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makomori · 4 years ago

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FOUR | OBSERVATIONS

USHIJIMA WAKATOSHI x OC

Nishimura Yua has to take her nephew to his first rep practice with the Tohoku Tigers at Shiratorizawa Academy. Ushijima Wakatoshi is filling in for the assistant coach on said team.

She’s recovering from a nasty breakup and he’s reeling from a stunning finals loss against the Jackals.

Yua’s drawn to his composure and honesty.

Wakatoshi finds her warmth and tenacity intriguing.

It’s the start of a Brand New Story; can they heal from past hurts and endure new challenges in order to help each other trust and love again?

CHAPTERS

ONE | NEW TERRITORY

TWO | FAMILIARITY

THREE | INTRODUCTIONS

Length: 3.5k words

Yua goes in to event planner mode while Wakatoshi assesses Rui-kun's skills. And an innocent gesture throws both parties off balance.

If someone makes you feel, let them. | Reyna Biddy

Step one: Get Rui-kun to practice with one of the best wing spikers in the V.League.

CHECK.

Yua tried not to look too satisfied with herself, but that turned out exactly how she thought it would. Well, maybe not exactly, but it was close. A big part of her job was facilitating meetings between two parties and setting up this pepper session was no different. In fact, it was easier because she didn’t have to read between the lines with Rui-kun and his Wakatoshi-san. They loved volleyball and that more than enough for them to connect.

After Wakatoshi-san left her to practice with an almost-bouncing Rui-kun, Yua placed her overcoat and backpack on the sidelines. Good thing she decided to wear her favourite pair of stretchy, high-waisted jeans and a black t-shirt; she’d be bending and twisting to get the net set up properly. Plus, stretchy meant she could eat whatever she wanted without feeling guilty.

Two of her closest friends at Date Tech were managers on the volleyball teams, so she often got roped into setting up and cleaning up whenever they needed extra help. And by the looks of things, Shiratorizawa’s equipment wasn’t too different from she was used to dealing with.

With a little, “Hup!” she carried one pole across the gym, placed it upright, and did the same for the other. Next, she hooked the cord on the wheel at the top of the pole and adjusted its height before looping the end in the crank box. Once she used the crank to get one side somewhat level, she dragged the net to the opposite pole and repeated the process until everything was taut. The last thing she had to do was secure the bottom corners of the net with the loose strings.

Step two: Set up the net.

CHECK.

Satisfied, she walked to the back of the gym to examine her handiwork. Nice and even. Not bad, considering she hadn’t set a net up since high school. Hopefully, that would hold up for their three-hour practice. But the more she admired her handiwork, the more she felt something was missing. Ah, the antennas! They were laying close to the equipment closet, so she nearly missed them.

“Ushijima-sensei!” Yua called. The tall man looked over at her briefly before receiving Rui-kun’s strong spike. She grinned. His swing had become more powerful since the last time she saw him play a year ago. She couldn’t wait to see him spike freely in a game.

His sensei remained unfazed. But he said something to Rui-kun that she couldn’t hear. But judging by the look of pure joy on her nephew’s face, she guessed it was a compliment. She walked over to them, partly because she was nosey and wanted to hear what they were talking about, and because the sensible part of her sent a reminder that it was rude to yell a question to someone you had just met from across the gym.

But the selfish part of her wanted to see the Adlers’ Left Cannon in action.

Wakatoshi-san was certainly a fearsome individual to behold when he was on TV and constantly spiking the shit out of the ball. But he was softer in person. She meant it when she said he was sweet. The look of amazement on his face was priceless; he probably didn’t hear that too often. But her respect for him deepened as she heard him speak to Rui-kun about dealing with failure.

Learning to bounce back from something that didn’t work out was invaluable lesson not only volleyball, but in life. She knew that because she was trying to bounce back from having her heart broken. She didn’t know how her recovery would turn out, but that would be a problem for her future self.

Yua decided to watch them pepper for a bit before she asked about setting up the antennas. Wakatoshi-san was just a bit taller than Tak-kun, who towered over her five-seven frame at six-foot-three. The sleeves of his white warmup sweater were rolled up and she did her best not to ogle at his leanly muscled forearms and obnoxiously large hands while they were speaking earlier. But she didn’t feel guilty about giving him a once over because he did the same to her. She was used to clients scrutinizing her and passing hard judgements, but she didn’t sense any of that negativity from him. Only curiosity. Which, in turn, made her curious about him.

Now, his face resembled what she saw on TV. Sharp angles and a singular, driven look in his dark golden eyes. He was barely out of breath, which was impressive because she was certain that he’d been practicing on his own for at least forty-five minutes before they arrived. And while most people would be easy going during a pepper session, he was purposeful and meticulous. None of his movements were unnecessary or wasted. The boys would certainly be spoiled if he decided to stay on for the season.

Wakatoshi was highly aware of Yua-san’s presence the whole time she was working on the net, and he was surprised at how fast she completed its setup. She moved with ease and confidence, and he once again had to stop himself from staring, this time at her curvaceous form. She said that her brother was a player, which could explain why she was so comfortable in this setting. Hm. If sensei was still having trouble finding a manager, Yua-san could be a solid option for the position. However, he was troubled because he was always focused where volleyball was concerned. So, trying to maintain his concentration while she watched him from a few feet away was difficult.

He was used to being watched by thousands of screaming people when he played in huge arenas, so he couldn’t figure out why one person’s attention was so unsettling. But then again, he didn’t know very many people like Yua-san. He felt the urge to show off in front of her, which surprised him because he wasn’t a flashy player. He needed to do something to draw her interest back to Rui-kun.

Yua, ignorant of his swirling thoughts, finally asked, “Should I set up the attack antennas, too?” She knew that the antennas were mandatory for official games but wasn’t sure if Saitou-sensei wanted to use them during practice. Wakatoshi-san surprised them both by catching the ball. He turned to Yua and she raised her brows slightly, a questioning look in her eyes. She almost laughed because could feel Rui-kun pouting because she knew he was having a great time peppering.

“Not yet,” he rumbled in that ridiculous baritone. Yua fought the shiver that raced up her spine. He sounded more attractive in person, too. “I can set them up before the practice game.”

“Ushijima-sensei, did I do something wrong?” Rui-kun’s earlier thoughts of rejection crept back, but he was relieved when his coach shook his head in the negative.

“No, Rui-kun, you didn’t do anything wrong. I’m happy to see that your form is solid overall.” The teen’s face lit up at his sensei’s compliment. “Now that the net is up; I want to see what your spikes look like. Yua-san, do you mind helping me with this drill?”

Rui didn’t need to be told twice. He was at the attack line before his sensei or aunt could blink. Wakatoshi chuckled. If the rest of the boys were half as energetic as Rui-kun, he and Saitou-sensei would be run into the ground before the end of the day. But that was always a good problem to have. Passion for the game was necessary for a healthy team.

“How could I say no to that energy?” Yua laughed as they walked to the net. Wakatoshi-san pulled the ball hammock along so they wouldn’t have to run for the ball every time Rui-kun spiked. “I haven’t seen you play in a year, so let’s see how much you’ve improved.” When she stood beside Wakatoshi-san in the setter’s position, she was once again reminded at how short she was. Actually, no, she thought with a huff. He was just absurdly tall.

“Sensei, Yua-chan can set for me! She’s really good!” Wakatoshi-san tried to hide a knowing look and grin, as if Rui-kun’s admission confirmed something he thought about her. Her eyes narrowed but she decided to let that go for now.

“Rui-kun!” She protested with her hands set firmly on her generous hips. She scowled up at Wakatoshi, and he thought she looked charming even though he felt ferocious energy coming off her in waves. “Wakatoshi-san, I’m not a player. I’ve been Tak-kun’s pepper partner since we were kids, but I’ve never played in an official game.”

Wakatoshi’s eyes gleamed playfully. “This isn’t an official game. Just a drill. If you set, I’ll be free to observe Rui-kun’s approach and attack. Even if your set isn’t perfect, I can see what he needs to adjust and make suggestions right away.”

Step three: Set for Rui-kun in front of the Ushijima Wakatoshi.

CHECK?

Yua could tell he was enjoying the position she was currently in, because she was having a hard time denying his logic and Rui-kun’s pleading face. She chewed on her bottom lip for a few moments before deciding. “Oh, all right,” she sighed, shooting the two of them a mock glare. “But only because it’ll help you improve.”

“Don’t worry about the set; I’ll do my best to spike it!” Rui-kun stood a few feet behind the attack line, his body already set for an approach. Yua smiled at him, thankful that he was trying to make her feel better. Setting was the last thing she thought she’d be doing today. And in front of a professional, no less. She’d just have to treat it like all those times she practiced with Tak-kun in the backyard. No biggie.

“Set the ball high, and about two feet away from the net. That will give him time to adjust his approach if he needs to.” Yua blinked and followed Wakatoshi-san’s outstretched hand when he pointed to the spot in front of her. She didn’t realize that he had bent down to her level because she was so focused on getting the first set right. His voice, close to her ear, was deep and reassuring. It helped calm her down. He then stood to his full height and tossed the ball to Rui-kun. “It’ll be easier to set if he tosses to you first.”

“Is this your first time coaching, Ushijima-sensei?” She asked teasingly as he positioned himself just off the court, right on the attack line. It was the best place to observe Rui-kun��s technique. She rubbed her hands together before shaking her fingers out a few times.

Wakatoshi nodded. He hoped that he was doing a decent job at imparting the advice his coaches had given to him in the past. “It is. I’ll most likely be coaching after I decide to retire, so this is good practice.”

“You had me fooled,” she joked, lifting her arms in a setting motion. Her hands were positioned just above her forehead with fingers curled, shaped like a ball. Not bad. “With your tips, I feel like I could set in a game right now.”

“Yua-chan,” Rui-kun piped up, a whine in his tone. “Are you ready?” He was itching to hear what sensei had to say about his spiking technique.

She shook her head and clapped her hands once. “Sorry, sweetheart! I’m ready now.”

Wakatoshi had his arms crossed when Rui-kun tossed the ball to Yua-san. She concentrated, positioned her hands for the set, and used her arms and wrists to send the ball almost perfectly to the spot he indicated for her. His attention then shifted to Rui-kun so he could assess his approach properly, but by the time he turned, the teen was already soaring through the air.

Rui-kun’s right arm positioned high, with his elbow above his ear. His left arm was outstretched but quickly came down to his side as he used that momentum to propel his right hip and shoulder forward. His hitting arm was relaxed when his right elbow drove forward above his head to start his swing. As a result, his right hand was loose, and bent fingers opened naturally from the intense acceleration. His now-open hand connected with the ball just above his head, and a deafening crack echoed through the gym.

Wakatoshi’s eyes widened when the ball careened straight down the line and landed with a satisfying THUD on the other side of the court. He gaped at the teen who had just landed in front of him. A near-perfect line shot at his age? No wonder sensei wanted him on the team.

“Ah, gomen!” Rui-kun exclaimed, jogging backwards to reposition himself behind the attack line. “That was out. Let me try again!”

“Rui-kun, that was amazing!” Yua couldn’t believe that he had improved this much in a year. From what she could tell, his vertical increased by a few inches, his mid-air form was cleaner, and his swing was faster and harder. She looked over at Wakatoshi-san, who’s sharp eyes were filled with approval.

“Well done,” the ace declared with a nod. “But curl your fingers down a bit more. You’ll be able to send the ball to the back corner next time.”

Rui nodded energetically and caught another ball before tossing it back to his aunt. She set a bit higher this time, so he slowed his approach before swinging his arms back and leaping into the air. When his hand contacted the ball this time, he made sure to curve his fingers down. The ball landed snugly in the back-left corner, just like sensei said it would. After landing, he immediately turned to his mentor with unbridled excitement in his eyes.

Wakatoshi smiled and nodded again. “How did that feel?” He knew all too well about the satisfaction of landing a solid kill. Rui-kun’s instincts were strong. He was able to adjust and execute a subtle instruction quickly. Of course, there was always room for improvement, but he liked that Rui-kun was immediately willing to try again after his first spike was critiqued. Some players stayed stuck in their heads for too long and that hindered their ability to improve. He knew that firsthand.

Rui-kun stared at his right hand. The force of the hit was still vibrating in his palm and fingertips. “That felt amazing, sensei! How did you know that all I had to do was curl my fingers down?”

“Experience,” Wakatoshi chuckled. “But that comes in time. I have a feeling your skills will increase greatly during this season.” Perhaps he’d talk to sensei about taking on another assistant coach. It was good to be around young players who were hungry to learn as many skills as possible.

Yua smiled as the two of them talked in detail about the approach, with Wakatoshi-san occasionally demonstrating and positioning Rui-kun in front of the net. Both looked comfortable and relaxed in their element. This is what she was missing in Tokyo. Work had her moving at such a fast pace that she didn’t have time to experience genuine human connections. She worked with people all the time but got lost in the fray more time than she could recall. And the longer she watched her nephew learn from his idol and now mentor, her heart was happy that she was able to experience this with him.

Moving to Sendai was a good choice. And maybe her road to recovery wouldn’t be so bad after all.

By the time Saitou-sensei arrived at 12:40, Wakatoshi-san had made several adjustments to Rui-kun’s form. Yua quietly stepped away and made sure that the rest of the equipment was in place for the start of practice. Her nephew was quickly absorbing everything taught to him, and she knew that he’d be practicing non-stop when he got home. She couldn’t wait to meet Saitou—

“Konnichiwa!”

Yua turned at the kind voice and smiled. Saitou-sensei was tall, though not as tall as Wakatoshi-san, and sported a buzz-cut and glasses. “Hello, sensei. I’m Nishimura Yua. It’s nice to meet you.” She bowed. “I hope you don’t mind; I brought Rui-kun early so we could warm up, but we luckily ran into Wakatoshi-san.”

Sensei brow furrowed. “Nishimura?” He murmured. Then his brows raised. “Are you related to Takeshi-kun?”

“Unfortunately, he’s my brother,” Yua laughed. “He’s a middle blocker at Waseda now. And he’s always told me that you’re his favourite coach.”

Saitou grinned at the Nishimura likeness. From the dimples to the mischievous glint in their eyes. “I used to see you in the stands at our games. Tak-kun said you were his biggest supporter.”

“Not by choice,” she groaned. But her tone was light. “It’s just the two of us, so we ended up becoming involved in each other’s hobbies.”

“That’s never a bad thing,” Saitou chuckled. He was glad to hear that Tak-kun was doing well in Waseda. They had won the Intercollegiate Championship three years in a row.

“I agree,” Yua said, her eyes misting slightly. She missed her brother. “I learned a lot from watching games with him or whenever we’d pepper together.”

“I hope he can come up to visit. It would be nice to catch up with him.”

Yua hadn’t seen Tak-kun in a few months, so she was excited to catch up with him, too. “I’ll let him know; I’m sure he’ll be able to come up soon.”

Saitou nodded and looked over at Wakatoshi-san and his young charge. Rui-kun was currently working on his vertical with Wakatoshi-san watching him intently. “I’m excited to work with Rui-kun. His instincts and awareness are incredible for his age.”

Yua’s heart warmed at the compliment. She only had a glimpse of what her nephew was capable of. She could only imagine the player he’d be by the end of the season. “Thank you for giving him the opportunity. I know he’ll only get better with you and Wakatoshi-san training him.”

Before Saitou could answer, he saw some of the players walk through the gym doors. He bowed quickly to Yua. “Ah, excuse me. More students are arriving. I hope to see you again soon, Yua-san.”

Yua nodded and waved at him. She started walking toward the net, hoping to say goodbye to Rui-kun, but he dashed past her, yelling excitedly at his friends who had just arrived. She shook her head. That energy was all Tetsu-kun. She moved toward the sidelines, remembering that’s where she left her overcoat and backpack before she set up the net. But she frowned when she didn’t see them there.

“Allow me.”

Yua looked to her right and saw her overcoat suspended in mid-air, ready to be worn. She glanced up and saw Wakatoshi-san standing next to her, patiently waiting for her to loop her arms in the sleeves. A blush crept up the back of her next when she saw him flick his eyes up and down her body. She might have just broken up with Kaz, but she’d be lying to herself if she said she didn’t find Wakatoshi-san attractive. She turned and slipped her arms in the coat sleeves, grateful for the brief pause.

Before Yua turned to face him, he ran his fingers across her shoulders, smoothing out any creases in the back of her coat. She bit back a gasp. His touch was strong, sure, and her skin tingled through the thick layer of cloth. When she did turn, he held out her backpack, which looked even smaller with his long fingers wrapped around the straps. She stared at his calloused hand briefly before taking her bag. Their fingers brushed, and her eyes widened when pure energy raced from his fingers and up her arm. She pulled back, startled. His face mirrored her expression of astonishment.

What the hell was that?

They stared at each other for a few moments, oblivious to the growing level of noise in the gym. Yua couldn’t tell what he was feeling or thinking, but his dark golden eyes were stormy as he tried to process what happened.

One thing was certain; something irrevocable had passed between them.

Yua was the first to break their standoff. His eyes were too intense for her right now. “Can you tell Rui-kun that I’ll pick him up by 4:15? I know it’ll take some time to clean everything up.”

Wakatoshi-san held her gaze for a bit longer, and she found herself holding her breath again. Slowly, his eyes softened. When he finally spoke, she was relieved to hear the playful lilt return to his voice. “Things would go faster if you came back early to help.”

Yua scoffed and squeezed her fingers tightly around her backpack. “I-I think you’ll be able to handle that without me, Ushijima-sensei.”

He tilted his head and smiled. Yua decided then that a smiling Wakatoshi-san was more dangerous than a serious Wakatoshi-san. “I’ll let Rui-kun know. See you later?” Her stomach flipped at his hopeful tone.

“See you later, sensei.”

#mywriting #ushijima wakatoshi #wakatoshi ushijima #ushiwaka #ushijima #wakatoshi #ushijima x oc #ushiwaka x oc #haikyuulovestory #haikyuu #hq!!#hq!! x oc #@kurosiee #kurosiee #THIS CHAPTER GAVE ME BUTTERFLIES!!!!!!

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proxylynn · 4 years ago

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Underfell: File Name not Edgy Enough #25

WARNING: I WANT NO RESPONSIBILITY OVER SPOILING THINGS FOR OTHERS. THAT BEING SAID, THIS IS HOW FILE NAME NOT FOUND WOULD FUNCTION IN THE AU OF UNDERFELL. BEFORE YOU READ THIS, UNLIKE THE NICE TIME OF UNDERTALE, THIS WORLD IS KILL OR BE KILLED. THIS STORY WILL BE GRAPHIC, GORY, USE SWEARS LIKE NOBODY'S BUSINESS, AND DEAL WITH SENSITIVE SUBJECT MATTERS. FOR EXAMPLE, THOSE OF YOU WHO HAVE READ THE FILE NAME RELOCATED SPOOF WILL KNOW HOW I PICTURE THIS VERSION OF LYNSIE COMING TO THE UNDERGROUND. IT IS NOT AN ACCIDENT. IT IS NOT BECAUSE OF SOMETHING DUMB. IT IS BECAUSE SHE CHOOSES TO END HER LIFE. SO TAKE THIS WITH A GRAIN OF SALT. I MADE IT BECAUSE I NEEDED TO LET SOME OF THIS EDGINESS OUT OF MYSELF. WHICH I GUESS MAKES UNDERFELL LYNSIE EVEN MORE TRUE TO WHO I REALLY AM. ANYWAY, ENJOY. ^_^

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Hell hath no fury like this fish woman. For Undyne's rage casts a near-visible aura of hate as she stormed her way into Hotland. Clad in her special armor, keeping her form from dehydrating, she intimidates those that witness her barreling towards the Lab. With a mighty kick, she almost hurls the doors from their hinges before continuing inside. Knowing all too well where her intended target is. Cameras follow her movements but do little to warn their owner in time. Alphys receives the signal just as the echos of hurried stomps reaches her ears. By the time the doors are thrown open, Alphys has made the scene a little more authentic and hides away her more sketchy items. As one can imagine, the Captain of the Royal Guard is less than pleased to see a human being given treatment instead of having its soul collected.

"U-Undyne...W-W-What a surprise."

"Cut the crap, Alphys. How long have you known about it being in the Underground?! Why wasn't I informed?! And why, in Asgore's name, are you keeping that thing alive?!"

The disgruntled captain points at the unconscious human strapped to a bloody slab with several machines around her. Thick bandages cover the wounds given on-screen, the eerie beeps of the machines that are annoyingly loud in the silence, sticky liquid crimson softly dribbles from the slab edges to a small pool draining on the floor as tubes and wires are placed on vital areas. The scene looks like a medical mess. For what good it does to try, Alphys puts on a straight face and gets professionally cold to defend her work.

"Your Captain of the Guard status does not mean I report to you or have to inform you of anything."

The rage of Undyne only increases.

"What did you say?!"

Alphys adjusts her glasses, snidely flipping Undyne off with her middle finger.

"I am the Royal Scientist. I work under and report directly to the King himself. My rank supersedes yours. And as such, unless it is a matter that requires your assistance, I will inform only those that are needed to be informed. Understood?"

Undyne snarls beneath her helmet. This type of thing wasn't uncommon. She knows that Alphys separates herself when it comes to her work. Undyne does it too but tries not to be so obnoxious. It's moments like this that make her crush a little less on this lizard girl.

"But to answer your question...This human has been living in the Ruins for quite some time. Sans and Papyrus have been monitoring her for me."

The skeletons? Those sneaky bastards! She bet Papyrus was thinking he'd use this to one-up her.

"Why use them and not me?"

"Really? You can't stand the cold and they live there. It's a no brainer."

Good point.

"Okay...But why monitor? The law clearly states that the soul of any human is to be collected. No exceptions!"

Undyne summons a spear and readies to spike the human through the face. That is till Alphys moves over to the human and interacts with one of the machines, making her soul slowly emerge...it's white. This sight has the captain of the guard drop her weapon and remove her helm to ensure her eye was not playing a trick on her. Without her helm, the true visage of the Captain of the Guard is shown. Undyne is a piscine anthropomorphic monster. She has blue scales and a long red hair she keeps in a wild ponytail. Red and blue fins on the sides of her head act like ears, she has no nose to speak of. Her teeth are sharp yellow daggers like a barracuda or shark. She has red eye shadow and has an eye-patch on her left eye. Her good eye has a black vertical pupil and a yellow sclera.

"It's...White? What the hell? It was light blue on TV. I saw it!"

"We all did. And it was purple when I first examined her. This is why I've had her under severance and not executed. This human...It's not like the humans we've encountered or the ones in our texts. She seems to be able to change traits or possesses multiple traits."

"How is that possible? Is that even a thing? Is that a thing humans can do now?"

"I haven't collected enough data to determine that. My current theory is that she may be a random mutation, an evolutionary anomaly of sorts. Though, from the information I have gotten, it seems the humans of now have indeed fully lost their usage of magic."

"I thought those past ones seemed off."

"Yes. The previous humans were lacking in their levels of magic but they still possessed it. This one, however, according to my scans had no magic in her soul prior to coming to the Underground."

Scientist say what?

"Wait...What's that supposed to mean?"

Alphys pulls out what looks to be her cell phone and moves it over the soul, scanning till it beeps. She then shows the results to the Captain.

"There's at least 20% to 30% magic now resonating in her soul. Enough to trigger magic prepubescence."

Undyne snickers at the thought of such a thing and it nearly breaks Alphys's composure.

"You can't be serious."

"I am. I had to stabilize the flux with those patches we give out to teens. It's why she's about 30%."

"Dare I ask...How a non-magic soul suddenly has magic?"

"Not sure. Perhaps it's the nature of such a weak soul to pull magic when it can, however, it can. Be it from the surroundings, food, or contact with other beings of magic. Who's to say? Or her soul could be like a parasite and leeching magic for as of yet unknown reasons. I'm just throwing ideas at this point."

"So...What you're saying is the human is dangerous."

"All humans are dangerous, Undyne. But this one? *scoff* Since being down here her LV hasn't budged from its base level."

The Captain is intrigued.

"Has it not been in a fight?"

"Quite the opposite. There's plenty of telltale signs, not to mention video surveillance, that indicates she's been attacked."

"So the wimp flees? Pathetic."

"Sometimes. Most of the time they endure the fight and find a way to end it without fighting back."

A gruff laugh leaves the fish woman.

"Pacifism? Down here? Now that's a joke."

Alphys checks on a liquid-filled bag that's emptying into the human's veins.

"As dumb as it may be, her strategy is a good thing..."

She increases the dripping.

"By not attacking, she isn't killing anyone. And by not killing anyone, she isn't gaining LV. And you know what that means."

Undyne grins like a hungry barracuda.

"It makes it all the easier to collect the last soul."

Alphys nods and removes her glasses to clean them.

"Still...With the number of unknown variables, I'd have to insist on further study of this soul and not just yet bringing it to the King, even if she dies."

"How come?"

"Like I said, too many unknowns. If Asgore wishes to fuse with the seven souls it would be best to make sure this one doesn't overpower or corrupt his own."

"Hmmm...I guess that's fair. We don't need to waste the human souls and lose the King if we can help it."

"My thoughts exactly."

Alphys puts her glasses back on and steps away from the human.

"Come, Undyne. We must leave now."

Confusion comes to the Captain.

"What? Why? You're really going to leave her unattended?"

Alphys grows colder.

"Do not be so stupid."

Undyne had to bite her tongue hard.

"I never said she'd be alone."

With a simple button press on her phone, the sound of speeding rubber screeches towards them, the door opening seconds later.

"IS IT TIME? SHE'S IN STABLE CONDITION?"

Mettaton skids to a stop with excitement.

"She's stable. And under heavy sedation. You may proceed with the prep work."

Digitized giggling pours from the automaton.

"EXCELLENT. LADIES, IF YOU'LL EXCUSE ME..."

Undyne is ushered out by Alphys before she can question things.

"Um..."

"Don't think about it too much."

"But..."

"As they say...The show must go on. I suggest you stick around and watch what unfolds."

Undyne groans to herself.

"I'll make that spicy ramen that you like."

"...Extra chili flakes?"

"Yep."

"Hot damn!"

With the women gone, Mettaton turns his attention to the human on the slab.

"OH DARLING..."

A compartment opens on his side and he extracts what looks like a kit of some kind.

"WE HAVE SO MUCH WORK TO DO."

[AN HOUR AND A HALF LATER-BEHIND THE LAB]

The wall of the building opens up, a split door allows the heat of Hotland in while the unconscious human carried by the killer robot comes out.

"FINALLY...THE SHOW CAN COMMENCE ONCE AGAIN."

While two of his arms set the human down his other two open a bottle of smelling salts and wave it under her nose, slowly rousing her back to consciousness.

"WAKIE WAKIE, DARLING."

She groans in delirium and sits up. Medical grade sedatives really pack a punch.

"FOCUS DEAR. HOW MANY FINGERS AM I HOLDING UP?"

Mettaton holds up his four arms and each is displaying two fingers. Her head wobbles with dizziness and she rubs the sleep from her eyes.

"Mettaton? *yawn* Why is it so hot?"

Why did she have to be so cute when so messed up?

"I'LL ANSWER YOU IF YOU ANSWER ME."

She shakes her head clear and stares at him for a bit.

"Eight."

He sighs with relief and helps her up before patting her head.

"GOOD. YOU'RE PERFECTLY FINE."

"Not entirely sure that's what I'd call it after the game you made me do. But whatever. Least I ain't dead."

"THERE WE GO. ALWAYS LOOKING ON THE POSITIVE SIDE OF THINGS."

Her senses coming back, she looks at her form and begins growling at the mechanical television star.

"IS SOMETHING THE MATTER?"

"I'm going to ask this as calmly as I can and I want you to be honest...Did you dress me in my sleep?!"

In Mettaton's defense, it's not like he could leave her in her bloody outfit or the medical gown. And to his credit, he made it for her to be both fashionable as well as comfortable in Hotland's arid heat. A black zip back cutout crisscross cami top with MTT emblazoned in red across the chest, waist-high black garter shorts with tiny Mettaton studs along the straps, black ripped footless tights end in knee-high black riding boots that have red MTT zippers, and to add to her annoyance her nails were also painted red. The only normal thing about her was he kept her hair tied in a ponytail but moved it higher up to be more lively than her usual dead weight droop.

