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elysiansparadise · 4 months ago

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A powerful individual with an unbreakable aura whose gaze reflects the most sensitive of hearts and the most resilient of souls.

Aries Rising: The Survivor

Many of these natives have a clear vision of life: "Things don't happen magically. Do them yourself." They are people with a confident appearance, often considered attractive or sexy thanks to Mars ruling over there. Mars energy not only influences your breath-taking appearance, but also your attitude, independent, authentic and will never take bad treatment from others. They have created a strong appearance to face life, projecting themselves as self-sufficient people who recognize their value and will not be afraid to fight if necessary or if they are threatened. Wary, observant and with an initiative and desire to get what they want and achieve many things. Tension in their early environment is likely, so they grew up learning to navigate the chaos or at least not to easily falter over what they consider to be just the tip of the iceberg. There is nothing they do not defend with more passion than themselves and their dignity. They will constantly seek to know themselves more, give themselves the satisfaction of being able to grow more and more, and do what they consider correct or necessary to preserve their well-being. Once they trust and feel comfortable with someone, they can be fun, outgoing, and more communicative. They will not be afraid to enter new environments, meet new people or appear confident, but entering their hearts and close circles can be a complicated task.

When Taurus falls in the 2nd house, natives highly value security in every sense, clearly including financial security. Many of them may have the belief that they have to work on their own to achieve this security, making them highly independent. These people place a great value on comfort and pleasure, they will not hesitate to stay away from places or people that are another headache in their lives. They are very selective people with what they want to keep in their lives. Their self-esteem is usually linked to what they have, and not only in material terms, but also skills, achievements, people. They know how to give themselves their place and will not think twice about moving away from environments or people who do not appreciate them as they are. They constantly work on ways to improve their self-esteem, whether it's taking care of their body, pampering themselves, or doing activities that make them feel better. One of the values for which they stand out is their devotion and perseverance. When they focus their minds on something they want, they do not rest until they achieve it. Many of them tend to use this tough and strong exterior to face life, because they feel better after knowing that they have been able to handle whatever life has thrown at them. Their value system is strong and stable, so they will rarely act against them. This means that although they understand that people may be different from them, they will not allow someone to try to tell them what is right or wrong, or if their values are correct. They have clear priorities and adhere firmly to their principles. Many of them may feel a strong need to be self-sufficient and not financially dependent on others. They are very careful when it comes to managing their money or what their possessions are concerned, they are not careless with what they value or what they have a hard time getting. Possessive tendencies may exist, especially if the ruler is making tense aspects with Sun, Moon, Neptune or Pluto.

One of the best overlays of this rising is Gemini in the 3rd house, as it makes them eloquent, versatile and adaptable people in their way of expressing themselves. They can be good speakers, writers or have talent for any activity that requires effective, clear and, why not, entertaining communication. These individuals are constantly seeking new information and knowledge, although it should be added that they may quickly become interested in topics only to later drop them if they have already learned everything that was available or if they lose passion or interest. They love to learn and share what they know with others, and as a result of their interests they can form important bonds. These natives usually have a wide range of interests and can be multitasking due to their energy level or demand. These natives like to learn about many different topics and may prefer to learn on their own. They process information quickly and have a natural ability to connect ideas and concepts, and even find patterns where it might go unnoticed. Their multitasking skills allow them to be very efficient and productive in their daily lives. Their mind is always active and looking for new intellectual challenges. They may prefer short trips and need a change of scenery from time to time, as monotony can overwhelm and bore them. This need for movement can manifest itself in your daily life, with frequent trips and changes in routine.

With Cancer in the 4th house, these natives have a need for security since childhood. They give a lot of importance to the issue of protection, whether due to lack of care and/or attention in childhood or exaggeration of it. They are emotionally deep people who hide their emotions perfectly, because they know that it is something that is not given to just anyone. They prefer to deal with their emotions independently, especially those they perceive as vulnerable or tense. In childhood they could be very emotional, and from that stage of their life they experienced situations that forced them not to leave anyone in, to reserve their thoughts and emotions. Despite being strong people, emotional security is crucial for them, and they can seek environments where they feel protected and understood. They have a strong instinct to care for others, especially those to whom they themselves provide the family title. They may take on caregiver roles and seek to ensure the emotional well-being of their loved ones. They can find home and security with what seems familiar, comfort food, movies or things that remind them of happy memories from the past. Memories and experiences from childhood home can have a lasting impact on their adult life, this is due to their great memory to remember their experiences in detail, good or bad. They like their space to reflect warmth and security, and may have a penchant for homey decor and the details that make a house truly be and feel like a home. Many of them built a strong armor not only that others decide not to mess with, but that the most vulnerable can count on. Behind this strong, unwavering appearance that has experienced all kinds of situations, there is a gentle, warm heart that longs for that tenderness, comfort and softness.

Leo in the 5th house usually grants strong self-esteem and confidence. They are proud of their abilities and very aware of them. They are usually charismatic and magnetic, attracting the romantic interest of others with ease. They stand out for their sensuality and that authentic way of projecting themselves, they do not like to wear masks and pretend to be what they are not and they have the idea that if someone is going to love them, they must know and accept their real selves. Intrigue, joy and excitement are crucial in their love relationships and they enjoy courtship and seduction, both being the one who initiates it and being the target of it. Pleasure and fun are important aspects for these natives and they will never feign interest in things in which they genuinely have no interest. They like to enjoy life to the fullest, seeking experiences that bring them joy and satisfaction. They may have occasional bursts of energy and hyperactivity where they want to do many things at the same time. They enjoy activities that allow them to express themselves freely and entertain themselves. They are people who enjoy expressing themselves artistically and creatively, whether through art, music, acting, or any other form of self-expression. They like to excel at whatever they do and, whether they are aware of it or not, they may have perfectionist inclinations. They easily stand out from the crowd and can easily gain recognition, both in close circles and on a large scale. They can be loving, protective parents who enjoy spending time with their children and encouraging their creativity and self-expression. They tend to be a source of inspiration and leadership for children, encouraging them to be themselves and follow their passions. They can be seen as role models and guides who help children develop their confidence and self-esteem. Extroverted, independent children with strong self-confidence.

Many of them are dedicated and reliable workers thanks to the presence of Virgo in the 6th house. They have a strong sense of duty and are very responsible in their approach towards daily tasks or what they consider to be their duty. Although they appear confident and have a high opinion of themselves and their abilities, they can be perfectionists, always seeking to improve and perfect everything they do. It is likely that just because they are aware of what they are capable of, they easily feel that they can do a better job even if they have already done it, since they may judge themselves very harshly, especially if they have made a mistake that they consider very serious. obvious. They can be conscious of their diet, exercise, and daily habits, always looking for ways to keep their body and mind in optimal condition. They are likely to feel hyperactive at times, and the fact that Mercury rules this house can make them tend to overthink things or be very nervous. They are very disciplined when it comes to work or carrying out tasks that they consider very important to them, and many of these individuals can have a strong sense of self-discipline, managing to finish things before deadlines. They set very high standards and many of them are likely to push themselves to work or be productive even when they are feeling bad emotionally. They have an analytical mind and are excellent at solving problems of any kind. Many people tend to rely on them precisely for this reason, because they advise objectively and their blunt way of being can make others put their feet on the ground. For them there is nothing more rewarding than seeing the results of their hard work. In fact, it is very likely that after finishing a job they feel relief instead of pride. Actions and tangibles are what are important to them.

The presence of Libra in the 7th house makes these natives very focused on creating healthy relationships that bring them happiness. They, in turn, are capable of giving a lot in a relationship in a selfless and selfish way. It is crucial for them that both they and their partner feel comfortable, satisfied and loved, for them neither has to dominate or control the other, being a couple they seek that balance, that they both help each other to cover those points in which they They may find difficulty, someone with whom they form a strong, loving and lasting team, a person to support unconditionally and who will help them in return. Despite this independent and strong personality they have, they are loving people, dedicated to their relationships and very emotional. They put a lot of emphasis on building lasting relationships in which there is not only love or affection, but common goals and intellectual connection. These people have learned to be independent since they were young, but in them lies the fear of falling to extremes in relation to others, that is, they fear feeling overwhelmed by loneliness while they fear showing their most vulnerable sides due to the possibility of being hurt or being hurt. take advantage of them, that is where Libra energy aims to guide them to balance these ideas, finding the middle point in which they gradually open their heart. These natives have the lesson of allowing themselves to be loved and understanding that they do not have to be different to be loved, just as they are they deserve love. Their future spouse may be a loving person they can rely on, someone calmer and grounded. They will have both beautiful physical attractiveness and heart. It is a great indicator of a loving marriage in which both feel trust and affection for each other.

One of the things that is not talked about in such detail about this rising is how secretive they can be, their secretive nature is usually one of the least talked about aspects of them, and we attribute that to Scorpio in the 8th house. This overlay that demonstrates this tendency that they have to keep to themselves aspects that they consider important in their life, also activates the focus of others on the intense nature of the natives. They are people who do things in a dedicated manner, putting in all their energy and motivation, and they not only show this intensity when carrying out their plans, defending their individuality or standing up for themselves. They are lovers who keep you on the edge of your seat, who intoxicate you with sensations that at first surprise you, but at the same time you find yourself wanting more and more. For them, sex is a way to unite with their partner, to become oneself and completely immerse themselves in them and their feelings. They make sex an unforgettable experience for others, because despite that fiery approach that devours you inside and out, they take care of really connecting with you through sex, they make it seem like an art in which they are especially good. They look for emotional and sexual connections that are not superficial, but that touch the deepest part of their being. However, in addition to being those lovers who will have you thinking about them and who know exactly what they are doing, they contain someone who has gone through a lot in their lives, from tough situations, betrayals or in general, a set of events that has built those walls between others and themselves. Many of them may fear being very intimate with someone, because they know perfectly well that they are capable of loving someone madly and totally, and they fear placing all that love and affection on the wrong person, on someone who is like the rest. They are resilient and brave people who are not afraid to stand up for themselves no matter what problem awaits. They have faced life, many times on their own, which has made them very aware of the strength of will and spirit they have. Although they are not the biggest fans of change, they know how to adapt to it very well. These people often go through crises that force them to reinvent themselves and transform. They often emerge from these crises stronger and wiser, with a greater understanding of themselves and life.

When Sagittarius is in the 9th house, natives have an innate desire to learn and explore the world. They are motivated by a relentless pursuit of truth and knowledge in their highest forms, whether through formal education, philosophy, or self-study. Many of them are in constant search for truth and seek to understand the deeper meaning of existence. They may be attracted to foreign cultures, and it is common for them to develop a deep interest in the languages, customs, and traditions of other countries. They stand out for the wisdom they acquire thanks to their experiences in life; they can eventually become sources of wisdom for others, offering teachings that come from their own experience and understanding of the world. This placement also tells us about someone who is very likely to be influential or a source of inspiration for others. They live in a constant search to discover who they are and it is very likely that from a young age they feel interest in ways to get to know themselves better. They need to feel like they have the space to explore, learn and grow at their own pace and in their own way. They hate restrictions that limit their pursuit of knowledge or their ability to explore and be themselves. With Jupiter ruling this house, natives can have beautiful, memorable and enlightening experiences on trips, feeling “renewed” when traveling. Likewise, university time can bring many opportunities for growth for these natives.

With Capricorn in the 10th house we find a combination of ambition and discipline. These people are willing to work hard to achieve their goals and build a solid reputation. Although they may face challenges related to self-criticism and fear of failure, their perseverance and ability to overcome adversity often leads to success, especially in adulthood. Reputation is very important for these people and not only from a superficial perspective, but many of them like to be seen just as they consciously want to project themselves: independent, strong and capable of achieving everything they set their minds to. They dislike being seen as weak, as someone who others can take advantage of or even think about playing tricks on. They take themselves seriously and hate not being taken seriously by others. They can become very successful after a while and patience and perseverance can take them to the tops of those mountains they seek to conquer. They have the ability to make difficult decisions and handle important responsibilities, and it is very likely that from a very young age they have had to take on responsibilities that people their age did not have or should have. Many of them project this aura of power, people can see them as unattainable and, depending on the aspects of Saturn, even unreachable or demanding. Likewise, these natives give the impression of being very clear people with what they think, skilled in everything related to their profession or hobbies, and people can feel that they are reliable, righteous and honest. They have excellent ability to manage resources, time and people. Their ability to organize and plan is one of their greatest advantages in the professional world, all of which makes them very suitable for leadership roles in their work or even for starting businesses/being their own bosses.

With Aquarius in the 11th house, they highly value freedom within their friendships, as they prefer relationships that are not possessive and allow for a lot of personal space and freedom of expression. Their friends tend to be independent, original, and often people they consider unique. This can be an indicator of a wide network of contacts and social connections. They enjoy interacting with people from diverse backgrounds and, although they may have many acquaintances, the title friend is not given to many. People with this placement tend to be very very focused on the future, which may lead to anxiety or stressing too much over what’s going to happen. They are interested in innovative ideas and may be in social or political movements that seek change and improvement of society. They have a strong desire to contribute to social change and improve people's lives. These natives are likely motivated by a sense of social justice and a desire to make the world a better place. They find it difficult to conform to what is conventional or what is socially expected, and there is nothing that bothers them more than people placing expectations on them. They prefer to follow their own path and associate with people who share this mentality. While they can be excellent friends, they don't mind being on their own or having hobbies that only they participate in. Many of them give this vibe of being relaxed and rational to their friends and this does not mean that they are not affectionate, but rather that they prefer to maintain an objective perspective and avoid emotional dramas. They value equality and justice in their relationships, preferring connections where everyone is treated with the same respect and consideration.

You look up and stare in that mirror... What do you see, Pisces in the 12th house? Why do you look away? Because it seems that only you see the pain of your gaze? Or those wounds deep inside you that you don't let anyone else see. You know you isolate yourself, you learned to deal with everything yourself. You thought it was the right thing to do, to not be a burden, to not be perceived as weak or dependent, but even the strongest can break at times. You find peace in solitude, but at the same time you can feel drowned in it. A kind of relationship with her where it seems like you just got used to it while you understand that it is necessary. Nothing in excess is good, neither depending too much on others, nor carrying everything on your own. You fear returning to tense emotions, those of fear and uncertainty that forced you to face life on your own, believe me, that already makes you strong. Within you lies an emotional person, intuitive and perceptive of what is happening around them. Someone with a strong sense of empathy, someone who is the support of others that they would like to have, although they do not know how to verbalize it. Even when you look for that time of retreat in which to be immersed, to search for the truth within you, to find inspiration and reconnect with what allows you to feel better after hits of reality. You may be very hard on yourself, hating the idea of victimizing yourself or not taking responsibility for your own affairs... but you no longer need to take responsibility for others either. Free yourself from those burdens that do not belong to you and that others have placed on you, free yourself from guilt for situations in which you did not have control. Within you there is a beautiful world that deserves to be not only explored, but cherished and appreciated, an honest and empathic soul with the capacity to love unconditionally, to create great things from dust, to inspire others to dream. A spark of curiosity in an immense universe full of things to understand, one more star in the cosmos that shines in a singular and unique way. Your mind is a palace full of ideas, questions and occurrences that could captivate anyone. Your heart, guarded by walls that protect it from getting hurt, being fooled, or allowing others to walk all over you, is full of warmth and kindness.

#astrology #natal chart #birth chart #aries #aries rising #aries ascendant #aries asc #aries in the 1st house #ascendant in aries #rising in aries #aries in the 1st

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thetriumphantpanda · 1 year ago

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two is better than one | joel & tommy miller

Summary | Frustrated that whatever you're trying to do still isn't working, you decide to give it one more try with Joel before cooling off for a while. Tommy is back to keep an eye on the both of you this time, but what happens when he starts to feel a little left out, watching his brother bring his girl over the edge more times than he cares to count?

Warnings | I swear I always start this the same way so here we go: Tommy getting cucked but also getting involved this time 👀, Joel being a fucking menace, dirty talk, oral sex (F&M receiving), face sitting, breeding kink, unprotected PiV sex, talk of infertility, no use of Y/N

Word Count | 3.8k

Authors Note | Whew. When I tell you this little threesome has been rotting my brain, I'm not lying. This is the only thing I can focus on, hence them being updated so fast! I just wanted to say a huge thank you to you all for the continued love you're giving this series - it honestly blows my mind every time that it's something you guys enjoy, that my writing reaches so many people and that they lap that shit up. I'm so grateful to everyone who has taken the time to comment, send me asks, reblogs and those who have slid into my DMs with all the love. I see you, I hear you, and I love you all - thank you. I hope you enjoy this next part just as much as the rest - it's a doozy. You know the drill, if you did like it, please consider reblogging, commenting or sending the love to my ask box, it's what keeps me going. And if you'd like to leave me a tip (of course no pressure!), then here's my Ko-Fi.

Series Masterlist | Main Masterlist

Another month and another fucking negative pregnancy test. You knew it was irrational, but you were starting to think that maybe you were also part of the problem now. You’d been doing everything right, following all the advice in the books you’d bought almost a year ago when Tommy and you had first started trying for a baby. You’d been exercising, eating as healthily as possible, tried to keep yourself a stress-free as possible. You’d been keeping a close eye on your cycle and still, nothing to show for it.

When you clambered down the stairs, test in hand and flung it in Tommy’s direction, he already knew. He could see the heavy set of your shoulders, the quiet sniffling of you trying to hide the fact you were crying. Tommy had settled you on the couch, covered you in a blanket and made you some tea. Then he’d made your favourite meal for dinner, even driven to the store and picked up Diet Coke, emptied a can into a glass filled with ice and lime juice like you loved, but none of it really helped to soothe how upset you were.

The TV was on low, and he had your head in his lap, slowly stroking the strands of your hair as you tried to calm yourself down. Remind yourself that even the most fertile of couples needed to try for months sometimes before they had their first baby. It was stupid to think you’d be any different.

“You’re thinkin’ way too loud, sugar.” Tommy muses, letting his hand run up and down your arm instead.

“Sorry,” You mumble, “Just thought it would be easier.”

“I know,” He coos, “We can take a break for a while, if you want.”

You turn so you’re led on your back, looking right up at him, “I just want a baby.” You feel a tear slip down your cheek to pool near your ear.

Tommy uses his thumb to brush away the tears that have started to fall, bobbing his leg up and down gently to try and soothe you, “It’s still fresh,” He speaks softly, “Let’s give it a couple of days and see what you want to do, okay?”

You nod in agreement, feeling the beginnings of a headache pooling behind your eyes. You push yourself up into a sitting position and turn around to press a soft kiss to his lips, “I’m gonna go to bed,” You announce, “Headache.”

He lets you go, it’s still early and you know there’s the game highlights he wanted to watch. In bed, you can do nothing but toss and turn for a few hours. Every time you’d try to close your eyes, all you could see was vision of you and Joel, in all the different positions he’d put you in so far, and all for what? When the bedside clock hit 10:30, you head out to use the bathroom. As you near the door at the top of the stairs you can hear Tommy talking to someone, through the phone because his is the only voice you can hear.

“I know, brother, she’s just really beat up about it,” You hear him say, “I don’t know how to make it better.”

You lean against the closed bathroom door, wondering if perhaps you should leave Tommy to talk to Joel. There’s a pause where you can hear Tommy humming along to whatever Joel is saying on the other end of the phone.

