#she's really happy and excited to proceed and the joy i see in her is so incredibly beautiful

[that-butch-archivist]

A beautiful friend of mine has finally stepped out of the closet as a radiant she/her. Score one for women, huzzah, we have another win for women! ... And now I am even more frustrated with my college workload lol. It was bad enough being behind on reading & archiving in general, but to be busy when I ought to be getting a friend resources and examples of people like herself by the dozen???

[avonne-writes]

lucerys after undergoing puberty and becoming breakbones Jr: hi

aemond, internally: I hope this doesn’t awaken anything in me

Expectations

Aemond hasn't seen his nephew in three years - since Vaemond's failure of a challenge against Lucerys' position - but he can picture him clearly. Round, rosy cheeks, big eyes glistening with fearful tears, hands like a maiden's and a body built for soft pillows and sugary cakes. Pathetic, really. Imagining him fills Aemond with familiar delight.

When it was announced that Rhaenyra would bring her entire flock to the capital for the King's nameday, Aemond could barely contain his excitement. He didn't have a chance to put his hands on the insolent little bastard last time, but he has grown since. He had years to prepare. He'll get through to Lucerys' pretty face even if his sister's rabid watchdog of a husband stands between them. Then, Lucerys will get what he deserves.

When Rhaenyra's carriage pulls to a halt in the courtyard, he's watching the door with thinly veiled glee, standing as tall and as menacing as he can in anticipation of his nephew. But he's left disappointed. It's only his sister - miraculously not fat with a babe this time - and her youngest sons who step out. Aemond has to resist craning his neck for a glimpse of floppy brown hair. He grips his own elbow tighter, gritting his teeth. Where is he?

Then, there's a roar high up in the clouds - a dragon, Aemond's ears recognize. Another roar responds to it, and laughter follows before two beasts land just outside the gate. Aemond is surprised that Rhaenyra allowed her precious, illegitimate offspring to arrive on dragonback. Wasn't she concerned that a forceful gust of wind would blow the little lord into the sea?

The first figure coming through the gate is Jacaerys, just as arrogant and irritating as ever. His hairstyle has not improved either, Aemond notes with smug satisfaction. But behind him, there's a man whom Aemond's mind refuses to recognize.

He's tall and broad and built with muscles big enough to pass for a smith. The golden seams of his doublet struggle to contain him. His breeches look tight too - perhaps Rhaenyra's seamstress hadn’t had time to refit them to his size. His cheeks are dusted with stubble Aemond could weep for but would never be able to grow, and his brown hair curls in soft locks around his ears. He's that brute, Ser Harwin - but younger, sweeter. Prettier.

His round eyes glitter not with tears but with joy that dims as they meet Aemond's gaze.

This is not fair.

Aemond's hatred boils in his chest as he glares, all his plans and dreams and fantasies crumbling, his mind grappling to rearrange them to fit this new image. His nephew looks disturbed by his scowl. He casts his eyes down, his smile faltering, then flicks them back up to Aemond as if unable to stay away for a long time. Good. Aemond wants that bastard to look at him all day. To never have a peaceful moment when he doesn’t think of Aemond watching him back.

They stare at each other with a fire that never wavers until Rhaenyra blocks Aemond's line of vision to make him go through the expected greetings.

As they proceed into the castle, Aemond makes sure to situate himself behind Lucerys to make him more unnerved. He's annoyed to note that Luke is not only tall but taller than Aemond himself, and his steps are heavy in his boots no matter how small and insignificant he tries to appear just to avoid Aemond's notice.

It's a ludicrous notion anyway. He'd have Aemond's attention even if he was a pitiful worm in the ground.

As they walk up the stairs, Aemond considers his plans to take Lucerys down. He runs his gaze up Lucerys' calves to his ass and up his back. When Lucerys throws a wary glance over his shoulder, he smirks, happy to see that it still intimidates the bastard.

Simple brute force isn't going to suffice anymore. He can't just grab his nephew's dainty wrists in one hand and use the other to tease him with his knife. Those wrists wouldn't fit in his grip at once, and Lucerys could just tear himself out of that hold and punch him. No, Aemond will need to wrestle him into submission properly.

He'd have to use his own weight, even if Lucerys is not as skilled as he is. Aemond is better with a sword than with his bare hands, but he needs skin contact to truly revel in his revenge. The nick of a blade wouldn't be as gratifying. It would be better to catch Lucerys unawares, when those bulging muscles of his are still too sluggish to react. In the middle of the night seems promising enough.

Aemond adjusts his hair over his shoulders, suppressing a smile. Yes, he would sneak into Lucerys' chambers in the middle of the night, straddle him in his sleep, bind his wrists and tear his clothes away to get at his skin, then torment him until he begs. He knows Luke's tears will look gorgeous as they trickle down to his cheeks. Aemond would pretend to be gentle and wipe them away, feeling the rasp of stubble under his palm, and he would slip his thumb between Lucerys' plump lips to make him taste the salt. Then, he'd see if those breeches have been tailored to trick the eye or not -

Aemond's thoughts screech to a halt.

By the gods, what is he thinking?

[lawlietscaramels]

Happy Birthday ╾ Misa

I just learned today that Misa's birthday is the 25th! Well, of course I had to write a little something for the best girl. she deserves sooo much better than Light (who I guess doesn't really exist in this) "pretty" is used as a gender neutral term. Okay, let's go!

　★━━─・‥…━━━☆

"Happy birthday!" you declare, waving your arms energetically at your favourite girl. Misa squeals and throws her arms around your shoulders in a hug.

"Thank you, Y/N!"

"Not a problem," you declare, taking her by the hand and tugging her away from the building she's been stuck in for the past few weeks. "Come on come on, I have so much planned for today. It is going to be the best birthday ever."

Misa smiles at you as your feet pass over the concrete paths lining the roads. "You have no idea how good it is to be out of that horrible, dark, stuffy building and see you again! isn't it so great that I can get out on my birthday?"

"Yes," you agree, "and it is also so great that your birthday lands on Christmas, and that Christmas is Japan's number one holiday for lovers, and that you are the number one of all the lovers out there!"

Misa gives a laugh, her cheeks turning red as she falls quickly into wheezing territory.

You grin. She's never worried about being perfect with you. You love that.

"Now, I know it's all cloudy and grim, but I have found the cutest little coffee shop nearby. It looks cozy and their hot chocolate is apparently 'to die for,' according to the reviews." You pause and indicate the vague direction of the shop. "I thought we could do a little ice-skating at the local rink, then stop by there to warm up. And then I will give you my present. What do you think, Mi?"

"Sounds perfect, pretty!"

"Then, let's go!"

You laugh and run down the street, pulling Misa along by the hand. The wind is cold and it whips your hair and hers everywhere. The combination of that and your warm breath fogging up in the almost frozen air makes it difficult to see. It is cold and bleak and the wind blows hollowly because you are the only ones in the streets, but it feels magical nonetheless and you can't help but grin in absolute joy. Eventually, you slow to a stop in front of the temporary outdoor rink, puffed out of breath and face an odd colour from the cold, but still grinning proudly.

Misa gives a quick shout of delight that's whisked away by the wind, clapping her glove-clad hands together and grinning back at you.

"Doesn't it look awesome?" you yell over the roar of the day.

"We're so going to freeze to death!" she yells back.

Nevertheless, Misa follows you into the rink, practically bouncing in excitement as you fork over money and pass her a pair of skates. She tugs them on fast, with no regards for the dangerously sharp blades on the bottom, and proceeds to almost vibrate with impatience as you put yours on.

"Come on come on let's go let's go," she chants, pulling you onto the ice. You stumble together for a moment, before Misa finds her balance and spins you around. "This is so fun, Y/N!"

Trying not to fall over and clinging desperately to Misa's hands, you manage to respond. "I'm glad you like it!"

Misa whoops in joy and spins you around again.

It takes a good twenty minutes and as many falls for you to find you balance. Your butt is bruised and you're freezing despite the layers padding you up, but it really is fun. You start laughing, almost in hysterics as you swoop around the edges of the rink, Misa's hand in yours or on your waist as she spins you. Eventually, still smiling and sore all over, your time ice-skating is up and you sit down to take off the shoes, shaking a little from the leftover adrenaline.

"That was really so fun. Definitely on track for the best birthday ever. Café next, right?"

"Right," you confirm, standing on slightly shaky legs. Misa grins and holds your hands again. Despite the fact her skin is covered by the fabric of gloves, it's still comforting and gives you a sense of closeness as you walk to the coffee shop.

"Woah!" Misa shivers dramatically at the warm air that comes to greet the two of you as you enter. "Ohhh, that's nice..."

You help Misa pull off her gloves and lead her to an empty table in the corner. Heading to the counter, you order hot drinks and wait for them, glancing over at Misa and smiling each time you do. After a few minutes (the cold weather has driven half the city into this café, it seems) you gather the drinks and bring them over to your girlfriend.

"Nice and warm," Misa declares. You smile.

A few hours pass in the coffee shop. It's cozy, the dim lighting and the sound of rain beginning to fall outside making your table feel like your own little world. Misa talks about anything and everything and you do too, listening and laughing and loving spending the day with her. Eventually, your gaze shifts from the cloudy grey skies outside down to your watch, and you sigh. "Alright, Mi, time to go home. I have one more thing for us to do on this special day, and that is for me to give you a gift. Are you ready?"

"So ready!" Despite how calm the atmosphere is, Misa perks up quickly and follows you home with a bounce in her step and her arm linked through yours.

Down the streets, up the stairs, through the doors. You sit Misa down in the living room and tell her to wait. She does so, kicking her feet and humming as you head to your bedroom. Opening the cupboard, you fish around until you find the gift.

"Close your eyes," you say. Misa does.

Walking forward, you place a small, somewhat cold silver ring in her hand. Misa shivers a little at the touch, grinning widely with her eyes still closed.

"It's in your hand! You can open your eyes, silly."

Misa opens her eyes, the colour seeming to brighten and sparkle in the light. "OMIGOD, Y/N, WHAT IS THIS?!" she practically squeals, examining the ring carefully.

"A promise ring. I thought it was still kinda early for engagement or anything, but.. it's a symbol of how much I love you, how much you mean to me. I promise you that I will love you for as long as you let me, and I hope that will be a very long time."

Misa throws her arms around you for the second time, squeezing tight as she plants a kiss on your cheek and then your lips. "I love you too, pretty. Forever and ever."

"Happy birthday, Misa."

"The best one yet."

　★━━─・‥…━━━☆

𝖎𝖋 𝖞𝖔𝖚 𝖑𝖎𝖐𝖊𝖉 𝖎𝖙 ˏˋ⋆˖⁺˖⁀➷ 𝖕𝖑𝖊𝖆𝖘𝖊 𝖗𝖊𝖇𝖑𝖔𝖌 + 𝖋𝖔𝖑𝖑𝖔𝖜

©lawlietscaramels. Do not repost on other sites, claim as your own work, edit, rewrite or “fix,” feed to AI or otherwise use unethically.

[ecargmura]

Pokemon Horizons Episode 13 Review: Picnic Time!

It’s been two weeks since Pokemon Horizons went on break, but why does it feel like two months? I’m happy that I can finally watch more Pokemon Horizons! Episode 13 is a break episode that’s a mix of a recap and actual plot significance.

We learn that the Brave Asagi is actually Orla’s creation that she made from Ludlow’s old fishing boat. I do like learning lore about this! It shows why Orla is the groups’ mechanic because she’s the one who knows how it works.

The episode is basically showing off the picnic mechanic from the games. I think it transitions well! Everyone makes their own sandwiches and Roy experiences what a majority of SV players go through when the top sandwich bread falls off. I feel you, Roy.

Liko’s kindness shows throughout this episode as she wants Dot to be involved, but wants to respect her feelings. She made a picnic set with Murdock inside the ship so that Dot, Ludlow and Quaxly get to take part in their picnic too! I’m glad that there’s progression with the Liko and Dot storyline; however, she’s still oblivious that Dot is Nidothing. It seems that everyone on the Brave Asagi knows Dot is Nidothing except for Liko and Roy. When will the big reveal happen?

Dot, in turn, seems to be moved by Liko’s kindness. She was struggling to make a video and was trying to talk about picnics after Roy sent her a pic with him and Liko enjoying sandwiches, but when she finally gets to experience the joys of a picnic, she makes a good video and even sends a pic to Liko. I’m sure Dot’s arc is coming up soon. I can feel it.

Roy gets a bit of his own plot point here as he encounters a Wattrel who stole his sandwich. After making Fuecoco go into a sound battle, Roy realizes that it was just hungry, so it offered to share the sandwich. Wattrel then proceeds to take the whole sandwich. Roy then notices that the Wattrel hasn’t flown when he noticed a flock of them flying by. I’ve seen speculations that Roy might catch Wttrel, but I think otherwise. Roy lived a life where he has always been surrounded by Pokemon, so I’m sure that he’s just concerned with it. Whether he catches it or not really depends on the writer, but I just wish the fandom will just stop making baseless theories on captures and what not. I’m sure that Liko and Roy’s first captures will be announced when the time comes.

The Rising Volt Tacklers’ parental figures are definitely Friede and Murdock. Towards the end of the episode, they have a heart-to-heart about how Dot and Liko are changing and growing. Friede also comments on Roy’s growth too. I really enjoyed their little talk as it shows how close the Rising Volt Tacklers are as a group and not just random people stuck together. I’m glad that the writers are taking time to add in interactions between the adults as much as the kids.

Spinel is on the move again. This time, he’s in a disguise and has more Magneton to stop the Brave Asagi’s reboot. Damn, this guy’s smart. He’s definitely going to be a tricky foe to deal with. I just find it interesting how the episode was mainly heartwarming and then the ending punched the viewers with the cliffhanger.

I’m excited for the next episode! Oh, and there’s a poster that shows what’s to come for the next couple of episodes! Iono and Kabu make their debut! Iono was shown in a trailer a few weeks back, but Kabu showing up was not in my bingo card! Wow! Kabu never made an appearance in Journeys, so it’ll be interesting to see what the anime has in store for the Gym Leaders that didn’t show up!

[wqintraining]

NEW X-MEN: THE ANIMATED SERIES - SEASON 3, EPISODE 2 (PART 2 OF 2)

We open once again on Okkara, thousands of years ago. This time, we are even further in the past. There are no demons and no battles raging. With a shining sun and a clear blue sky above, Okkara is a flourishing island paradise. Its Mutant population is happy and at peace. 

The man known as En Sabah Nur, dressed not in armor, but in loose-fitting robes, sits on a rock, strumming a stringed instrument, a calm smile on his face. A small captivated crowd listens. 

Nur's attention is turned away from his music as someone calls for him. 

"Father! Father!"

Apocalypse grins as a little girl made of flames runs up to him with excitement. He picks her up and asks what's brought her such joy. 

ORIGINAL WAR: "Death and I fought! And I won!"

APOCALYPSE, an amused father: "Ah, I see. No wonder you are proud. Defeating Death is no small feat. Even if he is your baby brother."

War continues to be smug over her victory as Nur holds her tight. 

NUR: "Stay strong, my daughter. But remember, to fight is not your future. You are the war which will never come again."

In the present, Apocalypse and War stand in their laboratory. A scientist reports to them that everything finally seems operational. On his mark, they can deploy the X-Virus. 

A different scientist speaks up.

SCIENTIST: "Please, Lord Apocalypse! Don't do this! We can weaponize the virus on a smaller scale. If you'd just think of the–"

The scientist is cut off as his throat is sliced open, blood gushing out. He falls over, dead. 

Apocalypse puts an arm around War's shoulders. 

APOCALYPSE: "Proceed…and end this fight."

At the Jean Grey School, Mercury and Bling! have been sent on a drug trip. Cessily is dazed as she hallucinates her body expanding and twisting in every which way as the world expands and twists around her. Bling! meanwhile gets shinier and shinier. It’d blinding. It gets more pleasant for them as bubbles start forming on Mercury’s skin and she pops them to tickle herself, while Roxy tosses on some sunglasses and revels in how cool she looks. 

CESSILY, giggly: “This is so weird. Have you ever done something like this before?” 

ROXY: “You asking that because of who my parents are?” 

CESSILY: “What? No, I–” 

Roxy bursts out in hysteric laughter. 

The Cuckoos are also on this trip, laughing as they hallucinate. They’re continuously merging with and unmerging from each other. 

CUCKOOS: “They’re so gonna thank us.” 

In the mission room, we pick up directly where we left off last time. Cyclops, Kitty, Iceman, and Wolverine desire to go and stop Apocalypse, but Magneto and Emma believe they should allow his plans to play out, and Hellion and Surge think they may be right. In the face of Archangel’s murder, Iceman is enraged and has put Magneto’s neck at icicle point. 

ICEMAN: “I don’t care if you won’t help, but you aren’t getting in my way!” 

Without moving or flinching, Erik disintegrates Bobby’s stretched-out arm. 

MAGNETO: “The loss of Archangel is painful. For myself, the loss of the Morlocks even more so. Children died in those sewers. Do you know where else children died? By the millions? Genosha. This is the only way the pain ends.” 

SCOTT: “Emma, please. You’re better than this.” 

EMMA, insulted: “Do you really think speaking down to me will change my mind? Humanity’s leaders have brought nothing but suffering to all but the very worst of their entire population. Gently guiding them into the night as we take our rightful steps into the future and preventing decades more of suffering for them is practically a mercy.”

MAGNETO: “Why is this such a difficult pill for you to swallow, Cyclops? You have killed before. You will kill again. All in the name of protecting your people. And in the long term, you will save far more billions than those who die here.” 

KITTY: “Can we stop talking like these are numbers on a spreadsheet and not living, breathing people?! Living, breathing people with family and friends!” 

NORIKO: “Humans, Ms. Pryde. You’re talking about humans.” 

JULIAN: “Humans who wouldn’t hesitate to kill us all if the positions were flipped.” 

LAURA, aghast: “What the Hell is the matter with you two?!” 

Nori angrily explains why she has no shits left to give about humans. Her family abandoned her, groups like the Purifiers and U-Men keep forming to try and kill them, and even if a new one hasn’t popped up lately, she knows they weren’t the first, even if they were, Stryker and all of his followers, and all the engineers who agreed to work for him were why Nova was able to kill 16 million of them, they do SHIELD’s dirty work fighting their own people for them, but SHIELD never seems to help THEM, Cyclops, for all his hard work, has barely made any dent in improving public opinion of Mutants…

Julian takes over. 

JULIAN: “They took my damn hands, my family, hell, half the families of the kids here abandoned us, and the X-Men couldn’t even do the one thing they were supposed to do for us: keeping us safe.” He glares right at Scott. “With how many times you failed Sofia, it’s no wonder she turned on us.” 

Bobby shouts at the kids that this is NOT the time for a temper tantrum, but Scott silences him. 

SCOTT: “Everything you just said is true. And I’m sorry for where I’ve failed, and the hands you’ve been dealt.” He turns to Emma and Magneto. “But I’m not ready to give up.” 

In Apocalypse’s lair, engines pound, and lights flash. Apocalypse’s lead scientist informs him and War of the good news: the X-Virus has been released. Before long, his goals will be fulfilled. 

Apocalypse laughs in triumph. 

APOCALYPSE: “Thousands of years of pain…will finally come to an end.” 

War hooks her arms around one of Apocalypse’s and congratulates her lord. New Okkara will be the greatest civilization the world has ever known. Apocalypse rests a hand on her head. He could not have reached this point without her. 

Just then, all of the scientists started coughing, as their bodies undergo a series of rapid, horrific Mutations. By the end, they are nothing but beige splatters on the floor. 

Exodus enters, cackling at the irony. 

EXODUS: “Shall I summon Death and Pestilence to join us in our hour of glory?” 

APOCALYPSE: “No. They are needed in their current positions.” 

EXODUS: “And if the X-Men don’t arrive willing to simply enter your open arms?” 

WAR: “Has all that hair gel gone to your brain? These are hardly the X-Men who bested you both in the past. The three of us will more than suffice to crush them.” While Exodus bristles, War raises clenches her fist. “One way or another, I will make them see the light.” 

Back in Cessily and Roxy’s room, the girlfriends have started making out one on the best, while the Cuckoos are spead across the floor, each in a daze, fiddling with one of Roxy’s instruments. 

IRMA, plucking a violin with her fingertips: “Hey…can I ask you all something?” 

PHOEBE, banging a drum stick against a bongo: “Since when can you not?” 

IRMA: “I know…I know…but, I was thinking…what if I changed my name?” 

The other Cuckoos weakly laugh. 

SOPHIE, fidgeting with the buttons on a trumpet: “What?” 

ESME, ripping the strings off a guitar: “TO what is more like it.” 

IRMA: “I don’t know. I was just thinking about it.” 

SOPHIE: “I guess it’s okay as long as it starts with an “I”.” 

Cessily pulls away from Roxy and falls off the bed, partially liquifying on impact. 

CESSILY, as she struggles to put herself back together: “I…hate you all. And I’m going to regret asking. But why do you…” 

Cessily trails off as she passes out mid-sentece. 

CELESTE: “She’ll be fine.” 

ROXY: “Cool, cool…so explain?” 

The Cuckoos giggle. 

SOPHIE: “We chose our own names. Sophie, Irma, Phoebe, Celeste, Esme.” 

CUCKOOS: “SPICE!” 

SOPHIE: “As in “Spice Girls”.” 

Roxy burts out laughing at that. The Cuckoos’ expressions range from insulted to hurt, until Roxy clarifies why she’s laughing. Their taste in music for their routines may suck, but she can respect that kind of crazy passion. 

The Cuckoos’ faces light up at the first positive response they’ve managed to get from Roxy. 

Just then, Sooraya knocks on the door. She wants to make sure her friends are okay, as something horrible seems to be going on around the world. 

The Cuckoos cackle as they open the door telekinetically, accidentally slamming it, and tell Sooraya to come join them. Sooraya is instantly distracted from her previous concern, as now she’s just wondering what in the name of Allah is going on here. 

ROXY: “Gonna be honest…still not entirely sure. You don’t have to do anything, girl. I know drugs are challah or something. Just take a seat and soak in the moment.” 

Cessily, as a puddle, woken up and squirmed over to Sooraya’s feet. Her face is in the puddle. 

CESSILY: “Hi.” 

Sooraya seethes before shutting the door behind her. She’s only staying to make sure these irresponsible heethens don’t die. The other girls all cheer. 

In the mission room, the argument has devolved into a shouting fest, Scott and Bobby screaming back and forth incomprehensibly with Emma and Erik, while Laura does the same with Julian and Noriko. 

The only one not screaming? The team’s designated mediator, Kitty Pryde, who’s watching everyone else and taking in the situation. As the wheels turn in her brain, she picks up her phone and takes note of the crisis going on around the world, as thousands of people drop dead. 

Kitty cringes, eyes shut, before opening them, full of determination. She has a plan. 

While everyone else is fighting, Kitty sends a text message. While they don’t go to check their phones, we hear the buzz going off in Wolverine and Iceman’s. Kitty then rushes Surge and Hellion and phases all three of them through the floor. 

Julian and Noriko are pissed, and question what Ms. Pryde is doing. And after everything she’s seen, why isn’t she on their side?! 