"TO BE FAIR, DARLING, YOU WERE A BLOODY MESS AFTER THE SHOW. IT WOULD BE TASTELESS TO HAVE MY CO-STAR CONTINUE IN ANYTHING LESS THAN THE BEST."

She gets flustered.

"That's not the point! You could've waited till I was awake and I would've dressed myself! Instead, you did so while I was vulnerable."

She shudders and looks away from him.

"To think...I started to like you."

An exclamation mark flashes on his screen.

"But it seems you're just as bad as the scum on the surface."

He panics and waves his hands in defense.

"W-WAIT A SECOND, DEAR, IT'S NOT LIKE THAT!"

"Then...Aside from seeing my frail body, do you deny the obvious usage of me as brand advertisement?"

The look she gives him is cold and hurt, making him flinch.

"UM...WELL...I..."

She turns around with her hands on her hips and smirks.

"We're not on camera right now, are we?"

His screen flashes in confusion.

"...NO? NO CAMERAS ARE ACTIVE AT THIS MOMENT. WHY?"

"Heh...Because you're being you right now. The same guy I got to know over the phone. TV you is more cold and sticks to the script, like a soulless machine. This you, the ghost in the shell, this guy I like and willing to work with."

He's caught off guard by that remark.

"UM...WHAT EXACTLY DID YOU MEAN BY THAT?"

"Which part?"

"GHOST IN THE SHELL."

"Oh, that? It's the name of a manga/anime series. The setting is a future where technology is so advanced that it becomes an existential crisis if souls can transfer over to pure machine bodies and if artificial intelligence can gain humanity through cyber-evolution. It's really deep."

"OH."

"It also is a play on the fact you're literally a ghost in a robot shell."

He flinches.

"W-WHAT? I HAVE NO IDEA WHAT YOU'RE..."

"Dude, don't lie. We're not on camera and Alphys already confirmed my suspicions."

He blanks for a moment sighing.

"WELL...BRAVO, DARLING. YOU'VE SOLVED MY GREATEST SECRET."

She shrugs.

"It's no big deal. And don't worry about anyone else knowing, I ain't a snitch."

"SUCH A CLEVER GIRL. I KNEW YOU'D BE PERFECT FOR THIS."

Her arms fold.

"While I was messing with you before, I am pissed about this."

"WHICH PART?"

"This! This isn't my style. It feels weird and shows way too much skin for my liking."

At this rate, he was lucky she couldn't see her reflection or she'd be pissed about how he did her makeup. Red eye-shadow to create a smoky effect on her eyelids. Mascara to make her long lashes even longer. A bold black swoop of liquid eyeliner all the way to the outer corners of her eyes and swept a little up at the end. And the pièce de résistance is the luscious red lipstick to make it all pop.

"BUT, DARLING, YOUR OLD CLOTHES WERE RUINED. BESIDES, WITH HOW THICK THAT FABRIC WAS, YOU'D DIHYDRATE IN MOMENTS OUT HERE. AND NO ONE WANTS A SWEATY DRIED OUT SACK ON SCREEN."

She leers.

"NOT SAYING YOU ARE ONE. MAKING THAT CLEAR HERE."

She sighs.

"I see your point. I ain't happy about it, but I see the reason behind it."

"GOOD."

She checks herself and gets upset.

"My items? Where are my items?!"

"I TOLD YOU, YOUR CLOTHES WERE A MESS AND I CHANGED YOU INTO THIS."

She grabs him.

"Metta, my buddy, I need my gear. My stats are crap without my items. Please tell me you didn't trash them...Please?!"

To understand her panic he checks her.

[Lynsie - LV:1 - HP: 40 ATK: 20 DEF: 11 - Too nice for her own good.]

Her HP increased? How? Her LV hasn't increased. Did she earn EXP in the game and recovery? Wait...The other stats are dangerously weak. Hmmm...This gives him a wicked idea. If his screen could grin it would be wide and twisted.

"OH HEAVENS NO, DARLING. YOUR POSSESSIONS ARE SAFE."

Her eyes light up.

"Sweet! Can I please have them?"

He grabs her waist and scoots her back from him a bit.

"UNFORTUNATELY, I DO NOT HAVE THEM ON ME."

"But...W-Where are they then?"

All four hands point out into the distance.

"YOU CAN HAVE YOUR ITEMS BACK...ONCE YOU MAKE TO THE NEXT FILM SET."

Her jaw drops.

"Dude! Are you freaking serious? Do we see the same stats? Because I'm fairly sure I can get one-shot killed out here."

"RELAX, DARLING..."

"Relax?! Says the guy that literally can't be hurt!"

He waves dismissively.

"AND THEY CALL ME DRAMATIC. LOOK, I CAN'T JUST GIVE YOU THEM BACK NOR CAN I TAKE YOU TO THE NEXT SET. YOU SHOULD KNOW THE REASON WHY."

She glares before pouting in defeat.

"The law requires you to still attempt to 'capture' me."

His screen flashes.

"BINGO! AND TO PROVE THAT I AM FOLLOWING THE LAW WHILE STILL WORKING WITH YOU, YOU WILL BE TELEVISED AS YOU MAKE YOUR WAY THROUGH MY SHOW GAUNTLET."

She looks at him funny.

"TO BE HONEST IT'S JUST NORMAL ENVIRONMENT AND PIPEWORK FOR THE CORE. BUT I DID ADD OBSTACLES AND PUZZLES, SO TECHNICALLY IT COUNTS."

Her funny look grows.

"And you film back there in all that?"

"IT MAKES MORE SENSE WHEN YOU SEE IT."

"I guess."

All four hands slap together in a loud clap.

"GREAT! NOW THAT THAT IS ALL SAID AND DONE, HERE'S THE DEAL. ONCE YOU TURN THAT CORNER AND BEGIN THE TREK, YOU'LL BE BACK ON TV."

"Okay."

"TRY NOT TO BREAK THE FOURTH WALL, WE DON'T NEED VIEWERS KNOWING YOU'VE BEEN HERE LONGER THAN ADVERTISED AND WITH THE HELP OF OTHERS."

"True, very true."

"AND SINCE YOU DON'T HAVE YOUR PHONE..."

"Can I get that back too? I swear I won't make calls."

"OR TEXT?"

"Did you even see my phone? It can't text or take pictures."

"HMMM...I'LL THINK ABOUT IT."

"Please and thank you."

"LIKE I WAS SAYING SINCE YOU DON'T HAVE IT AND MAY NEED HELP UNDERSTANDING A FEW OF THE MORE TRICKIER PUZZLES..."

On hand retreats into his body and pops out with a small clip-like earring that, you guessed it, looks like him.

"ATTACH THIS TO YOUR EAR AND YOU'LL BE ABLE TO HEAR MY MELODIOUS VOICE WHEN I NOTICE YOU'RE NOT PROGRESSING."

"Not that I'm against it, but isn't this cheating?"

He chuckles while bringing her close and clipping it to her right ear.

"DON'T THINK OF IT LIKE THAT. IT'S LIKE YOU SAID, YOU'RE WILLING TO WORK WITH ME AND WE BOTH DON'T WANT YOU DEAD. YOU'LL STILL BE GOING AT THIS ON YOUR OWN, BUT WITH A LITTLE LIFELINE THAT GIVES YOU CLUES AND NOT FULL ANSWERS. NOW DOES THAT SOUND MORE OKAY?"

"FANTASTIC!"

He spins around and shoves her to the ground before retracting his wheel to begin hovering.

"WELL, DARLING, THE NEXT WE MEET I HOPE IT TO BE SOON AND WHILE YOU STILL BREATHE."

"Um...Me too."

He takes off like a rocket to the next stage, kicking up dust and smoke in his wake.

"FAIR THEE WELL...!"

The cloud takes a bit to settle and the human finds herself alone. The path ahead is unknown but the only way to go. Somehow being behind the building she thinks she was held within and with no door to speak of insight. She silently prayed that her trust in the robot that abducted her was well placed...even though that thought made her question her ability to pick people to trust. Either way, her journey through game show hell begins now as she walks the lonely road that is way too narrow and high up for her liking.

[Snowdin: Skeleton House in present time]

Nothing. Nothing but re-run filler has been on the TV for hours. And all they could do was wait. Wait for any change on that damn picture box. Papyrus was doing his best to keep a worried Toriel and tense Grillby from burning the house down. Sans on the other hand was lost in his mind, retracing the history of his time in the LAB and its many rooms. Where were they hiding the human? What new rooms were added since he left? Could Alphys still be using the old underground facility?

*obnoxious fanfare*

The television cuts from its old showing to Mettaton live out in Hotland, on real clues can be seen as he hovers about the volcanic rock.

"SORRY FOR THE DELAY MY DEADLY GUYS AND DOLLS. SEEMS I WAS A BIT TOO ROUGH DURING OUR LAST GAME AND MY CO-STAR NEEDED EXTRA TIME TO RECOVER. GUESS I DON'T KNOW MY OWN STRENGTH."

His nonchalant attitude and words were far from comforting to the four.

"BUT FEAR NOT, AS SHE HAS MADE A FULL RECOVERY!"

A weight is lifted from the room.

"IN FACT, SHE'S ON THE START OF THE NEXT PHASE OF OUR SHOW. A DANGEROUS GAUNTLET OF OBSITCLES, DAUNTING PUZZLES, AND THE RANDOM VAGABOND THAT MAY OR MAY NOT JUST HAPPEN TO BE WANDERING AROUND."

The video feed shifts to the human on a conveyor belt. Merely scrolling along in a tacky outfit and makeup trying not to look down.

"The fuck is she wearing?!"

Grillby fumes. Toriel is equally unhappy about her daughter's new look. Sans rolls his eyes, finding it somewhat funny that Grillby is displeased by this when did way worse before.

"HER GOAL, REACH THE END TO BEGIN OUR NEXT SHOW SEGMENT. SHE WILL REPEAT THIS TWO MORE TIMES BEFORE ENDING WITH OUR FOURTH AND FINAL ENCOUNTER."

That doesn't sound good. The feed zooms in on her.

"WILL SHE SURVIVE AND EARN HER LIFE TO LIVE FOR ANOTHER DAY? OR WILL THIS BE THE DAY THE LAST SOUL IS COLLECTED? WE SHALL FIND OUT SOON ENOUGH. IN THE MEANTIME, I NEED TO AQUIRE A FEW ODDS AND ENDS, SO I LEAVE YOU TO OUR DARLING'S DARING DO. ENJOY."

The camera switches to a different angle and continues to follow her. Before the words can even leave Papyrus's mouth Sans is already shaking his head.

"i still don't know where that is."

"ARE YOU SURE?"

"trust me, i don't recognize where she's at."

"Don't you have a post in Hotland?"

Grillby points out much to Papyrus's puzzlement.

"YOU HAVE A POST IN HOTLAND?"

Sans sighs.

"it's like i told ya, i do more than ya think i do. i have posts at the start of snowdin forest, waterfall's beginning, level two of hotland, and i am the one that waits in the judgment hall."

Papyrus is even more confused but Toriel starts to broil.

"You...You were the one all along, were you not?"

Sans balls his fists, bracing for this.

"You were the one that killed the humans that left the Ruins."

No Tori...not all...just one...over and over again.

"no. i haven't killed anyone."

That gave her some relief. But more questions.

"Then if not you, who does harm them?"

"asgore does."

And that killed it. Her eyes sink with a flame, one of hate and despair. It's painfully obvious. She's going to snap.

"ya should know he doesn't take pleasure in doin' it."

Her expression falters.

"it's a lot of weight on that old goat's shoulders. what with bein' a king and everyone expectin' him to solve all our problems, like breakin' the barrier. it's one thing to kill someone that's wronged ya. it's much harder to look an innocent in the eyes and end them."

She frowns, seeing some truth in his words.

"ya may hate his guts, but he's harborin' the biggest burden. bein' the one to harvest the souls."

"But..."

Does she still wish to fight?

"But the law states humans are to be killed on sight, right? You can not tell me the Guard has not spilled blood in all this time!"

"ACTUALLY..."

Papyrus chimes in.

"WHILE IT'S TRUE, THAT IS THE BLUNTEST FORM OF THE LAW, IT'S NOT THE EXACT WORDING. *AHEM* IF A LIVING HUMAN IS FOUND IN THE UNDERGROUND THAN THEY ARE TO BE ENGAGED AND CAPTURED. EXTREME CAUTION AND VIOLENCE IS TO BE USED IN THE APRENTION OF HUMAN SOULS. NOWHERE IS IT SAID WE ARE TO KILL ON SIGHT. BUT THE CURRENT CAPTAIN OF THE GUARD HAS INTERPRETED THIS LAW IN HER OWN WAY AND INFORCES IT AS SUCH...DEATH TO ALL HUMANS. NO EXCEPTIONS. OVERTIME, THAT'S HOW THE LAW EVOLVED TO BE KNOWN TO THE PUBLIC."

"Why?"

"captain undyne lost her family in the war. that kind of wound doesn't heal easily. it didn't help much that the hammer of punishment took her in as his own."

That name struck a chord.

"Gerson? I suppose that does make sense. He was ruthless in his prime. And he left our court when we choose to surrender. Said we were showing weakness by giving in. So many were already lost...We wanted to end the slaughter before the dust count became unrecognizable."

"seems that spite got passed on in undyne."

"OUR CAPTAIN GOES BY ANOTHER...THE SPEAR OF PUNISHMENT."

Her worry overcomes any animosity she held.

"I pray my child never encounters your Captain."

One can only hope.

"Shit..."

Grillby gets their attention.

"She's been spotted."

Eyes return to the television and the footage shown. The human had passed the large system of conveyor belts going forward and backward. Exhaust ports of vermilion flame burst from nearby pipes in the background, the wooshing sound of steam and cogs adding to the scenery. Reaching the end of the conveyor belts, the human comes into view of several small islands surrounded by boiling lava. Most of these islands hold steam vents. However, the human is unaware of this due to being blocked by a Tsunderplane.

[HOTLAND: LEVEL ONE]

Damn this heat. Damn this plan of yours, Mettaton. And damn this odd-looking monster that won't get out of my way. It appears to resemble a regular real-world modern airplane, an Airbus A340-300 to be exact, wearing a black mob cap with thin red ribbons on it, a faint blush tints its nosecone.

"Um...Do you mind?"

I move slightly to the side, trying to give it room while avoiding the edge. But it just moves the same as I do, almost like a mock mimic. Maybe it's just a fluke. I try it again. And again it does it.

"You're not gonna let me by, are you?"

My soul feels gripped and without skipping a beat, my blue soul comes out, a battle begins.

[Tsunderplane gets in the way! Not on purpose or anything.]

Wait...Don't tell me that name means what I think it does. What are my options?

[FIGHT]

[ACT]

[̴͝SP͜͞E͡L̵͜L͟͠͏]͘͢

[ITEM]

[MERCY]

That weird one came back? It looks so...messed up. I won't touch it. Maybe as a last resort, but not if I can help it. Let's see what this thing is made of.

[ACT selected.]

[New options available.]

[CHECK]

[FLIRT]

[APPROACH]

I am not doing those last two before I know what this thing can do.

[CHECK selected.]

[TSUNDERPLANE – HP: 80 ATK: 25 DEF: 26 – Seems mean, but does it secretly like you?]

"The fuck...?"

This plane catches an attitude.

"No way! Why would I like YOU?!"

Especially since we've only just met. Wait...

"You can talk?!"

It moves it's wings up, summing its attack. Several smaller planes fly horizontally straight from either side above me, dropping bombs that look like miniature nukes. Once a bomb hits the ground, a vertical line of toxic smoke appears and blocks my sight momentarily. All in all, this is not easy to avoid because of the lack of space and I end up taking a really nasty hit.

[HP ████████████████ 15/40]

I'm too afraid to check my wound. My ears are ringing and I feel damp somewhere on my side. I won't stand another hit like that. Damn it! I need my defense items!

*bang*

My head is smacked hard by metal.

[Tsunderplane "accidentally" bumps you with its wing.]

It pushed me back. It's keeping distance. Why it's not like it needs the room, damn thing can fly. I wonder...What'll happen if I get close? But first I need to heal.

[ITEM selected.]

I need to remember to thank Flowey when I see him again. If it wasn't for his prodding I'd have nothing in my inventory.

["Butterscotch Cheesecake" - All HP - Butterscotch cheesecake, one slice.]

"Mmmm...So good. Thanks, mama."

[You ate the Butterscotch Cheesecake. Your HP was maxed out.]

[HP ██████████████████████████████████████████ 40/40]

Ah, much better. Now I just need to avoid getting hit again. My turn ends.

"Hmph! Id... Idiot! Don't get in my way!"

You blocked me, asshat.

She uses a different attack but one that's somewhat easier to deal with. Large planes fly directly at me, leaving a horizontal-moving toxic trail of smoke balls. I am grateful this was it's second go. I dodge this one better, no damage taken.

[Tsunderplane shakes its nose dismissively at you.]

"_... Human..."

Now it speaks in emojis? I mean, I guess that's a thing that can happen, Gaster speaks in hands and junk.

"Something wrong? I can't help but notice."

Going off its behavior and name, I put some real emphasis on the word notice. It flinches. Got you.

Tsundere is a Japanese term for a character development process that depicts a person who is initially cold and sometimes even hostile before gradually showing a warmer, friendlier side over time. The word is derived from the terms tsun tsun ('to turn away in disgust or anger') and dere dere ('to become affectionate'). They're the opposite of a Yandere. Yandere is a Japanese term for a person who is initially very loving and gentle to someone or at least innocent before their devotion becomes destructive in nature, often through violence and/or brutality. The term is derived from the words yanderu (a mental or emotional illness) and dere dere. They are different and yet have one weakness...Wanting the attention of Senpai, the person they have a fondness for. Why do I know all this? Because I'm a big freaking dork! I can use this. I just don't understand why it would have such feelings.

"...H-human ... ...?"

Now to test my theory.

[APPROACH selected.]

[You get close to Tsunderplane. But not too close.]

"Eeeeh? H-human ...?"

It's getting flustered. I'm not proud of this method but if it works to keep me alive, so be it.

"You don't mind me getting close, right?"

[Tsunderplane looks over, then turns up its nose.]

"Huh!? Y-you sicko!"

It spins on heels it doesn't have and nearly takes my head. This ain't going to be easy.

The mini planes return but something's off. Six planes attacked me before, but now there's only three. Easier than before yet still dangerous. That smoke is noxious and obnoxious.

[Tsunderplane gives you a condescending barrel roll.]

"Don't think I'm going easy on you! It's not like I LIKE you."

Your actions say otherwise, so does that growing blush. Time for phase two.

[FLIRT selected.]

[You tell Tsunderplane it has an impressive wingspan.]

"I must say, birds wish they could have wings like that. Very cool."

It covers its nosecone in its wingtips.

"Ah...is that true...?"

"Why would I lie?"

I think this is working. It summons the large planes again but this time the planes are surrounded by narrow green auras and the smoke trails aren't moving. Curiosity has me touching the green and finding it does two things. One, it doesn't hurt me. And two, it's blushing more excitedly. After touching four Tsunderplane is practically glowing, or it could be the headlights. And when that last sixth plane passes Tsunderplane looks away shyly and starts to give off the smell of an airport perfume counter. Maybe just one more to seal the deal.

[FLIRT selected.]

[You tell Tsunderplane it has cute winglets.]

"Awww...Those wingtip fences are so cute! Then again, on such an adorable aircraft, that's to be expected."

It loses its mind. Jetting high up and aileron rolls three times before zipping off into the distance.

[YOU WON!]

[You earned 0 XP and 60 gold.]

Damn! That's some gold! Much needed due to spending all my gold in Waterfall so long ago.

"Not my worse fight but one of the more interesting ones. Till we meet again, Tsunderplane-chan."

I wave to where I saw Tsunderplane fly off and return to my journey. However, this is short-lived once again, but not by a monster. I think this is one of the obstacles Mettaton told me about. The land is broken. Vents shoot out big gusts of steam. I think he intends for me to use these to traverse the area since there are painted red arrows on the one in front of me and the one across from it. The flaw in this plan of his is this...In trying to have seen any of this, I ended up looking down.

Sweat begins to slide down my brow, but not from the heat. My wide eyes can't look away from the high as hell drop to lava that I'm meant to cross. My body starts to tremble. My breathing harsh. I'm going into a panic.

[Snowdin: Skeleton House in present time]

That was a stressful fight to watch. The massive damage the human took at the start made it clear she had been stripped of her armor, adding harsher levels of difficulty to an already challenging task. But they know her well by this point. She's clever. She's adaptable. She's stubborn as hell. And she knows they're likely watching.

["Butterscotch Cheesecake" - All HP - Butterscotch cheesecake, one slice.]

"Mmmm...So good. Thanks, mama."

[You ate the Butterscotch Cheesecake. Your HP was maxed out.]

[HP ██████████████████████████████████████████ 40/40]

Toriel's motherly heart was swelling. This one. This was the one she believed could survive in this hell. And her non-violent victory against the Tsunderplane made it more clear that her daughter wasn't so much the child she believed her to be.

"Yeah! Way to go, pussycat!"

Grillby is at least in better spirits. He nearly torched the couch when he thought of Mettaton stripping her of her armor.

"SHE'S NOT MOVING."

True. The human had won the fight but was now frozen in place by the vents, fear dripped from her face.

"uh oh."

This got attention.

"What is wrong? Why does she not continue?"

"pap and me found this out about her when she first came out of the ruins. she's afraid of heights. and if she doesn't move soon, she'll pass out under the pressure."

"But...It's not like she can just leave. And if she falls..."

No one wanted to finish that thought.

"THE HELL...?"

Something new appears and has their attention.

"Flowey?"

[HOTLAND: LAB]

Undyne had been watching the many screens Alphys controls as part of Mettaton's live feed broadcast. Nothing had been particularly interesting, not even that bogus fight with the Tsunderplane. But then...

"The fuck...? Alphys, you seeing this?"

Of course, the lizard was scribbling like a madman on her notepad. This was something new.

"Huh...Show me what ya got, human."

The fish woman resumes watching with a hearty slurp of noddles.

[HOTLAND: LEVEL ONE]

It's happening again. My legs turn to jelly and I drop to my knees. I can't do this. I can't move. What if I fall? I don't want to burn to death. I heard it's not quick either like how movies portray it. The pain overload is what kills you. I don't want that. I ̕ca͢n̛'́t ͢de̶al͏! Í ̸c̷̨a̴n'͡t!͘

*STATIC* HELLO? DARLING? CAN YOU HEAR ME?

The earpiece Mettaton gave me goes off. But something's interfering.

*STATIC* YOU NEED TO GET GOING, DEAR. DON'T WORRY ABOUT THE STEAM. IT WON'T BURN. THOUGH YOU MIGHT GET A BIT TENDER IF YOU PLAY IN THEM TOO LONG.

T̷̵h̷́at̵̨'̧͞s̵̸͞ ́̀not ̷̕͜h́el̴͘̕p̛i̸͜ng͟!̢͟

I feel it starting. The blood dripping from my nose. Why? Why am I so weak?!

*STATIC* DARLING? COME ON. YOU NEED TO MOVE. WE HAD A DEAL.

F̴̶͢u͘͞c̶͞k͏ ͟͏̴ý̢ou ̸́a̶̕͜n҉͞d҉̛ ̶̀y͢o̡u̸͠r̸ ̧́͝d͞e̢͜ą̕l͢͝! ̨̛I͝͞͝'̶m̢҉ n̡o̡͜͝t̴ ̵҉̛m̀͏o͘͝v̴́͠i͏̀n͟͡ǵ͜!̴

Strange energy begins to crackle around me. I don't know what it is and it's freaking me out more!

"There you are..."

Life returns to me upon hearing Flowey's voice.

"You just always seem to...The hell is up with your face?!"

"B̢͢͞ŗ̡̀o̸t̡h̡͟e̵̛r͘̕͞?"

The strange energy slowly dissipates, Flowey being here is calming me down, though the sight still unnerves him.

"Easy now. Just calm down. You don't want to overtax your soul."

"S̨-̀Sơr͡ry̷.̛.͞.I.̶..͢*shaky inhale*I looked down."

Flowey moves over to me and pats my leg with a tiny vine.

"Don't worry, your big brother's here for you."

I give him a nervous smile and wipe my nose.

"So...What's wrong with my face?"

"Uh...Nothing. You look fine."

I look at him flatly.

"I have makeup on, don't I?"

"Well..."

God dang it, Mettaton.

"Fudge it. As long as I'm not dolled up like a clown, ignore it. Right now I need help."

"Fine with me, but first...I want an apology for that stunt at the bar."

I nod.

"I'm sorry. It was a dirty move. But..."

He pouts.

"You wanted to talk to him without me butting in."

I claw the ground.

"...There are things I still can't tell you."

"When? When can you open up to me?"

"Soon. Lots of stuff I know is in pieces. I just need to figure out how it all fits to understand."

"Like what?"

"Well for starters...Getting through this crap."

Flowey looks out at the vents.

"You really can't do this?"

"No. My acrophobia, paranoia, vertigo, and lack of self-confidence prevents it."

"Sheesh. At least your honest."

I sit on my heels and slap my face a few times, trying to psych myself out.

"The body and mind both have their own ways of keeping themselves safe. Even if one of them is tricking the other. My body won't move if my brain keeps telling it no because it feels in danger."

"Hmmm...And I take it you're not up for that blindfold idea again."

I look at him confused.

"Over lava?!"

He sighs.

"Yeah, fair enough."

This sucks.

"Oh! I got an idea. What if I carry you over?"

Flower-goat-boy say what?

"Not to put you down, bro, but I ain't exactly light and I don't want you to hurt yourself trying."

He winks.

"Trust me. I'm stronger than you think."

I don't doubt you, I'm more worried I'll freak out if he does. But what choice do I have? Sit her forever or move forward.

"Okay. But not yet."

"Huh?"

I feel the ground again.

"This is rock and yet you're moving through it..."

"Yeah?"

"Can you scout ahead through this vent thing? Tell me if other monsters or crap is hiding?"

He nods.

"Can do."

He sinks into the ground. Here's hoping he stays out of sight of any hostiles. A few times I see his petal head pop up from time to time, but in areas I can't see I get a bit shook. Especially when he's out of sight for too long. I count the seconds between each puff of steam, giving up because it's too fast. A small rumble off to my side, part of Flowey's stem is protruding but seems to be having trouble coming out. With some wiggling and what looks like some tugging, he emerges yet only partly.

"*strain* H-Hey...I found something you can use."

I'm curious. I help chip some ground away and something metal appears. Looping my finger through a hole, I help him pull this mystery thing out and wow it puts up quite the struggle. With a final double pull from the both of us, the object reveals itself...a frying pan?

"The hell...?"

"I found it at one of the areas off over there. It once belonged to a human that fell a long time ago."

All this mismatch stuff. What were the humans that fell before even doing to fall with such stuff? Whatever, an item gained is better than no items at all.

[You equipped the Nasty Pan.]

[You gain 10 Attack.]

[You don't know if it's covered in old food or gore. Either way, the damage is rather consistent. Consumables items will heal 4 more HP.]

"Damn. Was really hoping for some defense boost."

"Sorry. How uneven does this make your stats now?"

"See for yourself."

He's confused till he CHECKs me.

[Lynsie - LV:1 - HP: 40 ATK: 30 DEF: 11 - Too nice for her own good.]

"What the...? What happened?!"

I stand and stretch.

"I got mugged."

He frowns.

"The robot?"

I answer with a nod and change the line of chatter to current events.

"Was there anyone out there?"

He shakes his head.

"At least that's some good news. So how do we do this?"

He moves back, over to where the path sort-of splits.

"This way."

With no other moves, I follow him to a spot where a vent is missing and he points to the land across it.

"Over there is the exit. If you can not freak out, I should be able to take you over there."

My spine shivers.

"Are you certain you can lift me over? That's at least a ten-foot gap, give or take."

"Trust me. I know what I'm capable of."

