#that dude could just be eating his breakfast and tails would be like “that's so COOL omg”

[timeclipsed]

❝You guys are haters, that backstory is cool as hell. He could've painted himself green and he'd still be awesome.❞

[thepixelelf]

superhero cheol x tech whiz reader warnings: coarse language. food. wc: 1.0k

[anonymous nights] As Seungcheol ducked behind the world’s most disgusting, foul-smelling, gag-inducing dumpster, he thought this was perhaps — no, definitely — the worst idea you’d ever had. His full-head mask was starting to itch, and he felt stupid in his suit sneaking through alleys and hiding behind trash cans.

“Remind me again why I’m following this random ass dude instead of Seo Jewon? What happened to catching the city’s ‘fourth most dangerous villain’?”

A bit of static tickled Seungcheol’s ear through the communication device implanted in his suit, which he knew meant you were getting further and further away the more he pursued the target. He had no idea where you parked your small van, aside from knowing it was somewhere in the city — a precaution put in place so Seungcheol would never be able to give away your location. Or, more accurately, so he wouldn’t risk losing the petabytes of information you’d collected over the years.

“Seo Jewon was a total red herring, this is our real guy,” you said through his earpiece.

The man he was following kept walking, and Seungcheol almost thanked him because he had to get away from whatever was polluting that dumpster. “And you know that because…?”

“Hey, who’s the brains of this operation?” You sounded slightly garbled, but Seungcheol could hear your mouse clicking in the background. “That’s right, me.”

Seungcheol rolled his eyes even though he knew you couldn’t see it.

“I can feel you rolling your eyes, Solar Flare.”

Okay, maybe not.

“How do you always do that?”

He could hear your smile through the device. Maybe it wasn’t so hard. “I told you. Brains.” You tapped your mic twice, and Seungcheol winced at the plosive sound. He was about to complain when you spoke again. “Eyes up, Solar, you’re losing him.”

Glancing around, Seungcheol realized he did, in fact, lose track of the target, and he cursed under his breath. He heard you holding back laughter before you muted yourself. Picking up the pace and getting heavier on his feet, Seungcheol searched for your supposed ‘true villain’. Your silence only spurred him on; he knew you were making fun of him in your head.

You’d been assigned to him about a year ago, a decision made by the higher-ups because Seungcheol was apparently “too much of a handful” with his fiery powers (plus an equally fiery attitude), and you were the prodigious tech newbie they could force into working with him. Little did they know, spending too much time with him made you just as annoying. Hence why you and him were out tonight, chasing a completely new suspect instead of the one the bosses sent you after.

“Check your two o’clock.”

Seungcheol slipped into another alleyway, sticking close to the walls, though a load of good that did. “You know,” he said, a little breathless from his efforts to catch up to the target, “it might be a bit easier for me to tail this guy if I wasn’t dressed like Guy Fieri.”

“Hey, I didn’t design the suit, I just built it.” Your words sounded weird again. “Blame the fashion department, not me.”

“Okay, one, we don’t have a fashion department, and two, are eating cup fucking ramen right now?”

He could hear you slurping noodles up. “What? I can’t have dinner and save the city at the same time?”

“Dinner?! It’s like one in the morning!”

“I'm a busy sidekick.”

“You are not my sidekick.”

You snorted into the mic, an undignified sound you never held back from making when it was just you and Seungcheol. “Yeah, you keep telling yourself that.”

“Whatever. Tell me you at least had breakfast.” The line went silent, and Seungcheol cursed again. “You’re a hazard.”

Seungcheol could feel your greasy smile through the comm as you cooed. “I’m your hazard, Solar Flare.”

After working together for almost a year, you still hadn’t called Seungcheol by his name. You said it was “keeping things professional”, but Seungcheol was pretty sure you just liked to tease him. Before you, no one had ever made jokes about his destructive superpowers. In fact, most people stayed away from him as much as possible. Then you came along and started saying he was your personal barbecue grill or space heater, never once afraid of his tendency to catch things on fire.

Seungcheol never told you how much he appreciated that.

“Shut up,” he mumbled.

“You lost him again.”

“God damn it.”

Seungcheol spent the next twenty minutes tailing your suspect through the city with you piping in every few turns, letting him know what he couldn’t see. He was beginning to think this was stupid. Of course this guy wasn’t the culprit, you must have been wrong — it wasn’t like you’d never been wrong before.

But then the guy turned a corner where almost no one ever went. He walked through another totally gross alley and went down some rusted outdoor basement stairs, glancing around. Almost like he didn’t want to be followed. Seungcheol silently pleaded it wasn’t what it looked like. (Though he probably shouldn’t have, considering this meant he was about to catch the bad guy.)

After the man entered the door, Seungcheol walked up to it, peering through the tiny barred window. He couldn’t see anything, so he opened the door just a crack and stepped through as quietly as he could. A dark hallway was all that greeted him, but down it, he could hear angry voices going at each other over something he couldn’t quite make out. Peeking out of the hallway, Seungcheol immediately retracted when he saw everything. A bunch of men and piles and piles of… well he didn’t know exactly what, but it didn’t look good.

“I fucking knew it!” you cheered through his earpiece. You must’ve already taken a picture during the millisecond Seungcheol had poked his head out and scanned it. “Alright, I’m calling backup.”

“What’s our cover story tonight? That I just so happened to stumble across the city’s fourth most dangerous secret lair?”

You clacked away at your keyboard. “No cover story this time. I found this guy fair and square.”

part 2 | part 3

[messenger-of-stupidity]

Redacted Incorrect Quotes Pt. ?

Haha you really thought my lazy ass was gonna work on WIPs? Nah. Have some redacted incorrect quotes based on tweets I saw, either on the app or screenshots of.

No I don’t care if the dashes are uneven.

Redacted Masterlist

----

Angel: *Flirting poorly with Davey at the grocery store* Hey so do you eat food often?

----

Sweetheart: Curious George is not a monkey because he has no tail. He is an ape. He will grow into a silverback gorilla and kill the man with the yellow hat in a display of dominance.

Milo: I’m literally just trying to read to Aggro.

-----

Milo: I love when kittens yell, but their heads are too big so they squint.

----

Guy: Roommate broke up with boyfriend that cooks for us. Excuse me while I go die.

----

Angel: In 1920 we took children out of the coal mine. In 2020 the most popular game on the market is minecraft. 

Baabe: Children yearn for mines.

-----

*3 AM*

No one:

LITERALLY no one:

Asher, in wolf form: I wonder if I can break the record with how loud I can lick my paw.

-----

Darlin: If civilization crumbles, I have a little flashlight in a drawer somewhere.

---

Sweetheart: Paul McCartney’s “Wonderful Christmastime” is about friends practicing magic but when someone walks in they have to play it cool.

Milo: No. It isn’t.

Sweetheart: *starts singing* The moon is bright, the spirits up. We’re here tonight, and that’s enough. *whispers* This is the part where someone comes in. *Continues pointedly* Simply having a wonderful christmastime!

----

Angel: My husband gives people a thumbs down instead of flicking them off when driving. He reports that a thumbs down makes them a lot more angry.

----

Adam: I would be such a good “dead wife”. Like, can you imagine how good I would look in a dead wife flashback sequence? Someone make me their “dead wife.

----

David: As a kid I thought Simba was crazy for running away after the death of Mufasa. But now watching it as an adult, I get it. It did look pretty incriminating of him leading Mufasa to that gorge. Witnesses saw him singing “I just can’t wait to be king.” A persecutor could do some real damage with that conviction.

----

Honey: I don’t like the saying “don’t speak ill of the dead”. It always struck me as disingenuous. People are multi-layered. Yes, I did light up a room. But I also stole my roommate’s milk to make mac and cheese blackout hammered. Let’s acknowledge both sides.

----

David, giving a pep talk to the pack: For anyone feeling down, just remember Velveeta cheese has been on the market since 1918. If trash cheese can succeed, so can you. And for anyone who likes Velveeta cheese, I’m sorry. I’m sorry you like trash cheese.

----

Angel: Lying awake thinking about the time I ordered a giant magikarp plush from Japan but then got refunded because the plushie got crushed under a shipping container.

----

Asher, and maybe Guy too: I’m here if you need moron support. It’s like moral support but I’m stupid.

-----

David: If I have to throw a party for my pack, it will be breakfast. Not lunch. Not dinner. It will start at 8:30 am so there is a valid reason for no one to come and I can kick them out before noon because I only promised breakfast, not lunch. The introverts will win even if it kills me.

----

Milo and Ollie: My cat has no responsibilities, but all day he walks from around the house, from room to room, with this sense of purpose, as if he has a long to-do list of tasks no one asked for. Just a weird small furry dude going about his little cat errands.

----

Freelancer: Aww my microbiome fancies some high quality fermented foods, does it? A little kombucha perhaps? I don’t give a shit. I’m a megabiome, I do what I want. I’m having a fanta lemon. I’ll swallow coins.

-----

Lovely: I would be an awesome drug dealer. Like, can you imagine? *giggles* We don’t have coke, is pepsi okay?

-----

Freelancer: Math professors be wildin like “a man tossed a coin, find the probability of him getting a head?” BRO WHEN WAS THE LAST TIME YOU GOT A H-

Huxley: I wanna reply back same to my data analytics professor so badly!!

------

David, at the pack solstice parties: I, myself, am understaffed at this time.

----

Milo with Marie watching Aggro for him:

-----

Asher: Fuck your zodiac sign, what button do you press when it says “press any button to start”

[trinity-mia]

a story as endless as the ocean

the titan's curse

0.6 dead men tell no tales

warnings : allie and thalia argue, capture-the-flag fighting, allie pokes her finger with shaker purposefully, the oracle is there and that deserves a warning of her own

word count : 3.4k

0.6 Dead Men (Or... Female Oracles? I Guess?) Tell No Tales

After laying in the darkness for an hour, I finally managed to go back to sleep. My shoulders felt like they were breaking, but when I woke up at five, I ate some ambrosia and that seemed to help. 

When the horn blew for breakfast, I ate and then told Grover about my dream and how I could still feel the weight of the sky on my shoulders. 

We sat in the meadow watching the satyrs chase the wood nymphs through the snow. The nymphs had promised to kiss the satyrs if they got caught, but they hardly ever did. Usually, the nymph would let the satyr get up a full head of steam, then she'd turn into a snow-covered tree and the poor, gullible satyr would slam into it headfirst and get a pile of snow dumped on him.

"It's so weird," Grover said, twisting a clump of his fur anxiously, "you can still feel the weight of the sky and after what Zoe dreamed—"

"Woah, woah, back up. Zoe had a dream, too?"

"I... I don't know, exactly," Grover stammered. "About three in the morning she came to the Big House and demanded to talk to Chiron," Grover explained. "She looked really panicked."

"Pause... how do you know this?"

Grover blushed. "I was sort of camped outside the Artemis cabin."

"Uh, why?"

"Just to be, you know, near them."

"You're a stalker with hooves."

"I am not!" he defended. 

I gave him an admonishing look. "You definitely are, but go on."

"Anyway, I followed her to the Big House and hid in a bush and watched the whole thing. She got real upset when Argus wouldn't let her in. It was kind of a dangerous scene."

I tried to imagine that. Argus was the head of security for camp— a big blonde dude with eyes all over his body with legendary skills. He rarely showed himself unless something serious was going on. I wouldn't want to place bets on a fight between him and Zoe Nightshade.

"What did she say?" I asked, returning to the important stuff.

Grover grimaced. "Well, she starts talking really old-fashioned when she gets upset, so it was kind of hard to understand. But something about Artemis being in trouble and needing the Hunters. And then she called Argus a boil-brained lout... I think that's a bad thing. And then he called her—"

"What kind of trouble could Artemis be in? Do you think the monster she was hunting found her before she found it." 

"I... well, I think that's kinda the point. Finally, Chiron came out in his pajamas and his horsetail in curlers and—" 

"He wears curlers… in his tail?" 

Grover covered his mouth. 

"Sorry," I said, shaking my head. "Go on." 

"Well, Zoe said she needed permission to leave camp immediately. Chiron refused. He reminded Zoe that the Hunters were supposed to stay here until they received orders from Artemis. And she said..." Grover gulped. "She said 'How are we to get orders from Artemis if Artemis is lost?'" 

"’Lost’? How the hell do you kidnap the goddess of the hunt? How the hell do you kidnap a goddess, in general?"

"It happened to Persephone," Grove pointed out. 

"And she sealed her fate by eating the pomegranate. You tellin' me Artemis ate a fucking pomegranate or something of the sort and is now lost?"

"Well, when you put it like that."

"Surely, they can't be… powerful enough to capture an Olympian yet." My statement made both of our eyes widen. 

"I think that somebody would know if Kronos had finished reforming," Grover pointed out cautiously. "The gods would be more nervous. But still, it's weird, you having a nightmare the same night as Zoe. It's almost like—"

"They're connected," I finished. I would have been shocked if they weren't.

Over in the frozen meadow, a satyr skidded on his hooves as he chased after a redheaded tree nymph. She giggled and held out her arms as he ran toward her. Pop! She turned into a Scotch pine and he kissed the trunk at top speed, and the satyr toppled over onto his back in surprise at the abrupt impact.

"Ah, love," Grover said dreamily.

I thought about Zoe's nightmare, which she'd had only a few hours after mine, and came to a grim decision. One that would probably make me want to jump off a cliff. "I've got to talk to Zoe," I announced, standing to my feet and shaking off some snow that gathered on the top of my head.

"Before you do—" Grover said, pulling out a brochure. "I've been thinking a lot about how Artemis and the hunters just showed up at Westover Hall and... I think they might've been scouting us."

I raised my eyebrow. I hadn't told Grover about meeting them before yesterday, either. In fact, I'd only told Nessa, Katie, and Silena. "What do you mean?"

"Well, I found this in Brylie's backpack," he gave me the brochure. "... And you were kinda being a brat and smart-mouthed Artemis and she didn't blast you to pieces. At first, I thought it might just be because you're a girl and all that, but..." he struggled to find the right words, but I knew what he was going to say. "You aren't thinking about joining the Hunters, are you?" 

I sighed and, although I could've lied to him, I didn't feel like it. I explained to him how they'd found me a few weeks ago and how Artemis said she'd give me some time to think about it. And then how I denied it just the night before.

He was staring at me wide-eyed by the time I finished. 

"You can't be serious."

"Deadly."

"But... I always thought you and— never mind. I never would have thought you’d consider becoming a Hunter."

"I know... and honestly, I don't completely like the idea of immortality. I don't want to leave all of my friends behind. But..." I wanted to tell him about how I didn't want the prophecy to be mine (but also didn't want it to be Thalia's), but then I realized I would've sounded like a total spoiled brat. "Never mind. It was a passing thought and I already told her no. Same as Circe’s Island. I actually have archery, so I need to go. I'll talk to Zoe the next time I see her."

With that, I hopped up and speed-walked towards the archery range, pretending I didn’t hear him muttering, “Circe’s Island?” under his breath. 

I didn't see Zoe at all throughout the day, but I assumed it was because she was still trying to figure out what her dream meant. I was going to go up to her during dinner, but that didn't seem too great an idea, either, so I guessed it'd have to wait until after Capture the Flag. 

As we were getting ready, Zoe Nightshade looked pretty upset. She kept glancing resentfully at Chiron, like she couldn't believe he was making her do this. The other Hunters didn't look too happy, either. Unlike last night, they weren't laughing or joking around. They just huddled together in the dining pavilion, whispering nervously to each other as they strapped on their armor. Some of them even looked like they'd been crying. I guess that Zoe had told them about her nightmare.

On our team, we had Beckendorf and two of his brothers, Jake and Isaac, Ellis, Jacob, and Sherman from the Ares cabin, the Stolls and Nico from Hermes, and Silena, Nessa, Laurel, and Mitchell from the Aphrodite. Then there was Katie and her sister Whitney for Demeter, Will and his brother Ash from Apollo, and Leah and Grant from the Athena cabin

"I'll show them 'love is worthless,'" Silena grumbled angrily as she strapped on her armor. She and her siblings had been raring for blood since the Hunters had arrived. Frankly, I was feeling kind of terrified of them right now. Who knew what Silena was planning on doing with that nail file? I didn't doubt she could cut off someone's head with it. "I'll pulverize them!"

That left Thalia and me.

"I'll take the offense," Thalia volunteered. "You take defense."

"Oh." I hesitated, because I'd been about to say the exact same thing, only reversed. "Don't you think with your shield and all, you'd be better defense?" It was a known fact that I was a much better offense than defense. Even in sparring, I never used a shield, only further proving that point. 

