#starting off with some of my own kins to get going

[pathologicalreid]

next of kin | S.R.

disaster strikes and you and Spencer try to take custody of your younger sister

part two

who? spencer reid x fem!reader category: angst content warnings: actually might be gn! but i'm too scared to say it is. death, orphan-ing, funerals, child custody issues, blood, general cm violence, like actually an abhorrent amount of death. sorry i killed your parents for the sake of my fanfiction can we still be friends? word count: 3.33k a/n: this is the fic that this post is about. i am in fact my own worst enemy. i hope y'all like it actually genuinely i am most definitely overthinking this. if your name is maya im sorry that sucks.

“What did your parents say?” Spencer asked, walking into the conference room that the local precinct had offered to you.

You had been staring blankly at your phone since you got off the call with your mother, “Uh, they said thanks, but no thanks.”

The uneasy feeling had settled in your stomach as soon as you found out the team was being called to your hometown, and you had been nauseous ever since you found out the UnSub’s pattern.

Married couples with an older child who had moved out and a younger child who was still at home.

Your little sister was a surprise, you had incorrectly assumed your parents were done having kids.

Until today, you wouldn’t have traded Maya for the world, but now you sat in fear of your family being targeted by a serial killer. Hotch had offered them a protective detail, but they declined. Self-righteous as they were, they told you it wouldn’t feel right for them to accept help that couldn’t be offered to everyone.

Clenching your jaw, you stood at the table, “I’ll go by later and check in on them.”

Spencer had met your family twice by now. Last Christmas he had tagged along to meet them and celebrate with your family before the two of you spent New Year’s with his mom. Then, while your sister was on Spring Break, they flew out to Virginia, and you and Spencer had shown your family around Quantico and the District.

Maya had loved Spencer, partially because you loved him, but mostly because of his magic tricks.

“Do you want me to go with you?” He asked, stepping up next to you and placing a hand on the small of your back.

You sighed and shook your head, “No, not if you’re needed here.” You reached up and cupped his cheek, smiling softly, “Thank you for offering, Spence.”

He nodded affirmatively, “If you change your mind,” he offered. Gently, he pressed a soft kiss to your forehead before the two of you returned to the rest of the team.

The fact that your parents lived only five minutes from the police station gave you some relief, but you still felt tightly wound. Everyone had noticed. You just needed this case to be over.

The porch lights were on when you got there, and you used your house key – which you had never taken off of your keychain - to open the front door. “Hey, kiddo,” your dad greeted from the couch. A peek into the kitchen showed you that your mom was wiping down the counters. It all felt so eerily normal.

It was dark by the time you had gotten there. Maya was already asleep, but you tip-toed into her room anyway and kissed her goodnight before going back downstairs. Once you had hugged both of your parents and told them you loved them, you made your way back to the police precinct.

By nearly three in the morning, there was no new information, and the team was starting to consider calling it a night until the police chief got a call.

“We just got a call. Lady reported shouts coming from her neighbor’s house at 86 Meadowbrook,” he informed you, putting his hands on his hips and looking around at the team.

None of them even spared him a returning glance, everyone’s eyes were on you.

Blinking rapidly, you nodded assuredly, “I have to go get Maya.” You didn’t even recognize your voice even as you said it. It couldn’t have been your voice. That was the rasp of someone far away from you.

All of the other voices around you were muffled, you couldn’t hear what people were telling you, let alone understand them.

Maya. Maya. Maya.

Brown eyes. There they were, right in front of your face. “Let’s go get her,” Spencer whispered.

You had been speaking out loud. Repeating your sister’s name like a prayer without even realizing it.

Hotch let you go with them, but he made it abundantly clear to you – and the rest of the team – that you weren’t working this case anymore.

Surrounded by reverent voices in an SUV, JJ drove while Spencer stayed in the back with you. He held your hand tightly in his.

The house was closed off with police tape. Bright yellow plastic fluttered in the wind as you watched your team and other emergency personnel enter and exit. At your insistence, Spencer went in to get Maya, it felt like it had been hours before he walked out, carrying her in his arms.

Carefully, he brought her to you, and you pulled her close to your chest, blocking her eyesight as two body bags were brought out of the house.

You didn’t hear anything after that. You just let yourself be moved to wherever you needed to be, holding your kid sister as she cried for your parents.

They had to take their bodies to the hospital even though they were already gone, and you needed to be the one to confirm their identities. Spencer stayed with Maya while you were busy. She had cried herself to the point of exhaustion, you were grateful that she was sleeping, and then you felt cruel.

By sunrise, she was still asleep, and you had been set up in that same conference room from earlier. Sitting across from you was a social worker, a representative of the state. Your lips had parted in shock as you looked at her, “What do you mean they denied my request?”

In an attempt to be helpful, JJ worked with you to file an emergency request for custody of Maya, and the case worker had just told you that the request was denied. “The state doesn’t believe your request is valid,” she told you.

Your mouth went dry, “I don’t…” you glanced over at your little sister. “Our parents were murdered last night, and they won’t let me take custody of my sister?” You asked indignantly, peering at the social worker. It wasn’t her fault, somewhere in your grief-ridden brain you knew that, but you couldn’t help the feeling that she was somehow your enemy.

“They don’t believe you can provide her with a stable living environment,” the social worker, Brittany, explained.

Narrowing your eyes, you responded, “A stable living environment like a foster home? I’m her sister. We’re family – the only family each other has left.” You stood up, excusing yourself for a moment before walking out of the precinct. Once you were outside, you promptly hurled into the bushes.

That was how he found you, to the side of the building with your hair haphazardly moved out of your face, dry heaving into the shrubbery. Gently, Spencer placed a hand on your back before starting to rub small circles on your back, “You should eat something, love.”

You just shook your head in response, you weren’t hungry. “They won’t let me take her,” you whispered morosely, straightening up, you kept your back facing him.

“What?” He asked, his hand abruptly stopping its movement on your back.

Taking a deep breath and sitting on the curb, you looked up at Spencer. “The state thinks I’m not stable enough to take her in,” you said, resting your chin in your hands.

Your boyfriend crouched down so that he could sit next to you, “Are you going to challenge it?”

“Of course I am,” you cried. “But what happens to her in the interim, Spence? She gets placed with whatever foster home here and I go back to Virginia? I see her when the family court resolves this in two years?”

Treading carefully, Spencer cleared his throat, “What are you going to do?”

Defeated, you shrugged. “I don’t know. I’m…” your voice trailed off. “My parents are dead, Spencer,” you murmured softly, tears welling in your eyes.

He reached out and wrapped his arms around you, “I know, darling. I know. I’m so sorry.”

“I don’t think I can do this alone,” you whispered, leaning gently into him.

Spencer turned to kiss your temple, “It’s a good thing you’re not alone then. I’m not going anywhere.” He waited for a moment before continuing, “Give me something to do. Give me a job to take off of your shoulders.”

In the end, you let Spencer take over funeral planning. He thanked you for trusting him before the both of you went back into the precinct.

You had just hung up with a family lawyer who had offered to take your case, letting your phone drop to the floor, you let your arms hang at your side. Someone had taken Maya to get breakfast while you spoke with the lawyer.

At the sound of the phone falling to the floor, Spencer stepped into the conference room, letting the door click shut before him. “Hey, what did he say?”

Pressing the heels of your palms into your eyes, you took in a deep breath, “Um, he said he’d be willing to take the case if I could put together a case plan to present before the judge.”

Before that phone call, you didn’t know what a case plan was, you could’ve gone your whole life without knowing what a case plan was.

“I need a year-long plan for how I’m going to prepare to have Maya in my custody, but he said a year is the best he can do,” you said, staring blankly at the wall ahead of you. “A year?” You whispered aimlessly, “I’m not waiting a fucking year to take custody of her. I have to take her home, Spence. I have to.” It wasn’t your intention to snipe at him, but you felt like you couldn’t help yourself.

The events of the last twelve hours threatened to take you down, but you had to stay strong for Maya.  

Taking a shaky breath, you looked up at Spencer, “Why is it that every time I convince myself that it’s going to be okay, I get tossed to the ground again?” You asked him.

Maybe because you weren’t fully convinced. Maybe it was because it had only been seven hours. You needed to remind yourself of that.

“She’s a ward of the state?” Spencer asked for clarification, holding you tightly.

Nodding absentmindedly, you rested your head on his shoulder as he swayed gently. “She can stay with me until after the funeral, and after that, she has to go with the social worker.”

The sad look on Spencer’s face told you that he was running out of ideas, and you were coming to the very same conclusion. “We could get married,” he offered.

“Stop, Spence,” you said, shaking your head. You couldn’t believe this was where he was going.

He shrugged helplessly, “I’m serious, Y/N. If we get married, they might think we’re stable, as a couple. They might give us custody.”

Your shoulders slumped, “I don’t want to get married just to get custody of my sister.” It certainly wasn’t that you didn’t want to marry Spencer, just not like this.

He nodded understandingly, “I know, but I’m just saying. If that’s what it takes, then I’ll do it.” Placing a comforting hand on your knee, the two of you sat in silence for a moment. “Do you have any ideas?” He asked you carefully.

Looking through the blinds of the conference room, you saw the rest of the team coming back to the precinct. Setting your jaw, you nodded, “I might.”

Opening the door, you had Maya go in with Spencer while you approached your Unit Chief. “Hey,” Hotch said, a glint of sympathy in his eyes. “How are you holding up?” He pulled you away from the people, wanting to give you privacy.

This wasn’t fair, they were still working on an active case. A case that was disturbingly close to you, and yet, you felt you were out of options. “I need a favor,” you blurted to him, wringing your hands. Your nervous energy made it impossible for you to stay still.

Hotch nodded, “What do you need?” He asked, studying your composure with the eye of a profiler.

You took a deep breath, “I was… I need you to call in a favor with someone. Anyone, really. The state won’t let me take custody of Maya, but I can’t let her become a ward of the state. Not when I’m right here, ready, willing, and able to take her.”

“Okay,” he responded, not even pausing to think about it.

Taken aback, you looked at him curiously, “I- that’s it? I had groveling prepared.”

He nodded almost imperceptibly as if he was trying to tell you it wasn’t necessary. “You’ve been a part of this team for years and not once have you ever asked for anything in return for everything you do for everyone else. This is the least I can do,” he told you.

You couldn’t help it. Overwhelmed, you tackled Hotch in a bear hug, “Thank you.” Your voice was low, “Thank you so much.”

Succinctly, Hotch hugged you back before you pulled away, “I’ll go make some calls.”

It was the smell.

The smell that you’d sensed countless times before on the job, the metallic tang of the blood. It should’ve been mostly dried by now – you supposed you were more susceptible to the scent, considering it was your parent’s blood, but it put you on high alert.

Emily had brought you by so that you could pack a bag for Maya, but you found yourself stuck on the landing. To one side, there was your childhood bedroom and Maya’s room. On the other side, there was your parent’s room.

“Y/N?” Emily called your name from downstairs, “Are you alright?”

No, you wanted to say, but you bit your tongue, scanning the house you had grown up in. “This doesn’t belong here,” you told her, glancing behind you as she made her way up the staircase.

You didn’t have gloves, so instead you pointed at the figurine that was resting on the bookshelves, a little bear facing in the direction of your parent’s bedroom door. “This is in the wrong spot?”

Nodding, your eyes followed the ceramic bear as Emily picked it up with a gloved hand. “It’s mine, it should be in my room,” you informed her. Your parents never changed anything about your childhood bedroom, not since you moved out. “It was like it was watching them,” you thought aloud.

“Do you think the UnSub did it?” She asked you gently, her voice was low but steady.

Blinking rapidly, you kept your eyes focused on the figurine, “Little Bear,” you murmured, “They called her Little Bear.”

Emily shook her head in confusion, dark hair swaying as her head moved. “Who was called Little Bear?”

Dropping the bag you had packed to the floor, you buried your face in your hands, “I should’ve seen it sooner.” The victimology, it all suddenly made sense to you. “When I was a kid, there was a family like mine. A brother who was in his twenties when his parents had another baby, a girl. They called her Little Bear.”

Realization dawned on Emily’s dark features, “Like this bear?”

You picked up the bag and started making your way back down the stairs. “Their mother made those figurines. The parents died in a fire two weeks ago – they left everything to the younger sister. It was all over the news. God, I should’ve figured it out sooner.”

“Hey,” Emily said sympathetically, “You had other things going on. None of this was your fault.” Her voice was stern, harsher than you’d ever heard her, as she pulled out her phone and called the team.

Your teammate drove, passing the police station on the way to drop you off. They left for the takedown, and you felt yourself floating into the precinct. Maya was waiting in the conference room for you, watching cartoons on someone’s laptop.

Kneeling in front of your little sister, you tapped the space bar, pausing the video. “Hey, kiddo,” you whispered, reaching over, and smoothing her hair away from her face. “How are you feeling?”

She had cried herself to sleep earlier, and you felt like you hadn’t been around enough. Maya sat up on the couch and rubbed her eyes, they were red, but not teary. “I miss mommy,” she told you, pouting slightly.

You nodded gently, moving to sit next to her before you pulled her into your lap. At six years old, she was all gangly limbs, just starting to grow into her own person. Just old enough to understand death, “I know, baby. I miss them too.”

“They wouldn’t lemme go home,” she continued, leaning her head on your shoulder. “I wanted Thumper,” she whined, sounding younger than she was.

Looking up at the light, you silently begged for your tears to go away. “I got him for you,” you told her, reaching into your bag and producing the small stuffed bunny that you had given her as a baby.

You savored the way her eyes lit up as she grabbed the stuffed animal from you.

“So, you and Thumper are gonna come to stay with me in Virginia. Do you remember going there? You said you liked it?” You kept smoothing her hair back as she held her toy.

She was silent for a moment, “Will Spencer be there?” She asked quietly.

Smiling slightly, you nodded, “He and I live together, so he’ll be there with us.” Slowly, you started rocking back and forth, trying to soothe the both of you simultaneously.

“As long as he doesn’t pull money out of my ear,” she answered succinctly, shutting her eyes as she leaned up against you.

There was approximately an hour before you watched the team return to the precinct, slowly, you laid Maya down on the couch before walking out. “It was a clean shoot,” you heard Rossi tell Morgan, and one look at the rest of them told you everything you needed to know.

The team went back to the hotel, and Spencer filled you in on the funeral arrangements he had made on your behalf. You were about to try to get some sleep when Hotch approached you and told you he needed to speak to you.

“I called a good friend of mine on your behalf, and he gave me some information. We were able to work out a plan,” he told you, sitting across from you in the hotel lobby.

You were about to tell him that a case plan wouldn’t work, but he held his hand out, telling you to wait.

He nodded before he kept going, “He was able to file an emergency request to grant you temporary custody of Maya, and it was granted.”

You felt sick to your stomach, “She’s mine?”

“Temporarily, you’ll have to take care of some formalities back in Virginia, but you have full custody of her,” he informed you. “You’re being granted family leave, and I’ve encouraged Reid to apply for it as well,” Hotch told you, reaching out and placing a hand on your shoulder. “I am… I’m sorry that you’ve had to go through this but thank you for coming to me when you needed the help.”

You nodded absentmindedly, your head still whirling with the information that you had just been given. Stumbling, you walked back to your hotel room that you were sharing with Spencer and Maya.

The funeral was planned, the custody issue was solved, all there was left to do was…

“Baby?” Spencer said softly as you swung open the door, “Everyone else took Maya to get ice cream, I figured it couldn’t-“ his voice broke off at your first sob.

Everything you had held in came bursting out, all of the grief and stress and exhaustion nearly knocked your legs out from underneath you.

But Spencer was there to catch you.

part two

[snaileer]

Call to my Bedside - 3

Part 1:

When Maddie wakes up with chains around her wrists and a pounding her head, she is surprised to see her family in front of her.

As she blinks in the darkness, ignoring the way her eyes won’t focus, her surprise gradually washes into fast-paced terror.

It’s not just her family in front of her, but also her children’s friends. Her son’s friends.

But her son is nowhere to be seen. Amongst the grime and dinge of the space, there is no unruly mass of black hair.

She counts again. 1, 2-

1, 2,-

Her son exists as a group of three to her.

Jazzy, Jack, and Danny.

Tucker Foley, Sam Manson, and Danny.

But- she counts again.

1, 2-  1, 2-

Her son is not here. Danny is not here.

Her family is injured, Jazz and Jack in one cell and the kids in another, her in yet one more, and her son is missing.

Maddie tries to remember what happened, why she is injured, where they are, why-

There were people, she had fought them, all black clothes and blades, Jazz had come downstairs at the sound, Jack had defended her, Maddie watched them both go down under a blow, the distraction enough- Danny had never come home from school.

Her husband starts to rouse, a low groan.

“Jack.” She whispers harshly, “Jack!”

“Maddie-kins?” Jack mumbles, trying to push himself upright but stumbling when he realizes his hands are bound together by manacles.

His are not chained to the wall like her own, but they are still heavy steel.

“I’m here Jack, I’m alright,” She can see him turn to her in the dim light, “Banged up, but alright.”

Indignant anger flashes across her husband’s face, “Who did this? What happened-those people!” Jack increasingly gets louder, “The ninja people! They got past our ghost barrier-!”

“They’re not ghosts, hun,” Maddie cuts in, making him look over.

Some of his righteous exuberance fades, “Then why..?”

Maddie shakes her head, immediately regretting it, headache increasing as she tries to talk, “I don’t know. But Jack, Danny’s not here, I don’t know where he is, but he never came home, something’s wrong-“

“Danno!” Jack yells, looking frantically over the group through the bars between them.

Finally, his volume seems to rouse the others. Sam and Tucker both wake with a lurch, Jazz soon on their heels with a groan.

“Danny!” Sam yells, looking around them, “They got Danny!”

“And my tech!” Tucker yells, hands patting himself down.

Sam glares at him, “That’s what you’re worrying about?!”

“What, like having a satellite capable PDA wouldn’t be helpful right now!? Danny told us to run, you’re the one who made us stay-!”

“We weren’t gonna leave him-“

“Oh well look at us now, we’re not doing much better than-“

“Kids!” Maddie yells, and their heads snap over to her, “What are you talking about? Where’s Danny?”

For some reason they both seem to glance at Jazz before answering, receiving a hesitant nod.

Sam started, “We don’t know where he is now, but we were walking home and something exploded-“

“We thought it was just another ghost attack!” Tucker cut in, looking increasingly distressed, “But then Danny was fighting off these freaky ninja people, and telling us to run-“

“But we couldn’t just leave him there! We tried to help-

“There were so many, and they grabbed us and then we saw them grab Danny and…-“ Tucker stopped, looking down at the chains on his wrists, “And then we woke up here…Mrs.Fenton, where are we?”

