#thanks to everyone who’s gotten an adopt or shared my posts! you guys are the best!!

[chellychuu]

3 witches left from my last adopt batch!

Get one here! 💖

Update: all sold! Thank you so much! 🩷

[fastandcarlos]

Stealing Baby Norris » Carlos Sainz ft. Lando Norris

summary: when carlos sainz is revealed as the new mclaren driver your brother lando is happy to introduce you. what happens though as a relationship strikes up and carlos finds himself on the way to ferrari?

˚*•̩̩͙✩•̩̩͙*˚＊

liked by landonorris, charles_leclerc and 1,025,482 others

carlossainz55: having the best time in papaya, thank you to everyone who has welcomed me so far 🏎️🧡

tagged: mclaren

64,291 comments

mclaren: glad to have you onboard, looking forward to working with you carlos!

username1: carlos + lando = the dream pairing

username2: how does this man manage to pull off every damn colour

landonorris: can’t wait to get going with you dude, we’re in for a great season together

carlossainz55: @/landonorris it’s gonna be a great ride 🏎️🏁

carlossainz55: @/landonorris ps when’s the next norris family dinner I get to attend

username3: wait carlos went for dinner round lando’s house…that’s so cute

username4: @/username3 that means he would’ve gotten to meet all the siblings too 🥺

˚*•̩̩͙✩•̩̩͙*˚＊

liked by ynusername, georgerussell63 and 829,402 others

landonorris: already found me a new best friend to annoy for the season 🥰

tagged: carlossainz55

72,225 comments

mclaren: our views will be through the roof this year with content from you two

carlossainz55: it’s been two days and already you make me want to scream

username5: this duo just screams trouble

username6: handsome, funny, talented, carlando are the dream pairing

ynusername: @/carlossainz55 you have my sympathies, I’ve been dealing with his nonsense for over 20 years

carlossainz55: @/ynusername how have you survived?? pls teach me your ways

ynusername: @/carlossainz55 let’s catch up next race and I’ll share all my tips 📗

carlossainz55: @/ynusername I’ve got my notebook ready!

username7: not y/n and carlos interacting on the gram

username: anyone else left thinking carlos and y/n would make a great couple

alex_albon: if carlos lasts more than a season with you I’ll give you a thousand pounds 😂

georgerussell63: did everyone forget to give carlos the memo about lando and his unflattering photos??

username8: have the norris family just adopted carlos now? 🥺

username9: these two might just have the power to turn me into a mclaren girlie by the end of the season

˚*•̩̩͙✩•̩̩͙*˚＊

liked by pierregasly, ynusername and 739,300 others

carlossainz55: weekends off = exploring the world with my favourite person 🌍✈️

43,492 comments

username10: whose been taking all these photos??

username11: anyone else been noticing y/n appearing in the likes again 🤔

landonorris: I thought I was your favourite person??

carlossainz55: @/landonorris how does number two sound?

landonorris: @/carlossainz55 I guess I can make an exception for one person 😂

username12: there’s only one person that lando would make an exception for

username13: omg he’s got to be talking about y/n

username12: @/username13 y/n is the only person lando is that whipped for

charles_leclerc: woah look at you posting handsome aesthetic shots 🤯

carlossainz55: @/charles_leclerc I’ve been having a few lessons ☺️

username14: let me be the one you explore with pls carlos 💦

lewishamilton: well earned after a great week my guy 🏆

lance_stroll: I wanna know the gossip too

˚*•̩̩͙✩•̩̩͙*˚＊

liked by danielricciardo, ynusername and 1,429,231 others

carlossainz55: making the most of the sun during the off season, and luckily for me I had the best company to make the most of the time off too ❤️🥺

tagged: ynusername

192,492 comments

username15: poor lando, losing his little sister to carlos

username16: they just look so adorable together

pierregasly: hell yeah congrats you two 🩷

landonorris: excuse me I do not give permission for you to post photos of my sister in the same album of you half naked

carlossainz55: @/landonorris your sister wasn’t complaining when I asked her to take these half naked shots

landonorris: @/carlossainz55 you just wait until I next see you 🤬

username17: lando already regretting ever letting the two of them meet

username18: I bet carlos teases Lando about dating his sister whenever he can lol

ynusername: thank you for the most amazing holiday…you’re the best 🔥💕

carlossainz55: @/ynusername can’t wait to do it again soon (just don’t tell lando) 🥰

georgerussell63: glad to see you guys enjoying yourselves, can’t wait to hear all about it

danielricciardo: and the award for the new cutest couple in f1 goes to…

username19: this relationship is gonna bully the hell outta lando

˚*•̩̩͙✩•̩̩͙*˚＊

liked by carlossainz55, landonorris and 429,555 others

ynusername: a weekend of supporting my boys…it doesn’t get better than this 🧡🏎️🏁

tagged: landonorris, carlossainz55 and mclaren

32,448 comments

username20: my heart…this is adorable 😭

carlossainz55: I love you, thank you for always supporting me 🧡

landonorris: the best little sister ever - you were supporting me slightly more tho, right?

ynusername: @/landonorris I support you both equally stop trying to cause trouble 🙄

carlossainz55: @/landonorris I think she supports me more judging by our celebrations last night 🫢

landonorris: @/carlossainz55 I do NOT need to know anymore details you shut your mouth 😭

carmenmmundt: sooo glad we got to catch up after so long, see you at another race soon!!

username21: I can’t cope with y/n and carlos constantly teasing lando like this

username22: poor lando watching his little sister lose all innocence in front of his eyes 😂

maxverstappen1: I keep telling you y/n…red bull is where it’s at

charles_leclerc: although I’m sure ferrari red would look good on you too…

˚*•̩̩͙✩•̩̩͙*˚＊

liked by danielricciardo, maxverstappen1 and 1,029,472 comments

carlossainz55: a weekend with my two favourite norris’ 🥺💕

tagged: landonorris and ynusername

68,304 comments

username23: the ultimate trio 🩷

username24: how has lando let carlos post that picture of him cuddling his baby sister

ynusername: I better be number one out of those two 🤔

carlossainz55: @/ynusername you’ll always be my number one (you haven’t got much competition 😂)

landonorris: @/carlossainz55 I thought what we had was special too 😂

maxverstappen1: these photos were almost cute until I noticed one of them had lando in it

username25: ofc there still ends up being loads of golf involved

username26: y/n is the luckiest getting to have carlos’ pancakes 🫠

username27: you just know in that golf photo that carlos is sharing some ott secret with y/n to put him off his shot 😂

alex_albon: ik lando is usually the third wheel…but I’m happy to third wheel these golf games 🙌🏻

landonorris: @/alex_albon invite in the post as we speak

˚*•̩̩͙✩•̩̩͙*˚＊

liked by charles_leclerc, ynusername and 892,204 others

carlossainz55: saying my final farewells to the fabulous team at mclaren, thank you for the best two seasons ever - unfortunately for me I’m still stuck with this giant pain in the ass as a constant third wheel in my relationship for the foreseeable 😂🥺

tagged: mclaren and landonorris

101,382 comments

landonorris: hahah you can’t get rid of me that easily

landonorris: being serious tho, I’ve loved being teammates with you, and I guess as hard as it is to say, I couldn’t be happier knowing my little sister is dating someone as wonderful as you

carlossainz55: @/landonorris stop it I’m tearing up…that’s the nicest thing you’ve ever said to me 🥲

username28: I can’t believe we’re not going to get weekly carlando anymore

username29: nooooo how could you do this to us carlos

ynusername: ik this wasn’t an easy decision for you, but I’m excited for our next step together 💕

carlossainz55: @/ynusername thank you for being so understanding and supportive, can’t wait for what comes next! ❤️

username30: is y/n going to be moving with carlos…lando won’t be able to cope without his little sister around 💔

charles_leclerc: looking forward to welcoming you both soon - I told you you’d look good in ferrari red didn’t I y/n? 😂

˚*•̩̩͙✩•̩̩͙*˚＊

liked by ynusername, charles_leclerc and 1,103,592 comments

carlossainz55: a few days exploring the new city that we call home 🌊😊

tagged: ynusername

53,883 comments

landonorris: the uk is still better!!

landonorris: I can’t believe you stole my baby sister from me like this

carlossainz55: @/landonorris I promise that I’ll look after her

landonorris: @/carlossainz55 just like you promised to never break my heart and leave me at mclaren?? 💔

username31: it feels strange not seeing the two of them with lando right beside them

username32: lando genuinely sounds gutted not to have them next door anymore

georgerussell63: glad to see you guys are settling in nicely 😊

charles_leclerc: can’t wait to catch up with you guys over the next couple of days

ynusername: let’s continue to make more amazing memories 💕💕

username: they both look so happy to be in italy

username33: I’m so glad y/n decided to move out with carlos

username34: my carlando heart can’t bare to see them apart

danielricciardo: can confirm lando has not stopped moaning about how lost he is without you both the past couple of days

ynusername: tell him to grow up @/danielricciardo I’m not a baby anymore

landonorris: @/ynusername STOP YOU’LL ALWAYS BE MY BABY SISTER

˚*•̩̩͙✩•̩̩͙*˚＊

liked by carlossainz55, oscarpiastri and 429,450 others

ynusername: the colours might have changed but my man being top of the podium remains the same 🔥🏆

tagged: carlossainz55

34,771 comments

charles_leclerc: welcome to the best team in f1!! ❤️

carlossainz55: thank you for always supporting me, cannot wait for our new adventure my love 🥰✨

ynusername: @/carlossainz55 so proud of you, excited to see you continue being the amazing man you are 🥺

username35: these pictures must be breaking lando’s heart

username36: I still think y/n looks better in papaya

danielricciardo: you two lovebirds are something else

landonorris: I never thought my own sister would betray me like this

ynusername: @/landonorris I’m still a mclaren girl at heart 🫢🧡

carlossainz55: @/ynusername I’ll pretend I didn’t just read that

lilymhe: teach me how to look as good as you in the paddock pls 🙏🏻

liked by ynusername, landonorris and 1,302,204 others

carlossainz55: carlando is still going strong (according to lando who still believes he is my favourite member of the norris family 🙄) hope this stops you feeling so jealous boo

tagged: landonorris

103,492 comments

landonorris: thank you for thinking about my feelings bby ❤️

ynusername: @/landonorris 🤮🤮🤮

username37: yay carlando lives on

username38: I always knew they’d still make time for each other

username39: has y/n been the true third wheel along

danielricciardo: you left me some big shoes to feel mate

ynusername: the two of you absolutely disgust me…but I wouldn’t have it any other way

 ˗ˏˋ 𝐌𝐀𝐒𝐓𝐄𝐑𝐋𝐈𝐒𝐓 ! ´ˎ˗

[ww2yaoi]

Ooo would love to hear something about the upcoming wholly to be a fool (while Spring is in the world)

(And if you wanted to share any more of the tasteful breeding kink I wouldn’t say no it makes me extremely feral)

Thank you!!!

wholly to be a fool (while Spring is in the world) started off as a stupid fic about web’s chest hair and joe being horny and somehow spiralled into a 11.5k word getting together fic. 

it’s probably gonna get posted later today once I edit it again and get someone to confirm it’s not shite but here’s a snippet:

Web shifts on his feet. His smile becomes a grimace as his weight transfers from his left foot to his right. The corners of his mouth pull his lips flat.

“Something wrong?” Joe asks with a cock of his eyebrow.

“It’s nothing,” Web says. He stoops down and untucks his pant leg from the top of his boot, dragging it a couple of inches up his calf. “Sometimes my leg gets sore where I took that Kraut bullet.”

Web presses his fingers into the muscle. His leg is covered in the same dark hair that carpets the rest of him, except for two small, rounded knots of flesh on the underside of his calf, both indented in the center where the bullet pierced his skin. The recently healed wounds are slightly pink in colour, not yet adopting the faded white of an old scar but flushed and fresh.

Joe tears his eyes away. “What? That fuckin’ scratch you got in Holland?”

Web scowls at him. “It wasn’t a ‘scratch.’ It went through my leg, Joe.”

He’s still rubbing at his calf. For some reason, it makes Joe’s stomach swim. The feeling only piques him. His expression turns stony.

“Did it hit anything?” he asks.

Web’s eyebrows furrow. “What?”

“Did it hit bone?” Joe clarifies. “Cuz I heard it went clean through.”

“Yeah? Who told you that?” Web asks.

Unexpectedly, he’s smirking, as if to say ‘You’ve been asking about me?’ Joe realizes his mistake. His face threatens to flare, but he merely shrugs.

“Well, there’s muscle in there, and tissue,” Web continues, needlessly explanatory, his voice adopting the tone that prompts the guys to call him ‘professor’ behind his back.

He straightens, and Joe swears he takes a half-step forward. Web is still smiling a bit, and it’s shit like this that makes Joe’s head spin. Ever since Haguenau, they’ve been sparring like this, nearly living on top of each other yet often pursuing one another’s company. Joe knows he looks at Web too much, touches Web too much, spends too much time wondering where Web is and what he’s doing. When everyone is laughing in the barracks or the mess, Joe’s eyes find Web’s every time.

It’s becoming a bad habit.

Worse, it’s stupid. Really, really stupid.

“Yeah, thanks for the anatomy lesson, Harvard,” Joe says with a scoff. He shoves his hands deeper into his pockets. “Is that what your daddy paid big bucks for you to learn at your fancy New England school?”

Web huffs out a laugh. “Not exactly,” he says and leans in a little bit closer, like he’s about to share a secret. He drops his voice low. “But it’s my informed opinion that if anyone got the scratch in Holland it was you.”

🩷

I’ve already talked about breeding kink fic a bit but here’s another snippet because you asked so politely:

Web huffs and lolls his head back to rest it on Joe’s shoulder again. Joe returns his other hand to Web’s middle. He closes his eyes, trying to drift off someplace where the only thing that exists are the two of them and all this warm water. Joe idly draws circles beneath Web’s belly button, dragging his thumb back and forth through the hair that trails down to the thick mat at the base of his cock.

Joe can feel himself starting to get hard when Web asks, “Why do you keep doing that?”

“Doing what?” Joe mumbles, his nose settled in Web’s hair.

“Touching my stomach.”

Joe freezes. His eyes immediately open, his thumb stilling against Web’s belly.

“Have I gotten fat or something?” Web asks.

Joe balks at that. “What? No, of course not. You’re not fat, David—”

“Then what are you doing?”

Web turns his head to look at Joe, his eyebrows pinched. Joe feels his mouth dry up. A sentence begins to take shape on his tongue, but Web is already barreling ahead, putting it all out in the open.

“You’re still thinking about it, aren’t you?”

Joe gapes at him, unsure of what to say. He could deny it, but Web is smart enough not to buy his bullshit most of the time. He had been more oblivious to his wiles in their early days, but now he knows Joe. He really knows him, better than anyone else. Sometimes that terrifies him.

“Are you angry?” is all Joe can think to say.

Web’s face smoothes out. “No, Joe, I—” He cuts himself off, pressing his lips into a line and sighing out his nose. “I’m not angry. It’s just— I don’t have that kind of equipment, Lieb.”

Joe almost laughs. “Equipment? It’s not about your equipment, sweetheart. I happen to really fuckin’ like your equipment thank you very fuckin’ much.”

“Alright, alright,” Web says with a roll of his eyes. His hand finds Joe’s in the water and he laces their pruney fingers together. “Then what’s it all about for you? Explain it to me.”

Joe didn’t think they’d ever be having this conversation after their initial fight, but he supposes Web going full journalist mode is better than them having another argument about it.

“I don’t know,” Joe says, carefully mulling it over. “You’re thinking about it too literally. You’ve got that fancy literature degree, Web. You should know all about metaphors.”

Web snorts. “Tell me then. What are these elusive metaphors?”

Joe rests his chin on Web’s shoulder. He tries to find the words for it. “I guess I like the idea of leaving my mark on you, tying you to me, making you all mine—”

“I am all yours,” Web interjects and squeezes Joe’s fingers.

Joe smiles and presses a kiss to the side of Web’s head. “I know, but if this is something you want, it’s nice to think that I could give it to you, even if I can’t. Like you said before, it’s nice to pretend.”

“And that turns you on?”

“Yeah, is it that crazy?”

“I mean, kind of.”

Joe groans before tugging playfully on Web’s ear lobe with his teeth. Web laughs and cringes away from him, like it tickles.

🩷

thanks for the ask! sorry this is formatted so poorly tumblr is glitching and won’t let me use my beloved indent button

[aticklishpercivalwriter]

Almost back

TL;DR: I'm back, somewhat! Inside view into my life and tickle requests are here! It's view-only, so don't worry about clicking something and messing my dashboard up :) Being more transparent with you all, explore it! And I can't say it enough, but thank you for your likes, reblogs, and interacting with my posts/fics! ❤️

I've gotten to sorting my life back together...for the most part. But better than before! I have adopted some changes to my ways/habits, so hopefully I'm able to balance school with you guys! [Disabling the YouTube app from my phone (YouTube shorts is addicting and I love/hate it, but alas, I need to focus on other things. Screentime timer ain't working), playing less Genshin (I'm still in the loop though for content), and among other things I changed]. For the two who requested, sorry you had bad timing when I went on my little hiatus. Practically a month :( Haven't forgotten about them! I'll get them out when I can :)

Hi everyone!

If you ever wanted a little inside view to how I manage my tasks for school or if I have your request in my to do list, you can visit here! I'm going to be more transparent with you all, so I can feel more accountable for myself and to just share how I do things now with you all if you ever find it useful for your own life. (Images on my dashboard are random stock photos, only for aesthetics, no other purposes.) If you want a template for the page, visit here. Thanks to Thomas Frank, the creator of the template! If you have any questions about how I use my dashboard, don't hesitate to ask! The progress bar on the projects is NOT accurate.

As summer gets closer, I'm hoping to have the time to write more. Finals week is still one week away then summer. I do have to take a summer class and my parents really want me to find a summer job to do during the meantime. Hopefully that won't affect my writing too much. I'll let you all know of course of how I am doing :)

Thank you so much for reading not just this, but everything on my blog. I see new likes on my fics and that brings me so much joy, so thank you ❤️.

---

Here's some miscellaneous info that I left for the end:

-Lost my 50/50 to Mona :(

-Farmed for primos and finally got Lyney yesterday :)

-Installed a new browser called Arc and it is awesome for multitasking. Especially when I'm writing tickle fics. Great for searching lore, tickle headcanons, and other stuff on the same window as I'm writing. Picture below so you can see what I mean. Search it up if you want. Both for Windows and Mac.

---

Yes, there is a sneak peak into one of the requests I'm writing :)

-Switched to Notion for writing tickle fics, which is what my dashboard is on too. Better at writing than Google Docs or Microsoft Word in small spaces like shown above.

Thanks for reading to the end :)

Love you all!

-Percival ❤️

[thefanficmonster]

An Impostor In Love

Sequel to ‘Love For The Faceless’ (’Body Reveal’)

Corpse Husband x Reader (Female)

Warnings: Swearing (maybe)

Genre: Fluff

Summary: Rae can’t stay mad at her best friends forever. Them being absolutely adorable doesn’t help her ‘pissed off’ act either. Y/N’s outing Corpse like she’s a human lie detector. Corpse is gushing about her every second word that comes out of his mouth. And the rest of the lobby are getting one hell of a kick out of the Among Us romantic comedy - An Impostor In Love

Requested but, once again, not in a typical way. I honestly wasn’t expecting all the positive feedback I got for Love For The Faceless (Body Reveal). I was star-struck! You guys are so amazing I have no words to describe just how much I love you all! Thank you for everything! This story is for all of you 🥰🥰🥰

“Mr. and Mrs. ‘Totally not dating’ have entered the call!“ Sean announces when I hop into the Discord call to play Among Us with the usual gang. I hear Corpse’s laugh from down the hall, bringing a smile to my face.

We’ve gotten used to playing in this arrangement, a few rooms away from each other, ever since we moved in together - Corpse is in his recording room and I am in our shared bedroom. When one dies, they go in the other’s room to troll them. I’m usually the one dead, but that’s besides the point.

“Hi everyone!“ I say in my typical cheery tone before kicking it done a few notches, making it an octave deeper just to say: “Hi Rae.”

The whole lobby laughs, they all know what I’m trying to do here. Everyone’s aware this is the first time Rae is in the same call and lobby as Corpse and I after you-know-which incident. Sure, I’ve been poking sticks at her, waving a white flag and admitting I was wrong several times by now. Who knew my sweetheart best friend could act so cold? I know it’s a front. I know she’s fighting to stay mad. There’s a ton of pressure on her to finally forgive us, but she’s been holding up better than I would be if I were in her situation.

I honestly felt, and still feel, slightly guilty. I know best friends are supposed to tell each other everything. They are supposed to be the first ones to know whatever’s going on in each other’s lives. And I know I broke one of the main rules of friendships, but the decision wasn’t only mine to make. I’m sure she understands where I’m coming from, she’s just giving me and Corpse a hard time.

“Hello, Y/N.” She replies, her tone strictly formal.

