#plan is to hold off on restocking anything else until i get most of these out

[lazylittledragon]

ok so i'm like. overwhelmed

i'm having one of the shittiest weeks of my life and i was really worried my store was going to be a complete flop (honestly i expected my friends to order some stuff and maybe a few other people and that was it)

and then half the things sold out in 2 hours so i'm!!!!! in shock

also the best part: the fundraiser stickers sold out completely!!

[endlesslystarlitskies]

Lost and Found- Part 15

A/N: One more chapter after this! 

Genre: Horror, Action, Adventure, Romance, Slow-Burn,  

Pairing: Leon Kennedy x Named Reader (Named but not Described)

Summary: Ella was one of the missing hikers who was kidnapped by the villagers. She narrowly escaped being sacrificed, but her friends weren’t so lucky. Managing to survive out in the woods with her previous skills and knowledge, she runs into Leon, and that meeting begins the longest, most dangerous adventure of her life as she tries to help him save the girl she saw being taken into the church. What will happen along the way? Only one way to find out.  

Warnings: Canon typical violence and gore, Death, Murder, Monsters, Suicidal ideations mentioned

Word Count: 4,252

Part 14 Part 16  Story Masterlist

xXx

Leon met Ella’s terrified eyes, stepping towards her and reaching out as if there was something he could do to stop what was happening. The black in her veins was moving faster than it ever had in him, and he still couldn’t believe what he was seeing. How was this happening? When did she get infected by the plaga? It couldn’t be when Castro took her, as he was about to kill her. And the progression was too far along to have been recently. But then when? 

“W-What’s happening to-” She was cut off as she let out a cry of pain, grabbing her head and squeezing her eyes shut tightly. 

“Ella!” Leon took a hold of her shoulders, trying to think of anything he could do to help her. Too many questions were running through his mind: Could he make it past Saddler? Did Ella have that kind of time? Was she too far along to be saved, like Luis’ notes mentioned? 

He refused to believe in that last one. She showed no symptoms up until now. He had to have time. 

“Now, prove Castro was right to believe in you. Come into your purpose!” Saddler shouted behind them.

“Leon, get away from her!” The familiar voice snapped him out of his attempts at coming up with a plan, and he looked up to see Ada standing a good distance away, her expression filled with worry and shock. Before he could even think of how to react next, Ella’s arm shot out, slamming against his chest.

It had been a simple movement; quick, but seemingly holding no real power. Despite that, Leon was practically launched several feet back, letting out a grunt as his back hit the ground. He winced lightly at the pain in his sternum and back as he looked up, and he was met with Ella’s red eyes trained on him, black veins visible on every inch of her skin.

Saddler’s laughter filled his ears, but Leon couldn’t look away from Ella, her expression void of any emotion. It was one he didn’t recognize on her.

“Perhaps I underestimated our dear Priest! His creation serves our God well!” Saddler’s voice was filled with joy as he watched on from a distance. “Go, my child! Rid us of this renegade and be the savior of your Lord’s wish!” 

There was no recognition in Ella’s eyes as she looked at him, and Leon was quick to get to his feet, reaching for his gun out of instinct, but stopping. How was he supposed to fight Ella? He didn’t want to hurt her. He wanted to save her. But how? Realization painted itself onto his features as he remembered what The Merchant gave him, as well as his words. 

xXx

Leon reloaded his weapon, having restocked his supply so he could go save Ella and Ashley. He had had no idea why Ella was taken alongside the young girl, but he had been relieved she hadn’t followed him down the hole, as she never would have been able to stop herself like he barely had. 

“Ey, I’ve got something else you might need.” Leon looked to the Merchant at that, seeing him holding something out. 

Stepping forward, he took the small device. It was almost like the medicine Luis had given him, except why would the Merchant be giving him Medicine he already had?

“What is this?” He asked him curiously, but the Merchant had to think about it for a moment, as if choosing his words carefully. 

“Let’s just say you should keep that in your back pocket for a while, just in case.” Vague as always, which annoyed Leon.

“It looks like the Medicine I’m trying to get to Ashley.” Maybe that could at least give him a little more information to work with. 

“I suppose it does, doesn’it?” That was all he said in response to that, laughing it off. 

“What am I supposed to use it for?” He was looking for anything that could give him an idea of what The Merchant had just given him. 

“Well, not what you’d first assume.” He would assume it’s more medicine to slow the infection for Ashley. “But also, exactly what you’d assume!” Leon sighed. He should have known from watching Ella interact with the Merchant that this would have gotten him nowhere. 

“Thanks.” He told him, before holstering his gun and moving to leave. 

“Ey, just trust me. You’ll know when to use it.” 

He doubted that.

xXx

The Merchant had known she was infected, and probably for how long, as well. How? He had no idea, and right now, it didn’t really matter. Before Leon could reach into his pouch to retrieve the syringe, Ella suddenly disappeared, his eyes widening. 

She was fast- No, wait. He looked up, seeing her in the air, coming down at him. He rolled to the side and out of the way just in time as she landed with a loud thud in a crouched position, her knife now lodged in the metal of the platform. 

She was strong. 

He had no idea how the parasite inside her worked. It had to be different, considering it had never presented itself or reacted the way Leon’s and Ashley’s had. It wasn’t changing her body, at least not yet, so that had to be a good sign, right? 

Leon was quick to grab the syringe as Ella moved, pulling the now broken combat knife from the ground and tossing it to the side. Leon thought that at least maybe now she was weaponless; however, she reached into her boot, pulling out another blade Leon hadn’t known she had before. 

“Ella-” He started as she stepped towards him, needing to think of a way to get through to her. A gunshot sounded, Ella’s shoulder lurching forward as blood began to drip down the arm holding the blade, halting her advance towards Leon. Ada was standing on a platform above them, holding up her handgun. The first shot had been just a graze, but now her gun was trained on Ella’s head.

“Ada stop!” Leon ordered. He could still save her.The Merchant thought he could, and he had always had knowledge that they didn't. Leon had to hold on to that hope, because he didn’t know what he would do if he was wrong. 

“Leon, look at her! She’s gone!” Ada said back, though she slightly lowered her weapon. He didn’t believe that. He had to try. Ada could see that in his expression, the woman letting out a curse as she lowered her gun. “Fine, you want to get killed? Be my guest.” She grumbled, though she looked back to Ella to see her looking straight at her. “Shit-” Ella jumped, flipping backwards and landing on the platform a few feet away from Ada. 

The knife Ada had given her was gripped tightly in her hands, the blood now on it ominously foreshadowing. Ada raised her gun once more, but Ella moved quickly, and before Ada could react her hand was pushed to the side, and she was narrowly dodging a knife coming straight for her eye. 

Ella’s tight grip on Ada’s wrist had forced her to drop the gun, and now she was trying to find an opening to get out of there with her grappling device while also blocking the fast-moving jabs and slashes of her own knife. Ada winced when a hit landed on her shoulder, blood beginning to seep from the wound as her frustrations grew. Fortunately, a flash grenade landed between them, catching Ella’s attention long enough for Ada to get the hell out of there.

Ella had covered her eyes and turned away when the grenade went off, knocking her backwards but leaving her relatively unharmed. She caught herself easily, before looking down at Leon, who was in a defensive stance as he waited for her. 

Ella straightened, lowering her knife before she reached into her holster, pulling out her handgun and firing shots in quick succession at Leon, who immediately ran to the side for cover. He had assumed her weapons were taken off her person, but he supposed if this was Saddler’s plan, letting her keep them was a better idea. 

She followed his every movement, the floor sparking directly behind Leon and nearing closer and closer as the blonde found himself glad her shotgun was nowhere in sight. A moment later, Ella was forced to drop the gun when a shot landed on it, knocking it out of her hand.

She didn’t even bother looking up as she knew it had been Ada, who was too smart to be within reach this time, so she jumped down, focusing on Leon. He was who her Lord wanted most of all. 

“Ella, you have to fight it!” Leon shouted as he parried her knife, doing his best to keep up with her quick movements as he was now on the receiving end of her attacks. Ella didn’t react to his words, her expression never changing as they went back and forth. Leon was only on the defensive, leaving him at a disadvantage as he backed away from her over and over, only for her to be right in front of him with another attack. She managed to get him a couple of times, though the wounds weren’t too deep thanks to Leon’s quick reflexes. However, he couldn’t keep this up forever. “You have to come back! Don’t let him control you!” Leon had no idea if his words were getting through to her, but it was all he could do as his body was constantly moving to ward off her unrelenting assault. 

Unbeknownst to him, Ella was having a war of her own within her mind, desperately trying to clear the suffocating fog that surrounded her own thoughts. 

‘Kill him!’

‘Serve the Holy Body and grant your Lord his wish to spread it throughout the world!’

‘Do not resist!’

‘Release your mind to the Holy Body!’  

‘You have only one purpose. To serve the Almighty, your god!’

No. She didn’t want this.

“I will never let Saddler control me, or accept your stupid religion.”

It was her own voice this time. Not the dark, oppressive whispers of Saddler that surrounded her. 

“Now? It’s because I care about him. A lot. Him and you. And I want to do whatever I can to help you both, no matter the risks.”

The words echoed in her mind as her body continued to move, Ella trying to take back control of herself.

Leon was still trying to find a way to gain the advantage, thinking his words hadn’t reached her at all. Though, that changed when he took notice of the tears falling down her still expressionless face. It was proof she was still there. 

“Come on Ella, you promised you would protect Ashley! You promised to help her, for Alice!”  

“Besides, I’m also doing it for myself. I have to do for Ashley what I couldn’t do for Alice, Leon. I just have to.”

Ella hesitated in an attack then, giving Leon reprieve from the constant flurry of the blade coming towards vital parts of his body. It was enough for Leon to grab her wrist, pushing her hand away and turning her into the metal of a tower, pressing her flat against it with his own body. He had put the syringe back into his pouch, and he was quick to reach into it, preparing to send it into her arm as her chest was covered by the body armor. 

“Do not give in, child! Serve the Holy Body and fulfill your purpose!” Saddler waved his staff around, and before Leon could get the syringe into her arm, Ella shoved him off of her, before kicking him onto his back. This time, before Leon could recover, Ella was on top of him, straddling his waist and bringing the knife down. His reflexes kicked in just in time, Leon grabbing her hand and wrist and doing his best to hold them back.

‘Kill him.’ 

‘Please your Lord and protect the Holy Body.’ 

‘Be the savior of your Lord’s wish.’

All Ella could hear again were Saddler’s whispers, drowning out her sense of self and identity, making it impossible for her to take  back control of herself once more.

She was too strong, Leon’s arms shaking from the effort of keeping the tip of the blade from his eye as he lost all the ground he had gained with Ella, the syringe out of reach and the tears no longer falling down her cheeks. 

The only thing that saved Leon this time was Ada coming from the side, kicking Ella off of him and sending her rolling on the platform. Leon had no idea if he’d be able to reach her again, wondering if he had lost his only chance. He looked to Saddler, noticing the strong glow of the jewel. Maybe if he took that out, he would be able to weaken Saddler’s hold over her. He had clearly needed it after all. 

“Ella!” A familiar voice shouted, and Leon turned, his eyes widening when he saw it was Ashley, who was standing right behind Ella. 

In a quick movement, the knife was at the young girl’s throat, though Ella stopped as she stared at her. This wasn’t her target. This was the girl Lord Saddler needed. 

“Ashley!” Leon shouted, not understanding why she had come down here. Ella wouldn’t kill her, but if she took the young girl now, he didn’t know if he’d get either of them back. As much as he didn’t want to, Leon pulled his gun out, aiming it at Ella despite the fact that everything in him was against the action. 

“Ella, don’t!” Leon’s tone was firm for the most part but hidden just beneath the surface was the pain and confliction swirling in his chest. How did it come to this? How was he standing here aiming his gun at Ella to keep her from hurting Ashley? How did any of this happen? He had no idea if he could even pull the trigger on Ella. He had spent this entire time trying to keep both her and Ashley safe, and now he may have to hurt one to save the other, and he wasn’t sure if he could do that. 

Ashley was crying as she stared into Ella’s eyes, the red color of them scaring her. This wasn’t Ella. Not the one she had come to know and care about. Ella would never listen to Saddler, or hurt Leon, or hold a knife to her throat. 

Ella was stronger than that. 

“P-Please stop! You prom-.” She barely held back a sob as she forced herself to get the words out. “You promised me everything would be okay!” Her voice was shaky and full of emotion as her fists clenched by her sides, Ashley determined to get through to Ella even if it killed her. 

“Hey, it’s okay. I promise it’s all going to be okay.”

“Bring the girl to me!” Saddler demanded, but Ella was frozen, staring at Ashley as the young girl started to change into someone else in front of her eyes. 

Alice. 

It was Alice she was looking at now, and her eyes were wide and terrified, mirroring the very expression she wore before she died. And it was aimed at Ella. 

Ella felt the air leave her lungs, her heart twisting painfully in her chest as the hand holding the knife shook slightly, the red of her eyes dulling just the slightest bit, before the weapon clattered to the ground. She was at the forefront of her own mind again, her blank expression shifting into one of sorrow and regret as she looked at Ashley. She couldn’t let this happen. She couldn’t be a pawn in Saddler’s plan. She couldn’t hurt Ashley or continue to hurt Leon. All she had wanted was to make amends for her failure, and save Ashley and Leon. They had become so important to her in the small amount of time she had known them, and she would rather die than hurt them. 

Saddler growled in anger as the girl once again fought the hold. This shouldn’t be possible. . .the parasite had dwelled inside her for so long, taking root in her body. Its hold should be absolute. He began chanting, waving the staff around, but Ella grit her teeth, her entire body trembling as she tried her hardest to resist the pull from deep within her. 

She was losing, and she knew it, but that didn’t stop her from fighting it with all the strength she had left inside her.

“Hurry-” She bit out as she felt herself slipping once more. She just had to hold on a little longer. Long enough for Leon. The man had grabbed the medicine at the first opportunity, coming up from behind Ella and wrapping his arm around her shoulders before stabbing the syringe into her bicep, injecting the liquid into her bloodstream.

“No!” Saddler shouted; his eyes filled with rage as he felt the hold on the girl weaken despite the necklace on his staff. The veins on Ella’s skin began to recede as the red was completely wiped from her eyes. However, Leon knew it was only temporary, the black in her veins not disappearing completely and still present on her arms and crawling up her neck. 

He didn’t have a lot of time. 

“Ashley, get back.” He told the girl as he gently laid Ella down on the ground. Her face was contorted in pain as she fought against the parasite within her, and it was then that Leon silently promised her that he’d do everything he could to save her from this. From Saddler.

“Is she going to be okay?” Ashley breathed out as she began to step away. She knew coming down had been a risk, but she couldn’t just stand by and watch as Ella turned into a monster. Ella had promised Ashley that she wouldn’t let her become one of those things, and Ella delivered. It had been Ashley’s turn now.  

“I’ll make sure of it. Now go.” Leon held a newfound determination in his voice, and Ashley nodded, turning and running back to safety so Leon could finally finish this once and for all. 

“You foul renegade!” Saddler growled as he stretched his arms out, and Leon pulled out his gun, putting some distance between him and Ella. He aimed for the man just as Ada landed next to him, and they shared a look, Ada giving Leon a nod before the two turned to face off against the reason behind all of this. “You have forsaken the Holy Body. . .the great gift. . .to become one with us.” The man began to change as fleshy claws protruded from his body, Saddler finally becoming his true form. Leon didn’t falter. This, he could handle. This, he could shoot to his heart’s content. 

He would take down Saddler, and free Ella from his hold.

xXx

Leon grimaced as he sat up, the large dead body of Saddler’s true form a few feet in front of him. It was done. 

He was gripping something in his hand, looking down to see the necklace with the red gem. He had known he had to destroy this if he wanted to save Ella, grabbing it off the staff before he used it to kill Saddler. 

Setting it on the ground, he pulled out his knife, before bringing it down straight onto the gem. It cracked, but he knew that wasn’t enough, doing it again, and again, until the thing broke apart. It was then he noticed there was something inside the gem, his brows furrowing. 

It looked like pieces of the Amber. 

He knew he didn’t have time to dwell on it, continuing to destroy it until it was shattered completely, before he turned, looking at the container of Amber Luis had given him and reaching for it. However, Ada appeared, picking it up.

“Ada? What the hell are you doing?” Was she really doing this again? He didn’t know why he would be surprised, as Ada continued to show him who she was. 

“Nothing personal Leon. Luis and I had an arrangement. But don’t worry, I’ll take good care of it.” A helicopter came up over the edge, Ada walking towards it. “Rides here.” He could see that. “I’ll give you some time before I blow this place to hell. Use it wisely.” She climbed into the helicopter, kneeling down and grabbing the railing. Leon was quick to let it go, needing to get back to Ella as he got up, beginning to head in that direction.

“Leon,” He stopped, turning to Ada just as she tossed him something. Catching it, he opened his palm, seeing it was a key with a teddy bear chain. 

Cute. 

“Better get a move on.” He nodded, not wasting another second as he ran in the direction he had left Ella. Ada watched him go, the urgency in his steps apparent as he ran back to the girl. 

It was bittersweet for the short haired woman, but she knew it was for the best. She only hoped Ella survived. 

xXx

Ashley was already by Ella’s side, watching in worry as Ella was curled in on herself, whimpering at the sharp, stinging pain in her chest that radiated throughout her entire body. Her skin was slick with sweat, and she was trembling as if she was freezing cold. She felt more hands on her, barely hearing Leon over the blood rushing in her ears. 

“What’s happening to her!?” Ashley asked in a panic, hating to see Ella in so much pain and wishing there was something she could do to stop it. 

“The parasite is dying.” Leon answered as he pulled Ella into his arms, trying to think quickly. 

“That’s a good thing, right?” Ashley was hoping for some good news for once, but Leon couldn’t give that to her. 

“I don’t know, maybe.” He had a bad feeling that it wasn’t, and he held Ella close to his chest as he moved towards the lift they would need to take to get to the lab.

“Maybe?” Ashley didn’t understand how the parasite dying might not be a good thing. 

“It might take her with it.” Leon stated, putting words to the feeling in his gut. The procedure was faster than this, and more targeted at just the parasite inside them. What Ella was going through now was slower and more painful for the entirety of her body, and he didn’t know if she could handle it. He didn’t know if the longer he let her go through it, the less likely the procedure would work. He didn’t know a lot. All he knew was he had to follow his gut. 

He knew it was right as he watched the remaining infected die one by one on the ground, and Ella was next if he didn’t hurry. It had to be a good sign that it wasn’t killing her immediately. Or that was his hope, at least.

“Leon-” Ella spoke in a strained whisper, and Leon looked down at her for a moment. The tears in her eyes sent a sharp pain through his chest, the fear in them pushing him to move faster. “Leon, if I die-” 

“You’re not going to die.” He bit out, refusing to consider that outcome. 

“Leon.” She repeated with as much strength as she could. She needed him to listen to her. “Y-You have to f-find Alice’s parents. . .” Her breathing was becoming heavier as she took slow raspy breaths through the pain. “You have to tell them. . . w-what happened to her f-for me. Please.” She managed as she felt her body weaken more and more. “She w-wouldn’t want them to worry. . .” 

How was she thinking about that at a time like this? 

“And f-find my father, too. H-He doesn’t deserve to. . . wonder where I am. . .or why I never-” She grimaced, fisting the fabric of her shirt in her hand as a pained whimper escaped past her lips, Leon’s jaw tightening. 

“Save your strength. You’re going to be able to do all of that yourself.” He promised her, his voice assured, but Ella could see he was doing everything he could to hide his worry. “You can’t give up. You’ve come too far.” She survived in the woods alone for four days. She survived monsters with claws and poison and inhuman strength and speed. She survived being a sacrifice, and parasitic bugs, and grief and depression. 

She had tried so hard to survive at every turn, even when she was at her lowest. She couldn’t die now when they were so close to getting out of here.

“G-Give up? Who. . .said anything a-about. . .giving up? I’m just. . .a realist, r-remember? H-Have to be prepared. . .for anything.” Leon kicked the door to Luis’ lab open, Ashley moving to the computer as he laid Ella on the chair. 

“Yeah, well I need you to be an optimist right now, alright?” He told her as Ashley got the machine ready. Ella looked up at him, seeing the fear in his own eyes more clearly before her eyesight began to blur slightly.

“For c-current company?” She asked him in a shaky whisper, and Leon took her hand in his, squeezing it tightly. 

“For current company.” He echoed, Ella nodding weakly in promise just before Ashley turned on the machine and Ella’s pain filled cries filled the lab.

[thoselethalarts]

𝓝𝔂𝔁 𝓝𝓸𝓬𝓽𝓾𝓻𝓷𝓮 - 𝓟𝓮𝓻𝓼𝓸𝓷𝓪𝓵 𝓢𝓽𝓸𝓻𝔂

(SR) Lab Uniform (Part 2): “Just Trust Me On This.”

(NRC: Exterior Hallway F1)

Nyx: Whew… Got all that mess done with time to spare. I knew I could count on you~

Floyd: Yeah, yeah. You just better keep up on your end of our deal, Pufferfish. I’m starving and not about to let you off the hook if you try and cop out on me now.

Nyx: Ugh… again, with what money do you think I even have… Nyx: Well, whatever… I can always get Kalim to spot me if Floyd puts too much of a drain on my wallet. He’s generous and easy to woo over when I need him most… Nyx: Anyway, let’s hurry up and get to the cafeteria before the line gets too long.

(Nyx and Floyd walk together across campus to fetch some lunch)

(NRC: Cafeteria)

(Loud chattering and clamoring can be heard throughout the cafeteria)

Nyx: …I said let’s get here BEFORE the line gets too long! What the hell is all this?!

Floyd: Geez! It’s more packed than a school of sardines in here! What’s the deal?!

Nyx: I dunno, and that’s what I wanna find out. Nyx: I see a bunch of dudes in gym gear over there but I can’t see who they are. You’re taller than me, can you see ‘em, Floyd?

Floyd: Yeah. Buncha random fishies, and I also see uh… Sea Lion, Sharksucker, Guppy, and Barracuda.

