#sometimes friends need to punch each other for accidentally killing their sister

[hotboiessek]

watching percy approach a brooding vax ready to hoot and holler once he throws that weak ass punch

[wdwmarveldisney]

Hey again I have another isaac imagine again for the same situation as the last ones 😂 again I really appreciate u doing these they are really fantastic it brightens my day up when I see the notification honestly���so it’s the start of 3b and instead of Allison it’s y/n who went underwater with Scott and stiles for that sacrifice thing and in season 2 maybe she got tortured by Gerard so she’s hallucinating him when she’s in school and stuff which makes her more defensive and gives her a shorter temper but also nervous and jittery and the scene where Allison almost shoots Lydia in the woods and isaac catches it they r just practicing and maybe in school y/n is hallucinating and runs into the woods and sees a arrow being shot and that like sets her off and sees Gerard and not Allison or Lydia and that’s when y/n throws the arrow back and that’s when the arrow nearly hits Lydia and isaac catches it (he’s followed y/n into the woods after seeing her freak out) and maybe the first few times she freaks out isaac helps her but maybe one times it’s really bad and someone else is there for her (Scott or even the twins) and isaac sees and it’s kinda when it registers in him that the two of them have actually broken up and he can’t always be there for her now since he broke up with her and maybe when it happen stiles says to him something about how him being there might do more harm than good since it hasn’t been that thing since he broke up with her and she’s still really hurt and seeing him will only make it worse (considering the relationship with stiles and isaac stiles would be brutally honest with him . Also he is a bit salty he hurt his best friend who’s like a sister to him)and the others times he helped her she was vulnerable and just needed anyone there for her so it also a cute friendship one with stiles and Scott or the twins whichever ones u choose that help her. Again I hope this makes sense sorry it’s so long ❤️

Can’t Be There For You

Isaac Lahey x reader

Summary: When you drown yourself in a bath of ice water to save your friends' parents and end up connecting with an ancient, supernatural tree, you'd probably expect it to screw with your brain.

Masterlist

A/N: Okay yes this took way too long and I’m so sorry about that. And honestly, I can’t stop smiling at the fact you said it brightens my day. It means a lot so thank you. Also not proofread so I apologise for all mistakes and there’s probably going to be quite a few.

GIF isn’t mine

Being on high alert all the time was not fun, especially when you're a werewolf. But when you drown yourself in a bath of ice water to save your friends' parents and end up connecting with an ancient, supernatural tree, you'd probably expect it to screw with your brain. It was screwing with your head too much, too many hallucinations and sounds that weren't there really making you feel crazy. You had told only Isaac at first before telling Scott and Stiles after a while. But you had found a few things that sometimes helped, one being a run. Running cleared your head and always ended being something you needed.

You were with Scott, Stiles and Isaac when this hallucination started up, Gerard standing at the desk with his arms crossed as he tortured you yet again. You screwed your eyes shut at first to block it out but it was too strong and too loud. Nobody noticed anything until your breathing became a little heavier and you accidentally snapped part of the chair you were sitting on. When you realised they realised, you quickly excused yourself with a small 'I gotta go,' and left without any word of acknowledgement to their worried calls. You drove out to the preserve, changing your shoes before putting some music on to try and block out the words and memories playing on repeat in your head. Each punch, each shot of electricity, each bullet and waterboarding was something you'd never forget and never wanted to happen to someone else ever. That feeling of the water passing through the cloth and the struggle to breath was often how you woke up now, clawing at your throat like it would help.

One earphone in and the other swaying around as you ran, you were a good five songs in before you heard it. There was a snap of twig from somewhere behind you and suddenly everything else shut out as you spun round and round to try and find the source. Swoosh. Leaning to the side, you grabbed at the arrow as your breath began to pick up and your heightened senses overloaded. Panic took control of your conscious mind and all you could see was Gerard standing there, crossbow in hand. Without any thought to it, you threw the arrow back perfectly and once you blinked, a gasp left you. It wasn't Gerard you had almost killed but instead a wide eyed Lydia, one of your closest friends, and it wasn't for Isaac, well you didn't want to think about that.

The blonde was quick to drop the arrow and rush to you, who had stumbled back into a tree behind you and slid to the ground as you tried to will yourself not to lose control again. But your claws still grew and your eyes glowed that bright gold. You could hear his voice echo in your head and you could see him crouching in front of you until you looked down to the gentle hand on your shoulder and then you finally saw who was in front of you and felt the relief flood over you as Isaac tried to calm you down. He offered you his hands, counting to ten with you as you squeezed each finger.

His smile was worried and scared and you hated yourself for doing that to him. Your head fell back against the bark as you held his hand to hopefully anchor you, "I'm fine," Isaac's splutters made you smile lightly before you lifted your head and looked towards Lydia just behind him, "I'm sorry I almost killed you," she gave a shrug, knowing what was up with you and knowing it wasn't something you meant to do. Once Isaac was sure you were okay, he lead you back to the cars after admitting he followed you and that was the last time he helped you with one of those before he broke up with you.

He didn't even know you carried on having them until he was looking Scott and found him, Stiles and Aiden standing around you with Ethan standing nervously at the side, trying to comfort you as you wiped at your eyes. You were sitting in the showers in the boys locker room, a technique he knew was Scott's doing. Isaac was about to offer his help when it finally hit him how little help that would be. You still hadn't started talking to him anymore than you had to and it killed him he couldn't be there for you anymore. You needed him and he bailed out. And of course Stiles Stilinski was there to remind him of that.

"Lahey, I think you should go. It's not a good time," before Isaac could even protest, saying that he knew that, Stiles carried on, "You being here isn't going to do her any good. Actually, it's probably going to send her into a werewolf frenzy again since she's only really just got control and then when she's beating your little werewolf ass in a fight, I'm going to be in her corner cheering her on," he gave an overly sweet smile as Isaac glanced between a heavily breathing you and an annoyed Stiles. "I know. I know, just, she has this calming technique where she squeezed your fingers to count to ten, okay? It helps a lot, she showed it to me. You just have to do it on repeat until she's calm,"

Seeing how serious Isaac was, Stiles gave a nod and watched the boy hesitantly leave before heading back and make sure Scott had listened in like usual and clearly he had because he already kneeled in front of you and was counting quietly with you as the gold faded. Aiden was by your side, arm around you since Stiles left to get rid of Isaac and the Stilinski boy already made his way back. He sat on your other side and let your head fall to his shoulder when you stopped counting. "You okay now?"

"I don't have any spare clothes and my socks are wet so no, not completely," you laughed with Scott and Stiles as the twins shared a relieved smile and your two best friends helped you up and towards some extra clothes you could borrow.

[the-queen-of-hell-666]

Steve’s Little Sister Is Off-Limits

Pairing: Post-Winter Soldier!Bucky Barnes x Rogers!Reader

Words: 1000+

Summary: The Reader is in a secret relationship with Bucky, but one day Steve walks in on them.

Warnings: explicit sexual content (vaginal sex, unprotected sex) That’s really about it. But it’s still smut. SMUT!!!! 18+

A/N: I enjoyed writing this a lot, because I thought it was an interesting concept. There is fluff scattered throughout the whole fic. Like a lot of fluff. Tooth-rotting fluff, well because it’s Bucky. I hope you enjoy this fic. 

Y/n Rogers is Steve Rogers younger sister. She is only two years younger than him, but still he is very protective over her. So when the two go into the ice, then wake up 70 years later. He is more protective than ever. Sometimes it’s nice, but when she has a secret relationship with his best friend it gets annoying.

Now Y/n is in the kitchen, cooking breakfast for the team. When she feels two arms wrap around her waist, then she feels a pair of lips on her neck. She leans into her boyfriend’s touch. “Buck, not right now. Steve could walk in any minute.” Y/n whines, and turns around in Bucky’s arms. He quickly steals a kiss then sits on one of the bar stools. 

“I just can’t help it, doll. You look so hot in those silk shorts.” Bucky says, and she turns around and he practically drools at the sight of her ass. She lightly chuckles as she feels his gaze on her. She continues to cook Breakfast, as the team files into the kitchen. She knows that this makes Bucky nervous being around other people, because he feels guilty. When he was the winter soldier he tried to kill almost all of them. Except everyone forgave him, but he hasn’t forgiven himself yet. So Y/n helps him ground himself by either letting him braid her hair or having him touch her in some way. The team sits at the large table in the dining room.

Sam, Steve, Natasha, Wanda, and Vision sit on the right side of the table. Clint, Pepper, Morgan, Bucky, and Y/n sit on the left side of the table. Tony and Rhodes sit at each end of the table. Y/n sets the food on the table for people to take as they please. She sits next to Bucky, and she can see in his face that he’s trying not to bolt out of the room. She subtly links her pinky with his. She gently rubs the back of his hand with her thumb. He looks over at her and slightly smiles at her. When Breakfast is over it’s Steve’s turn to wash the dishes. So Bucky and Y/n sneak off to her room. They only do dirty stuff together when Steve is on a mission or caught up in stuff, so that he won’t notice they’re gone.

As soon as the lift doors close, Bucky has her pinned against the metal wall of the small lift room. He kisses her and she kisses back. He kisses down her neck, leaving little red marks, nothing that will leave hickeys. The doors open and she pulls him to her room down the hall. Y/n quickly opens the door and pulls Bucky in. He kicks the door shut, as she pulls him to the bed. He falls back onto the bed, and she climbs on top of him. She grinds on his already hard member, while he kisses her passionately. She leans up and pulls off her Y/f/c hoodie, leaving her nude from the waist up because she didn’t put a bra on. Bucky looks up and groans at the sight of her bare breasts. He scooted up to the head of the bed, with her still on his lap. He sits up and takes both of her breasts in each hand, and he rubs and pinches her nipples. He watches her face shift into a look of pleasure. She moans and grinds on his lap, without knowing it. He lets go of her nipples, and Y/n rips his shirt over his head. She throws it over her shoulder, before smashing her lips to his. They pull away and he looks into her eyes.

“It’s been so long, doll. Since we’ve done anything like this.” Bucky says, rubbing his hands up and down her hips.

“I know, Buck. Now it’s just me and you.” Y/n whispers, and kisses down his jaw to his neck. She sucks and nips at his neck, definitely leaving hickeys.

“No, visible hickeys, babygirl.” He says, and she smirks against his skin.

“That rule applies to you, not me. Steve doesn’t care if you get a hickey. He only cares if I have one.” She states, and he lightly chuckles.

“You remember back in the 30’s, I accidentally left a dark purple hickey under your jaw?” Bucky asks, as she leaves a hickey on his pulse point.

“Yeah. I remember. Steve wanted to rip the guy who did that to me to shreds.” Y/n says, then he rips off her shorts.

“Enough talk about your brother. Let me show you how much I missed you.” He whispers seductively, she smirks and helps him take off his sweatpants and boxers. He rips off her panties with his metal hand, he runs a metal finger up and down her wet folds. She gasps at the cool sensation. She reaches down and lined him up with her entrance, then starts sinking down on his cock. They both moans at the sensation of being connected. “Oh… doll. You’re so tight.” He groans, and thrusts up into her. Her mouth hangs open and her eyes closed in pleasure. Y/n composes herself then starts moving her hips up and down. Bucky’s hands clamp down on her hip as she rides him slow and hard. They are so lost in each other, that they don’t hear the door open until a voice makes them freeze.

“Hey, Y/n/n. I was wondering-” Steve starts to say, as he walks through Y/n’s door. The scene in front of him makes him freeze in place. His little sister on top of a man, he couldn’t see who it is but he knows they’re having sex. He quickly runs out and closes the door behind him.

As the door closes, Y/n and Bucky sit there for a minute with his cock still in her. She quickly comes back to reality, and she jumps off of him. She grabs her panties and slips them on then her shorts, as Bucky pulls on his boxers and shirt. She puts her hoodie back on and he puts on his sweatpants. Y/n paces the room as Bucky sits on the edge of the bed.

“Did Steve just walk in on us…” Y/n trails off, as she runs a hand through her Y/h/c hair.

“Yeah…” Bucky trails off, and slowly nods.

“Oh my god. He’s gonna kill you, then lock me away forever.” She groans, and covers her face with her hands. Bucky stands up and takes her hands into his.

“It’ll be fine. He’s a reasonable guy.” Bucky states, looking into her eyes.

“He punched that one guy who smacked my ass.” Y/n says.

“That guy was an ass.”

“He was my boyfriend.” She scoffs, and Bucky chuckles and kisses her on the forehead. “I’ll go up there first. He won’t touch me. You on the other hand, if he sees you, you’ll be dead before you hit the ground.” She states, and he nods.

“Alright. Just tell FRIDAY to send me up there. When you’re ready.” He explains.

“Okay.” She smiles, and he kisses her, before she leaves out the room.

Y/n takes the lift down to the main floor. She quietly steps out of the lift. She tiptoes down the hall on bare feet. She walks around the corner and sees Steve leaning on the counter with a beer in hand. She walks closer but stays a few feet away.

“Hey, Stevie.” Y/n says, and Steve looks up and spots her.

“Y/n.” He nods, and takes a sip of his beer.

“Can we talk?” She questions, and takes a seat on the barstool in front of the counter.

“About what?” He asks, still not meeting her eyes.

“You know what.”

“Who is he?” Steve questions, and Y/n’s eyes widen when she realizes he didn’t know.

“You didn’t see his face?”

“No. Why?” He asks, and finally looks at her. “Who is it, Y/n?”

“Before I tell you. You have to promise not to go after him.” Y/n says calmly.

“Okay. I promise.” Steve nods, and she takes a deep breath.

“It’s Bucky.” She says, and she watches Steve’s face waiting for something.

“I’m gonna kill him!” He exclaims, and runs towards the lift. She runs after him, and grabs him by the back of his shirt and drags him back to the lounge. She throws him on the couch.

“Steven Grant Rogers! You need to calm down right now! I am an adult! I’m not some little kid who needs to be protected from boys!” She exclaims, and he looks a bit taken back by her outburst.

“Y/n-” He starts to say, but she cuts him off.

“I am not done! Bucky is the best thing that has happened to me! You may think that our relationship is just sex! But it’s not! It’s so much more than that! I love him! I have been in love with him since the minute my eyes landed on him!” She exclaims, and then a voice behind her makes her freeze.

“You love me?” Bucky asks from behind her, and she freezes.

“You heard that?” Y/n questions, turning around slowly. Bucky stands a few feet away.

“Yeah. And just so you know I love you too.” He says, and a smile creeps across her face. She runs and hugs him. Steve stands up and clears his throat. The couple pulls away and faces Steve.

“If you two are happy. Then… I guess that’s fine with me.” Steve says, and Y/n hugs her brother, and pulls back with a bigger smile on her face.

“Thank you, Stevie.” She says, and Steve nods then turns to Bucky.

“You hurt her. I’ll kill you.” Steve threatens Bucky, and the brunette puts his hands up.

“Duly noted.” Bucky nods, and Steve shakes hands with him. Then walks down the hall.

“Next time, lock your door!” Steve yells, from down the hall. The couple hear the lift doors close, then Y/n jumps onto Bucky and kisses him passionately. He catches her by the backs of her thighs. She pulls back and runs her hands through his long locks.

“I love you, James.” Y/n whispers, and he smiles and leans into her touch.

“I love you, Y/n.” Bucky whispers, and leans back up to kiss her. “Should we finish what we started?” He questions, and she nods and he walks towards the lift, with her still on him.

[skieswords]

Pull Through Part 5

Please make sure you read the warnings in part 1❤️

"Fuck. Wake up boys, we're late." Becca's eyes fluttered open at the sound of Alex's voice, and the first thing she noticed was the warm chest her cheek was resting on, and the hand pressed against the small of her back. Luke groaned, and opened his eyes, looking down to see a mess of curls lying on top of him, and feeling Becca's t-shirt in his hand. She was on top of him, her blue eyes looking up at him in surprise. "Uh, morning." Luke grinned as Becca buried her face in his chest again, groaning into his t-shirt. They looked to their left and found Reggie staring at them, his hair sticking up in all directions. "Did you 

two...?" He pointed between them, eyes wide. Becca's jaw dropped in horror, and she jumped off Luke, accidentally kneeing him in the stomach. He groaned and buried his face in a cushion, hiding the furious blush spreading up his neck, while Becca smiled apologetically and ran a hand through her hair. "No, we didn't. Gross." Alex came in, car keys in hand, yawning and stretching his arms above his head. "Morning Bex. Luke, a word?" He shot a glare at Luke, who was now sat up on the sofa, rubbing his temples gently. He held his hands up towards Alex, and shuffled through to the bathroom, pulling his shoes on as he hopped. "Bex. Car. Now." Alex was pissed, and Becca sighed as she laced her converse, looking over her outfit. "I need to get changed. I have clothes in the l-" She was interrupted by Reggie dropping a bag on the floor from the loft, a collection of Becca's clothes from over the years. "Loft. Thanks Reg." She knelt down and started raking through the clothes, blinking desperately to keep herself awake. A few moments later, she'd yanked an old band t-shirt over her head, and tossed her curls into a messy ponytail, and was now trying to pull her shorts down in the mirror, groaning when they didn't budge. "I'm going to get dress-coded. Alex can I just skip?" Alex laughed from behind her and tugged her ponytail gently, crossing his arms as he leant against the wall. "Mom and dad are already going to kill me for having you out all night, the least I can do is force you to go to school." She stuck her tongue out at him, and gave up, hoping the tights would be enough the satisfy Ms Carlisle. The bathroom door opened, and Luke emerged looking slightly more awake than he had when they first woke up. He made eye contact with Becca and cleared his throat, glancing at Alex as she blushed and ran into the bathroom. "Seriously dude? The literal minute she turns 16 and you're after her." Luke shook his head and snorted. "Not a chance. You know how we see her. Little sister, all the way." He looked into Alex eyes, hoping his best friend bought it. They'd known since they were 12, Becca was totally off limits to the boys. Something about not wanting his little sister mixed up with rockstars- although he had a feeling that wasn't the actual reason. Becca listened to their exchange through the bathroom door, sadness clouding her eyes. She'd hoped that after last night, with Luke telling her all that stuff about being on stage, that they might have grown closer. She'd fancied the boy since she was 13- and over the last year, having shared a lot of laughs during rehearsals, she'd developed a full blown crush. But he clearly didn't feel the same.