“Progress, people! Progress!“ I say joyously, the smile turning into a grin 

“Don’t worry, babe. We’ll get her eventually.“ Corpse reassures me as he’s done for the past week or two. He knew I wasn’t as unbothered by Rae’s anger towards me as I tried to appear - a pro and simultaneously a con of living with someone: they pick up on everything about you. You become as familiar to them as the back of their hand.

“I know, I know.“ I giggle, “She’ll cave.“

“Yeah, good luck with that.“ Rae has dropped the formal tone, now sounding like a stubborn child which is something I’m way more familiar with. I’ve dealt with her tantrums and childish outbursts - I don’t know which number it is, but it’s somewhere in the rule book of friendships - and I at least the approximate meaning behind it. 

Ken puts an end to our friendly, stick-poking, sorta one-sided banter, ushering us to start the game. We all oblige, muting our mics and getting our heads in the game as though we’re about to enter an actual warzone with upmost stealth.

To my dismay, the screen flashes ‘Crewmate’. I head out of cafeteria to do my task in Weapons, staying weary of anyone within my proximity. Once I’m done, I head on down to Shields and complete my task there as well. I cringe when I’m done, knowing my last three tasks are in Electrical. Like, the fuck kind of luck do I have?

I make my way through the halls, running into Sykkuno and we circle around each other a few times to show we’re safe before we each continue our own way. I enter Electrical and.....oh Felix is dead. And oh lookie who’s right there...

I report the body before the impostor can and we all unmute our mics.

“Found him in Electrical.“ I say nonchalantly, “Didn’t see anyone in there though.“ 

“Anyone sus?“ Sean asks

We say our ‘no’s and ‘I don’t know’s and skip the vote. I’m smirking to myself as I head back down to Electrical. Walking in, I see the same person as before - Rae. I stop dead in my tracks and we just stare at each other for a few seconds before she comes towards me, circling me twice, bumping visors with me and venting out of the room.

“You’re welcome.“ I mumble, smiling widely.

I finish my tasks and leave Electrical just as Corpse enters our bedroom, giving me this tired-parent look like he’s half disappointed and half amused. “You just threw the game, didn’t you? Don’t lie.” He raises his eyebrows, fully adopting his parent role.

I giggle, shaking my head, sending him the briefest of glances before my eyes fixate on the screen in utter shock - Sean just killed me. Oh, for fuck’s sake...

“I was gonna come clean eventually, but I guess they won’t hear it from me now.“ I shrug, lifting my laptop and setting it aside so Corpse can join me on the bed. I snuggle up to him immediately, drawn to him as though he’s a human magnet.

“Who was it?“ He asks me, running his hands through my hair in a soothing manner.

I frown, pulling away from his chest to look him in the eyes, “Wait, how did you know I threw the game if you don’t know who I threw it for?”

He smirks, shrugging, “I didn’t know. You were smiling downright evilly when I came in so I just assumed.” He boops my nose. “And you ratted yourself out.”

I narrow my eyes at him, blowing some air out my nose - a gesture that has become my only way of showing anger towards him. I literally can’t even voice when I’m upset with him cause the grudge lasts like .5 seconds. I let him get away with more than he should.

Seeing as how I can’t argue to his statement, I lean back into his chest and pull out my phone to pass the time while I pretend to give him the silent treatment. Among my notifications is one for Rae’s stream. I smile and tap it, being taken to her YouTube channel and her live stream.

Just when the stream loads, Rae finds my dead body in Storage.

“Oh, nooooooo! Y/N!“ She wines as she goes over to it, “Sean must’ve killed her.” She reports the body and unmutes herself in game, “The body’s in Storage. I was on my way to call an emergency meeting cause I saw Sean vent in Security.”

“WHAT?!“ Sean exclaims in shock, “I didn’t! Rae’s lying. I swear I didn’t! I wasn’t even in Security!“

“Sean has been following me around this whole time. Just saying.“ Ken joins the discussion, throwing even more suspicion on Sean.

“We gotta vote someone.“ Charlie says, “Might as well be the most sus person at the moment.“

The voting results show all the little astronaut icons on Sean except his which is on Rae. Sean gets launched into space and the game continues. Having muted her mic in-game, Rae speaks up: “Y/N has been avenged. No one kills my best friend.”

I’m staring at my phone screen, eyes wide, eyebrows raised, a huge smile on my face. I take a glance at Corpse out of the corner of my eye and see he’s just as pleasantly surprised as I am.

“For those of you asking if I’m still mad at her and Corpse, the answer’s no. Actually, I think I was never mad. I was just in shock and a little hurt that I wasn’t made aware sooner.“ Rae says as she keeps wandering around the map, “Then I realized not talking to my best friend hurt more than the betrayal, you know. The only reason I still pretend is because it’s really funny to see her trying to soften me up.“ She laughs, “But yeah. I don’t know what I’d do without her or Corpse in my life. I love them both and love them even more together. My best friends are dating, I still can’t wrap my brain around that! They are sooo cute, you guys! I wish they posted more content of them together. I’m literally simping over their relationship! But shh, don’t tell em I said that.”

I laugh, overjoyed by what I just heard. I knew she couldn’t still be mad at us. I know she has every right to be, but she’s too sweet to actually hold a grudge against anyone ever.

I suddenly want nothing more than to give her an enormous hug and hold onto her for as long as she’d let me. I just now realize how lonely it feels to have never hugged your best friend because you haven’t hung out together in person. The only reason Rae now knows what I look like is because I sent her a full body picture of myself as one of my sad attempts to get her to start talking to us again. We have never met in person, and that thought kills me. It makes me impatient for this pandemic to end even more than before. 

“Told you there was nothing to worry about.“ Corpse’s arms tighten their hold on my body, pulling me even closer which I didn’t know was possible. The most fulfilling and endearing feeling - being in the arms of a loved one. Being held so close and so tightly that you feel like you’re untouchable. Like you two can’t be hurt by anything in the world as long as you have each other.

“Yeah, you were right.“ I sigh in content, putting my phone down and covering his hands with mine, our rings clinking quietly when they touch.

“As usual...“ he whispers theatrically with his lips against my hair.

I playfully roll my eyes, catching glimpse of the screen showing Rae’s demise. 

“Oh no, they caught her.“ I say, a bit disappointed she didn’t win and more than a bit responsible for her defeat.

I somehow manage to convince myself to get untangled from Corpse’s embrace and join the new round. I hear him groan as I settle my computer in my lap, unmuting my mic.

“See ya, kitten.“ Corpse kisses my temple, standing up.

“Oh my God, you two are too cute.“ Poki says sweetly, having heard what Corpse said to me.

“SIMP!“ Sean and Felix shout in unison causing the whole lobby to laugh. Corpse is as red as Rae’s avatar as he exists our room, running down the hallway.

“Ok, ok, ok. Hold on. I have to address this. I really hadn’t stepped foot in Security, let alone vented in there. Rae why were you lying?“ Sean’s voice cuts through the teasing directed towards Corpse and I.

“While we’re on that topic...“ Felix speaks up as well, making me break out in a nervous sweat, “Y/N, you literally saw Rae kill me, but you said you didn’t see anyone.“ He laughs, “Not gonna lie, I was a bit pissed.“

The call falls silent for about five seconds until Rae and I speak simultaneously.

“I was avenging Y/N.“

“I was helping Rae.“

Silence follows our statements, not for long though, as our friends break out in amused laughter.

“Fuck’s sake, you two make a good team.“ Sean says through genuine laughter which Rae and I soon join him in.

Felix and Sean and the rest of the lobby forgive us for throwing the game from both the crewmate and impostor’s side and we move onto another round. This time I have only one task in Electrical which I leave for last as always. I don’t feel like dying right from the get-go. I start by doing the card swipe in Admin and then the fuel task in Storage. As I make my way to Upper Engine, Corpse leaves Electrical, falling in step with me. I immediately get nervous, but still make my way to where I’m supposed to go, hoping he’d go his own way eventually. 

I stay wary of my boyfriend as I do my task, praying he won’t take my head off. When the task is finished, I find I’m trapped in the room with the doors shut. And Corpse right there. With every right and opportunity to kill me and vent. No one would know. No one saw us. 

That nervous sweat is back. 

I’m counting my last seconds of being alive.

And it happens...

A body is reported

“Oh than you so so so much! Corpse was gonna kill me in Upper Engine!“ I don’t let the person who reported the body speak, thanking them for my survival. “I was sure I was a goner.“

“Babe, come on now. You know I wouldn’t kill you even if I was an impostor. I love you too much.“ Corpse hurries to defend himself, “I’m following you around to keep you safe.“

I can tell he’s capping, but I have no concrete proof. He knows I’m onto him. His best bet is having me killed by the other impostor. He might have been capping the majority of his defense, but I know he won’t kill me.

“I’ll vote for myself because of that one.“ I mumble

The vote is skipped except the one vote I placed on myself and the round continues. I follow Corpse around the whole time, making sure he’s completing tasks - not that I can be 100% certain he’s actually completing them.

All is well until we walk into Admin and find Felix there, uploading data. Corpse, dead-ass, goes up to him and kills him, reporting the body right afterwards.

“IT’S CORPSE!“ I don’t give him a chance to start his brainwashing of the rest of the players. “Felix, this is my redemption for leaving your death unavenged last round.“

“Yeah, it’s me.“ Corpse laughs, that adorable laugh of his melting me despite the need to stay strong and carry out my argument, “Just vote me out so I can go troll Y/N.“

“Sounds like a plan to me.“ Ken says, the remainder of the crewmates, and the impostor probably, agreeing with him.

The votes are put in, all on Corpse obviously, and he is sent off into space. Not even five seconds later I hear his footsteps approaching. 

I look up when he pops his head in the room and says, “I have come to annoy you to death with my love for you.”

I can’t help but laugh, shaking my head. The things this man does to me are insane. It’s insane that I let him. 

It’s amazing, really. We’re amazing.

And I wouldn’t have it any other way.

I pat the spot on the bed next to me, “I’ll allow it. But only cause I love you too.”

@susceptible-but-siriusexual  @simonsbluee  @save-the-sky  @hacker-ghost  @itsminniekat  @bi-andready-tocry  @imtiredaffff  @jazzkaurtheglorious  @hereforbeebo  @fandomgirl17  @chrysanthykios  @maehemscorpyus  @loraleiix  @letsloveimagines  @annshit  @i-cant-choose-a-username-help  @enigmaticmaze  @divine-artemis

[findingjoynweirdstuff]

Dream SMP Recap (July 25/2021) - The Wilburger Ranvan

Wilbur comes up with his new calling: selling burgers in a burger van! At Phil’s suggestion, Wilbur teams up with Ranboo to do so, setting up their new business on the outskirts of Las Nevadas.

A brief summary of the week’s total events can be found at the end of the post.

---

VOD LINKS:

Wilbur Soot

Captain Puffy

BadBoyHalo

---

- Wilbur and Phil hang out in the Arctic. Wilbur has a proposition for Phil

- He says he met up with Quackity and it was a nice time. The one conclusion he came to is that Quackity is very resourceful

Wilbur: “As much as I may disagree with your views on anarchy, I must say, it’s pretty harmless. I -- I can’t hate you for it. I can’t hate you for enjoying literally living in a peaceful little village in the snow, I mean the server’s never been this peaceful since -- since all the countries and nations and cities and everything is gone. So Phil, I came to you with one question, one question...do you think Quackity should be allowed to be left unchecked?”

- Phil says no. The issue is, there’s no government, no police force. What Techno’s done is left a power vacuum and now Quackity’s come in with an unethical establishment, gambling...

- Wilbur wants to make a burger van

- They get interrupted by an Enderman ascending from the basement

- He knows there’s a bit of déjà vu, but the difference is that the burger van isn’t going to sell drugs this time. He wants every steak to have a name

- He’s done with being a source of authority, a president. His calling is just burgers, no ulterior motives

- Phil knows someone who would help out: Ranboo. The richest, most knowledgable man on the server, and he’s run out of things to do on the server

- Wilbur doesn’t want to play with Ranboo, but Phil threatens to kick him out if he doesn’t so he does, annoyed at being treated like a child

- Wilbur gives Ranboo his proposition

Wilbur: “I like to think, you know, let bygones be bygones, let’s bury the hatchet, let’s be -- Ranboo I’m gonna go out on a limb here...do you wanna be friends?”

- His next progression, after being a dead-terrorist-president...is to be a chef. Ranboo is onboard 

- They start walking over. Wilbur asks if Ranboo’s heard of Las Nevadas, and Ranboo mentions their abandoned cookie post that was causing trouble. He wants to create competition for Quackity’s business. Eventually, maybe Quackity will have to make a deal with them, maybe even be their friend

- Ranboo wants to keep it respectful. Wilbur assures him that they already has the land necessary

- Wilbur wants to pick Ranboo’s brain and asks his thoughts on Quackity. Ranboo says he just hasn’t seen him in so long. Their last interaction before everything else happened was just that they were in the same cabinet of New L’manburg

- Wilbur didn’t know that Ranboo was part of L’manburg’s government

- Wilbur asks if he dislikes anyone. Ranboo says not too much, just people that he doesn’t agree with. Everyone is just a product of what they’ve gone through, so if you understand that, you understand the person

- If you align yourself with everyone, isn’t that more complicated? Ranboo says that’s why he’s just been living with Phil and Techno away from everything, trying not to involve himself in much, but he has a terrible radar on what’s involving himself and what isn’t

Wilbur: “What about Dream?”

Ranboo: “Well that’s -- well, with Dream it’s kind of like...all I’ve heard of Dream, all I’ve seen with Dream is just been like the really bad things that he’s done and everything, so I would say that I -- yeah, I don’t really like Dream, but I mean, he’s also not really someone that it matters whether or not I like him ‘cause he’s just away in that prison for a really long time, so I mean...”

Wilbur: “No trial?”

- They reach their competition and go into the fast food restaurant

- He peeks into the casino, but holes it back up. This building doesn’t benefit the consumer

- Wilbur places down some signs insulting Quackity’s burger place, guaranteeing those signs will never leave since they don’t care about the customer

- Wilbur shows Ranboo his area, which he's thinking of naming “Paradise.” Ranboo says it could be a neat play on words...pair-of-dice

- Wilbur and Ranboo decide to make the place red and white, retro-themed. Ranboo gives Wilbur Ranord and Wilbur goes off to gather some red

- Wilbur likes Tubbo since he’s strong-headed and doesn’t let people push him around

- Ranboo says when you can’t change someone’s mind, it’s no use to needlessly argue. Wilbur points out that Ranboo seems to be a bit more dynamic than a purely neutral, peaceful force. He’s somehow appeared in almost every conflict the server’s had since Wilbur died

- Ranboo says it’s because he’s bad at discerning things, but he’s been doing alright with his situation recently. He wants to help people, and sometimes he lets that desire to help people get in the way of what he says about himself

Wilbur: “Ranboo...why did you help to help me?”

- Ranboo needed something to do, and he also thought that Wilbur’s an alright person, so he wants to get off on a better foot because he doesn’t like having people not like him

- Wilbur asks why he doesn’t think Wilbur’s a bad person. Ranboo says he did bad things, but also went through things that made him that way and now he’s changed as a person since he died. He’s optimistic in that

Wilbur: (sniffs) “Good, uh...that’s nice. Thank you. Uh...I think I needed to hear that.”

Wilbur: “Can I be real with you man? ...I think I scare people.”

Ranboo: “I mean...yeah, I do the same thing.”

Wilbur: “No, not in -- no no, I mean I...I don’t think I...I think a lot of people share your idea, but they share your idea in trying to -- trying to keep me from hurting them, you know? Like they’ve seen what I can do and they don’t want me to do it again, so they adopt your emotion in order to do it.”

- He demolished Jack Manifold’s house twice, he completely ignored him in the war, and what it took for Jack to forgive Wilbur was just a sorry. 

Wilbur: “And I know -- I’ve spoken to Tommy about Jack Manifold! And Jack Manifold is not the sort of person to forgive someone like that with a sorry! Imagine if Dream said sorry to Jack Manifold! What’s Dream done to Jack Manifold, huh? Barely anything! I imagine if Dream said sorry to Jack Manifold, Jack Manifold would ignore him. Do you know why? Because DREAM’s in prison, and I’m not!

“Dream is -- he’s had his comeuppance and I’ve not! My comeuppance was apparently not good enough for these people! They’re just waiting! Waiting for the next thing for me to slip up on them -- Ranboo, I’m not gonna fucking slip up, Ranboo, I’m different. I’m not Dream...god, I wish I was! Sometimes I wish, I wish I’d gotten that comeuppance but Ranboo, I’m not Dream. And I’m not gonna be Dream, and that’s...”

“I’m living in eternal Limbo...again. I’ve been through Limbo. I’m out of Limbo. And socially, I’m still in this Limbo, and man, Ranboo, hearing you say those words that you said to me? Do you remember what you said?”

Ranboo: “Y-yeah, I do?”

Wilbur: “You said...(sniffs) I think people can change, that’s number one. And number two, you said you’re scared that people don’t like you.”

- He tells Ranboo that they’re kindred. They have the same neuroticism, their strongest point. But anxiety is not their downfall. Wilbur’s parents are alive because they were anxious and didn’t let anything take them down

- Ranboo says they’re both thinkers. They may think in different ways, but they think at the same level

Wilbur: “I think you might be a bit braver than me in showing your true colors. I feel like with you, Ranboo, I never have to be guessing your next move. I never have to be guessing your hand, you know? I feel like life dealt us the same cards, and the difference is you build your trust by showing people your cards whilst I keep them close to my chest, and I feel like that might be the big difference.”

- He asks Ranboo what he feels about thievery. He’s going to steal Las Nevadas’ cows to make into burgers

- Ranboo makes some concrete and starts building the van. Wilbur rides off on a horse looking for some sheep

- Wilbur asks Ranboo about Tubbo and Ranboo talks a bit about Snowchester. Wilbur thought Techno was successful at getting rid of all the nations, but Ranboo says it’s not a nation. Wilbur doesn’t know about Kinoko Kingdom either

- Wilbur gets to the spider farm, which has Kanye West in it

- He heads back and they discuss names like Paradise or Wilburger

- Wilbur asks Ranboo’s opinion on Tommy and Ranboo thinks he’s great. Tommy’s gone through a lot, but it’s made him a good person. 

Wilbur notes that he seems to think that everyone’s gone through something. Ranboo says yes, the only bad people are those who are evil without a reason why, but there’s not many people like that

- Wilbur names the first burger “Wilburger Vol. 1″ and puts a watermark on it

- Wilbur wants to ask Ranboo one last make-or-break question

- Chat suggests the “Wilburger Ranvan” and they like it

- They go to Quackity’s restaurant and Wilbur wants Ranboo to smash the windows. Ranboo does

- Wilbur goes inside and places TNT. He hands Ranboo the lighter and tells him to detonate it

- Ranboo does so. Wilbur tells Ranboo to go back to the van. He’s passed the test

Wilbur: “Ranboo, I’m proud of you man. You’ve -- you’ve taken a side.”

- Wilbur goes back and places a sign at the crater:

---

***** Wilbur + Ranboo  Did this together

*****

---

“I love that guy.” (laughs) “I love that guy.”

END OF WEEK RECAP:

7/19 - Nothing much happens.

7/20 - Sapnap and George speak with Mexican Dream

7/21 - Foolish creates Philzavilla and breaks into the prison

7/22 - Nothing much happens.

7/23 - Nothing much happens.

7/24 - MCC, no updates

7/25 - Wilbur and Ranboo make a burger van

---

Upcoming Events:

- Captain Puffy’s Lore Stream

- Wilbur’s 11 planned streams

- Egg Finale Stream

- Tales From the SMP: “Space Race”

- Ponk’s prequel stream

- Ponk’s current-day lore with Sam

- Puffy’s Lore Cast

- Sapnap’s lore

- Dream’s lore video

- Quackity’s casino opening

[troubatrain]

taxi - j. markstrom

a/n: i swore on my life i started writing this and then hours went by and it was done. by the way, aside from this song i still have yet to chose any players for the rest of this series and the google form is open for suggestions (it’s linked below) but anyways, i need to start by saying this got super personal for me and this showcases some of my own experiences with my own mental illness, and not everyone experiences those things the same way and i just want to remind everyone of that before they read! also, i definitely suggest listening to the song while reading it because it just feels right.

i need to tag @danglesnipecelly​ because k wrote a matty fic and in turn i’m legally required to write a marky fic

part of my lovely little lonely series

tw: mentions of depression, mentions of post-partum depression

“...and in the backseat, when you asked me, is the sadness everlasting? i pulled you closer, looked at you and said love, I think it is...” - Taxi - The Maine

Jacob wasn’t sure when things had gotten so bad.

You were doing better, and Jacob even thought you were doing better than before. You’d been going to therapy again regularly, less of Jacob forcing you to go for his sake and more of going by your own will. You were back on your meds, but even you admitted they felt like they might have been working this time around now that you found the right fit. The adjustment to your new surroundings in Calgary seemed to be going smoothly, spending time with Annica and Elias like you weren’t constantly battling with your own demons.