KITTY: “Shush! Oh my god, be quiet.” 

JULIAN: “You can’t shush us!” 

KITTY: “You must be getting too big for your britches if you’re forgetting you’re still students and I’m still your teacher. Yes, I can shush you. And you’re going to listen to me.” 

NORI: “But Ms. Pryde–” 

Kitty shoots her down with a stare. 

With the kids reluctantly quiet, Kitty takes a breath. 

KITTY: “Listen, I…you know, I…” 

As Kitty struggles to find the right words, Julian and Noriko glare at her with skepticism and disinterest. A vein bulges in her forehead as her emotions overwhelm her. But she has to keep going. 

KITTY: “You’re not wrong.” The kids are visibly surprised by those words. “You’re not wrong at all. About what you’ve been forced to deal with. About how you’ve been forced to live. You two have been dealt more shit than anyone should ever have to face, and you can’t even so much as look at your own hands without remembering that. I get it! Letting someone else do the dirty work of wiping away all the nasty people who’ve hurt you, and then take out whatever evil Mutants are left? Get the happy ending just like that? I get what why you want that. But, in spite of everything, everything I’ve seen, everything I’ve faced, all the people I’ve lost…” KItty trails off as she laughs. “All the bullcrap I’ve had to deal with from my own teachers and teammates. Do you know why I still dream?” 

NORI, disregarding her: “Because you’re just naturally that perfectly good?” 

Kitty cackles. 

KITTY: “Hell no! The stories I could tell you kids. I won’t, because trauma, but I could.” They don’t laugh like she’d hoped. “Anyway...what kept me going were the people I loved. And I don’t just mean Mutants. And I’m not going to say I’m talking about “humans” or “Flatscans” like you two have gotten so fond of calling baselines. It’s one gene of difference! We’re all still human!” 

JULIAN, disregarding her: “You think “baselines” are worth keeping around just because a few of them aren’t the worst?” 

KITTY: “It’s a lot more than a few. I promise. My parents never had anything but love for me. And I have so, so many friends who I know would do anything to help us if they could. You’re heroes. Superheroes. Do you really want to just let countless innocent people die?” With Julian and Noriko still not being reached, Kitty realizes she has to go deeper - more personal. “My dad is already dead. Killed alongside the Mutants of Genosha he considered his community. But you know who’s still alive? Sooraya’s mom, who Dust has been so, so happy to have back in her life.” Julian and Noriko hang their heads and cringe as they’re hit with this. “How about Roxy’s parents? Or Brian’s? Or all the other parents of kids here who still love them? Do you want to tell you “crew”, Julian, how you decided to let their parents die? You think they’ll understand? What about if people like Storm and Sofia don’t just get their powers back from this? Noriko…” Kitty hates herself for having to go this far. “...do you want Keitaro to die?” 

Noriko and Julian scream in rage as they super-speed toward Kitty, but she simply phases through them before grabbing their collars and slamming them on the floor. 

The kids start crying. They don’t WANT anyone to die. They don’t want anyone to get hurt. But nothing is getting better. Nothing is getting easier. They just keep losing more and more. They just keep losing people. 

Kitty helps the two stand up. Like she said, she gets it. But this is why escalation isn’t the answer. Evil isn’t genetic. There are evil baselines and evil Mutants.

KITTY, to Julian: “Sure, baselines’ hate is what often provokes radical response. But we should be better, right?” 

Julian bites his liip as his own philosophy is thrown in his face. 

KITTY, to Noriko: “And most people? Most people are good. They all need to be protected. And we’re the only ones who can protect everyone, baseline and human.” Noriko’s eyes widen and light up and a switch clicks in her brain. “We’re all the same.” 

There’s a quiet pause. 

JULIAN, trying to still be bitter: “I…” 

Nori hugs Kitty, apologizing for how she’s been thinking and acting. Kitty hugs her back and assures her she’s got nothing to apologize for. She was just scared and angry. She’s still a good kid. Still a hero. 

KITTY: “You wanna get in on this?” 

Iceman and Wolverine arrive, with Kitty glad they got her text, and thanking them for their good timing. 

Julian brushes her off, but he does thank her for the wakeup call. Honestly. 

KITTY: “Mission Room?” 

ICEMAN: “Frozen solid.” 

KITTY: “Good. Won’t hold Magneto and Emma, but we don’t want it too. Hellion and Surge are back on track. I need the four of you to head to Egypt NOW. Kids, you’re on Horseman detail. You aren’t beating them, but I just need to distract them for as long as you can. Iceman…” 

ICEMAN: “I really hope you’re not about to tell me I’m fighting Apocolypse on my own.” 

KITTY: “I mean, if anyone could.” Bobby is able to laugh a little. “But no. You can make copies of yourself. Hold Apocalypse back while your dupes disable his machines.” 

HELLION: “This sounds like we’re being thrown to the wolves.” 

KITTY: “Only if I can’t get our “leaders” to join us. I’ll work my magic on them too, and get them over to Egypt to help as quickly as possible.” 

Everyone is aware this isn’t a great plan, but it’s the only one they’ve got. Just one problem: Magik’s not talking or getting out bed, their planes are fast, but can’t move instantaneously, and Nightcrawler can’t do long distance. 

Nori laughs at their panic. Kitty and Iceman don’t actually KNOW what Pixie’s Mutation is, do they? 

In Apocalypse's throne room, he sits on his chair, with Famine and War at his sides. While Apocalypse and Exodus track the plague's effects telepathically, War watches on her phone. 

WAR: "I wonder what sorts of new weapons will be unlocked."

EXODUS: "Perhaps there will be an Omega with your weapon so we can replace you."

WAR: “Fine by me. I’m almost due for a promotion anyway.” 

Apocalypse sighs. 

WAR: “Is something wrong, my lord?” 

APOCALYPSE: “No. Merely what we expected. The X-Men are coming. And they do not appear to be interested in joining us. Deal with them.” 

EXODUS, sarcastic: “A shocking turn of events.” He smirks at War. “Are you sure you’re up to this? I can handle the battle myself if you think you might–” 

APOCALYPSE, cutting him off: “Famine. Go.” 

Exodus, frustrated shakes his head, before bowing and departing. 

For the first time, War appears hesitant. 

APOCALYPSE: “War…I know you wish to save them. But we can only help those Mutants who wish to be helped. If they fight, you may attempt to show mercy…but nothing can be allowed to stop us. Am I clear?” 

War stands in place, frozen, as she looks down at her phone. Noticing her struggle, Apocalypse stands. He gently takes her phone from her and tosses it aside. 

APOCALYPSE: “I did not expect this weakness from you.” 

WAR, finally speaking up: “I am NOT weak!” 

APOCALYPSE: “Of course you aren’t. You are among the strongest horsemen I’ve ever led. My blood runs through you. You did everything in your power to purge yourself of weakness. So why do you hesitate?” 

War leans against Apocalypse’s chest. 

WAR: “I only froze for a few seconds. You would have pause as well were it your family fighting against us.” 

APOCALYPSE: “Oh, my child.” Apocalypse wraps an arm around War. “My family is your family.” 

War shivers at those words. She quickly hugs him back before pulling away. 

WAR, enthusiastically: “Should it come to it, I will bring you every last X-Man’s head, my lord.” 

APOCALYPSE, grinning: “I know you will.” 

War bows before flying off. Apocalypse, still smiling, returns to his seat and laughs. 

In her dorm room, Pixie is freaking out. People around the world are melting or dying in other horrible ways, and she doesn’t want to melt, and she doesn’t want the school to blow up again, or for anyone else to get hurt, or to have to go back to living with her mom. 

ICEMAN: “We don’t have time for this!” Bobby forcefully shows Megan coordinates on his phone. “Send us here with your pixie dust NOW, Megan!” 

Megan whimpers, afraid of the situation and of Bobby. 

Wolverine shoves Bobby away. 

WOLVERINE: “I do not care if you’re angry. You do not scream at my friends. Cool off. And do not dare make a pun.” 

Iceman backs off as Nori steps forward. Noriko asks Megan if she noticed they’re roommates this year. Pixie nods. 

SURGE: “Well, I know I don’t exactly have the best reputation. Gonna be honest: I’m probably gonna annoy you as much as I do everyone else. Only girl who didn’t find me annoying is long gone.” Julian and Laura cringe. “And if you don’t trust the adults to keep us safe at this point, I can’t blame you one bit. But, feel free to tell everyone else: I’m an X-Man now. And you don’t have to like me or trust the adults as protectors…I’ll keep you all safe. No matter what.” 

Pixie is able to start calming down and she weakly smiles. 

Hellion steps forward with a smug look on his face. 

HELLION: “And, when Surge inevitably screws up, because, let’s be honest with ourselves, she will, I’ll always be there to catch her and show her up.” Pixie giggles. “No one ever touches this school again.” 

Laura smiles, happy to see her friends like this after their dark turn, while Bobby is impressed. 

PIXIE: “Okay. Okay, let’s do this!” 

As Pixie starts making her dust, Wolverine stands next to Hellion and Surge. 

WOLVERINE: “Welcome back.” 

Pixie wishes the X-Men good luck as she sprinkles the four with her dust, sending them away. 

In the Mission Room, Magneto and Emma vaporize Iceman’s ice, freeing themselves and Cyclops. They all struggle to catch their breath. 

EMMA, telepathically: “That young man is becoming far too powerful.” 

Kitty races back into the room. 

KITTY: “Hey, perfect timing. You all have a chance to calm the Hell down?” 

Cyclops and Erik glare and huph at each other, while Emma turns her eyes toward KItty. 

EMMA: “Where are the children?” 

KITTY, smirking: “They left with Iceman. Off to save the world.” Emma is visibly pissed off. “If you’re worried about them, they sure could use you two backing them up.” 

CYCLOPS, smiling: “Nice work, Kitty.” 

KITTY, smirking back: “Thanks. Nice job not letting Emma use your hair like puppet strings for once.” 

EMMA: “Do you find this funny?! You have jeoprized our children’s safety!” 

KITTY: “And here I thought you believed in your kids’ potential.” 

EMMA: “Potential they are YET to realize!” 

MAGNETO: “Enough!” 

Erik apologizes to Emma, but they cannot bend now. Not with what is at stake. They must hope that, if Apocalypse was in a mood to speak with them, he won’t just kill Wolverine, Hellion, and Surge, and they’ll be able to save them. They already know from Storm’s loss that he’s sparing Omegas, so Iceman will be definitely be safe. 

Erik’s words are able to calm Emma and allow her to recompose herself. 

EMMA: “Yes. You’re right. That’s that then. Cyclops, Kitty…your move.” 

Back over with the girls, Cessily, Roxy, and the Cuckoos are now all on the floor. Sooraya stands over them, wondering just what they took. She won’t take any herself, but figures it would be less awkward if she relaxed a little. She removes her hood and facemask and lays down next the other girls. 

CESSILY, ROXY, and CUCKOOS: “WOOOOH! DUST! DUST! DUST!” 

IRMA: “Take it all off!” 

PHOEBE: “Eww, don’t be gross, Irma.” 

The silence resumes as everyone except Soo’s eyes continue to glaze over. 

Suddenly, out of nowhere, Cessily burts into tears. 

Everyone wonders what’s wrong, but she just keeps crying. 

ROXY: “Oh. Babe. I wanna help. But I’m over here. And you’re over there. And…ugggggh.” 

Sooraya crawls over to Cessily and takes her hand, filling in for her unavailable gf. Without slurring her words like the others, she asks what’s wrong. 

CESSILY: “I just…I just feel like I’m being left behind. School won’t last forever. And when it’s done, I don’t want to be the only one who isn’t an X-Man. Three of us already are, four of us should be, Dust, your time is coming and we all know it, babe, you’re a genius, Brian’s got a gimmick, and you Cuckoos may be the worst, but you’re stronger than all of us.” She sniffles and coughs up some metal coins. “I only got put with you guys because I was able to fight  Sofia BEFORE she could even fly straight. You all have something I don’t. That natural IT! And no matter how hard I work, I’ll never catch up. I’ve learned to be proud of being a Mutant, but if I can’t fight with you all, you’ll leave me in the distance. Just like they did.” 

There’s a pause. 

ROXY, still extremely high: “Oh. That’s rough.” 

Cessily cries even harder. Sooraya glares at Roxy before holding Cessily. 

Iceman, Wolverine, Hellion, and Surge appear in a flash of pink light in Apocalypse’s lair. While Noriko thinks this place is spooky, Julian makes some light for them. His attention is caught by all the murals of Apocalypse…

JULIAN: “And they say I have an ego.” 

…with him also noticing one depicting him alongside a dark-skinned woman, their swords both raised in the air as their followers kneel before them. 

NORI: “People really worship this creep?” 

ICEMAN: “Baselines, Mutants, and everything in between unfortunately. Sometimes you just give up and want a god to make all your problems go away.” 

Bobby coughs up a bunch of clones and sends them to scout this place out. No need for them to waste energy hunting for their targets when they can do it. The dupes will hopefully be able to find a horseman or two, and destroy the doomsday device, before they’re all taken out. Plus, if the four of them stick together, they’ll be more difficult to get the drop on. 

LAURA: “Huh.” 

BOBBY: “What?” 

LAURA: “Nothing. Thought you were a clown.” 

BOBBY: “I like to be. But my friend is dead. So today, you kids get someone with as much training as Cyclops.” 

Iceman leads the kids further into the base. 

ICEMAN: “By the way, that was a nice speech you two gave Pixie. I should have said something like that.” 

JULIAN: “Only said what I felt. The X-Men have been letting me and mine down since our first month here. Ashida and I aren’t here at this point because we think you’re just so cool…” 

NORIKO: “...we’re here because we’re the only ones we trust to do this job right.” 

BOBBY, after a pause: “Sooooo, you’re teenagers.” The two pout as Bobby laughs at them after they thought they were sounding so cool. “No, no, I get it, it’s chill. But maybe you’re onto something. This team isn’t what it used to be. Maybe you two are just what it needs.” 

Noriko slams a fist against her palm. 

NORI: “No one puts my brother in danger. I know Ms. Pryde wants me distracting horsemen or whatever, but I wanna punch this Apocalypse guy in his big, dumb face. ” 

“Oh, honey.” 

The X-Men arrive in a golden, octacongal chamber, where Exodus and War await them. There are doors all around them. The building is a maze designed to lead trespassers back to this location. 

EXODUS: “You’d break every last nail.” 

The X-Men stand off against the two Horsemen, with Iceman’s eyes immediately filling with rage. 

As Cessily continues to cry and Sooraya holds her, the Cuckoos visibly feel awful for her. 

Sooraya tells her that she understands her fears, but she has nothing to worry about. The two of them have been together constantly, and she’s seen her grow so much. Even if she isn’t always getting real “experience” like the others, she’s always pushing herself and getting stronger. 

DUST: “No, you aren’t Wind Dancer, Hellion, or Surge. I’m not either. Everyone else seems to think I’ll become an X-Man soon. But the way you push yourself? I know you will.” Cessily sniffles, and wipes her tears. “And even if you don’t? We will never abandon you. We’re not your parents, Cessily. We’re your family.” 

Cessily is able to smile and wipe the last of her tears away as she hugs Sooraya. 

CESSILY: “Thank you. I love you.” 

SOORAYA, hugging her back: “I love you too.” 

ROXY, flatly:  “Love is awesome.” 

CUCKOOS: “Awwwwww.” 

SOPHIE: “This is better than Small Town.” 

CELESTE: “Are you guys always this sweet?” 

Cessily and Sooraya turn to the sisters. 

CESSILY: “It’s just called being friends.” 

The simplicity of that statement blows the Cuckoos’ minds. 

PHOEBE, telepathically: “That’s it?” 

CELESTE: “That’s how you make friends?” 

IRMA: “Being honest? Vulnerable?” 

ESME: “EWW! EWW! EWW!” 

OTHER CUCKOOS: “Sophie?” 

Sophie takes a moment to think. The other Cuckoos’ expressions change with hers as she decides what they need to do. 

SOPHIE: “Well…that’s all we want.” 

The camera cuts away from the Cuckoos. 

CESSILY, eyes bulging out of her head: “What the Hell?!” 

SOORAYA, equally shocked and covering her mouth: “What is this?” 

Roxy launches up to her feet, feeling better, before noticing the Cuckoos and fainting. 

Iceman turns his arms into blades, glaring with rage and hate,  as Exodus welcomes them to where Eden will be reborn. 

EXODUS, sultry, leering back at Bobby: “That’s quite the look you’re giving me, Iceman. Positively penetrating.” 

WAR: “Why do you need to make this weird?” 

HELLION: “And just who are you supposed to be? Iceman?” 

ICEMAN: “Never seen her.” 

War steps forward, holding out her arms. 

WAR: “I am War. And we do not need to fight. We should not be enemies. Everyone in this chamber is an extraordinarily powerful Mutant. We should be working together.” 

Hellion and Surge power up their auras. 

SURGE: “Thought about it. Decided I’d rather kick your teeth in.” 

ICEMAN: “You’re killing millions. And don’t pull the “just humans” thing on me. You’ve been killing our own. From defenseless children to the “strong” you claim to respect. You aren’t getting away with it!” 

BEAT. 

WAR: “Oh, are you talking about Death?” Bobby’s eyes widen. “He was hardly THAT strong.” 

Bobby howls as he forms and launches a glacier to throw at the two horsemen. Exodus blows it apart and rushes Iceman at super speed, punching him in the chest and smashing him through the wall. 

EXODUS: “Believe me, I get wanting to kill War. But I’ve already tasted one Omega today. And I want seconds.” 

Iceman narrows his eyes and he jumps back. 

Back in the main chamber, Hellion laments the plan already going to Hell, but thinking they may as well take War out together then. 

HELLION: “We’re gonna break that tacky armor apart as easily as your bones. You got that?!” 

While he, Surge, and Wolverine stand ready to fight, War shrugs. She falls back, catching herself in mid-air, and lays back with her legs crossed and her hands behind her head. 

WAR: “I have no desire to fight any of you. Stand still and stay out of the way of Famine’s battle, and you will live to see paradise.”

Surge resents being talked down to like this, and is about to jump her, but Wolverine stops her. 

WOLVERINE: “Think. Our job was to be a distraction for Iceman against Apocalypse. Now Iceman is distracted. If she is as strong as Exodus, then she’s right that we can’t beat her. If she does not want to fight…then it doesn’t make sense to fight. Not until Iceman wins.” 

HELLION, cringing: “I hate that that makes sense.” 

SURGE, also annoyed and spitting on the ground: “Seriously, who are you?” 

War giggles at them. 

WAR: “Within 24 hours? Your princess.” 

Iceman vs Exodus begins. Bobby throws everything he has at Famine, from more enormous glaciers, to snowstorms that make the arctic tundra look like the sun. 

BOBBY: “What are you even doing here, Exodus?! Last I checked, you hated Apocolypse as much as any of us!” 

EXODUS, shielding himself from and blowing away all of Bobby’s attacks: “I did, yes. But Magneto lost his way, and now chooses to walk the path of sloth. Lord Apocalypse’s vision is a holy one.” 

Exodus counterattacks at last and blows Iceman apart. He knows that he hasn’t won, and that Iceman can regrow from any chunk of himself. It’s why he can’t defeat him the same way he did Storm. Another reason to join Apocalypse is that, with his Omega-level molecular manipulation and god-like technology, he can make you stronger than you ever imagined. In his case, he was given the technology needed to steal x-genes, and the additional mutation of moisture absorption. 

EXODUS: “But you? You are moisture.” He rolls his shoulders as he looks at some of the water drops which wound up on him. “You’re already making me wet.” 

A full grown Iceman emerges from one of those water drops and punches Exodus in the face with a mace-hand, drawing blood. 

ICEMAN: “What is WRONG with you?!” 

Iceman after Iceman grows from the water, snow, and ice all around the room, and, freezing the floor underneath Exodus’ feet to make him slip for just a second,  Bobby’s small army of himself  gets in close and whales on him. While they do bust up his face and knock out his hair tie, they can’t put him down before he vaporizes all but one. 

EXODUS, panting: “What can I say? I like what I see. And don’t you dare say I’m less appealing to the eye than poor, dead, Death.” 

BOBBY: “Don’t you…! Wait, are you saying I–?” 

With Bobby frazzled, Exodus finds the opening in his mental defenses and psychically brings him to his knees. As Bobby screams, Exodus sadistically grins and approaches him, readying the same hand he used on Storm. 

EXODUS: “Don’t worry, Iceman. In a moment, your pain will come to an end. In a moment, you will be…inside me.” 

Exodus slams his hand down on Iceman’s face and begins stealing his x-gene. 

Back with the girls, Cessily, Sooraya, and even Roxy have gotten situated on one of those beds, the girlfriends both chugging water. Seated on the other bed, the Cuckoos smirk confidently at them. 

There’s an awkward silence. Until…

ROXY: “Okay so what WAS that?” 

CESSILY: “You said you got your noses done!” 

IRMA: “And more!” 

Sooraya doesn’t understand. Their unmasked faces were completely mangled. Did they shatter them?

SOPHIE: “No.” 

PHOEBE: “They were made broken.” 

ESME: “We just fixed them.” 

Once again, there’s an awkward silence. And once again, Roxy breaks it. 

ROXY: “No. No way. I don’t buy it.” 

CELESTE: “Why? Do you expect us all to act like whiny victims?” 

IRMA: “We’re exactly who we were meant to be.” 

A look of realization slowly creeps onto Cessily’s face. 

CESSILY: “BULLSHIT!” 

The Cuckoos giggle. 

Sooraya still doesn’t get it. The Cuckoos reason she may not have any context for what’s going on, so they decide to make it easier for her, and just beam the information into her head. 

Sooraya’s eyes widen. 

SOORAYA: “Oh. I…didn’t realize that was possible. Congratulations?” 

Roxy gets a chuckle out of that. Some of the celebrities she introduced her to over the break were also trans, and it just never came up. 

The Cuckoos nonetheless thank Sooraya, and all of them for understanding. They aren’t so sure everyone here would be, Mutant or not. 

The sisters go on to say that, for as long as they can remember, they’ve known who they wanted to be, and how they wanted to live their lives. From being pop stars, to ruling the school, and being friends with all the coolest people. They thought they were cool and hot and powerful enough to force it, but that just ruined everything. 

SOPHIE: “This is all still so new to us…and we didn’t know what else to do. We are sorry.” 

With the Cuckoos actually looking like they mean it, the three friends turn to each other, unsure of what to say next. 

In the Mission Room, Scott turns and paces away from Emma and Erik. 

ERIK: “Do you remember when we spoke on Genosha? In no way did I infer that I had come to think the same way as Charles. What I told you was that I’d realized that attempting to dominate humanity would only ever divide Mutantkind. If there is no humanity, and Apocalypse is defeated later, there will be no division. I was chosen by Phoenix in its infinite wisdom to lead our people. It knows that this is the path forward.” 

Scott takes a moment to respond. He doesn’t look back at Erik, but he does tilt his head. 

SCOTT: “The same Phoenix that destroyed Genosha?” 

Erik is enraged. 

ERIK: “How dare you.” 

Scott turns back to face him. 