"Bex! Where were you last night? I tried calling but your mom picked up, said you were studying..." Becca nodded slowly, realising that must have been the lie Alex spun to her parents. "Yeah, I had a ton of math work to catch up on." This was feasible. The entire class knew about Becca's turbulent relationship with the math department. Ray nodded and leaned up against the locker next to hers, taking in her appearance. "You're gonna get in so much trouble for that- Ms C is in an evil mood." Becca groaned and slammed her head against her locker door, shoving a textbook into her bag as she turned to face Ray. "I'll just avoid her. It'll be fine." He grinned and reached into his bag, holding out a messily wrapped box. "Happy birthday." She couldn't help but smile back at him, rolling her eyes and reaching out to take the box. "Thank you. You shouldn't have though, I told you I don't like my birthday." He shrugged and watched with eager eyes as she tore off the paper, opening her locker to throw it in as it fell. "No you didn't. Ray!" She threw her arms around his neck, the box pressed between them. "I noticed your wheels were looking kinda wonky the other day, so. Here you go. Can you come tonight? I'll put them on for you." Becca smiled at him and tucked a curl behind her ear. "Yeah, yeah I think so. Thank you, Ray." He'd gotten her a set of new wheels for her skateboard, which she desperately needed. A blowout with her dad a few weeks back had resulted in him tossing her board out the 3rd floor window, and had sent the front wheel off to the left, and she hadn't been able to fix it. Ray was a genius with boards, and had the most gorgeous hand painted designs. She slipped the wheels carefully into her bag and linked arms with him, letting him walk her to english. Luke watched the entire display from across the hall, his hand resting on the small box in his locker. It was stupid, just a little gift- but he thought she'd like it. It could wait, he decided, and he pushed his locker door shut a little too harshly, causing a loud clatter to echo through the hall. He swung his guitar case over his shoulder and headed for the music rooms, passing off on the AP english class he had with Becca. He couldn't watch her with that guy any longer.

The end of the day took it's time, but as soon as the bell went, Becca was out of her class and in her locker, desperate to get home. "Hey Mercer, you looked good last night." Becca looked up, surprised to find Will Thomas, star quarterback, smirking down at her. "Oh, hey Will. Thanks, I didn't know you were there?" He shrugged and ran a hand through his hair. It was similar to the move Luke frequently pulled, but Becca didn't find the action as endearing when Will did it. "Uh, I should get going." She turned to walk away, but he grabbed her wrist, holding her back. "I'm having a party this weekend. You should come." Becca looked at him in shock, her eyes wide, flicking down to the tight grip he held on her. "Oh, really? I'll see what I'm doing." He nodded at her, letting his eyes rake over her body unapologetically as she walked away, her right hand rubbing the wrist he'd held. Luke watched the interaction, once again from across the hall. Having lockers opposite each other wasn't the ideal situation he had originally imagined it to be. Slamming his locker door shut again, he followed her out the doors, face thunderous and hands thrust deep in his pockets. Becca was already at the car, complaining about something to Alex. "Why can't you just drop me off on the way home? I'll get food later." Alex rolled his eyes and gave her a push into the car, opening the trunk for Luke's guitar. "It's your birthday, mom and dad want to see you." Becca huffed and crossed her arms around her knees. She brightened slightly as Luke approached the car, but sank into her seat when she noticed his expression. Apparently everyone was having a bad day today. "What's up with your face?" Luke shrugged and leaned against the side of the car, avoiding having to sit next to Becca, instead waiting for Reggie to come out. "Teachers on my ass about work, that's all." Becca frowned; Luke never did work, and never cared when he was chased up for it. "What we doing this weekend? We don't have anything booked, do we?" Alex shook his head, dumping his jacket in the back and sighing as the californian sun once again defied all odds, and appeared just as they were hitting December. "Nothing booked, think we were just going to hang out at the studio." Luke nodded, risking a glance towards Becca, who appeared to be examining her ripped tights in great detail. Luke frowned as he noticed the large tear in the material- they'd been fine that morning. Reggie arrived at the car, grumbling about his government teacher, who'd told him he'd have to drop if he didn't buck up. "At least you actually go to class. Luke skipped english this morning." At the mention of his name, Luke's head snapped up, his eyes slightly brighter. She'd noticed his absence. "Where'd you go?" Luke shrugged and pushed the seat back as Reggie clambered in, dropping into the front seat. "Didn't feel like class." Becca rolled her eyes and leaned over Alex's seat, activating her most pleading puppy dog eyes, and resting her chin on his shoulder. "How come he gets to skip class? He's behind already, and I'm acing english." Alex chuckled and shoved her back into her seat. "Luke's older than you, and exactly. You're acing it because you go." Becca scowled and leaned on Reggie, reading the various scribbles running up his arms. Looked like he had a lot of homework. "How do you guys fancy a party this weekend? Heard Thomas is having one." Becca looked up as Luke began to speak, her eyebrows raised in surprise. Reggie frowned. "I thought you hated him? Said something about him being a-" Luke glared at Reggie in the mirror, sticking his lower lip out in such a childish way that Becca couldn't help her grin. "It's something to do. Bex got invited." Becca leaned over and punched him in the arm, scowling and glancing at Alex nervously. "Yeah as if she's going. You know what he's like." Becca groaned from the back seat and kicked Alex's chair, making him jump. "I can do what I want." All three of the boys laughed at the same time, and Alex started to drive off. Becca slumped in her seat and stared out the window. Sometimes having 3 older brothers wasn't ideal.

"Happy birthday darling!" Becca blinked in the sudden brightness as she walked into the kitchen, and found her mom standing beside the kitchen table, beside a birthday cake and a bunch of balloons. "Thanks mom." Julia smiled and pulled Becca into a hug, kissing her head and squeezing her tightly. "I have a shift later on tonight, but I thought we could have dinner together? And then Alex will take you over to Reggie's to study, but I want you to come home tonight, please." Becca nodded absentmindedly, sticking a finger into the icing on her cake. It was vanilla. "Is dad coming home?" Julia shook her head with a smile, and Becca noticed that her shoulders seemed more relaxed, and her hair hung around her face, a rare sight for the usually up tight Julia Mercer. "I got you something. It's on your bed." Becca grinned and hugged her mom one more time, before running out and up the stairs, nearly knocking Alex over in the process. "Woah, what's got you in such a rush?" Becca shrugged and kept running, barging through her door and squealing delightedly. Alex came racing in behind her, afraid that she'd gotten hurt. Becca was unwrapping a small parcel on her bed, not caring about the muddy soles of her converse. "No way." She held up a shoebox, laughing lightly to herself. "Vans? I'm trying to work out if this is some type of sick joke, or if she just asked around to see what kind of shoes skaters wear. Do you think this means she'll let me go?" Alex shrugged and smiled at the expression his little sister wore. She knew she'd have to wear them, so she wouldn't hurt their mom's feelings. But she also knew wearing them to the studio would mean getting ridiculed by Luke. "Fuck it. Are you eating with us?" Alex sighed and gave her a gentle smack round the back of the head, kneeling down to tie her laces. "Depends." Becca fell silent, and he felt her eyes on him. "He's not coming." Alex looked up and met her eyes, watching the grin slowly spread across her face. "Then of course I am. I'm not missing out on birthday cake." She cheered and jumped off the bed, waiting for him to stand up before throwing herself at his back and wrapping her legs around his waist. He hooked his arms through her knees and started to carry her down the stairs, stopping on the landing. "Not a word about last night. I want to speak to you about it in the car anyway, so keep your mouth zipped." Becca nodded and rested her chin on his shoulder. This was shaping up to be her favourite birthday yet. Cake, her mom, and her brother, with the promise of a trip to the skate park and a visit to the boys as well. Not to mention she got to wake up on top of Luke Patterson. Not that that's important or meant anything to her in the slightest, she reminded herself.

Skateboard in hand and new vans on, Becca headed out to Alex's car, happier than she'd felt in weeks. Even though he'd said no to the skatepark, Alex had said she could take her board and practice tricks in Reggie's backyard, as long as she was careful and didn't damage any plantpots. "So. About last night." Becca fidgeted in her seat, not sure where this was going. Was it about the performance? Or the drugs? Or Luke? It could be any number of things, none of them particularly high on her list of preffered car conversation topics. "When were you gonna tell me you could play like that?" Becca let out a sigh of relief. Definitely the least dangerous topic. "Uh, I didn't really know I could play like that myself, to be fair." Alex raised his eyebrows at her, and pulled out of the driveway. "I taught myself a little, and I spoke to some of the music teachers at school- they helped. But I dunno, I just really enjoyed it. Luke worked out I could play by himself, he found some stuff I'd written and forced me to tell him." Alex pursed his lips, and his eyes hardened. "Mmm. That's another thing. Luke." Becca groaned internally- she'd hoped to avoid this one. "What do you mean?" Alex shot her a look of pure disbelief, and she threw her head back against the seat. "Nothing, Alex. I promise. We came in late from the garden last night, and he was gonna sleep on the floor. I felt mean so told him to share the couch." Alex looked at her intently as they reached a red light, before shrugging and continuing the drive in silence. Becca watched out the window as the houses flew by, sighing wistfully as they passed the turnoff for the skatepark.

Luke watched as Reggie nearly fell over the railing in the loft for the fourth time, rolling his eyes and collapsing onto the couch. Alex had said they'd be there around 7, and had warned they better be ready or he'd be pissed. Luke jumped up as he heard a car pull into the driveway, sharing a look with Reggie, who was still sitting on the banister. The familiar roll of Becca's skateboard could be heard on the crazy paving , alongside the jingling of Alex's car keys, and then a scuffle and a screech, as Becca tripped. Eventually, the Mercer siblings appeared at the door, Becca's skateboard tucked under her arm, and Alex trying his hardest to suppress a grin. "Oh my god. Guys!" Becca's hands flew to her mouth as she took in the garage. The boys had spent the last few hours stringing fairy lights across the ceiling, and a painted banner hung across the rafters reading 'Happy Birthday Bex!' in Reggie's handwriting, thankfully. Reggie pulled her into a hug and ruffled her hair. "It's the least we could do." Alex pushed her into the studio, and towards the coffee table, where a messily iced cake sat, chocolate frosting layered thickly over the entire cake. Becca smiled to herself, a warm feeling spreading across her chest as it hit her that the boys remembered her favourite. "Did you make this?" She glanced at Luke suspiciously, who held his hands up and rolled his eyes at her. "Reggie's mom made it- but I iced it." She grinned and pulled him into a hug, letting her head rest on his chest as she breathed in his musky scent of cheap aftershave, and something distinctly boyish. "It's awesome. Thank you." Luke wrapped his arms around her and held her tightly, resisting the urge to stroke her hair. They stayed like that for a moment longer than was strictly necessary, until a look from Alex caught Luke's attention, and he jumped away, clearing his throat. "Where's Bobby?" Reggie shrugged and flopped onto the couch, watching Luke with a slight grin. The dark haired guitarist was walking around the back of the studio, scuffing the toes of his vans against the floor, as he watched Becca out the corner of his eye. The tension between them could literally be cut with a knife, but they still chose to ignore it. Even Alex had commented on it before, much to his own disgust. The idea of his baby sister dating anybody genuinely terrified him- and he knew what a flirt Luke could be. But as the drummer and bassist of Sunset Curve watched the two from opposite corners of the room, the only thought going through their minds was 'how long now.' The pair had been dancing around each other for years now. Luke had even taken Becca to her freshman, and her sophomore homecoming, with it now being an ongoing joke between them. Becca couldn't dance in the slightest. In fact, at both dances, they'd had to take a break so that Luke could ice his foot. He'd asked her by coincidence in freshman year because she'd been crying in the hallway after school, after a group of sophomores had teased her for going alone. By sophomore year, him and Alex were good friends, and they decided to do it as a joke. Junior homecoming was coming up, and he wasn't sure whether to ask her or not. He wanted to, but now that they were both aware there was something more there... it might be weird. Not to mention Alex would insist on being there with them. "We're not exactly speaking to him right now." Becca nodded at Alex's words, and let a hand drift up to stroke the edge of the banner strung up in the rafters.

"I got you something." Becca looked up, pleasantly surprised to see Luke's eyes boring into her own, a hint of worry floating in them. She smiled at him and tilted her head to the side slightly, swaying from left to right gently. "You shouldn't have. Thank you, though." Luke nodded and reached into his jacket pocket, handing over a small box wrapped in brown paper. "Meant to say earlier, nice kicks." He bumped the the worn toe of his vans against the fresh white of hers, smiling as she took the box from him with a brief eye roll. Becca felt her cheeks warming up as she stroked her thumb over her name, scrawled on top of the package in barely legible handwriting. She met his eyes again, and after an encouraging nod from Luke, tore the paper, and opened the box. She stared at the gift in silence, silently grateful that he couldn't see her expression. A guitar string lay coiled inside, resting on tissue paper. It had been cut, just about the right size to fit around her wrist. There was a charm hanging off it, three silver icons that made Becca's breath catch in her throat. A minature electric guitar, a pair of drumsticks, and a bass guitar. Her boys. A slight cough from Luke made her glance up at him, to find his cheeks on fire, and his lip in between his teeth. "It's not much- I saw the charms and thought of you, and I restrung my six string last week so I thought it would be cool, I get it if you don't wanna wear it of course, it's stupid-" He was cut off by Becca's arms being thrown around his neck, catching her in surprise and holding her tightly, feeling a smile spread across his face. "I love it, Luke. Thank you." They stepped apart, and Becca handed him the bracelet, holding out her wrist. "Can you?" He nodded and fiddled with the clasp, clipping it around her wrist. It fit perfectly. He didn't let go of her wrist, his thumb stroking over her hand as he admired the bracelet. It was pretty neat, if he said so himself. Alex watched their interaction from his spot on the couch, groaning internally. He knew it would only be so long until the two of them got over themselves, and the thought terrified him. He didn't want Becca getting hurt, and he knew Luke had a bit of a reputation. It was clear they liked each other- to everyone apart from them, apparently. Luke's attempt to lie to him that morning had been quite pathetic, even for him.

Bobby showed up not long after Becca and Alex had arrived, but he avoided giving her a hug, after multiple glares from Luke, who hadn't left her side all evening. The boys were rather cold towards him- they weren't happy he'd bailed on them for the gig. "Did you get on alright without me though? It didn't make a huge difference to the set, did it?" None of the boys got the chance to answer- Becca snorted loudly, and clapped her hands. "Ha, no of course not. They had me instead." Bobby raised his eyebrows, and looked her up and down appreciatively. "Woah, so you play too? Nothing like a girl who's good with her hands." He winked at her, and she gagged, while Alex punched his arm, and Luke clenched his fists. "In your dreams, Robert." Reggie grinned at Becca and fist-bumped her, handing her another cup of juice. Luke sighed and settled back onto his couch, trying to ignore the voice in the back of his head, telling him to floor Bobby. That wouldn't be the best way to end Becca's birthday. They sat there for a while longer, enjoying each other's company, until Alex looked at the clock and swore quietly. "It's getting late Bex, we should head soon." Becca glanced at the clock and frowned. It was only just after 8pm. She met Alex's eyes, but the slight frown on his face explained everything. "Right. Let's go."

[violetwolfraven]

The King’s Men

Hey @buttons-and-gulons I wrote this as a Christmas present for you! You said you liked sprace so I decided to flesh out my backstory for Spot and his friendships with other Brooklyn kids and also include his relationship with Race in there! Hope you like it! Happy Holidays!

Tw: mentions of abusive parents, period-typical homophobia, some internalized homophobia, minor character death.

...

Sean was 6 when he ran away from home.

His father had been gone a year, and his mama resented her son as a reminder of how she’d wasted her youth on a man who never loved her. And after months of stress and anger being taken out on him in the form of cigarette burns and slaps to the face, Sean finally got the message. He took off onto the streets while his mama was at work, slept in an alleyway, and barely survived the rest do the week alone, a kid with no money and no home to go back to.

It was six days before a red-haired girl noticed him in that alleyway and asked where his parents were, and Sean said he didn’t have any even though as far as he knew, both his parents were still alive.

The girl introduced herself as Palomino. She was 12. Six years older than Sean. She was a newsie, and she was willing to take Sean home with her if he’d use his cuteness to help her sell.

Sean, not having anywhere else to go, agreed, and with a scarred-up little kid fronting, he and Palomino sold so many papers that they had to go back in the middle of the day for more.

She introduced him as ‘Spot’ that night at the Lodging House, and when Sean tried to object, she pretended not to hear. But she introduced him to the other Littles, to Rafaela, a year older, who’s real name wasn’t Rafaela, and Scabs, who was Sean’s age, who’s name definitely wasn’t Scabs.

Sean didn’t have many good memories attached to his name, anyway, so he let his new friends call him Spot, and he learned the best ways to sell alongside them, learned to fight and lie convincingly from older kids, learned to survive on the streets and avoid the bulls. The three of them kept their heads down to avoid the latest Brooklyn king’s wrath, and looked out for each other as best as they could.

‘As best as they could’ wasn’t always enough.

Spot was 7, Rafaela was 8, and Scabs was dying of tuberculosis that winter.

When Spot tried to tell the king he needed help, the older boy just looked vaguely unhappy, mentioned that they lost kids every year, and took a swig of the whiskey he’d bought with money he could have spent on medicine.

Palomino wasn’t much more help, saying that sometimes kids died and there wasn’t anything you could do about it, so you had to just say goodbye and hope they ended up somewhere nice. And what made that worse was that she clearly cared more than the king did, but still wasn’t willing to even try to save Scabs.

Spot was 7 the first (but not last) time he ended up in the Refuge, for trying to steal medicine for his friend. Of course, Snyder didn’t show mercy even to a kid so young, and the beds were somehow cramped and cold, so Spot spent every minute thinking of when he’d get out. He was stuck in that hellhole for two weeks, and though Rafaela and Palomino were waiting for him by the gate when his sentence was over, Scabs was already gone.

Unlike the girls, Spot didn’t get to say goodbye, and he realized he should’ve just listened to Palomino.

He felt stupid, crying over a friend he hadn’t even known a year. It was stupid, how one person being gone could mean so much. Too much. And it was stupid how Spot had even more nightmares than before, and he flinched when Rafaela tried to help him.

He understood now why ‘Mino held her friends at arm’s length. Why she didn’t get attached to anyone. It was so she wouldn’t miss them too much—wouldn’t cry—when they were gone.

So, Spot pushed Rafaela away. He stopped selling with her, stopped letting her try to help when he had nightmares. He tagged along with any older kid willing to take him, knowing none of those broken, rough boys and girls would let him get too close. They knew better.

He tried not to think about how hurt Raf looked at first, or how angry she got as time went on. As months passed, and then years.

Spot was 8 when York came along. Raf’s age, full of scars and stories he didn’t tell. He was mostly silent and thoughtful where the other kids were loud and rambunctious. Still plenty angry, just quiet about it. Smart. When he committed minor crimes (as most Brooklyn kids did) he didn’t get caught. He never said that he held back his anger quietly because one time he hadn’t and it had ended in him losing that right eye of his, but everyone kind of knew.

York was good in a fight, but as with Rafaela, Spot didn’t let him get too close. He kept them both at a distance, and it absolutely didn’t hurt how they got close without him, because it was better if Spot kept them out of his heart.

