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pitchsidestories · 7 months ago

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eras of us (2) II Ona Batlle x Reader

part 1 I masterlist I word count: 2662

a/n: the second and final part to eras of us with the promised happy ending, enjoy. <3

Barcelona had changed since Onas departure. Or at least it felt like it. She had been such an integral part of your daily life that you constantly found yourself longing for her presence in every situation. Every time you went to training, you were painfully reminded that you were without your best friend.

Time and time again, you tried to convince yourself that this was a decision that every football player would have to make at some point in their career. Still, you could not shake the weird mix of feelings that her transfer had created.

Of course, your team mates noticed that your mood had changed.

After a particular hard training in the Catalonian sun, Leila took you aside before you could disappear into the dressing room: “Ona… she misses you.“

You frowned at her, not sure where the conversation about Ona had come from. “Oh, sure. I think Ona seems very happy on the recent pictures she’s been posting.“, you replied and tried to push past Leila.

Mapi passed the two of you and gave you a wink: “Looks can be deceiving.“

“Listen to her. She’s got that tattooed.“, Leila grinned.

You rolled your eyes. As if anyone could miss the tattoo on Mapis throat.

“Yeah, I know what I’m talking about.“, Mapi laughed, stopping right next to you.

Shaking your head about your two team mates, you heaved a deep sigh: “But what am I supposed to do?“

A mischievous smirk appeared on Leilas face as she reached into the pocket of her warm-up jacket. She handed you a small envelope.

“No worries. Here is your ticket to Manchester and your return ticket to Barcelona.“

Speechless, you just stared at her and Mapi for a few seconds. How long had they planned that?

“You girls are insane!“, you finally exclaimed.

“No, we’re the best.“, Mapi corrected you.

“Thank you!“ You hugged both of them quickly, an inexplicable smile on your lips.

“Yeah, just remember to names us as team mates of the year.“, Leila joked.

You laughed: “I promise I will.“

“But now go before you miss your flight.“, Leila said, moving out of your way.

“Okay, got it. See you two soon!“, you called, hurrying into the dressing room to take a quick shower and race home to pack your suitcase.

“Good luck!“, Mapi shouted after you.

Smiling, Leila watched you disappear into the dressing room while wiping away an imaginary tear: “Our children grow up so fast.“

Alexia who had suddenly appeared next to Mapi, shook her head: “Leila, not all the gays in the team are your children.“

“It feels like they are.“

A few hours later you were at your best friend’s new home in England. Quickly you went up the stairs, feeling slightly breathless once you reached the right floor before you ringed the bell next to her surname plate.

Onas’s jaw dropped when she opened the door to her appartement in Manchester to see you standing there in flesh and bone:” Hello?”

“Oni, hi.”, you greeted her back, feeling your heart pound heavy against your chest at the familiar sight of her.

Still stunned she blinked: “You.”

“Yes, it’s me.”, you replied, running one hand through your hair, the other rested on the suitcase.

“What are you doing here?”, the defender furrowed her brows.

“I’m sorry how I reacted when you were saying you’d leave.”, you apologized, while looking guiltily down to your feet.

Hearing these words, Ona clenched her teeth:” It doesn’t matter.” But you could tell from her reaction that this was a lie.

“And Leila said you missed me.”, you added biting your lip as you spoke.

“Maybe I did. You’re my best friend.”, she confessed. Lifting your head to face her again, you realized that the English weather made her look paler, but the freckles were still there.

Rather childish you responded: “Still? You seem pretty happy in Manchester now.”

Before answering your question, the United player showed you the old friendship bracelet you’ve made for her all those years ago and she was wearing even now although it did look old: “Still. And I’m happy here. The team and the coaches trust me.”

“That’s great. I’m glad they recognize your talent, you deserve it, Oni.”, you told her in an honest tone.

“Thank you. Uhm.. do you want to come in?”, Ona asked you, tousling shily through her bun.

“Sure.”, you nodded nervously while entering her appartement.

“Sorry, I wasn’t expecting a visitor.”, she blushed as you were taking in the view.

“It’s fine. Really.”, you reassured her. Glancing at the framed pictures which were not hanging up, yet you pointed to them:” Do you want to hang up the pictures?”

“Actually, yes.”

Meanwhile you were holding the first photo in your hands, you couldn’t help but to smile at the young girls which were pictured, celebrating a team win:” I love this one.”

“Oh, me too.”, the defender admitted.

“We all look so small on it, well Aitana still is.”, you commented grinning.

Seeming relaxed, Ona showed you another picture: “Yes, we do but this one is my favourite.”

You knew the photo well, it was taken after your first game for the Barcelona senior team and you spotted your best friend in the stands and went in to hug her, this moment forever being captured by the photographer on the pitch for which you were both grateful:” Mine too, you paused for a second before continuing seriously, we share a lot of memories together, hopefully to many more.”

2023

You could hardly explain to yourself how quickly the time had passed. One moment you spontaneously flew over to Manchester, the next you already found yourself in Australia at the tournament that you had anticipated for so long.

Playing in the World Cup was one thing, but you would never have dreamed of winning the trophy. It still felt surreal. You had just won the World Cup Final against England.You saw Ona walking towards you with a wide grin on her face.

“Ona, we won!“, you cheered.

She wrapped her arms around you: “We did.“

“I can’t believe it yet.“ You escaped her embrace and took in the atmosphere of the stadium and the celebration of your team mates.

Ona stood beside you. “It’s insane, right?“

“Definitely.“

The words hung between you for a few seconds as you watched on.

Ona shook her head suddenly, smiling to herself like she had just realized what had happened in the previous ninety minutes: “We’re World Champions.“

“Oh yes. Remember when…“, you started.

Aitana joined you, placing one arm around each of you and finished your sentence: “We pretended we won the World Cup? Yes.“ With smirk she added: “Do you still know the choreo?“

Onas face dropped: “You’re not going to do that at the actual World Cup!“

“Come on, Tana, we’ll do it.“, you said decisively, pulling the midfielder with you.

There was a small routine of dance moves that you had practiced when you had still played at La Masia together and the actual World Cup felt like millions of years away. Sometimes those dance moves would come out to celebrate a particularly special goal but mostly, they were reserved for exactly this moment.

“Coming!“, Aitana joined you while Ona just shook her head.

Olga elbowed the defender in the side, watching you and Aitana dance in synchrony: “Ona, what are they doing?“

“Being idiots.“, she laughed.

At the same time, Aitana managed to pull her phone from somewhere to capture the moment in a selfie.

“Come on, the photo isn’t complete without you!“, you called over to her.

Ona rolled her eyes with smile: “Ugh, fine. But only for one photo.“

“Perfect.“, Aitana commented as Ona appeared between the two of you.

“Did it turn out cute?“, Ona asked, leaning over to see her team mates phone screen.

“It did.“

The celebrations continued the whole night. There was the initial celebration at the pitch which was then moved to the dressing room and lastly to the hotel. You had no idea what time it was or how many drinks you had but you were clinking your glass with the other players and yelling over the sound of the music: “Cheers, everyone!“

“Cheers, children.“, Alexia laughed, taking her sip from her own drink. She seemed way too sober for your liking.

“Ale, others are the children now.“, you explained to her with the most seriousness you could muster.

Jenni took a shot, grimaced and then said: “You’re still our children.“

“Exactly, nothing will ever change that.“, Alexia said with a gently smile.

“That’s embarrassing.”, Onas’s cheeks turning redder than before.

You were sitting in her lap and hid your face in her chest:” Agreed.”

“What are you doing?”, your friend asked giggling.

“Hiding from embarrassment.”, you mumbled into her shirt.

“So cute.”, Jenni hummed, who didn’t stop looking at you two.

“Let us alone!”, Ona begged the older woman.

She shook her head decisively:” No.”

“Please.”, you tuned in.

Clearing her throat Alexia got up from her seat:” Jen, time to leave the young lovers alone.”

“Fine.”, Jenni responded with a groan but nonetheless listened to what the younger midfielder said.

“Come on.”, the Barcelona player winked at the dark-haired woman.

For a moment you and your best friend watched them leaving, before you turned around to question her, wearing a mischievous smile on your lips:” What do we do now with them gone, Oni?”

“Celebrate?”, the defender replied grinning.

“Yes!”, you nodded excitedly.

“But you had enough to drink.”, she noted with a laugh.

“Rude!”, you protested.

“It’s true.”, Ona observed.

Smiling mildly at you Aitana came to help her argument:”It’s.”

“See?”

“You two are no fun.”, you grumbled.

“I mean it’s a once in a lifetime thing.”, Ona remarked as she watched you joining the rest of players who were still dancing despite the exhausting final.

Amused Aitana was taking a seat next to the defender:” How does y/n still have the energy to dance though.”

“It’s the alcohol.”, she replied with an eyeroll.

“Definitely. Wanna bet she’s sleepy in like ten minutes?”, the midfielder asked smiling.

“Oh definitely.”, Ona nodded. She couldn’t keep her eyes off you. The soon to be Barcelona player was astonished at how effortlessly and elegant your dance moves despite your tipsiness.

Aitana’s prediction turned out to be true. With a little bit of help from Ona you reached the hotel room you two were sharing. Your eyes were already closed when your head hit the pillow:” I’m not tired yet.”

“Oh sure, I can tell. Good night, y/n.”, she chuckled.

“You too, love you.”, you replied about to fall asleep.

Suddenly Onas’s heart felt pounding hard against her chest when the defender pressed a kiss on your forehead:” I love you too.” She often told you how much she loved you but this time the words hit differently. It dawned on the player that she didn’t want you like a best friend. No the woman felt the urge to be your lover.

2024

“Aitana, I fell in love with my best friend.”, Ona confessed to Aitana with a heavy air of meaning.

A small smile was forming on the midfielder’s lips: “I know.”

“What do you mean you know?”, she glanced at her confused.

“There were so many moments in the past.”, Aitana began.

Still shocked Ona interrupted her:” I only realized it during the world cup final.”

“In that case you’re very late to the party.”, the friend answered, her face couldn’t hide her amusement.

Bewildered, Ona exclaimed: “Tana!“

The midfielder just shrugged casually: “It’s true.“

“Oh, is it?“, Ona raised an eyebrow at her.

“Ask Ale and Jenni… and Mapi… and Leila. You could literally ask anyone in the team.“, Aitana chuckled.

“It doesn’t matter anyway.“

Aitana eyed her team mate carefully: “It does matter.“

Ona shook her head with a deep sigh: “No, you don’t get it. She told Ale that she doesn’t fancy me and wouldn’t go for her best friend.“

“Wasn’t that forever ago?“, Aitana asked, seemingly unimpressed.

“It was after our training… I feel so stupid…“

“She didn’t have an easy time here when you were in Manchester, Ona.“

“It wasn’t easy for me either.“, the defender admitted.

Aitana looked at her thoughtfully: “Maybe it’s time to talk to each other.“

Ona was quite for a moment before she nodded: “You’re right. Y/n and I need to talk.“

“You should.“

She pulled her friend into a quick hug. “Goodbye, Tana.“

“Bye, Ona.“

Of course, you were paired with Ona to share a room at Barcelonas next away game. Something must have conspired against you. Or Alexia had a hand in this. Ona and you hadn’t exchanged a single word since Alexias intervention after training a few days ago.

Of course, the silence in the hotel room was obnoxious. But you had no interest in changing that.

Ona was the first one to give in, sitting on the bed on her side of the room: “Y/n, stop ignoring me, please.“

“Bold coming from the person who ran away.“, you retorted. You refused to even look at her and instead focused on putting away your clothes.

“I didn’t run away!“

Slowly, you turned to her: “Yes, you did. When Ale talked to me about us.“

You expected her to object but she just looked at you with pleading eyes: “Please, can you just listen to me?“

You sighed reluctantly: “Alright.“

“Thanks.“

“So?“, you prompted her impatiently as soon as she stopped talking.

“Y/n…“

“Yes?“

You could tell that Ona struggled to get the words out but the suspense was almost killing you.

“I like you.“, she finally said.

“More than a best friend?“, you asked, surprised by how hoarse your voice sounded.

“Yes.“, Ona nodded.

You shook your head. Your gaze directed towards the ground, you whispered: “I don’t want to ruin our friendship.“

Ona had gotten up from the bed and bridged the gap between you two. Her hand gently found your cheek, forcing you to meet her eyes. She was so close, you could count the freckles on her face.

“Can it really ruin our friendship if we both want it?“, she asked quietly.

You slowly shook your head: “No, probably not…“

“I think we should try it.“

For the first time, your brain was silent. There was no counterargument you could think of. There was just your heart hammering in your chest.

“Agreed.“, you breathed.

And before you knew it, your lips were on your best friends. Ona hummed into the kiss, pushing harder against you and parting your lips with her tongue.

It knocked you off balance. You landed on your bed, Ona on top of you. You both giggled but refused to remove your lips from each others.

“Oh. My. God. Finally!“, Mapis voice called out, startling you.

“Mapi!“, you yelled at the exact same time, looking at your team mate who had just stumbled into your room.

She flashed you an innocent grin: “Sorry.“

“What do you want anyway?“, Ona asked, a slight hint of annoyance in her voice.

“Uhm… I was about to tell you that we’re starting to have dinner?“ There was no sign of remorse on Mapis face, just pure amazement at what she had just walked into.

“We’ll be there soon.“, Ona replied politely.

“Just give us a few more seconds.“, you added.

Mapi smirked: “You two know that Ale will sense it immediately?“

Ona nodded: “We do.“

“That’s why we need time to prepare ourselves for it.“, you joked.

“Okay, See you later.“ She disappeared through the door with a wink.

The two of you were alone again.

Ona bit her lip to hide a smile: “We don’t need time to prepare ourselves, we need time to make out. That’s what you meant right?“

“Yeah, I did.“, you admitted with a laugh.

Dinner could wait. Kissing all of your girlfriends freckles could definitely not.

#ona batlle #ona batlle x reader #ona batlle imagine #woso x reader #woso fanfics #woso imagine #woso one shot #woso community #woso #barca femeni #barca femeni x reader #espwnt #aitana bonmati #leila ouahabi #mapi leon #alexia putellas #jenni hermoso

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qs63 · 27 days ago

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I've seen many posts about the way Riza and Roy address each other, and I wanted to add my 5 cents as someone who is learning Japanese and reading the Japanese manga as part of that process (it's been fun and informative!).

There are two particular scenes I want to discuss in this post:

The first scene is their conversation under the tunnel on the Promised Day.

貴方はそちらに堕ちてはいけない･･･!

You must not fall into that…

If you've been around here for any amount of time you probably know that Riza breaks protocol in this scene and calls Roy "貴方" (anata, you). You might also know that in Japanese people don't usually address each other as “you”, preferring to use someone's name and/or title to address them. So Riza calling Roy “anata” would sound too rude or too intimate (as this is what a wife might call her husband).

HOWEVER, anime and manga don’t use conventional Japanese. Any Japanese person will be quick to tell you that anime’s Japanese is not proper. It's often exaggerated for comedic or creative purposes. This phenomenon was once also common in English comics.

Think of all the cringe lines in the old Batman TV shows and comics. I even remember reading a note from Stan Lee in a 1960s Ironman comic saying: “We know people don't talk like this in real life”. So yeah…

The use of the many forms of “you” is common in anime/manga even if it's not proper Japanese. Fullmetal Alchemist is no exception to this.

Here is Riza calling Rebecca anata:

And Winry:

And even Barry (lol):

Riza addressing Roy as “anata” is not exactly special or a sign of them being close to each other. That's just how she normally addresses people.

Well kind of…

FMA does follow its own internal formality logic. The way the members of the military address each other is very well defined. Riza not calling Roy — a superior officer — by his official title or by “Sir” IS breaking protocol. It's not how she usually addresses him, nor how she should be addressing him.

The reason why she does this here — to my still in-training Japanese eye — is not because of closeness, or kinship, or whatever. I read this as a plea from Riza — not Lieutenant Hawkeye — to Roy — not Colonel Mustang.

Arakawa actually goes out of her way to preserve a sense of distance and propriety between them by using the kanji form of "anata" (貴方) — which can be read as more formal or stiff — instead of the commonly used kana form (あなた). This is the only instance where we see the kanji form in Riza's speech (see Rebecca, Winry, and Barry above), so its use here is VERY intentional. To me this is Arakawa's way of showing the reader (not to Roy because he will hear "anata" regardless of how it's written) that even though Riza is using an improper, somewhat familiar, way to address him, she is still trying to be proper and show reverence to him as her superior officer.

In a sense this line is actually the opposite of Riza showing a sense of closeness to Roy. What it does show is just how much she looks up to him, and how serious she takes both of their roles.

貴方はそちらに堕ちてはいけない･･･!

You must not fall into that…

Is both an order and a plea to the man that carries her and her father's dream.

The second scene I want to discuss is the one time Roy calls Riza by her first name.

リザ！！

Riza!!

Again, this might look somewhat weird or overly familiar. Calling someone by first name without any honorifics is usually a no, no in Japanese.