“I don’t know, hun,” Maddie looked at her son’s friend, then to her own daughter, her husband, “But we’ll figure it out. And then we’re going to find Danny.”

Jack beamed at her, his trust in her confidence shining through.

She wished she believed it even half as much.

——

The first time they come, a group of five people, still dressed in black, weapons lining their body, Maddie yells and shouts. Demands they tell her where Danny is. They are silent.

They methodically go to each of their cells in pairs, one pointing a gun and the other setting down a bag of food. Military rations.

She screams and yells the entire time.

When they go to Maddie’s cell last, removing one arm from her shackles so she can eat, she takes advantage, lashing out with a yell and just as much anger as vicious desperation.

She punches the one nearest, a sloppy front kick displacing the other’s gun pointed at her.

Before she can attack again, one arm still pulled back to the wall behind her, the click of a safety coming off silences her.

The rest of the chapter is thru Ao3, cuz Tumblr says its too long. *^*

Tags:

@thecrystallabyrinth @isnt-that-grape @riverdancingwerewolves @mimblizzy @chaos-deimos-et-eris @miraculousandmore2 @mys-tia @jitteryjuttury @moonlight-opal @nerdypaintbrush @thedragonqueen1998 @luminanightfall @cowarddragon @cyrwrites @kamireadsmcu @manapeer @imaginationmademanifest

[lovelynim]

Kremnoan words

Honkai: Star Rail - Mydei x Phainon

A/N: Just before I started pulling for Mydei's LC and banner, I said: "if I lose my 50/50, I'm writing lee!mydei, if I win, it's lee!phainon".

This blonde bastard took me 100+ pulls to get him, so now he is paying for it

Also, kudos to @/otomiyaa and @/dokidoki-muffin for helping me come up with the plot behind this fic!

Summary: There isn't a kremnoan word for 'fear', 'retreat' or 'romance', but is there one for 'tickling'? Well...

Word count: 2179 words

[Also on Ao3]

“So, what was all that noise from your room yesterday?” Mydei asked bluntly and directly, making Dan Heng choke on his drink and Caelus freeze on the spot. They couldn’t tell if he was annoyed, lacking sleep or just wearing his naturally intimidating facade, but it would be better to not push their luck. Again. “I could hear it from across the bath house.”

“W-what?” Caelus gasped sheepishly, trying to sneak a glance at Dan Heng in the hopes of catching a hint or two of what he should say next. “I don’t- no, I mean, c-can you be more specific?”

Mydei frowned, making Caelus flinch with just a look. “The rustling and stomping noises. What were those? Were you two fighting among yourselves in the departure hour?”

Oh.

Oh.

Dan Heng sighed, wiping the drink off the corner of his lips while Caelus let out a nervous chuckle. It wasn’t as bad as he thought, after all, just a small nuisance. “Oh, that, hahah… ahm, we were just fooling around, I guess?”

Mydei didn’t seem convinced as he arched an eyebrow and looked over Caelus’ figure to check the other man’s reaction. “Fooling? What kind of foolery makes so much noise?” He scoffed, but couldn’t deny the pinch of curiosity inside of his chest that made him want to pry into Okhema’s guests' privacy a little more.

“J-just playing!” Caelus chirped, hoping to suffice and ease Mydei’s curiosity this time, “I tickled Dan Heng and he tried to run, so I chased him and we kin-”

He couldn’t really be bothered by the story, it wasn’t like he actually cared about any of it. While he was just planning to let it go at that point, one word in particular captured Mydei’s attention again. “What’s that?” Mydei interrupted, his facade relaxing and turning into a genuinely curious one. “T-ticouded? Tic-tick- what?”

This wasn’t the first time that Mydei came across a word he didn’t know. The kremnoan and okheman languages weren’t so similar, Caelus and Dan Heng also had a whole glossary of their own that neither he nor the other heirs could understand some times. That word, however, had a sense of familiarity in it - as if he had heard it before somewhere, but he was still unable to picture or figure it out.

“Hm? ‘Tickled’? You don’t know what that is?” Caelus cocked his head to the side, leaving the previous topic to dust and quickly shifting to the new one. Mydei nodded at his question.

“What does it mean?”

“It’s, uhh…” Caelus looked over to Dan Heng again, as if checking his morality compass before deciding the tone of his answer. Dan Heng would probably give it a short, but honest answer, and would most likely suggest that Caelus did the same. Still, that was Caelus being asked, not Dan Heng. “Tickling like… fighting, but with no weapons. Like, with your just fists, you know?”

Dan Heng slapped his hand over his face, pinching the bridge of his nose in disbelief. Mydei, however, raised his eyebrows with realization dawning on him. “Ah, I see,” he hummed pleased, “so it’s some kind of battle?”

Caelus smiled, mostly from the excitement of having successfully tricked Mydei. “Yes, you can put it like that, but you don’t ‘tickle’ someone to hurt them. Like, I tickle Dan Heng all the time and he is still in one piece!”

“Caelus!” Dan Heng gasped, a faint blush spreading over his cheeks when he was dragged back into the topic.

“What, I’m not lying, right? It’s not like I’m hurting you when I tickle you.”

“Fight, but with no intent to harm?” Mydei repeated to himself while the couple went on with their bickering. As he tried to wrap his mind around this new concept, some other episodes from his stay in Okhema started to make sense.

There was, indeed, no kremnoan word for a thing like this. Fighting was taken very seriously in Castrum Kremnos, from their elders and rulers to their students and offsprings, a ‘play-fight’ would never be considered a thing. Mydei nodded to himself, guessing this was just another senseless costume, but content to be able to understand it.

…………

Two days later, that conversation wasn’t anything more than a single memory lingering in the back of Mydei’s head. Right now, as a matter of fact, he had just a single thought in there: best Phainon in each and every way possible.

It was hard to tell what sparked the flames of competition between the two of them this time - it could be related to fighting off the titankin, escorting some scholars or just buying groceries faster than the other -, but it was clear that they were stuck at their usual dilemma: a tie.

“I expected more from you, deliverer,” Mydei boasted, keeping his chin up high as he strolled through the bath house, making his way to the heroes’ bath. “You barely put up the challenge this time.”

Phainon giggled, shaking his head. “If I tried any harder, I wouldn’t be able to see you think you stood a chance,” he picked up his pace, trying to get at least one step ahead Mydei while pressing his shoulder against Mydei’s.

“You’re worse as a liar than as a loser, deliverer,” Mydei gritted his teeth, pushing back with a little more strength, almost enough to throw Phainon into the waters of the nearby bath. “You say that when you’re clearly worn out, admit it.”

“Hahah, you didn’t get to see me worn out yet, Mydei ~” Phainon smiled, letting Mydei take the lead and following him soon after, “should we decide the victor through another match? That is, if you’re still able to have another one.”

“Fool, it’s me you’re talking about,” Mydei chuckled, locking his eyes with Phainon’s as they stood on the platform to head up to the heirs’ private bath. “Name it and I will best you under your own terms.”

Phainon couldn’t help but grin, standing just before Mydei. He took his hand to his own chin, pretending to contemplate on something. “Hmm, shouldn’t you pick it this time?”, he suggested, the platform reaching the upper floors with a gentle thud. “I’m feeling nice today, I’ll even let you pick if you promise to not make a fuss over it when you lose.”

“HKS…” Mydei hissed, dropping a plate of his armor as he prepared to get into the water.

Aglaea already scolded them once for using the baths in their matches, so it shouldn’t be a good idea to do anything related to the water and its properties again. Mydei also knew he shouldn’t be drawing his weapon against Phainon there, so a clash of might would not be recommended as well.

Ignoring the noise from Phainon’s rambling, probably trying to tease him for taking too long to think, an idea suddenly came up to Mydei’s head - one that wouldn’t require weapons or a different terrain. In fact, they could probably get to it right now and then if he remembered the details correctly.

“Deliverer,” Mydei called, his back resting against the bath’s edge while he wore a confident, commanding smirk on his lips. “I challenge you to a tickle, then, right here and now.”

“...A w-what?” Phainon scoffed, faking a cough as he tried to hide his reaction and compose himself. What was up with that pronunciation, anyway? “You mean, like, a… a tickle fight or..?”

“Don’t play an even bigger fool, deliverer,” he hissed, frowning while the response was far from what he expected, “you know what I mean, a tickle.” Mydei pouted slightly, biting the inner side of his cheeks.

“R-right, it’s just- aha, I didn’t expect you to suggest it… do you even know what it is or..?”

“HKS!” Mydei interrupted, covering any uncertainty with his overwhelming presence, “do you take me for a moron? Why wouldn’t I know what a tickle is?” He boasted, making Phainon quickly bring his hands out of the water to wave them in front of his chest.

“S-sorry, sorry, I didn’t mean to offend you,” Phainon spoke in a rush, trying to calm the raging beast before him. Once Mydei had settled back into his corner of the bath, Phainon moved closer, noticing how wary the kremnoan was. “Let’s… take turns, then,” he suggested, knowing it wouldn’t be of any good to try to correct whatever concept of tickling Mydei had up in his head right now.

“Turns?” Mydei repeated, arching his eyebrows. ‘You can take turns during a tickle?’, he wanted to ask, but of course he wouldn’t voice such a thing. Phainon simply nodded.

“Yes, yes… just so we can settle it without making too much of a scene,” Phainon hummed playfully, already sitting by Mydei’s side, “we keep going until the other taps out, then whoever lasts the longest wins. Good?”

“Hm,” Mydei nodded, confused. With the current idea of ‘tickle’ he had in mind, there was no way Phainon could win something like that, but if the deliverer was so eager to step into his own grave… Still, there was a problem: Mydei wasn’t really sure of how one should perform it.

What if he messed up? Maybe there were right ways to “tickle” against someone. He had never heard of such a thing in his hometown, so what if he messed it up now, with Phainon of all people? Well, Mydei smirked, there was an easy way out of this problem. “You can go first,” he said confidently.

“Oh? Feeling confident now?” Phainon smiled, cocking his head forward to have a better look at Mydei’s face, “aren’t you scared I’ll win again?”

“There is no word for ‘scared’ in the kremnoan language, HKS, and you didn’t win before - just like you won’t no- agh!” Mydei gasped, finding himself pinned as Phainon was suddenly straddling his lap.

He leaned his head back, trying to increase the distance between their faces as Phainon’s hands rested over his chest, fiddling with the soaked cloth of his robes. “You know,” Phainon giggled, looking down to Mydei’s body, “now that I think about it, I’m not sure if this is fair… I don’t even know if you’re ticklish.”

“T-ticklish?”

“Mhm, you know what it is, right? Since you know what a ‘tickle’ is,” Phainon smirked, his palms rubbing down Mydei’s chest, his hands descending towards his toned stomach. His fingers began to wiggle, to flutter, gently tracing the hard muscles and then prodding at his sides. “So, do you have a word for ‘tickle’ in the kremnoan language?”

“H-HKS,” Mydei hissed, gritting his teeth and pressing his jaw shut while that weird sensation took over his body. This was not what he expected! What part of this was a barehanded fight?! That disgraceful outlander! “W-what- ahah- ngh, what ahare you-”

“I’m tickling you,” Phainon mused, clearly excited and glad that such an opportunity fell right into his hands. His fingers were becoming bolder, tickling Mydei’s ribs and then dragged his short nails over the wet skin, “but if it’s too much for you, I can stop.”

“B-bahaha- baseless slandeher!” Mydei felt his cheeks getting warmer while he gripped at the edges of the bath as hard as he could to keep his hands where they were - trying to stop whatever perversion this was would surely mean to admit defeat. “S-suhuch a futile t-trihihial is fitthihing for a hyena like y-yohou!”

“But you are the one to choose it, no?” Phainon giggled, making Mydei’s cheek turn a bit redder while he tickled his ribs, his touches a bit more rough as he tried to draw the stronger reactions out of him. “I don’t mind, you seem to be having fun, heh.”

“S-shuhuhut it, HKS!” Mydei threw his head back, hearing just a faint chuckle coming from Phainon before his own laughter filled the room. Titans, what was happening?!

He couldn’t understand why he felt like laughing, why his body was begging him to cover itself. The feeling was so much different than the pain he built his body to endure, but so much more overwhelming at the same time. 

Mydei arched his back off the edge of the bath, trying to avoid Phainon’s fingers drilling between his ribs and, sometimes, into his armpits. His laughter was just as loud as a lion’s roar - fitting, if you asked Phainon, who seemed to be having a blast out of this whole situation.

“Oho, you’re doing really well, Mydei! I think it’s been a minute already, should I keep going?”

“D-dohohon’t undeheherestimate me, HKS!” Mydei hissed, flashing Phainon with a fanged smile, his jaw pressed shut as he challenged the deliverer with a single look. “T-thihis is nohohothing!”

“Great,” Phainon nodded, pushing his hands under Mydei’s arms and tickling both at once, finally earning the reaction he was looking for. Phainon couldn’t help but laugh along the desperate, loud cackles from Mydei, seeing how his hands nearly pierced through the marbled walls of the baths. “Let’s see how much it takes to crack this immortal body of yours ~”

[ozwriterchick]

Anaesthetic..

Summary: A bit of fun when you come out of anaesthesia after an operation.

Characters: Bucky Barnes, Reader

No warnings

Word count: approx 1400

A/N: I'm heading to hospital tomorrow for my 2nd cancer surgery - a liver resection - and I have been wathcing alot of Tiktoks about anaesthesia and came across the funny ones when people are coming out of it, and it inspired this in my brain.

I hope you enjoy!

I appreciate each and every one of you.

Not Beta'd so any mistakes are my own.

Dividers by @firefly-graphics

Masterlist

It had been a long day for Bucky so far.  You’d had a 4am wake up call to be at the hospital by 6am.  He dropped you off like you asked and pretended to leave.  You had told him that you couldn’t see the need for him to hang around and suggested he go home and get some sleep while you were in surgery.

Bucky couldn’t imagine heboth you and’d be able to have any kind of restful sleep while you weren’t right next to him, so he bought a newspaper and sat in the hospital coffee shop reading and trying to concentrate on the crossword puzzle. 

Crosswords weren’t something he normally enjoyed but having sat beside you and helped you out with your daily “brain exercise” as you loved to call it, he found it now gave him some comfort.

You had listed him on your hospital admissions paperwork as next of kin so he knew they would call you as soon as the operation was done to let him know how you were.  He wanted to be close by, not because he could be of assistance if, god forbid, anything went wrong.  More so that he could see you as soon as you were able to have visitors.

Bucky had decided to take a walk, the crossword had frustrated him to no end because he didn’t have you beside him to answer the questions he always had when you both were trying to complete the puzzle.

There wasn’t much around this hospital but he found a couple of local shops where he picked up some things for you and then stumbled upon a park with a coffee cart, so he took the opportunity to relax with some nature and have a decent cup of coffee, not the stuff you normally get out of hospital vending machines.

He felt like he wasn’t there more than 15 minutes however, when his phone rang.  Looking down he saw it was a private number so he figured it was more than likely the hospital  It couldn’t have been anyone from the Avengers because he had their numbers saved, and he knew it wouldn’t be anyone calling from a landline at the tower because they all knew he was off today at the least for your surgery.

Picking up the phone and hitting the answer button, he braced himself for whatever was about to come next, good or bad.  “Hello?”

“Uh, good afternoon am I speaking to James Barnes?” the voice enquired.

“Yes, this is he, I mean that’s me, I mean yes, I’m James Barnes” he could hear the girl giggle quietly through the phone at his seeming inability to put together a coherent sentence.

“Well, I’m Sasha a nurse in the recover suite, we just wanted to let you know that Yn has come through the surgery perfectly, she is in recovery and you can come sit with her whenever you get here.”

“Oh that’s such a relief, thank you Sasha, I’m just down the street in a little park so I’ll be there in like 10 minutes or so” he confirmed for her.

“Oh, are you in Ventnor Park?  I love that place, sometimes if I can swing it I go there to eat my lunch.  Well, we’ll see you soon Mr Barnes” to which she hung up the phone before he could say any more.

He ditched his almost empty coffee cup in the nearby bin and started walking back to the hospital, eager to see you again, even though it had only been a few hours since he dropped you off.

As Bucky approached the recovery suite, he had to admit to himself that he was getting a little anxious about how you’d be after the anaesthesia and all, but he was very excited to see you again.

He pressed the button on the door to gain access and the nurse who came to open the door asked who he was here to see. 

“I’m James Barnes, I’m here for Yn Yln” he informed her quietly.

“Oh yes, Mr Barnes, come through, she’s in bed 7.  She’s still quite groggy but that’s totally normal.  I’ll grab a chair for beside her bed so you can sit there.”

“Thank you ma’am.  I appreciate that” he replied.

Moving down the row of beds he rounded the curtain towards you and stood at the end of your bed.  The nurse approached and quietly placed the chair beside your bed.  Bucky gave her a quick nod and sat himself down, reaching for your hand.

At the feeling of his hand in yours, you stirred.  Unfocused eyes roaming around the room, landing on him and widening dramatically in reaction.

“Oh, hi” you said to him.

“Hi Yn, how are you feeling?”

“Umm, ok.. I think, I’m not sure my brain is working properly yet.”

“No, you’ve only just woken up, it will take a while before you’re completely with it again.  They said the surgery went well so that’s a bonus”

“Oh, yeah, but you might have to tell me again later” she slurred a little when speaking but, again, it was totally understandable.

You drifted off again for a few minutes, opening your eyes and looking around again.  You noticed a handsome man sitting at your bedside.

“Oh my god! You are gorgeous” you say to him.

Bucky looks around, not realising you are talking to him at first.  “Umm, ok, well thanks, I’m glad you think so” he replied to you.

“No, I mean look at you, you look like a god” you exclaimed.

“Well, again, thank you, umm…” he stammered, blushing.  He looked for your nurse who just smiled and nodded that this was another normal thing for some people.

“I mean damn boy” you began. “If I didn’t have a boyfriend, I’d wife you up so quickly”

Bucky laughed “Well, that’s a shame that you have a boyfriend because I’d love to wife you up”

“Oh no, you can’t say those kind of things to me, I have a boyfriend!” you whisper yell the last part at him.

“Yes, I know you do, you told me that.  But can’t we have something as well?” he chucked again to himself, enjoying this side of you.

“Hmmm, I don’t think so.  You see, my boyfriend is very tall and muscly and very, very strong and I’d hate to see him mess up your pretty face.” You sighed.