That didn’t mean he wouldn’t soak anyone who said something bad about either of them twice as fast as he would if someone said something bad about him, like when the latest king of Brooklyn made fun of York’s eye patch.

It was a different king than the one who let Scabs die, because of course it was. Brooklyn kings came and went fast, as soon as someone bigger/tougher/deadlier came along. But they were all indistinguishable from the others. Everyone was loyal to them only out of fear.

Spot should have known better. He was a Little. He was less than half the king’s size. He didn’t stand a chance.

But he threw the first punch anyway, and the only reason he survived that fight was because Palomino stepped in and reminded the king that he was a kid. He was young. And he had learned his lesson.

Spot absolutely had not learned his lesson. He was angrier than ever, but he let the older girl patch him up, anyway.

Spot was 8 and when he healed up, ‘Mino started teaching him to fight. Really fight. And no matter how many bruises accumulated or how many times he lost sparring matches, she wouldn’t let him stop learning. She kept pushing him harder, making him get stronger, goading him on until he could land a hit on her, until it didn’t matter that he couldn’t match her for strength or height, until he could knock down an opponent much bigger than himself.

She didn’t sell with him anymore, moving on to selling with Bart and Joey, a pair of siblings, the brother the same age and the sister two years older than Spot. It wouldn’t be until years later that Spot would realize she was doing that to protect him, so no one would suspect they were up to anything.

Spot was 9, Palomino was 15, and she showed up late to sparring sometimes. She sold at Sheepshead, but she’d never let him come with her. She’d never let anyone come with her anymore, but she slung a good 150 papes a day, so no one could argue.

Hildy showed up that fall, a 10-year-old who barely spoke a word of English, and while she fell in with the younger gang, the one Spot still kept at arm’s length, she was a bit separate, too, given that she had a hard time communicating.

She tried to make friends with Spot, and she was so innocent, at least at first, that it actually hurt to push her away towards the others, into that bubble Spot was always on the edge of but never let himself try to enter.

No one trusted anyone else completely in a borough that chaotic, but it definitely didn’t hurt how the others had a circle of at least relative safety and Spot wouldn’t, couldn’t let himself have even that much.

Spot was 10, and he was surprised to find that having made it to double digits didn’t make him feel much older or wiser. Palomino still occasionally made him spar with her, but she’d run out of things to teach him. Spot was getting big and strong enough that she didn’t have to go easy on him anymore, and sometimes he even won their sparring matches.

What was weird was that ‘Mino kept sneaking off to Manhattan, and Spot wasn’t sure why. It wasn’t like there was anything interesting in ‘Hattan. Even the kids who lived there weren’t especially interesting, if the ones Spot saw who came over for negotiations and things were any indication.

When he asked why, she simply said that he’d understand the appeal of Manhattan someday, even if Spot was pretty sure he wouldn’t. What did ‘Hattan have that Brooklyn didn’t?

It was later that year when Spot found out that Palomino wasn’t the only one with a strange fixation with Manhattan, when he accidentally caught Moony making out with a ‘Hattan boy a few blocks from the Brooklyn bridge.

This was significant because Moony was a boy, too. And Spot was pretty sure boys weren’t supposed to kiss other boys.

Of course, Moony said he’d punch Spot’s daylights out if he told anyone about him and that Manhattan boy, who’s name turned out to be Skittery.

Spot didn’t understand that. Sure, boys kissing other boys wasn’t legal, but it wasn’t like most of the Brooklyn kids didn’t commit worse crimes on a regular basis. They all stole and cheated when they had to, and they all knew each other did these things, so why was one more illegal action any different?

When he asked Palomino about it (even though he told Moony he wouldn’t tell anyone) she just laughed, saying she hadn’t pegged Moony as queer and that he should know better than to make out where people could see, but that he had good taste in boys.

But she also said that Spot couldn’t tell anyone, because Moony could get kicked out of the Lodging House at best, arrested and killed in jail at worst, and no matter what happened, it wouldn’t be good if anyone found out he was...

There was that word again. ‘Queer.’ Spot didn’t see why anybody cared so much, but he understood that if it could have such bad consequences, it was best for it to stay secret.

Unfortunately, Moony being queer didn’t stay secret. And after the secret came out, Spot never saw him again. That was when it hit that being queer wasn’t just a secret; it was dangerous.

And he still wouldn’t let himself be friends with any of the others his age, but that didn’t mean he missed how Raf snuck glances at Joey as much as she did at York, or how Bart blushed when the new kid, Vince, grabbed his hand to keep track of him in a crowd.

And that meant, even if he couldn’t have them as friends, Spot had to protect them. Sarcastic Vince, quick-witted Hildy, defensive Bart, funny Joey, tough York, and stubborn Rafaela.

And Palomino, too, he guessed, even if she didn’t need it, but the point was that to protect anyone, he had to keep an eye on them, which was closer than he’d let himself get to any of them since he was 7 years old.

Spot was 11 when he found a 5-year-old girl alone in an alleyway and saw himself in her, so he offered her a home.

And he tried to keep her out. He tried to keep that little girl from worming her way into his heart, but somewhere between giving her a piggyback ride to the Lodging House and teaching her to sell, Bluebird got in, no matter how hard he tried. It was scary.

But then again, the latest king, Joe Harris, was even more corrupt and tyrannical than the others Spot remembered, so maybe Blue sticking close to him was for the best.

Letting one person in didn’t mean you had to let in anyone else, right? And besides, Spot could protect one person close to him. Probably.

Or maybe not, because it turned out Joe Harris could hurt even those who seemed untouchable, with how Palomino stood up to him once and it got her killed.

Spot was 12, and he wished he could say that he didn’t grieve his mentor when she was gone. Because despite himself, he had cared about her, and it hurt so much that she was gone.

Joe killing Palomino was meant to scare off any others thinking of rebelling, and it did just that to most of them, but Spot just got angry instead.

He never forgave Joe, and he made a promise to himself that no King of Brooklyn would take anyone else from him again.

It turned out Blue was just the first crack in a dam, because after her, Spot found himself caring about more people. Mostly in the form of the others his age in Brooklyn, despite how hard he’d worked to keep them out. He’d never really be one of them after isolating himself for so long, but in finally letting himself trust them as allies, Spot found that it wasn’t as scary as he’d always feared.

Well, it was scary. But he knew that the others could take care of themselves, and it was certainly easier to help them do so if they stayed close.

And keeping them close meant more allies for what Spot had planned.

Spot was 13 when he challenged for king.

He didn’t have a choice. Joe was getting increasingly cruel, soaking anyone who so much as objected to any of his decisions and taxing the kids whatever he decided was fair for the right to sell in Brooklyn. With the amount he was charging, none of them would last much longer.

Spot knew the fight would be to the death. He knew Joe was a lot bigger and a lot more experienced, at 19, and he absolutely would kill Spot for posing a serious challenge.

But if it gave his friends the chance to survive, if it gave someone else a chance at winning another challenge, it would be worth it.

Making his first kill was the hardest thing Spot had ever done, but he did it, and he became the king of Brooklyn.

It wasn’t his last kill, either.

Over the next couple years, he had to kill Scarf’s father, and a particularly bloodthirsty gangster, and a few boys who tried to challenge for king. But he never enjoyed it, and it was all in defense of his kids, because as king he had to care for all of Brooklyn now. They were all his responsibility.

Still, the title of king meant a certain level of fear, which meant that none of them could care about him the way they cared about each other. And though a few others helped as much as they could, he was largely running the borough alone.

Spot was 14 when Hotshot showed up, an big, strong, angry 12-year-old who’d fight anyone who looked at him funny. The perfect second for a young king who needed to establish his reputation. All he had to do was tell the boy where to aim his anger, and people assumed that if he could get a kid like Hotshot under his thumb, he had to be just as aggressive.

But Spot didn’t let his second soak people who didn’t deserve it. He didn’t do it himself, either. He wouldn’t be like the kings he’d grown up under and let innocent kids get hurt for no reason. Spot swore it that first night when he killed Joe Harris and he did his best to uphold it. He would rather die than be like those tyrants, those power-drunk boys who didn’t care who they got killed.

Well, at least there was one thing about Spot that set him apart from the other kings, but it wasn’t necessarily a good thing.

If his friends (it still felt odd to call them that) had been cracks in the dam, Racetrack Higgins was the first wave of water that broke it down, only...

Race never pushed, never forced. He just proved that Spot could trust him over and over again, despite being Manhattan. He was kind and compassionate despite being willing to gamble grown men out of their pay. He was funny and brave and though he could talk his way out of most fights, he’d throw himself into one without hesitation for someone else’s sake.

And though Spot had known him since he was 12 and Race was 11, it wasn’t until years later that he realized.

Spot was 15, Race was 14, and Spot realized that he was well and truly screwed, because though he’d started letting others in a little, the problem was that the person he wanted to keep the closest, the person he trusted most, was a Manhattan boy. Was Race.

He loved Race. And that made him queer, and that was dangerous.

Of course that wasn’t exactly a fun realization, especially with how Race didn’t feel the same.

He couldn’t, right? Because Spot’s own mother hadn’t wanted him. Palomino had only cared for him as a sparring partner. His friends feared him and Bluebird and Hotshot only claimed he was like a big brother to them because they had no one else who even pretended to give a rat’s ass about them.

Race couldn’t want him, too, couldn’t love him back, because nobody really loved him. Spot had accepted that maybe him loving other people was inevitable, but he wasn’t stupid enough to think they would love him, too.

Spot was 16 and Race was 15 when he found out that wasn’t completely true.

Because they’d been in the middle of a fight. Spot was facing a potential king challenger and he’d wanted Race to sell in Manhattan for a few days so he’d be out of harm’s way. But while Race wouldn’t push on sensitive topics, he would fight against what he didn’t think was fair. He thought Spot needed as many allies close by as he could get.

Spot had gotten him pinned against the wall, yelling in the other boy’s face, and then he’d found out that his belief that no one wanted him couldn’t be true, because Race had kissed him to shut him up.

And Spot knew Race. He knew that he didn’t do anything halfway. If he was your friend, he was ride or die for you. Joey and Bart were his cousins, and they said he’d always been that way, diving into things head first, throwing his everything behind every move he made, confident that he was right.

Spot knew Race. He knew that Race didn’t feel anything halfway, either. He knew that to kiss him, Race would have to feel the exact same way he did, which was why he let himself kiss back, at least until he had to pull back and tell him again to leave the borough for a few days.

Race told him not to bother sending someone to tell him it was safe to come back until he was ready to talk, and Spot spent two long weeks winning against the latest challenger, but ultimately showing the kid mercy, then mulling over whether or not he wanted to send someone over to get Race.

He did, but he wasn’t sure if he should.

Spot was terrified.

He’d tried so long to keep everyone out of his heart. He’d fought even Race on that for a while after they met, not trusting that caring about him would lead to anything other than sorrow.

He still struggled with that, even as he sat with Bluebird and Scarf and the other Littles until they fell back asleep if they had a nightmare. Even as he enjoyed card games with Joey, Hildy, Hotshot, Vince, York, and Bart. Even as he attempted to make amends with Rafaela, his oldest friend, who was still cold to him.

Besides that struggle, any serious relationship was a stupid idea for a king. Spot had watched kings from his childhood lose anyone they genuinely cared about, one way or another. He’d watched them grieve siblings, lovers, friends, or were betrayed by one of the above and lost their lives for it. People you cared about were weaknesses, and weaknesses could be exploited if you weren’t careful, and that wasn’t even counting how Race was a boy.

Being a boy who loved another boy could make you disappear. And Spot was a hell of a lot better of a fighter than Moony had ever been, but that type of fighting was always only about protecting himself.

...or was it?

Spot had tried for years to not think of his old mentor, but now that he was thinking of her...

Palomino was a master manipulator because she knew how people’s minds worked.

She would know that even if she could win a challenge, Brooklyn wouldn’t respect her as king, a girl with no one but a bunch of Littles backing her up. But she would know that while she couldn’t be king, she could train someone to end the cycle of tyrants.

She would know that whoever she trained would have to be someone who wanted to be better than the bad kings they’d suffered under.

And she would know that whoever she trained had to be someone who had proved their willingness to fight for others multiple times.

What had she told Spot the one time he’d tried to ask her why she was teaching him to fight?

“Because you’s the only one who stands a chance. It has to be you.”

At the time, he’d thought she meant that he was the only one tough enough to survive her training, but...

She’d been playing the long game with Spot the whole time. She’d taught him to fight counting on the fact that he’d challenge for king one day and she hadn’t cared if she got to see it because she knew he’d win.

It hadn’t mattered that she didn’t live to see his reign because the king she’d made sure he’d have Brooklyn’s support out of loyalty instead of fear. A Brooklyn boy, born and raised, who could take care of himself in a fight but didn’t think of himself first.

It half made Spot want to punch her, for manipulating his entire childhood, but honestly, he wasn’t sure how much would be different if she hadn’t chosen him. He would have tried to challenge for king anyway, only he probably would have lost.

It was a hard decision, to be angry or grateful to her, and Spot’s verdict changed hourly, but he kept thinking about another thing Palomino had once told him.

That one day, he’d see the appeal of Manhattan.

Well, he saw that it was Race’s home, and he was safe there.

He saw that Jack Kelly himself was almost definitely queer, that there were plenty of teenage kids who fit the type and hadn’t disappeared yet. He saw how the Manhattan kids were unapologetic and how they didn’t even judge each other, for the most part. They were more of a family than Brooklyn and they weren’t scared to be who they were and love who they loved, be it platonic or something more.

Spot had to wonder how different he’d be, if he’d been taken in by Manhattan instead of Brooklyn. If he’d grown up alongside Jack and Race and Crutchie instead of Rafaela and York and Bart.

It was startling to realize that he didn’t want to know. Because despite the sacrifices he’d made, everyone he’d lost, Spot still loved his home and his fellow newsies.

But he also loved Race, and even if it would be easier to push him away, to use this as an excuse in his mind to push everyone away, Spot didn’t want to.

He was tired of pushing people away see. It never worked, anyway, and in the end, it didn’t make you any stronger. It just meant you were running from something you couldn’t escape.

So he sent Bluebird to tell Race to meet him on the docks that night, and as nerve-wracking as it was when he managed to get his courage up, he kissed Race first that night.

Spot was 16 when he finally stopped running away from his feelings. From letting himself care about people even if he still had trouble showing it.

Spot was 16 when he finally started running towards home.

...

Sorry this gets a little incoherent towards the end. I was tired when I wrote it.

[mayraki]

CHAPTER THREE

“community service can suck my dick”

CHAPTER TWO

SERIES MASTERLIST

MY MASTERLIST

who is max belinsky?

concept boards for the new characters

summary: Max Belinsky and JJ Maybank are the two troublemakers of Outer Banks. Going to parties, getting into trouble, having an attitude and being the two people you don’t mess with are the perfect ways to describe them. What would happen when the two people who seem to have trouble follow them around meet? One thing is fore sure, they didn’t expect this outcome.

“It was not like that Fred!” Max yelled for the third time on the conversation with her big brother.

“And what? What was it then? Max! You brought a guy home with our little brother on the house!” Fred said.

After Cody accidentally talked about JJ and how he wanted to go surfing with him, the conversation took a turn and Fred ended up finding out that he was at the house the night before. He didn’t like it not even a little bit, even if Max told him the truth multiple times.

“So, let me get this straight, you bring home the guy that almost got into a fight at a party and is doing community service with you? Great taste in men that you have Max!” Fred said sarcastically.

“Oh! And you have the greatest taste of all time! Have you forgotten about the annoying Alice?! Oh, no! Baby girl that’s not how girls dress! Fred! Would you like to take me shopping?! I need a driver! Girls don’t curse!” Max was saying with a high pitch voice and moving her hands dramatically, pretending to be Fred’s ex-girlfriend.

“That’s not my point!” Fred shouted.

“Yeah, I know! Mine either! Because I didn’t brought JJ here for the reason that you dirty mind thinks! Nothing happened!”

“It better!” Fred said pointing at Max.

“Don’t point your dirty finger at me.” She grabbed the tip of his finger and quickly moved it backwards.

Fred let out a big sigh after Max walked away to put on her shoes. A fight between these two was common, since he had to be the head of the house meant having Max and Cody on their best behaviour, but with Max’s attitude was difficult not ending the conversation with a fight. Of course, that didn’t mean they didn’t love each other or that they didn’t had a good relationship, but sometimes it was their opposite personalities that would cause a huge fight.

“I have to go, I’ll come home late tonight.” Max said dryly. Fred nodded while following her sister with his eyes. Once she was on the door, she stopped and turned around, locking eyes with her big brother. “I love you.”

He let out a little smile. “I love you too, Maggie.”

“There she is!” JJ said when they both arrived at the beach at the same time.

“Hi Maybank.”

“Hi princess.” He said with a smile. Max looked at him with the ‘seriously?’ expression but JJ shook his head not regretting it at all. “C’mon, I know deep down you like it.”

“No, all I’m feeling right now is that I want to punch you. It’s too early for this shit.”

“C’mon! It’s a beautiful morning, the sun is shining and I have..” he pointed at his boot. “For later.” Max understood what he was saying and immediately shook her head disgusted.

“Believe me, I’ll never smoke one that came from your boot.”

JJ shrugged his shoulders. “Your loss.”

“It’s not much of a loss, JJ.” JJ winked at her but she just rolled her eyes, tired of the conversation.

“Maybank. Belinsky.” They both turned they heads to the left to see Officer Johnson standing up with his uniform and a cup of coffee on his hand. “Are you two ready?”

“Yes, sr!” They both said at the same time and then looked at each other surprise by the coincidence.

“This is my worst nightmare.” Johnson said before walking closer to the shore.

“JJ! Stop throwing trash to my designated area!” Max said once she saw a new piece of paper on the area she cleaned more than two times. She would move on and then later find another piece trash and a JJ trying to hold his laughter. “Dickhead!”

“Belinsky! Language!” Johnson said, but when he looked back at his phone Max flipped JJ off.

“Real mature of you!” He yelled before letting out a loud laugh.

Max turned around to try calm herself and not get into more trouble with Johnson, when she saw two preteens walking next to the shore. Her eyes went wide open when she recognised her little brother and some girl, they were walking pretty closely and he was making her laugh a lot.

“JJ!” Max whispered after ‘calmly’ walking towards JJ.

“I didn’t throw anything this time, don’t kill me.” He said but Max quickly shook her head. She walked next to JJ and pretended to be looking trash with her little stick, to not caught Johnson’s attention. “What are you doing?”

“See those people next to the shore back there?” She asked pointing with her head to where Cody was. JJ looked back and nodded.

“Is that your brother?” He asked and Max quickly nodded.

“He’s with a girl!”

“So?” He asked confused.