SCOTT: “How dare I? Do you really think this is what any of your people would have wanted?” 

ERIK: “They are dead!” 

SCOTT: “And clearly more dead bodies will stop the problem, right? Just hope that Apocalypse has changed slightly and if he hasn’t, take him out? Great, what happens next? You lead us? No one challenges that? You, of all people, are going to unite the remaining population of millions? Millions who, by and large, actively chose against moving to Genosha? After doing THIS?” 

Magneto clenches his teeth and fists and forms magnetic bubbles around his hands. 

SCOTT: “Go. Do it. Blow me up as easily as I know you can. Doesn’t change that the reason Apocalypse’s plan will work and yours won’t is the same reason you were never able to wipe out humanity.” 

ERIK, stomping forward: “Are you calling me weak?” 

SCOTT: “No. I’m calling Apocalypse the devil. And despite the horns on that helmet of yours, you just aren’t. You don’t have the stomach to do what you’d need to to force everyone to follow you. Even if you had his resources, you wouldn’t have the stomach to initiate this plan yourself.” 

Magneto grabs Scott by the throat. 

MAGNETO, through gritted teeth: “And what makes you so sure?” 

“Because I still remember a kind old man who wouldn’t have been able to live with himself if he’d killed a single little Jewish, Mutant girl.” 

Erik turns to look at Kitty as she finishes speaking. She mocks him with taunting eyes and a head tilt.  He cringes and powers down. 

Magneto sighs. 

MAGNETO: “That is another tally on the board for you, Summers. I concede. And I am sorry.” 

Scott puts a hand on his shoulder. 

SCOTT: “We all want the pain to stop. One day, it will. But it will be through the dream. Not like this.” 

Everyone turns to Emma, unsure if she’s gotten on the same page from all this. 

Emma struts over to Scott like nothing is wrong and kisses him. 

EMMA: “I have nothing to apologize for.” 

The lovers share a smirk, but it’s quickly back to business. They have a big bad to beat. 

SCOTT: “And you don’t need to hear me say I forgive you.” 

In Apocalypse's base, Iceman attempts to resist having his powers stolen by freezing Exodus's hand, but against his telekinesis and telepathic assault, that can only do so much. Famine taunts Bobby with a slasher smile as he creeps into his mind. 

EXODUS: “Of all people, you should relish the potential of our victory. You are Omega. You would live one step below godhood. Your full power will be unleashed, not suppressed.”  

Bobby groans as he pictures both his solo victory over one of the super sentinels, as well as a flashback to when he was a teenager, being scolded by Xavier and laughed at by the rest of the 05. 

EXODUS: “You will not fear yourself.” 

Bobby moans louder as he flashes back to his interactions with Christian and Warren. Special attention is put on their smiles and Warren’s post-shower chest. 

EXODUS: “You will have a lord who accepts you.” 

Bobby screams as he thinks back to being a kid, slapped across the face by his father, with a cross on a wall visible in the background. 

EXODUS: “Your loyalty or your weapon. Whatever your choice, you must submit.” 

Bobby groans and struggles as resisting becomes almost impossible. His head is hung and his time is nearly out. 

ICEMAN: “I…thank you, Exodus.” 

Exodus raises his eyebrows in surprise. 

EXODUS: “For showing you the righteous path?” 

Bobby laughs. 

BOBBY: “Hell no. For proving every telepath I’ve ever known right.” He manically grins up at Exodus. “Intrusive telepathy DOES beat therapy!” 

Bobby flash freezes the arm Exodus has on him, and with an uppercut, shatters it. Exodus screams in pain and horror as Iceman powers back up and blasts away at him, hitting him hard enough to send him crashing through multiple walls, and outside into the surrounding desert. 

Iceman, talking to Exodus as faces on water drops on his clothes, tells Exodus that he never dreamed he could be who he is now. He didn’t even fully realize who that was until just now. And you know who that is? The hero who will always step up. The hero who CAN always step up, because he can do anything, and because he isn’t smart enough to overthink a problem that has a villain to be punched. And also?” 

ICEMAN, as he stands over Exodus on an ice bridge: “I’m gay. But you are so not my type.” 

Exodus desperately attempts another telepathic assault, but Bobby counters with the Red Diamond.

Bobby smiles up. “Check what happens next, Warren.”  

Iceman blasts again at Exodus, with Famine now the one struggling to shield himself. 

Still standing by, Hellion and Surge cheer at the sight of Iceman kicking Exodus’ ass. 

HELLION: “Better go running to your lord and master for safety. Once he’s done with him, you’ll have to deal with all of us.” 

War turns her head toward where the fight is happening. 

WAR, under her breath: “That buffoon.” 

War lands on her feet, one arm behind her back and one hand on the hilt of her sword. Surge questions if she’s ready to start now. 

WAR: “No. I still don’t wish to fight. I just wanted to ask you something. You’re all students at the Xavier Institute, aren’t you?” 

NORIKO: “Jean Grey School. What of it?” 

LAURA: “Don’t talk to her. This is obviously a play.” 

Julian erects a forcefield around the three kids. He’s putting all his power behind it, and he doesn’t care how strong she is, she isn’t breaking it down. No matter what she says, they’re staying on defense. 

WAR: “So suspicious. I only asked because I was curious if any of you ever happened to meet a girl I encountered. I believe her name was…Sofia Mantega?” 

The eyes of all three young X-Men, including Wolverine, immediately become intense. 

JULIAN: “Why do you know who that is?!” 

NORIKO: “What did you do to her?!” 

LAURA, not keeping her cool: “Steady heads.” 

War shakes her head. 

WAR: “It’s such a tragic story. A powerful young Mutant stripped of her weapon, all because she trusted fools who told her her place was to serve the weak. Made weak herself, and becoming as pitiful as any human, attacking her own people.” War paces forward. “Lord Apocalypse took note of her online acts. They spoke and, in the end, all was well.” 

JULIAN: “If you so much as hurt one hair on her head, I’ll tear you limb from limb! You hear me?!” 

WAR: “Hurt her? Never.” Beat. “I just put her out of her misery.” 

Surge and Hellion snap, firing massive blasts at War, but the only thing their attacks successfully destroy is a good chunk of the base, as War somehow forces their tk energy and electricity to crash against the walls, rather than travel in a straight path toward her. 

Wolverine, having lost all sense of leadership and composure, rushes War. However, she’s completely outclassed. War is fast and skilled enough to block all of her attacks with seeming efforltessness, she counters every move with a harsh body blow, and by the end of Laura’s attempted assault, she has Wolverine restrained by simply holding onto and crushing her arm. 

War tosses the battered Wolverine at the other two X-Men’s feet. Hellion and Surge charge in next, both coated in forcefields, and while that, plus their superspeed, allows them to do better, War can still either physically block or otherwise deflect all of their attacks. 

WAR: “If this is the best your school has, you need a better teacher.” 

War sends the two flying back, scorching them both with her flames. Wolverine gets back up and tries to fight again, but she doesn’t even get to make War block this time, as War easily steps out of the way of all of her attacks, and just gets to beat on her. 

WAR: “I am sorry it’s come to this. But the pain will make you stronger.” 

Seemingly spontaneously, Wolverine is slashed all over her body, deep bloody marks covering her from head to toe. Laura screams, and with one more punch tot the face, War puts her down. Screaming like maniacs, Hellion and Surge try one more time to do anything they can against War, but War just puts her hand to her head like a telepath and, a moment later, Noriko and Julian collapse to the floor, with their heads in agony. 

WAR, casually stepping past the kids in Iceman and Exodus’ direction: “If you wish to stand for something…if you wish to protect those who cannot protect themselves…the becoming the strongest and dominating is your only option. Otherwise? You’re just asking to be stepped on.” 

Julian and Noriko try to get up, but a sharp, invisible pain keeps them down. 

WAR: “I’ll see you in the new world.” 

Julian and Noriko pass out. 

In the girls' room, the eight teens are all sprawled back out on the floor, lying back in a circle. There’s a moment of silence. 

CESSILY: “You drugged us. That’s really messed up.” 

SOPHIE: “We tried just talking before.” 

ROXY: “Yeah, well, next time, maybe stick to that.” 

SOPHIE, perking up: “Next time?” 

Neither Cessily nor Roxy responds. 

SOORAYA: “I learned so much about American culture during the break. Things I never cared to learn while here. In so many ways, it is the free, wonderous place it promises. In others..” Sooraya trails off. “I’m still not sure if the country outside these walls is right for me. Much of it goes against…everything. Ommi is enamored. She loves it here. But even for baselines, it is more than it claims.” Sooraya looks at the sisters. “You threatened my mother. But I believe you have changed. I am not who you harmed the worst. The choice is Roxanne’s.” 

All eyes turn to Roxy. She exhales. 

ROXY: “You’re not the first girls I’ve met like you. Girls who’ve got everything and think that means they can take anything they want. Even people.” The Cuckoos faces fall. They don’t think this is going to end well. Roxy looks at Sooraya. “But last year, I realized the only difference between me and them was I threw tantrums when I didn’t get my way instead of pushing my pain onto others. I was just as entitled.” She looks back at the Cuckoos. “And another I learned last year? There are parts of us we don’t even know about just waiting to be uncovered. Good or bad, we’ve all got something else going on that we don’t show. I may regret this…but yeah, Sophie. You and your girls get a next time.” 

The Cuckoos all squee in delight, and even Cess and Soo seem pleased. Finally! Roxy won’t regret this. They’re going to be the best friends ever and run this school again. 

The others glare at them like they can’t be serious. 

CELESTE: “We mean by being popular.” 

Roxy and Sooraya breathe sighs of relief. 

CESSILY: “Well, the Hellions cannot come back for sure…but maybe we don’t need to be *totally* nice.” 

Everyone’s a little intrigued by what she’s thinking. 

We cut to Quentin’s room, where he and Brian are playing video games. Quentin has a “Magneto Was Right” poster on his wall, alongside various academic awards. The two boys are sitting back playing video games. We hold on this visual for a few seconds, until a giant, creepy monster pops out of the screen. Brian and Quentin scream in terror. 

Outside in the hall, the Cuckoos, Cessily, Sooraya, and Roxy laugh at their prank. Quentin is so scared, he loses control of his telekinesis and blasts out the light fixture, making the boys scream more. The girls pause, momentarily worried, and the Cuckoos shut off the illusion. 

QUENTIN, scared out of his mind: “Cuckoos! I know that was you!” 

The girls still seem concerned…but then they burst out laughing again. 

In Egypt, Iceman vs Exodus reaches a climax. Iceman laughs at the one-armed Exodus as he launches one ave of destructive tk energy after another, filling the air with sand. He keeps blowing Bobby apart, but he has no way of actually keeping him down. 

ICEMAN: “It doesn’t matter how many times you blow your load. Even the desert can’t make me melt.” 

Iceman freezes all of the sand Exodus has kicked up, sharpens it, and pelts Exodus with millions of hail shards. Bobby follows up with one more freezing blast to completely overwhelm Exodus. 

As the attacks finish, Exodus is down. For Warren and for the Mocklocks, Bobby is going to take him out. 

Exodus pants. Maybe he is about to lose…but he can still fight. 

From his one remaining hand, Exodus launches a TK wave, not at Iceman, but at the section of the base they came from, where Julian, Noriko, and Laura are passed out and helpless. 

Iceman screams in horror, powerful as he is, he can’t freeze the blast, or at least not as quickly as he needs to. 

ICEMAN: “NO!” 

The music stops everything stops. Everything stops except for Iceman. 

Bobby is weirded out, and confused by what’s going on. But then he realizes it. He did this. He froze time. 

ICEMAN: “I…I can do this?” BEAT “BWAHAHAHA! THAT’S SO COOL!” 

With time now on his side, but feeling like he can’t do this forever, Bobby takes the time he needs to freeze and shatter Exodus’ attack, although doing so clearly exhausts him, as he’s already used so much energy. For Exodus, time unfreezes as Iceman skewers him with two sharpened arms. 

ICEMAN, exhausted: “Congrats. You got me inside you.” 

Fear of death overtakes Exodus’ face as Iceman freezes him from the inside out. 

EXODUS: “This…this cannot be. I am the lord’s most faithful soldier. I cannot die to a clown.” 

ICEMAN: “I may be a clown. But at least I’m no one’s b–” 

Iceman’s victory quote is interrupted, and his victory is stopped, as a hellstorm of flames melts him down, the nature of the attack hurting him far more than Exodus’. War has arrived. With all the energy Bobby has already spent, the intensity of War’s heat makes it a struggle to reform his body. She shows no mercy as she continues to hit him again and again, cackling manically and leaving him a series of puddles in the sand. 

WAR: “And he said I couldn’t fight an Omega.” 

Exodus pants as he stands up and cauterizes his wounds. 

EXODUS: “I…had the situation under control.” 

WAR, mockingly: “Of course you did. Now shut off his brain. It’s the only way to kill him.” 

EXODUS: “Do not presume to order me, you little –” 

APOCALYPSE, telepathically, cutting him off: “Famine. War. You must leave at once.” 

WAR AND EXODUS: “WHAT?!” 

They’re both confused. They’re winning. And they’re about to kill Iceman. 

APOCALYPSE: “The X-Men’s leaders are arriving. Famine, you are in no condition to face Magneto as you wish to. War, your psychic defenses cannot withstand a single attack from Emma Frost. You have done well. Now leave the rest to me.” 

WAR, worried: “But my lord–!” 

APOCALYPSE: “Do you doubt my ability to defeat them? Do you doubt my strength?” 

War hates this, bending over and clenching her fists in frustration at this order, but she can’t argue. 

WAR: “Show no mercy, my lord.” 

War flies off. 

EXODUS: “As I heal, I shall find our new people, and shepherd them to their true paths.” 

Exodus flies off. 

Right outside Apocalypse’s base, Cyclops, Emma, Magneto, and Kitty finally arrive in a flash of pink sparkles. 

Emma’s first act is to breathe a sigh of relief. She senses that the kids and Iceman are all still alive. Down and out, but alive. They’re also in luck: it doesn’t seem like any Horsemen are present. Either they went down taking them out, or Apocalypse wants them all alone. 

Magneto orders Kitty to retrieve the kids and get them out of the base; the base may not survive the upcoming battle. Once that’s done, it’s her responsibility to disable Apocalypse’s machinery, get out, and see what she can do about Iceman. 

MAGNETO, looking to Scott and Emma: “Apocalypse wished to speak with us three. We shall grant that wish.” 

Kitty doesn’t question these orders for a second, tells the others to not mess this up, and runs in ahead of them. 

The three leaders dramatically follow behind her. Or, not so dramatically. 

SCOTT: “Let’s a make bet.” 

EMMA, not having time for this: “What?” 

SCOTT: “Make it interesting. Losing isn’t an option. We’re going to win. So let’s make a bet for who takes him down.” 

MAGNETO: “Are you being serious right now?” 

SCOTT, smiling and shrugging: “You shouldn’t be complaining. Odds are in your favor.” He looks at Emma. “If I put Apocalypse down, I get to teach you how to fly the Blackbird, and if you win, I’ll learn to ride a horse?” 

EMMA, continuing to glare at him in confusion: “Are you okay?” 

Scott laughs. 

SCOTT: “Oh god no.” 

In Apocalypse’s throneroom, Apocalypse sits, all by himself, his servants no longer present. He wearily leans to his side, resting his head on a fist. 

The leaders enter. Apocalypse,although still tried, grins. 

APOCALYPSE: “You have arrived. Are you here to witness the apocalypse alongside it?” The three just glare back. Apocalypse laughs. “No. I suppose you aren’t.” Apocalypse takes a breath. “I cannot say I understand. I have observed you. None of you are weak. Not like Charles Xavier. Even you, Child of X. I believed that the overly gentle terms I have set would be…agreeable.” 

The three continue to stare him down. Rather than respond to what he said, Magneto notices something else. 

MAGNETO: “You are already gravely injured. Sick. That’s why you have shown humanity this “mercy”. Not out of any desire to reach out an olive branch. You don’t even have the energy for a prolonged conflict, do you?” 

Emma questions how that’s possible. She and him have never had a chance to get acquainted, thank god, but isn’t he supposed to be immortal? Scott confirms this, and shares in her confusion, as if he did survive his last encounter with the X-Men, he should have needed to spend time in his regenerative chamber; the real reason they’ve never been able to stop him for good. 

APOCALYPSE, nodding: “What you say is true. But a sacrifice was necessary. One I do not regret.” 

Apocalypse questions if this is really what they want. To perpetuate the conflict among them. To prolong their suffering. 

The leaders tell him that question was a difficult one for them to come to a consensus on. But this won’t stop the fighting either. And at the end of the day, there are good humans; there is no good in Apocalypse. 

CYCLOPS: “Unless you mean to tell us you’ve changed your view of Mutants you don’t see as “worthy”.” 

APOCALYPSE, smiling: “The weak have no place in this world but to be crushed by the strong. That fact will never change. But I have witnessed the weakest, most pathetic of creatures transform themselves into the very strongest, given the right circumstances. All Mutants will have a chance in my world. It is not my fault if they fail.” 

Apocalypse knows that Kitty is also here and what she’s no doubt after. But they misunderstand. The plague has already been released. Millions have died, thousands have been born, and destroying the weapons of the old gods will not stop this from continuing. He explains that in granting each of his new Horsemen new Mutations, he set a condition on them: should they ever lose a battle, those abilities would fade away. He has put a similar condition on himself. If he falls, the plague will cease. That is the only way to stop it. 

APOCALYPSE: “If I can not still crush any who oppose me…then I have no right to dictate the new world. And the new world is not ready to be born.” He sits up straight. “Do you issue the challenge?” 

MAGNETO, stepping forward: “The X-Men do.” 

APOCALYPSE, moaning: “Very well.” Apocalypse slowly stands up, cracking his muscles and drawing two swords. “I am the weakest I have been in thousands of years. I stand against two Omegas and an Alpha. I…shall grant you honorable deaths.” 

Moving at super speed, Apocalypse rushes Magneto. Erik is able to hold him back with magnetic force, taking hold of Apocalypse’s hands to keep his balance, but this only lasts for a few seconds before Magneto is overpowered and sent flying through a wall. 

Cyclops blasts Apocalypse, but his optic beams merely tickle the immortal, who sends Scott flying with a far more powerful concussive blast of his own. 

EMMA, transforming into her diamond form: “You shouldn't have done that, Apocalypse. No one gets to beat that man but me.” 

Emma attempts to fight Apocalypse head on, but the punches of the form which survived Genosha can do little more than annoy him. She’s backhanded across the face, and sent flying like the others. 

Apocalypse is disappointed. He assumed if they were challenging him, without even knowing his condition, they must have gotten stronger. Instead, they are just fools. 

Scott looks to Emma, and then up at the hole Magneto made. He whistles. 

The ground shakes. All of the heavy machinery  and everything else made of metal in the room shakes as well. Apocalypse appears more interested than afraid by what’s happening. Flying back into the throneroom, Magneto launches everything at Apocalypse. A is easily able to smash and slice apart everything thrown at him, but all of this is just a distraction to allow Magneto to nail him in the face with a ground-shaking punch. Apocalypse isn’t sent flying, but he is knocked back  and visibly injured. 

APOCALYPSE: “There it is.” 

Cyclops and Magneto blast at him at the same time, and when Apocalypse blasts back, Emma steps in the way of Scott, blocking for him, while Erik defends himself. Without wasting an instant, Scott leaps off of Emma’s shoulder and targets Apocalypse’s head with a still-wider blast. Apocalypse telekinetically tosses them both away as he grunts, but is left open to be ravaged by a full-power magnetic wave. 

The attack not only launches Apocalypse out into the desert, but damages the infrastructure of the base. This is seen as we briefly cut to Kitty, as she drags the three kids out of there. The crumbling starts. 

Apocalypse remains standing, even if he is bleeding. Cyclops blasts Emma, launching her as a projectile at Apocalypse. He grabs her throat, ready to slash her head off, but she is merely a distraction, for Magneto to swoop in and tackle the titan. Apocalypse dissolves his swords, knowing they’ll do more harm than good at this stage. 

With his whole body charged up, Magneto and Apocalypse engage in hand to hand combat, moving even faster than War and Archangel did in their duel. While Magneto is succeeding in further injuring Apocalypse, each one of Apocalypse’s blows takes far more out of him. 

Eventually, Erik’s weariness and injuries catch up with him, and he slows down to the point Apocalypse sees an opening for a killing blow. He doesn’t get to deliver it though, as Emma is once again blasted by Scott, this time being positioned in between A and Erik to tank the hit. Magneto takes advantage of this, slamming his hands together and blasting Apocalypse once again. 

At last, A falls.. He narrows his eyes at Cyclops. Scott smirks back. 

We briefly flashback to sometime earlier in the year, Scott, Emma, and Erik seated around Emma’s desk. Each has a binder in front of them. Magneto is unamused and puzzled by what Scott has him looking at. Scott explains that it’s the X-Men’s strategy book. It’s a little list of tactics for each specific alignment of X-Men in the face of any given scenario. He updates it every time the rollcall changes. 

SCOTT, extremely proud of himself: “Pretty cool, right?” 

EMMA, lying and slightly embarrassed as she pats his shoulder: “Yes. Very.” 

In any case, since Magneto’s in charge now, and many of these strategies involve him, he needs to study up. Magneto sees little point. There are few threats he cannot crush on his own. 

MAGNETO, flipping a page: “Oh. Actually…this one could be of use.” 

In the present, Apocalypse takes note of what his enemies have been doing. Cyclops acting as a distraction and Emma acting as a shield, so that Magneto can focus just on hitting him as hard as he can. 

APOCALYPSE: “Hardly an honorable way to fight.” 

CYCLOPS: “Maybe. But Break the Juggernaut Isn’t about honor.” 

MAGNETO: ‘You did NOT name this.” 

EMMA: “Oh, let him have his fun.”

Apocalypse gets pissed as he floats up and finally powers up, kicking up a sandstorm and destroying the rest of his base as he shakes the Earth in the process. He fires off a massive energy attack in all directions, forcing Emma to shield Scott, and Magneto to stand on his own and try to cut a path through it. He succeeds, only to be met once again by Apocalypse. Now using the full extent of his current power, Apocalypse grows two additional arms, and with them beats Magneto halfway to death. 

APOCALYPSE, continuing to break Magneto: “You all think me evil? “No good” you said? I did not fail to stop a small, feeble human from causing the deaths of 16 million of us.” 

He tosses away a barely clinging to life Magneto away like a ragdoll before leaping and chokeslamming Emma. 

APOCALYPSE: “I have not failed my student.” 

Using his molecular manipulation, he turns off her diamond form. Emma, while being strangled, knows he’s too powerful a telepath himself for her to just shut him down, but she is able to force him to let her go, letting her gasp for air. Scott blasts at him, but Apocalypse’s blasts are once again far more powerful, and a single shot puts Scott in similar condition to Magneto. 

Apocalypse floats over Cyclops. 

APOCALYPSE: “I have not abdicated my responsibilities.” Apocalypse holds out his arms. “None of you are fit to rule!” 

BEAT, focusing on the battered leaders. 

SCOTT: “Yeah. That’s the point.” 

