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wutbju · 1 year ago

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The BJU Alumni Podcast just published an interview with Acting CEO Alan Benson.

If you're not into listening to it, I'll add a transcript below. TL;DR: Benson says "final chapter" twice, correcting the picture the second time. It's a little ominous.

Transcript, Interview with Acting CEO Alan Benson

July 27, 2023

00:00:00 Host, “David”

What does the term acting CEO mean? Who is Alan Benson and what can students expect to experience at Bob Jones University these days?

This episode of the BJU Alumni Podcast has all these answers and more. As the 100th graduating class of BJU begins the fall semester of their first year. Acting CEO Doctor Alan Benson shares how the mission continues through the commitment and faithfulness of the many faces of BJU.

00:00:33 Host, “David”

Welcome to the BJU Alumni Podcast, presented by Alumni Relations. My name is David, and I am honored and excited to have a very special guest with us today, the acting CEO of BJU, Dr. Alan Benson, Alan, thank you so much for being here.

00:00:46 Host, “David”

This is an honor.

00:00:47 Alan Benson

It’s a joy for me to be here. Thanks for having me.

00:00:50 Host, “David”

So just first off, who is Alan Benson?

00:00:53 Host, “David”

Find out a little bit more about you.

00:00:54 Alan Benson

First of all, I I want people to know I’m a Christian. I deeply love Jesus. I fail him every day, but I’m pursuing him as much as I can.

I prize my time in the Word. I prize my time and prayer, and I’m thankful that though I’ve got a long way to go, I can see Jesus changing me.

So first of all, I’m I’m I’m a Christian.

Secondly, I, I’m a husband. We just celebrated 30 years of marriage. My wife Michelle and I, we still joke that that we’re not sure when our marriage will begin because we’re still enjoying the honeymoon.

And thirdly, then I am a dad, and God blessed us with four children, four daughters. And and they’re a delight to meet.

Next, I am Papa. God has blessed us with three grandchildren and July 31st, my daughter will adopt a little boy and that’ll be #4.

Next, I would say then I’m, I’m a pastor. God called me to pastor during my days in undergrad here. I’ve spent 25 years of my life pursuing preparation for that. And, and then pastoring churches in every way, shape or form. I’ve been a youth pastor and an assistant pastor. I’ve been a, for a time, a Christian School administrator.

I’ve been a church planter.

I’ve been a senior pastor in several places. And through that whole process, what I realized is God used churches to help make me a pastor rather than the opposite.

And so and God led me here to BJ, I very much came with a heart that was focused on church and secondly with a a pastor’s heart.

00:02:37 Host, “David”

I do want to ask before we go on, how did you end up at BJU here in undergrad and, and what … How did the Lord lead you to Bob Jones?

00:02:45 Alan Benson

So kind of a a big story and and I won’t run through all the gory details, but I’m British. I was born in Northern Ireland to a family that was very much on the Protestant side of of things.

My mom grew up on a farm. It’s my dad grew up and was a laborer, worked in quarries and that sort of thing.

But at some point in that, that journey through a newspaper article, he got intrigued by a job possibility across the ocean in the New World: Nova Scotia, Canada. The end result of that was very, very quickly in fact.

On that trip, if he wanted the job, he needed to take it now, and so he took the job and basically … said to my mom, “This is a new world. I’m taking a new job. We’re buying a house. Bring the kids.” The way God did that was remarkable.

I mentioned we were Protestant. My dad without any knowledge because of how he took the job, moved to a town that was 98% Catholic.

So we found ourselves in a very, very different world than what we were used to. But as God would have it, because the town was so Catholic, missionary church planter came to that town to spread the gospel and plant a church.

Thinking he was coming to reach Catholic people and the Lord led him to the Benson family. In about a seven-month span, starting with my mother, ending with my father, mom and dad, and all five children trusted Christ as our Aavior, and we got baptized the same day in a river.

That missionary church planner was from Canada but had come to Bob Jones University as a result of that, we got connected with mission teams that would come every summer.

And so I was that 13-year-old kid that went and went to camp and eventually I was a 17-year-old kid that was more a part of the teams when they came than just one of the kids. And so I would spend time with them as they went to other churches and did VBSs and that sort of thing.

And in the midst of my spiritual journey that we knew of, there was only one Christian School in Nova Scotia. I went there for a youth activity kind of thing, and there were 100 Christian young people there. I didn’t know there were that many.

And so I came home, told my parents, “there’s, there’s this many Christian young people and there’s a Christian School and I want to go!”

Through the influence of my mom and then one of the teachers in that Christian School, I reluctantly, but almost arrogantly said, “OK, I’ll apply to Bob Jones. And if I get in, I’ll go.”

And God worked it out.

I applied and in a very short period of time with visas and everything, I was accepted.

And literally I packed my bags, I put them on a Bob Jones University School bus, and I rode a school bus from Nova Scotia to Bob Jones University.

And I remember I stayed back campus with a faculty member that had been in Nova Scotia, and I went out, got out and walked around the campus.

And think, “where am I and how did I get here?”

But honestly, once school started my mindset as I saw what was going on in this campus and the number of Christians, and my mind set on Bob Jones from the very beginning was, “tell me what I have to do to stay here.”

00:05:55 Host, “David”

I want to know as we move towards looking towards the future how the Lord did end up bringing you back.

00:06:02 Alan Benson

I have been in pastoral ministry and, as the Lord would have it, senior pastoring the three churches I pastored, all had the dynamic of having a Christian School that was similar in size to the church or bigger than the church.

And so I was very involved in in Christian School, in my ministries.

One, I had kids. So they were in the school, so I was always involved in in activities. I coached soccer. I loved kind of everything about it.

When we were presented with the opportunity of the new Vice President position for Student Development here, someone actually said, “there’s this ongoing process. There’s a description we’d love for you to to look at it.”

And so we did. My wife and I sat looking at it. And I’m thinking, “Man, this is really important. Who could I recommend?”

And my wife said to me, she said, “Alan, this might be what God’s doing in your life.” She said, “You know you have been so burdened about young people and their involvement in church, and you’ve worked really hard at that, philosophically. Could it be that God might be moving you to the other side of the desk, so that in the four years that they’re in college you actually could be having that conversation with them so they don’t struggle so much?”

And that is actually what God used to to bring me to Bob Jones University – was really a heart to see young people internalize the importance of the rest of their life being spent in the local church.

I ended up writing my doctoral dissertation on helping Gen Z students at a Christian university choose church. And helping build out the the church program and even shaping the student experience here around their involvement in their local church.

Honestly, it has been a five-year journey of drinking from a fire hose about learning about Higher Ed.

It, it’s been a joy filled one for me.

It’s, it’s remarkable to me what actually goes into running a university and and the dynamics of of making it work.

And so, I’ve learned all of that since I’ve been here.

00:08:02 Host, “David”

Well, as you talk about learning what it takes to run a university, can you define your role for us?

Have you joined Greenville Classic players? You know, what does that acting word mean in front of CEO? Can you help us understand that?

00:08:14 Alan Benson

What’s interesting is the process of university leadership has a couple of dynamics that speak into it.

One of them is the fact that we are regionally accredited, and so part of the dynamic of being regionally accredited is you cannot have a gap in executive leadership. There has to be somebody all the time. That is the, the CEO.

And interestingly enough, that is even if you know the person that is in that chair is going to be incapacitated for any amount of time. So technically, if the president were to go and be in surgery, there’s supposed to be somebody designated as the acting CEO for the time that he’s incapacitated.

And so, the idea is of acting is they’re going to act in the stead of the office of President while the President is unable to do so.

And actually, that is similar to the President of the United States, that there’s a similar clause.

And so the language required by our accreditor is that in the absence of a President, you have to have an acting CEO.

So whenever we were faced with our president’s resignation, the board acting upon that clause, and they kept the term from accreditation acting CEO. But it it is filling on an interim basis the Office of of President.

And so as I understand it, the duties of the office of President are my duties as I fill this role, and it is for the duration of the time period while the Board is going to carry out a search and ultimately appoint the the next president.

So I think the plan is that that be somewhere up until the full school year that that that could potentially go through graduation of of next year.

But that’s going to be as the Lord leads in in timing so.

00:10:13 Host, “David”

Very exciting.

Thank you for the explanation. That helps me and I’m going to go back after this and figure out where I am in the line of succession if if you get sick. So so I can be prepared.

But so, as we look towards this coming school year and you know, with the 100th year also on the horizon, what what excites you the most about the future?

00:10:31 Alan Benson

I think the university today, as we head into the, if you will, the final chapter leading up to our 100th anniversary, and I say that because we kind of function in four-year cycles, classes come in and and that’s how we think.

And so, the incoming class is actually the 100th graduating class.

And I think that we are really, really well positioned to, better than we ever have, deliver on the mission of equipping, through the vehicle of education, a generation to make a difference for Christ.

The development of the, of the total student experience, it is done in the atmosphere of mentoring that we are are driving deep into into the fabric of who we are. It is shaping our discipleship approach.

So we built toward, and now I think have functioning really well, discipleship groups that that every student is in that meet both daytime during the week as well as night time in our residence halls.

The development of a discipleship theme in Chapel so that that, there’s a clear plan for how we all grow together. And then peer-to-peer involvement through disciple making in the residence halls. The development of that, even in in approach to team projects in our, in our educational atmosphere.

It’s built life on life. And I think all of those things have hit a chapter where we’re heading into the last four years of our hundred year, 100th anniversary.

That’s all matured, and I think we’re ready to say now here it is. This is the template: Let’s do all of those things, layer upon layer with this class for four years. And I’m really excited to see what the what the return in a sense on investment is in shaping a Bob Jones graduate with all of that working.

And so that that’s what excites me most.

00:12:24 Host, “David”

What qualities you mentioned? You know things we’ve done in the past, but what specific qualities or or pieces of the BJU experience are you committed and is your team committed to maintaining as we move into like you said this chapter of celebrating 100 years?

00:12:40 Alan Benson

First of all, we’re committed to being a Christian university, and I mean that in all of its senses.

We are not making any apology for the fact that education actually does involve indoctrination.

There’s been periods of time where people wanted to push back against that, or in our day, almost respond to it as though that that’s what the secularists do. They’re trying to indoctrinate.

And reality is: education—if it’s actually going to shape people—indoctrinates.

And, and we are a people of doctrine, and so we ought to be passionate about delivering that doctrine. And we want to be unapologetically Christian. And that doesn’t just mean that we do education and then do Chapel, or we do education and require you to go to church.

We are committed to to continue, even to explore authentically, fully, completely being Christian.

We’re a university, and that means that we are actually committed to to liberal arts higher ed. We want to see the whole person shaped. We’re image bearers. And and being image bearers means that that God made us with incredible dynamic.

And so rather than being just focused on giving you a a a degree in a particular field, we’re committed to actually being a liberal arts university. That the whole person will grow while they’re here.

And thus, we have poured incredible energy into rightly identifying what is the BJU core and are committed to the fact that the most important part of your education is actually the core.

And then at the core of the core, if you will, is a Bible core that that we have intentionally now shaped so that every student that comes to Bob Jones University will graduate with a minor in biblical worldview that teaches them how to take truth, correlate it correctly, and then having means by which they can give an answer to every man that asks for the hope that lies within them.

And take not just having learned biblical thinking here, but how to continue to think biblically as they go into life.

And so, we’re committed to being a a Christian university. We’re committed then to do that in a in a character-shaping environment. And that’s something that’s always been true of Bob Jones exploring on the the student experience side of what does it look like to shape and develop character.

So, we’re a place of expectations and delivering on those expectations in a way that brings about maturity that students, as they come here are in the final phase of of life shaping as they move from child to adult.

There is a transition that happens at this juncture 18, whatever the age is. But but it’s it’s captured in these four years of the college experience. And we want to see them move completely from that phase of childhood that that looks like obey to a phase of adulthood and maturity that looks like honor.

And the difference there is being more controlled by internal controls than external controls and so a character development that is focused on internalization.

Secondly, that that we do that in in a place where they are getting an excellent education.

We’re, we’re committed to being able to respond rightly to external evaluations. And so things like accreditation are incredibly important to us, not just because of somebody, somewhere, wants an external measure. We want it. We want someone to help us understand. Rather than just comparing ourselves among ourselves that we actually are doing this in an excellent way for the glory of God and so delivering to them without apology an an excellent education.

But then thirdly, this is a relational time. And so we’re committed to to doing that in a student experience that’s enjoyable in an atmosphere where they can explore relationships and create university type activities that both help them de-stress as well as help them develop relationships.

Those are things that that, as I talked about, this all coming to fruition as we head into this final chapter of 100 years that that we’re we’re passionate about.

And so, we’re talking about a comprehensive whole life curriculum and focusing on everything that they’re doing during these days as life-shaping, so that they’re prepared for a life of service for Christ, primarily in his church. And so we’re committed to all of that continuing on because it’s it’s part of who we believe we are.

00:17:22 Host, “David”

We just came through this period. There was an announcement about accreditation. Can you talk a little bit more about what the result of that announcement was, what our verdict was from? The examination period that we went through and then maybe what’s encouraging to you from that, that news?

00:17:37 Alan Benson

Accreditation is is a remarkable, broad, complex process that literally you you tell your story.

They ask you to tell who you are and what you’re doing. And then accreditation is actually a process of coming back to verify that you’re you’re doing what you said.

And in light of that, they come with all kinds of measures.

They look at you fiscally financially, they, they, they look at you with regard to educational standards and how you’re you’re delivering that they look at at debt ratios.

They look at insurance. They they look at HR policies. They they kind of they kind of dig through every facet.

And so, when you first get accredited it, it is for five years and so you you get accredited and you kind of have five years.

And and on that front you, you build a process of thinking about the institution in light of accreditation.

And then they come back and they do what is called reaffirmation. You tell us who you are and in five years, you kind of figure out what that actually should look like. And then you tell us who you are again. And you write another really complex report. You send it to them and they come back and evaluate you. And at reaffirmation it actually is for 10 years.

And so there’s a sense in which you know more, they know more and because of that it it’s a more thorough, arduous process.

So when you complete that and they say, “you are reaffirmed for 10 years,” it is an amazing standard.

And we just went through that process last year and and were reaffirmed for for 10 years by our accreditors. It is one an incredible, joyful thing for us to have it done. But secondly, I think it speaks so incredibly well of of the people that work here and the job that they do. Our people actually function at that level and and all that they’re doing.

And so there’s a sense in which students never think joyfully about an exam. But if they take an exam, they do really well, they’re really joyful about it, and sometimes they don’t even realize that it’s because it actually is, indicating that you did learn.

And for us, there’s real joy in reaffirmation because it just says we are actually doing what we say we’re supposed to do and and we are who we say we are.

I, I want to blow the trumpet. Not just because it’s an institutional value that we accept we accomplish this. But because it says so much about the incredible people that that work here, and it is a remarkable milestone.

00:20:11 Host, “David”

What inspires you the most when you consider the scope of the BJU family, faculty, staff, current students, alumni, parents of students who are part of that, that family, donors, friends?

00:20:24 Alan Benson

It is the work of God.

And I say that in this sense, how in the world do you bring such a broad spectrum, diverse group of people, students from over 40 countries, from every state, that has been reflected over 100 years now in our graduates who are alumni?

Our faculty, are are remarkably gifted, but come from every dynamic. People that grew up in the city, people that are from foreign countries, people that grew up in country settings and and have gotten amazing equipping.

How do you bring all of that together with any kind of unity and synergy?

To me, only God can do that. Only God can do that.

And as I look around Bob Jones University, as I turn to our our incoming students, our our incoming class, our existing students, that they will be added to, our people…. You know, there’s 1100, between our multiple organizations, employees that work here with all kinds of gifts and all kinds of roles and positions, to our alumni—40,000 I believe living alumni scattered literally around the globe—and yet all of them, in a sense, feel a unique sense of connectivity to Bob Jones University when they come here or they hear a piece of news.

And so what excites me is somehow God is doing that, and when I look at all of that, it makes me have resonating in my heart, He’s not done with us yet. God’s given us 100-year runway to launch into whatever he has next for us for as ever, long as he has next for us. When I see God doing it through the people and the stories of of grace, it thrills my heart at what God has done, and then what through that God plans to do.

00:22:27 Host, “David”

It must give you a brief sense of relief when you’re looking at your workload, and then you stop and say the Lord is actually in this.

00:22:36 Alan Benson

Amen, amen, that that’s exactly right. How do I approach my my schedule and the things that have to get done? Really two ways:

The 1st is mission. Being in the role of acting CEO, it is by design temporary. What can I do to best help during this phase? And the best thing I can do is mission clarity. I’m going to work on mission and the decisions that have to be made and in between that I want to go focus on people.

I see my role as one of trying to find out what people need and getting it for them. And so, if you will, my job is to deliver fuel and that’s what I mean by people. What are you doing here, how could it? How can I help you do it better? And maybe you don’t have the time or the access to go get the resources you need, but maybe that’s what God’s called me to do.

And so clarify mission—make it a drum beat as much as I can—and then focus on the people that are actually carrying it out to get them what they need to do it best.

Bob Jones is incredibly blessed with with many faces, many voices, and, and I’m encouraged during this phase of leadership for me to actually highlight that.

And so I’ll just mention several of of the people that are like that.

The, the first layer to me that is is remarkable is, is our Deans, the Deans of our schools. And what’s remarkable about them is I watch them meet in things like the Deans’ Council. They actually are thinking about collaboration. “Wow, we we actually could overlap in this way.”

And I I think again in light of our 100th anniversary, I I think that is an incredible opportunity for us.

I think there’s a lot of upside growth in actually unleashing the the people that are making this mission happen.

You’ve got people focused on the first-year experience. Why? Because it is the, if you will, doorstep up to having a four-year experience. And so they encounter students coming in with a mindset that that wants to understand their fears as well as their desires.

And so they approach them by helping them, first of all, get a sense of belonging that leads them to a sense of becoming: “Now that I belong here, what am I supposed to be and how do I get there?”

And my experience right now is that those many faces and many voices are actually all working hard towards synergy and are strengthening us.

00:25:04 Host, “David”

Well, thank you so much for taking the time to talk with us. I know you’re busy and I was really grateful to just get to know you better hear your heart.

And then, it is exciting to think about what God has in store. I love that idea of the runway as we prepare to celebrate what he’s done, we can still be building on looking at what he’s going to do in the future.

00:25:24 Alan Benson

Thanks so much for having me and stirring my heart through the conversation. You got me excited.

00:25:33 Host, “David”

Thank you for joining us today on the BJU Alumni Podcast presented by the Alumni Relations department at Bob Jones University. Subscribe to our feed for more interviews with the many faces of BJU.

#Bob Jones University #Alan Benson #Acting CEO #SACSCOC #Accreditation #Podcast #BJU Alumni Association #Final Chapter #The End if Near #Everything is just great!

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purplebyul · 5 years ago

Link

here is the orignal music they wanted to put on the paint scene in s3 ! (the lyrics i’m-)

#skamfr #skam france #skam fr #eliottxlucas #lucasxeliott #elu #thank you papa david for answering me this quickly #thank you maxence for sharing this

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believingispowerfulmagic · 3 years ago

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“We All Will Be Together” Chapter 6: Happy Father’s Day

"Alright, class, please settle down," Miss French said, trying to get the attention of her second graders. It was nearing the end of the day and there was a warm breeze blowing through the nearest window, beckoning them all outside. Even Henry was having trouble focusing – all he wanted to do was go outside and play.