“What do you mean so? He’s in a date! The beach, the walk under the sun, they’re very close!”

“So what? He’s in the age of starting to go and like girls more than ever, you know, horm-”

“Oh, don’t even say it...” Max complained. “He’s my little brother!”

“Yes, and it’s not cool when your big sis interrupts a date, is it?” JJ started. He grabbed Max’s arm and walked her to the other side. “Now, we’re going to continue with what we’re doing because the asshole back there,” JJ pointed with his head at Johnson “is already starting to think a new way of ruining our lives, so, go back to your designated area, so we can leave as soon as possible, princess”

JJ was expecting for her to say something about the ‘princess’ nickname, but instead, she didn’t say anything, she was trying to get the idea of her little brother with a girlfriend out of her head.

Max didn’t realized how much time had passed since she put on her headphones and started to pick up the trash from the beach. She looked over to JJ and he looked bored as ever, Johnson was looking to his phone and that’s when an idea came into Max’s mind.

She punctured a peace of paper that was on the sand with her little stick and walked closer to the shore, she then paused the music but kept the headphones on her ears. JJ was trying to punctured a cup into his stick but was struggling because of it’s thickness, that’s when Max walked closer to him and waived her hand to caught his attention, she pointed at her eyes and then mouthed ‘watch this’ at him. He nodded confused but didn’t say anything, since Johnson looked up from his phone once Max started to walk away.

“Hey! Belinsky!” Johnson said walking closer to Max, she took the opportunity and started to ran farther away. “Belinsky! What the fuck do you think you’re doing?!” He started to run after her and JJ let out a loud laugh when he saw Johnson struggling by keeping up with Max. “Belinsky! Stop right now!”

Max thought that it was enough since she heard Johnson running out of breath. She stopped and quickly turned around. “Sr?” She took off her headphones and looked at the Officer confused. “Are you alright?” She asked innocently.

“Why were you running?!” He asked trying to get his breathing back to normal.

Max lifted his stick and showed the piece of paper stuck to it. “The wind blew it away...” she shrugged her shoulders and then walked back to where JJ was, trying to control his laughter.

“Oh my god! His face was hilarious!” JJ said between laughs. “When he realized that you started to run was priceless!”

After finishing with the hours of community service for the day, JJ talked Max into walking to Kie’s restaurant, The Wreck, he was sure his friends were going to be there and he wanted to tell them the funny anecdote. That’s when Max thought that she hadn’t seen Sam all day, so she texted her and told her to meet her there.

JJ introduced Max to John B and Pope, they both looked like most Pogues around Outer Banks. John B was rocking an open shirt and Max liked that outfit, he seemed like the guy who would always be up for an adventure. Then it was Pope, who Max immediately recognised him as the brain of the group. He started to talk about his future and what he wanted to do. Kie was also there, trying to keep everyone on their best behaviour since it was her family’s restaurant and she didn’t want any mess. But then she calmed down when Sam and her started to talk about some documentary about turtles they were both watching.

After a while, Sarah Cameron walked into the restaurant. Max immediately recognised her since she cleaned the Cameron’s pool a while back. Sarah was the only one who would check on her on those hot days and offer her some water. She then added her to the list of ‘Kooks I don’t hate’, wich only had two names in it: Kie and Sarah.

“So... you two are dating?” Max asked pointing at Sarah and then at John B. They both nodded and Max just stayed in silence for a little while. “Huh.”

“My words exactly.” Kie said. “Hey! I almost forgot! Are we doing the competition this year?”

They guys shook their head simultaneously.

“No can do, you’re invited this year, remember? It’s not fair.” John B said.

“But it’s so fun, c’mon guys!” Kie complained but the guys still shook their heads.

“What competition?” Sam asked and Kie turned to her.

“We have this thing... every year the Kooks have this fancy party, it’s less fancy than the midsummer, but the Kooks still love it.”

“Them and their privilege ass.” JJ complained.

“We made this two years ago.” Kie continued ignoring JJ’s comment. “The team who can steal the most alcohol from their party without being caught, wins... Wait a minute, Sam and Max can do it! They can go against you guys!”

Pope shook his head. “Count me out, my dad’s making me work at the party with him.”

“That’s even better, now the teams are even, two against two.”

Max turned her head to Sam and a little smile appeared on Max’s face when her friend nodded with a smirk. “Count us in.”

“This is going to be fun.” Sarah said looking at John B, who gave a little nod to JJ.

“Are you sure you want to go against us?” JJ asked.

“You clearly don’t know us very well.” Max shook her head.

“Alright then, may the best team win, Belinsky.”

“Bring it on, Maybank.”

CHAPTER FOUR

chapter 3 is here! I would love to know what you guys think of the story so far! sending you all the love and thank you for reading❤️

TAGLIST

@iamaunicorn4704 @onceinagenerationrage @lasnaro @k-k0129 @x-lulu @oopsiedoopsie23 @baby-pogue @roamingmarauder @ponyboys-sunsets @agirlwholovescoffee @thorsangel @sunflowerbabe81 @scandalousfemale @deviouscharitos @badbitsh13 @thehomeiknow @cilorawr

if your username it’s like this for some reason I couldn’t tag you, I’m sorry :(

[gaarasgoddess]

Touched

Sakura held her hand to his bare skin and tried to focus on healing him and not how surprised she was that Gaara had a six pack. It really was unfair.

Notes: I decided that there was no Konoha Crush and that there was no tailed beasts. So that it made sense for Gaara and Naruto to be sparring in their late teens and Gaara is not Kazekage. 

.x.

The cloud from the explosion had a distinctly mushroom look to it. Sakura grimaced as two bodies flew through the air, crashing into the ground. Every day they came to this training ground and Gaara and Naruto would beat each other to a pulp. One had the perfect defence (apparently) and the other enough stamina to rage for days. They didn’t look to be stopping any time soon either.

And every day, Sakura would hover around like a mother hen, waiting and worrying about what they were doing to each other. It used to be Naruto and Sasuke back when Team 7 was still a thing but Sasuke had moved on to ANBU and was now preparing for his Uchiha wife-to-be.

Sakura still sighed heavily and wistfully remembering the day he told them in that monotone voice of his that he was getting married to some distant cousin. Naruto told him his clan was “gay and weird” for that and the two had barely spoken since.

Sasuke didn’t have a sense of humour about his family and Naruto had no tact.

A loud war cry broke Sakura’s thoughts and she looked back over the destroyed training field. They were still at it. The mushroom cloud turned to dust and disappeared. But a moment later, it reappeared - this time the colour of chakra.

Naruto had something to prove to the outsider who dared to say that Konoha ninja were children. Gaara had something to prove to the orange clad idiot who retorted that all sand ninja were weak compared to the leaf.

Sakura just hoped they didn’t end up killing each other and causing an inter-village incident. So here she was, loyally waiting for them to finish and not be able to move anymore before heading in to heal them. She always decided who to heal first based on who was being the least rude. It was often a close call.

This had been going on for three weeks leading up to the new Chunin Exams and neither were backing down. And every time she healed him, Sakura developed a new appreciation for Gaara of the Sand. To stand toe to toe with Naruto and sometimes even outlast him was no small feet. Naruto had more power but Gaara had better control and (seemingly) more jutsu up his sleeve.

And his heavy breathing when she healed him was almost too distracting for her to concentrate on her chakra. It was lucky she had perfect control or she’d not be able to heal him. He watched her, too, when he wasn’t too exhausted to. In her peripherals, Gaara’s sweaty, flushed and intense face zeroed in on her calm and focused expression.

Sakura rushed forward when the two landed, a moment of hesitation sending her in Naruto’s direction first. It was a quick heal but he whined the whole time, under his breath, so quietly that she doubted Gaara heard him. Then she moved to Gaara and struggled to push down her blush when his head turned in her direction and his eyes moved to her face. The first time she healed him he was confused why she bothered but she never wavered.

By now he was used to it but still flinched whenever her bare fingers brushed against his bare skin. He could get punched over and over in a fight but the gentle touch of healing hands still unsettled him, she supposed. She had no idea why.

Naruto had a smug grin on his face as he wandered over to them, not noticing how Sakura was trying so hard not to stare back at Gaara, her fingers only trembling slightly every now and then.

And Gaara couldn’t stop the light groan that exited his mouth as Sakura’s hands accidentally brushed his skin at the distraction.

“Don’t be a baby.”

Sakura gave Naruto an irritated look and he obediently shut up.

They all waited in silence but she was having trouble focusing, again. Gaara flinched again and Sakura hesitated. Her chakra flickered and she forced herself to channel it back into her hands and focus on healing the redhead.

Sakura held her hand to his bare skin and tried to focus on healing him and not how surprised she was that Gaara had a six pack. It really was unfair.

.x.

A few months passed and Sakura was beginning to think that she’d imagined that blush on Gaara’s face when her fingers brushed along his skin. She hadn’t seen him much during the exams because he had come to Konoha to help officiate it - they were both Jounin so allowed to. If she’d known she would start to become infatuated with him she’d have signed up for that as well.

So she sat in the audience as the genin fought to impress the judges but she wasn’t watching the battles. Not really. She watched the redhead who’d been pressured into sharing the proctor duties with Naruto. She watched as they gave each other barely concealed glares - but Naruto’s was more obvious; so much so that the Hokage told him to bugger off and let Gaara do it all. Which only aggravated Gaara even more.

It was entertaining to everyone.

Sakura could have sworn that Gaara looked up at her when Naruto yelled at her from the ground to remind him to pummel the redhead later. The glance was so fast she believed she imagined it. But she was surprisingly excited either way. It meant that they were going to fight, giving her the excuse to touch the redhead again. To heal him of course.

She couldn’t wait.

But a few hours later when she went looking for them at the training ground to “accidentally” find them trying to kill each other, Sakura couldn’t find them anywhere. She figured they went to a different training ground so made the rounds between them. Nothing.

Another few hours later she gave up and decided to listen to her stomach. It was close to sunset and she was getting hungry. She stopped suddenly, spotting the familiar blond and red heads standing outside Ichiraku Ramen. They were talking animatedly; Naruto waving his hands around and Gaara’s arms crossed as he tapped his foot on the ground.

Then they made to move away from the shop and she kept watching but Gaara didn’t look in her direction. Something was different.

They weren’t fighting. They started laughing. And heading off toward other shops instead of fighting each other. They weren’t angry. And she wasn’t needed after all.

They were finally getting on?

.x.

Another month passed. Sakura was pining and she didn’t like it. After years of following Sasuke around amounted to nothing and she promised herself she’d never pine for guys again. It was their turn to pine for her! But she missed Gaara. She missed healing him after he and Naruto were done pummeling each other. The two were getting along and she didn’t like it.

She didn’t like that she didn’t like it. It was a good thing for inter-village relations. But Sakura was so useless when it came to guys that she didn’t know any other excuse to get close to Gaara without him knowing she liked him.

She was almost eighteen and she’d never been kissed or been out with anyone other than Ino and that didn’t count because they did it to make Sai drool, and Ino wanted his attention.

It was time to end her abysmal failure love life.

.x.

Sakura was digging through Tsunade’s files looking for missions to Suna. She knew she’d lost the plot. She was desperate. It had been several months since she last saw him and she was going crazy and it was getting painful. No matter what Gaara said when she told him she had to tell him how she felt. Pining for him was unhealthy for her.

Her inner won the fight and she was keeping her promise to herself.

“S Rank, land of lightning.” She mumbled and tossed the file back into its folder. Ten minutes later she found an A Rank for Suna but the people Tsunade had circled for the mission were Neji, Tenten and Naruto. She frowned, reading over the details. It sounded like it could use a medic and she wondered why the Gondaime hadn’t included one.

“Sneaking around I see.”

Startled, Sakura stood up so fast she knocked all the files onto the floor. “Lady Tsunade! You were supposed to be at a meeting.”

“It ended early.” Tsunade pointed at the pile and Sakura obediently bent to fix them up. “What’s this about?”

“I..I just wanted to ask for a mission,” she stuttered.

“Uh-huh.” Tsunade grabbed the files from her. “Suna?”

Sakura blushed. Did she know? She nodded.

“Figures.” Tsunade huffed. “The brat goes and makes friends with the Kazekage’s kid and you’re pining after him.”

Sakura lowered her eyes to the floor.

“Don’t be embarrassed, girl. I’ll add you to the team. Was thinking you might be good for it anyway. They could use a medic.”

Sakura nodded and looked up into the warm smile of her mentor.

Tsunade used the file to slap Sakura on the butt. “Go get him, kiddo!”

.x.

”Yes!” Naruto fist pumped the air as Tenten rolled her eyes and Neji mentally groaned. He was excited that Sakura was joining them.

They met at the front gate of Konoha and started moving out immediately.

“Thank goodness you’re coming,” Tenten said. “I didn’t much fancy being the mediator between Neji and Naruto.”

Sakura understood. But the three days they spent travelling to Suna all she could think of the seafoam eyes that were waiting for her. The nights spent in the tent she was sharing with Tenten and ignoring the arguments coming from the boys, her mind was elsewhere. Her bunkmate noticed but kindly didn’t mention it.

As they approached the walls of Suna, Sakura was so nervous she had to rub her sweaty palms on her clothes. He was waiting for them at the gates, alongside his brother and sister. The Kazekage was nowhere to be seen even though it was typical for him to greet allies.

But Gaara was a welcomed sight; his eyes widened slightly as they landed on Sakura. And a genuine smile was elicited from him. She was happy to see that he was happy to see her.

.x.

After they were given their duties and Sakura discovered this mission was just a cover as it turned out the Kazekage was retiring and Gaara had been named to replace his father.

They were here to get things ready for Tsunade’s official arrival. It all sounded so pompous and unnecessary but that was the nature of politics and inter-village relations.

Sakura worked tirelessly to help and wondered now what a medic could possibly be needed for, on this job. But she didn’t regret coming. At the end of the three days it took for them to set everything up, Gaara came to her and she returned his smiled.

“Naruto and I are going to spar and we could use a medic.”

She grinned. “Okay, let me just grab my pack.”

Whether he was doing this for himself or her she didn’t know. He gave her a knowing look as they walked together to a training ground he’d already arranged for the fight.

He didn’t flinch when she accidentally brushed his fingers, taking a water bottle from him as he got ready to stretch and prepare. In fact, his breath hitched and the blush was back on his cheeks.

She felt suddenly very confident and stepped over to him, kissing his cheek softly. His eyes widened and she blushed.

“For good luck.”

He nodded absently and moved to engage Naruto. Neji and Tenten were also nearby, taking the opportunity to sit in the shade and watch.

Several hours later Gaara and Naruto were both exhausted but neither needed any serious healing. Sakura still placed a hand on Gaara’s skin and healed his minor scratches.

“I like you,” she blurted and they both blushed. “I… wanted to tell you.”

He cleared his throat. “I like you too.”

She nodded, licking her lips and finishing her healing, then dropped her hands by her side as he continued to watch her. He had a thing for watching her.

“So.. uh. What now?”

“Now, I do what I’ve been wanting to do for months.”

Gaara licked his lips and then lowered his mouth to hers. She didn’t mind that he bit her bottom lip. Nor that his fingers found the hem of her clothes and started tugging absentmindedly. They were moving a bit fast but she had time to stop him and would do so if he pissed her off too much.

They kept kissing and kept touching each other even as Naruto’s voice rang nearby; the alarm he was sounding going unnoticed by the newly found lovers. Tenten attempted to shut him up, with Neji’s help, to leave Sakura and Gaara alone.

What was coming next wasn’t for them to see.

Sakura felt Gaara’s sand whipping up and teleporting them. She knew what was coming and though this was indeed fast, she didn’t care, for now.

For now she didn’t want to stop touching him. Or being touched.

.x.

[gaasaku-fanfests]

Touched

Title: Touched Author: gaarasgoddess Rating: T Word Count: 2,218 words Summary: Sakura held her hand to his bare skin and tried to focus on healing him and not how surprised she was that Gaara had a six pack. It really was unfair. Author’s Note(s): I decided that there was no Konoha Crush and that there was no tailed beasts. So that it made sense for Gaara and Naruto to be sparring in their late teens and Gaara is not Kazekage. Trope: Hurt/Comfort. maybe Sakura having to heal Gaara, anything from a serious wound to something small.

.

The cloud from the explosion had a distinctly mushroom look to it. Sakura grimaced as two bodies flew through the air, crashing into the ground. Every day they came to this training ground and Gaara and Naruto would beat each other to a pulp. One had the perfect defence (apparently) and the other enough stamina to rage for days. They didn’t look to be stopping any time soon either.

And every day, Sakura would hover around like a mother hen, waiting and worrying about what they were doing to each other. It used to be Naruto and Sasuke back when Team 7 was still a thing but Sasuke had moved on to ANBU and was now preparing for his Uchiha wife-to-be.

Sakura still sighed heavily and wistfully remembering the day he told them in that monotone voice of his that he was getting married to some distant cousin. Naruto told him his clan was “gay and weird” for that and the two had barely spoken since.

Sasuke didn’t have a sense of humour about his family and Naruto had no tact.

A loud war cry broke Sakura’s thoughts and she looked back over the destroyed training field. They were still at it. The mushroom cloud turned to dust and disappeared. But a moment later, it reappeared - this time the colour of chakra.

Naruto had something to prove to the outsider who dared to say that Konoha ninja were children. Gaara had something to prove to the orange clad idiot who retorted that all sand ninja were weak compared to the leaf.

Sakura just hoped they didn’t end up killing each other and causing an inter-village incident. So here she was, loyally waiting for them to finish and not be able to move anymore before heading in to heal them. She always decided who to heal first based on who was being the least rude. It was often a close call.

This had been going on for three weeks leading up to the new Chunin Exams and neither were backing down. And every time she healed him, Sakura developed a new appreciation for Gaara of the Sand. To stand toe to toe with Naruto and sometimes even outlast him was no small feet. Naruto had more power but Gaara had better control and (seemingly) more jutsu up his sleeve.

And his heavy breathing when she healed him was almost too distracting for her to concentrate on her chakra. It was lucky she had perfect control or she’d not be able to heal him. He watched her, too, when he wasn’t too exhausted to. In her peripherals, Gaara’s sweaty, flushed and intense face zeroed in on her calm and focused expression.

Sakura rushed forward when the two landed, a moment of hesitation sending her in Naruto’s direction first. It was a quick heal but he whined the whole time, under his breath, so quietly that she doubted Gaara heard him. Then she moved to Gaara and struggled to push down her blush when his head turned in her direction and his eyes moved to her face. The first time she healed him he was confused why she bothered but she never wavered.

By now he was used to it but still flinched whenever her bare fingers brushed against his bare skin. He could get punched over and over in a fight but the gentle touch of healing hands still unsettled him, she supposed. She had no idea why.

