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zepskies · 1 year ago

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Smoke Eater - Part 14

Pairing: Firefighter!Dean Winchester x F. Reader

Summary: Dean Winchester is the cocky, but well-respected Lieutenant at Firehouse 25. He leads by example, but he’s also known to break a few hearts. He’s starting to crave something he’s never had, though. Something stable. Something real.

That’s when he meets you, on a truly terrible day, trapped in a rickety old elevator.

AN: Welcome back! Get ready for some more detective work, a pinch of Jo drama, another fire, and the reader finally meets John Winchester...

🔥 Series Masterlist

Word Count: 7,500 Tags/Warnings: Angst, fire hazards, threats, and hurt/comfort.

Part 14: “Message in a Bottle”

A week before Christmas, John Winchester left his house for work before the sun had even risen in the sky. It was still dim when he stepped out onto his porch, which is why he didn’t see it at first.

He heard the clink when his boot kicked at something metallic.

He glanced down and found a small badge lying on the ground. He bent to pick it up, and on further inspection, it was a fire department’s badge. A replica, probably, because it had Dean’s number on it: 20579.

The badge was also splattered with blood.

Later at his office, John handed it over to his partner for his inspection.

“It’s actually paint,” John said. “Forensics looked it over. No prints, of course.”

“That’s a shame,” Cas said. His tone was mild, but his face was as grave as John’s as he considered the crimson-stained badge. They stood together in the bullpen of the 84th Precinct.

“And I got this little present a few days ago,” John admitted quietly. He grabbed a folder off his desk and showed Cas its contents: a picture of Sam leaving the courthouse while talking on his cell, climbing into his car. Someone was watching his sons.

“I already have a police detail on him,” John said, heaving a sigh. “I requested approval for Dean’s this morning.”

Cas’s frown was deepening, along with his furrowed brows. “We may need to ask for backup on this.”

John shook his head. “Rufus won’t give it to us.”

Their esteemed Lieutenant thought John was on a vendetta with a ghost, stirring up a conflict of his own making. He only approved a temporary police detail for Sam, with the condition that John stopped what he was doing, let the Fire Department handle the serial arsonist, and let this blow over.

But Rufus should’ve known better than that by now. This was personal, and John wouldn’t tolerate these yellow-bellied threats to his family.

“Azazel’s applying pressure, hitting your weak spots,” Cas said, perhaps pointing out the obvious.

“So let’s hit him back, goddamn it,” John growled. He threw down the folder back onto his desk.

“How?” Cas asked. “We still don’t know who Azazel is.”

The other man thought hard, rubbing a hand over his mouth, and feeling the overgrown stubble. He didn’t remember the last time he’d shaved.

“How’s your progress on questioning Savage & Co.?” he asked.

“Stalled. Nick Savage has lawyered up,” said Cas.

His face slackened from frustration to realization. He didn’t seem happy about his next idea, but it looked like he had one.

“Though now that I think of it, we may be able to apply some pressure of our own,” he said.

John raised a brow and crossed his arms. “How’s that?”

“Dean’s girlfriend works there, if you remember,” Cas said. “Something happened this past weekend at her company Christmas party.”

John nodded, despite his frown. He was set to meet you in a week, but it looked like they might need to question you before then. What a pleasant first meeting that was going to be.

But if you had anything on Savage, on the company, or even better, if you were willing to wear a wire, that could be the break they needed to get some headway on this case. They could squeeze Savage for any information he might have on Azazel—like his real identity.

“Tell me,” John said.

You returned to work on Monday with steel in your veins (and a taser in your purse).

You had about an hour of peace in your office, catching up on your emails and calls. Then there was a knock on your door before it pushed open without your consent.

Damn it, should’ve locked it. Your lips pursed when Nick Savage came in.

“You’re not supposed to be here,” you said firmly. Already you were opening a drawer in your desk, reaching into your purse.

“It’s my goddamn office,” Nick replied lazily. But he crossed his arms and stopped just behind the spare chair that sat in front of your desk. It gave you a good few feet of distance.

You stared back at the man with hidden satisfaction through your disdain. It seemed Dean’s threats got to him.

“Just thought I’d let you know that Josh’s been promoted to Senior Sales Manager,” Nick said. He checked his watch absently.

Your teeth clicked in irritation, but you let it pass. He was just trying to get a rise out of you, and you no longer gave a fuck about this company anyway. What you told Dean before was the truth: you were now here just to collect a paycheck, until you could find a new job.

“Good. He’s been working hard, kissing your ass,” you said with a fake smile. “Now if you don’t mind, I have a lot of work to do.”

Nick made the mistake of taking a half-step forward. Your hand subtly clenched on the weapon in your purse, but you tried your best to seem relaxed. In control of yourself. This was your office that you’d occupied for three years.

This was your space, and this man didn’t control you.

“Take one step forward, and I will quit today,” you threatened. And then you bluffed.

“I’ll call Mr. Greenway,” you said. “In fact, he offered me a job last month. Then I’ll make a few more calls, and I’ll take all of my accounts with me. I’ll kill your fucking sales team and leave Josh to continue sucking your lackluster tequila dick.”

Nick stared back at you with thinly veiled shock. You’d always been “no nonsense,” but you’d never spoken to him like that before. He smirked.

This was why he liked you. And hated you.

“All right,” Nick said. He didn’t come any closer, but he did rest his hands on the back of the chair. “How about I buy out your friend Greenway. His whole damn company. And then I’ll blacklist you with every other company that calls for a reference. Even the ones that don’t call.”

Your eyes widened incredulously. He had the gall to wink at you, boiling your blood.

“I’ll fucking sue you,” you said, hating the slight tremor in your voice.

Nick rolled his eyes. “This again? Please.”

You couldn’t help it. Your temper snapped, and you pushed away from your desk to stand up. You gripped the edge of it to steady yourself. You quirked a humorless smile.

“As it happens, I know a damn good lawyer,” you countered. “He puts murderers in jail every day. I doubt he’d struggle too much with a corporate asshole. And I’ll remind you, Dean’s father is a police officer. I’m sure he’d like nothing better than to lock you up after I report you for what you did. And I will.”

Nick scoffed at that, his eyes narrowing.

“If you take it there, I’ll have every resource at my disposal to make your life a living hell. I’ll drag this out for years. Until you’ve got nothing but your boyfriend’s charity to keep you from living in a fucking box.”

You were seething, trying to stay in control. He knew it too, and he smirked at you. He pushed away from the chair and started to leave.

But then, he tossed you a smug look over his shoulder.

“Just remember,” he said. “You could’ve just spread those legs for me.”

It took everything you had within you not to hurl a stainless steel stapler at the back of his retreating head.

“A double please, Ellen. Dry, lots of olives,” you requested.

After a ridiculously long day at work, you were now trying to let go of your frustrations at the Roadhouse, while you still had the money to drink. You rubbed through the ache in your temples.

“Long day, hun?” Ellen asked you. Her eyes were sympathetic as she made you the martini you ordered. You gave her an attempt at a smile.

“Long life,” you muttered.

“Hmm. Asshole boss?” she surmised.

You met her gaze with a note of suspicion. “Did Dean tell you…”

You knew he’d told his brother about what happened at the Christmas party. And you had a feeling he’d told Cas as well, to try and see what you could do from a law enforcement standpoint. The first step was filing a report. Now you knew, however, that you couldn’t. Not if you wanted your life to remain in one piece.

“Nothing, hun,” Ellen shook her head. “You’ve just got that look. I reckon every woman in the world has worn that face. Usually because of a man.”

You sighed and chuckled at the same time. It loosened some of the tightness in your shoulders.

“Yeah, well. This one’s a rat bastard in human clothing,” you replied.

“Ooh, sounds like my old biology professor,” Jo chimed in. She was drying out some newly clean glasses behind the counter along with Ellen. “He had a reputation for scoping out freshman girls.”

You made a gagging sound as you reached for the delectable martini glass Ellen slid your way.

“Men are disgusting,” you said. Jo snorted.

“99.8% of them, yeah,” she said. But her gaze drew towards the door when Dean Winchester came in. And she added, “A few of ‘em are all right.”

Was it just you, or was there a softer look in her blue eyes when she noticed Dean?

You were soon distracted though, giving your boyfriend a smile to try and cover up how exhausted you were, in every sense of the word. He greeted you with a warm hand along your lower back. He dropped a kiss to your forehead.

“Waiting long?” he asked.

“No, just a few minutes,” you shook your head. You laid a hand on his thigh when he took a seat next to you at the bar. “How was your shift?”

This week he was on three 12-hour shifts instead of his usual 24-hour shifts, which meant you got more of him in the evening.

“Fine. Just a couple of accidents to clear off the road, nothing major,” he replied. He ordered a beer from Ellen and gave Jo a smile. He was surprised to see mother and daughter working civilly together under one roof, after the scene he saw last week.

“How’s the studying going?” he asked Jo, once Ellen was out of earshot to serve further down the line. He turned to you and filled you in. “Jo’s gearin’ up to hit the Police Academy.”

“Oh wow, that’s great!” you remarked.

Jo glanced over at her mom, but then she smiled, looking back at you and Dean. She focused on him.

“The test is in a few weeks,” she said. “I think I’m ready, but I don’t know…”

“You’ll be fine,” Dean said, with easy conviction. “You’re stubborn enough to know it’s what you want. So I got no doubts about you.”

Jo’s smile was warm, with a hint of shy and gratefulness. You smiled at Jo encouragingly, but inside, you had a familiar unease churning inside your gut.

Dean then turned to you with expectant brows. His fingers brushed a strand of hair away from your cheek, curling it behind your ear.

“And how was your day?” he asked. His tone was quieter, laced with double meaning.

Out of the corner of your eye, you noticed Jo moving on to another waiting customer with a small sigh.

You met Dean’s gaze and you nodded. “It was fine.”

His brows rose a touch higher. “Very convincing. You took the taser with you, right?”

You sighed and had to smile a little. His concern warmed you, made you feel protected, even though you’d had to do that part yourself today. You soothed a hand over his chest, between the open panels of his plaid shirt.

“Yes, I did. I’m okay, baby. We’re at a standstill,” you said. And you reminded him, “I can handle myself, you know.”

Dean nodded, sighing through his nose. His hand rubbed up and down your back, whether to comfort you or himself, you didn’t know. Your fingers curled into his shirt, and you smiled up at him, just before you tugged him down for a kiss.

It was slow and sweet, until you became a bit more than sweet, grazing his bottom lip with your teeth. His hand came up to cup the back of your head as he accepted the warmth of your kiss.

You knew that you couldn’t tell Dean what happened this morning in your office. He’d likely go for the Halligan in his trunk and beat Nick Savage within an inch of his life.

While the idea appealed to you for several reasons, you didn’t want to be the reason Dean lost his badge, or ended up in jail.

So over a couple of drinks, you distracted him by having a healthy debate over what you two were going to have for dinner later: sushi or pizza.

You ultimately won with sushi. (Or maybe he let you win. Either way, you were getting salmon rolls tonight.)

Still, you had that uneasy feeling when you and Dean left the bar. You wondered how the hell it had taken you this long to notice the starry look of longing in Jo’s eyes.

You fell into step with Dean as you two headed for the sushi restaurant down the street. It was already dark out, but even on a Tuesday night, the streets and sidewalks of downtown were busy.

“Can I ask you something…potentially uncomfy?” you said.

Dean’s head turned to you, with a raised brow.

“Uncomfy?”

You let out a breath, and you could see it on the December chill in the air. Your hands were tucked into your pockets, and so were Dean’s in his.

“Did you and Jo ever have a thing?” you asked.

Dean blinked, but then his lips pressed together. “What makes you say that?”

You sent him a suspicious look. You’d known him long enough to know when he was hedging.

“Just please, answer the question,” you said.

He blew out a breath. After a moment, he nodded.

“Yeah, for a few weeks,” he admitted.

You sighed. That sure explained a hell of a lot. And really, with his track record, you couldn’t be surprised.

“You dated her, or you hooked up with her?” you clarified. Dean shot you a look.

“Dated,” he said, rubbing a hand over his mouth.

Your brows furrowed. “When?”

He’d told you that he’d been in one relationship before, briefly…

“About a few months before I met you,” he said at last. But he saw the incredulous, almost upset look on your face. “Obviously it didn’t work out.”

“You couldn’t have told me that earlier?” you asked. Your hands slipped out of your pockets to gesture at him. “How did it end?”

The man sighed, looking up at the sky.

“Come on, Dean,” you prodded.

“All right,” he placated with a hand. “It didn’t end great, put it that way.”

You couldn’t help a frustrated huff. You crossed your arms and kept walking beside him down the street, albeit in silence.

Dean glanced at you in slight exasperation. He was with you now. Why did it matter to you so much?

“She still has feelings for you,” you said, though you still weren’t looking at him.

“How do you figure?” he asked. But if he was honest, even he knew the truth.

“Because I could see her eyeing you like a honey glazed ham,” you snipped. At that, he let out an incredulous chuckle.

“Are you jealous?” he teased.

You stopped walking and looked up at him, frowning. “Do you want me to be?”

Dean stopped as well. He sobered, realizing you weren’t in the mood for jokes. You’d been through a lot recently, and he knew then that you didn’t need this kind of stress on top of everything else. He drew closer and gently grasped your arms.

“Don’t worry about it,” he said. Though he thought to himself, I’ll talk to Jo if I have to.

Your lips pursed in frustration, but he soothed his hands up and down your arms. His touch plied you, along with his smile.

“Hey,” Dean said, dipping his chin so he could catch your eyes. “You should know how I feel about you by now.”

You sighed and nodded in agreement.

“Mhmm,” you replied.

He wasn’t satisfied.

“Okay, listen,” he said, squeezing your arms and earning your eyes on him. It took him a moment, letting out a breath, but he was honest.

“I love you," he reminded. "And if that damn elevator hadn’t broke down on you, I’d still be missing something in my life.”

…Damn it, you thought, even as a blushing smile grew across your face. Dean Winchester was too smooth for his own good.

But you also saw the sincerity in his eyes. You couldn’t help but be warmed by his words, down to your toes.

“There she is. All right,” he said with a grin. He nodded in satisfaction and gathered you into his arms. “My soft girl again.”

Your smile deepened, but you still pinched his side, making him flinch and laugh. You held him back and looked up at his handsome face. He still looked amused and his eyes were warm. You leaned up on your toes for a kiss that lingered on wind-chilled lips.

“I love you,” you whispered back, against his lips.

His smile against yours was your answer.

Two hours and two salmon rolls later, Dean drove you home. You had taken an Uber to the Roadhouse, which reminded him that he needed to make another trip to Singer Salvage.

He’d been scoping out potential cars to fix up for you. He’d even recruited Bobby’s help to find something good, something with strong bones. Dean could do the rest.

Even after he watched you get inside your house safely, he let out a subtle breath before he peeled away. He wished you were coming home with him tonight. More often, he was feeling your absence when you weren’t in his bed. But it also reassured him, that he knew you were safe with him and Sam at their apartment.

He later found his brother eating leftover chicken parmesan at the kitchen counter.

“Why’re you eating standing up?” Dean asked, tossing his keys onto the counter. He reached into the fridge for a beer. “You look like Big Bird if he wore a suit.”

Sam sent him a dry look. “I don’t know. Force of habit.”

He barely had time in his day for an uninterrupted coffee, let alone a meal. When Dean wasn’t here, Sam fell back onto his work habits. He took his plate and actually went to the table.

“You eat already?” he asked. Dean nodded and said he’d eaten with you.

“Oh yeah? How’s she doing?” Sam asked.

Dean sighed and sank down heavily onto the chair opposite his brother. He rubbed at his forehead.

“She’s okay, considering,” he replied. But he knew you hadn’t told him the whole story about how your day went at work. Whether you were trying to spare him, or protect him, or yourself, it still drove him up the wall. Knowing Nick Savage was still your boss, and he was there, an ever-present threat just a few floors above you in that building…

It made Dean’s skin crawl. It had his teeth grinding and coiled his spine tight with repressed rage. And worry.

He met his brother’s eyes. Sam had been watching him, hiding his wariness.

“What can we do about him?” Dean asked. He knew he didn’t have to explain who he was talking about.

Sam started to shake his head, but Dean wouldn’t have it.

“I mean it, Sam. Because I almost…” His hand and forearm clenched and unclenched on the table. He could almost feel the way his arm had pressed into Nick’s throat, slowly but surely crushing his trachea. Just a couple of minutes more, and Dean could’ve done it. In that moment, he saw it so clearly.

It was the first time he’d ever wanted to take a man’s life.

“I know,” Sam said. His brows furrowed in sympathy. “But you did the right thing.”

Dean’s lips pursed as his hand once again fisted on the table.

“If I hadn’t been there,” he said. “If I had been just a few minutes off…”

These were the what ifs that kept plaguing his mind, ever since the party. Sometimes, it added to the catalogue of waking nightmares that wouldn’t let him sleep.

“And now she’s gotta go back there, every day, where that animal is just waiting for an opportunity,” Dean gritted out. Then his fist dropped more heavily onto the table, rattling Sam’s silverware.

Sam held the table steady and looked at his brother, calm but firm.

“You can’t touch Savage,” he said. “Don’t even go near him. Whatever you do, he’ll use it against you, and potentially against her. Unfortunately, she’s got the best plan right now.”

Dean looked up at him with angry eyes.

“Wait him out,” Sam said, “until he makes a mistake he can’t easily cover up. In the meantime, she’ll find a new job and get the hell out of there.”

Dean forced a sharp breath through his nose. He leaned back in his chair and tapped his fist more calmly on the table.

“I don’t have to like it,” he said.

Sam nodded in agreement. “No, you don’t.”

The fire was wild. It was eating up the four-story apartment building in a full blaze. The Truck 79 team was geared up outside of it, with Chief Singer already calling out instructions along with Dean.

Benny and the Rescue Squad were already on the roof, rappelling down to get the ones trapped on the top floors out through the windows. Dean was on the ground. He had Gordon, Jack, and a few others behind him. Meg and Chuck were on standby, waiting for the firefighters to pull out any residents still trapped inside.

Dean had to wonder if he was walking into another arson, like the Richardson fire. Against his will, he thought of that day. He thought about everything his father had told him about that arson, about Azazel and his mom’s death. He thought about you, working for a man who was potentially tied to Azazel.

“Winchester,” Gordon tapped him on the arm. “You good?”

Dean glanced over at him, then nodded.

“Yeah. Let’s rock and roll.”

When Dean was at work, he couldn’t let the outside world into his mind. All he could let himself focus on was the scene ahead after he put his mask on.

Inside the first floor of the building was like entering a living furnace. It was hot as shit, and layers of smoke choked the room. The mask was the only reason Dean could see, let alone breathe.

He turned to Jack. “All right, take it room by room. Stay close. We don’t got a lot of time.”

Jack nodded his agreement, and Dean split his team. A few of the others took the first floor on his orders. Dean, Gordon, and Jack would take the old stairs to clear the second floor.

Fuck. This whole place is just wood and plaster, Dean thought, shaking his head. These old buildings were all the same. Easy to build, easy to knock down. And usually they weren’t up to code, often thanks to cheap property owners.

He got apartment 201 open with his Halligan. The shoebox studio was smokey as all hell, but it was clear of any tenants. Gordon moved on ahead quickly, but Dean’s brows furrowed as he listened to the unsteady creaking of the floorboards. He moved more carefully forward.

Until he felt the warmth under his boots, saw the orange glow underneath a thin patch of flooring.

“Walker, wait!” Dean called, at the same time he held Jack back.

He reached out, just as the wood floor splintered and broke underneath Gordon. His eyes flashed wide just before he fell.

Dean dove for him. His Halligan clattered away, but he managed to grab onto the man’s sleeve before he disappeared. Gordon grabbed onto Dean’s arm and nearly pulled him down too. Luckily, he managed to grab onto the splintered edge with his other glove-covered hand. He gritted his teeth at the strain of the other man hanging off his shoulder, but he didn’t dare let go.

Jack grabbed Dean’s belt to keep him from sliding further down. It let him grab onto Gordon with both hands. The men panted for breath; Dean had a better vantage point to see that the middle of the ground floor below was engulfed in flames. The glow of it flared in the corner of Gordon’s eyes. He could feel the heat making both of them sweat.

The wood flooring under Dean creaked ominously, but before anyone could move, it broke further. He almost lost his grip on Gordon as his torso hung over the edge. He managed to get a new stronghold under the other man’s arm, and Jack did his best to keep Dean from falling by pinning his legs down. Jack was strong, but he was still a smaller man than Dean.

“Jack, call for backup!” Dean gritted out. Jack nodded behind him and radioed in for help.

Gordon stared up at Dean with wide, but resigned eyes. “The floor’s gonna cave before you can pull me up.”

Dean stared down at him, even as lines of sweat poured down his forehead from within his mask. They both knew that if that happened, Dean would be pulled along for the ride down, maybe even Jack too. Dean gave a sharp shake of his head.

“Just hold on. Backup’s comin’,” he said. All his strength was going into keeping a firm grip on the man’s arm and jacket. He called to Jack over his shoulder. “Can you get next to me and grab him?”

To his credit, Jack tried. But the jagged edges of the floor around Dean were unsteady, creaking and groaning under Jack’s added weight, a bit too much.

“Stop, stop!” Dean shouted, halting Jack’s movements.

Gordon licked his dry lips and blinked sweat out of his eyes. “This might be the part where you let go, Winchester.”

Dean took exactly a beat to process his shock. Then he glared down at the man.

“Shut the hell up, Walker. You don’t let go, you hear me?” he barked. “Jack, grab the back of my jacket and my belt.”

Jack followed the order, and a combination of him pulling Dean up and Dean straining every muscle he had to heft up Gordon slowly, painfully, brought them back up and over the ledge.

Jack had an easier time then of helping Dean pull Gordon the rest of the way out of the hole.

And the rest of their Truck crew came to help them onto their feet, before the fire consumed the rest of the second floor.

Once Dean was out of the building, he took off his mask and breathed in cooler air on his face. He made a beeline for the fire truck. In the back was a cooler, and grabbed a bottle of water to dump over his overheated head and face while he caught his breath. Gordon and Jack were following suit, and the men stared and one another. All of their faces said the same thing.

We made it. We’re alive. That was almost fucked.

Gordon’s gaze met Dean’s, sobering further. For a moment, he looked like he was searching for words.

“How’s your shoulder?” he asked eventually.

Dean nodded, rotating his right arm. He was going to feel that bitch tomorrow.

“Fine,” he said. “You okay?”

“Yeah,” Gordon nodded. Another hesitation, followed by an honest gaze. “Thanks, Lieutenant.”

Dean’s face broke into a smile, wry but also genuine. “Yeah, thank me by layin’ off the burgers.”

He swatted the other man’s stomach and went for three more waters. He handed two of them to Jack and Gordon. One was smiling, while the other just smirked and shook his head.

“You callin’ me hefty?” Gordon remarked. “I’m averaging 6% body fat, man.”

Dean scoffed. “Yeah, right. What’re you, the Rock? That’s why you almost sunk.”

He dropped his fist into the air and made an exploding sound. Jack was wide-eyed, but Gordon just chuckled. They started making their way to the front of the truck to start packing up their gear. The Truck and Rescue teams had done what they could, and all the residents that made it out of the building were being seen to by the paramedics.

“I’d rather be weighed down by muscle than all them Little Debbie’s you’ve been putting away at the station,” Gordon shot back. “Cheap cake is not your friend.”

Dean rolled his eyes. “All right, that’s just uncalled for.”

“Dean,” Chief Singer called, beckoning him over with a hand. His free hand wore a glove as he held something steaming.

Dean nodded at his men and joined Bobby outside his department-issued SUV. Dean’s gaze focused on the bottle-shaped object in Bobby’s hand. There was a small digital box attached to the front, with wires wrapped around. The entire device was now blackened, but the smell of chemicals was unmistakable.

“Molotov cocktail?” Dean quipped, but his face was as grave as Bobby’s. The Chief nodded.

“Lafitte pulled this out of the fourth floor,” he said. “Looks like the same kind of incendiary device Arson found at the Richardson fire.”

That night, you made dinner for Dean at your house. He was forced to explain what happened at the apartment building, and why he had his arm pinned to his side like a chicken wing. You made him sit down and relax, all while you tried to hide your worry and relief that he was mostly all right.

Later in the living room, you sat on your knees beside him on the couch and lifted the bag of ice from his shoulder. You peered at it in concern, gently rubbing your hand over the joint and surrounding muscle. Dean sighed through his nose as your gentle touch was both soothing and painful.

“Are you sure you should do another shift tomorrow?” you asked, replacing the ice. He shot you a glance.

“I’m fine,” he said.

“Right,” you said dryly. “That’s why you can barely move this arm.”

Dean rolled his eyes and made his point by raising his right arm, slowly, but easily back down.

“I’ll be up and running by tomorrow. Just need a good night’s sleep.”

“Dean, are you sure? You seem to be in a lot of pain,” you asked.

He tried to hold in his annoyance. “I think I’d know if I’m fine.”

“You forget, I know all too well what downplaying looks like,” you countered, giving him a chiding look. Dean didn’t appreciate it. He didn’t need you to mother him.

“This is my job, all right,” he said.

You gave him a steady look. Your hand moved up his shoulder to rest along the back of his neck. Your fingers slipped into his hair.

“I know that. But I’m allowed to worry,” you said. Your brows furrowed. “Please don’t get upset at me for that.”

Dean let out a breath. He relaxed against the couch and met your gaze. He knew he had no right to ask you not to worry about him.

“Yeah, okay,” he said.

To you, he still seemed a bit annoyed. You nodded and continued to gently sift your fingers through his hair. You had to wonder if his resentment was coming from a different place.

“Are you still mad at me for going back to work?” you tested.

Dean breathed out deeper this time, but he didn’t answer.

Bingo, you thought with a frown.

“Dean—”

“All I want is for you to be safe,” he said. His voice was harder as his face tightened up. His hand gestured in frustration. “This whole thing…that fucking douchebag…it’s killing me. Fucking killing me. And you know that.”

Your eyes softened, and you unconsciously bit your lip.

“Ditto,” you tried to joke. It landed flat, because your boyfriend was deadly serious.

He looked away from you with pursed lips and a frustrated shake of his head. You sidled closer to him and tried to soothe, with a hand on his chest.

“Look, I’m trying to find a new job, but it takes time,” you said.

“You could quit. You could quit right now,” Dean replied hotly.

You sighed; you couldn’t believe you had to remind him about this. “I can’t, Dean. I have bills to pay, just like you do. You think I like this situation any more than you? I’m the one who’s had to deal with this for months!”

“I know that!” Dean snapped back. “Or should I say, now I do.”

He pulled away from your touch and pushed off the couch, onto his feet. You looked up with your mouth agape as he left the room. You got up and followed after him.

“You’re leaving?” you asked in shock. You watched him grab his keys and his wallet from the kitchen counter.

“I’ve got a long shift tomorrow and I gotta sleep,” Dean said, rather gruffly.

You followed him all the way to the door, where you grabbed onto his wrist. He stopped in the doorway, glancing back at you over his shoulder.

“Dean, please,” you implored. “Don’t go like this.”

After a beat, he seemed to soften. Just enough to lean over and press a brief kiss to the side of your head.

“I gotta go.”

He left you in the doorway with tears swimming in your eyes, and he pretended not to notice them.

When Dean woke up the next morning, his shoulder still ached, and he still felt guilty. He rubbed the offending join and tried to slowly roll the stiffness out of his arm. Fuck.