Cyclops removes his visor and hits Apocalypse with the full brunt of his power, at last able to make him feel it. 

CYCLOPS: “You don’t want any tricks? Just power? Well here it is!” 

Apocalypse’s shields are overwhelmed, and he’s launched higher into the sky. He’s immediately dragged back down by Emma’s telekinesis, dragging him back into Scott’s line of fire, and hitting him with her own psychic lightning. 

Apocalypse’s knees bend, as the Celestial tech parts of his body begin to flicker and fail. He knows none of them can withstand another attack from him. He just needs to…

He doesn’t get to finish whatever he was saying, as from above, Magneto lets loose everything he has left, and applies the pressure needed to knock Apocalypse on his face, and keep him stuck where he is. 

MAGNETO: “FINISH IT!” 

As their attacks fill the sky along with the sandstorm, Kitty watches from a distance, in awe of what these three fighting together looks like. 

Eventually, Scott, Emma, and Magneto are completely tapped out, and fall over, a cloud of smoke hiding the fate of Apocalypse. They all wait tensely to see if they’ve won. If they haven’t, it’s all over. 

The smoke clears…

And Apocalypse still stands. 

APOCALYPSE, slurring his words, all his tech destroyed or powered off, and bleeding all over:  “Weak as I am. Strong as you all are. I cannot be stopped.” 

Scott, Emma, and Erik look on in horror. The world is doomed. 

Apocalypse takes slow, heavy steps toward them. We cut away to Exodus’ face, the man somewhere far away. He’s smirking maliciously. 

EXODUS: “I think not.” 

For a split second, Apocalypse’s eyes flash pink. At long last, it’s Exodus’ surprise psychic blast that brings Apocalypse down, knocking him out, as an explosion takes place in the remnants of Apocalypse’s base. 

The three leaders look at his unconscious body in stunned silence, unaware of the betrayal that just occurred. One by one, they all laugh. They actually did it. 

CYCLOPS: “Okay, you know what…I think we can call the bet a draw.” 

Scott passes out, and the others are quick to follow. 

Sometime later, back at the school, an assembly is being held. Many of the students are afraid following the recent events. Magneto, in a wheelchair, sits on the stage and speaks to them about the great tragedy that occurred. While the X-Men did succeed in stopping Apocalypse and his plague, the Morlocks are all gone, including their former classmates Artie and Leech, and 10 million baselines died in the process. A few kids are crying. 

Magneto goes on to say that they should mourn and they will help them in anyway they can. A loss of life like this is always a tragedy. Baseline or Mutant. 

The other day, he spoke to them all. Not in his words, but in those of their previous headmaster. And he is glad he did not speak to them as he would have liked to. While he may stand firm in his philosophies, they are not what should be passed down to the future. They should not need to be passed down to the future, even if he believes they are what will ensure it. 

And in truth, when it came to stopping the ultimate evil, he and they worked better together than he could have imagined. Cyclops and Emma walk on stage. It is for this reason that, from now on, the three of them shall be equal partners in running the school and leading the X-Men. Together, they defeated the unstoppable. And while he will not promise there will be no more tragedies because there will be, they will still do all they can to help the children flourish. 

There’s a slow, awkward applause. 

Out in the hallway, soon after this, the three leaders walk with Kitty. Nice speech, but the kids may call them liars when they find out they weren’t actually able to finish off Apocalypse. 

Kitty isn’t sure what happened, but by the time she reached the uncnocious trio, Apocalypse’s body was gone. Emma brings up that there’s also still the matter of the four horsemen as well. Hopefully Iceman (confirmed to slowly be re-forming) will be up for a rematch by then. Magneto laments that, short of the plague, they may have to do this all over again whenever Apocalypse finishes restoring himself. Scot isn’t worried. The X-Men have this covered. 

Storm appears in their path, smiling. Kitty is relieved to see she’s doing better, as is Erik, who offers her his condolences; he more than anyone knows what she must be feeling right now. Ororo thanks them both…and reluctantly, thanks Emma for her part in stopping the plague.

EMMA: “Well, someone had to, while others were laying in bed.” 

Ororo rolls her eyes. She needs to speak with Scott. Alone. Kitty gives her a hug and Magneto shakes her hand, before the three comply. 

Scott asks Ororo what he’s done now, which just makes Storm laugh. Is that how he sees her now? The nagging big sister who’s always finding faults. 

SCOTT, cheeky: “A little bit.” 

Storm grins. She heard everything from Kitty. And she is so proud of her brother. When the ultimate test came, he stuck to what he knew was right, and did not allow himself to succumb to the darkness he’s surrounded himself in. 

STORM: “Perhaps I lost faith in you too quickly.” 

Scott tells her not to worry about it. He gave her reason to worry. Does this mean she’ll rejoin the team? They both know she doesn’t need her powers for the job. Ororo thanks him, but she isn’t ready to go that far. Especially not now. The Morlocks didn’t have any loved ones, but Betsy could use her right now. And after that…

STORM: “A young man witnessed my battle online. He called me, claiming to be my nephew. I’m intrigued.” 

The two hug it out, and Scott wishes her luck with everything. 

Storm begins to walk off, but…

STORM: “Oh, and Cyclops. When you find Exodus…kill him for me.” 

Scott sneers and nods. 

At the Grindstone, the three young X-Men and their friends, which now includes the Cuckoos and Quentin are all hanging out. Brian is annoyed about the girls bringing the Cuckoos, especially after the prank they all pulled on them, but Roxy counters if he can add “sweater-vest” to the gang, they can add the Cuckoos. The sisters play it cool, teasing that, really, they all have the fortune of now being in “their” group, but really they’re just so happy to finally be here. 

NORIKO, slamming her hands on the table: “Is no one gonna bring up the three of us helping to save the world? Cause I think that’s a pretty big deal.” 

JULIAN: “Yeah, no need to grovel, but a thank you would be nice. Groveling would be appreciated though.” 

Laura rolls her eyes at them, as she reminds them that they all lost. Badly. All they achieved was getting Iceman severely injured, and keeping Exodus alive.

CESSILY: “I also heard something about you two wanting to let Apocalypse win?” 

Julian and Noriko shrink, embarrassed. Everyone laughs at them. 

Sooraya is just glad they came to their senses. That on its own is a victory. But who is strong enough to beat the three of them so easily? 

QUENTIN: “Like it’d be that hard.” 

Brian punches his shoulder. 

Julian slams his fists together. You know who I think War is? 

JULIAN: “Ms. Grey.” 

The others think he’s crazy, but he tells them to think about it. She has flames, telekinesis, and is super strong. Who else could it be? 

There’s a pause, as everyone considers this. 

LAURA: “There’s also Prestige.” 

JULIAN: “Tch! I don’t care if she’s Jean, her daughter, or her granddaughter from even further in the future, next time I see her, I’m taking her out.” 

Julian, Noriko, and Laura all exchange glances. 

We flashback to the three young X-Men in the medical bay, after waking up. They make an agreement. They don’t tell the others what War said about Sofia. Not until they know for sure she isn’t lying. And not until that heartless monster is dead. 

In the present, Noriko gets up to go get everyone drinks. Milkshakes on the newbies!  

Back in Egypt, we pan down on the wrecked base to reveal that Apocalypse had a second, underground base. Apocalypse appears barely alive as he can only walk with an arm around War’s shoulders, and her holding him up. 

WAR: “Just a little further to your chamber, my lord.” She grunts. “Why didn’t you let me fight with you? We could have killed them!” Apocalypse weakly groans. War is clearly afraid. “Just a little further.” 

The two arrive where his restorative chamber should be. Apocalypse’s eyes widen in horror. 

WAR: “No.” 

Someone has destroyed his chamber. 

Apocalypse collapses against a wall. War bends down, not understanding how this could happen. 

WAR: “I…I shall find someone who can fix it. I will make them fix it!” 

War starts to rush off, but Apocalypse takes her hand and asks her to stay. It’s okay. It’s done. 

War gets on her knees. He can’t be giving up. He’s Apocalypse! 

APOCALYPSE: “I…will never yield. I will never die. But without my chamber, I will not wake up from my slumber for a long, long time.” 

WAR, her small hands clasped around one of Apocalypse’s massive ones, audibly crying under her helmet: “No. No!” She bows her head. “This is my fault. You could have destroyed them with ease if I had–” 

APOCALYPSE: “Shhh. Regret for the past is a weakness.” 

WAR, knowing exactly what to say: “Action in the present is strength.” She sniffles. “What about our mission? We were meant to save the world.” 

Apocalypse coughs up blood. 

APOCALYPSE: “Our mission…is now your mission. Clan Akabba is yours to lead.” War whispers “no”. “Are you afraid?” 

WAR: “Never!” 

APOCALYPSE: “Then do…as I trained you to do.” 

Apocalypse pulls War into his arms and removes her helmet, although the audience still can’t see who it is. We do see that she has long brown hair, as Apocalypse strokes it. 

APOCALYPSE: “You are the strongest. Perhaps not in power, but in spirit. This world…is yours to conquer.” War continues to nod along as she cries into his chest. “Let these be the last tears you shed. Only the wives and children of your slain enemies may weep.” 

WAR, still speaking in a distorted voice without her helmet: “ I will burn this world in the flames of war, for I am the war that will never end. I will make you proud.” 

APOCALYPSE: “I know…you will.” 

Apocalypse runs out of energy and enters a long, long sleep. 

WAR: “Goodbye…Father.” 

Elsewhere in the base, in Apocalypse’s backup throneroom, Exodus is in a perfectly good mood. Apocalypse may be lost, as are the powers of Famine, but he’s still more than powerful enough to lead the remaining Horseman to glory. 

EXODUS, mockingly:  “In the name of Lord Apocalypse, of course.” 

Sitting across from him, lighting a cigarette, is a muscular Japanese man with a mohawk in a silk shirt, slacks, and a katana strapped to his back. 

DEATH: “Forgive me, Famine, but I can’t believe in a loser to aid me in my revenge.” 

EXODUS: “I am the ONLY Omega among us.” 

“Boys, be nice.” 

DEATH: “Such a scary little word you like to toss around. Maybe one day it will mean something.” 

The fourth and final Horseman, Pestilence, reveals herself, and it’s a familiar face: Polaris. She sits with the two men. 

PESTILLENCE: “Unless you actually want to kill each other. That sounds fun to watch.” 

Death laughs as he smokes. 

DEATH: “Perhaps I should lead us.”

EXODUS: “I *would* kill you if you tried.” 

DEATH, casually reaching for his katana, unafraid: “By all means, go ahead and try it.” 

Exodus powers up, ready to start another fight. Polaris grins as it looks like this will happen, her eyes turning purple. 

“Quit your bickering!” 

War stomps into the throneroom, getting the other three horsemen’s attention. 

WAR: ‘Lord Apocalypse is gone. His mission is now our mission. Before he awakens, it is our responsibility to make this world strong. Before he awakens, we must cleanse the world of the weak. Of the human. And, most importantly…” 

War sits on Apocalypse’s throne as her face is finally shown. 

WAR: “Of the X-Men.” 

Her skin is blue, but War’s identity is still clear. She is Sofia Mantega. 

While Exodus sneers at her and Polaris chuckles, Death smirks and steps forward to kneel before War. And for War, there is nothing but hate and pain inside her eyes. 

[cannibalcoyote]

Balto's Sister Ch.1: The Big Race

Ch.2

"3 mile marker!" Balto exclaims in excitement as he pulls Boris up onto the railing of the balcony we've climbed onto.

_______

Allow me to introduce myself, I'm Luko, I'm a wolf/ husky mix like my brother Balto. I have black fur, and two white patches on my face, one above each eye.

I live in Nome, Alaska with Balto, the whole town seems to hate him because he's part wolf. I don't live with my brother though, he lives too far away, so I live in the town, usually with my friend Jenna, or under a building; no one knows that Balto and I are siblings though, probably because of how different we look.

_______

"Come on Boris, we can cut around the back and watch the end of the race!" I hear Balto voice in excitement as he ignores Boris' complaining.

We both proceed to jump from balcony to balcony until we reach a clothes line, to which I choose to travel by ground whilst Balto continues via buildings. I've never really liked traveling on the ground, but it's safer than whatever the heck Balto does.

Anyways, I jump off the balcony into the fresh, powdery snow, and take off down the alley, dodging the trash on both sides until I see the crowds of people who have gathered around to watch the end of the race. I can hear the sound of a sled team's paw steps eating up the ground as they sprint at full speed to the finish line; I see a flare going off, and someone shouting it's the two mile mark.

Now I'm really excited, I weave through the crowd quickly as I want to see if a different team will win this time; all the other races, Steele always wins, and I'd like to see some change. Of course this is mainly because Steele and his group are always mean to Balto, and that really gets to me most of the time while Balto on the other hand manages to keep his anger in check.

I continue through the crowds and soon spot my favorite human, Rosie, and she's with Jenna. I jump in happiness as I practically bound over to them in joy; they're the only two that don't hold it against me that I'm a wolf, and for that I will always be grateful.

However as I get closer I see two other dogs that both hate me, and they made it clear that they didn't like me when I first met them; so as I try to slowly sink away back into the shadows, Jenna spots me, and barks out,

"Hey Luko! Want to join me, Rosie just got a new sled!" I look over, swallowing my irritation towards the other two dogs, striding over to Jenna with confidence. As soon as I reach them the other two look at me in slight disgust and quickly say a goodbye to Jenna before walking off. I shake my head in annoyance, but I quickly calm down since we're in public.

"Thank God you came to see the race, If you hadn't, I might've been stuck with those two for the rest of the day!" Jenna states in relief as she looks over to me.

"Yah, I'm just glad I spotted you, you looked like you were about to die of annoyance when you were with them." I bark back as I let out a little laugh at the end of my sentence.

"Hey, where's Balto, usually you two always watch the race together?" Jenna voices her confusion as she looks around to see if she missed him.

"Oh, I don't like Balto's method of traveling, so I split off and went my own way." I explain as we sit in an open area near the fence blocking off the street for the racers.

Just as we sit down, we hear the racers make the last turn, I hear Rosie tell us to stay, and as I look down I see Steele once again leading the race. I sigh in annoyance, until I see my brother down the line of the crowd, it seems like he's got a crush on Jenna.

I simply smirked at the thought of seeing him even try to talk to Jenna, it almost made me laugh out loud, he'd try and act tough, but I know he's so shy and sensitive sometimes.

Rosie hurries back, breaking my line of thoughts as she hugs Jenna, she notices I'm here and gives me a hug as well as she says that she's happy I'm here, and that maybe she can get her dad to allow me to join her sled team with Jenna.

As soon as she's done, she immediately turns her attention back to the race and waves her hat in the air as she cheers in Steele, but as she does this her hat gets picked up by a strong gust of wind, and blows straight into the middle of the race track.

I'm looking over as Rosie tries to get her hat, but she is quickly held back by Jenna. I'm about to make a leap for the hat, but I already see Balto in action.

Balto is sprinting after the team, and he catches up pretty quickly seeing as he is already beside Steele; I'm hoping Steele doesn't hurt Balto, but I also can't wait to see if Balto manages to get the hat. I'm soon set at ease as I see Balto have a burst of speed, grab the hat, and slide off to the other side safely.

I visibly relax my tensed muscles as Balto makes his way to us sheepishly with the hat in his jaws. I shake my head and smirk as he drops the hat down and gets bombarded by a hug from Rosie. I hear everybody cheering for Steele, but I ignore it, well, I ignore it till I look over and hear Steele's owner say,

"I don't know, do you think maybe Steele's losing his edge?" I practically almost burst out laughing as I saw how angry that made Steel. He looks like he's about to tear his owner apart; that is until he hears Rosie congratulating Balto on getting her hat.

I see Rosie beginning to put the sled gear on Balto until her father swoops over and grabs her away from him, as well as kicking some snow at Balto as he says for her to stay away from him, and that he's part wolf and might bite her. I can visibly see that he's hurt from the fathers actions, and I would be too. I glare at her father and have to hold back a growl at him. Rosie looks over to me and then back at her father saying,

"See, now you've hurt both of their feelings!" Her father looks at me, and then back at Rosie,

"Listen sweetie, I don't fully trust Luko either, and that's why I always want Jenna with you when she's around. Not to mention Balto is part wolf, he might bite you honey." He picks up the sled and starts walking away as Rosie follows. I begin to follow them, or at least until Steele blocks my path.

"So, you girls enjoy the race." He questions as his tongue glides obnoxiously across his large teeth after finishing his sentence. I walk next to Jenna as she replies. I don't hear her though since I was looking back to see Balto looking even more hurt.

"Hey Jenna, I'm going to go catch up with Balto." I state as I turn around, only to be blocked by Steele.

"You didn't answer my question." He states as he continues to block me. I'm getting annoyed now, so I jump over him with ease, and then start to speedily stride over to Balto.

"So, how're you doing?" I know it's a stupid question, but I had to see if he was alright.

"Oh, I'm doing fine, I got yelled at because I'm part wolf, and then Steele swoops back in and steals Jenna away from me, again!" He explains sarcastically as we continue down an alley-way where Boris then joins us. Boris looks as though he is about to say something, but seems at a loss for words, as am I.

We hear Rosie though, and that quickly perks Balto up as he races through the alley, only to slide right up against Jenna, their noses practically touching. Rosie calls her, and as she looks to them I watch Balto speedily sprint back through the fence and hide. I shake my head as I see him walk out in disappointment after Jenna runs to her people.

"Balto, there's somethings I can't teach you, I'm goose not Cupid." Boris states in exasperation as we walk back through the alley.

Ch.2

[wonderwriters2024]

Looking back, how does it excites you to dress up on your own? to go out on your own? to decide on your own?

People often say that when you grow up, you'll be able to do anything you want—it's a promise of freedom and independence that adults love to make to kids. I bet you also heard that from your parents, and yeah, it's true. However, that “do anything” phrase are more about the potential to make your own choices and responsibilities to face rather than a life without boundaries.

Her name is Cha, a second year BSED student. A responsible daughter of her parents, an ambitious, and a hardworking student.

When we arrive on their place, we found her taking care of her cousin while folding their clothes. She was shocked because we arrive earlier that what we planned. She told us to sit first and make ourselves comfortable while she's in hurry finishing her work. "Ay hiii! hala wait sa ha, lingkod sa mo kadali lang jud. Pag pasensyahi na ninyo ang balay kay medyo kalat kay ako raman gud isa diri" - she said. We wave our hands to say hi and gave her a smile.

Before we started our interview she jokingly said that she might cry because when it comes to talking about her self/life, she's very vulnerable. With that, we make sure that if things get uncomfortable, we will not proceed on finishing the interview.

"Daghan kay kog insecurities sakong sarili, dili ko confident. Maka ingon nalang jud kog nganung ing ani man akong appearance oy, dapat ing ani, dapat ing ana. Masuya jud ko".

When she started having menstruation, she became more conscious about herself. Her face, her odor, her posture changes. She started being "maarte" to boost her confidence and to fit in with what she sees on other girls. But no matter how she tries, she feels like she can't keep up with others and instead of feeling empowered, she felt lost, overwhelmed by the pressure to conform. This made her lose her confidence and constantly comparing herself with others. Though she's aware that it's really bad and she need to overcome it, she can't help her self because her family would also compare her to others.

Her relationship with her family is pretty tough because she can't even decide for her own. Though she's already on the right age, she always need to get the permission of her parents before she proceed on doing things she wanna do.

"Maka sakal pud usahay na murag wala kay right mag buot para sa imong sarili"

This constant need for approval prevents her from learning how to trust her instincts and make decisions independently. She constantly seek advices to her friends, that made her second-guess her own abilities. She struggle with fear of making the wrong choice and feel uncomfortable making decisions without approval, even in simple situations. Because of her situation, she chose to focus on her schoolworks instead. She make sure to perform well at school so that she could have good grades—the only thing that she can make her parents proud. Imagine, how strong she must be for handling all of that? A very resilient woman.

"Source of joy nako ron is akong mga friends, may gani naa sila"

In a world where family is often seen as the primary source of happiness and support, some people find joy and fulfillment somewhere else. Cha, said that she finds joy when she's with her friends rather than when she's with her family.

Growing up, she have felt like an outsider within her own home. Her family doesn't understand her passions or the things that make her unique, or perhaps they’re simply too busy to notice her personal struggles because they always compare her with her cousin, Kathleen. For that reason, she barely attend family gatherings cause she knows that she and her cousin will always be the tea of the discussion.

This made her feelings distant from her own family and hold back from expressing herself, fearing that anything she achieved would still fall short of her family’s expectations. That's why she prefer more to be with her friends because with her friends, she feels appreciated, valued, and important. Her friends even surprised her on her 19th birthday last month. "Wala jud ko nag expect kay busy kaayu mi ato na time pero nag laan jud sila ug oras para ma surprise ko, gi agda ko nila mag dagat and gipalitan ko nila'g cake ug uban pa na pagkaon" - her respond when we ask her what someone did recently that made her happy.

Her story serves as an example of what others experience as well. That sometimes, family can unintentionally be the source of self-doubt, whether through constant criticism or unmet expectations. This shows that happiness doesn’t always come from the people you expected, sometimes, it's from the people we never thought would matter to us that'll bring us the most joy and understanding. Life teaches us that happiness can come from anywhere, often to those people we least expected.

[thoughtfulchaos773]

I think and this a new stance for me. He thought of Mikey.

Christmas was the last time he saw Mikey?

Mikey: I'm happy you're home Bear.

And he remembers claire at Christmas. YIKES.

If we go back to the beginning of season 2 carmy is in a good place. He's attending Al-Anon regularly, he's building this new restaurant with his family. He's engaged and ready to have a partnership with Sydney. I think he was at a point where he wanted to move on.

So he spends time looking at mikeys hat says it was really fun and sydney comes in- Carmy knows what fun is and that's with Sydney and we see this calm version of enjoyment (something that's probably good for carmy) and he knows it at this point.

Then later that evening he runs into claire it's awkward and he pretends he doesn't remember her though he saw her at Christmas. She proceeds to tell him she knows the name of the restaurant and that he's the bear.

Mikey always called Carmy Bear.

This is something Carmy doesn't want to think about because it brings up Mike and the old days, including that horrible night at Christmas. He remembers that it was not a great time in his life, and he's ready to move forward. He gives her his real number at first, but then he stops and gives her a fake digit when he realizes what's going to happen.

After that episode, Carmy is once again pondering the meaning of fun. He realizes that Sydney is the source of fun and enjoyment for him, and that moving on from Claire (grieving Mikey) shows Carmy's desire for new experiences and his pursuit of them.

But what he says in the beginning stands out for me.

I think when I was a kid, um, anything that would give me any sort of excitement or-or-or amusement or enjoyment, uh, it always got kinda fսckеd. You know, I-I don't think my family meant to ruin it or anything like that, you know. I-I don't think they did it on purpose. But I-I think... sometimes they just, they try too hard. You know, or they'd make promises that they weren't able to keep.

This was a foreshadowing that Carmy will sabotage and ruin the fun and enjoyment of that season. He regressed in terms of trauma, recalling the bear from his childhood and remembering all the bad times at Christmas, which was the last time he saw Mikey and Claire. Not so fun times.