Thalia already had Aegis on her arm, and even our own teammates were giving her a wide berth, trying not to cower before the bronze head of Medusa. I hated the shield, but not because of the image itself (though I didn't like that either, trust me). No, my problem was the memory it invoked. Aunty Em's Garden Gnome Emporium was not a fond recollection.

"Oh... I was thinking it was going to make a better offense. But uh, I guess. Don't screw this up, Jackson. I want to rub it in their face."

"Of course I won't. I'm a better offense, anyway." She looked at me skeptically while I went to help Silena fix her breastplate so it wouldn't get caught in her hair when she ran. 

"Allie, this is awesome!" Nico said as he ran up to me. His blue-feathered bronze helmet was falling in his eyes and his breastplate was about six sizes too big. Everyone always looked so ridiculous when they first arrived. He'd look less like a toddler playing dress-up once he finally copped on to the fact that this was real life, not his game where the only thing that got hurt if you lost was the player's pride.

Nico lifted his sword with effort. "Do we get to kill the other team?"

I eyed him warily. "Well... no." Not that the small boy would be able to kill anybody for a while. That sword definitely wasn't the right fit for him.

"But the Hunters are immortal, right?"

"That's only if they don't fall in battle. Besides—"

"It would be awesome if we just, like, resurrected as soon as we were killed, so we could keep fighting, and—"

"Nico, this is serious," I cut him off. "These are real swords. They can hurt." I poked my right pointer finger with Shaker until a drop of blood appeared to prove my point.

He stared at me, looking disappointed at my words, but I couldn't bring myself to regret what I'd said. He had touched on a sore point for pretty much everybody in camp. Monsters were reborn, centuries, decades, years, months, weeks, even days on some occasions (as my luck would prove) after being defeated. But demigods? Elysium was the only way that'd happen, and if you chose rebirth, you still wouldn't see the people you loved again. Nico was a nice kid, but at the moment, all I wished was for him to grow up and realize this wasn't a game, it was real life, and people didn't come back after being killed.

I patted Nico on the shoulder, trying to summon up some of my cheer. "Hey, it's cool. Just follow the team. Stay out of Zoe's way. We'll have a blast."

Chiron's hoof thundered on the pavilion floor.

"Heroes!" he called. "You know the rules! The creek is the boundary line. Blue team— Camp Half-Blood— shall take the west woods. Hunters of Artemis— red team— shall take the east woods. I will serve as referee and battlefield medic. No intentional maiming, please! All magic items are allowed. To your positions!"

"Sweet," Nico whispered to Thalia. "What kind of magic items? Do I get one?"

When he looked like he was about to start talking again, Thalia gave me a pleading look. "Blue team! Follow me!" I raised Riptide in the air and kept Shaker sheathed. 

We set our flag at the top of Zeus' Fist. It was deep into the western section of the woods, in an easily defensible clearing. Given its location, it was a good place to set the flag. The top boulder was twenty feet tall and really hard to climb, so the flag was clearly visible, like the rules said it had to be, and it didn't matter that the guards weren't allowed to stand within ten yards of it.

I set Nico on guard duty with Beckendorf and the Stolls, figuring he'd be safely out of the way, while still feeling included.

"We'll send out a decoy to the left," Thalia told the team. "Silena, you lead that."

"Got it!"

"Take Laurel, Ash, Nessa, Issac, Whitney, and Jacob. You're all good runners. Make a wide arc around the Hunters, attract as many as you can. I'll take the rest of you as our main raiding party around to the right and catch them by surprise," I continued.

Everybody nodded. It sounded good and Thalia and I worked well together and said it with such confidence you couldn't help but believe it would work.

"Anything to add, Thalia?"

She nodded. "Yeah. Keep sharp on defense. We've got four guards, two scouts. That's not much for a big forest, and this sort of terrain is the Hunters' territory. I'll be roving. Yell if you need help."

"And don't leave your post!" I added.

"Exactly."

Everybody nodded. We broke into our smaller groups. The horn sounded, and the game began.

Silena's group disappeared into the woods on the left. My group gave it a few seconds, then darted off toward the right.

As I ran, I remembered how the Hunters had stormed out of the woods when they fought the manticore, and I was prepared for a huge charge that could overwhelm us, as well as a subtle ambush that utilized their talents of camouflage. But nothing happened. It freaked me out, and the urge to split off from my group and find out what was happening poked at me.

I whistled quietly to Will and jerked my head up a tree. He got the memo and climbed up quickly, scouring the area. I didn't get time to hear what he was about to tell me. 

Out of the corner of my eye, I spotted a clump of Hunters heading towards, bows ready. They must've spotted us.

For a second I thought we weren't going to get through, but each time they shot arrows, I knocked them away with Riptide or someone ran up beside me with a shield. We had a pretty good routine going. 

We had to stop for a few seconds and focus on fighting. I heard Silena's group about a hundred yards to my left. Then, there was the only thing I couldn't have guessed. 

Thalia had the flag. It was actually a pretty good move, considering everyone else was occupied, but then she tripped. 

"Thalia," I yelled, trying to get her attention. 

She got up and as soon as she made it over to me, she handed me their flag and I went off running, trying to ignore the furthering weight of the sky on my shoulders. Behind me, an arrow exploded at her feet and a cloud of yellow smoke billowed out around her team. They all started coughing and gagging. I could smell the gas from across the woods— the horrible smell of sulfur. I cursed and covered my nose as I realized what the hunters had done.

"No fair!" Thalia gasped, yet somehow still making her voice come out as a yell. "Fart arrows are unsportsmanlike!"

Only a few more yards to the creek and I had the game. More arrows whizzed past my ears. A Hunter came out of nowhere and slashed at me with her knife, but I parried and kept running.

I heard yelling from our side of the creek. Beckendorf and Nico were running toward me. I thought at first that they were coming to welcome me back, but then I saw they were chasing someone— Zoe Nightshade, racing toward me like a cheetah, dodging campers with no trouble. And she had our flag in her hands.

We smacked into each other, having the same idea to slow each other down, but it did no good. We still made it to our respective sides at the same time. 

Chiron appeared out of the woods, looking confused but simultaneously happy. He had the Stolls on his back, and it looked as if both of them had taken some nasty whacks to the head. Connor had two arrows sticking out of his helmet like antennae. Seeing the shape they were in, as well as losing, only inflamed my anger towards the Hunters.

"It's a tie!" He announced. "We can either play another round or leave it at that. What say you?"

"ASTRAEA JACKSON!" Thalia shouted, walking from the woods and smelling of sulfur. I raised my eyebrow as she walked up to me.

"Yes?"

"I told you I would've been better at offense! We could've actually won!"

"If you had a problem with what you agreed to, you could've told me. You let me win that argument! Not to mention, you left your post! How is this, in any way, my fault?"

"Gods! You are so arrogant! If you actually knew how to worry about someone other than yourself, Luke and Brylie would still be here!" Her face immediately changed. I winced and glared at her, while she started stuttering out apologies. 

Without even thinking about it, I summoned a wave that hit her full force in the chest, knocking her to the ground. She made to defend herself, but I put up a water shield, like the one I used when I was first getting to Camp, and the lightning she called down only blew my hair back. She got mad and so did I, so I'm not exactly sure how it happened, but I ended up lifting the whole creek above my head. 

With the two of us ready to attack, Silena gasped. "Oh, my gods! Look!" She was pointing towards the woods. My arms fell back to my sides in shock, making the creek fall back to its usual place, soaking everyone who was within a few feet of it.

The oracle, in all of its mummified glory, was walking towards us. She was shrouded in a murky green mist, and as it got closer, the campers and Hunters gasped in recognition.

"This is impossible," Chiron said. I'd never heard him sound so nervous, and it made the whole situation seem even worse than it was already. "It... she has never left the attic. Never."

And yet, the withered mummy that held the Oracle continued to shuffle forward until she stood in the center of the group. Mist curled around our feet, turning the snow a sickly shade of green.

None of us dared move. Then her voice hissed inside my head. Apparently, everyone could hear it, because several people put their hands over their ears to cover them.

I am the spirit of Delphi, the voice said. Speaker of the prophecies of Phoebus Apollo, slayer of the mighty Python.

My breath hitched as she took one single step forward, right in front of me. The Oracle regarded me with its cold, dead eyes once more. Then she spoke again. Approach, Seeker, and ask.

I swallowed. "What do I do to save Luke, Brylie, and Lady Artemis?"

The Oracle's mouth opened, and green mist poured out. I saw the vague image of a mountain, and two girls and a guy standing at the barren peak. Luke and Brylie were, like yesterday, pinned beneath a cavern ceiling, straining to hold it aloft (my shoulders started aching again, and I had to force myself to keep from wincing). Just ahead of them was Artemis, but she was wrapped in chains, fettered to the rocks. She was kneeling, her hands raised as if to fend off an attacker, and it looked like she was in as much pain as Luke and Brylie. The Oracle spoke:

Five shall go west to the goddess in chains,

One shall be lost in the land without rain,

The bane of Olympus shows the trail,

Campers and Hunters combined prevail,

The Titan's curse must one withstand,

And one shall perish by a parent's hand.

Then, as we were watching, the mist swirled and retreated like a great green serpent into the mummy's mouth. The Oracle sat down on a rock and became as still as she'd been in the attic, as if she might sit by this creek for a hundred years.

*    *    *

previous | next

SERIES M.LIST | MAIN M.LIST | TIPS

[royalty-subway]

How would the twins react when they have a s/o who is the queen/king of hell? Complete with devil horns and tail who is sadistic but would never EVER think of hurting their beloved nor their loved ones or do anything that would make them unset. And they love, like LOVE pancakes to the point of eating it for breakfast lunch and dinner (clearly obsessed with pancakes).

yes

Sordward

… You’re like, the actual proof of him likely going to hell when he dies. Because it turns out hell exists and you’re either his friend or partner. And you’re actually the king/queen of hell-

He probably thought those devil horns and tail of yours were fake. Because like, no way in hell does the devil exist in this world… HOLY FUCK THEY’RE REAL-

… And yet, being a devil and the king/queen of hell doesn’t seem too bad. I mean, it’s expected of the devil to be sadistic. And yet, for some reason, you refuse to hurt him or his younger brother.

N-not that he’s complaining. I mean, it’s technically better for his situation since you’re not hurting those he loves dearly. But like, why is the king/queen of hell doing here?… Guess we can’t have the answer to everything.

So… pancakes, am I right? You really like them for some reason. Which it’s fine, but like, why are you eating so much every lunch and dinner??? Can't you get sick from it???

Shielbert

I mean, he’s a bit spooked to even be around a devil. Because like, they’re highly known for being cruel and all that. Even the horns and tail make him feel panicky-

So like, learning that his friend or partner is the king/queen of hell while also being a devil would very much spook him. I mean, he’s not afraid of you. But like, why have you been hiding this???

Like, he gets that you’re pretty nice towards him despite all this. And still nice once you revealed yourself. But like, why? That would also explain your sadistic side too-

… I mean, whenever you do show your sadistic side around others. It’s likely that he’ll try to stop you since he doesn’t want anyone to get hurt. Not even you, if you can? Maybe you’re immortal-

But like, turns out you really like pancakes. Not that he has a problem with that. I mean, he can make as many pancakes as you wish since he’s okay at making them. But like, damn-

Emmet

oh word- (my man actually befriended or became the partner of the king/queen of hell, along with being a devil that likes pancakes-)

I mean, he also loves pancakes. But like, you REALLY love pancakes. So he could probably use that as a weapon of some sort. To “get out of trouble” I suppose.

But like, you’re actually a devil. With horns and a tail. OMG POGGERS- (dude, what is hell like? Are we allowed to swear in hell? Can we still die-)

I mean, he couldn’t exactly 100% care about your sadistic side. To be honest, he’s a bit sadistic himself. But he purely does that for humor reasons (like bullying Sordward). He’d never hurt anyone he cares about. Just for entertainment. Much like you-

Bro… He just realized something. During Halloween, right? You could like, scare people with your devil bullshit and they would think it’s some magic show-

Ingo

… He doesn’t even know how he got himself into this situation. Let alone interact with the king/queen of hell itself and a devil. Either being friends or in a relationship with them-

Like, what did he do wrong to get to this point? I mean, you’re nice to be around and he has nothing against you. But like, why and how?

I mean, it’s whatever. You can still hang around him and Emmet. As long as you don’t like, do something bad. Which you only do to others for some reason-

… Yes, he still has a problem with that. Please don’t scare off other passengers on the train. He loves this job, and he doesn’t want it to be taken away just because you’re bored-

But like, pancakes. Am I right gamers? He also likes pancakes. Granted, he can’t cook for shit, but he still likes them. But like, you love them for some reason. Which it’s okay-

[astaroth1357]

A Lazy Day with MC and the Brothers

I was just chilling one day and thought about how a lazy day in with our boys might be like… I like hijinks, don’t get me wrong, but sometimes we ought to slow down too, you know?

Check my Masterlist for more!

Warning: Slight NSFW-ish? I dunno how to tag innuendo...

Lucifer

First off, hats off for managing to convince the guy to just do nothing for any length of time. That’s some seriously impressive persuasive powers, MC, you sure you don’t know how to charm?

Lazy Lucifer=Sleepy Lucifer. He spends so many nights up late getting work done then follows it up by getting up early in order to wrangling his brothers. It's honestly like it all catches up with him... He’s sleeping in and he’s sleeping in HARD.

Might text one of his brothers to bring them in a late breakfast at some point (never mind the fact it’s practically dinner). Beel would be the one most likely to agree to it, but he also may just eat whatever he picked up on the way there so hopefully someone else is feeling charitable… Try Asmo.

Honestly, his entire goal is to not leave the bedroom at all. If he leaves, then he runs the risk of people seeing him… wait for it... relaxing. Oh, just imagine the scandal!!

Some classical music, a bit of conversation, and maybe a good book in bed would all sound like heaven to him. They may have to get up to make some tea to go along with it, just remind him that drinking coffee on your recharge days can have the opposite effect. The taste of coffee could always just end up reminding him of work anyway…

The evening can go one of two ways. Calm and peaceful or "stress relieving." If they chose the stress relieving option, best be prepared because he'll have a whole night's worth of stress to let out and he's going to need some help… 😏

Mammon

He’s going to want to be close to the MC the whole time, they can hold onto him or him onto them, whatever works. It doesn’t matter as long as there’s still some kind of contact happening.

A whole day with just him and the MC? And they don’t even have to be doing anything? Where can he sign up??

Cue a lot of doing nothing in particular with Mammon tangled up on them in some way: hugging their waist while he checks his phone, resting their legs on his lap during a gaming session, wrapping himself around them while they just have casual conversation. That kind of thing.

When they eventually get hungry then he might pop down to the kitchen and make them some instant noodles (I wouldn’t trust much else he tries to make since… well we know he kind of just adds whatever’s around to his food).

He might start getting a little restless part of the way through the day though, so they’re going to have to do something to get that energy out… 🤔

Use your imagination, I know this fandom can.

Leviathan

The reigning Prince of Lazy Days. Everything about Levi screams “goof off/game night buddy” (at least if the MC is a fellow otaku anyway).

He probably didn’t sleep the night before because he was playing/watching something so the morning will go down one of two ways: 1) He just pulls an all-nighter and begins to progressively lose his mind as the day goes on, or 2) He’s dead to the world until 2pm. Only one of those options is entertaining so you know what I'm going with.

Things will go pretty smoothly through the morning. They don’t have to go anywhere because his room has plenty of snacks so they can just chill out and watch anime or play video games.

Buuut stuff will get more dicey as the afternoon rolls around and his sleep deprivation sets in. He’ll start losing a lot of his filter and may ramble for even longer than normal with even less coherency. He’ll also get more um… "bold" than usual.

Or he may just want to cuddle with them while he babbles on about how much he loves them and how warm they are and how much they remind him of Henry, which reminds him have they seen the latest season of “My Life with Seven Demon Brothers Who All Love Me!” yet because the main character there also reminds him of them and-

He’ll pass out eventually, probably latched onto them somehow with his tail around them tenderly. Don’t bring it up to him in the morning because he will unsuccessfully try to deny it ever happened.

Satan

Not opposed to the occasional lazy day. It actually does good for his nerves since holding in all that pent-up anger can feel like stuffing an elephant into a tea kettle sometimes...

They’re going to want to get him out of his bedroom or the library if they don’t want to fight for his attention against whatever new book he’s eating through today. When the man gets engrossed then it’s like nothing else matters, the House could split in two and he'll only notice if he suddenly can’t reach his drink anymore...