But god you were.

Jacob honestly thought you were braver than anyone he’s ever known. You met a few years back, when you used to throw on a smile just to walk out the door and Jacob was just starting to make a splash in Vancouver. He was the only person who seemed to notice you in the large crowd you were who was mingling with a few of his teammates. He knew you were something special in that moment, and he’d tell you everyday until you started to believe it. What he didn’t know at the time was, you’d just gotten diagnosed with depression and you were tackling it on your own. Not a soul knew about the days you couldn’t wait to sleep because it was the only time you were able to turn your brain off. They didn’t know about the mess in your apartment that was so embarrassing but you still just couldn’t clean it. And they definitely didn’t know about the long drives where you just thought about never coming back.

Jacob didn’t know these things for a while, but when the signs became clear, he tried his hardest to understand. He came over and cleaned your apartment when you were at work, shrugging it off when you asked him what prompted him to do it. Jacob made sure you were taken care of on days he knew you weren’t able to do it yourself.

Then the east coast road trip happened.

Your relationship was new, and you hadn’t told him what was going on even though it was becoming incredibly clear that he knew. Jacob has always been patient, and you always joke it’s because he’s a goalie, but the truth was that his heart was bigger than him. You called him, teary eyed while you sat on a park bench in the middle of Vancouver and told him you couldn’t do this anymore. At first he thought you were talking about him, maybe he’d overstepped a line he shouldn’t have, but it was clear you meant life. It was just too much, and Jacob knew it was time to push talking about it.

So you did, you laid there in the bitter cold on that bench until the sun came up and talked to him about your mental illness. You talked about your therapist who you’d been seeing but you were honest about the appointments you skipped. You talked to him about the full pill bottles in your bathroom because you didn’t want to take them but you didn’t want anyone to notice you weren’t picking up prescriptions. He was calm, listening to your words and not reprimanding you on the stall in your recovery.

Everyone moves at their own pace Y/N, you can move like a turtle if you want to and I won’t tell you to hurry up and get better.

Jacob never pushed, but that didn’t mean he didn’t educate himself. He read and read and read, everything he could on how he was supposed to help

you. He took classes, he listened to talks and he’d even attended meetings with other people who were in his same position. He wanted to understand, and he did his best to. Jacob did this because he loves you, and he wanted to make sure that was never going to be something you could question.

So that brings him here, standing in your shared bathroom while he counted how many pills were left in that orange bottle and he just knew the math wasn’t going to add up. Jacob runs a large hand over his face, rubbing his temples while he spun out about how this could be his fault. Maybe he should have stayed in Vancouver. Was the change too much for you?

“Babe?” You call out, leaning against the bathroom door and looking at him sadly. Your voice was soft, it always was, like Jacob being in distress was more important than the hell he’d seen you go through.

“Have you been skipping days?” Jacob asks, never with an accusatory tone. He learned that lesson, watching you shrink at his words when he asked if you’d been in bed all day. You start to utter an apology, Jacob raising his hand at you to stop because you didn’t owe him one, “Why didn’t you call?”

Tears were welling up in your eyes, your lip quivering while you tried to find the right words. Jacob didn’t look mad, he wasn’t - he was feeling guilty. He promised you, if you called it didn’t matter if he was in the middle of a game, he’d be there as soon as he could, “You need to be with your new team-”

“Fuck my new team,” Jacob scoffs, shaking his head and opening his arms to you, “You think I’d want to spend any more time with Elias than you?”

“No, I just,” You sigh, pushing a piece of your hair back that seemed to just fall back into place, “I didn’t want to be a bother, you need to be with these guys all the time and how can you do that if you’re worried about me?”

“I can do that because I want to do it,” Jacob reminds you, pushing that same piece of hair back where it belonged, and it stuck, “I don’t feel like I have to worry about you, I want to.”

“Wouldn’t it be easier not to?” You ask, wrapping your arms around Jacob’s waist and pressing your head into his chest. His heartbeat was steady, he was steady.

Jacob was the most stable thing you had in your life. You couldn’t figure what you’d done to experience unconditional love like that, a person to care for you so much that they would do anything to make you happy. He calmed you on the days you needed most and he never pushed you harder than he thought you needed. Turtle speed. He always called it that, but he’d rather see you move slowly to get better than throw on another fake smile.

“My life wouldn’t be easier if you weren’t in it,” Jacob hums, pressing a kiss to the top of your head, “Do you want me to set out your meds for the week? In that little container I got you?”

You nod, making a promise to yourself to take the step in getting better. Jacob reminded you constantly, you can’t do this for him, you needed to do it for yourself - he was just helping. He was always going to help.

***

You seemed better.

Jacob swore you were actually doing okay, the little check ins he was doing was working and when he got back from his next road trip - nothing seemed wrong. You were standing across Johnny’s house, laughing along with Annica and a few other girls and Jacob knew that laugh was a real one. This was good, seeing you out laughing and smiling.

“So, when is it going to be time for you?” Annica asks, her hand running over your ring finger, “Marky has to be thinking about having a few running around soon.”

You wish it hadn’t set you off. It was a simple question anyone would ask a couple who’s been together this long.

Children was a conversation you weren’t ready for. The thought terrified you, not because you didn’t want to have them, it was the post-partum talk. You knew the risks, all of the things that could happen after and you didn’t want to stomach that. What if you weren’t enough for your kids? They didn’t ask for a mother who couldn’t get out of bed sometimes let alone take care of them, and you’d be insane to think that was a healthy way to raise a child.

Jacob’s eyes remained on you while you rushed out of the house, fiddling with your hands and shaking your head. That was your tell, and Jacob excused himself immediately, chasing you out of the house. His hands grab your cheeks, steadying you for a moment and wiping the tears from your eyes.

“She asked me when we were going to the marriage and kids thing and,” You ramble out, closing your eyes and shutting your mouth. Jacob knew where you were going with this, it was fear he had too. It was the reason there was a ring in one of his coat pockets at home that’s never been opened because he was waiting for the right time. He’d wait forever if he had to. You were the one there was never a doubt about it.

“We don’t have to talk about it right now,” Jacob sighs, knowing this conversation was far too heavy to be had in public, “But, you’ll never be alone, I’m never going to leave, I’m never going to pressure you into anything. When you’re ready I will be too, but I don’t care how long it takes.”

“What if it’s too late for kids?” You whisper, the fear that Jacob could tell you he’d wait forever but you’d seen him with kids, he was made to be a father.

“We can adopt, foster, whatever you want,” Jacob assures you, the idea of having children never had to be biological to him, “Chucky asked me if we were looking to adopt the other day…”

You let out a laugh, looking and pressing your lips to Jacob’s. You couldn’t thank him enough, not like he’d ever let you, but he was so good. You leaned your head on his shoulder, watching Calgary pass you by while Jacob hums to the radio next to you in the cab to get home.

“You think I’ll always be like this?” You ask, a question that could have been for either of you.

“There’s always going to be bad days, but you’re never going to be alone on them. I promise.”

“Turtle speed?”

“Turtle speed.”

[let-the-dream-begin]

In My Daughter’s Eyes Chapter 30: Family

Chapter 29

Read on AO3

November 27th

Jamie felt a flutter of excitement as he rang the doorbell to the Abernathy home. It was the Sunday after Thanksgiving, and neither doctor had had the day off on Thursday. Claire had mentioned they’d done exactly this last year. Claire had casually asked if Jamie wanted to make a pie or pick one up, and he’d stared at her, bewildered. 

“Ehm...fer what?”

Claire eyed him as if he’d asked what color the sky was. “For Thanksgiving?”

“Oh! I...thought ye spent it wi’ Joe’s family...”

She blinked at him like he had two heads. “Yes. And you’re coming.”

And that was that. 

This was a big step for them as a couple, as a potential family, and Jamie knew it. He knew better than to make a big deal out of it to Claire, but that simple assumption that of course he’d be celebrating with Claire’s adopted family had made him fit to burst with joy. The next day, Jamie had texted her:

speaking of holidays and families, how do you feel about spending christmas with mine?

She’d replied hours later, likely during her first break of the day:

I’d absolutely love to. 

So they were there now. They were officially bringing each other “home for the holidays.” Well, Jamie’s family was coming here to avoid putting Faith through air travel, but still. If somebody had asked Jamie last Thanksgiving or last Christmas if he’d ever imagined this, with her, with them, he’d have told them they were crazy. 

That morning, they’d gone to see Moana. The local movie theater did half-priced tickets before noon, and the movie had come out the day before Thanksgiving. Jamie had told Claire that he and his family always went to the cinema on Christmas Eve and Boxing Day; since the closest one to Lallybroch was an hour away, it was a special occasion. Claire had immediately lit up, declaring that they had to go on Thanksgiving. Rather, their makeshift Thanksgiving. Claire had never actually brought Faith to the movies before, but the place was empty aside from one other family, so it was perfect. She was in heaven. She was absolutely enthralled by the hugeness of the screen, the colors, the music. They’d sat near the front in the wider aisle where the railing was, meant for handicapped viewers, so Faith could run around or lean on the railing, dangling Horsie over the edge with her mouth agape. Claire had bought the album on iTunes on the way home, anticipating that Faith would want to play the music all day, and she’d been right. Jamie already knew almost every word to ��How Far I’ll Go.” He wondered if it would hold up against “Let it Go” for Faith, but only time would tell.

A gust of November wind brought Jamie back to the moment, and the front door opened to reveal Joe, white teeth flashing against his dark skin in a radiant grin. 

“Ah, there he is!” Joe enthusiastically clapped Jamie on the shoulder with one hand, and shook Jamie’s hand with the other. “It is so good to have you here, Jamie.”

“Hello to you too,” Claire said wryly.

“Come on, I see you all the time,” Joe said. At that moment, Faith slipped right out of Claire’s grip and bounded inside, humming loudly and flapping her hands wildly. 

Claire rolled her eyes at both Faith’s escape and Joe. Jamie watched with amusement as Gail appeared at the end of the hallway and exclaimed in surprise as Faith barreled into her. 

“Sweet Jesus!”

Joe ushered Jamie, Claire, and Angus, leash held by Claire, into the house. 

“Well it’s nice to see you, crazy bean!” Gail said, laughing, and Faith disappeared into the living room. “Dee-Dee! They’re here, and Faith is looking for you!”

Jamie handed off the pie (that he’d made from scratch, of course) to Gail, and insisted on helping her finish with the hors d'oeuvres and the drinks. Faith darted about, in and out of the rooms, until the pitter-patter of little feet coming down the stairs had her running back into the hallway. By the time all the adults were settled with finger foods and drinks, Delia and Faith were already in the corner of the room, engaged with dolls and a little house. Even Faith’s Horsie was involved in the game, of course. 

“They did this last year too,” Claire said as they sat down on the couch. “We got here and Dee-Dee had a whole spread. It was adorable.”

“She does it every time she knows she’s coming over,” Gail said. 

“Aye, I remember her at Faith’s party; she’s a sweet one,” Jamie said fondly. 

“Thanks,” Gail said.

“And that one got so big!” Claire exclaimed, looking at Lenny, sat in his own corner with a tablet. “Last Thanksgiving he still looked like a baby.”

“Four years old, you believe that?” Joe said, shaking his head. 

“Oh, I believe it,” Claire said, eyeing Faith. “They grow too fast.”

“Oh my gosh, Claire, I never even asked.” Gail said, putting down her drink. “Faith started school!”

“Yeah, she did.”

“You were scared shitless,” Gail dropped her voice to a low whisper. 

Claire chuckled. “Yes, I certainly was.”

Jamie put his hand lightly on Claire’s knee, and she took it, seemingly without thinking about it. They laced their fingers together with practiced ease, and Jamie squeezed. 

“You mentioned at work the first day went okay,” Joe said. “How’s she been since then?”

“Really good, actually,” Claire said. Jamie could feel the warmth of glowing pride radiating from her. “She stopped having any bathroom problems, finally, and she hasn’t had to call home or either of us at work in a while. Which is good, because it’s hard when I’m at the hospital or if Jamie’s with a client...but I think we’re finally past that.”

“That’s great,” Gail said. 

“I can tell she still doesn’t really love it. It’s a bit of a fight to get her on the bus after a weekend or a break. Monday should be really fun,” she rolled her eyes, “but she’s doing it. She’s getting her stickers when she earns them and prizes and after school treats.”

“Claire is doing all the right things,” Jamie cut in. “It’s hard to motivate her sometimes, but as long as she’s on the bus in the morning, then we’ve done all we can do.”

“Right,” Gail said. 

“Remember after Labor Day when she would not get on, no matter what I did?”

“Aye, I do. I had to leave the stables to try to get her on myself.”

“I couldn’t believe the driver waited that long.” Claire covered her face and shook her head at the memory. “If that never happens again, it’ll be too soon.”

The adults shared a quiet laugh. 

“I see she’s got a communication device now?” Joe said, gesturing to the tablet resting next to Faith. “The school provides that?”

“Yeah,” Claire said. “She’s been getting more and more comfortable with it lately. She still signs for her basic needs, and Mummy, but she loves being able to say ‘Angus,’ and all your names, and Gillian’s name, and Jamie’s. I don’t want her to lose the signing, but this is a great additional tool.”

“Yeah, of course,” Gail said. “I saw that video on Facebook that you posted, when she first figured out the ‘Mummy’ button.”

“Oh, yeah,” Claire smiled fondly at the memory, and so did Jamie. When it had first clicked for Faith that there was a word on her device for every sign, she could not get enough of saying “Mummy,” calling out to her beloved mother in a brand new way. “She did the same thing to Jamie the next time we saw him.”

“Over and over,” Jamie confirmed. “It was sweet.”

“Until the third hour,” Claire said, and Jamie could tell she was only half-kidding. He didn’t blame her at all. 

Jamie was about to ask about how Delia was doing in school, how pre-k was for Lenny, when Joe spoke again. 

“How are you guys?” He raised both of his eyebrows coyly. “I mean, it seems like it’s...going really well. Yeah?”

Jamie watched a blush creep up Claire’s neck and touch her cheeks with color. She flashed her eyes at Jamie, who felt warmth spreading from head to toe. 

“We’re great,” Jamie answered, looking into Claire’s eyes and raising her fingers to his lips. “Really great.”

——

December 17th

As Claire approached the door to Jamie’s apartment, shopping bag and leash in one hand, Faith’s hand in the other, she heard a loud shriek from the other side of the door. Faith let go of Claire’s hand to clamp her hands over her ears, and Claire’s stomach dropped.

Off to a great start.

Claire was nervous beyond all reason to meet Jamie’s family. They’d gotten off the plane from Scotland two days ago, wanting to give themselves plenty of time before the holidays, and wanting to meet Claire and Faith at least once before then. Jamie decided on a little pizza party at his place.

Claire begged and pleaded with Faith to calm down, but she would not move until presented with her headphones. Claire sighed in defeat and put them on her. She knew deep down that Jamie’s family would bear no judgement on her in the slightest, but she really hadn’t wanted their first impression of her and her daughter to be flustered mother of an irritable daughter.

The door opened while Claire was still kneeling on the ground, and she looked up in a panic, relief washing over her to see that it was only Jamie.

“Sorry about that,” he said sheepishly. “Wee Jamie is a bit of an imp.”

Claire stood up, laughing nervously. “Oh, hi, sorry.” She tried taking Faith’s hand again, but Faith recoiled, reaching up to Jamie instead. Claire rolled her eyes upward, and Jamie grinned.

“Aye, alright, let’s get ye in out of the cold.” He obliged Faith, lifting her up and settling her on his hip, leading the way into the apartment. Faith rubbed her cheek against Jamie’s, delighting in the stubble, and Claire peered around Jamie to see the face that she’d come to be so familiar with but had never actually seen in person. Jenny was sitting on the couch feeding star-shaped puffs to a toddler, and the just as familiar Ian was holding a little boy over his shoulder.

“Everyone,” Jamie announced. “This is Claire. And this is Faith.”

Jenny launched herself off the couch and handed the baby off to Ian, who expertly handled holding both children at once.

“It’s great to finally meet ye, Claire,” Jenny said, throwing her arms around her in a bone crushing hug.

Claire started in surprise at first, but then returned the embrace. Her embrace was warm, soft and solid all at once, much like Jamie. She was wearing an oversized cream sweater, similar to Claire’s own white cable-knit turtleneck. “Hi, I’m so glad to finally meet you, too.”

“I’m Jenny, as ye probably guessed,” she went on, pulling away from the embrace, but keeping a hand on one of Claire’s shoulders. “That’s my husband, Ian.”

“Hallo,” Ian gestured with his chin in greeting. “This heathen is Wee Jamie,” he turned around to show Claire his face, given that his feet were previously facing her, “and this is Maggie.” He turned back around.

“Great to meet you, all three of you,” Claire said, laughing.

Just then, Claire noticed the man that had appeared in the doorway to the kitchen, smiling down at her. Everything about him was warmth, strength, and comfort.

“Claire,” he said, his voice deep and laced with the deepest affection.

“Hi,” Claire said sheepishly, her smile hurting her cheeks. “It’s an honor to meet you, Mister Fraser. Jamie speaks so highly of you.”

“Och, I’ll no’ have ye calling me that. Ye’ll call me Brian, Da, whatever ye’re comfortable with.” He stepped in toward her and pulled her in for a hug that was somehow tighter than Jenny’s. “Ye’re family, lass.”

Claire squeezed him back, this man she had just met, and tears pinpricked her eyes.

My family.

Brian pulled away and gripped her shoulders, looking into her face. “Christ, my heart’s full to see ye.”

“Let her breathe, Da,” Jenny chided. “Here, let me take this. And give yer coats to Ian.” Jenny took the paper bag of crisps and cookies in Claire’s hand like this was her own home and disappeared with it into the kitchen.

Ian put little Jamie down and pointed a threatening finger at him, and the boy grinned impishly as his father took Claire’s coat, then Faith’s, from Jamie.

“Hi!” he burst to Claire. “Are ye my Auntie now?”

“Oh, I…”

“Jamie…”

“Oi, why d’ye no’ play wi’ the Wii, lad,” Jamie cut in. The boy bounced with excitement, planting his bottom on the coffee table right in front of the tellie. “Quietly, now,” Jamie warned, setting up a game for him with Faith in his arms all the while. She refused to be put down.

“That’s her, then? Wee Faith?” Brian watched as Jamie shifted her to his other hip after finishing setting up Jamie’s game.

“Yes, that’s my girl,” Claire answered, pride warming her chest.

“Beautiful,” Brian breathed, beaming at her as Jamie approached his father. “Yer spitting image.”

“Thank you,” Claire said. She stroked Faith’s cheek, who was still rubbing her face and arms against Jamie’s stubbled jaw.

Brian hummed in amusement. “Willie used to do that to me,” he said. “It’s comforting to them.”

“Yes, I suppose it is.” Claire’s eyes flicked nervously to Jamie, but he seemed alright. Perhaps they spoke fondly of Jamie’s brother often. She’d have to get used to that.

Jenny flitted back in from the kitchen and chided her brother for letting her son play with brain-rotting video games, but Jamie just rolled his eyes and sat down, Angus settling at his feet at attention for Faith.

“I didn’t even know you had a Wii,” Claire said, sitting down beside him.

“Aye, well,” he winked, “how else would I kick yer arse in Mario Kart?”

Claire snorted quietly and fought the urge to swat at his arm in front of his family. Ian sat down next to Jamie with Maggie, Brian sat on the leather recliner in the corner, and Jenny sat on the edge of the coffee table facing the couch.

“So! This is the wee lass I’ve heard so much about?” Jenny beamed at Faith.

“Aye, she canna hear ye just now wi’ these on; wee Jamie gave her a fright.”

“Och, I’m so sorry,” Jenny said. “I did try to explain to him — ”

“No, it’s okay. He's so young.”

“Aye, and a menace to society already.” Jenny rolled her eyes, and Claire chuckled. “I’m just grateful he didna make a run fer the dog. He retained that from our talk at least.”

She was obviously referring to the fact that when Angus was working, he could not be pet. Claire did catch a few longing glances at the animal from the little boy, but he was being very good.

After a few minutes, with Angus’s help, Jamie managed to coax Faith into taking the headphones off.

“There you go, good girl,” Claire praised. “She’d never take them off without Jamie here. He’s absolutely wonderful with her.”

“Aye, and she’s quite taken wi’ him as well,” Jenny said smiling at the way Faith was nuzzled into his neck.

“We’ve a…special bond,” Jamie said, his eyes twinkling. “Aye, princess?” He bounced her on his knee, and she giggled.

“Look, lass, this is Jenny,” Jamie said. “Can ye say hi?”

She buried her face further.

“She’s very shy,” Claire explained. “Strangers are a little tricky. But I promise the more she’s with you, the better it gets. Even Jamie was a scary stranger at some point. Right, lovie?”

Jenny and Ian laughed softly.

“I really appreciate you all coming here,” Claire said. “It can’t be easy traveling with little ones.”