HOWEVER, Amestris is not Japan. Like I said, FMA follows its own formality system, which seems to align more closely with what you would expect in an Anglo society than in a Japanese one. The use of honorifics is not overly common, especially for honorifics like “chan” which may be the one expected from Roy in this scene.

In FMA “Kun” and “Chan” are pretty much exclusively reserved for children. And its use seems to be more of a form of endearment than a social protocol. For example, Riza and Fuery both use "Kun" for Ed and Al, but the rest of team Mustang does not.

Winry using “chan” with Elicia.

Roy knows Riza's name, she's not a small child, they're of a similar social status, and she's not in a position of authority. There's no reason why he should call her anything but Riza.

This btw doesn't indicate any closeness between them. Just like someone calling you by first name wouldn't necessarily indicate any closeness in an English-speaking country.

Here are some examples of people calling each other by first name right after meeting:

Ed calls Rose by first name.

Winry calls Paninya by first name right after introducing themselves.

Al calls Ling by first name shortly after meeting each other.

More interesting than Roy calling Riza by first name, is Riza calling Roy “Mr Mustang” in return.

Riza calls Roy "マスタングさん" (Mr Mustang).

“San” (Mr/Mrs/Miss) is by far the most common honorific used in FMA, just like “Mr” would be in English. But regular people don't usually go calling each other “Mr last name”, especially not outside of a formal environment like school or work. In FMA “San” is mainly used for older people you're not very close to (The Elric brothers call many of the adults as "Mr Last name"), and for people with authority (Knox calls Roy “Mr Mustang” despite Roy being significantly younger).

The combination of first name (Roy to Riza) plus Mr last name (Riza to Roy) tells us that the relationship between Roy and Riza is NOT that of equals. In Riza's eyes Roy is in a position that warrants the use of “San”. And it makes sense, he's older, he's a Warrant Officer, and judging by Roy's questions about her family, and her “Do you remember me?” during the war, they're not too familiar with each other at this point.

Yeah… the way Roy and Riza address each other throughout the series is distant and proper of their station and rank. In terms of Roy's relationships the way Roy and Hughes, Chris and Roy, and even Knox and Roy, address each other is way more unusual than the way Riza and Roy do (I could make a follow up post about this if anyone is interested).

As a Royai fan I must say seeing this made me a bit sad. I can only wish and imagine a future where these two can finally address each other on equal footing and with the closeness their devotion to each other deserves.

#fullmetal alchemist #roy mustang #riza hawkeye #fma meta #fma

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onskepa · 1 year ago

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I have put too many requests at this point- I'm sorry I have so many ideas- T^T

But...

Can I get a Kiri x older sister(human) reader. Where there reader was Grace's first child who is 5-7 years older than kiri.

I'm not exactly sure what to put in this request this time... hmm...

Maybe it can be the reader and Kiri bonding and Kiri asking more about Grace?

Bet the reader is super overprotective of Kiri.

I can imagine when the reader uses her avatar she and kiri practically look like twins 🥺

Aonung: Are you some sort of...freak?

Y/n: *pulls out a gun* The Fuck did you just say to my baby sister, b!tch?!

Kiri: Oop- You gonna die-

Hello!! sorry for the long wait on this one! Hope you enjoy. And dont be afraid to keep asking for request! I enjoy doing them!

Tsmuke

Dr. Grace Augustine, fierce, quick, curious and a taste for discovering new things. She isn't someone to be talked down, she stands her ground and will protect those she cares fiercely. She is all that and more. But what no one believed she would become, is a mother.

Who is the father? No one knows, and some have asked Grace who is the father. Dr. Augustine would just shrug and not say. She never seemed too happy to be asked so the main question soon died. Many prefer to be on her good side.

Grace though, while she doesn't want to talk about who impregnated her, she is always seen with her sweet child. A daughter.

A cute girl who inherited her bright red hair. Almost an exact copy of her mother. The science guys would see her everywhere in the lab. Not a day passes by where they don't see the baby girl. You would think grace would talk or call out to her daughter by saying her name. But no. Talking in na'vi so much, many hear grace calling to her kid by saying "ma'ite". Like a lot. Of course the child has a name, but it seems like a rather private secret between the daughter and grace.

Norm created a special mask for little miss Augustine so that she can explore pandora with her mother. Yeah. Grace takes her daughter outside of the safety of hell's gate.

One day, Grace was excited to take her daughter to the school where she teaches young na'vi children how to speak English. There she brought her baby girl, introducing her to the young children. Many were surprised, few afraid to get close, while others were right at the baby's face.

Two particular children were very interested in the child. Sylwanin and her little sister, Neytiri. Both loved the little baby, would gently hold her in their arms. Tickling the baby, making her burst in laughter.

Grace was relived that the children accepted her daughter. She was honestly afraid what their would reaction be. But grateful that their response was positive. Now every time they ask grace to bring her daughter every day to school.

When Slywanin and neytiri spoke to their parents of grace's child, mo'at especially, was curious. They were good friends, why hide such a thing from her?

Next thing anybody knew, mo'at was there at the school, holding grace's child. Was a sight to see. Mo'at giving Eywa's blessing to the human child. Was never done before and grace felt honored.

However, all good things must come to an end.

7 years later, 7 long beautiful years, was over. The sweet child witnessed her mother's death right before her eyes. Quaritch killed her mother without hesitation in his evil body. Hate grew in her little heart. Hate for the man who took her mother away from her.

Norm and jake brought grace and her avatar to the tree of souls. In hopes that Eywa can grant grace a second chance with her avatar body. Little 'ite was there, right beside her mother. Holding her hand and also praying to Eywa.

"dont cry ma'ite....its going to be fine" grace said weakly as she tries to reassure her child. Little 'ite hoped, but deep down, she knew her mother wasnt going to make it.

As mo'at and the others begin to chant, secretly, little 'ite does as well. True she is human and cannot connect to Eywa like the na'vi do, but she hopes her prayers do reach the great mother. Everything looked as though it was going to work. Looking back at the avatar, hoping to see those golden eyes open. Wanting it to work. Until mo'at stopped the prayers.

"ite'...?" she whispers quietly, quickly little ite was there, holding her hand tightly. "Im here mama, I'm here" she replies with fear in her voice. Grace smiles weakly, gripping as tight as she could, holding her child's hand. "I'm with her ite, she is real..." with the last gasp, the light in her eyes fades away.

Little 'ite was heartbroken. She cried loudly, letting her voice reach all na'vi's ears. The na'vi didn't like the humans after what they did, but understand that no child should ever live a life without their mother.

Jake gently pulled little 'ite away from grace as neytiri slowly pulls the mask away from grace's sleeping face. Letting a few slip from her eyes. Grace was a dear friend of mo'at and a beloved teacher to neytiri and her fellow na'vi.

The war was one. Na'vi vs humans. It was a victory, but one with so many loses on each side. Trudy, someone little ite saw as an aunt died. Tsu'tey, someone she viewed as a big brother lost his life. Eytukan lost his life. Those both human and na'vi that little ite had relationships with, all died.

After the war, did the forest begin to heal. Little ite stayed as pandora was her home. Not Earth. She stayed under the care of jake and neytiri whom they took in as their daughter. She never called them mom or dad. But still loves them none the less. Which is enough for the couple.

Norm and the other science guys managed to make a new type of breathing mask. Tubes that stick in the nostrils connected to a small filter box full of the water that can thin out and generate oxygen through the tubes and into the nose. Little ite was using the prototype as it was successful. No more oxygen refills every couple of hours. Just fill the filter box with water and done. Can stay outside longer. Something little ite has come to enjoy.

The clan accepted her as one of their own. However, at the age of 8, three surprises came to little ite. The first was little miles Socorro. Or spider as many nickname him. She found out he was the son of the man who killed her mother. But she held no anger towards spider. He was innocent of the crimes his father did. If anything, she has come to love him like a little brother.

And speaking of little brother, neteyam was born. And she loved him with all her little heart. Became super protective of both neteyam and spider. But the third surprise, that one was her favorite. Her mother's avatar whom she goes to visit every day, was pregnant. It brought tears of joy to little ite. Something of her mother would be with her forever.

So she began to prepare many things with the help of neytiri and jake. Making new beads, little clothes, making toys, everything. Every day she would go to the lab and visit her mother. Often times she would sleep beside the tube, imagining all the possibilities.

And when the day came, she became a big sister to little kiri. Little ite was the first to hold her baby sister. Sure kiri was big, but in her arms, she was the smallest thing to ever see. Now she had 3 siblings to take care of. A challenge she looked forward.

During the communion, as she sees neteyam and kiri connect to the tree. She knew at the moment what she wanted. An avatar. Took some convincing, but the science guys managed to make a avatar using the last bit of na'vi and using grace's avatar dna to fill in the gaps. Now she had to wait 5 to 7 years until her avatar is complete.

She doesnt mind. During the mean time she has a lot to do. Her role as the big sister suited her well. Helping neytiri with neteyam or kiri. Would hold them if they cry, would play with them, feed them, bathe them, almost everything.

Jake never knew how, but he saw how neytiri changed. From hating spider to taking him in as her own. Now they have 4 children to raise. And another on the way.

Lo'ak came with a voice that demanded to be heard. While neteyam and kiri were silent as babies, lo'ak was screeching like a banshee. And guess who is the only one to make him shut up? Thats right, little ite. Who now is more often called "Tsumke". The siblings would follow their sister everywhere. Would ditch everything and go with their big sister. They do everything she does. Such as carving, weaving, fishing, etc.

However, Tstumke has a far closer relationship to kiri than her brothers. Not that she is playing favorites no, not at all. It is just that she and kiri are all they have left of each other. Tstumke would tell so many stories of their mother to kiri. One day she even handed down the necklace that their mother wore to kiri. And every since then, kiri wore it with pride and cherishing it.

Together they would visit grace's avater. Telling her of their day to day stories and watch her vlogs together. Kiri would take anything of their mother so she can be as close to her as she could.

Tstumke has even become very protective of kiri. Should anyone question of kiri's oddities or how weird she is. Tstumke is there to shut them down. Na'vi or human she doesnt care. Kiri is her special person. Loves kiri so much that she isnt afraid to fight others.

Soon came tuktuk. Their baby sister and the last sully baby to be born. No more after her. Already dealing with 6 kids is a handfull for jake and neytiri. Though Tstumke and spider are independent, there is still 4 others to raise.

For years everything was great. Peaceful. Until the RDA came back and with full force that before. Soon after, things went chaotic. Raids, attacks, things weren't peaceful anymore. And to make matters worse, the RDA sent avatars called "recom team" out to find jake sully. Instead they found the sully children. Almost all of them. Minus neteyam and tstumke.

At night, when the four found the recom team and ready to attack. Tstumke was blinded by rage. She saw the eyes of the man who took her mother away. Who has kiri as hostage. Tstumke wasn't a skilled fighter nor a great warrior but she did what she could to get kiri out of there. Taking the risk of exposing herself, she lunched with a war cry and gave Quaritch a massive hit in the head.

To him it came out of nowhere, but soon jake and neytiri were quick to attack, giving tstumke time to make through and get her siblings out of there.

It all happened so quick. Almost everyone made it home safe. Except for spider. He was injured in a fall making the tubes in his nose break. The recome team took advantage and took him away.

Tstumke was terribly sad that her brother was taken. But there was much to lose in the fight.

Going back to their home, tstumke and her siblings heard their parents fight. Discussing what to do. And to her horror she heard jake saying they had to leave. Away from the Omaticaya clan. Away from the forest meant being away from her mother.

It was a hard desicion. But it had to be done. All the children didnt want to go, but neytiri said the word is final. Packing the basics they left. Tstumke was with kiri in her banshee. Looking back at their home.

Tstumke couldn't take her avatar. It wasn't ready. Much to her dismay. The avatar took longer that the anticipated time.

The travel was long and tiresome, but they reached the reef na'vi. The Metkayina clan. Jake spoke of seeing uturu. The Tsahik was harsh, quick tongue and spoke that the children are weak. Carrying demon blood. Until her eyes landed on Tstumke. Hissing and yelling that the sully family dare to bring a demon on their island.

"I may be of demon blood, but I am as much na'vi than human. I was raised and lived among the Omaticaya clan. They saw me as one of their despite the clear difference" Tstumke stated. Challenging the Tsahik. Ronal saw the honesty in her eyes but wasn't going to give up just yet.

Neytiri was quick to defend tstumke and all of her children. "my daughter is one of us. Accept her or we leave. I refuse to stay a place where my daughter isnt with me".

Ronal, the tsahik, and Tonowari had a silent conversation with just their eyes. Finally they accepted the uturu. The children of tonowari and ronal were assigned to help the sully family.

Tsireya, a sweet girl was more than happy to help. Ao'nung on the other hand. Did so reluctantly. He didn't like outsiders settling in his village. Much less a sky demon.

Things were fine. The children including Tstumke were learning well from Tisreya and Ao'nung. Rotxo was a pleasant third person. Though he was giving hints of him liking kiri. Every time that happens, tstumke gives him a hard side eye. Yeah he was a good kid, but in the eyes of a big sister, he aint good enough for her precious kiri. Not that kiri has taken any notice of his hints.

If anything, kiri was to absorbed in their new home. Taking in the ocean and the underwater creatures. Didn't take much learning for her to adapt. Kiri is either seen alone or with Tstumke. Both bonding and exploring their new home together.

Of course not everything is as easy. One day the sully children were doing their own thing at a distance from each other. Lo'ak and tstumke were collecting some plants, neteyam was making a net, and kiri was simply admiring the sand. Lo'ak was the first to notice ao'nung and his friends messing with kiri. Tstumke looked and heard something she hated to hear. "Are you some kind of...freak?" ao'nung asked kiri. She scoffs it off and tries to get out of their way. But they decided to cage her in. Lo'ak was about to go off, but tstumke beat him to it.

"HEY! WATCH WHAT YOU ARE SAYING!" barks tstumke. Now she is patient, calm, and understanding. But should anything or anyone mess with her baby sister. Well, all hell breaks lose.

"oh look the little demon comes to save the day" ao'nung teases. He smirks as his goons laughs. Tstumke took it as a challenge, "little? I WILL SHOW YOU LITTLE!". Using all her might, she launches at ao'nung, pulling his hair, hitting him in the face. She isn't the strongest but damn can she pack a punch.

"NEVER MESS WITH MY SISTER YOU HERE ME!?" she screeches out. Ao'nung tries to get her off but her grip was too tight. Took lo'ak and kiri to get her off of him but not before kicking him one last time.

"control your little demon! she fights like a animal!" one of ao'nung's friends says. Neteyam quickly comes into the scene trying to take control. "I need you to leave them alone. So back off" he states, one of the goons hissed at him. Ao'nung raised his hand as to silence his friend. He smirked once more and raised his hands as to surrender.

"from now I need you to respect my sisters" with that, neteyam tries to guide his siblings away. But nope. Lo'ak once more had to pull a stupid stunt and punch ao'nung. Kiri stayed out but not tstumke. She isn't gonna let her little brother handle a fight alone. So she stepped in and shortly neteyam. Kiri just stood there laughing at the scene. She was never one for violence but this is an exception.

To say, the three did get in trouble. But once the reason was explained. Jake quietly praised his kids. Especially tstumke. Despite her size, he is proud she can handle anyone no matter the size. Kiri was just appreciative to have a sister like her.

I think I went over board on this one XD but I hope you all liked it!

ma'ite = daughter

tstumke = sister

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tblsomedoodles · 3 months ago

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Hi I really love your AUs, and have a few questions about your Webs story. I'm fairly sure when Leo found out about being Big Mama's son, but how did the other 3 turtles find out about it? And how did they each feel? Also how did Splinter find out that he has a daughter (if he ever does), and how does he feel about it?

Also I'm not completely sure how to spell her name, not very good at spelling, I think it can be shortened to Jenni though. 😋

Thank you! : )

And Yeah, Leo finds out from overhearing Splinter and Mama's conversation (during the arena fight episode) and then spends the next month or so in denial/trying to disprove it.

The other 3 find out from Leo, specifically after the 'Family dinner with Draxum' that Mikey had planned where Leo looses his shit at Draxum and ends up storming out after hearing the "no i didn't use any spider dna in the mutagen, what are you talking about?" from the dude. Donnie follows him to the roof and gets the entire angry/frustrated info dump about the thing, as well as Leo admitting he wanted to know without a shadow of a doubt before telling them. So the twins end up going to Mama to get confirmation straight from the source and then going back and filling the other two in on what just went down.

Mikey and Raph in particular were frustrated that Leo kept this from them for this long (even if he wasn't entirely sure, they feel he should have told them. Donnie's feels that way too, but he also feels that Leo was being dumb for not just asking the people involved outright instead of his sneaky snooping he had been doing.)

I don't think any of them really know what to think of Mama being their mom at first. Though Raph and Mikey are more willing to at least try to give her a chance, while Leo and Donnie are a little more stand off ish.

