#really brought me back to kid me sobbing in a heap on the floor while my friends looked on in confused horror

[mewtonian-physics]

hey anon.

so when i was like 6 years old i went through a period of time where i was occasionally having full breakdowns over the mere POSSIBILITY of a character i was fixated on dying. so like i know where you're coming from. but this is NOT healthy. you shouldn't need years to get over a fictional character's death. you mentioned therapy and i would definitely encourage you to bring this up because letting media merge itself with your life like this is a great way to absolutely destroy your health.

as an extension of that, i know that people misunderstanding something you care about can be frustrating and depending on the severity can even cause genuine anger, but you need to understand that that is not a personal attack. someone disliking what you love is not a personal attack. you're not Objectively Correct for liking something. it sounds like you're making your liking of this series such a large part of your identity that you take criticism of it as criticism of you. again, this is not healthy.

as a final note, again, the way you enjoy media is not the Objectively Correct way of doing it. people engage in all sorts of different ways, and although i agree that it's wrong for people to harass the author for not doing what they wanted, fanon isn't a crime. annoying sometimes, yes, but again, it's not a personal attack. also, shutting out 'casual fans' is seriously gamer bro 'oh you like marvel? name every movie in chronological order' type behavior. someone who originally gets their info from a tiktok or whatever might end up with that as their gateway into writing full on essays about characterization. or they might not. it's okay either way, and it's not a personal attack.

like i said before, i know where you're coming from on this, i've felt that way too, but i know now how unhealthy and even dangerous that was for me. i'm not going to make a judgement here, but i think you need to hear this before things get any worse for you. my advice (though i'm not a therapist, this is just what saved me when i was a kid with very similar feelings) is to take a step back from the series until you can put things in perspective again. it might even be good for you to drop it entirely--block the tags, don't engage with it or any fan content in any way for as much as you can, let your mind clear itself out. i know how much it sucks and how painful it can be to be that attached to a series, and that's exactly why i'm telling you: you cannot continue on like this. both for the sake of the people around you that you're hurting with your extreme actions, and for yourself.

wishing you luck in this. it's going to be hard, but i promise you, being able to look back with a clear head in the future is worth every minute.

Spoiler for Jujutsu Kaisen

I'm sorry it's so long and looks like a vent post. I'm sorry for those of you who had great luck in avoiding Jujutsu Kaisen until now. With that, let me give some context before the assholery.

Jujutsu Kaisen has a breakout character, Gojo, he is unique, flawed, well written, well loved, overpowered, and the most misunderstood character in this series. He recently met his end in the most infuriating way possible. It was an unceremonious death, off screened, after the biggest most violent battle in the series. Before he was brutally offed with just meaningless exposition detailing how he was killed and him uncharacteristically justifying the death in an afterlife scene that's written to appease a large part of the fandom (shippers- he's gay coded, no waifu here). His death completely destroyed his legacy and the future of this manga.

Problem: This is a popular series with disproportionate numbers of haters, casual fans, fans who get their information from tiktok or fanworks instead of the manga, fans who did a surface level reading of it, opinionated fans who didn't read after a certain point but discuss every new chapter like they're experts, people who hate it because they compared it to their favorite series and Jujutsu Kaisen didn't go that way, people who harass the readers and wish bodily harm on the author for not conforming to FANON, the works.

Gojo was MIA for almost 3 years which made fanon takeover the fandom, when he came back the author was accused of mischaracterization and bad writing because he didn't match 3 years of fanon. Reiterating, I mean fanon not headcanon, the headcanons here are almost all fanon based too and you will get nasty anons if you say you dislike FANON or praise CANON but I believe in people's right to headcanon.

My relationship with this: I've been a fan since 2019, this character of Gojo resonated with me like no one did in my 20+ years in fandom, he is my specialest blorbo, his relationship with his best friend has moved me etc. I'm autistic and this is my special interest as well. Needless to say depression has hit me like a freight train.

MY problem: My friend of 7 years who's currently deeply into yuri and danmei, who shared many fandoms with me, has been through the thick and thins with me, has decided to make me an enemy. When the chapter came out he chatted with me sent his condolences. Then he in his own social medias started talking about how he knew it was going to be a bad series, how he's glad he quit after struggling through 50 chapters, made all the jokes in the world about this death, discussed every little thing he hated and mocked this with his other weeb friends who are like the people I mentioned in the Problem section, validated all their complaints based on their reading of the FANON. He has had many discussions with me about this manga and very rarely did he express any of this negativity.

My assholery: I got frustrated, it was like he wanted me to see how much he could hurt me. I messaged him saying, "Hey what are you saying here, that's not how this character is written. The chapter is bad but this criticism is baseless and in bad faith" He laughed it off, "It's not that deep, this is fiction." I argued that's a shallow thing to say, he said it should have been like FANON since that makes more sense. I said that's conventional writing I thought we wanted different things than the same old nice characters in found family and such.

Then I said something about his favorites and hypocrisy, he said he's not so into it that he couldn't take criticism. I said that was a lie he's always writing essays about those characters. I also said criticize it for the right reasons damn it. He kept denying his own love for his fave so he could keep criticizing mine, because he at least had the sense to not fall for a shounen series. I asked if he was enjoying hurting me. He said are you for real, get a grip and stop justifying your behavior for fiction, they won't giving you cookies for defending them, if you can't bear to see negativity then feel free to mute or block. I snapped and said this is why no one likes casual fans, you can't keep your mouth shut about things you don't know. Have fun with being a two faced friend to everyone. Then I blocked him everywhere.

Some of my friends said I should have muted him long ago, I said this was inevitable if he was just going to validate everyone in vicinity, he had to pick a side. Others said I was right to tell him off. I regret some of the comments I made now.

AITA for the way I handled it? He is right, I could have muted him, I could have not spent my time doomscrolling and seeing all the bad takes he agreed with. I could have waited it out and not dropped an old friend over fiction. I could have done many things.

Please don't comment about touching grass, that's the least helpful thing anyone can say on blorbo the website. It's not a real advice we all know that. Therapy is also there for the depression and it will take years for me to get over the death, you don't need to remind me.

What are these acronyms?

[messers-moony]

Hope | R.L

Paring: Remus Lupin X Wife!Potter!Reader

Summary: Life is unfair in numerous ways but it seems like it’s out to get the Potters in every way shape and form.

A part of growing up means maturing. Maturing means realizing that the world is cruel and unfair. People die every day without a reason or a why. Children are born into this world every day with love or hatred. Growing up, parents tell their kids, “Life isn’t fair”. No one had experience unfairness like Y/n Potter and Remus Lupin.

He was right there. So close, only a few feet from her arms yet so far apart in that wretched woman’s arms who held him like he was the grossest thing she’s ever touched. Those enchanting green eyes that glistened with trauma and pain. The brown hair that started to sprout from his scalp, already messy and untidy.

“No! This isn’t fair!” Y/n wailed as Remus held her tight to his chest, “I’m his biological aunt! Please!”

The Minister of Magic was merciless, “And so is Mrs.Dursley.”

“She’s a muggle! Harry is bound to be a wizard!” Y/n cried in contradiction; the feeling to vomit became relentless, “They’ll torture him. Please, you have to let me have him.”

“With your current living situation, it isn’t safe, Mrs.Lupin.”

Remus grimaced at those words, “My current living situation? Are you daft!?”

“With Mr.Lupins…” The Minister pondered, “condition, it isn’t safe for him.”

“Remus wouldn’t hurt him.” Y/n sobbed quietly, “He’s never hurt me!”

“I’m sorry, Mrs.Lupin, but Harry Potter is the safest with Mrs. and Mr. Dursley.”

The gavel was hit upon another circle of wood, adjourning the meeting as a finality. This was it. The fight was over. Harry Potter would grow up in an unloving household that wouldn’t be capable of understanding his magic. This was the epitome of unfairness. Remus’ hands were on her waist, her back to his chest while she sobbed, trying to get him to release her.

Eventually, she collapsed to a heap on the floor. Petunia and Vernon, each holding a baby watching the couple. Harry was wailing loudly, and Petunia couldn’t get him to settle down, making Y/n only cry harder. The young boy had just begun babbling nonsense due to Sirius’ hard effort to get him to say “Padfoot”. But it was that day he said his first word.

“Moo-me!” Harry yelped, and Remus could’ve sworn his heart shattered into a thousand pieces, “Moo-me!”

The brunet boy was trying to reach for Remus, and he squirmed for the adult male, but Petunia had a tight grip. Y/n could barely hear the little boy's words over her own sobs. Her body ached and shook with every tear that fell. The silver streams stained her cheeks, and her face was a brilliant rose red.

“Please make it stop….” Y/n muttered as Remus covered her from the other four people in the room, “If he says that one more time, I might not be able to handle it. Remus, help me, please.”

Hearing her so desperate broke his heart more. Remus’ body covered hers entirely in their crouched position. Harry was practically attacking Petunia to let him go, to be in the arms that are familiar to him. He didn’t like this. He didn’t know these people. These people weren’t his parents. Where was daddy? Where was mummy? Where was uncle Sirius and Peter?

What he did know was his aunt and uncle were right in front of him. Uncle Moony and Aunt Y/n. He could feel his aunt's sadness, her frustration, her anger. He could sense his uncle's remorse, desperation, and hopelessness. Why were they feeling this way? Why weren’t they protecting him? Harry so desperately wished he could speak and say, “Help! Save me from these strangers!” But all he could get out was “Moo-mee and Tee” for Moony and Auntie.

Petunia couldn’t handle his squirming any longer and allowed him on the floor. Harry was ecstatic with this new change. The boy crawled to the two adults on the floor. Harry could feel the warmth of their bodies before he tugged at his aunt's sleeve. Harry stared into her e/c irises and his uncle's green eyes. Those eyes he’d remember forever, engraved in his memory to never forget. His aunt collected him into her arms. His head pressed to her chest. Harry’s sobs calmed, now in the arms of familiarity.

The scent of chocolate, ink, and books surrounded him. His nose was barely catching the smell due to it being runny from crying. Petunia and Vernon approached them. Remus was hugging his wife and his best friend's son, protecting them from the outside world. Gently Y/n pulled Harry from her chest, leaving him to stare at his aunt and uncle.

Y/n sniffled and wiped his tears from his cheeks like mum used to do, “Harry, I promise you, I really don’t want to do this.”

His head tilted in confusion as Y/n’s eyes filled with tears again, “I’ll come back for you. Don’t doubt that for a second.”

“If he’s anything like Prongs, he’ll always have hope.” Remus commented, making Y/n smile.

“That’s what daddy used to do to mummy when she was sad,” Harry thought, “he used to say something to make her smile.”

Despite the soft smile on her face, she had wet trails on her cheeks, “I love you, Harry.”

Y/n kissed his forehead where the lightning scar was placed—hugging him one more time and Remus doing the same as his wife. Harry didn’t understand. Where was he going? Why was auntie Y/n letting him go? Why weren’t they taking him home? Where was mummy and daddy?! So he began to wail again. Petunia picked him up, and the family of four now started to walk out of the room.

She couldn’t even cry anymore. The water that once flowed down her cheeks had stopped. The dam had broken but no longer had water to give. Y/n turned to put her face harshly in Remus’ chest. His arms raked through her hair and rubbed her back. Silent tears rolled down his flushed cheeks, reaching his jawline and falling into Y/n’s hair.

“That was-“ Y/n hiccuped, “the hardest thing I’ve ever done.”

“I know, darling.” Remus whispered, “He’s got James’ spirit, and that means he won’t lose hope. He’s got Lily’s kindness. Harry will be fine.”

Y/n shook her head, “That’s not the point. He should be with me. Not that horrid woman.”

“I know. But you and I will get through this.” Remus assured, tilting her head to face him, “We’ve gotten through everything else. We can get through this too.”

Solemnly, Y/n nodded. Remus placed a gentle kiss on her forehead. The room was precise and silent, aside from Y/n’s hiccups. The clicking of a clock could be heard echoing throughout the room. Usually, the sound would bring a sense of solace to Remus but right now, it was a constant reminder that time had gone by. James and Lily were no longer with him. Sirius had betrayed them all, and Peter was dead. Godric, how could this all happen?

Remus flicked his wand from his pocket, apparating them back to their residence. Inside it was cozy and warm. Remus took off Y/n’s coat along with his own as she took a seat on the leather couch. She grabbed her wand, muttering an “Incendio” to start a fire in the fireplace. Her body was curled up, and Remus placed a blanket over her while he went to the kitchen.

The kitchen was a pale blue with dark oak flooring. The marble countertops and dark cabinets. A brilliant contrast. He could almost hear James’ laugh from when they were painting it together while also hearing Lily and Y/n’s scolding them for making a big mess. It brought an emptiness to his heart, but he filled the kettle with water, allowing it to boil on the water.

Inside the cabinets laid an assortment of tea. Something James and Lily had bought him as a joke. Remus always made tea no matter the occasion. It was so him. James had seen it at a muggle store Lily had brought him for. He had been dying of laughter in the store just thinking about it. It got laughs around the Christmas tree when Remus unwrapped the decorative paper.

Remus grabbed a tea bag for himself while grabbing cocoa powder from the same cabinet and two mugs from their wedding night. The kettle began making a high pitch noise, and Remus poured the water into both mugs. Placing the tea bag in one cup and a couple of scoops of cocoa powder in the other, mixing them both, adding marshmallows to the hot chocolate and whipped cream. He added honey to his tea.

Mugs in hand, Remus walked to the living room. He placed the cups on the coffee table. Coaxing Y/n to sit up and he set the mug in her hand as she sipped it carefully, not to burn her mouth. Y/n leaned her head on Remus’ shoulder, still holding her mug with both hands. The blanket draped across their laps. Remus had the cup in his right hand, his left arm draped around her shoulders, the pad of his thumb rubbing her shoulder.

“I love you.”

“I love you too, Rem.”

The holidays were hard. Almost too hard for Y/n and Remus to celebrate. But despite their pain, they decorated their house with garland, lights, and knickknacks. The Christmas tree sat in the right of their living room, covered in the beautiful colorful lights. Placed upon the tree were ornaments and tiny pieces of tinsel. Beneath the tree held presents for each other and a little boy.

Y/n stood in front of the tree, staring at it with a longing look. Remus walked behind her, putting his arms around her neck gently. Y/n’s hands instinctively reached for his bicep, rubbing it gently. Remus kissed her cheek and placed his head on top of hers.

“I wanna visit him.”

“Okay.”

Y/n turned to face him, “Okay?”

“What am I gonna tell you?” Remus joked, “No?”

“No. I just- I didn’t expect you to agree so fast.” Y/n replied, and Remus cupped her cheek, “He’s your nephew too. You have a right to see him.”

She smiled, “Yeah, you’re right.”

He kissed her forehead, “First Christmas without them….”

“I know.” Y/n said sadly, “It feels strange not to have James jumping around like a child.”

“It feels not having Lily in the kitchen trying to make your mums mince pies.”

Y/n chuckled, “She never got to master them.”

“Don’t worry, dear, I’m sure she’s up there trying.” Remus replied, smiling, “You think Peter is trying to steal the batter?” Y/n asked.

“Oh, definitely!” Remus exclaimed, smiling more than he had in months, “That bugger always used to Nick my chocolate at Hogwarts.”

“I dunno how he found my stash every time.”

The couple placed their foreheads on each other’s, closing their eyes, “We miss you, James and Lily.”

“We miss you more than ever.”

Y/n sighed, “I love you guys.”

Christmas morning was dull compared to their regular routine. Y/n was used to having James jump on top of her every Christmas so they can wake up their parents and open presents. Instead, she was woken up with kisses being placed on her neck and shoulder. Y/n turned and was faced with the sleepy face of her husband.

His sandy hair ruffled and on top of the white pillow. Green eyes glazed with a film of sleep. His lips pulled up in an effortless gentle smile. The scars on his face were whiter instead of their usual pale pink. His stubble was growing into full facial hair due to his lack of shaving. Y/n let her hand cup his right cheek, her thumb rubbing his cheekbone.

“You need to shave.”

Remus chuckled, “It’s Christmas, and that’s the first thing you say to me?”

“Merry Christmas, you need to shave?” Y/n corrected with a smile, making him laugh, “Merry Christmas, darling.”

They shared a soft and gentle kiss. His lips taking her bottom one, hers taking his top one. Soft and slow. Gentle and sweet. Pulling apart, their eyes fluttered, focusing on one another. Her eyes were so beautiful. Looking into her eyes, Remus could read an endless amount of stories. The gorgeous e/c. His eyes were evergreen. Holding so much love and adoration. She could read him like a book through his eyes.

Christmas meant eating a good meal and sharing kisses beneath the mistletoe. The couple opened each other’s presents. Y/n earning new books and some of Remus’ old sweaters that she thought he threw away. The last item she received was a maroon and gold jersey. It was her brother's Quidditch Captain jersey from when he played. Remus must’ve found it in the wreckage at Godric’s Hallow.

Remus opened his presents, getting ink, quills, notebooks, and books of his own. Since Remus couldn’t work, he always dreamed of writing a book. At Hogwarts, Remus excelled in Defense Against the Dark Arts, and he wanted to write a nonbias textbook for it. Y/n always encouraged his dreams and goals. If anyone could do it, it was him.

Left under the tree were three wrapped boxes meant for the little boy. Remus grabbed a tote bag and placed them inside of it. Y/n gripped his hand tightly as they apparated to Privet Drive. They began walking down the street, sweaters on in the snow, while she grabbed his hand tighter.

“What if- What if he doesn’t recognize me?”

“Y/n, he couldn’t forget you.” Remus assured as they stood outside house four.

Gently Y/n knocked on the door. It was oak wood, and the house appeared to be at least two stories. Remus kept his hand intertwined with hers as his other held the bag with the boy's presents. Footsteps could be heard walking towards the door. Petunia had opened it to be faced with two young adults.

“Mrs. Dursley.” Remus greeted curtly, “May we see Harry?”

Petunia began to ponder and saw the bag of presents in the man's hand, “Sure.”

The woman walked into the hallway and unlocked the cupboard under the stairs. Harry was coaxed out of the storage space, and he turned to the left, where he saw his uncle and aunt. The boy's lips curved into a great big smile. Harry ran into the arms of his aunt, hugging her tightly.

“Auntie!”

Her heart melted, “Hey, mini Prongs.”

Harry turned the male beside her, “Moony!”

Remus wrapped his arms around the little boy and picked him up as they walked inside. The three of them sat in the foyer on the floor. Harry sat between Y/n’s legs, his back to her stomach as Remus sat in front of him. Gently Remus disposed of the bag and placed the presents in front of him.

“Go on, Harry. These are for you from Moony and Auntie.” Remus cooed, and Harry grabbed one, gently ripping the wrapping off.

Inside was a baby stag stuffed animal, which Harry hugged close to his chest, “Your dad's favorite animal was a stag. Thought you might want something to remember him by.” Remus stated, smiling sheepishly.

“Daddy?”

“Yeah, daddy.” Y/n replied as Harry smiled up at her.

“Go on. There’s two more for you, baby.” Y/n pointed at the other two boxes, and Harry began unwrapping another.

This was a tinier box, and inside were golden glasses, “You don’t need these just yet, but these were your fathers. I wanted them to be yours.” Y/n informed him as he placed them on top of his nose.

The final box was mini-figures that Harry could play with in his spare time, which he seemed more than grateful for. Harry was giggling and laughing, happy with all his presents. The boy turned in Y/n’s lap, hugging her as tight as he could. Y/n’s hand rested on his back, and she gently kissed his forehead.

“I love you, Harry. Don’t forget that.”

“‘Ove you too.” Harry replied, having a hard time pronouncing words.

Next, he hugged Remus, who did the same. He didn’t want to leave Remus’ arms. He always ran hotter than the everyday person. Remus was a personal furnace. It makes sense why a cold young boy didn’t want to let go of the man. Within minutes the young boy was asleep in Remus’ arms.

Petunia came into the hallway an hour later to see Harry soundly asleep in the man's arms, “Excuse me, but I’ll have to ask you to leave.”

“Yes, of course.” Y/n took Harry from Remus’ arms and gave him to Petunia, “Thank you for letting us see him.”

Petunia took the boy from Y/n’s arms, “Yes.”

She put the boy in his bed under the cupboard, making Y/n frown at his living situation, “Do you- Do you think that Harry could stay with us some weekends?”

“No.”

“Oh, okay.” Y/n muttered, “Thank you again, but we must’ve overstayed our welcome.”

“Of course.”

Y/n took Remus’ hand as they walked out of the house. They walked to a safe spot to apparate back home. They both took off their coats and placed them on the coat rack. Y/n went to turn on a movie on their television set while Remus made hot chocolate and snacks. Both of them curled up onto the sofa and fell asleep.

Over the course of the next nine years, Harry has been visited by his aunt and uncle on many different occasions. Birthdays, Christmas’s, Valentine’s Day, Halloween, and sometimes just randomly, but he always looked forward to seeing them. Every time without fail, Harry would always jump in Y/n’s arms no matter how old he got.

The warmth and feeling of being safe in her arms brought a sense of comfort no one seemed compared to. She felt like daddy. His radiate smile, his incredibly warm body, the smoothness of her voice, the glitter in her eyes, her untied hair. Auntie Y/n felt like James. But no matter how hard he tried, she never was dad exactly, but she was auntie. Y/n was his dad's sister, and for now, that’d have to do.

Of course, uncle Moony felt the same. But there were some days he didn’t show up, much to Harry’s displeasure. Harry loved sleeping in Remus’ arms when he was a young toddler. The chocolate, ink, and parchment smell always filled his sensitive nose with such a safe feeling. Harry’s favorite time of year was Christmas when Petunia would make hot cocoa, filling the room with its sweet sense. Although he never got a cup of it himself, the smell brought a sense of comfort. As if uncle Moony was embracing him tightly on all sides.

When Harry reached eleven, owls began delivering envelopes to Privet Drive number Four. But it seems that uncle Vernon refused to let him open any of them. He did whatever he had to, blocking the mail slot in the door, burning the letters, even going as extreme to leave the house. Where inevitably Hagrid - gamekeeper - at Hogwarts came to retrieve him and give him the letter.

He couldn’t believe it. He was a wizard! All this time being belittled by Petunia, Vernon, and Dudley, he finally felt special aside from those times with his other family. Harry had a chance to prove himself to be great. To prove himself that he wasn’t just a bug on the ground to be stepped on. Only one thought crossed his mind though.

“I can’t wait to tell aunt Y/n and uncle Moony.”

[maegfen]

jopper + cafune and basorexia from the prompt list

Thanks for the prompts dear anon! They're both in here, and they pretty much follow on from each other - I hope you like them!

basorexia - the overwhelming desire to kiss

She’s imagined the scenario half a hundred times since they left California, Murray tugging eagerly at her sleeve while she rushed goodbyes to the kids, confusion written across their faces one moment and hope flashing over them the next. Joyce has imagined just how the conversation will go [“You stood me up, Hop,” she says, while grinning up at him, the roll of his eyes enough to tell her that it will all be okay], how the pair of them will slot back into old ways, how they will both grow increasingly frustrated with Murray but can’t ever get too angry with him because he brought them back together. She’s imagined the teasing and the quiet talks and the shared cigarettes while Hop tries to recover from whatever the hell they’ve done to him while in that shitty Russian prison. She’s imagined how he’ll fit right in at the new house, how she’d left a spare room available with his things in, couldn’t bear to store them in the garage, had to keep them close (and if she stole one of his shirts to sleep in, what did that matter?) how he’ll embrace El, his (their) daughter, and Will and Jonathan, and slowly, ever so slowly, things will go back to as close to normal as the Hopper-Byers group could ever get.

What she hasn’t imagined, however, is how she feels the instant she sets eyes on him, his back pressed against a wall, shaved head and a week’s worth of stubble adorning his face, a fierce look in his eyes as he faces demogorgon and guards alike, a lit spear in his hand and a trickle of blood running down his cheek from an injury that doesn’t seem to bother him. There’s a tug at her heart, a feeling that she’s taking the first full breath since she stumbled out of Starcourt into Will’s arms all those months ago. There’s the sudden sound of gunfire, of Murray yelling something in Russian as a distraction, and guards screaming and scattering as the monster from the Upside Down chases them down with a violent ferocity. Joyce watches, horrified, as Hop whistles, draws the attention of the demogorgon and neatly skewers it as it rushes at him, the limp corpse falling to the floor in a heap and quickly forgotten.

