#the eldest boy my favorite toy fic

[beyondxmeasure]

Seven Sentence Sunday Monday

Inspired by this lovely little pic…

Upon searching I’ve discovered there’s a very small handful of Alessandro fics out there and only one with these two as a pairing (an absolute crime) so I thought I’d remedy that.

Stay tuned for the Harry/Alessandro fic no one asked for!

The Eldest Boy, My Favorite Toy

On my way, just landed… I see you couldn’t wait for me, could you? Brat.

Harry bites down on his thumb nail, hiding a coy smile. A flash of guilty anticipation floods his veins as his eyes scan over the text repeatedly. Well, it’s too late for an apology, he’s already here at Alessandro’s. All he can do now is atone for his sins, which he’ll gladly do plenty of once Louis gets here. Tossing his phone back onto the side table, Harry resigns himself to his fate with a shrug of indifference before peeling himself off the chaise lounge, hot, sticky and ready for another dip in the pool.

[nathaslosthershit]

Tiny Notes (OP81)

Summary: Oscar was dying, sitting in his first business meeting after signing with Mclaren. Luckily, a pretty girl his age sat right next to him, and she was certainly not in the mood to pay attention to the meeting.

A/n: I think this is one of my most favorite things I’ve written- it was originally the start to my Franco fic (coming tomorrow) but early on I got the idea to change it to Oscar and went from there. Hope you all enjoy 🫶

Neither Oscar nor the eldest Webber daughter wanted to be at the meeting. Actually Miss. Webber herself would argue that there was no reason for her to be there as she didn’t have an official role at Mclaren. But when her grown adult father pouted like a little kid when she said she’d rather eat her own eyes than sit through a 2 hour long meeting with him just because he ‘wants to spend some time with his first mini me’, she stupidly gave in. Now, as she yawned for the 5th time in the past… god, 6 minutes, she could see her dad wearing a shit eating grin while watching her die of boredom. 

Even as a father, Mark Webber could be such an asshole. 

Oscar didn’t know why he was at this meeting. He knew he had to be there, he had just signed a contract to join Mclaren for the upcoming season, but he didn’t know why they needed him there, especially since he couldn’t understand half the words these businessmen were talking about. Assets? Net Loss? He was just here to drive cars.

Maybe he would have figured out the significance of the meeting, if there hadn’t been a beautiful girl his age sitting right next to him. He had already gotten used to the idea that the Mark Webber was his manager, who currently sat across from him, but now he was expected to pay attention when he was next to an attractive girl?

The meeting might have been boring, but Oscar couldn't say his first day at Mclaren hadn’t been memorable. 

“Isn’t that right, Oscar?” The man standing in the front of the room talking asked. Oscar just looked around, hoping he wan’t the Oscar they were talking to, but when everyone stared at him expectantly, he knew he was fucked. 

“I’m sorry, I didn-”

“It is alright,” The businessman laughed, “I was just saying we were honored to sign a new driver for our second seat, and that he seems very promising, isn’t that right?”

“Oh! Yes, I am good.” Everyone laughed at that, but Oscar hadn’t meant it as a joke. He hadn’t meant it in a egotistical way, he was just being nice by agreeing with the man speaking. 

Luckily, the meeting moved on and Oscar could slouch in his chair and try to disappear and die from embarrassment. 

He thought he was out of the clear, that everyone had forgotten about him and he wouldn’t need to speak for the rest of the… hour and a half. This meeting was brutal.

That was until someone nudged Oscar’s leg and he looked up from his hands in his lap to see the girl next to him had pushed the notebook in front of her over.

Have you been paying attention?

Oscar panicked, he hadn’t meant to make his inattention that obvious.

Instead of picking up the pen, he looked at her and nodded his head, hoping his face was calm and convincing her he had been listening

She was not fooled.

She knew who Oscar was, even before he had been introduced. They hadn’t met formally, her dad didn’t want them to meet after she made a joke about how grateful she is to see that Formula 1 has a ‘hot new boy toy’. She was obviously kidding, or at least she tried to convince her dad that she was. 

It's okay, I’m not either, she wrote again, pushing the pen towards him hoping he would reply and give her something to do while this meeting dragged on. 

I don’t know what they are talking about, Oscar replied, regretting it immediately, not wanting to come across as an idiot to her.

She laughed and Oscar felt his heart flutter at the sound. 

She was in the middle of replying that she didn’t know any of it either, when her dad waved his hand at them, grabbing both the young adults’ attention. 

‘At least act like you care, and stop writing to each other!’ he mouthed to them.

Oscar gulped and began to sweat a little, but the girl next to him just rolled her eyes and made an indecent gesture. She’s got guts, he had to give her that. 

But Mark didn’t do anything but try to conceal his laughter, somehow he wasn’t mad at the girl for disrespecting him. 

She began to pick up the pen when Oscar grabbed her hand to stop her, mouthing ‘he said we can’t’

He didn’t want his manager getting mad at him. 

Meanwhile Mark Webber’s eldest daughter loved to annoy her dad, but she knew he loved it too.

“He didn’t say anything about tic-tac-toe” she whispered softly into Oscar’s ear, giving him goosebumps and sending a chill down his spine. That shouldn’t have affected him as much as it did.

Get a grip, Piastri.

So they played tic-tac-toe, and other stupid games to pass the time, until it was finally the moment they were all dismissed from the meeting. 

Both the young adults actually groaned when they realized the meeting was over. 

Oscar didn’t get time to say anything to the girl as his teammate, Lando Norris, came up to have a quick chat. He liked Lando, he really did, but his timing was terrible.

Luckily, the brit could see Oscar was anxious to leave, and he could see who was making him anxious.

“Ohhhhhh, interesting choice, Piastri. Out of everyone you set your eyes on her? Good luck with that, mate.” Lando laughed as he patted Oscar on the back.

What the hell did he mean by that?

She had been waiting for her dad to grab something from his office, but she was also kind of possibly waiting for Oscar to come out of the room. When she looked over and saw Lando was the reason he was being held up, she scoffed.

Leave it to Norris to cockblock her. 

She turned around, not wanting to get caught staring, and impatiently tapped her foot as she waited for her dad to come back. No sooner than she saw him walking as slowly as he could down the hallway, which he was doing because he saw how impatient she was, she got a tap on her shoulder. 

“I just- wanted to say thanks for keeping me sane during the meeting.” Oscar said. “Oh uh, I’m Oscar, I'll be driving for the team next year.” He said awkwardly as he stuck his hand out.

Was it rude to imply she didn’t know who he was, or rude to assume she did?

“I know who you are, Oscar.” She laughed, shaking his hand. “I probably know more about you than 99% of that room.”

That confused him. “Can I at least get your name the-”

“Oscar, what was rule number one when I became your manager?” Mark Webber said, scaring the two of them as he snuck up behind the girl.

Shit, “Uh, don’t bring up Multi 21,” he replied, realizing he had just broken that rule by bringing it up. 

The girl giggled at that, and Oscar felt his heart stop. He also felt a blush creep on his face, one that Mark too saw and by his frown, Oscar could tell he disapproved.

“No- well yes, but the other big rule.”

“If I meet any of you or other racing drivers’ daughters, I am not allowed to flirt or befriend or speak or look or breathe near any of them.” Oscar didn’t understand why that needed to be a rule but he thought fighting Mark on it wouldn’t go well. 

“Damn, two rules broken on your first day, Piastri?” The girl laughed.

“What?” Was all he replied. Then he connected the dots. The glares and looks shared between the girl and Mark, her being able to flip him off and him not getting offended by it, the fact they walked in together.

Mark and his eldest daughter could see as Oscar reached his conclusion.

“Fuck I’m- I didn’t know that- Well you see-” There was no getting out of this.

Thankfully, Mark just laughed, “it’s alright buddy, just never speak to her ever again.” Oscar shuddered at the way his manager’s expression grew darker at the end of his sentence.

The two Webbers walked away from the young driver, arguing or joking with each other, Oscar couldn’t tell, when a paper slipped out of the girl’s hand. 

Oscar picked it up and went to tell her she had dropped it, when he saw what was written on it.

Don’t listen to him, he is an overprotective ass ;)

How had she known ahead of time that her Dad would disapprove? Before he could question it further, he flipped the note to see her number was written on the back. 

Thank god he was forced to be at that useless meeting.

[eleanor-bradstreet]

Hi Eleanor! Do you have any bridgerton fic recommendations? Love your writing!!

Hello Nonny!

I'm so pleased you enjoy my stories, that is sweet of you to say! Thank you! 💙 As for fic recommendations, build your blanket fort, get a beverage and prepare to never emerge because boy do I ever have some for you...

Do you want to feel like an artist is painting a mural across your heart, swirling colors of intense emotion from lust to anguish to redemption to joy, all of it blending perfectly into a sensation of bone-deep satisfaction? Then you need to check out the works of my dear friend @thebabblingbrookenook Masterlist here.

Brooke has crafted some of the most unique and heartfelt Benedict and Anthony stories out there, mostly modern AU and x Reader, delving deep into character psyches in a variety of breathtaking scenarios. I don't know if I can pick favorites, but don't miss:

If The World Was Ending - an apocalyptic Benedict love story

His First Muse - the most beautiful examination of Violet and Benedict's relationship you'll ever read

Wide Open Spaces - for some sultry Benedict friends-to-lovemaking

The Viscount Who Loved Me Too Much - an ongoing Anthony multichapter romance that is sure to surprise and delight

Or if your tastes are skewing a bit more...carnal, you must know about the incomparable @fayes-fics. Benedict smut queen and creator of the A&B manbread sandwich, her catalog offers so many steamy encounters with the two eldest Bridgerton brothers that you are at risk of developing bedsores while you enjoy them lefthanded 😉 But lucky for us, she plies her skilled pen to sweet romance and heartwrenching emotions as well. Masterlist here.

There are literally, literally too many jewels to highlight in the treasure trove of Faye's stories, but I highly encourage reading:

Lessons - the A&B throuple series of your dreams

Double Bind - an A&B love triangle series Faye sweetly crafted from my greedy little prompts

Second Son - a beautiful G-rated story of Benedict finding love and self-worth

The Things We Do For Love - Anthony. Benedict. Orgasms. Emotions. Just read it.

I have to cut myself off because I could list these forever...

Then if you're in the mood for some Viscount served up piping hot, pay a visit to our darling Bridgerton smut auntie @colettebronte My talented friend practices her own kind of alchemy, blending no-holds-barred kinks with fantastical settings and even a dash of history to create stories that are completely unique and entirely incendiary. The steam is....burning, the sweetness is real and the characterizations are always on point.

Her entire collection should be read, Masterlist here, but personal favorites for me include:

Lord Bridgerton's List - Thigh Riding - Just, read the whole List. Trust me.

The Queen and the General 4 - A powerplay threesome with Anthony and Simon. Need I say more?

Rise and Breathe - healing heartbroken regency Anthony through kink? I cannot wait to see where this series goes...

All The Time in The World - an apocalyptic Anthony series that I am salivating for more of!

I know so many talented fic authors, I could turn this answer into a novel. Search the #fic rec tag in my blog to see them all, but I would be remiss not to highlight these other incredible stories and authors:

@queen-of-the-misfit-toys is a stunning Bridgerton family writer, who knows how to make your jaw hit the floor, either from the delightful filth of her smut or the most heartbreakingly beautiful angst you could imagine. I recommend The End of All Things

@the-other-art-blog Just knocked my absolute socks off by imagining the most perfect origin story for My Cottage here

@fiction-is-life Is taking my prompts for angsty Benedict and delivering with a stunning series starting with Touchstone of Our Character

@urchintoast creates wonderful, lively imagery and has written some heartfelt and adorable Anthony and Benedict stories. I highly recommend Fear

And dear lord, the sweepingly beautiful, searingly sexy, deeply moving Don't You Remember by @captainbucky-yt is my most favorite Benophie retelling

I could type my fingers to stubs if I told you about all the fics I have loved, so please take this as a springboard and go enjoy everything these Bridgerbuddies have to offer 💙

Dividers by @firefly-graphics

[the-flaming-nightmare]

Tagged the wonderful @im-overstimulated-and-im-sad and @anewkindofme! 🧡❤

Soooo, I may have started on yet another fic that isn't a part of any of my current series lmao. I've been rewatching The Originals, and I've wanted to write a Little!Klaus fic for literal years now, so I finally bit the bullet and started on a oneshot. Here's a bit of what I've got so far:

Klaus sat on the edge of his papa's bed, anxiously gnawing on the sleeve of his (papa's) jumper as he watched the older wolf get dressed.

"Would you like one of your teethers, little wolf?"

Klaus immediately ripped the piece of burgundy fabric out of his mouth, lips pursing into a pout.

"M'not a baby, papa."

Ansel made his way over to the hybrid and took a seat next to him, pulling him into his side. "You don't need to be a baby to use your teethers or any of your younger space things, pup."

Klaus just shrugged and nuzzled the side his face against the man's flannel covered shoulder, grabbing a piece of the dark blue and white fabric in his hand.

"Guess. Still don't want it, though."

"That's okay." Ansel pressed a kiss to Klaus' head. "But if you change your mind, just ask your brother and he'll get you one."

Klaus tightened his grip on his father's flannel. "Do you hafta go, papa?"

Ansel rubbed a hand up and down Klaus' arm. "I do, squirt. Papa has to discuss important grown-up business with Marcel to make sure things in the Quarter are running smoothly."

"Can't I go with you?" Klaus asked, turning his head to peer up at the man with the biggest puppy-dog eyes he could manage.

Ansel softly sighed and shook his head, giving the regressed hybrid an apologetic smile.

"I'm afraid not this time, little wolf."

Ansel would usually have no problem taking his son with him to meetings (given that all of their inner circle was aware and accepting of his regression), but he's noticed that Klaus has a much harder time staying in one spot for longer periods of time when he's in one of his older headspaces. When he's around a year or younger, the pup was content to sit quietly in his lap or sit on the floor next to him with a couple of toys. It wouldn't be fair to Klaus or Marcel to expect a hyperactive little boy to keep still and quiet for any time longer than five minutes. Despite knowing that leaving his son with a sitter was the best for everyone involved, but it still didn't make it any easier to leave him for any amount of time.

"I'll only be gone for an hour. Two, tops." Ansel slid his fingers through his boy's curls, lightly scratching at his scalp.

Klaus just emitted a wordless whine in response, leaning into the older wolf's touch.

"I know, pup, I know."

Ansel held his son for a few more minutes, until he glanced at his watch and saw the time. If he wanted to make it on time he needed to leave within the next ten minutes. So, with great reluctance, Ansel pushed Klaus back and forced himself to his feet.

"Alright, cuddlepup, I have to get going now." Ansel held out his hand for the pouting pup to grab. "Come on, let's go find your brother."

Klaus made a displeased sound in the back of his throat, but reluctantly grabbed his papa's hand.

Hand in hand, the two of them made their way downstairs. They quickly found the eldest Mikaelson brother in the kitchen, plating Klaus' favorite dinosaur divider plate with a few Ritz crackers, some cottage cheese and a few slices of salami.

Elijah looked up at them with a smile when they walked in.

"Good morning, Ansel, Niklaus." Elijah wiped his hands on a dishtowel before rounding the kitchen island towards the two of them. "I presume you're taking your leave now?" He asked, stopping in front of the older wolf.

Tagging (if you wanna): @angelique-of-the-volturi-guard, @tryan-a-bex, @si0writes, @autisticalastor, @nottapossum and anyone else who wants to join!

[mammonsturtle]

Oh Baby! Brother’s Aftermath

A/N : So I wasn’t planning on making this into a series but I figured I’d do the brother’s reflections and perhaps the last part where they try to reconcile with Fem!MC. This fic will be written differently in the brother’s perspective if the child is their’s.

A/N pt2 : This might not be written as well as I’d like as you can tell from the various ways I’ve written the brothers. But I am burnt out on writing in the replaced!AU so a definitive ending will probably not be out. Maybe in the future, but I can’t promise anyone anything.

Best to read my fic Oh Baby! to get some backstory to this.

@underratedbitch-number13 @dont-ask-me-pls @sufzku

**​CW: general angst, parental abandonment, unhealthy coping habits(?) **

Having been banished by Lord Diavolo from ever seeing you and their child again, the brothers had silently returned back to the House of Lamentation where they were forced to face the reality of their actions.

You were gone, and your child was gone as well. And it was their fault for not catching onto the charm of Maura, no doubt learning the best from the Great Witch Maddi. They had been so easily charmed and believing that Maura’s baby was theirs, and you, out of jealousy had proclaimed you were pregnant as theirs as well.

You had been nothing but honest, you had held onto hope that the demons you loved would have believed you. Yet the brothers had easily evicted you in favor of the witch. And they had moved on as if you didn’t exist. The last they saw of you was your pained look and the upsetting cries of their baby were etched into their memories.

Scattered across the house were various things for the baby: baby supplies, books, clothes, toys, and in a cruel twist, they had turned your room into the nursery for Maura’s baby. The gifts they had once given you, had been tossed out and a group photo of you and the boys had been smashed on the ground. 

He couldn’t remember how that night went down, he could only guess that you were desperate for any affection from him, and that was how his child came to be.

And now they had to face the music and pick up the pieces.

Lucifer

Being the eldest and the most powerful of the seven brothers, he should have seen this and prevented it ever happening. Yet again, he had failed someone he loved. And as with Lilith, he couldn’t ever see you nor his child, and be a family once more.

Fuck. The Great Maddi

She had gotten him this time, this was her plan all along. The witches knew how close you were close to the Avatars, of course they would do anything to tear you apart. How could he not figure it out sooner before it got out of hand?

He should have payed more attention to how one by one his brothers had been deserting you, before he fell under the same spell as well.

He instructed his brothers to clear your room of the baby supplies, if anyone was up to it. Mammon could take them all back and sell them if he wanted, or Asmo could drop them off to the neighborhood children who wanted them.

He just wanted them out.

Sealing his room with a spell and soundproofing it as well, Lucifer drags his feet to his cursed record collection. Picking out the album that he was searching for, he blows the dust from it and sets it in the record player.

Pouring himself a glass of demonus, he sat down in your favorite chair where you had watched him work. The soft melodies fill the room as Lucifer swirls the liquid around and his vision starts to blur. The record was the same one when you both danced around in his office as a much needed break from his paperwork.

The song feels more hollow to him now.

How could he have forgotten how terrified you looked as you held his child? They had his eyes, trembling ruby red eyes that had gazed upon himself and his brothers. He couldn’t fathom the pain you had gone through without him and his brothers.

His literal pride and joy was stolen away because he hadn’t been quick enough to catch onto the way his brothers, one by one had betrayed and strayed from you. He could only imagine how you and his child was living your lives now without him.

There was no way he could compete with the life that Diavolo had given you and his child, you were basically living with royalty. Everything you and your child wanted and needed was there in a snap of a finger. Barbatos was considered his equal as well, so how could he compete with them both? You and his child were very much set for life.

And great devils, the angels had occupied your life, as well as his child. Surely they’d have an influence on his child, for the worse. Especially that damned chihuahua. Would he and Simeon speak ill of him and his brothers for what they did to you?

And Solomon? On the surface, he’d teach his little one spells and magic and since you were still his apprentice, he’d still be close to you. An awful thought came to him. That he would use his child as leverage to make a pact with him.

He had been a less than stellar parental figure to Satan, and in some ways hadn’t been the best older brother to the rest of his family. But being unable to be there for his child, and for you, it might have been akin to losing you a second time.

But he would never have wanted to be a horrible father. He had tried to distance the one who threw him and his brothers out of Heaven for opposing him. Would you have instill the fact that he was a truly terrible father to his child? 

He knew he and his brothers hurt and neglected you for the past months, and he knew that you would not forgive them so easily for the pain they had inflicted upon you and your child. 

As the record comes to its conclusion, he goes back to put the record on. 

Lucifer shakes his head as he grabs the bottle of demonus as such foolish thoughts wouldn’t gotten under his skin so easily. He proceeds to drink the entire bottle and wallow in his sorrow once more.

His pride wouldn’t have mattered if it meant losing you and his baby in the process. He would do what it took to find a way back to your heart. He would beg, plead, fall to his knees, if it meant you both would come back to him.

Mammon

Mammon, surprisingly was the first to get to work on your room. He had gotten a head start on disposing of Maura’s things, throwing out all the baby supplies and trying to get your room back to how it was before. 

Perhaps he’d sell them right after this, it was the most logical thing he’d do. It was probably what his brothers’ figured as it was him who bought nothing but the most expensive and flashy things for her and her baby.

He’d want to sell these awful reminders so he could buy you and his child the best of the best of course. But that moment was gone, you both were. Laying on your bed, he lets the tears fall as he tried to inhale any trace of you. But couldn’t smell a trace of your existence here. He knew why of course.

And it was his own damn fault.

He was your first man, he should have been protecting you from what Maura had planned. Yet he was the first one to fall under her charms. Of course she knew what words to say to sway him in her favor, and how to isolate him from you.

Damn his greed to feel needed and depended on.

Finding the smashed photo of you and the family, his eyes started to water. The moment he saw the little carbon copy of himself in your arms, with the same trembling ocean blue eyes gazing upon him. He could had easily seen himself in his kid’s eyes and it was like a stab to his heart.

He vividly remembers the fear in your eyes from the brothers suddenly appearing once they found out Maura’s baby wasn’t any of their’s. He remembers how it was him who outright rejected your baby. How he wanted to take those words back.

Why would you want him back? Or any of his brothers back?

Even if you wanted them back, how in the Devildom was he supposed to compete with the life you had now? You had everything you wanted and needed with Diavolo and Barbatos. He could hardly keep his greed in hold. How the hell was he supposed to provide for you and his kid?

Not to mention you had the Angels and Solomon by your side, were they going to tell his kid that he was the Avatar of Greed? A lowlife scumbag of an Avatar who did anything and everything for money at the expense of others? That his greed would bring harm to you and his kid?

You had made your point as they all had stepped up while he and his brothers shipped out. You had the best of the best now, why would you go back with him and his brothers?

As soon as he places the photo back to its spot, Mammon had sorted all the things he’d sell off, until your room was back to what it was before. Trudging over to the familiarity of your bed, he collapses as he starts to cry quietly.

His tears are soaked onto your pillow, he could only wish you were here with him. To hold him and to comfort him whenever he had a bad day with his brothers or the witches gave him a hard time. You had always been there for him.

Your unconditional love and kindness was something he had been greedy for in a long time. You were the best thing in his life and he so easily lost it as if it was another day at the casinos.