May actually be advantageous to go outside with him, take a nice stroll around the House while having some interesting conversation. They could poke his brain about anything that suits their fancy while they’re out amongst the trees and nature.

If they don’t want to go outside and rather take their chances with the book then okay but the engrossment problem still applies. He may even forget to eat...

Best way to combat his lack of attention is to be a little brat that’s juuust cute enough not to piss him off. It’s a delicate balance. That means getting real close to him, like sitting on his legs, and just occasionally reminding him of their presence with longing looks while tapping, flicking, or messing with the book from time to time (yes, kind of like an attention-seeking cat).

Play it just right and they’ll get attention on them alright, but he may also be looking to punish his “needy kitty." Hope that’s what they’re aiming for... 🤷‍♀️

Asmodeus

Really? They want to do nothing? Nothing at all? Are they sure they don’t want to do him instead...? 😏

A relaxing day with Asmo is more or less like a day spent wrapped up in mutual worship and adoration. The guy wants all of their attention and love but he’ll return it and then some. As long as they treat him like the love of their lives it will honestly be like having their own day spa day in Heaven.

If the MC wants to relax, then he’s just the sort to know how to provide for them both. The only question is how do they want it?

The man can give them a full treatment, I mean, just look at his bathroom alone! A good soak in a hot bath, facial masks, back massages, mani-pedis, just say the word MC and he’s more than willing to bestow whatever their little heart desires. That’s his job, isn’t it?

Asmo may be a party boy, but if it’s a little TLC you need, emphasis on the T, then look no farther MC. He’s the guru.

On the flipside if they’re looking for a little release well… who better to ask than Asmo right? He’ll make sure they’ll never want to leave that bed again. 🤭

Beelzebub

As long as snacks are still involved then he’s all in, babe. He’ll do nothing with them all day as long as they keep him fed.

Two words. Couples. Cooking. They can’t skip a meal with Beel so if they’re going to spend lazy time with the dude then they better be planning on being a tag along to the kitchen.

It doesn’t have to be a super strict though, it’s not like they’re not cooking with Barbatos or anything, so they can goof off and make a bit of a mess together. Chances are Beel will eat the ingredients to whatever they’re making anyway so... 😅

A lot of lingering touches and just being close to each other as they go. He might want to hold their waist while they stir or they end up feeding each other in cutesy ways... Really it’s a ridiculously wholesome time.

At one point a food fight may break out and they'll cover themselves in flour, tomato sauce, or some other kind of messy food substance...

Careful, MC. Whatever they get covered in will likely only make them look more delicious to him and he might want to "clean them off".... They'll need to take that out of the kitchen, though, like what if someone needs a snack??

Belphegor

The reigning King of Lazy Days. Take notes, MC, for you are watching the Master at work...

Sleeping in and cuddling is a must. He will not let them leave the bed all morning for anything less than a Category Four Emergency (i.e. “I’m going to starve to death” or “I really gotta go piss”). He will pin them under his sleeping body if he has to!

Once they’ve thoroughly missed breakfast and half past noon rolls around he might call in takeout from Hell’s Kitchen for them to eat in the attic room. Expect some cheeky conversation, probably jokes at the expense of his brothers. Cuddling is still absolutely happening, of course, they cannot shake him off.

May borrow an anime from Levi to watch while they snuggle on the couch. He has all the best blankets in the House so they will be neither cold nor uncomfortable throughout.

His hands get a little grabby during these kinds of cuddle sessions, especially during tense moments in the show because he likes to give them a little jolt to make them yelp, the jerk... 😖

If he manages to not drift off during the show (flip a coin on that chance) the night will end in the planetarium, backs on a pile of blankets while they draw pictures in the stars… All hail the King. 😏

[cyberrat]

57th Batch Of Fics: 2nd Fill

Cole/? – Milky AU – Part 55 – milking; cow life – Cole gets that plan of his rolling. First time really alone with the bae :O.

---

Cole is still deep in thoughts about playing with his boyfriend when the machines do their last suck and begin to power down. Their bodies would get at least until the evening now for their next milking session, but Cole… he’s not done yet. He hasn’t come yet and that fuck hunger is still curling around his belly like a half-awake beast, making him antsy.

He follows Lúcio and Genji toward the breakfast house but he never gets there because he gets distracted asking a few studs lounging against the side of the building if they could gruntfuck him into the ground and satisfy him… which they certainly do; grabbing him by the horns and pulling him on their big dicks until he’s come until he can’t come anymore…

It’s almost midday by that point. He still gets something to eat and has the whole day to relax, yet now that he can think more clearly, he really really wants to get a day or two off… spend them outside the farm to get out of his head and, hopefully, into Schaefer’s bed.

So instead of going to his evening milking – yet – he wanders toward Reyes’ office. He doesn’t know why he is nervous going inside… but he kind of drags his heels for a while and just loiters around outside his door before he can finally make himself knock and move inside, heart thumping in his chest.

Reyes has been cool toward him most of the time. He’s a hardass about some stuff but he’s also been really helpful in pushing Cole toward his first tentative shootings for a little milk connoisseur magazine which had been really exciting… and as far as he knows, the dude got a lot more cooking behind the scenes that he hasn’t told Cole about yet.

“Evenin’, jeffe,” he drawls when he’s inside, trying not to seem too nervous… but he’s pretty sure that Reyes has sussed him out with just a small glance because he lifts one brow and puts his pen down to lean back in his chair and fold his hands over his stomach.

“You know, I’ve been thinkin’,” he continues quickly before Gabriel can say a word one way or the other. He reaches behind himself, grabbing his tail and playing with the tuft of fur at the tip of it while he hypes himself up to be more and more nervous. “I was wonderin’ if I could get a few days off… an’ like ask Schaefer if he wants to… do some stuff or somethin’-”

“Yeah, sure. Whatever.” Reyes rolls his eyes, leaning forward again and grabbing his pen. “Had me nervous there for a second. I thought there was something going on.”

“Wait what? Really? Just like that?” Cole exhales a long breath, his fingers stopping their nervous fiddling with his tail.

“Yeah, just like that. You’re no fucking prisoner here, kid. You can take days off and spend them with whoever you want. Have you even asked him if he got time? ‘S far as I know the dude never stops working or something. Want me to call him right now?”

Cole relaxes further, moving closer to sit in one of the chairs that in front of Reyes’ desk; the one with the plastic cover that can be changed and wiped down from whatever liquids might run out of his sloppy, used hole.

“I’d appreciate that. Thanks, jeffe.”

Reyes grumbles something about not scaring him like that again but he does turn to see if Schaefer will accept the video call.

.oOo.

A few days later, Cole is sitting next to Schaefer in his private car and feels like he is about to die of giddy nervousness. He keeps glancing at Martin to stare at him in is civilian clothing. He looks so different without his labcoat… like some kind of soft dad or something; compared to his usual strict dad aesthetic, he supposes.

When Martin reaches over mid-drive and puts his hand on his thigh, he nearly jumps out of his skin… which does not go undetected.

“You are very tense. Are you feeling alright?”

“H-heh yeah… yeah I guess I’m kinda tense. I’m just nervous… been a while that I’ve been alone with ya,” he replies, maybe a bit redundant; it feels like Schaefer knows exactly what he’s feeling even before he himself knows it. The hand disappears for a moment as Martin reaches over and fiddles with the glove compartment, his eyes never leaving the road even though it is just a long, straight stretch of nothingness.

Inside the glove compartment are two newly sealed toys: one pocket cunt and one squat buttplug looking thing.

“There. Why don’t you take the edge off those nerves? We got at least another hour of driving before we are at the hotel I booked.”

“What? Are we not going to your house?” Cole asks, pausing in ripping open the pocket pussy and staring at the side of Schaefer’s head. For some reason, showing Cole the sex toys he brought has been not even a blip on his radar… but now he his clean shaven cheeks are starting to exhibit a few spots of color.

“My house isn’t really… good for this kind of things. I don’t have a safe room or anything. The hotel I chose has specific cow playrooms so I think you’ll have much more fun there.”

Cole deflates a little. “I see…” he murmurs. He can’t help feel a little disappointed even though Martin is being so very thoughtful about all of this. While he is undoubtedly horny – all the time and forever these days, it seems – he had also been looking forward to finally seeing just a bit more of Martin and what makes him tick. He still knows so little about him…

Maybe next time?

.oOo.

Cole never would have thought that the simple act of wearing clothes would feel so damn strange to him. It’s just been… a year or something since he started on this journey and already the feeling of loose sweatpants on his hips makes his skin tingle all weird. He keeps tugging on the fabric, too focused on it to help Schaefer pull the large trunk he had suddenly dragged out of the back of the car, or pay attention to him checking them into the hotel.

Everything is, as expected, nice and tidy and looking kind of high-class.

He feels immediately spoiled, walking through the nice hotel room and wandering in a straight line toward a room to the side that looks… really cozy and, for lack of a better word, fuck shaped. He licks his lips, abdomen growing nice and liquid warm. Being pregnant only has made him all the more sensitive to the fuck hunger pushing through his system. He can’t wait to make use of the room… and from the way Martin is pulling the trunk toward the room as well he can tell that he doesn’t have to wait long to try it out.

[yes-i-am-happyaspie]

I can't believe that today is the last day of sicktember! I have had so much fun reading all the awesome hurt/comfort, sick fics that I love and I continue to be overwhelmed by the amount of support I receive whenever I post my own work. I have THE BEST READERS EVER. Thank you all!

Without further delay, here is my final @sicktember fic.

Beware the Egg Salad - happyaspie

No Archive Warnings Apply || Rated G || Word Count: 3041 || Peter Parker & Tony Stark, May Parker (Ned and MJ mentioned)

Summary: Peter decides to buy himself some extra breakfast on the way to school. But not wanting to spend too much of his money, he opts to purchase a half-price egg salad sandwich from the corner store. It obviously doesn’t sit well in his stomach and when May is stuck at work, it’s Tony that has to come and pick him up. It goes about as well as you would expect. [TW for Vomiting]

[Excerpt Below the Cut]

Due to his humble upbringing, Peter Parker was frugal. He liked saving whatever money he received and when he did spend it, it was never all at once. Even the smallest of purchases were weighed heavily, and he rarely paid full price for large ticket items. Patience was a virtue and if he genuinely wanted it badly enough, he could wait for it to go on sale. It was something that, like his good manners, had been instilled in him since birth and that wasn’t likely to change.

Due to his age and enhanced metabolism, Peter Parker was perpetually hungry. On an exceptionally hectic day, he could eat a full breakfast and be hungry again less than an hour later. His Aunt May did a valiant job at keeping him well fed and he appreciated the effort. But sometimes, knowing the amount of food he required made him feel unnecessarily guilty. And when that happened, he would eat the food that had been provided to him at home and then stop by the corner store on the way to school to buy a ‘second breakfast.’ Like a Hobbit,' Ned had joked but the term had stuck.

It was on the days he chose to use his own money to obtain an additional meal he would realize that being remarkably frugal and persistently hungry weren’t quite compatible. He would find himself rummaging through the store, picking up various items to compare the cost to the calories and then putting them back again. However, the debate would typically end with him placing something from the ‘daily specials’ rack onto the counter. And on the days that he was feeling particularly indulgent, a bag of gummy worms as well.

Corner store’s prepared food wasn’t particularly good, in general. But since he wasn’t an especially finicky eater, it didn't really matter how close it was to its sell-by date. Food was food and was happy for anything that would take up some of the empty space in his stomach. It was fine. All the way up until the day it wasn’t.

__

It was Thursday morning and even though Peter had already eaten three bowls of cereal before leaving his apartment, he was still hungry. So he walked up to the corner store, looked inside of his wallet and eyed his bank card. But after making a rather large purchase over the weekend, he’d told himself he wouldn’t spend anything else with it for a while. Outside of that, there was an empty Starbucks gift card and the two twenty dollar bills that Tony had insisted on giving him a few days prior. It had been his intention to deposit it into his account but seeing as he’d yet to get around to it, he figured it wouldn’t hurt to spend a little bit of it.

With that in mind, he gathered a deep breath in through his nose and stepped into the store, smiling. “Good morning, Mr. Sundar! Got anything marked down yet today?” he pleasantly inquired as he came through the doors. The older man gestured towards the cooler box near the front and Peter skipped towards it. It took a moment to pinpoint what the storekeeper had been referring to but after shuffling a few things around he found several egg salad sandwiches wrapped in cellophane and adorned with a bright orange, fifty percent off sticker. “Bingo,” he whispered to himself and then hurried towards the register to pay.

Peter sat in the seat at the back of the overcrowded train, promptly opened the sandwich and took a bite. It wasn’t horrible. The bread was a little dry and the egg salad was a little tangier than he would have liked but he didn’t think much of it. There wasn’t really any time to. There were only three stops before he had to hop off the train and high tail it the rest of the way to school on foot.

In fact, by the time he'd skidded into his classroom, just in time for the bell to ring, he’d forgotten about it completely. That is until his lower abdomen began to cramp about half way through the lesson. At which point, he was starting to think that perhaps egg salad wasn’t the best way to start your morning. It had seemed reasonable at the time. People eat eggs for breakfast. It was normal. Just not covered in mayonnaise and maybe vinegar? He wasn’t sure. He’d not bothered to read the label.

“Are you okay, Dude?” he heard Ned whisper.

Having not realized he’d had his face scrunched up in mild distress until that moment, Peter took a second to school his features before nodding his head. “Yeah, man. Just- missed the bottom part of the last slide. I didn’t get to write it down,” he easily lied. He’d unintentionally stopped taking notes within the first few minutes of class.

“Oh, that’s easy,” Ned replied. “You can copy mine during lunch.”

Peter thanked his friend with a weak smile but in reality, he was starting to wonder if he’d make it to lunch. Nausea was starting to accompany the cramps, and he was having to periodically swallow just to remind his stomach where it belonged.

[Continue Reading on AO3]

[luna-spacedoodles]

Spoiler: Rules Were Broken

A Dream Smp x Ever After High AU

Word count: 1,599

Chapter 1 A Royal Tale

Tommy hauled his wagon full of luggage up to the school as Tubbo

walked alongside him with his hands in his pockets.

Tommy grunted to a stop, “Dude why, why can’t you like, help me? Where even is your stuff?”

“All in here, boss man.” Tubbo tipped his comically tiny top hat and Tommy heard a small quack come from inside.

“I- okay can you help me then please?” Tubbo grabbed the handle alongside him and they pulled it together all the way to their dorm.

Tommy bust open the doors and threw a suitcase on his bed quickly following it and flopping in defeat. Tubbo didn’t even make it to his bed before Tommy heard a thud behind him. He didn’t know how long they’d stayed like that until he heard Tubbo placing down his things. Tommy lifted his head to see all his furniture was already there, that was one thing he didn’t have to set up at least.

Tommy opened up his suitcase and started messily throwing the clothes inside to his right, not all of them made it on the bed. Most of them fell onto the floor or got caught on the banister.

“Oh stop dude you’re making a mess.” Tubbo told him after he got a face full of shirt.

“Shut up man, you’re wrong you’re so wrong, I’m being so neat and tidy and shit!” Tommy retaliated only to throw another shirt.

“You literally just missed the bed so far.” Tubbo let out a small laugh at the end and kicked some shorts off his hammock.

Tommy groaned and went to pick up his failed attempts, “Well don’t just sit there if you’re going to groan about it, come help me man!”

“You don’t need my help, you're just shit. Besides I already finished setting up my stuff so that just makes you look even more shit at this.”

“But that’s not fair you got here earlier than me! And it’s not even true, there’s still a whole other half of the room and you’ve just invaded into my space!”

Just as he finished the two boys heard the door open and someone step inside, they both turned to look at someone Tommy had never seen before. He was quite tall and looked funny, his skin was black and white split down the middle of his face, same with his hair but flipped around. He had wide open red and green eyes that seemed fake, like they were made of glass, open far too wide and he didn’t seem to ever blink, yet it seemed the boy was doing everything he could to avoid making eye contact with either of them. Maybe that was a good thing, they didn’t seem like eyes that’d be pleasant to stare at. He had tall horns atop his head and two tails as well, one black and the other white.

“What the fuck??” Tommy shouted raspily in confusion over the unexpected guest.

“Uhm, hi.” The boy managed to spit out as he tightened his grip on his luggage.

“I think you have the wrong room.” Tommy crossed his arms and lent against the bed, he slipped a bit trying to balance himself.

“No he’s got the right room.” Tubbo butted in, he adjusted himself to sit on the edge of the hammock so his feet dangled over the floor.

“What?” The boy and Tommy asked in unison.

“Yeah, something about a student miscalculation or whatever, not enough dorms so we all have to share.”