“Well, we wouldn’t want that now, would we” he smiled.

“Nurse” you raised your voice.  Seeing her round the end of the curtain you asked “Did you call my boyfriend.  Do you know when he’ll be here?”

“Yes, I called him, in fact, he’s here already” the nurse replied.

You turn to Bucky “Oh no, you better go, he’s gonna get real mad if he comes in here and sees you holding my hand like this.”

Bucky just chuckled, this was hilarious and he knew if Sam were here he’d be filming this but he didn’t want you to be embarrassed later on if anyone saw it other than the 2 of you.

“Don't laugh, I mean it” you start crying.

“Oh baby” he said, concerned. “What’s wrong, why are you crying?” he couldn’t bear to see you upset and wanted to be able to fix it for you.

“No, it’s just my boyfriend is here and you’re here and I love him so much but you’re just so beautiful and I don’t want him to punch your face off.”

“Babe” Bucky began.

“No, you can’t call me babe, that’s what he calls me” you cry even harder.

“Yn, listen to me.  I am your boyfriend.  I’m James.”

“My boyfriends name is Bucky, you can’t be him because he’s coming here and you’re already here.”

“Trust me, my love, I am Bucky, I am also James, I am also your boyfriend and I think after this I have no choice but to wife you up like you said you’d do to me” he leaned forward and kissed your lips lightly and tenderly.

“Oh dear, now you’ve kissed me and… Wait, did you say you are my boyfriend?  How did I get so lucky to land someone like you?”

“Yes sugar, I am and we have forever to work out how I was so lucky to land you, not the other way around.  Now you lay your head back and relax so we can get the rest of this anaesthesia out of your system and back to reality.”

[docwritesshit]

Hello! I hope you're doing well and taking care of yourself today/tonight. I was wondering if you could do pregnancy/parent headcanons for Sun Wukong, Macaque, and MK (separate) of how they would be as dads. Like how they would take the news of their S/O being pregnant, how they would be throughout the whole pregnancy, and what fun things they would do with their kiddos. If you feel uncomfortable with this, that's totally fine

I feel like I’ve done these guys with kids but I could be entirely wrong

ANYWAYS

The Monkey boys with a Pregnant!SO and how they are with the kids!

Wukong

This man is over the moon when he first got the news

Immediately goes overboard in decorating for the babies nursery

I feel like it takes him a few days before he goes “… wait. Shit”

Because this man has aloootttt of enemies. And they are all not above harming innocent parties

So he’s taking every precaution there ever is

Barely lets you leave the mountain by yourself. Either him or someone else has to accompany you

Is constantly holding onto you, even more than usual

Can only sleep with you in the same bed, even more than usual

When your showing more and the baby is moving, good luck going anywhere by yourself

“Wukong-“ “Shhhhhh, I can feel ‘em kicking”

Will not ever miss when the baby is kicking, he swears he will witness every single one

When the baby is actually born, he is not leaning that little angels side

I feel like he is SUCH a girl dad. Idk why

Is mesmerized by every babble and smile with his kid.

Honestly, I feel like he enjoys tea time with his daughter. Pinky will be out and proud as he sips his ‘tea’

Macaque

Do not be surprised to see and extra shadow following you around for a bit

You’re very curious so you ask him about it

“Just trying to protect my kin”

… excuse me, THE FUCK-

After an explanation and you going off on him for not telling you (legit he thought you knew already), you just let the shadow be

Be ready to just see a baby room just fucking appear in your house.

You’re not even showing yet and this dude already has a stock pile of diapers and bottles and wipes and all the things

Over prepared ass mfer/pos

As soon as the baby is born, attached to the hip this one

Cannot get this man to put yalls child down. He is constantly hold them

(I keep wanting to say her. Why are they both girl dads? Who knows)

Can and will throw hands with the baby while they are out and about

MK

Shocked. Gob smacked

He is starting at the wall for a good few minutes

Then he is all over you, giving you all the love he can

You can see him drawing in his sketchbook a lot more

His excuse? “Just trying to capture that glow”

God he is ENAMORED with your growing body. Has to always be touching you in some way or form

There’s also anxiety with him

He can only imagine how he can handle a child while also being Wukongs successor.

Is trying so so hard to be with you and the kid but GOD THE VILLAINS ARE FUCKING ATTACKING HIM

When the kid arrives, he enjoys just drawing with em in the room

Sometimes he tries to draw what they will look like when they grow up. He hopes they atleast get your eyes

King of Daddy- Kid dates while you get some me time. None of them would say no to spending time with your kid while you go and do your own thing but MK especially loves it

That’s all I got

[elodieunderglass]

I'm not as familiar with LOTR as you are, so I wondered if you could tell me if my wild theory is completely off-base.

No one knows where the Hobbits came from, except that at some point they diverged from the line of men. No one knows much about the Entwives' appearance, but we do know that they fucked off a long time ago.

Could the Entwives have been dryad-ish and hooked up with the hobbits' ancestors and so be the foremothers of the hobbits?

Ah I think I saw that post! The concept has a lot of charm, and when the Tolkien estate loses its corpse-grip on the property in 2050 or so, I think you should write it and sell it 😤 I’ve definitely read some good takes on entwives in fanfiction that both leaned into canon and moved away, and I think that sounds like good fun to explore. A common theme in the fandom is playing with Yavanna, the Green Lady, being the mother or patron of hobbits. This isn’t canonical, but she’s a “green goddess” archetype and is married to Mahal/Aulë, the father of dwarves, which shippers often leverage to their advantage. You could do something quite charming there with Yavanna if you wanted to. We also know that Entwives loved gardens and orchards rather than forests.

Some things I would explore with this include:

what is going on with all these consistent ideas of people, races, women disappearing. We know that a lot of it is how Tolkien processed an almost OCD-like Catholic framing of “the fallen world is getting worse and can never be repaired”, war experiences, romanticism and other stuff stewing in his old man head. What are some ways you could show what’s stewing in your head? What does “people disappearing” mean to you? and why is it especially healing that they disappeared in order to make new families?

I think “they disappeared from their old kin and made new kin” is an interesting and weird thing worth wondering about!

- this would possibly make hobbits a more recent race than is implied. What does that mean to you?

- why are hobbits teeny tiny?

A very good starting point, that Terry Pratchett used a lot, is taking some grand statement in fantasy fiction, and making it reflect a different political reality. “Most dwarves are girls actually.” “Wizards parody academia, but, like, FOR REAL.”

I personally have a different take because of my own political feelings and framings! I have a lot of complex feelings about Tolkien chickening out of hobbits. For various political reasons I personally have to take the stance that they are fully human, fully indigenous, and have their own native language. and that their disappearance is less “teehee we lost them” or “O, the Catholic guilt of the Fallen World, how far we have fallen from the light of the two trees God’s sinless light” and a lot more “oh yeah I’ve seen THAT pattern before.”

If you have a political sort of lens on, someone telling you “yeah… hobbits came from nowhere 🤭 and then disappeared 🤷‍♀️ sad!” is a story that can also invite the response of “OHhhhh you wanted their LAND real bad, huh.” Like, we know what that means, right.

It’s a political stance for me. Hobbits have to be close enough to us to touch, and we have to be able to face that, and the fact that 5,000 media properties will chew on tolkienelves and sell them to you before even admitting to the 🤭 just makes it even more of a 🤨. To me.

…But I have literally just been elbow deep in my own demented fanfic thing that involves inventing a language just to swear in, to enable my standing on a box shouting HOBBITS OUGHT TO RESIST GOING EXTINCT ACTUALLY, based entirely on, I think, spite. Why do multiple authors publish orc football games (Terry Pratchett) and orc coffeeshops (Legends and Lattes guy) and do every damned thing with every bit of Tolkien’s corpse but refuse to look directly at hobbits. I am feral over this and wrote 59k words so far to damage and harm my friends

In conclusion I see a great story shape there about kindred and I think you should explore it and it should be about evolutionary biology and women and divorce and nobody being wrong.

And if anyone argues you with some podcast boy “well actually”, just bite them and do more character work and sit on their heads

[honnelander]

OK SO I HAVE THIS IDEA IN MY HEAD AND I HAVE TO TELL YOU, I can't stop laughing imagining that scenario xdxdxdxdxd

Well, then imagine go fish! Sanji takes (Y/N) to meet Zeff and Zeff being the good father he is, "accidentally" spoils the tea in front of everyone because he is so done with the drama around.  😂 😂 😂 😂

UMMM OK I LOVE THISSS!! this technically won't be go fish!Sanji BUT my interpretation of Sanji will pretty much always be like that.

here's Zeff "accidentally" spilling the beans about Sanji's affections for reader: (i can't believe this blew up to like 3k words rip)

masterlist

Zeff wasn't stupid.

He's been around the block a couple of times in his life and when Sanji's semi-regular letters to him had shifted from casual life updates and started to be more and more about details and little interactions he had with you, some girl Zeff had never met before, well, it was easy for the head chef to put two and two together: Sanji was in love.

And he was in love with you.

Now, while Sanji might not technically be his son by birthright, there was no way he didn't consider Sanji to be his own living and breathing kin, especially after everything they've been through together, 'pedigree' rules be damned.

Zeff truly loved that boy. Throughout their time together, he had raised Sanji from being a snotty-nosed brat into the respectable man that he was today and, in Zeff's mind, part of being a respectable man included knowing how to treat a woman properly.

Ever since he was a young boy, Zeff could see that Sanji took a special liking towards girls and then young women. The retired captain had lost count of the number of times he had to berate Sanji into getting back to work and to leave the wooing for after dinner service and his own personal time, but the scoldings never stuck. Sanji would always be Sanji, and that meant the lad had an endless wandering eye and a sharp silver tongue, no matter what.

To say that Zeff was sad to see Sanji go with Luffy that day was an understatement, he was devastated, but he knew, ever since he had held a knife to his throat during their first encounter, that Sanji was meant for bigger things. For things bigger than cooking up the same old dinner specials every night and breaking up drunk pirate fights on the regular. Sanji was bigger than the Baratie, so when Luffy had made his infamous offer to his pseudo-son, a part of Zeff was relieved because that meant that Sanji could finally start living the life he was always meant to live, and that was one of a pirate.

Zeff had also made peace with the very real fact that he might never see or hear from Sanji again. He (and Sanji) knew all too well how quickly something could go from bad to worse to life-threatening in an instant out on the open ocean, and if Luffy was truly determined to find the one piece and have Sanji join his crew, then Zeff knew that seeing him off that day was probably the last time he would ever see his son alive.

So, imagine his surprise when he received his first letter from him.

At first, he thought it was a joke, that one of the line cooks in the kitchen was pulling a cruel prank on him by writing him a fake letter in Sanji's unmistakable handwriting, but when he finally ripped open the envelope and found out that yes, Sanji did, in fact, write him a letter, well... it had actually brought a tear to his eye.

From that point forward, Zeff found himself eagerly awaiting Sanji's letters. He loved to hear all about the outlandish adventures that crew seemed to always find themselves in and it made Zeff nostalgic for his days at sea. There was never any return address, since the crew was constantly on the move, and Zeff expected as such, so he could never send a reply but that didn't mean he wasn't grateful for each and every letter he received.

Zeff should've realized that something was up though when Sanji had first mentioned you in one of his letters. Sanji's letters would come every couple of months and they, surprisingly, never mentioned any young lass or any other pretty girl he would meet during an island visit unless it was a woman they had ended up fighting.

So, when Sanji had first mentioned you to him, saying how you were the newest straw hat to join the crew, Zeff had thought it was just business as usual. However, what wasn't 'just business as usual' was when the rest of the letter had turned into a little biography about you; where you were from, how old you were, what your home life was like, that you had also agreed that 'oregano was for savages', etc., and the letter ended up being nearly ten pages long.

Then, after your 'introduction' in Sanji's letters to him, you were practically the subject of them all going forward, each one getting longer than the last. Gone were the letters detailing Sanji's adventures, and in came the letters describing the interactions you two had or what topics had come up in your conversations with each other.

At first, Zeff thought it was just another one of Sanji's infatuations (the boy was a huge flirt after all) but when more and more details were provided, and the letters started becoming longer, it was obvious to Zeff that Sanji was in love with you.

And why didn't Sanji just admit his feelings to you? He had no clue. Maybe it was partially his fault too, since Zeff never remembered having that 'what to do when you truly love a girl' talk with him, but he had hoped that Sanji would eventually be fed up with all the back and forth between the both of you and finally just confess already, but that declaration of "I confessed my love to her and she reciprocated" line never was brought up in any of the letters.

And Zeff was feeling himself go crazy the longer this went on. The 'drama' that was occurring between you both was driving him nuts and he vowed that if he ever saw Sanji and the rest of the straw hat crew at the Baratie again, that he would confess Sanji's feelings towards you for him. I mean... someone had to.

Then one day his lucky day came.

"Zeff!" a voice called out from the top of the stairs one afternoon before the day's first dinner service, a voice that Zeff thought he would never hear again. "There you are, you old shitbag!"

Immediately, Zeff stopped talking to the wait staff, turning his body to look up at where he heard the voice come from, his hands on his hips, and he couldn't believe what he was seeing: there was Sanji, a huge smile on his face, standing with practically the same crew that he had waved goodbye to nearly two years ago.

"Oi! Sanji!" Zeff yelled out, his own disbelieving smile lighting up his face. "I never thought I'd see your ugly mug around here again."

Sanji laughed at that as he quickly bounded down the stairs, enveloping him in a bear hug. "That makes two of us!" He pulled back, his blue eyes lighting up in pure happiness as he quickly took Zeff in, patting him on the shoulder as he said, "And look at you, you practically look exactly the same as the day I left you."

As Zeff took in Sanji's appearance, he realized that he couldn't say the same about him. Sanji looked older, not in a bad way, but in a more mature way. He looked like he was growing into the man that he was always meant to be.

And Zeff couldn't have been more proud.

"Well, I can't say the same about you little eggplant. You look like a seasoned pirate to me." Both of them dropped their arms off of each other and Zeff put his hands back on his hips. "You keepin' your feet dry?"

Sanji mirrored his pose, a small laugh escaping his lips as he looked down for a second. "Yeah," he said and looked back up at Zeff, a knowing glint in his blue eyes. "Yeah, I am."

Zeff knew right then that everything with his son was alright. "Good."

"Hey, uh, I wanted to introduce you to someone," Sanji started, looking slightly bashful as he looked back down at the floor and put his hands in his pockets. "She's the-"

"Girl from the letters?" Zeff said with a small knowing smile, finding it endearing how his normally smooth-talking son was suddenly acting about this girl. If he didn't know any better, Sanji looked nervous (and Zeff knew he was).

At his words, Sanji's gaze immediately snapped up to meet Zeff's, his eyes becoming slightly wider, a hint of panic within them, as he quickly looked back towards the rest of his crew that had just started to make their way down the stairs and towards them.

"The newest member of our crew," Sanji emphasized loudly, letting out a fake laugh as he looked back at Zeff pointedly.

"Right," Zeff relented with a small disbelieving laugh of his own. "'Newest crewmember'. Got it."

And when Zeff turned his attention towards the straw hats, he immediately knew it was you before you even introduced yourself. Sure, you were the only new face in the small group of familiar faces, but he had to give credit to Sanji, he had definitely captured your looks and essence in his letters.

Zeff's smile widened. You were cute. From just by looking at you, he could tell you were a sweet and kind soul, it was no wonder Sanji loved you. You definitely looked like the type of person who would do all those things that Sanji had spoken about in his letters and he immediately approved of you. If Sanji had stood there and introduced you as his wife instead of 'his newest crewmember', he wouldn't have had any objections to that at all.

"Zeff, this is y/n," Sanji started, gesturing a hand out to you, Zeff noticing the way his son's eyes softened just by looking at you. "And, uh, you already know everyone else."

Zeff looked away from Sanji and down at you, seeing that you already had your hand out to shake his, a nervous smile plastered on your face.

He liked you.

"It's a pleasure to finally meet you, Zeff, sir," you said, shaking his hand. "I've heard so much about you."

Now, even though Sanji had corrected him before about you, it didn't mean Zeff wasn't going to say anything.

"Aw, come on now, the pleasure is all mine little lass," Zeff replied, shaking your smaller hand with his bigger one. "It's nice to finally meet the girl that Sanji raves on about all the time."

From his peripheral, he could see Sanji stiffen.

Your eyes widened, your hand going limp in his as you asked, "Raves on about? Who, me? T-to you?"

Zeff's smile only grew wider and more cheeky. "Oh yeah, all the time," he said casually, as you both dropped hands. He placed his hands on his hips again and nodded towards his son. "You should see just how much of his letters are about you. It's like I get a damn novel every other month about your relationship," he joked.

"Zeff-" Sanji started but Zeff wasn't done.

He was on a roll and nothing was going to stop him. The more he spoke, however, the redder your face became.

"Oh yeah," the head chef continued, "from as much as Sanji talks about the two of you, I thought you two were in a relationship and said 'I love you' to each other already."

After he said that, the room got quiet. You stood there, completely frozen with wide eyes and a flushed face, like a deer in headlights, while Sanji stood as still as a statue. The rest of the straw hats stood quietly behind you three with varying looks of shock and awe on their faces at the display before them.

"Sanji," Luffy said, breaking the awkward silence first. "You love y/n?"

"Luffy!" Nami hissed.

"I knew it!" Usopp loudly and proudly declared, pointing a finger to the sky as he turned and laughed at the rest of the crew. "See, the great captain Usopp always knows the sparks of true love whenever he sees it," he said, hooking his thumbs at the top of his overalls with a grin.

Zoro snorted and rolled his eyes. "Yeah, right. You wouldn't know what true love looked like even if it smacked you in the face."

"Says the guy who doesn't have a girlfriend," Usopp smugly retorted with a laugh.

Before Zoro could say anything back, Zeff spoke up. "Hey, straw hats," he called, grabbing their attention. "Why don't you lot come into the kitchen and sit at the chef's table? I'll have Patty and the rest of 'em cook you a couple of steaks however you want, on the house. I'll even throw in a couple of beers too."

"I'm in," Zoro said without missing a beat as he started making his way towards the kitchen, not needing to be asked twice.

"Ooo, free beers? Show captain Usopp the way, please," Usopp said, following Zoro through the kitchen doors.

At the mention of meat, Luffy immediately perked up and forgot about the situation before him. "Steaks? Would it be possible to have more than one?"

"Sure," Zeff agreed easily and nodded towards the kitchen. "Eat too many though and I'll have you back on dish duty again to pay your bill."

"Deal," Luffy quickly agreed and followed after his first mate and sharpshooter.