He rubbed the sleep out of his eyes next. They blearily took in the digital numbers on his alarm clock: 5:00 a.m.

He slid out of bed and got ready for work. He definitely wanted to check in with Arson about the device that likely started that fire, and he knew his dad would need to be brought in on it. It would give Dean a reason to press John for an update on his investigation.

By 6:00, he was finishing his coffee, about ready to head over to the station. He could hear the pipes running, meaning Sam was in the shower.

Dean was startled only slightly by his phone vibrating in his pocket. His brows furrowed, but he fished it out and found your name crossing the screen, along with a smiling picture of you. He sighed.

Part of him hesitated. If you were calling just to try and convince him to call out of work, he was going to get worked up again. And he’d rather not have anything disturb his first cup of coffee of the day.

Still, he answered. “Hey.”

“Dean, did you come into the house last night?” you asked.

He didn’t like the wary, almost scared tone of your voice.

“No.” His brows furrowed. “Why?”

“Look at the text I just sent you.”

He put you on speaker so he could check his messages. Sure enough, he found a picture from you. It was of a glass bottle-shaped object on your nightstand. There was a black box attached, but its digital screen was blank. Dean’s breath caught in his lungs as his eyes widened. His heart dropped into his stomach.

“Dean, what is this thing?” you asked. Your voice was shakier, more worried. “It looks like a bomb. And it smells awful, like chemicals.”

“Don’t touch it,” he said quickly. “Get out of the house…better yet, wait for me at your neighbor’s place. I’m coming over right now.”

And I’m calling Dad.

Dean tried his best to calm you while the police and the Arson Department swept your entire house for devices, fingerprints, and any other evidence on who broke in.

You had a hand over your mouth by the front door as you watched them turn over cushions, move tables and shelves, ruck through cabinets. Your entire life turned inside out.

Dean’s hand rubbed up and down your back. You eventually had to look away and sigh. You pressed closer to his side, and he wrapped his good arm around your shoulders.

“It’s gonna be okay,” he said quietly, and kissed the top of your head. Inside, he was furious. Mostly at himself.

If anything had happened to you last night, after he left…he would’ve never forgiven himself.

So it was a welcome distraction when John and Cas’s police car finally pulled into the driveway. Dean led you outside, away from the chaos happening in your house.

“Hey, Dad,” he said, with a nod at Cas. Both men nodded back.

“Son,” John greeted, His brown eyes turned to you next. He offered you a hand. “Good to finally meet you, despite the circumstances.”

You blinked up at him and curled a stray strand of hair behind your ear, a bit nervously.

“Oh, it’s…it’s great to meet you, Mr. Winchester,” you said, sticking out your hand and shaking his.

A smile flickered across Dean’s lips. He realized then that this was the first time you were meeting his father. You were adorably nervous.

A reserved smile tugged at his father’s lips as well.

“John’s just fine.”

You smiled back, with a bit of a blush tinging your cheeks.

“Now, can you tell me what happened here?” John asked you, not unkindly.

Dean’s good humor faded away as he explained about the device left on your nightstand. He filled them in about the fire he’d responded to yesterday as well.

“What the hell is happening, Dad?” he demanded to know.

John let out a breath and nodded, swiping a hand through his dark hair.

“It’s another one of Azazel’s signatures,” he said, lowering his voice so only the four of them could hear. “It’s a message.”

“To who?” Dean asked.

“To me,” John said. “Warning me to back off the case…there’ve been other threats. I’ve finally got a police detail on Sam, and I just got approval for you. I’ll add her to the list.”

John glanced at you. Your eyes widened in confusion as you tried to hold in your fear.

“Who the hell is Azazel?” You turned to Dean. “Is this…does this have something to do with your mom’s killer?”

John’s brows shot up at his son. “You told her?”

“You’re over here talking about him too,” Dean retorted. He gathered you closer and met his father with steely eyes, to mask how his gut was churning with worry.

“You need to get this guy,” Dean said, almost through gritted teeth. “Get him now.”

John agreed with a nod.

Once again, you covered a trembling hand over your mouth. Dean squeezed your side a bit to earn your attention.

“I want you to come stay with me,” he said. His tone was boding no argument, not that you would. You nodded and fairly melted against him. Your head rested against his chest.

“Dean, this is insane,” you whispered.

He nodded and pressed a kiss to your forehead. “I know. I’m sorry…I’m so fucking sorry about this.”

You looked up at him, your brows furrowing. “It’s not your fault.”

Dean met your gaze, but he couldn’t quite believe you. He was the one who kept pushing his dad for answers, to let him in on this. This was his family’s bullshit, not yours. You didn’t deserve to get dragged into it too.

The spell between you two was broken by Cas, awkwardly clearing his throat.

“We do need to ask you some questions,” he said. “About Nick Savage.”

You frowned. You peeled yourself away from Dean enough to face the detectives.

“What does he have to do with this?” you asked.

“His company is linked to a money laundering scheme, which ultimately leads back to Azazel,” Cas explained. “But we’re having trouble getting through his wall of lawyers.”

You scoffed. “Not surprising.”

However, it did worry you that Nick was possibly doing business with a criminal. Not that that should surprise you either.

“What do you want to know?” you asked.

“Well, first of all, would you be willing to file a police report,” Cas said, more gently, “regarding your assault at his home.”

Your eyes widened. Your mouth fell open slightly before you looked over at Dean. His face tightened, along with his hand on the curve of your waist.

“Why do you need me to do that?” you asked Cas.

“It’ll give us the leverage we need to dig deeper into his business,” John said. “Knock loose any shady dealings. We could get him to cough up what he knows about Azazel.”

You wanted to help, but at the same time, you were reluctant to mire yourself deeper in this. Dean saw your reservations, and he could guess why.

“Won’t that just paint a bigger target on her back?” he asked.

“We’re gonna protect her,” John promised. His eyes went from Dean, back to you. “But we need your help. This could be the break we need to get to Azazel. To find out who this bastard is.”

John could see your indecision. “All you need to do is fill out the report. Maybe get up in court to testify.”

You tightened up at that. “Testify?”

“If it gets that far,” John nodded.

“I don’t think so,” you shook your head. “That man can make my life hell without a serial killer’s help.”

You looked to Dean for support.

In the beginning, he had all but begged you to do what his father and Cas were asking. But now, this was just too much. He pressed you more securely to his side.

“Dean?” his father prodded.

“You heard her,” Dean said. “It’s her choice.”

You sighed and held onto the back of his shirt gratefully. The detectives shared a look, with John’s brows furrowing. He regarded you with a gruff, slightly strained look.

“Listen, don’t you want Savage in a cold hard cell?” he asked. “You could put him there.”

“Dad, she said no. Lay off,” Dean’s tone sharpened. Unfortunately, he knew how stubborn the man could be.

“Dean, I’m trying to nail this guy, but I’m missing pieces,” John said. “Right now, I can’t do it without her.”

“Well, figure it out,” Dean snapped.

John frowned in near disbelief. "Excuse me?"

“Look, I know where your priorities are, but mine is making sure she’s safe," said Dean. "If you can’t handle that, then we’ve got a problem!”

The strength of his retort took everyone by surprise, but no one more so than John. He hid it well behind a deepening frown.

He glanced between you and his son. You were looking up at Dean with unshed tears in your red-rimmed eyes, grateful, and holding on tight to his shirt. He still held you to him. His entire frame was tight and angry.

And John knew that he would react the same way, if he were Dean. He also knew then that he was pushing too hard.

So he sighed, and pulled out a card from his wallet. He handed it to you.

“I’m sure you’ve got Cas’s number already, but here’s mine,” said John. “Call me if you change your mind.”

“I’m sorry for invading,” you told Sam that night. He was helping you and Dean bring in your suitcases. You were pretty much moving into their apartment, indefinitely.

“You’re not,” Sam said, shaking his head. “We’re happy to have you here.”

You gave him a tired, thankful smile. “I appreciate that, thanks.”

“We’ll get to have an in-house chef,” Dean chimed in, earning more amused look from you.

“Need I remind you that I’m not an actual chef?” you said. You set down your smaller suitcase, full of shoes and toiletries, to grasp the front of his shirt. You leaned up on your toes and met him with a kiss. It was sweet, but it was also tender. His arms came around your lower back and pulled you flush against him.

He parted from you gently, afterwards pressing his forehead against yours. He let out a brief sigh through his nose.

“I’m sorry, about how I left last night,” he said.

You shook your head, despite the tears that wanted to burn in your eyes. You wanted to tell him, It’s fine. I’m fine.

But you couldn’t lie to him.

“You came back when I needed you,” you said instead. “Thanks for letting me stay here.”

You felt his fingers tangle in your hair, his hand resting along the back of your neck. It was familiar, and soothing.

“This isn’t exactly how I wanted you to move in,” he admitted. You chuckled wryly.

“Really,” he said. “…I was thinking of asking you. But not ‘til, you know, down the line.”

You softened at that. You raised up on your toes and pressed a kiss to the corner of his mouth. Then you circled your arms around his neck and hugged him close. He held you back just as tightly.

“Thank you for always being there for me,” you said. He couldn’t see your smile, but somehow, he knew it was there. But he could also hear you sniffle, and feel your body tremble with tears.

“You’re safe here,” Dean said softer into your ear. “Nothing’s getting to you, all right?”

You nodded, pressing your face into his neck. He continued to say and do whatever he felt he had to in order to reassure you that night, and make you feel safe.

All the while, he was trying to reassure himself.

AN: *burrr* That tension, huh? What did you think of her finally finding out about Jo's lingering feelings, plus a bit of Dean's resentment, him and Gordon coming to an understanding, and the reader meeting John for the first time! 😮‍💨😮‍💨

Good news though. Next time, we'll take a huge break from all this drama and have a nice fluffy Christmas special. (Plus a healthy dose of spice. ❤️‍🔥)

Next Time:

You hadn’t undressed yet from your jeans and sweater, but you crawled across the bed to come up behind him and drop a gentle hand on his shoulder.

“How’s your slugging arm?” you asked.

Dean quirked a smile at you over his shoulder. “Just fine.”

“Dean,” you said. Your tone was gentle, but warning. No downplaying.

You pressed your lips against the side of his head and soothed your hand along his shoulder and down his arm. Still, he was resistant.

“I’m fine, sweetheart,” he said.

You hummed. “Okay. I guess you don’t need a massage then.”

He paused. His head tilted just so, once again turning to you over his shoulder. You spied the edge of his piqued interest, his grin.

“Well, if you’re offering…”

Keep Reading: PART 15

Dean Winchester Masterlist

Main Masterlist

Series Tag List (Part 1):

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@vanillawhiskeyflavoredkisses @roseblue373 @this-is-me19 @emily-winchester @spnexploration @deans-spinster-witch @deans-baby-momma @iprobablyshipit91

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sin-sidejob · 2 years ago

Text

Inside Job — New Years

warnings: NSFW, minors DNI, 18+, mentions of sex, allusions to sex, heavy petting, makeout, mentions of alcohol and food, limited consumption of alcohol and or food, genderless reader, gender-neutral pronouns and pet names, mentions of family.

contents: pretty mild considering my other work but tagged adult for safety. cute kissing and making out with your faves, their new or old holiday traditions, mentions of food and drinks and holiday fun. Happy New Year drama free and fillied with fun. Hope y'all enjoy!

a/n: Happy New Years!! From me and the shadow board to you all!! 💖

Brett Hand

the two of you manage to tuck into the corner of the bar you were celebrating in, Brett wanting to join in on the tradition you had with your friends of celebrating out on the town for New Year's and having fun with the family you've found and enjoying the moments and the hijinks that nearly always tend to ensue.

Brett, for some reason, keeps thinking that your friends don't like him when they've threatened you with either stealing him away should you ever hurt him or break his heart or just outright trading you out for Brett. You can't say you're upset, you'd say the same thing. You love this man.

"Thank you for letting me come along!" He exclaims over the music and the noise, bringing you a refill from the bar of the drink you had, making sure to take your drinks and cover them whenever you stepped away or had to use the restroom, taking a sip to assure you they were safe even though you trusted him with your life and told him so, constantly, "I'm having a lot of fun, your friends are kinda' great."

"Funny, they're saying the same about you honey," you murmur in his ear, taking the opportunity to talk low and drape yourself across him like velvet in the cadence of the atmosphere, "telling me everything I already know about, like how wonderful you are, how charming and sweet you can be. How handsome and smart you are," you carry on, littering kisses on the underside of his jaw, uncaring for anyone who manages to see.

"My Brett."

"Your Brett?" he laughs, hesitant and a little nervous, surprised at how affected he is by that statement on your lips. He feels you nod against him as you drape the hand holding your drink over his shoulder while you press your forehead against his neck. "Mhm, they keep threatin' to replace me with you should I treat you wrong."

"Really?"

You nod in response against him, not noting the awe and surprise in his tone and how taken aback he is, always forgetting how your boy is so easily swayed by himself into thinking he's lesser when in reality, he's everything and more. The countdown begins, and quickly you're joined by your friends all gathering around to yell along with the ball drop and for the new year to begin, meanwhile you can't be bothered and have been unable to look away from Brett since the moment you laid eyes on him this morning in bed.

"Absolutely. Wanna' show off and be my kiss at midnight?" and Brett nods enthusiastically in response, taking the drink from your hand and downing it on one, very frat-like, go and bringing you back close to tell you how much he loves you between the both of you. He kisses you into the New Year and manages to do it for the rest of them, and they always feel just the same. Otherworldly.

JR Scheimpough

you celebrate New Year's at a party the two of you were invited to, dressing to the nine's and going out to dinner beforehand at some restaurant that was probably already booked out for weeks, if not months, and yet getting let in with ease from barely any effort from JR. Show off. After dinner, the two of you take a ride and head up to the party from the invitation, a top-floor party at some politician or CEO's place, a big band in full swing with an open bar. It's a black-tie event and you're glad you planned accordingly because you still both look more expensive than the rest do altogether. The two of you manage to sneak a few messy kisses in the elevator before you arrived on the floor, being able to fix his hair after nearly ruining it just before the doors open. If it's noticeable that he's flushed and his lips are puffy, no one comments on it.

after the usual schmoozing and small talk, the both of you sneak away to a balcony overlooking the D.C. spread, wind merciful and not being as cold as it could be in the night. JR comes back after refilling your drink to find you draped over the balcony and admiring the view before he joins you, commenting something coy in your ear and getting you to giggle before he hands you your drink and you both cheer, something murmured about great company and another year down, another to go as you clink your glasses together and drink in celebration.

After sipping away at the sparkling drink within the crystal flutes, he sets them both aside so he can take you in his arms and hold onto you while swaying to the music playing from indoors, Life Is but a Dream by The Harptones crooning low as you get swept up into JR's strong, steady arms and get spun out then brought back to his chest, your arms sidling around his neck as you play with the short hairs at the nape.

The song slows to something more melodious and lilting, Chopin if you had to guess, and listen to the countdown begin. He keeps you calm and grounded as the cheering picks up in volume, a large hand encompassing your hip locking you in the moment and not letting you get swept up away in the current of it all.

You get to soak up the moment with him, feel strong arms wrap around your waist as he makes you forget everyone else around you both, the countdown from the next room, and the fireworks nearly a city away firing off in the distance. All you can feel is him and his touch, the brush of his nose against your pulse as he hums the notes of songs that play softly against your skin, inhaling your perfumed scent as you sway chest to chest, wholly enveloped with each other rather than anyone else. You start the new year off right, with each other, and it's better than any other year you've had already.

Your gloved hand grasps his chin and lifts his head up to hover near yours, watching his eyes blink open and lid half-shut, peering down at you with a concoction of adoration and lust pooling in dark eyes. Counting down, you murmur the digits in the space between you both, telling him happy new year just before you kiss him and the new year begins, the old one still close by as you let him make you forget about it all.

He’s your New Year's kiss and every resolution you could make.

Alpha Beta Robotus

It's his first New Year beyond being locked up in the basement or left in tube-based solitary confinement. With that in mind and you making sure you take him home with you, not letting anyone have the mere idea of stopping you and your plan for the midnight countdown, you've set yourself on a mission to start the new year with him. And you intend on making it a good one.

"You've got mistletoe?" Alpha Beta stares quizzically up at the plant you've managed to hang high on your ceiling above the doorway to your kitchen between the hallway where you both now stand, "Isn't that a little excessive?"

"Only if you suddenly have lost interest and are letting me know that I've now got to find someone else to supply my kisses up to the New Year." You shoot back, looking up at him with a shit-eating grin he is tempted to kiss off, now that you've mentioned it, standing in your fuzzy socks upon the hardwood waiting for the sitcom-loving robotic bastard to just kiss you already.

While you're contemplating on whether to tug him in by the lapels or by his hair, Alpha Beta leans down and cups your cheek before kissing you tenderly, softly, with all the grace and poise of a noir heartthrob in one of those films you see off the classic movie channel. "No, I don't think I've lost any interest."

"That's sweet and all, but I'm afraid you'll just have to remind me, thoroughly." you murmur, eyes darting between his and then back down to his mouth, returning to glance up into glacier eyes just before he tugs you closer with a strong arm around your waist as he presses his lips to yours once more. He's picked up humming as he kisses you, another trait he's mirrored and adopted over time, and it feels better knowing that Alpha Beta's kissed you so many times he can't help but mirror it back to you.

By the time the countdown nears, he's got you spread and sidled on his lap, thighs encasing his as his fingers slide beneath the waistband of your pants and over your underwear, teasing you in strokes that match the tempo of the countdown and leave you keening against him impatiently. He tuts and chides at the show you're putting on and just as the countdown ends and the new year begins, you tug him into a kiss by his hair and he groans low, jaw clicking mechanically as his eyes glow a fraction before shutting.

Alpha Beta's hand finally begins to play with you properly and by the time you breach for air, you're dazed and beaming, already looking fucked out as you keep him close by his half-undone tie and grin.

"Happy New Year, AB, now fuck me until I forget it."

Gigi Thompson

She doesn't get a lot of solid downtime to spend with friends or family, so when she gets to enjoy herself and hang out with her loved ones, she goes all out. Gigi spent the holidays at home with you but convinced you to join along with her trip down to Georgia to see her family for New Year's, claiming that you're family to her the same as they are.

After a flight that took no time at all, spending it eating snacks and watching comedy specials, you manage to get to her parent's house in no time. The visit isn't as daunting as it could be, you having made the basic introductions and impressions at her family reunion last summer, already knowing her parents well enough to help out with cooking or setting up rather than just being left to stand around as a guest. You get the family treatment and damn if it doesn't make you a little teary-eyed.

"And you didn't think that they liked you," Gigi comments after prep is all set up and done, the two of you out on the back porch drinking tea and enjoying weather that's at least slightly warmer than D.C. "I can't help it, I'm always going to try and make a good impression, no matter how long I'll know them for."

Gigi laughs and gives you a pitying pat on the knee which you playfully swat away before she sips at her iced tea. "Can't be that bad, and besides, it's New Year's Day that's the eventful time. Eve just means drinking and talkin' shit before the rest pile on in tomorrow. That's when the real shit starts."

"Noted," you murmur into your glass before seeing the soft light of the house behind you both reflect on her face and how the night air makes her just glow. Her parents mention the countdown starting from inside but leave you both to your own devices. You take her hand in yours and squeeze gently, her matching it and then counting down between grasps of each other's palms as the countdown gets closer and closer to midnight.

Setting your drinks aside, you brush her hair back behind her ear and cup her cheek, careful not to muss her makeup if you can help it. "Love you, Gigi," you murmur, enjoying how her eyes don't hide the emotion in them, seeing her reciprocate in look before words. "Love you too, baby," she shoots back, lips in a blushy grin. You hear the final numbers said aloud and hear her parents celebrate from inside, maybe even a bottle popping, but you only focus on the woman before you as you pull her close and kiss her over and over again, starting a New Year tradition you'd like to continue to the rest of y'all's days. You do.

Reagan Ridley

With everything going on in her life, the last thing she needed was some unnecessary party that she'd have to get all dressed up for, fake some smiles, and give some unwilling hugs, all the while wanting to be curled up at home with you. And that's what she proposes and does. You have a lazy day, not even bothering to change out of pajamas until necessary, and even then you both change into clean sweats and old sweatshirts or tees. It's much needed, a lazy holiday, especially just being able to talk about everything and nothing while being sprawled across the couch or your bed and enjoying one another.

She's got movies selected and queued for the whole day, a mix of your collected favorites and some new ones the two of you had been meaning to watch but hadn't had the time to until today. Snack breaks come regularly, absolutely enjoying yourself while gorging down chips and popcorn and your favorite snacks while you've got Reagan's legs in your lap and toss bits of candy or popcorn into her mouth.

Her New Year's were always filled with family drama or facades, but this year, for the first time in a long time, she gets to enjoy it fully and not fake her smiles into something unreal. No, you earn and deserve every single crooked one thrown your way from her and you cherish each one received more than the last. There are naps and intermissions and moments where neither of you say a word for the entirety of the movie, only knowing each other are awake from slight movements or each other's hands grazing across each other's body. Other times the two of you are laughing so hard you're crying, over literally nothing at all and struggling for breath. The type of wheezing, hysteric, can-barely-hold-it-together laughter. It's a good sight on her.

The two of you are nearing the end of another movie when Reagan glances at the clock and sees that midnight is approaching fast. She scrambles up and into her kitchen, yelling from the other room that there's no need to pause the movie - which you do anyways - and hear her shuffle about and pull something from the fridge and pop a cork. She pours glasses and brings in two flutes of something bubbly and bright, either champagne or sparkling cider, and whatever graces your tongue has you grinning at her in your tattered sweater and fuzzy pants with the snoopy print.

Taking in the moment, you pull up onto the screen the ball drop and curl up against one another, infectious grins on both of your faces as you watch the countdown and share the experience. It's memorable and you'll never let go of the feeling you have when you're right beside her, hand in hers. It's electric.

Reagan kisses at your knuckle from your conjoined hands as her eyes are glued to the screen, counting along with the hosts for the ball drop meanwhile you're too enamored with her to look anywhere else, knowing you are exactly where you want to be now and want to be next New Years, and hopefully many more after that. She turns and spots your soft smile and blushes before the two of you knock your foreheads together, counting down the final 3, 2, 1, and kiss, languid and lazy and soft before breaching. You clink your glasses together, cozy back up against one another on the couch, and return to your movie. Pressing your lips to her temple, you wish her a happy new year, and as Reagan returns the favor against your collarbone, she wishes you the same.

Andre Lee

"I've never had a New Year's like this before!" You exclaim over the music, moving along with him beside you and letting him twirl you around and bring you back only to crash into him, stabilizing and getting lost in the high of the moment, and other things, as you stare at him beneath bright, glowing lights than drench Andre in rainbow hues.

"Well here's your first of many!" he shoots back, grin infectious as he giggles and squeezes at your side, stepping to the side to bring you closer to the music and standing behind you so you get the better view and he can look over your shoulder and head. "Enjoying yourself?" he says over the EDM that's blasting on the giant speakers up front, nearly as large as bikes if not cars. You nod enthusiastically, bopping along to the beat.

You take Andre's hands in yours, beaded bracelets and kandi clattering on each other's arms and wrists as you move along to the beat and feel yourself warm up even in the cold of December-turning-January, the heat of bodies warming the air up just enough to be perfect for the moment.

"That's good! Need another hit?" you shake your head no, thanking him anyway and he taps at your waist, signaling that he's going to unzip the bag at your hip, pulling out his THC pen that you decorated the other day with paint and little sticker-diamonds, making it look like Lisa Frank threw up on it.

Andre takes a hit, offers it once more to be sure you don't want any, they zips it back into your side bag before pecking the corner of your mouth affectionately, blowing the smoke away from you after holding it in for a moment. "Told you the bag was a good idea, can never hold anything in these tiny pockets." you murmur against his mouth, tasting faint flavor from the vape alongside the unwavering smell of weed, giggling against his lips.

Before he can respond, the DJ queues the countdown, and Andre jumps up and down excitedly beside you, eyes bright and glossy. "Oh I never asked," and before you can question, he kneels before you on the floor, taking your hand, and you know he's joking around but the sight still sends your heart into a frenzy, "sugar, do me the honor of being my midnight kiss?"

You laugh, pointedly mentioning that the countdown is going on as you both speak and he shakes his head, refusing to get up until you give him a formal answer. "Yes, Andre, I'll be your midnight kiss. Always." With a happy shout, he hops up to his feet and falters a moment before cupping both sides of your face between his palms and kissing you with enthusiasm, tracing the seam of your lips with his tongue as confetti rains down and the music plays, starting your New Year off just right.

Glenn Dolphman

He usually would spend New Year's eve with his daughter but she's with her mother this year. You decide to cheer him up and spend the holiday with him, appearing on his doorstep thirty minutes after ending a phone call with him after getting his update, bringing groceries from your home to his to make him food and make some new traditions you hope to share with him beyond just this year.

Glenn keeps telling you that you don't have to go to all the trouble for just him, and you continue to shrug it off in efforts to cook and care for him, shutting him up with doting, affectionate kisses in the meantime. You eventually give up and have him just sit at the kitchen counter watching as you move about, letting him help occasionally and tie the bow on the end of the apron, ignoring the warmth in your cheeks as you flush at his comment of how you look so cute in it.

"Goddamnit, just," you sigh, palms braced on the counter before you look up from the granite to him as he grins, pleased with himself, "just sit back and stop being sweet, you're killing me here." Trying to turn around, you go back to a mixing bowl of cookies and aim to reach some measuring spoons for the baking powder before you get swept up and placed atop the counter and closed in, Glenn's blunt nose knocking against yours.

"And just what do you think you're doing?" you chide, a hand on your thigh laying stagnant while the other immediately reaches for him, sprawled across his broad, solid shoulder as you feel his arms cage you in, safe and warm and secure with him surrounding you. "Testing my luck in the hopes of practicing my kiss for midnight."

You hum, brow raised as you peer up at him, looking from beneath lashes that blink doe-like. "Oh? Just like that?" Glenn nods and your hand smooths back to the hairs at the nape of his neck, tugging teasingly and pushing your own luck in the same way he is, knowing that mixing bowl's gonna' be abandoned until way later in the day, if not until late this evening.

"Alright, sarge, go on ahead, make me feel real lucky," you murmur, cupping his jaw and snaking your fingers in his hair to tug him close just so he can pull you against him and kiss you breathless, nipping at your lip tenderly in the way you taught him as not to break it, letting your legs attempt to lock around his waist. They can't even touch let alone cross at the ankle. It's safe to say those cookies don't get made until way past the countdown, and Glenn's counting off times you gush around him rather than seconds until the New Year. He likes celebrating this way far better.

Myc Celium

he doesn’t really give a shit about the New Year, mainly uses it as an excuse to get fucked up and party, but lets you have your fun, staying around at home and allowing you to press kisses across his orb and under cap gills until he’s flushed and the hues start flickering as you make him forget about the New Year while getting fresh with you.

You dress up a little and manage to get a party hat onto Myc, not without some expletives thrown your way tethered together with demeaning pet names, flagella still around your waist as you lean up on tip-toes to secure it around his cap and make sure it's not tight. He helps you stand and lifts you in order to get you higher, all the while he's calling you and your entire bloodline waste of space bastards

The two of you go about the day pretty normally, cooped up at home since there's no work party this year nor any enticing ones thrown by friends or family. The two of you just lounge about or get small tasks done around the house, display parallel play, and just do other things apart from one another while being nearby. Conversations flow occasionally and other times you can hear him on call with Andre while playing a game as you reorganize something or finally settle down to stitch those patches onto your jacket.