Nyx: Sea Lion and Sharksucker…? Oh. Wait, I think I know who you’re talking about. That’s Leona and Ruggie in Floyd-speak, if I remember right, and I think they’re all in the Magical Shift club. Nyx: If they’re all here… Is there, like, a game today or something? Is this a pregame food rush we wandered into or something?

Floyd: Might be. I remember seeing a poster in the hall earlier that listed all the Magical Shift game dates on them but didn’t really pay much attention to ‘em.

Nyx: Tsk. It must be that, then, I can’t think of any other reason why it’d be so slammed in here otherwise. Nyx: The whole team was probably planning to hit the cafeteria while everyone else was between classes, that way they’d have time to restock before the lunch rush hits after. Nyx: Which normally that’d be fine but since we finished class early we’re probably SOL on getting anything until after break ends...

(Growl….)

Floyd: Ughh… I’m not waiting around here for that long! I’m already hungry and pissed enough as is with all these annoying fish swarming around. Floyd: I’m just going to Sam’s. C’mon, Pufferfish, you’re still buyin’.

Nyx: Sam’s!? That’s, like, twice the cost of cafeteria food, man!

Floyd: Not my problem. You made a deal with me, now ya gotta hold up your end of it. That’s the price you chose, so let’s go already.

Nyx: Not if I can think of a way around it…! C’mon, think! Where else can we get food that’s cheap, fast, and easy? I’ll make some shit myself if I even have to… Nyx: …Wait! That’s it! Nyx: Wait, hold on. What if I told you I knew somewhere else we could get food?

Floyd: What, Mostro? C’mon, Pufferfish, you know you’d be payin’ more there than you would at Sam’s.

Nyx: No, not Mostro. Somewhere else.

Floyd: You’ve been having ideas all day, Pufferfish. Unless it’s gonna be puttin’ food in my stomach and soon, I don’t wanna hear it anymore.

Nyx: Just trust me on this already. C’mon, we’re going to Scarabia.

Floyd: Whaaaat? All the way over there? It’s faster to just go to Sam’s, I don’t wanna!

Nyx: Yeah, well I promised to get you lunch but I never said I’d be paying for it. If you wanna eat then stop whining and come with me! Nyx: Trust me, what I’m about to give ya is gonna be way better than whatever mediocre sandwiches and chips we’d be getting from Sam’s.

Floyd: Ughh… Fine, whatever. Let’s just go then.

(Floyd starts to walk away.)

Nyx: W-Wait, hold up! You’ve got longer legs than me, man!

(Nyx hurries after him. Some time passes as the two walk across campus to the Hall of Mirrors and step into Scarabia.)

(Scarabia: Breakfast Kitchen)

Nyx: O-kay, lets see what we’ve got to work with today~

(Nyx opens up the fridge and starts rummaging around inside)

Floyd: Huh? What the hell’s all that? The whole fridge is just full of tupperware boxes…

Nyx: This, Floyd, is the one good thing about living here in Scarabia~ Nyx: Pretty much every day Kalim makes us this big extravagant feast for dinner, and while there’s a lotta mouths here to feed there’s still always leftovers. Nyx: As long as it doesn’t have someone’s name on it, that means it’s free eating~

Floyd: Really? Lil’ Otter and Sea Snake don’t get mad at’cha for it? Azul usually throws a fit if I go takin’ anything leftover from Mostro without tellin’ him first.

Nyx: Nah, I asked ‘em before and they gave me the okay to eat what I want as long as it doesn’t belong to someone else. Everyone here does it. Nyx: Now, let’s see what we got to work with here… (sniff sniff) I think this is chicken tikka. I can make use of this. Nyx: Some leftover mixed veggies, some rice- ah, here’s the tzatziki sauce. I can work with this. Nyx: Alright, gimmie just a few minutes to throw some stuff together and then we can eat.

(Nyx chops up some ingredients and starts heating them up in a pan, the sound of sizzling food emits loudly from the stove)

Floyd: What’re you making?

Nyx: A leftover scramble.

Floyd: Whazzat?

Nyx: You never had a scramble before?

Floyd: A scramble’s what I do when I’m late for class and I gotta book it halfway across campus to make it in time.

Nyx: Har har, very clever. No we’re not eating that. Nyx: I’m making some pan-fried potatoes and throwing a bunch of the leftovers in with it to make a whole dish. It’s gonna be good, trust me.

Floyd: Huh. So why’s it called a scramble?

Nyx: Cuz usually you’d scramble some eggs into it while you cook, but I’m not gonna do that right now.

Floyd: Aw, why not? What if I want an egg on it?

Nyx: I think that’d be kinda weird with all the other food I’m using but I can throw a fried egg on top if it’ll make you feel better.

Floyd: Hell yeah! Make it two!

Nyx: Alright, two fried eggs comin’ up.

(Time passes…)

Nyx: Alright, food’s ready!

Floyd: About time! I’m damn near wasting away to nothing over here!

Nyx: It wasn’t that long. Anyway, I made your portion extra big since we had enough leftovers for it, so go ahead and dig in.

Floyd: Whoa… It smells really good, my mouth’s watering already~

Nyx: Don’t let me stop ya, go ahead and dig in.

Floyd: I’m gettin’ right on that.

(Munch munch…)

Floyd: Oh shit! This is Sea Snake’s cooking! But… technically you made it yours now? It’s a culinary collab~

Nyx: Pfff~ You’re a dork.

Floyd: Well like, I know you didn’t make the chicken or the vegetables, but the potatoes you made are really tender and flavorful, actually. Floyd: You made stuff that wasn’t yours work with stuff that is. It all still goes together. That’s cool to me.

Nyx: To be fair I’ve had a lot of practice doing this, since I make stuff like this all the time at home. Nyx: My mom and stepdad like cooking big portions of food, cuz then we get leftovers and we don’t have to cook a whole big meal again for a while afterwards. Nyx: A whole tri-tip roast or a corned beef will last us at least a week. Sometimes my mom will make a whole bunch of burger patties out of a ton of ground beef, too, and I can chop those up into things. Nyx: Sometimes we’ll get a whole rotisserie chicken from the store and we’ll just shear off pieces of it to make whatever we want with the leftover meat after that first dinner. Nyx: I’m used to dealing with those leftovers, and making new and different things out of their components to make a whole meal out of them.

Floyd: We kinda do that in Mostro Lounge sometimes too, but Azul gets mad whenever I go “too off-menu” and make whatever I want. Floyd: Like, what’s the point if I can’t experiment and make something different every once in a while? How am I supposed to know what’s good if I don’t get to find out what sucks, too? Floyd: I wanna cook with you instead sometime, Pufferfish~ I like the idea of throwing whatever in a pan and seeing what comes out of it.

Nyx: Heh… well, you’re a better cook than me already, so whatever you end up cooking extra of I’m sure I can find some way to use it. Nyx: Oh, by the way, put some of that tzatziki sauce and feta cheese on a bite of your food. Nyx: I dunno how it’ll taste with the egg, I’ve actually never tried it like that before, but those two toppings usually go with the chicken and veggies I threw in there.

Floyd: Oh yeah? Well we’re gonna find out how they go together now. Heh, this is kinda exciting~ Floyd: Hey, are there any other sauces you got around here that you think would be good on this? I’m startin’ to feel more experimental now.

Nyx: Well I dunno about “good” but we have a lotta random sauces in the fridge and pantry if you wanna dig around and see what tickles your fancy.

Floyd: I think I’m gonna do that~ You gotta try them all with me though.

Nyx: Alright, alright~ Just as long as I get enough edible bites of food, I’ll indulge you this once.

/ End

[blackparaderunner]

The first time he had seen the god, he knew he was made to be his, there was no way someone like that could be anything else. He was beautiful, kind, and perfect in every way. He was just perfect, and he would be his. So the man took it upon himself to follow the god around, it wasn’t too hard when he had access to Constellation and therefore information and a little cheat app one of his alters had snuck in to allow them travel between worlds by using magic through the app’s code.

So he followed Cinder around, learnt about him, what he liked and disliked, what he did, his usual routines and the places he liked to frequent, all whisky staying hidden from the gods sight, and as he fell more and more for the god he began to plan on how he was going to make Cinder his and his alone.

First and foremost was making a good impression, so with that in mind he had hit up the infinite mall and just happened to make sure that he had gotten the last two orders of Charrus burgers and spider fries, they were surprisingly good. Once he had done that he waited until the god got told that he had taken the last order, he sat there with the double order looking a little sad staring at the seat opposite him as he idly chewed on one of the fries, yet he was watching from the corner of his eye. Would he take the bait?

( @a-drop-of-nightshade )

Cinder had been busy as all hell ever since all the L alters began to link up with their app. They were making so many connections and needing transport between worlds it seemed multiple times a day. He had just dropped off an L that had all but squirmed out of his hands like a greased pig when he'd seen the monster waiting for him. That's how it seemed to go. They had no self preservation instincts when it came to these types of beings. So he just dropped him off and checked his book for the next transport.

After dropping off several other L's he was tired. It seemed that the weeks were just flying by thanks to how busy he'd been with everything and everyone. It just kept reminding him how lonely he was. How could he properly care for a partner when he had no time for himself? Most days he just collapsed where he could to sleep and catch a few hours rest before needing to rush off again. It was just an endless cycle but he refused to give up on them all.

A few days later he needed a break. Putting everything on hold he just went to the mall to get some food and rest. Walking to the stalls he just wanted some comfort food and to veg out for awhile. But he wasn't in luck it seemed. The stall was out and it would be an hour at least until they restocked. They did tell him about someone showing up and seemingly being stood up. Frowning he looked over and instantly recgonized an L sitting alone.

Shocked he walked over to him and sat down. "Oh shit who stood you up?" Pulling out his book he began scanning the pages. "I don't see any dates set up. Did you want me to go grab someone nice for you?"

[galactic-magick]

Dreams: Echo x Reader

Request: Prompt 6, please. Y/N loves every time they dream, where they can see 'Him', but when they wake up, it's a nightmare to find him, because his face is at the bar they work at, 79s. Now, that'd be fine, but the issue is, his face is on 87% of the customers. The Clone Troopers. So they gave up. After order 66, the dreams get more concerning and they have to leave Coruscant, and takes a job on another planet as a singer for Cid's Parlour(or something like). Finally meets him. Clone of your choosing.

Prompt #6: Soulmate AU where you can see your soulmate in your dreams

Summary: Having a soulmate that looks like the entire clone army has its challenges, enough to make you lose hope. But the possibility of love for you resurfaces when a cyborg man and his strange crew enter your life.

Words: 1200+

Warnings: none

Author’s Notes: I thought Echo would go best with this prompt since for most of his life he looked exactly like the other clones, whereas the rest of The Bad Batch might be more uniquely recognizable. Hope you enjoy!

-

-

-

You sigh, finishing the dishes and restocking the shelves. Once again, you had a beautiful dream about your soulmate last night, but woke up with no more hope of meeting them than you had before.

For most people, the mental link through the dreamscape is no trouble at all. They get to see their soulmate long before they meet them, and then they can easily recognize them when they finally do.

But not you. No, you just hadto have a soulmate who had the same face as the Galactic Republic’s entire army.

Sure, it’s pretty cool that your soulmate is a clone soldier fighting for you and all the other citizens in the galaxy. It’s worrying sometimes, hearing about all the harsh battles they go through, but you’re proud of whoever he is nonetheless. You hope one day he’ll find his way to you safely, and you can live a life together after the war is over.

Until then, though, you’re stuck working a job at 79s, a bar on Coruscant where the majority of the customers are clones.

You enjoy your job, you really do. You like mixing all the drinks and bringing out the food, and all the soldiers are very kind. It just hurts a bit to constantly see the face of your soulmate, and not a single one recognizing you.

As much as you try to push the thought out of your mind, sometimes you wonder if he’s dead. It’s certainly not an irrational possibility. Maybe the visions of him you have in your dreams are figments of the past, nothing more than a memory. Maybe he’s long gone, and you’re better off giving up and moving on.

-

Several months later, your life is entirely different.

It feels like the galaxy changed overnight. One day you were working your job and everything was normal, the next you witnessed a squad of clones chase a Jedi into the bar and shoot him. You ran, not knowing what else to do, all you knew is you weren’t safe anymore.

You took the little spare money you had to book a transport to a planet you have an old friend living on, and that’s where you’ve been ever since.

“I just…I still don’t get it,” you shake your head as you watch the Empire’s latest recruitment ad on the Holoscreen.

“What’s there not to get? The war’s over,” your friend shrugs.

“So why does everything almost feel worse?”

“It’ll settle down eventually,” they say. “Hopefully,”

You know your friend was never in the midst of the war like you were, living in the center of the galaxy and hearing all the battle stories, but gosh do you wish you could convey to them that what you saw before you left was much more horrifying. Seeing the soldiers you trusted for years all of a sudden kill the Jedi you also trusted and looked up to, the soldiers who shared the face of the man you’re destined to love.

Supposedly the Jedi were not to be relied upon anymore, something about corruption or treason, but you’re not sure you believe that. Something was off about the situation, and something was definitelyoff about the clones. And why would the Empire be putting so much effort into hiring non-clone soldiers if everything was fine?

Despite your concerns though, you understand that life has to go on. Eventually you take a job as an entertainer at a local lounge and buy your own place. You meet all sorts of people and try to forget your past and troubles. You can’t even remember the last time you saw the face of a clone, so even thoughts of your soulmate have started to slip your mind.

One night, midway through singing one of your most popular songs, you notice a particularly strange group come in. They wear armor similar to the clones and troopers, but it’s painted black and red, and a little girl tags along beside them. You continue, but you keep your eye on them.

One of them is significantly taller, speaking in a loud, gruff voice. One of them takes his helmet off to reveal some tattoos and a full head of wavy hair, and one looks to be deep in thought, hunched over a screen.

And the last one was walking towards you.

As you finish your song and step off the stage for your break, he slowly approaches you, his face still hidden.

“Hi,” he says, in a voice you still recognize even after some time.

You smile politely, but stay on your guard. You have no idea if this is a clone that can be trusted.

“Sorry if I startled you,” he must’ve noticed you tense up, “I just wanted to tell you you’re very talented, and-“

He stops.

“Well, thank you very much,” you nod, trying to ease the silence. “No need to apologize, I was just surprised to see one of you around here,”

“Yeah. Things are really different now,” his head falls a bit, “Can we- can we talk somewhere?”

“Uh, yeah. Sure,” you smile, leading him to the back room. You doubt he’s dangerous, if he and his crew were really out to get you they probably would’ve kidnapped you by now or something. They certainly look like they could.

He takes a deep breath, and you sit down.

“I think you’re my soulmate,” he finally says.

Your heart skips a beat, “What?”

“No, no, I don’t think. I know,” he fumbles. “Seeing your face was the only thing that kept me going when I was close to death, I’ve memorized your features more than any battle plan I’ve ever drawn. It must be you,”

“Wow, I-“ you gasp. “Holy shit,”

You stand up and look into the visor of his helmet. You can’t see his eyes, but you’ve seen them a million times before in a way.

“But…” you squint. “You’re different than the others, aren’t you?”

“We’re not with the Empire,” he assures you. “We-“

“Hey,” you bring a hand up to his covered face. “You can explain everything to me later. I’m just glad we’re together now,” your fingers fall to the bottom of the helmet. “Can I see you?”

“There’s…something you should know first,” he grabs your wrist with his human hand. “I was captured by the Separatists during the war, they- they turned me into a machine. I might not look like what you’ve seen in your dreams,”

You glance down at his cyborg arm you vaguely noticed when you first saw him. You can’t tell if his legs are also cybernetic as well, but with how happy you are just to be with your soulmate right now, you don’t really care.

“I will love you no matter what,” you promise him.

He releases your wrist, and you gently remove his helmet.

He has a device wrapped around his head and ears, and scars patched with metal on the top of his head. But beneath the years of suffering plaguing him, he’s still the same familiar face you’ve dreamt of.

You run your thumbs across his cheeks, meeting his eyes with a smirk, “You really thought I wouldn’t still find you handsome?”

“Yeah,” he chuckles.

You close the gap between you, placing a soft kiss on his lips, “You’re literally everything I’ve ever dreamed of,”

He smiles, pulling you back and holding you close. He doesn’t have to say anything else for you to know everything’s going to be alright, as long as you’re together.

[bartistic]

Bruce Goes To The Market!

knife tw, food cw, incredibly dumb self-indulgent concept cw, outsider (oc) pov

It is universally acknowledged that a cashier possessing free time, will be in want of an extra task to fill that free time. At least, that’s what James’ managers seemed to think. Privately, he agreed, as he found restocking the shelves to be a most agreeable pastime, one that could in fact suck up hours of his eight hour closing shift.

He was in the soda aisle, debating whether sparkling water belonged with seltzer or with the rest of the store brand items, when he noticed a broad-shouldered man in sunglasses and a Gotham University sweatshirt, inspecting the selection of diet tonic water and looking utterly flummoxed. Customer in need of assistance!

“Hi, how are you doing tonight? You need help finding anything?” Mentally, James winced at the preppy-ness of his ‘customer service robot voice’ as his favorite coworker Stephie liked to call it. Luckily, he’d thrown his voice out enough screaming to Queen karaoke the night before that his voice stayed in the normal octaves rather than shooting into the stratosphere. The man straightened up and looked down towards James, who suddenly felt very short in all of his 5’9” glory. (Well, 5’8 3/4” but who’s counting.)

“Yes, actually. I’m new to the store, could you direct me to where the soap is?” Oh god. Of all the things it had to be the one item James swore was never in the same aisle twice.

“Of course!” He lied through his teeth. “Here, right this way.” Turning, he set off towards the general direction of where the soap tended to lie, with a variation of four different aisles. Luckily, the first aisle was correct, and he watched, intrigued, as the customer gave a thorough inspection to at least 14 different bars of soap. “Anything else I can help you with?” He added, as the man finally selected a bar and placed it in his basket. The man looked sheepish.

“This is actually the first time I’ve been in a grocery store. I’m not usually the one doing the shopping. My—the person I live with gave me a list, but I honestly don’t know where or even what half of these things are.” He held out a grocery list, scrawled in an elegant cursive. It was double-sided. James checked the front of the store, where the other cashier was engrossed in his phone while trying not to appear engrossed in his phone. It was an hour and a half until they closed, and he was pretty sure there was only one other customer in the store at most.

“Sure! Alright, so our first step should probably be to hit the deli, seeing as they have the longest wait times.” After walking the man through ordering Roast Beef, Prosciutto, Pastrami, Swiss, Havarti, Gouda, and Picante Provolone (what) they moved on to the canned goods. “We should probably grab a cart, I don’t think that basket’s going to be able to hold all of this.” Turning into the canned goods aisle, James sighed.

“Caution: Hazard Detected! Precaución, ¡Peligro Detectado!” The store’s resident useless robot assistant was stuck in place, screaming at a small bit of an onion peel that had fallen to the floor.

“Batsy, I swear to god.” James went over and kicked the peel under one of the shelves, pressing the button on the robot to reboot it.

“...Batsy?” The customer sounded somewhere between bemused and amused. Perhaps just ‘mused.

“Yeah, it’s our obtuse robot that only sees what’s right in front of it and makes a big fuss over literally nothing. It can’t even clean anything up, and the few moments there actually is a spill it just skids through it and makes it worse. Technically corporate calls it Patsy, short for Patrick, because we’re Patrick’s, you know? But since this is Gotham, we call it Batsy. Short for... Batrick. I’m not the one who came up with the name, that honor goes to my coworker Stephie. She’s, uh, not working tonight.” James internally began banging his head against the shelves. Why. Was. He. Like. This. “So, do you know what brand of chickpeas your... roommate wanted?”

/ / /

Finally, after another 45 minutes of shopping, they were ready to check out. James noticed the shift had changed while he was away. “Alright, so I can actually take you at this register over here, ‘cuz I’m still logged in and all.” He gulped as the customer began to load up onto the belt. This was... a lot of food. He’d scanned around a quarter when he officially ran out of room, turning to bagging instead. “Let’s get you another cart, actually, so we can load into that without squishing what you haven’t unpacked yet.” He moved to go grab one, but the customer was faster, jogging back with another cart before he could even finish bagging all the protein shakes. There were, admittedly, a lot of protein shakes.

Scanning the meat-substitutes, James scanned his own mind for an avenue of conversation. “So, you mentioned that it’s your son who’s the vegetarian. How old is he?”

“He’s 13. It’s not religious or health-wise or anything, he just really loves animals. Our house is practically a zoo on a good day, and that’s not even counting all his siblings.”

“Oh, how many kids do you have?” It had to be a fair amount for it to be ‘all’ his siblings. The customer opened his mouth as if to answer, then shut it again. He seemed to be thinking. Did he... not know how many kids he had??

“Legally I have... fffffour? Five? Yeah... that sounds right.” James tried to hide the bewildered expression in his own face, but he must not have been doing it well. “That makes me sound like such a bad father. No, I promise, I love them all, I just have quite a few of their friends living with us as well, and I’ve known those kids long enough to feel like they’re my kids too. Not to mention the whole difference between the ones I’ve adopted, the one who was my ward who I then retroactively adopted, the one I’m fostering, and the one who is legally an emancipated minor. And... the one who. Is no longer with us.” James blinked. That was indeed complicated.

“You must have a lot of love in your heart,” he settled on, finally.

“I just h— Oh, #%*$.” The blueberry container had burst open, all over the floor. James internally groaned.

“Oh no! Sorry about that, that’s the third one tonight. The packaging is just... not great. Do you want me to go get you another one?”

“No, I can get it. Thanks though.” The customer gingerly stepped through the minefield as James power walked to go get the clean up supplies. Six feet away, Batsy was screaming at a blueberry.

“Eat your heart out, Mister Miyagi,” he aimed a light roundhouse kick at the button to reboot the robot. Batsy got two feet before it encountered another world-ending-threat, danger level blueberry. James sighed and went to go clear that area first.