But school was still not yet over and he was stuck inside with everyone else.

"Class, I need your attention," Miss French repeated. "Or else we'll never make our Father's Day cards."

Henry sat up straighter, excitement filling him. This was the first year he had a father to make a card for – usually he ended up making a card for his Uncle David instead – and he looked forward to making something for Robin, his dad. He tried not to bounce in his seat as Miss French told each row to go get their art boxes. When his was called, he grabbed his and returned to his seat as quickly as possible so they could get started on the cards as soon as possible.

She placed several piles of construction paper – sorted by color – onto the bookcase under the blackboard. Turning back to the class, she smiled. "I want you to figure out which animal you want to put on your card and then when I call your row, you can come up and take the colors you need."

Biting his lip, Henry debated what he wanted to make. He considered a horse but that seemed more appropriate for his mother. And he knew that Roland would make monkeys – he loved them. Dad seemed to like all animals so that didn't help him make a choice either. As Miss French started to call up row one, Henry panicked as he tried to make his decision.

Dog? Cat? Horse? Lion? Dragon?

What was he going to pick?

"Row four," Miss French said, moving to stand in front of Henry's row. "Your turn."

Henry waited until everyone else filed past him before he headed up to the front. Miss French frowned, placing her hand on his shoulder. "Henry, is something wrong?" she asked.

"I don't know what animal to choose," he said. "Nothing I've thought of feels right."

"Okay," she replied kindly. "Well, what's your dad's favorite animal?"

Henry panicked, his eyes widening. "I don't know."

"Okay, okay," she repeated, soothing him. "Well, do you have a favorite movie to watch with him? Maybe something with animals?"

"Yes," Henry answered, relief flooding through him as he thought of the past couple weeks. "We've been watching Robin Hood together."

Miss French smiled. "I think you're getting an idea now, aren't you?"

He nodded. "Thank you, Miss French."

"You're welcome," she said. "Now go get your paper so I can call up the next row, okay?"

"Yes, Miss French." He quickly picked up some orange, white and green construction paper. Clutching them tightly, he returned to his chair as the next row went up to grab their supplies.

Once the last row – Roland's row – went and got their supplies, Miss French stood in front of the classroom again. "Alright, you're now going to draw the animals you chose – one big and one little. Does anyone need me to draw your animal on the board for you to copy? If so, please raise your hand."

Henry raised his hand along with a few others. Miss French asked the other children for their animal, smiling when she came to Henry. "And you?"

"A fox," he said proudly. She nodded, writing it down in her list before moving on. Excitement filled Henry – he was going to make the best fox dad and son ever.

***** ***** ***** ***** ***** ***** ***** ***** ***** ***** ***** ***** ***** ***** *****

"How does your card look, Henry?" Roland asked, falling into step with his brother as they left the classroom. "Can I see it?"

Henry shook his head. "Not now. I'll show it to you when we get home."

"Alright," Roland replied, shrugging. "I can show you mine too. I'm really proud of it. Do you know what I drew?"

"Monkeys," Henry said, smiling. "You love them."

Roland grinned as they exited the school building together. "I do. And I like that you chose foxes. Papa is going to love it."

Happiness surged through Henry – Roland certainly knew their father better than him so he trusted his brother's judgment. Grinning, he said: "Good. I want our first Father's Day to be perfect."

"Papa's not going to care about that," Roland replied, frowning. "All he wants is to make sure we have fun. If we do, then he's happy."

"And if we don't?" Henry asked, worried that something would go wrong and ruin the day for his father.

Roland shrugged. "I think Papa's happy just being with me. And now he'll be happy with me and you."

"I guess," Henry replied, still wanting to have an amazing Father's Day. "It's just…I've never really had a father to celebrate with before. Uncle David and Uncle Archie just aren't the same."

"Well, I can help you celebrate," Roland told him with a smile. "We'll have a great Father's Day!"

"What are you two conspiring about now?"

They looked up to find Dad standing over them, smiling. Henry blinked once before throwing himself at his father. "Dad!"

"Hello, my boy," Dad replied, hugging him tightly. He then held out his other arm. "I've got room for you too, Roland."

Roland then hugged him as well. "Hi, Papa!"

"Hello," he repeated. "Did you two have a good day at school?"

They nodded and he smiled. "Wonderful! So, why don't we head home and let you get out of those uniforms? You must be hot."

Both boys cheered and Dad led them toward the car. Roland looked up at him. "I didn't know you were coming to pick us up, Papa."

"It was a last-minute decision," he replied. "Things were slow at the store and your Uncle John assured me that he had everything under control. So I told your mother I would pick you up and spend the afternoon with you."

"I like that," Henry said, giving his father's hand a squeeze.

Dad squeezed his hand back before also squeezing Roland's hand. "So, what do you two want to do?"

"Can we go to the park?" Roland asked, bouncing as they approached Robin's familiar truck.

"I think the park sounds fun," Dad agreed, looking down at Henry. "Do you want to go to the park?"

Henry perked up at the suggestion, nodding. "Can we practice baseball?"

"Of course we can," Dad replied, helping them into the backseat of his truck. "Any other requests?"

Roland grinned. "Ice cream?"

"Please?" Henry added, also eager for the sweet treat. Especially on such a warm day.

Laughing, Dad nodded. "Okay. We'll go have a nice game in the park and then we'll get some ice cream. Hopefully your mother doesn't kill me for ruining your dinners."

They chuckled as he closed the door. Henry settled into his seat as he buckled up and Roland did the same. "We're going to have a lot of fun today," Roland said.

"I know," Henry replied, grinning. "This is going to be the best weekend ever!"

"That's the plan," Dad said, getting into the driver's seat. He buckled himself up before looking back, smiling at them. "Here we go!"

Both cheered as he turned on the car and then pulled away from the school, heading back to the house so they could change and grab their gear. And then they would climb back into the truck, head to the park and have some fun before getting ice cream.

TGIF, indeed.

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#once upon a time #outlaw queen #oq au #oq ff #the christmas wish #we all will be together

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imaginesandinserts · 4 years ago

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Irreverent Pt. 10 - Father Dearest

Title: Irreverent Pt. 10 - Father Dearest Pairing: Aaron Hotchner x Reader Rating: R Words: 2841

Content Warnings: Mentions of suicide

Irreverent Series Masterlist

"That's your dad?"

You were still reeling in shock as you watched Strauss and your father climb up the stairs towards the offices. Spencer, Emily, and Derek were all watching you. You think the question had come from Spencer but with the ringing in your ears, you couldn't be positive.

What was he doing here? Why was he with Strauss? This was supposed to be your place. Away from them. Away from him. So how on earth was he there, chatting with Strauss as if they were old friends. You must not have schooled your face too well, because Emily was asking you if you were okay. Her voice was lost in the din as you watched Strauss knock on Hotch's door and then draw both him and Rossi into the room with your father.

"Hey, hey, Y/N, look at me!" It was Emily again, trying to get your attention. You blinked and tried to focus on her - her voice - hoping it would ground you. She was holding you by your shoulders and she looked really worried. Both Derek and Spencer were right beside her looking equally bewildered by your reaction.

You had to get in there. You had to know why he was here. If he was here it was for nothing good, of that you were absolutely certain. You tried to give Emily a reassuring smile but it might've just been a grimace at best, because she didn't look reassured in the least. It's okay. You'd explain later. Right now you had to get to Hotch's office before he…before he did or said something that was...something. You weren't sure what. But you knew you had to stop him.

Before you knew it, your legs had carried you up the stairs, leaving your team to look at you worriedly. They'd had no choice but to let you go or risk causing a scene.

You knocked quickly but didn't wait for an answer as you normally would, but simply entered Hotch's office. You were being rude. You'd apologize later for your behavior. But not now. Show no weakness. This was your home, your office, your team.

"Agent L/N, may we help you?" Strauss asked, looking annoyed by your sudden interruption. It was against protocol and in her eyes it was insubordination - the worst of the deadly sins as far as she was concerned. Hotch and Rossi both looked at you curiously. It seemed you'd interrupted them in the middle of introductions though of course Rossi recognized your father. Maybe Hotch did too, who knew.

"I'm sorry, Chief Strauss. Please excuse me, I know I've overstepped. Why are you here?" The last part was directed at your father whose schooled poker face revealed nothing. No surprise at your intrusion. He looked at you with the same look he used to give you when you'd asked a particularly stupid question at the dinner table. The look designed to make you feel small and guilty.

"Agent L/N." It was Strauss again. Your father had chosen to ignore your question it seemed. "This is highly irregular, for you to interrupt a closed door meeting that you were not invited to."

"it's alright Erin. My daughter and I haven't seen one another in some time. Curiosity was a skill I ingrained in all my children. She took to it a little too well it seems," he laughed a bit disingenuously, gesturing to the surroundings. He was trying to defuse the situation but you couldn't be sure why yet.

"Actually Erin," he continued, "since you've assured me that this team is the right team for the job, maybe it would be alright if Y/N joined us?" He was asking, but he wasn't really. He had a way of doing that. "Please everyone, sit. Let's not all be so stiff. Darling, come sit by Papa." He motioned you over to him as he made himself comfortable on Hotch's couch. For some reason unknown to you, you followed and sat down on the cushion next to his, leaning just slightly away from him. You tried to revert your face back to neutral but there was no way Hotch and Rossi couldn't sense your complete unease.

Hotch's guard had already been up when Strauss had strolled into his office with the man, whom he now knew to be your father. Now, watching how you held yourself around him and seemed so electrifyingly confrontational, had every single one of his senses on red alert. He met Rossi's eye and knew that the older agent had caught on to the same - not that it was too hard to do, as you had barged in and demanded to know what the man was doing, daring to step foot in Quantico.

"As we were about to say," Strauss continued, looking thoroughly perturbed by your interruption. "Mr. L/N was contacted recently in his capacity as liaison between us and the Eastern Europeans, with some very disturbing news which he felt it imperative to share with us. The Director has already spoken with me about this, but Mr. L/N was contacted by a concerned citizen who has identified the presence of a serial killer who seems to be hunting American citizens up and down the East Coast for the past several decades."

"What about his role makes him the best contact regarding a tip about serial killers." You could've kissed Hotch for seeing through the bullshit. That's what it was. Complete and utter bullshit. Bureaucratic bullshit that you had been trained to see your entire life. Your father leaned closer and put his arm nearest you at the back of the couch, and then moved it down to be around your shoulders. You just wanted to fling yourself across the room and stand next to Hotch. Behind Hotch. Anywhere but seated near this man.

"I am a trusted figure in these communities. Often these people do not trust law enforcement to be on their side." He was trying to explain his job, his duty as he called it. The entire thing was revolting.

"So what do you have for us, then?" It was Rossi who asked this time, fixing your father with a firm look.

"Oh David, it has been such a long time since we last saw one another. Your directness. Always something I've admired." Ugh. He was trying to be charming. Rossi had to see through it.

Strauss chose to be the one to take Rossi's question. "Mr. L/N has compiled a lot of information on this case. I have already passed it along to both Agents Garcia and Jareau and the BAU will be prioritizing this over any other case." Her tone left little room for argument and you knew you were already on thin ice due to your earlier interruption.

Hotch was fuming on the inside. Strauss was dictating which cases his team did for some political agenda. And your father was at the middle of it for some bizarre reason. You seemed frightened. That was a sobering thought for him. He made sure his face revealed nothing as he simply nodded, knowing he would rant to Rossi about this as soon as Strauss was out of earshot.

The wheels in your head were spinning trying to make sense of it. Strauss wanted the team to take a case to hunt down a serial killer that your father had identified. Why? Who was this man? Why was your father trying to get him caught?

"Darling, why don't we let Agents Hotchner and David here get started and you can join me for dinner?" He was asking you to share a meal with him. Un-fucking-believable.

"Oh Papa, you know I would love to. But as you and Chief Strauss have emphasized, this case is of the utmost importance. I'm sure the whole team will be brought in and we will probably have to fly out tonight." You looked to Hotch for confirmation and he nodded.

"Yes, sir. Agent L/N is correct. We'll be bringing in the whole team and starting right away." Oh that perfect, smart, beautiful man. He was about to get free babysitting for Jack for life.

"Well, in that case, I suppose I'll leave you to it. Chief Strauss, thank you. Agents. Y/N, escort your Papa back to the elevators at the very least and perhaps the two of us can plan something for when you've wrapped up this little nuisance." You wanted to refuse but of course you couldn't. You faked a smile, and as he shook everyone's hands and exited the room, he pulled you in closer, tucking your hand into the crook of his elbow as you walked out together, with Strauss at your heels.

"So, that was Y/N's dad," Hotch found himself feeling a mixture of revulsion and pity as he watched the man force you to walk him to the elevators. Your posture was stiff the entire way.

"Yes, however I've never seen him with Y/N before," Rossi confided as the two of them started to dig into the files that Strauss had left on Hotch's desk.

"Did she seem-"

"Scared?"

Hotch nodded grimly.

"Yes."

*------------*

As the elevator doors closed, hiding his face from view, you knew you had to face the team again. They were bound to have questions. You just weren't sure how honest you were prepared to be with them quite yet.

As you turned to walk back, you saw Rossi summoning everyone to the conference room. He was waiting for you outside, after having ushered everyone else in.

"You okay kiddo?" Rossi actually looked really worried, and you reminded yourself that this was a man who might actually have some idea of who your father truly was.

"Not even in the slightest." You let out a breath that you had likely been holding since you'd heard his voice again.

"Alright, come on in then. We might as well all talk it out," he said, urging you in to join the rest of the team. They all look so worried. Emily made eye contact and you could physically feel her suppressing a what-the-fuck-was-that-y/n? You couldn't look at her too long - any of them. You turned to look at Hotch standing at the head of the table. He still looked calm. A little worried, but he was maintaining the calm overlay and that helped. Hotch was here. Hotch could handle anything.

You knew they were all waiting for you to go first. It seemed Garcia and JJ had filled everyone else in while you'd been in Hotch's office, as they all had a copy of the case file in front of them. You took a deep breath, bracing yourself, not quite knowing what was about to come out of your mouth.

"So…that was my father." You looked around, trying in vain to maybe just laugh it off, but they all looked so concerned still. This was mortifying.

Steeling yourself, you decided to just go for it. "Look, Hotch, whatever he says, whatever he does, don't trust him. This case, there's no way he just came across someone who handed him a file on a serial killer we knew nothing about. Isn't that suspicious to anyone? How did he possibly convince Strauss and the Director!" You had blurted out more than you'd actually meant to. You must look crazy.

They were all suspiciously quiet. It appeared they were deferring to Hotch and Rossi.

"Y/N," Hotch's voice was soft and cajoling, your name always sounded so nice in his mouth. "Why are you afraid of your father?"

Of course he'd pick up on that. You released another deep breath. You could hear the wall clock ticking as they all looked at you still. "My father is not a good man," you began, stifling the part of you screaming at you to trust no one. "Rossi, you know him. You know his reputation. He's not like your mom, Em. He's not an ambassador like her. He makes shady backroom deals and he's a liaison which is really just code for government-approved mob bosses. If he wants something from us, it's part of a larger plan and we won't know what it is until we're in too deep."

You hadn't realized you were shaking as badly as you were, but JJ had come around the table to sit next to you and her warm hand was truly the only thing keeping you mentally in the room instead of in a dark room inside your mind, screaming your head off.

"Okay, but Y/N, that doesn't answer my question. Why are you afraid of him?"

You had to just get it out. They would believe you, even if no one else would.

"I don't know if you guys know this, but I have two older brothers," you started to disclose.

"Yes, older one is Dominic - he works under your father. Your younger brother, the middle child, Julian, is deceased - mugging victim." Reid's recall from your background file sure came in handy.

"Yeah," you gave Spencer a shaky smile for filling in some of the details. You weren't sure how you were going to get this out entirely. JJ's hand was still clasped in yours and Hotch's brow was furrowed in worry, his lips a thin line. "I can't prove this," you said, shaking your head a bit, "but I'm confident that my father had Julian killed."

Penelope gasped, barely audibly.

"Y/N, sweetheart," JJ's voice broke out into the silence. "Why would you think that?"

"Julian was - he was not who my father expected a son of his to be. My father is a traditional man, and he cannot stand anyone contradicting him. Going against what he's ordered them to do. In my last year at Harvard, Julian was seeing someone. He had told me around the holidays and was going to introduce us at graduation. He died the month before. At graduation, a close friend - someone who has been around for me and my family since before I was born - confided in me that he suspected that Julian's death was not a suicide. You see, my father had a business deal he wanted to seal and he was pressuring Julian to date this girl while Julian was in his other relationship."

"Your brother was gay," Rossi asked but it wasn't a question. They all knew by the way you'd described your father.

"Yes. But I didn't know. Like I said, old school, traditional family with a reputation to hold. I only found out afterwards because my friend had Julian's journal from his final days. In it he was going to go public with his relationship and wrote about an argument he had had with my father when he refused to date that girl to seal the deal. My father knew then that Julian was gay."

"But, you really think he would kill his own son?" Derek was standing now, the incredulity evident on his face.

"I know he did. In his final days Julian was scared. My father has a lot of contacts that are seedy at best. Hiring a hit to avoid the embarrassment to the family of having a gay son - that is something that he would do. I grew up with the man, and there isn't a doubt in my mind that he's capable of it."

"Y/N," Emily had finally spoken. She looked at you and you knew that she wanted to believe you but her inner investigator needed more. "Is it possible that Julian committed suicide?"

"Yeah, it is," you admitted. "In which case my father drove him to it and then made it seem like a mugging to avoid the embarrassment of a gay son who committed suicide."

JJ's touch was reminding you too much of how good of a person she was and the crap family that you were associated with. You withdrew your hand from hers and stood to go lean against the wall as they all processed everything you'd revealed. Penelope brought over a glass of water for you and made sure you drank it, petting your hair to help calm you down. You hadn't realized you were still trembling.

After a few minutes, it appeared Rossi and Hotch had come to some sort of nonverbal decision, because Hotch had walked over to stand in front of you. You looked up to meet his eyes - his warm brown eyes which seemed lit with fire - rage and anger on your behalf. "Okay, then we'll work the case. But there's two cases. One is the case we've been handed. The other is figuring out why."

His declaration was directed just at you but it was obviously meant for the whole team. As you looked around the room, you could tell there were people in here who believed you with no proof at all. They'd simply accepted that he was evil and there was a larger plot afoot, just because you'd said so. All they'd needed was your word.

#criminal minds #criminal minds imagine #criminal minds reader insert #aaron hotchner #hotch x you #hotch x reader #irreverentseries #aaron hotch x reader #aaron hotchner x reader #aaron hotchner x you #aaron hotchner x y/n #hotchner imagine #hotch x y/n

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sarcastic-sunshines · 3 years ago

Text

ABIONA AU - Part 11

Pairing: T’ Challa x Black!Reader

Warning(s): None

Link to ABIONA by @aloevverified

Link to Face claims (2)

Previous Chapter: Part 10

Part 11

Alix carried the energetic baby girl from her crib and into her hands.

