#so i want to thank my friends and my moooom

[beastkonohaworld]

"Archeops is actually better at running than flying. But he'll work hard at anything if it's for the team! All aboard!"

I had a vision of Emmet learning Archie how to fly. A great excuse for some dramatic art :D

[thebest-medicine]

Show, Don’t Tell

The Owl House - lee!Luz, lee!Hunter, lee!Amity, ler!Camila, ler!Willow, ler!Gus, ler!Luz - [read on ao3]

Summary: Camila shows the rest of the Hexsquad a way she used to calm down / cheer up Luz during a scary movie when she was little. Soon, more of the Hexsquad reveal themselves to share the same weakness.

A/N: I come to bring you sweet owl house tickles, takes place during thanks to them

Words: 1.2k

…

“Si, and any time Luz was too scared—she always tried so hard to be brave! We always used to help cheer her up with—”

“Whoa! Mama, you don’t have to tell them about—”

“No, tell us! What is it?” Amity asked, a curious smile on her face at Luz’s blurted attempt to silence the story. Luz stared back at her with blushing cheeks before the eyes turned back to her mother a moment later.

“You’re right.. I shouldn’t tell them.” Camila said calmly. She waited for Luz to lose a bit of the tension from her shoulders, ler her guard down just a little… “I should show them!” She leapt toward her daughter with a war cry. Luz scrambled backward on the couch with a shriek of giggling terror.

“No! Mama! Dohohohohohohohon’t!” Luz cried, laughing already as she feebly fought to block the advancing, tickling hands. “Oh nohohohoho! Behehehetrayal!” She cackled as Camila got to her sides, pinching up along them to her ribs. Luz clutched at her wrists as she laughed, squishing herself further back into the couch.

“You see, Luz here is quite ticklish. Never fails to put a smile on her face!” Camila explained to the grinning witch teens as they watched on.

Luz’s face burned with embarrassment as she laughed and laughed, until finally her mother pulled back a minute later with a proud grin on her face. “Tadaa—Smiley Luz!”

“Moooom.” Luz whined through lingering laughter as she covered her face.

“Did you kids have this in the Demon Realm?” Camila asked next as Luz caught her breath.

Willow and Gus nodded with a familiar smile.

“My dad sometimes used to do that when I was growing up.”

“My dads too.”

“Heh, my parents never would have done anything like that, but, the twins...” Amity responded with a shudder at the memories. “They were pretty mean when it came to tickling growing up.”

“Oh, I’m sorry to hear that, it’s not very fun when someone takes it too far.” Camila assured her. “Luz doesn’t mind as long as—”

“Mama! Please!” Luz protested with a nervous smile.

One of the group continued to watch on confused, a strange smile working its way onto his face at the unfamiliar display of affection and sudden laughter.

“What, um…” Hunter spoke up a few moments later. “What is that?”

“Whaaaaaaaat?” Gus gasped dramatically, spinning to face Hunter. “Are you serious right now!?”

Hunter blushed a little at the attention as eyes converged on him. “Yeah, I uh, I’ve never seen someone do that before.”

“So you don’t know if you’re ticklish?” Willow asked gently.

“If I’m..? No...” Hunter looked to Luz, who had mostly returned to her normal composure and breathing. “Is it… Fun?”

Luz’s cheeks blossomed with redness at his question and she looked away. The whole group chuckled at that.

“Yes, it’s just a way of playing or bonding with someone. Lots of families or friends do it.” Camila explained, placing a hand on his shoulder. “I bet some of your friends here can help you find out.” She winked.

Everyone was smiling as she stood and announced. “I’m going to go make some popcorn and snacks for the movie, okay mijas?” Then, she made her way to the kitchen.

“Well, what do you think, do you want to try?” Willow asked, grinning at Hunter as she moved in closer on the couch.

Hunter swallowed, looking between her and Gus, who gave him a similar look. “S-Sure.”

Luz smiled at him reassuringly, then scooted out of the way so that Willow and Gus could get closer on either side of him. She turned to Amity, who was watching her with a blush of her own.

“A-Alright. What should I..?” Hunter looked between his two friends. Each got in close on one of his sides.

“Put your arms around us, like a hug!” Willow suggested.

Hunter blushed further, but then did as he was told.

“So.. there’s a few general hotspots that most people are ticklish.” Willow explained as she brought one hand up into view to get Hunter’s attention. “For example.” She brought down a wiggling claw hand, just over the middle of Hunter’s stomach.

Hunter jumped at the contact, a strange, unfamiliar sensation that made him want to shout. He reeled back with a wide grin, tightening his grip on his friend’s shoulders to keep from pulling his arms in. She kept tickling, light but persistent. Hunter couldn’t hold back the giggles long as they formed in his throat. Laughter still felt somewhat foreign on his lips, but this felt almost natural. “Wha-whahat- hehe- what is thihihihis?”

“Looks like you’re ticklish, buddy!” Gus cheered with a grin.

“Here’s another spot a lot of people are ticklish.” Willow pulled away her tickling hand, only to bring it back to poke into Hunter’s ribs. He jumped away from the touch, his body flinching toward Gus. Soon, he was met with a poke from that side as well as the other witch joined in the teasing.

“Ehehehhe it feheheeheels weheheird!” Hunter said through his laughter.

“Good weird? Or bad weird?” Willow asked.

“I-hehehehe I’m not suhuhure yehehhet!” He answered honestly, a little overwhelmed at the potency of the sensation.

“Here’s another spot a lot of people are ticklish.” She wiggled two fingers under his arm and Hunter yelped. His arm tugged back and slammed into Willow’s shoulder where she had him lightly pinned to the couch.

Gus moved his own hand up and started to poke around the other armpit, and Hunter laughed outright.

“Ahahahaha! Wahahaha- not thehehehere!” He gasped, wishing for a moment he could crawl out of his skin to escape the strong, intruding buzz of ticklish sensation.

The two of them stopped. “Sorry, too much?” Willow asked.

“No, just… that was a bad spot, I guess.” Hunter replied. “It’s fine.” Then, he continued, assuring them. “It was kinda.. fun. Is there… other spots people can be ticklish?”

Willow’s smile brightened. “Of course! Let’s try somewhere else. Let us know if it’s too bad a spot again, okay?”

“Okay..” Hunter nodded. “Hey, why are you grabbing my feet, Gus?”

…

Meanwhile, as Luz turned to Amity. “So, you said the twins were pretty bad, huh?”

Amity’s blush grew. She looked at the ceiling. “H-heh, yeah.”

“So I guess that means you’re pret-ty ticklish.”

The blush covered her entire face.

“Don’t worry, I don’t wanna do anything that makes you uncomfortable.” Luz leaned in, whispering. “But if you’d be okay with it, I’d love to try it some time.”

Amity giggled in anticipation. “T-That would be fine. I trust you.”

“Like…. Maybe now?” Luz smirked, giving her a playful look.

Amity nodded, already letting out small laughs. And Luz pounced, only to bring one slow, gentle hand down to poke at her twitching tummy.

“Hehehehe- AHH! Heheh!” Amity giggled, shouting out a little laugh at every new poke. Her laughter joined Hunter’s, and Camila smiled as she prepared snacks in the next room.

[spicywhenspeaking]

If I'm There: Chapter Seventeen

read from part one here!

summary: Noah and Natalie met in high school and developed a relationship through their love of music and art. Falling in love, innocent and young, they think nothing can keep them apart. However, sometimes in the pursuit of your dreams the things we love the most get left behind.

warnings: mentions of alcoholism

this is a complete work of fiction, these characters while based on real people are totally made up. :)

edited by me hungover this morning....soooo if you see something spelt wrong no you didn't.

taglist : @lma1986 @cookiesupplier @notingridslurkaccount @blackveilomens @thisbicc @thebadchic @laurpartyprogram @jessitpwk @samanthasgone

Roughly 10 years later, June 5th, 2023

Beep

Beep 

Beep

The constant beeping of my alarm begins waking me up and as I roll over to hit the snooze button when I suddenly hear the pattering of footsteps and then a small “oof” of a body launching themselves in the air and landing directly on me.

“Ouch!” I call out and the mass now on top of me dissolves into a fit of giggles. 

“Mom!!! wake up!!! Ashley’s mom will be here soon!” Erin is full of energy today. Her friend Ashley’s mom is taking her and some of her friends to Six Flags for the day to celebrate the end of the school year. I roll my comforter up to cover Erin up in a burrito of blankets and she starts to laugh even harder. “Mom! Let me out!” Erin’s voice squeaks out between laughs. 

“Okay, okay. Be free little one,” I tell her while unwrapping the blankets covering her. I see her face poke out the top and lean down to cover it in kisses. “Oh, I love you so much!! My little baby!! I can’t believe you just finished third grade! Stop growing please !” She laughs and wiggles out of the bed. “Moooom! Please get up, I need to eat breakfast.”

We travel downstairs into the kitchen together and I turn on the coffee maker while gathering the supplies needed to make breakfast. I start making pancakes and soon we hear clunking around coming from the other room. “Do I smell pancakes!?” Haylie calls out from behind her door. Erin runs to the other side “Auntie Hales come to eat breakfast with me!” she calls out and the door swings open surprising Erin. She jumps slightly but recovers as soon as Hailey picks her up and swings her around the hallway toward the kitchen where I’m flipping the last pancake onto the large serving plate. “Pancakes and bacon! I hope you’re hungry,” I call out and pour two cups of coffee and a glass of orange juice for Erin. “I’m starving! Thanks, Mom” Erin says. “Yeah, thanks, Mom!” Haylie jokes. 

We didn’t mean to stay at Haylie’s this long but every time I considered moving Haylie wouldn’t hear it. She loves having us here and we love being here and after a while, we really felt like a little family. Speaking of families, my brother is coming to visit soon. Kyle and Maggie are both coming. Together. 

After I left they became closer and eventually fell in love. I didn’t know how long it would last but after Kyle enlisted in the Marine Corps they got even closer. When he was stationed in Okinawa in a surprise to us all they secretly eloped so they could live off base together. They are still together now and happier than ever. They have a five-year-old girl, Natasha, who Erin loves so much. The girls are so sweet and we love any chance we can get them together. They’re coming to visit next week for a week and I’m really excited. 

A lot has changed in the last ten years. Kyle and I have grown to be incredibly close. I think us both becoming parents changed a lot. Unfortunately, our Mom never recovered from her alcoholism and passed a few years after Erin was born. She met Erin a few times but I was very protective, especially in those first few years of her life and I didn’t want her seeing my mom when she was at her worst. Our Dad lives in Austin now, he wanted to be close to me and his grandchild after our Mom died, and at first I was really hesitant, but over the years a lot has changed. Our relationship is pretty good now and Erin loves her grandpa so much, he likes taking her to the library and the park on the weekends, or to get ice cream after school.  

We finish up our breakfast and help Erin get ready for her day trip with her friends. We pack her a small bag since they’ll be having a sleepover after their day at the amusement park. Erin is running around her room trying to decide which stuffed animal she wants to take, she’s deep in thought trying to choose between her stuffed giraffe and her frog build-a-bear we made a few years ago for her birthday. “Froggy! I choose you!” she declares and for a moment everything about her is Noah.

Noah. I never heard from him after I sent the letter. I thought about reaching out again but between life with a newborn and working on finishing my apprenticeship time just slipped away from me. Then she was getting bigger and I was getting settled into my new career as a tattoo artist and when I saw that he was in a new band that was really picking up, that same insecurity that Alex planted all those years ago came right back. her words echoing, “You’ll ruin his life you know? His whole career. He will throw it all away for you. Is that what you want?” I stopped trying, I stopped waiting and I have tried every day of Erin’s life to be everything she needs. When I listened to that first album I was amazed. By his talent, what he was creating for himself was exactly what he wanted. I cried so hard listening to it, I threw the CD in the box that was hiding in the back of my closet.

Ashley’s Mom picked up Erin about an hour later. “Have fun and be careful okay? Listen to Ashley’s Mom and I will call you before you go to bed tonight, she has my number if you need to call me at all okay?” I ask and my sassy daughter in her rush to leave is nodding and just saying “Yes, okay Mom, I will, Okay..Mom she’s here!! Can I go please??” she pleads and I laugh and give her a big hug, and kiss before walking her to the car outside.

Later when I’m getting ready for work I decide on a simple white tank with my faded loose-fit jeans that are covered in holes, but the most comfortable pair of pants I own. I throw on some light makeup and put my hair up in a loose bun. “Wow! How can you make a plain white tank look so hot?!” Haylie loves to hype me up so I give her a little spin and mock bow. “Thank you!” I say as I finish packing my bag and filling up my water bottle. I’m trying to only work a half day so I can do some emotional spending, if I can finish my appointments before getting any walk-ins, Target is all mine.

Waving goodbye I head out the door and hop into my car to head to work. I bought a new car when Erin was five and I love it so much, it’s perfect for us. A little Honda CRV in black. My books have been filling up lately and I was able to pay off the car early last spring which was an amazing feeling. I take off down the street and it’s a short drive to the shop only ten minutes, I turn on the radio and my usual station is playing. “Up next we have a song that’s picking up some traction on TikTok and normally we don’t care about that. But, this is a band I like so to celebrate their upcoming show in Austin, up next we have Bad Omens with Just Pretend” the DJ says and I audibly groan and hit the power button on the radio and just commit to the silent drive into work. It hasn’t been impossible to avoid his band but I try, everyone laughs at work when they come on a playlist. They all anticipate me calling out “Hey Siri” or “Okay Google,” “Alexa” followed by “Skip!” I think they all just assume I don’t like the band and I’m happy not to elaborate. 

I get to work and head to my station to get set up for my first appointment. It’s a repeat client and we are finishing up her sleeve tattoo with filler and some color. It doesn’t take very long and before I know It I’ve finished two more clients and it’s almost 2 pm. 

I continue to clean my station since my client left a half hour ago. My plans to cut out early and go shopping came to a  crashing halt when I heard the jingle of the door opening and four guys walked in, two of whom I hadn’t seen in about a decade. I knew they were in town but I mean, Austin is a huge city. They could have walked into any tattoo shop. But no, the man I’ve been avoiding, actively avoiding since he left me, alone, unknowingly pregnant and devastated is right there. Right in front of me, it’s like every feeling I worked through in therapy is rushed back to the surface.

He hasn’t seen me, too busy talking to Ryan at reception and I overhear “Yeah, I think Nat is available. She doesn’t have anyone on her books for the rest of the day” he says, looking down to check my logbook. “Hey Nat!” He calls to me and the four eyes follow, two in particular getting hit with immediate recognition. “Do you have time to fit these guys in? They say they’re just looking for some small line work?” I see his whole frame tense and his mouth opens slightly, almost in awe, "Natty?" we whispers.

I’m frozen, I’m speechless and our eyes are locked. I’m staring into the eyes of the man that I used to love, that’s the father of my child he doesn’t know. I have to speak. I have to say something. NATALIE! SPEAK ! SAY SOMETHING!  I scream to myself internally before I finally breathe out and manage to speak. I try to keep a calm face as I respond “Um, yeah sure. Just get them to fill out the paperwork and send them back.” I duck back down into my little station and try to calm my breathing. I look around and there are pictures of Erin everywhere, I move to quickly remove all of them from my workstation and pick up my phone to call Haylie

“911, this is an actual emergency and I’m freaking out!” I rush out in a harsh whisper “Noah is here. At the shop. With his band. And they want tattoos! WHAT THE FUCK!”

thank you loves! <3

dividers from here!

Next chapter ->

[hotpinkboots]

Snatcher x an S/O who’s really caring and motherly, calls him sweet names (With his permission, of course!) when they get close?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

~𝕾𝖓𝖆𝖙𝖈𝖍𝖊𝖗 w/Motherly Darling Headcanons~

OHHH MY GOSH HOW IRONIC DARLING I HAVE A ONESHOT FOR SNATCHER IN MY DRAFTS THAT'S EXACTLY LIKE THIS DHDHEHJEEJJAKS

So cute!! Thank you for requesting with the big Purple People Eater!

~Enjoy~

★★★★

𝕾𝖓𝖆𝖙𝖈𝖍𝖊𝖗

★★★★

~Oh he's so flustered.

~Somebody caring so sweetly for Snatcher? THE Snatcher? The big ol' mean ghost that can kill anybody he wants to in a heartbeat?

~He hates it.

~Well. Not really. But he pretends to.

~Snatcher isn't used to somebody fussing and doting over him like that.

~Will usually shoo you away and tell you to beat it.

~He's a pushover when it comes to you, though...Snatcher can't resist your soft gentle charms for long.

~Sometimes he'll let you pet him, if you're lucky.

~Snatcher can be playful if he's in a good enough mood.

~"UGHHHH, MOOOOM, I NEED TO BE BRUUUUSHED! JUST KIDDING. DON'T TOUCH ME. GO AWAY-I think you left the brush on the top shelf, last time- NO, I'M NOT HINTING!"

~He gets a kick out of calling you "Mom". Disrespectfully. But also playfully.

~Snatcher might lay around and pretend to sulk, just to get your attention.

~Definitely will vent to you if he needs. It's not often that he does, because his trauma usually just comes out as making jokes about it, but every once in a while you'll get to hold a big crying ghost.

~But he'd have to trust you with his heart and soul to do that...

~Snatcher finds it sweet that you use those nicknames for him. Anything like "darling", "handsome", "sweetheart", ect. He could certainly melt for, even if he tried pretending that he disliked it.

~He'll call you a few nicknames, too, and he even refers to you as such in his mind.

~A sweet relationship! When Snatcher really earns your trust, you can pamper him and dote on him all you wish.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Join my Chat/Roleplay Server! Here, you'll get updates on my videogame/fanfiction, make friends, and meet new roleplay buddies!:

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

~Love, PinkBoots

[ratmuffintherapy]

Hey! Discovered your blog as I was scrolling through tags and I have a request!

Eddie Munson of course. Love of my life. I was thinking reader could be Dustin’s older sister, but maybe a year younger than Eddie, so he doesn’t really know her or see her. She’s a pretty badass nerd and proud of it. Into the same music Eddie is, loves to read and write, into classic movies and most importantly, D&D - not that she would ever tell Dustin that since she knows he would BEG her to play all the time. And so, when Lucas goes to the bball came opposed to Eddie’s campaign, reader overhears Dustin freaking out with Mike and she decides to jump in and help. Eddie teases her at first just like with Erica and she has a badass moment and helps them win. After Eddie asks her out and it’s super cute, fluffy.

MY VERY FIRST REQUEST! thank you for the request, anon! i hope you like it! word count: 2,431 warning: fluff, cursing note: y/h/c = your hair color. bolded words in the middle of an imagine are lines taken directly from the show. do you guys want a part 2? i think this could be a great series!

