful and had even done her makeup. Golden eyeshadow, rose gold blush and a soft pink lipstick was covering her natural face. Mackenzie didn’t like it. She liked to be discreet, to be invisible. This was the total opposite. This was too much.

“Elijah won’t know what hit him,” Elena said. “Now, let me talk to you about protection,” she joked and Mackenzie’s face turned red, even the makeup couldn’t conceal it. She hit the doppelganger in the arm who left the room in laughter.

Elena wasn’t supposed to go to the dance. Though, Mackenzie didn’t know that. Damon and Stefan had instructed her to stay in her house, but of course she wasn’t going to listen. The girls were supposed to drive to the dance together but that was before Elijah showed up at their front door.

“She’s upstairs,” Elena told him before she called for the elemental.

“You look lovely, Ms. Gilbert.”

“Thank you,” she gave him a small smile.

Mackenzie walked slowly, carefully, as to not trip and fall. “What is it?” she asked when she reached the bottom of the stairs.

Elena stepped aside and gestured for Mackenzie to look at who was behind the door. Her heart jumped in her chest as she saw him. She didn’t expect him to be there. She didn’t feel ready for him to see her yet. She didn’t even feel ready to leave the house like this. But Elijah’s eyes told a different story. His brown eyes slowly made their way from her face to the bottom of the dress then back up to her beautiful face. He could see her blush and hear her heartbeat, he knew how he made her feel, but she didn’t know how she made him feel.

He was wearing a black tuxedo, very classic, very Elijah-like. He smiled at her, realizing he had been staring in silence for too long.

“You look,” he paused, looking for the right word, “striking, Mackenzie.”

She didn’t think it would be possible for her to blush even more, but she did. She remembered that night before they left for the 60’s dance, how he told her she was bad at compliments, and had prepared for it. But everything she had planned on saying completely disappeared from her mind as he stood there, staring at her like she was the most beautiful thing he had ever seen.

“Th- thank you,” she whispered. “I, um…” she cleared her throat. “I didn’t know you were picking me up.”

“Well, I wanted to do this right,” he said. What he didn’t say was that if she told him she didn’t want to go once they got here, he’d take her to the Grill and buy her dinner. He knew she was afraid of his mother, and for good reasons, and it was his fault after all, he had told her many times that witches were her greatest enemies and her mother was the scariest witch they knew.

“I’ll see you there,” Elena said, kind of kicking her out.

Mackenzie took the hand Elijah was holding out to her and he helped her down the stairs. She felt very vulnerable in this dress, like she could step on the skirt and fall at any time.

“Don’t worry,” he whispered in her ear, “I’ll catch you if you fall,” he told her as if he had read her mind.

He opened the door for her, and she got in without giving him a look. She couldn’t bear the look on his face anymore. She felt like her heart was about to explode.

They drove in silence for a couple of minutes, during which Mackenzie’s heartbeat didn’t slow down. He wondered if it was because she was embarrassed, or scared.

“My mother won’t hurt you. She will follow her own rules.”

“She hates me,” Mackenzie whispered.

“No, she doesn’t.”

“You said she hated elementals.”

“And as far as I know, she’s never met one. She talks of peace and forgiveness. She might not like you, but she doesn’t hate you. And you will be safe, I promise.”

“I know I’ll be safe,” she sighed. He would be there after all. He wouldn’t let anyone hurt her, she knew that much. But she couldn’t help but fear the original witch. “Thank you for the dress,” she changed the subject.

“You already thanked me.”

“I know, I just… it’s very beautiful.”

“I’m glad you liked it.”

“Why did you choose this one?”

He gave her a quick look before focusing back on the road.

“I thought the color would suit you.”

“Gold?”

“Yes. And the diamonds. It was a dress made for you. Rare, unbreakable… priceless.”

She was thankful for the lack of light that hid her red cheeks. She tried not to stay speechless for too long.

“They… they’re real diamonds?” she breathed out, now aware that she was wearing thousands of dollars’ worth of rocks. The dress suddenly felt heavier. “Elijah… this is… too much.”

“Mackenzie, I’m a thousand years old,” he reminded her. “Nothing’s too much for me. Would it make you feel better if I said I didn’t pay for it?”

Mackenzie frowned, then thought about it. “I don’t know… did you?”

He chuckled. “Of course I did.”

Well, at least she wasn’t wearing stolen jewelry.