The fight’s over in seconds. Joyce stands on the far edge of the courtyard, watches as Hopper spins, looking for an exit, spots her and then freezes, a blank, almost dumbstruck expression on his face. She understands, she really does - she wouldn’t expect to see Joyce Byers standing in the courtyard of a Russian prison either.

Joyce doesn’t know what to do, all thoughts of words and conversations pushed from her mind, so she just… waves. A ridiculous wiggle of her fingers, as if she’s seen him outside of the store for the first time in a couple of days, rather than grieved for him over the last four months. 

She hears his bark of laughter across the now quiet courtyard and Hop runs, sprints over to her, all long legs and power, with a speed he probably hasn’t achieved since high school.

“Hi,” she utters as he stops in front of her, and the tug at her heart, the desperation to have him close, to relay all the pain and grief and joy and love that she’s feeling, is completely overwhelming. Hop doesn’t reply, and Joyce doesn’t think he’s capable, probably still trying to take everything in. So, rather than confuse him with words, she goes for action instead.

She pulls him down to her, presses her lips to his as one hand rests against his cheek and the other clutches desperately to his arm, afraid to let him go. Joyce feels Hop’s hands rest at her waist, then encircle her, pulling her closer as he deepens the kiss. There’s a sob too, but she’s not sure who it’s from, and nothing matters, nothing else except for keeping this man, this idiotic, boorish, incredible, brave man, close.

“J-Joyce? What the fuck are you doing here?!” he utters into her neck, as he eventually pulls away, breath warm against the cold of the Siberian air. This is not how she imagined the conversation going, so she shrugs and simply says “I missed seeing your stupid face around the place, decided to come and get it back,” before pulling him down for another kiss, the urge to keep doing so overwhelming, the tight grip of his hand in her coat nothing to the feel of his chapped lips against hers. 

“Hey lovebirds, now is not the time! As beautiful as this romantic reunion is, we need. To. Leave!”

Murray’s voice penetrates the foggy euphoria of their kisses and Joyce groans as Hop lets her go. 

“Carry on this… conversation… later?” he asks, that familiar smile back on his face.

“Absolutely,” Joyce whispers, pressing one more quick kiss to his lips and tugging at his hand to pull him towards the open door to their left, Murray frantically ushering them inside.

They’re going home. ~*~*~

cafune - the act of running your fingers through the hair of someone you love

It isn’t until a few minutes have passed that Joyce even realises what she’s doing. She’s leaning against the arm of the couch, head supported by her hand as another infomercial starts; the remote is hidden somewhere under the cushion at her back but Joyce doesn’t have the heart to shift and disturb the man lying on her. Her other hand, the one not not supporting her head, drifts through soft hair, carding slowly through the surprisingly soft texture, her almost blunt nails scratching gently at Hop’s scalp as he twists slightly to make himself more comfortable. She can feel the slight bump of a scar, the one he got in ‘Nam and doesn’t talk about, brushes over it gently as if trying to memorise it, a part of him. There’s a new scar too, above his right ear, where a guard had caught him in that final, brutal fight with the demogorgon three months ago. Her hand continues to drift through Hop’s hair, no sense of pattern or rhythm, just small delicate movements so that she doesn't disturb him. He’d had passed out from exhaustion 20 minutes ago, a long shift at the station and then a short run with El to the edge of town and back enough to cause him to flop on the couch as soon as he’d entered the room. (It was something he’d not been able to shift since Russia, a need to keep moving, keep alert, to breathe in the fresh air and embrace all the wide open spaces he could. El appreciated the chance to get out, spend some one on one time with her Dad.) Joyce peers down at her hand, watches her fingers disappear through the short, brown hair that seemed to be taking an eternity to grow. It had taken a few weeks for it to be more than uncomfortable stubble, and she had frequently observed him in the morning sweeping a hand over his head and frowning at the different feel - he’d confided in her that he’d not had hair this short since he’d shaved it off at boot camp, and he hated the way it felt as it was growing. When Joyce had first seen him in the courtyard of that Russian prison, she’d appreciated his shaved head and stubble - it had given him a different, tougher look -  but it hadn’t been her Hop. After their escape and return to California, the hair (or lack of it) had been a strange talisman for their combined trauma surrounding the events at the Starcourt Mall. It had upsetting connotations for them both (trapped, alone, scared, always scared…) and so he’d started to grow it out as soon as he’d planted himself back into the Byers’ house. 

His head rests on her lap, his long legs poking off the end of the sofa, the furniture too short for all of the men in her life now, both sons included, and it’s almost farcical how much space Jim Hopper fills, even when dozing. He snores slightly, the sound muffled by his arm over his face; it’s rare to see him so at peace - he’s still jittery and wary in places filled with familiar faces and strangers alike, situates himself in the corner of rooms so he can see all the angles, so he can watch people as they approach (he hasn’t been able to get coffee for the last month, too afraid of his back being open and vulnerable, always waiting for someone, something, to approach him from behind after someone shoved into him by accident at the local cafe…) Joyce, in a moment of clarity at her actions, suddenly stops, realises he probably doesn’t appreciate being touched without permission (they’re taking it a step at a time, the rushed, frantic kisses of their reunion the furthest their relationship has gone in the months following.) The feelings linger, words have been mumbled and shared and taken in (I thought of you, every day. I missed you. I’m sorry. I love you. Me too.) but it’s a slow process; they both have so much baggage that she’s willing to wait. 

Joyce draws her hand away from the soft growth of his hair, the slight cowlick that he tries to hide under his hat starting to grow back. It’s still short, but soft, and Hop seems more himself the longer it grows.

“Don’t stop,” she hears him mumble then, his eyes still closed and breathing steady as he drifts back slowly from unconsciousness.

“Sorry,” Joyce mutters, resting a hand on his shoulder, and weaving her hand back through his hair. “Didn’t know if you wanted me…you know… to touch..." She trails off, unsure of what to say, failing to find the words to explain that she's finding it calming and reassuring herself, knowing that he's safe and here.

“‘s comforting… nice,” Hop hums and Joyce smiles as his own hand drifts down over the edge of the couch, traces a slow, ghosting trail up her bare calf, before coming to rest on her knee, not possessive or sexual but comforting, as if he’s making sure she doesn’t leave him. "I'm not going anywhere Hop," Joyce utters, feels his hand squeeze her knee a little and hears him mumble a soft "I know... thanks," under his breath. She smiles, and continues to run her fingers through his hair as she feels him drift off again.

[thewritewolf]

What He Deserves

Summary: Not even a week has passed since Hawkmoth was revealed to all the world to be Gabriel Agreste. As Adrien sits in his truly empty house, unable to leave thanks to the crowd of people outside, he wonders if this is what he deserves for not realizing sooner.

But then again, not everyone has the same ideas about what he deserves...

Hello and welcome to another birthday fic! This one is for the ever amazing @leviaana, founder of my favorite discord group, fantastic artist, and occasional candy exchange buddy. She said she likes post-reveal hurt/comfort that turns to fluff and I aim to please!

Enjoy!

Read on Ao3

Adrien tentatively pulled back the curtains in the second-floor living room and peered outside, across the porch and over the wall that separated him from the outside world.

The news had broken only a couple days ago - only hours after Adrien himself found out. He wasn’t sure what he had been expecting at first, but it wasn’t long before the crowd started to form. Some were unquestionably reporters. His years as Chat Noir had made it easy for him to pick them out from a crowd. He even recognized some of their voices, which had long been chasing him for interviews.

Somehow, he didn’t think they were going to be asking him about his favorite flavors or the most interesting akumas now. Although they definitely would be interested in what he knew about Hawkmoth, now that his father had been unmasked.

Which is why he believed the other people in the crowd were here. Some just seemed curious. Others seemed... Angry.  

Maybe that was to be expected. The fall of Hawkmoth was as sudden as it was unexpected. Just another routine akuma attack that had accidentally revealed his base of operations. A quick five on one fight later and the butterfly miraculous was in Ladybug’s hands, a battered Gabriel Agreste was taken into custody, and Adrien Agreste’s life had been left in shambles.

It meant that there wasn’t much closure for anyone - not yet, at least. While people waited for his father’s trial to start, years of building frustration had to find an outlet somewhere.

And who better than the last free, living Agreste?

Thankfully, nothing had happened yet, but the crowd had turned his home into more of a prison than it had ever been while his father was in it and that was an accomplishment all on its own. Without his parents, Nathalie, or even the Gorilla to take up space in the mansion, he had never felt so alone before.

The only company Adrien had Plagg and his own emotions, and neither were doing wonders for his mental health.

“Kid,” Plagg said with a tired voice. They’d had this conversation plenty of times before and Adrien knew they were about to have it again. “None of this was your fault.”

“Yeah?” Adrien closed the curtain just as people started to look his way, plunging the room into darkness once again. “I’ve lived under the same roof as Hawkmoth for years.” Adrien raised his voice and threw his hands over his head. “I’m Chat Noir! If anyone could have found Hawkmoth ages ago, it would be me!” His arms fell limply to his sides once again and he stared dully at his kwami. His voice dropped to just above a whisper. “So why didn’t I?”

Plagg shook his head. “He was good enough to hide it from everyone and he was a recluse, even with you. There’s no way you could have known without doing some serious digging.”

“Maybe…” Adrien stared at a massive family painting, saw the cold and calculating look his father had even then. “Or maybe I just didn’t want to even consider it. Maybe I was having so much fun being Chat… fighting alongside my friends… alongside Marinette, that I just didn’t care.”

“You know that’s not true,” Plagg replied quietly.

“Who knows? That’s probably what they think now. No wonder they haven’t tried to visit since the news broke. They don’t want to be anywhere near me right now, and I can’t blame them.” Adrien put his back to the wall and slid down it, taking a seat on the ground and pulling his knees up to his chest. “I don’t want to be near me right now. No wonder they feel the same way.”

“Kid-”

Whatever Plagg was going to say was cut off when there was a knock at the front door. With how quiet and still the rest of the house was, it sounded as loud as thunder as it echoed in the emptiness. Adrien shot a fearful glance toward his kwami - had people finally stormed the mansion? - but Plagg just shook his head and smirked.

Cautiously but now a little curious, Adrien went down the stairs. He watched the door all the while as soon as it came into view. There was another knock. Not violent or angry. Polite. Familiar. But definitely insistent.

Adrien peeked out the window next to the front door and his eyes widened at the sight of his friends loitering on the other side.

Nino and Alya were chatting as if this was nothing out of the usual. Marching up to Hawkmoth HQ, straight past a future angry mob, just to knock on the front door? Who doesn’t do that on a Friday afternoon, honestly? And there was Chloe, of course, checking her makeup in her compact, looking as fashionably detached from her environment as ever.

And standing right in front of the door, expectantly, happily… was Marinette herself. One hand was holding onto a big duffle bag that was thrown over her shoulder and the other was held at her side as she stared up into the sturdy wood door. There was no doubt in her eyes, no worry that he might not answer. Just complete and patient faith.

How could he even contemplate letting her down?

Adrien opened the door and it was like breaking open the flood gates. The first thing he saw was Marinette’s face, her bright blue eyes looking up at him as they shifted from quiet contemplation to soft affection. Their eyes connected in a moment that lasted forever and he could almost swear that his heart stopped beating as they stared into each other…

“Dude!”

The moment shattered when Nino bodily threw himself over the threshold and collided with Adrien, forcing him to stumble back a few steps or fall down in a heap.

The others quickly followed Nino’s example and soon Adrien was caught at the center of one big group hug. Marinette was the last to join since she paused to close the door. A few seconds into the hug, Adrien realized to his surprise that he was trembling - had he really missed human contact that much over the last few days?

All too soon they each pulled back until they were standing around the foyer, watching him. That’s when he noticed that it wasn’t just Marinette with an overstuffed bag with her. It looked like each of them had packed for a long trip.

Some of his confusion must have shown on his face since Alya grinned and said, “Better get used to having some roommates for a while, blondie. We’re not going anywhere.”

“But how did you get passed the-?”

“She knew the passcode for the gate.” Chloe jerked a thumb at Marinette. “The rest of us glared at the crowd until they gave us some space.”

“But don’t worry ‘bout that, dude!” Nino threw an arm around Adrien’s shoulder. “We’re here to have a chill time. You’ve got the space and we’ve got the fun, so let’s get this party started!”

Nino steered Adrien towards his room and they got started.

‘Bringing the fun’ hadn’t even been close to an exaggeration on Nino’s part. There were video games, movies, board games, all sorts of ways to keep themselves entertained. His room started off as the cold and sterile place that it had been for most of his life. But as the hours ticked past, it slowly changed into something else. Someone would go and grab more pillows. They’d push some couches and chairs together in front of the television. Tables would be pulled together for a huge game. Snacks and drinks were strewn everywhere.

It was chaotic. His room was a mess.

It was the most fun he’d had out of the mask in his life. The house was filled with light and life and love for the first time in years and he had his friends to thank for that. Or, as he slowly realized, Marinette specifically. She was the one who had planned it all, organized them, and got as much entertainment together as possible.

The day gave way to night and they were all camped out in front of his television, lost in a cozy den of blankets and pillows propped up against his couch. They were deep into a movie marathon. It could have been twenty two hundred at night - it could have been four in the morning. Time was meaningless at this point. Almost everyone was asleep, except for him.

Well… him and Marinette.

She was laying right beside him as they shared the same blanket, scooted close to each other as the winter chill began to set in. They weren’t touching, but he could feel her warmth radiating off her. His hand twitched ever so slightly as he yearned to move it just a few centimeters and take her hand in his.

The years had brought them closer together than ever, especially after their identities had gotten revealed to each other. They’d always teetered on the edge of a relationship, but with all the uncertainties of life and the tangled mess of revealed identities, they never could commit.

But now, as he glanced furtively at her, lit only by the pale light of the movie, he wondered…

Then he remembered the reason they were here in the first place and his mood crashed. He didn’t deserve her. He didn’t deserve any of them. He-

“Adrien?”

Her voice was soft - he could barely hear her over the television, even with the audio turned down to a low rumble so their friends wouldn’t be woken by it.

She was waiting on an answer.

“Yeah?”

“We’re all here for you. We love you.” His ears may have heard ‘we’, but his heart had heard the ‘I’ that was hidden beneath it.

She was braver than him. Her hand crossed the short distance between them and she intertwined their fingers.

The television became blurred as tears began to build, clouding his vision. He shook his head as he bit his lips to hold back a sob.

“I don’t- I don’t deserve- After everything-”

“You aren’t your father,” she said quietly but firmly. “You’ve proven yourself so, so much better than that.” Her thumb began to rub against the back of his hand. “We’re not going anywhere.”

She scooted closer to him. His arms wrapped around her waist, with his hands meeting up on her back, pressing her close to him as he buried his face into her shoulder as the tears that he’d been holding back for so long began to fall. He was worried he was holding her too tight, but she didn’t seem to mind at all.

“I’m not going anywhere,” she said as she held him back and kissed the crown of his head.

[lumen-adstrum]

sylvain x reader angst to fluff please! maybe they get in a fight and before they can resolve it something happens to s/o and theres a bit of a scare and then are able to resolve things

A/N: Thank you so much for the request! I tried to deliver as best I could anon, I hope you like it! 

❀❀❀❀❀❀❀❀❀❀❀

Ameliorate

Sylvain has never been... the easiest person to like. Many of his friends will say this with confidence, and hundreds of women would likely tell you just the same - if not insult him. Many would think that would be plenty for [Y/N] to keep their distance. However, somewhere in their daily banters of Sylvain mercilessly flirting and in turn being shut down in a witty fashion... feelings began to take root. At first, it was easy to ignore and pretend that things were fine, lunch table discussions flowed like normal despite the lingering gazes or internalized wonders of 'what ifs' and 'just maybes.'

No one tells you how quickly feelings develop, that one moment you're only noticing the small things and then it feels like only days later the mere thought of that person keeps you up at night day-dreaming in a lovesick daze. 

Knowing Sylvain, [Y/N] knows just how much of a playboy he is, they know how he strings girls along, that he can hardly remember their names at the rate he goes through them. They know this, and yet still they find themselves hopelessly gripping onto a possible future where maybe he'd settle and be loyal to them. 

With lunch hour at its busiest, people were bustling through noisily, loud chatter filled the room as people tried desperately to find their favorite dish. [Y/N] always arrived early, for the hottest plate and the best seat. Their friend, Ingrid, was usually hot on their heels, and today was no different. The usual food, the same spot, and recently the same conversation between transpired. 

"Really... [Y/N] I think you should move on." Ingrid's voice was gentle with eyes shining full of concern. "He... Isn't likely to change. You're only going to hurt yourself." She had good intentions, trying to steer them towards someone more compassionate. "Ashe is a hard worker, he's also very kind. Why don't you consider someone like him?"

Before they could even protest, a familiar voice from behind them made their heart thump wildly in their chest. "Ooh, I see. Lucky for you, I stepped in at the perfect time. Sounds like someone's lovesick." Sylvain took his usual spot across the table, for a moment they worried he had overheard the entirety of the conversation and knew just who Ingrid was referencing in the start. "Who's the guy? Dimitri? I guess girls do love a dashing type." Well... He was onto something there. Sylvain was dashing himself, a true knightly personality, and chivalrous too. Although, one could say that was all an act to get girls to fall for him, [Y/N] knew better than that. 

 "No, it's not Dimitri." [Y/N]'s response was half a sigh, poking their spoon at the peach sorbet melting in its cup. They spent the entirety of the dining hall's lunch break together with Sylvain listing off members of the Blue Lion house one by one just to receive a denial in response. 

“Oh come on [Y/N]! I’ve listed every Blue Lion student there is! You wouldn’t turn your back on us and find forbidden love in one of the other houses! ...Or would you?” Suddenly, his eyes are scrutinizing, as if to peer into the depths of their soul and pry the answer out that way. “Unless… You’ve fallen in love with me?” The words made their heart skip a beat, especially when he used that teasing tone of his. Ingrid’s worried glance to their warming face didn’t go unnoticed, and the silence that suddenly fell over the group made Sylvain reconsider the reality of that jest.

“Wait- wait. No. What happened to all that crap before? The ‘not even in your dreams Sylvain.’ This has got to be a joke. Us, together?” A joke… That was exceptionally cruel, as if [Y/N] would be so callous.

“It’s not a joke. Unlike some people, I’m genuine about my feelings and I don’t lie through my teeth to people just to break their hearts later.” Slamming their spoon on the table, [Y/N] stood from their seat just to turn their back on Sylvain and begin walking towards the exit. 

“[Y/N]!” Ingrid and Sylvain spoke in sync, one a more accusatory tone while the other held concern. “That was horrible Sylvain!” Ingrid gritted her teeth together, voice a low hiss seeing as some curious people were now eyeing down their table with the hopes of overhearing what the newest drama was about. As if they clearly didn’t know with a certain redhead being involved.

“How was that horrible?! It was a genuine question!” Truthfully, he didn’t see where he had gone wrong, it was always that way with him. Women were too complex for him to understand, and Ingrid would never tire of saying it was simply because he was an idiot. He watched in confusion as the woman stood from the table with a heated glare. “Where are you going?”

“To comfort [Y/N], and until you figure out where you went wrong, don’t even bother talking to them.” With that, Ingrid was off to search the monastery. She found them at the stables, where they met time and time again with them caring for the horses together. She wouldn’t say “I told you so.” even if it was on the tip of her tongue. Instead, Ingrid laid a comforting hand on their shoulder. As if on cue, the figure collapsed against Ingrid with a helpless sob. “Oh, come now, it’s not that bad. Now you can move on, find someone worth the trouble…”

The sound of footsteps on cobblestone made [Y/N] stand straight, quickly wiping at their eyes and trying to look presentable. “Oh, good afternoon Professor… You’re looking troubled.” At Ingrid’s observation, they lifted their head to observe Byleth, and indeed he looked troubled with his brow furrowed and a slight frown. 

“I’m afraid our mission for the month has turned dire, I need to round up a handful of students to leave immediately. Can I count on you two?” His voice was slightly sympathetic as if he knew the timing might be a slight annoyance. 

“Of course, we’ll ready the horses and meet you at the entrance.” Under new orders now, [Y/N] quickly put on their brave face and saddled up on their horse with Ingrid quick to follow. Soon, they met at the front gates of the monastery with Ashe, Dimitri, Dedue, and Mercedes. It was a small group, but all capable if instructed well. Byleth was quick to reassure them all that Catherine and Shamir would be accompanying them and at their aid. 

When Sylvain had found out about the mission, he was beside himself with worry for reasons he didn’t quite understand. “You’ve been pacing a hole in the floor for an hour Sylvain, sit down, it’s pathetic to watch.” Felix’s voice cut through with an edge to it. If anything, the swordsman was more annoyed at the fact they’d been left behind rather than worried for their classmates.

“Something has to be wrong, they should have been back by now if it was a small mission, right? Why didn’t they take all of us?” The worried fretting had Felix groan out and hold his face briefly, trying to compose his temper.

“Who knows how far out the location was, besides, the professor knows what he’s doing. Mercedes is there if anyone gets hurt.” While Felix had a point, there was still that nagging voice in the back of his head. Even Sylvain couldn’t grasp what had him so anxious, but as he glanced towards the gate, he could see the professor returning with the class. However, something was very wrong with the picture. [Y/N] didn’t sit upon their horse with a knightly air about them, instead, they were laying in a heap in Catherine’s arms. 

“Shit!” Without warning, he was out of the entrance hall and meeting them at the gates. “What happened to [Y/N]?! Are they alright?!” Catherine stepped around him quickly, a brief warning look from Shamir directed at him.

“Out of the way kid. We’re getting her to the infirmary.” 

It was Ingrid who rode up at his side, dismounting with a worried frown of her own. “[Y/N] took an arrow and fell off their horse. Mercedes closed the wound, but they hit their head pretty hard. We haven’t been able to get them to wake up, we were hoping Manuela might be able to reassure us or help in some way.”

How was it even possible? They were always so cautious and diligent on the battlefield… Sylvain was always left in awe half of the time. [Y/N] had the true makings of a vigilant knight, and while he understood everyone made mistakes… It was just unlike them. However, it didn’t take a genius to understand that their earlier conversation had affected their battle. 

“Let’s just see what Manuela has to say.” Under Ingrid’s recommendation, Sylvain followed her quickly to the infirmary where [Y/N] laid unconscious. “How do they look?” As his friend did the talking, Sylvain took a seat next to their bed, watching intently as he awaited an answer.

“Well, the poor thing fell pretty hard… They’ll wake up, but they’ll have a concussion to worry about for a while. I've asked the professor to take it easy on them for the next month.” Ingrid breathed a sigh of relief as Sylvain took their limp hand in his own. His expression was grim despite knowing they’d be okay soon enough. What if that arrow had struck them somewhere fatal, or what if they had the potential of never waking after hitting their head so hard? What if they had died before they could properly talk? They were only students, but their responsibilities put them in grave situations. This school wasn’t as lighthearted and frivolous as he had once thought.

He sat there for hours, well past the visits of their classmates and the occasional check-in from Manuela. Not once did [Y/N] stir from sleep, and briefly, he worried there was that possibility they would never wake. With a heavy sigh, he trapped their hand between both of his and brought it to his forehead in a silent prayer to the goddess. 

“[Y/N]... I wish it wasn’t like this right now… I’d rather have you mad at me in the stables than laying in this stupid infirmary bed. We’d bicker about the conversation we had earlier, neither of us would understand each other because I wouldn’t be honest about my feelings. Until eventually I’d tell you how much you mean to me and that it scares me. That I’ve never felt this way for someone before and that terrifies me.” He took in a shuddering breath, squeezing their hand just a bit tighter. “I’d tell you I love you.” His statement was hardly above a whisper.

