#so i gotta keep the rest of my party unaware of my Trick for as long as possible

[mars-ipan]

more solo magma doodles. this time featuring fortune, the very original and not-at-all-based-on-anything tiefling paladin i'm going to be playing in a new campaign this summer :]

[psychospeak-blog]

Won’t Go Slowly // 66

A/N: Unbetaed because it’s been wayyy too long and I just wanted to get this up for you guys as soon as possible!

  One // Two  // Three // Four // Five // Six // Seven // Eight // Nine // Ten // Eleven // Twelve // Thirteen // Fourteen // Fifteen // Sixteen // Seventeen // Eighteen // Nineteen// Twenty // Twenty One // Twenty Two // Twenty Three // Twenty Four// Twenty Five // Twenty Six // Twenty Seven // Twenty Eight // Twenty Nine // Thirty // Thirty One // Thirty Two // Thirty Three // Thirty Four// Thirty Five // Thirty Six // Thirty Seven // Thirty Eight // Thirty Nine // Forty // Forty One // Forty Two // Forty Three // Forty Four // Forty Five // Forty Six // Forty Seven // Forty Eight // Forty Nine // Fifty // Fifty One // Fifty Two // Fifty Three // Fifty Four // Fifty Five // Fifty Six // Fifty Seven // Fifty Eight // Fifty Nine // Sixty// Sixty One // Sixty Two // Sixty Three

Sixty Four 

It felt surreal.

Like when you'd first seen that positive sign, and you had to constantly remind yourself that you were growing a life inside you, the thought bringing a smile to your face every time.

You were moving in with Tyler.

You honestly didn't even talk too much on the short drive back to where you were staying, the music on low in the background, while you looked at the mountain scenery that had made you so calm.

When you got there, though, Tyler came around to your side before you could go to get Bentley out, and you thought he was going to offer to carry him again, but inside he held easily onto your wrist, fingers dropping to tangle in yours, moving you against the car, kissing you long, and slow, and deep, and full of love, lips smiling against yours.  His hand moved to cup your hip and then he leaned in, resting his head against yours,  not kissing your cheek like you thought he might.

"What are you doing?" you laughed.

"Seeing if we're being spied on," you felt him speak, against you, turning your head to see him peering in the window of the back seat.

"Is he watching?"

"Nah," Tyler said, shaking his head, his hand moving to the back of your head this time, kissing you more chastely.  "He's still snoozing."

"Yeah," you said, still looking up at Tyler, your hand on his shirt, and he pursed his lips, raising his eyebrows at you. "I love you," you said simply.

"I love you," he said, kissing you once more, leaving his hands on your face this time.  "And as much as I'd love to stay out here in the driveway with you forever, we should probably grab the little guy."

"Oh, yeah," you laughed, Tyler pulling at the door handle and then backing up so you could turn around.

"You got him?"

"Yeah, if you can start grabbing the groceries?" you asked, reaching to grab the car seat and pull it out, hearing Tyler open up the trunk.  When you turned with the baby carrier, he was standing there with both of his hands loaded with grocery bags, to the point where you were certain he would be losing circulation in his hands.

"Can I get the groceries," he scoffed, turning around in a circle with his arms extended, and you bit your lip to try not to laugh, especially when he nearly tripped over his own flip flop.  

"You look pretty proud of yourself."

"Aren't you impressed with how strong I am?" he asked, sticking his tongue out at you a little.

"I mean, I  think he's heavier, but sure," you said, which caused Tyler to burst out laughing. 

"You're not wrong," he said, "he's getting chunky."

"I know," you said, looking at the cheeks which seemed to be chubbier every day, frowning at Tyler doing some weird movement, like he was trying to get his chin and knee to touch.  

"What are you doing?" You laughed. 

"The keys are in my pocket," he explained, and you laughed at him even more.

"And you're gonna try and get them out with your leg?"

"Would you shut up and help me?" he laughed, and you laughed too, swinging the car seat out of the way and digging into Tyler's pocket.

"Getting handsy?" Tyler asked, his eyebrow raised and a cocky look on his face, and you swatted at his leg, the keys hanging free in your hand.

"I'm starting to think that you just put stuff in your pockets for when you can't use your hand just to make me touch you," you said, turning to walk towards the front door with your keys in hand.

"Nah, I don't need tricks to get you to touch me," Tyler said, and you were unable to think of a quick comeback before you opened the door, bombarded with sniffing noses and wagging tails.  

"Hey, guys," you said softly, smiling when they sniffed at the baby carrier.  "He's sleeping right now, I'm gonna go put him down, you can see him later, okay?"  

 You moved through the house, going to set him down on top of the dining room table, snickering when Gerry jumped up to catch a better look, his nose lunging towards the sleeping baby., and you smiled, petting him on the head and he jumped down, following you to where Tyler was heaving the grocery bags onto the counter. You immediately went over, starting to unpack the bags, wanting to get as much prep as possible done before Bentley woke up.

"Hang on," Tyler said, gripping your wrist, and pulling you back, "If we're gonna cook, we gotta do this right."

You frowned at him, until he reached around you, pulling out the half fill bottle of wine and tilting it towards you and you laughed, pulling open the dishwasher to grab two wine glasses, setting them on the counter, letting Tyler pour you a glass while you grabbed your phone, connecting it to the bluetooth speakers and making sure the volume wasn't on too high before you pressed play on one of your easy listening mixes, humming before you took a grateful sip of your wine.

"Oh, look who's into the country now, eh?" Tyler said, his hand on your hip, while you were standing on your tiptoes, trying to grab a baking sheet in the top shelf.  "Jump, jump," he teased, grabbing it for you anyways, and you laughed, taking it from his hands.  

"This is from you using my Spotify," you said, spreading out a layer of parchment paper on the sheet.

"Well, I don't want to listen to ads," Tyler said, scrunching up his nose.

"Whatever," you laughed, like he couldn't afford it.  

"Boyfriends and girlfriends share," he said, settling in next to you, while you let him know that he could cut up the eggplant and pita bread, and spread some olive oil onto it for the appetizer, while you got started on prepping the main part of the meal.

"Which would be fine if you hadn't been using it for years," you said.  

"I did no such thing," Tyler said, like he was appalled that you would even suggest that he would.  

"Tyler," you said firmly, "I was running on the damn treadmill in Toronto in the dead of winter, listening to my music, and all of a sudden the worst rap comes on.  The worst."

Tyler was already cracking up but you continued because you'd really never had a chance to get upset with him.  "Then I keep switching it back to my playlist, it's fine for, like 4 strides,  then I've got some stupid pop music in my ears."

Tyler's giggles were only confirming for you what you already knew though: that he had been purposefully messing with you, even when you weren't in the same country.

"Well, you shouldn't make your passwords so easy to guess then," he said, bumping you, again quite purposefully, even as he worked.

"It's my damn locker combination from high school, who remembers that?"

"I do," Tyler said, mining like he was undoing a lock, "and apparently you do, too."

"Yeah, well, I'm--"

"A giant nerd?" Tyler asked.  "Yeah, I know."

"I was gonna say I'm more likely to remember it because it was my combination, but whatever."

"You make it sound like you don't remember all my passwords and shit," he said, sliding around you to grab something.

"Well, you shouldn't make them so easy to guess," you said his words back to him, and he raised his eyebrows, you humming along to the music "You take the breath out of my lungs

Can't even fight it

And all of the words out of my mouth without even trying" while trying not to laugh at the way that Tyler was enthusiastically using the BBQ brush you'd given him to brush olive oil onto the pita bread and eggplant like he was painting a masterpiece.  

"This one's you," Tyler said, when Drake came on, looking at you so you could sing together, "He only loves his crib and his mom, he's sorry."

"He's loving that car seat right now though," you said, actually surprised that he was still sleeping peacefully, his head just slightly tilted off to one side, completely unaware of the activity going on around him.

"Your kid would sleep through Drake," Tyler said, although it turned out he was also able to sleep through you and Tyler singing "I want you all to myself

We don't need anyone else", laughing when Gerry jumped up, you catching his paws like you were dancing with him, feeling wonderfully light and airy, and you couldn't help but think about how many kitchen dance parties were in your future.

Really, your kitchen at home was too small for anyone but you to jam out.

The song changed then, though, while you and Tyler were moving around each other like you'd been cooking in this kitchen together your whole life, and, with it, the mood in the room changed, too, your eyes finding Tyler's, soft towards yours.  And then you were squealing a little surprised when he pulled you toward him, not to spin you like he had before, but straight into his arms, your hands travelling to rest on his shoulders while he settled his hands on your lower back, beginning to sway back and forth.  You didn't know the song, but you were listening to the words, Tyler's voice singing low in your ear, causing a tingle of warmth to spread up your spine.  "Cause, I don't know how, I don't know how heaven, heaven

Could be better than this"

You hummed against him, the soft cotton of his t-shirt against your face, almost feeling like you could hear his heartbeat.  

"I don't think we've ever done this before,'" he said, his hand moving into yours, pulling back to look at you .

"No?" You asked, looking up at him with surprise   recalling how many weddings and, hell, high school dances you've been at together.

Tyler shook his head slowly, his hand still in yours, barely even moving as you danced. "Pretty sure someone always had a date."

"You," you said, and Tyler laughed.  

"Pretty sure my sister or some friend I brought that happened to be a girl wouldn't mind if you cut in," he said, and all of a sudden you had a sudden vision of you dancing with your ex while Tyler sat at a table by himself, and your heart hurt a bit.  But it had never really been like that.   "I almost asked you once, when Daniel was running late at work but he showed up, so..."

You looked at the way that Tyler shrugged casually, like it was no big deal at all.

"He wouldn't have minded," you said, honestly, because things were so different then: Tyler was never a threat, he was just someone that was always just there for you.

"Well, I mind, I'm awful at slow dancing, it doesn't suit my moves," he said, and you laughed under your breath.  "I was glad he showed up, I was only offering because I know how you get at weddings."

"You're not a bad slow dancer," you said.

"I'm terrible," he murmured.  "It's only good because it's you."

I swear, this is perfect

Come kiss me one more time

Tyler's eyebrows raised expectantly and you smiled, sliding your hand up his back to the base of his neck, stretching up to kiss him, and then pulling away, smiling at each other before going back in for more, ready to settle into a deeper kiss.  And yet right when your lips were ghosting over each other's, you heard Bentley start to make little grumpy noises, laughing out a huff while Tyler sighed, resting his forehead against yours.

"Way to ruin the moment, bud," Tyler said, releasing you , yet sneaking in a quick peck before you turned in the direction of the now crying baby, where you made quick work of the straps keeping him secure, lifting him up.

"Hi, baby," you cooed, your hand sweeping over the top of his head to push his hair back.  "Did you have a nice little nap?"

You were about to place a kiss on his cheek when Tyler cleared his throat loudly, his head pushing between yours and Bentley's.  "Don't play the cute card, you know what you did," he said, and then looked at you.  "You were gonna kiss me before someone decided to be dramatic."

"Oh, right," you laughed, doing as you were going to before.  Although it wasn't quite the same with a baby in your arms, but you made it work, lips even against each other and completely G-rated other than the fact that it lasted forever, yet it still left you breathless.

"Okay, now's your turn," Tyler said, and you smiled at his light voice, kissing at Bentley's cheek and the folds of his neck until he smiled, his finger's tickling at Bentley's back.  "Are you gonna give Mom kisses?  Give Mom kisses."

You laughed at the way that Tyler was trying to guide Bentley's head towards you, leaning it to kiss at his cheeks.  Which you were able to do, mostly, until Gerry jumped up against you, his tongue licking at your face and the baby's.

"I wasn't talking to you," Tyler laughed, pulling him down, and you shifted Bentley in your arms, pulling his diaper bag towards you to get something to wipe off Bentley's face.

"Stop drooling," you laughed, continually wiping at Bentley's gummy smile.  "I'm trying to help you and you're making an even bigger mess than Gerry did."

"'Cause the kid sleeps like you," Tyler said, hanging his head back with his mouth open.

"We do not," you said.

"Mhmm..." Tyler said, leaning into kiss you and then Bentley on the cheek.  "You're both freaking adorable when you sleep."

You gave him a look, even as he nuzzled into you.  "You woke up so happy," Tyler said, distracting from the situation.  

"He was probably tired, he was playing really hard today," you said, bouncing him in your arms,

"Nah, he wanted to join the dance party," Tyler said, and you vaguely noticed him fiddling with your phone while you tried to sway with Bentley, but didn't think  much of it until the music changed, and you took Bentley's hand in yours, swinging quicker to the beat, smiling at him until a joyous smile came across his face.   "Oh you got moves, bud."

You laughed at the way Bentley's hand was gripped around you shirt, like he was holding on for dear life, even though he was clearly enjoying himself. 

"Kiss you once 'cause I know you had a long night 

Kiss you twice 'cause it's gonna be alright 

Three times 'cause you waited your whole life 

Ah"

You kissed Bentley on the cheek while Tyler was clapping his hands in time with the numbers, Bentley letting out a pleased squeal.

"Someone loves some T Swift," Tyler said, tickling at Bentley's belly, "You're gonna fit right in in Texas, huh?"

"Awe, I'm gonna have to get him a baby passport," you said, clutching your hand to your chest at the thought of the adorableness.

"You're gonna move in with me and that's what you're excited about?" Tyler asked, eyes wide in surprise.

"No, that's not what I'm excited about," you assured him.  "It's gonna be so cute though."

Tyler smiled a little and then gave you an interesting look, one you couldn't quite decipher, and you watched him stutter a little inhale, running his hand through his hair.  "You're not having second thoughts are you?" he asked.

"About moving in together?" you asked, and Tyler gave a curt not.  "No," you said, shaking your head, and then looking at him, speaking before you could stop the words from toppling out of your mouth.  "Are you?"

"Me?" he asked, eyes widening in surprise.  "No, no,  I just....well, I know how you have a tendency to overthink things.  And you said "yes", really, really fast."

Because you didn't have to think about it, because you couldn't bare to think about the alternative.  And you'd be lying if you said you hadn't had some thoughts running through you mind about the logistics of it all, and what it would be for you and Bentley, and everyone, when you'd never even considered moving out of the country until that moment.

"I mean, it scares me, a little, yeah," you admitted, making sure to look him clear in the eyes.  "But I want to be with you."

"Me too," Tyler said softly, almost shyly." I was kinda worried you were gonna say no."

"What? Really?"

"Mhmmm..."he said, settling against you.  "Not so much because I thought you might say no, but I just....kinda freaked myself out thinking about what I would do if you didn't want to."

His words came out followed by a gentle huff, making you believe that this was something that had been weighing on him for awhile.  

"How...how long have you been thinking about asking me?" you asked with curiosity, shifting Bentley in your arms, because a part of you had figured this had been an impulsive ask on his part, typically so decided in his decisions.

"Since I went to Dallas," he admitted, evenly, and yet softly, like he only wanted you to hear.  "Like, I didn't even know that I was thinking about it, really, until I was down there.  Then my dad caught me looking around - like, I was thinking that room at the end of the hall across from room could be his room? It has enough room for a crib and everything.  And we could make a little play area for him in the corner of the living room there so we can still keep an eye on him from the kitchen and stuff."

"Awe," you said, heart swooning.

"Awe?" Tyler asked, his face confused, yet a smile playing on his face. "Why is that 'awe'?"

"Because you thought about making a space for him."

"Well, of course I thought about making a place for him, he's gonna be living there too," Tyler said, like it was only common sense.

"It's still sweet," you protested.  

"Yeah, well, I guess I really shouldn't be arguing with you when you think I'm being cute," he said.

You smiled, shaking your head, your faces so close, your nose just brushed against his.

"I thought he was gonna think I was nuts," Tyler confessed.  "Like, it's so soon, but...I don't know, you make me..."

"I make you what?" you asked, half tentatively.

"I don't know," Tyler said, his cheek against yours, still somehow hugging each other in the kitchen, the baby warm and cozy against you.  "I guess you make me want things I didn't think I'd have - or want to have- for awhile."

"Me too," you mumbled, because you never could have imagined what you were now: having Bentley sit up for the first time in that room that would be down the hall from yours and Tyler's, or getting to share his first brave, wobbly steps in Tyler's living room.

"Like it's crazy for me," he continued, "Like I never...I guess I never thought I'd be asking you to move in with me so soon, but..."

"But you're sure?" you confirmed, and before you could even get the words out, Tyler firmly said. "You know I'm serious about you."

You took a welcome breath.  "I didn't even think about it...like the end of summer, I couldn't think about it."

"It was all I could think about," Tyler said, "And my dad said it best, I think, he was just like, 'when you love someone, you love someone'."

You laughed a little, pulling back so you could look at him.  "I'm pretty sure he wanted us to move in together as soon as he found out I was pregnant."

Tyler chuckled against you.  "Yeah...." he said, "Honestly, if you weren't working and I actually had the right to ask you, I'd have wanted you to fly down all the damn time.  It sucked being away from you."

Your hand moved over his, where it was digging in against your side.  "It was hard for me, too," you said, taking a breath, "Like, I don't think I've ever so sad when you had to leave."

"Nah, you always miss me," Tyler said, nuzzling against your neck.  "It was just worse because you pregnant."

"No, I know, I was emotional."

"No, I mean I was emotional," Tyler clarified, "Like, I just, I don't know, if drove me crazy, babe, like I needed to be able to see you."

"I mean, all the phone calls and the visiting me during any spare time you had kinda gave it away.'

Tyler gave a bit of a sheepish look, tilting his head with a sweet smile.  "I thought I was just being a good friend."

"I mean, you were," you said, "But you're kind of an even better boyfriend."

""Oh, I know, you're so lucky." he said, a smirk on his face.

"I am," you confirmed.

"Mmm.." he said, moving into kiss you, "And I can do this whenever I want, which is awesome."

You kissed him back, feeling Bentley's hand moving against your arm, smiling against Tyler's lips.

"I could always do this to you whenever I wanted," Tyler said, planting playful, exaggerated kisses in the rolls of Bentley's neck, pausing only to look up at you.  "See, if last year sucked, it would have been even worse being apart from each other with this guy."

"Well, you won't be apart from us," you smiled, unable to resist kissing Bentley's chubby cheek yourself.

"If you're sure," Tyler said teasingly, still smiling up at you.

"I said I'm sure," you laughed.  "Are you sure you're sure? You're making me second guess myself."

"Babe, I've been sure about you for a long time," Tyler said, his eyes steady and warm, looking into yours, "And, I mean, now that we've survived half a vacation already with a baby and not fought, I'm pretty sure we can handle living together.  Unless we start arguing before we leave, then we may have to reassess the whole moving in thing."

He said the last part with a shrug, a cheeky grin on his face, and you laughed.  "Oh, so this was a test, it wasn't a vacation."

"Nooooo," Tyler said, drawing out the word, trying hard not to laugh.  "Nah, you practically lived with me all last summer, I'm pretty sure we could handle it."

"Yeah, I think we can, too."

"Can you say it?" Tyler asked, looking at you sweetly, "Because I've been building this up in my mind asking for you for a really long time, you know."

You laughed, leaning in to kiss him.  "Yes, I'm 100% sure that I want to move in with you."

You felt Tyler's smile upturn against you.  "So does this mean I can tell the dogs?"

You laughed, looking around at the faces in the kitchen.  "Well, I'm pretty sure they can hear us but ---"

"Shh..." Tyler mumbled, getting down on the floor with them.  "Guess what, guys?  Guess who's gonna come live with us this year?  You won't have to miss Mom anymore.  Or Bentley.  Cash, is your baby gonna come live with you?  Are you gonna share your bed with him?  Oh, you think maybe we should get him a crib? That's a good idea."

You smiled down at the wagging tails, and Tyler someone managing to stretch out on the floor, errant paws scrambling all over him,Bentley just watching the whole scene.  "Are you excited to move to Texas?" you asked.  "We can go to hockey games, and check out all the parks, and maybe you'll make some new friends."

Bentley cooed in response, batting his hand, and you smiled again, kissing him on the cheek.

"Oh, you're gonna make a ton of friends," Tyler said from the floor.  "No big parties though.  I mean it."

"We'll wait till he goes to the rink," you said in a loud whisper, "And then we'll bring out the ice cream, okay?"

"Hey," Tyler said, pushing himself up from the floor, wrapping himself around you both.  "Don't you guys try to have all the fun without me.  Only a little bit, okay?"

You smiled at his baby voice, the way Bentley was transfixed on Tyler's face, and you knew even more that you couldn't deprive either of them of that relationship, and you'd likely only fall even more in love with Tyler over the upcoming season.

"Okay," you said, double checking that you'd set the timer.  "Who wants to go play while dinner is cooking?"

"Me," Tyler said, lifting Bentley's hand up for him. "I want to go play."

You smiled, following Tyler to where he was jogging towards the games room, encouraging the dogs to follow him.  "C'mon, Mom, hurry up."

"Mom can't run."

"Walk really, really, really fast," Tyler said, and you laughed, grabbing your breastfeeding pillow from the couch and tossing it on the blanket that was still stretched out on the floor, leaning over to prop Bentley up in it.  

"What toys do we got?" you said, kneeling down next to him.  "Do you want your keys, again?" you asked, picking them up and dangling them in front of him, pressing the button so the music played.

"Where you going to, bud?" Tyler asked him.

"Mmm...just for a little drive," you said, looking back at Bentley.  

*I always take my keys with me when I go out*,  the toy sung, and you tried to hold back a laugh.

"I mean, that's a pretty smart strategy," Tyler said.  "Is that supposed to be educational?"

"It's for motor skills."

"I mean, I'm not really sure he's quite at the point where he's able to stick a key in a lock yet," Tyler said, with mock seriousness, bouncing a ping pong ball on a paddle he'd grabbed from the table, and you laughed as Bentley's eyes widened. transfixed.  "Is that blowing your mind?"

"He's like, woah, you're so good at that."

"I need to teach Mommy how to play, huh?"

"Mommy knows how to play ping-pong."

Tyler gave you a little bit of a look.  "I mean, sure, but not well," he said, laughing at your expression.  "It's not your fault, it's not like you practice."

"No, well, I don't have a ping-pong table."

"Well, you will now," he said, "And I kind of need you to get decent so we can get into some couples' tournaments."

"Couples' tournaments?" you laughed.

"Yeah, we'll get a whole operation going.  Bentley can distract people with his cuteness, the dogs'll trip our opponents up, and then we'll just hustle people for money."

"You're ridiculous."

"No, I'm just trying to get you to play ping-pong with me," he said, giving you a pleading look, and you laughed, letting him take your hand to pull you up since Bentley was content just hanging out and watching out what was going on around him.  You laughed as Tyler made a big show out of fitting his body around yours, sliding his hand over top, like helping you get the technique down was up the utmost importance and he was a profession, other than the way that he was pressed against your body, of course.  

And then he proceeded to take absolutely no mercy against you, whipping the ball so hard it ricocheted off the wall behind you and then you had to chase it across the floor, Tyler's giggles filled the room, and Gerry trying to snatch it before you did.

"You gotta help Mom, Bentley, give her some tips," Tyler said, half leaning over now to talk to the baby.  "She needs lots of them."

With his attention diverted, you took the opportunity to toss the ball at him, ricocheting off his head.  "Hey!" Tyler said, turning to you laughing, his hand rubbing his head like it actually hurt.  "That is not fair."

"I was throwing it to you, it's your serve," you said, looking pointedly at the ball, and Tyler sighed dramatically, you taking great pleasure in watching him bending over to pick it up, steadying your ping pong paddle in your hand.  Which was great, really, because they you didn't drop it on the ground when he bent down, throwing you over his shoulder before you could even prepare.  

"Tyler!" you said, really trying hard not to fall flat on your face as he walked back around the table, somehow managing to shift with the ping pong ball and paddle in his left hand, hitting it across the table lightly in a way that would have been easy for you to smash back, had you been on the opposite side of the table.  

"My point," he said cockily, wrapping both arms around you now to settle your feet back on the floor.

"Well, you can't cheat," you said.

"It's not my fault you weren't there," he said.  "You gotta be ready."

"It was exactly your fault," you laughed, "You can't pick people up."

"Well, you shouldn't have let me pick you up then," he said, laughing, somehow sliding his hand down to your ass and kissing you sweetly at the same time.  "That was just a warm-up, okay? I'll be nice now."

"Well, don't let me win," you said, walking back around to your side of the table, and he gave you a look.

"No, I'm never gonna let you win," he grinned.  He didn't, either, although there was a little more rallying and a little less chasing the ping pong ball around the room.  After he'd won by only a handful of points you were set to go for another one, but noticed the timer was about to go off in about 60 seconds.

"Can you keep an eye on him while I go take that stuff out to cool?" you asked, nodding towards the baby.

"Mhmm.." he said, and you left your paddle on the table, your phone in hand when you walked back to the kitchen, frowning when you saw the text but carrying out your task anyways, and when you went back into the room, Tyler was on the floor now interacting with Bentley while Cash was still stretched out beside him.  

"Hey, Ty?" you said, your phone still in your hand.

"What's up?" he asked, a toy still in his hand when he looked up at you.

"Your mom texted me earlier to let me know that she's coming up to your cottage this weekend while you're out of town and to ask if Bentley and I wanted to come over for dinner one night."

"Oh?" he asked, and you couldn't quite read the look on his face.

"Yeah," you said, curiosity written across across your features, setting your phone on the table. "Did you not tell her that we were coming with you?"

"No?" he asked.  "Was I supposed to?"

"Oh no," you said, kneeling down on the floor now and then creeping back up to reach for your phone, thinking you should at least let her know before she went grocery shopping or anything.  "I just thought you would have mentioned it."

"Yeahhhh," Tyler said, reaching to intercept you reaching for your phone, "If I mentioned that, though, then she probably would've started asking questions about why we were going on vacation together."

"What?" you asked, letting out a surprised laugh, and then studying the expression on his face.  "Did you not tell her about us?"

"I mean, I didn't not tell her about us."

"What does that even mean?"

"I mean, I didn't actively not tell her, it just hasn't really come up."

"It didn't come up when you were telling her you were going away and I was coming with you?"

"Well, she didn't ask who I was going with," Tyler said, and you weren't sure you could raise your eyebrows any further in disbelief.  

"Wha-?" You started, and then shook your head, your voice coming out sounding a little strained.  "Do you not want her to know about us or--?"

"Oh, no, no, of course I do.  She's gonna be stoked," he said, giving you a little smile that let you know that that wasn't the reason he was hesitant to share this news with his mother.  

"Soooo..." you said, still trying to figure this whole thing out, because it wasn't like he was trying to keep your relationship on the down low at all, "You're going to tell her then, right?"

"Oh, yeah," Tyler said easily, his lips twisting up in a smile.  "Whenever it comes up, then I'll tell her."

"Tyler," you said, and he just laughed.

"Okay, look," he said, "it was easy to tell my dad because I was with him, and you and I were apart, so obviously I wasn't going to go a whole weekend without talking to my girl.  But he also gets that this is a new thing and wanted some alone time with you as a couple.  I tell my mother and she's gonna want us to come have family dinners all the time.  Which is fine, but -"

"So you were putting off telling your mom about us because you didn't want her to invite us over for dinner too often?"

"Well, when you put it like that, it sounds kinda dumb, but yeah?" Tyler shrugged.  "Also maybe a little bit I was worried she was gonna get mad at me for not making a move on you sooner?"

"I don't think she's gonna be mad at you," you laughed, and Tyler raised his eyebrows.

"She's not your mom, you don't know how she can get," he said.

"I mean, I do know your mom," you said.  And you supposed that was one of the benefits of falling in love with your best friend, that you got to bypass all the awkward meeting the parents and trying to make a good impression.

"Okay, but you didn't see the look on her face when she found out you were pregnant and she assumed that we were a thing."

"What, really?"

"Mhmm.. and, I mean, she was still super happy after I told her the truth, but I think she was hoping just a little bit that we were at least hooking up or something," he said, "which is really kind of weird, but she's gonna be super happy that we're actually doing this thing."

He was rubbing his thumb over your hand at the last part, and you couldn't really be mad at him, not when he was so cute and so dumb at the same time, and then you had a thought, gasping.  "Tyler!"

"What? What did I do now?"

"You basically said on your Instagram that you have a girlfriend!" you said, playfully pushing him away from you when he laughed at your reaction.  "Your mom probably wanted me to come over so she could ask me who you were seeing!"

"I don't think that's - " Tyler started and then stopped, looking at you more curiously.  "Wait, my mom asks you for dirt on me?"

"Sometimes if she hasn't heard from you in awhile, she asks if I have to make sure you're okay," you said, and then shook your head.  "That's besides the point!  Your mom follows you on Instagram, she follows me on Instagram, what if I posted something that showed we were together? She's gonna be so mad that you told everyone else before her. Isn't she asking you?"

"Uh...I've kinda been avoiding looking at my phone," Tyler said, looking around the room like he had left it somewhere in there, but then he pushed himself up to stand.  

"Wait, is this why you didn't want us on our phones during this trip?" you asked, and Tyler shook his head, making a face like that thought hadn't even crossed his mind.

"No, of course not," he said, leaning down to kiss you.  "Just let me grab my phone, 'k?"

By the time he came back, you'd at least had time to process what he'd said, your eyes landing on the way his thumb was against the screen.  "Okay, so, did she say if she was at home?"

"Well, you don't have to call her right now," you said, moving your hand with where Bentley had his fingers wrapped around it, because you didn't want to dictate what he should and shouldn't do, but Tyler just shrugged.

"What does it matter if I tell her now?" he asked, and you laughed.

"Well, you're the one who was putting off telling her."

"Yeah, because I was being selfish," Tyler said, settling back on the floor and easing into you.  "And that was when I was thinking I might have limited time with you, now I can share you a bit because I won't have to say goodbye to you at the end of the summer."

"I know," you said, the grin spreading across your face.  "But you can wait to tell her in person if you really want."

"But you got me all excited to tell her now," he said, leaning into kiss you once more.  "I'm super happy, so she's gonna be super happy. And if we call her now, then you don't have to try and explain to my mother why you can't come to her dinner."

"That's true," you said, eyeing the way he was flicking through his phone.

"'K, so just be quiet," he said to you, and then leaned over, putting Bentley's pacifier in his mouth and holding his finger up to his mouth in a motion to be quiet, like the baby would actually listen to him,

"Why do I have to be quiet?" you asked.

"Shhh..." Tyler said, and you could already hear the call connecting, Tyler's mom answering pretty much immediately like she'd been just waiting for him to call.

"Ty?" she asked.  

"Don't you have caller I.D.?" he asked, making a face and then laughing, leaning back against the couch now with his phone extended in front of him on speakerphone.

"Well, yes, I have caller I.D., I just wasn't expecting to hear from you," she said. "I thought you were out of town."

"Yeah, well, I still am, I just well, I kind of thought I should give you a call to -" Tyler glanced at you out of the corner of his eye, a smirk on his lips.  "I guess there's kind of something I need to talk to you about.  Something kind of important."

You heard her pause and take an inhale, "Tyler..."

"Just promise that you're not gonna freak out, okay?"

"Tyler..." she said again, and he only giggled.

"So, just don't freak out."

"Tyler," she repeated, "You can't keep doing this to me."

"Doing what?"  he asked, "I'm not doing anything,  just trying to fill my mother in on what's going on in my life."

"Why am I on speaker then?"

Tyler looked at you then, like you were supposed to be a part of this, and you gave him a dirty look, pushing at him with your foot.  "Oh, I was just cooking dinner," he said.

"You were cooking dinner?" she asked in disbelief.

"Yes, I cook sometimes," Tyler said, with half annoyance, picking up his phone and taking it off speaker, pulling it to his ear.  "Is this better?"

You could hear her voice yet couldn't make out her words, and Tyler gestured for you to come closer.  And while you weren't completely on board with the whole giving your mother a heart attack thing, you did actually want to hear her reaction.