***

When they pulled over in the driveway, only a few guests had arrived. Mackenzie was playing with a diamond on her skirt, wondering if it would ever fall off. She didn’t know what she’d do if she started leaving a trail of diamonds behind her. Elijah noticed the diamond between her fingers and wondered if he should have chosen a simpler dress. He hesitated going forward with his plan.

“If you’re bothered by the dress maybe I shouldn’t give you this,” he said, getting a box from the inside of his jacket.

Mackenzie looked at the small square box and her eyes grew big.

“Tell me that’s not a diamond.”

He laughed. “It’s not a diamond.”

“What is it?”

“Open it,” he said, handing her the box.

She looked at him, suspicious, but then took it. Inside was a simple M pendant necklace, maybe made of gold.

“I love it,” she said, and he smiled. “You didn’t have to…”

“I know,” he said. “But I wanted to thank you, and I wanted to apologize. I put you in danger. I involved you in my business and that made you a target, and I wasn’t able to stop my brother from taking you. When he daggered me I was certain he’d kill you,” he paused, Mackenzie didn’t dare interrupt him. “But he didn’t. And for a moment I thought of leaving town, of leaving you so you wouldn’t be a target again. But then, you said you tried to help me, and Rebekah told me what you did for her the night Elena told her Niklaus was responsible for our mother’s death, and I realized you couldn’t stay away so why should I? You are a friend of my family, Mackenzie. Maybe the only person we can trust here. Our only ally. A true friend. So, I bought you that dress, because you deserve it. And I bought that necklace, because I wanted you to know how grateful I am to have you as a friend.”

Mackenzie tried to swallow the lump in her throat and blink the tears away. “I’m grateful to have you as a friend too,” she smiled.

“You showed me kindness at a time when my only goal was to destroy my brother. You became my friend when I was as alone as I was lonely. You said I saved you, but I want you to know that you saved me too. Because I stopped caring a long time ago, after my brother took everything from me, time and time again. And now that I have everything, I’m glad I have you to share it with. So when my mother asked me who I was planning on taking to the dance tonight, I knew exactly who I wanted to go with.”

Mackenzie looked away as she nodded. “I missed you so much,” she breathed out and he took her face in his hands and kissed her forehead.

“Come on. I can’t be late. My mother would kill me.”

***

Damon and Stefan weren’t happy about Elena being at the ball. But if they were really surprised, they didn’t know Elena at all. Only Bonnie was missing from the party as it seemed that the entire town had been invited. Even Caroline, who hated the original family, had come. Rebekah seemed happy enough by Matt’s side. Matt, on the other hand, looked very uncomfortable. Not because of Rebekah, but because this really wasn’t his cup of tea. To Mackenzie’s relief, Esther kept to herself and didn’t even talk to her guests. She only showed up once, at the top of the stairs, when Elijah had invited the guests to dance:

“If everyone could gather, please,” he had called from the stairs, his siblings standing behind him, a cup of champagne in their hands. “Welcome. Thank you for joining us. You know, whenever my mother brings our family together like this, it’s tradition for us to commence the evening with a dance. Tonight’s pick is a centuries-old waltz. So, if all of you could find yourselves a partner, please join us in the ballroom.”

That was when Mackenzie knew she was in trouble. She went in the opposite direction, trying to hide in the crowd of guests. Unfortunately, she hadn’t been fast enough.

“Are you running from me?” Elijah asked with a grin, as he appeared in front of her.

Her first instinct was to lie but then thought better of it. “Yes.”

He laughed. “Please,” he simply said, holding out his hand.

“No,” she said, turning around, but he wasn’t giving up. He took one big step and was in front of her again. She was too slow in her dress.

“Please,” he repeated. “This dress was made for dancing.”

She rolled her eyes. “I thought this dress was made for me.”

He laughed again. “Please,” he insisted, holding his hand out once again. “Would you do me the honor, Ms. Alemaund?”

She looked at his hand for a second, then back up at his face. He wouldn’t give up. She took a step forward and pointed a finger at him. “You are not allowed to let me fall.”

He smiled. “I wouldn’t dream of it.”

She could feel Elena, Caroline and both Salvatores’ eyes on her as they joined the other guests in the ballroom. Who were they to judge? Especially Caroline. She was dancing with Klaus. But their attention made her feel more nervous. She was convinced she was about to embarrass herself.

“I don’t know how to dance,” she reminded her partner.

“That’s alright. I’ll lead,” he whispered in her ear.

He took her left hand and put it on his right shoulder before he placed his right hand on her waist and took her right hand in his left hand. She took a deep breath and squeezed his hand out of nervousness.