“Happy Birthday sweetness. I love you. You are one of my greatest blessings”

She said covering Abiona with kisses. Alix could not believe that a year had gone by. It felt like just yesterday that T’Challa had just shown up at her door offering to be everything she needed him to be. Now they had a year old daughter that they both loved very much. She adored seeing Abiona with her Baba and honestly thought about what their family would be like if they were to have more. Alix pushed the thought away and finished putting Abiona’s socks on before plopping her on her and T’Challa’s bed. It was about time for him to get up and seeing Abiona was his favourite way to wake up, especially after such an emotional night for him. She went to her closet to change out of her robe waiting for Abiona to do her job.

T’Challa felt the gentle tapping of a little hand to his cheek. Very soon the tapping was joined by the sweetest babbling he had ever heard. It was his favourite sound and wasn’t shocked to find the tiny human’s finger going for his eye and pulling it open making herself giggle.

“Good morning beautiful,” he said getting up and grabbing the baby bringing her to his chest.

“Happy birthday princess. I am so happy to have you in my life. You are the best gift Bast could have ever offered me and I am happy to have you in my life. You are growing so fast” He laughed softly as Abiona touched his face and squeezed his cheeks.

“Where is your mama? I know you didn’t get here yourself” Alix rounded the corner and climbed on the bed dressed for the day

“I am right here. Good morning babe” T’Challa kissed her cheek

“Good morning entle, you look beautiful” Alix smiled at the compliment before watching her little family. She gently touched his widow's peak.

“Do you feel better today?” T’Challa nodded

“I got to wake up and see the two people who make me the happiest so I have no choice but to feel better. I can’t believe my princess is one. “

“I know, very soon she will be 16 and sneaking out of here like I used to do”

“Please don’t be like your mother Abiona. You don’t want to give your Baba a heart attack, do you? “ Alix laughed before grabbing Abiona.

“Okay Baba, get dressed. We have a long day ahead of us. I am going to make everyone breakfast so you come to meet us when you are ready.” T’Challa nodded.

“Are you sure you don’t want to talk more about last night? Maybe tell me what happened?” T’Challa paused for a second before shaking his head no.

Alix bent down and kissed him softly. “Okay, just know that I love you very much.”

“I love you too entle” She smiled before exiting the room. As the door closed, T’Challa laid back into bed trying to gain strength for the day. Despite it being his daughter’s birthday he didn’t feel that much like smiling. He also did not feel like being in Tolu’s presence but he had to. So the young King mustered all the energy he could and remembered the beautiful little girl he was doing this for as he got ready for the day.

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

Alix looked around at the people in the garden all here for Abiona. The room was full of love. It was a simple party. Alix did not want anything extravagant to avoid stories getting out about her as well as the fact she had not been formally introduced to the council though she has met most of them in passing. Aside from her parents, David and Amelie, T’Challa had invited his childhood friend Akhona and his wife Cebisa with their 2-year-old daughter. She had met them over dinner and they were both lovely people. Cebisa had been kind enough to take her to her favourite stores in the city. Cebisa couldn’t do too much since she is 7 months pregnant but Alix was thankful for the friend during T’Challa’s long days. As well as the ear of someone who could relate, seeing as Akhona was likely to take over from his grandmother as the mining tribe chief very soon. T’Challa had also invited his friend Themba.

T’Challa had also invited Buhle, which Alix was taken aback by seeing as T’Challa did not mention it and she had to hear it from Buhle at school. She had brought her 5 year old niece with her and she got Abiona a beautiful dress as a gift so Alix had decided to not make a big deal out of it. A few other children ran around as Alix tried to keep track of Abiona who was enjoying all the free space to move and the excitement of the other children. She briefly looked at T’Challa who was laughing with his friends yet still seemed a little distant. He had been quiet during breakfast with everyone sensing the awkward air around him and Tolu. It scared her a little as she pushed it out of her mind

“Everything seems to be going well. This garden is very pretty” Alix turned to look at her father who had joined her.

“It is Abiona’s favourite place. She has more than enough room to run around here without me policing her. And she likes the flowers, so it seemed like the perfect spot to do her birthday.”

As she spoke one of the children ran by Abiona too quickly knocking her down. The birthday girl’s face went from fear to hurt as she searched for a parent with a wail about to begin. Alix was about to move, noticing T’Challa was already there to pick her up and comfort her as he warned the other children to be careful around his princess. He kissed the little girl back into a giggle and she was ready to join the fun again. Alix smiled watching the two of them interact as T’Challa joined the children until Abiona forgot he was even there.

“He loves her very much. I can tell with all the pictures he has of her, as well as the way he acts around her.”

“ You didn’t see the pictures he has of me?” Alix turned to face her father.

“What did you say to him yesterday?”

“I didn’t say anything to him Bukola” Alix observed her father for a while.

“Are you sure because after spending the night with you he began to question if I was happy”

“You would think he would know the answer already”

“He did, before last night, and Papa it is no secret how you feel about him. You have refused to let him prove himself to you and it is so sad because he tries so hard. And he tries so hard because of me.” Tolu did not like feeling bombarded especially after Estelle had told him he had been too harsh towards the man when he had asked.

“ He shouldn’t have to try so hard Bukola. Michael did not have to try this hard” Alix closed her eyes and laughed with a strain in her voice.

“ Papa, when I was with Michael, I was not myself. Yes, he was able to wow you, but that is because he wasn’t his true self with you. And honestly, I contributed to that by never complaining because I did not want you to see him as anything other than amazing. I had to hide so much. I don’t have to do that with T’Challa. He allows me to be myself without ever trying to change me or belittle me. He aims to please me as much as himself, sometimes even more. He works so hard to keep me and Abiona happy and never fails to tell us how much space we occupy in his heart. Because of him, I have learned things about myself I wouldn’t have otherwise. Being with him is the happiest I have ever been in a relationship and I wouldn’t want to change that. When I think of home I don’t think of a place I think of him. Because no matter where he is I want to be there too”

Tolu took a second to examine his daughter’s face before turning back to where his granddaughter was playing before making eye contact with T’Challa from across the room. He held eye contact before turning back to his friends. Estelle may have been right. He may be choosing not to see what was in front of him. Tolu turned back to Alix.

“Do you see yourself marrying him?”

Alix froze, before looking at T’Challa who was being pulled away from his friends by Abiona to join her in the middle of the dancefloor. He always looked happiest when with her, and he was always ready to appease her, even if it meant an impromptu dance party.

Since the day he had first mentioned marrying her, it had not left her mind. She had begun to see themselves together, their love growing, raising more children to raise in a home they had made their own. She even saw them growing old the way her parents were. The thought made her smile. She didn’t know why but she always found it hard to admit even to herself. She turned back to her father.

“ If I decide to marry, it will be him. I only see myself marrying him really” She said with a smile.

“I have to go, it is time to cut the cake,” She said, patting her father’s hand before walking over to T’Challa.

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

T’Challa offered his friends the drinks he brought over. He was glad for the distraction. Breakfast had been severely awkward for him. He had to sit right across from Tolu as he tried to avoid eye contact. Alix and Jules had tried to curve the awkwardness but it didn’t work. T’Challa was glad to escape to organize last-minute party activities with Okoye.

T’Challa took a sip of his own drink before putting it down. David tapped him to get his attention.

“How did yesterday go?” T’Challa shook his head

“Horrible. He told me that I am a distraction from the life Alix should be living. He even went as far as saying he wasn’t sure if she was with me out of convenience or if she was actually happy”

“It would have just been better for him to only say no” Akhona said rubbing his friend’s shoulder comfortingly.

“So what now? I know you are not going to give up T” David said.

“I really do not know what else to tell this man to make him feel that I am worthy” T’Challa looked at Abiona running around when she was suddenly knocked down by Akhona’s daughter. He immediately got up to pick her up.

“It is okay, beautiful. No tears. It is your day, only smiles” he said in between kisses.

“You all have to be careful around my princess. She may be one now but she is still little.”

He continued to kiss her until she was giggling and ready to join the children again. He stuck around for a second before heading back to his friends.

“So are you telling me this man doesn’t notice how much of a protective parent you are? Because we all saw and rolled our eyes.” Themba said, causing everyone to laugh at T’Challa’s expense.

“Themba you are one to talk when the last woman who you dated made a blog about how awful you were.” The laughs changed direction with T’Challa joining in. T’Challa looked over at where Alix was standing with Tolu and ended up making eye contact before looking away because his intimidating stare still made him uncomfortable.

“ I don’t know what I will do but today is about the true owner of my heart” on cue Abiona came over reaching for her Baba’s hand as T’Challa bent to offer his hand. She started dragging him to the dance floor. T’Challa happily obliged.

He was just happy to have these moments with her. He would have never known about her existence if he didn’t take a chance. And just like then he wasn’t going to give up. This was just a minor setback and it didn’t change how Alix felt about him and she made sure of that. Most importantly it most definitely did not change how he felt about her. He lets his thoughts rest as he soaked up his time with Abiona in his arms as they swayed back and forth. Alix came up behind him and patted his bum.

“ Um, we are among company Ms. Ajayi. Mind your hands” He joked.

“ Yeah whatever, it is cake cutting time so can I borrow you and the birthday girl please.”

“ Come ‘Ona, mama has cut our dancing time short” He leaned down and kissed Alix

“ We are among company Mr. Udaku. What was that for?” She said

“ Nothing, I just love you so much Ms. Ajayi” Alix struggled to hide her goofy smile as she took his free hand and led him to where the cake was.

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

Alix slowly approached their bed as she watched a sleeping T’Challa carry a sleeping Abiona in his hands. They made the same faces when sleeping, making Alix smile.

Alix took a picture before trying to grab their daughter from his hands. T’Challa woke up tightening his grip on Abiona before realizing it was Alix.

“Let me put her in her bed.”

T’Challa shook his head, getting up to do it himself. He came back and stood behind Alix who was looking for something in the bathroom.

“I keep telling you to not let her fall asleep like that because when you are gone there will be no Baba to hold her and I am not doing it.” T’Challa laughed softly.

“Leave us alone. It is her birthday so she can receive whatever she wants” he said as he put his hands around her stomach and lay his head in the crook of her neck. Alix giggled at the intimacy before reaching to touch his curls. He had been extra physical since the party and she was glad to know that he was feeling better.

“ Are you too tired?” T’Challa shook his head no before following Alix to the chair in their room. T’Challa sat behind Alix who passed him a long tooth comb. Together they quietly started taking out the Senegalese twist that Alix had been sporting for a month. They worked silently for a while before Alix cleared her throat.

“So, babe?” she said as she stopped what she was doing

“Yes, Alix,” T’Challa said without stopping his movement.

“If we were to get married, what would my role be?” T’Challa stopped and turned his body to Alix who turned around to face him.

“Is this us having the discussion?” Alix nodded. T’Challa smiled as she turned back around so they could talk as they worked.

“Well, you would rule by my side. Most likely attend court, make decisions with me. Make appearances around the country and the world.”

“Could I still teach, and do my work with the UN?”

“Your work with the UN most definitely. As for the teaching, I am not sure, but seeing how much you enjoy it I can find a way for you to maintain your position. You probably would not receive a paycheck ” T’Challa joked.

“That is okay, my husband would be a very rich man and I have savings” T’Challa laughed and kissed her cheek. “That doesn’t sound too bad.”

“Yeah, that would be the bulk and if at any point you feel it is becoming too much I am here to help you carry your load” Alix smiled

“What about children? Do you still want four?”

“Of course Alixandre, that hasn’t changed. Are you still trying to convince me you will only be the mother of one of them” Alix laughed loudly

“One more couldn’t hurt.”

“Really?”

“Yes, Abiona needs a playmate and it will help me to have more time with you and I wouldn’t have to compete with ‘Ona for her best friend”

“I can work with 2, and slowly convince you for the other two.” Alix rolled her eyes as he laughed.

“You are so full of it”

“Yet you still love me,” He said, taking out the final braid.

“I fell in love with a clown,” She said getting up to return to the bathroom. T’Challa got up and followed.

“I don’t care if you think I am a clown. As long as I can call you my queen. “ T’Challa grabbed her free hand and kissed it. “Just imagine, I get to introduce you as Mrs. Udaku.”

T’Challa pulled her into his arms. “I told you I would be Mrs. Ajayi-Udaku”

“And I told you, I don’t care as long as I get to say you are my wife.” he leaned down to kiss her until Alix pulled away.

“I wouldn’t mind that actually. Being your wife I mean” T’Challa smiled as he bent down to kiss her again. He didn’t know how she managed to make all his worries disappear, but even in moments he could not explain all his thoughts, she always managed to be the calm to his storm.

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

“I cannot believe that the week has passed so quickly”. Estelle said sadly as she held onto Abiona offering her final kisses before going to the ship. “Mémé will miss you so much. But I promise to be back soon.”

“Okay Maman, stop you are making me teary-eyed,” Jules said with an exaggerated pout as he hugged his mother tightly knowing he would miss her more than he led on. Jules and T’Challa began to pull their suitcases out of the door when T’Challa turned to Tolu suddenly.

“Before you go, sir, can I please have a word with you alone” Everyone stopped to turn and look at Tolu. Estelle began to have a conversation with her eyes with Tolu before speaking. She turned to lead everyone else out the door.

“I think that will be good. Mes enfants viens. Let us leave them room to discuss.”

“What do you need to discuss T’Challa?” Alix asked as her mom dragged her out the door.

“Sis you are so nosy. That is an A and B conversation, so C your way out.” Alix rolled her eyes before she reluctantly left with her mother and brother.

T’Challa watched the door close before inviting Tolu to sit on the couch as he paced a little. Tolu opened his mouth to speak before T’Challa put his hands up.

“I am sorry sir but I have to say this before you speak. I love that woman with all my heart. When I think about not being around her for more than a day I feel a sense of sadness that I only associate with her and our child. When she is sad I am sad. If she is angry I am uncomfortable and want to do all I can to make her smile again. I am happiest when I know her and our child are happy. She is my peace and when I think about home I think about her. So sir, when you say you don’t know why she is with me, I can assure you that all the emotions that I have expressed Alixandre feels the exact same. I would not have even asked you the first time if I wasn’t sure of that. No, life was not supposed to resemble what it is but I can assure you that Alix is more than happy where she is and it is because of her that I ask you again for your blessing to ask for Alixandre’s hand in marriage. But know that even if you say no again, I will not stop asking until your answer changes. Alix is worth that much to me and I am willing to move the world to prove that to both you and her.”

T’Challa finished maintaining eye contact with Tolu. “Young man if you would have let me go first, you would have saved yourself that speech, and I would have told you I had changed my mind” T’Challa finally sat down releasing a huge breath.

“What changed your mind?”

“Well, like you suggested I ask Bukola, and her words mirrored yours. She obviously cares for you deeply. And you are a good father to Abiona. As Estelle pointed out to me, my hesitation did not come from you alone. I just wanted to make sure my child was safe and loved and living the life she deserved and worked for. You may not understand now but with a child of your own, you will understand quickly the need to protect your child from the world. But I see now that you do nothing but love Bukola. So all I ask is that you continue to love her and cherish her. She is very special to me and I would hate to have to come back here and see her as anything less than happy. Her name means ‘God has given me wealth’. She is truly one of the greatest fortunes God has ever given me so please treat her as such. “

T’Challa nodded furiously as Tolu extended his hand for T’Challa to shake it. “Of course sir”.

T’Challa could not contain his smile and for once Tolu’s normally cold stare mirrored his smile.

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

Alix sat on the couch as T’Challa joined her and pulled her into his lap covering her with kisses.

“I see you're in a good mood. I guess whatever you and Papa talked about started that” She said rubbing his ears.

“I am still not going to tell you” she rolled her eyes and tried to get off him as he held her tight causing her to giggle.

“You are so nosy and stubborn you know that right”

“Yes but you still love me either way”

“I love you more than you will ever know, entle” Alix found herself smiling widely as he kissed her deeply. Alix reached for his waistband as T’Challa held her hand to stop.

“T’Challa what now? Everyone is gone and Abiona is sleeping!” T’Challa laughed at her whining.

“I just have one question. Can we go to Uganda for our anniversary” Alix frown turned into a smile.

“No Abiona? Just me and you?” T’Challa nodded. “ That is a first. You actually want to leave home. I will not say no to that.”

“Then it is set. You may proceed.” Alix laughed as T’Challa joined her.

“But first, know that I love you so much okay?” She said leaning her head against his.

“I love you too”

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

#t'challa x reader #t'challa #ABIONA AU #PART 11 #sunshinewrites

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bellakitse · 4 years ago

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Master post - 30 days of Tarlos

30 Tarlos One-shots - Master Post

{thanks to @insidious-intent for the gif. ❤}

Complete Series on AO3

Day 1 - I’ll be here for you - 1.5K

“I can’t believe you came here instead of going home,” TK whispers when the kiss ends, his green eyes shining bright with affection and a little amusement. “You really didn’t have to.”

When TK can't sleep, Carlos comes to be with him at the firehouse.

Day 2 - Sunshine Smile Today - 1.3K

Marjan lets out a giggle that she tries to cover with her hand, it’s high-pitched and adorable and makes TK grin. He turns his head to look back at the boys still in the middle of their challenge; his smile grows when he catches Carlos’ eyes, grinning at him as he pulls himself up again.

“He’s gorgeous,” Marjan continues, agreeing with him. “But what’s really great about him is how happy he makes you. It’s such a difference.”

Marjan notices how happy TK is compared to before.

Day 3 - The Last of the Romantics - 1.5K

Michelle has a history of setting Carlos up with the worse guys possible, she swears this time it's different.

* “Tell me about him,” he says resigned, knowing he’s been played by the way Michelle instantly perks up.

“He’s one of the new members at the 126,” she starts with a grin. “And Carlos, he’s so pretty.”

Day 4 - A Witness to their Love - 1.7K

Owen doesn’t call attention to himself for a moment as TK and Carlos get lost in each other. His heart squeezes tight as he watches. His son looks happier than he can remember in the longest time.

Owen is a witness to his son falling in love.

Day 5 - lost in every inch of you - 2.3K

“What, baby?” Carlos questions when he stops. “What do you need?”

“You?” he says in a question, licking his lips.

TK comes home after a long shift, needing to touch his boyfriend.

Day 6 - A Change in Title - 1.2K

“You just called me your boyfriend,” he says as he starts to smile.

TK’s eyes widen, his words seem just now to be catching up with him, and there is the start of a pretty blush on his face. “Uh –“

While out with Carlos, TK hides from someone he rescued, it starts a conversation and ends in a change of status between them.

Day 7 - of chicken flautas and intimidating mothers - 1.8K

“I know we saw each other just last night, but I already missed you.”

Carlos' heart flutters at TK’s words and touch, but he can’t forget the tiny force to be reckoned with, not forty feet away. “That’s really sweet, and I feel exactly the same way,” he continues. “But my mom is here, and she’s watching us – no, don’t look around!”

It’s the annual first responders’ cookout and Carlos is about to introduce his boyfriend to his mother.

Day 8 - Let's Start with Breakfast - 2.1K

“Hi, you must be TK,” he says, turning around to face him fully, and TK doesn’t know where to look – that beautiful face with a head full of curls he wants to sink his hands into, or the perfectly chiseled chest that reminds TK of studying about Michelangelo’s David in his art studies course. “I’m Carlos.”