He wanted to be your first man again and he wanted to be in his kid’s life. All the grimm and treasures in the Devildom could never amount to the love you’ve given him. Nor could it buy the unconditional love his kid would have given him either.  

He wanted to give the world to you both, you deserved it after all that you had went through on your own. He wanted to be your protector once again, and he would be the protector his kid as well. 

You were both the most precious treasures in the three realms, and no other valuables or riches could compare to. He swore by his father’s name, he’d fight his greed to be there for you and his kid. However long it’d take, he’d make things right by you and his kid.

Leviathan

This was like that anime, ‘I Got My Girlfriend Pregnant But A Witch Interfered And I Abandoned Her But She Had My Baby!” Levi was sure you and him watched that during his anime marathon ages ago. You joked how silly it was and it’d never happen, but here you were.

It was hard for him to wrap his head around the fact that he and yourself had done the deed. That charm must have stirred some courage in him if you both ended spending the night together, and that night had resulted in his little spawn being conceived.

He could see the fear in tiny citrus eyes that stared back at him, his own little spawn afraid of him of all people. He had never felt the want and need to have something as precious as them.

He had retreated back into his room as he had sunk into his bedtub, left to wallow in his misery. He had finished at his pace on removing the unnecessary baby supplies from your room. It was disgusting that he had burned through his Akuzon account to spend on Maura. 

All the anime, especially Ruri-chan baby clothes and baby supplies were hard for him to let go of it. Being a devoted fan to his Ruri wasn’t as satisfying as to him now that he realized that being devoted to you and his child. At least he wanted to know the feeling of being one, if you’d let him.

All he wanted was his best friend back in his life again. 

He was the second to fall for Maura’s charms seeing how she played with his envy. She had convinced him that you’d never want to hang with a filthy otaku like himself, and that she ‘got’ him. She became his irrational thoughts come true when you couldn’t make time with him and he had cursed his sin for winning over your words.

He already knew he couldn’t compete with Diavolo and Barbatos as he was just lowly otaku. And the Purgatory Trio were able to care for you and your child without any commitment to lifelong anime and gaming. They were able to be there for you, unlike him.

He still had power as the Admiral of the Devildom Navy, but even that position would keep him away from you and his child if he was still on duty. Admiral or committed otaku. How could he devote a life with you and his child and still have both of the worlds he held?

It hit him now.

Would you want yourself and your child to be a part of his double lifestyle? He knew you probably wouldn’t if he was committed to those interests rather than his own flesh and blood and the only friend he had. He’d never be there and he’d choose his interests over you and the baby.

Would you have felt disappointed and disgust at the thought of him being jealous over all the time and attention you were giving to the baby instead of giving time for him and his wants and needs?

No.

You were the only true friend he had in his entire existence, and he wasn’t going to let you slip out his hands. Nor was he going to be like his father and throw out his children when they were against him.

Like the determined protagonist, he was going to do what was right. He was dishonoring the otaku code as he had sealed the return packaging for Akuzon returns and sent them out. He didn’t want to tie these disgusting reminders of Maura to his child. He would do better. For you, and his child. He wanted his best friend back in his life. 

What was the point of going back to his old life if weren’t there with him?

Satan

Satan’s first instinct was to wreck the entire house as it was where everything had gone to shit. Yet it would mean a part of you would have to go as well. Satan returns to your room, cat themed baby supplies, toys, and books sat, all from him.

Like Lucifer, he should have caught on sooner on what was going on as the brothers, one by one were falling for her charms and abandoning you. Perhaps the comment of learning from the Great Maddi was something he should have been more attentive.

Accursed witches.

“1...2...3...” Satan attempts to calm himself as he couldn’t find it in him to tear these items to shreds without leaving your room as a warzone. He had lost you already, he didn’t want to lose his child as well. If you two had ever decided to come back to them.

The night was a haze as he couldn’t remember anything, but as soon as he saw his child, staring back at him with those vibrant green eyes. You had been telling the truth the whole time, and he could only feel regret for not finding out about Maura’s plot sooner.

His anger within him were like ocean waves as they ebbed and flowed. He should have done more for you, a demon who valued knowledge, yet he had not foresee such a predictable outcome.

Carefully taking all the items in the room, Satan decides to leave them off at the local orphanage before he retreats back into his room. No little nuggets of knowledge or fantastical stories could distract him from the reality before him. 

Lucifer wasn’t a perfect parental figure to him growing up, and so he had to rely on his brothers to raise him. Particularly Mammon and Asmo. But the opportunity to be a parent to his own child was something he did not want to fuck up.

He wanted you and his child back, you both were worth more than the books and archives that he possessed. Finding a book from the human world, one on human anatomy. A rather large edition as he absentmindedly flipped through the pages. 

He wanted to be there with every step of your pregnancy, he wanted to experience the wonder that was birth with you. His own birth was an awful reminder to his brothers of what they had lost that fateful day. What would his child see their birth as?

He so wanted to distance himself from Lucifer, who he saw as a failed parental figure to him. And now it seemed he was the failed parental figure to his own child. His blood boiled at the thought of comparing himself to Lucifer once more, and for the last time, he would do everything in his power to not 

Perhaps his child was in better hands? His child would be in a more stable environment growing up with the Royals. Even the angels and Solomon would provide a calm upbringing compared to the hand he was dealt.

He’d devote himself to you and his child, he’d forgo his many pursuits of knowledge if it meant you come back. He’d take a break from the Anti-Lucifer League if you both would stay, even if he’d wanted his child to take a part in it. You had healed the rage in him and fixed his family, he now wanted to heal what he had broken. It was only fair that he’d earn his happy ending.

Asmodeus

Asmo was a mess when they had come home, never to see you or his baby again. You were the first to love him for who he was, in his beauty and his ugly sides. He couldn’t bring himself to clean your room right away. Eventually he would.

How could he though? He, along with Mammon had went all out in spending all the grimm in making Maura and her baby live like royalty. Having to let them go was such a waste, but none of that would fit you or the baby anyways. 

Being the Avatar of Lust, the knows full well of the consequences of the many flings he had over millennias upon millennias. He probably had thousands of children that he carelessly left behind in his wake.

Yet when it came to you, and he had saw his child in your arms, he could not fight the tears that followed. Of course you had been telling the truth, and he and his brothers didn’t believe you. Little light orange eyes that could only be his, had stared at him as he were looking at his own reflection.

The fact you had rejected him and his brothers when they had snapped out of their shared control, it hurt him more than anything. You were the only person besides his family that he truly loved, and he’d still want you even if you had banished him.

Asmo sneaks into your room and it seemed like the brothers had cleansed it of Maura’s presence. He lets out a quiet sigh as the familiarity of your room had returned for now, and decides to head into the closet. Inside, there were the maternity clothes and baby clothes that had been left behind. 

How did the charmer managed to be charmed? Asmo isn’t too sure but he’s pulling the clothes and tossing them into a pile. Warm tears were starting to blur his vision as he emptied your closet, all that was needed was your clothes to be put back in its place. 

It was beyond his wildest dreams to have a child with you. When he saw his child in your arms, his heart swelled with love and adoration. Yet, at the moment he could only feel so empty. 

You were more than just another conquest, you had seen the ugliest side of him, along with the angelic and caring side of him that had been buried deep within him. Your love for him mattered more to him than any of his adoring fans, and right now, he wanted nothing but to shower you and his baby with all the love he possessed.

Not only did you heal the rifts in his family, you had healed the many rifts of insecurities within in his own heart. You had reminded him many times over that he didn’t need to be perfect for anyone, but for himself. Yet he had wanted to be perfect only for you.

Between the sobs and sniffles, Asmo could only look at the mountain of clothes and accessories spent on. If only he could be the one that spent all his time and money on you and his baby,  

No amount of self care and partying could heal the hole you left in his heart as he knew you were in good hands. Diavolo, Barbatos, and the angels would treat you like the queen you were. And Solomon? Asmo had hoped he could find a way for Solomon to keep him in the loop on how you were doing.

He knew you wouldn’t come back so easily, but he could only hope you’d forgive them for something out of their control. He would throw himself at your feet, commit every fiber of his being to you and the baby if it meant you’d come back. 

Beelzebub

Beelzebub was reluctant to go back home, he desperately wanted to have you and his little one back to be a family once more. Again, it was his fault that he had lost those that he had loved.

He had lost two more family members, you and his little one. He had vowed himself as the family’s protector, yet he couldn’t protect you from himself, nor Maura’s charms over him and his brothers.

Remembering how it was him and his twin who guarded Maura, Beel felt how queasy stomach felt right now. He really was just the dumb muscle of family as he blindly followed his brothers without question.

Beel would help clean out your room of what was there for Maura, as he tried to find anything left of you. Clearly, that wasn’t the case after the day you announced your pregnancy and left the brothers for good.

How could he have not noticed the strange knots in his stomach and irregular hunger patterns? They were obviously from you as you had gone through your cravings phase. Throughout it all, did you eat well? Did Solomon feed your his gourmet atrocities? You must have been well fed since you got the best food from the three realms.

Cleaning out the room, he had found baby food that he had proposed, and with Lucifer and Satan giving the green light, had enough food for the baby’s first crucial years. Beel frowns at the baby food, of course he wouldn’t let it go to waste. Maybe he’ll join the brothers in taking all of it to the orphanage.

Staring at the cleansed room, Beel wished you were back here with his baby. Sure the baby shared his twin’s eye color, but he was observant to notice the light orange peach fuzz on their head. His own little bub, only to slip out of his grasp as like Lilith had done before.

Finding himself in the kitchen, he could only reminisce on the memories you both had spent here, to be never felt again. Finding the fridge full of food, yet he couldn’t find it in him to eat a thing. His hunger was directed elsewhere.

You were in good hands, weren’t you? You had Barbatos, and at one point he had wished Barbatos cloned himself so he’d be here at the House of Lamentation. You also had Simeon and Luke there, you and your baby had all the food he could possibly imagine he could be feasting on.

He was sure Diavolo and Solomon would take the place of your protectors, with the Prince and the sorcerer with 72 demons; you were protected no matter what. He had prided himself as the family’s protector, yet he couldn’t protect you, nor his family from Maura’s intentions.

There was a unending ache in his heart and in his stomach, and he knew the only way he could make it stop. He would do anything to have you back, he wanted you to cure this ache like you had done before.

He had wanted to explore the new possibilities with you and his baby. He had so many new places he wanted to show you and the baby. He wanted them to experience the many outings that he had done so many times with you.

He wanted to be your protector, and the protector for his child. He wasn’t going to lose any more people that he loved. If you were to come back, he would commit himself wholly to you and his baby. 

His family had been broken many times before, this time though. He would make damn sure that it would never be broken again.

Belphegor

Belphegor would have joined his twin in cleaning your room back, but he was too emotionally and physically exhausted from the fallout of what had happened. Their home didn’t feel like a home now that you had left them.

And he, once again was the cause of your demise.

Once the brothers had finished clearing your room of Maura’s things and her baby’s, only then did Belphie sneak into your room. Finding his way towards your bed, he collapsed.

The baby of the family sunk into the mattress, he was aware of the lack of your presence and he knew that trying to find any trace was hopeless. The last nine months were a whirlwind for him, and with the seven brothers. You were completely erased from their home.

He, along with his twin were the ones who had fiercely protected Maura as her personal guard dogs. He blamed his sin for not being aware of her charms as he and his brother were charmed together as one. 

He saw his child in your arms and even with his twins eyes, he knew that they were his. A terrible ache swelled in his heart as he guiltily tries to sleep the thought off, yet he could not. 

Belphegor may had the power to give people nightmares and put them into eternal sleep, yet he was quaking at the thoughts of his own nightmares of you both.

Your hatred of him would have bloomed back as quickly as you had forgiven him, and now would his child hate him as well? There were so many ways you could have punished the brothers for their incompetence and their baby would have been known of it.

He missed you, he missed the nights spent together whether taking naps in the attic together or staring up at the stars at the planetarium. And he wanted to share it with his little one now, but would you give him, or any of his brothers the chance?

You had repaired his broken family, and yet he and his brothers had broken you. And they were broken once more, when would the cycle of his family being broken over and over end? 

As he holds onto your pillow, he could only wish you were here holding him in comfort. But you were in good hands now, what reason could you come back to him and his family?

As much as he despised Lord Diavolo and Barbatos, as much as he loathed the angels having any influence on you, and as much as the thought of you trusting that shady sorcerer over him and his brothers...They were the ones that did look after you and now looking after the baby after you were cast out by them.

Why would you come back? Did the love for his family died the moment they all turned on you? Belphie held the pillow tighter as the tears dared to be shed at the thoughts of having to watch you and his child just be a fleeting image.

The pain of having to watch you and his child live your life without him was enough of a waking nightmare that he could only wish he could wake up from.

The weeks soon turned into months, and the brothers were no doubt miserable without you and the baby. The house had never been so quiet and empty as the brothers sat in the living room.

By now, the house had been cleared of all traces of Maura living there and your room had been restored to its former glory. The only thing that was missing was you and their baby to make the house whole once more.

Another day without both of you just wasn’t worth living as the brothers could only reflect on how they should have noticed the red flags. If they could go back in time and kick some sense into their old selves, none of this would have happened.

“I want to see MC and the baby again.” Beel breaks the silence as the brothers sadly groaned. Giving the brothers an apologetic look, Beel huffs as he gave up on his bag of newt chips.

It was apparent that no one spoke up about you since their banishment, and the brothers had resigned the fact that they’d never see you nor the baby again. Nothing was going to make it the same as it was.

“Why can’t we go see them? It’s not like we had any control of what happened.” Belphie mutters as he leans against his twin and closes his eyes for another nap.

The normally vibrant Asmo had been picking at his unpainted nails, “But...We haven’t been there at all, we might be here now, but she still doesn’t want us.” he sighed dejectedly.

Satan sighs as he shakes his head, and tossed his book aside. “Even if it was out of our control. We abandoned MC, and the baby. We couldn’t be there for her. There’s no doubt that she suffered greatly because of us, simple as that.”  

“Even if MC wanted to come back, why would she? She’s living the good life over there at the castle.” Levi mumbled as he had lost interest in his game and sighed as he slumped into the sofa next to the twins.

Mammon who had been uncharacteristically quiet since you had left, looked to the eldest as he always did in crisis. “Lucifer...Can’t ya do anythin? Anythin, whateva it takes to get ‘em back. I’ll stop bein a scumbag if tat’s what it takes to get em back.”  

Lucifer is silent for a moment. Anything? Memories of swearing allegiance to Diavolo flooded back to him. Would it have to happen to his brothers too, just to get you back? “There’s nothing we can do now. MC has made her decision...It may as well take a miracle that she decides to forgive us. We will wait until then.”

They gazed upon the family portrait that hung above the fireplace. There, you sat in the middle of the brothers, who had surrounded you in the shot. There was only one thing they wanted.

All they wanted was to be a family again.

It was a normal day in the Demon Lord’s Castle as you were in the middle of an routine appointment with one of the royal doctors as your little one was growing up quickly.

“Your child is growing just fine. Impressive for the little spawn, the avatar’s blood is strong in this one.” Felnara comments as your little one was already teething. “It seems the brews you had taken during the pregnancy haven’t affected your little one very much. Which is good.”

The weeks had gone by quickly as your little one was growing fast, it was so exciting, yet so bittersweet. They were looking more and more like their father, which made it harder for you to forget about the Avatars. You had wished they were here to see them reach their milestones. You wished he was there to see his child grow up. But with the brothers being banished, you knew it was for the best.

Deep down, you still missed them all.

You had traded in a normally chaotic life with the brothers for a calm, yet orderly life in the palace with Diavolo and Barbatos. It would have been full of hardship had you been a single parent, a human with a halfing would be daunting for anyone. But you were grateful for the Royals and the Purgatory Trio, who were there to assist you and let you have breaks from being a mother.

“MC.” Barbatos had come with tea and biscuits for you. Felnara bows to the steward, giving your little one a pinch on the cheek before leaving you both.

“Oh hi.” You reply back as if you were in a trance. But your little one’s squirming in your arms and their excited babbling in response to seeing Barbatos reminded you of the present.

Raising an eyebrow as he studies you, you had these fleeting moments as of late. As you let your child nibble on a biscuit, you kept your focus on them. Barbatos hums as he rubs his chin as he knew you too well. 

Since the day you found out the brothers had been banished from seeing you and your baby. 

“You miss them, don’t you? Especially him.” Barbatos figures as you look away guiltily and sigh. He chuckles lowly and shakes his head as he sits across from you. “Do you wish to see them again? Him?”

“I do...I know it’s foolish of me to. Since, you know...” You murmur as you wipe the crumbs off your child’s face and their eyes met your’s. There they were, a constant reminder of him. “I want them to know who their father is of course.”

“So you have forgiven them?” the butler speculates but you shake your head in response.

“I haven’t. Not yet. I know it was out their control, but I still felt the pain from what happened. But...” You look down at your child as they giggled at Barbatos and you sigh. 

“I may not want them in my life at the moment...But I can’t help but think about my little one. Somewhere along the line, they’ll ask me who their real father is. I don’t think it’ll change the fact that Lord Diavolo, Simeon, Solomon, and yourself are wonderful father figures to them. But, they’ll have to know the truth sooner or later.” You let out a frustrated groan as you could only imagine the many ‘what-ifs’ in the future when it came to coming clean to your kid about their absent father.

You felt worry lines creep across your forehead as Barbatos simply smiles, “I see. If that is the case, I will mention it to Young Master. He has feelings about father issues as well.” Barbatos states as he bows to you, leaving you with your thoughts.

Your baby fusses at the butler leaving them and you sigh as you kiss their head, “Well bub, what do you think?”

Now came the hard part.

Would you choose to forgive them for what they’ve done? And let them back into your life with their child? Or did you want to move on from them forever and forge a new future for the better of your child?

To be continued...?

[amor-immortalem]

Replaced

Genre: Heavy Angst, Angst with a somewhat happy ending.

Warning: The following piece is my take on the replaced! au with Arella. Dark themes lie ahead. If you are triggered by feelings of abandonment, suicidal ideation, or outright suicide, this mini fic is not safe for you to read. Please continue at your own discretion.

A/N: I did it guys! I actually managed to break myself with this mini fic by digging into my own abandonment issues. It was fun- cathartic almost. Please enjoy! Also, spoilers for the lesson 16 incident.

What does it feel like to be replaced? If you were to ask Arella, she’d say it felt bitter and painful. Like someone was holding a white-hot branding iron to her stomach and pushing it in to the point it ate through all the layers of her skin and was now searing through her stomach or like someone was rubbing salt into a open, festering wound.

When Diavolo had announced to the other student council officers that a new exchange student would be joining their ranks, Arella was excited- especially when she found out the new student was a female- there was only so much Arella could talk about in a house full of men and one genderless individual that they would understand, all of them having been assigned male at birth and whatnot. So, another woman among their ranks would be a breath of fresh air for her. And it was for a time being- until the brothers had taken favor to this new human.

It started within months of this new exchange student arriving. One by one, her favorite demons started hanging around her more often. It wasn't like Arella could be mad at them. This human was novel and oh so different from Arella. She was everything Arella was not, from her blonde hair to her well-developed body- even her height, which matched closer to the brothers. She was everything human world media told a girl she should be. She even looked like she fit in with them- having taken to the Devildom like a duck to water even without being able to use magic.

Arella wants to be angry with this girl, but she can’t. This girl, named Melissa, was so sweet it was almost enough to make Arella sick. She was smart, innocent, and -above all else- selfless. It was apparent the boys adored her immediately. One by one, Arella was losing them to the charms of this new girl. The first to go was Satan, clearly smitten by her love of books and knowledge of obscure but very talented authors. The second to go was Asmo, often taking her out to clubs or on long shopping trips that often lasted well past curfew. And just like that the other brothers started to follow suit. Game nights between her and Levi? Gone. Drawing up budgets with Lucifer? Not anymore. Going out with Beel to cafes? Not in her wildest dreams. Naptimes up in the attic with Belphie? Hah! Fat chance. The last and most painful to pull away was Mammon- her first man. The one who swore he would always be there for her when she needed him. And oh how she needed him.

Just like when Arella had first come to the Devildom, Mammon was given the task of watching over Melissa by Lucifer. At first Arella tried to justify it as Lucifer worrying about the girl’s safety as even though his brothers had gotten better at controlling themselves, they still had their moments.

As time went on however, she started to notice the little things. Missed movie nights between them, date nights often forgotten about in favor of showing Melissa his favorite spots around the city, the loss of any physical intimacy. Soon, he stopped seeing her all together. Things that she and Mammon did together were now reserved for Melissa: casino trips, movie nights, pranks on Lucifer that would have the eldest chasing after them, running around the city until it was nearly what could considered to be the Devildom’s equivalent of dawn. She knew he was completely gone when she walked down to the dining room for supper one evening and overheard them just casually flirting. Mammon didn’t even make any attempts to dissuade Melissa’s advances. He remembered he actually had a girlfriend, right? Right?!

Or were they even a thing anymore? It had been months since they’d spent any substantial time together outside of classes and even then, he’d moved seats to sit closer to the new human. He’d either ignore her texts or straight up just ghost her altogether. As she listened to them, she had to push down the possessive tendencies that tried to force their way out of her. She pushed them back down into the flimsily locked box they had always been contained in and burying them down in the deepest parts of her mind, forcing herself to accept that she was no longer wanted- no longer loved by the family she thought she’d found. She returned to her room for the rest of the night and for the first time since the initial weeks after arriving here on her first visit, cried herself to sleep.

The next time she interacted with any of the Avatars, it was Lucifer ordering her off to school telling her that she had better not be late and tarnish the good name Lord Diavolo and the exchange programme. Arella only nodded and promptly left the house, not even bothering to finish her morning cup of tea. The walk to school was lonely, Mammon had left earlier with Melissa and it was then, with a broken heart, Arella decided she would leave them all to their new toy. They wouldn’t bother her. They didn’t need her. At least she had Solomon and the angels, didn’t she? No, it didn’t seem to be the case either judging by the mass of unanswered texts.

As she entered class, Arella took her usual seat only hoping Mammon would choose to sit with her for once, would just choose her for once in general. But it wasn’t meant to be. Of course, it wouldn’t. Why would he bother to choose her when there was someone who was much better for him than her? Someone who wasn’t selfish or possessive or... or... worthless... She subtilty looked over her shoulder to watch as they cracked jokes and laughed together and she felt tears pool in her eyes- heart aching at the thought that she would never have that again and the sweet memories she’d made with the demon. The spot she once saved for him was now taken by another demon.