It seemed all too unreal to him, the subtle scoff that caused Sylvain’s head to shoot up, staring at [Y/N] who laid with their brows furrowed and just a hint of a smirk tugging at their lips. “So it takes me getting hurt physically for you to confess?” Truly, he was a gawking mess now, enough to pull a laugh from his company’s lips. Sitting up from the bed, their hand brushed against his cheek gently. “Sylvain… I won’t forgive you if you hurt me like that again.” 

Instantly, his hand found their’s, holding it to his lips and kissing the tips of their fingers. “I won’t. Never again, I promise. I’ll be honest from here on out.” He meant it too. Soon he dropped their hand to instead get a good look at their face. “How do you feel? Should I get Manuela so she can make sure everything is in order? Can I get you anything?”

“Well… I could use one thing right about now.” [Y/N] mused to themselves, and Sylvain was quick to lean in closer.

“What is it? Anything, and it’s your’s.”

“A kiss.” The answer was so simple, but it was clear the male wasn’t expecting it, and just even for a moment, his face almost looked red in his shock. He didn’t stay stumped for long, leaning over the bed and closing in to press a ginger kiss on their lips.

“Ah… Young love. Such a waste.” Manuela’s dry voice caused the two to break apart with a start. “Now out! I won’t tolerate this behavior here.” The way she swatted at Sylvain with annoyance caused [Y/N] to bubble out a laugh, gently pulling on his sleeve and leaning in. 

“Oh, and one last thing… I love you too.” There was a dopey smile that spread onto his lips. As he was shooed out the door by Manuela, he stole one last glance with a promise that he would return first thing in the morning for them.

[nimsajlove]

Not leaving you

Brothers-AU  Ao3

Her fingers trembled when she repeatedly asked unsuccessfully about Droidbait. "No, didn't show up.", Kix reported, his voice sounding tinny and empty through the comlink. "I'll let you know when I hear something.", he quickly assured her and cut the connection, of course he had to go back to work. Ahsoka felt really bad when she thought about keeping him away from other injured people. But slowly she was losing patience, and maybe a little bit of hope, to find the clone under the heap of rubble. Even so, she returned to the excavation team and began to move stones out of the way.

It didn't take long for her arms to ache. Her hands were open, burning with every touch with the bluish dust that seemed to cover every surface. All the clones that could be dispensed dug around her, her Master also hoped to be able to rescue survivors from the hole. So he gladly accepted a delay in the schedule in order to be able to give his padawan more men. Panting, she hung from a stone and, not for the first time, wished that her Master had come too. She cursed loudly when the stone didn't move an inch. As if Anakin Skywalker had heard her thoughts, her comlink flashed and she swallowed more phrases. "Already found something?" Ahsoka shook her head, her Master's voice sounding as hopeless as she felt... "No Master, but we haven't hit the ground yet either. I hope that the overhang-” “Commander!” The call interrupted her and she looked up, one of the men waved and then pointed to something at his feet. “Maybe we have something. I'll get back to you later.", she hurriedly said goodbye and ran to the soldier.

In fact, there was a hole at his feet, more like a gap. It pulled itself long and narrow through the rubble and revealed a cavity. Ahsoka's heart contracted frantically, her hopes that the ledge would create a cave had been confirmed. Carefully she pushed around on the surrounding rubble. "I don't think we can open it any further from the outside.", one of the men, Appo, announced from behind her. "I think so too. I'll squeeze in there and see what I can do.", she agreed and sat down on the edge of the gap, her feet dangling in the air. It was dark down there, but the fall couldn't be deep! Carefully she slid further and further in until she was only hanging by her arms in the crevice and tried to make out something. Nothing, just pitch black darkness. So she dropped on luck, the ground was actually not far away. After only two more meters she came up and landed safely like a cat, immediately she pulled out her lightsaber and illuminated her surroundings.

 The heavy dust had settled quickly down there and Ahsoka was glad to have a good view and clean air to breathe. She stretched out all her senses before taking a closer look. She didn't have to look far, a small group of clones had gathered right under the ledge that had caught most of the debris. As she got closer, some of them stood up and came towards her, one had taken off his helmet and was beaming with relief. "You have come." He was so happy and Ahsoka slipped a smile. “How are you?” “Three of us can't walk, Wall is not responsive and Hang is totally confused. Always wants to run away and keep looking, although his legs can hardly support him.” They approached the group and Ahsoka recognized what the clone meant. The men looked battered... "Wait here."

With quick steps she hurried back to the crack and contacted Appo. “I found a group. I will try to enlarge the hole a bit, then we can get them out of here.", she communicated and heard a general agreement. Without hesitation, she got to work.

 *~*

 Most of them had already been brought up, but Droidbait wasn't among those found. Ahsoka looked around nervously as she helped another man up. The rubble ceiling trickled softly over her, how long would all of this last? "I'll go and search on, you can do the rest of this by yourself, won't you?" Appo nodded above her.

Carefully she found her way through the darkness, she felt sick when she came across the first corpse. The clone hadn't had a chance and she was slowly getting a stomach ache, what if Droidbait hadn't had a chance either? She took three steps further and raised her lightsaber further, the rubble dome sloping into a steep wall in front of her. There was no getting through here. She wanted to turn away when a scrape made her look again along the wall. Three times her gaze slid from one end of the illuminated area to the other until she discovered him. The dust colored the white equipment with the blue drawings almost black and she hurriedly jumped over some stones to the clone, when she was only a few steps away she realized that it was indeed her brother.

His hip was buried under a rock, but when she grabbed his arm, his legs moved. "Commander.", he gasped and carefully she grabbed his helmet, he looked terrible. With gentle fingers she examined the huge laceration on his head, he would survive that. One of her hands was on Droidbait's chest while she radioed Appo. Two heartbeats passed before she heard the pawing footsteps approaching. "Over here.", Ahsoka called and as soon as the clones were in sight, they threw the blasters to the ground and hurried over to her. "I can only lift this thing up for a moment.", said the girl, her fingers trembling. She was sure she could get the rock of from Droidbait. But then? The men grabbed her brother by the shoulders and waited, so she didn't have time to think.

Lifting the rock was harder than she had expected, the day had asked a lot of her and gradually her strength was exhausted. As soon as the rock had slipped out of her control and fell to the ground, she turned around and leaned down to the Medic, he bandaged the other's hip as best he could and tried to support it. "And?", she asked, the Medic shook his head slightly. "Pray that no arteries are injured.", he growled and she went freezing, she knew that an internal bleeding in the pelvis was practically a death sentence. The porous bone would soak up all the blood like a sponge.

"Well, lets get out of here.", she growled and the men lifted Droidbait as carefully as they could, he barely reacted and Ahsoka patted his face worriedly. No reaction.

 *~*

 It was late, no clone had passed her or the other Dominos in a while. Cutup next to her chewed his lip bloodily while Hevy seemed to be asleep. His clenched fists told her he wasn't. Fives and Echo didn't seem to be able to stand it on the floor, they were leaning against the wall across from her and seemed worried, but far less tense than the others. Not particularly fair, ARC-training seemed to prepare them for such things better than any Jedi-training.

Growling, she turned her gaze down to her feet, her neck ached from looking down and her fingers were so rigid and cramped that they could hardly be moved. Her thoughts in her head were hollow and cold. They did not want to let go of the images of the battle and something kept replacing all the dead with more familiar faces. Briefly she screwed up her eyes, only to tear them open again. No, it wasn't any better that way! Concentrated, she stared at her fingers, maybe she could try to move one... She felt her hand on her shoulder and raised her hands at the newcomer. The clone caught her fist and for a moment she didn't know who she was looking at. Then her eyes cleared and she blinked at Jesse. "Hey Mini-Commander.", he smiled and loosened his grip on her fist, her arm slumped limply onto the floor. "Hi.", she mumbled and pulled her knees to her chest, Jesse sat down next to her on the floor and she could now see Rex quietly exchanging a few words with Fives and Echo, who then grabbed Cutup and Hevy and brought them away. Then the Captain came over to her and leaned against the wall. "Hey kid." She huffed and stared up at him. "Don't do that, I'm not a child anymore." „Then I'll just take this ration back with me and let you make your adult decision.", teased Hardcase, who actually came around the corner with a ration from the canteen and slumped to the floor in front of her with a thud. He grinned broadly. How did he always grin?

At the sight of the food her stomach growled loudly, but she felt nothing that could have reconciled the sound. "I'm not hungry," she muttered and buried her forehead in her pants. She wished she had ears to cover. As it was, she was forced to hear the growling of Hardcase and Jesse. Suddenly a hand was there and forced the ration on her. Sighing, she straightened up a bit, it couldn't hurt to do a favor for the others. So she forced a few bites into herself before rubbing her forehead with both hands. Where was Kix? Why did it take so long? "I'll give him another half an hour.", Jesse mused aloud, could he read minds? But what if... "How am I ever supposed to survive this?", she mumbled choked, the lump in her her throat made it hard to breathe and she shivered. "You mean?", asked Hardcase, sliding closer, his knees now touching hers and she hastily rubbed her eyes. "If either of you leaves." The first dry sob broke free and she shuddered painfully. Jesse made a pressed sound and Hardcase hastily patted her lower legs to calm her down. Then she heard Rex crouch down beside her. "We're not going anywhere," he said, putting his hand on her arm. Now they were all close together and the touch grounded her, she sobbed again. The idea of ​​having to live without this feeling scared her. "What's going on here?", came another voice and the next sob died in her throat, she almost choked on it in surprise. Then she looked up at Kix, he looked tired and there were hard lines around his mouth. "There's nothing to mourn here, so get up Commander.", he then smiled thinly and she was on her feet immediately, stumbled over to him and wrapped her arms around him. "Thank you!", she muttered and he patted her head. "I will not allow anyone to leave you vod'ika."

 *~*

 "Droidbait!" Laughing, she stormed into the medbay, Kix gave her a gently reproachful look. Coric a few steps further, however, seemed to be delighted at the sight of Ahsoka half hanging in the bed of the injured clone, almost crushing him. "Please don't take your job so literally next time.", she said, then loosened up and beamed at him. Droidbait laughed, and Ahsoka decided that nothing was more beautiful to see than a laughing brother.

[chain-unchained]

December 12 - Part 3

This one’s long and dramatic. And it’s still not over. Longest. Day. *Ever*.

The elevator continued its descent; the rocky surfaces all around them began to shift in color, going from light muddy browns to burnt umber and musty reds.

“Holy shit, Ashe, how far have you been digging in here?” Sebastian could hardly speak, Sam was so tightly wound around his neck.

The farmer anxiously rocked back and forth on the balls of his feet. “Not far enough, honestly. And I can’t take all the credit for this,” he fiddled with the scarf around his neck, contemplating whether or not to remove it for the time being, “Percy’s been coming down here a lot lately too.”

“I think it’s cool.” Abigail reached out and let her fingers brush against the moving rockfaces. “You get to actually fight real monsters and stuff. Like looking at you, no one would think that you’re actually a badass warrior.”

“I-I’m not though, really. I try to avoid the monsters as much as I can.”

“Whaaaat? Okay, that’s kinda lame.”

Sebastian flicked her forehead. “Not everyone is as bloodthirsty as you are, y’know.”

“I’m not bloodthirsty!” Her cheeks puffed out in a puff as she rubbed the red spot left behind. “I’m just so bored of the quiet country lifestyle. You have to be bored of it too, right Ashe? You used to live in the city after all.”

“Actually,” he smiled bashfully, “I really like how peaceful it is here. I wouldn’t trade it for anything.”

Her pout intensified. “Well—well, you’re just saying that cos you get to cheat and come kill monsters whenever you want. And your farm work keeps you super busy, too!” She pointed a finger at him. “You’re just a big cheater.”

“Uh—“ At a loss, he gave another awkward smile, “sorry?”

“Hmph.” She turned away and folded her arms across her chest. “Cheater.”

Sebastian rolled his eyes as the elevator came to a shuddering stop at the bottom of the mine shaft. “Okay Sam, we’ve stopped moving—you can stop suffocating me now.”

“We are? Oh thank Yoba—”

Both Sam and Abby fought to be the first ones off of the elevator. It was dark and warm where it let them off, dimly lit from the torches that Ashe had put up from his last visit.

“I’m never getting back on that death machine ever again,” Sam wheezed, knees buckling from the legitimate fear that had been gripping him.

“Well that sucks for you,” Sebastian jerked his thumb back towards the elevator, “cos that’s our only way out.”

“Noooooo…!” He dropped to the ground in a heap of despair. “I can’t, my heart can’t take anymore of that…!”

“It’ll be okay, Sam.” Ashe knelt down beside him and patted his shoulder gently. “We’ll distract you the whole time so you don’t have to think about it. Okay?”

“No, not okay,” he sniffed with a shake of his head, “but… okay.”

Ashe helped him back to his feet and brushed some of the dirt from his knees. “Alright. You guys all stay behind me, and stick close. There are some really nasty monsters roaming around down here.”

“Laaaame…” Abigail took her hand off of the hilt of her sword with a dramatic sigh. “You gotta at least let me get the first kill in. I need this.”

“Abby,” Sebastian put his hand on her shoulder, “you need to calm down.”

“More like you guys need to get more pumped up!” Despite what Ashe just said, she pushed her way to the front of the group. “C’mon, we’re exploring a real life monster-filled mine! And Ashe has been coming down here by himself all this time, why are we so freaked out when there’s four of us here?”

Ashe hesitated. “That’s… a good point, actually…”

“Right?” Abby fell back enough to walk beside him and flashed a wide grin. “We can take on anything that comes our way with the power of friendship! And anime! But not Yoba. That asshole can stay out of our way.”

“Pfft—” The last bit was enough to make Ashe dissolve into a fit of laughter. He didn’t realize just how badly he needed to laugh.

“There we go! That’s much more like it.” Her grin got even bigger as she began to walk backwards—it was easier to talk this way. “Seriously, you’ve been so down in the dumps lately that I thought you’d forgotten how to laugh.”

“Yeah, we noticed that too.” Sam wrapped an arm around the farmer’s shoulders. “What’s been on your mind?”

“N-Nothing—it’s nothing—oh no, I can’t breathe—” He had to stop walking, doubling over and hugging his stomach until the laughter began to subside. A few giggles lingered as he straightened up and wiped the tears from his eyes. “I-I don’t know why that got me so good… ahhh… I’m okay. I’m okay, really.”

“You sure about that, buddy?”

“Yeah.” He cleared his throat. “And really, nothing’s been on my mind lately. It’s just that winter’s a bad time for me.”

Abigail put her hand on her hip. “Because your mom died around this time, right?”

“Abby!” Sam and Sebastian were appalled. The smile faded from Ashe’s face.

“What?” She asked.

“You can’t just say that kind of shit.” Sebastian rubbed his face. “Have some goddamn tact or something.”

“Life’s too short and we could die down here, so what’s the point of beating around the bush?” She turned back to Ashe. “It’s not hard to put 2 and 2 together. Look, if you need someone to talk to about it, you can talk to us. Or Shane. That’s not the kind of shit that you should keep bottled up.”

“I-I don’t—”

“Like seriously, you should know this since you’re dating him and all. Isn’t this the kind of stuff that you had to beat into his head?”

“That’s not—”

“Just how long do you think you can keep going like this? You’re just going to get depressed next winter if you keep ignoring it like you have been—”

“Rrrr—CAN I PLEASE SAY SOMETHING?!”

Ashe didn’t mean to explode, but that was exactly what he did. His voice rose uncontrollably, bouncing off of the narrow corridor they stood in as his friends stared at him with wide eyes and slightly slack jaws.  

“Uh… y-yeah, sure, go ahead.”

With shaking hands Ashe rubbed at the lower part of his face. “I don’t want to talk about it,” he said simply, his voice and chin quivering with each word. “I don’t—it’s still too painful.” His voice broke, and his eyes stung with tears desperately fought back as he whispered, “I d-don’t want anyone to see me cry…”

“Aww, Ashe…” Sam pulled him into a hug, and Sebastian shot Abby a dirty look. “C’mon, it’s okay. This is what friends are for, y’know.”

“N-No—please, I don’t—want—”

It was too late. The floodgates had been opened, and just as he had dissolved into laughter not five minutes ago he dissolved into sobs that were muffled by Sam’s shoulder. It was embarrassing. There was nothing that felt good about breaking down like this in front of others. But there was nothing that he could do to stop the tears, or the emotions that brought them on.

“That’s it, just let it all out.” Sam patted his back with a faint smile. “You don’t have to talk about it if you don’t want to. Just know that we’re all here for you.”

It took everything Ashe had in him to eventually stop the tears, and a minute later he pulled back from Sam to rub at his reddened eyes with a sniff. “Sucks… S-Sorry, I tried so hard…”

“Hey, there’s nothing to apologize for.” Sebastian took a puff on the cigarette he’d lit. “Sometimes you just gotta cry.”

“Oh?” Abby elbowed him with a smirk. “That something you have a lot of experience with, Seb?”

“Fuck off.”

The exchange was enough to get a half-laugh, half sob from Ashe.

“Hey, there’s another laugh.” Abby’s smirk softened to a smile. “So do you feel any better now?”

“N-No, not really…” With a shuddering sigh, Ashe dried what was left of his tears on his sleeves and did his best to smile. “But I really don’t like to cry, so. I’m okay now.” He moved to the front of the group and unsheathed his trusty sword. “Besides, there’s no time to waste. We’ve got monsters to slay and loot to find! FOR THE G!”

“Hell yeah!” Abigail was right there beside him, her own sword drawn as they led the charge. Sam and Sebastian had to break into a brisk jog to keep up with them.

 ####

 It wasn’t long before they ran into trouble. A few red-tinted slimes, some magma bats, nothing too major. It was largely disappointing for Abby, who stood off to the side pouting as the others dug into a fat gold vein.

“This sucks,” she huffed, “I was promised monsters and all I’ve gotten are weak level 1 mobs.”

“Y’know,” Sebastian grunted with the swing of his pickaxe, “most people wouldn’t be complaining about that.”

She flicked her hair over her shoulder. “Yeah, well, I’m not like most people.”

“’I’m so quirky, I’m not like other girls’,” Sam teased.

“Hey, that subreddit doesn’t apply to me because I’m actually not like other girls.”

“That’s what they all say, you know.”

Having fallen largely quiet in his concentration on mining, Ashe just sort of listened to them playfully argue. It was fun to just be a party to the conversation, and it helped with keeping his mind occupied.

‘This should be enough to trade for some better tools, I think.’ He picked up a few chunks of mined ore and inspected them with a hopeful glint in his eyes. It was more cost-efficient to trade materials like this for upgrades instead of paying for them outright. ‘Would be nice if we could hit a gem vein while we’re here—’

The conversation lulled, and in the brief moment of silence Ashe heard a strange noise in the distance. It was a noise that made the hairs on the back of his neck stand on end.

“Get down!”

Once more his voice reverberated around the space as he tackled his friends to the floor. Not a second later, a giant flaming fireball whizzed over their heads, ricocheting against the walls and bouncing all around before it exploded a few feet away.

“Holy—” Sam coughed as a thick smoke filled the air. “Where the hell did that come from?!”

“Keep your head down,” Ashe pushed him back down, straining his eyes to see through the smoke. He could faintly make out a round form hovering in the air at the far end of the tunnel. “Marlon calls them ‘squid kids’. It won’t notice us if we stay still.”

“Oh, to hell with that.”

Against his warnings, Abigail scrambled to her feet. With hand on the hilt of her sword again, she darted right towards the monster.

“Abby, don’t!!!”

Letting out a battle cry that would make any warrior proud, she drew the sword and cleanly cut the Squid Kid in two before it had a chance to get off another fireball. The three stared in stunned silence as she skidded to a stop, coolly sheathing her blade and turning to look back at them.

“C’mon, it was one mob. We’ve got the power of friendship and anime on our side, remember?”

Ashe let out the breath he didn’t realize he’d been holding—only for his heart to stop in his chest again as a shadow moved behind her. He was on his feet in the blink of an eye, racing towards where she stood triumphant. There wasn’t time for him to yell out a warning. The others did it for him.

“Shit—look out!”

Sebastian and Sam scrambled to follow in his footsteps as the shadow fell over Abigail. Realization dawned on her face, and she turned to find a pair of angry beady eyes glaring down at her from within the amorphous blob that was Slime EX.

After a second, she turned to look back at the boys racing towards her. “Really, guys?” She asked, wholly unimpressed. “You’re panicking over a slime? What’s it gonna do, squish me to death?”

Almost as if her words caused the Slime deep offense, its entire body jiggled with a gurgly roar—the sound was enough to send dust crumbling from the ceiling above. The color started to drain from her face as it jumped, much higher than she thought it could.

There wasn’t enough time. The slime came down on top of her before any of them could reach her, absorbing her into its gelatinous center as they came to a screeching stop just a short distance away. It was horrific, watching her clutch at her own throat as the Slime’s insides slowly suffocated her.

But the Slime wasn’t content with just one meal, and its sights shifted to the three still standing before it. It leaped again, and they began to backpedal as quickly as they could—but it wasn’t fast enough. There wasn’t time. Sam grabbed hold of Ashe by the back of his shirt and hurtled him backwards, a split second before the Slime squished down on him and Sebastian too.

The throw was enough to send Ashe through the air, and he hit the ground in an unceremonious heap. “Oh my Yoba—GUYS!” He screamed, picking himself up in time to see them swallowed up.

With each jump, the Slime’s massive size had sent tremors throughout the mine. The second time, the quaking didn’t stop, sending chunks of the walls and ceiling tumbling down all around. The entire mine was starting to collapse.

[bolbianddolanhouse]

BNHA self insert AU [Book 3]

New? Read here! Then here!

Chapter 15: Why Do We Live? Just To Suffer?!

Beizu and I didn’t waste any time trying to escape for the weekend! It was our weekend! We agreed to go to our parent’s homes and hang out from there. I get home and nobody was there as expected. Saturdays are hang out days for the kids and short work days for mom and dad. I slam myself onto my bed, as I missed sleeping on my very comfy mattress. The dorm beds SUCK! I get coffee from the kitchen after a while and floated around.

“Hey Muffins, update me on the household since the last time I was here” I called out to the resting robo on the couch.

“It’s been 115 days since you’ve last been home, there’s been 4 fires and 7 gatherings at the house.” the robo listed “20 pictures has been added to the family virtual library. Mom didn’t celebrate her birthday. There’s been 2 lockdowns at the house, Tensei went to debate nationals in March, Hanaka got suspended from school that same week. Lili has video called every night for the past 2 months. And that’s up to date.”

“Only 4 fires? Huh” I took a sip of my coffee “Thank you for the update, whats the ETA for anybody?”

“Hanaka and Dad are due to come back from the doctors at 1pm”

“Doctors?” I whispered to myself “She never gets sick, hope she’s okay.”

It may not be obvious, but Hanaka used to latch onto me when she was a baby. She’d cry when I don’t acknowledge her before I leave the house and set my sweater sleeves on fire if I don’t hold her right away. She’s very much the little, bratty sister type but I still worry. She depends a lot on family support because of her fire quirk, it makes it very hard to live a normal life. Wonder if that’s the cause? I wait around and see them come through the door but it feels so off. Hanaka goes straight to her room in silence, ignoring the fact that I’m in sight.

“Hello Iwata, how was your trip home?” Dad said once Hanaka was in her room.

“It was fine but what’s up with her?” 

Dad sighed “She had an episode where she couldn’t control her fire. Nobody got hurt but it happened at school and the school made it a big deal out of it, calling her a delinquent.”

“So what’s the diagnosis?” I asked, processing what dad told me.

“Anxiety trigger, the mix of her quirk and puberty hormones are making her unstable” Dad sets down his keys to wipe his glasses “I really don’t know what to do. And I’m scared its going to be like when your mom gets unstable.”

“Wait, mom gets unstable?” that was news to me. I know of mom losing her temper when she was younger but getting unstable?!

Dad nodded and put his glasses back on “It happens when she overworks and stresses out. Once I triggered the breaking point and I got hit by her psych-blast. If your uncle Jin didn’t set up the robo to sedate her at the right moment, she could’ve died.”

I looked toward the top of the stairs “Well you’ve dealt with mom’s and mine anxiety things, how is this any different?”