"So is this a good thing or a bad thing then?"

"Mostly a good thing," Tyler said, and you frowned at him, "I mean, I'm happy about it, but I just want you to know if case you come down to visit me in Dallas next year.  There might not be as much room if you want to stay with me."

"What?" she asked, and now she actually sounded concerned, and no longer skeptical that he was only trying to get a rise out of her.  "Did you....did you go to Quebec to get another dog?  Because -"  

"No, I am not getting another dog," Tyler interrupted her.  

"Then what do you mean there's not going to be as much room?"

"Well..." Tyler said, drawing out the word, and looking at you with a smile.  "I asked someone to move in with me today.  And she said yes."

"You asked......wait, she?" 

"Mhmm..." 

"What?" Jackie asked.  "Who?"

"My girlfriend."

"What?" she asked again, louder this time, and with surprise.  "This was not funny the first time, Tyler."

"I'm not laughing," he said, seriously, reaching for your hand.  "I think you'll really, really like her.  I'm almost positive."

"Are you lying to me?"

"I'm not lying to you," Tyler said, "I promise."

"But why don't I know about her then?  If you're asking her to move in?"

"Well, it's pretty new..."

"How new?"

"Like...a month?  Officially."

"A month? And you're asking her to move in with you?"

"Well, I already asked her, but yeah," Tyler said.

"And you're expecting me to believe all this?"

"I'm not lying," Tyler said, biting back a laugh.  "Dad thought it was a great idea."

"Your dad knows about her?"

"Yeah, we went fishing with him," Tyler said, "Ask him if you don't believe me."

"It's not that I don't believe you, it's just that I don't believe this isn't a joke."

"It's not a joke," Tyler said, "And there's something else, too. She has a kid."

"She....has a kid?"

"Yeah, he's super cute, I think you'll really like him."

"And....he's moving in with you, too?"

"Well, yeah," Tyler said.

You leaned against Tyler now, like you could practically hear his mom thinking through the phone.  "Is...is Y/N there?"

Tyler immediately started laughing.  "Yeah, she's here."

"Can I talk to her?"

"Yes, you can talk to her," Tyler laughed, putting his phone back on speaker and holding it out in front of both of you.  

"Hi," you said easily, your voice filled with happiness and a little bit of apology.

"Is he telling the truth?" she asked immediately, and you had to laugh at her quickness.

"Yeah," you said, intertwining your fingers with Tyler and turning your head to smile with him,  "Yeah, he's telling the truth."

"So you're...?"

"Yeah, I'm moving to Dallas," you confirmed.  

"But you and Tyler are...?"

"Oh, we're together," you said.  "Yeah."

She didn't say anything, and then Tyler leaned forward towards the phone.  "Mom?"

"Oh, sorry, sorry, I'm here," she said, and you could hear rustling through the phone.  "Oh, I'm so happy for you guys, that's great."

"Yeah?" Tyler asked.  

"Well, of course I am," she said, "I mean, I'm a little mad at you, Tyler, but.."

"Why are you mad at me?"

"Because you tried to scare me!" she said.

"I did not, I told you I was telling the truth," Tyler said, "And Y/N was here too, why is she not getting in trouble?"

"Because she wouldn't do that to me," Jackie said, and you laughed at Tyler's expression.

"See, I told you you'd like my girlfriend," Tyler said. 

"Oh, I love her."

"'K, calm down, Mom, this is still a super new thing," Tyler said sarcastically, and she laughed.

"When did you guys even...?"

"It's actually been like a month," Tyler said, "You had no idea?"

"No," she said, "I mean, I had hoped, but I didn't know."

"Yeah, so we decided to go away for a bit, and I just...couldn't go any longer without asking her," Tyler said, and you  heard her make a sound of sweetness.

"Is Bentley with you?"

"Oh, shoot," Tyler said, "Actually, could you run over to Y/N's house and check on him?  We totally forgot.   Yes, he's here."

She didn't have time to catechize him for his smart ass remark because then he was pushing the button the connect for a face time call, and you watched her come into view, just moving her glasses back towards her face, wiping at her face.  

"Are you crying?"Tyler asked.  

"I'm just really excited for you guys."

"Awe," Tyler said, "Thank god she said yes.  And thank god you said her name and not someone else's."

"Yeah, well you too have always had a special connection." 

"Well, she's special," Tyler said, turning his head from where it was pressed against yours to place a kiss on your temple.  "And we already know we make cute kids, so.."

Which was another thing, really, but you couldn't really think about that when Tyler crawled over you to get closer to Bentley, holding the phone out in front of the baby.  

"Whose that?" you said, laying on the other side of Bentley, pointing at the phone.  "Is that Grandma Jackie?"

"Hi sweetheart," she cooed, "Are you having a good time on your trip?"

"He's having a great time," you said, pulling his pacifier away as it was falling out as he smiled in response to the sound of your voice.

"He's being super well behaved too, so chill," Tyler added, 

"Don't jinx it."

"Nah, he's a super good baby," Tyler said, planting kisses on Bentley's face, "I mean, I might be biased but --"

"No, he's done better than I thought he would," you said, although you were kinda aware now that Tyler hadn't really experienced a bad night yet, other than when Bentley had his ear infection.  "He's been so happy."

"He learned to laugh, too," Tyler said, tickling Bentley like he was trying to elicit a laugh, while the baby was just staring at him.

"Which is the best thing ever," you added, "Except he doesn't think we're funny."

"No, he doesn't think you're funny, he knows I'm funny," Tyler interrupted.

"Well, how come he doesn't laugh when you try to get him to?" you laughed.

"Because he's still learning, it's a new skill, he's working on it," Tyler said.

"He kinda laughed at me earlier," you said.

"That wasn't a laugh, that was a smile," Tyler said, "He just sees you and is like, 'Oh, hey mom, there you are, let me smile and be all happy', but he thinks I'm funny, he's just figuring it out, trust me."

"Anyways," you said, laughing at Tyler's certainty, "He thinks the dogs are super funny.  Marshall started sneezing yesterday and he thought it was the funniest thing ever."

"That sounds adorable," Jackie said.

"Oh, it was," you confirmed, thinking back to the moment, both you and Tyler laughing at his pure enjoyment, and you could hardly wait to see what kinds of memories you'd get to create this year with your little family.

"Well, I'll let you guys go enjoy your vacation, I don't want to take up too much of your time," Jackie said, and you realized that you'd just been looking around at all your boys, hardly paying attention to the facetime conversation now.  

"Thanks, Mom," Tyler said, "Love you."

"Love you guys, give Bentley a kiss for me," she said, and then just as Tyler was about to hang up, added, "Oh, you'll have to let me know when you're back, you'll have to come over for dinner."

You shared a knowing smile with Tyler.

"We were just talking about that, we'd love to," Tyler said, "What are you making?"

***

"Is he down?" Tyler asked in a quiet voice, after you'd stepped out on the deck, with the baby monitor in your hand, eyeing the half glass of wine that Tyler had poured for you, and shrugging off your robe so you could join him in the hot tub.  It was round 2 of attempting to get him to sleep, with him being unhappy with Tyler trying to tuck him into bed like he normally did, and it had taken many laps around the house to try and get him to settle.  

"This is just what I needed," you said gratefully, feeling your body already start to relax as you eased into the warm water, making your way over to Tyler.

"Did you bring the keys with you?" Tyler asked with a laugh.

"Yeah, if we're both out here, I don't want us to get locked out accidentally," you said, easing your head back to so could feel the jets right along your neck.  

"I'm pretty sure you can only lock that back door from the inside," Tyler laughed, "Did you think the dogs were gonna lock us out?"

"I don't know what's gonna happen, it's not my house," you said, "I've just heard of it happening before, where people accidentally lock themselves out out of the house with their baby inside."

"In real life, or did you see it on a T.V. show?" Tyler asked, and you let one eye peel open from where it had been shut in relaxation.

"It might have been on a T.V. show," you admitted sheepishly, and Tyler laughed, "But it makes me feel better."

"No, I think it's cute that you worry about things like that," Tyler said, his tongue swiping over his plump bottom lip.  "I would never even have thought of it."

"Yeah, but you'd probably break into the house to get him if we got locked out," you said.

"I mean, I would," Tyler said, "You're scrappy though, you'd figure it out."

"Well, yeah,"  you said, thinking back to the time when he'd managed to lock his keys in his first car, and you'd ended up having to get a coat hanger to get inside, after numerous attempts from him.

"Don't even, my hands were too big," Tyler laughed.

"I didn't say anything."

"Yeah, but you were thinking it," Tyler said, "And I've got shit together better now. Or everything's electronic so I can't mess things up."

"Mhmm." you said.  And even though the keypad on his door in Dallas made things super easy whenever you were staying there, you kind of hoped he'd get you a key cut, if only for the symbolism.

"I guess I'm gonna have to get all those things that go over the electrical outlets," Tyler said, and you turned to him.

"Why?"

"Because you guys are gonna be coming to live with me," Tyler said, like it was obvious.

"Well, he can't even roll over yet, he's not going to be getting into stuff yet."

"He's rolled over before," Tyler said.

"From his stomach to his back, and then he's stuck, he's not gonna get very far like that," you said, and Tyler laughed, flailing his arms in the air, "It's gonna be awhile before he crawls, I haven't even baby proofed my house yet."

"Really?" Tyler asked.

"Yeah, I mean his room is safe, but that's about it.  I have plug covers and stuff anyways, I can bring it with me."

"Or you can leave it here in case you guys want to come home to visit, or for the summer," Tyler said, "And then you don't really have to worry about packing stuff up and going back and forth."

"Or we could do that," you said, taking your mind off the fact that you probably didn't need to have two cribs or two rockers, or multiple strollers and carseats, "But we'll figure all that stuff out, anyways, he's not just going to up and start walking all of sudden, and�� it's not like he's gonna be left alone."

"Yeah," Tyler said, although he didn't sound fully convinced.

"Your house is probably better for a baby anyways, 'cause you've got it dog proofed."

"Yeah, I guess we'll just get Gerry to show us what he might get into," Tyler said.

"Yes," you laughed, "Bentley will show us too.  It's not like we have to have everything perfect right away.  He's gonna grow and change."

That was really the most important thing you'd learned since having him, anyways, was that what worked the month before didn't always work the next, and you didn't really need the things that you thought you might.  

"Yeah, but I would just feel better if we had everything all put together for you guys before training camp." Tyler said, and you recognized that familiar feeling of anxiety about needing everything in place.

"I'm pretty sure it'll be okay," you said, "You weren't even home when you moved last."

"True," Tyler said, his lips sliding into a smile, "And I know where we can get some reinforcements to help."

"Yeah," you said, although you had reservations of him easily going overboard, but you just wanted to stay on the excitement and high of getting to live with him.  "I'm not worried about that though.  Because we're gonna get to live together."

"Yeah," Tyler echoed, his voice lighter, his hand brushing against yours under the water.  "We can have sleepovers every night."

"Can we sit in the hot tub every night after we put him to bed?"

"Hell yeah," Tyler said, "We'll get a baby monitor set up out there, a wine fridge, we'll be all set."

You weren't sure if he was joking or not, but you smiled anyways.  "What I really need to do is ask his pediatrician for a referral to see someone down there."

"For a doctor for him in Dallas?" Tyler asked.

"That's what a pediatrician is a doctor for children," you said, your voice teasing.

"Haha," Tyler said, dryly.  "That stuff is super easy, though.  You can ask the other wives, or the team doctors."

"The other wives?" you asked.

"Yeah, I can get you their numbers and they can help you with finding doctors and play groups or whatever, places to shop.  Get you set up in the wive's room, stuff like that."

"But I'm not your wife?" you asked, almost tentatively, because the thought of that was just way too much right now.

"Oh, no, I know," Tyler said, turning to face you, his voice reassuring, and using the hand that war next to yours to turn your body towards him, somehow managing to pull you into his lap, his hand gripping at your hip and then sliding to cup your ass, his eyes somehow managing to glimmer even in the dark of the night.  "But I'm kinda into you.  And we do have a kid together, so I think it's pretty important that you're a part of my hockey family, too."

"I just...don't know how this all works," you said, and Tyler laughed, and you had flashbacks to all those first few times that you'd gone to see him play in the NHL, when it had seemed kind of all overwhelming, especially when you weren't his family or his girlfriend, and yet he'd taken care of you like you were.

"It's not that complicated, trust me," he said, pressing his lips to yours, and you let your hands raised to the tops of his shoulders, and then smooth down over his arms, "Other than the fact I'm gonna get teased relentlessly for how into you I've been this whole time and haven't done a damn thing about it."

"Yeahhhh, I'm pretty sure we're never gonna hear the end of it," you sighed, giving him a little smile.  "Your sisters keep texting me wanting to know where I am, by the way."

You felt Tyler laugh beneath you, and you knew, of course, that he hadn't told them yet either.  "I kinda want to wait until we see them," he said, sliding his hand up and down your back, "See the looks on their faces."

"I know," you said, because Tyler had gotten to see their immediate reaction to you having a baby, and you'd missed out on that.  "But I can't just ignore them until then."

"Well, that's what I've been doing," Tyler said, and then he laughed at your shocked expression, and the way that you pushed at his arm.  "Just say you're super busy or something, I don't know."

"I'm not even working or anything right now, Tyler, if I say I'm super busy, they'll probably come drop something off at the house or offer to come over and hold the baby," you said, "and they're gonna know that I'm lying."

Tyler's beard rubbed into your neck as he though.  "Well, say you decided to go away for a few days on a little family vacation."

"Because then technically it's not a lie?"

"Exactly," Tyler said, like you'd gotten it.

"They might even be more excited than your mom," you said.

"Yeah," Tyler said, giving you a smile, and then wrapping his hands around your back even more.  "You know, as much as I love that my family loves you, don't forget that I loved you first."

"I would never," you said, kissing him back, letting your body sink into his in a slow, unhurried pace, your lips moving together and your hands soft, focusing on nothing else other than each other and complete unrushed until you heard the cries break through the baby monitor, slowly breaking away and letting out a little groan.

"I swear he knows when we're making out," Tyler said, and you caught his eye when you heard a distinctive howl coming through the baby monitor as well, even though the bedroom door had to be closed.

"He does not, we've had lots of alone time," you said.  

"Yeah we have," Tyler said cockily, giving your ass a squeeze as he moved behind you, already on your way to come go back inside since it was clear he wasn't going to put himself back asleep.  

"You can stay out here," you offered.

"We've already been out here for like half an hour," Tyler said, laughing at your shocked face because you were certain it hadn't even been 10 minutes.  "I know, time flies when I've got my tongue down your throat."

"Tyler," you scolded, and he laughed, hands on your hip, and you might have gotten distracted as you heard the cries get louder. 

"It was in a nice way, dude, chill," Tyler said to the baby monitor, turning you around to go inside, where you were immediately met with the echoing of nails against the floor from the dogs making their rounds.  "What's wrong with your brother, guys?  How come you didn't get him?"

You smiled, turning the door handle and Cash pushing his way through, pulling your towel tighter around yourself.  "What's the matter?" you asked, pulling him from his bassinet and into your arms, bouncing lightly, reaching for his abandoned pacifier.  

"You want me to take him for a bit?" Tyler asked, leaning around you. "You're dripping all over, and not in the good way."

"Oh my god," you said under your breath, Tyler giggling and he took the baby from you, and you went about going to find your clothes.

"Oooh, you want to see boobs?" Tyler asked in his baby voice, "Is that gonna make you feel all better?"

"Stop it," you laughed, getting changed while you walked into the bathroom to hang your swimsuit up, moving quickly because Tyler needed to get changed too, and you didn't think Bentley would really relax until he was snuggled up against a warm, dry body. 

"He doesn't need to be changed or anything," Tyler said, passing him back to you. 

"Yeah, I think he's just restless," you said, continuing to move with him.  .

"He's not the only one," Tyler said, laughing at the way the dogs were circling around, "What's up?  You guys need to go for a walk or something?"

You laughed at the way that the dogs were now completely perked up, trotting excitedly around the room.  "Well, I guess I'm going for a walk now," Tyler said.

"What do you think, baby?" you said, already trying to work on getting Bentley into the carrier.  "You want to take the puppies for a walk? Get some fresh air?"

"I think he wants to do anything that isn't sleeping," Tyler said, raising his eyebrows at you as you looked at him pulling his shirt on.  Bentley was still crying when you got outside, which meant that Tyler was attempting to stop Gerry from howling, and you laughed at all the ruckus that you were creating in the quiet neighbourhood.

You weren't sure Dallas was quite ready for all this.

The dogs did, though, eventually get distracted by what was ahead of them, sniffing at the ground with tails wagging, Tyler loosely holding the leashes with one hand, tucking his hand into yours with the other, your one hand still on Bentley's back to try and calm him down.

"What's your deal, dude?" Tyler asked in a soft voice, leaning in to kiss him, and making a noise that you assumed was supposed to be imitating him crying, but that sounded more like a wounded dinosaur.

"He's just a little grumpy, I think," you said, trying to create as much movement as you walked to soothe him, already hearing him take deeper breaths of fresh air.

"Do you think he could be teething?" Tyler asked casually.

"He's only three months old."

"I know, babies can start teething at three months," Tyler said.

"Well, they can, but it's not common," you said, looking over at Tyler, his eyes focused on where you were walking.  "Wait, how do you know that?"

You watched as a blush appeared on the swell of his cheeks, quirking his lips like he needed to move something.  "I got this book," Tyler said, his eyes darting over towards you briefly like he was hesitant about your reaction.  "It's for, like, new dads I guess."

He said the last part like it was a question, and you felt your heart warm, the heat moving from his hand into yours.  "Oh, the one in your suitcase?"

"Yeah," Tyler said, and then his brows furrowed.  "You saw it?"

"Yeah, when I was grabbing laundry," you said, because you didn't want him to think you were snooping, not when you'd asked him before going into his suitcase.

"Why...why didn't you say anything?"

"Because I didn't know if you wanted me to see it," you admitted, tentative in the way you looked at him, because you knew that this book didn't mean he was there yet. 

"Well, I wasn't like hiding it from you or anything," Tyler said, "It's just....it's like, a lot, you know, to feel like I'm prepared to be a parent."

And even though you knew it was on his mind, his hand still felt steady in yours.  "I know," you said simply.

"And I feel like I'm decent with kids, but babies are so....complicated sometimes," Tyler said. "Like when I thought about you having a kid, I was more like, I'm gonna have a cool little person to play with, and I  kind of forgot about the whole baby stage."

"Yeah," you laughed, your hand still running over Bentley's back, his little body relaxing against yours.  "You're way better with him than I thought you'd be."

"Well, thanks," Tyler laughed, and you slowed your steps down a little, laughing.

"I didn't mean like that," you said, "I just mean that you're way more involved that I thought you'd be."

"Well..." Tyler said, his lips turning into a smile, looking back between him and you.

"I meant before we were even a thing," you said.  

"Yeah, well,..." Tyler said, "I really underestimated the amount that the  fact that he's yours  would make me fall in love with him even more."

"Yeah," you said, squeezing his hand, because it was the same for you.  "Same."

"This book is actually really interesting though," Tyler said, his voice a little rough like he was fighting emotion.  "Like it goes through each month and gives you all this information about all the new things."

"Yeah?" you asked.

"Mhmm...."

"Well, he could be teething but I don't think so."

"Yeah, I don't really either," tyler said, leaning over to kiss Bentley's head,  "I think he just wanted to come hang out with us."

"Yeah," you said, thankful that being outdoors seemed to make him feel calmer, much like it did for you and Tyler.  "I really, really hope he doesn't get teeth for a long time." 

"You hear that bud?" Tyler asked, "Mommy said you're not allowed to get teeth." 

"Well, not never," you laughed, "it's just way, way too soon."

"I know," Tyler said, "but you know how advanced he is at everything."

"Oh my gosh," you laughed, "is that why you brought up the whole teething thing? Because you want to brag about him being further along than other babies?"

"Well, not all the other babies, but he's definitely in the top 10%," Tyler said.  "And to answer your question,  no, I'd be bragging about no matter what he does."

You smiled, Tyler's hand pulling away from yours only to unclasp the dog's leashes, letting them explore the park they'd pulled you into, Tyler leaning his chin against your shoulder to look at the baby.

"Are his eyes open?" You asked, because he'd grown silent, and you'd wondered if the motion had lulled him back asleep. 

"Oh, he's wide awake," Tyler said, grinning, and you assumed he was mirroring Bentley's expression back to him.  When Tyker bent down to grab a stick for the dogs, you took the opportunity to pull the baby out, turning him around so he could check out what was going on.

"What did you find, Ger?" You asked, because he'd somehow gotten distracted when chasing the stick, his tail wagging as he disappeared underneath a play structure, and you ducked inside to see him digging in the gravel, unearthing a stick which you played tug of war with him for a minute before he darted off with his stick.

"Excuse me, sir," Tyler said from the window opening, "How much is your ice cream?"

"Oh," you said, crouching down with Bentley so you could see him.  "$10."

"Ten bucks?" Tyler asked, "That's pretty steep."

"Well, it's artisan," you said, "he's been working on perfecting this recipe his whole life."

Tyler laughed, breaking character for just a moment, casually putting his hands in his pockets.  "Well, it does look pretty good...."

"We can give you a free sample so you can try it."

"Oh, free samples?" Tyler asked, and you took Bentley's hand in yours, miming like you were scooping ice cream, handing it to Tyler, and watching as he pretending to take a bite.  "It's excellent," Tyler said, licking his lips.  "I'll take two scoops."

You went about that process, counting the two scoops and making sure to extend Bentley's hand for the money, Tyler grasping an imaginary cone.

"Om, nom, nom, nom" he exaggerated, a delighted gurgle coming from Bentley, Tyler's eyes brightening.  "Om, nom, nom, nom," he continued, a little giggle causing Tyler to learn forward, pretending to eat Bentley's foot until a full-on belly laugh burst through.

"Is he being so silly?" You asked, one more laugh shaking Bentley's body, and then it was you were laughing when Tyler pulled his T-shirt over his face and started running around the park with his arms extended above his head like he'd just scored the game winning goal.  In double overtime.

.

[monkey-network]

Monkey here. You probably don't care at this point, but I wanted to offer my two cents on the #StevenUniverse fandom overall, this being an excerpt of something larger I have planned in the future. Keep in mind that I’m not talking about anyone specifically, nor revealing anything specific someone might’ve said, this is my just personal experience and comprehension. tranSITION...

...Now I’ve seen many talk about how the fandom can be this toxic brood and I can only with these people to an extent. I believe there’s always a minority of any media fandom that are those hardheaded folks while the rest are just enjoying it for what it is, making fanworks and the like; I can’t imagine the entire body of a community being the equivalent to the nazi party, especially ones about cartoons or games, it’s just impossible. But to be honest, that small minority I’ve mentioned of the SU fandom, while I won’t give names, they can definitely be the exhaustive vocal stain on a person’s investment. Believe me when I say I saw both ugly sides of the spectrum that comes with the investment in this show, equally annoying in their almost fascistic efforts to act like this show is more crucial than in reality.

The worst stans I’ve seen of SU are whom I consider the dick-suckers, the kind who felt pompous trying to shit talk about the genuine criticisms while offering little to no thought of their own, treating everything Sugar gave as irrefutable gold; they’re the textbook definition of the consoomer meme. It’s even more hilarious when I see some having to strawman explanations for why mistakes in the show weren’t actually mistakes, basically having to speak on the show’s behalf. There was one moment where I saw people jokingly comparing Rebecca Sugar to Mother Theresa and while it was just a joke, the fact that they did stuff like this to “own the crits” showed me that instead of trying to come off as the better, more reasonable fun side like a fan should, they pettily bitch about people they will never interact with and can’t fathom the idea of being consistently nuanced and not giving the outlandish hot takes of SU the attention they don’t need. Being fixated on something you love I can understand, but if you are adamant about believing what you love is the most perfect thing imaginable, not once questioning or speaking up on flaws you might’ve saw if you actually thought for more than your limited worth, that’s honestly sad I’m sorry. I enjoy SU, but I’m more than willing to see the critic’s perspective because that helps in appreciating what I do like about the show compared to what actually didn’t work fundamentally.

Then again, the crits from what I’ve seen can be no better, in fact they can be worse. I’m not saying all who criticized are bad or had no genuine points, but 8 times out of ten, the worst critics of this show will not only have their stupid and/or useless takes as well, but just have the ugliest personalities imaginable. And when I say the worst, they are whom I can’t help but consider as closeted sociopaths. People that will find everything and anything about SU to be upset about because it momentarily shrinks their insecurities and self-esteem issues. People who make this show out to be far worse than in reality based on personal projections and irreverent implications, and will make it their goal to come out as the right individual, whether or not their point actually held water. They will at best lambaste anyone who sincerely tries to counter their argument, call you a troll, make up ways to claim you as an unaware bigot, and/or use their identity as a shield and intimidation tactic saying you’re trying to talk over them when in reality it hardly will matter because they’ll happily block you anyways if they feel slightly threatened by you. The worst crits I’ve seen aren’t those that make ridiculous takes or make insensitive comments, but people that will gladly stab you in the back if you merely fall out of their line and try to claim it was your fault you got stabbed. They wanna come off as the ones speaking for those who agree with them already, but are basically doing nothing beyond wagging their fingers with their heads up their asses leaving Steven Universe rent free in their heads when truthfully, and I’ll discuss this later, they could’ve ditched this cartoon ages ago. Again, not to say they don’t offer points that are worth discussion and consideration, but they consider SU to be far more than it’s worth and come off as Kiwifarms or ED users in disguise, and I don’t mean that lightly.

The worst aspect about this community is the extreme moralistic policing I’ve seen towards people who are inoffensive and harmless at worst. They go after people that are hardly doing anything beyond niche fan content because they make them uncomfortable with superficial implications when they honestly could mind their business until actual threats show up like groomers and tricks. The SU fandom was the first to make me feel like some fans wanna tell other fans to just kill themselves because they did something they didn’t like but can’t outright for obvious reasons, so most see to circumvent that by vilifying their enemies as much as possible until it just happens on its own to potentially avoid the guilt. Sounds extremely morbid I know, but with all respect to the mentioned, how do we explain the incident with the artist Zamii? I know fiction can affect reality, but we namely gotta see fiction for what it is first, otherwise we’ll continue to make baseless presumptions to mob against blindly because the fictional ground we think of is the only one that should supposedly matter to everyone. I know this is the case for any fandom, but for a show about love and empathy, I see even the biggest of fans and haters are shameless hypocrites.

[ice-cream-nekogirl]

Chocolate Milk and a Sharky Smile (Kirishima Eijirou x Reader)

Summary: You find yourself in Kirishima’s bed after a bad night of drinking no thanks to some so-called friends, and he’s so nice you can’t help but fall for him.

Hehe I totally alluded to Happy Death Day, cuz I love that movie lol sue me

And I used italics for the characters’ inner thoughts that the reader, a.k.a You, can read, and the reader here is kinda chubby I forgot to mention that in the title.

Warning: This one contains some somewhat graphic imagery of attempted sexual assault and may have some other triggering material in it that refer to sexual assault, depression, anxiety, panic attacks, bullying and fat-shaming.

Featuring: Best Boy Kirishima!

Isn’t anyone tryin’ to find me? Won’t somebody come take me home It’s a damn cold night Trying to figure out this life Won’t you take me by the hand Take me somewhere new I don’t know who you are But I, I’m with you

‘I’m With You’ by Avril Lavigne

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_qHWIvq_WR4

Mind-reading. What a terrible quirk.

You swear you would rather be quirkless than be stuck with the current quirk you had. You hated it, because while your friend Shinsou told you it was useful for gathering information on villains and people, it made you useless in combat and on top of that it made it near impossible for you to trust people. Since you could sense and hear their intentions, and you didn’t trust easily either so it just made everything more difficult in your life.

Countless people pretended to be nice to you and you heard it in their heads. Which is why you couldn’t believe that you let yourself fall for this so-called guy-friend of yours’ tricks. Initially you had been keen on him, but now that he pressured you into coming to this wild party you were currently at, not anymore.

“Go on… drink it…”

You should have known better, but for some reason you let the peer pressure from him and some of your other so-called girl-friends pressure you. His name was Mageru, and he was a handsome boy with a fairly strong binding quirk in your General Studies class, but those good looks meant nothing to you anymore after he brought you to this party that you just wanted to leave. As soon as he guilt-tripped you into going, you didn’t have a choice.

But now you were miserable and being forced to down drink after drink just to please some of the nastier peers who looked at you with judgmental eyes as you felt dizzy from all the alcohol in your system as you reluctantly downed another cup of whatever that was getting you drunk.

And your mind-reading quirk didn’t do anything to help you as the voices grew louder in your head, even though many of them were drunk they were still way too loud for you and giving you such a headache. After a while you couldn’t take it anymore and stumbled your way out of there, unaware that you were being followed by the jerk you had no idea why you even liked in the first place. You never should have had those drinks because now your mind was too hazy that everything in your path looked like blurred mist as you focused on your surroundings. You were close to UA, so that meant home wasn’t too far…

“Heeeey…” But then you heard an unwanted voice slur into your ear as you realized that he had yanked your body into his, with a low groan you tried to pry him off you. “I gotta go home…” You shook your head, even if you were drunk you managed to at least say that, but he wasn’t nearly as drunk as you were, and clearly willing to use your intoxication for all it was worth for him.

“Aww c’mon (Y/N)… I invited you for a reason. So you can have fun! Don’t be a goddamn prude… let me take care of ya… I know how to make a pretty girl feel comfy…” Mageru held you closer, against your will as he wrapped one of his arms around your waist, attempting to sneak his fingers under your jeans and used his binding quirk to keep you against him tightly as you groaned at the discomfort as your legs buckled while you tried to get away.

“The guys… they want to come by too…” He said softly, and you heard more footsteps approaching, and as you blinked and narrowed your eyes in an attempt to see better, at least 2 more guys showed up, and they were wearing different school uniforms, very unlike your UA uniform.

‘Heh, she’s drunk enough…’

‘We might not get another chance…’

It became clear to you what they wanted from you based on their thoughts alone.

“I wanna go… let me go…” You muttered weakly as he didn’t loosen his grip on you. He wasn’t going to. “Oh no you can’t go. Not yet… you’re here to have a good time, and we’re gonna show you a good time okay stop being such a-“

“I said… LET ME GO!!”

Suddenly you shouted as loud as you could, forcefully pulling yourself away from him and distracting him as he released you once the force surprised him. Mageru growled as you hit the cold, hard concrete ground and tried to crawl away, but someone had taken a hold of your legs. “H-Hey…!” You tried to yell again, but your mind was so unfocused that it felt like everything was so distorted and you couldn’t help yourself.

“C’mon man this is a good spot.” One of his friends said, the other one grabbing his phone as your former friend knelt beside you and the third one was getting out his phone to record what they were about to do with an insidious grin. “See? We’re having fun already.” Mageru’s smile turned into a smirk as his friend held you down and then you felt the guy unbuttoning your jeans and their thoughts started ringing in your head when they held you down.

‘Oh yeah I’ve been waiting to get all up in this…’

‘I’m showin’ this to the rest of the guys later…’

‘This is some fine stuff right here…’

“No… no stop…” You shook your head, wiggling your legs and trying to kick away, but without strength as you tried to get up but then your ex friend just pinned you down with his palm to your head, pressing you against the grass as his friend started lowering your pants to expose your panties as you felt tears spring to your eyes as you kept shaking your head.

“No… No, no…!”

“HEY! What the hell are you guys doing?!” You heard another voice, another male, except this one sounded much more indignant as the three students flinched when caught in the act as the third guy dropped his phone in alarm. “Shit…!” He exclaimed, and quickly ran away as fast as he could.