/ / /

Finally, almost everything was scanned. James was scanning the bread and rolls as the customer fit all the bags into the two carts, like an expert game of tetris. There were a few hiccups where James had had to explain that you probably shouldn’t bag Raid with milk, or that it was a good idea to double bag heavy items, or that you should wait until the end to put the eggs in (and there were a lot of eggs. Gaston-levels of eggs. Probably to be expected with that many kids in the house. Hah. eggs-pected.) But by the end they were working like a well-oiled machine. James bagged the last item, hit the button to total it, and watched as the customer realized he forgot his deli items.

“I’m just gonna— gonna run and go get those real quick. Is that okay?”

“Yeah, sure. Can you fill out the charity question real quick though? Th...thanks.” The customer was gone before James could question him on the fact that he’d used the custom amount option to apparently donate $1k to Gotham General’s children’s ward. It was... probably a mistake, but he’d wait around to check. He turned as he heard the beginnings of a commotion behind him, from the one other customer in the store. This guy’s whole aesthetic just screamed gross, from the white-boy dreads to the Blue Lives Matter gaiter mask. It looked as if he was having trouble at self-checkout. James was about to head over to help when his coworker passed him. He turned back to keep an eye on the clock. 10 minutes until closing. Please come back with the deli items soon. He heard an aggressive murmuring that sent chills up his spine, a distinct feeling of Not Right Bad. He turned back to where his coworker was engaged with helping the other customer. His coworker who was... very pale. Frightened. The customer whose hand glinted silver with... oh #%*$, that’s a knife. Not Good Very Bad... oh hell no, you are not hurting my coworker on my watch.

“HEY #%$&FACE, EAT BEANS!” As the aggressive customer turned to meet the container of garbanzo beans that was currently hurtling towards his face at the maximum speed a theatre-kid-who-never-did-sports could throw, the world seemed to throw down. Faintly, James could hear rational thoughts pounding at the door to his mind, begging to be let in. Thoughts like ‘They’re definitely going to fire you for attacking a customer’ and ‘They’re definitely going to fire you for cursing in front of a customer’ and ‘They’re definitely going to fire you for damaging the merchandise’ and ‘You can’t even throw a ball to save your life, there’s no way that’s going to hit him.’ Praying to Freddie Mercury, Elton John, and all other things holy, James watched as the beans sailed through the air and struck their target true— albeit a little lower than planned.”

Grossface automatically brought his hands down to protect his nethers, apparently forgetting that their was a knife in his hands. He let out a second agonized howl as he stabbed himself in the balls. Blindly, James groped around for more ammunition. Holding out a zucchini as threateningly as he could, he watched as the would-be aggressor ran out of the store as fast as he could with both hands clasping his junk. “Are you okay?” He asked his coworker, feeling his voice echo through the suddenly very-quiet-sounding store. She nodded mutely. He nodded back, then turned back to his register and oH shit there’s His Customer, holding the deli items.

“Nice shot.” Okay, this time he definitely sounded amused.

“I... am so sorry about the beans, I can get you a refund on those or I can go get you some more or—”

“No need, they definitely went to a good cause.” The customer grinned and held out the deli items. Faintly, James began to wrestle with the bag to get to the barcodes. Finally, everything was scanned, for good.

“Alright, will that be everything?” The clock read two minutes until closing.

“Yes, that should be everything. Again, thank you for all your help.” James watched as even with the membership points taken off, the total soared to over $750.

“Alright, your total is... $754.33, here’s some coupons and a survey slip. If you fill that out you get entered for a drawing to win a $500 gift card. Which... I don’t know that you’d need, but. Why not.” The customer reached into his wallet and counted out 5 $100 bills. Then he pulled out a black card. He paid off the total with the card, then handed the bills to James.

“Here you go, I wasn’t sure how much you tip cashiers.” James opened and closed his mouth a few times, like a fish.

“People don’t normally... tip cashiers...” and especially not HUNDREDS OF DOLLARS.

“Oh. Well, you were a good cashier. You deserve it. And here—” at this he pulled a crisp business card out of his wallet. “At Wayne Enterprises we could use quick-thinkers like you.” Pulling down his sunglasses, he gave a quick wink. James waved absentmindedly as BRUCE #%*$ING WAYNE walked out of the store. He looked down at the business card. Written upon it were the words: “Call here for an interview, mention Malone and they’ll know I sent you. Best of luck with the current job— BW”

James sat down. The clock was 10 minutes past closing before he remembered to look at it. There were a million thoughts running through his head. Oh my god I joked around to a billionaire. I cursed in front of a billionaire. I chucked a can of beans into a man’s nutsack in front of a billionaire.

But oddly enough, the only question that remained at the top of his mind was this:

This is because I have black hair and blue eyes, isn’t it.

[theres-an-impulstor-among-us]

Vaunna, my beloved. Are you aware that we now need some kind of Rendog fan fiction to celebrate the important news that are his dog ears?

Ahh Oca my beloved, of course I am aware. Here you go! 

(also pls don’t tag this as shipping, it’s just friendship)

…

  One hot afternoon, Ren is at his log farm, trying to stock up for his shop. Bigger Logz has seen a lot of traffic recently so he hopes he can restock quickly so as to not lose any business. But his long hair is causing him to sweat heavily in the hot sun and he’s not sure how much longer he can stay out here for. 

  “Yo, Ren!” Iskall unexpectedly appears on top of the tree he’s just about to chop down. “How’s it going?”

  “Hey!” Ren smiles up at his friend. “What’s up, Iskall?”

  “Nothing much, just coming over to check on the weirdo who’s chopping logs in the middle of a heatwave.”

  Ren laughs. “If I don’t get it done now, I’ll keep procrastinating until I hate everything. Now that you’re here, you wanna help?”

  “No, dude, I wanna go to the beach or something!” Iskall reaches down and tugs at Ren’s shoulder. “C’mon, let’s go do something fun. Aren’t you sweltering out here?”

  Their best friend considers this. “I mean, I AM really hot.”

  Iskall winks. “In more ways than one.”

  “Stop!” Ren giggles, swatting his best friend’s hand away. 

  “Yo, you’re so hot cuz you’ve got a whole mane covering your whole head and neck.” Iskall takes hold of a few strands of Ren’s hair and tugs gently at them. “Look at this. You gotta be sweating like a… um… whatever sweats a lot. Why don’t you get a haircut?”

  Ren’s smile falls and he takes a step back, tugging his hair out of Iskall’s grip. “I don’t need a haircut, I’m fine like this.” 

  Iskall raises an eyebrow. “Okay, what’s wrong?”

  “N-Nothing.”

  “Bro, I know you better than you know yourself. I heard the change in your voice just now so I know something’s wrong. You can talk to me about anything, you know.”

  Ren hesitates. He’s been best friends with Iskall for so long that maybe it IS time to tell them his secret. 

  “Okay. Here it is.”

  He lifts his long hair out of the way, revealing two furry dog ears on either side of his head. 

  Iskall stares at him, their eyes wide. “Ren… How long have you had those?”

  “My whole life,” Ren admits. “I’m just not confident enough to show them to everyone else.” 

  “You?” Iskall says in disbelief. “NOT confident?! You’re like the most confident guy I know.”

  Ren gives a slightly awkward chuckle. “Yeah. Not about this, though.”

  “But… how come? It’s not that bad, surely? You know the hermits would never judge you based on your appearance.”

  “I know, it’s just… it’s hard to shake old trauma. Know what I mean?”

  Iskall pauses. They know exactly what Ren means. Nobody likes talking about their lives before Hermitcraft, and this is the only time they’ve ever heard Ren mention anything about his. 

  Finally, they jump down beside Ren and link arms with him. “C’mon, bro. Let’s go get you a haircut. It’s time you get to show the world your full self.”

  Ren starts to protest but cuts himself off. For some reason, the idea of finally letting his ears show appeals to him. Even though he’s nervous at the idea, he knows deep down that the other hermits won’t treat him any differently. They already love him for who he is. 

  “O-Okay,” he says, nodding. “I’ll do it.”

…

  “-so we’d really like a style that shows off his ears but still encapsulates his rugged good looks,” Iskall finishes. “Can you do it?”

  Bdubs expertly twirls his shears. “What a silly question. You ready, Ren?”

  Ren squirms in the barber’s chair. “I don’t know. Y-You’ll be gentle, right…?”

  “Oh, of course!” Bdubs beams and flicks a piece of cloth over the mirror in front of him. “But no mirrors during the process, ‘kay? Gonna be a nice surprise at the end.”

  “I-I’m not gonna lose my ears altogether, am I?”

  Bdubs shakes his head confidently. “Nah, that hasn’t happened in ages! Okay, on we go!”

  Ren closes his eyes and leans back, forcing himself to relax. He trusts his friends; if Iskall and Bdubs say this is a good idea, he trusts their word. 

  Soon, he begins to relax for real, listening to Iskall and Bdubs chatter to each other about nothing in particular as the latter works. As much as he likes to talk, he also enjoys just listening to other people chat about building ideas and plans for the future. It helps distract him from his nerves.

  “Right! All done!”

  Ren opens his eyes. “That was quick.”

  “That was fifteen minutes,” Bdubs responds amusedly. “I think you fell asleep or something. Anyway, are you ready for the reveal?”

  Immediately, Ren’s heartrate skyrockets as he remembers where he is and what has just happened. “Y-Yeah.” 

  Grinning, Bdubs whips off the material covering the mirror. 

  Ren’s eyes widen. 

  Not for the first time in his life, he can’t stop staring at his reflection in the mirror. But this time, it’s different. This is the first time in so long that he can actually see his dog ears. He always thought he would hate any hairstyle where his ears are on show, but Bdubs has done such a good job keeping his hair long enough to still look good but short enough to show off the furry ears on either side of his head. 

  “Bro…!” Iskall circles Ren, unable to take their eyes off their best friend’s head. “You look amazing. Seriously. Your ears look so good with that haircut.”

  “Th-Thank you…” Ren reaches up to stroke his ears. He’s only ever touched them to sweep his hair over them or hide them from someone else; the feeling of touching them so gently is foreign to him. “Gosh… Y-You’ve done an amazing job, Dubadubs.” 

  Bdubs beams, placing both his hands on Ren’s shoulders from behind. “Dude, I can’t believe you’ve never shown off your ears before. You look great! Do you feel any different?”

  Ren simply nods, unable to put his feelings into words. Thankfully, Bdubs and Iskall can see the expression of pure joy on his face and they don’t press him to answer aloud. 

  A few minutes later, he steps out into the sunshine and closes his eyes, taking a deep breath. The breeze blows gently through his hair and ears. It’s amazing to Ren how this simple act has made him feel so free.   Iskall appears next to him, offering him his sunglasses. “You wanna go show off your new look?”

  “Heck yeah.” Ren grins and puts his sunglasses on. “How do I look?”

  “Niiiiice.” Iskall gives him an approving smirk. “Ladies get in line, huh?”

  Ren laughs at his own catchphrase being quoted back to him. He lets out a contented sigh, leaning casually on his shorter best friend’s shoulder. He’s never been happier in his whole life.

  “Ladies, gentlemen, and everybody in between.”

[alyasgf]

Reveals?

Part 5 of Everything’s Gonna Be Okay || Masterlist

Word Count- 2615

AO3

Notes- Crazy how I’ve had this chapter drafted for the longest. I went through a spout of hating all of my writing so I wasn’t really motivated. I pretty much just wrote Alyanette until I felt confident enough to continue this so,, yay here we are a couple months later, sorry for the wait.

Begin

She’d never say it aloud, but she adored her partner. She admired him for his optimism, loyalty, and how stupidly brave he could be during battles.

As she detransformed on her bed her mind also wandered to Adrien. It did that a lot recently, flipping back and forth between both blonde boys. It confused her heart, but still she knew it belonged to Adrien, as it always had, as it always would. With his soft laughs and softer smiles, Marinette couldn’t believe she was lucky enough to have him.

She laid there, staring up dreamily toward the night sky and holding her hands to her heart until a shadow obscured her view.

She heard a small knock and smiled. Did this stray ever go home?

She opened her sky light and stuck her head out.

“To what do I owe the pleasure savior of Paris?”

In the dim moonlight she could see Chat’s eyes crinkle as he smiled.

“I request your company, and perhaps some sustenance?” He said in an overly formal tone as he kneeled before her.

She laughed before inviting him in.

As he climbed down into her room she could see the glow in his eyes. Something about him was different, he seemed happier.

Most of the times that he would come Marinette could see a lonely sad look break through when he thought she wasn’t looking. It’s not that she minded of course, if she could be a form of comfort for Chat like he was for her she’d take it in a heartbeat.

“I have some chocolate pastries here, although they aren’t too fresh.” She offered him as he crossed the room over to her desktop. She didn’t normally make a habit of keeping food in her room, but Tikki had been snacking. Hopefully she wouldn’t mind too much if Chat stole a few.

“Sounds great Marinette.” He called over his shoulder as he sat in her desk chair and sat in front of her computer.

“What do you say we find some two player game on here and- oh.” Chat stopped mid-sentence and Marinette turned around from grabbing a pastry to see what had happened.

Apparently she forgot to close out the folder of Adrien’s ad photos she had saved on her computer.

She turned bright red as she ran over to the computer and quickly closed it out.

“That’s uh... research! Yeah research on some Gabriel designs!” She lied, facing her back towards Chat so he wouldn’t notice the blush now spreading down her neck.

“Right, well if it were research on Gabriel designs, why only have pictures of Adrien? Other models wear Gabriel brand clothes.” She could practically hear the teasing smirk on his face.

She turned to wack him softly on the shoulder. “Keep on this topic and I’ll make you watch me eat the pastries right here!” She threatened.

Chat held his hands up in mock surrender. “Woah so sorry Adrien Agreste fan #1.” He teased again.

In response Marinette took a large bite out of the pastry she had planned to give him. She made sure to make a show of it, with accompanying sound effects and an exaggerated sigh after she finished chewing.

“Marinette you wound me!” Chat whined, crossing his arms in a dramatic childlike fashion.

Marinette stopped to think about how adorable his pout was before she laughed and went to grab the second pastry.

“Test me again and there will be no more sweets when you come over.” She bluffed.

Chat practically snatched the snack from her hands.

“Then I’d have no reason to come back.” He said through a stuffed mouth.

“No, I think you enjoy my company too much.” She gloated before pulling up a chair beside him. “Now what game did you want to play?”

They spent the next two hours playing fireboy and watergirl, where Marinette was shocked to find they made an incredible team.

——————————————

The akuma was hard, there was no denying that. The akuma called itself Obedience. Anyone struck with its ray was forced to do what ever it said, as though playing a game of simon says with dire stakes.

Marinette regretted staying up so late with Chat the night before. How he managed to have the amount of energy he did was astounding.

Chat had already used his cataclysm and Ladybug had used her lucky charm to set up a trap, all they had to do was lead Obedience into it.

Unfortunately, they needed to charge up before that, seeing as the beeping of their miraculous was giving its final warning before it was going to give up.

They landed on a distant building and de-transformed behind opposite sides of a pillar.

“M’lady do you have any extra snacks? Plagg ate up all his cheese before the battle and I didn’t have time to restock.” Chat called from the other side of the stone divider.

Ladybug giggled. “Looks like you need to learn how to control your friend Chaton. Here.” She reached out with a macaroon for Chat to take.

Her curiosity got the best of her and she couldn’t help but admire his hand as he reached over to take the sweet.

Soft and flawless, other than the messy blue nail polish that glowed in the sunlight. At first she didn’t think anything of it.

“Going for a new look kitty?” She asked lightheartedly as Tikki refueled.

“What? Oh you mean my nails. Well, I had someone paint them for me yesterday and I guess I distracted them too much and they made a mess.” He replied absentmindedly.

Wheels began to turn in Marinette’s brain, but unsure as to why, she didn’t try to make them stop.

“Oh, someone painted them? They look cute, did someone finally take in this alley cat?”

“For someone who hates puns, you really do use a lot of cat related metaphors toward me bug. And as a matter of fact I do, and she’s my girlfriend.” He bragged. “Plagg claws out!”

Ladybug transformed as well and was going to make a joke before a few dot connected before her. Messy blue nails. A girlfriend who painted them the day before. That nail polish looked all too familiar. She tried to push it down, but the dots were already connected.

Suddenly she flashed back to Chat Noir seeing her folder of Adrien photos last night and she felt sick to her stomach.

“Hey bug? You ready to kick this akuma Chat style?”

Ladybug snapped out of her trance. Even if everything that she just thought of was true, there was still an enemy to defeat. She could fully panic later.

“I think you mean Ladybug style. Now let’s go.”

They only just managed to get to the Eiffel Tower before they heard her again.

“Where are you Ladybug and Chat Noir? Don’t you know good children come when they’re called?” Obedience sang from a few streets over.

Chat strode over to lure her to the trap.

“Well maybe this kitty needs to be put in time out.” He replied leaning on his baton juvenilely.

“Oh no sweet boy, bad children must be taught better!” She pointed cane at him and an array of vegetables began to shoot out at him.

“Oh no! I’m afraid already perfectly healthy ma’am!” He leapt and dodged as he lead her straight to Ladybug.

As he turned the corner, there she stood, hands defiantly on her hips a couple of feet away. He scampered around a very large pool of a certain substance that was hardly noticeable unless you knew what you were looking for.

He took his side beside his lady as Obedience followed behind him.

“I’ve got you now tomcat!” Obedience turned the corner too fast and slipped straight into the street filled with a ridiculous amount of oil.

She screamed as she slid, and in her fall her cane flew from her fingers. It’s momentum led it straight toward them. Ladybug stopped it with the bottom of her shoe, and stomped on it with a satisfied grin.

Once she let the akuma go and threw the now empty bottle of oil to reverse the effects of the akuma, she turned to Chat.

“Pound it!” She said it with her usual confidence, but Chat could see something else lingering in her eyes.

But he was supposed to be practicing piano at the moment so he didn’t exactly have too much time to question her about it.

“Pound it.” He replied, touching his fist to hers.

————————-

“Tikki spots off.”

Ladybug de-transformed in her room and immediately began pacing.

“Crap crap crap crap! Tikki I accidentally figured out his identity! How could I be so careless as to look at his hands? Why did I care that much.”

Tikki sighed as she sat on Marinette’s desk. Sometimes it was best to let her get it all out.

“Well obviously I cared that much because Chat Noir is my recently established boyfriend! God he’s going to get such an ego boost when he finds out we’re dating.” Marinette threw herself face first into her chaise.

“So you’re going to tell him?” Tikki zipped over to hove beside her holder’s head.

There was a muffled response from the chair.

“What was that Marinette?”

“No, not yet. First I want to see how much he knows, if he knows anything at all.” Marinette rolled over on the chaise, laying as though she were at a therapists appointment.

“Tikki do you think this will effect our relationship? Will it put us in danger?”

Tikki’s little heart warmed.

“Marinette, you guys will be fine. If anything I think this would bring you closer together. If it puts you in any more danger you’ll handle it together, like you always do.” Tikki flew closer to hug Marinette’s cheek and Marinette let out a deep sigh as she brought a hand up to hug Tikki back.

“Thanks Tikki. You’re the best kwamii anyone could ask for.” Marinette said as the stress melted off of her.

“And you’re the best Ladybug I’ve ever known.” She replied warmly.

Of course things would work out. This was Chat she was talking about, Adrien. There wasn’t a problem he couldn’t help her solve, with or without the masks.

————————-

After going over Tikki’s advice for what felt like hours, Marinette came to a conclusion.

She would tell Chat Noir (Adrien?) who she was. It was only fair, considering she knew his identity. She wouldn’t have came to this on her own, so for the millionth time in her life she thanked Tikki.

But first, she needed to have a little fun. She noticed how Adrien would tease her lately for how flustered she got around him, so she figured the least she could do was use this moment to get revenge.

Too excited to sit still, she transformed to confront her boyfriend.

———————

Adrien was laying in bed reading manga when he heard a tapping at his window. He looked over in shock to see his lady waiting outside.

“Ladybug?” He nearly stuttered out.

She was glowing in the moonlight, backlit in all her glory. She had a playful grin in her lips that made Adrien uneasy.

“Hey pretty boy, mind if I pop in?” She asked casually, as if it were totally normal for Adrien Agreste to have a spotted heroine outside of his window.

He calmed his heart, remembering this was his dorky girlfriend and invited her in. He had to remember to act friendly, not like he would with Marinette, nor like he would as Chat Noir. This wouldn’t be easy.

“Your nails look cute.” She offered casually as she sauntered over to sit in his desk chair.

Adrien froze. Ladybug had noticed Chat Noir’s earlier too.

He quickly pushed that thought away. Marinette had been oblivious of his identity up until this point, even after the thousands of clues he’d managed to drop. He wasn’t exactly concerned anymore.

He decided to take advantage of the chance to compliment his girlfriend without her being able to completely reject it.

“Yeah my girlfriend painted them! She’s so cute and sweet and pretty.” He replied dreamily.

He could see Ladybug’s eyes widen and her blush grow. This was going great.

“Did you need something?” He asked innocently.

“I- uh-“ Adrien laughed, his girlfriend really wasn’t too different outside of the suit. Flustered and flushed, she was still Marinette.

Suddenly something in her eyes changed. One second they were wide and almost panicked, the next they were full of suspicion.

“You know don’t you!” She accused more than asked. She stalked over and jabbed a finger lightly into his chest.

Now it was Adrien’s turn to panic.

“Know what?” He asked, hoping to play dumb.

“You do!”

So much for feigning innocence. Instead he opted for begging for forgiveness.

“Marinette, i’m so sorry! It’s just I knew you’d panic if I told you when I found out and it’s not like I tried to figure out your identity! It’s just that you put so much effort into the whole kwamiibuster scheme-“

“You’ve known since kwamiibuster?!” She practically shouted.

“-and you looked so cute.” Adrien added still trying to lighten the blow. “I didn’t tell anyone and I’ve known for a while and nothing bad happened so I figured-“

Ladybug cut off his rambling with a kiss.

Adrien was stunned at first but then ultimately sighed into the kiss as he leaned into her touch. His arms looped around her waist as he pulled her close, hands tracing patterns into her spandex covered back.