I swallow what little courage I have and shut my eyes tight.

"Please, make it quick."

"Don't worry, I got you."

There's silence for a bit. Then something slithers under then over my shoulders and slinks to wrap around my waist. I want to look but when my feet leave the ground my entire body clenches.

"Easy now. No sudden moves."

That doesn't help.

I do my best to block out everything. Like the feel of wind brushing past and intense heat that wafts up from below. My nerves are threatening to go off again. The instant I can feel a foot touch anything solid my eyes shoot open.

"See? Told you I could do it."

He's already on this side with me. Probably moved here first then reached over and carried my dumb frightened ass over. Bless you, super flower-goat-boy! The vines release and I'm once more on terra firma. I use this moment to hug Flowey.

"Thank you!"

He chuckles and now it's two going through Mettaton's show. If only I didn't leave my bag at home. Then he'd be riding with me. Then again, Mettaton would've taken that too and really screwed me over.

FINALLY. AS TOUCHING AS THAT WAS, DARLING, YOU NEED TO GET MOVING. WE'RE ALREADY BEHIND SCHEDULE AS IT IS.

I pop my neck and nod. The sooner I get through this the sooner it ends and we can go home.

"You okay with following me in case of other bull?"

"Oh yeah. You're going to need me. There are more vents past this.

I groan and silently curse everything before walking. Upon entering the north path past the steam vents, we come across another path made of pipework that veers to the right. This would be super chill if it weren't for the freaking lasers!

"This shouldn't be a big deal."

I look down at Flowey funny.

"Dude...Do you not see the lasers?"

He shakes his head.

"Don't think of them like you think they are. Those are made with magic energy. You remember what I told you about orange and light blue magic, don't you?"

It takes a second for that to click in my head. My small smirk lets him know I'm not completely stupid.

"See you on the other side."

He retreats to the ground and has to move through that, not like he can go through metal shit. So I take on this obstacle. There are nine lasers in total that go the order of orange, orange, cyan, orange, cyan, orange, cyan, cyan, and orange, with the cyan ones moving around. So by the logic of magic properties, I move through the orange ones and pause for the cyan ones till it's safe to keep going. In no time I'm at the end, a large metal pillar has a big red switch and out of spite I flip it. This effectively turns the laser off. Sweet! That was easy. Onward I go. The path veers upward and, can you guess, has more of those damn vents. A base one that changes directions, a one on the left and right side as well as in front. The path wants me to go forward but is blocked by a locked door. No doubt each side has a puzzle that opens each lock. Gotta love real-life video game logic.

"Not so bad, right?"

Speaks the emerging flora to my right.

"Still in one piece."

I joke to myself to keep the dumb side of me from saying something to jinx me.

"Need another lift?"

Looking at the gap between vents, it's not so evil as the first ones, maybe about four or five feet.

"I think I can manage this one."

He's relieved, thinking I'm being a big girl and fighting my fear.

"Great! I knew you could...wait...What are you...?!"

Don't think. Just act. Fear can't affect you if you don't realize it's there.

I take a short sprint and make nice bound over to where he's at. He's rather confused.

"The hell? What about your phobia?"

"Easy...Didn't think about it."

I head for the puzzle and he's flabbergasted.

"Wha...but...You still could've used the vents!"

"Nope!"

He catches up to me as I get distracted looking at two monsters sitting at the cliff's edge.

"You scare me something."

"How do you think I feel? I scare myself and I'm the one doing it."

There's a room nearby but these two just pull my attention. There's what appears to be a pale-green dragon in a black business suit and slick shade, like some sort of scaly lawyer. A black wisp-like monsters that reminds me of Grillby, even sporting glasses, in a gray tank-top and red pants drinking something steaming hot, dude looks chill in this heat. They don't seem to notice us and I can hardly hear bits of their chit chat. Something about how they're glad that the reactivated puzzles are preventing them from progressing as they do not want to go to work. They are also muttering some other stuff but I head for the room before they see this random human.

Inside the puzzle room, I'm met by two things. The puzzle itself and a disembodied fox head wearing sunglasses. The fuck am I tripping on?!

"The door leading through the area is closed?"

Dear God, it bounces as it talks and speaks with an upward inflection like valley speak! It hurts my brain. Good news, it has no clue what I am. Yay!

"So I tried the puzzle? But I kept running out of ammo, and it kept restarting?"

"...Bummer."

"And my two co-workers won't help? It's like they don't even wanna go to work?"

"Harsh."

"Why don't you try? Try using the console?"

I shrug and give this thing a little checking out. No real help from the fox so maybe the puzzle will tell me what to do. Oh, look! The convenient "?" icon is super tiny and hidden in the corner while also being somewhat the same color as the background. That's not a dick move, oh no, not in the slightest.

(Shoot the opposing ship!)

(Move the boxes to complete your mission.)

Okay, that's useful. Let's see...Four immovable blocks, two movable ones, and two open spaces. The immovable blocks are in each corner and the movable ones are in my way. And to top it all off, I get only two shots. Scoot the two away, shoot, and puzzle solved.

(CONGRATULATIONS!)

That's one done, another to go.

"Wow? You solved it? I'm impressed? You must be a total nerd?"

...Jackass.

Leaving the room has Flowey grabbing my wrist with a vine and tugging me to get moving.

"Bro, chill, what's wrong?"

"I heard them talking. They've been watching Mettaton's broadcast on their phones."

Yeah, that's our cue to skedaddle.

"Please use the vents this time."

I speed past him much to his chagrin.

"Screw...the...rules!"

I shout with each leap taken. I know deep down he wants to call me dumb and yet I'm kinda proud I'm able to forget about the incredibly high path we're treading that drops into freaking lava. He rejoins me as a non-moving cyan laser seemingly impedes my progress. However, it's waist level in height and nothing is stopping me from crawling underneath it.

"Wow."

"I know, right?"

Like on the right side, the left has the puzzle room and two monsters just hanging out on the cliff. These two monster girls are wearing what look like red and black Japanese school uniforms. The fuck? Not sure what's weirder, everyone's bravery by being that close to death or how the hell they got those clothes. Either way, one girl is purple with possible tentacle hair and has red eyes with black sclera, she is so clearly a tom-boy with her red back facing cap and skateboard. While the other girl is made up of lime green flame and gives off this way too innocent vibe for being here and with the bad-girl. Hotland does seem more and more to be Grillby's former home. How many more fire elementals live here?

"You think the laser has them stuck here?"

"Maybe. I know I wouldn't crawl on the floor with a skirt like that."

I enter the room and thankfully there's no head laying around that speaks in headache-inducing jabber. Let's see...Are the rules the same?

(Shoot the opposing ship!)

(Move the boxes to complete your mission.)

Yep. Same rules but different layout. Five immovable blocks, six movable ones, and five open spaces. The three immovable ones are in corners, one is above a corner, and the last is touching the corner of a corner block. And once more I get two shots. The movable blocks from a backward jacked letter C. This one is a bit more complex. The majority of the blocks move in one push. I have to try this a few times before I'm able to have it clear enough to shoot through one block and then the target.

(CONGRATULATIONS!)

If my calculations are correct, the door should be open now and further progress can be made. I leave the room and notice the laser is off. Flowey is also nowhere to be seen, probably due to the girls having moved from their original spot.

"Finally! Someone turned off that laser!"

Don't thank me, I'm just awesome.

"Now that we're free we can... Well, uh, I guess we'll just keep standing here."

"Hm? Nice try, but your loitering technique still needs work."

They chat with themselves. Great time to be invisible.

"Loitering around... What's the point?"

"Beats being in school. Why should we bother going to school, anyway...? What's the point in learning how to make a buncha puzzles? There's GOTTA be a way to cancel school."

"But isn't it summer vacation?"

"...Auuuugh! This world's got no future!"

A bit overly dramatic. Whatever. Back to business. I rush to make my final leap and almost trip on the pipework floor. Yeah...Not gonna be doing this jump thing anymore. Lost my nerve for it. Motion activates the door and it slides opens into the rock.

"Okay, Metta...Here I come."

Going through the door leads me to a small bit of land that turns to the right and three widely spaced vents in a row to reach the next...Is that kitchen linoleum? I can't be seeing that right.

"Seems like you have no choice this time."

Flowey appears.

"Can't at least hurl me across?"

He shakes his head.

"I can't support carrying you that far and I'm not risking you falling to death."

"Yeah, my luck as of late would be that level of crap."

I smack myself a few times to ready my timid nerves.

"Any words of wisdom before I do this?"

He thinks for a moment.

"Beware of chainsaws."

"What?!"

He sinks into the ground and I internally scream...Fuck my life!

Stepping onto the vent blocks the steam for a bit. The building pressure launches me from one vent to the next. By the time I reach solid ground I'm about ready to vomit my still-beating heart out.

"I hate heights!"

I'm gonna punch him. I swear, even if it breaks my hands, I will beat the shit out of Mettaton for this.

Still shaken I crawl my way into the next area. It's very weird. As if the linoleum wasn't odd, I'm now in what looks like a kitchen set. Oh...Oh god no...This can't mean...

"Don't tell me this is what I think it is."

As if on cue, low and behold, my metal master of moronic mayhem hovers down from the heavens wearing a chef's hat.

"OHHHH YES! WELCOME, DASTARDLIES, TO THE UNDERGROUND'S PREMIER COOKING SHOW!"

(Cooking with a Killer Robot)

"PRE-HEAT YOUR OVENS, BECAUSE WE'VE GOT A VERY SPECIAL RECIPE FOR YOU TODAY! WE'RE GOING TO BE MAKING...A CAKE! DEVIL'S FOOD CAKE TO BE EXACT."

Two of his hands stretch out and grab me, despite my pointless clawing at the floor, to present me to cameras I can't see.

"MY LOVELY ASSISTANT HERE WILL GATHER THE INGREDIENTS. EVERYONE GIVE THEM A BIG HAND!"

An applause sound effect goes off as well as confetti falls. I glare at myself.

"*mutter* You better have my stuff as promised or I will purposefully make sure your ratings bomb."

He pulls me in so only I hear him.

"*WHISPER* DO THAT AND YOU CAN KISS YOUR ITEMS GOODBYE."

I snort a huff and try to put on a smile. This seems to be what he wants.

"WE'LL NEED SUGAR, MILK, FLOUR, CHOCOLATE, AND EGGS. GO FOR IT, SWEETHEART!"

He's being overly flashy and fantastic. I should play along...but I'm too pissy and bitter. Plus calling me sweetheart irks me. You want a nice human? I'll be so sweet your blood sugar will spike!

"*giggles* Golly-gee. Thanks for having me on your show, Mr. Mettaton. Let's make the bestest best cake ever!"

This is stooping to new levels of pettiness that I might want to find a therapist for later. I'm pushing for a nearly unbelievable level of childish innocence as I scope the set and gather ingredients. All the while he watches every little skip and mean-spirited twirl I make before bring it all back to him a dopey smile.

"All done, Mr. Mettaton. This is going to be the most choco-lickity-yummiest cake in the universe!"

He puts two of his hands together and one on my head before sighing.

"DARLING...I LOVE WHAT YOU'RE DOING, I REALLY DO. BUT FOR THE SAKE OF THE AUDIENCE, COULD YOU LOWER THE CUTE DOWN A BIT?"

I give the puppy dog eyes.

"Am I in trouble? Did I do something wrong?"

He flinches and without thinking he slams my head into the counter. I roar and cover my face, trying not to burst into a hurricane of swears while he goes about the show.

"PERFECT! GREAT JOB, BEAUTIFUL! WE'VE GOT ALL OF THE INGREDIENTS WE NEED TO BAKE THE CAKE! MILK... SUGAR... FLOUR... CHOCOLATE... EGGS..."

He gasps suddenly while I check if my nose is broken. Good news, it's not.

"OH MY! WAIT A MAGNIFICENT MOMENT! HOW COULD I FORGET! WE'RE MISSING THE MOST IMPORTANT INGREDIENT!"

I wipe a small bit of blood off my forehead.

"And what ingredient is that? This was everything you told me to get."

Some of my attitude is coming out but not too much.

"WHY, IT'S NOTHING WE HAVE TO GO SEARCHING FOR. YOU BROUGHT IT HERE WITH YOU."

I look at him funny until I see him pulling two chainsaws out from under the counter.

"A HUMAN SOUL!"

My heart sinks as he revs them up. Yet when he begins to do a slow methodical approach...My brain remembers to do one of my many pointless talents. Poking holes things with needless but true knowledge.

"Objection!"

The nerd in me is giddy for being able to make him pause with that.

"YES?"

I slap the counter.

"This recipe is bogus. What kind of cake calls for an ingredient that is so rare and priceless as a human soul? I submit my dumb argument, because I'm willing to admit the idiocy of saying this, that a human soul would serve a far greater purpose than being used for baked goods. Such as breaking the barrier. What say you, Metta? Do you have anything to back up your reasoning to use my soul in this cake?"

I wonder if Napsablook has an emulator on his PC? I want to play Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney now.

His screen blinks a little in thought. Before one of his arms leaves the murder weapon to go somewhere off set and return to put a can on the counter.

"...What is that?"

"THAT, MY DEAR, IS MTT-BRAND ALWAYS-CONVENIENT HUMAN-SOUL-FLAVOR-SUBSTITUTE! AVAILABLE AT ANY OF MY FINE RETAIL MARKETS! PROOF THAT THIS IS SOMETHING RATHER COMMON DOWN HERE AND THEREFORE, NOT A COMPLETELY UNREASONABLE IDEA AS TO WHY USE OF YOUR SOUL WOULD BE IN COOKING."

I stare dumbfounded at this can.

"This...This thing holds stuff that tastes like a human soul?"

He turns one chainsaw off and leans on it like a villain does with a cane.

"IT IS WHAT IT IS, DARLING. THE LABEL DOESN'T LIE. I SELL ONLY THE BEST. AND I GUARANTEE, IF YOU TRY IT, YOU'D NEVER KNOW THE DIFFERENCE."

My mouth opens but nothing comes out. I put my hands together, hold them to my face, and ponder the meaning of life."

"Metta, my dude...This is some messed up stuff right here."

"HOW SO?"

I sigh through my nose and lose my ability to be subtle.

"You do know that souls can be used as sexual organs, right?"

He slips from his cool pose in shock.

"DARLING! CAREFUL WHAT YOU SAY! THIS IS LIVE AND KIDS MIGHT BE WATCHING."

"Do not change the subject by insinuating children don't have the ability to understand. Kids are always learning and they find things out quicker than others give credit. Such as their body's and, because it's a monster's core, soul. You can not expect me to believe that knowledge of that caliber is unknown."

I grab the can harshly.

"Knowing that, the fact this can exists and as you claim is indistinguishable from the real deal, it insinuates that you or someone else on your staff knows what a human soul tastes like. Meaning...Someone has had oral sex with a human soul."

He falls over at my accusations. Chainsaws long forgotten. But I'm not done.

"Further more, this can opens a can of worms in its implications. Forgive my armature knowledge on the subject, but in the old myths above, there is no mention of monsters feeding on human souls. Such things usually are connected to demons. So this concept is either new to the Underground or you're making it up purely for this show!"

My head is swimming with weird thoughts and I'm unable to keep them to myself.

"Fearing that the humans would one day turn on monster kind and slaughter their people, absorb their few boss souls and become dominant over them, the monsters decided to launch a preemptive strike. That's what the old text said, but...If this feeding on souls it true..."

I glare at the can, not liking the thoughts it's making me get.

"Then humans had a reason to seal you away."

Those words are bitter and I spit them getting angry, squeezing the can with force.

"Tell me I'm wrong."

It crunches, metal splitting to cut into my hand before furiously throwing it at the fake window behind us.

"Tell me I'm wrong! Don't make me feel bad for humanity!"

I'm physically shaking. My rage tapering on the verge. It's not even towards anyone. How can it? What's in the past is there forever. But this...Don't tell me this is real and in the present.

"Please..."

I lick my hand, trying to focus on the sting and hint of copper to calm me down. Finally able to recover, Mettaton dusts himself off. Taking note of my behavior and picking his words carefully.

"WOW, DARLING. SUCH RAW EMOTION. THE PASSION. FEAR. ANGER. AND DESPERATION. IT'S PERFECT IN EVERY WAY!"

A low snarl from me reminds him that I'm in no mood for his fabulous side.

"BUT TO ANSWER YOUR RATHER INTERESTING QUERY...NO. IT'S NOT TRUE."

A small sensation of relief begins to hit me as he opens a compartment under his screen and pulls out a small advertisement poster.

"I FIGURED THIS IDEA WOULD WORK MAINLY BECAUSE..."

He lightly touches my face.

"YOU'RE SWEETER THAN ANY DESERT~."

With the whole 'about to kill me' and fucked up line of thought thing that happened seconds ago, his little flirt has no effect and I slap his hand away. He's taken by this yet keeps his composer.

"BUT I SEE NOW THAT WAS FOOLISH. USING YOU IN A SIMPLE COOKING SHOW WAS A MASSIVE UNDERESTIMATION. ESPECIALLY TO PROMOTE MY NEWEST PRODUCT."

He crumbs the add and tosses it away.

"BUT AFTER THAT SCENE, I CAN KISS THOSE SALES GOODBYE. IT WAS WORTH A SHOT THOUGH. YOU NEVER KNOW WHAT WORKS WITHOUT TAKING RISKS."

I am so done with all of this it ain't even funny.

"YET THIS WASN'T A TOTAL LOST. I LEARNED YOU HAVE A REAL TALENT."

I eye him cautiously, getting the bleeding to at last stop.

"CLEARLY A COURTROOM DRAMA IS PERFECT FOR YOU!"

I hate my luck.

"I NEED TO MAKE SOME CALLS! GET A SET MADE! OOOOOH! THE SCANDALOUS SCRIPT IDEAS I HAVE!"

"I think you're jumping the gun a bit early on this."

He puts a finger to my lips.

"NOT NOW, DARLING, I'M WORKING."

I gesture to where I assume a camera is that he's nuts.

[RING-RING]

His phone goes off.

"THIS BETTER BE IMPORTANT! I'M ON AIR RIGHT NOW!"

Damn it. I can't hear the caller.

"WHAT DO YOU MEAN SHE WON'T MOVE?! YOU TELL HER..."

He's cut off.

"W-WHAT?! HOW MANY OF YOU ARE THERE LEFT? ...JUST YOU?! DAMN IT, BUGERPANTS, SO HELP ME IF THIS IS A PLOY TO GET OUT OF YOUR SHIFT..."

While he's distracted, I use this time to move the chainsaws away and out of sight. No need for them to come back into play.

"WAIT...SAY THAT LAST PART AGAIN. ARE YOU CERTAIN IT'S HIS POST?"

Post? What post? Who's post?

"*HUFF* FINE. RETURN TO YOUR POST. I'LL DEAL WITH THIS MYSELF."

He hangs up and is not too happy.

"*MUMBLE* DAMN SPIDER AND HER STUPID PET, KILLS MY MINIONS AND STILL DENIES MY BUSINESS DEALS!"

"You okay?"

My voice snaps him out of his thoughts and he calms down.

"UM...A CHANGE IN PLANS HAS COME UP. YES! DUE TO SOME SET ISSUES AND TIME CONSTRAINTS, OUR SHOW RUNS ON A STRICT SCHEDULE YOU KNOW, I'M GOING TO PERSONALLY DROP YOU OFF AT THE NEXT LEG OF THE GAUNTLET."

Well, that sounds like a load of bullshit. But my dumb brain has to dumb brain.

"So what you're telling me is we're not even going to finish this segment by making the damn cake?"

He pulls me into an uncomfortable side embrace.

"I KNOW, IT'S HEARTBREAKING. BUT YOU SHOULD'VE MOVED FASTER AT THE START OF ALL THIS."

"I have a fear of heights!"

"NOW WE'LL JUST HAVE TO LIVE WITH NOT KNOWING HOW GOOD THE CAKE COULD'VE BEEN."

"Don't ignore me."

"OR HOW MUCH MORE DELICIOUS IT COULD BE IF EATEN OFF MY BODY."

"The fuck did you say?!"

"BUT COME ON, DARLING, I'M ONLY MESSING WITH YOU AND OUR MALICIOUS VIEWERS. HAVEN'T YOU EVER SEEN A COOKING SHOW BEFORE? I ALREADY BAKED THE CAKE AHEAD OF TIME! SO FORGET IT! BECAUSE YOU'RE NOT GETTING ANY OF IT!"

"Is the screaming in my ear necessary?"

"WOULD YOU LOOK AT THAT! RIGHT ABOUT NOW IS WHEN WE HAVE OUR COMMERCIAL BREAK! SO STAY TUNED TO THAT SCREEN AND CONTINUE WATCHING AS OUR DEAR DARLING DARES TO DART FORTH INTO DANGER ONCE MORE!"

"Can you at least tell me I don't have to do any more vent platforming?"

"SORRY, BUT I'D BE LYING IF I DID."

I start trying to swear but I end up roaring out in meek frustration.

"SEE YOU ALL AGAIN REAL SOON."

A few seconds go by and he lets me go.

"OKAY, WE DON'T HAVE MUCH TIME..."

He moves to the sink and opens the cabinets under it.

"WE HAD A DEAL. DESPITE THAT LITTLE SHOW YOU PUT ON, I AM IF ANYTHING A MONSTER OF MY WORD."

He tosses me a bag with his face on it. Taking the hint, I open it and find my missing gear. Though...no phone. I take this small victory without a fight. I'm fairly certain I know who has it anyway. That cat is so getting skinned. I equip my items and CHECK my stats.

[ HP: 40 ATK: 45 DEF: 27]

"Someday, I swear my defense will be decent, damn it!"

"ALL SET?"

I may look ridiculous with all this all but it's not like I was a supermodel before.

"Yeah, I'm good. Thank you."

"UM..."

"What?"

"I WANT TO APOLOGIZE."

I scoff.

"Forget it."

"NO. I...WHAT I DID WAS STUPID. I SKIMMED OVER THINGS AND WASN'T EXPECTING HOW YOU'D REACT. A GOOD SHOWMAN IS MORE PREPARED AND KNOWS HIS CAST BETTER. FOR THAT...I'M SORRY"

No matter the mood I might be in, I know how hard it is to swallow one's pride and admit a wrong. I just wish he wasn't such a flip-flopper because this personality switching is making it difficult to trust him fully.

"*sigh* ...I forgive you. But don't ever pull that kind of crap again. Got it? I like you monsters. I like being here. I don't want to feel bad for my kind and see THIS punishment as justified."

He nods, or what I take as the equivalent to one for a guy without a neck. With that now all said and done he once again snatches me into his arms and he blasts off like a rocket. Where to? No damn clue.

[HOTLAND: LAB]

"Well, that was disappointing. Freaky, but disappointing."

Undyne collects another bowel to enjoy.

"Not his best move. That's for sure. All that controversial fuss."

Alphys had cut the feed but was still viewing the robot and human.

"Yeah. He didn't even use those chainsaws. Such a wasted opportunity."

"Still, the way she interpreted all that from a simple can of spice...And that reaction..."

Theories were coming to Alphys.

"Definitely something to remember for future use."

Undyne takes a long slurp of ramen.

"It's a freak, Alphys. Plain and simple."

Alphys's companion's lack of imagination made her sneer.

"At least he's prolonging her activity. That provides data. And that's all that matters."

Undyne rolls her eye.

"Still...I wonder what that phone call was about?"

Alphys, being the one that sees all, knows the answer to that question. She just finds it more interesting to see if her hot fish friend can figure it out for herself. Oh, what a tangled web we weave, when first we practice to deceive.

[Snowdin: Skeleton House in present time]

They weren't sure what they just watched. Such a strange buildup and quickly smothered show. Sure this wasn't over but no one honestly thought that second showing was going to be over in about twelve minutes. Still...The lingering questions remained when the commercials played.

"This is nerve-wracking."

"I know. But at least there's some good news. He's moving her further. She'll be done faster."

"I suppose that is true."

"OR SHE'LL BE KILLED QUICKER."

Toriel and Grillby glare at Papyrus.

"WHAT? I'M BEING REALISTIC BY SAYING THE OPTION YOU'RE IGNORING."

The glares and fire strengthen.

Papyrus takes the hint and walks away. Maybe Sans had some sort of idea and won't want to beat the shit out of him as the others do.

"you need to work on your people skills, bro."

He growls but that's it.

"i got an idea as to what happened near the end."

"REALLY?"

"yeah. i think someone tipped him off about my post there."

"YOU SURE?"

"got no other clue as to why he'd move her himself and not let her walk."

"HOW MUCH DO YOU THINK HE'LL HAVE HER SKIP?"

"who's to say? i only know what i can see from my post. and it ain't much."

"WHY DO YOU HAVE SO MANY POSTS?"

"do ya know anybody else that can teleport?"

"...GOOD POINT."

"you sound underwhelmed."

"I DON'T KNOW...I JUST DON'T SEE IT. YOU WORKING THAT MUCH? IT'S WEIRD."

"if it makes it less weird, i sell hot dogs at those stations."

"THAT...THAT MAKES MORE SENSE."

The television flickers suddenly. The commercials end and the human is back onscreen. Her exact location is odd in that there doesn't seem to be a path to leave on. There's a signpost they can't read and random cacti. Among the positives, she is sporting her equipables again and thus have her stats boosted. On the negative side...she isn't there alone for very long.

#undertale #underfell #Anomaly #Lynsie #sans #papyrus #gaster #grillby #grandpa semi #mettaton #napstablook #chara #frisk #flowey #Asriel #asgore #toriel #undyne #alphys

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archangel1961 · 5 years ago

Text

One Piece Prompt #Unknown

Ace is the sole prince of Raftel, one of the largest magical kingdoms in All Blue. Unlike most sole-heir royals, Ace isn’t obnoxious or spoiled or cruel. True he’s hardheaded and temperamental and brash, but he’s also polite, kind, sweet, and gentle. Rouge and Roger ruled the kingdom and set a golden age for their country. And as such they’re also loved by their people dearly.

Throughout his years he grew up with his “brothers” Sabo and Luffy. Nobles from a different kingdom in South Blue but due to circumstances, they were raised together. It wasn’t long before Ace and Sabo fell in love, around their teen years they decided to stop dancing around each other and finally got together.

It was the most blissful 6 years of Ace’s life.

Until Sabo was kidnapped and the boat holding him burned and sank to the sea. Days turned to weeks into months, and no signs of Sabo. The fiery prince didn’t want to give up but as the heir to the kingdom, he had to choose between one man and a kingdom.

Ace will forever choose Sabo over the world. But Prince Ace of Raftel cannot abandon the life of his people for one life.

And so they moved on. They shed their tears, where Luffy cried the most. Both of Luffy’s and Ace’s parents mourning the lost of the son they thought they’d never asked for but forever grateful to have had.

Ace wasn’t the same after that. He still smiles and remained kind but there was cruelty in his eyes. Rage that cannot be tamed by any water.

*******

At age 24, exactly at Sabo’s death anniversary, Ace got a slave. While they do not condone the act of cruelty against servants nor people trafficking, they cannot stop the ruling of other countries. King Doflamingo of Dressrosa appeared in their midst asking for truce between kingdoms. As proof of his hospitality, he gave the young prince his precious treasure.

“He’s a bit old, around 36 or something we’ve lost count. But I assure you, he won’t disappoint”

He said as he dragged the chain connecting to a blond’s collar. Truly he does look more mature than most slaves Ace had seen nobles preferred to take. He had the same blond hair and the same blue eyes. But Ace only saw red.

Marco the Phoenix. A prince from a hidden kingdom unknown to many. He was kidnapped as a child raised as slave by the Donquixote family. He had grown quite old in his cellar and Doflamingo deemed him useless enough to be given away despite his ability to heal and transform into a phoenix.

Marco saw this opportunity to find home, to finally see his Pops and brothers and sisters again. Thinking if he’s being given away to a kind kingdom, they’d let him be free or at least find them again.

But one look in that rage-filled eyes stomped the hope from further developing. He knew those eyes. It won’t end well for him.

Ace on his part, was appalled. How dare this pink chicken thinks that he can offer a slave as a replacement for Sabo? How DARE he thinks that someone can replace Sabo?