“Ehhh…? Hey bud get outta here… this is none of your business, we’re just havin’ fun…” Mageru attempted to warn the person who had come just in time, you tried to make him out. The first thing you registered was his spiky red hair, and his angry expression complete with sharp teeth he bore. You couldn’t see how disgusted he looked; he wasn’t fooled at all by Mageru.

“That’s bullshit. You get off of her. Right now.” He said in a deadly serious tone as Mageru kept his hand on your head so you would stay down. But then Mageru’s second friend suddenly tried to attack the redhead with a punch, but he reacted fast by grabbing his fist and punching him square in the jaw, effectively knocking him out as he shouted and hit the ground. Leaving Mageru alone as he slowly let go of you, nervously grinning with his hands up.

“Come on now… we came from a party… we were havin’ fun…” He claimed, even though all the redhead could see was that you were in no position to fight back or even run away from these bastards who wanted to take advantage you.

“Yeah right. I know what you fuckers were trying to do. What kind of punks just corner a drunk girl?!” His fists shook, and Mageru took that as a challenge in his drunken mind.

“Fine… comin’ in to ruin my good time?! Fuckin’ Mr. Goody Goody Two Shoes?!” He shouted and let you go as he shot forward to try and shove the guy but was instantly met with a hardened fist to the face. A loud crack was heard, and then for extra measure he delivered a swift, fierce kick to the stomach as Mageru cried out, holding his bleeding nose and likely bruised stomach as he fell to the grass and pathetically groaned in pain.

“D-Damn you…!” He shouted, you swore he was starting to cry like a little bitch as he started to try and scurry away like a little cockroach before the other guy could beat him up any further.

‘These assholes… trying to take advantage a helpless girl… they’re disgraces to men…’

You heard the redhead’s thoughts as you slowly picked yourself up after you were finally freed from those bastards’ hold on you. Clumsily, you groaned and tried to stand up, but your lack of coordination and pants around your ankles made you stumble, and before you could hit the ground, a pair of strong arms suddenly caught you, saving you from a hard fall.

“N-No…” You shook your head, unsure to trust this person because you just escaped from a pervert’s arms, but this one didn’t feel like he was a pervert, and you could tell because he wasn’t being forceful.

“Hey, hey whoa, whoa it’s okay...! It’s okay... take it easy now...”

Was this the same person? His voice became much softer as you tried to get a better look at him. Red eyes that had taken a softer look compared to the fury he had earlier. “It’s okay I won’t hurt you I promise.” He spoke again, as you tilted your head slightly in confusion. God you were so drunk… but this stranger helped you, that much you could make out.

“Hi… my name’s Kirishima. I’ve seen you around maybe once or twice, aren’t you in the General Studies class?” Kirishima. So that was his name. You weren’t so sure you would remember it because you were so out of it, but you nonetheless smiled because this fella just saved you.

“Mmm… Kirishima…” Groaning tiredly, you said his name and leaned against him as he held you up, and you could hear him stuttering awkwardly as you suddenly put your arms around him for support, unable to use your legs because your brain was beginning to tell you it was time to sleep. “I’m (Y/N)… uh-huh… gen studs… tha’s me a’ight…”

“(Y/N) huh? I-It’s nice to officially meet you…” He sounded a little nervous, because you were so close to him and you giggled and pressed your cheek against your savior’s warm cheek. “You saved my life… y-you’re in the hero course right…? I see why… you’re nice…” You slurred quietly but you were close enough to Kirishima’s face to hear you as he cringed at the smell of alcohol on your breath. Although it just made him madder because he had (correctly) assumed that those fuckers forced you to drink this much since you were on the verge of passing out. It was a good thing he came outside for a nighttime stroll, because he didn’t want to imagine what could have happened if you did pass out and they had gotten to you.

“Take me with you… ‘m tired… sleepy… please? Can I come with you…? I wanna go with ya… i’s late… got class tuhmorrow… I got class…” You started to close your eyes, quietly yawning as Kirishima almost looked conflicted but there was no way he was going to leave you all alone while you were drunk like this. He had to take you home, and make sure you don’t trip, hurt yourself or choke on your own vomit.

‘Man those bastards… she’s out of it bad, ugh she stinks of booze…’

“Shuddup…!” You suddenly exclaimed in a sleepy tone since you could still hear his thoughts, much to his confusion because he wasn’t aware of your quirk. “I-I didn’t say anything…”

‘I am NOT leaving her alone… I don’t want to risk letting something happen to her while she’s like this… I’m taking her with me! It’s the manly thing to do after all!’

His thoughts were loud enough for you to hear as he carefully picked you up and you laughed quietly, at this point you trusted this person because he wasn’t hurting you. “Whee…” You smiled wide and felt yourself beginning to fall asleep in this stranger’s arms. “G’night Kirishima…”

He smiled sympathetically, “I’ve got you (Y/N)… I won’t let anyone else try and hurt you tonight…” Kirishima said to you gently as he carried you while you snuggled into him, loving how warm and soft he felt in this damn cold night.

However, Kirishima was feeling a little nervous at how close you were getting to him. He didn’t dare cross his boundaries though. He was going to take you to his dorm and give you a bed to sleep on, because although he wanted to take you home he had no idea where you lived, and he wasn’t going to get an address from you anytime soon once he noticed that you fell asleep in his arms…

“It’s okay (Y/N). You’ll be okay…” He said to you softly as he carried you off to Height’s Alliance, giving brief explanations to some of his classmates who started asking him questions, at least the ones who were still awake.

Next Morning brought to you by Evanescence’s 'WAKE ME UP’

Dreamland was dissipating before your eyes. At least until you realized your eyes were closed, and a sudden surge of agony began pulsing through your head as you kept your eyes shut. And then everything came back to you from the night before.

You got totally drunk no thanks to your so-called friends and Mageru tried something funny with you, at least until a boy from the Hero Course came in, but afterwards you just saw him and then afterwards everything was all black. So you assumed that was when you promptly passed out.

This wasn’t your bed. It didn’t feel like your bed, and yet it was so soft with a unique scent that you almost didn’t want to get out of it. And on top of that you didn’t really want to know where you had ended up after passing out, but an angry boy shouting in the distance was impossible to not hear.

“SHUT UP!!”

Well that officially woke you up. Now you couldn’t go back to sleep even if you wanted to, but you instantly regretted cracking your eyes open, your vision still blurred. It hurt for you to even blink, but you knew it was time to figure out where you were at even if you didn’t want to. Slowly, you picked yourself up from the bed you were in, letting your eyes adjust to the light. You were thankful for the slightly dimmed room as you looked around to see the place.

Lot of posters that seemed to be motivational, a punching bag, well that was cool. And some merchandise of that Crimson Riot pro-hero that you had recalled when your dad mentioned him once. This was definitely a guy’s room it seemed. And your thoughts were proven correct when you saw the person from yesterday, standing up and buttoning up his school uniform’s shirt before he suddenly noticed that you were awake and looking right at him.

“Oh! You’re up! Good morning!” He said to you politely and enthusiastically with a bright smile, but you just stared and frowned in confusion. Trying to remember his name, and it came to you after you stared at his face for a little bit to recall what he had told you last night.

“Kirishima?” You asked, and his smile grew as he nodded, “Yeah! You remember! I was almost worried you wouldn’t. You were pretty out of it last night…” Kirishima didn’t mean to sound so blunt, but it was true, and you knew it. But then you looked around and you saw a blanket and pillow on the floor, and it suddenly dawned on you. This was the Height’s Alliance for the Hero course students. You didn’t belong here.

“Am I in your dorm room…?” You then asked as the redhead’s smile slowly fell upon seeing how… surly you looked. He assumed that you were either remembering everything that happened last night or completely forgot about everything that happened last night.

“Y-Yeah… I… I didn’t know where you lived, so I brought you here to let you have a place to sleep.” He replied somewhat nervously as you gave a disappointed sigh, unable to believe that you had been stupid enough to give into peer pressure and drink so much. Now here you were, in a stranger’s dorm room that you had slept in too because he was kind enough to let you have his bed while he slept on the floor. God you felt like such a burden, but you couldn’t let this person know, you weren’t in the mood to be pitied or judged by anyone. In fact, you weren’t in any mood at all.

So you got up, gasping quietly upon seeing that you were only wearing panties and a large red shirt with the word ‘Motivation’ on it. The panties were yours but the shirt definitely didn’t belong to you. Your eyes beginning to widen when a few scenarios came to your head, feeling heat involuntarily creeping on your face.

“I-I called one of the girls to help put that on you!” He quickly exclaimed once he saw your expression, having called on Mina last night over to his room to come and help him take off your clothes to change you into one of his shirts, and she did so gladly to help. “I swear! I would never change a girl’s clothes… I-I mean unless I had to but I didn’t wanna seem like a weirdo..” You saw his cheeks starting to turn a little red, and as much as you didn’t want to believe him, there was nothing in his mind that hinted any dishonesty.

'Man I hope she doesn’t think I’m a pervert or something… that’s the last thing she wants to be around after last night…’

You said nothing even though he was talking and thinking, and you nearly cringed just remembering that you were nearly sexually assaulted last night by perverts. This guy however was clearly no pervert, but you were relieved to know that he at least got a girl to remove your clothes to put you in something more comfortable. But it was time for you to get out of it so you can just go to class and try to forget that this ever happened.

Without much shame, you lifted the larger shirt off yourself, exposing your (F/C) bra and (B/T) body (that you hated) to the boy in front of him as he let out a small yelp of surprise, quickly looking away with a heavy blush spread across his face, now looking quite flustered. “B-But I uh, folded your shirt and pants… I was sure you probably wouldn’t wanna wake up in day clothes…” He then pointed to your school uniform (and your jeans) that was on his desk, and you quickly grabbed them to start putting them on while Kirishima politely kept his eyes averted. It was actually pretty cute.

“I gotta get out of here… don’t mention this to anyone. All right?” You almost regretted how rude you sounded, but after the night you had and the hangover that was making your brain feel like it was being squeezed like a stress-ball, you just wanted to forget everything that happened.

“O-Oh… y-yeah no problem. Got it…” He stuttered a bit but didn’t argue with you because he was sure this was a lot to process.

“It’s all right now.” You put your pants and shoes back on and affirmed to him that you were decent and Kirishima turned to face you, his cheeks and ears still a bit flushed.

“Thanks I guess. I’m going to class now.” Without another word, you neglected to properly thank him, but Kirishima didn’t expect a thanks or anything. He wasn’t the type who expected anything in return after doing things for someone, but he was still kinda worried about how you must be feeling now that you were back in your right mind.

“Oh. Okay, yeah I’m gonna get ready too… maybe I’ll see you around?” He smiled at you, which confused you as you just carelessly shrugged your shoulders and furrowed your brows as you approached the door, which suddenly opened itself as you and Kirishima were greeted two more teenage males: A blonde boy and a small boy with weird purple balls for hair that resembled large grapes.

“Dude! How’d it go with that girl last…” The blonde somewhat loudly asked but stopped right at the end of his sentence as soon as he was met with your unfamiliar face as he awkwardly looked at you.

“Kirishima! I heard you brought a girl home and she’s sleeping in your bed?! You damn lucky bastard why do all of you guys get the girls so close to you?!” Mineta angrily asked with tears in his eyes as he finally took notice of you, his eyes widening with a lust that made you wanna gouge his eyes out. He would have tried to touch you, but the fire in your eyes was enough to terrify him into silence as he and Kaminari both got out of your way.

A look of disgust overcame your already sullen features as you glared at them, looking over at an embarrassed Kirishima as he nervously glanced at you.

“I’m… I’m sorry…” He tried to apologize on behalf of his friends, but you just smiled condescendingly at him before walking past the scared grape-haired boy and electric blonde with a scowl as you tried to find the way out of this building as fast as possible with your shoes in your hand.

“Nice one you dickheads! Way to make her feel uncomfortable!” Kirishima angrily scolded his friend and classmate, although only Kaminari really had the grace to look ashamed while Mineta just looked scared that he had angered both his classmate and a pretty girl.

You got out as fast you could, trying to ignore the way some of the other Hero course students had stopped to stare and glance over at you, including that rich girl, another girl with weird ear thingies, a girl who had a frog-face, a guy with black hair, Endeavor’s kid, the younger brother of the former hero Ingenium, the green-haired kid you remembered from the Sports Festival who beat Shinsou, the brunette girl with that gravity quirk and there was the winner of the Sports Festival himself. It was clear that they knew you didn’t belong here, and it was so embarrassing for you because you were a hundred percent sure that you looked horrible with your disheveled hair, bloodshot eyes that adorned heavy bags under them. At least your clothes were nicely folded thanks to Kirishima.

'It’s the girl Mina told me about… she doesn’t look so good…’

'Wow she looks terrible…’

'Probably had too much alcohol last night.’

'Dang, what happened to her?’

'Hm. So this is the girl.’

'He broke a few rules but Kirishima did the right thing…’

'O-Oh boy. She does not look happy at all… I hope she’s all right…’

'I wonder if we should help…’

'So Kirishima dragged in this extra huh?’

Their thoughts each came to you one by one, making your already aching head throb as you clutched at the side of your head with an irritated groan and glared at the ones who dared to gawk at you. “Shut the fuck up. All of you. I can’t hear myself think… and no I don’t need your goddamn help… I can get out of here myself…” You bitterly muttered to the Hero Course students, many of them (sans Endeavor’s kid) looking a bit confused and somewhat put off by your behavior. They had held their tongue so they didn’t know why you reacted like that, and you weren’t going to tell them that it was just your quirk. However, the Sports Festival winner was pissed by what you said and wasn’t going to tolerate that.

“HEY! What was that you wasted extra?!” He shouted, looking livid and glared at you but you kept walking with your back turned. So that was the guy who woke you up by shrieking not too long ago. As a small form of revenge, while you walked you brought your arm out and stuck your middle finger out to him, which just pissed him off even more as he tried to go after you, but you didn’t see the green-haired kid and Ingenium’s brother holding him back. “WHO THE HELL DO YOU THINK YOU ARE YOU LOSER?! GET BACK OVER HERE SO I CAN KILL YOU!!”

You almost snickered at how loud that one was, and you were kinda glad that you irritated him like that. And you were kinda glad that you confused them all too when you read their thoughts and neglected telling them that you could read minds. They didn’t need to know, bunch of big shots, they probably felt so proud of themselves that one of their students decided to help poor, defenseless you.

Somewhat angrily, you walked out as quickly as you could and left the building. So far, today was shitty and you REALLY didn’t want to attend class today. Alas, life didn’t work that way, so once you got into the school building you went into the bathroom to at least try and look good by fixing up your hair as best as you could and washed your face so you didn’t look completely like shit. There was nothing you could really do to stop feeling like shit though.

After 15 minutes, you got out to go and head to your class but then a snobby voice made you pause. “Oh my gosh. Well if it isn’t the sneaky little bitch herself. Rad party last night huh? Not that great but still good right?” A pretty, slim girl with lovely dark brown hair and a fair amount of make-up had asked you, Hiromi was her name. She wasn’t exactly your friend, more like your frenemy because she was the snobbiest, most vapid girl in UA whose quirk allowed her to always look beautiful and make ugly things beautiful which gave her SUCH an ego. And on top of that she was SO annoying a good 90 percent of the time. “Who took you home last night? I can tell by the way you look like shit that someone was nice enough to take you home. And maybe a little something else~?” She asked with a smirk but you just chuckled and shook your head.

“God no. Nobody took me home, I mean come on look at me…” You defeated yourself a little bit, and there was no way you were going to tell her that a guy from the Hero Course had taken you to HIS dorm last night. That sweet guy from the Hero Course…

“Yeah. Actually you’re right, what was I thinking?” She snickered a bit, making you give her a fake laugh just to humor her. She never had anything nice to say about you as she frequently insulted your eating habits, weight and style of dress. Why were you friends with her again? “So like, I don’t know what happened, but Mageru’s not here today. Apparently he needed to go to the hospital cuz of a broken nose. You should see him now it’s hilarious.” Hiromi started to laugh and your eyes widened a little bit. Not remembering just how much Kirishima had beaten the guy, but the more you thought about it, the more you started to smile. That prick deserved it, but now you really felt bad for not giving Kirishima more of a thanks since he did that for you.

“Anyway. Meet us at lunch, I wanna discuss how to make our class look better. Ever since that purple-haired weirdo left I’m pretty confident that our class can finally look good.” She said and you rolled your eyes. Just like with you, Hiromi was never nice to Shinsou, always insulting his looks, his insomnia and his tastes in music, even though the boy never paid her any mind as you tended to defend him from her, and then she insulted you a lot more because you were actually on good terms with the guy. Unlike Hiromi, you were sad when he was able to join the Hero Course. Well you were happy that he would finally get to do what he wanted, but you were also sad that you lost the only person in your class that you didn’t want to punch in the throat.

And now you had to go to lunch with the rest of your so-called friends. At least Mageru wasn’t going to be there. You were SO going to Principal Nezu later to tell him about how he tried to sexually assault you later today.

…

Time seemed to just dredge on today as thoughts filled your head as you attempted to try and block everyone’s uninvited thoughts that were trying to make their way into your head. You tried to think, but at the same time you tried not to because every thought you had brought you back to what happened to you last night, when the person you thought was your friend had assaulted you and would have done worse if not for Kirishima.

But you didn’t want to think about him either, he made you feel so guilty and pathetic that you tried to block him out of your mind to. You just wanted to forget, you didn’t want to think about how Mageru betrayed you, violated you and wanted to take advantage of you in worse ways possible because you were so drunk because of him. So you resorted to what you always did, as soon as it was lunch you grabbed some of the most unhealthy things possible because food often made you forget about things, especially since you didn’t have any breakfast this morning.

“Chocolate Milk, fried noodles, bag of cookies, chips, small water bottle, milk and a bowl of soup just to try and eat something healthy-ish.” You muttered to yourself as you carried your tray over to where Hiromi and the rest of her bitches were at. Once you sat down you instantly felt all their eyes staring right at you, but you didn’t dare look up at them.

'Wow, someone’s looking to gain more weight.’

'She’s really gonna eat all that huh? Fatso.’

'Eww… why do that to yourself?’

Why did you put yourself through this? You don’t know why, but you refused to let their thoughts get to you as they remained silent until Hiromi spoke up. “(L/N), what in the world is that?” She asked you in a somewhat horrified voice. 

“Um, I didn’t eat breakfast this morning. I kinda have to eat?” You tried to sound matter-of-factly but Hiromi was relentless. “Well maybe it’s a GOOD thing you didn’t have breakfast. The rest of us haven’t had breakfast since we were 10 years old. And look at us, then look at you…” She said condescendingly with a look of disgust as you clenched your fists. 

You weren’t going to put up with this, shaking your head you picked your tray to go and leave but you didn’t see someone coming over to you as the two of you bumped right into each other, causing your tray and all your food to spill all over you.

Irritated and shocked, you immediately glared up at the offender. “You asshole!”

“Sorry! Sorry it was an accident!” But your eyes took a softer look once you saw that it was Kirishima who had bumped into you, “I’m really sorry (Y/N).” He looked guilty as he stared down at your uniform that was stained with chocolate milk, noodles and soup, which had gotten into your socks and shoes which felt disgusting. You were still irked about it, but you felt bad for yelling at him now.

“Wait. You guys know each other? A General Studies student and a Hero Course student? Are you hiding something from us (Y/N)?” Hiromi asked you and Kirishima, and the two of you both quickly exclaimed 'No’ in unison. 

“I just know his name…” You said, not really lying since you and Kirishima didn’t really know each other that well at all, other than each other’s names. “Y-Yeah that’s true…” He said in defeat, not wanting to embarrass you any further, but then you looked at him for an explanation.

“What are you doing here?” You asked somewhat curtly, and you were met with a phone. “You forgot your phone under my pillow and I knew you would need it.” He sheepishly said, trying to smile to lessen your bad mood but it wasn’t working. Although you did accept it when he gave it to you and you quietly thanked him as he kept his smile on, while you were trying not to blush. “What was YOUR phone doing under HIS pillow?” Hiromi asked again, her hands on her hips as the rest of the girls gave you questioning and judgy looks.

You froze a little bit, and as the girls stared at you, “N-Nothing…” Was all you could mutter out, but Hiromi didn’t believe you, “Yeah right. I smell a dirty little liar.” She smirked a little bit as the girls started to snicker, and their thoughts became rampant with accusations that you could hear loud and clear.

'Ew. She probably fucked him and is trying to keep it a secret.’

'Probably to score points with the Hero Course students.’

'I bet she thinks she’s better than us.’

'But why would this smoking hot guy want to sleep with her fatass?’

'She’s such a loser.’

'SO Pathetic.’

'What a slut.’

Closing your eyes at how the thoughts got louder, you cringed, shaking your head as your mind told you to just walk away, right now. So without looking at anyone, you turned around and walked out of the cafeteria as quickly as you could, ignoring the way Kirishima tried calling out to you and the high-pitched laughs coming from Hiromi and the girls.

First you desperately needed to get out of these clothes so you ran to your gym locker to put your PE uniform on, you weren’t going to walk around wearing a dirty uniform covered in food. Once you had that on, you left the locker room and headed outside to try and clear your head despite the fact that you were still hungover. Nothing was going right today at all, this morning was terrible and now the afternoon was terrible, how much worse could it get? You wondered as you stood outside the school, gasping when you heard loud thunder crackling and looked above to see grey clouds with a small white streak that indicated lightning as the first drops came down and dripped down your face.

There were other students outside and they noticed that the weather had taken a turn for the worse. Normally you didn’t mind the rain, but as you looked up a sudden downpour washed over you and drenched your new clothes and you gasped, having to retreat into the building quick as the rest of the students outside followed shortly inside, but someone was rude enough to push you out of the way and made you fall to the ground with a loud 'OH!’ of pain.

You heard some laughter as you picked yourself up, shivering from how cold and wet you had gotten thanks to the rain and got out of the crowd. Apparently rumor had spread about how you left the Height’s Alliance building and now you were hearing all sorts of gossipy thoughts from every student that passed you. You tried hard to ignore them, but they were just louder and louder.

It was so overwhelming, all the loud voices that were ringing and screaming in your sore ears as you moved away from everyone, keeping your distance as you felt your stomach churn from a bundle of nerves you didn’t know had settled inside you. You couldn’t stop shivering from the cold wetness that drenched your body, at least you thought it was the cold. You swallowed hard, gasping shakily as dread crawled inside your body, grabbing you by the throat and clutching your chest, making it hard for you to catch your breath as you started sweating from the strain and your eyes burned with tears because of how this feeling was strangling you. 

They were so loud, it was driving you insane and you could no longer hear yourself think. It made you feel so sick you thought you were going to throw up. Yet you didn’t, but you couldn’t help but lower yourself to the floor of the hallway, shutting your tearful eyes so you wouldn’t have to look at anybody anymore. Desperately, you threw your hands to your ears to try and block everything and everybody as you quivered and softly cried where you sat while everyone’s disgusting and false thoughts kept shrieking loudly like banshee’s in your brain. 

You were so shaken up that you almost didn’t hear a familiar voice, “Hey! Hey! Get out of the way! Hey (Y/N)!” You noticed that was Kirishima’s voice but you didn’t dare open your eyes for fear that it was just your mind playing tricks on you. Kirishima heard the rumors and he was worried about you ever since you left his dorm and the cafeteria, and as soon as he saw you like that, he quickly made his way over to you, even pushing some people who were laughing at you. As soon as he got to you, he quickly crouched down to your level. “(Y/N) are you all right…?” There was that soft voice again, you remembered it from last night.

Because he was the only good thing that was happening to you right now, you found yourself able to trust enough to open your glossy (E/C) eyes, looking up at him sadly. His gentle red hues looking at you with worry. “Are you okay?” Kirishima asked you, even though he was sure you weren’t, he wanted to at least try and make you feel okay.

'I can’t believe these guys… (Y/N) doesn’t deserve this…’

Your bottom lip quivered, remorse filling your heart because this boy was so nice to you even though you did nothing to return the favor and yet despite the horrible day you were having, he somehow showed up every time to make it just a little bit better by smiling at you. Not a single ulterior motive in his head. Before you knew it, you suddenly lunged yourself into him and threw your arms around the boy, making him nearly shout in shock from such a sudden move, but he didn’t and wouldn’t pull you away as you clutched at his shirt, squeezing your eyes and letting your tears fall. It took you a while to properly talk, but you took a large inhale before you found enough composure to say something. “I’m sorry… I-I’m so sorry Kirishima…” You apologized, hugging him a little tighter as he tried to not tear up at how miserable you sounded.

“Sorry? Why are you sorry…? You didn’t do anything wrong… you’ve got nothing to apologize for.

"Y-You… you gave me your bed… h-helped me when I got drunk like a moron… and took care of those assholes just to protect me… t-then you brought me back my phone… you didn’t have to a-any of that… but you did anyway… a-and, and I never once said 'thank you’… not like I should have… so… thank you… thank you so, SO much for all of that… God I can’t even thank you enough… that’s so much more than anyone has ever done for m-me…” More tears streamed down your face as your breathing started to hitch, making you hiccup as Kirishima then brought his arms around you, returning your hug and stroking your back gently to try and calm you down.

“Shhh, hey, hey now… it’s okay… it’s going to be okay… you’re going to be okay (Y/N)…” You felt so safe, safer than you’ve ever been because of how gentle he was being. “I know we don’t know each other, but I was happy to help out as much as I could…” Kirishima said with a little smile, and he meant every word because you didn’t hear a single deceptive thought from him. 

As he hugged you, you found oxygen greeting your lungs again as your heartbeat slowed down and you felt as if you could just melt in his warm embrace. You loved it, you loved how kind he was to you and how he made you forget about everything that just happened. He made you forget about Mageru, about Hiromi and about all the rumors people were making about you and him, the horrors you had to suffer didn’t leave you, but at least Kirishima was here to say that you were going to be okay. He was so warm and comforting that you wanted him to stay with you just a little while longer even though you knew realistically that it couldn’t happen because of your classes.

It took a while for you to completely calm down, but Kirishima was so patient with you and didn’t let you go because you were still clutching at him and basking in the comfort of his warm body. “Thanks for this…” You mumbled in the crook of his neck, making him blush a little bit. “You’re welcome… anytime okay?” He asked you, not caring that he didn’t know you as well as he did others, he always wanted to help people who needed it. And after last night and today, he wanted to make sure you were okay because he was truly starting to care for you almost like a friend even if he knew you and him were just acquaintances at best.

“I want to know you.” You suddenly said once you finally calmed down, and Kirishima perked up a bit and you both finally pulled away for a bit. “Oh really? Ya do?” He asked, almost excitedly as you started to blush and you tried not to look too eager but Kirishima’s smile looked so adorable it was impossible for you to not smile. “Y-Yeah… I mean… you already saw my bra and let me sleep in your bed…”

Kirishima’s eyes widened and now he was the one blushing when he recalled seeing you change your clothes in front of him earlier that morning, and you couldn’t help but smirk a little bit. “And you actually helped me when no one else did… I think that earns you something… and I honestly hate every single person in my class… ever since Shinsou joined the Hero Course in Class 1-B I don’t really have any friends that I actually like so… yeah… I wanna get to know you…” You said more seriously as your face grew warmer. You wanted to say that you were with him all the way, but it felt too soon for you to say that so you just offered him your friendship. And yet secretly, you hoped that it would turn into something more overtime because there was no way you were letting this one go.

Kirishima’s eyes remained slightly wide as he listened to you talk, but his smile grew when you more or less said that you wanted to be friends, and how could he turn down that offer? “Oh sure! Heck yeah I wanna get to know you too! I’ll be your friend!” He cheerfully exclaimed as you chuckled a little bit. 

“Since we’re officially meeting now that I’m not drunk… my name is (Y/N) (L/N).” This time you informally introduced yourself so he knew your whole name and brought your hand out for him which he gladly took to firmly shake. “And I’m Eijirou Kirishima!” He shared his full name with you as you shyly smiled, so his first name was Eijirou. What a pretty name, you thought.

“Uh… you mind taking me to my class? I’ll show you the way… sorry… I really can’t bring myself to go back by myself…” You asked him in a somewhat embarrassed voice as he happily nodded and smiled, “No I don’t mind at all! I’m always happy to help, lead the way!” He let you lead the way as you walked to your respective classes together, and you decided to actually talk to him.

“So you see… sometimes just coming to school is overwhelming… I get nervous around so many people… and it doesn’t help that my quirk lets me read people’s minds.” You admitted, deciding to let him know that as his eyes widened again and that knowledge allowed him to puzzle the pieces together, so that’s why you were covering your ears. The thoughts must have been too loud for you, but then his eyes grew more wide when he realized that you could probably hear what he was thinking right now.

“You can hear what people are thinking…?” He asked you, and you tried your hardest not to snicker as you nodded. “That’s right… I didn’t think you were a pervert by the way. At first I didn’t believe you… but I knew you didn’t take advantage of me last night… you don’t have a single bad thought in that sweet head of yours.” Your smirk grew as Kirishima’s face began to redden, but he still grinned at you bashfully.

“No way! I mean yeah no I’m not a pervert but no way… I would never take advantage of a drunk person ever! That’s beyond unmanly! Anyone who does anything like that… doesn’t deserve to be called a man or a person at all!” He stated, sounding a little angry at that last part because he was thinking about those assholes that were trying to do exactly that to you last night. Although you started to frown a little bit just remembering it, Kirishima’s concerned look made you smile again. This guy was just too sincere, a total sweetheart all the way.

“Well… you’re super manly for helping me get somewhere safe when I was drunk, and letting me have your bed… and for being nice to someone when they’re all by themselves and feeling miserable… there’s nothing manlier than that…” You said rather softly, smiling warmly at the redhead who was grinning at you sweetly and looking almost coy. “Aww thanks…!” But what you said also made him really happy, since he always aspired to be as manly as possible, and hearing you say that just gave him that validation.

You almost wanted to hold his hand, and this time you wouldn’t care what Hiromi and the others would think of you. Hiromi. That gave you an idea. “Follow me Kirishima…” You said to your new friend, who looked confused but he shrugged and respectfully obeyed as you started running towards the cafeteria that had less people than it did earlier, but you quickly made a fast order for two cups of chocolate milk and went back to Kirishima. “Chocolate milk?” He asked with more confusion evident in his tone as you smiled and nodded. “Uh-huh.” He then watched you make your way over back to that girl who was so mean to you.

Hiromi was talking to the girls about how disappointing 'some people’ are because of their eating habits and for being 'slutty’ by sleeping with students from the hero course, but she almost widened her eyes once she saw you standing right in front of her. “Oh well if it isn’t the Hero Course Ho. Well at least you came back to the right people.” She crossed her arms, not too happy to see you even though you were smiling, something you hadn’t done in a very long time. 

“First of all Hiromi. You see that boy with the sharky smile?” You pointed to a surprised looking Kirishima who nervously grinned and waved, showing off that sharky smile you had just mentioned. “He actually helped me, something none of you fucks ever did. I like him more than I like any of you, and guess what? I’m gonna be HIS friend from now on, and I’m not hanging out with any of you anymore, I’m not giving you girls anymore hot gossip, no more secrets, no more answers to homework and tests. Nothing.” You said to them, your smile becoming more of a grin as Hiromi’s eyes widened a little bit at how you more or less broke off the 'friendship’ that you had, but she scoffed and tried to look cool, even when the other girls were going 'no!’ because they relied on your mind-reading quirk to let you help them cheat on homework and share gossip to use as blackmail against other students.

“Whatever. You’re not good enough to be part of our crew anyway. You’re just some fatso who drinks chocolate milk and screws with dopey, spiky-haired douchebags from the Hero course. What kind of girl needs a man to help her?” She put her hands on her hips, trying to talk you down like she always did, but today it wasn’t working. Although you didn’t care for how she insulted Kirishima. At all.