With a shared look, Nami and Zeff started making their way towards the kitchen together, both ignoring you and Sanji.

"How do you like your steak cooked Nami?" Zeff asked conversationally before disappearing behind the kitchen's double doors.

"Medium rare, actually," Nami replied and slipped in after him, leaving you and Sanji all alone in the dining room.

It was quiet for a solid minute, neither one of you moving or making a sound.

"So," you started, clearing your throat and looking over at Sanji. "You, uh... told Zeff about me?"

But Sanji couldn't look at you. In fact, he was looking at everywhere but you. His cheeks were flushed pink and the tips of his ears were red. He looked down at the ground with his hands on his hips.

"Yeah," he said, forcing out a slight laugh that sounded more painful than anything. "I, uh, told him a bit about you. Could you tell?" he asked, a hint of painful and playful sarcasm in his tone.

You couldn't help but laugh at his attempt at a joke. You could feel your heart start to race as you slowly took a couple of steps closer to him. "Yeah, I could tell," you replied playfully. "You really love me, Sanji?" you asked him softly after a beat.

Turning his head to the side, you could see a blush crawl up his neck. It was so cute, you don't think you've ever seen Sanji be this flustered or embarrassed before. "Uh, well," he stammered, "I-I didn't want you to find out like this. I had a plan and everything. But Zeff and his big mouth had to ruin-"

"Sanji," you said simply, cutting him off. "Look at me."

Before obeying your command, Sanji took a deep breath, like he was bracing himself for the inevitable letdown and rejection he was used to receiving from women throughout his life.

When he looked down at you and met your stare, his eyes were filled with apprehension. "Yes?"

You wanted to do nothing in that moment but quelch his fears. "Oh, just come here," you said.

In one swift motion, you grabbed him by his tie and pulled him down into a kiss, capturing his lips with your own. You felt him stiffen in surprise, but once it hit him that you were, indeed, kissing him, he immediately relaxed and put his hands on either side of your face, his fingers entangling themselves into your hair, deepening the kiss. You wrapped your arms around his neck, your mouth moving in sync as you felt butterflies erupt in your stomach.

Was this real life?

After a moment, you pulled apart, panting slightly for air. You both looked at each other, faces flushed, neither one of you expecting to share your first kiss in the middle of the empty Baratie dining room.

"I love you too."

The smile that broke out across Sanji's face was brighter than the sun. But before he could say anything, you both could hear Usopp yelling from inside the kitchen.

"Guys! They kissed! See, I told you they would!" He declared loudly before turning away from the small circular window. "Zoro and Nami, you each owe twenty berry! Come on, pay up!" he laughed like a high roller that just won big, making his way back into the kitchen.

At the sound of loud protesting and groaning coming from the kitchen, you giggled, hiding your face in his chest from embarrassment.

"Oh god," you groaned.

"Aw come now, no need to be embarrassed, Madam," Sanji teased. "If they're placing bets on us, might as well give them a show to bet on, yeah?"

When you peeked up at him, you could see a mischievous glint in his eye as he scanned over your pretty face and back down to your lips before looking back into your eyes. His look made your heart skip a beat.

"Sounds like a plan to me," you answered with a small laugh before you pulled him back down to kiss him all over again.

taglist: @smolracoon25 @shadydeanmuffin @cherrypie5 @sauceonmyshorts @hhighkey @gimmebackmyskeeball @he4vens-ang3l @selcouthaesthetics @chexmixtrys @princettecharlie @amitydoodlez @abracarabbit @the-maladaptive-daydreamers @mischiefmanaged71 @asianfrustration13 @shuujin @nimtano @your-platonic-gay-lover @lovelymrvl @browneyedhufflepuff @stevenknightmarc @deserticwren

[snailpebbles]

a day to live

Natalie Scatorccio x fem! reader

summary: Natalie just lost you, her girlfriend, and has to cope somehow! Looney toons type escape from you.

tags: angst then angst then hurt/comfort, some fluff, angst, ow I'm sorry, fucked up sisters, nat loves you sm, conversion camp mentions, religious issues

a/n: read pt.1 first - a night to remember

wc: 2.5k

꩜ ‧.°. 𖦹.°.‧ ꩜‧.°.𖦹 .°.‧

Nat is pissed. Well, at first she was left in that gravel crying her heart out before getting up to chase the car down, but hey...details. Now it's been a month at this fuckass school with these fuckass people in this fuckass town and her girlfriend, the love of her life, is still gone. Shipped off to some damnable, frankly unchristian, camp that believes love in any capacity is false.

Total bullshit.

What's even more bullshit is that your parents act like you never existed! Smiles all around, parties and cookouts, and attending church like they didn't just damn their own kin. So yes, she is pissed and yes, she is crying in the locker room.

"Nat..?" Jackie's apprehensive voice reaches her muted ears and a light touch on her shoulder draws her out. She means well, Nat knows this, but the only touch she wants is yours. That's why she jerks back like she's been shot. Jackie nods acceptingly and creates some space, silently shooing the other worried girls out.

"Practice is starting, okay? You know you can just stay in here if you can't-" Nat cuts her off, inhaling sharply with a forced grin.

"I'm fine Jackie." She mutters shoving past her and regretting it after seeing the frown on her captains face. There's no time for apologies though, not when her anger is mounting and the only out she sees is to play rough. That's probably why Coach Ben sits her out after one play. Now she's pissed and antsy.

A car rolls up, one that sends bolts down her back and blood rushing to her head. The same car that you were shoved into; that took you away from her. Laura Lee steps out, already stammering an apology for being late as her parents drive off without so much as a glance at Nat.

Time becomes a blur and her ears ring, her sight and memory dipping out until suddenly she's looming over a crying Laura Lee. Her fist throbs where it's tightly balled and Laura Lee's bloody nose stains the turf a satisfying red - the thrumming in her ears quiet. Taissa and Shauna grab her elbows but all she can do is grin, feeling like some righteous figure - you'd be proud, she knows it. Even if its your sister she left on the floor to be comforted by Misty and Jackie.

She blinks and now she's in the counselors office, one sympathetic look going to Laura Lee and disdain to her. It's funny in her eyes.

"Natalie," Oh here we go "why did you punch Laura Lee?" Ms. Drews voice is like nails on a chalkboard. Nat's fist clenches and she glances at your sister. At least the girl has the decency to look oh so apologetic and like absolute shit. Your sisters eyes are sunken in and look red, the eyebags a deep purple and her skin pale. The pitiful sight doesn't change Nat's heart though, not when she's sure you're being put through so much worse.

"I guess I'm just jealous that she's a natural blonde." Nat drawls, slouching in the plush chair like it's her office. Her heart gives a twist when she remembers that you would've loved seeing her sit like this, claiming it's "hot shit". Ms. Drews sighs tiredly, well acquainted with Nat's bullshit.

"It's my fault Ms. Drews." Laura Lee whispers, her voice wavering and scratchy from old tears. "I was uhm, I was being mean." Nat snorts - she can't help it. Laura Lee? Mean? The world must have ended then. When she starts to laugh, she stops. No, Laura Lee was mean; you're gone because of her big fucking mouth.

The chair screeches back before Nat can think and she's storming out, ignoring the calls from Ms. Drew to return. It's all bullshit, every last bit. Tears sting her eyes are she pushes into the empty locker room to change, your picture staring back at her from within her locker. You look so pretty; the Sun highlighting every aspect of you that she loves so dearly. The tears fall and her eyeliner goes with them, leaving black streaks down her face that she decidedly ignores as she walks home.

It's an hour later when she collapses into her bed, pressing her nose into a blanket you'd left there a long time ago. It had lost it's smell a few days back but Natalie went to the store and spent all of her allowance to buy your perfume. It's like a new vice for her; smelling your perfume whenever she can until her nose burns alongside her throat. The alcohol tastes like utter shit but she drowns in it anyways, just as she believes she will for the rest of her life.

꩜ ‧.°. 𖦹.°.‧ ꩜‧.°.𖦹 .°.‧

You're in deep shit. It was maybe two weeks into that fuckass camp that you decided to make a break for it, pulling some looney toons type shit to get out. Maybe those sleepless nights of praying for anyone to love you, for Him to love you, paid off. Your throat hurts from being forced to vomit and your memory blurs with honestly disgusting videos - yeah, you need to forget.

The back of some random pick up truck isn't the most comfortable but the driver is kind. She let you hitch a ride after walking for who knows how long so really you can't complain. Does it smell like farm animals? Yes. Is the smell of sheep butt kinda growing on you? No comment. The only comfort you can find is thinking of Nat. How her lips felt on yours and the way her voice carried to your ears. Tears fall - at the same time as hers, unknowingly to you - at the sickness stirring in your stomach. It was in your belief that one week wouldn't be enough to fuck you up, but alas.

None of that matters anyways because you're here; minus the two hour walk into town that awaits you. The Sun has yet to rise but the kind driver gives you a jacket to wear over whatever the fuck the dress you have on is. White cotton down to your ankles and wrists - all that conservative bullshit. It isn't fully white anymore. Some sprinting through the woods and hiding in a fucking lake will do that to someone.

꩜ ‧.°. 𖦹.°.‧ ꩜‧.°.𖦹 .°.‧

Natalie is disoriented, the loud knocking at her trailer door leaving her hungover brain reeling. She stumbles her way to the front and rips the door open, prepared to curse out whoever it is.

"Nat?" It's a soft voice, an oh so tired and wounded voice. The same voice she played in her dreams and sobbed over every night. The same she'd hear "I love you" from. She sobers up so fucking fast it's almost ridiculous. One minute you're outside and the next you're inside, her shaking hands gripping your biceps so tight it might bruise.

"What the fuck- how the fuck-" The tears spill again and her voice is rough, catching and tripping over itself until her heart teeters away from stopping. "Angel." She breathes it out like a prayer and you're gone, sobbing into her neck like she does to your hair. The smell, the dirt, the ugly crying - none of it matters. Not when you're in her arms and blubbering sweet everything's. Nat cups your cheeks and wipes your tears, worried eyes checking you over for any blood or bruise. Your knuckles are busted just like hers. She kisses them and you do the same.

"I missed you." You whisper, using the sleeves of your dress to wipe her tears and eyeliner away. She laughs wetly and nods, leaning her head into your hand.

"I missed you too. Fuck, are you okay?" She asks and you nod, any cut or scrape from your mad escape fleeing your mind. All that matters is her. The smell of cigarettes, alcohol, cheap perfume, and her shampoo. You could wrap yourself up in it and die happily right now.

"Do you want a shower?" Nat then leads you into the cramped bathroom after your whispered yes, the overhead light buzzing when she flicks the switch. It's the first time you've seen yourself in awhile, having been in and out of rest stops with nothing on your mind but home. She turns the water on and undoes the buttons down the back of your dress, rough fingers so gentle on your blessed skin. It's reverent, the way she eyes you. No sign of lust but only love.

The water is hot, washing away false sins as she climbs in with you. There's bile building in your throat and she holds you hair back when you vomit into the toilet, crying apologies as she pets your now wet hair.

"Thought it wouldn't work." You sniffle and her heart breaks, fear and anger tracing up her spine. Nat knows you love her, she can feel it in your hands and the way your lips map her skin all over again. It still doesn't change the fact that you're sick and it will take time to reverse what they did. All in the name of someone who never would have allowed those places to exist.

"It's okay Angel, it's okay. You're okay, we're okay." Nat whispers, pulling you into her arms before washing you off until you're reborn. The light buzzes and the water grows cold but you don't drift away, not like she fears. Vomit is flushed again but Nat only rubs your back and comforts you, no sign of impatience.

Her bed and clothes are warm as you cuddle into one another, hair and tears wetting her pillow. She doesn't ask and you're so grateful, throat still stinging.

"I love you." You both say it at the same time and giggle, noses bumping one another with how close you are. Her arm is tight around your waist and you cradle her cheek, face feeling warm under her intense watch. She's memorizing you, drinking you in as if you're holy water in a hellish place.

You make the first move to kiss her, having to breathe through the sick feeling you get; twisting in your stomach and aching in your heart. Something whispers no but He whispers yes, and then the gap is gone.

Natalie is sure you're her salvation. Your lips are warm against hers, it's all so warm. The door is locked and outside is silent. No crunch of gravel or the squealing of tires. It's just you and her in a self-made heaven, basking in love.

Laura Lee and the rest can wait for tomorrow. Nat's mom is out on some bender and she'll keep you safe - the grip on your waist confirms it. Kisses trail across your cheek and jaw, bleached hair tickling your clean skin until you're giggling with her. Hearts sync up once more and it stays peaceful, the future not looming but glowing instead.

꩜ ‧.°. 𖦹.°.‧ ꩜‧.°.𖦹 .°.‧

It's two weeks later and finally that fucking tomorrow. A lot of legal bullshit is going down but for now, you're living with your aunt who you were taught was a piece of shit - she's actually just a he. Your uncle, as you've now learned, stayed in Wisayok on the other side of town purely to loom over your parents with the threat of exposing them to the church. He knew they'd sent you off and had been fighting tooth and nail to get you into his care for a month now.

All is fine and dandy; Nat and you laze about your new, nicer, home and relearn each other. You throw up a lot less now and your uncle, Tim, pays for therapy to help really get past it all. You don't plan on ever saying what really happened in those small buildings so Nat doesn't pry, instead she kisses away the late night tears and holds your hair out of your face when it's all too much.

What isn't cool is having to go back to school. The same school your sister attends. You're a nervous wreck as you step off the bus, Nat keeping ahold of you.

"Breathe, Angel." She whispers and you listen, staying by her side throughout the morning and totally not flinching whenever a flash of blonde hair goes off in your peripherals. Luck cannot hold out forever though, and even has terrible timing.

It is entirely impossible to prove what exactly the two of you were doing behind the bleachers, but the mussed hair and marks on both of your necks may give some evidence. The giggles and little stolen kisses come to an abrupt halt at the sight of your sister. She's tearing up and your heart aches in two different directions.

"Oh fuck off Laura Lee." Natalie groans, arm going across your shoulders in what may look possessive but is actually meant to ground you. Laura Lee sniffles and gives you an extremely apologetic stare, but you aren't having it.

"I told you what would happen." You mutter, staring her down without an ounce of sympathy. She shakes her head but seems unable to even mumble an apology, the tears clogging her throat. That damn bear is in her hand and she holds it out to you, shaking hands matching your own. You can see the faint scar on her pointer finger from where you'd accidentally slammed the door on it. Her necklace was a gift from you and her cardigan was knitted to match your own, growing dusty in a closet that isn't yours anymore. The bear is knocked to the ground by your hand, newly scarred across the knuckles from a ruler Laura Lee will never meet.

"Please-" Her voice breaks and Nat laces her hand in yours, thumb rubbing across the scarred knuckles and head tilting to knock against yours. She's all around you and Laura Lee is drifting away, button eyes watching the two sisters from the gym floor.

"We're not sisters. Not anymore." Your voice breaks just like hers did, and you step away again - just like that night. Nat is there, anchoring you all the way until you're in some bathroom.

"Angel, hey-" She cradles your jaw and kisses your forehead, wiping away the faint lipstick mark. "You're good." She murmurs and you nod, blinking away tears with a slow exhale.

"I'm good. We're good." You repeat, dropping your forehead to her shoulder. "It's all good." Fingers guide your head up and your lips meet hers - warm, safe, familiar. No bile rises and your heart doesn't ache; it sings.

꩜ ‧.°. 𖦹.°.‧ ꩜‧.°.𖦹 .°.‧

tag list: @theprismyyy @moonyxstars @kabekusa @ilovemuhl10

[aurae-rori]

DR RATIO ANALYSIS

SPOILERS FOR 2.1 CONTENT!

Now, you might be saying - "Aurae, Oh No! and Are You Satisfied? are much too basic songs to analyze Dr. Ratio to! Just because he's a scholar doesn't mean that he has academic trauma!" WRONG! Before we start, I have been researching psychology for approximately six years and I plan to go into it professionally. HOWEVER, that said, I am NOT a professional (YET. One day I will be. Yay for Aurae!) so understand that everything I come to conclusions about has been analyzed with some personal judgement, personal interpretations, and this is just what I have concluded with the info that I have deconstructed from his brain. If you disagree, that's fine!

I will be pulling from my own experiences with being a "golden" and "gifted" child, as well as the experiences I've had speaking to other people who were those. I will also be pulling from my experiences of researching and seeing how people with superiority complexes work, as well as diving into how those work (from what I've seen, as well as how they conceal a lack of self-esteem).

OKAY, NOW THAT THAT LONG AHH DISCLAIMER IS OVER, ALLOW ME TO WORK MY PSYCH ENJOYER MAGIC! Let's deconstruct Dr. Ratio like a lego toy.

Let's start off with how Dr. Ratio presents himself. When you first meet him, he seems like a haughty, arrogant asshole. He likes to PRESENT himself as a stoic, superior scholar who is purely in it to win it, and I got total "*stares down at your tiny body and laughs at how you lack knowledge*" vibes at the very start, due to how he goes around calling people idiots all the time. However, he DOES lose the idgaf war, and we can very quickly see that he does care for other people, even if in his own, strange way. Dr Ratio presentation: An asshole. The reality?

His entire character is based around the idea of helping the masses. He wishes to spread knowledge through the cosmos and give people who didn't have access to it, access. He's a harsh teacher, and calling people 'idiots' is NOT the way to motivate them, but he's doing his best™.

Actually, no, I'm going to go full psych into this. Okay, so here starts the Dr. Ratio and my FATHER COMPARISONS. My father is a professor and he is often called a harsh grader by his students. However, I've spoken to him multiple times because I was curious - why is he so harsh and diligent with his grading system? The answer is - he wants them to actually learn. When he's grading, he gives them harsh marks because he wants them to know exactly where they messed up, and he's always willing to stay after hours to help students understand where they can't. My father also is an enjoyer of knowledge, and for as long as I've remembered, he has prioritized teaching me how to think critically. He wants me to be able to think for myself - and I think that's what Dr. Ratio wants, too. He wants for his students to be able to fully comprehend and absorb the information that he teaches, and although his methods are harsh, he genuinely wants to help. My father's like this too - he hates students that waste his time or aren't here because their hearts are in it. Dr. Ratio hates people who aren't taking their education seriously because knowledge is important. Knowledge is a tool, and to disregard it completely is lowkey kind of insulting - especially when there are people who weren't privileged enough to actually get it, so this isn't something that you should take for granted. Dr. Ratio despises people who take knowledge for granted.

