#sorry poptart I ran out of room

[clanwarrior-tumbly]

Can I request one where Lampert and reader were friends with Kasper aka infected before he got well infected, basically the reader kept hanging out with infected and ended up getting infected too and they end up going to Lampert because they are still them atleast for a bit. angst definitely but you could make it have a fluffy ending

"I put more tape on those posters, Kasper. I'm sure Poptart will turn up soon."

"Thanks for doing that, bro. But...who's that?"

"Huh? Poptart is-"

"No, "Kasper". Isn't he like...the friendly ghost or somethin'?"

"Um..last I checked that was your name."

"Nah I'm pretty sure it's Infected." Kasper, or rather "Infected" as he apparently started calling himself, just shook his head before turning back his computer. He was in the midst of a gaming session, the round beginning as he tried staying focused.

You, on the other hand, just sat on the beanbag chair in his room, confused as all hell.

Ever since he caught that weird virus and brought it back to the apartment...it seemed to be getting worse. It began as a common sinus infection that made him lethargic, with half the stuff he was saying nearly indiscernible. He denied being sick enough to warrant a doctor visit, though, and figured it'll eventually pass.

And as his neighbor and best friend, you thought that giving him space was the best thing to do until he felt better.

At some point, you noticed a gradient creature with an unpleasant color scheme wandering in the dark alleys and down the hallway. It never spoke a word, making you wonder why it was here or if Kasper's illness had something to do with its appearance, but not even he was sure about it.

Then Poptart, his beloved cat, went missing a few days later. He knocked on your door crying and panicking the following morning, clearly scared out of his mind as he woke up to find its food bowl untouched.

That led you both to believe someone kidnapped the poor thing, so together you put up missing posters around the apartment complex, hoping somebody knew their whereabouts. Kasper had his suspicions that the gradient might've had been involved, but as off-putting as it seemed...you couldn't accuse it of anything without solid proof.

Last time you saw Unpleasant, it went onto the elevator, so god only knows what floor it could be on now.

Until it came back, you decided to stay with Kasper and look for Poptart, making sure nobody tore down the posters.

At the current moment, however, as you watched him game, you were a bit grossed out to see the pink snot dribbling from his nose--but when he raised his arm to rub it on his sleeve, you saw something even more alarming:

Pink-checkered textures covering part of his skin, briefly glitching before they vanished.

You got up from your seat and approached him, tapping his shoulder. "Kasper? I saw something weir-"

"I need to focus--oh no, no, no, N0!! My str34k!!"

You froze for a moment, concerned by the stark change in his voice--as though it was ran through a bitcrusher--before frowning as you saw him staring at his screen now, shoulders slumped at the "Defeat" message displayed across it.

"Awh man..." He whined, now sounding somewhat normal.

"Sorry, but..I just wanna be sure you're okay. At least keep a tissue handy, my guy. You're getting it all over your setup." Your eyes surveyed his desk for anything that could be a good tissue substitute--besides magazines.

"I told you, bruh, I feel fi...ah...ahhhCHOO!!" Kasper turned to sneeze directly onto the floor, where a few tiles began flickering pink...before you saw that same checkered texture from before.

But your gamer friend, totally unaware, just turned to stare you with a biggest grin on his face. "See? My sinuses are clear now!"

Then he sniffled again, sulking as his nose betrayed him.

"Look, this virus is turning into something bigger. It's gone beyond a small sinus infection." You huffed. "A virus wouldn't make you forget your own name. A virus wouldn't turn your carpet into that." Pointing to the glitchy texture that showed up, you made sure he was looking at it.

He blinked. "I did that?"

"You need a doctor, Kasper. And I will drag you to one if I have t-"

"For the gazillionth time, that's not my name!!" He suddenly snapped, punching the desk with anger you've never seen before. "It's "Infected"! How have we been friends this long if you can't even remember my ####### n4m3?! $w34r 1'll b4n u fr0m my lif3 if y0u d0n't st0p!"

You stared at him in shock, taking a step back as you saw his fist nearly glitch through the desk.

What was happening to him?

Did the virus force him to call himself "Infected"? Was it making him refuse to accept any help?

You had no idea, and it was scaring you.

"...s0rry.."

"It's..fine-"

"N0. It isn't.." His shoulders slumped again and he looked down at his hands, wondering what was wrong with him. "I...I didn't m34n t0 3xpl0d3 0n y0u. I..I just..."

Then he trailed off, staying unusually silence for several long moments.

That gave you an idea. You had to test something.

"Hey, just amuse me for a second...do you remember this guy?"

Infected raised his head, watching you pick up the picture frame that sat beside his computer. It was photo of him and Lampert--the living lamp robot you two met at ROKEA years ago.

Ever since the day he came to life, you three were the best of friends, always hanging out on each other's floors, trading stuff, making friendship bracelets, and playing games. You and Kasper were the ones to introduce Lampert to all the cool things the world had to offer..and inadvertently turned him into a bit of a germaphobe once he discovered things like sickness.

Still, you three did everything together. The day you took that picture was most memorable--especially the embarrassment of realizing the arrows on their shirts were facing opposite directions, which you only realized after the photo was developed and printed.

Oh, well.

Then after Kasper got sick, Lampert's been keeping his distance, and oftentimes things became tense in the elevator when the former didn't cover his mouth when sneezing or coughing.

But now that his infection was worsening, you weren't sure if the lamp would wanna see him anymore.

Or even...if he recognized the person in the photo at all.

You could tell by the way he took it from your hands and stared at it for some time, eyebrows furrowed with confusion, that he was starting to lose his memory.

"This l4mp dude..I think..I've s33n him on th4t elev4t0r.."

"We've known him for years, Kas. You and I..pretty much brought him to life." You frowned, worried that he was starting to forget him..

How long will it be before he forgot you, too?

"Don't tell me, after everything we've done together, you're forgetting about him--about us."

"I..I...I w4nn4 r3m3mb3r..but..." His hands began trembling, which you were oblivious to as your frustration began to rise once more.

"But nothing. You have to try. Forget your infection and think to when we last saw him. Where were we going?"

"..I don't...kn0w..."

"Yes you do. Who was in the elevator with us besides us three?"

"I h4v3 n0 id34..st0p it.." His voice shook.

"Kasper. You need to-"

"ST0P S4Y1NG TH4T N4M3!! Y0U'R3 N0T H3LPING!!" He shouted, and in that same moment the frame glitched, becoming covered in checkered textures. It felt like a sharp pain that pierced his hands, causing him to yelp and drop it to the floor, where it turned back to normal after it cracked.

You scrambled to pick it up without thinking, afraid he'd cut himself if he tried getting it, only to turn it over and discover that the photo inside was now ruined.

Kasper's face had been ripped out, as though the virus was trying its hardest to erase him and make him believe he had this random picture of some guy and a lamp robot for no reason...

'It's destroying everything he touches..'

Then your attention went to your fingers, which have turned pink. You gasped and quickly put the frame down, staring at your hand in horror.

It was already spreading to your wrist.

"W04h! A-Are y0u 0k4y??" Infected jumped out of his chair on instinct, unsure of what to do but wanting to help in some way.

But the moment he reached for you, you stepped away, clutching your wrist and scowling deeply at him. "Stay back! Now you got me infected, too, you jerk!"

"......I....I-I didn't m34n it.." His voice trembled, sounding more and more broken up as tears filled his vision. "I'm s0rry...I'm...s0 s0rry. I sw34r..I-I'm n0t d0ing it 0n purp0s3." Clutching his arm, he fidgeted with his sleeve, looking down at the ground in shame. "I'm sc4r3d, [y/n].."

Slowly, but surely, your gaze softened upon realizing how hurt he looked, and the fact that your insults weren't helping matters. You knew the risk to hanging around him when he was sick, so....how could you blame him?

Even he didn't know what was going on with him.

"I...I'm sorry for yelling. I know you didn't mean it. It's alright. We can see if Dr. Retro knows anything about this. She might have a cure or some medicine."

"......"

"Ka--Infected.."

He perked up, seeing you stepping closer. You knew there was no use in keeping distant from him now, since you caught the sickness, too.

With a small sigh, you patted his shoulder. "I'm not mad, okay? It's my fault for touching that picture frame. But I promise..we'll find a way to deal with this. I'll try to remember stuff for both of us...that is..if it doesn't also take my memor-"

He abruptly flung forward to wrap his arms around you, crushing you in a hug. Despite him sniffling like crazy (and feeling sweaty and gross), you returned it, letting his head fall against your shoulder.

He needed this.

You can't even remember the last time you two hugged, or did any of those cool handshakes he taught you.

"You know we'll have to tell Lampert, right?"

"Mhm.."

"...you want me to tell him?"

"Y34h.."

"Okay, next time the elevator comes, I'll hop on it." You patted his back, already sounding congested yourself, but you tried to ignore it.

Instead, you dread what you're gonna say to Lampert.

'He's gonna be pissed...'

...........

3008.

No, the Regretevator didn't have 3000 floors, but that's what Lampert's home floor was called anyways.

You weren't here to ponder why it was given that name, as the doors opened and you stepped out into a familiar place. A place you'd almost call a "second home".

Unfortunately, you were almost rudely pushed to the ground by some of the occupants--all who were rushing into the depths of ROKEA to find him.

Whoever made the rules apparently decided that should be the "objective" of this floor. But you knew where Lampert liked to hang out best, somewhere only you and Kasper would be able to find him.

So while the players scurried around like rats, racing against the clock, you headed straight to your friend, hoping you'll get to explain yourself without him freaking out.

As expected, you found him standing perfectly still among some lamps, switching his light off after realizing it was only you approaching. "Hi, [y/n]." He greeted with a small smile. "Any luck finding Poptart yet?"

"No." You shook your head, absentmindedly tugging on the glove that covered your arm. "Kas has been worried sick, but I put fresh tape on the posters..so...we'll see if that little kitty turns up."

"I hope so, too. Say..what's with the gloves and mask?"

"Oh these? Um-"

"Were you just cleaning up his apartment with those?" He asked, before sighing and shaking his head. "I hope you changed them. Otherwise they're just as unsanitary as-"

"No, no. I wasn't cleaning. I just...just..."

Your nose began to feel itchy.

Lampert just raised an eyebrow. "Go on."

"I..just..ah...HI-CHOO!" Turning away immediately to cover your sneeze, you were grateful that this place didn't allow it to echo through the air...otherwise you would've easily given away your location.

But after hearing him gasp, you looked back to see him take a huge step away from you, scowling. "Y-You're sick?! Why did you come here?!"

"That's what I was getting to. I...I just wanted you to know that I....caught whatever Kasper had." You briefly removed your glove, revealing the pink that was now almost covering your entire forearm.

Least to say, he was mortified. "No..what do you mean you caught it?? I told you not to hang around him until he felt better!"

"I thought he was getting better..but he's not. It's worse than we realized."

"Well are you surprised?" He scoffed. "He refuses to see a doctor and doesn't seem to care if-"

"It's the virus itself, Lampert. It's taking over his mind."

"...what do you mean?"

"He can't even remember his own name. He got angry and told me to call him "Infected". And even worse? He's...forgetting about all the stuff we did together. He could barely even remember you."

"That's...impossible. An ordinary virus wouldn't give people amnesia!"

"That's what I said, too. But..this clearly isn't ordinary. I was gonna go visit Dr. Retro. If she catches this in the early stages, maybe she can figure out some cure for it. But..I-I just didn't know how fast it would spread. So..." You sighed. "..I wanted to see you first. Just in case I end up forgetting about you, too...which I hope doesn't happen."

"I...understand, but you really should've went to her first." He simply responded, still in utter distraught as he stared at you.

As though you were the disease itself.

Why did this have to happen to his two best friends?

Did some higher being just...hate him specifically? All because he's a little wary of germs?

"I'm gonna go there next." You nodded, making sure the mask was snug on your face, but in that same moment, you heard somebody shout that they found Lampert, and you huffed. "Well shit..guess you gotta come, too."

"As long as you keep your distance, that's fine. Nobody else got sick from you, right?"

As much as his question hurt a little, it was a reasonable one to ask. So you just shook your head. "No. I'll stay in my corner and you can stay in yours."

"Fair enough. I just hope it's not too cramped.."

Nodding, you both headed back towards the elevator, keeping a good amount of distance between yourselves.

There was a time where you would've been walking side-by-side with him and Kasper, sometimes linking arms and bumping shoulders (which even the lamp tolerated back then), and you hoped that maybe one day..you'll be able to go back to that.

For now, though, at least he was willing to share a lobby with you and talk about what's been going on at ROKEA just like old times.

So this virus didn't completely ruin your friendship yet...not that you planned on allowing that to happen.

No way.

You'll find a way to beat this.

You had to.

[savemeafruitjuice]

Tickletober Day 21- Costume

This is a Tottmnt fic!

Lee: Mikey (and a bit of lee Donnie)

Ler: Donnie

TW!: None!

"Hey guys~ Check me out!"

Donnie walked into the living room, striking a pose in front of his brothers. They had all spent the last week preparing and figuring out Halloween costumes, and were finally showing the others what they had chosen. There was an immediate reaction of giggling, until Mikey, in his nyan-cat outfit, gasped.

"Oh my gosh! Are you Bill Nye?"

Donnie grinned, nodding excitedly as he pointed to himself. "The Science Guy!" Raph shook his head in amusement, chuckling along with Leo on the couch. The youngest ran up to his brother, walking around him and smiling excitedly. "Broo, it looks awesome! Lovin' the bowtie too, by the way."

The nerdy-mutant smiled back, then suddenly yelped as one of his brother's hands reached for his neck. Mikey had only started fiddling with the bowtie, unintentionally sliding his finger over the elder's collarbone. "What? Did I hurt you?" He paused his hand, face turning to a more concerned one at the noise.

"No! Just uh.. caught me by surprise." Donnie assured, waving his hands in front of him. The shorter shrugged, moving to his sibling's side and felt at the white lab coat, hand smoothing over the side. "Where'd you get the coat from? It fits you so well!"

The elder shifted, face cracking into a forced smile at the feeling. His body lurched a little, urging him to get away. Okay, that was it. He didn't care if Mikey was doing this on purpose or not, he was not about to start laughing in front of his brothers when nothing even happened.

Donnie flipped around, and grabbed onto Mikey's sides through his costume. The turtle let out a shrill shriek, flapping his arms about before going to push the purple-themed mutant's hands away. "EEEIIIIE! Whahat did I doho? I juhust aha- asked a quehestion!"

Donnie just squeezed at his sides a couple times, having to kneel down when the younger practically death-dropped to the floor. Mikey squeaked, and flipped around onto his back, kicking at the elder. "Ohow! What the heck, don't kick me!"

In retaliation, the purple turtle moved up to sit on his legs, drilling his fingers into the younger's belly. The younger just about screamed, bursting into crazed giggles, his arms coming up to slap at his brother. "THEhehen dohohon't tiHIckle mehe! Hahaha!"

Donnie sighed, scratching a bit harder at his sibling's ticklish plastron. The sensation was muted through the Poptart-shaped clothes, but it still seemed to be getting a reaction. "Sorry, I'm afraid there's nothing I can do. It's out of my hands." At the last word, he reached higher, and pressed his hands into the other's underarms. Mikey laughed louder, legs kicking about behind the two, and pressed his elbows down. He threw his head back, hiccupping as the tickling went on.

From where he was watching, Leo saw the start of happy tears forming in his baby brother's eyes, and figured he should probably stop the interaction before it escalated. "Hey, Don. Maybe give it a rest, he doesn't look too good." Donnie looked up, then back down at the younger. A mirthful tear escaped the orange-themed turtle's eye, and the elder took that as his cue to stop.

Mikey pressed his eyes shut, wrapping his limbs around himself as he giggled. After a second, he reached up to wipe at his eyes. Donnie scooted off of him, and the nunchuck-user gave him a look through his smile. The glasses-wearing teen put his hands up. "Whahat?"

After catching the rest of his breath, the youngest lunged up and tackled his sibling. Donnie screamed, being sent to the floor quicker than he could process, and instantly flailed at the touch on his sides. "NAHah- Mihikeeey!"

The younger only shook his head, almost roughly dragging his nails down the bo-staff-user's sides. "I don't wanna hear it! Attacking me when I didn't even do anything is not cool!"

There was a screech, a series of 'sorries' flying from the scientist's mouth. It was a wonder that their father hadn't come rushing in from all of the yelling.. And how ironic for the elder to be attacked, when that was the exact opposite of his intention in tickling his little sibling.

"Nononono- Noho, Mikey Ihi'm saharry! SahAHAHARRY! AHAHAHACK!"

-----

I had no ideas for this one, but hey, I got it done! Hopefully some of you like it 👍

Sorry this is late, and have a great day!

[teddypines]

Picture day, Cat One-shot

Third person pov.

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

It was a quiet afternoon in the compound. Cat was asleep on one of the chairs in the common room. She was just a purrfect little loaf of cat. 

As Cat was sleeping, Clint tried to sneak up to the cat. He has been trying to get a good picture of her for weeks. But every time he came close to getting one, Cat moved away. It was like Cat didn't want her picture taken.

Clint slowly walked to the chair, and the camera was ready to take the picture. He moved closer and closer to Cat. It looked like he would finally get the picture he wanted. 

"Finally a good picture of our precious fur ball," Clint thought to himself as he was ready to take that picture.

Just as Clint was pressing the button, Thor walked into the common room. Loudly announcing his presence. This scared the poor Cat, who ran away. Leaving Clint with a blurred photograph of the precious cat.

"Damn it, Thor! You ruined my picture of Cat." Clint said as he turned to him. Thor just looked at Clint and said, "Sorry.". Thor then walked to the kitchen in search of Poptarts. Clint sighed and left the common room.

On his way out, Clint started thinking of a new plan to get a picture of Cat. 

                                                      《》 

Cat was hiding in the lab. She didn't want her picture taking. The camera always scared her. She doesn't know why, but it scared her so much. Cat knows that i would make Clint happy if he got her picture. She was just too scared to let him take it.

Tony looked up from his work as he saw the cat walking in. "Hey there, Cupcake." he greeted her. Cat answered him with a sad meow and walked over to Tony. "What's wrong, Cupcake?" Tony asked. "You know she can't answer that question, right?" Bruce responded.

"Just let me talk to the cat, Bruce! I also know for a fact that you talk to her too." Tony answered back. Bruce sighed and rolled his eyes in defeat and went back to his work. 

Tony tried talking to Cat, but that obviously didn’t work, so he asked FRIDAY to get Loki or Wanda to come to the lab. After about 5 minutes, both Wanda and Loki walked in.

"What do you want, Stark?" Loki asked. "Good to see you too Reindeergames. I need one of you to translate for me." Tony said to them. He picked Cat up and placed he on the workbench. "Alright, Cupcake, why are you sad?" He questions Cat. Cat meowed in response, but before Wanda could translate. Clint ran into the lab.

"Guy's, have you seen Cat?? I have been looking for her, but I can't find her anywhere." 

"Yeah, she's right here. She was just about to tell us something." Wanda said. "Alright, go on. I'll wait." Wanda turned back to Cat, and Cat repeated what she said earlier. "Cat said that Clint wants to take a picture of her, and she wants to make Clint happy but is too scared of the camera to let him take a picture." Wanda told everyone. 

Everyone was quiet for a bit before loki said, "Wel Clint, why do you want a picture of Cat?" Loki asked. "So I can show Cat to the kids when I get home." He answered. 

"You can just bring them to the compound if you want them to see Cat."  Bruce commented from across the room. Clint looked like he wanted to say something but didn't know what to say. Everyone else just laughed at Bruce's comment. 

"We could always ask a professional to take her picture." Tony suggested. He looked at Cat to see what she thought of the idea, Cat meowed a few times and looked happy. Loki translated this time, telling everyone that Cat was willing to try it. Tony immediately booked an appointment with a professional animal photographer. 

  《 time skip. 2 days into the future 》

Today, the professional photographer came to the compound. Everything seemed to be going well until Cat came running from outside scared and trying to hide behind Bucky. 

Bucky was trying to comfort Cat when Terry, the photographer, came inside. "Is Cat here? She ran away when the automatic flash light went off." 

"It's alright doll the camera won't hurt you." Bucky tried to get Cat out of hiding. Cat looked from behind Bucky at the camera. She meowed at it and Terry. "She will only come out if the flash monster stays away." Loki told Terry.  "Oh, yeah, I can turn the automatic flash off. That should make her less afraid " 

"Wait, you can turn the flashlight off?!" Cint asked, confused. "Yeah, you didn't know that?" Terry sat even more confused. "No. No, I did not know that." Clint admitted. "So I spent a lot of money on this just to learn that you had to turn off the flashlight!" Tony said, a bit irritated. "Sorry Tony, I didn't know." 

After that, the photoshoot went really well, Terry made a lot of cute photos, and Tony, of course, purchased every single one of them. So everyone in the compound could see the cute cat. 

At the end of the day, Cat was lying on Clint's lap. She meowed at him and looked happy. She wasn't afraid anymore, and Clint finally got the picture he wanted. Both happy and tired, they fell asleep on the couch. 

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

A/N: Hi, thanks for reading my story. :) This is my first story, and im kind of new to this, so feedback is welcome. Just don't be too harsh. 

If the characters are off character, i'm sorry about that. Also, English is not my first language, so mind the grammar errors. The story is on wattpad too, but not as clean.

Art/picture is from Google, credits go to whoever made it.

Okay, that was it, bye.

[tehb3stsk4t3revr]

Howdy. Exactly what it says on the blog title, I am not gonna subject my mutuals to me posting roblox boys I am way too weak to own this interest publicly

Me:

Call me Kelly! He/Him. (Yeah bet you were probably expecting Kasper huh?)

I am an adult (under 30). This blog is rated T for Teens, I don't post NSFW (can't imagine where I'd find it anyway...) ✌️

I am at peace with sharing a fandom space with kids but if you're a minor uncomfortable with me commenting on your Regretevator art/posts, no prob! Boundaries are good, block if you gotta block!

This blog will mostly be Infected related, with some Lampert, Wallter, and Pest stuff mostly. Depends on what I find that I like?

I reblog random non-regretevator posts that remind me of regretevator. Don't worry about it > 0 >

This will be like 95% reblogs by volume but I do draw and post. Text posts and talking to other users tag is #Dead Guy Chatter, Art Tag is #Haha. I did that

Hi Kelly, Why Did You Reblog 30 Posts From Me Then Fuck Off Into The Sunset?:

I go post by post in the character tags when I'm bored at work, sorry lol

I guarantee that when I'm doing that I'm gonna forget that I already reblogged something and reblog it again like a week later. Take it as a compliment, I guess??? Your art is beautiful thank you for posting it

If I recognize something (or think I recognize it anyway...) that's a #D3j4 Vu r3bl0g. I just felt like reblogging again!

You might've also liked something from me so I backread through your blog until I ran out of attention span :D

You're on my DNI tho???:

It wasn't on purpose. I often forget to look at pinned posts before reblogging, especially if I got to your post from someone else's blog or a character tag. Again, block if it makes you feel better.

Blog Contents & Tagging:

Haiii, I'm A Shipper! ~(￣▽￣)~

I'm tagging Skaterlight with #Mah br41nr0t (I love my brainrot, it's a compliment!)

Partyskater is #P4rteh h4rd!

#The Unpleasant Ship Ever is for whatever the hell it is Jeremy and Unpleasant have going on, it makes me laugh.

Will add more ship specific tags to filter/binge if I need 'em but I don't rn.

I will not tag interactions between characters that seem like they're a non-romantic context. IDC if I or OP ships it. Infected and Lampert standing in the same room is not skaterlight unless they're calling each other pet names or makin' out or something. Exceptions being when I'm tagging my own art for reach.

There's no specific tag for Infected/Lampert vs Kasper/Lampert here; everything is just 'Skaterlight br41nr0t' to me. Happy to be corrected if there is actually a distinction I don't know about tho, I Strongly prefer Kasper/Lampert.

I love things that make me sad! (❁´◡`❁)

Injury tag is #0uch. Includes everything from heavy nosebleeds and vomiting to eye injuries, severe real life symptoms of illness, and cat death (o7 Poptart). I rarely reblog this stuff because I don't enjoy seeing characters I like get hurt, but sometimes the suffering feels In Character, idk.

Emotional Damage tag is #P41N and covers everything from relationship angst to implied offscreen death.

No I'm not tagging jokes about Mark and Wallter being divorced, they're hilarious and also canon lol.

Gross, this guy has boundaries! ( ಠ_ಠ )

Please tell me if someone I reblog from has a sketchy reputation. I'm not super involved in fandom drama and don't keep tabs on every controversy, but I want to be able to investigate for myself.

FleshCousins are a species of critter they're not sapient enough to like. Consent. I'm keeping my distance if you ship that or draw anything weird of one, idc if yours is a person, that is like... A parrot made of sewer hamburgers to me. ✌️😐

I am not proship, please leave me the fuck alone if you're into character relationship dynamics involving SA or other mad nasty stuff like that. There doesn't need to be a fight about it, I'll mind my business if you mind yours, kk?

[iamheadphones]

June 12, 3027

Then a sudden thud went through the room. The two immediately parted and looked over towards the stairwell. There stood the four kids. Addie had her phone pointed up at them before a loud shutter and flash went off. Ella was peeking up from behind Chase. Whilst Julia was jumping over Addie. Then there was Chase. The cause of the thud. His phone was flat and on the ground and his jaw had dropped to the ground. They stood there for about a minute just staring back and forth at each other. As Chase squatted down to the floor and grabbed a phone before standing back up. His eyes still glued to the two. “SHE’S REAL!” Ella shouted as she pointed at the couple. Before the four siblings turned and ran back up the stairs shouting. Nora looked back at Kris. More surprised than confused, or annoyed. “Probably should’ve looked around before getting handsy.” Kris said their face flushed red. Nora’s seemed to have the same response. Her face was bathed in a deep red. Kris gave a whistle catching Nora’s attention as they offered her the mug with the creamer. She smiled and took it. “Thank you.” She said as she took a sip from the mug. Then the commotion died down before it started back up again. In the clutter of voices Kris could make out at least Robin’s deep one as the commotion came straight down the stairs. Elliot was the first with Chase on his back clearly trying to keep himself up on Elliot’s back. While Addie was bouncing down the stairs. Her hand gripped onto her older brother’s wrist as if she were trying to drag the much taller male. Then came Julia who put her stuffed bear, and blanket down just so she could drag Jake, and Robin by the wrists. Though it was clear she wasn’t dragging either teen. Last but not least Ella came down the stairs. She wasn’t shouting as loud as everyone else, and her ears were covered. Eventually Elliot’s eyes landed at the two. “Oh Hi Nora.” Elliot said with a smile. “Sorry about the commotion.” Elliot apologized as Nora giggled. “It’s fine.” Nora replied with a smile. “SHE’S REAL!” Chase screamed, causing Elliot to move his head back. “She’s BEEN real since y’all came here. Now why are y’all over reacting?” Elliot asked as he leaned back trying to drop Chase off. “Robin and Jake told us she wasn’t real!” Julia said as she dropped their wrists and pointed at the two. Robin has a confident smirk, and Jake has a sly grin. “Really now?” Elliot replied back. “Hey, it was a solid prank.” Robin said with their hands on their hips. “Aren’t you supposed to be on our side!” Chase exclaimed. “Yeah, but it was funny.” Robin replied as they quickly slipped back up the stairs. “Get them!” Chase shouted as he ran after them. “I’m just going to chill out here.” Addie replied as she walked over to the couch while Jake, and Elliot walked back up the stairs. Ella and Julia approached the two. “Hi I’m Ella.” Ella said as she held her hand out for a shake. “And this is Julia.” Ella said as she used her other arm to point at Julia. Kris smiled as Nora placed her mug on the counter. “Hi Ella, and Julia, I’m Nora.” Nora introduced herself, as she shook Ella’s hand. “Also I have two questions.” Ella said as Nora, and Kris raised a brow. The ding rang through causing them to turn to the toaster. “Well what are your questions?” Nora asked. “Is Kris your boyfriend? Or girlfriend? Or boyfriend/girlfriend?” Ella asked Kris raised a brow confused as they handed one of the poptarts to Nora. “What do you mean by that?” Nora asked. “Well Sam, and Jenny, are boyfriend, and girlfriend, and Lapis and Marina are girlfriend and girlfriend. And none of us know if Kris is a boy or a girl since nobody really says what it is, and we thought we’d be rude if we asked. So how do you use boyfriend, and girlfriend with y’all?” Ella asked as Kris and Nora looked at each other. Kris sighed and smiled and Nora looked back at the two.