TK wakes up in his friend's apartment and meets his new roommate, Carlos.

Day 9 - Midnight Talk about Boys - 1.8K

Marjan watches as whatever the other person on the phone – obviously someone TK is seeing – talks to him, whatever the other man is saying makes TK all but melt into the cushions of the couch as he leans back and stares dreamily at the ceiling.

When Marjan can't sleep, she finds TK in the common area talking lovingly to someone on the phone.

Day 10 - Let's Go to the Mall - 2.4K

While at the mall, TK finds a little girl crying because she can't find her mother and uncle. Imagine TK's surprise when her uncle turns out to be his boyfriend.

Day 11 - The Forever Tamales - 4.0K

“Marriage Tamales?” he asks, confused, his heart ticking upward as the sisters nod and smirk at him and Carlos.

They start to explain the significance of the special dish. Every word they utter makes his heart race as he tries to come to terms with the fact that Carlos made him a dish so important to his family.

* A companion piece to 'The Marriage Tamales' from TK's POV

Day 12 - Stumbling a Step - 2.2K

The drive to work is quiet, out of the corner of his eye he sees Carlos grip the steering wheel a little harder as the car comes to a stop in front of the firehouse.

“I have a long shift today,” he says, his tone stiff. “I won’t be home until after midnight.”

TK looks over at his boyfriend; it’s the first thing Carlos has said since their shout out the night before.

A fight with Carlos leaves TK in a foul mood. Judd sets him straight.

Day 13 - chicken soup and mashed potatoes - 1.4K

Carlos wakes up with a pounding headache as his alarm goes off. The tickle in his throat he had the night before now feels like knives; it hurts to swallow.

When Carlos is sick, TK is there to take care of him.

Day 14 - Cuervo Confessions - 1.2K

“What’s so pretty about TK, Carlos?” she asks, her blue eyes twinkling when Carlos lights up at the question.

Drunk Carlos is adorably in love with his boyfriend and has no filter.

Day 15 - Pancakes and Coffee Syrup - 2.1K

Opening the bathroom door again, he stops, freezing like a deer caught in the headlights when he finds his boyfriend’s father standing just outside the bathroom. From the way he’s dressed, it’s obvious he’s just come home from the overnight TK told him he was on.

“Good morning, Carlos,” he greets him calmly. Like this is a regular occurrence for them to run into each other outside his bathroom, and instead, not the first time ever that Carlos has spent the night in his house.

Carlos spends the night at the Strand household, Owen makes him breakfast in the morning.

Day 16 - We begin on a Tuesday - 1.8K - Part 1 of Days that Matter series

When the 126 have a spot to fill in their crew, Judd recommends his buddy Carlos Reyes from the 121.

Firefighter Carlos AU!

Day 17 - on Wednesday we fell - 2.1K - Part 2 of Days that Matter series

Carlos has been part of the 126 for three months now, every day TK falls for him a little more. After a nightmare, TK can't hold back his feelings anymore.

Day 18 - I was born Thursday's Child - 2.5K - Part 3 of Days that Matter series

“It’s Carlos, sir,” Judd gets out quickly, and TK feels an ice-cold fear run up his spine at the urgency he hears in his friend’s voice. “He was a step behind me, the floor caved, and he went through into the basement.”

Carlos gets hurt on a call.

Day 19 - Friday, I'm in Love - 1.1K - Part 4 of Days that Matter series

Eight months after Carlos' accident, TK and he are more in love than ever. They also have some news for their family.

Day 20 - Meddle, meddle, meddle - 1.8K

Carlos is having a few drinks with his sisters when the conversation turns to his love life. When they dare him to pick up someone at the bar, Carlos knows exactly who to go for.

* “Fine,” he says, already standing up, he points at the man at the bar. “I’ll play your game, not only am I getting his number, I’m not coming back to the table, I’m going home with him.”

Day 21 - That Green Colored Thing - 1.8K

TK Strand is not jealous.

Just because Carlos has been across the bar for the last fifteen minutes, talking to some handsome idiot who doesn’t seem to understand the concept of personal space and is so close to Carlos, they might as well be glued together doesn’t mean he’s jealous.

Day 22 - Midnight Solace - 1.3K

When not being able to sleep triggers a panic attack, Carlos is there to help TK through it.

Day 23 - We were meant for one another, come a little closer - 3.0K

TK stares at him, mouth open, and Carlos can’t help but stare back as his heart pounds loudly in his ears. He feels naked, like every feeling he’s been hiding from TK for so long is now on the surface for him to see.

Carlos and TK are best friends and roommates. When TK comes home from a failed date, it reveals long-time hidden feelings.

Day 24 - Worth it - 1.0K

They get called to a standoff situation in a laboratory building downtown. TK is in the middle of helping create a perimeter with Paul when he hears a familiar voice over the radio and realizes with a sense of dread that it’s not just Austin Police that is inside, but it’s also his boyfriend of five months, Carlos.

When Carlos is in a dangerous situation TK can't hold back.

Day 25 - Sealed with a Kiss - 2.3K

Carlos is in the middle of finishing the last of his daily reports when the first text comes in, followed quickly by a second.

‘What time are you coming home, baby?’

‘I miss you.’

'I’m waiting in bed…for you.’

TK is a menace, Carlos loves him anyway.

Day 26 - Super Papa - 1.5K

Luca looks at him with wide eyes. “Papa a hero?” he asks, probably remembering what the reporter had called his father.

“Papa is a big hero,” he answers his boy.

TK watches Carlos on the news with their son.

Day 27 - Stating Intentions - 1.5K

“TK, if you don’t stop fidgeting, I am going to tie you to the flag pole and leave you there.”

TK worries in the kitchen of the firehouse while Carlos and his dad talk in his office, it distracts Paul from his cooking with his fidgeting.

Day 28 - One for the Pro column - 1.7K

While at the gym, TK runs into Carlos, the officer he danced with two weeks ago and hasn't been able to stop thinking about since.

Day 29 - Future Tamales - 1.9K

TK visits Carlos' mom to ask her a very important question and to ask for a special recipe.

The final part to 'The Marriage Tamales'

Day 30 - TK’s perfect and simple morning - 1.3K

TK Strand-Reyes wakes up to his bed slightly shaking, and soft little boy giggles followed by an amused ‘shhh’ from his husband.

Luca and Carlos make TK breakfast after he had an accident at work.

#911 lone star #tarlos #tarlos fic #30 days of tarlos #fic masterpost #my writing #fic rec

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multifandomfanfiction · 4 years ago

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Beauty and the Genius Chapter 6

TITLE: Beauty and the Genius Chapter 6 PAIRING: Spencer/OC RATING: T CHAPTER: 6/? SUMMARY: When David Rossi joins the team, so does his daughter Gwendolyn. But what happens when she and the resident genius start developing feelings for each other? How will it affect Rossi and Reid’s team dynamic?

Rossi and JJ came out of the church and they headed to the police station.

“There’s no evidence that any of the local kids were into devil worship or the occult,” Derek said.

“No, this is not a group of teenagers,” Emily agreed.

“Unless they stumbled on the body and thought it’d be funny,” Gwen suggested, “It’s been known to happen.”

“It’s definitely a serial killer,” Derek said.

“And considering what he did with her fingers, a sadistic one,” Emily added.

“That, I wouldn’t say just yet,” Rossi told her.

“Why?” Gwen asked.

“Gwen’s right,” Emily said, “He cut off her fingers and he made her eat them. If that isn’t sadistic…”

“If it was, that’s the only sign of sadism present in the crime,” Rossi noted.

“If he was purely a sadist there would have been more signs of torture.”

“The fingers are a message.”

“What the hell’s the message?” Derek asked as Hotch entered the room.

“She’s not my first. None of the fingers found in Abby Kelton’s stomach were hers and six of them were index fingers,” Hotch said.

Gwen felt her stomach turn. She stood up and left the conference room, stepping outside for some air.

“Hey, you okay?” Spencer asked her.

“I’m fine. Just a bit lightheaded is all.”

“Your blood sugar is probably low.” He checked his watch. “There should be some place open for lunch.”

They walked around the town until they found a diner. They sat down at a table and a waitress walked up.

“What can I get you to drink?” she asked.

“Water,” Spencer answered.

“Sweet tea,” Gwen told her.

The waitress came back with their drinks and Spencer ordered a sandwich while Gwen ordered a salad.

“A sandwich would help with your blood sugar,” Spencer said.

“I’m vegetarian.”

“For dietary reasons?”

Gwen shook her head. “Having Rossi for a father…let’s just say I’ve seen way too many cannibals to ever be able to eat meat again.”

Towards the end of their meal, Spencer’s phone rang. “Hey Hotch. Uh yeah. We’ll be right there.” Spencer hung up and grabbed his bag. “Hotch is ready for the profile briefing.”

“Okay. Let me just pay and we’ll go.”

“You’re not paying.”

Gwen looked at him and raised an eyebrow.

Spencer blushed. “I just meant…please let me pay.”

“You don’t have to pay for everything, Spencer. I have money.”

“I know. It’s just…it’s the chivalrous thing to do.”

“You’re mama taught you well, didn’t she?” Gwen asked, winking.

Spencer quickly paid and they left.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

After the briefing, they found out another girl went missing so the locals decided to set up a search for her.

Gwen wasn’t allowed to search, so she was put with Emily and JJ at the sign up table.

“So, looks like things are getting pretty serious between you and Reid, huh?” Emily asked. She spoke quietly, since Spencer was standing a few feet away.

Gwen blushed. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“Come on. You stormed out of the conference room and Reid went after you. Then you two disappeared for an hour and a half.”

“I was feeling lightheaded, so we went to get some lunch. Nothing happened.”

“Who paid?” JJ asked.

“Spencer,” Gwen answered, “But he was just being a gentleman. It doesn’t mean anything. We’re just friends. That’s it.”

Emily shared a look with JJ. During the search, another woman went missing.

“This is why I didn’t want you searching,” Rossi told Gwen.

Gwen threw herself down in a chair. “I just feel so useless!”

Rossi patted her shoulder.

Gwen rubbed at her face.

“Get some rest. Reid!”

Spencer looked up from what he was doing and Rossi tossed him some keys.

“Make sure she gets to the hotel.”

Spencer nodded and escorted Gwen to the hotel and her room.

“I don’t know how he expects me to sleep.”

“Just try at least.”

“I guess there’s no chance of inviting you in?” Gwen asked.

Spencer blushed and started to stutter when Gwen laughed.

“I was kidding, Spence. Calm down.” Gwen leaned up and kissed Spencer on the cheek. “Goodnight Spencer.”

“Bouna notte, Gwen.”

When Gwen woke up in the morning, she had a text from Spencer. She smiled, but it quickly vanished when she read it.

Remember how you said you’re vegetarian?

Spencer swung by and picked her up. “You okay?” he asked her.

“Feel a bit sick.”

He handed her a granola bar and a Sprite. “Thanks. I’m guessing you got him?”

“Yeah.”

Gwen reached over and grabbed one of Spencer’s hands off the wheel.

“Gwen…” But Spencer stopped himself when he saw the look on her face. He understood why she’d grabbed his hand now. She needed something to ground herself in reality.

His hand tightened on hers. “You know, you still owe me that explanation of demon possession,” he said.

Gwen smiled and launched into a rant, thankful for the distraction.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

“Blaming the devil for his cannibalism wasn’t enough to lessen his guilt, so he tricked others into participating. He made them all as guilty as he was,” Rossi said, from where he sat across from Morgan and his daughter.

Gwen played with the chain of her necklace as she looked out the window. “Still don’t think he was a sadist?”

“He caught every break possible, Rossi. Gets released from the hospital. His records get destroyed. Gets pulled over with a victim in the trunk of his car, and they let him go. I’ve never seen anyone that lucky,” Morgan said.

“What’s your point?” Rossi asked.

“You been doin’ this a long time. You’ve seen a lot of things. You think it’s possible that Feylinn would…I don’t know. That he was gettin’ some kind of help from somethin’ else?”

“It’s irrelevant. The job is to find evil, to stop it, not to know where it came from. Let somebody else take that job. This one’s tough enough. You know…Reid was right.”

“About?”

“If you believe in one, you have to believe in the other.”

Gwen shifted so her head was laying on Morgan’s shoulder.

“You told him, didn’t you?” Rossi asked.

“I had to, papa,” Gwen said.

“I’d never betray her trust, Rossi,” Morgan reassured him.

“I know.”

#spencer reid #spencer reid imagines #spencer/oc #spencer reid fanfiction #dr. spencer reid #dr. spencer reid imagines #dr. spencer reid fanfiction #aaron hotchner #david rossi #derek morgan #emily prentiss #beauty and the genius

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lostbetweenvampiresandmusic · 4 years ago

Text

Dear Hazel Chapter Five

Enjoy 💕💕 - also, if you want to be tagged, please tell me and I'll make a tag list!

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

"What's that?" Hazel looked at Marko. He had been working all night in the corner of the cave. She had been watching, but now she just couldn't watch anymore. She had to know what he was doing.

"This," he crouched down next to her, "is a pigeon egg."

"It's so small... Are you sure it's a pigeon egg?"

"Yeah," Marko chuckled, "besides you weren't always this big either. Same with birds."

"Are you going to raise it?"

"I thought maybe we could do it. You talked about having a pet," Marko carefully laid the eggs next to some others, covering it with a warm blanket. Hazel gasped. "Really?!"

"Definitely."

David looked up from his book, noticing how happy his daughter seemed. Time had gone so fast. In his mind she was still the little three year old, begging to play in the snow. Not this almost eight year old girl that was to curious for her own good. Tomorrow she would turn eight, and he knew she would like her gift. She'd asked for a room of her own, saying she was a big girl now. So, whenever she was asleep, or out with one of them, they worked on finishing a room for her. It was beautiful, and he was certain she'd like it. He had decided that he'd show it to her tonight, so they could give her her other gifts in her brand new room the next morning. He knew shed love it - having dreamed of such a birthday ever since she read about it in one of her books.

"Papa?" she'd gone to sit next to him, leaning against his chest. She looked up at him. "I'm tired."

He wasn't surprised. It was four in the morning, and he knew she had been up since at least three that afternoon. He smiled softly, brushing his hand through her hair.

"You want me to tuck you in?"

She nodded, giggling as David tickled her lightly as he picked her up. She bid her uncles goodnight, and then David walked off. He walked through the hallway, missing the door that lead to the bedroom.

"Where are we going?"

"Your bedroom."

"Papa, you missed the door."

"Did I?" David grinned, putting her down. "I don't think so."

"What do you mean?"

"Go on. Open the door."

Hazel looked at him, curiosity written all over her. Carefully she opened the door, gasping as she saw what was inside. It was gorgeous. The room was a light blue, with a comfy looking bed against one wall. There was a white carpet on the floor, and a cabinet with all her toys. A mirror hung on the wall, next to some real electric lights.

"Papa- is this -?"

"You said you wanted a room of your own."

"Thank you, thank you, thank you!" she hugged him tightly, looking at everything around her.

"You like it, hm?"

She nodded quietly, still in awe. He smiled, showing her where her nightgown were. "Ready to go to bed?"

"Will you tell me a story?"

"Alright then. But, after that you really have to go to sleep, alright?"

"Promise."

She smiled, getting comfortable against his chest. David picked up the fairytale book they'd gotten her two years ago, opening it up at the beginning of the final story. He read to her, smiling as she listened thoughtfully. By the time he'd finished the story, she was already half asleep. "Happy birthday, Hazel," he said softly, giving her a goodnight kiss and tucking her in. "I'll see you tomorrow."

With those words he left her, looking back one more time. His little girl, growing up way to fast.

Hazel smiled tiredly when she woke up. She was eight now - she couldn't wait to see what her uncles had gotten her, and to eat cake and to-

She stopped thinking about her birthday when she opened her eyes, facing a brick red wall. Her bed was different, her stuff was gone...

"Papa?!"

She got no answer. She looked around, quickly walking to the door of the room. She tried it, trying to open it, but it was locked.

"Papa?! This isn't funny!"

"Will you shut up!"

"Who are you?" Hazel asked - suddenly feeling smaller than she ever did before. Where was she, and why? Who was this stranger? What had happened to her?

"Doesn't matter. Get the fuck back to sleep."

Quietly Hazel made her way back to the bed where she woke up in, feeling tears well up in her eyes. Not once in her life had she ever felt so lost. She looked at her hands, noticing the bandages. Carefully she removed them, revealing several deep and shallow cuts. Some of them had definitely bled. She let out a small whimper, before sleep took over once again.

"Haze! Are you awake?" Dwayne walked into her room, expecting to see the now eight year old still asleep in her bed. Maybe, she was awake already, waiting excitedly from them to bring their presents. Off all the things he expected - of everything he imagined to see when he opened the door. Not this. Her bed was ripped apart, her sheets were torn. There was blood, the smell of it spreading around the room. Her teddy bear laid carelessly thrown on the floor, her long fixed elephant was once more ripped apart. There was no sign of Hazel anywhere.

"David! We got a problem! It's Hazel - she's not here."

"What? Where's -" David stopped talking when he saw the room, and icy chill falling over him. "That bastard," he growled, running off.

Both Marko and Dwayne followed, knowing exactly who he was talking about. In their life there was only one person that disliked Hazel - Max. He had insulted her, possibly traumatised her. Kidnapping her was definitely not below him. David stormed into Max' restaurant, growling as he saw him sitting there, continuing as it everything was normal.

"Where is my daughter?!"

Max was forced off of his chair, pushed against the wall. Some customers ran out of the door, others tried to hide further away in the restaurant.

"I don't know what you're talking about, boy," Max laughed uneasy, "what got you all worked up?"

"Where is Hazel, Max?!"

"Not at home in that cave of yours? Maybe she got lost?"

"What have you done to her?"

"What makes you think I did something? Come now, David. Did you really think I would harm that little br-"

"He won't tell anything, David. This won't help us," Dwayne sighed, pulling David back. Max grinned, almost satisfied - when Marko punched him in the face. "We know you did it. You either tell us where she is, or you die."

Max laughed, as if it was the best joke he'd heard in a long while. "Oh boys. You really are something."

With that he pushed them out of his restaurant, closing the door in front of them. He excused himself with his customers, apologising to some, before going to the back. He picked up his telephone, ringing the same number as he had a month before when he had been working on his plans.

"I assume everything went as planned?"

"Yes, Mr. Willson."

"Alright. Now, you know the arrangement. I expect you keep up your end."

"Of course, Mr Willson. You have nothing to worry about."

He hung up the phone, grinning. The boys would be under his full control once again.

Hazel groaned quietly as she woke up. Her head ached. She opened her eyes, realising that the nightmare from before was still the same. She sighed, looking around. There were seven, eight more beds in the room. All with the same brown blanket, the same white pillow. At the end of each bed stood a trunk, and on it laid a dress, some stockings and a pair of shoes. Hazel frowned. What was this? Where was she? She got out of bed, when somebody stopped her.

"Lay back down!" Hazel looked up, seeing a girl about her age sit up in the bed. "If Miss Landers sees you, you'll bring us all in trouble!"

"Where am I?"

"You don't know?"

Hazel shook her head, feeling both afraid and curious.