Tommy looked at the new guy, this wasn’t what he wanted or planned for but there wasn’t much he could do about it.

—

Tommy woke up to a sudden heavy weight on his stomach. Tommy lifted his head and rubbed his eyes to see a blond raccoon with a red handkerchief tied around its neck laid out flat on his stomach, it’s little arms and legs stretched out.

“Oh, hello!” Tommy cooed at the raccoon, giving it some scratches and pats as it chuckled and rolled around in delight. He looked out the window, it was still dark out but he could spot the sun’s light barely reaching over the horizon. Tommy wondered if it was too early to sneak out his dorm and go walk in the forest before breakfast, wasn’t much to do and he didn’t really feel like going back to sleep so taking a quick walk wouldn’t be that bad.

He got dressed and slipped on a white cloak and a small brown backpack as well. Tommy quietly snuck out the window and climbed down the vines on the side of the wall, before he could lift his head up the raccoon had already jumped and landed flat on his face.

“Clementine, I told you to wait.” Tommy groaned muffled under Clementine, she only replied with some chittering that sounded close to laughter as Tommy pulled her off his face. He looked at her and couldn’t bring himself to scold her anymore than that, how could he stay mad at that face. He let her scuttle over him and sit in the open backpack as they walked off into the forest.

On their walk they saw many different creatures and plants, they even stopped by the pond on their way back. By the time they’d gotten back into the dorm the sun was rising and Tommy’s pockets were full of small flowers, pebbles and anything else he could fit inside, even Clementine had a large hoard of berries she’d picked for her breakfast.

Before Ranboo or Tubbo had the chance to wake up Tommy and Clementine were already out the door and on their way to the castleteria, leaving the cloak and bag stuffed back inside the wardrobe. Dashing down the stairs and through the halls he skidded to a stop in front of the castleteria doors, rocking and bouncing back and forth waiting for the doors to open. A bell chimed, the doors opened and Tommy ran up to get his breakfast.

The lunch lady gave him a stack of pancakes with a side of eggs and sausage, he ran off with his tray and sped towards a lone table tucked in a corner. Despite running here full of energy he ate surprisingly slow, Clementine stuffed her face into her berry pile next to him. Students soon flooded into the castleteria including Tubbo and their new roommate, they walked up the stairs to his table and sat down with him.

“Hey Tommy!” Tubbo set down his tray and immediately started eating.

“Hi Tubbo,” Tommy looked up from his food and started at Ranboo, “…Hi Ranboo…”

“Hi.” The boy replied awkwardly, he didn’t seem like he wanted to make any conversation but Tommy didn’t want to talk to him anyway.

Clementine stopped her feasting and hissed in at Ranboo, running onto Tommy’s back and peaking at the stranger over his shoulder. Or maybe it was the gross looking fish soup she was eyeing, Ranboo slid the small bowl over as an offering and Clementine jumped for it, adding it to her stash. Tommy made a funny look at the soup before he went back to his own breakfast.

“ATTENTION STUDENTS!” The castleteria fell silent as everyone turned to look at Headmaster Grimm standing on the balcony, “As Legacy Day is coming very soon, today we’ll be practicing for it! During one of your classes you’ll be led out to practice pledging to follow your destiny and signing the Storybook of Legends! Thank you for your time, please continue your breakfast.”

—

Tommy walked out with the rest of the class to the stage, the place was white and regal, two large staircases either side of the stage and a pedestal at the front. They all lined up in alphabetical order of their last name and took turns practicing.

“Next!” Grimm called Ranboo up. Tommy watched him take the key and walk up to the pedestal.

“Uhm. I, Ranboo Queen, pledge to follow my destiny to be the next Evil… Queen? King?” Ranboo turned to look at Grimm, “Did I do that right?”

“It’s uh, it’ll do.” Grimm replied, taking back the key.

Tommy zoned out for a bit — That was Ranboo Queen? That’s the guy that was gonna poison him? He’d heard lots of mean things about how his destiny goes. He stared at the ground reconsidering how he felt about this guy.

“Next!” Grimm yelled, Tommy looked up and realized he was calling him up. He walked up to him and silently took the key.

“I! Uhm..” Tommy turned around to Grimm, “I have a question?”

“Yes?” Grimm sighed.

“It’s just, what if I don’t want to follow my destiny? Like, what if I want to do my own thing?” Everyone gasped loudly, Grimm looked shocked and angry, he strode over to him and Tommy backed up against the pedestal.

“Now listen here, if you don’t sign that book, your story will go poof. You will go poof.” Grimm stepped back and Tommy inhaled deeply only now realizing he’d been holding his breath, “Now I recommend we move on and continue.”

Tommy turned around and looked out on the crowd, everyone was staring at him judgingly, he looked down at the key in his hand. He threw it harshly onto the ground and started running as fast as he could from there, Clementine jumped off a chair she’d been watching from and scampered after him. Tommy grabbed his cloak from the dorm and ran into a place he knew no one would find him.

[megan-is-mia]

May I have Jade with number 12 off your new yandere prompt list? Thanks!

(No biggie it happens sometimes my dude) 12. “You do love me…right?” (Yandere! Jade Leech x Fem! S/o)

“Was my wish too ambitious? Was it too much to ask for a quiet life with someone who loved me?” (Y/n) thought to herself as she floated on her back in the early morning light. The hours right before sunrise and right after sunrise were her favorite parts of the day. They were the only time she had to herself anymore, her partner Jade preferred to sleep until the sun was completely above the horizon. She needed to make sure she was home before he awoke and already making breakfast lest he accuse her of sneaking off to have an affair with someone. (Y/n) had met Jade back when she had just reached the delicate age of fifteen and had been permitted by her parents to visit the beach to gather clams when the tide was low and fish for herring and anchovies while the tide was high. She spent many days contentedly foraging before she began to get the feeling that someone might be watching her. A few weeks of being watched passed by before she gathered the courage to confront her observer. Foolishly she’d called out for the person to reveal themselves to her and she’d met her stalker face to face. Jade had been so different when they’d first met. He’d acted so gentlemanly towards her that if she hadn’t been able to see his normal-looking clothes she might have guessed he was a fairytale prince out of a storybook. The boy had been so gracious to her, offering to help her fish and dig up clams so that it took half the time it took her to complete the job on her own. The only compensation he’d asked from her was that she spent the time she saved by receiving his help with him just talking and getting to know one another better. (Y/n) had no idea that her agreeing to such activity might be her undoing.

A few years passed by, (Y/n) finally reached the age where it was time for her to settle down and start a family with someone her parents approved of. She had considered asking Jade what he thought of her marriage prospects only to have him offer himself up as a possible candidate for her hand. The girl had turned him down without a second thought, he was her best friend! There was no way she could marry her best friend! Not to mention the boy didn’t exactly fit her mother and father’s ideal for what kind of man their daughter should be wedded to.

The lad was too spindly and lacked enough muscle for hard labor, he would not be able to provide for their child or any children. That was what the girl’s father said. The boy lacked knowledge in a proper trade, he would not be able to find a job to support their daughter or any grandbabies she brought into the world. That is what the young woman’s mother declared. (Y/n) hated to say it but she agreed with her parents’ assessment of Jade’s skill set as a potential husband. Despite this she did not wish for a rift to form between her and her beloved friend, so she continued to visit him each day. It was on the day she brought him the good news that she’d found a match that he struck. Jade grabbed (Y/n) by the wrist and dragged her into the ocean. Deeper and deeper they went until the girl’s feet could no longer touch the ground without her entire head being submerged and still, they went deeper. Eventually they’d gone far enough that the boy was almost completely submerged and the young woman finally put her foot down to end this nonsense. Wrenching her wrist from his grip she tried to swim back to shore only to be met with a nasty surprise as a thick thing wrapped around her body and dragged her under. She forced her eyes open despite how the salty water stung them, desperate to see what had pulled her between the water’s surface and discover if she could escape the thing’s clutches. That thing turned out to be Jade, who’s pale peach skin had turned a horrifying teal everywhere but his hands, chest, and face which instead had taken on an unnatural white tone. His ears had elongated into fins and when she looked down she saw a second pair of fins located on his forearms. When (Y/n) looked further down she saw that it was a tail that was wrapped around her keeping her captive. “I’m so sorry it had to end this way Minnow. I did want to continue playing human with you awhile longer but you forced my hand. I just can't have you running off and getting married to some land-dwelling halfwit when you clearly belong by my side living life to the fullest” Jade said with a reluctant smirk at (Y/n). “You just shut those pretty eyes for me okay? I promise i won't let you drown, i’m just taking you somewhere safe so we can live our lives in happy domestic bliss alright?” the boy went on pressing a kiss to the girl’s lips and transferring oxygen to keep her alive as she passed out from shock. The next time (Y/n) awoke she was curled up in an unfamiliar bed with Jade holding her close and looking as human as he ever had. However now she knew the truth and that changed everything. At first, she’d fought tooth and nail to escape, but it was no use. He was faster than her regardless if it was on land or in the water. Especially when it came to water, he seemed to delight in showing her just how powerless she was in the water even if he didn’t shift into his eel-merman form. Yes that was right, she was now the partner to an eel-merman. A fact she’d never be allowed to forget.

These thoughts swirled around (Y/n)’s head as she continued to float in the water and she lost track of time. Jade awoke to an empty bed and started thinking the worst until he saw his sweet Minnow enjoying gentle ocean waves outside. Creeping into the water he changed shape and swam beneath the girl before grabbing her ankle to drag her under playfully. He enjoyed how she fought to keep her head above the water and let her flounder and struggle for air for a few moments more before he surfaced with her held in his arms like a newborn baby.

“Minnow… You do love me…right?” Jade said softly as (Y/n) coughed violently and tried to clear her lungs of water before giving him an answer. He knew what the answer was for him, he loved his Minnow more than anything in this world. He’d planned on eating her when they’d first met but had grown quickly enamored after talking with her only a short while. He had wanted to marry her and make it official on land but alas things don't always go according to plan. The eel felt a kiss being pressed against his lips, breaking him from his musings and serving as an adequate answer to his question… at least for now… THE END

[lovely-necromancy]

A Cure for Insomnia CH 14

Somehow someway you had ended up spending the night in Toby's room. What had started out as sitting next to him turned into laying down next to him. And after a while of no talking or movement, just the steady sounds of breathing. You more or less closed you eyes for a minute.

Before you knew it you were waking up to sun in your face. And found a blanket haphazardly thrown onto you. Though honestly you probably just moved a lot in your sleep. A quick glance around the room tells you you're alone and by the looks of it have been for a little while now. Weirdly there doesn't seem to be a clock in the room and when you go to check your phone the battery is dead.

'Oh God what time is it?' you worry as you gather yourself to leave the room in search of a clock.

Even though you have the strongest suspicion that you're already late for work. Fuck Nate is gonna kill you. You hope you don't get fired for this. That doesn't really seem like the Cowell way but you really don't want to risk it. No where else in town would pay the bills plus give extra cash for doing jack shit.

Just as you closed the door behind you you see Toby and Connor walking up the corridor. Toby has two bowls in hand and his steps falter a bit when he sees you.

“Shit did I wake you up?”

You can see the veins in his arms as he tenses, poor guy must have a tic coming on. You hold your hands out to give him the option of handing them over so he can relax. With no hesitation on his end he does just that.

“No? I don't think so, I just woke up. What time is it?”

Toby's hands jolt in place. A large tremor of movement, thankfully you took the bowls from him so he wouldn't have splashed...cereal? Your confusion must have shown because you get a nervous laugh in response.

“It's like eight twenty or something.” seeing you visibly deflate he adds, “Barry told me to tell you you're excused from work today.” He took a bowl back from you and placed a hand at the small of your back to push you back towards his room. Apparently done with having a conversation in the hallway and letting your breakfast get soggy.

“Barclay.” you remind him, your efforts award you a shrug, “and are you serious? Because making me late for work wouldn't be very funny.”

He plops on his bed and a bit of milk sloshes out of the bowl dropping on to the sheets. In the back of your mind you think about how Barclay more than likely is going to ban Toby from the lodge for anything other than an emergency. At least if he ruins the bed by dropping food all over it...actually you're pretty sure Jake's mentioned there being a rule about eating in the rooms.

“I'm serious, you can go ask him yourself.” his face flushes as he shovels a spoonful of Captain Crunch into his mouth, “twey shed somfingu bot ah ahpawawgee for da kid”

You give Toby a sneer as you process what he just said. Even normally your brain didn't always process what was said to you properly and Toby speaking with a full mouth certainly didn't help in any case. But you can kind of gleam a bit more context from his red cheeks that your spontaneous three day weekend is thanks in part to Jo hanging out with you yesterday.

Really you didn't mind that she hung out with you. But you would accept the apologetic day off for her attempting to give you a love life. You aren't one of her gossip stories nor do you wish to be.

“First, gross dude. Second, I'll take it.”

He snorts, “Watching me chew through the hole in my face is ne-neat but me talking with my mouth full is where you draw the line?”

“Honestly I never even thought of that.”

You can't help but let out a chuckle at how dumb that must have made you look. Geez you were such a dork sometimes. On the other hand it seems like that must have been the funniest thing Toby's heard in a while as he roars with laughter. Soon your chuckles turn into full blown laughter from Toby's contagious mirth.

“I'll get out of your hair after I finish eating.” you finally say when the two of you calm.

“...you don't have to do that. I-i thought we cou-cou-could hang out?” he says sheepishly.

Toby tends to stutter when he's nervous you notice. Maybe this was to be expected you kind of did solidify that you both wanted to be friends. Of course that would mean opening up to hanging out together on purpose more often.

“I'd like that! Did you have something in mind?”

The room goes quite, well more accurately Toby goes quite as you finish your cereal. Looks like someone hadn't thought this far ahead. At least you aren't the only dork in this room or this friendship for that matter.

Toby's dark eyes scan around the room, not really looking for something while he thinks of something you could do today. Instead of just staring at him like a creep you turn your attention to the rottweiler looking at you with hopeful eyes. Connor's eyes briefly moving towards your bowl where a tiny bit of milk sits and then back at your face. Licking his chops as he looks you dead in the eyes.

Having a pretty good idea of what he wants you look for Toby's bowl. If it was on the ground that'd be a good indication that Connor's allowed a bit of cereal milk if it was on the bed well then you'd still have your answer.  And sure enough right next to Connor's butt is an empty bowl.

Yup, Barclay is so gonna ban Toby from the lodge.

Throwing out any thoughts of the lecture you'd get if Barclay were to find out you let a dog eat from his bowls you place the bowl in front of Connor. Who sits in his position and won't stop making eye contact with the bowl. Tail going a mile a minute as he stares at his prize in anticipation. God he really is the best boy in the whole world.

“Thank you Connor.” you whisper to the dog before he attacks the bowl.

As the pup rips into the left over cereal milk, which wasn't even that much, you can't keep yourself from flapping your hands right by your chest. The fast movement seems to catch Toby's attention and brings him out of wracking his brain for ideas. Giving you a moment to just enjoy the happy stim he just watches. It isn't until Connor has bounded over to you letting you pet him as a 'thank you' for giving him a treat, that Toby speaks up.

“Is there...what's there to do here?”

Looking at Toby as you shake Connor's ears around, you don't immediately say anything. Honestly thinking of just what the two of you could do in this small town. Something that wouldn't prove to be too distracting and maybe give the two of you a chance to get to know each other better. Something without too many interruptions or things to get you off topic.

“Wanna go get a slushy?”

Toby's brown eyes cut as he stares at you unimpressed.

“I kno-rrow that we're in a small town but, 's not that small.”

“Oh no it's actually smaller.”

He rolls his eyes with a huff ready to bite in with a snarky remark no doubt until he catches your eyes and the serious expression. He stares at you, eyes darting across your face looking for a sign that you're joking.

Thankfully you aren't one to leave a friend in the dark.

“Tobias, the gas station Tim works at is the only one for this town.”

“That can't be right, it's not even in town. What about...” once again Toby's eyes shift as he tries to think of any other gas stations within Kepler.

When he comes to the conclusion that you are indeed not fucking with him and Kepler does just have the one gas station his shoulders slump. Almost like he's in shock that he hadn't caught that sooner. You can feel the tinkling sensation of a tic coming up, at the base of your neck. Timing it mentally as you watch Toby go through the stages of grief you miscalculate and ruin your tic.

Head jolting into your right shoulder rather than jerking above it. Letting out a small “fuck” at the fact that you're about to be in an uncomfortable sensation, not totally unlike when you chase off a sneeze but still do need to sneeze. You feel the tic at the back of your head but know it won't be going away anytime soon and all thanks to your hubris.