[portaltothevoid]

Foolin’ (20//20) eddie munson x ofc

Summary: Eddie and Kat make their relationship known to all of Hawkins High. He continues her birthday celebration that night at The Hideout.

Word count: 6.6k

Warnings: brief mention of some kinks, some ass slapping, the tiniest bit of voyeurism, lil kiss here, lil kiss there, and fluff, ooo is this fluffy

Taglist: @munchabunch @madaboutmunson @riffcrusader @michele131

A/N: Well my fabulous readers, this is a wrap on Foolin’! Keep an eye out for playlists to appear on my masterlist post! I just wanna thank anyone and everyone who checked out even just one chapter, who left one note, or reblogged this story, and especially those who’ve left comments. It’s relit a creative fire in me that I wasn’t sure where I was gonna find again. My fantastic four in my taglist: your love of Kat and this story kept me going and made me so eager to keep writing. Oh? Wait? You’re really thinking this the end of Kat and Eddie’s story? My dear readers, this is only the first part! I’m not stopping here! We have a Christmas special coming up and....everything from season four! The Kat Ramsay Chronicles are far from over. The best is yet to come.....

The jarring sound of the alarm clock Kat forgot to turn off jolted her awake. She flailed her arms as she was startled, hitting something next to her, which caused her to jump even more.

“Ow..?” Eddie groaned. “You gonna shut that off?”

Once Kat finally woke up enough to remember everything that happened, she reached over and turned off the alarm. “Sorry I slapped you,” Kat giggled.

“No, it’s fine. Love being roughed up first thing in the morning.” They both looked at each other before bursting out laughing. Eddie rolled over wrapping his arm around Kat’s waist as he snuggled his face into her neck. She reached up and ran her fingers through his hair.

“Ugh, we should get up and go to school.” Kat sighed reluctantly. 

“Noooo,” Eddie’s voice was muffled into her shoulder.

“Yes!” She said as she tried to peel him off her. “Do you wanna repeat your senior year for a third time? Get up.” Slithering out of bed successfully, she grabbed the blankets and threw them half off the bed, which made Eddie let out a yelp as the cold morning air hit his skin.

“But it’s just one day!” He protested.

“And so was yesterday, which you also missed!” She was rifling through her closet, trying to find a shirt.

“Okay, so… it’s just two days!”

Pausing, Kat turned around to glare at him, before going back to what she was doing. “Ah! Found it. Here.” She threw a shirt at him. “It’s big on me. Might fit you. Don’t make me force you out of this house. We’re going.” Grabbing her own outfit, she left the room to change in the bathroom. 

“You’re lucky this is an Iron Maiden shirt!” Eddie called to her. 

“You’re lucky I just have good taste in music.” She said, handing him her toothbrush, which Eddie just looked at. “Go on, take it.”

“But that’s…” 

Kat rolled her eyes. “I think after last night, you can use my toothbrush. I’ll meet you downstairs.” She said, shoving it at his chest. Eddie smirked at her as she left the room.

“Yeah, okay, good point.” He mumbled to himself.

When Eddie finally went downstairs, Kat had her backpack on and was eating a poptart. She slid a plate with two of them on it over to him. “Well, aren’t you sweet?” He said as he helped himself.

“Sweet as pie.” Kat batted her eyelashes at him.

“Don’t I know it. Got a taste last night.” He smirked at her. 

“Alright, alright, hurry up, we gotta go.” She shoved his keys at him, pushing him towards the door. 

“You really are persistent, you know that?”

“Mhmm.” She murmured as she eyed Sherri across the street watching them like a hawk. “Well, I can’t take you back to LA with me after graduation, if you, ya know, don’t graduate.” Eddie stopped short, causing Kat to bump into him. He spun around to face her. “I mean, totally, like, only if you want to…” 

“You want me…to go back to LA…with you?” He asked slowly, making sure he heard her right.

“Duh? Seriously, Eddie? Someone with your talent will rot away if you stay in a place like this.” She said as she emphatically gestured around her, turning in one full circle. “And, I for one, will not stand to see your talent wasted.” She poked his chest to put emphasis on each of her words.

“We really are a packaged deal now, huh?” He responded as he held her chin in place as he kissed her.

“Yup.” She smiled dreamily, staring up at him for a few seconds. “A packaged deal that needs to graduate. Move it, Munson.” As she rounded the van to get into the passenger seat, she locked eyes with her neighbor. “Good morning, Sherri! Be sure to tell all your gossiping friends what you just saw! You have a nice day now!” Eddie gave her a confused look. “She’s the bitch that complained about your van to my aunt. Oh, you know what? Next spring I should kill all her flowers. Make her front lawn look ugly as shit.” She mused out loud. Eddie shook his head and laughed as the van’s engine roared to life.

Before they were even off Kat’s street, she went into her backpack and pulled out a cassette. She switched whatever was in there already, popping the one she had brought, which of course, was Dokken’s newest. She just looked at Eddie, grinning like a Cheshire cat. “You’ll learn to love them, I promise.”

“I never said I didn’t! They’re good. Metallica is just more my speed. And I will have you know, I know all the words to ‘In My Dreams.’” He nodded matter of factly.

“Oh yeah?” Kat gave him a challenging stare as she leaned over to fast forward the tape to track three. 

Immediately Eddie began singing right along. He smirked at Kat in between verses. “What was that? Did you dare doubt me, Ramsay?” He threw his head back in a small fit of maniacal laughter before dropping the theatrics to start singing again. His antics earned him one of Kat’s signature eyerolls, only they were now usually followed by a small chuckle. 

Midway through their morning drive, Eddie turned down the radio. “Hey, so you’re gonna come to the Hideout tonight, right?” He asked almost hesitantly.

“Of course, it’s Tuesday. Why wouldn’t I?” She eyed him suspiciously.

“Just wanted to make sure.” He shrugged.

“Hm, I’ll only go if you go to school the next day.” That made him just slowly turn his head to stare blankly at her. “Don’t give me that look! How many times am I gonna say this today?” Kat laughed. “You need to graduate. This year.”

Eddie put one hand over his heart and leaned his head in Kat’s direction. “Aw, I’m feelin’ the love, Mom. I’ll make sure I go to school tomorrow.” He returned his attention to the road, his face slightly pursed at the thought of school.

“I’m just lookin’ out for you! And ew! Do not call me ‘mom.’” She scoffed in disgust. “I’m not into that shit.”

Eddie let out a short chortle and batted his eyelashes at Kat. “Well, just so you know, I’m into it if you call me ‘daddy,’ sweetheart.” 

“Oh my god.” Kat said as she playfully backhanded Eddie’s shoulder.

“Aw, now she’s blushing. Look at that.” 

“Eddie!” Kat yelped as she hit him again, a little harder than before. While he just laughed it off, she added, “Just shut the hell up and drive, would you?” She turned away from him to look out the window with a small smile that never left her face.

Eventually the duo made their way into school with Eddie’s arm around Kat’s shoulders and hers around his waist. Their display earned them quite a few head turns, eyerolls, and looks of repulsion. Ignoring it all, they stayed in their own little world. 

As per their usual ritual, Eddie was leaning on one arm against the locker next to Kat’s. She was laughing at Eddie for something he said when Robin came charging up to both of them. “Munson! What the hell is wrong with you!” She said harshly as she put both of her hands on his shoulders, shoving him backwards.

“Ow?” He grunted. “What is with everyone doing that to me today?” He said as he regained his balance, shaking his head.

“Hey, Kat.” Robin turned to smile at her, before she directed her attention back to Eddie with her face pulled into a grimace.

Kat laughed at the spectacle and with a smirk on her face, said, “Oh, come on, you’re loving being roughed up. Admit it. Hi, Robin.”

“Not. Helping.” Eddie said sideways through gritted teeth at Kat. That just caused her to laugh more.

“How could you forget Kat’s birthday? You know you really have some nerve showing up here today. Empty handed at that! You should have seen her. If it wasn’t for Dustin–”

“Okay, okay, Buckley, hold up. Uh, Kat, a little help here?” Eddie tried to interrupt Robin’s rant.

“No, no. I think Robin should continue.” She encouraged with a smug look as she was enjoying this a little too much.

“–then the poor girl would have been all alone and it was all your fault! And! It was your turn to drive Dustin home yesterday, you know. But, you’re over here making…googly eyes at her all the time and then you’re just MIA? Who does that! Who does that!” Robin was waving her hands as she talked and then slammed them down by her sides, her hands forming fists. To punctuate it. She then blew her bangs out of her face all the while staring Eddie down. Kat was stifling giggles as Eddie kept looking between the two girls. His expression somehow pleading to Kat to help him and slightly scared of Robin. “Wa-wait. Kat, you’re way too amused by this. I had this whole speech planned out in my head, in case I said something too insensitive that I shouldn’t. But you– you’re…Both of you…Kat doesn’t look mad. And…and you look– you’re not groveling. I’m missing something here. Oh god, was I too late for my rant? Here I go again! Get your shit together, Buckley!” At this point, Kat was in stitches. Eddie still looked hopelessly confused.

“Robin, Robin,” she began as she put her hand on her shoulder. “I appreciate you defending me. Really. But we’re good. He redeemed himself in the final hour.”

“What?” Robin looked at them both dumbfounded.

“I tried to tell you..” Eddie shrugged timidly. Kat shut her locker and took her place right next to Eddie so they were both facing Robin.

“It’s all good. We’re good.” Kat leaned her head on Eddie’s shoulder. He brought his arm around her shoulders, pulling her close to him, and kissed the top of her head. Kat did a jazz hands motion and quietly went, “Ta daaa!”

“Oh…Oh! So you’re… you guys are finally a thing now?”

“Wait, what does she mean ‘finally’?” Eddie asked.

“Come on. Anyone with eyeballs could see the chemistry going on here.” Robin moved her hand around in a circle in front of the two of them. 

Kat giggled into Eddie’s shoulder as the first warning bell sounded. She put her hand on his chest as she stepped on her tiptoes to kiss him before they parted ways. “I’ll see you later. Robin, you’re the best.” She said, giving her friend a squeeze on the arm as Kat walked away towards her first class.

“It's gross how adorable you two actually are together.” Robin quickly shook her head. “You’re lucky, Munson. I was ready to have it out for you.” 

As she started to walk away, Eddie stopped her. “Buckley, wait. Uh, so, I am planning this thing for Kat at the Hideout tonight. I think she’d be happy if, you know, you were there. I don’t know, maybe bring Harrington along. I’m making all of Hellfire go.”

“Ah, so, now you’re planning the party.”

“Hey. Sometimes business gets in the way of pleasure, okay? Just, uh, think about it.”

“Well, I’m only going for her.”

“That’s the only reason I’d ask you. Something tells me metal just isn’t your scene. 7:00 tonight. Our guest of honor is getting there at 7:30!” Eddie called out to her as he turned the hallway going off towards his class.

“The things I do for my friends…” She mumbled to herself.

Yet again, Kat and Eddie were the talk of the school with the rumors confirmed and all. Lunch was surely going to be fun. As Kat was leaving chemistry, she heard a small voice calling her name. “Kat! Hey! Wait up!”

“Hey, Chrissy, what’s up?” Kat smiled.

“So, um, are you and Eddie, like, officially a thing now?”

“You heard it here first. It’s officially official.”

“See, I knew you’d warm up to Hawkins eventually.”

“Hang on, Chrissy. No one ever said anything about warming up to this town.”

“You know what I mean!” Chrissy giggled. “I’m just happy for you, that’s all. You seem really happy.” Kat could see Chrissy smiling, but there was a sadness behind her eyes. Despite being a part of the school’s “it couple,” she could hear the longing in Chrissy’s voice. Kat could sense she didn’t want to be a part of high school royalty as much as she just wanted to be happy. Before Kat could even utter a reply, Jason came up alongside Chrissy.

“Now, tell me, my girl isn’t talking to some freak.” Kat rolled her eyes so hard she thought they might have made their way back to California.

“Jason! Stop it. I was just… uh–”

“She was just double checking what our chemistry homework was,” interrupted Kat, saving Chrissy from having to explain their conversation to Jason. “Don’t worry, I’m not converting your precious girl into a freak. Even though, if I may add, we do have much more fun. I still will never understand what a sweet girl such as her sees in a wastoid like you. Hm, not every mystery is meant to be solved…But, uh, yeah, read chapter five and answer the questions. That’s the homework.” Jason started to breathe heavily through his nose as he clenched his jaws at Kat’s words.

“Ramsay you little–” He started before Chrissy put her hand on his arm.

“Jason, don’t do this. Just leave her alone. Come on.” Chrissy tightened her grip on his arm, pulling him forward as she quickened her pace. She tried to avoid bumping into Kat as they went past her, but still grazed her shoulder. When they were far enough away, she quickly turned around to mouth “Sorry!” to Kat. She held up her hands and mouthed “All good.” back to her.

This little event made Kat the last one to arrive at the Hellfire table. Concurrently, while that was happening, Eddie took advantage of Kat’s late arrival.

“Gentlemen, I require all of you to be in attendance at the Hideout tonight. It is mandatory.”

“Aw, do I gotta?” Gareth sarcastically groaned.

“I can’t make it, I have a gig.” Jeff added to the sarcasm.

Eddie rolled his eyes. “I do not need your sarcasm. I was mainly talking to them.” He pointed his thumb at the freshman sitting at the table.

“It is a special occasion. We are celebrating Kat’s birthday. So. You all had better be there.”

“Oh so now you’re deciding to–” Dustin started.

“I went through this with Buckley already, I’m not doing it again. Henderson, we have made amends. I’ve redeemed myself. Kat and I are more than good. We’re great, actually. So. Figure out a way to get there. 7:30 tonight. Ask Harrington or something to bring you two. Maybe you can convince Buckley to go. And. Just so we’re clear. The setlist tonight has been in the works for a while, so don’t think I didn’t–” Eddie was cut off mid-sentence as Kat walked up to the table and tousled Eddie’s hair. “Babe! Not the hair! Come on, that’s the money maker.”

Kat laughed as she took her seat next to him. “Babe. You see that Dustin? That’s a pet name. Not…” Kat waved her hand in circles at him, like Robin did to them earlier. “...Not…whatever it is you got going on.” Mike bursted out laughing before he started humming “Never Ending Story.” Kat just looked at him funny.

“Alright, come on guys. We can all have our things…” Dustin pleaded.

“Anyway, what’s been in the works for a while?” Kat asked, repeating what little she heard when she joined the group.

“Our current campaign I’ve been working on. It’s almost ready.” She just nodded, completely oblivious to Eddie’s white lie.

“So uh, guys? Why is everyone looking at us and then whispering?” Mike leaned in to ask the table in almost a whisper.

Kat dramatically threw her head back and rolled her eyes. “Oh Christ, can these people just find something else to talk about?”

“Hawkins’ newest celebrity couple. Right here.” Eddie said, pointing between him and Kat.

“Gross…” Dustin said, shaking his head.

“Like you’re one to talk about gross Dustin,” Kat scoffed.

“There is a difference–”

Dustin was cut off by Jason kicking Eddie’s chair as he walked by. “Oh look, if it isn’t Mr. and Mrs. Freak.”

Kat immediately slapped her hand on her heart and hunched over. “Jason! You wound me with your pathetic, uncreative insults!” She quickly turned off the dramatics to give him a look of utter annoyance.

“You lookin’ to start somethin’, Queen of the Freaks?”

“Oh, see, now that one I like! I’m not, but clearly you are. Boys, clear the runway. Trays to the edge.” She commanded as she pushed her seat back and stepped up onto the table, careful not to step in anyone’s lunch this time. “Good afternoon, everyone! It seems that we– Eddie, care to join me up here?” She asked holding her hand out to provide Eddie with leverage as he then also got up on the table. “–are the talk of the town. Still! Since,” Kat cupped her hands over her mouth, “clearly the jocks care so much about our relationship!” Eddie stayed at his end of the table, but he could tell Kat was planning something. Kat marched forward. “We have all lunch period! We will be holding a Q&A to answer all your burning questions! Because as much as you all talk shit about us ‘freaks,’” Kat brought her hands up to form air quotes energetically, putting emphasis on the word, “you all just can’t seem to get enough of us!” Kat spun around on her heel. Her hands went up like she was a puppet as she trotted back down the table, stopping just a couple steps before Eddie so he was easily within her reach. “Hopefully though, this will answer your most burning question.” Eddie knew exactly what she was about to do. An absolutely shit-eating grin blossomed on his face. In her dramatic fashion, she twirled around, facing him again. She nodded at him as her way of asking if he was ready. He gave her one nod, which was all she needed. Planting her hands on his shoulder, she hoisted herself up and wrapped her legs around his waist. While he seamlessly wrapped his hands around her thighs, she wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him deeply – in front of the whole cafeteria.

There were some audible gasps and many eyes were averted from the show. The Hellfire club panicked, looking to each other for what they should do. Dustin scrunched his face at the display of affection. Taking the lead, Jeff started a slow clap and the rest of their table followed suit until it was just the sound of five people’s applause. Kat broke away from Eddie, grinning widely at him. She hopped off of him and no sooner had she turned to face her wide audience, she felt a slap right on her ass. Whipping around, she gave Eddie a look and whispered, “Now, now…” Before she again faced the crowded room. “And there you have it, folks. Again, we are available for the remainder of the period if you have any further questions.” Eddie hopped off the table, holding his hand out for Kat. “Okay, show’s over.” She said just before she grabbed his hand and hopped down.

Once they were both seated, Eddie looked at Kat adoringly and said, “You’re fucking amazing, you know that?” 

“So amazing and yet you still forgot my birthday…” Kat said teasingly.

Eddie groaned and put his head down in his arms on the table. “I’m never gonna live this down, am I?”

“Not for a while, babe. Not for a while.” She said as she ruffled his hair again. He shot up and squinted his eyes at her, before smiling and sighing.

—-------

“Alright… this is weird,” Kat said aloud to herself as she pulled into a spot at The Hideout. There were a few more cars than usual, which she found suspicious. She shrugged it off, thinking that maybe for once a few more drunks were posting up shop here tonight. As she got out of her Mustang, the cold November air stung her legs causing her to shiver. At least half of the front of her legs were exposed due to the massive rips her high waisted black jeans had. The fishnets underneath did nothing for warmth, but Kat thought it looked hot as hell. She locked her car and tugged at Eddie’s battle vest, which he left at her house that morning, in a sad attempt to shield the cold from her on the small distance to the entrance. She completed tonight’s ensemble with her shirt from Metallica’s Ride the Lightning tour. For jewelry, she had on her anatomical rib cage ring, along with a vampire bat ring, a black onyx coffin ring that sat conveniently on her ring finger, and a choker that resembled a barbed wire chain. Her hair was teased to the gods of all pantheons and she gave herself the smokiest of smokey eyes. 

Halfway to the entrance she saw someone scurry inside quickly and heard muffled voices. As she went to grab the door handle, she heard a hush fall over everyone inside. She hesitated with her hand around the doorknob, finally realizing what she was walking into. “Oh god, here we go…” She muttered as she swung the door open, walking inside.

“SURPRISE!!!” Everyone yelled at her. Crowded in front of the stage was Dustin, Mike, Lucas Steve, and Robin. All of Corroded Coffin are already on stage getting ready for their set.

“I just, uh, want it on the record here that I did in fact plan a party for the amazing, the talented… the utmost caring… Kat Ramsay!” Eddie said into the microphone, earning an eye roll from about half of those in attendance.

“Nice save, man!” One of the bar flies yelled.

Eddie pointed at him. “Thank you, Tony! He gets it. The man gets it. Happy Birthday, m’lady. Hey– that’s where my vest went!” 

Kat erupted into the biggest smile as her Doc Martens scuttled across the floor over to her friends. “Aw, look at that! I doubled Coffin’s usual crowd! I expect a cut from tonight, ya know.”

“Yeah we’re here for you, Kat, not them. I don’t even know how I’m gonna get through this, but anything for you!” Robin said as she hugged Kat. 

“You’ll warm up to it! Give it a chance, Robin!”

“I can’t, it’s too loud. And makes me all nervous. I mean maybe I’ll try…Kat, you are the only one who could even make me consider this!”

Kat laughed as she gave everyone else a hug. “Hey, thanks for coming, Steve.”

“I mean, who else was gonna drive these ragamuffins here?”

“Hey!” Robin said as she slapped him upside the head. “Dingus. I’ll remember that.”

“Ugh, I meant the kids. Not you!” Steve said, throwing his hands in the air walking away in a huff.

“Yeah. Exactly what I thought!” Robin said as she followed Steve, casting a knowing nod back to Kat. 

Eddie had finally jumped off the stage and made his way over to Kat, wanting to give her time to greet all her beloved party guests. At some point she had been turned around, so her back was to the stage. Distracted by Dustin’s excitement to see Corroded Coffin for the first time, Kat let out a small yelp when Eddie grabbed her from behind, lifting her off the floor as he pulled her to him. She turned to him when he let her feet touch the ground again, wrapping her arms around his neck. “Hope this makes up for yesterday. A little bit? Maybe? I was planning this whole time, I swear.” He whispered to her. 

She nodded enthusiastically. “I love that you got Robin and Steve here.” Kat could feel Eddie’s smile widen.

“Anything for you. You know that, right?” He said as he gently pushed her back in order to see her face.

“Don’t worry, I know.” She said right before she gave him a light kiss.

Eddie tutted. “Such a tease tonight.”

Kat raised one of her eyebrows. “How so?”

“Well, first, you’re in my vest, which while it doesn’t look as good as it does on yours truly,” he said before he leaned in, “a new kink has been unlocked,” he gruffly whispered in her ear. Not completely sure if it was his tone, what he said, or both, but Kat snapped back immediately, her eyes almost bugging out of her head. “You need to–” she started, but was interrupted by Eddie pulling her close to him again. “Then, you’ve put a patch of a skeleton making devil horns in quite the interesting place…” He trailed off. The heat of his breath lingering on Kat’s neck.

She pushed him away, just enough so she could look him directly in the eye. “You need to chill! Right now! And– and if you don’t… If you don’t, Mommy is not going to be happy when she gets home.” She looked up at him sternly, pointing a finger at him. He could only just blink at her. He was half enamored by what she said and half trying to rewire his brain back to normal after it just short circuited. Kat broke their embrace, keeping her face stern. “Don’t you have a show to start? Get to it!” She said as she walked around him and slapped him hard on the ass, making him yelp.

Gareth, only hearing the last part, played a “ba dum tss” on his drums. “Thanks Gareth!” Kat yelled. Eddie spun around not knowing which of them to call out. 

“Yes. No. I mean– I–” Eddie stammered. “Oh, you’re so gonna get it later for that one.”

Kat gave him a devilish smile and responded with a simple, “Good.” She then trotted over to the rest of where the group mingled. 

Eddie couldn’t help but shake his head and take a deep breath in. “Jesus H. Christ…” he muttered before returning to the stage to check the sound of his guitar one more time. 

Upon hearing the sound, Kat winced. “Uh, what’s wrong with you? Don’t you go to, like, a million gigs?” Steve asked.

“Yeah and I know what it’s supposed to sound like. And trust me, it’s not that!” 

She marched over to where the sad excuse of the front of house sound mixer was. “Yeah, hi. Birthday girl here. You mind if I take a peak at that?” She asked, her voice sweet as honey, as she shuffled her way into the booth, not taking no for an answer. 

The old guy there just stood up, immediately admitting defeat. “Sure,” he scoffed, “knock yourself out. Don’t know what a girl like you would know about sound anyway. Kids these days think they know everything…” He mumbled.

“Excuse you. I’ll have you know I worked front of house at both the Troubadour and Whiskey A Go Go in LA, where I’m from, thank you very much. So rest assured I mean it when I say your sound is garbage.” She glared at the man who only just grunted in response and made his way over to the bar. “Hm. That’s what I thought. Okay, let’s try this…” Kat murmured to herself as she began to adjust the levels of this and that. “Alright, Eddie, try it now!” She yelled over everyone. Eddie played a few riffs from a Corroded Coffin original and his jaw dropped. Everyone’s head snapped towards the stage. Kat sat back smugly. “Haven’t lost my touch!” She said as hopped off the stool to head towards the bar. 

“Whatever you want, it’s on the house. This place hasn’t sounded this good in years. Jimmy, you’re fired,” the bartender said in awe as soon as Kat was within earshot. The original sound guy just rolled his eyes. 

Kat went right up next to him and said “I’ll have a shot of Jameson,” to the bartender, before she turned and directed her attention at Jimmy. “Don’t know what an old man like you, out here in the middle of nowhere, knows about sound, but sounds pretty good out there, no?” She reached over and downed her shot in one go, not even flinching, while Jimmy stared at her slack-jawed. “I’ll have another.”

The bartender shook his head. “You messed with the wrong girl tonight!”

After Kat had her second shot, she said, “And a Jameson and coke for the road, please, my good sir!” Once she had her drink in hand, she turned to Jimmy, and patted him on the shoulder. “Pleasure to meet ya, Jimbo. Don’t touch the soundboard, ‘kay?” With a final pat, she joined the rest of her party.

“Well, now that we actually sound like a real band,” Eddie began into the microphone. 

“You wish, Munson!” Robin yelled. Eddie just flipped her off in response. 

“Pleasure to have you here, Buckley. Before we start off Kat’s Birthday Bash with a Corroded Coffin– That’s us in case you didn’t know. I’m looking at you, Harrington. With a Corroded Coffin original…” Eddie started playing the intro to the song.

“Why does he think I don’t know? I know their name.” Steve said defensively.

“Sure, Steve. It’s okay.” Dustin said, patting Steve on the back.

“They played the middle school talent show. It was– oh forget it.”

“Would you all do me the honor and join me in a song you all should know…” Eddie led the room in serenading Kat with Happy Birthday. Usually, she hated this part of anyone’s birthday, but today, she was eating up the attention. “Well, now that that’s out of the way… Here’s ‘Imprisoned Heart!’”

With the band jumping right into their own song, Kat was bopping along and singing. Robin was wincing. Steve just looked confused as always, probably trying to figure out how they were actually halfway decent. Dustin and his friends were head banging. Kat looked over and pulled them more towards the center of the dance floor and began to teach them how to properly mosh. Of course, their set started out normal, but midway through, Eddie revealed one of the last few tricks he had up his sleeve.