I also think you're spot on carmy is experiencing guilt right now- and he's reminding himself- ruminating- punishing himself on why he can't have fun with Sydney and that he will be physically there for her- because being there mentally and emotionally. Keeping up with Sydney is where his joy lies. But he has to remember he fucked himself so he thinks about his choice to be with Claire.

Also he's avoiding closure with her because he's going to have to address the ILY situation.

Going back to season 2 for a bit because it’s important in understanding Carmy’s feelings for Claire in season 3..

Idk if this has been discussed but have we decided why Carmy literally did not respond to Claire saying “cuz you’re the Bear and I remember you”?

Proceeding this, we know he gave her a fake number. We know he essentially asks Sydney out the next day. We know she had to bully him into helping her move shit. We know he says “fuck” after reluctantly agreeing to help her. So I really want to know what was going on in his mind that he really could not respond and gave her a fake number following “because you’re the Bear and I remember you.” Imo it could not have been anything good based on everything that happens following that interaction.

I think I even remember there being discussion that she may even be mistaking the memory with a conversation she had with Mikey, which I think could be a real possibility and another parallel between Claire and Donna since she calls Carmy Michael in Fishes.

With way this relationship started, I think Carmy sulking about Claire all season 3 isn’t a display of him pining for her but feeling guilty that he let it get so far, knowing he didn’t want to pursue the relationship in the first place.

What do yall think went through his mind whilst he stared at Claire in silence after she says “because you’re the Bear and I remember you”?

[fallinfl0wers]

hellooo! this is the first time i request something from a blog :D could i request headcanons of diluc, scara, kazuha and xiao when their s/o tells them they're pregnant and possibly how they'd get used to having a kid? tyy! dont forget to take breaks and relax!

Literally baby-sized trouble.

summary: you're pregnant! how does he react to the news and how do the get used to your child? includes: diluc (26 bullet points), scaramouche (24 bullet points), kazuha (17 bullet points) and xiao (35 bullet points) warnings: fem!reader, pregnancy, children, non-explicit/non described giving birth, mostly fluff with a little bit of hurt/comfort and angst. format: headcanons thank you for your request!! this was so fun to write! >< imagining the characters being soft with children is just so cute :") i specially like these four a lot >< when i wrote this i was in a xiao mood if it wasn't obvious that his turned out longer than everyone else's lol, and it's also the first time i write for kazuha so it was shorter than the others, but i think his is the sweetest ><! i hope you enjoy it! ps. the names and meanings- i got them from google, feel free to correct me if there's anything wrong with them ><

Diluc

He's going to stop functioning the moment he hears the news from you.

Literally, he's still as a rock and completely taken by surprise.

He... can't say he'd never wanted children. He's pretty traditional and, since he has this beautiful relationship with you, he assumed it might happen sometime in the future.

But oops guess it will have to happen in the close future, since you're already pregnant.

After staring at you with widened eyes for a while, he speaks up: "...is... is it true?" You hold his hands on yours with a smile on your face, nodding. "Yes, Diluc. We're going to be parents." Hearing your words, he starts to tear up as he hugs you, his touch almost hesitant, as if you were so fragile he could break you if he wasn't careful. "...thank you." He'd whisper between silent tears, hiding his face from your sight.

Very supportive and very protective!

You will have the most comfortable of pregnancies. He will make sure you don't need to move a single muscle to get anything you want.

If the two of you aren't married or engaged yet, he's going to propose to you very soon, keep that in mind ><

He starts reading every book he can find on pregnancies and babies so that he knows what to do to help you when you give birth and how to take care of his child once they're born ><

You have to convince him that yes, you can go and eat in the dining room and you don't need to eat everything in your room or stay in bed all day and yes, you can still do most things and no, he doesn't have to worry so much.

But yeah, in later stages of your pregnancy he gets more overprotective because he doesn't want anything to hurt you or your baby :(

He couldn't be calm enough while you gave birth and had to wait outside of the room, which only made him more nervous </3

But when he finally held your little baby on his arms for the first time, he broke down crying.

You two had a boy! He looked a lot like him, too... with the red hair and eyes... so cute...

He's not sure of what to name him, he'd thought of some names before, but they all disappeared when he saw the little bundle of joy in his arms;;

So you two will have to think about a name again!

In the end, you settle for Felix; name meaning "happy" or "lucky"!

Diluc is a very busy man, but he still does his best to be there for you and his son as much as possible!

He's also not very sure as to how he should interact with him...

But he does know he LOVES playing with him as soon as he starts to understand how to play with his toys.

But... there are not so cute parts about having a kid, after all.

At times, he worries whether or not he'll be able to be there enough for him.

He wonders if he can be a good father, given how awkward he is with his emotions.

What if when Felix grows up he starts hating him for being absent? He wouldn't be able to stand it.

You always reassure him as you both put the baby to sleep on his crib.

All Diluc wants is for his son to have a happy childhood and a loving family, but worries he won't be good enough of a father.

However, when Felix's first word is "'iluc!" as he stretches out his tiny arms towards him, he thinks that maybe, just maybe, he can do this right.

Scaramouche

He thought you were joking, so he laughed.

When you didn't laugh along with him and was met with your blank face, he understood you were serious.

He never even thought he'd be with anyone in a relationship before you came along, let alone have a child with anyone... So he's obviously very shocked and confused as to how to proceed.

After an awkward moment of staring at each other, he cleared his throat and crossed his arms, looking at you with an equally blank face. "So? What do you want me to do about it?" "H-huh?" "In the sense of- what do you want to do? Keep it or not." You huffed, and when he heard your determinated answer, he sighed and gave your head some soft pats. "Alright, alright, whatever you want, I guess."

Okay listen here- it's not like doesn't care but it isn't like he cares so much either...

This man would do anything for you, really, and that's what happens.

He does anything and everything for you, because he's worried about you and not necessarily about the baby you're carrying.

It's not like he hates children- because you can't hate anything you don't perceive as equal or superior to you and a baby ceirtainly isn't either for him-

It's more like he doesn't know what to do with them because he's never been around children enough to understand them.

He's overall very indifferent towards the child ngl.

Then he sees you cradling your baby -a girl- in your arms and his mind just... goes blank. Huh, so that's what a human looks like right after being born.

Your little daughter looks more like him than she looks like you, sorry. But he can clearly see on her face some factions that will look like yours as she grows up.

But...

"Now what?"

He'll help you look after her however he can, since he doesn't want you to be too tired because he never knows when he'll have to leave for weeks or even months without notice.

He's not entirely cold or indifferent towards her, even if sometimes he might resent her a bit for taking away some of your attention.

But like when you were choosing a name for her, he gave a few suggestions and in the end you choose one of the names he thought of!

Her name is Hikari, name meaning "light"!

Due to the nature of his job, he doesn't want to be seen around either of you at the moment in public. It would only put a target on your backs.

And it takes a long, long while for him to warm up to her.

It disheartens you a little, but when you see him looking down at Hikari's sleeping form on the crib, softly poking her cheek with a strangely child-like curiosity on his eyes, you feel at ease.

And he thinks that he can probably handle this parenting thing better than he ever expected. Maybe it's not that bad, after all.

Ceirtainly, he thinks, as he holds her in his arms one day after she spoke her first word to him, this parenting thing is not really that bad.

(Her first word was "papa!")

Be ready, because once he gets attached to your daughter he won't stop spoiling her!

Kazuha

"Are you sure, love?" "Yes, I'm sure. We're having a child!" A smile painted itself on his face as he leaned in to kiss your forehead. "I hope I can be a good father for them."

So the Kaedehara family is getting a new member, huh!

Not that there's much left to his name, especially now that he's a fugitive... but he's excited nonetheless!

Although he's not one to settle down for long, he will make an effort for both you and the child, since it's not good for someone who's pregnant to wander around.

He's very protective, but not in an overbearing way! He simply wants you to take it easy and relax, he can take care of everything else on his own!

That being said, he's not rich like Diluc or Scaramouche, so he's also going to work harder than ever to get everything you or the baby need in advance so that neither of you have to stress out!

He's the one who takes it better out of everyone here, he's not extremely worried or outright indifferent, he's simply worried enough, excited and happy!

He already knew you were the one he wanted to spend the rest of his life with, so the idea of having a child with you didn't scare him or intimidate him in the slightest!

He's still a bit worried, though.

He is a wanted fugitive in his homeland, after all...

He can only do so much and wish for the situation in Inazuma to change soon, so that he can take both you and his child to see the places he loved to spend his time at when he was a child.

But for now, he's happy enough simply holding his child on his arms, sitting next to you in your small shared home.

You have a girl too! She has Kazuha's hair color and your eye color, she's super adorable ><

He wants you to name her, and you both agree on naming her Izumi, meaning fountain or spring!

"Kaedehara Izumi... it has a nice ring to it." He'd say, smiling down at her.

While Kazuha enjoys travelling more than anything in this world, he's reticent to leave you and your daughter alone or even bring you along with him. So he stays around for as long as you need it.

He will talk a lot to her all the time, so don't be surprised when she picks up very complicated, flowery words from a young age!

He wants her to grow up to be free as the wind and be able to do whatever she wants without fear, so he wants to do his best to be a good father for her!

Xiao

You can practically see the panic on his face when you tell him the news.

It's the most scared you've ever seen him be, and you've been there to help him through his karmic debt.

So yeah, he takes it the worst out of everyone.

"I'm not mad." He manages to tell you before disappearing to somewhere else in a panicked haze, he needs to sort out his emotions quickly before he can properly talk to you about it. The last thing he saw before he disappeared was your eyes, glinting with sadness. And that only made him feel worse if that was even possible.

It takes him the whole day to come to terms with his feelings on your pregnancy and finally face you again.

He's really, really afraid of hurting you and your child. Not to mention he fears he might've passed some kind of curse from his karma to either of you through the pregnancy :(

Like he said, he isn't mad. He's just scared.

He... he literally never, never thought he would get to be a father.

Family was a foreign concept to him, as were a lot of other things you've slowly helped him understand throughout your time together, so knowing he can have one of his own now... makes him happy, and scared, at the same ime.

He's worse than Diluc when it comes to protecting you and worrying about you.

He won't let you do anything alone, even if he doesn't want to be near you because he doesn't want the karma to harm you or your child in such a vulnerable moment of your lives.

Okay so that aside-

How do people care for babies?

What is he exactly supposed to do?

And- do half-adepti babies need any sort of special treatment in comparison to human babies?

He has no idea on what to do if it doesn't involve a physical fight with a tangible foe, so he goes asking for advice to everyone he knows that could have knowledge on that field.

Verr Goldet and Ganyu are a great help for him. Xiao listens with attention to everything they have to say and asks everything he doesn't understand.

Ganyu tells him about her own experience growing up as half-human so that he can understand what raising a half-human, half-illuminated beast baby might entail.

He also goes to Zhongli for advice and he gets more of the same advice he's already heard, along with many, many reassurances that sound like everything you already tell him every day.

He's very worried, but as the months go by and your child's birth comes closer, he can't help but feel a little excited about it.

Everyone who knows him is happy to see him openly happy for a change on those small moments when he gets excited about his new family with you.

When your child is born, Xiao doesn't want to hold him. It took too much willpower to stay as close as he was right now, standing next to your bed as you held your baby in your arms.

He was so adorable, so small, so fragile, so pure- Xiao was afraid of touching him and breaking or tainting him--

He was already crying, he'd started crying the moment he saw you holding your son for the first time.

He feels so... strange. He's crying, but this isn't a painful, or sad feeling. He feels... happy, but scared, but...

The feeling starts to make some sense to him when he finally convinces himself that it's okay for him to hold the little boy in his arms, when he stares with awe at his face.

The baby looks a lot like the both of you. Arguably, more like him, since he has the same hair and the same bright eyes, but in his face all he can see is you.

And he cries more.

You both named him Liàng, name meaning brilliant!

Xiao does his best to try and get used to parenting, and it gets hard at times.

But he tries, and that's all that matters. He tries to be a good father, and is always there to protect both you and your son from anything trying to harm you.

Even though he was so scared at first, you know he loves the new family you've formed together.

Especially when you catch him trying to hold a conversation with your son, sitting down on the bed next to him as he toys with a soft teddy bear, the two of them surrounded by pillows.

The soft look and smile he wears while he does so tells you that everything is going to be alright.

The three of you are going to be alright, and Xiao wants to make sure of it.

His son will never have to live what he lived or see what he saw. He will make sure of that, no matter what.

[one-piecee]

#ONEPIECE1040

Every week I'm dumb enough to look at what other people say about the chapter on Spoiler Tuesday... I don't look at the actual spoilers but just at some comments, foolishly. This week, I can't count the amount of people to complain or hate on the chapter so when I started reading it I was just waiting for whatever to happen that would be "trash"

and the conclusion is

one piece stans should just shut up like seriously oh my god, i literally got chills reading this and I absolutely loved it

Chapter title: Falling on deaf ears

FIRST OF ALL

I'm actually happy that last week's attacks weren't enough to stop Big Mom... it honestly didn't feel like they were. They were really damned cool but it just didn't feel like yeah, okay. this is the fall of a yonko. this is how she gets defeated. So seeing here rise back up was amazing and exciting - like there's no mistaking it. she's a yonko

"I'll let you choose your fate, when this attack is done tickling me. You can either give me 50 years of your lifespans... or you can live on as my slaves"

She proceeds to steal from the souls of everybody around here, except-

It doesn't work on Kid or Law

"You think the last gasps of an old windbag scare me?" (Kid)

"Your death screeches are doing my ear in" (Law)

And then Law does the absolute coolest shit, which is R Room - basically enclosing Big Mom in a room with similar abilites to Corazon's devil fruit, where you can't hear Big Mom outside of the room (Like the man that saved me, he says 😭😭)

And Kid gives her another blast from his cannon

And she ends up falling down all the way to where Yamato and the bombs are- which is the part people complained about and at the same time the part that gave me chills

Sure, she ends up being bombed away from Kanjuro's flame and the bombs

Which leads to her defeat (boohoo ya'll wanted Kid to go 1v1 or them to do something else, shut up)

anyways

the reason this was still amazing and in my opinion an amazing way for her to go down was her speech before the explosions. chills

Are you listening, Roger? Why did you have to go and say all that? The whole world brought it!! "The Great Pirate Era"? Your time was up, so it didn't affect you! All those brats came flooding in, looking for their chance to shine... and you left us to deal with it. The least you could've done was tell us about the one piece you croaked!! It is real... right? What is it? Where is it? Does this country hold some of the answers? Tch, It's so frustrating. Kid, Law! I'll never forgive you for this. You better not think... this is enough to kill me.

CHILLS.

LITERALLY.

AND THAT'S NOT ENOUGH FOR THIS CHAPTER BECAUSE like I said last week, the voice that Momonosuke heard was Zunesha's ahh I'm so cool anyways SO MOMONOSUKE IS TELLING YAMATO ZUNESHA IS CLOSE AND THEN

WHO THE HELL IS JOY BOY AND HOW THE HELL DID HE HAVE A GIANT ELEPHANT AS A COMPANION AND A GIANT SHIP, yeah he's a giant- that's probably, definitely, it. Giant pet elephant; Giant ship; Giant strawhat? Come on now

Break next week unf, anyways great chapter everybody shut up for the next two weeks

[darkficsyouneveraskedfor]

Hue and Cry IX

Warnings: non-consent sex and rape (series), mild violence, male-iinduced anxiety

This is dark!medieval!Bucky Barnes x reader and explicit. 18+ only.  Your media consumption is your own responsibility. Warnings have been given. DO NOT PROCEED if these matters upset you.

Synopsis: The first day of the tournament arrives.

Note: My pupper had surgery yesterday and it was my longer day of work for the week so lots going on. Also had some bad Chinese but managed to get this out before it came back up. Feel better now and I'll have a shorter day today.

Thanks to everyone and thanks in advance for all your feedback. :)

I really hope you enjoy. 💋

<3 Let me know what you think with a like or reblog or reply or an ask! Love ya!

Lord Barnes’ mood did not improve in the days leading up to the first of the tournament. It grew colder in the capital and many feared the events would be cut short by an early winter. You didn’t care much either way. You had no interest in the sport or much of anything. You just abided the duke and in those times he left you alone, you laid in a void.

His want of you didn’t wane nor did your despair or the disgust you felt when he touched you. It was one thing to be a servant, to be a tool, a means to an end, but what he used you for now seemed little more than torture. He delighted in what he did, in how he made you suffer. Those times you remained unmoving and unfeeling angered him the most.

You dressed in yellow that morning. The horns announced the beginning of the tournament as you made your way to the stand amid the sea of guests. The wives, daughters, sons, mothers and fathers of those who would compete. You were out of place as you climbed the wooden steps between the benches and a green sleeve shot up to wave to you.

“Dearie!” May brushed past her husband to stop you at the end of their seat, “here, with us,” she insisted, “we did save you a place.”

“Oh, you didn’t have to do that,” you said quietly. You hadn’t seen her or her family since the night of the feast. Since Barnes had…

“I can’t have you sitting alone,” she trilled as she pulled you along with her and sat beside Lord Benjamin who bowed his head and issued a gentle greeting. “And I always longed for a daughter, you know? Peter’s a good boy but so troublesome. I did try to persuade him not to enter the lists but he just never stops.”

“The boy’s old enough,” Benjamin said, “when I was his age--”

“You married me,” May cut in, “a foolish decision indeed. He is on the roster for today. Sparring. I fear he might not make it past the early rounds but so long as he is not hurt.”

You nodded and covered your hands in your sleeves. Even with the fur-trimmed cloak Barnes allotted you, it was crisp. Your matching cap barely kept the cool air from your cheeks. Your leg shook from more than the cold as you recalled that Barnes was set to compete with the sword as well.

“A fine cape,” May commented as she touched the edge of your cloak, “with sleeves even.”

You looked down at the fawn-coloured garment that only allowed a peek of the canary yellow beneath. You fidgeted and kept your eyes on the field, “a gift,” you lied, well, maybe it wasn’t a lie, or maybe you’d bought it in sweat and tears.

Another horn blew and she quieted and clapped as all looked to the center of the arena. The wooden stands were hung in all shades of silk, the banners of each house, high and low, covered the rafters. By the end of the day, only one would remain. Lord Barnes’ blue and ivory flapped opposite your side and Benjamin pointed out his family's slender red and black crest amidst the panoply.

You were thankful for the distraction, not for you but for them. You didn’t know how many lies you could conjure or if you could keep the false smile on your lips. You clamped your hands together and watched a man in gold stroll out to the centre of the stadium with a cone to project his voice. You stood with May and Benjamin and the rest of the onlookers

“Fine ladies and gentlemen, princes, paupers, and everything in between, we welcome you in name of King Samuel to the Games of Goblets. For each competition, the victor is to be prized a goblet to bear as a symbol of his prestige. For the ax-throwing, bronze inlaid with amber, for the bow-and-arrow, silver set with citrine, for the melee, gold set with sapphire, and for the joust, a fine piece in gold set with opal and ruby.”

The crowd applauded and shouted. The man waited for them to quiet again, “This day, we begin with the melee, on the morrow, the axe, the next day, the arrow, and on the final day, we ride!”

Again, the audience grew rowdy and you were deafened by the cheers. The man laughed at the excitement and held up his hand for a final lull.

“Without further delay, let us begin. In our first round, the lower lords and the untested, before the second where they shall meet our season veterans, and so on…” he gauged the fervent tension of the people, “you will see me again upon the finale and perhaps you will be surprised by whoever stands with me.”

Again, the stand quaked with the energy of the people. You would have liked to sit but you stayed on your feet, afraid to draw unwanted attention. The first pair was announced but you didn’t watch. You stared at the sky or a rippling banner but had no interest in the games.

You only stopped to look as Peter’s name was called out and May grabbed your arm. She squealed as her nephew came out decked in his used armor, beaten out from its former user’s wear, and he unsheathed his sword to face his opponent. When the handkerchief was dropped, you were as stunned as his fellow competitor and the crowd by his swiftness. You’d never seen anyone move so fast, and in at least twenty pounds of armor.

The crowd awoke from their awe and cheered as his sword beat against the other man’s suit with tinks and tunks. It was like a bell, ding, ding, ding. It wasn’t until the other man was on his knees that the spar was ceased. Peter was declared the plain winner and sent on to wait for his next engagement. May wiped away tears of joy and Benjamin grumbled his approval.

You smiled, just a little. You were happy for Peter. You’d seen how joyful he was, he was likely dancing behind the curtain right now.

🏰

It wasn’t until the second round that Lord Barnes was introduced. He walked out fully armoured like any other combatant but his left arm was permanently bent, a shield strapped to it as he gripped his pommel in his right hand. He showed his steel and faced his match. He dealt hard and heavy blows until his opponent was on his back.

You shuddered at his unboasting victory as he wasn’t even patient enough to hear himself declared the winner. You touched your cold cheeks and puffed into the bitter air. The bodies around you warmed the stands but you were chilled to the core.

Peter appeared again in the second, then the third, fourth, and to his aunt and uncle’s delight, he soldiered onto the final. To your fear, he was to meet Lord Barnes. You tried not to squirm, not to show how nervous you were for Peter. You thought of running down and begging him to withdraw but what could you say? If anything, you’d both be worse for it.

As the last two banners were presented to the crowd, you sensed movement to your right. A familiar head of blond hair approached and the tall duke pushed past the row of people along the bench. Lord Rogers smirked as he came close, his sweaty hair drooping down his forehead from his last bout, the one he’d lost to his closest friend.

“Ah, I found you,” he said, “lady.”

You felt May peek past you and you gave a meek “my lord” as he stood close. He looked around you at the older couple.

“You have friends,” he stated, “please, do introduce us.”

You looked down and chewed your lip. You turned slowly to May and Benjamin, the latter peering past her only as he was torn from his fixation on the field.

“Lord Benjamin and Lady May Parker, baron and baroness,” you rubbed your hands together nervously, “Lord Steven Rogers, duke of Astrens.”

“Oh, we’ve heard of him,” May chirped, “my lord, it is an honour.”

“Indeed,” Benjamin agreed, “my lady, you did not inform of us of your lofty friends.”

“She is modest,” Rogers intoned, “we met by chance, really, through a common acquaintance.”

“You were skillful on the field, it is a pity you were bested,” May said.

“Very pitiful, I did put some gold on you, Lord Rogers,” Benjamin added, “alas it was a fine showing.”

“Wasn’t it?” he turned to stand with his arm pressed to yours, much too close for your liking, “however this one should be intriguing.”

“It’s our boy,” Benjamin said, “and your friend, my lord.”

“Perhaps you’d take another bet?” Rogers countered.

“I’ve lost enough this day,” Benjamin snorted, “I’d rather watch and be pleasantly surprised than paupered.”

“Prudence is wise but always so boring,” Rogers mused.

As the lower of the lords, Parker was announced first and you were saved from more uncomfortable banter by the man in grey. Rogers nudged you and bent as the introductions went long as the man with cone went into detail about the day’s fights all the way to the present match.

“I did look fine out there, didn’t I?” he whispered, “good form, even if I did lose. Barnes is in a mood and we both know that makes him… unpredictable.”

You lowered your head, “my lord.”