“You and your mom have the same quirk and therapy has helped you two” dad started “Your sister doesn’t have the same quirk to body part association. How do you contain a fire that water doesn’t douse nor can be snuffed out? I want to help, I know how much she wants to live a normal life.”

“Leave it to me then” I said confidently “Lili isn’t here to do a girl talk, but I’m here to do a big brother support conversation! Maybe I’ll break through to her, who knows?”

“If you feel like it will help” Dad smiled “then go and talk to her. I’ll be down here making lunch.”

I make my way to the girls room. Before I could even knock, I heard her deep and heavy sobs. It was unsettling as I’ve never heard her sob like this. I knock on the door.

“Can I come in?”

“No”

“Why?”

“I don’t wanna talk about things!”

“I don’t wanna talk” I shake my bag of snacks “I just wanna share cheetos with my little sister.”

“...what kind of cheetos?”

“Hot con límon.”

“...okay you may enter.”

I open the door to see Hanaka in a blanket burrito, mouth and nose peeking out. Trying not to laugh at the sight, I sit next to her bed on the floor and open the bag of cheetos. I float them between us so she could get some without reaching too far. We just sat there in silence for a while until she spoke up.

“Iwa, do you think I’m a bad person?”

I look over to see her face peeking out “No.”

“Do you think anybody would love me? Romantically?”

Oh its that kind of conversation “I believe there’s somebody for everybody.”

“It’s just that, I confessed to somebody and they said so many mean things” her lips started to quiver “Like I’m weird looking, my quirks are weird, that my fire quirk makes it so it burns to hold my hand and who would want to love me if they can’t hold my hand.”

“Well that’s rude! They should’ve just said no and be on their way!” I never wanted to punch a child so much in my life.

“What was worse was that all his friends were there to laugh at me and it attracted more kids to poke fun at me” Hanaka got teary eyed “And I just couldn’t take it, I got all shakey and just combusted into flames. The flames were strong enough to set the play yard on fire. Nobody got hurt but it was still scary.”

“Nobody helped you afterwards?”

“Tensei, Petti and Kyanka covered me until a teacher came” she wiped her tears with the blanket “But I caused so much trouble and it really upset the people in the office. They called me a bad kid and that it wouldn’t surprise them if I became a villain.”

Oh hell no, that school is on my hit list for saying something like that to a child! “Fuck that school! You know what Hanaka, you’re not a bad kid, okay? And you are capable of love and people love you back, do you think Tensei and your friends would do that if they didn’t love you?”

Hanaka sniffed “No...”

“Would you do the same for them if their quirk got out of hand?”

“Yeah! Of course I would!” she responded passionately “I’m their best friend, and friends don’t let friends do things alone!”

“See?! You’re not a bad kid, you love your friends and family” I encouraged her “You can worry about romantic love later, the one will come around soon enough. Right now just focus on school work and being a good friend.”

Hanaka loosened the grip she had on the blanket so it unfurled around her “I guess that does make me feel a bit better” she brought her knees up to her chest “But now I don’t even know if I’m going back to that school. Mommy got really upset like you did at the school office that she’s fighting with the school officials.”

“Wow, good on mom to stand up for you!” I gave props “I’d do the same. But lets not worry about that and trust in mom to make the right move. So, lets change the subject! What’s new?”

Hanaka blew her nose and disposed of her now highly flammable tissue “Uhhh, I made a new friend. Which so happens to be the daughter of one of mom and dad’s hero classmates.”

“Oh that’s tea, who?!” I was intrigued by that second part.

“Her dad is ‘Can’t Stop Twinkling’ the Sparkling Hero” she explained “She was the new girl at school this year and she’s just like me and the girls!”

Her usual giddy self came back, warming my heart “And what’s that?”

“We hate our hero dads, love shopping and wanna be goth” she grabbed her phone to show me her lock screen “See? That’s us right before that juice stand behind us caught on fire.”

“Did you-”

“I don’t think I was responsible for that fire” she clarified “We booked it just in case anyone wanted to pin it on me. BUT look at us!”

I squint at the lock screen picture “There’s glare on your friend’s face.”

“That’s her quirk, don’t be rude!” she scolded me “She’s so luminescent that it hurts to look at her sometimes, and in pictures she’s always glared out. But we put her next to Petti in pictures to offset the light and take a decent one.”

“I’m glad you made a new friend! Has she been to the house?”

“Yup, she’s not yet used to the spicy food we eat though” Hanaka stifled a giggle “Her dad says that she was born and raised in France. He brought her over here because the schools in Japan are better and the hero work is abundant.”

“Can’t wait to meet them”

“Lets see during graduation season” she started then her phone pinged “Oop that’s the group chat, they’re sending their concern memes.”

Before I could take a peek at her phone, Tensei busts in. Which was weird because he ALWAYS knocks.

“Rosa! Okay, okay, okay” he said quickly before calming down a little “I did...a thing...wait- Iwa? When did you get home?”

“I got here late morning but whats the haps lil bro?” I asked “You look like you landed in a trash heap.”

“I can neither confirm nor deny that happened” he said closing the door behind him and locking it “But back to the thing I did. PLEASE don’t tell mom and dad! Because I’m still very fresh from the thing I did and I’m still processing it.”

“Okay just spill it” Hanaka was getting annoyed “You keep saying thing like you don’t know other words! What thing did you do on your sleep over with the boys?”

“This” he lifted his shirt up to his chest, revealing a belly button piercing.

I was shocked, so shocked that I dropped the bag of cheetos that I was floating. Tensei is this good boy image with a punk-like personality. To see this rebellious side to him made me proud in a way. He looks the most like our dad but with a darker skin tone, so I guess this is his baby step into his true self. Hanaka was so shocked that the waste basket contents caught on fire.

“What the- where in Japan did you go to get pierced?” Hanaka asked genuinely “Those jewelry places don’t let you get one without adult permission if you’re under 16.”

“Don’t get mad, but one of my band members has a cousin that’s a tattoo artist and does piercings at the place they work at” Tensei started to get red faced “Sooo I showed him that I could fix his little barbel piercings for free when the boys and I walked into his shop for fun... And he gave me this as payment.”

“Tensei! You got this i l l e g a l l y?!” I harshly whispered “Why did you agree to it?”

“Yeah! It’s not like you to do those things” Hanaka scowled in concern “What’s gotten into you lately? Ever since you came back from Nationals, you’ve been acting different.”

Tensei pulled down his shirt and sighed “I’m sick of being praised of being as good and law abiding like dad. I’m nothing like him inside! I’m not some capri-wearing rectangle!” he huffed “I’m way cooler, smarter and talented then people give me credit for. I don’t need the signature quirk to make my way in this world! And I wanna change my image so people take me seriously...no more orderly Tensei, I wanna be anarchist Oro!”

Hanaka narrowed her eyes, like she was shooting needles into her twin’s soul “Is this because you lost and can’t accept the L?”

Tensei turned red and scrunched his nose “No! I’ve already grieved over that and took and L” he crossed his arms “Nationals was just a tiny part of the whole reason.”

“What?” I was lost in this timeline of events.

Hanaka leaned over to me and whispered “Tensei cost his team majorly on all his debates. So bad that the team barred him from going to more debates this season and has to prove himself all over again to get back in the top 3 teams at school.”

“Oof that’s some sad boi shit” I winced at the recap “It’s okay to still not be over that L, you don’t have to spiral like this.”

“Well it’s too late, I got the damn piercing already and planned the next one” Tensei took a deep breath “I’ve been wanting this for a while, to just rebrand and have respect as my own identity. Not some clone of my father or just be the ‘other’ Iida twin. But until I take the next few steps, please don’t tell our parents about this. I want to tell them myself when the time comes.”

“Okay sure” Hanaka and I agreed.

Tensei turned to open the door “Thanks guys, it means a lot to me that you support me.”

Man, things are getting crazy here! My sweet parents have to deal with this shit on their own and they deserve a vacation or the Nobel peace prize for being the most supportive during life disasters. Seriously! I didn’t see mom until the evening, she looked a little run down but I really wanted to talk to her.

“Hey mom” I announced myself as I entered the living room.

“Iwata! I’ve missed you so much” Mom said as she used her quirk to pull me in for a tight hug “You’re getting so big, I can hardly wrap my arms around you!”

“Missed you too” I hugged her back “I just really miss being home.”

“I bet, heard you did phenomenal at the last practice test” she smiled and caressed my face with her hand “Just like your mama back in the day. I’m so proud of you for using the good old distraction card! That’s what I was well known for, wildcard and distractions.”

“That’s what I wanted to talk to you about” I sat up straight “I don’t know how things are going to get for the Labyrinth practice test. You took the practice and the evaluated one, what’s the winning combo?”

“What? hahaha” Mom laughed for a moment “There really isn’t a ‘winning combo’, just being well versed in fighting techniques. That’s where your uncle Jin didn’t get to the mid-point, he’s a genius and has good speed BUT he lacks impulsive/on the fly thinking. Everything has to be calculated to the T for him and if too many things has gone wrong in his thought out strategy, those seconds he takes thinking of a new plan can be the death of him.” She sighed into another chuckle “And your aunty Mimi! Boy, she’s an amazing weapons user and she NEVER misses. But in the exam, she didn’t make it past the 3rd stage because the stand off was with someone that erases quirks. She depended too much on her quirk for her gun wielding and she got out because of it.”

“So you did the opposite?”

“I used my critical thinking to get me though all the stages. The place were I used my quirks the most were at the end to win the fight with the mock villain” she leaned back and looked up at the ceiling “The rigorous training I did for basically a year got me to the point of not depending on my quirks until the very last resort. Remember Iwata, just because we can do anything without lifting a finger doesn’t mean we should ignore how able bodied we are. So I suggest do some more strength and endurance OH and you might need to do some breathing training too! Never know if you need to hold your breath for a certain amount of time.”

“That’s a lot to train on, kinda makes me feel like I didn’t do enough” I got self-conscience “I wanna do good in this one! Not because I want to make you proud, but for myself. Maybe passing this will spark something in me that’ll give me an idea about my destiny.”

“Oh sweet child of mine” Mom looked over to me lovingly “This test won’t give you any ideas on anything, trust me. Both times I had to go into intensive care to make sure I didn’t rupture my vial organs, thats how hard I went in. Just give it your all and just ride the wave that comes next.”

“Did you think you’d pass?”

Mom snickered “Nope! The second time was easier by a little bit but I just keep telling myself ‘whatever happens, happens’. I didn’t think passing would lead me to the agent position I’m at today! Same how I didn’t think that giving the class a cookie would lead to finding the love of my life. So don’t let the ‘what ifs’ rule your self-worth, life has a way of surprising you at the very last second.”

That made me feel better about things. I’m glad I decided to go home this weekend, because I know what to do now. 

-The next day, At Beizu’s house-

“...you still have this?” I said to Beizu as I was rummaging through his closet.

“Wha- oh that thing! Yea” he responded “You were my only friend in elementary school, so that graduation picture meant a lot to me.”

“Really? That’s why it’s framed” I looked closely at the picture of us holding hands “We look busted with all those missing teeth!”

“Don’t act like you didn’t cry every time you lost one” Beizu retorted back “Besides, it holds something more special to me...it was when I realized I loved you.”

I counted the years in my head “...damn, almost 6 years ago! Why so long?”

“I didn’t know if these were romantic feelings or not. And you did your own thing in middle school with band” he sighed and sat on the bed “I felt a little left behind and I tried really hard to stay in your interest. I wanted you to tell me I was yours, I didn’t care if that meant friend or lover” he turned red “It sounds silly now, but I was happy if you just said good morning or spent lunch with me.”

“Bei, you were always in my interest” I floated over to him “Nobody understood me like you did. You were never anything less than my best friend and it took some eye opening to see that we were basically lovers anyways.” I put my arm around his shoulders “Are you happy that we’ll basically wake up next to each other for the rest of our lives?”

“Are you kidding me?! It’s my dream come true!”

“Great! Just making sure” I kissed him bashfully “because I was getting ahead of myself and looking into apartments in Taito. We’ll be able to move in once I get possession of my inheritance money.”

“I don’t care if I have to wait until I’m on my death bed” he tackled me onto the bed “As long as I’m with you, anywhere is home.”

How everything was coming together nicely for us after UA. In between training and schoolwork, we looked at apartments online. Everyone was envious of us having things set afterwards, but to be honest, we only have an idea of things! We don’t know where exactly we’re going to work nor where to settle. It’s a bit bold to think our parents will give us work when we graduate. But I’m following my mom’s advice and just ‘riding the wave’ of what comes next.

-Fast forward, Mid October-

Beizu, Gee and I take advantage of the half-day of school by filling it with training in the disaster practice gym.

“Huh? The door is unlocked?” Gee said as she checked the door, key in hand “Did we come on the wrong day?”

“No, we have today reserved for us” Beizu pointed to the bulletin board next to the doors “See, we’re in the right.”

We walked on in and checked for anybody that straggled from the last session. But we found three people having banter on a rock.

“Remember the days of disaster training with sensei?!” said a familiar female voice.

“Ugh! Shut up or his ghost is gonna show up and bark at us to do wall sits” said another familiar male voice.

“Rich coming from someone that shat their pants the first time they shot a gun” shaded a Russian accent.

“Mom? Aunty and Uncle?” I spoke up as we got closer “What are you doing here? Aren’t you guys supposed to be agents today?”

“We came to interrogate the administrators here and since we finished early” Aunty Mimi explained “Your mom wanted to take a trip down memory lane. Back to the days of our youth.”

“Speak for yourself! I’m still nimble to go on a tussle like I did in high school” mom flexed her arms “They called me the sparring queen during my time here. I never lost a spar and I still maintain that streak.”

Uncle Jin rolled his eyes “Just because you still train like you’re gonna go to war! Bet you’ll get folded like an omelet if you did a one on one right now.”

“Alright bet!” Mom huffed at the challenge and pointed at me “Iwata, would you be a dear and spar mommy?”

“Oh shit your mom just challenged you” Gee gasped “What are you gonna do?”

“Fuckin fight I guess!” I said with my hands in the air “Let me stretch first though.”

Mom hopped and clapped “Yay! I’ll meet you in the circle in a bit sweetie.”

“Are- are they always like that?” Gee whispered to Beizu and I when the other three were out of earshot “I didn’t know your mom, aunt and uncle were so chummy with each other, like they’re teenagers.”

Beizu groaned into a sigh “All the time! You’re used to our aunt being on sensei mode when we do weapons class, but put them in the same room and they’re one bad decision away from throwing hands.”

“Don’t get us wrong! We love seeing them having fun” I say as I do my stretches “But when we get roped in, we don’t have the means to escape! And I can’t pass this up” I stretch my sides “I’ve NEVER sparred with my mom! She’s only quirk trained me but never the punchy stuff. I really want to see if I’m on par because we have the same quirk.”

We finally walked up to the sparring circle where the agent trio were still reminiscing.

“Ready to throw down nephew?” uncle Jin hyped me up “You’re in for the fight of your life!”

“Don’t scare him!” Mom scolded before dramatically pulling off her agent office uniform to reveal her two piece training clothes “I’d be shitting my pants if I had to fight my mom too. Your hype isn’t helping Jin.”

“Woah, your mom has an amazing physique!” gasped Gee, giving my mom the look over “And with the tattoos?! I can’t even tell if she gave birth to you. Man I hope to be that hot when I’m older.”

“I like your friend there Iwata, she knows what’s good” Mom said as she walked to the middle of the circle “Come now, step into the circle and show mommy what power my little baby boy can harness.”

I blushed hard as I walked up to her “Mom don’t coddle me in front of my team! So embarrassing!”

“Oop sorry baby!” she quickly covered her mouth “Force of habit!”

“Okay rules are first one to pin the other for the ten count is the winner. No weapons and no boundaries” Jin officiated “give the arm brace and assume the position.”

“What’s the arm brace? I only know about the bowing before starting” I whispered to my mom.

“Oh here, hold out your arm” she demonstrated then griped my tricep “now grip mine... there! This is how we show respect before an agent spar.”

I looked at our arms, then into her eyes. Those were the eyes of a woman that has 5 strategies ready to go to win. Those eyes has seen it all and isn’t afraid to do it all again. Wonder if she sees the anxiety in mine? I didn’t have the time to ponder these thoughts, the spar started and she didn’t let up. Immediately I felt the sting of a slap on my face, followed by the whoosh of her movement. What scared me a bit was that the whole time is was silent. Not a single grunt and her breathing was controlled, like she was conserving her energy. She dodged all of my attacks but didn’t land a single attack on me.

“Tired?” asked Mom as I stood to catch my breath.

“I can still fight” I wiped my forehead “hit me mom!”

The smirk that spread on her face was so wicked, I regretted my life because I just played into her trap.

“As you wish mijo!” Mom bellowed as she levitated herself up, followed by pistons jutting out of her body “Nothing personal Iwata” she pointed her palm at me, piston charging with energy “Mama isn’t ready to lose.”

And like the dumb ass I am, I charged right at her with my palm piston. And at the very last second...she grabbed me by the wrist with her other hand to seismic toss me onto the ground. I felt the weight of her foot on my back and knew that I was done for. My arm was locked and I was too tired to get back up, I saw uncle Jin’s feet near me.

“...8, 9, 10!” uncle Jin finished counting down “Winner is our undefeated Queen of Spars, Agent 19!”

“See? Told you I still got it!” She picked me up like when I was child “You okay? Did I hurt you?”

“No I’m okay” I responded to ease her worried tone “But I played right into your trap! You tired me out on purpose and edged me on to strike so I could lock my dominate arm. So simple but effective!”

Mom giggled “You’re so smart! I have a wicked high stamina and my quirk is amplified the more tired I am. So either way, my enemy isn’t leaving unscathed.”

“Wow! You’re absolutely incredible Mrs Iida!” fawned Gee “What else should we study before the test?”

“Just endurance and critical thinking” Mom responded “it’s that simple really. Wish the answer was more thought provoking or full of wisdom.” She looked at her watch “Well it was fun kids but we have to head back to our office to do all that boring office agent stuff.”

“Okay, bye mom! Bye Uncle and Aunty!” I chimed as I waved.

We watched them leave via portal and we continued with our training. I take the critical thinking part more seriously knowing that my mom applied it our spar. But I really don’t know if I’m going about it right! She makes it seem so easy and I wish I was at her level of super genius, big brain strategy.

-Day of Labyrinth practice exam-

“Bei, I’m shitting myself” I say as I finish suiting up “I’m so nervous that I just might anxiety shit myself.”

“That’s not a thing Iwa and you know it” Beizu responded as he finished lacing up his boots “Everything is going to go well! Watch, we’ll all pass and without intensive care afterwards.”

“I hope you’re right” I smiled at him “kiss me good luck?”

Beizu hopped and put his arms around my neck “Okay, one kiss. Then we go in the waiting chamber.”

Sooooo, things were not going well. Gee croaked at level 3 and Beizu didn’t even make it into the doors of the 5th level! He spent too much of his energy in level 4 that he passed out on the moving platform on the way to the next level. Now it’s up to me and I tried really hard not to tire myself out. I see where Gee failed in level 3, there was fast moving projectiles and she isn’t the fastest. Everything was going alright until the 5th level, my quirk stopped working and I panicked. There was nothing in the room and the exit door was locked. I had to think fast, what would I do if my siblings locked me in a room?

“Oh? Feeling trapped?” taunted someone that came into view “You can’t leave until you defeat me! But what is a quirkless agent going to do?!”

“I don’t need quirks” I reach for my gun and cock it “You really wanna fuck with me? I’m a child, WITH A FUCKING GUN! HOW FUCKED UP IS THAT?!”

The person was visibly nervous “Psh! I’ve seen plenty of gun fights!” they started to fumble their words “Come on, shoot me!”

“Naw, don’t feel like shooting you” I aim at the light fixtures on the ceiling “Eat broken light bulb BITCH!”

The lights went out and the sound of broken glass hitting the ground was oddly satisfying. I check to see I could use my quirks again and surely, I started floating. Once the door beeped to signal the level cleared, I made my dash to the next level before the final level. Next level wasn’t too hard, at least not for me, I knew how to swim and hold my breath for longer than 2 minutes. That would’ve sucked for anyone that didn’t know how to swim, gotta hand it to my mom for teaching all of us how to swim when we were kids. I get to the rescue part of the final level and it was fine until the ‘villain’ showed themselves.

“Not so fast agent! You’re forgetting someone important” said the villain as they walked into view.

“Nice try villain, all 8 hostages are safe and accounted for in rescuers care” I said smugly as I raised my gun at them “Lets make this quick.”

“I think you’ll want to put your gun down” the villain revealed someone tied up in a cage “You wouldn’t want to hurt my favorite prisoner.”

“Iwata, don’t shoot...please” said the hostage weakly.

I looked at the hostage closer and it’s...mom? That didn’t seem right to me. This person sounded like her and looks like her from the face. In fact, the whole room changed too! I was under some sort of illusion quirk and I didn’t want to risk shooting something that might cost me points. So I lowered my gun and started to scheme.

“Aww you don’t want to hurt mommy?” taunted the villain “To think that the hot shot agent, grown weak and aged terribly! Do something momma’s boy! Don’t you want to be a big shot agent like mommy? Or are you just as weak as she is?!”

I get an idea “Oye mama, tengo hambre!”

“What-” whispered the villain in panic.

“Que vas a cocinar hoy? Un pozole o taquitos?” I kept going, knowing that I threw the ultimate curve ball in this plan.

“I don’t understand you sweetie” responded fake mom “I’m so weak from my fight, that I lost.”

“That’s okay mommy” I smiled calmly “Will you sing me my favorite song? You’re never too tired to sing!”

“ENOUGH!” cried out the villain “make one wrong move, and I’ll kill her!” she took out a dagger.

“Okay then, fine” I stood completely still with my hands on my hips, ready to do plan B “I won’t move then.”

The villain was super confused on my erratic actions. But it was working because they started to pull back the illusion in the room. Once I saw the door, I knew that victory was in reach.

“We can stand here all day” said the villain bringing the dagger closer to fake mom’s throat “But think about your poor mother’s health! Do you really want her death on your conscience?”

“...any second now” I warned before I gave a content smile “You underestimate me villain! I’m not my mother, I am me! And I have a secret bio-weapon that I’ve just released into the room.”

“A bio-weapon?” the villain looked around frantically “I don’t- oh my- WHAT’S THAT HORRID STENCH?!”

I look at fake mom slowly fade and I knew that I was in the clear. The villain fell to their knees and vomited.

“Eat taser WHORE!” I said right before tasering them and put them in cuffs “do more research on our family next time and maybe this would’ve been a challenge!”

“LABYRINTH PRACTICE TEST CONCLUDED, AGENT 88 HAS CLEARED AND PASSED.”

The doors opened and I walked through to see my teammates, sensei and the test proctors waiting for me at the end of the hall.

“That was amazing!” cried out Gee “We saw everything on the proctor’s panels. How did you know that wasn’t your mom?”

“The person in the cage looked like my mom from the face but my mom is more petite,” I took my visor off “The one in the cage looked taller and didn’t have the big butt and thighs like my mom has.”

“Yo that spanish speaking was the biggest wildcard!” Beizu complimented “You knew that the villain had to break at that vital detail that they didn’t know. And that last line, chef’s kiss.”

“Aw shucks guys, I’m latino and can’t help but to be dramatic about it” I start blushing and acted coy “Kinda wish the illusion was more convincing though.”

“What was that ‘bio-weapon’ you released that made the villain basically pass out?” asked sensei “You don’t have the quirk that can do that.”

“Oh I farted” I confessed shamelessly “I’ve been holding that one in since I started the test...I also suggest decontaminating that room, my farts spread quickly and linger.”

Everyone but Beizu got visibly disgusted. Doesn’t matter because I passed and I can’t wait to tell my parents that I farted my way to victory. Nothing can stop me right now, I’m all the way up.