Also, I disagree with the claims that say that Dr. Ratio hates the genius society. He shows open respect for them in his voice lines. Just check them if you need proof. Also, I'll delve into the idea of Aeons and recognition later.

Now that we’ve established that Dr. Ratio kins my dad, let’s let's tackle the 'stoic' allegations. He is LOSING the idgaf war. Like, really badly. He has a temper of a thousand suns and snaps at people frequently, despite his 'impassive' face, his tone holds a LOT of emotion. He seems to feel very deeply and has a shit ton of empathy for others - why else would he be dedicating his entire career to helping others? Of course, he doesn't express this in 'typical' ways of being openly kind - but it doesn't mean that he doesn't care for other people. In fact, he seems to be pretty good at putting himself in the shoes of others and understanding them - expressed in the 2.1 quest where he tells Aventurine to tell him if he can't hold on any longer. Also, he loses the IDGAF war because he is actively trying to help people who want to learn and trying to spread logic and knowledge across the cosmos to those who didn't have it before. Would a man who didn't GAF do that? No!

Now that we've covered his view on knowledge and the way that he presents himself, let's turn to the way that he SEES himself. Now, this is where we get into the nitty gritty of gifted child trauma & academic trauma as well as crippling expectations. It's literally explicitly said in his character stories that he sees himself as mediocre, and it's canon that he doesn't have a good view of himself. His self-esteem is down in the fucking trenches along with my sanity as I write this analysis. The reality is - being called a genius your whole life doesn't really make you feel better about yourself. I'd know. I was. In fact, it makes you feel fucking worse when you can't live up to an expectation. We all fail in life. It's part of being human. But when you're held to such high standards - idolized for your knowledge and the way that you're 'gifted' - the crash comes really fucking hard. Failure is inevitable, and when people who are held on that pedestal experience it, they take it really bad.

The reality is that nobody - not even geniuses - are perfect, but you grow up believing that you are. Then, when you fail for the first time, it all comes tumbling down. The first time I came home with a bad grade was one of the most humiliating moments of my life. I hadn't studied because I was arrogant and I thought that I was smart enough to pass without putting any extra effort into it - because I was a 'gifted' child, right? I should've been able to do it without studying like the other kids. And that's the thing with gifted children – you grow reliant on that title. You cling onto it for dear life for motivation, as well as self-perception. Little by little, the person you are falls apart as you slave away to the perception other people have of you. I think basically every gifted child that I've ever spoken to is a victim of this – and of course, you can heal from this mindset - but it's a hard one to shake.

Ratio's way of presenting himself as being a 'genius' and 'arrogant' also seems to contradict the way that he calls himself 'mundane' at the same time. However, these are two mindsets that can coexist. One part of you believes that you are a genius and that you are perfect, while the other part is crumbling and calling yourself good-for-nothing every time you make a mistake. It's a tiring cycle to live in. This usually leads to people shutting themselves out and closing themselves off after living like that, pushing back your own feelings in favour of being the perfect child. However, we don't know the exact details of Dr. Ratio's childhood, but we can infer that he was held to a pedestal, and this is a very harmful mindset for a child to have.

His superiority complex comes both from how other people view him, but it's a way to cope with his crippling lack of self-esteem. I'm sorry my guy. Also helping others probably helps him feel like he's worth something and makes him feel better because he bases his entire worth off of what he can do and how he can help others. However, this is just my personal interpretation backed by what I have already deconstructed. 

In general, this is an easy way to crush self-esteem. You spend your whole life working to meet the image of what other people think you are. In fact, another reason why Dr. Ratio might be so harsh is because that’s the kind of attitude he holds towards himself when conducting research – he’s as hard on himself as he is to others. You end up hating the idea of failure, instead of seeing it as it should be - a way to improve and grow. Actually, I think this could be a reason that he went out of his way to break that illusion of 'worshipping geniuses' in the Space Station. Maybe some sort of childhood connection? Personal connection? In his endeavour to spread more knowledge and make people think for themselves and not blindly follow geniuses, to wake them up and let them think for themselves - maybe, somewhere, in there, he's helping that little child that was almost dehumanized for his intelligence. TLDR: Conflicting mindsets due to trauma, brain vs heart almost - his knowledge that he is a genius vs the crippling lack of his self worth.

Now that we've established Dr. Ratio's self worth, let's take a look at the impact Aeons had on him. Nous, the Aeon of Knowledge itself. I think in a world where the Gods are real, tangible beings that you can reach out and talk to - it makes sense that someone with high ambition and someone who's been called a genius his whole life would seek the confirmation of Nous. When you're a man of knowledge, and you've spent your whole life working with it, being praised for it – it feels natural to look for a god to look down upon you and bless you, right? The Genius Society – it should house him, because he is a genius as well, right? Imagine this – you have been called a genius your whole life, held to that kind of pedestal for so long, and now you wait for the recognition of the Gods. Because if you truly are a genius – then surely, a higher being will recognize your intelligence, right?

The invitation never comes.

And then, comes the doubt.

What if I'm really not a genius? What if everything I've worked for is a lie? Aeons are beings that are 'absolute'. If the god of Knowledge won't accept you or even cast a glance upon you, does that mean that everything was wrong. Gods see more than humans, after all. Gods know more than humans - and that spiral... I think you can see if. (If you don't let me know. I will ramble about how a failure like that can make you spiral down into a worse mindset). 

However, the reason why Ratio was never invited to the Genius Society is simple. It’s because he LOSES THE IDGAF WAR. Now, if we look at all the people we know who are in the Genius Society - we find one thing in common. They’re in it to win it for themselves. They don’t help others using the knowledge that they’ve gotten - they use it to pursue shit for themselves. The people of the Genius Society are inherently self-serving. They WIN the idgaf war. Ratio LOSES. Do we see now? 

Ratio’s empathy is the reason why he wasn’t let in. He is too human. Nous is a computer. Herta is detached from people. Ruan Mei is literally looking at life as test subjects. Screwllum is a robot. 

OUR DOCTOR MAN LOST THE IDGAF WAR, BECAUSE HE IS HUMAN AND FEELS FOR OTHERS!!! 

Also, it’s a plausible theory that Nous’s definition of ‘genius’ is different from the human definition of ‘genius’ – it’s a computer, after all. Who knows what’s going on in that code head of its. 

However, we still love you Ratio. Never stop losing the IDGAF war. 

TLDR: Nous is a computer. It is also in it to win it. It is also self serving. It gazes upon the hoes who are here to win it for themselves. Ratio is busy serving the masses and cooking knowledge in his frying pan. To it, there is no logical reason to be doing this. Therefore, no reason to invite this guy to the Genius Society. 

Ratio’s gifted child trauma says otherwise. He wants in. Why wouldn’t he? He’s been working his whole life as a genius. 

Nous is like… nah bro, you care too much. Ratio is like, ‘what the fuck?’ And then the AEON OF KNOWLEDGE GOES FOR THE MILK. 

Okay, now, quick shoutout to Ratio wanting to help others. He is just like me fr. SO BASICALLY, RECAP OF EVERYTHING I JUST SAID:

Ratio LOSES the idgaf war because he cares about other people. Spent his whole life as the golden egg, and then turns to the gods for recognition because of the inherent trauma of being a child genius. He goes, "hey bro, can you confirm that I am in fact a genius?" and Nous goes, "no, you are too busy cheffing for the masses." Ratio goes, "what the fuck?" and then we collectively realize his attitude comes from blocking off his feelings (while failing miserably), being salty about not being recognized, being put on a pedestal for his whole life, and his crippling depression *cough* lack of self worth *cough*. 

Oh, and the "I will never be enough" thought train probably hits him every single day. He is not enough to be recognized by a God. Gods are superior to humans. Maybe nothing has worth after all. Hey, that's Nihility! Hi IX, let's hear what you have to say.

*muffled ix noises*

I see, I see.

The consensus is: HE'S TRAUMATIZED BY EXPECTATIONS! HE WILL PROBABLY SUFFER FROM BURNT OUT GIFTED CHILD IF HE HAS NOT ALREADY!

Okay, now, before I delve into song lyrics (and I KNOW this has been long, just bear with me) I want to talk a little bit (read: a lot) about his relationship with Aventurine. We all know that he cares about Aventurine in his own way. But I want to pull in another idea that I didn’t cover before: 

Ratio’s fucking emotional constipation. 

Basically, the reason why he has trouble connecting with others is because he was most likely alienated by others as a symptom of being called a genius and being put on a pedestal. This makes him seem unapproachable to his peers, most likely, and therefore, as a result, doesn’t know how to properly connect with others. This just makes his way of presenting affection and care to others even more challenging – because he just doesn’t know how to do it in a healthy and clear way. Academic trauma causing emotional problems, because he’s probably a little bit out of touch with his own. Processing? No! Research. Also, this is very important for understanding Ratio’s character in my opinion, because he’s just a little guy who doesn’t know how to articulate. Maybe he’s got a touch of the ‘tism. Tism mutuals, do we agree or disagree? 

However, in comes Aventurine. Love Aventurine, but they are both emotionally constipated. Aventurine displays his affection in ways that Ratio probably only catches after re-analyzing their time together about five times. He’s also a very closed off individual – but Ratio knows this. A cute thing is that Ratio is patient where he needs to be, even if he’s generally a pretty hot-headed guy, and I’m like… bro… that letter… “I wish you the best of luck”... I will wait for you…. GAY ASS MAN…

Sorry the Aventio demons took over. Anyway, what I’m trying to say here is that they both have nonverbal communication with one another that they clearly decipher and Ratio obviously cares for him (he came back and almost jeopardized the plan just for the sake of his ‘coworker’... okay gayboy…) and they just have such a neat little dynamic… Aventurine lets Dr. Ratio do his thing… understands his emotional alienation to a degree…. they’re so neat….

Okay, Aventurine segment over. NOW, FINALLY, WE CAN GET TO THE SONG LYRICS!!! YAY!!!! We all cheered!!!

We are going to be here for two more amber eras, because I realized I actually want to analyze every single lyric from both of these songs. Brace yourself for like, 2k more words. Help. 

I think it’s only proper that we start off with ‘Oh No!’ the song that has haunted me since my childhood.

“Don’t do love, don’t do friends

I’m only after success

Don’t need a relationship

I’ll never soften my grip”

Remember when I mentioned that alienation was a big part of Ratio lore? Yeah, that manifests itself in this. When you spend your entire life chasing after knowledge and being held to that standard of untouchable genius, it makes sense that you couldn’t connect with others and that you turn your gaze only to success. Therefore, relationships that are interpersonal lose meaning for a bit – you’re just looking for answers and ways to help them, not connect with them. Also, this is what he wants to do – so he’s never going to pass down an opportunity to better himself or to help someone else. 

“Don’t want cash, don’t want card

Want it fast, want it hard 

Don’t need money, don’t need fame

I just want to make a change

I just wanna change, I just wanna change” 

This is directly alluding to his reasonings for distributing knowledge across the cosmos. Was he based on this song? Maybe he was. He’s not looking for money or fame, his ultimate goal is actually pretty selfless – to bring knowledge and give people the tools they need to think for themselves. He just wants to make a change – he just wants people to be able to have access to knowledge and help cure ‘stupidity’. He wants to do it as quickly as possible, always reaching for lofty goals that might seem impossible, but he will make them possible. 

“I know exactly what I want and who I want to be

I know exactly why I walk and talk like a machine

I’m now becoming my own self-fulfilled prophecy

Oh! Oh no! Oh no! Oh no, oh!” 

Ratio knows his goal. He knows what he’s working towards. I do believe that he understands why he is the way that he is – he has a degree in Psychology, after all. He knows how he’s been hurt but at the same time, the trauma brain probably doesn’t want to recognize it and he hasn’t stepped into healing yet. He knows what he went through impacted him, but he’s too busy helping others to help himself. He’s becoming what he wants to be, and yet he’s not, all at the same time – which causes the idea of “oh no!” as a kind of cry for help, almost. He’s too proud to ask for it himself, of course, so he’ll fall alone until someone manages to catch him and give him the strength to continue holding on. Aventurine is that. 

“One track mind, one track heart

If I fail, I’ll fall apart

Maybe it is all a test

‘Cause I feel like I’m the worst

So I always act like I’m the best” 

Now, these are the exact lyrics that made me associate this song with Ratio in the first place. He’s got a singular goal that he will do nothing to stop at getting, that he goes so far to get to. However, as I mentioned earlier, failure is not an option for those who were deemed gifted or genius. You are perfect, so therefore you must live up to everyone’s every expectation and surpass them, too, in order to keep your perception of yourself intact. Ratio does not hold himself in high regard, but acts arrogant in order to hold himself together and not fall to the self-deprecating thoughts, even if they fall through the cracks. It gets tiring to hold yourself together like that for a long time, you know? 

“I’m gonna live, I’m gonna fly

I’m gonna fail, I’m gonna die

I’m gonna live, I’m gonna fly

I’m gonna fail, I’m gonna die” 

Remember how I was talking about contradictory mindsets and how they can coexist. This is them. The feeling of crippling self-hatred and lack of self esteem versus the idea that you can do it, you can make a difference – you were born a genius, this is what you’re going to do. This is the knowledge that you are a genius vs the lack of self-esteem that Ratio has. “Mediocre” vs “genius” mindset, eh? 

All the other lyrics in this song are repetitions of what I’ve analyzed before, so let’s move onto “Are you Satisfied?” 

To be honest, there are only a few lines in this song that allow me to connect it to Ratio, so therefore, I will only be analyzing them. However, if you think that other lyrics can connect to him, I’d be interested in knowing how. 

“What you’re gonna be 

It’s not my problem if you don’t see what I see

And I do not give a damn if you don’t believe

My problem, it’s my problem that I never am happy

It’s my problem, it’s my problem on how fast I will succeed”

Pretending to not care about how the world sees you is so fucking real. Sometimes, you really don’t give a shit, and sometimes it’s all you can think about. Ratio… doesn’t seem like he’s the happiest person. He works himself hard and he’s always chasing after a goal that must be exhausting. He’s always doing his best, and I think even with his empathy, it’s easy to start not giving a shit after trying for so long and so hard. Accepting help is one of the hardest things that anybody can do, especially with how much pride he has. His personal problems are his personal problems and he can deal with them on his own. 

“High achiever, don’t you see? 

Baby, nothing comes for free

They say I’m a control freak

Driven by a greed to succeed

Nobody can stop me” 

Nothing comes for free. A lot of the things Ratio has achieved is due to his own intelligence, yes, but also because of a shit ton of hard work. His goal is literally to cure the universe of ‘stupidity’ – and that’s a pretty large fucking goal. He is a high achiever who likes to know the details of every situation when he can in order to try and make things better, and he is driven by a greed to succeed. Why wouldn’t he be? Success is important, and success means helping more people. He isn’t going to allow himself to be stopped by anybody – not even anybody from the Genius society. 

Okay, and we have finally reached the end of my analysis! This caps at around 4k words, so if you stuck around for this long, thank you so much. I would love to hear any of your comments, and I hope you laughed a little bit. Thank you again! This means so much to me that you read. <3

[navybrat817]

What Happens in Vegas

Pairing: Bucky Barnes x Female Reader Summary: You get more than you bargained for when you decide to get married in Vegas. Word Count: Over 2.8k Warnings: Drinking, drunk wedding, accidental marriage, supernatural element, dubcon elements, soft!dark vibes, Bucky Barnes (he's a warning, okay?). A/N: I wasn't able to get all 4 birthday stories done, but I hope you lovelies enjoy the ones I plan to share. Here's 1 of 2! ❤️ Beta read by the lovely @whisperlullaby (thank you for spitballing), but any and all mistakes are my own. Thanks to @targaryenvampireslayer as well for letting me scream about this. Divider by the talented @firefly-graphics. Please follow @navybrat817-sideblog for new fics and notifications. Comments, reblogs, feedback are loved and appreciated!

The fluorescent lights of the strip flashed as you stumbled along the sidewalk. Fast paced and surreal, the city that never sleeps offered a little something for everyone. Entertainment, architecture, adventure. While your intention for the evening was to grab a drink with some friends and nothing more, you decided to do something bolder. Crazier. Because what happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas, right?

“Goin’ to the chapel and we’re… gonna get maaaaaaried,” you sang, squinting as your guy, date, whoever he was, helped steady you. “Who or what was your name again? Randy?”

“That’s not my name. It’s-”

“Randy. ‘Cause you’re a rando,” you declared, making him laugh.

Forgetting the guy’s name should’ve been your first clue to call it a night and go back to your hotel. Randy was cute enough though and bought all of you drinks. When you told him most of your friends were hitched or close to getting married while you were still single, he joked that he’d marry you.

“Fuck it! Let’s get married!”

Which was how you found yourself on his arm heading to a chapel.

Your second clue to go back to your room should’ve been that none of your friends stopped you. Not a single one told you to stay or offered to go with you, which was strange. Not that each of you hadn’t done stupid stuff before. Letting you go off with a stranger though? In an unfamiliar city?

Bitches. All of them. Noooooo. I love my girlfriends. They’re just DRUNK, like me.

You did feel sad for a second. While your friends all had family who would’ve thrown a fit if they eloped or married a stranger, you didn’t. Your dad would never give you away. Your mom wouldn’t wipe her tears as she heard you say your vows. So who cared what you did?

You sure as hell didn’t.

“Here,” Randy said, pulling you toward a door. “This place is supposed to be really nice.”

“OOOOOOOOH. Reeeeeeeally nice,” you said, gasping once you stepped inside.

You expected cheesy decor to smack you in the face, but instead found yourself in a luxurious entryway. Sparkles of gold lined the sleek floor and walls all the way up to the high ceilings. The art depicted landscapes you only had the pleasure of seeing in dreams. The room almost had a glow to it.

Or maybe it's the alcohol blurring my vision.

A voluptuous redhead walked through a set of doors to greet you. Her heels didn’t make a sound as she glided across the floor. Glancing at Randy, you caught him adjusting the front of his pants. Was he drooling? You found it amusing rather than let it upset you.

“Welcome to the Enchanted Valley where all your dreams come true. My name is Natalia. How may I help you this evening?”

“We’re getting married,” Randy answered, though he didn’t glance at you.

“Is that so?” she asked, tilting her head as she turned her attention to you. The gold from the walls sparkled in her eyes as she waited for your confirmation.

Swaying a little, you gave her a two finger salute. “That is so,” you answered before you added, “Do you also do annulments?”

Snorting, she gestured behind her. “Before we get started, you must be at least 18 years old, must not be currently married, must not be kin, and I’ll need to see a government form of identification. As long as that’s clear, you’re free to proceed with your ceremony. Do you have witnesses?"