“I dunno man,” Tommy sighs, “You managed to knock Sarah’s mom up on a one-night stand, guess I thought it would be easier for you.”

There’s another pause, then he’s speaking again.

“No Joel, all of her tests came back perfect,” Another sigh, “I was always the problem.”

You’re about to push down the handle to go to the bathroom when Tommy speaks again, “I don’t know, maybe we should just cool it for a while, we’re all gonna work ourselves up otherwise.”

You decide you don’t really want to hear the rest of the conversation. You sit on the toilet and let your face drop to your hands in frustration. Why couldn’t you just be normal? Why couldn’t you have been a nice, normal couple, having a baby in the most natural way possible? Why did this have to come along and fucking complicate everything? And why did Joel have to be so fucking good to you every time?

You wash your hands under the tap, water as scalding as it could go, just in order to feel something that wasn’t frustration before you head to bed. There’s no longer the sound of voices as you pad back across the hall and get back into bed, shutting off the lights and curling onto one side, knees as close to your chest as you can manage to get them. It’s not long before you can hear Tommy shuffling around upstairs. He pushes open the bedroom door quietly, obviously thinking you’re already asleep. You can hear him undressing before he's slipping onto his side of the bed, pulling your body close to his under the covers as he spoons you.

You let your own arm cover his over your waist as you lean back into the comfort of his chest, letting his breath fan across the skin of your shoulder as he presses a kiss to your skin.

“I wanna try again,” You speak softly into the dark, feeling Tommy’s arm’s squeeze you tighter, “Once more and then we cool it for a while.”

“You sure?” He asks into your ear, lips pressing to the sensitive skin behind your ear.

“I’m sure.” You respond, turning around in his arms to capture his lips in yours.

When the time comes to try again, it’s you who greets Joel at the door when he knocks. Tommy already upstairs and situated in the chair he had taken the first time you’d done this as a three. Joel leans down, lips just millimeters from your own, but instead of kissing your mouth, he places a soft kiss to your cheek instead.

“Hello, darlin’.”

You step up onto your tiptoes to press your own kiss to his face, just shy of the corner of his mouth – the kisses from last time still a secret between the two of you.

“Evening handsome,” You smile, pulling away from him to close the door as he steps inside, “You ready?”

“To give you what you want?” He smirks, “Always, pretty girl.”

You feel that telltale heat flush across your cheeks as Joel pulls you into his side, hand dipping down to squeeze your ass over the fabric of the robe you’d thrown on moments ago. God, why did he have to be so fucking intoxicating around you?

You take hold of his hand in yours, leading him up the stairs behind you. Tommy was reading a book as you entered the room, folding the corner of the page before setting it down on the nightstand closest to the chair. You can’t help but snigger as you watch him and Joel give each other the typical male greeting of a curt nod of the head.

You drag Joel by the arm to the foot of the bed, pushing his shoulders down so he sits on the edge. Then you take a step back and tug on the belt of your robe, letting it fall open and off your body to leave you completely naked in front of him. You watch his face as he trails those beautiful brown eyes over your body, letting out a low whistle of approval.

“Beautiful as ever, darlin’,” He compliments, reaching out a hand for you to take, “But you’re worked up, ain’t ya? And not in the good way.”

Your eyes flit to Tommy in the corner of the room, who has that smug ‘I told you so’ look on his face. You’d been itching for Tommy to arrange this since that ovulation test said you were in the zone, but Joel had been working away for the past two days, and now you were worried that if you didn’t hurry the fuck up, you’d miss your chance.

Joel reaches out and puts his hands on the back of your thighs, pulling you into him, he’s looking up at you, pressing hot kisses to the skin of your tummy, “Gotta relax babygirl,” He moans, “I’m tryin’ my damned hardest, but you just gotta let nature take its course.”

“Just frustrating.” You mumble.

“I know baby, I know,” He’s got his hands palming your tits now, “Long as I need to, I’ll keep fillin’ you up, y’hear me?”

Your breath catches in your throat and all you can do is nod as he moves himself back on the bed.

Joel leans back on the bed, his head just shy of the pillows, “Sit on my face, pretty girl.”

You’re almost embarrassed at how quickly you scramble yourself onto the bed, moving up to straddle his hips – even Tommy is chuckling from his chair.

“Can’t get enough of Joel’s mouth on your pussy, can you, sugar?” He speaks in a low voice.

Joel has his hands on your ass, guiding your naked body to hover over his face before his hands are slipping up to your hips to pull your cunt to his mouth. He wastes no time in getting straight to business, wide tongue licking stripes from your entrance, where he laps up your slick like a cat would cream, to those deliciously tight flicks of the tip of his tongue to your clit. You can hear him groaning into your pussy, your hand coming down to anchor itself into his hair to hold him still as you start grinding against his face.

You can hear the obscene slurps that he’s making underneath you, it’s half the reason you think it takes you no time at all to reach the edge, because he fucking enjoys this just as much as you do, he loves tasting you, loves making you feel good and you can feel that, can feel it on his mouth.

As you throw your head back as Joel’s tongue swipes perfectly across your clit, you catch Tommy in the corner of the room. He’s palming himself through his jeans as he watches you, your body writhing as his brother’s mouth brings you closer and closer to the edge. It wouldn’t hurt, would it? You think, if you asked if he wanted you to help him out.

“You feeling left out baby?” You coo, reaching your hand out for Tommy to take, “Joel gets my pussy tonight,” You punctuate with a grind of your pussy down onto his mouth, “But I can help you, if you want.”

He’s standing at the edge of the bed in minutes, his hand pressing into the back of your neck, not unlike how he tries to work the knots from there when you watch TV together. It’s soft and it’s loving and a complete juxtaposition to the vice grip that Joel’s fingers currently have on your hips.

Your lips are impossibly close to Tommy’s, you could easily lean forward and kiss him, instead, you have a demand, “Take off your pants.”

Tommy’s hands start to undo the belt holding his jeans up, so you turn your attention back to Joel between your thighs. He is expertly holding you right on the edge, you’re mewling and whining as he tongue works you to the edge, and then pulls away, moving down to gather more of your slick on his tongue.

You drop your head and catch his eyes looking up at you, “You gonna tease me all night, Miller?” You ask, voice cracking as he makes a point to suckle on your clit, making you cry out, “Fuck, make me come, please Joel.”

All of a sudden, Tommy’s hand is on your face, pulling your mouth to his own in a searing kiss as he guides your hand to his cock. You’re moaning, a combination of the fact that any second, Joel’s mouth is going to have you screaming and the fact that it’s Tommy kissing you, his cock you’re currently pumping through your fist. It’s delicious and it’s filthy and it should feel all shades of wrong, but it fucking doesn’t.

You feel it in your legs first, the way they begin to shake and pulse and your thighs clamp around Joel’s face. Then you feel it in your abdomen, like a knot unfurling all at once as pleasure bursts over every inch of your skin. Your mouth detaching from Tommy’s, so you can cry out his brother’s name as you feel yourself almost collapse onto him.

“Such a good girl,” Tommy breathes into your ear, your hand still firmly held around his cock, “So good when you come for us like that.”

You feel Joel’s hands tapping at the cheeks of your ass, telling you to lift yourself off his face which you do, dragging yourself down enough so that you’re sat across his chest, not caring that your leaking pussy is dragging slick all over him. His face is covered, covered in you. He’s grinning up at you like the devil, tongue circling his mouth to clean your taste from wherever he can reach.

“I gotta be inside you, pretty girl.” You can hear his gruff voice speak.

Tommy immediately moves back from you so you can settle yourself down on the bed. You start on your back, but Joel moves you to lie on your side. He’s still fully clothed behind you, but when he presses himself up against you, you can feel his thick cock straining in his jeans.

“Take your clothes off.” Is all you can manage to whine as Tommy settles on his knees on the space in front of you, taking the back of your head in the palm of his hand to bring your mouth to his cock.

Joel shuffles away from you and you feel the mattress lighten as he gets off the bed to shed his clothes. You almost wish you could watch, there’s something about the way Joel reveals his body to you that drives you wild. The way he drags his shirt off to reveal his broad frame, chest peppered with hair, or the way his cock bounces when he finally pulls off his underwear. But right now, you’re focused on making your man feel good.

You’re making sure that you’re doing it exactly as Tommy likes, almost telling him through the ministrations of your mouth how grateful you are for him, for this being his idea, for loving you enough and trusting you enough to let someone else give you what he cannot. You’re giving all the attention of your tongue to the head of Tommy’s weeping cock, tasting the salt and musk of his pre-cum, using one had to pump the base of his cock.

You can feel Joel settle back behind you, pressing his entire body against your own, hard cock slipping through the slick folds of your cunt as he settles himself in the right position, then, he’s taking hold of your leg, hand in the crux of your knee to pull it up, baring his prize. He slowly inches his cock inside your tight heat and suddenly it’s all a little overwhelming.

You’re giving the love of your life the kind of head you’ve only ever seen in porn, Tommy taking most of the control to thrust in and out of your mouth. You’re pretty sure the tears falling from your eyes are a mixture of his length hitting the back of your throat and the overwhelming emotion, love, and admiration you feel for both the men who are crowding your body, owning it, taking what they both want, one of them hopefully leaving you with what you want.

You pull your face away from Tommy’s cock for a moment, still giving his length the attention it needs, but you let yourself lean into Joel behind you, his cock still moving languidly inside you. He’s got one of his arms snaked under your neck, your head leant against his arm like a pillow, his other hand holding your leg up so that every time his cock brushes inside you, it’s hitting that damn spot that makes you want to cry.

“Look at you, lucky girl,” Joel growls into your ear as his lifts your leg up higher, pushing it almost to lie flat aagainst your side, “One cock in that pretty little pussy, another in your mouth,” You let a moan, muffled by the fact that Tommy is currently doing a slap-up job of fucking your throat, “He’s a lucky man,” Joel speaks again, “Bet that mouth feels divine.”

“You ask nicely, she might oblige you, brother.”

You feel him puff air through his nose in a chuckle, “I’m quite happy right where I am,” He speaks, pumping his cock so deep inside you that you actually think you can see stars, “You’re a lucky son-of-a-bitch gettin’ this for the rest of your life.”

“She’s special, I’ll give you that.”

It’s like you have to prove him right now. You can feel the walls of your pussy clenching around Joel as he picks up his pace. You can feel his balls slapping into your skin with every thrust, the power behind them causing your mouth to take Tommy cock deeper into your mouth every time.

“Sugar, I ain’t gonna last much longer.” You hear him speak from above you.

You pull off him, again letting your hand work him as you look up at his through your lashes, “You want me to swallow for you, baby?” You asked, wondering what you must look like when he looks down at you, fucked out from his brother, begging for him to come down your throat.

“There’s an offer I cannot refuse,” Tommy grins, letting your mouth take him back inside the warmth, “Such a good girl.”

He only lasts a few more seconds, cum hitting your tongue and seeping down your throat. You swallow down every drop, grinning up at Tommy. He leans down and plants a kiss to your lips, and now your focus is on Joel, thick and solid, pumping his cock in and out of you.

“You focus on Joel now, sugar,” He croons, “I’m gonna sit back and watch you have fun.”

As soon as Tommy has moved away from you, Joel is pulling his cock from your pussy, turning you onto your back before he’s crowding his frame over you, settling between your thighs. You’re pliant and you move easily when he hooks your legs over his shoulders, folding you back as he slips his cock back inside you.

You’re gripping his arms as he fucks into you in earnest now, tip of his cock bruising your cervix with every thrust, you know he’ll have half-moon shaped marks on his arms come the morning, they’ll match the bruises he always leaves on your hips, the shape of his fingertips indented into your skin.

“God fuckin’ damnit,” Joel groan, head falling to the column of your throat to graze teeth and lips over your delicate skin, “Gonna come so deep in this fuckin’ pussy it won’t have a choice but to take, you hear me, pretty girl?”

“Fuck!” You exclaim, as he shifts just enough to change the angle that his cock is spearing into you, “Joel please.”

“Please what?” He teases, “What do you want, babygirl?”

“Inside,” You breath out, “Want you inside.”

“Yeah, want me to make you a mama?” You can feel tears pooling in your eyes, “No need to cry, pretty girl,” He leans down, folding you in half even more, almost uncomfortable, to kiss away the tears, “Gonna give you what you need.”

He thankfully moves back a little, stopping your bones from screaming at you for being folded so inhumanely, then his thumb is on your clit, “Only gonna make you a mama if you come with me,” Joel smirks, “Deal?”

“Oh god – fuck – whatever you want,” You cry, “Please, give me what I want.”

His thumb is relentless on your already sensitive clit, those tight circles have you clenching around him and when you look into his eyes you know he’s just as close as you are, “That’s it baby, you keep those big, beautiful eyes on me,” Joel’s hips are snapping into your with a force you didn’t know you could feel, it’s entirely too much and entirely too little all at the same time, “Can feel that tight little pussy suckin’ me in,” You cry out as his thumb falters and drags across your clit in a way that has that not threatening to unfurl yet again, “It’s alright baby, if you come, I’ll follow, yeah?”

That’s exactly what happens. His thumb traces wet circles over your clit and you do exactly as he says. You keep your eyes wide open, staring directly into his own, as your mouth falls open with a screech as your vision clouds. Whatever happens, Joel is right behind you, his cock pounds into at most, twice more, before he’s growling your name through his teeth, cum painting every inch of your pussy. He drops your legs from his shoulders, and falls forward, letting his head rest in the crook of your neck as you both fight to catch your breath.

You wrap your arms around him but it’s all too soon before he’s pulling himself out of you, a kiss to your cheek as he does so. You’re spent and you’re aching and if you’re honest, a little overwhelmed. Joel dresses quickly, and you wish you could ask him to stay, wish he didn’t feel the need to run away, but you know it’s for the best. Tommy tells you he’ll see him out and come to bed, so you roll over and pull yourself under the sheets, trying to warm yourself from the cool air that’s spattering across the sweat of your skin.

Tommy is back within minutes having seen Joel off. He shed his clothes and moves right up behind you, gathering you into his arms. He takes some time to press kisses into your neck and across your shoulders and for some reason, it sets your belly on fire. How have you been fucked so thoroughly by another man, this man’s own brother, and now you’re aching for this man behind you.

“I love you so much, Tommy,” You whisper into the dark, clutching at his arms wrapped around you, “So fucking much.”

“I love you too baby,” He whispers into your ear, stilling your hips as they grind back into him, “Enough of that, I’ll give you what you want tomorrow.”

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mousedetective · 8 months ago

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URGENT! Please Help A Homeless, Disabled & Mostly Queer Family Get Ready For Housing By Helping With Paying For Much-Needed Loans!

PAYPAL | AMAZON WISHLIST | KOFI | GOFUNDME

VENMO: @penaltywaltz | CASHAPP: $afteriwake23 | ZELLE: DM me for email address

4/29/24 - New Post

So some stuff has happened, some of the loans I listed before have been paid, and I missed a few things, so I'm making a new post!

So, we still haven't heard about Section 8, and while I'm grateful for the shelter housing and feeding us, there's been some pretty toxic activity on my floor and I'm at my wit's end. I'm not sleeping well, I have constant headaches from grinding my teeth, and my blood pressure (which is already high and I'm already on meds for it) keeps being high when I get it checked. So we need to get housing with or without the Section 8 voucher as soon as possible.

Now, I have a list of low-income apartments all over North County. While not ideal, we have also heard of a complex of studio apartments available for $1400 which give preferential treatment to shelter occupants. But the problem is that I not only have a bunch of payday loans to pay, but I also have a payment on a two-month loan, a five-month loan, a six-month loan, and a year-long loan that eat up my entire income until I at least pay off the first three. My mom only gets $1300 and my daughter isn't on disability yet. So we can't even afford the studio until October and we'll have been kicked out of the shelter long before then.

I can probably cover the remaining payday loans and this month's payment for the two-month loan and still pay for the storage units. But I need to pay off whatever I can on the other loans, and the longer I wait the more interest that compiles. So I need a lot more than I was asking for before and I need it quickly to cover at least all of this month's payments while I work on paying off the totals of the bigger loans.

This is the list of payments I need to make as it stands now:

$300 for my loan from Ace Cash Express (due by May 2nd)

$300 for my mom's loan from Ace Cash Express (due May 2nd)

$408 for my loan payment from Ascend Loans (due May 3rd)

$277 for my loan payment from Greenline Loans (due May 3rd)

$177 for my loan payment from Green Arrow Loans (due May 3rd)

$148 for my loan payment to Possible Loans (due May 3rd)

$148 for my mom's loan payment to Possible Loans (due May 3rd)

$321.80 for my mom's loan from Moneylion (due by May 15th)

$285 for my Moneytree loan (due by May 25th)

$285 for my mom's Moneytree loan (due by May 26th)

I can't make partial payments on any of these loans except the Moneylion loans my mom has. I need the full amount for the payment to pay it off early, and for the four non-payday loans, I can't make an early payment but if I can cover the payments in my bank account with donations I'm good.

The Ascend loan was for $1,000. The Greenline loan was for $500. The Green Arrow loan was for $400. The Possible loans are $300 each, coming out as two payments of $148 (one this May, one in June) per loan. So I'm going to set two goals: covering all of the above payments and then covering the bigger loans as a whole throughout the month of May.

I can't take much more of the toxicity at the shelter at the moment, though I have hopes some of it will subside if the most toxic resident on my floor leaves this week like he's threatening to, but yeah. We just need to get all this paid off and get into housing of our own, even if it's just a studio for now. I'm including the $35 I got from a GFM towards the current totals because I spent all the rest of the money I had and I still haven't gotten that donation in my account yet.

TOTAL GOAL: $47/$4850

IMMEDIATE GOAL: $47/$2650

Goal has been met! However, the car is acting up, so we have to take it to our mechanic tomorrow. I may still need some help.

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voiceofdragons · 8 months ago

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Danny With the Street

150,000 people die every day on average. On average, 385,000 people are born on that same day. Thats 535,000 souls made and unmade every day. Some peacefully at the end of a life lived, either fulfilled or not, and some tragically and early. Some even die the same day they are born. 535,000 people. 385,000 births, 150,000 deaths. These, however, are simply the averages. No one living can get the exact numbers, and they’d change daily regardless, so that data would be of no real use.

That’s only humans though. Those numbers are dwarfed in comparison to the averages for animal life, and the less said about plant life the better for our collective migraine. Still, that is no small amount of people. For the number of deaths, you’d get a population somewhere between the size of Kiribati and Guam. For the births it would be between Iceland and Guadalupe. The combined number puts you at Malta.

You have probably never even seen that many people in person before. And that is not even a percentage of a percentage of the worlds population. 535,000 is not barely a drop in the bucket. This number is important to Danny, for the simple fact that you can figure out a lot of interesting things regarding ghosts with it. He’d pestered a few of the Observants, when they weren’t trying to literally get him out of their picture, with a bunch of questions a curious 14 year old would want answers to.

Some were not answered, in typical Observant fashion, but they’d given him an interesting answer to the question “how many people even become ghosts”.

“The rate changes day to day, but we’ve figured out that its normally 1 ghost out of however many are born and day in a day added together.” This particular Observant then proceed to ramble on about how smart they were for figuring it out, how much better off the universe was for having them watching over things, blah blah blah.