By the time it nears eleven, the two of you settle down for a movie, curl up with one another, greasy takeout or fast food, and watch a movie, something kitschy but classic like When Harry Met Sally. Myc constantly chimes in about how the dynamic is pretty similar to you, but he thinks he's Harry with the charm and wit when he's high maintenance enough to be Sally. You humor him and litter sticky, glitter-gloss kisses to his orb or the underside of his cap across downy-soft gills.

You had set a reminder for when it would near five minutes away from midnight just so you could give Myc a classic new year's kiss with the countdown. Timing the movie out perfectly, in a scene of fated clandestine brilliance, the final scene comes on the moment you start counting down until midnight in your head, voicing along the lines that are too sweet to ignore from Billy Crystal.

"- when you realize you want to spend the rest of your life with somebody, you want the rest of your life to start as soon as possible."

"Aren't you a sap?" Myc comments just as you grasp at the edge of his cap and cup the underside of his orb tenderly, leaning him down to meet you halfway as you countdown and finally reach one, murmuring happy new year against him as your lips brush his surface.

"Happy New Year, Myc." you breathe, leaning back flushed a minute later after he got handsy, feeling him nudge against you and crowd you against the corner of the couch cushions. "Happy New Year, sweets."

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kame-writes · 4 months ago

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A Silly Au I have 0 plans to do anything with, beyond maybe some character designs or a couple of doodles, I just thought it was a fun concept.

Please feel free to do something with this AU yourself! Just credit and tag me so I can see ^^

Radiostatic/Radiosilence human/Vampire au

Vox befriended Alastor as a young adult and Alastor found him interesting, so helped get him started with his own business, then disappeared with no warning (for seven? years)

Alastor moves often so he doesn't get found out as a vampire, and so his victims don't get linked to him being in the area. He doesn't usually get attached to humans and likely either forgot about Vox, or just keeps a mild interest in how successful his business got over the years.

Vox on the other hand was VERY attached to Alastor and has been obsessively trying to track down his friend who just upped and disappeared on him. Lots of people died around the time Alastor disappeared, but with no body, he refuses to accept that Alastor was one of them.

After a lot of digging, Vox discovered information on vampires and strongly suspects Alastor of being one, having seen portraits of someone who looks like him from hundreds of years ago. His obsessive search has found evidence Alastor is still alive and hasn't seemed to have aged at all in the years he's been missing.

Character Infos under the cut

The Vees met in Uni and now are sharing a house to save on rent. Valentino did Drama, Vox studied business and Velvette was a fashion student.

Valentino is Vox's on and off again bf who is jealous of how obsessed Vox is with a 'friend' he hasn't seen in years. He only met Alastor a handful of times in the past, and they didn't get along. He is also a porn director, who is writing screenplays that are always rejected. He doesn't believe in anything related to the supernatural.

Velvette is their other housemate, who works designing outfits for a local clothing brand. She didn't ever meet Alastor, but wants Vox to find him partly so he'll shut up about him, and partly because she's sure Alastor was doing something sketchy to suddenly dissapear the way she's been told he did. She doesn't really believe in Vampires, but think's Alastor and probably his whole family were in a shady cult.

Sir Pentious is a very old Vampire, who keeps mostly to himself and is very rarely seen. He is someone who helped teach Alastor how to survive as a vampire when he was first turned, and Alastor repaid him by trying to kill him, so now the two have a weird rivalry. Pentious occasionally finds Alastor to try to get revenge, but Alastor no longer cares about him at all, and usually humiliates him before they go their separate ways again.

Niffty is another Vampire, she's very old but was turned at a younger age, making her appearance and mannerisms come across as very eccentric and quirky. She doesn't try to fit in with humans half the time, and embraces being chaotic, she's lived too long to be self conscious about what people think of her. She often finds Alastor to hang out and go hunting together because she finds him fun to be around.

Rosie is a human from a small town with a well kept secret. When she caught Alastor feeding off one of his victims she incorrectly assumed he was engaging in cannibalism, and Alastor didn't correct her. So he went along with her to let her cut up and cook the body, and found out there was a thriving Cannibal community in this small town.

The two of them remained friends, and eventually, Rosie learnt the truth of what Alastor was, and accepted it. She occasionally helps assist Husk with things they need help with since she leads a normal stable life and can do things without getting caught more easily. In return, Alastor has Husk bring her the bodies of his victims when they are in a nearby area.

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destieltropecollection · 1 year ago

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DESTIEL TROPE COLLECTION 2023 | DAY 31 | Fake Dating

Made up, like my fiancé | @blanketforcas

Rating: Teen & Up Word Count: 2,834 Main Tags/Warnings: Fluff, First Kiss, Touch-Starved Dean Winchester, make-up date Summary: Cas and Dean find out how much they like make-up (and each other)

under covers | @demonmary

Rating: Explicit Word Count: 6,588 Main Tags/Warnings: AU: No Supernatural, Federal Agents, Undercover as Married , Co-workers , Flirting , Smut , Older Castiel (Supernatural) Summary: inspired by an episode of NCIS, Dean and Cas go undercover for some good ol' fashioned fake dating.

We were always meant to say goodbye (please don't go) | @readingprofoundbonds

Rating: Explicit Word Count: 8,210 Main Tags/Warnings: Misunderstandings, Second Chances Summary: When Castiel hears that Dean Smith will date anyone who asks him out for exactly one week, he's curious. He tests the waters and sees if 'anyone' will include male co-workers from Accounting.

Sternberg's Triangular Theory of Love | @aishitara

Rating: Explicit Word Count: 14,882 Main Tags/Warnings: Idiots to lovers, mutual pining, best friends to lovers, but they were roommates!, pretend relationship, misunderstanding, mild angst with a happy ending. Summary: Dean clears his throat and says, “I have an idea for how to deal with your mom.” He looks away as he takes a long swallow of beer. “But you’re probably not gonna like it.” Castiel grunts. “Tell me anyway. You’ve got one idea more than me.” Huffing a small laugh, Dean says, “Yeah, well, we’ll see.” He looks over at Castiel, lower lip caught between his teeth. “I’ll go with you,” he says earnestly. “To Thanksgiving.” Castiel stares at Dean blankly, not following. “Y’know,” Dean says, suddenly interested in removing the label from his beer. “As your boyfriend.”

swing with you for the fences | @fifthstiel

Rating: Mature Word Count: 27,637 Main Tags/Warnings: canon divergence (season 14), de-aging, kid jack, fake relationship, pining, getting together, case fic Summary: With elementary school parents falling mysteriously ill in Pennsylvania, a little magical aid allows a de-aged Jack and devoted single father Cas to play the perfect bait. However, a misunderstanding shortly after arriving leaves Dean reluctantly saddled with undercover parenthood right along with Cas. Now Dean has to survive the petty drama of suburbia while trying to track down whatever’s responsible for targeting parents in the community - and navigating his feelings about the family he didn’t think he’d ever get to have.

Lavender Pines | @thisisapaige

Rating: Explicit Word Count: 30,609 Main Tags/Warnings: Fake/Pretend Relationship (Platonic Cas & Rowena), Secret Relationship (Sam/Rowena), Idiots to Lovers (Cas/Dean), Case Fic, Post-Episode: s12e11 Regarding Dean Summary: Rowena calls Sam, asking for help. Her former lover, the powerful witch Leon O'Leary, has something of hers and she wants it back. When Sam agrees to help, the last thing he expects is for her to pull out a ring and propose. To Cas. Cas and Rowena move into the wealthy suburb of Lavender Pines and work to become the most well-liked newlywed couple on the block. Sam and Dean support them from the bunker. It’s a milk run of a case. Simple. Easy. It’s not.

#destiel trope collection #destiel trope collection 2023 #destiel #fanfic #fake dating #day 31

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patheticbatman · 2 months ago

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@answeringmysister won this round!

The 53rd Win A Commission story was ‘West of the Sun, East of the Moon’, based on the Norwegian fairy tale, ‘East of the Sun, West of the Moon’! If you would like to read the story and see the illustrations in context, please

Dani was tired of the East Coast. Tired of the traffic, tired of the loneliness of being one in millions, tired of her family's drama.

So when a recruiter offered her a contract in Alaska, she snapped it up.

“Are you out of your mind?” Asked everyone she knew.

And every time, she would tell them the same answer. She loved her friends, her family, even her very dependent maman. But it was just too much.

“Dah-nee-el-la,” her maman would say, drawing it out in a way only a Dominican accent could. “We have no family up there! No friends! Who will take care of you?”

Unspoken was the ‘Who will take care of me?’ Maman had cancer attacking her spine.

Dani had been her roommate, her confidant, her servant, and a little bit her punching bag for too long.

Meanwhile, her brother had finished school and then some.

The lawyer for the misdiagnosis case was still working on it, but it had been eight years – so Dani did not expect anything to happen now.

Dani was 27. She deserved to have her twenties too.

“Maman, I’ll be fine. I can fly back whenever I want!” - provided that there wasn’t a snow storm – “and it’s only a year. Jordan will stay here” – to keep an eye on you, finally – “until I get back.”

Dani was not going to be dissuaded.

So when her contract at Cooper finished up and Christmas was over, Dani hopped on a plane with several bags of clothes and left for Alaska, much to her maman’s dismay.

“At least I probably won’t have any seizures!” She assured her maman as she stood in line to board. “You know they don’t really happen unless it’s too hot or bright, anymore.”

Dani flew from Philadelphia to Chicago, from Chicago to Seattle, and then stopped at a hotel for the night. The next morning, she flew to Anchorage, got delayed for 17 hours due to a storm, and finally arrived in Qikiqtaġruk.

Once upon a time, the town was called Kotzebue, after an ‘explorer’, but it had recently returned to its Iñupiaq roots. She was to work in the Maniilaq Health Center, and emergency room. She adored the fast pace, and the stretch of her mind as she sought a solution. Sure, a lot of the time she would mostly just work with colds or mild allergic reactions, but she knew how to take the fun with the boring.

She picked up the keys to the car she leased, loaded her stuff, and slowly made her way through the icy roads to the little house on the northern outskirts of town that she was renting for the year.

As she suspected, the pictures had managed to hide a couple of issues – a mold spot in the bathroom, peeling paint – but otherwise, it was a good house. Toasty, already furnished, and quiet. Plus, it had a beautiful view of the sea to the west, and the low foothills to the east.

She would never tell her maman this, but on that first day, she slept straight on the mattress, no sheets at all.

By the third day, the house was mostly set up. Dani knew that she’d have to work the next day, and was not used to the time change yet. So she made everything comfortable, treated herself to some local sushi and set up her own house.

Her very own house.

The quiet was initially unnerving – her maman’s house basically needed a revolving door, with the amount of relatives from France, England, Dominica, and all over the continental United States passed through. Dani had loved it, but long to try something a little different.

Plus, it was pretty hard to date when your maman was constantly around.

But Dani pushed that thought away. Surely she’d be too busy for that!

———

She was not. It turns out, while living alone meant that she was the only one doing chores, that also meant she did not have to clean up after anyone else. Leaving her a lot of free time.

She thought about getting a cat, but decided against it. She really liked only having to take care of herself.

But that didn’t mean she liked being with only herself, all the time.

The other staff at Maniilaq were extremely friendly, and Dani could not keep track of how many outings, parties or high school sports games she attended with her new friends. Most of them were paired up or married to someone in town or close by, but that did not mean her options were limited.

After all, EVERYBODY had a cousin or a friend or a grandmother’s dog’s groomer’s husband’s brother’s neighbor who was just perfect for her.

And when she let slip she was pan? That just opened her up to more matchmaking attempts.

Finally, after the potential stress of starting dating around Valentine’s Day had passed – she had spent that weekend watching sappy romances over Teleparty with her old friend Manuela - Dani agreed to go on a couple dates.

“Just a few!” She warned, stomach sinking at the overly large grins on her coworkers’ faces. She could’ve sworn Melissa in the back was chanting under her breath, “Fresh meat!” Over and over again.

A few (“Just three or four!”) turned to several (“Eighth time’s the charm!”) Until the amount reached the double digits. Dani was becoming pretty familiar with the restaurants in town, much to her palate’s delight and her wallet’s chagrin.

A few were a little too quiet for her taste people. People she ended up befriending, but not dating. She wanted someone to help her fill her house with singing, talking and just general noise.

Some just had beliefs and habits that grated on her own. Things like not stopping completely at a stop sign, or asking excessively personal questions when she mentioned her last boyfriend was trans. Those people, she ghosted as soon as she got home.

Then there was that lady who was extremely forward and did not take no for an answer when Dani refused to kiss her good night. Danny had to jab her in the kidney before she got the message. Dani had a slight frame, but a mean left hook.

Thankfully, the friend who recommended Ms. Handsy was very ashamed and told Dani that her cousin had really only been up for the the woman anyway. Dani happily never saw her again.

On her thirteenth (“And last!”) date, Dani went out with a person named Ada. They were tall, and rounded in a way that told Dani that they really liked food, but enjoyed exercise too. They had spider bite piercings, catching the light under their smooth brown lips. Their dark eyes sparkled with mirth, accentuated by their eyelashes and facial tattoos, a skin tapestry of pride. Their hair and little mustache were black with cinnamon strands in the light, and straight as a pin. Overall, Ada was pretty cute.

“What’s something fun I can do when it’s hot out?” Dani asked after they made their introductions and ordered. “I’m enjoying catching up on my shows and books here – one of the first things I did was get a library card – but I am looking forward to the sun again.”

Ada giggled. “Yeah, I guess it’s a big change from New Jersey! It won’t even be warm enough to play in the snow for another month, basically.” They thought for a moment. “Well, we have a couple wailing festivals around the area – I am a champ at blanket-tossing.”

Dani didn’t know what that was exactly but nodded anyway.

“–And there’s sailing and hiking and – oh! Probably the biggest change is that we kind of become – what’s the word? You know, not diurnal or nocturnal but the other one?”

Dani nodded in her head. “Crep- crap- creps-”

“Crepsuc- crepus-”

“Crepuscular?”

“Crepuscular!” Ada hit their palm on the table. “Yes, that!” Suddenly embarrassed, they lowered their voice. “It doesn’t get disgustingly hot exactly. Our summers usually only hit the 60s, with only a few days much higher than that. Global warming, you know.” They rolled their eyes and Dani joined in. “But what does happen is that it gets so bright you could burn just like that!” They snapped their fingers.

Dani looked at their skin, a warm terra-cotta, darker than her own tawny. Both were slightly pallid from the lack of sun. “I don’t burn easy. It even affects you?”

“Oh yeah. So we all kind of exist during the sunrise and sunset. Even some jobs switch their shifts to those times.”

“Don’t they like, end quickly? You make it sound like sunset is a whole eight hours.”

They shrug. “It’s not eight hours, but it is a couple hours. If we were a few hours more north, the sun wouldn’t go down at all!”

Dani sat back. “Huh. I know the sun shows up differently around the world – I was even attracted to the darkness of your winter! – But I guess I didn’t really think about how it would balance with the rest of the year.”

Ada’s eyes gleamed. “Yes! And –”

The server returned with their food. For Ada, a mushroom burger with no cheese and lots of fries. And for Dani, French toast and a small salad with a vinaigrette.

“God, food is so expensive here!” Dani complained when the server walked out of the earshot. “Unless you’re getting fish – which for the record I do like – then it costs an arm and a leg!”

Ada shrugged. “Well, when the government heavily regulates our local food sources, and businesses don’t want to ship up here…” Her mouth twisted and she shrugged again. “We eat the shipping costs. But I’ve heard that the shipping lane up to Anchorage is getting more popular. Used to be, we’d get everything shipped from Vancouver or Seattle.”

Dani, who had grown up smack dab between New York City, Philadelphia and Baltimore on land colonized partly for its fertility, could only shrug back. She had always been in the center of food and shipping. “That sucks.”

“Yeah. But all this talk about food made me remember we were talking about things to do in the summer!”

“Oh?” Dani said, taking a bite of her French toast.

“I like to go on sunset picnics. Dawn’s are pretty too, obviously, but then the daytime hits and there’s hardly any chance to see the lights.”

“The aurora borealis?”

“Yeah. I, of course, have seen many,” they said smugly. “But I never get tired of them.” Ada took another bite of their burger. “I heard this year, 2024, is going to be especially pretty and strong. Magnet cycles or something.”

“I’ve always wanted to see one,” Dani admitted. “My cousin in New Zealand once saw the southern one – the australis, I think? And didn’t shut up about it for weeks.”

“Well, we’ll have to go and see some.” Ada smiled shyly.

Dani smiled back. “Sounds like a plan.”

They chatted as they ate, and Dani enjoyed herself so much that she suggested they stay for dessert.

“Best not,” Ada said, genuinely remorseful. “Looks like we’re due for another storm.” She pointed a thumb at the window.

“Oh snap! That reminds me. I have to go to Margie’s Materials before they close.” At Ada’s bemused look, she explained, “I’m making curtains. To block out the noise from the wind and I guess now to block out the summer sun.”

Ada nodded. “Yeah you’ll need them. Mention my name, she might knock off a dollar or two. We go way back.”

Dani beamed. “Thanks, Ada! Text me!”

She was still smiling as she paid her bill, picked up the material, and drove all the way home.

———

Of course, this was the one time that winter that the storm lasted for more than three days. On days Dani had to work, she woke up early, drove incredibly slow to work, hands gripped tight on the wheel, practically slid over the road, ice inches thick. Otherwise, she stayed at home, cursing at all the streaming services that were unavailable, and the frequent power outages. She did a lot of reading and sewing by candlelight and by the window. It was not the best thing for her eyes, but as a friend back home liked to say, boredom was the mind killer.

What she most enjoyed was texting with Ada, when the signals permitted. They were quite sweet and funny, and helped her create increasingly bizarre meals as her food supplies dwindled.

Dani

<<I swear my fridge was full just a few days ago. But I just don’t like driving out in this weather. And on a workday, by the time I get out, either the store is about to close or I’m so tired I just wanna go to bed!>>

Ada

<<I know what you mean lol. I live closer to my work than you do but further from Rottman’s. It sucks.>>

Dani

<<Yes! And really, they’re not that far! If it was warmer out, I’d walk>>

Ada

<<And I would walk 500 miles, and I would walk 500 more. To be the nb who walked a thousand miles to bring food to your door>>

Dani

<<😆❤️>>

Ada

<<Wait, actually do you live far? Maybe we can still have lunch together.>>

Dani‘s heart skipped the beat. Her maman did always say romance bloomed fast out in the country. She texted her address before she could lose her nerve.

Ada

<<Nice, I’m less than a five minute drive to your place. I’ll bring some home cooking. Lunch tomorrow sound good?>>

Dani

<<Omg you’re too amazing. Thank you!!! ❤️ >>

Casting her eyes around the house, Dani felt renewed vigor for her projects. “I have to show Ada my magnum opus when she gets here!”

Outside, a gust of wind blew especially hard, as if in an agreement.

———

Dani expected Ada around noon – but had yet to hang up her curtains.

A text came through.

Ada

<<Truck won’t start, I’ll be a little late.>>

Dani

<<No worries! I’ll put some candles at the window so you know which house is mine if it gets snowy again. My porch light is broken.>>

She started hanging the curtains all around the house, working double time. But as she was short and did not trust the chair she used a stepladder all that much, she was still very slow.

By the time the very last one was finished, her phone said it was 12:17.

Outside the wind started whipping again, and she neither saw a car coming up her street or anybody off-roaring in the snow planes and the low foot hills behind her house, encircling the ocean and bay.

Which meant she probably still had enough time to put all her candles out. Her family had always prized appearing perfectly ready for guests. Dani kept the habit up, because she enjoyed feeling organized. She drew away each curtain from the windows, and placed a candle on the sill. She missed summer, so she had all the more tropical scents out.

Just as she was sitting out her favorite piña colada candle, the wind cleared away from her eastern window, and she saw a large shape out back. Was that …

“Holy crap,” she breathed. “A polar bear!”

She knew they lived in the area, of course. As per her coworkers advice, she kept her trash in the garage and only set it out the morning before garbage trucks came by.

“They eat ANYTHING,” Barry emphasized. “Polar bears would be happy to eat your trash. Or,” he wiggled his fingers, “you!”

Dani had rolled her eyes at the time, but had listened, and was now glad for it.

The animal was huge – possibly 5 foot at the shoulder. And it was dragging something?

A thought struck her, and Dani’s blood turned ice. She hadn’t heard from Ada in a while, and they’ve been talking about, walking to her house just yesterday.

She grabbed her phone out of her pocket. No answer. Called Ada. No answer. Call Ada. No answer.

Her gut roiled as the beast got closer to the house. There was even something red in the trail following the bear.

She tried calling again, but her service went out. Desperately she typed out,

Dani

<<There’s a polar bear near my house! Please tell me you aren’t walking!>>

But just as she was about to hit send, the polar bear stopped right next to her window. She ducked around the window.

And suddenly there was no polar bear anymore. Instead, there stood Ada, adjusting their kuspuk, hat and mittens, shivering occasionally. And the thing behind her was a sled with a bundle on top. It was leaking red, but instead of blood, it was just a jam jar, fallen over and cracked open, dripping.

Dani could only gape.

Apparently satisfied with their looks, Ada pulled the sled a little further, out of her sight.

Oh God. Was she going to let them in? Maybe she had imagined it. But it was so cold! Plus, kuspuks were about as warm as sweatshirts – pretty good for weather over 40 degrees but nowhere near warm enough for a day like this. So something was definitely wrong. But she couldn’t just leave Ada out there! Even if she was a polar bear before, she certainly wasn’t one now.

Knock, knock, knock!

No time to hesitate now!

Swallowing down the rush of rmotion she weathered the last few minutes, Dani flew to the door. “Ada!” She plastered on a smile.

“Dani!” They answered back, their smile real, spider bite piercings glinting in the sun.

Dani’s heart skipped a beat.

And the wind smacked her in the face and invaded the house. “Come in, come in! Do you need help bringing the food in?”

“No,” Ada said, grabbing the sled one-armed. “I’m good.”

Dani’s heart fluttered again. That sled looked heavy. Still, she scooted around her tall date and grabbed the leaking jam jar. “Don’t want to spill in the house!” She tittered.

Ada covered their mouth with their other hand. “Oh, I didn’t even see that come. Dang it! That was my last jar of nagoonberry jam! Aata - my Dad - won’t share anymore of his.”

“Nagoonberry? And how did you get here? I don’t see a car.”

“My truck still won’t start, so a friend dropped me off down the street.

They hadn’t come in the direction of the street.

“Are you insane? It’s single digits out there!”

Ada shrugged asshe finished shaking off her snow pants - the last of her winter clothes to go. “Darling, maybe I’m just built different.”

Dani couldn’t help but laugh. In more ways than one! “Okay, so what did you bring me, muscles?”

Ada pulled a large basket out of a snugly wrapped blanket, which in turn had been wrapped in a tarp. “To keep the ice off, but the cool in,” they explained. The basket was woven tightly, wide and low, with a huge a huge lid, topped by a carved fish, probably made of ivory or bone.

“So, I hope you’re not too hungry, because I wanted to give you a little lesson before we eat.”

She nodded. “Are you gonna tell me about the nagoonberry?

Ada waved their hand. “All good time.” They pulled two Tupperware containers and stuck them in the freezer. “For later.” Finally, they opened up the basket, and began laying out the food.

“So I was mostly raised up in Utqiagvik, with my aakaga, my mom, until I was about 14-ish. My parents divorced when I was little. I’d see Aata in the summers and sometimes winter break if the weather was mild. Then mom’s writing career finally took off – remind me to bring a couple copies over sometime – and she had to go on a tour. So I moved in with Aata!”

“Let me guess – that’s when you started being interested in making food?”

“You bet! I mean, I knew how to heat up a pizza or make cookie dough. But Dad’s budget was a little tighter, and he’s a lot more connected to his people, so�� yeah. Aaka and I are Iñupiak – that’s the dual form of Iñupiat, which is –”

“I know what a dual form ⁂ is!” Dani said excitedly.

Ada lifted their eyes brows, but continued. “Fair enough! Well, Aaka was not very traditional when I was growing up. She had to attend a lot of church as a kid, and she spent a lot more time with her father’s family than her mother’s. I think she was still sorting herself out from that, you know? But anyway, Dad is very Yup’ik. Not dual form for that, by the way,” they flashed a smile. “The plural is just Yup’ik, we don’t really conjugate it anymore.”

“Is this going to be Yup’ik food?”

“You bet! You say you like sushi –”

“Oh yeah,” Dani confirmed, eyes gleaming.

Ada chuckled. “Well, then you’re definitely going to like this. More protein, less filler, all local.” They pulled off the lid. “You seem to tend towards sweet-and-sour foods more than anything, and you mentioned wanting to eat more protein.” They smiled shyly. “So I took that into account. I’m going to introduce you to qassaq.”

Once again, Dani was speechless. Both because she was touched and in awe of the gesture, and because she didn’t know what that meant.

Ada must’ve seen her her face, because they started grabbing dishes out of the basket. “Okay! So this is not the most comprehensive introduction to Yup’ik cuisine, and I did end up going to the grocery store for some ingredients, but I figured we could ease into it.”

“This,” they held up a small casserole dish. “Is modern assaliaq. It’s a fried fish casserole with mostly bulb and root type veggies. That’ll be our main course. I’m going to heat it up in your oven, if you don’t mind.”

Dani shook her head and took the assaliaq, mouth dry. All this, for a second date? “How hot?”

Ada told her, then continued “This, if you dare,” they smirked. “is ciss’uq. Much more traditional, and a bit of a delicacy.”

Dani sniffed. Even wrapped up, its scent was strong and inviting. “What is it?”

“It’s fermented herring. Pulled it out right before I found out my truck wouldn’t start.”

“It definitely smells sweet!”

“If you enjoy this, then I think you’ll really like Tepa. But, that’s more of a summer food, remind me to show you later.” They moved on. “This is tepcuaraq, which is fermented frozen salmon. We can dip in some seal oil!” They set the container aside, with a little tureen on top. “And finally … drumroll, please!”

Dani happily obliged, giggling.

“Ice cream! Just in case you do want dessert. I wasn’t sure what you’d like, so I bought Neapolitan.” They grinned, a little sheepish.

After a moment, all Dani could say was, “I am blown away. You made all of this?” She gestured all around the kitchen as she put the ice cream in the freezer.

Ada smiled, still bashful “I really enjoyed talking with you, Dani.”

“I feel so unprepared!” Dani joked. “But I really like talking to you too.” She felt the blood rush to her face. “I hope you aren’t expecting to go home with leftovers, because I really want to try everything!”

———

Dani wasn’t sure if she’d ever eaten so much in her life. “You eat like this every day?” She asked, dipping another filet into the nearly gone seal oil. Another bite couldn’t hurt.

“I mean, not usually when I’m working. The counseling center is great, but I don’t normally pack a ton just for one meal. I’m a snacker, so I make a bunch of little stuff on the weekends and eat it throughout the day. But you can’t snack all day for a date!”

“How is that? By the way, don’t you guys counsel like, everyone from miles around? That must get a little bit conflict of interest-y with everyone being so tight around here.”