“No ‘cause my bitchy friends didn’t come here. I don’t even have flowers,” you said, hiccuping a little. “Don’t tell them I call them that. I love them soooooooooo much.”

“That’s just fine. I’ll ask James and Wanda if they wouldn’t mind witnessing this…” Natalia tried to find the word as her eyes darted between you. “Blessed union.”

Randy followed Natalia like a lost puppy into the chapel as he struggled to get his wallet out. “You single?”

Your eyes rolled in the back of your head. “Why am I doing this?” you mumbled, swaying as you dug your wallet out. “Why didn’t I just get a tattoo or something?”

“Because a ring on your finger is easier to remove than ink on your skin.”

“Holy fucking… fuck,” you said as you looked up. “Where did you come from, you… gorgeous specimen?”

You understood why Randy practically eye-fucked Natalia since you were doing the same with the man in front of you. His steel blue eyes reflected the gold of the room the same way the redhead’s had and you were scared you’d fall into an abyss if you stared for too long. His light brown hair had to be the softest you’d ever seen. If you had to guess, he was at least 6’4” with a broad chest and shoulders and didn’t have the audacity to button up his shirt.

Is his left arm made out of gold? Or is it painted gold? How drunk am I? Would Randy object to me giving this god of a man the ride of his life?

“I’m James,” he said, the timbre of his voice causing your knees to wobble as he held up a bouquet of colorful flowers. “I’ll be one of the witnesses for this blessed union.”

“Nothing blessed about it. I don’t even know the guy. But he said he’d marry me and I said ‘fuck it,” you giggled, taking a step forward. Your shoe caught on nothing. Nothing. You just fell forward.

And the beautiful man caught you in his embrace.

“Careful, beautiful,” he said as he helped you stand upright and placed the flowers in your hand. His touch warmed you as he ran his hands along your bare arms. “You would marry a stranger then? With no friends or family here?”

“You smell really good. How do you smell so good?” You said, putting a hand on his chest with a grin. “Friends are busy and I have no family.”

His brows furrowed and you wondered how pathetic you sounded. You weren’t looking for pity. “Did he give you any token of affection?”

“Mmmmm. You know, he didn’t. We don’t have rings or anything.”

James traced a finger along your cheek. “And he dares to call himself a man,” he whispered, tutting when you leaned into his touch. “Doesn’t seem like he's fit to marry such a delectable creature.”

Eat me up, James.

“It’s okay,” you said, hoping the sad feelings of alcohol weren’t about to hit you. It sucked being alone and you knew you’d come to regret this later, but who cared about tonight? “Do you have gold streaks in your hair? Why are you so pretty? It’s like you’re not even REAL.”

“I’m very real, beautiful,” he smiled, flashing his pearly white teeth as your cheeks got hot. “Do I have the pleasure of knowing your full name?”

“My full name? So formal,” you teased, giving it to him without hesitation as you ran your fingers through his hair. You should’ve asked permission before touching his soft hair. You shouldn’t have touched him at all. But logic left your mind the moment you stepped into the city.

James closed his eyes as he repeated your name, making it sound erotic and sensual. You liked hearing it on his tongue. “You will not marry him,” he whispered, opening his eyes. A ring of gold surrounded his pupils before it went away. Maybe one of the girls slipped a little something into your drink to help you relax more.

Whatever it is, I want more of it.

“Tell you what,” you smiled, booping his nose with a giggle. “If you object with good reason, I won’t marry Randy Rando. Deal?”

James smirked after a moment, a darkness clouding his eyes as he stepped back to shake your hand. “Deal.”

Before you shook it, you noticed a gold ring on the floor by his foot. Did he drop it? “Is that yours?” you said, crouching down to grab it. It wasn’t very dignified how your dress rode up, but he didn’t seem to mind. “Here.”

He didn’t take it from you. “It is mine, but do you not wish to keep it?”

You frowned, confused as you glanced at the band. It had some sort of lettering around the solitaire diamond that you didn’t recognize. “This isn’t ‘finders keepers’. It’s yours. It’s nice, but it’s rude of me to take it.”

With a low hum, he accepted the ring back. “There aren’t many who would return something of value,” he said, slipping it on his right pinky finger. “You have a giving heart.”

“Oh, it… It was nothing,” you said, shrugging a little to hide how badly you wanted to preen at his compliment.

I’m really acting like I’ve never seen a good looking guy before.

He kept an intense gaze on you as he slipped a hand into his pants pocket and pulled out a small stone. It would’ve looked like a normal pebble if not for the gold speckles. “I know this may not look special, but would you take this as a token for giving my ring back?”

Whaaaaaaaat?

“Um. Yeah. Sure. Thanks,” you said, tucking the stone into your purse before you selected a flower from your bouquet. “Would you accept this from me?” you asked, wanting to do something nice.

A pleased look crossed his face as he took the flower and inhaled. Your head spun a little. Something felt different, but you couldn’t put your finger on it. “Thank you,” he said, running his teeth along his bottom lip as he fixed the bottom of your dress. “You really are the most beautiful bride.”

“And you, James, you beautiful, gorgeous, sexy, god of a man, will make the hottest groom when you get married.”

“Hey!” Randy shouted from the chapel when James opened his mouth. “We doing this or what?”

Oh, yeah.

“Wish me luck!” you said, giggling as you went through the doors and not looking back to see if he followed. “Wow.”

It was as if you stepped into an enchanted forest. The colors of the room were lush and welcoming, a blend of evergreen and sage. Flickering fairy lights and flowers adorned the dark brown pues. Natalia stood in front of Randy and a slender woman you didn’t recognize sat on his side of the chapel. The lights were playing tricks on you again when she looked at you, her eyes a flash of red as she smiled.

That must be Wanda. And I’m never drinking again.

“Ready?” Randy questioned when you got to the end of the aisle.

How romantic.

“Yeah, I guess,” you shrugged, looping your arm with his as you held your bouquet. “Take it away, Natalia.”

“Dearly beloved,” she began.

Truthfully, you didn’t pay much attention to the ceremony as Natalia spoke. You didn’t question that she hadn’t looked at your identification card or confirmed anything else she named off. It probably wasn’t a real wedding ceremony. You weren’t going to be Mrs. Randy Rando.

Not when James is here. Wait, what?

“If there are no objections,” Natalia spoke, glancing over your shoulder. “Speak now or forever hold your peace.”

“I object,” James announced behind you, making you cover your mouth as you giggled. He did say he’d object with good reason. You wondered what he’d come up with.

“On what grounds?” Natalia asked, smirking as if she expected him to interrupt.

“Because she’s my wife,” he answered.

What the hell did he just say?

“What?!” You laughed louder as you spun around, falling against Randy with wide eyes.

"What's wrong?" He asked, barely holding you upright.

James walked down the aisle toward you, a gold shine covering him from head to toe. Pointy ears stuck out through his hair and his eyes had a hypnotic glow as he smiled at you, his teeth sharper than before. He looked like a beautiful nightmare.

Ready to eat you up.

“You can see me as I really am, beautiful, can’t you?” He asked, a melodic lift in his tone that was both sinister and alluring. “Glamour doesn’t work on mates.”

...the fuck?

“M-Mates? We’re mates? What does that even mean?” You asked, looking at Randy for help. His eyes had a glossy glaze to them, like he wasn’t seeing you. Was he in shock? Did he know what was going on? “Dude, snap out of it. Look at his gold skin! And his pointy ears!”

“She can see you,” Natalia said with pride. “Congratulations, Bucky. You’re finally married.”

“Thank you, Natasha,” James smiled, waving a hand at Randy. His nails looked sharp enough to claw through his skin. “Get rid of him. He’s crowding my bride.”

“I’m… I’m way too drunk for this,” you mumbled, your knees giving out. With unnaturaul speed, he made his way to the end of the aisle and caught you.

“Hey! That’s my…” Randy looked confused as he blinked. “Well, she's not my girlfriend, but. Huh?”

“No, she isn’t your girlfriend. She’s my wife. And when you wake up tomorrow, you won’t remember being here,” he said, nodding over to Wanda. “I’d wipe your memory myself, but I’m not letting my mate go.”

“The fuck are you…” he trailed off when Wanda waved her hand, a ball of red light floating in front of his face.

“You sleep now,” she said as the light touched his forehead, not bothering to brace his fall as he collapsed.

“What the hell?” You slurred as Natalia grabbed his ankles to drag him out of the chapel, Wanda on her heel.

“I wouldn’t worry about him since you accepted my hand in marriage,” James said, touching your cheek with a fond smile. “I’m sorry for not courting you longer, but we didn’t exactly have much time, did we?”

“We’re not married,” you argued.

“By Fae law, we are,” he explained as your eyes nearly bulged out of your head. Did he say Fae? “You returned something of value to me that I dropped, which was you saying ‘yes’ to my marriage proposal.”

“No,” you whispered. That couldn’t be true.

“You accepted my token of my affection, which was me pledging myself as your husband. And you gave me a token of affection in return, which was you pledging yourself as my wife.”

The stone. The flower. No. Fucking. Way.

“I don’t understand,” you whimpered as he propped you up in his arms.

“I wanted a bride, so I came here. You’d be surprised how much of my kind has infiltrated this city. We do love our realm, but your people are so easy to manipulate,” he said, gesturing to the room. “Gambling, drinking, strippers, quick weddings. You just throw your hard-earned money away like it’s meaningless. Your currency goes a long way where I’m from.”

“I want to go home,” you said as he tightened his hold on you, even stronger than he looked.

“You didn’t see me at the bar tonight, but I saw you. I knew you were destined for me,” he continued happily as if you didn’t say anything. “And when he suggested marrying you on a whim, I made sure your friends didn’t try to stop you and that your path led here. Don't worry. They're safe. I wouldn't harm them.”

Who is he? What is he?

You shook your head, surprised that you hadn’t gotten sick from how your stomach turned. “I’m not your wife,” you said, trembling when his entire body began to glow.

“You are not just my wife. You are my queen. Even if you hadn’t accepted my token of affection, I wouldn’t have let you marry someone whose name wasn’t worth remembering. You’re mine,” he said through his teeth, angry at you denying him before he took a breath. “My poor bride. A woman with no family and friends who don’t look out for her. You have me now. And you’ll be happy by my side.”

You bit the inside of your cheek, hoping by some miracle a bit of pain would wake you up. But the creature who called himself your husband wasn’t going away. “This is a bad dream,” you whispered, as if lying to yourself would help.

“Oh, my love,” he said in false comfort. “There are no bad dreams in the Enchanted Valley. And this isn’t the Vegas you know where you can simply write this off as a mistake. There is no divorce in my world. Well, your world now.”

“James, please,” you begged as your heart pounded.

“We’re married now, beautiful. Call me Bucky,” he smiled, smothering your protest with a kiss. Heat spread along your lips and flowed through your veins, wrapping around your heart like a vice. It was enough to suffocate you, but fate wasn’t ready to claim your life yet. “Now sober up. We have a honeymoon to start.”

I couldn't tag Bucky as "fae" without giving some of the surprise away! This idea was inspired by @adayka's beautiful art here. Maybe we can revisit this new couple down the road. Love and thanks for reading! ❤️

Masterlist ⚓ Bucky Barnes Masterlist ⚓ Ko-Fi

[thewritetofreespeech]

Night 162: Children

words: 1131 rating: G pairing: Gale x Tav summary: Gale & Tav return from the Reunion for an afternoon of tea and interrogations from his mother.

Ao3 - 1000 Night Series

---------------------------🟣----------------------------------

Summers in Waterdeep were some of the most beautiful and peaceful in Faerûn. Or so Tav had come to realize.

Baldur’s Gate was nice, with its coves & sunlit ports, but it was nothing compared to the cool breeze off the ocean. The smell of salt in the air. And, of course, the spontaneous evening trips to the shoreline to dip ones feet in cold water and warm sand her husband.

Not that Tav didn’t miss her old home of the Gate. She enjoyed visiting and catching up with old friends. Extending the trip for the party to stop in on the way back to catch up with those who had not been able to attend. The couple had actually just gotten back from their vacation a few days ago, and Gale was regaling his mother on his latest find at Sorcerous Sundries.

“Can you believe it mother?? A real, genuine first edition Arcana Archivist Annals. Practically mint condition!”

“I suppose it helps to know the proprietor, and have his life indebted to you.” Morena remarked as she finished pouring the tea and handed Tav the first cup.

“The 10% educators discount doesn’t hurt either.” The two of women chuckle as Gale huffed and flopped back into his mother’s patio chair with a ‘no one understands me’ sulk.

“And how was the rest of your trip, dear? Surely it wasn’t all books.”

“If Gale had his way….” The man in question glared playfully at her. “But no. It was good to see how the city has grown after the rebuild. It’s odd. It’s all brand new in most cases, but strangely the same. Wyll and his father have done a splendid job of reworking the internal structure of the city as well. He’s done well as Grand Duke.”

“Good to have friends in high places. Not just book shops.” The trio laughed at Gale’s quip this time. Not just at him.

“And there’s…..nothing else to report?” Morena asked inquisitively. Which peaked Gale’s interest.

“No. Unless you want to know more about the weather.” He remarked before collecting his tea. “Is there something specific you wanted to know about our trip, mother? It’s not like you to be coy.”

“Very well. I was hoping while you were away for some time, you might return to tell me your pregnant.” Gale choked hard on his tea and floundered with the fine china for a moment. “I guess not….”

“Pregnant!” Gale replied aghast. “Why would you think we’re pregnant!?”

“Not really thought so much as hoped.” Morena clarified. “I’d very much like a grandchild.”

Gale turned to Tav in a manner for some sort of help, but she was too stunned as well by the conversations to offer any. “We…We haven’t been married that long…”

“Your father and I were married about as long as the two of you when you came into the picture.” The older woman noted. “Besides, it’s not just that. The Dekarios family needs an heir. Surely, you’ve thought about the future of our line.”

Gale shifted from flabbergasted to embarrassed. “Well, I uh….”

“Gale!”

“Well, I’ve been a little busy mother. Saving the world from an Elder Brain and trying not to turn into a mind flayer. Now trying not to get my head blown off by pre-teen wizards. Teaching children does not really rally one to the experience.” Tav had to agree there.

Gale sighed and sat back in his chair again. “What brought all this on mother? This is a lot to…spring on a person.”

“Well, I was thinking about it while you were away and thought I’d ask about your future plans. Neither one of us is getting any younger, dear.” There was a lot of secret conversation going on between the Dekarios kin in that moment as Morena sipped her own teacup. “The two of you should really start thinking about it. Children are a blessing.”

“I agree with Mr. Dekarios.” The people at the table turned as Tara floated onto the patio. Landing delicately on a pillow that was clearly always there for her. “Children are loud, destructive, and impatient little creatures. Like imps, but with better table manners. Or at least one hopes.” The Tressym licked her paw as if to make a point. “You shouldn’t have them.”

“So the Dekarios line just ends with Gale?” Morena asked as a counterpoint.

“Certainly. Better to go out with a bang. Oh, apologies. Was that insensitive?”

Gale groaned and stood up from his chair. “If this conversation is going to continue, I’m going to need something stronger than tea to get through it.” He walked back into his childhood home and straight for the bar.

Tav followed after him while Morena & Tara talk. Her presence in the discussions of their futures seeming not to be a requirement at all. “Are you ok?”

“Hm? Oh. Yes. I’m fine. A little taken aback though.” Gale commented as he inspected one of the bottles and sat it back down. “Don’t worry. I’m not rattled enough to be driven to drink. Just needed to get away.”

“I can certainly sympathy.”

“But my mother….Gods! Springing that on us like that. To force our hands to make a such a decision over biscuits. I never realized she was so cunning.”

Tav chuckle at his remark, but then got serious for a second. “You know….we’ve never talked about it….”

Gale turned to her with an inquisitive, then surprised, look. “Oh…I mean do you want…do you want to….”

She shrugged. “I’m not against children.” What seemed like eons ago, the former adventurer thought about a life long in the future where she would be settled with a family, including children. With everything that happened that dream was lost until she could catch her breath. Now that she had, Tav wondered if it might be time to take that dream off the shelf again. “I don’t think right now. But….yes.”

Gale seemed taken aback for a moment, but only a little. He then seemed to think on it, nod, then gave her a smile. “I feel that way too. Not now, of course. But not never.” The two of them reach out to take each other’s hands. “I quite like that it’s just the two of us right now.”

“I do too.” Tav agreed.

“That is not what I meant at all Tara! You are twisting my words!”

“Your words are already twisted with that harpy’s tongue of yours Morena!”

Gale sighed as he looked towards the open door. “Well…almost just the two of us….”

Tav snickered and squeeze his hand a little tighter. “Come on. Let’s break them up before they say something they don’t mean.”

“Tara just implied my mother was a harpy. I think that ship has sailed.”

[rollinouttahere-writes-misc]

Platonic Yandere Gojo and sister reader

Next of Kin

Yandere Gojo Satoru x Sister reader

4.1k words

Summary: Your brother has always been a little overprotective, but you hope that he'll be willing to back off just this once. He doesn't.

Warnings: female presenting reader, toxic family, unhealthy sibling relationship, manipulation, blood, yandere themes, mild violence, loss of consciousness

Family is so complicated. You’re sure this is true for any, but yours surely must be a special case. Sorcerer clans were notoriously messy, and the Gojo clan was no exception.

Frankly, you feel like calling that clan a family was extremely generous on your part. It felt more like a family business than anything. One filled with drama, tensions, and pride. Satoru was the pride and joy of the family. A god amongst men. A divine blessing.

But you? You were the forgotten older sister. Even before his birth and the discovery of his perfect combination of techniques, you were little more than a sidenote. You were the family disappointment. A fluke born without either of the clan’s techniques. Your cursed technique was construction, an infamously inefficient technique that drained its users more than it helped them. While you did have more cursed energy than the average sorcerer, you could still only create slightly more than others with this ability could.

It was a disgrace. You were a disgrace.

While your mother was subjected to a lot of harsh treatment and rumors following your technique coming to light, she had been absolved of all of it by bringing Satoru into the world. You never received the same redemption arc. Which is why you decided to leave the world of sorcery.

There had been some fuss over it. A Gojo doing this was unheard of, and the clan was unhappy at the prospect of being the topic of discussion among the other clans, but you were ultimately able to leave thanks to your brother.

For all of the envy you felt towards him in your youth, he was the only person you saw as being real family. He was a good brother, even if he could be a handful at times… Most of the time. Sure, he loved to annoy you in typical little brother fashion, but you knew you could count on him to always have your back when it mattered; and even when it didn’t.