-Chapter 15, end-

<Previous-Next>

[bagels-and-seagulls]

can we get some davenzi angst

how about some angst and a future fic? bc it’s all i can think of right now

David dialed Matteo while he was cleaning off the counter. He hadn’t made anything super fantastic for dinner, just rice and vegetables, since it was all he really could cook without Matteo or Laura watching over his shoulder to make sure he didn’t screw anything up, but somehow Matilda and him still managed to get what looked like half the box on the floor and all over the counter. The phone rang two times where it was in between his shoulder and his ear before it connected with a shriek on the other side. 

“Daddy!” Sofia squealed, and David had to quickly take the phone away from his ear in fear of permanent hearing loss in his right ear. His daughter had always managed to hit decibels he never thought possible. He tried to crack his neck. 

“Hey, sweetie. How are you?” He asked and leaned back against he counter, crossing his ankles. 

“Good! We’re having so much fun, Daddy! We went to this museum thing, and Papa showed us all of this old stuff. That wasn’t too fun, but then we went to the lake for Great-Grandma’s party, and that was, like, super fun! Great-Grandma gave us these little candies wrapped in wax paper and played with us until Grandpa told her to stop,” she rambled. 

“Did you get to go swimming?” David asked as he started to pace around the kitchen. 

“Nooooo,” she whined. “Grandpa said that that’s not a lake you’re supposed to swim in, but when he wasn’t looking, Papa let us dip our toes in. So you’re not supposed to tell him that.” 

“I won’t tell,” David laughed. 

“Micha, stop poking meeee. I’m talking to Daddy,” Sofia said loudly, and David pulled the phone away from his ear again, already forgetting his mistake from last time.

“Does Michael want to talk to me?” David asked. 

“He says yes.”

“You can put it on speaker. Get Papa to do it.” 

There was some shuffling and a couple of low murmurs that he couldn’t really hear, before he heard his son go, “Daddy!” very similar to the way his sister had done a minute before. At least this time, someone was holding the phone away from their mouths, so it was bearable. 

“Hey, pumpkin,” David greeted and couldn’t but help to smile. He didn’t realize how much he missed them until he was putting Matilda to bed and walking down the quiet and empty house, wondering when everyone was coming back. Whatever the answer was, he knew it was going to be too long. “Sofia was just telling me what you did today.” 

“Oh! We went to go look at some statues that are supposed to be really important, and it was super cool because they were huge and, like, so detailed and stuff. And then we went to meet all the cousins with Papa and Grandpa at the lake, and that was cool, too. Great-Grandma was really nice and told stories to Papa and then Papa told us,” Michael rambled off a similar story. 

“Did you like all the cousins?” David asked, pushing his toe into the ground. He had been worried about this trip since Matteo brought it up, a family reunion in Italy for his grandmother’s birthday. David didn’t know if going was too good of an idea. Matteo hadn’t gotten along with that side of the family for a while, longer than he probably understood. His father hasn’t even come up to visit them since Matilda was born, not that David bothered too much. He was a cold man, Matteo’s father. But David knew how important Matteo’s grandmother was to him, and he knew that he would be crushed to not see her. And he also knew that she had been hounding him about meeting her great-grandchildren. 

“I mean, I guess. They couldn’t understand us,” Michael said, and David imagined that he was shrugging. It was better than nothing, David supposed. 

“They kept saying the same thing over and over again,” Sofia added. 

“What’d they say?” David asked, not really believing that.

“I don’t speak Italian, Daddy,” Sofia whined. “You know that.” 

“Then how do you know they were saying the same thing?” David teased. 

“Yeah,” Michael added, and David just shook his head, trying to hold back a little laugh. 

“Time for bed,” David heard a little muffled. Matteo must have been on the other side of the room. He sounded just far enough away for David to get a taste, but not too clearly to satisfy, like a dream almost. 

“Papaaaa,” Michael drug out. 

“We just started talking to Daddy,” Sofia said, most likely with a pout. 

“Yeah,” Michael repeated. 

He heard a couple sounds, and David started wiping a towel over the counter just for something to do while he was waiting to see how this played out. He already knew who was going to win, but he was still interested. “We can call him again in the morning, but it’s time for bed now.” 

There was some vague whining noises where he’s sure the twins were pulling off the best puppy dog eyes that haven’t worked since they were toddlers before Matteo said, “None of that. Off you two go.” There was some more muffling. “I’ll be right back,” Matteo said, and it sounded like he wasn’t on speaker anymore. 

“Alright,” David said with a little nod, not that Matteo could see it. 

He waited for a minute or two while he was rearranging the papers on the fridge, some of Michael’s drawings, a picture of Sofia from her last gymnastics meet, one of Matilda’s school reports that she insisted they put up because it had a sticker of a ladybug on it, a picture of Matteo and David from their wedding day, looking sharp in complimentary suits and holding hands while both of them pretended like they weren’t crying. 

“Hey,” he heard. 

“Na?” 

“Na,” Matteo sighed. 

“How’d it go today? You went to a museum?” David asked. 

“Yeah, an art thing, just to kill some time before meeting the family.” 

“Was it fun?” 

“It was alright,” Matteo said simply and didn’t elaborate, not like the kids. He sounded tired, David thought, and not the kind of tired he usually got corralling the twins by himself all day. That one David could tell right away, and he would usually laugh, and kiss Matteo’s nose, and tell him that at least they’ll be asleep by ten. No, he sounded like the tired that was down to the bones and then a little bit further, one that was saying a hundred different things at once and none of them good, the tired you couldn’t really get rid of with sleep. 

“Everything okay?” David asked a little quietly. 

“Yeah,” Matteo responded quickly. “Yeah,” he repeated a little smaller after a minute. “I just miss you. And Matilda.”

“We miss you, too. All you guys. The house is too quiet.” 

“Yeah.” 

“Are you sure everything’s okay?” David asked, not wanting to push, but not convinced that this was just a little thing like missing home. 

“It’s just,” Matteo stopped himself, and David could hear the way he was swallowing something down. Something heavy sunk into his gut, and he sat down on the kitchen floor, knowing where this could be headed, and not liking it already. “I just don’t know why I bother trying,” Matteo said through his teeth, and David imagined him pulling at his hair, and scrubbing at his face, and trying to pretend like the world wasn’t getting to him even though it was and did and will forever. 

“What happened, baby?” David took a deep breath to prepare himself. He already disliked most everything about Matteo’s father, knew it from the first time they were still kids and trying to figure life out, when they still had things like school to worry about and social status and how to pay for alcohol, and Matteo told him out on the balcony with a joint in his lips that his dad had run off without a second thought, and good riddance, too. Matteo didn’t need that prick. Not one bit, he said. Somehow David knew that he was going to really start hating him by the end of this conversation, if it was possible to hate him more than when Matteo called him to tell him that Matilda was coming home with them, swaddled in Matteo’s mama’s arms, and Matteo’s father told him he would call him back. And then didn’t. 

“Just-” And Matteo cut himself off with a heaping breath, and David wished more than anything to be there right now, to hold his face in between his hands and tell him that he would protect him from the rest of the world if he would just let him, to squeeze him tight until all the sadness drifted out of him like smoke. He curled an arm around himself in consolation. 

“They were so mean,” Matteo said with a sob. He sniffled, and David gripped onto the side of his shirt hard, his nails digging into his palm on the other side. “They were saying all these things behind my back, all of them, about my kids. My kids, David,” he heard Matteo sniffled hard. “And Sofia and Michael didn’t even know because how could they. They just wanted to play with the others. And they were just so cruel. To children. My children.”

“What did they say?” David asked through gritted teeth. He tipped his head back to push the crown of his skull into the cabinets behind him. 

“That they didn’t look like me, weren’t ours. That they were going to frow up messed up. That they weren’t really family. That they were adopted by a couple of-” Matteo stopped. He sniffled again and then swallowed hard enough for David to hear. “And the kids were looking at Sofia and Michael and said that they didn’t want to play with them and just repeated back all the shit their parents were saying.” 

David was mad as fire. No- madder than fire, he was a volcano ready to erupt, a pittbull with rabies and a t-bone on the mind who had been locked up a little too long for his own good, a tsunami that has been pulling back from the shore for hours now, wanting to see the sea floor to rise. He was ready to get in a car and drive all night and all day if he had to to go give these people a piece of his mind, tell them to fuck off, that they were ignorant bigots who had nothing better to do than pick on people who were blissfully unaware. With the sound of Matteo quietly crying to himself half a continent away, away from where David would comfort him and tell him he didn’t need those bastards anyways, and trying to pretend like everything was fine because the walls were thin and the kids could understand this conversation just fine, David finally figured out how mad you had to be to contemplate murder. 

“What did your dad do?” He asked. 

Matteo huffed a breath. “Nothing, just stood there.” 

“I’m coming,” David said suddenly and picked himself off the floor, fully convinced to find his suitcase and start shoving his clothes into it, anything really, already thinking of how to pay back Laura for watching Matilda for the rest of the weekend. 

“No, David. Don’t,” Matteo said quickly. 

“I’m going to kill him,” he responded. 

“It’s not worth it.” 

“The fuck it isn’t!” David yelled and then pinched the bridge of his nose to remind himself that Matilda was sleeping. “They have not fucking right to talk about them that way, talk about us that way. If they have a problem, they should say it to my fucking face.”

“David,” Matteo chocked out. “I just want to come home.” 

“Baby,” David said, calming down. “Just- get on the first train tomorrow, or a plane, or a bus. I don’t care. I’ll come pick you up if you want me to.” 

“No, I don’t want the kids to think something’s wrong.” 

“Something is wrong.” 

“They don’t know that,” Matteo said. “You heard them. They had a blast.” 

David sighed. “Then cut it short. Don’t come tomorrow, but the next day. Say Matilda got sick, or that something came up and I had to go out of town and you have to watch the kids.” 

“Yeah, okay.” 

“Okay?” 

“Yeah.” 

“I’ll look for flights.” 

Matteo sighed. “Okay.” 

David scrubbed at his face. “I’m sorry this happened, sweetheart. You don’t deserve it.” 

“Whatever,” Matteo mumbled. “Grandma loved them. Said they were her favorites.” 

“Did she?” David asked, trying to see a bright side after his vision just went black and white. 

“Yeah, right in front of my cousins. Said they were the cutest and most well behaved kids she’s ever seen. She asked for a picture of the family.” 

[bisexualstevierogers]

I Want You To Be Happier (Peter B. Parker X Reader)

Fandom: Into the Spider-Verse Pairing: Peter B. Parker X Reader Word Count: 3,226 Warning: Some sexual themes <3  Author's Note: Very much inspired by the song “Happier” by Marshmello and Bastille, and I highly recommend listening to it while reading! This isn't a songfic but this fic would not exist without that song 😅 This is my first time writing for Peter B. so I hope I kept him in character! Please let me know what you think 😊 Also: it starts off sad but it ends happy I promise!! Oh, and Reader is essentially Mary Jane in this <3 

Peter knew you were unhappy, and he knew that something had to change.

He could see the tiredness in your eyes, and the enthusiasm you had always greeted him with had waned considerably in the last few months.

Being married to Spider-Man had taken its toll on you.

You only got to sleep next to your husband at night once a week, twice if you were lucky. Even during the day, your schedules never seemed to line up. You'd get called in to work on days you were supposed to spend together, or there'd be an emergency that Peter would have to go take care of during a date.

You knew that being married to a superhero wouldn't be easy, but you never could've imagined just how hard and draining it would be. Still, you loved Peter, and you couldn't picture your life without him, so you were determined to make things work.

Things only got worse when you brought up having kids, and Peter shot you down immediately.

“I'm not ready for kids yet, __y/n__.” Peter admitted, and you crossed your arms over your chest in annoyance.

“We've been married for eight years already, Peter. I'm almost 30. I want to have kids while I still have the energy to play with them.”

“I understand that.” Peter said gently. “But I'm just...not ready.” Peter didn't know how to admit that he was terrified of being unable to keep you and your child safe.

“Peter…” You frowned, grabbing his chin and making him look you in the eye. “Do you want to start a family with me?”

Peter did; he wanted it more than anything. He could picture you pregnant, and he knew you’d be glowing the whole time. He could see you making sure every detail of the nursery was perfect. He could see you cradling the child you��d created together in your arms, and he knew that even though you’d be exhausted from giving birth, you would still be the most beautiful woman in the world. He could hear little feet running around the house, could see your children growing up.

But he also saw Kingpin, Doc Oc, Prowler, Green Goblin, and all the other bad guys he had fought over the years, and he knew exactly what they would do if they found out Spider-Man had a child.

If anything were to happen to you, or your child, Peter would never forgive himself.

So he lied, even though he could feel his heart breaking in the process.

“No.”

You withdrew your hand from his chin like you'd been burned, and Peter could see the unshed tears that you were frantically trying to blink back.

He didn't stop you as you stormed into the bedroom. Peter could hear you throwing things into your suitcase, and he had to plant his feet firmly on the ground to restrain himself from going in there and telling you the truth.

This was better for you both.

You came out with your suitcase packed, and Peter could see the shiny tear tracks glistening on your cheeks.

You stared at each other for a long moment, and Peter knew you were giving him a chance to change his mind.

Above all else, Peter needed to keep you safe. And he didn't feel confident he could do that after he became a father.

So Peter stayed silent and pulled you into a tight hug. You made no move to pull away, relaxing into his embrace like you had for years.

After almost a minute, you reluctantly pulled out of the hug. With trembling fingers, you slid your wedding ring off your left hand and gently placed it in Peter's palm.

You could see Peter's lips trembling now, and you had to remind yourself that you would only hurt yourself more in the long run if you stayed.

You wanted kids. You had always wanted kids, and you thought Peter did too, eventually. But if he wasn't willing, for whatever reason, to start a family with you after eight years, you couldn't stay with him and hope that he might change his mind. It wouldn't be fair to either of you.

You leaned in and gave Peter one last long, lingering kiss. You could feel your tears dripping down your cheeks and off your chin before you pulled away.

“I will always love you, Peter Parker.” You murmured softly, brushing away Peter's tears with your thumb.

Peter's tears started falling faster at your words, and you felt your heart fully split in two.

“I'll always love you too.” Peter responded, his hand clenched tightly around your wedding ring.

“Goodbye.” You said sadly, picking up your suitcase and leaving the apartment without looking back.

You knew that if you looked back, you would end up staying. Even though you knew this was what you had to do, it hurt like hell.

As soon as you were gone, Peter felt his legs give out from underneath him. He cried in a heap on the floor for hours before dragging himself to the couch. He knew that his bed wasn't an option; it smelled too much like you, and he would just end up crying again.

Peter fell into a fitful sleep with your wedding ring still held firmly in his fist.

-----

You were grateful that nobody on the subway tried to talk to you, though a few people did offer you sympathetic looks.

You barely made it through the door to your parents’ house before you were sobbing again.

You vaguely registered your mom and dad pulling you into a hug and asking what was wrong.

“Me and Peter…” You struggled to get the words out. “We split up.” You blubbered, appreciating their soothing touch and comforting words as they led you over to the couch.

“What happened, baby?”

“We...-I….-he...he doesn't want to have kids. At least not with me. But I do. I've always wanted to start a family with Peter but I guess he didn't feel the same.”

“Oh sweetheart, I'm so sorry. You're welcome to stay here for as long as you want.”

You thanked them, half-listening to the words of support they were giving. You were just so tired, from today, from crying, from everything, and it wasn't long before you drifted to sleep on the couch.

-----

“You want to separate?” Peter asked in surprise as he flipped through the documents. He thought for sure you wanted a divorce.

You smiled sadly at him. “I'm not completely giving up on us yet. If you happen to change your mind...it'll be easier for us if we're not fully divorced.”

Peter felt his heart clench painfully at your words. He wanted more than anything to tell you that he was wrong, that he made a mistake, and that he missed you and wanted you to come home.

But he just couldn't.

Being without you was awful, terrible, and by far the worst thing he'd ever experienced, but at least he knew you were safe.

Peter just gave you a sad smile as he turned the pages, signing and initialing where necessary.

When he was done, he handed the papers back to you. His fingers brushed against yours, and you sucked in a breath. You still felt the spark that had been around ever since you met Peter.

“I'll see you around.” You said shortly, slinging your purse over your shoulder and making your way to the door before Peter could say anything else.

You hadn't meant to leave so abruptly, but being around Peter still hurt too much. The wound was too fresh. Maybe someday you could be friends, but...not yet.

-----

You were surprised when your phone started ringing and you saw that it was Peter's number. You hesitated to answer it. You and Peter had so far only contacted each other by text because it was easier (and less painful) for both of you. Realizing that Peter probably wouldn't have called unless it was important, you hit answer.

“Hello?” You asked politely.

“May's not doing well, can you come over? She wants to see you.” Peter's voice was rough and scratchy, and you knew instantly that he'd been crying.

“Of course.” You were already grabbing your keys and your purse and making your way to the door. “I'll be right over.”

-----

You frowned as Peter opened the door. There were deep circles under his eyes, and his eyes were red and puffy.

You pulled him into a hug without thinking about it, but you knew it was the right thing to do when you felt him relax into your arms.

“Thank you for coming over so quickly.”

You squeezed his hand gently. “Of course, Peter.”

He led you to May's bedroom. She was laying in bed, staring up at the ceiling, and although she did look like she had a bad case of the flu, she looked normal aside from that.

“Hi, May.” You said softly, and her eyes lit up as she saw you.

“There's my favorite daughter!” She exclaimed cheerfully.

“I'm your only daughter.” You teased, sinking into the seat beside her that you could tell had previously been occupied by Peter.

“And that makes you my favorite.” May took one of your hands in her own, and she frowned when she saw the pale strip of skin on your ring finger where your wedding ring used to be. “Peter, can you go make me some soup?”

Peter looked like he suddenly realized that May was not nearly as sick as he had originally believed, but he nodded and disappeared from the room without a word.

You narrowed your eyes at Aunt May. “Peter made it sound like you were really, really sick.”

“I am sick.” Aunt May said indignantly. “But that boy is a mess without you, __y/n__.”

“You let him think you were more sick than you actually were so he would call me, didn't you?”

Aunt May dismissed you with a wave of her hand. “It sounds so evil when you say it like that. But yes, I did exaggerate my coughing and my temperature a smidge.”

“You really scared him, May.” You scolded her gently.

“I know. But I needed to talk to you.”

“You could've just called me. You know I'd be here in a heartbeat if you needed me.”

“I needed to talk to both of you, and I need you to talk to each other. I might be fine this time around, but I'm not going to live forever, and I want to meet my grandkids.”

Your cheeks flushed. “May, Peter doesn't want kids.”

May clucked her tongue. “Yes, he does. He said he didn't because he's terrified of not being able to protect you or your kids.”

“He-what? Are you sure?”

May nodded, and you immediately stormed into the kitchen.

“Is is true?” You asked angrily, hopeful tears brimming in your eyes.

“Is what true?” Peter fidgeted nervously as he looked at you.

“You do want kids, and you told me you didn't because you're afraid you won't be able to protect us?”

Peter sighed, running a hand down his face. “Yes.”

“I hate you so much.” You hissed, crossing the room and pulling him into a fierce kiss. Peter was too stunned to respond, and you couldn't believe you had forgotten how right kissing Peter felt.

“You're sending me very mixed signals.” Peter murmured as you broke the kiss. His cheeks were bright red.

“You are such an idiot.” Peter opened his mouth to protest, and you shushed him. “We are a team, Peter. You're supposed to trust me. You're supposed to tell me the truth so we don't almost get a fucking divorce”

“I'm sorry.” Peter murmured quietly. “I was just scared.”

“That's why you need to talk to me, Pete.”

“I will. From now on, nothing but the truth.”

“Good.” You said, beaming at him before pulling him into a hug and nuzzling into his neck. “I missed you so much.”

“I missed you too.” Peter whispered into your hair. “I'm really sorry.”

“I know. But, fair warning, I’m never going to stop bringing up how you almost DESTROYED OUR MARRIAGE, especially to our kids.”

Peter groaned in feigned annoyance before your words registered. “You still want to have kids with me?”

You rolled your eyes. “I told you I'd always love you, Peter. Of course I still want to have kids with you.”

You weren't expecting the tears that started dripping down Peter's cheeks at your words.

“I love you so much.” Peter didn't let you respond before his hands were on your hips, and he tugged you into a deep kiss. “I don't deserve you.”

“Yes you do.” You disagreed immediately.

“I broke your heart.” Peter said, and just saying the words made him feel sick.

“You broke your own, too.” You pointed out before cupping his cheeks and making him look at you. “Peter, you were just doing what you thought was best. Obviously I disagree with the way you did it, and it'll take some time before we're back to normal, but it's okay. We're gonna be okay.” You assured him, succeeding in making him cry harder.

You let Peter cry against your shoulder, stroking his hair soothingly, until he seemed to run out of tears.

“I'm so sorry.” Peter said again, and you gave him a soft smile.

“I told you Pete, it's okay.” You pressed a sweet kiss to his salty lips. “I'm glad I can kiss you again. I really missed that.”

“Me too.” Peter murmured softly, digging around in the pocket of his sweatpants before pulling out your wedding ring. “May I?” He asked, holding it at the tip of your ring finger.

You nodded before asking breathlessly “You kept my wedding ring in your pocket?”.

Peter smiled sheepishly as he slid it onto your finger. “I wanted to have it in case I needed it.”

You felt several tears escape from your eyes at the gesture. “I love you. I can't believe we're finally going to start a family together.”

“I love you too.” Peter responded, his eyes brighter and happier than you remembered ever seeing them before. “Wanna go practice?” Peter asked, wiggling his eyebrows suggestively and trying to make you laugh.

You playfully smacked his arm at the same time Aunt May called out “I heard that!”, anyway.

Peter rolled his eyes and turned off the stove, pouring May’s soup into a bowl before bringing it to her on a tray.

You could hear muffled angry whispers between the two before May loudly exclaimed “I just saved your marriage and I'm the bad guy?”

You fought the grin from sneaking up on your face as Peter sheepishly trudged back into the kitchen.

“May said now that we're done being idiots, we can leave.”

You chuckled and laced your fingers through his as you made your way to the door.

“Don't come back unless you're pregnant!” May hollered from her bedroom.

Your and Peter's cheeks flushed immediately.

“May!” Peter whined, hastily opening the front door and gently pushing you through it before slamming it behind him. “Sorry about that.”

You shrugged and pulled him into a kiss. Peter kissed you back immediately, his large hands cupping your cheeks while you stepped closer so that you were flush against him.

“I guess we'd better start practicing.” You purred, and Peter's eyes widened before darkening.

“If that's what you want.” Peter said breathlessly, and you smiled mischievously as you began walking towards the subway.

“You'll find out once we get home.” You called out over your shoulder, and your world was turned upside down as Peter snuck up from behind you and tossed you over his shoulder.

He started running, and you just chuckled at his impatience, admiring the view.

“I can feel you staring at my ass, you know.” Peter said smugly, and you rolled your eyes.

“So? It's not like you mind.”

“It's just very flattering, that's all. My view is pretty good too.” Peter said teasingly, and you bit down a moan as Peter's hand smoothed your skirt down.

“Will you just hurry up and get us home?”

“Yes, ma'am. Or should I say Mrs. Parker?”

“I never stopped being Mrs. Parker.” You answered softly, even as your heart swelled at his words.

As you arrived at the subway, Peter finally deposited you on your feet in front of him. There was a gentle smile on his face. “I know. It’s just nice to be able to call you that again.”

“It’s nice to be called that again.” You agreed and laced your fingers with his, pressing a chaste kiss to his lips. You were practically sitting on Peter’s lap the entire ride home, impatiently waiting to get back to your apartment.

You and Peter bolted out of the subway the second the train stopped.

“I’ll race you home!” You singsonged, sprinting ahead of Peter. Peter groaned and started running too, but he was panting and huffing as he finally reached the door to the apartment, where you were waiting.

“You’ve gotten slow.” You teased, gently poking his round tummy.

Peter’s cheeks flushed. “It’s been...really tough without you.” Peter admitted, crossing his arms over his stomach. “I’ll get back in shape soon.”

You frowned and uncrossed his arms, splaying your fingers across his stomach possessively. “Who said anything about that? I like the tummy. A lot.”

“Oh. Really?” Peter asked hopefully, his eyes wide, and you leaned in to peck his lips.