Looking back at Toby you find he's moved on from the single gas station fact and is looking at you mildly amused. Briefly you wonder if he's ever chased off a tic and felt the uncomfortable sensation you're now dealing with. That leads you to ponder if he's ever even felt the anticipation of nerves before a coming tic. It's not really a painful sensation but discomfort sometimes goes in hand with pain so maybe CIPA affects that feeling too. You'll have to ask, but first you have to shut his stupid face up.

“Shut it.”

“Didn't say anything.” he smirks.

His smiles are really growing on you. They feel special and very genuine despite the awkward nature of his facial movements.

“Hey wait, the mini mart doesn't even have a slushy machine.” he says as the realization finally sets in.

“Yea we have to drive to another town for one. So far Franklin has the best slushies but it's like two hours away.”

You lean your weight back onto your hands watching as Toby's wide eyes stare at you in disbelief. Actually in this light you really can't tell if Toby's eyes are blown wide or in their normal state. Judging from the way his lips curl over his teeth you figure they must be as he stares stunned by something you've said.

“Do you seriously drive two hours for a slushy?” the disbelief in his voice is thick, but not thick enough to cover the thinnest hint of amusement. Maybe even pity.

“Not all the time, sometimes its only like thirty. One night I actually drove five hours without realizing it...though to be fair I did get lost.”

Lost in your thoughts on that particular night some how you'd ended up in Point Pleasant. Instead of a slushy you'd gotten a Mothman themed iced coffee. A nice trip over all but one you didn't want to go on at the moment.

Coming back to the present in time to catch Toby flopping back on the mattress his curls bouncing up over his face as he did so. He let's out an exaggerated groan.

“Still, Brian's got the car today.”

Pfft that's not an issue.

“I have a car.” you say plainly.

That must not be the issue because Toby raises himself onto his elbows to look at your lax form on the carpet. Leaning back on your hands with Connor splayed across your lap looking ready for a nap. Toby opens his mouth to say something before shutting it and looking off to the side. He seems to collect himself quickly but not enough to look at you.

“Uh..I, that's not really the...” well maybe he hadn't collected himself that much.

Brow furrowing as you squint at the man before you. The two of you don't know a lot about each other but from what you've noticed Toby has some hang ups about drivers and driving. Although he's let you drive him home once that doesn't mean he was comfortable with it or wanted a repeat performance. And while you don't consider yourself a bad driver you'll spare Toby the difficulty of admitting he isn't comfortable with you driving.

“You can drive.” dark brown eyes are on you the instant the words spill from your lips, “You've driven my car before. Plus I don't mind I like not driving.”

His eyes dart from you to Connor and back up into your face. Even though they're darting slightly you know he isn't such evaluating your expression. He's thinking and weighing his options.

“You sure?”

And with no hesitation at all, “Absolutely, you've driven it before.”

Though he hadn't been thinking of that particular issue with being given the choice of driving your car. It did bring up another insecurity before hastily stomping it into the ground. He has driven your car, albeit once, before and you are giving him explicit consent to drive it again. Regardless of his tourette's, Toby honestly can't believe you have such blind faith in a person you've just befriended. Then again that's friendship isn't it.

“Ok then...let's go?”

After a nod from you Toby grabs Connor's gear to get him ready for the drive. Meanwhile you take the dishes back downstairs to the kitchen, letting Toby know you'd meet him by the door. Unsurprisingly Barclay is in the kitchen when you get down there to place the bowls into the sink.

Seeing as it's just the bowls and spoons in the sink you decide you can wash them before placing them in the sanitizer rack.

“Mornin'.”

“Good morning.”

“Basket's on the table.”

“Thanks.”

A quiet settles over you two and you can feel Barclay's brown eyes trail towards your form every few seconds. Finishing the dishes you turn, leaning your butt onto the counter, to face the lumbering man.

“Can I help you?” you raise a brow at him. Clearly he had something more he wanted to say.

“I, I just thought we were closer than that.” he sighs.

Okay what now? Your confusion goes ignored as he continues to speak.

“Seriously YN, you didn't need to sneak away last night if you wanted to spend the night here, and with your boyfriend. I wouldn't have judged.”

“My who? Tobais? He's a friend!” you whisper scream in case Toby is near by. God could at least save one of you this embarrassment.

“Really YN? From the things I'm hearin' you two are a bit more than friends.”

“Ok seriously where are you getting your info from? We haven't done anything. Like just YESTERDAY we agreed we were friends. We've known each other maybe a month?!”

“See that's why this is confusing, you don't touch just anyone. And suddenly you're handsy with some new kid.” Barclay had the decency to start whisper screaming with you. He's gesturing vaguely towards the rest of the lodge before bringing his hands before him and flailing them away. As if to say 'what am I supposed to do with this now?'

“He's neurodivergent!” you say bringing your palms up in front of you.

“So are Jake and Aubrey.”

“And I high five Jake so much.” throwing your arms outward to indicate how much you two high five. “Plus he gets a hug nearly every time I see him.” hands brought back to emphasis this point.

Barclay thinks on that for a bit, “Point taken,” he stands from his hunched position and crosses his arms over his chest, “so y'all aren't dating? Nothin' happened last night?”

“No and no.”

“Don't have to deep clean the sheets today.”

“Gross and no.” best keep the milk droplets out of this, you'd really like to leave the kitchen sooner rather than later. Preferably with no lecture about hygiene and the importance of respecting other's property.

Barclay looks down at you scanning your face for something you aren't quite sure of. But you have a feeling he's treating you like a child for a very specific reason.

“I'm not a virgin.” you deadpan as the man before starts to sputter.

His eyes wide with disbelief. So he really thought you were a virgin this whole time? You wonder who else thought this, you hoped they wouldn't try to confront you about your nonexistent relationship.

You'll just never understand why people assume you're a virgin and why they try their hardest to butt into your life when they think that way. This topic tends to put you in a sour mood and you can already feel it on your face. It's disgusting how people can't mind their business about baseless assumptions.

“Jeez sorry YN,” he does look it as he rubs the back of his neck, “it's just you've never shown an interest and I guess we all got swept up in the possibility of seeing you happy.”

“I am happy?”

“I mean in a relationship, happy in a romantic relationship.” He claps his hands gently on your shoulders. A touch you've gotten used too, had you not wanted it you would've taken a step back.

“Kirby's not in a relationship.” you point out.

“Kirby's gross, and you're adorable.” he chuckles at your glare, “a-dor-a-ble.”

“I will bite you.” he lets go of you with a laugh.

“We're just...trying to keep you safe.” he sighs, and though you don't understand what any of their weirdness has to do with “keeping you safe” you nod. Just to get this over with faster.

“Can I leave now? Tobais and I were gonna get slushies.” he didn't need to know your plans but you didn't want him assuming you two were sneaking off for a date.

“Yea yea, sorry for keeping you.” he leans against the counter as you grab your basket and head out of the kitchen and towards the main door.

Toby and Connor were already waiting for you. If the swaying of his weight was anything to go by they'd been waiting for you for a bit. Seeing you coming his subconscious movement stops and he opens the door. Keeping it open for you.  You lead him over to your Soul as you look through the basket for the keys.

“Keys?” he questions as you pat your pockets.

Toby stops walking with you as you begin to panic. You've lost your keys. Before you voice that though you look through the basket once more, placing it on the hood of your car so you can use both hands to check. His eyes follow you and are caught by a gentle swaying.

“You are a serial killer's wet dream.”

He opens your passenger side door and comes out holding your keys that had been in the ignition. If the blank look he gives you is anything to go by he's not impressed.

“I,I,I was in a hurry!” you say flustered that you did something so stupid. His expression doesn't change.

“Could you pop the trunk please?” you ask not looking in his direction.

The click of the lock is all you need to hear before you rush around him to place the basket in the back. As you do you catch sight of the deer skull still in your trunk. With everything going on you hadn't been to see Madeleine for a mount for the guy. You'll have to remember to stop by her shop this week.

Toby had already gotten Connor situated in the back by the time you sat down in the passengers seat. After buckling in and plugging your phone in to charge you stare ahead of you waiting for Toby to start driving. When you look over at him you see he's staring right back at you with a brow raised.

“Yes?”

“Where are we going?”

Yes the key detail of any road trip, the driver needs to know the destination. Unfortunately for you and Toby you've forgotten to tell him one crucial detail. You drive with no sense of direction. And you relay this to Toby. He looks seconds away from getting out of the car and claiming he's never seen you before much less ever been friends with you.

He takes a deep breath and collects himself.

“Y'know what Brian's worse with directions.” he says more to himself than to you.

He calmly puts the car in gear and heads off to town. No input from Connor, you may have chosen a really good day for this drive. Your phone hits one percent as you pass Resort Row. You know the Hornet's Nest is coming up and that intersection leads to the interstate despite not having legible signs.

“Hey when you get to the Hornet's Nest swing right then drive straight, we'll end up on route 3 onto the interstate.”

“Hornets' nest?”

“It's a skate/stunt park. You'll see it after we get away from the mountain.”

Just as you said Toby saw the Hornet's Nest as he turned onto the road leaving the mountain. By the time you were on route 3 your phone had charged up to seven percent. Enough to turn it on and put on a playlist. You put on one of your sea shanty and folk punk combos.

Toby hasn't even let the song get thirty seconds under way. “No vetoed, we are not listening to sea shanties.”

So he does have music preferences, fair enough. You switch to a playlist with a more chilled electric vibe that has a few oldies tossed into the mix. Toby hasn't heard this playlist before and you are determined to learn his music tastes today.

“Wait wait wait, so you'll listen to folk punk but not sea shanties?”

“How are those even related?”

“They are literally the same thing.”

The two of you continue to bicker back and forth about how similar, or different, shanties and folk punk are. Occasionally it's broken when you read a sign, noticing Toby's horrible squinting, to see if you're on the right route to...well you don't know the destination Toby's been ignoring most of the exits for the past forty minutes though you're sure you two could find a gas station with a slushy machine at any one of the surrounding towns.

You don't mind though you're really enjoying the ride. The soft sounds of the car cutting through the wind at seventy three miles an hour. And the dull hum from the engine falling into the background as They Might Be Giants plays softly through the radio. With a majority of his focus being directed to the road  and the handful of other cars around you, your conversation is limited to topics that don't require much thinking. Really you've just ended up playing twenty questions with the other pulling uno reverse.

Not life altering secrets or deep talks...well until the question was favorite romantic comedy.

“How is Venom a romantic comedy?” Toby laughs after you answer.

“They kiss!” Toby just snorts.

“No Venom in Anne's body kisses Eddie.”

“Yes Venom kissed Eddie. Romance.”

You hear the murmur of 'oh my fucking God' come from Toby as you giggle in your seat. Having been egged on by that simple phrase you continue.

“Eddie is always giving Venom chocolates.”

“Oh yes, sorry, that's very romance.” Toby laughs out rolling his eyes.

“Thank you, I'm glad I could enlighten...” you pause as a sign for the next exit catches your eye. Had you two already driven two hours? Time really does fly when you're having fun. “Hey next exit, Franklin.”

“Thanks got it.” this time he turns on the blinker to get over into the exiting lane.

“What gas station am I looking for?” smart man. He's stopped asking for specific directions and is now asking for a land marker.

“Giant baby.” the car comes to a stop at a red light and Toby takes his eyes off the road to face you.

“...is this...will I just know when I see it.” “When you see it” you say the last part in unison with him nodding solemnly.

To his credit Toby has gone a long way with your weird antics, despite being your official friend for less than a full day. Keeping up with this pattern he doesn't ask anymore questions about this giant baby, keeping his eyes peeled for anything worthy of that title. His valent efforts are rewarded not even ten blocks from the turnpike.

“Is that...”

“Giant baby.” you nod knowing he sees the giant opposum decal in the window of the beat up gas station.

Opening your glove box you remove a spare mask for yourself before offering a sealed in package one for Toby. Who readily takes it after he parks your car in front of the store. Turning to look at you, you can read all the skepticism on his face. It's funny how this is where he questions you, your destination and not like the way over here-or the moment right after you told him you had no sense of direction.

“They have the four divide mega slush.”

“What the hell is that?”

With a coy smile you put on your mask and exit the car waiting at the front for your friend to get his shit together. He doesn't take long to follow you, Connor's lead in hand, into the gas station.

For as dingy and beat up as it looks on the outside it isn't bad once you step inside. Might actually be cleaner than the mini mart in Kelper. Toby glances around taking a mental tally of all the patrons in the store and their positions. He does this a bit. Just hyper aware of everyone when in enclosed spaces.

Dragging him over to the slushy machine after acknowledging the cashier's greeting. Showing him the four divider mega slush cup you demonstrate how it works. Choosing the only three flavors you like and adding a random extra of the three into the forth slot.

The face he makes when you stick the straw in the middle is priceless.

Toby demonstrates how a slushy should be made. Grabbing the single cup and over filling it with cherry flavored ice. He doesn't pick up a straw and you two make your way to the counter.

Since Toby drove here you had no problem paying but he was quicker to get his wallet out and hand the cashier a ten for your slushies. They give him back his change and you two wind up back in the car, taking off your masks.

You take a long sip from you drink.

“I can't believe we drove for two hours for you to just wreck your taste buds.” a playful disdain in his voice.

“Not 'we', you.”

He cuts his eyes at you before shaking his slushy into his open mouth. Guess he couldn't use a straw when he was missing part of his cheek. No suction there.

“So?” you say adding the questioning lilt to your voice.

He shrugs, “It's good.”

“Worth the drive?” He shakes his head.

“Nah - drive made it worth it.”

[wicked-whump]

@febuwhump day 15 and 17: Hiding scars and self-inflicted wound

CW: Implied past trauma, implied past self-harm

-

This is the last thing Sebastian wants to be doing right now.

What he wants to be doing right now is wasting away in bed, struggling against nightmare riddled sleep to avoid facing reality. He wants to be anything except conscious.

Instead he’s standing on the beach, gritty sand in his shoes, sun beating down, and absolutely exhausted. He watches the festivities go on. Tables of food and drink are lined up near the entrance, and smaller booths of people hawking their wares line the boardwalk. Small games are being played by even smaller, shrieking children that dart around without a care in the world.

This is the last place he wants to be, but Emmett and Jess had been looking forward to this all summer, and he couldn’t bring himself to cancel on them, no matter how low he was feeling. It would mess up their day. If he was being honest, he was looking forward to it too, up until a couple weeks ago.

It has to be during the hottest part of the day though, doesn’t it? The sun is directly overhead, casting its rays over the yearly End of Summer festival and drenching him in sweat, even though he just got here. It doesn’t feel like the end of summer. He’s aware that wearing a black, long sleeved shirt only exacerbates the problem, but what else was he supposed to wear?

He’ll be fine though. It’s just for a few hours, then the sun will set and the fireworks will go off and he can get back to his apartment and start pretending he doesn’t exist again.

He just really hopes he doesn’t show up.

He shoves away the thoughts he’s definitely not thinking and scans the beach, searching for any familiar faces, when an arm is thrown around his shoulder that causes him to jump out of his skin.

“Hey, there you are! Been looking for you!” Emmett says, a bit too loudly. Sebastian ducks out from under his arm and steps back in surprise, suddenly immensely uncomfortable.

“Hey, you alright?” Jess asks, tailing Emmett.

“Yea I’m fine, just scared me.” He attempts to laugh it off, hoping it’s convincing. If it’s not, they don’t say anything.

“You sure you wanna be wearing that?” Emmett gestures to his shirt, which is definitely not what a sane person would wear to the beach. “You’re gonna overheat.”

“I can handle it.” He projects with a sense of joking confidence, as though this were a fun challenge he’s decided to undertake. “Where to first? I’ll follow you guys.” He changes the subject, not subtly, but it works.

“I haven’t eaten anything since breakfast, so I cast my vote to the food.” Jess doesn’t wait for an answer and starts walking towards the tables, and Emmett chases after, leaving Sebastian to trail behind.

“Are you not gonna get anything?” Emmett turns to Sebastian.

“I ate before I got here.” This is a lie, he hasn’t eaten since breakfast either, but he’s just not feeling hungry.

“Man, how could you do that? Ruin your appetite and miss out on this?” Jess jokingly complains.

“One of my many mistakes.” He needs to put more effort into appearing happy to be here.

They find a spot to sit down at and pass the time talking about the previous End of Summer celebration, how there were fewer people, fewer games, fewer vendors… Sebastian zones out during a lot of it. He forces himself to steal a few chips off their plates though, to prove he’s fine. Plus, he should probably eat something.