“I might not have the strongest quirk. But NEVER talk shit about Kirishima.” You said to her lowly, yet calmly as you held the two cups of chocolate milk in your hands and then spilled both cups all over Hiromi and the rest of the girls, making them shoot up and squeal highly with horror upon being soaked with the sticky, sugary milk, ruining their hair and staining their uniforms which caught quite a few of the remaining students’ attention. 

You turned to see a wide-eyed Kirishima with his mouth agape as you started to laugh when Hiromi screamed. “MY HAIR!! YOU BITCH! YOU FUCKING BIIIIITCH!!” She started sobbing dramatically as she ran off, still shrieking and crying as a few other students kept on laughing and the other wet girls ran off in different directions, while some followed Hiromi.

Satisfied with what you did, you let out a cheerful laugh as you carelessly tossed the empty cups to the floor and actually skipped back to Kirishima, who was trying to not snicker at what he just saw. “Wow! That was… that was actually pretty awesome! You stood up to a jerk who tried to tear you down, now that’s just… so manly!” He exclaimed and seemed almost moved by your act of bravery, looking at you somewhat admiringly as you blushed and smiled shyly.

'This girl is amazing! I’m so glad that we’re friends now! I sure hope the rest of my class will like her…’

So pure. You thought, even though you kinda had to apologize to the rest of the Hero Course for being so rude this morning. “I kinda have to apologize to them first…” You chuckled a bit and he perked up, feeling kinda nervous since you implied that you knew what he was thinking. “Now that I did what I came here for… let’s go back to doing what we were supposed to do…” He got what that meant, and you both left the cafeteria to go and find your classes.

However, you had asked to see his class first so you could apologize to 1-A for your behavior this morning, and you smiled and waved when you came into the room. “Hey.” You greeted them pretty casually as many of them perked up, having recognized you from this morning but they weren’t sure how to react to your new attitude.

'Ah! It’s her!’

'But she’s smiling?’

'So different from this morning…’

“So yeah… some things were said… and I regret it. I was a bitch… there I said it, but I really am sorry for how mean I was. I don’t want to be enemies with anyone here, unless you wanna be my enemy that is.” You apologized, and nearly all of them (except for Bakugou) accepted. “It’s no problem! We apologize if we might have made you uncomfortable this morning with our staring.” Ingenium’s brother, Iida apologized and bowed to you as you snickered a bit, appreciating his politeness as you shrugged.

“It’s okay. I’ve gotten worse stares.” You held no grudge this time, since it was true, those weren’t the worst stares you’ve gotten from people. “The truth is my friends suck… and you guys seem WAY cooler… Shinsou’s said some mostly good things about you guys…” You added, as a few of them started to smile and their thoughts were some of the most pleasant you had heard all day. Except for that little grape-haired boy…

“So… does this mean you’re gonna hang out around us more like Shinsou?” The electric blonde you remembered from this morning, Kaminari asked you somewhat hopefully, obviously thinking that you had a cute face since you could hear him thinking exactly that and you couldn’t help but smirk and go over to him. “Why yes it does you naughty boy!” You playfully and softly patted his butt as he jumped a bit and blushed quite madly, his eyes wide with shock (pun intended) as Jirou and Sero started snickering at how flustered he was.

“Kirishima’s you guys’ friend… any friend of his, is a friend of mine.” You went back over to Kirishima, who was smiling widely at you, at least until one of his friends glared at you. “Well I’m sure as hell not going to be your friend you damn drunk!” Bakugou shouted at you, obviously not interested in your offer of friendship despite the fact that the rest of his classmates, especially Kirishima were accepting of it. However, you couldn’t help but smile at the angry blonde.

And you giggled a little bit, which just made him even madder, which Kirishima could see. “Aww c'mon Bakugou… (Y/N)’s not bad at all once you get to know her.” He tried to reassure his friend, but Bakugou wasn’t having it as he scoffed and kept his angry gaze on you as you smiled at Kirishima. “And you’re gonna get to know me all right.” You winked at Bakugou before you turned to face Kirishima, cupping his face before you suddenly kissed him gently on the lips as the redhead made a surprised sound, his face turning almost as red as his hair when he felt how soft your lips felt on his as he closed his eyes and slowly kissed you back and gently put his hands on your shoulders.

An array of shocked gasps and exclamations were heard throughout the entire class, many of the students, especially Midoriya, Iida, Uraraka, Yaoyorozu, Jirou, Aoyama, Ojiro and Sero who were wide-eyed and blushing at such a sight.

“P-Public Displays of Affection are prohibited in a school setting!” Iida exclaimed, very flustered as he waved his arm dramatically, but neither you or Kirishima paid him any mind. As the rest of his classmates were forced to witness, some were quite flustered and blushing, while some of the others only looked slightly less shocked, such as Tsuyu, Todoroki, Tokoyami, Shoji, Satou and Koda who had looked away as they blushed.

“AWWWWW!” Mina however, started to fawn all over the kiss as she saw that as a seal of a new relationship. “How romantic!” And Hagakure seconded the emotion as she and her pink friend cheered. “Ha! Way to go Kirishima!” Despite how you teased him, Kaminari was extremely happy for his friend. “Damn you Kirishima! It’s not fair! It’s not fair!!” Mineta cried with his fists clenched at how 'lucky’ his classmate was for having scored with a pretty girl.

“G-Get a room you idiots!” Bakugou actually stuttered a bit, his cheeks a slight red hue as he averted his eyes in disgust upon seeing the person he could call his best friend kiss a girl he didn’t really like at all.

But you cheerfully ignored him, even if you did eventually pull away from the wide-eyed, blushing Kirishima, your own cheeks a bright rosey pink. “I have to go… but do you want to hang out maybe after school is over?” You asked, a little shyly but excitedly as the redhead stuttered, obviously still rather surprised from how you kissed him but he snapped out of it once he registered your question.

“Oh yeah! Yeah totally! I’m down with that (Y/N)…” He finally answered, still looking flustered but excited as you giggled and reluctantly pulled away to head out the door. “I’ll definitely see you around.” You smiled at him, repeating what he had told you earlier this morning before you waved to him, and he happily waved back to you.

“And... thanks again Kirishima… thanks for today…” You said one more time, and he just smiled that smile that you had fallen for.

“You’re always welcome (Y/N).”

You were definitely with him.

[unadulteratedfandomtrash]

Loki Laufeyson x Reader ~ Rest Assured [Pt.7]

[My Marvel Masterlist]   [Previous Part]

A/N: Just another friendly reminder that I’m not following the canon timeline for the sake of having more characters to work with for this series!

Word Count: 1995

By the barrier in question, muttering maledictions in a language unknown to anyone present, Loki’s eyes squeeze shut in concentration as he struggles against his wife’s magic. The mere fact that he is struggling to fight the very magical spells the God of Mischief himself uses and taught to (Y/n) is a testament to his teachings, as well as her skills as a sorceress. The sound of three distinct footsteps, one being as loud as a thunderstorm, shatter’s Loki’s concentration. He looks up in annoyance, ready to berate his brother for being a nuisance, only to be met with an unfamiliar face walking alongside his brother and Natasha.

For a brief second, Loki scoffs at the newcomer’s outfit. Everything from the large yellow gloves to the elaborate cape that seems to have a mind of its own irritates the black-haired god.

“And who might you be?”

“My name’s Doctor Stephen Strange, and according to these two, you are in need of my services.”

“I remember no such thing.”

“Heimdall saw portions of the sorcerer’s residential inscription, and after Natasha did some quick research, we were able to track down the one you seek. Brother, he will help you open the doors.”

Drawing conclusions quickly never ends well, so the God of Mischief makes it a point to show his skepticism. He returns his attention to the doors, waving his fingers and wrist to channel his magic into the warded layers of the barrier. With his closed in concentration, Loki fails to notice the raised brows on Stephen’s face. Instead, one of the Avengers on shift, Tony, catches the surprised expression and articulates his thoughts without a second of hesitation.

“You good there, Doc? What’s with the weird look?”

“I’ve only witnessed one person who uses that exact kind of magic…but she disappeared after her training with me at the New York Sanctum.”

At the end of his statement, Loki looks up from his work once more to stare at the doctor, only this time it is not out of disinterest. It is, in fact, the exact opposite of such.

“You know Asgardian party tricks?” Tony interrupts the god with his snide remark, earning a puzzled look from Bruce, who questions his companion’s frivolous phrasing. 

“No,” Stephen answers without a hint of amusement towards the wealthy hero’s words, “As I said before, I have only ever witnessed someone use Asgardian magic. She explained it to me briefly, but refused to give any details. I believe it was in her interest to keep that information under wraps, and I didn’t blame her. You never know when any people with ill intentions are lurking around.”

”Well, my wife is currently locked in her own room and I have no way of breaking her spells on my own. If you claim to be the man who can help, then you better start helping.”

“How long has she been in there?” Stephen’s medical training kicks into gear. Numerous questions regarding (Y/n)’s health and well-being flood into the doctor’s mind. He knew immediately upon touching the door that he will be helping the immortal beings in saving their princess-- his former student. 

“Far too long to be healthy,” Frigga comments solemnly. “We tried to open the doors many times, but each attempt was unsuccessful. Her spells are simply too powerful for us to decipher, and we were unaware that foreign magic was involved in the incantations.”

“Yes, (Y/n) proved to be quite the challenge for me and my colleagues. She is much smarter than she let on to be. We had to scramble for more information to teach her since our usual lesson plan was finished within a few weeks.”

Civil conversation ensued between the two spellcasters as they work diligently with one another, never once arguing, with the exception of a few moments spent disagreeing over the proper incantation for a given spell.

Off to the side, Tony continues to make unnecessary comments as Peter, who is shadowing the group in order to learn from his mentor, stares off into one end of the hall, feeling lost and unsure of what to do. Scott stands a couple feet away from them, giving Bruce a detailed description on how he would attempt to bypass the tower’s security system; Bruce has been meaning to talk with Tony about updating Jarvis’ programming, so he asked Scott, who has a Masters Degree in electrical engineering and a history of breaking into buildings, for some insight and advice on specific points to focus on.

“What do you mean it’s easy,” Bruce cries out in horror when Scott claims that a physical break-in would be fairly easy in his opinion.

“Yeah, man. Based on everything you’ve told me, plus my experiences being in the tower, I can tell that Tony has barely any security measures in place within the ventilation shafts since Clint is always crawling around inside them. Sooooo, that being said, all I would have to do is enter from the outside via the vents and voila, I’m inside the Avengers’ headquarters!”

Whimpers of fear leave the scientist’s quivering lips. Both hands fly up into his hair, grasping the curled locks and tugging on them as the man breathes in quick repetitions.

“I gotta let Tony know! If someone like you can figure that out, then what happens if some super-secret, evil, organized-crime villain and his henchmen learn about the tower’s weakness too? Then we’re all doomed!”

In the midst of Bruce’s spiraling, panicked thoughts and Scott’s scoff in offense, a loud crackling sound echoes throughout the halls, startling everyone by the doors, especially an already-anxious Bruce Banner.

“Finally…” Loki lets out a breath of air he never realized that he has been holding in. He brings up a hand to push open the door on his side, but is surprised to see it trembling like a leaf in a storm. “What is the matter with me,” the black-haired god whispers demeaningly to himself.

“Nothing at all.” Warm hands cup Loki’s colder one, prompting the god to look up and find his mother’s comforting gaze. She gently rubs her son’s fingers to soothe his nerves. “What is making you so anxious? The last time you were like this was the day you got married.”

“She’ll be angry with me, Mother. I left her alone with no hints regarding my well-being. She’s always more concerned about me than herself. I worry she will never forgive me.”

“What makes you say that, Loki? Ever since the day you two met, (Y/n) has been nothing but loyal to you. Even at your worst, she was by your side, tending to you. She is always bringing out the best in you and making sure you’re well. There is no doubt in my mind, my son, that she will welcome you back with open arms. Now, don’t keep your wife waiting.”

With a gentle shove, Frigga pushes Loki closer to the large wooden barrier that stands between him and (Y/n). His mother’s supportive words gives the black-haired god enough courage to set aside his worries and push open the doors that have been closed for too long, but the sight he is greeted by hurls Loki back into his worried state.

“Oh, darling…” The God of Mischief inhales sharply, rushing over to the bedside hastily. His hands clasp her right hand tightly, squeezing it tightly. (Y/n)’s extremely low body temperature scares Loki. Even though his wife’s Asgardian heritage hinders her body from falling ill as easily as mortal beings, he worries that her current condition is linger closer to death.

Stephen quickly steps in to diagnose his former student. Though she is not human and he has never treated any being other than a human, the doctor is determined to try his best to help. His yellow gloves are thrown off in a corner without care, fingers pressing at (Y/n)’s neck beneath her left ear.

“She’s got a pulse, but it’s barely there.”

Suddenly realizing that he can help, Loki wiggles his fingers to conjure some of his magic. A soft green glow radiates from the God of Mischief’s hands, flowing around in the air before seeping into her skin. Despite the poor lighting in the room, both Loki and Stephen can tell that (Y/n)’s complexion is taking on a healthier hue than the pale, grey-ish tone it was before the healing spell; the rise and fall of her chest becomes more clear. A sigh of relief is audibly heard from the two spellcasters.

Looking over his shoulder to where his mother and the six avengers Loki gestures for the group to move as he gingerly slips his arms beneath (Y/n)’s knees and back. Once a clear path is made, the god lifts his wife off the bed, cradling her dangerously light body to his chest. 

Not a word is spoken during the walk to the healing chambers, where one of the attendants is quick to lead Loki over to a bed secluded from the many others that are scattered around the large room. She drags a curtain across the length of the cot before politely asking all the people in the room to leave as she calls for the primary healer in charge of caring for members of the royal family, but Loki refuses to budge. 

For a moment, Thor stops to wonder if the attendant and healers are sworn to secrecy like some of the other staff. The AllFather never mentioned anything about it. 

“Mother,” the God of Thunder speaks up while keeping his eyes on the healing chamber attendant, “did Father order the healers to sign a confidentiality agreement prior to our arrival?”

“Of course,” Frigga assures. “I made sure your father did not miss any important details. I had no doubt in my mind that your brother would be able to open those doors to reach (Y/n). If any prying individuals manage to discover the events taking place, Heimdall will know and immediately report his findings. There is no need to worry.”

Satisfied, Thor users his Avengers friends out to allow the healers perform their job. Tony proves to the most stubborn, second to Loki, of course. He fights against the blond god with the argument of wanting to observe the methods Asgard utilizes to treat wounds and illnesses, but Thor rebutts, stating that even he is unfamiliar with the powers of a healer.

“You will learn nothing from simply observing, Stark. All you would see is golden wisps of magic floating above the healing bed. Being in that room would only hinder their ability to work efficiently.”

“Oh? Then why is Reindeer Games in there with them?” Tony is determined to catch a glimpse of the healers in action, which unfortunately brings out unpleasant characteristics of his personality. Back at home in the tower, hearing his quips and arrogant responses to something he dislikes usually does not result in any severe consequences, however, they are no longer at the tower. They are temporarily staying in Asgard’s palace, where the royal figures reside in alongside them. Inappropriate, unprofessional behavior has no place here.

“Tony, please shut up,” Bruce pleads. “This is not your home. We’re on Asgardian turf. You can’t just say whatever you want!”

“Mr. Stark,” Peter adds,”I really think you should listen to Dr. Banner. It’s unprofessional to act so care-free in someone else’s home, especially when that home belongs to the rulers of another realm.”

The sharp click of the door opening does not give Tony an opportunity to speak. Everybody turns to find Loki closing the door behind him, ignoring the curious stares and striding right past them. His calm expression hints to the others that (Y/n) is no longer in critical condition, so they are confused with his determination to leave her side so soon.

“Where ‘ya goin’,” Scott inquires.

“To see Odin.”

[Next Part]

Tag List

@wecantgiggleitsafandom  @tarynkauai  @drstrangefictions  @laxarnas​

[c-atm]

Bittersweet meetings pt 7

“So..is that blush for me…”Lapis looked over to Connie dancing, her smile dipping a bit. “Or for her?”

Steven scoffed at Lapis teasing before glancing back at the dancing couple briefly. “No one is blushing, it’s a trick of the light.”

“It’s a sign of deep feeling, Steven. Don’t act like you weren't looking at them.”

“Whatever.” 

Steven arched an eyebrow as the bluenette chuckled at his behavior.

“I’m sorry, Steven I know it’s mean but I couldn’t help it. So use to seeing you happy and such, that seeing you look jealous is refreshing...proof you aren’t perfect.”

“Pfft, you know me too well to think me like that...Though on the subject of looks..”

“Have I stole your gaze from the birthday girl?”

Steven didn’t say anything as he watched her sly teasing grin morphed to a shy slightly annoyed grimaced. He smirked a bit at his swimmer of a friend.

“What is it? Why ya looking at me like-”

“That outfit looks good on you? Cause it really does, Lappy.”

Lapis eyes widen a bit at the admission before taking a glance down at her attire. A gray and blue camo, thigh length, longline blouse that was sleeveless and slit up from the naval on all sides; She had the front tails tied in a neat bow above her pants line, making her top look like form flattering swallowtail vest-coat. Cobalt blue knotted belt bootcut pants that were a bit loose around her hips. White velvet ankle strap round toe sandals. She accessorized a bit with an ankle bracelet on her left with eight letter charms on it, each one the first initial of their friends names. She looked back up to her friend feeling a bit shy as she did and gave him a very light slap on the pocket of his pink and red flannel shirt.

"Hey now, saying things like that could leave an impression on a sweet girl like me." 

"I'm just calling it as I see it. You clean up well."

Lapis giggle a bit before giving a playful bow. "Why thank you."

Steven gave his friend a small grin before his face returned to neutral as the song changed to something slower, he looked over at Connie and her date dancing closer to each other. While he didn't know why at the time, but he loathed what he saw. Jeff held her by the sides of Connie waist, while she had her hands on his tall shoulders. They swayed below the dark lights and blended with the crowd unnoticed by all but Steven. 

Something inside him shattered like glass, seeing them whisper whatever they didn't what other to know. The smile she was sharing with him was one he recognized all too well...It was one that was usually reserved for him. He saw her laugh at something shared between them before Jeff dipped down and whispered into her ear: a single tear come out of Connie eye and he could see her looking around frantically. 

Steven was about to take a step towards them when JEFF wiped it away. Seeing her relaxed  and embarrassed smile…He couldn't understand this feeling of envy, but he felt that he saw all he needed to see. 

"You doing ok there, Steven?"

He forgot about Lapis being right there and It took him a little more time to register that she was holding his hand.

"Yeah, I'm fine..Just remembered  I have to go home." 

She had a look of concern and disappointment on her face. "Not even gonna say hi to the rest of the crew..or Connie...She misses you, ya know."

Steven gave a sheepish smile before he placed the hood of his forest vest over his head. "Everyone's having a good time. Besides I already came and did what I wanted to do, So have fun for me Laps...tell no one I came, yeah?" 

Steven gave Connie one last look and could have sworn she caught him just for a second, before turning around and heading towards the basement door. Never knowing that the birthday girl eyes caught the familiar green of his vest and froze her in place.

He got to the corner of Connies’ block when he let loose a groan of annoyance. ‘She was right there! A few steps  and what do I do. Not a thing.I just watch her, like I’m her Ex or something like that…’ He released a jerring chuckle at the thought. ‘Ludicrous. We’re close and admittedly, we flirt with each other..but that’s our normalized routine. There’s never been anything more than adulation for each other. Doesn't mean I want to be with her..I do but not in a relationship..why does that feel like a lie?...not that it matters since she seems to be happy with him..I should be happy for that...So why do I want to punch the world in the face right now?'

Steven was so lost in his thoughts that he didn't even acknowledge  someone calling him until he was tapped upside his head. He turned in surprise  to see a posting Lapis lazuli with a small pout on her face and knuckles on her hips. 

"Sheesh, wanna come back down to earth,bud." 

"Lapis? What are you doing here, thought you were still at the party."

Lapis shrugged lazily "Party's starting to wind down, you came late. Besides wanted to see if I can catch up with ya, unless you wanna be alone."

Steven groaned mutely before taking a look at Lapis. Bundled up in a slim hoodie jacket and was looking away but still kept him in her peripheral waiting for his answer patiently. It was cute to him and at the same time confounding since she never was a withdrawn person with him. That being said maybe having another pair of ears could be useful.

"Well now, who would turn down a request like that? Allow me to walk you home, Little Lappie."

Her growl brought a small grin to his face. "Oh shut up and let's go." 

The two walked in a silent comfort, Steven still trying to organize his thoughts. unaware of Lapis looking up at him with a bit of admiration..

"Hey Lapis, what do you think of Connie and Jeff?"

He turned to his friend and was quite surprised to see the deadpanned look on her face. 

She sighed. "What you want me to say, man? He's horrible, she deserves better? What?"

"Is he?"

Lapis scoffed at the slight bit of hope in his voice "No..He's not and you should feel bad for hoping he was."

Steven looked down with a bit of shame. "Excuse me for trying to look out for my friend."

Lapis muttered something under her breath before turning to Steven. " Connie's a big girl and a tough one. She's capable of making her own decisions."

"I know that."

"Then why are you so hung up over it?" 

Steven shrugged. "I don't know..Maybe because she didn't tell me about it. I mean she doesn't have to, that's her business-"

Lapis interrupted teen by placing a finger on his lips. "Stop..You heard what you said..HER BUSINESS, not YOURS business. She is free to have business that doesn't involve us or you."

Steven gently moved the finger away and glared." Easy for you to say, you met the guy."

"Really, you could've met Jeff with the rest of us if you came earlier aaaand…..you’d have your own opinion of him. Literally, they were a few steps away."

The boy kissed his teeth before breathing heavy out of his nose. "I noticed, they seemed like they were vibing"

Lapis waved her hand "Maybe..But why does that bother you, shouldn't you be happy for her?"

"I-I am..?"

Lapis pinched the bridge of her nose and let out a frustrated breath. "Ok can we get off this subject."

Steven gave an apologetic smile and raised his hands "Sorry, sorry..I've been rude, talking about one girl while walking another home.."

Lapis nodded as she golden her arms. "I agree. Especially when they're as sought after as I." 

"True enough, not a lot of people get to walk with a beauty at night." 

Even though she knew his comment was in jest, Lapis couldn’t help the inner warmth his words gave her. She chuckled a bit before latching on to Steven's left arm, leaning in so he wouldn't see the smile on her face. "Glad you realized..You still gotta make it up to me, though"

Steven felt a little red and out of place over the gesture, but excused it as a friendly tease. "Ok lapis, how can I make it up to you."

His jovia voice made Lapis heart skip. Though she couldn't really enjoy it as her stomach started to rumble.

"Food?"

"Obviously, and I'm not buying."

"Of course..Fish stew pizza ok?"

"Not really the classiest of date spots, but it'll do.”

Steven arched an eyebrow  “we’re on a date now?”

Lapis grip on him become slightly tense as she looked the other way. “W-Well..a friendly date-”

“And i’m not even in my best, while you’re dressed to kill. How lucky am I, huh?” Steven shot the bluenette a cheshires’ grin, who despite trying to look away soon found herself mimicking the grin. 

“Yeah, yeah. out of my face, charmer.”  Lapis pushed him to her side. The two walked in a comfortable silent pace, engaging in small talk about nothing important, basically tv,Tube-tube,movies, the usual teenage stuff. They arrived at Fish stew within fifteen minutes and took a seat near the window. It was an empty with only their friend Kiki and her grandma Gunka at the register. Music was playing off a small radio, a light rock tune, the smell of fresh pizza encompassing restaurant and the lights were not overly bright. Steven stretched as he relaxed, unaware of Lapis fond, almost dream like smile. 

“So what you in the mood for Laps.”

Lapis blinked in surprise at the sound of his voice awakening her from her thoughts. “What now?”

“Heh I said what do you want to eat?”

Lapis pouted slightly before brushing the back of her hair, her face gaining a bit of heat. “Oh anything fine, No preference.”

“Ok..” With a smile on his face Steve stood up and pointed towards the jamaican girl.” Kiki, fix the custom with a Durian soda aaanndd…” 

“Root beer.”

“And a Root beer, both large!”

Kiki arched an eyebrow with a smile before giving a thumbs up. Steven sat down with a confident smirk. “See that. Pull.”

“Pull, huh? ” Lapised chuckled a bit at his antics.

“You laugh but I have you know. you’re sitting with the biggest dog in the parlor.”Steven rubbed his chin with a sly grin, doing his best imitation of a mob boss.

“Oh my, didn’t know you were such a boss.” Lapis bit her lip to keep from laughing..and because she thought it was kind of attractive.

“Well, gotta keep it on the low. Don’t wanna be caught slippin’.”

Lapis side-eyed him for a moment before letting lose a titter which slowly turned to a hearty laugh. Steven couldn’t help but feel a bit of pride making her laugh.

“So..What’s up Lapis? We haven’t real talk in a few.”

Lapis shrugged “Nothing really, Stevie. Outside of school and council work, not much. Finally saw “Into the Hybrid-verse”.

Steven gave a false cough “Late.”

La[pis rolled her eyes very vividly, causing steven to simper teasingly “Not everyone likes going to the theater Steven..”

“Buuuut.”

Lapis didn’t say anything at first before an excited smile took over her features. “I should’ve brought my ass to the theater. That..that..That was the best Crystal Gem movie! Period.”

Steven gave a light hearted point toward his ‘date’, as he tried to hold in factitious tears. “You haven’t lied yet, lappy. That’s my movie of the year, right there.”

“”Oh, yeah, it had it all. The story was intriguing, funny, sad and inspirational. The animation was crazy fluid, intricate, and stylish like the comic it came from.”

“Yes! The music though.. The music of the whole thing, from the scores during fights and chase scenes to the actual OST. Uggh..Beautifully fitted for the movie.. “

Lapis gave a small chortle at his excitement. “I imagine you downloaded the OST as soon as the movie was over.”

Steven turned cherry red as he looked away “Before actually.”

Lapis howled with laughter after hearing “OH MY STARS, YOU MUSIC FEIND!”

“Have you heard ‘Yo! Sup Danger’, Desert flower, ILLUMINATE! Come on, you know I was hooked.”

It was three minutes into his praise of the soundtrack, scores and arrangements of the film when he noticed Lapis wasn’t really talking, but just watching with a small smile on her face. He chuckled bashfully as he scratched the back of his head.

“Sorry ..You know me when it comes to music.”

Lapis shook her before she leaned back and stretched. “Don’t hold yourself back on my account, besides..”  She laid her head down on the table. “You’re adorable when you get excited.”

Steven couldn’t help the red on his face or even the quick raise of his pulse or even the skip of his heart. Her gaze, tone, and grin was filled with something foreign and familiar to him...Foreign cause it was coming from Lapis…Familiar cause Steven was used to giving and receiving them...

from Connie.

"Well, either my imagination is fooling me and it’s just friendly banter, or this “date” just had an unprecedented development...'

[belvera]

[Lively 4 1/2 Tatami Room] Yuika Mitsumine Full Card Story

Mitsumine’s recent Halloween support SSR was not only a cute seasonal story, but also represented a step forward for Mitsumine and her relationship with the other members of L’Antica. I think it’s also a story many will find relatable -- Don’t we all get a little nervous when invite people over for the first time? I hope you enjoy! 

(Some background: At the time of this card’s release (10/20/19), the fact Yuika is an idol otaku is something she hides from the other idols at 283 Production, including the rest of L’Antica. Also, while not particularly significant to the story, this card’s title reveals the size of Yuika’s apartment. 4 1/2 tatami is equivalent to just under 9 x 9 feet. Her place is tiny!)

Here is a video version of this card story if you’d like to follow along! Timestamps: Commu #1, Commu #2 , and Commu #3

Commu #1: “Not as bad as I thought.”

Location: Yuika’s Apartment

Yuika: ......Let’s see............?

Yuika: This area should be all safe, now......? I hid my idol merch away over there already......

Yuika: What to do with my camera......

Yuika: ......That should be fine to leave out, right......? Photography isn’t a hobby they’d judge me for......?

Yuika: ......Yes, I can do this! It’ll all be okay, Mitsumine, have confidence! 

Yuika: ──...... 

Yuika: ......Fufu, man.

Yuika: How did it end up like this.

(Flashback.)

Yuika: ......So, these are the reference materials Producer wants us to watch to prepare for acting in that horror mini-drama.

Kogane: Ack......!

Kiriko: Wah......!

Kogane: Hmmm~......! I don’ know if I'm strong enough for this...... 

Kiriko: Kogane-chan......

Yuika: Whew, man...... We're getting spooked just from seeing the covers of the DVDs.

Kogane: It's really required that we watch all these horror movies an' dramas......!? 

Yuika: Yup. They’re our reference material, so. 

Kogane: Hweh~......!

Kogane: I’ll jus', hafta push through it.....

Kogane: Well, I that's what I’d been thinkin’...... But...... ──!

Kogane: Nobody tol' me it was gonna be stuff this scary~!

Yuika: Nfufu......!

Yuika: (They gave Kogatan this job even though she said she’s no good with scary stuff...... The poor thing......)

Yuika: (......Though, she’s still going through with watching everything. That Kogatan’s really got guts......)

Yuika: ──Crap!

Yuika: (Need to hide this stuff away too.)

Yuika: (......So, what’s left...... I still need to clean, and I guess I should buy some guest cups for Kogatan and Kiririn to use, too......?)

Yuika: Hmmm......

Yuika: (......This would be a good opportunity to get a set for all five of us...... It probably won’t be long before I’m inviting the entire unit over, anyway──)

Yuika: ──Uh-oh.

Yuika: Oh, no no no...... Not so fast, Mitsumine...... Let’s not get ahead of ourselves......

Yuika: ......Whew.

Yuika: This really wasn’t what I intended to happen, y’know.

Kogane: I know we gotta watch ‘em...... ! I know we gotta, but......

Kogane: I couldn’t handle watchin’ stuff like this if I’m at home all alone!

Yuika: Ahahah, I feel you there.

Kiriko: ......

Kiriko: Maybe we could all...... Watch them together......

Kogane: ...! Y’all’d be willin’ to watch ‘em with me!?

Yuika: All of us need to watch them anyway. So it just makes sense to watch them together! 

Kiriko:  Fufu...... Yes......

Kogane: Yuika......! Kiriko......! Thanks, y’all~......!

(Kiriko and Yuika both nod.)

Yuika: ──So, where should we host our little horror screening? Here at the office?

Kiriko: Um, well...... If we do it here at the office.....

Kiriko: ──Other people here might..... Get scared......

Kogane: Kiriko’s got a point.........

Kogane: Imagine if someone came into the office totally unaware an' saw horror on the TV. If that happened to me I'd probably start screamin’......

Yuika: Yeah.....

Yuika: (...... But, in that case, we don’t have a place......)

Kogane: ......

Kogane: ......Well, I guess, we could do it at my place then, like we usually do......

Yuika: Ah──

Yuika: (With Kogatan being so scared, we probably shouldn't watch them at her place if it can be avoided......)

Kiriko: If we can’t do it at Kogane’s place...... Maybe, I could......──

Yuika: (......Then Kiririn lives with her family...... And we’re probably gonna be really loud......)

Yuika: (............)

Yuika: ......Hey, I know! Why don’t we change it up!

Yuika: How about it, you two── Wouldn’t you like to pay your first-ever visit to my humble abode?

Kiriko & Kogane: !

Yuika: Halloween is almost here, too.

Yuika: I don’t think it’ll be anything fancier than us all snacking on candy together, but we could try and make our get-together a bit more festive──

Yuika: How’s a cozy little viewing party at my place sound?

Yuika: (Instead of “Wouldn’t you like to”, I should have said “Would you like to”.)

Yuika: (I just want to keep up my image, is all──)

Yuika: ──Alright, that looks much better! Now, there's no need to worry about them thinking I’m a freak!

Yuika: Be it Kogatan or Kiririn, my apartment’s all ready for you now! 