“Alright so, this is a new cover song for us,” Eddie addressed the audience as he moved aside some of his curls that had stuck to his face. “These fools didn’t want to play it at first, but! I, being the master of persuasion, convinced them otherwise.” Kat quickly went back to the table to finish off her Jameson and Coke.

“We were threatened!” Gareth yelled from behind his drum set. Eddie turned around with his mic still in hand.

“I would never do such a thing. Unless you count sabotaging our next campaign so they all die within the first fifteen minutes of it. Then yes, yes I did that. And I still stand by that. Anyway, this next one is for the birthday girl. Happy Birthday, sweetheart.”

A silence fell over the Hideout only to be broken by Gareth’s counting off the beat and Eddie’s intake of breath before they started singing,

“In my dreams--it's still the same

Your love is strong, it still remains

In my dreams--you're still by me

Just the way it used to be.” 

Now it was Kat’s turn to be slack-jawed. That little shit! That’s why he knew all the words! Kat thought to herself. When the guitar and drums kicked in, Kat felt like she had to pick her jaw up off the beer stained emerald green carpet. Once she snapped out of her mini trance, she rushed back to the stage. She sat herself down, putting her head in her hands, and stared dreamily up at Eddie. He shook his head, smiling as he was singing. When the first verse started, she sang along, raising her hands in the air, and swaying. Jumping up when the chorus kicked in, she began dancing. 

When Eddie stepped away from the mic and played the guitar solo, Kat’s eyes widened and she froze in her place. She never got tired of seeing Eddie center stage, getting absolutely lost in whatever song he was playing. Him playing her newest favorite song? Forget it. She was awestruck. When the beat kicked back in, Eddie encouraged everyone to clap along to the beat. When he sang the final chorus, he motioned for Kat to get on stage. She hesitated at first, not wanting to steal the spotlight from him. When the music stopped briefly, and they kept singing “In my dreams…,” Kat made a run for it. She grabbed the mic from Eddie, who had never looked happier in all his life. She belted out the outro, “It’s still the same, You’re still by me, Just the way it used to be, What can I say? You’re still by me, And in my dreams you’ll always be, In my dreams you’ll always be, Your love is strong, It’s still the same.” She ended with a larger than life vocal riff that had everyone chanting her name. Eddie was bowing at her feet. 

“Shit, thanks, guys. Hey, now you can say you’ve played to six drunks! Woo! Corroded Coffin’s moving up in the world!” Kat laughed into the mic, which Eddie motioned for her to give back as he playfully rolled his eyes. Once she did, she turned to leave the stage, but Eddie put the pick in his mouth and grabbed her by the wrist, pulling her towards him. Taking the pick back in his hand, he kissed her and whispered, “Happy Birthday.” Kat felt her knees go weak, if only for the briefest of moments. 

Into the mic, Eddie tutted. “The birthday girl isn’t getting away that easy. We also might have prepared something else for you…” He presented her the mic, which she took.

“This better be good…” She warned.

“You’ll know it.” Eddie said, looking to Gareth to begin counting them in. Corroded Coffin’s lead guitarist began a riff that mimicked the infamous synth line that started Take On Me. Taking the mic away from her mouth, she gave Eddie a disbelieving look. “Are you kidding me?!” She exclaimed before immediately taking center stage. “Robin, you know this! I better see you singing! I wanna see everyone singing with me! And yes, I’m talkin’ to you too, JimBob!” 

Whether she was working behind the scenes or center stage, Kat was a performer through and through. Music was her raison d’etre. Right there, at the Hideout that night, surrounded by her newest and dearest friends, she had never felt more alive.

After completing Hawkins first metal cover of “Take On Me,” Kat ran over to Eddie, tackling him with a hug as tight as she could manage with a guitar between them. “This is the best fucking birthday of my life.” She said so only he could hear.

“Wait til later to say that, Princess.” He whispered back to her. Knowing he was under the guise of her giant mane of hair, he gave ear the slightest of nibbles. She dug her black painted nails into his arm. Her eyes rivaled the size of the cheap stage lights above them. He just winked at her.

Kat spent the rest of the set on stage. It wasn’t until the last song that Eddie revealed his final trick. “I’m sorry to say, Hawkins, but we have reached our final song of the night.” Everyone booed, even Robin. “I know, I know. But we’re here every Tuesday! Come back! You never know when our newest member will join us.” Eddie paused to wink at Kat, just before he took off his guitar. “This right here,” he said as he held out his baby to the audience, “is my most prized possession in my life. No one, and I mean no one has ever been allowed to touch her. Except one night, someone went right for her and before I could even utter one word, I knew I found the exception to my rule. Our last song, my gracious audience, will be led by none other than the woman of the hour.” Eddie handed Kat his guitar and pick as everyone cheered her on. He put the mic in its stand. “Ladies and gents, I present to you a cover of ‘Rainbow in the Dark.’” He bowed to Kat as he hopped off the stage to join the youngest members of Hellfire in the small moshpit. 

“You ready?” Gareth called out.

“Let’s fucking do this.” Kat said. 

Robin and Steve were left in awe at how masterfully she was able to play. Eddie loved nothing more than just watching her up there playing with a full band behind her. He knew she was a star just as much as she knew he was one too. The rest of the gang looked up to Kat like she was their new hero. 

Once the song was done, everyone bombarded the stage to engulf Kat in the biggest group hug of her life. Of course, it wasn’t without Eddie quipping at everyone to watch out for his guitar, which he hurried over to take her from Kat. Everyone said their goodbyes, as Steve reminded the freshman it was in fact still a school night. Really, he was just more concerned about getting them home before their parents became agitated. Kat gave everyone a final hug and thanked everyone profusely for celebrating with her. 

When the van was all packed up and Corroded Coffin was ready to head home, Kat was staying right by Eddie’s side. “Hey gimme your keys, I’m gonna have Gareth drive my van to yours, and then we can drive him to his. I’ll drive your car so it’s at your place, sound good?” She nodded, still basking in the utter happiness she felt from everything that happened today. “Alright, come on.” He grabbed her hand as they walked over to her car. Gareth was already starting up the van.

Just before Eddie went to open the door for her, she stopped him. “Eddie?”

“Yeah?”

“Thank you for… for everything.”

He couldn’t help but pull her in for a hug. “Always.”

“No. I mean it. You… This… This was quite possibly the most fun I’ve ever had. And just… Eddie, you are the best thing that’s ever happened to me. I don’t know if that’s too soon say, but I’ve… Never in all my measly nineteen years have I had anyone in my life like you in any way.” Kat was known for her tight hugs at this point, but she was holding onto him like her life and his were depending on it.

Gently, he broke the hug so he could look at her. “So, can you finally say moving to Hawkins was one of the best things to ever happen to you?”

“Only because I found you.” Eddie felt like his heart was just going to fly right out of his chest right then and there. Never had he admired and cared for another person so much in his life. There was just something about Kat. They brought out the best in each other.

“Hm, well, if you could change one thing, would you change anything?” He asked her, trying to savor this moment for just a little while longer.

Kat pulled him in, by the collar of his shirt, for a passionate kiss. After, she looked him right in the eyes with a smile on her face said, “I wouldn’t change a goddamn thing.”

[t-wordy-kk]

Being Sneaky Isn’t Your Specialty

Look who finally posted for the first time in like a month 😅. My apologies for not being active, like I said before, it’s been a crazy time for me, and I’m hoping to get myself a little bit more time to work on content. But, now that I’m back, here’s one of the Peter Parker requests provided by the wonderful @tickles-and-fluff 😄

Word count: 1,473 (Rated G 🙃)

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

“Peter, I found out that there’s this video game convention this weekend and I was wondering if you wanted to go with me?”

Having grown up with the Avengers, you knew that there were special bonds between all of you. But, out of everyone, you had the closest bond with Peter. Part of it might have been because he was closer to you in age, but even if he was as old as someone like Thor or Loki, he would still be your best friend because your personalities just clicked. You understood each other perfectly, and from the moment you both met, you knew it would be a matter of time before you were each other’s best friends.

“Oh, that sounds like a lot of fun, but I made some plans with some people I know at school, sorry Y/N. Maybe next time something comes up, we can go?”

“Yeah, that’s fine, I’ll just go by myself. Thanks anyway,” You responded, a small smile on your face as you walked away in an attempt to show him you were fine.

“Young one, is everything alright? You seem unhappy,” Thor mentioned, running into your figure as he made his way down the hall.

“I’m fine, Peter can’t go with me to the video game convention, but it’s not a big deal.”

“I’m sorry, would you enjoy my company instead? I know a thing or two about your little television games.”

“I’m good Thor, thanks though.” Stifling a giggle at his mention of the supposed television games you played, you figured what better time than any to play a round of Mario Kart. On your way to the lounge, you noticed Peter frantically looking around, so you hid in the small space between some house plants, keeping yourself hidden. After running into what amounted to 5 different objects, he made his way to the elevator and rapid-pressed the button to the bottom floor. So, you naturally followed him, like any good friend would do.

Sliding down the railings of the many flights of stairs, you made your way to the ground area of the compound before Peter, giving you a small amount of time to hide. Once you found your way underneath a bench, your breaths went silent as you watched him get out of the elevator. Looking all around, he seemed nervous as he ran out the door, trying to not be seen.

“Wonder what he’s up to.”

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

For the next few days to follow, you saw the same repetitive actions from Peter. He would slip on a sweatshirt, and try his best to sneak out without anybody noticing him. He almost failed, but was able to sneak by Sam and Bucky, as they were having a friendly argument about whether strawberry or brown sugar cinnamon PopTarts were better, so he just barely got by. And every day, you’d hide under the same bench, and he never saw you, so you figured you would try to interrupt his daily routine.

“Oh hey Peter, where are you going?” You asked, walking in from outside, doing your best to not make it seem like his best friend was watching him from under a bench all week.

“Oh, I, uhm, well, I just, I gotta go, I’ll catch up with you later,” He stuttered, tripping over his shoes on his way outside.

“Can I come with you?”

“No, I just have to go!”

Having the strong feeling that he was hiding something from you, an idea formulated in the depths of your brain. “FRIDAY, pull up the security camera footage in my room for me please!”

Grabbing a steaming mug of tea, freshly prepared by Loki, and a packet of chips, you made your way to your room, where the requested security footage was waiting for you. “Okay, now pull up the footage of Peter over the past few weeks. More specifically, anything where he’s texting or messaging someone.”

“Of course.” Within a matter of seconds, the new, trimmed footage rested in front of your face, the soft glow adding to the illumination of the room.

“And try to zoom in on his phone, hopefully I can see the texts.”

Trying to move yourself to where you could see the texts from his phone as they were being displayed, you could briefly make out what seemed like a conversation about Peter going to hang out with a girl, then he was talking to said girl in one of the clips. His conversations with Ned were stereotypical for people who loved Star Wars lego kits, but when he was texting with this girl, something seemed different in the way he formulated his sentences and his word choice.

“FRIDAY, can you get the name of this girl? Not to try to stalk him, but stalk him please.”

“It seems the girl is named MJ, based on how he has created the contact.”

“Is that his girlfriend?” You wondered aloud, beginning to formulate a plan to make him tell you the truth about where he was failing to sneak off to. Dialing his cell, you quickly created enough of an excuse to make him come rushing back from wherever he was.

“Y/N, what did you do?” He exclaimed, running over to your fake injured self, as you were lying on the floor while feigning an injury.

“I just hurt.”

“Where??”

“My brain, with trying to figure out all of the failed attempts at sneaking out and where you go every day,” You answered, tackling him to the floor.

“W-what do you mean?”

“Oh you know what I mean, all the sneaking around, I literally watched you jump and stick on the ceiling just to avoid Sam and Bucky’s PopTart debate just to sneak out once they were gone.”

“How did you-”

“You know that bench in the lobby? Yeah, it’s kinda dusty under there. Made a nice hiding spot though.”

“Y/N, you of all people should know that-”

“Know what Peter, that my best friend is keeping secrets? Who’s that girl, huh?” You asked, beginning to gently wiggle your fingers against his sides, eliciting quiet giggles that slipped through his lips.

“She’s nohohoBODY”

“Doesn’t sound like she’s just nobody to me.” Moving your wiggling fingers up to his ribs, his giggles turned into louder laughter, which let a small smirk creep onto your face. You knew he was enjoying it, otherwise he would have made you stop, or he would have retaliated already. It was obvious that he was simply trying to hold out as long as he possibly could.

“Nohohoho she’s behehETTER THAN NOHOBODY”

“Want to spill the info about this girl, or am I gonna have to get it out of you?” Giving him a split second, your fingers jammed into his underarms, leading to his arms slamming down against his sides, trapping your fingers in his underarms, worsening the ticklish sensations.

“FIHIHINE I’LL TEHEHEHELL”

Immediately removing your fingers from his underarms, you kept your hands near his sides as a reminder that if he didn’t tell you everything, you would continue the previous actions. “You gave in quicker than I thought.”

“Don’t mention it,” Peter retorted with an eye roll. “It’s just this girl from school, MJ, I really like her and we’ve been hanging out more, but I don’t want the rest of the team to know because I know they’ll make fun of me.”

“You’re just scared of Sam and Bucky making fun of you, let’s be honest here.”

“Well, yeah, of course I am, but that isn’t my point. I haven’t liked anyone the way I like MJ, it’s different, but not really a weird sort of different, you know?”

“Yeah, I get it. Just don’t try to hide it for too long, or else Sam and Bucky will really make fun of you when they find out you’ve got a secret girlfriend,” You mentioned, not noticing the two of them walking in behind you as you spoke or Peter’s eyes expanding that tried to tell you to shut your mouth.

“Wait a minute, spider boy’s got a girlfriend?” Bucky asked, his face morphing into an evil expression while you whipped your head around, finally realizing the unintentional mistake you made.

“And he didn’t bother to tell us?” Sam added as a smirk made its way to his face, trying to quickly prepare as many light-hearted insults that he could without making it obvious.

“Y/N, this is your fault!” Peter whined, trying to keep you from exiting the room.

“You got yourself into this one, have fun getting out of it!” You exclaimed in response, quickly making your way out of the room to leave him with Bucky, Sam, and the many questions they likely had.

“Don’t leave me with them, they’ll torment me!”

“So, what’s this about a girlfriend?”

[dp-marvel94]

Danny and His Blob Ghosts

Summary: When two blob find and affectionately latch onto Danny, the halfa immediately adopts the small ghosts. But things are not as they seem. With Danny's horrifying recurring nightmares, Vlad Master's ominous behavior, and the blob's strange human-like eyes, keen intelligence, and intense fear of the older half ghost, there might just be a greater connection between Danny and his blobs, one that will shake the boy to his core.

Word Count: 11,420

Also on AO3 and Fanfiction.net

Note: Based on this post by @ectoblood. 

You know how I said, I wanted to write a fic about the blob clones? Well...this is so late but I've been sitting on this for a while and finally finished it. So here's the story! This is an au where this story happens in place of Kindred Spirits. Instead of trying to make half ghost clones, Vlad creates fully human clones of Danny and....well...you'll see what happens to them. But anyway, enjoy and feel free to tell me what you think!

The boy looked about 10 years old, with black hair and lilac eyes. He stood in a sterile, metal room, looking so out of place. Machines whirled around him, vials glowed with something neon green, and in the center, sat a gaping metal hole in the wall.

"You want me to put this on?" The boy asked, holding up a familiar looking jumpsuit. It was white with black accents. He swallowed nervously, pointing at the ominous opening. “And go in there?”

“Yes child.” A cold voice answered, from somewhere behind the boy.

The child blinked. “Why?” He asked innocently.

There was a long suffering sigh. The boy turned at the sound, his eyes falling on a white haired man. “Must I explain this to you again?” 

The boy looked down, cheeks reddening with shame but he said nothing.

The man stepped forward. “That is an inactivated ghost portal. A machine similar to this one gave me my abilities.” To demonstrate, he summoned a flame of red energy to his hand. “And this one will give you the same abilities. I will turn it on with you inside and you will become half ghost, like me. You will be powerful. Finally the perfect heir. The perfect son.”

The child paused, taking in the words. Tentatively, he glanced at the hole, swallowing. “Will it hurt?”

The man tisked. “Don’t worry about that. Now get moving. We haven’t got all day.”

The boy didn’t move, anxiously looking between the machine and the man. 

The half ghost looked up. “Don’t you want to make your Father proud?”

The child bit his lip. “Yes..but-”

“If you do this, I will let you go upstairs.” The man offered, coldly. “There is a room for you with a bed and toys.” He wrinkled his nose like the word was distasteful. Then he looked down, hands ghosting over the control panel. “I will tell you your name as well.”

The boy’s eyes widened hopefully. “Really?”

“Yes.” The man hummed, replying passively as if the conversation was of little interest to him. Then he looked up. “Only my perfect half ghost son is allowed to know that information.”

The child nodded. The hope remained in his eyes as he put on the jumpsuit. He squared his shoulders, walking towards the tunnel.

“Very good. Now go inside.” The half ghost encouraged. 

The boy stepped forward slowly, carefully stepping over wires.

“Stop and face me.”

The child stopped and turned around. He swallowed again, eyes flitting around the tunnel nervously.

“Now, do not move.” The man instructed. His hand moved to hover over a large button. “I will press this button. Again, I emphasize. Do not move. Do not run.”

“Run?” The boy squeaked out. “Father, maybe I shouldn’t-”

The man ignored the words, slamming his hand down on the button.

"Father, I don't wanna do this anymore." The child cried, reaching forward. He tensed, eyes widening as green lights sparked around him. “Father!” With shaking knees, he started forward. 

The man frowned. “I told you not to move.” He pressed another button and a glass wall slammed down over the opening of the tunnel.

Inside, time seemed to slow. “Father! Please!” The boy ran to the front. “Let me out!” The green light grew brighter, the smell of ozone filling the air. “I don’t wanna do this!” The child shouted. 

“Please! Father!” There was a ripping sound, quack of thunder, the smell of burning flesh. A blood curdling scream cut through the room.

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

Danny sprang up, a shocked scream in his own throat. His chest heaved and his hands shook. The images of the...nightmare?....rang in his head. That was a nightmare, right? But...but...the smell- ozone and citrus and chard flesh- burned in his nose. And that scream…..

Beside him, something buzzed. The boy looked down. “Oh, Aster.” His expression softened, his eyes met the blob ghost’s purple ones. The fist-sized ghost blinked at him, rubbing up against his side. “Thanks, little guy.” The blob purred, the sound vibrating through Danny’s side and his own core hummed in kind. A comforting emotion pressed into his mind from the other ghost and Danny sighed in happiness.

Not for the first time, the half was grateful for the small green blob ghost. He’d shown up about a week ago and had hardly left Danny’s side since, serving as a comforting presence in the boy’s stressful life. His name, Aster, had been based on Sam's suggestion, for a flower with purple petals much like the blob’s strange eyes.

Something brushing up against his arm drew Danny out of his thoughts. He looked down at Aster; the little ghost had flown up and was nudging his arm. In response, the boy moved his other arm to pet the blob, who again purred at the contact. 

After a moment, Aster’s eyes again meet Danny’s. "Sorry I woke you up." The halfa muttered. “I had a nightmare about my accident. Except I was younger? And Vlad was there for some reason?”

Suddenly, the small ghost hissed in displeasure at the name. He puffed up, his dim aura brightening as a clear spike of his anger touched Danny’s mind.

The halfa raised a brow. “You clearly don’t like him either. Good call.” He hummed. “That man’s a fruitloop. Insane bastard.”

Aster hissed again, something like agreement projecting from him. 

“You said it.” Danny replied. Then he yawned. “I need to go back to sleep, Aster. See you in the morning?”

The little ghost’s aura dimmed and he floated down, settling back on the bed, beside Danny. He squeaked once, before closing his eyes.

Danny gave the blob one more little scratch. “Good night.” He laid down and went to sleep.

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

Danny blinked awake to sunlight streaming through his window. Even without looking, he could still feel the cool presence of the other ghost beside him. He smiled, enjoying the warm bed and the comforting presence of his companion...before he looked at the clock. 

The halfa’s eyes widened and he shot up. “Shit. School starts in 10 minutes.”

The movement shook the bed, startling Aster awake. The blob ghost squeaked in alarm.

“Sorry.” Danny muttered, jumping out of bed. “Gotta get ready.”

He scurried around, putting his clothes on while he brushed his teeth. Then he started stuffing material into his bag. “Where’s my math homework?” Rapidly, he shuffled through papers. “I know I did it!” 

Something cold nudged his arm and Danny looked down. It was Aster, with a piece of paper clutched in a mouth-like depression below his eyes. Eyes widening, the halfa grabbed the paper. 

“This is my math homework.” He muttered in surprise, looking down at the blob. “Thanks bud.” Danny gave the other ghost a pat, before Aster darted off.

The halfa shrugged, grabbing his shoes and rapidly tying them. Less than a minute later, there was a chirp in front of him. Danny looked up, again the green blob ghost floated in front of him, this time clutching a foil wrapped packet.

“Poptarts?” The boy grabbed the food. “You’re a really smart little guy, you know that?” 

The small ghost hummed happily in response. 

With his shoes on, backpack packed, and breakfast in hand, Danny stood. With hardly a thought, he summoned his transformation rings. The light passed over his body, replacing Danny Fenton with Danny Phantom. Now in ghost form, the halfa floated off the floor and towards the window. Aster followed.

Raising a brow, Danny glanced at his companion. “You’re coming with me? I’m going to school so you’ll have to stay out of sight. Don’t let any humans see you.”

The blob bristled, rolling his eyes. A very middle annoyance projected from him.

Danny held up his hands. “Alright, alright. You already know that. Come on.” He motioned for the smaller ghost to follow, both of them turning invisible as they phased out of the room and started racing towards school.

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

The rest of the day proceeded fairly normally for Danny. He went to class, ate lunch with his friends, and had to duck out of English when his ghost sense went off. The halfa darted to the restroom to transform and Aster appeared in the visible spectrum a moment later. The little blob followed him, keeping out of Danny’s way while he quickly captured the Box Ghost. 

Once Danny capped the thermos, Aster floated down and rubbed up against the half ghost’s arm, giving a congratulatory squeak. 

The ghost boy laughed. “Dude. It was just the Box Ghost.” He gave the smaller ghost an affectionate pat anyway. “I’ve gotta go back to class. See you later.”

After that, Danny didn’t see the little blob ghost again in public, though his presence was never far away. The weak ectosignature danced at the edge of the half ghost’s perception, suggesting the blob was hiding somewhere invisibly. 

Soon enough, the school day ended. Danny said goodbye to his friends and started walking home, with the invisible blob ghost trailing him. A fifteen minutes walk later, the boy was walking through his front door. After grabbing a snack, he headed up the stairs.

Danny paused in the second floor hallway. A cold feeling swirled from his core, settling in his lungs. The prerequisite of his ghost sense. Brow furrowed, the half reached out with his core, trying to feel the signature of whatever was alerting his core. It was weak and….Danny’s eyes widened; the signature felt very similar to Aster’s but not quite the same. Confused and wary, the half ghost opened the door to his room.

Danny frowned in confusion. There, floating over his bed was a strange looking blob ghost. It was sky blue with white patches, like clouds flickering over its surface. It raced around the room, squeaking anxiously. Confusion and distress rolled off of the small ghost in waves, making Danny shiver. 

Shaking his head, the half ghost closed the door and approached. The blob froze, neon green eyes falling on Danny. Its eyes widened, before it let out a happy and relieved squeal. In a flash, it flew at Danny, thumping against his chest with such force that the half ghost stumbled. For a moment, he was stunned. He would think it was an attack except…. The little ghost was trembling against him, relief pressing into Danny from the blob. It...no….he…(Danny had no idea how he suddenly knew, but the ghost, pressed right against his core, was a boy.) was purring, his emotions practically screaming Safe. Safe. Finally safe.

With a gentle hand, Danny cupped the sky-blue ghost. “Hey, hey. You’re okay.”

Beside him, Aster warbled questioningly before floating around to face Danny. The green blob wiggled up beside the other blob, maneuvering himself so Danny was holding both of the smaller ghosts. Aster hummed, pressing into the other blob and both closed their eyes. 

Danny stumbled to his bed, bewildered by the situation. He patted the new ghost with his free hand. “Whatever happened to you, it’s okay now. I would let anything happen to you.”

At the words, neon green eyes looked up at him, eyes crinkling with adoration. He purred.

The half ghost smiled. “So...do you have a name, little guy?”

The blue blob looked down, sadness projecting off of him. 

“Oh.” Danny frowned. “How about…..Skyler? ‘Cause you’re sky blue with white patches.” The new blob looked up, confusion poking Danny’s mind. The halfa shook his head. “I know it’s not that creative. I can think of something else if you want.”

The blue blob’s eyes widened and he chirped sharply, a clear no. Instead, he pressed into Danny again, humming happily. 

“So you like the name?”

Danny didn’t know how someone without an actual head managed to nod but the little blob managed it. 

“Alright then. Your name's Skyler. This is Aster.” Danny pointed. “And I’m Danny.”

Both blobs hummed, their affection communicated loudly. The half ghost smiled. “I love you guys too.” His core vibrated in his chest, purring with the other ghosts. Finally, he pulled his hand back. “I do have homework to do guys.”

Aster warbled disappointedly but backed up. Skyler hesitated, eyes flickering to the side uncertainly. The other blob nudged the newer blob encouragingly and with the prompting, the blue ghost floated away. 

With that, Danny went to his desk to work on homework, while his blob ghosts watched, snuggling with each other.

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

Skyler proved to be even more clingy than Aster. That night, the little ghost insisted on sleeping on Danny’s chest. The next day, he settled in Danny’s hoodie pocket as soon as the boy put it on. 

“Come on. You can’t stay there.” Danny said, gently pushing the blob out of his pocket. 

Skyler hissed in displeasure before burrowing himself in the fabric again.

The half ghost sighed. “Alright. You’ll have to stay invisible then.”

The blob poked out of the pocket just enough to give Danny a confused look.

“So people can’t see you.”

The confused expression remained.

Danny furrowed a brow. “Do you know how to do that?”

Skyler let out a defeated sounding sigh.

“That’s a no then. Here, let me show you.” Danny placed a finger of the blob and concentrated, turning his hand and the other ghost invisible. After a moment, he pulled his finger back. “Now you try.”

The small ghost pinched his eyes closed in concentration. He disappeared, flickering invisible and visible like a dying light blub before the flickering stopped.

Danny smiled proudly. “There! You did it.” 

Skyler remained fully invisible in his pocket and that’s how he stayed for the rest of the school day.

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

Things continued like that for a while. The blobs snuggled with Danny while he was sleeping. They followed him on patrol. They hung out with him while he was doing homework. Aster and Skyler even meet Danny’s friends and sister.

“They’re so cute!” Jazz cooed, petting the two small ghosts.

In response, Skyler purred, leaning into the contact. Aster rolled his eyes and growled grumpily.

Bewildered, the redhead pulled her hand back from the green blob. “What was that?”

Danny snorted. “Aster’s mad that you called him cute.”

“Really?” His sister looked down at the green blob. “These two can actually understand what we’re saying?”

The half ghost raised a brow. “Of course they can.” 

“It's kinda weird.” Sam said, uncertainly. 

“Yeah, blobs aren’t normally that smart. Plus….” Tucker pointed. “Don’t those weird, human-like eyes give you the creeps?”