Looking around, he realizes he sticks out like a sore thumb. Or at least, he feels like he does. While everyone else is sporting swimsuits and short sleeves in bright patterns, he’s covered in black head to toe.

He knows nobody is looking at him. He knows this. But it still feels like all eyes are on him, like everyone knows exactly what happened and they’re judging him for it, mentally casting stones in his direction.

He shakes it off, he’s not thinking about it, self-consciously pulls his sleeves down, and tries to focus on being here, with his friends.

“Dude, you look like you’re about to pass out.” Emmett comments. “Seriously, take that off, before you collapse.” He reaches out and tugs at the neckline of Sebastian’s shirt.

He jerks away. “No, I’m good.” Any other day he might have considered it, but not today. Not with what’s underneath.

“Emmett’s right, you might hurt yourself.”

Already have, Sebastian thinks bitterly.

“I’m fine, seriously.”

Jess sighs. “I’m getting you some water.”

Without waiting for a reply Jess stands and walks away, leaving Sebastian and Emmett to themselves.

Emmett waits for Jess to be out of earshot before speaking. “Seb, are you okay, really?”

“Yea, I’m fine.” How many times is he going to repeat that today?

“You know you can talk to us, right?”

“I know.” He can’t though, can he? He could talk to them about anything else, but not this. Never this. How was he supposed to even start? Would they even believe him? What would they do? What would they say? It doesn’t matter because he’s not thinking about it.

Emmett nods once, “Okay.” Mercifully, he doesn’t press any more.

Sebastian resists the urge to pull his sleeves down again. They sit in uncomfortable silence for a minute before Jess comes back, tossing a bottle of water at Sebastian. He almost fumbles it, but catches it at the last moment.

“Heads up,” Jess says, far too late.

“Yea, thanks,” Sebastian rolls his eyes, but accepts the water, downing half the bottle in one go.

They spend some time walking around, playing ring toss and balloon darts and losing money with only a dinky frog keychain to show for it, which Sebastian gifts to Jess for her amphibian collection. After a while of meandering around, Emmett calls out.

“Sebastian! What is this thing?”

“What’s what thing?” He approaches where Emmett is crouched near the water, waves breaking around their feet.

“This.” Emmett points to a weird, six legged insect with a sandy colored body, nearly blending into its surroundings.

“That is a bug.”

“Yea no shit, what’s it called?”

Sebastian makes an I dunno noise. “I don’t know the name of every bug to grace this earth.”

“But you’re the bug guy, not even the local ones? I’m gonna have to start testing you.”

“I’ll be sure to study.”

Just as Sebastian is about to stand up, there’s a blue of movement to the left and a shrieking child crashes into him. He gasps in surprise as he’s knocked into the water. The kid at least has the courtesy to shout “Sorry!” Before racing away.

He hisses as the water soaks through his sleeves, hurriedly standing up and shaking himself out, brushing the sand off his clothes.

“Shit, you alright?” Emmett asks.

“Yea, yea,” he quickly replies, trying and failing not to cringe a little at the saltwater in the wounds. “Just a little water.”

He doesn’t miss the look Emmett and Jess exchange over his shoulder. He ignores it though, and tries to laugh the whole thing off. “Didn’t plan on going swimming today but, uh…” he trails off.

“Just couldn’t resist?” Emmett offers.

“Yep.”

“Kids,” Jess says, shaking her head. “Hey it’s getting late, we should find a spot for fireworks.” She pats Sebastian’s shoulder, causing him to jump.

The beach has filled up since they got here, most people coming just for the display. By the time they find a clear area to sit down in, the sky has already faded from orange and yellow to a deep blue, and color begins splashing across it with various pops and bangs. The temperature has dropped drastically, creating a chill that’s a welcome change from the heat.

“C’mere,” Jess pats her lap and though it makes Sebastian’s skin crawl, he winds up sitting between her legs and leaning against her chest. He can’t find a good reason to decline, and they already know something’s up. He can’t give them any more reason to suspect. Emmett lays across their legs, staring into the sky, and there’s a lull in the conversation. Sebastian’s mind begins to wander.

He hasn’t seen him all day. He’s a thousand times grateful for that, he’s not sure he would be able to hold it together if he’d shown up. Hell, he’s barely holding it together now.

Stop it. He pushes the thoughts away and tries to think about something else, to focus on the bursts of color in the sky. It works, for a bit. A few minutes pass before he realizes he’s been thinking about nothing at all. But it doesn’t last.

He’s not sure how he survived it. How he’s still surviving it, he supposes. What little sleep he’s been getting has been restless and filled with nightmares, with his face and his voice and his hands and–

“Seb are you okay?”

He realizes he’s shaking. Not much, but enough.

“Yea, just a little cold.” He shifts and hugs his shirt tighter.

That’s the fourth time he’s been asked that today. He’s really bad at this. He’s always been bad at pretending like nothing is wrong. It’s important now more than ever that he gets good at it.

But why is he so afraid of them finding out? They’re not the rest of the town, they wouldn’t ostracize him. He doesn’t want them treating him like he’s glass, though. That’s what would happen. They’d start walking on eggshells around him, choosing every word carefully as though the wrong ones would shatter him immediately.

Maybe they’d be right, though. He can’t bear to even think about it and when he does he gets all shaky. Not to mention the hours he’s spent trying to sleep instead of cry, and failing half the time. They’d find out eventually though, somehow. He’d let something slip and they’d figure it out, and then what?

…Nothing. He knows nothing would significantly change. He knows he should talk about it. He knows they’re the only ones he could talk to about it. But he’s pretty sure he’d rather die before doing that.

It doesn’t matter, he couldn’t tell them even if he wanted to. He’s too emotionally stunted for that. And he doesn’t want to. So he won’t.

[wiypt-writes]

What The Stark Spangled F**k?

A Stark Spangled Forever One Shot: Capsicle

Summary- Rori and Jamie spark some memories of Tony, and Rori plays her dad, well and truly!

Warnings- Some language words!

Disclaimer: This is a pure work of fiction and classified as 18+. Please respect this and do not read if you are underage. I do not own any characters in this series bar Katie Stark and the other OCs. By reading beyond this point you understand and accept the terms of this disclaimer.

Stark Spangled Forever Masterlist // Main Masterlist

“Honey!” Steve called, shutting the door behind him. “I’m home!”

He tossed his keys into the dish on the sideboard in the hallway, smiling at the photo of Lucky that sat just behind it with their old dog’s collar looped over the frame. Kicking off his shoes he stowed them in the rack before he shrugged off his jacket. It wasn’t often he wore a suit to work but there’d been a faculty meeting today with a few of the Deans present so he’d thought it was appropriate. Katie had approved a great deal that morning too…

Speaking of which…

“Doll?” he called again as he headed towards the bottom of the stairs, dropping his jacket over the bannister.

“Hey Soldier!” she called back, “I’m just changing Harry…he decided to tip the entire contents of his dinner down him. Guess he doesn’t like sweet potato…”

“Don’t blame him.” Steve yelled back “It’s disgusting.”

“Oh hush…” she shouted back, as he gave a chuckle.

“DADDDYYYYY!” he heard a familiar call and a door flew open upstairs, Rori bounding down the steps to greet him already dressed in her pyjamas as it was almost 7.

“Hey Princess!” he smiled, catching her as she threw herself at him from 5 steps up. “Did you have a good day.”

“Yeah!” she grinned “We learnded about numbers and I did the alphabet, although one of the other girls was mean to me.”

“Mean to you?” Steve looked at her “How?”

“She said nasty things.” Rori looked down, fiddling with his tie.

“Oh baby…” he said, kissing her head. “Wanna tell me about it?”

“Can I have a Capsicle? I ate all my dinner…”

Steve sighed, “You mean posicle?”

“Emmy says they’re capsicles…” she shrugged.

Thanks Tony for that one…

Steve looked at Rori  for a moment as she turned her big green eyes on him and he gave another sigh and nodded.

“Whatever, sure, come on…”

Shifting so she was on his hip, he continued his way down the hall and popped his head into the den where Jamie and his friend Sebastian were sprawled on the sofa, playing a computer game. Stark was led at Jamie’s feet chewing some kind of squeaky toy, his bushy tail thumped lazily as he glanced up at Steve before resuming his eager chomping.

“Hey fellas.” he smiled.

“Hi Mr Rogers.” Sebastian looked at him smiling.

“Hey dad.” Jamie muttered, eyes not moving from the game.

“Just gonna get Rori a popsicle, you want one?”

“No thanks, mom said when you were home we could get pizza as it’s Friday and Seb is sleeping over…” Jamie said, before he yelled “Dude, you let him get away…”

“Sorry Jay…” Seb replied, his tongue poking out from his mouth as he tapped at the controller.

Steve watched the two 9 year olds for a second before his attention turned to the TV.

“What are you playing?” Steve frowned, watching as something exploded on the screen.

“Avengers Alien Invasion…” Jamie said, before he paused the game and looked up at his dad, grinning “Bet it’s not as fun as when it actually happened for real in New York…”

“Fun isn’t’ exactly the word I would…” Steve trailed off “Hang on, did you say Avengers…”

“Yeah!” Sebastian nodded, “It’s a computer game from like years ago. We found it in my brother’s room. Mrs Rogers said it would be ok…”

“So, like, it has the Avengers Characters in it?”

“Yup.” Jamie nodded.

Steve frowned further, before he grinned and looked at his son. “So which one are you?”

“Iron Man.” Jamie shot back

“Seriously?” Steve looked at him, his voice indignant.

“No offence, but in the game Uncle Nee’s powers are awesome.”

“I’m Captain America Mr Rogers….” Sebastian smiled at him “After Tony you have the most power.”

Steve stood there for a moment before he scoffed and shook his head “Whatever…”

He turned to leave the room, closing the door behind him as the sounds from the TV started again. Trying not to feel too offended at the fact his own son had chosen Tony over him on a damned computer game, he headed into the kitchen setting Rori down on the counter.

He opened the freezer, dug out a blue popsicle for her (her favoured colour, unlike her traitorous older brother) and handed it to her.

“So, wanna tell me what happened?” he asked, leaning on the breakfast bar, looking at her as she sat perched by the refrigerator opposite him.

“So we were doing the alphabet and some words…and I knew them all. But I was good daddy, I put my hand up and I didn’t shout out…but Ariana called me a smart ass…”

She’s not wrong. Steve bit back the retort as he looked at his daughter’s indignant face, trying hard not to laugh at her expression. “Well that’s not very nice.”

“No, I told her that.”

“I’m sure you did.” Steve continued to hold his face straight.

“I told her she shouldn’t say mean things to people as it can make them cry.”

“Did you cry?”

“No.” Rori said, sucking her popsicle. “I called her an idiot instead.”

“Well you kinda lost the moral high ground there.” Steve chuckled as Rori cocked her head.

“What’s a moral high ground?”

“Nothing, doesn’t matter.” He said, straightening up as Katie walked into the room, a clean Harry on her hips.

“Hey…” Steve smiled as he gave her a kiss “Hey buddy!”

Harry grinned and held his arms out so Steve could take him. He kissed his cheek before he looked at Katie “How you feeling?”

She dropped her hands to her bump and sighed “Tired…”

Steve gave her a sympathetic smile, at almost 20 weeks now this pregnancy was taking its toll a lot more than the other 3 had. And he knew she was trying to be brave about it, despite how exhausted and worried she was about it all.

“Oh Steve!” she let out an exasperated sigh and he looked at her, frowning, before he followed her gaze to where Rori was sat eating her popsicle.

“What?” he frowned.

“I told her she wasn’t allowed one as she hadn’t eaten her dinner!”

Steve looked at Katie, then to Rori who looked at him innocently.

“Seriously?”

Rori shrugged, absolutely no fucks given that she’d just been completely busted after telling a big, fat lie to her dad.

“Aurora!” Steve said, sternly “I don’t like being lied to, you know that!”

She turned her eyes to his and looked at him “Sorry.”

“No you’re not.” Katie narrowed her eyes at her. She walked to remove the popsicle from her and Rori yelled, jerking her hand away.

“It’s mine.”

“I don’t care!” Katie said sternly. “You do not tell lies, and you do not go behind my back to your dad.”

Rori glared at her, before she held her hand out sighing as Katie took the item off her.  Rori rolled her eyes and before Steve or Katie could stop her she hopped off the counter, the part of her that was half super-soldier making it easy as she landed with a thud on her feet.

“Go upstairs and clean your hands.” Katie looked at her. Rori’s hand fell to her hips, mimicking her mother’s stance and Steve hastily looked away, to avoid laughing at the look on her face. She was so like Katie it was untrue and for the third time in ten minutes Steve found himself thinking about his late brother-in-law, wondering how on EARTH Tony dealt with Katie when she was growing up.

“Whatever.” Rori said, and she turned with a flounce and left the room.

“Honey, I didn’t know.” Steve began to protest his innocence as Katie rolled her eyes, picking up the popsicle which had started to melt down her wrist.

“You’re such a sucker where she’s concerned, Steven.” she said, her voice was stern but her eyes told him a different story as they shone with good humour.

“Only because she’s so much like her momma.” Steve winked. “I believe I’m also a sucker where you’re concerned.”

Katie snorted before she glanced at the popsicle in her hand and shoved it in her mouth, eyeing Steve as she did so.

“Pretty sure it’s me who does the sucking Soldier.” she said, her mouth making a popping noise as she pulled the ice lolly from her mouth.

At her actions Steve felt a familiar stirring in his pants.

“Behave.” He narrowed his eyes at her, as she grinned and shrugged, before she too flounced from the room calling to the boys in the den about ordering pizza.

“Women.” Harry mumbled to his father, in a tone that sounded ridiculously like Bucky leaving Steve in absolutely no doubt where he had learned it from. Steve looked at him, before giving a snort.

“You’re not wrong pal,” he chuckled, “you’re not wrong…”

 **Original Posting**

[beetlegoose01]