Yuika: ──I sure hope Halloween gets here soon~.

———– Commu #1 END ———–

Commu #2: “I know I’ll be lonely after they leave.”

Kogane: ......Why are they goin’ that way!? There’s clearly somethin' scary over there...... !

Yuika: No doubt about it~.

Yuika: But unless “something scary” shows up, the plot can’t go anywhere.

Kogane: These people are too eager to go places!

Kogane: They gotta be more careful.....! Value their lives some.....!

(Clatter from the TV.)

Kogane: ......*gasp*!

(Door creak from the TV .)

Kogane: No! Don’ open it! That doors gotta have somethin' scary behind it, I jus’ know somethin’s gonna jump out~!

Kogane & Yuika & Kiriko: ......*gasp*......!

Kogane: ......H-Huh...... I guess not......?

Kiriko: Y-Yes...... It looks like we were mistaken......

Kiriko: Thank goodness......

Yuika: No, it’s behind──

(Screams from the TV.)

Kogane: GYAAAAAAAAAAAA~!?!?

Kiriko: ......Awah!

Kogane: Trickin’ us like that ain’t fair! It jus’ ain’t faaair~~~!

Yuika: A-Ahahah...... ! That was real scary, huh......

Yuika: I thought I'd prepared myself, but it still got me......

Kiriko: Yuika-chan...... You’re amazing......

Kiriko: You could tell it was coming......

Yuika: Well yeah, the flags were obvio--......

Kiriko: ......Huh?

Yuika: Oh, nothing!

Yuika: Anyway, it still really surprised me. Even though I saw it coming!

Kiriko: Fufu...... Yes......

Kogane: ──Augh! There they go again, headin’ right into another dangerous-lookin’ room...... !

Kiriko: Ah......

Yuika: Ahhh......

Yuika: ......Horror sure is a lot, huh......

(Transition.)

Kogane: ......Phew~......! Horror really wears ya out, don’ it...... !

Yuika: It sure does...... I guess that’s one way watching these movies is helping us prepare for the drama shoot.

Kiriko: In the drama...... We’ll just have to do our best......

Yuika: Uh-huh.

Yuika: We’ve gotta make like in those movies and run right into all the dangerous-looking rooms -- Or maybe try carrying around an obviously haunted doll!

Kogane: Yuika~! Don’ go sayin’ stuff like that!

Yuika: Ahahah, sooorry.

Kogane: When yer dealin’ with ghosts the best thing to do is try an’ fool ‘em...... ! Or even better, hit ‘em with the ol’ “Trick-or-Treat”!

Kiriko: Yes......!

Yuika: Uh? But why?

Kogane: I hear sayin’ "Trick or Treat” is also a way of wardin’ off evil durin’ Halloween. So I bet it works jus’ as well for wardin’ off ghosts!

Kiriko: It’s the first time...... You’ve ever invited us over......

Kiriko: So we thought it’d be nice...... If we brought you something......

Kogane: Me an’ Kiriko thought of it together!

Kogane: An' if one of them ghosts from the movies tries to pay us a visit, we’ll make ‘em go away with a “Trick or Treat”!

Kogane: Anyhow! Trick or Treat, Yuika~!

Kiriko: Trick or Treat...... Yuika-chan......

Kogane: Here’s the candy we brought, so now it’s yer turn, Yuika~!

Kiriko: Fufu...... Yes......

Kiriko: We tell Mr. Ghost...... See you another time......

Yuika: Oh, you two......

Yuika: ......Heh, thanks a lot.

Yuika: ──I guess it’s time to get out the candy I'd secretly prepared for my treasured guests, then!

Kogane: Nfufu~! That’s our Yuika~!

Kiriko: Fufufu...... Secret...... Candy...... ♪ 

Yuika: Fufuuun! Happy Halloween... Kogatan, Kiririn!

———– Commu #2 END ———–

Commu #3: “This is a conversation we’ve never had before, isn't it.”

Mamimi: That reminds me... How did the drama shoot this morning go?

Kogane & Yuika & Kiriko: !

Sakuya: Oh, yes. I’m quite curious to know the details as well.

Sakuya: Please, do tell.

Yuika: ......I’ll tell you what happened, but......

Yuika: Can you both promise that no matter what I say...... You won’t freak out...... ?

Mamimi & Sakuya: ......!

Kogane: Oh c’mon, Yuika~! Don' start talkin’ all weird!

Yuika: Ahahah, I figured you wouldn’t like that.

Sakuya: Yuika......?

Yuika: I’m sorry, Sakuyan! Anyway, it went well! No issues at all!

Yuika: In the studio hallway there were people dressed up as ghosts who'd pop out and try to scare us. Kogatan screamed the whole time. That kinda thing.

Yuika: After the shoot they brought us snacks shaped like ghosts for refreshments, and Kogatan even got freaked by those......

Kogane: Why're ya only talkin’ about what I did!?

Yuika: Well, your reactions were what left the biggest impression......

Kiriko: Fufu...... Yes......

Kiriko: The drama...... Was a scary story......

Kiriko: But the whole time...... I was having so much fun.....

Mamimi: Well isn't that a shame.

Mamimi: Considering I’ve heard that studio is haunted.

Kogane: Hweh~!?

Mamimi: There’s been a lot of ghost sightings there, don’t you know?

Kogane: H-Hweh~~~......?

Kiriko: ......!

Mamimi: Maybe what you saw in the shoot were--

Kiriko: Mamimi-chan......!

Yuika: That’s enough, Mamimin. Kogatan is probably gonna pass out if you keep going. Knock it off.

Mamimi:  Boo.

Yuika: Look, you’re making Kiririn worry too.

Yuika: While I do apologize that our experience didn’t meet your expectations!

Yuika: The three of us have never encountered any actual ghosts, and we didn’t see any during today’s shoot either!

Yuika: Right, Kogatan! Kiririn!

Kogane: T-that’s right!

Kiriko: Yes......!

Mamimi: Well, that’s just too bad.

Sakuya: Fufu. How about this then, Mamimi.

Sakuya: While it won’t be the same as real ghosts, there’s still something spooky we could do.

Mamimi: ......You’re saying we should watch the drama they were in, right?

Sakuya: Ah, it’s as if you read my mind, Mamimi.

Sakuya: What do you think? We can look forward to seeing what they shot today when it airs.

Mamimi: ......Sounds pretty good.

Mamimi: And if I record it, I can have everyone’s terrified faces preserved on my TV forever.

Yuika: Oh hush, just how weak do you think we were?

Mamimi:  Fufu, I guess we’re gonna find out.

Sakuya: Although it will hurt my heart deeply to watch the three of you in peril......

Sakuya: I am really looking forward to seeing the fruits of your hard work.

Kogane: Me too!

Kogane: Though, watchin’ it on my own...... Might be a bit too scary~......

Kiriko: Then......

Kiriko: When it airs...... Let’s watch it together......

Yuika: Ah!

Yuika: Oh hey, in that case! How about this!

Yuika: If it’s cool with everyone, why don’t we watch it at my place──

(Everyone nods.)

———– Commu #3 END ———–

Thanks for reading! While Mitsumine is still hiding her hobbies from L’Antica, It makes me so happy to see her slowly opening herself up to them more and more. I hope that in the near future Mitsumine will be able to invite over her friends without hiding away all the things she’s passionate about. (Just gotta wait for that Mitsumine-focus scenario event...)

If anyone would be interested in using this script (with credit of course) to make a subbed version of this card, please contact me here or on Twitter!

[letstalksymphogear]

Symphogear, EP. 2

Last time, on Symphogear!

An adorable little girl, stood up by her date for a reasonable explanation, jams it out with her favorite pop duo, caught unawares that they are also a monster-fighting syndicate experimenting with the power of sound (the power to make you dizzy) to activate an ancient historical relic. Shit goes south as the jams prove to be too powerful, guaranteeing tragedy amidst an otherwise baller concert. Hibiki is rescued by The Bigger Of The Lesbians before she self-destructs to make sure the entire threat is neutralized, leaving The Smaller Lesbian sad, yet still incredibly gay. Years pass as our protagonist goes to Music School, for Music, to bunk it up with her girlfriend as she tries to figure out what the hell happened. Her prayers are answered when she tries to rescue a little girl and is promptly cornered, activating the same outfit The Bigger Lesbian that saved her had on. Gungnir Dattos all around, The Smaller Lesbian loses her shit as everything goes downhill from there.

Now, where were we?

...right. The piss beacon.

And the person taking the piss.

Hibiki has nary a clue what to do. Symphogears don’t actually come with manuals, you see. They’re sort of a “close your eyes and wing it” kind of experience. In Tsubasa’s case, it’s quite literal.

“FUCK that was COOL AS SHIT, tight as FUCKING HELL”

Take pity on this face. This is the face of someone who’s last memories will be a confused lady wondering why she is suddenly part machine.

“imma save you widdle kid”

Something to note about this show is that all the fighters sing while fighting. Hibiki is no exception, even after being confused about what the hell she’s doing. It helps that her voice actress is a professional singer.

It helps that every voice actress here is some sort of professional singer.

This picture basically summarizes why Hibiki is cool despite being so goddamned dumb. She’s angry, and she’s gonna protect some kids even if she dies doing it. Kanade would be proud, if she wasn’t too busy being dead.

No shit!

Have you ever watched the original Sam Reimi’s Spiderman? Like, the very first one? You know all those awkward scenes about Spiderman learning how his powers work? Hibiki basically does that under crunch time. There’s a long segment about how she’s forced to figure things out while protecting a kid and Not Dying.

It’s going pretty great.

I can’t believe she’s secretly Steve Urkel.

“cannot FUCKING believe that girl my girlfriend saved managed to GET HER HANDS on her FUCKING CLOTHES that I WANTED to ENSHRINE IN A MEMORIAL to her how the FUCK did she do that cant BELIEVE i have to SAVE HER IDIOT ASS because she just CANT EVEN DO THAT-”

Tsubasa, preparing herself as a contender for the World’s Angriest Lesbian, barrels through the Noise in her motorcycle...

...which she smashes directly into the Noise. It does nothing.

Tsubasa has many a motorcycle to smash. It’s a testament to her dedication following her aesthetic.

She fueled the tank completely before smashing it in.

Tsubasa... is petty.

As Tsubasa t-poses to assert dominance (a woman ahead of her time, this first aired in 2012), she comes down ready to kick some ass and vent some frustrations. And frankly? She’s all out of ass.

“oh my god she’s even hotter up close i cant believe it”

“fucking knock-off outfit looks like it came out of a bootleg flea market”

You don’t need to know what happens next, because you already know what happens when someone shows up with a fucking sword ready to sing about their dead girlfriend and the conflicting feelings about seeing her armor pop up again on someone else.

Murder.

Lots... and lots... of murder.

“we’re so fucking useless why do we even exist”

After Tsubasa finishes what could only be described as a massacre, we’re treated to how people clean up the aftermath.

“hey, you know, make fun of me all you want, but at the end of the day, im the one holding the vacuum cleaner, and you’re literally turned to dust, so”

Even this little girl knows shit’s about the go down. Got the tea and everything.

This is one of the minor characters of the series. She works for the 2nd Division. Who is the 2nd Division? You’ll find out soon.

“i didnt die! fuck yeah. today’s a good day.”

“OH WAIT NO-”

Hibiki learns that her outfit unsets after a while, like bideo game. Who catches her mid-fall?

Her new best friend, of course. Don’t be fooled by this look. Tsubasa tragically suffers from resting angry face syndrome. It is, unfortunately, incurable.

“i hate how cute she is”

Hibiki reminds her that this is technically the second time Tsubasa has saved her, which in the large scheme of things, seems incredibly innocuous for someone who escaped a major tragedy many years ago. Unfortunately, time doesn’t move forward for Season 1 Tsubasa. Not for quite a while...

The funny part is it doesn’t even hit her initially. She never actually saw Hibiki personally during that moment, so she actually doesn’t even have a clue what she means.

Look at her. Look at this clown. How could you hate her. Look at that smile.

All the survivors are always forced to write NDAs about what they saw. This grows to comical levels at times, given the scale of what happens eventually. It might as well be the world’s biggest open secret by now.

“aight homies looks like i gotta go home, the wife’s gonna be lonely an-”

Oh.

“sorry holmes but you’re going to gay baby jail like the rest of us singers”

Hibiki’s face is riddled with guilt. The guilt of someone who just saved a little girl. How dare you, Hibiki. This is what you get for doing The Right Thing.

And so she’s taken to “jail.”

“sorry pal but you literally turned into a huge weapon and you have no idea how to use it so!”

And so, Hibiki was never seen again...

Alright, so she really isn’t going to jail. She is genuinely being taken into custody, though. To be honest, this kind of handcuff procedure is sort-of ridiculous for someone who literally just saved children, and you could probably bribe her to join them with a 10 piece chicken dinner, but hey, fuck it. 2nd Division has protocols, and that is to arrest people.

“i cant believe i was a fan of a narc all this time”

The school has a giant elevator that goes deep into the Earth. Also, look at that symbolism. Hibiki’s the only one looking at her own reflection. Deep.

Thanks, Tsubasa.

The interior decorator for this elevator is wild.

Tsubasa forbodes where they’re all going as some ominous, strange, and evil place where joy and happiness die. Where good feelings and innocence are destroyed, and hope is crushed and ripped at the seams.

As it turns out, Tsubasa is just an angsty piece of shit.

So here’s the situation:

The 2nd Branch, which are the people in charge of poking relics until they glow with the power of music to study and harness the power of as weapons to kill the Noise, live in a several mile deep high tech basement of an all girl���s boarding school dedicated to music. This is because, for the record, that the girls recruited to this school have the habit of being a little bit attuned to these relics. Hibiki, a newly christened Gear user, is now being recruited into this organized by Genjuro.

“i never got this kind of party when i was recruited”

“thats because nobody liked you, hans”

“im skipping my soaps for this”

“fucking hate my twin brother hans”

“she?????? gets a party??? SHE. gets a party. I DON’T GET A PARTY. SHE... GETS A PARTY? and i dont get a fucking party. i was literally BORN into this job. NOBODY gives me a damn party. this MORON who CLOWNS AROUND with her SUBPAR SONGS. gets a party. oh my god. oh my GOD. FUCK. FUCK!”

“if this is what its like to get arrested i gotta be gayer and do more crimes”

“I’m not actually surprised. I’m just pretending to be. I’m just really not good at pretending to be surprised.”

“fucking hate this family, im gonna eat all of hibikis cake and cry in my room”

Remember: This show first released in 2012. Ryoko? Trendsetter.

Ryoko’s screen is very dirty and foggy. Don’t ask why. Don’t even remember why I pointed this out. Just forget this point completely.

Hibiki understands that handcuffs just aren’t fashionable.

Genjuro casually explains that they’re the fictional japanese equivalent of the NSA, all while doing magic tricks. Truly a man of many talents.

Tsubasa is already plotting how to vent about all this in her diary, which she addresses as letters of Kanade every time she writes in it.

Genjuro and Ryoko introduces themselves as everyone else apologizes to her, except Tsubasa.

Ogawa also intro- yes, I’m recycling a picture- introduces himself. He’s pretty cool, too, and serves as Tsubasa’s ninja bodyguard, butler, and all around mentor. We never get a backstory on him, and likely never will. It’s best to keep it that way; it only adds to the mystery of who the hell this guy is.

“weird flex but okay”

Hibiki realizes she’s being recruited, after being told she’s being recruited. Given some brain cells remain in her head, she asks the obvious and wonders what the hell happened to her.

“ryoko, care to explain?”

“well, it’s simple. you’re the protagonist now.”

Ryoko, who has no sense of boundaries, subjects Hibiki to a medical inspection. As creepy as her tone is, its to inspect the state of Hibiki’s newly formed gear.

She’s finally freed from that long winded event and returns home to her wife.

“buddy you smell like shit. and french fries.”

“hibiki. you’re not dead, hibiki. come on, get up. i just cleaned this floor, hibiki. hibiki, please. this is genuinely unbecoming of you. hibiki, oh my god.”

“miku please i learned how to kick ass and im tired and please let me enjoy this nice floor”

Tsubasa does the thing real life Symphogear and all related products never actually bother to do.

“god she’s so gay for her but i know she’d never cheat on me so”

Hibiki ruminates on the day she’s had. This is where the really dumb angst comes in. You see, Hibiki can’t tell anyone about what happened, and Miku, now a civilian in her eyes, cannot know about her alter ego Symphogear antics. Hibiki feels bad about this.

“y u no trust me. y u no tell me troof. im wife.”

After a brief heart to heart Hibiki smiles and snuggles her girlfriend.

They’re gay.

“im gonna marry her knowing full well she’ll sleep through the ceremony. god.”

[a-year-of-musicals]

Day 42/365 - High School Musical 2

By Peter Barsocchini

At East High, the school year comes to an end as everyone is excited for their summer vacation (What Time Is It?). Troy and Gabriella are still together, and Troy decides to look for a summer job to boost his college funds for next year.

Sharpay and Ryan plan to spend their summer at their parents’ country club, “Lava Springs” (Fabulous) but Sharpay also plans to win over Troy, arranging for his employment at Lava Springs.

Troy manages to persuade boss, Mr Fulton, to hire Gabriella and his other friends too. Sharpay is furious to find that Gabriella is working as a lifeguard but doesn’t have the power to fire her, so she asks Fulton to give them difficult jobs so that they might quit. But, Troy gives the East High staff a pep talk encouraging them to stay in and try their hardest (Work This Out).

Troy continues to worry about having enough money to get him through college, and so Sharpay arranges for his promotion, in the hope that he will join her act for the club talent show. In the meantime, Kelsi writes a ballad for Troy and Gabriella and he agrees to sing with his friends for the show, unaware of Sharpay’s plans (You Are The Music In Me).

Ryan realises that Sharpay values him less than she used to as she is ready to bump her brother if Troy will duet with her. He tells Sharpay how he feels and says that he will no longer follow her orders. To help him feel included in things, Taylor and Gabriella invite him along to a baseball game, where Ryan persuaded the Wildcats to perform in the talent show (I Don’t Dance).

When Troy sees Gabriella spending time with Ryan - who I’m pretty sure is gay by the way haha - he starts to get jealous and feels a strain on their relationship. Keeping his “promise” to Sharpay however, he rehearsed their talent show song with her (You Are The Music In Me Sharpay Version).

When Sharpay finds out about Ryan and the Wildcats’ performance, she orders Fulton to ban junior staff from talent show participation. Gabriella decides to confront Sharpay about this and consequently quits her job as lifeguard at the country club. Troy overhears her and he tries to change her mind, only for her to reveal that she has lost trust in him. She leaves Lava Springs, handing over the T necklace that he gave her at the start of the summer, implying that their relationship has come to an end (Gotta Go My Own Way).

Troy returns to work as normal except his friends are no longer speaking to him. Kelsi silently shows him Fulton’s notice regarding the talent show and Troy begins to question his motivations (Bet On It). He makes up with Chad and the rest of his friends before confronting Sharpay, saying that he will not sing with her. The Wildcats forgive Troy and convince him to go ahead with the talent show performance anyway. Troy agrees so long as the Wildcats are allowed to perform again.

Minutes before the show, Ryan gives Troy a new song to learn as he tells him that Sharpay has changed the song at the last minute. As Troy goes onstage, he asks Sharpay why she switched songs and it is then revealed that Ryan has tricked her. Troy starts to sing the new song by himself until he is joined by Gabriella! (Everyday). After the talent show, Sharpay gives Ryan with the Show award and everyone goes to celebrate at the golf course fireworks display.

At the end of the summer vacation, there is a celebratory pool party for all the staff to attend (All For One).

Oh this was dramatic! Sharpay trying to steal Gabriella’s man, Ryan denouncing his own twin sister, Chad and the Wildcats singing! The songs in this are amazing too!

Favourite songs: Fabulous, Work This Out, You Are The Music In Me, You Are The Music In Me Sharpay Version, I Don’t Dance, Gotta Go My Own way, Bet On It

Favourite character: Ryan Evans

Again, Ryan has wowed me. It took guts to stand up to his bossy twin sister and take the lead. He brought people together through sport and music and gave Gabriella a friend when Troy was having his teen boy crisis. The real hero is Ryan.

[bevioletskies]

i put a spell on you

characters: peter/gamora, peter & gamora & groot, guardians-centric

summary: groot was just a twig in a pot last halloween, so this year, he's determined to get the guardians to take him trick-or-treating.

word count: 12.5k

a/n: If you haven’t read the main fic, all you need to know is: a) the guardians attend a superhero school on earth, b) therefore they are in their early-to-mid 20s (except for rocket and groot), c) peter and gamora were fake-dating but are now dating for real, and d) they’ve been playing an “endless” game of twenty questions since they started fake-dating as a way of getting to know each other. very little of these plot points come up aside from the first one.

fic title is from the song i put a spell on you by nina simone.

ao3 | tag | masterpost

“I am Groot?”

Gamora let out a startled yelp of surprise, unceremoniously (and a little too suddenly for her liking) yanking her hand out of the front of Peter’s sweatpants, nearly tumbling off the bed in the process. “Aw, Groot what the he - heck?” Peter hollered, scrambling to pull his T-shirt back down over his exposed torso. “How’d you get in here?”

The little one, who was casually sitting on Peter’s desk, swinging his feet over the edge, gave a shrug of indifference, smiling at them both so innocently, completely unaware of what they had been doing, as if he hadn’t interrupted them. “I am Groot.”

“I dunno what you just said, but I hope that was an apology,” Peter grumbled, watching as Gamora turned away to hastily wipe her hand on the bedsheets. “Something wrong?” He quickly scanned Groot inquisitively, but he didn’t appear to be sick or injured. Peter frowned, eyes narrowing in suspicion. “Did Rocket send you? I swear, that guy has a weird fascination with catching us in the act - ” Gamora elbowed him before he could continue.

Groot stood, walking across the desk to point at the poster Peter had hung on the corkboard above its surface. “I am Groot.”

“The Halloween party? You can’t be serious,” Gamora said, straightening up. “Groot, it’s not exactly age-appropriate. There’s going to be alcohol served there. And inappropriate dancing that Peter’s going to fail at convincing me into doing.”

Pouting, Groot stomped his foot petulantly, nearly ripping the homework Peter had left lying out in the process. “I am Groot!” he whined.

Sighing, Gamora got to her feet, crossing the tiny bedroom to scoop him up and set him on her shoulder. “We’ll talk about this in the morning, okay? It’s past your bedtime and I have no patience for your antics right now.” He stuck his tongue out at her in response, tugging angrily on a loose strand of her hair. “Ow - hey! Don’t be like that, or I’m feeding you Chr’yllite larva for breakfast instead of pancakes.”

Peter laughed to himself as Gamora briefly left to put Groot to bed, leaning back onto the pillows. He was still a little annoyed about being interrupted - they hadn’t even managed to take their clothes off yet - but he couldn’t blame Groot for wanting to celebrate Halloween. The others had been curious about Terran customs and holidays as each one came and went, but in a way, this was Groot’s first Halloween, despite them having been here last October. He had just been a twig in a pot at the time, his mobility limited to wherever Rocket would set him down. Now that he was running around on his own two feet, his curiosity only grew stronger. They still wouldn’t let him go anywhere by himself, fearing he would accidentally get crushed in the crowds of people across campus, but they did take him out to see more places, hoping he would be familiar enough with his surroundings so that he could navigate by the time he was big enough to go out alone.

“Where were we?” Gamora slipped back in, firmly locking the door behind her, before crawling back onto the mattress. Her hands moved to push Peter’s shirt back up under his armpits, tracing a fingernail over his bare abdomen, her gaze seductive.

“Wait - before we continue - did we actually make Halloween plans yet?”

She raised an eyebrow at him before settling back to kneel on the bed, sitting firmly on her feet folded beneath her. “I assumed we were going to the party. We went last year, after all. You got completely wasted. I had to literally carry you back.”

“Oh, man. That hangover was the worst,” he chuckled, reaching to loosely tangle their fingers together, bringing them to rest on his stomach. “Y’know, maybe Groot’s onto something. Not the party, but we should do something else for him. Make his first real Halloween fun. It was one of my favorite holidays as a kid, maybe it can be his.”

“As long as we don’t give him too much sugar,” she warned. “I don’t think I have to remind you what happened when Mantis left him alone with a bag of her Twizzlers. We’re never going to get that puke stain out of the wood.” Gamora pulled her hand away from Peter’s, instead splaying her fingers across his pecs. In one fluid movement, she swung one leg over, bracing her knees against his hips, and lowered herself down against his front. “So. Did you want me to finish what I started anytime soon, or do you want to keep discussing our holiday plans?”

“Continue, please,” he murmured, cupping the back of her head so he could bring her in for a kiss. ______

“So, we’re in agreeance on the embassy job?” Peter blinked. “Guys? Hello?”

To his dismay, the only other person who seemed to be paying attention, as always, was Gamora. She was glaring daggers around the table on his behalf, and seemed all of five seconds away from pulling out an actual dagger. “HEY!” she barked.

Everyone jumped in their seats, looking up from their respective devices rather bewilderedly. “You tryna blow our ears out, girl?” Yondu grumbled, cupping a hand protectively over his own.

“Don’t test me, I’m still pissed about you trying to steal our money,” Gamora snapped, brandishing her pencil at him. “What is going on with all of you? The faster we finish this discussion, the faster you can return to your stupid phones.”

“But Janet posted something about there being a change of plans for Halloween this year,” Mantis explained, holding out her phone for Peter and Gamora to see. “To continue her efforts in unifying the campus and providing a more realistic college experience.”

“It looks quite interesting,” Drax added. “Participating in this ‘trick-or-treat’ business might be more desirable than getting as inebriated as we did last year.”

“Speak for yourself, that was a great time!” Rocket hooted, slamming a paw against the table in joy. “I’d do it again in a heartbeat.”

“Is this really what we’re talking about right now?” Gamora swatted the phone away, somewhat regretting it when Mantis gave her giant puppy-dog eyes in response. “We can talk about Halloween after we finish our line-up for November. Did everyone write out their due dates like I asked? We need to schedule around Peter’s debate and my combat final, I know that much, but as far as I can tell, no one else has given me anything. You can’t blame me if we end up off-planet during your engineering practical exam, Rocket.”

“God, you’re such a mom,” Nebula sighed, slouching across the surface of the table as if her elbows had suddenly stopped working (they hadn’t, she had performed a maintenance check on her robotic arm just last night). “Why am I even here? I’m not on this team, as you all like to remind me so often.”

“Director Fury says you and Yondu might get an early Christmas present this year and become official Guardians before December if you’re good,” Peter reminded her. “Might as well get used to it, Nebula.”

“Present? I want no part of this team if all it consists of is sitting around, talking,” she sneered. “Not to mention the fact that your last mission went horrendously.”

“What are you even talking about? It was the smoothest job we’d ever had,” Gamora frowned.

“Exactly. That sounds so incredibly boring.”

“It kinda was,” Rocket admitted, as much as he disliked agreeing with Nebula. “I’ve gotten used to the whole ‘almost-dying-and-having-to-save-everyone’s-butts-’cause-I-gotta-do-everything’ deal. This time, the most excitement we had was when Drax got a papercut.”

“It was very unpleasant,” Drax nodded solemnly. “I’m not used to seeing so much of my own blood. Only the blood of my enemies.”

“Can we finish this sometime today? Please?” Peter begged. “We have a whole week off ahead of us, and I don’t wanna ruin it with more team meetings.”

“I’m sorry, Quill, did you have plans?” Yondu said sarcastically. “I swear, all you ever do nowadays is hang with your girl.”

“Am I supposed to not hang out with Gamora?” Peter said, furrowing his brow in confusion. He glanced over at her, but she only shrugged, as perplexed as he was. “Besides, I do have plans that you would know about if you actually checked the freaking group calendar for once. Rocket and I were gonna go check out the new ammo they shipped into SHIELD yesterday. They repurposed some of the old Chitauri weapons from the Incident, and we know alien tech way better than anyone else.”

Groot perked up. “I am Groot?”

“Yeah, I guess you can come too,” Rocket said, patting him on the back. Pleased, Groot made his way down the table to Mantis, hefting her phone out of her hand and dragging it back towards Gamora, pointing at the screen eagerly.

“Groot…” Gamora let out another groan, running her fingers through her hair. Honestly, she had never experienced hair loss problems before becoming part of this team, and now she felt as if she were shedding like a Mephitisoid going bald. “Come on, now. We can discuss our plans after we finish, okay? I know you’re excited, but if we don’t get this done, we’re never going to have time to get back to it later.”

His bottom lip wobbling, Groot reluctantly returned to his spot by Rocket. Finally, Peter and Gamora managed to get their friends back on track, though they were all a little grumpier than they had been five minutes ago. Everyone answered with short, terse responses, uncharacteristically agreed with everything Peter and Gamora suggested, and got snappy whenever they were asked for their real opinions. After finishing all the items on the agenda, Gamora called for a break, completely fed up at this point with everyone but Peter. Even Mantis was starting to get on her nerves, a rarity for anyone. Drax and Mantis went to get dinner going, while Rocket and Yondu retreated to the cockpit to do their weekly Friday check-in call with Kraglin.

Peter, on the other hand, sprawled out onto the couch, gesturing for Gamora to join him. “I have a headache,” he told her. “Wait, let me rephrase that. This team is a headache.”

“At least we got everything out of the way for next month,” she sighed, settling into his side. “If you can even call it that. Not a single argument out of anyone. Rocket agreed to an engine cleaning on a Saturday.” She laid her head on his chest, smiling a little at the sound of his steady heartbeat. At least Peter had become much more reliable in their time together. His tendency to get distracted by other things was starting to diminish in favor of keeping them efficient. “It’d be nice if someone other than you and I actually cared about investing time and effort into our job outside of the missions themselves. To be quite frank, we’d be in debt if I wasn’t constantly, actively looking for work.”

“Yeah, and all Rocket wants to know is how much we’re making. It’s never ‘what’ or ‘how’.” Peter shook his head in disappointment as he slung an arm around her shoulders. “And thanks, Gamora. I dunno if you hear that enough.”

“Honestly, I don’t. At least, not from the others. You're almost a little too complimentary sometimes, especially when you want something,” she teased, patting him affectionately on the stomach. “And the whole ‘mom’ comparison, that’s starting to bother me. I don’t mind it in relation to Groot, or even referring to you and me as the parental unit of this team, but it does feel degrading and dismissive at times.”

“Then ask them to stop,” he suggested. “Make ‘em know you’re serious.”

Gamora’s gaze traveled to the armchair across from them, where Groot was lying on his belly, idly kicking his feet in the air, while he was flipping through a picture book. It was the kind meant to be read to babies, so it was small in size, but it still looked relatively large compared to Groot, who was barely a foot tall. “I suppose he brings out a maternal instinct in me, one that I thought would have never existed in the first place, but I still don’t see how my other behaviors make me everyone else’s mother,” she continued.

Groot seemed to sense that they were talking about him, his head shooting up immediately, turning to look towards the couch. “I am Groot?” he asked hopefully. Peter paused for a moment, trying to translate, before patting his lap, indicating that he could join them. Beaming, Groot hopped down from his spot and skipped cheerfully across the floor, climbing up Peter’s leg so he could lie on his stomach.

“It’s a dumb stereotype, I guess. But you have to admit, you kind of always sound like you’re five seconds away from giving everyone a time-out,” Peter chuckled, running a gentle finger along Groot’s spine.

“So you think I should take a more relaxed approach? I wouldn’t know how,” Gamora admitted, reaching to scratch under Groot’s chin. The little one let out a satisfied sigh, snuggling deeper into Peter, his eyes sliding closed in contentment. “It’s hard to be patient with such aggravating individuals. I’m hardly ever mad at Groot or Mantis, but everyone else…”

“Hey, I didn’t hear my name on that list of yours,” he teased, pinching her arm playfully.