"Dustin! Hurry up, or else the y/n mobile is saying bye bye without you!" I yelled up the staircase, huffy because my little brother was taking a million years to get downstairs. This was a daily occurrence and I was honestly fed up with it. He was always either feeding Yurtle or caught up in whatever he was doing for Hellfire club that day. Today, he couldn't find his Hellfire shirt.

"HOLD ON AND STOP BEING SO MEAN TO ME!" I rolled my eyes and tapped my fingers together anxiously, checking my watch. Objects clattered and crashed upstairs and I could imagine my brother throwing things around his room like the drama king he was.

"Patience, honey, patience." My mom tousled my hair as she walked by.

"Moooom, I was going to meet up with my friends for Rebecca's birthday this morning and now I'm not going to be able to give her the present I got her until this weekend because he's being stupid."

Mom stroked Mews and handed me a piece of toast. "Calm down and eat this. DUSTIN!! YOU'RE GIVING YOUR SISTER AN ANEURYSM!"

"I'M COMING! SHIT!"

"LANGUAGE!"

His feet thundered as he ran down the hall and down the stairs. He threw on his hat and his wrinkled Hellfire shirt and I smacked him. "Finally! Get in the car!" I took a huge stress bite out of the piece of toast and kissed mom on the cheek.

"Have a great day at school, kids!"

"Remember mom, I have Hellfire tonight!" Dustin ran to the car, backpack bouncing, and I ran after him.

We jumped into my shitty car, and I kicked it into gear.

"Every morning you make me stress eat because you make us late, dude."

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry y/n, Mews hid my shirt under a pile of shit so I couldn't find it, I promise I'm going to be on time from now on."

I sighed, unable to stay mad at my brother for long. He's only two years younger than me, him being a freshman and me being a junior, but I still see him as my baby brother. I tapped the front of his baseball cap and smiled.

"That better be a promise." Dustin smiled his toothy grin at me.

--

We pulled into the Hawkins High parking lot. Dustin jumped out of the car while I was still rolling to a stop.

"Dustin! Don't do that!" I yelled out the window and people turned to look.

"Idiot." I grumbled under my breath and I parked the car. I grabbed my backpack and ran inside. I saw my friends and grinned, seeing my best friend of ten years, Rebecca, all dolled up for her birthday.

"Babe!!" Rebecca turned with a smile and I gave her the biggest hug. "Happy birthday!! Here, I made this for you!"

I dug the photo album I put together out of my bag and handed it to her. I had spent hours and hours on that thing, asking her mom and my mom for pictures we had taken together over the years, and put it into this scrapbook and decorated it with stickers and glitter and ribbons.

"Y/n!" Rebecca looked up at me in the middle of flipping through the pages, teary-eyed.

"Don't you dare cry, Rebecca Fedson. If you cry, I'll cry and it is too early for that."

She embraced me in a huge hug and I hugged her back, smiling into her hair. "I love you y/n."

--

Eddie's POV

"Babe!" I heard a familiar voice rush past me and a blur of y/h/c hair flew by. I turned to see if it was who I thought it was.

Y/n. I watched as she hugged her friends and gave her friend a... birthday present? Yeah. A birthday present. I had admired y/n from a distance for years now, ever since I saw her in the halls as a freshman. Back then, I was a sophomore and her smile was what caught my eye. I once had asked Dustin if she knew her, him being younger and more likely to know, and he had looked me quizzically and told me that was his older sister. After that, I occasionally saw her around the halls, but I never dared to approach her. She was always with a friend or two, and at lunch she was surrounded by friends who adored her and who she adored. She was popular, but not like Jason and those assholes. She was... nice. She had caught your eye a few times when you noticed her, and she smiled at you. Nobody smiled at you. Except for the Hellfire club, of course. But other than them, no one ever smiled at Eddie Munson, the self-proclaimed freak. But she did, and sometimes even raised her fingers in a shy wave. I think she knew who I was through Dustin. She probably also saw my Hellfire shirt, on days that I matched with Dustin, and put two and two together. I tried to be as cool as possible, but just the sight of her made me--confident, doesn't-care-about-anyone Eddie--nervous.

I watched y/n and her friend hug each other tight as her friend clung onto the gift y/n had given her. Y/n was always so thoughtful. So nice. But of course, I didn't dare do anything. Not only because she was inaccessible to Eddie the Freak, but also because she was inaccessible to me as Dustin's sister.

--

Y/n's POV

The day went by normally. Just class, occasionally seeing my friends if we had class together. I wasn't a star student, but I was good enough and enjoyed school enough. Overall, I was content at Hawkins High.

I met Dustin outside the school at the end fo the day, only to find him sitting dejectedly with Mike.

"What's up, guys?" I asked, shifting my backpack on my shoulder.

"I hate high school." Dustin mumbled.

"Whoa, what's going on? Did something happen?"

Mike sighed. "Eddie isn't letting us move Hellfire tonight for Lucas's game, which means that Lucas won't be at the campaign, and without someone to replace him, we can't play."

"We've been trying to find a replacement all day, but no one wants to play D&D."

The two boys slumped on the wall, pouting. I crossed my arms, thinking. Dustin didn't know it--no one did, but I had been dying to play D&D for a while now. When Dustin got really into it, I got a gameplay book to see what his obsession was all about, and as a nerd myself, who loves fantasy novels and movies, I got pretty sucked into it. I knew all the characters, all the rules. I kept this a secret from Dustin because I knew that if he found out, he would incessantly bother me about playing. I sighed, coming to a conclusion.

"I can be your substitute."

Dustin and Mike's heads shot up, surprised.

"What? You don't even know the rules or what a campaign is, or anything. How would you be the sub?" Dustin asked incredulously.

I ran my fingers through my hair before telling him, "I actually have wanted to play for years now. I know everything there is to know about D&D. I just didn't tell you because you'd be annoying about it."

Dustin's eyes widened as he dramatically grasped Mike's arm.

"No. Fucking. Way." Mike stared at me, open-mouthed.

Dustin slowly got up. "You're telling me," He breathed, "That you've kept this a secret from me? All these years?" He clutched his chest, "My dear sister! Who are you!"

I rolled my eyes and smacked him. "You keep this up, and I'm taking it back."

"Nononono, come on! We can go introduce you to the club right now!" Dustin grabbed my hand and dragged me behind him. I laughed and ran behind him and Mike followed me to Hellfire club.

--

Eddie's POV

I was finishing setting up today's campaign in the classroom when the door slammed open. My head jerked up to see Dustin and Mike standing in front of me, and.... and Y/N.

"And who is this?" I slowly smiled at y/n as her eyes lit up in recognition.

My breath hitched as she stepped around Dustin and walked towards me. She held out her hand and said, "I don't think we've officially met before. I'm y/n."

I smiled and took her hand in both of mine. "Please to meet you, princess, I'm Eddie."

I swear I saw her color a little as she smiled at me. We stood there like that for a moment until Dustin finally said, "Alright, that's enough, break it up. Eddie, this is y/n, my sister, and she's going to be Lucas's replacement."

Wait. What? I let go of her hand and took a step back. "No way miss y/n, miss popular knows how to play. Nope. Sorry princess, but that's not gonna happen." I crossed my arms.

Y/n raised her brows at me and took a step forward to close the gap that I had made.

"Well I'm offended Eddie, you don't think I'm smart enough to play your little game?" I furrowed my brows and retorted, "No it's not that, it's just that I don't trust people who run with the crowd you run with. Little miss thing can't possibly actually want to play, and we don't play with people who are just here for sympathy, to do charity work for the freaks and losers."

Mike and Dustin stood enraptured, their heads switching back and forth between us to look at us as we spoke.

Y/n rolled her eyes at me and retorted, "Trust me, I don't trust the crowd I run in either. But like you didn't choose who you're friends with, I didn't choose either." I gave her an incredulous look. "Listen, ask me anything you want. I've been studying the playbook for years now. I bet I know more than you."

"Alright, Henderson, you asked for it."

I shot off questions rapid-fire. To my surprise, y/n answered all of them with ease and confidence. She even looked bored. As she answered more and more questions correctly, my eyebrows went higher and higher on my face until I thought they would fall off.

"You done yet, Munson?" Y/n studied her nails and glanced up at me.

I paused for a second. Then I grinned. Holding out a hand, I said, "Welcome to the team, y/n Henderson."

--

Y/n's POV

"Come on, come ON!!" I bent over the table, watching Dustin rattle the dice in his hands. We were on the last leg of the campaign, and we needed one last thing to beat Eddie's long, complicated campaign.

It was like slow-motion. Dustin released his hands and the dice bounced across the table. The numbers spun around and around until...

"YES!" I pumped my arms up in the air and attacked my brother with a hug. Everyone cheered and high-fived, and I laughed as I watched them lose their shit over Dustin. I glanced over at Eddie and caught his eye. He was standing, arms crossed, smiling tenderly at me. I inhaled sharply and smiled back at him.

I walked over to join him on the other side of the table and smiled at the sight of the Hellfire club celebrating their win. Eddie nudged me with his elbow.

"Not bad, baby girl. You really impressed me today. Never would have chalked you up to be a nerd."

I nudged him back, "Well, don't judge a book by its cover, Munson."

He turned to face me, and I looked up to meet his doe-eyes. He smiled gently down at me and bit his lip. He ran his hand through his hair nervously.

"You know, y/l/n, I've... uh, I've," Eddie stammered and took a deep breath, "I've always been quite taken by you." His words rolled out as if they were one, and he looked down shyly.

My heart pounded as I heard him say that. He didn't know it, but ever since Dustin joined Hellfire and started talking about Eddie, I had watched him from afar. At first, it was to make sure that the guy my brother was hanging out with wasn't doing anything sketchy, but then it quickly became a crush. I mean, who wouldn't, with those eyes, those dimples, that famous long black hair?

It took all the courage in me to reach out and take his hand, which was fidgeting with his many silver rings. Our fingers met, and I heard Eddie give out a small gasp.

"I never would have known, but if I had known, I would have told you..." I tucked my hair behind my ear, "That I am also quite taken by you."

Eddie held my hand tighter. He was still looking down at his shoes, and I couldn't read what was going on in that beautiful head of his.

"Eddie? Say something." I said quietly.

He looked up at me. His eyes sparkled in the dim light. His face slowly broke out into a smile, lighting it up in a way I have never seen anyone's face light up.

"Well, well, well. Who would've thunk?" Eddie laughed breathily and I giggled. He finally took my other hand and we stood facing each other like that for a second.

"Y/n, would you... possibly want to.... go out with me sometime?" I grinned at him, unable to contain my happiness, "I'd treat you real nice." Eddie added and smiled back at me. I threw my arms around his neck and I felt Eddie pause, and then snake his arms around my waist.

"Yes, please." I whispered into his ear, and he held me tighter.

"I'll call you tonight, then. For the details." Eddie whispered back.

I pulled back and beamed at Eddie. Eddie Munson. Eddie Munson and me. That just sounded so right for some reason.

I snapped back to reality as the group of jumping and cheering boys jumped over to us and enveloped us in shouts. Eddie laughed and tousled Dustin's curly hair, and smiled back up at me.

"Alright, alright boys, let's calm down before adults come looking for what's causing this ruckus."

Eddie held my gaze and winked at me, ever so subtly. My heart skipped a beat, not-so-subtly. He mouthed, I'll call you later, princess. And I couldn't imagine what I could want more than that.

[ewitsdylan]

The Losers w/ Richie's older sister (my OC)

First off, Richie had to beg her to come along with him to the Barrens.

It took him so long to get her to agree, because she's older than him and thinks she's too 'old' for playing there with her brother and his friends.

"Come on, Becky, please! It'll be fun, you might end up liking my friends, especially Eddie Spaghetti!"

Rebecca knew of Eddie Kaspbrak and she liked the kid and always apologised for her brother bothering him. Honestly, the kid was a saint if he could put up with Richie.

Listen, Rebecca loves Richie, she really does. After all, he's her little brother, but he can be so damn annoying!

She feels like she has to apologise for his behaviour, especially when the most unexpected things come out of his mouth.

When he finally gets her to come with him, she's immediately drawn to Stan, because he's the baby of the group, what with how much younger he is than the others.

She's also weirdly drawn to Bill, probably because they both have younger brothers.

They accept her into their unofficial club after she's able to successfully silence Richie.

"O-Oh m-muh-my guh-god, tuh-teach muh-me h-how tuh-to duh-do th-that!" is Bill's immediate reaction.

After that, the others start jokingly referring to Bill and Rebecca as the mom and dad and/or big brother and sister of their group (it depends on which Loser you're talking to).

"Moooom! Can you help me?" Richie once said as a joke.

"Ask Bill to help you," was Rebecca's respond, which made the others laugh when they overheard. "That's the same as saying 'go ask your father!'" ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ "Beep beep, Richie. Stop being such a trashmouth."

The Losers are ALWAYS bound to laugh at the interactions they witness between Richie and Rebecca. It's a given.

Rebecca's also very motherly towards each of them

For Beverly, it's Rebecca asking if she needs to walk her home.

"Are you sure you're okay walking home alone by yourself?" Rebecca constantly asks Beverly. ⠀⠀⠀ "Yes, I'm sure. I do it all the time, Becky," Beverly usually responds, unless she really doesn't feel comfortable because of Henry and his gang lurking about.

For Bill, it's checking in on how he's doing emotionally after George's death.

"If you ever need to, you can talk to me. I might not understand the situation completely, but I can show sympathy for you. I'm an older sibling too, Bill. We big brothers and sisters need to look out for each other," Rebecca usually lectures Bill about not talking things out when he needs to. He appreciates how motherly she is since his parents have been emotionally unavailable and neglectful towards him since George's funeral.

For Eddie, it's Rebecca acting as a better mother figure than his own and teaching him that he doesn't have to be afraid of everything.

"It's okay to be afraid, but you don't have anything to be afraid of when you're with us, Eds," Rebecca reassures him, using that stupid nickname Richie gave him, but it felt different coming from her. It isn't in a teasing way when she uses it.

For Mike, it's Rebecca helping him by fixing him up, especially after the Rock Fight.

"Hey, are you okay?" Rebecca asks, reaching for the small first aid kit she keeps on her, seeing as all the Losers are accident prone. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ "Thank you all for helping me," Mike tells them gratefully as Rebecca wraps his arm in bandages.

For Richie, it's Rebecca giving him all her love and attention (their mother wants to understand why her daughter wasn't as feminine as she wanted her to be) and acting as the mother figure he always wanted; the one who understands him like their father does.

"Becky," Richie pauses, waiting for her to pay attention to him. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ "What's wrong?" Rebecca answers, looking up from her book. ⠀⠀ "Thank you for being the best big sister I've ever had," Richie tells her as she grins at him from over the top of her book. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀ "I'm the only big sister you've ever had, you goober," she snickers as he smiles at the fact that he's made her genuinely laugh. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ "I know, but you're still the best," Richie shrugs as he latches onto her side, hugging her tightly. She returns his hug, a smile settling on her lips.

For Stan, it's Rebecca's reassurance and her telling him that it's okay not to believe It is real, even though it is.

"Face it, Stan. You're just as afraid of this… this thing as the rest of us," Eddie tells him as Rebecca hushes him. "It's okay for him to not believe in what he saw and heard, he's still in shock. You can't say you weren't shocked when you saw It, Eddie," Rebecca argues and Eddie has nothing to respond with, left speechless at her point.

[reds-ramblings]

Apple Doesn't Fall Far - Part 3

Grace's P.O.V.

It's been almost a week since I convinced my mom to let me attend the summer program at EVU. My mom has sheltered me my whole life so I was a little surprised when she said yes but I guess I can thank my aunt for that. She's never been a fan of my interest in all things computers but she's never flat out discouraged me either. She's afraid I'll end up like my dad who was a hacker and somehow ended up wanted by the government. Don't get me wrong I love the woman with all my heart but I hate the fact that she never told my dad about me and she refuses to tell me who he is. It's like a part of me is missing and sometimes I struggle with who I am because I've never met that side of me. I've thought about getting one of those Ancestry DNA tests done but she would never agree to it and it feels wrong to do it behind her back.

"You know these locks don't look very safe. Maybe I should get you one of those things you put in the door to keep people from being able to break in." My mom says studying the door to my dorm room.

"Moooom!" I groan. "Nobody is going to break into my room and kill or kidnap me. You're being so dramatic."

"I'm not being dramatic. When you have kids you'll understand but until then I am going to make sure nothing happens to you."

"Alright, can you hurry up with your little inspection so we can go eat? I'm starving to death." My aunt Anna says falling on the bed pretending to faint.

"Ok fine but I want to speak with Mrs. Tipton before we go." Mom says.

Mrs. Tipton is the one who helped me get into the program. I would like to think I'm her favorite student.

"Please don't embarrass me." I groan as we head out the door finding my teacher in the hallway.

"Mrs. Tipton."

"Ms. Carter it's so nice to see you. I'm so glad you let Grace join the program this year. When I saw they were opening it up to younger students I just knew my top student had to be a part of it." She says

"Well thank you for helping her get the financial aid to be able to attend." My mom says smiling at Mrs. Tipton.

"Well I would love to take the credit but I didn't do much. Grace's grades and essay really spoke for themselves. Thousands of students across the country applied to be sponsored and only five were chosen with Grace being the youngest. She does have one of the most brilliant minds I've ever had the pleasure of teaching. You must be so proud of her."

"Oh yes, we are very proud of her. I couldn't ask for a better daughter. I'm so excited for what her future will bring. I wanted to talk to you about her safety while she's here." Normally I don't like being the center of attention but hearing my mom and teacher talk about how proud they are makes me incredibly happy.

"Oh don't worry my room is at the end of the hall and there is another chaperone at the other end and my husband Mark is one of the teachers in the program so she will be well taken care of I can assure you." Mrs. Tipton says reassuring my mom.

After mom is certain I will be safe in the dorm we head out to lunch at a little diner down the street.

"How many in your party?" The hostess asks.

"Four." Mom says making Anna and I both look at her confused.

"Mom's joining us." She says.

We are seated at a booth off to the side near the window. The waitress who is short, blonde, and looks to be a college student comes over to take our drink order. She quickly writes everything down and leaves.

"This is where I met your dad." Mom says which is surprising. She never talks about him unless I beg her to.

"Really?" I ask trying to hold back my enthusiasm to keep her from changing the subject.

"Yep, he was sitting right back there." She says pointing to a table in the far back corner. "I met a couple of friends for dinner one night and not long after we sat down I noticed a man sitting back there with a computer. He was wearing a black hoodie and had it pulled up where you couldn't see his face. Even though I had no clue what he looked like I knew right away it was him."

"So he was from here too?" I ask trying to get more information out of her.

"No, he was from somewhere very far away. He was only here visiting. Anyways after dinner I walked over and sat down at his table and started talking to him. Two months later I found out I was pregnant." I notice the sadness in her voice and can't help wondering what would have happened with them if I hadn't come along. Before I have a chance to ask anything else she completely changed the subject.