Splinter does find out he has a daughter at some point (he actually has 2. Jennika & Venus (who's a turtle mutated with his dna. She's the other 5's half sibling, but still Splinter's daughter.) I'm not entirely sure when/how he finds out. I dont think Mama would tell him b/c she is far too protective of her and already lost her children to him once.

Right now, i'm thinking that once the boys find out who she is, they tell him, but kinda off hand. Like I'm not entirely sure they knew that he didn't know. So it would probably go something like this-

"We officially met our little sister today."

"Your what?"

Anyways! He's definitely in shock over the whole thing at first but he does want to get to know her (even if she's not exactly fond of him at the moment.) I think she's part of the reason he agrees to the joint custody, so he can spend time with his daughter as much as Mama gets to spend time with her sons.

And no worries! I'm bad at spelling too lol. I usually spell her name J-E-N-N-I-K-A. And i shorten it to Jenny for a nickname.

Thank you!!

#asks #tmnt #rottmnt #family web au

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malaierba · 4 months ago

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Hi, don't mean to bother you but you are my Eve mutual and I feel you'd understand: Kind Of King

Eve - Lucifer vibes right?

(Love the idea that Lucifer would use "I'm not my brother's keeper" line on Eve, not rightfully killing him right then and there is incredible restraint on her part)

Hi! You never bother me, I was very happy to see a notification from you!

I didn't know this song, had to repeat it a couple of times but... Man, yeah, especially after it passes the first peak. It's giving "Eve questioning Lucifer likely trying to get her in his side after Adam's death" vibes.

Like, I can see the back-and-forth name-calling of the first verses — Eve being about as crude as Adam feels logical to be, especially with Lucifer who she's known since forever and has complicated feelings towards; Lucifer deflecting as much as he can also feels very fitting. I can see him being avoidant with the people he actually cares about; maybe like in the song he'd try to redirect Eve's blame?

But it's this part for me:

I think this is one of the first realisations Eve had upon death. Lucifer was punished with a kingdom he didn't want to rule, he who had believed in an idealised version of humans promptly gave up on them after seeing how imperfect they are, how broken they can be. Rather than try to offer the best afterlife possible for them he pulled away and let it fester (afawk anyway).

I think that'd just seem immature to Eve. Lilith at least is trying to organise a resistance against heaven. Lucifer just completely washed his hands off the issue the moment things didn't go according to plan. Like father like son?

(I finished that sentence, went back to the lyrics and, the fact that those ^^^ were what followed. Man, it's perfect)

I guess this is the part I can't quite make fit for them:

Some possible alternatives to the names Joab and the brother that couldn't be kept?

"Is this about Adam? You can't blame his acts on me": I guess it works since in a weird way both Adam and Lucifer are technically children of god? And also works for Eve, since by essentially being a clone made from Adam's rib she's her sister.

"is this about Michael?": I just like the idea of twins being pitted against each other. But that still leaves the question of what it was that Michael did that Eve would blame on Lucifer. There's the whole "expelled from Eden with a fiery sword" thing, would that be justification enough? Hmm.

If "I'm not my brother's keeper" is just meant as an insult not to be taken literally, then maybe the first line would be "is this about Abel?" Maybe him being the first overlord and it going so spectacularly bad that Eve blames Lucifer for not stepping in?

There's many possibilities. I'd love to hear how you are picturing those particular verses!

And gosh, the end!

This is just perfect. Everything I would hope from Eve entering the scene. Here, "Johnathan" is definitely Adam.

I just really need her to foil Lucifer, to be the apple of discord. She's the human drama to his divine drama, she's tired of being a plot device, she gets to be weird and possessive about Adam anyway because that they survived together can't be comprehended by any one person, let alone an angel.

Like I know we like to imagine her chill. But she was in hell, she was tricked into something that condemned her and all of humanity; We've seen how distant heaven is from human sinners, Lucifer himself is too... I think that'd breed some contempt. And with her being as old as she is and having lived through all she did, I see no reason why she'd hold her tongue. Being the mother of humanity should grant you the right to talk back to an angel or two after all.

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calronhunt · 6 months ago

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Can you tell us more about Cassiel? And maybe Gabriel? Your BBD stuff is really interesting and I'd love to hear any trivia you could share!

Thank you so much! And yeah of course I can!

Cassiel is the second eldest prince of hell (hes only one year younger than Gabriel) and the only one who's biological mother is Theo not Ariel. This makes Cassiel a Hellborn only in name and not in blood or anything else. This causes a lot of problems for Cassiel like 1) he cannot become king no matter what 2) if his mothers were to divorce all of the privileges he has as a prince would be forfeit ei. Stripped of his title and would become a commoner with his mother. It doesn't help that Hellborns have always been the rulers and are easy to identify (they're the only demons who have wings) which makes Cassiel stick out like a sore thumb (along with Raphael but the reason he doesn't have wings is his human heritage not his lack of hellborn blood)

(also there IS a reason the Hellborns are very specific about only children in the hellborn bloodline getting the throne. It's spoilers and it doesn't justify how Cassiel is treated at all but there IS a reason for it)

Cassiel otherwise acts very professional and talks very formally. He knows about his position, and he knows first hand how.....strained his mothers relationship is, he wants to prove to a lot of people that he's just as much of a hellborn as anyone else. He got along REALLY well with Gabriel when they were kids but when it came out he was unable to get the throne, he grew bitter towards Gabriel. In current time, he fully hates Gabriel, but doesn't show that off, tying into his professionalism. He has also been forming closer bonds with Raphael. They are both the black sheep of the family and thinks that Raphael's resentment towards how the system has treated him as well could help Cassiel.

He's also a little bit of an alcoholic. Drinking habits when you're a teen bite your ass

Gabriel on the otherhand is the eldest of the siblings and maybe the only Ariel defender out there. He's a total momma's boy. He would rather blame the hardships the family goes through on everyone else than the actual source of it all (Ariel). In particular, he blames most of it on Raphael. Raphael's conception was "the straw that broke the camel's back" and caused everything unsaid to Become Very Much Said. From Gabriel's perspective everything would be FINE if Raphael never existed at all. As Raphael was growing up he would verbally and physically abuse Raphael. Their parents did SOMETHING right by making Gabriel not act like that in public or around others, but Gabriel still very much did it when the two were alone. He fully believes he's in the right to act this way.

He is also the crowned prince and is working towards ascending to the throne soon. In current day that's mostly what he's stressing over. He's still disgusted by Raphael and makes it very known, but Ariel's been breathing down his neck about kinghood and proper behavior, and that's been more annoying to him.

#ask #blood brings dawn #SORRY NONE OF THESE GUYS ARE NORMALLLLL #abuse ment #for the gabriel stuff a little bit

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kharonion · 1 year ago

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🚓🎤🥢for both boys respectively? :3

core meme-ories | oc list [note: these are for the Cyberpunk 2077 blorbos]

🚓- River Ward

• VIKT — They meet each other after Vikt's retired from mercenary work, which at least means not having Johnny there hounding about "working with a cop". Helping River find Randy comes as just another gig—albeit one of the most fucked up he's done. Dinner with the family afterward is entirely different. It's the first time Vikt has any real interaction with children, which goes much better than he expects.

"Hey, V?" "Yeah?" "Did you let us win?" "Nope. You two are just that good."

River is also one of the very few who can get Vikt to let loose a little bit; them getting wasted up on the water tower and laughing about dumbass constellations they think exist is some of the most fun Vikt has (aside from the next morning, anyway).

• SÖREN — So, these two go back a bit. Ever the trouble making misfit, Sören got snagged by the badges so many times... and sometimes, that badge was River—who would grow tired of being called to Heywood for "a red-eyed hoodlum". Though eventually, the calls stopped, and it would be a handful of years before they meet again.

"Wait... Nightowl?" "Y'never did like calling me by my actual name." "Ah. You're the same as ever, punk." "Ditto that, snoopy."

They hang out a lot together after that. Which neither really expect. After all, what could a lawbreaker and a lawman possibly have in common... right? But, they end up growing close, realizing their paths are strikingly similar... and here, they cross yet again. Eventually, Sören convinces River to leave with him and the Aldecaldos. Leave Night City behind, hunt for something better and brighter—so long as they do it together.

🎤- Kerry Eurodyne

• VIKT — The first Vikt hears and sees Kerry proper (not counting the memories of Johnny he relives during the brain wreck caused by being dead) is laid out on a fancy sofa with a throbbing migraine, an expensive blanket draped over him, and the bright blue eyes of a rockerboy looking down at him with worry.

"Hey, hey, you okay?" "... No..." "That's alright. Just stay tight for a bit. Rest. Don't worry about a thing." "I— Thank you..." "You're... you're welcome. Now, quit stalling. Sleep."

From there, the two are unknowingly latched at the hip. Vikt helps with Kerry's problems, and Kerry provides the privacy of the villa when Vikt needs time out of the city. It's inevitable that their bond blossoms into more. The night on the rooftop of Dark Matter seals the deal, and their excursion on the yacht tells them it is the right call.

• SÖREN — The most interaction Sören has had with Kerry is going to one of his shows with River. They splurged, got the VIP treatment and everything. Met the legend face-to-face—a dream Sören's had for years.

"Holy shit, are you the Kerry Eurodyne? Really?!" "One and only." "Here, I have a gift for ya!" "Fuck, is that... where did you find police-grade 'nades?" "A man never tells. Now, I'm gonna hug you. Okay? Okay."

Needless to say, River is more than unimpressed.

🥢- Jackie Welles

• VIKT — Throughout his grueling years in Arasaka, Vikt ran things solo; at least, until a particular task fell into his lap. Putting a hit on an entire cartel that threatened Arasaka's infrastructure. It was too big of a job for one man, so Vikt took a risk to hire the help of another: the Valentinos. Specifically, a small group led by Jackie.

And, of course, there had to be a hitch. It ended up being a trap. Vikt had to defend himself, murder one of the most prolific cartels of Mexico—and unfortunately, most of the Valentinos alongside him didn't take kindly to that.

All who were left standing in the end were Vikt... and Jackie.

"So? Going to make this quick?" "Nah. There's... been too much death." "What's one more, hm?" "Listen. I don't want this... and neither do you. Consider me... an amigo, and none of this shit will see the light of day." "And why would you offer that?" "Call me inocente if you want. Just... got a feelin' I want you by my side." "Might be a mistake." "Might be."

From then on, Jackie is Vikt's one and only trusted confidant, and he ended up being the pillar that keeps Vikt standing after his life crumbles down to nothing.

• SÖREN — Sören was adopted into the Valentinos as a toddler, rescued from the gutters by Padre. He immediately latched onto Jackie as an older brother figure, and they were an inseparable duo of chaos. Jobs for the gang were a joint effort... except when Jackie was hired to help with the heist of a lifetime.

"Búho?" "What?" "I know you're upset, but... I need to know you'll be here when I get back." "I... I always will be, Jack. I ain't going anywhere. You're my family." "I love ya, hermano." "Don't say that like you won't return, you fuck..." "Oh, come on, don't—" "I love you, too."

It goes without saying that Sören is devastated seeing Jackie's body in the Delamain car. Like his heart has been ripped from his chest. And all he can still think about when he thinks of the man he calls his brother is that fateful day.

#holy heck i'm so sorry this turned into an essay ksjhdf #but i hope you enjoy the lore dump for both of the lads! ;;#it's so fun now that sören isn't also “v”... can have them both technically coexist in the same timeline... >:3 #thank you! <3 #oc: vikt #x: dark matter in our space #brotp: see you in the major leagues #oc: soren vogel #x: just around the riverbend #brotp: hasta la muerte #khar.ask

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somuchcoffeeandwine · 2 years ago

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Does anyone want to hear me ramble about the story I'm writing?

No? Too bad.

I'll just talk about the main characters/side protagonists. For now.

First up is Sitaare:

Mini sparkle elf who wants to murder one god in particular. She also runs a cult. Firmly under the "looks like a cinnamon roll, could kill you" category. She's short, has a pet snake named Seoul (Pronounced as Soul), with flashy skirts. And she sees things as strings that she can pull.

Second, we have Mayju and Thaddeus, a joint package:

Mayju is a grumpy old man/woman (genderfluid, goes with the shapeshifting) who's green, with a cane and too many scars. He's quite good with secrets, being able to convince them out of anyone. So of course her family business that he's rebuilding is a web of secrets. She also has siblings. One might be dead, the other wants to be.

Thaddeus is his husband, and a future seer. He's also in the "looks like a cinnamon roll, could kill you" category. Being a fearsome pirate king will do that for you. Also looking like a twink and wearing more clothes then your race usually does. (Note: His race usually just has a short coat on, and a pair of shoes, usually sandals. Easy to slip into the water in)

Third, the token lesbians, Agate and Jo.

Agate is a peasant princess, technically queen now, with rare magic, fire. There is another, slightly more supernatural thing about her, however, it is a bit of a spoiler. She's the mom of the group, and just wants to live in a cottage on a farm with her wife and... random adopted children.

Jo is her sworn bodyguard, and also Agate's wife. A living corpse, and also has magic. Ice this time. She's a fearsome warrior, almost invincible, and known as the Blood Mistress for a reason. After all, blood is a liquid that can be frozen outside the human body. At about 31 F/-3 C. She's also tall. Like 7 feet tall. (Totally for plot purposes). She wants to fucking murder the guy who killed her brethren.

Fourth, Echo:

A doctor, who also happens to be a feeling eating monster. With massive wings. Poison is her weapon, as well as a scalpel. Those things are sharp. But she's usually peaceful. She's literally just trying to fix a deadly disease killing her race. Leave her be.

Fifth, Briar, Zoe, and Arki:

Briar is a fighter, plain and simple. Beside the dad who wants her to take over, as well as having a sixth sense that totally doesn't manifest as physic powers. Yup. Just an underground fistfighter.

Zoe and Arki are two kitsune, foxes able to turn into humans. So they obviously just run the whole undercity in a big city. Zoe more with the fighting, Arki with the thievery. Oh, and they're dating.

Sixth, Cade:

Farmer got pissed at the gods for her village dying/falling asleep, so therefore needs to go murder the gods. Did I mention I have religious issues? Oh. yeah, she's got kids she needs to get up. She's got a big old axe. Need I say more? Besides the raging bisexuality?

Seventh, Queenie and Toma:

Queenie, a nickname, as her first name, Majora, is shared by Jo, is a queen, although she's had to run. Her skill with a sword is unmatched in the kingdom, save Tomae. She's incredibly depressed, and sees ghosts. Who happen to want to shove her off a cliff. She just wants to carve dolls and puppets. Did I mention she can animate them with spirits?

Toma, her adoptive brother, as well as her general. Blind in one eye, but still a good shot. If you're told to take care of your big sister, by your dad in his last moments, you do it. Oh, and he's really just trying to get a girlfriend. Or a wife. (Yes, he is straight, but he's not cis.)

Eighth, and final, Arina and Yuki:

Arina, pronounced like Arena, is a hunter. She's young, but the strongest in the village. Killing a dragon will win you that respect. She's probably not human, as well as possibly the only hope to keep her village alive.

Yuki's her daughter, and the end of the godly lines, which means she's special. She's very close to the plot, so no more spoilerinos for you all.

Let me know if any of you want to hear more! I have so much to say

#original character #long post #lgbtqia #this is my own story #please talk to me im lonely #tw depression #tw mention of death

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allisonreader · 2 years ago

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I have thoughts on the songs that I grew up listening to. In particular a selection of Christian kids songs that we had (and still have) both on cassette and a VHS concert. Mary Rice Hopkins and Company. They're fun songs, but some of them have left a big impact on me.

Hip Hip Hippopotamus

In the beginning God made the sea

And the forest filled with trees

He made the mountains up so high

On the very top He placed the sky

God's fingerprints are everywhere

Just to show how much He cares

But in between He had loads of fun

He made a hippo who weighs a ton

Hip hip hip hippopotamus

Hip hip hooray, God made all of us

Hip hip hip hippopotamus

Hip hip hooray, He made us

Creation sings of His praise

The sparrow and the tiny babe

We can sing and say well done

But some things He just made for fun

Hip hip hip hippopotamus

Hip hip hooray, God made all of us

Hip hip hip hippopotamus

Hip hip hooray, He made us

In the beginning God made the sea

And the forest filled with trees

He made the mountains up so high

On the very top He placed the sky

God's fingerprints are everywhere

Just to show how much He cares

But in between He had loads of fun

He made a hippo who weighs a ton

Hip hip hip hippopotamus

Hip hip hooray, God made all of us

Hip hip hip hippopotamus

Hip hip hooray, He made us

Hip hip hip hippopotamus

Hip hip hooray, God made all of us

Hip hip hip hippopotamus

Hip hip hooray, He made us

This one I really think helped shape the way I see the natural world. How I look at every sunset and sunrise and wonder at their brilliance even when they're not the most colourful. How every blade of grass is a beautiful sign of everything that is created and how everything is connected and works together.