Danny turned back towards the blob ghosts, frowning at the statement. He studied the two, with tilted head. They did have round eyes, with pupils and sclera but inhumanly colored irises “I don’t think it’s that weird….I mean….blobs having eyes isn’t common but ghosts’ eyes can look really similar to humans’”

Sam, Tucker, and Jazz looked at each other questioningly before the goth shrugged. “I guess you're right. Ghost’s are pretty strange in general.”

Danny nodded and the conversation ended. The teens all got to work on homework with the blobs settling on Danny’s shoulders to watch. Then Danny’s phone rang.

He glanced down at it and groaned at seeing the caller id. Without comment, he answered the call. “What do you want Vlad?”

As soon as the word left his mouth, Aster and Skyler startled. Both darted back, hissing loudly.

“What is that noise, Daniel?” The older halfa’s voice came through the phone.

Ignoring the question, Danny looked back at the blobs, waving down with one hand. “It’s okay. Quiet down you guys.”

Across the line, Vlad scoffed. “Is that those obnoxious blob ghosts?”

“They’re not obnoxious.” Danny huffed. “Wait, how do you know about them?”

“I have my ways.” The older halfa said cryptically, before continuing casually. “Anyway, how are you, my boy?”

At the words, the blobs ghosts both hissed again. Skyler floated farther away from the phone, higher until he’s pressed against the ceiling. Aster however pressed right up to the phone, growling lowely.

Danny lowered the phone. “Aster, Sky. It’s okay. He’s not actually here.”

Over the phone, Vlad growled. “Control your pets, Daniel.”

The younger half straightened, narrowing his eyes. “They aren’t my pets, Vlad.” Despite what others would think, the two blobs were not his pets. They were….his friends, the ghost boy supposed.

“Of course not.” Vlad scoffed. “Just like that green mutt is not your dog.”

“No, that’s not…” Danny pinched his nose. “Why are you calling me, fruitloop?”

The half ghost could almost hear the eyeroll. “I was calling to inform you, I have business in Amity Park in a few days and your dear mother and oaf of a father invited me to stay with your family.”

The younger halfa groaned. “Are you serious?”

At the same time, the blobs hissed above him.

“Yes, I am serious.” The older halfa replied coldly. “And again, can you call your pets to quiet down?”

“Again, not my pets.” Danny gritted his teeth. “And no. I agree with them. Hissing’s the right reaction to you.”

“Now, don’t be difficult, little badger. Are you not looking forward to seeing your dear uncle?”

“F*ck off.” The boy hissed, earning enthusiastic buzzes of agreements from Aster and Skyler. His friends also chuckled, giving him approving looks while Jazz frowned.

“Such language, Daniel.” Vlad rebuked. “Do you kiss your mother with that mouth?”

The ghost boy narrowed his eyes. “Will you stop talking about my mom?”

“Now, your dear mother-”

“Will never love you, because you’re a creepy old man who can’t let go of your crush on a happily married woman. Goodbye.” With that, Danny hung up the phone angrily.

The halfa put his head in his hands and groaned.

“Dude. I’m so sorry.” Tucker said.

Danny just groaned again. A moment later, the two blobs who had been hovering near the ceiling flew down to the boy. Chirping soothingly, they brushed up against his arms. In response, the half ghost raised his head. He gently cupped both blobs in his hands and drew them to his chest. He looked down, addressing the smaller ghosts. “Thanks guys.”

Sam raised a brow. “They really don’t like Vlad, do they?”

“Yep.” Danny nodded.

The technogeek half-smiled. “They fit right in.”

The half ghost nodded in agreement.

After that, there was more complaining about Vlad. And finally, at Jazz’s insistence, the teens started on their homework, with the blobs watching from one of Danny’s shelves. Once they were done, the group watched a movie. After, Sam and Tucker went home and Jazz went to her room leaving Danny alone with Aster and Skyler.

The half ghost looked up, spotting the two blob snuggling together on his shelf. Sky was trembling slightly, eyes down cast. Danny frowned, reaching up to give each ghost a scratch. “Come on guys. I’m going to bed.”

The blue blob looked up, eyes brightening. He floated down the half ghost, purring as he nudged the boy’s hand.

With that, Danny settled into bed, with Skyler laying on his chest and Aster beside him.

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

The little black-haired boy was crying, his blue eyes filling with tears.  "Daddy, please I'll be good!”

Vlad sneared, gripping the child’s arm tighter. “Stop sniveling boy.”

He trembled, weakly pulling away. “I’ll be good, Daddy. I promise!”

The man shook him. “Be quiet.”

“No! Let me go!” The child cried, pulling harder.

“You are insufferable.” Vlad gritted his teeth. Letting go of the small arm, he roughly pushed the boy.

“No!” Snot started running down the child’s face. “Daddy!”

“If this works, it will be worth it.” The man sighed.

The boy’s eyes widened as he scrambled up. “Daddy, I’m scared!”

The man ignored the pleas, instead he pressed down a large button on a control panel.

The child stumbled forward, chest heaving as his feet quickened. His heart pounded in fear. “No! I’ll be good! Please!”

A glass wall slammed down in front of him and the boy screamed, pounding on the barrier. “Let me out!”

“It will be worth it.” Vlad repeated to himself. “He’s young and impressionable. A son I can mold in my image.” He pressed down the button and there was a flash of green.

The child panicked, the tears increasing. He pounded harder. “Daddy! Let me out!”

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

His own heart pounding, Danny woke up to the sound of a child crying. His sleepy mind ran in circles. What was...who was...that dream….

Another wail of pure emotional agony. That little boy….he must be here…. With his eyes still closed, Danny sleepy reached towards the sound. In front of him? Above him? He needed to find the kid…

Danny’s hands reach out to comfort, falling on something cold and squishy, like jello. Wait...that doesn’t…..

Something shifted, the minimal weight on his chest increasing. He was touching something else, something fuzzy...and soft? He petted the things and the sound died down into a whimper.

Mind swimming and fuzzy with sleep, Danny fell asleep again before he could think more. In the morning, he thought it was all a dream.

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

Downstairs, the doorbell rang. It had been three days since Vlad’s phone call, three days since Danny’s half-remembered nightmare featuring the insane bastard. Below, the door opened and then closed a few seconds later. His father’s enthusiastic greeting boomed. From his seat on the bed, Danny groaned in annoyance; it sounded like the fruitloop was here.

“Danny!” Jack called. “Come say hi to your uncle Vladdie!”

The younger halfa groaned again, this time louder. Skyler, who’d been perched in the boy’s lab and purring, startled; the blob suddenly looked up, his eyes wide and fearful.

Danny’s expression softened. He patted the smaller ghost. “It’s okay, Bud.”

“Danny!” His father yelled again, this time more instantly.

The boy frowned. “I’m gonna have to go down there.” 

The blue blob gave the half ghost a wary look, nestling into the boy even as Danny tried to push him off. “Sky. Come on.” 

The small ghost whined, refusing to move even as he was trembling. Then Aster, who’d been relaxing on one of Danny’s pillows, floated up and towards the other blob. Giving the blue ghost a nudge, the green blob offered a comforting purr. Skyler chirped worriedly in response. Then Aster nudged him again, more encouragingly. With something like a sigh, both blobs floated off of Danny’s lap before setting onto his pillow.

“Danny! Come down here!” This time, it was his mom yelling with a serious tone.

“Coming!” The boy yelled back. He looked back at his blobs. “Just stay here guys, okay?”

Aster gave an agreeing if warry warble. Skyler, however, didn’t respond, still trembling slightly.

Danny sighed, his own stomach knotting with worry. Squaring his shoulders, the boy braced himself to face the other halfa.

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

The Fenton family, plus Vlad, sat around the coffee table with cups of tea and hot chocolate. Jazz and Danny traded warry looks as Vlad proved to be as creepy and obnoxious as ever. Making vague and not-so-vague ominous jabs at his dad, while paying the insults off as jokes. Shamelessly flirting with his mom. Overall making everyone, except the oblivious Jack Fenton, uncomfortable.

Danny gritted his teeth, barely holding back a seething comment about Plasmius. Oh, he wasn’t above underhanded comments about Vlad’s status as a lonely bachelor in need of a cat. But, even begrudgingly, their secrets were off the table. So no comments about the older halfa’s hairbrained schemes to kill his Dad, marry his mom, and convince Danny to be his perfect half-ghost son. The ghost boy shivered at those last words. That uncanningly reminded him of something he heard in his-

“Here Daniel. Let me take your cup.” Vlad said, interrupting the younger halfa’s thought.

Danny wrinkled his nose, giving the man a distrustful look. “Nah. It’s fine I can take it.”

The older halfa raised a brow, holding up the other mugs in his hand. “Really, it’s no trouble.”

His parents pinned him with questioning looks and the younger half ghost conceded, handing his mug to Vlad.

The corner of Vlad’s lip turned up, into something vaguely smug as he walked into the kitchen.

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

After a dinner that was as tense and awkward as Danny expected, the boy went to his room with an excuse that he had homework to do. Really, he didn’t want to be in the same room as Vlad Masters for any longer than he had to. But his stomach still flopped. He hated the idea of that insane fruitloop being in his house, around his parents. The other’s presence gnawed at him, the barely perceptible ectosignature (not weak but suppressed by Vlad’s human form) constantly putting his core on edge.

Danny shook his head, forcing the thought away. He’d just have to trust that he’d be able to hear on the off chance that Vlad tried something. The boy did actually have homework to do. And he should check on Aster and Skyler.

With a sigh, the boy pushed open his door before closing it quickly.

“Aster. Skyler.” Danny called softly, his nose wrinkling as the two didn’t appear. “Guys, it’s just me.” The boy tried again. 

Where were his blobs? With some concentration, Danny reacted out with his ghost sense. His brow furrowed, the signatures flickering into his awareness. The two smaller ghosts were close by. But where?

Danny searched, opening his closet and drawers. His eyes flickered over his bookshelf, dresser, and desk. “Come on guys.” He whined slightly at finding nothing.

Just then, a small chirp sounded. Danny turned, his eyes flickering down. There! Lowering himself to the floor and onto his stomach, he peered under the bed.

“There you guys are.” Danny rolled his eyes playfully. “Are we playing hide and…” He trailed off, finally taking in the smaller ghosts. Both were shaking, their eyes wide and fearful. Expression softening, the boy reached under the bed. He gently cupped each ghost in his hand and pulled them out from under the furniture.

“You guys are really scared of Vlad.” He said, voice only slightly surprised and pained. 

In response, both blobs whimpered.

“Shush. It’s okay.” After slowly sitting up, Danny pulled both blobs to his chest. The action was as close to a hug as he could perform with the two fist sized ghosts. “Like I said before, I wouldn’t let anything happen to you guys. I definitely won’t let Vlad anywhere near you.”

Aster and Skyler both cooed, comforted by the words. They started purring, Danny’s core doing the same in response.

For a long moment, the three stayed together in their almost hug. Then finally the halfa asked. “Better?”

Both blobs blinked, before giving affirmative chirps.

“Good.” Danny smiled, letting the other ghosts go. “I do actually have homework to do. You guys can watch or….” He pulled out his phone, offering it to the blobs. “Youtube? I can put on a video for you.”

With a hum, the blobs took the seconds option. They huddled on the bed while Danny worked on homework. Several hours later, the half ghost finished and joined the other ghosts on the bed. They watched some videos before the half ghost yawned.

“Alright. I need to go to sleep.” He stood and started towards the bathroom to brush his teeth.

Standing in front of the door, Danny reached forward for the knob. It didn’t turn, locked apparently. Inside the toilet flushed. There was the sound of the sink turning on and then off thirty seconds later. Then the door swung open. 

Danny frowned. “Vlad. What are you doing?”

The man raised a brow. “Using the restroom Daniel. What else would I be doing?”

The younger half ghost scowled but said nothing, instead stepping past the man and into the bathroom. He then slammed the door in Vlad’s face.

Danny sighed, looking down for a long moment as his annoyance at the older halfa flared. But he pushed the feelings away. The guy hadn’t actually done anything bad. Maybe he wasn’t actually planning anything worse than getting on Danny’s nerves. 

After a long moment, the half ghost looked up again. Remembering why he came here, the boy reached for his toothbrush. And….his eyes widened. It wasn’t in the cup by the sink or on the counter. Danny wrinkled his nose. Taking a step back, he looked to the floor. Maybe he...or another certain halfa….knocked it over. But nothing. It wasn’t in the trashcan either or in the drawers. It wasn’t under the sink or even in the toilet or shower. 

Danny rubbed his eyes, groaning. “Where is it? Did that fruitloop do something to it?” The boy looked up, shaking his head. No, why would Vlad do that? Well...he could take it mess with him but Danny could have left it at Tucker’s house the last time he stayed over. Or his mom or sister might have thrown it away. He really did need to get a new one anyway. He bent down, opening the doors to the counter under the sink. Like he thought, there was an unopened toothbrush. He opened the package and brushed his teeth before going to bed.

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

Floating underwater. The sting of water and ectoplasm in his eyes. Gasping for breath.

The beep of a heart monitor. Cold metal on his chest. The syringe full of red blood.

Images flashed through Danny’s sleeping mind, his eyes flickering rapidly under his lids.

Waiting. Watching. Raining dripping down the window. Shivering in his thin hospital gown. Loneliness.

Green slime and sleek metal. The smell of old pennies. The roar of machinery. A scream.

The young halfa’s heart started pounding in his chest, a whimper exciting his throat.

Sudden silence. Wet leaves and earth. The sound of a shovel hitting rock.

He’s...where is he? What happened? Why can’t he...why can’t he feel his hands, his feet, his body?

The boy gasped in his sleep, his heart skipping a beat. In the waking world, there was a rustling, a soft thump.

A shadow falling over him. Red eyes loaming over him. The flash of a needle.

Several things happened at once. Danny’s eyes popped open. There was an enraged hissed and a sudden thump.

“Why you little!” A man’s voice growled.

The boy shot up in bed. It took only half a second to recognize the older halfa in ghost form. “What are you doing in my room Vlad?!” The angry demand evaporated as Danny registered something else. There, squeezed in Vlad’s hands was a trembling Aster. The half ghost’s eyes narrowed, his voice rising in hysterical rage. “Get your hands off of him!”

Without thinking, Danny transformed and flew at the older half ghost, throwing him into the wall with a punch to the face. The blob ghost squeezed in alarm while Vlad grunted. “Daniel!”

Behind him, Skyler squeaked in alarm.

The boy bared his teeth. “Let him go.”

Vlad let his eyes flash. “Or you’ll what?”

His hand lighting with ectoenergy, Danny’s eyes flickered worriedly to the squirming Aster. “I’ll...I’ll…”

Vlad smirked. “Thought so.” His hand’s grip tightened slightly, causing the small ghost to let out another whimper of pain.

Danny paled slightly, eyes widening in panic. Then the sound of feet pounding up the stairs rang out with the distant sound of his parents’ voices. Skyler whimpered.

His eyes flickering to the door, he considered for a second. Danny’s expression hardened. “I’ll expose both of us.”

For a moment, Vlad looked like he wanted to scoff, like the boy was bluffing. Then his eyes widened slightly. His gaze flicked to the ghost in his hand. “For this thing? You wouldn’t.”

Danny hissed. “You wanna test me?” 

Feet continued to pound, the sound now coming from the end of the hallway. “Danny! We’ll get that ghost!”

The two halfa’s stood off for seconds but it felt much longer. With barely a thought, Danny summoned the ring of his transformation but paused it before he could change. Vlad’s gaze flickered down, considering.

The voices were right outside the door. In a second, Vlad released the other ghost and disappeared. The moment he was out of sight, Danny transformed.

His door banged open. “Where’s the ghost?!” Dad shouted.

Danny turned around, sighing in relief that neither blob was visible. “He flew off when he heard you coming.”

“He?” Mom asked.

“Pl- The Wisconsin ghost.” The half ghost said, suppressing a smile. He might as well get Vlad’s ghost form in trouble.

Dad’s eyes lit up. “The Wisconsin ghost! Madds, let’s go! Maybe we can still catch it!”

A worried look crossed the woman’s face. “Are you alright sweetie?”

Danny shrugged. “Yeah. He didn’t do anything to me.”

Mom studied him for a moment before her expression softened, seemingly satisfied. “Come on Jack.”

With that, the adults left Danny alone. As soon as the door closed, both blobs reappeared and flew at Danny. Silently trembling, they nuzzled against the halfa for protection. Deeply troubled, he sat down on his bed with the blobs settling into his lab. He petted them as they shook with fear. 

Vlad was up to something. He must have been. He’d been loaming in Danny’s room while he was sleeping. The memory, those images kept circulating in Danny’s mind but he couldn’t make sense of them or of the strange images of his dream. Were those two things connected? And...anger boiled in him. Vlad had threatened Aster. The man had put his hand on his….not- pet. His friend? That wasn’t the right word either. There was something...more familial about what he felt for these two blobs. He loved them so much. And Danny had threatened to out himself to save Aster. It scared Danny to think...he might just have done it. But he tried not to dwell on it instead wondering what Vlad was doing. But no answers came to his mind, just more worry as Aster and Skyler remained as quiet as death.

Danny didn’t sleep again that night.

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

Vlad left early the next morning without a word to Danny. He hadn’t tried to go into the boy’s room again. He hadn’t even made so much as an insult to Jack. Instead, he seemed vaguely angry, like whatever he planned failed. But Danny couldn’t make sense of that. What had Vlad wanted of him, while he’d been asleep? And….the boy swallowed. Vlad would have done whatever he wanted if Aster hadn’t attacked him.

But what had he wanted?

Eventually, Danny got out of bed. It was a lazy Saturday, just hanging out at home as he was grounded. It would have been a decent day except…

“Where’s my mug?” Danny grumbled. He really wanted his favorite mug, the one with the NASA logo, for his coffee. But it was no where, not in the cupboards, the dishwasher, the sink. It wasn’t on the counter or table or in the living room. Eventually he gave up, realizing it was the same one he used yesterday and handed over to Vlad to take to the kitchen. Danny groaned, putting his head in his hands. The man took it, didn’t he? The petty jerk.

Soon after, Danny found that his comb was gone as well, when he went to take a shower. His stomach flopped, getting an uneasy idea.

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

The rest of the day, Danny did homework and hung out with Aster and Skyler. The two remained silent, bodies tense with stress despite the halfa’s encouragement. That is, they were silent until...Sky finally cracked.

It was that night. Danny took the pair up to the roof to look at the stars. It was nice and peaceful for once, the dark sky full of sparkling stars. 

Then, a soft whine broke out. 

Danny looked to the side, spotting Skyler. Eyes softening, he picked up the little ghost. “Yeah. It’s okay. Let it out.” Skyler whimpered, the sound growing louder.

Soon after Aster joined in also whining as Danny stroked both of them. The boy let them cry, frowning in consideration.

Wheels turned in his head. How much Aster and Skyler hated Vlad before they even knew him. The way they’d hiss and tremble. And yet...Aster was willing to attack the older halfa for him.

Danny glanced down, studied the two odd looking blob ghosts. Their large human-like eyes, their odd coloration, the variety of emotion and the keen intelligence, their ability to telepathically communicate their emotions to Danny.

The boy frowned. They were strange for blobs and they were afraid of Vlad. Skyler had come to him, to him specifically. He’d been panicked and afraid. And Danny had somehow known someone had put him through something horrible, someone that the boy promised he would protect the blob from.

The question sprung up in his mind and exited his mouth before he could think. “Did Vlad….” He looked down. “Did Vlad experiment on you guys?”

Aster and Skyler’s whines cut off suddenly at the question. Both pairs of eyes looked up at him questioningly and a cacophony of emotions poured into his mind, communicated by the blobs. Fear, shock, and panic. Then rapidly, Aster’s eyes flickered between Danny and Skyler. The other blob shook, eyes watering. Huge, mounting, panicked confusion hit Danny like a train.

He gasped at the emotion. “You guys don’t remember.” His eyes widened. “You can’t remember what happened to you before you found me.”

Aster wiggled in a movement meant to be a nod. Large sadness welled in Danny at the thought. He then looked at Skyler. “Sky, what about you? Do you remember?”

The little blue ghost didn’t respond for a long moment. There was no sound, no acknowledgement until finally, the blob looked up at Danny. He trembled and a mournful sound rang out.

Danny’s heart skipped a beat. That wasn’t a whine or a whimper. It wasn’t a squeak of pain or alarm. It was a heartbroken sob. The volume rose and Danny dropped the ghost in shock. It was...it was the sound of a child crying.

The half ghost shuffled backwards, the sound ringing in his head. That...he’d heard that before. “In my dream.” He muttered. “I dreamed...I dreamed about a little boy crying in a portal, with Vlad.” The sob increased and Danny’s eyes flickered to the blob. “And you’re…. you’re crying in his voice." He stood, shaking. “After my dream, you were crying like he was but…”

Something connected in Danny’s mind, his eyes falling on Aster’s purple eyes. Purple eyes...like his first dream, the ten year old with purple eyes, the same color as his mother’s. And Skyler...with the little boy’s, the little boy who looked like Danny, his voice. And….both of those children died.

But...a horrifying idea sprouted in his mind. His favorite mug, the one he’d been drinking from yesterday going missing. His comb, his toothbrush as well. His dream (?) last night. Vlad loaming over him with a needle. What if….what if that had been real? What if the older halfa was here not to mess with Danny but to collect more...samples? DNA samples to make more, to make another….

Danny gasped, shaking as a specific word rang out in his head. No. NO. NO! His mind cursed. That could not...that was not. That couldn’t be what happened. Vlad couldn’t do that. He wouldn't do that. Yeah he was a petty jerk, a crazy fruitloop, an insane bastard. He did horrible things, like stealing and lying and manipulating. He tried to ruin his Dad's reputation. He tried to steal their portal and kidnap Mom. And he infected Sam and Tucker with ecto acne. He made Jazz and him fight each other. And unleashed the ghost king. But… he wouldn’t do this. He wouldn't clone Danny. He wouldn't kill children to make a half ghost. And yet….

Wouldn’t Vlad? Wouldn’t the bastard do anything to get what he wanted? And wasn’t what he wanted most his perfect half ghost ‘son’?

Danny remained frozen, his mind rebelling, refusing the idea. It couldn’t be...His blobs couldn’t have been-

A questioning chirp shocked the boy out of his thoughts. He blinked, finally remembering where he was. On the roof, watching the stars with…. He looked down, eyes falling on the two blobs. Aster chirped again, his eyes wide, questioning and yet compassionate. Something in the expression calmed Danny. 

After taking a breath, his gaze shifted, falling on Skyler. The boy’s brow furrowed. The blob had stopped crying, his round eyes full of guilt.

Danny’s expression softened. “Skyler.” He started.

The little ghost warbled sadly, floating into the air. Tentatively, he approached the half ghost. When Danny didn’t move to stop him, the blob gently nuzzled up again the boy’s chest in their version of a hug. Skyler hummed and an emotion….no, a word...pressed into Danny’s mind. Sorry.

The boy paused, from where he’d been gently stroking the little guy. That wasn’t a voice, not quite. But it was close, so close to being one. He could almost imagine-

Danny shook his head. “No buddy. It’s not you. You didn’t do anything wrong. It’s just...I think Vlad...he might have….” He swallowed. “I think you guys might be my-” The boy cut himself off, his mind rejecting the word.

He couldn’t think that, couldn’t wrap his mind around it. What that would mean for Aster and Skyler. What they were. What they are. What they lost. And...what this would mean for Danny, what these two really were to him. He couldn’t think about it all. So the boy pushed the thought out of his head. 

Instead he held Skyler closer and after a moment, Aster joined him. Danny hugged his blob ghosts until the small blue one wiggled out of his hold, complaining loudly. The half ghost chuckled at the sight but his heart hurt. It ached, torn between acknowledging and rejecting its crazy hypothesis, even as Danny was lying in bed and falling asleep.

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

Grainy footage played on a computer. A ten year old boy holding a hazmat suit, listening as Vlad explained how an inactive portal will grant him ghost powers. A five year old boy, crying and screaming as the man threw him into the machine.

The viewer watched with wide eyes, his hands shaking. His heart pounded in fear. “He’s going to do that to me too.” A teenager’s voice muttered.

The footage continued, both children crying for the man to stop. The teenager tensed as the portal started up, green light flashing. He covered his ears, stomach threatening to eject his dinner as the crying morphed into horrific screams of pain. But his eyes stayed glued to the screen as the light of the portal solidified into a swirling green vortex and….the screams cut off.

The teen blinked at the monitor, waiting. After a small eternity, the Vlad on the screen moved forward. Strictly, he called for a response. None came, the portal and the lab silent. Then Vlad changed, transformed. In a moment, the human was replaced by a ghost and he floated into the newly opened gateway.b 

Another long pause. The viewer twitched, his gaze flickering around the dark lab surrounding him, the same one that these videos were recorded in. His eyes moved back to the screen and finally….Vlad exited the portal.

The boy’s hand moved to cover his mouth and the cry that exited it. On the screen, Vlad was carrying a body. The charred and burnt corpse of a child. 

The teen gasped, learning over in sudden nausea. The words poured out. “He...he killed them. He’s gonna kill me. I’m going to die.”

Words exited the speaker. “Another failure.” Vlad sighed, dropping the body. “Hopefully the next one will survive and I will finally have my half ghost son.”

The boy straightened, his brow furrowing. His mind raced with thoughts and questions. But paramount- “I need to get away from him. I have to escape.”

He stood, rapidly closing the video and logging off the computer. Rapidly, his brain planned. He needed to run or find a way to contact someone. The police? Or…that boy from the older videos, the white haired one who in human form looked like him. His name was….Danny? And he lived in a place called Amity Park? The boy frowned. That wasn’t that useful but maybe-

The hydrologic hiss of the lab door turning shook the boy out of his thoughts. His heart skipped a beat and he sprinted. He was supposed to be asleep on his cot. He flopped down and pulled the blanket over himself, just as the door finally opened. The boy kept his eyes half lidded, watching the man approach him in the dark. Just feet away, he closed his eyes and slowed his breathing, faking sleep.

Vlad, the only person he’d ever known, his apparent maker, his capturer, his would-be murder, leaned over him. The boy froze, hardly breathing. He waited, hoping the man would go away. But then, there was a sudden pinch in his arm.

The boy screamed, startled, and tried to sit up but sudden dizziness overtook him. His head swam, his vision blurring before he passed out.

Sometime later, he blinked awake groggily. The boy groaned, wrinkling his nose. He was lying on something cold and metal. Something was digging into his back. He blinked again, his eyes slowly focusing on the ceiling. It was metal; he was still in the lab but….he shot up into a sitting position, his heart suddenly pounding. He was in the tunnel of the inactivated portal.

“Oh, you’re awake already.” Vlad’s voice came from outside the portal. He sounded disappointed. “It’s a pity. I’d hoped to keep you from panicking.”

The boy swallowed, standing. But he said nothing, glaring at the man even as he walked up to the glass wall.

“Do not bother to pound on that. I will not let you out.” The man said calmly. Then he rolled his eyes. “And do not snivel like a child. You are better than that.”

The teen balled his fists, anger rising. Oh, he wanted to do that. He wanted to scream and cry like the others had. The ones who died without even this man’s pity. He wanted to, because he was a kid and he didn’t deserve this. None of them had and it made him want to scream in rage. Instead, he bit back a growl.