He pulled pack slightly, noses still touching. He could feel her breath ghost his lips.

“So we’re okay?” He asked hopefully, eyes looking deep into hers as they caught their breath.

“Of course, minou. I just wish you would’ve told me before you saw that embarrassing folder on my computer.” She blushed.

“Oh? But then I wouldn’t be able to tease you about it. Tell me, which one was your favorite? Do you think the greens really brought out my eyes?”

“You’re the worst!” She exclaimed, attempting to pull from his embrace. Adrien’s arms held her fast in place.

“You love me!” He announced proudly as he pulled her into a tight hug. “Ladybug is dating Chat Noir!”

“Would you be quiet! I don’t want to have to explain to Nathalie why Paris’ superhero is standing in your room.” She giggled into Adrien’s shoulder.

“Ladybug is dating Chat Noir” He whispered, this time softer as he nuzzled her neck.

“Yes she is.” Ladybug sighed, resigning to Adrien’s touch.

“Now,” He released the girl as he turned and clasped his hands together. “de-transform. We’ve had plenty of date night in your room-“

“Those weren’t technically dates” She interjected.

“-And not enough in mine.” He gave her a pointed look as he continued. “Of course, since it’s my room, I have full say in what we watch.” He could hear Marinette’s pout as she de-transformed. “But I’ll take suggestions.”

Marinette crossed over to where Adrien was pacing in anticipation and threw her arms around his shoulders from behind. She placed a quick kiss on the base of his neck.

“New Girl again!” She said excitedly.

“No.”

[is-that-another-soulmate-au]

Zuko says fuck all of you, this war is stupid, your bending elitism is stupid, I'm gonna end your stupid existence with sheer spite and teenage angst

>If He Used His Strength<

"Maybe you'd like one to match!" Zuko snapped at Zhao

"Is that a challenge?" The irritating older man sounded all too cocky

"An Agni Kai, at sunset" he glared daggers at the man who just so happened to agree to the duel

Once Zuko used a move outside of his firebending the match was over quickly. He easily broke Zhao's root, kicking flames only at his feet until he fell back. He stood over him with a dark stare. He was tired of this. Tired of running around. Tired of chasing a twelve year old boy. Tired of tirelessly searching for the love of a terrible father. Tired of the war. He was done with it. And he had the power to end it. Not the fire power per say. But the ability to fight against and overpower multiple benders without ever lighting a spark himself

"DO IT!" Zhao spat at him

Zuko let out a loud growled shout and punched the ground right next to Zhao's head with a bright flame exploding from it. "This war is over. I beat you. And I'll beat him. I dont need fire to take you down."

"Wha-"

"So far your biggest enemies have been a twelve year old monk and a sixteen year old boy with trauma. So save your questions for your prison cell you cocky piece of trash" and with that he spit in his face and made a flip off of him and to Iroh. "Lets go"

"What do you plan to do prince Zuko?" Iroh asked in a confused tone

"Im going to end the war"

And with that they were off leaving Zhao to stand up and look down at the indent in the ground from where Zuko punched. A dent in the solid ground. "Send a warning to the firelord. He has company coming, and its not going to be petty" Zhao said as he came to the realization that if Zuko had actually landed that punch on his head he would have died on impact.

About two days later he was stopped in a small port town to grab some supplies and he ran into Aang who rightfully went into defense mode but he held up his hand "I'm only here to restock before I go fight my dad"

"What"

"Im done trying to please the bastard, he's terrible and this war is terrible, everyone in the firenation thinks fire is the best but it just sucks." Zuko shrugged "so I'm gonna go fight him and take the throne so I can end this stupid war"

"Oh... are you serious?"

"Of course I'm serious, who do you think burnt my face? Of course I wanna fight him" Zuko waved to Iroh who was coming up to the pair with a bag of rations

"Oh, hello Avatar, sorry to run into you again" he apologized with a bow "Zuko came to some realizations and-"

"He already told me, hey, if you want to fight the firelord and you're serious about it, I can go talk to my friends about it and we can give you a lift on Appa and you'll get their quicker"

"Alright, we'll be on the port until sunset, if you come before then to get me then I'll come with you, if not, I'm sailing there"

Meanwhile the gaang were camped out when Aang came running in with what seemed to be confused excitement "guys, Zuko's gonna end the war"

Katara and Sokka looked up from the map that Sokka was holding "what thats insane, We're going to end the war, that's why you're training. Besides Zuko is our enemy and part of the firenation. Why would he end the war? And how would he even?"

"Okay, maybe I should have been more clear. Zuko is fed up with the war, and he's on his way to fist fight dad and end the war"

"Okay.. this... this I gotta see, we should find him and give him a lift."

"Funny you say that, he's in town and I offered him a ride"

After Aang went to go get Zuko and Iroh they made a walk towards the camp where the group started asking him questions to be certain he wasn't just trying to trick them and also to figure out how in the hell he hopes to do this.

"So. You want to go... fist fight your dad?"

"Uh, well, that's not exactly how I'd word it"

"Why not use your fire bending?"

Zuko let out a long sigh "alright, let me give you guys a run down on the fire nation okay? First of all, firebending is seen as the only form of actual power. Any non benders or late benders are seen as weaker and often times are. But they hold bending on such a high pedestal that most benders never take the time to master anything else. They don't practice any other form of fighting, let alone any other sort of strength training.

"I was a late bender so my bending is weaker than most. But I've taken the time to train with swords and multiple different fighting styles. I can easily break a solid steel chain with my foot in a shoe and I can break solid wood with my bare feet." He took a second to look around at the group "while I havent attempted it, I could probably crush someone's skull as well if we're taking into account of the two other things I know for a fact that I can break"

The group looked at eachother with terrified expressions "Zuko holy shit, you could have killed me at the south pole"

"Yeah, but I have control over the amount of force in each kick, and I wasnt trying to kill you... you were just in my way"

"Alright, well, I'm convinced, lets go"

And with that they were off, Zuko agreeing to have the group help him if he needed it. Iroh decided to teach Zuko how to redirect lightning on their journey incase he needed it.. When they landed Ozai was already outside prepared, having gotten the letter a day before and hearing that the bison had been spotted.

Jumping off of Appa Zuko and Ozai stared eachother down "Zuko"

"Father," Zuko narrowed his eyes "I challenge you to an Agni Kai. But. By your honor and mine. You and I are only able to use fire once during the battle. If you can defeat me with only one fire attack, then you can keep up with your stupid war. But. If I defeat you with the same limits then I take the throne" motioning his hand forward he continued "do we have a deal"

Ozai gave him a cold glare "you truly are pathetic," glancing at the avatar on the bison he gave in "deal"

The fight didn't last long, Ozai had already used fire within the first few seconds and Zuko took the low ground beneath it as a means of attacking. Running low and sliding between the older man's legs only to come up behind him and land a quick kick against his side. Sending him to the ground where Zuko took his advantage point to lift his leg up and slam it down directly on the man's chest.

A loud crack could be heard throughout the courtyard. A few broken ribs and probably some fatal internal bleeding kept Ozai on the ground. Zuko turned to the firenation officials who came to witness the fight. "This war is over. Go cry a river if you oppose its end."

"That was a cheat!" Someone in the crowd shouted

"How so?" He mocked back "it was a duel, I used only what I have and no extra weapons, I set a single extra rule and followed it to the extreme." Tilting his head he gave an irritated grin "would you like to fight against me with the same rules? I'm more than happy to give another show if you'd like"

The crowd had no other objections after that. Funny how that happened. Azula came bounding out into the courtyard, probably ready to see Zuko down but was instead met by the scene of Zuko standing over Ozai victorious.

"You- actually won?"

"I didnt use fire Azula, wanna try your hand?" He made a move to get into a fighting stance but instead was met by her running up to him with her arms open for a... hug? He didnt hug back for a moment, confused, but heard a few muffled apologies and returned the hug.

"So, you're gonna be firelord huh?" She asked as they separated, he nodded "And you're ending the war?"

"Exactly"

"Lame" she groaned out

"Everything I do is lame to you isn't it?"

"Not everything, but most things"

And with that Zuko ended the war, got himself and his sister some much needed therapy, Aang left to train around the world while it was healing from the war, only coming back to the firenation to train under Iroh and Zuko. Sokka managed to go to master Piando with Zuko's recommendation(though Sokka didn't know he'd been recommended). Katara managed to dismantle the sexism in the north pole after training with the swamp benders and whooping Pakku's ass.

Ozai is fckn dead, rest in fckn hell dude.

[ayellowcurtain]

I can be your lover

Sobbe friends-to-lovers-long-distance AU

part 1 

Robbe pulls the hood to cover as much of his head and face as possible before he turns the key and unlocks the front door, dragging himself inside, hoping his mom is too busy to notice him coming inside. His tears dried on his cheeks on his long way home, trying to buy himself some time to get over the fact that Sander had really left, but he knows it’s all over his face how sad he is and how much he cried on his way back home.

He closes the door carefully and leaves his bag hanging next to the door, rushing inside his bedroom, pushing the second door with his feet, letting himself fall on his bed, pulling his pillow against him, under his arm, hugging it as tight as possible.

He should be overwhelmed with anxiety, hoping Sander reads his stupid note and replies to Robbe as soon as possible, saying how much he feels the same, that they’ll work things out. But all he can think about is the gigantic distance. No matter if they try to ignore it, if whatever they have doesn’t really have a name, long-distance doesn’t work, not for Robbe, and he’s sure it doesn’t work for Sander either. So it sucks no matter what the outcome of his tiny love letter is.

Robbe jumps when he feels a hand rubbing gently up and down his back.

“Sorry…” His mom whispers and smiles at him and Robbe sighs, putting his head back on the pillow, squeezing it so hard it numbs his fingers under the pillow where his mom can’t see, “He’ll be back for the holidays.”

You don’t know that. I don’t know that. Robbe thinks but doesn’t say because he knows he would sound a lot harder than he intended. He doesn’t have it in him to have a real conversation right now, find a way to discover in the conversation if his mom is really that good at knowing what he and Sander had or if she’s just still thinking they’re really good friends.

“Are you going to wait awake for him to get there?” Robbe nods his head even though he’s not sure. He’s exhausted and scared if he thinks about it but it feels impossible to fall asleep right now or any time soon.

“Do you need anything? Want me to stay here with you?”

The thought of his mom watching his break down for a guy makes him sit on his head, cleaning his cheeks with the palms of his hands, pressing a little harder against his cheek bones.

“No, I’m okay. Gonna eat something and finish some stuff for school.”

She smiles sadly and nods her head, her hand on the back of his neck, massaging it lightly.

“You’re almost done, angel. You’ll be in college soon! Lots of interesting new people for you to meet, to occupy your mind.”

Robbe swallows hard, not needing any more proof than that. They weren’t as good as they thought they were, hiding their secret late-night dates inside Robbe’s bedroom. And he doesn’t want any more people to occupy his mind. One is more than enough trouble.

“I’m going to bed, there’s still some pasta in the pan, and I bought a few bars of your favorite chocolate, they’re in the pantry.”

She smiles and pulls him closer, leaving a few kisses on his cheek and a light squeeze on his tigh before getting up and leaving his bedroom, closing the door to give him some privacy.

Robbe lies back down, covering his eyes with his arm, forcing himself to cry a little more to see if it makes him feel any less bad.

He thinks about how dry his lips were this morning after kissing every inch of Sander’s body all night long, for hours. How he thought that some time apart was much, much needed after what they did until late this morning. Sander needed to go meet his parents for lunch and his best friends for some goodbye beers.

“I don’t want you to go.” Robbe whined, pouting against Sander’s lips as he held the front of his jacket so tight, stumbling with him in the hallway right out of his home. Sander smiled and Robbe held himself back from actually explaining what he was talking about.

“Your mom might see us out here.”

“I don’t care.”

“Yes, you do.” Sander kissed his cheek, down his neck, and Robbe sighed, wrapping his arms around his neck, leaning against him, letting Sander kiss whatever he wanted, for how long he wanted.

Robbe managed to hold himself back and let go of Sander a few minutes later but now he regrets not actually dragging him back inside, to bed, maybe make him miss his flight, reschedule for some other day or never again.

Robbe tries not to think about the details of last night because he’s not sure how serious they were. They were always very open when having sex, maybe saying things that shouldn’t be taken so seriously because they were said in the heat of the moment but now he holds on to those memories, to the times they say they loved each other or how good it felt between them or how they didn’t want anybody else.

Because he can’t have Sander now and he can only hope those words meant at least a small percentage of what they would mean in any other moment.

The first few months go by excruciatingly slow.

They talk every day, probably every second they’re both awake, but it doesn’t feel like it’s enough. Robbe tries to keep his whines and thoughts to himself. Sander is happy, he has an amazing paycheck, and sooner than they both thought, he’s moving to a bigger place, a permanent one. Sander sends him so many links to furniture, asking for Robbe’s opinion, and sometimes he gets angry and doesn’t reply.

Sander has no plans of moving back home it seems, and Robbe doesn’t do well with that. The answer he got from his note made him think they would figure things out, that Sander felt the same, that he was just waiting for Robbe to be ready to say he liked Sander so he could hear it back. But in Robbe’s mind, if Sander really wanted him as badly as Robbe wants him, he wouldn’t be settling somewhere else so easily. Robbe couldn’t even think about moving to another country. He doesn’t want to leave his mom right now, or any time soon. So the distance won’t get any smaller any time soon.

Sander had an episode a few months back, and Robbe couldn’t be there, physically holding him and hoping it would end soon. He found out in the middle of a night when he got a texted out of nowhere from Sander after almost two days of complete silence.

to Robbe: Are you going to leave me behind?

And with that, Robbe finally knew what was going on.

Sander always asks that when he’s having an episode, Robbe is not sure if it’s because he’s trying to warn Robbe or if he’s genuinely doubting every time that Robbe told Sander he would never leave him behind.

After that text, Robbe called him a million times until Sander stopped declining his calls and Robbe was finally allowed to see his face, lying on a bed that Robbe didn’t know, with puffy and red eyes and Robbe didn’t know what to say at first, so they just stared at each other, lying down, until Robbe started talking about how Sander’s sheets must feel nice, not as cheap as the ones they’re used to having back at home.

Robbe watched Sander for hours, not doing much, sometimes a few tears slipping down his cheek, wetting his pillow. He took his phone with him to the kitchen, to search and grab some of those chocolate bars that never seemed to end - his mom always restocking like she knew Robbe was still needing them - and water, sitting on the counter and eating slowly not to make too much noise with the packages. He took most of his clothes off and fell back in bed after a while, Sander still watching him with his puffy, barely open eyes.

His hair was getting long, the dark roots clearly forgotten, and Robbe wonders if Sander is done with his bleached hair, needing to keep it natural from now on. It makes his chest clench a little bit, overthinking even the small things like Sander changing his hair too, leaving very little things the way they used to be when he lived closer. Robbe wishes he could at least help him cut the damaged and still bleached ends at least, enjoy the silky hair that’s growing quickly, see how the texture changed.

[revisionaryhistory]

Three Days ~ 87

Emma

Slow dancing and kissing in the middle of the floor had been as perfect of goodbye as a goodbye could be. Sebastian had updated his playlists. There was nothing sexual. Every song was I love you, I've been waiting for you, I'm happy you're mine. Intense love songs. I felt every one. I stayed in the moment, focusing on how good this felt. We held each other, swaying to the music and alternating between my head laying on his shoulder, gazing in the other's eyes, or kissing. We were in our own little bubble. There was nothing but how his body felt against mine, how he smelled, and the look of his face. All I felt was encapsulated in a swirl of feelings. Love, joy, and a touch of sadness hiding on the edge.

The bubble burst with the knock on the door. Time to go. there was no chance of getting through this without tears. Strong emotions always bring tears. I don't fight them. Letting them out feels better. I don't think emotions are anything to be ashamed of or hide. They're also not something to manipulate others with.

At the car, we were both crying. Not holding onto each other sobbing, just tears.

Saying goodbye was hard. His "I love you. I'll miss you. I'll talk to you Later. Send nudes." broke the sadness enough to get the car door closed. I watched him slide away. I wiped away a few more tears before talking myself down. Six weeks was a long fucking time, but it wasn't forever. It would probably feel like it, however.

My solution was to avail myself of the Air France business class lounge. Two shots of tequila and I switched to wine. It went better with the cheese. I was going to have to hit the gym hard when I got home. And eat better. Not today though I was sad and there was free cheese.

As usual, I was asleep before we reached cruising altitude. I woke up with about five hours to go. Fingers crossed that helped with the jet lag. I put on my favorites playlist and read until we landed.

Emma ~ I’ve landed Sebastian ~ Yay! Emma ~ Go back to sleep. Sebastian ~ XOXO

I knew he had an early call time tomorrow. It was only five pm here in New York. Closer to seven by the time I got back to Sebastian's place. I made it long enough to throw a load of laundry into the washer and the cheese into the fridge before crawling into bed. I took over his side of the bed, sniffing the pillows to find the one that smelled most like him. I curled around it and was out.

Five am was the latest my body was going to let me sleep. That was eleven am in France. So too early for New York and kinda late for France. I grabbed my phone to take a sleepy selfie but was distracted by my text notification. Sebastian had sent me a picture of him reclining on a couch, not in our rooms, with Guiletta asleep on his chest.

Sebastian ~ Found someone new to sleep on my chest.

I continued with my original plan to take an up-close picture of my eyes peeking out over the top of his pillow. My hair was a mess, my eyes look half-asleep, and there was a faint pillow crease on my temple. Perfect.

Emma ~ I miss you too

The sun was up with a bright blue sky. Since it was Saturday the traffic at this time of day would be much less. I had a clean pair of shorts, but not a shirt. No problem. My boyfriend had t-shirts. A little big, but perfectly functional. Runners, earphones, keys and I was out the door for an early morning run.

The city was beautiful. sunlight crept around corners and over the tops of shorter buildings. I ran south past the 9-11 memorial to Battery Park. I'd always been fascinated by the metal world with tears and chunks missing. The first time I'd seen I'd said out loud, "It looks like the world blew up." I guess I wasn't far off. The sculpture had been in the World Trade Center Plaza and been damaged by falling debris. I was only eight and all I remember was my parents being glued to CNN for hours. It would be years later, when I called the city home, before I really understood. As much as a non-native New Yorker could.

The worst thing about running this early was all the stores were closed. The best thing about running this early was all the stores were closed. I admit my shopping had been out of hand. In my defense, it had been a very long time since I'd had someone to dress up for. Don't take that wrong. Beacon dates with a man or friends was an opportunity to dress up. Coming into New York to be with Angie and Eli was a good opportunity. Both opportunities I used well. Still, having a man appreciate what you wear and how you look in it is another level. I know what I look good in. I'm not changing my choices for Sebastian, or any man, but I will take his preferences into account. Shopping right now would be a bad idea. I’m sure I'm packing around a few extra pounds of cheese, bread, and wine. I'm hoping all the walking mitigated some of the damage.

On my way back, a couple of blocks from Sebastian's the city was waking up. More people and sounds. I realized tonight would be the first time I'd been alone in the city in about five years. I made plans to sit in the dark and just listen. I picked up a bagel and a smoothie that I was told would rejuvenate me. I wonder if the barista could tell? I broke into Sebastian's stash of nut butter. Half a bagel with cashew butter the other with almond. Cashew was better.

Being alone in his space is weird. None of my stuff is here. It's like a hotel, but not. I got a little nosey after I'd showered and dressed. Not in a going through his drawers and medicine cabinet nosey. Looking at his DVD and CD collection. Running my fingers down the spines of his books, pulling out ones that caught my interest to thumb through. I made a stack of things I wanted to read. I did go through his kitchen pretty thoroughly. It looks like a single man who travels and eats out a lot lives here. He doesn't have flour. How does one not have flour? He does have quite a condiment collection. I threw out expired things and made a list to replace them. That led me on a short journey to see if there was anything else he was almost out of and added things to the list.

Time to call the best friends. Angie picked up on the third ring, her voice excited to hear from me, "You're home!"

"I’m at Sebastian's. I meet with my advisor Monday."

"I want to see all the pictures and hear all the stories. We're going out tonight. Some friends are playing. You're welcome."

"Can I let you know later? I don't know what the time change is going to do."

"Absolutely. So.... " the paused after dragging out the word, "are you missing him? How was goodbye?"

"Goodbye took forever. Neither of us wanted to let go. At least half a dozen last kisses. Sucked. I miss him, but I'm okay. I'll be fine when I get home and am doing stuff. I've cleaned expired shit out of his kitchen and made a grocery list."

"That's cute. Hope he thinks so."

I hadn't thought about his opinion one way or another. I was just getting rid of shit before it stank up the place. "He won't care."

We talked for a while, deciding we'd do brunch tomorrow.

I was bored. I didn't lack for things to do, but I didn't have a routine here. Especially not without him. It didn't feel like home without him. Once I'd figured that out I was good and went about making myself at home.

I'd changed Sebastian's ringtone from "Dancing Queen" to my favorite part in "Every Time I’m With You." It was near the end after a heavy drumbeat "cause every time I'm with you I feel wanted. We could make believers if we dare. We're just two believers if we dare." It was incredible the first time we'd danced to it and it was incredible now. I heard it about six, midnight in France.

I'd barely registered his face before I heard his voice, "If I put that picture on my laptop and my laptop in the bed, I can pretend it's you."

I felt warm all over and smiled, "Yes, you can. Tell me about the first day of shooting."

"It was good. Long, but good. I'm comfortable with Jess and I like her direction." He told me stories that made me proud and made me laugh. "I did well today. What have you been up to?"

I gave him a quick rundown on my day, leaving the bit about making myself at home until last.

He closed his eyes and shook his head. "I can't believe you restocked my kitchen. Thank you. Do whatever you want to feel at home."

"What if I reorganized your drawers because your way doesn't make sense?"

"Have at it. I'll just think I forget and think I did it."

"And your kitchen so it flows better."

He shook his head, "I don't know what that means. Knock yourself out."

I laughed, "I didn't do either."