Ace didn’t see Marco for who he was at the time. He only accepted the offer with a strained smile to avoid further conflicts.

And yet, as Marco deduced, it did not go well for him. Day and night Ace would take him. Bed him and be as rough as he can when he’s angry, bored, or simply whenever he’s sad. As if trying to find a missing person in Marco’s form.

Marco would moan, scream, and keep shut if that’s what his told. He’d do anything Ace would order because despite the rough treatment, the kingdom was kind to him. And despite every rude comment, every side sneers, Ace always looked like he’s in deep despair.

One night, Marco tried to coax him to open up, to try and befriend his new master, wishing to alleviate some of his pain.

The prince only slapped him and yelled, “You’re but a replacement! Know your place.”

Marco only accepted it because what else could they be? Why should he hope that the prince would be different? That he could be someone to the prince just because he beds him day and night?

They didn’t do anything for weeks after that. Marco who thought he’d finally get to connect with someone went back to secluding himself in his quarters unless called upon. Ace apologized three weeks later.

They got along better after that. They talked, and talked and talked and talked.

Ace learned about Marco’s family. How everyone is mostly a child of magic and has their own attribute. Marco learned about Ace’s childhood and his lost love.

Ace cried for the first time in years when Marco said, “It’s okay to mourn for years. You love him after all.”

He wept until he can no more and fell asleep side by side with the blond.

*******

Two years went by and the prince was back. Ace was back. His parents, the people, and Luffy couldn’t be happier.

Ace and Marco’s relationship remained master and servant. But he was gentler. And with each passing hour, Marco falls harder for someone who won’t ever be his.

But Ace was starting to fall for Marco. The man who accepted him despite his childish tantrums when he was mourning for Sabo. The man who saved him from himself when he wanted nothing more but to join his lover in the after life.

Marco rarely shows his phoenix form but the few times he does Ace was enthralled. Why the other was embarrassed about his form Ace had no clue. He’s beautiful.

Ace helps him with his heats, a feat they were not expecting to happen because according to Marco, his heat hadn’t come to him properly since he has reached the proper age. Ace offered to find ways to avoid getting him pregnant (another surprise from Marco’s phoenix heritage) but the blond said he’d only get pregnant with his true mate.

He was gonna do his move. He was gonna tell Marco to give him a chance to court him. To make him Ace’s. To be his true mate and have many children with him.

But he never got the chance. Because the Moby Dick Kingdom, a country hidden beyond fairies and giants and all magical beings suddenly visited their home. They said they found someone, from 9 years ago that finally remembered his past and now wishes to go home.

When the giant Whitebeard came in, he clashed with Roger, apparently their normal greeting and were good friends until the other have to go into hiding to protect his family.

Ace saw Marco cry because finally his Pops was there and everyone from home. After 20 something years of capture he finally saw his family again. He would’ve wanted to meet them properly. To shake Whitebeard’s hand and officially ask for Marco’s hand. To meet and greet the rest of the family for a good first impression.

But he did none of that. Because all of sudden Sabo was back in his arms. The years he mourned for, the man he asked to be given back is finally back in his arms. And so he hugged him tight and kissed him like there was nobody else in the room. Forgetting that he was about to court another man.

******

Marco saw it all happened. Watched from afar as Ace got farther and farther away from him. Watched as Ace brighten up and smile as he never saw before. Watched as the love between Sabo and Ace influences the people around them.

Marco can never hate Sabo. How could he? When he was smart, kind and funny. He can keep Ace in line, a feat Marco was only able to do so in recent months.

Everything looks so normal that it hurts. A reminder that Marco is and will always be just Sabo’s replacement. His family decided to stay in the kingdom for a while. Roger and Edward caught up in all the years they hadn’t seen each other.

Marco was transferred to Lady Rouge’s command. He became her servant and sometimes, just sometimes, he would see the pity in her eyes and he would pretend he saw nothing. He continued his duties despite being told that he doesn’t have to work because if he doesn’t, he would have to join Ace, Sabo, and Luffy. And it would feel like he’s intruding something.

Two months later, whilst doing his morning routine, he suddenly felt nauseated. It continued to happen almost every three hours of the day. Another week of this and Ace ordered him to get himself check. For the sake of everyone worried about him.

And so he did. It was on that day, he found out that he was pregnant. Three months pregnant.

#One piece #One piece prompts #prompt #marco the phoenix #marcoace #acemarco #acesabo #marcosaboace #angst #sudden urge to write the angst coz why not #there's not enough bottom marco in this world and Im one who can't write them properly #let's make marco cry #marcoacesabo

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belizedeservesbetter · 5 years ago

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The Worst Kind of After School Special

The hand on the playbill is choking all life out of Jagged Little Pill

There’s a lot going on in this musical so trying to figure out where to start with this is going to be as messy as this show.

You know what? We’ll start with what I liked. Get those small bits and pieces out of the way.

Alanis Morrissette is an absolutely incredible singer/songwriter and has written albums worth of amazing music that is highly specific to her life and yet feels highly specific to our own. Her songs are infused with a beautiful brand of theatricality that made me surprised she hasn’t lent them to the medium before now. That being said, of course the songs in the show are great. They’re from Jagged Little Pill! The orchestrations as well were super solid. I really trust Tom Kitt with these kinds of things, especially after the master orchestration he did with American Idiot.

Lauren Patten is just as good as everyone says she is. While I had some issues with her character (will discuss this later) I loved seeing Patten get a chance to shine. I really enjoyed her performance in last year’s Days of Rage and thought she was even better in this. Her performance felt so full and rich and completely vulnerable. Of course her rendition of “You Oughta Know” is completely awesome, and the way she started off the song completely calm and composed while already belting out the notes was really lovely to see.

There was only one characters I really truly loved and that was Mary Jane Healy, as played spectacularly by Elizabeth Stanley. Everything MJ did was far more interesting than literally anything else on that stage. Her story was interesting, fresh and unique. It felt the most honest of the plot lines by far. I was so interested in everything that happened to her and her husband Steve (an underutilized Sean Allan Krill) and yet the show quickly glossed by all of their most uncomfortable moments in favor the far less interesting high school aged characters. Stanley was truly incredible and I loved every second she was onstage. Her “Smiling” and “Unforgiven” were truly the highlights of the show.

Occasionally there was some interesting staging, one of them being this cool spinning in chairs moment during “Ironic,” which should have involved main characters Frankie and Phoenix but was instead used with an unnamed teacher character who was in exactly one (1) scene. The spinning swing set for “Head Over Feet” was also cute, if not a little precarious. I was worried Antonio Cipriano was going to topple off of it the whole time. (Side Note: He’s listed on the website as Ensemble but he definitely had a named character) The staging of “Smiling” was super cool and was the one moment in the show where I thought Diane Paulus was going to do something really incredible. I don’t want to spoil it, but it’s a really cool moment.

Alas.

Diane Paulus really can’t stage new musicals. All of her revivals are divine but there’s something about new material that just doesn’t work quite right. She throws a lot at the wall, and only some of it sticks. It felt very haphazardly directed, with a bunch of different stylistic things happening that didn’t go together. She had time to see what worked/didn’t at the out of town tryout and still chose not to make the show cohesive, which is disappointing.

However, my biggest problem with the show is the show itself. It’s messy, introduces a million different plots and characters and resolves very little. Because of this, characters were paper thin and I didn’t feel like I knew any of them besides one or two little facts. This led to me honestly not caring that much about 90% of those characters.

The primary example of this is the brother character played by Derek Klena. His name is Nick, but I had to look that up to make sure because for the life of me I had no idea who his character was. I knew he was Derek Klena, so whenever he was on stage my brain went “Oh there’s Derek Klena.” He’s perfectly fine in the show, but not only is he barely in it, he has absolutely nothing to do. I don’t really know much about his character besides “Harvard” and he very, very easily could have been taken out. Nothing about the plot would have changed. Actually, this would have given us a better opportunity to dive deeper into the other characters, who, even though we still didn’t know, affected the plot in a more prominent way.

Jo is an interesting character in that she’s one of the best performances in the show and has some of the best lines, but altogether only affects one plot point and is forced into doing so. Let me explain. “You Oughta Know” is the third best moment in the show, but it is entirely dependent on Jo previously breaking and entering into Frankie’s house, finding something out she shouldn’t have, and then ending up in NYC because the plot said she had to. The song should’ve been moved up to either the beginning of Act Two or the very end of Act One, because as of now it kind of comes out of nowhere. Anyways, I feel like if Lauren Patten wasn’t as good as she is, Jo would’ve ended up on the cutting room floor somewhere.

I had this problem with a lot of the characters, actually, just about all of them. Everyone was extremely half-baked.

First of all, there’s The Frankie Problem. Frankie is an activist and adopted and bisexual. That’s all we know about her. Does she like anything? What cause specifically motivates her? She’s an activist in the most generic term. Helen Shaw from Vulture wrote something really good about Frankie’s character, which, to sum it up, basically said Frankie is super self-important and annoying but she’s not supposed to be. We’re supposed to love Frankie, but I really didn’t like her at all. Also, nothing she does makes sense. She picks a fight with literally everyone over every single thing. Likewise, SPOILER, she cheats on her girlfriend/friend/it’s-complicated-because-it’s-never-explained relationship with Jo and fights with her mother MJ and just runs away to New York and makes a situation about a character named Bella allllll about her because she can. I wanted to know what Frankie cared about. You can say “activism!” but what specifically. Most activists have a very specific cause they especially champion, but I didn’t know what that was for Frankie. She seemingly cared about everything, but she mostly cared about herself.

This leads to the The Frankie and Phoenix Problem. This is also SPOILERS but Frankie falls very in love with Phoenix very fast and as soon as she sleeps with him for the first time she tells him she loves him, and, then, when he can’t say it back, she says this whole self-important thing about being impossible to love. However! Right before he was telling her how he was busy because he was trying to help with his sick sister! We also know extraordinarily little about Phoenix, and he kind of comes out of nowhere, so it’s tough to root for him when we’ve already had “Hand in my Pocket” to establish the Frankie and Jo connection.

On the plus side, Celia Rose Gooding, who plays Frankie, is wonderful and I look forward to seeing what she does in the future.

I really don’t know how to approach Bella’s character, because the show clearly didn’t either. This is a big spoiler, but she is raped at a party and one of the many plots of the show is about this. However, she isn’t really in the show all that much. We have no idea who she is. She’s friends with Nick, but not very. She eerily appears in the light sometimes around MJ and she has one scene with MJ, but how much they try to tie these two characters doesn’t work. I wish Bella was a character we knew more. I almost wish she was Jo, or even Frankie. If we look at the characters as tiers, with MJ and Frankie being Tier 1, Jo, Nick and Steve being Tier 2, she would be on Tier 3, along with Andrew (???) and Phoenix. She is The Girl Who Was Raped, which was actually kind of offensive.

As for the rape scene itself, they do show it in flashback. That is something you should know going into the show. It was not handled well. Also, the person who raped her (I think his name was Andrew??) is in the show for exactly two minutes. I actually thought a different character had raped her because we have no idea who anyone is.

So that’s all my story qualms.

The show utilizes this dance chorus that is absolutely obnoxious and distracting and takes away from literally every scene. They come in out of nowhere and make every single song (literally!!) a big song and dance production number, which greatly took away from the story. Every time I saw them start to dance into the scene I internally was like “wait no! stay away!”

I mean it when I say

every

single

song

was a huge production number. And we didn’t need it! It actually took away from the emotional impact they were supposed to have! Likewise, there was only one solo in the entire show! Every single other song was shared between multiple characters. I think they did this because they had too many characters and had to give everyone something to do but every time it happened, the main character singing it lost some of their needed emotional impact.

If I had my way, I would cut the ensemble in half and only use them in half the songs. The dancing was far too much and it made the story messy and it made the stage far too busy. It wasn’t even that good either. There were some nice moments, but overall it didn’t work. It was distracting and dare I say it bad.

At the end of the day, the show was “woke” for the sake of being woke. It wanted so badly to say something that it ended up saying nothing. To be honest, the amount of “wokeness” felt performative and not genuine in the slightest. It felt like an after school special in the worst kind of way. The teens weren’t people but caricatures of teenagers.

I really wanted to like Jagged Little Pill. I love writer Diablo Cody and I love Alanis Morrissette. This should have been amazing, but instead it fell flat. A show that should have been filled with life felt like a well structured after school television special. And All I Really Want(ed) was something with more grit

#jagged little pill #i really wanted to like this show and yet #lauren patten #broadway #review

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yconic · 6 years ago

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( I loved the single dad tony au so much i decided to write a part two!)

"Every time you flap your lips another one of my brain cells dies and I crave for death, you absolute disaster."

Two months have passed since what the kids called 'the Steve incident'-- thought, Pietro insisted they referred to him as 'the creepy customer who wants to get into our dad's pants'--, and currently, Wanda was restraining herself from stabbing her eardrums with a toothpick as she was eating a brownie while listening to her brother's immature shenanigans.

Pietro rolled his eyes, laying out a piece of paper on the table. The blank page was filled with scribbled drabbles of Steve in dangerous or life-threatening situations, grace to Peter's artistic skills. Pietro had to bribe him with candy in exchange for the art, but the teen needed to feel like at least ONE sibling was on his side.

"Then perish, " Pietro scoffed, taking a seat next to her, stealing away the brownie as he took Peter into his arms, settling his baby brother on his lap, ignoring the drool spilling on his arm. "Come on sis, contribute! Come up with ideas! Help me! Do something! You're the brain of this operation!"

"No. Steve is just a sweet guy who likes our dad, that's it. Just leave it alone!"

Pietro scuffed, continuing his aggressive scribbling "I changed my mind, you're the ass of this operation."

"There is no operation. There's just you fearing dad will finally have someone again and you want to ruin it because you're paranoid and scared of change."

"Never gonna happen. Ever." Confidently said Pietro, arms crossed over his chest. He's pretty sure Steve won't stick around anyway once he gets bored, or fed up when he realizes Tony won't pick him over them, which will inevitably happen. He's seen this before and already knows the ending.

Only if he knew how bad he was going to eat his words.

Hand landing harshly on Steve's shoulder, Pietro's smile was forced and painful on his face as he turned to his science teacher whom he HAD to piss off that day with one of his usual acting up sessions, as he liked to call every time Pietro pulled his daily shenanigans.

"Mr. Stone, this is my father, Steve," Pietro pushed every word out with difficulty through his gritted teeth, forcing himself not to sneer every letter. Steve's knowing face didn't help the situation by any means, only increased Pietro's desire to wipe that infuriating smug smirk off his face. With his fists, preferably.

He called Steve and asked for his help after Stone caught him having a fight with Thomspon in the cafeteria. After a scolding that bored the teen out of his mind, Stone ordered him to call his parents, which made Pietro pause slightly.

If he called Tony, he'll get grounded for sure. After countless times his adoptive father had to leave his workplace because of Pietro's mischievousness, Tony firmly warned him that if he received one more call from the school, Pietro will be stuck at home babysitting Peter and do chores for a whole month.

He couldn't afford being grounded as he was invited to Harry Osborn's party which everyone will attend and he knew for a fact not a single person will shrug off his absence. If he missed this event, Pietro was going to be the main gossip material for who knows how long. Normally, he wouldn't mind a bit of attention here and there, but Pietro just knew he was going to be more annoyed by their whispers as time went by, and he didn't want to deal with it.

So he swallowed his pride and requested Steve's help, who much to his dismay, agreed to play along if Pietro'd put a good word for him to Tony. Grumbling, he accepted the offer and now here he was, in Stone's classroom, pretending to be the son of the one person he hated most.

In his luck, Stone was new to the school, replacing the former science teacher who thought was a good idea to keep some girls after class for 'supplementary lessons' and forgot about the security cameras that spied every classroom, so he easily believed Pietro's lie.

He also seemed pleased by Steve's perfectly tailored suit. Pietro had no doubt the outfit costed more than his entire tuition. "It's good to know at least one of you has decent taste in clothing, " Stone gestured to one of the chairs. "Please, take a seat, Mr. Maximoff. There is a lot we must discuss your son and his atrocious behavior."

"Don't mind if I do, sir," Steve smiled, sitting on a chair while Pietro remained on his feet, hands in the pockets of his hoodie as he waited for the whole charade to be over. "I know my son can be quite the rascal sometimes, but he means no harm, I assure you. What did he do this time?"

"I regret to say that your son has quite the record, Mr. Maximoff, " with a disapproving shake of head, Stone glared in his direction and Pietro had to hold himself back from rolling his eyes so hard they'd pop out of his head.

"Verbal altercations with the school's faculty, various acts of obnoxious farces that disturb classes, and worst of all, he engages in physical fights with other students like some sort of savage! This behavior is unacceptable and must be corrected immediately."

Fists clenched, Pietro sat in silence, knowing he won't help his situation if he'd open his mouth. Stone wasn't exactly the type to listen to the other side of the story that differs to his.

"Why did they fight?"

Taken back by the question, Stone blinked in confusion, as did Pietro. "Um, well--"

"Because there has to be a reason," Steve interrupted Stone with an unshakable firmity. "Pietro wouldn't start an argument just because. He knows he'd disappoint To--Me, if he did, " not giving the teacher a chance to reply, Steve turned his attention to Pietro and asked: "tell me what happened. The whole thing."

"Mr. Maxmimoff, I don't think--,"

"Stone, I'm speaking to my son. Don't interrupt me again." Steve's glare was enough to make Stone snap his mouth shut, not daring to mutter another thing. "Also if I may, using the term 'savage' to describe another student is incredibly disrespectful, not to mention inappropriate, and I'll make sure Ms. Hill will hear about it."

He couldn't lie, watching Steve rip Stone a new one was entertaining and he didn't want to stop it by any means. Holding back a smile, Pietro began to explain the whole incident. And even now he wants to kick Flash's ass for what he said about his father.

Steve looked like he had the same idea. Turning to Stone, he raised an eyebrow. " And I assume you already knew all of this before you brought my son here and called me. I am sure you were a rational person and heard him out instead of ignoring what he had to say thinking that you know better.

"I, well, he didn't say--"

" I also assume you will call Eugene's father and let him know about what happened. Needless to say his son will get punished just like Pietro, yes? It wouldn't be fair to just punish one student when both of them were involved, would it?"

"Mr. Maximoff, I'm afraid that it'd taint Flash's record if we involve him in this incident and Mr. Thompson wouldn't be pleased with that--, "

Stone's sentence was interrupted by the snort coming from Steve, but judging by the way his jaw tightened Steven was everything but amused.

"And we wouldn't want our main sponsor to stop throwing money to us because we hold his spoiled asshole of a son responsible for once, right? Why does it matter if we're being unfair to the other kids? If we're not treating them equally like we do more 'important' students? I mean, it's not like they can actually DO something or speak up since we will side with money anyway, isn't it?"

"Steve, that is NOT appropriate and I find your tone very aggressive!" Stone huffed indignantly, eyeing Steve as though he was a maniac. Rolling his eyes, Steve stood up, placing a hand on Pietro's shoulder, leading him out of the classroom.

"You ain't seen aggressive yet. And trust me when I say you don't want to," spoke lowly Steve, fixating Stone with a stare so cold and dark it made the teacher take a step and cause Pietro to stop in his tracks. He never heard that tone from him before. "And it's Mr. Maximoff to you."

Once they stepped outside the school, Pietro didn't peep at all, which worried Steve a great deal but didn't press onto the issue. They took a cab filled with awkward silence to the apartment building Pietro and his family lived in. Steve had to admit, the neighborhood wasn't the best. He'll have to talk with Tony about it sometime.

The cab stopped, making Steve finally break the ice "So, uh," he shrugged helplessly, as he gestured to the building. "This is us, I guess. Pleasure masking business with you, kid."

After a pregnant pause, Steve found himself surprised when Pietro asked him if he wanted to have dinner with them. There was no mockery or cutting hostility in his tone like there usually was. Steve would lie if he'd say the invitation didn't caught him by surprise, even made him worry further a bit, but nevertheless, he said:

"I am 100℅ sure you're gonna poison me," he said drily, finally making Pietro snort. ", but I'll take the risk. Lead the way, kiddo."

"Hope you like Cyanide in your lasagna." Pietro joked, jogging to his apartment.

Running after him with a laugh, Steve replied with " As long as you're eating it with me we won't have a problem!"

"Fuck you, Rogers."

"Right back at you, P."

#pietro maximoff #quicksilver #scarlet witch #wanda maximoff #tony stark #iron man #steve rogers #captain america #stony #stony fic #peter parker #spiderman #irondad #fluff #otp #my writing #my aus #oof finally

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mariposalass · 6 years ago

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Say Something, My Love

Summary: Philip Hamilton has no idea of how modern Valentine’s Day works and is bad in confessing his romantic feelings for a modern day girl like her. And yet, he seeks out help in Mari’s siblings and friends to set up a date they will never forget. He didn’t expect that she is also feeling the same way too.

Setting: Mari and co.’s house in Daly City, California; February 4 to 14, 2019

Notes: Valentine’s Day story with Philip and Mari finally discovering that the other have feelings as each other big time! Inspired by @plucky-belmondo’s Valentine’s Day Imagines Prompts (namely the first 2 prompts) with my own spin. The stuff I used here include the recipes in the dinner (1, 2, 3, 4, 5), the tablescape inspiration, flowers, and the outfit Mari/me wore in this story. I’ll release a playlist for me and Philip some time after this.

Tags: Tons of crushing and gushing, Philip needs help in decoding Valentine’s Day, the feels!, romantic vibes, brief mention of character death

Philip Hamilton is in a loss for words right now. He has no idea of what he is feeling in this day and age, but for the last few weeks since he got revived back to life, these unspeakable feelings of love in one of his hosts, Mari, have grown exponentially. Still, it feels like alien territory for him to fall in love with somebody trying to help him out that he has kept his mouth shut whenever Mari notices him trying to get her attention that doesn’t involve help in adjusting to the 21st Century or just wanting to hang out with her and her family & friends.

For weeks, he kept silent on the matter, hoping that it will just fade away and he could just move on and probably find love in another woman too. Even Valentine’s Day is a foreign concept he couldn’t figure out. But these feelings and thoughts were too much for the eldest child of Alexander Hamilton to resist and he now wants to finally confront them big time, except that his father is no longer with him anymore and he is dry of ideas to court this lovely Asian woman on this ominous day.

Which is why he had arranged a last-minute meeting with Harry, Kairi, Issa, and Kirby at the basement one February night (Feb. 4 to be exact) to find a good idea while Mari was still on her way home from work. The aforementioned 4 had no idea as why they are dragged into this at first, but they know well that Philip needs some help in the matter of modern day dating. Everyone else in their group couldn’t come over though for various reasons (being sick, being out of town, work, school, etc.), but they do appreciated the offer though.

“So… You’re telling us that you, you want to date my sister?” Kairi started off the meeting with a question, sounding rather lost.

“Why, I, I, I could explain...” the young Hamilton sputtered in his words, his cheeks flushed hard.

“Philip, don’t be afraid to tell us,” Harry tried his best to reassure him, having to deal with a bad luck in dating women before Issa, the half-blood wizard can sense that Philip needed some help on the world of modern day ‘courting’ per say, “I’ll admit, I didn’t have anyone to teach me how to date a lady when I was a dumb teenager, and I ended up with two relationships that ended up badly. Yeah, I may be that big of an overprotective of a brother, but I can tell if a guy likes either one of my sisters and tries to be a respectable human, I’ll try to be supportive in any way I can.”

“You don’t say, Harry,” Philip began to sound less obnoxious upon hearing of Harry’s poor teen dating history, “I’m quite amazed that you and Issa don’t look like you’re going to fall apart.”

“Thankfully, my sisters were there for me even during my roughest time, especially when me and Issa started dating full time,” he replied, “I couldn’t thank them enough… Anyway, is there anything you want to surprise Mari this Valentine’s Day?”

Issa then stepped in, saying, “Yeah, Philip. Please tell us. We’re all ears now.”

“Well, actually, I have no idea of what to do to spend some time with her on that day!” he admitted much to their shock, “I don’t even recall celebrating it back in my old time. I guess I’m a little too old fashioned to do these strange modern day courting things you guys are doing.”

“Poyo!” Kirby’s mouth opened up in shock, dropping a bit of Strawberry Shortcake on his plate.

This confession left them a little surprised to put it lightly, regardless, Philip began to calm down from being too nervous to be in-depth and explain that he has set up this emergency meeting as to get some ideas as to make an unforgettable Valentine’s Day for Mari since she wasn’t that lucky in finding a guy who will love her unconditionally as she feared that a guy (and even a neurotypical one at that) will reject her because of her Asperger's diagnosis. This raised the alarm for the adopted siblings and friends that they wanted to help out even more than when they were earlier.

“Perhaps we can start by telling you what Mari likes and what her dream date would be like,” Issa suggested Philip a really brilliant idea.

“Alright then, as you say so, Issa,” he responded with a great approval.

“Me and Kairi will go first on this,” Harry began the dialogue, “Since we know her the longest, it’s best for us to say that she has a lot of things she likes and has in mind. First off, she likes her some literary and geeky stuff, she will devour them up like it’s breakfast. And the flowers, good Lord, flowers and butterflies are what gets her rolling. Not caterpillars though, she just finds them icky.”

“Okay, I’ll trying to keep track of what you guys are telling about,” Philip told him as he began to take notes.

“She also likes perfumes, especially those with floral scents: she’s head over heels with them,” Kairi stepped in, “It’s best that you can put one of her favorite scents on the drawer for her to see. Speaking of the flowers, she likes nearly all kinds of flowers, including Sweet Avalanche roses and baby’s breath. She just love the simple but sweet combination of the two combined.”

“You want to know what her idea of a romantic date is: having dinner out under the stars, chatting about interests (even if she knows there are those she can’t catch on), and having a nice walk to wrap things up,” Issa added in to the nuanced discussion, “Mari can be quite a picky eater, If there is something she isn’t wanting to eat or try, she will not eat that thing at all or it will take a long time for her to adjust to it. She would also love to hear some nice music from various genres playing at the background.”

“That picky?” he asked her and got a nod as an answer, “Hmm… I wonder how we can put in some music into play”

“There’s Spotify, YouTube, and SoundCloud, though we can make a playlist for that in iTunes as well,” Kairi replied.

Then Kirby has his turn to add to his chat, which is mostly composed of Poyo Speak, saying “Poyo, poyo. Popoyo, yop, poyo, yoyopo, poy, poyo!”, but everyone (but Philip) knew that Kirby was saying that they can host this date in the backyard and get it prepared for the special day of love and hearts. From the look in his face, Philip has a long way to go when it comes to understanding Poyo Speak.

“Okay then, now we gave a you basic rundown what turns her on, what are you considering to do for the day?” Issa then questioned him as the meeting nears its end.

It then became crystal clear that a dinner date at the bunch’s house backyard would the name of the game for Valentine’s Day with flowers and music involved into the mix. Everyone joined in to make the day special for both parties: grocery shopping, rummaging through storage for something to use for the al fresco dining experience, dealing with flower bouquet arrangements, going through iTunes for playlist ideas - All being done while keeping Mari out in the dark of it. Philip knows that he and everyone else in the bunch can’t risk spoiling the surprise for her in the plain sight so they would take turns distracting her whenever she notices something in their weird ‘chores’ within the next week and a half.

Meanwhile, she has her romantic feelings for Philip growing out of control in her head and it’s freaking her out! How did the world match her with him and made her falling fast for him up until this point? She has secretly keeping them away from most of the people and creatures she knows out of fear that she’ll be mocked for dating a now ex-dead guy. It just so happened during a Saturday afternoon when Mari and Kairi were sitting on a bench at an open-air strip mall in Daly City while waiting for Harry and Issa to pick them after they have finished doing the regular weekly groceries.

“Mari… You seem to be a little off in recent weeks lately,” Kairi asked her older adopted sister, her tone being of concern and worry.

“Oh, it’s nothing, Kai,” she sighed in dismay.

“Let me guess: it has to do with you being all fuzzy whenever Philip’s around?” she began to suspect something funny with her head.