Her dress made it difficult for her to move but Elijah made it so easy for her to dance. She was so focused on her feet she didn’t realize they had to change partners at some point. She ended up in Kol’s arms who was more than happy to take over his big brother.

“Has my brother bored you to death yet?”

Mackenzie frowned. “Elijah is a lot of things, but boring isn’t one of them.”

He chuckled. “And how did you two meet?”

“It’s a long story.”

“That’s alright. We have a minute.”

Mackenzie hesitated. “I was in the wrong place at the wrong time.”

“Well that’s the shortest long story I’ve ever heard.”

“I wouldn’t want to bore you.”

He laughed. “What’s with the attitude? You should be scared of me.”

“Why?” she asked, trying not to let his threats get to her.

“Because I’m scary.”

“You know your mother’s rules. You can’t hurt me. You can’t hurt anyone.”

“I know,” he sighed. “But I’m still dangerous.”

His cockiness was getting on her nerves more than it was scaring her. Besides, she figured he was just teasing her. So, she decided to tease him back, just like Katherine had taught her.

“You know what? Maybe I’m dangerous too,” she said which made him raise an eyebrow, but he didn’t have time to say anything back as they had to change partners again and she was back in Elijah’s arms.

“So,” he said. “You’re dangerous?”

“Eavesdropping,” she shook her head playfully, “rude.”

“My apologies.”

“You know, your siblings are exactly as you described them.”

“You get used to them through the centuries,” he said, and she laughed.

“When’s the last time you and your siblings were together like this?”

“Over 900 years ago.”

“That’s a long time to be separated from your family.”

“Indeed it is,” he said quietly, pain and grief visible on his face.

“I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have asked.”

“It’s okay. I enjoy talking to you.”

She smiled. “I missed this. You always answer my questions.”

“I promised you I would, didn’t I?”

“You did. I’m the one who didn’t come through with my promise.”

“Don’t feel bad about it. It was unfair of me to ask that of you.”

She remembered what her mother had told her, that she was capable of killing Klaus, and wondered if Elijah knew it. If he did, she was certain he wouldn’t ask it of her again, nor would he tell anyone as the information would get Klaus to kill her on the spot.

When the waltz was over, Elijah excused himself, leaving Mackenzie alone in the pool of guests. She walked around until she found Rebekah and Kol standing near the stairs, plotting something.

“Where’s Elijah?” the blonde asked.

“He abandoned me,” she joked as she stopped next to her friend. “Where’s Matt?”

“Flirting with his ex,” she sighed, which made Kol smile mockingly.

“You’ve changed, Bekah. Settling for mortals is the first sign of weakness.”

Mackenzie shivered suddenly, which made him chuckle.

“No offense, love.”

“What?” she frowned. “No, it wasn’t you.”

“Are you cold?” Rebekah asked, but wasn’t really interested.

“No… Someone’s doing magic.”

“Must be mother,” the blonde said.

“Why would she be doing magic now?”

“I don’t know,” she shrugged, not really interested by that either. “She’s a witch, it’s what witches do. You should know.”

“Unless you’re not really a witch, like our mother suggested,” Kol said with an evil grin.

Mackenzie looked at him but said nothing. “I’m gonna find Elijah.”

“You do that, ‘Ms. Alemaund’,” he said, imitating his brother’s voice, freezing Mackenzie to the spot.

“What?” Rebekah breathed out. “You’re an Alemaund?” Mackenzie looked around, hoping to see Elijah nearby. No luck. “You’re an elemental!”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

Kol laughed. “Easy, love. Don’t worry. Your secret is safe with us,” he winked. She looked up at Rebekah who looked angry.

“Why didn’t you tell me?”

“I don’t tell anyone.”

“Why not?”

“Because I’d like to stay alive.”

Rebekah scoffed. “Well, that would explain why mother doesn’t like you.”

“Witches have tried to kill me before,” she said, shivering at the memory of that day she tried to get into that horror house, “you can’t tell anyone,” she begged them.

“Who are we gonna tell?” Kol asked. “We don’t know anyone here.”

“Don’t worry,” Rebekah said. “I don’t let my friends die, especially not in the hands of witches.”

Mackenzie took a deep breath, trying to calm herself. She trusted Rebekah enough, it was Kol she was worried about.

“What’s going on?” Elijah asked, appearing behind her.

“Smart telling everyone your elemental girlfriend is a witch,” Kol smirked. “Changing her last name would be smarter, though.”

Elijah frowned. “And it would be smart to keep that information to yourself,” he coldly told his brother who laughed.