"So what are you most excited about doing while you're here?" She asks me.

"I'm excited about all of it. I want to learn as much as I can while I'm here. I'm also looking forward to Karel."

"Ooh, who is Karel?" Aunt Anna asks.

"He's a robot on the computer and you program him to do tasks and move in certain patterns." I answer her.

"Oh sounds boring." She says disappointed.

"There's my favorite granddaughter!" I hear my grandma say from behind us. I stand up to hug her.

"Gram, I'm your only granddaughter," I say laughing

"Well, you never know people apparently have children all the time and don't tell people." She says glaring at Mom. Let's just say she's never been happy with my mom's decision to purposely become a single mother. Mom's used to it so she just ignored the comment. We spend the next hour or so eating and catching up. Gram insists on coming and getting me every night for dinner so I can have a home-cooked meal instead of cafeteria food. I finally agree since I haven't spent a lot of time with her I feel like it will be nice. After lunch, we go back and take a tour of the campus. We make sure I know exactly where I need to be tomorrow so I don't wander around lost.

***

I make it to my first class which is in an auditorium-style room with at least 200 seats. I pick a seat in the middle and sit down waiting for class to start. After about 10 minutes the room is half filled up with students and it is time for class to begin. A man who looks to be in his late 30s walks up to the front of the classroom. He's about 6'2 with shaggy black hair and emerald green eyes similar to mine.

"Hello, my name is Jay McKnight and I am going to be one of your teachers for the next five weeks. Please listen for your name as I call the roll. If you wish to be called something different than what I have please let me know. I will not call you by any crazy nicknames but if you go by your middle name or some variation of your name I will be accommodating. Alright, let's begin." He says and starts calling out names before finally getting to mine.

"Hannah Grace Carter."

"Here," I say raising my hand. "I go by Gracie."

He nods and makes a note in his book and continues. After taking roll he holds up a stack of papers.

"I need you to put everything away except for a pencil. This is a basic computer knowledge test. This just shows what you know already. I'm not expecting you to know everything on here in fact I'm sure there isn't going to be anyone who does. This is just to show us where you are at so we know what to teach and what we can leave out. We must get accurate scores so there can be absolutely no cheating. There are 50 questions and you have an hour to do them. Once the test is over remain in class we will have other things to discuss." He says then passes out the tests. Some of the questions were easy and some I really had to think about. There were a few I was unsure of and had to guess on them. I finish in 20 minutes and walk up to the front to turn my paper in.

"It's only been 20 minutes are you sure you don't want to look over your answers?" He asks.

"No sir." I say before turning around and walking back to my seat. I notice him looking over my paper with a shocked expression on his face. I'm hoping it's because I did really well and not because I failed.

After the test, he goes over a few rules for the program followed by the basics of computer technology. Once he is done he dismissed everyone but he stops me as I'm about to leave the classroom.

"Gracie, can I talk to you for a minute?" He says.

"Sure what do you need to talk to me about Mr. McKnight?"

"You didn't happen to cheat on this test did you?" He asks

"No sir I would never do that."

"How do you think you did on this test?"

"Umm well, there were a few I was unsure of so I had to guess but I think I still should have made an A."

He raises his eyebrows at me. "Gracie you got a perfect score. You didn't answer a single question incorrectly. I've given this test to thousands of people of all ages and education levels and I rarely have someone get a perfect score. When I do get someone that makes a perfect score usually they either work in the field or already have a degree. And you're how old?" He asks with a skeptical tone.

"I'm 12." I say shyly

"Well if this really is your score and there was no cheating involved then I'm highly impressed and I look forward to being your teacher."

"Thank you." I say before leaving the classroom. Well, I'm happy to have gotten a perfect score but I hate that he thinks I cheated. I guess I'm going to have to work really hard to prove how good I am.

[yourfavouritetragedy]

Mom. Mom. You wouldn’t get it, mom. They made this nation in Minecraft, and they were so happy and full of hope. And then fought for it, and died for it, and there was this dramatic betrayal, and when they finally had their freedom -- Mom, pay attention, this is the sad part -- they did the honorable thing and held an election, but then, Mom, get this -- this evil dictator dude can along and kicked them out of their own nation! And then everything got really depressing, but, Mom, the worst part is that I missed it! You know how I hate missing things; how everybody hates missing things these days! Mom, I don’t think you get it-- the videos of broadcast automatically delete after a while, so people had to save them, so you can’t even find some major chunks of it. Besides, Mom, it’s not the same as being there when everyone cared about it. Now I’d just be alone in a crowd of ghosts.

What? Mom, no, they didn’t get their nation back. The leader-guy, he got really depressed and suicidal and so when they beat the dictator-- he had a heart attack -- the leader went and blew up his own nation! His greatest achievement, it was a failure in his eyes! And then his dad came and killed him. I mean, he was suicidal -- he wanted him to -- but it was still messed up. Yeah, yeah, it’s heavy stuff, Mom. I started watching just after this bit. It happened a year ago just a few days ago; that’s why it’s on my mind.

Anyways, leader-guy’s friends rebuilt the nation, and I never watched a lot of this but it was kinda similar to how they were hopeful in the beginning. It was peaceful. And then leader-guy’s second in command boy got exiled again! His best friend was president, and this evil guy -- another evil guy -- pressured him into exiling him. Yeah, Mom, it was really sad. Wait until you hear about the ghost! Oh, leader-guy had a ghost that only remembered happy things. He remembered his own death, it was messed up, Mom. But he gave the president and the second-boy compasses that pointed to each other because they were best friends and it was really sad -- it was Christmas. Anyways, in exile evil guy two totally abused second-in-command boy. It was messed up, Mom: he got suicidal too.

But Moooom, their country! Their dream, their haven! The amazing feeling from the beginning-- right after second-boy escaped evil guy two, they destroyed the country! Mom, I just was about to tell you: It was evil guy two, leader-guy’s father -- the one who killed him--, and the guy who second-boy tried to take refuge with. Yeah, Mom, it’s really sad. I feel sad. You know I don’t feel sad at most stories.

No, Mom, they didn’t rebuild it like last time. It was way more destroyed. They all gave up and lost each other -- the whole nation was super close friends at the beginning, and now most of them don’t even talk. It’s sooo sad, it’s a tragedy, Mom, a classic tragedy.

Well, they’re still doing story, kinda, but the nation’s over. It’s gone, Mom, it’s gone. The story of that nation -- it’s not relevant to them anymore, and since it was just videos of a game living on digital platforms, it’s not like it’s going to be remembered. Mom, Mom -- one day I’m not going to care about this anymore and even that makes me sad now!

No, Mom, I don’t have any happy stories, this is the only story on my mind. I don’t know what I’m supposed to do about it! That’s why I told you, Mom. Yeah, thanks for listening, Mom.

[sarahjkl82-blog]

Artistic Instinct Chapter Nine

Header thanks to the lovely @yespolkadotkitty

Summary: Marcus Pike and OC Anushka Pierce have been selected to work on a 5 eyes (Australia, Canada, NZ, the UK and US) intelligence team to track down art forgeries as a part of taking down an international white terrorism cell. Marcus is trying to escape his broken heart, Anushka is just trying to escape what the world expects of her.

Word count: 6500

Warnings: Language as always, warning of racist language (Nush talking about her mother's experiences), yearning, fluff to second base (yes, my darlings- IT IS ON!), alcohol is mentioned, food, anxiety attacks.

Pairing: Marcus Pike x reader (OC)

This comes with a MASSIVE THANK YOU to the lovely @yespolkadotkitty , who read, re-read, pointed out the constant flipping between tenses and gave me the confidence to try to write something. This is the first thing I have written since angsty poetry as a teenager. Apologies if it is shit!

People often think artists

Create with their hands

But really they create

with their hearts

So please be gentle

For we wear our vulnerability

On our sleeves

And freely give all we have

Hoping someone will fall

In love with the parts we offer

R. Evelyn

Chapter Nine

The sharp buzz of the door startles you out of your daydream. Laden with roughly the entire contents of your spice cupboard, vegetables, meat and prawns, your hands are crisscrossed with creases from where the weight of the totes has gouged at your skin. A smart-looking kindly gentleman greets you, “You must be Ms Pierce. Mr Pike has asked for you to wait here for him.”

Wow! Marcus’ place has a concierge - who did he have to blow to get a place like this?!

Throwing the bags onto one of the hotel lounge-like chairs, you slump into another as you rub soreness from your hands. A small ping tells you that the lift has arrived - you look over in the direction of the noise, a tremor of excitement rippling through you. An adorably scruffy Marcus, wearing old jeans and a t-shirt, steps out - his face utterly beaming on seeing you. “Hey! How are you doing?” he leans in to kiss your cheek twice - hang on, when did this start being a thing?

“Why didn’t you let me pick you up? You’ve carried so much over- lemme see your hands,” his brow knits on seeing the rapidly reddening welts as he takes your hands in his, brushing his thumbs gently across your palms.

“You live four roads away from me - they’re not that bad! And anyway, you can help me now- which floor do you live on?” You outwardly roll your eyes at the sweetness Marcus shows you, secretly enjoying the stroke of his fingers and the ghostly press of his lips still burning a hole in your cheek.

Marcus takes all of the bags from the chair, refusing point blank to entertain you helping him to take them upstairs - you watch as his arms twitch under the weight, enjoying the mixture of confusion and shock at your strength across his face, “you carried all of this?”

Nodding at him, you try to take a bag again, but he dangles it just out of reach, “Watch it - you do realise that I have two other brothers apart from Ads? I will think nothing of rugby tackling you to the floor and pinning you down,” you warn, enjoying the flush brought to his cheeks.

“You’ll be the death of me,” Marcus flusters as he calls the lift, handing you the smallest, lightest bag.

✪✪✪✪✪

Exiting at the top floor, you’re taken aback by the amount of light and quiet that washes throughout the building. Feeling so removed from the shadows cast from the tower blocks and the hustle and bustle of the streets below, the broad daylight offers a sense of serenity, a peace that invites itself into the soul and makes itself at home. As Marcus unlocks the door to his flat, you kick off your shoes at the entrance, “You don’t have to do that,” he offers through the keys in his mouth, holding the door open with his elbow, still refusing any help from you.

“Oh believe me, if I didn’t, my mum’s radar would go off and I would be cruising for a bruising,” you giggle, taking in the glorious spaciousness of his apartment, “I promise my feet aren’t too stinky and that I put on clean socks.”

“Whatever makes you comfortable,” Marcus’ eyes crinkle at you, “Can I get you something to drink or eat?”

“A coffee would be ace - strong and black please,” you reply, your gaze drinking in the details of his home. Books line the shelves along one wall - such a mixture of titles ranging from airport bestsellers to obscure art catalogues - the relief to see actual paper and hardbacks adorning the shelves rather than trinkets and plants when so many keep their books electronically in their pockets.

A couple of large canvases lie propped against another - long hours preventing them from being hung - their bright colours sure to bring joyful hues to quite a stark room. There are a few photo frames dotted around - mostly pictures of a moment in time rather than poses - of people you assume are friends and family from back in the States. Handing you a steaming mug, Marcus looks over your shoulder as you look at a photo of an older couple dancing and laughing at a wedding, “That’s my mamá and papá at my oldest sister’s wedding. It was such a magical day - just so much love in the air.”

“You can feel the joy radiating from them,” you offer, lowering your gaze from him to grab the frame next to the picture of his parents, “Are these your sisters or cousins? You all look very alike.”

“Yeah, my little sisters,” he grins proudly. “This one is Beth - she’s two years younger and is a paediatrician in Texas. Has two kids with her wife, Sophie. And this one is Cat - she’s doing her own thing out on the West Coast as a musician. They definitely inherited all the clever and cool genes.”

“Hah! You’re kinder to your sisters than I am to my brothers,” you grin, “They’re all total idiots but due to some weird genetic and biological insistence, I still love them.”

Taking a gulp of your coffee, you turn back towards him, “Come on you, we’d better get to work if you want a curry this evening.”

He pouts, looking more like a sulky little boy than a middle aged man. You can’t help but laugh at the sad puppy dog eyes he is conjuring at the thought of work, “Oh poppet, what’s wrong?” you teasingly mock.

“I kinda hoped you were a magician who could just magic a curry outta nowhere so we could watch films til the others arrive,” Marcus grumps shoving his hands in his pockets.

“Well, there is UberEats for that but you horrible lot put me up to this so you’re going to help,” you wag your finger at him, “But as you’re the only one here, you get the honour of being the chief taster,” you add, tapping him playfully on the nose.

With a soft huff and a furrow of the brow, Marcus guides you into the kitchen where, whilst he was making your coffee, he has helpfully already put all the fresh produce in his fridge as the sides are delightfully blank apart from the bags of spices.

“What are we making today, Chef?”

“Ok, meat dishes are a spiced yoghurt leg of lamb, a keema - don’t you give me that look, a cardamom butter chicken, and, a prawn and courgette curry,” you turn to Marcus’ fridge to find the lamb, “Needs to come to room temperature before we cook it.”

“My tummy is rumbling already,” Marcus adds, his eyes glinting excitedly as he licks along his lower lip, the skin glistening damply. You have never quite figured out whether your love of his lips is due to their fullness or the association with the kindness of his words.

“Hah- you’re not getting away without having some veggies, too, mister,” you cluck as you hand him a bag of onions and several bulbs of garlic to skin, chop and crush for the various dishes.

“Ok, Moooom,” Marcus dramatically rolls his eyes at your dictate, “I admit, I’d rather eat sugary or salty things over green stuff but I can make an exception for curried veg.”

The arch of your eyebrow virtually reaches your hairline at him teasingly calling you mom, so you reach for the towel, twist it and flick him hard on what you’d hoped would be his hip but catch him square on his arse instead.

A yelp of pain and wide eyes greet your action, “Did you just…? Oh, it is on.! You might think you’re tough from your brothers but my sisters taught me sneaky tactics.”

“Come at me, bro!” you taunt from the other side of the kitchen, putting up a boxing stance.

Brandishing the hand without the paring knife in your general direction, he answers, “Nope, gonna use the element of surprise and attack when you least expect it!”

Tutting your tongue at Marcus’ weak ass response, you grab the spices you need to prepare under the power of your pestle and mortar. With the waft of roasting cumin soaring through the air and your battle with your boss at a supposedly declared ceasefire, everything starts to feel comfortable and easy again. You could be six years old and standing on the chair next to your mum, watching like a hawk as she lovingly prepared meals for your family with an ever burgeoning belly. It was then, during those hours shared in the galley kitchen that became your time with her when normally it felt pretty split between her work as a GP and your brothers.

What the fuck… You jump out of your skin when a warm, solid wall presses you out of your nostalgic reverie, “Hah! Pinned ya! Sneaky tactics- told ya they worked,” a deep, soft voice whispers in your ear.

Your heart flutters like a bird trying to escape its rib cage with the closeness of Marcus, the heat rising through your body from your proximity to him - a visceral response to the glorious cocktail of masculine smell from his aftershave and body wash.

What do I do next?

Why can’t I bloody think straight?

Wiggling yourself around so that you face him, his face now so close that you can feel his warm breath upon your cheeks. Your eyes playfully catch the steady gaze of Marcus’ deep soulful pools. It would only take the smallest of movements to reach forwards and kiss him right on that stupidly gorgeous, plush Cupid’s bow and crease. But… what if he doesn’t want that? He’s my fucking boss - that would be a stellar move to make…

Instead of the tiny incline forwards to press your lips against his as every inch of you screams to do so, you drop to the floor and crawl out from between his legs, “Not pinned well enough it seems,” you tease haltingly as your tongue sticks in your dry throat.

As you check the browning of the cumin seeds, out of the corner of your eye you see Marcus’ head drop sadly, hearing a small sigh - his hands still upon the work surface and feet not having moved from the position he had pinned you in moments earlier.

Did he want to...? No, surely not.

“I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have done that, Nush,” Marcus humbly apologises, pushing himself off the side, “I hope that I haven’t made things awkward.”

“Don’t be an idiot,” you softly say, pouring the roasted cumin into the mortar, ready to be ground, “I was the one who flicked you on your arse - I am the one who should be apologising.”

You beckon gently to Marcus, who has now taken refuge in the furthest corner of the kitchen from you - wringing his hands instead of chopping the onions, “Come over here - I want you to experience one of my most favourite smells of childhood. These are roasted cumin seeds and when you grind them, they release the most heavenly scent.”

After a few grinds, you offer the bowl towards Marcus’ face as he closes the gap between you, “I… Wow! I wouldn’t have thought it would make such a difference but it’s almost like you’ve entirely transformed it. See,” the dimple deepens in that right cheek of his, “you are a magician.”

“I love how spices - a bit like paint - can take on completely different characters depending on how you treat them. Leave the spice whole and you have this mild and fragrant taste. If you crush them, then their attitude comes back tenfold with a vengeance. Toast them, and they may as well be Clark Kent in a phone booth.”

Looking up you see Marcus gazing at you with a sweet half smile on his face - could he like me… like that?

“Sorry, you don’t need to hear me blathering on,” you fluster, waving your hand in a dismissive gesture as the heat rises through your face.

Shaking his head gently without dropping your regard, “No. No, please don’t ever stop. Your passion for things is beautiful.”

“Growing up, I didn’t realise that other people didn’t have whole cupboards filled to the brim with herbs, spices and seasonings. I mean, for all the damage the British Empire reeked, you’d have hoped that the spices would have entered more of their culture, but no! Apparently, my family was the weird one for having food with a flavour,” you shrug your shoulders at some of the ridiculous things you’d heard as a child - accusations of differences you’d never thought to be of note.

Marcus chuckles at your indignance, “It’s funny you should say that. I didn’t realise that my mamá had an accent until it was pointed out to me when I was a kid.”

Noting your slightly confused expression, Marcus explains, “She’s Argentinian- came to the States as a political refugee as she was a journalist following the disappearances during the Dirty War. Met my dad, and I came along very soon after, and the rest is history..”

You can’t help but laugh at the flush on Marcus’ cheeks as he recounts his personal history to you, “Love can’t be held back when it hits and it’s obvious that they’re still crazy about each other now from that photo.”

“Exactly, no point in wasting time when you know what you want,” Marcus grins, looking at his feet.

“My parents have a similar story. My dad is as English as they come - I mean we’re on a freaking island so there’s no true thing as being completely English. My mum is from Pakistan - Karachi - it’s in the South.”

“She came over due to the fighting between East and West Pakistan - the two countries that are now Pakistan and Bangladesh. It kept interrupting her studies to become a doctor so she came to England and restarted her degree here.”

Marcus’ brow creases in thought, “Why did she restart her degree? Could the credits not just be transferred to the college she moved to in the UK?”