Even if the rate changes, it doesn’t change drastically enough to ruin the precise and exacting science of guestimating things. If its one in 535,000, but only 150,000 die a day, then that means its somewhere between 3 and 4 days to get a new ghost. Their reasons for lingering were there own, and were often normal. And then there were the fruitloops that he dealt with so often that it was kind of starting to get old. The ghosts were getting easier to handle most days though, especially after he helped lock up Pariah Dark again. Who knew making their dimension safer would make them hate him a bit less?

And these days his biggest headache was that government agency that had temporarily bought Fentonworks to try and nuke the ghost zone. They’d failed, but still tried their hardest to make his life miserable.

Case in point; they were in the living room with his parents. Talking about Phantom. Specifically about some ‘concerning’ footage of him they’d been able to record of the ‘ectolasmic scum’. He was hiding invisible on the stairs, his mom and dad on the couch with two familiar white suited dingbats standing across from them. They had placed a tablet on the coffee table, a video taking its sweet time loading.

“As interesting as i’m sure this video is, would either of you gentlemen like to see some of our latest projects?” his mom said, clearly growing bored as the video took yet another minute to load. Thank goodness ghosts effected technology the way they did, clearly whatever film they’d taken was hard on their systems. Mom picked back up with “we’ve been experimenting with some new ‘ecto-electrolysis metal plating’ its a lengthy process, but the results are-” suddenly the video started to play, cutting her off. Danny leaned forward to get a better look, and froze. It wasn’t Phantom.

It was normal, human looking Danny Fenton. Walking down the street. The same one that Johnny and Kitty had gone racing down last thursday. Suddenly a familiar looking mist pooled out of his lips, and the screen started to glitch and lag a bit, but he remembered what happened next. He’d look around the empty street, not see anyone, and then-.

“Going Ghost!” his familiar catchphrase came from the tablet, and the glitching stopped. And Danny Fenton was no longer on the screen. All the glitching had coalesced on a single point on the screen, exactly where he’d been standing, making it clear there was a ghost in the footage. Then another blob of corrupted screen appeared streaking down the street, and the first one sped off after it.

The video stopped, and his parents were frozen. His dad reached for the tablet, and restarted the video. The catchphrase, the mist, the glitching, and his disappearance. His parents replayed the video about five more times before his mom shakily flipped the tablet face down. His dad hugged gripped her shoulders as she brought her still shaking hands up to her face.

“We understand that this must be difficult for you both, but it is imperative for state security and research that you assist us with the capture and containment of the entity.” the agent on the left spoke softly, clearly trying to be gentle, but it brought no comfort to anyone in the room, least of all Danny.

“This is not simply difficult!” his dad said forcefully. “This is our son, and you’ve just told us-” his dad stood up and started pacing, clearly distraught. After a minute of pacing he slumped back onto the couch. Mom sniffed and rubbed her face down before bringing her hands to her lap. Her next words were enough to make Danny freeze in shock and terror.

“He’s upstairs in his room.” dad turned to look at her, shocked was an understated descriptor for his face. Danny stood up still invisible and made his way up to his room. He had to leave before anyone came for him. He just barely heard her continue. “I’m going to lock down the house so he can’t get out, but just to be safe you should go outside in case he somehow gets out.” he didn’t hear the agents respond, or his dad.

Once in his room he grabbed one of his notebooks and wrote a quick message to leave for Jazz. ‘GIW told mom and dad i’m phantom, had to leave the house, i’ll be with a friend, i’ll call.’ he then slipped it under her door and then phased through the ceiling just in time to see the familiar ghost shields surround the building. The agents were by their van, arms crossed, and Danny flew off in the direction of tuckers house, tears building up in the corner of his eyes.

Landing at the corner of Tucker’s street he rubbed his eyes to clear them before walking toward his best friends house. The wave of relief he felt when the house came in view was quickly squashed by the sight of a familiar white van, and two white suits talking to Tucker's parents on the porch. Staying invisible he flew off again for Sam’s house. When he didn’t see a white van outside he was relieved.

He was less relieved to see none of the lights were on and their car was gone, meaning the whole family was out at the moment. Still floating he decided to fly to the Nasty Burger, deciding to wait there until one of his friends or for Jazz to go there looking for him.It was when he was flying past Caspar High when he saw something that gave him reason to pause.

There was a new street there that hadn’t been there yesterday. The buildings were brightly colored, and there were people mulling about wearing clothes he’d never seen anyone in Amity Park wearing. Getting closer, he expected the usual white mist that meant a ghost was nearby, knowing that in a town like Amity, anything weird was probably ghost related. There was nothing. He landed, still invisible and walked quietly down the street, deciding to see where things went.

The multi-colored buildings turned out to be a hardware store, a military surplus hut, and a bunch of other places you wouldn’t expect to be in pastel pinks and purples. Reaching the middle of the street was a building dubbed ‘Peeping Tom’s Perpetual Cabaret’ all done up in bright flashing lights, music leaking out onto the street from inside.

In short, this place seemed awesome, and as soon as he was able to reach Sam or Tucker he was bringing them here. He passed more fun looking stores, and some more adult stores that he knew he was too young for on his way to the end of the street closest to the Nasty Burger, and he stopped when he saw the street sign.

‘Danny St’.

“Well that’s weird” he said, still invisible.

A cloud of steam popped up from a nearby sewer grate with a sound almost like a gasp, and strangely enough it turned into a series of exclamation points and question marks.

“Also weird,” a fluttering sound behind him made him turn to see a pile of leaves spell out ‘says the invisible boy’. Danny took a step away from the pile, waiting for the mist that meant a ghost was nearby. It didn’t come. Whatever this was, it wasn’t a ghost.

Deciding that questions would be an alright distraction from the nightmare his day became he asked, “Who are you?” and another noise from behind him, this time a metallic squeaking. When he looked it was the street sign rotating around. He laughed, and turned back to the pile of leaves, only it was the sign on the window that responded this time, changing its arrangement to ask ‘what’s so funny feele?’.

“My name is also Danny.” deciding to trust the talking street, he stopped being invisible. The steam from before came again, just exclamation points this time though. A rustling sound had him turning right where a banner unfurled to declare ‘Neat Trick Twinsie!’ making Danny laugh. Deciding to ask a few more questions, he walked over to a conveniently placed bench across from a pawn shop.

“You’re not a ghost are you?” he asked, and the pawn shop window grew a question mark. “Oh, right, you’re new in town, considering I didn't see you here yesterday.” waving his hand around Danny continued. “Welcome to Amity Park, the most haunted city in America. My first thought when weird things happen here is it’s a ghost doing something, and I've seen a lot of weird.” The window proclaimed ‘ooooooh’ before another sound had him turning his head left. This time a cafe menu board said ‘Not a ghost, but are you?’

Danny clapped his hands as he said, “Half points Danny, thank you for playing!” the question mark came back so he elaborated. “I’m only half ghost, all the abilities of ghostliness, still alive and kicking.” he then smirked as some word play popped into his head. “Kicking all the other ghosts butts for messing with the town.” he then remembered his current problem, and slumped backwards, his view of his new… friend? Acquaintance? Friend, suddenly flipped.

“Or I did at least.” he sighed. “No idea what i’m supposed to do now, got some fruitloop government ghostbusters after me, and they just told my parents! Who are also ghost hunters!” from his upside down view he saw more letters rearrange across the street, but he didn’t want to parse out what Danny had said. “I was going to go wait for some friends before I spotted you, try to figure things out.” he sat up and turned around, not wanting to ignore a message. ‘Thats rough buddy.’ his face split into a grin. “Its just my luck that the same day all these bad things happen, I also meet a new friend with impeccable taste in memes!” he stood up and stretched, feeling a bit less panicked. “I’m going to go meet with them, but can i bring them back to see you? They’d love your… everything!” the banner from before flipped over ‘that would be dolly Danny! Bona to Vada!’ this was starting to remind him of when he first met Wulf, and learned of the wonders of Esperanto. A fun new dialect was just the distraction he needed.

Waving at the street, a few of the people walking around waved back, even though he hadn’t spoken to any of them. A flag flapped aggressively in a nonexistent wind, and his smile stayed on his face as he turned invisible again and flying off to the Nasty Burger.

It had only been thirty minutes since his parents found out, but his anxiety made it all feel like seconds ago as he sat there waiting. Five o'clock approached and a familiar face walked in, though not one of the ones he’d been waiting for. Valerie was starting her closing shift in ten minutes, and Danny was sitting at a booth waiting for Tucker, Sam, or Jazz. she put her bag behind the counter and slit to the opposite side of his booth.

“Why so antsy ghost face?” Valerie asked with her arms crossed. Their situationship had been weird for a while since she’d found out he was half ghost, but things had been improving lately since her dad got a new job. Guess most of her aggression had been stress induced.

“So… My parents found out i’m a ghost. The Guys in White told them, I had to leave the house, and when I went to Tucker’s house they were there too, Sam wasn’t home, and now I’m waiting for either one of them, or Jazz to come find me so i can figure out the shipwreck my life has become!” the floodgates had opened and he’d word vomited everything to his frenemy, and then promptly face planted into the table.

She visibly blue screened for about ten seconds before she reached over and patted his head. “That’s rough buddy.” he glared up at her for all of two second before snorting a despondent laugh. She joined in and after a few seconds of laughing together he leaned back, smiling a bit more easily since the anxiety had claimed him five seconds into waiting.

“You are not the first person who’s said those exact words to me tonight! I should start collecting nickels, I probably won’t get more than two but it's weird that it’s happened twice!” she didn’t laugh at that, tilting her head in an unspoken question. “You are not going to believe this, but on my way here I found a new street by Caspar High. Just there, new buildings, decorations, the whole shebang!” he flared his fingers out to emphasize the point. “I was invisible, but when I saw the street was called ‘Danny St’ I had to say something. And it started talking back, kinda.”

“That’s a load of bull-” she started before he waved his hands to cut her off.

“Val, after half the stuff we’ve dealt with since my parents opened the portal, is this really too much for you to believe?” she raised a finger and took a breath before closing her mouth and lowering her hand. They’d dealt with a lot of wacky nonsense.

“Valid, but I won’t believe it until I see it. What kind of ghost looks like a whole street?” she asked, but he shook his head.

“That’s the thing! They weren’t a ghost, I would know! When I asked, they didn’t know what I meant. Had to explain kinda about Amity Park being the most haunted town in America.” This time he crossed his arms, leaning back to look out the window, hoping for a familiar red hat, or someone dressed in all black and purple.

Valerie stood up suddenly, and gave him a hug. “I’m sorry this happened to you Danny. My shift is starting, so I’ll make you some fries while you wait. If you’re here till closing, mind showing me this magic street you found?" It was nice having her be this friendly with him again, and he grinned and gave a thumbs up.

“Sure thing!” he said, before the doors burst open and four men in white suits rushed in, guns aimed at him. He shoved Valerie out of the way and went intangible through the wall to the outside. He then went invisible and rushed as fast as he could over the buildings.

He was passing the new, and brightly colored Danny St when he felt a sharp pain in his side, and smelled burning flesh and ectoplasm. Losing control of his abilities amidst the pain, he crashed into the side of a building before flopping onto the street. Looking up he heard loud music and saw the word ‘Tom’s’ visible on the part of the sign he could see. A crowd started to form, but he was too dazed to understand what most of them were saying. A pretty face popped out of the crowd and bent down to check on him. She was tall, dark skinned, in a glittery outfit with big hair.

“Kid, are you ok? How did you fall?” she was checking him over for any open wounds, but he was to dazed to do much. He heard tires squealing in the distance, and knew that the people chasing him were going to be here soon. He didn’t want anyone hurting his new friend, the talking street, or the people that were just now worrying for his wellbeing.

“I need to go, the Guys in White are after me!” he tried to stand but the woman placed her forearm across his chest to keep him from doing more than sitting up. She turned her head, listening to the squealing as well, before she focused back on him.

“Who are the ‘Guys in White’?” she asked, very seriously.

Danny tried to phase through her arm to stand but the pain in his side made it hard to focus, so he gritted his teeth and kept trying as he responded. “Government sponsored ghostbusting fruitloops, now please let me go they don’t care about collateral damage!”

The woman sighed and closed her eyes for half a second before she turned to look at a few people in the crowd. “You heard the kid, we got government on our tale! Danny, we need to leave.”

“That’s what I’m trying to do lady!” Danny said, while at the same time one of the store signs changed from advertising fatigue leotards, to saying ‘Time to scarper!’

“Was talking to Danny, kid.” she said distractedly.

“That’s my name, don’t wear it out.” he retorted, his head starting to hurt and the burn on his side starting to throb dully.

She laughed, a short, loud burst of amusement before she told him pointedly, “Oh you’ll fit right in kiddo!” and that’s the last he heard before a wave of vertigo took over his senses, the buildings and sky around him twisting and folding impossibly, and he leaned over to dry heave and then pass out.

“Jack, we need to hurry before those agents find him!” Madeline Fenton said from the passenger seat as they approached Caspar High. As soon as they realized that Danny had left the house they’d begun their search, especially vigorous due to the agents also on the prowl. They’d seen some agents leaving Nasty Burger and firing wildly into the air, and they’d seen one of the shots land on something invisible.

And then they’d seen their son materialize and plummet thirty feet to land a few streets over near his high school. Jack was driving them there, and that alone was enough to get the agents to pause on their way to their vans. Small blessings. When they neared the high school though they saw something odd.

“Honey, am I crazy or was that street not there last week?” Jack said as they approached.

“I don’t think that matters right now dear.” she rescinded, though it was bugging her as well. She knew they tended to get a bit focused on their work, but that work often took them out on the town. She would have seen something of a new street before now, especially with such charming looking stores.

“Theres people milling about, maybe one of them saw him!” Jack pointed out, her wonderful optimist.

“Lets hope! We need to get him back to the lab to check him for injuries, after that we need to game plan keeping him safe.” she looked down at her lap, her jumpsuit a comforting familiarity. “He’s Phantom. He’s been Phantom this whole time! Oh he must have been so frightened.” Jack parked the GAV and reached over to squeeze her shoulder, a reassuring smile on his face.

“Our kid is a tough one, and just as brave as his mother. Lets get him safe and we’ll figure it all out.” he unbuckled himself, then reached over to undo hers for her. They both stepped outside and as they turned to look down this new street they saw something that made them take a breath of equal parts relief and terror. They saw Danny lying prone with a crowd of people clearly trying to help him. He would be fine.

And then, just before they could step foot on the pavement of the street, everything sort of shifted and folded, the other streets stretching to fill in the space being left behind as the street they were now desperately reaching for vanished. The last thing they saw was their sun jerk to the side, several people trying to help him, and then both he, and the mysterious new street vanished.

#dc x dp #danny the street #danny fenton #fanfic #good parents jack and maddie #miscommunication #guys in white #on the run #hurt/comfort

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alphabetletterj · 12 days ago

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Thinking about the RORS when they’re drunk.

Chip is the type of guy to just fall asleep when drunk. And he wakes up with marker all over his face like

Reggie is a party drunk and has broken and will break shit. Definitely gotten into fights before. She/he wakes up in a tree and nobody knows how he got up there.

At first Randy wouldn’t drink but eventually he tries it and gets wasted. The others make sure to get plenty of pictures of his first drunk night and laughing at him. Chip ends up having to take care of him.

Johnny actually doesn’t get drunk that often (he doesn’t want to not be in control of himself or do anything to smear his reputation)

Chet’s just depressing. He guts drunk and makes a lot of self deprecating jokes that aren’t funny and are just sad, and then he gets even more upset because he hates himself and wants to di-

Then Johnny swoops in like “Haha okayyyyy, why don’t you head upstairs buddy” once he starts to bring the mood down and make people uncomfortable

Javier prefers weed to alcohol but when he does drink he just gets a lot less “quiet abt mysterious” and gets all smiley and stuff

I finally deigned to do the drunk hcs (i'm sorry 💔)

Btw i'm using this as an excuse to post this cuz my ask box is full 🔥🔥🔥

Always starting with fucking randall...

Randy doesn't drink and if he does it's because of social pressure. In the hypothetical case that he was drunk, I think he would sit there with his eyes even more squinted than he already has them, laughing at anything no matter how boring or bad it is, give him 15 minutes and this stupid ass will already be telling you anecdotes about when he was 5 years old that nobody cares about 😭

Reggie doesn't change much - he starts out crazy, he fights with a couple of people for the slightest stupidity, he gets tired and falls asleep wherever he is (he will sleep for 12 hours without the possibility of anyone waking him up) (whoever wakes him up is dead)

Chip is relaxed, he stays calm and maybe while he's drunk he smokes a joint, he also laughs twice as much (and very loud) at everything. Then he falls dead💀 he falls asleep in a sleep so deep that it seems that this mf is in a coma, he is usually the first to fall asleep and the others take the opportunity to draw his entire fucking face (javier draws dicks near his mouth ❤️)

Chet is one of those drama queens who tells you tragic past experiences (very exaggerated) about things that maybe aren't as bad as he says - Sometimes he cries like an abandoned dog 😭 and starts singing sad heartbreak karaoke songs with some girls (that bitch has never had a heartbreak in his entire life, who does he think he is??? /j) then as if nothing had happened he calms down and goes to his room

Javier likes beer (he learned to drink it since he was little because his dad was a "bit" addicted 💀) he has a high tolerance for alcohol, he can drink 30 bottles and nothing happens to him, he doesn't usually do much so after a while his antennae act "weird" but his face is still the same, sometimes he smiles for whatever reason even though no one has told him anything. As he is usually the last to go to sleep, he reflects a lil bit, drinks water and goes to bed (the next day he wakes up with a headache).

Johnny is a spoiled bitch, he only drinks wine or expensive drinks, he annoys javier by saying "how could you like that thing🤓🤓🤓" accompanied by the shitty face he always makes. But the times he is drunk, let's say he looks "normal" but his eyes look super tired and his tone of voice is slower. Like the best guy in the world, he gets up early the next day without any side effects (I hate him)

#monsters university #roar omega roar #chet alexander #chip goff #randall boggs #johnny worthington #javier rios #reggie jacobs #shitpost #headcanons

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sfblah · 3 months ago

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The Cleanup Crew - Chapter 4

[Previous Chapter]

[Next Chapter]

Okay honestly I've already gone a bit farther with this series than I actually thought I would. But hey, I guess that's a good thing. I tried to keep things relatively tame, but definitely let me know if this chapter is too dark or anything like that. Even pulling my punches I sorta wonder if I went overboard. We'll see.

Female sneezes - Cold

cw: Guns, Violence, Killin' gnatzees

Operation "Alarm"

Another day winds down at the Cleanup Cafe. Bucket and Duster wipe down the tables, Mop handles the kitchen, and Kerchief tends to some paperwork in the staff room. Normally kitchen duty would be hers, but she decided to hand things over to Mop when she felt a case of the sniffles coming on that morning. Best not to cook for their guests if she was under the weather.

Over the course of the day, Kerchief’s sniffles had developed into a light throbbing and the occasional “HAADT!-choo…” The last thing she wants to do is read small type and fill out forms, but somebody has to do it. Plus, surely boring business things are a lesser evil than whatever is happening out in the cafe.

The muffled sounds of gradually raising voices force their way around the closed ‘staff only’ door. One of them unmistakably sounds like Duster, but Kerchief can only tell that she’s agitated, and the spoken words remain a mystery. The other voice is unfamiliar to her, possibly a dissatisfied customer.