“Relax, brother. I won’t kill your girlfriend. I’m not Niklaus. It’s him you should worry about.”

“So what are you? A mermaid? Don’t tell me you’re a phoenix, please,” Rebekah asked.

A phoenix. An elemental of fire. Mackenzie could guess why she didn’t like them.

“I’m… complicated.”

“So you’re more than one,” Kol guessed.

“I’m complicated,” she repeated, taking Elijah’s hand, silently begging him to drag her away from his siblings. He happily obliged.

“Where were you?” she asked.

“My mother has requested an audience with Ms. Gilbert. I wanted to make sure her intentions were as pure as she claims them to be.”

“Elena’s or your mother’s?”

“Both, I suppose. My mother’s ability to forgive my brother has me asking questions I never thought I’d ask.”

“Well…” Mackenzie hated to be the bearer of bad news but, “she’s doing magic.”

“Yes, a privacy spell,” he nodded. “I can’t hear anything that’s being said in the room.”

“What did Elena say?”

“She agreed to tell me what my mother said to her.”

“Elijah,” Mackenzie hesitated, but she knew Elena would stop at nothing to kill Klaus, and she had already stabbed Rebekah in the back, she was certain she wouldn’t hesitate to do the same to him, “Elena can’t be trusted.”

“I’m afraid you’re right.”

“Do you think…” she paused, “do you think Kol can be trusted?”

“Kol is reckless. He doesn’t take anything seriously. But he’d hate to turn into Niklaus. He’ll keep you safe. For me.”

She could only hope he was right.

Half an hour later, they found Elena in the middle of the hall, amongst the other guests. Mackenzie followed Elijah to her, hoping the doppelganger wouldn’t do something she’d end up regretting.

“So how was my mother?”

“Intense,” she said, looking down at Mackenzie then back up at him.

“And for what reason did she need to speak with you in private?” he asked, taking two glasses of champagne from the waiter, and giving one to Mackenzie, then one to Elena, before he took one for himself.

Elena didn’t reply right away. She was looking at someone at the top of the stairs, and when Mackenzie followed her gaze, she saw Esther was smiling at the doppelganger.

“Elena,” Elijah tried to get her attention back, “should I be concerned about my mother’s intentions?”

Mackenzie slid her hand around Elijah’s upper arm, moving close to him, making Elena look at her for a moment, then back at Elijah.

“She just wanted to apologize for trying to have me killed.”

“So, it’s true then? She’s forgiven Klaus?”

“It’s true,” Elena smiled. Mackenzie was unable to tell if her smile was sincere, which meant it probably wasn’t.

“Evening, ladies and gentlemen,” Esther spoke to the room from where she stood atop the stairs. “Waiters are coming around with champagne. I invite you all to join me in raising a glass. It provides me with no greater joy than to see my family back together as one. I’d like to thank you all for being part of this spectacular evening. Cheers.”

Mackenzie raised her glass with the others but did not drink from it as she didn’t like champagne.

Elena walked away quickly after the toast.

“She lied,” Mackenzie said. She had no proof, except for the look on the doppelganger’s face. She looked just like she had when she had stabbed Rebekah in the back.

“I know,” Elijah nodded, before he finished his glass.

Mackenzie didn’t know if she was more disappointed than she was angry, but she was certainly both. If Esther was the key to killing Klaus, Elena wouldn’t miss the opportunity. But what angered her the most was that she looked them both in the eyes and lied. That was when Mackenzie knew that Elena was no friend of hers.

“What are you gonna do?”

“Right now,” he said, taking her glass from her and placing both his and hers on the empty plate of the waiter closest to them, “I’m taking you dancing.”

She complained as he took her hands and led her back to the ballroom where soft music was still playing, and some couples were still dancing.

“Have I told you how stunning you look tonight?”

“Yes, multiple times.” And it always made her blush.

She knew, however, that he was trying to change the subject and distract himself. She couldn’t imagine how he must be feeling. His mother had come back from the dead with a promise of peace and forgiveness and it turned out to be a lie. And if his mother could kill Klaus, then she could kill him too. She moved closer to him as the thought clang to her mind. She had just gotten him back. She couldn’t lose him again. She wouldn’t let it happen this time, no matter what she’d have to do.

“I’ll help,” she said after a moment of silence. “I won’t stand by and watch them try and destroy your family. It’s my turn to help you.”

He stopped moving, and looked down at her, letting go of her hand, but not of her waist. Mackenzie was getting nervous as he looked at her in silence with an unreadable face.