Tonight, there was a family gathering that you were invited to out of obligation. You know for a fact that no one really cared about you being there besides Satoru. He was the only reason you bothered going to them. You knew that he hated them, so you figured the least you could do is be around for him to talk to.

But you were making an exception this time. It was about time for you to put yourself first for once. He’ll be okay on his own for one night. Or he just won’t go, one of the two.

As you’re standing in front of your bathroom mirror and styling your hair, you hear your front door unlock and someone enter without announcing their presence. Of course, you recognized those footsteps, so you call out from the bathroom, “What are you doing here, ‘toru?”

He goes straight to the kitchen and starts rummaging through the sweets filled cupboard you had just for him. “I’m here to pick you up for the get together tonight. Did you forget about it?”

“I’m not going, did you not get my text?” You swipe up a tube of lipstick and carefully apply it.

“What text? You didn’t text me,” From the way he’s speaking, you can tell that he’s already helped himself to one of the snacks.

You put the cap back onto the lipstick and toss it onto the counter before grabbing your phone. You pull open your recent texts to your brother and, “Ah, dammit. I didn’t hit send.”

Satoru cackles at the revelation, “Haha, dumbass!”

“Shut up, jackass! Don’t act like you’ve never done this!” You turn off the bathroom light and walk out, heading where his voice is coming from, the living room. You sigh and shake your head, “Sorry for not actually letting you know. I wasn’t trying to make you waste your time by coming all the way out here.”

“Don’t worry about it, it’s cool.” Satoru is sprawled out on your couch, popping mochi into his mouth, “Now I have no reason to go, so this works out great for me!”

That’s definitely going to come back to bite you later. Your parents will absolutely call you up to scold you for being a “bad influence” on your brother. Whatever. You’ll cross that bridge when you get to it.

When your brother finally looks you way, you see a brief flash of confusion in his eyes before he covers it back up. He smiles casually as he stands, “So where are we going tonight?”

A tiny pit of irrational guilt settles in your stomach. An instinctive reaction to doing anything not involving your brother after a childhood of being admonished any time you tried to do anything that excluded him. You shake it off and remind yourself that you’re both adults now, it’s okay for you to be independent now.

Despite your internal thoughts, you still can’t help but avert your gaze as you deliver the news, “I actually have a date tonight, so you’re going to have to find a way to entertain yourself.”

“A… date?” There is an immediate shift in the air. “You never told me you were seeing someone.”

“It’s our first date, I didn’t think it was worth bringing up yet.” You hazard a glance at Satoru and find his piercing eyes staring at you over the rim of his sunglasses.

“Who is it?”

“He’s a coworker of mine. We’ve known each other for years.” Satoru rolls his hand, prompting you to go on, which you do, “His name is Kiyoshi. He’s a sweetheart, never has a bad thing to say about anyone.”

Satoru’s foot starts tapping on the floor, and his frown deepens into a full on scowl, “If he’s so nice, why have you never so much as mentioned him to me? Since when did you start keeping secrets? I thought we told each other everything.”

“I wasn’t keeping him a secret, he just… never came up in conversation.” It’s a lame excuse, but it’s all you have.

“Cut the bullshit, I can tell when you’re lying.” 

The sharpness of the statement makes you recoil, and you can feel yourself getting more defensive, “Excuse me? Don’t talk to me like that.”

He quickly closes the gap between you until he’s mere centimeters from you, “Then stop lying to me. What’s the real reason you didn’t tell me about him?”

“It’s just…” Your gaze drops to the floor. Frustration and shame fills you because you always do this. You always cave, and this incident is no different. “You always… interfere. Every time I’ve told you about someone, you always end up interrogating them. And then they stop talking to me after that.”

Satoru scoffs. “What’s the problem? I have to make sure that they’re good for you, it’s not my fault that they never are.” 

“That’s not true, and you know it! You’re too hard on them!”

His expression takes a turn for the patronizing, and he pats your head, “That’s what you think, but I know better. I can see people for who they really are. You choose to only see the best in people, even if you have to make it up.”

You slap his hand away and step back, “I’m not stupid, and I’m not helpless either! I don’t need you hovering over me like this! I’m a sorcerer for crying out loud!” Before your brother can retort, you push past him, “Just forget it. I’m going to be late if I keep arguing with you.”

“Want me to give you a ride?”

“No!” You grab your purse and start slipping on your heels, “I know what you’re trying to do, and it’s not happening. Just go home and leave me alone.”

As soon as your shoes are on, you bolt out the door. Satoru could easily follow you if he wanted to, you know this, but you’re hoping against all odds that he’ll respect you for once and back off. 

—

“Thank you again for agreeing to this, I still can’t believe you said yes.” Kiyoshi tugs nervously on his tie and smiles sheepishly, a light blush on his face, “Y-You look beautiful, by the way. Not that you don’t everyday!”

You can’t help but giggle, “It’s okay, I know what you meant. And I think that you clean up quite nice as well.”

The blush spreads to his ears, and he stammers more, “Th-Thank you!”

How cute. He’s absolutely precious. Definitely not the wolf in sheep’s clothing your brother no doubt thinks he is despite never having even met the man. You decide to lay off and give Kiyoshi a chance to calm down.

The high end restaurant he made a reservation at is gorgeous. Floor to ceiling windows allow you to look down on the lively city of Yokohama. The Cosmo World ferris wheel can be seen in the distance, lighting up the night with its bright and colorful presence.

“The view from there is unbeatable.” Kiyoshi smiles wistfully as he joins you in watching the ferris wheel. “When I was a kid, I used to beg my mom to take me there just so I could go on it. You can see clear to Tokyo on a good day.”

“Really? That’s amazing.” 

Kiyoshi’s eyes widen. “Wait, have you never been on it?”

“No. I was already an adult by the time I moved here, and I thought I might look weird going to an amusement park by myself.” That, and you weren’t exactly an expert on having fun considering your oppressive childhood, but it’s probably not a good idea to trauma dump on a first date.

“Maybe we could go there together next time?” Kiyoshi’s face immediately flushes, and he shrinks back, “N-Not that I’m assuming that you’ll want to go on another date with me!”

“Calm down, Kiyoshi.” You reach out and gently rest your hand on his, “I’d like that. It sounds like fun.”

“Really? Wow, I still can’t believe you even wanted to go on a first date, but now you’re already agreeing to a second one before the first is even over.” Kiyoshi is positively beaming.

“Give yourself some credit. You’re great, anyone would be lucky to go on a date with you.” Your smile only grows more as you see how flustered he is.

Movement out of the corner of your eye catches your attention, and you instinctively look over expecting to see your waiter coming back to deliver the appetizers. You sit up straight as an arrow when you lock eyes with your brother instead.

No. This cannot be happening.

Satoru smirks when he sees you mouthing at him ‘don’t you dare’, but he doesn’t stop. He fully intends to dare. He snags an empty chair from a nearby table, flinging some yen at the people at the table to keep them from making a scene. The chair is dragged over to your table with the back facing it, and he plops down on it with his arms crossed over the top of it.

You kick the chair and hiss at him, “What are you doing? Go away!”

“I’m just checking in on you, is that a crime?”

“No, but what I’m going to do to you if you don’t leave will be!”

“Um… Is everything okay? Do you want me to call someone?” Kiyoshi is openly confused by what is happening in front of him.

Great, just great. This is an absolutely appalling impression to make on a first date. You groan and drag a hand down your face, “No, it’s fine. Kiyoshi, this is my little brother, Satoru. He’s just being a nuisance, as per usual.”

“Oh, this is Satoru?” Kiyoshi smiles politely and extends his hand to Satoru, “I’ve heard so much about you, it’s nice to meet you.”

“Yeah, I know it is.” Satoru waves off his hand instead of shaking it, “So what clan are you from?”

A dumbfounded expression settles on Kiyoshi’s face, “C… Clan?” You frantically shake your head and make a cutting motion over your throat.

Satoru’s eyes shoot wide, “Oh damn, really?” He looks over your date with a scrutinizing gaze, then back at you with raised brows and a wrinkled nose, “Really?”

“Stop it, you’re being rude!”

“I-It’s okay, I’m not offended.” Kiyoshi tries to defuse the situation desperately, but you can tell that he’s uncomfortable. He’s never done well with conflict. 

“Yeah, (Y/N), it’s fine. Relax.” The smarmy grin on his face combined with his words makes you snap.

“Please excuse us.” You stand up sharply and grab your brother by the ear before dragging him away. Satoru points at his eyes, then at Kiyoshi back and forth as he leaves, making you yank on his ear harder. 

You march to the womens’ restroom and throw your brother inside. After ducking down and confirming no one is in the stalls, you lock the door and whip around to confront him, “What the fuck is wrong with you?”

“Nothing. I’m just looking out for you. You’re the one getting all bent out of shape.” Satoru leans against the counter, examining his nails in a frustratingly nonchalant manner. “Family is supposed to look out for each other, and I’m essentially all you got, so excuse the shit out of me if I go the extra mile to make sure you don’t get mixed up with the wrong people.”

“I’m not a child, Satoru! I think I can make my own decisions!” You storm up to him, then retreat immediately to keep yourself from assaulting him. You kick a stall door in anger instead. It doesn’t help.  “Dammit, you always do this! You ruin everything!”

The smirk is completely wiped off his face by that. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

“Oh, don’t play dumb! You know exactly what I mean!” You whip around and glare at him, “You’ve been doing this shit since you were a kid. Every time I tried to hang out with my friends, you tagged along. If I told you no, I got in trouble, so I had to start bringing you with me every time. And guess what? All of my friends stopped hanging out with me because guess what else: a bunch of teenagers don’t want to listen to some little kid ramble about Digimon for three hours! You cost me all of my friends, and now you’re ruining my relationships too! If you don’t outright intimidate them, you make yourself such a fucking annoying presence that they can’t get away from me fast enough! I’m sick of this! I’m sick of you ruining my life!”

A tense silence falls over the room as you catch your breath after your outburst. Getting all of that off your chest felt good, but only for a fleeting moment. Then the weight of your words hit you.

“Ruining your life? That’s what I’m doing?” A bitter resentment drips off his words like a potent venom, “And here I thought I was helping you when I forced the clan to let you leave. I thought that I was being a good brother when I willingly took on everything so that the clan had no reason to ever pester you. I thought that intimidating people out of contacting you every time something came up in the sorcery world was really nice of me, but what the fuck do I know? I’m just some annoying, life ruining, little brother.” 

“Satoru… I didn’t…”

He holds up a hand to silence you, “I don’t want to hear it. You’ve changed. We used to be so close, but now you treat me like I’m some kind of parasite.”

“You’re not… I’m sorry, I went too far. I shouldn’t have said all of that.” You hang your head in shame and hug yourself, “I just… I get so frustrated sometimes. You’re my brother, and I care about you deeply, but I care about other people too. I just want you to understand that. I don’t want to leave you out, I want to be able to bring you around my friends and partners without being afraid of you sabotaging it. Can’t you work with me here and let that happen?”

Satoru doesn’t respond, he just continues staring down at the floor with a dejected look on his face. For such a powerful man, he looks absolutely pathetic right now, and it tugs on your heart strings. That face has always been your weakness.

Silently, you open your arms to him, offering a hug as an olive branch. He looks up when he sees this and just watches you for what feels like a solid minute, but then he cracks and pushes himself off the counter.

The distance between you is closed, and he hugs you as if you’ll vanish if he doesn’t hold on tight enough. Silence lingers in the air a while longer before he softly speaks up again, “You’re all I have. I don’t want to lose you.”

That familiar pit of guilt is back. It’s times like these when rather than the grown man you know he is, all you can see is a little boy clambering for your attention. You know how isolating and taxing his life has been. While you can remember a life before Satoru, Satoru has only ever known a life with you. Few people have ever truly been able to call themselves his friend, and after what happened with Geto… it’s understandable that he’d be scared of losing you, too. 

“I’m not going anywhere, ‘toru. You aren’t going to lose me just because I go on a date with someone.” You pull away a little and give him a crooked smile, “You’re going to have to try a lot harder than that to get rid of me. Someone has to stick around and keep you in line.”

A quiet chuckle escapes him, “Yeah, no one else has the balls to drag me through a restaurant by the ear like that. Not even our parents.”

“That’s why you’re such a spoiled brat. I should have been meaner when you were a child.” You take a chance and jab your fingers into his side, making him yelp and fling himself back.

“You said you wouldn’t do that again!” His arms drop down to guard his sides as he glares at you with betrayal in his eyes. Thanks to his limitless ability, his usually untouched skin was especially sensitive. Only you knew that he was secretly extremely ticklish.

“And you believed me? That’s on you. I’m your older sister, it’s my right to torment you.” All of the previous tension appears to finally have dissipated from the air.

“Ugh, you’re the worst. I can’t believe I ever trusted you.” The “anger” in his voice was completely fake, especially when you took into account the smile tugging at his lips. He stands up straight and fixes his wrinkled shirt, “So can we get out of here now?”

Shit. And here you thought you were making progress with him. You speak evenly, trying your damnedest to not start another fight, “Satoru. I’m still on a date, and I’m going to finish it. If you want to stick around the city until I’m done and hang out with me then, we can do that, but I’m not leaving this date early. Okay?”

Satoru’s face hardens, and you notice his fingers twitch, then tighten into fists. Just as you’re bracing for another outburst, his muscles relax. He sighs deeply and pushes his glasses back up his nose. “Alright, fine. I get it. I’ll go now.”

Just like that, he leaves the restroom without another word. He was definitely upset, but at least he seems to have let you win this round. You slump over in a combination of relief and exhaustion. As happy as you are that this battle is done, you know that the war is far from over. Another bridge that you’ll cross when you get to it. For now, you want to focus on trying to salvage your date, if that’s even possible. After taking a moment to tidy up your appearance and give yourself a little pep talk, you exit the restroom and head back to the table.

Only to find it empty. Your heart falls into your stomach. Kiyoshi left. Made a run for it as soon as the coast was clear. You can’t blame him, you suppose. If one of his siblings had crashed your date to mean mug you from across the table, you would have bailed on him too.

Despite everything, you see that he still had the good will to leave enough money on the table to cover the bill instead of just sticking you with it. He really was a sweetheart. You didn’t deserve him. And now you would never have him. You wouldn’t be surprised if he put in a request to transfer out of the department you both worked in just to avoid any future awkward encounters.

Such is life… It wasn’t meant to be. If one run in with your brother was enough to scare him off, this never would have worked out long term. You dejectedly pick up your purse and exit the restaurant with plans to grab some ice cream on the way home so you can eat your feelings. You’ll keep the failure of this date to yourself. The last thing you want to do is give your brother an excuse to harass your coworker further.

By the time you get home, you’re emotionally drained and eager to get out of your heels. You unlock your door and slip inside, setting your purse aside and kicking off your shoes. You make a beeline for the kitchen to grab a spoon for your frozen treat, but you stop dead in your tracks after turning on the kitchen light. Someone is on your couch. The living room is pitch black, and he’s facing away from you.

“Satoru? Is that you?” Your hand is poised, ready to conjure a weapon if need be.

The intruder’s head turns, allowing you to see the glasses perched on his nose. Relief floods your nervous system, “Dammit, you scared me! Don’t just sit around like some sort of serial killer like that!”

“He wasn’t good for you…”

“W… What?”

“He was going to take you away from me.” Satoru stands up and starts stalking toward you. His voice was trembling, “He was isolating you, making you keep secrets from me. He was trying to drive a wedge between us.”

Not this shit again. An exasperated groan escapes you, and the ice cream is tossed onto the counter, “No he wasn’t! He didn’t even care enough to stick around for the rest of the date, much less do everything you’re accusing him of! I mean really, what-”

Words die on your tongue as soon as Satoru steps into the light. His once baby blue shirt is stained red with what you know is blood before the smell even gets to you.

“What did you do?”

Silence.

“Satoru, what the fuck have you done?!” You rush forward and shove him, only to instantly regret it the instant that warm blood transfers onto your hands. You recoil and feel bile singe at the back of your throat. “You didn’t! Please tell me you didn’t!”

“I did what I had to. You aren’t strong enough to take care of yourself. You need me to watch out for you. To get rid of threats.” His voice is hollow, lacking any hint of humanity. His eyes are worse. There isn’t so much as a semblance of a soul behind them.

“Kiyoshi wasn’t a threat! He was a good man! He has a family! Friends! People who love him!” A sob rips out of you, “Please tell me he’s okay! Please tell me you didn’t kill him!”

“Do you really want me to lie to you?”

Coherent thoughts cease to exist in your mind. Only instincts remain. Terror. Anger. Hate. A dagger manifests in your hands without you even realizing it, and you charge at your kin.

Satoru doesn’t show any reaction as he casually side steps out of the way, hitting your wrist in just the right place to make you drop the weapon. “See? You never would have done this before. He changed you. It’s okay, though. I understand.

“I’ll fix this. Fix you.”

That’s the last thing you hear before he brings his hand down on your neck and everything goes black.

[coolcoolcoolbutwtf]

Danny bloody in raptor form: Rawr?

Small stabby child who started hunting him the moment he was spotted: "I will find you and get you the best care a reptile can get. And then you are coming home with me." >:<

Danny Covered in blood from the clown he just chomped the arm off tilting his head: confused™ rawr?

Some gun wilding guy in a red helmet: "Naw brat she's coming home with me. Look at all that blood it's from the joker fuck getting his arm chew off. We're clearly kindred spirits so she's coming with me. My kin and I."

Stabby child on him com: "father red hood is interfering with my mission and being a nuisance! He is clearly suffering from some head injury and shouldn't be interfering with my mission."

Danny in the background being started at by red hood. Slowly tilting his head the other way Hood copying him and doing the same thing.

On com: "Robin be on guard and keep your eyes on the target. Nightwing and I will arrive shortly."

Red hood somehow holding eye contact with the dinosaur watching it slowly bend down taking the severed arm in its sharp teeth filled mouth. And then slowly backing away from both of the humans and booking it down the street.

Danny internally: "shit shit shit I do not wanna be captured by some weirdos at night dressed in spandex and weird masks. Especially since I just got my clown snack. My snack they can get their own!

Oh, maybe I have been transformed for too long. I'm munching on an arm,a human arm! And I'm thinking about eating it, no ew me.

.

.

.

I'm still going to eat it because it's mine now and my snack."

Danny with the Batfam. Danny is not the raptor though:)

[tgmsunmontue]

Wild fields of forget-me-nots - 6/? WIP

During the training for the mission Jake has an accident which results in him losing 10 years of memories.