“Och, ’twas nae bother,” Ian said. “Glad to do it.”

“We hardly ever get to see Jamie’s place anyway,” Jenny added. “We’ve only been to the Island…what, once or twice before?” Ian nodded in confirmation. “It’s nice to see the life he’s made here. And the stables are just great.”

“Aye, we’re very proud of the work Jamie does,” Brian cut in, the pride oozing out of his every feature.

“You should be. He’s…he’s got a special touch with those kids,” Claire said, unable to stop the heart eyes she knew she was giving Jamie. “He changes lives. I know he changed Faith’s, and mine for that matter. Even before, well…this.” She blushed, realizing she was rambling. Jamie reached for her hand and gave it a squeeze, likely sensing her embarrassment.

“Aye, well it’s good ye ken how lucky ye are,” Jenny said. “Ye’ll no’ find a better man than my brother.”

“Christ, Janet…” It was Jamie’s turn to turn scarlet.

“I’m being nice, Jamie! I could go on instead about how difficult ye are to live with…”

“Claire doesna need a speech about treating me right,” he said. “She’s doing just fine.”

“That wasna what I meant.”

But given the look that Ian shot her, that was indeed what she’d meant. Though a little uncomfortable, Claire did not blame her. Jamie was her little brother after all, and Claire knew by now how deeply he felt things, how sensitive he was. Somebody cruel could tear him to pieces.

“It’s okay,” Claire cut in. “I know what you meant.” She squeezed Jamie’s hand.

“Aye, good. Well, it’s no’ as if it doesna go both ways. When Jamie sent me yer Facebook profile, I gave him an earful about how damned lucky he was,” Jenny said, and Claire bit her lip to stifle a grin.

“Janet…”

“What! Ye’re embarrassed? I couldna very well meet her. No shame in sending me something to get to know her by!”

If Jamie could have melted into the couch, Claire was sure he would have.

“Jamie went on and on about ye last Christmas, ye and the lass both,” Jenny explained. Claire’s heart fluttered to think that his family knew about her all the way back then, when she was still so far in denial she couldn’t see past her own nose. “So I was bloody curious what was so special about ye. Didna take long to see it, I’ll say that.” She smiled fondly at Claire, her eyes twinkling.

“Well…thank you. I think.”

“What Jenny is trying to say,” Ian cut in. “Is that we’re glad ye’re here, and we’re grateful to ye fer the joy ye bring our brother. Both of ye.”

“Aye, cheers to that.” Brian lifted his whisky from where he sat and took a sip.

“You know,” Claire said. “I heard all about this little one after the holidays last year.” She looked around Jamie and Faith at Maggie. “Jamie showed me pictures of her. She’s just adorable. I mean, both of your children are beautiful, of course.”

“D’ye want to hold her?” Ian offered.

Claire’s heart fluttered. “Could I?”

“Aye, of course.”

They both scooted forward for the exchange.

“Have to pish anyway.”

Jamie clapped Ian on the shoulder as he got up to leave, and Claire sighed loudly as the small weight settled in her lap.

“Well, hello!” she cooed, smiling enormously at Maggie’s sweet face. “Aren’t you the cutest little thing.” She bounced the baby in her lap, and she smiled lazily at her before breaking into the sweetest little giggles. Claire laughed in response, her head light and dizzy from the euphoria of holding a baby.

“Oh…I haven’t held one this small since Faith,” she sighed. “She’s just so sweet. Such a perfectly behaved baby.”

“Aye, she’s night and day wi’ that one.” Jenny nodded behind her to Jamie, engrossed in the game on the tellie.

Maggie gave another squealing giggle, and Faith abruptly sat up for the first time since burrowing into Jamie’s side.

“Ye look bonny wi’ a bairn, Sassenach.”

Claire looked up from Maggie to see Jamie boring smoldering diamonds into her, and she felt herself turn to a puddle. She’d be lying if she said she’d never thought about having another baby, and she’d also be lying if she said the thought of having one with Jamie hadn’t immediately crossed her mind the second she laid eyes on Maggie’s darling face.

They maintained eye contact for a long moment, and then Faith reached forward and grabbed the baby’s face, and Claire gasped, pulling Maggie into her.

“Gentle, Faith,” Jamie said quickly, as gently as he could muster. “The baby is very wee, and very sensitive. Ye must be gentle.”

“Gentle like with Pippi,” Claire added.

Faith bit her lip and sat up again, and then she gently stroked her fingers down the line of Maggie’s nose. Claire and Jamie both burst out laughing, and Faith hummed loudly, jiggling her hands and bouncing in Jamie’s lap.

“Pippi’s her horse?” Jenny said, chuckling herself.

“Aye!” Jamie said through his laughter, and then Jenny and Brian were also laughing out loud.

“What’d I miss?” Ian returned from the bathroom and sat back down on the couch.

“Faith started petting Maggie like her horse because we told her to be gentle,” Jamie explained, laughter finally subsiding. “Good girl, Faith,” he said.

“Come here, baby,” Claire summoned her closer. Faith clambered onto Jamie’s other leg. “You don’t have to pet her nose. Look.” Claire stroked Maggie’s head, then rubbed her back, all while bouncing her. “See? Gentle.”

Faith hummed loudly again, bouncing and jiggling.

“Calm down, lass,” Jamie crooned. “Ye canna play wi’ the bairn if ye canna be calm.”

Faith managed to stop one of her hands from flapping as she gingerly patted Maggie’s little head. Maggie turned to look at her, and Faith squealed.

“Yes, good job,” Claire said.

“Oh, how sweet,” Jenny said. “Ye’re a sweet girl, Faith.”

Faith did not turn at the sound of her name, but Claire beamed at Jenny. “She loves babies,” Claire said. “One of the moms brought her baby to the stables one day, and I had to hold Faith back from throwing herself in the stroller.”

Jenny chuckled. “She’ll make a braw big sister, then.”

“Janet,” Jamie warned, but Jenny just put her hands up in surrender, and Claire’s cheeks flushed red.

Faith gave another loud hum, and then she scrambled off of Jamie’s lap. She pattered over to the bag Claire had left by the door that contained both of her tablets and some emergency snacks that Claire had packed. She reached in for the school-provided tablet and walked back to the couch, standing in front of Claire and Maggie. She clicked around for a bit, and then she pressed the word she wanted to say.

“Play.”

Claire broke into a stupid, beaming grin. “You want to play with Maggie?”

Faith jumped up and down, letting out a squeal that gave way to a hum. “Play.”

“You’re so smart, good girl, sweetheart,” Claire praised. She looked to Jenny, who motioned for Claire to follow her. Claire set Maggie down on the floor as Jenny set out some toys she had brought.

“Play.”

“Yes, darling, we hear you, one moment please.”

Before long, Jenny had shown Faith all of Maggie’s toys, and Maggie was chewing on one while Faith became engrossed with the little baby piano toy. Jenny sat beside Maggie and Claire beside Faith, each making sure that Faith remained gentle and calm. They conversed over the children and across the room to the men. Claire learned how Jenny and Ian had gotten together, learned about the antics of all three of them growing up together, and at one point, she had tears leaking out of her eyes from laughing so hard at a story Brian told about the lads and the pigsty. 

Faith would occasionally take Maggie’s hand and make her press buttons on various toys, some more gentle than others, but Maggie did not seem to mind. Little Jamie only got too loud on his video game one time, and one stern word from his mother was enough to assure it did not happen again.

The pizza delivery arrived, and there was a flurry of motion to get everyone into the kitchen. Parents all made sure that little ones’ hands were clean, and plates and cups were set out. Claire watched in awe as Jamie pulled a pizza plate out of his cabinet.

“Where on Earth did this come from?”

“I bought one,” Jamie said, as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. “If the lass is gonnae eat pizza in my home she’ll have a pizza plate.”

Claire didn’t have the heart to tell him that Faith was not picky about what she ate off of if she wasn’t home, so she let Jamie hand the plate to Faith, both of their faces glowing with joy. Jamie turned around to grab the juice from the fridge and Claire went to help him, and by the time they both turned around, Brian was cutting Faith’s pizza on the plate, and Claire stopped in her tracks to stare.

“Ye’re family, lass.”

Jamie noticed, and he looked back and forth between his father and Claire, his eyes twinkling. He hugged her around the shoulders with one arm and kissed her temple.

“They’re as crazy about her as I am.”

Jamie crossed the rest of the way to the table, and Claire wiped her eyes quickly before following.

“I like her pizza plate,” wee Jamie announced, crossing his arms.

“Well, it’s Faith’s pizza plate,” Ian said firmly. “Ye’ll eat off yer own plate, and ye’ll like it.”

“Why do I no’ get one?”

“Because ye dinna have all the worries and troubles in yer heid that Faith has. The pizza plate helps her feel better. Now eat.”

The table was crowded, not meant for nearly as many people as were there, folding chairs squished between the wooden ones, but they made it work. Maggie was passed between laps so that her parents could eat, and everyone took turns handing her tiny pieces of saucy, non-cheesy, soft pizza to chew on. The conversation passed easily as they talked more about Jamie’s childhood; they even asked about Claire’s. She had plenty to tell about her adventures with her uncle, stories that she loved sharing with anybody who would listen.

Once the pizza was gone, Faith disappeared into the living room and returned with one of the DVDs that Claire had packed. Jamie helped her get it set up, and then little Jamie and Faith were sitting on the couch, watching Lilo and Stitch, and Ian was putting Maggie to sleep in the stroller that they were leaving in Jamie’s room.

The adults stayed at the kitchen table with drinks, and Claire held Jamie’s hand under the table, his other hand stroking her knee and thigh absently. Conversation with this family was easy and familiar, as if she’d known them her whole life. She did not feel like an outsider as she’d predicted she might. The feeling of belonging enveloped her like a warm hug. Then she’d remember Jenny helping Faith play with Maggie, Brian cutting her pizza, Ian explaining to little Jamie why Faith was different, and she would well up with tears.

Family gatherings in England made Claire sick with anxiety and made Faith utterly miserable, which just made everything worse. The Christmas before Frank left, when Faith was three, Claire had cried herself to sleep with his parents’ sneers burned into her subconscious. But this…

This was acceptance, understanding, welcoming, joy, warmth, comfort.

This was family.

[nerdywriter36]

To Help the Helpless

AO3

FFN

erik sees himself in all the sick, injured, and abandoned pets he sees in animal shelters and is determined to give them the love and comfort that they deserve in their time of need when he wasn't granted the same as a human being. christine and their friends could not be happier to help.

this concept was born out of a discussion about erik and his pets with @ofserien, so thank you to her for helping to bring this idea to life :) it's been so long so I've posted on here because of my hiatus, but the first oneshot I've written since officially returning to tumblr. i really hope you all enjoy it! likes and reblogs are always appreciated <3

~

"You brought in another one, Erik? Isn't your house full enough already?"

Erik simply rolled his eyes and turned to look back at Nadir, who was glancing at the variety of dogs and cats residing in their crates throughout his living room. "There is never too many rescues, Nadir, especially not when I'm taking them away from people who will put them down simply because they aren't getting adopted," he replied.

"And what's wrong with this one?" Nadir queried, gesturing to the puppy that his friend was carrying rather like a football - tucked against his side and laying along his forearm. "It looks fine to me."

"He had an old injury that was never fixed before he was turned in, so he doesn't look as perfect as people want," Erik said as he held the puppy up so Nadir could see his bowed front leg. "Otherwise, he is completely happy, energetic, and healthy, but people don't care. Looks are everything in this world."

His voice broke a bit, he noticed, and he knew that Nadir had heard it too. Every day was a different story when it came to how emotional he would get when it came to explaining why the animals had been abandoned and why their little lives were at risk. He hated that it still happened; he had been rescuing shelter animals for the better part of two years, not to mention the fact that most of his own struggles because of his appearance were behind him, but some days were simply harder than others.

He really was fortunate for all that he had to make his life as "normal" as possible, even with his physical differences. A prosthetic nose saved him far more grief than he believed people could understand and the mask he wore was so realistic and close to his skin tone, as remarkably pale as it may have been, that he hardly got rude stares anymore when he was out and about. It made quite the difference in his professional life as well; no one at the Paris Opera House wanted to accept compositions from a deformed freak, no matter their talent. His heterochromatic eyes were enough to put people off sometimes.

"I know, Erik, I'm sorry," Nadir piped up as he shot him a sympathetic smile. "I think what you're doing is great, you know that, I just worry about your stress levels. Not having to worry about you financially, but you're a composer making consistent contributions to the Paris Opera, you run an animal rescue, and now you have a girlfriend. That's a lot for one person!"

"Nadir, I'm fine," Erik replied, passing the puppy he held to his friend and smirking as it eagerly started to wiggle and lick at Nadir's neck and chin. "I'm managing it all, and having a girlfriend doesn't change much."

"Right, you say that now." Nadir turned his head away from the eager puppy, wiping his chin on his shoulder. "What is this thing anyway?"

"Australian shepherd, hence the energy." Making his way around the room, Erik checked the status of every food and water dish, but a buzz from his cell phone made him pause. As he pulled it out of his pocket, he couldn't help but smile when he saw a message from the new light in his life: Christine.

He still wasn’t exactly sure how he had gotten so fortunate as to have Christine in his life. After all, their first introduction had been at the Paris Opera House when he had nearly run her right over in his eager rush to leave the very same building. As intricate and realistic as his mask may have looked, he never enjoyed being out in public, and he knew that everything about him was under harsh scrutiny when it came to the committee of men taking his submissions and suggestions for the music at the Opera. He wouldn’t have become a successful composer, having his music played at one of the most prestigious opera houses in the world, without them, but with the way they stared at him whenever he walked in, it certainly wasn’t easy to face them.

“Is that the new light of your life?” Nadir asked with a smirk, watching the lovesick smile growing on his friend’s face. “What did she say?”

“Just ‘hi’,” Erik replied, his unmasked cheek already flushed pink as he replied to the message.

Nadir scoffed and set the puppy down in a small pen filled with blankets off to the side. “You are in deep, my friend. How long have you been dating, three months? And just ‘hi’ still manages to make you blush? Does she not make more flirtatious comments than just that?”

“Oh, like you were any different when you and Kheya first got together,” Erik retorted.

“Hey, now, that...that is not a fair comparison.”

It was his friend’s turn to blush and Erik laughed at the sight. Mockery aside, though, he genuinely was happy for Nadir; he had been through a rough patch before meeting Rookheeya one year before, his father's death hanging the heaviest over him and stealing so much of the joy that Erik knew was in him. Once he met her though, everything seemed to fall into place; Erik still remembered the moment Nadir practically choked on his drink when he first noticed her from across the room at a small gathering at the Garnier. She was a beautiful young woman who shared his faith, many of his interests and balanced out his almost painfully realistic views with the necessary imagination and optimism that he needed. A match made in heaven, if Erik were to pair a phrase to their relationship.

“Sure it is,” Erik replied, smirking when he caught a glimpse of Nadir’s lock screen as he pulled out his phone: a photo of the happy couple themselves, both smiling wide. “You’ve practically wanted to marry her since the moment you met, you’re lovesick.”

“Okay, I love my girlfriend, so sue me,” Nadir retorted. “And I will have you know that I plan on proposing in the next few days.”

“Well, it’s about time!” Erik said with a laugh, patting him on the back as the pair walked into the kitchen. “Congrats, Nadir, that’s amazing.”

“Thank you,” Nadir chuckled, crouching down to scratch the elderly golden retriever lounging under the kitchen table. “You and Christine have to catch up now.”

“No, no, this is no race. We are taking our time, I refuse to mess this up.”

“You aren’t going to mess it up, Erik.”

“I could. You remember how things ended with Lucy,” Erik said in a soft voice as he leaned over his countertop and scribbled on a notepad.

“That wasn’t your fault,” Nadir sighed. “She was a toxic mess, the end of your relationship was no fault of yours.”

Erik shrugged ever so slightly. “She ran off with some other guy and slept with him when we hadn’t even taken that step. I clearly did something wrong or she wouldn’t have left.” That breakup had hung over him like a dark, heavy cloud for weeks and still did at times. That said, the very same bout of depression and dejection had pushed him into the world of animal rescue that he still found himself in two years later, so for that he was thankful. Now, though, Luciana hardly ever crossed his mind; he had found someone to get him out and keep him out of that world of darkness.

“You didn’t, but anyhow, it doesn’t matter anymore. You have a girl that you love and who loves you, an amazing career, and an animal shelter in your living room. You’re doing alright for yourself,” Nadir pointed out. “Speaking of that, has Christie been over here yet? To meet the pack and all?”

“No, not yet. Believe me, it is on the list of things to do,” Erik replied, still scribbling away on his notepad as they spoke.

“That along with two hydrotherapy sessions, settling the new puppy in, getting groceries, working on your new composition, and going to see if you can pick up two tuxedo kittens. When do you have time to breathe, Erik?”

“In between everything. I manage just fine and I will slot Christine meeting everyone in. It’s a delicate process with some of these guys, you know that.”

Nadir scoffed. “Yes, I remember how slow it all was when you first introduced me,” he said, putting a hand up when his friend opened his mouth. “I know why it was slow, but that doesn't make it more enjoyable.”

“Right, well, unlike you, Christine is very patient, so it’ll be fine,” Erik replied. “She’s coming with me tomorrow to pick up those kittens, so I’ll probably ask her over after and try to introduce me.”

“Let’s hope it goes well. We wouldn't want you to have to choose between your lady friend and your pets. I don't know if you’d survive that.”

"Thank you for helping me today, Christine," Erik said, smiling over at his sweetheart, who sat beside him in the front seat of his car with two tuxedo kittens on her towel-covered lap (she had insisted on the towel, even though his car was covered with fur on practically a daily basis). "These two seem like a very sweet little pair. I doubt I'll have trouble finding them homes."

"Why weren't they getting adopted just at the shelter?" Christine inquired, an inquisitive frown on her face as she turned to him for an answer.

Which he did not really have, so he simply shrugged. "They don't let enough time pass to give people a chance, frankly. Not to mention that this would mean adopting two kittens at once, what with how closely bonded they are, and not everyone is willing to take on that kind of commitment."

"It doesn't seem like too much trouble." Christine looked back down at the kittens, her sweet giggle escaping her as one of them mewed and set its paws on her chest to get closer to her, almost inspecting her. "Hello there. You're not trouble, are you? You're just a sweet little baby."

Erik couldn't help but chuckle when he heard the voice she put on to talk to the animal - a light tone, using grammatically incorrect sentences, almost as if she were speaking to a baby. Which she was, in a sense.

"You'll have to help me name them. I name so many animals that I end up running out of options after a while."

"One of them - the boy, that is - should be...Sylvester. Like from Looney Tunes! He looks just like him, it's too good to pass it up!"

"A very good choice, I think," Erik nodded as he began the drive towards his home. "I'm not sure about the girl yet. Perhaps I'll call her Christine."

His girlfriend scoffed and glanced over at him. "Erik, you can't suggest naming any and every female animal you bring into your house after me."

"Why not? I like your name."

"I know you do, but once you get to Christine the Eighth or whatnot, there's a problem."

He couldn't help but laugh; her sense of humour and mild sarcasm had been part of what had endeared her to him in the first place. "I suppose there might be. I do like your name, though, I wouldn't mind it too much."

"Yes, I know that, and if we ever had a daughter, she would be Christine Junior, I know how much you like my name." She giggled again, and he noticed her look over at him in his periphery; he was just glad that he had his mask on so she wouldn't notice him blushing at the thought of sharing a child with her. "You need some new options."

He tried to shrug nonchalantly. "I...I just think it's a nice name. A beautiful name for a beautiful woman," he said softly.

The comment must have been the right one, as he was rewarded with a quick peck on the cheek. "You're very sweet," Christine replied as she turned back to the kittens and stroked their backs as they cuddled together on the towel. "So once we drop these little ones off, I suppose you'll just take me home? I'm sure you'll have lots to do."

There it was - his opportunity to make the offer to her to finally come over so he could truly introduce her to his life in its entirety rather than trying to hide parts of it. A glance over at her was enough to tell him that she was disappointed at the idea of having to go home, as she so often was, and he hated to upset her, so he would do his best to fix it as best he could at that moment.

"Actually, I was thinking...would you like to come in today?" he asked, looking at her briefly again and smiling a bit when she looked back at him, wide-eyed and shocked at the question. "I'll have to settle these two in, but I would love to-"

"Yes," she replied, cutting him off rather abruptly. "Yes, I would love to. Do I have to do anything? Not do anything? Can I help with anything, wh-what can I do?"

"Just be yourself," Erik said, unable to stop a quiet laugh from escaping him at seeing how enthusiastic she was. "Your sweet, gentle, caring self, my dear. That is all that I can ask of you when it comes to meeting the little pack that I have at home."

"That much I can do," Christine said with a firm nod, clearly very dedicated to her mission. "Thank you, Erik."

He frowned. "What for?"

"For trusting me with this, with meeting them. I know that their health and security means a lot to you, so knowing that you trust me to come in and make myself a new part of that arrangement that you have really means a lot to me."