“Thank you,” was all he said before he took her chin between his fingers and leaned forward.

He didn’t know if it was the dress, or the way his siblings kept calling her his girlfriend, but he had wanted to kiss her ever since she had talked back to Kol earlier that night. I’m dangerous too, she had said. He didn’t know where that sudden confidence was coming from, and sure he missed the shy girl he had met seven months ago, but he was relieved to know that she could fend for herself. She was an ultimate, after all. And deep down, she would always be that shy girl, but stronger.

Her eyes grew big as his lips got dangerously close from hers. She could feel her heart beat hard in her chest and she knew he could hear it too. She closed her eyes, ready to experience her first kiss, ready to show him how much she cared about him, but before she could do any of that, he backed away.

“Something’s wrong,” he said, looking out the window behind him.

“Wh- what?” she stuttered, confused by what had just happened, or what could have just happened.

He said nothing as he walked away, and she followed him to the front door, where his siblings and Stefan Salvatore were already gathered. Elena joined them quickly, taking in the scene. Kol, lying dead on the ground, at Damon’s feet.

“Are you crazy?” Stefan breathed out, as surprised as everybody else.

“Maybe a little,” he mumbled. “Far be it from me to cause a problem,” he then told Elena who sighed like she knew exactly what had gotten into him. Mackenzie guessed she was probably responsible for putting him in a (literal) murderous mood, like she often did.

After Damon walked away, Mackenzie was ready to help Kol the way she had helped Elijah once, but Elijah stopped her, taking her hand, tilting his head towards Klaus, silently telling her not to show him what she could do.

Elijah helped Finn brought Kol back inside the house discreetly before he offered to drive Mackenzie home.

“What do you think got into Damon?” she asked once they were in the car.

“Probably nothing. I’m willing to bet it was all my brother’s fault.”

“Well I don’t know about that. Damon seemed pretty upset.”

“I’m sure Ms. Gilbert can tell you why.”

She scoffed. “I can’t trust Elena anymore. I was so mad when she daggered Rebekah, and now this? Lying to our faces?” she shook her head. “I don’t know what to do.”

“Ms. Gilbert is looking out for herself. And that’s what we’re going to do too.”

“I meant it when I said I’d help.”

“I know. And we’re probably going to need it. My mother is a witch, your powers will be effective against her.”

“I’ve been practicing but I don’t stand a chance against your mother.”

“It won’t come to that,” he said but she knew he only hoped that it wouldn’t.

Elena wasn’t home when Mackenzie arrived at the house. She was both relieved and nervous to be alone with him.

“Thank you for bringing me back,” she said as they reached the door.

“My pleasure.”

“You have a beautiful home, by the way.”

He gave her a small smile. “I’m afraid it’s not quite a home.”

Right. His mother was plotting against them. He didn’t really have a home, did he? But then again, neither did she.

“Well, it’s a beautiful house, no matter who lives in it.”

“You’ll have to tell Klaus. He’s the one who built it.”

Mackenzie cleared her throat, she didn’t seem to know what to say. She could only think about his breath on her face when he was about to kiss her, before Damon ruined it all.

“Goodnight, then,” she said, unlocking the front door.

He smiled, but she didn’t see it. “Goodnight, Mackenzie.”

She quickly entered the house and closed the door behind her. She leaned her back against it, sighing as her head hit the cold wood, kicking herself mentally for being so stupid. What a stupid idiot she was, she told herself. And she kept telling herself that for an hour as she took off her dress and removed her makeup.

I should’ve said something.

I should’ve done something.

Stupid. Stupid. Stupid. Idiot. Stupid.

She let herself fall on her bed with a sigh.

Stupid.

She heard the front door open and decided to go and greet Elena but as she opened her bedroom door, she heard she wasn’t alone.

“So, uh…” Stefan said. “Esther wants to kill her whole family.”

Mackenzie’s heart jumped inside her chest.

“How’s that for Mother of the Year?” he scoffed.

“Yeah. And I got to look Elijah right in the eye and lie to him about it.”

Now, Mackenzie’s heart tightened. Her blood started to boil.

“Well, good. Can’t say I’ll be sorry to see any of them go.”

“I just signed their death sentences, Stefan…”

“No, you signed Klaus’ death sentence, Elena. Everyone else is just collateral damage.”

Collateral damage. The words echoed in her head. Collateral damage.

“It’s not that simple.”

“The family’s brought you nothing but darkness, Elena. It is that simple.”