Naruto had a smug grin on his face as he wandered over to them, not noticing how Sakura was trying so hard not to stare back at Gaara, her fingers only trembling slightly every now and then.

And Gaara couldn’t stop the light groan that exited his mouth as Sakura’s hands accidentally brushed his skin at the distraction.

“Don’t be a baby.”

Sakura gave Naruto an irritated look and he obediently shut up.

They all waited in silence but she was having trouble focusing, again. Gaara flinched again and Sakura hesitated. Her chakra flickered and she forced herself to channel it back into her hands and focus on healing the redhead.

Sakura held her hand to his bare skin and tried to focus on healing him and not how surprised she was that Gaara had a six pack. It really was unfair.

.x.

A few months passed and Sakura was beginning to think that she’d imagined that blush on Gaara’s face when her fingers brushed along his skin. She hadn’t seen him much during the exams because he had come to Konoha to help officiate it - they were both Jounin so allowed to. If she’d known she would start to become infatuated with him she’d have signed up for that as well.

So she sat in the audience as the genin fought to impress the judges but she wasn’t watching the battles. Not really. She watched the redhead who’d been pressured into sharing the proctor duties with Naruto. She watched as they gave each other barely concealed glares - but Naruto’s was more obvious; so much so that the Hokage told him to bugger off and let Gaara do it all. Which only aggravated Gaara even more.

It was entertaining to everyone.

Sakura could have sworn that Gaara looked up at her when Naruto yelled at her from the ground to remind him to pummel the redhead later. The glance was so fast she believed she imagined it. But she was surprisingly excited either way. It meant that they were going to fight, giving her the excuse to touch the redhead again. To heal him of course.

She couldn’t wait.

But a few hours later when she went looking for them at the training ground to “accidentally” find them trying to kill each other, Sakura couldn’t find them anywhere. She figured they went to a different training ground so made the rounds between them. Nothing.

Another few hours later she gave up and decided to listen to her stomach. It was close to sunset and she was getting hungry. She stopped suddenly, spotting the familiar blond and red heads standing outside Ichiraku Ramen. They were talking animatedly; Naruto waving his hands around and Gaara’s arms crossed as he tapped his foot on the ground.

Then they made to move away from the shop and she kept watching but Gaara didn’t look in her direction. Something was different.

They weren’t fighting. They started laughing. And heading off toward other shops instead of fighting each other. They weren’t angry. And she wasn’t needed after all.

They were finally getting on?

.x.

Another month passed. Sakura was pining and she didn’t like it. After years of following Sasuke around amounted to nothing and she promised herself she’d never pine for guys again. It was their turn to pine for her! But she missed Gaara. She missed healing him after he and Naruto were done pummeling each other. The two were getting along and she didn’t like it.

She didn’t like that she didn’t like it. It was a good thing for inter-village relations. But Sakura was so useless when it came to guys that she didn’t know any other excuse to get close to Gaara without him knowing she liked him.

She was almost eighteen and she’d never been kissed or been out with anyone other than Ino and that didn’t count because they did it to make Sai drool, and Ino wanted his attention.

It was time to end her abysmal failure love life.

.x.

Sakura was digging through Tsunade’s files looking for missions to Suna. She knew she’d lost the plot. She was desperate. It had been several months since she last saw him and she was going crazy and it was getting painful. No matter what Gaara said when she told him she had to tell him how she felt. Pining for him was unhealthy for her.

Her inner won the fight and she was keeping her promise to herself.

“S Rank, land of lightning.” She mumbled and tossed the file back into its folder. Ten minutes later she found an A Rank for Suna but the people Tsunade had circled for the mission were Neji, Tenten and Naruto. She frowned, reading over the details. It sounded like it could use a medic and she wondered why the Gondaime hadn’t included one.

“Sneaking around I see.”

Startled, Sakura stood up so fast she knocked all the files onto the floor. “Lady Tsunade! You were supposed to be at a meeting.”

“It ended early.” Tsunade pointed at the pile and Sakura obediently bent to fix them up. “What’s this about?”

“I..I just wanted to ask for a mission,” she stuttered.

“Uh-huh.” Tsunade grabbed the files from her. “Suna?”

Sakura blushed. Did she know? She nodded.

“Figures.” Tsunade huffed. “The brat goes and makes friends with the Kazekage’s kid and you’re pining after him.”

Sakura lowered her eyes to the floor.

“Don’t be embarrassed, girl. I’ll add you to the team. Was thinking you might be good for it anyway. They could use a medic.”

Sakura nodded and looked up into the warm smile of her mentor.

Tsunade used the file to slap Sakura on the butt. “Go get him, kiddo!”

.x.

”Yes!” Naruto fist pumped the air as Tenten rolled her eyes and Neji mentally groaned. He was excited that Sakura was joining them.

They met at the front gate of Konoha and started moving out immediately.

“Thank goodness you’re coming,” Tenten said. “I didn’t much fancy being the mediator between Neji and Naruto.”

Sakura understood. But the three days they spent travelling to Suna all she could think of the seafoam eyes that were waiting for her. The nights spent in the tent she was sharing with Tenten and ignoring the arguments coming from the boys, her mind was elsewhere. Her bunkmate noticed but kindly didn’t mention it.

As they approached the walls of Suna, Sakura was so nervous she had to rub her sweaty palms on her clothes. He was waiting for them at the gates, alongside his brother and sister. The Kazekage was nowhere to be seen even though it was typical for him to greet allies.

But Gaara was a welcomed sight; his eyes widened slightly as they landed on Sakura. And a genuine smile was elicited from him. She was happy to see that he was happy to see her.

.x.

After they were given their duties and Sakura discovered this mission was just a cover as it turned out the Kazekage was retiring and Gaara had been named to replace his father.

They were here to get things ready for Tsunade’s official arrival. It all sounded so pompous and unnecessary but that was the nature of politics and inter-village relations.

Sakura worked tirelessly to help and wondered now what a medic could possibly be needed for, on this job. But she didn’t regret coming. At the end of the three days it took for them to set everything up, Gaara came to her and she returned his smiled.

“Naruto and I are going to spar and we could use a medic.”

She grinned. “Okay, let me just grab my pack.”

Whether he was doing this for himself or her she didn’t know. He gave her a knowing look as they walked together to a training ground he’d already arranged for the fight.

He didn’t flinch when she accidentally brushed his fingers, taking a water bottle from him as he got ready to stretch and prepare. In fact, his breath hitched and the blush was back on his cheeks.

She felt suddenly very confident and stepped over to him, kissing his cheek softly. His eyes widened and she blushed.

“For good luck.”

He nodded absently and moved to engage Naruto. Neji and Tenten were also nearby, taking the opportunity to sit in the shade and watch.

Several hours later Gaara and Naruto were both exhausted but neither needed any serious healing. Sakura still placed a hand on Gaara’s skin and healed his minor scratches.

“I like you,” she blurted and they both blushed. “I... wanted to tell you.”

He cleared his throat. “I like you too.”

She nodded, licking her lips and finishing her healing, then dropped her hands by her side as he continued to watch her. He had a thing for watching her.

“So.. uh. What now?”

“Now, I do what I’ve been wanting to do for months.”

Gaara licked his lips and then lowered his mouth to hers. She didn’t mind that he bit her bottom lip. Nor that his fingers found the hem of her clothes and started tugging absentmindedly. They were moving a bit fast but she had time to stop him and would do so if he pissed her off too much.

They kept kissing and kept touching each other even as Naruto’s voice rang nearby; the alarm he was sounding going unnoticed by the newly found lovers. Tenten attempted to shut him up, with Neji’s help, to leave Sakura and Gaara alone.

What was coming next wasn’t for them to see.

Sakura felt Gaara’s sand whipping up and teleporting them. She knew what was coming and though this was indeed fast, she didn’t care, for now.

For now she didn’t want to stop touching him. Or being touched.

.x.

[fubukiswifenoimnotjoking]

Some opm fanfic ideas I’ve come up with thatIwishIcouldwrite ._.

1. Therapy! Maybe a bunch of heroes are pushed into taking therapy by the HA for legal reasons and it’s SO angst filled, what with Genos’ depressing past, Fubuki’s inferiority complex, Saitama’s depression, Metal Bat feeling pressure to be a good caretaker for Zenko, etc. Hey maybe in a Garou redemption take he ends up there too, taking in his childhood trauma. And everyone’s arguing like SHUT THE FUCK UP MY PAIN IS REAL and throwing stuff, meanwhile Saitama sits with Mumen (who I see needing physical therapy more than therapy therapy but coming there anyway to support heroes) and they drink tea and talk. Maybe eventually it mellows out and they can (sometimes) put their pride away to talk their stuff out, but Garou SWEARS he will kill anyone who talks shit on him!

2. Genos decides he can’t take it anymore and leaves to go find the Mad Cyborg cuz he knows he just can’t get strong like Saitama, even tho he doesn’t want to leave him. This has been done a bunch in fic BUT I rarely see any where Saitama goes with him! And maybe they like, go on adventures to get there and maybe over them, they grow closer, learn to speak to each other more, Genosai pining etc etc. oh and lots of camping together. When I imagine the end I always see like, either they find it and Genos almost dies but Saitama’s like no, we can do this TOGETHER and they punch it together, or a really emotional one where they find the cyborg’s corpse and Genos breaks down but admits he’s almost relieved, and yeah idk what else.

3. AA ok so I have three very self indulgent Au’s, I’ve talked about one on here and it’s kinda lame but I love the idea. K so, there’s this scene in A Star is Born with lady Gaga where she sings la vie en rose in a drag bar and when her and the main guy meet eyes they just!!instant attraction. So yeah my idea was that but Genos is a new drag queen at a drag bar owned by Fubuki and Saitama is a taffy puller at a candy shop (idk why I chose candy) with King and Mumen and Saitama goes to the bar for the first time cuz they’re promoting their candy there. And yeah lol it’s Genosai again, they start to hang out in and out of drag bars and for Genos, in and out of Genny, his dragsona (tho Genoko is way better now that I think about it). He has trust issues cuz shitty past etc and Fubuki takes him under her wing and they’re friends and she gives him advice. Oh and Sonic is a drag queen too, him and Genos are rivals, Tatsumaki owns a more popular bar and her and Fubuki have that sister rivalry, Garou and Badd work there as bouncers and mess with Genos all the time bc I love Shitty Teen Squad. Mizuki is a bouncer too :0 Also there’s Mizuki x Fubuki and Garou x Badd. Sonic x Mumen too I guess, tho I’m not as into that ship as before

4. My second self indulgent one oo boy. Soooo this is an au where everything is more monstrous, ppl are half or have become complete monsters, but more traditional ones usually, like Godzilla level kaiju, incubi, stuff like that. Except these monsters fit a teeny bit more into society, so there has to be something like a police force to get at em when they’re criminals but with heroes/detectives. Cue Genos and Mumen, totally BAD, SCARY eMO cop and goody🥳two😍shoes✨ good cop. One day they’re getting coffee or whatever when the whole place blows up, and while most people survived in wreckage, Genos notices-a monster! He chases after an incubus, and even rockets into the sky after him when he starts flying. Saitama’s like ow what the fuck, I didn’t do any of this I was just walking by! And Genos is like shut up scum >:( they take him in for questioning and learn he’s a super OP incubus (go figure) but he doesn’t have much of a sex drive and doesn’t “do the whole incubus thing.” Genos doesn’t believe him but Mumens like omg that must be so hard, have some more tea sweetie. Anyway Genos leaves it to Mumen and when he’s gone Saitama uses his convincing flirty powers to get Mumen to release him. He feels guilty about using his powers, he feels skeevy! But he really doesn’t wanna be there and escapes, Genos catches him etc and it’s a whole conspiracy all 3 of them have to figure out that actually goes super deep, also more Genosai lmaaoooooo

5. THIS IS MY DUMBEST ONE BUT I LOVE IT. Ok so Saitama is out walking in the woods one day and finds an abandoned cottage and he’s like oh sick. He goes back home but can’t get it off his mind. He keeps going back and fixes little bits of it here and there, really makes it shine and then Genos catches him and he’s like yo Sensei? Of course Genos takes the project super seriously bc Saitama is hardly ever interested in stuff so they get it done and pretty looking ridiculously fast. Then Saitama suggests like, living there every now and again for certain seasons. Genos says yes without thinking, and is floored by all the tender things he discovers come with cottage life, like a garden, taking care of little hurt birds and not accidentally hurting the house. He’s scared to tell Saitama but Sai eventually worms it out of him that he feels like he doesn’t belong, he’s so bulky and damaging to everything. Course Saitama feels awful for not realizing, hugs the shit out of him and apologizes. Then he gets the idea to help Genos feel like he can enjoy a simple life, help him hold animals, feed birds, etc. and Genos is like oh my GOD Saitama is too good to me 🥺🥺 and idk what else happens hhhh. anyway could be either established relationship or mutual pining, I like either for this story but the most IMPORTANT part is it’s full of cottagecore imagery and vibes or it’s not a simple cottage au, and I live by that. Anyway if anyone likes these and wants to use them then hell yeah! I can’t write to save my life, but please gimme credit 🧡🎃

[maddrmatt]

Kairi’s Epic Journey: The Quest for Sora

New to this fanfic? Click here to properly begin!

Chapter 18: A Rift Between Sisters

Arendelle

“You can wait here with the boys for now, Kairi. I’ll be back soon with Elsa after I tell her about you and why you’re here,” said Anna as she led Kairi into a small sitting room in the castle followed by Pluto, Kristoff, Sven and Olaf.

“Okay, Anna,” said Kairi.

“Hopefully she’s finally done with him.  Honestly, tomorrow can’t come soon enough,” said Anna bitterly as she exited the room.

Kairi made her way over to a nearby couch and sat down.  Pluto leapt on the left side of her and laid his head in her lap as she stroked him gently. Olaf plopped himself on Kairi’s right and smiled at her.

Kristoff sat down in a chair across from them and let out a deep sigh.  “Tomorrow can’t come soon enough for me either.  I’m just glad this will all be over soon,” he said as Sven sat down on the floor beside him.

“Me too,” Kristoff said in his Sven voice.

“Kristoff?  If you don’t mind me asking, who is this Duke of Weselton you’ve all been talking about?” asked Kairi.

“I can answer that question, Kairi.  He’s a duke and he comes from a place called Weselton. It’s not too hard to understand, is it?” asked Olaf causing Kairi to smile a little.

“I think she needs a little more information than that, Olaf,” said Kristoff as Sven nodded in agreement.  “Well, Kairi, he’s a dignitary from what used to be Arendelle’s closest partner in trade,”

“Used to be?  You mean, they’re not anymore?” asked Kairi.

“No.  And the reason why is during the time when Elsa accidentally started an eternal winter, he ordered his bodyguards to kill her in an attempt to end it.”

Kairi gasped.  “That’s horrible!”

“Yes.  So, when Elsa brought back summer, she had the Duke and his men returned to their homeland and cut off the trade agreement between Arendelle and Weselton.”

Kairi looked confused.  “But if he tried to have her killed, then why has he been allowed to return here?”

“Apparently, he wants to apologize for what he did, and he believed the only way to show that he meant it was to do it in person,” said Kristoff.

“And do you all believe he’s sincere?”

“Elsa seems to think so.  But Anna believes he’s still up to no good.  Me?  Well, I don’t think he’d try anything especially now that Elsa’s got her powers under control. But I think this whole apology thing is just him trying to get the trade agreement reinstated.  All I’m really hoping is that once he’s gone, things will get back to normal between Anna and Elsa,” said Kristoff.

“What do you mean?  Have they been fighting?” asked Kairi.

“Not exactly.  I mean, they haven’t stopped speaking to each other.  But due to their disagreement on the Duke’s visit, things have been pretty frosty between the two of them.  Everyone in the castle can all see it,” said Kristoff.

“I still don’t understand it.  They’re not just sisters but best friends too.  Why would things get bad between them like this?” asked Olaf.

“I can answer that for you, Olaf and the sad fact is, sisters and best friends don’t always agree on everything.  And that can sometimes lead to things being strained between them for some time,” said Kairi.  ‘I certainly know what that’s like.’

“I wouldn’t worry too much about it, Olaf. If I know Anna and Elsa, they’ll patch things up in time.  They’ve been through too much to let something like this split them up again,” said Kristoff.

Olaf smiled.  “You’re right!  Once the Weasel goes home, they’ll go right back to being best friends again,” said the snowman as Sven nodded.

“I’m sorry that I came at such a bad time. Maybe it’s too much to ask all of you for your help in finding Sora now,” said Kairi.

“Don’t say that, Kairi.  You couldn’t have known how things were when you arrived.  And if there’s one thing that may ease the tension around here after all this, it’ll be helping you find your friend,” said Kristoff.

________________________________________________________________

Elsewhere in the castle, Anna approached the door to the audience chamber.  Pressing her ear to the door, she listened to what was going on within.

“Thank you again, Your Majesty, for allowing me to come to your kingdom as well as accepting my apology.  I only wish I could apologize to your sister personally,” said a male voice.

“My sister has made it clear she does not wish to see you presently so I will accept your apology to both of us on her behalf.  And I thank you, Duke, for abiding by our conditions as well as not bringing up the subject of trade between our homelands because my decision still stands,” stated a female voice.

In spite of herself, Anna smiled.  ‘That’s telling him, Elsa.  If that was what he was after all along, then way to beat him to the punch.’

“I assure you, Your Majesty, the thought of that never even crossed my mind.  All I wish is for relations to improve between our homelands and hopefully, someday you can both fully forgive my atrocious behavior,” said the voice of the Duke.

‘No chance of that!’ thought Anna.

“We shall see.  But for the time being, shall we consider our business concluded?” asked Elsa’s voice.

“Of course, Your Majesty. I shall depart for Weselton tomorrow morning.  Once again, thank you for everything,” said the Duke as the sound of his footsteps approached the door causing Anna to move away and flatten herself against the wall.

The door opened and out strolled, with an air of quiet dignity, a short man dressed in a fancy uniform.  He wore glasses perched on his pointed nose and he had a gray-haired moustache and matching hair although Anna knew his hair to be a toupee.

Neither he nor the Arendelle guard who was escorting him took notice of Anna.  They just continued to walk away until they turned a corner and were out of her sight.  She stared in the direction they had gone with disgust as she recalled the moment where the subject of his return had first come up and caused the current rift to form between her and her sister.

________________________________________________________________

Arendelle, A Few Months Earlier

Seated behind her desk in the royal study, the Queen of Arendelle looked over a certain letter for nearly the fiftieth time.  Suddenly, a familiar knock on the door was heard.

“Come in!” she called.

The door opened up and in stepped her sister.  She wore a look of bewilderment to Elsa’s confusion.

“What is it?” inquired Elsa.

“Sorry.  It still feels a little strange to actually be let in,” said Anna with a little chuckle.