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

Two months more of this- it had been eleven since Melissa joined them. None of the brothers even looked Arella’s way anymore- often forgetting she lived in the house with them in the first place. When she tried to reach out to any of them it was Melissa needs this or Melissa and I are doing this, so she just stopped. She stopped eating, stopped taking care of herself save for basic hygiene needs. No one came to check on her. There were no texts, no calls, nothing. They’d gotten all they wanted out of her and now she was like a cast aside doll. She thought about reaching out to any of them but decided against it. They were demons and she was just an insignificant human. It's not like they actually cared and Arella was a fool for allowing herself to entertain the thought.

She should just go home. But where was home? The human world held nothing for her to return to. Sure, she had that degree in biochemical engineering to fall back on but after having a taste of true happiness, would she even enjoy a life doing that? Maybe she could just go back to her original plan. The plan she had made when she first signed on to the exchange programme. 23 years was certainly long enough to experience everything life had to offer, right? She always did tell herself if the year on the exchange programme didn’t work out, she’d end it all. The idea was sounding more and more appealing by the minute.

With her mind made up, Arella swung her legs over the side of the bed. A smile was painted on her face. Her cheeks stained with tears; emerald-green eyes bleary from all the crying she’d done over the past two months. No one would miss her. They left her- abandoned for the better human like she was an unwanted pet. What did she expect though? No one ever stayed. No one ever cared. No one ever loved her enough to begin with. She was always thrown away like the trash she was after her purpose was fulfilled.

With what little strength she could muster, Arella stood as she uttered a spell and a portal opened. She gladly stepped through it, finding herself in her childhood home as it closed- a place filled with nothing but suffering and pain for her. What a fitting place for her own painful end.

“Hello, Mum, Myles... I’m... home... Isn’t it lovely... that you were right after all? I’ll be with you... soon...”

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Missing his call on her D.D.D. was the first thing that Mammon noticed. He knew he hadn’t been the best boyfriend ever since the new human arrived and the demon felt guilty for that. He’d put so much energy into helping Melissa get a date with his younger brother that he hadn’t realized how much time had actually passed- how it had been almost a year since he’d done literally anything with his girlfriend. She was probably pissed at him and rightfully so. Now that he had actually looked at his calendar, there had been so many planned dates and movie nights he had missed with her and all he wanted to do was make it up to her somehow. She probably thought he didn’t want her anymore which couldn’t have been further from the truth. He missed her- missed hanging out with her, missed the dumb jokes they would crack and the laughter that followed, missed the pranks they would play on Lucifer that often ended up with them strung up from the ceiling together. He missed the late-night cuddles and having her tucked up under his arm at night as he held her close. The bed they had once shared was considerably colder now that she was no longer there.

Mammon made his way down to her room. That was the only place she could be. Arella never left her room anymore. She always left for school earlier than anyone else too, choosing to skip breakfast outright, so Mammon couldn’t even catch her to talk then. He thought about reclaiming his seat next to his human but every morning he found her chatting up another demon that had taken his old seat. He often felt his possessiveness spike most during those times but did he even have the right to feel that way after neglecting her for the past eleven months?

As he drew closer to her room, he could see Beel knocking at her door, asking if she’d like to go visit that new café she had mentioned a couple weeks ago. When there was no answer, the Avatar of Gluttony would frown, unsure if she was just asleep or just actively ignoring him. That was the second sign something was wrong. No matter what happened, at the end of the day, Arella was always happy to entertain their whims.

“She’s not answerin’ ya, is she?” The second-born asks as the sixth-born shakes his head, looking like an abandoned puppy on the side of the road. “I’ll go in ‘n see if she’s awake. I have to talk to ‘er anyway.”

Beelzebub nodded as he left back to the kitchen- likely to eat his hurt feelings away. None of them really had the right to feel this way after they’d just ghosted their favorite human though. As he opened the door, Mammon stopped dead in his tracks. She wasn’t there, her phone lay on the bed lit up with missed texts from Asmo and Levi.

Immediately, he took off for Lucifer’s study. If anyone would know her whereabouts it would be Lucifer, right? The family patriarch had the uncanny ability to know exactly where every resident of the House of Lamentation was at any given time so long as they were still in the Devildom.

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

After considering her options, Arella was left indecisive. There were a number of ways she could end her own life. She wouldn’t lie, before the exchange programme she would fantasize about the many ways she could kill herself. Would it be by hanging like she found Myles? Or perhaps she could slit her wrists like her beloved mother. If the car in the garage still worked, carbon monoxide poisoning was a valid option too. There were sleeping pills up in the medicine cabinet- a large handful of those would definitely do the trick... Ah choices, choices. As she smiled to herself, the human wondered if any of the brothers had noticed she wasn’t in the house anymore. The chances were unlikely as they were all too busy with their new human but if they had, who was it?

Would it be Asmo, Levi, Belphegor? Surely, it wouldn’t have been Mammon. He’d long since moved on, probably enjoying the start of a new relationship with Melissa. It hurt that he couldn’t have been bothered to even break up with Arella in the first place. What happened to forever? Had it all been the honeyed words of a liar?

She shook her head. It was best not to think too much on it but she still couldn’t help it. Once she was gone- once their pact faded away- would he regret this? Would he regret losing the person who loved him so unconditionally that it was almost embarrassing?

With her mind made up, Arella grabbed a knife from one of the drawers in the kitchen and carried herself up to the master bedroom where she had found her mother four years prior. As she lie on the bed, she pressed the knife to her wrist deep enough to cause substantial bleeding. She drags the blade up her arm, watching as the crimson liquid gushed from the from the wound. She thinks it’s beautiful- a fitting end for a vile creature such as herself.

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

“Lucifer!”

“What, Mammon?” The eldest didn’t even bother to look up from the ever-growing stack of paperwork on his desk.

“Did Arella have plans tonight?” The Avatar of Greed asks as his brother finally looks up at him.

“Not that I’m aware of, but I also haven’t seen her all day. As her mate, you should know, shouldn’t you? As far as I’m aware, Arella hasn’t left the house and is still in her room probably practicing her mag-”

In that moment, both demons felt a sharp pain shoot up their arm as if someone had taken a knife and was drawing a line up the inside of their arm. The same pain was radiating from the places where their pact marks were located. Mammon clutched at his chest as he fell to his knees, the symbol representing his girlfriend radiating with pain that reached down to his heart. If the screams of the others were anything to go by, they felt the same thing.

“She’s not in her room!” The white-hair demon manages to gasp out. What scares him most is that he can feel their pact fading away.

Lucifer’s heart leapt up in his throat as the realization hit him. It wasn’t her practicing magic that he had sensed earlier, it was her casting a spell. She opened a portal to the human world and had gone through. He now realizes the mistake they’ve made as he remembers back to the confession she had made to him over a year ago one night when neither of them could sleep and opted for a late-night cup of tea. She had told him that he and his brothers had saved her life that first year during the exchange programme. That if things hadn’t worked out so well, she had planned to take her own life. Back then, he thought nothing much of it since the problem had resolved itself. But with how they had essentially pushed her aside in favor of Melissa, she would have felt unwanted bringing the suicidal thoughts back full force. They had to get to her and fast before it was too late.

Always fast on his feet the eldest, opens a portal of his own, knowing of only one place she would go to take her own life. Both brothers would hop through, landing in the dusty house with a thud. The smell hit them faster than either of them could process it. Blood. And a lot of it at that.

Mammon was the first to scramble for the stairs while Lucifer made a break for the phone, having forgotten his D.D.D. on his desk in the rush to get through the portal. The second-born knows the layout of Arella's house too well, having been here with her multiple times before this. Back in better times when she knew just how much he loved her. As the smell of fresh blood grows stronger, he finds her resting on the bed, a smile on her face as the knife lay between her body and the arm that was still slowly losing blood.

Faster than a flash of lightning, the demon tore his belt off and was on the bed immediately. He took her arm, fastening his belt around the upper part in a tourniquet to stop the blood flow. He shook her frantically, tears spilling down his face freely.

“Arella! Arella! C'mon, baby, wake up! Please!” His voice came out in a scream and he could only vaguely hear his brother speaking on the phone with emergency services. “We’re sorry! Don’t leave us! Don’t leave me!”

With every passing second, Mammon could feel her life slipping away through the pact that was still searing his heart. This was the price of his actions- of all their actions. Her blood was on his hands, literally. He should have done more. He should have been there. He could have called or texted or even just picked up the damn phone when she had called him, but instead just like the blood that had slipped from her arm, the Avatar of Greed let her slip through his fingers. She was gone and there was no bringing his human back this time like they had when Belphie threw her body down the stairs after he’d strangle her to death. He and his brothers had spent all that time protecting her from other demons but they couldn’t protect her from themselves.

Once the EMT’s got there, the demon stepped back from the blood-soaked bed in a state of shock- a state of disbelief. There was nothing they could do for her now. She had no pulse, no signs of life. He dropped to his knees unable to believe that his human was truly gone. His throat felt tight as more tears came. He was only just able to register the feeling of the Avatar of Pride’s embrace as they cried together- something they hadn’t done since the fall, since Lilith passed.

The two demons were informed that the coroner would arrive to collect her body shortly as they left the room. Slowly they got up, Mammon taking her body in his arms as he fought back the urge to sob. The pair returned to the House of Lamentation with Arella’s body in tow, cradled carefully in her mate’s arms. As they stepped through, they were met by their brothers and Melissa. Even the Angels, Solomon, and the Royals were there waiting.

“She’s gone,” The eldest’s voice cracked as a pained grimace formed on his face, more tears slipping down his face. Mammon couldn’t even lift his head to look them in the eyes as the crying, wailing, sobbing started.

“We didn’t deserve ‘er.” The second-born chokes on his tears, feeling utterly broken inside. “We did this to ‘er. All... All seven of us did this... She reached out to alla us ‘n we ignored ‘er.” He’s the angriest with himself.

The prince and his butler only watch on, tears in their eyes. Diavolo remembers all the good times they’ve had with Arella. The way she made the lives of the Avatars better, the fun she brought to the student council meetings, the beautiful light she’d brought to the Devildom. She’d made such an impact on the lives of all of these demons and angels. As selfish as it was, Diavolo didn’t want to let any of that go.

“Bring her back, Barbatos.” He orders and his loyal servant steps forward.

“Place her on the ground, Mammon.” Barbatos says calmly, almost as if he’s done this a thousand times and for some reason the Avatar of Greed obeys the order.

Once she’s on the ground, the green-haired demon pulls open her mouth and takes Mammon’s hand in his, producing a dagger and slicing the white-haired demon’s palm tipping it to side and allows the blood to drop into Arella’s mouth. As the crimson liquid flows down her throat, the effect is immediate- Arella's body convulsing violently before she gasps for breath as the gash along the inside of her arm heals.

Everyone- demons, angels, and humans alike- stare wide-eyed at the scene. Lucifer looks up to his longtime friend in disbelief. He had just...

“Let this teach you all a very painful lesson. I’ve given her life as a demon, do not take this chance for granted. You will not get it again. She needs rest for now, but in a day or two, Arella will reawaken.” The prince’s voice is stern as he peers down at the former human who would now become a very powerful demon. “Treat her right this time.”

It’s with that that Diavolo and Barbatos take their leave. The rest was up to the brothers now to care for her and right the wrongs they’ve made.

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

Next

The Bad Ending

Find more on my masterlist

[bohemian-barbie]

A/N: So last week I had checked my follower count and saw that I was well over 1,000! I’m so thankful and grateful! I’ve decided that I’m gonna make this fic into little snapshots of moments into our favorite family’s life So here’s part two! I hope you guys love it☺️❤️

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

You followed closely behind your little tot, seeing as how she just learned how to walk you wanted to be able to catch her if she took a tumble. “Where ya going piglet?” Chris took to calling her that and the nickname just seemed to stick. You followed Danica all the way to the living room where you watched her toddle over to a sleeping Dodger and giggled as she took his stuffed lion and simply declared “mine”. You laughed “baby that’s not yours”she didn’t really care though and once again declared the lion as hers as she started toddling away with it. Dodger then woke from his nap and saw his tiny human leaving with his lion, he carefully trotted over to her and took the lions leg in his mouth stopping Dani in her tracks.

She furrowed her brow (looking so much like Chris when she did, you noted) and tugged on the lions arm “no doggie, mine”. Dodger locked his jaw and tugged harder, Dani gave it her best but you still knew exactly how this was going to go, you saw the events unfolding as dodger pulled the lion harder prompting Dani to lose her balance and fall forward and letting out a huge wail. You went to pick her up to soothe her crying and it was so loud you didn’t even hear Chris announce he was home with the boys. He came into the living room and saw you trying to console her. “What happened?” Dani’s wails only became louder. You handed her off to Chris in hopes that he could calm her down seeing as you couldn’t.

“Dani tried taking Dodgers lion but Dodger thought that meant she was trying to play tug of war. Dodger won and Dani fell face forward on the floor”. Chris gently rubbed Dani’s back and swayed with her until her wails turned to quiet whimpers and your jaw dropped “I still don’t get it, I just did the same thing and she only cried louder”. Chris smirked “yeah but she’s Daddy’s little princess”. You put your hands on your hips “I’m glad you think that’s funny Christopher”. Chris leaned back so he could get a good look at his little girl, he carefully wiped her tear stained cheeks “you’re okay piglet” he kissed her forehead “but no more trying to take the doggie’s toys alright?” Dani curled her little fists and rubbed her eyes as she slowly nodded her head. He gave her one last kiss on her head and set her down on her butt. Dodger approached her, sniffed her and licked her face. Dani laughed, signaling she was no longer upset.

She bent forward to use her hands as a balance to get her legs upright, as she was raising the rest of her body Dodger put his nose on Dani’s tushie so she wouldn’t fall back on her bottom. You and Chris gushed at the sweet moment just as Ryan and the twins came barreling into the living room. Ryan wrapped his arms around your legs “mommy can we go play outside with Dodgie?” You looked down at him, ready to say yes when you saw what looked to be crumbs around his mouth. You bent down to his height to get a closer look. As you were wiping the crumbs off his face you noticed a little chocolate smudge on the corner of his mouth. You took a glance at the twins and saw the same crumbs and chocolate smudges. You squinted your eyes and looked back at your eldest child “Ryan, how’d you get cookie crumbs on your face”?

He looked down and just shrugged his shoulders “I dunno mommy...” Chris crossed his arms and raised an eyebrow “Ryan tell the truth”. Ryan kicked his little foot “I helps the twins get in the cookie jar”. Your eyes widened “how on earth did you do that?” He once again shrugged his shoulders “Christopher Ryan-“ “I let the twins stand on my back”. You held his little face gently in your hands “Ryan baby you can’t do stuff like that, it’s very dangerous and you and your brothers could have gotten hurt” “I’m sorry mommy” you pulled him in for a hug “just ask me or Daddy next time bud”. He nodded and soon you heard him giggling. You pulled back “what’s so funny?” Suddenly you saw Dodger running past you with Danica on his back, the twins running behind them and Chris quickly taking off after them. Not a moment later Chris came back with Danica over his shoulder and the twins sitting around each of his legs “I’m sure this is all karma for how Scott and I drove our Ma crazy”. You couldn’t help but laugh “yeah, but I wouldn’t want it any other way Spangles”.

[darkhymns-fic]

Sword Games

Maybe it wasn't proper for her to play games so often, clothes scuffed by the dirt, her palms developing calluses from the toy weapons she and Lloyd used - but even an up-and-coming Chosen can only be a child once.

Fandom: Tales of Symphonia Characters/Pairing: Lloyd Irving/Colette Brunel Rating: G Mirror Link: AO3 Notes: This was written for Day 1: Childhood Friends of this year’s Colloyd Week! Starting off with my favorite trope :D This fic references a small comment made by Colette in Altamira about how her and Lloyd used to play sword games when they were little, and the image of it just wouldn't leave me.

--

During a routine prayer at the temple, Colette felt she owed her very life to Lloyd. 

"Chosen, please read from the top of the page," spoke one priest, the eldest of the group of four who stood with her in a certain atrium of the temple, which was shadowed due to the thick curtains from the slit windows made in the stone. Martel's symbol was woven onto the fabric, faded with time, yet still the pattern so embedded into Colette's memory. There were few accessories for comfort in the Iselia Chapel, with only the assembled cobblestone at her feet, and the aged daises that had been placed in front of a corridor that led deeper into the temple.

But Colette could barely pay attention to any of that. Her eyes were fixated on the priest who had the bushiest eyebrows she had ever seen on a person! And she had recently met the funny dwarf that had come into town the other day, ruffling her hair with a warm hand.

She stared too long, resulting in a clearing of the throat from the elder. With a start, the eight-year old shook her head and stood up straight. "Yes, Father." 

Colette took a breath as she looked at the book of Angels, which was held on a stand in front of her, too big for her small arms to carry. "Our Goddess Martel blesses us with the mana of heaven… When her Chosen prays before the seal of light…"

A sound to the right, one that an acolyte priest to her right noticed, but was unsure. Colette tried to hold back the excitement from her voice.

"The Angels descend to the earth, to lead the Chosen to heaven…"

"What was..?" The same priest wondered aloud, while the man next to him shushed him. Colette could barely pay attention to what she was reading.

“The earth will swallow up the Desians whole with a great roar…”

And once her recitation was answered with a loud yell, perhaps one or two priests that the description of the Oracle had finally come true.

"Sneak attack!"

A boy in red, suspenders holding up his dark shorts, his hair a mess of brown spikes and cow licks, jumped from a stone pillar and swung down two wooden swords that already had nicks along the edges. His shout echoed inside the atrium, bouncing across the walls.

As the flurry of old men scattered at the shout, Colette stood her ground...and reached down to grab a small staff (one of her grandmother's spare walking sticks) that she had hidden underneath the book stand before her lesson.

"Nope!" she yelled back, blocking Lloyd's double sword attack. The feel of it made her arms shake, spiking sudden adrenaline in her as she shoved him away. "Gotta do better than that!" 

"No way!" Lloyd jumped back. One of the swords was cracked slightly, yet still he tried to brandish it with a flourish. Though his right hand was bandaged around the center of his palm, covering part of his knuckles, he held onto his weapon with barely a flinch as he rushed towards Colette. "I'm still going to win!"

She laughed as she blocked his attack. There was another satisfying thwack! sound, repeating each time their swords made contact. There was once a time when such play would slightly sting her hands, but she had long grown used to it now, holding her weapons with comfort.

"Chosen! This is preposterous!" The elder priest huffed, calling from the side of the room where he had run off earlier in fright. "And no one of the populace is to be allowed in the temple!"

Colette thought on such words, feeling guilty to have made her mentors so upset... and then rushed toward the direction of the exit. "Then we'll take this outside!"

"Hey, wait up!" Lloyd shouted, grinning with ecstatic glee. He kept waving around his swords, more than once nearly throwing them out of his hands. 

"Chosen!" But even as the other priests shouted for her, she kept running, knowing that it was only Lloyd who would follow her all the way.

--

Down the moss-covered stairs of the temple, out onto the shoreline that she was typically not allowed near, both her and Lloyd continued their sword fights until both of their arms felt like they had been turned to jelly.

"No fair!" Lloyd was shouting as he tried to perfect his new technique on her! One that he had explained to her once of how he would charge up a spin in the air for extra power, but he mostly just stumbled on the sand instead. "You can't use double swords too!"

Colette stuck out her tongue at him. She held out a stick she had found in her backyard that morning and kept hidden in her dress at the side. "I want to use two just like you! I think it looks really cool."

The compliment completely changed Lloyd's tune, a flush on his cheeks. "Well...it is cool! You're right!"

Yet even with her newfound double sword power, neither could outmaneuver the other. The sound of the slamming wood punctured the air, so sharp, mingling with the cries of the seagulls that hovered near the water. Lloyd held his own, spinning and slashing with his swords, and she mimicked him, nearly always tumbling down before she righted herself up.

Until one time she didn't – and slammed her body right into Lloyd until both fell onto the sand in defeat.

"Heeey!" Lloyd whined, his swords falling out of his hands, far from reach. "No tackling!"

But Colette had lost her swords (staff and stick) as well, both of them stuck in the dunes far off to her right. And so with nothing left to hold, she gave herself to fall flat onto the ground, just a few inches from Lloyd who laid down next to her, his hair dusted with so, so much sand. Both of their arms were outstretched, taking in deep breaths of the sea-salt air.

"Sorry…" she said with a pant. Her eyes were directed to the sky, where the sun shone so bright, the waves crashing nearby. "I tripped again."

"You gotta be careful.." Lloyd's voice was gentle, losing the luster from before when exhaustion finally caught up with him. "So, who won this round then?"

"Well, we both dropped our swords at the same time." Colette scrunched her forehead, thinking of the hazy set of rules she and Lloyd had set up for their fight. "Maybe it's a tie!"

"Again?" Lloyd whined, and from her corner of her eyes, she could just barely make out a pout from him. "We need Genis to referee our next battle."

Colette kept taking in big breaths, watching the arc of sea birds fluttering in the air, occasionally blocking out the sun. "I think that would be nice."

"Hm, we'd have to explain the rules to him though." Lloyd was kicking the back of his shoes into the ground, scuffing up sand with each motion. "And he only knows about those ken… k… the kendo-whatever things he always uses instead of swords."

"I didn't know much about swords either." Colette made sure to turn around on her side to face him. "Not until you told me about them."

There was something then in the way he laid there, not too far from her, his face soaking up the sunshine. His arms and legs were already tanned from the outside, in comparison to her pale skin. She just liked noticing that, the small little differences between them. Every morning, her grandmother would painstakingly brush her hair until it was straight and reached down to the middle of her back, while Lloyd’s hair looked as if he had just rolled out of bed. And his clothes would be stained with dirt marks and remnants of grass, while her own would barely get a wrinkle… except for now…

"Yeah… and you're really good with them!" Lloyd grinned at her, the sight of it making her chest tighten in a very strange and new way. Maybe it was the way the sun hit his hair, or how his grin looked different from last week after losing one of his baby teeth. 

"Only because you've been teaching me!" Colette gripped the sand between her fingers, letting them sift out again as she relaxed them. "Do you think I could have my own swords someday?"

"Yeah, why not? The only thing you're better at than swords are the frisbees you throw for Noishe".

To Colette, that was the highest compliment anyone had ever given her. She gazed at Lloyd, shuffling just a bit closer to him. There would be sand all over her clean dress, but she didn't care. "Really?"

"Yep!" At that, Lloyd moved until he was flat on his stomach instead, but kept his chin above the sand so that he could keep looking at Colette. "You're really cool, Colette."