Superman

I've got freckles on my nose and holes in my shoes

And the wrong color clothes and a missing tooth

I'm not Superman

God, You made me the kid that I am (ah)

Chorus:

Thank You, God, for who I am

I don't have to be a Superman

Thank You, God, for who I am

All I wanna be is Your best friend

Well, sometimes I trip and fall on my knees

I've got skins and bruises all over me

I'm not Superman

God, You made me the kid that I am (ah)

(Repeat Chorus)

I am just an ordinary mom

And sometimes things just go wrong

I'm not Supermom

So, join in and sing this song (ah)

(Repeat Chorus)

Well, my birthmark seems to be in the wrong place

And I can't keep up with my brother's pace

I'm not Superman

God, You made me the kid that I am (ah)

(Repeat Chorus)

Honestly, listening to this one makes me think that more people need to hear it in this day and age. That what we see as flaws or not in fad, doesn't mean that it's not how it's supposed to be. We don't need to remove our freckles or change our sex, we were created as we should be. (Within reason, that's not an excuse to not try and keep ourselves healthy. But plastic surgery and other such extremes isn't really a necessary thing to do. If that makes sense.)

Little Is Much

Chorus:

Little is much when He lives in your heart

Little is much when you know who you are

Little is much when He lives in your heart

Little is much

Verse

David was a shepherd who came to pray

"Oh Lord, there's a giant in my way"

And with his slingshot Goliath was slain

And down he came like a giant earthquake

Verse

Zacheus was small, he could not see

So he climbed up high in a tree

Jesus said, "Come down and follow me

Here these words that I speak

I have come for the children, I have come for you

Through My name, greater things you will do

Whether you are a baby brand new

Or if you are a hundred and two"

Verse

Moses never liked to speak

When he tried, his knees got weak

He felt such pressure he was under the heat

But with the words God gave him, he parted the sea

Oh, yeah little is much!

I don't actually have much to say in particular about this one. But it feels important to include it.

#there it is my minor thoughts on a couple of the different songs I grew up listening to #Mary Rice Hopkins #I probably could have said a lot more but at the same time it's still more feelings and nostalgia than words #they're such upbeat songs for the most part and I don't know if I know anyone outside my immediate family who knows them

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staysaneathome · 2 years ago

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Teach A Fish (Extremely Late Mermay 2022)

“And these are our prize specimens!”

Dr. Stoker is far too exuberant for Jon’s liking. In stark contrast to Director Bouchard and Jon himself, the man seems to embody what Hollywood likes to imagine marine biologists are like; too much energy, too many cheesy quips and one-liners, and far too good looks for the field.

Jon, with his greying hair, gaunt frame, and eyebags despite all his efforts to neaten up for his first day as a project head, feels he is a far better representation of the demographic, thank you very much.

Still, he can’t quite help the dawning sense of curiosity and wonder as the giant tanks come into view.

There are two; one slightly smaller than the other, with a more reasonable quantity of sand at the bottom compared to its neighbor.

This is the one Dr. Stoker leads him over to first. “This one in particular— came to us from one of our largest sponsors, and guy who found ‘em likes to pop by and see how his favorite catch is doing. Also I think he and Director Bouchard might have, like, a thing? So yeah, highest priority is keeping this one fed and well-cared for.”

It’s hard to see through the slightly cloudy water, but Jon adjusts his glasses and peers closer.

There, hovering towards the back of the tank, is a large figure, probably as tall as him on glance. It’s tail is dark blue, with pale silver speckles and translucent grey fins. Similar fins line the skin of it’s forearms and between the fingers, and the dorsal fin extends up to where he’d call it the mid-back on a human. Its hair is tightly coiled and floats in a cloud around its head.

“This mer is a variant of the gobiidae species, correct?” He asks Dr. Stoker. “Gobius niger, if I’m not mistaken.”

Dr. Stoker whistles. “You know your stuff! Yeah, this is FR3Y. There was some bickering between the Lukases over the designation before Director Bouchard declared that it was going to be that and shut them all up.”

Jon nods, making a mental note of how casually Dr. Stoker dropped the name of one of the largest contributors to marine life studies, and the fact that the head of the Magnus Institute for Marine Research apparently has the capacity to have the final say on disputes between them.

The mer’s head turns, as if it can hear them through the tank, before a flick of its tail sends it drifting disinterestedly off into the misty waters.

“The rest kept here are our ‘problem children’.” Dr. Stoker laughs as he guides Jon over to the largest tank in the room, which appears to be one third silt and sand. “That’s what me, Sasha and Gerry used to call them— all of them in here are adolescents. Too weird or unsociable to be sent off to nurseries or aquariums, too ‘special’ to leave to the interns or grad students to poke at.”

Jon’s about to ask what Dr. Stoker means by that, or whose bright idea it was to overfill the sediment, when sudden movement catches his eye.

A muscled hand, with dark brown webbing between its fingers, pulls a section of the silt near the bottom of the tank away, followed by another, gradually clawing away a small alcove before Jon’s eyes.

“Aaand there’s one of them now!” Dr. Stoker claps an unwanted hand on Jon’s shoulder. “P3TR4 here is functionally very similar to fish of the weever family! That means she likes to dig. And doesn’t like anything that isn’t digging. Which makes it very difficult when it comes time to do tests! Or introduce her to any new friends! This lot are about the only ones she’ll tolerate, and sometimes not even then.”

A pale face with dark eyes peers up at him, close enough to the glass that Jon’s almost certain it can make him out.

One side of its mouth curls up in what might be a half-hearted snarl or maybe a sneer, showing off rows of needle-sharp teeth. It turns and begins digging away.

“Yeah, she hates you, but try not to take it personally. She sort of hates everybody, and unless she gets a good grip on you, you’ll be fine.” Dr. Stoker begins climbing the stairway that’s been built around the tank. “You should’ve seen what she did to one of our old security guards! Come meet another member of the brat pack.”

Jon tentatively follows up the rickety metal scaffolding. “So… what did happen to one of the security guards…?”

“Oh, P3TR4 managed to pull her into the tank and down into her tunnels. Took us ages to ward her away enough that the guard could get out, and by then the poor thing’s nerves were shot to pieces. Could never work here again.” Dr. Stoker says, blithely. “Anyway, this is D3S, the cutest of the bunch.”

Jon has to tear his mind away from visions of a hapless victim getting dragged down to their watery doom to focus on what Dr. Stoker is pointing at.

This mer is much smaller than the other two, and much more lively as well. The proportions of its tail are similar to fish of the Chaetodon genus, while the more mammalian upper body resembles a small boy of…maybe five years?

Jon’s never had much interaction with children, so he’s only relatively confident in that assessment.

What’s odd is the fact that it is surrounded by what appears to be a particularly colorful swarm of sea lice, all fiery reds, oranges, and browns. Crawling through its short hair, over its gills, fins, and tail. The mer doesn’t seem bothered by them at all, chittering and chirping away with a wide grin as it carefully manipulates its passengers, cupping them in its palms close to its chest and dangling them from its fingers and tail to catch like it’s playing.

He turns to Dr. Stoker. “Aren’t those…?

“Hm? Oh, yeah, no, those things are parasites.” Dr. Stoker replies. “Nasty ones too. But D3S has somehow formed a symbiotic relationship with them—they get food and shelter from him and he somehow gets cleaning and vitamin supplements from them. Separating them turned out to be a bad time all round, he keeps them…docile, somehow. Plus D3S began getting sick without ‘em, so.”

Dr. Stoker shrugs, a what-can-you-do kind of gesture. “So long as you wear the proper protective gear, he’s a sweetheart. Sasha’s currently his favorite, but I’ve got a secret plan to make a comeback any day now. You’ll have stiff competition if you want to catch up!”

Jon can’t help the small scoff that escapes him at that. “It’s not a popularity contest. They’re research subjects in our care, not, not pets.”

The look Dr. Stoker gives him is indecipherable, before the lightbulb-bright beam is back and he’s leading Jon along the walkway again.

“Well now, where’s…a-ha!”

He comes to a stop after thundering down another staircase back to ground level, gesturing proudly to something at the base of the tall fronds of seaweed that block Jon’s view of D3S.

Jon obediently follows and looks where he’s being directed. He can’t help but do a double take at what he sees.

“This is R&D’s pride and joy. They designated it R0BB13.” Dr. Stoker’s voice washes over him as Jon takes in the newest mer. Overall, it wouldn’t be too impressive, a pale brown tail lighter than its skin, hands clutching a seaweed frond to anchor itself. There are small glows of green bioluminescence brightening and dimming along its tail and sides in rhythm with its sleep, the excess the only odd thing about what’s otherwise a standard mer of the Myctophidae family. Except.

Except it has clearly been fitted with a prothesis for the lower half of its face. One that appears to fit near seamlessly, advanced enough to have Jon torn between twin urges of getting closer to examine it or looking away out of ingrained politeness.

“Poor thing was half-dead when it was rescued and brought to Magnus. We think it ran afoul of Leitner and his poachers.” Dr. Stoker continues, grimacing with Jon at Leitner’s name. “Point is, R&D were hankering for a test subject to fit their newest gizmos to and nobody was going to let them lop anything off the mers already in custody. Then lo and behold, the perfect specimen dropped right into their laps. They were bringing in Prosecco for weeks after the initial success.”

“Initial?” Jon asks, his curiosity having won out over his manners. He is now mentally willing the mer’s loose curls to drift out of its face so he can have a better look. “But this is. It’s phenomenal. What this means for our understanding of medical treatment and rehabilitation of mers, particularly ones that would’ve been written off as lost causes, it just. It beggars belief.”

The mer lets out a stream of bubbles in sleep and turns its head into its far arm, much to his annoyance.

“Well, their attempts to restore R0BB13’s vocals weren’t as successful as other functions. Which on it’s own, y’know, wouldn’t be a problem, it’s amazing that this allows them to chew and swallow with no problems, even yawn and emote, as you said, revolutionary really, but. Even the most solitary mers rely heavily on vocal call-and-response to establish territory.”

Dr. Stoker’s hands are stuffed in his pockets, and when Jon glances back the other man’s staring at him, for some reason. “So here’s the rest of our problem children, getting along with mostly no issues, and then this weirdo is dumped into their neat little world. And no matter how many times they try to reach out, extend the olive branch, form a rapport, this stranger just won’t get it. Refuses to engage, no matter what they do. Even seems to be insulting them, in some cases, getting preferential treatment from their handlers. Is it any wonder there were some ruffled feathers in the beginning?”

Jon frowns, looking from Dr. Stoker to R0BB13. “Hardly. It wasn’t the mer’s fault it came in with this handicap. It didn’t ask to be put here, and it’s not at fault it can’t respond in the way the others are used to. It seems irresponsible to just—just dump it in the same tank as the others without some form of socialization beforehand. The Lukas family mer gets it’s own tank—surely providing one for this one isn’t out of the Institute’s budget?”

Dr. Stoker raises an eyebrow, but nods to him, turning his gaze back to the tank. “Yeah, me, Sasha and Gerry heavily advocated for that. Gerry especially, but Director Bouchard kept saying ��oh but that will set back all the progress we’ve made on socialization so far’ as if that progress wasn’t D3S hiding in fear until he learned they just wanted to play too, or P3TR4 using R0BB13 as a nail file, and—”

Dr. Stoker cocks his head to the side, cutting himself off suddenly. A grin Jon is very sure he doesn’t like spreads over his face.

“And,” He continues, as though he hadn’t stopped, shifting so his stance is oddly set. “It’s long past time for them to be up and about. It’s important to maintain a regular schedule, you know. Not healthy to oversleep, right?”

“I-I’m sorry,” Jon starts, confused, watching as Dr. Stoker raises a hand, winding up like a pitcher. “But what on earth does that have to do with an—”

Before Jon’s befuddled and horrified gaze, Dr. Stoker throws his hand forward to slam on the glass of the tank, bellowing, “WAKEY-WAKEY!”

R0BB13 jolts as its eyes fly open at the BANG, bioluminescence bright with alarm. It releases both a copious amount of bubbles and its hold on the seaweed in shock, then panics as it begins to drift up and away on the current, grabbing futilely for its previous handhold like it’s forgotten it has a tail to swim with.

On the other side of the tank, there’s a flurry of activity as D3S presumably flees for cover. A little closer, Jon spots a plume of sand burst upwards as P3TR4 pokes her head out of the sediment, teeth bared in a irritable growl.

But all that’s soon forgotten when in a blur of bubbles and claws and teeth, something rockets out from the undergrowth and SLAMS right back into the glass.

It does so with such ferocity that Jon really can’t be held accountable for stumbling back, tripping, and landing quite painfully on his arse. “What, what the hell—?!”

Dr. Stoker is laughing uproariously, even as a mer seems to be trying its level best to peel away the glass between them to get at his face.

A door at the end of the room bangs open. “DAMN IT TIM, STOP!”

A tall woman in glasses, lab coat, and lanyard storms out.

“If my samples get contaminated because of you, Stoker, I swear—”

“Pay up Sash!” Dr. Stoker points one finger at who Jon can only assume is one of his new subordinates and another at the mer attempting to murder him. “That’s three times now! It’s a pattern, you can’t deny it!”

The woman referred to as “Sash” scoffs. “3M1L’s mad you’re tapping on his glass Tim, it’s a territorial response! Oldest trick in the book. You can’t possibly expect me to believe—”

“Then why doesn’t he go Kill Bill on me when R0BB13’s not near enough to get freaked out by it?” Dr. Stoker says, in the tone of someone who believes they’ve won an argument.

The woman begins spluttering. “Wh—I—this is why D3S loves me more than you! Because you keep bullying poor, innocent fish to further your, your shipping agenda!”

“It’s not an agenda if it’s happening, Sasha!” Dr. Stoker sing-songs. “Changing the subject is just admitting I’m right!”

“Could someone please tell me what on earth is going on?!” Jon bursts out, tired of the conversation going on literally and figuratively over his head.

The two freeze.

“Oh! Oh I’m sorry!” The woman reaches down and pulls him up, dusting him off with quick, efficient strokes, before pumping his hand up and down. “Jonathan Sims, right? Dr. Sasha James, at your service.”

“And that,” Dr. Stoker adds, directing Jon’s gaze towards the tank where the mer has tired of its attacks and settled for glaring daggers at the three of them, eyes dark blue and murderous. “Is 3M1L. He’s of the ghost knifefish genus, does his best to live up to that name, and loathes absolutely everything except R0BB13.”

“You.” Dr. James fires back. “He loathes you, you mean. Because you keep banging on the glass—”

“Irrelevant!” Dr. Stoker proclaims. “Thing is, if you want him to not try to have your guts for a necklace while doing tests on him, make sure R0BB13 is nearby. He’ll behave in front of them. Or he’ll act out for attention! Luck of the draw, really.”

“The latter more often than the former, recently.” Dr. James concedes with a grimace. “Still, just because you fancy yourself matchmaker—!”

“I am nothing so facile as a matchmaker, James.” Dr. Stoker sniffs, in a passable imitation of Jon’s accent. “I see true love, and I follow my sworn duty to—”

“You said they were adolescents.” Jon’s voice sounds accusing to his own ears. “So this is all, all academic. A waste of time and resources trying to theorize about!”

“I don’t know about that.” Jon feels his blood run cold at the sound of his new employer’s voice. He spins on his heel to see Director Elias Bouchard standing behind them, not a hair out of place. “Peter was sixteen when I met him for the first time, and that meeting eventually lead to a highly enjoyable first marriage. Maybe an equally enjoyable divorce.”

There’s a moment of profoundly uncomfortable silence.

“…and you were…?” Stoker finally ventures.

Director Bouchard shoots the man a sardonic look. “Fifteen, if you must know, Dr. Stoker.”

“Does that make it better or worse??” Dr. James whispers.

Jon…honestly doesn’t know.

“Still, I see you’ve met two of the researchers on your team, and the subjects who’ll be in your care.” Director Bouchard comes to stand besides Jon, briefly clasping a hand on his shoulder. “There are technically three, but the last is currently on the night monitoring shift, though I’m sure you’ll all be introduced soon enough.”

“Michael Shelley, right?” He hears Dr. James say, as he watches 3M1L give them all one last snarl, then turn tail to swim towards the top of the tank, where R0BB13 is still flailing in panic. “I met him a few times—he’s cool.”

He vaguely knows that Director Bouchard is shaking his head, saying something else, but Jon can’t help that his attention is caught by the farce going on in the tank. He watches as 3M1L bullies R0BB13 into remembering they have a tail to swim with, nudging and prodding them back down to sediment-level, snapping toothlessly when they threaten to drift off again, before abandoning his fellow mer at the base of the seaweed to vanish back into the large cluster of rocks from whence he came.

R0BB13 looks…oddly forlorn, left alone like that, before they too disappear into the vegetation in a flicker of pale brown scales.

Jon wonders if they’ve gone off to find 3M1L or D3S to play with, but then he notices that P3TR4’s tunneling has brought her close to the glass again, her face pressed against it and focusing intently on something. But her eyes aren’t watching any of the four humans who are moving and talking not two feet away from her head, so what…?