“Unfortunately, yes, Kairi,” Mari’s eyes widened in horror when she heard those words.

“It seems for the last few weeks since we accidentally brought him back from the dead, you’re blushing like crazy when he’s in your line of sight,” she tried to reassure her in vain.

“Kairi, I just don’t know what to do with those feelings,” the assistant librarian wept as she facepalmed herself in anguish, “He’s cute, smart, and nice and all. But I’m worried that he won’t take me seriously in the romantic department. Plus, I never thought of really wanting on a serious relationship this badly before. What kind of an idiot am I for going all mushy over some formerly dead guy from 2 centuries back?”

“So… Okay, that was awkward. Anyway, Valentine’s Day is coming closer everyday, huh?” she reminded her of the day incoming.

“Yeah, it sure does,” Mari nodded in agreement while looking at the calendar in her smartphone.

“Sis, you can’t keep those strange feelings for long though. It’s hard, but if you want, perhaps this incoming Valentine’s Day can help you out a bit in helping you confessing them to Philip,” she advised her on the matter on hand, “Who knows? He might like you that much as much as you like him a lot.”

“Really?” Mari questioned her sister again.

“Mari, I get that having Aspergers does suck and it is not giving you an easy time at all, but you never know about falling for someone until you try,” Kairi explained to her on the matter before remembering something that she can relate on, “Remember the time when I was struggling to deal with my feelings for Sora becoming more romantic over time?”

“Still do to this day, why did you need to bring it up again?” she remembers the moment well, “You two still are dating each other though.”

“We still do, sis. It may be a long time ago, but I’m still grateful that you’re supportive of both of us early on,” the younger sister noted, “You are a great supporter all the way, now I want to pay you back by being there for you all the way. I’m pretty sure that Harry, Issa, and the others will be there for you too.”

“If you say so, Kai,” Mari sighed as her little sister did her best to give her support.

The final days leading up to Valentine’s Day are of a frantic nature as couples scramble to plan their dates out across various activities and places; meanwhile, single either try to stay away from any sign of sickening sweet love or spend some time with other loved ones and friends instead. In Mari’s crazy bunch, there was so much to do to make the best date experience for her and Philip possible. At those days, she couldn’t be allowed to go venture to the backyard for some ‘reason’ as everyone else set the place up for the night: from preparing the menu to untangling string lights and paper lanterns to putting up the tulle curtains on PVC pipes.

When the day arrived shortly after work, Mari got herself ready for the night with a little help from Issa, Karina, and Kairi, nothing too fancy since this was a date set in her own backyard anyway so she could easily get away with just a nice casual dress, jacket, and boots; whereas Philip spent the last few minutes helping Harry, Moana, Kirby, and Ahk in arranging the table properly. His mind was racing wildly as he wondered if he had done enough to make her amazed by his efforts or if he has gotten too far as those feelings for Mari grew exponentially.

Mari just finished doing the final touch-ups when she overheard Kairi calling her that Philip has something waiting for her at the backyard. She proceeded to race down the stairs in her camel-colored ankle boots to find Philip waving back at her with one arm hiding behind his back. Unlike with their first meeting at the exhibit where in he was in his old fashioned coat and cravat, he is now dressed in a crisp white and blue striped button-down shirt with long sleeves, dark wash blue jeans, and black/white sneakers Harry was able to get from a co-worker at the newspaper company he was working at.

“Wow, such a quick improvement from what we had at your revival day,” she spoke up upon seeing the new look he was sporting on that night.

“Your compliments are much welcomed,” he blushed back before he then unveiled a bouquet of blush roses and white baby’s breath in front of her, “This… This bouquet is for you.”

“Oh, why thank you, Philip,” Mari felt her cheeks to blush in response as she received the bouquet with her hands, taking a quick sniff of the flowers before she then asked a random question, “There are no caterpillars, right?”

“Made sure that there is no single one hiding behind the petals,” he answered in a reassuring tone.

He guided her through the kitchen and dining area before they stopped at the doors leading to the backyard which have been covered by curtains. Kirby floated on by and waved at them with high energy, acting as the waiter for the night. Mari then peeled back the curtains and doors as she walked down to the back porch with Philip following after her, smiling for what would be for her at the time no concrete reason other than possibly trolling her.

But it’s when she looked at there that she was struck by how much effort Philip and her friends & family had put into to make the night memorable: delicate tulle fabrics draping the small area of a lower tier patio where a small square table was residing (dressed in a cream tablecloth and lace topper), two wooden outdoor chairs waiting on standby, ordinary dishware and vintage cutlery & crystal glasses she rarely recalls her family using unless her grandmothers pull them out for special occasions, a glass-like pitcher of water, plants around the area, string lights lit from behind the tulle curtains, a vase for the bouquet in which she placed them into, and a smaller side table for the other food, serving items, and a carafe of a drink near and dear to her heart that is the Arnold Palmer. The vibes was giving her some alarms when she soon realized something she showed to Philip 3 weeks ago: film about being surrounded with nature, gorillas, and possible concerns towards colonialism.

“Channeling Tarzan, huh?” she questioned Philip’s logic behind the inspiration which hes replied back in a smile.

“That Disney interpretation of the Edgar Rice Burroughs jungle books was one of the first films you introduced me to modern day entertainment, so I thought why don’t I repay you back with this?” he politely answered back to her when she overheard songs playing out from a docked iPod beside the small side table.

“You got music playing out here too?” she asked him again which he nodded positively while she was pouring the iced tea/lemonade hybrid into the vintage glasses.

As the two took their seats, Kirby arrived waddling in with a tray holding the first course: the earthy umami taste of wild mushrooms in broth form with scattered button, shiitake, and portabello mushrooms floating on top and toasted baguette slices. The little puffball poured the soup carefully into the soup bowls with a ladle despite having no visible fingers in his stubby arms and stayed by them after he was done, because he’s quite a morbidly curious baby. Not a word was spoken as the two partake in sipping the soup, Mari used some of her baguettes to dip into the soup and eat them partially soaked which amused Philip quite a bit.

Once done with the first part of the meal, Kirby took the bowls from them and dashed back to the kitchen for cleaning and to get the next course. As the music kept on playing, Mari was twirling some hair strands anxiously, her mind was going all over the place as to whether or not she should confess her feelings for Philip now. She still remembers that talk with Kairi back at the strip mall less than a week ago, but that pondering soon abruptly ended when Kirby waddled back with the entree of orange-glazed salmon, quinoa mixed with olives & pine nuts, and a salad of baby spinach & arugula, peas, and orange segments. About midway of savoring the food, Mari suddenly stopped and looked at Philip at the eyes, taking a deep breath as she was readying herself for the big moment.

“Philip, I have some words I’ve been meaning to say to you tonight,” she started the conversation, “My head has been plagued with these feelings that has been scaring me to confess anything. I highly doubt if you’re that interested to hear it.”

“Oh no, don’t feel bad for telling me this thing,” he begged to differ, willing to listen to her (which understandably surprised her a bit) along with having those same unspoken feelings at the same time.

“Well, here goes nothing...” she muttered to herself, taking another big deep breath before she began her confessions while poking the plate with her fork, “Ever since the accidental revival more than a month ago, I’ve been developing these thoughts and feelings out of nowhere. The thing is, I’ve never dated a guy before until now. With me being an Aspie, I’m a total hot mess in the inside, my quirks can annoy some people for too long. I was scared that a guy, and a neurotypical one especially, will not date me because of it, because they can’t seem to be willing to put with me, my quirks, my stims, & my disability, and still love me even if I have meltdowns. Philip, I’m sorry if I’m rambling like a motormouth right now, I just don’t know how to put these words lightly. I… I can’t believe I’m saying to you now, but… I, I, I have fallen hard for you so badly...”

Tears were soon escaping from her eyes as she briefly looked away from Philip, bracing for the rejection or heckling and with no idea of reacting to it properly. What she didn’t expect however was what came out of his mouth being completely different from she was thinking of hearing, and it went like this:

“Mari… Please don’t get too upset right now,” he spoke up after hearing ever word she said, feeling really bad for her plight, “I can’t imagine you having a rough time with your impairment, I can’t help but to feel sorry, genuinely sorry to hear that.”

“Huh, you what?” she gasped upon hearing those words.

“Yes, I truly do,” he replied, “I just so happen to be lacking in the… dating world as you can call it in my old time as well. My Papa was determined to let me continue the family legacy into my studies and work. I was so busy with a lot of work then that I just have a few days & brief periods to myself and I couldn’t just idle so much. Then that Eacker made that wretched speech against him, it led to the duel between me, him, and a friend of mine. And…”

Philip was starting to cry, feeling choked the moment he was about to bring up his first horrible death that it snapped Mari from crying. She didn’t thought that he would break down like that in front of her, yet here they are: feeling unusually tense and still there for each other: her being an uncertain socially awkward Aspie and him being a revived overworked kid who feels burdened to keep up with his father’s own legacy only to have his life ended first in a gun shoot and return to the world of the living again.

He then mentally calmed himself down so he can get a grip on himself before he traded in his part of the tense moment, “You see, Mari. In other words, I never courted a girl, never kissed one ever… Then nearly 218 years later, there is you and your family. For all the first months, you guys are there for me regardless: your brother was able to get me a job in the newspaper company he and Issa are working at, you guys showing everything the modern world has to offer from these interesting technical devices to how much America has become into a cultural melting pot. And you’re just the most lovely woman I have ever known outside of Mama. One more thing as well: I actually start to like you more than a mere friend.”

Mari’s jaws felt as if they were about to fall off as soon as she heard those words, locked into suspended disbelief as she began to talk again, “Huh, really? Are you this serious?!?”

“Yes, I am,” he responded quickly, “I’m not kidding. In many ways, you’re quite an amazing woman: smart, witty, kind, unafraid to take risks and be yourself, creative. Even with those faults you have, you still keep on trying to live life well. My folks would’ve like to meet someone like you if they are here today. They really would. And yes, I really do love you...”

The last world sounded more like a jumbled up mess as he spoke, yet Mari can hear it clear: he really likes her regardless of how much Philip blushed as he tried to speak to her without sounding too cheesy. She giggles in between the last remaining bites of her plated meal and sips of her Arnold Palmer while he was trying to snap himself out of his slightly messed up previous words. She then told him, “Geez, I can’t believe that I just met my match, in someone from a different time period, like you. Still, I guess we just need somebody else to lean on...”

“You can say that again, Mari,” he too smiled back as he finally finished his food too.

The two kept on talking more even as Kirby took out the entree plates to the kitchen and returned with a skillet chocolate chip cookie with vanilla ice cream and chocolate sauce for the two to share. Mari split the dessert into two servings for herself and Philip into the new plates. As the two chatted over melting ice cream and chewy cookie parts, Harry, Issa, Kirby, and Kairi watched from the inside, gushing about as they witnessed a new relationship formed from different time periods and worlds, knowing too well that it was just the beginning.

The End

#Philip Hamilton #writings #warning: character death #Renewed Potential #Defying Time #romantic f/o #self ship #self insert #self shipping #valentines #valentines day #first date #date night #my f/os #man that gun duel (rl and musical alike) was nasty!#date #in love with a fictional version of a historical person

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nerdy-flower · 6 years ago

Text

@sinunamor IT IS WRITTEN

Sorry for the heckin long wait ;^; here it is! Ernest Growing Up Part 3/3! (For now~)

(Ernest curses a lot and it’s a little sad at the beginning, otherwise it’s G)

It isn't working.

In spite of everything, Ernest came out of college doing kind of okay. He had an alright resume, a little pocket of savings, some furniture. Better than some kids he sat next to at graduation, for sure. He gets that coveted first apartment to himself- literally a room and a bathroom. The water pressure is like a dog lifting its leg and peeing on him and the neighbours are obnoxious, but it was his. He was paying rent! Utilities! Insurance, even! Life was looking up! Was.

He stayed in the city he went to school in, With his Pop's new condo a half hour away, it didn't feel so far. They'd have dinner all the time. Pop would give him tips on places to go and things to see. At one point, he says he wouldn't have moved here if he didn't know Ernest was staying. Ernest didn't have a great answer for that, tongue sudden;y stuck. They get froyo anyway.

His shit job became two shit jobs and then one again, then two, then three very briefly, then one with occasional paid-in-cash online ads stuff. Maybe illegal? Only in a tax law way, so whatever. He busts his ass- well, some of the time. Sometimes he half-asses it and gets paid anyway, other times he gets fired, depends on the place. What it comes down to is that he never has enough money. All the Gen Z-targeted personal finance advice blogs are shit, too. “Get a roommate!” For where? The cupboard under his kitchen sink?

Actually, in his postal code, someone might take it. But they'd be just as broke as him.

Even now, he feels spoiled and pathetic. Plenty of people just had to make do, they didn't have a Dad to send cheques in the mail, a stepdad to order them groceries online, a Pop to full-on spot them rent money. He tries and tries to make it work and he /can't./

Finally, he picks up the phone. “Dad?”

“Ernest? What's the matter? Is everything-”

“Can I come home?” With his stuff, he means, with the furniture he can't use anymore and his rejected debit card and-

Hugo makes this little noise, a very parental click of concern that sticks right in his chest. “Of course, always.”

Lucien drives him because he's been working solely off his laptop and following Pablo around the East Coast. Ernest isn't a hundred percent on what he does, but it's enough to pay for a rental van and a premium streaming account so commercials don't interrupt their drawn-out silence on the way back North to Maple Bay.

“Do you need to be an asshole about this? I said I was sorry, okay? I'll pay you back as soon as I get money, /god./”

“All I asked,” Lucien drawls, smartass as always. “Is if you wanted me to buy you a bagel. So I'll just buy your least favourite one and we'll carry the fuck on, shall we?”

Ernest officially hates everything forever, but mostly himself.

Dad and Damien welcome them home with big, awkward hugs and lots of understanding when he wants to go to bed straightaway and they left his room the way it was and /fuck/-

Pics or it didn't happen, as the young adults say. If no one sees him crying and hugging his teddy in his mid-twenties, it never took place.

His dignity drops a few more points the next day when he has to beg and plead with his Dad not to tell Pop.

“What if he goes to your place and you're not there?” Hugo insists, hands soapy from washing the dishes. “He'll be so worried!”

“He always calls or texts first, always,” Ernest thrusts another dried plate into the cupboard and balls his fists together. “I'm not gonna pretend forever, honest. /Please/, Dad, just a few more days, that's all I'm asking. It's my thing to tell him, anyway!”

“Okay, okay,” Hugo holds his hands up in a peacemaking gesture. He tucks some overgrown hair behind his ear- shit, he's gone even more grey. His dads are going grey and he can't afford his own Netflips account. “I won't tell him, but if he calls and asks, I'm not going to lie. Alright?”

“Fair enough,” Ernest sighs through his nose, tucking the cutlery away in brooding silence. Goddammit, he's too old to brood. This sucks.

Hugo watches him a minute before draining the sink. “Have you heard from Carmensita? She's back in town, you two should meet for coffee or something. Get your mind off things.”

Ernest swings his head around, barely listening to the second half of the sentence. “She's back already? I know she was talking about it, but- yeah. I'll text her.”

He does, and they meet up, later that day because his schedule is open indefinitely. He waves to River and Crish, doing something with multiple types of sportsballs in the Cahn family driveway and thankfully too focused to do more than wave back. Carmensita comes strolling out of Mat's house in a flower-print romper and jogs up the sidewalk to him and he's never, ever been so happy to see someone.

Except that time he got lost at Disney World, but we don't talk about that.

“There's my favourite human!” Ernest laughs as she hops up to hug him. He insists he never got taller, she got shorter, but she still gives the greatest hugs. “No more braids, huh? That's a big change.”

Carmensita giggles and teases her fingers through her mohawk, her sides shaved down to thatches of brown fuzz. “I just got it done, do you like it? It's pretty different, for me at least.”

“I love it,” Ernest scratches one side of her undercut until she playfully bats his hand away. “Nah, it suits you. Makes you look cool and smart, like you're gonna mess somebody up but with your know-how instead of your fists.”

“Overly specific, but I'll take it.” Carmensita grins, a flash of snarky white and he feels like he can stand up straighter. They wave again at the over-active River on their way across the cul-de-sac, and 'Sita leans in to him, talking behind her hand. “You heard about Ashley and Mary, right?”

“Yeah, I sure did.” Ernest glances across the street, almost feeling eyes on him from Mary's house. Which used to be Julian's house, but then Julian and Damien talked and agreed to sell it to Mary shortly after her divorce so she could get out of Damien's spare bedroom and have enough space that custody would be a non-issue. Julian was totally cool with it, because he was practically moved in with Mat anyway and Amanda was fully settled into New York- “God, this neighbourhood is weird.”

“Something in the groundwater, I think,” Carmensita laughs, shaking her head. “Craig's the real deal though. He's legit totally cool with it. I was here in time for the first summer BBQ and I expected, y'know, some awkwardness.”

“Folks around here save all the awkwardness for their kids,” Ernest drawl to make her laugh again. It's nearly sticky outside, but he refuses to remove his sweater. He goes bare-armed for exactly two months a year, tans up real nice, and goes right back into his cotton cocoons of happiness. “So how's life n'stuff?”

“Life n'stuff is pretty good. I've got all my boxes unpacked in less than two months, so that's my record.” She slips off her glasses to polish them on her shirt. “I'll show you my place when we get there, I'm teaching piano lessons out of my living room right now, and- oh! You know what tonight is, right? Are you busy?”

Ernest shakes his head to both, he's been too depressed to check social media and he definitely isn't busy. “What's tonight?”

Carmensita grins wide and imitates an airhorn to punctuate her words. “Open mic night! Woo woo woo!”

It's a little different to watch from the audience with everyone else. The Cahn twins are working part-time at the Spoon now and they're the ones doing the backstage stuff. Lucien drives into town for it, Pablo's tour wrapping up with 'boring business shit' that he'd apparently rather skip. The three of them claim a corner table with high stools and enjoy the quirky parade.

His dad was right, it is nice to forget about his bullshit for a while. He recognizes kids he used to see racing around the playground strumming guitars and nervously messing up their lyrics. Back then he would have made fun of them, and maybe he does chuckle a little, but he gives them credit. He hasn't been on a stage in- oof, at least a year. Discounting karaoke, of course. He wonders what Disaster Master Quinn is up to these days.

The night ends, early enough for all the teens to go to bed, with a pretty tight Sunstroke Project cover on theramin. There is much clapping and whooping and thanking before everyone starts clearing out. Carmensita chugs the rest of her coffee, discreetly wiping her mouth on her sleeve. “Alright, let's pay our tabs and head upstairs. Who's feeling Mario Party?”

“You know I am,” Lucien smirks as they gather their things. “None of the car ones though, I hate that shit.”

Ernest loses the thread of the conversation because there's a hiss of static in his ears. He can't pay his tab. His chequing account is a negative number and he can't remember if their register takes credit or not but that's not an option either. He's too broke. To pay for a goddamn /tea./ God, why does he only clue into shit when it's too late?

The thought of asking them to pay makes him wanna puke, so he performs the maneuver that saved him from many a terrible college party: the Irish Goodbye.

The crowd makes it easy to slip away. He lopes through the parking lot and heads into the undeveloped no-man's land behind the softball field. He shuts off his phone, which any rational instinct would encourage him not to do. He's gonna take the long, long way home and- then what? Isn't that just the biggest fucking question of his life- and then what, you witless idiot?

The static does not stop as he hurries through the warm summer air, eventually cutting across the street and walking down the bay. His pulse is really high for no friggin' reason and he probably couldn't type a text if he needed to- wait, is this a panic attack? No, come on. He's too old to get on any of his dads' benefits. He can't be doing this. He can't, he can't-

A car drives up slowly beside him, and he has a split-second of facing his death before the window rolls down to reveal two annoyed, very familiar faces. “You live in my Dad's house, what the hell was your long-term plan with this?”

“Look, I'm sorry, I couldn't pay and I-” Ernest rakes a hand through his hair, pulling on his scalp. “I'm sorry I'm such a fuck-up, okay? I shouldn't have come out tonight, I'm no good to be around right now.”

Carmensita runs her tongue over her bottom lip. “You ditched us over a four-ninety-seven tab?”

“I called it.”

She scowls, undoes her seatbelt, and clambers out of the passenger door, stomping around to his side. “Give me your face, right now. C'mere-”

Ernest hunches his shoulders so she can reach, mostly out of confusion. She takes his cheeks in her warm hands and paps them with each word, like she's trying to wake up a drunk guy in a movie. “We're not hanging out with your wallet! We want to hang out with /you,/ if you'll stop! Being! Such! A! Dumbass!”

“Can you stop smacking my face?”

“Maybe,” Carmensita drops her hands after two more, crossing her arms. “Seriously though, not cool. What's gotten into you?”

“Dude, I forgot that I couldn't afford to buy a bagel, like how fucked am I?” Ernest scrubs his face, palms burning with his need for a shave. “Everything's so messed up right now. I feel like a complete waste of space.”

“Again with this?” Lucien makes an irritated noise from the car, leaning out the window. “Like you're the only one who's ever been broke. How much money do you think I had after college?”

“Why do you think I'm living over my dad's shop?” Carmensita tilts her head at him. “I know you're upset, but you're not on your own, for god's sake. I would have bought you that bagel anyway, you didn't need to freak out.”

“Guhhhh,” Ernest pushes the heel of one palm against his eye. “I'm sorry I'm such an idiot. I can barely fuckin' think right now.”

“Do you wanna go home or do you wanna play video games with us?” Lucien asks, drumming his fingers on the steering wheel. “No judgment either way. But maybe decide quick, before some cops come by and get all up in our business.”

Ernest would really like to bury himself in all of his blankets but, in the interest of not continuing to screw up his personal relationships, he picks the right choice. “Video games, please.”

They collectively kick the CPU's ass at getting stars and Carmensita hugs him before he leaves, Lucien's taillights in the distance. “You're not a waste of space, okay? It'll get better, just don't let things get this bad again.”

He almost misses being the one to cheer her up. It's a shitty thing to miss, but at least he didn't go home feeling all squashed on the inside.

Ernest gets up the guts to call his Pop a few days later. He's totally cool about it, even though he sunk how much into that one room. Somehow that makes Ernest feel worse.

“Trust me, my credit in my early twenties was a /mess,/ I was really stupid with my money. It was bad. Like, scary bad. Your gramps flipped his lid when he saw my pile of bills on the table.”

“Mine's a mess too,” Ernest mumbles, knees folded up to his chest as he leans back against his headboard.

“Yeah, but it's more fixable than it looks. It'll just take time. If you owned a car or something that would be kinda rough, but hey, I turned it around, didn't I? Before I met your dad too, no way would he have dated pre-grad school me. Nuh-uh,” Pop laughs, a hiss-crack in his ear because he does this weird almost-silent laugh that Ernest makes fun of constantly. “Tell you what, I'll pay off your card so you're not getting those assholes calling you every day. Then you can focus on finding a job, I heard they have a youth program you'd still-”

“I'm sorry,” Ernest manages to wobble out, a big lump in his throat as the tears burn.

“What?” Pop's voice turns all anxious and concerned, which hurts even worse. “Hey, kiddo, it's alright. You don't have to be sorry. I know you were trying your best, it's really tough when you're starting out alone-”

“I'm so sorry,” Ernest hiccups, covering his face with his hand as he snots. “I can't pay you back and I probably never will and I'm gonna have to put Dad in a nursing home with cockroaches because they just slashed teacher pensions again and everything is so fucked /forever./”

“Ernest, Ernest, listen to me,” Pop's voice strains against the weak receiver of his phone. “Nothing is fucked, okay? No one's mad at you. We'll fix this, I promise. Ernest?”

It's a rough month, for sure. Pop comes to visit. Him and Dad have been really good at not-bitching-at-each-other since he crossed that adulthood threshold. Maybe it was child support that made them fight after all. Pop used to get these little digs into dad, telling him to quit and go into something with a future. Maybe him and money are just cursed or something.

He loses it again when they hug him at the same time. He's only gotten those at graduations and he's all out of those now. “We would do anything and everything for you, do you hear me?” Dad is halfway out of his lawn chair, the three of them on the back porch, having borrowed a little barbecue from Brian. “I'd rather have you here than starving in some apartment somewhere. Everything's going to be fine, mijo. I promise.”

“I'll bring you down for a visit whenever you want.” Pop assures him as he's leaving, hugging him again. It's so weird that he's taller than him now. “If you want to move, I'll help. But honestly, you might be better off here for a bit. Rent is going crazy in the city and it's not worth it.”

“How does a couple hours' drive make such a huge difference?” Ernest sniffs, shuffling in the driveway.

“I mean, I could explain but it's really boring.” He smiles and ruffles his hair. “You'll be alright, kiddo. Don't worry so much, okay?” Easier said than done, but it's well-meant. He accepts it.

He does qualify for extra help at the employment place, but unfortunately he has a humanities degree, which means no marketable skills. Which means part-time at the small bougie grocery store downtown, which is in fact a hell of a lot better than nothing.

“Excuse me.” An older woman clutching a plastic handbag strolls up to him while he's stocking shelves. “Do you have any of those sweet honey mustards?”

“No ma'am, sorry. We ran out.”

She narrows her beady eyes at him. “Why?”

Most of the time.

Carmensita's doing pretty well for herself between the Coffee Spoon and her piano lessons. Not move-into-her-own-place good, but she's got a nice little loft space over the shop. Sick prints up all over the walls, those fairy lights she's always liked, her keyboard set up beside her computer desk all tidy for when the kids come by. Ernest spends his off-hours googling potential side-hustles and making music for the first time in a while.

“-Practically everybody's stressed, yes!” Ernest snaps his fingers with one hand and runs his beats with the other. “But they press through the mess, bounce cheques, and wonder what's next!”

“In the heights! I buy my coffee and I go,” Carmensita sings clear as anything, laying into her keys. “Set my sights on only what I need to know...”

“Girl, how'd you get so good at that? Damn,” Ernest shakes his head after they stop recording. “It's like Mandy Gonzalez was right here.”

“Vocal coaching, son!” Carmensita grins, sticking out her thumb and pinky finger and twisting her wrist. “Taught me how to sing from the diaphraaaaaaagm.”

Ernest cracks up at the low note she hits, spinning around in her chair and staring at the plastic glow-in-the-dark stars stuck to the ceiling. “Hey, do you ever feel bad for being happy? Like, you're not supposed to be, or something?”

“Hell yeah, all the time,” Carmensita stretches, laying out on her secondhand piano bench and popping her back. “Like if I'm having a good day I get thinking, 'oh but if I was at X point, I could be doing Y.' I think I'm scared I'll get complacent or something.”

“Yeah,” Ernest sits up, catching his feet on the carpet. “But like, I don't know how long our whole generation's gonna be stuck like this. So if we can't enjoy this...”

“Oof, heavy stuff.” Carmensita swats at the bag of mini Oreos until he passes it to her, grabbing a handful himself. “This isn't so bad though. Who knows, maybe we'll look back with nostalgia goggles and miss it.”

“Yeah.” He settles back in the chair, toying with the music program on his aging laptop. “Maybe.”

Carmensita sits up, tugging her off-the-shoulder t-shirt back down where it had ridden up on her belly. “Wanna eat pot brownies and watch Bebop again?”

Ernest scoffs. “Is that even a question?”

By the time Pablo and Lucien come down for Thanksgiving Part One (there's always cliffhanger holidays with divorced parents, but it's not so bad anymore, it's just a part of it), his life has a routine. He's too grown to resent 'being another cog in the machine' in any significant way. Predictable income and free time is a blessing and a half and he's not giving it up unless he works his way up to something real good. Which will take time, and energy, and so, so much luck.

But right now he's got a favourite lunch and does his share of the chores (cleaning Damien's weird house only seems daunting, it just takes a lot of furniture polish and a big-ass feather duster). He sees his Pop as often as he can with him jetting all over the continent, texting when they're in different time zones and laughing about stupid coworker stories (his Pop's are more maddening, apparently higher salaries don't strain out the truly incompetent, somehow that's comforting, too).