"This is Agatha Landers' Academy for young delinquent prone females."

"What?"

"Your parents must have thought you were bad and put you here. It happened to all of us."

"My father would never put me here..."

"Well, it seems like he did. You should get some more sleep. New girls always get the toughest tasks."

Hazel sighed, wondering how long she would be stuck here. She couldn't believe that her father had put her in this school. He would never. He always wanted to teach her himself, knowing he and his brothers could. No, David wouldn't do this. But what if he had? She cried quietly, wondering if she was right. Hoping she was right. Her papa wouldn't do this. Not to her. Right?

"And now what? He knows where she is!" David was fuming with anger. He'd already killed five people just for the sake of it, but nothing seemed to stop his anger.

"You need to calm down man. Like this you'll never find her," Marko began - but he knew it was a mistake as soon as he'd closed his mouth.

"Calm down?! My fucking daughter is taken! There's blood in her room - her blood! And you expect me to calm down?!"

"What Marko's trying to say is that we need to think logically if we want to find her."

"Yeah? What do you propose we do then, hm?"

"Private investigator or a bounty hunter or something? We just need someone who's good at finding people."

"And our newest recruit. Hazel-" a stern looking, older woman looked at the seven girls in front of her. "Any last name?"

"No."

"No miss. Corner. Now."

Hazel stood there, frozen - what had just happened?

"Not listening, hm? Kitchen duties. All week. You'll be eating the scraps if you're lucky, girl."

The stern woman rung a bell - and an even sterner looking man walked in, taking Hazel down to the kitchens. She was thrown into the room, falling to the floor, before the door slammed shut. She laid there, not moving. What on earth had just happened?

"Seems like they got a new student, Helga," one of the maids said, pity in her voice.

"Poor thing. She looks scared, doesn't she, Mary?"

"Damn right she does. What's your name, child?"

"Hazel.."

"And you're new here?" the one named Helga asked her. Quietly she nodded.

"Poor thing. We saw you come in last night, all bleeding and screaming. Don't you remember?" Mary looked at her.

"No."

"Well," the third maid spoke up, "here you don't have to worry about Mr and Mrs Landers. They don't come down here."

"Where am I?" Hazel sat up, still feeling scared.

"Phoenix. Don't worry, hon. Just take our advice and you'll be fine."

Hazel nodded, wondering if she would be. She was scared still, angry at who ever put her here, and terrified to find out who did.

The days that followed were hell - for both Hazel and David. Hazel had trouble adjusting to her new life, simply refusing it to be true. She tried to listen to the absurd rules she had to follow, but there were so many - and most girls seemed to haven taken a dislike to her. Even if she did well, someone would blame her, and once again she would be punished.

David had become colder. Vicious even. He partially blamed himself, wondering how he couldn't have heard it. Wondering if she had screamed, if she had tried to get away - wondering where on earth she could be.

As much as he tried to find her, as much as he found others who made empty promises of finding her, there was no sign of Hazel anywhere. Little did he know he wouldn't see her for a long time. Max had made sure of that.

#the lost boys #the lost boys x reader #marko #david #paul #vampire #dwayne #dear hazel #long post

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wefoundloveunderthelight · 4 years ago

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Marco’s Home for Lost Boys

Read on AO3 - Chapter 1, Chapter 2, Chapter 3, Chapter 4, Chapter 5

Tagging:

@lfh1226-linda

Chapter 5: Grief

Summary:

“I’m in. Let’s go get your dad’s stuff back.”

“Em, maybe this is a bad idea.”

“Bullshit, if you can do it, I can do it. Besides, I asked to do something exciting.”

Notes:

Warning for Character Death and also violence.

6 months later

“Come on Ems, one more?”

“If I didn’t know any better, I’d say you were trying to get me drunk,” she giggled.

“Only if it’s working” Neal slides the glass toward her.

Her laugh was sloppy and loud, a snort escaping her nose.

“One more!”

She tosses the shot glass back as the warm liquid burns down her throat.

“You are so hot.” His hands are on her hips, pulling her toward him. She drinks in his lips, tasting of whiskey and peanuts.

As if on cue, her phone begins buzzing on the table beside them.

“You probably shouldn’t answer that in your condition, Ems.”

“Hello Captain!” She giggles into the phone.

“Swan, you need to come home.”

“Well, I’m quite busy right now sir…”

“Emma...”

“And honestly I don’t feel like coming home so I don’t quite think I…”

“Emma, it’s Marco. He had a heart attack. They did everything they could, but…”

Emma feels like the whole world has started humming in her ears, her knees buckle under her, phone slipping from her hand onto the table.

She can’t comprehend what Neal is saying on the phone to Killian before he hangs up and picks her up off the floor.

“Ems, Jones is going to come pick you up. Lets just sit on the couch until he gets here. I’ll go get you some water.”

This can’t be happening. Marco can’t be dead. Not her Papa.

She’s an orphan again.

Neal opens the front door on the second knock and he immediately smells the whiskey on the boy’s breath. Killian pushes past him to find Emma sitting on the couch, staring at her feet, a glass in her hand.

He grabs the glass and sniffs it to find it is water, but she smells like she rolled in a barrel of booze.

“Underage drinking? Bad form, Cassidy.” He scowls at Neal standing in the doorway.

“Save the lecture Jones, we were just having a good time.”

He looks down at Emma, “Swan, you alright? Can you walk? We gotta go.”

She stares straight ahead, and he kneels so that his eyes meet hers. “Hey,” her eyes meet his. “let’s go home ok?”

She blinks, recognizing him for the first time since he walked into the room.

“He’s gone.” She whispers and his heart breaks for the second time that evening.

“I know, love. Can you stand?” His hands cup her elbows as he stands and pulls her with him. She wobbles on her legs and leans into his chest.

“Seems like a real good time you two were having.” He peers over at Neal. “We’ll talk about this another time.”

He ushers Emma outside and opens the door to David’s truck, helping her into the seat.

Climbing into the truck himself he sighs and looks over at her. “I’ll try and cover with your brothers as best I can, but you’re gonna need to shower when you get home to wash the smell of alcohol off.”

The hot water numbed her face, standing under the stream in the shower. Killian had moved her quickly through the house and past her brothers before they even got the chance to console her or realize that she was anything besides utterly broken with grief.

The next few days went by in a blur.

The house was buzzing with activity with Arthur and August returning from college for the funeral. Robin shut down his bar for the week to be at home and help with the arrangements.

It was weird having so many people at home. Even though she knew it was only temporary.

Soon Arthur and August would go back to Boston and Seattle, Robin would go back to working 7 days a week at the “The Sleeping Lion”, David was on his way to building a life with Mary Margaret and she was sure overheard the two of them whispering about him moving out in the near future.

Killian was hardly around anymore either. He began working as a Boat Captain on the “Jolly Roger”, a tourist attraction where you got to sail with pirates on a real pirate ship, guyliner and leather included. But even when he wasn’t working, he was always out doing “something”.

It would just be Will and her. They had just started their senior year in high school. She was a couple months to her 17th birthday. What was she going to do now as everyone was leaving her?

She did everything she could during those few days to ignore the shouting in her brain. She packed up boxes in her father’s room, cooked dinner for her brothers, cleaned up the messes they left behind while they ran here and there trying to prepare for their father’s funeral.

She did everything, except cry. No matter what she did, the tears wouldn’t come.

Even as she stood in front of her Papa’s gravestone, rain coming down and bouncing off the freshly moved ground, David’s arm wrapped tightly around her, she found no tears.

Once they returned home that evening, she was starting to feel like she was suffocating. She wanted to yell at the next person who apologized for her loss and asked her how she was doing.

I’m fine.

“Swan, you should eat something.”

“I ate.”

“Swan.” She looked up into his narrowed blue orbs. “I happen to know you have not eaten anything since breakfast, and that was a piece of toast.”

“Geez, are you keeping a tracker or something? I’m sure I ate today.” She tried to push past him, but he held firm and his hand wrapped around her arm.

“Emma, I know there is a lot going on in that pretty little head of yours, but you need food if you wish to remain on your feet.”

She reached over and grabbed a cracker and cheese off the tray in front of them and shoved it in her mouth. “Happy now?”

He rolled his eyes but allowed her to move past him toward her room, slamming the door behind her.

Run.

E. You busy? I need a drink!

She clicked her fingernails on her phone waiting for the response which came quickly.

N: Come on over.

Emma grabbed her jacket, lifted the window upward and jumped to the ground outside. She was across town in her yellow bug in no time and running up the stairs to Neal’s home.

After the second knock on the door, it opened with Neal’s father standing in the frame.

“Emma, I’m so very sorry about your father.”

Emma smiled weakly. “Um thanks, Mr. Gold.”

“Please come in, my son said you would be stopping by.”

Neal appeared behind him and Emma stepped into the house.

“Please ensure you and Ms. Swan are responsible.” He nodded at his son and pulled on his jacket. “I apologize but I have business to attend to and cannot stay to entertain.”

“Oh well, it was nice seeing you.”

When the door closed, she turned toward Neal. “Um is he cool with me being here while he’s gone?”

Neal laughed. “Yeah, he even gave me a nice bottle of whiskey for us to share.”

“Woah.”

“Yeah, he can be cool sometimes. So, what do you say we crack this thing open?”

Emma was finally feeling a bit less claustrophobic being in Neal’s house. No one to mill about or force food upon her. In fact, Neal hadn’t even asked her how she was doing.

She grabbed the glass from his hand and quickly tipped her head back, feeling the warmth hit her stomach immediately. She grabbed the glass and poured a second shot.

“Woah, not messing around.”

“I just need to drink and not have people ask me how I am.” She sighed.

“Ah feeling suffocated then?”

“How do people think I’m doing?” She rolls her eyes. “Oh, I’m just fine, I’m great, who needs a father anyhow, I’ve done it without one before.” She parroted.

“Woah, Emma.”

“Don’t, Neal. I don’t need someone to comfort me. Just someone to pour the damn drinks.”

“I can do a lot more than pour your drinks.” His hand lands on her thigh.

She stands up and starts pacing the room, grabbing the bottle of whiskey and taking a swig. “I want to do something exciting.”

“Well, I was just trying to do something exciting but you’re now over there and I’m still sitting here.”

“Not sexual. Exciting, dangerous. Something that reminds you that you are alive.”

“Ok I think you’ve had enough to drink.” He tries to take the bottle, but Emma yanks it away from him.

“I’m serious. I just want to feel like I’m still here.”

“Well, I do have to do an errand tonight that might fit in that category.”

“Errand? How does that even fit in the category of exciting.”

“Well, it’s not exactly a… shall we say legal errand.”

Emma sits down next to him wide eyed. “Neal what are you talking about?”

“Never mind, I shouldn’t have said anything.”

She takes another long drink of the whiskey. Why would Neal be doing something illegal?

“What exactly is this errand for?”

“Ems, I shouldn’t talk about it.”

“No, I want to know. Maybe I’m interested.”

“That’s the thing Em, you are not the type to be interested in this sort of thing.”

“Hey, I can be the type.”

“That’s the whiskey speaking.” He pauses. “Look, it’s not a big deal, I just have to pick something up that was taken from my dad.”

She stares at him. “Oh my God someone stole something from the pawn shop?”

He nods. “Uh yeah, something like that. And my dad asked me to get it back for him.”

“Well, if it belongs to your dad, then whoever took it should just give it back.”

“Exactly but well, they don’t actually want to give it back, so I have to kind of…” He looks at his feet, as if he doesn’t want to proceed. “I gotta go steal it, Em.”

Shit.

Her phone buzzes and she looks to see that she has missed a lot of messages.

K: Everyone is going to bed.

Will: Are you going to sleep all the bloody time now?

K: Are you alright in there?

David: I know you are taking this hard Princess but know that we are here when you want to talk.

Will: I was going to come talk to you, but Killian is being an arse and told me to leave you alone. Just checking to see how you are doing. I’ll talk to you in the morning.

K: I guess you aren’t coming out of your room anytime soon so...

K: Goodnight, Swan!

She takes another long swig. “I’m in. Let’s go get your dad’s stuff back.”

“Em, maybe this is a bad idea.”

“Bullshit, if you can do it, I can do it. Besides, I asked to do something exciting.”

“Ok but, you can’t tell anyone we did this ok?”

“Well duh.” She jumps off the couch and puts the whiskey down. “So, do we wear all black or?”

He laughs, digging into a small cabinet and putting something in his jacket pocket. “Nah what you are wearing is fine.”

She frowns. “Oh bummer.”

He grabs a black beanie from the cabinet and tosses it to her. “Fine, wear this so your hair doesn’t stand out so brightly. It can be your disguise.”

She giggles and pulls the beanie on, not sure exactly what the hell she is getting into. But she needs this. She needs to feel like this isn’t the end of her. That she is still breathing, and life goes on.

He can’t stop tossing and turning in his bed. His mind won’t turn off. It’s been a whirlwind for the last week since their father had passed. Everyone had stayed busy to ensure that all the tasks were completed.

Grief was tricky.

Everyone had a way of coping with it. Robin and Arthur had thrown themselves into work by getting all the details and chores done, August was slowly drowning himself in a bottle, David chose to drown in love by spending every moment with his girlfriend, and Will had cried until there was nothing left. He had been taking it hard after having found his father on the floor of the kitchen.

For Emma, she seemed to choose avoidance. He had barely seen the girl cry since their father’s passing.

Killian found that for him, grief was about figuring out your next move. Where it would take you from that exact moment in time.

And his next move was going to take money and a fair share of it if he was going to get his own place with Milah and ever have hopes of buying that ship.

He was already working 5 times a week at the harbor as a bloody pirate captain on the “Jolly Roger”. He got to wear some authentic leather pirate gear and he had to admit he looked dashing in the guyliner. But the job wasn’t going to get him the ship he needed to get out of here.

So, he got desperate.

He knew working as bag man on the side for Gold wasn’t exactly a hero move. Tossing his lot in with Gold was suicide to many who had done so before him. But Gold paid him double what he was making on the Jolly and offered him an extra bonus a few times to muscle some blokes who had refused to pay what they owed Gold. Gold was a private man, so his services had stayed out of the public eye which was exactly how Killian had wanted it.

Besides, as soon as he had the money he needed, he was done with Gold. He wasn’t proud of what he was doing, but it was a means to an end. And he would leave this town as soon as he had the money he needed anyway.

Everything he had planned was moving along except for one piece.

Emma.

Emma had gotten herself involved with Gold’s son, Neal.

Killian needed to make sure she got away from him before he left town. Neal was trouble. He was cocky, reckless, and selfish. Traits that were only going to get Emma hurt.

But he didn’t know how to tell Emma the truth about Neal without exposing himself to his own lies.

He looked over at the clock, 1:15am.

He groaned and pushed his covers off, sitting up on the bed and rubbing his eyes.

Maybe he could drown himself with that bottle for a little bit. Maybe it would allow him to find sleep.

Tugging on his boxers, he quietly padded through the house and opened the cupboard door, pulling the bottle of rum from the shelf.

“Can’t sleep either?”

Killian almost dropped the bottle to the ground at the sound of David’s voice.

“Geez, mate, not a good idea to sneak up on a man in the dark.” He stepped forward to see David sitting in a chair by the fireplace, a drink in his hand.

“Guess we had the same idea.” He held up his glass, the dark amber liquid swirling at the bottom.

“Aye.” Killian took the seat opposite with his own glass in hand, taking a sip of the liquid.

“Can’t believe he’s gone.” He sighed.

“What will become of this place?” David continued. “Everyone will be graduated adults next year.”

Killian’s raised his brow. “You really think Will is going to graduate?”

David laughed. “We’ll get him there.”

“Aye.” He nodded and then took another drink.

“We should probably talk about that though. You know, Will and Emma. They are both almost 17. Old enough that they will let them still live here, but I guess one of us will need to be their guardian until they graduate.”

“Hadn’t thought of that, but I haven’t the means to move out yet anyway.”

“Yeah, I was actually going to talk to everyone about this before Marco passed but,” He paused. “I had planned to move out in a month. I’m going to start working at the station for Sheriff Graham and they offered me a place close by in town.”

“Oh, wow that’s great news, Dave.”

“It was. But now.”

“No, you should still stay on your plan. Besides, I know you and Mary Margaret would love some privacy now and then.”

“Well, there is that.” He smirked.

“I’m happy for you, mate. You deserve happiness.”

“So, do you brother.”

He swirled his glass before taking another sip. “I’m a pirate captain five days a week, what more could I ask for?”

David stood to refill his glass. “You make a good point there…” he paused at the window. “Did Emma go out?”

“No, she’s where I left her hours ago, brooding in her room.”

“No, she’s not.” He turned, gesturing to the window. “Bug’s gone.”

This was the dumbest idea she had ever had.

Emma’s hands were numb from standing in the cold. Neal was hunched over the door, with small tools sticking into the lock as he jiggled them, but nothing was opening the door.

“Do you even know what you are doing?”

“Of course, I do, but I can’t do it with you yammering in my ear.”

“It’s just that you’ve been at this for a while and the door is still closed. I thought the point of this mission was for us to get inside.”

“Ok smart ass, you think you can better?”

She laughed. “Um no. I mean. I’ve never broken into anything in my life.” She stared at the tools sticking out of the lock.

Live a little Emma.

“Ok fine, move over.” She shoved his hands away from the tools. “So, what am I supposed to do?”

“I was joking.”

“Just tell me what to do.”

“Ok that wrench there, you push that in. Then take the pick, you need to move the pins around until they click into place and you can open the door.”

Emma pushed with her hands and could feel the pins moving around like a puzzle in her head. She closed her eyes and concentrated. She felt lost in her thoughts when she felt the door push.

“Ems, you did it, you’re a natural.” He beamed.

“Great, I have a future in criminal behavior.”

He pulled her up to him and kissed her before tugging her into the dark of the building.

“Just stay here ok. I’ll be right back.”

“Wait Neal, you aren’t just going to leave me here are you?”

“I’ll be right back.” He disappeared into the black and Emma stood silently in the corner of the shop they were in.

Suddenly she heard voices coming from the direction Neal went.

“Neal?” she whispered.

She stepped forward into the dark. “Neal?”

Suddenly she heard his voice and saw him running toward her, “Run Emma, Run.”

Emma turned to leave but felt something grab her from behind. She kicked backward, making contact with whatever had grabbed her, knocking them backwards, the shimmer of something long and silver in the man’s hands.

Neal ran past her, grabbing the door and yanking it open. “Emma let’s go.”

She tripped as she tried to run to the door, falling into something that caused her to land on her knees. She knew she would have bruises tomorrow. Dragging herself up, she stumbled forward in the dark before hands grabbed her ankles and she fell forward again. “Neal! Help!”

“You can’t steal from me.” She heard a gruff voice coming from the man holding her ankle and she kicked at his hand with her free foot. It was enough to free herself and she clamored to her knees and onto her feet to grab the door handle, yanking it open.

Just as she stepped into the alley, she felt a pain in her side, a burning sting that made her scream out in pain. She shoved as hard as she could with her hands at the man standing behind her, a long silver knife falling to the ground as his back hit the concrete wall behind him.

Run Emma, Run!

She didn’t look back; she didn’t stop running until she got to the road. She looked around and realized she was completely alone. No man trying to grab her. And definitely no sign of Neal.