“Hah- yeah. It was the seventies, during a time where all Southern Asians were P*kis - no matter where they were from on the Indian subcontinent- and thought of as dirty, lesser beings. There were constant race riots for anyone who wasn’t ethnically white or English. She would never have been taken seriously with her mediocre medical training from some Adobe hut in the middle of a jungle,” you fume, pounding the seeds into fragments. The mortar being threatened with the same fate too.

Marcus’ fingers wrap around your wrist to try and prevent your rage at the ignorance of others from causing you an injury, “I am so sorry,” he pulls you into a warm, tender hug, tucking your head under his chin, “How long before food can take care of itself so we can put a film on? I think we both need a rest.”

“Hmmm, ten minutes and then most things can simmer or be switched off ready for a reheat or proper cook this evening,” you say, leaning reluctantly out of his comforting arms to go check on the bubbling saucepans of food.

“‘K. I’ll go get things set up so you can flop for a bit,” Marcus touches you gently on your shoulder as he goes to set up the front room. You go to squeeze his hand but it’s removed from your shoulder too quickly for your response.

✪✪✪✪✪

“You ready?” Marcus calls through the wall as you turn off the heat from the final pans.

“Mhm,” you mumble in response to his question - double, triple checking that everything is off. Too many fire alarms ruining perfectly lovely meals or moments.

“What did you pick?” You ask, curling up on the other end of the sofa to Marcus, “Do you have no cushions?”

“Shit, no -I’m a guy, what can I say? - lemme grab the pillows from the bed,” Marcus jumps up, calling through from his bedroom, “Bet you have loads on your couch.”

“A fuckload, but, mainly to hide the fact the springs have gone. It’s like a precarious balancing act of comfort on there,” you surreptitiously sniff the pillow, inhaling the smell of Marcus’ shampoo, “Did you give me your pillow?”

A confused look is shot at you from the other end of the sofa, “Whaddya mean?”

“Smells of your hair,” you say as you squish it into the perfect comfy shape, “Like a mixture of lemon and eucalyptus.”

“That’s a sharp nose you’ve got. I gave you the other side though,” Marcus huffs through a chuckles he shakes his head at your somewhat strange comment, “Guess I’ve been sleeping across both sides then.”

“Best thing about sleeping alone- getting to starfish across the bed. Unless of course…”

Marcus can’t help but laugh at your awkward dig to find out whether he’d brought home the goddess from Friday’s antics, “So you wanna know if I brought home Kemi?”

“She was very beautiful. You’d have been mad not to,” you try to school your expression as best you can, keeping your eyes glued to Bing Crosby and Grace Kelly singing about true love, desperate to hide the jealousy coursing through your veins.

“Must be mad then. Didn’t even kiss her,” Marcus honestly answers whilst copying your tactic of staring at the tv, “She could see that there was someone else I liked so it would have been cruel to have done anything.”

You mull this over in silence, trying not to speak, to ask a million questions.

“Nush.”

“Mhm?”

“Can I talk to y…”

You both jump as an alarm goes off on your phone to remind you to turn the lamb down in the oven.

“Oh shit. Hold that thought,” you jump up from the sofa, heading in the direction of the kitchen with zero thought of what the man at the end of the sofa is desperately trying to tell you. Fiddling with Marcus’ ridiculously swanky oven until it looks like it is doing what you want it to do, you walk back in with two ice cold beers from his fridge.

“Raided your fridge,” you cheekily grin, holding one out to Marcus, the condensation running, down your fingers, “Hope you don’t mind!”

“Good thinking, Batman,” Marcus nods in appreciation, “Any more alarms set to scare us both?”

“Only due to go off when the film is done, so…” you yawn widely, “We’ve got a while yet.”

Marcus’ hand that was slung over the back of the sofa, lifts to stroke your shoulder, “You sleepy? C'mere, you.” With a soft tug of your t-shirt sleeve, he pulls you into his side - your willingness to sink into his broad chest very apparent. Your ear is pressed against him, his heartbeat singing a lullaby to you as his fingers stroke and caress the silken waves of your hair. You wonder at how this man - a total stranger a week ago - has seemingly knitted himself into becoming a cocoon of safety for you, his gentleness and calm offering a haven of tranquility in your otherwise cacophonous world, as the light in the room slowly fades to black.

✪✪✪✪✪

“Uh oh.”

“Hey, welcome back, sunshine!” a gentle pair of fingers stroke back the hair that had drifted into your face as you dozed.

“Sorry for falling asleep. Again,” trying to finesse your way through the heat flaming your cheeks, you offer an awkward grin towards your chuckling pillow, “Guess we’d better start getting things finished as we’ve only got a couple of hours until everyone arrives.

“Oh, don’t give me that look, Marcus! I don’t want to move either but this curry won’t finish cooking itself.”

“Spit spot, there’s work to be done,” Marcus trills as he adopts his best attempt at a British accent.

“What the fuck was that? Did you just turn into Dick Van Dyke or something?” You tease mercilessly at the appalling sound coming from those lips, choking back laughter at his mock offended face.

“C’mon, you’re right. We’d better get moving,” Marcus stands with a stretch and a creak before reaching back to tug you to your feet.

Back under the glowing lights of Marcus’ kitchen, his presence is now constantly close to yours as you glide together around the space - stirring, chopping and checking. Every time he passes, above the general aroma of cumin and coriander, the onions and garlic, you can smell the cedar and amber upon his skin- a deliciously masculine scent that only seeks to entangle your senses further.

“Here, try this,” you hold out a heaped teaspoon of mince curry to Marcus, “This is the keema - I promise that I only put in the two chillies you chopped for me, this time.”

“Mmm, that’s so good,” he says thickly between chews, stealing the spoon from you as he dives in for a second, third, fourth spoonful.

“Hahaha! Leave some for the others- and you need to try it with some raita and fried onions too,” you check through your dog-eared, yellowed and slightly sticky recipe book that your mum had handed you the day you’d left home at eighteen - a memo of all the times you had cooked them together.

“Shit, I’d better start the chicken,” going through the spices in front of you, you search for the cardamoms that would make the butter chicken sing, “Fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck!”

Marcus’ head snaps up from the green beans he was preparing towards you, “What’s up, sweetheart?”

“I can’t find the cardamoms for the butter chicken - gah I knew I’d fuck this up!” you cry, scraping your trembling hands through your hair, eyes flashing around the room wildly as your cortisol rises, making you want to run and scream at your failure to feed your friends.

“Whoa - where’s this coming from? C’mon, look at me. Look at me, Nush,” Marcus has his hands on either side of your shoulders, squeezing them gently, “There’s enough here to feed our whole office for the week with the daals you prepared yesterday, the vegetables we’re about to make and the meats that we’ve cooked up already here. Andy is bringing all the rice and naan, Kiri is bringing beers and Dian is on gin and tonic duty. You have done more than enough and I will not allow you to get this upset over one missing ingredient especially when there is a small store downstairs that I’m sure will have it, if we cannot find it after we look for it together.”

After seeing your numb nod as an agreement, Marcus moves his hands to the side of your head to focus your gaze on him rather than the panic seeping through you. As he strokes his thumbs across your cheeks, you allow your eyes to close and your breathing to regain a normal pattern.

“I’m sorry.”

“Why are you apologising?” Marcus searches your now open eyes.

“My reactions are ridiculous. Most people tell me to stop being so stupid and that just whips the storm inside my head even more,” you whisper, “But you. You know how to slow everything down and stop the spinning.”

The corner of Marcus’ mouth twitches, “D’ya wanna know a secret?” You nod at him, “As you know, I was married before. When it ended, I totally spiralled. The world kept spinning too fast and I experienced constant anxiety, very nearly burning out of my role.

“I was lucky. My boss was understanding but made me promise to get some support. He knew of someone mental health trained within the FBI who was there for mainly hostage negotiations - not part of the true psych team but someone who could help without it turning up on your record.

“Kwame worked with me for almost a year - pretty much to the point my decree absolute came through. Our sessions were done on a track - by running with me, he was teaching me the skills I needed to control my fears. By my feet hitting the tarmac, he was grounding me. By going over running techniques, he was teaching me how to control my breathing- taking longer and deeper breaths. And running is just repetition. A mindful repetition that allows your brain to have a bit of a break.

“So when I see you start to spiral, I try to give you the same steps he taught me. Get you grounded, opposite me so you copy my breathing and hope that gets you on the right track.”

“Thank you,” you drop your head forwards, relaxing onto his chest. He feels so - safe.

“You don’t need to thank me. Well, okay maybe you do as look what I’ve just spotted,” Marcus holds the offending spice aloft.

“Oh my god, I could fucking kiss you. You have just saved the curry,” you dramatically declare, clutching the cardamom jar to your heart before placing it next to the other ingredients on the counter.

“Go on then.”

What?

His comment makes you snap your head over to catch Marcus’ tremulous gaze, his eyes darting between the floor and your lips. He takes a small step, closing the small distance between the two of you, threading his fingers between yours. Each slow movement offers an unspoken opportunity for you to step away. To tease him and move on with the day.

But why on Earth would you?

With your heart racing faster and faster, you lure him ever closer with your eyes, soft but absolute in their conviction of what was about to pass between you. A small part of you understands that when you kiss him, something will change forever. That within his lips you may find the place to call home - the aching in your stomach may cease and life could start to make sense again. The anxieties of the week washing away, the pain of your collective pasts and the hint of a brighter, happier future before you.

When he doesn’t move again, you seize the moment. Pushing up onto your socked tiptoes, you tilt your chin, inclining your face until your lips come to rest upon his in the sweetest, chastest kiss. Drawing back slightly to check that Marcus is okay with a raise of your eyebrows and widened eyes, he holds your gaze steadily, similarly stunned - a mirror of each other with racing hearts and slightly parted lips. It’s like in that moment everything around you ceases to exist as anything other than extraneous nonsense - all the noise inside your head silenced by that one touch.

A small dumbstruck smile creeps across Marcus’ lips before he lowers his head to press another gentle kiss upon you. Then another. Then another. Each press of your lips a little longer. A little deeper. Your lips part to allow his tongue entry as every single thought is quietened by the taste of him. Dropping hands for his to cradle your face and yours to thread through his hair as your bodies press together tightly.

Oh the taste of him is utterly exquisite! From where you’ve been using him as chief curry taster, there’s an element of spices with the tiniest hint of mint. And how you have missed having that beautifully solid warmth of his body next to yours. Inhaling his breaths that fall upon you, your hearts match each other’s rhythms as your lips explore each other, every sensation drawing together to create a humming ball of energy, like you are standing at the point where lightning strikes the Earth.

✪✪✪✪✪

Hands fisted tightly in each other’s clothing - both stuck in the quandary of wanting to tear the fabric from your bodies but also frightened of pushing the other too far. Finally pulling apart, you gaze upon Marcus - all lust blown pupils and dopey smiles. Your foreheads come back to rest against each other, unable to quite let go just yet, not wanting to break the spell and return to reality.

“I have wanted to kiss you since perhaps the first time I met you,” Marcus murmurs as his lips gently ghost over your cheeks, “Maybe even from seeing the photo in your file when Andy drove me here from the airport.”

“Was the person, me?” You quietly ask, finally with the confidence to finish that conversation, “The reason you didn’t kiss or sleep with the goddess?”

He drops his eyes as he gives you a small nod, “Normally, I’d have just asked you out but I was scared of fucking up. It’s been a long time since I felt a spark with anyone.

“You’ve entered my life in this whirlwind of intelligence, beauty and tenderness - I didn’t want to frighten you or make you feel uncomfortable if you didn’t reciprocate.”

A thousand thoughts flood your mind as Marcus says those words. All at once, you want to tell him how safe he makes you feel. How much now that you’ve started kissing him, you never want to stop. How the cruel critics of slumber, silence themselves when you feel his heartbeat against your cheek.

Instead you stand there, silent.

Trying to stroke out the creases you’ve created in his t-shirt as you attempt to find words to put into a logical order, you notice his face twitching when the material under your fingers makes contact with his sides, “Oh Marcus, are you ticklish?”

“Um, no,” Marcus tries to deny breezily as he takes a small, hesitant step back from you, pretending to steady himself.

Making a small movement towards him, your hands at the same level as the point of the bunched fabric - you ask, “Are you sure about that?”

“Yeah,” Marcus is now eyeing you suspiciously - desperate to kiss you again but also a little worried as to what havoc your fingers might reek.

“Then, why are you moving away from me?”

“No reason…” his usually deep voice now a little tighter and higher, “Nush… What are you about to ARGH!”

His knees crumble beneath him as you attack his sensitive sides, “Gah! Quit it, woman,” he weakly commands between wheezes and hoots of laughter.

Taking full advantage of Marcus’ prone and vulnerable position, you take the opportunity to straddle him - effectively pinning him to the floor, “This is how you pin someone.”

“I let you pin me,” Marcus corrects you with a wink.

“Oh really?” you contest, entirely unconvinced by his bravado.

“Yeah,” he says with a small wiggle, bringing his hands to the back of your head, “Cos y’see, I can flip our positions quite easily.”

Suddenly, you find yourself flat on your back in Marcus’ kitchen with zero air in your lungs to form any sensible thought other than to kiss him hard. His large hands cradle your head as he props himself gently above you on his elbows. You feel his entire body covering yours. Deliciously pressing against every single inch of you and oh how it takes every bit of the minutismal amount of self control you have to not beg him to fuck you senseless into that floor.

✪✪✪✪✪

“Shit, is that your door?”

“Fuck,” Marcus pushes himself up to kneeling between your legs, “Can we pretend we’re not in?”

The harsh realisation of an evening with your colleagues, albeit lovely people, sinks in to you both.

“Nope,” you groan, popping the p with a deflated gusto, “Hang on, don’t buzz them up until I’ve tucked my boobs back into my bra.”

“I dunno, makes for easier access,” Marcus lopsidedly grins with a wink as he heads for the door.

“You certainly didn’t seem to make hard work of it earlier,” you mumble at him, before you affix a smile to your face, “Hey! How are you all doing?”

A sea of never ending hugs envelopes and separates you from Marcus as everyone piles into his apartment. The stupid grin still firmly in place on your face since you’d first kissed, you find that every time you look over at him, he’s gazing right back, mirroring that lovestruck smile.

“Oh my god, it all smells so amazing,” Dian waxes lyrical, squeezing you tightly as she inhales a lungful of exotically scented air, “What’ve we got?”

You take her by the hand into the kitchen to show all the different things you had bubbling away. Andy ducks into the kitchen behind you, laden with bags filled with pilau rice, naan and chapatis, and a beautiful small bunch of spring flowers in his other hand - tiny tête-à-tête daffodils with multiple heads along each stalk, brilliant yellow and red tulips standing like soldiers and the otherworldly looking stems of hyacinth, wickedly scenting the air under your nose as he thrusts them under there.

“Hey pretty girl, here’s all the bits you asked for. You deserve a much bigger bunch for what I’ve roped you into but I know you love the early blooms,” he offers by way of apology, sticking a kiss to the side of your forehead, “Smells fucking good though as ever. Hope you don’t mind but I’ve brought a box to take some home for Greg - he was a jealous arse this evening so I suppose I should share.”

“You know the way I cook, enough for several small armies,” you wonkily grin at him, truly thankful for the part he’d had to play, “‘Fraid there’s no easy way to say this and you will have to be the one to break it to Greg, but there’s no butter chicken tonight.”

“You’d better have a damn good excuse for this slatternly behaviour, madam,” Andy gives you a serious side eye for this infraction.

“Well…”

“Initially Nush couldn’t find the cardamoms but then we ran out of time. Plenty of food here, though,” Marcus answers for you, his hand gently holding your hip as he reaches around you to grab a couple of beers from the fridge.

You see Andy catch Marcus’ hand lightly stroking your side as he walks back to Kiritopa, but are entirely grateful when his expression and mouth say nothing. The light chatter in the kitchen, whilst Dian dips a teaspoon into all the pots, is interrupted by a small knock at the door. Sticking your head around the kitchen door, you spot Marcus opening the door to a nervous-looking Harper. Andy sidles past you, to pull her into the main room, rather than her previous position of standing on the doorstep, utterly awkward and obviously feeling quite out of place.

“Hi, I hope you don’t mind me coming. I know I wasn’t there Friday but I don’t really do large crowds and drinking.”

You walk over to her amidst the chorus of “not to worry”s and “lovely to see you”s, “Fancy something to drink now? Got plenty of soft options and I think I’ll stick alongside you as I’ve got to make sure I don’t burn stuff.”

“Including yourself, this time,” Harper retorts quickly with a small smile and a raise of her eyebrows.

“Hah, chance’d be a fine thing,” Andy laughs, slapping your shoulder before turning back to clink bottles and talk with Kiri and Marcus.

✪✪✪✪✪

Through the full length doors of Marcus’ balcony, evening spring sunshine streams through, bathing the group of your co-workers in a gentle, diffused light that flows around the room coating you in a golden glow. You all eat your fill and then some, with full tummies and tired eyes - the kitchen still full of half eaten dishes.

“Can we make this a weekly thing?” Kiritopa asks through a mouthful of food, hopefully.

“Not unless we take it in turns or get a take away - I don’t have the physical or emotional energy to make this level of curry every weekend,” you pointedly remark, looking up from your coke to meet Marcus’ eyes.

You’ve spent the evening barely speaking to each other for fear of alerting the others but surreptitiously brushing past so that you can sneak touches. Tender hidden strokes that feel like the kindest stitches on hidden, gaping wounds.

Marcus stands up to help usher the evening to an end and get you to himself again, “I have some boxes for y’all to take food home as otherwise, I’ll be eating this for weeks - delicious as it is.”

Everyone thankfully takes their boss’ hint and head into the kitchen to grab platefuls to reheat after long days. Slowly saying their goodbyes, your friends drift off in the direction of their homes as you throw yourself in an exhausted heap of bones on his sofa. Two strong hands grip you under your arms, to drape your torso across his lap.

“Hey tired girl,” you slightly open your eyes to spy a smiling Marcus gazing down at you. His fingers draw lazy patterns over the sensitive skin of your neck.

“I’d like to take you on a proper date this week. Wanna do this properly. Make a bit of a fuss.”

“Yeah? Not just pin me down and ravish me on the kitchen floor?” you grin widely at him.

“Well, I’d hardly call that a ravishing…” your eyes widen, eyebrows raising at Marcus’ comment, excitement pooling in your tummy, “Yeah, I saw there’s an Argentinian restaurant in Blackheath so how about steak, Malbec and homemade ice cream before I bring you back to either yours, or mine, for another, even better ravishing?”

“That sounds amazing, although with the amount of food in my belly, I may never have to eat again,” you give your stomach a rub, “But the ravishing…”

Hauling you up to sitting across his lap, you protest loudly, “I am going to crush your legs.”

“Stop making ridiculous comments and c’mere,” Marcus demands as he gently turns your head towards him, stealing a delicate kiss from you.