Frostbite Chapter 5- Toxic

AN: Happy Friday y’all! Here’s a longer chapter to celebrate! It’s a little intense, but I hope you enjoy.

~~~

Morning came sooner than any of the turtles anticipated, but especially to Donnie who was running on three hours of sleep. He counted on snoozing for another twenty minutes before training, but luck wasn't on his side. Even before his own carefully crafted alarm clock robot beeped, a loud voice woke him.

"Donnie!" came Michaelangelo bounding in with the energy of a golden retriever puppy. He bounced on the crooked bed with a loud creak of movement.

He groaned, still half asleep and bleary. "I'm sleeping, Mikey."

His baby blue eyes sparkled with mischief, prepared to annoy his older brother with his charming, but obnoxious grin. "No you're not. If you were asleep, how could you be talking to me?" He poked Donnie's head playfully. "Duh. I missed you, bro." He lay flat on his back, taking up most of the space and nearly smacking Don in the face. "It was like peanut butter without the jelly. Batman without Robin. Raph without Chompy! Elphaba without Gali-"

Rolling over, Donnie sat up begrudgingly. "I get the point. But you saw me last night." He stated obviously. "Remember?"

He scrunched his nose thoughtfully. "That was forever ago! And you were all cooped up in your lab for most of the time. We never hang anymore. Like, doing fun stuff."

"I guess you're right about that." He shrugged. "Sorry, I promise we'll hang out again sometime. Maybe tonight?"

"Dude, that's gregarious!" He looked immensely proud that he used a big word, even if it was used incorrectly.

"Uh...close."

"We can have pizza, play video games, ooh! Have a monster movie marathon!" He exclaimed, listing each activity on his stubby fingers. 

"That sounds great."

"Come on bro, I'm making everyone breakfast! So you better hurry before Raph hogs it all." Mikey leapt off the bed, springing into action. Most likely the kitchen. 

It took a good five minutes for Donatello to physically move out of bed. He wasn't one for sleeping in, but he was never opposed to it either. Whereas Leo was always awake in the early morning and Mikey was chipper no matter what. And Raph...well, Raph was Raph.

The kitchen was bustling with energy, at least from Mikey's angle. He was cheerfully serving up omelettes on plates, carrying the ones he couldn't hold on top of his head with the balance of a ninja. Mikey had a talent for making even the fouled stench of the sewers comfortable and hospitable with only his charm and sweet demeanor. Not to mention his excellent cooking skills.

"Omelette au fromage made especially for Master Splinter." He said, passing the first plate to the wise rat. "Fromage means cheese in Spanish!" He explained. "Or...one of those languages."

"Thank you, Michaelangelo."

"Looks delicious, Mikey." April complimented, still residing in the lair. It was an hour or so before school, so she enjoyed having breakfast with the brothers. It felt as though she was part of their little family.

"Eh, don't forget me! I'm starved." Raph complained, eagerly stabbing his food with a fork as he dug in. Smiling softly, he cut up neat pieces for Chompy Picasso.

"Where is Leonardo?" Splinter glanced around the kitchen, noticing the blue masked turtle seemed to be missing.

"I thought he was mediating still." Raph said, puzzled.

"No, he wasn't." said Mikey. "I checked." He looked innocently at his brothers and April. "I made a plate of food for him and everything! Now it's gonna get cold." He looked down glumly.

"Maybe he's still asleep?" April suggested.

The three youngest turtles shook their heads in unison.

"Leo's always the first one awake. It's weird that he isn't here." Raph lifted Chompy onto his shoulder. "Not that I mind. I like the peace and quiet and lack of Space Heroes references to start my morning right."

"Donatello, perhaps you should check your brother's room?" Splinter suggested, stroking his beard thoughtfully. "It is possible he is still resting or feeling unwell."

"Hai Sensei."

April, sensing his apprehensiveness, stood up and rested her hand on his shoulder. "It'll be alright. I promise."

Feeling comforted by her warm tone, Donnie nodded firmly, and left the kitchen with high hopes that Leo was just snoozing longer than usual.

Something wasn't right. Donatello knew this, deep down, despite his optimism. His worry was growing the closer he moved to Leo's room, silently praying that everything would be alright. Raising a shaking hand, he opened the door.

He breathed a sigh of relief. There Leo lay in a deep slumber, even snoring lightly. It felt awful to simply wake him up, but he didn't really have a choice.

"Rise and shine, sleepyhead." He murmured, patting him. "Training time."

Unexpectedly Leo retracted his head into his shell, snoring even louder. This was beyond unusual- heck, even out of character. Leo was always extremely punctual and neat, refusing to be late for any training session.

"Why are you so tired?" Donnie wondered aloud. "We went to bed at the same time..."

Leo yawned, sluggishly moving forward out of his shell and stretching. "M' awake." He blinked. "Were you talking to me?" The blank expression that he gave was enough to cause further anxiety.

"Yeah? We have training."

His eyes widened. "Training! Oh, sewer apples!" He stumbled out of bed clumsily. "I'm here, I'm-" He yawned again. "Awake."

Donnie frowned, trying to analyze why Leo was so exhausted. Sure, they went to bed fairly late, but they've gone to bed later before and Leo hadn't been nearly as tired as he was now. But he wasn't about to start an argument either.

"Right."

Training was...awkward to say the least. Leonardo, who was usually extremely precise and swift with his movements, was now sloppy and uncoordinated. Everyone seemed to notice, but no one made a comment until Mikey had successfully pinned his oldest brother to the ground after a Barai.

"Booyakasha!" Mikey cheered. "I did it!"

"Yeah, because Leo barely put any effort into it." Raph said smugly, holding Donnie in a headlock.

"Yame!" Splinter commanded.

Dropping Donnie casually, Raphael glanced at their sensei with a bored expression on his face.

April, looking uncomfortable, placed her tessen back in her bag. "Class starts soon. I should probably get to school." Turning to Splinter, she smiled. "Arigato, Sensei. See ya later guys."

Splinter nodded. "Excellent work, April."

Leo groaned, rubbing his back. Humiliated, he bowed miserably.

"Leonardo, I think it would be best for you to rest."

"Arigato Sensei." He replied gratefully.

Raph crossed his arms. "That was pathetic. Even for you." He sneered. "Sorry we can't have you leadin' without your little nap time. Should I tuck you in too?"

He glared. But he didn't seem to have the energy to argue.

Donnie watched him leave, a pensive look on his face.

~•~

April found herself trudging to school, regretting leaving the lair after remembering she had a math quiz that she forgot to study for. Funny how she'd rather be in the sewers over a classroom.

A long time ago she craved a normal life, but now she loathed it.

Though there wasn't much normality in crushing on both a deranged hockey player and a mutated turtle. With the Kraang, mutants still running rampage- her life was destined to be abnormal.

She placed her bags away in her locker, sighing loudly. The bell was about to ring, and she hadn't seen any sign of Casey. She had been hoping to chat with him at least a little bit.

"Hey April!" A pretty girl with afro puffs came towards her, beaming.

"Hi Summer," She breathed, tension breaking at the sight of her friend. Well...not really friends. But they were friendly, and that was good enough. "How was your weekend?"

"Fine." Summer said. "Very productive. The yearbook committee is in full swing!" Glancing at her quizzically, she giggled. "Are you okay? You seem a bit distracted."

"Hm? Oh yeah, I'm fine. Listen...have you seen Casey?"

Summer, who was fairly popular and seemed to know everyone at the school thought for a moment. "Casey Jones? Senior?" After April nodded, she shook her head. "Nope, I don't think so. Sorry, I know you two are close."

April felt herself blush. "It's complicated."

"Don't I know it. Come on, it's time for homeroom."

Her mind wandered throughout the day, wondering how she could possibly concentrate on physics, when the growing uneasy feeling in her stomach.

It was all going to be alright.

Convincing Donnie was one thing. But convincing herself? A totally different problem.

~•~

Instead of going to sleep as he was instructed, Leo found himself topside again. The sun was setting a beautiful peach orange color over the skyline of smoke. Teenagers roamed the streets, and he swore he caught April with a group of girls chatting animatedly about something. He smiled, happy she was having fun and some resemblance of a normal, mutant free life.

He felt like a lousy leader. Hell, a lousy brother. Sneaking out like a kid, over some girl? A gorgeous mutant girl...but still. Without even telling his own brothers, let alone father where he was going.

There was that annoying feeling. Guilt. But...he was making the right choice. By getting his siblings involved, it would only lead to trouble.

"Leonardo..." That sultry voice cooed from behind.

"Nova." He gasped, releasing his katanas back in their holders.

"Sorry I'm late, my darling. My sleep schedule has been quite difficult."

He cringed.  "Don't call me that. But, it's okay."

She curled her muscular tail around his waist comfortably. "My apologies." She slithered beside him, golden eyes meeting his ocean blue ones. His heart rate increased.

Changing the subject, he smiled easily. "Have you reconsidered my offer?"

"I have. My hunger has been satisfied for now, but that won't last long."

"What have you been eating?" Leo looked at her wearily, afraid of the answer.

"Shh...that isn't important." Lifting his chin gently with her claws, he melted at the touch.

"If you say so." Leo hugged his knees, then grazed her gnarled scales, admiring their shimmering form. Her claws brushed against him casually and he winced.

"Sorry, I didn't mean-"

"It's...okay. It didn't hurt. I promise."  They were faint. Surely no one would notice.

Relaxing, she nuzzled him. "Good."

Her eyes were big, wide. The moon reflecting in her pupils made him move closer. Then he stopped.

"This is a bad idea." He said, taking his hand back. "I barely know you. Maybe...you should meet my family first? Or get to know each other? This is happening so fast I-"

"Soon." She vowed. "I trust you though. I think."

"I think so too." He uttered, soft lips pressing against hers. If this was wrong, why did he feel so right? Why did he feel so shaky, yet so bubbly inside.

This was one of his worst decisions. Why wasn't he stopping? He didn't know her. He didn't-

"It's a pretty good bad idea, isn't it though?" She smirked, stealing another tender kiss.

All he had to do was say no. That he couldn't put his family in danger.

Just say no.

Don't make the same mistake.

But he didn't want to.

"God yes."

~•~

His head felt foggy and tired, he hadn't gotten any closer to convincing Nova to stay but...he was alright. Leo hadn't had a chance to retreat to his bedroom before he was cornered by his taller brother. He hid his grimace with a forced grin.

"Donnie, I don't have time for this. I've got..."

"This'll only take a minute."

"Alright. What's up?"

"Did you really have trouble sleeping last night?" He asked, then jumped to a stronger conclusion.  "Or...did you not go to sleep at all?"

"Don't be stupid, Don, of course I went to bed." Leo said. "I just..." He raised his left arm casually, and his younger brother once again caught the scars littering. Worse, they looked fresh.

"Your arms..."

Leo flinched away. "It's nothing."

His dark eyes narrowed.

"Donnie?"

"You're lying, aren't you?"

"I don't know what you're talking about." Leo brushed him off, but Donnie wasn't about to give up. He grabbed a hold of his forearm, pulling him back, though Leo was unaffected by the sudden jerk of movement.

"What happened to your arm?" Donnie demanded bluntly. "And tell me the truth this time."

"Donnie, I'm really tired. I...just want to meditate for a spell. We can talk later." He hadn't meant to sound dismissive, but his tired tone and increasing frustration made it seem that way.

"How much longer are you going to keep avoiding us all, Leonardo?" Donnie asked weakly.

Leo hastily moved his arm out of the way. The hostile motion made Donnie recoil.  "I'm not."

"You keep shutting us all out. We aren't naive. We know you're stressed, but we're a family. We can help.  Don't you see? First with Karai, now..."

"This is nothing like Karai." Leo blurted out. "Nova isn't like her." When Donnie looked confused, he elaborated. "That's her name. The mutant."

"She did that to you." He said, referring to his injured arms. The dots were slowly connecting.

Silence. "Not on purpose."

"You told me you were going back to bed. You promised! And you went out and tried to fight that dangerous mutant alone? Are you crazy?"

"I was trying to protect you!" Leo snapped, temper rising, though his voice still felt oddly robotic. "It wasn't done out of a whim. I didn't try to find her for fun. I was protecting you and the others."

"By lying to us? Your family?"

"Fighting her was not an option. I wanted to persuade her to join our side. She wasn't too dangerous, just scared. And I didn't lie, I did go to bed. Just not when you did."

"Do the others know?" He was mainly referring to Raph, who he knew would be as furious as he was. Maybe even more so. Mikey would have been heartbroken had he knew that Leo was going behind their backs.

"No."

"Why? We could have gone together." 

The thought of Donnie watching Leo and Nova's last encounter made him blush profusely in horror.

"If we had gone as a group, it would have ended horribly. I needed to talk to her alone. I think..." He paused. "I think she's starting to trust me." His cheeks felt suddenly hot. He didn't want his brother to know that he had been out again, though this time with no moral intentions involved. The less Donnie knew, the better.

"Trust you?" Donnie repeated in disbelief. "You barely know her."

"You barely know her."  Leo retorted.  "You haven't even seen her. What could you possibly know?"

Those careless words set Donnie's rage into flames. "I know that you're my brother and she's hurt you, quite obviously!" Furious tears filled his eyes. "If you just listened to me- if we had a chance to go as a team, maybe she would have joined us. Willingly!" He took a deep breath. "I know what it's like to care about someone." His mind brought up sweet April, then the smirk of Casey Jones. "But it's so risky to do this. You've got to think logically. You're the leader."

Regret was hidden in his deep blue eyes, but he masked it with a scowl. "I didn't ask for this burden, to be lectured. Logic- inventions, all your science-y bullshit won't help us now. So stay out of my way. I know what I'm doing." The tone of his voice, mixed with his expressions were jarring and cold. Unlike the older, wiser brother Donatello had grown to admire as a hero.

Stunned and hurt by the harsh tone, Donnie blinked, taking a step back, as if he feared him.

Leo's eyes widened, immediately realizing his mistake. "Wait, Donnie I didn't mean-"

"Fine."

"Please, just let me-"

But as his older brother had done so many times before, Donnie dismissed his desperate pleas, stormed by him as the words flooded out of his ear slits and away from his mind.

 ~•~

The second Donnie climbed out of the manhole cover, he realized he had no idea where he was going. He knew the city by heart, sure, but he was never one to go topside for emotional reasons. Usually he locked himself in his lab. Now...he didn't know what to do or where to go. Each direction felt wrong. And the increasing feeling of wrongness calculated by the feeling of dread equaled an equation he didn't quite understand.

"I don't even know where to go..." He groaned. "I'm such an idiot." Wiping his tears, adjusting his staff, he kept walking the unknown direction, hoping to find an answer.

School had to be out, since the stars were already dotting the sky. Maybe he could swing by April's...

No, she was still living at the lair. How could he have forgotten? And he doubted her aunt would be thrilled to see a six foot tall turtle standing in front of her. That would only leave...

He stopped, looking at the cluster of apartment complexes. It would be risky, but he couldn't imagine going anywhere else. As he climbed the fire escape with ease, he had already made his decision.

As much as he longed for April's hugs or comforting words, he knew Jones was the best bet. So he carefully used his bō to tap lightly on the window, while still remaining hidden.

It swung open, and there was Casey Jones. Handsome, cocky, hair even messier than usual without its iconic black and white bandana holding it in place. He seemed ready to go to bed as he was dressed in a tank top and pajama bottoms.

"The fuck?" He rubbed his eyes. "Donnie?"

"Hey there Jones." He mused, awkwardly rubbing his neck. "Is ...this a bad time?" He couldn't tell if Jones was simply tired or had been crying, since his eyes appeared too red and dusty.

"Nah, Riley's in bed." He confirmed. "Asleep."

"And your parents?"

Casey waved him off. "Hang on a sec," and he swung over the window to the metal fire escape. Climbing up the spare ladder casually, he glanced back at Donnie. "This place is more private." He was now perched on the roof, smirking. "You comin' or d'ya need an invitation?"

Donnie joined him, sitting on the ledge with their legs hanging over. "Is everything okay?"

"It's...fine, I guess." He chewed at his lip moodily. "Well not really. It's family bullshit."

He huffed a laugh. "Boy, do I know how that feels."

"I'm assuming you didn't just come here to chat. Something happen?"

Donnie nodded meekly.

"Hey, you don't need to tell me." Casey stared at his calloused hands. "I guess I can tell you what's been going on." He picked up a stone, flicking it across the roof. It fell loudly into a dumpster. Donnie winced. "My dad is a huge dick." He stated bluntly. "But it's complicated. Normally I'd talk with Raph about this but..."

"You don't have to..."

"Nah, it's chill. Here's the Cliff Notes version of it. Basically my dad decided to drop this major bomb on me n' Ri. That he proposed to Sara. His girlfriend." He made a vomit noise. "And I can't believe it."

"Is she not nice?" Donnie wondered.

"She's okay, I guess. No, but they haven't been dating that long and- I can't believe he decided to replace Riley's mom like that."

"Riley's mom? But you..."

"She's only my half sister. My real mom died forever ago. He was cheating on my mom with Riley's mom- Grace. He's a mess. It's all a mess."

"What happened to Grace?"

"Divorced her. Like I said, he's a dick." He looked back wearily. "Sorry, I know that was a lot. I'm not good at...dealing with my feelings but I shouldn't have dumped that on you with no warning."

"No, please don't apologize. I understand."

"Cool. So...your turn."

"My turn?"

"I just dramatically revealed my trauma. That shit doesn't come for free, yo. And I know you came here for a reason. So what is it? Because I think we're at that stage where we can talk about it. Whatever it is."

The purple masked turtle hesitated.

"There's only so many Electric Skullz albums we can talk about..."

Donnie took a deep breath, finally settling on revealing his troubles. "It was just an argument."

"With Raph?"

"No, Leo. He's been acting so strange lately. With the new mutant and everything. I think he likes her. As in, having feelings for her.  I swear, this is a Karai situation all over again." He frowned. "And then we started yelling and..." Head in his hands, he groaned. "It's troubling. He's been acting so distant and it's making me so ..."

Casey waited a moment for Donnie to find the word.

"Peeved."

"So, what you're saying is: it's all a mess."

Donnie laughed. "It sure is, Jones." Their shoulders bumped together. "Thanks for letting me vent."

"Hey, no worries. You let me rant, it's only fair. But I do know one thing for sure, families are complicated as fuck."

"Here here. But um, why did you bring me here again?" Donnie cocked his head to one side.

Casey stood up, hands on his hips. "Come on."

Donnie followed suit, raising a curious eyebrow. "And?"

"Start yelling."

"What?"