I loved the lines that formed at the corners of his eyes when he genuinely smiled. Like now, "I don't care what you do. I just want you to feel at home.”

Now we were where I wanted to be, "Here's the thing... my favorite foods in your kitchen, finding where I'm most comfortable to work on my laptop, and figuring out where has the best view when I want to relax with a book are good, but it's not enough. Doing all that did help me figure what's missing."

"What's missing and where can we get it?"

"It's free and I already found it. You make where ever we are home. You're my home."

"I'm your home." He looked a little dazed.

"When you were in my place I felt at home. At your parents, I felt at home. Being at your place with you I was perfectly at home. Paris too. Now I’m back and I did things to feel at home. Took a while until I realized its missing something. You. When I'm with you, wherever we are, I’m home."

I could tell he was processing, by the way his tongue moved, "I like that."

He kept thinking, squinting his eyes a little, "I don't know if you're my home. Not sure where home is. Sometimes I don't feel at home in my own skin. I like that I’m your home." He cringed, "The next couple of weeks are going to suck for you."

I banred out a laugh, "No, once I knew what the issue was I adjusted. I'm good now."

"You don't miss me anymore?"

"Oh, I miss you a lot." Were transitioned into silly conversation.

"Ok, good."

I gasped, "You want me to suffer?"

"Terribly." His eyes were wide as he nodded his head. "So much so that when you see me again you throw yourself into my arms and hold on so tight I can't breathe."

"Therefore making you suffer."

"Yes, please."

I did end up going out with Angie and Eli. Thankfully it was a jeans sort of bar. My hope was if I stayed moving I'd fall over, get a good night's sleep, and get back on New York time. It was a good fun night.

Sunday I took a run before getting ready for Angie to come over. I'd bribed her with her favorite home-cooked meal. I had her take pictures of me in various outfits around his apartment. At one point Angie rolled her eyes, "I can not believe I'm taking pictures of you rolling around in his bed."

"Six weeks, Angie. I suck at selfies. I need a stockpile to pull from."

"What you need is a class in basic photo editing on an iPhone."

"I know."

We went back to her place, stopping for supplies on the way. A few hours later we were feasting on cilantro lime salmon,  a creamy garlic parmesan orzo, and a greek salad. I've taught Angie to cook this several times, but she tells me it's never quite right. I think she skimps on the butter and that's a big no. And a healthy splash of the Sauvignon blanc lifts the whole thing a little.

Sebastian and I exchanged texts over the course of the day. A comment or question with stretches of time between answers. Mostly from him. I got excited when an unexpected text came through. His response to my dinner picture was a request for the same meal. Maybe with his parents.

Monday was a busier day. I had to dress like a doctoral student, pack my bags, clean up after myself, and plant surprises like the notes I keep finding in my condo. Mine are more fun. The green g- string from concert night is mixed in with his boxers. A couple of dresses parked next to something they matched well. A peach tank top mixed in with his workout gear. I had Angie take a picture in each room. Printed and framed them. My favorite is me sitting on the toilet. It has a lovely frame and is now on the wall across from the throne. I wanted everything ready for me to leave for home straight from my advisory meeting

My advisory meeting lasted a little over three hours. Three good hours. Dr. Kershaw had been appointed my advisor. I'd taken a class with her while working on my Master's and my second winter in Beacon, but at the time I'd been excited to work with students and studying digital classroom technology was something I wasn't wanting to explore. I wanted to be hands-on molding little minds and still wasn't sure what I wanted to do, but I'd enjoyed working on our team's website. Google Classroom was functional but limited by design. Three hours later I had it narrowed down.

Sebastian had texted me good luck this morning with a picture of his face, eyes closed and lips puckered. I'd sent back a picture of my legs, crossed at the ankles with my skirt draped to the side, while sitting in his favorite chair. I was more than halfway home when his ringtone came through my vehicle's speaker. I hit the button, "Hey, baby."

I could hear his smile in his voice, "Sounds like your lunch went well."

"It did!" I was still excited from lunch and the phone call with Angie after. "I like my advisor. There's only ten of us in the program with the plan to add ten more each fall."

"Wow!" He interjected. "So being accepted is even more impressive."

"Yeah." I was proud of myself. "Small and first-year makes everything very personalized. All of the potential classes overlap with other programs. Cognitive theory from Psych, advanced reading from Education, some Education Law and leadership, computer tech, and even game design. We spent a lot of time talking about what I’m passionate about. In the and I’m thinking I want to focus on reading intervention and programming for K-3."

"Which is what you're passionate about."

I laughed, "and you."

"And me. Did you just talk about direction or is there a plan? What coursework did they accept."

"The fifteen hours I've taken will apply. We designed a basic timeline. I've taken six hours the last two years. I'm confident I can handle that with work and having a life. If I want to take more I can. I don't want to take classes in the summer. Those are usually compressed and pretty intense, plus I'm not in a hurry. Somewhere in the middle, I write a thesis, which looks at a problem or a hole in what already exists. That will feed into my dissertation. I can either do research and design an experiment like comparing existing programs or create my own product."

"Any idea which way you want to go?"

"None at all. I figure the thesis will help figure that out."

"And when do I have to start calling you Doctor?" The seductive tone in his voice told me "have to" wasn't going to be a hardship.

"Three to four years. No summers and using the last semester for my dissertation is four. If I add a class in a couple of semesters or summer and do my dissertation concurrently then three. I have to be done in ten. I'm thinking I’ll figure out what I want to do the first two then design and implement the last two. A lot will depend on how long that takes." He couldn't see me, but I was waving a hand in the air. "It will work itself out."

"I love you."

"I love you. Enough me, tell me about your day."

We talked the rest of the way home where we had some fun.

I called Seattle and went through it all again with Ed. He was as excited and proud of me as was Seb. I found it a little sadly ironic that my lover was in a time zone six hours ahead, my family was three hours behind, and the ones in the same time zone weren't going to know for a few days. I didn't trust them to not take away from my accomplishment, neither did Ed, which meant they'd have to wait. Hell, they barely knew I'd been in France. They'd get to know once I was finished celebrating with people who would just be happy for me. That pushed a Georgia phone call off to the weekend after the volleyball tournament. Maybe after practice tomorrow if I could get my school lunch bunch to come for drinks, I’d even buy. I had no problem funding my own celebration. I just wanted my friends there. Angie and Eli were coming for the weekend. Maybe I'd call while they were here. Eli could make angry faces while Angie tried to scold him. Then either way it went we could drink our way through. That was a good plan. I texted all involved and they agreed.

I ran back out to the grocery for fresh berries, yogurt, and wine to go with my cheese. I bought other good for detox items and healthy foods. A stopped by a smoothie shop for a raspberry white chocolate protein drink. It was amazing how quickly I slid into my summer schedule. Run to the gym to work out. Run home. Have breakfast and practice guitar. Do whatever until it was warm enough to go lay by the pool and read or float. Have dinner, meet up with friends, volleyball practice, or lay on the couch with Netflix

Sebastian and I would text sporadically throughout the day. About nine my time, so three am for him, I'd send him a picture. One Angie took or something I'd taken during the day. He always woke up to see me. Some days that was more arousing than others. We talked almost every day. Maybe five minutes or an hour. Night shoots were the worst. He was working while I was awake and I was asleep during his time off.

The weekend Angie and Eli came down was fun. Friday night we stayed in watching movies and drinking. Saturday's tournament was going well until storms came through. The radar said there were hours of rain left, so they canceled. Since all our plans had been canceled we decided on a bar crawl. Which meant Sunday was spent recovering. We went to brunch at the riverside restaurant where Sebastian and I had our first date. On the drive back I made plans for calling Georgia. Angie and Eli were my get away plan. We went out on the back patio. I set up my iPad where they would only see me, but I could see my support system.

Dad picked up almost immediately, “Hey, Emma. You’re home. Amy told us you were in France.”

“Sebastian had an event so we made it a short vacation.”

“Sounds fun.” My mom had entered the frame. “I bet you appreciated things you overlooked before.”

I laughed, “I did. All those things I saw pictures of later and wished I’d paid more attention to. We had a good time.”

“That’s great.”

Time to dive in. “I wanted to tell you some good news.”

Amy jumped into frame and interrupted, “Can I hear too?”

I ignored the question and just went on, “I was accepted into a new Doctoral program at NYU. It’s education and digital media. It’s new so we’re building my program as we go.”

“That’s great news, Emma.” Dad looked excited, “Dissertation and everything?”

“Yes, it can be research or designing a project. I’ve got about three years to get that figured out. They accepted the post-grad classes I’ve been taking.”

“Congratulations, sweetheart. We’re proud of you.” Mom’s smile was bright.

“My baby sister is going to be a Doctor. I need to figure out my future.”

I shook my head, “You’ll figure it out. What’s right for you and my beautiful niece. She’s a job and a half.”

“I am not enjoying this age.”

“That’s why I teach first grade and not kindergarten or preschool.”

We talked a bit more about school, what was going on there, and how things were with Amy and Max. Mom asked about Sebastian, where he was, and if things were good between us. Instead of shutting her down, like I had in the car, I talked about him.

Not a minute after we hung up Amy texted, “How’s Sebastian feel about calling you Dr? *wink*wink*”

I sent back, “Exactly, like that.”

I closed my tablet and looked at my friends. I was not comfortable. Sure, the conversation had gone fine, but it didn’t feel fine. “That went better than expected.”

“This time.” Eli grimaced, “Sorry.”

“That’s what makes this so hard. This looks normal, but it’s not. If it was, I wouldn’t have this not in the bit of my stomach and want friends here when I talk to them. That’s not normal.”

Angie came over to kneel beside me, bringing me into a hug, “No, it’s not. You don’t need us when you call Seattle.”

Eli joined us, “I don’t think they know what they’re doing, but it doesn’t change it, Emma.”

I laughed, “I know.” I kissed his cheek. Dealing with my parents was worse for him than it was for me. I hated seeing people I love hurt too. I wasn’t hurt though. It was a weird numb.

“You ok, Em?”

I met Angie’s eyes, “I am. Just weird. The happier I am, the more good things going on, the more distant I feel. The better I’m doing, the less supportive they are.”

“Yep!” Eli didn’t hesitate to agree. “And that’s not alright.”

I mussed his hair, “No, it’s not.”

The next week was more of the same. I registered for my fall classes and my books were delivered by Wednesday. I started reading. Yes, I'm that student. I liked to get a head start. I'd never taken classes in the fall. The first month of teaching was exhausting. It took time and energy to get first graders ready to learn. I wasn't sure how that would work with starting my classes. Getting ahead on reading seemed the safest approach.

Thursday afternoon Sebastian called. Drunk. I guess wrapping in Paris was worthy of a party. The rest of cast and crew were packing up and heading to Rome. Sebastian was flying halfway around the world to San Diego's Comic-Con. He'd spend thirty-two hours of his four day weekend in a plane, which meant he was drunk and a little grumpy. By the time I was done with him he was still drunk, but no longer grumpy. He was naked, smiling, and satisfied. Well, as satisfied as he could be over the phone. Even drunk he was insistent that he not see me masturbating for the first time on video. We should have taken care of this.

I set an alarm for the middle of the night to make sure he was awake and would make his plane. It was worth it to lay in bed together.

[hopesbarnes]

Black Swan (4)

Summary: Y/N used to be a Russian spy under the code name Black Swan. But that was a lifetime ago, now she’s a part-time avenger, dance teacher, surrogate sister to Natasha Romanoff, and trainer to new Shield Agents. She’s come a long way from the days of killing targets and being tortured. But when someone from her past comes around will she be able to ignore her history anymore? Or will she end up falling in love with the only man her sister ever loved?

A/N: Will be reblogged to @rogvewrites​ at 12 pm tomorrow. I am also taking next week off from posting bc ya girl needs a mini-break.  

also! tell me thoughts and feelings abt this one:)

The two of you return from your adventure in the grocery store and unpack the car and restock the fridge together. You even make sure to organize in the way Steve likes to avoid arguing with him later. Why the spices needed to be alphabetical, you didn’t know. But you did it anyway. Better to just do it than have the same argument for the thousandth time. 

“Do you maybe wanna watch another movie?” you ask as you put his precious ice cream in the freezer after he puts a note reading ‘Eat and I will kill you - Winter Soldier’ on the top of the tub. 

“How about that one you mentioned at the store, Going to the Future?”, he suggests.

“Back to the Future, Bucky. It’s called Back to the Future. And you sure? It’s a trilogy and that’s a lot of time to spend with me!” you say half-joking, half-serious. He was still getting used to the tower and sitting through three movies is a lot

“I’m sure. I don’t mind spending time with you,” he admits.

“I kind of have to work on some choreography for a bit, but we can watch it later?” He nods and heads towards his room. You head towards the studio Tony constructed for you and Natasha and stretch while playing ‘Waltz of the Flower’, the song you assigned to the youngest group of girls, all aged 6-8. It would be their first ‘big girl dance’ and you had to make sure the choreography wasn’t too complicated for them to remember. It was Tuesday night now, and the girl’s class was tomorrow night. Trying to come up with a dance at the same time as teaching them was disastrous, so it’s better to come prepared and focused. 

It only took an hour or so to map out formations the girls would be in, and edit the music down to the time you wanted. You planned out the first minute of the song, and couldn’t do more until you see how it looked with the girls. Nobody else was around so you decided to play some music on the speakers and free dance. You let John Mayer’s voice fill the room and put on your pointe shoes, letting the music take control. Unbeknownst to you Bucky stood outside the room and watched from the window in the door. Your fluid movements and rhythmic turns captured him, and he knew he was starting to like you more than a friend.  

When you felt lighter and less stressed you stopped the music and removed the shoes. It was still pretty early so there was time to start the movie marathon. After a quick shower, you called him through Friday and arranged to meet him in the group living room. 

Bucky came, ice cream in tow, and hesitantly laid against the couch. You popped a bag of popcorn and got settled in.

“So there’s three of these?” he asked and you laughed.

“Yup! We can watch the others another time though, we have time,” you said and he smiled at the idea of having time. Time to just relax, and time to relax with you. You start the movie and he stays pretty quiet until the Delorian flies. Bucky looked amazed as the car flew. 

“You know Stark almost had a flying car before the war. I remember seeing it, it hovered a second or two ‘fore falling to the ground again.” he said fondly. You smiled at him, not wanting to ask any more questions in case it led to what happened to Tony’s parents. It was good that he remembered the event though. You had read all about the Stark Expo and Howard Stark’s car that floated in a time before cars even had mandatory seat belts. 

The two of you sit in comfortable silence for most of the movie, only adding small comments towards the movie or laughing as it played. When the movie’s credits roll, you look over to his spot on the couch to see what he thought. But instead, you see him sleeping soundly, his bowl empty and beside him on the couch. He looked peaceful, and you didn’t dare disturb that. You draped a blanket over him as the rest of the tower tricked in from their day’s activities. You shush them and send a stern look their way and they get the gist. Everyone but Steve retreats to their rooms. He points at Bucky and puts his arms out questioning but you just smile and shrug in response. He drops his things off by the wall and motions his head towards his room, silently asking you to follow.  

You followed Steve to his room and plop down on his couch, ready for a lecture. It no doubt was coming, he had his ‘dad look’ on. You had no idea the topic, but he always did this when he wanted to talk about something serious. Motioned to his room, and then sat on the chair opposite the couch.

“You and Buck seem close.” he starts, forming the words hesitantly. You just nod in reply.

“I haven’t seen him this close to someone since ‘fore the war. It’s nice,” he admits. “You know I worry about him, he spent so long taking care of me. Back when I was that scrawny little asshole who didn’t stop fighting. Figured I owe it to him now. He won’t ask for help, ‘s not him.” 

You nod. Boy did you know that feeling well. “It’s like me and Natalia. I took care of her when she was younger when she was naive. God, she used to think she was invincible and would get in such trouble. Never would’ve imagined it with how she is now. I mean, now I feel like she’s the mature one. Don’t get me wrong, I still have to hold her when she gets emotional, but she watches out for me more than I do for her now. The years have definitely flipped our roles.”

“Never seen her emotional, huh.” He says blinking in surprise. To Steve, she was the Widow that saved his ass one too many times. “But yeah. I guess like that. I, well, bring it up because I want to make sure you and I have the same idea when it comes to Bucky. He can’t handle getting hurt right now, it’d break him,” Steve says in an authoritarian voice. You were getting the strict girlfriends’ dad talk from him.

You laugh, “Isn’t the talk usually given to the guy not to break the girl's heart? Trust me, we’re just friends.” you sigh audibly. You didn’t want to date Bucky, even if he laughed at your jokes and looked like a good person to cuddle with. You shake the thought from your head. “Plus, I mean we can’t even date! Girls don’t date people their sisters were in love with that’d just be horr-.” You pause, realizing the word vomit that just came out. 

“Shit,” You say softly. 

“Shit,” Steve repeats back. He slumps back in the chair confused. “Shit is definitely right. I didn’t know Natasha was in love with Bucky. Heck, I didn’t even think they crossed paths. Wasn’t she KGB not Hydra?” he asks.

“You weren’t supposed to hear that, I promised her I wouldn’t tell anyone. And she’s not in love with him now, she was when we were younger. Hydra and KGB were different sides of the same coin. They intersected at times.” You can’t believe you told Steve. What a great sister you are.

“Please promise you won’t say anything. Just try and forget I said anything,” you add on beggingly. 

 “So you knew him too? Before the airport?” Shit, you just accidentally opened a door to a story you hated going through. 

“If you promise not to say anything, I’ll explain.”

 “Deal,” he says. So you start retelling the story for the second time in two months. 

[skywillsometimeswrite]

I lost the old, guess I need something new

Read it on AO3

Grian has lost his last contact, and has no glasses. Luckily, Cleo and Doc are willing to help him out.

“No. No no no. This can’t be happening. I did not just do that-” Grian gripped the sides of his sink, squinting into the dark brown of the bottom of it to try and see where the evil little circle of sight went. “I did not just drop my contact down there.”

He felt around the stained wood a couple times for good measure but groaned as he accepted the fact that he had indeed lost one of his last pair of contacts. Which means he would have to order some new ones from out of world and who knows how long those would take to get made. If he was going to do that he may as well get his eyes checked again, they had been getting blurry anyways since before the beginning of the season and if he waited much longer it wouldn’t matter whether he wore contacts or not. But that meant he would have to set up an appointment which most likely meant a waitlist that would no doubt span over a few weeks, if not months. That didn’t include the wait time for the contacts to be made.

Great. This was just great. He glanced over at the unopened side of his contact case and pondered if it was worth it to only put one contact in. With a hum he went through the motions, careful to cover the sink drain this time as he stuck the contact to his left eye and blinked to settle it into place. He stared into the mirror and his eyes shifted in confusion as they tried to decide how to perceive the world. Sometimes it was clear, other times it was blurry, but most of the time it was an awful mixture of both that Grian was certain would give him a headache in due time.

Even so, it was better than being totally blind so he would manage. He couldn’t stop working just because he couldn’t see the world in fine detail. Sure, maybe he should hold off on any delicate work until he could see, but there was plenty of stuff he could do like this. Like restock the barge! He could get all those annoying chores done and out of the way so he could focus solely on his building when he got new contacts. It was a flawless plan.

-------

It was not a flawless plan.

That headache came way sooner than he had anticipated, making his head pound as he tried to shovel sand into his shulker boxes while the blazing sun was beating down on him. Not to mention that everything got covered in the sand, and Grian began having a hard time discerning his shulker boxes from piles of the stuff. More than once he went to go sit down on what he hoped was a sturdy, solid box only to plop down on a grainy hill and sink uncomfortably into it.

He got through it though, even if it did take twice the time it usually would. Despite the throbbing behind his eyes he lugged his stock over to the shopping district, getting there just as the sun had set and leaving only the gently lit atmosphere of the mooshroom island to guide him. He would just drop this off at the barge and then go home and sleep. Then maybe he could rethink his plan regarding his eyesight. Maybe he could find a world with an ophthalmologist that would accept walkins. Or maybe he would just have to deal with only seeing blurry shapes for a while.

His thoughts were cut off by screeching from above and he whirled around, squinting up at the sky and grabbing his temples as his head screamed at him. He tried to look into the dark sky for the distinguishable features of the phantoms that were haunting him from his sand endeavor but couldn’t see anything against the solid navy blue that warned him of where they were coming from. Sharp teeth grazed at his scalp and pulled a few strands of his hair from it as the monster flew back into the air, leaving Grian to yelp and stumble forward, massaging the small injury. He remembered to pull his sword out, but failed to land a hit on a flying blur that scratched at his arm. After another hit by a camouflage attacker he decided to rush to his barge, taking shelter in the light underneath the ceiling. He sighed, resting his pain-filled, dizzy head on one of the chests.

“Oh hey, Grian. What are you doing out so late?” Grian slowly lifted his head at the voice, squinting at the blurry blob of muddled blues and greens. Alarm bells immediately rang in his head as he recognized the colors and outline of a zombie, and he pulled out his sword once more holding it in front of him. “Y’know, if you didn’t want to talk you could have just said that.”

He blinked a couple more times, squinting at the blob a little harder and taking notice of the bright orange hair that blended into the lighting so well. He lowered his sword, groaning at himself as he rubbed at his eyes. “Sorry, Cleo. I didn’t recognize you at first.”

“I feel like I should be insulted. Is this how you talk to all your customers?”

“Sometimes, depends on my mood and who it is. You were literally after everyone’s heads, I think it’s only fair to be a little bit cautious around you.”

“I had everyone else gather the heads for a reason, Grian. But I’ll still take yours if you don’t want it.”

Grian chuckled, combing through his hair and wincing at the fresh scratch underneath it. “A tempting offer, not gonna lie.”

“Why’s that?”

He opened the chest, watching a piece of paper flutter down onto the ground. He picked it up and stared at it, waiting for his eyes to adjust to reading the scribbled black ink. And wait he did. He held the paper further away from him then closer trying to guide his failing eyesight. He sighed and closed his eyes, leaning against the chest again.

“Everything alright, Grian?”