Ada shrugged. “I mean, I like helping people. Especially kids. On Thursday and Fridays the Center sends me to both of the schools to check up more personally, in case parents don’t want to bring them in.” They shook their head. “It’s like no one remembers how tough it is to be a kid sometimes.”

“I know!” Dani fumed. “Back home, a little girl was brought in after burned her foot when she put it on the stove top.” Both winced. “Not only were the parents careless, but they didn’t understand why she nearly screamed herself blue! It was the most painful thing that little baby had ever felt. It’s like they forgot everything is new.”

“Exactly.” Ada nodded.

Dani couldn’t stop smiling. A pretty date, good food, and excellent conversation. She didn’t want this to end. “Do you wanna watch something?”

“Sure! Have you seen Dungeon Meshi?”

Dani shook her head. “Isn’t that on Netflix? I think my friend just started.”

“Let’s watch that! I think it features cooking and fighting.”

Laughing, Dani grabbed two bowls and two spoons. “Everything is food with you, huh?” She grabbed the ice cream and a scoop. She could probably fit in dessert. “So why aren’t you a cook?”

Ada laughed too. “I tried for a year! But I like to take my time while cooking. I just couldn’t keep up at any of the restaurants. So I eventually got my psych degree.”

“Yeah, the restaurant business is tough. I do not miss being a waitress.” Dani handed Ada their half of the ice cream, with most of the chocolate and some of the strawberry. Dani took most of the vanilla nd the rest of the strawberry. “Hey, doesn’t Alaska have its own type of ice cream or something?”

Ada nodded as she pulled up the show. “Mhm. We call it akutuq, Inuit or Alaskan ice cream. It’s kinda like this?” She held up her bowl. “In that it’s a cold mix of sweet and fat. You have to try it. But I used up all my berries, so you’re not getting any soon. Though Lou still owes me – wait. I doubt xe has any either. Ugh.”

“Another summer treat?

“We’ll have to see,” Ada shrugged. “Oh well. You ready to watch?”

———

By the time the two had reached the second to last of the episodes released - they kept one-moreing it straight through episode six - it was quite dark.

“Let me give you a ride home,” Dani said. “I can’t believe I didn’t think of it earlier.”

Ada snorted. “You’re silly. But yeah, I’d be happy to save the trip.”

Dani dashed out to start the car, and they finished episode seven.

After both had finished redressing - for if the trucks heat suddenly failed, they did not wish to be cold – Dani drove her home. The sky was briefly clear, and they could see the moon setting on the sea.

It looked like a fairly normal home, even with an absolutely true part-time† polar bear living there. Dani did not see any polar bear paraphernalia. Not even a Welcome mat with paw prints in the pattern. She shrugged mentally and and gave Ada a kiss on the cheek.

Judging from their bashful reaction, they really liked it. With a wave goodbye and a “Text you later!” They grabbed the sled from her truck bed and rushed in the door, narrowly avoiding a particular vicious torrent of wind.

Dani played some instrumental music on the slow ride back, truck occasionally rocking and sliding against the onslaught of wind and ice. She hummed along, in between growls of frustration.

It had been kind of stupid to invite someone new over her own house, when emergency services could take a while to respond, for a second date. It had been monumentally stupid to invite a known anthropophagous bear into her house.

But God, Ada was cute. Dani was surprised they hadn’t kissed during their long date. Had it really been six hours? Dani had trouble enjoying that amount of time with any of her previous partners – and she had been thinking about marrying her ex-boyfriend!

Ada was witty, and sweet, and quite cuddly. And God, could they cook! The food they made was delicious, and made Dani feel brave and adventurous. Their shoulders were to die for, and Dani didn’t think she had felt that warm since last summer.

She shook her head. “I’ve got it bad.”

And what did this mean magically? Were all the things her grandparents worried about real? Was the Evil Eye real? Should she start wearing a cross? Was God real?

Then Ada popped up in her head again, and her worries melted away at thought of her cute date. Dani’s existential crises could wait until she got home.

———

Both Ada and Dani were busy with work, but they made time to see each other at least every Saturday – often extending all the way into Sunday.

Spring was slow to come, but as the weather warmed from ‘Immediate frostbite’ to only ‘You really just need one pair of mittens to go outside’ Ada delighted in showing off the beauty of town in the spring time. They walked around Swan Lake, pointing out the animals’ coats shifting to summer morphs, and the occasional bits of green fighting their way to the surface. They worked out together most days, and Ada would often fill Dani’s fridge up with food, but especially qassaq.

The sunlight increased every day and Dani loved it. She missed the easier weather back home, the earlier flowers, and the perfect days of May, but Dani was enjoying her break from home far more. It was worth it.

Dani’s hair, which she usually kept straightened, was starting to get on her nerves. The static electricity from the cold certainly did not help.

Dani

<<Ugh, I wish I had remembered to bring the good straightening stuff. I bet it will cost me an arm and a leg to get it shipped up here.>>

Ada

<<Darling>>

<<We do have hairstylists>>

Dani Scoffed.

Dani

<<Babe. No offense, but your hair is straight>>

Ada

<<Darling>>

Ada liked to double text for affect.

Ada

<<Where do you think my cousin Kayla and her mom got their hair done?>>

Dani had met their cousin when she came to visit Ada’s dad, Greg, for the first time. Delighted to finally meet her, Greg celebrated by cooking a little feast. The three stuffed themselves full of qageq, cuakapaq and tamukassaaq, which they ate like if chips were chewy.

While they played Sorry!, relatives stopped by to chat. They would then see Dani, and then the little chat would last at least half an hour while they introduced themselves and told at least one embarrassing story about Ada.

Dani quite enjoyed it, though by the end, she was a little exhausted. It was the first time she’d been on the other end of the dynamic.

One of the other relatives, a very old man, had referred to Ada by a different name a few times, but his son, who’d been with him, smiled apologetically. “He gets confused sometimes.”

Kayla had been the adorable daughter of Cousin James and his wife Kendra. She and her mom had most definitely not had she and her maman most definitely did not have hair as straight as a pin. In fact, Kendra had tried to talk to Dani about her hair, but then Greg’s cat Hobbes had knocked her glass off the table. By the time everything had been cleaned, the little family had to go because it was a school night.

Dani

<<All right, I’ll bite>>

A little part of her wanted to ask if this is where they got their fur done as a polar bear.

Ada

<<Guys & Gals Inc.>>

Dani checked out the next day, and was pleasantly surprised at their work. For the first time in over 15 years, she let herself be talked into a natural hairstyle, instead of straightening it. Maybe all that talk about reconnecting from Ada had gotten to her.

Sabrina, her stylist, was mixed Yup’ik and Black, and very chatty but in a welcoming way. “So why did you straighten it for so long?” She said, working on another bead. “It seems like you took care of it, I don’t see too much damage, but that’s a long time!”

Dani considered the question for good moment. “My hometown, back in New Jersey, was almost perfectly half and half black andwhite when I was growing up. It’s a little different now, but there’s pretty much the same ratio between black-and-white.”

Sabrina was nodding.

“But my family is from Dominica – NOT the Dominican Republic – so we were pretty different from the other black folk already there. My parents have accent, we eat goats and organ meat, and with my Papa away for work a lot, no one could drive us kids around. I just wanted to be,” Dani tried to find a better word. “Normal.” She winced.

“So you hung out with more white kids?

“Yes. Jordan – my brother – didn’t really care, but I did. And to be normal –”

“You have to be like everyone on TV, AKA, mostly white people.”

Dani felt small. “Yes. After a while, it just became habit. And my maman’s half Kalinago❧ , so her hair is just wavy.” She sighed. “When she had to learn how to deal with all this,” Dani gestured to her own hair, “she had quite a lot to say.”

Sabrina chuckled. “Sounds like your mom should have thought of that when she married your dad. Because you have beautiful, definitely curly, 4A hair.” Sabrina squeezed her hand comfortingly on Dani shoulder, “In any case, hon, better late than never. Look at yourself!”

Dani looked up, and gasped.

She hadn’t been sure if she’d been able to pull off the hairstyle as an adult, but she had wanted it all the same. Her scalp had always been sensitive, and she avoided tight braids when she could.

Instead, she had opted for long twists, stabilized by beads of bone and baleen, the latter of which had a stripe of golden paint in the middle of each bead.

She felt gorgeous. Even if she never wore her hair like this again, she knew she treasure the beads forever.

Dani was still feeling gorgeous by the time she got home. But she was also exhausted.

Staying still for several hours with genuinely hard work! Ada had been knocked out all weekend when she got her hand kakiniit done. She flopped onto the couch after lighting a candle. She looked at the time on her phone. It was three hours until six… That meant she could have an hour to snooze, an hour to cook, and then she should be ready! Dani set an alarm on her phone. A little nap wouldn’t hurt.

———

Dani was at a restaurant, alone. She kept ordering qassaq and quaq dishes, but the polar bear waiter kept bringing foods that were further and further away from what she was ordering. From sashimi to grilled chicken and on and on, until the waiter lifted the lid to her plate, and it was a lettuce leaf vegan burrito.

In between all that, the polar bear brought up a ringing telephone, set it down, and left it on the table.

She would pick up, or immediately hang it up, but after what felt like mere moments would pass, it would ring again. In exasperation, she picked it up and threw it away. There was a crash, but finally the ringing was far enough away that it stopped bothering her.

“Dani!” Someone in the restaurant called. “Dani! Wake up!”

Dani whirled around, but couldn’t seem to locate the voice.

CRASH!

With the start, Dani woke up to see her candle on the floor, burning, her door was off its hinges, her phone was still ringing on the other side of the room, and for half a second a polar bear stood at her doorstep.

Then a flash, and it was Ada.

The fire caught onto Dani’s sock. She ripped it off, and beat the blaze on the floor with it.

When she looked up again, sock and floor out but still smoking, Ada was running over with a pot of water from the kitchen. She dumped it onto the smoky mess.

Heart beating wildly, Dani caught their eye. And started giggling.

Ada tried to keep their face straight, but soon started giggling with her, both falling back onto the couch and relief and the stupidity of it all.

“I can reattach - hehe – the hinges,” Ada said, after they mostly finish laughing. “Are you okay?”

Dani was not done laughing. “Just – hmheehm – Bam! And you’re there,” she kissed Ada, then giggled a bit more. “My hero!”

Blood rushed to Ada’s face. “Yeah, yeah. Your hair looks pretty, by the way. The beads are a nice touch.”

“Heehmhm – you just like them because your cousin carved them.”

“How did you know Josie makes beads?”

“Well, the little stand at the hairstylist had a blurb about her, and from there it was a lucky guess. You have a lot of cousins.”

Ada smiled. “You got me there.” Their face turned serious for a second. “Actually, I’ve been meaning to talk to you about something.”

“Oh?” Dani’s heart raced. Did Ada realize that she had seen her as a polar bear today? Could they both finally come clean?

Ada took a shuddering breath. “Yeah, so, I’ve been thinking, and… I’m going to change my pronouns.” Dani’s trepidation fell, but then turned to excitement. “Awesome! What are you thinking? Neo pronouns? I played fae/faer in college. Or xe/xir? My friend uses those. Or –”

Ada looked a little overwhelmed. “No, no. I was just thinking she/her. Like, I’m going to try both they/them and she/her for a while.”

Dani hugged her. “Thanks for telling me. I have a question for you too.” She had actually been planning on asking this at dinner, but now felt right.

“Oh?” Ada said, slightly mocking.

“Yeah, oh. Listen, do you want to be my themfriend?”

Ada kissed Dani. “Hell yeah.” Then her stomach rumbled. “I’m guessing you didn’t make dinner?” Her stomach rumbled again. “Because I’m starving.”

“Yeah, next time I say I’m cooking, I won’t get my hair done first. How about I pick up Chinese, and you get my door. Thank you, by the way.”

Ada waved her off. “It was no problem. Now go get me some General Tso’s!” They got up to get the tools from underneath Dani’s sink.

“As you wish.”

———

“Darling?”

“Hm?”

“There’s a festival up in Utqiagvik, where my aakaga, my mom lives. Do you want to go?”

“Sure! I’d love to hear more embarrassing stories about you. I’m sure your aaka has tons.”

“Ugh, why do I love you?”

“Because I’m cute. Now hand me some of that arumaarrluk.

———

It had just been getting into light jacket weather in Qikiqtaġruk when it was time to fly up to Utqiagvik.

“It’s the northernmost spot of the Unethical Spoils of America!” Ada grinned while Dani worked that one out.

“Oh, USA. Okay, good one. Why are you bringing that up while I am packing, my thrilling themfriend?”

“Because, my striking sweetheart, it will not be warm enough to wear your pantsuit.” She said, pointing out the pantsuit Dani had laid out.

“Don’t you mean my PAN-tsuit?” Dani grinned briefly as Ada groaned. “And for real?”

“I mean, pack it if you want? Global warming and stuff, I could be wrong, but whenever I go there, it’s still pretty chilly. But suits look weird layered, my pretty panwoman.”

“I think I will, my lovely lesbian.” Dani stuck out her tongue, and Ada pretended to grab it. She shrieked and tackled her girlfriend to the floor, both laughing.

———

Utqiagvik, or Barrow as some of the older people said out of habit, still had snow. Dani wondered briefly if Ada’s polar bear form missed it, but she did not ask.

She loved Ada, but knowing the secret – and knowing that Ada was both keeping it from her and didn’t want Dani to know – was eating her up inside. And she was determined to have a good time – and if the opportunity arose, and the time felt right? Then she’d bring it up!

After an exhausting few flights – they had to fly south to Anchorage to catch a flight to Utqiagvik – Dani was ready to fall asleep. She was still adjusting to incredibly long days, and the solstice had just passed.

Thankfully, Ada’s mom Barbara was waiting for them at the airport. She gave her child a hug and a kunik∵ , and then turned to Dani. “You must be the girlfriend I’ve been hearing so much about!” She opened her arms once more.

Dani hugged the woman back. “Hi Ms. Stevens! I just finished reading book 6, and I’m itching to find a copy of next one! Ada doesn’t want to give me hers!”

Ada squawked in indignation. “Aaka, that’s not true! I los– I mean, I lent it out to someone else. I’m sure … Barry will give it back soon!”

Ada‘s mom rolled her eyes. “Please dear, call me Barbara. And I have extra copies to give you both so that Ada can ‘lend’ out a few more.” She winked.

“Aaka!” Ada whined.

———

Somehow, it was even brighter in Utqiagvik, then Qikiqtaġruk, despite the extra fog. But that didn’t stop the whaling festival, Nalukataq.

A lot of the butchering was already done, so the whales were fresh and ready to eat, and people were clearing out their freezers for any bit of last year’s catch.

Since everyone there was a fan of snacking all day, Dani was soon stuffed. As a newcomer, the whale guts and flippers were offered, and then there was the coffee and the goose and the caribou soups. And of course, the frybread! It was a delicious medley.

Ada happily introduced her to her maternal family, and friends from before she moved. They ran into many of them, because virtually the whole city had turned out for the festival.

There were so many vendors selling beautiful combs, baskets, parkas, kuspuks, embroidered boots, and so many other beautiful things. Dani ended up buying a basket for herself (topped by a polar bear), an arctic fox carving, and a baby blanket embroidered and lined with rabbit fur. It was ridiculously soft and fluffy.

Her friend Annika, who she was going to see on her trip back to New Jersey the following month, was due August, and she figured it made for a great baby gift.

Barbara winked when she saw the baby blanket, and Dani tried to explain herself, but Barbara just poked her in the side. “Come on, dear. You should see Ada at the blanket toss. It’s what the festival was named for, after all!”

The activity so far had been fun, but more expected, like prayer at the church, singing, storytelling, there would be dancing later, and the distribution of meat between family. Ada’s cousin Malik had done the majority of the hunting this year, but Ada promised to come help in 2025.

The songs were lovely, but sounded off to Dani, who been hearing a lot of Yup’ik the last couple months.

“Yes, it’s like Spanish and Portuguese, or so I’m told,” said Barbara, as they strolled over to the blanket toss. ��Yup’ik and Iñupiaq. They’re fairly different, despite being relatively close. I couldn’t understand Greg when he slipped into Yup’ik, I’ll tell you what!” She chortled.

“Do you miss having Ada up here?” Dani asked quietly. Being around Barbara reminded her of her maman.

“Of course. But they’re happy in Qikiqtaġruk, and I’m happy here, and they come visit very fairly often. If they,” here she raised her eyebrows meaningfully, “ ever were to have kids, I would of course expect to have quality grandma time. But seeing as all involved are adults, we all do as we wish.”

To cover up for her blush, Dani laughed. “You should meet my maman, I’m sure you two would have fun, bugging about grandkids.”

The two arrived at the blanket toss. A huge blanket, mapkuq, sewn together out of walrus and seal hide, lay stretched between ginormous whalebone stands, with a host of people surrounding the edges.

“Okay, Dani, I have to help out now –” she nodded over to the tarp, where a few spots around could still be seen – “But why don’t you climb up on my truck! That way you can see my girl best.”

Dani, excited because she still wasn’t quite sure what to expect – she hadn’t spoiled herself at all – clambered up the red truck and situated herself upon the roof.

First came the captains. All but the oldest, who held a cane, got up on the mapkuq, and took their turn.

One, two, three bounces, and then four! The naluaqtit, the pullers, would pull the mapkuq taut, and up would go the captains.

Being generally older and serious, they would perform as straightforward a jump as possible, with minimal kicking, but by the end, even the most of dour of the nalukatat, blanket dancers, would land back upon the mapkuq, slightly winded, but grinning despite themselves.

Non-pullers were gathered around the mapkuq, which worried Dani somewhat. What if someone fell on them?

After the captains were the wives. “In old times,” Dani heard a nearby father tell the little boy sitting on his shoulders, “They used to toss baleen and tobacco, and other such treats, to show their competency as providers. But today they throw –“

“Candy!” Squealed the little boy, leaning past his father’s head as he reached for the tossed candy. The father, nearly bowled over by his son’s excitement, chuckled and gently warned the boy to be careful.

To Dani’s relief, the boy obeyed, and the two moved closer to the candy rain.

The last of the wives, who seemed young and athletic, hopped up on the map with clear excitement bubbling under her skin. She held a bag of candy, but unlike her predecessors, seemed to have something more in mind.

The young woman whispered to the leading naluaqtiq. He nodded, and then the woman went to the center of the blanket.

This time, the naluaqtit seemed to lift the mapkuq with an extra heave, and on that final bounce, the young woman went sailing into the sky.

She twirled the bag of candy by its bottom, high above her head and whooped, much to the delight of the entire crowd, Dani included. The candy went far and wide. Then she when she landed, the naluaqtit sent her up again! This time, she did a backflip and landed in a curtsy. Everyone cheered. From their reaction, it appeared the captains’ wives usually did not do such things.

Next step was apparently amateurs. Three separate people accidentally bounced off the mapkuq and into the crowd – who caught them quite readily. Dani realized they were so close so they could catch any accidental crowd surfers. The mapkuq was held on hard ground, so that the naluaqtit could hold it steady. Which meant a terrible landing for any who weren’t caught. Dani was just glad she didn’t have to rush into action.

Someone called for any new volunteers, and Dani thought about it, but ultimately held off. Between her full stomach, and the fact that she didn’t know many people, she felt it would be best to hold off. Maybe next year.

Next year? A small part of her whispered.

Shut up, a larger part whispered back.

Finally, she spotted her themfriend and cheered.

They strode up to the mapkuq confidently, with a few wolf whistles and whoops in their wake.

“Ada!”

“Ayo! It’s the champion!”

“We missed you at the Olympics!”

Ada smirked and shrugged off their attention.

The crowd stood at the ready.

The blanket bounced one, two, three times. She went up. A simple jump. Then to Dani’s awe, they flipped not once – not twice — but thrice.

They were spinning, so tight that it was like Dani was looking at a ball.

Only their braids, whose fur wrappings were coming loose, flew freely as they soared higher, higher, higher – nearly skimming the clouds it seemed – and then hurtled down.

Dani‘s breath caught in her throat her girlfriend approached the mapkuq. Would she fall, just like that?

Then the last second, her legs shot out, the mapkuq arose to meet her feet and up she went again. Two barrel rolls, a backflip, and on the last flip, Ada unfolded herself a little early and landed like a surfer. She lifted her arms and whooped.

The city went wild. Dani went wild. She launched herself off the truck and flew over, grasping Ada’s face and kissing her in front of the roaring crowd.

She had the coolest girlfriend in the world.

———

Barbara was incredibly proud of her child, and was bragging all the way back to her place after the day’s festivities ended. She stopped to breathe for a second, and Ada was about to get a word in edgewise, when Barbara turned to Dani, who was riding shotgun.

“Ada is great at all sort of sports. They must’ve been practicing quite a lot at your little gym – the Lord knows no one’s pulled that level of a trick for a while.”

“Aaka,” Ada pleaded, blushing.

———

“So you were in the Winter Olympics and you never told me?” Dani poked Ada in the side. They were walking at dusk, the cool air blowing off the water just this side of kuspuk, not coat.

Ada laughed. “It’s not the Olympics you’re thinking of, I’m surprised I forgot to tell you.” A pause, then, “I won third place in the 400 m dash in the Summer 2016 Olympics.”

“Really?!”

“No, no,” They said, and laughed. And then yelled when Dani poked them in the side once more. “Okay, okay! I used to do some jumps in the World Eskimo – Indian Olympics, the WEIO¤, in Fairbanks. I went for the first time with my dad, competed two years later. I didn’t go during Covid, and between this trip and then the trip to NJ,” they squeezed her hand, “which I’m very excited about – I haven’t been able to go to one in a while. But maybe we can go, next year!”

There was that dreaded phrase again. Next year.

Dani swallowed around the lump in her throat. “Was that the only kind of jump? The nalukataq?”

“Nope. But I mostly did stuff like the tow jump or the knuckle jump. I’d show you, but one requires a little set up and the other would hurt on the concrete.”

“I’ve never done anything like that.” Dani confessed after a moment. Then, “But I used to be point guard on my middle school basketball team. We should totally play some on one when we get to find a court! After you show me these jumps, of course.”

Ada squeezed her hand. “It’s a date.”

Fog started rolling towards their path, so both turned tail to head back to Barbara’s.

“Oh, is that a … rainbow, or something?” Dani pointed to a ring of light that encircled the setting sun. It appeared white, but the more she stared at it, the more pink and blue appeared at the edges.

“Oh!” Cried Ada, pleased “A fogbow! I haven’t seen one in ages! I think Qikiqtaġruk is too far south for any.”

“That’s neat! Back in NJ, I saw a triple rainbow once. But never anything like this! It kinda looks like a trans flag. Happy pride month to us!”

Both giggled, and then a harsh gust of wind swept away both the fog and any desire to stay outside. They hurried in.

Barbara was clacking quite loudly at her keyboard when Dani and Ada walked in – it no longer threatened to fall off her desk, thanks to Dani bolting it to said desk – but it still rattled. The woman pulled off her headphones and said, “There’s leftover assaliaq in the fridge, tepa if you want something sweet.” She put her headphones back on and returned to her clacking.

Dani rushed over to the kitchen. “Tepa? Isn’t that the sweet-and-sour stuff you wanted me to try?”

Ada actually wiggled to fingers. “Yes, oh my God. This is going to be good. I knew putting off fishing was a good idea!”

Tepa was a great way to end a great day. It was less sour than Dani expected, and she would happily admit to stealing some heads off of Ada’s plate. That got her an evil glare, but she just stuck at her tongue.

Ada put down her fork. “Hey, do you want me to show you another Olympics activity?” Her tone was innocent. Too innocent.

Despite herself, Dani aquiesced.

They sat upon the floor, and Ada showed her how to arrange herself.

With their right leg bent with her knee up, foot on the floor, and their left leg outstretched, toes of the sky, Ada folded themself around Dani, so that their left leg stretched under the arch of her right, and right foot by her hip. One mirrored the other. Ada and Dani put their left hands on each other’s right ankles, holding one another down. “Then, we cross our right arms, like this, and we pull away from each other.”

“No fair, you’re bigger than me!” Dani stuck her tongue out again. “You’ll push me to the ground.”

“Well, darling,” Ada purred, and leaned in even closer. “I could be mistaken, Ms. Basketball-Star, but I think you go to the gym more than I.” They pulled back, laughter in their eyes. “And besides, you win by pulling your opponent towards you. Whoever gets to hit the floor first, etc.”

Dani saw where this was going. She darted forward and picked Ada on the lips before they could say more. Then before the shock could wear off, she pulled them both down. “I win.”

Ada licked their lips. “You most certainly did,” they said after a breathless moment.

“Is this actually a sport, or is it just your special move to get all the girls?”

Ada rolled her eyes and kissed Dani back. “Oh no,” she deadpanned, “you found out my deep, dark secret. My armpull skills bring ALL the girls to the yard, and you’re just the latest in a slew of broken hearts.”

Dani had to laugh at that. Ada was NOT that smooth. “Well babe, I have to say, your reasoning and methods are solid. When am I getting replaced?”

Ada pretended to think for a moment before kissing her again. “Hm, I’m thinking this time next never. Sound good to you?”

“Do I have a choice?” Dani tugged on a strand of Ada’s hair.

“Nope. Suffer.”

That earned them another giggly kiss. “Love you, darling.”

“Love you too, babe. Bon swé.”

———

Something was off. Dani woke up in the middle of the night, alone in bed, dawn rising in the distance. She got up to look for Ada (and maybe grab a little tepa - the snacking lifestyle was rubbing off on her) when she heard voices just outside the lee-side living room window, accompanied by the flickering glow of a candle.

“I just don’t think it is a good idea. She’s a lovely girl, I really do like her, but you barely know her! Give it time.” That was Barbara’s voice.

“But Aaka, I think she get it, you know? She’s even Indigenous herself, I don’t think she’d reveal anything personal. She knows what it’s like to feel different in your own home. Even if we,” Ada’s voice went quiet, “broke up. Or something. She knows what it’s like to be ostracized for things you can’t control. She would not tell!”

“Maybe. Maybe not. But it’s not like she’s planning on staying. You have to protect your heart, Ada.”

The hurt silence was only interrupted by the low moan of wind on the other side of the house.

They must’ve switched to Iñupiaq after that, because Dani couldn’t catch anything more. She could’ve sworn she heard nanuq a couple times – she knew that to mean polar bear - but that was about it. Her heart became more and more numb, crouching under the window sill.

Only when she heard a growl did Dani wake up from her miserable trance. She peeked and yes. Ada was a polar bear again.

She heard the sound of footsteps towards the door. Dani flew to their bedroom, and threw herself under the covers.

Of course. Of course, she could not be told. She was just another outsider, a stranger. How could she be anything more?

———

When Dani woke up, Ada still wasn’t back.

“Oh, she just went fishing with her cousins!” said Barbara cheerily. “You know how early dawn is around here! Maybe we can all have some barbecue when they get back. Then I’ll take you up to the airport.”

Dani nodded, too morose to say much.

Ada did, in fact, bring back some fish, and they fried it up in some seal oil.

Dani tried to muster up her usual enthusiasm, and the food was delicious, but she just felt heavy.

“Are you okay, darling?” Ada asked, after Dani sighed for the third time.

Caught, she spluttered, “Oh! No. Just thinking about something, you know how it is after the adrenaline crashes!” A half truth was better than a lie, right?

“If you’re sure.”

———

Things were a little colder between them after that.

Sure, they still ate together, worked out together, and enjoyed each other‘s company. But how could she open up to Ada if Ada was not open to her? And why should Ada open up to her if she wasn’t staying? Did she want to stay?