“hih…”

Kerchief’s breath stutters with a soft whine. Her eyebrows knit, her mouth drops open, and she delicately places a finger under her tickly nostrils, and…

“HAHT!-choo…”

The cafe manager gives the tip of her nose an upward flick with her finger while her other hand reaches for the tissue box on her desk. Her head feels like a balloon, somehow full and empty at the same time. A long, moderately noisy blow into a folded tissue relieves the fuzzy sensation somewhat. As Kerchief gives the tissue a gentle wipe across her nostrils, she notices something odd in the pile of daily mail.

A stark red flier. Kerchief’s headache intensifies as she pulls it by the corner. Just as she suspected: The Church of the Fourth Light. Something something we strongly urge you to reconsider our sponsorship. Something something benefits. Funding. Protection. A dedicated following. Traditional values. German lessons on Mondays and Thursdays.

The maid removes her glasses and massages her temples. Why today of all days? Kerchief replaces her spectacles and gives her nose a gentle but squishy rub with her outstretched fingers. She sniffs and retrieves her tissue, but before she can even consider getting up to alert the others…

BAM.

A single gunshot punches through the buzz of muffled shouting on the other side of the door. Kerchief blows her nose once more. She holds the tissue firmly in her left hand, her right gliding down to her sidearm as footsteps approach the staff room door. Her tension immediately passes when Duster shoves her way through, followed closely by Bucket.

“Trouble?” Kerchief inquires. Duster continues toward the weapon wall without so much as a glance in her manager’s direction.

“Nothing we can’t handle, boss.”

“Fuhh… HAHP!-choo… Fourth Light?”

“How’d you guess?” asks Duster, finally looking back over her shoulder. Kerchief holds up the flier.

“Nice of them to give us an early warning,” Duster grumbles. She opens the locker beside the array of firearms and withdraws two black kevlar vests, holding one out to Bucket.

“Probably gonna want one of these.”

Bucket accepts the body armor and puts it on over her maid uniform. She’s clearly nervous, but also resigned to whatever is about to happen. Kerchief grabs a new tissue and turns her chair around to face her subordinates.

“What was the… hh… haah…”

“I told their bag boy we’re still not interested in their damn sponsorship,” says Duster, ignoring Kerchief’s oncoming sneeze. Bucket waits for her to release the pent up “AHT!-choo…” before holding up an outstretched finger.

“I believe you said ‘if you want me to put the poster up so badly, bend over and I’ll shove it up your ass.’”

Duster shrugs as she finishes velcroing up her vest.

“Yeah, something like that. Then he started going on and on about how he wouldn’t leave unless I debated him…”

Kerchief sniffs and flicks the tip of her nose up again.

“And then you shot him?”

“Well, yeah, but I didn’t kill the guy. Just gave him a little nine mil ear piercing. He’s probably still in the fetal position on the sidewalk unless he rolled into traffic or something.”

“I imagine his compatriots will be along shortly,” Kerchief sighs, pinching the bridge of her nose. A single “hih-!” escapes her, but she manages to keep from sneezing again, at least for now. She delicately slides a finger across her nostrils with a light sniff before looking back at her subordinates.

“I suppose it was only a matter of time. Please prepare to receive our guests with the hospitality they deserve.”

An uneven grin spreads across Duster’s face.

“With pleasure.”

Kerchief turns to face her desk once more. Still too much paperwork to do. Bills to pay. Tissues to crumple. A rifle flies past in her peripheral vision, headed toward the kitchen. Mop’s hand bursts through the door, catches the weapon, and disappears with a tired “thanks.”

“Here, try this one out,” says Duster, taking another rifle down from the wall and handing it to Bucket. “Honey Badger SBR. Stole it off of one of these Fourth Light dipshits a while back, perfect opportunity to turn it around on ‘em.”

“I was wondering why that wasn’t in the budget,” Kerchief mutters. Her voice has picked up another layer of stuffiness, which she tries to sniff away before going for a new tissue.

“What, want me to give it back?”

“Absolutely nahh… ah… AHTD!-choo…”

After thoroughly blowing her nose, Kerchief scootches up to the office computer. The sounds of the old, yellowed keyboard were always pleasing to her ear, especially when her head was otherwise full of fluff. She takes a moment to bask in the warm fuzzies, but she perks up at the sound of a distinct metal container being popped open.

“Put those back please, Miss Duster.”

Duster is crestfallen.

“But boss…”

“No grenades in the cafe.”

Duster pouts, but she does as she’s told.

“Ugh, if you insist,” she grunts, flipping the explosives box closed. “Alright, Bucket, look alive.”

Bucket makes an apprehensive squeak as she follows her senior out of the staff room.

“Just as a heads up, I’ve never actually shot at, uh, people before.”

“Relax. They’re not people, they’re nazis.”

The door to the cafe swings shut, and the maids prepare for battle. Kerchief in particular isn’t looking forward to her fight with the electric company’s web page. Her eyes glaze over as she watches the spinning spinny thing of death on the screen. Will the site load before the shooting starts? Who could say?

“hh… hih-! HAADT!-choo…”

When Kerchief lifts her head after sneezing, the spinny thing has stopped, but everything on the page has been shoved all the way over to the left without any of its formatting. The maid slaps the F5 key and contemplates weeping. But, instead of shedding a tear, she groggily forces herself out of her chair and shuffles to the restroom. Hopefully they still have cold medicine, or at least some painkillers.

Better than nothing. Kerchief chases a pill with a cup of water, then she leans against the sink and stares at herself in the mirror. She knows she’s a respectable leader who has earned the trust of her team, but she’s also a bit shy and unsure of herself. The faint beginnings of crow’s feet and a couple graying hairs amongst the blonde certainly don’t make her feel any better. For better or worse, a sudden fluttery tickle in her nose keeps her from wallowing. Kerchief frantically rubs back and forth under her nostrils with one hand as she reaches for a tissue with the other, and then…

“ah-ahh… AAHT!-choo…”

The sound of squealing tires catches Kerchief’s attention just after her sneeze. Breaking glass and the rapid popping of automatic fire follow shortly. What a pain. The manager blows her nose, drops the tissue in the trash, and makes her way back to the computer. Once again the power company’s website has failed to load properly. With an aggravated huff, Kerchief opens a new tab and instead sets about filing a work order for cafe repairs.

Duster leans back against an overturned table, closing her eyes with a deep breath. Her submachine gun sits at her feet, barrel still smoking from having expended the last of its ammunition, and in its place the maid clutches a Beretta 92 in each hand. Mop has similarly discarded her empty rifle and drawn her sidearm as she keeps watch through the kitchen window. How many goons could they cram into one damn clown car of an SUV?

Bucket lays on the floor behind a table of her own, unmoving save for the steady rise and fall of her chest. She’d taken a hit early in the fight, though it seemed to have only knocked the wind out of her. Duster glances over at her, taking advantage of the brief respite.

“Still with me, Bucket?”

The stunned maid nods weakly.

“Got any holes in you?”

“I don’t think so? None that weren’t there this morning,” Bucket answers, lightly patting her vest. Duster gives a light chuckle and half a nod before turning her attention back to the rest of the cafe. The front window has been completely blasted out, and a couple chairs lay in splinters. Fortunately the tabletops are all steel-plated for just such an occasion, and the row of smiling stuffed animals along the northern wall of the dining room remain untouched.

Duster’s ears perk up at the sound of shifting debris. She peeks around her table to find what must have been the twelfth dude in a gray trench coat pushing himself up out of the rubble. He produces a hand grenade and pulls the pin, but a sudden PNK! from Mop’s suppressed pistol sends him falling backwards before he can toss it. Duster returns to cover as the explosion flings shrapnel at the cafe’s facade.

“Think that’s all of them?”

Mop lightly shakes her head.

“Doubt it.”

As if on cue, a second blacked-out SUV pulls up alongside the first. Duster rolls her eyes and gives her head a hard shake in frustration.

“Futher mucker…”

The truck’s doors swing open in unison, but before the Fourth Light reinforcements can deploy themselves, Kerchief emerges from the staff room with an M320 grenade launcher in hand. Her eyes are completely glazed over as she strides into the center of the cafe, so tired that she may as well have already been asleep. Without a look or a word to her subordinates, she aims her weapon at the newly arrived vehicle and pulls the trigger. The grenade punches through the SUV’s grille and sends it up in a fireball. The heat actually feels rather nice as it washes over her, though it quickly dissipates.

“The cafe is closed for repairs,” Kerchief announces, letting her grenade launcher fall to her side in one hand. “You are all dismissed.”

The manager’s free hand flies up to her face, holding an outstretched finger limply under her nose.

“hh-! hih! HAAHT!-choo… I’m going to bed.”

#OC Bucket #OC Kerchief #OC Duster #OC Mop #blah writes #snz #snz kink #snzfic #way to get political sugar bear

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anxiously-going · 2 months ago

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Body Swap

A transporter accident has left Jim and Bones in a bit of an odd predicament, namely swapping bodies. The outside perspective of his own body, leads to some uncomfortable thoughts for Bones.

Len sat over his own body and began kneading thr base of his neck. There was something surreal about the whole thing, but at the moment, he just felt guilty about it. It wasn't his fault, he knew that much. Transporter accidents happen. He was just thankful it was him and Jim that where the ones who managed to get their bodies swapped.

He and Jim knew each other well enough, knew the allergies and tricky joints and all the little quirks about what caused malfunction in each other's bodies, that the hardest part, up to this point, was having to face each other and be met with the realization that they did indeed occupy each other's bodies.

Unfortunately there was little to do to prevent a migraine episode in Len's body. Jim had been there for countless such episodes, fetching cold packs, meds, water, whatever Len needed. He knew how to handle them from the outside, but the outside he was not.

"Kid, you gotta breathe," Len admonished gently, pushing his hand into his hair. "There ya go, darlin'."

"I dunno how you deal with this," Jim complained, face still half burried in the pillow.

Len chuckled faintly. "It probably feels worse because you're not used to it. It's different from the stress headaches your used it."

"It's worse than the stress headaches I'm used to. Those don't usually make me nauseous."

"I know, darlin'," Len answered soflty, his accent sounded odd in Jim's voice, but he tried not to focus too hard on that. "Meds should be kickin' in soon."

He shifted tactics a little and began kneading his back, just between the shoulder, where he knew Jim tended to carry his tension. Len had been described as broad shouldered before, he remembered the offers from the football coaches, even the basketball coaches told him he'd make a great quarterback when he tried out for the team, but seeing it from the outside was different.

He wasn't sure if it made it better or worse.

He remebered being confused the first time Jocleyn had pointed out the weight gain to him. He hadn't been able to keep any weight on him during his university and med school years, due to the stress of it all. Once he'd graduated and things settled down as he fell into his new normal working thr clinic with his dad is when the comments had started. He'd been confused at first, he'd still been a perfectly healthy weight, probably healthier than he had been before. But Jocelyn hadn't seen it that way.

It was a battle thay only Jim knew the bare minimum about. Just enough to be able to help him avoid relapse.

He'd known it had caused him to pick up some unhealthy thinking, known it had warped how he viewed his own body, but he didn't realize just how much till he truly saw his own body from the outside.

He really was a completely normal and healthy weight. Hell, if a patient came in with the same build and appeared, Len would probably even call them fit.

It hurt to realize how much Jocelyn had done to him. He knew she'd been abusive, of course he did. He'd had that epiphany many times over during the Academy and the early days of his friendship with Jim.

But it hurt that he was still having them. Hurt that he'd loved her so much and she'd still been so cruel to him. Hurt that...it still hurt. Even after all this time, realizing how poorly she treated, him in so many different ways, it still hurt to realize a new unkindness.

He genuinely didn't know if it was worse to consider that the abuse had been intentional or worse to consider she didn't even see it for what it was herself.

"Bones."

Len started, the sound of his own voice calling his name, shocking him back to the moment. He glanced down and found Jim reaching out for him, pouting like an infant, making a face Len didn't know his face could make.

He smiled fondly and laid down, letting Jim snuggle into his arms. He held Jim close and tried not to think about the weight of his own body on his chest, he closed his eyes and reminded himself it was Jim he was holding.

He was with Jim and they were both healthy and that's all that mattered.

#whumptober2024 #no.27 #alt body swap #star trek aos #fic #my writing #jim kirk #leonard mccoy

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angel-eyes05 · 2 years ago

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i remember his hands - chapter 3

PAIRING: kang the conqueror x fem!reader

SUMMARY: after a scientific experiment goes horribly wrong, you've been transported to the quantum realm and have been stuck there for the past decade. with no company, aside from janet van dyne, your life changes forever when a mysterious man in a golden ship crash lands next to your settlement. startled with his initial presence, you two have a rocky start. but as time goes on, you two find each other slowly drawn to one another. you have secrets though, and he has a past he refuses to bring up. can you two make it through navigating an unknown world together, discovering any ulterior motives, and stand the test of time in a place where time has no meaning at all?

INFO: slow romantic burn, pretty fast sexual burn, kinda enemies to lovers????, takes place during that little flashback janet has during quantumania, idk how accurate this is gonna be to canon stuff cause i get very confused about the quantum realm lol, reader is in mid to late 20s while kang is in his “early 30s” (ik he like technically doesn't age or whatever idk the lore but i just made it accurate to jonathan majors age and wanted to give an accurate age range/gap/count), y/n will be very fleshed out like im gonna give her everything lol

WARNING: explicit language, smut (minors dni), masturbation (f), oral sex (fem receiving), cum play, not a very happy ending (guys aftercare is important)

CHAPTER WORD COUNT: 2.5k

NOTES: i just wanna say thank you for all the love recently! idk if ill set a specific schedule for when ill release the chapters or not cause honestly i just work better whenever i write when i want without a time constraint so thats probably what i’ll end up doing. if you want me to write a specific one shot for kang or even another character (i feel most comfortable writing for mcu, star wars, the last of us, and stranger things, but if i know the piece of media youre talking about and feel comfortable writing about the character, im down) just lmk! also i decided at the last second this was gonna be a smuty chapter so..yeah!

PREVIOUS PART

—-------------------------------------------------------------------------

It had been about two weeks since you found Kang at the crash site. Despite the moment you two had when you first fixed him up, you two had very little interactions since then. It made sense though. Both of you were taking your own separate times to heal, you in your room, bedridden from your horrible headaches, him on the couch, still unable to walk due to his foot and abdomen. According to Janet, he hasn’t been very talkative. He would occasionally respond to her comments about how he was feeling, but wouldn’t say anything about where he came from or why he was here. So she just stopped asking. It took a while for you to open up to Janet about how you got here at first as well though, so you understood why he would be all shut up about it. It got you thinking about how you ended up here. How much you left behind. God you wish you got the chance to leave a note or something. At the very least, for them…

You quickly dragged yourself out of that thought, knowing the path it would lead you down led to nothing but wasted tears. It was late at night, and you laid sleepless in your bed, so it was easy to let your mind wander. To distract yourself, you replayed the moment with him in your mind. You were a little touch starved, in that way at least, so feeling Kang’s hand in that sensitive of an area drove you mad. Thinking about it would always give you the same reaction. Butterflies slowly fluttering into your stomach, roses blooming onto your cheeks, and the near uncontrollable urge to touch yourself. You know your relationship was non existent right now and had a horrible start, but sometimes you wondered what would happen if you walked over to the couch right now and started to kiss him. The only thing you ended up doing though was changing your now soaked underwear.

You always felt bad when you let yourself think like that. Poor guy was probably just looking for something to hold while he was in pain. And you were taking advantage of it. Then again, you remembered how he slowly pulled his fingers away from your thigh once you were finished stitching him up, an act that did seem very purposeful. Again though, he might have done that unconsciously. You always sent yourself into this back and forth inner dialogue with yourself about his intentions in that moment. Whether you liked it or not, during the past two weeks, you’ve only had two things on your mind: your pain, and him.

With the mix of your restless mind, the ache between your legs, and your now grumbling stomach, you decide to get out of bed and go to the kitchen to find something to eat. Also partially because you would get to see him, awake or not. To be honest, you preferred him asleep. You could just admire him from a far, without the complexities of a conversation to mess anything up. You crept into the hallway, adjusting your eyes from the dim light in your room to the rest of the house, enveloped in the darkness. Thankfully, you knew the layout of the house well, so you doubted you would trip over anything. You wandered throughout the cabin until you got past Janet’s room and into the kitchen. You didn’t realize how flawed your plan was, it just now clicking that you wouldn’t be able to see Kang in the darkness. You didn’t entirely mind though. Just knowing he’s in the same room as you put your thoughts slightly at ease.

You finally make it to the counter and put your arms out to find something. They land on a round, spiked fruit. Too scared of accidentally cutting yourself if you use a knife to peel it, you decide just to bite into it. Juice drips down from your mouth as your teeth sink into the fruit. Although the food here was no where near as good as back home, you managed to find a few gems here. The fruits were definitely one of them. Once you finish with the fruit, you use the sleeve of your loose shirt to wipe your mouth. You paced the room a bit, still kind of restless. Your eyes still haven’t entirely adjusted to the dark, but you think you have a pretty good standing of your ground. That is until you trip over the back of the couch. You brace yourself for the impact of flying over the couch and waking up everyone in the process, until you’re suddenly stopped.

It’s a hand. No, not just a hand. The hand. His hand.

Again, it stays there longer than it should have. Placed just below where your sternum meets your breasts. You could feel your heart beating faster the longer his hand stayed there. “You’re a loud chewer” Kang finally said. It was more of a deep whisper though. God you loved the sound of his voice, despite the few times you heard it. “You must be a light sleeper then” you replied in a similar tone. Despite still not being able to see his face, you could tell he was smirking. He slowly push you back up to your normal position. The trick was that he didn’t move his hand. He actually tightened his grip on your shirt. That’s when it clicked for you. He wanted it just as bad as you did.

You then placed your hand over Kang’s, rubbing deep circles just below his knuckles with your thumb. Then, he began to pull you by your shirt to the front side of the couch. You followed his hand until he stopped pulling, leaving you in the same place you were when you stitched up his shoulder. You stood there as he began to move his hand down from your sternum. The feeling of him dragging his fingers down your body at an agonizingly slow pace was enough to get your starved pussy wet. Then he got to your hips, where your loose pants rested. He then took his other hand and used both hands to drag your pants off. Once you kicked them off, he went back up to your panties, hooking his pointer finger around the sides of them and dragged those off even slower than the pants.

He then placed his hands on your bare hips, digging his thumbs into them. A slight moan escaped your lips. In response, he placed his finger over your mouth in a shushing action. “She can’t hear you.’’ You were overcome with embarrassment at the fact you were so enveloped in the thought of having sex with Kang that you forgot that Janet was only a room away. You decided now you had to be silent, however hard that would prove to be later. He put that hand back on your hip and helped you onto his chest. You placed your hands over his shirtless shoulders, being mindful of his left one. You pressed your hands deeply into them and began to massage them. Thank god your eyes had finally adjusted to the dark, because now you could see every emotion playing across his face as you sunk your hands deeper into his shoulder muscles. You moved the massage down his arms, making your way to his biceps. They were massive and tough. All you could think about was how much you wanted them around your neck. Ironic. Once you moved on from those and finally made it to his hands, you took hold of them.