“Yes, really. Now unlock the door. There’s another part of you that I like a lot and would love to reacquaint myself with.”

Peter’s hands were shaking as he tried to put the key in the lock. You pressed your chest against his back and helped him insert the key.

“Relax, Peter, it’s just me.” You said soothingly, and Peter swallowed roughly before turning the key and pushing the door open.

“What if I mess up again?” Peter asked softly, dropping onto the bed with a sigh as you shut and locked the door behind you. “I can’t lose you again.”

“You’re going to mess up.” You admitted, and Peter’s face fell. “I will too. We’re only human, and everyone makes mistakes sometimes.” You climbed onto his lap, delighting in the way his hands instantly wound around your waist. “But you’re stuck with me. I won’t be leaving again if I can help it.”

Peter smiled and ran his fingers through your hair before pulling you into a needy kiss. “I love you.”

“I love you too.” You murmured back, and you were pleasantly surprised when Peter flipped you over and began inching his way down your body.

“Let me show you how much.”

“I’m gonna be pregnant by the end of the night, aren’t I?” You asked, your head feeling warm and dizzy at the prospect.

“That is the plan, yes.” Peter answered teasingly and began pressing kisses to your inner thighs.

“Can’t wait.” You breathed out, feeling incredibly excited to start this new chapter of your life with Peter.

You couldn’t wait to start a family with Peter, and although it was happening a few years later than you originally planned on, you were so unbelievably happy that it was finally happening.

End. <3

[elisaphoenix13]

Saving The Parents

Tony woke with a pounding head and blurred vision, and absolutely no idea where he was. When his vision cleared though, his watch and sunglasses were missing and he found himself on some unforgiving concrete flooring.  Every bone and muscle in his body was protesting having to lay on a hard surface that he probably hadn't even been on for more than ten minutes.

A quick look around his concrete prison revealed that he was alone and that was what made his heart clench. He was with Stephen when (Tony assumed) they were drugged and grabbed on their way to a charity gala, and his husband was nowhere to be seen. It was unlikely that they only took the engineer. Even dumbass kidnappers would know to use the sorcerer against him. It wasn't exactly a secret that they were married. Tony just really hoped that Peter was still safe at home.

Shit, he fell deep into the parenting hole. Here he was, being held hostage for some asinine reason, and he was worrying about Peter. That wasn't bad but he felt that unless he had evidence that the teen was in danger, he should be worrying more about himself and Stephen. Definitely Stephen. He didn't care about himself right now. He needed to know where the sorcerer was and if he was okay.

He found out about ten minutes later that the doctor was not okay. The door to his windowless room slammed open and Stephen was thrown in where he fell to the ground in a bloody heap. The door was closed before Tony could get a look at their captors, so he turned his focus back onto his bleeding husband.

"Fuck."

That single word was an enormous understatement for their situation. When Tony managed to crawl over to the motionless sorcerer, he felt bile rise in his throat when he saw the man's injuries. Stephen was undoubtedly tortured for either information he didn't have or even just because he was married to the billionaire, and that thought made Tony swallow back his body's second attempt to vomit.

He tears open the doctor's bloodied shirt to find the worst of the injuries and he shrugs off his blazer to apply pressure to worst of what looked to be stab wounds. It definitely wasn't the only way Stephen was tortured. There were burn marks everywhere he could see skin, his hair was wet, and there were lash marks--

"Oh baby...I'm so sorry, and it's going to suck, but I really need you to wake up." Tony says as he lightly slaps Stephen's cheek. Thankfully, the sorcerer does wake up but the engineer's heart breaks when he comes to with a whimper. "I know. I know. I need you to focus your magic on your wounds and heal yourself. That's a thing right?"

"Don't..." Stephen mumbles incoherently. "...sleep..."

"No. No! No sleeping! You will not wake up! You're bleeding too much!" Tony panics until Stephen weakly reaches up and grabs his bicep.

"Tony. Don't let me sleep." He chokes out. "Not...not until I...heal myself."

Tony nods and watches carefully over the next (what felt like) hour as the worst of Stephen's wounds close, only having to lightly smack the sorcerer back to attention twice. When Stephen finally finished, and vocalized the fact, Tony gently pulls him toward the far wall and sits against it, letting Stephen lay his head in his lap. The sorcerer fell asleep in seconds.

In the midst of Tony's panic, he didn't fail to notice that Stephen was tech free as well. He really wanted to know if the sorcerer knew what was going on, but he didn't have the heart to ask him anything when he was in so much pain. Something Tony would fight to never let happen again. If their captors came back thinking they could just take Stephen again, they had another thing coming.

Tony sat there for a long time. He couldn't say how long, since there were no windows to show if it was night or day, hell, he didn't even know if it was still the same day they were taken. He may very well have been out for twenty-four hours and their captors got sick of waiting and took Stephen while he was unconscious. He was getting tired again but he wouldn't sleep. Not when Stephen was vulnerable.

It was hard anyway because the concrete floor and wall were hurting his ass and digging into his back. There would be no sleep for him

_______________

Wrong. Wrong. Wrong.

Peter wanted to yell at his spider senses because he knew something was wrong. Tony and Stephen never came home from the party or whatever it was they went to and for once, Peter wished his parents had shoved him into a three piece suit and made him go with them. They hadn't called or texted with a change of plans, something they always did, so the teen's worry was through the roof. It actually took him a good hour to even think about telling the team and tracking his parents after he woke up that morning and found their bed empty. He asked FRIDAY if they had gone somewhere, but the AI stated they never came home.

So now the team was sitting silently in the living room while both FRIDAY and Victor tracked their corresponding humans, and Peter alternated between pacing and sitting to bite his thumb. The biting was quickly stopped by Bucky who would pull his hand away whenever Peter's fingers inched toward the teen's mouth and the former sergeant ignored the glares directed at him. So the vigilante stuck to pacing until FRIDAY finally spoke up.

"I managed to track Boss and the doctor approximately ten miles from town but then something interfered with the equipment."

"Look for any bunkers or warehouses near where you lost the signal." Rhodey orders.

"Sending satellite images to the tablet now." FRIDAY responds.

Rhodey picks up Tony's tablet from the coffee table before Peter can, and pulls up a hologram of the pictures. "These are all legitimate bases for SHIELD and...wait..." The colonel zooms in on a group of trees to show a well hidden part of a building. "FRIDAY...is that building still abandoned?"

"Yes Colonel. No one has bought it yet."

"That's our best bet. We'll take the Quinjet."

"Alright. Everybody suit up. Bruce stay here in case they might need medical attention." Steve orders and Bruce nods before leaving to stand-by in med-bay.

Rhodey turns to Peter when the teen's suit covers him. "Peter--"

"You can't leave me behind!" Peter blurts.

"I know kid. I just want you to promise that if I tell you to leave...then you leave. Alright? I'm responsible for you right now." Rhodey says calmly.

"Yeah...okay. I promise. I swear." The teen agrees and the colonel claps him on the shoulder.

"Good. Let's go get our idiots."

_________________

Their captors really were stupid enough to try to take Stephen away again, and Tony lost it. The moment the sorcerer was forcibly pulled from him, the engineer jumped to his feet and punched the man who held the sorcerer. He barely had enough time to stop his husband's imminent fall to the harsh ground and set him against the wall before the other men were swarming him and he was fighting again. When (not if, he told himself) they got out of here, Tony was going to thank Happy and Rhodey for forcing him to train with them (and eventually Clint and Natasha) so he didn't rely on his Iron Man armor.

Unfortunately his training only went so far when he was surrounded by four mini-hulks that were barely fazed when he hit them. Tony was pretty sure he was hurting himself more than them and the only reason the first guy dropped Stephen was probably because he was surprised Tony fought back. It was all short-lived when one of the men yanked Tony into a very tight chokehold and another grabbed the half-conscious sorcerer off the floor and held a knife up to him.

"Are you kidding me?!" Tony shouts. "Haven't you done enough to him? What is this about anyway? Money? Information?"

"Revenge." The billionaire's captor growls into his ear before pulling out a gun and shooting Stephen.

Tony yells out in alarm when blue eyes start to dull when the man holding the sorcerer throws him to the ground, and he freezes back up when the gun is turned on him.

"Revenge for those your weapons have killed or maimed." His captor continues. "So we will make you watch us slowly kill those you care about. Now that your husband is at death's door, we'll be going after your kid next."

The engineer fights to get out of the man's grasp. "Let me go!"

"No, Stark. You're going to stand here an watch him die."

Tony's anxiety went through the roof. One of his worst nightmares was coming true and there was nothing he could do. He couldn't call for his suit, or the team since he didn't have any of his tech, he wasn't strong enough to fight off the other men, and he had never felt so helpless in his life. Not even in Afghanistan. At least there he had a chance.

The screeching of metal breaks Tony out if his trance and the door to the room flies open to reveal a very angry Spiderman. White lenses look at Tony briefly and then turn to the dying sorcerer on the ground...and instantly turn black with red in the center. Instant kill mode. Peter was going to go against his personal standards for his own revenge. Tony couldn't let that happen.

"No! Humans! They're humans! You kill them then you're just lowering yourself to their level!"

Tony had never been so relieved to see white lenses come back. He was even more relieved when the vigilante turned his attention on the men in the room after webbing the gun out of the hand of Tony's captor, and knocked them all out. Peter's mask falls from his face, and both he and Tony rush to Stephen's side where Peter covers the sorcerer's gunshot wound with a compression web. Stephen was breathing heavily and when he coughed, some blood speckled the floor.

"E-Exit...wound..." Stephen gasps out.

Tony turns his husband onto his side as carefully as possible and almost sobs when he doesn't find one. Stephen couldn't heal himself if the bullet was still inside him.

The engineer turns him back to his regular position and gently cups his face. "We'll get you out of here. So you better stay awake."

Peter nods and holds back the threatening tears. "The others are here. We brought the Quinjet. I told them where we are so they're on their way."

"Peter..." Stephen whispers as he reaches up and pulls the boy's head down to his chest.

"You'll be okay Mum...please be okay..." Peter cries into the doctor's chest until Stephen's grip loosens and he looks up with red eyes to find blue eyes closing. "No!"

"Stephen! Stay awake!" Tony yells frantically.

The rest of the team arrive just as Stephen's hand falls to the ground and his eyes close, and Bucky rushes forward to pull the distressed teen away from the sorcerer. While he and Rhodey fight to keep Tony and Peter in their arms, Wanda and Steve move the unresponsive doctor out of the room and to the Quinjet. When Stephen was out of sight, the teen cried out his emotional pain that even Bucky got misty-eyed as he continued to hold the struggling boy back.

"He can't die! HE CAN'T DIE!"

_______________________

Tony and Rhodey exit the master bedroom and the billionaire shudders as he rubs his hand over his mouth, and his best friend leads him into the living room where the rest of the team was waiting. Stephen was rushed to the med-bay where Bruce and a few other doctors were waiting, and since Peter was still frantic, Rhodey had to sedate him. It was the only way to calm the boy down. He would have made himself sick if they let him wait for news about the sorcerer. Tony was barely hanging on as it was.

"Here." Natasha says as she hand over his and Stephen's missing tech. "We found them in one of the rooms. They had something built to scramble their signal."

Tony ignores his paranoia about being handed things and takes them. "Thanks Romanov." He mutters.

"He'll be okay." She says.

The engineer blinks back tears. "Will he? I watched him get shot! Bleed out! I watched my kid cry from fear of losing another parent and there was nothing I could do!" He shouts.

"Tones...dont make me put you down too."

Tony scoffs and slumps into an armchair. They all spent the next few hours in complete silence since the mechanic was refusing to respond to any of them. He just wanted to wait for news whether it was bad or good. The fact that Bruce was doing surgery meant Stephen had a chance of surviving, even if it was the slightest one.

Tony would take what he could get.

"Tony."

The billionaire's head snaps up from its resting place in his hands and he finds Bruce standing in front of the elevator. He and the rest of the team stand up as he walks over and the scientist rubs the back of his neck.

"It was touch and go for a while...but he'll be okay. Stephen will be okay." Tony covers his face and nearly collapses from relief as Bruce continues. "Peter saved his life."

"He saved both of our lives--"

"No...Tony...that compression web saved Stephen's life. Without it, he would have died either before leaving the building or enroute. Strange would not have made it to the tower otherwise."

"How long until my wife wakes up?" Tony asks quietly.

"An hour at least."

"Peter should be up soon. I'll go wait for him first then we'll go down to med-bay."

Bruce nods and makes his way back to the elevator to go back down to med-bay and Tony fights through his relieved trembles to walk back to the master bedroom. Tony opens the door and steps through, quietly closing the door behind him and walks over to the bed to sit next to Peter. He only had to wait another twenty minutes for the teen to wake up and doe-like eyes blink up at him.

"You drugged me." Peter mutters accusingly.

"Actually Uncle Rhodey did, but he just wanted to help." 

Peter plays with a stray thread on the comforter. "I-Is...is it just us now?" He whispers and Tony could tell he was desperately trying not to cry again so he reassured him with a small smile.

"No baby...Mom is going to be okay. You saved his life with your webs."

Peter looks back at him. "Can we see him?"

"Yeah. We might have to wait a while for him to wake up but we can sit with him if you want."

Peter nods and shuffles after his father once he climbs out of the bed, and Tony says nothing when the teen softly grabs the back of his shirt when they step onto the elevator. It was a simple reassurance for Peter that although Stephen was going to be okay, that Tony was still there and safe. When the elevator opened on the med floor, Tony leads his son into Stephen's room and only falters for half a second when he finds the sorcerer connected to a few more things than he was used to seeing when the team got severely injured. Peter didn't seem to notice the slight hesitation and Tony was grateful. He needed to look strong for Peter.

"Why don't we watch a movie while we wait for him to wake up?"

Peter simply nods and they drag a couple of seats over to Stephen's bed and they sit down to watch Ratatouille. About half an hour into the movie, the two jump when the sorcerer grumbles.

"If any of you cook with the help of a rodent, tell me now."

Tony and Peter jump to their feet, sending their chairs sliding back a couple of inches and they move closer to hover over the occupied bed. Stephen reaches up once again to cup Peter's cheek and smiles softly.

"I'm sorry for scaring you cub."

"You're so grounded." Peter replies with a wet chuckle and Stephen responds in kind.

"He's not the only one you scared asshole."

"Oh right. Myself. How could I forget?"

"You're hurt. I'm going to let that slide." Tony says as he leans down and kisses his husband. "On a scale from one to ten, one being hit by a truck and ten being held in the fiery pits of hell, how do you feel?"

"You don't believe in hell."

"Answer the question."

"Four. Hit by a truck and set on fire."

Peter frowns. "Should we get Bruce?"

Stephen smiles. "No. I'm healing myself as we speak." Both Tony and Peter open their mouths to tell him not to push himself but the sorcerer seemed to know what they were going to say. "Slowly. I won't overdo it. Peter, come cuddle while you can before Bruce comes back."

The teen laughs and carefully climbs on the bed to lay next to the sorcerer and Tony returns to his seat, with Stephen's hand in his. They return their attention to the movie, and Stephen falls asleep ten minutes into the second one when Bruce comes back to check on his patient. He opens his mouth when he finds Peter snuggled into Stephen's side, calmly watching the new movie, but decides to say nothing since the doctor was resting. Having Peter on the bed was probably Stephen's idea anyway. Those two were nearly attached to the hip. This family always found comfort with each other and he wasn't about to stop it.

"Don't you get tired of watching Disney movies and Star Wars?" Bruce asks instead.

Peter let out the most offended gasp in the history of America.

[myfavouritelunatic]

Your Strength

My first ever Duncan Shepherd one shot! This came out of nowhere, so I hope you all enjoy it!

Pairing: Duncan Shepherd x Reader

Word Count: Just under 1.5k

Warnings: Self-harm, blood, depression, cutting, suicide. Yeah it's a little dark kids sorry about that. Please be wary!

Otherwise this piece is pure fluff, no smut to be found. Unless anyone wants a part two...?

You heard the door slam, jolting you out of your melancholic stupor. Your face was stained with damp trails of black mascara and eyeliner marking your cheeks, eyes stinging from all of those painful tears that had forced their way out of you. You didn’t want to cry, but the heartache had been too much to bear. The worst part of it all? Nothing had triggered this. No one had left you, had gotten sick, or died. You were simply, sad. It was the only way you knew how to be, the only way you could function. Sure you could smile, but it wasn’t the truth. Just a mask you held up to the world in order to live in it, in order to get along.

You heard footsteps then, familiar sounds on the floorboards, echoing off the walls. They belonged to someone you knew very well, and the only person that could do anything to ease your pain. Duncan. You glanced up from where your head rested buried by your arms, and watched as he frantically entered the room. His eyes found you and he called out your name, panicked. “God, I was so worried…” he swiftly moved to where you were huddled up on the floor next to the bed, taking you in his arms. Duncan was your shield, your armour. With him around you, beside you, you felt untouchable. He even gave you hope that you could be cured of your sadness, not just learn to live with it. “Why didn’t you answer your phone? You can’t do that. That’s not okay.” he spoke commandingly, kissing the top of your head.

“I’m s-sorry...” you mumbled through a sob, barely keeping it together. “I just…. j-just didn’t know w-when you were coming back… I didn’t know what to do…”

Duncan suddenly pulled away from you in shock. “Your arms. Show me your arms.” You shook your head furiously, despite knowing where this was heading. He sighed, calming down, catching himself in his agitated state. He knows his love for you can lead him to heightened states of emotion, especially when your wellbeing is involved. And that wasn’t always what was best for you. He calmly said your name, holding his concern in his eyes gazing across at you. “Baby, show me your arms. Please.”

You closed your eyes tightly, biting hard on your bottom lip, trying to resist his request as much as you could. But by taking one more look at his angelic face, you surrendered, and slowly revealed yourself to him. The sight of your blood and the thin cuts from which it had come made Duncan gasp. “No no no no no baby what did you do? Jesus fuck!” You watched as tears formed quickly then fell just as fast from his eyes. “Cmon, come this way!” he said, picking you up and carrying you through your bedroom to the en suite. Duncan gently laid you down in the bath tub, and turned on the taps. The water ran hot over your wounds, stinging, the blood melting away. It wasn’t long before more blood appeared though, a couple of your cuts had run deeper than you previously thought. You looked over at Duncan and he was rifling through the medicine cabinet, obtaining what he needed to help you. You apologized to him when he came back over and immediately began tending to your gashes.

He sniffled. “It’s okay baby. I… I know you weren’t serious.” He stared at you intently, holding your attention. “If you’d cut properly we wouldn’t be having this conversation.” Your lips trembled as he spoke those words, and your sobs returned. “I’m such a fuck up, Duncan… I don’t know what to do anymore…” He applied pressure to your arms to stop the bleeding. But it felt more like he was clinging onto you, as if he was about to lose you, and he never wanted to let you go. He was still crying. “I’ve got you, okay? I’m not going anywhere. You are not escaping my sight, do you hear me?”

“But what about your work?”

“Fuck it. It doesn’t matter. You. You are the only thing that matters to me.” Duncan took that moment to steal a kiss from you, and it was soft, reassuring. There was always something in the way he kissed that brought you back down to earth, and told you everything was going to be okay. He rested his forehead against yours, and you heard yourself sigh in relief for the first time in a long time. The two of you just sat there in silence for ages. The only sounds heard in the room were the bath water, and the two of you breathing. Duncan kissed you again tenderly and whispered, “Let’s take a look shall we?” You nodded and kissed him back. He gently lifted up the gauze from your skin, revealing the calm that followed the storm: the bleeding had stopped. Duncan responded happily, and your face lit up as you saw his wonderful smile emerge. “Thank goodness.” He took your hands up to his mouth, brushing his lips against them sweetly. You managed a small smile at the sight, despite being overcome with joy internally, you were still too weak physically to give him anything else. But he was your strength, and that was all you needed.

Duncan began to wipe some disinfectant over the wounds, causing you to wince continuously. “So tomorrow,” he began, “I think, I need to whisk you away somewhere. A place you’ve never been perhaps? Somewhere romantic maybe? Paris? London? Prague?”

That small smile of yours grew ever so slightly. “Well that is one way to my heart, Mr. Shepherd.”

“Then it’s settled. Just pick the city and we are there.”

“However, I think the best way to my heart right now, is you, me, our bed, and a heap of 80’s movies and junk food to last at least the next 48 hours.”

He snickered at your suggestion, sighing contently. “Well if that’s what my lady wants, then that is what she shall get.” You were grinning now, almost able to see that cure on the horizon. Duncan finished fixing your wounds by wrapping them up in bandages, leaving the rest up to nature. “Okay let’s get you out of this bath and into some fresh clothes.” He left the bathroom and returned promptly with your favourite pyjamas. You placed your arms around him as he lifted you up out of the bath. Then you stood there shivering slightly, the damp clothes chilling you. Duncan removed them piece by piece until nothing remained. Then he hastily grabbed the nearest towel and wrapped it around you, helping to dry you off and keep you warm.

Granted this wasn’t as fun as the previous times he’s undressed you, but it was arguably the most romantic. A part of you always doubted Duncan’s true feelings for you, despite you knowing full well that he loved you with everything he had. Maybe it was the depression talking, or maybe it was the reputation of one Duncan Shepherd that preceded him. Quite the playboy he was before you came along. And you never fully believed you were worthy of such a man. A woman to end the life of a hard to pin down bachelor, and one with bucket loads of money to boot. Regardless it was this briefest of moments that made you start to realise that he truly did love you. You stood there, naked and shivering before him, and he didn’t make it sexual in any way. Sure it really didn’t seem like much, not exactly the type of behaviour that deserved a medal, but to you it spoke volumes.

He held you close to him as your body dried off, warmth returning to you. Again the two of you just remained still like this for ages, simply content with the simplicity of the moment. But after a while, there was a desire for your pyjamas and blankets, so Duncan helped dress you before leading you out of the bathroom, and into your bed. The pair of you got comfy against the mountain of pillows against the headboard, your legs entwined with one another. Duncan picked up the TV remote, loading up Netflix. “I pick the movie, you pick the food?” he whispered softly.

“Sounds like a good deal. Pizza?” you offered.

Duncan smiled down at you. “Done. Ferris Bueller’s Day Off?”

“Done!” you agreed excitedly. He kissed your forehead, pulling you closer to him. He hit play on the remote and picked up his phone to order the pizza. You sighed happily once more, feeling your strength all around you. Maybe the cure was here all along.

Tagging: @pizzadeliveryboypewds @langdoncontusions @fallenangel4996 @lovelylangdonx @queencocoakimmie @langdonsdemon @ceejay1163 @kinlovecody @lxngdonscoven

[romanwrites]

Cracked Up

ch.1

Bram breathed out, his eyes flickering between the alleyways, watching as the guards made their rounds. The cold air was crisp against his skin. The leather jacket across his shoulders wasn’t stopping the cold, and neither was the hoodie under it. He found himself shivering, his breath little clouds in front of him. It didn’t help that he was on a roof, higher in the air, and with less to break the wind blowing into him.

The things he did for the safety of this town. He sighed, rubbing his hands together.

A drug bust wasn’t going to be easy. There had been plenty of people who had tried, and their success rate wasn’t very high. In fact, with this group, the success rate was a big, fat, ugly, whopping zero. Hell, even the police and the ASMID were having trouble with this particular group. The Backlash was a group of an unknown origin. In New Vin, they had appeared at the same time the new drug had—a drug that was somehow giving Norms new powers. Strong new powers.  

In front of the warehouse, there was no one around besides the two guards. The damn men should know better than to have so little security. Bram glanced at the moon, watching as a dark cloud began to hide it and took that moment to jump down. He rolled to spread the hit of the ground. He really didn’t want to break a limb. It wasn’t fun. The two guards hadn’t even heard him. They merrily continued on their own way. Sloppy, he hummed, before grabbing two gravel stone, whispering softly to them. They sped out of his hand and slammed into the back of the guards' neck. Knockout, he grinned.  

He brushed the dirt off of his jacket, plunging his hands into his hoodie pockets as he ran to the next building. He leaned close to the door, humming as he pushed it off of its hinges. He didn’t know if he should be grateful there were a lot of people in the main room or scared out of his wits. He went with the hidden third option: he was pretty fucking excited.