Dani kept promising herself she would talk to someone about it. She was putting up walls and shutting Ada out – and she hated to see that hurt look flash cross their face. Dani hated hurting them. Dani loved them. But would she stay for them?

Her maman needed her. And it wasn’t fair to expect Jordan to step up all the time. Was she a bad daughter if she likes keeping away from her maman? Was that the reason enough to stay?

Was she just using Ada as an escape?

All that roiled in Dani’s gut as they flew across North America.

They caught a flight to Anchorage, to Portland, to Minneapolis, to DC, irritatingly down to Atlanta, and then finally to Newark, where Jordan picked them up. The cheapest flight plan wasn’t always the best flight plan.

Ada, who hadn’t been out of the state since college (partly due to Covid) basically had her face pressed to the window the entire time, especially when they crossed over the desert.

Dani had to laugh. Maybe next time they could stop in Las Vegas. If there was a next time. Dani did not have to laugh anymore.

To her surprise, Jordan looked older. More mature. They texted and called occasionally when she was in Alaska, but Dani had not realized how much he had become an adult. And it didn’t look like a weight on him.

She hugged him, long and hard. “I missed you! She cried. “I swear, you weren’t this tall when I left you.”

Being a whole 2 inches taller than his older sister and proud of it, Jordan gave her a noogie.

“Hey, not the hair!”

Jordan turned to Ada. “Hey,” he said, holding out a hand.

Ada reached to shake it, but Jordan withdrew his at the last second, sweeping it over his cornrows and lifting his left hand to cup his chin and smirk.

Okay, maybe he had not matured that much.

“You won’t help with the bags?” Jordan said, already grabbing two bags and hauling them towards his backseat.

It was a tight fit in the two hours it took to get back to Cottington.

Being laconic over the phone, but verbose in person, Jordan filled her in on all the family drama that their maman had forgotten to share.

“What do you MEAN, Sienna got into Princeton?! Is that why she’s ghosting me? Too good for the likes of a Rowan girl?”

Jordan sucked his teeth. “Man. I don’t know. She hasn’t been returning my calls or texts either.”

They all laughed at that.

“This is it!” Dani exclaimed as Jordan pulled in front of the house. “Let’s hit the hay, I am beat.” She grabbed both suitcases beside her, excitement beating exhaustion.

The door was unlocked, so she burst into the house. As per usual, her maman was in her armchair. But to Dani’s surprise, she actually got up. “Dah-nee-el-la!” The woman opened her arms wide. “Oh mon fille, you’re home!”

“Maman!” Dani could believe help could not help but get a little teary.

They hugged.

Maman let go first. “Now where is she? That Ada girl? Oh!” She dropped Dani like she was yesterday‘s news. “Oh, you must be Ada. You look so strong, so pretty. Though the silver bits in your mouth –” she plucked at one of them, causing Ada to yelp. Mama and sucked her teeth. “Well, nobody’s perfect. Still!” She turned back to Dani. “You’ll make even more money.”

Ada looked at Dani wide-eyed over Maman’s head – all were short, but her maman was by far the shortest – and Dani shook her head and rolled her eyes. Ada winked in understanding and went back to surviving the woman’s chatter. Her stomach rumbled audibly.

“Oh yes, and you must be starving! Tell me, do you like hot food? Dani only likes it mild, she must’ve gotten that from her father –” Maman lead them all to the kitchen, whereupon a small feast laid.

“I just thought the island food was like. Fresh fruit and pork. Maybe some fish.” Ada whispered to Dani, eyes wide, and nose at work.

Dani giggled. “Not Dominican food, babe.” She grabbed an accra. “Try this first. I told my maman you were a foodie.”

Maman had brought out the good stuff. She was a great cook, but rarely did she pull out all the stops. She must have caught a train to Philadelphia to get the ingredients this fresh, this flavorful - this Dominican.

There were grilled breadfruit strips, fried in coconut oil, accra to the side – ready to be eaten with the fish and sweet and spicy goat stew, and of course, the crêpes.

“Crêpes are more of a breakfast food, said Jordan in between stuffing his face. “But they’re Dani and Maman’s favorite, so she made them for dinner. She really pulled out all the stops with this one!”

“Yeah, we don’t usually have this much meat.” Dani said, daintily wiping her mouth with a napkin.

“But when my Dani comes home after being gone for so long –”

Dani could feel THAT little needle.

“- and she brings home such a pretty girl, I wanted to spoil her.” Maman grabbed both Dani and Jordan’s cheeks. “Not that they aren’t spoiled enough.”

“Maman!” The sibling said in unison.

Ada, who could not get enough of, well, anything, nodded politely, mouth quite full. Her eyes were watering, but Dani could see the excitement there too. Finally, she swallowed. “I must say, Ms. Romain, youre cooking is inspiring. Would you mind sharing the recipes with me?”

“Please, call me Patience.” Maman grabbed Dani‘s arm. “You better keep this one. Mon Dieu, she could make up for your lack of charm!”

Dani flushed angrily, but did not say anything, as did Ada. Her maman was a master at blending a compliment with an insult.

———

How could she keep Ada?

———

They went to Great Adventure. They went to New York City and saw The Wiz. They went out with her friends and cousins. They visited a friend’s petting zoo farm. All these things.

Dani enjoyed herself. She could tell Ada was having a blast.

But every night, Dani’s dreams, when she got to see them at all, were plagued with questions. How could she be with someone if they couldn’t be honest with each other? If they couldn’t be themselves with with each other? How could she love them this much and not be sure if she could stay? If she could leave her maman, forever?

Maman had been high energy that first night, but her chronic pain made itself quite known during the following week. Every day, after all their activities (With the exception of their day in NYC. Her papa was home that evening and he brought pizza). Dani would get home and be expected to make dinner. She could make a mean crab farci, but she did not take joy in cooking like her mama or Ada.

Her maman’s pain and love were real, but as Dani grappled with her own dishonesty and commitment questions towards Ada, the old anxieties and irritations of home reared their ugly heads.

Her maman would bark orders at her, and fawn on Jordan the next. She had been away from home for over six months, and yet she had to cook for the household again? God, she loved her maman, but hate and love were not opposites. They were two sides of the same coin.

As Dani trudged upstairs to bed, hands wrinkled from washing dishes, her maman called to her. “Dah-nee-el-la!”

Dani groaned internally and turned around. Her parents’ bedroom was on the first floor. “Yes, Maman?”

“This house is a mess. You will help Jordan and I clean in the morning.”

That meant Dani would have to get up at six to clean while Maman supervised and occasionally wiped off counters. Jordan might wake up in time to maybe sweep and take out the trash before he had to go to work.

Dani turned to go. “Oui, maman. Bon swé.”

“Bon swé. Je t’aime bien.”

“Mon aussi, je t’aime.” She meant what she said, but wished she did not.

———

Nearly everything went as she expected, much to Dani’s displeasure. 6 AM wake up, clean up for a couple hours, and then Jordan took the trash out before he went to work, apologetically smiling. Ada woke up halfway through and joined in, making Dani love her all the more, though Maman looked on disapprovingly.

Their last fun day was to be spent at the beach. Ada didn’t know how to swim, and Dani’s hair had just been redone, so they didn’t spend much time under the water. Still, they splashed and got a bit burned - despite using sunscreen, both forgot to lotion their ears - and ate overpriced ice cream and fried Oreos.

“I can feel my arteries wheezing their death rattles,” Ada said while stuffing another Oreo in her mouth “I need a salad, stat!”

Dani snorted. “There’s no saving you now. Your palate will forevermore be unclean.”

Ada died.

Dani slid her remaining Oreos over.

Miraculously, Ada came back to life to take them back just as thunder cracked in the sky.

“Snap, that looks like it’s moving in fast!” Dani said. It wasn’t raining on them just yet, but she heard the pattering of precipitation and saw a sheet of darkness fall and saw a sheet of darkness fall a mile down the boardwalk.

The same direction as her car, of course.

She grabbed Ada’s hand. “Come on!”

Everybody started fleeing, much to the couple’s dismay, the crowd moving against them. Apparently everyone else had parked in the opposite direction.

When the two finally found the car, it was cold and the wind was whipping. A sheet of rain rapidly approached the vehicle.

“Beat you there!” Ada challenged, and ran to the car.

Dani cursed and ran too.

Ada had already reached the car and was pulling on the doorhandle. They turned to Dani. “Come on,” they whined. “Let me in.”

Huffing and puffing to the driver’s side, Dani hit the unlock button. But only once, so only the driver’s side was unlocked. She slid in.

“Jezebel!”

The rain was only two cars away.

Smiling, Dani unlocked the door.

Ada slid in, frowning. “Evil woman,” she groused as the rain hit the car.

“I don’t start things,” Dani flipped her twists over her shoulder. “I just finish them.”

Ada sniffed delicately. “You better not leave me out in the cold again.”

Dani laughed hollowly at the words that reminded her of the questions that plagued her each night. “I’m sorry, babe. Let’s go to the house.”

Ada reached for a kiss, and Dani barely returned it. It was too much. She hated seeing the hurt on Ada’s face – so she did not look.

———

Their full morning in New Jersey was spent hanging out with her maman and any family who stopped by. With a farewell that part of Dani wished had come sooner, the couple left her family’s house.

Their flight was at 9 AM the next day, and her old friend Annika live close to the Newark airport. As such, she had voluntold her husband Antonio to drive them to the airport the following morning.

So, the two took an Uber to Annika‘s house.

“I’d take you myself,” Annika said over the phone, laughing, “but I’m just too big to fit behind the wheel anymore!”

It was true. When they arrived at Annika and Antonio‘s house, the woman had to waddle out. She was tall, but her husband was tall – tall. Dani did not want to know how big that baby would be at nine months.

“I’m not sure that baby blanket I packed is going to be big enough,” she whispered to Ada from the backseat.

Ada snorted.

“Dani!!!” Squealed Annika as she made her her way down from the porch, carefully.

“Nika!” Dani squealed back, getting out of the car and forgetting her bags. She rushed over and slowed down, just before impact, going in for a side hug and a cheek kiss instead. “How are you?”

“Ah well, the baby is coming along. It was beating me up earlier, the little stinker.” The woman caressed her stomach with a slight wince. “I’m surprised I’m not lack and blue yet!”

Dani chuckled. “That’s great and all, but I asked about you, not the kid.”

“Oh!” Annika smiled. “I feel like a bumper car, I can hardly walk, and I only ever feel like sleeping or crying. But I’m also bored and tired of waiting. Does that make sense?”

“Sorry to interrupt, Dani, but I don’t have the app and the driver wants us to pay.” Ada butted in, embarrassed.

“Oh sorry babe, I’ll go get that.” Dani squeezed Annika once again and rushed over to the driver, phone in hand.

“So you are the famous Ada!” Dani heard her over her shoulder.

———

The rest of the afternoon, all three chitchatted and played monopoly, too tired or too pregnant to do much else. Antonio got home and made them burgers – Annika‘s favorite, aside from sushi, which she wasn’t allowed to have due to the fetus.

“I miss it, I really do!” said Annika, eyes watering.

Antonio’s eyebrows rose with alarm.

“After the kid is out, I’d love to come up and try some of your qassaq, Ada. It sounds divine!”

Antonio cast his eyes pleadingly over at Ada.

But Ada never needed any encouragement to share their cooking. “I’d love to make some for you! You should absolutely come up, we’d be glad to have you.” They glance to her stomach. “Once the baby is ready, of course.”

“Of course!” Annika said.

Dani could see the relief flooding Antonio‘s face. “And on that note, does anyone want dessert?”

Ada declined, looking at her phone and saying that she wanted to hit the hay early. She went upstairs with a “Thank you, you two! It was nice meeting you!” Dani was pretty sure her girlfriend was actually not going to sleep just yet, considering this sheepish look on her face. She probably just saw an update notification for a fanfic she liked.

Antonio graciously got both Annika and Dani ice cream, waving off her thanks with a “It’s habit now.” Then he went to bed, probably to actually go to sleep.

Annika was a night owl – Dani remembered how they both stayed up 37 hours one weekend when the two were eleven, just because they could. Being a medical professional now, Dani winced at the thought. Both had improved their sleeping habits, but to say Annika was cured would be laughable.

“Do you want to watch a movie?”

“Does it have many flashing lights? My head is still spinning a bit from the amusement park.”

There had been a light malfunction on a dark ride and Dani was pretty sure she almost had a seizure. Which would have gotten her stuck in NJ, meaning a bunch of breach of contract, meaning her decision about Ada would have been temporarily made for her. SHE wanted to make the decision. Even if her decision at that moment was to put off said decision.

“It’s animated, but I looked it up earlier and some parenting site said it’s decently epilepsy safe. There’s a few fireworks, and some characters made of fire, but no strobing, or big flashy changes!”

Dani narrowed her eyes. “Are you trying to get me to watch that elements movie again?”

Annika pouted. “It’s like, the best movie of 2023 and you didn’t even watch it!”

“You know I don’t watch a lot of kids movies.”

Annika thought for a moment. “I’m pregnant, and you need to see this movie.”

“Your logic is astounding,” Dani said dryly. “Okay. Put it on.”

———

Dani had gone into the movie expecting to endure it. Instead, she began to draw … similarities to herself.

By the end, they were both weeping. “It’s like me with the farm a couple years ago!” exclaimed Annika. Then she blew her nose, and offered the tissue box to Dani.

“I think it’s like. My maman and I. But nicer.” Dani took a tissue.

“Mhm.” Annika snatched the box back to herself. “And you know,” her voice suddenly turned sly. “I think somebody in your life is a little like Wade.”

“Oh, shut up.” Dani balled up her tissue and threw it at Annika’s head, who squawked an indignation. “What do you know, anyway?”

Annika smiled and tapped close to her eye, creepily reminding Dani of the Beldame from Coraline. “Mother’s intuition.”

“It hasn’t even been born yet!”

Annika shrugged. “You can’t help with sneak glances at her, even this far into the relationship. You desperately wanted your mom to like her, which I don’t think she even met any of your previous partners.”

“That’s more because of her than –”

“And it looks like you’re keeping secrets, and it’s killing you.” Annika caught Dani’s eye with a long steady look. “This isn’t just a fling for you.”

Dani looked away first, unable to hold her gaze. “I’m not even sure if I should stay in Qikiqtaġruk,” she said to the floor. “Why should I make any drama if I can’t even stay.” She started to weep.

Annika opened her arms, and Dani nestled into her side. Annika gave pretty good backrubs – her calluses from work, always scratching Dani‘s back just right. “Let’s not talk about should, or would, or can.” Annika said. “Let’s just talk about want.”

“I know what I don’t want.”

“Okay?”

“I don’t want to let anyone down. But I don’t want to take care of my maman – I’m 27 for God’s sake! She loved on me the first day, and then it was like I never left!” She thought for a moment. “Plus I want to keep my girlfriend. She is pretty cool.” They both chuckled. “And I don’t want to leave all that pressure on Jordan. And it feels wrong to kind of leave Ada hanging.” Dani sighed. “I just don’t know what to do, and it’s biting me in the butt. Ada and I had a great time this trip, but I kind of held them at arm’s length. And Ada definitely saw that.”

Annika chewed on this. “Your mom doesn’t put things on Jordan the way she does on you, does she?”

Dani shook her head.

“Maybe you should ask him what it’s been like for him, instead of assuming. Either he gets out of it, or he found a way to keep her happy that works for him. Maybe … the workload changes when you’re not here.” Annika sneezed.

“Bless you.”

“Thanks. Anyway, when you start feeling like a family member is a burden –”

“It means you’re a crap person, and –”

“No! It means you need time away from them! To reevaluate and appreciate each other and stuff. I got to know my parents and like them a lot better when I moved out for college and stayed out! And you, you never had that. Until now. And with a person who looks at you like you hung the moon.” Her voice softened. “You had a terrible taste before this. All your exes were way less fulfilling, and more toxic than nuclear waste. I don’t know what compelled you to get with this person, but they’re keeper.” The woman grinned. “Especially since you still have a gooey look when I say their name. AdaAaAa!”

Dani’s face did not change. She made sure of it.

“AdaAaAa,” Annika repeated, this time poking Dani in the side.

“Hey! Cheating.”

Annika rolled her eyes like SHE was not the childish one. “Anyway, the only person you need to be worried about disappointing, is yourself. I know you love New Jersey, and me, obviously and me, obviously,” the pregnant woman put her hand on her own chest. “But I don’t think it’s enough to make you content, let alone happy.”

“I miss you,” Dani offered.

“I miss you too,” Annika squeezed her. “But it’s not like we can’t see each other. And besides,” she laughed. “With the time difference, I’m sure the baby will keep me awake long enough to call you, if this kid is anything like me.”

They both laughed at that.

“Oh! Hold on.” Dani got up and found the gift bag she’d been hiding up in her room. She waved at Ada, who was indeed reading on their phone, and went downstairs. “For you,” she said, holding out the gift bag.

She saw the water in Annika‘s eyes and she handed over the tissue box as well.

“What’s this?” Annika sniffled.

“It’s for the baby. From when Ada and I were in Utqiagvik. I saw this adorable booth selling things like this and I knew you’d love it.”

“I do,” wailed Annika, who hadn’t even opened it and was reaching for more tissues.

“Nika. Look in the bag.”

After a bit more sniffling, Annika finally opened the bag. “Oh my God, it’s too cute!” Annika practically shoved some tissues up her nose to avoid getting snot on the beautiful blanket. “My mom has this cradle her dad carved for her when she was a baby, and she put my brother and I in there when we were babies for pictures and, and, and,” she blew her nose again. “I am totally putting my baby in there with this blanket. Oh my God, thank you, Dani!”

Dani just hugged her.

———

Dani helped Annika settle on the couch. The doctors had said minimal stairs, and the couch was nice, so the woman slept there most nights.

After helping her friend, Dani went to bed. She had a lot to think about.

———

At 4 AM, Dani smacked the alarm.

Ada snorted, but snuggled back into her pillow and went back to sleep.

Dani sighed with relief. She slowly got up and dressed, packing both their things into the car (Annika said she could borrow it), only leaving each of their handbags with change of clothes in their room. Then she grabbed Wawa for breakfast, a last little New Jersey treat before returning to Alaska.

At 5 AM, she shook Ada awake. “Babe, wake up.” She planted a kiss on her themfriend’s cheek. “I want to show you something.”

Ada stretched and nodded, sleep still clouding her vision, and trudged off to the bathroom. At 5:20, Ada finally got her butt downstairs, where Dani was champing at the bit.

“Babe, come on, we’re going to miss it!”

Ada yawned as she closed the door, then fixed her eyes upon the Wawa bag. “What do you have there?” She woke up a bit.

“A reward for after we get to the beach. Come on!”

“Why are we going to the beach? I don’t think it’s safe at right now, it bei dark and all. And you didn’t tell me to get in my swimsuit!”

“You’ll see. Just come on already! Before it gets hot and you melt again.”

“In my defense, it’s stupid humid in New Jersey. I don’t know why anyone wants to live here.”

Both giggled as their flip-flops hit the sand path through the dunes. The birds were singing their sunrise songs, and already catching bits of seeds and bugs.

The couple reached the surf. Dani sat down carefully, cursing herself for not bringing a towel, and beckoned for Ada to sit too. “So I actually brought you here for two reasons.”

Ada suddenly looked guarded. “Oh?”

Dani swallowed around the lump in her throat. “Yes. First, I wanted to show you the dawn on the ocean. It’s pretty cool, and… I know you like sunset picnics back home.”

Ada smiled. “I do.”

“And… I think I’ve been dishonest. And kind of … noncommittal. And I hate that, and I want to respect your time and –” Dani realized she was rambling. “–And I know you can turn into a polar bear.”

Ada‘s eyebrows almost reached her hairline, and her mouth opened in shock. Whatever she had expected to hear, it was not that. “What?”

Dani felt all the blood rush from her face. “When you walked to our second date – I saw you. Walk up with the sled. And again – when you broke down my door? Polar bear. And – and, when you talked to your mom that night after Nalukataq!”

Ada’s face was stone.

Dani panicked. “And I think it’s totally cool and I didn’t tell anybody and I wasn’t sure if you knew that I know or if you’d be mad especially since –”

“So you’re afraid of me?”

“What?” The word vomit stopped.

“Have you been afraid of me, this whole time? Is that why you always say yes?” Ada stood up, hands shaking. Her voice remained quiet. “Is that why we’re dating? Too afraid to tell this giant, man-eating beast no, unless you’re in your home territory?” Their voice broke. “Do you … not love me?”

Now what it was Dani’s turn to be shocked. “What? No!” She grabbed Ada‘s hand.

It was the wrong move.

Ada’s eyes went impossibly wide with fear, and quicker than Dani could track, they were a polar bear, and Dani was holding air. They turned to run into the ocean, but Dani swallowed her fright at the change and jumped in front of Ada.

“Ada,” Dani worked hard to keep her hands by her side. She desperately wanted to hold her love’s face. Even with the teeth, the fur, the sudden immensity, she saw Ada and those eyes.

“Ada,” she repeated. “I love you. All of you. I just don’t want there to be secrets between us.” Dani closed her eyes and breathed in Ada, and after a moment, Ada breathed her in too. A kunik.

To the east, dawn bloomed.

Ada transformed back. “I can’t speak when I’m using my Nanuq Atiq, they explained hesitantly. “I – are you … sure?”

The tension in Dani’s gut roiled into laughter. “Babe, I’m moving to Alaska permanently. What do you think?”

Tears welled in Ada’s eyes. “You what? You’re staying?”

“You bet, babe. I’ll figure it out with Maman.” Dani was tearing up too. “So you better not be planning on getting rid of me.”

“Okay,” Ada choked out, laughing between tears. “Okay.”

They sat silently, watching the sunrise.

———

“Jordan? Hey,” Dani said at the O’Hare airport lounge. Her arms were crossed over her chest, AirPods in

“What’s up, Dani? You made it to the airport okay?” He sounded sleepy but concerned.

“Yup! All good on that front. I’m in Chicago. But I wanted to talk to you about Maman.”

“Maman?”

“Yeah,” Dani heaved a breath. “You know … she treats me differently than you, right?”

A long silence, then, “If this is about me not helping you clean, I’m sorry, Dani. This was like the one week the cleaninglady couldn’t come in, and they were all these emergencies, and –”

“She let you hire a cleaning lady?” Dani’s hurt and anger rose up. “She never let me do that. Said it was a waste of money, didn’t want any strangers in her her house.”

Jordan was silent for a moment. “Did she not tell you?” He said quietly, angrily. “The compensation from the doctor who misdiagnosed her finally came in.” He cleared his throat. “She pays for a cleaning lady, a nurse and a meal service now.”

Dani was burning up. “I’m not coming back. I’m staying in Alaska.”

“What?! Listen, I thought she told you. I thought you liked taking care of her!”

“I literally moved thousands of miles to get away from her!” She yelled.

The whole lounge looked over.

Ada stood up behind her and squeezed her shoulder. Dani put her hand on top of Ada’s, just holding on.

“I – I didn’t think. Jordan said lamely.

“When did she get the compensation?”

“What?

“When did she get the compensation?”

Jordan went silent. “A few weeks before you decided to move. I thought that was why you went. Because it was okay now.”

“It was never okay, Jordan. Dani hissed. “I barely survived, keeping things as she liked and perfect for when you and Dad get home.” She swallowed her fury. “I get to live my life now, Jordan. I love you, Papa and Maman. But I’m disappointed in you all.”

Dani could hear him crying through the phone. Some big sister part of her wanted to make it stop, hated herself for making her baby brother cry.

But the truth needed to be said.

“I love you, Jordan,” she repeated. “And I always will. Call me if you need me or have a question about Maman‘s care. I’m not gone forever.”

A sniffle. “I don’t think maman is going to get better.”

Dani pressed her hand to her mouth to cover up her sob. Her breath hitched anyway. “I don’t think so, either. I’ll come help when she – when it happens. But for now, I need some space.”

Another sniffle. “OK, Dani. A beat, then, “I’m sorry I never stepped in for you. I know she and Papa were always,” sniff, “harder on you than me.”

“Thanks, J, she said simply. “Love you.”

“Love you too. Text me when you’re back safe?”

“Yeah. Bye.”

Ada came around and hugged her tight. “Do you need to go and clean up?” She asked, nodding her head to the bathroom.

Dani nodded, trying really hard to hold her tears back.

Ada grabbed their stuff, sacrificing their seats to a young couple with two children who had been loudly complaining about the lack of seats and that parents had it hard.

Ada helped her clean up and kissed her when it was done. “You okay?”

Dani shook her head and held her forehead against Ada’s, just breathing her in. “About this? I probably won’t ever be, not completely. But thank you.” She leaned back and shook a finger. “Don’t you start psychoanalyzing me, doctor. Conflict of interest.”

Ada chuckled, their warmth soaking into Dani’s heart like a bomb. “I’m still working on that doctor part, darling.”

“Oh, so it’s all right then.”

Together, they rejoined the lounge, and resigned themselves to standing. They’d be sitting for the rest of the day on the plane, anyway.

———

To Dani and Ada‘s delight, the flight attendant informed them that they had been bumped up to first class for their flight straight to Anchorage.

The loud family who stole their lounge seats looked at them with poison in their hearts.

Dani and Ada did not care.

———

Dani and Ada had both been busy at work, Dani catching up on her hours and Ada catching up on her patients. It was August when they finally had a time where both were free, neither were tired and it was a clear sky.

“The long sunsets are going away.” Dani observed as they walked towards the where the Pacific Ocean became the inlet.

“Yes, but tonight’s perfect for the for seeing a really good aurora. You ready?”

“You bet, babe.”

The two eventually settled in a clear spot, the wind gently whipping away the genuine heat of that day.

Dani pulled out some curry colombo and crab farci, the spices for which she brought home in her luggage from New Jersey. She was finally getting into cooking for herself.

Ada pulled out some slightly thawed kumlaneq and niinamayak. The niinamayak tasted just right when thrown in with the curry – and Ada had been working on her spice tolerance.

They ate peace for a while.

Then Ada turned away. “I can’t tell you everything.” She finally said, face hidden.

“Huh?”

“I can’t tell you all my secrets,” Ada said. “Some of them are things I share. My family’s berry patches, I won’t share with anyone except with any kids I have. The secrets my patients tell me. Even what my dad likes to put in uquq to make it so sweet. But everything I can’t tell you, I’ll tell you that I have to hold back if you ask. And everything else, is yours.” She turned away to grab a crêpe.

Dani gently put her hand on Ada‘s shoulder and kissed her. “Thank you. That’s enough for me, babe. I’ll do the same for you.” Then she handed Ada some jam. “Finally the famous nagoonberry jam! You made me wait months for this!”

Ada took it and thanked her. “You ready?”

“You bet!”

The hype was not unfounded. It was naturally sweet – Dani could tell hardly any sugar was added – and a little savory. Ada’s aata Greg probably couldn’t resist cutting in a little uquq. There was hardly any citrus taste, just enough to heighten the sweetness - it was clearly added by someone who knew their jam. It also tasted slightly of the sea – there was a good chance Greg had sourced the salt from the ocean to get just the right taste.

“This is delicious! I can’t believe you would hold this out on me!”

Ada grinned. “I owed Barry a lot for a favor he did me a couple years ago. I just finished paying it off, then he introduced me to you.” They winked. “Looks like I owe him again. Better memorize the taste – he’s got one hell of a sweet tooth. You probably won’t be getting any for a while.”