“You are quiet since last we met,” he remarked, “perhaps your thoughts linger on how else to use your mouth?”

You squirmed and stared at the competitors as they awaited their signal. Rogers laughed and stood straight as he focused on the field in kind. He played with your sleeve and tugged your arm down. He caressed the back of your hand and stepped even closer.

“When he wins, he might just be cheerful enough to share in his celebrations, hmm?” he said under his breath.

The gold cloth was dropped and the two men circled each other, eyeing their opponent cautiously. Barnes was the first to act but was evaded by the younger man. He didn’t not falter however as he swung again. Peter rolled under the strike and met it with his own steel, batting it away so that it nearly struck its holder.

Barnes dodged that time, then the boy spun again. They danced around each other, both swift, both calculating, both determined. Steel met steel but never that which clothed the fighters. May grabbed your other wrist as she held her breath.

Barnes laid a hit across Peter’s chestplate that made him stagger but he turned it into another lithe evasion. He snaked around the higher lord and hammered his false arm. The shield cracked in half and Peter ducked again.

Barnes was angry as he stabbed out. His blade was shoved away again and Peter jumped over the foot that tried to trip him up, a true achievement in armor.

You realised as Barnes laid a flurry of blows at the air that he was angry. The crowd silenced as the realisation fell over them and they watched as time seemed to slow. The duke was losing and he was enraged.

Peter jabbed the other man’s chest plated with his sword then hit his true arm. The sword bobbled in Barnes’ grip but he regained his hold on it. Too slow as Parker struck over and over, throwing him off balance, and sweeping him off his feet with a low lunge.

As Barnes clattered onto his back, the breath went out of him and every other person in the stadium. The man in grey shook away his shock and finally stepped forward.

“Our victor!” he grabbed Peter’s arm and raised it, “the Lord Parker!”

May hopped up and down and hugged her husband. Steve tutted and shook his head. Your eyes clung to Barnes as he sat up, forgotten in the dirt. His left arm was stuck at an angle away from his body and he reached up to force it back down.

Peter offered him his hand and was ignored. Barnes sheathed his sword and offered a curt bow before he exited. Rogers’ hand crawled up your arm and he gripped you. “Well, looks like we both will suffer his loss.”

For once, he spoke the truth.

[itsallyscorner]

Hello. Could I request a Chris Evans x reader, where they have a little girl and she finds out that peple kiss under the mistletoe. So she's always running around the house with it playing matchmaker (obviously everyone is taller than her) and she's like: "Now you have to kiss."

This is the cutest request!! Omg🥺❤️ Thank you, hun! I hope you enjoy it🎄❤️

💌.

Under The Mistletoe

Major dad!Chris

(Gif from @cevanscentral )

Ever since Chris had hung the mistletoe up in the living room’s doorway, it had always caught the curious eyes of your sweet Audrey. Your daughter, like her father, was always full of wonder and anticipated to learn new things. She was always curious about her surroundings and had a never ending amount of questions.

Lately, the mistletoe had been the subject of her thoughts. She would wonder what the purpose of the mistletoe was and why it was hung in the living room doorway instead of the tree. Sometimes the little girl would find herself standing underneath the mistletoe, staring up at it as she tried to come up with some kind of reason as to why it were there.

One day, Chris had found his daughter standing underneath the mistletoe, her big blue eyes sparkling from the lights of the Christmas tree a few feet away from her. A classic Christmas cartoon played on the tv, though it was long forgotten by Audrey.

“Hey jellybean, watcha up to?” He crouched beside his daughter as he followed her line of sight.

“It’s a mistletoe, bean. It comes out during the holidays and whoever is underneath the mistletoe gets a kiss.” He explained to her as he gathered her into his arms. He stood up, resting Audrey on his hip so she could touch the festive plant.

“Do they really need to be kissed?” She continued to quiz her dad.

“Do they really need to be kissed?” She continued to quiz her dad.

“Of course they need to be kissed! It would be a crime if someone doesn’t get kissed underneath the mistletoe!” Chris claimed causing the eyes of his daughter to widen. Suddenly, Audrey cups her dad’s face and presses a giant kiss onto his cheek.

“I can’t go to jail, dada! I’m too young!” His daughter says, a hint of fear in her voice. Chris lets out a heartfelt laugh at his daughter’s reaction. His other hand comes to land on his left pec as he continued to laugh.

You walk out of the laundry room, having just finished throwing in the wet clothes into the dryer.

“Mama!” You heard Audrey whine. You rush to where her voice came from, which was the living room. You enter the room to see Chris red in the face as he tried to stifle his laughs.

“What did you do?” You eyed the two loves of your life. A pout is on Audrey’s lips, her brows softly furrowed together.

“Mama, dada keeps laughing at me!” She wiggles her way out of her dad’s arms and crashes into your legs. Her face was tucked into your thigh in embarrassment.

“And why’s that, babe?” You ask her, running you hands in soothing circles on her back.

“Dada said that if you don’t give kisses under the mistletoe, you go to jail! So I kissed dada’s cheek and he laughed!” An adorable little pout was set on her lips, her arms crossed. You give a look towards Chris, who was now silently laughing in the corner.

“Babe, why’d you laugh at her?” You asked your husband, finding the situation slightly amusing. Knowing your husband, he had probably teased your little girl to the point where she grew upset at him.

“She literally said, ‘I can’t go to jail, I’m too young!’ And proceeds to just press kisses onto my face.” Chris explains through his laughter. A hint of a smile is on your lips, shaking your head at your husband. Crouching down to your daughter’s height you told her, “Don’t listen to half the things your dad tells you, he’s messing with you, bean. You’re not going to go to jail if you don’t kiss anyone under the mistletoe.”

Chris had calmed down and sat beside you on the floor. You daughter glares at him causing him to snort. You roll your eyes before nudging your husband’s shoulder.

“C’mon, babe. It’s funny, our daughter’s a comedian.” Chris sees the smile hinting at your lips, trying to get you to crack.

“Shut up.” You whisper to him through gritted teeth. “Now apologize, you dork.”

Chris tries to recollect himself before looking at Audrey seriously, “Jellybean, I am so sorry for laughing at you and tricking you. It hurt your feelings and I’m sorry.”

Audrey sighs before pressing a light peck on her dad’s forehead, “I forgive you.” Chris wraps his giant arms around your daughter and pulls her into a hug.

Over her shoulder, the goofy look comes back onto his face as he mouths, “So gullible.”

You quietly chuckle as your daughter pulls away from the hug. She turns back to you and a smile is on her face.

“Mama, can I have my own mistletoe?” She asks you, looking at you with those puppy eyes.

“What’s the harm?” You thought to yourself. It was just a plant and she would probably use it on her dolls or stuffed animals. She’ll probably forget about it in a few days.

“Course you can, I’m sure daddy has some leftover decorations in the garage. He might have another mistletoe.” You shrugged as she happily jumped around.

Boy were you wrong.

The mistletoe had become a hit with your daughter. To her, it was her most prized possession. She held onto the mistletoe everywhere she went and used it to her advantage. When she wanted kisses, she would ask one of you to carry her and she would hold the mistletoe to the best of her abilities above your heads. She even taught Dodger that when the mistletoe was above him, it meant a kiss on the cheek for Audrey. Or a lick to the face in Dodger’s eyes. You and Chris enjoyed the fact that something so simple could bring your daughter so much joy. Compared to the dolls and stuffed animals she had, nothing compared to the mistletoe.

Audrey had pride in her mistletoe and showed it off to everyone who entered the house. She made it her own mission to spread more love in the house by making everyone kiss each other with the mistletoe.

This year, Christmas Eve was being held at your household. Chris had suggested it since your shared home was bigger than the other’s houses. Because there were many additional rooms, his siblings and their kids would be able to stay the night for Christmas Day.

The house was full of chatter and Christmas energy. All the kids were running around from room to room as the adults yelled after them to be careful. Dodger was hanging out under the dining room table, taking a break from the energetic kids. The dining room table was full of food, Lisa had arrived at the house earlier in the day to get a headstart on the cooking. Together, the two of you had filled the table with multiple dishes and an assortment of sweets.

You were sat on the couch talking with Carly and Shanna, catching up with each other’s lives. Scott was with Chris, along with his new boyfriend, who was celebrating Christmas with the family this year.

You and Carly were talking about your kids. You had just mentioned the little mistletoe incident that happened a week ago with Audrey and Chris. “Is that why she’s been carrying that mistletoe around?” Carly asked as she motioned to your little girl. She was running around with her cousins, her styled hair now messy, dress sleeves falling past her shoulders, and the mistletoe still enveloped in her hand.

“Honestly, I didn’t know she would grow such an attachment to it. I thought she was going to get over it in a few days and jump on some new craze.” You laughed sipping on your wine.

“I think it’s cute!” Shanna chimed from beside you. The boys had moved into the living room after standing in the dining room. Chris shot you a wink from across the room as he talked to Carly’s husband.

Scott and his boyfriend approached the three of you, a toothy grin on both their faces.

“What are you girls gossipin’ about?” Scott presses a kiss to your cheek and pulls you into a tight hug.

“Oh yeah! This is Steve!” Scott motions to the man beside him who shyly waves at you. “Steve this is (y/n), my sister in law. (Y/n) this is Steve, my boyfriend!”

Instead of going in for a shake, you pulled Steve into a hug, “It’s nice to meet you! We’re glad to have you over for Christmas!” The Evans were really rubbing off on you.

“Likewise, thank you for having me!” Steve hugs you back. The two men sit on the rug as you all fall into a conversation. A half hour in and Audrey comes running into the living room. Her bright eyes spot her uncle Scott, as excitement bubbles in her stomach.

“Uncle Scott!” She runs up to him and wraps her short arms around his neck. Scott chuckles as he hugs his niece back.

“Uncle Scotty, look what I have!” Audrey holds the mistletoe up in pride. Scott’s mouth gaps as he sees the plant.

“Is that a mistletoe!” He moves the plant closer so that he’s getting a better look. What Scott doesn’t notice is that he’s moved the mistletoe directly above him and Steve.

“Yeah and look uncle Scott! You guys are under it!” She excitedly cheers. You see Scott and Steve both blush, you’re about to protest when Chris calls for his brother across the room.

“Scott, you know what that means!” Chris teases his younger brother from across the room.

With the encouragement from her father, Audrey says, “Now you have to kiss!”

Scott turns to Steve with a smile, “It’s a mistletoe, I don’t make the rules.” Steve agrees and the two share a peck on the lips. Everyone at the house cheers when they pull away. Satisfied, Audrey giggles at her work.

“Okay, little miss matchmaker. Back to your cousins, the adults are talking.” Scott teases Audrey as he nudges her back to the other kids.

“That’s my girl! Doin’ god’s work!” Chris cheers in pride as his daughter skips out the room. The holidays were about family and seeing his brother so happy made him happy. Without the help of your little girl, Scott probably would’ve never made the first move on Steve. It was a holiday miracle, thanks to that mistletoe.

[jamilelucato]

Mine [F.W.]

pairing: Fred Weasley x reader;

summary: Fred suggests the unmissable proposal to pretend to be dating, but will it work?

warnings: fluffy but i know you all love it;

a/n: forgot to mention but the reader can be from any house (if you are one to believe that students from different houses can stay in other common rooms); again, this is for the A Very Harry Potter Christmas (day 8) with @whack-ed

Harry Potter Masterlist ||  Musical Hogwarts Series 

When Fred came to you, three weeks ago, asking for your help, you said yes, because, frankly, it was pretty nice being the one the twins trusted to teach them new rare spells and charms.

However, three weeks ago, Fred didn’t ask for your help with spellcasting. He asked you to date him.

Okay, okay, fake date him. But still dating, so it was a surprise. You gasped for air, unsure of what to say next, unsure of how to continue. You stared at him, involuntarily tilting your head.

And you said yes. Honestly, you didn’t regret it — yet. Fred explained how you two would proceed, and your part came across pretty easy.

You had to smile at him during classes, and toss him notes. He was going to spend more time around you in the library, and you would join him in his and his twin’s pranks. Again, pretty simple stuff.

“And nobody can know?” your whispered echoed in the dark abandoned corridor.

Fred held his wand which had its tip light with Lumos closer to your face. He wanted to be sure you wouldn’t tell anyone about it.

“No one. Not even George,” he whispered back, hoping to sound serious. “That one can’t keep a secret, I’ll tell you that. And he’ll tell her.”

��Her?” you asked before you could hold yourself. When Fred and George asked for your help, and you agreed, you couldn’t ask questions. That was their primary rule, but you were so curious...

“Angelina,” he said her name in a tender whisper and part of you felt jealous. Not of Fred — Godric, no — but of the fact that Angelina had someone like her. And nobody liked you in, what? Forever?

“Is this all for her?” you asked politely, moving your own wand towards the two of you, who, now thinking, were closer than needed in the dim passageway.

Fred gulped. Yeah, he fancied Angelina. George knew. Now, you knew too. But he didn’t like to say it, and he hated when people mentioned, particular because she didn’t like him back.

“So when do we start?” you asked after a moment in silence after Fred refused to confirm he liked the Gryffindor chaser.

++

Fred’s head rested over your lap while you carelessly ran your fingers through his ginger locks, in one of the opaquest couches available in Gryffindor’s common room.

It wasn’t the first time you two could be found in this position. Although you generally preferred to be the one laying down — you loved when people in general played with your hair —; when Fred walked in you were already sitting, so he was left to be the one to lie down.

Three weeks of fake-dating had gone by, and you couldn’t believe it. At first, the days seemed to be going down slowly, as you had to force interactions with the twin. But after the end of the first week, when Fred met you with the offer to walk around the school holding your hand, the relationship came to be easier to tolerate and the days started going by really fast.

Fake-dating Fred was effortless because Fred was a good friend. That wasn’t much of a surprise — you knew Mrs Weasley had raised her children well — but the fact that he was an exceptional joker and a funny chap was a bonus you weren’t expecting.

He would’ve been a nice first boyfriend if he had been in fact your first boyfriend. 

Thankfully, people were buying the relationship with no problem — you even heard Ginny saying it was inevitable. You two didn’t even need to kiss in front of the students for them to believe. Well, you did have to endure some physical contact (like what you were doing right now with his head over your lap), but that was surprisingly rather enjoyable.

“What are you doing tomorrow?” Fred asked all of the sudden after Godric knew how long you two had stayed cosy in front of the fire.

“I’m going to Hogsmeade to buy some Christmas presents,” you answered, looking down to meet his gaze. He seemed peaceful and calm when he had your fingers intertwined in his hair. “Wanna come?” you invited him to enjoy your little trip — a corner of your mind remembering that he was allegedly your boyfriend; therefore, he should escort you.

“Sure,” he smiled, but you were almost sure that it was because you moved your fingers and not because he was much excited to Hogsmeade. “Have to buy some myself.”

George spotted you two in the couch, comfortable together — as he was already used to finding you two — and he joined in the conversation.

“Plans for tomorrow?” he asked, sitting down in the sofa next to your left.

“Hogsmeade,” was Fred’s simple reply. You found it super cool how he didn’t even need to get up to know the voice belonged to his twin. 

That was another thing being in a sham relationship with Fred made you improve: differentiating Fred from George. Not that three weeks earlier, you were terrible, but you were undoubtedly not the best one for the job. Now, you had no problem at all.

“Oh, perhaps I’ll see you two around,” George smiled, his eyes meeting yours. You smiled back at him, pleased to know that he still liked you even though you supposedly had his twin’s tongue in your mouth often. George didn’t know the truth, obviously, but even so... You wondered how long would take the twin to found out Fred was lying about his love life. “I have a date,” added George, noticing that he should elaborate.

“Wow, Georgie, how nice!” you kept your smile, this time only shaking your head positively so he could know you were genuinely happy.

Fred seemed delighted too, stretching his neck over your lap for just an opportunity to see his twin without having to get up.

“Good luck,” wished Fred. “Although she can’t be pretty as my girl, I hope yours is at least cute.”

You looked down at Fred, meeting his gaze before nudging his head slightly out of your lap. If you two were indeed dating, instead of pushing, you would’ve kissed him — and, oh, the urge to do so was strong, but you reminded yourself that he was just following his act.

George watched your interaction with joy in his eyes. He was happy for his brother for finally finding someone to utterly understand him — and he had other reasons too, but they didn’t matter now.

“You two are so cute, ” George said, before getting up. Fred hadn’t even noticed that his twin was still there — so much he was distracted with your attempt of being embarrassed. Deep down, Fred was acknowledging that more than often, you were managing to truly distract him from his surroundings. 

“I’ll leave you two with some privacy,” said George before finally leaving.

You and Fred exchanged looks again, and then both burst into laughter, not believing George honestly had let that out.

“He seems more romantic,” you pointed out, starting to play with Fred’s hair again.

Fred shifted — you felt his body melt at your touch again.

“Perhaps it’s this new girl, ” Fred shrugged. He came off as unable to care deeply when your fingers ran through his scalp.

“I don’t think she’s much new,” you said, thinking more to yourself how George always appeared to be the more romantic of the twins.

++

“Which one do you think Ginny would like more?” Fred asked, holding what seemed to be two same shirts for you, who had no basic sense of how to tell Quidditch teams apart.

“Which one is she fan of?” you asked, deciding to not mention to Fred that you were terrible with teams.

Fred sighed. “Both,” he replied, knowing deep down that his sister would like any of the shirts, but he just wanted to get her the perfect one.

“Well, I’d pick this one,” you took a loop of faith, pointing to the shirt with your favourite colour. Fred stared at the one you aimed and then smiled, suddenly realizing you had no idea which team was each.

“I’ll go with your suggestion,” he then said, leaving the other shirt behind and heading to the cashier. You were glad he was over with the Quidditch Supplies store — you really had no interest in being there longer than necessary.

To be fair with Fred, he was being a very charming companion in the Hogsmeade trip, and he had even paid you a hot chocolate mug. Since students were bumping with you two all the time, the dating facade was still up and so, he was holding your hand around the village.

It was probably the first time since the whole thing started that you actually felt nervous about making physical contact with Fred. Perhaps it was because this trip (and the Christmas shopping thing) felt too personal, but you couldn’t be sure.

Well, actually, you didn’t want to be sure. You couldn’t have feelings for Fred — period. 

“Did you buy everything you wanted?” you asked Fred, a couple of hours later, because you were a bit tired of walking around, pilling up bags of gifts. But you didn’t want to be the one to admit.

“Huh, yes,” he answered, after checking out the bags he held. “Three Broomsticks?”

Shaking your head in an affirmative, you repositioned your own plastic bags while Fred waited for you, with his hand stretched. You swallowed hard a second before you felt the touch of it — although perhaps the high temperature was the fault of the gloves you both wore.

Why the hell could you feel an electric shock when touching him when there were literally layers of tissue separating both of you?

Fred walked in first, holding the door up for you, and, as you walked in, he offered to take your bags himself. You tried to protest, but he was very determined about it, and you were glad to be free of the extra weight.

It was then you saw George, sitting in a table not far away from the entrance. He was laughing cutely because the girl with him had gotten herself a moustache made of butterbeer.

Oh, and the girl was Angelina Johnson.

“Fred?” you called his name, unsure of what to do, but you definitely needed to take Fred away from there. He looked up from the bags on the floor. “Let’s go back to the castle; we can drink butterbeer later.”

Fred frowned, confused with why you changed your mood. “I’ll grab it really fast, [y/n], don’t worry.”

“No, Fred, I want to go back,” you tried to be firm.

“[y/n], nonsense; why...?” but he never finished his question. Instead of focusing on your face as he was doing before, he focused on what was happening behind you. 

And behind you, George and Angelina were having the time of their lives.

“Fred?” this time you called his name in a lower voice, scared of what his reaction. Well, or the lack of it, since he seemed frozen in time. “Freddie?”

The ginger boy shook his head as if he was getting rid of a bad taste in his throat. He finally met your eyes, and although he wasn’t exactly smiling, he didn’t look sad either.

“Sure you don’t want that butterbeer?” he asked, surprising you because or a) he was being very mature about the whole Angelina thing or b) he was hiding his feelings.

“Let’s get out of here,” you replied, not allowing him to suggest anything else since you took most of the bags on the floor and opened the door of the pub again.

If George noticed you two had walked in on his date, he never mentioned. 

You didn’t stop walking — and hoped Fred was doing the same — until you were back at the train station and inside one to get back to Hogwarts. Since the trip was quick, trains were coming and going all the time, and with a look at your wristwatch, you knew that the next one was leaving in just ten minutes.

It was only when you sat down that you decided to face Fred again, who, unbelievably still had the same expression on: neutral.

“Okay. Can we talk about what we just saw?”

“My twin on a date?” Fred raised a brow, his expression shifting to confusion, but there was no sign of anger on it.

“Your twin on a date with Angelina,” you corrected the boy, turning your whole body to face him. It was comfy because the bags were no longer in your hands, making every move extreme.

“Oh, that.”

“That, Fred. Aren’t you... angry? Disappointed? Anything?” you asked. You were supposed to be handling this calmly, but his lack of emotion was annoying your guts.

“George’s happy, so I’m happy. It’s that simple, actually,” Fred shrugged, avoiding your eyes for the first time that day.

“It’s not simple. You like her, Freddie,” you stated what should’ve been obvious for him.

Fred sighed, shrinking in his cushioned seat. He had been avoiding that talk, and it was not just since he saw his twin with Angelina.

He has been noticing his feelings for Angelina had changed, but he couldn’t point out how it changed, and why it did. He figured it was because of you, but that made no sense in his mind.

You weren’t supposed to be his type. You were nerdy and an avid reader (and read for fun, which he could never understand). You didn’t know anything about Quidditch, so you stayed away from the sport. You thought long before you acted, which was so different from him, who was always more emotion than reason.

Honestly, he didn’t even understand how he managed to keep his friendship with you for so many years. Of course, Fred was grateful to be your friend — after all, you had a questionable sense of humour that always fascinated the ginger, and even though you were afraid of being caught for it, you never denied help to him and his brother when a prank needed.

He knew that something could change in the dynamics of the two of you when he suggested being your fake boyfriend, but he didn’t think that the change would turn the relationship into something so much better.

Fred stared back at you, having no idea of what to say to you. He was afraid of rejection. And this time his fear seemed more potent than anything he ever felt before.

“I don’t like her anymore,” he simply said, still focused on your beautiful eyes.

His answer confused you. “Well, then why are we still dating?”

You noticed when you forgot to add the word “fake” in your sentence, but you were so done with that word that you shook that thought away.

“I don’t know,” Fred sighed, looking down at his hands over his lap.

You stared at him, not being able to believe the guy. You had lost three weeks for a boy that didn’t know what he was doing? Three weeks that you could have invested in finding a real boyfriend?

Your hands reached for your plastic bags, and as soon as the train stopped, you ran out of it. 

“[y/n]!” you heard Fred call you, but you didn’t dare look back.

++

“Didn’t see you and [y/n] in Hogsmeade. Did you guys leave early?” George asked when he sat down next to his twin in the common room. 

He had walked Angelina back to her dorm, and he decided to see if his twin was still around. George was never one to brag, but he really needed to vent to someone about how happy he was that he could finally be with the girl he wanted because Fred didn���t fancy her anymore.