Hearing that, Colette looked straight at him, seeing the wind pull at a lock of that messy hair.

"Why do you think that?" she asked, half-afraid of what he'd say. Because I'm the Chosen? It was all anyone ever called her first, her name second. She swallowed, unsure why there was sadness in her suddenly.

"Huh? Well… because you are!" Lloyd laughed, some of the sand getting onto his lips. "You're really funny, and you know about every dog there is… and you're the only one who'll play swords with me." At that last one, his voice had gone softer with half-shame. "Everyone else thinks I'm weird for bringing mine everywhere…"

"But it's not weird! It.. makes you look really cool, too." She shifted her legs in the sand, bare legs tickled by the feel of it. "And you always want to play with me and show me pictures of doggies, and.." 

She started to hear herself and clamped up. A priest would tell her when she should trim her words down for the Goddess. The less said, the better, for the Martel didn't want empty words...

"Yeah, why wouldn't I want to play with you?” His laugh tickled her ears. “See, you really are funny when you talk like that, Colette."

It was such moments like these that Colette would keep with her until the day of the Oracle. The feel of the salt on her tongue from the nearby ocean that she wasn't allowed to swim in, the wind tugging at her collar, and the russet brown of Lloyd's eyes, always so warm and wide.

"You know, when you're like this...you look kinda like a turtle." She smiled at the thought, kicking her legs from side to side. 

At that, Lloyd looked entirely confused. "Huh? But I'm not a turtle…"

"I meant like one, not that you are one! Because you're on your stomach, and have your head sticking out like they do."

"Why only turtles though?" Lloyd frowned, but she could still see the precious grin held in its shape. "I'm just laying down like Noishe does!"

"No, he lays like this!" Colette rolled onto her back again, holding up both arms and legs. Her dress fluttered in the wind, and in the back of her head, she could hear the word improper and childish echo, but the waves drowned it away, worries for another day. "See?"

"That's only when you're petting him!"

This conversation kept going in all its strange tangents until eventually they exhausted themselves, laughing themselves silly. And because of that, she suddenly wanted to ask him what had been on her mind since the priests handed her the scriptures to memorize.

"Hey, Lloyd?"

Lloyd was now making little sand piles with his hands, showing it off to Colette until her voice stopped him. "Yeah, what is it?"

"Do you think...you'll remember me?" she asked him, looking away. "And what we did today?"

All she did was keep confusing Lloyd, going by the blink of his eyes then. But even with that, Lloyd only did what he always did best - making her feel better without even realizing it.  

"I won't ever forget you," Lloyd spoke with the confidence that only a nine-year old could ever have. "We're best friends!"

She knew, even as Lloyd laughed and she soaked in the sounds like a hand clutching her own, that this was a day she was going to remember. Even when eight years later, she'd walk up the stairs to the final seal by herself, she'd remember the splinters of the ‘swords’ on her palms, the grains of sand stuck in her hair.

Her childhood would have been more plain, much lonelier without Lloyd. And she thanked Martel for putting him in her life, if not for anything else.

"Yeah…" she told him, matching her grin to his. "I won't forget you either."

[helahades]

the sexiest wip list

alright! reminder that this is a dark fic blog. dark fics are not just noncon, but uncomfortable subject matter and questionable thought processes and unreliable povs. control your media experience and read warnings carefully! they’ll be updated when the actual story releases, but these are wips, and i don’t know them all bc I simply have not finished these stories!

some darker warnings on this list include: threats of sexual violence, obsession, death, and previously mentioned unreliable povs from obsessive characters who justify themselves.

final reminder to read warnings! some of these are intense.

1) Jealous Thor (Untitled)

warnings: cheating, mean!reader, angst

You’re falling for Steve right under his nose. Each day, Thor feels you pull farther away. Each night, he squeezes his eyes shut as you lie asleep next to him, and tries to forget the way you lookat Steve these days with hunger and adoration that you once gave to him.

“He is earthly. For all his body’s and mind’s possession of unnatural experimental growth, he is earthly and limited, so Thor can’t understand why you’re drawing away from him, and telling Steve the jokes, giving Steve all the looks that had him hooked. The lingering eyes and touches… they ride the line of decency.”

—

2) Heimdall Angst (Untitled)

warnings: major character death, grief, existentialism, out of body experiences

Connected by incredible wisdom and duty to fate, you and The Gatekeeper of Asgard are pulled together by the unique pairing of your mutual seeing abilities—made for greatness, and destined for tragedy.

This story stretches from the moment that catalyzes your meeting, across the years of loving him, to the moment you lose him.

“A fateful tragedy. He sees an arrow through a dove.

He wonders how he missed your encounter with him in the whispers of the cosmos.

“—They’re star deaths,” you say abruptly, “the ones that move and change color. They speed up when you watch them—show their whole life to come...I read about them. Most can’t ever see them life this”.

Turning to where you stand beside him, his eyes swirl with the magic of knowing you, of your destinies combined. He sees you stare at his stars like they’re new.

“Only us.”

—

3) Away from the Party - Steve Smut

warnings: smut, dubcon, roughness, manipulation, unintentional exhibition

Steve hates these parties. After a mission, the work has just begun, and he fumes at the impossible way that Tony covers all problems in diamonds and pearls. Some things aren’t meant to be pretty.

You are. You’re soft, and kind, and you coax him gently away from the party—the source of his frustrations, with promises of leaving early, of calming down. Oh. He’ll calm down. And you’re just the toy to help. In a closet a corner away from the government’s finest, America’s golden boy has a hand on your throat and one demand.

“Keep quiet.”

“Of course, you both ended up at the party anyway, but with you swirling cool fingertips at his aching temples and rubbing softly over the stretch marks on his chest, he couldn’t find anything in heart to disagree with you then.

Even now with his erection pressed to you through barriers of clothing, with scarcely retrained and monstrous lust, he is steadily calmed by your presence. This rush, the secrecy—it excites him. And you pull him through the haze of it.”

—

4) Monster Thor Headcanons

warnings: wound and gore descriptions, some sadness

The fantasy of it all. Aesthetic, Lifestyle, Behavior. Some talking points include: hair, horns, hints about how he was influenced by a soft and charming lover many years ago, general horniness. Also spoiler that I’ve decided that He is 8ft tall

“Thor is...ancient. he is a being of war and folklore and raw energy and he’s earthy and elemental and connected. and form follows function. (and also whatever horny thoughts we want )”

—

5) The Call

warnings: voyeurism, death threats, obsession, implied sexual assault threats

When Frank comes to visit you, you beam like a sunflower. You’ve rearranged your room, and you’re excited about it. He would like to revel in the moment with you...but he’s caught up in one detail. Your bed is pushed against the window...and he can’t convince you to let him move it.

After a night of sin and wild lovemaking, you lie asleep bathed in moonlight, and Frank wakes to a call. Billy. He’s set up on a rooftop miles away, and he’s got things to say about Frank’s girl and what he’d like to do to her. A red dot on his chest means he can only listen. To your gentle snoring, and to the twisted fantasy of a brother unhinged.

“Black silk pajamas. Hair wrapped up in satin. Yellow light almost like sun stretches to the ceiling, but not quite over the rolling hills of your silhouette turned away from him in quiet sleep.

Frank’s hardly got the time to wonder why he’s awake, because his phone buzzes slow again. Pulls the moment he realizes he will have to break this magic peace to molasses and he half fills his lungs before huffing it out and flipping the phone open and tucked between his ear and shoulder.

“What.”

“She’s a reaaaaal pretty one, Frankie boy. You sure know how to pick em.”

—

6) Loki Longing (Untitled)

warnings: pregnant!fem reader, angst

On the Eve of the birth of Asgard’s heir, Thor is away. In a bath of flowers and magic to ease your pain, maidens worry over you, and Loki rescues you away, letting you rest in bed, and dreaming of the days when you were his lover instead.

“I’d like to rest…in my bed now, please.”

The ladies look to each other. It hasn’t been long enough for the herbs to take effect.

“My Queen,” the eldest starts—

“She is certainly your queen,” a silky silver timbre interrupts, “I’ve learned it’s best to mind her.”

His eyes fall to your form, and some blocked conflict—some guarded affection rests there. Some longing tucked in a pocket like an impossible secret.

—

7) With Child - Obsessive Steve

warnings: pregnant!fem reader, obsessive Steve

Watching you content, and very pregnant, as you gaze adoringly at your husband Thor from where you rest, half in his lap, Steve can’t help but fantasize. He thinks about impregnating you, the mechanics of sex with a pregnant woman, and being the god who does it all.

“Do you have to lie on your side? Is Thor just behind you, spooning you, fucking with desperate thrusts because you drive him so crazy this way? Steve has heard—and he doesn’t know where—that women get wetter when with child. Steve can’t help but wonder...does Thor need to hold one leg up for you—to save your back that’s so often heavy with the weight of supporting his legacy?”

—

8) Dean’s Girl

warnings: unreliable pov (john), voyeurism, masturbation + voyeurism

John notices the way you avoid him. You always seem to leave a room just as he’s coming into it. He’s living in the bunker now, and having to realize a lot of things that have changed for the both of his sons.

For example, his oldest, the last he’d ever think would fall in love, has got a pretty girl that dismisses her practical father in law with pointed boredom. She’s protective—how can he blame her after all that he’d put Dean through?

She’s pretty, and John is only a man, and can’t stop himself from just...looking. It starts with a convenient bend as she unloads the dishwasher...then he..can’t help that the door was open and she happened to be changing right there. He also can’t help it the next time when he’s just a little too obvious, pleasuring himself to the smell of her pretty lace panties.

—

9) Operator, Operator - Steve Smut

warnings: smut, financial troubles?, mentions of creepiness against and danger to sex workers, exhibitionism via phone call

Underpaid and overworked, you along with your roommate/secret crush/ best friend Steve have trouble making ends meet on minimum wage + his art commissions. When you start picking up calls on a phone sex line, he’s able to reason. It’s quick cash, and Steve is mature enough to keep his thoughts appropriate...at first.

One day, he wakes to the sound of breathy moans and a faked orgasms. He wonders how you would sound if only you were high on real pleasure...and there’s no time like the present. Don’t hang up. This call has only just started.

“By the time this year—junior year—swung around, Steve realized he was only catching glimpses of you. He would hear the shake of your keys when you tossed them on the counter, your backpack when it thudded to the floor, and most recently—your moans.

You must not know he’s home. Ever since you started online sex work, specifically being a phone sex operator, you seemed to also make the silent choice that more graphic calls would be saved for when he’s not around.

He gets it. You both split the rent, and Steve has done jobs he’d rather not mention in desperate times, when commissions came short. Still, sometimes you can’t tell when he’s here, and despite his best efforts to push down his arousal, to tell himself you’re his best friend...he’s an artist, and he can’t help but listen, and certainly not the wandering of his imagination.”

—

10) Professor Steve Medfet - (Untitled)

In an alternate timeline, a washed up Steve Rogers starts a new life in a run down city as an art / anatomy teacher. A class of hungry college students is filled to the brim each year, expecting the unspoken promise of their favorite hands on lab. You.

You keep his class sated, in turn giving the professor job security for funding his simple life out of the public eye. Each year when he calls, you come. Each year the students find a new way to tear you embarrass and degrade, much to the pleasure of the professor.

“Same speech. Same meaningless words. Focusing on the stillness of your skin and how it feels to be alone, you can almost drown out the way his tone edges toward excitement, the way the chairs shift and squeak—the anticipation.

Pretending your heart doesn’t send heat and cold flashes through you and run your breathing shallow, you look at the nicks in the door and try to guess their stories.

But then the metal frame clicks, the door unlatches. Professor Rogers wears a gentle smirk. It doesn’t ease your mind one bit.”

—

11) Swelter - Forest God Thor

warnings: sexual scenes, time limited conflict, religious themes

With a sickness overtaking nearby villages, yours is next, and has decided to sacrifice you to the cause of foraging for preventative herbs. You venture into the ancient woods after a rare vine of flowers, but leave with much more after encountering Thor.

After disturbing him where he lies cooling in the bank of a stream, you vow to prove the true intention of your soul—that you aren’t a hunter, or witch after his form or faculty, but a pious girl, also needing to escape the heat.

“You’re in the old woods now, and aside from the trees and the mossy nature tangled around them, there is only Him. Thor.

God of the harvest, bringer of land’s wealth, fertility, and vitality. You know of the sacrifices, of the woods where He is rumored to live in an unseen form, of livid white fire in the sky if He is severely displeased.

His name must not be spoken outside of prayer or ritual, and even now, you stutter to think it, and wonder if you are alone in your thoughts.”

[...]

“The frustration and the fear in your dilemma disturb the air, disquieting the otherwise enduring peace of the old woods, which rouses a large form in the cool muddy bank of the stream. It is only leaves shifting at first. Faded pumpkin and dried oak scatter—and suddenly the air smells like rain and your mouth sets around the tastes of copper and sage. Then, the leaves tumble off of a beast of a mass that rises slowly, and you note that it felt like the atmosphere changed to accommodate its awakening.”

—

12) Halloween Party - Thor Smut (Untitled)

warnings: smut, heartbreak, depressed!reader

An exclusive and mysterious Halloween party is still on this year—and you’re invited. It’s meant to be so extravagant and flashy an Avenger will one day attend, and all attendees decorate themselves in costumes inspired by the heroes, hoping to be noticed.

Fresh after a breakup with your boyfriend Brock, you take one half of the preordered couples costume and dress up as a goddess, determined to have a good night with your friends, find some excitement, and most importantly, a new god to match.

“Standing solemn, floor to ceiling windows allow in a few milky rays reflected by the moon, but they’re all the gems of your bodice need to gleam to a suitor's eye. Tonight, while you plan to rid your soul of another, you are welcomed with open arms and careful consideration as the final offering at an altar. You are seen by a god.”

—

13) Grief

warnings: dead!reader, guilt, grief, scary science, how do i say this... smut that is borderline necroph—there’s a replica of you, dark!steve, tony lives, pepper dies

Steve’s world is upside down. He’s lost the light of his life, and is completely in the dark. Luckily for him, Tony is back in the business of reality rejecting technology, and has found a way for him to be with you again.

At an abandoned cottage, Steve brings an armful of your scents to give the Tony’s invention sensory data, and faces the strange reality of what’s always been his worst stage...his worst trait. Denial.

“Dozens of test bottles full of manufactured scents, the kind of thing you smell borrowing a sweater, or with your face in the crook of someone’s neck. Essentially, the sort of organic thing that cannot be recaptured.

Steve’s got an armful of perfume and body wash. Of conditioner and deodorant, of all the elements he can think that make you smell the way you would—the way you do.

He wills the thoughts to be present tense. If he pretends you are alive, maybe it will look like it is you only sleeping. He wonders how well Tony knows the texture of your hair suddenly, because if it isn’t right, the experience will fall to shambles. It currently walks a plank over shambles. One wrong interpretation or surprise, and Steve will find himself spinning and burning with the fall into a new and uncharted taboo.”

14) Night Drive - Dean Smut

warnings: road head

On a long overnight drive, your back pressed into the seat of the impala makes you miss lying in bed with your lover, makes you miss his gentle caress right next to you...so you remind him how good it is to be close.

“You think about it when he hums a little tune. When he hums the song he wishes would play and thinks will come up next, it is eerily soft, and eerily similar to the soft contentment he sighs when you kiss on his neck.

When he reaches for your hand to hold, it makes you consider the shortness of the distance between you, and you think of pulling his cock out right here, giving him head that melts him here on this endless road.

Looking at him, he senses your interest—he turns his head to meet your eyes, throws up a grin of boyish charm. He’s happy to be here with you. These night drives are fine. He’s never minded them. But they’re even lovelier when in your company.”

—

15) Shadow - The Bucky Mystery

warnings: stalking, injury, sexual assault, canon typical hydra torture, mentions of bucky being forced to assault people, traumatized reader

On the run from Hydra, there aren’t many things that Bucky can remember. Inside his mind, there aren’t many feelings that make sense. Mostly, he feels guilt. Horror.

Following you to the gym where you practice ballet alone in the nights is all that makes sense, and for reasons he can’t explain, he feels drawn to you.

As time goes on, Bucky feels more enticed by his desire, you start to feel eyes staring from the walls, motivations and traumas are revealed, and in a horrible symphony, you both remember your connection.

“He’s a matte shadow against the noir shine of metal walls—an observer in the unlit quiet on his side of the room.

And he feels his unimportance. It’s humbling. Holds up the room like chunky beams and high rafters, dressed in the same layered neutrals. Framing the same cotton candy dancer, silent as the pad of her slippers when she turns her weight onto a straight leg, other coming up with her ankle pointed to the bend of her knee.

She spins, she spins and she whips her head around with each one, but it’s Bucky who gets dizzy.”

send an ask with any questions, or for more details about a particular story!

[imagine-loki]

Loki's Daughter

TITLE: Loki’s Daughter CHAPTER NO./ONE SHOT: Chapter 4: Healing

AUTHOR: traveling-classicist ORIGINAL IMAGINE: Imagine Avengers: Endgame AU Loki that gets away with tesseract has been using it to explore the universe. During his adventures, he comes across a little girl with developing but oppressed magical abilities. Intrigued (and subconsciously lonely) Loki keeps her around.

RATING: Fic: M for triggering content; this chap: PG-13 (it’s mostly fluff)

AO3 Link: Here NOTES/WARNINGS: Nothing special for this chapter. It’s pretty fluffy, honestly. Enjoy!

A heavy feeling of dread began to fall over Loki. He had no idea how he would save Kuna. He had no food for her. He supposed he could melt some snow and ice for water, but he would need a container to put it in. He sat down cross-legged and concentrated his seidr on his pocketverse. He was sure he must have saved a pot or pan or bowl or something over the centuries and tucked it away in there. He imagined a pot in his mind, focusing hard on the thought.

            Before him, a gold-plated but dented pan appeared in his hands. He chuckled as he remembered why he had hidden this Asgardian dish in his pocket. Nearly a thousand years ago, when he and Thor were children themselves, they had been playing around in the palace near the kitchens.

The chefs and servants hated them being down there because they were always causing a ruckus. One particular cook despised Loki. She hated Loki more because he would pinch apple tarts fresh off the trays and Thor would tattle on him. She would chase Loki away, wielding this, her favorite cooking pan, and Thor would get an apple tart as a treat for telling on him.

            He remembered one day, he and Thor were messing around in the kitchens again and being chased by old Igassok – Loki called her ‘Iggy’ and she hated it. She had seen Loki, not Thor, which is why she was following after him, thinking he was down there stealing again.

The brothers both hid in the washroom, behind some barrels holding soap powders and water. Despite her obvious hatred for Loki, they both thought that being chased by her was a fun game. Like being chased by some hulking frost giant with a great club.

She burst into the washroom. The two boys flattened out against the floor behind the barrels. Her heavy footsteps crossed the room. Loki could see her shadow on the floor in the light of the doorway. She walked up to the great washbasin which was filled to the brim with dirty water and dishes.

“Hmm,” she muttered. “Must be seeing things.”

She turned and left the room. They could hear her asking the other servants outside if they’d seen anything. Thor had gotten them all flogged so many times for tattling to father whenever he caught them stealing some of the Palace’s food, that they wouldn’t tell Iggy anything against either of the princes, even if she smacked them upside the head with her pan.

The princes let out their breath and laughed at the old woman as her voice faded away into the next room. Now stuck in the washroom for at least a few minutes while Iggy did a lap around the kitchens, they stared at each other.

“What now?” Loki asked Thor.

He shook his head. “Don’t know.” Looking around, his eyes landed on the pile of dishes above them. Thor smiled at his brother.

“Truth or dare?”

Loki smiled back. “Sure.”

“You first,” Thor said.

Loki was taken aback. His brother never let him go first at anything.

“Truth,” he said, cautiously.

“Why are you so scared of Iggy?”

“That’s easy! She beats me with her pan all the time and father never believes me!”

“You’re just a baby,” Thor teased and quickly followed with, “Okay, my turn. Dare.”

“I am not a baby,” Loki said. “That thing is made of celestial copper! It hurts! She’s already put a dent in it with my head. I still have the bump, look!” He tried to show his brother.

“Whatever,” Thor said, flippantly. “Dare me.”

“Um,” Loki looked around, trying to think of something mean to dare his brother to do to get back at him. He smiled, cunningly. “Fine, then,” he said. “I dare you to steal Iggy’s pan.”

Thor gasped and then smiled dastardly, happily taking up the dare to rob that old hag. Loki grinned. If Thor pulled it off, he would have done something bad and Loki could tell mother on him. That would get him in trouble for sure. On top of it, Iggy wouldn’t have that old pan to beat him with anymore.

“I accept,” Thor said, haughtily.

“Alright, then. Go get it.”

“Fine, I will.”

“Fine, I’ll be in my room.”

“Fine.”

“Fine.”

They both snuck out of the room. Loki made a beeline for then nearest exit while Thor made his way through the kitchen after Iggy. Loki had no doubt that his brother would get the pan. He had his ways of convincing people to do what he wanted. Loki was going to sit and wait for his plan to take effect.

Half an hour later, Thor returned to their room with the pan.

“See,” he said, showing Loki. “I told you.”

“Well done,” Loki said, taking it from him.

Thor grinned at him and then bolted out the door, flying down the hallway.

“Father! Father! Loki stole Iggasok’s pan from the kitchens!” he screamed as he fled down the hallway.

Loki panicked. He looked around the room for a place to hide the pan. Maybe, if father couldn’t find the evidence, he would abandon any punishment he could think of for his youngest son. Loki scrambled around the room, testing the best hiding spots but found nothing good enough.

Then, he remembered his mother teaching him about pocketverses. She had only shown him once how to do it. He had had trouble accessing the pocket ever since. After becoming frustrated with it, he just abandoned it. But now, he needed it more than ever. No one, not even the Allfather, could access someone else’s pocketverse. This was his answer, but he was running out of time.

It wouldn’t take long for Thor to reach the court chambers and rouse their father from some meeting with dusty, old men to punish Loki. He plopped down on the floor, pan in hand, and thought with all his might for it to disappear. He moved his hands in the circular motion mother had showed him, but it didn’t work.

Panicking, he tried again and again. He could hear footsteps approaching the doorway. He knew telling the truth would not save him. The truth meant telling father they were down in the kitchens where they should not have been, antagonizing Iggy. The truth meant telling father they were playing some silly game instead of studying or sparring in the courtyard. The truth meant telling father that Loki had tried to get Thor in trouble.