"Of course I trust you, my darling. I...I love you." The phrase still felt foreign in his mouth after not using it for so long after losing Lucy, but he was making an effort to use it as often as he possibly could with Christine; she meant more to him than anyone ever had before and she deserved to hear that from him.

"I love you too," Christine said with a warm smile on her face. "Come on, then, drive! I have puppies to meet!"

~

"Are you ready, Christine?" Erik asked from where he stood at the end of the hallway, having just collected a young bulldog puppy from her kennel and was presently walking towards the bedroom, of all places, where his sweetheart was waiting. An unconventional setting, yes, but there was a purpose to it.

"Of course I'm ready!" he heard her call back, her excitement practically dripping from her voice. "There's a puppy involved, how could I not be ready?"

"Alright, alright," he said with a quiet laugh as he stepped into the room, the puppy starting to squirm in his arms at the sight of the new person and the sound of Christine's giddy squeal. "This is Lily."

Christine gasped, a hand to her chest. "Lily, oh, how precious," she said with a giggle. "Can I hold her? Or would you prefer that I didn't?"

"No, you can hold her. She's generally good with people," Erik nodded, sitting next to his girlfriend beside his bed and setting the puppy on her lap. "Just watch her back legs."

"What's wrong with her?" Christine asked softly, looking at the puppy's legs that splayed out behind her rather than tucking beneath her to hold her body up.

"It's called swimmer's syndrome. They can't really say what causes it; some people think it's hereditary, others think it's because their environment as newborns kept them from getting around a lot, even others say it was because of defects before they were born, so I'm not entirely sure," Erik explained. "Still, as bad as it looks, it's treatable, which is why we are here in my room."

Scooping the puppy up again, he stood and walked a few steps away to a sling apparatus set up against the wall and slipped the puppy into it so she hung with her paws just above the ground. "She'll sit in the sling for about 20 minutes every day, and I'll just massage her legs and try to mimic walking motions with her. I do this a few times a day."

He carefully began to act on the same procedure he had just described, smiling as Christine stepped over to join him while he carefully rubbed the puppy's legs and helped her to move them the way she would if she were walking as she should. He knew that there was always a risk that the therapy he tried to do for the animals that were struggling wouldn't work, but he was going to try his best. Very few people had ever tried to help him throughout his life, so he thought he would allow the animals to have that, whether they knew they had it or not.

"How many others do you do this kind of thing for?" Christine softly asked a few minutes into the therapy session.

"A few. Whether it's for little ones like this who have defects of some sort or for older animals who struggle with arthritis and different things like that, therapy does a lot. I do this kind of thing, as well as hydrotherapy, which entails me getting very wet," Erik replied with a chuckle. "But it's worth it when I see the results. True, it doesn't always happen, and they end up turning into hospice cases more than anything, but if I can try and get them back on their feet, as happy and healthy as can be so they can go to a good home, then I'll do what I have to do to make that happen." He turned towards her and smiled just as she cupped his face in her hands and drew him into a gentle kiss, distracting him from his therapy session momentarily. "You are one of the most kind-hearted people I know. You know that, right?"

"You tell me that enough, so I suppose it carries some truth. It's never occurred to me much otherwise, though."

"Well, you had better believe it because it could not be more true," Christine said with a grin.

Erik couldn't help but chuckle as he gave her another quick peck on the lips. "If you are trying to earn yourself brownie points or extra kisses or something, I admire your effort, it just might work out in your favour," he replied, returning his attention to the puppy.

"Fantastic," she giggled, leaning her head on his shoulder and watching while he worked. "Did you have any other plans for the day for us? Dinner, perhaps?"

"Yes, I was hoping you would help me with dinner," Erik nodded, letting the offer hang for a moment before he added, "For the dogs and cats, that is."

"Ah yes, how romantic, exactly what I had in mind," Christine said with a laugh. "Filling food bowls. I can't wait."

Ever since Erik had given her the go-ahead to come over and spend time with himself and his little pack of rescue animals, Christine had taken full advantage of it. Whenever she could manage it, she was at his house, helping him with feeding and bathing all of the little pets in his care, keeping him company while he was cleaning, and even learning how to do hydrotherapy on a few of the dogs that happened to need it. A couple of months had already passed since that day, unbelievably, but she had cherished every second that she had gotten to spend with both Erik and all the animals in his care. She found herself getting close to every single one of them, and she could see how happy it made her sweetheart; Erik smiled even wider than he normally did when she was around, a photo of the two of them with one of his eldest dogs - a golden retriever named Buddy - had become the photo on the lock screen of his phone while others had been printed and framed on his wall. She knew that he had had little joy in his life, but if she could contribute to that happiness along with allowing him to pursue one of his passions, then she would happily support it.

Getting to play with cute puppies and kittens while she was at his house was a nice perk too.

A short while into the arrangement - about a month after Christine herself had been introduced, - she had convinced Erik to let Meg have a gentle introduction of her own to all the animals he cared for. Her roommate had just about lost her mind when she had found out that she had finally gotten to meet all of her boyfriend's pets and hadn't stopped begging her to get Erik's permission for her to meet them until she had finally agreed to give it a shot.

Erik had been hesitant at first, that much was for certain, but she promised him that Meg knew how to keep calm and quiet when she had to be. Eventually, with a slightly skeptical expression on his face, he had agreed to allow her over to meet some of the animals, much to Meg's delight.

As Christine had predicted, the introductions had gone perfectly fine and Meg was quickly scooped up into the little pack Erik seemed to be steadily building. Their visits brought them closer to the animals, to Erik, as well as to Nadir and Rookheya, Erik's best friend and his fiancée. There was something endearing about seeing her sweetheart interacting with someone other than just herself; she knew that he did it for work and all, but watching him so at ease and laughing with his closest friend warmed her heart, even if Nadir didn't seem completely at ease around the animals in the house. For a while, their little group was complete and happy, enjoying every moment they had.

But not every joyful moment could last, unfortunately.

It was the middle of the night when she got the first phone call. Her ringer was quiet, true, but it lulled Christine out of her sleep, though she didn't bother to look at the screen to see who was calling. 'Whatever scam caller it is can just leave a message for me to delete,' she thought to herself as she rolled over onto her side and buried her face in her pillow to attempt to fall back to sleep.

Her phone fell silent for just a moment, but within moments, it had started ringing again.

With a huff, Christine sat up and grabbed her phone, squinting at the brightness of the screen, and saw her boyfriend's name and picture on her screen, which made her frown. It was just past two in the morning, why would he be calling her? Her heart was already racing a bit as she pressed the green 'Answer' button and held her phone to her ear.

"Hello? Erik, what's going on?"

Hiccuping breaths were what she heard first, which only serve to worry her more. "C-Christine, come over," Erik finally managed to say, his voice choked with tears. "Buddy is...something's wrong, please come over."

"Okay, it's okay. I'll be right there and I'll bring Meg with me," she replied, trying to keep her voice as calm as possible despite her own worry about the dog that she'd become so close with. "Have you called Nadir?"

"He's here already. Rookheya too," Erik said, sniffling quietly. "Just please come over, Christine, please."

"Okay, okay, I'm coming. I'll be there as soon as I can. I love you."

Not hearing a response from Erik told her how distracted and worried he was - he always returned her affections, and she wasn't even offended by the lack of reciprocation; she was only worried.

Christine quickly climbed out of bed, deciding not to bother changing out of her pyjamas given how warm it was outside and only grabbing a pair of socks to quickly slip on. Throwing open her bedroom door, she hurried next door to Meg's room, walked inside and over to her bed to shake her gently. "Meg. Meg, get up, come on."

She rolled her eyes when her friend simply moaned sleepily and pulled her covers over her head. "Meg, please get up. Erik just called me, something's wrong, we have to go over there."

That was enough to make Meg's eyes open rather quickly and she moved the blankets to look up at her friend. "What's happening?" she asked.

"I don't know, all I know is that it's Buddy and Erik is crying, so it's bad," Christine replied with a sigh. "Please get up so we can go."

"Okay, I'm up. Go get your shoes on, I'll be down in a sec," Meg said, clambering out of bed and shuffling past her friend to get dressed.

Within minutes, the two of them were in Christine's car driving towards Erik's house, the open roads with that time at night helping their travel immensely. Not knowing what was wrong was driving Christine half-mad, though she was drawing some unfortunate conclusions, considering the animal that was involved. If she was right, it made sense why Erik had sounded so upset; she knew how much he loved that dog.

"Nadir just texted you," Meg said softly, looking at her friend's phone while she couldn't do so herself. "Asking if we're going to be there soon."

"Just tell him that we will be. That I'm driving as fast as I can without risking getting arrested in the process," Christine said, managing a quiet laugh.

She saw her friend nod as she typed away, the clicking of the keys the only sound in the car. A moment later: "He says, 'As long as you hurry. Get here before'..." Meg trailed off at that, making Christine turn to look at her.

"Before what? What did he say?"

"'Before we lose him.'"

Christine's heart seemed to leap into her throat and, without a word, pushed her foot down ever so slightly harder on the gas pedal, just praying they'd arrive in time.

~

The two young women burst through the house's front door as soon as they arrived, Christine making use of her spare key. She didn't even need to wonder where everyone else would be; she knew that Erik kept that golden retriever by his bedside every night so that he could monitor him. Nothing had ever happened before that had warranted any action, but something had obviously changed that night. Drastically.

Bolting up the stairs with Meg right behind her, she quickly arrived at her boyfriend's room, which was completely dark save for his bedside lamp, and her heart sank when she saw him in the middle of the floor holding Buddy in his arms, Nadir and Rookheya close by.

"Erik, I'm here," she whispered as she moved to sit beside him and wrapped an arm around his waist. "I came as fast as I could, what's happening?"

"I don't know," Erik replied with a sniffle, stroking the dog's fur as he spoke. "They said he had more time. Not much, but more than this, I don't understand."

His words were drowned out by his tears as he leaned forward and buried his face in the retriever's fur, so Christine simply hushed him and rubbed his back. "I know, I'm sorry," she said with a quiet sigh. "You've done so much for him and for all the animals you take care of, Erik, you have to remember that. Whatever happens tonight is not a result of what you've done, you have done everything possible for him."

"Not enough, though. This wouldn't be happening if I had done enough," Erik managed to say through his tears, a sob slipping out of him.

Christine's own throat tightened up hearing the heartbreak spilling over through his words, so she was fortunate that Nadir shuffled over, set a hand on his friend's back and took on the role of the comforter from her; she couldn't trust herself not to cry, so she simply focused on trying to give the elderly dog as much love as she could possibly convey.

"Erik, you know it isn't your fault," Nadir said softly. "He's ill and I know that you've known that for a while now; you always knew he was going to be a hospice case from the beginning. You have to keep that in mind because if you don't, I know that you will blame it on yourself and you can't do that. He's had a wonderful life with you."

"He's right, Erik, you've given him so much," Christine said, finding it in her to dry a few stray tears and contribute to the conversation again. "He's had a beautiful life here with you, he knows that you love him."

Erik's only response was a nod as he lifted his head enough to gently kiss the top of the dog's head. "I love you, Buddy. We all do," he whispered, trying to force a smile as the dog turned his head to glance up at him, and Christine noticed Erik move his hand to rest over the dog's chest, clearly to feel for his heartbeat and wait for when it inevitably ceased. Not knowing exactly what else to say, she simply set her hand over her sweetheart's resting her head on his shoulder as everyone simply waited for the inevitable.

It didn't take long, in the end, and Erik didn't say a word; the way he muffled a sob and leaned over the dog to hold him to his chest told everyone what they needed to know. Christine hadn't quite expected to get as emotional as she did. She knew that she was attached to all of Erik's animals and that even the thought of her love in pain made her heart ache, but there had been something different this time. Erik had loved Buddy probably more than any of his other rescues, and she had a strong feeling that that love had been mutual.

It turned out that she wasn't the only one getting emotional; she had expected to see a few tears from Meg, and there they were, but looking over at Erik's other friends, she found Rookheya with her face tucked in the crook of Nadir's neck, the slight shake of her shoulders the only clue that she was emotional, while even Nadir - Nadir 'I don't like pets much' Khan - had tears in his eyes. Whether it was Buddy's death or Erik's reaction that had made him cry, she couldn't tell, but the show of empathy for what his friend was going through was something that she appreciated and knew that Erik would too.

Quickly drying her cheeks, she leaned over and gently kissed Erik's cheek. "I'm so sorry," she whispered as she reached up and gently wiped his tears away. "But you gave him such a beautiful life, just like you're doing for all the others you're caring for. They needed someone and you were there to rescue them. I'm so proud of you for that, and Buddy was proud too."

Erik managed a weak smile as he turned to look at her, leaning forward just enough to press his forehead to hers. "Do you think so?" he croaked.

"I know so, my darling. I have no doubt of it."

[justcourttee]

I Won’t Try Again-Pt 3

The word apartment didn’t even begin to describe the building Marinette was standing in.

“I have to post this on my blog!”

Alya grabbed Nino’s arm as she dragged him off to tour the supposed apartment, filming everything in sight.

“Mr. Wayne, I couldn’t possibly accept this!” Marinette barely squeaked the words out as she turned in the entrance to face the man.

He smirked as he offered her his arm to walk her through the place.

“Nonsense. You need the best space to design clothes for me and my family, plus I’m sure you all would like your alone time at the end of the day. Three bedrooms, a design room, and a grand kitchen for baking as I read in your resume, is a favorite pastime of yours?”

She raised an eyebrow as she offered a smile to the Wayne. He was thoughtful and remembered something from her resume. But something was still off about him. What rich boy would run directly into danger? Wouldn’t his first thought be to run away?

“Thank you Mr. Wayne. It all truly means the world to me.”

“Please, call me Damian. And don’t thank me just yet. I still want a taste of your talent. How about tomorrow? I can send Alfred to pick you up and bring you to the manor. This way you can get everyone’s measurements and learn what I am expecting out of this internship.”

She nodded slightly as he dropped his arm and picked up her hand. Carefully, he placed a kiss on the back of her hand sending Marinette’s stomach into a flurry.

“Until tomorrow Miss Dupen-Chang.”

“Se-see-see ya”

She managed an awkward wave as he backed out the front door, pulling it closed behind him.

“Marinette?”

“Yeah?”

“You’re still waving.”

Marinette flushed red as she dropped her hand quickly, turning to face her laughing friend. Adrien wiped a tear from his eye as he sat at the dining room table.

“I thought you were well past the stuttering around cute guys phase.”

She groaned as she threw her head into her hands.

“I know!” she groaned. “But he might be my boss! And there’s nothing romantic between us, for sure. In fact, there’s something off about him.”

Adrien nodded in agreement.

“It was weird how he knew something was off in the airport before any alarm sounded. Also, didn’t the guys say something to him?”

Marinette looked up, her eyebrows furrowing.

“They did. Something about Ivy wanting an answer from his father, but hasn’t Bruce Wayne been missing for some time now?”

Adrien shrugged his shoulders.

“It wouldn’t be the first time a rich billionaire disappeared from society.  My father did it successfully for a while. Maybe he is in Wayne Manor, taking a break from society.”

Marinette sighed and nodded. It made sense. There was never a funeral for Bruce Wayne, only an announcement that his adoptive son Tim Drake-Wayne and his biological one Damian Wayne would be taking over his company while he stepped away for a minute. However, that minute turned into two years, and everyone began to assume that something happened to the billionaire.

“Girl, we need to tour the city. Like, now.”

Alya was beaming as she grabbed Marinette’s hand. Nino grabbed the keys off the kitchen counter and nodded in agreement. Sighing, Marinette shot a smile at Adrien as the two got up, excited to see Marinette’s possible new home.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Damian sighed as he slipped into the chair in front of the bat monitors. Alfred jumped into his lap, purring and demanding his attention.

“What do you think Alfred? What happened earlier? What has my father gotten himself into?”

The cat simply purred as he butted his head into Damian’s chest.

“Perhaps Master Damian, your father could be of some assistance?”

Damian turned to face the butler, rubbing his chin in thought.

“Perhaps Alfred, but he has yet to return any of my messages in the past month. I am concerned he has gotten into something he cannot handle.”

Alfred nodded in thought as he placed a tray of tea beside the young man, gathering the cat into his arms.

“I have known Master Bruce for quite some time, Master Damian. And while he has been in many tough situations before, he has never once disappointed. He is hard-headed, intelligent and strong. He may push his limits, but more times than not, he knows when to ask for help. I would not be too concerned.”

Damian turned back toward the monitors as he sighed. Deep down, he knew Alfred was right, but part of him still itched to know what was happening and where his father might be. He was so lost in thought that he didn’t even notice the footsteps approaching from behind.

“What happened today Damian?”

He whipped around, swinging his katana, stopping short at his assailant’s neck.

“Grayson, you should know better than to sneak up on a man in thought.”

Dick laughed dryly as he pushed the katana down and stepped closer.

“You’re getting soft Damian. A couple years ago, you would have never allowed me to get this close.”

Damian let out a soft growl as he put  his weapon down.

“What do you want?”

“I just want to know what happened today. It was all over the news, ‘Damian Wayne held captive at the airport, saved by mysterious beauty.’”

Damian pulled up the article on the monitors staring at the blurry picture of Marinette pulling him towards the limo and away from the men. He sighed as he turned back to face Dick. Of course there was paparazzi. He tried so hard to stay out of the limelight, but when his father left it, he was thrust into it. Luckily, they didn’t catch the young designer's face. This wasn’t how he wanted to introduce her.

“Some of Ivy’s lackeys spotted me at the airport. It was almost as if they knew where I was and when. Before they reached the limo, I dashed into the airport to keep them contained. They wanted father, but for what, I do not know.”

He looked down in thought as Dick took in the information.

“What are you leaving out?”

Damian met his eyes as Dick stared down at him with his arms crossed.

“There was an-” he paused to think of the right words, “odd occurrence that allowed for my escape. One moment, I was surrounded, the next, approximately two dozen bats were dive bombing the men. Not once did they touch me, and they seemed to be invincible as when the men shot at them, they still continued attacking.”

Dick looked stunned as he searched Damian for any sign of humor, anything that might sound like a joke. When he didn’t find anything, he finally spoke.

“Bats. In the airport. Scratch that. Invincible bats in the airport who protected you.”

Damian simply nodded. He knew how it sounded, hell, he knew how it looked too. There was no straight or logical answer he could think of.

“At first I thought perhaps father sent drones to protect me, but there was no whir of machinery. They moved and sounded like live bats, but they appeared out of nowhere. Unless he figured out a way to weaponize the animal, I have nothing.”

Before Dick could even respond, the static of the police radio sounded through the batcave.

“We need backup at Gotham Green House, stat. Possible hostage situation. They’re demanding to speak to Bruce Wayne.”

The two Waynes shared a look before they took off. Magical bats could wait, someone needed their help.

Tag List:

@amayakans @maribat-is-lifeblood @throneoffirebreathingbitchqueen @moonlightstar64 @myazael @anonymously-odd @zebrabaker @crazylittlemunchkin  @moonystars14 @worlds-tiniest-spook-pastry @mandy984 @mysupporthyperfixations 

[spoocys-funhouse]

A fun little secret

In light of waking up to my blog getting a small raid thanks to my little joke post. 

( @raygirlramblings that was the best thing i ever woke up to after sleeping off my chronic insomnia bout episodes. you precious bean you) 

i want to share something

so sometimes i like to share in little ideas or just...have fun with one of my friends. These little back and forths i do are NOT canon to my projects. most of these are just au’ stuff thats just having fun. and i dont tend to discuss those. its just having fun and has nothing to do with my actual writing projects minus how the guys tend to act. as i tend to man alot of the main cast here when we do

however i do want to share one. it has to do about the whole DONT EVER GIVE RAYMAN OR GLOBOX ACTUAL GUNS

I too, believe giving real weapons to them is a bad idea...ESPECIALLY GLOBOX. 

In rayman’s case. only real “weapon” i ever trust that man with is an axe that he will proceed to use for chopping wood. thats really it. 

I want to keep my friend’s privacy so i will not be using their name or their character, nor what that character did in this. Here’s the story.

So i like to brainstorm and have fun with au ideas. my friend here and i decided to one day try a hand at a rayman red dead redemption 2 esque one.

So the general gist was rayman managed to get a group of his friends together just to go exploring. Rayman is actually the guy that is very anti-hunt. he prefers seeking the creature out. marvelling over them, maybe take a few snapshots for bragging rights. he adores fishing but is very much catch release. if he does want to get a fish for eating purposes its not going to be a legendary here. 