Elsa chuckled herself. “Well, if it makes you feel any better, it’s just as strange for me actually doing the letting in.”

Anna laughed and then said, “Anyway, Gerda said you needed to talk to me about something so what is it?”

“Well, Anna, we just received a letter from the Duke of Weselton,” said Elsa indicating the letter in question in her hand.

Anna groaned in frustration.  “What does he want?  Is he begging you to reinstate trade between Arendelle and Weselton which I hope the answer is no?”

“It’s actually not about that at all, Anna.  Why don’t read it yourself and see?  It’s actually addressed to you as well,” asked Elsa holding out the letter.

With a look of confusion, Anna walked over to her sister and took the letter from her.  She then began to read it over.

________________________________________________________________

To Queen Elsa and Princess Anna of Arendelle,

I do not know if this letter will be read by either of you on account that I have no right to expect such a thing.  But if you are reading this, then I thank you in advance for I have something that needs to be said.

I wish to offer my sincerest apologies for my conduct during my last visit to your kingdom.  Having had much time to reflect, I am deeply ashamed of the way I spoke and acted when things took an unusual turn at the coronation.

Please understand that the shocking revelation of the queen’s abilities as well as the possibility of perishing overcame me with fear.  And because of that, I acted in a very inexcusable manner and for that, I am truly sorry.

I know my words in this letter will not be enough to convey my regrets. Therefore, if you will allow me to, I wish to travel to your kingdom and offer a more formal apology in person. Only then can I believe my conscience will be truly clear.

Once again, I apologize, and I do hope you will consider my request.  I do not wish for there to be any hard feelings between us or our homelands.

Yours sincerely,

The Duke of Weselton

________________________________________________________________

Anna reread the letter making sure she didn’t miss a single word.  Finally, she lowered the letter and burst out laughing.

“He has got to be kidding.  He must really be desperate for that trade agreement if he’s pretending to beg for forgiveness now.  Good thing we’re too smart to fall for it, right Elsa?” asked Anna looking to her sister who, much to her surprise, wasn’t instantly agreeing with her.

“Elsa?”

“Anna, please don’t overreact to this.  But after reading the letter several times, I have been considering granting the Duke’s request.”

Anna let out a gasp of horror.  “You can’t be serious, Elsa!”

“Anna, please calm down,” said Elsa rising from her chair and approaching her now seething sister.

“The Duke isn’t one of my favorite people either.  But part of ruling a kingdom is maintaining civil relations with our neighbors even those we aren’t particularly fond of.  And judging from his letter, it seems that he is sincere in wanting to apologize for his actions and I think it would be unwise to just ignore that,” said the queen of Arendelle.

“So, send him a letter telling him his apology is accepted and there’s no need for him to come in person.  Then that’ll be the end of it,” said Anna.

“Anna, it’s not that simple.”

“I don’t want him coming within a hundred miles of us after what he tried to do.”

“No one can defend what he did.  But unlike… you-know-who, he didn’t come to the coronation to cause trouble right from the start.  When my powers were revealed and I plunged the land into a dangerous winter, he got scared.  And having spent a large part of my life afraid of what my powers could do uncontrolled, I can’t really blame him for it,” said Elsa.

“He called you a monster, Elsa!  He tried to have you killed!”

“Anna, for the longest time, I myself believed that I was a monster.  Hearing it from him was no different.  And you can’t deny that my powers are capable of great harm when uncontrolled.  You should know that better than anyone.  Even if the Duke hadn’t tried to kill me to stop the winter, someone else with better intentions might’ve done the same,” said Elsa.

Anna folded her arms and considered her sister’s words.  She could understand why some people like the Duke of Weselton would be scared of Elsa’s powers and make bad choices because of that fear.  She had, after all, witnessed the destruction caused by Elsa’s uncontrolled powers and had a close call with death because of it. Still, despite Elsa’s logic, she still felt that allowing the Duke to return to Arendelle was a mistake.

Elsa took her sister’s hands into her own.  “I know you just want to protect me from him, Anna, and I appreciate that.  But trust me.  I’m not going to allow back into Arendelle unless he’s willing to follow certain conditions.”

Anna let out a sigh of resignation.  “Okay. If you think this is necessary to maintain good relations, then I guess we don’t have a choice.  But I want to help set the conditions, one being that I don’t to have to interact with him anymore than necessary and another being that he is not to bother Kristoff, Sven, Olaf or anyone else while he’s here among other things.”

“You’ll have your say in that, Anna, as long as you remember to be reasonable.  But before we start on that, maybe you should calm down a little,” said Elsa.

Anna huffed. “Fine.  I guess I’ll go tell the boys what’s going to happen and to prepare themselves for a visit from Weasel Town.  I’ll see you later,” she said frostily as she exited the study.

Elsa sighed as she went back to her desk.  Before beginning to look over more paperwork, she glanced at a picture on the wall of Anna and herself with their deceased parents, King Agnarr and Queen Iduna.

‘Mama, Papa, I knew when I became queen, there would have to be some tough decisions especially ones that Anna and I wouldn’t completely agree on.  I can only hope I’m doing what’s best for us and for Arendelle.’

________________________________________________________________

Arendelle, Present Time

‘He’d better behave himself for this night or so help me, he’s going to have to answer to me,’ thought Anna before taking a deep breath to calm herself.  ‘All right, Anna.   I know things haven’t been good between you and Elsa lately.  But right now, you need to put that aside if you want to help Kairi.’

Anna immediately entered through the opened doors and into the audience chamber.  Sitting on a throne directly in front of her was her sister. Elsa had her eyes closed and looked like she was relieved that the meeting was over.

A feeling of sympathy for her sister came over Anna.  ‘I guess the meeting wasn’t easy on her.  Then again, being in the same room with someone who tried to have you killed wouldn’t be easy on anyone.’

A few moments passed before Elsa opened her eyes and beheld her sister standing in front of her. “Oh, Anna!” she exclaimed.

“Hi, Elsa.  So, is that it?  Are we finally done with him?” asked Anna.

“Yes.  For now, at least.  There may come a time when we have to deal with him again in the future. But it is all in the name of diplomacy,” said Elsa.

“I know.  Even if we may not ever be friends, we have to keep things civil between us as you’ve told me repeatedly.  Personally, I hope the next time we see him won’t happen for a good long while.  But anyway, Elsa, our next order of business has come up,” said Anna.

Elsa snapped to attention with a confused look.  “Next order of business?  What are you talking about?”

“We have an unexpected guest.  And right now, she needs our help,” said Anna

Elsa’s confusion increased.  But she paid close attention as Anna related what had happened while she was meeting with the Duke.

________________________________________________________________

Meanwhile, back in the sitting room, Kairi was getting to know her new friends a little better. Currently, Kristoff was telling stories of his life before he lived in the palace.

“So, these trolls took you in and made you a part of their family?” asked Kairi.

“Yep.  They may be a little overbearing and embarrassing at times. But I wouldn’t trade them for anything in the world.  The day they took Sven and me in was one of the best days of my life.  And looking back on that day right now, it seems even better,” said the ice harvester.

“Why is that?” asked Kairi.

Kristoff blushed for a second before blurting out in his Sven voice, “It was the day he first saw Anna!”

“Sven!” exclaimed Kristoff pretending as if the reindeer had exposed something he didn’t want to be heard.  The reindeer just made a laughing sound.

“Aww!” exclaimed Kairi.

“It’s true.  That was the first day I saw Anna.  Who would’ve thought that years later, she, a princess and me, an ice harvester, would be a couple?” asked Kristoff.

“I bet the trolls always knew.  They are love experts, after all!” exclaimed Olaf.

Kairi giggled.  “I guess we have something in common, Kristoff. After I lost my old home, I was taken in by a pretty loving couple who have been nothing but the most wonderful parents I could ask for.”

A twinge of sadness came over her.  ‘I can only hope they’ll forgive me for just running away again.’

Pluto sensed Kairi’s sadness and nuzzled further into her lap.  Kairi smiled and stroked his head.

“That same day was also when I met Sora.  He was the one who found me, and I will never forget how he smiled and held out his hand for me to take,” said Kairi as a little blush appeared on her cheeks.

Olaf giggled. “Sounds like he’s a pretty special friend to you.”

“Yes.  Yes, he is,” said Kairi almost dreamingly.

Suddenly, the door opened and in strolled Anna and Elsa.  Kairi immediately leapt to her feet as Elsa approached her.  The Princess of Heart bowed before the queen.

Elsa smiled.  “You must be Kairi.  As queen of Arendelle, I welcome you to our kingdom and our castle.”

Kairi rose up and returned Elsa’s smile with one of her own.  “Thank you, Your Majesty.  This is my dog, Pluto,” she said indicating her companion next to her who barked happily at the queen.  

Elsa chuckled.  “It’s a pleasure to meet both of you.  But it’s not necessary to be so formal, Kairi.  You may just call me Elsa.”

“I did say you could call her by name, Kairi,” reminded Anna.

“Did you forget that already?” asked Olaf.

“No, I didn’t.  It’s just that my father always taught me to be formal until you got permission to be casual.  I just needed to hear it from Elsa herself first,” said Kairi.

“Your father should be proud that he raised such a polite young lady.  Now, Kairi, Anna tells me that there is a very important reason you’ve come to Arendelle,” said Elsa.

Before Kairi could say anything, Olaf chimed in, “Yes, Elsa!  Sora’s missing and we’ve got to help Kairi find him!”

“What Olaf said, Elsa. I hope that there’s something in your kingdom that can possibly lead me to him.  If you could help me find some sort of clue to where he is, I’ll be forever grateful,” said Kairi.

Elsa placed a hand on Kairi’s shoulder.  “If there is, we’ll help you find it.  You have my word that we’ll spare no effort.  But we can start our search tomorrow.  Right now, it’s late and Anna’s told me you’re in need of a good meal and a good rest.  So, would you and your dog care to join us for dinner?”

“We’d love to.  But you really don’t mind having a dog dining with you?” asked Kairi.

“We already have a reindeer usually joining us for meals nowadays so a dog isn’t a too unusual addition,” said Anna gesturing to Sven who gave a big smile.

Kairi laughed before she realized something.  “Will the other guest be joining us?”

“No,” said Anna and Elsa simultaneously although Elsa used a calm tone while Anna’s tone sounded as if she had just heard Kairi say something rude.

Elsa gave her sister a small glare of annoyance before turning back to Kairi and saying, “As one of the conditions of his visit here, the Duke is not allowed to dine with us. He must take his meals in his room.”

“Trust me, Kairi. You’ll be better off if you never have to meet him.  In fact, we’d all be better off if we’d never saw him again!” exclaimed Anna as she turned around and left the room.

“Anna!” exclaimed Elsa as she turned to watch her sister stomp off.  She let out a deep sigh.

Kristoff rose from his chair and walked over to Elsa.  “Don’t worry, Elsa.  I’m sure she’ll be okay once the Duke leaves.”

“I hope you’re right, Kristoff.  I hate that it’s been like this for these past weeks,” said Elsa.

“We’d better go calm her down.  We’ll see you later in the dining hall.  Olaf, Sven, let’s go,” said Kristoff as he left with the snowman and reindeer following him.

Elsa turned back to Kairi.  “I’m sorry you had to see that.”

“Oh no.  I’m sorry I said the wrong thing.  It’s just after what Kristoff told me about the Duke of Weselton, I’m not too sure that I want to meet him myself.”

“I’ve had Gerda make up a room for you in a different part of the castle from where he is and since he is leaving tomorrow, I doubt you’ll cross paths with him.  But in the meantime, let me show you to the dining hall,” said Elsa as she turned around and left with Kairi and Pluto walking alongside her.

As they travelled through the halls, Kairi mused on the things she had learned.  ‘I’d better watch myself around here while this Duke’s here.  After what he tried to do when he found out about Elsa’s powers, I’d hate to see how he’d react if he saw a Keyblade Wielder in action.  He sounds like the kind of person who would command the Heartless or worse, become one.’

Kairi then regarded the queen and saw the sad look on her face.  ‘It’s so awful that his presence here is making things hard between Anna and Elsa.  Seems I’m not the only Princess of Heart having trouble with loved ones.’

Between the search for Sora, the rift between Anna and Elsa and the presence of this Duke, Kairi never imagined a visit to another world would be filled with so much drama. She could only hope that things would improve soon enough.

________________________________________________________________

Onto the next chapter!

[meteor752]

More bardlings stuff yaaaaay

This is basically just a bunch of shit I a), couldn’t fit into their respective deep dives, or b) Just came up with after the fact/I forgot to mention them.

This will all be very random, so yeah.

Let’s just get into it

Neither Bain or Tilda go by their real names

Bain’s realy name is Benjamin, but as a kid Sigird couldn’t say that, so she just said Bain and the name stuck

Tilda’s real name is Matilda, but she hates the name as she finds it “Too formal” and just introduces herself as Tilda

Sigrid’s middle name is Marina, Bain’s is Lachlan and Tilda’s is Lucia

Tilda has ADHD

While Tilda has Aloe, Bain has his own “Pet”, a clydesdale stallion named Cocoa

He also has a cat named Whiskey, who just like him is blind

And a dog named Halo that help guiding him (Basically a guide dog)

Sigrid has an Appaloosa mare named Autumn

Bain is actually a twin, but she died in the womb

Her name was Ellen

If the Bardlings would have been animals, then Bain would have been a Cocker Spaniel, Sigrid a Nightingale, and Tilda a fox

And if they would have been dragons then Bain would have been a Swamp Dragon, Sigrid a Water dragon and Tilda, of course, a Forest dragon

Sigrid has insomnia, and usually spends the nights playing the lute peacefully

Bain on the other hand is a napping god

I’ve mentioned a few times that Tilda enjoys climbing, but I don’t think you understand, she climbs everything

When she gets to a new place, like a forest or a mountain, she immediately calculates what places to grab on to, how much force would be needed for a specific jump, which branches that would crack if she stood on them etc etc

Like, she’s doing a Sherlock Holmes in her mind, just to figure out what to climb

While both Sigrid and Tilda get along well with Bain, they have a pretty bad relationship themselves, and would rather just avoid being around each other all together

They still love each other though

Sigrid is the biggest sweet tooth out of the three, while Tilda would rather starve than eat things like sweets and pastries

While Sigrid is the more musical out of them, both Bain and Tilda are excellent singers and can both play the lute

Tilda is a horrible dancer however, but enjoys doing it anyway

Tilda was often insecure about the fact that she was a human and not an elf, as she often got weird stares from many of the elves she met

She once nearly cut an Elf’s throat for pointing it out, and then mocking her for it

Sigrid is a Disney Princess, in the regard that sometimes when she just casually sings small animals will come up to her. Both Bain and Tilda tease her about it constantly, but she finds it calming.

While Tilda absolutely adores Legolas, and Bain is just happy to finally have a brother, Sigrid is not really too fond of him, especially since he encourages Tilda’s reckless behavior

Sigrid’s theme song would be The Sound Of Silence

Bain’s theme song would be Awake and Alive

Tilda’s theme song would be Just Like Fire

Bain and Tilda started calling themselves the dragonchildren after their father became a dragonslayer, and it got to the point that they started introducing themselves as either Dragonson or Dragondaughter, which they adopted as their second names

The first time Tilda met Aragorn it was her first visit to Rivendell, before her da and ada wed

She was jumping through some trees when she miscalculated the distance between two branches, and accidentally fell right on Aragorn who was just chilling out reading a book

She was already then thinking about just going down on him

But she did see the looks Aragorn and Legolas had when they talked to each other later, so she took it cool

When Bain had a child, Sigrid surprisingly became the best aunt ever

Tilda was a horrible aunt to both Brand and Frodo and Sam’s adopted kids, since she didn’t fully understand how to take care of another living being.

Bain and Aragorn are Sword Bro’s

Sigrid and Gimli are Ax bro’s

All three of the Bardlings take Father’s Day very seriously (Assuming that they have that middle earth, which I do)

During Mother’s Day, Sigrid and Bain lock themselves in Sigrid’s room and just talk about Eleonore the whole day

Tilda ignores that Mother’s Day exists, and just carries on as natural while still feeling a slight pang in her heart every time she sees some kid give their mom a flower or something

Physically Tilda should not be alive, considering the amount of hits she takes from falling from a tall height or just getting punched into a wall like, a hundred times a day, but luck has stayed on her side

Sigrid constantly worries for her sister, because she knows that her recklessness or her snappy behavior will get her killed any day now

Everyone was surprised when Tilda outlived Sigrid

SPEAKING OF WHICH-

Tilda’s dead body was found three days after she died, by a young traveling elf that recognized her as the daughter of the elven king

She was brought back to Mirkwood, where what was remaining of her family had a bit of a breakdown

She had a proper burial, along with the horns of Aloe, so that the two friends would be I’ll with each other even after death.