He concentrated as hard as he could, squeezing his eyes shut.

“Go away, go away,” he muttered, making the circular gesture over and over again.

“Loki?” Odin called from the doorway.

His eyes opened. The pan was gone. It wasn’t in his lap anymore. He looked up at his father. Thor was standing by his side, beaming.

“Yes, father?” Loki said, trying to act calm.

“Were you down in the kitchens?” he asked, gruffly. “Did you steal Iggasok’s pan?”

“No, father. I’ve been in here all afternoon…” he said, trying to act as innocent as possible. “I’ve been reading.”

“Is that so?” his father asked, raising the brow above his golden eyepatch.

“Yes, sire. I’ve been reading about dragons today. Did you know that thousands of planet systems have dragons?” he stalled. “And - and there are hundreds, if not thousands, of different species on each planet? That has to be billions of types of dragons all over the universe!”

“Mmm, yes, I suppose so,” Odin muttered. He wasn’t listening to him. Loki watched as his icy, blue eye searched the room. He walked in and passed Loki on the floor. He opened the hamper and looked inside but found nothing. “Where’s your book?” he asked, continuing to interrogate Loki.

“Oh, it’s over here,” Loki said. Thankfully, it wasn’t a complete lie. He loved reading The Natural History of Dragons. It was one of his favorites. He picked it up from the bedside table and brought it to his father.

Odin took it from him and flipped through the pages, but he wasn’t looking at them. He was looking for another place Loki could have hidden the stolen pan. Thor was pretending to play with his toy warriors in the corner.

Odin closed the book and shoved it into Loki’s chest, striding over to the box where they put their toys. Thor looked pleased. He caught Loki’s eyes as their father’s back was turned and stuck out his tongue at him. Loki made an ugly face back at him.

“Loki,” his mother said from the doorway. Her sudden appearance made him jump. Odin straightened up from the toybox, letting the lid fall. “Don’t make faces at your brother,” she said. It wasn’t much of a scold as a reminder.

“Sorry, mother,” Loki said, looking down at his feet.

“Did you lose something in the toybox, my love?” she addressed Odin. He turned and looked at her, weighing his own options. Did he risk antagonizing a mother’s wrath for such a minor fault of Loki’s or simply drop the subject?

“Mmm, no,” he grumbled and walked by, striding out the door to return to his business. Thor’s jaw dropped in bewilderment at his father’s quick abandonment of Loki’s juryless trial and sweet punishment.

“Thor, darling, close your mouth. It’s not very princely of you,” Frigga said with smirk at her eldest son. She looked down at Loki and winked at him. He looked back at Thor and grinned. It felt so good to see Thor’s plan be thwarted. And even if Loki’s hadn’t gone exactly as planned, he had still silently won this round against his brother.

Loki chuckled to himself as he stared at the pan in his hands in the diamond cave. The fondness of the memory was quickly overtaken by a hollow feeling in Loki’s chest. Now, his brother and father wanted nothing to do but kill him or lock him away. And he would probably never see his mother again.

He shook his head and stood, pan in hand. He looked down at Kuna. He hoped he could quickly get outside and back again without her waking. He waved his hand at the candlelight above, commanding it to stay put this time as he walked through the passageway. He dipped the pan into the snow that had built up nearest the entrance. He didn’t dare try to go out into the open again, lest those snowmen still be guarding the entrance. Taking a small handful of snow for himself, he tasted it, ensuring that there was a zero percent alcohol content this time.

Satisfied, he returned to Kuna. He sat a few meters away from her and put the pan on the floor. The snow began to melt immediately from the warmth of the floor, but Loki would have preferred to boil it first. He conjured up some old linens and pieces of blank parchment from his pocket and built a small fire, this time without blowing himself up in the process.

Once the fire was crackling, he set the pan over it, careful not to snuff it out. He stared into the flames for a while as he waited for the water to boil. He glanced over at Kuna. Rising to his feet, he carefully picked her up and brought her closer to the fire.

She did not wake this time. He watched her chest. There was no movement for a moment and Loki felt a pang of panic and then guilt. Then, her chest rose in a long but shallow breath. She did not have much time. He concentrated once more and tried to summon any sort of food from his pocket, but his hands came up empty.

He dropped his hands in his lap. How was he going to nurse her back to health without any food? He closed his eyes. He needed something to heal her but he had nothing. He was not trained in healing magic, relying more on potions and ingredients or his healing factor for himself in the past. As he sat there, thinking, he felt something cool fall into his hands and opened his eyes. The bottle of blood he had extracted from the kapka on Torileena glinted in his hands.

“That’s it!” he said and flinched, covering his mouth with his hand and looking at Kuna. She did not stir. He sighed, relieved.

He conjured his alembic, a mortar and pestle, and the kapka claws he had taken as well. Kuna’s moron masters had said they could both be used to create healing potions. Loki just had to make a refined composite of the two.

The water was boiling now. He took it from the fire and set it aside to cool. He poured the blood into the alembic and set it on its stand. Using the mortar and pestle, he ground the claws into a powder. For good measure, he conjured up some hawk feathers he had plucked from a very angry mother hawk and placed them in the mortar to grind in with them. The feathers were well known throughout the Realms for their healing properties.

He added the powder to the alembic with a small amount of water and attached the tube to it, angling it into another small vial to catch the composite. He waited. Slowly, the mixture began to bubble in the green glass base. It turned a rather gross shade of yellow. The vapors traveled up the spout and condensed in the bulb above it. The little droplets traveled down the tube and began to fill the container with the newly distilled mixture.

When the vial was full and all the mixture had been distilled, he took it over to Kuna. Gently propping up her head in his hand, he tried to wake her to drink the potion.

“Kuna,” he spoke softly. “Kuna?” Her eyes opened a little. “Here, I need you to drink this, it will make you feel better. No alcohol this time… I hope,” he added.

He tipped the vial to her lips and she drank from it. She swallowed a bit and made a sour face, pushing the vial away. It tasted awful; like rotten meat.

“I know it doesn’t taste very good, but you have to drink all of it.” Loki coaxed her with it again. She frowned but gave in and drank the rest in one big gulp.

“Agh!” Kuna gagged on the liquid but swallowed hard. Her whole body shuddered at the horrible taste. She tried not to heave. She did not want to get sick again. She closed her eyes and waited for the sensation to pass.

She felt a warmth begin to emanate through her body from her tummy. She closed her eyes and concentrated on this strange feeling. It traveled up from her chest, down her arms to her fingers and down from heart to her legs then toes. It felt good. Really good. Like she was being hugged by golden light.

“Mmm,” she breathed. A smile spread across her face. She did not want the feeling to stop.

“How do you feel, Kuna?” Loki asked her. He had been watching her, studying her for any signs of a negative reaction.

“I feel really, really good,” she said, slowly. Her eyes were still closed. Loki couldn’t help but smile back.

“Good,” he said. He was relieved.

“What was that?” Kuna asked. “It tasted really bad.”

“I’m sorry about the taste,” Loki replied. “Do you remember the kapka blood and claws I took from Torileena?”

Kuna gasped. “Are you a maker?”

“Uh. Um. I don’t know what that is. But I do have some skill as an alchemist. I just mixed up a little potion to heal you. I’m glad it worked so well.”

“Woah,” she said, quietly. No maker had ever paid any mind to her. “Thank you, sir.”

“Kuna, you don’t have to call me ‘sir’, remember? You can call me Loki.”

She smiled and looked down at her hands. Loki moved closer to her. He wanted to see if the bruises and cuts on her arms had healed as well. Out of habit, her body tensed. “May I see?” he asked, softly.

Her eyes darted around, unsure of what he meant. He gently took her arm and looked at the place where the chains had dug into her skin. The potion did seem to heal her wounds. The bruises had turned brown and yellow from the deep purples and blues they had been before. The cuts were scabbed and nearly healed. Even the chafing around her neck and wrists and ankles had diminished. He smiled at his work.

“Do these feel better?” he asked her, still examining them. He saw a small, silver scar peeking out of the top of the back of her shirt. He went to pull it down but she tore away.

“Y- Yes, si–, I mean, Loki. They feel b—better,” she stammered.

He turned his head. “Kuna, are you hurt somewhere else? Can I take off your shirt to see?”

She shook her head hard. “No, no, please, Loki,” she said, hugging herself and pulling her shirt over her knees and legs.

“Alright, alright, I won’t. You’re sure you’re not hurt?”

“No, sir. I’m not. I feel so much better. I’ve never felt this good before.”

“Well, alright, then,” he said. He was concerned about these scars he had seen but he did not want to push her. She was terrified of him still, he could see that. And why shouldn’t she be? She may not have seen it but he had been very close to killing her only a few hours prior.

“Well, why don’t you lie down and sleep for a while. You’ll need rest while that potion takes its full effect.”

“It gets better?” she asked in amazement.

Loki chuckled. “Yes, it does. Now, lay down.”

He conjured up another blanket for her and gave it to her. She made herself comfortable by the fire, curling up like a dog. She was nearly asleep when the wind howled loudly against the outside of the cave, creating horrifying, ghoulish echoes in the cavern. She jumped and ran over to Loki, curling up beside his leg.

He scooted over a little. “It’s fine,” he said, dismissively. “It’s just the wind outside.”

“Not the snowmen?”

“No, not the snowmen. At least, I don’t think so,” he replied.

Kuna was terrified. She looked up at Loki, wondering if he really thought it was the snowmen back to get them. He was no longer blue like he was before. His skin had returned to its normal, pale color.

“Loki?”

“Yes?”

“Why were you blue before?”

Loki’s expression fell flat. He did not wish to answer this question. It had taken him hours to completely shut out the voice in his head. He had built a brick wall around the locked pit in his mind to keep him in and now he could hear the echoes of his laugh once more.

“It’s no business of yours,” he said, gruffly.

“Oh,” Kuna flinched at his tone. “I’m sorry, Loki. I—I,” she trailed off. She didn’t mean to upset him.

She made herself comfortable beside him. He had moved a foot or so away from her but his proximity made her feel safer. She wrapped herself up in the blanket and fell asleep.

Loki looked down at his hands. He should not have spoken to her that way. It wasn’t her fault. He should have been thanking her. If it weren’t for her, he’d probably been killed by the snowmen.

He was perplexed by her. He could still feel her magic in his own aura. He knew she had magic but she had been quick to dismiss it before. However, the spell she had used to destroy the snowmen was certainly powerful. Her reaction to it was what puzzled him the most. The painful howl that came from her still echoed in his ears.

In young ones her age, magic could manifest itself in strange ways, like making objects move without touching them; finding things you thought you’d lost; making things disappear and reappear without trying; those sorts of things. But what she had exhibited was far more powerful than simple parlor magic.

            His mother had been quick to notice Loki’s aptitude early on and helped him foster his abilities using seidr. Thor had had some aptitude with magic too, but Odin had seen that his abilities would be better concentrated with the use of an enchanted weapon. Thus, he had the dwarves forge Mjölnir for him for when he came of age.

            Loki, on the other hand, trained with his mother and learned to control his abilities and focus them with seidr - a magical system of spells, runes, and incantations - that allowed Loki the ability to have full mastery of his powers. He preferred seidr to weapons-based magic. The weapons were nice and all, but he preferred the flexibility of seidr. He did not have to have some fancy weapon to control his powers. He could use them whenever and wherever he wanted.

            Frigga had tried to teach Thor in seidr, but he had no interest in it. He spent those lessons swinging his enchanted toy hammer around, electrifying the air and making his and his mother’s hair stand up straight. Eventually, Frigga gave up and let Odin teach Thor with the hammer and focused her lessons on Loki. He had loved those lessons. Just him and his mother practicing magic together.

            Loki dozed a little, leaning back against the wall of the cave. He would wake for a moment, ensure Kuna was alright and that they were still alone, before dozing off again. After several hours, Kuna began to stir. She sat up in her blanket and yawned.

            “How do you feel?” Loki asked, half-expecting her to be hungover.

            “I feel good,” she said. She seemed confused and surprised. “I feel really good.”

            “Hmm,” Loki said, impressed by her resilience and his alchemical prowess. “Good,” he added. He made a mental note that kapka blood mixed with its claws and hawk feathers cured hangovers as well as made a decent healing potion.

            Kuna looked around at the diamond cave. She liked how the walls and columns sparkled in the firelight. The shadows of the crystalline stalactites and stalagmites danced on the walls. Loki followed her gaze.

            “Pretty incredible, huh?” he said. She nodded in awe.

            “Does this mean we’re rich?” she asked and then corrected herself, “I – I mean does this mean you’re rich?”

            Loki considered her question. He hadn’t really thought about it. On Asgard, and many of the other Nine Realms, diamonds were so abundant, they were hardly considered valuable. Only the stupidest of Midgardians had fallen for their people’s own ploy of giving them a price beyond their true value.

            “Do you think they’re worth something?” he asked her.

            She stared at him in consternation. Who would think that diamonds weren’t valuable? Was she wrong? Was it a trick question?

            “Well…” she said. “I think they are. Master Machaluci said his was the biggest in the whole universe. He put it in his chest, right here,” – she pointed at a spot below the collar on her neck to show him – “so everyone would see it and know that he was richer than them.”

            Loki chuckled a little. It sounded like her home-system was made up with beings a lot like the Midgardians he had come to despise.

            “Was he wrong?” she asked.

            “Well, I guess it depends on how your world, or worlds, rather, were formed,” he explained. “Where I come from, diamonds are like little pebbles on the street. They’re everywhere. On some of the other realms, they’ve been buried for a few million years but their perfectly discoverable with good equipment. I suppose we could take a few of these and jump to the next world to find out.”

            Kuna felt sick to her stomach at the thought of doing that again. Upon thinking of her stomach, it growled ferociously. The pains of hunger fled through her body. She wanted to fall over. She put her hands on her tummy and groaned.

            “I could get you something to eat there,” Loki said. “It won’t be a big jump, I promise. We can see the planet from outside.”

            “Really?” she asked.

            “Mmm hmm,” he said, nodding.

He stood and walked over to a low hanging stalactite. He inhaled through his nose and blew out hard through his mouth and struck the diamond with the butt of his palm. A crack burst through the diamond and a chunk twice the size of his head fell away with a thud that echoed around the room.

            Kuna was in awe at Loki’s strength. He picked up the chunk of diamond and made it disappear. Kuna’s eyes widened. He had done that magic before. He smirked at her.

            “Come on. Let’s get out of here. I despise snow planets” he said.

She hopped to her feet. She was no longer dizzy or tired. She thought this was the best she had felt in her whole life. Loki picked up the blanket and stored it away. Stamping out the fire, he cast another candlelight into the air, and it followed them as they walked.

“If it turns out the people on the next planet over think this is the most valuable thing in the world, we know where to come back,” he explained. Kuna trotted along beside him. They stopped in the icy room.           ��  

“Look up there,” Loki said, pointing at the hole in the ceiling. “See that planet up there? See the little lights on it? That means there are civilized people there.”

“Oh.”

“Well,” Loki added. “Civilized enough to have harnessed electricity for themselves. The Midgardians have only just done that, and I would hardly call them civilized.”

Kuna had no idea what he was talking about, but he sounded like he knew what he was talking about, so she just nodded. He looked down at her.

“Ready?”

She grabbed his leg and held on tight.

“Good, we’ll do it from in here. I don’t think either of us want to go back outside with those snowmen,” he said. Kuna shook her head. That was the last thing she wanted to do.

Loki concentrated on the tesseract’s energy, “Do what I want this time,” he said, aloud.

Kuna heard him and looked up, confused. Had she not done something right? He didn’t look at her. Clouds of blue vapor swirled around them and they disappeared.

Reappearing on the other side, it was dark there too. Loki looked up at the sky and laughed.

“Ha!” he laughed. “Look at that! See? There’s the snowball planet.” He pointed at a place in the sky. Kuna followed the end of his finger with her eyes. It was hard for her to see it immediately but when her eyes focused, she could just make out a perfectly circular orb hovering in front of the stars. It was completely dark and the only way she knew it was there was from how it blocked out the stars behind it.

She looked back up at Loki. She was still a little disturbed by his comment. “Did—” she hesitated to ask, fearing his reaction. “Did I do something wrong?”

“Hmm?” Loki asked, looking down at her. “Oh! No, no. I wasn’t talking to you. Don’t worry.”

Kuna was a little worried. Who else was he speaking too? She was the only one with him, right?

Loki looked up again. “Ah! Look there,” he pointed. “A city.”

[mirkwoodshewolf]

A day at Disneyland; Chris Hemsworth x reader

*Author’s note*

Hello and good afternoon everybody! So this is a request that I have had done for the past couple of days but I’ve been on a deadline with another request that I’m trying to get done before their bday tomorrow (I’m about half way done with it) but this one is probably my first ever Hemsworth story I had ever done (So I’ve done half of the Chris quartet). Now my knowledge of Disneyland is minimal to none cause I’ve never been to Cally so the only Disney experience I’ve had is Disneyworld down in Florida, but I hope I still did some justice for this fic.

No warnings except PURE, UNADULTERATED, TEETH-ROTTING G RATED FLUFF!!!

Taglist:

@psychosupernatural

@ixchel-9275

@plethora-of-things

@waddles03

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I was packing up the car getting ready to prepare for the 2 and a half hour drive to downtown LA so that the kids and I could go to Disneyland.  My name is (y/n) (l/n) and I’ve been a single mom for three years.  My ex-husband and I were having some problems, constantly fighting until finally one stupid mistake on his part landed him in the LA prison.

Furious and disappointed, I filed for divorce because I didn’t want his bad influence to affect our children and it was hard on us, especially my eldest son Dean.  He and his daddy were close ever since he was born, but when I was forced to tell him that his daddy wasn’t ever gonna get out of prison, it was hard for him to cope.

It was tough raising not only 2 growing boys but a newborn baby girl at the same time.  My little girl, Leia will never get to know her father because of his stupidity and I don’t want to expose her to him. At first I thought I’d never get to have the father figure my kids needed because it was just me and my sister and my mom who was helping me raise my kids, my dad sadly passed away due to a stroke shortly after my second son Henry was born.

That was until by sheer luck of fate as I was coming home from the store when I accidentally dropped all my well-paid food, that a handsome blonde stranger came into my life.

I had no idea at the time who he was until Dean (whose obsessed with all things superheroes both Marvel and DC) that when we saw the second Avengers movie Age of Ultron, it was shocked to see that it was him.  Chris Hemsworth.

We kept in contact and whenever he wasn’t too busy, he’d come over for a visit and we’d have a couple of dinners.  Soon couple dinners turned into months’ worth of dinners, then starting a relationship until just recently about a year ago he moved in with me and the kids.  Right now he was busy filming “Avengers: End Game�� down in his homeland of Australia.

One night as we were all facetiming with each other, Chris had given us a surprise.  He said that he and the entire cast would be in Disneyland to help promote the film and not only that, he got all four of us tickets to go throughout the park and spend an entire day at Disneyland.  The kids were so excited that they were finally gonna go to Disneyland, especially my little girl since she’s finally big enough to ride some of the rides.

Which leads us to here.  As I was putting the bags into the car I said.

“Dean, don’t forget to bring your chargers okay?”

“Yeah mom.”

“Leia, do you got your Simba plushie with you?”

“Right here mommy.” She exclaimed as she held out her stuffed Simba plushie that Chris had given her last Christmas.

“Henry you’ve got your lightsaber right?”

“Yeah, do you think I could really fly the Millennium Falcon?” he asked me.

“We’ll see. Okay Got the bags, toys, gaming consuls, DVD is all set up. Everyone got everything?” My kids all cheered out in choir unison. “So whose ready to go to Disneyland?” they all cheered and raised their hands and I continued, “Alright. Tickets are in my purse and off we go!” I started the car and started up the installed DVD player which played Leia’s and Henry’s favorite movie “Hercules”.

Thankfully with the help of a movie and Dean busy playing on his Nintendo, there wasn’t much complaining from the kids (which was perfect for me).  Finally after the long drive, we finally reached the archway of the entrance into Disneyland.

“We’re here! We’re here! Look over there I can see Woody!” All my kids were in pure awe as we drove under the archway, I could just feel from the front seat the energy these kids were about to unleash.  I was now waiting in line to pay for parking and when I had gotten up I greeted the worker and handed her my license and money.

But when she saw my picture she handed me not only my license but the cash back as well and she told me.

“No payment necessary ma’am, we’ve actually been told of a special reserve spot for you to go to.” At first I was confused but then it dawned on me.

“That Aussie I tell you what.”

“One of our workers will escort you to your special reserved spot.” It was then another worker came up and he asked if he could hop into the car so he could be my navigator. I allowed him in the passenger seat and he told me exactly where to go.

We drove around for about 5 minutes till we reached the reserved front corner entrance where standing there with sunglasses on was Chris.  He grinned and waved to us and the kids waved back to him.  I parked in the parking spot and as soon as I turned off the engine, all the kids raced out and glomped him.

 “There are my favorite three little munchkins!” Chris proclaimed as he wrapped his arms around all three of my kids at the same time and even lifted them up and spun them around, making them laugh and cheer.

“And what about me? Am I just the cabbie driver? Or just some old maid here to serve your favorite three munchkins?” I teased.  Chris set my kids down and he said.

“On the contrary, you my lady are the beautiful good witch who protects and nurtures them. A witch that has put even a god like me under her spell.” He wrapped his arms around me, swaying me gently from side to side grinning down at me.  I grinned up at his sweet talk before our lips joined together only to be disrupted when a choir of voices cried out.

“EWWW!!!!” We separated to see all three of my kids with a look of disgust on their faces.

“Ahh no it’s not gross. Be patient soon enough all of you will be doing this.” Said Chris.

“Over my dead body.” I mocked.  “I want my babies to stay this young forever! Especially my little man.” I said as I walked up to my kids before hugging my eldest son close.  I swarmed his face with kisses and ruffled his ‘lion mane’ like hair that he inherited from his father.

“Mom! Mom, you’re messing with my mane!” Dean cried out as he tried to get out of my embrace. When I finally released him he backed away and tried to readjust his hair to that sweep-over hair that looked like it belonged back in the 1980’s.

“I need to plan an appointment to get your haircut mister.”

“No!” he then raced over to Chris and hid behind him.

“No worries mate, I won’t let any barber cut this hair of yours.” Chris said as he stroked my son’s hair.

“Coming from the very man whose worn the same long blonde wig for years.”

“Hey the last few movies I didn’t have to wear one. But this meeting isn’t about haircuts, now whose ready for a full fun day at Disneyland?!” The kids all raised their hands crying out ‘me! Me! Me! Me!’ “Awesome, already got our tickets, so let’s go out there and have a full day of family fun!” We all cheered before racing onward into the park.