You used them to help you take off your shirt and bra. After tossing your bra to the floor, you placed his hands on your breasts and began to grope them with his hands. His eyes rolled back into his head, and as soon as you could tell he was about to moan, you smashed your lips into his to capture it. You took your hands off of his to cup his jaw to fully envelop yourself in the kiss. He kept one hand on your breast while he moved the other one down and began to run circles around your clit. You softly moaned into his mouth with each rotation he made. As each second went by, the kiss became more intense. More desperate. You had no idea how long it had been since he had touched someone like this, and you knew it had been forever since you were touched like this. You two both had some desperation to your actions. Like this would be the last time either of you would experience something like this ever again. Both of you so starved of touch. You needed this so badly, and part of you knew he needed it too.

As he began to circle your clit with more ferocity, you felt the heat in your chest growing stronger. God he had just started and you were already about to come. You didn’t to yet. If you did, that meant it would be over. Lucky for you, you felt his hand pull away from your clit. He pulled away from the kiss ass well, panting. “I need you to help me up for a second” he said. You reluctantly got up, wondering if he was just going to leave you here like this. It was just now that you realized how naked you were. Sure, he didn’t have a shirt on, but you still felt much more exposed than him for some reason. You helped him up onto his feet, also now realizing exactly how much taller he was than you. Seeing him staring down at you like that. Like you had suddenly become the most important thing in the world to him. Suddenly, he turned you around and shoved you onto the couch. You sat there as he kneeled down and began too kiss your inner thighs.

He moved those strong, dry hands of his to the top of your thighs and sprayed them out against them. He dug his fingers into them as he moved his mouth from your inner thigh to your lips. Feeling his warm breath against them in the cold room sent shivers down your spine. You grabbed the top of his head for leverage as you thrust your hips into his mouth. “Look at you” he said in between kisses. “Being such a good girl and getting so wet for me. Seems like you completely forgot about the fact we were trying to kill each other two weeks ago.” It was strange to you a little. You had convinced yourself you wouldn’t be safe in the same house as Kang, and now here you were, completely naked on the couch with him eating you out.

He wasn’t doing enough though. You weren’t nearly as satisfied as you were when he was circling your clit. He had yet to stick his tongue in you, all he was doing was kissing your folds. He was just teasing you again. “P-please” you said desperately. “I-I need y-you d-deeper.” He removed his mouth from your area and moved his hand to your clit again as he talked to you to keep you stimulated. “Oh thats what you want now? Am I not doing enough for you? Because I could stop if that’s what you prefer.” “N-n-no!” you nearly shouted out. “P-please, I-I j-just wanna f-feel you.” He sat there for a moment thinking, fingers still on your clit. “P-please Kang-g.” You asked again, looking deep into his eyes. “Well, since you asked so nicely. And plus, how could I say no to someone as pretty as you. Sitting there so neat and ready for me.”

Next thing you know, he dives back in, his tongue licking all over your folds and into your pussy. Your strangled moan makes one strange noise, but he must have liked it because he moved his hands up to grab deep into your hips in response. God you could stay here for hours. Layed here sprawled out on the couch with him eating you out. You just wish you could moan and whine for you. You wanted so desperately to scream his name out into the world and let it know how much he had you under his grasp. And you knew he wanted it also. But that was part of the appeal of everything. Knowing you had to stay quite. It made it more enticing. But man you couldn’t wait until you had the cabin to yourself. When he could fuck you through your bed properly, where you could scream his name at the top of your lungs, and him with yours. For now though, you would take this. It was enough for what you needed right now.

As he moved his tongue from your folds to your swollen clit, he begins to suck on it. You felt the heat return back to your core as you itched with pleasure, a roaring tide begging to wash from your pelvis into his mouth. The heat of his breath on you, the tightening grip of his hands on your hips, his tongue fluttering over your folds and clit, the soft hums he would make after tasting you. “F-fuck K-kang. I-I-I’m gonna c-cum” you said, the words barely making it out of your mouth without being mixed with a moan. He nods slightly in approval, gliding his tongue over your folds like silk and moving on of his hands to circle your clit to help pull it out of you. Finally, you feel the wave escape your pussy. You grab a pillow near you and release all your moans and screams into as the ecstasy exits you and enters his mouth. You arch your back as he tries to swallow as much of your cum as he can. You’re blinded by the intensity of your orgasm as your thighs tense up and you can hardly move anything, except to move the noises out of your mouth.

Once you finish, Kang stays there, licking off the last of your essence off your folds and feeling your throbbing clit under his tongue. He backs away from your pussy and moves up to your mouth as he kisses you, sharing with you some of your cum. He uses your shirt to clean up his mouth and the remaining bits of cum from your folds. To your surprise though, after that, he tosses the shirt on the floor, stands up, and walks away to your room. In shock, you convince yourself he went to your room to grab you a new change of clothes. Once you hear the door close though, you snap yourself back into reality. Looking down at yourself, naked and trembling (part from the cold and part from the orgasm), embarrassment floods your body. You couldn’t believe how easy you gave yourself up for him. God you knew you were desperate, but you didn’t know you were that desperate. And there he was in the other room, sleeping in your bed. Leaving you there on the couch, laying out naked, waiting for someone to take you away like some fantasy. But there you were. Alone. And really fucking cold.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

NEXT PART

A/N: yeaaaaaaaah, i needed drama so i did that. sucks but i didnt have any other ideas sorry lol. hope you liked the chapter though! this was actually my first time writing smut so i hope i didnt do that bad. looking forward to chapter 4!!! also sorry i didnt really proofread this one either cause it was super late when i posted it so sorry

#i remember his hands #kang the conqueror x reader #kang x reader #kang the conqueror #smut #mcu smut #ant man #mcu phase 5 #mcu fanfiction #marvel mcu #quantumania #fem!reader #fanfic #fanfiction

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teecupangel · 1 year ago

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desmond would definitely be the type to accidentally woo the og fm/otome protagonist AND the harem + bg characters. with the ikemen sengoku, it would be funny if desmond’s route is only unlocked after the mc finishes the entire game and gets all the ending cue the twist of video game protagonist! desmond getting isekaied. His bad route is probably going to be desmond sacrificing himself again :/ …. normal route is desmond just booking it and never finding the truth of who he actually was, rip pov outsider.

Let’s add @artduringclasstime’s reply to the previous post

Those four or so years where I played the Ikemen series religiously just came out of the woodwork to smack me in the face. Sasuke renamed himself after a fictional ninja the moment he went back in time, the STARS he'll have in his eyes upon meeting Desmond. ... and I can definitely see Kenshin going after Desmond. Whether it's for a fight or otherwise, even he doesn't know

Desmond had no plans to do such a thing in the first place. He has no idea why the hell any of these was happening to him.

He doesn’t understand that, because he’s an unknown character, whatever system is in place in the world sees him as a ‘player character’ which means… people have easier time to fall in love with him because of his personality.

I like to imagine that Desmond was given a buff in their affection rating like in the normal mode of “Villains are Destined to Die” where the ‘player character’ gets a 30% affinity already to the possible love interests like a “we’re sorry you’re stuck in our world” kind of apology buff from the ‘gods’ of this world.

Of course, that additional affinity is just there to make sure Desmond doesn’t get on the bad sides of the powerful men from the get go and can still go down or up, depending on Desmond’s action.

Sasuke would be the one to talk about Multiverses and such and how Desmond’s existence could mean that they themselves are a work of fiction in a different world.

Desmond is like “yeah, I get what you’re talking about but that’s not really helpful to our current situation?” which would embarrass Sasuke because he got too fired up about it.

So in this one, they sorta know Desmond’s true identity because Sasuke played Assassin’s Creed (for the history) so Sasuke gives them the idea that maybe a POE is also somewhere here since Desmond’s here.

It’s a long shot but it’s a possibility that they can’t just dismiss.

And that is the start of Desmond’s route. Depending on the player’s actions, the player character would later switch to Desmond for the secret BL route! (Which has a harem ending because why not?)

(Kenshin’s route is more on the side of enemies-to-lovers route with Desmond actually getting a headache over how ‘devoted’ to fighting Kenshin is).

His bad ending is them finding the POE and learning that it can be used to bring them back to their proper time and dimension BUT they will come back to it at the exact time they left so Desmond will return to his world only to die from the device ‘again’. He still goes through with it though because he wants to get Mai and Sasuke back to their time and he believes he’s been living in borrowed time. The normal ending, I believe, is Desmond not using the POE and finally leaving everyone with the idea that, if he’s stuck in this world, he’ll build a Brotherhood somewhere he’s more familiar with: Italy. In other words, the normal ending has Desmond alive but alone in a whole other country with no idea what happens to him afterwards.

The part where Desmond books it and no one finds out who he truly is would work as the ‘failed’ event of unlocking Desmond’s route.

To even unlock Desmond’s route, there would be two conditions:

(1) Finished all the endings for each route.

(2) Start a new game and go to a specific event that lets Mai walk in town (this will show up as a new ‘option’ during one of the early parts of the game)

(3) Choose the “Don’t scream” when Mai wakes up one night with a shadow looming above her after the previous event on condition (2).

If all conditions are done, Desmond is unlocked as a possible route but to get to the Desmond’s route, the choices to develop his affection must be chosen.

The condition to change to Desmond as the main character and enter the BL route is to actually develop his affection up to 30% only but keep all affections to other characters at 29% or below before Sasuke appears and tells Mai and Desmond that Desmond is a character from the franchise Assassin’s Creed.

#this answer is a bit all over the place #sorry #ask and answer #assassin's creed #desmond miles #teecup writes/has a plot #fic idea: assassin's creed #fic idea: crossover #fic idea: ikemen sengoku #ikemen sengoku

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koinotame · 11 months ago

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speaking of that horror protag hero au fic... it will forever remain in my brain. if i was better at writing and at not leaving everything i do a wip i’d absolutely make a p2 of that. and also of everything else you've ever made with her but anyways

ps could i be 🌌 anon ? maybe ?

the hero au fic with her my beloved.... definitely one of the fics i want to go back and edit and post. idk about a part two but i wouldn't mind writing more for the au in general 👁️

i like the way i ended it but in terms of what happened afterwards she probably took you to her house to patch you up. she probably lives uncomfortable close to your home (this is not a coincidence). from there she could've pretended some actual villain came in and killed the heroes instead of her and tried to frame it as you being innocent or wrongly accused, or just owned up to the murders and gone on the run with you. she's not one of the top heroes of the country for nothing though so you wind up keeping her because she is useful despite *gestures* everything about her

and just for you. here's a scrapped & unfinished draft scene i have saved for the original fic (unedited), starting roughly where you get [attacked] by the two heroes looking to arrest you:

"any last words?"

and even though you can’t hear anything properly over the sound in your ears, you gather just enough strength to prop yourself up on your arms shakily and spit onto the guy’s shoes.

you think you hear a scoff before someone (the other guy, maybe) kicks your stomach.

it’s not just your senses that’re starting to slip at this point; your consciousness is close to joining.

there’s some commotion coming from the entry to the alley, you think, but it’s impossible to see anything, let alone focus on it. you slip into sleep quickly.

it’s bright when you open your eyes.

well, bright for someone who was just asleep. it’s not actually too bright, just a decently lit room during the early evening just before sunset.

the second thing you notice is that your whole body fucking hurts. the back of your head pulsates painfully, especially when you move your head, and your stomach feels incredibly sore. other than that, though, you’re feeling much too comfortable to be in a prison cell.

a quick look around the room confirms your thoughts. yeah, whatever this place is, it’s not a prison cell. you don’t know if that’s a good thing or not.

the decor reminds you of something you’ve might’ve chosen when you were younger. it makes you strangely nostalgic, and it makes you want to go back to sleep and pretend this is just some weird, bad dream and that everything will be okay again when you wake up.

unfortunately, your splitting headache prevents you from doing that.

the door opening gives you a sense of deja vu.

her gasps are always so dainty, as if they’re practiced to perfect to seem cute and ladylike. this one, though, feels more genuine, as if seeing you awake is genuinely good news to her.

she doesn’t close the door this time, instead closing the distance to you and helping you sit up.

"how many fingers am I holding up?" she wastes no time in shoving a hand in your face, only retracting it when you cringe and try to push your head away.

"four," you answer anyway, voice croaky. she seems visibly relieved, offering you a glass of water and a pill.

"ibuprofen," she says quickly when you look at it skeptically. "but I can get you a new, unopened one if that would make you feel better…?"

you take it anyway. to her credit, it tastes exactly like the type you usually buy. you have no clue if this is coincidence or not, given that you seem to be in her private bedroom, and you frankly don’t want to know.

she watches you intensely as you drink the entire glass, then sits down on the floor and leans against the bed, leaving only her folded arms and head on it.

you’re pretty sure she takes a big sniff after practically burying her head into your lap.

her hand reaches up to yours and intertwines them soon enough. she lets out a content sigh, eyes still staring intently at you.

"[name]," your name leaves her lips like a content sigh. you immediately stiffen. "who did this to you?"

"how do you know my name."

she giggles, the noise sounding much more sinister this time around. "you’re so cute… I’d always wanted to be your hero, to be the one you’d depend on. but…." a lovesick smile spreads on her face as alarm bells ring in your head. "then you became a vigilante."

her thumb rubs circles into your hand.

"seeing you kick around creeps made me realise I wanted you to kick me around. it almost made me jealous, seeing you hurt everyone else but me."

#asks #🌌 anon

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crossdressingdeath · 3 months ago

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how do you feel about veilguard taking place ten years after dai? it seems like a weird decision for me. (at first i even thought they did this purely to match the amount of real world time that passed, before i realized that gamedev doesn't happen instantly and there probably were delays due to covid so it's probably not that)

like, as you said when answering another ask, it's been so long that there is little reason for people to care or to mention things that happened. and personally, trespasser gave me kind of a sense of urgency, that we have little time left before solas does whatever he does, but apparently it takes at least a decade. i don't know, i just feel like a shorter timeskip (3-5 years) would have been better for this.

I think it might actually be because it's been so long since the last game. They might have increased the timeskip when it became clear that it was going to be a long time before the game was ready to ship (between them basically completely starting over when they escaped EA multiplayer hell and Covid this game is definitely coming out way later than it was originally supposed to); separating DAV from the previous games means the players don't need to have super clear memories of those previous games, because no one in-universe would either.

I'm pretty neutral on the ten year jump, personally. It's good in terms of simplifying the worldstate (which... okay I don't like how Bioware handled it but I really don't blame them for wanting to slim down the variables, just thinking about writing in variations for every single mentioned event across all three previous games is giving me a headache), and since we know from Tevinter Nights that Solas has been active throughout it doesn't feel to me like he was just sitting around doing nothing; he wasn't immediately prepared and it took him some time to get moving, I can run with that. Also, it justifies none of our new companions appearing in DAI; they're all highly regarded in their respective fields, many of them are well known, and I'd argue most of them would have been useful during DAI. Hell, Lucanis is even a specialized Venatori killer. By making the timeskip ten years instead of 3-5 Bioware has created a situation where most of them would've been at the very least way less experienced and well known, and possibly too young to be active in their field at all for the youngest among them (like Taash, who I think is confirmed early-mid twenties and so would've been a teenager during DAI).

#dragon age veilguard #asks #anon

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autumntouched · 2 years ago

Text

Day 14 of Ode to Phoenix

Happy Valentine's Day everyone!! Hopefully it's been filled with all the smut and/or pairings you could hope for, and this fic can serve as a little digestif

Summary: Hangman has a Valentine's Day gift for Phoenix

Pairings: Single Natasha "Phoenix" Trace

A/N: Inspired by @coraphoenix's comment on Open House. As frequently happens with these, from my head to the page with few edits. Apologies for any mistakes. xx

Valentine's Day Surprise

Natasha knows it’s going to be a long day when it starts with a flat tire. Hoping today isn’t one of the days Bob decided to go in early, she calls him for a ride. It takes him longer to get to her than she expected because her backseater was at the gate when she called and turned around to get her.

Now they’re both running late. She’s on her way to her desk when Fritz waves her down in the hallway. “Hey, Phoenix! Did Hangman find you?” He gives her an exaggerated wink that pulls her up short. What the hell?

“He’s looking for me? Did he say what he wanted?”

Fritz lifts his eyebrows suggestively. “I thought you would know.”

Natasha tries to hide her irritation but checks her watch. She has less than an hour to finish and submit a report before her class starts. “No idea. Tell him I have a phone and he can text me if you see him again.” Fritz gives her a strange, skeptical look that she no longer has time to figure out. “I’ve gotta go but good to see you!”

Natasha has just logged into her computer and brought up the report when Glider knocks on her door. She’s the newest member of the squadron, recently arrived from Corpus Christi. “Some guy came by looking for you,” she says, not at all trying to hide the curiosity in her voice.

“Let me guess,” Natasha sighs, annoyed. “A tall, blond dickhead with a toothpick.”

Glider looks surprised. “Oh I thought—,” she catches herself and tilts her head bemused. Her eyes sweep over the desk, sparsely decorated with a cup holder, a picture of her family, and the picture of her with Hangman’s niece in front of a Hornet.

Natasha is actually curious about what Glider thought because she’s remarkably perceptive. “What?” she prompts.

Glider folds her arms across her chest and leans against the door frame. “Well today’s Valentine’s Day, Phoenix. You’re single, he at least doesn’t have a wedding band, and he’s looking for you even though he could find your office phone in the directory if he didn’t have your number. So, according to my research, he has something he wants to tell you in person that probably isn’t work related.”

Apparently, Glider has also figured out that sometimes it’s easier to spell things out for Natasha when it comes to her personal life than to drop hints. And fuck! Why is Hangman such an idiot? She’s pretty sure whatever he wants has nothing to do with Valentine’s Day, and he has no idea of the rumor mill he’s set in motion running around looking for her on today of all days. She rubs her forehead, feeling something like a headache brewing.

“It’s not what it looks like,” she promises with a groan. “There’s nothing going on between us.”

Glider gives her a pitying look. “Or so you think,” she says pointedly. And having dropped that bomb into the conversation, she pushes herself off the wall and strolls back to work.

Natasha needs to text Hangman to stand down, but she doesn’t have a minute to spare for whatever antics he’s going to throw back at her if she’s going to get this report in on time. She works five minutes into her buffer to send it off before class.

Which means she arrives after some of her students but still ahead of the stragglers. Her slides are already projected onto the board, and they’re the right ones so at least it’s now Bob and the projectionist who have her back today. There seems to be an unusual amount of buzz in the classroom, but she chalks it up to an evening of Valentine’s Day plans ahead of them. Until Glider reminded her, Natasha had forgotten today wasn’t just February 14th and a shitty day with a flat tire.

She’s lining up her notes when Murchison calls out, “How come you never told us you flew with Maverick and Hangman?”

Natasha’s head flies up to find everyone looking at her with interest. With his two air-to-air kills, especially now that one of those is a fifth-gen fighter, Hangman’s something of a legend to far too many of the young aviators who haven’t had the pleasure yet of crossing paths with his obnoxious ego. “It never came up,” she hedges, sounding a lot more tempered than she feels inside. “I try to focus on execution rather than who’s doing the execution since any one of you could be in a position to use what you learn here.” A rather inspired and neat answer, if she says so herself.

“Well, he said we should ask you about it because you’re probably not going to brag enough about everything you’ve done.”

She marvels at Hangman’s unique talent to make her want to strangle him at the same time she feels gratified for the way he apparently talks about her behind her back. It’s probably because his head is so big he doesn’t think she poses any competition for him, but still, it’s far nicer than some of the things she’s heard others have had to say about her.