“I may have lost one of my last contacts a few days ago. And using only one has given me the biggest headache and I’m pretty sure my eyes are rebelling against me at this point.”

“You don’t have glasses?”

He looked over at her again, not bothering to even try to make out the details of her blob of an expression. “I well, uh, I left my glasses in my old world.”

“Like before you joined?” Her voice lifted in what Grian assumed was surprise. He nodded. “You’re telling me you’ve been using the same contacts for over two years?”

“Well, not the same ones, I had a couple pairs that I’ve gone through to get to this point.” Cleo sighed and he shrugged it off. “It’s fine, I’ll set up an appointment with the doctor I usually go to out of world. I can deal with not being able to see for a couple of weeks until then.”

“A couple of weeks? Why not just talk to Doc? He makes Joe’s glasses.”

“He does?” Grian had never considered that there may be someone on the server that could help him. “What about contacts?”

“I don’t know about that but I’m sure he can hook you up with a pair of glasses to hold you over until you can see your doctor about it.”

He nodded, smiling at her. “That sounds like it’d be great. I’ll try to talk to him soon.”

“Soon?”

“Yeah, I mean, I’m sure he’s busy and I have stuff I need to do and I don’t necessarily need to see-”

“Oh my god, you’re as bad as Joe. I didn’t realize people who wore glasses shared the same amount of brain cells. You’re going to see him tomorrow.” She walked over, looking down at him as she closed the chest and took the piece of paper from his hand. “And right now, you’re going to bed. I saw you getting completely owned by those phantoms out there.”

Grian glanced between her slightly clearer face and the now-closed chest. Even the slight movement sent a bolt of pain through his head and he relented, rubbing his temples. “Okay, okay. Fine. I’ll go see him in the morning.”

-------

Grian didn’t bother putting in his contact in the morning, heck, he barely got up at all. But a few threats of bodily harm from Cleo convinced him to get up and over to Doc’s place. She had already contacted him for Grian, stating how she didn’t trust him to go through with it on his own. He resented that remark, he would have texted Doc on his own. Probably.

He yawned, sitting in the grass outside the mansion he built that had been unceremoniously split in half, waiting for the creeper hybrid. Within minutes, a blob of green crossed his vision against the otherwise blue background of the sky and ocean and he rubbed away the remaining sleep from his eyes as he got up to greet Doc. 

“Hello Grian. Cleo.” He took a second to unequip his elytra, hanging it on the wall of his half-mansion. “I’m fine with helping out, but you see the equipment isn’t cheap and we never discussed payment.” 

Grian could practically hear the smirk in Doc’s voice and he looked over at Cleo who seemed unperturbed. She hadn’t told him anything about payment! Was he supposed to bring diamonds? Oh goodness, he didn’t want to have to give Doc of all people an IOU. He couldn’t imagine that ending well for him, glasses be damned.

“I don’t think we really need to.” Cleo sounded smug as she took a step forward and held out a piece of paper to Doc. “Considering you owe Grian.”

“He does?” Grian squinted at the paper, even though he wouldn’t have been able to read it anyways.

“That’s the paper that you failed to comprehend last night. Someone cleared you out and couldn’t pay for it, it seems.”

“Alright, fine. It’s only fair. But we’re even after this, okay?” Doc rushed through his words, moving past them to dig through a chest.

Cleo hummed in agreement with Doc, taking a seat on a wooden chair and leaning back. Grian glanced between her and Doc, blinking a couple of times. He sighed, dropping his shoulders and relenting to accept this as it was. “Yeah, sure. I don’t think I have much of a choice on the matter.”

He could only assume Cleo was beaming at him so he pointedly ignored her. Instead turning to Doc. “So what do you need me to do?”

“Do you know your prescription?” Doc didn’t look at him, examining a tool and whispering to himself before dropping it back into the chest.

“Uh, not off the top of my head, it’s been a few years. I have my last contact if that helps.” He thought about how his vision had been getting blurry and added, “I think it might be outdated by now though.”

“How outdated?”

“The last time I had my eyes checked was probably three years ago.”

Doc let out a heavy sigh, setting a few tools aside. “This is going to take a lot longer than I thought it would.”

“Sorry.” 

“No need to apologize, Grian.” Cleo butted in, now standing and walking over to Doc. She leaned against his hunched back. “I’m sure Doc is more than willing to help you for as long as it takes. Aren’t you, Doc?”

“...Of course.” Doc hesitated, his voice low and clearly annoyed. He didn’t shove Cleo off of him.

Grian watched the scene with a squint and an eyebrow raised. What was going on here? He knew Cleo was persuasive in her own threatening way (Grian had noticed this with all the girls on the server, actually) but he never expected it to affect Doc. Doc was usually the one doing the intimidating, but Grian had to admit it was fascinating, and rather amusing, to see it the other way round.

Eventually Cleo left, saying she had stuff she had to get done but she would be back to check on them as if they were children being left at a daycare. For a while, Grian and Doc fell into an uneasy silence as Doc was still sifting through tools.

“So,” Grian started, trying to sound as casual as possible, “what was that all about?”

Doc sighed, “I’ve been handing out a lot of IOUs this season.”

“Oh.” Not the answer he’s been expecting. “Why?”

“I’ve sworn not to mine any diamonds.” Doc stood up, stretching out his back, and closed the chest. He grabbed a few sheets of paper and started writing something on them. “It’s the G.O.A.T. way.”

Grian opened his mouth to ask what that even meant when Doc walked over to him and used his flesh hand to open his right eye wide. He recoiled at the sudden touch and unnatural feeling of creeper skin, but his head hit a wall before he could back up anymore. Then Doc was shining a light in his eye.

“What the heck-”

“Would you stop squirming around? I’m trying to help you.”

“By blinding me?” He asked, rubbing at his eye as Doc backed away slightly, only to repeat the annoying process on Grian’s left eye.

“Have you never had an eye exam before?”

“I have. The doctor is usually a little gentler and gives me some forewarning.” He glared at Doc as he turned to walk towards his tools

“Well, you’re stuck with me.” He marked something on a piece of paper, then took the other sheets he had. He stood against the other wall, facing Grian, and held up a piece of paper. “Close your left eye. What can you read off this?”

Grian did so, and squinted at the paper, turning his head this way and that. Despite this, he couldn’t distinguish any other color than white. “It’s a sheet of paper. I don’t see anything.”

“Alright.” He set that sheet down and held up a different one. “What about this one?”

This repeated for a few sheets, Grian noticing some color changes in what he assumed was black ink. He was able to guess a few letters, but it took about six pages in before he was able to guess anything right. The same happened for the right eye.

“Wow, you’re blinder than I thought.” Was Doc’s only comment.

The next hour was filled with Doc giving Grian bits of plastic to hold in front of his eyes, then trying to read once again from the paper. At least Grian knew that there was something written on that first piece. 

Doc marked one last mark on his note sheets and looked at Grian, nodding. “Alright, I think I have an idea of your prescription. I can’t make you contacts, not safe ones at least, but I can make you some temporary glasses until you can follow up with your usual eye doctor. Sound good?” Grian nodded and Doc grabbed his elytra off the wall. “Alright, you stay here. I’ll be back in a few hours with the glasses.” 

Without another word, the blob of green flew off and disappeared from Grian’s vision into the blue. And Grian was left there. Alone. He huffed. What was he supposed to do while he was waiting? 

-------

“How long has he been there?”

“No clue.”

“At least it’s getting used, I guess.”

Grian blinked at the light colors in front of him, snuggling into the soft material underneath him. He had been sleeping just fine and he didn’t feel like getting up yet. He let his eyes close again.

“He’s awake. I think.”

“We could just make sure he is up, you know.”

“You know, this is almost a cute picture. Grian all curled up in the GOAT’s pink bed. I think it’d make a good sidebar for the Hermiton Herald.”

“Don’t you dare.”

Fully disrupted from his sleep by the voices that weren’t even trying to keep their volume down, he opened his eyes once more. Looking down he noticed a vibrant pink that he knew was definitely not his bed sheets. He sat up, coming face to face with the indistinct greenish-colored blobs of Cleo and Doc standing over him.

“Morning, Grian.” Grian could hear the smirk in Cleo’s voice.

“More like evening. Glad you enjoyed your stay.” Doc grumbled. It hit Grian like a truck and he knew he must have turned a bright shade of red as he scrambled to get out of Doc’s bed, trying not to mess up the covers he had been sleeping on if Cleo’s laughter was any indication.

“I was still pretty tired and it looked really comfy.” He defended himself, practically feeling Doc roll his eye at him. 

His mechanical arm held out a small wooden box. “Here. Try them on, make sure they fit. I can make small adjustments.”

Grian blinked at the box as he realized what they were and he took it, opening it to reveal the black, rectangular frames. He carefully lifted them out of the box and fitted them onto his face, pushing them up when they slid down his nose. He physically leaned back at the sudden difference in his eyesight. Having adjusted to the natural blurriness of his world, having sight again felt like a blessing he had taken for granted.

One which Doc ripped away from him all too soon. “They’re slipping. Hold on.” He vanished downstairs.

Grian pouted, crossing his arms. Then he looked over at Cleo. “You weren’t serious about the Hermiton Herald, were you?”

-------

Grian was finishing dumping the last of his sand into the chest, closing it and adjusting the price on the paper on top. TNT was going to be more useful, he had to get ahead of the trend now. Satisfied with his work, he looked around the barge and took note of everything that was done. He had to say, he was pretty happy with how far his little shop had come.

“Hey Grian, glad to see you aren’t stumbling around blindly anymore.”

He looked over to see Cleo in front of the entrance to the shop, a shulker box tucked underneath her arm. He smiled, and offered a wave. “It’s good to be seeing again. I need to remember to properly thank Doc next time I see him.”

“Maybe you can give him a discount or something. I wouldn’t mind one either, you know. You wouldn’t have those fancy glasses if it weren’t for me.”

He rolled his eyes, packing away his own shulker boxes so he could leave for the night. “I’ll think about it.” 

“The glasses look suits you, you know.” Grian looked up at her, eyebrows raised. She gave him a teasing smile. “They make your face more interesting to look at.”

He gasped in mock offense, holding a hand to his chest. “I- Why- What does that mean?”

“You have a very plain face. Actually you have a pretty plain everything, besides personality, I suppose. I think the glasses spice your look up very nicely.” She began walking away. “It does make you look like a huge nerd though.”

Cleo walked away laughing, waving a goodbye. Grian stood there, mock offense teetering on being real. Maybe he should consider wearing glasses more often.

[gildedmuse]

ZoAce talking about devotion (to Luffy, whitebeard etc). If you feel like it, of course

So I realize this doesn't feel the brief at all. I'm really sorry guys, I just got to spend five days in hospital (yay genetics!) And so the plan is for there to be a second part follow up soon.

Also, not gonna lie, I cut a very much R rated scene where Zoro and Ace have sex while Law watches because I realized that wasn't even CLOSE to the request. I'm sorry for this new OT3 I'm just way too in to. However, keep your eyes peeled for part two: the actual conversation, rated g for everyone.

I Couldn't Lose Him, Part One

"You could come with me, you know?"

You ever say something stupid, and before the words are even out of your mouth you know how stupid it is, but you end up saying it all the same?

Ace is always saying those kind of things. Especially since the failed execution when he almost died without saying some of the most important stuff. Now a days, these things would just flare up inside him, and he either had to spit them out or they would burn his throat all the way down as he swallowed them. Even then they didn't disappear, they just turned into flickering embers, not hot enough to explode outward but too hot to finally die down to nothing. He felt them all the time.

Like all those things he never had a chance to say to his captain.

But this... This was really stupid, because Ace knew what the answer would be before he even says anything.

Zoro rolls over in bed and smiles at him. Well, not exactly a smile smile. But a nice enough look. It said that he knows that Ace already knows his answer.

You could come with me. Shit. It really had been a stupid thing to say.

Zoro isn't going to leave his crew, his captain. Not until Luffy reaches the end of the Grand Line and can declare himself pirate king. Maybe not even after that. No, Zoro is a believer. He's steadfast, he's resolved, he's determined, he's loyal and committed and unfaltering in his trust and faith he places in Ace's crybaby little brother. He's unwavering in his support no matter how crazy the plan, because he has no doubt Luffy will carry through on his word.

Zoro is above all else devoted.

Ace had spotted it almost immediately in Alabaster. When Luffy said that he had to face this fight alone. Nami and Usopp were both practical - in a way Luffy needs to balance him out - and immediately pointed out that he in no way had to do it himself, they had numbers on their side, why not use that advantage? Sanji approached it a little more subtly, which Ace thinks is very much his style but will never work on Luffy. "They might be expecting us, they'll probably try to thin the herd to just Luffy regardless. Of course, if just Luffy goes than he'll have to face down whatever security forces they have in place by himself."

Chopper just wants to be helpful. "I know I'm not much of a fighter, but I'll happily guard Luffy against whoever they send after him!"

Zoro picks up the panting, overheated reindeer. He looks at Luffy, studying him for a mere second before nodding. A dangerous, toothy grin pulls at his lips. "Good. I wanted a second chance at that swordsman," Zoro says, as if he had planned to go off and fight the other kenshi regardless of what Luffy was planning on. As though if Luffy had said, "Zoro, come with me," Zoro wouldn't immediately forget about the other swordsman and follow Luffy anywhere he went.

Ace had noticed more than that, of course. Come on, the kid was cute. With spikey green hair and skin that looked like golden sand soaking in the heat of the sun. With his smile that tried to be hard and yet there was still so much shine to it, a sort of untainted joy that he couldn't hold back.

So, yeah, Ace had noticed, but he is also noticed all that loyalty, all that faith; it was all for Luffy. Poor kid. He didn't know that while Luffy loves his crew and adores his friends, his real loves will always be adventure and freedom and following his dreams.

Still, Ace isn't about to get between his brother and his first mate. Zoro could never compete with the promise of endless freedom, Luffy's general love of adventure, but what was the point of saying anything? He could already sense the resolve radiating off the swordsman. He'd already swore an oath to his captain, and it seemed clear to Ace his conviction was something deeper than a first mate's to their superior officer. Nothing Ace could have said would have changed that.

Besides, back then, he had his own mission to accomplish. Something entrusted to him by his own captain, and that was far more important than hopelessly flirting with some kid.

Of course, Zoro's not really a kid anymore.

-♠️-

When they met again in the new world, a whole lot had changed. Ace is captainless, crewless, mission less, sailing out on his own unsure where he's headed or what he is searching for. He stops by an island for a few days, partly to restock and partly because, well, it's not like he has anywhere else to be.

The ship docked nearby isn't at all familiar to him, but the loud shouting about meat and exploring and the new world certainly are.

Luffy hasn't changed a bit, Ace thinks with a light chuckle as he casually sneaks onboard this huge new ship to surprise his little brother.

Then there is Zoro.

As in, no, there - suddenly and far more sneakily than Ace remembers any of this crew being - is Zoro. He has Ace backed against a wall, sword at the other man's throat and a mean expression.

Ace finds himself having trouble swallowing, and it's not because of the sword.

"Oh," Zoro cocks his head and gives Ace a crooked smile, as though Ace can't hear that note of disappointment in his voice as lowers his weapon. So Zoro hasn't entirely changed. "Luf-Mmph!"

Ace gives Zoro a mischievous smile, holding a finger to his lips to signal he needs the swordsman's silence. He leaves his hand over Zoro's mouth as the strawhat vice captain arches an eyebrow, clearly wondering what the hell the older pirate thinks he's doing.

"Shh." Ace leans in to whisper into the swordsman's ear, pressing up against him maybe a little more than strictly necessary. Well, that's not entirly true. It's very much necessary in order to feel all those gorgeous new muscles. And Ace is really enjoying this new loose-fitting-kimono-practically-falling-off-his-shoulders-if-his-shoulders-weren't-now-as-broad-as-their-new-ship look.

Ace had heard rumours Zoro had spent the last two years training with Dracule Mohawk, and Ace could definitely see the influence, what with his robe hanging open practically to his waist.

"I want to surprise him," Ace whispers, his hand slowly dropping from Zoro's mouth. It takes a slight detour to his shoulder, broad and strong and just was well muscled as the rest of him. Ace can't help but give a firm squeeze, delighting at the play of strength he can feel flex in response.

Zoro crosses his arms over his chest and shakes his head, but Ace can see the hint of a smile tugging at his lips. He still can't hide it completely. "It doesn't matter of you surprise him or not, he's going to be excited either way," Zoro points out which is fair, but Ace's way is more fun. "Don't expect me to jump in after you if he knocks you off the ship."

Ace has to stifle his laugh. Luffy's definitely gotten stronger, Ace saw that for himself at Marinefird. Still, he's not about to be knocked out by his baby brother. Like that could happen.

-♠️-

Zoro does jump in after him.

Of course he does. His other option is to let his captain's idiot brother drown.

Luffy must have knocked him pretty far, too, because by the time Zoro breaks back up to the surface, Ace is nearly unconscious, with Zoro's grasp on his hands and the arm pushing him up the other man's (also very finely muscled) back being just about the only thing keeping Ace on his back.

"ZORO!" Luffy yells from the side of the ship even though he could just stretch his neck out to them. Ace wonders if the crew understands the sort of people that could be tracking them through the Grand Line. Ace hadn't had the slightest clue either the first time he's arrived, but then again, despite being a super rookie himself Ace hasn't caused nearly as much trouble for the world government not too mention countless others by the time he reached the second half.

Luffy could probably stand to learn to announce his entrance a little less loudly.

"TELL ACE I'M SORRY!" Luffy continues to shout, in case someone at the port hadn't already worked out who they were.

Ace couldn't help but notice there is no question that Zoro had recovered Ace just fine. Luffy seemed to instinctually know that Zoro wouldn't fail him.

Ace use to have that.

Of course, what Zoro actually said was, "I did warn you."

"Yeah," Ace draws, ends up sputtering up a bunch of water still in his lungs. "But you also said you wouldn't jump in after me, yet here you are."

"Don't make me drop you."

"You wouldn't do that." Zoro was kicking them back to the boat, paddling with one arm, with Ace draped over his back. Ace vaguely remembers what it had been like to get in the water and not immediately feel drained, and he's pretty sure that this still isn't fun or easy. Especially with all this wet clothes weighing him down.

"Wh-what are you doing?" It's the most Zoro has reminded him of the same kid back in Alabaster, and Ace snickers at the slight stutter in his voice.

"Helping you out if this wet kimono," Ace purrs against Zoro's ear, which gets him swatted at like a particularly annoying fly before Zoro quickly snakes his hand back under Ace's leg, sure not to drop him. Ace doesn't let himself get distracted from distracting Zoro. He dips his hands bellow the sash, fingers sprawled out over the taunt muscles of Zoro's lower stomach. "Don't you think it's be easier t-"

Zoro does the last leg of the swim underwater, where Ace can barely stay conscious, much less mess around with the young vice captain.

-♠️-

Ace hits the deck with a wet thud.

"Why were you under water so long, idiot marimo? He could have drowned!"

"It got us here faster, didn't it erocook?"

"Back up, let me see! .... It's okay, he still has a pulse."

There's a great sigh of relief.

Ace pops open one eye, staring directly up at Zoro. "Does that mean you won't be giving me the kiss of life?"

"Ace!" Next thing Ace knows, he's losing all his air gain, this time due to the rubber ball that's been thrown directly into his stomach aka his little brother.

Luffy squeezes him so tight, Ace might actually pass out, or would have if he weren't practically made of fire. Instead he just laughs, knocking that ridiculous hat off his head just to ruffle up his hair before setting it back. "I didn't know it was you!"

"That's because the idiot wanted to sneak up on you," Zoro informs Luffy, but he's expression is less severe than his words. If anything he looks down at the two brothers with fondness.

Luffy laughs at this, pulling his cheeks wide to stick his tongue out at Ace. "Not anymore! Rayleigh showed me how to never get snuck up on - Owe!"

Luffy rubbed his head after Nani's hand connected with his skull in a hard smack. "Then what was with those pirates the other night!?" She asks, clearly still upset about some event Ace hadn't witnessed.

"That was marimo's fault. He was on watch. He should have told us!"

"I took care of it."

"They almost blasted a whole in the side of The Sunny!"

"Yeah, Zoro bro, you could have been a little more careful."

"The Sunny is fine, and I took care of it."

"Yeah, Nami, Zoro took care of us. That's why Zoro makes the best watch!"

For as much as the crew looks to have changed, it's good to see they're not so different.

Ace just starts laughing, enjoying the nostalgia of their little argument, and that seems to get everyone's attention off whatever happened a few nights ago and back on their more recent visitor.

The Straw hats stopped their argument, turning to stare at Ace like he is the crazy one on the ship.

Their last argument seemingly forgotten, Sanji lights up another cigarette. "What are you doing way out here on the Grand Line by yourself, anyway?"

"Oh, you know, just trying to get the old crew back together," Ace lies casually. He'd met his old crew, but without whiteboard there it all felt so..

Empty.

[365daysofsasuhina]

[ @sasuhinabigflash2020​​ || Day Four: On A Hill ] [ Uchiha Sasuke, Hyūga Hinata ] [ SasuHina, blood, death, gun ] [ Verse: Stockades and Stagecoaches ] [ AO3 Link ]

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“YAH!”

Kicking spurs into his mount’s side, Sasuke leans up over the horse’s neck, releasing his reins to better keep hold of his rifle. Hooves thunder against the ground, dry and dusty in the dog days of Summer. Ahead of him, his target is just as desperate to build speed, glancing back over his shoulder to his pursuer.

Just a little closer…

Then with a bang and a whiz, a bullet flies by, followed quickly by more as the fiend draws a pistol, firing nearly blind behind himself in a last ditch effort to ward off his foe.

But Sasuke’s been in far too many fire fights to flinch. Instead, he finally launches a bullet of his own with a cracking report.

It flies true, burying into the man’s back with a cry of agony. For a moment he sits stiff in his saddle before falling to the earth. His own horse keeps running, and Sasuke makes no attempt to stop it. Instead, he brings his to a stop with a hold of the reins and a soft, “whoa”.