AU Masterpost

[elichorph]

OH SHIT???? did you see avery jeong buying princess bandaids at the local cvs after punching out somebody’s car window??? anyways, he’s a legacy and a member of the yale's elite, they're twenty-three and a 1st year grad student majoring in mechanical engineering. they are as strong willed as they are naive.

hello, i am back with my third character. yes this is my second character that has a 5 letter name that starts with an a. yes this intro is extremely long. if you read it i will send you a gif of your fav celeb to thank you.

stats:

full name: avery tobias jeong nicknames: ave age: twenty three birthday: march 8, 1998 ( yeah he’s technically 22 right now but he’ll be 23 soon enough ) chart: pisces sun, aries moon, cancer rising siblings: one ( lilia, younger sister ) gender: cis male pronouns: he / him sexuality: bisexual & biromantic height: 6′0 hair color: black tattoos: random tattoos on his arms, faded hand tattoos (specifically an angel on his left hand) piercings: right earlobe ring

blackmail:

( violence & drugs tw )

he had an unplanned child at nineteen with his ex-girlfriend who he now has little to no contact with. his ex dug up a public intoxication charge that avery’s family had paid to cover up in order to place a restraining order on him and deny him custody of the child.

he was involved in an underground fighting ring for multiple years as a means to make money after being cut off by his family. however, he always took fights too far and was banned from the ring in new haven after he nearly killed one of his opponents.

family:

if you’ve already read lilia’s intro then you can skip this because it’s the same thing!

ya’ll ever read one of those drug ring ao3 fanfics where y/n is dating the sexy drug cartel leader? well that’s their family!

generational family blood money because that’s how cartels work i think. started running + dealing three generations back with their great-grandparents in order for them to make a living. it wasn’t until the so-called business was handed down to their grandparents that they wanted to expand and generate more money. the big pharma cover was created in order for them to manufacture, distribute, and supply at a larger scale. present day, their family name has notoriety with other cartel and mafia families. 

basically avery was supposed to take over because he was the oldest right, but lilia did not want that at all. their parents started favoring avery and schmoozing up to him a little bit to get him to say yes (even though avery was fully prepared to give lilia the position) and lilia was like! what the fuck! so she told their parents about this one time that avery accidentally blabbed the family secret to a stranger at a party which broke their one rule of keeping it a secret. their parents wanted nothing to do with him anymore and completely cut avery off and kicked him out of the family. 

everyone knows that avery and lilia are siblings, even though they don’t really know the actual details about their past together because avery doesn’t say anything about his family and the cartel is a secret. now that they are both at yale and in the elites together they are just kinda like haha awkward <3 they basically would just tell everyone that they grew apart if other characters tried to pry but also lilia is now telling people that avery fucked up a business decision which is why he left the family and avery is like alright but good luck trying to get other info out of them! xo, the jeongs

present:

after being kicked out of his family, avery booked it to new haven to attend yale. he was able to score a full ride after graduating as the valedictorian of a specialized school for science in nyc and for continuously staying near if not at the top of his class. literally this man is a casual genius. he will get drunk as hell and talk about math for the entire night even if you don’t care. avery joined the elites in his junior year and even though he technically is a legacy from his family, he told them that if he was going to join, he wanted to be recruited for his academics because fuck if he was going to use his family name!

to expand a little more on blackmails, avery was broke as shit after coming to new haven. he still is, but he literally had so little money to his name and eventually found an underground fighting ring and made money by winning matches through that because he is Beefy and a Unit and his anger issues could be released <3 but he would always go a little too hard and would near murk his opponents, especially this one time that caused him to be banned from the ring. now for money he just fixes up people’s air conditioners and fridges and shit and also works maintenance at a hotel chain around connecticut to get money when he really needs it <3 literally if you need something fixed hit him up and he’ll be happy to do it but he would also love if you made him dinner to thank him because he has eaten too much kraft mac n cheese.

when avery was a sophomore, his girlfriend of a few months accidentally got pregnant whoops <3 and he was ready to literally drop everything for his girlfriend and daughter, but his girlfriend didn’t want that because she was lowkey a bitch! she ended up using a secret that avery had told her (that he had a public intoxication charge that his family had covered up) and took him to court and got his custody rights taken away and a restraining order placed on him and then dropped out of yale before anybody could know about the baby and zoomed to another state and now avery is like ok <3 his daughter’s name is skye though and she is four now and sometimes he still gets updates but literally it eats him alive hahaha

personality:

basically paddington going through an emo phase. he has extreme rbf and might be a solid unit who looks intimidating, but he genuinely is so sweet. by his looks you’d expect him to push you down the stairs but in reality he’s the kid who is 20 minutes late to class to hold the door open for people and he’ll feel good about it even if nobody says thank you to him. 

certified sad boy! the extremely nice guy you meet at a house party who remembers what drink you like from some time you apparently met three months ago? avery loves house parties for real and will be the angel who cleans up at 5am even if he’s got an exam at 8. he loves to take care of people to fill his fatherly void even though he’s the one that needs help the most. 

accepts the fact that he’s now #poor now, but he also gets kind of insecure and jealous seeing everybody pop off with a britney work bitch vc bugatti. tries to keep up with people looks wise at least, he has one old balenciaga cross body bag that has holes in it, way too many ripped pairs of designer jeans, and a scratched gucci belt that you will see him sporting often. might want to bash your face in if you flaunt your wealth and gets kind of whiny about it sometimes.

avery is the type of person that loves the outdoors and going on picnics. his romantic dream is to lay under a tree with the soft summer breeze and play some guitar for the love of his life <3 yes he has a guitar and yes he is actually good at singing even though he gets embarrassed about it. he fucking loves music.

still has that aries moon though, is extremely defensive and my one character who will actually fight in the group chat because what the fuck does he have to lose at this point! avery has extreme anger issues that hurt him more than anything. even though he’s banned from the underground fighting ring, he still needs an outlet and will have his hands shoved in his pockets because they’re either bruised to shit or discolored from how many times they have been bruised. can be found walking home after taking the late bus so he could go scream in a field somewhere.

this man? also naive as fuck. has been hurt by too many people and really just sets him up at this point. an open book most of the time, so much that it hurts him. will tell you everything about himself like the way he can’t sleep in silence and has to have ocean noises playing, but he can’t listen to whale noises because sometimes he wakes up in the middle of the night and thinks it’s a ghost. however, his family stuff is off limits and he will spit in your face if you even think about asking him about it. 

won’t hold grudges. the type to see a person for who they are as a whole and if they mess up, he’s just like “you’re better than that /: but it’s fine.” probably why he gets hurt so much

wanted connections

a roommate maybe? i pictured him living in an apartment because he probably wouldn’t be able afford live anywhere else. could be besties, could be someone he barely knows but he just needed someone to move in to split the rent.

the one person who he’ll let take care of him. it probably would take a lot to break through his walls, but this person can calm him down after he gets riled up.

since his ex went to yale, maybe one person who knew her and had somewhat of an idea of what happened. they don’t know everything but maybe from what they heard from his ex, they believe everything was avery’s fault and that he fucked her over entirely.

gut wrenching hate plots of where they really love each other but things just can’t work out for one way or another.

gentle romance <3 slow burn. someone who won’t hurt him PLEASE.

aaaaand someone who takes advantage of how naive he is

and friends. so many friends. he is just so friendly and he isn’t the type to hold shit over people’s heads. 

other links 

pinterest

[naturaldisasterfanfiction]

31. Part 3

Switching the monitor on “I saw the family, gave Monica a hug. One of the biggest hugs, she said that her daughter is an Angel, she did something she could never do. She was singing praises at the store, it was cute. They all want to see the baby Robby” I chuckled “you know what, Chris and I with Fenty will come and see Barbados, and I don’t mind the family seeing her. And when I say family I mean my hometown; I know everyone is waiting to see her. You want to quickly switch to FaceTime and I can show you her, she is asleep” Mel cackled “all you bitches do is sleep, Chris was causing hell and you was both asleep” I hate Mel is laughing but it’s not funny “listen yeah, I’m going to get back to my usual self. I just need to rest my body; you try and give birth to a seven pound baby bitch!” I spat, answering the FaceTime “woo! We see she face, look at my sister. You still got the double chin girl” I gasped “say what!? Chris called me a kangaroo, I’ve been lazy sis not going to lie” angling the camera better “see, I can work it. I don’t know what to show, my chin or my forehead. I hate you; does it look like I gained weight?” Mel is annoying “she put weight on, won’t lie to you baby. But it’s baby weight, show me my baby now bitch. We sick of seeing you” rolling my eyes flicking the camera over “Fenty is asleep while her parents scream at each other” Mel cooed out “she is so beautiful!! Robyn she a little miss thing, she looks fed up. That bald up fist is telling me words!” I laughed at Mel, she is so stupid “it’s ok, auntie baby. I got you. I’m coming for you child!!” She is so loud for no reason “shut up, anyways I am going to have it out with Chris” walking off “keep me on the phone, for entertainment reasons” disconnecting the FaceTime, I think the fuck not.

With the monitor in hand, I figured I would go to the garage. Chris did mention it so I guess I go there first, I hope he is there. My intention is not what he thinks, he has to believe that. I am calm about this because I’m beyond the point of shouting about this, I see Drake has nothing to me so there is that. The elevator pinged and so did my phone, looking down at the message. It’s Drake, unlocking my phone and reading the message ‘You wanted this, here it is’ he added a link to sound cloud, he did it. That man is beyond in love with me and I honestly can’t cope with it, I did use him for that and yet again I am, but I do not care for him. Seeing Chris in the office from the glass door, he is huffing and puffing, like where the fuck did he get these boxes of shit from. I need to really get my ass in gear, I just don’t want Chris angry at me I didn’t mean to upset him when I was trying to help him because I know he is not lying about that shit, it did happen. I don’t even want to interrupt him, but he is scowling so much, let me suck it up and try and get Chris to see my side of what happened, I hope he can anyways because I didn’t mean it. Watching Chris from afar, watching him get annoyed at himself for no reason as he tried to make the spray can work and then accidentally sprayed the glass window, he doesn’t make things easy because what if I were to move. Mine and Chris’ eyes both met but he wasn’t angry, his face softened which made me feel a little better.

Pulling open the glass door “can we talk? Or do you not feel like it and you want more time alone?” I asked, I ask because I don’t want to just barge in and he’s not ready to talk “I hurt my hand” he said while looking down at his hand “you didn’t” I said walking into the office space “not on purpose, when I was going down the stairs my hand caught the side” he is such a liar “is there a hole in the wall in this house” lightly holding his hand, he punched the wall “it’s nothing, I mean it happened. I’m calm now” looking up at Chris “clearly, where did you do this though?” It’s a little sore but you can tell he punched the wall once “bathroom, it’s marble. I ain’t make no hole” frowning at him “that makes it better, your temper is bad Chris but we need to talk, if we can go out of this place and sit upstairs” Chris nodded his head, clearly that punch to the wall has calmed him but it’s still stupid “my hand really hurts though, like look at it” placing the baby monitor on the table before holding his hand in mine and then resting my free hand a top of his “does that hurt?” I asked, “feels sore” bringing his hand up to me and pressing a kiss to the back of his hand before placing it just on my cheek “I mean this could totally make it worse, do you feel like you broke it?” Chris shook his head “it’s ok, just sore” nodding my head “you make me sad Chris, come. Let’s go upstairs” I said to him, I think we need a good talk “I just want to sleep, can I go to sleep?” nodding my head “of course you can, do you want me to wake you before New Year?” he nodded his head “I just want a nap” he has hurt his hand and is now tired “nap on the couch, put something frozen on your knuckles. Does that sound good?” maybe the nap may be good for him.

I feel so out of my depth with this and I thought I would get some advice; sad part is I can’t ask his family. I can’t even ask someone that knows him because nobody does know him or know his moods, so this is new to me, this is new to them I guess even though they have spent all that time with him. It does kill me to think he has nobody that knows him, I can’t ring his mom and say what is his mood like, what do I do because the bitch doesn’t even know so I am ringing this UK help, I need some insight on what to do because I mean now he is like just calm as hell, I am going to try and hide my accent but you never know “uh hi” I feel all nervous now, I mean I hope they don’t want details “yeah so I am Noelle, and my partner has Bipolar and just recently we have moved in so like I don’t actually know what his moods are like. He has ADHD also with that. I found this number and it’s luckily twenty four hours but I just need help understanding him, like I don’t get it” if he starts asking for names and stuff I am going to have to stop this call “that is fine, we are here for all advice and help in this matter. I am Michael, have you both just recently got married then?” he asked “yeah, and moved in. Like I know he had this illness, I wasn’t blind with it but it’s understanding it” this guy has a nice Scottish accent “does he take medication at all? He does take it” pulling a face “uh yes, we recently just had a baby. Like she is a week old, he was so good during then, no issues at all but like I would say two days ago he just fell off” I need help with this because, how do I even deal with it or do I just leave him alone.

“So It’s tough to go through the mood swings of bipolar disorder. It is very complexed to even explain but depression plays a big factor in this because the person with this mental health struggle themselves to understand why the change, they can make it hard to do the things you want and need them to do. During manic periods, they may be reckless and volatile. The best way to avoid mood swings is to get treatment which he has done but you may not be able to totally prevent bouts of mania or depression. Even people who always take their medication and take care of their health can still have mood swings from time to time. That's why it's important to catch changes in their mood, energy levels, and sleeping patterns before they turn into something serious. Mood episodes in bipolar disorder often happen suddenly, for no particular reason. You said everything was and is fine but sometimes, you may notice that there are specific things that can trigger mania or depression, such as getting too little sleep, changes to their daily routine. Many people find they're more likely to become depressed or manic during stressful times at work or during holidays. Some people see seasonal patterns to their mood changes” this is a lot “wow” is all I said “it’s very complexed” he is not wrong “it’s daunting for you and you shouldn’t be hard on yourself for feeling like that, if you need further help I can assist if you feel threatened?” shaking my head “no, he said he is having nap” well that is what he said anyways “is he sleeping well at night? It’s important for them to sleep, clear thoughts, clear mind?” he said, “he hasn’t been sleeping, for the days he’s been like that at all, why is it important for sleep?” I questioned “the less they sleep they are going through a mood change, usually mania. The more they sleep, it’s more depression phase. They need to have stability in their sleep, get the hours because their mind is working overtime, it’s hard for them to be ok in a room full of people that don’t think like them. But they do battle themselves more then you would know” that really made me sad.

I sighed out heavily “how can I help? Like in general anyways, I want to learn about it? We just moved here too” I thought I would add that “Caring for someone with bipolar disorder can be extremely hard, whether you’re a partner, parent, child, or friend of someone who has this condition. It’s stressful for everyone it touches. It’s tough to strike a balance. You want to be supportive and empathetic because you know the person with bipolar disorder isn’t to blame for their illness. But their behaviour may affect you, and you have to take care of yourself and your needs, not just theirs” flicking the tear that fell, this makes me emotional “so I can give you some tips which you are doing now which is learn. The more you know, the better. Listen. Pay attention to what your loved one has to say. Don't assume that you know what they are going through. Don’t dismiss all of their emotions and feelings as signs of their illness. Someone with bipolar disorder may still have valid points. Encourage them to stick with treatment. Your love one needs to take their bipolar medication and get regular check-ups or counselling. Notice their symptoms. They may not be able to see it as clearly as you do when their bipolar symptoms are active. Or they may deny it. When you see the warning signs of mania or depression, you can try to make sure they get help. Do things together. People who are depressed often pull away from others. So encourage your loved one to get out and do things they enjoy. Ask him to join you for a walk or a dinner out. If he says no, let it go. Ask again a few days later.”

“Express your own concerns. Since your loved one's behaviour can have a huge effect on you, it’s OK to discuss. Don’t blame the other person or list all of their mistakes. Instead, focus on how his actions make you feel and how they affect you. The most important thing is to take care of yourself. As intense as your loved one’s needs may be, you count, too. It’s important for you to stay healthy emotionally and physically Noelle” I am trying to take all this in but I can kind of understand “what’s up?” I jumped at Chris’ voice, turning around “thank you for that, I have got what I wanted” disconnecting the call “did you have a nap?” he shook his head, staring at Chris in sadness I just feel sad and it’s not that I hate what I have got myself into but this, what he has. It’s so horrible, and the fact I couldn’t call on his loved ones to help, I am so angry. I am angry at his mother, his father. They have failed him and me, I am having to do this now at his age because nobody cared, I am cleaning her mess “before it’s a New Year, can we talk baby?” he seems ever so calm now “I’m sorry” nodding my head smiling “we can talk, come” grabbing his hand as I walked with him, I don’t know why but a sob left my lips, my heart is crying “why are you crying?” Chris asked “just happy tears” I lied, I don’t want to go into it.

[batgirl-87]

i'll start in good faith: explain some situations that your MC will deal once graduated(like maybe the summer before joining for her dream job, or a specific situation you imagined to happen related to her job)

You know I believe I mentioned before on here that I had this idea for a Curse Breaker movie about Bill and his Curse Breaker partner (Keira =p) that was like The Mummy/The Mummy Returns with some Indiana Jones... Guess I could describe that idea in some more detail...

It would be set in Egypt before the Weasley family goes to visit Bill there - basically the reason they go to visit him because after all this he receives some medal to reward him at the end of all these events. Originally I had imagined Cate Blanchett as Rakepick being Bill and Keira’s boss, but despite not playing the game lately I do know about some things that occur still in the game so... Doubt she’d be their boss but we all would love to see Cate Blanchett as Rakepick right?!

Anyway, I digress... This is clearly a fantasy movie that unfortunately will never be made. So sad... Also I have clearly never written a screenplay. Imagine as best as you can...

It would start out with whoever their boss is - could still be Cate Blanchett =p Maybe Rakepick has a good twin or sister or something? - talking with a couple... let’s call them diplomats? From another Curse-Breaking organization because with the whole world filled with artefacts and susceptible to curses Gringotts can’t be the only organization, right? I like to think there are a few scattered around the world and take on different regions but sometimes need to work together although there’s some animosity or competition... sort of like frienemies? Like how different nations interact - it’s some Curse-Breaker UN.

So Head Curse-Breaker of Gringotts discussing a work collaboration with a couple diplomats from another organization and I’m feeling...Russians... And is telling them about their Curse-Breaker agents, assuring them to put the best on the case, pulling out Bill and Keira’s files. As they tell these diplomats all of Bill and Keira’s accolades, how much they’ve accomplished since starting as Curse-Breakers, even before joining Gringotts! The camera can pan down to their files and fade to Bill and Keira in an ancient Egyptian tomb completing a mission. With the voiceover of their boss claiming them to be excellent and professional Curse-Breakers, best of the best!

However, the end of this mission doesn’t go so smoothly as they race down the corridors trying to escape the tidal wave of water that is flooding the tomb, running with the artefact they risked their lives for (I also like to think they’re taking back artefacts from wealthier individuals who stole them from less privileged people and cultures - probably why they’re cursed to begin with). They eventually find an exit from this tomb via some secret doorway that leads to a slide that shoots them out of the tomb and into some nearby body of water. After being submerged for a bit they pop back up, Keira holding up the artefact triumphantly and Bill commenting that he wished for once they could finish a mission without nearly dying or ending up soaking wet (probably because he’s concerned about his hair).

They return to their tent where they receive word that they’ll have an important meeting with their boss tomorrow when they return with the artefact. And she hopes they don’t show up soaking wet this time or with their clothes tattered and burnt =p They’re playing a radio that was a gift for them probably from Penny and Toto’s Africa begins to play with is totally their song and Keira ‘forces’ Bill to sing and dance around with her to it. This is clearly a common occurrence.

Oh and there’s definitely some mercenary ‘curse-breaker/artefact finder for hire’ they have to deal with – one in particular who they have a sort of weird relationship with because they always seem to run into him and have to deal with him so it’s always like a ‘oh you again. Well how are you? How are things?’ He’s also someone who I feel like tries really hard but is clumsy and constantly messes up but tries so hard to be a cool, tough badass but it really cowardly – like Benny from The Mummy =P

Anyway, so they go to meet with their boss, get told they’re doing a mission jointly with these Russians & will be working with his big Russian Curse-Breaker – makes Bill look tiny and like a twig =p – to find some ancient artefact. Ooo maybe from the Romanov Dynasty?! It’s very important to the Russians but the location is suspected after years and years of research to be in Gringott’s territory – hence having to work together. It’s a little awkward and tense at first – can they trust each other? Obviously there’s some distrust because what if Bill and Keira try to take it themselves instead of giving it to the Russians and can you even trust these Russians? And this guy is big and strong and a man of little words so hard to get to know him. But the three set out on this journey which is surely filed with action and adventure and they work well together when dealing with these mercenaries who get in their way and complicate things.