“Let me guess,” she sighs. “He was looking for me?”

Murchison settles back in his chair, a cheeky lift to his mouth. “You just missed him. He said he needed to give you something but had orders to hand it to you directly.” At least that’s more information than anyone else has been able to give her, but how does Hangman know her schedule well enough to anticipate where she should be?

A few of the aviators exchange shrewd looks and smiles, and Natasha considers excusing herself to chew Hangman out right then and there. Instead, she dangles something she hopes they’ll find more interesting than the assumptions they’re making about her love life. “Thanks for passing along the message, Murchison. Since he brought it up, I guess I can go over a few of the details I’m allowed to share about the mission.”

That grabs their attention, and Natasha ends up glad the mission came up because there are some aspects of it that enhance the lesson she planned for the day. In the back of her mind, she makes a note to text Hangman after class but there are so many questions at the end that Bob is waiting for her to go to lunch by the time she dismisses everyone.

You could text me instead of running around base looking for me, she fires off. What do you want? She shoves her phone into her back pocket.

“Did Hangman find you yet?” Bob asks as soon as her attention is freed up.

Natasha stops and gapes. “Are you fucking kidding me?” she demands. “What, you too now?”

“Me too what now?” he asks dumbly, eyes wide behind his glasses at her exasperation.

“What are we? Back in the nineties without cell phones!” she bursts out, yanking her phone out again and waving it in his clueless face. “If he wants to see me, he could just send a fucking text instead of making the whole base think we’re having some clandestine affair.”

It is not the time for her wizzo to exercise his sense of humor. “Okay Daphne.” She hates that his sisters introduced him to Bridgerton. “Clandestine affair? We just call that ‘friends with benefits’ these days.”

Natasha makes a furious noise in the back of her throat and storms off for the NEX. So much for Bob being one of the two people to have her back. He laughs and jogs to catch up to her. “So you’re not even curious about what he wants?” he wheedles.

Yes. But, “No,” she says firmly.

“I think it’s sweet.”

Whose side is he on? And he knows what it is? Fuck, it’s too late for her to ask. “If it’s so important for me to know what it is, he can text me. Like a normal person.” It’s bright outside and she reaches for her sunglasses only to remember that they’re in her car. She puts her head down to keep the sun out of her eyes.

Bob, like Glider, gives her some slack. “Okay, yes, but he wants it to be a surprise. And to be fair, if he told you he had a surprise for you today, you probably wouldn’t text him back about it until tomorrow unless he told you what the surprise is.”

So Hangman knows her schedule and her MO now?

Natasha caves and turns to him, shielding her eyes to read his expression. “You promise I’m not going to want to punch him for it?”

“I think you’re going to appreciate it,” he says genuinely. “And you’re not going to want to be grumpy when he gives it to you.”

She keeps checking her phone through lunch, but there’s no response from Hangman. Back at her desk, she pulls up the flight schedules and realizes he’s in the air until late afternoon. She drums her fingers on her mouse, trying to decipher Bob’s clues. What could Hangman possibly surprise her with on Valentine’s Day that she would appreciate?

Their Commanding Officer waves anyone who’s finished their work out of the office early so they can get whatever extra time they can with their loved ones. There’s a race for the door and soon she’s one of the few left, using the quiet to review the latest NATOPS manual. Bob stops by to offer her a ride home, but she tells him she still has work to do.

“So Hangman hasn’t texted you back?” he asks with a knowing smile.

“This has nothing to do with Hangman,” she sniffs. “I’m doing my job.”

“Okay,” he says quietly. “See you tomorrow and good luck with the tire.”

“Oh, by the way. Happy Valentine’s Day,” she remembers to tell him before he leaves.

He shakes his head lovingly. “Happy Valentine’s Day, Phoenix.”

As soon as there’s no chance of him turning around and coming back, Natasha pulls out her phone. Nothing from Hangman. She swivels around in her chair to look outside. The sun’s low in the sky so if he’s still on the hop, he’s been delayed. But it’s not like she has anything to rush home to.

Still, she leaps for her phone when it finally rings. It’s Hangman. “Hello?”

It sounds like he’s running full speed. “Please tell me you’re still here?” he begs breathlessly. What the hell is he up to? Is he running to her?

“I’m in my office.”

“Don’t leave!” he commands. “I promise I’ll be right there.” He hangs up before she can say anything else.

God, this man should be an actor with his flair for the dramatic. But her curiosity is now at full pitch, so there’s no hope of her focusing on the manual. She closes it and plops it back on the shelf. Natasha looks around for something to do so Hangman doesn’t think she’s sitting there waiting for him in suspense like she very much is.

He comes barreling into her office, still in his flight suit and drenched in sweat. He wipes his arm across his forehead before he crosses the threshold and tosses an envelope on her desk. “I’ve been trying to give that to you all day,” he pants, hands on hips while he tries to catch his breath. He winces and hugs his side, leaning into a cramp.

Natasha picks up the envelope. Her name is written across it in large, uneven letters. It looks like a child’s handwriting. She glances at him suspiciously, but he’s too busy trying to ease himself out of what must have been a full tilt sprint.

Inside, she finds a folded white card with two stick figures. The taller one has a brown ponytail off the side of her head and is wearing the same boxy green squares as the smaller one who has a yellow ponytail. She opens the card.

Happy Valentine’s Day, Phoenix!!!

You are the best and you are my hero.

When I grow up, I will fly planes and be brave like you.

Love, Phoebe Nicole Adler

Natasha’s nose is suddenly feeling runny and her throat a little achy. Blinking rapidly against the tears gathering in her eyes, she reaches for a tissue.

“Phoebe’s been asking all day if you got her card,” Hangman tells her. “My sister’s called and texted me every day since it came in the mail to make sure I didn’t forget to give it to you so I promised to take a picture of you with it for her.”

And to her dismay, Natasha finds herself crying in front of Hangman. She sets the card on her desk so she doesn’t ruin it with her tears while she tries to scrub them away.

“Damn, Phoenix,” Hangman drawls, very clearly entertained. “I didn’t think you knew how to cry and here you are bawlin’ like a baby over a piece of paper.”

“I can cry and punch you at the same time, Bagman.”

When she manages to clean her face up as much as she can, she holds up the card for the picture he promised. Suddenly the grin falls from his face.

“What?”

His gaze is trained over her shoulder. “Is that always there?” he asks.

“Is what–,” she turns to see what’s behind her and her eyes land on the photo of her and Phoebe from the open house. “Oh. Yeah, I keep that for the tough days on the job.”

When she looks back at him, she’s surprised to see his own eyes have turned glassy. He sniffs. “I know I said a picture but—.”

“Yeah,” she says. “We can FaceTime her.”

Phoebe is dressed for bed when her face pops into the screen. “Guess who’s here with me, Pheebs?” Hangman asks, extending his arm so Natasha appears beside him. She waves.

Phoebe squeals and the view goes haywire with her excitement. “Mommy! Mommy! It’s Phoenix!” she shouts.

Noel chuckles in the background. “Okay, Pumpkin, but she can’t see you if you don’t hold the phone steady.”

Phoebe comes back into the frame, face alight with awe like she really is staring at her hero. Natasha tries not to cry again. “Happy Valentine’s Day, Phoebe!” she says. “Thank you so much for your beautiful card. I love it so much!”

The view goes haywire again, flashing upward at Phoebe, the ceiling, a blur. “She got my card! Mommy, she got my card! Uncle Jake gave her my card.”

Hangman tries to hold in his laughter. “Pheebs, can you give Mommy the phone so we can see you?”

Phoebe returns, this time at a slight distance, with her hands clasped beside her cheek. “Want to see what else I have?” Natasha asks and holds up the framed picture of them.

Phoebe leaps forward and almost knocks the phone out of Noel’s hand. “Is that me?”

“Yep. I keep it on my desk so I can remember getting to meet you.” As dramatic as her uncle, that makes the little girl collapse on the floor and no amount of coaxing from Noel can get her back on her feet.

“Someone’s not going to be able to sleep tonight,” Noel chuckles, flipping the camera so they can see her. “But thank you so much, Phoenix, this made her day.”

“Day? This made my whole life!” Phoebe yells from the background and both Natasha and Hangman can’t help laughing aloud this time.

“This made my whole life too, Phoebe,” Natasha replies, which is met with a muffled, nonverbal scream of excitement.

They exchange Valentine’s Day greetings and goodbyes with Noel and hang up. Hangman gets to his feet and stashes his phone in his pocket.

“Thanks for that,” he says sincerely. “You just made all eight years of her whole life, and I guess I’ve been replaced as her favorite aviator.”

Natasha grins. “I’m sure you’re still her favorite uncle.”

“Going to have to defend that title with my last breath,” he jokes. “It’s the only one I got left.”

It’s several moments before she realizes they’ve been sitting and standing there grinning stupidly at one another. She pushes herself around in her chair. “Thanks for making sure I got the card. I should put it up–.”

“Want to get ice cream?”

Natasha looks at him sharply. “After you ran around all day making the whole base think that there’s something going on between us?” she demands.

Hangman has the common sense to look chastised. “I didn’t want to ruin the surprise, but I guess…yeah, I’m sorry about that, Phoenix.”

Maybe it’s the rare apology or maybe Phoebe’s earned her uncle a little extra grace. Whatever it is, Natasha shrugs. “As long as you give me a ride home after. My car has a flat.”

“Yeah,” he agrees. “It’s the least I can do after you made my niece’s whole life.”

“That’s something I’m remembering for the rest of mine,” she laughs, but she’s not joking. Phoebe’s card is one of the best Valentine’s Day presents she’s ever received.

Ode to Phoenix Masterlist

Tag list: @melodiousoblivionao3

#ode to phoenix #28 days of phoenix #natasha phoenix trace fic #natasha phoenix trace #natasha trace fic #phoenix fic #jake hangman seresin #monica barbaro #valentine's day #top gun maverick valentine's day

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caseyqdilla · 1 year ago

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Staycation Extravaganza

A/N: Listen, @oneforthemunny this wasn't supposed to be an angst thing, but my brain just went there okay. IM SORRY (I couldn't bear leaving them that way though soo I definitely have it ending in fluff.)

CW: Slight angst, fluff, and a little bit of hinting of smut at the end there, but nothing happens. Ends in fluff as promised though!

Finding out you were pregnant after you adopted Ollie wasn’t in your plan, but you and Eddie were excited nonetheless. Or you were until you figured out that you were going to be a hormonal mess your first trimester. You hated it, Eddie felt like he had to walk on eggshells around you and you found yourself getting agitated at the smallest things that normally wouldn’t have bothered you. It all came to a head one day as you’re laying on the couch; you’d come home early for the day with a splitting headache and having gotten way more irritated than you meant to with your class. Eddie had heard you in the classroom and pulled you aside when they went for lunch.

“Sweetheart, I think you should go home. School’s almost out for the day and I’m sure they can get someone to sit with them for a little while.” as delicately as he could, trying not to set you off. You knew he was just trying to help, but you just got teary-eyed and your lip started wobbling. “No, no baby, don't cry! I’m just worried about you sweetheart. Please don’t cry.” but it was too late, you were already nearing hysterics. You hated this, you were an emotional person already, but you were used to being in control of them, not them controlling you.

“Y-you’re right, I should go home…I probably am making them miserable.” you stuttered out between sobs. It broke Eddie’s heart seeing you so sad, but he knew (well he hoped to whatever deity would listen) that it was only temporary and would be over after your first trimester.

“Baby, you’re not making anyone miserable, you just have a headache and having to stand most of the day probably isn’t helping.” he tried to reason with you. You nodded slightly and made your way to the principal’s office to let them know you needed to leave due to your condition, as you’ve taken to calling your over-emotional state. Knowing it wasn’t normally like you to call out or leave early just because they were very understanding.

Coming home you grabbed an ice pack and a towel to wrap it up in so you could lay down on the couch. You’ve never felt less like yourself than you have during your first trimester. You’d fallen into an uncomfortable sleep.

Ollie had come home when Eddie was done and was eager to talk to you as he did every day after school; except today you were unusually snappy today. You were getting irritated so easily and finally snapped when he was trying to get your attention.

“And then- mom, are you listening? Mommy?”

“Ollie, I’m listening.” you’d responded in a terse tone, which did not go unnoticed by Ollie or Eddie. Ollie quickly receded into himself which broke Eddie’s heart as well as your own. You went to say something else, but Ollie had run off to his room quickly shutting the door. Guilt took over your mind, “Oh god, I ruined everything; he’s gonna hate me so much now.” you sobbed out dropping your head into your hands.

“Sweetheart, he isn’t going to hate you, we just have to explain to him what’s happening.” Eddie tried to console you, unsure if you wanted physical contact he went with verbal reassurance waiting for you to make the next move if you wanted him to hold you or stroke your back. You sniffled as your sobs stopped.

“Eddie, I think you and Ollie should go. M-” before you could finish your sentence, Eddie panicked and began to rattle off.

“Sweetheart, i-it’s okay, we don’t need to leave; I- I promise that it isn’t -” tears having welled up in his eyes in his panic, thinking you wanted him to leave an that you changed your mind about having his baby; you immediately start to sooth his anxieties, cursing yourself knowing you should have worded it better.

“Baby, baby! I didn’t mean to leave for good. Baby I never want to get rid of you or Ollie, I love you both so so much I just meant for a weekend; maybe just until the end of my first trimester since I only have a few more days.”

He calmed rather quickly, thankful you hadn’t suddenly changed your mind after having to deal with these big emotional changes that you weren’t able to control.

“Maybe you and Ollie can go on a trip with Wayne?” you suggested.

Eddie mulled it over, “Yeah, I think taking Ollie to see Wayne would be a good idea. He’s been itching to see him more and I think he has this weeknd off actually.” he smiled at the thought of Wayne and Ollie having this time together, “I doubt he’s gonna wanna go on a trip though”, he huffed a small laugh, “maybe we could have a staycation. Ollie and I can grab a bunch of movies, snacks, games, and all that jazz.” you gave a watery smile nodding and thinking about how much fun he would have with Wayne and Eddie; without you. You shook those thoughts away as quickly as they approached, it would just be a few days and you needed this just as much as they probably would enjoy seeing Wayne for those days. As Eddie went to call Wayne and make sure he was okay with the idea (which of course he was; as he put it, “Boy why are you asking to bring me my grandson? You never have to ask.”) you went to Ollie’s room and knocked gently to ask permission to come in; you swore as soon as you’d become a parent that you were not above apologizing when you messed up, even if it was something out of your control like this.

“Come in.” his quiet reply came and you tentatively opened the door.

“Hey Ollie-pop, can I talk to you?” he nodded and you sat down gently beside him, he curled up shifting away from you slightly and it took all your power not to burst into tears right then and there. “Lovebug, I am so sorry for how I spoke to you. I know that it sounded like I wasn’t excited to see or talk to you, but I want you to know that how I spoke has absolutely nothing to do with you.” he nodded to you, but refused to meet your eyes so you finished up, “I hope you can forgive me Ollie, but I also want you to know that it’s okay to feel big emotions so if you are upset with me I will understand and we can talk about it if and when you want to, okay?” It was hard not to scoop him up in your arms and hug him, but you knew this was a big moment for you two. You knew that you needed to let him make the next step when he was ready. With that you told him goodnight and that you loved him, which thankfully he did respond in kind you think if he hadn’t you’d have sobbed all the way to your room.

The next day Eddie and Ollie had woken up before you and rather than wake you up, knowing how rough a day you had yesterday Eddie gave you a gentle kiss on the head and left you a note letting you know they’d gone to Wayne’s. Ollie was still a little upset by yesterday’s events, but as soon as he saw Wayne’s smiling face he ran into his grandpa’s arms giggling when he swung him around in his embrace.

“I missed you so much boy!” he said as he put Ollie down and not knowing what happened yesterday curiously asked, “Where’s mom at bud?” he got quiet and walked past Wayne to go to his toys that he kept there leaving a confused Wayne and Eddie to explain what happened.

After he finished telling Wayne about it, he asked “What am I going to do Wayne? What if it isn’t any easier for her after the first trimester? What if her mood swings get worse??”

Wayne put a firm hand on his shoulder, “Eddie, you married her cause she’s a strong woman. She will get through this, you just have to be there to support her. I know you’re doing what you can so don’t worry. As for Ollie-pop, let me talk to him while you make us dinner.” he smiled and clapped Eddie on the shoulder as he stood.

Eddie laughed, “Is that why you let me tag along? Maid service?”

“You remember how you were in highschool? Of course I’m collecting maid services now that you’ve got it together a little and your woman whipped you into shape a little! It was like living with a feral raccoon most of the time.”

Eddie barked out a laugh as he made his way to the kitchen to make something he knew Ollie would like and Wayne made his way to Ollie.

“Hey buddy, wanna go play outside? I can throw the ball around with you for a little?” Ollie’s eyes lit up and he raced outside. He vaguely heard Eddie grumbling about turning his baby boy into a jock; which got a snort out of Wayne. “Shush you.”

They had been throwing the ball around when Ollie had seen some other kids playing in the trailer park with their mom and he suddenly got sad again. Wayne noticed and had him come sit next to him on the bench in the middle of the park. “What’s wrong Ollie?” he asked, knowing but also wanting to hear what’s going through his mind.

“I think mom hates me.” he sniffled as tears started rolling down his cheeks. It broke Wayne’s heart and he couldn’t even imagine how it would have affected you; especially with your hormones being played like a yo-yo.

Wayne pulled Ollie into his lap and rocked him back and forth slightly as he let him cry. When his tears started to dwindle away, Wayne pulled away a little so he could look Ollie in the face. “Ollie, you mom doesn’t hate you. She adores you, you’re her favorite person in the whole world; don’t tell your dad though, I don’t think he could handle it.” Ollie giggled, which had Wayne smiling. “She’s going through some changes, nothin’ that you’ve done is the cause of any of those changes you hear me?” he waited for the boy to nod in understanding before continuing. “You remember how they told you you’d be having a little brother or sister?”

“Yes sir, mommy and daddy were so excited and I can’t wait to have a sibling! But what if they don’t want me after?” The statement took Wayne back to when Eddie was a little boy, how dejected he was when he was left with him feeling unwanted and terrified being without his mom. He knew there had to be an underlying reason your tone had a bigger impact on him. You and Eddie have had to be a little strict with him on certain things and he never closed himself off like this during those times and Wayne understood it now as fear. He was afraid of losing you two, afraid that you’d get the newest addition to your family and think that he was just too much to handle with the baby. He wrapped the young boy in a tight hug. “If I know anything about your mom and dad; and I’ve known your daddy since he was a little thing just like you,” he ruffled his hair affectionately eliciting a giggle from him, “and I’ve known your mom for quite a while, I know that they love with all their hearts. Let me tell you, the first time they met you and came to tell me all about you, they were already so in love with you bud. They knew right after that they wanted you as their son.” Wayne saw the tears forming in the little boy’s eyes and a small smile stretching across his lips. “A lot of people are born in unfortunate circumstances, your dad was one of them, but very few of them are lucky enough to say that their family chose them.” Ollie launched himself at his grandpa and buried his face in his chest.

As if on cue to offer some comedic relief, Eddie; sweet Eddie, bursts through the trailer door followed by a plume of dark smoke coughing and shutting the door as quickly as he could lest Wayne see. However, nothing escapes his watchful eye. He drops his head to Ollie’s little shoulder as he stands up laughing at his dad’s antics.