Vlad looked up, slightly pleased. “You are being pleasantly calm, my boy.” He smiled, the pride on his face sickening. “Very good. Now just stay where you are and this will be over quickly.”

 The boy scowled but kept his mouth shut. He resisted the urge to curse the man and tell him exactly how much of a bastard he was. Instead, he focused on the man with a determined look. 

“I do hope this grants you ghostly abilities.” Vlad pressed down the button and the machine started to whirl. “You appear to have the spirit for it.”

The spirit, ha. The boy bared his teeth, the sudden chill raising the hair on his arms. It was starting. The opening portal would either kill him or..."I know what you did to the others. I saw the videos." He sneered, remembering the crying kids from the videos, the bodies left behind. The machine might do that same to him or...he remembered the other boy in the videos. Danny, with his white hair and green eyes. Images of him darting around the sky, shooting opponents with green energy. Ghost powers, like the man in front of him welds. Like he himself could...no, like he would gain. The boy straightened. "When I survive this, I will stop you.”

Across from him, Vlad’s eyes widened in shock.

The green energy was building around the teen, the smell of citrus and ozone assaulting his nose. “You'll never do this to anyone again."

The man stared at him in disbelief as the roar of the machine grew. The light burned the boy’s eyes and then...there was sudden pain. Screaming. The smell of burnt flesh. His heart pounded in fear before it twitched, the rhythm failing. His lungs spasmed, unable to take in air. His vision was overtaken with black as the pain ripped his body apart. His knees buckled, mind screaming for this to end. He never felt his body hit the ground.

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

Danny woke up, a scream on his tongue. His mind raced, confusion overtaking him. What was that? Where...who? What…?

Above him, something hummed. Danny’s eyes flickered to the source of the sound. There, floating over his bed. It looked like...a piece of the night sky, suspended in his room. The half ghost’s brow furrowed, taking in the ovalong object. It was black as night with pinpricks of light, like stars speckling its body. Slowly, Danny reached forward, his fingers brushing something cold and squishy. 

The things hummed again and Danny blinked, his mouth falling open as eyes opened above him. Icy blue eyes blinked, intelligently taking him in. Mind still trying to catch up, the boy sat up. He held out his hands for the ghost to land. Because this was a blob ghost, another one like Aster and Skyler and…..

The blob let out a soft purr, an emotion pressing in Danny’s mind. Relief. Determination. Knowing eyes focused on the boy and he swallowed in sudden dread and anxiety. It...He was exactly like Aster and Skyler.

The blob shivered, feeling the half ghost’s nervousness. A small measure of comfort touched Danny’s core. At the same time, the other two blobs who had been laying beside him, finally stirred. Both pairs of eyes flickered up to the other ghosts. Aster gave a curious buzz before floating up. A few seconds later, Skyler followed, more tentatively.

For a long moment, the new blob watched the other two, recognition dawning in his eyes. He quickly looked between the two but there was no realization, no understanding in the green or blue blob’s gaze. The starry blob chirped encouragingly, beckoning the other two forward. After a pause, Aster moved, gently nudging the new blob in greeting. Seeing it safe, Skyler hovered forward as well, greeting the new blob in kind. The dark blob hummed, enthusiastically greeting the other two ghosts. He bumped both, letting out a purr.

All the while, Danny watched, mystified. His mind sputtered, trying and failing to put the pieces together. His horrific dream with a new….clone. And then a new blob showed up. It couldn’t...it didn’t….. His stomach churned, revolting at the idea.

Finally, the new blob looked at Danny again. He sighed, pressing two words in the boy’s mind. Follow me.

The half ghost blinked in surprise at understanding the words. But he didn’t question as the blob floated up, off his hand and towards the door. Instead, he transformed. His core hummed as he hovered forward. He followed and it scared him that he didn’t hesitate. Because he should. He shouldn’t follow a ghost who just showed up in the middle of the night. Except…. While part of his mind whirled, the ghost part whispered, that  this ghost was trustworthy and familiar, someone he knew closely.

Flickering invisible, Danny followed the ghost through the house and in the basement with Aster and Skyler following. The group continued into the ghost Zone and across the empty space. Just minutes later, they came to a familiar site. There, in a cave on an abandoned rock...was the metal frame of a man-made portal. 

Danny froze. “That’s Vlad's portal.”

The dark blob stopped, turning back. He landed on the half ghost’s hand. Safe. He’s not here.

The boy blinked, understanding despite the few words. Vlad wasn’t on the other side and he trusted this new ghosts because he knew him, that he was a-

Danny shivered. “Come on.”

The group floated through the portal and into a metal covered room. The half ghost’s breath hitched and in front of him, Aster and Skyler whimpered. Danny swallowed. This was Vlad’s lab, obviously. But he...he recognized it, from his dreams. Shaking, he surveyed the room, eyes falling tubes of ectoplasm, metal and glass chambers, and...a cot in the corner.

Danny felt like he would be sick. But the dark blob nudged him onward before he could think. The group phased up through the floor and into a rustic looking cabin. This room Danny also recognized; they were inside Vlad’s cabin in the Rockies. The new ghost continued, into the forest. They flew for ten minutes before the starry blob stopped cold.

They were floating over a small clearing, tall grass surrounded by trees. Except….Danny’s eyes wandered and his heart dropped. In the light of the full moon, there were three patches of earth, each with vegetation of various heights. On one, the glass was maybe pinkie length. On the second, shoots were just bursting out of the ground. And the third….the earth was freshly up-turned.

Danny floated down, to the base on the first. His gaze flickered between the places as his eyes started to water. He knew...he knew what these were, what these had to be.

“These are graves.” He whispered, his knees shaking. His heart ached, shattering as a sob burst on his lips. “These...my dreams...my dreams they were real….Vlad really….he did….oh god.”

The boy doubled over, his stomach forcing its way into his throat. “Oh god. Oh god that bastard he-”

In front of him came a cry. Danny looked up. Aster was floating in front of him, facing away from him. The little ghost was shaking violently. He shifted in the air, gaze flickering from the ground to the next patch. And there was Skyler. The little ghost was crying again, the noise that of a young child. And...oh god. Aster’s voice….it was the same, a boy, maybe 10 years old, crying.

Danny’s eyes widened, reaching forward. “Aster...Skyler...you guys...you’re really…” He looked down, tears falling. “These...these are yours.”

Rapidly, Aster turned. His gaze flickered to Danny, below him, and then to the other two blobs. Horrified shock wavered, turning into equally horrified realization. His eyes widened, welling with tears, actual tears. He was shaking and crying and….Skyler was doing the same, an identical look on his face. And Danny wanted to race forward and hug them except for...oh god, they were floating on top of their-

There was a flash of light in front of Danny. It was...it was the two blobs. Their aura’s flared, the light enveloping their bodies so strongly that they looked like two balls of light. The half ghost’s heart pounding. What was happening to them?! What was-

The light expanded, pressing outward and up. Stretching and morphing. Growing into a shape. A shape that looked like- There was a pop as the light disappeared….and Danny wasn’t looking at blobs anymore. 

In front of him were two humanoid ghosts. Directly in front of him, the boy (because he was a boy, oh god, this was a dead 10 year old child!), the boy had white hair, light green skin, a black and white hazmat suit. He was looking at his hands, flexing his fingers in awe.

And to the side was a gasp. This boy looked maybe five, with sky blue skin and clouds shifting over his skin and clothing. Glowing green eyes looked up at Danny, green eyes identical to his and exactly the color and shape of- 

“Skyler.” Danny whispered through his tears. At the noise, the other ghost looked up. Familiar purple eyes fell on him. “Aster.”

With no more hesitation, the small ghost flew at him. He threw his arms around Danny, clinging to him in a hug. “Danny.” Skyler, because this was him, the same ghost as his little blob, whined through his tears.

“Sky.” Danny repeated, his whole body shaking. A moment later, another pair of arms clung to the older boy. “Ash.” He cried.

Danny returned the hug, clinging to these two. His sorrow swelled, tears streaming down his face. His knees shook, the weight of emotions dragging him down. The three collapsed to the ground, in a pile of limbs, tears, and sobs.

“I’m sorry. I’m so sorry.” The half ghost repeated, like a mantra. “I should have….I should have known that...that.” He should have known who these two were, not just any blobs but his...clones...his clones. These were his clones. “Oh god, Vlad he...he cloned me...and he made you guys and….oh god he killed you!” Danny’s chest heaved. “I didn’t...I didn’t know...I didn’t stop him. I should have...I should have stopped him...I’m sorry. I’m sorry.” The guilt poured out with the grief.

All the while, the other two ghosts wept in Danny’s arms. “I...I remember now.” Aster whispered. “I remember how I...I died.”

Danny squeezed him. “I’m sorry.”

Skyler sobbed, gaping Danny’s suit like he would disappear. “Why did he...why did he hurt me?”

The half ghost had no answer, not comfort. Instead, he promised. “He won’t hurt you. He won’t touch you again. I’ll protect you.”

The little blue ghost sniffled. “I..I love you, Danny.”

“I love you too.” Danny returned. “I love you guys so much.” And he did. He did so much. These two had been in his house, in his room, by his side for weeks. And he’d loved the two even when he didn’t know who they really were. And they were really his clones. His dead clones. They were dead because...he...he hadn’t been there when they needed him. He’d let Vlad kill them. They were...they were full ghosts because he hadn’t been there and…

The boy cried and his two clones cried for what felt like ages, until there were no more tears. Slowly, the two younger ghosts pulled away. Aster whipped his eyes. “It’s not your fault.” He said quietly, looking up at Danny. “You didn’t know what Vlad was doing.”

The boy blinked, his lip trembling. “But-”

A flash of light cut off Danny’s words. He turned his head, eyes falling on another morphing ball of light. The figure stretched, snapping into shape and leaving another human-like ghost. This one looked Danny’s age, like he could be Danny’s twin if it wasn’t for his starry, dark as night skin. 

The new ghost slowly knelt down to be at eyes level with the others. He blinked, fixing glowing blue eyes on Danny. “He’s right. You didn’t know.”

Danny considered, taking in the person in front of him. His heart clenched at the words, guilt swelling. But he had questions, questions that were more important than wallowing in his guilt. “So...you’re a clone of me. Like Aster and Skyler here.”

The other boy frowned, pinning Danny with a serious look for ignoring his statement. Eventually, he stated. “Yeah. I am.”

Danny blinked, taking in the information. The confirmation of what he’d already worked out. Vlad had cloned him and those three clones were in front of him, including two who had been right under his nose and this new clone. Finally, the half ghost nodded in understanding. The next important question..."And what's your name?"

The blue-eyed boy bit his lip. "I don't have one yet. But I was thinking...Orion." He paused, letting the word linger.

“Orion.” Danny tested the word out. "I like it." He half-smiled.

"Figured you would.” The newly named Orion’s lip turned up in a slight smile. “I saw the glow in the dark stars on your ceiling and the model rockets." He looked down at his starry hands. “I guess liking space is something we have in common.”

“Yeah, I guess it is.” The half ghost tilted his head, not knowing what to think of that. He decided to press on. "And… that last dream I had, earlier tonight? That was you….you showed me how you…uhh...how you..."

"Yeah.” Orion confirmed softly, understanding the unspoken end of that statement.

The half ghost shook his head, stomach flopping at the thought. “I saw...I dreamed about how it happened to Aster and Skyler too. But I thought they were just weird nightmares but...those weren’t.”

“No. Those were real.” The other teen replied. “I...after I….you know... I woke up in the Ghost Zone and… I found you...I guess...I kinda sensed where you were...and I found you but you were asleep.” He looked down at his hands. “I don’t know how I did it but...I knew that I could show you what happened...so I did.”

“And you brought me here.”

“Yeah...I just...I recognized that these two” He motioned to the other clones. “Were like me.”

“But we didn’t remember that.” Aster finally offered. “I just remember finding you, Danny, and knowing that you were safe and...you felt familiar.”

Skyler wrung his hands. “I knew you’d keep me safe.”

“Of course, I would… I will.” Danny threw an arm over the two clones. “You guys felt familiar to me too but...I had no idea why, just that… I cared about you guys.”

Slowly, the younger two clone’s (in appearance at least) lips turned up into smiles. Danny gave both a pat, before turning attention back to Orion. “So you brought all of us and these two remembered so….” He motioned to all of the former blob’s human-like bodies.

“Why aren’t we blobs anymore?” Aster questioned.

“Yeah.” Skyler wiggled his fingers. “I look different.”

“I think it’s because you remembered who you are now.” Orion offered.

“And you?” Danny raised a brow. “Why were you…”

The starry ghost smiled teasingly. His aura flared, the light blurring his features. The light compressed and….a blob was floating in front of Danny. The small ghost chirped, flying over Danny’s head to ruffle his hair. He flew back around to his spot. There was another flash of light and Orion was back in front of him, grinning brightly.

Danny’s eyes widened. “You can transform back and forth?!”

“Yep.” He affirmed.

“Can you teach me?!” Skyler interrupted.

Orion ruffled his hair. “Sure thing. You too, Aster. We can try it in a bit. But yeah...I can do both. Can’t really talk as a blob but...it’s pretty cool. I didn’t show up like this, since I wasn’t sure you knew about Vlad cloning you and…” He motioned to himself. “Meeting your almost look-a-like might have freaked you out.”

“It probably would have.” Danny worried his lip. “But I know the truth now. I know who you guys really are and what Vlad was doing and….” He looked down. “I saw how all of you died.”

Orion’s expression fell, the stars on his face a green tint in something Danny thought might be a blush. Skyler and Aster also blushed guiltily. 

“Sorry.” Aster muted.

“No it’s….It’s okay.” Danny said. “I need to see but….” He looked at Orion. “I have a question about what you showed me.”

The other teen looked up. “Alright, what is it?”

"Why didn't you fight him?" The other boy asked. “When Vlad had you in the portal. You didn’t yell at him. You didn’t try to get out. You just...you just stood there.”

Orion sighed. “I knew there was no point. I couldn’t fight Vlad or convince him to let me go. I knew the portal...it would either kill me or I’d end up with ghost powers so I guess….I chose to hope I’d survive and end up a half ghost, like you.”

Danny frowned, considering the words. After a long serious pause, he said quietly.  "But you didn't survive."

The half ghost regretted the words not even a second later as Orion's expression fell. 

"You're right. I didn't come out of the portal a half ghost.  I did die." 

The heartbroken expression on the clone's face made Danny's heart clench. In response, he leaned forward to embrace the other boy. Orion tensed in surprise before relaxing and returning the hug. The two stayed like that for a long moment, the gesture gradually becoming less awkward and more comforting and familiar.

Finally, Orion whispered into his original’s shoulder. "But I'm still here, aren't I?"

Danny blinked, taking in the words. He pulled away. He wiped his wet eyes; he’d started tearing up again at the reminder of the other’s death. But….he slowly, tentatively smiled. “Yeah, you’re right. You’re still here.” He looked down at the other two clones and then over the field again. Those three graves, three clones that died but…. He looked back at the group of ghosts in front of him. The same three clones. Danny’s eyes widened. “All of you are. You’re all still here.” The words carried the weight of the realization as his heart swelled with hope. 

The boy looked between Aster and Skyler on either side of him again, his eyes shining with affection. “And you guys are my….” He trailed off, at a loss for words. He’d said it in his head before; Aster and Skyler were his blobs, his...friends? That was the wrong word. They were his clones. No, not just...they were his- “You’re family.” Danny finally said with conviction. He looked across from him, at Orion, deliberately. “All of you are.”

The teenage clone’s expression softened. “I’m...I’m really happy to hear that.” He looked down, before saying quietly. “It’ll be really nice to have a family.”

Meanwhile, Skyler blinked up at the halfa. “Family?” He asked hopefully.

“Yes. Of course.” Danny’s heart clenched at the tone but he still offered a smile, ruffling the smaller ghost’s hair. “I wasn’t there before you guys...you know but…”

Aster cut in him. “I already said...you didn’t know so it’s okay.”

“Yeah.” Orion agreed. “You don’t need to blame yourself. I don’t blame you. I’m sure these guys don’t blame you either.”

The ten year old nodded his head. “No. I don’t blame you.”

Skyler, who’d been eagerly following the confusion, leaned over to hug Danny. “Me neither. So don’t be sad.”

With that, the half ghost was won over. He sighed. “Alright, alright. I get it. But still…..I’m here now. We’re all here now...and we’re together so….we’ll be there for each other no matter what happens now. Right?”

“Right.” Aster and Skyler said at the same time.

A moment later, Orion smiled proudly. “Right.” He then floated off of the ground, offering Danny his hand to stand up. “So how about we end this tonight?” Danny took the hand, standing with the clone’s held. The other boy then pointed back the way they’d come, through the forest and into Vlad’s cabin. “We make sure Vlad never does anything like this again.” He turned back around towards the fresh patches of dirt.

Danny turned, his expression falling as he understood Orion’s meaning. Then he straightened, determination overtaking him. “Yes. This ends tonight. That man’s gonna pay for what he’s done. Let's start with….who wants to help me trash Vlad's lab?"

 The younger two full ghosts nodded while the teenage clone gave his original an eager smile. “Yes, please.”

The four set off, flying together through the sky. That’s how they’d stay, Danny hoped. He’d meant what he said. These three were part of his family and he’d stick with them. They’d stick together. And together, they’d make things right. 

[vanillann]

5 star conversation (r.p)

a/n: since it’s valentine’s day i thought i should update my softest series to date

word count: 3.3k

reggie peters x gender neutral!reader

5 star conversation masterlist

place three: a 1 star fair

“Flynn, just trust me okay?”

Flynn said nothing as she fell back on the tour bus's couch, for a single second the tiniest smirk was painted across her lips.

“Who are you doing this for exactly?” She got cozy, looking at me from where I stood against the kitchen tops.

“The band,” I nodded, trying my best to keep my voice natural as I lie through my teeth.

“Maybe a bassist in particular?” Flynn laughed when I rolled my eyes, turning back to the open cupboard and looking through the never ending rows of snacks.

“Just thought-”

“I’ll give the driver the address,” Flynn pushed off the cushions and walked behind me, placing her chin on my shoulder for a second, “just hurry up and tell him before the tour is over.”

I smiled slightly at Flynn, the address of the fair pulled up on her phone as she skipped to tell the driver. I played with one of the boxes in front of me, completely zoned out as I watched her back.

How would I just tell him?

The truth was Reggie deserved more than a simple confession, he deserved something crazy you would only hear about in a romcom or even bigger. I didn’t know what I was thinking, maybe I was hoping to see if confessing was even a good idea.

“Whatcha thinking?”

I jumped at how close the voice was, spinning around to find myself face to face with the boy in question. He had a goofy smile on his face and held his hands behind his back while rocking back and front.

“Reg,” I let his name roll off the tongue, letting my breathing return to normal as I calmed my nerves from the little jump scare.

“Sorry, you zoned out I got worried.”

I can have a delicate smile, trying my best. best to remind me he was only a boy. A really cute boy.

“I’m fine, trying to work on some new designs for merchandise,” I shrugged, his smile soft as his eyes seemed to roam my face. I tried not to think much of it, maybe it was nothing, but he always looked at me like I meant something.

“Any good ideas?” He didn’t say anything else as he reached over me, looking at the snacks behind me while trapping me to the counter. His soft scent of lavender and cedarwood was odd but comforting as he had started using my perfume when he would go on stage, claiming it was lucky.

“I-uhm- '' my brain refused to use words, the idea of novelty items barely on the tip of my tongue as I rambled. I didn’t even know what I was saying to be honest, but Reggie smiled and nodded like I had done something right and that was enough for me.

“People will have flannels with my face on it? That’s awesome!” He jumped on his feet slightly, smiling like a puppy dog at the idea.

“I thought you’d like it, and your face would only be on the pocket,” I pointed at him, making sure this didn’t get to his head.

“I don’t even care, if you had told me this in 95 I wouldn't have believed you!”

He spun slightly, moving to the couch Flynn was laying on a little while ago, a Poptart held in between his fingers as he swung around slightly.

“I’m proud of how far you’ve come,” I shrugged. I didn’t think much of my words but when Reggie spun to look at me thought it over.

He looked so emotional, his eyes searching my face as if I told him he won the Nobel Peace Prize. I took the time to take him in, the look he was giving me was something I would never want to forget.

“You’re proud of me?”

“Of course, you’ve come so far and-” my words were cut off, arms around my frame in seconds and all I could smell was Reggie. All I could think was Reggie. I was all Reggie.

I lifted my fingers, playing with the black shirt he wore while he drew shapes on my arm.

“Thank you,” he muttered softly, his voice sounded far away as we stood in the kitchen.

“Anytime Reg.”

The silence that followed was nice, something I enjoyed deeply as I felt his arm grow tired around me.

“I need to say something,” Reggie pulled back just enough for me to see his face, the hard light from outside made his look like he was glowing almost.

“What-”

“Is that the last Poptrat?”

I push off Reggie, my hands find the countertop behind me as I tried my best to not look so caught. I frowned when I noticed Luke’s smirk, his eyes looking between Reggie and I while his finger pointed to the Poptrat that Reggie held in his hand.

“I-uhm- it’s the last Strawberry-” Reggie tripped over his words, suddenly letting the Poptrat fall from his finger before he reached out to grab it.

“You gonna eat it?” Luke slowly crossed his arms, his muscle tee making his arm look large and intimidating as he looked between us both.

“Oh uhm-” Without another word Reggie crammed the Poptrat into his mouth, a nervous laugh fell from his lips and he smiled at Luke. I covered my mouth, doing my best to hide my little giggles as the two bickers, something we had all grown to use too.

“Well, guess we have to get some when we stop,” Luke snapped, his smirk only growing when he saw me glide my thumb over my neck, begging him to shut up just for once.

“When are we stopping?” I was in shock to see Reggie and pretty much already finished the Poptrat but said nothing about it.

“A few minutes, (Y/N) here had a plan.”

I suddenly felt stuck and Reggie turned to look at me, his eyes scanning my own for answers as my brain broke. I forgot everything, what even was my name anymore?

“I need to find Alex and Julie,” the words came out rushed, I didn’t even wait for Luke or Reggie to answer before I was slipping out of the tension filled room to the back where we slept.

My feet were working faster than my brain, carrying me away from Luke’s cursed situation. Why did he always have to do that?

I really was starting to hate Luke Patterson.

“(Y/N)!”

I jumped, my hand over my heart again and I swear I was going to put cow bells on everyone before the last venue in a few weeks.

“Julie!” I did my best to match her excitement but I could tell she saw right through me.

“Where is this place you taking us?”

“Surprise?” I did my best jazz hands, an awkward smile on my lips as I tried to escape everyone for a minute. This whole crush thing was so overwhelming.

“Spill,” she grabbed my upper arm, not thinking twice as we slipped into the nearby bathroom and shut the door. Julie leaned against the door, the small space only has so much room as I sat on the top of the toilet.

“It was a surprise for Reg,” I shrugged, trying not to make eye contact with Julie as I played with one of the rings on my fingers. Flynn got it for me at a cheap store that was supposed to be a mood ring but it never moved from the deep blue.

“Is it his birthday? Did I forget again?” Julie started to panic but I grabbed the end of her sweater to stop her.

“No, it’s this one star fair I found on the internet.”

“A one star fair?”

“I know I was shocked when I found it, apparently it just open so it doesn’t have a lot of reviews-”

“How are you both so in love?” Julie almost laughed at my rambling, her smile bright as she looked at me and talked with my hand.

“Don’t use the “L” words, but yeah I have a crush on him. I just thought it would be funny,” I held my headrest on the wall behind me.

I shouldn’t have thought of this plan. This might be the worst idea I’ve had in a while.

“It’s cute,” Julie smiled sweetly at me, something I was grateful for.

“It’s not stupid?” I looked up at her, my knee almost knocking her as we seemed to draw closer with each word.

“Of course not!” Julie reached out for my hand, which I obviously let her take. She gave the slightest smile, my own smile meeting my lips before a loud banging on the bathroom door took our moment.

“I have to pee!” Alex’s voice echoed through the crowded bathroom.

*

Reggie almost fell from the tour bus, a little death glare over his shoulder at Flynn who didn’t look to feel bad for her little shove. He was stalling and it was starting to send me in a panic, as I rocked on my heels in front of the fair with a nervous smile.

Once Reggie stopped looking at Flynn to me, his face fell for a second. I did awkward jazz hands, hoping I didn’t blow this joke out of the water and I now looked stupid. Reggie read the sign above my head, his head tilted but a little smile was now painted on his lips.

“What’s this?”

“A one-star fair?” It came out as more of a question and I hoped I wasn’t digging this hole even deeper. The smile that once painted his face grew, his feet took off until he was in front of me and wrapping his head around me.

I fell back slightly at the force but smiled nonetheless, happy that I had chosen the right place for our break. I let my arms wrap around the back of his next, playing with the hair on the nape of his neck and I couldn’t imagine a world without him in it.

I looked over his shoulder, rolling my eyes and Alex and Luke made kissy faces and Flynn turned and rubbed her hand over her back as if she was kissing someone. My friends were middle schoolers.

“I love it,” Reggie whispered in my ear before he pulled back, his eyes going back to the sign above my head before he grabbed my hand and turned over his shoulder.

“Race ya to the bumper cars!”

Without another word, Reggie was almost pulling me behind me as we raced into the fair. My legs were slightly burning and my throat felt sore from laughing but I couldn’t bring myself to care as Reggie rushed around different obstacles. The workers looked annoyed at us as we rushed around them, our laugh probably way too loud for this time in the evening but I couldn't care as I looked over my shoulder to find Alex and Flynn holding hands and pracing like they belonged in the Sound of Music. Reggie came to a stop, my body colliding into his back.

“We won!”

He jumped around, I tried my best to ignore the feeling of his fingers wrapped in mine. It felt so normal, like it was meant to be glued together for an art project.

“Because you ran like Lighting McQueen,” Flynn commented, giving Reggie while squeezing my arm.

“Who’s that again?” Reggie turned to me, his eyebrows raised as he waited for my answer but it never came. Instead a laugh bubbled out the back of my throat, looking at his confused face was making it worse.

“I thought you were on my team!”

“I am,” I did my best to defend myself but my laughing only grew louder the longer we stood there.

“Where’s Julie and Luke?”

“Getting passes,” Alex pointed over his shoulder, his eyes looking at me and he quickly sent a wink. Did everyone know about my plan?

“Until then, (Y/N) and I will walk around.”

I nodded, smiling at Reggie while I waved at Flynn and Alex. The two gave me a thumbs up and I was grateful Reggie didn’t decide to turn around in that moment.

“You didn’t have to do this, you know?”

I looked back at him, smiling as I still felt our hands together. He hadn’t let go yet.

“I wanted to, since you planned the diner,” I shrugged, as if I didn’t seem almost a week planning and searching to find a place that was five star that I didn’t think would kill us.

“Well thank you, the bus was starting to get stuffy with everyone.”

I nodded, understanding exactly what he meant. I loved the band, they were everything to me, but it’s hard living on a bus with them. Flynn and I lived in a studio apartment together and that became a lot at times, although the fans loved the content they got because of us living together.

I spotted Julie waving at us, I excused myself from Reggie and walked to her. She smiled at me, holding passes in her hand that were obviously made for some cheap car-stock paper, which I felt add to the vibe of the entire park. It had a few basic rides and a bunch of rigged games, with the oldest looking Ferris Wheel in the world.