Fred looked up to his other half and pressed his lips tight against one another. If he didn’t tell George, he would find out later, and he wouldn’t be happy.

“We broke up,” Fred simply said, biting his nails.

George’s eyes widened as he stared at his twin and he gulped nervously, not knowing how to proceed. His happiness was suddenly gone.

Fred didn’t get over Angie, and, once again, George would’ve to step away, leaving the path over to his twin. Damn it, George told himself, I really thought [y/n] was the one for him.

“Can I ask why?” George was still holding on to his hope.

“She...” Fred started, but he didn’t know if that was the right way to say it. “I...” he corrected himself, but it still sounded off. “Well, we weren’t really dating.”

George raised his brows. How come you weren’t really dating? Thinking about it now, I never saw them kissing, George reminded himself. But the way they looked at each other, the way Fred melts at her touch... How [y/n] blushes when Fred praises her... You two looked like a real couple for George.

“It was one of my stupidest ideas, but I went with it, and now I’ve lost a friend,” Fred complained, staring at his twin, hoping George had a solution. But the younger twin was as lost as Fred. “I was so dumb!”

“Fake-dating is always a dumb idea,” George pointed out, relaxing once again.

So Fred does fancy her, he though. But he screwed up.

It wasn’t like Fred could tell George the real reason behind why he suggested dating to you, but he could spin around the truth.

“I had a reason behind the whole thing, I just wasn’t expecting [y/n] to become more important to me than my initial reason,” explained Fred, sighing.

“I was. I mean, I would’ve,” George said, making Fred stare at him with confusion. “You always seemed to have a thing for her. I don’t know, perhaps just attraction?”

George saw that Fred was still lost, so he continued.

“Like, did you really need her to teach you Aguamenti for that prank on Filch two months ago? We had just learned it with Flitwick,” George used the first example that popped in his mind. “Or when you wanted to prank McGonagall so she would believe you were Dumbledore — you’re gonna tell me you didn’t know how to prepare a Polyjuice Potion?”

Fred gulped, suddenly feeling guilty. His twin was right — he never needed guidance with those simple spells and potions, but he ran for your help at any chance he had. Only now he knew it was because he wanted to be around you.

He reached for one of the cushions over the red couch and screamed on it. George found the scene hilarious.

“I’m screwed!”

++

It was the Sunday after the Hogsmeade trip, and even though every cell on your body wished to stay in bed, you knew that deep down you had no real reason to be mad and to feel heartbroken.

Your involvement with Fred was fake, and it was bound to be over from the beginning. You, better than all people, should know it. So there was no reason to stay curled up in bed, moaning about it.

But even if you knew you were bound to see Fred around the school, you weren’t expecting him to be outside of your common room entrance, as if he was expecting you to come out.

“Fred?” you had no idea why you said his name in that tone of surprise. Down, you knew he would come looking for you as soon as he had another prank planned.

His face lightened up when he heard his name coming from your lips. After his long talk with his twin last night, he started noticing you did, in fact, have a strong power over him, one that even you didn’t seem aware of.

“We went Christmas shopping yesterday, and I never gave you your gift,” he said, explaining himself, answering the question you didn’t dare ask.

“It’s not Christmas,” you said, a bit too quickly, “yet.”

“But it’s soon to be,” he raised a brow, stepping away from the wall he was leaned in and handing you a small box.

“How come I didn’t see you buy it?”

“Because I can be very sneaky when I want to,” he smiled. It was so easy for him to be happy around you.

“Hm,” his answer didn’t convince you, but you opened the box anyway, finding a beautiful golden necklace inside.

It had a small pendant on it — an initial, his initial. The golden “F” sparkled in your hands.

“Fred, wow,” the jewel made you speechless — you knew Fred wasn’t rich and you were almost sure that it was very expansive. “I can’t accept it, Freddie — we’re not dating anymore.”

Fred stopped your hands with his before you could return the necklace.

“I bought it for you.”

“It has your initial on it,” you pointed out.

“Yeah, I hoped to mark you as mine,” he smirked, deciding to be bold about the situation.

“We’re not dating,” you said, swallowing down your wish to forget that detail.

“But do you want to?” 

His question echoed in the passageway, but thankfully no one was around to disturb. You stared at the ginger, not believing he could actually be proposing what you heard.

“Fred...” you started, reminding yourself not to panic.

“I lied yesterday on the train. Not about Angelina — I do not fancy her,” he explained himself, stepping closer to you. “I lied about why I didn’t end or fake-relationship earlier. I didn’t do it because I couldn’t bear the thought of seeing you with someone else, making plans with another boy, holding hands with another guy.”

You gulped, but Fred didn’t seem ready to stop talking.

“I’ve never been as happy as I was during those three weeks you faked liking me,” he continued. “And being away from you will be the death of me. Please don’t turn the school prankster in the school bore,” of course he had to finish his charming speech with some cheeky sentence.

You couldn’t help but giggle, moving closer to him as well.

“I like you too, you idiot,” you smiled, holding tighter the jewel with just one hand.

“So... we’re dating again,” he smirked. “Only this time, I’m allowed to do this.”

Then, tugging you by the waist, he caught your lips in a kiss that would come to be the first of many.

[sunshinenextdoor]

Seraphina's hollow eyes flutter in anticipation as she stares back at him. Her stomach is full of butterflies as their gazes connect. He always looked so dreamy, ethereally beautiful when he was half-asleep. She still couldn't get enough of looking at him.

She gently caressed his puffy face, tucking his hair behind his ear; it perking up as she did so. "I love you" she whispers to him, eyeing him up.

"W..woah.. I, what.. what happened..? You're so.." Wesley tries forming coherent sentences while still being half awake, looking with a confused expression at the mesmerizingly beautiful woman trying to sooth him back to rest.

"Nothing that you would have to worry about right now, sugar. Let us rest to our heart's content." Seraphina obviously partially lied, as she didn't want to get him all upset when they are like this. She would literally want to stay like that for eternity, only if they could really do that.

Wesley slowly becomes more awake by the minutes, starting to come to his senses and his mind becoming collected. "It sounds so tempting when you say it like that..." he changes glances between her hips and hands. "But I sense there is something you're not..telling me.." now he directs his focus back to her eyes, after pasting over her body with them; his hands holding hers gently.

Seraphina looks down to their arms tangled together, blushing, "I don't want you to be so nervous about it.. Can't we talk about it later, when we're out from bed and I'm not being heavenly embraced by your caressing hands that never stop making a map around my body...?" she can't believe she said that aloud like that; her involuntarily embarrassment makes her bury her head into Wesley's chest. She mumbles, her lips against his skin, "Pretty please?"

He mutually blushes, his elongated ears jolt upwards and his eyes get wide in excitement, as his girl buries herself into him. His touchstarved body jittering in enjoyment. "I could maybe make an exception if you keep doing that--" Wesley snaps. Oh no. But it was so calm and romantic!

All the memories flood back to his head, what happened last night, his anger and disappointment towards this new stranger, the confusion, how he got relieved when he escorted Seraphina to his bed, and how he smothered her with kisses before falling asleep... But most importantly, how he let this newbie get away and spread the word about his newfound secret love with his darling. He realizes what happened, and is mostly pessimistic about it. He proceeds to jump out of bed, and sits down on Seraphina's side.

Wesley sighs, burrowing his eyebrows. "They all know by now, huh?" Seraphina turns around to face him, "They do, but-"

"And they are probably laughing at me right now. 'Hahaha, look at this idiot, he got with an outsider after having his agenda against them for years! Imagine that poor girl, choosing this bumbling fool when she could score with anyone better than him'" he goes on a whole false narrative about what he thinks the folks are talking, when the elemental grabs onto his resting arm, nudging him.

"They are happy for you!! Happy for Us!" she tears up, but they are tears of joy. Wesley fumbles over his words, having a hard time grasping what she told him. He is so lost, he truly can not believe.

"H-how? When? How.. do you know..?" he faces her, as the girl starts to explain to him what happened about an hour ago.

"Well you see my love, while you were sleeping... There was a man who was looking for you. That air mage. Do you know him? He seemed like he knows you, at least."

"Vaan? The one with that hideously sly grin of his?"

"Yes, him! So, he broke into the house."

"What??? Why did he- Oh, I'm gonna make him-" Wesley gets up and paces around the room. "That doesn't matter anymore, though... I can fix that anytime.. The important thing is, did he touch you? What did he do? If he laid one finger on you, I am going to find him, and-"

"He didn't, he didn't!! Calm down! He wanted to assure himself that the word going around was true." she stops to carefully sit up on the bed, holding the blanket over her barely covered body. "He saw us. And your muttering and grabbing me all over the place while sleeping didn't help me try to cover for us either."

"We're doomed." Wesley stops in his steps, his eyes wide as ever, staring down at the floor in bewilderment and panic. "We are so doomed. I need to move to Sun Haven. Or the Southern Region. We need to pack."

"We don't have to move, please stop. Also, I am not dressed. We are definitely not moving." Seraphina tries to stop his train of thoughts going off the rails, in a slightly annoyed tone. "Besides, he was the one who told me everyone is rejoicing over our happiness."

Wesley, standing still, looks at her. His eyes tearing up. "R.. Rejoicing? Happy? For... For me?" he still can't think it's possibly true, but tries to come to terms with it. People are happy for him finding love. The same people who he truly believed were hating him to the core. What a world we are living in.

He throws himself down at the bed, landing on a confused Sera, hugging and smooching her in overflowing happiness. "Ahaha, we should probably get dressed and talk with the townsfolk, Mister Elder Wesley.." Seraphina chuckles while a resisting Wes keeps on showering her with his kisses, stalling the time.

[ Withergate ]

"An elemental.. And opposites, you say?.." Darius laughs even at the thought of it. "And pretty, even? Looks like our little Wesley grew up to be a man at last. It took long enough for him. And it turns out he is a monsterfucker. What a turn of events!" The prince really finds all of this so amusing. What sorts of surprises does the universe really hold, he always hears something new every day. He is very well pleased. "Never could have bet in a millenia that that Wesley would end up with one of our kind. Life truly moves in its own ways."

"Well, I am pleased with your work my darling Zelle, I can always trust you to bring me.. Very interesting news." he tells the demon, flashing his canine teeth as he smiles at her. "Investing in your trust and loyalty has never betrayed me, love. But I'd rather you stay a bit more in Withergate with me than always flying off to somewhere else. Spend some time with me, will you?" Darius kneels down before her, placing his hand on her thigh to hold her hand; moving it closer and kissing her palm.

"A prince needs some company from time to time, too," vocalizes Darius his needs towards a blushing Zozelle. "You wouldn't turn down the prince, would you?"

Letter Prompts! Give me the [ Mistake ] letter! :> That one sounds like it can be fun!

((Tried to make it open so that anyone can join in if they would want to:> ))

Someone woke up to find a mysterious letter in their mailbox. It's soft to the touch and ornated with green leave stickers, sealed with a beautiful light teal wax seal that has a wind chime flower stamped into it. They find it a bit strange at first, as they have never gotten any kind of mail like this before, but went on to opening it nonetheless. Since it could only be meant for them, right?

As their hands go on to open the neatly decorated case, they get slapped by an intense smell of lotus honey and probably some kind of hibiscus and lavender scented perfume, just oozing out of the slightly crampled paper inside. "Wow, okay, this is getting *really* weird" they probably think to themselves.

A few minutes later, after the intense aroma wears off, it may be possible to read it afterall! The letter reads as followed:

"Oh my Dearest, Only Love, my heart aches to be with you again. I miss every little breath, every warming glimpse you give to me. It's only been a day, but I already feel the urge to feel the touch of your fingers, the imprint they make on my skin as they burn, and how they get hotter as your blush grows on your body when I embrace you. I know I act coy, and I'm a jerk sometimes, but in reality, you are the only one who ever saw me this way, and the thought of it makes me drunk. No one can know of our relationship, for they don't understand, but I still want to pursue your love, for it is sweeter than honey, and truer than any word Nivara could say in a thousand years. (Please don't tell her I said that..) Ahem, I wish to meet up in secret again, unknown from the world. I'll be waiting for you by night. I need to feel your warmth again.

- Wesley"

Well. Seems like someone's in big trouble at the Nel'Vari post office! Maybe try to find the person who this could be addressed to?

[lovetorn]

Life Was A Willow [Part 2]

Witch Hunter!Dream x Witch!Fem!Reader

Part 1 Part 3

Summary: It's always been hunters vs. witches, right?

Word Count: 3.6k+

Warnings for Part 2: violence, mentions of death (familial), swearing

A/N: part 2 !!!! thank you so much for the support and feedback from part 1, omg thank you !! well, i hope you enjoy part 2 ahhhhh !!

It’s 9 pm and Y/n still waits for the signal. She looks in the direction of the Castle and swings her feet back and forth from where she sits on the cottage’s roof.

The air is cold and the trees continue to rustle, the same way they do every day, but tonight, she has an eerie feeling about it. Regret slips into her mind sometimes, telling her that she is foolish for even accepting such a vague invitation by someone she doesn’t even know—but it was so intriguing and she trusts them (she doesn’t exactly know why).

Suddenly, a large pop startles Y/n out of her daze. Sparkles dance in the sky as fireworks burst from the land below. She quickly notes that the explosions are coming from the West side of the Castle and takes that as the signal. Very grand indeed.

Y/n jumps from the roof, landing gracefully on the dirt, and takes off running through the forest. She misses tree roots emerging from the earth and ducks under low branches from the undergrowth. The only thing that lights her path is the moonlight and at this moment, Y/n is thriving. The full moon allows her abilities to heighten and she places her full trust in her instincts.

The fireworks continue to explode and Y/n fills with more adrenaline, the sound making her scream out in joy. She’s excited about the meeting, and she doesn’t even know who it is. And maybe that’s what she’s eager for; the unknown.

The entirety of the concept scared her before, but now she’s exhilarated. And as the show comes to a close, Y/n nears the East side of the Castle. It’s completely silent at this end and the eerie feeling she had before creeps back. It’s not a feeling of uncertainty but one of opportunity and her instincts are telling her to take it.

When she reaches the abandoned cottage, Y/n inhales sharply. There’s no light coming from the house and the door remains closed. As she steps onto the stairs in front, the wood creams beneath her and she scolds for giving away herself to the person inside. Instead of sneaking around, Y/n stomps towards the door and swings it open.

She sees a man in the corner and makes her way towards him, her hands out and ready in case this interaction goes south.

“Who are you? And how do you know me?” Y/n calls out. The man jumps slightly and lifts his head. And in the moonlight flooding in through the window, Y/n recognises him as Dream, even with his mask off. He stands in a white button-up and brown pants, his hunter boots on and a newsboy hat sat on his blonde hair.

“Dream?”

“Hi, Y/n. I knew you would recognise me.” Y/n doesn’t want to look away from him. This is the first time she’s seen his face, and despite the darkness, she sees how handsome he is.

“Why—how? Why did you want to meet me in such a creepy way?” Y/n asks in disgust, picking a cobweb out of her hair and then off of her shoulder; they seem to be everywhere. Her expression falls back to one of admiration when she looks back at him. However, the moonlight lacked the light Y/n needed to see him properly.

Dream laughs slowly. “I forgot to bring a lighter for the lamp. Do you think you could, uh—maybe,”

“Glady,” Y/n sighs and flicks her hand towards the candle in the glass encasing. It immediately comes to life and the room becomes brightly lit. Her eyes fall onto Dream again and she finally sees him; his piercing green eyes and the scar that runs from the top of his left temple to the corner of his lip.

“Wow,” Dream mumbles under his breath. “Anyway, I wanted to talk to you, and I know that everybody I know would, just, obliterate me for even thinking about doing this, but I needed to talk to you about—“

“You’re rambling.”

“Right, right...”

Y/n squints at the man and then tilts her head. “Whose C?”

Dream’s eyes widen as he nods. “Yeah, uh, that’s me. My name’s Clay.”

The witch doesn’t say anything as she stares at him. “So why do they call you Dream?”

This isn’t where Dream thought the conversation would go, but he’s happy they’re not fighting.

“My mother came up with the nickname when I was born. I nearly didn’t make it and then through some miracle, I did. So, she called me her Dream.” Y/n can tell the story makes him emotional, so she doesn’t push any further.

“That’s really sweet, Dream.” And at the sound of his real name, Dream perks up slightly before he cracks a smile. Y/n grins back at him; a real genuine smile. The pair stand in the low lit room in comfortable silence, until Y/n’s curiosity gets the better of her.

“What did you want to talk about?” She asks. Dream nods once and continues from where he was cut off before.

“I wanted to discuss the possibility of a truce between witches and hunters,” Dream isn’t smiling anymore, instead his lips are screwed up and his hands fidget in front of him. Y/n, however, grins even bigger.

“I’m all for that, honestly. I’m tired of being on edge every day and being scared for my life. If we can find a way to create peace, even for a little bit, I’m on board.” Y/n keeps it short for now, not wanting to scare him off by how passionate she feels about the situation.

Dream’s eyes light up at the sound of her agreeing. “Really?” Y/n nods and becomes surprised when she feels Dream’s arms wrap around her. “Thank you, thank you.”

“No, Dream, thank you! I’ve been trying to convince people of this for years. I’m really glad that you feel the same way.” The pair pull apart and Dream flicks his eyes down to Y/n’s lips for a split second.

“You’re so pretty,” Y/n nearly chokes at his comment. Dream feels his cheeks burn when the words tumble out and soon they’re both flustered. “Sorry! Oh my, I’m sorry, that didn't mean to slip out—”

“Dream, it’s fine. I think you’re pretty too; especially without the mask.”

The hunter swats the witch’s shoulder playfully. “Stop~” The pair laugh together, and then proceed to stand in another comfortable silence. The wind howls and whistles outside and makes the cottage creak, adding to the eerie aura that surrounds it.

“What’s with the hat? It’s nighttime.”

Dream plucks the accessory off of his head and runs his opposite hand through his hair, the soft locks falling back into place when his hand returns to his side. “Part of the disguise, duh.”

Y/n squints at him, her expression morphing into one of mischief. “Isn’t the mask a disguise in itself, though? Also, put the hat back on, you look handsome with it.” It’s time for Dream to blush now. He covers his face with his hat and scoffs softly. “Y/n!”

The girl slaps her hand over her mouth to muffle her embarrassed laughs. “It’s true!”

The man rolls his eyes before placing the hat back on his head. “Happy?”

Y/n nods before telling him to answer about the mask.

“Well, no, nobody at the Castle actually knows what I look like—except for my best friends, Sapnap and George.”

“George? As in Prince George?” Y/n is shocked, to say the least. She now understands why Dream is so passionate about the peace between the Hunters and Witches. Prince George is known for his differing morals and ideas from his family, which makes him stand out from the other Royals. Y/n admires his bravery and courage to do so.

“Yeah, we’ve been friends since we were young. I’m jealous that he can be so open with his opinions in that Castle—Lord knows if I was, I'd be executed,” This makes Y/n’s stomach drop. “But, it’s okay, with your help, hopefully, we can convince humans and magical-kind alike, that there can be peace. A—And we can live together in harmony, without being consumed by the overbearing thought of death every moment of our lives.”

Dream stops his tangent, his face flushed and his eyes pleading. Y/n feels like crying; she has waited years for someone to be as passionate as her about this topic. “I’ll help you, Dream, no matter what; because I wholeheartedly believe we can do this. I trust you.”

Y/n shocks herself with this statement; she’s never trusted a human before.

“And I trust you Y/n.” The pair stare at each other, smiles spread across their cheeks as the night outside slips away, and then it’s just them; standing in the main area of a small, abandoned cottage that sits East of the Castle, lit up with a lantern that casts a warm glow over the pair. Y/n can almost say it looks and feels magical.

“Ok, enough flirting, let’s get planning on the truce. Sounds like a plan, doll?” Dream gives her a lopsided smile and Y/n feels her heart rate increase at the sight of him.

“Where were you?” Wilbur says. His voice is deeper than usual and fits in perfectly with the way he’s sitting ominously in the dark. Y/n stops tiptoeing towards her room and turns to face him; defeated that she got caught. However, she still remains giddy and her heart beats faster for other reasons.

“I was meeting with Schlatt—I need more toadstools for a potion I’m making.”

Wilbur squints at her, his lips curling into a frown. “I know you’re lying, and so does Niki.”

Y/n sighs and starts walking towards him. “I’m sorry—“ She pauses when she sees Wilbur shake his head.

“Don’t.”

Y/n screws her lips together and nods once. Her once excited demeanour fading away when she sees Wilbur’s look of disappointment. “I was meeting one of the new hunters, Dream.”

Wilbur furrowed his eyebrows, “What? Why?”

“We’re formulating a truce amongst witches and hunters.”

He raises his eyebrows in both surprise and suspicion. “Okay? And why are you doing this? We don’t need peace.”

“Uh, so we’re not in danger every living second?” Y/n’s nerves grow into anger. “Why are you so against the chance of maybe, finally getting this?”

Wilbur shakes his head and stands up, the chair screeching against the wood floors as he moves. “Haven’t you heard what becomes of curious minds?”

Y/n is at a loss for words while the tall man rolls his eyes and leaves, avoiding her as he circles around her to walk down the hallway.

His abrupt exit confuses Y/n. Why is Wilbur so against peace with the Hunters?

—

Dream manages to sneak into the Hunter’s Wing before they lock the front doors for the night. He sits silently on the bench in the training room and slips his boots off, making sure to place them on the floor as quiet as possible. He takes his hat off of his head and holds it in his palms, smiling stupidly at the inanimate object. The flame in the lantern next to him is fizzling out and it's hard to see 4 feet in front of him.

“Dream?” Even in his daze, Dream can sense the anger and fear in Sapnap’s voice.

“Sapnap? Why are you awake?” The younger boy walks out from the hallway and towards him.

“Me? Where were you? It’s midnight.”

Dream sighs and rests the hat on the bench next to him. “I was out.”

“Out? You mean meeting with the witch?”

Dream’s eyes widen. “How do you know that?”

“Fireworks don’t just go off for no reason, Dream. And I found the note in your room.” Sapnap says, ripping the letter from his pyjama bottoms pocket.

“Just say you have a crush on her, Dream!” Sapnap yells, throwing his arms up in defeat.

“I don't—I promise, Sapnap.”

“Fine, if you don’t like the witch, then kill her.” Dream’s dumbfounded. He stares at his best friend with such bewilderment that even Sapnap feels a twinge of guilt. Dream sighs, carding his hand through his hair in frustration and confusion.

He doesn’t reply, even when George arrives in a hurry, still in the process of wrapping a dressing gown around his body.

“What’s happened? I heard yelling.” The pair remain frozen, refusing to meet the Prince’s glare as they avoid eye contact.

George shakes his head, “Has this got to do with Dream meeting with the witch?”

“George! How do you know, too?”

George huffs. “I know everything that happens in and outside of my Castle. But, fireworks? Really?”

Dream throws his hands down in frustration. “Yes, fireworks! It was a good distraction and it was a signal for her anyway.”

George eyes the blonde before he crosses his arms over his chest. “As much as you hate to admit it, it's obvious that you’re fond of her, Dream. And no matter what happens, I’ll be by your side, okay? You know that.”