"Start. Yelling. It ain't rocket science. You're pissed off, I'm pissed off, so let it out! Go nuts!" 

"But it's night out."

"This is the city that never sleeps, genius. Look, I'll do it first."

He let out a loud, ear splitting bellow from above, hands spread out and wind hitting his cheeks. When he finished, he turned to Donnie eagerly.

"Go on."

Donnie exhaled. "If you say so..." And with that, he too joined in with the screaming. At first, it felt silly but then it surprisingly felt therapeutic. As if he was letting out his pent up frustrations with life.

"How'd that feel?" Casey moved closer to him until they were inches apart.

"It felt...good." Donnie admitted. "And you're sure no one can hear us?"

"Pshaw." Casey said smugly. "Anyone who does hear us will think we're a couple of drunks. I got ya, D." He took his hand in his, squeezing it. The difference between their hands- one large, green with three fingers. The other pale, smaller, five perfectly normal fingers. Casey didn't seem to mind.

"It doesn't solve our problems though." Donnie said.

"No, but it releases a little tension. I've done this with my friends a lot from the hockey team whenever we lose. Which rarely happens, but on that off chance we do? We scream. Fuck the system!"

"You ...consider me like one of your human friends?"

Casey's hazel eyes squinted back at him, as if he was confused by the question. "Of course. Why wouldn't you be? We're friends."

"But I'm..."

"Don't." Casey stopped him, pressing a finger to his lips. "I don't say this to just anyone, okay? But you're a cool dude, Donnie. And the smartest guy I know."

Donnie swallowed. "Jones I..."

"You're perfect the way you are, you hear me? Don't go moping around. It's a little sad to watch." He punched his shoulder affectionately. "Alright?" He looked back into Donnie's mahogany eyes.

"Alright." He nodded, now fully aware how close they were. He stopped himself from staring too hard at Casey's individual freckles, dotting his cheeks like a galaxy of stars. Or his deep hazel eyes, or his perfect peach lips...

An embrace felt too forward, so Donnie simply smiled, revealing his adorable gap. Casey's heart warmed, loving every time he saw that smile. He wasn't lying. He thought Donnie was beautiful in his own way. Turtle or not. As beautiful as April, maybe but in a different way. He wanted to stay the entire night, watching the stars with him.

"I promised Mikey I'd hang with him." Donnie remembered.

"Oh," His eyes looked down, disappointed. "I can walk you there? It's getting kinda late."

"Sure."

"Listen, um, Donnie...there's something you gotta know..."

There was a rustling noise behind them. Donnie froze. "Shut up."

"Excuse me? Did you just tell Casey Jones to shut up?"

"Shut up!" He hissed. "Someone's listening. You idiot, we shouldn't have been screaming our heads off!"

Casey mumbled a curse under his breath.

"Ah, so you are the clever one. Good to know." An unfamiliar voice snarled.

"Who said that?" Casey yelled, grabbing his trusty hockey stick and taser. Donnie gripped his own bō tightly.

"How cute."

Out of the shadows approached the two boys. A mutant reptile at least twenty feet in length with massive yellow eyes staring them down.

"Jones?"

"Yeah, Donnie?"

"I think we found the mutant."

[hale-13]

Enterobacter

By Hale13

For the Summer of Whump Day 2 - Food Poisoning

Being Spider-Man sometimes means that Peter has to eat on the job and eating in the job means eating a lot of fast food. Some of his favorite stops are new and local food trucks since most of them give him free food for the obvious influx of business he brings to them. And Peter loves Thai so much he just HAS to try the new truck that opened.

Words: 2339, Chapters: 1/1 (Complete), Language: English

Fandoms: Spider-Man (Tom Holland Movies)

Rating: Gen

Relationships: Ned Leeds & Peter Parker, Peter Parker & Tony Stark

Characters: Peter Parker, Ned Leeds, Tony Stark

TW: Vomiting

Read on AO3 or below the line break.

Before the Bite, Peter was a staunch and vehement hater of warm weather. He spent every spring and summer feeling overheated and sweaty and gross and May and Ben would always joke that he ran hot which, Peter supposed, wasn’t completely untrue. He had always spent most of his falls and winters sleeping with the window by his bed cracked to let in the cool air and under a light blanket.

So November through about March was great for him. The rest of the year however? Awful. Miserable. Abhorrent. Just… any terrible adjective you could think of would work as a descriptor. The city heat was always so overbearing that their tired little AC unit couldn’t keep up and would, inevitably, give up and the Parker family would spend half the summer every summer without the blessed cool air flowing through their apartment. And the humidity! Peter felt like he was trying to breath and walk through soup – the heat wouldn’t be nearly as bad without the humidity.

One might think that, with the loss of his ability to thermoregulate well, the warm weather might be easier for him post-Bite but all it did was give Peter new things to worry about. For example: getting heat stroke for doing nothing more than sitting still in his bedroom and doing homework on a hot day.

Yeah. Peter really hated the warm weather.

Which explains why he wakes up on a Thursday in mid-May already angry and irritated and sweating through the ratty tank top and boxers he wore to bed about three minutes before his alarm for school is set to go off.

“Seriously,” he groans, rolling over onto his back and draping one forearm over his eyes in the perfect picture of teenage angst. His stomach twinges a little as he does and he bites back a grimace – probably shouldn’t have tried that new Thai truck while patrolling last night he thought. It didn’t help that he got it super spicy either, he supposed, but the delicious taste would more than make up for the irritability of his bowels later.

His phone started blaring a bright tone and Peter groaned louder, flopping out a hand blindly to snatch his the device up from where it was charging on his nightstand and shutting off the alarm, dropping the phone into the mess of sheets he had bunched up into a corner while he slept. He gave himself another couple seconds for his pity party before rolling off the bed and grabbing the towel he had draped over the end of his bed frame – intent on taking a cool shower to bring his body temperature back down to a reasonable level and wash off the sweat he could already feel drying over him.

“May?” Peter called as he walked out of his room. The apartment was almost eerily quiet for what should be May’s day off and Peter furrowed his brows in confusion – May normally attempted to cook breakfast on Thursday mornings before giving up and making them both bowls of cereal. Towel over his shoulder, Peter wandered into the kitchen and frowned at the fluorescent pink sticky note on the counter next to a fresh box of Lucky Charms.

Got called in to cover ER – twelve hour swing, home after ten.

Eat your breakfast!

Love You!

Peter crumpled the note and tossed it in the garbage. He was looking forward to grabbing ice cream after school with May at the new shop that had popped up the month previous but it looks like they needed a rain check on that one. His stomach bubbled again and Peter wrapped his arm across his abdomen in discomfort. On second thought, maybe it wasn’t such a bad thing to miss out on ice cream today.

The cool shower was refreshing but Peter, somehow, felt worse after. His stomach was straight up cramping now as he pulled on a light pair of shorts and a t-shirt, forgoing his usual layers and just hoping that the bagginess of the shirt would cover up his muscles. He frowned and swallowed down the sour, burning taste of stomach acid in his throat. He didn’t usually have a problem with acid reflux but maybe the spicy food was messing him up? Choosing to ignore it for now, Peter gathered up his books and homework to shove into his backpack before leaving the apartment to walk to school.

The subway that morning was absolutely vile. The smell that he could already barely handle on a good day was worse since it was simmering in the heat and Peter’s sensitive senses didn’t appreciate it. He had to choke down a couple of gags, which was not normal and hadn’t really happened to him before despite the offensive odor. He was used to the smell, it came with using public transportation in one of the busiest cities in the United States. The only good thing that came out of the nauseous feeling was the extra leg room when the other passengers sidled away from him with disgusted looks on their faces.

His relief (and that of the other passengers) was palpable when he was able to stagger off the car and onto the platform outside Midtown, though the temperature didn’t improve much since there wasn’t a good breeze that morning. Moving quickly, Peter made his way across the field and driveway to enter the blessedly cool school building.

“Dude,” Ned said, eyebrows scrunching, as he met Peter a couple minutes later by his locker. “You look like shit.”

“It’s hot,” Peter told him a little defensively, slamming his locker door just a touch too hard. Ned didn’t look impressed.

“No like, you’re really pale and a little green. Are you sick?” Ned asked, squinting his eyes at Peter.

Peter frowned, all he felt was a little overheated. Well, yeah, his stomach was still bubbling and cramping but that was just from the spicy food. He was fine. It was just the heat.

“I’m fine,” Peter protested, brushing past Ned to make his way towards their home room class. He wobbled just a little, lightheaded.

“Did you eat breakfast?” Ned questioned as he steadied his friend, still looking concerned, pushing them out of the foot traffic of the hallway and back up against the cool metal of the locker bank.

Peter’s mouth filled with saliva and he swallowed down the acid again before shaking his head ‘no’. There was no way he could stomach breakfast that morning – it would be like asking for disaster.

“I think you should call May to come get you,” Ned advised, still gripping Peter’s elbow and frowning deeper when Peter shook his head again in protest.

“She had to pick up a shift in the ER today so she’ll have her phone off and, anyway, I’m fine Ned!” Peter shook his arm a little, trying to dislodge Ned’s hand and not succeeding.

Ned bit his lip but released Peter’s arm. “You could call Mr. Stark?”

“For what?” Peter asked, frustrated. “I’m fine, I’m just hot and have a little stomach ache from eating at that new Thai truck.”

“Wait, you mean the one that normally parks off fifth? The green and purple one?” Ned asked and Peter nodded in confirmation. “Bro do you not look at the news? They had to shut it down late last night because some of their food was contaminated with E. Coli.”

Peter’s stomach twisted and grumbled ominously and his hands dropped to grip at the loose shirt covering his abdomen. “Oh,” he said slowly before abruptly turning to race through the near-empty hallway toward the closest bathroom. He barely made it into a stall, not bothering to close it, before he vomited up everything he felt like he may have eaten in the past week. He vaguely heard the door creak open as Ned entered but paid it no heed, doing his best to stay standing and hunched over the toilet so he wouldn’t have to touch it or the disgusting floor.

A few minutes and a round of dry heaving later, Peter didn’t care about how disgusting the floor might be and was just thankful to slide down the wall of the stall to rest, panting and dizzy, on the tile as he tried to keep anything that might be left in his stomach where it belonged.

“Peter?” Ned asked, peaking around the door to survey him. “Are you okay to walk? I’m going to take you to the nurse.” Peter moaned and leaned over to vomit another round. “I’ll take that as a no,” Ned sighed, his own face a little pale from trying to keep from being nauseous himself.

It took at least ten minutes after round two before Peter thought he’d be able to stand without falling over but Ned still insisted that Peter sling his arm over his friend’s shoulder so he could have support for the short walk to the nurse’s office.

“Oh Peter,” Ms. Shelly, the nurse, said sympathetically as she took in his pale face and trembling limbs. “You look awful honey.”

“He has food poisoning,” Ned told her, depositing Peter into one of the closest chairs and shoving one of the emesis bags on the table into his hand just in case he needed it. Peter gulped and nodded his head shortly in thanks, gripping the bag so tight he thought he might tear it.

“You can go on back to class Ned, I’ll make sure he gets home.” Ms. Shelly made a noise of pity and took his temperature before clucking her tongue in disapproval.

“Feel better buddy,” Ned told Peter with a pat on the shoulder before hastily making it out of the room so he could catch the tail-end of his home room, accepting the excuse note that Ms. Shelly passed him.

“Do you have a preference on which contact I call honey?” Ms. Shelly asked from where she was crouched down to eye-level in front of him and Peter let out a groan and squeezed his eyes shut in misery. May was at work which meant his only option was…

“Mr. Stark please,” he muttered, eyes downcast. Ms. Shelly raised a brow in obvious disbelief before she schooled her features. Peter was just glad she didn’t question him like most of his classmates and some of his teachers had taken to doing once the rumor about his internship had spread through the majority of the school.

“Let me just pull your chart and make the call okay? There’s a cot through the door if you want to lay down,” she gestured to the open door across from him before making her way to her office to pull up his digital chart.

“Thanks,” Peter said, seriously considering how nice it would be to just lie down again. This pleasant thought was interrupted by his stomach clenching again and he hung his head over the emesis bag, dry heaving but not managing to get anything up which was almost worse. He let out a little whine that he was glad Ms. Shelly wasn’t around to hear and stumbled into the single person bathroom in her office, sinking down onto the floor and gagging.

A light knock on the door sounded a few minutes later and Ms. Shelly’s soft voice called, “Peter? Are you okay?”

“I’m fine,” he called back as loud as he dared before swallowing compulsively. It did nothing for the bile climbing up his esophagus and he leaned back over to vomit again.

“Just call me if you need anything sweetie. Your emergency contact will be here in about twenty minutes.” Peter let out a grunt of assent and let his eyes slip closed as he leaned back against the wall. He must have dozed off at some point because he woke up to the sound of the door creaking open and a low whistle.

“Looking a little rough around the edges kiddo,” Tony said, head leaned around the door to peer into the room. Peter, feeling tired and sick and embarrassed, let out a groan and felt his face heat up.

“This is the worst thing that has happened in my life. Ever.” Tony snorted as he entered the bathroom fully and crouched down on knees that popped and clicked to squat in front of Peter.

Peter closed his eyes when Tony reached forward to rest his cool hand on Peter’s forehead and hum. “Running a little warm too. The nurse said food poisoning?”

“Ate Thai that had E.Coli,” Peter said and then gagged at the thought, hanging his head back over the toilet to spit out bile. Tony moved his hand to rub up and down his back and made an empathetic noise.

“Just get it out buddy. Brucie’s waiting for us back at the tower with some anti-nausea meds for you and some fluids to help hydrate you.” Peter moaned and gagged again but nothing came up.

“Think I’m done,” he said a second later, wiping the tears of effort out of the corners of his eyes and letting Tony pull him to his shaky feet. The room spun briefly but he was able to keep most of his balance by leaning heavily on Tony’s arm. The walk to the car after signing out with the stunned secretary was a little blurry but soon he was ensconced in the darkness of the Roll’s that Happy favored driving lately.

Ignoring everything around him, Peter let his face fall to the cool, supple leather and he let out a sigh of contentment. He heard a chuckle before the emesis bag was pushed back into his slack grip with instructions to “Use that if you need to Bambino,” but Peter thought he might be done for a while.

Finally cool and mostly comfortable, Peter fell into a light doze, looking forward to spending the rest of his day cuddled up in a blanket under an AC vent in the penthouse sleeping and watching bad movies with his mentor.

[shizaaa]

basically a red riding hood ripoff I guess.

Also I wrote this at like 4 in the morning.

My punctuation is shit.

Swear words.

Way casual writing style.

Link for the picrew thing I made for my cover: https://picrew.me/image_maker/947708

Swag Master Purple Riding Hood

Once upon a time there lived a young girl who went by the nickname 'Swag master purple riding hood', her real name forgotten due to it simply not being as cool as she was.

She lived a very peaceful yet extremely cool life in a forest near some cliff with her parents. Everyone loved and respected her because she was just so cool (there were some jealous bitches but whatever). She basically lived a swag life and blessed everyone with her presence.

So one time while she was chilling with her animal bros doing whatever cool people do, her mother came out from inside the house and called her inside for breakfast.

Now while everyone naturally always respected and admired swag master purple riding hood anyway, she had an ability, which was basically that whoever disrespected swag master purple riding hood would (depending on the intensity of the sin) be punished accordingly.

For example: once a foolish and incredibly rude monkey was mocking swag master purple riding hood, much to the horror/ disgust/whatever of the animals there, and as a punishment his tail fell off. Dude basically got what was coming to him.

Anyway, so the parents ask swag master purple riding hood to visit her sick grandma to which she agrees because she likes sweet old grandmas . So off she went to visit her grandma.

Meanwhile on the cliff near the forest, two vultures were talking shit about swag master purple riding hood while waiting for their brother. An then the third vulture appears and goes "Hey I just overheard swag master purple riding hood say she was going to her sick grandma's house to visit her." Hearing this the other two had an Idea. They could make swag master purple riding hood lose her swag and everyone's respect by killing her grandma and eating her so she would have failed to protect her sweet old grandma. And so the set off to put their plan into action.

~Back to swag master purple riding hood~

She was coolly and casually strolling through the forest making all the animals feel honored and blessed by her presence when one of the vulture bros approaches her :"Hey there swag master purple riding hood," he said as he settled on the branch of a nearby tree. "I heard your grandma's sick."

"Yeah, she has a cold"

"Oh dear, how awful she must be feeling. Ah! I know! Why don't you pick her that one fruit she really likes from that one tree that's kinda far away, to make her feel better?"

Swag master purple riding hood thought about it for a bit then said "Yeah I guess she'd like that." and went away. This was it! This is their chance! The vulture flew away to inform his brothers and they went to the grandma's house and through the door, and started circling her, preparing to attack, and flew at her! When bam! An axe flew through through the air and just narrowly missed them. The hunter had arrived! He swung his axe around heroically and............................................................ still got his ass kicked. All hope was lost. But wait! There's swag master purple riding hood! She super kicked butt like the badass bitch she is (with all due respect and in a good way).

The vultures had Really fucked up this time. They super disrespected swag master purple riding hood and as a punishment were turned into humans and forced to slave away at a sucky job barely being paid minimum wage for the rest of their lives.

Moral:- Never disrespect a swag master

Credits:

Written by : Me

Inspiration: writing prompts

@catboyhomunculus

Others: my cousin

(For Lending me his notebook so I could write this shit out at four in the morning)