There were so many rides that it was almost impossible to pick just one.  However my daughter who has always favored the merry-go-round no matter whether it was a state fair, amusement park or whatever, anytime she saw a Merry go round she wanted to go on it.

So as a nice little warmup, we all got in line for the merry-go-round.  We waited for I don’t know 5-10minutes in line before they let the next several people to go aboard.  My sons went straight for the two twin black horses while my baby girl went for a white stallion with a pink saddle on it.  As I was about to get on my horse, Chris came up and he said.

“Allow me my lady.”

“Why thank you good sir knight.” I mocked in probably the worst British accent I could muster. I felt his hands go to my waist and he gently hoisted me up and I ended up rising side-saddle but then what I didn’t expect was for Chris to get right behind me.  “Uhh Chris, I don’t think we’re allowed to do this.”

“Relax love, it’ll be okay.” He assured me.  The bell soon sounded off and soon an accordion version of ‘A dream is a wish’ started plaything through the speakers and the ride began.  

All around us, kids were cheering and waving to their parents who were standing along the railings watching their kids ride all by themselves, young couples riding side by side holding hands or riding in the sleighs nonchalantly kissing each other.

I felt Chris take my hands in his and I felt his head gently lean against mine and a kiss at my temple.  I smiled and nuzzled against him as the ride continued to go on.

After the ride we continued to walk around the park riding more rides like the Mad Hatter’s teacup ride, and Toy Story Mania that was until we finally reached the famous Splash Mountain.

“Ohh mom look! Splash Mountain!” Henry proclaimed as he was now riding on top of Chris’ shoulders.  

“I see it Henry.”

“Can we go on that next, please?”

“I guess we can, but I’m not sure if everyone’s tall enough to ride it.” I teased as I looked down at my daughter who was holding my hand.

“Yes I am mama! We measured me last month! I’m big enough.” She said as she pulled on my hand.

“Ohh that’s right, well let’s get a second opinion from the official park height measurements.” We all headed over to the line entrance of Splash Mountain and Leia immediately went up to the height chart.  “Okay, now stand still baby girl.” She hummed happily as she could barely contain her excitement. “No cheating now.” I told her in my mom voice and that made her stand still.

In the end, she was eligible to ride Splash Mountain.

“Okay, everyone stick together now.” Leia cheered happily and her brothers high-fived or fist-bumped her and even Chris did a double fist bump with her as he cheered and picked her up.

“Alright that’s my girl! I told you were growing like a weed!”

“Okay everyone let’s get into the line before it gets too long.” We all got in line and we waited. After what felt like forever and the kids complaining about when the line would move faster, hanging off both mine and Chris’ hands and arms, we finally got closer to the ride.  Since there were five of us we decided to divide up the group, I took Henry and Leia while Chris and Dean rode together, being the big boys that they were.

I got in the log first with the help of the ride attendant and I told Leia to get in first so that way she would be in the middle and Henry could ride up front.  Once we were buckled in and the guy gave us the all clear and the worker at the controls gave a thumbs up and soon we were off.

We went along the trail before going up the first hill.  Hearing the ticking of the controls as it took us up higher and higher before finally dropping us downward on the small uphill.  We were all cheering and laughing as we allowed the current to push us faster than we did when we first went out.

We were now shrouded in darkness as we were now inside the mountain before we would go off the big hill that would take our picture.

“Is this the big drop yet?” asked Leia.

“Yeah Leia, and watch this, this time I’m gonna have both my hands up in the air!” proclaimed Henry.

“Just make sure you don’t unbuckle yourself Henry.” We soon saw the light at the end of the tunnel and I said as I hugged my daughter’s waist. “Here we go.” As soon as we went off the drop-off we all screamed before finally splashing down at the bottom, getting soaked with water.  Both my kids were laughing and clapping. “So Leia, was it everything you thought it would be?”

“It was better mama! We went up and up and up till we went SHOOSH!!” I smiled down at her and I saw Henry was about to get out as soon as we saw the exit point.

“Hold on Henry, wait till we come to a complete stop.” Another worker soon placed their foot on our log and she said.

“Please watch your step as you exit the log, and we hope you have a good rest of your day at Disneyland. And don’t forget about our fireworks show tonight at 8pm in front of Cinderella’s castle.”  She helped my kids out and I got out on my own with a bit of help from her.  As we collected our stuff, we waited at the bottom of the exit point for Chris and Dean.

A few minutes later we saw them coming down (well Dean was more like racing down while Chris was the one walking).

“Did you boys have fun?”

“You bet we did, and how about you Princess? Was it exciting?” Chris asked as he scooped up my daughter and she laughed giddily.

“It was soo much fun, can we go on it again?”

“Maybe later, for now let’s go see our pictures.” He answered.  We walked further down the trail till we reached the giftshop and went up to the picture booth and waited and that’s when I pointed out for Henry and Leia.

“Look there we are.” All three of our faces filled with screams or joy.  Henry as promised had both of his hands in the air and his eyes were wide.  Meanwhile I turned and saw Chris and Dean’s pictures.  Chris had covered Dean’s eyes with his hands while his blue eyes looked like they were about to pop out of his sockets, I couldn’t help but laugh.

“Shall we get a copy?” he asked.

“I don’t know…..”

“C’mon this is my treat.”

“Baby I don’t want to feel like I’m taking advantage of your well-earned—”

“You’re not. This is me treating my lovely girl and her children on a day of fun.” He pecked my cheek before turning to the kids giving them the signal to back him up.

“Please mama, please!” They all ganged up against me giving me the puppy dog eyes, Chris included as he had all my kids in his arms looking right up at me.

“Ohh…..alright.” The kids cheered and then turned to Chris telling him what they wanted.  In the end Dean got a keychain, Henry got a small picture frame and Leia got a small locket, and Chris got him and I a copy of a picture frame of our picture.

After a few more rides, we all began to get hungry so we found ourselves a nice little food court restaurant called “Mickey’s Italian shop”.  As we ordered out food, like you would see on Youtube of the characters coming up to the guests just to hang out with the customers.

So we ended up having Mickey and Pluto coming over to our table.  Pluto being my daughter’s favorite Disney dog was thrilled and gave him a big hug and of course Pluto hugged her back before using that tongue that always hangs out to give her a ‘doggy kiss’.  It was so adorable that I just had to get a picture of them together, I also got some pictures of my boys with Mickey and Chris took one with me, Pluto and Mickey.

The day continued to press on and soon it was nightfall and everyone gathered at Cinderella’s castle to grab the best spot for the fireworks show that was about to happen in the next 7 minutes.  Even with the crowd of people that were already sitting down, we still managed to get good enough seats to still see the castle’s full stature.

After waiting a few more minutes the lights went off and we all cheered as the castle first lite up a lightshow for us.  Showing images and clips from various Disney films as ‘Circle of Life’ blared from the speakers.  Chris and I looked at each other before leaning against one another watching the light show and seeing the kids stare in awe.  Then the big event happened.

A giant red firework shot up and exploded into the sky.  Everyone oohed and ahhed as more fireworks began to fly into the sky before exploding into various colors and sizes.

“Did you have a good time love?”

“This was the most wonderful time I’ve ever had at Disneyland. Even when I was a kid, it didn’t compare to this.”

“I think this might get a little more interesting.” He said.  I was about to ask him what he meant by it but he pressed a finger to my lips and turned my chin back toward the sky.  We continued to watch the fireworks but then something happened I had never seen happen at a Disney firework show.

One firework that went off created an image of Mjolnir, Thor’s famed hammer before three fireworks fired off immediately spelling out.

“YOU AR WORTHY TO ME.” My jaw slowly dropped and I felt my heart stop.  Soon another phrase spelled across the sky, “WILL YOU LET ME BE WORTHY OF YOU?” I turned to Chris who now stood on one knee holding out a small ring.  A spotlight came down onto us and I could hear everyone gasp and cry out around us.

“(Y/n), these past few years have been the best years of my life. I didn’t think I would be happy, until you came into my life. Will you make me the happiest man in the world, and marry me?” he opened the box revealing the ring sparkling under the spotlight’s bright light.  I was in tears as I was covering my face with my hands.

Everyone around me, including my kids telling me to say yes.  I nodded rapidly and kissed him with as much passion as I could muster while all around us, everyone was applauding and my kids cam around us and hugged us.

“Ladies and gentlemen we’d like to have the honor of introducing Thor himself, Chris Hemsworth and his new fiancée!” I cupped his cheeks and he kissed my forehead, down my cheek before reclaiming my lips with his.

[isabel3710]

Ten Crofter’s Christmas

Sander Sides Fic

Summary: It has been a hard year and Patton's surprised he was even able to pay the bills this month. However, that means that he won't be able to buy any Christmas presents for his kiddos.

Word Count: 1,242

This story is (loosely) based off of one of my favorite Christmas stories "10 Candy Bar Christmas" which is a true story about a single mother who finds a way to buy Christmas presents during the roughest of times.

It was 2008 and that year had been rough. With barely being able to hold onto a low income job and making enough money to feed his three sons, the fact that Patton was able to pay off the monthly bills was celebration in of itself. But there would be no extras. Patton had sat his three sons down one night and explained to them that they would be able to afford a small, bare Christmas tree. But for the first time in their young lives there would be no presents under it.

“It’s going to be a Top Ramon and Kool-Aid Christmas this year kiddos.” He had said.

His fifteen year old son, Logan, already understood the financial struggle that they were in. Being the eldest and the only one out of his siblings old enough to get a job, Logan spent his after-schools and weekends working a part time job at the library in order to help make a little extra money. He had already understood that this Christmas would be very different from years previous.

His next eldest, eight year old Roman, understood as well. Despite his young age he was already doing what he could to help out. Including watching his five year old brother, Virgil most days after school and on the weekend so his big brother and Dad could work. Of course, he was still a child and was disappointed at the lack of presents this year. And while he did try and hide it Patton could still tell.

Virgil was the youngest and didn’t understand, all he knew was that he wasn’t getting a new toy this year for Christmas. But he copied his brothers’ example in saying that it was alright and that he didn’t mind. Patton truly had no idea what he had done to deserve his kiddos.

The family had gotten their small, bare tree and had a fun time decorating it with ornaments made from paper scraps and tin foil. One day, a few days before Christmas Patton’s kids met him at the bus stop. Roman came running towards him with Logan, who was carrying Virgil, close behind.

“Dad!” Roman yelled engulfing him in a huge hug “there’s a turkey raffle, we heard about it on the radio.” Ah the radio, the one form of entertainment they could afford “we entered it and oh I bet we’ll win!”

Patton hugged Roman back and scooped him up and sat him on his hip. He smiled and agreed that it would be amazing if they’d won the turkey raffle on radio. He looked over his son’s head and eyes met with Logan, they both knew that it was a small possibility that they would win. But neither of them told the two young children who looked so happy and full of energy, and neither one of them wanted to crush the spark of hope and excitement.

-------

Patton was at work when a miracle happen, it was Christmas Eve and it was a slow day for most people had taken the day off to do some last minute shopping. He was hard at work when the phone in the manager's office rang. “Patton, it’s for you.” They had won the turkey after all.

They lugged that big bird home on the bus laughing and singing Christmas carols all the way. Even Logan, who claimed to be too old for such childish things, participated.

The apartment complex was full of other single parents in the same situation they were, and the turkey was way to big for the three of them to eat themselves. So they decided to invite a couple of the other families in the building.

They invited Thomas who was a close friend and neighbor of theirs and his two kids, Joan and Tayln along with two other families on their floor. Dinner was full of talking, laughter, and high spirited as they feasted on cooked turkey, cookies, and (you guessed) Top Ramon and Kool-Aid.

After dinner and many thanks Patton was cleaning up the kitchen when he heard a light tapping at the door. When he opened it an envelope fell out from where it had been stuck in the door-jam, Patton looked up and down the hallway but saw no one. He picked up the envelope and opened it to reveal a single ten dollar bill. And he understood. It must have been the only way that one of the families could think of repaying him for sharing the turkey.

Patton had long since stopped believing in angels but in that moment he believed (and forever will) that an angle had been looking out for him. Providing a way for him to buy something for his kiddos for Christmas.

He checked the time. Roman and Virgil had gone over to another apartment to play with Joan and Tayln, Logan had went with them to make sure they didn’t get into any trouble, and should be occupied for at least an hour.

Decision made the father quickly threw on his coat and hurried out into the barley chill night that was winter in Florida. Hoping that it was still open, he hurried to the one place that he might find Christmas presents for under ten dollars. The 95 cent store.

He walked through the isles trying to think of how he could stretch his ten dollars into Christmas presents for his kids, then one of the isles caught his eye, the produce section. He made his way down the isle hoping and praying that he could find some. His face breaking into a wide smile when he saw what he was looking for. Crofter’s.

Crofter’s Jam was a favorite with both the kiddos and the father himself, however it was pretty costly compared to other jelly brands so Patton wouldn’t let the boys have it very often. So this would be a big surprise. He was barely able to stretch his money enough to buy ten small jars of Crofter’s, it was lucky that the store was having a sale on their smaller jars.

Carrying his purchases close to his chest he quickly hurried home. When he got back to the apparent he looked around to see if there was anything he could wrap the jars in, when his eyes landed on the brown paper sacks his kids used to carry their lunch in. He pulled a few out along with kid’s crayons and carefully drew stars, tress, candy canes, and anything else he could think of to make them look festive. He then put the jam jars into the bags and the bags under their small, bare tree. And in that moment Patton’s heart was a little lighter.

------

The boys were ecstatic when they got home to find presents under the tree “don’t get too excited.” Patton warned “it’s not much but it was all that I could afford.” Even so they insisted on opening them right then and there.

And with each Crofter jar they unwrapped they grew more excited, so excited you would have thought they were unwrapping the best toys from FAO Schwarz. And the next day they would sit and eat leftover turkey and Crofter’s with nothing other than each other’s company.

The year had been hard with the divorce and Patton being laid off from his job. But he knew that so long as he and his kiddos had each other, everything would be alright.

[rosesisupposes]

Ordinary Night

“send me a made-up fic title and i’ll tell you what i would write to go with it”

Prompt Tag

word count: 3,875

pairings: Ex-Anxceit; Background Remile;

warnings: divorce/abandonment; lost child; mentions of depressive and manic episodes; distressed nonverbal episode;

reader tags: @residentanchor​ @royally-anxious​ @bewarethegrammarpolice​ @jemthebookworm​ @arandompasserby​  @sparkly-rainbow-salt​ @astral-eclipse​​ @thelowlysatsuma​ @adorably-angsty​

I came up with the Single Dad AU a while ago but it’s never emerged from Discord to become a full story, but I love it very, very much. So thank you, nonny, for the excuse

Read on Ao3

“Give it back!”

“No, Dad said it’s my turn to pick the movie!”

“You always pick the same one! I’m tired of Winnie the Pooh!”

“But I like it!”

“Can we at least watch the Tigger one?”

“No! Pooh Bear!”

Young voices whined back and forth in an argument that had been held at least once a week for the last three months in the Sanders household. Six-year-old Patton was climbing on top of the couch cushions, brandishing the remote as eight-year-old Roman tried to reclaim it. Their younger brother, four-year-old Logan, watched from the corner in silence.

Their dad entered the room and, with practiced ease, plucked Patton from his teetering perch on the couch.

“Hey, hey, buddy, careful, okay? You might fall from up there!”

“Daaddd, Ro is trying to take my night again!”

The single father balanced his middle son on his hip as he looked sternly down his eldest.

“Roman, what have we talked about with movie nights?”

The second-grader sighed heavily, crossing his arms. “He gets to pick whatever movie he wants,” he recited, blowing strawberry blonde hair out of his eyes. “Even if it’s boring.”

“Pooh Bear isn’t boring!” Patton objected loudly, making his father wince from the volume.

“Is too!”

“Is not!”

“Boys. We will skip movie night entirely if you can’t behave,” Dad warned. Both children immediately went silent, but stuck tongues out at each other when they thought Dad couldn’t see.

“I’m going on an adventure, so that at least not all of today is boring,” Roman announced, running to the toy box for his tiny foam sword. “Where’s my noble steed?”

“I wanna come!” Patton cried, wriggling out of his father’s hold. Taking the remote back, Dad let him go as a small smile crept up at the corners of his mouth. How quickly they went from feuding to playing.

“Let’s go slay a dragon!” Roman cried, stabbing the air.

“What if we fight a witch?” said Patton with huge eyes, grabbing his matching foam shield.

“A dragon-witch!” Roman announced happily. “Lolo, wanna come?”

The youngest looked at the floor through glasses he already needed. “…don’ wanna”

“Aw, Lolo, you sure?”

“…scary,” the toddler said.

“We’ll protect you,” Patton said, crouching to look in his brother’s eyes. “Roro is the best knight ever! And I have a shield!”

Logan shook his head. Patton sighed and carefully patted his hand. “Next time? But only if you wanna, okay?”

Satisfied at the small nod, Patton trotted upstairs. Roman cast around before crouching behind the couch. “Ah! My steed!” he said happily. He stood with a cat in his arms. The tom bore being carried with long-suffering patience, held around the middle by small arms that could only just make it all the way around.

“Ro, be careful with Thomas, okay?” Dad warned. “Pat’s taken his medicine, but don’t let him bury his face in fur again.”

“Yes, I’ll be careful,” Roman said with all the indignance a eight-year-old could muster. He jauntily strode up the stairs after his brother, arms full of cat and sword.

His father watched him go as he settled on the couch. Logan crawled up into his lap and settled there, sitting up straight but balanced on his dad’s knee.

“Hey there, L. No adventure today?”

Logan shook his head.

“Just don’t want to, or something wrong?”

The little boy was silent.

“How is touching today? Thumbs up?” his dad asked, hand creating the gesture he referred to. His son responded in kind. Moving slowly, Dad pulled Logan into his chest, resting a hand lightly in the boy’s dark brown hair.

“Do you have the words for the something wrong, or is it just bad?” he asked softly.

“…miss Papa,” Logan replied, turning his head fully into Dad’s chest.

His father kissed the top of his head and held him close. He knew of his son’s tears from the dampness on his shirt rather than any sounds or shaking. When he could finally speak evenly, he replied, “I miss him too, Lolo.”

“When does he come back?”

“Maybe never.”

“Why?”

“I wish I knew, kiddo. I’m sorry I can’t give you a good reason.”

Logan clutched at the fabric of Dad’s shirt, still not looking up.

His father kissed his head again and leaned back against the couch, looking up at the ceiling as he blinked away tears. He was so tired of crying, so tired of knowing neither he nor his sons might ever understand why their other father had left. But it had been months without any communication, since they came home from the park to an empty house and a missing suitcase.

Three young boys, one beloved cat, one father who’d just lost the love of his life and his partner parent all at once. That was the Sanders household now. A night of childish yells and tears from the boys and their father alike: this was an ordinary night.

So how was Dad doing? He was a nervous wreck, of course. If he’d been a bit on edge before, it was nothing compared to the absolute personification of anxiety Virgil had become now.

As he breathed deeply to calm himself, Virgil ran a hand lightly through Logan’s soft, wavy hair. “What do you say to some Magic School Bus before dinner, Lo? Would that be good?”

“Mmhmm,” the toddler said with a nod, sliding off his dad’s lap.

As Virgil stood, Logan reached for his hand and pulled him towards the stairs. Virgil let himself be led to the smallest bedroom, where Logan immediately went to his small but growing book collection. He pulled out a CD that Virgil then placed in the small speakers he’d bought, back when he and his ex had adopted Roman. The “Baby Boombox,” Ethan had called it, as he filled Ro’s room with all his favorite Broadway soundtracks and Disney ballads. Then had come Patton, with Raffi songs and lullabies because they were the only things that would send him to sleep smiling when Roman was still active during naptime. And now there was Logan, who was soothed by the smooth strains of classical musicals and who listened with rapt attention (if not complete understanding) to audiobooks of all kinds. Virgil popped in Logan’s choice, “Lost in Space” and set it to play. Logan scooted his tiny plush chair as close as he could to the speaker and sat, staring up in wonder as his favorite narrator read about Ms. Frizzle’s class and whirling planets. Without interrupting, Virgil slipped out of his youngest son’s room and made his way to the kitchen to start dinner.

The pasta was cooking and the sauce bubbling on the stove when Virgil’s phone buzzed against the counter. He glanced at the screen and smiled.

If the past year had taught him anything, it was just how important family could be. He and his brother use to have a rather rocky relationship, never spending much time together. Unfortunately, Ethan had been part of the reason for the rift - Remy had never liked his brother-in-law and was never any good at hiding it. Normally when he was proven right about anything, Remy held it over his younger brother’s head for the rest of their lives. But not this time. Not when they’d sparked into full-on screaming matches over the years as Virgil asserted that Remy was wrong about Ethan. He was a good partner and an amazing father. He’d even said it, hadn’t he? His biggest ambition in life was to be a good papa.

Guess that had been a lie, too.

But no amount of friction and distance could have kept Remy away the night Virgil had called in tears. “Nuncle” Remy had been a near-constant fixture in the Sanders house ever since, particularly in those first couple of months. It had been Remy who’d suggested Virgil get the boys to therapists early, right after the split. It had been Remy’s husband Emile who’d found them matches among his colleagues, ones who made the boys feel safe and heard. It had been those therapists who discovered the reason behind Roman’s mood swings, identifying his bipolar personality disorder early and helping Virgil to get him the appropriate treatment. It had been Emile who’d cautiously suggested he get Logan fully evaluated for autism, and found him compassionate parenting resources to help relate and communicate with Lo better. Virgil would be a wreck without his brother and brother-in-law – or, rather, he’d be more of a wreck.

Which is why, when Logan went missing, Remy was the instinctual first call.

He’d heard Roman and Patton bounce down the stairs into the den, making dramatic sound effects as they fought their dragon-witch. He hadn’t heard the door open, or the soft steps of Logan following his brothers downstairs. He hadn’t seen Thomathy the tomcat be loosed into the yard as Roman cried, “Ride into the sunset, noble steed!” He hadn’t seen Logan stand on his tiptoes to re-open the door and follow the cat outdoors.

He’d just called for the older two boys and gone upstairs to get Logan when he’d found the CD player off and the chair empty. And that’s when the panic had kicked in.

“Lolo?” he called upstairs.

“Buddy?” he asked the den.

“Logan?!” he almost screeched into the basement.