“Does he look happy?” I asked Julie as soon as I got close enough, taking the passes from her out of reach and looking over my shoulder. As soon as I did he waved at me, going back to looking at the sky.

“Yes, very. He’d be happy if you dug him a hole with nothing in it,” Julie shrugged, squeezing my shoulder.

“I think I’m gonna tell him,” I spoke, a little smile playing on my lips as Julie smirked.

“I would hope you didn’t drag us out here for nothing to happen.”

I rolled my eyes, walking backwards to Reggie as I stuck my tongue out at her, which she returned. Once I knew I was growing closer I turned around, handing Reggie one of the passes with a smile.

“What’s first on the agenda?” I looked up at him, smiling when he gave me that look. The same look from the hotel and the diner, like I meant something.

“I have to win you a stuffed animal, I’d be a horrible person if I didn’t!”

He didn’t wait for me this time, walking to the nearest rigged game and flashing the pass at the guy. The boy behind the counter seemed bored, barely giving us a glance before handing Reggie the darts.

“Are you sure this is a good idea?”

“Totally,” he brushed me off, closing his left eye and sticking his tough out the side of his mouth. I watched him and admired him more so.

The sun was about to set behind him, casting the prettiest glow across his hair and his features. He looked so consistent and his eyebrows raised to his hairline. He looked like something out of a romcom, where the girl realizes it has always been the boy in front of her.

He threw the dart, completely missing the board and falling to the grow. I watched the boy cover his mouth, hiding a laugh and I frown. I didn’t waste time, reaching for one of Reggie’s darts and quickly aiming at the dart board. I toned out all the noise, quickly throwing the dart and making it in the center. I smirked, looking at the boy with an innocent smile.

“I win, right?”

“Uhm, yeah,” he turned around and took the dart out of the board, taking the other dart from in front of Reggie and turning back to me. I looked over the stuffed animals, my eyes landing on one of a small brown horse. I pointed at that one, not saying a word as I watched him pull it down without hesitation.

As soon as the horse was placed in my palm the boy went back to his phone, ignoring Reggie and I. I finally looked at Reggie, his eyes still trained on the dart board with his jaw hanging. He turned back to me, his smile reaching his lips again as he jumped up and down.

“That was amazing!”

I grabbed one of his wrists, his hand held open in front of me as I placed the horse in the center of his hand.

“Now you have a horse,” I shrugged, thinking back to the conversation from the diner with a little smile. He looked between the horse and I, the smile only kept growing and I felt myself jump within myself.

I was going to tell him. I was going to tell him that I was completely whipped for him no matter the place or time. No matter if it was a one star or five star hotel, I wanted Reggie Peters at my side.

As my mouth opened to speak I heard loud screaming, turning around to find the front of the gate was full of girls and boys alike, each had shirts with Julie and the Phantom plaster on the front.

“Crap,” I grabbed Reggie’s wrist, ducking behind a display as I looked around for everyone else. I saw Luke wave at us, everyone climbing onto the Ferrie’s Wheel. I pointed to him, Reggie getting my idea as we jumped from display to display.

We got caught.

Once we got close enough to the Ferris Wheel we made a dart for it, smiling when Luke held an empty container for us, both of us jumping in and sitting on the floor instead of the seats. Luke quickly joined the other, waving the worker to start the machine. I smiled when I heard the loud creek, now this was definitely an adventure.

“Taylor didn’t like that,” Reggie held up the horse for me slightly, laughing when I rolled my eyes.

“Did you name your horse after Taylor Swift?”

“I plead the fifth!”

I laughed harder but my laughs were replaced with yelps as the machine started rocking, not in a fun way either. I leaned into Reggie's side without thinking but he said nothing, letting his arm wrap around my shoulder to keep me at his side. I felt myself chew at my bottom, wondering what would have happened if the fan didn’t come.

“Thank you, I know we didn’t get to hang out before we got busted but it means alot.”

I nodded against his chest, looking up at the cotton candy pink skies above us as the machine started up again. I felt Reggie’s head move, most likely looking up at what I was looking at.

“It was nothing.”

“It was everything (Y/N), you are everything,” his words were soft against my ear, this breath hot over the cool breeze that washed over my face. I didn’t want to look him in the eye, I didn’t think I could handle it but his finger grabbed my chin and I didn’t have a choice.

His nose brushed against mine, his face so close I couldn’t imagine this would ever happen. He looked so innocent and perfect and I just felt myself leaning in until the container door was ripped open, one of the bodyguards from the bus stood above us.

Reggie and I broke from each other, his horse falling between us as my side rushed into the metal seat. I felt the embarrassment overtake my body, this body guard looked sorry but also told us he would be escorting us from the fair.

I nodded, letting Reggie get out first as I sat in self-pity for a second while rubbing my hand over my face.

Maybe I shouldn’t sign up for any more one-star events.

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[bellasweetwriting]

Fist Date

rory gilmore x m.reader

(not my gif)

masterlist

plot: you always flirt with the Chilton perfect student Rory Gilmore, and one time, she actually gives in

requested by: @grouchycritic7794​

warnings: my writing, too much popular cultural references, FLUFF

a/n: this was actually so fun to write, I hope you like it

word count: 1,8k

You watched her as she got out of school. Chilton was on your way to work, and you didn't mind walking a little bit slower at three o'clock and crash with some private school students on their way home.

She was always there at three o'clock.

"Hey, Gilmore!" You yelled, making her raise his eyes from her book and look at you. You noticed how identifying you wasn't as pleasant as you hoped it was. "What are you reading on this fine evening?" 

"How to punch an annoying guy in ten steps, and I'm a fast learner."

You sat down next to her, making Gilmore move a few inches away from you, not caring if you noticed.

"I'm kinda busy here, Y/N, why don't you go and talk to your fan club?" Asked Rory in a high pitched voice, pointing the groupie of girls watching you. You waved at them before focusing all your eyes on Rory Gilmore.

You first met her a few months ago when your boss made you make delivery in Stars Hollow, to a diner, and she was there. Rory was eating her book with her eyes as she drank her black coffee which had so much more coffee than water. And the fact that she didn't care for you at all made you like her so much.

One day on your way to work, you saw her. She was in front of Chilton, sitting on the bus stop with a book on her hand. And now, seeing Rory every day was part of your routine.

"So, do you like PJ Harvey?"

"Who doesn't? She's great." You smiled at her answer. "why do you care what I like, Y/N?"

"My sister gave her tickets, and you wouldn't guess who came to my mind at that moment?" 

"Phoebe Cates?" She assumed, referring to the attractive 80s actress.

"You," you corrected her, making Rory roll her eyes. "It's just a concert. Besides, it would be cool if we get to know each other in any other place that isn't this fancy and prestigious school, don't you think?"

"Sorry, I forgot I'm too fancy and elegant for you. Why would you go out with me? I'm on the top floor of the ship, Jack." A Titanic reference. She always spoke in pop culture references. 

"I mean that this is your territory and for you to get to know me, you need to spend time in my comfort zone."

"You make it sound like your territory has cows and chickens and you wear a cowboy hat on weekdays."

You laughed.

"The cowboy hat is only for weekends, m'lady." You made her chuckle, just a bit. "Please, do I look like a farmer boy to you, Gilmore?"

You didn't. Your leather jacket and your neck tattoos weren't usual for a country boy. Nothing of you made you look like a farmer boy.

You are a city boy, a Hartford man with no money to spent blindness. You drove your old man's motorcycle without his permission, and it was a very cliche of you to be flirting with a correct and delicate girl like you though Rory Gilmore was.

But she wasn't like all the rich girls that attended Chilton. She was not a millionaire, not a delicate girl, didn't wear make up other than a sparkly pink lipgloss and some transparent mascara. That was it. Oh, but you see a girl like that, and your instinct is to protect her. Her innocent face, and those big dove eyes that made her look so beautiful for you, didn't they?

Rory Gilmore caught your attention the minute you looked at her.

Her beauty was different. Wasn't like a model of Vogue, or some concept of pretty that the media has published. Something in her expressions and details made her look like she was a princess, those delicate factions and the innocence that brightened her eyes. 

"Fine, Noah Calhoun, let's go and see PJ Harvey."

"Great," you said softly, kissing her cheek quickly. "I'll pick you up on Friday night. Where do you live? What's your number?"

"Chill out, J Edgar Hoover. How do I know you aren't going to Lee Harvey Oswald me when I'm not looking?"

"Have you ever talked normally and not in pop culture references?"

"Why would I do that?" She asked, writing her address on a post-it. "Here. It's in Stars Hollow. Please, don't kill me one night."

"You aren't my type of victim. I'll pick you up at seven." 

And with that, you left Rory sitting on the bus stop. 

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

"What would you wear to a PJ Harvey concert in Hartford?" Asked Rory to Lorelai as she picked up her clothes and looked at them.

"A whistle, a pepper spray and a phone dialling to 911," answered her mom as she sat on the chair in Rory's room. "Do I know this guy?"

"I don't think you do, and if you did, I would have a lot of questions."

A bright moving line illuminated the curtains of the room from the outside. Lorelai looked over the window to see you getting out of your motorcycle. 

"No!" She yelled. "A motorcycle?"

"He's here!?" Exclaimed Rory, looking over the window to you standing next to your bike. "I am not ready."

Rory was panicking. She didn't have a minimal idea of what to wear and you were already outside, waiting for her.

"Ok, uhm, wear that blue shirt because you look good in it, some black jeans and your tennis. I'll go distract James Dean over there.

"Go! Go!"

Lorelai ran towards the door, opening and giving you a sign to come in.

Boy, you didn't want to, but since she was the one letting Rory go out with you, you didn't have a chance.

"Well, hello, there. I'm Lorelai, I'm Rory's mom, come on in."

"I'm Y/N," you introduced yourself with a particular tone like you didn't care much about what she thought. "Is Rory ready?"

"She's finishing up. You know, putting on lipgloss and grabbing a Poptart, hopefully not her last supper," Lorelai whispered the last part, making you raise your eyebrows. "So, Y/N, where do you go to school?"

"In a public school at Hartford. I work too."

"What do you do? Tattoo shop?"

"Actually, food deliveries. I'm the provider of your diner, in fact."

Lorelai raised her eyebrows.

"So you know Luke?"

"I know how he looks and talks."

"I know him too! He's one of my best friends."

"He kinda hates me."

"Right."

Both of you wished that Rory would appear in any second now.

"I'm ready!" Exclaimed Rory innocently, appearing at the door with a smile. "What were you guy talking about?"

"... baseball caps," said Lorelai and you nodded. "You look great, honey, have fun. But not so much fun." 

You opened the door for Rory, who smiled at you before stepping outside. You turned around to look at Lorelai.

"Have a nice night, Miss Gilmore."

"Take care. Drive safe!" You could hear her yell even though you closed the door. "Don't accept candy from strangers!"

You helped Rory get on the bike carefully, and she smiled at you while you put her helmet on.

"I feel like a little kid with this gigantic helmet." You laughed.

"You have a small head, Gilmore." She rolled her eyes.

"You are a total Casanova, aren't you?"

You grabbed her hands and placed them on your waist before turning on the bike. 

"Just hold on, Bambi."

And with that, you left the driveway of the Gilmore house, driving away.

Lorelai was quick enough to run towards the phone and jump to grab it, falling to the floor as she dialled the diner's number.

"Luke's diner, this is Luke."

"My daughter just left to go to a concert in the city on a motorcycle with your provider!"

"What? Are you doing a Margot Kidder impression again?" He asked from the other side of the line, making Lorelai roll her eyes. "Who left on a motorcycle?"

"Rory! Rory left on a motorcycle with a tattooed rebel guy! They were going to a PJ Harvey concert in Hartford! Am I the only one who sees the problem here?"

"Wait, my provider... you mean Y/N Y/L/N?" 

"So you know his name, perfect. That way we know what to tell the cops when Sylvester Stallone kidnaps my daughter!"

"Hey, chill out, he is a good kid."

"He has a black dragon tattoed on his neck. Do you know any good kid with a mythological creature that shoots fire from its mouth tattoed on their skin?"

She heard Luke sigh.

"Rory is a great kid. If she thinks he is a good guy, then he is. She wouldn't go out with a guy who she thinks is bad for her."

"Didn't she like Jess at some point?"

A silence reached the conversation until Luke spoke again.

"I'm on my way. Can't believe you let her go out with that thug, he has broken at least two eggs in his deliveries, he doesn't know how to take care of a girl. That girl has no judgement, that's why you are there!"

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

"I loved it when she sang The Mess We Are In, I really loved it," she said as you parked in front of her house. 

You had a lot of fun at the concert, and you still couldn't believe she even accepted to go. You've known her for a while now, and she's always been ignorant to your flirting or propositions. Something must have changed beneath these days that made her change her mind.

"I had so much fun, Y/N," she told you as she started to take off your jacket, but you let her keep it.

"Looks better on you." She rolled her eyes.

"Could you be any more cliche?"

"I haven't quoted Jane Austen yet."

"Yet?"

You nodded before leaning in, kissing her lips softly as you felt her tremble to your touch.

You ran your hand through her hair, making slow movements with your head before breaking apart, giving her a last short kiss before stepping back.

"See you on Monday, Rory Gilmore." You put on your helmet, and she smiled.

"Bye, Y/N.”

You gave her a tiny smirk before turning on the engine and driving away. She looked at you go, remembering how much fun she had with you that night.

Quickly, she ran towards her house, opening the door and finding her mom and Luke sitting on the couch. Both stood up, looking at the smiley girl.

"How did it go?" Asked Lorelai, and Rory blushed.

"Perfect," she said softly, hugging her mom. "Thanks for letting me go, it was the best night ever." 

After she said hi to Luke, she ran towards her bedroom and jump into the bed, staring at the dark night and stars with a big smile.

Lorelai looked at her friend with an emotionless expression on her face.

"I don't like that guy," she said, "at all."

[thewildsophia]

.Gauze. Clone High//Van Gogh x Reader

Trigger Warnings: Self-harm, brief talk about self-hatred

A/N: So I uh did a no-no and relapsed a few days ago after 15 days of being clean (which, I’m mildly upset about but not too much; I’m alright now too btw so don’t worry) and started writing this to calm myself down. I was debating if I should post this, (mainly because this is really just a vent for me) but eventually decided to finish and publish it so yeah, here you go.