“I...should… - argh! Stop kissing me for a second,” you beg halfheartedly, “I should go home.”

“Stay.”

“Please stay,” Marcus desperately entreats you, “I’m not expecting anything but I’d love it if you stayed. I know you’ve got nothing here but give me two minutes and I can have a spare toothbrush for you. I’ll drop you home early tomorrow morning so you can grab some clothes and then we can go into work together?”

It feels as though the wind is knocked out of your lungs with the depth of Marcus’ need to be around you.

How does he do it?

“There’s no games with you, are there?” you twist in Marcus’ lap so that you now straddle his thighs, placing your hands on either side of his ridiculously handsome face.

“No,” he shakes head slowly, all the while holding eye contact with you, “I’m too old and I know what I want.”

“What’s that?”

Stroking his hands up and down your sides as he nuzzles your neck, he clearly and confidently declares,

“You.”

Tag list of glory (as ever, please ask to be put on or dropped from the list): @astroboots @silverwolf319@sirowsky @leonieb @disgruntledspacedad @bison-writes @the-ginger-hedge-witch @danniburgh @sugarontherims @green-socks @tardisfangurl @absurdthirst @pedropascalito-deactivated20210 @mouthymandalorian @mrsparknuts @zukoyonce @agirllovespancakes @yespolkadotkitty @lunaserenade @theravenreads @lv7867 @songsformonkeys

[eungii]

• ¡ see you later ! ft. Eren Yaeger

ᴛᴡ: an attemot of angst with no comfort || female pronouns used || blood mentions || man ga spoiler || death character ||

ɴᴏᴛᴇ: I hate this, so I will do another version <3

Shingashina, 845. Wall Maria attack. 9 years before his breakdown.

"Eren? Wake up silly" "I don't think is working" the black hair girl said. Until Eren wake up with a loud gasp

"Eh? Mikasa? Y/n?" Eren asked, like if he was rebooting "Let's go back home" Mikasa reply, but Eren was a little off "What am I doing here?" "What are you talking about Eren? Are you still sleep? " Y/N try to help him to stand up, meanwhile the boy was still talking

"It's like i had a very long dream, what was happening? I don't remember"

"Eren, why are you crying?"

The boy only could touch his face, feeling wet under his eyes.

Time skip ☁︎

"Mikasa, you can let go now!"

"Huh?" You were lost thanks to the scouts that were coming that you didn't even know were the other two kids go. Until you hear someone hit the wall.

"Eren! Mikasa!" You run the fast you could, and when you were there, you see a poor eren on the floor.

"He is ok, go ahead Y/N, I need to talk to him something" Mikasa said in a very serious tone "Fine, I will wait for you two in the house, don't be late"

Time skip ☁︎

*knock knock*

"Who is it?" "It's Y/N, I brought the firewood"

Grisha open the door and smile to you.

"Hi Mr. and Mrs. Jaeger" as you enter to the small house you greeted Eren's mom and dad "Oh, come one Y/N, you can call me by my name, it's ok" "Yeah Y/N, it doesn't matter" both of the adults speak

"Oh yeah, my mistake. Umm well Eren and Mikasa will come soon, and I need to go to help my mom"

As you lef the firewood, you take something out of your pocket "Take this Mrs. Jaeger-" "Carla" Carla interrupts you "Carla" you said and show a slightly smile and continue "My mom send you this" "Aww thank you so much Y/N, and tell your mom that thank you also"

You walk to the door and you remember something "Oh! Yeah, can you please give this to Eren, he forgot it when he, Armin and Mikasa came to play" you give the little necklace to her and then run to your home, its so late and you are hungry

"Moooom I'm home" you said and the little lady came, yeah, it was your grandma "honey, don't shout" "Oh, hi grandma, where is mom?" You feel to hands behind you and turn you around, you see your big brother (of 15 years old) and you mom carrying you little sister (3 years old) "Marco, you came!!" "Yeah little sister, also I bring some meat" "Oi, Marco, you didn't tell me that" your mom shouted to your brother, meanwhike she give the baby to you "Hi Emma, I hope your OK with all the shouting in the house" the baby just smile at you.

"Mom! I'm hungry, let's eat"

Time skip ☁︎

suddenly everything began to move "An earthquake !! We are going to die !!" You hit your brothers head "Calm down Marco."

Your family and you went out to see what happened.

No

No

No

it was..

A titan.

The titan kicked the wall, fear reigned in you. Various rocks and debris flew out

"Mom" you asked while you turned to see her, but you only saw the baby above your mothers body, without a head.

"M-Marco, m-mama is dead" "G-Grandma" You saw where your grandmother was supposed to be, but you saw a giant rock crushing her. You just wanted to throw up at the time. The blood was near you.

"Y/N, take Emma and get out of here" your brother was part of the Survey Corps, so he went to the house for his equipment. "B-But Eren, mikasa and armin. I have to look for them" "Damn it! The house is all crashed"

"Eren! Where are you ?! Mikasa ?!" A lot of people hit you because they were running, but you only want to see your friends, alive.

You saw Armin, he ran to where you were "Eren and Mikasa went to his house, let's go Y / N we'll see them in the boats"

In the boats

" Eren, I promise. We'll be together forever"

War and just war, 854. Moments before his breakdown.

Misaka POV

"Mikasa, we need help here!!"

People screaming, crying, and begging for their life.

I can't hear anything,I just need to save Eren and Y/N. Armin is helping with others.

We are in a ship, I gave two hands, my two friends are going to die, I want to save both, I want to live with them, but... My left hand is helping me to no fall, so I have one hand.

"Mikasa, just save Y/N, I can turn into a titan" "No Eren! I will save both, I don't care if I am the one falling" and with a force, I do not know where it came from, I pull Eren to the ship.

Y/n's hand slipped, but i take it so fast. Taking her in the ship, Eren just hugged her and I let both of them to take their time.

Everything was ok, until a sound caught my attention.

A bullet sound.

I need to see where is it before someone gets sh ...

No.

No.

No.

It's a nightmare

Y/N can't be dead.

Me and Eren just look at each other, how does this happened?

"E-Eren" My voice just crack, Eren can't even move.

His breakdown.

N-No, you promised me something.

Eren POV

Stupid.

Useless.

Monster.

Assassin.

All I can do now I laugh, laugh because she protect me, even though I can regenerate.

Rumbling, 854.

Mikasa POV.

My head hurt, a lot. I just need to close my eyes and everything will be normal.

As I close my eyes for a moment I hear someone call my name

" 'Kasa? Hey, mikasa? Are you ok?" I open my eyes, in front of me was a girl with two (h/c) braids. "Y/N? Weren't you death?"

"Hahah, no silly if you want to get rid of me, let me tell you something. You will never, we are like connected" I missed her smile, b-but, where am I?

"Huh? Mikasa, why are you crying?"

I touched my face, it's like if this happened before.

"Honey, is mikasa awake?, we need to eat, remember you are pregnant and the baby needs energy" I hear Eren said in the inside of the house "Wait, Y/N are you pregnant? "

"Yeah, 5 months ago. Are you sure you are ok? Wanna talk to me something?" She whispered the last parts, god I feel like I need to tell her. "Just wait. Eren honey, can you bring up the first aid kit, I think mikasa injured herself"

"B-But Y/N, I'm ok" I speak "Yeah mikasa, you need it" we heard Eren answer with a 'ok babe' and then Y/N just take me to the kitchen, she was making pie. Apple pie.

"So mikasa, what's up? You just need to forget about Jean and his ways to stalk you?"

As I want to answer I can't, my head started to hurt again "Y-Y/N, can I sit on your couch?" "Yeah, you don't have to ask that girl" as I lay on the couch, she put my head on her lap and start to hum a beautiful lullaby.

"Mikasa!! Mikasa!!" Captain Levi shouted " Its your turn to kill Eren"

...

...

...

(This is Eren POV)

"Honey, honey wake up" I hear Y/N's voice And I start to open my eyes and see her beautiful (e/c) eyes. "Anna needs to play with her daddy, right Anna? Yeah look at her a cute little apple pie" "hey, don't forget about me" Sofia was standing right there next to her mom.

I look at my beautiful two girls. "Well, its time for a bed story girls, what about when daddy kill his first titan?" "An only time" Y/N whisper. I look at her with a "😐" face and then back to my cute girls who were looking at me with surprise and excited.

(Yeah, they are Anna and Elsa from frozen)

"Wow, titaaaans. I'm pretty sure I would beat them with my beauty" Anna just said "Well, They sound so scary and amazing"

"Ha!" Anna gasped "So what if a titan come here, he will scare us" "Nope, because daddy and mommy are strong and nothing will happen to both of you" Y/N said as she make me lay down and put Anna on my lap, she lying next to me and with Sofia between us.

In two or three minutes, my little girls were now sleeping. I turn my head to see my beautiful (h/c) girl.

"Hey, so we are like married or something? They are not titan any more?" I ask shyly and with a smile on me

"Eren, we are married, we have 2 little girls and a beautiful life. Anna Jaeger, Sofia Jaeger and Thomas Jaeger" she said the kast one while touching her stomach.

"Can I have a kiss?" I said while looking at her eyes. I don't want this to end never.

I feel her lips against mine and before I fall asleep I hear

"See you later, Eren"

..

..

He die kissing Mikasa .

But he die thinking of Y/N.

...

...

...

Extra:

(In heaven)

"Oi! Jean! Connie!" Both of them turn to met the ponytail girl and the (h/c) .

Y/N feel a hand on her shoulder, turning her around and feeling warm thanks to the hug of Eren.

"I am very sorry for killing you, I am a monster". He said but before he said another word you shout him up.

"Like a said when we were young Eren, We will be together forever"

And with that, they both stay together and forever.

Mikasa POV.

"I really hope, they are now happy together" I hear Captain Levi chuckle. Y/N was like a daughter to him. But now is over.

© this belong to @/eungii. Do not repost or modify my work .

[witchersgoldenbard]

pspspspspspspsps i dont want to think about upcoming exams either and i wanna be a cat and i wanna read the lovely things u write. i was like whaf if they write something on my exam week i know i will shut everything down and read it. but i gues it's for the best. when all the stupid exams are done you can write in peace and i can read in peace. oh and on all levels maybe except pyhcsical u are a cat. so. psppspspspspspspsps.

hnnn oh I’ve been pspsps-ed, this is now officially the way to summon me, thank you nonnie 😌🥰

You’re so sweet to me hnnn (will I ever be chill about sweet asks?? no. will I try?? also no) 🥰💛✨🥺

Nonnie my dearest, I wish us both all the luck for our upcoming exams 🙏💛 we got this, and then afterwards there can be all the fic!!! (Tbf I don’t even know when my exams are, that’s the amount of how I have my life together hdjskhs don’t do it like me kids)

also hnfnsjs not to be mean but 👀👉👈 drop your exam week dates and a prompt if you want to tempt yourself and I’ll see what I can do 👀

*runs off* MOOOOM!! My Nonnie friend said I can be a cat now!!!!

[swifteforeverandalways]

Teach Me to Breathe Again Chapter One: A Reunion

Written with @thatgothicgurl

Chapter One: A Reunion

“Takeda!” Syndel picked up the two year old, holding him close.

“Maybe we can throw him in the trash” Five year old Jade suggested.

“Just because it’s your first day of kindergarten does not mean you can make fun of your little brother, young lady,” Syndel pointed at her daughter.

“But moooom,” Jade whined.

“Don’t you dare!” Syndel warned, already hearing the tantrum Jade was about to throw

“C’mon Jade, let’s go!” Jade’s twin sister, Mileena, piped up. Syndel’s friend May came in and took Takeda away from her. “Thank you for watching him”

“Of course,” May said.

Syndel kissed Takeda on the forehead and smiled as he pulled on her silver hair. Jade huffed and looked around, bored.

“C’mon girls!” Syndel grabbed her keys. “Kenshi is still sleeping from his night shift so give him coffee as soon as he wakes up!” May nodded.

“They’re in that “bully the little brother stage”” May laughed

“Kids will be like that”

Syndel laughed at that, helping her twins into their car seats and driving away. Mileena was bouncing with excitement while Jade seemed close to tears

“Jade, what’s wrong?” Syndel asked.

“I wanna go home!”

“Jade, think about all the friends you’ll make there,” Syndel said soothingly. Jade whimpered. “Mileena will be by your side the entire day” Syndel pulled into the parking lot. Mileena nodded enthusiastically, making Jade giggle.

“Okay,” Jade agreed somewhat reluctantly. Syndel waved to the Rogers and Barnes families, Jade smiling at the familiar faces of her friends. She ran up to them. Mileena stayed by her mom.

“And she wanted to stay home,” Syndel laughed. She looked around when Mileena spotted her friends Rain and Reiko and ran over to them. There was a familiar man, maybe her age, with long white blond hair and looking like he was in pain. Syndel frowned slightly.

“Thranduil?”

The man froze. He turned around as if preparing for something and looked over at her. “Do I know you!” Syndel frowned at him.

“It’s Syndel...”

A brief look flashed across the man’s face before he evened it out.

“Oh!” Thranduil hugged her

“How have you been? It’s been years,” Syndel said, hugging back.

“I’ve been there” Thranduil dodged the question. “Why are you here?”

“I could ask you the same thing”

Thranduil moved his coat to reveal a little boy that was hugging his leg and looked just like him.

“You have a son? What’s his name?” Syndel said.

“Legolas” The boy whispered

“Hi,” Syndel smiled kindly, “How old are you?”

Legolas looked at his father

“He’s five,” Thranduil explained.

“That’s how old my girls are”

“You have kids?” Thranduil said in surprise.

“Jade and Mileena”

“Ada” Legolas tugged on his father’s coat, pointing at his teacher. Thranduil smiled.

“Go on, I’ll be here later” Legolas ran off.

“He’s precious” Syndel said

“Where are your girls?” Thranduil asked. Mileena hugged Syndel at that moment. “Bye mommy!”

“Bye sweetie,” Syndel smiled. Mileena grabbed Jade’s hand and dragged her with

“Twins,” Thranduil said amusedly. Syndel elbowed him. “Do you wanna go out for coffee? Catch up? I haven’t seen you in fifteen years” Thranduil hesitated.

“We can just catch up”

“Sure,” Thranduil reluctantly agreed.

They ended up at a locally owned café run by a friend of Syndel, the pair quickly falling into their normal habits around each other. “So did you ever get into law school?” Thranduil asked

Syndel smiled. “Of course”

“And?” Thranduil pressed. Syndel laughed. “I’m a prosecutor”

“Good for you,” Thranduil said, “Jerrod would be proud”

“Thank you” Syndel grabbed his hand. “What happened to you? You disappear and suddenly you’re back here with a kid”

Thranduil shrugged nonchalantly.

“Is Legolas your son? Because I will arrest you for answers” Thranduil laughed at that. “Yes, he’s mine”

“Who’s his mom, if you don’t mind me asking”

“It doesn’t matter,” Thranduil muttered. “We’re separated”

“Oh,” Syndel nodded. “What about you?” Thranduil asked.

“Married. Three kids. My youngest is at home”

“How old?”

“Two. My Takeda” Syndel beamed, noticing a bruise on Thranduil’s wrist that he covered up. “You and Legolas seem close” She recovered

“We are,” Thranduil said.

“What happened with you and his mother? Sorry, the D.A in me just comes out”

Thranduil shrugged.

‘She cheated on me and when I confronted her about it she hit me’ He thought. “It’s okay, you don’t need to tell me” Syndel rubbed his hand. “I missed you”

“I missed you too.”

“Don’t vanish on me again. Your father wouldn’t even report you missing” Thranduil shrugged before changing the subject. “So how long have you been married?”

“Six years. Jade and Mileena happened on our anniversary”

“What does their father do?”

“He’s a police officer,” Thranduil laughed. “Remember when I flirted with that cop after we got caught trashing my father’s office?”

“I do. That was hilarious”

Thranduil tried to laugh but shuddered

“So how did you meet your husband?” He asked.

“He arrested this creep, something Slade, and asked me out after the trial was over”

Thranduil laughed.

“What about you and your ex?” Thranduil hugged himself. “My father is still controlling every part of my life”

Syndel’s jaw tightened and she nodded.

“He wanted Legolas to be a girl,” Thranduil laughed darkly.

“I’m so sorry,” Syndel said softly.

Thranduil grabbed at her hand. “My wife and I had a fight, I took Legolas and ran back here”

“Thranduil, we can help. My husband and I”

“You can’t! He’s why I ran away. He found me and put me in a mental hospital”

“Thranduil……”

“I’ll be fine”

“Are you still with your father?”

“He doesn’t know I’m here”

“Thranduil……please.”

“I’m not lying about that. I didn’t tell anyone”

“Please, we can help you.”

“There’s nothing to help” Thranduil placed a ten dollar bill on the table. “Thanks for the coffee but I can’t do this”

“Thranduil…..”

He left in a hurry, Syndel sighing, placing another bill on the table

———

“Do you remember Thranduil Oropherion?” Syndel asked May, Kenshi still sleeping

May nodded. “Vaguely, yeah.”

“He’s back.” “Wasn’t his father that rich guy?” May handed Takeda over. Takeda instantly beamed at his mother, grabbing her hair.

“Hi honey” Syndel held him close. “He has a son, Jade and Mileena’s age. Love less marriage. Maybe abusive towards him”

May shook her head.

“I swear I’m not crazy. I’ve seen his behavior too many times”

“I know,” May said softly.

“You’re giving me that look,” May laughed. “It’s just...he wasn’t always that social”

“He was my best friend.”

“Okay” May sat down. “Describe his behavior. Any certain ticks?” Syndel sighed and absently ran a hand through Takeda’s hair.

“Fidgety, looked all around as if he was scared someone would see him”

May frowned, nodding.

“Am I being weird?”

“You care about him, so no.”

Syndel sighed, holding Takeda close.

————

“Ada! Ada!” Legolas jumped on Thranduil to wake him. “Not so loud ion-nin, Ada has a headache”

Legolas frowned. Thranduil hugged him close. “I missed you” Legolas burrowed to his dad.

“Everyone was talking about having an ada and naneth” He muttered. “Don’t call her that. She is not your mother” Legolas frowned up at his dad.

“She hurted you,”

Thranduil sighed and patted his son on the head.

“Your Ada’s been hurt his entire life” Legolas frowned. "But that not nice," Thranduil kissed his head. “That’s not nice”

Legolas hugged his father. “So did you make any friends?” Thranduil asked.

“Uhhh, oh Aragorn! And these girls like look the same”

“What do they look like?”

Legolas tried to think of a way to describe them

“Dark hair! N one has green eyes! The other’s are kinda green but also kinda brown!”

Thranduil sighed and got up, carrying Legolas. Legolas looked up at his dad.

“Ada? Why did we come here?”

Thranduil sighed.