“Don’t pretend like you’re a saint, Peter, our last fight was only two days ago,” she retorted, swatting at him.

“I still maintain that SHIELD agent was definitely hitting on you.”

“And I still maintain that I can fight my own battles just fine, thank you,” she said with a huff. Groot stirred a little, sleepily drifting over into Gamora’s lap, before settling back down. “You really shouldn’t be so hostile to everyone who looks at me strangely.”

“He wanted to do more than look, trust me,” he mumbled.

“Okay, we’re not getting into this again. I’m not in the mood to argue with Groot sleeping on me,” she groaned. “Speaking of, Halloween. Let’s talk about what we’re doing, otherwise, the others are probably going to start a riot.”

“Well, like I said, we should do something for the kid,” Peter replied, a fond smile slowly spreading across his face as he observed Groot, who was sucking on Gamora’s thumb as he slept. It was an odd habit of his that he didn’t do with anyone else, but like anything Groot did, it was heart-meltingly adorable to witness. “We haven’t been spending a lot of time with him lately, what with the crapload of midterms we’ve been having.”

“That is why I was suggesting we go along with Janet’s new Halloween plans,” Mantis said smugly, appearing in front of them seemingly out of nowhere. “If you had looked at what I was showing you…” Relenting, Gamora held out her hand with a reluctant sigh, allowing Mantis to finally pass her the phone. “As you can see, Janet has decided to forgo her big party with alcohol and dancing, for something a little more school-friendly, since there are many underage students as well. Did you go trick-or-treating as a child, Peter?”

“Yeah, with my mom,” Peter nodded. At Mantis’s inquiring eyebrow, he added, “Honestly, I didn’t really...have...friends.”

“That’s a shame,” Mantis frowned, sitting on Peter’s other side. “Well, you have plenty now. Even if we annoy you sometimes.” She chewed her lip thoughtfully, her antennae drooping slightly in shame. “I am sorry if we have upset you - both of you - earlier.”

“If anyone needs to apologize, it’s certainly not you,” Gamora said reassuringly, reaching across to pat the other girl’s hand. “I’m still trying to correct Nebula’s attitude, and Yondu and Rocket could use a talking-to as well. They’re all improving, if a little slower than I’d like to see.”

“Speaking of Nebula, you two have been spending a lot of time together recently,” Peter added, gesturing at Mantis. “How’s it going with that girl you have a crush on?” He had admittedly been a little surprised when Mantis confessed a little while ago that she had romantic feelings for someone - socialization and cultural understanding were still difficult for her at times - but ever since then, he’d been trying his best to leave her be, allowing her to figure things out alone instead of attempting to insert himself into what was clearly an emotional situation for her.

“Those are two completely unrelated questions,” Mantis squeaked. “Nebula keeps telling me to use my powers on that person, but I do not find it very ethical. I am also too afraid of discovering the truth. How did you two do it?”

Peter and Gamora exchanged dubious glances before looking back at Mantis. “I don’t think we’re exactly sure, either,” Gamora confessed. “After all, we had quite a lot of misunderstandings and miscommunication. But I suppose it’s all in a day’s work for Peter,” she added teasingly.

“Hey!” he protested, though the wrinkle between his brows eased away when Gamora pecked him quickly on the cheek.

"I’m kidding,” she promised, though there was still a wink of mirth in her eyes. There was a sudden sound of crashing from up above, followed by Yondu hollering loud enough to rattle the ship. Sighing, Gamora set Groot back into Peter’s lap, getting to her feet. “I better intervene before they break something. I’d rather not spend our money on pointless repairs, after all. Mantis, maybe you and Peter could start planning for Halloween together in the meantime?”

“Sure,” Mantis smiled, turning towards her brother as Gamora left the room. “So, what exactly is this ‘trick-or-treat’?”

“Well, it’s a phrase you say when you go to someone’s door, usually,” Peter explained, gently bouncing Groot in his arms. “It doesn’t really mean anything, though people used to expect either a trick - a prank, or a treat - candy. It’s usually just for kids, and they’ll dress up in costumes, go in groups door-to-door. It’s mostly an excuse for free sugar.”

“Interesting,” Mantis said, her face lighting up at the sound of sugar. “It says on the invite that Janet has volunteers setting up booths and secret hidden places for students to get candy from. A mix of both a scavenger hunt and a campus-wide haunted house.”

Peter nearly jumped out of his seat in excitement, almost jostling Groot awake in the process. “Okay, that sounds freaking amazing, and we’re definitely doing that. I’m not even mad that there’s no dancing this time.”

“You almost fell over last year because you were sooo drunk,” Mantis reminded him. “You puked on Carol’s shoes.”

“Yeah, well, she’s mad at me for about a million other things, anyways, what’s vomit gonna do?” Peter shrugged sheepishly.

Once dinner was served, the ship was blessedly quiet for about two minutes before Groot gave up on the baby spoon the others had purchased for him, and instead began sticking his fingers in his mash. Gamora was itching to chastise him as she often had to do, but hesitated this time out of worry that the others were going to make fun of her again. She instead prodded Peter on the arm, hoping he would understand. He shot her a curious glance before realizing what she wanted.

“Groot, buddy, we got you that spoon for a reason,” Peter said gently, reaching to nudge Groot’s arms out of his bowl. “If you make a mess, I’m not reading Brown Bear to you tonight.” Groot let out a squeal of panic before picking up his spoon and vigorously digging into his food, shoveling it into his mouth a little faster than he needed to. “And slow down before you choke.” Gamora shot Peter a grateful smile before turning back to her own plate.

“So, did you reach a consensus on our holiday plans?” she asked, looking across the table at Mantis.

“Janet will be transforming the entire campus into what she is calling ‘Wasp’s Wicked Wonderland’. It is a mix of a festival, a scavenger hunt, and a haunted house,” Mantis recited. “I think it sounds very exciting. We have been so busy with school and missions lately, it would be nice to have some fun as a group.”

“It could not possibly be any worse than last year’s disaster,” Drax said, nodding in agreeance. “Remember when Quill - ”

“Oh, my god, why is it always me? Did we just collectively forget that Rocket drunkenly challenged Stark to a weapon build-off, which, by the way, not a thing, and also not a thing to do when you’re drunk, and then went around asking people if he could take their cellphones apart?” Peter exclaimed.

“And then got yelled at by both Potts and Hill at the same time? I still have my video recording of that on my phone, it was quite glorious,” Nebula smirked, leaning back in her chair a little.

“Well, I definitely won,” Rocket said, a little more defensively than he meant to, folding his arms. “It was like Stark wasn’t even trying.”

“That’s because he wasn’t, he was too busy hitting on me,” Gamora retorted, wrinkling her nose a little at the memory. Tony hadn’t meant any harm - to his credit, he had backed off the second she told him to go away - but it was so odd to think about it now, how different he had been, how different she had been. “So, are we in agreement? Would anyone like to not participate?” Her eyes immediately went to her sister, though to her surprise, Nebula didn’t say anything. She instead opted to push her vegetables around her plate slowly, staring into them intensely, as if she were willing them to tell her the right answer. “Neb?”

“Well, my other choice is to sit around on the ship alone, my favorite pastime,” Nebula mused aloud, stabbing at her peas more viciously than necessary. Out of the corner of her eye, she could see Mantis pouting rather childishly in her direction. “But I suppose I can make an exception. Just this once. Otherwise, god knows you’ll bother me about it ‘til the end of my existence. Or yours.”

“That’s the spirit,” Peter said sarcastically. Gamora gave him a warning poke with the handle of her butter knife. “Yondu, how about you? You’ve been pretty quiet.”

“Sorry,” Yondu said immediately, and it was so unexpected that Peter didn’t even attempt to hide his stunned expression. “Kraglin was tellin’ me about how he’s strugglin’ out there, tryna get them other Ravager clans to help him build us up again, get some recruits. Ever since we lost a good chunk of his friends to the Black Order, it’s been...rough.”

“Has he considered - ” Gamora began, but Yondu cut her off, fierce.

“No,” he said adamantly. “He ain’t interested in being at this school. He’s damn good at what he does, especially now that he’s captain. He’s just been havin’ some difficulties, that’s all.” He glanced over to meet Peter’s sympathetic gaze. “And sure, Quill, I’ll be a part of this Halloween thing. But only ‘cause I’ll be pretty bored otherwise. And I’d like to get my mind off the whole Kraglin business.”

“Glad to hear someone else is as enthused as me,” Nebula said, setting her fork down. “Are we done with this discussion yet?”

“You got somewhere better to be?” Rocket countered.

“Away from you would be a good start,” Nebula sneered.

“Can we not do this tonight, guys?” Peter groaned, holding out his arms in precaution. Rocket tended to leap across the table to bite in the heat of his own anger. “I’m still not cool with how you were behaving earlier during the meeting, y’know.”

“Whatever you say, Dad,” Rocket snickered, grabbing his plate and heading into the kitchen. Nebula let out what sounded like an attempt to hold in her laughter - or maybe it was just a hiccup? - before she disappeared down the corridor, retreating to hide in her bedroom for the rest of the night as she always did.

Peter looked over at Gamora, perplexed. “Wow, okay, that does feel weirdly condescending.” She gave him a sympathetic shrug before standing to clear the table. ______

The weekend, for the most part, had the Guardians scattered across campus. As with all the students, the particularly grueling midterm season, paired with Halloween landing on a Tuesday, led to Director Fury making the generous decision to cancel classes for the entire week. He also suspected they had another alien invasion on the horizon, but that was another story.

Peter’s Saturday was spent at SHIELD with Rocket and Groot, evaluating the Chitauri weapons that even the highest-ranking SHIELD officials couldn’t figure out. Meanwhile, Gamora and Nebula managed to drag Drax and Mantis to the gym in hopes of doing a trial run for their future combat lessons. They had finally gone through all the mundane paperwork to get their fight clinic set up, and they decided it would be best to start fresh in January, at the start of the spring semester.

On Sunday, Peter found Yondu sulking in the Milano’s cockpit, where had also been hiding the previous day, and convinced him to join him on the loading bay so they could work on repairing the major issues that had come about as a result of their last mission. They had been working in companionable silence for about fifteen minutes before Peter couldn’t stay quiet any longer.

“If there’s anything I can do about Kraglin...or the Ravagers…” He trailed off, unsure of what else to say.

“They ain’t your responsibility, Quill, so don’t worry about it,” Yondu sighed. “I jus’ worry about them a little too much, that’s all.”

“It’s just...weird. I’ve never heard you apologize before,” Peter said half-jokingly. “I know I haven’t talked to Kraglin in a while, but he’s family, too. Tell him, if he needs anything from me, I’ll be there. Well, within reason. I’ve got my limits, y’know.”

“Don’t have to tell me,” Yondu snorted, poking at Peter with a wrench. “So...things are goin’ pretty good with your girl. Never seen you so smitten.”

“Aw, come on, are we really doin’ this right now?” Peter complained, yanking one of the damaged panels free. He let out a yelp when an electric spark flashed in front of his face. “You guys were the ones pushin’ so hard for us to be together so we’d stop being dumbasses and focus on other stuff, except now you won’t stop talking about it. Which one is it, Yondu?”

“Come on now, I already gave you all the speeches I got in me about love, boy. I jus’ thought it was interesting, seeing how diff’rent you are to how you were back before all this Guardians business,” Yondu commented, smirking. “You were quite the flirt when you were a young’n. Now, you’re a committed man. Ain’t nothing wrong with that. For what it’s worth, you’re a damn good pair.”

“Thanks, I guess,” Peter said, shooting Yondu a suspicious glance. He slid on his protective gloves and began poking around at the wires inside. He loved his ship inside and out, but sometimes, looking at her actual insides made him wonder how she managed to run at all. “Yeah, I guess I didn’t know what I was lookin’ for in a relationship so I never gave it an honest try. Then I met Gamora, and I realized it was a person and not a list of qualities, y’know? It was her I was looking for all along.”

“You two are sappy as hell,” Yondu chuckled with a shake of his head, passing Peter a pair of wire cutters. “And here, I thought, ‘Gamora, she’s a toughie, she don’t cry or laugh nearly as much as Quill. She ain’t the affectionate type’. But shit, I was wrong.”

“What type am I, then?” Both of them startled at the sound of Gamora’s voice, rotating slowly on their heels to see her standing right behind them, arms crossed. “Go on, Yondu, tell me.”

“I ain’t taking your bait, girl,” Yondu said, moving aside so she could join them. “But you keep Quill in check. God knows he needs it.”

“What is this, ‘pick-on-Peter’ week?” Peter bemoaned.

“More like your entire existence, I think,” Gamora teased, settling down and pulling the toolbox closer to her. “Anyways, the others have left for the day, and I figured you two could use the extra set of eyes and hands.”

“As long as you two don’t start slobberin’ on each other, I’m good,” Yondu shrugged. Peter and Gamora shot him scarily synchronized dirty looks before turning back to the task at hand.

A few hours later, Yondu left to grab them lunch, snarking about how he didn’t want to come back to any “funny business”, resulting in Peter flipping him the bird on the way out. “Hey, come on, none of that,” Gamora scolded, gripping his hands and pushing them back down into his lap, her fingers wrapping around his wrists. “The last thing we need to be doing when we have a week off school is antagonize each other.”

He hung his head, somewhat ashamed. “Yeah, yeah, I know, you’re right. It’s just, it’s been a good six, seven weeks since we got together, and they still won’t stop teasing us about it. It’s really freaking annoying.”

“I’m sure they don’t mean it negatively, you know how they are,” she replied. “Besides, just do what I do. Threaten to kill them if they don’t stop.”

He laughed, moving to pull her a little closer to his side. “Yeah, well. That’s your default for everything.”

“It’s worked so far,” she retorted playfully. “Though maybe I should try that whole ‘relaxed compliancy’ approach. Be nicer or something.”

“Hey, that wasn’t what I meant,” he frowned, squeezing her hand. “You’re awesome just as you are, Gamora. You’re a good leader and a good friend. And you are nice. Maybe not always in the traditional sense of the word, but you’re not the same ‘stab first, talk later’ person you were when we first met. Don’t go changing just to make us happy. Do it ‘cause, y’know, you want to.”

“Always with the compliments,” she smiled. “Thank you, Peter.”

“You two makin’ eyes at each other, of course,” Yondu grumbled as he made his way back up the steps of the loading bay, armed with take-out containers and plastic cutlery. “Dunno why I was expectin’ anything else.”

On Monday, the day before Halloween, Peter came to the sudden and rather idiotic realization that they had, in fact, never gotten around to discussing their costumes. “It’s the most important part, how the hell did I forget?” he exclaimed in the middle of a group study session. The other Guardians, who were sprawled across the Milano’s living space, with varying levels of concentration, all startled at the sound of his voice. Groot nearly tumbled off the armrest of the couch. “Costumes, guys! Costumes!”

“Well, it’s kind of too late,” Gamora pointed out. “It’s almost seven, and we won’t be able to head into the city in time before the stores close.”

“Then we do what I do best,” Peter grinned. “We improvise.”

Which was how the Guardians found themselves dragging out the contents of their closets into the living room and dumping it all out onto the couch, partially because they didn’t really feel like studying (though honestly, when did they ever), but mostly because placating Peter was the better choice over upsetting him. He had gotten really good at sulking.

“When I was a kid, I always had this dream about having enough friends to do a group costume,” Peter told the others excitedly as they all poked around through his rather impressive array of red leather jackets. “Like Peanuts, or The Breakfast Club, or Star Wars.”

“You have strange fantasies, Quill,” Drax commented, patting him on the back consolingly. “But we will indulge you.”

“Thanks, man,” Peter said, grinning easily. “Oh - we could totally do Star Wars.”

“Only you and Gamora have seen those movies, dude, so you’re gonna have to fill us in,” Rocket snarked, tossing a T-shirt at Peter’s head.

“I’m obviously Han,” Peter continued, ignoring Rocket’s beady-eyed glare. “Gamora’s Leia. I guess Groot would be a pretty good Chewbacca if he was bigger, but that’s okay, buddy, you can still be Chewie whatever size you are.” Groot blinked at him in confusion but smiled a little vacantly regardless. “Wait! Nebula! You’re totally Luke! You have the robot hand and everything!”

“Do you ever hear yourself speak, or is it just the sound of wind whistling between your ears?” Nebula drawled.

“I imagine it to be more like carnival music,” Drax suggested.

“Or crickets,” Rocket crowed delightedly. “Oh, I am liking this game!”

“If we’re done picking on Peter, can we move on and continue planning our costumes, or do I have to put in a recommendation for sensitivity training again?” Gamora snapped, patting him comfortingly on the shoulder. “Alternatively, I could also drag you all to the gym for a 6 AM combat session tomorrow.” She paused, turning to Mantis. “Except you, of course.” She shot a glare at the rest of the group. “I wasn’t aware one had to be an empath to have some tact.”

The others fell silent, exchanging guilty looks across the room. “Sorry, Quill,” Drax mumbled.

Sullen, Peter turned away from them, pinching the bridge of his nose between his fingers. “Listen, I know you guys are just making fun of me ‘cause it’s easy, but I’ve been leading this team for two years, and I’d like to think I’ve earned your respect by now.”

“And you have it, boy,” Yondu said fiercely. “You’re a damn fine leader. We’re just bein’ assholes, y’know.” The others nodded in agreement, but it seemed to be too late. Peter got to his feet, shrugging off Gamora as she tried to pull him back down.

“Think I’m done for the night,” he sighed. “I’ll see you guys in the morning. Happy freaking Halloween.” He turned and ambled off down the corridor, disappearing into his bedroom with a firm click of his door closing behind him.

“Great job, everyone.” Gamora stood as well, gathering both her and Peter’s clothes up in her arms. “Do you feel better about yourselves now? Was any of that necessary?”

She retreated to Peter’s bedroom (though really, it was their bedroom at this point), finding him to have already changed into his pajamas and crawled under the sheets like a small child, the Walkman sitting on the pillow, beside his head, the quiet strains of a REO Speedwagon song streaming through his headphones, which were currently situated around his neck.

Before Gamora could say anything, Peter spoke first in a near-whisper. “They’re just...the worst.”

“We really should properly punish them one of these days. Their condescending attitudes towards others, and us especially, is really getting on my nerves.” She set the clothes she was carrying aside, quickly changed into her own pajamas, and crawled in next to him. Threading her fingers through his hair, she smiled ruefully as he turned to bury his face in her neck. “Do you want to sleep now?”

“Nah, too early.” He rolled over onto his back, staring up at the ceiling restlessly. “Can you...can you just talk? Hey, tell me about what you did on Saturday, I never got around to asking you.”

“It wasn’t particularly interesting,” she said slowly. “Training...schoolwork...the usual.”

“I always like hearing about your day.” He removed the headphones, setting his Walkman aside, winding his fingers with hers between them on the pillow. “Did you beat Drax?”

“Of course I did. At least three times.” She grinned at the memory. “His surprised cry every single time he hits the mat is the soundtrack of my personal victory.”

He chuckled, ducking to kiss her shoulder. “That’s my girl.” They fell silent again, eyes locked, contemplating. “Listen, I don’t wanna deal with my crap tonight, I’m just...I’m tired. I wanna spend the rest of the night just hanging out with you. Okay?”

She nodded, sliding her hand underneath his jaw, her thumb tracing gentle circles along the stubble on his chin. “Alright. So, Mantis was telling me about this news article she found online while doing research for her paper on women in superheroism…” ______

The next morning, Gamora woke to find Peter wrapped rather tightly around her, unwilling to get out of bed and face their friends. The idea of celebrating Halloween together seemed to have crumbled apart, what with their increasing insensitivity as of late. “Why do you think that is?” Peter mused aloud. “Is it really just because of us being an...us?”

“Maybe, maybe not. Do we really want to delve into the depths of their minds? I’d rather not psychoanalyze anyone, especially before breakfast,” Gamora said, smirking slightly. “But we should make it clear that we won’t tolerate this any longer. There’s a difference between teasing and malice, and it’s time they learned their lesson.”

“I love it when you get vaguely threatening,” Peter said lowly, leaning in to kiss her.

“Oh, I’m not being vague about it at all,” she murmured against his mouth.

Before either of them could close the gap, however, there was a sharp knock on the door. “Breakfast is ready,” Mantis called, albeit a little timidly. “Could you please come out soon?”

A few minutes later, they emerged from the bedroom, fully dressed, only to find the others sitting neatly on the couch together, hands folded in their laps, except for Rocket and Groot, who were occupying the armchair with equally solemn posture. “Uh, are you guys staging an intervention or something? I’m weirded out,” Peter said, taking a cautious step back.

“We wanted to properly apologize to you,” Drax said gravely. “We have been quite unkind, more than usual as of late. My social blunders have become more and more apparent since we started living on Terra, but I did not realize they still had such a strong effect on you as well.”

“Yeah, we’re sorry about being huge dicks,” Rocket said, picking at his claws, eyes darting around nervously. Peter was getting the sense that Rocket had never really apologized before, never learned how. He might have never gotten attached to someone before the Guardians, someone that he would want to apologize to for hurting them. The guilt stirring in Rocket’s gut, the worry rattling around in his brain, was a foreign feeling to him. “I guess we just don’t know when to quit.”

“Like I said last night, Quill, we respect the hell outta you,” Yondu continued. “And you ain’t stupid, none of us really think that. You’ve got your quirks, but you’re smart. We wouldn’t let a dumbass be our leader, look up to him, believe in what he’s sayin’ and doin’.”

“Yeah, well, I just gotta know - why have you been even bigger jerks lately? Is it because of this?” Peter held up his and Gamora’s joined hands.

“We don’t see you as much.” He was surprised to see it was Rocket who had spoken, though he was still refusing to make eye contact. “We gotta get in all the jabs we can, keep the conversation goin’, even at your expense. Not like we get a lot of opportunities to talk anymore.”

“Then freaking say something about it instead of wasting your time belittling me,” Peter protested. “Be like, ‘hey, Peter, you wanna hang out?’. Not, ‘hey, Peter, you have a stupid face’!”

“It’s dumb of us, I know,” Yondu sighed. “But it worked when we was kids, too. You was always runnin’ around the ship, tryna talk to as many people as possible. You’d be there and gone in a flash. Best way to get you to stick around was to challenge you. But yeah, we pushed it too far this time. We’re sorry, boy.”

“I am too,” Nebula said quietly, never looking up from her lap. “You might be weird, but I suppose we...I...could be nicer.”

Sighing, Peter scratched at his temples. “Fine. Apology accepted. Just, tone it down, okay?”

“I think we have established that everyone here is terrible at talking to each other,” Mantis piped up, though not unkindly. “I feel...so much from all of you, all of the time, that I sometimes wish I could turn my brain off when I am here with you. But I do not want to say anything, since I know feelings are meant to be private. However, perhaps in the future, I should speak out of things get this bad ever again. Intervene, if you are all hurting each other in this way.”

“That would be great, Mantis,” Gamora nodded. “Are we all on the same page now?”

Peter turned into Gamora, gently clasping her wrist. “Hey, what about you?”

“What about me?” Now it was her turn to avoid his eyes.

“You deserve an apology too,” he said. It saddened him to see her thinking otherwise. “C’mon, Gamora.”

“Apologize for what?” Yondu called, though he looked apprehensive about asking at all. The two of them turned to the rest of the group, who looked afraid at the prospect of what they had done to Gamora. The last time she had gotten incredibly angry was when they returned from their trip to Missouri, and she had yelled at Yondu for attempting to steal the team’s hard-earned money until her voice had given out.

“The ‘mother’ comparisons are, admittedly, starting to get to me,” Gamora confessed, though she kept her head held high as she spoke. “I’ll accept the title in relation to Groot - his own referral to me as his mom makes sense, given the way I take care of him. But your attitudes towards my desire to keep this team running like a well-oiled machine are condescending and unhelpful, and I won’t stand for it any longer. Peter is the face of this team, and he may call our tactics and battle strategies, and he's vital to our success, but we all know that I make the majority of the so-called ‘boring’ decisions here - money and inventory, legalities, planning, organization. And I have no tolerance for your belittlement of my job, my role in your lives, or mothers themselves. So stop. Don’t make me demand your respect. I should already have it.”

Peter held back the urge to applaud - Gamora would probably backhand him on the spot for it - and instead elected to smile a little to himself in pride as the others balked in surprise. She shouted quite often, especially in battle - hollering about their stupidity or rash behavior, or some combination of the two, perhaps calling out warnings or orders, that sort of thing. But hearing her speak dangerously low, her voice dropping a full octave or so, was frankly when she was at her scariest, and he kind of loved witnessing it, providing it wasn’t directed at him.

Multiple apologies immediately began spilling from the others’ lips, their voices getting increasingly louder as they attempted to talk over each other, promising Gamora that they did, indeed, love and respect her. Even Nebula begrudgingly admitted that the team wouldn’t last a day without her sister’s meticulous, disciplined nature.

“ - we do respect you, Gam, we just - ”

“ - as I have said on multiple occasions, you are the fiercest warrior I have ever had the honor of knowing, and fighting alongside you is perhaps one of the greatest things I have gotten to do - ”

“ - you’re always yelling at us, except Quill, you just kind of flirt-fight with him now - ”

“ - c’mon, girl, you know you’re my favorite after Quill, even if you do get mad at me pretty much every single day - ”

“ - is it a foreplay thing? Wait, no, forget I asked - ”

“ - we would be lost with you, Gamora, and we appreciate everything you do for us, I promise - ”

“ - couldn’t think of a better person to be in charge, and take it from a guy who had to handle dozens o’ nasty Ravagers - ”

“ - I think I gotta drink some bourbon - hell, maybe motor oil - to get those images outta my head, geez - ”

“Okay, okay, I got it,” Gamora exclaimed, trying her hardest not to laugh at the sight of her teammates literally starting to climb over each other in desperation to gain her forgiveness.

“I think this calls for a group hug,” Mantis sing-songed, once the squabbling had finally died down. Nebula blanched a little at the suggestion.

Peter was the first to dive in, yanking everyone into his arms. It was a little difficult, attempting a group hug with people of varying heights (and varying levels of enthusiasm), what with Groot standing on Rocket’s head and accidentally squishing one of his ears in the process, and Nebula getting sandwiched between Drax and Yondu, much to her displeasure. They managed to hold the hug for a solid ten seconds before someone stood on someone else’s foot, and it delved into another chaotic mess of accusatory yelling.

“Well, it was nice while it lasted,” Peter sighed as he stepped back, watching as Mantis dove in between Nebula and Rocket before they could draw their weapons. “Hey, guys? Halloween? Are we still doing that, because we’ve got like...eight hours before it starts, and we have zero costumes.”

Gamora turned to examine the pile of clothes still strewn across the coffee table from the previous night, considering. “If it’s not too late, I think we can wrangle something together.” ______

“You are very lucky we are the same size,” Mantis said cheerily, stepping back to admire her handiwork.

“I regret agreeing to this.” Nebula slapped her hands away as she moved to smooth down her front. She was a little uneasy about Mantis touching her in any capacity, and not just because of her powers.

“Oh, don’t be a spoilsport, Neb.” Gamora was doing a poor job of concealing her giggles at the sight of her sister’s attire. “We’re all a little out of our comfort zone here, and it’s the best we can do on such short notice.”

“You’re wearing your boyfriend’s clothes, I wouldn’t call that a hardship,” Nebula growled in disdain, though she allowed Gamora and Mantis to push her towards the mirror. “This might be the worst thing you’ve ever made me do, and that’s saying something.”

“You girls ready?” Peter called through Gamora’s bedroom door. Grinning, Mantis grabbed Gamora and Nebula’s hands, practically yanking them out into the corridor in her eagerness to join the rest of their team. She immediately burst into hysterical laughter at the sight of the others.

Once the Guardians had realized they lacked clothes outside of their comfort zones - lots of leather, consisting of a mostly black and red color palette - the only ‘real’ costumes they could possibly accomplish was by doing a clothing swap. Peter looked the most normal among the guys, wearing his tightest black pleather pants, a tight white T-shirt with a black leather vest, and a shorter version of his red duster jacket, to emanate Gamora’s usual wardrobe. However, he was also sporting her utility belt and thigh holster, complete with the Godslayer by his side (“You don’t know how to wield my sword properly, Peter, so don’t you dare unsheath it from your belt.” “Was that a euphemism for something?”).

Drax and Yondu had exchanged clothes, resulting in Drax wearing Yondu’s leather waistcoat and his most dramatic floor-sweeping coat, which also boasted a rather enormously fluffy faux fur collar. Yondu had grumbled about not wanting to around shirtless - “now, the ladies may love the idea, but it’s damn cold out there and I ain’t looking to lose the hair off my chest!” “Ew, Yondu. Just, stop.” - so he was wearing one of the very few T-shirts Drax owned, along with baggy cargo pants, hefty steel-toed boots, and Drax’s dual knives.

Lastly, Groot and Rocket were the only ones left, being the most difficult to swap with in the first place. Instead, they elected to have Groot wear the uniform he had been gifted by the Ravager tailor during their last encounter with them, and then proceeded to sprout little white flowers and weave them into Rocket’s fur. “I am Groot,” he cheered when he was done, satisfied with his work.

“I do look pretty, don’t I?” The others had never seen Rocket preen so much before. It was a little unusual.

“My jacket looks so big on you, honey,” Peter murmured, his eyes glazing over a little in lust as he reached to settle his large hands on Gamora’s waist. She was also wearing his grey “Gear Shift” shirt, which fell to mid-thigh on her, over a pair of cargo pants. “Did you accessorize?” In lieu of answering, Gamora pressed the small button behind her ear to activate Peter’s collapsible helmet. He beamed as he watched it near-instantly assemble over her face, the large eyes washing him in red light as they glowed. “Damn. You look amazing.”

She deactivated it once more, patting him on the chest in thanks before turning to the others. “Are we ready to go?”

“I am Groot!” Groot shrieked excitedly, bouncing up and down on Rocket’s shoulders, much to the latter’s discomfort.

“Relax, kid, we ain’t even out the door yet.” ______

When they finally stepped out of the ship and left the landing bay ten minutes later (Drax had to go to the bathroom, Mantis had forgotten to give Nebula her gloves, and other mishaps that had become typical of any Guardians outing), the team couldn’t help but gasp in wonderment at their surroundings.

As always, Janet had outdone herself with decorating every last square inch of the campus, transforming it into the ‘wicked wonderland’ she had envisioned. Red string lights and spiderwebs dripped from the branches of every tree, casting an ominous crimson glow over everything beneath them. The pathways were lined with fake gravestones, each stenciled with a different student’s name and a darkly humorous cause of death (“Hey, there’s mine! ‘Accidentally danced right off the edge of a cliff’. Yeah, that sounds about right.”), along with the occasional pile of bones. There were statues and props of zombies, werewolves, vampires, witches, and other mythical creatures littered across the lawn, all smeared with fake blood. Police caution tape was draped over bushes, wound around doorknobs, and scattered across the ground in bits and pieces like confetti. With Tony’s help, Janet had also rigged windows and doors on many of the campus’s main buildings to suddenly open and slam shut, complete with flashing lights and shrieking sounds. Lastly, there was music playing through the speakers that hung from every lamppost, resulting in Peter bobbing his head enthusiastically to Monster Mash.

“This is so cool!” Mantis shrieked. “I have never seen anything like this before.”

“And the night has only just begun,” Peter said dramatically, holding out his arm for Mantis to take. Grinning, she looped her arm in his as he offered his other elbow to Gamora. She shook her head fondly before accepting it as well, and the three of them began leading the way.

Not even two full minutes had passed before Drax spoke once more, unusually shy. “Quill? Gamora? I have another few things I would like to tell you two, if you don’t mind.”

“What is it, Drax?” Gamora turned to look over her shoulder at him, then quickly regretted it. It was hard to take him seriously with Yondu’s ridiculous fluffy collar practically swallowing his entire neck.