So they find this artefact and as soon as they accomplish their task they get taken by some other large Russians – turns out the leader of this gang is the older brother of their new Russian partner! Was he just using them all along to find this artefact – which is actually a key to a much larger fortune – and luring them to this trap and possibly their doom?! They were bonding! Thought they were friends! Come on man… But his older brother is an arsehole and keeps belittling his younger brother because he was adopted and therefore, worthless because his family didn’t want him so no one would and the only reason he was adopted was because his family just took pity on him, and he wanted a ‘little brother/servant’ so really he saved him so therefore he had to be appreciative and do everything he said/wanted him to do.

Anyway, so Bill and Keira are tied up by these big Russian guys, trying to figure out what to do and coping with the betrayal from their new Russian friend/partner, while the Russian guys discuss what to do with them in their native language. Fortunately Keira knows a little bit of Russian and can pick up a few words about essentially killing them, starting with Bill. So as one approaches them, or Bill specifically, Keira suddenly speaks up in Russian and Bill is like “wtf you speak Russian!?” She does her best to distract them or humanize herself and Bill but really the words she has learned are mainly related to Quidditch… But they got to like Quidditch right? Bill is just freaking flabbergasted because he’s known Keira for like over ten years and had no idea she freaking spoke Russian – what was happening?! Was everyone some secret Russian KGB agent in his life?! Were Fred and George going to start speaking to each other in Russian next?! (Keira now totally has to teach them some to mess with Bill).

Keira manages to at least distract them enough they drop their guards a bit as she rambles nonsensically about Quidditch =p so she can figure out an escape. Maybe something like kicking a knife or wand out of the one Russian’s hand who was approaching them and that kick also sends her back/down to break the wooden chair she’s tied to so she can get free. And if there wasn’t a knife previously from the guy there’s one on some nearby table because I just need Keira to throw a knife at Bill and tell him to cut himself free and get their wands – because they were clearly taken away from them and stored in this gang leader’s ‘office’ – while she runs off and leads this big Russian brute after her and Bill to be like “wtf?! Freaking almost killed me with this knife and how am I supposed to cut myself free with my hands tied?!” and then him awkwardly trying to figure it out. Cue some fight scene between Keira and a giant Russian which probably has a lot of her trying to bash him over the head with any heavy object she finds and this guy just shaking it off and not going down! She tries punching and kicking him – dude is like a brick freaking wall but she’s a fighter and I feel like this guy at least respects her fighting spirit and finds this pretty fun.

I haven’t exactly figured out a location where all this is taking place and how this is exactly to go down but Keira and giant Russian – evil Colossus – fight leaves a lot of property damage and as they stand facing each other for sort of a final showdown they notice…maybe a small fire they accidentally started closing in on a large propane tank or something… a gas leak… basically an explosion is going to happen so they have to get the hell out of there! They’re staring each other down, they look at the impending explosion, they look back at each other and then they both make a run for it. Maybe some slow motion is called for here?

Meanwhile, Bill manages to cut himself free but then Russian gang leader comes out from his office, with his adopted little brother/former Curse-Breaking partner of Bill and Keira – dude needs a name… Viktor? Ivan? I can’t handle anymore Alexanders or Nikitas… There’s some Ivan’s in the Romanov family so Ivan it is. Ivan follows his big arsehole of a brother out of his office who is clearly pissed to find both of his captures had escaped their ropes and one along with his henchmen were missing. Poor Bill is unarmed though and when big arsehole brother (I should give him a name but it is fun to call him this) takes out his wand to do away with Bill Ivan stops him and knocks him out – Ivan can be trusted! He feels awful for betraying Keira and Bill when honestly they’re good people and he liked them, they treated him well unlike his brother here, and they did bond and forge a friendship. He’s sorry he got them into this mess. And he helps Bill retrieve his and Keira’s wands as well as the artefact.

As they prepare to leave – either via apparition, portkey, or floo network which I have some interesting thoughts on but honestly all could work and Bill and Keira would definitely have a portkey to set destination – they realize, oh yeah, where’s Keira? Who of course during this perfect timing flies in with evil Colossus (omg I’m so happy I thought of this nickname for this guy) from the explosion propelling them through a large dividing window – I really feel like glass is the best option here. Evil Colossus is knocked out – the bigger they are, the harder they fall. Keira needs a moment, her ears are ringing, she’s blinking to try and get her blurry vision to focus and finally notices Bill and Ivan shouting to her and waving at her to come to them so they can get the hell out of there.

The explosion, while it knocked out evil Colossus, stirs Ivan’s arsehole brother who notices this new destruction before him and his henchmen taken out by some little witch? Wtf!? He reaches for his dropped wand to shoot at Keira who does her best to quickly get up and race to Bill while somehow avoiding Ivan’s arsehole brother’s attacks – probably because he’s still pretty groggy and not coordinated and focused after being knocked out so his shots are off. Plus in another world he’d be a Stormtrooper =p More slow motion of Keira running and avoiding attacks flying past her? Maybe… So she runs right into Bill’s outstretched arm, Ivan wraps his large arms around both of them, and they disappear – again, either via portkey, apparition, or floo powder/network.

Cut to a quaint little village surrounded by trees/forests and a calming river running through it. Some figures of people walking through the village and one leaving what appears to be a pub, swinging his bag over his shoulder and waving goodbye to his friends as they shout their goodbyes to him. He walks through the village, saying hi to a couple others he passes by, and crosses a bridge over the river to continue down a path towards his cottage-like home. As he opens the door to his quaint dwellings a trio of visitors surprise him by suddenly appearing and collapsing on his living room floor with some painful grunts and groans.

“Bill? Keira?”

If anyone is interested in the rest of my idea for this let me know. This was actually really fun to remember and re-live. I hope you enjoyed it and I would love it if it could be made into a movie one day.

“Hey, Charlie…”

Thank you for asking!

(This also helped me find a lot of good Keira x Charlie gifs from Outlander so thanks for that 😜)

[rosmarinys]

i should not care but i don’t know how

read on ao3, dedicated to @josephgraham for creating this crackship that i’ve accidentally been sucked into, thank u king ahdsahfksjfka

It starts like this: Peter heads to café to ask Gran if she thinks that Dad is acting shifty – because he is, Peter might have been gone for a while and Dad could be different now, but guilty is guilty and Peter can read it all over his face, he just doesn’t know why – and as he walks in, he bumps into someone walking out.

“Sorry,” Peter says on reflex, ready to step back and let the stranger pass by.

The guy looks up at him and Peter is struck for a second at how attractive he is – which is, what? Peter has never been one to take stock of how attractive men are, he’s into women, women like Lauren and Lola, all curves not heavy muscle like this man is – but isn’t allowed a second to recover because the stranger winks at him.

“I’m not,” he says before brushing past Peter and disappearing down the street.

His front had pressed against Peter’s for a moment and there had been a second in which Peter wanted to press back but he hadn’t and why does it feel like a missed opportunity?

He shakes himself and heads into the café. No time for a sexuality crisis, Ian is hiding something.

//

 Time passes and Peter keeps seeing the stranger around. Lola tells him that his name is Tubbs and, seriously? Peter does suppose that he is big, but it seems like pure muscle, very little fat. Not that Peter spends a lot of time thinking about his body. He’s been busy, Dotty and Bex are helping him find out exactly what happened on the boat and Peter likes to think that Ian isn’t capable of murder but he thought the same of Bobby, once.

It’s a couple of weeks before Peter actually talks to Tubbs again. This time, Tubbs snatches the newspaper out of Peter’s hand while he was reading it, walking back towards Dad’s house. Peter opens his mouth to snap at him, but Tubbs beats him to it, opening the newspaper theatrically in front of his face and asks, “Been asking after me, pretty boy?” His eyes glint mischievously at Peter, the only thing he can see over the paper, dark and bright.

Peter feels himself scowl while there’s a flush spreading on his neck. “We have a mutual friend, don’t make it something it’s not.”

Tubbs drops the newspaper and grins. “Just said that you were asking after me, who said anything about something else?” His smile is filthy, and Peter wants to kiss him. Which is- a lot to deal with at 10am on a Thursday. So he scowls further and holds his hand out for his paper before marching off.

And if Tubbs brushes his fingers against Peter’s for a second, then Peter doesn’t think about it afterwards. Not at all.

 //

 The third time he meets Tubbs is when things come to a head. Peter is getting drunk at E20, a gay club, yes, but Peter is testing the waters, and Tubbs walks in.

Peter actually doesn’t notice Tubbs coming in despite the fact that the chair he’s sitting in gives him full view of the entrance; his alcohol tolerance has shot so far down since he had Louis, he can feel his 18-year-old self’s disgust at his inability to last past five tequila shots.

Tubbs slides into the seat in front of him. “You following me or something?” Peter slurs, resting his head on his fist, having to look up Tubbs this way. It feels right like this, like the world has always just been slightly off and he’s finally corrected it. Tubbs isn’t someone who should be looked down at, Peter realises.

“You wish,” Tubbs snorts and Peter grins at him, dopily and he hopes its not a trick of the light that makes the way Tubbs grins back him seem fond. “You are fucked,” Tubbs laughs, and gets up and half-picks Peter up underneath his arms and Peter feels himself blink at the strength Tubbs must have. “Let’s get you home, I don’t want Ian Beale on my case, from what Ben’s told me, I imagine I would die of annoyance.”

Tubbs turns to smirk at Peter, his arm around his torso, Peter’s own arm draped over his shoulder, and he smirks as if they are in on an inside joke together and at one point they came outside, Peter can feel the dew of the air soak into his jumper, and Tubbs is taking him back to that house and it’s too much, all of it is and Peter would rather be taken anywhere else so he opens his mouth and speaks and immediately wants to punch himself in the face.

“My dad killed Dennis.”

Tubbs freezes, Peter feels his shoulders tense beneath his arm, his hand tightening on Peter’s waist. He turns to look at Peter and his face is so close, Peter can see that he actually has tiny freckles on his nose and has to restrain the urge to trace them.

“What?” he asks, and his voice is low, his face blank and it feels wrong, Peter is looking down at him again and he isn’t grinning or being a shit and the world is knocked off kilter again and it feels off in a way that its always felt since Lucy died.

“I don’t know why I told you that, you’re just so-so-” Peter stutters and if he was more sound of mind, he would see Tubbs’ eyes flickering around the street to make sure they’re alone.

“What?” Tubbs repeats and Peter wants things to feel the way they did in E20, just for a second, and before he can stop himself, he’s reaching down and kissing Tubbs.

There’s a second in which Tubbs makes a noise of surprise that he feels in his bones before kissing Peter back and he can feel his knees go weak but then Tubbs pulls back and frowns. “You’re drunk, Peter,” he says, holding Peter’s chin back when he tries to kiss him again. “Easy, cowboy. How about you try again when you’re sober, eh?”

Peter blinks, drowsily, and nods, mind slowing to a halt, too many thoughts in his head crashing into each other, he likes to think that his brain wasn’t a car crash once, probably before Lucy died but what use is there thinking about that Peter, he’s in the grave with his twin sister.

He barely notices the rest of the journey home or how Tubbs gets him onto the couch, only feels it when Tubbs’ hands leave him.

 //

 (The next night, Peter drags Tubbs into the nearest alleyway and barely manages to ask, ‘Can I?’ before Tubbs is yanking him down and kissing away any other words that rested on his tongue.)

 //

 It becomes a thing that isn’t quite a thing. Peter means to bring it up sometimes – there’s only so many times he can tolerate Ben’s shit-eating looks before he snaps – but Tubbs puts his mouth on his pulse point and his veins feel like electricity and its forgotten.

He manages to ask once, Tubbs stretched out on the hotel bed in a distracting manner as Peter tugs on a shirt. “So, what exactly are we?”

“Jesus Christ, don’t tell me you’re about to propose,” Tubbs says, turning his head to look at Peter, eyes hooded.

Peter throws a sock at him. “Shut up, I was just asking, I’ve never – y’know. Whatever,” he sighs and reaches for his shoes.

Tubbs sighs as well behind him and Peter likes to think that he’s watching him, that he likes what he sees. “It’s just sex, calm down, pretty boy.”

Peter glances back at him and thinks that he’s never seen anyone as gorgeous as Tubbs is, nice to look at in the way that fills Peter between the gaps in his rib cage. “Right,” he says at last. He stands up and grabs his jacket. “Well, later,” and it all feels very anticlimactic, like it always does when he runs off as soon as they’re done, brain running at a hundred miles an hour and he needs to run to the nearest bench and sit with his head in his hands and try to figure out why having sex with Lauren leaves him tired afterwards whereas sex with Tubbs leaves him desperately alive afterwards, like he’s touched an open wire.

Tubbs catches his hand as he passes by towards the door. His thumb presses into Peter’s wrist, feeling the pulse thrumming underneath and when Peter looks at him, he’s focused on their hands and he sees Tubbs’ chest stutter when he wraps his fingers around Tubbs’ wrist in response.

“Stay?” Tubbs asks, and then his expression shutters, closing off that emotion that Peter couldn’t quite read. “We can watch the history channel, or whatever.” Peter tells himself that he doesn’t care that Tubbs knows what he likes to watch on the TV.

He drops his jacket and watches Tubbs grin, hard muscle softening for a second.

 //

 It continues that way, Peter staying for longer and longer after until he doesn't even think of leaving, just lies half on Charlie while their sweat cools – “You can call me Charlie y’know,” Tubbs says once, before immediately sucking a hickey in Peter’s neck so that he almost forgot but remembered just as he was leaving, just in time to whisper, “Bye, Charlie,” and smack a kiss onto Tubbs’ cheek and feel the heat that blossomed beneath his lips. Peter’s face rests on Charlie’s collarbone, fingers mindlessly tracing shapes on his bicep as he murmurs into his skin, “He lied to my face, Charlie, and I actually believed him.”

Charlie hums and Peter feels it run through him. “Some people are just bad to the bone, baby, nothing you can do about that. My dad was the same way.” He reaches a hand up and runs it through Peter’s hair. He’s doing it to distract him, but Peter lets him, rolls his head up to meet his eyes. “Hello there, pretty boy.”

“Hello,” Peter replies, and kisses him.

 //

 (This is how it ends: it doesn't.)

[moonstomars]

Sorry if I'm to late for it, but wouldn't you mind doing some Griamore x Veronica for the ship ask, please?

Hello! You are not late at all, and sure! Sorry it took a while to write this down

Who is a night owl: none of them is particularly a night owl, but Veronica can stay awake longer. She also doesn’t really like to sleep in front of other people because it makes her feel vulnerable and a bit childish, but she doesn’t have this problem with her sisters or Griamore since she has known them for so long and trusts them 

Who is a morning person: Griamore usually wakes up earlier, he doesn’t mind, and besides he has work to do! Veronica wakes up pretty early as well because she wants to train as well, she wouldn’t mind sleeping a bit more but she is stubborn enough to ignore the fact 

Are they cuddlers: not in public usually, but when they are alone Veronica likes to sit next to Griamore and lean against him, and she also appreciates when he puts his arm around her shoulders (though she has never said it out loud)

Who is the big spoon: Veronica would like to be the big spoon but Griamore is huge so in the end, she is okay letting him hold her. Griamore loves that! He feels like he is keeping her safe

Who is the little spoon: Usually Veronica, though she tries sometimes to hold Graimore

What is their favourite sleeping position: they face each other and Veronica usually hugs him, while Griamore holds her gently, he doesn’t want to squeeze her 

Who steals all the blankets: Veronica, always, she does it accidentally and then denies it or claims that she really needs all of them. Griamore is absolutely not bothered by this, he finds her adorable all wrapped in the blankets

What they wear to bed: Veronica wears a nightgown, Griamore a pyjama or shorts 

Who likes seeing the other wearing their t-shirt: the problem is that Graimore would rip Veronica’s shirt and but his shirts are enormous and Veronica basically disappears inside them. But she can wear them if she fixed them well enough with pins and a belt 

Who falls asleep mid-conversation: both of them! Sometimes Griamore is just so tired that he falls asleep while she is talking, while Veronica is just so stubborn and refuses to go to sleep even though she is tired, so sometimes she t falls asleep suddenly. None of them is bothered by this usually, though Veronica sometimes scolds Graimore about it (she is not serious at all, she knows that he can get tired and finds it pretty cute)

Who wakes up in the middle of the night with nightmares: it happens to the both of them but not often, like basically all the characters of this manga they passed through some very stressful situations and have some regrets. Veronica doesn’t like to admit that she had a nightmare, she tries to hide it, but Griamore usually notices and just holds her tighter without saying anything. When Griamore has a nightmare though she asks him if he wants to talk about it and reassures him that everything is okay

Who accidentally punched the other in their sleep: Veronica, she punches Graimore a lot, but he rarely notices if she doesn’t hit his face. 

Who can’t keep their hands to themself: they are very controlled, but probably Veronica is the one who reaches for him the most. Griamore is just very respectful and doesn’t want to push her boundaries 

Who said “I love you” first: I think it was Graimore, at the end he simply couldn’t keep it for himself anymore. He was super shy about it but Veronica already knew that he had feelings for him. She appreciated his confession a lot anyway 

Who would have the other’s picture as their phone background: Graimore, definitively, he tries to hide it at first; when Veronica sees it she rolls her eyes but she smiles. 

Who leaves notes written in fog on the bathroom mirror: Veronica, usually she writers funny comments like about the fact that Graimore should be faster at taking his shower. Griamore secretly finds them lovely 

Who buys the other cheesy gifts: Griamore buys her cheesy gifts sometimes, he knows she appreciates them, but Veronica likes to buy him gifts too. She just takes a long time to choose them and always asks her sisters’ help 

Who initiated the first kiss: Veronica, Griamore wouldn’t have taken the first step and she was sick of waiting. She asked him to bend and then just kissed him, it took him by surprise!  

Who kisses the other awake in the morning: Graimore sometimes, he can’t help! He finds her lovely when she sleeps! 

Who starts tickle fights: Veronica, she jumps of him traying to tackle him and usually Griamore lets her do whatever she wants

Who asks who if they can join the other in the shower: Veronica is the one who does that the most, Griamore still feels a bit shy about it. 

Who surprises the other in the middle of the day at work with lunch: Veronica! Griamore was working with Gil and Howzer and she just showed up with something to eat and dragged him away. He likes having lucnh with her a lot, it’s fun, so he never complains when it happens 

Who was nervous and shy on the first date: they were both a bit nervous, but Griamore was probably more nervous ... but they have been friends for so long that they soon relaxed.  

Who kills/takes out the spiders: Veronica doesn’t like spiders so she lets Griamore take care of them, he doesn’t mind 

Who loudly proclaims their love when they’re drunk: Griamore, always when he gets drunk! He gets really loud and needs to express his love. Veronica is not very loud when she is drunk but she is more likely to tell him about how much she cares about him