Van Gogh x Depressed!Reader

Word Count: 2188

~~~~~~~~~~

You had tried everything you could to distract yourself -- to stop yourself -- but in the end it was all for nothing. You quietly sobbed as you felt the blood seep into your shirt when you wrapped your arms around your torso, bruises already starting to form on your upper arm where you had bitten them. Your nails dug into your sides as you held yourself tighter.

“This has to stop.” You thought as you slowly let go for yourself and sat up in your bed, not caring at the fact that you were getting blood on your sheets, “This has to stop. I can’t keep doing this.” 

You carefully stood up, making sure not to fall down from lightheadedness, and made your way over to your bathroom. You turned on the shower and stripped down while waiting for the shower to heat up. Once hot enough, you slipped into the shower and started cleaning yourself off. 

It hurt, it fucking burned, when the water ran over your cuts. You had to hold back a scream as the blood was dragged down the drain by the water. You grabbed the body soap and began cleaning your chest of your blood, trying your best not to get it on cuts. You didn’t bother washing your hair. 

When you were done, you turned the water off and dried yourself off, not looking at yourself once in the mirror. You dropped the towel on the floor and walked out of the bathroom to your dresser. You sluggishly clothed yourself before looking for your first aid kit. 

Normally you wouldn’t bother with covering them, opting to just cover them with a sweatshirt, but you had begun to do so after Van Gogh had talked to you about it. He was so understanding about it too; he knew that sometimes it was just too hard to stop, but had asked that you at least take care of yourself afterwards. 

You grabbed the bottle or rubbing alcohol and cotton balls, saturated the cotton with the alcohol and got to work. If you thought the water burned, you hissed as the alcohol hit your arms, feeling as if they were on fire. It took a while since you would constantly stop to calm yourself down but when you were finished disinfecting them you grabbed the gauze pads and gauze itself before covering them, tightening and securing them with self-adhering tape. You patted your bandaged arms before pulling a sweatshirt over your head and lying down. 

You only laid there for a few minutes before you slowly stood up and put your shoes on, stopping only to look at the time.

‘11:46pm’ it read. 

Did you really want to bother him this late? You hesitated before opening the door and making your way to his dorm. You knew he wanted you to be with him when you got like this. 

You stopped at his door, hesitantly knocking. He answered only a moment later, clearly still awake.

“Oh, Y/N,” He whispered surprised, “What are you…” He started to ask before stopping himself as he took in your form. Your hair was a mess, sticking up at odd angles and still damp in some places, and your clothes weren’t in much better shape. He also noted the sweatshirt you were wearing, the one you’d mainly wear after you… 

“Did you…?” He asked trailing off while taking your hand and leading you inside.

“Yeah.” You sighed, rubbing the back of your neck. You closed the door behind you. Van Gogh let go of your hand, leaving you standing in the front of the door, and walked over to his mini fridge. 

“Did you tend to them?” He asked while walking back over to you, handing you a cold bottle of water. 

“I did.” You answered, opening the water bottle and chugging some of it down. You took your shoes off before following him to his bed and sitting down. He sat down next to you, taking the half empty water bottle and placing on the nightstand next to his bed. 

“May I?” He asked while placing his hand utop you, teasing at your sleeve. 

“Go ahead.” You answered, feeling Van Gogh pull your sleeves back. Even if you weren’t looking at him, you knew that he had a frown on his face as he rubbed circles into the bandages with his thumbs. 

“Do you…” he began but hesitated, “Feel a bit better?” He finished and that when you looked over at him. Even though the lighting was dim, you could see the thin layer of tears that glazed over his eyes. 

“A bit.” You answered after a moment, “I’m sorry. I tried, I really did I promise, it’s just so…hard sometimes to stop myself from doing it.” You said with a quiet cry at the end. You pulled your arms away from him, pressing them to your chest before laying down on your side, facing away from him. You didn’t start sobbing like you thought you would, instead you just laid there, clutching your bandaged arms to yourself while tears silently fell from your eyes. You felt so heavy.

“Hey,” You heard Van Gogh whisper, suddenly right by your ear, “Don’t apologize. There’s nothing for you to apologize to me for.” Van Gogh brought your head into his lap as he threaded his thin fingers through your hair with one hand, rubbing your shoulder with the other. 

“It’s alright, I know how hard it is to fight the urges. I’m just glad that you’re, for the most part, okay.” Van Gogh said with a sad smile. You looked up at him and rubbed his cheek, noticing a tear fall from his left eye. 

“Don’t cry,” You whispered, “If you start crying, I’m gonna start crying and then we’re just gonna be a sobbing mess.” You said in an attempt to cheer you both up. He smiled before saying,

“Alright, I’m just…” He began, pausing, “I’m just glad that you’re-that you’re still here.” He finished and you felt the air leave your lungs. Your bottom lip started trembling and before you could stop it more warm tears began to flow from your eyes. 

“Christ, Van Gogh, don’t say shit like that.” You said while sitting up from his lap, rubbing at your puffy eyes. You felt him wrap his short arms around your waist and you sighed in his grasp. 

“Sorry,” He said, his words being muffled by your back, “But it’s true. I don’t know what I’d do without you.” 

Your shoulders slumped down as the tension left them. You placed your hands over top where he had his around you, patting them in a silent plead to let you go. He, reluctantly, did and you turned yourself around to face him. He gently grabbed your hand again, turned it palm up before pressing soft kisses to the inside of your wrists. You stared at him for a moment, your face becoming unbelievably hot, before you giggled, pressing your other hand against his cheek.

“Stop it you fucking-NERD!” You laughed as he started chuckling himself, but didn’t pull away for you just yet. He continued pressing kisses up your arm until he reached the end of the bandages, which is when he looked you in the eyes. He moved his face away from your before kissing your lips. 

His lips were soft and warm while your were chapped and cold because of the dehydration and blood loss. You moaned softly into the kiss as his hand found his way onto your cheek and into your hair. You cupped his cheek as the two of you continued to kiss. 

It was soft and chaste and just everything you needed and before you stop him he pulled away, a smile gracing his pale face. You couldn’t help but smile at how he looked; he was cute yet handsome and you absolutely loved him. 

“Have you eaten anything yet?” Van Gogh asked, eyebrows slightly raised in question. 

“Not since this afternoon.” You answered. He sighed before getting off the bed and walking towards his kitchen. 

“Wait here,” He said, “I’ll see if I’ve got anything for you.” You wanted to tell him he didn’t have to, that you didn’t need anything, but the pangs of hunger that you felt stopped you.

“Okay.” You answered, grabbing your water bottle and finishing it off. He came back after a minute and handed you a poptart and another bottle of water. 

“Sorry, I don’t have much to eat here.” He said with a nervous chuckle. 

“It’s fine.” You said while opening the packet, “Thank you, love.” He smiled before recycling the empty bottle of water. He came back and sat down on the bed next to you while you ate your poptart. He leaned his head on your arm and rubbed your thigh with his thumb. 

You finished the poptart before getting up and throwing the wrapper away. Van Gogh had ushered you back and you returned to him, flopping face down onto his bed. Van Gogh made his way over to where you were on the bed and kissed the back of your head. 

“Come on, get up.” He said and you complied, heaving your body onto the bed and facing him. He scurried to the top of the bed, laid down and patted the space next to him. Taking the hint, you made your way next to him and as soon as you had stopped moving he pressed himself to yourself. His face was in the crook of your neck and he pressed a kiss to the soft spot on the bottom of your jaw. You giggled before wrapping your arms around his waist and resting your chin on his head, paying no mind to the slight itch of his bandages. He wrapped his arms around your neck, continuing to pepper it with soft kisses. 

He eventually stopped, and it was quiet for a moment and you didn’t like it. You never liked it when it was quiet. Made you think.

“Hey,” Van Gogh began, pulling you out of your thoughts, “Would you…like to talk about it?” He asked. You face scrunched in thought before you simply answered, 

“Not really; not tonight at least.” 

“Okay, that’s fine.” He responded. You subconsciously pressed Van Gogh tighter to you as the room when silent again. He seemed to take notice of this because he, in turn, pressed you tighter to him. 

“Hey, did you want to be held tonight?” Van Gogh asked and you felt your eyes water at the question.

“Yes…” You whimpered, letting go of your death grip on him. The two of you shifted before settling in a position where your face was now in his chest and his chin was now on your head. It was a bit awkward considering that you were a few inches taller than him, but you made it work. You breathed in his seemingly permanent scent of turpentine, MSC, and paint -- specifically oil. 

Your eyes began to water as you wrapped your arms back around his waist. You couldn’t help the sob that tore through your throat a moment later and it seemed that Van Gogh didn’t mine, running his fingers through your H/C hair. 

You began crying into his chest, not even trying to quiet it down, and Van Gogh let you. He continued to run his hands through your hair, whispering sweet comforts to you while you cried. 

It hurt, everything just hurt so damn much. You weren’t even sure why you were upset, why you were hurting, in the first place. What happened today wasn’t even that bad, but…considering the events of the days before today…

You’re not sure how long the two of you stayed like that, your face pressed to Van Gogh’s chest and his hands in your hair, but you did know that when you did stop you felt utterly tired. You were already exhausted when you got here, but now all you wanted to do was curl up with Van Gogh and sleep. 

“Do you feel better now?” Van Gogh asked after your sobs had died down. You nodded a ‘yes’ into his chest and felt him kiss your forehead in response, “Good.” 

“Thank you, Vince.” You whispered into his chest. 

“Of course, liefde.” He whispered back, resting his hands around your shoulders. “I love you, Y/N.” Your arms involuntarily gripped him harder, holding him tighter, as that familiar burn returned to your throat. That burn made it difficult to speak and you were barely able to choke out a response.

“I love you too, Vincent.” You tilted your head up a bit and managed to press a few kisses to Van Gogh’s neck, earning a chuckle in response. 

“Alright, alright,” Van Gogh started, pulling himself away from your onslaught of kisses, “Get some rest. You and I both know you need it.” You hummed in acknowledgement before responding. 

“So do you,” You pressed your face back into his neck, “Goodnight, Vince.” 

Van Gogh pressed one last kiss to your head before saying, 

“Goodnight, Y/N.”

[deadenginescribbywibs]

Reunion - Prologue

After the battle there was an impromptu information session held in a damp and chilly bunker half a mile up from the ruined compound. Night was already closing in, as were reporters and the few family and friends tied to the heroes who weren’t present at the battle. May Parker, Happy Hogan, Cassie Lang, Clint Barton's wife and kids. 

“We need to be prepared,” Captain America said, still beaten and bruised but no longer sporting dirt in his teeth, “just in case anything else happens- In case anyone comes from another time.” 

And so the remaining heroes sat in October weather in the concrete room, some falling asleep- from the cold or their injuries, who could say. He talked about what he could. The battle of Wakanda five years prior, chopping off Thanos’ head, Natasha, Tony. When he couldn’t choke back the tears, Sam took over, and when Sam couldn’t continue, it was Rhodey. Towards the end it was Rocket who carried the meeting, and in the back, Peter Parker kept his eyes firmly on the ground. Nearest to the door and too cold from the draft of impending winter wind, he listened to the drone of strained, sometimes tearful voices. When it was over, wrapped in a damp blanket, Peter wondered if this is what it meant to be an Avenger. 

---

Peter always imagined the Avengers having a lot of energy, at least that was his impression from Germany. What he saw now wasn’t a group of unlikely heroes rising to meet challenges head on. They were just ghosts, like him, and he felt he could fade away at any moment. 

His phone rang, probably Ned or May. He had nothing to say, so he didn’t pick up. 

--

The boy sat in the hall all alone. At least it was warm, a far cry better from the two freezing nights sleeping on cots outside the upstate Avengers facility. Peter rolled his shoulders in their joints and stretched his neck. His head was still pounding, the last reminder of the physical toll of Thanos. Even safe inside, Peter’s mind was still on the battlefield, on Titan, and Tony’s face when he started to dust away, the desperate grip trying to keep him alive.

Peter started at the sturdy hand landing on his shoulder. 

“Hey.” Steve Rogers stood at his side, blue eyes fixed on the sign on the far wall. MORGUE. “Thanks.” 

Peter shrugged his shoulders and averted his eyes. “For what?” He croaked.

“For staying with him. Tony never liked to be alone…” Tears stung at Peter’s already red rimmed eyes but he held them in, body tense. After a moment's hesitation Steve sat down in the other dingy little mint green chair and crossed his arms. The silence stretched on until it was comfortable. 

Eventually Peter fell asleep, head resting on Captain America’s shoulder.

--

Steve was just trying to stay awake. 

“What’s up, punk?” Bucky strolled up the hall in his green sweats and grey long sleeve shirt, metal hand tucked into a pocket. 

Steve gestured at the teen asleep on the floor a few feet away. “Babysitting.” 

Bucky’s eyes trailed over the small figure huddled under the wool blanket pressed up against the wall, a hospital gown balled up under his head. “Jesus, we can’t get the kid a bed?”

Steve shook his head. “He wouldn’t leave if he could.” He nodded to the ‘Morgue’ sign. 

“Starks?”

“Sort of.” 

--

By the third day they were able to disperse somewhat. It took time to get communication and transportation back online through SHIELD, and to get the unhoused heroes into some kind of temporary lodging while waiting for spaceships and quinjets to be repaired. A side effect of many of the heroes being stranded on Earth and more specifically in New York, however, was that they ended up at the lakehouse of one recently widowed Pepper Potts. For having just watched her husband die and the near destruction of the universe, she was managing as well as could be expected. 

Peter was sharing a spare room with Thor and Rocket and Peter Quill, and although he hadn’t been alone in a week- or a week and five years, depending how you looked at it, the sounds of breathing in the dark room were a comfort compared to the clinical silence of the medical wing hall. 

At 4:40am his stomach rumbled. Peter groaned. “No.” He turned over under his covers, but the hunger wouldn’t let up. After days without food running on a super metabolism, his will finally broke at 5:13am and Peter slunk out of the bedroom tiptoeing over beings big and small alike. 

The kitchen was dimly lit. Outside, a small lake glimmered under a moon hanging low like ripe fruit, illuminating the trinkets and cups and pictures in the modest but modern kitchen, not the place he pictured Tony retiring into but nice nonetheless. It was homey. 

He didn’t have an appetite per se, or at least the nausea was still battling against his will to eat, but Peter eventually settled on a box of crackers in a cupboard. He plunged a hand into the crinkling plastic liner and stuffed a handful of saltines into his mouth greedily, and suddenly parched, Peter reached for a cup for water. Next to the haphazardly placed drinking glasses were a row of pictures, the first, Howard Stark he recognized from history books, and the next he wasn’t sure, but the last in the line made Peter’s heart skip a beat. Tony and Peter posed for a photo for his Stark Internship, peace signs poised and smiling giddily. He’d thought it was the best day of his life. He must have been standing staring at the picture for a long time, because by the time Peter broke out of his melancholy, the stars had faded out of sight in the early morning sky. 

There was a faint shuffling to his side. Peter turned to see Pepper Potts in her bathrobe, not a trace of makeup on her face, a tissue in her hand. She’d been crying all right. 

“Oh.” She said faintly seeing Peter standing at the counter, the photo lying in front of him. “I didn’t see you Peter. Sorry, I just woke up feeling-’ Pepper gestured at the room in general as if to say ‘I just watched my husband die horrifically and now our retirement home is filled with sad heroes and I don’t know what to do.” But Peter didn’t say anything. He presented her with the box of crackers. “Still not talking much, hey?” She sniffled and ran a hand through Peter’s hair before reaching into the box of crackers. “Me too.”

Pepper bustled around the room preparing coffee. When she placed a mug next to him she noticed the picture and picked it up silently. She traced her fingers over the frame. “You know, he did it for you, Pete. He loved you.” Peter could have sprinted away at lightning speed, a rush of guilt balling up in his chest and stomach telling him to escape, but he forced himself to stand very still. Pepper kissed the top of his head and turned back to her coffee, smiling still. “He can rest now.” 

--

So there was some crying in the shower. One might call it hysterical, but Peter thought he did okay considering. If he’d gotten in before taking off his pyjamas, well. No one was around to see.

--

“Move over.” A voice grumbled over him. Peter was back in bed again that morning of the third day, and judging by the light slanting through the windows, it was probably still early. Thor stood over him looking quite gruff. “I can’t sleep on the floor anymore.” He said it politely enough, so Peter scooted over until he was laying practically at the edge of the double bed. Thor collapsed onto the other side and it hardly took a moment for him to fall fast asleep. 

Not wanting to consider why they had given him the bed in the first place- “He slept on the floor outside the morgue. If Tony could have seen-” Peter rolled over to check his phone. 39 Text Messages, 9 Voicemails. Peter groaned, he scrolled through the latest messages from May. 

May (6:43am)

Call me when you can. 

May (6:48am)

And text me that you’re okay. 

May (6:49am)

I larb you.

The familiar guilt returned and with it, the nausea. Peter thought he might throw up if he had to talk on the phone. He wanted to see May more than anything, more than seeing Tony again, more than eating a hot poptart right out of the toaster, but he couldn’t. It would break her heart, and with the sad eyes he was already getting from the Avengers collectively, Peter couldn’t do that to anyone else. He hastily replied. Larb u 2.

When Thor rolled over a moment later Peter found himself trapped under a huge outstretched arm. Being too tired to lift it- Thor must weigh 800 pounds, it was so heavy- he resigned himself to being crushed. With just bird calls and Thor’s faint snoring and Rocket and Quills quiet breathing to be heard in the room, Peter fell back asleep. 

--

That afternoon the Avengers seemed to be doing better. Rocket banged around in his spaceship now housed in the backyard with Nebula’s help. Quill was checking out Bucky’s motorcycle, though the assassin still seemed very uncomfortable at the lake house in general. Steve Rogers came and went on his bike. Peter thought he was taking comfort in doing damage control, if only to spare Pepper from doing it. She was taking a nap on the couch. 

The house was mostly quiet and so Peter was taking a moment of refuge to sit on the back porch with a cup of tea and his wool blanket. He didn’t know where it had come from, honestly, and it was outright filthy and dingy from getting dragged around the battlefield and the SHIELD compound for days. He was just drifting into space when the screen door swung open and a young brown haired teen stepped out. Peter recognized him as Harley Bennet, though they’d only met a couple times before the Snap and a couple times over video since the battle. 

“Peter.” He said, and Peter stood up shakily in his blanket. Harley extended a hand but then shook himself. “What am I doing-” and he pulled the younger boy in for a hug. When they pulled back Peter gave him a weak smile. “How’s it going here?” 

The young Avenger just shrugged his shoulders. A moment later a bounding blur of dark brown hair and blue pyjamas burst through the door. “Harley!” 

“Morguna! In the flesh!” He called, sweeping her into a spinning hug. “What’s up, lil sis?”

“I’m sad.” She said suddenly pouting. Peter grimaced. To his surprise Harley knelt down by her side. “Me too. But you know what Tony said about being sad?”

“What?” She asked innocently.

“It’s nothing blowing stuff up can’t fix.” He whispered. 

And so that’s how Peter, Morgan and Harley found themselves in the barn that afternoon, a frightening weapon tucked under Harley’s arms. The former two were still in their pyjamas, and all three wore safety goggles although Morgan’s were on askew. Peter reached over to adjust them and gave her a pat on the head, she smiled at him. 

“Nobody tell Pepper about this.” Harley said with wide eyes. 

“Don’t chicken out.” Morgan whined and received a rakish grin in return. 

“I won’t. I’m not. Listen. Tony talked about-” He made a funny gesture, “alien invasions sometimes when I was a kid, and it got me thinking, what would I do if they came? So I made this gun.”

Peter eyed the glowing gun suspiciously. The thought that this was a Very Bad Idea was starting to sprout in his mind. “I mean, it’s a potato gun, okay? It’s not like Tony was going to give me real ammo.”

“Com’n!” Morgan cried, and Harley grinned again. 

“Alright okay.” Harley shouldered the gun over the very poor barricade they made from a tipped over wheelbarrow and a barrel, pointing it at a bale of hay for Gerald’s lunch. “Check it out!” He said, and yanked on a lever which started a worrying, high pitched buzz. It cranked a couple times and sputtered. “Oh, come on.” Harley said, giving it a bat with his palm. Suddenly the gun fired up, and Peter just reached out to grab it just in time to point it at the target when it erupted, launching several potatoes at criminal velocities. “Ah!” They cried. The potatoes hurled through the bales, strands of hay cascaded everywhere, the potatoes made a hulking splutter sound on the other side as they crashed through the wood plank walls, splintered wood shot out the other side and someone cried “Oh my fucking god. Are you serious?!”

It was Rocket. Harley, Peter and Morguna looked at each other, at the erupted hay bale, at the light streaming through the hole in the wall, and at the potato gun. “Oh my god!” Peter whispered loudly. 

“Whoever that was, you are about to be dead.” Rocket said from outside. Peter grabbed the gun, hurled it under the nearest vehicle, grabbed Morgan and Harley and launched all three of them into the hay loft. 

Rockets shadow appeared before he did and he looked menacingly at the overturned wheelbarrow and scattered hay as he came around the corner. “Seriously? Whoever that was, come out now so I can shoot you in the face.” 

Morgan giggled, Harley and Peter covered her mouth, perfectly still in the scratchy hay. “Shh!” There was a strand poking Morgan right in the face, and she wrinkled her nose again as it itched. Nebula came around the corner looking just as unimpressed. She glanced over the scene and then at Rocket. “Children’s games.” She said.

“I got hit in the ass with a fucking potato.” The racoon complained. 

“Get over it.” She said walking away. Rocket glared into the dingh of the room. Morgan’s nose crinkled again and she shivered, and just as Rocket turned away, she let out a sneeze. He pinned the three of them with a look, probably marking a small oddly shaped mound of hay in the loft. The three children stayed very still and quiet for a second. Morgan looked at both Peter and Harley with huge brown orbs. After a moment Rocket rolled his eyes and looked off in the distance, probably at Nebula. “Well I can’t go and shoot Tony Stark’s kids in the face, can I? Where’s Quill?”

As soon as he rounded the corner, Morgan started giggling and squirming to get out of the hay causing it to slide out from under their feet until they all tumbled down onto the ground, Harley and Morgan giggling and tittering the whole time. They looked at Peter and started laughing anew. He looked down, his shirt was full of hay like an overstuffed scarecrow. 

“How far along are you?” Harley snickered. Peter huffed a laugh too. 

--

Tony’s ashes arrived that night. Pepper kept it quiet. She tucked the red silk bag into an old arc reactor Peter had never seen and placed it carefully into her dresser drawer. Peter watched from her bed. It was one of the only quiet spaces in the house around dinner. A bit of sensory overload and fatigue made him silent and sullen that afternoon and as soon as she caught wind she’d corralled Peter into bed with a cup of tea. They kept silent company, and when she was done, she sat in the occasional chair in the corner brushing out her hair while they watched TV. Eventually she started in on her cuticles, then disappeared to retrieve laundry from the dryer. 

“May is coming up for the funeral.” She told Peter handing him a freshly laundered hoodie. He pulled it on, it said MIT. Peter felt like he should tear it off immediately. “She’ll be here in the morning. Your apartment is still occupied,” she frowned, “I think you’ll have to stay a little longer.”

“Thanks.” Was all he said, but he accepted a bundle of socks passed to him.

“Are you sleeping okay? I heard Thor is sharing the bed with you.”

“Yeah.” Peter huffed a little. “It’s not so bad. He’s dead asleep most of the time.”

Pepper smiled knowingly and cocked her brows. “At least it’s not Bruce.”

--

Bruce was still in the hospital and for that Peter was grateful. The sight of Bruce’s burnt arm was enough to send the teen into a panic attack. 

Overall, Peter wasn’t so hard done by. After all, there were heroes strewn literally all over the property. Drax, Mantis and Groot slept in closets and hallways, Carol Danvers and Nebula camped in the backyard. Bucky Barnes and Captain America were at an abandoned motel not far up the road, and Sam and Rhodey took over the dining room at night. Harley slept on the couch, and Morgan in her own room was undisturbed. Rocket slept in a bed of clothes in a dresser drawer in Peter’s room, and Quill slept on a burnt mattress on the floor that had been pulled out of the Milano. Valkyrie had returned temporarily to Asgard with the help of Thor wielding Stormbreaker, but Thor stayed behind for, well… Peter had to imagine it was emotional comfort. He was the only other Avenger as pathetic as Peter, the boy thought, watching the huge hulking form curled up on the couch, cups of yoghurt strewn about the coffee table. Thor had been catapulting between emotions since the battle, but mostly he was just tired. 

“Can I ask you something?” Peter said about an hour after sitting in the otherwise quiet living room. Thor shrugged, now in one of his morose moods. “How old are you?” 

“Fifteen hundred, give or take. The years aren’t as important when you are as old as Asgardians are.” 

Peter sat in thought for a while. The house was starting to show signs of life, laughter could be heard outside and in the halls sometimes, he even thought Pepper sounded alright talking to Happy on the phone that day. “Do you do birthdays?”

Thor shrugged. “Sometimes. Every fifty years or so. We had one at my inauguration, although looking back, maybe it wasn’t the right moment to celebrate, as it set my brother on a path of destruction that eventually led to Thanos killing him.” He supined. His nose was stuffed up. 

“Oh.” The boy sat a moment longer sensing the sadness wash over the man, but even if he wanted to join Thor’s wallowing, Peter was starting to feel the pricklings of relief swell up under the surface tension of his grief. “We should have a birthday. Tonight. To celebrate.”

“...To celebrate?”

“To celebrate.” It didn’t sound all that convincing to Peter either, but anything was better than this. 

--

They had a birthday. It was cramped. Like, really cramped. The seventeen people in the vicinity of the house were stuffed into the little kitchen, Morgan sat on Thor’s lap. The god of thunder was dressed in a little pink frilly apron. Harley was sticking a ridiculous number of sparklers on the cake in the other room with the help of Rocket and Drax. Bucky and Nebula stood stolidly in the back hall, Carol Danvers stood in the back door. Pepper sat next to Thor, and Quill and Mantis were eating icing off of a spoon. Sam stood in a narrow broom cupboard holding his beer to his chest. Steve Rogers stood behind Thor, a beacon of comfort and resolution in the sea of calamity. Groot sat on another stool playing his video game, and Rhodey sat by Peter on the other side, very much on board with a drink in his hand. “This is great.” He said. “Nice one Parker.”

“Thanks.” Peter croaked. He felt more awake than he had in days. Morgan braided Thor’s beard while they waited, and when the cake came out, they sang Happy Birthday haphazardly while Harley carried the cake. The sparklers burst into a ball of flames as soon as the cake was set on the table. Thor scrunched up his face, “Fiend!” and shot the cake with lightning, strawberry icing exploded in every direction. Pepper laughed first, then Rocket and Drax laughed, Mantis and Quill laughed and Harley, Morgan and Thor laughed, and soon everyone was laughing, and Peter was laughing too. 

--

“That was a good call.” Sam said idling up to him that evening. Peter found solace on the back porch. The lake was beautiful to look at in the night. “Morale was running a little low.”

Peter’s mouth quirked up into a smile. “Thor’s morale was low. I dunno about everyone else.”

“Everyone else too. You just get better at hiding it when you get older.” He tucked his chin. “I know we just celebrated his like thousandth birthday-”

“Fifteen hundred and something-” Peter corrected.

“-But Thor’s not that much older than you are. Maybe a bit. He’s younger than Steve.” Sam said definitively. 

“Well everyone’s younger than Steve.” 

“Good point.”

--

This time when Peter went to the snack cupboard in the middle of the night, Nebula and Carol were in the kitchen sitting in relative silence, and Rhodey was reading in the other room.

“Hey.” He waved. Nebula and Carol nodded. 

“Is Thor snoring again? I can go punch him.” Carol joked. Peter smiled bashfully.

“It’s all right. I don’t mind.”

“It’s Quill that’s worse.” Nebula supplied. That was probably the first time she’d ever spoken to him, and he nodded guiltily. 

“He’s been mumbling in his sleep.”

“About what?”

“Kevin Bacon. He, uh…”

“He was in the movie footloose.” Carol said. Nebula rolled her eyes. 

“Of course.” 

“Well, I guess if Peter’s up that means it’s bed time.” Carol stood up groggily. “Nice sitting in silence with you.” She chirped to her companion. Nebula nodded. Carol ruffled his hair on the way out.

What remained of the birthday cake sat on the counter so Peter grabbed a fork and took a huge mound. Nebula was looking past him, and when he turned around to follow her line of sight, he saw the picture again, the one of him and Tony. 

“You were Stark’s ward.” She stated. Peter didn’t immediately reply, eyes shifting sideways out the far window. “He was the first person to ever be kind to me without expecting anything in return.” She caressed the exposed panel of electronics running from her forehead to her crown. “After the battle on Titan he fixed my head using metal from his own armor. And... he taught me how to play paper football.” 

“That’s just how he was.” He mumbled around a mouthful of cake. In the other room, Rhodey was smiling into his book, eavesdropping. He had a new prosthetic exo-support pulled from a backup supply in Tony’s garage. 

Still looking at the photo, she continued. “Thanos was my father, and people will shudder at the memory of him for eternity. But he's not the one people will ask about.” 

Ears hot, Peter swallowed around the lump ever present in his throat, but there were no tears now. If anything, he was relieved. He shoved another forkful of cake into his mouth and stood up, striding away from the table. From the other room Rhodey piped up. “Oh my god. Was that the most words you’ve ever said?” Nebula raised her middle finger. “It gets worse. Who taught you that?” 

She smirked. “You can blame Barton.” Rhodey rolled his eyes. 

“Of course. That guy is a douchebag.” It sounded bad, but Rhodey said it warmly and smiled as he returned to his book. Peter swung back around with the platter of cake and set it down in front of Nebula. 

“You’re pretty cool.” Then he asked hopefully. “Can I fix your headpiece too?”

--

They used Tony’s battle armor, the one he’d been wearing when he died. It was piled up in the garage, or at least what could be salvaged. Burnt, cracked, bent and shredded, the sight of it served a visceral reminder of the battle. Until now, no one dared go near it. 

It took time for Peter to build up the nerve to touch it, and before he could, Nebula pried a piece off the left arm. She might as well have pried his heart from his chest, but Peter quelled his nerve and set to work, pilfering tools from Tony’s lab like Pepper said he could. By the time the other Avengers rolled around, Nebula had a new head plate,  striking gold cut from the last Iron Man ever made. Over the brow it was inscribed, “MK2.”

--

May arrived bright and early that morning and the first thing she did was hug Peter, then pulled back, then hugged him again. “Oh my god. Oh my god. Oh my-”

“May. It’s alright. I’m fine, see?” Peter said, holding out his arms. 

May Parker was not one to be fooled, however, and scooped the boy into her arms again. “My baby boy. All grown up and saving the universe.” She swept a tear from her eye and then turned to Pepper, sweeping her up as well. Pepper might have needed it, she sighed deeply. 

“Are you holding up okay?”

“As well as expected.” Pepper sniffled pulling away. “It’ll be nice to have another normal person around the house. There are too many manful tears happening here.” 

May was introduced to Harley and Morgan, then to the rest of the Avengers. The lot of them and others returning from afar were changing into funeral clothes. Soon the funeral would be over, and that would be it. The Avengers would dissemble, and Peter would be on his own. 

--

During the funeral he held back his tears. It was hardly his first time burying a loved one. He stayed quiet and still, and when it was over, he sat on the dock with Morgan while the adults reminisced about Tony, and about Natasha. “I miss daddy.” Came her little voice from his side. 

Peter nodded mutely, swallowing his sadness. The wind over the lake blew their hair back, and Peter rubbed little circles on her back as she sniffled. “Don’t you miss him?” She asked. He nodded again around the lump in his throat. When he couldn’t hold back his tears he wiped his cheeks with the sleeve of his suit. “Your dad was my hero.” Morgan rested her head against him. 

“He was your dad too.” 

He couldn’t respond to that, he didn’t know how to explain the complexities of their brief relationship to his mentor’s actual blood relative, so he just stayed silent. Maybe in a few years, Morgan would understand that she was Tony’s only child, not him. But then Peter thought back to Pepper Potts in the kitchen at 5am making them a pot of coffee in the dark, and Peter wasn’t so sure. 

“He did it for you, Pete. He loved you.” 

--

Shuri took Peter for ice-cream at the diner nearby. They walked in their funeral clothes despite the rain and sleet that started that afternoon, and the ice-cream compounded the cold, but it was fun. “And so I asked them-” She recounted, “why couldn't they unlock my phone. They said it’s company policy. So I took it apart right then and there and manually unbricked it. And guess what?” She laughed, she had ice-cream on her lip and Peter was suddenly struck by how attractive she was.

“What?” He gushed back. 

“They banned me from the store.” 

Peter laughed while she lamented about getting tossed from a Tek-i-Mobile. By the time they arrived back at the house, covered in freezing mud and rosy cheeked from the wind, he was feeling almost normal. 

--

That night- the last they would spend all together, there was a Mario Kart tournament. Even Pepper clad in pin striped pyjamas joined in the cajoling, Morgan sat in her lap. Shuri, Peter and Harley had the obvious edge, but Rocket was a close competitor. Bets went around. Money changed hands. Then Quill and Thor got into an argument and it ended in a milk gauntlet challenge, at which point Pepper banished them from the house and they threw up milk in the backyard. 

“I’m sorry about this.” Peter told Pepper seriously. Somehow, this was his fault. She heaved a little sigh and smiled. 

“Believe me, if you’d spent much time with them before, you’d know to expect this.” She paused for a moment and her nose wrinkled as she smiled, just like Morgan. “Tony would have loved this.” And she snapped a picture on her phone. 

At that moment, Peter knew he would give anything to have Tony back. What he didn't know was that soon, he would.

[jbbuckybarnes]

List of Firsts