“I realize that the majority of my social errors are a result of my tendency to be terribly blunt, thus making everyone feel as if I do not appreciate them or see them as equals. But I would like you to know that isn’t true,” he said earnestly. “You are both very good leaders, and good friends. I do not mean to undermine you in my honesty, but only to help you understand your flaws in order to better yourselves. But I see now that it is not a productive way of helping, and in fact, only furthers your anger. So, I shall endeavor to be less honest, and lie to make you feel better.”

“I don’t think that’s the exact takeaway you should be having here,” Peter said slowly. “But thanks, I guess.”

“Drax, Peter once told me that I should only change for myself, and not just to make other people happy,” Gamora said gently. “Perhaps that advice would suit you as well. And maybe, just...clarify your intentions the next time you tell Peter he’s pathetic.”

“Or, y’know, don’t call me pathetic,” Peter added. “That’d be cool with me, too.”

Drax brightened a little. “Thank you, Gamora. That does sound like the wiser path to follow.”

“Why’re we bein’ so sappy, we’re s’posed to be looking for candy,” Rocket complained. Groot, who was perched on his shoulder as always, nodded adamantly in agreement. “Though...I guess while we’re at it...I can’t imagine the team without you two, either. So I’ll try to tone down the dickishness. And for what it’s worth, I’m happy you guys are together. It was freaking miserable, watchin’ you two tryna pretend you weren’t crazy into each other. Took up a lot of our time.”

“The amount o’ times I had to kick your ass a little, get things goin’? That wasn’t so fun,” Yondu added. “We just...we miss ya both.”

“We’ll try our best to hang out with you guys more,” Peter promised. “Outside of missions and classes, that is.”

“This ‘trick-or-treating’ is a very good start,” Mantis said, squeezing Peter’s arm. “I do not think we have talked for this long without yelling at each other in a long time.”

“Nice change of pace,” Gamora agreed. She turned to look at her sister, who was skulking around at the back of their group, dragging her feet like a child being forced to see the dentist. “Don’t you think, Nebula?”

“Always so sentimental,” Nebula retorted, though there was a hint of a smile in her voice. “As I’ve said before, Quill really is rubbing off on you.”

“I would not like to picture Quill rubbing off against anyone or anything,” Drax said disgustedly.

“I am Groot?”

“For the last time, dude, I’m not explaining any of this until you’re older,” Rocket said, reaching to pat Groot on the knee.

They approached their first real destination soon after, the training center designed specifically for weaponry practice and obstacle courses. Like many of the other buildings across campus, it was drenched in red string lights, caution tape, and spider webs, with bloody handprints in the windows as they swung wildly open and shut.

“There has to be something in there,” Peter reasoned. “You guys ready?”

“Always,” Gamora said with a dangerous smirk.

Upon entering, they found it to be pitch black, only managing to navigate its darkened hallways by familiarity. Eventually, they reached the main shooting range, where all the weapons had been stowed and locked away as they always were. The training dummies, however, were mummified in toilet paper and covered in plastic spiders. “I am Groot,” Groot said, pointing.

“You’re right,” Rocket said, prodding one of the training dummies. “This one’s a little lumpier than I remembered. Someone gimme their pocket knife.” Groot let out a triumphant squeal as candy cascaded from the cut Rocket had made, spilling out onto the floor. “Good eye, Groot.”

The Guardians each took a generous handful, scooping it into their bags, before moving on to the obstacle course gyms. They were dimly lit, the sounds of their heavy boots echoing and bouncing off the equipment. “Split up into pairs?” Gamora suggested. “Go with your costume partner.”

Rocket and Groot immediately took off with an excited whoop, while Drax and Yondu shrugged at each other before disappearing. Mantis and Nebula, on the other hand, hesitated until Gamora shot Nebula another warning look. They slinked off sheepishly, vanishing into the darkness, before Peter and Gamora were finally ready to head out themselves.

The obstacle course wasn’t overly large - it was approximately the size of a regulation-sized basketball court - but with the walls of varying heights, ladders and ropes, and other apparatuses, it was something of a maze, especially when it was this dark. “I’m really glad we did this,” Peter whispered as he pulled a mini flashlight from Gamora’s utility belt. “This is super cool.”

“Can always count on Janet to go overboard,” Gamora whispered back, pointing at the greenish slime dripping all over the place. “I do hope for the janitors’ sakes that she paid them extra this week.”

They ran into other students on occasion - there was an awkward moment in which they came across Peter Parker attempting to do the upside-down kiss with Mary Jane, only to get his foot caught in the rope and beg her to stop laughing and help him get down - before finally finding a large potato sack full of candy underneath one of the climbing walls. Gamora used the comms on Peter’s helmet to privately call the other Guardians to join them.

“Oh, Twizzlers,” Mantis said happily. “This might be the best night of my life!”

The Guardians then moved on to the main gym, where skeletons had been set up at all the equipment - Drax had let out a laugh of delight at the sight of one particular skeleton at the rowing machine, posed halfway through a set (“The joke is that the skeleton has no muscles! He could not possibly row as much weight as I can!”). To their surprise, Nebula was the one who found the candy this time, hidden inside one of the empty lockers in an unassuming backpack. Peter and Gamora exchanged knowing looks as they watched her pass a packet of Nibs to Mantis almost immediately.

The science lab was dripping with some suspicious-looking plasma oozing from the ceiling, filling all of the beakers and test tubes that had been carefully placed on the lab benches. Somewhat disgusted, they all dug through the gooey substance with their bare hands, until Gamora managed to unearth a Ziploc bag from the emergency eyewash station. “And here, I thought Rand was getting more creative with where he was stashing his...recreational items.”

The lecture hall was where it got a little comical, watching dozens of students running up and down the stairs, half-crouching, half-crawling as they checked under the tables and bumping foreheads in the process. Nebula accidentally stepped on Jessica Jones’s foot, and both she and Jessica had to be physically hauled away by their respective sisters before it got nasty. “I wasn’t going to hurt her,” Nebula said a little too quickly.

“You know I never believe you when it comes to physical harm, right?” Gamora dug her fingers into Nebula’s arm. “You can’t lie to me, Nebula.”

The library was the most like a scavenger hunt of all the buildings the Guardians had visited so far - there was a book placed at the very front, open to a specific page, with certain words highlighted that spelled out the title of the next book they had to look for. They then had to locate that book, find another highlighted set of words inside, and so on. It was utter chaos, making the lecture halls look like a walk in the park, with students yelling to each other across the usually quiet library. Thor in particular was lecturing Loki for running around with a highlighter in an attempt to throw everyone off.

Eventually, Peter grew bored and stumbled off into his favorite section - the plush leather couches that he liked to nap on when the one on the Milano felt a little too rough for his liking - and threw himself down, only to be shocked by the sudden explosion of candy popping up from between the cushions. Gamora, who had been hunting him down, ran in after his startled shout, only to laugh at the sight of her boyfriend, buried beneath a mountain of Hubba Bubba. “Hey, honey. How do I look?”

“Majestic,” she replied, taking out her phone to snap a photo.

Three hours had passed before energy levels were beginning to dip, for some more than the others. As much as he didn’t like to admit it, Rocket was at a disadvantage, having the shortest legs, and was beginning to grow sore. He passed Groot to Gamora in an effort to make the walk easier for him. Groot immediately snuggled into her curls, cooing happily at being close to her.

“Are you enjoying yourself?” she asked him, reaching up to gently tap his cheek with her pinky finger. “I hope you aren’t too tired yet.”

“I am Groot,” he replied, nodding enthusiastically. “I am Groot?”

“Same here, though I can’t say I’ll be eating most, if any, of this candy,” she said, holding up her bag for him to see. “I have to keep my body running as efficiently as possible, after all. This much sugar would destroy my cholesterol.”

“I am Groot?” he chirruped, confused.

Gamora blinked. “I...I did understand you just now, didn’t I?” She used her free hand to cup his entire body, bringing Groot around to face her. “Well, I suppose we’ve spent enough time together. It would make sense that it would happen eventually.”

Peter, who had been chatting with Mantis a few feet behind them, jogged up to join in. “Hey, what’s going on?”

“I’m finally starting to understand Groot, I think,” Gamora said, smiling up at him. “Not just in the obvious way, like when he points at things, but...actual conversation.”

“That’s awesome!” Peter exclaimed, reaching to nudge Groot under his chin. “I bet you’ll be really happy when all of us can understand you, huh, buddy? It must suck, not being able to really talk with everyone yet.”

Groot shrugged, unbothered. It was nothing new to him, being understood by a handful of people at a time. He had learned how to communicate just fine without words. “I am Groot,” he replied. He reached for Peter, yawning as he did, nuzzling into his shoulder, eyes slowly drifting closed.

“Looks like he’s almost ready for bed,” Peter said softly as he slung his other arm over Gamora’s shoulders. “It’s kinda too early to call it a night, though. We’ve still got a few hours to go. What should we do?”

“We could rest for a bit, let everyone rest their feet before we head out again,” Gamora suggested. “In fact...Nebula and I have a sort-of hiding spot that we haven’t told anyone else about...until now.”

“Then lead the way,” Peter grinned. ______

All through the night...I'll be awake and I'll be with you…

“So,” Peter panted ten minutes later as he climbed the last set of stairs, a white-knuckled grip on the railing. “This is how you get to the top of Avengers Hall.”

“Technically, we most definitely aren’t supposed to be up here,” Gamora shrugged rather impishly. “But the Director’s seen us here before, and he doesn’t seem to care.”

“Gotta admit, this is a pretty nice view.” Yondu stepped out towards the edge, hands on his hips, as he gazed out over the campus. Despite the growing chill of the autumn evening, it looked incredibly warm, what with everything being bathed in an almost violently crimson light. “You never seen any other students up here?”

“The occasional classmate or two - Bobbi, Natasha, Elektra, the sort. But otherwise, no one as frequent as Nebula and I,” Gamora replied. She was the first to sit, slinging her elbows up over the middle railing as she had become so accustomed to doing.

Nebula slid in neatly on her right side, the leathers of Mantis’s outfits squeaking a little as she did. Peter settled on Gamora’s left, cradling a snoring baby Groot, still slightly out of breath from the incline of the stairway. “Don’t you get any exercise, what with my sister bossing you around?” Nebula said, the corner of her mouth quirking.

“Still used to jet boots and aero-rigs getting me around, thank you very much,” Peter pouted. Mantis and Drax sat on Peter’s left, while Yondu and Rocket were on Nebula’s right, squishing in close despite there being plenty of room. Nebula shot Yondu a dirty look, but couldn’t be bothered to threaten him any further. “So, better than last year’s Halloween?”

“Ask us when the night’s over, man,” Rocket snorted. “I’ll answer ya when I count up my candy stash.”

“Fair enough,” Peter nodded, smiling when Mantis moved to rest her head on his shoulder affectionately, careful not to jostle Groot. “How about you, Mantis? Enjoying yourself?”

“Very much so,” she said dreamily. Her antennae lit up, slowly arching forward as her eyes slid closed, deep in thought. “Wow. I think this is the happiest everyone has felt simultaneously in perhaps...ever.”

All through the night...this precious time when time is new...

“Really? That’s weird,” Rocket said, wrinkling his nose in confusion. “Woulda thought some of you’d be happier doing somethin’ else. Nebula, for example, being literally anywhere but here.”

“The rodent speaks the truth,” Nebula hummed.

Mantis shook her head, still grinning. “Do you not trust that I know what I’m talking about? We are all very happy.”

“What if you were to rank us from least happy to happiest, relative to each other?” Drax asked.

“Dude, does it matter?” Peter chuckled.

“It was just a question,” Drax said defensively. “I was curious about how specific Mantis could be.”

“I suppose it’s not the worst inquiry Drax has ever had,” Gamora whispered to Peter, causing him to giggle childishly into his hand. At the sound of Peter’s laughter, Groot stirred slowly, lifting his head up drowsily to look out at his surroundings.

“I am Groot?” he asked, pushing himself up into a sitting position on Peter’s shoulder.

“We’re on the roof of Avengers Hall,” Gamora answered. “Everyone’s getting a little tired, so we’re taking a break before heading out again.”

“Since when do you understand him so perfectly?” Rocket exclaimed, his ears flattening in suspicion.

“Since about fifteen minutes ago,” Gamora shot back. “Do you have a problem with that?”

“Guys, can we kill the animosity for like, ten minutes? Mantis just said we were doing pretty good,” Peter groaned, as Groot hopped from his shoulder to Gamora’s.

“I guess it’ll be good for the kid to finally have someone else to talk to for once,” Rocket admitted begrudgingly.

“I am Groot,” Groot said feebly, patting Gamora gingerly on the neck.

“You’ve been bothering us about this all weekend, and you want to go back already?” she asked, giving him a teasingly stern expression in response. “Someone didn’t take their afternoon nap after all.”

“We are not finished yet,” Mantis said, her lip wobbling. “Do we really have to go home now?”

“Gamora and I can take Groot back, tuck ‘im in. We’ll catch up with you guys later,” Peter offered.

“Oh, great, we know where this is going,” Rocket snickered, holding up a paw for a high five from Yondu.

“Dude, not what I meant. See you guys in half an hour, okay?” With that, he and Gamora stood, Groot in tow on Gamora’s shoulder, lazily twisted into the loose curls of her hair, yawning profusely. When Peter glanced over his shoulder to wave at the group, he couldn’t help but smile at the sight of Mantis and Nebula looking awkwardly at the sudden gap between them, shuffling closer, attempting to appear reluctant at having to do so.

Oh, all through the night today...knowing that we feel the same without saying...

“What is it?” Gamora asked once they were in the stairway. At Peter’s innocent “I-don’t-know-what-you’re-talking-about” expression, her eyes narrowed in frustration. “Come on, Peter, you can’t lie to me. You’re making a face.”

“I can’t be the only one super suspicious about our sisters hanging out together, right?” Once they reached the bottom of the stairway and walked out into the crisp evening air, Peter reached out to take Gamora’s hand. “I mean, think about it.”

“Mantis has told us both several times it’s not Nebula she has feelings for,” Gamora reminded him. “Would she lie to us?”

“You say that like it’s impossible,” he laughed. “But oh, man, could you imagine?”

“Considering Nebula has zero experience in romantic feelings - and I’m quite confident in saying that - this could only end poorly for Mantis,” she frowned, suddenly saddened on the other girl’s behalf. It was easy to think Mantis had control of her emotions, being an empath, but in reality, she had a difficult time understanding and processing her own feelings. If what Peter was saying was true, it was no wonder she was scared to delve into Nebula’s mind and see if there was any hint of reciprocity - she probably knew it was a lost cause, and didn’t want to disappoint herself. “It would make sense, though, considering how secretive she’s become lately.”

“I am Groot,” Groot mumbled into her shoulder.

“Mantis tells you things?” Gamora’s frown deepened. “We really should have a discussion about upending all our secrets onto you, Groot. This can only become a problem later on when we all know what you’re saying.”

“We should help them out,” Peter offered. “Mantis, at least. They’ve been complaining about us spending so much time without them lately, we should really do something nice. Start with our sisters.”

“I suppose,” she said, inhaling deeply. “If Nebula commits to being less confrontational, that is. She’s like a feral cat or a spooked kitten, with no in between. I doubt she’s emotionally ready for that sort of thing herself.” Looking away from Peter’s soft gaze, she murmured, “I didn’t think I would be, either.”

“Well, I’m not gonna pretend to understand Nebula the way you do,” he said thoughtfully. “But I think you’ve both come a long way already. Who knows, maybe she wants to give it a try, too. This could all totally be just speculation, though. Maybe I’m overthinking it.”

“That would be a first,” Gamora teased, standing a little on her toes to kiss him. She paused midway, her brow furrowing in sudden worry. “Wait - ”

“It’s okay,” Peter said, squeezing her hand. “You can make fun of me all you want, if that’s what you were thinkin’ about. I know you don’t mean it, either.”

“Still,” she said reluctantly, pecking him quickly on the corner of his mouth. “If our relationship isn’t built on trust and respect, then what is it worth?”

“Agreed, which is why I’m glad we’ve got that covered already,” he smiled, chasing after her lips for a proper kiss. “We’ve always got each other’s backs, a little banter ain’t gonna hurt. Come on, let’s get Groot to bed before he tells some exaggerated story to the others about how we made out in front of him.”

When they reached the Milano, Peter moved to open the door of the bedroom Rocket and Groot shared, only to hear the little one whining like a puppy, flailing his arms around on Gamora’s shoulder. “You can’t just change your mind like that, Groot,” she scolded.

“I am Groot,” he protested, pointing instead at Peter’s door. “I am Groot?”

“He wants to sleep in your room,” Gamora said, astonished. “Why - ”

“Our room,” Peter corrected, sighing. “Well, we could let him for just this one night. If we put this off any longer, the others are gonna wonder where we are.”

“I am Groot?”

“No stories, you said you were tired, remember?” Gamora poked his cheek as Peter moved to open the door and let them inside. Groot almost immediately leaped from Gamora’s shoulder onto the pillow with an excitable squeal, burrowing himself a little deeper, his large dark eyes gazing up at them both imploringly.

“What does he want now?” Peter lifted up one of the corners of the duvet and slowly lowered it down over Groot’s body.

“I am Groot,” he pleaded, using his little fingers to quite literally wrap themselves around Peter’s thumb.

“He wants us to stay until he falls asleep.” Gamora began unlacing her boots. “Well, the alternative is we leave now and he throws a fit, and I’d rather not spoil my good mood. You joining me?”

“You’re lucky you’re cute,” Peter told Groot with a chuckle, shucking his jacket and his shoes. The two of them crawled in on top of the covers, careful not to dwarf him, their noses nearly brushing his cheeks. Very slowly, Groot’s eyes fluttered closed as he yawned, mumbling nonsensical sounds under his breath. “Man, he’s adorable.”

“Arguably cuter than the Terran babies I’ve seen,” Gamora whispered, smiling. “Easier to bathe, too. Less surface area.”

Peter tried his best not to snort, though he was failing miserably. “We’re doing an okay job, right? Taking care of him?”

“I wouldn’t know what good parenting looks like,” she admitted. “But I’d like to think he would’ve complained by now.”

“I...am...Groot,” Groot mumbled sleepily, rolling over to bury himself into the soft down of the pillow. Gamora let out an oddly choked sound. Alarmed, Peter reached to touch her arm.

“Hey, you okay?”

“Groot said he loves us,” she breathed. Her eyes were glossy with unshed tears, fingers trembling as she slowly ran her thumb over Groot’s cheek.

Smiling, Peter leaned forward to press a gentle kiss on Groot’s forehead. “We love you too, buddy. And we’re here for you, always.” ______

“ - I told you this was gonna happen - ”

“ - I thought they were just gonna get up to some nookie-nookie - ”

“ - well, be glad they didn’t, now that we know Groot’s in here - ”

“ - please, we should leave them alone, we are all very tired anyways and we should go to bed - ”

“ - stop using your powers on us, girl, we don’t need you analytical-ing us - ”

“ - that is not a word, Yondu, and I meant the fact we have all been yawning the whole way back to the ship - ”

“ - will you all shut up already before they wake up and eviscerate us? Why are we standing around like a bunch of morons? - ”

“ - at least take me one photograph for posterity’s sake, I imagine this will be pleasing for them to look at - ”

“ - just do it quickly, and don’t take a million years to take one photo like you always do, Drax, it’s the worst - ”

“ - I’ll have you know my photography skills are quite adequate, thank you - ”

“Do you think they know we’ve been awake for the past two minutes?” Peter mumbled.

“Two more minutes, and I might have to revisit the idea of that 6 AM training session after all,” Gamora sighed, though she couldn’t help but smile a little to herself. This was more like it. These were the people she knew and tolerated. Okay, loved. The people she loved.

a/n: kinda wish i managed to get the star wars costumes in there since i've been thinking about that comparison for a while now, but i couldn't figure out what exactly to do with the others, so clothing swap it is. also, the "peter and gamora get no respect" plotline was originally going to be in the next fic, but i kind of want that one to be complete and utter fluff, so it ended up back here instead. i figured they could use another perspective from the co-dependent discussion they had in you make my dreams!

two new songs in peter's "for gamora" mixtape - the song playing while the guardians were on the rooftop was all through the night by cyndi lauper, and i imagine the song he was listening to while he was sulking was can't fight this feeling by reo speedwagon, mostly because that's my favorite reo speedwagon song haha

thanks for reading! likes and reblogs would be much appreciated, and feedback would be especially helpful. Also, i now have a WIP page that i'll be updating pretty regularly as i write, so in case you're wondering when the next one-shot is, i suggest you sneak a peek over there ;)

[poppygalef]

Free day // Pearlmethyst Week - Lore AU

Alright I am late, but hey I’m here! First off a big thank you to @annadesu​ @fuckyeahpearlmethyst​ for hosting a good ole Pearlmethyst Week. You are the best! So this is actually a gift I gave to @lisahawkeye​ for her birthday last month. It’s a DnD/Medieval-ish Magic alternative universe story, simply dubbed the Lore AU. This is BIG (hence the read more), slightly edited for it to be a tad less explicit (yes, like that), probably filled with gramatical errors, and definitely up for continuation. Enjoy! _________________________ The mission wasn't a simple one to begin with. Nearly a forth night prior, Steven came across the entity with his own dream walking abilities. Lurking, waiting, ready to pounce whilst enjoying the horrors she bestowed upon those whose dreams she tread. The havoc she wrecked through night terrors left an evident trail, one that led to a little girl. Upon investigation, the Crystal Conclave had stumbled upon a Lordship, whose trouble with the entity reached beyond a mere menace, and posed a threat to their family. The young girl that tied the mystery together was the adopted daughter or Lord and Lady Farryn. She was targeted by an entity known as a Night Hag for being her offspring, whom -at the age of thirteen- are approached by their mothers whilst dormant, transforming them into the fiends they can become. Terrified, the young girl and her parents pleaded the party to cease this act from happening. Aiding the family was quickly agreed upon, though under meagre circumstances. Several of their party members had remained in their homestead, a couple of days East on horseback. Despite lacking their gunslinger, druid, and young paladin, they decided to hold observatory watch for one night until deciding a further course of action. However, as night crept upon the land, so did the darkness. Unaware the 13th and final night of the ritual had commenced, the four heroes were soon in a lethal encounter with an abysmal creature. With that, only one question remained- "How the ever living fuck do we kill this thing?!"

Amethyst yelled as the Hag easily endured the beating she was serving her. They had disrupted the ritual in the nick of time, saving the child but unleashing the Hag's unbridled fury upon them. The four of them had been scuffled through the chambers towards the grand stairwell, trying to keep their footing whilst dancing around the blue skeletally thin humanoid. "It takes no damage from a pummelling," Garnet avoided a nasty swipe from a long clawed hand, leaving behind a trail of the mist that seeped from her three eyes. "Pearl!" "On it!" Pearl stepped forward, and with a swift movement she slammed her javelin on the step below her, creating a thunderous wave of energy that drove straight into the creature. Amethyst her ears rang as she saw the Hag get blasted off her footing and crash on the entrance floor. She scrambled upon her feet and glanced at the door. "Don’t even think about it!" Amethyst immediately muttered something under her breath, and at the door appeared four identical clones of the group in fighting stance. The Hag let out a ridiculous shrill cackle as it turned around to face them. "Your tricks do not work on me, small one." She reached into her inner breast pocket, "And I have a few of my own." With a terrible grin the woman suddenly disappeared. "Where did she go?!" Pearl took a step forward, but was immediately stopped by Garnet’s hand motion, "She's still here." "Guys I got this..." Steven raised both his hands and pink arcane sparks filled the hall like stars in the night's sky. In dead silence, the four of them watched as the sparkles drifted gently across the air. A moment passed before the energy seemingly stuck to a silhouette looming behind Pearl, a sharp talon slowly reaching for the throat. The shift of light caught the corner of Amethyst's eye. "PEA BEHIND YOU!" With remarkable speed, Amethyst cracked her whip across the stairwell, finding grip on Pearl’s ankle before she yanked. The force unceremoniously threw Pearl on her back and out of immediate range of the Hag, as she was tugged down the steps with a pained yelp. The Hag shrieked, furious for being denied her kill. As Amethyst moved to help Pearl up, Garnet jumped forward, gauntlets cracking with electricity. The hag proved too swift and moved away from the fray, eyes on the closest person. "Amethyst look out!" Steven tried to cast a pink bubble, but the creature broke away from the entrapment before launching herself onto Amethyst. The both of them tumbled down the stairs, halting at the bottom. The Hag was forcefully trying to push herself down on Amethyst. Teeth bare, mouth frothing, and eyes insane. Amethyst groaned in stress as she tried to keep the Hag's maul from closing in on her neck jugular. "Hnng- Get... off... me!" The semi-invisible form faltered like static, and the Hag was now fully uncovered on a struggling Amethyst. She inhaled the stinking sulphurous breath in her face as she violently tried to push her off, one hand pulling back on the woman's hair, and the other keeping one clawed hand at bay. The unguarded hand of the Hag sank into the flesh of Amethyst's shoulder and neck, just between her armour pads. Amethyst shrieked in pain and tried to thrash her legs, but the creature whispered something in an unfamiliar tongue. Amethyst’s vision darkened. She felt her grasp weaken as she fought the sudden urge to sleep. Just as her eyes lolled closed and her grip slipped, a cacophonous roar echoed through the hall, awaking her instantly. A large feline appeared out of seemingly nowhere and slammed into the Hag. It's claws out, skidding the three of them across the marble floor. Amethyst gasped as the Hag released her, the force both ripping apart the flesh of her shoulder and rolling her sideways several feet. She whipped her head to see Lion in melee combat with the entity. She tried to scramble to her feet, but the painfully warm sensation of blood gushing out of her open wound prevented her from any further movement. She limply flopped face down on the cold stone floor, her mind a haze. Amethyst was suddenly turned around, and she hissed in pain as one of the hands grasped the gushing wound and the other planted itself firmly on her chest, pinning her down. "Amethyst, hold still..." A soft blue light lit up Pearl’s face as her shaking hands cast a spell that stopped the bleeding, but failed to take the stinging pain. As Pearl’s hands left her body, Amethyst saw them slick with crimson. The gash must’ve been worse than she imagined. "Thanks..." She grinned with a smile worse for wear, but Pearl wasn’t looking, she had her eyes on the battle. She looked back at Amethyst, "Steven needs to heal you." "I'm good..." "You are not." Before Amethyst could say anything, a small shockwave blew their hair back. "No time, we need to take this bitch down!" Amethyst reached her hand out. Pearl's frazzled expression turned determined as she grabbed the hand and pulled her up. Pearl grabbed the javelin from her back, it’s tip now flickering with energy, "Just stay out of direct contact, ranged attacks only." "I can't. She's immune to piercing, I gotta get up close." She was hit with sudden realisation and grabbed Pearl by the robe, "Wait, remember that warlock?" "Eehhm... Which of many?" Amethyst violently yanked the fabric to make Pearl duck for flying debris. "That one asshole in the tower! With the death r-" Pearl's frown turned into a face of recognition, "Yes!?" "Remember that flank and grapple? You flank, I grapple." Pearl nodded, "Got it." The both of them dashed in separate directions towards the Night Hag. The battle felt incredibly expeditious at that point. The Hag was now in direct combat with Garnet, Lion, and Steven, who slammed his shield into her, driving her back. Amethyst took advantage of the distraction by standing in waiting, facing the Hag's back. She saw Pearl creep up on the creature's left, keeping low and drawing her weapon backwards, ready to strike. Amethyst took a spiked whip in either hand, cracking both of them towards the woman. Amethyst may have been considered a small blunt force in battle, but she owned an eye for precision. Either whip hit its target, wrapping around the sickly thin wrists of the beast. If there was ever a look of surprised confusion on a terrifying fiend, this was it, only to be wiped of her face as Pearl swiped the Hag's feet from underneath her. Amethyst watched as the Hag pummelled to the ground, and Pearl used the rest of her momentum to hook her javelin onto Amethyst's left whip, who let it go immediately and ran to the right. Pearl circled her javelin on the rope several times before backing up, tightening her grip. Amethyst positioned herself so she could do the same, spreading the Hag with arms out on the floor, keeping her pinned. For now. "Garnet!" Steven lowered, covering himself with his shield "Fast-ball special!" Garnet leaped on top, as Steven pushed her off, forcefully turning her air born. With a mighty leap, Garnet jumped towards the Hag, sparking gauntlets coming downwards on her shrieking face. With a deafening thunderous blast, cracking smoke filled the hallway. The shriek turned into a raspy wail as the smoke subsided. The Hag's blue face had turned a sickening black, scorched pieces of skin curling on her cheeks, her remaining hair still displaying static. She started to cackle slowly, "You can take my daughter, and you can take my life. But I will return to my plane. I will reform. And I will find you." Garnet loomed over her, the top of her face now completely engulfed in silver arcane mist, "But not today." Steven turned his head as an audible snap echoed through the hall, and the body of the Night Hag stayed lifeless. Amethyst let the whip fall limp, and immediately sat on the floor breathing heavily. The freshly closed wound still hurt like hell, and frankly, she felt like shit. Lion walked over and nudged her head with his giant nose, "Thanks for the save, bud." She scratched behind his ear as he lied down next to her, his posture no longer guarded. "Amethyst, are you okay?" Steven ran up to her and Lion, quickly hugging the big cat before turning back to her. She shrugged with a forced smile, "Meh. Been better, been worse. Pearl stopped me from bleeding out, that saved my ass." "Let me heal you." "Won’t say no to that, Steve-o." Steven focussed, and his hands glowed with a bright pink light. As he put his hands on her shoulders, she felt the warmth spreading through her as the pain and the adrenaline dissipated. Her next breath felt fulfilling and calming. "Thanks dude," she turned towards the others who were going through the Hag's belongings, "Find anything worth a dime?" Garnet, whose three eyes were visible once more, showed a wooden stick, "She didn't get the chance to use this." Amethyst expression cleared up, "Is that a wand? Can I have that?" Garnet looked at Amethyst blankly, "No." before turning and handing it to Pearl, who absentmindedly took it. "She didn’t seem to be carrying a Heart Stone, which was definitely in our favour.” Pearl turned at Garnet, “I feared she had one when she went invisible.” “What does a Heart Stone do?” Steven glanced at the body, grimaced and quickly turned his head back to Pearl. Garnet answered, "Interplaneal teleportation. Poof, and you're gone." "Gone where?" Steven eyes narrowed. Amethyst patted him on the shoulder before stepping forward, "Whatever that thing called home." Amethyst sighed, "So, shall we tell the Lord's family to get outta their hidey-hole?" "Yes, it’s safe for them to reclaim their home now." Garnet looked down at Steven, "Steven, you found a family in need and you came to their aid. Well done." She ruffled his curly hair. "Now let’s go tell them the nightmares are over." Lord and Lady Farryn were beyond relieved to find that the Night Hag would no longer be a threat to their daughter, and offered to pay them handsomely. Steven wanted to refuse, but the family insisted. Begrudgingly accepting, Steven was the last to walk over to his animal companion. “You should let others reward you too, Steven.” Pearl put her hand on his shoulder, as Garnet added “Gratitude comes in many ways.” Steven sighed, “I guess.” He looked at his family. “Let’s go home.” As he patted Lion’s fur, the cat shouted on command, shredding a hole in the fabric of space. They blipped out of existence in a bright flash of pink light. _________________________