So during this little adventure. Uglette decided to grow a little garden. Specifically she tried to grow a lil corn patch... Rayman was getting a horse saddled (the horses in this were the lil limbless ones you saw in the rayman educational games here) and next thing he knew he caught eye of globox, standing over that corn patch and the friggen frog dad HAD GOTTEN AHOLD OF A HUNTING RIFLE

rayman paniced like “WHO GAVE GLOBOX A GUN” no one in the party knew who brought that damn thing (Blame kinda went on raymesis. only reason HE was there was because of my friend’s character.) Globox was trying to keep any crows or glutes from raiding his wife’s corn

(If you do some research. glutes are not the globox species. they are actually pest birds that globox hates with a passion. i like thinking glutes are the “Crows” of the rayman universe that will raid your garden and eat the seeds you planted)

(this is a glute. and him stick his leggy out far)

Rayman begged globox to “not shoot someone’s eye out” globox, completely stone faced would respond “Jokes on you rayman this is NOT red rider brand” poor rayman had to leave. he decided to go fishing.

So. There were a few oc’s here in this party. One of these was an oc that is still fairly new to the projects. in the main stream she’s a knaaren elderly woman and actually is gumsi’s adoptive grandmother. or as he calls her “mee-maw” i shall refer to her as mee-maw here. Mee-maw is also a rare kinda knaaren that in the main projects DOES often wander out of the ruins but has to be fully robed and hood up. Gumsi does actually travel with her from time to time despite the dislike of being in sunlight

As rayman’s trying to fish his worries off. Mee-maw comes with gumsi on her shoulders and she just smiles and asks if she and gumsi can stick around for a while. Rayman asked if everything was alright and gumsi just responded with “THAT STUPID TOAD IS FIRING AT ANYTHING THAT MOVES NEAR THE CORN PATCH” Rayman starts to panic about the safety of the camp. but this woman, all smiles while gumsi’s snickering away on her shoulders, performs an about face and you see the rifle globox had was strapped to this woman’s back. 

After a while rayman returns to the camp. and globox approaches this woman going “There you are ma’am. give me back my rifle if you please” Mee-maw smiles, unstraps the rifle from her back, holds it up and points to it going “You mean this rifle here?” Globox crosses his arms and goes “Yes. Please give it back to me at once” Mee-maw. once again without missing a beat. responded “GLADLY” and proceeded to club that frogman over his friggen head with the gun. she then fiercely lectured globox on how he needs to practice gun safety and expressed how SHE HAD A CHILD WITH THE PARTY

Gumsi proceeded to lose his shit laughing and fell off his mee-maw’s shoulders.

Moral of the story. Yes. Do not give globox real guns. EVERYONE WITHIN RADIUS FEARS THIS. AND FOR THE LOVE OF JANO’S JAWS ESPECIALLY DONT GIVE HIM FIREARMS WHEN THE GUY IS DRUNK. IF GLOBOX HAS ONE WHILE DRUNK YOU GET A FAST FORWARD OVER TO THE FAIRY COUNCIL WHERE THE HEART OF THE WORLD IS AND GRAND MINIMUS JUST STIRS AND GOES “GENTLEMEN NOW IS THE TIME TO PANIC”

[nike-shawn]

Hockey Shawn Prt II

Here’s part two!! I’m so sorry for the wait-- I rewrote this like four times. Thank you for all the love on the first installment of this series. It’s super fun to write and I’m glad to hear you guys like to read it.

Part I 

After you get his number, you see Shawn a lot. 

He texted you a couple days ago, asking what your plans were for that night, whether you had eaten (you had, of course, but you said you hadn’t). He was at your front door within half an hour. 

You sheepishly smiled as you allowed him into your apartment, crossing your arms across your chest. You watched as Shawn took in your cheap, run-down apartment that you share with a few roommates, their coats and shoes scattered across the floor. You felt very much below him, then, thinking back to his high-rise apartment on the Upper East Side with a doorman and an impeccable view. Your apartment smells like the Chinese restaurant that you live above and it’s an odd week when you don’t kill a few roaches in your kitchen. 

To say you two live different lives would be an understatement. 

“S’ nice,” Shawn said kindly. You knew he didn’t mean it, but you thanked him anyways. “So... does Chinese sound good?” 

It didn't. It absolutely didn’t sound good, so you nodded, took a few steps forward until you were gripping both sides of his open coat. As soon as your lips met his, you were sure that Shawn wouldn’t be thinking about Chinese food any more. 

He hummed his surprise against your lips, but his hands came up to grip your jaw, his palms dwarfing your cheeks. He was cold from the winter air outside and you felt like he was trying to melt into you, trying to adopt your warmth. Your hands tangled in his hair and gave the curls a slight tug. His thigh came between both of yours as he walked you back towards your sofa. “Wait, wait,” you said breathlessly, pulling away from him, “roommates. I have roommates. Let’s go over here.”

You led him by the hand down the dark hallway towards your bedroom, his chest almost pressed against your back with how close he was to you. He stumbled over one of the odd shoes that you nimbly avoided, and you stifled a laugh as you opened the door to your bedroom and let him gently press your back against your unmade bed’s comforter. His lips found yours again and his fingers nimbly started to unbutton your work shirt, a light cotton button down with faint blue stripes. In the meantime, you found the waistband of his joggers and tugged them down.

He stepped out of his pants as you shrugged off your shirt, and as soon as his palms gripped your breasts, squeezing and pulling down the cups in an effort to get the garment off, there was a knock. “Y/N? Hey, the maintenance man is here. What did you say he needed to fix in there?”

Shawn sighed out the breath he was holding, ducking his head so his forehead rested against your bare collarbones and his breath was washing out over the cold skin of your chest. You fought the disappointment in your mind as you eased him off of you, grabbed your shirt from the floor and started to do up your bottons again. “Hey, yeah, one second. Sorry. Just have him wait in the living room and I’ll come get him,” you told her, trying to sound as nonchalant as possible.

She must’ve just come home, you thought, because she was nowhere in sight just a few minutes ago. You started to feel anxious as you wondered if you just didn’t notice she was home, if she saw the famous hockey player you were making out with in your apartment. She is completely the type to blab to her friends about every last thing— if she told and the secret was out and you had to explain to Shawn why everyone knew that you two were hooking up and —

“Hey, get out there,” Shawn said playfully, breaking through your wave of thought. “I can head out.”

“Oh,” you replied, “yeah, that’s fine. If that’s what you want.”

“Is that what you want?”

You looked at him now, brushing back your now messy hair. “Well, no. I would like to see you more, but I don’t know if my roommate should see you.”

Something dawned on him then, recognition flashing across his eyes. The two of you hadn’t had a conversation about his job yet, and you figured he thought you were completely oblivious to the level of fame he has achieved. “Why do you say that?” He said it quietly, less like a question and more like he was asking you for confirmation.

“She’ll recognize you. She’s bad at keeping things to herself, so...”

Shawn watched you as you watched him. He was taking note of your sudden uncomfortableness. His eyes followed you as you walked towards the door, flicking the lock back so it was now unlocked. He stepped back into his joggers and coughed into his fist. “Okay, I get it.” He looked up at you with a forced smile. “Did you know?” You paused, looking to the floor. “Did you know, like, what I do? When we met?”

“I... I didn’t know when we met. But I figured it out pretty soon after.”

He nodded. “And what did you figure out?”

“What?”

“What did you figure out? About me?”

You fiddled with the hem of your shirt. “I looked you up. Saw that you’re a hockey player for the Lightning and— ”

“— used to,” he interrupted. “Used to play for the Lightening.”

“Right, um,” you stuttered, “used to play for the Lightning.”

Shawn looked at you again, prompting you to say more. “That’s it?”

You didn’t answer, just shrugged childishly. He raised his eyebrows, calling your bluff. “I also saw something else. A video.”

He hummed his approval. “And what conclusions did you draw from that?”

“That you had a bad breakup.”

“Interesting. What else?”

“You punched him. The camera guy. I thought maybe you’ve been harassed by cameras a lot lately. A scandal, maybe? I don’t know.”

He licked his lips, fiddling his thumbs. “I kinda thought you didn’t know what I did. You just acted so normal.”

You felt almost guilty, though you know you did nothing wrong. It was simple curiosity— you didn’t mean to find out about his latest scandal, or learn about his injury. You were just trying to know more about a guy you were seeing. You tried to push aside the feeling of uncomfortableness and force yourself to make eye contact with him. “Is it so bad that I know what you do? I don’t feel any differently towards you now than I did when I met you.”

Shawn hummed again, avoiding saying anything that may have forced more awkward conversation. He pushed past you through the doorway and you followed, seeing your roommates’ eyes get wide as you and Shawn broke into the living room, him immediately making his way to the front door. You watched as he gripped the doorknob and allowed cold winter air to seep into your apartment as the door opened. He looked back at you. “Do you wanna walk me out?” He asked.

Surprised but relieved, you followed him out. You both walked in silence for a bit. Then you said, “I’m sorry.”

Shawn shook his head and bumped his shoulder against yours kindly. “Nothing to be sorry about. I understand.”

“I was just curious.”

“I know.”

You came to his car and sideled up to the drivers side as he started to get in, his lanky legs looking almost unnatural in such a small, pretty car. “I’ll text you; sounds good?”

“Yeah, sounds good.”

He reached up to grip your shoulder and led you down to meet his mouth, your lips meeting chastly and only for a moment. Then you stepped to the side and waved as he drove away.

Now, two weeks after that day, you still haven’t talked to him, and you wonder if him saying he would text you was some kind of courtesy he extended at the time, knowing you two would never see each other again. A slow break. Letting you down easy.

You’ve gone through these two weeks wondering, wondering, wondering what makes you so different now that you know about his job. Since you saw him in the parking lot right after you two hooked up for the first time, you’d seen Shawn just about every day leading up to the day he left for good. Sex, wine, and television shows defined your relationship, and you avoided all questions about his life. He preferred it that way, and you knew that. But you never thought that when his job came up, he would run away like a child.

Your roommates grilled you when you returned to the apartment, asking you how and why and what you and Shawn were. You didn’t know how to answer any of their inquiries, so you dodged all of them and holed yourself up in your room. You pretty much just go from your room to work to Lily’s house in some weird, endless cycle, and he’s never too far from your thoughts.

“I like you a lot,” he says, his hand finding your jawline, sleepy features illuminated in the yellow glow of the streetlight outside your window.

You nod and kiss his hand. He smiles, a sad, sleepy kind of a smile. Then the hand from your face travels to your chest, resting over where your heart was beating wildly. His gaze follows the hand. Your gaze rests on his face. He has a scar from an old hockey injury that you analyze like an academic over a piece of old text.

Shawn leans down to kiss you, his hair rustling against your pillow, eyelashes kissing below his eyes as they close. Your lips move against his like dancers to a silent rhythm.

You scold your mind for thinking of him again. He’s not here. You fell for an athlete with an injury and a scandal and probably a million other skeletons in his walk-in closet.

And you know the world is cruel because today, as you’re sulking over the boy who doesn’t like you back anymore, his pretty yet tired face shows up on your TV. The news anchor takes on a fake somber tone as she says that “Shawn Mendes, star Lightning player, has gotten back together with his longtime ex-girlfriend, Madison Harrold. Harrold broke the news on her Instagram late last night, posting this picture with the caption, ‘miss me?’”

The picture on the screen is what made you tear up, not the story itself. It was his face right up next to hers, her eyes blissfully closed, and his hand resting over her heart.

⚡️🍁⚡️🍁

When you see him again, it’s because of a text message from some random number you didn’t have saved.

Hey Y/N, it’s Shawn. I’m in town this weekend and I’d love to see you.

You let the text sit in your unread messages for the whole school day. You refuse to let this man take up any more of your energy, any more of your thoughts. Your students notice something is off but no one mentions anything and keeps to themselves for the most part. You’re grateful.

You text him back after you changed out of your work clothes, chatted to your roommates, and poured yourself a glass of red wine. As the bitterness washes away some of your tension, you reply.

New number?

He writes back, Yeah. Old one got to the public somehow.

Your mind drags you to the conclusion that he had hooked up with some other unfortunate soul and she leaked his number, but you don’t know that so you try to press the thought of your brain. Are you at the hotel?

Yes.

When can I come over?

Now?

For a split second you think to yourself that you should turn him down, but you want to see him. You want to see if Maddy changed him somehow. You want to see if he’ll address it.

So you go to the hotel.

He opens the door with a smile that doesn’t reach his eyes. He pulls you into a quick hug, and when you pull away you notice the hairband pushing back his curls and the slouchy grey sweater that’s hanging from his shoulders. You take note of the prominence of his collarbones and ask yourself whether he has always looked like that or if he suddenly lost weight. 

“How’re you doing?” Shawn asks you, gesturing for you to follow him into the hotel room. Memories come flooding back as you perch at the edge of his unmade bed. 

“You’re gorgeous.” Shawn breathes that into your mouth as he hikes up the hem of your dress over your hips, his hands gripping the bone there tightly, like he’s afraid you’ll run away. “So gorgeous.” 

You break the kiss to pull your dress over your head and you throw it to some corner of the room. Shawn’s hands trace over the newly exposed skin and the touch leaves goosebumps in its wake. They find your hair, tangling in your straightened locks, tugging lightly. He starts to walk you backwards towards the bed. The back of your knees hit the edge of the mattress and you let yourself fall backwards, him following close behind, his elbows on either side of your head. His lips find yours yet again as your hands find his belt...

“Y/N?”

You snap back to the present day, dragging your eyes away from the mattress where you spent most of your time on your last visit. “Oh, yeah, sorry. I’m well, thank you. And you?”

“I’m fine.” 

You nod absentmindedly, once again looking around the room, taking in the empty suitcase. He must’ve folded and tucked away all of his clothes in the drawers.

He’s staying awhile, this time.

“When did you get back in the city?” you ask.

“Last night,” he responds, still standing somewhat far away. He starts to tangle his fingers together nervously. “I had some business in Toronto.”

You think back to the news that you’d watched earlier, noting that Maddy’s Instagram post was geotagged as Toronto. 

So Maddy is classified as business? 

In a bout of uncharacteristic courage, you ask “what kind of business?”

Shawn’s eyebrows raise. “What?”

“I asked what kind of business was in Toronto.”

He sees right through you. “So you know about Maddy,” he says, not as a question but a statement, picking up on your suspicious tone. 

“Yes.”

He clears his throat. “We have a weird relationship.”

“Are you cheating on her?”

Shawn laughs darkly. “No, I’m not cheating on Maddy.”

“What’s going on, then?”

He furrows his brows in an annoyed expression. “Why do you need to know?”

You feel your anger boiling to the surface. You fist your fingers together, gripping the duvet tightly to keep yourself seated. “Because, Shawn, we hung out together every night for three weeks and then you stopped talking to me without explanation.”

The two of you hold eye contact intensely and you fight the urge to look away. Shawn’s sharp jaw ticks. “We weren’t dating, Y/N.”

You feel frustrated tears gather and you immediately feel embarrassed about crying over a boy you barely know. You swipe away the wetness beneath your eyes quickly, though you know Shawn caught it. “Why are you being rude all of a sudden?” You ask, your voice taking on a quieter tone that you hate. You hate how affected you sound. But he hurt you, and now it’s obvious. “I knew we weren’t dating. But I didn’t think it was fair for you to cut me off completely and then, the next thing I hear about you, you’re dating a completely different girl.” You pause for a moment to collect yourself. “You could’ve fucking texted me.”

Shawn takes a few steps closer. He’s standing right in front of you, close enough to see the redness rimmed around your eyes. He has his hands in the pockets of his joggers, though you know that if you were on better terms those hands would be cradling your jaw. You can see his tongue running over his teeth behind closed lips, thinking. “I’m sorry for not talking to you,” he starts. He’s staring at the ground. “That was immature of me. I got spooked when you said you knew who I was because I thought I was...” he shakes his head, looking for the right phrasing, “I thought I was just some guy you met.”

“You were just some guy I met.”

“But if you knew what I did, why wouldn’t you say anything? When you said you knew it felt like you had been lying to me before; I don’t know.”

“I thought it would make you uncomfortable if I brought it up,” you say. Shawn goes quiet, shuffling his feet. “I knew there was a scandal and that you were injured. I thought it would bring back bad memories or just a weird conversation if I brought it up.”

He covers his face with his hands. “I didn’t think of that. I'm just... I’m just very conscious of my position in the world right now. I don’t know if that makes sense--”

You stand and take his hands away, dropping them back at his sides. You look up at him, seeing remorse on his features. “It’s okay.”

He blinks a few times, one of his hands twisting the fabric of his pants between his index and his thumb. “Do you want to know about Maddy?”

You watch him for a second, biting your bottom lip. “Do you wanna talk about Maddy?”

“No.”

“Okay,” you respond, voice dropping to a whisper. 

And as he starts to kiss the rest of your thoughts away, the only one remaining is the picture of him in Maddy’s bed, in Maddy’s city, with his hands over Maddy’s fragile, little, heart. 

PART THREE

[makeste]

Thank you responding to the AFO Vestige question. Assuming everything you said is true then the question that comes to my mind is why did AFO and the Dr waste so much time preparing Tomura and making sure he was worthy. They would had succeeded more completely if they just did the operation as quickly as possible. Also do you think that Tomura rejected AFO because he thought it was an illusion that he did not want to submit to, or because he rejects AFO in his enirtey? Have a good day.

I’m actually going to turn this question around and take it one step further. if AFO’s plan was to transfer his quirk all along, why didn’t he do it fifteen years ago? specifically, why did he choose the child Shimura Tenko as his vessel, rather than the already-grown Shimura Kotarou?

you see, this isn’t confirmed yet, but I suspect that the primary reason AFO decided to transfer his soul into a new body is because that’s essentially what his brother has been doing for the past nine generations, and AFO has hypothesized that that’s why his brother’s quirk has gotten stronger and stronger, to the point of him actually being able to put up a fight against him now. and so he applies the same logic to his own quirk, and figures that if it worked for his brother, it should work for him as well. we know that AFO believes his transfer into Tomura will enable him to finally steal OFA, but we don’t really know why he’s so confident of that. it wouldn’t surprise me if this is the reason why.

anyway, so if that’s the case, it would mean he’s had this plan for some time now, likely even before he was injured by All Might. this whole plan is basically based off of Quirk Singularity theory, and Ujiko confessed to Mic that he’s the one who originally came up with that concept -- right before he met AFO.

so it’s not too much of a stretch to assume that when AFO met Ujiko and heard his theories, that’s when he finally put two and two together that his brother’s quirk was becoming progressively stronger with each subsequent generation, while his own quirk -- powerful, but stuck at the comparatively weaker first-generation level -- was stagnating. it then stands to reason that this is when he first started putting the plan together to transfer his quirk into another body. not seven years ago, when All Might injured him, but decades before that. decades before All Might was even born.

after all, this is when he first started experimenting with the Noumu as well, researching how to prep another human’s body to be able to withstand multiple quirks. because it wouldn’t be enough to simply transfer his powers and be done with it; if Ujiko’s theories on the Singularity were correct, the transferred quirk would be exponentially more powerful, and so the new vessel would need to be able to withstand that. everything we know about the Noumu makes so much sense in hindsight if we look at it in the context of AFO researching how to create the perfect new vessel for his transferred, and upgraded, quirk.

but here’s the thing: if it is true that AFO started putting this plan into works years before he sustained his debilitating injury at All Might’s hands (and that does seem to be the case; Ujiko even said that AFO “foresaw his downfall”, which I interpret to mean that he knew he would eventually be outclassed by OFA if Quirk Singularity kept doing its thing), it’s all the more reason for me to believe that he fully intends to possess his “successor’s” body, rather than just going along for the ride. a healthy AFO would have absolutely no incentive to transfer his powers unless he was sure he would survive the process. that’s basically just suicide otherwise, and at the time he would have had no reason to desire that.

anyway. so if that’s true, it would also mean that when AFO tracked down Shimura Kotarou fifteen years ago, he likely already possessed the technology to transfer his quirk into Kotarou’s body if he wanted. this would have been only a year or so before Shirakumo’s death, and Kurogiri is an extremely advanced Noumu, indicating that their research had already progressed pretty far by this point. Kotarou is arguably just as good of a potential vessel as his son, and has the same devastating blood ties to Nana that AFO wants to use to torment All Might. he’s also fully grown, and AFO wouldn’t have to wait another 10-15 years in order for him to be old enough to possess. so why not??

and I think the answer to this question is the same as the answer to the other question of “why did he wait so long to transfer his quirk to Tomura”: because they weren’t ready yet. because AFO needed a perfect vessel, and the technology wasn’t read yet. they hadn’t reached a point where they knew the transfer would be safe. they hadn’t reached the point where they could reliably ensure that the new body would be able to withstand the quirk (hell, we’re seeing some problems with that now). they hadn’t yet gathered all the quirks they wanted, such as the regeneration quirk. they needed more time. and so AFO chose to kill Kotarou -- or rather, have Tenko kill him -- and take Tenko under his wing instead.

again, Tenko was “adopted” by AFO more than fifteen years ago -- before AFO was injured by All Might. and yet he went ahead with his plans to raise Tenko as his perfect little All Might-hating heir anyway. this means that whatever AFO’s ultimate plan is with Tenko, it’s something that was concocted before he was injured. or in other words, before he would have had any incentive to willingly sacrifice himself in favor of ~selflessly~ turning the reins over to his heir. he was putting in the time to raise Tomura up as his successor before he had any reason to. if all he wanted was a new body, he could have just locked the kid up for a decade or so until the transfer process was finally ready to go. so it must be more than that.