Roman and Patton were obediently sitting at the kitchen table, fidgeting, when Virgil re-entered, eyes ablaze. “Where’s your brother? Was he playing with you?”

“No, he was too scared,” Roman scoffed.

Patton, on the other hand, looked concerned. “I think maybe he followed us? He was trying to pet Tommy.”

“Where is Thomas?” their father asked, the edge in his voice rising. “You were playing with him, where did he go?”

Roman shrank in his seat as he realized this was more than just make-believe. “He… I wanted him to be free?” He pointed to the back door with a shaky hand.

Virgil stared at his eldest son, biting back harsh words of frustration. He was eight, he didn’t know better yet. But the panic was rising, thrumming through his veins and disrupting his ability to think straight.

He grabbed his phone and hit the speed dial to Remy.

“Rem? I need you here,” he said the minute his brother picked up. “Logan got out of the house chasing the cat.”

“Shit, okay, I’ll be there in 5,” Remy said, already hanging up before Virgil could point out that he lived a ten-minute drive away. He arrived in three. Normally his driving habits pissed Virgil the hell off, but at that moment, it was all he can do to not cry in relief as he grabbed a flashlight and his extensive first aid kit from under the sink and ran out the back door.

Remy was soon placing himself bodily in front of the door to prevent either older brother from charging after.

“I’m a bad prince, I’m the villain,” Roman choked out through his tears. “It’s all my fault.”

“I gotta keep him safe!” Patton said. He tried and failed to climb onto the counter, but grabbed what ‘supplies’ he could reach into his school bag, a collection of juiceboxes and goldfish and band-aids.

“Hey, hey, little dudes, c’mon,” Remy said, trying to sound as soothing as possible. “C’mere.”

They were just small enough and he was just big enough to gather them both into his arms at once, even as they wriggled and tried to escape.

“Dad’s gonna get Lo back, okay? They’ll both be back soon,” he said, carrying the boys to the couch. “And Tomma-llama-ding-dong too.” He placed them both on the couch. They were both red-eyed and drippy-noed, but no longer trying to make a break for it. He grabbed tissues and wiped their faces and noses, moving gently. He watched Roman particularly hard. He’d been present for downward spirals before, when the mania and hyperactivity fell, gradually or suddenly, into dark days where the boy could barely get out of bed.

Remy ran soft fingers through Roman’s light hair, remembering. The worst depressive episode had lasted a full week and a half, and Virgil had been despondent. It was right after that bastard Virgil’s ex had walked out on them, and of course Virgil had blamed himself, telling Remy that Ro’s depression was all his fault for not being a good enough father. He would have curled up around his boy and begged him to be okay, if Remy hadn’t sat on his chest reminded him that he had two other sons that needed him. Childish? Yes, quite literally, sitting on him was Remy’s favorite way of picking on his little brother when they had been children themselves. But it had worked, and Roman was getting treatment now, both medications and therapy, and both his uncles and his dad had learned strategies to help keep him from getting trapped in his up- and down-swings.

Now, Patton imitated Remy, patting a slightly-stick hand on Roman’s shoulder in a sweet attempt at grounding techniques. More than any of the boys, Patton took after Virgil, always trying to keep his brothers safe. He was fierce in his defense of them towards others, but gentle and soft when he saw them sad. Remy ruffled Patton’s honey-gold curls with his free hand and stood. He had Roman and Patton Sanders in his care, and they were sad and worried. It was time for some Disney movies.

The sun was falling below the horizon as Logan followed the family cat into the woods behind their house. He trotted as fast as his still-chubby toddler legs could carry him, following the brown-and-black striped tail of the big tabby. Galloping paws quickly carried the pet out of sight, but Logan kept plodding along in the same vague direction. Scarcely noticing the growing dark, he clutched his worn, stuffed octopus tightly in one hand as he walked further and further into the forest. When Papa had asked when he wanted to name it, he’d looked up and said “Octopus.” His tone had been one of “Well, duh,” and his voice had been so deadpan for a three-year-old that Virgil had fallen into intermittent fits of giggles for hours after. But he’d carried it continuously ever since, particularly as he listened to his books on the deep sea. He clutched it tight as he finally caught up to Thomas. The tabby had found a mossy patch under a tree, caught in the last patch of sunlight, and curled up contently. Logan sat next to him and patted his head, content that he’d finally done what he set out to do. But looking up, the toddler realized he could no longer see the edge of the forest and wasn’t sure which direction he’d come from. He was in the middle of the forest, alone, with no notion of how to get home. Logan didn’t cry, or yell, or flail. He just froze, everything locking down in the face of a situation he didn’t understand and couldn’t solve. He might have stood like that for minutes or hours, but Thomcat chose that moment to stand with a stretch and wind his way around his smallest family member, purring as he rubbed up against Logan’s short legs. The warmth drew him out of his paralysis, and he sat heavily on the mossy stump. The cat leapt into his lap, covering most of his tiny torso in warm fur as the beloved pet continued to purr. Clutching tufts of Thomas’ fur in one hand and Octopus in the other, Logan’s emotions thawed and he started to sniffle, then cry aloud. His hiccups and sobs reverberated off the unfamiliar trees that surrounded him.

Virgil crashed through the trees, flashlight and first aid kit in hand, trying his best to keep a level head. Logan was missing. His little boy, the tiniest, quietest member of their family, was alone, somewhere probably dying in the forest definitely kidnapped by child stealers lost in the unfriendly woods. He’d made that promise, over and over again through the long adoption process: he would keep his sons safe. He would protect them. He wouldn’t let anything dangerous happen to them. Ethan may not have meant it, but Virgil had, with every fiber of his being. He would keep his family safe, every single member.

He trusted Remy to be a good caretaker to Pat and Ro right now, but he worried for his eldest. He just dashed into ideas and plans without thinking, so much more than either of his brothers. And of course, Virgil knew why. A memory sprang to life like a film reel in his head without his bidding.

“Papa, look at me! I’m gonna be just like Peter Pan! I can fly!”

“Of course you can, Roro! If you wish hard enough!”

A summer day, lazy and bathed in golden light. It had been magical in a way - no wonder Roman had believed in super abilities. But that moment, Virgil had finally seen what was happening as he rounded the corner, an infant Logan strapped to his chest and Patton holding his hand.

“Fly- Roro! Kiddo, please get down from the roof!”

Ethan had just chuckled. “Shhh, V, he’ll probably be fine. He’s gotta learn somehow, right?”

Patton, all of three years old and still lisping, had shook a finger at his older brother.

“Wowo, get down fwom thewe!”

“You can’t stop me, ‘m a PRINCE!” the five-year-old had yelled back, approaching the edge of the shed roof.

Virgil had dropped Pat’s hand to run, shrieking more than speaking as he yelled, “Roman Sanders, do not jump off that roof! You’re going to get down safely!”

Ethan had barely budged, too busy laughing his ass off. It had ended up being Virgil alone who helped Roman get down, letting him be Dad the Downer while Papa stayed ‘the fun one’ in Roman’s eyes. Was it any wonder he’d blamed himself for Ro’s bipolar swings?

But he’d learned better since then. Being a ‘fun’ dad didn’t matter at all if he couldn’t keep them safe, first and foremost. He would find his little boy, and their cat, and he would bring them home. He checked his first aid kit as he walked and sighed with relief. He’d remembered to re-stock it recently. In addition to the bandages and ice packs and ointments and band-aids in everyone’s favorite characters, he’d packed everyone’s favorite treats. He had cat treats for Thomas, which he immediately took out and started wafting, and he had tiny containers of Crofter’s jelly, Logan’s only favorite food that he always wanted to eat, no matter his mood. Virgil listened to the forest hard for any noise besides the rustling wind. He had his flashlight turned on even before the sun fully set, to make sure Logan would see him coming. His heart still raced, frantically pointing out every passing second and minute that his son remained missing. Every moment he was out here was another moment he could be tripping over roots or eating poisonous berries or getting a rash or being abducted or hitting his head or…

Deep breaths, Virge, he reminded himself. In for four. Hold for seven. Out for eight. The calming reminders in his head spoke with Emile’s voice, gentle and soothing. He could only do his job as Dad if he kept his head and stayed alert. He listened hard again, noting small animals, leaves falling, choked sobs, branches cracking, distant cars, and -

Sobs! Where were they coming from?

He picked up his pace, needing to double back a couple times before he was heading in the direction of the noise. He swept his flashlight in front of him with one hand and shook the cat treats with the other as he called out.

“Logan? Is that you? Logan? Thomas?”

The sobs stopped abruptly, and the flashlight beam illuminated a tiny form unraveling itself from a fluffy one almost the same size. “Dada?”

Virgil sprinted the last few yards. He worried for a moment that Logan might need to avoid touch right now, but that fear was dispelled with the toddler threw himself into his father’s arms.

“Lolo, are you alright? I was so worried, kiddo! Did you hurt yourself? Were you scared? I’m here, I’ll get you home, okay?”

“Dada, ‘m sorry.”

“Why sorry, Loberry?”

“I was bad, an’ I got lost,” Logan said, gripping Virgil’s jacket and Octopus with equal tightness.

“Oh, my little Lo, no, you weren’t bad. We should have been with you, I should have been watching. I’m so sorry, honeybear. But you’re safe now, okay? We’re gonna go home.”

Virgil knelt, picking up Logan and balancing him on one hip, then picking up a long-suffering Thomas and draping the cat over his shoulder. He was a bit encumbered by his first aid kit, but nothing could bother him now that his little boy was safely in his arms.

Searching for Logan had felt like an eternity, but had been less than 20 minutes. When father and son and cat entered the back door, the Disney movie (Sleeping Beauty, Remy’s choice) hadn’t yet finished. The door closing woke up Roman and Patton from where they had dozed off, but they were immediately up and hugging Virgil’s legs.

Their father ruffled their heads as he gentled let Logan stand on his own, then pulled them all into a group hug.

“We’re gonna talk tomorrow, okay, kiddos? About Thomas safety and Lolo safety. But tonight we’ll just relax together, now that we’re all home. I love you all so much.”

“I love you, Dad”

“Love you too!”

“Me too, Dada.”

By the end of the night and the second movie (Atlantis, Logan’s request, and Patton had conceded that he didn’t want any movies with woods), the Sanders house had quieted. Virgil could feel his heartbeat return to normal for the first time in hours as he gazed fondly at his sons. All three had fallen asleep, sprawled across the couch and Virgil’s lap. Remy had helped them change before heading home with a last firm hug and reassurance that, “You done good, bro.” Logan’s head rested on Virgil’s thigh, the horn of his unicorn onesie flopping over as he slept. Patton was snuggled up as close as Logan had okayed, cat ears folded over on his one onesie. And Roman had pulled a pillow on the ground so that he could be next to all of them, a tiny lion defending his pride in the onesie that he was practically “too old for,” but that he’d still wear when Pat asked him to. Thomas the tomcat, exhausted by his forest adventure, was curled into a ball in a laundry basket.

So how was Dad doing?

He’d never be completely at ease, not with so much depending on him, not with so many obstacles to overcome. But for tonight, Virgil was content.

[sunkissedpages]

Traditions with a Twist

Tom Holland x Reader

A/N: This is the first Christmas fic I’ve ever written and also the first moodboard I’ve ever made (I’m still learning lol if you have any tips lmk)! I listened to Josh Groban’s Christmas album while I wrote this 10/10 would recommend. 

Summary: Meeting Tom’s parents for the first time and spending the Holidays with them. (There’s also gingerbread house building lol)

Warnings: swearing

Word Count: 3.4k

“Let’s go inside, darling.”

“Just give me another minute.”

Despite it being below freezing your palms were sweating. You rubbed your hands on your jeans nervously, attempting to wick the moisture away. You were about to meet your boyfriend’s parents for the first time and you wanted to throw up.

“Waiting out here is only going to make you more nervous,” Tom insisted, tugging on your elbow gently.

“I know, I know I just-” you stopped. Tom looked at you expectantly. “What if they don’t like me?”

“Don’t worry, love,” Tom said comfortingly and wrapped his arms around you “they’d never say so to your face.”

“Thomas!” you shoved yourself out of his grasp, affronted.

“You know I’m kidding.” Tom reached for you again. You allowed yourself to be embraced this time. “They’ll love you. How could anyone not?”

Even though it was the exact script a boyfriend was supposed to say to his girlfriend before she met his family you let the words comfort you anyway. The Hollands didn’t even need to love you, you would be satisfied if they liked you. You could even work with tolerance. 

“You’ve already met all the boys, they love you, and Harrison will be here. You’ve got plenty of people on your side.” Tom was pulling you towards the house now, but you weren’t resisting.

Lights were on inside. You could hear light music and laughter and you let yourself relax the tiniest bit. Tom rapped on the door and you held your breath. Within seconds the door swung open to reveal a small woman with copper colored hair. She beamed at the two of you.

“We were wondering when you two would get here!” she exclaimed. “Come in, it’s freezing outside!”

Tom’s mom squeezed her eldest son first then gave you a warm hug. “Y/N, I’m Nicola, we’ve heard so much about you! We’re so glad you’re spending the holidays with us this year.”

Your mouth felt like it was filled with cotton but you smiled anyway. “Thank you for having me!”

“Of course! The more the merrier!”

She showed you both inside and Tom kicked off his boots. You followed in suit.

“How was your flight?”

“Long, but luckily we both slept through most of it,” Tom said, taking the lead.

“I’m glad! Did you already drop your things at your flat?”  she asked and Tom nodded. “Alright, everyone’s waiting in the kitchen.”

Nicola gave you a brief tour of the downstairs, mostly just pointing at the rooms as you passed them on the way to the kitchen in the back. There was a Christmas tree set up in the living room in front of the window that was covered in homemade ornaments and string lights. Underneath the tree, an old toy train chugged around the outline of the skirt. You remembered Tom telling you about the train, and how he got it for Christmas when he was seven because The Polar Express was his favorite Christmas movie. You couldn’t help but smile. This is where Tom had grown up, his whole childhood had been spent here and now he was sharing a little piece of it with you.

Every time you passed a framed picture of Tom you wanted to stop and fawn over it. Tom had been the cutest frickin kid. He caught you giggling at a photo of him in a Bat-man Halloween costume and blushed. He pulled you by your hand to keep you moving. You couldn’t believe Thomas Stanley Holland was being shy. You wanted to tease him for it, but settled for squeezing his hand instead. You could make fun of him later.

Finally she led you into the kitchen. All of Tom’s brothers whom you’d already met were sitting at the breakfast nook, as was Haz. The boys waved noncommittally from their spots, but they smiled brightly at you. Harrison actually got up from his seat to give you a quick hug, and slapped Tom on the back.

“Would either of you like some hot chocolate?” Nicola asked, refilling her own mug from a pot on the stove.

“Yeah, Mum that’d be great,” Tom said at the same time you nodded and said “I’d love some!”

Tom left your side to retrieve two mugs from one of the cabinets and hand them to his mom. She filled them both and handed them back to Tom who brought them back to you. Tom clinked his mug against yours and you sipped simultaneously. It was sweeter than you expected, but you usually made dark chocolate back home and you figured this was milk chocolate. Still, it was good and it warmed you up just the same.

“Where’s Dad?” Tom asked his brothers. They shrugged.

“Who’s looking for me?” a voice inquired from behind you.

You turned and realized Tom’s dad had materialized behind you. Tom hugged his father and you took the initiative this time to introduce yourself. “Hi, I’m Y/N. It’s so nice to finally meet you!”

“Likewise, I’m Dom.” He held out his hand for you to shake. “Tom has been so excited to bring you home,” he exclaimed. “I don’t think he’s ever phoned us that much in one month since he left!”

“Dad,” Tom cleared his throat with embarrassment and you giggled.

“Well I’ve been looking forward to this trip for so long! I’ve never been to England.”

“Make sure to drag Tom to all the tourist spots,” Dom teased “especially during rush hour.” You grinned knowing Tom’s dad must know how impatient his son was, especially when it came to crowds. It was endearing to see him push his buttons.

“I’ll be sure to document the whole ordeal,” you promised Dom and he laughed appreciatively.

“Thanks, Dad,” Tom huffed in irritation.

“I’m sorry am I embarrassing you?” Dom asked his son.

“Maybe a little.”

“I’ll be sure to to pull the family albums out for Y/N later then,” Dom promised and you hoped he wasn’t kidding.

“Can’t wait,” you said enthusiastically and Tom groaned next to you. You took his hand and he relaxed a little bit. You hadn’t considered the fact that he was probably nervous too, but so far so good.

“Dinner won’t be ready for some time,” Dom said “but you guys can get started with the gingerbread houses.”

“The gingerbread houses?” you wondered aloud and turned to see that the table was stacked with boxes of DIY gingerbread house kits.

“It’s a tradition,” Tom explained. “Every year we have a competition to see who can build the best gingerbread house. Mum and Dad judge, and whoever wins gets to put the star on top of the tree.”

“Nicola and Dom aren’t allowed to see whose house is whose,” Haz added “so there isn’t any bias. That rule had to be implemented after Sam won too many years in a row,” he paused, “and your parents try and tell you lot they don’t have a favorite.” Tom shoved his best friend’s shoulder playfully. “That rule is how I won for the first time.” He winked.

“If you ask me, I think we’re getting a little old for it,” Paddy, Tom’s youngest brother, piped up.

“Oh hush up,” Tom chided his brother. “You’re just saying that because you’re bound to lose.” Paddy just rolled his eyes at Tom and crossed his arms.

“Are we going to start or are we going to stand around all day?” Sam asked impatiently and everyone started moving at once.

Nicola and Dom had disappeared into the living room some time ago, leaving everyone to work. There was barely any room left at the table but you were able to squeeze onto the window seat between Haz and Tom. Tom handed you your own gingerbread box.

“I get my own?” you asked in surprise.

“Well I’m not going to let you wreck my chances at winning,” Tom said in complete seriousness as he grabbed his own box from the pile. You shoved him in response. “Y/N, I swear if you make me drop this box-”

“You’ll what?” you teased. “Put me on the naughty list?”

You swore you heard a record scratch as everyone immediately stopped what they were doing and looked at you with shock. Even Tom looked like he thought he hadn’t heard you right.

“Fuck,” your heart rate picked up instantly and you started to stutter. “I, I didn’t mean it like that, I was just trying to make a Christmas joke, but I didn’t think about how it would sound-”

Tom swooped in and kissed you on the cheek, bubbling with laughter. “I mean, if that’s what you really want, darling...” he wiggled his eyebrows at you and was met with a chorus of boos and gagging sounds from his brothers. You wanted to crawl into a hole.

Once the commotion died down everyone got down to business. The cardboard boxes were thrown aside to clear more room on the table and everyone started to assemble their houses.

You followed the instructions on how to knead the icing and started sorting all of the candy decorations into little piles. Meanwhile, the boys were already fully into it, putting up the walls to their houses and going ham on the candies.

“Wait is this timed?” you asked and everyone nodded without looking up at you.

What the fuck? You couldn’t tell if they had conveniently forgotten that detail on purpose, or legitimately just hadn’t mentioned it accidentally. Either way, it was crunch time. You hadn’t realized how seriously they were taking it.

You haphazardly put all the walls into the little slots and tried to glue them together with the icing you’d just mixed. It was working...king of. You had to hold the pieces in place and wait for the icing to harden before you could move on or they would fall apart and you’d have to start all over. You had no idea how the boys were moving so quickly.

You were tempted to glance at Tom’s creation, but resisted. You needed to concentrate on your own work. Once the walls were up you moved to the roof. The roof was much trickier because of gravity. Every time you thought they were solid, you’d let go and the pieces would slide off and onto the table. Groaning in frustration you moved on to the gingerbread men that were supposed to stand outside the house. You could come back to the roof later.

You attempted to decorate the gingerbread men with a little packet of red icing, but you weren’t very steady and Haz and Tom kept bumping you accidentally in the process of decorating their own things so it came out looking like a mess. You sighed, but trudged on. Decorating the windows and door turned out to be semi successful. At least you could tell what they were supposed to be. When you tried to fix the roof again the pieces were stuck to the cardboard base where the icing had hardened when you weren’t paying attention.

“Dammit,” you whispered to yourself, and no one acknowledged you, still preoccupied with their own crafting.

Attempting to pull the roof off of the base proved to be futile because you only broke the cookie in half when you tried. You wanted to scream. This house wasn’t fit for any gingerbread people to live in especially since it didn’t have a fucking roof, even calling it a “house” was being a little generous.

You didn’t want to show this monstrosity of a gingerbread house to anyone let alone your boyfriend’s parents that you’d met like five minutes ago. You were a grown woman and this, this was sad. You were going to have to get creative.

After thinking for a few minutes you thought you might have a way to get around the traditional gingerbread house and got to work. You worked quickly, things finally coming together. You were half decorating with the candies, and half eating them. You didn’t need all of them anyway.

You ran out of red icing so when Tom wasn’t looking you snatched his unopened packet. You figured it was payback for not telling you what you were getting into.

You finished before all the boys and sat back to watch them, satisfied with your work. Tom was working on a quaint little setup. The roof was lined with little beads that looked like Christmas lights and the gingerbread people were building a snowman out of marshmallows (that had not been included in the kit what a fucking cheater) in front of the house. He was currently working on piping some icicles onto the roof. You had to admit, you were impressed.

Harry’s looked like a winter wonderland. His was completely covered in white icing and the gingerbread people were making snow angels on the front lawn. Paddy’s looked exactly like the picture on the box had and you were shocked. How had he memorized it and replicated it so precisely? Sam’s gingerbread house was color coordinated with all green and red candy. You wondered how long it had taken him to sort through all the decorations to do that. Finally, Harrison’s house looked like it was straight out of a lifestyle magazine. The front door had a wreath on it, he’d made a picket fence out of peppermints, and he’d even drawn out perfectly shaped snowflakes on the roof as decoration.

You sighed and smiled. You should have known Harrison’s house would be extra as fuck, like him. He caught your eye and smiled.

“Sizing up the competition?” he asked.

You shook your head. “Don’t need to.”

“Famous last words,” he warned and went back to his work.

You weren’t confident in your work whatsoever, but it was fun to talk shit.

On your other side Tom leaned back against the window dramatically, massaging his right hand. You took the opportunity to rest your head on his shoulder and admire his work.

“Looks good, babe,” you complimented and he grinned down at you.

“Thanks,”

Just then, Nicola popped her head into the kitchen, hand over her eyes. “Are you all ready?”

“Just about, Mum!” Harry called and began to switch the houses around, making the order random. He stopped when he got to yours. “Wow, Y/N, really...original.”