He can pay for Coffee Spoon bagels now, coming to Carmensita's aid during lulls in her shifts. Both their schedules are pretty regular, so they exchange barely a message or two before coming to see each other at certain points in the week. With what pocket money they do have, they get concert tickets once or twice, go ice skating, and buy fries at the mall, wandering around the stores after dark and trying to pick out new versions of themselves. Mostly they just go home with small things they don't need and pricey chocolate bars they split. When she gets wicked cramps, he hits her up with aspirin and movies they've seen ten times. When he can't get out of bed, she sends him memes and cute dog videos.

Dad and Damien are gross as per usual, but they're also way less nosy than they used to be. It's weird to just take off for the day or night without any further questions. Though coming back is a different story.

“I got your text,” Hugo leans out of the study (yes, they have one, of course they do) when he hears Ernest's sock feet shuffling up the hallway. “What happened?”

“I don't know,” Ernest shrugs, unbuttoning his uniform shirt. “A sewer main burst while they were working on the parking lot. The fire department scooted everyone out of there pretty quick, it smelled awful. I had better get paid for the full shift.”

“You have a right to, you weren't the one driving the backhoe.” His dad grins, re-shelving a book before shutting the door. “On the bright side, unexpected free time is always a bonus.”

“It sure is, and I'm gonna use it to take a well-deserved nap.”

“Oh.” A beat while he fixes his expression. “Okay, I'll record that documentary for you.”

Ernest turns, hand on the ornate doorframe. “Is that on today?” Hugo's eager nod goes right between his ribs and he smiles. “Nah, I'll watch it with you. Naps mess up my sleep schedule anyway, make me all cranky in the morning.”

“As opposed to any other morning?”

“Rude,” he snorts while his dad chuckles. “I'll be down in a minute, okay? Just gotta get changed and stuff.”

“Okay.” Not five minutes into changing and checking his email, he gets a text.

HV: You want to order in for dinner? Two-for-one at the pizza place

HV: We can get those chicken bite things, I have a coupon :)

Ernest laughs, oddly reminded of coming home to Duchess after high school sleepovers. He sends a quick 'sure dad,' and takes some of his recycling down. They spend the evening in their boxers on the couch in the den, three of the four hairless cats Damien had adopted when they came through the shelter (he didn't last long post-Duchess once he had a taste of pet ownership) snuggled up beside and on top of them. It's not their first or last night spent this way.

He does quietly scream to the heavens at the mere suggestion of a girlfriend. “I'm a cashier- oh, sorry, 'customer service associate.' All I've got to offer someone right now is pocket lint and my winning personality.”

“But that is precisely what you should be offering in a relationship!” Damien insists, winding black tinsel up the staircase while Ernest does the same on the other side. “If wealth was a prerequisite, only the rich would fall in love.”

“I don't need to be rich, but I do need a little something to put in my dating profile, you know?” He's already down a few pegs courtesy of his 'no sex for me please' sexuality, but he won't bring that up now. Tis the season, and all that.

“You have much to include! You are in possession of many fine qualities,” Damien smiles at him, looking less vampire and more nerd with his hair up in a bun and his glasses on. His outfit is like Dickens and Mary Shelley had a weird baby, though. “Your father and I just think it would be nice if you had someone special in your life, that's all. We're not pressuring you to bring someone home for the holidays.”

“Well, that's appreciated,” Ernest ties off the tinsel, zipping up his hoodie again. What did thermostats ever do to fathers, anyway? “I'm just kind focusing on me right now. I'll get in a relationship when I'm in a better spot.”

“Ah, that is fair,” Damien grabs another handful of tinsel for the top banisters. “But love can happen upon you when you least expect it. Such was the case for me both times.”

Ernest had never decided if Damien getting sappy about his dead husband or his very-alive husband who is also Ernest's dad was worse, they might tie for first place.

EHV: Plz never let me become this gross n sentimental when I'm old plz

LB: You cry at Hamilton now and you've seen it so many fing times

EHV: ELIZA DESERVED BETTER GDI DON'T START W ME

CS: I WILL CRY AT ITS QUIET UPTOWN UNTIL THE DAY I DIE FIGHT ME SCRUB

EHV: YEAH THAT'S RIGHT

LB: Oh ffs I forgot this was the groupchat

Speaking of awkward sad times, this year's holidays are busy and bright and not as rushed as last year where he could barely visit anyone for more than a couple hours, but the same anniversary comes around. He's celebrating a third Christmas up at Damien's parents place over New Year's weekend, laughing it up while everyone is maybe too drunk, but he has a sixth sense when that text buzzes in.

CS: I wish missing someone didn't hurt so much :(

EHV: I know <3

CS: Dad's sad, but he's got Julian now

CS: I'm just by myself up in my old room, they're asleep already

EHV: Aw, shit. Do you want me to call you?

CS: No, you're with family. I'm fine

EHV: Everyone is tipsy and Dad is losing at trivial pursuit

CS: Okay then yes please <3

He makes his first appearance at open mic night in the cold and crisp new year. One technical glitch makes him nearly piss himself but it otherwise goes okay. Carmensita sings right after him, her dad on guitar and it's so frickin' good.

“God, you guys are so cool,” he says afterwards, spinning a bottle of Windex around his finger and taking Wild West-style aim at the glass in front of the baked goods.

“Glad I've still got it,” Mat grins, going back to counting the money. “You should do more of these, everyone was super into it. There's another place that does really good open mics out in the boonies, it's a cafe-arthouse thing.”

“You think so?” Ernest had immediately repressed all memory of his performance upon leaving the stage, it was a good coping technique.

“We should start a YouWatch channel!” Carmensita exclaims, as if for the first time, though she's been bugging him for weeks. “We'll do covers to get the subs, then post our own stuff! I bet we could get sponsors!”

“Mister Sella,” Ernest says very seriously. “Are you aware that your daughter is selling out to the man?”

'Sita hits him with a broom, but he does decide to take the leap. Not like starting a channel takes a lot of upfront capital investment, exactly. They do pool money for one good mic, and figure they'll work their way up if it turns out to be worth it. They pick songs from their early teens to indulge their own and others' guilty pleasure fix, and they do weird remixes of things that aren't songs, and he convinces Carmensita to do tag videos. It's fun, and some people like it. Not a ton, but hey, maybe someday.

They only complain on days they're not recording, not wanting to wreck their voices. This time they're slumped on Ernest's bed, him whinging continuously after his first attempt at online dating ended in utter failure, therefore he should give up and never try again, right? Less money on dating, more money to eventually adopt dogs?

“Ernest, I want you to try something.” Carmensita reaches over and covers his eyes, her voice only a little exasperated. “Envision what you want in a relationship. Dad taught me this, I used it to figure out where I wanted to go for college.”

“Okay. Does it work, or is it some hokey bullshit?”

“Quit being rude and humour me, dammit.”

“Alright, alright,” he laughs, feeling her well-manicured thumb jab his cheek. He wets his lips while he thinks for a moment. “Uh, I wanna be with someone who's funny and nice, fun to be around.”

“Okay, can we get a little more depth than that?”

“Give me a second here, woman,” he snorts. “I want- someone who's chill, who likes some of the stuff I like- not everything, but we gotta have stuff to do together, you know?” Carmensita hums. “I want- I really want someone I can build a future with. I don't wanna just play around, y'know? I want someone responsible- heh, maybe not too responsible. But someone I can trust, someone I can see myself having kids with.”

“Woah, you want kids-plural now?”

“Well not a whole bunch, but two would be nice. They can play with each other- anyway,” Ernest gulps, strangely caught up in the thought process. “I want someone who when I look at her- I just want all the good stuff in the world for her. She's going places and she's talented- I want someone who I really get, who gets me back. When people talk about marrying their best friend, that's- that's what I want. Someone who- accepts me, and we can be ourselves around each other, always.”

They're quiet a moment, Carmensita's hand still on his face. She takes it away slowly and smiles softly. “So, you want what you have with me, but with kissing?”

Ernest blanks for a solid thirty seconds before raising his finger. “Okay, first of all, when did you get so smooth?”

Carmensita laughs, loud and cute, sweeping some loose curls off her forehead and looking at him with these eyes- he's never seen her look at him like that until now. Or maybe he was just that clueless. “Is that really all you want to ask me?”

Ernest swallows, loud enough to hear it, sitting up a little straighter. “Can I- kiss you?”

“I don't know, can you?”

He groans outright, dropping his head on her shoulder while she giggles. “One of these days, 'Sita, one of these days.”

She smells really nice this close, maybe it's her shampoo? It's damn good, whatever it is. Her hands end up on his shoulders, not pressing, just holding him. He lifts his head and god, that little moment of eye contact before they both lean forward-

First kisses are not usually perfect, but he's willing to call this one close enough. She's warm and soft beneath his lips. His arms slip around her waist and it's like she was made to fit against him. He outright sighs when they part, kissing her nose just to hear her laugh again.

“Are you-” He can't quite find his words right now, his mind cycling through all the new and so very nice stimuli his senses are taking in. Carmensita's always been beautiful to him but he never thought, never let himself- “Do you- are you sure you wanna do this? I can't- I really like you, but I don't think I'll ever be able to do the physical stuff. You deserve-”

She presses a finger to his lips and he silences himself immediately, distracted by the light of her eyes. “There's nothing I want that online shopping with discreet shipping can't provide. None of that 'you deserve better' crap. I want you, if you want me back, then we should keep kissing and see where it takes us.”

Ernest works his jaw for a few moments, then nods. “Yeah, I can get behind that train of thought.”

Carmensita's laugh as he pulls her in for more smooches is the sweetest sound he's ever heard.

They end up cuddling up and falling asleep together- hahaha an asexual sleeping with someone on the first date, hahaha, puns and stuff -a bonus of neither of them having morning shifts the next day and Carmensita not having anyone expecting her back at home. He wakes up before she does, spooned up behind her, all their clothes rumpled, the blankets cocooned around them. He kisses the nape of her neck and sighs. He feels content, for the first time in a while.

The softest of knocks precedes the door creaking open. “Hey, Ernest, do you want- /oh/.”

The door shuts quickly, rousing Carmensita and making Ernest groan. “So much for keeping quiet about it.”

“Were we going to?” She yawns, sitting up and stretching. “Also, I'm bringing my silk pillowcases or we're only sleeping at my place. How do you live like this?”

“I dunno, I'm a mess.” He laughs and sits up, a tentative hand on her back. “I just- I'm scared. We've been friends for so long, I don't want to risk it going badly.”

“But if we don't risk it going badly, we also don't risk it going well.” She clumsily boops his nose, smiling dopily at him. “Guess which outcome I have my money on?”

“Girl, what money?” He laughs when she jabs him in the stomach. He leans in for a kiss after a moment, realizing that they can do that now, and smooches her cheek gladly. “So, if the Dads know, that means we're officially an 'us.'”

“We are.” She grins and kisses his cheek back. “I like being an us, it's pretty great so far.”

“It is.” He grins back, feeling like he can't stop. Shit, it's really happening. Is he in love? Is that an okay word to use after literally one very unexpected day? Probably not out loud.

He walks her downstairs, and they whisper-laugh a few walk-of-shame jokes before she heads out in her poofy pink coat, leaving him alone with the giddy feeling in his gut. In the dining room, Dad and Damien are doing maybe the worst acting job he's ever seen. “Are you two gonna make a big deal out of this?”

“Make a big deal out of what?” Damien inquires with convincing innocence, frying pan and spatula in hand.

“Yes, is there something we should make a big deal out of?” Hugo smiles, legitimately doing the newspaper crossword like he's a goddamn cartoon character.

Ernest sighs and drops into his chair, accepting several pancakes from Damien. “We literally just started- dating, I guess. No wedding bells, no grandbabies, nothing crazy yet, so please relax.”

“You know we're not like that.”

“Certainly, I'm not my mother.” Damien chuckles, almost unconsciously rubbing Hugo's robe-covered arm while they eat. So gross, but also goals.

“But, out of curiosity,” Hugo teasingly elbows him. “Did you kiss her yet?”

The dads laugh while Ernest howls. He'd text his Pop for backup, but he will get the exact same shit in different wording. He pulls out his phone and texts Lucien instead.

EHV: Hey Carmensita and I are dating just FYI

LB: About gd time, you've been heart eyes at her for literal years

CS: What

CS: Lucien why would you not tell me this

CS: I COULD HAVE SAVED SO MUCH TIME >:(

EHV: Oh shit group chat again

LB: Let's rename these things plz

EHV: Sorry babe <3

CS: Np hon ;*

LB: And here I am, third wheeling it again

EHV: You are basically married stfu

LB: That does not make this better

CS: Ladies ladies, you're both pretty

EHV: Sita knows whats uppppp

LB: Finishing BNHA this weekend y/n?

CS: Y, obvs

EHV: Also Y, I'm off at 7 don't watch ahead

LB: Don't walk so slow and we won't

EHV: Eat a dick

CS: G2g, love you guys

EHV: Love ya too

LB: <3

LB: Also, straaaaaaaaaaight

EHV: Fuckin really dude

LB: Someone has to

LB: Tell Dad I'm coming for dinner tonight

EHV: Will do, bye weeb

LB: Cya loser

#sinunamor #dream daddy #dream daddy hc #ddadds #ernest hemingway vega #carmensita sella #ernestsita

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ljfeed-spn-j2-bigbang · 6 years ago

Text

2018 Masterlist

Here (finally!) is the 2018 masterlist. If you see any errors, please let me know. Extreme thanks to

firesign10

for coding this!

JARED/JENSEN

Fic title:

Steal Me With A Sinful Swoon

Link to art:

Here

Author name:

lullysg

Artist name:

kaelysta

Genre:

RPS

Pairing:

Jared/Jensen

Rating

NC-17

Word count:

46K

Warning:

just for burglary

Summary:

It looks like the beginning of a bad joke. Two guys break into a house to burgle it at the same time, but that’s about the only thing they have in common. Jared is a spoiled, rich, brat who is too bored with his perfect life and decides to have some extra fun. Jensen is trying to get his hands on something that will help him to buy a meal for himself and his younger sister. What happens when these two completely different realities collide? It’s a whole new world.

Fic title:

A Star In Somebody Else's Sky

Link to art:

Here

Author name:

soy_em

Artist name:

mangacat201

Genre:

RPS

Pairing:

Jared/Jensen

Rating

NC-17 Fic, PG Art

Word count:

40K

Warning:

attempted/implied sexual harassment/assault (not graphic), homophobia (not from a major character)

Summary:

When Jared gets the news that he’ll be auditioning for the role of Sam Winchester, it should be the happiest day of his life. Auditioning for the lead role of his own tv show, competing against just one other actor - it’s his dream come true at last.

Until he finds out the other actor is Jensen Ackles.

Winning the role, acting alongside Jensen, brings back a flood of memories and long-repressed emotions. Jared and Jensen will have to find a way to resolve their shared past if they are to make a success of their new show.

Fic title:

Into the Light

Link to art:

Here

Author name:

twoboys2love

Artist name:

darklittleheart

Genre:

RPS

Pairing:

Jared/Jensen

Rating

NC-17

Word count:

34K

Warning:

Bottom!Jared, Top!Jensen, Hurt!Jared, attempted assault

Summary:

Danneel works at “The Dead Reckoning", a nightclub owned by small-time mob boss, Jared Padalecki. She also brings people in to stay at the club's rooms who need help getting off the streets. Jensen is down on his luck and ends up staying at the club. From the moment he sees Jared, Jensen wants him. But Jared is used to being in control, being alone and being guarded. It doesn't take long for Jensen to realize he may be in over his head.

Fic title:

Our Love Was Made for Movie Screens

Link to art:

Here

Author name:

sometimesalways

(cherryvanilla on AO3)

Artist name:

beelikej

Genre:

RPS

Pairing:

Jared/Jensen

Rating

NC-17

Word count:

33,000

Warning:

Summary:

It’s 2012, and brick-and-mortar chain bookstores aren’t the powerhouses they used to be in the 90s -- thanks to Amazon -- but Morgan Books is now in its 70th year and has still managed to prevail. When the superstore announces their intention to locally expand by buying out and demolishing a few cherished shops on a quaint Seattle block, independent bookshop owner Jensen Ackles is having nothing of it or the company’s obnoxious CEO, Jeffrey Dean Morgan. In the midst of this, Jensen has found himself interested in dating someone, for the first time in a long time. Of course, he hasn’t exactly met Bookman66 yet, but Jensen’s pretty sure the guy he’s been talking to online recently is just about as perfect as they come.

Jeffrey, meanwhile, has developed feelings for Shopguy78 -- a member of the online book club he joined on a whim -- despite his own cutthroat exterior and less-than-stellar relationship track record. Now, if only he can stop thinking about the fiery shop owner he's attempting to put out of business...

Loosely based on

You’ve Got Mail

, which was loosely inspired by the wonderful

Shop Around the Corner

Fic title:

Holding On With A Heart That's Still Beating

Link to art:

Here

Author name:

whisperedstory

Artist name:

dancing_adrift

Genre:

RPS

Pairing:

Jared/Jensen

Rating

NC-17

Word count:

43K

Warning:

some violence, past and present minor character death (depicted, but not in graphic detail), some off-screen torture

Summary:

The first children with the mutant gene, which gave people superhuman abilities, were born in the late 70s. Feared, abused and soon shunned by the general public, they gathered together in small groups and built camps on the outskirts of society.

Decades later, Jensen leads a small camp of mutants hidden in the mountains of Oregon. It's a peaceful, uneventful life—until Jensen finds a hurt young mutant in the woods outside of the camp. But unlike the rest of them, Jared wasn't born with the mutant gene. Kidnapped off the streets, he was experimented on, changed into a mutant by force and then left to die in the forest when his powers appeared to be dormant. Jensen takes Jared back to the camp, offers him a place to stay, to heal, and a home with them in the mountains. Jared quickly becomes a part of their little makeshift family and an even bigger part of Jensen's life.

But then they find another changed mutant and unwittingly lead the people responsible for what happened to Jared right to their camp. And it turns out Jared might be the one who can save them in the end.

Fic title:

Lamb

Link to art:

Here

Author name:

trishabooms

Artist name:

tx_devilorangel

Genre:

Wincest

Pairing:

Sam/Dean

Rating

NC-17

Word count:

64, 814

Warning:

Violence, brief bestiality

Summary:

The results of a recent blood test see accountant Jared Padalecki summoned to the CDC for tests, only to find that things are far from what they seem. Jared is a candidate, sought by a race of aliens. If that wasn’t bad enough, there are other countries who will go to any lengths to ensure that their candidate is the one, even if that means murder. Rescued, by who he believes to be Secret Service agents, Jared is whisked away to a house in Montana, owned by enigmatic billionaire Jensen Ackles and his unusual ‘family’. Who is Jensen Ackles anyway, and why is he so interested in Jared?

Fic title:

Rhythm Of My Heart

Link to art:

Here

Author name:

herminekurotowa

Artist name:

dollarformyname

Genre:

RPS

Pairing:

Jared/Jensen

Rating

NC-17

Word count:

20,000

Warning:

angst, angst, angst

Summary:

This is not The Bodyguard. Jensen's a rockstar and Jared's in love with him. Misha's a bodyguard and there's a stalker threatening Jared, but this is not a movie.

Fic title:

Tempting Jensen

Link to art:

Here

Author name:

hpjk_addict

Artist name:

winchestergirl

Genre:

RPS

Pairing:

Jared/Jensen

Rating

NC-17

Word count:

53K

Warning:

none

Summary:

England, 1815

Jensen is an extremely pious young man. He is determined to live a life of purity, devotion, obedience and self-denial, devoid of all passions, pleasures and diversions. His one and only ambition is to become a clergyman. His mission in life is to atone for his mother’s sins that broke apart his family and caused his father’s death when he was a child.

However, his plans are irrevocably ruined when his guardians’ son, Jared, returns. Jared disrupts his daily life, disturbs his peace of mind, makes him feel things that he has never felt before and challenges all of his notions about himself. He overwhelms him with his liberal touches, embraces and caresses, makes him blush at his unabashed nakedness, makes him laugh, teaches him to enjoy life outside his studies and gradually seduces him into his bed.

Following his desires for the very first time in his life, Jensen agrees to accompany Jared to London in order to explore their forbidden relationship that, should it become public knowledge, will destroy them both – unless, of course, Jared’s past affairs, youthful indiscretions and a terrible secret that he intends to keep from Jensen will tear them apart first.

Fic title:

Sleeping with the Enemy

Link to art:

Here

Author name:

tammyrenh

Artist name:

fridayblues

Genre:

RPS

Pairing:

Jared/Jensen

Rating

NC-17

Word count:

not listed

Warning:

none

Summary:

Jared has a secret that his long hair is hiding, the half moon birthmark on his neck is proof he is the ailing King's illegitimate son. When the King dies, Jared and his best friend Chad, have to make it to the castle undetected, because the King's brother is executing anyone that stands in his way of becoming King. They end up joining the King's army, Chad as a soldier and since Jared can't cut his hair and really like sex, as a companion. Much to his surprise/chagrin, Commander Ackles takes him on as his personal companion. Now Jared has to figure out how to make it safely to the castle without his secret being revealed and without losing his head or his heart to the Commander.

Fic title:

Freewinds

Link to art:

Here

Author name:

weefoal

Artist name:

winchestergirl

Genre:

RPS

Pairing:

Jared/Jensen

Rating

NC-17

Word count:

55K

Warning:

Top!Jared, Bottom!Jensen, Abuse by Religious Cult Leaders (Psychological Manipulation, Physical Assault, Gaslighting, Imprisonment, Implied Forced Abortion, etc), Suicide Attempt, Homophobia

Summary:

It's 1993 in Los Angeles, California and Jared Padalecki is going to save the world. After spending his teen years in the Church of Scientology, he gets recruited for the elite Sea Organization, the paramilitary clergy tasked with "clearing the planet" of Ritalin and homosexuality.

Jared's unwavering commitment to the Church, however, is thrown into question aboard the training ship

MV Freewinds

, when he starts to fall for one of the Sea Org's Action Chiefs: the mature and enigmatic Commander Jensen Ackles.

Amidst a crackdown on "Suppressive Persons," will the Commander and the Cadet be able to keep their illicit relationship a secret? Or will the Church stop at nothing to silence them?

Fic title:

Beyond Survival

Link to art:

Here

Author name:

gluedwithgold

Artist name:

bluefire986

Genre:

RPS

Pairing:

Jared/Jensen

Rating

NC-17

Word count:

24K

Warning:

slavery, physical and sexual abuse (not by main pairing characters)

Summary:

When vampires take over the country, Jared is forced into slavery. After nearly two years, he can't take the abuse and humiliation any more - Jared runs. Can he make it to the border and the safety of Canada? Or will his life change forever when he comes across a handsome stranger in the woods?

Fic title:

In That Most Awful Stillness

Link to art:

Embedded in story, no separate post

Author name:

pinkisgoth

Artist name:

abnidk

Genre:

RPS

Pairing:

Jared/Jensen

Rating

NC-17

Word count:

55K

Warning:

Attempted suicide. Knife attack, though not graphic. Rape accusation. Discussion and description of self-harm (related to illness). Serious chronic, pain-based illness.

Summary:

Four years ago, almost to the day, Jared and Jensen both experienced major life-changing events.

Jensen, a professor, is abruptly fired. In the immediate aftermath of the firing he discovers he has a serious chronic illness that is slowly seeping his life away. He buys a huge house in the country and takes up photography.

Jared, a bestselling horror novelist, is brutally attacked by a demented fan at a convention. Though he recovers physically, he is left with crippling PTSD and anxiety that has led him to become a total recluse, speaking only to the man who runs errands for him, his literary agent and his therapist. During his recovery, he was encouraged to take up sketching, and on the recommendation of his therapist, he has started posting his pictures on The Artist's Cave, a Deviant Art-style site. One day he comments on a photo posted by Jensen and the two begin communicating - at first through the comments and messaging on the website, then through email.

Their lives take another unexpected turn when Jensen’s roommate, Jeff, sends Jared an email: Jensen has collapsed and is in the hospital, would Jared be willing to call? This phone call will set the stage for a series of events that will lead them to the point where they are willing to risk the safety of their isolation to help each other heal.

Fic title:

Jared and the Undead Bartender

Link to art:

Here

Author name:

tsuki_no_bara

Artist name:

cassiopeia7

Genre:

RPS

Pairing:

Jared/Jensen

Word count:

30K

Rating

NC-17

Warning:

Superhot chile peppers. Crossword puzzles. Bits of history and traces of Chad.

Summary:

Jared has only been in Boston a few months when he walks into a bar called Abigail's and meets Jensen, the bartender. Jensen likes crossword puzzles, old movies, and superhot chile peppers, and they become friends. Jared thinks a road trip to New Mexico to find the world's hottest peppers would be a great idea, but Jensen has a secret – he was born in colonial Boston, he's over 260 years old, and he's a vampire.

They go to New Mexico anyway, encountering fellow travelers and ghostly horses and the highway at night, and learning more about each other. It turns out that crossing the country in a camper with your best friend is a great way to fall in love, even if one of you is undead. Who knew?

Fic title:

The More You See (The Less You Know)

Link to art:

Here

Author name:

zubeneschamali

Artist name:

dollarformyname

Genre:

RPS

Pairing:

Jared/Jensen

Rating

NC-17

Word count:

32,236

Warning:

body modification (small implants, artificial arm), brief mind control

Summary:

Sequel to "They're Advertising in the Skies (For People Like Us)." Jared is on the run from the powerful company that claims he's stolen their technology, although they were the ones who stole his life first. Jensen's on the run with him, determined to get to the North where he can do more to fight the corporate system than just poke at it the way he has been for years. First, though, they'll have to make it to the border through hazardous territory by trusting a network of strangers—and learning to trust each other.

Fic title:

Compulsion

Link to art:

Here

Author name:

candygramme

and

spoonlessone

Artist name:

dun

Genre:

RPS

Pairing:

Jared/Jensen

Rating

NC-17

Word count:

29K

Warning:

Show level violence

Summary:

Special Agent Jensen Ackles is up to his neck in trouble, and he isn't sure if the rookie agent the Powers That Be have saddled him with is going to help him or just make things worse. It's not that the kid isn't eager to please, it's just that he's totally clueless about what he's up against. It doesn't help that Ackles isn't quite sure either! Fortunately, or maybe not, he has a couple of other allies, including a brainwashed pathologist, a weed smoking techie, and a truly innovative medic from Walter Reed. That ought to be enough to save the world as long as the ghosts keep away.

Fic title:

Mr. Darcy 1.1

Link to art:

Here

Author name:

romachebella

Artist name:

thruterryseyes

Genre:

RPS

Pairing:

Jared/Jensen

Rating

Word count:

56K

Warning:

none

Summary:

Jensen is 24, has a shiny college degree in graphic design and advertising, but good jobs are hard to come by when you don't want to move three states over - which explains why he's still living with his parents and juggling a couple of his old students´ jobs to get by. It´s not ideal by far, but at least he's there for his family, can work on his secret project, and has all of his friends close by. But then the calm town life he's so accustomed to gets stirred by the arrival of one Mr. Misha Collins, heir to the one big company (and employer) in town; this man´s decisions will affect the lives of pretty much everyone around, after all. He's also single, attractive as hell, and charmingly enthusiastic. And then, there's the friend he tags along: a man who's as tall and hot as he seems haughty and arrogant. No wonder Jensen calls him GrumpyGiant, right? Especially after he´s been given a harsh brushoff at their very first encounter!

Or: I might´ve read (and watched) "Pride and Prejudice" one too many times...

Fic title:

The Bonnie to Your Clyde

Link to art:

Here

Author name:

blackrose_17

Artist name:

emmatheslayer

Genre:

RPS

Pairing:

Jared/Jensen

Rating

Word count:

24,944

Warning:

bottom Jared, possessive Jensen, attempted sexual assault ( not by either J's), threesome

Summary:

Jensen Ackles and Jared Padalecki couldn't be more different, one is the enforce to Mob Boss Jeffrey Dean Morgan as well as his lover and the other is a struggling college student who wishes for a better job. A one night stand leaves a mark on both Jensen and Jared.