so I have a few stray thoughts/theories on this. first things first, AFO just really likes to fuck with people. remember that he in essence created OFA to begin with because it wasn’t enough for him to simply defeat his bro; he wanted to subjugate him. he wanted that decisive victory over him, mental as well as physical. for him, the psychological aspect of the victory is just as important. and so I think that part of him putting Tenko through all of this torment and raising him up into the perfect homicidal pawn was purely just to torture All Might and Nana and all the rest of the OFA users, because AFO is just kind of fucked up like that you guys.

second, is that as we’ve seen with OFA, even when one of the souls does have predominant control, it doesn’t mean the other souls just disappear completely. they’re still there in the background, and they’re still capable of influencing the user’s body, and possibly even wresting control. hell, we’re seeing this happen right now. if AFO can possess Tomura’s body, it’s reasonable to assume that if the situation were reversed and AFO had control, Tomura could still try to fight back as well. and so presumably, it would be much more desirable if Tomura was inclined to be cooperative with AFO, much as the OFA vestiges all get along with Deku. if you’re gonna invite a roommate to come share space in your brain -- possibly for the rest of all eternity -- better get one you’re sure you can live with, right?

and there are a bunch of other reasons I can think of; I’m just gonna list the rest of them real quick so we can wrap this up:

Ujiko says in chapter 222 that Tomura is “weak” and needs to prove himself. it could be that this was his way of setting up Tomura to “train” with Machia for a few months so as to gain the physical and mental fortitude to be able to withstand the four-month Noumufication process.

it could also be that he wanted Tomura to amass a loyal following in much the same way that AFO had before him, as a lot of AFO’s power came from the number of people who were loyal to him and/or feared him.

lastly, it could just be AFO playing the long game once again, seeing as his ultimate goal is to steal OFA back from its current bearer. OFA, which contains his brother’s soul along with all of the other bearers’ souls. (why he thinks this would be a good idea is beyond me btw, but that’s another topic for another post lmao.) and at that point Tomura’s soul will be reunited with Nana’s. except he can’t even allow them that little bit of peace, because he’s such a spiteful, miserable fuck. so he’s made it so that if they are reunited, either Tomura will hate Nana, or else alternatively he’ll be so torn over all of the evil shit he’s done that he still won’t be able to reconcile with her even if he wants to. but the point is, either way, AFO wins! because everyone is miserable except for him. :’)

anyway, so this is all conjecture; it’s possible there’s some other reason I haven’t thought of, and it’s also possible that I’m wrong about all of this, of course. my read of AFO’s character is that he’s too selfish to ever step back and let someone else have all the glory while all he can do is watch. everything about AFO -- his quirk, his name even -- is defined by selfishness, in stark contrast to OFA and its users’ selflessness. and so I’ve always believed that AFO would be the final villain somehow, so as a result my theories are all colored by this belief. but it’s possible I’ve misread the character or Horikoshi’s intentions, and that Tomura is in fact the final villain, in which case it remains to be seen exactly what is going on with AFO and all his psychic bullshit then lol.

but if not, then this is my best guess. and as for why Tomura rejected AFO, he said it himself; he believes he’s outgrown AFO and now wants to surpass him. AFO and Ujiko’s plans to make him self-actualized worked a little too well, maybe. or maybe not, and this is still playing into AFO’s hands in some other way I haven’t figured out yet. I honestly don’t know for sure. but I am fairly certain that by the time this arc ends, we’ll have a much better idea.

[cross-d-a]

fic tag game

aaahhh @vishcount thank you for tagging me!!! These are so fun and I adored reading about your fic journey~!  ೖ(⑅σ̑ᴗσ̑)ೖ ❤

OH as a note!! For the ppl I tag at the end I don’t expect you to read all of this bc it’s A Lot!!! but I figured you might want to do this game yourself? haha :)

Name: cross-d-a shortened version of my first ever username. unfortunately stuck with it now haha but i’m fond of it :p wish it was cuter tho!!

Posting the rest of this under the cut so it doesn’t eat up people’s dashes!! 

(｡•̀ᴗ-)✧

Fandoms: 

oKAY YIKES there are....honestly too many too name. I’ve got a short and obsessive attention span so it’s either all or nothing with me usually. When I can stay in a fandom for a long period of time it’s a miracle. I’ll name the bigger ones that I’ve all written fic for! Even if I’ve never posted them haha

Right now I’m very firmly into Daomu Biji (dmbj). It feels like it’s both got a crap ton of content and yet barely anything at all haha. Maybe because the English fandom is so small. But at least there are a bunch of dramas and books!!! I really, really, really adore dmbj so much!! And a large part of that is the fandom!!! It's been a really cool and unique experience! Everyone in it is truly so kind and wonderful, and I’ve made some really incredible friends because of it (looking at you vish!! ❤). I’ve got a bunch of wips, but I’ve only posted two fics for dmbj!

Before this I was very into Guardian and mdzs. MDZS was my first foray into cdramas and Guardian’s Zhu Yilong really suckered me into watching more haha I also have fics for both these fandoms!

My very first fandoms were Fullmetal Alchemist, D. Gray-Man and Naruto. My very old ffnet account has fics for these and I’ve got a bunch of newer wips on my tablet. Then Star Trek, Twilight, BBC Merlin, Sherlock, Death Note, Harry Potter, How to Train Your Dragon, Battlestar Galactica, Avatar the Last Airbender and Marvel were a few of my main ones in high school. Plus a bunch of anime (like Fruits Basket! and Kuroshitsuji and Natsume Yuujinchou). 

Then college hit and I renewed my childhood love of Tolkien (mainly lotr and the Hobbit), and Star Wars. I also found Teen Wolf! Then after college it was Stranger Things. 

I find myself in a cycle of mild fondness and complete obsession with these fandoms haha I go back to Star Wars at least once a year!! Then I’m in the gffa hole for a few months. Marvel also reoccurs, depending on how interested I am in new content! Star Trek I always always always go back to. TOS is my comfort show and it will never fade from my heart ❤

But for now I’m stuck in cdrama hell and I love it

Tropes: 

Time travel, found family, whump+hurt/comfort, fairytale-like elements, resurrective immortality (thanks to a “Nine Lives” Hobbit fic), CROSSOVERS

I’m a slut for all these things so they often worm their way into my plots haha

I also just- love weird premises. I think that’s the anime influencing me haha

Fic I spent most time on: 

My series he leaves sand and stardust in my wake (main fic is hurricane on the edge of oblivion), I have...spent five years on now. I have done so much research for this fic it’s insane. 

The premise is force ghost!Obi-Wan getting shunted back into his tiny 10 year old self. I incorporate a shit ton of legends and I try to stay as canon as possible. I basically want this au to feel like it’s 1000% plausible while still getting all my gay shit. It’s chock full of whump, redemption, found family, minor characters turning into major characters, and I’ve got slavery uprising on the mind, too. It’s just- everything I could ever want to explore in the Star Wars universe basically. 

It’s my first big project. I started doodling and scribbling ideas in the margins of my notebook in my Scottish History class. I adore it so so so much. But, because of my hyperfixation and fleeting intense obsession with things it makes it- really difficult to consistently update. I leave it for months at a time and I am constantly guilt-ridden about it. Because it’s my baby and I have a lot of wonderful readers. I fear I’ll never be able to finish it. Especially since I’ve written so much and I’m still only in the beginning of it. ( ; A ; )

Also, I’ve spent so much time with Xanatos, Feemor and Bruck that they just feel like mine now. I can’t read any fics that involve them, it’s too strange. Which is a damn shame because I love them so much haha OH ALSO!! I think it’s the first really big fic to include those three?? So I’m very proud about that haha (I’ve had so many ppl comment about how they actually Give A Shit about these three and are Invested bc of me haha)

Favorite fic(s) you’ve written: 

hurricane on the edge of oblivion (with nowhere to go) (Star Wars)

My long-term passion project. My love-letter to Star Wars, I suppose. Reading it now I feel like a lot of it is clunky or long-winded, but I think it really shows the foundation of my writing today :) Main characters are Obi-Wan, Xanatos Du Crion, Qui-Gon Jinn, Bruck Chun and Feemor. Eventually we’ll get to Maul, Savage, Feral, Shmi Skywalker, (more!) Ahsoka, Anakin and a shit ton of clones ❤

things we hunger for (Guardian)

My Ye Zun self-indulgent fic. It’s a time travel amnesia Weilanzun! Honestly has some of my fav writing I’ve ever done. It’s so soft and really indulges in the hurt/comfort. It gives Ye Zun the friends and family I think he deserves. Also, he gets to grow into a (mostly!) functional person and I adore him.

the beast that slumbers within your soul (mdzs)

Jiang Cheng centric fic!! I feel like all my favourite fics I’ve written are love letters haha. This is one def my love letter to Jiang Cheng. This fic possessed me for two whole days. I wrote 16k in almost one sitting. I went to sleep at 6 in the morning bc I couldn’t stop writing. And when I drifted off I kept thinking of new ideas so I’d whip out my phone and write down lines and notes. I- have never ever ever felt that way about anything. It was- insane. It felt insane. It was so amazing. I’m still riding the memory of that high.

 Basically Jiang Cheng actually finds Baoshan Sanren and it turns out she’s a fox demon and Jiang Cheng is descended from wolves. It’s- okay I said the fic above this had my favourite writing?? That was a lie. This has my favourite writing I’ve ever done. It’s unfinished bc I am in dmbj hell but I am still excited about the next chapter which features Wei Wuxian’s pov!!

the whispers of spirits (dmbj)

My current passion project. In a way it kinda feels similar to hurricane? Bc multiple povs, incorporating different aspects of canon (we’ll get there!! I promise!), shit ton of research, etc. etc. I really really really love it for so many reasons. I’m basically taking all the things I was unsatisfied with in Reboot and Sha Hai and running with it. Found family and whump galore! It’s also a love letter to the women of dmbj who really deserve so so so much better.

Honourable mention to:

One Day (you’ll have given more of yourself than is meant to be taken) (Marvel)

This fic also kinda possessed me. I just- couldn’t get rid of the idea of a trans!Thor. And I mean a mtf Thor! It’s just? So many people look at Thor and go “that’s a Real Man.” Full stop. They never think there could be anything more, and it really really really bothered me. So I wrote out my feelings. I’m not trans. I don’t have that experience at all. I’ve had issues and confusion about my gender but nothing like this. I just wanted to do justice to this idea of Thor in my head. And I still feel a bit nervous having posted it. But I've gotten so many comments from people who really connected with what I’ve written? So I’m very very thankful I wrote it and it has a very special place in my heart. It’s a very cathartic fic.

Fic I spent least time on: 

Probably we rise (Star Wars) and I think it shows haha. I wrote it in response to Dave Filoni posting a drawing of Ahsoka and Gandalf telling her “People thought I was dead, too, and look how that turned out...” So I incorporated Ahsoka (and Din and Grogu and Ezra!!!) into the ending of Rise of Skywalker, kinda explaining how I think they could all still be alive. :)

Longest fic: 

hurricane is my longest fic (159k) but I’m kinda worried whispers will eclipse that.....

Shortest fic: 

Of my posted ones it’s The Five Moments it Took Tony and Scott to Admit They Were Best Friends (and the first time they ever did), currently clocks at 1.6k. It’s unfinished tho so maybe that doesn’t count.... otherwise it’s we rise which is completed and 2k.

Most hits/kudos/comments/bookmarks: 

hurricane overall has the most of all these. Though I don’t think hits counts as much bc it’s multi-chapter. If you discount multi-chapter stuff, most hits goes to my obikin smutfic Homecoming, bc people are horny af haha

Fic you want to rewrite/expand on: 

If I had energy I’d like to rewrite the beginning of hurricane bc it feels so so wordy. I’d want to expand on One Day bc I really would like to write a whole series with trans!Thor. And like- I’d really like the focus to finish any of my WIPs.

Share a bit of a WIP: I really wanna share my Guardian/dmbj crossover that I started back in August. Bc I adore the idea of wu xie&shen wei&ye zun triplets! Plus time travel!!! I dunno if I’ll ever finish it tho ( ; A ; ) It just feels like a lot to deal with right now.

This scene takes place during the Mountain Awl arc. Guardian crew and desperado fam run across each other at the village! Wu Xie has recently found out that he’s adopted and he’s searching for answers in the area Sanshu originally found amnesiac!toddler!Wu Xie in :) Gonna pull two snippets bc I’m v excited and this might be the only time anyone else sees this fic haha:

“Oh?” Pangzi focuses on Yunlan now, lips twisting. “You think I’ve ‘got the wrong guy,’ huh?” He laughs, but it’s not a nice sound. “That’s rich! Are you that cocky or are you just stupid?”

Bristling, Yunlan drops his hands and scowls. “Excuse me?”

“Sir,” Shen Wei tries. “I think—”

Pangzi’s eyes snap back to Shen Wei, sharp and blazing. “How dare you fucking steal his face!”

What?

Automatically, Zhao Yunlan turns to Shen Wei, but the professor looks just as shell-shocked as Zhao Yunlan feels which- is seriously something. Since everything about Shen Wei is so carefully controlled, kept to the minimum. Except for those delightful little smiles that bloom across his lovely face, or the startled little bursts of laughter that fall from his lips. Or even when anger and frustration spark across his features, cracking his calm veneer open enough that he can see a glimmer of what lies beneath, the fire in those eyes. Zhao Yunlan delights in those moments, makes a game of making Shen Wei’s control slip.

He tells himself it’s nothing more than a game. Nothing more than trying to find out what makes Shen Wei tick.

Zhao Yunlan’s always been very bad at lying to himself. Or very good. Depending on who you’re asking.

“What the hell are you talking about?” Yunlan splutters.

But before anyone can say anything else, a very familiar voice calls:

“Pangzi? What’s wrong?”

Yunlan can feel Shen Wei stiffen, and Yunlan himself is pulled to that voice like a planet in orbit, like the inevitable plummet to the ground.

Another shadow wavers in the doorway before it steps out onto the dirt. Light illuminates shaggy hair, limning it gold, sharply casting everything else in shadow. But as the figure nears, the contrast softens until Yunlan can see the newcomer’s face properly and- and—

“Wu Xie!” Pangzi growls. “We’ve got ourselves an impostor!”

The man wearing Shen Wei’s face steps up to them, brows furrowed and mouth pulled down into a sharp frown. He glances between them, eyes landing on Shen Wei. His scowl deepens. He opens his mouth, but then—

“Wu Xie?” Shen Wei breathes, all trembly and lost and hopeless.

Heart in his throat, Yunlan turns to Shen Wei again. Turns and flinches at that stricken look upon Shen Wei’s pale pinched face.

“A-Xie?” Shen Wei chokes. “Didi?”

and

Pangzi snorts. “Professor?”

“I-it’s true!”

Startled Yunlan swings his attention over to Jiajia who clenches her backpack to her chest, face screwed up in admirable determination. “P-professor Shen took me and Xiao Quan on a field trip to investigate an archeological site around here!”

“Oh?” Wu Xie drawls all slow and amused. “Well, what a coincidence. We’re archeologists, too.”

“With guns?” Yunlan bites out.

Wu Xie raises a brow, grin full of teeth. “Well, you can never be too prepared.”

“Right,” Yunlan drawls right back. “Are you a professor, too, then? You come here with your students?”

Wu Xie outright grins. “You could say that, I suppose.”

Out of the corner of his eye, one of the men rolls his eyes. He’s the one with sharp features, glasses and looped earbuds. Does he think it’s appropriate to listen to music at a time like this? Yunlan admires the man’s gall.

aahhhh vish thanks so much again for tagging me!! This was so fun to relive my fic memories!! I’m gonna tag @alwaysaslutforshakespeare @jockvillagersonly @tehfanglyfish @lichelleme @undyingsunshine @humanlighthouse  @thewindsofsong I’m curious about your guys’ writing and fandom journey!! As always, no pressure to actually complete this!! I just thought it was fun ❤

Wow if you read all of this I am very humbled and impressed, thank you!!

╰(*´︶`*)╯♡

[soldouthaz]

If it's not personal, could you mention all the current fics you are writing (like the basic plot, for example" enemies to lovers with spy Harry and nurse Louis) and the ones you've always wanted to write but you haven't found the time to do so?

yeah, for sure! this is such a fun question! there are a few I'm keeping a secret for now just as far as birthdays and holidays go but I'd be happy to go over some of the ones I've got almost finished! (I have over 25 wips but you can find some of them here!) thank you for asking! 

+

#1. charlie’s angels inspired au posting: october 2020 | estimated word count: 25k | implied b!L

this one (if I can find the time to finish it!) is set to come out sometime in October so hopefully soon! louis is the brains, harry’s the charm, liam’s the muscle, and niall drives the getaway car. zayn makes an appearance as well :) I've never written anything quite like this before and I'm super excited to see if ya’ll like it! it’s not enemies to lovers since they’re all super close friends but each character has a bit of a backstory that tangles them all together! 

#2. look after you iii  posting: ?? 2020 | estimated wc: 50k | b!L

this series has been one of my favorites to write and I love these characters so so much. the first and second book were past and present, and this third one will be about the future. it’s got adoption and married life and fluff and angst and allllll of the kinkiness from the others as well! this one’s important to me because I was adopted as well and I've seldom seen that as a big theme in fics. it won’t be for everyone but I'm hoping it resonates with some of you! 

#3. the blff’s  posting: nov. - dec. 2020 | estimated wc’s: 40k & 30k | b!L

this is the first year that I've gotten to participate in the blff and I’m so excited!! I absolutely adore both of my prompts (#411 and #322) and I hope to do the prompters justice! #411 is the smoking one that I just recently posted a snippet from and everyone seems to be very excited for it! harry’s a psych major and decides to help Louis get over his oral fixation with something else ;) featuring roommates and best friends to lovers! #322 is a dom/sub prompt where Louis’ nervous after being matched with a younger dom (harry) but of course he goes above and beyond his expectations. that one has been so so interesting to write because I really dived deep into the dynamic. I can’t wait to see what everyone else puts out for the fest as well! 

#4. stem major louis posting: ?? 2020 | estimated wc: 45k | b!L

this is an idea I had that I've been working on off and on for nearly a year now. it’s stem major Louis who’s dedicated his entire studies to proving that love doesn’t exist. enter philosophy major harry. lots of nerdy conjecture and debate etc.. I've really enjoyed doing the research for this one! definitely some enemies to lovers vibes as well ;) 

#5. sitcom au  posting: 2021 | estimated wc: 50k - 100k | b!L

I am sooooooooo excited about this one. it’s a friends-esque setting with the cast members as the five boys. the storyline follows all of them (but mainly h&l) as they film all of the seasons of the show and also navigate their own lives and trauma and healing. I don’t want to give too much away but there are some enemies to lovers elements... kind of... as well as angst and character development and the works. but also just a lot of friendship and growing up and all of that good stuff! I like to write things I feel like I can relate to and this one has just been an endless source of happiness for me recently. I can’t wait for you guys to read it! 

and then for some that I have in my list to write but haven’t gotten around to yet: 

#1. modern day fairytales 

I'm obsessed with the idea of taking fairytales and twisting them to fit realistically into today’s society. I think a series on each of the classic fairytales (beauty and the beast, the little mermaid, etc.) could be really really cool! 

#2. ghost writer Louis 

Louis is someone’s ghost writer traveling with them as a friend even though no one’s supposed to know that he’s actually writing the songs for the artist. harry’s the opening act on tour with them and is Louis’ secret muse, but things get confusing when harry thinks it’s the artist that’s writing the songs so clearly directed toward him. cue angst and pining and all of that good stuff. 

#3. grease au

loosely inspired grease au with a twist! harry is excited to see him at school after their summer of romance but louis thinks he’s too good for harry.  (preppy louis vs ‘wrong side of tracks’ harry). 

#4. until marriage fic 

Louis wants to wait until marriage to have sex. harry comes up with some clever ways to circumvent this plan. 

#5. PWP’s & drabbles 

there are a TON of these on my list, including but not limited to:  gentle dentist harry x nervous louis | sunflower farmer harry x tourist louis | louis with chronic hiccups x annoyed at first but then endeared harry | bookshop owner louis x bibliophile harry | proposal drabble inspired by ross’ dream proposal from friends at the planetarium (scientist harry) | bdsm club voyeurism drabble | and more! (I'm always taking suggestions!) 

I can share more around the start of next year but for now these are all my main focuses! thank you so much for asking!! I hope some of them sound exciting to you :) 

[kandoesfanfics-writes]

A Century of Friendship

Hi guys! Sorry for not updating in a while, but I got really sick. I’m still sick, but I found it in me to finish this piece that’s been sitting unfinished since about November! Updates for Head Omega, The Bat and The Peahen will be coming soon!

This is a Jasonette prompt based off this post. This was my first crack at writing Jasonette, so I hope you all enjoy!

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

His stomach clenched in the most unpleasant manner.