She knew she needed hide. To get out of the open. She looked around until she got her bearings and headed toward where she had parked her car on the back street.

She expected to find Neal at the car, but he was gone.

He left me.

She pulled the door open and locked the door behind her, looking around to make sure no one had followed her.

She breathed heavily, her hand clutching her side which was still burning. When she pulled back her hand, all she saw was blood.

And then everything went black.

#my fic #stacy's fics #Marco's home for lost boys #killian jones #emma swan #captain swan #captain swan au #captain swan fics

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universe-n-3276 · 4 years ago

Text

Carrying the Moon

Epilogue

He shouldn’t have been there. He knew that if someone found him on the school’s rooftop, he would immediately be lectured by the headmaster, who obviously would call his parents, and he could already imagine the concerned look on his father’s face. Whenever he did something stupid, that man always had the same look painted on his face, and he couldn’t stand it anymore. But the boy couldn’t help it. He needed it. When he felt things overwhelming him (it often happened during the lunch break), he needed to feel the comfort that arose from watching his schoolmates from above, small as ants, move around frenetically.

On the roof of the school, alone, the noises and people around him were far away. The air was fresh, and the perspective changed completely. Three months earlier, during his last exams of the semester, he had begun to feel different. Everything he felt was amplified. He was full of energy and able to do anything. He had been awake, night after night, writing, planning, drawing. During the day, as he answered all the quiz, he felt confident, he knew everything, then the verdicts came. He had failed all his tests and in his mind, his teachers were trying to set him up, they wanted him to fail. He had fought furiously with his parents, and it was weird because he was used to talking with them, and not screaming his lungs out, but he was only a sixteen-year-old, and teenagers usually argue a lot with their parents, right?

Then during the Christmas break, he had started to spend whole days locked in his room, until he no longer wanted to go out or get out of bed, and after that moment there were only doctors, pills, and worried looks. He hated feeling that way, he hated not being able to control it. He felt as if an alien had moved into his brain and had taken control over it. He just wanted to feel like before, he wanted to go back to being the happy and carefree person he had always been. The boy heard the door open behind him and turned quickly, hoping he hadn’t been caught, but he immediately recognized a familiar face and raised a hand in greeting, allowing himself to smile a bit. He wanted to be left alone, but he liked Eva’s company. The girl had auburn, straight hair, very fair skin, covered with freckles, and blue eyes, identical to her father’s.

“Hero David Driesen-IJzermans, you’re so weird.” “I did nothing.” “School is supposed to help you develop your social skills, you know? And you spend your time here alone.” “I'm not feeling well.” Eva's lively gaze softened. He walked over to Hero and placed a hand on his back, moving it in a circular motion, to try to give him relief. “You should call your fathers.” “I called Charlotte. My dad is busy at work and my papa has always a stupid worried look on his face when something happens, and I don't wanna see it.” The girl nodded, and was silent for a few moments, staring down at the schoolyard full of their classmates enjoying their free-time. “Have you told Camille you're hiding here?” “No. I broke up with them.” “Why?” “We weren't right for each other.” Hero bit his lip. Breaking up with Camille had been difficult. He had thought about it for a long time, not knowing if it was the right decision if it was really what he wanted or that sense of impatience was just a side symptom of the disease. “You know, since our parents have these great stories about being with their soulmates since they were teenagers, I always feel under pressure. What if I won’t find that ineffable love?” “They always say when you know, you know, so don't worry too much about it.” The boy gave Eva a small smile as he retrieved his ringing phone from the pocket. He looked at the screen, picking up his backpack from the ground and put it on his shoulder, happy to finally get out of that school that made him feel caged. “I gotta go now, Charlotte is here. Bye Ev.” “Bye, weirdo.”

Hero didn’t remember the exact moment when he was told that Charlotte was his biological mother. It was as if he had always known, and it had never been strange. He had seen movies where the main characters discovered as teenagers that they had been adopted, and were traumatized by the idea that those who they had always believed their parents were strangers. He just couldn't put himself in those people's shoes, because he was convinced that a family went far beyond the DNA and that all the love and the affection he had received from his parents since childhood, were what would tie them together for the rest of their life. Charlotte had given him life, but only with his fathers, he felt safe. However, Hero knew, he was lucky to know who his mother was. To be able to talk to and see her every day. He knew his story, and he didn't have a thousand question marks floating in his head when he thought about who he was, or where he came from. He knew why Charlotte had decided to let him be adopted, and he knew, it wasn’t his fault. Since he had been diagnosed with bipolar disorder three months earlier, he understood her choice even better. Sometimes he had talked to Eva about the fact that they had both been adopted, but the affinities of their stories ended there. She didn't know anything about her biological parents, she didn't know her story and this made her suffer, even though she was grateful for the love, she had received from Jens and Lucas since she was a child. Eva had lived in a foster home until she was adopted by the two boys at the age of five, and because of this, she still had memories of when she felt abandoned and alone in the world. Hero had never felt the same way. He had always had two parents, an aunt, two uncles, four grandparents, and eventually, a sister. There was no space to feel alone. When he came out of school, he saw Charlotte waiting for him and smiled at her, walking in her direction. When they were in front of each other, she promptly squeezed him in a hug, and Hero immediately felt some of the tension vanish. He was sixteen and most of his friends shunned their family, trying to spend a lot of time away from home among their peers. But since he had his first episode, he felt comfortable only with his family. He knew, he could finally let his guard down because they would take care of everything. “Thanks for picking me up, Aunt Charlotte.” “Anytime, baby. Let's grab some hot chocolate, okay?” Hero nodded slowly, following Charlotte who had started walking. He had heard so many stories about her. When she was young, his aunt was the life of the party, ready to joke around. She hadn't changed much over the years. Charlotte was a funny person and always had a smile on her face. She lived with her girlfriend Ellie in a house by the river. They had no children, but Hero knew they were both very happy with their busy lives. When they sat facing each other in the cafeteria, waiting for their order, Charlotte looked Hero in the eye, and the boy suddenly felt exposed, as if there was no way could he have lied without the other noticing. “How are you feeling?” “I felt a bit overwhelmed at school, but now I'm fine.” “It was the same for me, but I pushed myself so hard all the time, just to fit in, that after some time it almost felt normal.” “Should I do that too?” Maybe Charlotte had the answer to all of his problems. Perhaps following her footsteps would lead him to regain his lost normality. So when Hero asked that question, his tone came out far more hopeful than he wanted. The woman looked at him sweetly and reached out to stroke his cheek. “No, baby. I know how it feels like you have no control over your mind or your body, but it’s not like that. It’s like learning to drive a new car: everything is new at first and you are scared but eventually, you’ll get used to it.” “So I'll be able to control this thing, eventually?” “Not really, but you will know how to deal with it, and also, all the people around you will know what to do to help you.” Hero sighed, looking down. He felt trapped in a tunnel with no exit. “It's frustrating.” “Yeah. But if you go to therapy and take your meds, it will be fine. You’ll know when something is coming. Everyone has symptoms. But don't worry, okay? We’re all here for you. We're gonna get through this. I promised.” “Thanks, Aunt Charlotte.” -

After spending a few hours with Charlotte to clear his mind, Hero had made a decision. He knew, he had to talk about it with his parents first, and this made him a little anxious, but he was sure that talking about it with his dad would help him more in deciding what to do. Hero was very attached to his dad, and unlike many teenagers, he felt free to talk to him about everything, without ever being judged. While he was waiting for the elevator, he closed his eyes and suddenly felt all the tiredness envelop his limbs. It was a weird sensation for the middle of the day. He had always been a boy who liked people, and yet the disease made social interactions physically exhausting. After half a day with his schoolmates and teachers, he just needed to rest. Going home and doing homework in those conditions was complicated. He couldn’t focus. The only thing he wanted to do was simply lie down to recover some of the energy lost during the day. Even before the elevator doors opened, Hero could hear the voices of his uncles. They were bickering as usual, and he couldn’t help but smile. Jens and Lucas have always been two of his favorite people in the world. Thanks to them he had learned to skate as a child, even though he often found himself in the midst of their deathly competitions to decide which one of them was more skilled on the board. “This damn stroller. Why you had to pick this monstrosity, uh?” “It was the safest one, Jens.” “It's bigger than our car and we barely fit in the elevator.” When the doors opened, they revealed the two men comically squeezed in a corner, to make

room for what was truly the largest stroller Hero had ever seen. Inside that gigantic thing, there was Lilith, a little girl of just six months, with thick raven hair and big chestnut eyes. “Hey, kid!” Jens was the first to notice Hero, and as soon as he managed to get out of the elevator, he gave him a high-five. Lucas took the stroller out and joined them. “Are you okay, baby? You look tired.” Lucas could spot the tiniest detail of one’s face, and Hero knew this very well. There were rare times in which he had managed to get away from his uncle’s gaze, and in fact, Eva had also stopped trying to hide anything from him. “And you should still be at school, right?” Hero still hated to talk about his illness, and it was wrong, especially because they were his uncles who had known him forever and knew exactly what he was going through. Lucas and Jens had been close to Charlotte when she was struggling. It should have been easier to say I felt a little overwhelmed today, so Charlotte picked me up and I just wanna rest even though it's only two in the afternoon. But he still couldn't, so he just shrugged, hoping the two would understand. Lucas stroked his cheek, giving him a look full of affection. “It's gonna be fine, Hero. And we are all here for you, okay?” “Yes, if you need anything, just call us, or come upstairs. Our door is always open for you.” Hero smiled, extremely grateful for the safety-net around him. He was surrounded by people who cared so much about him. They would never leave him alone, even in their darkest moments. He thanked his uncles and waved them goodbye, doing the same with little Lilith who had watched the whole scene from her huge stroller. - When he walked into his house, he immediately heard music coming from his papa's studio. Since Bowie, his sister, was born, Sander had decided to focus on her and work more from home. His sister was a little brat, and the fact that Sander spoiled her didn't make things better. The two spent hours playing with paint and soiling clean clothes and furniture with it. Hero had never been particularly talented with pencils and brushes, and perhaps for that reason, he believed in his heart that his papa preferred to spend more time with Bowie. He couldn't help but be a little jealous of their relationship, and of how Sander was able to show affection to the little girl. The boy knew, he was also deeply loved by his papa, but lately, there was something off between them. He knocked on the open door of his father's studio to get his attention, and the man looked up, giving his son a warm smile. “Hey, you're back early!” “Yeah, I didn't feel good and I asked Charlotte to pick me up.” “You could have asked me.” Hero shrugged, avoiding Sander's gaze. He hated to see the disappointment on his face, but his papa couldn't understand what he was going through. Charlotte, on the other hand, could. “How are you feeling now?” “Tired. I think I'm gonna get some rest.” “If you need anything, I'm right here.” Hero nodded, giving his father a small smile. As he made his way to his room, his sister darted past him laughing, without even saying hello and he frowned, thinking she was the strangest girl in the world. When he entered his room, he quickly walked over to the desk. He took off his backpack, placing it on the floor, and got rid of the sweatshirt he was wearing, already anticipating the moment when his body would finally touch the bed. He turned, but his expression changed immediately when he saw a huge stain of red paint standing out on his favorite blanket. Hero reconnected the dots. It wasn’t a hard task, after all. “BOWIE. I SWEAR TO GOD. I HATE YOU SO MUCH.” He closed his eyes and tried to regain control of himself, trying to breathe normally through his nose, while thinking he had to move quickly before the paint would run through the blanket, ruining the sheets and mattress. “What happened?” Sander appeared from the door with a frown on his face, followed by Bowie that was hiding behind his legs. Hero looked at them both, furiously, while a thousand thoughts were crowding his mind. He wanted to keep screaming all his anger, but he didn't. Instead, he started to roll up the blanket, being careful not to spill the paint around. “Your favorite child made a mess.” “Hero, what are you talking about? I don't have a favorite child. You two and your dad are my favorite people in the world.” The boy didn’t argue. He kept undoing his bed to the mattress, in silence. When he noticed that his father was doing nothing to leave him alone in his bedroom, he decided to speak up. “Where's dad? I wanna talk to him.” “He's still at work.” Hero was tired and angry, and in moments like that, it was like his emotions were exploding inside of him uncontrollably. He hated feeling that way as if everything he had inside was about to get out of his hand at any moment. Despite fighting against it for most of the time, sometimes he couldn’t help but let go. He looked at his papa's face and clenched his jaw when the other's eyes held his gaze with the same intensity as if they were a mirror of his own. The boy wanted to say everything he had been holding inside for months, all the thoughts that were hurting him. The things that kept him awake at night. Why don't you love me as much as you love Bowie? Why don't you ever want to spend time with me? It's because she is really your daughter and I’m just... He swallowed the lump in his throat and looked away, suddenly feeling too fragile to be able to withstand such a fight. Once again he had been betrayed by himself. “I don't get why he's always at work, while you are here.” “You're being rude, and you know I work here so I can be with you and your sister.” “Yeah, with my sister, of course. Whatever, I want dad now.” “Hero, you can also talk to me.” “I need to throw these things in the washer.” “Okay. Let me help you.” - Later that evening, he was hiding in his room, tucked under clean blankets, with the light on, because he wanted to avoid, in every way, turning his bad mood into something worse. Hero heard a knock on his door. When he turned to look at his visitor, he was delighted to see his dad's face. He sighed in relief and sat up against the headboard. The boy was happy to finally see him. He had needed his presence since he left for school that morning. “Hey, baby.” “Hi, dad.” “How's your day?” Robbe sat down on the bed, hugging him tightly, making that annoying lump in his throat reappear, and his eyes becoming instantly watery. They released their embrace and Hero shook his head, trying not to look his dad. Robbe sighed, placing his hands on the boy's shoulders. “Hero, what’s going on? Papa told me what happened.” “Snitch.” “He's worried about you. He loves you as much as I do, you know that.” “But he loves Bowie more because she’s your biological daughter.” “Baby, what are you talking about? You can't be serious!” Hero shrugged. Saying that sentence out loud was all he had been trying to do for weeks, but now it was like finding himself suddenly naked, in front of a crowd that was staring at him. He couldn't add anything else or speak up, because, yes, he was serious, but when he felt his dad's arms wrap him in a hug, he felt a little less stupid. “You can't even imagine what your papa did for you when we were young. He gave up everything for you. His relationship with me and with his sister. He was ready to drop out of uni, just to find a job and take care of you.” “I didn’t want to be rude to him. I was just pissed because Bowie made a mess in my room while he was supposed to watch her.” “He can get lost in his work sometimes.” “And I also don't know how to talk to him. With you, it's easier.” “We can call him and you can try to talk with both of us.” “Fine.” When Sander walked through the door, following Robbe and holding his hand, he had his usual worried expression painted on his face. He sat on Hero's bed, and Robbe did the same, on the other side of it. Hero, somehow, felt calmer, safer, there sat between his fathers. “Sorry about earlier, papa.” “It's okay, don't worry.” Like a suspicious cat that suddenly jumps in your lap, Hero approached his papa, leaning his back against the man’s chest, and Sander began to card his fingers through his son's hair, looping his waist with the other arm. Hero closed his eyes, relaxing. He realized that the distance he had felt between him and his papa was probably yet another trick of his mind and that for all that time, it would be enough for him to reach out, and bring down the walls that he had created. “I think I should drop out of school. I’m overwhelmed all the time and it’s really hard for me to focus. When I get home I’m too tired to do my homework. I feel like I'm failing at everything and it gives me anxiety.” There was a long moment of silence in which Robbe and Sander looked into each other's eyes, and Hero was sure that somehow, after years of marriage, the two had discovered a way to talk telepathically, because he had seen them do that so many times. “Your mental health is our priority.” “Definitely, and we understand that you need your time to adjust to your illness, to understand how to live your life with it.” “Thanks.” “But, maybe we can consider other options, you know?” “Like what?” "Homeschooling, for example." It wasn't a bad idea. That way he would adjust his schedule according to how he felt. “It's a good idea, but I don't know if I can start something new right now.” “It's okay, baby. We can take it day by day.” “And if it gets too much, we can also take it minute by minute.” Hero turned his face to look his papa in the eye, and smile gratefully at him. He liked the idea of not having to think about the future and being able to focus only on the present. It made him feel grounded and for the first time in weeks, his mind wasn't drifting. Robbe held Hero in his arm, kissing his forehead, while Sander hugged them both as they did when he was still a little kid. “My baby boy.” “Our baby boy, Robbe.” “Yes, our baby boy.” Maybe Hero would always be a fish out of water among his peers, because of his illness or because it was just what he had always been. Having been loved so deeply since he was born, had led him to be free of being himself because his parents had always pushed him to express his personality and not to apologize for who he was. Reality hit him very hard when he found out that people usually prefer predictability and labels. The world doesn't like unpredictable things. Hero loved to live his little utopia, in the arms of his parents, in which he was free to be himself, with his illness, his moment of euphoria, and his depression. He was free to express his ideas, to love immeasurably, to cry, to feel sad or happy. In his little utopia, he felt safe and knew that if he fell, someone would always be ready to catch him. At that moment Hero knew that, although he’d always carry the moon inside of him, thanks to the love surrounding him, eventually, the sun would shine again.

[previous]

#wtfock #wtfam #carrying the moon #epilogue #robbe ijzermans #sander driesen #jens stoffels #lucas van der heijden #van der stoffels #drijzermans #sobbe

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nothingeverlost · 4 years ago

Text

Donut (Penny for Your Thoughts verse, Rumbelle)

@halfwayinlight I thought I would have this up for Christmas. Sorry it’s a tad late.

It’s a quarantine Christmas vacation

“I’ll see you after the new year.” David gave her a hug before he left the office, catching the elevator with Graham and Emma. They were all headed for his house, where Emma would pick up her son.

“Give Mary Margaret and Neal my love, and tell her that when she gets tired of you there’s always an empty room above our garage,” she teased. Though it was a joke she would miss him. They’d been sharing Archie’s apartment for months now, and though they both longed for their families it had been an interesting bonding experience, bringing them even closer.

Belle only lingered a few minutes extra in the office, leaving a few surprises in Ariel’s desk for her to find. While the rest of the team was taking the month of December off, to spend time with their quarantined families, Ariel had volunteered to liaise with the team temporarily taking their place. Belle was pretty certain the decision had been at least influenced by the agent in charge of the team, Eric del Mar. The first time they’d met in the cafeteria Ariel had been so flustered she’d accidentally stolen a fork. She still kept it in her desk, jokingly calling it her lucky dinglehopper.

With one last look around to make sure she hadn’t forgotten anything - a month was a long time to be away from work - Belle headed for the elevator and punched the button to take her up to the lobby. Her bags were in the back of the car; it was the first time since September she’d been home. Not being there for Thanksgiving had been hard, but knowing she would get the whole month for Christmas had made up for it.

Archie’s car was in the carport, leaving her spot in the garage free. Belle hoped he’d only moved out of her space recently; it was silly not to use it when she was gone, not that Archie would be driving much. The sound of the garage door meant she couldn’t hope to surprise anyone, but it didn’t matter when the door opened and Claire raced out to greet her.

“Mommy.” She was barely out of the car when her daughter jumped the last few feet, certain that she would be caught. Belle scooped her up, hugging her tight. She needed a million hours of cuddles to make up for missed time. “I missed you.”