“…but yes, given Dr. Keay’s departure following this to help bring Jürgen Leitner to justice, we are tremendously grateful that you agreed to come head this program, Dr. Sims.” Director Bouchard pats him on the back again, forcing him to re-zone in on the conversation. “You came very highly recommended by Dr. Robinson, so we expect great things from you here.”

Yes, because that’s no pressure on him at all. Jon takes a moment to long for the days when his thesis supervisor brought him on as a research assistant, where he, Jack, and Emma only had to monitor the relatively sedate 4GN3S and 4NN4B3LL3. Back before Gertrude strode in one day and dropped the bombshell that maybe it was time for Jon to have a project and research assistants of his own.

But Director Bouchard is waiting for a reply, so Jon clears his throat and straightens his shoulders. “A-hem, y-yes, well, I’m. I look forward to working with you all, and with, ah. Such a unique group of mers.”

“That’s certainly a word to call them.” Dr. Stoker mutters, as Dr. James delivers a well-placed elbow to his side.

Weeks go by, and Jon almost feels like he might have some form of understanding about this new situation that’s been thrust upon him.

Still no idea what he’s actually meant to be doing, beyond making sure the mers in his care are relatively healthy and noting down anything they do that’s particularly odd, but some understanding nonetheless.

For instance, he understands now why the position of being D3S’ favorite is such a coveted one.

It means that D3S will actually behave while being examined and won’t, say, attempt to nervously shred the protective gear Jon’s wearing out of anxiety or boredom, exposing Jon to his “little friends” and the many, many unpleasant rashes they bring.

He also understands why Dr. James is and mostly likely always will be D3S’ favorite despite Dr. Stoker’s harebrained schemes to the contrary—she’s thoughtful and considerate enough to anticipate problems and provide the solutions with minimal judgement and much commiseration, such as an experimental cream she’s developed to counteract the rashes.

He understands that Dr. Stoker isn’t anyone’s favorite, except maybe FR3Y’s and that’s more down to the mer’s apparently endless well of patience for Dr. Stoker’s incessant chatter while he pokes and prods about than anything else.

Jon understands that Dr. Stoker and 3M1L should ideally be kept separate at all costs.

He also now thinks he understands what exactly P3TR4 is looking at when she’s staring out of the tank from her tunnels.

He’s conducted a few experiments, nothing major, and it turns out that her gaze is usually fixated on (and gets much moodier if it is in any way blocked from) FR3Y’s tank. And oddly enough, the occasions when Jon’s caught her staring usually line up with the occupant of said tank being close enough to the glass to be clearly visible.

There are still things Jon doesn’t understand, of course.

He doesn’t, for example, understand exactly why P3TR4 keeps staring at FR3Y’s tank. His hypotheses so far— that she’s either curious about a place that she doesn’t have access to or feels threatened by a potential intruder to her territory—don’t hold up when taking the sheer length of time she’s been doing it for into account. By all rights, she should’ve gotten bored or realized FR3Y is no threat to her territory by now.

He doesn’t understand why Dr. James and Dr. Stoker insist that he’s 3M1L’s favorite. The mer clearly dislikes him, and if he scratches less with Jon than with Dr. Stoker or Dr. James, it’s probably only because he’s realized that Jon just wants to get the examination over with as quickly as possible.

He also doesn’t understand why Michael Shelley’s handwriting has undergone such a drastic change when he flips through the entries in the Night Shift log, going from near-illegible curls that nonetheless includes all the pertinent information to neater, less flowing print that either fails to provide certain data or delves into subjects almost totally unrelated to the monitoring of the mers.

He suspects it may be a hazing thing, Shelley deliberately antagonizing him because he thinks that just because he doesn’t see his new boss thanks to their differing shifts, he can mess around however he likes.

He doesn’t understand where the tea comes from. It’s there at the start of every shift he’s had so far, three gently steaming cups at just the right temperature to drink. The tea’s flavor has also gradually been improved over the course of Jon’s employment, so now when he picks up the purple mug with white, grey and black kittens running across it, the drink inside is exactly to his tastes.

He’s tried asking where it comes from, but Dr. Stoker just keeps saying “maybe it’s the ghoooost~!” and that’s really not conducive to any information gathering.

And he doesn’t understand why, aside from instances when they are deliberately woken up, he’s never seen R0BB13 awake during the whole of the day shift. Occasionally they’ll wake up by the time Jon’s preparing to leave, but more often than not they’re asleep from early clock in to late clock out

“I just can’t understand it.” Dr. James sighs. “Their species is diurnal, and they never used to behave like this. But the weirdest thing is that we feed all the problem children during the day, right? And R0BB13 is missing all of these feedings, because they’re asleep, but they’ve not lost any weight. Even put some on if the last measurement was right.”

Dr. Stoker shrugs. “Maybe 3M1L hides food for them to find later? Or whatever is keeping them up at night is feeding them then.”

Dr. James shrugs and goes back to slurping her noodles, but Jon finds himself coming back to the conversation even as he munches on his prawn cocktail crisps.

He feels oddly disquieted by the idea of a—a stranger coming in and deliberately interfering with one of the mers under his care, intentions unknown and completely unnoticed by Shelley on the Night Shift, the useless ass.

The more he thinks about it, the more intensely he dislikes it. This is something Jon needs to get to the bottom of, pronto.

Jon watches the cameras, scrubs through hours upon hours upon hours of footage.

It’s as Dr. James said: R0BB13 used to be much more active during the day. But over the past few months, something appears to shift its sleep cycle later and later, until it’s almost completely nocturnal.

But in all this time, it doesn’t seem to be stressed by the change. On the contrary, the mer’s health has steadily improved over the course of this period, scales it has scratched off on rocks or the bottom of the tank or lost to 3M1L’s or P3TR4’s mood swings growing back strong. When it is awake, it’s animated and sociable, bioluminescence growing brighter with each passing week.

Bright enough that, on the most recent tapes the cameras have caught several strange objects and what looks like a distorted figure perched by the top of the tank.

“Got you.” Jon hisses at the interloper threatening the sanctity of his project.

Jon pretends to clock out a little early at the end of the next workday, and goes and hides in the mens’.

Aside from a hair-raising moment when a security guard strode up and down the room banging on all the toilet-stall doors, this somehow works like a charm.

Jon resolves to have a strong Word with Elias about increasing security measures when everything is sorted—what if this is how the intruder’s been getting in?

He stays curled up on top of the toilet seat for a while even as the hours tick on. He doesn’t want to run into Shelley by leaving too early and allow the intruder the chance to escape in all the confusion.

Eventually his alarm vibrates at 2:00 AM, startling him out of the half-doze he’d fallen into. Jon has to take a moment to stretch out his stiff limbs before entering the main observation area.

The large, blocky shapes of the tanks are profoundly eerie, but Jon can’t chance using his phone’s torch until he’s found and confronted the interloper.

He strains his ears and eyes, watching, listening for…

There.

At the top of the tank, there’s the green glow of R0BB13’s bioluminescence, oddly tinted by what appears to be a weak, orange light.

Under the rush of circulating water, there’s a low murmur, barely audible.

Jon toes off his hard-soled oxfords and creeps up the metal stairs of the walkway with socked feet.

As Jon sneaks closer, the murmur resolves itself into faintly recognizable sounds, then into legible words.

“‘It is the star nearest to ours.’” A soft, lilting male voice is saying, as though in recitation. “‘It is four light years away. If you were invited to tea on Alpha Centauri in four years’ time, you would have to set off now and travel at the speed of light if you wanted to get there before all the cake had been eaten. Fortunately, you are here today, and there is plenty of cake left.’ Abel Darkwater smiled. He was better at smiling than Mrs Rokabye, but Silver—”

“Ah-HA!”

“AAAAAAH!!” A large, soft-looking man screams, nearly losing his grip on a hardback book in his hands.

There’s a small splash as R0BB13 falls back under the water in a panic.

In the light of his phone torch, Jon can now make out that the man sitting cross-legged by a whole host of the Institute’s scientific equipment (does he need to add theft to the list of this man’s crimes?) has extremely curly hair, copious freckles dotting his face and neck, and large, liquid-looking eyes squinting against the bright light that’s being shone into his face.

“Who-wha-who are you?!” The large, soft-looking stranger has the audacity to demand from his cross-legged position next to the tank’s edge. “This, this is a, a private area, in, in fact the entire Institute is off-limits to the public at the moment, how—?!”

“I can go wherever I like within my own department.” Jon snaps, brandishing the lanyard with his company id like it’s a police badge in some fast-paced cop procedural.

“Oh.” The blood drains from the man’s face and then surges back into his cheeks as he glances between the unflattering photo and Jon himself. “Oh! Oh, you’re. You’re Dr. Jonathan. Sims. I. Nice to meet you?”

“What,” Jon seethes, incensed by this stranger’s apparent inanity. “Exactly are you doing?”

“Oh, it’s, uh.” The freckled man with large, liquid eyes closes the book so his fingers are trapped between the pages, holding up the cover for Jon’s perusal. “It’s called Tanglewreck? By, uh, by Jeanette Winterson. I’m reading it to them.”

“What?” Jon demands, “Why?”

“W-well, we got through Winnie the Pooh and, and Paddington pretty quickly, and they like learning BSL, but, it seemed like they were a bit disappointed when I stopped reading to them? And, and I wasn’t really sure if they’d enjoy Malorie Blackman or Neil Gaiman yet, and Jacqueline Wilson always seemed a bit heavy, to me, like great stuff but, but sad, and J.K. Rowling is just. No? But I know Oranges Are Not the Only Fruit was important to me when I was younger, really helped me figure some stuff out. But that’s still a bit old for them, so when I discovered Jeanette Winterson had done a children’s book, I thought why not, you know? And, and it’s pretty good so far! Very in-depth about some topics, like time and how it functions differently on different planets, and—”

“Why.” Jon grits out, determined to cut off this nonsensical jabbering. “Are you trying to read to them in the first place?!”

That appears to stymie the man for a moment. “I. Um?”

“Who are you?!” He barks.

“Mar-Martin! Martin, Martin Blackwood, sir, no, sorry, doctor, Dr. Sims!” The man, Martin Blackwood, stammers.

“And what, Mr. Blackwood, are you doing in this Institute after hours?”

Martin Blackwood actually has the audacity to blink quizzically at that. “Well, I, uh. I work here.”

There’s a moment of profound silence.

“No you don’t.” Jon says with unflinching confidence.

This, this charlatan actually has the audacity to look confused. “I, um? I, I do?”

“No you don’t.” Jon repeats, looming over him. “My department researchers include Dr. Timothy Stoker, Dr. Sasha James, and Dr. Michael Shelley. And you? Are not them.”

Jon settles back, proud of having won the argument. He tries to ignore the small splashes R0BB13 keeps making in the tank besides them.

For some reason, the man’s brow only creases further. “Wh-but-wh—what?! Dr. Shelley left the Institute months ago!”

There’s another, less profound moment of silence.

“…No he didn’t.”

“Yes he did.”

“No he didn’t.”

“Yes.” Martin Blackwood’s getting up now, something fierce and burning in his liquid eyes, and good lord but how tall is the man? “He did. He left about a month ago to help this, this poacher-hunting investigative legal thing, and Gerry left to join him not two months later! I was transferred from the Records department to be his replacement!”

He gives a little decisive nod at the last part which makes his curls bounce.

Jon’s opening his mouth to retort when a wave of something freezing and wet hits his lower legs.

He can’t help giving a wordless holler, stumbling backwards til he hits the railing in an attempt to escape the deluge.

R0BB13’s eyes slit like a cat’s when his torch swings around to find them, the metal wiring that prevents them from crawling out of the tank casting criss-cross shadows over their face. Their bioluminescence is so bright it’s practically neon.

Their fins are spread wide in an obvious threat display, that’s only made more unnerving because Jon’s never seen R0BB13 perform one before. Though no sound comes out when they bare their sharp little teeth, Jon’s fairly certain they would be growling at him if they could.

Jon makes a wordless splutter, but is cut off from truly saying anything by Martin Blackwood sternly going, “No. No, Robbie, that’s not a nice thing to do to people, we do not do that. You know it’s very cold in there for us, it isn’t nice to splash if we’re not playing. There are better ways to ask for us to look at you, okay?”

“Robbie?” Jon sputters. “Wh—that’s not their designation, you—!”

And then he stops.

R0BB13 is repeatedly making a circular motion over their chest with one hand curled into a fist with an expression that mingles both regret and mutiny.

Beside him, Martin Blackwood huffs out a breath and continues in a softer, fonder tone. “Alright, I know you’re sorry, just don’t do it again, you hear?”

R0BB13 gives a small wiggle in response, obviously reacting to the positive tone of voice, because that’s all mers are intelligent enough to recognize, certain signals and sounds, they can’t actually understand human language or words, like dogs or corvids—

R0BB13 is using their hands to form more signs. Slightly crudely, webbing between their fingers impeding it somewhat, but still legible. And not repeating any of the phrases Martin’s just said. Responding, with new ones.

Martin gives a nervous laugh in reply, eyes darting to Jon. “Not, not right now, Robbie, we’ll continue the chapter later—”

“How are they doing that.” Jon demands.

Martin Blackwood and the mer give him identical strange looks. “Doing what?”

“That!” Jon gestures wildly with his torch to R0BB13, who’s begun sinking back down under the water like they can escape this. “The, the signing! There’s, there’s been studies, and, and tests, mers are nowhere near intelligent enough to—! How do they know how to do that?!”

“Be-because I taught them?” Quavers a man who clearly has no idea how many academic studies he’s just overturned. “I, I mean, it was just, Gerry mentioned how much trouble they were having socializing since they, you know, so I thought, well, I had to learn BSL for a retail position at the London Aquarium, and they’re a kid so it’ll be easier for them to learn a new language than an adult, right? I mean, all of them spend all day surrounded by us talking in English, and Robbie seemed to understand a bit of what was happening in Winnie the Pooh when I was trying to make them feel better and get settled down for the night, so I thought…?”

Jon has to take a moment to sit down, heavily. His wet socks squelch as he does so. “That isn’t possible. It shouldn’t be possible. It’s like something that someone who’d only ever seen mers in, in Disney would think up. It can’t. All those studies, and not one of them using immature mers…?”

“Hey!” The man who has forced this total paradigm shift on Jon protests. “I, I do have a Masters!”

“Do you?!” Jon’s retort isn’t so much a retort as an anguished cry. “Do you really?!”

“Yes.” Martin Blackwood asserts, not quite meeting Jon’s eyes.

Jon sighs, rubbing the bridge of his nose. “Look. I came up here to find out what was interfering with R0BB1—ugh, with Robbie’s sleep schedule. They’ve obviously been up all night with you, so they’re sleeping during the day when they’re a diurnal species. Bad for them and their socialization in the long term.”

“Oh.” Martin Blackwood looks down, eyes shining and sad. “I didn’t…”

“But now.” Jon lets out a laugh that sounds only mildly hysterical. “Now I will need to go to Director Bouchard about this. This is… It’s...”

“Oh.”

Martin Blackwood fiddles with the book’s dustjacket, shifting it up and down the book proper.

“Am I going to get fired for this?”

Director Bouchard isn’t the only one waiting outside the tank room when Jon gets in the next morning, in thankfully dry socks.

Martin Blackwood isn’t a surprise, nervously fidgeting with the sleeves of his soft-looking jumper and desperately stifling yawns behind one hand. The way the light reflects off of his curls is much more distracting under the fluorescents than under Jon’s phone torch.

The bald gentlemen dressed like what a rich person must think a sea captain looks like is a surprise though.

“Jon, this is Captain Peter Lukas, FR3Y’s sponsor.” Director Bouchard oversees the introductions with a thin smile. “Peter, this is Dr. Jonathan Sims, head of the Rehabilitation department. He and Mr. Blackwood here apparently have something very interesting to share with us that could affect FR3Y’s development.”

“Nice to meet you.” Peter Lukas says airily, releasing the grip quickly. “Hopefully this isn’t a waste of our time!”

Martin gulps. Jon inclines his head but doesn’t answer, hoping his face doesn’t give away that he feels exactly how Martin sounds.

They enter the room to the sound of Tim shouting “All the animals have gone mad!” in the extremely poor Australian accent that means he’s quoting Finding Nemo again.

To be fair to him, it’s not a totally inaccurate assessment. All the mers in the main tank are clearly agitated to varying degrees, with 3M1L feint-charging at anything that comes close enough to the tank to be visible, D3S flitting from hiding place to hiding place in a swarm of sea lice, and P3TR4 digging deep into the sediment, with only flashes of tail and fins visible.

It’s even influenced FR3Y, who’s bobbing near the glass as if to see what’s going on.

And in the middle of it all, R0BB13, following Sasha and Tim around whenever they get close enough, floating aimlessly by the glass when they get too far away, expression exhausted and frantic, hands forming six letter signs over and over again.