Mob Boss Jensen Ackles isn't sure what to think when the owner of the cat who has been stealing his underwear is Jared Padalecki the young man he spent one weekend with and had never been able to forget. Jared isn't sure whether to thank his cat or be embarrassed that his cat was stealing underwear of the one man he has longed to see again. Who needs a fairy godmother when you have matchmaking cat, even if they do like to steal underwear to get the job done?

Fic title:

Beware the King's Harem

Link to art:

Here

Author name:

whiskygalore

Artist name:

sillie82

Genre:

RPS

Pairing:

Jared/Jensen

Rating

NC-17

Word count:

33K

Warning:

Younger Jensen, bottom Jensen, minor violence, mentions of castration but absolutely no junk is harmed!

Summary:

When one of King Jared's more eccentric judgments backfires and he suddenly finds himself in possession of eighteen year old farm-boy Jensen Ackles, he decides that Jensen, who is quite the prettiest thing he has ever seen, would be best suited for a position as his attendant. He doesn't however count on Jensen being quite so innocent, or so damned stubborn. Or everyone in his court interfering. Jensen, meanwhile, is quite sure the king is an insufferable ass, until he realizes he’s not.

Fic title:

Kinsukuroi

Link to art:

Here

Author name:

sanshal

Artist name:

bflyw

Genre:

RPS

Pairing:

Jared/Jensen

Rating

NC-17

Word count:

63K

Warning:

a/b/o, alpha!Jensen, omega!Jared, h/c/, past abuse, (Off-screen) death of a child, physical,emotional and psychological abuse, social divide, facial/body disfigurement of major charater (in final chapter), slow build, slow romance. More detailed warnings in tags (on AO3)

Summary:

Kintsukuroi is a Japanese word that refers to the act of repairing broken pottery by filling in the cracks with gold. Instead of trying to hide the damage, kintsukuroi illuminates it.

Because, mending is an art.

Because, there is beauty in the broken places.

Because, every scar has a story.

Jared’s world shattered when his young, healthy mate died unexpectedly during a holiday back with the pack that raised him. Tasked with raising a child as a single omega while trying to escape life in a traditional pack, he wasn’t sure if he could ever be whole again. ... Jensen, orphaned at six, had given up his dreams of ever having a family of his own and joined the Guards when he was barely in his teens. It was Fate that brings these two men together...

Fic title:

Unwanted

Link to art:

Here

Author name:

jdl71

Artist name:

bluefire986

Genre:

RPS

Pairing:

Jared/Jensen

Rating

NC-17

Word count:

42,037

Warning:

A/B/O, Alpha Jared, Older Jared, Top Jared, Omega Jensen, Younger Jensen, Bottom Jensen, Angst, Hurt & Comfort, Mating, Knotting, Claiming Bite, Mpreg, Mating Bond, Childbirth, Were-Creatures

Summary:

Unwanted, that's how Jensen felt because that's what he was. Jensen, an omega is mated to Jared, an alpha. Jared isn’t just any alpha, he’s the alpha, the pack leader. Jensen loves Jared, but he’s come to realize that Jared doesn’t love him, doesn’t want him. Jared wants someone else, a beta named Sandy.

Fic title:

Those Who Show Up

Link to art:

Here

Author name:

dugindeep

Artist name:

matchboximpala

Genre:

RPS

Pairing:

Jared/Jensen

Rating

NC-17

Word count:

50,000

Warning:

Infidelity on an OFC (Jared cheats on his wife). Everyone is aged with respect to running for office (Jensen and Jared are mid to late 40s, everyone else around them is respectively older). Set in an alternative timeline (2020 U.S. Presidential Election) where politicians are better received/respected than they are today.

Summary:

Jared Padalecki is the latest politician to throw his hat into the Presidential Race. As a Texas Senator, he's well respected by the Republican Party for upholding the values of the GOP. But his earnest, can-do attitude only gets him so far when it comes to the American public.

Enter: Jensen Ackles, a renowned strategist who resuscitates fledgling campaigns and wins political races. Over the course of a year, Jensen and Jared struggle to see eye to eye even as they're both hell bent to win in November. If only Jensen could figure out what skeletons are in the Senator's closet so he can get ahead of a scandal before it breaks.

Decisions are made by those who show up - Aaron Sorkin, The West Wing

Fic title:

The Teacher Lounge Diaries

Link to art:

Here

Author name:

heyobrothers

Artist name:

tx_devilorangel

Genre:

RPS

Pairing:

Jared/Jensen

Rating

NC-17

Word count:

54K

Warning:

Unrequited Love, Mutual Pining, Miscommunication, Scene of Violence, Smut

Summary:

Jared is the new first year teacher at Northside High School. He's excited about starting his new job, his new life. Years of schooling finally paid off to do the one thing he loves to do - teach. The first day of school is already nerve-racking enough for students and teachers alike but when Jared literally runs into the incredibly charming and equally as stunning Mythology and Folklore teacher, Jensen Ackles, the nerves only increase tenfold. The friendship that formed afterwards formed quickly and without struggle, like they were meant to be friend but then things get more complicated when Jared starts to develop all the wrong kind of feelings for his co-worker. Jared never thought that he would have to relive all the feelings of a high school crush but when the crush start to turn into something more, something much more real, Jared finds himself just as lost as the kids that he teaches.

It took years of schooling for Jared to get this job and then just one night for Jensen to mess up every single one of Jared's carefully laid plans.

Fic title:

The Battle-Born Highway

Link to art:

Here

Author name:

wetsammy

Artist name:

marietwist

Genre:

RPS

Pairing:

Jared/Jensen

Rating

NC-17

Word count:

26K

Warning:

Violence, Attempted Sexual Assault

Summary:

Ex-soldier Jensen lives a nice life - a safe life - with his sex-bot and only companion Dani, but when she breaks down, he needs to stop hiding in his high rise apartment and start facing up to his past.

Tracker Jared is everything that Jensen hates - messy, impulsive and cocky with a loud muscle car to boot - but he knows his way in and out of Zone Seven, which is exactly where Jensen needs to go if he’s gonna fix this.

Fic title:

Muse

Link to art:

Here

Author name:

locknkey

Artist name:

dephigravity

Genre:

RPS

Pairing:

Jared/Jensen

Rating

NC-17

Word count:

40,500

Warning:

Explicit sex

Summary:

In a universe a little bit sideways from ours, the fates still throw Jared and Jensen together. Jensen is on his way back to Texas after his new pilot gets tanked, but Jared intervenes with plans of his own.

Jared is in desperate need of a pretty male model for his next big gig. Next thing he knows, Jensen is living with him, working with him and it feels like he’s known him forever. More unexpected is his attraction to Jensen, an attraction he can’t admit, even to himself.

Jensen accepts Jared’s offer to be his muse. He promises himself not to fall for his super hot boss with the pretty girlfriend. The thing about promises is, they’re simple to make and hard to keep.

Fic title:

The Frozen Ocean

Link to art:

Here

Author name:

kelleigh

Artist name:

quickreaver

Genre:

RPS

Pairing:

Jared/Jensen

Rating

NC-17

Word count:

50,700

Warning:

Brief mentions of depression, PTSD, suicidal ideation. Temporary character death. Minor character death. Action-movie level violence and injury.

Summary:

Three years ago, the world lost one of its heroes. Jensen Ackles, known to most as ‘Reactor,’ gave his life to save thousands, perhaps even to save our way of life. Jared Padalecki was there that day, amidst the ruin and rubble of battle, holding Jensen in his arms as he died. In the aftermath, as society mourned the loss of their superhero, Jared buried his husband on a quiet Texas hillside.

Now, Jared’s living as a shadow of his former self, unable to move beyond his loss, when the arrival of a strange object from deep in outer space sets in motion a series of events that challenges everything Jared thought he knew about Jensen’s past and hoped for their future. From old friends showing up at his door in Vancouver to a secret military base in the middle of Texas, Jared will go and risk everything, including his own sanity, to get Jensen back. But is Jensen still the same man he loved for so long, or will Jared lose him all over again? This time, the battle isn’t about saving the world - it’s about saving what they had.

Fic title:

Slipped Inside Your Left Front Pocket

Link to art:

Here

Author name:

oobydooby67

Artist name:

dollarformyname

Genre:

RPS

Pairing:

Jared/Jensen

Rating

NC-17

Word count:

30K

Warning:

alpha Jensen, omega Jared, a/b/o verse, explicit sexual content, past history of substance abuse, fatphobic remarks, PTSD

Summary:

Seven years ago, Jensen met singer, actress, and all-around legend Cher in a Manhattan lounge called Intime. After he played a set, she approached him, impressed, and they hit it off. With her guidance and connections, Jensen started to create a life outside of his job as a 911 dispatcher for the NYPD. He didn’t have to ask clubs to let him play; they started to call him to play for them.

Two years later, Jensen had to leave the city. He had to get out. And out meant back to Texas. When his cabbie got lost on the way to LaGuardia, he wandered back to Intime. Cher offered him another place to go.

Jensen arrived on a remote island in the South Pacific five years ago and never left.

Life was as steady as the ocean and as slow as a turtle named Diego. Until Cher sent her nephew to the island as part of a creative restart.

Then everything changed--possibly for the better.

Fic title:

Like A Music That Holds My Hands Down

Link to art:

Here

Author name:

saltandbyrne

Artist name:

beelikej

Genre:

RPS

Pairing:

Jared/Jensen

Rating

NC-17

Word count:

22K

Warning:

BDSM, romantic comedy, misunderstandings, fluff and smut, kid fic

Summary:

Perpetually-single pediatric dentist Jared lets his best friend Misha talk him into going to an anonymous BDSM party. Jared hooks up with a gorgeous stranger, but panics after their encounter and leaves before he can learn more about him. A year later, Jared is stunned to recognize Jensen Ackles as the father of one of his new patients and the guy from the best one-night stand of Jared’s life. With some encouragement from Jensen’s co-parent Danneel and Jared’s plucky office manager Genevieve, Jared realizes that he and Jensen might be perfect for each other

Fic title:

Retrain

Link to art:

Here

Author name:

nerdypastrychef

Artist name:

emmatheslayer

Genre:

RPS

Pairing:

Jared/Jensen

Rating

NC-17

Word count:

31K

Warning:

dubcon, non-con, underage, bad bdsm etiquette, watersports (mentioned), collaring, sexual abuse, general abuse, age gap, barebacking, dom!bottom!Jensen, sub!top!Jared

Summary:

Jensen Ackles wins teenage submissive Jared Padalecki in a poker game run by Stephen Amell. Jensen doesn’t know anything about being a Dominant or taking care of an abused kid but he can’t let Jared go, he has to help him learn who he was meant to be.

Fic title:

The Scars of Time

Link to art:

Here

Author name:

cleflink

Artist name:

ameraleigh

Genre:

RPS

Pairing:

Jared/Jensen

Rating

Word count:

35,250

Warning:

a little bit of violence, mentions of past homophobia and child neglect, abandonment issues

Summary:

Jensen works as a Chrono Tech, which is just a fancy title for being a time-traveling mechanic who fixes holes in the fabric of history. It's not exactly glamorous, but Jensen has learned to be content with his lot in life. Then he meets Jared and, suddenly, there's so much more to his life than just being content.

But Jensen's first loyalty must always be to the integrity of the time stream. And when Jared's very existence threatens to turn all of history inside out, Jensen is faced with the only decision he never wanted to make.

Fic title:

The Citadel Codex

Link to art:

Here

Author name:

paleogymnast

Artist name:

merakieros

Genre:

RPS

Pairing:

Jared/Jensen

Rating

NC-17

Word count:

24K

Warning:

graphic depictions of violence, cybernetic and biotech modifications (consensual and nonconsensual), graphic sex, mentions of genocide, flashbacks, body horror (see Author’s notes on fic for more warnings)

Summary:

1,500 years ago, the founders of Citadel—a peculiar binary planet—set out to establish a new colony far from the reaches of the galactic powers, the Central Empire and the Republic. Their colony would redefine life as we know it. 15 years ago, the rival galactic powers waged an all-out war on Citadel in search of her secrets. Citadel was lost and with it the sum total of her knowledge, research, history, and discoveries… or was it? Rumors persist that Citadel’s knowledge was scattered to the Cosmos, hidden, but not lost, if only one lock and one key can be found. As the rival superpowers compete to find the secrets of Citadel, a man alone who will search to reclaim his history. But as Imperial and Republic spies threaten to expose his secret and destroy the promise of Citadel once and for all, who the mysterious Jared whose side is he on?

Fic title:

Obscura Rasa

Link to art:

Here

Author name:

nyxocity

Artist name:

swan_song21

Genre:

RPS

Pairing:

Jared/Jensen

Rating

NC-17

Word count:

127,400

Warning:

Mild violence and gore

Summary:

Jensen is a man on the run from his past and the strange ability he possesses to see other people’s memories. Jared is the seemingly perfectly normal owner of a night club in Washington DC called the Hall of Doors. Jensen rents an apartment above the club on a temporary basis, and through an encounter with a mysterious stranger with powers like his own, finds himself embarked on a quest for answers to what he is. Jensen and Jared begin to fall for each other against Jensen’s better instincts, and along with their friends, find themselves pulled into a secret world filled with perils and more questions than answers. Through back alleys, clubs, magical places and spaces between worlds, Jensen discovers what he is and becomes hunted by otherworldly creatures, including one terrifying adversary bent on destroying reality as they know it. Jensen may be the only one with the power defeat them, but true power always comes with a price, and the cost may be Jensen’s life—or something far, far worse.

Fic title:

Imaginary Friends

Link to art:

Here

Author name:

timehasa_way

Artist name:

cherie_morte

Genre:

RPS

Pairing:

Jared/Jensen

Rating

NC-17

Word count:

21,479

Warning:

Borrowing the Glory/Key concepts from Buffy, but not a true crossover; this fic assumes the show/storyline never existed, with no main Buffy characters or settings involved. Betrayal, angst, depression, violence, suicide TW, hurt!Jared, hurt!Jensen, hurt!Misha, temporary major character death. NC-17 for blowjob/handjob/frottage.

Summary:

When a strange monk shows up in Jensen's trailer during the filming of season nine, he and Misha learn that Jared isn't the person they thought he was. In fact, he may not be a person at all. According to the monk, Jared was created as a vessel to protect a Key that opens gates to other dimensions. The god seeking him out poses a threat not only to Jared, but to the world. Having just crossed over from friends to something more, Jensen struggles with the fact that his first five years of memories with Jared have been implanted in his brain and goes down a dark path. Misha struggles to keep them both safe and sane during the hiatus, also putting himself in harm's way as they hide out in motel rooms, Winchester-style.

Fic title:

Winner Takes All

Link to art:

Here

Author name:

junkerin

Artist name:

blackrabbit42

Genre:

RPS

Pairing:

Jared/Jensen

Rating

NC-17

Word count:

30K

Warning:

graphic rape, non con

Summary:

On the run to freedom Jared relifes his past:

Turned against his will into an omega, raped and abused he never lost his will to fight.

Starting a new life is hard especially if the assigned help (Jensen) looks like your former alpha. With Jensen´s help and another dramatic change, Jared is on his way to a new start

But will the shadows of Jared's past destroy the new life he has started to build?

Fic title:

Hold Your Head Up High In Disgrace

Link to art:

Here

Author name:

ashtraythief

Artist name:

blondebitz

Genre:

RPS

Pairing:

Jared/Jensen

Rating

NC-17

Word count:

45K

Warning:

show-level violence

Summary:

If you ask Jensen, Jared is a punk-ass little thief who’s not as irresistible as he thinks he is. If you ask Jared, Jensen is a mean, vindictive bastard, who’s definitely not as handsome as he thinks he is. But the world of intergalactic smuggling is small and Jared and Jensen keep crossing paths.

Just when they’re about to admit that maybe the other isn’t so bad after all, their pasts rear their ugly heads. When the stakes are their lives instead of the next shiny object, Jared and Jensen have to decide how far they’re willing to go to save themselves—and each other.

Fic title:

Lost And Found

Link to art:

Here

Author name:

angelzfurys

Artist name:

thruterryseyes

Genre:

RPS

Pairing:

Jared/Jensen

Rating

Word count:

60K

Warning:

This does have a few mentions of self-harm but just in passing, not too serious like real suicide. Some abuse of power and people by authority figures.

Summary:

After Jensen is struck by lightning he finds himself with the power to find anyone. At first he's not sure what to do with this new power besides pass on what he knows. But after a run in with the FBI he finds himself caught up in the sights of a secret group who are not so happy to share his power so freely. With his crush Jared helping him out of one jam and into another he's not sure if anyone should benefit from his powers or if anyone should even have them in the first place. After all, what's missing should not always be found.

Sam/Dean

Fic title:

The Skin of the Beast

Link to art:

Here

Author name:

entropy_red

Artist name:

phoenix1966

Genre:

Wincest

Pairing:

Sam/Dean

Rating

NC-17

Word count:

30K

Warning:

Body Horror, Canon typical violence, Sex with sentient animals, Dubious Consent

Summary:

Find Dean, find Jack, fix it. Sam's mission should be simple, but after a mysterious storm transforms ordinary people into hideous creatures, Sam finds himself struggling to hang onto his humanity and stay alive. Joined by an enormous wolf, Sam sets out across a new and dangerous landscape trying to balance the draw he feels to the wolf and his need to complete his mission. Find Dean, find Jack, fix it.

Fic title:

Walkin' the Tightrope

Link to art:

Here

Author name:

non_tiembo_mala

Artist name:

stargazingchola

Genre:

Wincest

Pairing:

Sam/Dean

Rating

NC-17

Word count:

25K

Warning:

Show-level violence, sibling incest, explicit sexual content, bottom Sam, top Dean, reference to/implied weecest

Summary:

It’s 2036, and twenty years since Sam and Dean called it quits on hunting to take up a secluded, quiet life. Maybe Jesse and Cesar gave them the idea, but after Amara, they realized they’d done enough. And they wanted a proper life together even more.

Known as Sam Wesson and Dean Smith to the residents of the nearby town they call home, Sam and Dean keep mostly to themselves, their immaculately kept ‘67 Chevy Impala, and their cabin in the woods. That is, until someone from their past tracks them down, desperate for help.

Sam and Dean can’t say no, not when it’s their dear friend Jody Mills in deep trouble – she’s missing – but the wedding bands they wear make going back to their old life just that little bit more complicated…

Fic title:

Nothing Else Matters

Link to art:

Here

Author name:

angelus2hot

Artist name:

siennavie

Genre:

Wincest

Pairing:

Sam/Dean

Rating

NC-17

Word count:

33, 341

Warning:

Vampire/human sex(Dean/Sam), bottom!Dean, Implied/past relationship(Dean/Benny), Character turned into a vampire(Dean), Character turned into a monster(Sam), Original characters, Original monster, Violence, Coarse language, Angst, Romance, Coerced sex/Non Con sex(but she's in human form, Maerysa/Sam), Dubious Consent, Monster/human sex(but she's in human form, Maerysa/Sam)

Summary:

It was supposed to be a simple case, save the little children from the hideous monster before it was too late. But instead Sam was taken by the same monster they were hunting. As usual Dean will do whatever he has to do in order to save his brother and with help from Garth, Crowley and even Benny he does just that. But once Sam is rescued the price he had to pay may well be too high.

Fic title:

Rule of Thirds

Link to art:

Here

Author name:

firesign10

Artist name:

cherie_morte

Genre:

Wincest

Pairing:

Sam/Dean

Rating

NC-17

Word count:

39,177

Warning:

show-level violence/blood

Summary:

Victor Henriksen survived Lilith's blast at the Monument police station. He returns to the FBI after his hospital stay, but can't reconcile his past world view with his knowledge of the supernatural. Enter Sam and Dean Winchester, who invite Victor to join them, starting him not only on a journey of hunting, danger, and life on the road, but one that will lead him to explore who he really is.

Fic title:

And the moon became as blood

Link to art:

Here

Author name:

zara_zee

Artist name:

milly_gal

Genre:

Wincest

Pairing:

Sam/Dean

Rating

NC-17

Word count:

49,500

Warning:

m/m incest, boys raised apart, show-level horror and violence, apocalyptic themes, religious themes, permanently-injured Dean, powers!sam, AU world

Summary:

Dean Winchester is a Preacher, from a long line of Preachers. He believes unreservedly in The Revelation of The End Times; he sees the evidence of its truth in the desolate dying world all around him every day. The End is coming. It is unstoppable. Humankind’s destiny is a foregone conclusion.

And then a Hunter arrives at Dean’s Church and asks him a frightening question: What if the future isn’t set? What if The End of Days can be stopped?

The Hunter’s name is Sam and he speaks Heresy. But he also knows Dean far better than any stranger should, and Dean quickly finds himself captivated by the man’s vision of a better future.

And so begins an epic quest across the Badlands: a quest for knowledge and truth; a quest for freedom; and, ultimately, a quest for humanity’s very existence.

Fic title:

Ordinary Magic

Link to art:

Here

Author name:

storyspinner70

Artist name:

yanyann

Genre:

Wincest

Pairing:

Sam/Dean

Rating

NC-17

Word count:

23,500 +

Warning:

top!dean, bottom!Sam, mpreg, brief mentions of suicide attempt and ideation, wincest, language, explicit sex, canon level violence, angst, magic, fae and other creatures.

Summary:

The day started like any other, but ended with Dean having to save his brother from the evil clutches of – fairies? All Dean wanted was some beer after a rough day. What he ended up with was his brother pregnant with his child. Constant brotherly bickering, a haunted house that landed Sam in the hospital, a hunt where Dean was assisted by some sort of creature he’d never seen, and general panic at the upcoming birth of their child nearly tore the brothers apart when even heaven itself had failed. Could a world survive if the Winchesters hated each other, or will they finally discover what it is they both truly want?

Fic title:

The City of Brotherly Love

Link to art:

Here

Author name:

runedgirl

Artist name:

milly_gal

Genre:

Wincest

Pairing:

Sam/Dean

Rating

NC-17

Word count:

21,400

Warning:

none

Summary:

No one is more surprised than Sam and Dean Winchester that they’ve managed to survive long enough to settle down. Sort of. Sam is maybe a little more okay with the whole aging thing than Dean, so when Sam is hit with a spell that makes him younger and younger until he’s about 20, Dean doesn’t cope well. When the same spell turns Dean into a twenty-year-old, both of them have to cope with all those forbidden feelings about each other that they never acted on at that age. If the de-aging spell is going to keep going until they don’t exist, which could happen in a matter of days, what’s stopping them from acting on those feelings now – especially when they look like that?

Fic title:

Just Ghosts

Link to art:

Here

Author name:

excoyote

/ brokenlittleboy on AO3

Artist name:

be_my_precious

Genre:

Wincest

Pairing:

Sam/Dean

Rating

NC-17

Word count:

55.3K

Warning:

Mentions of rape, depictions of violence and torture

Summary:

Sam is brought back from hell broken into parts, memory gone, and fragile. He and Dean recuperate at Bobby's, and Dean teaches Sam how to be Sam. Having no memory is frustrating, and with a weak body, too, Sam finds himself leaning on Dean more and more. Something is wrong--Dean is conversing with Sam in a language Sam doesn't speak, pining after something they had that Sam doesn't have a name for. Sam's memories lurk around every corner, surprising him at random. He discovers an entire part of his identity, a happy, self-assured woman, has been deleted from his memory, locked behind The Wall due to a dangerous connection to Hell, and Dean was desperately in love with her. Sam struggles to come to terms with his identity and takes terrifying dips in icy Hell memories, watching herself get torn apart, but never him. Only her, until her very core was wrapped with the devil's, with pain. Despite the inevitable danger, Sam tries to make himself whole again, falling in love with Dean and descending deeper into the rabbit hole.

Fic title:

Turnabout

Link to art:

Here

Author name:

roxymissrose

Artist name:

yanyann

Genre:

Wincest

Pairing:

Sam/Dean

Rating

NC-17

Word count:

44,358

Warning:

none

Summary:

Sam's been the quiet one all his life; the shy, steady one. Until his whole quiet, ordered life spins out of control with the appearance of the brother he hadn't seen in years, not since he'd been locked up for the murder of their father...and the attempted murder of a young Sam.

Fic title:

Finding Your H(e)aven

Link to art:

Here

Author name:

winterwolke

Artist name:

sandy79

Genre:

Wincest

Pairing:

Sam/Dean

Rating

NC-17

Word count:

56K

Warning:

A/B/O-dynamics, Alpha!Sam, Omega!Dean, slightly dub-con due to heat encounter, strongly hinted non-con but no graphic descriptions, dark beginning, fluffy end

Summary:

Though The Change made Alphas, Betas and Omegas equal, Omegas still struggle with being accepted by society. Sam and Dean are working for an Omega Rescue Unit at Quantico, Virginia, fighting evil in the form of human trafficking rings and their ominous leader, El Lupo. When a case ends differently than expected, both have to fight for what they want most - each other.

Fic title:

Hidden In The Right Place

Link to art:

Here

Author name:

smalltroven

Artist name:

amberdreams

Genre:

Wincest

Pairing:

Sam/Dean

Rating

NC-17

Word count:

30,348

Warning:

Vague season 13 spoilers

Summary:

A demon the Winchesters haven’t encountered before escapes from Hell to kidnap Dean because she has a plan. One that requires at least one of the Winchesters to help her to complete it. Will Dean cooperate with her even when she’s made Dean forget himself? Will he break and give in before Sam can save him? How far will Sam go to rescue his brother?

Fic title:

Under a Spell

Link to art:

Here

Author name:

annie46

Artist name:

cherie_morte

Genre:

Wincest

Pairing:

Sam/Dean

Rating

NC-17

Word count:

21K

Warning:

Bottom!Sam, Magically induced amnesia, Mute!Sam

Summary:

Sam and Dean are hunting for twenty people who have gone missing in the same area in the last two years; none of them were ever found. No bodies, no clues. The only thing Sam has found is three trees in a perfect triangle with sigils painted on each one. When the Winchesters stumble on the sigils they are sucked into a totally different world.

All of a sudden Dean is Dean Campbell who has lived in Llepsarednu all of his life; (Llepsarednu is an odd town, there are no children, no one gets sick and everything is in its place). Dean is a mechanic with a lovely little cabin in the woods, a dog and an easy – if routine - life. One day he stumbles upon a tall stranger who appears to have no memory and can’t speak. Dean is instantly drawn to him and he takes him in and hides him from the townsfolk who are insanely suspicious of anyone who isn’t from their town.

It is now obvious that both Sam and Dean are under a spell; despite the fact that they appear to be strangers to each other they share a bond and, eventually, they fall for each other and become intimate.

What will happen if and when the brother's regain their memory and can they ever get back to just being 'brother's' again?

Fic title:

Out Of Nowhere

Link to art:

Here

Author name:

amypond45

Artist name:

kuwlshadow

Genre:

SPN AU

Pairing:

Sam and Dean pre-slash

Rating

PG-13

Word count:

22,361

Warning:

underage (16-year-old Dean has a fantasy about 12-year-old Sam), boys don’t know they’re brothers, sibling child-abuse (not between Sam and Dean)

Summary:

A hundred years ago, in an alternate United States, monsters and humans have been at war as long as anyone can remember. John Winchester raises his sons in a world already overrun by the supernatural, in which humans are often on the defensive, pushed ever further west. Against this backdrop, Dean and foster-brother Sam grow up relatively carefree on a ranch near Lawrence, Kansas, protected and heavily warded, until the day Dean learns the truth about his mother, the mysterious hunter who abandoned her family when Dean was four. With his new knowledge, Dean figures out even better ways to protect his family and his home. But will it be enough?

Gen

Fic title:

Circum Erotico

Link to art:

Here

Author name:

deceptivemirror

Artist name:

lightthesparks

Genre:

Gen

Rating

Word count:

22,235

Warning:

some gore, lots of nudity, graphic depictions of crime scenes and simulated sex acts, discussion of sex and sexuality, and religious themes

Summary:

A mysterious string of random deaths plague several cities across the United States, and Sam and Dean are called to investigate. After some sleuthing, they discover all the deaths occur at the times Circum Erotico, a traveling troupe of sexy, daring performers, are in town, and that the murders appear to have been perpetrated by a demon.