Collateral damage. Death sentence. I got to look Elijah in the eye and lie to him.

It is that simple.

Mackenzie’s rage was unusual. It wasn’t blinding like it usually was. On the contrary, it was eye opening. She remembered something Elijah had once told her: kill or be killed, and, suddenly, nothing had never been truer. He was right. She’d have to kill again, she would kill again, because she wasn’t going to let Elijah die. To let any of them die.

Maybe Stefan was right, Klaus deserved it, maybe the entire original family deserved to die, but they weren’t any better. Maybe they deserved to die too. But whose choice was it? Who could decide who lived and who died? Mackenzie realized that no one had the right to make those decisions. She had relied on the notions of good and evil for too long, of right and wrong, but now she knew the world didn’t play by those rules. Stefan and Elena didn’t play by those rules. It had never been a fair fight and it would never be one. Everybody just looked out for themselves. There were always two sides, maybe none of them were right, maybe none of them were wrong.

But Mackenzie knew which side she was on.

And she realized Stefan was right about one thing. It was that simple.

**********

Thank you for reading! I hope you liked it!

Chapter 21 is available for early access on my Patreon page! Chapter 22 is available for instant access! You can find me at patreon.com/alonelydreamer ! Any support is highly appreciated!!

If you can't, that's okay! Chapter 21 will be posted next Wednesday!

Have a good week!

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[ofhellsbells]

A Father Who Cares

SUMMARY: Hayden takes Belphegor to meet his father, so they can see what a good example of a father is actually like. TRIGGERS: Suicide mention, depression WRITTEN WITH: @ofbartons​ @seizcd​

HAYDEN: “I remember some of the names. They do deserve going to Hell. I think they wanted me to test their new super-soldier serum. I don’t know, my body rejected it.” Hayden scratches his head for a moment, then looks back at the coffee shop as they approach it. “This is just where he works, we don’t live here. I don’t think these chairs would be ideal for sleeping all night on.” He teases with a smile before opening up the door, allowing Belphegor to go in first. After Hayden shuts the door behind him, it was good to know there wasn’t any customers in here right now so he wouldn’t feel bad for shouting. “Dad? Are you still here?!” His voice echoed, moving through the place slowly. “I brought a guest with me! I want you to meet my uncle Belphegor!” He bounces on his heels a bit, showing off his demon form in the shop for once.

BELPHEGOR: “Right, well if you give me their names, I can send them straight there.” Belphegor wouldn't kill them himself, not exactly. It didn't count as killing someone if your very presence brought them so low they brought death on themselves, right? The going to hell bit would come naturally to them. Belphegor imagined they'd end up in Aamon's kingdom. “My body rejects most things too. Except food. It takes in a lot of food, even though I don't need to eat. I just like to. Do you think your dad has food?” This place smelled like food. After they entered the building, Belphegor looked at the chairs first. “I could sleep on them.” He smiled at Hayden, feeling like that fact would make him seem cooler to the kid. “Hello, Mr. Hayden's Dad,” he called out while they waited for the man to appear. “I didn't kill your son,” he added, giving Hayden two thumbs up. That'd make Hayden's dad less concerned, right?

CLINT: "Come on Lucky, help me out here!" Clint pleaded with the dog. He had lost his hearing aid yet again and wanted Lucky to try and sniff it out for him, but the dog just looked at Clint like he was crazy. The blonde let out a huff before getting down on the ground to start looking for the purple device. It was good that the shop was dead today, most of his business this time of day was college kids but they were all getting ready for finals, because without his aid he couldn't hear the bell dinging or the voices shouting for him. It was only when Lucky nudged him with his nose that he realised someone was there. He stood up, brushing himself off as he spoke "Sorry about that, I lost my hea-" the blonde stopped mid sentence whe he saw Hayden "Hayden! Hey bud! Who's your friend?"

HAYDEN: The smile on Hayden’s face only grows when his father comes into view, always so happy to see him. “Did you lose your hearing aid again? I can help you look for it if you would like?” His hands signing the words, expressing the worry before turning to look at his uncle then back to his father. His smile was still there of course, maybe just always such a soft demon for the most part. “Dad! This is my uncle Belphegor! I really wanted you two to meet.” Hayden says this happily, and hopes that they get along. He turns to their Belphegor for a moment. “Bel, this is my dad, and that’s our dog Lucky!” His gaze  looking between the two of them to see what their reactions are.