“No, this is mine now. He can get his own,” Dani said with a devilish smile. She glanced up and - “Oh my God! It’s here!”

The couple laid back on the blanket and watch the aurora dance its way across the sky.

It made Dani’s heart feel light, and strange.

She squeezed at Ada’s hand. “I think the only thing more beautiful than this is you.”

Ada spluttered, then smiled and gave her a kunik. “You're cheesy.”

Dani gave her one back. “And yet it works on you.”

Ada squeezed her hand and turned back to the lights above them. “To us.”

“To us,” Dani echoed.

And the aurora danced on.

———

This post is VERY long, so I split up the glossary and the explanation. Enjoy!

Glossary

Explanation

The following are footnotes from within the story

⁂ A dual form is the term that specifically refers to two objects. Like how with English, adding an -s to the end of a noun makes it plural, but Iñupiaq has a way to make it clear that there’s just two nouns, and not one or many.

So one person is Iñupiaq, two people are Iñupiak, and any more than that is Iñupiat. Same q/k/t rules apply to most nouns. The language is referred to as Iñupiaq. The Iñupiat people are neighbors and cousins of the Inuit, but are a different culture entirely. Same thing with the Yup’ik.

† There’s a cool book called, ‘The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian’ by Sherman Alexie. It’s about a Spokane Indian* boy named Arnold who learns to code-switch (change himself to fit within one’s original culture and that of the majority) to survive going to a better school off his reservation. It’s meant for young teens and up, and it’s totally worth the read. I’m pretty sure it was my introduction to modern Indigenous characters - historically, they usually only portrayed in conjunction with early colonization efforts, AKA the cowboy genre and the like, from the point of view of the colonizers.

*Indigenous is a rallying, unifying term for (generally) all peoples originally found in lands that were so heavily colonized that they are now the minority. So the Koori of Australia are Indigenous, but the Akan people of Ghana are not, despite both being colonized. Indigenous in this usage is fairly new. Usually if someone uses that term as a self descriptor, they’re young. It unifies peoples from all over the world.

Native American is a legal term to describe all peoples with ‘enough’ blood connection to the Indigenous people of the contiguous United States of America, where the blood quantum is determined by the state and not by actual connection to those cultures. This is a huge problem that legally separates actual Indigenous people from their cultures and rights just because someone(s) in their family married outside the culture. Most Indigenous people do not like to be called this, but would prefer it over slurs or inaccurate guesses.

Indian (or American Indian or Amerindian) is the historical term that many older Indigenous people use as another pan-Indigenous rallying term. While many do not like it or the inaccuracy and bloody history behind calling Indigenous Americans (both continents) ‘Indians’, a lot of people were upset when the (USA**) government changed the legal term to Native American. It’s because they did not get a choice in the matter. So many people still use it because they decided it’s their word to reclaim (which it totally is). However, mostly Indigenous people within the USA have reclaimed the word - in other areas it is a non-issue or is considered rude or out-dated. And it’s more popular with older people.

**Other modern countries in the Americas do/used to call their Indigenous peoples Indians. Some have kept that name (such as Chile, though they say ‘Indios’, which is Indians in Spanish), some have not. For example, the Indigenous peoples of modern-day Canada are now called ‘First Nations’ by the Canadian government, but were once called Indians.

So to review: Indigenous is the younger identity word that covers all populations that were colonized and are now a minority in their historical lands. Native American is the legal term as used by the United States for Indigenous peoples originally from nations in the contiguous USA. And Indian is the preferred term by older Indigenous people in those areas. The label ‘Eskimo’ is also preferred in a similar fashion for the Inuit people, and more broadly, the Indigenous peoples of Alaska and north/western Canada. See footnote 5 later in the story for the idea in context.

However, the most polite thing to do is to not mention anybody’s ethnicity unless they bring it up themselves. If you must talk about it, then use the most specific terms possible to be polite. That’s why I mention that Arnold in that book is Spokane, and did not use the very loose term ‘Native American’.

❧ So there’s the Indigenous Kalinago people of the island of Dominica. They were once called Caribs - and thus the Caribbean Sea was named - but that was from a misunderstanding on Christopher Colombus’s part. Carib likely just meant ‘brave warrior’. So in 2015, the people legally changed their name to Kalinago, their original name. Kalinago is the plural form, and Karifuna is the singular form. So Dani is Karifuna, and Dani, her maman and her brother Jordan are Kalinago.

∵ A kunik is like a greeting kiss in terms of intimacy. But it’s not just for romantic partners. One (or two! It can be mutual!) people will hold their nose close to the other’s skin, and breathe them in. It’s like loving someone so much, one just has to breathe their atiq, their spirit, in. A lot of ***Alaskan Native Peoples practice this, as their mouths were often covered outside during the long winter months (to keep water and warmth in). An ‘Eskimo kiss’ is a bastardized version of a kunik - it does not usually involve rubbing noses together.

***Alaskan Native is a legal term for the Indigenous peoples of Alaska. They get slightly different rights and restrictions by identifying as such and not ‘Native American’. The Indigenous Hawaiian (Native Hawaiian) people have a similar deal with the USA government. Both Indigenous Alaskans and Hawaiians prefer this legal distinction - while both got the shorter end of the stick, they still have a better deal with the government than the Indigenous peoples lumped under the category ‘Native American’. However, ‘Alaskan Natives’ prefer to be referred to their individual ethnicities (Yup’ik, Athabaskan, etc.) or Eskimo when relevant, and ‘Native Hawaiians’ prefer ‘Kānaka Maoli’, ‘Indigenous Hawaiians’ or just ‘Hawaiians’.

¤ This is an example of where older terms, such as Indian and Eskimo, are still used, because both Indigenous groups lumped under those old labels got to choose the name themselves. Despite ‘Native American’ and ‘Alaskan Native’ (respectively) being the legally correct terms according to the modern USA government, both groups like exercising their autonomy by sticking with the names they chose, despite the terms being legally out-dated. The WEIO’s name is a case where tradition and pride combine well.

#win a commission #wac #west of the Sun east of the moon #east of the sun west of the moon #main text

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hostilemuppet · 7 months ago

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The Twitter Drama AU Timeline

finally, after months, we finally have a timeline. this is not exhaustive (i tried to mainly include the super important parts, and some less important parts i thought were REALLY funny), and is probably only 75% accurate due to the non-linear nature we wrote the fic in to begin with, but it is better than nothing! updated as of chapter 10 (low hanging fruits)

12th March 2023: Tiny Diamond is born, Creek is his other dad, which is kept a secret from everyone except Guy and Creek.

November 2023: The events of Band Together, almost completely identical. Following which, Brozone get back together and start working on their reunion album. Now that Branch is in the spotlight, Barb is forced to acknowledge her ex girlfriend (one night stand) Poppy is a lot happier with a transfem butch, which sparks Barb’s descent into terfism. Val and Creek briefly see each other.

December 2023: John Dory gets his Twitter confiscated by Clay. Floyd gets his sex tape leaked (by Creek). Clay throws Viva under the bus for the first time. Clay accidentally gets Bruce accused of cheating on his wife, but they pin it on Branch, who just organised a fake breakup with Poppy because he was uncomfortable with all the smutfic. Riff leaves Barb’s band, and collabs with Creek but calls him an asshole. Velvet gets out of prison and writes a callout thread on Floyd. Floyd gets cancelled for the first time. Creek and Floyd start seeing each other in secret.

January 2024: Val publicly comes out as nonbinary and is kicked out of Barb’s band, then outs Barb as a nepo baby as revenge. JD tries to sneak back onto stantwt but is doxxed. Floyd tells Branch about his relationship with Creek; Branch is surprisingly fine with it as long as Creek is suffering, and boy does he suffer.

February 2024: A misunderstanding leads everyone to think Branch broke up with Poppy because he’s a gay man. He comes out as a lesbian but is immediately met with vitriol of both the exclusionist and transmisogynistic varieties. Barbtwt have a bone to pick with Hickory but he comes out on top. Clay throws Viva under the bus again but this time she's had enough, and releases an expose video on him and kicks him out of the pod. Viva and Floyd become BFFs.

March 2024: Dating rumours about Smidge and Poppy start, which Smidge does nothing to help. Barb accuses Smidge’s actual boyfriend of being a pedophile, and gets ratio’d. Creek and Floyd go public with their relationship.

June 2024: Guy Diamond gets into controversy after soliciting a camgirl and his family vlog channel goes on hiatus. Clay and Viva get back together, and Viva records revenge porn of him to “keep him in line”.

August 2024: Biggie gets into mild controversy that escalates into cancelation when he responds in character as Mr Dinkles. Clay and Vivas relationship becomes undeniably abusive, but they’re really good at hiding it.

September 2024: Floyd and Creek get married! Satin & Chenille have Velvet on their podcast. Guy Diamond gets cancelled after being outed as Pro-Life.

15th December 2024: Floyd and Creek have twins, Brad and Angelina [LASTNAME]-[LASTNAME2-.

April 2025: Creek and Floyd drop all pretences of thinking they’re a healthy couple.

12th May 2025: Creek aborts his second egg. They would have been named Shiloh. Floyd is distraught and gets harassed on Twitter again for being Pro-Life.

August 2025: Creek and Floyd divorce.

September 2025: It comes to light that DJ Suki is stealing from her niece CJ.

December 2025: Creek and Floyd get back together. Val stops hiding their racism from twitter and get doxxed by KPop fans. They have to live with their mother.

January 2026: Harper starts drawing Bruce as a transphobic caricature, a skinny feminine twink.

February 2025: Viva stops taking birth control. Branch gets doxxed for the first time (by Cloud Guy). Dante starts stalking Branch.

March 2026: jdtwt find out that JD used to have a thing with Delta Dawn, and harass her a bit. The two get back in touch, and Delta tells JD that they actually had a kid together (Holly Darling). JD is thrilled about being a dad. Holly is initially apprehensive but eventually comes around. JD gives Delta Cooties (it’s okay, there’s a cure). Sky Toronto buys Twitter.Crimp gets run off the internet for uncomfortable roleplay with Tiny Diamond (pretending to be 14). Velvet gets cancelled for workplace abuse. Smidge starts queerbaiting by selling merch of referencing her and Poppy’s fake relationship.

April 2026: Tiny Diamond reveals he is not actually 14, he is physically 3 years old (but for our purposes he is functionally 9 because Trolls age weird). He loses all his OOMFs (CJ, Preiscilla, Keith (all approx 13)) and has his account suspended. Branch gets really jealous over Smidge and publicly shittalks her. He and Poppy “get back together” but set the “boundary” that any smutfic about either of them can only be Broppy (obviously not everyone follows this rule).

May 2026: Cloud Guy leaks Smidge’s miscarriage after being paid off by Barbtwt. Branch gets doxxed for the third time. Poppy demands Sky Toronto take action so he permabans Cloud Guy’s IP. Cloud Guy goes to live with his parents.

June 2026: Gust Tumbleweed is violently homophobic to Synth during an LGBT charity event, but faces no consequences because he starts flirting with his fellow straight male friends again. Poppy gets sick of Dante stalking Branch so she prepares to take matters into her own hands. Holly Darlin starts selling snake oil, from the same company that supplies for Satin & Chenille. Holly and Satin start dating.

July 2026: Satin & Chenille (both Creek’s exes) are invited to the Floyd and Creek household for dinner to ‘bury the hatchet’, where they witness blackmailable activities and force them both to come on their podcast and embarrass themselves (mostly Floyd).

August 2026: Demo falls in love with Gust after being flirted with for several months, breaks up with his current girlfriend (DJ Suki) and gets very VERY aggressively turned down by Gust. Dante sends a glitter bomb to Branch’s pod, so Poppy beats him up, but Dante calls the cops on her and she faces legal trouble. Harper starts drawing Creek as a trans man, even though Creek is a cis man, because she felt like it. It catches on. Biggie gets cancelled for something unspecified but really, really bad.

September 2026: Guy Diamond faces controversy for thinking Troll babies sleeping in beds causes Autism, which he got from Creek, who he used to date and is now interested in again. Clay starts nearing his brink wrt Viva and stays with JD for a bit. Viva finds an egg in her hair, which she soon loses (19th). Cloud Guy kills himself. Biggie overdoses while playing Overwatch. Veneer gets hit by a bus.

October 2026: Sky Toronto and Nova Swift get divorced (she leaves him for a trans Troll). Branch and Poppy get an egg, and Viva is the first they tell, so she manipulates them into thinking they’d be awful parents and she can take care of it for them. Viva uses the egg to convince Clay to come home.

31st October 2026: The egg Viva stole from Branch and Poppy hatches. Their name is Ha’Penny Hatch. Since the kid looks nothing like either “parents”, Clay figures that Viva cheated on him and finally goes grey.

November 2026: Harper deletes all her socials when her proship side account is found. Gust tricks Demo into thinking his feelings are finally returned, only to crush his heart again publicly during a subathon.

December 2026: BrozoneRonpa resurfaces. Branch accidentally says something offensive about Guy Diamond publicly, and Guy capitalises on the potential controversy, which leads to intense Guy VS Floyd beef (they are both interested in the same man (only Floyd is married to him). Nova Swift moves to Mount Rageous, leaving S&C in need of a podcast producer, and Fuzzbert is their only hope but expects a big paycheck.

January 2027: Guy Diamond reveals that Tiny Diamond is actually Creek’s son. Floyd goes to stay with Branch. Bruce finds out the real reason Clay went grey and his immediate plan is to fake Clay’s suicide and take him with him to Vacay Island. JD, Viva and Penny are the only members of Clay’s immediate family who don’t know he’s still alive. Clay’s funeral is livestreamed on Twitch. Holly Darlin’s newly rekindled relationship with her dad is halted in its infancy.

#text #twitter drama au

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liknws · 1 year ago

Text

[ 002 ] "i hope."

⎯⎯ PAIRING: han jisung x reader/oc ⎯⎯ TAGS: rockstar!3racha plus jeongin, non!idol au, lovers to exes to enemies, one tour bus instead of one bed trope, subtweeting but in songs dropped during concerts, childhood friends to lovers ⎯⎯ RATING: 18+, mature ⎯⎯ WARNINGS: mild angst, i don't think there's anything else ⎯⎯ WORD COUNT: 4.9K (4970)

⎯⎯ SUMMARY: it’s been three years since the break up, three years since leaving the band you helped start, three years since you’ve even talked about your ex. not only have you been able to avoid talking about him, but you’ve been able to avoid him all together. until that same band you helped start decides to change labels and not a single person warned you that your safe place was about to be invaded by three men you’d do anything to avoid.

⎯⎯ A/N: added some twitter screenshots for the fun of it. also there's some cringe writing about singing so you've been warned about that, i'm sorry! this is probably my favorite chapter of the fic so far and it was incredibly fun to write. as always, reblogs and comments are appreciated and encouraged!

[ masterlist ]

You’re leaving the fifth city since the tour kicked off just two months ago, the two bands quickly becoming accustomed to life on the road with each other. To say that it was perfect would be a lie, each new day bringing a special kind of drama and spice to the day to day of touring. Last night there had been a tense argument over the temperature of the bus, the night before there had been some interesting threats made over a card game.

You didn’t often join in the bonding of the two touring bands, sitting near the edge of their circles so that it may appear you were participating but if asked any question about what had gone on in the last twenty or so minutes, you’d flunk the test. Your mind had been anywhere but the present for days, swimming in your own dark thoughts and memories. Being around the three that you once called family brings a lot of emotions to the surface you long thought buried and unreachable.

Everytime Changbin laughed you found yourself giggling quietly. He’d always been able to bring you out of whatever dark slump you’d been in, always the one to brighten the dark skies in your life. With Chan around again you felt a little more at ease, his presence a natural comfort and safe space for you. Any time you felt at war with the world, his arms would open for you to fall into and fight away the darkness.

Jisung brought so much up that you didn’t know what to do with it all. His laugh brought a smile to your face but then an ache in your chest. His sleepy smiles made you want to coo at him, pull him close and play with his hair like you used to. There are words that sit at the tip of your tongue that want to spill out but you swallow them back every time. Like now, with his tongue caught between teeth and eyebrows scrunched in concentration. The urge to reach over and take his hand, to smooth out those lines on his face, to comfort from whatever thought plague his mind, grows only stronger every night spent on the bus together.

Luckily it’s easy to pass off your distance as being unfriendly, uncaring. You were often alone on the bus, your shared bedroom becoming your palace of solitude and the others just left you be. No one forced you to participate, no one begged you to join in their card games or movies in the front of the bus. If your bandmates wanted to be with you, they came to you in the back of the bus. An unspoken line had been drawn at the doorway, the four outsiders never attempted to come into your space.

Unless you invited them in. It started with Jeongin, he wasn’t in the middle of any of it. You didn’t resent him for taking your place in the band, you were proud of him for getting it. One day you had seen him half hanging from his bunk with a book and asked him if he wanted to come read with you in your room, since you’re sure the bed in there was much better for relaxing and it’s quieter from the chaos out front.

That had started it. He would just silently look at you from wherever he was sitting on the bus and raise an eyebrow at you. You’d nod silently and within minutes, both of you are doing different things while stretched out on the bed.

Tonight is one such night. After one particularly long final show at the venue, both you and Jeongin had silently agreed to fall into the bedroom to just lay in the quiet and relax the ache from your bones. Between the bone deep exhaustion from the show and the lull of the road under the bus’s tires, you two fell asleep quickly.

Chan found you two half cuddled on top of the bed with legs a tangled mess and bodies angled away from each other, still in your clothes from the performance with makeup on your faces. He hasn’t the heart to wake you or the youngest so he lets you sleep, coming to the front of the bus and quietly getting everyone to ushered to bed. He doesn’t miss the look in Jisung’s eyes when told that Jeongin is sleeping back there with you already.

Sometime in the night when Chan gets up to check on everyone, he sees that you two have been tucked in, each under your favorite blankets and shoes lined up next to the door neatly. Chan isn’t sure who had taken care of you two, but he’s got a good guess.

The next morning is a late wake up for you; the only thing for the day is arriving in the next city and some radio interview that afternoon. You and Jeongin are perhaps the last ones to wake and stumble to the living room space, rubbing sleep from your eyes and pushing bed messed hair from your face. A cup of coffee is handed to you, your thanks mumbled at them with eyes still closed. You stand with a hip leaned against one of the counters until you’re more awake to open your eyes.

The others are mingled together, quietly talking to each other as they plan the day ahead of them. You catch a few things but mostly tune it out, sipping instead on the coffee (made perfectly you notice) and just grunting if anyone attempts to speak with you. When you finally decide to open your eyes and look around you notice that most everyone is intermingled, showing that the weeks on the road have bonded the two bands. Only you remain on the outside, walls so fortified against the others that you’re starting to wonder if it’s a cage you’ve trapped yourself in.

“We’re a couple hours away from our next stop. Once we get to the hotel and get checked in, it’s showers for everyone and back in the lobby within the hour.” Lily has appeared with a planning book in hand, pen tucked behind her ear. “Slight change of plans. We’re doing a live audience taping.” She flips a few pages and reads to confirm the details. “It’s going to play tonight and again in the morning as a promotion for the show since this station is the main sponsor for this venue.”

“How big is the audience?” Chan asks, looking between Lily and the others, confirming that his question is the one that everyone else seems to have. You nod, wondering just how big this thing is going to be today.”

“Less than 100 tickets.”

“Can we set up a meet and greet after the taping? Or open to fan questions?” This time Felix has the question. You can’t help but smile behind your mug, looking at him fondly. You adore that he wants to turn every small event into something like this for the fans, trying to make this about them too. “Maybe a panel instead of just a radio interview? Or both?”

“Let me call the producers and see what they think. I’ll let you know by the time we’re at the hotel, okay?” Lily has her own look of fondness, giving him the biggest smile she’s able to. You make a mental note to talk to her about that later but look instead at the others. None really seem too uncomfortable with the idea. “Unless anyone objects?”

“I think a meet and greet and panel sounds like a great idea. A fan led interview portion would be perfect,” Minho agrees with a nod. Seungmin and Hyunjin hum their agreement. She looks up at you for any objection and you just shrug, not really having an issue one way or the other with the plan. “If you guys are cool with it.” Minho shoots a look over at the other band who nod their agreement.

“Cool, let me make the call and I will update you all.” With a quick smile she’s headed back to the driver’s cab of the bus to make the calls, seemingly since it’s so much quieter up there instead of surrounded by the musicians in the bus.

“Movie?” Changbin is quick to suggest, holding up the remote to the streaming TV. Everyone seems to collectively agree, settling into comfortable places to see. You choose the far side of the couch, half curled into the arm as you lean on it for support to cradle your still steaming mug. You don’t even care that Jisung is the one that sits next to you as the movie starts.

・❥・

The interview has been going great, the station loved the idea of making it a panel and interview half led by the fans. They offered for a longer recording time as well to accommodate the idea. Everyone agreed without question.

The two bands are sitting in a line, facing the small audience but half turned to see the radio hosts. Each member holds their own microphone and you’ve already broken up one “lightsaber” fight between Jeongin and Hyunjin as one had red and the other blue, respectively. They ended up having to be separated and by doing so, the seating shuffle had you sitting with Felix on one side and Jisung on the other.

“If you guys are still up for it, why don’t we take a few more fan questions,” one of the radio hosts suggests, turning toward the audience and reaching for the wireless mic to pass off.

One girl stands, she wears one of 3RACHA’s older shirts, you realize. One of the designs from the touring festival. The sight makes your mouth go dry and shift in your seat. Eyes look toward Jisung to see if he noticed and by the way he’s refusing to look at you, you take that as he noticed.

The sight of that design brings a lot of memories up, a lot that you wish you could forget. That you hoped because of your addiction and struggles wouldn’t have survived that night but instead seemed to cling tighter the more you wanted it gone. That festival had been the turning point of your relationship, when everything shattered. You announced your departure from 3RACHA within a week of returning from the tour.

“My question is for 3RACHA.” A beat to confirm that she’s allowed to do that. “What’s it like to work with Red again after all these years?”

Okay, a pretty tame question. One you had expected in fact, though from the radio hosts and not the fan.

“It’s been pretty amazing to see them again, yeah. Really not just Red, but working with all of Ultra Violet has been great. I hope we get more opportunities like this in the future to work with the band.” The tension in your shoulders eases as Chan answers.

“Yeah, like Chan said: It’s been really cool seeing them and catching up. I’m super proud of what they’ve been doing and all the music they’ve been putting out there. It’s really amazing stuff, you know?” Changbin jumps in before the topic moves on, grinning.

“Hey! Stop with the flattery, they’re ours now. Finders Keepers,” Minho protests from his seat, half standing to point accusingly at Chan and Changbin. This elicits more laughter from everyone.

“I’m not going anywhere, Lino. It’s okay.” You laugh, leaning forward to look at him. “Now sit down before you hurt yourself.” He tsks at you but sits anyway, giving a faux grumble and pout before looking back out at the audience. The next few questions are easy ones, asking about later tour plans and if any surprises await.

What you aren’t prepared for is the next question that comes up. “I’m sure that touring together brings up a lot of old memories and emotions. There’s been speculation for years that everything between Jisung and Red was faked for publicity or sales. Can you guys confirm that was the case?”

You’re not aware of the words leaving your mouth until you feel Felix’s hand on your arm. “Nothing was fake, not a single bit of that was a stunt or for somebody. It was for us, just Jisung and myself. We were best friends who fell in love, it felt like the natural course of things. We were together before we ever made it to the music scene– Fuck, I have the cringe high school and graduation photos to prove it. We just kept everything private for a long time because we didn’t- and still don’t- owe anyone anything about the relationship. Past, present, or future.”

Don’t look at him, you tell yourself as you settle back in your chair. Rotating your arm so your palm is up, Felix takes the silent invitation and threads his fingers through yours with a squeeze. His presence is a comfort, letting yourself focus more on the feeling of his hand in yours instead of the anger that wants to boil over.

“So then something happened that made you leave the band. Was that before or after the break up?” Not missing the opportunity, one of the radio hosts takes the chance to continue the topic and goes with it. You’re about to ask for the subject to be dropped but Jisung speaks up next to you.

“I think Red will agree with me here when I say we’d rather not share private information about what may or may not have happened. That’s between us.” His voice is calm and level. Risking a glance at him, you see that his face is pretty impassive. You mouth a simple thank you to him before turning away.

“Who wants to talk about boring stuff like that when we have cool tour stuff to talk about?” Ever the savior and quickly becoming your favorite, Jeongin is fast in interjecting to change the topic of discussion. He winks at you when you look at him.

“I will say we have a couple new songs we’re debuting this weekend,” Chan teases with a chuckle.

“That’s right, you all have multiple shows this weekend right?” The other host quickly moves with the hints, letting the discussion of your relationship fall to the wayside. You release a breath you didn’t realize you’d been holding, shoulders falling back down. With your head turned to face the hosts, you don’t notice that Jisung looks at you with that worry crease between his brow and teeth chewing his bottom lip.

“Yep! We’ll be doing three shows here this weekend.” Felix is excited, nearly hitting himself with his mic with how fast he raised it to speak. You’re laughing, realizing right away what he’d just given away as Minho reaches over and slaps at his arm lightly. “Oops.”

“Three? I thought it was two. Friday and Saturday night.”

“Since Felix can’t keep a secret,” Seungmin is the one to speak up. “We’re doing a secret show Sunday night.” Hyunjin interjects with how it’s not really all that secret anymore, earning light chuckles. “We’ll announce when and where one hour before doors open on our Twitter.”

“So is this just an Ultra Violet show or will 3RACHA be joining in?” There’s a prying tone to the host’s question but you expected that the second the information was slipped. At least it was quick to change the attention from you individually.

“You’ll have to follow our Twitter to find out,” Jisung offers with a shrug.

・❥・

The rest of the interview goes smoothly, if maybe a little awkward but to credit everyone else they weren’t making a focus of it. The tension doesn’t lift from your shoulders until the microphones are handed back to the audio team and the goodbyes are exchanged with the radio hosts.

A few minutes to yourself before you go meet your fans in the small meet and greet. A few minutes to compose yourself and get the shaking to leave your hands. Quietly you slip from the group and find yourself a darker corridor to be alone in. Alone and in the quiet, you allow yourself to have a small breakdown. You lean against the cinderblock wall and slide down until you’re sitting with your back pressed against the cold wall, the chill of it bringing some peace.

Peace can only last so long, you think as the sound of approaching footsteps starts echoing around the darkness. It’s not so dark that you can’t tell that it's someone familiar and you assume that Seungmin has come to find you.

“I’m fine, Minnie. I just needed a quick breather.” You speak loud enough that he could hear you as far away as he is. The footsteps don’t stop and you lean forward to see who it is. The sight of Jisung coming closer and then crouching in front of you makes you stop breathing just a second.

“Sorry,” he whispers, reaching up to rub the back of his neck. “Not ‘Minnie’.” He’s just inside of your reach, if you stretched your arm just a little bit you could take his hand in yours. You don’t. You shove your hand between your thighs as if caging them so they can’t reach for him.

“Sorry,” you whisper your apology. Anything above a whisper feels too loud, like it might shatter whatever small comfort this moment offers. Fighting against the urge to take one of his hands still, you dig your nails into the well-worn denim on your leg. You note the twitch in his own hand, hanging relaxed from where his forearms are braced on his knees as he’s crouched down to your level.