Today was the day.

He had to tell her.

He’d been putting it off for almost a century now, and his family had told him it was now or never. None of them really remembered how long humans lived, but they knew it wasn’t even a blink in the lifespan of a demon. He needed to come clean with her before she died. He needed her to know what he truly was...and just how special she was to him.

Befriending her had been an accident. He had been wandering around the city, looking for some sinners to terrorize when he came across this small scrap of a human woman. She had been assisting the homeless by passing out clean blankets and giving them directions to a shelter. She had even gathered a bunch of local homeless children and was reassuring them that she could lead them to a safe place.

Before his...change...he too had been a child of the streets. He knew that people lied. He knew what life on the streets was like. He knew it was oh so easy to fool a child. He knew what people on the streets could trick a child into, so he had followed her as she led the children away. He’d been shocked to see that the woman had been telling the children the truth.

The woman had led the children to the Leslie Thompkins’ Children’s House. The children had immediately taken inside, fed, and bathed. The volunteer at the house seemed to know the pretty woman. She had spoken to the strange woman, calling her Marinette. Marinette had made small talk with the other woman, and they had spoken of what was going to happen to the children she’d brought.

He didn’t entirely understand why he’d stayed so long, even now, but he had watched her until she returned to her apartment. He had repeated this routine for days, wanting to know more about the young woman who was rescuing people around this city. He hadn’t been able to recall such a being existing when he’d been brutally murdered. He had been fascinated with her, and he had been simply content watching her until someone had gotten it into his head that he was going to try and rob the little lady.

He had decided at that point to take on a human form in order to help her. He had barged into her apartment, only to find the would-be robber crying on the floor. The would-be robber had been a teenage boy who told Marinette that he needed money for food for his family because his mother had lost her job. Marinette had then given him some money and suggested places for him to apply for work.

Marinette had thanked him for coming to aid her, but told him she had things under control. She had then asked what his name was. He had panicked for a moment, struggling to think of a name when a voice in the back of his head whispered, “Jason Todd.” He had introduced himself under that name.

Their friendship had blossomed from there.

Jason began spending most of his time outside of work with Marinette. They went to bookstores— somehow she always knew where to find the old classics— and talked about literature. Once Marinette had expressed her love of fashion, Jason had immediately inundated her home with books on fashion through the ages. Marinette was delighted, and Jason enjoyed watching her create ‘modern takes’ on historical clothing. He’d even modeled for her several times, enjoying the one-on-one time with her.

Marinette always seemed to be making something. Whether it was food, new clothing, or some kind of art piece, the small woman seemed to thrive off creation. She always looked the happiest when she was creating something. Her hands were never still. She was never content with just completing one thing and then stopping. Marinette seemed to be an endless wellspring of creation.

Jason didn’t quite understand it, but chalked it up to a human’s need to feel like their time on Earth meant something by leaving behind their creations. Luckily, Marinette never took it hard when he admitted that he didn’t quite understand her passion. She had told him that creation wasn’t for everyone, and she understood why he didn’t seem as excited about her projects as she was. Not to say Jason didn’t love helping her! He just wasn’t as enthused about making something that would be destroyed eventually...which made Jason think about his relationship with Marinette.

He was immortal now, thanks to Bruce. She wasn’t. Jason would have to watch Marinette grow old and grey. Eventually, he’d watch her pass on...and given the type of person she was, Jason highly doubted he’d ever see her again after that. She’d become an angel, live in heaven, and forget all about Jason Todd. She’d definitely forget once the angels told her what he was…

A demon.

Jason felt bile rise up in his throat as he knocked on her door. It was now or never. She would probably start growing old soon, and Jason wanted to tell her the truth before the angels did. He knew Marinette valued honesty, so perhaps if he told her now she’d forgive him for hiding it. His green eyes bored holes into the chestnut door as he waited for it to open, trying desperately to steel his resolve.

The door swung open to reveal his best friend, and Jason remembered once again why he’d put off telling her the truth.

“Jason! It’s so nice to see you again. Are you sure you’re okay with helping me take the delivery down to the gala? I know those kind of events aren’t really your thing,” the tiny woman said with a smile brighter than the sun.

Marinette was all dressed for tonight’s event. Her silky looking hair was pulled into a low bun that rested against the nape of her neck. Her brilliant grey eyes were highlighted by peach and bronze eyeshadow and pitch black eyeliner. She was wearing a darker nude lipstick that made Jason want to lean over and kiss her to see if her lips were as soft as they looked. It didn’t help that her lips were pulled into the most adorable smile Jason had ever been graced with even before death. What also didn’t help was the fact Marinette was wearing the pearl earrings Jason had gotten her, and that made him feel even more fuzzy inside.

She was wearing a baby pink cheongsam that fell a little past her mid-thigh. It was hand embroidered with plum blossoms all around it. To complete the look, Marinette was also wearing pale pink heels that brought her to about Jason’s upper chest. She looked gorgeous, amazing, and...well... Jason had to fight to keep his more inappropriate thoughts to himself. 

“Yeah, yeah, Cakepop! Show me where the goods are so we can get this show on the road!”

More like show me where the deserts are before I decide to have you as my desert, Jason thought to himself.

The sensible part of Jason growled back that he wasn’t sure if Marinette even liked him that way! And even if she did, Marinette was mortal, and Jason was not. Even if she loved him, they could never be together. His sensible part argued and argued until it was all he could think of as he walked into her apartment. He followed her into the kitchen where he knew the boxes of baked goods would be.

As Jason went to pick up a few boxes, he caught Marinette’s eyes roaming over him. The hopeful part of Jason preened, shooting back at the sensible side that Marinette was interested in him! After all, he’d gone through a lot to make his human form look good! He’d borrowed a tux for the occasion— thankfully Alfred ensured that it was a proper fight and highlighted his good points— and had made an attempt to tame his hair. He wanted to tease her, but once Marinette caught him watching, the dark haired girl had scooped up several boxes of her own.

“Onwards, my good man!” she said. “The gala awaits their deserts!”

He laughed at her over dramatic acting, and almost blurted out another terrible truth he was keeping from her.

The truth was that the infamous demon known as the Red Hood had gone soft for a mortal woman. The infamous Red Hood— adopted son of the fiercest bat-demon, Batman— had fallen in love with Ms. Marinette. He did not desire her just for her body...which some demons couldn’t understand. Jason had fallen in love with Marinette’s good heart. Jason had fallen in love with whispered secrets and shared grins. Jason had fallen in love with a woman who in another life would have been his salvation. Jason had fallen in love with someone doomed to die.

And Jason would sooner cut his head off than admit to that.

He followed Marinette to her car and assisted in loading all the sweets into the vehicle. Marinette was singing another random tune, one she’d come up with herself, and Jason couldn’t help but smile broadly at her. She was such a sweet human. Jason was going to miss her terribly, but he had forced himself to face the fact he was destined to lose her. He just didn’t know if he’d lose her from death or because of the fact he was a demon.

“Jase? Jase, are you okay? You’re spacing out on me.”

Marinette was shaking his shoulder, one hand on the wheel with her eyes forward. Her face was scrunched in concern even if she never took her eyes off the road. Jason quickly responded, wanting to wipe the frown off her pretty face.

“Yeah, I’m good. Just lost in thought, Cakepop. How long do we have to stay at this shindig?” he responded.

“We were invited to attend, but we can leave right away if you want. You’re doing me a huge favor already, so I won’t ask you to stay at the party,” Marinette chirped. 

“Do you want to stay for a little, Cakepop?” Jason asked. “Forget about me for a moment. Do you want to attend this party?”

The look on her face told Jason everything, and he sighed deeply. The things he did for love...well, the party wouldn’t be as bad with her by his side. He’d stay glued to Marinette, ignore the sinners, and enjoy himself. The only bad thing was that the odds would be high that they would run into Dick.

Jason loved his brother dearly, but Dick was...well he could be a lot. His older brother loved the party scene, and that’s where he hunted his victims. Dick could charm the pants off of anyone. He was also a hell of a dancer, and Jason was slightly worried he’d try to flirt with Marinette if he spotted her. Dick wasn’t stupid. He knew what he found attractive, and since Jason was rather inclined to agree with him, he would most certainly find Marinette attractive.

He told Marinette that they could hang around for an hour or two, but then he wanted to go home. The smile she gave him nearly caused his heart to stop and restart. She was so happy that Jason was willing to spend time with her, doing something she liked. She began to chat about everything she wanted to do and who she wanted to speak to. Apparently Marinette had grand plans in the works and was really hoping she’d be able to speak to them tonight.

Jason listened to her chatter, smiling, relaxed against the passenger’s seat. He could listen to her talk for days. Her voice was sweet and soothing. It made Jason melt every time he heard it. He’d been brought back from the edge several times by Marinette’s voice and a small hand on his forearm. He wanted to hold her hand so bad, but he figured he’d get to do that once they’d delivered the goods.

As they pulled up to the kitchen entrance, Jason smoothed his tux once again and inhaled deeply.

He could do this.

Especially if it was for Marinette.

—————— 

Marinette would like to make it clear, first and foremost, that she was not stupid by any means.

She knew Jason Todd wasn’t what he said he was.

She was definitely certain that he wasn’t human either.

It had been almost a century since the pair had met, yet Jason didn’t seem to realize that Marinette’s lack of aging wasn’t normal for a human. She’d had to erase a few memories already of her existence, replacing the last century’s Marinette with a new one. She had also noticed that Jason hadn’t aged either. He still looked the same as the day he burst into her apartment. 

Jason was over six feet tall, something that infuriated her to no end, with pitch black hair. He had a strong jaw and the most enchanting pair of green eyes she’d ever seen. He was muscular and knew how to fight. He had scars splashed across his body, but Marinette never asked about them. His soul though...his soul was what drew Marinette to him. 

She could almost hear Plagg’s laughter…

Despite the intimidating appearance, Jason had the potential to be an unbelievably kind person. He’d assisted Marinette with more projects than she could count. When she helped the homeless, Jason was gentle with the children and mothers while fiercely reminding the drug peddlers what would happen if he found them selling to the kids. When she helped at the local orphanages, Jason would read and play with the children. When she went around to the hospitals, Jason had an empathetic ear and a sympathetic shoulder for those grieving...especially if drugs were involved.

Marinette found herself developing an intense fondness for him early on in their friendship that eventually grew to love. If she were being honest with herself, she’d admit that she’d been in love with Jason for at least twenty years. She never told him because she was waiting for him to come clean with her about what he was. Marinette wanted their relationship to be built on honesty, and she couldn’t think of anything more difficult to admit than the fact one was a demon. Once Jason had admitted it to her, then Marinette would allow herself to begin to entertain the thoughts of a relationship with him.

Her mother, Tikki, had approved of her plan.

Plagg— her mother’s lover/friend/husband(?)— had told Marinette not to wait too long. He explained that his creatures were not the most patient bunch, and while they would never force a relationship, they would give up on a love interest if it appeared the affection was not returned. He was happy that Marinette had found her match in one of his children. He told her that Jason was a good one, and Marinette readily agreed.

Plagg had created the demons as a balance to Tikki’s creations. They were not necessarily bad, like a lot of humans thought, but they were agents of chaos and destruction. Sinners, as the humans had deemed those who attracted the demons, were simply just humans who caused/welcomed chaos and destruction in their lives or in others’. Some demons punished them, and some demons joined them...but put too much chaos in anyone’s life, and it will become a punishment. Jason was a special case, given life by Plagg after one of his demon’s requested it.

Plagg had allowed Jason to become a demon because he pitied the dying human child. The God of Destruction and Chaos had refused to tell her anything else about Jason, insisting she’d need to learn it for herself. Marinette didn't have many qualms with that. She already had several theories, and none were pleasant.

Marinette, on the other hand, was a muse and daughter of the Goddess of Creation, Tikki. Tikki had created Marinette and other muses to inspire and promote creation in the human world. Tikki admitted that perhaps she’d put too much of herself in Marinette, making her more like a daughter than a mere muse. Marinette could create wonderful things, and Tikki had encouraged it. Eventually, Tikki had declared the muse her child and heir should Tikki somehow be unable to fulfill her duties.

She had begun to lose hope until she saw the palpable anxiety on Jason’s face. 

Today would be the day...hopefully...that Jason told her the truth. 

————

Jason couldn’t bring himself to come clean until Dick almost caught them.

He’d pulled Marinette out onto a balcony and hid off to the side, ignoring his brother’s shouts. He was holding her close, pressed firmly against his body. She was looking up at him with her damnable grey eyes, face flushed, mouth gaping slightly. She was so close to him. If he just leaned down a little more, he could capture those lips in a kiss like he’d been dying to do.

But there was one thing he needed to do first.

“Marinette, I’m a demon.”

She blinked in confusion before tilting her head slightly. Jason took a deep breath before pulling away from her. He rested both hands on her shoulders before looking her squarely in the eye.

“Marinette, did you hear me? Because this is really important. I used to be Jason Todd...but that was a very long time ago. I’m actually an immortal demon known as the Red Hood. I’m sorry I didn’t come clean sooner, but I was afraid. I was afraid that I’d lose the companionship of one of the most spectacular women I’ve ever had the privilege of knowing. But I knew I’d have to come clean with you before...well before you got old—” 

Jason’s sentence trailed off as he stared at the woman before him. 

She was laughing.

Marinette was almost hunched over, trying to contain her laughter. Her eyes were shut tightly, tears almost leaking out from the corners of her eyes. Jason felt a spike of anger at this. Didn’t she know this conversation was important! Did she not believe him! Did she think he was lying to her! 

Before he could open his mouth, Marinette straightened up and asked, “Jase, how long do you think a human lives?”

“...I dunno the exact numbers, but like a century or two?”

“Oh, hun, they might reach a century if they’re lucky. Most humans only live to be in their 80s in most industrial countries. Other humans don’t even make it that far. Now tell me, how could we have known each other for almost ninety-two years, and neither of us have aged?” Marinette said sweetly.

Her smile showed teeth.

Jason was taken aback a moment. Did humans really live such short lives? It had been so long since he was human, and if so, why hadn’t Marinette aged? Why wasn’t she dead? Unless— but she didn’t feel like any demon he’d ever encountered before! If she wasn’t a demon or other creature of darkness, than what was Marinette?

“I’m a muse,” she replied.

Jason jumped a little, not realizing he’d asked the last question aloud.

“Just a muse? Don’t muses normally specialize in one area or something?”

“That’s right, a muse, and the average ones do. I’m the daughter of Tikki, so my powers are not as...limited.”

“Tikki as in the Goddess of Creation, Tikki?”

“The very same.”

Jason was stunned. Of course he knew of the great goddess as his boss, Plagg, never shut up about her. Tikki was the opposite of Plagg. Tikki was his other half. Tikki was creation and order while Plagg was destruction and chaos. Tikki could make anything, and rumor had it, she’d created a muse who’d ended up becoming her favorite. She called this favorite her Ladybug, and this muse was not limited like the others.

He just never thought he’d actually get to meet the legendary lady herself...let alone fall madly in love with her! But if she was Tikki’s daughter...then that meant she could sense energy just like he could...maybe even better than him. Did she know? Did she know this whole time and still befriend him?

“Did—”

“Yes, I knew. I’m glad you told me yourself though,” Marinette said softly. “I’m glad you trusted me enough to tell me the truth, even though it could have hurt you had I been human.”

Somehow...Jason wasn’t angry.

Irritated? Oh most definitely. She’d watched him sweat about telling her several times and never came clean that she already knew! If they’d had this talk earlier, Jason probably wouldn’t have been so stressed out! They could have done more together! He wouldn’t have been so worried about how much time they had to spend before she was gone for good!

At the same time, Jason understood why she didn’t tell him. 

Just as people were not fond of demons, not all demons were fond of the muses and vice versa. Had Jason known she was a muse, had Jason been able to recognize her energy for what it was, he probably wouldn't have stuck around. Batman had warned him time and time again about the muses, and how certain ones played with demons for the thrill of it and left when they got bored or scared. After watching one break Tim’s heart, Jason would admit that he wasn’t fond of them at all. He’d avoided them completely, despite never actually meeting Tim’s ex in person.

Besides, muses normally didn’t go into the void as deep as Jason liked to venture, so his contact with them had been extremely limited. He would have stormed off, thinking that this was a trap for him.

“Soooo…” Jason said, anxiously rubbing his palms on his pant legs.

“Sooo?” Marinette echoed, grey eyes still fixed on him.

“...where does this leave us, Cakepop?”

“...I was hoping this leaves us together.”

“Like...together as we were? As friends? Or…”

“Or.”

“Or?”

Marinette smiled mischievously before grabbing the black tie Jason was wearing. She tugged hard, forcing him to bend down. As he did, he felt a very soft pair of lips collide with his. The smell of flowers invaded his senses as she snaked the hand not holding his tie around his neck. She tilted her head and allowed the kiss to deepen. She was determined to pour as much love as she could into that one kiss. 

Jason’s hands had flown to her hips. The silk of her cheongsam was soft against his skin and warm from her body heat. He pulled her close once again, savoring the feeling of having her close. He also couldn’t help but realize how tiny his muse was when she was pressed against him.

The second she deepened the kiss, Jason let out a muffled moan. She tasted like the confections she baked, sugary with a hint of spice. He ran his hands up and down her sides, noting which places made her shiver into the kiss. He would have consumed her then and there, but fate had other plans.

“There you are Jas— SO THAT’S WHY YOU WERE RUNNING AWAY FROM ME! I’m offended, Jason! Didn’t you want to introduce your big brother to your cute little girlfriend!”

The pair broke apart at mach speed, embarrassed and surprised. Jason glared at his older brother and snarled, fangs showing.

“Now, now, Little Wing! I’m not here to steal possibly the only woman, human or otherwise, who could put up with your dumbass. I’m just trying to be friendly!” the slightly shorter man said.

Marinette noted that he had black hair like Jason, but his eyes were a crystalline blue, too clear and too bright to be human. This man also wasn’t as muscular as Jason, but it was still clear he worked out and was strong. He had an easy going smile, even if those eyes read mischief, and he was carrying a glass of champagne.

He walked over to Marinette before grinning, exposing his fangs. He held out his hand and said, “Good evening, miss! My name is Richard Grayson, but my friends call me Dick—”

“Clearly because you are one.”

Both Dick and Jason froze as those words tumbled out of Marinette’s mouth. Both demons finally took a good look at the little muse and felt a mix of fear and attraction run through them.

The little muse did not look happy with Dick, not at all. Her eyebrows were furrowed as her grey irises disappeared into her sclera, giving her narrowed eyes an all white appearance. A frown was cemented on her face...but it wasn’t so much a frown as it reminded both demons of a snarl. Perhaps muses couldn’t snarl the same way demons could, so she was making up her closest interpretation?

Her fists were clenched, and her body was tense, as if she were trying to hold herself back.

“I’ve waited at least twenty years for that kiss, and you interrupted it!” Marinette hissed. “Quit being a dickhead to your brother and leave!”

Dick’s smile brightened before he laughed, “Aw, she’s going to fit right in! You’ll have to bring her around sometime, Little Wing. Alfred’s going to love her and so will—”

Dick never got to finish his sentence as a swarm of bees came barreling towards him, completely ignoring Marinette and Jason. Jason watched in silent awe as his brother tried to defend himself, but it didn’t seem to matter how many bees he killed. There were always more bees to take the place of the others.

He ended up running away from them, and it wasn’t until he was all the way down the hall that the bees ceased their swarming.

Jason turned back to Marinette, whose eyes were just returning to normal. He gave her a grin before wrapping her up in a hug. He felt her slump against him a bit, tired after using some of her power to create enough bees to make Dick leave them alone. He rubbed her back for a few moments before asking her if she’d like to return to her apartment now.

“I have a few terms,” Marinette said, turning her head so her voice wasn’t muffled against his chest.

“Oh?”

“One, we strip down into our underwear and kiss and cuddle. Two, we watch old movies and make popcorn. Three, we’re boyfriend and girlfriend!”

Jason barked out a laugh before scooping Marinette into his arms.

“Sounds like agreeable terms, Cakepop,” he said, holding her bridal style. “Let’s go home.”

Marinette wrapped her arms around his neck and pecked him on the cheek. Jason carried her all the way to where her car was parked, feeling joy coursing through his veins. She wasn’t going to die. She was immortal like he was. They had a chance. They could make this work. If Jason did his best, he’d never have to say goodbye to Marinette.

Jason set Marinette down again once they’d reached the car. He gently took her head between his hands and kissed her softly. This kiss was not as heated as the first, but simple, sweet, and brief. He kissed her nose and eyelids next before hugging her tightly. He promised her more kisses later, and opened the door so Marinette could get in the passenger’s seat.

Later on the couch, snuggled up under Marinette’s favorite blanket, Jason would hold Marinette close to his chest. She’d be nodding off, feeling safe and content in his arms. Just before she would drift off to sleep, Marinette would sleepily murmur something Jason had been waiting for years to hear.

“I love you, Jason.”

And he would reply.

“I love you too, Marinette.”