“What the fuck?” Sapnap spits. “You have his back? George, I can tolerate your ideals about the magical kind, but this is the witch who killed half of the hunter population.”

Dream stills. “What?”

“You’ve gone and done it now, Sapnap!”

“Y/n killed people?”

“Dream—“ George goes to speak, but he’s cut off by Sapnap.

“Yes! That’s why I’ve been trying to warn you! Why do you think we got this job so easily?” Dream stares at the concrete floor, his heart dropping into his stomach. He can’t believe it, he refuses to.

“Sapnap!” George snaps. The younger boy cowers away slightly, his once confronted facade crumbling at the sound of the Prince's tone. “Stop it, right now. You are in no place to tell him this, okay? You may be my best friend but that doesn’t excuse you from doing this.”

Dream chews on his bottom lip quietly as he watches Sapnap turn around and stomp out of the training room, but not before he scrunches up the letter and throws it on the floor. “Thanks.”

George’s gaze remains on the door. “Don’t thank me. He should know better anyway, considering his last relationship.”

The blonde nods once, reminding himself of the youngest boy’s past relationship with a fairy from the kingdom next door. Dream lets out a laugh at the thought.

For the next few days, Y/n hears nothing from Dream. She worries for him, has he been caught?

She stands on the porch of her cottage, hoping, begging for a sign that he is okay. Clouds plague the blue skies above and Y/n knows the bad omens swirling around the kingdom are the cause—and the inside of Niki’s crystal ball had burst with black and dark red clouds which had only confirmed her suspicions.

The wind howls through the trees and calls to her, speaking words of concern under its tongue. Y/n rolls her eyes and sighs, she knows to be careful, especially with the humans inching closer to their world.

However, a faint voice draws Y/n’s attention away from the wind and to the well in the corner of the garden. The sound confuses her at first, and then the wind’s guidance is forgotten as she makes her way towards it. The short fence around the area is still broken from the fight with the hunters weeks ago, and nobody has had a chance to repair it yet, so Y/n takes it upon herself to fix it.

The whispers from the well become a string of mumbles and are impossible to decipher as Y/n kneels with her back towards the forest—and for the first time, she is anxious about what lies within it.

But, before she can even begin picking up the pieces of wood, the sound of someone approaching her at a fast pace alerts Y/n immediately. She spins around with her hands out and is shocked when she sees Dream with his sword raised. The ground moves beneath her feet as she uses the earth’s power to aid her in meeting his strength.

“Dream?” She screams, her body struggling to resist the force of his weapon. Sparkles fall from her fingertips as she pushes back.

“You killed an entire army of people, Y/n!” Dream’s tone is low and angry and Y/n knows he would have found out eventually.

“Dream, I didn’t do that!” Y/n exclaims and Dream swings his sword backwards.

“How can I trust you? Hm? After all, you’ve killed people!” Y/n could cry at his utter naivety. She drops her arms by her sides as Dream glares at her in pure disgust.

“Instead of fighting, can we talk about this?” Y/n pleas. Her feet move swiftly beneath her, maneuvering her body away from Dream’s sword.

Suddenly, Dream brings the sword down to slice into Y/n’s arm, but a force pushes it back towards him, making the blade fly high into the air before it clatters onto the ground.

Y/n stands with her hands out, remnants of glitter falling around her fingers. “I told you! I’d never do that, and I have proof.”

“Proof?” Dream still stares at his sword, unable to meet Y/n’s eye.

“Proof. Now, how about we calm down and I’ll show it to you. Okay? Sounds like a plan?” Dream nods slowly, turning his head to face her. Finally, his green eyes soften and the raging fire that burns within them fizzles out.

“Okay.”

Y/n sighs before she begins. “When a witch kills an innocent; a human, they gain a marking on the back of their neck to signify the betrayal of the harmony between the two. However, since King James, that peace has been terminated; hence his need for hunters, like yourself.

“But, anyway, everybody in this damn kingdom thinks I killed those hunters, but I don’t have the mark,” Y/n turns around, her hand going to lift up her hair from her neck. The skin is clear, with no markings, nothing.

Dream nods, furrowing his eyebrows. “How do I know you didn’t just cast a spell to make it disappear?”

Y/n rolls her eyes. “There’s no way to cover up the marking; it’ll just shine through whatever you put over it. It’s permanent and very obvious.”

“I told you, Dream, I didn’t kill them. I’d never kill an innocent.”

“Why didn’t you show them, then? You've had proof this entire time and never thought to actually show anyone?” Dream is bewildered. Y/n nods slowly, understanding his argument.

“I don't need to prove myself to your kind.” Is all she says. Dream waits for her to continue but soon realises she's not going to. “Fair point.”

“So, why did you come at me swinging? Did you really believe I would do that?” She whispers and Dream feels his heart sink. He is speechless for a few moments—did he really think that? Or was he feeding into Sapnap’s ideology of witches?

“S—Sapnap convinced me of things. I didn’t believe it at first, but the more he went on—I guess he got into my head.”

Y/n cocks her eyebrow and scoffs out a laugh. “Yeah, he did. You could’ve easily killed me with the amount of anger you had.”

This makes Dream’s breath catch in his throat. “I—I’m so sorry, Y/n. That was never my intention—”

The witch shakes her head and holds her hand up. “It’s okay, Dream. You didn’t offend me. I’m still here, with you, right? Isn’t that enough to tell you that I’m not angry?”

“Yes! Yes, sorry—”

“Stop saying sorry, it’s annoying.” Y/n giggles, holding her hand out to grasp Dream’s.

“So—”

“Dream!”

The cottage is quiet, too quiet, and Y/n walks into the small kitchen, hoping to bake a cake to cure her boredom. But, Wilbur sits at the round dining table, his beanie and a sewing needle in his hands.

“Wil, I wanted to talk to you,” Y/n mumbles, pulling out a chair. Wilbur doesn’t meet her eye as she does so, continuing to patch up his beanie that got ripped on a tree last week.

“Why are you against harmony with humans?”

Wilbur sighs softly. He places the beanie on the table and turns to face Y/n. “Y/n, when I was young, I lived amongst the humans in a town not far from here. We tried as hard as we could to mix in and not draw attention to ourselves.”

The girl listens intently, both curious and scared for his answer. She can tell the story makes him anxious so she reaches for his hand that lays on the wooden table. “Go on, Wil. I’m here.”

Wilbur nods, his eyes already full of tears as he continues.

“However, one day, my family decided to move to a more secluded area within the town, so my father could teach me more about magic without the risk of being caught. When we entered our new cottage in the forest, we were ambushed and they killed my entire family, leaving me, the only child, alone. I was left there, with my parents' bodies for weeks. I was made to fend for myself until I found Niki in a cave several years later. I was only 7, Y/n.”

Tears cascade down both of their cheeks. Wilbur takes in a shaky breath before he collapses onto the table out of grief. Y/n immediately leaps into action, wrapping her arms around the older man and letting him use her for support. His broken sobs and heart-wrenching cries stab Y/n all over, and she immediately regrets asking him about it.

“I’m so sorry that happened to you, Wilbur,” She didn’t push anymore, and that was all Wilbur needed.

[babytaes]

All Night Long

➳ 𝚜𝚞𝚖𝚖𝚊𝚛𝚢: “you forgot about your daughter’s school project until the last minute, what happens when you join her partner’s father on a 11 PM Walmart run

❥  𝚙𝚊𝚒𝚛𝚒𝚗𝚐:  seungcheol x female reader

❥  𝚐𝚎𝚗𝚛𝚎:  fluff

❥  𝚠𝚘𝚛𝚍 𝚌𝚘𝚞𝚗𝚝: 3K

❥   𝚠𝚊𝚛𝚗𝚒𝚗𝚐𝚜:  just a cute seungcheol, we need more father content.

↪  𝚊/𝚗: It has beeeenn a while since I posted something like this. I wanted to finish at least 3 members before I post this whole series.... but I can’t keep stalling. The first of many series from here on out... Enjoy and much love- BT

➳  part of the song series

↳  Does it ever drive you crazy.

Just how fast the night changes?

Your daughter leaped across the parking lot, humming a melody in her head. You grinned as you squeezed her hand and walked up to the car door. Walking over to the side door you opened it, allowing her to get into her car seat.

You tossed your things in the front seat and climbed in the car while she fixed herself in her seat and buckled up for the journey. It was ice cream Thursday for both of you, so it was a special day.

“Mommy... Mommy, are we still getting ice cream today?” she inquired, her feet swung wildly in anticipation. You looked at her radiant face and gazed deep into her delicate soul, admiring both the good and the bad in her.

As you gazed at her, time seemed to stand still for a moment; your life with your daughter had been remarkable, and she was your pride and joy. Your life would be pointless without her. It was difficult for both of you to navigate this life without a strong father figure beside you, but she has been a trooper the entire time.

You looked up at the love of your life as he held her in his arms and asked, "Isn't she beautiful?" As he clutched her delicate fingers, a tear welled up in his eyes.

“I can't believe we made this little booger; I can't wait to see you grow up, my little girl,” you turned to the nurse, laughing at the sight in front of you.

“Is it okay if he stays in here with me for a while?” the nurse nodded her head as she walked out of the bed, dimming the lights. He then gently climbed onto the bed, holding both of his loves in his arms.

“You and our little creation, I love you.”

You paused and swept a tear that had escaped your dry eyes. You quickly turned around and composed yourself before answering your daughter's question.

Even though your daughter was only 5 years old she had the intuition of some wise old mentor, which came in hand occasionally. She extended her neck to the side and looked over to see what was going on.

Within minutes she was on your lap wiping your tears as you hugged her tightly. She gleaned at you and brushed your stray hairs forming around your forehead.

“Are you okay, mommy? We don't have to get ice cream if you don't feel well.” You chuckled as she leaned in close and poked your necklace, a habit she enjoys.

You took her hands in yours and kissed them as you straightened her clothes, trying to relax. You haven't had a panic attack in a long time, due to your busy schedules, and life hasn't given you a break.

“I'm fine, sweetie; I'm just a little tired, but we'll certainly get some ice cream. Okay,” As she looked at you, you peered into her eyes for a reaction. She lifted an eyebrow and cocked her head to the side.

“You know lying is bad, mommy.” She got up from your lap and returned to her car seat, where she strapped herself in and grabbed her toy while humming away, oblivious to your presence.

You started the car thinking about how much she resembles you. Justtt a little too much.

“It's up to you whether you want to go home first or go get our ice cream.” You raised your head and checked the rearview mirror.

“Let's go home and get ready, then we'll go get some ice cream,” 

You laughed as you pulled out from the parking lot on your way home.

(On the other side of the parking lot happening at the same time)

“How was school, buddy? Suengcheol took his son's hand in his as he opened the car door and helped Youngsoon into his car seat. He jumped into the driver's seat and started the car to warm it up. He then turned around and awaited his reply.

“Do you mind if we try something different today? You know my friend Hyejin, she and her mother go out for ice cream every Thursday,” Youngsoon said as he put his toys down. I really want to do something similar. “Do you think we can?”

He glanced at his watch and noted the time, nodded, and turned around to proceed to put the car in drive.

“How about we go get milkshakes like we used to when mom-.” He gulped as he remembered what he had said before restating it, “Yeah bud, we should go get milkshakes like we used to.”

As he pulled out of the parking lot and drove to their favorite restaurant, Youngsoon grinned and went back to playing with his toys.

“Sweetie, are you nearly ready? We've got to get going. It's a school night, so we can't stay out late.” For the third time today, she skipped down the stairs, reached for your hand, and walked with you toward the car.

As you both yelled the lyrics of your favorite song together on the way to the ice cream store, it became exciting and enjoyable. When you and Hyejin went out on the town, it was always a blast. Whatever the case might be, it was certain to be entertaining.

You pulled into the parking lot, parked your car, and unlocked the door, remembering to lock it again when Hyejin exited.

“Would you like your stroller or would you like to walk today?” As she figured out what she wanted, she looked around and pondered. She shook her head and crossed her arms, expressing surprise.

“Now that I'm a big girl, I think I'll be fine.” You smiled as you walked into the store. While we walked past the bright shops and tourist attractions, you saw her eyes widen.

You don't get much time with your daughter, so you want to make the most of it when you do. It was difficult at times to support her because you missed the other half of the support needed to truly make the best life possible for her. But you did your best to make her happy about what you had.

You were working two jobs at the time and rent was increasing as the days passed on.

“Are we going out for ice cream today, Mommy?” She raised her eyes to you as you rubbed your neck to relieve the cramp. As you squeezed her back, you shed a tear.

“Not this week, love; next week, perhaps.” Ms. Tzuyu is approaching the driveway, so mommy has to go to work. Make sure you behave and finish your work; can you do that for me?”

She gave you a slight smile as you embraced her and kissed her on the cheek as you hurried out the door, greeting Tzuyu as you pulled off and drove to work.

You wiped a tear thinking about how not even next week, you could get that ice cream for her. Bills were piling up and you had to prioritize. That is what you had to do not for yourself, but for her.

“So, do you want your usual flavor or would you like to try something new?” She peered through the window and investigated each flavor. For her, it was more of a new experience to see how many different flavors she could try.

Such an adventurous spirit.

“Mommy, I'd like to try a different flavor. “There's one named Rocky Road,” She grinned as she gazed up at you with her lovely almond-shaped eyes. You smiled and ordered her a small cone and an ice tea for you. On the way out of the shop, you grabbed some napkins.

You looked up as her hand swung in the air, admiring the bright buildings flecked with various artwork and taking in the fresh air as the cool breeze rushed through the city. It was fun, and you were thankfu-

“Oh no, I am so sorry let me help you.” You hadn't known it, but you'd unintentionally stumbled into a grown man and spilled your drink on him.

Your daughter laughed as she approached the stranger to embrace him, but you pulled her back and held her behind you before she could reach him. You felt her hand on your side, but you dismissed it because you wanted to see who it was.

“Please accept my sincere apologies; my daughter is extremely extroverted. I'm sorry, but do I know you.” As he spoke, a small voice leaped out from behind the figure and began giggling at your daughter.

“Hello, Ms., my name is Youngsoon, and Hyejin is my class. And this is my daddy.” He pointed up to the good-looking man if I say so myself. You drew Hyejin from behind you while covering your mouth with your hand.

When the man saw the kids hugging and talking about their days, he laughed and reached out his hand.

“Hello, my name is Seungcheol, and I believe we are meeting for the first time. It's wonderful to finally meet the girl my son keeps bringing up.”

While you sat down to meet with his son, you shook his hand and gave him a napkin to clean himself up. You stood up and held your daughter's hand while you waited to see what would happen.

Your daughter squeezed your hand and begged you to pay attention to her. She whispered in your ear as you bent forward and smiled at her appeal.

Youngsoon had the same facial expression as your daughter. You exchanged a smile and cocked your heads at Seungcheol.

“Would it be okay if we hung out with them today?” You grinned when you looked at her pouty face and saw Youngsoon doing the same to Seungcheol.

“If it's fine with you guys, I don't mind at all. We were on our way to the park.” Both of the kids let out a scream as they marched forward side by side, giggling and laughing as children do.

“Forgive me, but I'm so embarrassed that I have no idea who you guys are. My daughter is always talking about your son. I find it amusing that we are meeting up after such a long time.” He laughs as you both settled on a park bench, still in view of your children.

“It's the same here; with Hyejin, there's something different every day. Did you guys get ice cream today as well? He told me that you guys do this thing every Thursday.” As you took in his features, you peered into his eyes.

As his curly locks swept over his warm-toned skin, his plump lips accentuated his wide almond-shaped eyes. As you thought about him, a smirk emerged on your lips, and you lost focus in his eyes.

He is a father, his wife must be lucky.

As you and Seungcheol spoke about life and how it was impacting both of you, time flew by as you heard the laughter and cries of the numerous children in the park.

You'd discovered that he doesn't have a wife anymore. She died when youngsoon was just two years old due to a variety of health issues. You're not sure whether it was destiny or just a random ice cream day, but it seemed like you and he was communicating on a deeper level that only single parents could comprehend as the conversations progressed.

However, as time passed, the sun began to set earlier than usual, and the shops began to close. Your heart ached as it yearned for this, someone with whom you could communicate with.

“Daddy, my feet are hurting and I'm getting tired.” You laughed at his answer because Hyejin was in the same boat as him, dozing off by your side. You gently picked her up and held her in your arms while reaching out to Youngsoon with your free arm.

“It was a pleasure to meet you, Youngsoon, as well as your father.” You extended your hand to him, and he firmly shook it. Seungcheol then walked over to where their cars were parked, holding his son in his arms.

You couldn't see it as you both walked over in silence, but you could sense the tension in the air, and something had to be said.

“Why don-“

“We shoul-“

As you slid your sleepy kids into the car seat, you exchanged glances and chuckled. As soon as you've finished, you move over to the driver seat overlooking the door waiting for him to turn around. 

What can I say, we weren't exactly friends, but we weren't strangers either. Is it appropriate for me to invite him over for a play date? Is that something that kids still have? Why are you so anxious?

He cocked his head and chuckled at your strange head motions, and a laugh escaped his lips as he waved his hand in front of you.

As you swore internally, a wave of humiliation rushed over your face.

“Before I say something stupid, it was wonderful to meet you, as well as your son, who has had a huge influence on my daughter's life. I'm glad she's kept a smile on her face the whole time. It's difficult when, well, you know. I'd like to hang out with you again... I mean with our kids if you're not busy."

Great job Y/N

He smirked and reached for his phone, which he unlocked and handed to you, motioning you to enter your number.

You checked the time as you exchanged numbers and quickly made a mental note that it was way past Hyejin's bedtime. As you hopped into your car, mentally cursing, you waved a short wave.

Why does it feel like I’m a teenager again?

  You struggled to get all of your belongings into the house whilst looking for the light switch. A light turned on as you yelled at the intruder who did it. A tall figure emerged from the darkness, her brows scrunched as she took some items from your hands.

“You scared me, girl. “What are you doing here?” You noticed Hyejin's droopy neck as she slept through the loud introduction, a trait she inherited from you. Tzuyu smirked and slid Hyejin out of your arms as she put her drink down.

“I hope you didn't forget, Hyejin's project is due tomorrow, and you were supposed to get the materials for it.” A hand flew across your face as you gasped and rushed to the calendar, where you saw her project.

“I thought it was next week, and Hyejin would have told me?” When you realized the time, a sigh escaped your lips; all you wanted to do was take a nice bath and soak away all your worries.

Such a great mom move Y/N.

Tzuyu lightly checked to see if Hyejin was awake, her eyes fluttered as she stretched and rubbed her eyes. Her gaze darted around the room, searching for you. Her eyes fell on your worried expression.

“Are you going to tuck me into bed, Mommy?” You walked up the stairs with Tzuyu, pinching her cheek and telling her to brush her teeth and use the bathroom while you helped her get ready for bed.

A text message came through your phone as you waited for her on the bed; stunned, you quickly opened and read the message.

“I'm not sure whether you're awake or not. However, sleepy Youngsoon just told me that he has a project due tomorrow and that he needs some supplies. Unfortunately, all of the good supplies have run out at my house. Do you want to join me on this late-night trip to Walmart if you're up for it?”

As you answered quickly, a cheerful chuckle rang through your throat.

“So it wasn't just me; my lovely babysitter had just told me that I needed to pick up some supplies. Having a companion would make the journey seem shorter. I'll be leaving in ten minutes to meet you there.”

A more vivacious girl jumped into bed and rushed to your side, hugging your arm and waiting for you to move. It was a family tradition to have a kiss on the forehead and tuck covers, as well as a bedtime story if you were lucky. You had never failed to do that one job for her, no matter what the circumstances were. Not only did it make her happy, but it also brought you closer together.

“I don't want to hurry, but mommy needs to run to the store for a few supplies for your project. That is why Ms. Tzuyu is staying with you until I return. Okay, could you please be a good girl tonight and not cause her any problems?” She kissed your lips with a giggle before returning to her side of the bed and nestling into Tzuyu's embrace.

“I love you, mommy, and goodnight.” You returned the kiss and said a soft "I love you" as I closed the door behind you, you dimmed the lights as you rushed to your car.

When you both died of laughter, it felt like the world was spinning. You nabbed a cart and headed down the school aisle, debating on whether a hot dog counts as a sandwich.

Seungcheol grabbed some glue from the shelf and tossed it into the cart, laughing as he whizzed down the aisle.

“A hot dog is a sandwich because it has bread and meat.” As you walked down the aisle, collecting materials as you went, you shook your head as you reached the next aisle, searching for construction paper.

“You are aware that a sandwich is made up of three parts: two sides of bread and the filling. There can't be just one side of bread. It's just basic math.” He turned around and waved his hand in displeasure as he shook his head.

As you observed his behavior, you were reminded of the days when you and your husband would go out on spontaneous dates once you were done with work. You yearned for him and the memories he brought with him.

“I'll get the drinks while you go get the popcorn on the next aisle down. Shall we go with tipsy or chill?” As you contemplated what you wanted, he leaned over the shopping cart.

When you looked at his face, a grin crept across your lips. “Why don't we do both? We haven't had much time for ourselves in a while.” “I'm cool with it.”

He took your hand in his and yelled at the top of his lungs as he moved the cart to the next aisle.

“Tipsy it Itsssssss.”

Seungcheol approached you and tapped your shoulder, curious about what had happened.

“Hey, are you good? You've been zoning out for a while.” As you looked down the empty aisle, he cocked his head and waited for your answer.

As you regained awareness, he shook your arms as you rubbed the back of your neck. As he observed your movements, he gave you a thumbs up. A light smile formed on your mouth as you followed him in silence to the checkout line.

As you took out your card and began putting your things on the belt aimlessly, you were already calculating how much it would cost. He shifted his hand around you before you could pay. As you scoffed at him, he grinned and swiped his card.

“Why di-”

“Before you protest, consider it a gift for joining me on this late-night adventure. Don't be worried.” You slapped his arm with a playful slap as you gathered the rest of the bags and loaded them into the carts as you both walked slowly toward your cars.

As you both loaded your bags into the vehicle, the walk to the car was excruciating. You didn't want the night to end, and you didn't know how to keep it going.

You’re acting like a child Y/N, you’re a grown-ass woman!

“So-”

“Do-”

You were the one who spoke first, as you laughed.

“We need to stop doing that, also I'm not sure if you'll be available next week.” But, if you want to invite Youngsoon over for a play date or something similar. I could call my babysitter?”

You fiddled with your hands as you leaned on your foot to relieve some tension, as he nodded his head with a grin on his face.

“I would love that, you know, some single-parent quality time together. Text me the details, and we should definitely do something without the kids!” 

“Definitely that's a must.” You were reminded of what your daughter said a long time ago as you stood there watching him.

“I can't wait to spend the rest of my life with you, Mommy.”

Something inside of you began to open up as if the grooves had restocked with enough oil to run again. As you both walked back to your car door, something blossomed in your chest.

You'd be happy to spend the rest of your life with him.

You chuckled as you waved goodbye to him for the second time today, thinking of all the possibilities of this unexpected run-in.

What a great way to finish the day.

➳ Navigate to the Maze