Blood pooling in the dirt, the rogue beneath him draws a few more rattling breaths before going still.

Seems he won’t be getting a confession, but in truth he doesn’t need one. All he knows is that this one’s face was on a wanted poster...and when Sasuke decides to take down a bounty, nothing stands in his way.

Dead or alive.

Dismounting, he goes through the man’s pockets, taking anything of note that the dead no longer need. A few dollars, a pocket watch, and a half-empty package of cigarettes. He doesn’t smoke, but he might be able to trade them to someone who does.

Making sure the target’s deceased, Sasuke then hauls him up behind his saddle, tying him down to take in to the sheriff’s office. For good measure, he folds the copy of the poster he took and stuffs it in the man’s pocket to make the last step all the easier.

He then climbs up into his seat, surprised to find the other horse come to a stop not too far off. With a flick of his lasso, he manages to catch it, leading it back toward town. Given his owner no longer has need of it...might as well sell it. He trusts his own mount too much to consider trading, and he doesn’t carry enough to need a pack animal.

The less he can get by on, the easier it is to keep moving.

The ride to town takes him until sunset, curious citizens gawking at the scene. Bounty hunters aren’t exactly rare, but a successful haul - let alone a dead one - still draws gazes.

Clearly about ready to call it a day, the sheriff lounges in a rocking chair along the front of the jail, sitting up as Sasuke approaches. “And what have we here?”

Rather than answer, the Uchiha grabs the body and tosses it on the veranda, whipping out the parchment and presenting it without a word.

“Hm…” With a boot, the sheriff turns the body face-up, comparing the face to the sketch. “Seems right to me. Give me a moment and I’ll fetch your reward, mister…?”

“Uchiha. Sasuke Uchiha.”

“Mister Uchiha.” Giving a nod and stepping over the corpse, the other man disappears for a few minutes before returning with a small wad of bills. “Two hundred and fifty dollars, as advertised. And our little town thanks you for your service. One less varmint runnin’ amok.”

Hand at its brim, Sasuke tips his hat respectfully before remounting. With that money, he can easily afford a room, a bath, and to restock on supplies before heading to the next town to see what work they’d have. But first...a little rest and relaxation for a job well done.

His horse plods easily through town, watching as it begins to button up for the evening. Wives scold late-returning husbands, children are ushered in before it gets dark...and patrons flock to the tavern for its late night lights and spirits.

Tempting, but he’ll want a clear head to travel come morning.

His plan, however, soon runs into a snag. Seems the inn is full.

“There’s a boarding house at the west end a’town,” the innkeep offers. “A bit more spendy, but it should do well for ya. Run by a real nice gal. Sits up on a hill, y’can’t miss it.”

Glancing in the offered direction, Sasuke spies what looks to be the building’s silhouette as the sun sets behind it. Giving his thanks, Sasuke follows the scant directions, finding himself at the base of a three story building. Curious eyes rove over it before lowering to the door. Horse tethered in what is clearly the property’s stable, he walks up and knocks.

It takes a few minutes, but eventually the door opens. And standing within it is a woman of shorter stature and fuller features. But what catches his eyes first are her own: a pale color, almost like subdued lilac.

She in turn looks surprised to see him. And given that he sees no evidence of other guests, Sasuke can guess why. “...evening, sir!” she then greets, flashing a demure smile. “Can I help you…?”

“I was told lodging was offered here?” he asks, glancing up behind her.

“Yes, this’s a boarding house. Are you in need of a room?”

“Yes, ma’am.” Thinking to remove his hat, Sasuke then offers, “Wouldn’t turn down a bath and a meal, either.”

That gets her to softly laugh. “Of course. No offense, but...you look like you brought half the road with you.”

“Oh, er…” Stepping back, he dusts at his garments. “Had a long ride.”

“Most who come through do. If you’d like, I can launder those for you.”

He pauses. “...I’d appreciate that, ma’am.”

“Oh, please - miss Hyūga suits me just fine.” She then opens the door wider, and Sasuke steps in, spurs clinking quietly. “I’ll get that bath started for you. Just leave your things outside the door and I’ll tend to them.”

“Sure it’s not a bother?”

“Not at all. I’m...sure you’ve noticed you’re the only patron at the moment,” she notes with a weary sigh. “So I’ve all the time in the world. If anything, a bit more to do would be nice.”

Still feeling a bit awkward at all the offered hospitality, Sasuke just nods, letting her show him to a room and then the bathroom. She heats the water on the stove, filling the tub and leaving soaps for his use.

Taking in his saddlebags, Sasuke unpacks one of few spare outfits he has, stripping down and leaving what’s soiled outside the door before slipping into the water.

Admittedly...he can’t remember the last time he had a proper bath. Mostly just rinsing off in obliging rivers or rain barrels. So this? This is a treat. And he’s going to be damn sure to enjoy it while he can.

Only once clean and the water cold does he emerge, toweling off and dressing. Upon cracking open the door, he does indeed find what he left behind gone.

Feeling a bit standoffish, he eventually makes his way back downstairs, following the scent of food. And there he finds Hinata setting the dining room table before glancing up to him.

“My, looks like you’ve shed ten pounds from lost dirt alone,” she notes, smiling again as he flashes pink across the tops of his ears and the bridge of his nose. “Forgive me, it’s...been a while since I’ve had a guest. Seems my manners need some dusting off, too.”

“No harm, ma-...er, miss Hyūga.”

“Well, best have your supper before it gets cold.”

“Have you eaten?”

“Yes, before you arrived. No need to fuss over me, sir. Though that reminds me...I’ve yet to ask your name.”

“Sasuke Uchiha,” he replies upon taking a seat.

“Well, will you be with us long, mister Uchiha?”

“Just until morning.”

For a moment, disappointment flickers over her face, but is soon replaced by another smile. “Well, I’d best make the most of it, then! If you need anything else, just holler. I’ll be finishing up some chores. If you turn in early, I’ll offer a goodnight now.”

Sasuke just nods, watching her leave before taking a bite.

He’ll admit, it’s damn good.

Once his plate is cleared, he peeks into the kitchen, finding it empty and leaving his cutlery by the sink. Part of him wants to inquire after his clothes, but...well, she’s already doing him a favor. No need to appear pushy. Instead, he follows the lamplight up to his room and tucks into bed for the night.

To his honest surprise, rest comes quickly, and he sleeps well past sunup. He must’ve been more tired than he’d thought. Sitting up, he pauses at the sight of folded clothes atop the chest of drawers nearby.

Seems they’re all taken care of.

Redressing, he makes to pack them only to pause. She even mended a tear in his sleeve from a knife fight he won a few nights back.

Fingering the stitches, he mulls that over before putting everything back in its proper place and hauling the saddlebags down to the main floor.

“Miss Hyūga?” he calls, tone a bit muted in the otherwise-empty building. Sounds come from the kitchen, but he doesn’t want to intrude.

“Breakfast is almost ready!” she replies, offering no further explanation. So, in the meantime, he takes out his bags and greets his mount. Seems they’re just as well-rested, bright-eyed and nickering softly.

“Not much longer and we’ll be back on the road,” he assures them softly.

Back inside, he steps in just as his hostess goes bustling past. “One last meal before you head on your way,” she explains with a smile.

“What’ll I owe you?”

“A dollar typically gets you a day.”

“But you’ve -?”

His counter is waved aside, taking her own seat to dine with him. “As I said, the busywork is a blessing itself. It’s been quiet. The mine that saw so many men come through is all but dried up, so...most of my business is past. A little longer, then I’ll likely move back to the city. It was a fun little venture, but all good things come to an end, I’m afraid.”

Having no retort, Sasuke stands for a moment before joining her. They pass with small talk, the Hyūga woman telling of the town, and Sasuke of his choice in work.

“What an adventure it must be,” she offers wistfully, cradling her mug of tea as the meal comes to a close.

“It’s rarely boring,” he agrees dryly. “But not very steady, or comfortable.”

“I can imagine. But comfortable is often just that: boring,” she replies with a soft smile.

“A happy medium isn’t easy to find.”

“Well...maybe you will someday. At least you’ll have some freedom and excitement. I’ll be heading back to my father’s. Comfortable, but...well, it’s not exactly glamorous under his thumb.”

“Oh…?”

“He’s made his fortune in the oil fields,” she replies with a sigh. “So in reality, there’s little need for me to be here, but...I wanted to try and make my own way. But, as usual...I’ll end up right back where I started.”

Sasuke hesitates. “...I see.”

“But it’s nothing to cry over. I’ll make due. But I’ll miss it here. Meeting so many new people, hearing other stories…”

“Are you...running dry on funds?”

“Yes and no. I could keep pouring money into it, but...there’s just no point, now. Not with no one to pander to.”

“I’m sorry.”

“Oh, don’t be. It was fun while it lasted. I’ll survive. I’m just thankful I got the opportunity.”

With that, the conversation mostly dries up, and Sasuke finds he has no real reason to linger. The sooner he leaves, the sooner he’ll reach the next town, and his next bounty.

...but part of him is sad to go.

Hinata tidies up after them, walking out to the porch as he mounts up.

“Thank you very much for your hospitality, miss Hyūga,” he offers genuinely.

“Thank you for the business. But more so the company,” she replies, smiling.

“So...where’s home, if not here?”

“My father has a home in the capital. I’ll return there in a few weeks, likely to just get married off. But...I suppose that’s not a bad thing.”

For some reason, his chest tightens...but he offers no retort.

“If you ever find yourself in the big city, maybe we’ll cross paths again,” she then adds, regaining his gaze.

“...maybe. Probably plenty of crime in the city.”

“Where men go, evil follows.”

HIs lips twitch before giving a polite dip of his head. “Miss Hyūga.”

“Safe travels,” she replies, waving as he makes for the town center. Time to stock up, and hit the trail.

...who knows. Maybe sooner or later it’ll lead to the big city.

     Oookay it’s late so I’ma be brief xD      Wild west AU cuz...reasons. While not really a fan of the genre overall, I do live really rural, so...it’s kinda ingrained into me lol. I’ve written one other piece in it but that was for another ship in another event I hosted last year. I’m no expert by any means xD      I doubt I’ll do more but I guess it depends on where the prompt list takes me, and I guess what you guys think? Buuut for now I’m gonna go sleep - thanks for reading!

[writingismyhappytime]

Marry Me (Part 10)

Ricky Horror X Reader

Warnings: Language

"Daddy! (Y/N)!"

Ricky jerks awake, and you stir, lifting your head sleepily.

"What is it, baby?" Ricky asks groggily, rubbing his eyes as he tries to straighten, only to realize you're holding him down. You must have fallen asleep on the sofa, no wonder he feels so stiff and achy.

"I'm hungry." Chloe peers at the two of you from the arm of the couch, her arms crossed over her chest as she looks back and forth. "I couldn't find any pancakes."

Pancakes?

You rub your eyes as you sit up, still feeling tired but not absolutely terrible like you did yesterday. Apparently your stomach bug was just a 24 hour thing, for which you're grateful. Chloe seems fine too if she's asking for pancakes, which does sound good to you. Do you have any mix? You'd have to google how to put it together if you don't.

"I'll make you some," Ricky clears his throat, getting to his feet slowly and rubbing his lower back. He's never slept on your couch before, but in that position, it's definitely not good for his posture. He offers you his hand, helping pull you up, Chloe grabbing your blanket as it falls to the floor and tossing it back onto the sofa. "What time is it?"

"Around six thirty," you yawn, eyeballing the bathroom. You didn't even set an alarm, you could have been late opening the shop! You're relieved Chloe woke you up when she did.

Did Chloe sleep the entire night? Why didn't she wake either of you up if she didn't? How long has she been up? You can't believe you fell asleep on Ricky, that wasn't your intention, although you did snooze pretty well honestly. More than likely because you were sick and dying, not because he's warm and comfortable.

"I wanna help," Chloe follows Ricky towards the kitchen, who hastily remembers to move his sneakers under the coffee table so you don't trip over them in a few minutes. He lets her get the mixing bowl and utensils out as he finds the pancake mix, wondering if the strawberries are still decent enough to put on top of the food. Where's the syrup?

He's still so tired he doesn't think he remembers how to make anything. He brushes his black hair behind his ears, glancing down at the little girl concentrating on pouring the white powder out of the blue box, letting way too much fall into the bowl. She hasn't brushed her hair yet, he can tell by the way it's laying, and is she wearing his house shoes?

He glances at the bathroom door as he hears the shower turn on, sighing before he turns his attention back to breakfast. He manages to get just enough pancakes made for Chloe to sit down and eat before you call for him.

Huh?

"What?" He hesitates, turning off the stove and trying to listen to what you said.

"Where are the towels?"

Oh!

Well, as far as he knows, they should be in the bathroom, but he'll check the linen closet. He keeps an eye on Chloe as he leaves, seeing her legs swinging back and forth at the kitchen table as she eats, humming to herself. He'll have to make sure she brushes her teeth after he brushes her hair so she doesn't look like she just crawled out of a hole, and get her dressed for the day. He guesses he'll just be taking her to work with him when she gets out of school, the guys don't usually mind since she just likes coloring at the table and the producer always gives her candy when she thinks Ricky isn't looking.

"Here's some," Ricky nudges the bathroom door open, offering the towel without looking as steam starts to billow through the opening. He can't wait until you're out and he can run through, he hates he's still wearing yesterdays clothes and for some reason smells like Chinese food.

"Ricky, I'm in the shower, you can just bring it in. Sit it on the sink," you sigh, the hot water still running against your tired body. It's kind of embarrassing, but you hadn't noticed the suspiciously missing towels until you were already in the shower, but at least Ricky has good enough hearing to bring you some. You know you just restocked it last night, but maybe you only thought you did? You were delirious after all.

Ricky sighs, his eyes nervously flicking to the flowered shower curtain before he drops the towels by the sink. Are you two getting comfortable enough around each other where this isn't going to be awkward? He kind of likes that, you don't seem bothered by him walking in at all.  "Anything else?"

"A back massage and some rose petals to walk over, thanks."

Ricky snorts. "Right on that."

"Were there not towels in here last night?" You ask after a moment, frowning. You know you put some in there. "Like, I'm not crazy, am I? I know I put some new ones on the shelf."

"Uh, I didn't look." Ricky has no idea, he never pays attention. He glances at the fogged mirror above the sink, absently drawing a little smiley face in the corner through the water. "I'll ask Chloe."

"Did we have pancake mix?"

"Yeah, I found some. There's plenty for everyone." And half the band, since most of the bag is in the bowl. "Are you working today?"

"Might as well, I don't feel like I'm dying now."

"I'm going to take Chloe with me to work, she's usually just fine. Do you need anything or want us to get something?" He asks, hearing his phone ring. He ignores it, he doesn't want to talk to anyone this early. He has plans on taking a shower, getting Chloe ready, and then driving to work; if it's one of the guys, he'll talk to them then.

"I should be good, thanks."

"Hello, thanks for calling Daddy's phone, this is Chloe."

Ricky hesitates, turning to look out the half-open door as he hears his daughter answer the phone. She sounds chipper, not at all plagued by a stomach bug or thinking she's going to die anymore. He's relieved you're both feeling better and he isn't going to have to contend with that at the same time, he's not sure he's mentally prepared for that chaos.

"Oh, hi, Chris!" she brightens a little bit. "Daddy? Oh, he's helping (Y/N) take a shower, I can tell him you called."

"CHLOE!" Ricky gasps, able to hear your laughter start from behind the curtain as he makes a mad dash out of the bathroom, nabbing the phone from his daughter and urging her back to the kitchen table, ignoring her confused expression.

He's going to have to talk to her about being too honest.

Also he was not helping you take a shower.

"Hey," he mutters as he lifts the phone to his ears, his face hot. He can't believe Chloe just said that. Of all the times for her to answer his phone! Thank god it wasn't her mother, he can only imagine how downhill that would have went.

"Hey, did you cut the shower short?" Chris sounds amused as if he's trying not to laugh, and his guitarist sighs heavily.

"I was just giving her a towel." he grumbles, shooting his child a look as he skulks towards your bedroom, shutting the bathroom door as an afterthought so it's not wide open. You're still chuckling to yourself, you probably think it's hilarious.

"Ahuh. So we have a meeting at twelve, I've emailed you the lyrics for the next song, we can begin writing the music for it now. Ryan's supposed to meet us there, but Devin is out for the day."

"That's fine," Ricky runs his fingers down his face. "I'll have to bring Chloe, she's staying with me for the week."

"She feeling better?"

"She's happily eating pancakes, no sight of sickness." Ricky assures, knowing how Chris is. The man can't stand for someone to even cough or sneeze around him without liberally spraying Lysol he magicks out of thin air.  "She'll just color like usual. Or play on my phone."

"Sounds good. See you at twelve."

"See you." Ricky clicks the end button, cutting his eyes at his daughter's back but deciding not to say anything right now. She's just now finishing up her pancakes, smearing what's left of her syrup on them. "Chloe, you're going to work with me after school today, alright? When you get done, we'll get ready."

"Okay."

~~~~~~~~~~

"Daddy?"

"Yeah?" Ricky focuses on the road in front of him, his fingers curled loosely around the steering wheel. He has his hair brushed behind his ears, tired blue eyes staring forward as they wait on the light to turn. He feels like he's been sitting here for fifteen minutes, Chloe impatiently asking if they're there yet for the last ten.

She's going to be late for school if this damned light doesn't change! He hates having to walk her inside the school, he wants to just drop her off during the designated time frame where the teachers are out there to make sure they get in there safely.

"Are you and (Y/N) going to have a baby?"

"What? No." Ricky hesitates, his eyes flicking in the rearview mirror. He tried to get her hair in order, but eventually you'd come to the rescue when she started whining five minutes in. She was good for you, letting you run the pink brush through her black strands, clipping the pastel bow as you drew the front of her hair back so it wouldn't fall in her face.

Ricky thinks Chloe is out to get him today, but you'd just rolled your eyes at him and told him to not be so stupid. Still, she's giving him... attitude, or something, he can't explain it. Answering his phone like that, getting all fussy when he tried to get her ready, not wanting to finish taking her medicine like the doctor said because it tastes bad. He doesn't get it, she's never like this.

Also why does she always want to ask him these leading questions when they're in the car and not when he can really look at her and focus?

"We're not going to have a baby." he says firmly, knowing that without doubt. Not unless there's some kind of immaculate conception. "Why? Do you want a little brother or sister?"

"Well..." Chloe hesitates, then shakes her head. "No. I don't want to have to share you."

Oh.

Ricky's cheeks flush, and he doesn't immediately respond. Why did her words have to hit such a special spot? She doesn't want to have to share him, that's precious. All he wants to do suddenly is squeeze her in a hug.

"You don't have to share me with anyone, don't worry. It's us against the world, kid."

"Mommy was talking to Sam," her mom's stupid ass boyfriend, "and she said if you had a new baby you might not want me to come over anymore."

He sighs. Her mother, she's out to get him, there's no peace.

"Why would she say something like that?"

"She's worried that you won't keep me sometimes when she has to go to the doctor and Sam is busy."

"Does Mommy go to the doctor often?" Ricky asks carefully, knowing last time he tried to get Chloe to tell him anything about it she stubbed up and wouldn't. It makes his chest pinch with worry.

"More now. She gets upset and stays in the bathroom a lot." Chloe frowns, her brows furrowing. "She doesn't like Sam, he makes her cry."

"How does he make her cry? Is he mean to her?" Ricky shifts uncomfortably in his seat, tightening his grip on the wheel. What's her boyfriend doing that's making her cry? Ricky will not tolerate that! He might not get along with the mother of his child, but he's not going to let someone bully or hurt her either, that's unacceptable!

"They fight a lot." Chloe shrugs her tiny shoulders. "He told her she would have to get daycare if you and (Y/N) had a baby, because he wouldn't watch me. I told Mommy I can watch myself but it just made her cry more."

Fucker.

Ricky hates Sam.

"We're never going to have a baby, you're the only one I'll ever have." he replies, and reaches back, feeling her fingers curl through his immediately. He gives them a gentle squeeze, lightly applying his foot to the gas as the light finally changes.

"Daddy, you can't have babies," Chloe reminds. "You're a boy."

Okay, she has him there.

"Okay, true," he represses a smile. "But you know what I mean. I won't have a baby with anyone else."

"What if it's an accident?"

"It's very unlikely."

Chloe doesn't seem convinced, but she's barely six. She doesn't understand how all of that works yet --- nor is Ricky comfortable with her ever finding out about it.

"Daddy, was I an accident?"

"You were... a surprise," he replies, deciding this conversation is going downhill quickly. "Are you excited to see your uncles?"

"Is Ryan gonna be there?"

"Yes."

"Then yes!"

Ricky chuckles, relaxing a little in his seat. It bothers him that something is terribly wrong with Claire now, that you're right about it. What's this about her boyfriend being mean to her? What's going on with the two of them? If he needs to step in --- he knows it's none of his business, that there's boundaries, but he can't stand the thought of Chloe having to witness an abusive relationship or anything that would traumatize her.

He had a rough youth, made some bad decisions as a teenager, he never wants Chloe to feel like he did, to go to lengths to want it all to end. He wants her happy and to have a good life, and he wants to be there to witness her growing up and being successful.

He's going to have to talk to you about this tonight.

~~~~~~~~~

"She really said that?" You gasp in surprise where you sit on the edge of your tub, slowly applying your lotion to your hands as you stare at his reflection in the mirror above your sink. "That this guy is mean to her mom?"

"She said that he makes her cry," Ricky scowls, slowly brushing his teeth and doing his best to speak around the toothbrush. Chloe has been asleep for a few hours, and the two of you are getting ready for bed. Ricky has found the two of you are getting into a routine when Chloe is there, going to bed at the same time, but usually talking softly for an hour or so before one of you falls asleep. "But that she has to go to the doctor a lot. And Chloe worries that if we have a baby, she won't be able to come over as much."

"Well that's silly." You sigh, rubbing the scented lotion onto your wrist. You have to wash your hands and arms constantly so the grease and other liquids you deal with don't stain your skin, and you don't want it to dry either. You religiously apply it, and hope Ricky doesn't mind you doing so while he's also getting ready for bed. "Even if we did, that wouldn't change anything. There would just be more screaming."