“Your grandfather tried to control every single piece of my life. This is the last place he would find us”

Legolas frowned up at Thranduil.

“Why did he do that?”

“He was a mean, spiteful old man”

“Well I’m glad we’re gone from him!” Legolas tried to look mean. Thranduil laughed softly.

“I’m angry!”

“I know you are,” Thranduil said fondly.

“Rawr!” Legolas yelled. Thranduil hugged his son close.

“I love you”

“I love you too!”

————

Syndel pulled in front of the house, maybe finding where Thranduil lived by guilt tripping Kenshi, She had to check on her friend. She knocked on the door. The door opened.

“Hi!” Legolas was standing there. “Hi honey. Why aren’t you in school?” “Ada’s head hurts so mine does too!”

Syndel knelt down in front of him.

“Can I come in?” “No!” Legolas was grinning. Syndel laughed softly.

“Where is your Ada? I’m an old friend” Legolas glared, though it was too adorable. “You’re not friends with Ororper?”

“Who?”

Legolas stomped his foot. “My Ada’s ada!”

“No, definitely not,” Syndel said quickly.

“Okay!” Legolas let her in. Syndel smiled. “Where is your Ada?”

Legolas grabbed her hand and led her to Thranduil’s room.

“Legolas. You are so lucky I know her” Thranduil muttered. Syndel raised an eyebrow at Thranduil. Legolas snuggled next to his father. “Are you okay”

Thranduil sighed.

“Bad memories”

Syndel nodded sympathetically.

“Your wife...she’s like your father isn’t she!”

Thranduil’s jaw tightened.

“She hit him!” Legolas cried. Syndel swore under her breath.

“I deserved it”

“No! Don’t ever say that!” Syndel says fiercely. Legolas hugged his father as tight as he could. Thranduil looked away.

“Ada! Don’t be sad!”

Thranduil smiled at his son.

“I can help you”

“Syndel,” Thranduil sighed.

“Ada” Legolas held Thranduil’s face. “I don’t want you hurted no more” Syndel looked at Thranduil.

“What would I have to do?” He asked. Syndel smiled softly at him.

“If you want to, press charges against your wife or even your father. At least go to therapy” Thranduil nodded.

“And if you have a migraine, I’ll take this little guy to school” Legolas beamed at Syndel.

“I’m not losing you again”

“You’re pretty!” Legolas told Syndel. Syndel smiled, Thranduil holding him closer

“Come,” she said softly. Legolas grabbed her hand

“Pretty,” he repeated. Syndel smiled. Legolas ran in his room and grabbed an elf plushie

“Your kids got any plushies?” Thranduil asked.

“A cat and a lion”

Thranduil laughed fondly.

“His name is Estel!” Legolas said proudly

“You are just too cute,” Syndel smiled at Legolas. Legolas grinned. Syndel grabbed Thranduil’s hand

“Where are we going?” Legolas asked. Thranduil looked to his friend

“My place,” Syndel said.

“Okay! Ada come on!”

“Are you sure? Won’t your husband mind?” Thranduil asked.

“He can deal with it. It wouldn’t be the first time I hid a vic-...someone who needed help in my house” Thranduil raised an eyebrow at her. Legolas tried to push him of the bed but only succeeded in falling on the bed

“Who else have you hidden?” Thranduil asked, picking up his son.

“Many people who were hurt like you”

“Is that even legal?” Thranduil joked.

“I am a prosecutor” Syndel winked, helping Thranduil up. “Estel!” Legolas yelled. Thranduil picked up the stuffed elf. Legolas hugged it to his chest. “I got it for him after I argued with my father”

“It’s adorable,” Syndel smiled.

“You can’t protect me from him. If he finds me..,”

“I can and I will,” Syndel said fiercely.

[p-artsypants]

I’ll Handle This (8)

I’ve always wanted to write a sleepover/truth or dare fic, but I never could come up with a plot. This is my wish fulfillment. 

Ao3 | FF.net

—

In Which Nino is Sus

“So what does one do at the beginning of a sleepover?” Asked Plagg. “Is it like it is in the movies?” 

“Some things are similar,” Alya provided, digging through her duffel. “First, one must change into their pajamas.” She held up an oversized t-shirt and red flannel pants. 

“Oh! I get it!” Plagg undid his button. 

“What are you doing?” Asked Nino, looking meaningfully to the girls in the room. 

“Changing?” And Plagg dropped his pants in one fluid motion. 

Alya saw it coming and turned away with a laugh. 

But Marinette caught an eyeful (as much as Adrien in boxer briefs could be considered an eyeful) before she too turned away with an ‘eep!’ 

“I change in front of people all the time,” Plagg explained. “As a model that is. Not my fault you’re all shy. I’ve got underwear on.” 

“Well if Sunshine isn’t ashamed, then I’m not going to make a big deal out of it.” Alya stopped shielding her face, though she didn’t look directly at him. 

Plagg peeled his shirts off next, eliciting another squeal from Marinette. 

“I, for one, will be changing in the bathroom,” said Alya, PJs in hand. 

Plagg bent over and ruffled through his bag, derrière within smacking distance to Marinette. 

“I-I-I’ll join you,” said Marinette, scrambling to get her PJs.

Alya was already halfway out the door. “Wait your turn, M.” 

And Marinette was forced to wait as Adrien stepped those long, beautifully toned legs into a pair of...oh, Ladybug spot patterned pants. Then he slipped on a shirt covering those perfect, sculpted abs. 

The shirt was red, and had words sharpied onto it, but it wasn’t until he got it on and smoothed it out that she could read what it said. 

“Ladybug’s sexiest fan.” 

She laughed. Not a laugh of, ‘oh, that’s funny’ but a laugh of ‘why me God?’

“Your turn, M!” Alya sang, coming into the room. Her eyes landed on Adrien. “Where did you get that shirt?? I need one!” 

Plagg puffed out his chest. “Sorry Alya, this is a one of a kind piece! I made it myself!” 

“It’s really good for being hand drawn!” 

“Thanks!” He beamed. 

From his bag, Adrien had to wonder when Plagg had the time to make such a thing.

Marinette excused herself to change, and immediately Alya and Nino whirled on him. “What was that??” 

“What was what?” 

“That strip tease! What the heck?!” 

“Oh that? Well, when you have a bod like mine, you gotta flaunt it on occasion.” 

“Sure Dude,” Nino raised a brow. “But like, we just talked last week about how you were having self confidence issues. Why the change?” 

Plagg had forgotten about that conversation. Granted, he had tried not to listen to it, since it wasn’t a conversation for him...

“Well, you know how it is when you’re around people you trust.” 

“You’ve got the hots for Marinette!” Alya blurted. 

Plagg played bashful. “Well...maybe a little...” 

She squealed in excitement, clapping her hands together. “Oh em gee! I’ve been waiting for this day for forever! You have to ask her out! She’ll say yes, I promise!” 

“Oh, I know about her crush.” Plagg explained, “I just wanted to...encourage her to confess herself.” 

Alya and Nino both went wide-eyed. “You knew? Since when?” 

“And you didn’t tell me?” Nino asked, slightly hurt. “I thought I was your wingman.” 

“It’s a recent thing.” At least for Adrien it was. “I haven’t really had to think things through. I’m just...having fun and flirting.” He quirked a smile. “I am flirting, right? I’m not coming off like a creep, right?” 

“Oh no no,” Alya insisted. “You’re a natural! How did you find out?” 

Plagg twirled a lock of hair close to his scalp. “I have my ways.” 

Nino narrowed his eyes, the action going unnoticed by Plagg. 

Marinette returned, wearing pink shorts and an oversized sweatshirt. 

From Adrien’s point of view, she looked adorable, and he wished he could just pull her into a hug and snuggle up with her...maybe press a kiss to her temple. 

“There you are, Princess. We missed you!” Plagg chirped. 

Marinette blushed. “I was gone for like a minute.” 

“Oh but it felt so much longer! Nino and Alya were making out the whole time! It was torture!” 

“We did not!” Alya barked. “Don’t you lie to my girl!” 

“Don’t listen to her,” Plagg insisted. “She was sucking the soul out of him.” 

Alya gasped in mock horror. “You keep your vulgar rebellion away from my innocent baby!” 

Plagg wrapped his arms around Marinette, pulling her towards him. “On the contrary, I think I’ll pull Marinette with me into the depths of my depravity!” 

“Nooo!” Alya cried. “What horrors do you plan to subject her to?” 

“Well, I know I can’t convince her to dress like me.” 

“Over my dead body,” Marinette agreed, her face red hot. 

“But perhaps she will sneak out of her house like me?” He leaned in closer to her ear and purred. “We can stay out all night doing who knows what?” 

Marinette gave a full body shiver, wriggling away from him. “Uh, you don’t—I’m not very good at—surely they’ll notice—“ 

Plagg smiled to himself. God it was so funny seeing her so flustered. 

“Alright,” said Alya, pulling him away. “Give her a break before she combusts.” 

Nino watched with narrowed eyes, but they softened before Plagg could notice. 

“So? What’s next on the agenda?” Asked Plagg, still in great spirits. 

“Since this is a first sleepover for Adrien,” began Alya, with bravado, “I have an assemblage of traditional sleepover games. Including,” she slammed down a box. “Truth or dare.” 

Nino and Marinette both moaned. 

Plagg sat a little straighter at the reaction. “Oh, a game that causes suffering. Do tell!” 

“You’ve never heard of truth or dare?” Asked Nino. 

Plagg shook his head. “Never been to a sleepover, remember?” 

“Yeah, but you’ve at least had to hear about it in movies or books, right?” 

Plagg shrugged. “Maybe I just don’t remember. What are the rules?” 

“Simple,” explained Alya. “On your turn, you get to pick between truth or dare. Dare is an action you must do, and truth is a confession you have to make. Once you do it, you get to come up with the next person’s truth or dare.” 

“Oh yes, this sounds familiar now. What is the box for?” 

“Suggestions.” She opened the lid to reveal two sets of cards. “I’m sure we can all come up with two or three really good truths or dares, but these are in case we run out.” 

“Passes?” Asked Marinette. 

“Everyone gets one pass.” 

Plagg had to keep that in mind. While this game could be really fun and he could lie his way through most of it, he had the potential of ruining his master plan. 

But these kids wouldn’t try to oust Adrien’s brand new crush on the same night they learned about it. 

Right? 

Alya set a bottle sideways on the floor. 

“What’s that?” Plagg asked. 

“Since we can’t play ‘Spin the Bottle’, we’ll use it as a player picker.” 

“What’s ‘Spin the Bottle’?” 

“A kissing game.” Marinette provided. “You spin the bottle, and whoever it lands on, you kiss.” 

“Sounds spicy, but not a good game for just the four of us if you two are dating...” Plagg gestured between Alya and Nino. 

“Now you get it!” 

“So who goes first?” 

“I’ll go, because I suggested the game.” Alya sang, spinning the bottle. 

Plagg glanced at Marinette, who had her fingers crossed. Obviously hoping that she wouldn’t face Alya’s wrath. 

The bottle slowed to a stop pointing at Nino. 

“Narts…” 

“Alright babe, Truth…or Dare?” 

“Dare I guess.” 

“Perfect! I dare you to shave your legs.” 

“What!” Nino cried. 

Plagg barked out a laugh. “Oh she got you good!” 

“I’m not going to shave my legs!” 

“You have to, it’s a dare.” Alya protested. 

“Fine, I’ll do it later.” 

“Nope. Right now, Mister. Hop to it!” 

Nino groaned in defeat before rising to his feet. “Fine, I’m going.” 

“Do you need help?” 

“I know how to shave!” And Nino stormed off to the bathroom. 

“That was a pretty extreme dare for our first round.” Said Marinette. “How are we going to beat it?” 

“Oh the hair will grow back, and he never wears shorts. I could have dared him to shave his head. I’m sure there will be more amazing opportunities!” Alya sang. 

“So, are we waiting for him before we keep going?” Asked Plagg. 

“Might as well, don’t want him to feel left out.” 

“So these dares...how extreme is extreme?” Plagg asked, curling his legs up underneath him. 

Alya and Marinette shared a look, entertained on Alya’s end, and fear on Marinette’s. 

“Well, we all have one pass...” mused Alya. 

“Nothing physically detrimental or permanent!” Marinette objected. “Like a tattoo or piercing or something!” 

“Pft, that leaves a whole lot of open space.” 

“And nothing traumatic or emotionally detrimental.”

Plagg flapped his lips like a horse. “Now you’re being a party pooper.” 

“Oh!” Said Alya with a snap. “Lila said you guys had a photoshoot yesterday, but she didn’t tell me anything else. She usually tells me all about it! What happened?” 

Plagg chuckled. “Oh nothing in particular. I was just telling her about Magic.” 

Alya groaned. “Oh don’t even get started on it. Ever since Nath introduced it to you guys, Nino won’t shut up about it! It’s ‘Blue Black’ this, and ‘tarmogoyf’ that. I’m glad you guys are all bonding, I am, I’m just so lost!” 

“So you talked to Lila about that card game?” Marinette probed. 

“Yeah, basically the whole time.” He sent her a wink on the sly. “I can’t imagine that would have given her a bad experience. I thought she was my friend...” he played sad. 

Thankfully, Alya bought it. “Aww, Sunshine, maybe something else happened when you weren’t there. Don’t take it too harshly.” 

“NINO MICHELE LAHIFFE! WHAT ARE YOU DOING WITH MY RAZOR!?” 

“IT'S FOR A DARE MOM! I’LL CLEAN UP AFTERWARDS!” 

“THERE IS BLOOD ALL OVER THE TUB! WHAT ARE YOU DOING!?” 

“I’M SHAVING MY LEGS! I HAVE HAIRY ANKLES!” 

“GIVE ME THAT! I’LL SHOW YOU HOW TO DO IT!” 

“MOOOOM I KNOW HOW TO SHAVE!!” 

The three teens in the room sprawled on the floor, gasping for air and desperate not to laugh too loud. 

Alya had tears in her eyes. “Oh my god he’s going to kill me.” 

“We’ll plan a beautiful funeral for you.” Marinette teased. 

Eventually, Nino rejoined the group, hiking his pants up so his legs were visible. “Ba-BAM!” 

Alya dragged a hand up his calf. “Damn babe, you clean up nice!”

“Don’t get used to it.” 

“Now you know my struggle.” She sassed back. 

“Al, I never gave you a hard time about unshaved legs. If you can put up with mine, I can certainly put up with yours.” 

Plagg turned to Marinette. “It’s certainly fascinating what couples will argue about, Hmm?” 

“Uh, y-yeah. It’s funny...” 

“Alright Nino, your turn to spin the bottle.” Alya gestured. 

Nino cracked his knuckles. “Don’t mind if I do!” And he gave it a whirl.

It landed on Marinette. 

“Truth or Dare?” 

“Umm...truth?” 

Nino smiled fiendishly, a smile that was uncharacteristic for him. “Okay. What’s the most embarrassing thing you’ve done to get your crush to notice you?” 

Marinette gasped in horror. “NINO!” 

“You could pass.” 

“And then for the rest of the game I live in terror that I’m going to get something worse? No.” 

Plagg leaned in closer, head in his hands, trying and failing not to look extremely curious. “Soo?” 

“So what?” 

“What’s the most embarrassing thing you’ve done to get your crush to notice you?” 

Her face colored brightly, all the way up to the tips of her ears. 

“We’re all friends here, M.” Assured Alya. “And you don’t have to say who it is.” 

Finally, Marinette exhaled slowly and admitted, “there’s been a lot. And I’m not sure if I can pick just one above the others...but the least incriminating would be the voicemail.” 

Alya chuckled. “Ah, the voicemail.” 

Marinette covered her eyes with both hands, but continued. “It was normal at first. I rambled a little bit through it, stammered it out…just asked him if he wanted to go to the movies, and then…instead of hanging up like a normal, sane person. I threw my phone, while it was still recording. I then proceeded to say a bunch of stuff to Alya, like ‘I couldn’t have just said ‘blah blah blah’ and the phone recorded the whole thing.” 

“And he didn’t say anything about it?” Asked Nino.

“It gets better,” Alya smirked.

“No…because he never heard it…I stole his phone and deleted it.”

“YOU STOLE HIS PHONE?!” Plagg shouted. He was 1) Shocked that such an occurrence happened around him. He was pretty diligent around Adrien’s belongings. God knows the amount of times Lila had tried to rifle through his bag. And 2) Shocked and delighted that Marinette had the guts to do something so radical. “That’s amazing, Marinette!”

“It’s not amazing!” Marinette lamented. “I’m a phone thief!” 

“She stole mine too,” smiled Alya. “She’s a scoundrel.”

“I am! I am a scoundrel!”

“So what did the voicemail say?” Asked Plagg, much too invested in this story.

Marinette blushed even brighter, pulling her shoulders up to her ears. “You can’t ask that! You have to wait your turn!” 

“Oh clever. I see. Well then, I’ll hold on to that for now.” He chuckled. “It’s your turn to spin the bottle.” 

Marinette relaxed slightly, thrilled that she had made it through the question with minor embarrassment (and her secret crush unaware, as far as she knew.) She spun the bottle with gusto.

It landed on Plagg. 

“Oh boy.” Plagg winced. 

“Ha! Truth or dare?” 

“Hmm…I’ll do a dare.” 

“I dare you to call Principle Damocles, pretending to be your father.” 

“Oh my god yes!” Cheered Alya. “Anyone have his number?”

“I do, for student council purposes. Best not use my phone then.” 

Plagg took out Adrien’s phone, unlocking it, and handed it over to Marinette. 

She dialed the number. “All you have to do is start the call.” 

“What should I say?”

“Don’t get anyone in trouble.” Marinette warned. 

“Oh, and don’t give him a reason to call back and follow up.” 

“Okay…I got an idea.” He hit the call button. 

After a few heart pounding seconds, he answered. “Hello, Principle Damocles here!” 

“Yes, quite, this is Gabriel Agreste.” Plagg said, in his perfectly flawless impersonation. 

The other three in the room had to hold their breath to avoid laughing out loud. 

“Ah, Mr. Agreste! To what do I owe the pleasure?” 

“I assure you, monsieur, this conversation will not be a pleasure. Do you think you’re a good administrator?” 

“I uh…” 

“No stammering, I hate stammering!” 

“Yes! I think I’m very accomplished!” 

“My son came home with a cold today.” Plagg narrowed his eyes, putting anger in his voice. 

“Oh well…I’m very sorry to hear that, sir. But after all, this is a school with many children, they’re bound to pass colds along.” 

“How is your sanitation? Do you regularly clean tables and desks?” 

“I-well, not usually the desks. The floors, yes, and the bathrooms…” 

“And the air system? Do you keep good air flow?”

“The courtyard is open air, so yes, there should be—“ 

“Is your heater running?” 

“It should be! It’s March after all!” 