BELPHEGOR: Clint clearly hadn't heard Belphegor, but Belphegor didn't really mind. They held up one hand. “Hello.” Belphegor didn't know what a hearing aid was. It wasn't one of the inventions they remembered helping along the way at least. He glanced at Hayden. Were they friends? Or was he just Hayden's uncle? He wondered if he could be both. “And Lucky is part of your family too?” He supposed he should communicate with the dog too, so he morphed his body into one and started barking back and forth between him and Lucky for a minute or two before turning back into a male person again. “I like him.”

Clint: He gave his son a bashful smile "Yeah, I needed to change the battery and now I can't seem to find it. But it can wait until later, I can just read read lips for now." Clint wiped his hands off smiling at the new face "Ah, one of the uncles! It's nice to meet you Bel, I'm Hayden's dad, Clint Barton." When the male turned into a dog, Clint just looked back to Hayden before signing Does he normally do that? He didn't want to be rude, but at the same time this guy just turned into a dog so Clint wasn't sure how to react.

HAYDEN: “I’ll help you look later, we’ll find it!” Hayden promises, not something that he would forget to do after this is over. He couldn’t stop smiling too, although that wasn’t really unusual for him with how sweet he typically is. He was caught off guard when Bel morphed into a dog to communicate with Lucky, glancing back at his father. I’ve never seen it happen before, but I’m going to assume the answer is yes. Hayden signs back to Clint, but when Belphegor morphed back the young demon just smiles. “I’m glad! Lucky is the best dog.”

BELPHEGOR: "I can help you look for them too if you want?" Belphegor offered, wanting to do anything to get on Clint's good side. He was Hayden's dad, and it was hard to wrap his head around their relationship. Both of them seemed to genuinely care for each other. "Hayden mentioned that you care for him and would love him no matter what. Is that true?" he asked curiously. For all Belphegor knew, Hayden might've been tricked into thinking his father cared for him. Belphegor knew that they'd thought that their own father loved them like that only for them to cast them out forever. Maybe he'd be able to give Belphegor some tips on how to get his own father to love him again.

Clint: "You don't have to do that Bel, but thanks for offering. I lose them once a week at least so I'm used to it." the blonde chuckled "As long as I can see your lips when you talk I won't miss anything." Clint grabbed his drink before moving around the counter, giving Hayden a side hug "I do, I would do anything for my kiddos. You should have seen me when he was missing, if I wasn't out raiding hydra bases I was pestering my boss to find out why he wasn't doing more to find him. Longest six months of my life." he took a sip of his drink, trying to force down the lump in his throat that always showed up when he spoke about when his boy was missing. Clint wasn't surprised by the question. From what research he'd done, Hayden's uncles were fallen archangels, which meant their dad was God... and apparently he wasn't as the bible described him to be.

HAYDEN: It makes the boy smile when his father pulls him in for a side hug. Hayden takes the opportunity to return the embrace for the moment and lean his head against his shoulder. There was a lot that came with learning about his true lineage, and that God wasn’t exactly the best father to his Uncles. Which makes the young demon sad, wishing that Bel got the same chance to feel his father’s love too. The story about when he went missing makes him frown for a moment, those six months had been hard not just for him, but Clint too. “My father didn’t let his boss rest much while I was missing.  I’m not always perfect, nobody is, but he loves me all the same no matter what choices I make.” He has pulled his head off his shoulder so his lips could be seen while talking.  “He protects my older siblings and me. We’re really lucky to have him for a dad.”

BELPHEGOR: “Oh, okay.” Belphegor nodded, doing his best to keep the front of his body and face pointed towards Clint, so he could bee able to see his lips wherever he turned. Belphegor was just as surprised by Clint's words as he was by his actions. Hayden had told him about how much his dad loved him , but it was still hard to believe even while seeing it. God wasn't affectionate with all of his children, even near the beginning. Some of the archangels just got more love from him. They were embraced more, while others, like Belphegor, just had to bask in what he'd thought was love in his father's light. God wouldn't have done everything he could to find his children if they were lost. He wouldn't have done anything really. Afterall he kicked them out. It was heartbreaking to hear about a father who was such an opposite to his own, and that void in his chest whispered in his ear. If fathers would do anything for their children, then there must be a reason yours won't love you. You did something wrong. Your own father didn't want you.  Belphegor felt like they were going to cry. “And you have multiple children, that you love? All of them?” That was even harder to wrap his head around. Belphegor often used that reason to excuse God abandoning them at times. He had multiple creations to take care of, so he couldn't love them all. “So . . . Do you know what I did wrong?”