The looks that everyone gave him were confusing, to say the least. They looked surprised but also not? Like they had been expecting someone, but not some five-foot-three teen wearing a hoodie and a jacket. Bram knew he was short. He wasn’t mad. In fact, if he was an adult and saw some short kid inside of an abandoned warehouse where there were obviously some not-so-legal things going on, he’d be hella surprised, too. But he’s not, so he isn’t, and he takes advantage of that. He yanked his hands out of the hoodie and places them on the cold concrete beneath. “Come on, come on, move.” The concrete begins to shift, curving as it began to liquify, swallowing the men in the room. The sight brought a smile to the corners of Bram's mouth. It was nice, having things he could rely on. There's movement behind him, and he knows that he really shouldn’t take his chance with this, so he takes off, grinning as the concrete below him solidifies so that he can make his way across the room without having to worry about sinking in. Heat hit the bottom of his shoe and he hisses, biting his lip as he looked at one of the men inside of the concrete. The man scowled at him, and Bram winks. Fire was a common power. But damn, did the man not have reach.  

The man shot another wave of heat at him, and before Bram can even utter a word, the concrete shot up and covered for him. He patted it and smiles, "Thanks." The concrete rumbles, obviously pleased, and he laughs. Being polite could get you a long way, even with inanimate objects. He continued his pursuit, looking around for the staircase. There's a second floor. The windows on the roof told him so, but the matter was finding it. The rooms on that floor were oh-so-obviously meant for the big-boss, and he was going to find it. It was just a matter of time. But his time was beginning to cut short. Soon, the police would be arriving after the tip-off he gave them and that meant that he was going to have to speed it up if he didn't want to get caught with the thugs' downstairs. After all, using powers and being a "vigilante" was illegal. But hey, only a criminal if you get caught. And he wasn’t going to be, no matter how much the police hated him. Honestly, it was just a big game for him. This was nothing. Nothing but fun, at least.

When he spotted the stairs, he grinned. Now, this was what he was going for. Bounding up them two-by-two, he landed at the top. There's a wide hallway, void of the many people that were on the bottom floor. It was a little... too quiet. He found himself frowning as he began to walk into the hallway. The tap-tap-tap his boots were making against the floor made him skittish. This was definitely not how this was supposed to be going for him. The fact that there was no one around him made him wonder, was he even in the right place? But this was definitely where he had been told about. This was the meeting place, the rendezvous place. But now that he thought about it, he hadn't really seen any of the boxes that were supposed to be filled with the drug. In fact, there hadn't been any boxes to begin with. What the hell was going on?

As he walked through the hallway, he heard the small cry coming from a room he had passed. He paused, frowning as he pulled the police baton form where it was hanging on his jeans. He breathed slow, opening the door slowly so that he's able to see what's going on. There's a lot of things he expected to be behind the door. Drugs, the big boss, more goonies, however... A child wasn't one of them. Her hair was a dark brown and she made more noise – strangled, muffled, hurt – once she noticed him. Her hands were tied behind her back and she had tear streaks running down her cheeks. It hurt his heart just to look at her. He walked slowly to her, keeping cautious in case of there being someone other than them in the room. It didn't seem like it, but that wasn't something he trusted.  

Once he reached her, he crossed behind her, and then leaned to her hands and the ropes encasing them. He whispered, "Release." He watched as the ropes began to untwine and then fall to the ground in a heap. Then he then turned his attention to the clothe gag that was in the girl's mouth. He untied it as quickly as he could. Once he managed to untie her, the little girl’s cries were no longer muffled.

She jumped from her seat and grasped onto him. He shifted awkwardly. He didn't even know this girl; didn't know how long she was here for. As she kept on hugging him, though, he wrapped his arms around her in an attempt to calm her down. Her tears were soaking his hoodie after all. It was his favorite hoodie, too. He was not going to get it ruined like this. "Shh," He said, in an attempt to calm her.  

It hurt. Her soft sobs against his shoulder wracked through her body. She trembled, and clinged tightly, so, so tightly, and it was only because of the kindness he showed her. Who had been hurting her? It made his blood boil, made him angry. She was a child and she was reduced to nothing but fear. It rolled off of her in waves, and each stuttering breathe she took made his stomach clench tighter and tighter.  

But he knew he couldn’t stay here long. As much as he would like to sit there and comfort her, let her rest and breathe for a while, the cops were coming. And he knew that despite how much they acted like they were amazing; the police force wasn’t the most morally inept group. The things they were good were good at was putting people behind bars; whether they were good people or not. Innocent until proven guilty, they said. Guilty until proven rich, is what they mean.

Pushing a hand through her curly locks, the brown strands slip through his fingers gently. “Come on, now.” He whispers, gentle, as he picks her up. “We’ve gotta leave, okay?” He balanced on his arm, holding her tight. “Hold onto me, okay?” He felt her head move against his shoulder and took it as an ‘okay.’ Sirens could be heard outside of the building, and he couldn’t be more thankful that they were on the other side of the building and not at the front. He found himself speed walking to the wall, and pressing his hand against it. As if sensing his intentions, the wall spread apart, reconstructing itself into stairs. It seemed even it wanted him to leave.

Bounding down the stairs two at a time, feeling her hair bounce up and down, tickling against his chin, he wonders, for the first time, what the hell am I doing? With a child in one arm, a mask covering the bottom half of his face, and stairs that were reconstructing from a wall beneath his feet, it’s strange. How did this become his norm? He wasn’t complaining, not really. He’s happy he’s rescuing this little girl, he’s happy that no one can tell who he is, and he’s definitely thankful for his power, but damn it, he was only 18. What the hell?

Before he can let his mind spiral even more, he reaches the last stair, and hops off it. He can only hope that the alleyways behind the building doesn’t lead to dead ends. Not like those would stop him anyway.

[fandomblues]

Friends Help Each Other [Peter Hale]

Fandom ; Teen Wolf

Pairings ; Peter Hale x Werewolf!Reader

Summary ; You need a little help with dealing with your heat. Being the stubborn person you are, you refuse to approach any of your friends for help. Good thing you aren’t exactly friends with Peter. 

Warning(s) ; oral sex, unprotected sexual intercourse (wrap it before you tap it, kids!), swearing 

Word Count ; 3.0k+

Author’s Note ; Hello! This is my second piece of writing after a really long time (the first one was posted almost a year ago i think??) and also my first smut, so bear with me; i'm a little new to all of this! I was working on this quite a few months ago before I stopped due to school and I continued this a couple of days before so the back part might be a littttlllleee different. I also only proof read this once so it might be a little crappy lol. Constructive criticism is much appreciated! Enjoy xx

masterlist

You were trying your best to concentrate on what Harris was droning on about. You screwed your eyes shut, anxiously rubbing your legs together to try and soothe the dull ache between your legs. You could feel the sweat trickling down your forehead. It was a cool day so there should not have been a reason for you to feel so warm, but you were in heat.

You craved attention from a real human being; not just your hand. You had attempted to get yourself off for hours the night before, but nothing worked. After recovering from a high, the ache returned and you were back to feeling displeasured and needy.

"L/N!"

Your head shot up and you gazed at your chemistry teacher, disorientated. "Would you be so kind as to tell me the factors that affect the rate of collision between particles?"

You looked back down at your open textbook, which wasn't even on the correct page. You opened your mouth and stuttered out an "uhh" rather unintelligibly. Harris narrowed his eyebrows. "L/N," he yelled. "Tell me the factors that affects the rate of collision between particles," he repeated.

When he realized you were unable to answer, he let out an exaggerated sigh of disappointment. "This is the kind of stupidity I deal with everyday," Harris began as he walked down the aisle of the lab.

"Yo, Y/N, are you alright?" Stiles asked from behind you. You felt his hand touch your shoulder and you immediately tensed up. You had never felt any sort of romantic attraction towards Stiles, yet a simple gesture of concern from the boy left you breathless.

"I need to... n-need to... need to....,"

You stood up, dragging the chair against the floor with an ear-piercing screech. Harris paused in his speech and glared at you indignantly. "Sit down, Miss L/N, before I decide to give you detention for the next week," he snapped.

You ignored your teacher and gathered your things in a hurry before rushing out the class. Behind you, you could hear Stiles calling out your name; though he was silenced by your teacher very quickly.

You ran down the hallway, shoes squeaking against the floor. You had to get home, you made a beeline towards your car, hopping in and immediately speeding back to the loft. You couldn't use your hands, they were not going to be any use in taming the fire in you. You needed someone, a person.

The only question was, who?

Derek was your alpha and by any right, you should be able to approach him for help. But you couldn't, it would feel way too awkward afterwards. You saw him as a brother. And so was Scott, Isaac, Boyd and any other male friend. You growled and whacked the steering wheel in frustration. You needed some sort of relief as soon as possible, and there wasn't much of a choice left. Derek it was.

You reached the loft and rushed in, abandoning your belongings on the floor. "Derek!" You called out.

When there wasn't any response, you called out his name again. You sighed frustratedly and ran your hand through your hair. The ache between your legs was getting increasingly uncomfortable and you shifted from one foot to another and rubbed your thighs together.

That's when you heard footsteps coming down the stairs. "Derek?" You called out. "I really need a favor from you now," you gasped out. "Like, right now."

"No Derek here, sweetheart. Just me."

You stiffened. You knew that voice anywhere. You looked up and prepared to make a snarky remark at Peter Hale, but your breath hitched in your throat. You'd always found the older man attractive and while you spent a lot of time around him during pack meetings and what not, he wasn't someone you would say you were close to. But at that moment, you really wished you were a lot more closer to him, especially in a physical way.

"Cat got your tongue?" He teased, stepping forward. Just his voice alone had you dripping. He had that damn smirk on his face. He knew what he was doing to you, you practically reeked of need, and he was enjoying every second of it.

"I'm looking for Derek. I need his help," you choked out, taking a few steps back reluctantly to maintain the distance between you two. Peter seemed unfazed by your efforts to separate the both of you and continued walking towards you.

"Well, I'm right here, aren't I, Y/N?" he grinned. "And I am very willing to lend a helping hand if you so desperately need one."

You didn't say anything, just kept silent and stared at his beautiful face. To be honest, you were not exactly quite sure how to respond. But then you thought it through.

Peter and you weren't the closest. He could help you with your heat, and both of you could go back to being acquaintances after that. No need for awkward glances or random thoughts about having sex with your close friend who you had no attraction to.

You hadn't even realized Peter was standing right in front of you, and he gently used two fingers to tilt your chin up to meet his eyes. Those damned baby blues could make any creature swoon.

"Just say the word, darling. I'll be happy to help," he drawled.

Fuck it.

You tiptoed up and let your lips meet his. He returned the kiss, snaking his arms around your waist and pulling you close.

His tongue made its way into your mouth, exploring its new surroundings. You moaned as his hands caressed your waist. Your skin tingled and you tugged at his hair, silently begging him to do something to appease the wolf inside you. He grinned mischievously and let his hands wander down to your butt, grabbing a handful of flesh and giving it a rough squeeze.

You jerked against him and whimpered, grabbing onto the collar of his shirt. "More," you mumbled against his lips. "Tsk tsk, so impatient," he remarked, letting his lips move down your neck. You tilted your neck to allow him more access to devour you. With that simple movement, he immediately found your sweet spot, and got to work at pleasuring you; nibbling and biting and sucking.

You gasped and clawed at his shirt, letting out a whine. You would have collapsed onto your knees if it weren't for him holding you up. Peter licked a long stripe up from your neck to your jawline, before reuniting both of your lips.

Peter backed you up against the wall and squeezed your thighs, giving you the signal to jump. You did so, and immediately wrapped your legs round his waist. You shifted and rubbed yourself against his jeans, earning a grunt from him as he nibbled on your bottom lip. Your fingers tangled in his hair as he carried you over to the couch, both of you collapsing onto it in a groaning heap. Peter took the chance to snake his hands under your your shirt, fingers tracing along the edge of your bra.

You pulled away with the intention of taking off your shirt, but Peter stopped you and used his claws to rip it apart.

"Hey! You can't just go around ripping people's clo-" Peter cut you off by pressing his lips to yours again. "I'll buy a new shirt for you, darling," he murmured. He lent back and used the claw on his pointer finger to saw through the middle point of your bra. It popped open and freed your breasts, letting Peter immediately lean down and latch his mouth onto your nipple.

You let out a gasp and he nibbled gently, sending shivers down your spine. He released you nipple and kissed down, letting his lips glide along your stomach. You shivered and let out a hum of appreciation. He was almost to where you needed him to be. Peter unbuttoned your jeans and yanked them down, along with your shoes, and you hurriedly kicked them off towards the side and spread your legs eagerly.

Peter removed his shirt, and returned to his place between your legs. "Tell me what you want, darling. I want to hear your words," he purred, pressing kisses up the inside of your thighs. "Please touch me," you whimpered, bucking your hips slightly, silently begging him to do something.

Peter glanced up at you and flashed a cheeky smile. "I'm already touching you. You're going to have to a tad bit more specific, Y/N."

You let a little frustrated grunt. You didn't have time for this. "I need your fingers in my pussy. And your mouth. Please, Peter," you whined.

The older Hale grinned and pressed his fingers over your panties, and you practically let out a sob of relief. He slowly dragged his finger down to your dripping entrance, before dragging it back up again to your clit and applying a little pressure. Fucking tease.

He pulled your panties to the side and latched his mouth onto your clit, making you jolt in surprise and let out a pleased moan. He nibbled gently and dragged his tongue down to your entrance, collecting your juices. He dipped his tongue in and swirled around, making your cry out.

Peter's mouth went back to your needy clit and sucked on it as he brought his fingers to the party. He teased your entrance for a bit before slowly pushing in his finger, your walls immediately welcoming him and clenching down. You moaned and thread your fingers through his brown locks, giving it a little tug. Peter groaned at that, and the vibrations went straight to your core, earning yet another sound of pleasure form you.

Peter added another finger, and that's when he reached up and used the pads of his fingers to rub against that sweet spot of yours. You squealed and bucked your hips and Peter used his free hand to pin you down as he stimulated your G-Spot at a faster pace.

The familiar feeling in your stomach began to build up, and when Peter bit down gently on your clit, you lost it. You cried out his name, your walls clenching round his fingers and releasing your juices.

You expected Peter to resurface from the spot between your legs, but he stayed where he was and continued working his magic with his mouth. He didn't give you time to recover from your previous orgasm, and you immediately felt a second wave of pleasure overcome you as he continued his actions. You whined and let out a few sobs even, from how overstimulated you were.

After your second orgasm, you attempted to push his head away, already oversensitive from cumming twice. "One more time, darling," he crooned, all while using his fingers to pleasure you.

You sobbed. It was way too much, but at the same time you didn't want him to stop. You'd figured Peter would probably be more experienced in bed than most guys your age since he was much older, but my god, was he an absolute beast. You cried out and bucked your hips violently as Peter let his tongue slither into your entrance. He lapped up all your arousal, and you allowed your third orgasm to take over you.

Your body shook violently, and the only sounds that echoed through the loft was Peter's name falling from your tongue and the obscene lapping sounds coming from between your thighs. Peter sat up and pulled his shirt off before looking down at you exhausted self with a shit eating grin on his face.

You panted and struggled to catch your breath, glaring at him tiredly. "Need some time, sweetheart?" he asked wickedly, bringing his soaked fingers to his mouth. You shivered as you watched him lick his fingers clean of your arousal.

For a second, you opened your mouth to tell him to give you a while, your body felt like it was going to combust anytime soon if you came again, but then you felt that ache come back again, and all you could let out was a whine.

That was all Peter needed to hear to know you were more than ready to continue on. He leant back down and reconnected your lips, dipping his tongue in and letting you get the slight aftertaste of yourself. He pulled back once again and skillfully slid down your panties and threw them to a corner, thankfully not destroying them. He unbuckled his belt and yanked his pants and boxers down together, immediately releasing his cock from its confines.

Your face immediately went red. You figured he was big, but not that big. He had to be about 8 or 9 inches with an impressive girth. It didn't look like you would be able to wrap your hand around him fully.

Peter saw your reaction and smirked mischievously. "Women tend to have that reaction when they see me for the first time," he boasted arrogantly. You frowned a little when he said that, but he took no notice and went back to kissing you. How many women had he been with in the first place?

Maybe it was because of your heat, but you didn't like the strange feeling that bubbled inside you after Peter had said that. It made you feel possessive; uneasy that other women have touched your Peter before. You chose to keep quiet, but you let your hands travel to his broad shoulders and sink your nails into him just a tad bit, gripping onto him for dear life.

The older werewolf reached towards the drawer on his night stand, but you hurriedly stopped his hand when you realized he was getting a condom. You shook your head violently. "I'm on the pill."

Peter's pupils dilated even more, if that was even possible, and he slowly took his cock into his hands and drag the head down your dripping entrance. You let out a childish whine and bucked your hips. "Just fuck me already," you complained, eyes screwing shut. Peter stared at you intently, rubbing his length between your folds to slick himself up before he pushed himself into your needy cunt. You moaned loudly, head dropping backwards and exposing your neck, which Peter took as an invitation to start peppering kisses all over and leaving hickeys.

He slowly pulled out, letting you thoroughly feel every inch of his cock dragging through your sensitive walls. You weren't in the mood for teasing though, and you let your claws emerge and dig into his shoulder blades. The older werewolf let out an animalistic growl and he shoved his length back into you again, earning a loud squeal. He pulled out again, and set an inhuman pace as he thrusted in and out of your begging pussy.

The only sounds that echoed through the loft was your gasps and moans as Peter drilled into you, and the sound of his skin slapping against yours every time he thrusted back into you. Peter lent back up and thrusted upwards, hitting your G-Spot perfectly, and you arched your back and let out a cry of pleasure. Peter raised his eyebrows in realization, and continued slamming into that particular spot.

"Ooh, Peter...," you moaned, letting your hands travel down to your clit and rubbing harsh circles around it. He grunted and sped up his pace as he continued his assault on your battered pussy, eyes trained on the parts when you were both joined.

Your stomach began to tighten as you felt your fourth orgasm start to build up. Your breaths became short and you focused on the pleasure that Peter was providing you. The delicious feeling of his cock moving in and out of your hole.

"Are you going to cum, princess?" Peter panted. He was close too. His grip on your hips tightened, which would definitely leave bruises the next day. You nodded feverishly, practically drunk on the immense amount of pleasure as your hands moved back up to his back. Your claws emerged and you let your hands drag down the length of his back, earning a hiss from the older man. One of Peter's hands crawled up your body, and he gave your right nipple a little pinch. That did it for you.

You cried out, you body trembling as you climaxed, coating Peter's cock with your juices when you came as you held onto him for dear life. Peter let out a groan as he thrusted a couple more times before he unloaded inside you. He continued his thrusts for a little longer, dragging out your orgasm.

Peter pulled out slowly, watching as his cock slid out of you and his cum dripped out of your pussy and onto the sheets. He whistled and gave you a wicked grin, leaning down and pressing a rough kiss to your swollen lips, which you returned happily. "You're so fucking hot," he mumbled against your lips.

You blushed as he rolled over to your left and passed you a couple of tissues to clean yourself up. After that, he laid down next to you and turned over, his back facing you, and pulled the covers over both of you loosely.

You frowned a little as you adjusted the covers around your waist, pulling them up to your chest and snuggling into his back. You craved the body heat and attention. The wolf inside of you was calm for now, but it still need comfort and security.

"What are you doing?" Peter asked gruffly, not bothering to look at you. You nuzzled your face into his bare back; which was lightly streaked with red claw marks from your earlier activities. "Cuddling," you murmured. You knew Peter wasn't one for affection, but that didn't stop you from trying to get cosy.

Peter didn't reply and he heard your heartbeat eventually fall to a steady and calm pace. He figured you had gone to sleep after a while, and he had every intention of getting up and leaving you alone in his bed. But no matter how hard he tried to convince himself to stand up, he couldn't seem to move as he got used to the warmth you radiated from your position behind him. He felt oddly comforted and pleased at the thought of being close to you. Eventually, he let sleep overcome himself as well, relishing in the feeling of your small frame curled up behind him.

[dammitadolfnomorecake]