A lot has happened in ten years. Bradley broke up with him. DADT was repealed. He got and air-to-air kill and a new callsign.

And he doesn't remember any of it.

PART ONE PART TWO PART THREE PART FOUR PART FIVE

PART SIX

                Bradley stands there, hands shaking a little and the glint of gold on his finger reminds him that Jake is inside and thinks that they’re married. Married. The rest of the world however knows very differently, although Coyote knows now. Knows that he’s still in love with Jake. Has always loved Jake and will likely always love him. Even when he’s allowed himself to stagnate in a pool of his own guilt and hopelessness.

                “Keep your fucking money… just. I’m currently gutting the bathroom and living room. It’s… it’s a bit of a mess. Half of my shit is in storage. Maybe we –”

                “Storage? Like… anything and everything precious?”

                “Yeah. Why? I’ve been scraping the fucking popcorn ceiling…”

                “So your pretend wedding photos and little non-existent knickknacks are all conveniently somewhere which is inconvenient to get to…? Put away safe and sound?”

                Oh, Coyote is a fucking genius.

                “You’re a genius.”

                “Well, one of us has to be and it sure as hell ain’t you. Pulling your ass out of the fucking fire all over the show with this…”

                “For Jake right?”

                “Of course for fucking Jake. Definitely not for you. You’re still on your own when karma comes knocking… because while you can maybe use that as a semi-plausible cover story my money is on Jake figuring shit out. He’s not stupid.”

                “No. I know he’s not. I’ll just… I can get some things… but…” Bradley starts, and his mind is racing. He has things of Jake’s, not ten years’ worth though. Even with the excuse of things being in storage there are going to be things that Jake might expect to see. To have.

                “Well, I have his things with me from my place.”

                “Okay… thanks? But… Why would he have been staying at your place?”

                “You guys had a fight, he’s been staying with me…”

                “What would we fight about?”

                “You being an idiot…” Coyote mutters under his breath, but then his eyes go wide and he stares at him. “Actually. You not flying fast enough for this fucking mission. That… that’s something that Jake was muttering about, because you were playing it too safe. I think you’d actually argue over that.”

                “Yeah. Shit. We did argue over that. You’re right.”

                “I’m sorry. What was that.”

                “You’re right. Don’t push it Machado…”

                “Yeah, well, you need to survive this mission because if you go and fucking die I’m going to be the one left telling him that you’re not only not married, but he’s also not listed as your…” Coyote pauses then, rubs at his temples and blows out a breath. Stares up at the ceiling. “He’s still listed as your fucking next of kin isn’t he,” Coyote states, and his jaw is twitching and Bradley pulls a face, shrugs helplessly. “You never took him off? What the fuck Bradshaw…”

                “Did you think that the rings were somehow a spur of the moment thought?”

                “No! But you didn’t think to maybe save him the trauma of realizing you still loved him after you were dead?” Coyote hisses, and then he’s getting a punch to the arm, hard, clearly Coyote is pissed and he supposes he should be grateful it wasn’t his face. A blackeye would be a bit more difficult to explain to Jake.

                “Well, it wasn’t going to be my problem. Because I’d have been fucking dead. He’s also the only one in my will if you want another excuse to punch me.”

                “Of course he fucking is,” Coyote mutters, but he doesn’t punch him again, even if he maybe deserves it. “Come the fuck on, he’s probably pining for you already… I forgot how in love you two were.”

                “Uh. Were we?”

                Coyote spins back to face him then, eyes narrowed, his finger jabbing into Bradley’s chest.

                “Yes you fucking were, and I thought you loved him as much as he loved you, but then you broke his heart. And now I find out that you never actually stopped loving him? That you caused all of this… this pain and hurt for fucking nothing?” Coyote spits and Bradley ducks his head, guilt welling up inside. “He’s in there, the happiest I’ve seen him in a long time, and it’s because you’re lying to him and are making me do it too…”

                “And I get it. I do. Mostly. Sort of. But there’s a fucking power imbalance. You fucked up and have a second chance… If you don’t come clean to him you’re an even bigger asshole than I thought. And I already thought you were already a pretty massive asshole.”

                “Can it wait until after the mission?”

                “Why the fuck should it wait?”

                “Because… because if he reacts badly then I’m not going to care about surviving the mission,” Bradley says, voice barely above a whisper, jaw clenched tight.

                “Oh you fucking asshole. Fine. Fine. Just… fucking get your ass in there and lie through your teeth I guess.”

…            …            …

                “What were you two talking about?”

                “Bradshaw here was groveling for forgiveness. You don’t remember the fight, but I do. So. Now I’m letting you go, uh, home, uh, because I’ve decided to accept his apology. But he’s on thin fucking ice, aren’t you Bradshaw?”

                “The thinnest…” Bradley agrees and he rubs at his arm and Coyote grins at him, and he supposes it’s meant to look friendly, except he can sense the edge to it.

                “Must have been quite the fight…” Jake says, looking between them, but he’s grinning. “Glad to know you’ve got my back bro.”

                “Always.”

                “The house is kind of a bombsite though. I’ve been… I mean, we’ve been… stripping off the wallpaper and scraping the popcorn ceiling.”

                “Oh my god… maybe I should just stay here. What is done?”

                “The master bedroom and ensuite, the kitchen… and the dining room. Sort of.”

                Oh.

                Oh fuck.

                They’ll be sharing a bedroom.

                A bed.

                There isn’t even a fucking sofa he can crash on with the excuse of Jake needing to rest and heal. It’s actually in storage. Fuck. It’s karma alright, and it’s the size of a carrier instead of a bus.

…            …            …

                Later that afternoon, after he’s rushed around madly, had Coyote occupy Jake, put some things away and pulled other things out he returns to the hospital to collect Jake, Coyote sitting there with him and he can’t believe it’s not even been twenty-four hours. He’s got to get back to the grueling training tomorrow and once again face Mav. He gets a slap to the arm from Coyote, right over the spot where he’d punched him earlier and it stings. He takes it as the warning it’s intended as, guides Jake to his Bronco and then drives them to his place. Their place. Home.

                “So… this is…uh. Us.”

                “Looks different.”

                He tries to see the house through Jake’s eyes. There’s a new roof, and he got all the windows replaced, but he kept the color the same. Changed the front door; something without yellow stained glass in it, but he’s not sure if it actually looks all that different. The inside is definitely where the most changes have happened.

                “It has been ten years…” Bradley says, and the words slip out before he even thinks, because of course it’s been ten years since Jake was here last. But Jake doesn’t know that, clearly thinks Bradley is referencing his memory loss. He unlocks the front door and encourages Jake inside, lets Jake take in the plastic covering the wooden floors.

                “We’ve really only done this much on it?” Jake asks, looking around and clearly judging the lack of progress. He has to bite back that he’s only one person and his deployments have meant periodic times at best. Some days he didn’t even know why he cared about working on it. He had anyway though, forcing himself to continue doing little bit.

                “We’ve had other priorities,” Bradley offers, and he doesn’t realize quite how that sounds until Jake is throwing his head back and laughing briefly, bright and sharp before he’s wincing in pain. It can’t be too bad though, as he reaches for Bradley’s ass and pinches it and he jumps, surprised.

                “I bet we did…”

PART SEVEN

[echoes-of-a-dream]

matthew "matt" murdock | daredevil

back to mcu masterlist

ONE-SHOTS

mini-me

a slice-of-life of mom!reader x dad!matt, in which matt has two new favorite superheros, even if they do attack him, figures out parenting, and can't quite keep his hands off you.

marriage of genuine fradulence

you and matt have been best friends since being raised at st. agnes together, since he beat up a bully for you. now, you work for him at nelson & murdock. but when matt is framed for a crime, and you're the only witness, and there's no way you can give your testimony in a way that both exonerates him and keeps his vigilantism safe... there's one solution anyone can come up with: marital privilege. the only way to keep you from having to testify and matt from prison? marriage.

tatted up, tied down | 18+

you really can't be blamed for what you're doing. if you were in a court of law, you'd plead insanity and win, because really, it's not your fault. it's your husband's, coming home with a new tattoo when he knows what it does to you. but judging by the smirk on his face, he doesn't mind the reaction at all, the smug bastard. which is when you decide to wipe that stupid expression off for good.

ONE-SHOT SERIES

like father, like lover (aka: daddy issues 101) | bruce wayne's daughter reader

if you're being incredibly honest, you have absolutely no idea how you ended up here, in a different world, where the heroes are different and vigilantism is... illegal? and entirely unstructured? the closest this world has to the jla is the avengers, some group that you have a gut feeling is about to go down the toilet, and you've never been so disappointed to be proven right. luckily, there's a brightside, a law firm you've started working with where one of the partners is really cute. and knowing your luck, also a vigilante or something. once again, you've never been so disappointed to be proven right.

BOOKS

for richer or for poorer | wilson fisk's daughter reader

(loosely based on the broadway musical "newsies") in the days of the gilded age, trusts, bosses, and political corruption rule new york city. wilson fisk resides at the top of the pile and doesn't appear that he will come crashing down any time soon. but matt murdock, aka daredevil has had enough of his city being destroyed and the people in it trampled on. so he decides to do something about it. lucky for him, he has an in--someone who is equally as passionate about changing the status quo: wilson fisk's daughter, you.

blind instinct

when you find matt unconscious and bleeding out, your instinct is to take him to the e.r.: good instinct. when they won’t release information on his condition to anyone outside of kin, you lie and say you’re his wife: bad instinct. when matt wakes up from surgery with amnesia, believing when the doctors say you’re married, you play along to keep him safe: you don’t even know how to categorize that one.

the skeletons in my closet, they're resurrecting | wilson fisk's daughter reader

you have been running from your past from as far back as you remember; you want to be something good, something better than how you were raised, want to block out the part of you that's bloodthirsty and ruthless and choke it out of you. but when your father comes knocking, you are unaware of just how much you'll be pulled to the middle of a battle between your closest friends and your closet skeletons.

BOOK SERIES

legally blind ‘verse | mcu!peter parker’s sister reader

(legally blond au, with a sequel and a prequel) reader, the daughter of richard parker and half-sister of peter parker, has always been a little too stubborn for her own good, held on to things a little too tightly. so when her boyfriend tells her he’s done with her, because she isn’t ‘serious’ enough, well… parkers don’t give up. so clearly, the only logical option is to completely deviate from her career plan leading up to this point and go to law school to get him back. and probably fall in love with the cute defense lawyer interning for her professor landman. wait, what?

[writeyouin]

Swerve X Reader – Quiz Night

Description: When Swerve is exploring Earth in his holoform, he finds a movie quiz where he meets you and quickly falls in love. Set in a Transformers Prime AU wherein Swerve went to Earth with the Autobots. LIGHT SMUT BELOW THE CUT.

A/N – Okay, so every fortnight, I go to my local cinema’s movie quiz and I’ve had this scenario in my head since I started going to that. I just wanted to write this for me to try and get back into writing on my days off from teaching.

Also, there is a Steve who wins every week. I am determined to beat him just once.

Warnings – MILD SMUT / NSFW.

Rating – M

Swerve looked around the small café, wringing his hands anxiously. He felt all too aware of his holoform, sure that any minute now, every human in the room would see him for what he really was and that his life would turn into a B-Movie wherein the FBI and CIA would chase him down, shooting everything they could at him until he was captured and tortured for information. And why not?

Something similar had happened to Bumblebee before he met Charlie. Why not Swerve too? Then again, the Autobots had a base on Earth now, and Swerve was confident in the use of his holoform… though this was the first time he’d tried it outside his hab-suite in the base.

Then there was the other thing. If Optimus knew that Swerve was wasting precious energon to maintain his holoform all because he just had to get out and see some humans up close- Well, sufficed to say, the big guy would be pissed.

But it was just one night. Surely, Swerve could justify that. Even Cinderella got one night out. Alright. For tonight he would be Cinder-Fella. Or at least he would be if he could find somewhere to sit.

Honestly, when Swerve jumped into the little cinema on the promenade, he hadn’t expected much, he’d just wanted to see it. Then, he headed upstairs and saw that they were setting up a movie quiz, and he just couldn’t resist entering. It was only a dollar to enter and he’d found the occasional bit of cash on the street, so why the hell not?

Yet, as Swerve looked around the café on the second floor, he realised that he was not a part of this community. There were several friend groups, most of who seemed to be regulars and who were riling up the other teams obviously used to the atmosphere, and there were no empty tables, just a few spare seats.

Gathering up his courage, Swerve loped towards your table, seeing that you were the only person on it.

“Excuse me, do you mind if I sit here? I sorta came here on impulse and well- Y’know,” He gestured around at the lack of available tables.

“Oh, sure,” You said agreeably, putting your phone down. “I’m (Y/N).”

“Swerve,” He introduced himself, feeling less shy at your friendly demeanour.

“Huh, unusual name,” You commented, not unfriendly in tone.

“Oh, y-yeah. Unconventional parents.”

“So, no team, Swerve?” You asked, changing the subject to make him more comfortable.

“No, uh, first time. I didn’t even know there was a quiz till I got here. How about you?”

“I had a teammate but she just texted that she can’t make it. So, I guess I’m on my own tonight unless you wanna team up.”

Swerve stared blankly at you. He couldn’t believe that you were being so nice. Then again, you barely knew him. He was certain once you got to know him, you would find him as annoying as the other Autobots did.

Seeing his hesitation, you held up your hand kin a Scout’s promise, “I promise to share any prizes we win.”

Swerve felt his human obsession taking hold and his energon pump thrummed excitedly, “Yeah, that sounds great.”

When the quiz started, you thought you were good at movie trivia, but Swerve shot you out the water. He was even better than the quiz champion Steve, who generally won every week. The only thing Swerve seemed to struggle with was the years movies came out, though that was because Cybertronians measured time differently, and you did well enough at those, getting most right.

“Wow,” You chuckled at the first break between rounds. “You’re insanely good at this. You’re even beating Steve.”

“Steve?” Swerve asked, worried that he was someone you were interested in, even though he had no reasonable claim to be jealous.

“Yeah, he’s the old guy by the counter. He wins a lot, but he’s a good guy. Always shares his prizes. I think he’s just in it for the social aspect, y’know? A lot of people here are. It’s a nice little community. Plus, this is the only thing we have against the big cinema… There’s no heart in that place.”

“No kidding,” Swerve hummed, fascinated by you and your energy. “So, (Y/N), tell me about yourself.”

You smiled, thinking about how comfortable you felt around Swerve. He seemed like a nice guy. You filled him in on a few details of your day-to-day life. In return, he responded with a few facts about himself, though he was sometimes vague, unable to tell you the truth behind his Cybertronian life.

He told you that he was a scientist in a government base; this wasn’t a massive stretch from the truth since he was a metallurgist, using his skills to help the Autobots against the Decepticons, though he stayed far from any battles, generally being a house-mouse.

You were impressed with his work, feeling somewhat overwhelmed by the high-status job. Then, the next round of the quiz began and the two of you were back on the same wavelength as teammates.

The quiz questions were set in a bingo card formation, giving everyone a fair shot at winning, so despite Swerve’s movie prowess the two of you didn’t win anything until the third round, wherein you were awarded two cinema tickets, free to use for any film.

At the end of the night, standing outside the cinema, you held the tickets out to Swerve, “Here, you can take these. You answered all the hard questions.”

“No, no. I can’t take them. I mean, it was your table and you helped a lot, and you come here all the time and I’m just-” Swerve began nervously babbling and you grinned, finding him cute.

You grabbed his hand, handing him one of the tickets, “Alright, fifty-fifty split. But hey, if you’re not doing anything next week, I was gonna come and see the seven O’clock showing of the new fantasy flick. You could join me for that if you wanted.”

Swerve nodded dumbly, thinking how warm your hands felt atop his.

“Great, it’s a date. See you then.”

You walked away with a bounce in your step. Meanwhile, Swerve stayed there, unable to move while he wondered whether you meant a date as in a real, romantic date or whether it was just a turn of phrase. Either way, for the rest of the week, he was quiet and distracted, unable to get you out of his processor.

When Swerve next snuck away from the base, using his holoform once again to meet you he fell in love. This was not the first time he had fallen in love, since he formed attachments quickly, but it was the hardest he had ever fallen, fascinated as he was by your world and species.

The two of you sat down to the film, and Swerve felt his brain freeze when you rested your head on his shoulder halfway through the film, grabbing his hand and entwining your fingers with his. It took him a few seconds before he stiffly let his cheek rest against your hair which was so, so soft.

“I had a really good time with you tonight,” You said quietly as the two of you filed out into the cool night air.

“Me too,” Swerve replied almost giddily as he drank in the sight of you.

You pulled a slip of paper from your pocket, offering it to Swerve, “Here, call me.”

Swerve unfolded the paper, finding your number with a little heart doodled next to it. He flushed red, becoming even more flustered when you pecked his cheek, lingering for a second before you said goodnight and left him there again.   From there, you and Swerve went on several more dates, though he always avoided dinner dates, being unable to eat, and then things between the two of you got serious.

Swerve knew this was wrong. When you’d asked him back to your place, he should have said no. He should have never started any kind of relationship with you in the first place, but now things were getting serious and beneath all the excitement, he was ashamed of himself. What would you do if you knew who he really was? What he really was? Yet that didn’t stop him from sloppily kissing you, listening to you gasp when his erection pressed against your thigh. He was addicted to you and he was being selfish. Worse, as the intimacy built and you gave yourself to him completely, Swerve couldn’t stop himself from saying, “I love you,” repeating the phrase as he kissed your neck, and again when your body was pressed against his, and again as the two of you cuddled afterwards. He held your body against him during the night, stroking your exposed skin while you slept. He loved you. He loved the idea of a relationship with you. He loved that you had said the words back to him that very night. But ultimately, love wasn’t enough. Yes, he loved you in a million ways, but he couldn’t trust you. He wanted so badly to, but after he had betrayed your trust so thoughtlessly, he was too scared that if you found out what he was all of your love for him would evaporate. In the twilight hours, nearing early morning, Swerve received a communication from Prime, demanding his presence back at the base. Swerve sighed. First and foremost, all Cybertronians had a duty to their faction, and though Swerve wanted to put you first, he had to go back. If he stayed out any longer, he would have to explain his many long absences. He was a scientist and his duty was to the Autobots. He kissed the back of your shoulder, took a minute to find a paper and a pen, then left a note on his pillow stating that he wished he could stay but an emergency at work had come up. Then, glancing longingly at you before leaving, Swerve felt one last flush of shame and disgust at himself. No matter how much he loved you, he was using you to make himself feel better, and he knew he wouldn’t stop. He couldn’t.