“I missed you too, baby.”

“You can’t go in the kitchen ‘cause it’s a surprise, but papa said that if you’re hungry I should show you the cuter board in the living room. Uncle Archie let me help with the crackers and the grapes but not with the cheese ‘cause the knife is sharp.” When she put Claire down her daughter still stayed close.

“I think papa probably said it was a charcuterie board, but I like yours better.” She had to guess that it was Archie’s influence more than Gabe’s, unless he had somehow discovered pinterest and been way more bored then he let on. “Where is your papa sweetheart?”

“He had to take Donut outside so she could go potty.”

“I don’t think I understand.” She tried to puzzle out what Claire might mean about taking a donut outside. None of her toys, to Belle’s knowledge, were named donut.

“You will.” Bay chuckled as he came out of the kitchen, a towel tucked into his pants. He probably hadn’t grown at all in the past couple of months, she just wasn’t used to thinking of him as being that tall. When he hugged her her head fit neatly under his chin. “Welcome home.”

“I’m so glad to see you sweetheart. Thank you for all the videos, they brighten my day.” Bay had introduced the whole family to Tiktok, setting everyone up with private accounts. The rest of the team now had accounts, and shared videos, but Bay and Henry were responsible for most of the sharing. She was grateful for the multiple one minute videos she saw each day, and often rewatched, though Claire’s fascination with the fireplace had given her more than one moment of concern.

“Of course the damn dog would decide it needed to go out the moment you arrive home.” The back door slammed, letting in a cold breeze, her husband, and a dog. It was an odd looking thing that could only be classified as a mutt, with a reddish brown head that looked vaguely like a retriever and a body in gray and white that looked like it should belong to another dog entirely.

“Donut?” she guessed. Her attention only lingered on the dog for a moment. She was much more interested in the man crossing the room towards her. Almost three month since she’d been able to touch Gabe was almost criminal in her opinion. Someone should be arrested

“I can think of some names that would be more appropriate for the mutt but your daughter insisted.” She couldn’t answer, not with Gabe’s lips on hers and his hands at her waist. God she’d missed the taste of him. And the feel. And the smell.

“They’re kissing already,” she could hear Claire whisper loudly. “Do they have to take a really big breath like when you some swimming under water?”

“Something like that,” she could hear Bay reply with a chuckle.

“Hugs are better,” her daughter declared. Belle had to laugh at that, when the kiss ended.

“I like hugs too, sweetheart.” Gabe was wearing one of the sweaters they had picked up on their trip to Ireland last year, and the wool was soft against her skin. She wouldn’t mind standing just where she was for a while.

“Especially when less clothing is involved,” Gabe whispered in her ear. Bell elbowed him lightly in the ribs. That wasn’t fair; it would be hours before they could have that kind of alone time.

“So is anyone going to tell me about this new addition to the family?” No one had mentioned a dog on any of their calls, which were at least once a day.

“She was sleeping in Claire’s playhouse a few weeks ago. We made calls but no one seemed to be looking for her. The vet gave her a clean bill of health and a little snip snip so it looks like we are pet owners now.” Gabe groused, but couldn’t hide a smile when he looked down at his daughter gently petting the dog and whispering confidences in her ear. “She certainly is more comfortable sleeping on Claire’s bed.”

“I thought we should call her Goldilocks since she was in someone else’s house. Archie voted on Snow White for the same reason. But the short one had the final say so she’s Donut.” Bay shrugged. “I’m going to go check on things.”

“Things?” Belle asked as he headed for the kitchen, where she wasn’t allowed to go according to Claire. She assumed that he was helping with dinner; Archie had mentioned something about cooking lessons with Bay which was good, since Archie knew more about cooking than Gabe by quite a bit.

“Dinner, obviously, but I promised not to spoil the surprise by sharing the menu.” He tugged her towards the sofas, where the ‘cuter’ board was laid out on the coffee table along with an open bottle of Bordeaux. Belle sat on the sofa next to him but turned so her legs were across his lap.

“So you decided that a six year old, a college sophomore, and a full time roommate with his six computers wasn’t interesting enough, you added a dog to the mix?” She and Gabe were both relieved that Bay’s college was still doing online classes, and Archie being around made sense both for Archie not being alone and for help around the house, but it was a full house especially when both kids were home schooling, Archie was working from home and Gabe was working on a new book.

“It was snowing.” Gabe was full of bluster, but Belle knew that he’d been thinking about getting a dog anyway. In fact she was a little surprised it had taken so long, except that they had talked about waiting until Claire was old enough to have some of the responsibility. Gabe loved on every dog they saw at a crime scene. “She’s gentle with Claire.”

“You’re a marshmallow, Gabe Gold.” She kissed him on the cheek. “I am confused by the name, though.”

“It’s your fault, actually. You know how she loves stories about when you were pregnant, and how much you loved eclairs.”

“I always love eclairs, I just loved them a little more then.” And Gabe, bless him, had indulged her with early morning drives to the bakery, late night drives to the grocery store, and at least a few times special flavors overnighted from out of state bakeries.

“Most people would call it an obsession, sweetheart.” There were no eclairs on the charcuterie board, of course, but he did hand her a cracker topped with brie and raspberry habanero jelly. “You know how she likes to say that she is mommy’s favorite eclair.”

“She is my favorite.” It had been a joke at first, calling her baby a little eclair. She and Gabe had spent months debating baby names; sadly between the two of them there were many names that reminded them of cases they had worked and people they did not want sharing a name with their baby. It was a nurse who had misheard eclair and thought she was saying Claire, and the name had worked. She and Gabe both loved it.

“Claire reasoned that her favorite treat from the bakery is jelly donuts. Like mother, like daughter.”

“You can’t fault her logic.” Belle laughed, even more amused now that she understood the name. “I’ve heard worse names for a dog.”

“Bay says dinner in five.” Claire appeared a moment later, dog at her side. Belle scooped her up, holding her on her lap. It didn’t get much better than holding her little girl while cuddling with her husband.

“Good, because I’m very hungry.”

“I’m very hungry too, and Uncle Archie made…” Belle quickly put a finger to her daughter’s lips.

“Let’s let Bay and Archie have their secret for a little longer. They wanted dinner to be a surprise, remember?”

“I forgotted. I won’t say anything, okay? Papa says secrets are good sometimes like when Bay says something is a secret or when there’s presents under the tree. But sometimes secrets make you feel bad in your tummy and then you have to tell mommy or papa.” Claire nodded her head wisely, explaining back what had been explained to her.

“Papa’s right, sweetheart. You should always tell mommy of papa if someone wants you to keep a bad secret.” She hated thinking about anyone like that near her daughter, but she and Gabe knew too much about the kind of people that manipulated children. They’d talked a lot about how to keep their kids safe. “But this is a very good secret. Bay and Archie are making yummy food. And we know it must be yummy because they’re not letting your papa in the kitchen at all.”

“Hey, I can cook,” Gabe protested, though not with much vigor.

“You cook more than you did when I first met you, though that’s not saying a lot considering I think you spent at least five years using nothing more than the microwave and coffee pot.” While no one would call him a gourmet he could pull together a meal. Spaghetti was still his most often made dinner. Grilled cheese and tomato soup were a close second.

“That might be true but you could still spend tonight on the sofa if you don’t watch yourself.”

“That anxious to spend the night alone again?” She raised an eyebrow, teasing him back.

“Never again, if I had my way.” They kissed again, over their daughter’s head, only stopping when Archie coughed politely.

“Dinner’s ready.” Claire wiggled down first. Belle was slower, but when she stood she gave Archie a hug and a kiss on the cheek.

“We have so much to catch up on, Arch. We’re going to eat so much popcorn.”

“My tivo is full of things to marathon.” Their online marathon dates hadn’t been the same, and David had no appreciation for corny sci fi. “It’s been killing me not to watch Star Trek Lower Decks until you got here.”

“I can’t wait.” She followed Archie to the dining room, Claire holding her hand and Gabe right behind her. Bay was waiting next to the table which had been laid out in all the best china. In the center of the table was a platter of turkey meat. There was cranberry sauce and corn souffle and mashed potatoes, gravy and rolls, candied yams and green beans. It was a full Thanksgiving feast. “Oh!”

“We didn’t want you to miss Thanksgiving. Facetime Thanksgiving isn’t really the same.” Bay’s apron was covered in a million questionable stains, but Belle didn’t give a thought to her clothes before hugging him.

“I didn’t tell, Bay. Not even a little bit,” Claire proudly exclaimed. Bay picked her up.

“Of course you didn’t, Plum.” Bay set her on her chair. Next to her on the ground was a dog bed and a large bone. “Before eating remember that this is only possible because Archie taught me so if anything’s wrong it’s his fault.”

“It’s going to be perfect.” Belle say down between Gabe and Claire, holding both of their hands. “I am so thankful for all of you. My family.”

#verse: penny for your thoughts #rumbelle fic #my fic #halfwayinlight

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lilacmoon83 · 4 years ago

Text

Clarity

Also on Fanfiction.net and A03

Chapter 19: Miner Complications, Pt 2

Neal smiled and waved to Henry, who was making sure he was watching him play the vendor's game.

"Your argument with your fiancé didn't seem to go well at all," Gold observed.

"That's an understatement," Neal deadpanned and then sighed.

"She's pissed...because I told her that I'm moving here and not going back to New York," he said.

"You and Henry belong here," he agreed.

"Maybe Papa...but it's not that easy to explain to her. Maybe I should tell her...everything," he said.

"Do you think that is wise? Not even Emma wants to believe it all and the truth is staring her in the face," he warned. Neal sighed.

"Yeah...there's no way she'd buy any of this," he agreed.

"Do you love her?" Gold asked bluntly.

"Of course I love her," he answered, a little too quickly.

"And if she makes you choose between Henry and going back to New York?" Gold asked.

"Papa...you know I'm going to choose Henry," he said sternly.

"Good...because I once chose something over you and it was the worst mistake of my very long life. I regretted it the moment I did it," Gold assured him.

"Yeah, yeah...I'm still trying to be mad at you, you know," he refuted. Gold smirked.

"And you have every reason to still be mad at me," he agreed.

"Stop being agreeable," Neal complained.

"Then you better make it clear to Tamara that you're not going back to New York. At least it can be a clean break then," Gold said.

"Hold on...I love her and I don't want to break up with her. Who says I can't convince her to stay?" Neal asked. Gold nodded curtly.

"Then you have your work cut out for you...but be careful telling her too much until you're sure she's on board with what it would mean for her to move to this world," he advised. Gold knew that, most likely, this was the beginning of the end for his relationship with Tamara. He didn't want his son to be hurt, but it was obvious to him, as well as to Snow for that matter, that he was still carrying a very bright torch for Emma. Tamara was out of place and didn't belong. She could never accept any of this, at best. And at worst, his instincts about her told him that she already knew more than she was letting on and meant nothing but trouble for them.

"Dad! Dad! Grandpa Gold...look at what I won!" Henry called, as he showed them his stuffed wolf.

"Nice buddy," he said, giving him a high five.

"A wolf...a very wise animal," Gold said.

"Let's go show Mom Emma, and Grams and Gramps," he said. Neal chuckled and they followed.

~*~

"You're here," Tamara said, as she rounded the corner and the blonde turned to face her.

"I decided I needed to come see the situation myself. A bit earlier than I thought, but I've been patient long enough, believe me," she said, as she quietly observed the people in the near distance.

"Neal reacted about like you said. He's dropped his life in New York like a bad habit," Tamara mused. She smirked.

"I've been told that children do that...they make you forget everything you previously have and forge a whole new life. Even if it means cutting out those that don't fit in anymore," she said.

"You sound like you're speaking from experience, Ms. Blake," Tamara replied.

"Yes…I once had a sister that cast me aside the moment her beloved daughter was born. She used to shower me with attention and then something she considered more beautiful came into her world and stole her and everyone else's attention," she said.

"I was cast away into obscurity, but none of that matters now. I paved my own path and became a star in my own right," she added.

"Yes…I'm still not sure what a fashion mogul like you wants with this town or its supposed secrets," Tamara replied.

"And you'll know that when I'm ready for you too. For now, keep observing as you have been," she said, as she observed her niece with her prince.

"So...no longer cursed it would seem. How interesting," she mused.

~*~

Emma sipped at her cocoa and browsed some of the vendor stands aimlessly.

"Cinnamon roll?" Ruby asked, as she offered one to her. Emma nodded and handed her some money, before digging in.

"Mmm...that's really good," she complimented.

"Yeah…I figured you'd like that. It's Mary Margaret's favorite too," Ruby said, watching the other woman's face darken a bit.

"When are you going to stop being mad at her?" Ruby asked.

"I'm not mad at her," Emma insisted.

"Then why the cold shoulder? I can believe that most of the stick in the muds in this town might shun her for supposedly having a part in ending David's marriage to Kathryn, but you don't strike me as the judgemental type. Am I really supposed to believe that you're shunning her, because of who she's sleeping with?" Ruby asked. Emma sighed.

"This has nothing to do with David," Emma replied.

"Then what is it? What did she do to ruin such a close friendship?" Ruby asked curiously. Emma huffed.

"Nothing...it's complicated," she insisted.

"Well...you should un-complicate it, because something tells me that Mary Margaret would do anything for you and somehow, I sense that David would too," Ruby said. Emma snorted.

"Yeah...don't be so sure about that," she muttered.

"I am sure...I can tell by the way they look at you. I don't know what's going on between the three of you...but for someone who has always wanted a family, you're sure giving the ones that want to be that family to you the brush off," Ruby said, as she went back to serving other customers. Emma looked at them and then saw her son run up to them so she made her way over there.

~*~

Snow accepted a bite of the warm, gooey cinnamon roll they had purchased from one of the food stands.

"Mmm...you always know when I need cinnamon and always manage to get it for me," she swooned. He chuckled.

"Yeah...it's nice that it's a little more readily available in this land," he replied. She smiled sheepishly, remembering how he would leave the castle many times during her pregnancy and ride to one of the village marketplaces to buy it for her. Then late at night, instead of waking the staff, he'd make sweet treats and drinks for her with it.

"You are so good to me," she gushed.

"I live to make you happy, you know that," he said, enjoying a bite himself. And she knew in turn that just being together made them both happier than they could have imagined at one time. She rested her head on his arm and reflected on that lonely time when she was living as a bandit and had lost faith that love was even real, much less true love. She was sure any hope of finding love, let alone true love, was lost to her. Then she stole his mother's ring and he tackled her and even after taking a rock to the face, he tracked her down to retrieve his mother's ring. That had sent them on a whirlwind adventure to get it back from some trolls and in turn cemented the instant connection they seemed to have upon their meeting.

She remembered trying on his mother's ring in an offhand move and not really wanting to take it off. The moment she had put it on he hadn't wanted it off her finger either. She had returned in then for a time and in the end, he placed it on her finger himself.

Despite a terrible dark curse and lost memories, the ring had survived and remained on her finger; a true feat that could only mean that their true love was unbreakable, even by the darkest of curses. He seemed to be thinking along the same line as her, as they both looked at the ring on her finger.

"It survived the curse and all these years," he mentioned.

"Mmm...like our love. You never wanted it off my finger the day you put it there and I never did either. Even the curse couldn't change that," she said. He smiled and kissed her tenderly.

"Grams, Gramps...look what I won!" Henry said excitedly.

"Wow...nice, kid," David said, patting him on the back.

"A wolf...they're a very special animal," Snow agreed, as they exchanged a glance.

"Wasn't it the Huntsman's best friend?" Henry asked. David nodded.

"It was...and he saved me from execution at his own expense," he replied.

"I miss him...I mean Graham," Henry said.

"Us too honey," Snow replied, as she looked up to see Emma there and knew her daughter missed him very much as well.

"Hey Mom...I won this for you. I know Graham is gone...but it reminds me of him," Henry said. Emma accepted the gift and smiled at him, as she ruffled his hair.

"Thanks Henry," she said.

"We're all here, because of him, right Grams?" Henry asked. Snow saw how uncomfortable that was making Emma, but she wouldn't lie to Henry.

"That's right honey...he was very brave and he spared my life. Then he helped free David so he could find me and wake me from the sleeping curse. We owe him everything," she admitted and then looked at Emma in the eyes. The blonde recalled the night of his death very clearly and the way he had looked at her. She then shook her head, refusing to play into it and stalked off. Snow's heart sank again and David put his arms around her.

"Why won't she believe?" Henry asked.

"Oh buddy...she will. It's just a lot for her to accept, but she'll come around. It's hard, but we have to be patient," David replied, as he put his free arm around him and hugged him too.

"Henry...it's time to go home," Regina snapped, as she approached.

"It's still pretty early," Neal protested.

"Henry has school in the morning and it's nearly eight. According to the judge, he's to be returned to me on the weeknights by eight," she reminded him. Neal sighed and hugged him tightly.

"I'll see you tomorrow, kid," he promised. Henry nodded and surprised Snow with a hug. She nearly melted at that and hugged him in return with a smile. The whole scene made Regina's blood boil.

"I miss you at school," he said sadly.

"Oh, I miss you too...but I'll see you soon," she promised, trying to ignore Regina's glower. She watched him go and looked around, but didn't find Emma anywhere.

"Can we go home?" she asked. David nodded and kissed her forehead. They said goodbye to Neal and Gold, before heading for the loft.

"Perhaps you should go find Emma," Gold suggested.

"I'd like to...but I know when it's best to leave her alone," Neal said, as they headed home too.

~*~

Narcissa walked along Main street and observed the properties present. There were no vacancies and that wouldn't do at all. She needed a place to set up shop, so she went into the dress store and wrinkled her nose. The fashions there were abhorrent and at least two decades old.

"Can I help you?" the woman asked. She didn't know who she was back in the Enchanted Forest and she didn't care. She was probably some peasant worth less than the price of her Armani pantsuit.

"Yes…I'm here to buy you out," Narcissa said.

"Excuse me?" the woman asked in confusion. The blonde smirked and pushed a check toward her. The woman's eyes widened with the amount of zeros on it.

"You want to buy the store?" she asked.

"Yes…and rebrand it. I'm Narcissa Blake...maybe you've heard of me," she said.

"Blake Fashions...the high end line from New York?" the woman asked in amazement.

"That's me...the envy of New England and the world, of course," she replied.

"This is more money than I've ever seen...sold," the woman said.

"Excellent…" Narcissa said. Now she just had to hire some movers to do away with all the inventory in the store and replace it with her own. She walked back into the office and wrinkled her nose. This place certainly needed a lot of work, but she had the money to transform this entire place into her headquarters in Storybrooke. Yes, this would do nicely as a base and allow her to observe her niece. Then she would find the perfect way to destroy her.

#Snowing #SnowxCharming #Emma Swan #Neal Cassidy #Henry Mills #Mr. Gold #Regina Mills #AU #romance #adventure #family #drama #Clarity #A 7x15 am AU

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our-time-is-now · 4 years ago

Text

May, 24 2019 (1): At least you got the signatures

(previous play)

You can find more information about the authors, translators, content warning and additional information about the plays in the pinned post on our blog.