Everyone suddenly turned their attention to look at your creation. You had turned the house into a....murder scene. One of the gingerbread men was lying in a pool of red icing, aka blood, and the other one was standing above him with blood on his hands. You’d used the red icing to decorate the house as well, smearing it on the windows and walls. The gingerbread house looked like a total disaster, but on purpose.

“Holy shit,” Tom gasped beside you and you immediately regretted going the creative route. Maybe Tom’s parents wouldn’t think it was funny.

“Is it too much?” you fretted “I can change it!”

“Love, you’re a genius!” Tom laughed and kissed the top of your head.

You breathed a sigh of relief and relaxed back into Tom as the boys gaped at your house. Even if the Hollands were appalled, you’d impressed your boyfriend which was no easy task. Your art skills, or lack thereof, had come through for you which was a first.

“Why have we never thought of this before?” Sam asked his twin who just shook his head.

Once the houses were all set up in an order that pleased Harry he called his parents back into the kitchen. Nicola and Dom stepped back in, mugs of hot cocoa still in hand.

“These look fantastic you guys!” Nicola exclaimed, giving all the gingerbread houses a onceover.

You braced yourself, holding Tom’s hand as his parents made the rounds, looking closely at each one, whispering to each other. His family was taking this very seriously. They stopped when they got to yours, and you held your breath nervously.

“This is new,” Dom said.

“Never seen anything like it,” Nicola agreed.

You relaxed when they both chuckled at it before moving on to the next one. Even if yours didn’t compare to the more traditional ones, you were satisfied that they were amused by it.

Once every gingerbread house had been thoroughly scrutinized, Nicola and Dom retreated to the living room to discuss the decision.

“You smashed it, Y/N.” Harrison admitted and gave you a high five.

“Literally,” you agreed, looking at the crumbled remains of your house.

Everyone descended into light banter about whose house was better and Tom drew you close, wrapping an arm around your waist. You snuggled up to him, and went back to work on your hot chocolate. You listened to the boys talk and could still hear the soft Christmas music from the record player in the living room. You could stay like this forever. Here, with Tom and his family, bundled in his arms while snow fell outside. It was the nicest holiday you’d had in awhile and you couldn’t wait to spend Christmas with his family.

Nicola and Dom reentered the kitchen both smiling like children with a secret. Their energy was infectious and you began smiling too. You could see why the Hollands did this every year, you were having so much fun.

“After a heated debate,” Dom began, “we’ve come to a consensus.”

Everyone leaned forward expectantly. Tom’s parents paused for dramatic effect.

“Annnd,” Nicola said agonizingly slowly, “the winner is...”

“Out with it Mum!” Paddy exclaimed.

“The winner is the gingerbread house with the gingerbread men making snow angels!”

“YES!” Harry jumped up and threw his fists in the air. “Suck on that!”

Sam dragged a finger through the icing on Harry’s roof and licked it off in defiance. “Nobody likes a sore winner.”

“Nobody likes a sore loser,” Harry retaliated

“Alright, alright, let’s go put the star on the tree,” Nicola announced and everyone moved into the living room.

You stayed behind to clean up some of the mess on the table before joining them. Tom’s mom noticed you missing and came back to help you.

“We could’ve done this later,” she assured you,

“Oh, I just wanted to help.”

“I appreciate it, I’m not one to turn down help.” She smiled at you. “Which one was yours, Y/N?”

“Um, the death one.” You shifted awkwardly and Nicola laughed.

“We talked about picking that one,” she admitted “it was so creative and funny! But we thought one of the boys had done that one and we were actually trying to pick the one you had made so you could put the star on the tree this year.”

You were taken aback. “But, but I’m not family,” you protested.

“Neither is Harrison,” Nicola pointed out, “not by blood anyway, and he’s won probably around four times. And...” she hesitated “Tom’s never brought a girl home for Christmas before, so it must mean there’s something about you.” She smiled fondly. “If he loves you, then so do we.”

Your heart felt like it was going to explode right then and there. You actually had to hold back tears as you finished cleaning with Tom’s mom.

Afterwards, you joined everyone in the living room. Harry was standing on top of a chair they’d pulled from the dining table with the tree topper in hand.

“Wait!” Nicola called, running for her camera on the coffee table. “Let me get my camera ready!”

Harry rolled his eyes despite the fact that he was still beaming from his victory.

“There you are, love,” Tom whispered and snaked his arm around your waist. “Where’d you wander off to?”

“Oh nowhere,” you brushed it off cheekily and watched as Harry triumphantly stuck the glowing star on top of the Christmas tree. Everyone cheered then gasped as the star began to list to the left. It stopped before it fell, leaving it lopsided on the top of the tree.

“Excellent!” Dom exclaimed through laughter and applauded.

“It suits Harry perfectly,” Sam teased, receiving a shove from Harry as he made his way down from the chair.

“Okay, one quick picture of all the kids before dinner!” Nicola insisted and everyone immediately started whining. “I can wait all night!”

Grumbling, everyone assembled themselves in front of the tree as you watched on.

“You too, Y/N!” Nicola said waving you into frame.

You were surprised to be included in the picture, but did as you were told. You positioned yourself next to Tom and posed for the picture. You didn’t think you could smile any less than you were if you tried.

Once that was finished everyone made their way back into the kitchen for dinner, but Tom held you back by your hand. Once everyone was gone he leaned down and kissed you chastely on the lips.

“I’m really glad you’re here,” he said, nearly whispering.

There went that feeling in your heart again.

“I wouldn’t have it any other way,” you agreed and kissed him again in the soft white light of the Christmas tree.

Okay that was cheesy as fuck but it’s Christmas okay?? Also this was kind of inspired by the gingerbread house that I made last year which was also a murder scene lol. Ty for reading, I hope you liked it :) Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays!!

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[foreverunburnt]

Happy Daenerys Appreciation Week everyone!!

Here's part 1 of my fic; I have a part answering a different prompt for each day. This takes place in an AU where there’s a lot less death and violence ☺️ 

Day 1: Longing.

Daenerys Targaryen sighed heavily as Sansa Stark, Queen in the North, gathered the maps spread out on the floor. 

“I can’t believe you’re doing all this while you’re pregnant,” Sansa remarked. 

Dany shrugged. “It’s important. If the rumors about Cersei Lannister are true, we need to act swiftly; time is of the essence.”

Sansa nodded. “And I suppose your Hand told you having your baby at Winterfell will go a long way in maintaining a relationship with the North after we secured our independence,” she joked as she handed Tyrion a goblet of wine. 

Dany laughed as Tyrion gasped dramatically and took a long drink from his glass. “A happy accident, I assure you. I didn’t anticipate something like this happening, but…” She sat up and groaned, grasping her belly as she did. “...she’ll come when she’s ready, and she’s more than ready.” 

“She?” Sansa raised an eyebrow as she headed for the door. 

“It’s a girl,” Dany said with a smile, rubbing her belly like a crystal ball. Sansa smiled and nodded on her way into the hall. 

“How could you know that?” Tyrion said as he affixed a scroll to a raven bound for King’s Landing.

“She hadn’t been wrong yet,” Drogo grinned as he entered the room and reverently pressed a kiss to Dany’s forehead. “We have three children, and each time she’s said, ‘it’s a boy.’ And we have three sons. It’s the closest thing to a sure bet I’ve ever seen.”  

“I’ll take that bet,” Tyrian scoffed as he took another gulp of wine. “Three barrels of Dothraki wine if it’s a boy.” 

Drogo raises his eyebrows. “Your finest horse when it’s a girl.” 

Tyrion laughed and extended his hand. Drogo looked at him and rose up to his full height, his face stoic and mean. He extended his hand to shake the shorter man’s. As they shook, his face broke out into a grin and he laughed. “Deal! Soon I’ll have a baby daughter and a fine new horse.” 

“Are you two betting in my chambers?” Talisa walked in with a smile and her young son in tow. Although she was married to Robb Stark, the King in the North, she had given up power to Sansa upon seeing the younger woman’s vision for Winterfell. Truthfully, she hadn’t enjoyed her time as Queen of the North, and the new arrangement allowed her to continue her work as a healer. “No gambling allowed in the birthing chamber, it’s bad luck.” She winked at Drogo as she picked up her son.  

“It’s not a birthing chamber yet,” Catelyn called from the hallway, following behind her daughter in law. She ran her fingers through her grandson’s hair. “Neddy, go show Rhaego, Bharbo, and Aegon your toy ships. Take them to the river and show them how how they sail.” 

“Yes, grandmother,” the red haired boy smiled as his mother put him down. He peered around the doorframe and saw Dany and Drogo’s three sons, his new favorite playmates, and happily scampered out the door to meet them. 

“Make sure Aegon doesn’t fall in the river!” Dany called after him. 

“My queen,” Talisa bowed. “How are you feeling?”

“Giant. Enormous. Ready to have a baby.” 

“I have a feeling we’ll be meeting the little one soon,” Catelyn smiled. 

Talisa smiled back at her mother in law as she felt Dany’s stomach. “Baby’s turning. It won’t be long now.” She pulled the blankets up to Dany’s chin and motioned for Drogo to take her place at the side of the bed. “I hear our eldest boys have something in common: they both survived attempts on their lives before they were even born.” 

Dany grined. “And I hear they’ve both been driving Ser Davos up the wall.”

Talisa shrugged. “Your three and my singleton.” 

“My boys are part Dothraki, part Targaryen. I don’t know what Ser Davos thought would happen when he agreed to care for them,” Dany grinned. “But truly, thank you for your hospitality. Yours and Robb’s to us, and little Ned’s to our boys.” 

“Of course, my lady.” 

Dany laughed. “Our boys love your son. I’m nervous they won’t come with us when it’s time to leave Winterfell. Or they’ll try to sneak him out with us on the backs of one of the horses.” 

“Bharbo and Rhaego tried to teach my grandson how to ride a fully grown stallion. He fell off and nearly broke his neck,” Catelyn interjected, admonishing with a smile. 

“Everybody falls the first few times,” Drogo shrugged. “Rheago still has a lump on his head from when he tumbled on the journey here - oh wait. I’m sorry, I’m thinking about Tyrion.” 

Tyrion clutched his collar in feigned offense. “A tumble? A TUMBLE? It was a noble, graceful plummet off the back of an unruly creature. Besides… it’s not a fair comparison, Rhaego is taller than me.” The two men smirked for a moment, then bust into uproarious laughter. 

Dany watched from her bed, smiling. She’d missed moments like this: lighthearted. Jovial. Looking toward the future. Watching her husband and dear friend turn into brothers before her eyes had been a privilege. 

Every time their boys played together, Dany saw a twinge of sadness in Drogo’s eyes. He’d wanted a large family as a child, and while they’d created that family together, she knew he always wanted brothers and sisters of his own. It was similar to the look in Tyrion’s eyes when he saw the Starks together or when someone brought up his brother and sister.  She understood their need for each other, and she was grateful they had each other. “Alright, boys,” she finally said in a tone usually reserved for her sons. “It’s time for the adults to talk.”

Drogo snickered and kissed Dany’s hairline dutifully. “Of course, moon of my life... I’ll go assess the men downstairs. I’ll bring word.” 

“Thank you, my son and stars,” she said sweetly, running the palm of her hand across his stubbled cheek. 

He kissed her again, then reached down to kiss her belly. “Girl, Girl, Girl...” he chanted playfully in a whisper. Dany swatted him away with a smile. This is good, she thought. This is good.  

[some-cookie-crumbz]

Hi! You're one of my favorite kidge blogs ❤️ I have a prompt request for some sweet Keith/kidgeling interactions! Only if you have the time though :3 Have a nice day!

Erhmahgerd, thank you so much!!! I’m so glad you enjoy my works! Consider this sweet little bit of fluff an apology for my last fic! x3

Pidge’s business trips away were an odd mix of stressful andinvigorating for Keith. Once upon a time, he disliked them because it meant he’dbe all alone in their home for an extended period of time. But as the yearswent by, they got married and started having children, it became a little lesslonely. He still missed having his wife around, which he felt was a given, butit was also nice to have some one-on-one time with their kids.

The week had been a bit chaotic between appointments and extra-curricularactivities, but he made sure that Friday night was all theirs. It worked outwell, as the dark foreboding clouds over the head made the kids more hesitantto leave the house after they got home from Amber’s fencing lesson. He’dordered pizza for dinner and played Uno. Well, Amber, Kaden, Newt and he hadplayed Uno. Ari, only two years old, hadn’t understood and simply enjoyedshouting Uno every time someone lost or gained a card. After the game, got theolder kids into their pajamas and put a movie on for them, then got Aria in thebath and tucked into bed. When he headed back out, the movie had ended and theboys had passed out hard. Amber, meanwhile, had changed the channel to a newsreport.

“Dad, what’s going on?” She asked, looking over her shoulderat him and indicating the screen with the remote. It was a report about therecent threats made by an alien race known as the Awzurians. The Awzurians hadbeen a Galra-aligned world that willing joined Zarkon years ago, as a way togain power and protect their people from slavery. In the years following Zarkon’sdeafeat, they’d been struggling to maintain control over any worlds handed overto them. At a conference two weeks ago, when Keith and the others had discussedthem peacefully releasing the remaining planets under their control, theirleader swore that Earth would pay for such an insulting request.

It was part of the reason Pidge was gone; she’d left to helpthe coalition forces determine what kind of technology the Awzurians had attheir disposal.

He frowned a bit, taking the controller and turning thetelevision off. “It’s nothing you need to worry about, sweetheart. Come on, offto bed. It’s getting late,” He said quietly. She didn’t seem convinced, hereyes bright with the same skeptical gleam her mother had pinned him with toomany times to count, but she went along without a fight. He carefully scoopedup his two boys and carried them off to their rooms, tucking them both inbefore going to wish Amber a good night.

He hoped that in the morning, he’d feel better, but hetossed and turned for a good hour, unable to sleep. He was good at pretendingit didn’t bother him, that he didn’t see the Awzurian leader, Chespa, and herfollowers as a threat, but he was rather concerned. After all, they’d workedwith Zarkon for years; how much did they know about Zarkon’s practices? Didthey have any Galran technology of their own to use? And what if they knew howto make use of quintessence? What if they did launch an attack on Earth?

And, if they did attack, what if something happened to thekids?

A loud crash erupted outside, causing him to jump and dartout of bed. A quick glance outside revealed it to only be the crash of thunderoverhead. He released a low sigh. "It’s just a storm, Kogane. You’regetting yourself all worked up over nothing," He paused when there wassuddenly a loud, distinct shriek down the hall. He picked up the baby monitoroff the bedside table and toggled it to the only camera still in operation.

There, standing in her crib, little hands on the edge of thebanister, was a wailing Aria.

“Oh, baby girl,” He said softly, setting the monitor backdown and heading out. The hallways was barely lit, a small flash of lightningilluminating the little wooden sign hanging on her door. It had been a giftfrom Shiro, one for each of their kids, with their names carved and painted intheir respective favorite colors. He tried to flick on the hall light butnothing happened. “Huh… Must have knocked the power out.” He mumbled beforeslipping over and opening the door.

The moment he poked his head in, Ari’s big green eyes fixedon him and she screamed again. “Dada!” She wailed, holding her arms up towardshim.

He crossed the room quickly and scooped her up "Hey,baby girl. It's okay, Daddy's here," He cooed softly, stroking along herback as she buried her face in his shoulder.

"Scary monsters!" She hiccupped.

"Sweetie, there are no monsters," He said softly,carefully readjusting his grip on her.

She lifted her head long enough to point at her window beforeducking back down into him. He glanced outside and, when another flash oflightning and thunder rumbled rushed through, he saw a branch from the treescratching at her window. "Scary monster noises!"

He knew he’d forgotten to do something during the week."Okay, baby girl. I'm sorry for upsetting you," He said, turning andmaking his way to the door. "Come on, you can sleep in bed with Daddytonight. I'll keep all the scary monsters away. Does that sound good?"

She nuzzled into him, little hands clenching in the fabricof his night shirt. "Mmhmm,"

He headed out into the hallway, checking again and sighingwhen they didn’t. He hadn’t expected the storm to come in nearly as fast or asloudly as it did. He paused when he saw a small clustered of shadowy figures congregatedin front of his door. Could it be Awsurian spies? He shifted and moved morecarefully, wanting to see what was going on as quiet chattered started up amongthem.

“Does everyone have a something to defend themselves with?”

"I brought this,"

"Just thebat? Really?"

"Better than what youbrought. Which is nothing,"

"Hey! Ibrought my brains! Brains are just as important to a fight!"

He blinked then frowned, walking closer at the familiarvoices. "Kids?" He asked in slightly surprise, all three littlefigures turning towards him.

"AAAAHHHH!" They all shouted, the soft whoosh ofair in front of his face echoing after the shout. There was a frantic rattlingsound before he was blasted right in the face with a bright, yellow light.

"Oh! Dad!" Amber gasped, moving the flashlight sothat it was pointed above his head, so that they could all see each other.There, right in front of his face, was the end of his older son’s yellow wiffelball bat. "Kaden, put that down!"She huffed, reaching over to shove the bat down.

The younger male looked away sheepishly, tucking the batbehind his back. "S-Sorry, Dad,"

He reached over and lightly ruffled his son’s hair, keepingone arm secured under Ari to keep her close. He then looked from each of themin turn. "What are you three doing up?"

Newt scoffed a bit, raising an eyebrow at hi. "Littleunfair to be the only one asking questions, don't you think? What are you doing up? And what about Ari?"Amber rolled her eyes before reaching over smacking him over the head "Ow!Dad, she hit me!" He whined, covering the sore spot as he looked up athim.

Keith sighed and shook his head. "Amber Rose," He warned lowly. From the corner of his eye hespotted Kaden wandering off, but turned his attention back to his eldest.

"What? He's being annoying!"

"That doesn't mean you need to hit him. Now, why areyou three up?"

"We heard screaming," Newt said with a shrug,having recovered from the smack.

He blinked a bit in surprise. "Wait, you heard Ari,too?"

"Ah, no," Amber said, looking off to the side uneasily.

"Unless herscreaming sounds like a certain stinkyolder sister of mine? Then no,"Newt quipped. Again, Amber smacked him upside the head and pinned him with alook. "Ow! Da-ad!"

Keith groaned and pinched the bridge of his nose. "Amber,what did I just say?"

"Not my fault he's being a dumbo," She harrumped.

He shook his head at the duo and looked down at Ari again,who was whimpering softly. Had all the kids been startled awake by the storm?Or was it just Amber? And, he briefly wondered as he cast a worried look downat her, had she actually been woken up? Or had she, like him, been unable tosleep? Plagued by the fears of a different potential storm on the horizon?

He perked up when he noticed movement to his left. There,holding up his little sister’s favorite plush toy up towards her, was Kaden."Ari, look! I got Muffin for you!" He proclaimed happily.

She lifted her head with a sniffle, before reaching out withone hand and pulling the green dinosaur into her arms. "Thank you,"She said quietly, offering him a watery smile.

He beamed up at her before moving to stand in line with hisbrother and sister.

Keith smiled at him, warmed by his son’s thoughtfulness. "Goodjob, bud. That was very nice of you," He then looked back at the otherthree. Kaden was still toting the wiffel ball bat, tapping the carpeted floorwith it, while he spotted Amber toting her luxite blade. He reminded himself tolet her know in the morning that she should have left that hanging up on herwall, where he’d hung it up a few weeks prior. "You guys should head backto bed. Everything's fine and it's way too late for you all to be up.Especially since Mommy'll be coming home early tomorrow and we're gonna have abig family breakfast.”

Amber stared at him for a moment, before glancing down thehallways towards her own bedroom, and then back at him. "Yeah, but ourrooms are all the way down the hall,"

He blinked, turning to open his own door, then paused with hishand on the doorknob. "What?"

"You said it's late, so why make us walk all the way back to our beds? We can all just sleep with you and Ari, like a bigsleepover," She suggested. Ah, he realized what was going on. He saw aspark of recognition flash on the boys’ faces as well, seeing what their sisterwas trying to play at.

Ari lifted her head and looked at him excitedly."Sleepover! Sleepover, Dada!"

"Yeah! Walking is lame!"Newt agreed,

Kaden, ever the one to take the initiative, moved over,shoved Keith’s hands off the doorknob, and threw it open. "Come on, Dad!It's cold in the hallway," He said, Newt and Amber just a few quick stepsbehind him.

He couldn’t help butchuckle a bit as he followed after them. "You kids are ridiculous,"

He had been expecting that all three of them would just pileon to the bed, heedless to where Keith himself intended to settle in. But,instead, they all hovered by, waiting. It was he was settled in with Ari,getting the two of them tucked under the covers, before the three of them piledin with him.

Amber cuddled up beside her little sister on the left side,tucking up in Keith’s arm with her and snuggling her little sister lightly."Here, Ari. You can cuddle up here on this side with me and Daddy,"

On his left, Keith watched as the two boys came over on hisleft side, instinctively wrapping his arm around the two as they snuggled upagainst him. "Me and Newt will take the right, then,"

"Cool kidssleep on the right side! Dweebossleep on the left!" Newt announced, lifting his head long enough to blow araspberry at his sisters. Amber shifted, preparing to give him whatfor again,but Keith tightened his arms around them in playful warning.

"Kids, no more fighting,” He said gently.

Kaden snuggled down and smiled lightly. "Ari's worriedabout scary monsters, right? If we all snuggle together, then any monsterstrying to come in will see how many of us there are and leave!"

Newt turned to fix is amber eyes on his older brother."Well, that or they'll see our Dad is a flippin’ Paladin of Voltron,"

"Shush, dingus. We're trying to sleep," Ambersaid, stifling a yawn of her own. Ari, happily nuzzled in between her Daddy andsissy, had already started to doze back off.

Newt grumbled something else but was too quiet and muffledas he let out a squeaky yawn of his own, little eyes fluttering shut.

Keith couldn’t help but chuckle as he watched each of hiskids fall back asleep one at a time. Between the blanket and four little bodiessnuggled up against him, he was almost uncomfortably warm. His arms werefeeling a little tingly from having them both wrapped snug around the kids, butit was a sort of pleasant sensation. He’d never thought that he’d someday behappily married with a family all his own outside of his wildest dreams. Inyet, all these years later, through all the fears and tears and struggles they’dfaced, he had a happy life with a wonderful wife and four energetic kids thatmade up his whole world.

Were they perfect little angels all the time? No, but heloved them and wouldn’t change them for the world. He loved all the people inhis life, truly he did, but he loved his family the most. And, he thought as hepulled them just a bit closer in, his own eyes slowly drooping shut, he’d doanything he could to protect them.