“I just—” He starts and stops, shrugging. The words remain in the space, unsaid. You wonder if he’s going to say what you think, what you won’t allow yourself to hope for. To your surprise, he does. “I wanted to check on you after that. You didn't seem like yourself.”

“Listen I just—” Now it’s your turn to stop with a shake of your head. “Nevermind. Thanks for saying what you did.”

He gives a humorless laugh and even in the darkness you can tell that his smile is a little forced. Nails dig in harder on your thigh in response, like that’s the last bit of self control you might have.

“Don’t thank me. I just assumed you wanted to keep things private like always.”

“Yeah, yeah. I do.” You take a deep breath. “It isn’t anyone’s business but ours.” You look back at him, not even really realizing you had let your eyes wander away. Looking now you see that same torn look in his eyes that you’re almost positive mirrors in your own. The weight of choice sits heavy in your gut.

He stands, extending a hand out to you to help you up. Against your better judgment, you take it with a whispered thanks. His hand is warm, it feels familiar and just perfect in yours. Fingers interlock together just as you two had done so many countless times before and it feels like home standing there with him, your linked hands between you two.

“I’m happy you’re speaking to me now.” His joy is too bright, almost a sun that could burn every bad thought away from you right now. You can’t let him, you can’t let the warm familiarity of his touch make you forget why you two are like this now.

“I’m not, but I will acknowledge that what you did during the interview was a nice thing.”

“I wasn’t just being nice. I guess I had hoped that showing you we’re on the same page that we could at least talk. I guess I assumed so I'm sorry.”

Every ounce of your willpower is put behind the effort of taking your hand out of his. Not because he’s holding so tightly but because you really don’t want to let go at all. “Once this tour is done and over, we won’t have anything more to do with each other. Just like it was before. I can’t— I don’t want to be your friend.”

“You were my best friend. You’re saying we can’t go back to that one day?” You don’t miss the pain in his eyes, the way his lips are pushed further into a pout. You have to go, you have to get away before something is said that you can’t take back. Before you break down the small shred of self-respect you’ve managed to build back after him is shattered.

You brush past him, intending to head toward the service exit of the venue that you’d originally come through. You just need space away from him, to get a clear thought that isn’t all consumed with his perfect pouted lips or the way his hand touch lights every single nerve ending you thought might have died with the relationship.

A hand on your arm stops you, pulling you lightly back into him. The shift in momentum throws you off balance and you fall back into his chest as his arms wrap around your waist.

“Please, jagiya.” His voice is so soft and you want to give in to his plea. It would be too easy to fall back into that with him, to unearth the buried feelings and let it consume you as it had before. “Tell me why we can’t be like that again.”

Every word sends a crack through the foundation, shakes the walls, rumbles the once solid ground under your feet. You turn in his arms, hands coming up to his chest and so gently pushing yourself out of his hold.

“I can’t be your friend when I’m still in love with you.” Somehow saying the words aloud didn’t lift any weight off your shoulders as you wanted, it only brought a burning pain to your chest and a thickness to your throat you knew meant you were going to cry.

“I’m still in love with you!” His pleas are soft, just as his touch. Reaching for you, hand on your cheek as his thumb brushes away a tear or two that flood over your lashes. “Why can’t we accept that and work on that? Figure out the rest as we go?”

You have to swallow back the tears in order to talk. It takes you a minute and he doesn’t rush you. “Because as much as I still love you, I hate you. You hurt me and you broke us. You broke my trust in you in a way that can’t be fixed. I can’t ever trust you again, no matter how much I still love you.”

“Jagiya,” he pleads again. “Let me prove it to you.”

“Don’t- don’t call me that. I can’t, just respect that. Understand what I’m telling you and leave me alone.” One last longing look before you remove his hand from your cheek and step out of his reach. You walk back a step or two before you have the strength to turn away from him, heading back to the cars.

・❥・

Just like every other show, 3RACHA is the first to perform. The order had been agreed on by a coin toss and then again by rock-paper-scissors. Their setlist remains roughly the same each night, a few changes here or there to keep it from being too similar to every other performance.

At first you think that it’s a fluke, that the song choice is just you reading too into things. Friday night is a bit chaotic and you’re on edge from the radio interview being aired again that morning. So there’s no way that Jisung is playing that song just for you. This one isn’t the one you two had written together but the words call back to your relationship, they could be applied in a way of him apologizing and trying to show you the love you two have is real.

But no, you convince yourself that you’re wrong. And by the time you make it on stage for your performance with Ultra Violet, the song is forgotten and your focus goes to the show.

But there’s no convincing yourself of the same thing the next night. Your heart stops when he looks at you, knowing you’re standing just off the side of the stage in the dark wings. And just like when he announced your relationship to the world by using a Taylor Swift song, he uses another to show you he was serious. That he meant it, that he wants to try again.

The words echo through you well past your performance and follow you into bed that night.

I never thought we'd have a last kiss I never imagined we'd end like this Your name, forever the name on my lips

・❥・

The crowd is bigger than you could have hoped for, knowing that there was only an hour for people to get in the door before the show started. Even then, they piled into the bar and screamed along with every lyric. These are the kinds of shows you love, the ones that remind you of where you started and that your success is because of this kind of love from your fans.

“Thank you so much guys for coming out!” Seungmin takes the lead, leaning into his mic to talk to the crowd of fans. They scream back in response to him. “It has been great being here tonight, truly we can’t do this without you guys.” Cliche but it’s true and you’re a smiling dork next to him nodding along.

“We have just a few songs left before we’re out of here.” You’re the one addressing them now, wiggling your eyebrows as you look out across the packed bar. “I hope you guys don’t mind but we’ve got a new song for you tonight.” You’d discussed this with your band last night, playing this song and spilling a few secrets at the same time. “I actually wrote this one and it’s for someone special, so I really hope you guys like it.”

You can already see it, the way that one line sends ripples of speculation and questions through the crowd. Already there are phone cameras pointed at the stage, that much you expected. You’d hoped for it. You know that once you start down this path there won’t be a way back. You will have to see your way through this choice.

The song is a bit softer than what you’ve been playing so far tonight, the melody and tempo slower. It’s a big difference but you’re hopeful that the crowd will at least be receptive, though in the end you don’t really care about their opinion. You just want to speak your side of the story now.

The song starts slower, just your voice and the rhythmic strumming of Felix’s guitar. The first verse plays out a lot of memories for you of those early years, of those nights driving from one city to another in order to spend time with him. Memories of playlist shared and swapped, of songs written for or about each other that you once treasured.

I, I hope she makes you smile The way you made me smile on the other end of a phone In the middle of a highway driving alone Oh baby I, I hope you hear a song That makes you sing along and gets you thinking about her Then the last several miles turn into a blur, yeah

The chorus is where Seungmin joins in on keyboard and Hyunjin sets a simple tempo on the drums. Minho’s bass notes flow through, tying everything together as you lean into the words a little more. You let the anger and rawness of these last few nights fuel your vocals as the leading notes of your guitar rift kick up the intensity of the chorus.

I hope you both feel the sparks by the end of the drive I hope you know she's the one by the end of the night I hope you never ever felt more free Tell your friends that you're so happy I hope she comes along and wrecks every one of your plans I hope you spend your last dime to put a rock on her hand I hope she's wilder than your wildest dreams She's everything you're ever gonna need And then I hope she cheats, like you did on me

You see it then, the dawning realization that this song isn’t a happy farewell to a relationship, that you’re not on friendly terms with whomever might be the subject of the song. As far as anyone knows, you have only ever dated one person (which remains the truth) and so this song could only be about him. You see it then, more phones rise from the crowd to capture the bitter lyrics and pent up anger as you flow to the next verse and the chorus repeats the words echoed by your broken heart.

You dare one glance at the wings of the stage, where you know he typically likes to hang out when you’re performing. Your eyes lock on his for the last chorus, the final nail to the coffin of any hope that this song may not be about him. You don’t look away from him until the last nights of the song fall off. The silence is only for a moment but when the cheers start, you turn back toward the crowd and cast away the last image of him. Of his anger, his pain, and heartbreak all laid out at his feet because of you.

You stomp down any guilt you might feel as the final song of the night opens with a beating from the drums behind you.

#skz fanfic #skz x reader #skz x y/n #stray kids x reader #stray kids x you #skz writing #skz imagine #skz x you #jisung x y/n #han jisung x y/n #jisung x reader #han jisung x reader #jisung x you #han jisung x you #han jisung angst #jisung angst #jisung fic

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wangxianficfinder · 2 years ago

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Fic Finder

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1. hello! i am searching for a fic where su she pretends to be lwj to trick wwx? i believe he traps lwj in a closet at one point. please help!

FOUND? seeds by antebunny (G, 3k, WangXian, SS & LWJ, Canon Divergence, Fix-It, Identity Porn, Dramatic Irony, identity theft, Angst, Hurt/Comfort, the Inherent Romance of Being Known, BAMF WWX, protective boyfriend!wwx, simp!lwj)

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2. Hi, this is about the last anon ask y'all shared. The one about the missing fic 2 no 31. I think i was searching for the same fic. I remember a one shot where LXC and LWJ were going for food or coffee and they saw XXC and WWX on the sidewalk, and LWJ was jealous of how much WWX was touching XXC as they walked until he realized WWX was guiding him bc he was blind.

If it isn't the same, I would appreciate y'all helping me find it. Thanks for your wonderful work for the fandom!

FOUND? A sip of vinegar by Aki_no_hikari (G, 1k, WangXian, Modern AU, Pining, One-Sided Attraction, or so lwj thinks)

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3. Hey, I’m looking for a post-canon fic where there’s an assassination attempt on WWX with poison and LWJ is super protective and has to find the culprit. Thanks so much!

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4. Hi! Love the blog so much!!! Do you remember the name of the fic (from LWJ POV) where LWJ is in the airport on a dating app and swipes away from WWX who is (coincidentally) sat next to him and remarks on it? TIA xxx

FOUND? Ticket to Ride by mistresscurvy (E, 18k, wangxian, modern, online dating, road trips, service top, phone sex, dick pics, wedding banquet)

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5. Hey, I hope you guys are doing well. Please help me find this fic ಥ⁠‿⁠ಥ

So I just remember a tiny part of it :

WWX is accused of giving away war intel to the Wen by YZY in front of everyone. She pulls out some letters i think? Then to help the former, NHS brings in a handwriting specialist and it turns out to be YZY who wrote the letters. @utxqia

FOUND? Lessons relearned by Iamnotawriter (T, 44k, WangXian, LQR & WWX, Not YZY Friendly, Time Travel Fix-It, Angst with a Happy Ending, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Inventor WWX, It Gets Worse Before It Gets Better, No Golden Core Transfer, YZY Bashing)

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6. Hi, I hope you can help me find a fic! It's an abo one I think, where teen wwx is pregnant. The story is LQR pov where he overhears WWX tell LWJ and is really supportive! I think WWX was kicked out my Madam Yu, but I'm not sure?

FOUND? In which Lan Qiren eavesdrops and gets a new nephew (and grandnephew) out of it by h0peless_oblivion (M, 64k, WIP, WangXian, Modern AU, High School, A/B/O Dynamics, Alpha LWJ, Omega WWX, Mpreg, Teen Pregnancy, Shotgun Wedding, Good Uncle LQR, Madam Yu's A+ Parenting, Fluff and Angst, Family Feels, Unspecified Setting, Probably ooc, WWX Has ADHD, A-Yuan is Wangxian's son, Pregnant WWX, Humor, non-graphic birth, Family Drama, The Lans love wwx, Male Lactation, Mild Smut in later chapters, wangxian's canonical breeding kink, Tooth-Rotting Fluff)

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7. hello, i hope you're well. i love your blog and i read it often and now I have an ask to make ;) Do you happen to know a fic where WWX and LWY "pretend to visit a women in sleep and make them pregnant" in order to explain unwanted pregnancies and save a women's honor?

It is a crack fic but it has a lot of heart.

I read it maybe a couple of months ago, but i cannot find it anymore. I hope it's not deleted.

💕 谢谢，再见 @amrame

FOUND! Taking Responsibility by deliciousblizzardshark (T, 6k, WangXian, Canon Divergence, Fix-It, Getting Together, Trope Subversion/Inversion, Pretend mpreg, Accidental Baby Acquisition, Fluff and Crack)

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8. I want to know ff name in which wei Ying is a female and he is going to live with male lan wangi, as he is her sister friend. In ff there is a line like " i am a man Wei Ying ". @yizhan12

FOUND? tell me what’s your motive by sweetlolixo (E, 7k, wangxian, modern, fem WWX, smut, size difference, older LWJ)

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9. hiii~! hope u all are having wonderful days! I'm looking for a fic that i think is cql centric? Anyways it's one where wwx and lwj start cultivating together? Like there are multiple scenes that suggest that they try to combine using cultivation. If that's too vague as a description there's this one scene where lan wangji finds his mother's letters and how she kills herself (?) and goes missing in the nighttime?

Sorry for the vagueness... it's been so long since i read it! 😅

FOUND! ❤️ Gentians in bloom by teawater (M, 251k, wangxian, Canon Divergence, AU after cold spring, Political Marriage, Dysfunctional Family, Implied/Referenced Self-Harm, Fix-It, Hurt/Comfort, LQR bashing (not really), POV Multiple, Implied/Referenced Suicide, Eventual Happy Ending, BAMF WWX, JC is actually a lot better than canon, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, YZY bashing (again not completely) )

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10. Hello hello! I really want to read this fic again and I’ve given up on searching for it. It’s post-cql and a very fluffy fic. Wwx and Lwj share hazelnut cakes. They roam in Caiyi and meet a vendor lady selling combs and she tries to matchmake Wwx and her daughter. She tells them that they should buy combs for their beloved and I'm pretty sure Lwj was considering buying a comb. Please help! This has been bugging me quite a lot. Thank you and have a great day!

FOUND? I hope that you will come and meet me by feyburner (M, 28k, wangxian, post-canon, getting together, love letters, hurt/comfort, cuddling & snuggling, literal sleeping together, intimacy, first time)

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11. Hello mods, looking for this awesome AU I was reading where Wen Xu takes LWJ as his warprize at CR and makes him go through some horrible things. WWX tries to help him at the Wen lectures and LWJ refuses but they kind of get together after fighting the Tortoise. but then Wen Chao attacks the Jiangs and captures WWX. LWJ is NOT a courtesan and WWX isn't either, and the Wens don't have a whole harem or anything.

tysm for your help, been looking all over and I rly want to finish reading!!!

NOT FOUND! tarnish, lustre, gold by iliacquer (E, 22k, wangxian, LWJ/WX, graphic depictions of violence, rape/non-con, ABO, mpreg, forced marriage, forced/coerced pregnancy, infidelity, alpha WWX, omega LWJ, alpha WX, bottom LWJ, reproductive coercion, mating cycles/in heat, knotting, YLLZ WWX, domestic violence, whump, misgendering, happy ending)

FOUND! 忍辱负重 | to bear the burden of humiliation by dragongirlG (E, 106k, wangxian, LWJ/WX, WWX/other(s), WWX/WC, graphic depictions of violence, rape/non-con, sexual slavery, domestic violence, wen indoctrination, xuanwu cave, prisoner of war, warprize, humiliation, non-con bondage, non-con body modification, golden core destruction/melting, dual cultivation, revenge, whump, hurt little comfort, protective LWJ & WWX, hopeful ending)

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12. Hello, I'm looking for two specific fanfics.

A) The first one is about WangXian having an arranged marriage and Wei Ying in the beginning tries to get along with Lan Zhan but then when he notices that he's not very responsive he ends up being kind of like cold to him but in the end they do realize that they love each other also Wei Ying is mostly a stay at home husband and there are no original characters in this one. I'm pretty sure it has multiple chapters but I may be wrong.

B) The second one is a case fic one where WangXian go to this town where apparently the Yiling laozu is terrorizing but it turns out to be Jin Zixuns son who he himself has possessed and they solve it. The juniors were in there I think at least I remember Jin Ling was. Thank you so much in advance! @amaraxoxo98

12A)

FOUND? A Marriage Story by DeviyudeThoolika (E, 38k, WangXian, Sex is complicated, Angst, Pining while fucking, Mature elements., Mutual Pining, Arranged Marriage, Sort Of, Misunderstandings, of epic proportions)

12B)

FOUND? Don't Turn Your Heart by sami (T, 29k, wangxian, WQ/JC/LXC, JYL/JZX, XY/MXY, hurt/comfort, family, shenanigans, some violence)

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13. For your next fic finder... I've suddenly remembered this elusive fic. I'm pretty sure it was a canon era BDSM AU (in that people have inherent dom/sub dynamics), and WWX was a sub that had been raised/socialized as a dom by the Jiang sect. The fic was set during the CR study arc, and IIRC something happened in the library that caused WWX to drop hard, revealing the truth to everybody. It's not The Hilt Lies Well In Hand by HeavenlySkyfarer, or A Gesture of Companionship by Khashana. Help?

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14. Helloo I would like to request to find this fic in which I remember there was wei wuxian who had owned a diner? And it was like open until the wee hours of morning. I think he also had some eating problems? And sleeping problems? I also remember that he had cut contact with everyone except wen qing and wen ning who he had met after he moved away... I'm pretty sure lan zhan finds him first but the memory is a bit hazy since I haven't read it in a long time and I can't find it anymore 😭.

FOUND? ❤️ 不晚 | a lovely light by seagaze (T, 62k, wangxian, modern, midnight diner au, CW for eating and sleeping disorders, happy ending)

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15. Hi I was wondering if you could please help me find a fic? Basically the story starts off as this shadow always hunting wy so the whole Jiang dynamics changes as their protective of wy, later on come to find out that shadow following wy is his future self trying to kill him so he doesn’t “ruin the jiangs” or something along those lines, hoping u can help me as I’ve been trying so long to find this fic again 😭

FOUND? Beyond the Darkness by ULTIOcean (T, 73k, WangXian, WWX-centric, Hurt/Comfort, Fluff and Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, Pining, Oblivious WWX, A sprinkle of horror here and there, injuries, Blood, Canon Divergence, Different Beginnings, OOC for some characters, Mainly WWX JC and JZX, Follows the Donghua's events, Mystery, Copious amounts of affection, jc's dogs, Time Skips, WWX POV)

FOUND? Building a home by R95irth (T, 586k, CSSR/WCZ, JFM/YZY, wangxian, JC/WQ, JYL/JZX, 3zun, BSSR/LY, MS/Sisi, canon divergence, time travel fix-it, everyone lives au, angst w happy ending, horror, nightmares, family fluff, found family, babies)

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16. Hi, for the next fic finder I need help finding 2 fics that I read on AO3. A) During the first siege Wei Ying uses the Soul Summoning Ritual to bring back Jiang Yanli's soul in his body and the Yanli runs to Jiang Cheng and says something like "A-Cheng it's me.". B) During the Wen Settlement days one morning Wen Qing walks into Wei Ying’s cave and finds him dead on his bed. I think he died due to an illness and Wen Qing wasn't suprised to find him dead. Thank you for your help. @bluekittenfire

16A)

FOUND! A Final Sacrifice by FrozenHawFlakes (T, <1k, major character death, Angst, Protective Siblings, Family Feels, family love, everything is worse off for everyone, except maybe JL, but he has another set of problems, What-If, Canon Divergence)

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17. Hi, could you possibly help me find a Lan Wangji x Wei Wuxian fanfiction? I had read it, but now that I am trying to look for it, I can't find it anymore. It was in a modern setting. Wangxian were already married but had many misunderstandings. Wuxian believed that Lan Wangji was in love with someone else named 'William Williamson'. Other characters that appeared were Lan Xichen, Lan Qiren, Nie Huaisang, Jiang Cheng. Lan Xichen had a whole thing going on with his relation issues too. Thank you.

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18. I can't find a fic where Wei Ying died at canon and woke up from coma in modern world where everyone is alive and good. And they think Wei Ying is dreaming. Wei Ying is also confused. Everyone is good even madam yu and fengmin. And he's also lan zhans husband there. Thank u

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19. Hello! I'm trying to find a fic that I read a little while ago. wwx is a dm and is writing a chinese inspired homebrew campaign and lwj is a publisher. wwx has a fox spirit npc and adds a dragonji character when he starts to fall in love with lwj. The story ends with lwj helping wwx to publish his system. Thanks! @worlds-of-else

FOUND? 🧡 Where’s Your Emergency? by trippednfell (M, 64k, WangXian, 911 Dispatcher WWX, Single dad LWJ, Kid fic, Modern AU, D&D Games, Angst with a happy ending)

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20. hii!!!! im looking for a fic in which wwx is badly hurt, and the lan doctor tells him that the only way he can survive is through dual cultivation. lwj immediately goes to do the deed because he can't stand wwx in pain. they get together in the end! but it has a little of angst! their first time is a little sad because wwx is very hurt but they love each other a lot and get quicly together! thank you

FOUND? as amber of ember glows by occultings (microcomets) (E, 11k, WangXian, Sex Pollen, Marathon Sex, Multiple Orgasms, Mutual Pining, First Time, Miscommunication, Aphrodisiacs, pining for the person you're fucking, Getting Together, mostly) sounds like one of occulting's fics, maybe 'as amber of ember glows' but there are several along this line so I can't be certain?

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#wangxian #mdzs #wangxian fic finder #wangxian fic search #the untamed #wangxianficfinder #long post

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gingersnapwolves · 1 year ago

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'tis the season for family bullshit

I swear to God, my family has ruined my ability to assess what is and is not normal. I have no idea whether or not my frustration is warranted so I'm going to turn to you, my lovely tumblr friends, to help me the fuck out.

For a little light reading, there's Last year's Thanksgiving debacle, plus epilogue, but all you really need to know is that there's a LONG historical precedent of my family ignoring the dietary needs of my wife and my sister and last year there was drama about it

I started this year off on the right foot by saying fuck the holiday itself, we are going to my MIL's. She had back surgery two months ago and although she's up and around, she's not up to cooking a Thanksgiving dinner so my wife and I are going over to cook for her. I told my family I'd be free Friday to make plans with them and they were welcome to come up to my place, which was met with some hemming and hawing and no real plans being made.

Relevant: recently, my mother was diagnosed with Alzheimer's, and although it's mild so far it is definitely noticeable

This is the email I just sent my father, brother, and SIL:

"Hi there, when I talked to mom yesterday, several times she talked about coming up to visit and reminding me that Dad couldn't drive after dark. I explained that there weren't any plans of that variety but sort of took that as maybe she had a subconscious desire to come up here? So I mentioned that I had offered to have everyone come up the day after Thanksgiving, in which case driving after dark wouldn't be an issue since presumably [brother] or [SIL] could drive. But I also told her that we hadn't made any firm plans and I didn't know what we were doing on that day yet. We are certainly happy to have you guys come up here if that's what you would like to do. I don't know if Mom actually wants to come up or if she was just confused about plans in general."

My brother's response: "Rex [the insane dog from this post] and Comet [the new dog they got a few months ago despite already having one poorly behaved dog] have daycare that day, so we could come up, but some subset of us would need to leave no later than 4pm to get Comet (pickup by 5pm). It would probably work best if I just brought mom and dad and the kids up and [SIL] stayed here.

Or, you could come down, since the dogs will be in daycare, it wouldn't be a problem to bring Yanli [our dog, who is generally well behaved but does not like their dog]. You would just have to leave before we got back with them, around 5:15 [because as per previous post, I refuse to go near their insane dog]."

To which SIL added: "Would you have [aunt] and all the kids too? I'm fine with hosting if we need lots of room to kick kids to other areas of the house:-) If you want to host, we can do that too. As [me] said, we haven't made any solid plans."

For one thing, I don't know why my aunt is involved and the reference to 'all the kids' makes me think my cousin is visiting and ... nobody bothered to tell me? Which, sure, fine. I really just want to reply with "look, if you don't want to come up here, just tell me that" but I genuinely don't know if that's warranted. They never actually invite me, they just assume I'm going to show up, so maybe they don't know how invitations work. I literally can't parse whether their response is rude or if I'm just reading too much into it. I don't know what I'm supposed to do with this response and I'm afraid to reply to it and make things worse and I just ((((((OTL

#please send help #personal #feel free to ignore

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thecarnivorousmuffinmeta · 1 year ago

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In "Aro chooses which Muffinelle Universe's fanfic he would rather be his timeline" (I can't link, but in your masterlist, fic section the link is there), I am curious, but what about "For the Love of a Woman"? Aro had won by doing nothing (nearly all Cullens in Volterra and open to them, Edward's assholeness revealed, and hey! Aro didnt even had to touch anyone who was there for the Ketchup debacle) and didnt have the whole "hybrids are now known in the vampire community". Would the Bella factor weight more than the known hybrids factor ?

Anon's referring to this post.

They're also referring to For the Love of a Woman by me and @therealvinelle, where Edward's plan to seduce Bella is so brilliant he ends up sleeping with Jacob.

Caveat

I didn't consider For the Love of a Woman in that Aro doesn't actually show up or do anything in that fic. Feels kind of strange to allow him to pick it when he's not there for any of the events/people just show up on his doorstep.

Now, the Question

Well, the question is what happens after the fic is over. For now, things are (relatively) stable with Esme and Edward planning the next move and Jacob trying to talk relative sanity into them and failing. Edward's extremely upset/in denial over the confrontation that just occurred, namely that Bella has left him (even though he kind of doesn't care anymore except it's a matter of pride), that Carlisle had once had an affair with Aro, and that the Cullens have officially broken up. Notably, he blames the Volturi for this. However, he isn't actually doing anything, yet.

Now, it could be that Edward is distracted enough by Jacob and living with Esme that he keeps planning to do something but never gets around to it. And that's possible, however probably unlikely.

Edward will chafe at the idea of his family having imprisoned themselves in Volterra and will be reminded of this fact when the Denali/Carlisle's friends all ask where 3/4 of the family are. Edward will at least go to Volterra and there he will certainly cause some manner of headache from mild temper tantrums to doing something truly heinous to get his father and Bella out of Volterra.

Which leaves Aro in something like the Painting Red Madonnas boat where Edward might eat a town, turn a toddler, do something so as to draw the Volturi out so that he can get Bella and Carlisle out.

(I imagine Jacob's not thrilled with these plans, but no one tells Edward what to do.)

It wouldn't be Aro's least favorite universe, but there's a high likelihood of high drama around Edward's execution/shenanigans again.

#twilight #twilight renaissance #for the love of a woman #painting red madonnas #aro #edward cullen #anti edward cullen #meta #vinelle #therealvinelle

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ramonag-if · 1 year ago

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I just played the newest chapter and aaah, I loved the scene with Danzor and Rana so much! My MC is so nice and sweet and mild, but he'll probably go feral if someone harms his sister in any way haha!

That aside, I have realized something interesting. My MC have never ressented Salyra or anyone else in the family, and by extension I don't resent them either. But I have noticed I'm increasingly annoyed by Ishari in general? Somehow, the people there feel even more judgmental than the people in Cyre to me - or well, at least the ways in which they judge the MC annoy me as hell. The way they start by only judging them by their blood, some of them being angry that they are loyal to Irus, other considering they don't belong in Ishari, depending on what side of their heritage they focus on. And then a lot of them changed their tune when they learned they are Salyra's child. And then yet again with the blessings. They sort of feel so self assured in their assesments based on criteria totally unrelated to who a person truly is that they don't even bother to look past that, even after a while. Now, my MC doesn't really notice this actively, and simply misses Vinia. But as a reader, I perceive it that way and it frustrates me. Not in a bad way, eh! I still enjoy the story just as much. I just noticed what bothers me in Ishari.