Friday, 6:05 pm:

David: *went back to Laura’s and his apartment sometime in the afternoon with Matteo and has been chilling with him on the bed playing some computer game* *is totally concentrated when Laura suddenly comes into the room without knocking* *looks at her indignantly because she usually never does that and is just about to complain when he sees and hears her talking on the phone: “Yes, Mama… no, otherwise everything is okay with us… no, he didn’t forget. He’s right next to me and waits for his turn on the phone… okay… yes… say hello to Papa… see you”!* *sees Laura hold out her phone to him with an apologizing look and immediately grimaces and shakes his head* *hears Laura whisper: “Today’s the 24th, it’s her birthday”!!!* *sighs and grimaces even more* *knows that if he doesn’t talk to her now, she will hold it against him in every future conversation* *briefly looks at Matteo, who is looking at him questioningly, and briefly shrugs – is going to explain all of that later – takes a deep breath and then takes Laura’s phone, who immediately disappears from his room* Hello Mama… Happy Birthday!... *listens to her for some time while she thanks him and tells him which of the relatives visited and who she celebrated with and what a shame it was that he and Laura weren’t able to come* Hmmm… yes, maybe again next year… No, I’m not really done… I still have to study in case I have to go to the oral exams… went quite well… yes… no… no… no, I think I’ll stay in Berlin… *sighs and tries to not sound annoyed* … still filmmaking… or art… *only adds the latter to annoy his mother* … yes, there are a few good ones… it’s Berlin, after all… *looks over at Matteo and slightly rolls his eyes* … quite good, actually… yes, like always every three to four weeks… no, I’m still waiting for the answer from the insurance… yes, I’m sure… *sighs* … yes, I thought it through… I know, that’s the point… *tries to change the topic* … and how is Papa? *listens to her for some time and hums every now and then* *at some point clears his throat* Listen, Mama, I have to go… I have a visitor… you don’t know him… Matteo… from school… *hesitates, but eventually says* We’re together… yes, together together… no, he knows… yes, imagine, he’s okay with it… *can feel again how much it hurts him that apparently it always surprises his mother that someone could like him even though they know that he’s trans* … I don’t know yet… yes, I’ll ask him… we’ll see… okay, see you… *ends the call, closes his eyes for a moment, groans, lets himself fall on the bed backwards and takes a deep breath* *always finds it really exhausting to talk to his mother* *looks at Matteo, who looks at him questioningly, and shrugs* Sorry… *grabs some chocolate from the nightstand and breaks some off* *needs either that or some beer right now* *holds the chocolate out to Matteo questioningly*

Matteo: *just like David, is surprised when Laura comes into the room without knocking* *realizes quickly that it must be their mother on the phone and tries to not make any noises* *listens to him and realizes that it must be about his injections* *would love to hug him but doesn’t want to interrupt or distract or make a sound* *grimaces slightly when David has to emphasize again that he has thought it through* *realizes that he doesn’t even know what David’s parents think about the whole thing* *bites on his bottom lip when David says his name and immediately shakes his head in case David looks at him* *doesn’t expect David to immediately tell his parents about it* *suddenly feels some anger rising when David says that he’s okay with it* *briefly has the urge to grab the phone and give his mother a piece of his mind* *sees David hang up the phone and fall back on the bed* *leans on his elbow, head on his hand, and looks at David* *would really like to say exactly the right thing, something nice, encouraging* *can only think of a stupid joke and simply tells it* I thought you killed your parents? *smiles a little and pushes some hair from his forehead with his free hand* *keeps his fingers in his hair and hopes that David knows that he’s there for him in case he wants to rant*

David: *looks at Matteo when he basically lies down beside him* *has to grin broadly at his next words* In my mind at least 50 times… *closes his eyes for a moment when he feels Matteo’s hand in his hair and realizes that he slowly relaxes again* *is used to such conversations but usually it takes longer to come down again* *opens his eyes again and looks up at Matteo* *then notices that Matte doesn’t know anything at all about his parents and explains* Don’t know… my mother somehow still questions all of that. I believe she’s been thinking for 10 years that it’s only a phase. And my father… he doesn’t really say anything. Really nothing. And if he does say something then I feel like he ignores the fact that I’m trans. He’s not really okay with it, at all… *shrugs* *is actually really glad that he doesn’t have to put up with it on a daily basis since he came to Berlin*

Matteo: *laughs slightly* Who hasn’t? *can practically see David relax a little and is somehow proud that he has that effect on him* *tilts his head a little when David starts to talk and listens to him attentively* *grimaces* Ugh, only a phase… sounds exhausting… *shakes his head* *carefully asks* Did you move in with Laura because of that? Well, I mean… a father who doesn’t talk to you, a mother who doesn't understand you… or… *shrugs*

David: *nods when Matteo says that it sounds exhausting and laughs drily* Oh yes… *hears his question and thinks* *would probably have to explain much more for Matteo to understand how it was really like with his parents, but first starts with answering his question* One of the reasons… it didn’t go that well in general. In school, everyone witnessed the transition and… well, they didn’t really know how to deal with that to say it nicely… and my mother always acted a little bit as if it was my fault and that I should show understanding that not everyone can accept it and always suggested that I should adapt a little bit more and stuff like that… the only one where I felt like she really understood me was my therapist. She has really strengthened me. But the situation at school didn’t get any better and then the sleep problems came along and… I had a couple of light panic attacks. And Laura had already been living in Berlin for a few years and suggested to my mother that I could move in with her. My mother was totally against me changing schools so shortly before Abi and we were arguing about it for a long time and at some point it was especially bad at school again and… well, you know my flight instinct… I simply got on a train to Berlin and showed up at Laura’s. *had been looking at the ceiling while he talked to be able to concentrate better, but now looks back at Matteo and smiles* *is glad that all of that is over now and that he mostly doesn’t have to deal with most of these things here in Berlin* *simply continues while looking at Matteo and grinning slightly* … and then… both Laura and I told my mother that I won’t come back… and then… I went to the new school here… and there I met this guy… and fell in love with him quite hard… and since then I’m really well distracted and only on birthdays do I get forced by my sister to talk to my parents…

Matteo: *listens to him* *frowns more and more while he talks* *feels the urge to protect David from al these stupid opinions and views flame up inside him* *is incredibly thankful right now that Laura exists and that she welcomed David with such open arms* *hasn’t taken his fingers out of David’s hair all this time and “squeezed” him a little more during some parts* *sees David look at him and hopes to have stopped his frowning and grimacing in time* *has to grin automatically when David is obviously talking about him and gets a little embarrassed* *under different circumstances would joke and ask who that guy is and that he would finish him off, or how insulting it is that he’s “only” a distraction, but somehow he doesn’t feel like it right now* *simply smiles and leans down a bit to give him a quick kiss* *quietly says* I love being your distraction. *smiles carefully* And I think it’s great that Laura helped you so much… and hey, you’re 18 now, now they can’t do anything anymore, anyways…

David: *smiles up at Matteo when he kisses him and declares that he loves being his distraction* Fits perfectly! *gets a little more serious and nods* Yes, Laura is awesome! I’m really grateful to her… *reaches for Matteo’s hand in his hair and entwines their fingers* *sighs quietly* Yes, but it still doesn’t stop my mother from arguing… *grins slightly* What do you think how long I had to argue for my mother to finally agree that I could get puberty blockers prescribed?! Or testo… *laughs quietly* … or the constant discussions why I cut off my hair!? *in hindsight and with the distance he has to his parents now, actually finds these discussions amusing, but back then it was a different matter* *sighs quietly* But at least now I don’t need their signature anymore… *plays a little with Matteo’s fingers while he talks*

Matteo: *keeps hold of his hand and keeps looking at him* *nods slightly and grimaces* *thinks it’s shitty that David’s parents didn’t think of the wellbeing of their child and only considered their own problems with that topic* *therefore asks* Didn’t they do research? *sighs quietly and shrugs one shoulder apologetically* And you haven’t seen them since you moved out? They don’t come here?

David: *thinks for a while about Matteo’s question and shrugs* I don’t even know… they did realize that I wasn’t totally the typical girl… and I went to therapy relatively early. When I finally knew what was going on with me and I told them, they didn’t really know what to do with it. They weren’t mad or anything, but they didn’t really take it seriously, either. And back then, there was a conversation with my therapist every 3 months where my mother had to come along. And she really talked to her about the topic together with me and gave her flyers and addresses. I do think that she did research, but I think that she was still hoping that it was all only a phase… *turns to his side to better look at Matteo and smiles slightly* *even though it’s a difficult topic, he likes telling Matteo about it* The doctors also gave her a lot of information… she did have to come along to the consultations and for the consent forms for puberty blockers and testo. *presses his lips together for a moment and continues* … but sometimes I think she only gave in so that the discussions would stop and because she was scared that otherwise I would pull back even further… *stops for a moment and then continues* And my father… I think he doesn’t want anything to do with it… he suppresses it somehow. He also avoids calling me by name or to use “he” when he talks about me. *shrugs again* No clue if he ever read anything on that topic. *turns back on his back, looks at the ceiling and shakes his head at Matteo’s question* They haven’t been here, yet… but I think it’s better like this. Laura and I went back once with a friend of hers, who owns a van, to get some of my stuff… Then, my mother was somehow… I don’t know… overprotective or something like that… but it somehow felt wrong. Laura says that she often asks when we’ll visit… she also just asked on the phone… *grins slightly* … she even said that I should bring you… but to be honest, I’m glad that I don’t have to argue anymore and that I’m left alone. And she isn’t serious about it, anyway! *looks back at Matteo to see if he has any more questions*

Matteo: *listens to him attentively* *in the meantime plays a little with his fingers* *nods and grimaces at the appropriate spots* Like I said, at least she signed… *is surprised that his mother said he could come along* Well, if you have to go there, I’ll come with you… as a distraction… I’ll wear run-down clothes for the occasion and only give short answers… then they can get upset about me… *grins slightly*

David: *smiles when Matteo says that he’ll come, but shakes his head* Believe me, you don’t want to do that to yourself… *then laughs at his next words* The way she is at the moment, she probably wouldn’t even get annoyed if you came naked… at least not in my presence… No idea what Laura then gets to hear because of that… *pushes his arm between Matteo’s propped-up arm and his head to pull him closer and to put his head on his shoulder and kiss him on his forehead once he has Matteo lying in the position he wants him in* *murmurs* But it would still be nice if you came along one day… at least we can complain about her together afterwards… *smiles at the thought of not having to face this alone anymore*

Matteo: *laughs slightly when he says the thing about being naked* I would distract them from you… *lets himself get moved by David and presses his nose against his neck* Of course I’ll come if you want to… and afterwards we’ll go get some ice cream and vent together… *looks up at him and presses a kiss on his chin* *then there’s a knock on the door and Laura comes in* *doesn’t move, Laura sees them on top of each other constantly, anyway* *sees her look at David worriedly and eventually say: “Wanted to get my phone back… and? How was it”?*

David: *smiles* Sounds good… *looks at Laura when she comes in but doesn’t move and only wraps his arms around Matteo more, so that it won’t even cross his mind to move* *points his head at the nightstand where he put Laura’s phone and then says with a shrug* Like always… school, university, if I’m sure I want the surgery… *huffs quietly* Oh, and she was surprised that I’m with Matteo even though he knows that I’m trans… and now I’m supposed to bring him along, one day… *sees Laura lift her eyebrows: “Seriously”!?* *nods and shrugs* *sees Laura address Matteo: “Think about it, if you want to do that to yourself… it’s not without reason that we fled to Berlin…”*

Matteo: *laughs and shrugs* Sure I’ll do that to myself… I’ll prepare a lot of bad jokes… and mention in every other sentence that I have no use for girls... it will be fine… *sees Laura laugh a little and look at him thankful: “Sounds like a plan… oh, by the way, are you guys going to stay? Do we want to cook something later”?* *nods* Yeah sure… I’ll be there in a minute to help you, ok? *sees Laura nod and grin and then leave* *looks at David when the door closes behind Laura* Everything all right?

David: *grins at Matteo’s answer to Laura and nods to the cooking* Oh, yes, I’d love that! Conversations with Mama are always so exhausting that I’m starved afterwards… *smiles when Matteo says that he’ll come help and adds* And I’ll come to watch you… *laughs quietly and looks after Laura before looking back at Matteo* *smiles when he sees his look and nods* Everything’s all right! *slightly smiles to himself when he thinks about the conversations from yesterday and today and says* Well, we wonderfully checked off the parent-topic within two days… and now we can turn our attention back to nicer things… *tries to pull Matteo on top of him and searches for his mouth to kiss him*

Matteo: *smiles when David says that everything’s all right* Okay, then… *also grins* Yes, you’re right… well done… *rolls slightly on top of him when he pulls and kisses him back* *pushes his leg between David’s and makes out with him for quite some time until he can hear Laura call from the kitchen* *lets go only reluctantly but does it anyways* I’m afraid we have to go help…

David: *enjoys the closeness to Matteo and even forgets for some time that they wanted to cook but then also hears Laura call* *at first tires to ignore it and grumbles quietly when Matteo lets go* *sighs* Okay… *waits for Matteo to climb off him and then gets up* *goes to the kitchen with him to help Laura*

(next play)

#druck #og druck #matteo florenzi #david schreibner #davenzi plays

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richard-nixon-official · 4 years ago

Note

On the Music artists names ask game: every single question (unless you don’t want to answer some for personal reasons)

ahhh omg okay

1. Led Zeppelin- 4 turn ons

honestly the only one i know for sure is long hair

2. The Doors- 2 places you’d like to visit

new york city and los angeles

3. Pink Floyd- What are some things that make you sad?

thinking about how time is passing by so quickly and as i look on to the future i think i’m forgetting to enjoy the present and that really makes me sad

4. The Rolling Stones- What’s better, a fling/one night stand or serious relationship?

in my opinion, a serious relationship

5. Jimi Hendrix- Name 8 things that make you happy

my friends, my car, my dog, music, food, summer weather, playing guitar, getting paid

6. The Runaways- Would you say that you are self confident?

kind of. i’m not super arrogant or anything but i don’t hate myself. my relationship with myself is like the one acquaintance you have that you say hi to them whenever you see them but you never actually talk to them

7. Metallica- Do you have any special talents?

my talents are insanely boring, i get very good grades because i can remember stuff easily and i want to be a journalist because i can write a pretty kickass research paper. i want to be a musician but i don’t have a lot of natural talent so it’s going to take a lot of hard work

8. The Ramones- Do you have any pets?

yes i have a dog named eddie, we’ve had him for about 11 years now. he is like my little brother i would do anything for him

9. Simon and Garfunkel- What songs help you get through the day?

at the moment, 5150 by van halen

10. The Beatles- Are you a flirt?

hell no

11. The Mamas and the Papas- Define yourself in 5 words

i think i will leave this one alone because i can’t even think of one word to define myself. plus i would like to be a mystery

12. Blondie- Are you a virgin?

yeah, i know it’s lame

13. Nirvana- Are you an artistic/creative person?

sort of. i think i have a lot of creative energy in my head but i don’t really have a medium to let it out

14. David Bowie- Are you a follower or a leader?

probably more of a follower, i’ve never been a very good leader. i would rather just do my part and let everyone else do theirs

15. Red Hot Chili Peppers- Have you been to any concerts? Which ones?

NO I HAVENT BEEN TO ANY AND IT MAKES ME SAD EVERY DAY!!!! i do have tickets to see def leppard’s stadium tour this year and i want to go see kiss and david lee roth but nobody will go with me so i might not

16. Iron Maiden- Would you say you have a “sexy” figure?

i mean, i think my figure is okay, maybe not super sexy but at least kind of cute. i would probably be nicer looking if i actually exercised but no thanks

17. Guns n’ Roses- Do you do drugs?

no but not because i don’t want to!!!!! i want to try pot and maybe drop acid

18. Motörhead- Are you a totally badass motherfucker?

probably not. i wish though

19. Pat Benatar- Ever been in love?

nope not yet

20. The Who- 2 of your favorite foods and 2 foods you hate

i love mac and cheese and roasted potatoes, meanwhile i fucking hate onions and brussels sprouts

21. Pantera- Did you ever get into a fist fight?

no, the lord has given me strength to control myself so far

22. The Moody Blues- What is your favorite genre of music?

rock and roll!!!

23. Journey- What’s your favorite band?

i have to say van halen. i just love them so much

24. Genesis- Do you genuinely care about others, even strangers?

yes i do, irl i seem like a kind of a bitch but i actually do care about people

25. AC/DC- Name 7 things people do that piss you off

i think i’m a pretty easygoing person in general, but if you’re a bigot i do not fucking like you and i’ll be mean enough to you that you won’t like me either. i also hate when people get mad about shit that doesn’t matter or are mean to people who are just trying to do their job, like retail workers. basically just be nice and you really won’t have any problems with me

26. Paul Anka- Are you a romantic person?

i mean, in the sense of a “hopeless romantic,” kind of. one time at school this guy held the door open for me and i actually started liking him a little

27. The Kinks- 3 of your favorite blogs?

ummm, this is hard because there are so many to choose from! @k2e4 always has good posts, @just-the-left-light-up-skecher and @ginger-ale-official also always have amazing shitposts. all of my mutuals are kings though so even if i didn’t name you, your blog rocks

28. Suzi Quatro- What do you look like right now?

well right tf now, i’m sitting at my dining room table like a gremlin wearing sweatpants and a shirt from my school, i also recently got another haircut so i kind of look like a groupie from like 1977

28. Motley Crue- What are your favorite brands? (Define your sense of style)

i don’t really have a favorite brand, i just look around and wear whatever i like. my style is very basic, usually just a band t shirt with jeans and converse and cool earrings. i’m trying to have more hippie vibes though so i made a bunch of tie dyed shirts and i will definitely be wearing those once i finish them

29. Neil Young- Do you play any instruments?

yeah i play guitar, i’m pretty bad at it though. i’m working on getting better but my progress is really slow at the moment

30. Rainbow- What’s better, day or night?

i like night vibes a lot better, so night

31. Joan Jett- Sexual orientation?

demisexual, but also straight so idk

32. The Misfits- Do you have any tattoos or piercings?

i have 2 piercings in each earlobe and i might get one more. i’m not old enough to get tattoos yet but i definitely want to

33. Janis Joplin- In your opinion, what was the greatest time or era for music?

i think the best time was from like 1965 to 1990, which i know is pretty broad but there was so much good stuff going on in the music world.

34. Deep Purple- 3 of your greatest fears

failure, death of a loved one, and spiders

35. The Tragically Hip- 6 things you want to accomplish

omg i don’t even know if i have six, but i want to go on tour with my band someday. i would also love to release an album, hopefully several. graduating college is also very important to me so i want to do that. i would also love to work for a newspaper or a radio station someday as a journalist

36. Aerosmith- Favorite celebrity? Least favorite?

my favorite is probably either john mulaney or steve carell, they just seem so cool and actually nice. there are so many i don’t like but my least favorite is probably kid rock, he sucks

37. Johnny Cash- Are you a religious person?

not really. i was raised catholic but i don’t really vibe with christianity so i kind of just believe whatever. it’s honestly kind of hard for me to explain

38. The White Stripes- Are you close with your family?

kind of, i love my family but also they get on my damn nerves. i look forward to moving out when i can love them from a safe distance

39. Madonna- Describe your crush

i don’t even have a crush right now!!!!! the only people i like are eddie van halen and john paul jones, who are both over 50 years older than me

thanks for the ask anon

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