COTW - Chapter 6 update

It was like the previous night hadn't happened. Setting up near the water's edge, Eren looked amazing. Dressed in a loose white shirt and short white shorts, his long brown legs contrasted perfectly, as he caught the eye of everyone on the beach. Kicking back under the beach umbrella they'd rented, Eren was fussing over Viren as the boy tried to say no his floaties. It wasn't happening. No way was Levi risking his son's healthy and safety with that much water right in front of them. Pulling out his phone, Eren snapped photos of Viren, while Viren tried to escape to the water. Kissing the boy, Eren somehow seemed to get the photo he wanted, before looking up to him "Viren's ready for a swim, daddy. You should be the one to take him in. I can't swim" "You'll be fine. We're only going to the water's edge" "I don't feel that great. I think the rice from last night didn't agree with me. My stomach's been gross all morning" He'd probably thrown up so much that his muscles didn't know how relax "Are you sure?" "Yeah. I really want to get some good photos of you with Viren. He's so excited to be here" "If you want to go back to the hotel room, that's ok" "No. Family holiday remember. Besides, my two best boys make for the best targets" The smile that Eren gave him, seemed genuine enough. But the jealous stain on his heart, from the previous night, still left his blood cold. Distracting himself, he scooped Viren up "You're just going to take photos? Or record?" "Recording? Definitely recording. You two look so good together" "Ready?" "I'm more than ready" Viren cried the first time the cold water ran over his feet. His little legs marching up and down on the spot as he reached up Levi's hold. Eren was laughing as he watched. Slowly the pup seemed to realise that the water wasn't some big scary monster in the closet. Falling in his bum, he splashed his legs. The joy was obvious. This was what he thought being a family would be like. Him. Viren. Eren. All of them a team and force of their own. Abandoning his phone, Eren came to sit on Viren's other side while Levi helping Viren build sand piles, only for the waves to continually wash them away. The boy too curious about it all, to be mad at the fact his work was being wasted. Settling himself down, Eren's hand landing on their son's head as he adjusted his hat "He seems to love it" "He really does" "I got heaps of you two together. I want him to have these memories" "So do I. How do you feel?" "I'm ok... my stomach doesn't know what to do when I'm not throwing up" "Does it hurt?" "A little. But this is nice" "We should head back up to the hotel soon" "We only just got here" "It's getting hotter faster than I thought it would. Today would be better inside. We can look up tourist things" Eren hummed, looking up to the bright clear blue sky "Mmmm. The sun feels nice, but he's got such delicate skin like you do. You're already starting to burn" "And you're not?" "Nope. Because I put sunscreen on" "So did I" "Mine must be better than yours. Viren, baby. It's time to get out of the water" Trying to lift Viren, Eren groaned, releasing the boy as hand moved to his stomach "Eren?" "It's ok. My stomach's still sore... maybe today would be better if we found something else to do?" "There should be a museum or something around. If we can't find anything, we can always take a drive" "I thought you'd be sick of driving after yesterday" "It's all about making memories, isn't it?" Eren looked confused for a moment, before cringing, then smiling softly "Yeah. Do you want to convince him to get out of the water?" "I've got it. Will you be alright packing up?" "Yes, mum. I can handle packing up. Hey, there's a great bar around here, I found it last night. They're supposed to do lunch. We could there, I mean... if you want to?" Levi's breath caught momentarily. Eren was bringing up the bar. The alpha wasn't sure if it was the sun, or the deep shame he felt at mentally accusing Eren of cheating, that burnt at his cheeks... no. It had to be the sun. Alphas didn't blush! "Sounds good. Did you have a good time last night?" "I ordered a lemonade. Just because we're on holiday, doesn't mean that I'm off mum duty" "I never said it did. Let's head back up" Leaning over Viren, Eren pressed a sweet kiss to his lips "I love you. Just. Don't forget that" "I know" "Good. Let's get this one up and into a bath. Then it's food time" * Some how their trip to the beach had ended up taking up two hours. No wonder he'd started to burn. Heading into the bathroom with Viren, the boy didn't like the fact they weren't down at the beach anymore... and for a kid who's feet had barely touched the sand, he sure had a lot of sand over him... and in his mouth. He hadn't even seen the boy eating it. Cleaning the pup down, he carried Viren out to the living area so Eren could get him dressed. His omega busy rifling through his suitcase "Viren needs clothes" Dropping whatever was in his hands, back into his suitcase, Eren snapped it shut. Levi was getting real tired of Eren hiding whatever it was that he was "He looks like he needs a nap too. You don't mind waiting a little longer for lunch, do you?" "No... you really want to go back to that bar, hey?" "Yeah. It was... it was nice. And they were super friendly" "Oh, yeah?" "Yep. I think I might head back there tonight, if you don't mind" Levi's stomach did that annoying thing where it decided to drop again. Mental images flashing of Eren laughing with that stranger. And then. It was like the last two hours had never happened "Levi? Everything ok?" "What?" "You look like you have something to say" "It can wait" "Ok. Well. I have some things I want to talk to you about. I did some thinking last night, and I think I need to tell you" Eren did some thinking? This was it. His heart was racing. His mate was about to dump him. To dissolve the bond between them, and return the two rings that sat on his perfect finger... the two rings that were still waiting for a third to join them "Levi?" "Sure. Whatever. We'll talk. Viren needs clothes" Practically dumping their son on the bed, the boy jumped straight off, falling face first as he did. "Viren!" Screaming his name, Eren rushed to the boy "Levi! What the hell was that?!" "I didn't mean for him to fall" Lifting Viren off the floor, Eren nuzzled into the boy's hair as he hushed him "I don't know what your problem is, but go take a shower" "I didn't mean..." "Go shower. It's ok, baby. It's ok. You're ok" Rocking Viren was a bounce in his step, Eren shot daggers in his direction "Levi, go cool down. I can smell your anger" "I'm not angry" "Don't lie to me" "I'm not" "Is it the bar? We don't have to go. I just thought it would be a nice place to have lunch with you" His confusion and fear over having been the cause of his son's fear stripped away the filter on his mouth "Is it me you want to have lunch with? Or that man you were with last night?" Eren blinked at him, a confused and hurt expression clouding his face. He practically hissed in Levi's face "What?! What are you talking about?!" This was definitely not the time to be having this conversation. And now Eren was lying to him "Don't worry. I'm going for a shower" Stupid. Fucking. Shitty. Idiot. Scrubbing himself aggressively. He stayed under the cold spray until his scent was completely washed away. He'd just admitted to Eren that he'd stalked him again. That he didn't trust him. Forgetting to take clothes with him, he walked out wearing a towel. Eren was sitting on the end of their bed, the omega wiping at the tears rolling down his face while Viren was laying on his own bed, their son probably exhausted from all the fun and excitement the morning had brought "Eren... what's wrong?" "I worked it out. You weren't down at the car were you? You fucking followed me. I can't believe you" "You can't believe me?! I'm not the one who was letting a stranger buy me drinks! Is that why you want to go back? To see him again?!" "What? No. That was some random" "He brought you a drink and you fucking started acting like an idiot!" "His mate brought me a drink! When I sat down, he mistakingly thought I was interested in him and tried to tell me he was bonded. It was the only free seat at the bar at the time. I set him straight, and he went back to his mate. The drink was from her as a joke. God! Do you seriously think I would stoop to your level?!" "What's that supposed to mean?!" "You're the one who cheated Levi! I know it! I smelt omega and slick all over your pants and your arousal! I've been trying so hard to find a way back to you, but you don't even care" "I never fucking cheated on you!" "You're lying! Admit it! Admit it, Levi! You don't want me anymore! I'm useless!" "Don't you dare start with this fucking shit! I'm trying my hardest to do everything for you!" "You cheated on me! I smelt it!" "I never fucking cheated on you. My bosses mate went into heat and collapsed at work. She called me, because she needed help and needed an alpha she could trust. The whole time, I was thinking about how that could be you" "So you cuddled up with an omega in heat, thinking of me?! Is that supposed to make me feel better? I smelt your arousal!" "I wasn't aroused!" "Their slick was on your pants!" Eren's sobs grew harder "I knew it! I knew you didn't want me anymore!" "You're the one who doesn't want me!" "I've never wanted anyone or loved anyone more than you! You're everything to me! Everything Levi! You don't trust me! You... I never cheated on you. I never even had the thought to! You're the one who replaced me" "I never cheated either. I don't want anyone else! Why don't you get it!?" "Because I don't belong in this family! Not anymore!" "Yes you do! God. I can't live without you! I followed you last night because I was worried. It's not because I don't trust you, it's everyone else I don't trust! I don't want you hurt! I don't want you scared! I want you by my side forever!" "Then why aren't we married?! I thought we'd be married by now! I was so excited. I even started planning it. I even stupid changed my name to Eren Ackerman-Yeager on everything I could, because I was serious when I proposed to you! You're everything I ever wanted..." "Shit. Fuck. How the fuck did we end up like this? How did I hurt you so badly that you think and accept I would cheat on you?! Where did we go wrong?" Blinking through his tears, Eren started rummaging through his suitcase. His mate stopping once he'd found whatever it was he was looking for. Angered at his omega was disregarding such an important conversation, Levi snatched the box from his hands. His eyes widening as he read the name, his alpha barely contained "What the fuck is this?!" "What do they look like?" Despite the drop in volume, Eren's voice carried all the anger it had before. Miserably, Eren resumed wiping at his face "Eren?" A pup. Another child... His alpha was over the mood at the idea of another pup... and bit by bit the pieces came together for him. The way Eren said his pills stopped. He'd had to stop taking them, but couldn't tell him because he'd pushed him so far away he seriously believed Levi had cheated. The confusion Eren must have felt believing he was now his second choice. The struggles with Viren and getting the boy to show him love, even when Eren presented him with everything but the moon on a silver platter. Eren's tone became filled with resignation and despair, the kind a parent uses when disappointed in you, and you wish they'd hit you instead "You want to know what's wrong? Fine. I'm fucking pregnant. Ok. I'm not sick. I don't have a stomach bug or food poisoning. I have a baby growing inside me that you don't even want. You're always using two fucking condoms, but you didn't the night of Mike and Erwin's wedding, and you never bother sticking around once your knots deflated. So I wasn't planning on telling you. Now just back the fuck off. We already have one kid that doesn't fucking want me around" Shoving past him, Levi was too shocked to think. Pregnant. He. What. Another pup? Why didn't Eren tell him? How far along was he? And... abortion pills? Eren seriously thought he didn't love him? Or love him enough to want another child? He used two condoms because Eren had said he was scared of falling pregnant again. That and he didn't want to come way too fast, given their sex life was interrupted by parenting and responsible adulting... and Eren's arse was incredible "Eren? What? When did you find out?" "A few weeks ago" Weeks. He'd been stuck like this for weeks. Stuck thinking Levi didn't want another kid with him. Who knew how depressed and empty that had made him feel "And you didn't tell me?" "I. I've been trying to figure out us! I was going to hide it, but after the beach and last night... I needed to tell you. It's not... ok. I'm not ok" "You said you needed to talk..." "Yeah... well. Surprise. I'm pregnant and my body isn't coping... fuck..." The word came out like a grunted groan of pain. He didn't even have time to question it "Daddy? Mummy?" Turning from the box of pills, Levi looked to a newly woken Viren as there was a solid a whimper behind him. Turning completely, his eyes widened. Eren's wet white shorts were fast turning red as blood ran down his thighs, his left fingertips covered in it, with clear traces of finger marks across Eren's legs where he'd wiped "Eren..." "Levi... I don't feel good" As his mate's eyes rolled back, Levi dropped the pill box, barely catching Eren by the arm as he crumpled. Across the room, Viren started screaming in fear. Eren had said his body wasn't coping. He'd been put on pills to combat his nausea, but his mate's body must have been giving everything it could to their child. He'd been given sedatives because the weight on his shoulders was just too heavy. His body too weak to dance anymore. In the space of the last month, Eren felt like he'd lost everything. Then there was the fact Eren was coming off his tablets. His system would be completely out of whack. He needed help. Laying Eren down in the recovery position, he stripped his towel off and shoved it between his legs. Jogging across the room, he snatched his phone up, a stuttering mess as he called through to emergency services for an ambulance. Leaving the call connected, he then found up the first pair of pants he could. He desperately wanted to comfort Viren, but he needed to check Eren's vitals. With the combination of Eren's pants already being wet, slick and blood, he couldn't gauge the bleed... but it was entirely possible, and more than likely, that Eren was losing the pup. Kneeling down, he placed his palm of Eren's forehead as he double checked his mate still had a pulse. Whining for him, Eren curled around himself though out of it "Brat. Come on, open those bright eyes for me. Come on, baby. I need you to look at me" "Mummy!" Fuck. The pills... had Eren already? He'd told Viren he'd be better soon? Scrambling across the floor, Levi pulled the blister tray from the box. Both pills still inside. He hadn't... he'd wanted to... but he hadn't. Eren had wanted to tell him. He was getting the box to tell him. He'd let his anger get the better of him. Shit. Shit. Shit. He knew Eren was in a fragile state of mind... he shouldn't have pushed. He shouldn't have blown things out of proportion. He should have listened to his mate. Eren very well may have told him about the drinks thing when they went to the bar... but if he hadn't pushed, he wouldn't haven't have known that Eren thought he cheated on him. He wouldn't haven't known the pain his mate felt. Jealousy and pain carving themselves soul deep as Eren tried not to be abandoned by him... Maybe... He didn't like seeing Eren suffer, but without the medication coursing through his system, his omega had opened up to him again... his yoyoing emotions making it impossible for Eren to calmly sit down and explain things, because he simply wasn't able to right now. He hadn't wanted to be angry. He hadn't wanted to fight. He was just struggling to figure out how to make Levi and Viren happy, like he always did, leaving him with the weight of the world on his fragile shoulders "Mummy... mum!" Viren pulled him back to reality. Ok. Ok. He needed to approach this the way he was trained, and not like the untrained ape he was currently doing the world's greatest impression of. First. Unlock the door. Eren was in the recovery position. His airways were clear, and he had a pulse. His heart was racing, but he was still breathing. Second. Viren. Viren was just a child. He didn't understand. He saw the blood and knew mummy was hurt... Shit. In the few moments it'd taken him to open the door, his son had made it to Eren's side. Pulling him back, he held him to his chest. Making sure the boy was facing away from Eren. He couldn't stop a miscarriage, he didn't have anything to do anything about it with. He didn't even have his first aid kit... Viren. He had to protect his son from seeing his mother like this. Eren would never forgive him if he did. Kissing the pup's hair, he cursed the ambulance for taking so fucking long. He knew something was wrong. He knew it. He should have made Eren go to hospital. He should have been there when he collapsed. Hanji had said Eren asked for him. Had he wanted to tell him then? His mate would have been terrified. He should have dragged him there by the hair if he'd had to, when Eren didn't start improving. Did Hanji know? She'd gone with him... Why hadn't she said anything? She was able to get more out of Eren than he was these days and holy fuck... his omega's pain was ebbing through their bond. Levi seriously felt like was about to shit himself with the pressure and cramps that seemed to be forming in his gut. Finally the sound of sirens reached his ears. Viren was still crying hysterically in his arms. It was another 10 minutes before help finally arrived. As the two EMT's entered the room, Levi explained the situation to them. His alpha leaving everything he was saying curt to and the point. He wanted to snap the arm of the first woman who placed her hand on Eren's shoulder. No one should be handling his mate, except for him. No one. Within minutes, Eren was on the gurney, Levi needing to ride along as he had no idea where Paradis's hospital was. He barely thought to grab his phone and Eren's wallet off the bedside table. His own buried somewhere in the things still packed from the beach. His feet felt like lead, his head swimming as he followed Eren out, people having gathered to witness what the fuck was going on. Eren would have loathed all the attention directed his way. His heart so precious, he would have hated even the thought of causing inconvenience. Eren didn't stir during the hospital ride, Viren cocooned in Levi's lap crying softly, as he watched every single move the EMT made. Mike and Erwin wed on the 21st of August, so that was the rough date of conception, 11 weeks ago... 11 weeks... Just shy of 12. It was like Eren's first pregnancy all over again. He'd missed the start, even though he was right beside him. Arriving at the hospital, Eren was whisked away from him. Levi feeling a little lost until an attending nurse came over to him to collect Eren's medical history. He didn't even know the name of the pills his mate had been taking... giving her the name of Eren's doctor, she promised to check, giving him a sympathetic smile as she did. Evicted out to the waiting room, his mind was still a muddled mess of self loathing... but there were things to do. Pulling his phone out, he called Hanji. The woman taking a frustratingly long time to answer, sounding as if she'd just woken. Launching straight into explanation, his voice trembled. He'd lost a pup he hadn't even known about... and his alpha was mourning that loss as of the poor little thing as if it had been birthed. Eren was going to be distraught. He didn't deserve this or the weeks of suffering it'd brought him. How could his omega think that he wouldn't be excited?! He loved Viren and he loved Eren. It may not have been planned, but the idea of expanding their family filled him with pride. He was at the stage where he could tolerate moving to the suburbs. A house with space to move, a backyard for the kids to play in... though, he didn't think he could part with the apartment. He'd kept it because it was a home with Eren. Every time his omega wandered off, he always knew Levi was waiting there for him. Lost his own thoughts, he forgot he was on the phone to Hanji. Hanji repeating his name over and over until he grunted in acknowledgement, then promising to head down to help out with Viren. Eren probably wouldn't be feeling very holidayee, and incredibly tender, both emotionally and physically, over the next few days, possibly the next fortnight until the miscarriage had passed. * Waking up confused, Eren whined softly. His head felt like it was filled with cotton wool, and he couldn't quite remember how he'd gotten to wherever he was, only that the was clearly no longer in the hotel with Levi. Whining again, Levi appeared at his side. His alpha's large, cool palm felt wonderful against his head "Hey, Eren. How do you feel?" "Thick... I can't think" Nuzzling into Levi's touch, his alpha sank down on the edge of his bed "Do you remember what happened? We were fighting in the hotel?" Eren blinked at Levi, right... he was going to tell Levi was he pregnant... then... The pups... he'd started bleeding. His confused green eyes filled with sorry "Shhh... shhh. It's ok" "I'm sorry... I..." "You wanted to tell me. I know. I didn't figure out until after I yelled at you. I'm so sorry, Eren. I'm so sorry I yelled" "'s ok..." "No it's not. Eren, I promise, I never cheated on you. And I know you didn't cheat on me, right?" He was too tired for this "Lee... no... I can't think" "Sorry, br-Eren. I had to tell you" "Am I dying?" "No. No, you're not..." "Viren's presents are in the top of my wardrobe... and yours..." "Eren, shhh. You're going to just fine" "But the..." "We're still waiting for the results. They only just let me back in to see you" "Viren?" "He's sleeping next to you" Eren couldn't find the strength to look down, even moving his arm was hard as hell. He was so warm and tired... other than his head, he couldn't feel the rest of him. It was nice to be pain free. Taking his hand, Levi placed it on Viren's soft hair "He's been crying for you" "He shouldn't be here" "Hanji is coming down to take care of him. It's fine... ok. It's all organised" "I'm sorry" "No. This isn't your fault. Ok?" "Did I... did..." He was so fucking confused... and really sleepy. Whining softly, he didn't know what he wanted to say "You're ok. Just rest" "Lee... stay?" "You want me to stay? I'm not going anywhere" "Hold me?" That's what he wanted. He wanted to be in Levi's arms. His omega was stuffed right back under all that cotton wool, but they both wanted Levi to take whatever was happening away "Ok. I need to move Viren. You've got two IV lines running into the cannula in your left arm. They had to give you a blood transfusion, because you're so weak" "'m sorry" Leaning in, Levi kissed him. Eren was sure, if he could be sure, that his mouth was taste revolting. He was too tired to think about it. Nuzzling into his forehead, Levi sighed softly "I love you so much. I never ever meant to hurt you. You're my everything. I'm completely and totally Erensexual for you, my Shitty Brat"

[bnhascenariosheadcannonsimagines]

How would iida help his s/o with anxiety from work and whos also being pranked by neighbor kids

“(Y/n) you should get some sleep. Getting a full eight hours is imperative to your mental and physical health.” Iida popped his head into the living room where you were sitting and typing away at your laptop on the couch. “You should also use a desk chair and sit up straight or your back will hurt!” Iida rushed over to you and lifted you from the couch. “Iida dearest,” you sighed as he set you back on your feet, “I love you so very much. You know that, I know that-” “I love you very much as well.” he pressed a kiss to your forehead. You smiled and huffed out a short laugh, “But this project is going to be huge and I need to work on it nonstop until it’s finished. I was finally given the reigns to a big project at the company and-” “(Y/n) I know this is important to you, but you and your health are important to me. Please dear, save your progress and let me help you.” Iida cut you off and and looked at you worried.

He knew you were getting tired and worn out. You had been working on this project nonstop for a couple of weeks now, researching the demographic you were marketing towards, plugging in all the statistics, budgeting every part of this on your own, you were in full control of the project but you’re neglecting yourself. Your eyes were dull, the bags under them getting darker each day, your cheeks hollowing out slightly because you were forgetting to eat proper meals, your clothes a crumpled mess from sitting slouched over for too long, he didn’t like it. He made enough money being a hero to support the two of you easily, but he knew you wanted to do something so he never urged you to quit, he just wanted you to take a break. “(Y/n). Please.” Iida brought your hands up to his mouth and pressed kisses to your fingers.

You bit your lip knowing he was right, he was always right! To say you were stressed was the understatement of the year. You were about to fall apart. Presentations needed to get done, your team with a bunch of useless blokes who didn’t know how to use Word Processor, and to make matters worse the kids down the hallway from your apartment were sent by Satan himself! You leaned into Iida’s chest and sighed, “Okay dearest, I’ll save my progress and come to bed.” “Who said we were going to bed? We’re making you a healthy meal, taking a bath, and then going to bed.” He pulled you into a hug and you smiled, hugging him back tightly, “Thank you dearest.”

You woke up the next day feeling refreshed, something you hadn’t felt in a while.  You rolled over in bed, seeing Iida had already gone for his morning run and buried yourself in the blankets again before yawning and throwing them off of you. If you stayed in bed any longer you would fall back asleep and miss your train, so you got up and grumbled at the early morning sunshine creeping through your blinds. You walked into the kitchen to find a full breakfast sitting on the table ready for you with a note from Iida, “Breakfast is the most important meal of the day, don’t skip it again dear. I love you.” You smiled and sat down, knowing that if you left it you would be getting a very angry call from Iida later today.

Once you had finished breakfast you got dressed and collected your laptop and briefcase, putting your laptop inside and snapping it closed, looking around for the poster boards you and made for todays presentation. They were neatly stacked near the door and you smiled as you read another note from Iida, “Good luck today (Y/n), you’ve been working very hard on this and I know you’ll do great. See you tonight.” You pressed a kiss to the paper and picked ups the boards, trying to keep your cool as you walked out of your apartment, setting the boards down to lock the door. You picked up the boards and thats when the anxiety started the creep in. You had a presentation today. In front of the top people at the company. If you messed up you could be fired on the spot. Stumble over one word and you were done for. No! No. You had this down. You were totally fine. You had practiced your presentation to Iida, to yourself in the mirror, you were totally fine. You could do this. And with that little pep talk you entered the elevator and went to work.

Oh man. You were so fired. They looked so bored the whole time, like you weren’t even talking! Maybe you had insulted them on accident? Maybe you had misspelled something on one of the slides! Oh shit what if it was one of their names! Autocorrect was going to get you fired! You were so wrapped up in your thoughts as you walked up the stairs to your apartment, the elevator was out. Probably because those stupid kids had thrown a firecracker in it again. You huffed your way up the stairs until you reached the fifth floor. You sighed, too many thoughts running through your head for you to really look where you were going, and by the time you caught it you were a little too late. An RC truck raced under your foot as you reached the landing and threw you backwards… Down a flight of stairs. With your briefcase. And your poster boards.

You let out a couple of loud curses as you slammed your leg into the stairwell and heard a couple bones pop. “(Y/n)?” you heard your door open and a confused Iida stick his head out. You groaned quietly and Iida ran to the stairs, seeing you in a messy heap on the landing between the fifth and fourth floor. “(Y/n) are you alright?! What happened? Did you break anything? Are you hurt? How many fingers am I holding up?” You groaned and pushed yourself into a sitting position, Iida kneeling down to hold you steady “I-I’m fine.” you whisper and try to stand up, your legs shaky and your breathing uneven and ragged. “(Y/n) you are most certainly not alright, what happened?” “Fuckin’ remote control car.” you whispered, trying o keep your voice even but failings it cracked towards the end. Iida hugged you close to him, rubbing your back as he lifted you onto your feet, “Can you stand?” He asked you quietly and you nodded slightly. “Now. What remote control car?” he asked and right on cue a small remote control car showed up at the top of the stairs, reversing back down the hallway towards a quiet snickering. “That one.” you sighed and leaned against the wall.

“Wait here please dear.” Iida smiled at you but his eye didn’t say he was happy. He zipped up the stairs and grabbed the toy car before zipping to the end of the hallway, pushing the door open to reveal to young boys. “This your’s?” Iida asked pointedly and both boys froze, one shoving the control into the others hand and the other one dropping it immediately. “Can I ask you what it was doing by the stairs?” Iida eyed the two children and they shrank into themselves. “They’re just kids man, what’s the big deal?” an older voice was heard from further inside the apartment. “The ‘big deal’ is that hey just threw somebody down a flight of stairs. THAT’S the ‘big deal’!” Iida huffed and a teenager came into view from a round the couch, “Shit.” the mutter and grabbed the remote control from the two smaller boys. “Dad is already pissed at you two for dropping all of the dishes off of the shelves do you really think he needs to hear that you two sent Ingenium’s fiancee down the fucking stairs?!” The two boys pouted and looked at the ground, “Say sorry assholes.” the teen crossed their arms and nudged their brothers forward. “Sorry.” one said and the other nodded. “Sorry doesn’t cut it. Go help them clean up their stuff.” the teen shoved the two boys out of the apartment and they trudged over to the stairs where you were starting to collect your things from the ground. “We’re sorry.” one said to you and handed you one of your boards, “Yeah. We’re sorry.” the other one kicked at the ground slightly.

Iida watched from the top of the stairs with the teen as the two little ones picked up your stuff and returned it to you. “I won’t tell your father on one condition. You leave (Y/n) alone. Pranks are only funny if they are harmless and this was anything but harmless. You could have seriously hurt someone.” Iida scolded the children and the nodded before running back into their own apartment. the teen waved and turned to go inside, “They give you any more trouble just knock. Sorry.” Iida returned to your side and helped you up the stairs, “How about another bath darling, you can tell me all about your presentation.” You broke into a nervous sweat at the reminder of your presentation when your phone lit up. It was your boss. “Iida?” you looked at him desperately as you sank to the floor in your doorway. “Yes dearest? (Y/n) what’s wrong? Are you really hurt?” “N-No. Just please… Read what this says of me, I-I can’t do it.” you shook, trying to keep your tears back. “(Y/n)?” Iida whispered and unlocked your phone, opening the message “(Y/n) your boss is congratulating you on your great work dearest, why are you crying?” “I-I’t been a long day.” you sobbed and Iida gathered you in his arms, hugging you to his chest and carrying you to the couch, “A long day indeed, you deserve some time off. Some time to relax.” he pressed a kiss to your temple and held you close, pressing kisses to your head and cheeks as you calmed down. “Let’s put on a movie, I’ll rub you back, we can eat together, then take a nice warm bath, get ready for bed and then cuddle together.” “Iida, I just fell down a flight of stairs and thought I was being fired. I don’t want a movie. I just want you.” you leaned into his chest and he chuckled, “And you have me. Forever.” he tilted your head to face him depressed a kiss to your lips, leaning into it as you lifted your hands into his hair. “Forever.” you whispered against his lips. Getting a full eight hours of sleep was important, but it was the furthest thing from Iida’s mind at the moment.