The plan itself is flawless. Infiltrate the erotic show, find the culprit, exorcise, burn, and be on their way. The execution...is less than flawless.

Dean's task is to make handling weaponry look sexy, and Sam becomes a strongman for suggestive dances and acts. Sooner or later, they'll stumble on the murderer...if the crowds hungry for more of their skin don't devour them first.

Jared/Jensen/Misha

Fic title:

I Want To Love You (But I Better Not Touch)

Link to art:

Here

Author name:

seawitch27

Artist name:

imogen_lily

Genre:

RPS

Pairing:

Jared/Jensen/Misha

Rating

NC-17

Word count:

60,234

Warning:

Alpha/Beta/Omega Dynamics, mentions of past consensual incest, attempted non-consensual sex, self-harm, minor character death

Summary:

When Omega-Prince Jared of secretive Alyonis travels to decadent Val Deauvin on a diplomatic mission, the last thing he expects is to fall in love - and with not one but two alphas. Prince Jensen of Val Deauvin and Prince Misha of wintry Montisierre (and Ward of Val Deauvin) are the last people that Jared should want to mate. As he spends more time with the alphas, though, two questions begin to emerge:

One, is it possible to have two mates?

And two, is there any way that Jared's going to be able to keep them?

As political forces plot against them and their three kingdoms prepare for the possibility of war, Jensen, Jared, and Misha must decide what they're willing to give up to be together - while the true enemy lurks in the shadows and may be someone they never suspected... (Part One)

Fic title:

Prodigal

Link to art:

Here

Author name:

fufaraw

Artist name:

lilaeth

Genre:

RPS

Pairing:

Jensen/OCs

Rating

Word count:

45K

Warning:

A/B/O dynamics, noncon, dubcon, kidnapping, rape, attempted rape, mpreg, underage

Summary:

Jensen was kidnapped at fourteen. He escapes at seventeen, and contacts his dad. He has to recover and discover how to live with the changes in his life.

from Supernatural and J-Squared Big Bang Challenge! https://ift.tt/2MtP3b2

#supernatural #J2 #big bang #spn-j2-bigbang #livejournal #fanworks

26 notes · View notes

m4rkshouse · 7 years ago

Text

here’s part 2 of my kid!myungjin fic and part 2 of the fic by @astrofireworks which inspired it. i’m apologizing for this part in advance bc i hate me for it and i’m sure other people might too sdjjsa (angst warning). the other members of astro finally make their appearance, and there’s baseball!!! thats all i can say without spoiling so please enjoy!!

when myungjun is 14.5 and jinwoo is 12.5:

they’re sitting in jinwoo’s bedroom on a saturday night, laying on his bed and watching a movie on the new tv jinwoo’s parents had put in his room after myungjun got one in his

myungjun’s head is in jinwoo’s lap, as it usually was, and jinwoo is absentmindedly playing with his hair

it’s something he’s been doing a lot recently bc it feels natural for him, his hands slowly combing their way through myungjun’s hair as the older boys’ head rests in his lap

the movie they’re watching is really boring and they’ve been talking throughout it instead of watching

and pretty much out of nowhere jinwoo asks who myungjun has a crush on

and the question startles him a little bit bc if he’s honest, he doesn’t have a crush on anyone nor does he think he’s ever had a crush on anyone before

so instead of lying bc thats foolish and myungjun hates lying, he’s just honest with his best friend: “i don’t think i have a crush on anyone”

there’s a pause before he speaks again: “what about you? who do you have a crush on?”

jinwoo: “i’ve never really thought about it”

and now myungjun is a little confused bc why would jinwoo ask him about his crush if he hadn’t ever thought about it himself??

myungjun: “what made you think about it now?”

jinwoo: “a few of my friends at school were talking about how if they got to date their crush, they wouldn’t hang out with us as much bc they’d want to be with their crush”

myungjun: “yeah…?”

jinwoo: “and it just made me wonder if i had to worry about your crush taking you away from me, bc i wouldn’t like that”

and myungjun smiles widely at this, feeling his chest warm and cheeks turn red

myungjun: “you don’t have to be worried about any crushes taking me away jinjin”

jinwoo: “i just want it to be you and me forever mj”

myungjun: “me too”

and the boys don’t really realize or understand the weight of their words, and how their promises to stay together forever might eventually be broken,

and for the time being they don’t particularly care bc they’re 12 and 14 years old and more intent on remaining best friends forever than worrying about all the ways in which they could possibly be torn apart

when myungjun is 15.2 and jinwoo is 13.2:

jinwoo begins playing baseball

jinwoo has liked it ever since him and myungjun were just little kids going to saturday afternoon games with their dads

and he’s always played on the school teams but just before summer starts, he asks his parents if he can sign up for a team outside of school

they quickly agree, as jinwoo had never done more than peewee soccer and drums throughout his childhood by choice and they had never wanted to force him to do anything he didn’t want to

but now he wanted to do something and they would never stop him from that

so that summer he begins playing the sport, meaning myungjun begins learning everything about it and attends every game, cheering loudly for his best friend and not caring when said cheering borders on slightly obnoxious

myungjun also attends an art camp 3 days a week where he gets to build on his skills

its not even a question that jinwoo goes to every single gallery and open house they have to support myungjun and he’s as proud of myungjun for his art as myungjun is proud of him for his baseball skills

playing baseball is where jinwoo meets moon bin

moon bin is only 11.4 when they begin playing baseball that summer, he wears thick glasses and has messy hair most of the time but he has a smile so bright and wide that it can compete with even myungjun’s (not to jinwoo though bc myungjun’s smile will always be his favourite)

moon bin is one of the only kids in the city who is willing to play catcher and is also good at it so he made the team despite being the youngest

meeting bin also means meeting park minhyuk, moon bin’s own best friend and personal cheerleader, much like myungjun for jinwoo

minhyuk is 10.4 and also has glasses but they look more like the ones myungjun recently got rather than the thick frames moon bin adores so much and he wears hats 24/7 (he stole bin’s baseball hat and wears it to every game, bin doesn’t mind at all)

minhyuk is very different from bin in that he’s extremely quiet when he wants to be, but jinwoo and myungjun work out that this is why his friendship with bin works bc that boy does not stop talking and minhyuk never stops listening

despite their age gap, minhyuk and myungjun get along very well and usually sit and cheer together during games

for the first time since dongmin left, myungjun and jinwoo’s friend group expands and now includes the 2 new boys

bin and minhyuk are both still in primary school while myungjun is headed to high school and jinwoo is in middle school so they’ve never really crossed paths before jinwoo started playing as the team’s second basemen

jinwoo’s pool suddenly gains 2 more swimmers and the tent in myungjun’s backyard is fuller and their parents swear that their smiles haven’t been this bright since dongmin left

surprisingly myungjun and jinwoo have been able to keep up with dongmin even after all these years and they have a weekly phone call together where they catch up on everything

they learn that dongmin is his class president and plays on the soccer team and hear stories about his new neighbour and good friend, yoon sanha, who is 3 years younger than him

and dongmin hears stories about bin and minhyuk and baseball and myungjun’s art (and he definitely does not cry the day myungjun sends him one of his paintings in the mail)

all of them are happy bc it’s summer and they’re just having the time of their lives being kids

when myungjun is 16.4, jinwoo is 14.4, bin is 12.6, and minhyuk is 11.6:

myungjun wins a major art competition

jinwoo wishes that all he remembered from that day was myungjun entering his bedroom with an envelope in hand, smile as big as he’d ever seen (unfortunately he remembers everything that had happened as it had been what he deems the second worst day of his life)

jinwoo immediately stops working on whatever it is he’d been doing and focuses the entirety of his attention on his best friend

myungjun: “okay so remember that really competitive art competition i entered that i kept saying i wouldn’t win?”

jinwoo: “of course i do, i kept telling you that you would win bc you’re the best artist in the world”

myungjun, blushing: “well i guess i can say that you were right bc i won”

he holds up the letter which congratulates him on winning first place proudly and immediately jinwoo pulls myungjun into a hug, whispering how proud of him he is

myungjun: “there’s a program at an art school that i get to go to for winning!”

jinwoo has let go of him but reaches out to pat him on the shoulder at that news: “that’s incredible, myungjun! when does it begin?”

myungjun gets quiet then and his smile immediately drops and he can’t seem to meet jinwoo’s eyes anymore

jinwoo definitely notices this and asks what’s going on while removing his hand from myungjun’s shoulder

myungjun: “well, it’s just… this program is an amazing opportunity for me to get into some of the best art schools after i graduate, it practically puts my foot in the door. and when i entered the competition i didn’t think i’d win so i hadn’t really thought about what would happen if i did and now i have and it’s all really exciting and-“

jinwoo worriedly cuts him off: “mj?”

at hearing his nickname myungjun finally stops rambling: “i would leave in 2 weeks jinjin…”

jinwoo, still not understanding the issue: “okay??”

myungjun: “and i don’t really know if i’d be back”

jinwoo stands a little shocked for a moment looking at his best friend confusedly: “what do you mean you don’t know if you’ll be back?”

myungjun looks guilty now as he continues explaining: “well i won a semester’s acceptance but if they think i’m a successful student, i can be offered a permanent place at the school”

jinwoo suddenly realizes what myungjun is talking about and why he’s so guilty and has the urge to start crying

he doesn’t, because its myungjun and he can’t do that to him and he’s so so proud of him and he knows this is an incredible opportunity for his best friend

but he also knows that this means myungjun won’t be around anymore and his heart could hardly take losing dongmin, he’s not sure it’ll even keep beating if myungjun leaves

so instead he plasters the biggest smile he can muster onto his face: “i’m so proud of you mj, that’s amazing! you deserve nothing less”

myungjun looks at him a little warily, he has known jinwoo his whole life and can definitely tell when the boy is faking something

he chooses to ignore it bc he can see the storm taking over jinwoo’s gaze and instead thanks his best friend, hugging him once more and allowing jinwoo to shoo him out of his house to go celebrate with his parents, ensuring myungjun that they would celebrate later with minhyuk and bin

the second myungjun leaves his house, jinwoo begins sobbing

his mom comes home to him on the couch, crying as he hugs a pillow and immediately pulls him into her chest like she had when he was a child and had gotten hurt

jinwoo allows her to do so despite being well into his teens bc he’s not sure he can be by himself any longer

she doesn’t even ask him what’s wrong (bc she already heard from myungjun’s mom and rushed home for this reason exactly) and jinwoo can’t help but mentally thank her for it bc he’s not sure he could even form a single sentence

the more he thinks about it the more he realizes that he’s not entirely sure if he’ll be able to live without myungjun

he doesn’t know who would make sure he gets to bed at a normal hour during exam periods or force him to eat when he’s skipping meals due to nerves before important games, tests, and competitions

he also doesn’t know who’s going to obnoxiously cheer at the top of their lungs for him during baseball games the same way myungjun does

and he definitely doesn’t know who’s going to comfort him when he’s sad or who else can make him feel 100 times better in any situation by just seeing their smile (in all honesty, jinwoo knows there isn’t anyone who could do this except for myungjun)

and then he’s crying even harder into his mother’s chest bc he’s really positive that he can’t live without myungjun around him all the time

myungjun has been around him his entire life and for him to just suddenly be leaving hurts jinwoo way more than he’d like to admit

eventually he calms down and his mother brings him tea and sits next to him once again: “its going to be okay… i know it feels like the end of the world, and i know you’re hurting, jinwoo, but its going to be okay. focus on the moment, on being with myungjun now before he leaves. hold on to every moment you spend with him the next few weeks as tightly as you can, jinwoo”

and he just nods while taking a sip of his tea bc his mother is right

as badly as it hurts, he needs to focus on remembering myungjun as he was and is, his best friend with the biggest and brightest smile and messy hair that jinwoo likes to run his fingers through

as the only person jinwoo ever saw himself spending his entire life with, the best personal cheerleader in the world, and the greatest artist ever (the last one may not be entirely true but jinwoo believed that myungjun was the greatest artist and that’s all that mattered)

so jinwoo spends the last 2 weeks of summer spending every possible second with myungjun and cherishing every single one

he hugs him a little tighter each time they hug

and he concentrates a little harder on the sound of myungjun cheering him on during baseball games

and he listens to myungjun speak a little more intently than ever before, telling himself to memorize the sound of myungjun’s voice and his laugh and the way he looks at jinwoo with the utmost attention whenever he speaks

and those 2 weeks go by as the fastest 2 weeks of jinwoo’s life and suddenly it’s the morning that myungjun leaves for the school (aka the day that jinwoo deems the worst day of his life)

and jinwoo, bin, and minhyuk are gathered in myungjun’s driveway with him, watching as his dad places his suitcase into the trunk of their car and closes it

so bin and minhyuk quickly hug myungjun goodbye and wish him all the best and tell him once again how proud they are before stepping away and allowing jinwoo and myungjun to be alone (and they really are alone as everyone steps inside myungjun’s house to let them be by themselves)

and they just look at each other for a second, trying to memorize one another even more if it were possible

not that it could be bc they had spent the entire night wide awake, staring at each other across myungjun’s bedsheets in the bed that was now a little too small to fit the both of them but somehow still did, refusing to sleep even a second until both of them were positive there was no detail of the others’ face that they didn’t know off by heart

myungjun: “i’m going to miss you jinjin”

jinwoo, trying really hard not to cry and swallowing tears: “i’m going to miss you too mj… go out there and show them how amazing you are”

myungjun, now also holding back tears: “i’m going to call you every day, promise”

and jinwoo just nods kinda sadly before myungjun wraps him in the tightest hug they’ve ever given one another their entire lives

and they’re whispering i love you’s and i’ll miss you’s to each other as they hug and as they’re pulling away they look into one another’s eyes

and then jinwoo is quickly pressing his lips to myungjun’s without thinking, not really caring much about the consequences

and they don’t really have time to think about the fact that they’ve just kissed bc myungjun has to leave and so they hug each other once more and mutter one last i love you before heading inside and telling everyone myungjun was ready to go

tears have finally started to fall from jinwoo’s eyes and he feels guilty bc now myungjun is crying too but he can’t help it

they hug one more time just to be sure and then myungjun climbs into the car and buckles his seatbelt and grins at jinwoo one last time despite the tears trailing down his cheeks

and then the car is pulling away and everyone is waving one last goodbye

and it’s then that jinwoo finally understands the weight of all their promises to stay together forever bc he doesn’t think he’s ever felt more alone than he does right now

he’s the final musketeer left of 3 and just as he’s thinking to himself that maybe he’s better off alone, minhyuk and bin are pulling him into the biggest hug and patting his back and telling him it’d all be okay

and sure, they aren’t myungjun and they could never be myungjun but jinwoo really does love the two younger boys and he accepts that he’s going to miss myungjun a hell of a lot but at least he’s got these other 2 dorks to spend all of his time with

and just then, bin smiles the biggest and brightest possible smile he can and minhyuk has his fingers pressed to jinwoo’s temples bc he saw that in a drama once and jinwoo just smiles at his 2 friends bc everything will be okay, especially if these 2 stick around

when jinwoo is 15, bin is 13.2, and minhyuk is 12.2:

minhyuk gets his black belt in taekwondo

both boys are so proud of him bc they know how hard he works in order to practice and train

and they know how much it means to him to finally get it bc he’s been working at it for so long

minhyuk’s parents take them all out for ice cream as celebration

bin obviously gets a double scoop all for himself bc that boy does not stop eating

jinwoo and minhyuk laugh at him bc anyone else would probably feel a little bad for having someone else’s parents buy them a double scoop of ice cream

but bin is genuinely their second son bc of how much time him and minhyuk have always spent around each other since they moved in next door to the moon family

bin and jinwoo also have a small gift for minhyuk

the boy nearly starts crying when bin pulls the small gift bag out of his backpack

he definitely was not expecting them to get him anything and feels so touched that they pooled some of their money to get him something

he opens the card and laughs at whats written inside bc jinwoo might be a dork but he’s a funny dork

and so he opens the bag and sees a plastic #1 trophy and some candy and other small things

and then he does start crying bc his friends literally went out and bought him a trophy telling him he’s #1??

jinwoo and bin are kinda shocked bc minhyuk rarely ever cries

to the point that his nickname is rocky bc they joke that he has a stone cold exterior like a rock (even though they know he’s like mush on the inside)

immediately both boys rush over to his side of the booth and hug him, bin rubbing his fingers in circles on minhyuk’s temples like he had done to jinwoo when myungjun left

ever since then this action has become commonplace between the 3 boys whenever someone is crying

minhyuk is embarrassedly telling them to stop bc really he’s okay, he’s just so happy that he has friends like them

bin and jinwoo also tear up a little at his words before the 3 have a group hug in the booth of this ice cream store

and they’re just so happy they have each other, jinwoo especially happy he has them bc he thinks he might have actually died the last few months without them

they have a sleepover at minhyuk’s that night and its not said but all of them can just feel how grateful they are for one another

minhyuk puts the trophy up on his shelf, it doesn’t get taken down until he leaves for university

when jinwoo is 16.3, bin is 14.5, and minhyuk is 13.5:

minhyuk begins playing baseball with them

he’d never really wanted to before but after coming to the games for so long and making friends with the team, he decides he wants to try it

he makes the team pretty easily bc a few of the guys have moved on from playing and there are spots open

he’s a surprisingly good first basemen bc he’s flexible enough to stretch off the bag and has the quick reflexes of an infielder for balls that bounce in the dirt and ground balls

his arm is surprisingly good too so when he’s not playing at first base he’ll often play outfield

he’s one of very few players on the team who can play more than one position (bin is also one of them since he can play catcher and at third base)

he struggles quite a bit with batting when he starts playing and strikes out quite a bit

when he gets on base he can steal bc he’s fast but the only time he ever really gets on base is on the off chance that he’s walked

the team’s left fielder keeps making fun of him for having a hard time hitting by using his nickname and saying that he should be called rocky bc he’s too stiff to swing the bat

it’s a really dumb trope but it bothers minhyuk a lot bc yeah he sucks but he tries really hard, he just doesn’t see the pitches well

bin, jinwoo, and a couple other guys on the team always jump to his defence but the guy just won’t stop

so between practices and games, jinwoo and bin begin helping him with batting by giving him some tips and tricks they’ve learned over the years

bin, being a catcher, shares tips on how to guess if something is a ball or strike out of the pitcher’s glove

jinwoo gets a lot of extra base hits so he gives minhyuk some tips on how to pull pitches, hit to opposite field and timing his swings to get a strong swing on the ball

minhyuk does start to get better and his improved bat along with his incredible defence get him in the starting lineup almost every game

in the championship game, it’s tied 1-1 in the bottom of the 9th

jinwoo had worked an 0-2 count with 2 outs and managed to get on base with a bloop single to right field

bin comes up to bat and takes a 4 pitch walk as he’s probably got the best eye on the team and sees balls vs strikes extremely well

now it’s minhyuk’s turn to try and cash in at least one run here with a walk-off, championship game winning hit

the guy that’s been making fun of him all season makes some comment to minhyuk as he leaves his spot on-deck and steps into the batters box

minhyuk grits his teeth and bites his tongue, knowing full well that the team’s left fielder had struck out to start the inning, focusing on the game instead bc he knows its up to him to end it now or risk extra innings

the first pitch thrown to him is a low strike just at his knees, he sees bin roll his eyes at first base thinking it should be a ball, minhyuk shakes it off and focuses on waiting for the next pitch

he asks the umpire for time and steps out of the box, fixing his batting gloves and adjusting his helmet before stepping back in

he notices jinwoo give him a nod from second base as he gets himself set

the second pitch bounces in the dirt, getting away from the catcher and allowing both bin and jinwoo to move up a base

there’s now runners on second and third and minhyuk has an even count 1-1

the third pitch is thrown and he swings, missing it just slightly as it coasts right under his bat

he sighs, frustrated and steps out of the batters box once more, a strike away from the inning being over

as he’s adjusting his helmet once more he spots a gap up the middle of the infield, knowing that if he can just get it in play up the middle, his speed should get him safely to first

he’s then absolutely determined to get this ball up the middle

the ball is thrown and its off the plate, making minhyuk’s count even once again at 2-2

the pitcher quickly sets up once again, throwing minhyuk a pitch down the middle of the plate which he’s just late on, causing him to foul it off

he steps out of the batters box one more time, adjusting his helmet for a third time and shifting his grip on the bat slightly

he steps back into the box and stares down the pitcher, seeing jinwoo biting his lip nervously in the corner of his eye with a small lead off third base

the pitcher sets up to throw his next pitch and as he begins his wind up, minhyuk has a feeling this is coming to the middle of the plate once again to try and strike him out

he puts the best swing he can on it, hearing the sound of the baseball connecting with his bat and immediately sprinting as fast as he can out of the batter’s box so as to not get thrown out

he doesn’t know what’s happening as he hustles down the first baseline as fast as he can, only realizing that he’s done it when he hears the excited shouts from the stands and his team’s dugout

jinwoo scores easily from third and they win, minhyuk having hit the winning run on a single up the middle of the infield

bin is the first person on the team to get to him and jumps on his back, screaming in his ear loudly from excitement

the rest of his team quickly follows bin, surrounding minhyuk with excited shouts and patting him on the back, muttering out good job’s, we did it’s, and congratulations

when they all clear away jinwoo and bin pull him into a group hug, ruffling his hair and telling him how well he did and what a great at bat it was

he smiles widely the entire night after that, literally not stopping for a second through all of the short trophy ceremony

he smiles even wider when his coach elects him the team’s mvp for his hard work and improvement over the course of the season

bin and jinwoo are so proud of him and minhyuk is so proud of himself

the 3 go to bed that night filled with junk food from the team dinner and with excited smiles still playing on their faces

none of them ever forget that game or that night

the left fielder never makes fun of minhyuk’s baseball skills again

when jinwoo is 17.4, bin is 15.6, and minhyuk is 14.6:

they’re sitting in bin’s backyard during one of their weekly sleepovers

they’re just talking about anything and everything and suddenly crushes are brought up

jinwoo begins to get nervous as his 2 friends talk bc he’s really never had a crush before and he kissed myungjun before he left and he’s never talked about any of it with bin and minhyuk

minhyuk is talking about some girl in one of his classes that he thinks is really pretty and bin agrees that she is pretty

bin: “what about you, jinwoo? do you have a crush on anyone?”

and jinwoo just shakes his head: “no, i don’t have a crush on anyone… i’ve never really had a crush on anyone”

minhyuk: “really? i thought for sure you’d always had a crush on myungjun hyung”

and jinwoo feels his heart stop beating and his eyes go wide bc minhyuk said it so casually

bin: “me too… sometimes you two would look at each other like my parents look at one another”

minhyuk: “yeah, and you guys would talk without having to say anything too”

jinwoo doesn’t really know what to say and he starts tearing up bc wow he misses myungjun so much still even though its already been 3 years (it also doesn’t help that their weekly phone calls had turned into monthly phone calls and sometime last year had stopped altogether)

and minhyuk and bin are both quickly leaping from their seats and minhyuk has his fingers pressed to jinwoo’s temples as the tears finally do fall and they haven’t actually seen him cry over myungjun since the first year he was gone

they’re a little shocked and also curious as to what’s suddenly brought it on bc they talk about myungjun quite often but jinwoo is crying now??

jinwoo, shakily: “i, i kissed myungjun, the day he left and i-“

he doesn’t really finish bc he can’t particularly breathe very well, and minhyuk and bin are looking at him a little shocked bc sure, they’d thought something had happened between the 2 but were never really positive about it

somehow jinwoo, between bin’s arms around him and minhyuk rubbing his temples (just like they had the day myungjun left) is able to calm down enough to keep talking: “i think that i’m gay??”

and its whispered and if minhyuk and bin weren’t so close they definitely would not have heard it

but jinwoo quickly, between breaths, begins explaining how he’s never really had a crush on a girl even when all his friends did and sure, girls are pretty but he doesn’t like them as more than friends

and he also explains how he’d never felt weird about kissing myungjun, not that he’d thought about it very often bc he didn’t like thinking about that day at all, but when he did think about it or when he thought about kissing other boys it just seemed natural to him?? (he wraps up by saying that he’s not sure if he has a crush on myungjun bc like he said, he’s never had a crush on anyone, in order to at least respond to the initial conversation)

and bin wraps his arms even tighter around jinwoo, mumbling that he doesn’t care who jinwoo loves, as long as they love him back

minhyuk is silent for a minute and bin has to elbow him in the side before he does speak up, pausing the motion of his fingers on jinwoo’s temples

and he just shrugs his shoulders: “i didn’t think i had to say that it doesn’t matter to me, he’s still the same dork who was cracking dad jokes 20 minutes ago”

and then jinwoo is crying a little harder bc he had a feeling they wouldn’t care but he was still worried about having to tell them whenever he thought about it (he also swings an arm at minhyuk and the 3 of them laugh but the moment isn’t ruined)

and he’s so happy to have actually heard them say it bc their answers are all he could’ve hoped for

the 3 are just a happy and fulfilled little group of friends who will always love and support each other no matter what

when jinwoo is 19.5, dongmin is 18.3, bin is 17.7, and minhyuk is 16.7:

dongmin starts school at the same university jinwoo is going to

the first time jinwoo sees him in the hall outside the dorm next to his he’s a little shocked bc: “no way, that’s not lee dongmin??”

immediately dongmin turns to him bc dammit, jinwoo said that out loud

he looks at jinwoo curiously for a second before his eyes go wide with realization: “jinjin??”

they immediately close the space between them and wrap their arms around one another

minhyuk and bin come around the corner groaning that jinwoo left them behind and that they barely knew their way around bc they had only come to visit twice last year

they find jinwoo in the hall hugging some random guy and bin just: “uhh, jinwoo hyung, who’s this??”

jinwoo, extremely excitedly: “this is dongmin! lee dongmin! you know, the dongmin!”

and realization quickly crosses their faces as they remember who he’s talking about

dongmin: “i’m guessing this is the moon bin and park minhyuk you were always talking about??” (jinwoo is impressed bc their calls had kinda fallen off sometime after myungjun left so dongmin must have a really good memory to remember their names)

minhyuk and bin are /shook/ bc, this really handsome guy who jinwoo and myungjun were friends with like 10 years ago knows who they are??

both of them also cross the small space to shake dongmin’s hand and properly introduce themselves

suddenly jinwoo feels a small part of him come back to life bc he never really thought he’d ever see dongmin again

he wants to hear every detail about the last 5ish years of dongmin’s life after he apologizes for letting their calls stop

the 4 boys decide to go out for dinner so that minhyuk and bin can get to know him and so that jinwoo and dongmin can catch up

they end up accidentally staying at the restaurant until 11:00pm bc they get so caught up talking (jinwoo is extremely happy bc bin and minhyuk get along so well with dongmin)

dongmin decides to stay in jinwoo’s room with the 3 of them that night bc they’re having a good time and why not??

dongmin somehow talks himself into being able to share the bed with jinwoo while bin and minhyuk are stuck on the couch and floor respectively

everything about dongmin is weirdly familiar and yet also so different to jinwoo

like he smells the exact same and his eyes are the same

but he’s taller than jinwoo now and his voice is deeper than it was back then

his personality is so similar too that its a little startling

dongmin had always been the more science-y one of the 3 musketeers and he’s always loved space about as much as myungjun and jinwoo so it doesn’t surprise jinwoo to hear that he’s gone into astrophysics

dongmin also isn’t surprised to learn that jinwoo is in his second year of studying psychology bc not only has he always had a knack for understanding people and giving advice, he’s always had an interest in how people’s brains and emotions work

as they lay in bed next to each other jinwoo can’t help but think to himself how happy he is to have dongmin back in his life

especially since he’s been without him for so long

2 of the 3 musketeers have been reunited and jinwoo couldn’t be happier, even though it lingers in the back of his mind that the 3rd musketeer is the one he wishes would come back the most

i promise the ending is happy! part 3 will have little to no angst, fluffy myungjin and a happy ending i swear kdsakda

#astro #astro fic #myungjin fanfic #myungjin fanfiction #astro fanfic #astro fanfiction #my writing #myungjin

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