“Well then, you better go catch it.” And he hung up. 

As soon as he pulled the phone away, all three of his friends were on the floor, crying with laughter. 

“OH MY GOD! THAT WAS THE BEST!” 

“Flawless setup, flawless execution.” Alya giggled. 

Marinette rubbed the tears from her cheeks. “Man, your impersonation of your dad is spot on.” 

“I have a lot of practice.” Plagg shrugged. Plagg’s impression in his own body was pretty good, but combined with Adrien’s vocal chords, it was just too good. Almost too much power.

The game continued onward. With the dares becoming even more crazy. Nino ingested a random concoction of sauces Alya had brewed in the kitchen, while Alya displayed her acting prowess in pretending to be a baby being born. The truths were pretty good, as Nino had confessed to having a secret Gumby fetish, and Marinette had to admit that she had accidentally peed her pants at a water park last summer. 

Then Alya spun the bottle, only for it to land on Plagg. 

“Dare.”

Alya grinned manically, and Marinette felt a chill creep down her spine. Alya had a tendency to go too far, and this would be one of those times where she tried to help Marinette out. 

“Adrien Agreste…I dare you…to kiss…Marinette Dupain-Cheng.” 

Plagg had seen it coming a mile away. It was so predictable. And yet he had been considering what to do. He still had a pass. Kissing humans, while he was human or not, was not up there on his list of things he enjoyed. 

Oh, what the hell. It wasn’t his body!

Marinette’s mouth dropped open in shock. “You can’t make him do that! Adrien, you can pass! I won’t be offend—“ 

Then she was laying on her back, with Adrien’s wonderful, perfect frame pressing her against the floor. His lips were on hers, full, and absent of any hesitation. 

Someone wolf-whistled. 

Before she could even think of how to respond, he clamored off of her, and sat up. “That good enough for you?” 

“Damn, I wish you had warned me so I could have got a picture!” 

“No way! What happens at Nino’s stays at Nino’s!” 

“You good down there, girl?”

Marinette let out a string of consonants.  

“You broke her,” Nino mused. 

“Worth it.” He slyly gazed back to his overnight bag, where Adrien was hiding for the evening. Only his eyes, glowing green slits, full of anger were visible.

Plagg just smirked, and then winked. 

— 

Marinette and Alya left at 9. Marinette because she had to ‘wake up early’ and Alya because she wanted to ‘get homework done’. Plagg saw it for what it really was. They were going to gossip about his little stunt for a while. 

“Wanna play UMS?” Nino asked, once the girls had left. 

“You know it!” 

Nino gestured him forward, letting him lead the way to Nino’s bedroom. 

But upon entering the bedroom, Plagg heard the door close, heard a bang, felt an extreme pain in his head, and then blacked out. 

—

When he awoke, the room was dark. 

He was sitting in a chair, Nino’s computer chair, with his hands and feet bound with duct tape. 

The pain in his head swelled again, as a bright light was flashed in his face. 

“Uh, what the hell?” He grouched. 

“Are you okay dude?” Nino asked, with sympathy. 

“Besides the concussion? Just peachy.” 

Nino sighed in relief. “Oh good.” Then his voice took on an edge he had never heard before. “Now, who are you, and what have you done with the real Adrien?” 

Plagg blinked once, twice. “Pardon?”

“You heard me. Where is my best friend?” 

“I...don’t know what you mean? I’m just me, Nino?” 

“Oh no no no,” anger creeped into his voice. “You may have everyone fooled, but I know better! Marinette thinks you’re having a crisis, Alya says the fame and fortune have gone to your head, but I know Adrien! And I know that you aren’t him!” 

Still slightly shocked, Plagg had to ask, “what makes you say that?” 

“Evidence A: you’ve been wearing sunglasses to hide your weird cat-pupils. And I know they aren’t colored contacts, because Adrien lamented to me that he couldn’t wear colored contacts with his astigmatism!” 

Plagg blinked again. “Shit dude, got me there.” 

“Evidence B: at dinner, Marinette offered an array of macrons, and instead of your hard and true first choice of passion fruit, you went with pumpkin spice! You never went for the passion fruit!” 

“I just...wanted to be adventurous?” 

“Evidence C: the kiss.” 

“Of course.” 

“Even if Adrien was head over heels madly in love with Marinette, he is far too meek to kiss her like you did tonight.” 

“Facts.” 

“So, I’ll ask you one more time. Who are you, and where’s the real Adrien?” 

Plagg considered this for a moment, but only a moment before answering. “Yeah, you got me. I’m not Adrien.” 

Nino pumped his fist in victory. “I knew it! I told the girls but they didn’t believe me!” 

“Adrien’s in my overnight bag.” 

Before Nino could check himself, Adrien came spiraling out to reprimand him. “Plagg! You can’t just give away our situation like that! What happened to secrecy? Secret identities?!” 

Plagg shrugged. “He obviously had me figured out. Mortals are particularly stubborn when they know a truth.” 

Adrien didn’t argue anymore as he was scooped out of the air and crushed to Nino’s chest. “Dude! I’ve been so worried!”

“I’m okay. A little traumatized, but okay.” Adrien squeaked out. 

Nino held him in his hands. “What happened? Why are you—hey, you’re a Kwami!” 

“The Black Cat Kwami,” Plagg clarified. 

“So that means...you’re Chat Noir!” 

“Yep. And now you’re the only other human that knows.” 

“I figured Carapace could keep the secret.” Plagg hummed. “Wayzz certainly trusts him enough.” 

“But Hawkmoth knows who Carapace is...or was...” 

“And he hasn’t bothered me since,” Nino offered. “I don’t think he cares?” 

“See? Everything is copacetic. Now unbind me mortal, or face the consequences.” 

“What consequences?” Asked Adrien with a laugh. “You’re in my body. You can’t do anything!” 

“I can still cast my lip chapping spell.” 

There was a brief knock at the door before Mrs. Lahiffe entered. It was enough time for Nino to hide Adrien in his hands. 

“Alright boys, dad has to wake up early tomorrow, so make sure to keep it down!” 

“MOOOOM! I’m in the middle of an interrogation!” 

“Well, interrogate quietly, honey.” And she closed the door. 

“Okay, one of you, explain what the heck is going on?” 

Adrien held his tail. “It’s my fault. I pissed Plagg off and he punished me.” 

“Sounds an awful lot like his fault, dude.” 

Plagg scoffed. “Fine, I’ll take responsibility for this amazing master plan! Adrien was complaining about his unrequited love life, his poor relationship with his father, and Lila’s constant sexual harassment. So I told him that could fix it all if he agreed to it.” 

“And the solution was to...swap bodies?” 

“I didn’t know!” Adrien defended. “I thought...well I don’t know what I thought. He just said he would fix it. I guess I didn’t imagine it would be this...” 

“In my defense...” started Plagg, “it is really fun to mess with Adrien.” 

Nino mostly ignored him. “So what has to happen to get you to switch back?” 

“Well, we have to get Marinette to confess to me, making our crushes mutual.” 

“Ah, I see.” Nino said sagely. “That makes sense. What else?” 

“I have to get Lila to leave me alone. Like, permanently.” 

“I guess I didn’t realize she was that much of a problem. I know you mentioned that she was harassing you...” 

“That’s not even the half of it. Marinette told me, Chat Noir me, that Lila has been actively threatening her.” 

Nino frowned. “Threatening her with what?” 

“Taking all of her friends and me away from her. I got Lila to lay off by allowing her to model with me, but since Plagg and I swapped bodies, she’s threatened to go back on our deal. If Plagg can get her to drop the whole thing, that would be ideal. But to fulfill the contract, he has to get her to leave me alone.” 

“And she’s been falling for it, hook, line, and sinker.” Said Plagg, with pride. 

“What did you do?” 

“I just explained Magic: The Gathering to her.” 

“...and? I mean, I know it’s a game that’s pretty hard to visualize in your head.” 

“I explained it badly, and gave her no chance to talk. For about four hours.” 

“Oh! So you’re annoying her?” 

“He’s annoying everyone.” Adrien clarified. 

“That’s how I got to school today. Gabriel put the house on lockdown and I serenaded him until he let me out.” 

“You were serious about that?” Nino chuckled. 

“Naturally!” 

“Wait, so the last thing is your dad?” 

“Yeah, Plagg has to fix our relationship.” 

“WOOF! That’s a tall order! Well, I better get used to having a Kwami as a best friend.” 

“Oh come on, Nino!” Plagg groaned, “have some faith in me, dude.” 

“Dude, I have all the faith in you. But I also know Adrien’s tyrant of a father. Unless you do brain surgery, you aren’t changing his mind.” 

Plagg seemed to consider this. “Hmm, brain surgery...” 

“No, NO!” Adrien reprimanded. 

“I’m just kidding. I know it’s going to be tough, but I know a thing or two about manipulation and lust for control. Gabriel is cracking. It’s more and more evident every time I push him. And once he cracks, he’ll listen.” 

“Is there anything I can do to help?” Asked Nino. 

“Yes, but not right now. I have a great use for you soon, Nino Lahiffe.” 

“Don’t talk like that,” Adrien reprimanded. “It’s freaky.” 

“Oooo someone’s still bitter about not getting to kiss his crush~!” 

“I’M NOT BITTER!” Adrien yowled. 

“Bitter like an old grapefruit! I got to kiss pigtails and you’re grumpy!” 

“SHUT UP!” 

“Are you guys always like this?” Nino asked. 

“Sometimes, when Plagg is being annoying.” 

“Which is often. I am a creature of mischief and chaos.” 

“Which explains a lot…” Nino murmured. 

“Hey, are you going to teach me to play UMS or not?!”

[ezgithechaotic]

The Parent Trap | Chapter One; two sides of the same coin

pairing: Harry Styles x Reader

AU: The Parent Trap,  dad!harry

series summary:  Identical twins Benjamin and Edward, separated at birth and each raised by one of their biological parents, later discover each other for the first time at summer camp and make a plan to bring their wayward parents back together.

chapter summary: Benjamin and Edward tries to convince their parents that they aren’t children anymore, but it’s harder than they think.

author note: I’m sorry in advance if I have any fault. English is not my first language. But please let me know if you see anthing that doesn’t seem right. And an important note about Harry and Y/N; They probably won’t see each other for a long time. But I plan on mentioning their thoughts about each other from time to time as I did in this chapter. So, buckle up, It’s gonna be a long way :)

Please leave a comment about what you think, love you.

The Parent Trap Masterlist 

Between all the paperwork, Y/N was feeling like she could go crazy any minute. When she had decided to work from home, she didn’t think that anyone could reach her at any minute. It didn’t matter whether it was weekdays or weekends. She was either answering some phonecall from her customer or choosing the right fabric for her designs. Well, except the times she was with her son, Edward. 

Y/N loved her job. She started at a very early age, it would even be proper to say that she had nothing or no one but her family when she had started this job. Now, she was one of the best designers across the world. She truly loved her job. But if there was one thing she loved more than her job, it was her son. The only person who could brighten her after a long day in her study room. He was the best thing Y/N had. So, when he brought her a cup of hot coffee while she was dealing with her job's most boring side, paperwork, he brought the sunshine inside the room with him.  

When Edward knocked on the door she was so focused she didn't even hear it. So little boy quietly sneaked in and gently put the cup on the big desk. When Y/N realized, she looked up and saw her son, smiling at her. With his bright green eyes and long brown locks, Edward reminded everyone of his father. At least, the ones who knew him. Y/N was very cautious about her son’s and her private life. He was her treasure that she kept away from the whole world. 

"Since when are you serving coffees, young man?" Y/N smiled as she raised an eyebrow to her nine-year-old son.  

Edward shrugged and made himself comfortable at one of the leather sofas. "I thought you could use some break. I know you wouldn't stop if I didn't come in." 

"You know I don't need you to be the mother, it's my job." 

"It's not like I'm the mother every day. I'm okay with being the mother every once in a while. I know you love your job." Y/N got up from her chair as her son kept talking. Watching him talk was like watching a flower bloom. She would give everything to stop him from growing old. "Plus we have Nate to be the mother, I'm more like, the cool aunt of family." 

"Don't ever let Nate hear that. Poor guy would be devastated." 

"I think he would prefer my sassy remarks rather than yours." 

Y/N sat beside Edward on the leather sofa and raised an eyebrow. "What is that supposed to mean?" She couldn't help but laugh as her son giggled. "Well, you can be very mean sometimes, mom." 

"Ouch, I'm bruised, Eddy." 

Y/N hugged her son with one arm. He laughed as he let his mother embrace him. Edward loved physical contact even though he didn't show it. He loved resting his head on his mother's chest as they did nothing. He wasn't a very social child, he liked staying inside and being alone. He didn't have friends at his age and was never a team player unless he trusted the people around him. But with Y/N, he felt safe.

"I haven’t seen you around today."

"Well, it's because you spent your whole Saturday trapped in here. I planted those flowers in the garden with Nate today. It was fun until he started to give me lectures about being responsible." 

Y/N knew her assistant could be a bit much sometimes. But he still helped her a lot, not just as her assistant, but as her friend too. Edward loved him. He was one of the best friends Y/N had. Y/N knew growing up without a dad was hard for Edward. So she was grateful to him because, after her father, Nate was one the father figures for Edward. 

"You know he loves you." 

"Yeah, I know." 

They sat there in silence for a moment. Y/N closed her eyes as she stroked her son's hair and listened to his breathing.  

"Mom?" Edward said as if he was checking his mother. 

"Yes, baby?" 

"You know, my birthday is coming..." Y/N frowned but still kept her eyes close. 

"There are still two months until your birthday, you know. Not two days." 

"I know, mom." He rolled his eyes. "I was thinking... Since I'm turning ten this year maybe you could buy me a computer. I'm not a child anymore." 

"You will always be a child for me. Your age doesn't matter." 

"Moooom." 

Y/N laughed at his son's reaction. "I thought we talked about this before, honey. I'm not comfortable with you interacting with social media. People can be cruel." 

"I'm not saying I want to have a social media account or something. But, you know, it would be good to have a computer." 

Y/N took a deep breath. "I will think about it." She said and smiled. Edward hugged her with joy and thanked her for even considering it. Y/N knew people on the internet could be cruel. All she wanted was to protect him but she knew she couldn't keep him to herself until forever. He was already homeschooled and didn't have as many friends as children of his age. People were eventually going to find out. She knew it was inevitable. 

"If you want to be more social, you can always think about that summer camp that Zayn was talking about." 

"Mom, I don't want to be social. I don't need friends." 

"Friends can be very helpful. I had a lot of friends when I was your age." 

"We both know that they were Aunt Abby's friends." Edward laughed when he saw his mother's face. It wasn't wrong. Her big sister, Abigail, had been her best friend through childhood. And she was still her biggest supporter. "Plus, I have Becky. She's my age."  

"Becky isn't always around." 

"Yeah, because Aunt Abby isn't always around." 

Since Abigail was always traveling her daughter, Becky was traveling with her too. Becky was two years younger than Edward. And Edward loved his cousin like a sister. He was happy to be her big brother. 

"They won't be here for summer. So, you can always take the opportunity and go to that summer camp." Although Edward wasn't eager about it, his mother wanted him to have friends. "I will think about it." 

With that, Nate stuck his head through the open door and eyed two of them. "Sorry for interrupting your mom and son time. But are you guys hungry? Because I'm dying over here."

Y/N groaned as she rested her head against the sofa. "I'm starving."

"So, tacos?"

"You know I will never, ever say no to tacos," Edward said.

Y/N laughed but before she could answer her phone started to ring. She got up and found her phone inside the whole mess. "I need to answer this. Why don't you guys go ahead and order?" 

Before he got up, Edward looked at her mother with meaningful eyes. "You will think about the computer, right?" Y/N smiled and planted a kiss on top of his head. 

"I will, baby." 

While Edward made his way to the kitchen, Nate stayed back.

"How long are you planning on keeping it secret from him?" 

"As long as I can, Nate." 

"He deserves to know." 

Y/N took a deep breath. "I don't need a lecture about it. I know he will eventually ask. I will just let future Y/N deal with it." 

"This is one of the worst answers you've ever given." 

"You're being very helpful, Nate, thank you." 

"You're welcome." Y/N shook her head and answered the call as Nate returned to the kitchen. 

At the same time, Y/N made her way to the kitchen, Harry was walking towards Benjamin's room to wake him up, in a completely different country. 

Harry knocked three times on his son's door. Even though he knew it was going to take more than three knocks to wake Benjamin up, Harry still had faith. But Ben was still asleep at the other side of the white-painted door. After a second or two, Harry opened the door with a sigh. 

"It's time to wake up, buddy!" 

Benjamin was tangled between his dark blue sheets. His short curly hair lying on the pillow, his green eyes shut. It was still mindblowing how much he looked like his father. At times like these, Harry never wanted to wake him up. If someone looked at him from where he stood, they would think that he was an angel. The only thing was that his son was the devil himself. And he didn't know if he should be proud or disappointed.  

"Benny, breakfast is getting cold," Harry said as he opened the curtains. "Get up, now." 

Benjamin groaned into his pillow. If there was one thing he hated most, it was waking up. He was never a morning person. The resemblance between Benjamin and his mother always made Harry a little bittersweet. It was like the universe didn't want him to forget her. As if forgetting her was an option. She was in every song he heard or wrote. 

"Why can't I sleep more?" Benjamin asked, his eyes still closed. "Why do you have to be so cruel to wake me up at the crack of dawn?" 

"It's almost noon, Ben." 

"Well, still the crack of dawn." 

Harry laughed at his son's reaction. Benjamin had always been sassy, but he always found a way to people's hearth, especially Harry's. He was something Harry couldn't explain. Benjamin was everything Harry had and he would give everything up for him without a doubt. 

"So, should we let Jeffrey eat all the pancakes?" 

Benjamin peeked through one open eye with a smile on his face. "Pancakes don't sound so bad. I like Katty's pancakes." 

Katty was Benjamin's nanny and she usually helped Harry around the house with chores and dinner. She was one of the exceptional people around Benjamin. He liked her, and she helped him when he needed some woman influence. 

Benjamin never held back what he thought about the person across him. Whenever Harry found some nanny he either scared them with his pranks or his remarks. But Katty was the only nanny who could have fun with him rather than running away from him. She was more like a sister to Benjamin. And Harry was happy that Benjamin could trust Katty as much as he trusted Gemma. 

"Sorry, pal, you have to settle for my pancakes because Katty won't be here today."

Benjamin sighed. "So we're eating burnt pancakes, again?" 

Harry acted like he was annoyed. "You weren't saying that before Katty." 

"Because I didn't know chocolate chip pancakes existed." 

"You always have something to say, don't you?" 

Just like your mother.

" And I'm not even awake, yet. Think about the things I would say if I was awake." 

"You sound pretty awake to me, buddy." He let Benjamin free from all the sheets. "Time to get up."