“How about we go to Benny’s or order pizza?” Eddie offers up bashfully.

“Let’s go to Benny’s. Open that door boy, get that smoke out of there.” he says shaking his head as they pile into the van. As they leave they stop and Wayne asks one of his friends to watch the trailer and if they can “get that damn smoke out of there”. His friend laughs and asks if it was Eddie or the little man, which Eddie definitely doesn’t blame Ollie; nope he would never do that. Ollie looks at his dad with his mouth agape and playfully glares at his dad.

After they have dinner and make their way back, luckily the house is void of smoke. Thus begins their weekend of fun and relaxation; you were always at the back of their minds, but they knew you needed this time alone even if you didn’t particularly want it.

They had a blast playing whatever Ollie’s little heart desired whether it be board games, sports (much to Eddie’s dismay), or even a one shot campaign Eddie threw together, the guys were ecstatic that Ollie had started showing an interest in DND.

By the end of the weekend extravaganza, Eddie and Ollie were ready to get back to you; you were so ready for your family back too, finally feeling more like yourself. You were glad that you got to have some time to try and reason with the little being that you were growing, “Come on little one, I need to still be there for your big bro and your daddy. You’ve gotta let me function somewhat normally love bite.” you’d pleaded with your little peanut that had begun to show a little while your boys were gone. You were so excited for Eddie to see and you were anxious to see Ollie, hoping that he was able to forgive you and that Eddie was right and he didn’t hate you; which you knew in the back of your mind that he didn’t, but that’s never stopped your worry-goblin from running amok in your mind.

You’d been cleaning up after having made dinner. You'd made Ollie and Eddie’s favorite, dino nuggies with mac and cheese; even if the smell of the artificial cheese made you want to lose what you’d eaten prior to your making dinner. You would suffer through for your boys, you love them so much and this weekend without them just solidified that even more. As you finished up the last pot and got the plates down ready to have dinner with your family, you’d heard the van door shut and excitedly put the plates down on the counter by the stove and rushed to the door, meeting them as it opened.

“My boys are home!” you’d exclaimed as they entered, Eddie was the first to greet you with a big hug and a gentle kiss. Once he pulled back, he grabbed the bags they’d taken to Wayne’s and went to the laundry room, wanting to give you a few minutes with Ollie; knowing you needed it as much as he did. (However, he did notice your belly had begun to show and he would most certainly be addressing that after Ollie went to bed. Fuck, he fell in love with you all over again. He also really hoped you were feeling like your old self a little cause, damn seeing that he was definitely hornier than a prepubescent teenager.)

Ollie was standing where Eddie had just been, you crouched down to his height, “Hey my Ollie-pop, how are you baby?” Eagerly he launched himself at you, as gently as he could as to not hurt his little brother or sister. “I’m sorry mommy.” he sniffled as he hugged you tightly.

You pulled away with a confused expression, “Lovebug why on earth are you sorry?”

“Before we left I never said goodnight…”

“Lovebug that’s okay, you were processing some big emotions I’m sure. You have absolutely nothing to be sorry about anyway. Nothing was your fault baby boy I promise.” you pulled him into a gentle hug and squeezed him close. “I just hope you can forgive me sweet boy, I never meant to hurt you in any way. I would never hurt you on purpose baby.”

He smiled and squeezed you back gently, “It’s okay mommy, I forgive you. Grandpa Wayne helped me with my big emotions.” your heart soared knowing Wayne did that for you, he’s such a great grandpa; the big ‘ol softy.

With you and Ollie being able to talk about things and you explain in more detail as to why you’d been so emotional he understood better. You tried not to be too graphic, he is just a kid after all. You also wanted to make sure that you used phrasing you knew he’d understand, which it seems like you hit your mark as he nodded and asked questions where he needed to. By the time Eddie had come back from starting the load of laundry they’d brought back it was time for you all to eat dinner.

“I made your favorite you guys!” you’d excitedly told them and loved the way their eyes lit up at the same time, rushing to the kitchen. Eddie paused, letting Ollie prepare his own plate (you guys had gotten a small step ladder that he could use so he could become a little more independent, which was bittersweet for you both honestly) and he stepped back to hold you, your back to his chest.

“I’ve missed you so much baby.” he whispered in your ear, placing a gentle kiss on your neck right below your ear. Before you could respond he continued with a slight growl in his voice low enough for only you to hear, “Don’t think I didn’t notice that you’re showing baby. You look so fucking amazing.” it must have had the desired effect as you felt him smirk when your knees buckled slightly. You’re not even sure why it got you that way, but you’d just blame the hormones for now and address it later. Eddie then pulled away from you to go get some of the delicious smelling dinner you’d made and you followed shortly after him then you all sat chatting and eating as the happy little family that you were. After dinner you all piled on the couch to watch a movie that Ollie picked out, but as anticipated he didn’t even make it a quarter of the way through. You and Eddie shared a fond look as he picked up your sleeping boy and took him to his room so he could sleep comfortably.

Once he was tucked away safely in bed you both got ready and snuggled in bed together, any plans of debauchery squashed as you just missed being in one another’s embrace.

“How are you feeling baby? Any better now that you’re out of the first trimester?” he asked curiously. You smiled as you ran your fingers through his beautiful locks, “Yeah baby, I feel so much more like myself now. Me and the little peanut had a heart to heart and I think she got the message.” before you realized what you’d said Eddie’s eyes grew to the size of saucers.

“She”, he whispered in awe, tears starting to brim his beautiful chocolate eyes. You mentally cursed yourself, your doctor had called on Friday when you came home from work and let you know the gender since it was time and you’d done the blood test to find out as soon as possible. You really wanted to make a huge surprise for Eddie and present him with the wonderful knowledge that you both were having a baby girl, but your pregnancy brain apparently had another thing in mind. You smiled sheepishly as tears formed in your eyes as well nodding your head slightly, “Yeah baby, she.”

You’d make a super special announcement for everyone later, right now this is all that mattered. You being in each other’s arms; that’s how you fell asleep that night, embraced in one another’s arms and slightly teary-eyed from the good news.

#munnysummergame #oneforthemunny #janitor!eddie munson #teacher!reader #Teacher!reader x Janitor!Eddie #stranger things #eddie munson #angsty #im sorry #i still love you all #PLEASE DONT COME FOR ME

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chasseurdeloup · 2 years ago

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Family Matters || Andy and Kaden

TIMING: Current PARTIES: @declinlalune and @chasseurdeloup LOCATION: The cabin SUMMARY: Andy comes home to find Kaden tearing out the banister on the stairs. Their casual chat ends up being a lot deeper than either of them bargained for. CONTENT WARNINGS: parental death (mentions)

There was one thing Kaden could say about the cabin, he’d never be bored there. Every time he fixed something, he found three other things that could use some attention. Today it was the railing on the stairs up to the loft. The whole banister wobbled back and forth if you dared to try and use it. Thankfully, it wasn’t essential by any means, but it was a disaster waiting to happen, that was for sure. Part one was to see if tightening the screws on the end of the railing would be enough. And of course not. He sighed and got to taking the whole damn thing apart. It was going to be a whole damn afternoon project. Good thing he had the place to himself for the–

Kaden nearly jumped out of his skin when the door swung open. Putain, guess alone wasn’t happening. “Hey,” he called to Andy over his shoulder as he yanked one of the railings out of the base of the stairs.

–

Andy had finished work for the day, and early, too. It hadn’t been very busy, so she’d been cut loose, and she wasn’t complaining. She had a bit of a headache, so she was grateful to go home, take something, and eventually get started on whatever project had been evading her while busy with other things.

When she pulled up to the cabin, Kaden’s truck was in the driveway. Andy wasn’t entirely sure what his hours were at work, and she hadn’t bothered to ask. She didn’t want to make him feel like he was under some watchful eye, because neither did she. Andy rotated her jaw, pressing her fingers just beneath her ear as she shouldered the front door open. As he greeted her, she stopped in her tracks, brows raised at the railings that were on the ground. “What are you doing?” She dropped her bag by the door and kicked her shoes off before closing the door behind her. “Did you break something?” Probably not. He was probably fixing something, like he had been doing with just about everything in the cabin.

–-

The second railing was in there a lot better than the first. Kaden was going to have to use some actual strength instead of coasting on the advantage he had from being a hunter. He wrapped his hands around the bottom of the pole and leaned back to try and wedge the damn thing out. The whole thing was at the wrong angle, couldn’t just stay like that. “What does it look like?” he said between grunts. So fucking close. One more good pull and it should be–

Kaden stumbled backwards a few steps as the railing finally gave way from the base. He wiped his brow with the back of his palm, tossing the wooden pole to the ground next to the other. Before he went to the next, he turned to Andy. “Break something?” He rolled his eyes. “No, I’m fixing the damn railing. It was about to fall out of the damn stairs on its own.”

Andy winced as Kaden stumbled backwards, though she made no move to catch or break his fall (if he had). She stood by the door, watching as the railing split from the hinges, clattering to the ground. They barely used the loft, but it seemed a little late to explain that. It was mostly for storage; things that they had accumulated but didn’t need went up there, or winter gear.

“We don’t really use the stairs, so we didn’t bother to fix it.” Andy sighed and moved into the kitchen, grabbing herself a glass of water. “What else have you been fixing?” She knew he meant well, but she couldn’t keep up with the mini-projects he’d been doing, or if they were in line with what she wanted. Maybe he was earning his keep. The cabin was way nicer than anything else she and Alex had lived in in the past several years, but it was still… a work in progress, and probably seemed a lot worse to Kaden than it actually was.

–

“I figured,” Kaden said as he went back to work. The next few railings he pulled out were so loose they practically fell out on their own. “But it still wasn’t safe. And you both are usually carrying boxes or other shit up and down that are so big you can’t see where you’re going. So I figured I'd fix this before it becomes an actual problem.” The easy part was almost done. Taking the thing apart was going to take a lot less time than putting it back together correctly.

He paused and looked around the cabin. What else had he done? “Uh, the cabinet hinges. Table leg. Leaky faucet in the bathroom. Not all today. But yeah.” He knew there were more little things all over the place for him to take care of in his down time. Part of it was because it bothered him to have things in disrepair, sure, but he was also there crashing on their couch. It was the least he could do to help out. “If there’s something else you want me to look at just let me know.”

–

Andy grabbed the bottle of generic aspirin from the cabinet above the stove and took two, throwing them back with a swig of water. “Hey, I didn’t say I wasn’t grateful.” Because she was. She had to be, all things considered. Kaden being around was still a little weird, and she knew that Alex didn’t know what to think of him, but Andy hoped that they would get along. The topic of hunting, however, was still ever present.

“I was wondering why the table hadn’t tried to fall over the last time I put something onto it. Thanks.” Andy finished off her glass of water and put the cup into the sink before returning to where Kaden was at the loft stairs. “Nah, I think you’ve got all the most annoying shit handled.” There were a few other things, like cleaning the gutters, but she could do that herself. The last time she had done it, she’d found a squirrel’s tail. Not the squirrel, just the tail. Maybe she should have Kaden do it this time around. “Do you need any help?” Even though she had a headache, she could still be useful.

–

“Okay just checking,” Kaden said, relieved. He wanted to help but he didn’t want to overstep. It had been so long since they’d seen each other in person prior to the past few months, they hadn’t quite figured out the rhythm of it all. “Figured it was the least I could do.” There were plenty of times when his extra sensitive hearing was more of a burden than a gift, but came in handy enough times. Like when he caught the rattle of small, hard items in a bottle of some sort. It was either candy in a jar or pills. Kaden leaned over to check and surely enough, Andy was swallowing something, probably painkillers. “You alright?” he asked. He figured it wasn’t serious by any means but still worth asking.

He waved off her thanks with a small hand gesture. It was no big deal and he didn’t want to make it too much of a thing. He wiped his hands off on each other and was about to get started sanding, but he turned when she spoke to him. “Hmm? I mean I don’t need it, but I’ll take it if you’re offering.” He handed her one of the railing poles. The tops of them were ragged, unsurprising given the shitty construction. “Want to sand down the splinters?”

–

Even though she’d been younger then, Andy still held onto all of the memories concerning Lyon and before Lyon. She didn’t like to remember Tennessee for the sake of her own sanity, but France was easier to stomach. Kaden had been kinder to her than Keira had ever been. Claire was similar to her own parents, and maybe that should have comforted her some, but instead, it made her feel guilty and unworthy. Claire had made sure of that. At his question, she shrugged. “Small headache. Some lady came in wearing perfume that smelled awful and way too much of it.” It was probably that and the constant banging outside on the street from a group of high school students and their percussion instruments. Some end-of-year thing. “Plus the whole town reeks right now, so that’s not helping anything.” They were luckier, out where they lived, though.

She didn’t like watching other people do things. Andy would sooner fight past the headache as well as any other ailments and help somebody than sit idly by. She grabbed the sheet of sandpaper and the railing that Kaden handed over and got to work, not bothering with gloves. Her hands were calloused already from the amount of work she’d done to begin with, as well as having to deal with all of the hot and heavy trays at the bakery. “How was your day? You haven’t been doing just this all day, have you?”

–

Kaden nodded with understanding. “Yeah, I don’t understand why some people decide to bathe in perfume. Always makes me wonder what they’re covering up.” He was always glad that his nose wasn’t as sensitive as his ears were. Especially right now, with the town the way it was. “It’s not usually like this, right? You didn’t just invite me out to a stinky town, did you?” He was mostly joking, but he did have to wonder.

He huffed out a laugh as he leaned over the stairwell. The holes for the rails were in, well, interesting shape. He was going to have to fill some of those in with putty, no doubt there. “No, I had the early shift today. Definitely not doing this all day.” Good thing, too. He hated spending too much time inside. There was no way he’d have stayed in the cabin all day even if he’d had the day off. “Wasn’t bad. I had to chase down a loose dog. Then I had to get a raccoon out of someone’s house. Didn’t run into anything supernatural today so that was nice for a change.” It was rare that was the case in Wicked’s Rest. Most days he ran into at least one monster masquerading as a cat or dog.

–

“I’m sure the town stinks in some places, like Gatlin Fields, but…” Andy sighed, “not like this, no, not usually.” She wasn’t sure what was going on, but it all started with the fissures and the weird obsidian crabs, and then there was the ooze, too, that she still didn’t have an answer on. She wondered how Alex was fairing, if the smell was giving her headaches.

She was a little interested in what Kaden got up to at work, mostly because she couldn’t imagine him wrangling racoons from people’s basements. Andy continued sanding down the one side of the railing, looking up at her cousin as he reaffirmed what she had thought it was like. “It’s a little weird that these people might not know what they’re looking at, so they’d call a regular guy–” She paused. “Well, not you, but somebody else who might work for the department for something like a… I don’t know, a hellhound.” The thought was more terrifying than it was funny. “But I guess it’s a good thing, right?” She didn’t know if Kaden still hunted. Didn’t know if he tracked down defenseless people or creatures. To stay ignorant would provide to the problem, but she wasn’t sure she could stomach the truth.

–

“Well that’s good to know,” Kaden said as he continued to work. He peeked up to catch a glance at her as she wondered aloud. “If I had to guess, I’d say there’s a reason why the death rate for the position was abnormally high.” He felt bad about the poor saps who had tried to do the job before him. They had no fucking clue what they were getting into. They never stood a chance. “Gary’s the only other AC officer on staff and he avoids the field like the goddamn plague. Must have learned his lesson. Which is fine by me. It means he gets to do all my paperwork if he wants to be chained to a desk so damn bad.”

The gaps in question were filled, just had to wait for the putty to dry, so Kaden grabbed a rail and began sanding, too. “It works out pretty nice for me, though. Get paid for the shit I’d do anyway, which is a nice change of pace. Usually chasing after basilisks and bies is just a thankless job.” He could feel a twinge of tension in the air. They hadn’t really talked about hunting before then. In fact, they avoided the topic. All of them. “You, uh, don’t anymore? Do you?” Kaden dared to sneak a look over at his cousin. “I mean, uh, hunt. That is.”

–

Andy didn’t know who Gary was, but he sounded smart. While she couldn’t completely understand feigning ignorance about what happened in the town (especially with the casualty rate), she could understand being acutely aware of what you were equipped to deal with. Andy didn’t think that aside from the hunters' cache, Wicked’s Rest assisted much at all in keeping the town safe. After all, the emergency response units were a joke. “That makes sense.” Andy turned the railing over in her hand, examining it to make sure that she hadn’t missed any of the uneven wood. “Paperwork sounds like a bitch, so I guess you sort of lucked out there.” That, and Gary wouldn’t get in Kaden’s way. How far would Kaden go to eradicate something as simple as a snicker-snacker instead of just rehome it?

As he continued to explain what it was he liked about the job, Andy’s grip on the railing tightened. So he was still hunting, then– found fun in it, maybe? That seemed more in Keira’s wheelhouse. At his question, she looked up at him, brown eyes darkening slightly. How he could even think she would do that, or could after everything that happened. “None. Not at all.” She put the railing aside after she noticed the tension had made her sand down one side a little too far. She’d need to even it out. “How could I?” Andy’s expression wavered, but she fought for neutrality. “With Alex, it all changed. I never…” She took a deep breath. “Never really liked it anyway, so it was easy to give up.” The first time she’d been faced with a raiju, she’d let it get away on purpose, only for her dad to come up behind her and kill it in her place. She hated the way it sounded as it died, and she hated the way her father had looked disgusted in her, but proud in the fact that he’d rid the world of something existing within its own world, out in the woods where it wouldn’t hurt anyone else. “But I think you already knew that.”

–

Kaden did his best to keep any expression off his face, though he couldn’t quite keep his brow from rising a little at her answer. Not at all? He kept his eyes on the sandpaper and the railing in his hand, didn’t want to make this a big deal. Or make her think that he judged her or anything. He wasn’t in any fucking place to, not now. Not with his own worldview shattered into a million pieces lately. “Yeah,” he replied, “guess I did.” He’d noticed the lack of weapons in the cabin. Well, besides his.

“I don’t–” he started, looking away from his hands. Only he didn’t know what to say. Hell, he didn’t even know what he wanted to say. He let his gaze fall back down to the task at hand. “I mean I, uh, I guess you already know that I still do. Considering, you know. That.” He gave a small nod to the chest full of knives and guns and whatnot by the couch. “But, uh, I’m not….” How could he explain this to her when he couldn’t explain it to himself? “I don’t follow the code anymore.” Wait. That sounded bad. Didn’t it? “I mean, I do, it’s not like I don’t have any guideli– but it’s not my family’s. I don’t–” An exasperated exhale left his lips. Words still didn’t come to him, none that felt right. None that didn’t dredge up the events that brought him here. And he wasn’t ready to dive into that.

“Anyway, this banister’s going to be unrecognizable when we’re done. You won’t even believe it’s the same thing.” The smile he offered was half-hearted a best, but he hoped that she’d want to change the subject as much as he did.

–

Andy clenched her jaw tightly, just enough to grind her teeth. She watched him carefully, looking out for any telltale signs that there might be something else there. That there might be something he wasn’t telling her. No matter how hard she looked, she couldn’t find it. So instead, Andy dropped her gaze back down to the railing that she’d put to the side.