"Exactly! And that stupid fuck is freaking her out," Ricky scowls as he spits, turning on the sink to let water run over the blue toothbrush before he washes his mouth. "She's worried we won't want her, and that's not the case! She's too young for anxiety!"

"Do you think everything is okay with Claire? Should you talk to her?" You worry, leaning down to push more lotion in your hands, slowly massaging it into your legs.

Ricky's eyes flick to your reflection, watching absently. "I tried to talk to her about it the other day, but she told me it was none of my business, in much less nice terms."

"Well, if you were already fighting, I'm not surprised. Maybe try again," you say, running your fingers across your thighs. You always wear those shorts to bed, although it ranges from ridiculous basketball shorts to the typical ones women seem to wear, with...

"Is that my shirt?" Ricky asks after a moment, noticing the black t shirt with the symbols on the sleeves. He was wondering where that went, he couldn't find it the other day.

"Oh, is it?" You ask lightly, shrugging your shoulders. "Must have gotten mixed in the laundry."

"So you're stealing my clothes now?" Ricky asks in amusement as he turns to look at you, seeing you rubbing your hands together. You send him a look, the scent of brown sugar hitting his nose as you finish up.

"Well, not intentionally, but I guess so." You hope he doesn't mind, you really didn't think anything about it as you grabbed the shirt and tossed it on to sleep in. It looked just plain to you.

"It's fine, looks better on you anyway." Ricky shrugs, absently tugging at the hem where it comes to the middle of your thigh. "I don't have the curves for it."

"Don't be silly, you have wonderful curves," you tease, distinctly aware of his fingers brushing against the bare skin of your thigh, goosebumps left in his wake. You avert your gaze from him as you put your lotion up, clearing your throat. "You're coming to bed, right?"

"Yeah," Ricky waits for you to leave before flipping the light off. He checks on Chloe before making sure the door is locked and everything is good before heading to bed. He sighs as he nudges the bedroom door halfway closed, crawling in bed beside you and curling his arms around his pillow. "God today has been long."

"At least you're done now," you squirm beneath the sheets, finding that it's a little warmer tonight and you don't really want them. "We can rest, and do it all over again tomorrow."

"Oh, don't remind me. Chloe wouldn't settle down today in the studio, she like to drove me crazy. I don't know what her problem is today."

"She's a kid, and she thinks that she'll be replaced. Just give her some time," you say, your eyes adjusting to the darkness. You lay on your side, gazing at him in the darkness, seeing he has his face pushed down into the pillowcase. You reach forward to squeeze his shoulder, seeing him slowly move to look at you. "She has too much to think about. Why don't we do something fun tomorrow? I can take off early, we can take her mini-golfing or something, let her not think about it."

"Really?" Ricky's surprised.

"Yeah. I mean, I'm terrible at golf, so maybe a movie? Just something that would keep her occupied." You say, figuring it would be fun for Chloe to spend some quality time with her dad. "You have court Friday anyway, so when Chloe gets out of school tomorrow we'll have a day with her. Or you can, if you think it would be better if it's just the two of you."

"No, we can all go," Ricky likes the idea. "Chloe would ask constantly why you weren't there if you didn't come. I'll treat you girls to a night out."

"I can ---."

"If I don't pay, it'll look weird, we're married, remember?" Ricky says, the wedding ring heavy on his finger. It's black with silver designs, and he finds he twists and plays with it constantly. It doesn't feel as weird to wear anymore, and he's not uncomfortable, thinking everyone is staring at it and knows what a sham his marriage is. "You and Chloe can wear matching outfits and everything."

You snort. "I don't think I could pull off those little dresses she wears all the time, I wouldn't be as cute."

"I dunno, you have great legs, you can wear whatever you want." Ricky yawns, unaware of how bright your cheeks suddenly are.

Does he think your legs are great?

"Are you worried about Friday?" you ask after a moment, knowing you've been thinking about it. Friday is the big day, the entire reason you got married. You're anxious about it really, worried that it still won't go in Ricky's favor --- courts never seem to favor the father in these situations.

"Yeah. What if they still don't let me get her more often?"

"Then you keep working for it. Just show it's something you really want," you absently brush your fingers through his thick hair, tucking it behind his ear. "They'll see you're serious about it and not just doing it to be an ass."

"This is the second time I've tried for it, they should know I am." he mumbles, his eyes closing as you caress your fingers through his hair. It feels nice, it's soothing. "I'm not sure if Claire is going to be so adamant against it this time or not."

"How old was Chloe then?"

"Around three."

"Probably not so much, she's not a little baby anymore. She has her own mind about her."

That she does. "Attitude, too."

"She's just worried, don't hold it against her. I'm sure tomorrow will be better."

"Mmm." Ricky hopes so, she wore him out. He doesn't like getting onto her constantly, and finally he had to grab her arm and pull her to the side, tell her if she doesn't settle down he was going to send her to you and make her work on cars.

She didn't like that idea, and definitely calmed down, if not sulked a little.

Chris thought it was hilarious, said that you were going to make Chloe into the next little mechanic and she could take over the shop from you. Ricky doesn't care if Chloe does learn to work on cars, but she's definitely a little young for it just yet, especially since she hasn't been raised around them. He worries about her even just darting through the garage.

Maybe tomorrow will be better, like you said.

~~~~~~~~

"Are you sure this carnival is a good idea?" Ricky mumbles uneasily, Chloe's hand held tightly in his as you all three stand at the ticket booth. He doesn't like such a large crowd, what if he can't see his daughter at all times? What if someone nabs her? Some of these rides look sketchy, what if they break?

"It'll be fun, it's alright," you reply, seeing how excited his daughter is. "You can't keep her in a bubble all the time, plus I've always gone to the carnival, it's fun. Cotton candy, the lights, kissing boys behind the tents and sneaking away from parents." You tease, seeing the uncomfortable look on Ricky's face.

He gives a pained sigh, urging her to stand between the two of you as he goes to pay for the overpriced tickets. Chloe shifts her weight excitedly, barely holding onto your hand as she looks around at all the sights. Everything smells like popcorn and cakes, and she likes the way people are dressing in all the bright colors and tutus!

"I want a tutu like that," she says, looking at all the sparkles. "Daddy, can I have a tutu?"

"Maybe later," he slips a red bracelet around her wrist. "Let's go explore. Do you want popcorn or anything?"

"Yes, please! It smells good!" Chloe says excitedly, loosely holding onto you. You tighten your grip on her as you follow Ricky under the large arch decorated with balloons and onto the fairground.

It looks like any other fair, games set up all around that you can win prizes of stuffed animals, a dunktank, the staff dressed up in all sorts of outfits or walking on stilts. Chloe's eyes are huge as she looks around, taking in all the sights from the bright colors to the food vendors. Her fingers keeping flexing in yours, and honestly you're a little nervous you'll lose your grip on her.

You understand why people want to constantly carry their toddlers.

"A photo booth!" Chloe tugs forcefully on your hand, making you veer to your right instead of towards the vendor offering popcorn for a dollar at his little stand, wearing a red and striped hat and matching shirt. Ricky hastily follows the two of you, seeing as his daughter is suddenly intent on having her photo taken in one of those random photo booths with the curtain. "Let's get our pictures taken!"

"Ah --- what about the popcorn?" You don't want your photo taken! You're dressed nicely enough, but just normal, not picture-worthy. You're not wearing the right makeup, plus the booth looks really small, so maybe Ricky and Chloe should just get some cute ones together and leave you out of it. When you make the suggestion, Chloe looks completely against it, arguing that you need a photo of all of you instead.

You give Ricky an apologetic look as you slip into the small booth, barely enough room for you and him to both sit. He has no choice but to slip his arm around your shoulder as he draws the curtain, Chloe sitting on your laps in the middle, impatiently waiting for you to slip your quarters into the machine so you can get started.

You haven't been in one of these cheap booths in years, the black curtain a little ratty, the seat hard and uncomfortable, especially since you're squished together. You glance at the dim screen as Chloe goes through picking a design for the frame of the strip, and you realize you may have put too many quarters in with how many photos you're getting.

"Our first family photo," Ricky says after a moment, giving your shoulders a light squeeze as you roll your eyes. only to cringe as there's a flash to let you know that's probably the first picture captured. Great, your first photo together and you're rolling your eyes at your husband, you suppose it's really showing how your marriage is going.

"Smile!" Chloe says with a huff when it starts counting down on the screen again, which you hadn't noticed before. You want to squirm, your leg is falling asleep, the booth is just too small! You're not too fond of enclosed spaces, but, well, you force a smile anyway, leaning into Ricky.

Okay, that turned out cute.

"How many photos are there?" Ricky grumbles after the fourth one and yet the booth keeps going, shifting uncomfortably. His fingers absently draw circles along your arm, and you shift a little at his warm touch.

"You get two strips for as many quarters as I put in," you reply sheepishly, giving him an apologetic shrug. "Let's make faces, we have enough good ones."

You and Chloe make faces, while Ricky purses his lips and doesn't look impressed. You pinch him lightly, and he sends you a look before he makes a face like what you want. It'll be cute, everyone is supposed to have funny pictures together! You grin as you look at him, pleased.

Chloe giggles as it shows a preview of the photo, liking all of your expressions. You turn to look at Ricky, amused; you had no idea his tongue was so long, or that he could nearly touch his nose with it while his eyes crossed, impressive.

He quirks a black brow at you, and you smile at him, just... looking at him for a moment. You have to admit he's cute, with his black hair framing his face and his pale skin. His beanie is drawn down a little low, but you like it on him, he always looks good.

You're kind of glad you married him, honestly. He sets a high standard for anyone else you're ever with. He's actually thoughtful, he makes you breakfast if he gets up before you, which is every time Chloe is over since she's an early riser. You two have sort of got a system down with living in the apartment, it seems normal and natural now. It's like having a roommate who just sometimes has to sleep in the same bed as you.

Sometimes, though, it would be nice to have more than a roommate. The thought has crossed your mind several times, but you're not sure if it's really something you want to go for. Plus, what if you make a move and he turns you down? You're really good friends, and have only kissed because you have to under the circumstances. What if he's not into you? What if you embarrass yourself instead, you'll never live it down!

You're not even sure why you want to complicate the situation like that, you know it's going to be over eventually. There's no point in becoming fuck buddies when inevitably your marriage will end, and what if you get even more attached? You're sort of getting used to being part of a trio, Chloe has become a constant in your life and you're going to miss her when she's not around --- with the court date being tomorrow where Ricky starts the process for full custody, you're not sure what's going to happen.

It's not going to be something that's just immediate, you're sure it's going to take some time as they have to go through processes; you're not up to date on how it works, but it's not... well, you kind of like how everything is going right now.

Except maybe you'd like to add a little more to it?

You do it on impulse, leaning forward to kiss him, you're not even sure why you do since you know it's a bad idea. Your wedding crosses your mind, how he kissed you that day, like he really meant it. You don't think anyone has ever kissed you so passionately before, as corny as that sounds.

Ricky is surprised, you can tell it by how he goes still, but then he's kissing you back, his soft lips melding against yours. You can feel your heartbeat escalate at the gentle way he responds to you, and it's such a simple kiss, not demanding, not leading to anything else --- just... good. You sort of melt, holding your breath and finding you're enjoying this much more than you expected.

"Ew! Enough moushy-moush!" Chloe gasps indignantly, curling her nose in disgust when she glances behind her, the pictures finally complete and no longer holding her attention. "Don't be gross!"

Ricky chuckles against your lips, reluctantly leaning away to look down at his daughter. His lips are tingling from yours, and he knows his cheeks are hot, especially with where his thoughts were going. He didn't expect you to kiss him, there wasn't a reason too, unless you were just doing it for the photos? He doesn't think you've kissed since your wedding, and that suddenly seems like it was years ago.

"Sorry. Still want that popcorn?"

"After we look at photos!" Chloe slips out of his lap, throwing the curtain open and grabbing the two strips out of the dispenser on the booth. You and Ricky crawl out of the small space, and you stretch your arms above your head with a yawn; working all day wore you out, even though you did take off early.

You watch as Chloe grabs the photos, peering down at them with a pleased face. You look over her shoulder, biting your lip at the stupid faces you're both making in them, and then the one where Ricky finally did too. Yep, totally caught you rolling your eyes at him, and --- oh. It caught you kissing.

Well.

"You're adorable," Ricky says, lifting one strip of photos up, the first round you took. He likes them, you actually look like a little family together like that. He has maybe a few photos where it's him and Claire with their daughter, but that was in the beginning.

"Can we get popcorn now?" Chloe is looking at the vendor like it wasn't her idea to sidetrack first. "Daddy?"

"Yeah, go ahead," Ricky nods as he tugs his wallet from his back pocket and hands her a dollar. His eyes stay riveted on her as she darts the few feet away to the man giving out popcorn, and you slip your arm through his, following her. It seems like such a natural thing to do, to curl your arm through his or hold his hand, your wedding ring sparkling in the lights around you; you figure it's just because it's still new to you even wearing it, and so pretty and sparkly and he really did a good job picking it.

Chloe turns happily with her bag of popcorn, offering the two of you some before taking handfuls and trying to eat much more than she can at once. You chuckle as you watch her, Ricky keeping up with her easily, not letting her get too far away from him or making her hold his hand in the most crowded areas.

"I wanna get my face painted!" she gasps as she sees the table set up, a few artists painting on kids faces with brushes. Your eyes flick across them, seeing their tattooed arms and piercings, their faces all painted Day of the Dead style. Chloe heads straight for the woman in the sparkly tutu she saw earlier, and Ricky actually sighs as he follows her.

"Oh, cheer up, now we can eat her popcorn," you say as she carelessly gives it to you, looking excited as she stands in line. You noticed one of the guys dressed as a skeleton keeps glancing up, his eyes focusing on Ricky before he returns to the task of his painting. "I think you've been spotted, Mr. Horror."

Ricky's eyes flick to the skeleton guy before away, pretending he doesn't notice. He gets it sometimes, being in a rather popular metal band, people staring at him like they know him from somewhere or outright recognizing him. He usually tries to ignore it unless they approach him, and tonight he really just wants to enjoy his time with you and Chloe.

"Hey, kiddo, what kind of picture do you want?" the lady asks as Chloe sits down on the stool in front of her, eyeballing all the different designs she can choose. Ricky reluctantly puts two dollars in the jar with the price, wondering if he's going to have enough cash before the night is over. He figured Chloe would go more for the rides and the games than this stuff.

"This one," Chloe points at the black and white butterfly design, and you raise a brow, surprised she didn't go for the sparkly purple one, you would have... but you also like glitter.

"Alright," the artist dips her brush in the paint, brushing blonde hairs out of her black painted eyes as she starts drawing on the little girls face slowly. Her hair is in pig tails, and you have to commend their attention to details with their outfits, you're surprised the kids aren't afraid of them.

You lean into Ricky, his arm slipping around your shoulder as you wait on Chloe. Your eyes trail around you, washing over the crowd and the staff, all the excited children running around. You can hear the music from the rides and the games, and you purse your lips, seeing the game with the darts and the balloons.

You used to be really good at that one, you wonder if you can win Chloe a prize... or just embarrass yourself.

You cross your arms, watching as the butterfly starts forming, the long wings turning out around her eyes. It's really pretty, especially when the lady draws the silver bits out, really giving it some depth.

"Hey, uh, excuse me."

Ricky glances over, his blue eyes flicking to the skeleton who'd been eyeballing him earlier stepping up. He's about Ricky's height, dressed in full costume with black and white face paint, a brush still held in his paint-stained fingers.

"Sorry to bother you when you're with your family, but I'm a big fan of your music," the skeleton says, sounding nervous and managing to look sheepish beneath his makeup. "You guys are badass. Could I get a selfie with you?"

You're trying so hard not to smile but oh my gosh. Ricky is having a famous moment, he can't say no. You'll even take the photo, this is great. You find it funny no one really cares about signatures anymore, photos do make it more clear you met someone.

"Uh," Ricky shifts slightly, but you squeeze his hand where it dangles off your shoulder before stepping away.

"I can take the picture," you offer, the skeleton perking up. Ricky sends you a look, but you ignore him as you take the guys phone, Chloe still preoccupied with her face painting to care about anything else. You take a few steps back, the skeleton beaming where he stands beside his favorite guitarist as you take their photo. "There ya go."

"Great thanks!"

"No problem," Ricky says, shrugging his shoulders. You like that he's a little embarrassed, but shouldn't he be used to it by now? You're sure depending on where they go, they have to get recognized a lot. "Glad you like our music."

"Daddy, Mommy, look!" Chloe suddenly demands, and you both look at her, seeing a pretty black and silver butterfly design around her eyes. "What do you think?"

"It looks pretty," you reply, giving her a strained smile; oh shit, did she mean to say mommy? She's never called you that before, and oh god if Claire ever heard that she would absolutely die. There would be another world war, she would crucify you, you can only imagine how many voodoo dolls with your likeness would pop up. You're definitely not ready to be called mommy. Did Ricky hear her?

"Very nice," Ricky agrees, returning his attention to the skeleton, shaking his hand for a moment before the man returns to painting faces. You give the lady a smile who painted Chloe's as you help her off the stool, her hand clamping in yours happily as she admires the design in the dinky mirror sitting on the table.

"Why don't we play some games, hmm? Or get on some rides?" Ricky suggests as he returns to his family, Chloe's hand finding his so that she holds onto both of you as you start walking. "There's some teacups over there I think."

They don't spin fast, right? He doesn't want her getting sick, not when she's just really starting to feel better. His eyes flick to you, but you're not really saying anything, still holding onto the half-full bag of popcorn.

"Okay!" Chloe excitedly starts forward, dragging both of you along with her. Ricky isn't sure who's going to be exhausted by the time the night is over, him or Chloe. He's hoping running around and doing everything will make her sleep good tonight, considering he has court tomorrow and then her mom is picking her up from school.

He just wants everything to go well, he wants to be able to do more with her, watch her grow up. It's not so much to ask! He kind of likes doing stuff like this, little family things he can't do with her mother. He would be miserable if she was there, constantly bitching about something, they would end up fighting it and ruin the moment for Chloe.

Some people just aren't meant to be together.

~~~~~~~

"She's completely wore out," Ricky yawns as he closes the bedroom door behind him, seeing you're on the sofa in your pajamas already, flipping through the photos you took on your phone earlier in the night. "I couldn't get her to wash that butterfly off her face so it's going to be a mess in the morning."

"I'm sure it'll be alright," you reply, glancing up at him. You move your legs so he can sit down beside you, propping his feet up on the coffee table. "I got some cute photos of her on the spinning teacups, you two looked adorable."

"I could barely fit in it."

"That's the best part," you chuckle, shifting so that he can look through the pictures with you. You have a ton of Chloe just... well, being Chloe and doing stuff, playing games, having fun on rides, carrying around the stuffed dinosaur you won her at the balloon game; you were extremely proud of yourself, you've never been so pleased to give someone your prize before. Chloe absolutely loved it, and Ricky even looked impressed.

"Look at her eating popcorn," you chuckle, Ricky leaning against your shoulder to look. "She had it everywhere in the car."

"She doesn't mind if its stale or not." Ricky smiles, seeing her asleep in her carseat, head tilted to the side. "She could barely stay awake after the first hour or so, I had to carry her to the car and then she asked where we were going next."

"As long as she had fun, that's what matters." You say, trying to stifle your own yawn. "I thought she'd like it."

"She had a blast." Ricky glances at you. He wants to ask about the kiss from earlier, find out what that was about. Was it just for aesthetic purposes, do you want him to post the photos? That's what people typically do, right? Post them everywhere to show how cute their family is. "Did you... enjoy yourself?"

"It was fun. I can't believe I did so good at that balloon game, I haven't done that in years." You say, pleased. "I used to be great at it when I was a teenager."

"When you snuck off from your parents and kissed boys?"

Your cheeks heat, and you send him a look. "I was joking. I was too awkward of a teenager, I didn't really go on dates."

"I didn't either." Ricky doesn't have a lot of fond memories of his youth, he was awkward and uncomfortable in his own skin back then. He's dreading when Chloe becomes a teenager and he has to figure that out.

"So we were both losers," you say wryly, earning a roll of his eyes. "No wonder we match up so well."

"I like to think we're just that good of friends."

"Maybe." Friends, right, yeah that.

You finish going through your photos, sending him all the really good ones before tossing your phone down and stretching. "I'm exhausted, I'm probably going to bed too. You coming?"

"Later, I have to get my stuff together for court tomorrow." Ricky grimaces. "I have to make sure everything is good to go."

"Just don't stay up too late," you say, thoughtlessly patting his thigh before getting to your feet. "Being tired won't do you any favors."

"I know. Night."

"Night."

Ricky watches you walk away, sinking down lower on the sofa.

You haven't said anything about the kiss, so..?

So why did you do it? It was such a good kiss, just simple, not leading to anything. No one could see you, so you didn't have to do it. He was surprised, he didn't expect it, and maybe he shouldn't have kissed you back like that, but he couldn't help himself.

There's just something about you.

Then there's also the issue of Chloe calling you mommy. He heard, he just ignored it, not sure what he was supposed to do. The look on your face told him you didn't miss it either, but he's unsure of how you feel about it.

If Claire ever hears her daughter call you mommy, she would destroy half the planet in rage. She couldn't ban you from seeing Chloe, but she would definitely make his life hell. He doesn't want her to think you're trying to replace her or take her daughter away, that's not either of your intentions.

Should he talk to Chloe about it? She might have just slipped up, caught up in the moment. She's only six, it has to be confusing for her, seeing the two of you together. Does she want to have parental figures like that? Is she too young to even care?

He runs his fingers down his face with a soft groan, starting to give himself a headache. He'll talk to you about it tomorrow, see if it bothered you or if you want him to talk to Chloe about it. He thinks it was just a slip up, she was just caught up in the moment, she's just a kid.

He doesn't want to berate her or anything about it, she wouldn't understand.

Man, parenting is complicated.