Pairing: Sebastian Stan x Reader (2k) Description: You’re working on a movie project with Sebastian & Anthony in Atlanta and the topic of “Experiences in your late teens and early twenties” comes up. Warnings: anxiety, panic attack, not proofread A/N: I don’t write much RPF anymore, so I hope this doesn’t read too awkward.

Masterlist

You had been experiencing a lot of great things on set. Not only was this your first role you ever got, it was also a freaking side role in a few episodes of a Marvel series. With the potential to become something bigger. But that wasn‘t the main reason why it was great. You finally got the positivity you had been craving all your life. The man playing Bucky Barnes, Sebastian, had been an absolute delight to be around. Always joking, always listening and always getting way too deep and philosophical. Anthony had the joking part down and whenever you had a bad day on set you just stood around him to get some of that positivity. „So I gave her a piggyback ride so we could get out of there without her whining about her feet hurting.“ Seb talked about some party a couple years back with a big smile. „I‘ve never gotten a piggyback ride.“ You commented looking up at the sky. You two were on daybeds and had a break from filming. He looked at you with a frown, „Excuse me? You‘ve never had fun in your life?“ You chuckled, „I guess so.“ It kind of hurt to know that you didn‘t have the life you wanted until now. You barely had any friends and never really got out of the house. The last big memories you had made were 4 years ago. „You know, I just didn‘t do a lot of cool or random things until now. I was either the annoying girl or an outsider. And when that started to change my anxiety hit and I isolated myself. So I never really had late teens or early twenties to just have fun,“ you explained. „Gosh, sorry, that probably sounded really mean then.“ He frowned thinking about his comment. „It‘s alright. I‘m used to it.“ You mumbled. „Do you have a list, you know, of things that you haven‘t done and still want to do?“ He asked curiously. „Like a list of firsts? No. It would probably be super long, especially when you include a food section.“ You chuckled at the image of Spongebob‘s endless list in your mind. „Name one.“ „Gosh, I don‘t know, holding hands? Cooking with someone that‘s not family? Forehead kisses? Oh, I have a good one, water pistol fight.“ You giggled and saw him light up a bit. „And food?“ „Sushi, Poptarts, any Thai food pretty much, Tapas.“ You counted them off. „We‘re gonna have sushi for dinner then.“ He decided in disbelief and made you laugh. You knew he just wanted everyone to be happy around here. It showed in his little efforts to make you feel more comfortable.

___

„Here.“ He held out a water pistol to you the weekend after you had talked. „Wait, what?“ You looked up at him confused. „It‘s hot, we‘re in Atlanta and we happen to have an outdoor pool in this hotel, so I bought these.“ He shrugged as if it was nothing. „Seb, I‘m wearing white.“ Your right eyebrow shot up. A shrug came back again with a sly smile, „Shit happens.“ He ran towards the pool to fill up his water pistol, „No!“ You ran after him with yours and the fight had begun. A splash of water drenched your shirt, showing your black sports bra underneath. You retaliated and aimed at his chest while trying to get into a hiding spot. „Nice bra.“ He laughed like a little boy. „Nice abs, macho.“ You rolled your eyes aiming at him from your spot behind a pillar. His hair was hit and ruined with a celebratory laugh from you as he started charging for you, making you run with a giggle. The back of your shirt was hit too, as well as your hair. „Seb!“ you squeaked out and hid behind another pillar where a back and forth ensued. „You‘re an idiot.“ You laughed before he leapt forward and grabbed you to empty the rest of the water he had onto your head with a big pout from you. „Just because you‘re bigger than me.“ You crossed your arms as the water ran down your shoulders. „Poor baby.“ He cooed before unexpectedly getting the rest of your water straight into his face. „You play dirty, I see.“ He smirked mischievously with water droplets from his hair hitting your face that had a giant grin on it. You reached down to wring out your shirt, „Do you have anything to change into? My stuff is in the washing machine downstairs.“ „Uh, yeah.“ he mumbled before getting off his shirt and wringing it out too. Half an hour later you sat in the lobby with a big hoodie and a cup of tea. Even better, you sat there being held warm by a certain idiot.

___

„Hey, what‘s wrong, darling.“ He asked softly leaning forward to meet you at eye level. „Nothing, I‘m just having a headache and feel very dizzy. I‘ll survive it,“ you mumbled and cuddled deeper into the coat your character was usually wearing. „Already took a painkiller?“ His head dipped to the side and you nodded a little weak. „Sebastian, Y/N, next scene.“ An assistant knocked at the door. „Coming in a second,“ he answered. He held out both of his hands to help you up and saw you almost fall back again. „Oh, dear.“ He exhaled at your state of health. „Did someone stick a knife in my head?“ You asked defeated. „C‘mon, take my hand. You‘ll sit down in between takes and I‘ll stare down everybody that wants you to overwork yourself.“ He grabbed your hand softly and felt you squeeze it back for stabilization. The rest of the day was spent in front of the camera, on a chair with a water bottle or hanging onto him for dear life to not trip. „Thank you,“ you mumbled by the end of the day and had two giant hands on your head, slowly pushing down on pain points. „Hey, I know how fucking awful it is to work with a knife in your head.“ He chuckled. „You didn‘t have to do it though.“ You shrugged and relaxed a little at the pain points in your neck being released. „Okay, that might hurt a little more.“ He mumbled as he pushed the points connecting neck and shoulders. An uncomfortable whimper left you, „Ouch.“ „Sorry.“ He went over them softly and had you fall against his chest seconds later. „God, I feel so much better now.“ Your voice was muffled against his clothes and he gave you a full bear hug, side to side swaying and all. „Can I always have someone like you when I feel bad?“ You asked looking up with a tired smile and got a grin back.

___

„You two are cute, you know?“ Anthony commented as Sebastian looked over to you filming a scene alone. „What do you mean?“ A brow shot up as he looked to his friend. „Everyone‘s been saying that you both, uh, spent some time alone in your trailer last week after we wrapped.“ A cheeky grin came back. A frown built on his face, „Yeah, she had a headache and I just did that pain point thing my mom always did to me when I was younger.“ „Then why have you been holding hands that entire day?“ Now Anthony‘s brow shot up. „She was tripping all over the place because the headache made her dizzy. So I just helped her to not fall on her face all day.“ „Oh. So that‘s why she sat so much between takes.“ „Do you wanna tell me,“ His hand went over his face, „That people see me holding someone‘s hand and immediately assume I just-“ „I mean, it‘s not half bad. There are worse people to be your rumor girlfriend.“ His friend chuckled and stopped pretty fast at the concerned face. „I just...She told me a bit about herself and how her life was before this and I‘m honestly just trying to make her days a little bit brighter. I don‘t wanna come off that way.“ „Hey, don‘t get in your head about it. She clearly enjoys being around you too.“ A smile. „I‘m not int-“ „Anthony!“ And he needed to film his next scene. You looked over to him in the chair as you talked to someone from the production for a while, but when you wanted to walk towards him he was gone. And he was for the rest of the day unless he needed to film. The same happened the next day and the day after. „Anthony?“ „Huh?“ „Is there something wrong with Sebastian?“ His face got worried, „Not that I know of, why?“ „I don‘t know. He just hasn‘t talked to me in a few days and I don‘t know why.“ You fidgeted with your hands. „I‘ll talk to him, alright?“ A nod and then you got back to work.

___

You got all internal about it. What did you do wrong? Did you say something hurtful? Did something bad happen in his life that he didn‘t want to share? Maybe you were just not a priority with all his friends around, you‘d understand that. But why was he in his trailer all the time then? You woke up the next day and had an anxious and sad feeling sticking to you the entire morning. You could handle certain uncertainties but not the ones that had to do with people around you. After a while you got ready for the day and went into hair and makeup. He was no different today. Well, a little different. He wasn‘t in his trailer the entire time anymore. Whenever you weren‘t needed you just cowered together in a chair or some other place. Your breathing got uneven, your thoughts started to spiral, heart rate picked up, palms got sweaty, your knees shaky. „Oh please no,“ you whispered to yourself. Anxiety attacks you could control, panic attacks only came when you were stressed out and without a trigger. You hectically looked up and looked around in your cotton-feeling world, when you saw him talk to one of his friends. You made a beeline for him with a deep frown in your face that he couldn‘t ignore and couldn‘t run from. Your head landed on his chest and with a whimper you got out, „Panic attack.“ You felt arms wrap around you softly and a thumb going through your hair. „I‘m here. Breathe slowly,“ he murmured in a soft voice. You followed the 5-6-7 rule for what felt like an hour, your knees feeling more and more like jello. He got down a little and picked you up, „Keep it up.“ He carried you away from all the noise and into a room drowning it all out. „You made me so worried,“ you whimpered, „What did I do?“ „I‘m sorry, you did nothing. I just...I guess I‘m just an idiot.“ „Yeah, but why?“ You looked up at him as he set you back down. „There was a rumor about...us. And I didn‘t want that to, you know, ruin anything.“ You dipped your head to the side, „I don‘t care about rumors.“ „Yeah, usually me neither, but I guess there was something to it when it comes to me.“ he shrugged. „Please never do that again. I thought I did something bad,“ you mumbled and felt his hands by your face again. „Promise.“ A kiss was placed on your forehead.

___

„So, uh,“ he stood there with a demeanor of a schoolboy on one of your location shooting days, „would you, after we filmed today, maybe, you know, grab something to eat with me?“ „Yeah, sure.“ You shrugged. „As...like a date.“ He added a little softer and scrunched up his face expecting a bad response. „Oh, uh,“ You could feel the heat rise up to your face, „Y-yeah. Sure.“ You saw triumph on his face and boxed him against the chest, „You said grab, not sitting in a loud restaurant.“ „Uuuh, you wanna cook with someone else for the first time?“ He wiggled his brows. „Someone that can‘t cook, may I add.“ You rolled your eyes with a smile. „Congratulations, you signed up for a whole series of firsts just with having me cook.“ He laughed before you were sent to do your job again. A job that went by way faster with something to look forward to.

[eeveedel]

I’m very early, but I hope this makes you smile!

Happy chubby friday :) based on off your chubby actor AU!

——-

“I can’t believe they’re making you lose all of our hard work in the next 3 months. Louis, that’s 10 pounds a month” Harry yelled from the bathroom while he was shaving his face to a tired Louis who laid under the covers ready for bed.

“I know babe but, it is part of my job. I can’t help I got cast in a film where they want my old body over this one, no matter how much we like this one more.” The frown obvious in Louis’ voice as he pulled the covers up in the cold room. The air was always running in this damn house.

Harry emerged from the bathroom and hopped under the covers next to his boy, a hand immediately going to rub the older boys soft belly. “I’m gonna miss this….like a lot.” Harry pouted, leaning down to leave a few kisses on the top of Louis head.

“I know baby, but it won’t be gone forever I promise. I’m not looking forward to this either. Working out, eating less, eating healthy….” Louis rolled his eyes and sunk into the bed “not to mention I kind of like what my body looks like like this, I don’t think I’ve ever felt so happy with my body.” He frowned even further, thinking bad to his rail thin physique he fought excruciatingly hard to keep. Harry was lucky, his body naturally stay lean and he loved to work out.

“It’ll be okay baby boy, I hope you know I think you’re sexy every which way you come. Whether that’s soft bellied and cute or lean and tiny. I love you all the same.” Harry smiled to Louis’ blushing cheeks, kissing him Goodnight and wrapping his body around the younger boy.

——

A few weeks later and Louis was doing well with his new regimen, much to his own displeasure. Things went back to normal in the Styles- Tomlinson home, healthy food in every corner, early morning workouts together, and Louis weighing himself on his own in the bathroom with the door shut.

But Louis was itching for a return of excitement, kinky excitement. He longed for his belly to be filled and for Harry to take care of him and fuck him senseless. Lately everything had been very vanilla and Louis was bored out of his mind.

Stepping off the scale, Louis didn’t feel much proud to know he was 10 pounds down, meaning he was 20 pounds away from his “normal” weight. He sulked out of the bathroom and landed belly first on the bed.

“Hey sweetie, what’s going on.” Harry sat down next to him as he was pulling his socks on to get groceries.

“I’m hungry” Louis mumbled into the bed, his face still buried in the comforter.

“What was that?” Harry ran his fingers down Louis’ spine playfully.

“I said I’m hungry. I’m hungry and I’m so tired of this Harry.” Louis turned his head to the side and looked up at his boy.

“Oh sweetie I’m so sorry. I wish you didn’t have to do this so quickly or we could have some fun.” Harry was right, he didn’t have any time for fuck ups or accidental stuffings, the movie shoot being only 2 months away.

“Hmmf.” Louis huffed out and wrapped his body around Harry’s torso, clinging to him like a Koala.

——————

It was 2 in the morning and Louis couldn’t do it anymore. He was starving and his belly wouldn’t stop rumbling, there was no way he could sleep like this.

Deciding he would just go downstairs and drink some juice to settle his tummy, he pulled himself out of Harry’s embrace, lifting the younger boys hands off his tummy to slip out of bed.

Louis made his was to the kitchen, tip toeing to avoid the cold tiles on his feet.

Sure, Louis had only planned on drinking some juice, but when he opened the fridge he found Harry had been busy at the grocery store.

Ice cream had returned to the freezer, along with half of a cheese cake in the fridge freshly made and covered.

Louis looked in the cupboards and found he had also went out and bought him some of his favorite snacks, chips, those mini chocolate chip cooks, poptarts, even a bag of candy.

At that moment, Louis wasn’t thinking of the movie he had to shoot in 2 months, he was too focused on the hungry awakening at the bottom of his belly.

——

About an hour later Harry had flopped over to Louis’ side of the bed and realized it wasn’t warm, and it was empty. Meaning Louis must’ve left to pee awhile ago - maybe he wasn’t feeling well.

Harry got up and slipped a sweater over himself, the house always cold, and took a peak in the bathroom to find the light off and the door open.

Moving silently down the hall, his feet padding lightly on the carpet of the staircase, Harry knew immediately where he was going to find Louis if the dim light of the night time kitchen lights was any signal.

Harry crept into the kitchen, and to his surprise found Louis rubbing his belly slumped on the floor against the kitchen island. An empty bag of chips and box of poptarts strewn around him on the floor, clearly Louis must’ve been hungry.

“Here baby, let me help.” Harry sat down next to a surprised Louis and placed his large hand on his boy’s bloated belly.

“What are you doing down here in the middle of the night not waking me up?” Harry teased with a smile on his face “I would’ve made you something if you were that hungry silly.” Harry kissed Louis’ temple, the older boys cheeks flushing.

“I didn’t….I came down here for juice, but it seems like some bitch filled our house with a few things that weren’t on the grocery list.” Louis giggled and then regretted it, his belly protesting with the sudden movement.

“I didn’t even eat that much but I feel absolutely stuffed Harry.” Louis whined, stifling a burp with his hand. “My belly feels so tight” Louis huffed and set his own hand on top of Harry’s on his belly.

“I can see that baby, your poor tummy.” Harry leaned down and kissed the tortured skin.

Louis hiccuped and stifled another burp, the air shifting around in his abdomen.

“Mmmm, hey baby….” Louis blushed. 2 months be damned.

“Mhm” Harry was still trailing kisses along tanned skin.

“Can we….I mean it wouldn’t hurt to do this once, right?” Louis flushed even further if it was possible. Even when he was purposefully gaining weight it was always Harry initiating.

Harry’s head shot up, eyes wide and dark. “You think you have room for more in there? You look pretty full honey.” Harry rubbed along Louis’ lower belly, and Louis could feel himself getting hard.

“…yes. Yes please.”

Harry was up in a second, grabbing the cake from the fridge, and a spoon from the cupboard.

“Normally I would tell you to stop, but this time you tell me okay? We haven’t done this in a while and I don’t want you to get sick.” Harry smiled, kissing Louis’ still puffy cheek.

Louis smiled happily and accepted the cake, it was rich and sweet and oh how he missed the taste of sugar these last few weeks.

“Mmmm Harry this is really good.” Louis set a hand on his belly and slowly started rubbing it.

They were about 3/4’s of the way through the cake when Louis has to push Harry’s hand away.

“Can’t, belly hurts.” Louis said while trying to sit comfortably, his belly needing more room. He couldn’t settle on a position to get comfortable.

“Oh my poor baby, your belly feels so tight.” Harry was pulling Louis up to drag him to the couch in the next room.

“Mmm….I missed this.” Louis said settling a hand on the crest of his bloated belly. His stomach really ached but it wasn’t unwelcomed. It was familiar, comfortable.

Louis laid down on the couch with Harry against his side, rubbing soft circles into his hard tummy. Louis was absolutely packed full of food, in a sugary happy daze.

Reaching a hand down to push his boxers further down his waist to get the unwanted pressure off his own belly, Louis huffed as his tried to sit up under the heavy weight.

“Here baby, I got it.” Harry sat up and rolled the elastic down, seeing the red marks the tight fabric had left. Harry immediately began sucks and kissing against the red marks, Louis absolutely mesmerized by the feeling.

“Harry that feels so good.” Louis slipped out, both his hands gripping the bottom of his belly, giving it a small squeeze.

“God I missed seeing you like this. My big boy, so full and happy. Your cute chubby cheeks graced with a red tint and your tummy all tight from good food. You deserve to be full and happy baby boy. I’m sorry you can’t be all the time right now.” Harry inched the elastic of the boxers lower, Louis’ belly happy to have more room to digest gave a happy few gurgles, Louis blushing madly to Harry’s sweet words.

[lovelybarnes]

gone world- peter p.

pairing: peter parker x reader

warnings: death

-

PETER PARKER

warning: this is sad, mentions of death

my dog is snoring aaah she's so cute

-

y/n stark didn't shed a tear when tony stark died.

she had been trained to be strong, and that was what she was going to be. so she shut off all of her emotions, burying them so deep down, she was practically numb.

she held herself together and kept a calm face, as she kneeled down in front of her dying father, smiling at him as pepper and peter cried behind her.

"it's okay, dad. i promise you i will take care of them," she had promised, and he had smiled at her weakly, his smile reaching his eyes.

"i'm so proud of you. i'm sorry i never told you that enough."

y/n noted how hard it was for her father to continue talking.

"i love you, y/n. you- you make me so-" tony paused, struggling to breathe. "happy, and-"

tony wheezed again painfully, and y/n shook her head.

"it's okay dad. you can let go."

tony stark took his last breath surrounded by the people who loved him.

at her father's funeral, y/n ignored the emotions that needed to be let out. she ignored how badly she needed to mourn for her father to protect her little sister, and for peter, who she knew was hurting tremendously at losing another father figure in his life.

she talked about her father in front of his friends, and made them laugh, just like tony had told her he wanted.

at hearing the news that natasha was gone, y/n had completely shut off, not wanting to feel the pain of losing her best friend.

she couldn't even feel it when steve left, barely acknowledging the fact her second dad had left her.

instead, she stood by peter and morgan, holding both their hands and being both their shoulders through their pain, never once asking them to be hers.

y/n read morgan bedtime stories, giving her endless hugs, and made her favorite food, attempting the almost impossible task of trying to make her feel better.

she had given pepper space, and then let her talk to her about anything, making pepper laugh even through her tears.

and she had been there for peter. every second of every day.

she was there each time he needed her; sneaking into his room as stealthily as possible and calming his panic attacks, running her fingers through his hair, and whispering things that made all bad thoughts leave his mind.

and through all that, she had not let herself feel an ounce of pain over the loss of her father, much less the rest of her family.

and it weighed on her, all the emotions she wouldn't let come out made her life hard and being happy impossible.

no one noticed, too busy mourning. she didn't mind, it made it easier for her to hide, to be numb.

she held herself together after losing three of the most important people in her life; deciding to push away much it hurt to lose natasha, her sister, who took care of her and was always there for her since y/n was a child. the person who trained her to be the fighter she was.

she ignored the pain of losing steve, who had taught her about the past, comforting her through breakups and baking her awful cookies, being more of a dad that tony was at times.

instead, she filled her mind with plans to distract her family. she taught herself recipes to surprise morgan with, baked poptarts for thor, and worked with bruce, trying her best to make everyone but her happy.

on one of the nights where all the avengers decided to come over, while putting morgan to bed after reading her a story, her phone vibrated with a text from peter; which she didn't need to read to know he was in her room.

she kissed morgan goodnight, and excused herself in the living room where all the avengers were, heading into her room hurriedly.

inside, her already broken heart broke even more at seeing her boyfriend, his eyes brimmed red from tears, and his curly hair messy.

"y/n..." he started, reaching out to her like a child, and y/n ran over to him, wrapping him in her arms tightly, and playing with his curls soothingly.

her squeezed her close, tears running down his freckled cheeks and falling on her shirt.

she gently pushed him on her bed, where he laid down, snuggling his head into her chest as she laid down next to him, embracing him tightly.

"baby..." y/n mumbled, kissing his wet cheeks as he whimpered, his breathing rapid.

"y/n... i- i don't know what to- to do-" peter stammered softly, and y/n shushed him gently, "it's okay, everything's okay," she whispered, trying to convince him as much as herself.

"make it feel better, y/n," peter begged quietly, squeezing y/n's waist impossibly closer to him, and his cries started to grow, his breathing quick.

"breathe, sweetie," y/n said, and peter obeyed, taking deep breaths, his cries starting to calm down.

"don't leave me too," peter said, and y/n gently pushed his face up to look at her, "i won't, baby. i promise."

"i miss him," peter mumbled as y/n peppered his face with soft kisses.

"i know, pete," y/n said, looking into peter's beautiful chocolate brown eyes.

"don't you?" peter asked, and y/n hummed a yes. peter pulled away, his eyes shocked.

"you don't," peter stated, his eyes scanning over y/n.

y/n stared at him in surprise, understanding that he was just in pain. she took a deep breath, keeping the emotions she had shoved deep down down below.

"of course i do, pete-" y/n started softly, before being interrupted by peter.

"bullshit!" peter accused loudly, and y/n winced, hoping the adults in the living room hadn't heard it.

"peter, please calm down-" y/n said, and she jumped back on her bed when peter walked towards her.

"y/n, you didn't even care when he died. he was your father, and you didn't give a shit." peter said, and y/n gulped, taking deep breaths.

"peter, please, you know i-"

"you're an awful daughter, y/n, he would be so disappointed," peter cut her off, and his words stung, hurting her in such a way she could only see red.

"i know, peter! i know he would be disappointed, that's all he's ever been with me since he met you. he was my father. he saved me, from myself, from from the world. he protected me, and although he didn't do a perfect job, he did it." y/n started, emotions from long before finally bubbling up.

"you think i don't care?" y/n asked angrily, standing up and jabbing a finger in peter's chest.

"i loved him. he didn't want me to know, but nobody wanted me to stay because my mother was one of my father's old girlfriends, but my dad kept me anyways. he gave me a life because he believed in me," y/n spat.

she was so angry, she didn't hear her door open.

"he was my dad," y/n repeated, her voice breaking.

"he was my dad and now he's dead. and i miss him every single day. it hurts me to think about him, and i can't ever stop thinking about him because everything reminds me of him!

"he was your mentor, and my sister's dad, and my stepmother's husband, and my best friends' best friend. i'm his daughter! i see him everywhere! i can never not- i can never not see him or think about him. and it makes me want to give up knowing that i will never see him again," she continued, and peter felt awful, realizing he had been so caught up in his own grief, he didn't see her not grieving.

"i lost my whole world, peter. tasha was my best friend, steve was my second father. i am in pain every second of every day, but i have to keep it together for you and morgan, and pepper, and everyone!" y/n exclaimed.

tears were actively flowing down y/n's face, and she shook as she talked.

"i have to deal with the fact that i wasn't enough for tasha or steve to stay," y/n breathed, voice cracking. she tried her best to compose herself. "but i deal with it,"  y/n said softly.

"you know why i do that, peter? because my father taught me that everyone else is before me. and so i spend my life making sure that everyone else is okay," y/n explained, sighing as she angrily wiped tears from her face.

"i miss him like hell. and it hurts so much," y/n said, breathing deeply.

"because i know if he hadn't been so damn stubborn he would be here and i would be gone and everything would be okay," y/n muttered, and peter's eyes widened.

"and every day, you, and pepper, and morgan remind me it should have been me and not him! and i know that. and i wish every day it had been," y/n finished.

"i know you're hurting peter, we all are, but you have no right- n- no right," y/n mumbled. she turned, surprised to see the avengers outside her door, listening in.

at the broken looks on their faces, she crumpled, her legs giving out as she sobbed into her hands. "i failed," she whispered, "damn it. i'm sorry," she mumbled.

peter had been left feeling both shocked and guilty, and all he wanted to do was go over to her and apologize, but, bucky had picked y/n up from the ground, and thor was standing in front of peter with clint, and they did not have encouraging looks on their faces.

"y/n..." peter mumbled, starting to walk over to the door, but bruce stopped him with a disappointed look as he placed a hand on his chest, "you messed up kid. now you have to pay for it."

y/n had woken up on the couch, her arms wrapped around morgan, who had, at some point, climbed in with her.

y/n smiled at seeing her little sister, and she started running her fingers through morgan's hair, careful to not wake her up.

as memories of the night before flooded in her brain, y/n groaned, sighing in disappointment at herself.

as she looked down at morgan though, tears stung at her eyes, she needed to be strong for her little sister.

she smiled, even as her eyes burned, remembering how excited morgan was to meet her big sister, and how she had clung to y/n after hearing of her dad's death, hugging y/n's leg as if they had known each other for years.

y/n didn't want to feel it, the effects of losing three of the most important people in her life, but if she didn't, after that past night, she was sure the avengers were going to send her to a therapist to deal with her.

she pulled morgan closer to her gently, kissing the top of her head, before slowly laying her down again, covering her little sister with a blanket as she stood.

she stretched quietly, walking over to the kitchen in search of food, deciding on a banana before going to the training room.

y/n was surprised no one had been waiting for her. after last night, she had thought her uncles would be following her closely, just in case she would explode all over again.

she was grateful it wasn't like that, though, and especially so as she exercised in the training room, sweating out her frustrations.

she was distracted, which led her to be surprised when she was suddenly pinned to the wall, and she cursed, realizing who it was almost immediately.

"clint- what the hell?" y/n asked, before reacting, kicking at his leg harshly and making him fall, quickly pinning him down on the floor, and clint smirked.

he tsked, and y/n rolled her eyes, getting off of him and helping him up.

"what the hell was that about?" y/n asked, and clint shrugged, "never be distracted, y/n. not even in your own training room."

y/n huffed, scanning his face, realizing what he was really doing.

y/n squinted at him, "just say it. just say whatever you really want to say, i know that's why you're really here."

clint's face grew serious, and he sighed. "why didn't you tell any of us what you were going through? we would've helped you, you know?"

y/n shrugged, "i know, that's why i didn't. you had your own problems to deal with, and i can deal with mine very well, thank you."

she started to walk off, but clint grabbed her arm. "you shouldn't have to. we're a family, we support each other."

y/n didn't answer, and clint let her go in defeat.

"and you're more than enough, natasha... she was made for this, she was made to save the world," he said, and y/n sniffled.

"it doesn't make it hurt any less," she mumbled, heading for the bags.

it was bucky who came up to her next, while she was watching television in the common room, laughing at her favorite show.

"hey n/n," he said, and y/n had smiled at him, him and her had grown a lot closer, talking about steve and comforting each other during nightmares.

it was strange, the soldier had come into her life, and she had a strange sort of understanding with him, he was the uncle she never knew she needed. there were few exchanges of words, but it was enough, somehow.

"hi buck."

he hadn't beat around the bush, getting straight to the point immediately.

"it's not that you weren't enough y/n. steve, he deserved to be happy, he deserved to be a little selfish. he almost didn't leave because of you. but he knew you were strong- are strong, and he loved you, doll. he really did. you were the daughter he always wanted. he knew you would be okay. he had finished here. he brought me back, he saw you grow up, he saved the world, he just wanted the girl."

y/n froze, "i don't need- comfort, i, i'm good," she managed, and bucky rolled his eyes.

"come on, y/n, i 'm not stupid. and neither are you, you know not to keep things bottled up, let him in," bucky said softly, and y/n felt herself nod.

"okay," she said, surprised at herself.

she was sitting on her bed, watching television with morgan when peter came up to her.

y/n had just been informed morgan was also mad at peter because he 'made her big sister cry,' so it was really no surprise when morgan didn't greet peter like she usually did.

"um, hey morgan, do you mind if i talk to y/n for a little bit?" peter asked gently, but morgan had huffed, ignoring the brunette.

y/n had smiled softly at her little sister, kissing her head. "hey, maguna, i'll be right back okay?"

morgan grabbed onto y/n's hand, but y/n gave her a reassuring smile that made morgan let go, and give peter a stink eye.

y/n led peter out of her room to the hallway, where she stood awkwardly, arms crossed.

"i'm sorry, y/n. i am so sorry, angel," peter started, but y/n wouldn't meet his eyes.

y/n swallowed, "i know, it's okay, you were stressed-" she mumbled, but peter cut her off.

"no, no! it's not okay! i should have noticed you weren't dealing with this, and, and i shouldn't have told you those things. they're not true and they're awful, and, i'm so sorry, y/n," peter exclaimed, and y/n finally looked up at him, her eyes wide.

"i appreciate you so much, everything you've done for me, and now it's my turn. i'm here for you, y/n. let me be here for you," peter begged, taking a step closer to his girlfriend.

"you lost your whole world, let me help you," peter whispered, bringing the girl closer to him the same way she had done to him.

y/n melted against him against her own will, hugging him back.

"you made me feel really awful, pete, please- please don't do that. because if you do, you know maguna and i won't be as forgiving."

peter smiled at her words, pressing a kiss to her head. "i won't, angel, i promise i won't."

[fenth-eiria]

Family Matters...

By: Fenth❣️Eiria

“Look at this mess, it will take days to clean it up!” Mitjan exclaimed, holding on to Bobb’N tightly. “Yes, but my brother has opened his home to us until the caves are in liveable condition.” Lath’N assured his husband, they were greeted by Eiria, who was confused by what her Papa had said. “But Mom already made plans for you guys to stay with us.” Eiria explained. “Mitjan, I already told my brother we were going to stay at his place.” Lath’N told Mitjan, who gave him a horrified expression. “I DON’T WANT TO GO THERE, I DON’T WANT TO BE NEAR CADIA, SURE EIRIA WAS A MISTAKE BUT BEING CADIA’S JEALOUSY TOOL, I REGRET TERRIBLY!!” Eiria started to cry, Mitjan realized he offended his eldest daughter. “ Eiria, come here, I’m sorry, at first you were, but your Papa took you in as his own. Please understand I don’t get along with your father at all.” “That hurt my feelings, considering the fact that the whole time I was with dad, I wanted you and Papa. But I guess I’ll leave then.” Eiria said, about to leave. “Eiria, come sit beside me.” Lath’N sighed, patting on the rock next to him. Eiria flew over and sat on the rock, Lath’N joined her. “Eiria, Listen, We love you dearly, but I haven’t seen my brother for a long time, since before you were born. I would love it if we stayed there first, and if doesn’t work out then we stay at your place. Sound good?” “I guess, I was hoping you would come and babysit Feath, but I guess Fenth can take him to work with him.” Eiria replied.

The Sifan harbor was as busy as ever, captains boarding their ships and a certain Sifan was watching his kids. “Feath!! COME CLEAN YOUR ROOM NOW!!” Fenth demanded, while cleaning Eithra up after her dinner. “But daddy! I wanted to watch Blue’s Clues!” Feath protested, not really wanting to clean his room. “NOW!” Fenth demanded “There, you’re all clean, now go play.” He put his daughter down and she ran to go play in the mud. “Eithra! I just cleaned you!” Fenth exclaimed, Eiria walked in to see her covered in mud. “Eithra, didn’t Daddy just clean you?” Eiria asked, Eithra just waddled over to her mother. “Mommy!” She exclaimed, Fenth sighed. Eiria used your water-bending to clean her up. Then walked over to Fenth, “Hi. How are you doing?” Fenth asked, looking at his wife with a loving look. “Good, My Mom and Papa are staying at my M&M and Dad’s place for a few days then if things don’t work out they will come here.” she answered, kissing him on the lips passionately. “I’m glad we finally were allowed to marry, I grew founded of Tek and Tih, but it’s you actually love.” She cuddled Fenth while he grew a bit anxious. “What? Is Feath not listening?” Eiria asked, knowing her family too well. “ I don’t know, I need to check on that real quickly, I’ll come right back.” Fenth assured his wife, he kissed her lips then went to go check on Feath. “Eiria.” Eiria turned around and there stood Deet and Bobb’N. “What are you two doing here?” She asked her half siblings, confused. “We want to stay with you a bit.” Deet answered, “that and I’m pregnant.” “Congrats, who’s the father?” Eiria asked, curious. “Rian is the father, we are going to be parents.” Deet squealed, she was excited, but didn’t know what to do. “Wait, what’s going on?” Fenth asked, coming back from Feath’s room. “Deet is going to have a baby.” Eiria explained to her beloved. “ Ohhh, well congrats, Deethra, how many Umuns?” Fenth complimented, “6 Umuns, and counting” Deet answered happily “speaking of babies, Fenth, I want you to meet someone.” Eiria pointed to Bobb’N who was hiding behind Deet. “Hi, I’m Fenth, what’s your name?” Fenth extended his hand out for Bobb’N to grab a hold of. “Bobb’N.” He said shyly. “Do you like Poptarts?” Fenth asked, holding some poptarts out for Bobb’N to have. Bobb’N gasped, grabbed them and started to eat them. “Bobb’N, what do we say?” Deet quizzed him. “Thank you” Bobb’N ran in to Fenth’s arms, “Your welcome, bud.” Eiria started to feel nauseous, she ran into the bathroom. “Eiria?!” Fenth exclaimed running after her. He heard regurgitating in the bathroom, “Eiria, are you alright?!!” Eiria looked up before she blacked out. “EIRIA!!” Fenth screamed, rushing to his wife’s aide. “Honey?!”

Comment if I should write a continual of this..

(And this my old writing)