M-A-R-T-I-N

To his credit, Martin Blackwood immediately goes up to the tank, gently tapping on the glass and cooing, “Hey, hey, easy there Robbie, easy duck, here I am, I’m here.”

R0BB13 darts down to press against the glass, hands splayed wide and relief evident in their body language. It’s enough to get 3M1L to swim over to investigate as Martin keeps soothing them, without any threatening overtures. Even D3S and P3TR4 venture slightly closer.

“My word.” Director Bouchard breathes behind him.

“…I’m sorry, what are we looking at?” Peter Lukas cuts in. “The fish makes a bunch of odd hand motions? Why do we care about this?”

Director Bouchard claps a hand over his eyes and releases a very tense breath. Jon would swear he hears his boss muttering, “…the wedding date wasn’t already arranged, I swear I’d divorce you again.”

“Jon!” Sasha practically collides with him on one side. “Did you know about this?? That, that R0BB13 can communicate using BSL? Do you understand what this means? All previous communicative studies originated back in the 50s and relied on adult mers brought in for temporary captivity or attempting to teach adolescents to pronounce human language words, but their vocal cords aren’t built for that, so people just assumed they were learning animals on par with corvids and no real steps were taken to test the results of those examinations, when actually they do have the capacity to understand, just not the means or inclination to communicate that to us!”

Tim leans against him from the other. “Do you think that means that every time we were talking about 3M1L’s crush on…you-know-who, he could understand us?”

“You.” Sasha quips. “He could understand you. Because you were the one blabbing about it all the time.”

“You helped.” Tim snarks back.

“I did not—!”

“At any rate.” Jon shrugs off two of his three research assistants and faces his boss. “I hope that this convinces you of the validity of my proposal?”

Director Bouchard visibly has to tear his gaze away from the mers and gives Jon what he thinks might actually be a more genuine smile. “Well, I’ll admit that I was…skeptical, at first. And it will be a bit awkward to find another night shift replacement on such short notice.”

Martin stiffens, turning back to them. “I-I’m sorry, but what, what are you talking about?”

Director Bouchard tilts his head to the side. “Your promotion to the day shift, of course. The work you’ve done so far is far too valuable not to be recognized, and Dr. Sims here was very insistent of the potential upsides of you help monitoring and potentially replicating its effects. I assure you the move will come with a pay raise, as Captain Lukas here has helpfully agreed to subsidize.”

Peter Lukas grumbles, “Oh, have I now.” under his breath, only to be met with what appears to be Director Bouchard’s elbow to his side.

Sasha is giggling to herself gleefully, muttering about the differences in sign language and whether what language the humans a mer first came into contact with spoke could in any way influence the ease of learning.

Tim is grinning easily, “It’ll be a shame to lose the tea, but how about it, Marto? Want to help out with the problem children during the day?”

The man still looks slightly lost, as if this is all some kind of practical joke he’s waiting for the punchline to.

Jon coughs, “I know we got off on the wrong foot, and I do apologize for my…behavior towards you, last night. But I do sincerely believe you would be an asset to the research we’re hoping to start with them here. If nothing else, your tastes in literature should be enriching enough to be its own reward.”

Martin Blackwood’s smile is even more distracting than any of his other features put together.

Jon feels an instant commiseration with 3M1L at the way Tim starts shooting him knowing glances and snickering.

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lady-literature · 4 years ago

Text

Found Family

holy shit did this one get way out of hand. Don’t expect them all to be this long because hot damn this is a monster compared to literally everything else but it just wouldn’t stop

(should I have expected this? probably. we all know how I am about found family.)

anyway enjoy 4.5k words ig

based on this post | @maribatmarch-2k21 | find more here

***

When Marinette had been chosen to intern with Monsieur Wayne’s PA, she hadn’t been expecting anything special. Sure, the Waynes were an odd breed and generally considered strange, but Marinette hadn’t actually expected to have much contact with them—if any at all.

She was here to earn credit for her business degree.

Instead, she has… well. She thinks she’s been somehow inducted into the Wayne family, mostly on accident and kind of as a joke.

That is, until it very much wasn’t.

***

Her first mistake, she supposes, was being too good at her job.

Marinette is an old hand at keeping track of multiple moving parts and riding herd on stubborn people who’d otherwise be too distracted or goofing off. (She was the Court’s leader for more than just being the latest in a long line of Ladybugs, after all.)

After the first two days shadowing Selina—“please, darling. Ms Kyle is so formal”—and learning the broad strokes of the job, Marinette felt confident enough to dig her nails in and get to work. Selina spent most of her time dedicated to international tasks and arranging Monsieur Waynes’ private affairs—all of which was highly classified and not discussed with Marinette—so she turned her attention to inter-company affairs.

Her first order of business was personally meeting with as many people in managerial positions as she could get. Not a requirement for the job per se, but these were people she’d have to interact with often and Maman had always stressed the importance of building connections in the workplace.

“People,” she would say, “are far more willing to do what you want them to when you’ve endeared yourself to them.”

So Marinette takes that advice and spends her breaks and lunches charming employees and giving baked goods to security guards and learning the names of the cleaning crew. She doesn’t speak to the department heads, because Selina handles their correspondences, but everyone else is free game as far as she’s concerned.

She becomes a well-recognized face astoundingly quickly.

***

Marinette probably should’ve seen the rumors coming.

It’s common practice in not only the Wayne family, but in most business conglomerates, for the children to quickly rise through the ranks of their company—if not just handed a high position right off the bat.

It took barely a month before the eldest was all but running Human Resources, and the second was placed as Head of Security practically out of nowhere. Monsieur Drake is the youngest (and most terrifyingly calculated) CEO to ever hold Wayne Enterprises, even if he does share the title with his father.

The other three are still too young or have yet to express an interest in the company, but people say it’s only a matter of time.

The track record speaks for itself, even if Marinette wishes it didn’t.

As a girl who’d come mostly out of nowhere and found herself with far more divisive sway in the company than she had any right to, it’s no wonder everyone thinks she’s some sort of secret Wayne finally coming out of hiding.

Marinette had nearly choked on her coffee when Selina dropped the bomb of that particular tidbit of company gossip.

“Most think you’ve been unofficially adopted,” Selina tells her, looking far too amused for Marinette’s liking. “Seeing as you’re too old for official avenues now.”

Marinette looks up warily from the schedule she’s rearranging. Selina had all but shoved the thing at her a month ago when she started suggesting more efficient ways of managing the CEOs’ valuable time.

“Only most? Does that mean the rest have common sense?”

Selina’s grin widens even further, if that’s possible, and Marinette regrets her question even before the older woman starts speaking.

“Oh, of course not!” she laughs delightedly. “The rest are hoping to hear news of wedding bells. It’s high time someone swept a Wayne off the market, don’t you think?”

***

“So you’re the new little sister I keep hearing about.”

Marinette stares up through narrowed eyes at the brightly smiling Dick Grayson. In her stomach, there are already the beginnings of resignation starting to form.

“It’s nice to finally meet you!”

This man is going to bring her nothing but trouble. She can tell.

***

Dick takes a liking to her. And she, against her better judgment, finds herself doing the same to him.

It’s a little hard not to, if she’s being honest. He’s bright and bubbly and brings her bagels during his morning break without her ever having asked.

It takes practically no time at all before Marinette considers him a friend, relaxing when he’s near and laughing openly at his ridiculous jokes. Despite being the head of HR, he’s not great at the whole ‘professional’ thing and often employees will walk by to find him draped across a chair or balancing precariously on the edge of her desk while she tries and fails to get some work done while he’s around.

It really doesn't help all of the ‘Marinette is a Wayne’ rumors running around. Especially when Dick starts pointedly calling her every variation of ‘little sister’ that he can think of just to annoy her (and, she knows, because he thinks the entire situation hilarious).

***

Three weeks after befriending Dick, Selina all but shoves her into Monsieur Drake’s office and, in no uncertain words, says, “He’s your problem now.”

Marinette blinks at what she can describe as nothing other than a disaster area and just… sighs.

Tim blinks back at her.

The motion is somehow both completely blank and filled with an uncomfortable amount of knowing at the same time. There is also, she notices, a frankly ludicrous amount of concealer caked beneath his eyes and more coffee cups scattered on every flat surface than Marinette has ever seen in her life.

She knows his schedule like the back of her hand seeing as she spends hours of her day pouring over it to make sure everything runs smoothly. He has no prior engagements for the next three hours.

“You’re not going to take a nap just because I ask, are you?”

He snorts. “Absolutely not.”

She nods, having expected the answer; her phone was already at her ear before he even finished speaking. “Hey, Dick!” she greets, sounding brighter than she feels at the moment, and watches as Tim stiffens in front of her. “Yeah, no. I was just wondering if you’re busy right now.” She pauses. “Oh, good! Can you come up to Tim’s office for me? Yeah, I need you to knock him out so I can fix his dumpster fire of an office.”

Tim has since started waving his hands frantically at her, panic setting in behind his eyes.

Marinette stares at him, unmoved. “Thanks, Dick! You’re the best!”

The silence after she hangs up is deafening.

“I don’t know if I should be impressed by the ease you’re manipulating me or pissed off that you’re doing it in the first place.”

She hums thoughtfully. “Does your decision have any bearing on my future employment?”

His eyes squint. “…No.”

Marinette shrugs, mind already whirling with what she’ll need to get done first and calculating how long she’ll likely have to get it done. “Then I think you should skip right over both of those and land on resignation as quickly as possible, Monsieur, because you’re going to have to get used to it regardless.”

It’s silent for a long moment, and she worries for just a second that she’s severely crossed some sort of line. Then Tim bursts out laughing instead of, you know, firing her like he probably should have.

“Oh, yeah. You’re going to fit right in here.”

Marinette doesn’t ask where the ‘here’ is. She’s pretty sure she already knows.

***

It takes ten days for Marinette to wrangle Tim’s life into something resembling order. His office is clean and organized to his liking. She’s developed a system of filing so that all paperwork goes through her and is quickly sorted into ‘can be handled by Marinette’, ‘forge his signature and tell him about it later’, and ‘actually important enough to have Tim read through’.

His schedule is the most efficient it’s ever been and Marinette is quickly honing the skill of getting him properly dressed and out of his office in under thirty minutes. (Dick is, thankfully, a great teacher and has little to no qualms about giving her the key to all his little brother’s weaknesses.)

Selina stares at her when Marinette all but drags Tim from his office, a folder tucked neatly under his arm and the sugary monstrosity of a caffeinated beverage she’s bribed him with in her own, with a whole ten minutes to spare before his meeting with the Board.

“My dear,” she says solemnly, “you are positively magic.”

She doesn’t even look up from where she’s simultaneously wrangling Tim’s hair into submission and laying his tie down flat. “You have no idea.”

***

She knows Tim is capable of professionality. She’s seen the cool facade he pulls up in front of the Board members and the kind but impersonal smile he uses on the employees of Wayne Enterprises. (He is not the Ice Prince of the Wayne family, but Marinette believes he should have some equally ruthless sounding title.) He is aloof and sharp and every inch the businessman people praise him to be.

She’s seen it. And yet…

“Monsieur. Why are all the Lexcorp contracts I gave you done in crayon?”

Tim doesn’t stop messing with his Rubix cube or even look up at her when he says, “Cause deadbeat fathers don’t deserve the respect of a pen.”

Marinette is very tired. She does not have time for this. “What are you talking about?”

“Lex is a bitchass absentee dad and I live to inconvenience him.”

“What about inconveniencing me?” she all but whines. “I can’t hand him these!”

That does make Tim look up at her, eyes wide with false innocence and mouth pouting up at her. “But sister dearest, I’m your little brother. It’s my job to inconvenience you.”

Growling in frustration is probably an inappropriate reaction to the situation.

But, Marinette thinks, so is the fact that both of the Waynes she associates with regularly seem hellbent on convincing the world that she too, is a Wayne, so.

(Is this how Alya felt dealing with the twins? Cause if so, Marinette takes back every joke she ever made—little siblings are a bitch.)

***

She meets Damian without warning.

Honestly, she never really expected to meet him at all but, well.

She finds him in Monsieur Wayne’s office, sitting at his father’s desk and doing something that she thinks is vaguely illegal, but she’s not about to tell her Boss a dozen times over how to parent his children.

Damian is a near-perfect copy of his father with darker skin and calculating green eyes. There’s also a more potent aura of danger around the child than there is around his father, like Damian hasn’t yet learned how to hide behind his public persona as his father had.

Or, Marinette looks at the teen thoughtfully, perhaps he just chooses not to.

“Monsieur Wayne,” she greets. Children like to be treated like adults, she knows, and Marinette doesn’t think this one is any different. “Selina hadn’t told me you’d be in the office today.”

“I don’t run my schedule by her,” he says flatly. A response she expected considering Dick’s stories.

“Of course not,” she agrees.

He finally deigns to look up at her and something flits across his expression, too fast for her to pick up on it. “Are those for Father? Bring them here, I’ll deal with them in his absence.”

Marinette raises her eyebrow. “I’m not sure that’s wise Monsieur.”

Damian scowls and sticks his hand out. “I’m perfectly capable of forging Father’s signature. Give them here.”

She does not move and, instead, lets her lips quirk up into the smile she’s been fighting since she stepped in here.

“I don’t doubt it,” she tells him, and she doesn't. Forgery seems exactly like the kind of skill a child who broke into the CEO’s office of a multi-billion dollar company would have. “But you’ll find that all forging of signatures has been finished for the day and that these,” she shakes the sheaf of papers lightly, “actually require your father’s attention.”

He snorts disbelievingly and it says a lot about Marinette’s life up until now that the blatant display of disrespect doesn’t piss her off but instead reminds her of Chloé and of the fact that she still needs to reschedule their spa day. It's been too long since they spent time together in person.

“Well,” she pauses and eyes the papers thoughtfully. “‘Requires’ in the sense that its information needed to trounce the Board when they start spouting off greedy bullshit about cutting corners on our humanitarian efforts. I’m not sure how much of it is actually useful for anything besides that.” She shrugs. “But homework is homework, yes?”

That gets her a thoughtful once-over. His hand lowers and he then turns back to whatever he’s messing with on his father’s computers.

“Very well,” he concedes. “Father will be back in approximately thirteen minutes. You can leave the papers and I’ll inform him of their… importance.” He smirks, but it’s more like he’s letting her in on a joke than anything else.

Marinette smiles back as she sets the folder on the desk, feeling, oddly, like she’s passed some sort of test.

***

The day after, both Dick and Tim are waiting for her with what looks like an entire bakery laid out in her workspace.

“Uh,” she says eloquently, setting her purse down on her chair because there’s not a single open space on her desk not filled with some kind of pastry. “What’s all this?”

She looks up to find neither Dick nor Tim has stopped staring at her since she walked in. “We heard you met Damian yesterday,” Dick starts warily, like he’s scared of her reaction.

The response does not abate her confusion.

“Yes, I did,” she says slowly. “That does not explain all… this.” She waves a hand, trying to encompass them as well as the state her desk is in.

The two brothers share a look.

“It’s a bribe,” Tim tells her simply and Marinette is taken aback for all of a second before her eyes suddenly narrow.

Dick cuts in hastily before she can say anything. “It’s more of an apology, really. For Damian’s behavior.”

But Marinette is confused and frustrated and just a bit offended by the apparent not-bribe at this point. She closes her eyes and takes a deep breath, but it only does so much.

“Damain’s behavior was fine,” she tells them with measured neutrality. “You two, on the other hand, are being weird and it’s freaking me out.” She crosses her arms expectantly. “Seriously, what’s going on?”

Appearing from out of nowhere, Selina drapes herself along Marinette’s shoulders and snags a raspberry scone. “I do believe,” she says as if sharing a secret, “That they are trying to keep you from quitting, kitten.”

Marinette wrinkles her nose. “Why would I quit? I like this job.”

She also likes the Waynes (in general, if not right then) and she likes Selina. The woman was a good mentor who didn’t shy away from the dirtier parts of the job and taught Marinette all she knew. (Even the bits, she noticed, that had little to nothing to do with being a personal assistant and were more likely to be found in the repertoire of a thief.

But, Marinette is in possession of her own sticky fingers and knows how to not ask questions, so. You know—curiosity killed the cat and all.)

She doesn’t voice any of that, but Selina, at least, knows it anyway. Marinette isn’t quiet about her gratitude after all.

“First meetings with the youngest Wayne don’t often go well,” Selina tells her. “In fact, I think he has a habit of making the interns cry.”

Dick makes some kind of offended noise. “Hey! He hasn’t done that since he was twelve!”

Tim elbows him in the ribs and Marinette makes a vaguely skeptical face at all three of them before deciding it wasn’t worth it. She has actual work to get done today and pastries to get rid of before she can even start.

She pats affectionately at Selina’s hand before grabbing as many boxes as she can hold. “Come on you two,” she says to the brothers. “You’re going to help me hand these out to the rest of the company.”

Dick immediately starts doing as told but Tim hesitates, humming thoughtfully. “You know that’s not going to help your whole ‘I’m not actually a Wayne’ thing, right?”