Amethyst stepped out of her bathroom, over the blatantly disregarded pile of bloodied armour, and looked at herself in the mirror. Brushing the massive amount of wet hair out of the way, she inspected the slivers of fresh scars. The thin white lines stood out against her brown skin. Whilst Steven's spell had patched her up, it was never possible to truly rid yourself from battle marks. Just another one of many. She let out a single sound of displeasure before putting on a shirt. Over the course of the years, and under some brutal coaxing of others, she had learned to appreciate the satisfaction to scrub off the dried blood and stench of sweat after a won battle. Her hair smelled of the oil she had gotten for her Name Day, and her shirt of fresh cloth. It smelled of potential sleep. Before she had the chance to settle between the sheets, there was an expected knock on her door. She opened it to find Pearl, equally bathed and dressed for the night. "I was just about to crawl in bed, are you here to join me?" Pearl let out a huff, "Can I come in?" "Is that a yes?" "Amethyst." Amethyst made an unapologetic gesture and moved out of the way. She closed the door and turned, just before long arms wrapped around her and squeezed tight. "Ooph... Easy th-" the words were cut off by a hard kiss that softened into a series of small ones. Amethyst sighed on Pearl's mouth and gently grasped the arms keeping her in place. Pearl broke the kiss, her mouth still hovering over Amethyst’s, "I was really worried about you today." Amethyst grinned, "Ha yeah, it’s been a while since I had a proper near death experience." Pearl straightened up, and humourlessly mumbled, "Yes, you know how much I love those." Amethyst shrugged, "Comes with the job, huh?" "It comes with you, you mean." "Ain’t that the truth." Pearl took a step backwards, "Does that offer to join you still stand?" Amethyst grinned and walked towards her bed, "It wasn't an invite, it was an expectation." She pounced on the bed, slid herself between the sheets and invitingly tapped on the empty spot next to her. Pearl let out a small snort, "You assumed well." She gracefully approached and crawled upon an open armed Amethyst, entangling their legs, lying her face just onto Amethyst's chest, and letting out a loud sigh of approval. Amethyst laughed, "Ya cosy there, milady?" She could only imagine the smile on Pearls face as she said "Very." and meant it. Sunlight peeked through the shutters, streaks of gold filling up the messy room. Pearl was on her back, humming wonderful sounds as Amethyst kissed her neck and jawline. Her sharp incisors traced upwards and she nibbled gently on Pearl's lower lip. Pearl responded with a pleased huff and kneaded the hair on Amethysts scalp. There was a teal hue to the blush across Pearl's cheekbones and pointed ears. It was adorable. Amethyst continued to kiss her way across Pearl’s face, trying to trace the Half-Elf's colouration when there was a knock on the door. "Amethyst?" They immediately recognised the muffled voice. Amethyst barely sat up to raise her voice, "Yo Peri, what's up." Peridot was one of the party members who didn’t reside within the bastion keep, but pranced around as if she did. "Is Pearl in there with you? She isn't in her own chamber." Amethyst looked up at Pearl with a hint of cheekiness, "Are you?" before planting a kiss on her sternum. Pearl smiled and rolled her eyes, "Yes, hello Peridot." "Good!" The door wasn’t enough to hide the vivid enthusiasm. "I am working on my new project today in your forge and I need a second pair of eyes to behold my calculations!" Amethyst piped up "Don’t you and Lapis have a forge?" It was silent for a second, "Yes, so?" Pearl scratched Amethysts scalp mindlessly, "I'd be happy to take a look." "Excellent! I will be downstairs. Just don't take too long, it's nearly noon." "Alright Peridot." Pearl replied under the accompanying slap of Amethyst burying her face in her hand. They heard the soft footfalls of the Halfling leave earshot. Amethyst lazily stretched herself on top of Pearl, who took the movement to caress Amethyst's sides before wrapping her arms around her. "Pity, I had plans." She squeezed Amethyst firmly. Amethyst responded with a nip just below the jaw, getting a gasp in return. She proceeded to prop up and grinned, the shameless intend evident on her face. Pearl laughed and composed herself, "No I can't, I promised." Amethyst sighed and nuzzled in the crook of Pearl's neck, "Fiiine. Ugh, you're too good for this world." "Oh I know." Just before Pearl left, she kissed Amethyst briefly and she casted a minor invisibility spell on herself. The door seemed to open and close by itself. In the beginning of their romantic development, it used to freak Amethyst out. It toyed too much with her senses. Whilst Garnet could see through the illusion easily with her genie like abilities -The first time that happened was the worst- Pearl didn't want the kids to see her exiting another woman's chamber in her night gown. Even though those kids knew about their relationship for years now. Not to mention that those kids were seriously starting to outgrow the term kid. Amethyst had realised not long ago, that according to her old tribe’s customs, Steven and Connie would've been considered full-fledged adults already. The memories flooded her mind, the kind one tries to push away swiftly. Despite not agreeing fully, she liked Pearl's cultural standard on childhood better. Amethyst snapped out of her thoughts, and her focus went to the pile of ragged bloodied cloth and leather on the floor. “Oh yeah, I gotta patch that up.” On cue her stomach growled, “… After breakfast!” When Amethyst made her way to the kitchen downstairs, she was unsurprisingly the last to arrive. Garnet was cooking breakfast whilst Steven was watching a blue haired Elf create an intricate pattern of floating waterdrops above their cups. "Lapis, we shall be in the basement!" "Have fun." The Elf remarked without a single trace of zeal. Pearl and Peridot were just making their way down to the nerdbunker, which contained two solid iron and stone sealed chambers a hallway apart, for a forge and a-second-forge-turned-alchemy lab respectively. In the early days, Amethyst had been banned from the lab with, in hindsight, good reason. Pearl admitted she had fortified the room to be explosion proof just for the sake of Amethyst's potential meddling. This turned out to be an unforeseen wise investment when Peridot joined the party. Amethyst held out a hand for Peridot to high five, and she winked whilst passing Pearl. Pearl reached out and squeezed her shoulder with a smile. Amethyst sat onto the table grinning, just as Garnet put a giant plate in front of her, stacked with eggs, sausage, mushrooms and bread. "G, you are the best!" "I knew you'd say that." Lapis watched silently as Amethyst started breathing in her breakfast. "Do you even chew?" "Nope." Steven swallowed a bite of his own food, "What are Pearl and Peridot working on today?" Lapis shrugged, "She explained, but honestly, it got really technical really quickly. Something about creating different enchanted ammunition?" She looked at Amethyst in a silent request to shed more light on the matter. Amethyst swallowed a large chunk, "Yeah something about transmutation. I dunno dude, that is some top-level sorcery that is waaay," she waved her fork to the intonation, "Beyond my smoke and mirrors." In the back, Garnet silently wandered to stare out of the window. "Which is why she needs Pearls help." Steven concluded. Amethyst pointed her fork and mushroom at him in acknowledgment. As she brought it to her mouth, an extremely deep blaring horn shook them out of their conversation. "Well that’s new.” Garnet was still standing by the window. "We've got company." As they gathered around her to see the commotion, their eyes fell on the walkway on the Northern Wall. The wall connected their sea based keep to the harbour district of the city of Seaway. The gigantic shadow of the ancient statue, against which the Bastion Keep was set, fell across the waves. It served as a fair warning for all of those who entered Seaway's waters. The Goddess is watching. Visible along the walkway was a large group of city guards, accompanied by two humanoids on horseback. Steven pressed himself against the window, nose squished, “Hey, isn't that Lord Dewey?” Amethyst squinted, positioning next to Steven to get a better view. As the group came closer, it appeared to indeed be the Lord and his son. Lapis turned away, “I’ll get the others.” Before disappearing to the lower levels of the keep. Steven backed away from the window to look at Garnet, "Why are they here?" Garnet waved her hand across her face, creating a whirling silver mist over her three eyes. "It appears we are on audience..." To be continued, ayyee!

[chiefdancingbear]

The Simpernaturals: Ben’s Birthday

Good Evening all! Just wanted to come to update as I was finally able to play. Seriously, they need to fix these issues man........I was on a never ending loop where the loading screen was concerned. Anyone else? I had to force it shut, then repair. Thank God that it worked! Well, on with the show as they say. 

The next day found Ben, bored out of his mind. He thought that he’d try to get a hold of Erika, only to be told that she had chores to do and couldn’t chat for now. 

“Beeeen!!” Gamer called out, “Someone here to see you!!” At this he rushed out, hoping it was Erika, but it wasn’t. It was some kid, he had forgotten his name to be completely honest with himself, that he had met prior to meeting Erika. 

“BOO!!” Ben said sneaking up to him. Of course that didn’t scare him at all. 

“Dude, I have a brother and sister at home that try that trick on me all the time. Its not going to do any good” said his unimpressed friend.

“Oh” 

They started to play together for a while until Ben’s Mom declared it time to go out to karaoke so she could perfect her moves and try them out on the crowd. Ben, rolling his eyes, told his friend he had to go. On the way, Ben was sure that it was going to be very lame and he usually ended up sounding horrible! 

“Come ON!! It will be fun!!” his Mom was trying to coax him into a duet once they got there. 

“Do I have to?” 

“Just do it for your Mommy........tomorrow is your birthday and you can do what you want. Just let me have this one thing”

“Fine.....one song, okay Mom?” 

They sung their hearts out and most of the group watched and clapped enthusiastically after they were done. Still, Ben didn’t care too much for his voice, but his Mom hugged and thanked him. 

The rest of the night, Bear killed it on the karaoke front while most of their crew talked, laughed, and cheered her on every now and then. It was great!! 

That night, shortly before bed, Bear sighed and told Gamer that tomorrow her little baby boy was going to be a young man. She couldn’t believe it. Gamer was quick to correct her. 

“No.....tomorrow he becomes a headstrong teen......and his friend Erika no longer is just a friend........” 

“Erika’s birthday.....isn’t hers the day after Ben’s?”

“I do know its the same month, to be honest.......unsure of the day. Thing is, is that we are gonna have to watch those two”

“HA! And I thought I was going to be the crazy parent......” 

“I have news for you.......you are” Gamer giggled as Bear threw a pillow in his general direction. 

“No, what I mean was, that I thought that I would be worrying over my baby being involved with a girl. I always thought of you as the one with the reasoning. However, the Maker has a sense of humor it seems” Bear giggled.

“Oh HA HA!! Can we go to bed”

“Okay Mr. Grumpy pants”

“What pants?” Gamer wiggled his eyebrows

Bear just shook her head, kissed her crazy husband and went to sleep. The next day they woke to the sound of Ben playing with Erika. Apparently Ben couldn’t wait to see her. This was something that Bear put in her mind to talk to him about later as today was his birthday. 

As Gamer emerged from the room first he observed, from afar, Ben making Erika laugh. He started grinning so hard he thought his face was going to break any second. ‘My boy.....with a girl........and he’s actually making her laugh and knows exactly what to say’ he thought for one proud moment before Bear touched his shoulder. 

“What are we grinning at?” she whispered.

“Ben and Erika......aren’t they cute?”

“Yeah.....proud Papa moment?”

“One of the proudest moments......” Gamer said amused as Bear patted his shoulder and moved past him. 

“Alright kids! Its time for breakfast......but we gotta make it first, why not go upstairs and have a dance party on the patio!” 

“Sure Mom!!” 

“Oh, and make sure that you wake up your Auntie too” Gamer laughed as Bear nudged him with her elbow to elicit an “ouch” response from Gamer as he kept laughing. Bear turned to Gamer, “Youre horrible!”

“If we gotta wake up early cause they woke us up, then fair is fair” he grinned. 

A minute later, JB came downstairs yawning, “Did you HAVE to send them upstairs?”

“Yes......ow!! WHY must you keep doing that?!” Gamer said a little exasperated.

“Be nice!!”

“When its a lot more fun to be mischievous?” Gamer chuckled as Bear rolled her eyes. 

“Oh you two.....you two crack me up.....” JB laughed and mused as she sat down at the table with some cereal. 

Meanwhile, upstairs, Ben and Erika were dancing outside with some tunes blaring. It was a mildly windy day and so any of the noise they were making was being taken away by the wind. Thankfully, no one called them to complain. Ben started showing Erika some moves and she was trying to show him some of her own as well. 

“Youre a pretty good dancer!” Ben said.

“Thanks! You are too!!” 

“So, wanna stay the day and celebrate my birthday with me?”

“Sure! I might as well celebrate my own too right after!” Erika giggled.

“When is it?”

“Toward the end of the month......which is actually, I think......tomorrow?”

“Cool!” 

They were unaware that the grownups were down there reminiscing over Ben’s life up til now and dreaming of his future as Bear baked the cake. 

“Do you guys realize that they are getting closer?” 

“You aren’t scared of that Bear, are you?”

“Well.....” Bear said scratching her head.

“What she means is that she wants Ben to take his time, find the right girl” Gamer winked at Bear.

“The right girl? I think Erika is sweet! I definitely hope they become an item!” JB said making googly eyes

Gamer laughed at Bear’s expression, “Methinks she’s not ready for him to grow up.....”

“I am.....I just didn’t think itd happen THAT quickly” 

“Honey, it’ll be okay! You’ll see!!” 

“Oh yeah, and next thing you know, I’ll be Grandma Bear!!” she said and threw her hands up as the other two laughed. Once she was done with the batter, they talked more to Bear and made her feel better. 

“We are all gonna be old farts by the time that Ben and Erika even think about having a kid let alone getting married” Gamer laughed. 

“This is true” 

Just then, a ding came from the oven and Gamer called the two downstairs. 

“Time for cake!!” he called out. The two couldn’t believe they were having cake for breakfast! 

And just like that, Ben was a teenager! Ready for anything!

Erika also celebrated too and grew up as well! They both spent the day together after that reminiscing about grade school and the other things kids usually worried over. 

In the end, Ben sighed and told Erika, “Mom is really awesome though.......she really helped me with homework. Even when she was trying to figure it out before helping me out” he smiled. 

“I love your parents Ben.......they’re really nice” Erika said. “Well, I ought to get home to my parents......who knows what they have planned for me for tomorrow!” 

“Opening gifts I bet......I’ll swing around and pick you up and we will do something fun” 

“Sounds like a plan!” 

They said goodbye, Ben went to his room to hang out, and that’s when Ben’s parents came back out because they needed to cook dinner.

“Honestly honey, you don’t have to be sad about Ben growing up! Its a part of life! Just be glad he’s here, that he loves us, and that we are raising him the right way” 

“I suppose you are right.......its just hard.....” Bear sighed. 

“Once a Momma Bear always a Momma Bear” Gamer joked and made Bear giggle.

“You got that right” she smiled. 

Alright! Thus ends another update! Thanks for reading and please keep tuned in for more! 

[shannaraisles]

Set In Darkness

Chapter: 24 Author name: ShannaraIsles Rating: M (for language) Warnings: Canon-typical threat and violence Summary: She’s a Modern Girl in Thedas, but it isn’t what she wanted. There’s a scary dose of reality as soon as she arrives. It isn’t her story. People get hurt here; people die here, and there’s no option to reload if you make a bad decision. So what’s stopping her from plunging head first into the Void at the drop of a hat?

Worldly Wisdom

"Stop squirming!"

Sera twisted as the comb passed through her hair, cackling with laughter, and slipped straight off the crate she was perched on, landing in a giggling heap on the ground.

"It tickles!"

Rory sighed, unable to hide her own smile at the elven woman's silly reaction to having her hair combed. She rolled her eyes, chuckling to herself, and glanced over at the tent beside them.

"How are you doing in there?" she called to the occupants.

"This is the hairiest dwarf I have ever seen," Kaaras called back from the other side of the tent flaps, his words punctuated by a fruity laugh from Varric.

"You should have seen my brother, Beanstalk," the storyteller replied cheerfully. "Least we don't smell like a bad winery any more." He yelped. "Watch where you're putting that comb!"

"If you'd stop flexing, I wouldn't stab your nipples so much," the Qunari pointed out, sounding torn between amusement and frustration. "There's no one here to see your mighty pecs, and hairy dwarf just doesn't do it for me."

"You're just jealous," Varric countered merrily. "You're balder than Chuckles."

"I maintain this would have been quicker if you'd let him shave you," Kaaras told his dwarven companion, both of them seemingly unaware of the loud eruption of laughter from outside the tent.

Sera was cackling again, this time at the thought of a shaved Varric, even as Rory wrestled her back onto the crate to try and finish combing through the Jenny's short hair. And thank gods Sera did have short hair, or this would take forever. Combing through her own hair was going to be a job and a half.

And why were the Inquisition party stripped to their smalls at the foot of the Frostbacks, combing each other's hair? It wasn't only the inner circle doing it. Everyone was working on their personal grooming, while various blankets, bedrolls, and clothes were dried after a long soak in lye. The short answer? Lice.

Three days into their journey back to Haven, with the Herald's smaller group caught up to the main party, one of the guards had found lice in his hair. A quick inspection had then found lice on everyone, and infesting their bedding. The source was identified as the bundles of supposedly new blankets they'd purchased in the capital. There was nothing for it - they had to stop and deal with the infestation sooner rather than later, before everyone was bitten to buggery. Rory had to hastily work out what they could use, deciding on vinegar for their hair and a very thorough soak in caustic lye soap for the fabrics. So out came the vinegar, off came the clothes, and everyone spent the majority of the day smelling like a fish and chip shop on Earth while washing out their clothing and bedding.

Not to say everyone had agreed to this plan - Solas and Vivienne had been vehemently in favor of shaving the entire party bald just to save time, but the majority of the forty-strong group had been just as vehemently opposed to the idea, especially when the mages had proposed using fire magic to make the job even quicker. In the minority, the two mages had given in and set themselves to drying out the clothes and blankets, dealing with their own lice in their own way. Sera had to be talked down out of a tree just to get her to allow Rory to treat her hair, and had then attempted to get away with not washing out her clothes. Lice were emergency protein, she'd declared, wielding a frying pan like a club. It was only Cassandra's stern declaration that no one bearing lice would be allowed admission into Haven that finally got the elf to calm down and join them.

It had been a long, tiring, boring day, filled with back-breaking menial work, but as night fell, the job was almost done. The enticing smells from the cooking fires were spurring the stragglers on to get the whole thing over with, eager to get moving again with the following dawn. Sheepish smiles were shared among the mixed group after spending the day shivering in their smalls together, but finally Rory was the only one who needed to wash out and comb her hair. To her surprise, both Cassandra and Helene insisted on doing it for her, making the argument that two could finish faster than one, and she needed to eat, anyway.

Sera grinned at her from the other side of the fire, everyone finally dressed and warm after their uncomfortable day. "Not so useless, are you?" she commented cheerfully.

Rory snorted with laughter, fully aware of how ridiculous she looked with two armored women picking through her long red hair with fine combs. "Oh, I'm so pleased you think so," she drawled, gratefully accepting the mug of hot wine Kaaras pushed into her hand.

The Qunari was watching the combing process in fascination - not because he was fascinated, she was sure, but because this was showing him a different side to the object of his affections. Cassandra was patient and gentle, and already trying to decide how she was going to dress Rory's hair when they were done, a far cry from the warrior woman who had a tendency to punish fennec foxes for startling her with bloody vengeance.

"A good healer is far from useless, Sera," Cassandra told the elf absently as she worked.

"Is if she can't keep out of trouble," Sera pointed out with a diffident shrug, cupping her hands around her own mug of wine.

"She only gets in trouble when she's on her own, Buttercup," Varric felt the need to interject, looking up from where he was scribbling notes on parchment. "Cupcake, maybe we should chain you permanently to someone capable."

Before Rory could protest, Kaaras had to join in. "I don't think the commander would like that."

"Curly's capable," Varric indicated, chuckling as the healer groaned. "You don't like that idea?"

"Oddly enough, Varric, I don't like being a topic of gossip," Rory informed him in a mild tone. "And I'm sure he doesn't."

"You should get used to it, both of you," the dwarf advised her. "Everyone likes a good romance, especially when they can see it happening right in front of them."

"I've already lost this conversation, haven't I?" She sighed, wincing just a little as Cassandra gathered her damp hair into one thick braid, having decided against the more elaborate style she'd been considering.

Varric chuckled. "Pretty much, Cupcake."

"How come no one's taught you to fight?" Sera asked then, curiosity setting her features into a familiar frown.

"I'm learning," Rory said defensively, handing a mug to Helene as the soldier sat down beside her. "I know how to punch someone's palm without falling over."

Sera made a rude noise. "Punching's no good for you," she said in a confident tone. "You're little - gotta learn how to take a hit and fight dirty. And when to run."

"She's right."

To everyone's surprise, this came from Helene, who had been a silent shadow constantly at Rory's side since they'd lost each other in Val Royeaux. She flushed under the sudden attention as everyone's eyes turned to her, but forged on with her point.

"Formal fighting won't get you anywhere, Rory, you'll never get a chance to use it," she told her friend. "I ... I could teach you some tricks, if you'd like."

"So can I," Sera offered. Apparently, Rory counted as one of the little people she was so fiercely protective of.

"We've all probably got something we could teach you," Kaaras agreed, seemingly excited by the idea of everyone piling in to teach a healer how not to get hurt so much.

Varric nodded beside him. "Can't have you always walking straight into trouble when no one's got their eye on you. Curly'll have a fit."

And so began Rory's real education in how to defend herself. They began that night, and continued at every rest stop for the next five days. From Helene, she learned how to use her knees, feet, and elbows in close quarters; when to use her teeth; how to draw her belt knife in a struggle and jab the hilt into an attacker's throat. Sera insisted on teaching her how to headbutt properly ... and also made her practice on Kaaras' solid chest until Rory could do it without knocking herself onto her arse. Varric had words of wisdom about keeping on her feet and distracting her enemy; Cassandra recommended exercises to strengthen her shoulders and arms, and pointed out that anything could be a weapon in a pinch. Kaaras was quite happy to teach her how to use his size against him, something she could easily translate to just about any fight she might end up in. No one expected her to win a fight - this was all geared toward putting an attacker down long enough to run away, and Rory was absolutely fine with that. She didn't want to win; she wanted to survive.

She was covered in bruises by the time they reached Haven, but she was proud of each one of them. Each bruise was a lesson learned; a lesson she was determined to remember. It turned out that even the way she jumped when startled was a reflex that could be trained, and Helene had started on that straight away. By the end of the third day, she'd managed to bruise her elbow on Cassandra's breastplate twice, and no one was approaching her from behind anymore. Helene had also promised that, no matter what her punishment for what happened in Val Royeaux, she would keep up those lessons with the healer. No one wanted to know what would happen if Rory was attacked and defenseless for the third time.

Still, it was a relief to be back in the relative safety of Haven, with its familiar ordered chaos and green-tinged atmosphere. The Breach seemed even bigger after a few days away from its looming presence, the low-lying hum of its thrumming magic forgotten until they were back in its shadow once more. Kaaras and Cassandra immediately headed to the Chantry, to meet with Cullen, Leliana, and Josephine, and go over the events in Orlais - Rory headed for the clinic, sharing smiles with those who greeted her on her way. But despite outward appearances, it seemed that not all was peaceful in her little corner of the world.

"I don't see that it's any of your business who I sit with at meals," Evy was saying coldly as Rory let herself into the clinic.

Pausing in the doorway, she glanced over at Fabian, who was changing a dressing on a recruit's arm. He gave her a look that spoke volumes of his desire to stay out of it, turning back to his work. Rory gave the other desk a second look. Evy was rolling bandages stiffly, glaring at her own hands; Rylen stood beside her, his expression torn between hurt and anger. Neither seemed to have noticed Rory's return.

"It is my business when you're setting yourself up as temptation to men who don't see you as a person, Evy," the Starkhaven captain told the noblewoman through a frown.

"Healer Trevelyan to you, captain," Evy snapped back.

Rylen raised his head sharply, his jaw twitching as he visibly bit back angry words. "There's no talking to you in this mood," he said in exasperation. "I'll be seeing you later, Healer Trevelyan."

"I wouldn't count on it," was Evy's cool response.

Rylen let out a frustrated breath, turning away in defeat. He jerked to a halt when his eyes fell on Rory. She raised her brows curiously, but he only shook his head, rolling his eyes as he stepped past and out through the door. Trouble in paradise, it seems.

"That looked frosty," she said conversationally, moving to set her pack and bag down.

Evy jumped, looking up at her with devastated eyes. "You're back!" she exclaimed superfluously. "What happened to your face?"

"I encountered the seedy underbelly of Val Royeaux," Rory told her in an easy tone, dismissing the thin scab at her temple. "What's been happening here?"

"Nothing all that exciting," Evy answered a little evasively. "We had a new batch of recruits come in, but I wasn't sure I could do that properly, so Fabian did the assessments."

Sending his patient off with a nod and a pat to the shoulder, Fabian rose to wash his hands. "Two came in with spider lung," he reported, "but that potion you got us from the Hinterlands cured them within a few days. The camps are running low on basic supplies, though."

"Then I come bearing good news," Rory told him, hands laid comfortably on her hips. "We've got the basics coming in bulk from Orlais within the week, so we'll be able to stock everyone adequately and keep the spare in the Chantry stores. Have there been any more cases of dysentery?"

He shook his head. "Not since we cleaned the water supply," he assured her. "The sisters have finally started to wash their hands between patients, too, so there's very little cross infection at the moment. I wrote everything up for the assessments - it's all in the box."

"You know me so well." Rory chuckled lightly. She insisted on reading everyone's notes at least once, just so she had a passing understanding of the general health of the Inquisition in general. She tilted her head toward Evy. "What about Gareth and Ara?"

"Discharged two days ago," the sable-haired woman said, only a little tentatively. "Ara's breathing without difficulty now, and Gareth has a crutch to help him walk until he can bear weight on that foot. He's due back tomorrow for a dressing change."

"Excellent. Sounds like you both have things well in hand." Rory's smile was echoed by the pair of them; she was very proud of how far they'd both come. "As to the ongoing boy/girl problem, I have a solution we can offer them, but I have to make it first. Have you found patient zero with the crotch-rot?"

"Narrowed it down to three," Fabian informed her. "But they've all slept with each other, so there's no way of knowing which one had it first."

"Then we'll have to dose all three with the felandaris mixture and hope they learn from the horrific experience." Rory sighed reluctantly. Medicine in this world was sometimes worse than the affliction it healed. "And there's no need to be gentle with the wash down - between them, they infected nearly fifty people. If we hadn't caught it, the whole bloody Inquisition could have ended up with fetid genitals."

"They should be dismissed for their carelessness," Evy said heatedly, crossing her arms as she frowned.

"It's not our place to make that decision, Evy," Rory reminded her in a gentle voice. "We treat what's in front of us without judgment, and pass on information to the leaders only if it will do more good than harm."

"I still don't see why we can't just refuse to treat someone when they've clearly brought their problem on themselves," the younger woman argued. She was having some difficulty accepting that a healer was essentially someone who provided an impartial service.

"So you'd refuse to treat a child run down by a horse because the child should have got out of the way?" Fabian asked, brows raised.

"Oh, don't be ridiculous," Evy scoffed, shaking her head. "Of course I wouldn't refuse."

"So what would you refuse to treat?" the older man pressed her. "We don't always know the circumstances, Evelyn."

"Well ..." Evy groped for an example to back up her argument. "That corporal last week, the one who started the fight in the tavern," she suggested. "It was his own fault he got a sprained wrist."

"But he's a soldier," Rory pointed out in a calm tone. She was used to this debate by now. "By refusing to treat his injury, you weaken him, and put the others he fights alongside at risk. You'd be doing more harm than good."

Evy hesitated. "I hadn't considered that," she admitted. "All right ... what about someone who attacks you? Would you really treat them?"

"I would, and I have," Rory revealed with a wry smile, unsurprised by the amazement on their faces as she shared this. "A man once broke his arm trying to punch me just for standing in his eye line. Just because he missed and hit the wall instead doesn't mean he didn't intend to hurt me. But I still splinted his arm and sent him on his way." Straight into the waiting arms of the police, but you don't really need to know that right now.

"But why?" The whole idea seemed totally foreign to Evelyn, and with reason. As a noble, she just hadn't been exposed to the aggression of everyday stupidity until she'd joined the Inquisition, and she still struggled with just how ridiculous the causes of some of the injuries they treated really were.

Rory's smile gentled. "Because I'm a healer, Evy," she explained simply. "It's my job to fix what I can, whether I like my patient or not. It's not my place to pass judgment on them."

"If that's the way a healer is supposed to work, then why is Rylen so upset with me for being friendly to a not very popular templar?" the girl asked plaintively.

It took a moment for Rory's mind to screech to a halt and take the turn that allowed her to catch up with this unexpected segue. "I'm sensing a story," she mused a little warily. "Hold that thought a moment. Fabs, are you going back to the camp tonight?"

"Thought I'd stay one more night up here," Fabian told her, a knowing glint in his eyes as he smiled at his superior. "Let you settle in properly."

Gods, does everyone know about me and Cullen? "Then you should take the afternoon for yourself, and Evy can have the evening," Rory suggested. "I'll be within yelling distance the whole time, if either of you need me."

Fabian chuckled, nodding in agreement. "In that case, I can hear the mutton stew at the tavern calling my name," he agreed easily, discarding his apron as he headed for the door. Who could blame him? The Inquisition rations didn't exactly make for exciting eating.

As the door swung shut in his wake, Rory turned back to Evy, eyeing her younger assistant with curious concern. "Now then," she said, unbuttoning her coat to hang it up by the door. "What's going on with you and Rylen?"

Evy stared at her. She opened her mouth, closed it, and abruptly burst into tears. "I don't think he loves me any more ..."

"Oh, Evy ..." Rory sighed, swallowing her smile at the melodramatic declaration. The course of true love, and all that. "Come here, and tell me what happened."

She drew the younger woman down onto one of the beds, and slowly teased the story from her. It had all taken place the night before - Evy had been late to dinner, and when she got there, she'd discovered that Rylen hadn't saved her a seat beside him. Feeling slighted, she'd sat herself with Matrin, a templar whom everyone knew wasn't on good terms with the captain, and she'd laughed and flirted with him openly, to the point of refusing to join Rylen when he had invited her to come for a walk by the lake. Matrin had walked her back to the clinic and tried to kiss her without accepting no for an answer; Rylen, who had been waiting for her there, blacked the templar's eye for trying it, and snapped at Evy for encouraging the man. And it sounded like they were both too proud to apologize for this very minor hiccup in their relationship.

"What am I going to do?" the young Trevelyan wept. "He's so angry with me."

"Well, you're not exactly being friendly with him either, are you?" Rory pointed out, feeling much older than her twenty-six years as she spoke. When did I become Evelyn Trevelyan's mother? "It sounds like you've been rather silly, and he didn't react very well to it."

"He always saves me a seat," Evy protested weakly, "but last night, he didn't."

"Is that a good enough reason to antagonize him with someone you know he doesn't like?" Rory asked without sympathy. She didn't like anyone who played stupid games like that; it was disappointing to learn that Evy was inclined toward them. "And no, he shouldn't have snapped at you when you were shaken, but you're both in the wrong. You reacted, he reacted, and now both of you are suffering for it."

"But how do I fix it?" Evy asked uncertainly. "I don't want him to hate me."

"I highly doubt he hates you over a misunderstanding," the senior healer assured her. "All you need to do is swallow your pride and apologize. No excuses, no blame. Apologize; let him apologize; and then talk to each other about what happened. Listen to his side of the story. And if he doesn't listen to yours, I'll break his bloody arm again."

Sniffling, Evy wiped her face with her sleeve. "And you ... you really think that will work?"

"I know it will," Rory promised her. She knew Rylen well enough to be confident of that - he might be hurt and defensive, but he definitely didn't hate Evy. "Now wash your face, and go talk to him. I'll hold clinic until Fabs comes back."

"Oh, thank you!"

As Evy rushed out, desperate to find Rylen and repair the damage between them, Rory drew a hand over her forehead, wincing at the tenderness of her temple through a long-suffering sigh. Ah, the trials of first love. But why was the whole world and his mother coming to her for advice on their love lives? She had enough trouble navigating her own. She touched the very light money pouch on her belt, feeling the outline of the mabari charm tucked inside. And you just made certain you won't have time to see him until at least after dinner. Oh yeah, you're a love genius, all right. The Inquisition's doomed.