After five pancakes and two glass of orange juice, Benjamin was awake more than ever. While he was playing a game on the big television, Harry and Jeffrey were talking about upcoming projects. 

"...for June we'll be recording the album and then you have that project with Gucci in July." 

"I thought we were going to go to Holmes Chapel and see grandma this June," Benjamin questioned, suddenly not so interested in his game. 

"I don't think we'll be able to do that, buddy. We'll be in Los Angeles." 

"Will Camille be with us?" 

Camille was Harry's current girlfriend. And Benjamin did not like her at all. After Y/N, Harry didn't have any relationship for a long time. Not just because he thought it would be hard for Benjamin if it didn't work out, but also he wasn't ready for getting heartbroken again. Camille was his longest relationship despite Benjamin's dislike for her. 

"Yeah, probably." 

Benjamin grunted with vexation and let himself fell on the couch again. 

"Do I have to be there?" Benjamin looked at his father with hope. "Can't I just stay with grandma?"

"A month is a long time Benny." 

"Yeah, dad, I know. That's why I don't want to spend it with Camille."

"I would appreciate it if you just tried to like her." 

"Or you could just send me to the summer camp I've been talking about." 

Harry took a deep breath. "We talked about this, Benny. I can't send you somewhere I've never heard before." 

"But Freddie is going too." Benjamin whined.

"What's up with this summer camp?" Jeffrey asked when he couldn't help his curiosity. 

"Something he heard from Freddie, I guess. He's been talking about it non-stop." 

"Why don't you just let him go?"

"You know why, Jeff."

"You're just being paranoid, Harry. Let him have some fun. It's already hard to be the son of a famous pop star." 

Jeffrey made Harry hesitate. He was right and Harry knew that. It was just scary to be away from him for more than a month. And since Benjamin wasn't a calm kid, it made it harder for him to decide. He wasn’t going to be there when things were going to go bad. But when he saw his son sitting there not even giving attention to the game all devastated, he couldn't help but say yes. 

"You can go as long as you promise to be nice." 

"Really?" 

"Really."

"You're the best, dad!"

Benjamin hugged him so tight and smiled so bright that it made every bad thought Harry had, vanish. He hugged his son back. Apologizing to him without words for everything he took away from him, for everything he could have if he and his mom hadn’t been so stubborn.

If he only knew that Benjamin would take everything back with a simple summer camp. 

[firehananas]

II - Autumn’s naps

The lonely prince and the silly commoner   Part 1 | ~ 1500 words

“Can miles truly separate us from friends? If we want to be with someone we love, aren’t we already there?” — Richard Bach.

As their bond grew, Harunobu came less and less at school. Even though Kotone could still play with others kids, she terribly missed him. It's always a relief when he finally came back, but the uneasy feeling it’s may be the last time they see each other starts hovering over their heads.

"Hey, Nikaidou." The two children are playing with figurines animals — a giraffe for Kotone and a heron for him. Her brutal changing mood, sharping with the tone of their story a moment ago stops Nikaidou.

"What?"

"Are you healed now?"

He sighs, staring his toy with a bothered pout. "Yeah." He says in a weak voice betraying the 'not quite' part. 

They stop talking. The atmosphere is weighing. A cold and thick bubble captures them both, isolating the two friends from the others children.

"But..." Harunobu pursues in a very, very quiet voice. "I may stop going to school. I may be schooling at home if I become sick again."

Kotone stiffen before she turns over him with a horrified face.

"It can't be! You— !"

But nothing else comes out. What could do two children against the crushing voices of adults? As the little girl tries to find a solution, her tan face turns red of frustration.

"That's not fair!" She ends up exploding and throwing her poor giraffe away.

"You shouldn't do that," The boy reprimands. "Dad says every object has a soul and you should take care of them."

Kotone loudly exhales and crosses her arms, disapproving. She mumbles that she already knows that, but her anger is too big for her to contain. Then her eyes light up.

"I know! We have to exchange our addresses! Like that, we could still visit each other, even if we don't go to school anymore."

He blinks, thoughtful, before approving with energy. "That should do it!"

They smile to seal their agreement.

The next day, they fulfill it.

The day after, the great summer vacations begin.

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Dear Nikaidou Harunobu,

I hope you are doing good! My parents and I have been visiting my grandparents in Hokkaido. It's very sunny here, but also a bit cold! I have been a lot to the beach and took a lot of pretty shells. My grandpa has been fishing on his boat and he even shows me how to doing it! It was really fun and the fishes very yummy. How are your vacations? What did you do?

Nakagawa Kotone

Hanaoka is next to his young master, lying on his hospital bed, listening carefully the letter he is reading for him. His left arm is on a drip, piercing his pale skin. The boy doesn't seem to mind it, and Hanaoka couldn't tell if it's a good or a bad thing.

He used to be a little worry when he delivered the letter. How would Harunobu take it? Would he be hurt to imagine his friend living like any other kids while he has been stuck in a bed since the beginning of August? Even if it wasn't the intent, it could give him a bad reflexion of himself.

But Harunobu keeps smiling until the very end of the letter. He reaches his hand to the postcard that Hanaoka gladly gives in.

"How are you feeling?" Hanaoka couldn't help but ask. He doesn't have the heart to directly formulate the real question he has in mind because maybe — just maybe — it didn't cross the child's mind.

His grey eyes leave the pictured landscape for his caretaker."I'm fine." He assures."I'm glad she remembered me."

It’s may be a pure coincidence he answers his tacit question, but Hanaoka likes to believe his young master is smart enough to have figured it out.

"Say, Hanaoka... Can you help me answer her back?"

The butler smiles gently. "Of course."

Dear Nakagawa Kotone,

Thank you for your letter, it made me really happy! My parents stay for a whole week with me and we play a lot together. It was a very fun week! My father also gave me a game of shōgi and I really like it. I hope we'll play it together one day! I've never been in Hokkaido, but it seems to be a very nice place! Here, it has been very hot and I didn't go outside very much. When the vacations will be over, don't hesitated to visit me at my home during the weekend. I'll leave you my number, so you can call me anytime!

I hope I will see you soon!

Nikaidou Harunobu

"Moooom, why?" Kotone cries loudly. Her whole body imprison the left adult's leg, who's trying unsuccessfully to chase her away and continuing her walk.

"Don't be silly, Kotone." Her mother responds with a stern voice. She pushes the child head to detach her from her leg, like if the child was a sticky insect. "We just came back home. Your dad and I are tired, we can't let drive at Nikaidou's house."

"GRMMMMMMMMMH!! And why NOT? It's not like you are invited anyway." She retorts.

"Kotone! Now you're being rude!"

"I want to go! I want to go! I want to go NOW!"

"KOTONE!"

The woman manages to finally get her kid off, catches her by the neck like a kitten and put her in her bedroom.

"Acting like a brat will lead you nowhere! Stay in your room and allow us to have some PEACE!"

The door slams behind her, making Kotone jumps. Then, she crosses her arms, blows her cheeks out of frustration, and stays still.

She'll need to be more subtle next time.

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Kotone tried everything. She tried to be cute, to be a very good girl (she even accepted to wear the ugly pink dress her mother loves so much when her friends came home). She has been clever in her choice of words, she has been straightforward. Then the impatience walks in and she has been less good and nice. But being deprived of dessert and being put in her room is the only thing she gets out of those protests.

When October comes in, she decides that if her parents couldn't do it, she will do by her own.

Kotone is not stupid (or so she likes to believe): an expedition needs to be prepared. First, she'll take her tiny bag for sports, a bottle of water, a snack, a map... She keeps the letter to make the call and to knows where to go. That's true... she has to announced herself.

The kid inhales deeply, and walks on her tiptoes while carefully observing her surrounding. There is no one in sight. She can hear the incomprehensible noise of the television: her dad is definitely watching it. Her mom goes with her friends some times ago and shouldn’t coming back before the late afternoon. It’s now or never.

Straightening herself, Kotone approaches the home phone and carefully places it on the floor. That way, she’ll be able to see the touch numbers. And then, slowly, her finger starts hitting the keys.

Beep beep beepbeep beep beep…

She has to wait now until someone answers. The kid has the feeling to throw a bottle in the very vast ocean, unsure if it’ll reach someone.

"Hello?"

It’s a mature, feminine and unknown voice. Kotone’s heart beats louder as she struggles founding her words. Paralyzed by anxiety, the child stays quiet.

"Hello?" The voice repeats, "Is someone there?"

The fear her interlocutor cuts the conversation snaps her initial shyness.

"Um, hello! Is this - erm, I mean, i-is this Nikaidou’s number?"

"Yes?"

"Well, I am Nakagawa Kotone, and I want to know if I can come to Ni - I mean! If I can visit Nikaidou!"

Her fingers twist around the thread’s phone, nervously playing with it.

"Oh, you’re miss Nakagawa! You are welcomed anytime. When do you think to come over?"

"Today!" Kotone couldn’t help but screams.

"T-Today?" The voice stutters a bit dumbfounded. "Wait a second please…"

The silence replaces her. Kotone takes a look at the living room's door, hoping her dad don't walk in. Her heart seems to have calm down, yet it still beat hard enough on her chest to hear it.

"My apologies for the wait. You are expected, miss Nakagawa."

Kotone couldn’t hold a squeak of excitement.

"I’m on my way!"

"Wait! When are you supposed to —"

But it’s too late : Kotone is already gone and, after telling her father she is going to play outside (which isn’t technically a lie), she climbs the fence and takes her first step on the street.

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[strawbunniiee]

A Girl and a Ghost Ch. 3: The King’s Revenge

SOOOOO this is the part where the plot thickens :)

if anybody else wants me to tag them in these chapters so you know when they come out i will gladly do so andksnkfs

hope you enjoy! ive had tons of fun with writing these :D

dont mind me, just lettin my frendos know that this is a thing skfnkdjf

@salamifuposey @monsterbride99 aaAAA when i initially posted this i COMPLETELY forgot to do this a a a a a sorry

King Boo was furious.

How could that peasant, that foul impure abomination of a Boo do this to his beloved crown? It contained his power, it was so incredibly important to him...

And that filthy little purple haired brat! How could she so carelessly throw a rock at him like that?

He plopped his body down in a chair and marinated in his own rage for a few minutes.

After a few moments of enraged silence, he spoke.

"...I have got to get my revenge on those two. But... how will I do it?"

King Boo began to brainstorm a way to get the ghost Rabbid and his little idiot friend in hot water.

"Torture? No, no... one of them is a ghost. It wouldn't hurt him... Torture could be done with the little nuisance however. Perhaps a bit of childhood trauma will teach her not to mess with the wrong people." he thought aloud.

He spent almost fifteen whole minutes thinking of gruesome ways to get back at them, until it finally struck him.

"...Oooh, I know. I know exactly what to do now. It'll mostly affect that bloated rabbit, but I can still do some damage to his moronic pipsqueak pal."

He grinned maliciously and floated towards the doors of his manor.

"I'm about to open up some old wounds of yours, Tommy." he said to himself.

———

Meanwhile, Phantom was racing through the sky with Jawaii in his arms, panicking. He would never let King Boo lay his foul hands on her.

They were both absolutely dead silent the whole time until Jawaii opened her mouth.

"...Do you know that guy?"

Phantom halted for a moment and looked down at the young alien he held. "...Yes, I do, but I don't think I would like to go into detail at the moment. We have a very... rough history, I will say."

"Oh... I get it. It's okay, I won't pry. I understand." Jawaii said.

"Just remember that if King Boo ever tries to hurt us, I'll make sure he will regret it for the rest of his days." promised the Rabbid ghost. "I swear on it."

Phantom resumed his flight and soared down to the ground safely. He gently set her down in the grass.

"That was actually really fun! We should do that again sometime! ...without being scared off by an evil ghost, obviously. That would just make it less fun." said Jawaii.

"I'm glad you were entertained, I suppose... King Boo is quite intimidating. And rude." said Phantom.

Jawaii put her hands on her hips. "Well, yeah! I mean, he made fun of your weight! No friend of mine is getting made fun of like that!"

Phantom laughed a bit. "Oh, don't worry, I wasn't that harmed by that statement. I er, get that all the time."

She frowned. "Why do people tease you about that, that's dumb! Besides, I think you're perfect just the way you are!" She gave him a hug.

He hugged back and smiled. "Awww... thank you. I was born like this, I can't help it you see."

"You're a giant fluffy singing ghost bunny with a mustache, I have no idea how anybody could hate THAT! Cuz I don't."

"Oh, don't make me blush from all of these compliments!" said Phantom, smiling.

Jawaii jokingly grinned evilly. "Never. I'm gonna shower you in compliments 'til you DROWN!"

She cackled maniacally as she began relentlessly saying nice things about him with Phantom begging her to stop. Soon, it became a full-on flattery war to see who could out-compliment the other. They had a grand old time.

Eventually, the sun began to set.

"Oh yikes, I better get home. I had no idea we stayed out here for so long! Mom is probably having a heart attack as we speak!" said Jawaii.

Phantom was quite alarmed, his ears sprung up in worry and concern. "She's having a what?! Oh, poor child, I hope your mother is all right..."

She burst out laughing hysterically.

"Wh-what's so funny? I thought your mother was dying!"

"No, dummy! That was an exaggeration, I meant that she's probably WORRIED about me!" Jawaii continued giggling like a maniac.

"Ah. I see now... Thank you for correcting me!" Phantom joined in on the laughter.

They got themselves together after a moment.

"Oh yeah, mind if you could fly me over to my house..? We're kinda far away from home." said Jawaii.

"Of course!" Phantom replied happily.

Jawaii climbed on his back and the two flew home.

———

After flying back to town, Phantom gently set Jawaii down in front of her home.

"See you soon, my friend. I enjoyed showing you around Spooky Trails today!" said Phantom.

"Cya tomorrow Phantom! I had a good day today too!" She ran up to him and gave him one last hug.

She walked up to her door and waved goodbye to Phantom. He waved back.

"Moooom! I'm hoooome!"

Jawaii's stepmother Stella ran in.

"Oh, Jawaii! Thank goodness you're all right! I was so worried, where were you?"

"Sorry I came home late! But I spent today with a friend of mine."

Stella had a look of pleasant surprise on her face. "You made a friend? That's so wonderful! I know you haven't really ever had any friends, honey, I'm so happy to hear that you finally made one!" She smiled.

Jawaii grinned. "Yeah! I'll tell you allllll about him! He's the best."

They sat down at the dinner table with the food Stella made.

Jawaii dug into her mashed potatoes and ate it like a wild animal that had nothing to eat for the past 3 weeks.

"Honey, chew slowly. I don't want you choking!" said Stella.

"Sorry, Mom..." Jawaii said, frowning.

"It's okay. I don't want you in the hospital or anything, especially after you just made a new friend!"

"Oh, I've known him for a while, actually. We've been hanging out together a lot!" she smiled, her mouth still full of food.

"...Jawaii, sweetie, don't talk with food in your mouth.“

"Oh yeah! Sorry again Mom.."

"Anyways, that's why you've been out so much lately? I'm so happy for you, Jawaii!" Stella smiled.

Jawaii gulped down some water. "Yep! I'm glad I'm his friend too!"

They spent dinner talking about all of the fun adventures she and Phantom had gone on.

Jawaii however, conveniently left out any mention of them being in danger, she wouldn't want to worry her stepmother of course!

"Oh yeah! I meant to ask you this, but I got totally sidetracked but where's Dad? And where's Hakai?" asked Jawaii.

"Your father is out destroying planets again, and your sister is having a sleepover with some friends of hers." said Stella.

"Ohhhh. Wonder why Dad's out so late. Hope he's alright."

"I'm sure he's fine, hon."

Jawaii had another sister though, and her name was Roe. She went to a boarding school and wasn't home most of the time.

She stretched and yawned. "Hey Mom, I think I'm gonna hit the hay today."

Stella gave her a small look of surprise. "Oh! You are? Usually you're quite a night owl. Maybe you're just tired from all your little adventures with Phantom."

Jawaii smiled. "Yeah. Maybe. Anyways, g'night Mom! Love ya, don't let the bed bugs bite."

Stella gave Jawaii a hug. "Aww, good night sweetie. Love you too.”

Jawaii ran upstairs, changed into her nightgown, brushed her teeth and jumped into bed, quickly falling asleep after her long, tiring but fun day.

———

That same night, the Mushroom Kingdom was as quiet as ever when it was nighttime. The once colorful, cheerful inviting land was deathly silent, almost hauntingly so.

Princess Peach was safely tucked in her bed, sleeping peacefully.

But little did the sleeping princess know, this would not remain for long.

King Boo had finally made it to the castle after venturing there to exact his revenge. He knew how dearly Phantom loved Peach. Breaking them apart forever would be the ultimate punishment for stepping on his turf. He knew that either way, the plan would work. If Phantom didn't come to the manor, him and Peach would be separated forever. If he did, however, it would give the vengeful king the chance to trap him and Jawaii in his manor, to torture them and possibly even kill them somehow.

He knew he could kill Jawaii, that was no problem, but Phantom...? Could he possibly do it again? ...No, he's a ghost now. He can't be killed again. But the king knew that even if he couldn't die, he could still make him suffer for as long as he wanted. Possibly even for eternity.

He phased through the castle walls, not having any of the guards notice him. Then, he finally found her room. There Peach slept, defenseless, ready for the taking.

In the blink of an eye, he snatched her from her bed.

Peach immediately woke up and let out a shrill scream of horror, alerting the Toads guarding her door.

But it was too late. He had already burst out her window with her and was headed straight towards his mansion.

———

Tap, tap, tap.

Jawaii woke up very late that night to a tapping sound she heard at her window. She went over to it to find one of the Peek-A-Boos she had met in Spooky Trails, tapping away at her window.

"Hey... aren't you that kid who Phantom is friends with?"

Jawaii rubbed her eye and yawned. "Yeah. Why do you ask? And how are you at my house anyway?"

The Peek-A-Boo had a somber expression on his face. "Well... I have to tell you some... bad news."

Jawaii was horrified of what was about to come out of his mouth next. Did something terrible happen to Phantom?

"His love, Princess Peach was kidnapped by King Boo. And... Phantom is gone. He went off to go save her. Knowing King Boo, Phantom may not come back in one piece. ...The other Rabbids told me it was best to go tell you. That way, you would know where he is. You deserve to know..."

Jawaii was devastated. How could this happen?

She knew she had to save him. And if she couldn't save him... then she wouldn't let him suffer alone.

"...No. I'm not going to let this happen to him."

The Peek-A-Boo was taken aback in surprise by Jawaii's response. "...I dunno if you should go. You're only a kid. You could get seriously hu-"

"I don't care." said Jawaii.

She jumped into her closet and changed into her usual clothes, grabbed a lantern and ran out of the house and into the black, haunted forest that she met Phantom in.