She glares at him. It doesn’t stop Tim from grinning like the utterly unrepentant little shit he is.

***

Things are quiet after the Damian Incident for a whole two weeks. It’s the longest lull Marinette has had since she first started and became somehow involved with the Waynes.

It ends because Dick finds out about the crush Marinette has been nursing on the Head of Security for three months now.

The Head of Security who is Jason Todd: second eldest Wayne sibling and Dick’s brother.

He takes it better than expected.

(Almost, she thinks later, a little too well.)

***

Despite her friendship with Dick and Tim—or perhaps because of it?—Jason had never seemed very interested in her. At first, Marinette had shrugged and counted it as a win; there was one Wayne, at least, who neither found her situation funny nor used it to poke fun at her.

They were on friendly terms, she supposed. Security has always been one of her more regular stops in the building, so she’d spoken to him often enough. He liked complaining that she spoiled his team rotten with all her treats.

But she also noticed that he likes her cherry danishes, so.

And then she noticed how crooked his grin was when he smiled. And how he seemed to have an arsenal of nicknames for everyone he knew. And the small collection of classic romance novels filled with sticky notes he tries and fails to hide in his desk. And, and, and.

It was around the time she began unconsciously memorizing his schedule based on when he was and was not there for her pastry deliveries, that she realized she may have made a misstep somewhere.

Jason was stubborn and passionate and flipped between overly proper and crass light a damn light switch. He was also, as stated, very much not interested in her.

Not that she would’ve pursued him anyway. He was a coworker as well as her friends’ brother.

Now if only one of said brothers could understand that.

“You should ask him out,” Dick suggests not for the first time and Marinette sighs, also not for the first time.

She loves Dick—she truly does—but he has been an aggravating level of unhelpful since he found out about Marinette’s latest romantic disaster.

“I’m definitely not doing that.”

Dick groans, like she’s being the unreasonable one. “Why are you being so stubborn about this?”

“Because I don’t like embarrassing myself?” she asks rhetorically. “Not everyone can have a fairy tale romance like you and Wally.”

He throws his coffee stirrer at her. “We are not a fairy tale.”

She shoots him a flat look. She’s heard Dick talk about Wally and Tim’s told her all the stories and she was there when he and Wally finally got their shit together. Dick was unbearable for an entire week with his gooey, lovestruck new lease on life.

“You two are the definition of fairy tale. You two make fairy tales look like trashy romance novels.”

He opens his mouth to argue the point before forcibly cutting himself off. “No. Stop distracting me. We’re not talking about that; we’re talking about you and Jason.”

“There is no ‘me and Jason’,” she reminds him through her clenched teeth.

“Not yet,” he says optimistically. Like it’s a fact, like he knows something she doesn’t.

He makes her want to slam her face into a wall. Truly, he does.

***

Dick stops running his HR papers up to her office. Instead, he’s somehow convinced Jason to play errand boy for him even though he literally never looks happy about it. What used to be a flimsy excuse for Dick to slack off for a few minutes and gossip with her has now turned into awkward silence as Jason drops off the papers and leaves without even a ‘hello’.

During their shared breaks, Dick takes to orchestrating ‘chance encounters’ between her and Jason, all but shoving them into each other (and even actually shoving that one time). She catches Jason shooting dark looks at Dick every time he does it, and if she’d been holding any iota of hope at this point, it’s been smashed to dust. Jason obviously knows of his brother’s meddling and isn’t happy about it.

But Dick just can’t take the hint.

Every failed plan of his makes him steadily worse about it all—more frantic and frustrated and like he wants to strangle her for her stubbornness. (The last feeling being more than mutual.)

Dick’s meddling starts to make her and Jason’s previously friendly, if distant, relationship awkward and embarrassing. With every pointed comment, she gets closer to just punching Dick in the face. Or, maybe, she’ll just tell Wally who really ate all the chocolate strawberry macaroons she made; it’d certainly be more devastating.

***

It all comes to head on a Thursday, after most employees have left for the day.

They run into each other in a breakroom, and she watches as Jason suddenly goes stiff, eyes flicking over her shoulder to no doubt scan for Dick. That single action makes her expression sour and she slams her empty mug down with more force than was necessary.

For Kwamis sake, he looks like a cornered animal. An image not helped by the way he jumps a foot in the air and stares at her like he’s worried she’ll suddenly lunge at him.

“Can we agree this is ridiculous?” she says abruptly. “I don’t know what Dick is trying to accomplish with his wingman schtick, but we both know it’s not going to work. Can we just… agree that he’s an idiot?”

A complicated look crosses Jason’s face before he snorts wryly. “Yeah, we can agree on that. Dickie-boy has always been a few sandwiches short a picnic.”

“I know things have been awkward between us lately, and I’m sorry about that, but I hope we can keep being friends?” she says hopefully.

“What in the world do you have to be sorry about?” he asks before she can start catastrophizing about the bewildered expression he makes at her words. “It’s not your fault.”

The smile she shoots him is rueful and she shakes her hand in an ‘ehh’ type gesture. “Kinda is. And I understand if the-” she makes a vague gesture between them that she hopes properly conveys ‘my giant, stupid crush on you’, “you know, is too much for you. Just say the word I’ll try and keep out of your way.”

She’s trying to be comforting or understanding or something like that, but all her words seem to do is make him upset. “Absolutely not,” he insists. “Sunshine, you are not going to change your routine just to make me feel better.”

Marinette crosses her arms, frowning up at him. “Why shouldn’t I? If I’m making you uncomfortable-”

He makes a strangled noise in the back of his throat. “Uncomfort- Marinette. ” She jolts a bit at the use of her name. She doesn’t think he’s used it since her second week at W.E. “I’m not sure who made you think otherwise—and if it was Dick just tell me cause I’ll kick his ass —but barring the fact that I still enjoy your friendship regardless of any… feelings-” Marinette concentrates very hard on not showing emotion when he says that, “-it’s not your responsibility to deal with it.”

Okay, but… that makes no sense. Of course her feelings were her responsibility, that’s the whole point of them being hers.

“If it’s not mine, then whose responsibility is it then?” she asks, wondering where the hell his train of thought is running.

“Mine, obviously.”

She gives him a look, complete with narrowed eyes and thinly veiled judgment. “What? Is this some kind of gentleman’s martyr complex? Is that what’s happening right now?”

Jason huffs a laugh, but there’s no humor in the sound. “If me taking responsibility for my own damn feelings is a martyr complex then sure,” he snarks, not unkindly. More like he’s trying to protect himself by retreating behind a sour attitude.

Her mouth is halfway around a retort when his words catch up to her brain and she freezes.

“Your feelings?” she repeats. “Your feelings for… me?”

His voice is carefully neutral when he says, “Those would be the ones.”

Her mouth opens and closes and opens again. “You like me? Seriously?”

His face spasms at the question, starting at anger before he properly looks at her and the surprised expression on her face. He pales.

“You didn’t know?”

“No!” she squeaks, something she hasn’t done since she was fifteen. “Well Dick said but I didn’t believe him!”

And fuck, she thinks. This means Dick knew the whole damn time, didn’t he? Oh, she is so going to kill him the second she gets the chance.

Jason runs a hand down his face, covering his mouth as he gathers his bearings. Suddenly, his eyes shoot back open and land on her. “Wait. If you didn't know, then what the hell were you talking about just now?”

She blushes to the tips of her ears and buries her face in her hands so she doesn’t have to look at him. It was easy when she thought he’d figured it out himself. It’s harder now that she has to tell him. “I- I was talking about my crush on you.”

He’s quiet for so long that she gets antsy and peeks out from behind her fingers to see his expression. He’s still looking at her, but now there’s a wide, crooked smile on his face. The expression softens something in her chest and she lowers her hands.

“Really?” he asks, leaning closer.

Marinette nods, feeling a small smile spread across her lips.

He jolts forward, hands reaching for her before suddenly stopping just shy of touching. She startles a bit at the motion but doesn’t move away.

Jason licks his lips, smile smaller but no less bright. “I- can I?”

She blinks. “Can you what?”

“Kiss you.”

The blush returns full force, but with it also comes a smile, giddy and bright. She nods and no sooner than she does, is he swooping down to pull her into a toe-curling kiss. His hands cup her face with a tenderness that makes her smile, makes her giddy, and it’s not long before they’re both smiling too wide to actually kiss and are forced to break apart.

His hands fall to her back, practically engulfing her, and his chin drops onto her head. It’s warm and cozy and she thinks she could so very easily get used to this.

Later, they’re going to have to deal with Dick and Tim and Selina and the teasing they’ll no doubt have to endure—not to mention how much worse the rumors are going to get—but right now? Right now Marinette pulls Jason back down for another kiss and very pointedly doesn’t think about it.

#maribatmarch2021 #maribat #mlb x dc #jasonette #my typewriter #platonic dickinette #platonic timari

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uneamieimaginaire · 2 years ago

Text

Their Eyes Were Watching Bahamut (Eddie x Harrington!OC) - Pt 1 (SFW)

Synopsis: One of the Harrington twins receives an unexpected invite, which rekindles an embarrassing high school crush.

Warnings: None. (Yet.)

Word Count: 1.3k

A/N: I walked away from season 4 with the distinct impression that there weren’t enough Harringtons in love with Eddie Munson, so I made another. Eat up, my children. (And yes I gave her my name sue me)

“Henderson? Is everything okay?” Molly Harrington felt a prickle of alarm at hearing Dustin’s voice come through the phone in her apartment.

“What? Yeah, everything’s fine. Why wouldn’t it be?”

“You only ever call me when something is wrong.”

“What? That’s not true. I call you all the time.”

“You call Steve all the time,” she corrected, concern giving way to irritation. “You call me when otherworldly forces–or Russians–threaten our very way of life and my dumbass wombmate isn’t quite cutting it.”

There was a brief pause on the line. “Do I really never call you?” His voice squeaked guiltily, and Molly was struck by a pang of affection for the young teen. He was a good kid, even if he did seem to prefer the company of her dipshit of a twin. It was hard to hold it against him–the bastard was charismatic. And really, weirdly good with kids.

“No, you don’t,” she said, dampening her sharp tone to one of teasing disappointment. “Though I’ll find it in my heart to forgive you. What can I do for you, kiddo?”

“Are you familiar with the Hellfire Club?”

Molly was, in fact, very familiar with the Hellfire Club, though she thought that feigned ignorance might be the less incriminating play here. “Um, yeah, isn’t that–what’s his name–Eddie Munson’s thing?” She forced her mouth around the syllables of his name with careful neutrality. “Dungeons and Dragons, or something? I think I remember something about that back in high school.”

Specifically, she remembered a boy with a dimpled smile and an emblazoned shirt that showed enough forearm to be lethally distracting. She remembered her eyes catching on every club photo, and she remembered the clink of his rings from two seats behind her in Biology. She remembered the handful of times that his eyes met hers, and he would wink like they were sharing some inside joke. But Dustin Henderson could do without those particular details.

“Yeah, that’s the one,” he confirmed, unaware of her reverie. “So, we’re down a few players tonight, and Eddie needs Mike and I to find a couple subs.”

“...And Steve said no,” she finished, filling in the blanks.

A beat of silence.

“And… Steve said no.”

Molly laughed good-naturedly. “I appreciate your honesty. Well, lucky for you, I’ve got nothing going on, and I’m in the mood to prove myself as the cool twin. I’m in.”

__________________

Molly looked at the tiny form of Erica Sinclair with dismay and regret building in her gut.

“So, the only people you could find to fill in were me… and a middle schooler.”

“It was short notice!” Dustin defended.

“So you scraped the bottom of the barrel.”

“Don’t lump me in with you, bird-nose,” Erica shot back, harnessing that uncanny ability that children have to hone in on your greatest insecurity with laser-like precision. Molly winced, a self-conscious hand coming up to her nose. Dustin elbowed Erica, eliciting a trademark shout of “It’s just the facts!”.

“Jesus. I’ll never understand why Steve likes you kids so much.” She ran a hand through her hair, resigning herself to a terrible and embarrassing evening.

She followed Dustin, Mike, and Erica to the Hawkins auditorium, then to a dramatically lit room backstage. Molly had never been back here herself–in true Harrington fashion, most of her extracurriculars (at least, the ones that didn’t involve heavy underage drinking) had been athletic. Something about that fact made this space seem strangely off-limits to her. She took in the eclectic spattering of stage dressing–the collection seemed to be from a dozen different shows with not much cohesion between them. And in the center of it all sat Eddie, draped across his high-backed chair with the presence of a king holding court. Two other members of Hellfire (she vaguely recalled their names being Jeff and Gareth) stood at attention at his sides. His eyes found her immediately, causing a chain reaction of nerves and synapses firing. His head lolled to the side inquisitively, wearing an expression of surprised amusement. She became intensely aware of her hands, suddenly having a hard time figuring out where to put them that would look even remotely human.

“Molly Harrington?” he said coolly, drumming his ringed fingers on the table. “This is a surprise, to say the least. Wheeler and Henderson have more pull than I gave them credit for.”

She pointedly ignored the dull roar of her heartbeat and shot him a cocky grin. “Wouldn’t miss an opportunity to see Eddie Munson in his element.”

“Is that so?” he mused, evidently still playing the part of a haughty royal. His eyes lingered on her a moment longer than necessary before sliding to the child beside her. The smile playing at his lips quickly vanished.

“Absolutely not.”

“You asked for subs,” Dustin posited, gesturing towards the two of them, “we delivered.”

Eddie leaned forward with a tight, unamused smile. “The Harrington can stay, I have no issue with that. But this is Hellfire Club. Not babysitting club.”

Molly watched the following exchange, but she was woefully distracted by the way Eddie’s eyes occasionally flickered towards her, as if he had a hard time believing she was actually there. Something about the quick, surreptitious glances made her synapses crackle with electricity. She did her best to not let it show on her face. When Erica bit back with a comparison to his mommy’s book club paired with an adorable threat of violence, Eddie seemed utterly charmed by the piss-and-vinegar preteen. He held out a hand and welcomed her to Hellfire with a poorly concealed grin.

He turned, and his attention once again rested fully on Molly.

“And what about you? You have a character prepped?”

“Well,” she responded, suddenly feeling a bit self-conscious, “I did what I could with 3 hours notice and minimal instructions.” She held up a slightly crumpled, hastily completed character sheet. “Druid sounded fun?”

Jeff and Gareth chuckled mockingly, but were quickly silenced by a hard look from Eddie. He turned back to her, his expression warming.

“A druid is a fine addition to the party. Welcome aboard, Harrington.”

____________________

Molly found herself getting into the rhythm of the game quickly. Eddie was a hell of a storyteller, and it was hard to be anything less than enthralled when he really got into it. This was truly Eddie Munson in his element.

He was achingly patient with her while she picked up the mechanics of the game–she half expected a mocking dismissal of her lack of aptitude for the nerdsport, but he gave her the time she needed without a hint of frustration, dropping little hints to help her along. An hour in, and she was feeling more or less self-sufficient. She started off treating it like a singles tennis match, trying to land the biggest and most impressive hits on her enemies, but ultimately she found that it was more productive to treat it like volleyball. More often than not, she’d set up the ball and allow another party member to spike it and win the glory points.

As the fight with Vecna progressed, the party received a thorough ass-whooping, until only herself, Dustin, and Lady Applejack remained standing. The players called for a group huddle, but Molly remained seated, one leg flung casually over the arm of her chair.

“Molly,” Dustin hissed, waving his hand impatiently. “Huddle.”

“Fuck your huddle,” she said over her shoulder, wearing an arrogant grin. “You guys can do what you want, but I’ll be seeing this through to the end. Momma Harrington doesn’t raise quitters.”

“There’s no shame in running, you know,” Eddie said, leaning forwards, eyes glinting with playful challenge. “Not this time. Odds of you walking out of this alive are, well, not in your favor.”

Molly mirrored the motion. “Never tell me the odds.” Without breaking eye contact, she called over her shoulder. “We doing this or what, assholes?”

Eddie’s resulting smile was the sort of thing that melted glaciers. A cheer erupted behind her, and the party responded swiftly to her rallying cry.

#stranger things #eddie munson #eddie stranger things #stranger things fanfiction #eddie munson fanfic #eddie munson x oc #eddie munson x harrington!oc #eddie munson x reader

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hercleverboy · 4 years ago

Text

stars

spencer reid x fem!reader

summary ↠ spencer and the reader watch the stars and talk about their future.

category ↠ fluff

warnings/includes ↠ none

word count ↠ 1.7k

dedicating this fluff fest to my wifey, @alltooreid thank you for not only your creative input on this, but also for being there for me when i needed someone. much love <333

“And so I named the stars one by one, after every favourite memory of you.” — Stephen Stilwell

“Isn’t it beautiful?” She whispered, eyes staring up into the night, drawn to the little specks of light dotted in the clear sky. They were laid on the soft grass, blanket beneath them as they looked up together, beaming smiles on both their faces.