CLINT: The blonde nodded his head at Bel's question "I do. In addition to Hayden I've adopted a set of twins, Wanda and Pietro, and I'd do anything for them. It doesn't matter to me that they aren't biologically mine or that all of them are adults, they're my kids and I'm their dad in all the ways that count." he smiled, squeezing Hayden against his side. How he had managed to not fuck those three up was a mystery to Clint but he was glad to have them in his life... the little shit included. His brows furrowed as a frown formed on his face "Wrong? No no no, you get that out of your head right now because I refuse to let you keep thinking that. Parents are far from perfect, no single parent out there has always done or said the right thing to their kids. My own dad was an abusive piece of shit, it's the reason why I'm deaf... Hell, I'm not even a perfect parent but I can tell you this with 100% certainty and confidence: You did nothing wrong, none of what happened is your fault, and you deserve all the love in the world." Clint paused for a moment, letting his words settle, before lifting his other arm and motioned for Bel to come to him "Now, I know you are this big bad Prince of Hell and everything, but Barton's are huggers so get over here."

HAYDEN: It even breaks Hayden’s heart a little hearing Belphegor think that they did something wrong. He doesn’t say anything at first except for just listening as his father responded to the question asked for him specifically. Hayden can’t imagine why parents wouldn’t live their children, but then again he has never met his birth father so there was a wonder of his own with that one. The thought pushed down, not about Greed or his own feelings. His tongue slides over his lower lip for a moment. Hayden agrees that Bel deserves to feel lives by their father too. The Barton family can provide some of that love that seems to be lacking though. “We are definitely huggers, bring it in!” He lifts one of his own arms to prepare for a tight embrace. He has thoughts that could be said in addition to that. but wanted what his father said to really settle in. Hayden does add in one comment for now though. “Nothing you did was wrong. He’s right about that.”

BELPHEGOR: It was so hard for Belphegor to wrap their head around it, but Clint seemed to mean what he was saying. He had multiple children, and he managed to love all of them. Belphegor watched the interaction between Hayden and Clint, surprised by even that much. God hadn't really given them that much physical affection, even before humanity existed. "But I--" They felt like they had to have done something wrong, even before the war, and it wasn't easy to take a step out of that mentality. Mainly, they just wanted to know what they needed to do right, so they could get back into their father's good graces again. "But how do you know?" Clint seemed like a wise person who knew a lot, especially about parenting, but he didn't really know Belphegor either, did he? How would he know that Belphegor deserved anything? Still, Belphegor wanted to believe him. He looked between Hayden and Clint before moving forward to fill in the space between them. He wrapped his arms around each of them. "Can I be a Barton too? I like hugs." he said while his face was buried in the hug. He didn't know what being a Barton actually meant, but if it meant getting hugged like this, he wanted to be one.

CLINT: He could tell that the idea that they didn't do anything wrong was a struggle to wrap their brain around, not that he could blame them... you spend long enough thinking something it's gonna take longer than a minute to change your thoughts on it. Clint smiled at the demon, chuckling slightly "Because we don't know what we're doing. Parents are just trying to figure it out as we go and hope that we don't royally fuck up." he looked over at Hayden "Bud, you tell Piet I said that and I'm taking that cake you like off the menu." a smirk on his face as he teased his son before turning his gaze back to Bel "I know that I don't know everything that happened but what I do know is it wasn't your fault." Clint laid a hand on Bel's shoulder, squeezing gently before hugging him "Of course you can! Bel Barton... has a nice ring to it."

HAYDEN: The boy knows that no family is perfect and wouldn’t expect his father to be. He thinks that Clint is pretty close through his eyes.  He doesn’t know anything about parenting but he got lucky with the family that took him in. He just listens while allowing the two of them have their moment — bringing his two worlds together has made him feel a sense of pride. Hayden smiles for a moment. “I can’t lose that cake! My lips are sealed.” He admits shamelessly while pretending to zip his lips for a moment. However, the next comment leaves the smile on his face though. “It would be an honor to have you be a Barton. You’ll fit right in with us! You can join us for pizza night.”

BELPHEGOR: It was hard to imagine that God didn't know what he was doing, but maybe raising their brothers and sisters was the one thing He failed at. At least Clint could admit he had faults. Belphegor liked that kind of honesty and his threats to Hayden, while still terrifying (How could he take away cake from someone like that?), weren't that bad compared to the punishments their father threatened them with. Clint was good at reassuring them, and Belphegor was glad to consider both him and Hayden family. “You have a night dedicated to pizza?” Tears of joy started spilling out. “This is the best family ever.”