She stared at it for a long while as Kaden spoke, not sure she could stomach the idea of looking up at him. He fell over his words like she figured he would, but she was surprised to hear about his family’s code. Andy pressed her tongue up against the roof of her mouth as she stared down the shaved sides of the wood, and how the sawdust had fallen to a mess at her feet. She hadn’t even paid attention. “What are your guidelines?” She looked up to finally meet his eyes, but by then, he’d already looked away.

Now was as good of time as any to have the conversation she’d been skirting around. At first, she wasn’t sure she wanted to have it, but where her sister was concerned, Andy knew she needed a straight answer. Did she need to force him to look at Alex in shifted form so that he would remember the color of her coat so that in the chance she got loose from the shelter they’d built, he wouldn’t shoot? “I want to know. Because I can’t have you staying here if you’re a threat to Alex, or to people like Alex.” She emphasized the word, because that’s what they were. Not monsters. She’d met more monsters who wore skin like her own than those who shifted into something else. “I’m not trying to make you feel like shit, Kaden, and I’m not trying to misunderstand what you’re trying to say, but I need you to reassure me that you aren’t hunting people.”

–

Kaden froze. There it was. The question he was hoping she wouldn’t ask. Because he didn’t have an answer.

What are your guidelines?

He didn’t know. Not yet. That’s what he wanted to figure out. But he knew, he knew before she even said it, that his place here was contingent on them.

Before he could even begin to answer, the blood and the knife and the look on Damien’s face all flashed before his eyes.

The railing rattled and clanked as it fell out of his hands onto the ground. He didn’t remember leaning back to sit on the stairs, but he was. He didn’t know when it had become so fucking hard to breathe, but it had. He wasn’t sure what he had been looking at before, but now he was staring at the floor with his hands wrapped around the back of his head.

He concentrated on breathing. Inhaling and exhaling, trying to find the oxygen in the room. It was only after he could hear anything other than the sound of his heart pounding in his chest that he remembered that he wasn’t alone. Shit.

Kaden jolted up to look back at Andy. She had said a lot. More than just the first question. And she was waiting for an answer. Fuck, what was the question again?

Guidelines. His guidelines. And something about people.

“Sorry, I’m–” He cleared his throat, hoping to clear away the shakiness in his voice. “Felt a little lightheaded. But, uh, yeah I’m… figuring those out. I just know that, um…” The look in Keira’s eyes, the resentment and disgust, lingered in his mind. He bit into the side of his mouth, pain forcing him back into the present. “I know I don’t want to be–” Keira. He didn’t want to be her. But he couldn’t say it. Not that he was sure he could say the alternative out loud either. “I don’t want to be a murderer.” The last sentence was soft, subdued, something that would have been hard to hear if his cousin hadn’t been a hunter, too. And part of him wished she hadn’t heard him at all.

–

Kaden looked like he was going to fall apart at her feet. Andy felt a pang of remorse, but it didn’t last very long. She knew now that there was no way to avoid this conversation, not if she wanted to foster some kind of relationship with her cousin. Where Keira had been cruel and unjust, especially towards the two girls during their time in Lyon, Kaden had been kind. Andy wanted to be kind to him, but she needed to know that he deserved it first.

It was rich, Andy thought to herself, that she would try and dictate where her kindness started and ended, especially when she could hardly be kind to herself.

The only sounds to stir within the cabin were that of its worse-for-wear beams creaking with every gust of wind from outside and Kaden’s shallow breathing. Andy knew the look on his face, she’d seen it within herself every time she looked in the mirror after a particularly bad nightmare or close call with Alex.

Andy stayed silent, lips pressed firmly together. She should avert her gaze, look at something else– focus on the railing she’d sanded down too finely, maybe, but she couldn’t look away. The sound of Kaden’s heartbeat reached her ears, a rhythmic thump loud and clear– uneven, too. What the fuck had happened in Lyon? She knew that people like them, they were traumatized from an early age, but this was something else entirely.

As he began to speak, all Andy could do was listen. It was clear that something had happened to get him to this point. She wondered if it had anything to do with Keira.

I don’t want to be a murderer.

If Andy hadn’t been paying attention, she might have missed it. She maintained a neutral expression, all aside from the knot in her jaw. “Okay.” Maybe if she were raised right, or maybe if she hadn’t raised herself, she would have known how to comfort him. It was easier with Alex. She had practically raised her sister, even before their parents died.

Without saying another word, Andy got to her feet. She went into the kitchen and began to start the kettle. She’d spare him the horror of using the microwave to warm the water, but only this time. She decided to let him have a brief moment alone after the water had finished heating before returning with a cup of peppermint tea.

“This helps me.” She sat down next to Kaden on the stairs, holding out the mug to him. “Not always, but sometimes.” Though Andy wanted to ask what happened in Lyon, she bit her tongue. The answer she wanted had been given to her. He wouldn’t hurt Alex. Really, it seemed like he didn’t want to hurt anyone.

“I’m sorry.” It wasn’t often a hunter apologized– though, could she really consider herself to be one anymore? “For whatever it was that happened.” Sorrow clung to her like tar, sticky and unruly.

–

Kaden didn’t know where she went. Part of him was sure that she was walking away to pack his things for him and send him packing. How could she trust someone who didn’t know what they fuck they were doing? How could she let him stay there when he didn’t know what his fucking morals were anymore? Who would want him there after he failed his little sister and got his best friend killed?

He’d missed the part where she’d come back. How long had she been sitting there next to him? There was something in her hand. A mug. When he managed to process that it was for him, he took it with a small nod, only to stare down into the hot water, watching the steam rise from the cup.

I’m sorry. For whatever it was that happened.

“Nothing happened,” he said without hesitation, without thinking, only saying what he told himself far too often out loud to her in return. It was easier to lie to himself in his head. Speaking it was harder to pretend. I’m fine. Nothing happened. I just wanted a fresh start. I’m fine.

The silence hung in the air and the lies felt more and more hollow, their power to placate him fading away with every second that passed. Still, the last thing he wanted to do was relive it all. Again. And telling someone– if he told someone, that would make it real. It would start seeping in, and the wall he tried to build around himself would start to be washed away.

“Sorry,” he said, eyes still on the tea. “I mean, thanks. For saying that–” There weren’t words that felt right. “It’s…” He pressed his thumb against the ceramic wall of the mug, letting the heat prick at the pad of his finger to the point of pain. “There’s a reason I left. You’re right.” He just wasn’t brave enough to say it. “It’s–” What was there even to say? That he could say without falling apart? “Alex isn’t… she’s not the only werewolf I–” That he cared about. The words wouldn’t leave his lips. Hell, he wasn’t sure he could even find them. He hoped she could fill in the blanks.

–

He lied to her, just as she expected he would. She would have done the same. Andy sat in silence. Had it been Keira? His mother? No, he probably would have told her already if something had happened to either of them. Though she was not fond of her cousin or her aunt, she knew what it felt like to lose family.

As he spoke, Andy lifted her gaze to his hands. They were wrapped around the mug as if an anchor. Like if he didn’t hold onto it to the point where his knuckles turned white, he’d drift away with whatever memory was clearly plaguing him.

Andy steeled herself for whatever tragedy that had befallen him. Though he didn’t give her much to go off of in his initial admission, it was enough for her to understand. This was where normal people hugged, and where she should tell him that it was okay. But she knew it wasn’t. Because if anything were to happen to Alex, then that would be the end of it all. Judging by Kaden’s demeanor, Andy could take a few guesses as to what had happened with the werewolf he mentioned, but she couldn’t be sure, so she reeled in her assumptions.

“The world’s fucked up, isn’t it?” Fucked up in that you’re taught one thing and then that world crumbles around you and you’re left to flounder, and to question everything you’d ever been raised to believe. Andy guessed this was where she got lucky. She hadn’t believed in anything much at all even before her parents were mauled to death by the very things she’d been raised to hate. There weren’t many condolences passed onto hunters who’d lost loved ones. It was a part of the cycle. In part of breaking that, Andy rested a hand on his arm– a subtle enough gesture. “You don’t have to tell me the rest if you don’t want to.” There were things she wasn’t ready to talk to him about, but maybe she should. Just… not now.

“Just know that I… won’t judge you. For whatever it is.” Would that be true, if Kaden had been the one to pull the trigger? Or to shove the blade into the chest of the individual who he claimed to care about? Andy couldn’t be sure, but clearly whatever had happened had fucked him up enough that she didn’t think he’d be doing it again. Or maybe it was something else. Keira came to mind and her stomach twisted.

–

An unexpected laugh spilled out at her words. “Yeah,” he said, shaking his head, “that’s putting it lightly.” Kaden had to wonder how often normal people imagined what their life was like if they had been born into some other family, some other life. Everyone probably did every now and then, but he had a feeling that hunters let their minds wander in that direction more often than most. He knew he did. If he hadn’t been a hunter, would he have kept both his parents? Probably. Would he still have his sister? He didn’t imagine they’d necessarily be as close as some siblings, but he was sure they wouldn’t be where they were now. In some other version of themselves somewhere, maybe Keira got a chance to be normal. Her intense drive and determination could have been used for good. And not for–

Andy’s hand on his arm broke his thoughts. Probably for the best. It was strange, not the sort of gesture he was familiar with; not from family. Showing empathy or offering some sort of condolences, well, it just didn’t usually happen. Kaden was pretty used to it. What he wasn’t used to was the sense of comfort that spread over him. It was small, sure, but, as much as he didn’t want to admit it, it was the sort of shit he’d always longed for from his immediate family. It had been a long time since Keira had shown any sort of caring, been capable of any empathy. That had been stripped away from his sister a long time ago. She probably never even knew she’d lost it.

Kaden nodded at the offer to tell his story. It lingered there, dangling in front of him. The desire to let it all spill out on the floor and out of his mind was tempting, but it clashed with the fear of making the whole thing solid and real. The scent of peppermint wafted up to his nose as he inhaled deeply. It was clear, fresh, almost cleansing.

Putain. He’d have to tell someone eventually. There was no way he could hold onto this forever. Maybe if he just said a little, it would be enough to lift some of the weight. “I had a friend. He…” Fuck. His throat tightened already. This was going to be harder than he thought. “Damien. I, uh, knew him a while. Pretty close.” Understatement. He was pretty sure he spent more time at Damien’s apartment than his own whenever he was in town and not on a hunt, to the point where they joked that they were roommates. Not to mention that Kaden’s free time had pretty much belonged to Damien by the time he… “He got bit. Turned.” Kaden swallowed back whatever was threatening to spill out, not sure if it was emotions or bile. “Keira, she… She found out.” His thumb glided along the side of his mug while his teeth grit against each other. “I didn’t… So she–” Kaden clenched his jaw and did his best to focus on the tension, the pain. It was better than the alternative. It’s not like he dared to say anything more anyway.

–

Andy’s usual impatience fizzled as she sat next to Kaden. She felt as though any sudden movements might scare him away, or make him turn in on himself and decide that his trauma wasn’t worth bringing up. She held her own tucked beneath her tongue, not yet ready to face the onslaught of emotions that’d surely rise with their exposure.

As Kaden began to explain what had him falling apart at the seams, Andy stayed silent. She was good at it, sometimes. What Damien actually meant to her cousin, she could only guess. Her heart sank as he continued on, her own skin prickling at the mention of Keira. Before he even finished the sentence, she knew where Damien had ended up. It wasn’t entirely Keira’s fault that she had ended up that way. She’d been taught to believe one thing and she followed it blindly. Andy couldn’t begin to imagine doing something like that to Alex– to take a friend from her for the sake of what she was taught.

Despite the pain Kaden’s story made Andy feel, it reaffirmed that she’d done the right thing by leaving with Alex. She wasn’t always so sure. Somewhere in the back of her mind she wanted to believe that because they were blood, Claire would have helped with Alex. But she knew that wasn’t true. Alex would have died by one of their hands. Probably Keira’s, given this story. Andy still had the scars from when she and her cousin were forced to spar. She still remembered how Keira had laid her out, ridiculing her for not being able to beat her. Andy hadn’t wanted to hurt her cousin, that was all. Keira didn’t seem to care about that.

“I’m sorry.” The words felt weighted, but there were no marionette strings holding them up as an act. They were genuine, and they fell into the space between herself and Kaden. “I’m glad that you’re here.” Their earlier conversation had been heated– Andy’s accusations sharp like knives, but now she understood. Maybe not wholly, because at the very least, she still had Alex. She took a deep breath and stared across the way, testing the number of things she could say before deciding against the lot of them. “Whatever you think you did to cause it, or if you think you could have stopped it.. None of that is your fault.” She gave his arm another gentle squeeze. “I’ve… learned, over time. It gets easier. It’s fresh now, so…” Could she even tell him to give himself time to grieve when she couldn’t even give herself the chance to do so? Their situations were different, though. “It might not be okay, but you’ll… it’ll get better.” Andy cleared her throat.

–

Kaden had hoped that saying it, that speaking the words would be a relief, that the weight would lift, but he still felt it pressing down on his chest. His throat was tight and tense and he was going to start bleeding if he bit the inside of his mouth any harder. He knew why, what was threatening to let loose, but he didn’t want to. He didn’t want to fall apart any more than he already had sitting on the stupid steps holding a mug of tea while his cousin tried to comfort him. He didn’t want to cry. Some part of him worried that if he started, he’d never stop. The dam was cracking, though, bit by bit the fracture that had started out as just a hairline was growing bigger and bigger.

Andy’s words were another crack in the dam, even if the reason was the opposite of the rest. I’m glad you’re here. Putain, he didn’t realize how much he needed to hear that. All he could manage to do was lean into her ever slightly, feeling her shoulder up against his arm.

He didn’t know what he expected her to say next, but he hadn’t been ready for that. It tapped into thoughts and fears that he hadn’t even acknowledged yet, that this was his fault. Kaden found himself shaking his head, unable to accept her assessment of it all. Of course this was his fault. Of course it was. There were at least twenty different ways he’d already imagined how he could have prevented it. In his mind, there was nothing to debate. It was his fault, at least in some part, and he was going to have to live with that til the day he died. But he didn’t have it in him to argue. Or to say anything, really.

The stretches of silence were broken only by the small sniffles from Kaden. Since he refused to let any tears fall from his eyes, they threatened to find some other avenue. He held onto them, tried to stuff them away as they sat in the quiet of the cabin. “I’m not letting anything happen to Alex,” he said, sharply slashing the silence, turning to look at Andy finally meeting her eyes. “I know she’s not my–” Sister. Alex wasn’t his sister, no. He had failed his sister. “But I promise I’m going to look out for her. Or try to, at least.” He wasn’t convinced he was capable of protecting anyone at this point if he ever was in the first place.

His gaze drifted back down to the mug. The corners of his eyes started to sting and he continued to ignore it. “I don’t know what I’m doing yet. I just know… I just know that it’ll be different. That I can’t–” He inhaled and looked up at the ceiling, trying his best to hold off the stupid fucking emotions a little longer. “I can’t be that.” Not anymore. “All I want to do is try and keep people safe. Whatever the fuck that means.”

–

When Andy and Alex had arrived in Lyon, Andy had been pressed with questions. Why had their parents been intent on protecting their children instead of fighting? It was because the sisters were incompetent. At least, that’s what Claire had claimed. That their parents’ deaths were more so on Andy’s hands than Alex’s, but that they should have known what to do. That at the very least, they should have died with them. Andy had held onto that guilt for years. She’d seen the rage in Claire’s eyes, and in Keira’s, too. She’d felt it, with every punch that her cousin had thrown. While it took Andy a long time to realize it wasn’t her fault that they had died, she still felt guilt over the accusations thrown forth by her family members. If she couldn’t protect them, what made her feel like she could protect Alex if something similar happened?

The two sat in silence for a beat longer, leaving Andy to regret her choice of words. Had she gone too far? Just as she was about to say something– an apology, maybe, the sound of Kaden’s sniffling had her tighten her jaw. She wasn’t a crier, and she knew that he wasn’t either, so hearing him lean into his emotions rather than ward them off was a shock all on its own.

Andy tensed slightly at his words. She looked over at him, noticing the sincerity. “You and me both.” She had spent many years looking after Alex, raising her on her own– one state to the next from dirty and dusty hotel rooms to the backseats of broken down cars in junkyards. They were just kids, and while Andy hadn’t always made the best decisions, she had at least done right by her sister. Or, she hoped she had. Now that she had his confirmation that he wouldn’t hurt her, Andy felt all of her earlier worries melt away. Sure, there were the anxieties of Kaden running into the wrong people and it falling back onto them, but that couldn’t be helped. Even with herself and Alex, that was a possibility. “Me, too.”

“Thank you, by the way. For telling me. I know that it might have been a lot.” Andy removed her hand from his arm and rested it on her own knee, tapping her index finger against it. “I’m glad we had this talk. Honestly I wasn’t…” Her eyebrows furrowed. “It’s been a lot. Over the past few years. But um, I mean it when I say that I’m glad you’re here.” It would be easier with Kaden around, Andy decided. He would help her. They could be a family– a real one. Not one of those fucked up ideals of unity, guilt, and duty that her parents had always spouted. “She’ll come around to you, too. Eventually. Like I said, it’s… well, you can imagine. I won’t tell you her story, she can tell it to you herself when she’s ready, and you can tell her yours when you’re ready.” Andy smiled at Kaden, fighting back the exhaustion that’d begun to sink into her shoulders. The conversation had taken a lot out of her, and she was sure it’d taken a lot out of him, too.

–

It felt like his emotions were still trying to fucking drown him, but Kaden could feel the weight of the tension in the room lifting. It was easier to breathe, at least. Even if nothing much had really changed. Still, he couldn’t help but let out a small laugh when Andy mentioned she was glad they had this talk. “Yeah well, I sure didn’t plan on telling anyone. At least not anytime soon,” he said, watching his thumb as he used it to make circles on the side of the mug. “But, uh… probably good that I did. So thanks. For giving me the chance. For taking the risk, too.” Andy knew what she was potentially inviting into her house when she told Kaden he could come to Wicked’s Rest. She knew she was inviting a hunter to live with a werewolf. He was pretty sure he didn’t deserve that kind of grace or trust but there weren’t words for the gratitude he felt. Even if there were, he wasn’t sure he’d be able to say it properly anyway.

“I��m sure it’s just a matter of a few dozen more hours of being forced to listen to Taylor Swift,” he said, returning the smile. He knew it wasn’t going to be that simple by any means, but they had time. Kaden finally brought the mug to his lips and took a sip of the tea now that he didn’t have to brace as tightly against the wall containing his grief. She was right, it was nice just to have. Hell, it was nice to feel some sort of accepted. The cabin had felt more like a pit stop or a go-between for him since he first got to town and he’d figured that was how Andy saw it, too. It might be too early to say, sure, but he had a feeling that it might be more of a home than that, for him as much as for them. Kaden looked up and took a glance around the cabin, trying to see if it looked any different now.

Right. The railing. There was still sawdust all over the floor, the banister was in pieces, and it wasn’t even close to done. “Yeah, might have to finish that up tomorrow,” he said with a nod to the evidence of the unfinished project. “Sorry about that.” He sighed as he brushed some of the sawdust off of the stair with his boot. “So. Take out tonight? My treat?” It wasn’t a question so much as an offer that he was pretty sure wasn’t going to be turned down. It felt small, like his attempt at helping around the cabin, but it was the least he could do to try and extend even half the kindness his cousins– his family had shown him already.

#c: andy #declinlalune #writing #para #family matters #parental death tw

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