He grinned down at the woman who rested her head on his chest, his arms wound tightly around her. “It certainly is. I’m surprised the sky is so clear tonight, I really didn’t think we were going to be able to see much.” He admitted with a little laugh.

She chuckled at that. “You didn’t think we’d see much, and yet you still let me drag you out here at an ungodly hour so we could watch the stars?” She asked, shuffling slightly so she could look up at him.

“Of course. You’re cute when you’re excited, I didn’t have the heart to tell you that the probability of the sky being clear enough for us to see anything was only around 37%.” He explained, intertwining their hands together. “But there you go again, proving me wrong.”

“Hm. Aren’t you supposed to be a genius or something?” She joked, making him roll his eyes.

“I am! Unless you too can recite the Bible from memory? Or the manual for our microwave?” He joked, causing Y/N to give him a gentle shove.

“Can I ask you something?” She whispered, looking up at him.

He breathed out. “Anything.”

They were quiet for a little while before she spoke again. “Do you ever think about our future?”

Spencer’s breath hitched at the question.

Of course, he thought about their future. All the time. Marriage, kids, a big house with a white picket fence, perhaps even a dog. It was the ‘apple-pie’ life he’d dreamt of, more than he’d like to admit.

He gave her a squeeze, one of reassurance.

They’d been together for two years. Two years that had simultaneously been the best and worst of his life. In those years he’d nearly died after being shot in the neck, he’d lost Alex, Kate, Gideon, and the team was still under immense threat from Mr. Scratch. And somehow, admist all the chaos, he’d met this incredible woman who had helped him through it all. The last few months in particular had been rough for him. With Morgan leaving the team and his mother’s condition worsening, it had certainly made him reconsider everything he had in his life and also reminded him of not only what he’d lost, but what he’d gained.

Y/N sighed, but still gave Spencer a smile. “It’s ok. We don’t have to talk about it, I was only wondering.”

“No, no. It’s ok. I’m just trying to gather my thoughts, is all.” He assured her, moving to sit up straight. Y/N sat up too, Spencer reaching out and grabbing one of her hands to hold tightly in his. “I think about it all the time, truthfully.” He mumbled.

“You do?”

“Of course, I do. You’re it for me, Y/N.” He gave a small smile, his gaze dropping to their intertwined fingers. “It’s just, I’ve been thinking a lot lately.”

Y/N nodded, urging him to continue.

“I’ve been thinking about my position at the BAU.” He stated firmly. Y/N’s eyes widened slightly in shock, surprised at the confession. The way he said it was so sure, so certain. He’d evidently been thinking about it for quite some time.

“Ever since Morgan left, I’ve been going over it again and again in my head. I understand why he left. His family needed him and it’s honestly the most admirable thing I’ve ever seen him do. I just wonder,” He paused, biting down on his lip in thought. “Would it be wise for me to make the same decision he did?”

Y/N frowned. “What do you mean?”

“I just mean— Y/N I love you. I want us to get married, have children, I want us to have a life together. And after watching Morgan, seeing how he gave up the job for his family, don’t you think I should do that too? For you, for us?” He explained, eyes finally meeting her worried ones.

“Woah, woah Spence. Are you saying you’re thinking of leaving the BAU?” She clarified, moving a little closer to him.

Spencer nodded. “I know, it seems crazy right? At first I couldn’t believe that I was even considering it but I’ve thought about it a lot and it just, it seems like the right thing to do.” He gave a small shrug. “If we’re going to have a life together I want our family to be my priority, and I just don’t think I can do that while I’m still doing this job. I’ve seen it all first hand. I watched Hotch lose Haley, I watched Morgan nearly lose Savannah, all because of this job.”

Y/N shook her head slowly, much to Spencer’s surprise. “Spencer... I won’t be the reason that you leave a job that you worked so hard for, a job that you love so much. What about the team? They’re your family- “

It was Spencer’s turn to shake his head, cutting her off mid-sentence. “You’re right. The team are my family, but so are you. And if they care about me like I know they do, they’ll support me with this. And as for jobs? There are plenty out there that I’ll enjoy. I’ve actually been thinking of getting in contact with Alex, maybe asking about teaching opportunities at Georgetown.”

Y/N looked up at him, eyebrows furrowing as she studied his face intently. He avoided her eyes, small smile pulling at his lips.

She smiled back, a knowing look on her face. “You’ve already spoken to Alex about it, haven’t you?”

Spencer chuckled with a nod. “You know me too well. I spoke to her last week. She said there’s an open spot as the head of the Criminal Psychology department. The job is mine if I want it.”

Y/N gave him a grin, squeezing his hands. “Are you sure this is what you want?” He nodded, but that wasn’t enough for her. “No, I need to hear you say it. I need to know that you’re not going to resent me in a few years because of this.”

He was quick to shake his head, pulling her toward him as one of his hands came up to cup her face. “I would never resent you.”

“So, this is what you want?” She asked once more, just so she knew he was absolutely sure.

He nodded adamantly. “I want you. I’m only ever going to want you.” He murmured the words so softly that it made Y/N’s heart ache. “Now, and for the rest of my days.”

With joyful tears building in her eyes she nodded, enveloping him in a hug as he kissed the side of her forehead.

Spencer let out a sigh accompanied by a teary smile. He gave her a squeeze, his hands soothing along her back as he looked up at the stars. “Did you know, there’s an old Buddhist saying that when you meet your soulmate, remember that the act to bring you together was 500 years in the making. We’re supposedly, quite literally, bound together through space and time. Isn’t that cool?” He rambled, earning a chuckle from Y/N.

“That is really cool.” She agreed.

“You know I’m a man of science, but how else is it possible that you came into my life at a time where I needed you the most?” He whispered the last part, as though he was afraid to be so vulnerable as to let the words leave his lips. “Do you- do you think it’s possible that the stars brought us together?”

She grinned, tilting back her head slightly to look up at the stars with him. “Yeah, I think so.”

Spencer looked down in awe at the baby girl pressed against his bare chest. Josephine June Reid, barely three days old and already she had her father wrapped right around her tiny finger. Nothing he’d ever felt before compared to the feeling he had when he looked down at her, his little girl, his daughter. She slept peacefully against him, her little chest rising and falling rhythmically as his hands soothed over her back, gently rocking her.

There was a soft knock on the nursery door, his tired-looking wife pushing it open. “Spence?”

He looked up, and offered her a warm smile. “Hey, you’re supposed to be resting.”

Y/N gave a sleepy grin, moving toward them. “You know that we’re supposed to sleep when she does, right?”

He snickered at that, raising an eyebrow at her. “You only gave birth three days ago. You know I’m going to tell you to get back into bed, right? Doctor’s orders.”

She held her hands up in a mock surrender, placing a kiss on the side of Spencer’s head. “I know.”

It was silent for a moment, the new parents just staring down at the little life they’d created, filled with such a warmth, such a happiness that they’d never felt before.

“I can’t put her down, not yet. I don’t want to let her go.” Spencer whispered, bringing up a finger to soothe over his daughter’s cheek. “I love her so much.”

“I know. She loves you too.” Y/N assured, watching with joy at how Spencer was with their daughter. He really was a natural with kids.

“You really should go back to bed, love. You need all the rest you can get.” He warned in a playful tone.

Y/N chuckled a little with a nod, bending down to press a gentle kiss to her daughter’s forehead. “I’m not going to fight you on that one Doc, I’m exhausted.” She ruffled the curls on her husband’s head, offering him a warm smile. “Love you. Come back to bed soon, yeah?”

Spencer nodded, promising he would.

Before Y/N left the nursery, she turned back to her husband, calling his name softly. “Spence?”

“Yeah, love?”

“Do you regret it now?” She whispered, her fingers fumbling together as though she was afraid she wouldn’t like his answer. “Do you regret leaving the BAU?”

The question made him frown, it made him think. Did he regret leaving?

His eyes flickered between his wife and the beautiful little girl against his chest and he smiled slightly at the realisation. This was everything he’d ever wanted, here, right in front of him. Every decision he’d made, every moment of heartache, every person he’d lost, they had all lead him there. To that very moment.

And for that, he was so incredibly grateful.

“No.” He replied, his voice as sure as the day he first mentioned leaving. “Not even for a second.”

He supposed he had the stars to thank for that.

#spencer reid #spencer reid one shot #spencer reid x reader #matthew gray gubler x reader #matthew gray gubler #mgg x reader #mgg #spencer reid x fem!reader #spencer x y/n #criminal minds

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biggest-stupidhead · 4 years ago

Note

Heyy!!

I dont think there's such think as semen donors in aot cannon?

BUT WHAT IF Captain Levi agrees to be the donor to squad leader (or just cadet) reader in a platonic relationship/eventual romance?

Just cute ackerbabies!

Lmao you’re probably right, no semen donors in canonverse. But I honestly love this idea so much, I feel like it would be hard for Levi to make that romantic connection so I could see him making that choice, and maybe it developing into something more!

Summary: Levi can’t wait any longer to start a family, and you are willing to take that step with him.

Word Count: 1.7K

You choked on the small sip of tea that you had taken. Catching the small drops of liquid that had escaped your lips.

“Come again now?” You managed to form words after a moment, Levi seemed uninterested as always, those charcoal grey eyes dull and apathetic.

“You heard me just fine, you know that I hate repeating myself.” He scoffed as he shifted so that his leg was crossed over his opposite knee,

“Yes I heard you but....marriage?” You were shocked to say the least. Levi had never shown any prior interest in any long term relationship with anyone, although the two of you had hooked up a handful of times.

“I don’t see why not. We already share a room, not to mention that we-”

“Okay I get it, just...it’s a big commitment and I’m not sure that I’m-”

“Oh please, what else do we have to look forward to anymore? No more fighting, no more political issues to deal with might as well settle down and...” He trailed off, his gaze cast downwards into his cup of tea, which was probably cold by now. You sighed deeply, placing your cup down gently and leaning back into the sofa that the two of you were seated on. His arm was slung casually across the back of the sofa, his finger tips ghosting over your shoulder.

“I know but Levi...marriage?” you were a bit disappointed. He had said it so casually, as if he was asking you if you wanted to run to the market to grab apples.

“If you don’t want to then just say no.” He snapped, clearly getting frustrated, he rose to his feet and began to march towards his desk. You chased after him, catching his wrist. You knew it was difficult for him to express himself, to put things lightly or being considerate to your feelings.

“It’s not that...I’m just a little caught off guard.” You admitted as you held his wrist gently. He let out a breath that he had seemed to have been holding in, he turned and laced his fingers through yours, his other hand diving into his pant pocket. You waited patiently for him to say something, but he only pulled out a small black box. Your heart skipped a beat, this was more how you had pictured being proposed to. He fell onto his knee and opened the box slowly, revealing a modest silver ring with a small diamond embedded in the ring.

“Oh Levi...” Your fingers were still laced with his as he knelt down, you squeezed his hand affectionately.

“I already bought the damn ring, just say yes.” He grunted, averting his gaze as his thumb glided over your knuckle.

“You have a point there.” You chuckled as you gave him a small nod, which was enough of a yes for him.

You were married by the end of the month, a simple court house wedding with Armin and Mikasa as your witnesses. Afterwards you had gone home and eaten dinner as usual. Just another week, except now the sex that you and Levi occasionally had, became a hell of a lot more regular. You had no complaints, or at least that was until you were hunched over the kitchen sink puking your guts out. You had missed your period as well, and it didn’t take a genius to know what that meant. You decided to wait until you were certain to tell anyone this however, seeing how difficult pregnancy could be, and the unlikeliness of carrying to full term seemed high.

So you made sure to go to the doctor twice before telling Levi that you were pregnant. He’d had a very similar reaction that you’d had when he had asked to marry you.

He choked on his tea, his hand flying to his chin to catch the liquid.

“Pregnant?” He repeated, and you nodded, leaning against the table where he was sitting.

“H-How long until...”

“Give or take seven months.” You shrugged, trying to put on a brave face, after seeing how frazzled he was you wanted to make this as casual as the rest of your relationship.

“So...we should probably start cleaning out that spare room and-” You cut him off by kneeling down and placing a chaste kiss to his lips.

“We’ve got plenty of time for that, for now let’s just...enjoy not being responsible for a helpless shitty baby.” You said softly as you slowly sank onto his lap. He hummed his approval, but still seemed rightfully on edge.

“We can start cleaning the room in few weeks, there’s no rush.” You assured him as you scattered kisses across his sour face.

“I’ll start tomorrow.” Levi hummed as he tilted his head to the side.

Turned out that you were both in way over your head. Around 12 weeks into your pregnancy Hange was pressing her stethoscope to your rapidly swelling belly when she froze. Levi tensed when he noticed this, and you frowned.

“What is it?” Levi asked as he gripped the back of the exam table.

“Nothing’s wrong...just-”

“Doesn’t seem like nothing.” Levi scowled as he watched Hange continue to feel around your stomach.

“That’s cause it isn’t nothing, I’m hearing two heart beats.” Hange told you as she stood to her full height.

“Two heart beats?” You felt feint at the news, you had known that twins ran in your family but you had never expected to have them yourself.

“Yes, it appears that you are having twins” Hange said with a wide smile as she folded up the stethoscope. Your vision blurred, the worry that you had been experiencing prior to the appointment had doubled along with the number of children you were having.

“No shit.” Levi replied breathily as he held your shoulder firmly.

“If I were you guys I’d go clean out that room now.” Hange advised as she cleaned up the space that you had been using as a makeshift exam room in her office.

“I’ll get right on that.” Levi said, shooting you a concerned look as he helped you up onto your feet.

The twins were born premature, the labor itself wasn’t nearly as bad as you had expected. But you realized that it wasn’t that bad because of how small they were. The only reason that they both survived was thanks to the Marleyan medical equipment that had been shipped over courtesy of Zeke and Yelena. You and Levi spent countless hours in the hospital as you awaited for the twins to be discharged. In that window of time you decided on names, it was difficult but you decided on Harrison and Harper. You weren’t surprised to find that they both took after their father, dark bluish grey eyes with a full head of black hair. The one thing they seemed to have gotten from you was your facial structure and your complexion.

It was a massive relief to bring them home, now instead of staying up until the wee hours in the hospital you could do it in the comfort of your own home.

One particular evening you were walking laps with Harrison, gently patting his back as you bounced off of your heels as he cried. On your third lap around the entire cottage, you peeked into the nursery to see Levi reclined on the rocker with Harper fast asleep. His eyes were closed, his naked chest rising and falling evenly as he slept. You envied him as you rubbed circles on Harrison’s back once more. His cries slowly died out and you managed to drag yourself to your bed and place Harrison down gently. Using the extra pillows, you managed to make a small barrier between him and yourself as well as the edge of the bed. It wasn’t often that you got to do this, seeing as you usually slept with Levi. But Harrison seemed content with laying in his dad’s spot for the night. His big blue eyes were watching your hair sway over his face as you adjusted the pillows. He cooed and babbled for a few minutes before falling silent, his tiny breaths putting you at ease.

It couldn’t have been but an hour later when the sound of Harper crying woke you once more. Levi was pacing around the same way that you had been earlier before he finally managed to put her at ease. He returned to your room to see you sitting up, Harrison fast asleep at your side.

“Care to join us?” You asked, voice gruff with sleep, or rather the lack there of.

“Would I ever.” Levi groaned as he placed Harper in the pillow barrier with Harrison who was still fast asleep. He managed to squeeze onto the bed, laying on his side like you were as the two of you watched Harper sooth herself into sleep. His gaze left the small baby in favor of studying your features.

“What would you have done if I had never asked you to marry me?” The question caught you off guard, your fingers were tracing the soft features of your babies. You hummed in thought but the answer was already on the tip of your tongue.

“I’d have asked you to marry me.” You said with a wry smile and Levi rolled his eyes at your cheesy reply.

“That’s not what I meant...well not really.” Levi grumbled, you paused again in thought. What would you have done? Certainly no more military work, that chapter was over for you.

“Maybe I’d open a bakery. My grandmother left me all of her recipes. What would you do?” You asked, finger running along the soft dark locks of hair that were growing from Harrison’s head.

“I’d open a tea shop.” Levi answered quickly, his own gaze back on the babies, his hand resting on Harper’s stomach, rising and falling with her breathing.

“Why don’t we just say fuck it and do it?” You asked, not sure if you were serious or if it was the lack of sleep talking.

“There was that space for lease last time we went into town...” Levi offered thoughtfully.

“Yeah, we could fix it up and open a cafe.” You said excitedly as you leaned over the sleeping babies in hopes of coaxing a kiss from Levi. He nodded in agreement before leaning over and planting a kiss to your lips.

“We’ll talk about it in the morning. Go to sleep.” Levi sighed as he stretched out on his side, and closing his eyes. You smiled and mirrored him, your hand resting on Harrison’s stomach now as well, your fingertips brushing his.

You knew that you’d made the right choice. Marrying Levi was the best decision that you’d made in a long time. It may not look like the typical love story, but you knew that it was real, realer than most relationships. And you wouldn’t want to have it with anyone else.

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