The family drama is my favourite thing to write. So much emotional angst is good for the writer's soul 😂 I'm glad you're so attached to Rana! Though she hasn't had her time to shine as yet, she's one of the characters I have a fond spot for.

One of the main themes I wanted to showcase in the game was that there is nothing different between Cyre and Ishari. Sure, Cyre is responsible for a war based on religious discrimination, but Ishari also has prejudices of their own. Both sides are flawed and complicated - and neither are completely in the right either. You'll find that not everyone in Cyre hates the MC (Irus and Dena) and not everyone in Ishari approves of the MC either. Erlan started the war but his views don't represent everyone's views.

#crown of exile #answered asks #rana #cyre #ishari

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wellthatschaotic · 4 months ago

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is there any interesting and funny political drama in your paracosm? like stupid monarchy drama or stuff like that. anyone get a good poisoning lately

oh god there are no politics without drama /silly

alisha, from the background: i killed a king!

(okay i'm letting her take over -edyn)

in my defense. he killed me first.

i don't think any fae nobility have been poisoned just because the logistics of it seem hard. they probably wouldn't eat any food not made Specifically For Them and would definitely be able to notice any enchantments on it. that being said i doubt it would cross any of their minds to ward against like. rat poison. which would be so fucking funny. writing this idea down for later /j

usually assassinations are by other members of the nobility- but again not by like, natural means. but with charms and enchantments. which again makes the concept of someone just coming up and stabbing someone so funny.

there have been a few cases where nobility have been assassinated by The People but that would require high levels of like. a lot of people working together to form a trap/enchantment/whatever that would overpower a noble's magic which is obviously very strong. thankfully most nobles are also wildly overconfident so if it's powerful enough trapping them actually isn't that hard

there has only been 1 time where a queen herself was assassinated by her people. very high levels of assholery are tolerated because it's not worth it to sacrifice unimaginable levels of power to try to assassinate a queen for anything less. but this one in particular was going against Nature herself which was kind of a Big No-No. it took like literal hundreds of people led by one of her current nobles to successfully kill her. then the court fell into mild anarchy as no one knew who was supposed to be queen next. until they all either killed each other or surrendered. so yeah that was a fun chunk of history.

also i haven't been saying names because names are incredibly important to my people especially when regarding important figures so usually in written history it's just like. a symbol or even a drawing. which can get confusing to read but hey

there have only been two other royals assassinated (in our unseelie court, at least. no clue what's been going on in the seelie courts history). which i know far too much about. but that's Another Story

the only (well. Official) ways to crown a new queen/king are either blood relative (like human monarchies) or if the queen elects someone else. which the second option while technically available is very very rare (probably because trust is very very rare in fae courts). also in terms of marriage the queen can marry anyone (noble or not) but if the one ruling is a king he has to marry a noble. matriarchy for the win i suppose

sorry edyn i took over your post what were you going to say about elven politics

that they're all assholes. exactly the corrupt oligarchy you would expect. whenever one dies (usually by assassination, very rarely by old age since elves live a Long Time) everyone is like Oh How Sad but internally we're all Oh Fuck Yeah Hated That Guy. unfortunately if you are caught assassinating a noble you and your family are executed publicly. if you attempt but fail you are executed and your family is exiled (which usually also means death. like. let's be real if you throw some guy with no wildlife knowledge or preparation into the middle of an already-dangerous sect of forest how long do you really think they'd last). so would not recommend attempting that unless you don't have any family members (that you give a shit about). or it would be a really funny roundabout way to commit patricide. "why did you do it" "well i knew when i got caught afterward they'd kill my dad too" "What The Fuck"

#thanks for the ask!

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cutesilyo · 1 year ago

Text

your dearest kin, below the skin — a pjo fanfic

Somehow, while going through the set of books about his son's future exploits, Poseidon had gotten the idea that Percy would eventually shape up to become perfectly obedient, loyal, and respectful to the gods. So when a new arrival slammed the doors open and Annabeth Chase gasped in delight, all Poseidon could do was lean back in his seat with a wide grin on his face.

“Oh, for fuck’s sake,” Percy said, obviously exhausted.

Poseidon felt a bit faint, and he vaguely recognized the demigods sharing popcorn at their feet.

TAGS: Humor, Family, Family Dynamics, Family Drama, Mild Swearing, Reading the Books, Without Them Actually Reading the Books, Percy Jackson is So Done, Good Parent Poseidon (Percy Jackson), Crack Treated Seriously

Also available on: AO3

—

It was a normal day in the throne room when Percy Jackson finally appeared.

Or, you know, as normal as it could be when demigods from the future arrived with a stack of books and orders from the Fates that they needed to “process its events” and “re-evaluate the relationships between the Olympians and their children”, whatever that meant. Hestia had noticeably perked up at that news, while Hera rolled her eyes so far back that Poseidon was surprised she hadn’t ended up permanently staring at the back of her skull. Poseidon himself didn’t really see how the books could help with the Fates’ goals, but he wasn’t about to argue. After Zeus was assured that he’d find whoever stole his stupid Master Bolt by going through the chapters and convinced that yes, Hades had to be summoned from the Underworld if they wanted to do things right, he had allowed them to begin the reading with a childish huff.

If the Fates wanted them to better their family relations, this was certainly an interesting way to go about it. As they read more chapters and more demigods joined in, it had become increasingly evident that things were going to get worse before they were going to get better. Poseidon grew apathetic to the new flavor of godly infighting the third time that Zeus blew up at something the book said, which — all things considered — happened a lot farther along the first chapter than he expected. He almost felt some sort of brotherly pride, had he not been completely overcome with grappling something else.

More than anything, Poseidon was restless to see his son. How had he grown? How was he faring? And, most importantly, how much did he identify with the demigods’ obvious resentment of the gods? He felt fairly confident that Percy was loyal to them, and Athena’s daughter had been making comments that alluded to a close father-son relationship in the few times she’d spoken. And even more damningly, if the withered tendrils tying him back to his old powers of prophecy were correct, all this together meant that Percy would become a great hero for Olympus.

So surely, this meant that his son was a shining beacon of light that exemplified how the demigods were at their best when they pledged their allegiance in service of the gods. Scratch that, his son was definitely being built up to be the hero of the looming Great Prophecy — he simply had to be on their side.

As they kept reading about Percy's exploits and how much he had suffered during his quests, Poseidon only felt more and more secure in his belief that Percy Jackson had the forgiveness of a saint. He had certainly inherited his mother’s goodness and tenacity, and it was clear that his drive to continue serving the gods despite everything had obviously inspired the rest of the demigods to do the same. Honestly, Poseidon didn’t even know how Percy could handle everything that he’s been through; if he was in his position, he probably would have defected just like Hermes’ boy did. But that only made Poseidon all the more proud. Whenever Percy arrived, he would definitely put all the other demigods in line and remind them of how gratifying it was to fight for the Olympians.

So when the doors slammed open and Annabeth Chase gasped in delight, all Poseidon could do was lean back in his seat with a wide grin on his face.

Percy Jackson took one look at the throne room, stared straight into Zeus’ eyes, and let out a huge groan.

Poseidon’s grin slipped.

“Oh, for fuck’s sake,” Percy said, obviously exhausted. “I told you I was off-limits for the rest of the month, and I meant it! All I asked for was no quests, no impromptu visits, no sudden teleportations into my apartment, no bothering me when I’m doing camp duties, and certainly no summons to Olympus! Are you seriously that desperate that you’re willing to hold my friends hostage just for me to do your bidding?”

The throne room was in stunned silence. Zeus overcame his flustered state first, a thunderstorm brewing in the room. “Boy, how dare you speak to me like that—”

But Percy talked over the King of the Gods like it was nothing. “Zeus, please, we’ve been over this,” he said exasperatedly, holding his palm up like he was talking to a toddler. ”You have to respect my boundaries when I set them. Otherwise, we just can’t have a good working relationship, and where would that leave you?”

Zeus was so dumbfounded the storm disappeared. Aphrodite dropped her compact mirror. Hermes actually looked up from his phone. Apollo was in so much shock that his light dimmed. For the first time in recorded history, Athena’s jaw was on the floor. Poseidon felt a bit faint, and he vaguely recognized the demigods sharing popcorn at their feet.

Through a particularly large mouthful, the elf-like Son of Hephaestus said, “That’s the good stuff right there.” The demigods around him nodded sagely in agreement.

This must be a trick, Poseidon thought helplessly. Someone must have used magic to impersonate his son. Perhaps an eidolon possession. Impressively powerful charmspeak. Maybe he’ll wake up and this will all have been a prank by Morpheus or something. There is no way that the future hero of the Great Prophecy was someone so . . . inflammatory! That his son, that Sally Jackson’s son, was someone stupid and impulsive enough to so nonchalantly talk back to the King of the Gods in his own throne room in the full presence of all of the elder gods and Olympians—

Ichor drained from his face as he recalled all that they had read of Percy from the books so far. Poseidon cursed internally as every single time he talked back to one of his fellow immortals and every single time Sally talked back to him flashed in his mind. He had been so caught up in the joy of learning about his only demigod son that he forgot about the sea’s unruly nature.

Suddenly feeling drained, Poseidon sighed. “Perseus, if you could please refrain from getting yourself blasted . . .”

Percy turned to face him, his eyes swirling with a ferocity so reminiscent of Kymopoleia’s storms that Poseidon could feel himself immediately developing a migraine out of habit. “Dad, don’t tell me you’re in on this,” he said, betrayed. “I don’t know what else you want from me. You already keep me so busy helping out with Atlantis, and you promised you’d help me keep them off my back.”

Hades raised an eyebrow. Dionysus mumbled something about pitying my future self, oh my and surely father will let me get drunk at least once.

“I did?” Poseidon said.

“You did!” Percy whined, practically pouting. “You even said you’d let me annoy Triton my entire stay next time I visited!”

Poseidon melted a bit. Even in his older state, his son was so adorable — and a lot less cold to him than the other demigods were to their own respective parents. He even all but said that he was regularly visiting his kingdom. He could see why his future self allowed his impertinence, even if it said impertinence was to extreme degrees.

Whoa, hold your horses, Poseidon thought. This is the child of the prophecy. The Great Prophecy itself. A bit of snarkiness is cute from a demigod, but this is the hero that holds the fate of Olympus in his hands. Shouldn’t you be a bit concerned?

Then he took a moment to look at his son’s puffed-up cheeks and promptly struggled to think clearly about the situation at all.

Percy, who was not privy to his father’s internal crisis, crossed his arms and continued. “And now I find all my friends sitting down at your feet? I really expected better from you, Dad. Though I guess it wouldn’t be the first time a god forgot about their promises . . .”

Poseidon winced. But before he could clarify that he was not the Poseidon of Percy’s present, a loud scoff echoed in the room.

“You forget your place, demigod,” Hera sneered. “We are gods. We are not beholden to you.”

Percy narrowed his eyes at her. “Oh, please. You say that like you didn’t come crawling to my feet for the last Great Prophecy, my lady,” he said, mockingly, seemingly oblivious to how most of the gods were now glowering at him. Artemis had split her arrow in two. Percy barreled on. “Anyway, I’m not listening to the words of some cow dung goddess. Let’s just get things over with so you can send me and my friends back home.”

Ares banged his spear on the floor. He roared, “Why, I ought to send you to Tartarus, punk!”

“I’ve already been to Tartarus, dipshit. Try again,” Percy deadpanned, like it was as simple as walking through the park. The temperature in the throne room plummeted, and the gods stared at him, unsure what to make of this information. Apollo, apparently sensing the truth in his words, sent Poseidon a pitying look — which just made him feel worse, really. This boy was going to age him centuries prematurely and he hadn’t even done much more than open his mouth.

In the oppressive silence, Percy simply rolled his eyes. “Come on. You know this. I know you know this. Or is it so ridiculously beneath the Olympians to make note of any mortal affairs that you’ve already forgotten?”

The gods collectively bristled while the demigods collectively frowned, with Aphrodite’s girl grasping Annabeth Chase’s hand in a gesture of comfort. Either that or she holding her back from starting a knife fight, who could really tell?

Finally, Jason Grace stood. “Percy,” he said hesitantly. “These aren’t the gods we know.”

“This apathetic self-centeredness feels plenty familiar to me,” Percy said. Nico di Angelo audibly face-palmed, while Thalia Grace snorted in laughter. Poseidon let in a sharp inhale, which Percy must have taken as an insult rather than the worry that it was, as his son aimed a small, crooked smile at him. “Sorry, dad. You know it’s true.”

“What your friend means, Perseus, is that we are from a different time than you,” Hestia explained kindly. The fire she was tending to was colored yellow in delight, obviously amused and pleased at Percy’s presence. She gestured toward the set of books next to her. “All of you demigods are from further down the timeline. We are in the Olympus of your past: spending our time learning about your life, and in turn, learning about the coming war.”

“And, uh, just for clarity’s sake, we didn’t kidnap your friends, alright? Blame the Fates,” Hermes added hastily, making a vain attempt to cover all of their bases. “So don’t get mad at us for something we didn’t do.”

Poseidon could practically hear Percy’s snarky comeback already, and signaled the boy to keep quiet. All for naught, apparently, because one raised eyebrow was enough to get the message across. Even Hephaestus was starting to glare at Percy distastefully, having paused from his incessant tinkering, which really showed how much he had gotten on everybody’s nerves. Poseidon was torn between being proud at how effortlessly he had rankled the council or being desperate to make Percy shut up by any means necessary.

From the nervous way that Hazel Levesque was eyeing the room, it looked like someone else understood his torturous plight.

“That explains why Olympus looks so different,” Percy said instead, his voice light. “Un-razed.”

The gods shuddered. “Don’t even joke about that, young man,” Demeter warned.

“Let me blast him, just a little,” Zeus muttered.

“No blasting,” Poseidon said sharply.

“A tiny taste of incineration won’t hurt,” Hades suggested.

“No incinerating either,” Poseidon bit out, his grip on his trident tight. He whirled around to stare at Percy, who was looking far too comfortable at the prospect of certain death by means of divine retribution. “No saying anything worth getting incinerated over.”

Percy shrugged, which — strictly speaking — wasn’t a yes. Poseidon made eye contact with Annabeth Chase, as he had been making a habit of during the reading, and she shook her head as if to say that picking a fight with Percy over this was a futile waste of his time.

He tried thinking of this positively. He tried, he really did.

“At least give my friends some chairs,” Percy said loudly, to which Poseidon started massaging his temples. At the appearance of a set of plastic chairs, his son even had the gall to wrinkle his nose. “What are we, some randos coming over for a Sunday barbecue on the front lawn? We’re on Olympus. Apollo literally has a bean bag collection at his palace.”

Apollo brightened. “You mean I finally get around to it in the future?”

Athena pursed her lips. “You seem quite familiar with the gods, Percy Jackson.”

“Too familiar,” Dionysus muttered.

“How familiar, I wonder,” Aphrodite purred.

Artemis shot the love goddess a look of disgust.

“Please just give my friends good chairs,” Percy said, blearily. “If we’re really going through the drama of reliving our traumatic experiences with literal war just for the Fates’ amusement, you could at least give your children a seat. I don’t think you guys realize how much backpain saving the world gives you.”

Zeus slammed his fists on the throne, crackling with static electricity. “So Olympus is saved in your future. The gods prevail. A fact that your friends did not deign to mention.”

Annabeth Chase immediately stood. “The Fates were clear about needing to learn about the war through the experience of a demigod. Knowing that we win isn’t relevant to that.” Her eyes twitched for a moment before adding, “If you allowed us to speak more, we could have explained that to you, my lord.”

Athena butted in before Zeus could call either lightning or monsters to kill her daughter. “The phrasing is impertinent, but she is correct, Father. If we are fated to preserve anyway, then the Fates would have no reason for intervention. There must be other factors at play that they wish for us to examine; it seems the goal is to better the outcome, not necessarily to reverse it fully.”

Disgruntled but apparently mollified, Zeus leaned back in his seat. “Fine. However, I still do not see the benefits of this exercise. We have not even properly dived into the war yet, only seen its harbinger! Barely any deaths! What we have learned will hardly be of use in battle.”

Some of the demigods seemed stricken. Nico di Angelo was openly glaring at the king.

Percy cleared his throat. “So, let me get this straight. The Fates bring together the Olympians — from the Winter Solstice after Zeus gets his bolt stolen, I assume, since he isn’t holding it right now — and the relevant demigods during the wars, where we’re all supposed to read about my experience as a demigod? Which just so happens to also include the wars?”

Hera scowled. “Has that not been obvious?”

“The boy arrived five minutes ago,” Poseidon argued.

“And right now, you’ve already reached the quest I went on to save Annabeth,” Percy stated. “The one during the Winter Solstice, when we met the Hunters and found Bessie.”

“The one where I was finally introduced!” Apollo grinned. “I’ve personally been sensing that a major development in the Great Prophecy will be coming in this book. I am so excited to go through the last few chapters.”

“Which means that at this point, you’ve read about Ares being influenced by Kronos, Luke defecting, the army of demigods and monsters on the Andromeda, Kronos reforming, Thalia reviving, Annabeth holding up the sky, Atlas on the move, and Bianca dying.” Percy turned to look at his friends. “Have I missed anything?”

“Zoe died a few chapters ago,” Thalia added.

“The minor gods have started defecting as well, I believe,” supplied Reyna.

“Oh, also the misery of having to live feeling abandoned by your parents and having to face death every day you spend alive?” Frank suggested. “It’s a general theme we keep circling back to.”

“Yes, yes, and I’m sure it was a very harrowing series of events for all of you involved,” Zeus dismissed, conveniently ignoring the way that both Hermes and Hades were glowering at him from their thrones. “Let us be done with this quickly.”

Percy tilted his head. “You mean you somehow got through all that and you still don’t get it?”

“We would appreciate it if you would get to the point, boy,” Dionysus drawled. The other gods nodded in agreement.

There was a brief moment, Poseidon observed, where Percy looked to Annabeth Chase before he responded. It was a short moment, the slightest passage of time, where it seemed like an entire conversation had taken place between the two young lovers. By the barest furrow of his brow, Percy was asking Annabeth for her approval before launching into action. And Annabeth responded, with the quaintest quiver of a smile, giving her blessing.

Poseidon probably should have known what was coming, given what he had known of Annabeth from the books and from reading the books with her, but he let himself be lulled into a false sense of security anyway. Surely, Poseidon thought, this Athena spawn isn’t going to let my child do something stupid.

Percy took a deep breath.

“You’re all so stupid,” he said.

Poseidon let out a long, weary exhale. He took a brief moment to accept that the goody-two-shoes son that he envisioned in his head was nothing more than a crazy delusion. And with a wave of his hand, he formed a water shield around Percy just in time to protect him from Zeus’ inevitable lightning strike.

The blast echoed throughout the room, partnered with the demigods’ cries of alarm. To his credit, the way that Percy raised his arms showed the foresight to brace himself, but Poseidon knew — from the way that the air around Zeus was vibrating with ozone and electricity — that his brother had been pushed too far.

In his peripheral vision, he spotted the other demigods rushing to crowd around his son in their concern. Percy waved them off with a smile, but the way he was leaning on Annabeth suggested that even he was shaken by the turn of events.

“Poseidon,” boomed Hera, in place of a king too furious to speak, “This bastard son of yours has offered us nothing but disrespect and disdain ever since he had stepped foot on Olympus. We cannot accept such treason, especially not from the prophecy child. Be wise and let him be punished at once.”

For a brief moment, father and son locked eyes. There was gratefulness in Percy’s expression, yes, but he also looked confused. Like he didn’t understand why his own father would try to prevent him from being harmed.

The water called back to him, swirling around him in a vicious hurricane. He stood, and his trident flew to his hand. Vaguely aware that he couldn’t release too much of his power unless he wanted the demigods to vaporize in front of him, Poseidon turned his back towards the council.

He walked towards his son. The demigods, rather than dispersing, only stood closer by Percy.

Poseidon reached out, and Percy — in a move so subtle it would have been unnoticeable for anyone but a god — flinched back.

And inside Poseidon, something shifted.

“Poseidon,” Hera repeated.

“At ease, sister,” Poseidon said. The hurricane faded away. Slowly, he faced the gods. “Lest you forget that this bastard son of mine is the child of the prophecy and he obviously chose to keep Olympus standing. Despite how he may seem, I believe he has our best interests at heart. Even though we have given him every reason to instead be led astray.”

“Dad?” Percy asked.

Poseidon looked at him, and he saw Percy at twelve, thirteen, fourteen — a little mourning boy aching and breaking for someone to give him a home. The way that his friends crowded around him showed that he found one, eventually, but the god doubted that any of the pantheon had been of any help for that. “You don’t trust us that much, do you?”

Percy gave him a look. “I literally just got blasted.”

He only shook his head. Poseidon met eyes with the rest of the demigods, who stared back with determination, grit, and thinly-veiled suspicion. War heroes, all of them, but to him they only looked so small. “I speak of all the children in this room. You may acknowledge us as your parents, fight for us in familial loyalty, and even be willing to risk your short lives for our cause. But you do so with a conflicted heart. And that is a reflection of our failure.”

The demigods’ silence was enough answer as any. Zeus’ voice was, uncharacteristically, muted and grave. “Brother, we had agreed long ago to cease discussion on this. We had agreed there was no point.”

“And what had that gotten us?” Poseidon argued. “Greek civilization as we know it is dead. All we have left is our children. You cannot tell me that this does not move you.”

“Be that as it may, you cannot tell me that we can change,” Zeus said. “The very nature of immortality is to resist it. I do not care if the old Greeks are dead. We move with the heart of the West, and we have done very well since then without shifting too much of our ways.”

“Then you are blind,” exploded Poseidon. “Not only in this. You are as blind to your duties to your family as our father was to his. And I, for one, refuse to be as misled as you both are.”

Hades scoffed. “Please, you only want to save face because your son is here.”

“And were it your son in his stead, you would do the same!” Poseidon breathed out a heavy sigh, massaging his temples in a vain attempt to assuage his frustration. “Of course I would speak out because Percy is here. We know that he will become the hero of the Great Prophecy and we know that he will save Olympus. I thought that meant he was unfailingly loyal to us and that any disrespect shown by the demigods here was the result of his absence. I was wrong.”

Hera raised an eyebrow. “You’re calling him treasonous after all?”

“No,” Poseidon smiled. He gestured Percy to come forward. With another nod from Annabeth spurring him on, Percy stood beside him — a bit of his wariness fading away as he looked at him with pride. And that, more than anything, told Poseidon he was on the right track. “I’m calling him right. We are stupid. We’ve let tradition needlessly hold us back from showing our kids we care, and we are being shown that continuing it will lead to our near-destruction.”

“And before anyone says that near-destruction doesn’t sound too bad,” Percy butted in, because of course he did, “I think my life is a pretty good argument against that.”

Zeus leaned back on his throne, disgruntled but otherwise unwilling to further escalate into a fight. “We’ll see about that, Perseus.”

“I’m sorry, didn’t you just read about me and Annabeth holding up the sky?” Percy demanded.

Poseidon cleared his throat. “What I mean to say is that treating the demigods’ wariness around us is a problem to solve, not a threat to vanquish. It is becoming clear that examining this, rather than waiting for the book to tell us of future battle strategy, is the key to a decisive win in war.”

Then he glared across the room, making sure every god that met his eyes knew that he was committed to this — to his son, at least, if to nobody else. “And if by any reason one of you would resort to harming a child of Olympus when their presence here is Fates-mandated to bring us a better outcome in the wake of the Great Prophecy, wouldn’t the rest stand and realize that would be the most treasonous thing of all?” He challenged.

Everyone broke out into shushed whispers at that: the demigods in muted astonishment, the gods in grumbling agreement. Beside him, Percy muttered, “That was sick.” Poseidon didn’t know what to make of that. Was that a compliment, in the mortal world? He hoped it was. But it sounded so bad. Oh Fates, he really needed to connect more with his son.

Finally, one of Hestia’s flames flared out loudly and brightly, no doubt one of the rare times his sister found it prudent to gather the whole throne room’s attention.

She clapped her hands, a small smile gracing her face. “My family, I cannot express how glad I am at this turn of events. It would be good if we kept this discussion in mind as we move forward with the rest of the books. Might I suggest a brief recess before we finish this quest’s final chapter?”

Nobody argued with that. Poseidon breathed a sigh of relief.

Percy perked up. “And how about the—”

“Yes, yes,” Zeus grumbled. “We will arrange proper seating arrangements from now on.”

It was a start.

—

Night drew the day’s reading to a close. The gods had a hard look in their eyes, and Apollo patted him on the back before disappearing to his chambers. Poseidon chose to linger, feeling heavy, watching the demigods give Percy the enthusiastic welcome they weren’t given a chance to do in the terse tension of the throne room.

I choose the prophecy, his far too young son had said. Poseidon had known this, of course he had, but it still felt like a wave crashing into him. It made sense why the Fates brought him in now. It was when the prophecy would finally take shape, and everything was meticulously poised for Percy to grasp it with his own hands. He would claim victory with a bloody, bloody price. Poseidon ached just thinking about it.

In the midst of the celebration, he met eyes with Annabeth Chase. And with a soft grace that he would forever be thankful for, she quickly led the rest of the demigods to take their leave.

Poseidon and Percy were left alone.

He took a harrowing breath. “My son—”

“Thanks for sticking up for me,” Percy blurted out. “I just wanted to put that out there first.”

“You’re welcome, but I was never going to let Zeus take you from me.” Poseidon sighed. “I thought it was difficult enough just reading through your ordeals. Now I have to make sure you get out alive from here as well. You’re making my years wear down on me, child.”

Percy raised an eyebrow. “Finally feeling your age?”

“Ha,” Poseidon deadpanned. He laid a hand on Percy’s shoulder. “I’m serious. You’re a lot more trouble than you might think.”

Percy shrugged his hand off. “Probably would’ve been better off with a more obedient kid, yeah?”

“No. I never — no,” Poseidon said, caught off-guard and upset. Percy only stared at him, face blank and inscrutable, and that only made his pain feel all the more raw. “I’m sorry. What I mean is that a hero’s fate is rarely happy. I hate knowing that this is true for you, and for it to be at the extent that the Fates are stepping in . . . Percy, I’m afraid for you.”

Oddly, Percy’s mouth twitched up at that. “I’m right here.”

“I’m afraid things will get worse,” Poseidon confessed. “I care for you too much to lose you.”

Then Percy moved closer, arms wide, and Poseidon wondered if he did anything wrong again this time, until he realized — oh, his son was pulling him into a hug. Tentatively, he returned it, careful not to grip too hard. Percy was here, and he was warm, and alive. In this moment nothing else mattered but that. If any of his fellow gods loved their children as fiercely as Poseidon loved Percy now, he couldn’t fathom any of them thinking that the Ancient Laws still had any merit. Not when what little they’ve read so far already showed how much the demigods suffered before the war even started, and certainly not after everything they would know once the reading was over.

“See? Zeus was wrong,” Percy said, his voice a bit muffled from where Poseidon was holding him dear and close to his heart. “You can change.”

Poseidon smiled. “Only because you believe we can, my son.”

—

At the next day’s reading, Poseidon ignored his throne to sit beside the children.

“Brother,” Zeus warned.

“What?” Poseidon said innocently, eyes twinkling. “These bean bags are much more comfortable.”

Beside him, Percy laughed, and that was all the reward in the world.

#pjo #pjo fanfic #percy jackson #poseidon #mine

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